CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 173 



almost horizontal bed. An arm of the Nile (the Green Nile, Bahr- 

 el-Azrek) flows from the celebrated mountain-lake near Gondar, in 

 the Abyssinian Gojam Alps, to Syene and Elephantis, through the 

 mountains of Shangalla and Sennaar. In a similar manner, the 

 Orinoco rises on the southern declivity of the mountain chain which, 

 in the 4th and 5th parallel of north latitude, extends westward 

 from French G-uiana towards the Andes of New Granada. The 

 sources of the Orinoco ( 6 ) have never been visited by any European, 

 or even by any natives who have been in communication with 

 Europeans. 



In ascending the Upper Orinoco in the summer of 1800, we 

 passed the Mission of Esmeralda, and reached the mouths of the 

 Sodomoni and the Guapo. Here rises high above the clouds the 

 massive summit of the Yeonnamari or Duida, a grand and pic- 

 turesque mountain which presents to the spectator one of the finest 

 scenes of nature which the tropical world has to offer. Its altitude, 

 according to my trigonometrical measurement, is 8278 (8823 Eng.) 

 feet above the level of the sea. The southern slope of the mount- 

 ain presents a treeless, grassy surface, and the humid evening air is 

 filled far and wide with the fragrance of the ripe ananas. The stalks 

 of the pineapples, swelling with rich juice, rise between the lowly 

 herbs of the meadow, and the golden fruit is seen shining at a dis- 

 tance from under its leafy crown of bluish-green. Where mountain 

 springs or rivulets break forth from the turfy covering, the scene is 

 further adorned by groups of tall fan-palms, whose foliage never 

 feels the influence of a cool breeze. 



On the east of the Duida mountain a dense thicket of wild Cacao 

 groves begins, and amidst these are found trees of the celebrated 

 Bertholletia excelsa, the most vigorous of the productions of the 

 tropical world. ( 7 ) Here the Indians collect the materials for their 

 blow-pipes, colossal grass-stalks having joints above 18 feet long 

 from knot to knot. ( 8 ) Some Franciscan monks have penetrated 

 as far as the mouth of the Chiguire, where the river is already so 

 narrow that the natives have thrown across it, near the waterfall of 

 the Guaharibes, a suspension bridge formed of the twining stems of 

 climbing plants. The Guaicas, a race of comparatively light com 



15* 



