MISSION OF SAN CARLOS. 229 



which are of an amber hue wherever it is shallow, 

 and dark-brown wherever the depth is great. After 

 entering it by the Pimichin, and passing the rapid at 

 the confluence of the two streams, the travellers 

 soon reached the mission of Maroa, containing 150 

 Indians, where they purchased some fine toucans. 

 Passing the station of Tomo, they visited that of 

 Davipe, where they were received by the missionary 

 with great hospitality. Here they bought some 

 fowls and a pig, which interested their servants so 

 much that they pressed them to depart, in order to 

 reach the island of Dapa, where the animal might be 

 roasted. They arrived at sunset, and found some 

 cultivated ground and an Indian hut. Four natives 

 were seated round a fire eating a kind of paste con- 

 sisting of large ants, of which several bags were 

 suspended over the fire. There were more than 

 fourteen persons in this small cabin, lying naked in 

 hammocks placed above each other. They received 

 Father Zea with great joy, and two young women 

 prepared cassava-cakes ; after which the travellers 

 retired to rest. The family slept only till two in 

 the morning, when they began to converse in their 

 hammocks. This custom of being awake four or 

 five hours before sunrise Humboldt found to be gen- 

 eral among the people of Guiana ; and, hence, when 

 an attempt is made to surprise them, the first part 

 of the night is chosen for the purpose. 



Proceeding down the Rio Negro, they passed the 

 mouth of the Casiquiare, the river by which a com- 

 munication is effected between the former and the 

 Orinoco : and towards evening reached the mission 

 of San Carlos del Rio Negro, with the commander 

 of which they lodged. The military establishment 

 of this frontier post consisted of seventeen soldiers, 

 ten of whom were detached for the security of the 

 neighbouring stations. The voyage from the mouth 

 of the Rio Negro to Grand Para occupying only 

 twenty or twenty-five days, it would not have taken 



