SCENERY OF THE CASIQJJIARE. 233 



but discovering that his anthropophagous propensi- 

 ties remained, they gave up the idea. He told them 

 that " his relations (the people of his tribe) preferred 

 the inside of the hands in man, as in bears," accom- 

 panying the assertion with gestures of savage joy. 



Although the Indians of the Casiquiare readily 

 return to their barbarous habits, they manifest, while 

 in the missions, intelligence, industry, and a great 

 facility in learning the Spanish tongue. As the 

 villages are usually inhabited by three or four tribes 

 who do not understand each other, the language of 

 their instructer affords a general means of commu- 

 nication. The soil on the Casiquiare is of excellent 

 quality. Rice, beans, cotton, sugar, and indigo 

 thrive wherever they have been tried ; but the hu- 

 midity of the air, and the swarms of insects, oppose 

 almost insuperable obstacles to cultivation. Im- 

 mense bands of white ants destroy every thing that 

 comes in their way, insomuch, that when a mis- 

 sionary would cultivate salad or any European 

 culinary vegetable, he fills an old boat with soil, and 

 having sown the seeds suspends it with cords, or 

 elevates it on posts. 



From the 14th to the 21st the travellers continued 

 to ascend the Casiquiare, which flowed with consid- 

 erable rapidity, having a breadth of 426 yards, and 

 bordered by two enormous walls of trees hung with 

 lianas. No openings could be discovered in these 

 fences ; and at night the Indians had to cut a small 

 spot with their hatchets to make room enough for 

 their beds, it being impossible to remain in the canoe 

 on account of the mosquitoes and heavy rains. 

 Great difficulty was experienced in finding wood to 

 make a fire, the branches being so full of sap that 

 they would scarcely burn. On shore the pothoses, 

 arums, and lianas furnished so thick a covering, that 

 although it rained violently they were completely 

 sheltered. At their last resting-place on the Casi- 

 U2 



