176 CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 



which each tree annually ripens three. This fine tree might be 

 called the peach palm. The fleshy fruits are from the luxuriance 

 of vegetation most often devoid of seeds, and offer to the natives a 

 nutritious, farinaceous food which, like plantains and potatoes, can 

 be prepared in a variety of ways. 



Hitherto, or as far as the mouth of the Guaviare, the Orinoco 

 flows along the southern declivity of the Sierra de Parime ; and from 

 its southern bank the vast forest-covered plain of the Amazons River 

 stretches far beyond the Equator, even to the 15th degree of south 

 latitude. When the Orinoco turns suddenly to the north, near San 

 Fernando de Atabapo, it breaks through a part of the mountain 

 chain, along the base of which it had previously flowed; and this is 

 the site of the great waterfalls of Atures and Maypures. The river 

 bed is here everywhere hemmed in by colossal masses of rock, and 

 divided, as it were, into separate reservoirs by natural dikes. 



In front of the entrance of the M'eta, there stands, in the middle 

 of a mighty whirlpool, an isolated cliff, to which the natives have 

 given the very appropriate name of the "Rock of Patience;" because, 

 when the waters are low, it sometimes costs those who are ascending 

 the river two days to pass it. Here the Orinoco, eating deep into 

 the land, forms picturesque rocky bays. Opposite to the Indian 

 mission of Carichana the traveller is surprised by the singular pros- 

 pect which presents itself to his view. His eye is involuntarily 

 riveted on an abrupt granitic rock, el Mogote de Cocuyza, a cube 

 with vertically precipitous sides, above 200 feet high and bearing on 

 its upper surface a forest of trees of rich and varied foliage. Re- 

 sembling a Cyclopean monument in its simple grandeur, this mass 

 of rock rises high above the tops of the surrounding palms, its 

 sharp outlines appearing in strong relief against the deep azure of 

 the sky, and its summit uplifting high in air a forest above the 

 forest. 



In descending the Orinoco from this point, still within the range 

 of the Carichana mission, we arrive at the part of the river where 

 the stream has forced for itself a way through the narrow pass of 

 Baraguan. Here we recognize everywhere traces of chaotic devasta- 

 tion. To the north (towards Uruana and Encaramada), masses of 

 granite of extraordinarily notched and serrated outline and grotesque 



