224 MISSION OF SAN ANTONIO. 



of the hands, which the missionary informed them 

 was caused by insects. Nothing could be distin- 

 guished with a lens but parallel streaks of a whitish 

 colour, the form of which has obtained for these ani- 

 malculae the name of aradores, or ploughmen. A 

 mulatto woman engaged to extirpate them one by 

 one, and, digging with a small bit of pointed wood, 

 at length succeeded in extracting a little round bag ; 

 but Humboldt did not possess sufficient patience to 

 wait for relief from so tedious an operation. Next 

 day, however, an Indian effected a radical cure by 

 means of the infusion of bark stripped from a cer- 

 tain shrub. 



In 1755, before the expedition to the boundaries, 

 the country between the missions of Javita and San 

 Baltasar was dependent on Brazil, and the Portu- 

 guese had advanced from the Rio Negro as far as 

 the banks of the Temi. An Indian chief, named 

 Javita, one of their auxiliaries, pushed his hostile 

 excursions to a distance of more than 345 miles ; 

 and, being furnished with a patent for drawing the 

 natives from the forest " for the conquest of souls," 

 did not fail to make use of it for selling slaves to 

 his allies. When Solano, one of the leaders of the 

 expedition just described, arrived at San Fernando 

 de Atabipo, he seized the adventurer, and by treat- 

 ing him with gentleness gained him over to the in- 

 terests of the Spaniards. He was still living when 

 the travellers proceeded to the Rio Negro ; and, as he 

 attended them on all their botanical excursions, they 

 obtained much information from him. He assured 

 them, that he had seen almost all the Indian tribes 

 which inhabit the vast countries between the Upper 

 Orinoco, the Rio Negro, the Irinida, and the Jupura 

 devour human flesh. Their cannibalism he consid- 

 ered as the effect of a system of revenge, as they 

 eat only enemies who are made prisoners in battle. 



The climate of the mission of San Antonio de 

 Javita is so rainy that the sun and stars are seldom 



