370 THE CANO PIMICHIW. 



The Indians say that these reptiles, slow in their move- 

 ments when they are not pursued, creep near a man 

 because they are fond of heat. In fact, on the banks of 

 the Magdalena a serpent entered the bed of one of our 

 fellow-travellers, and remained there a part of the night, 

 without injuring him. Without wishing to take up the 

 defence of vipers and rattlesnakes, I believe it may be 

 affirmed that, if these venomous animals had such a dis- 

 position for offence as is supposed, the human species 

 would certainly not have withstood their numbers in some 

 parts of America ; for instance, on the banks of the Orinoco 

 and the humid mountains of Choco. 



We embarked on the 8th of May at sunrise, after having 

 carefully examined the bottom of our canoe. It had be- 

 come thinner, but had received no crack in the portage. 

 We reckoned that it would still bear the voyage of three 

 hundred leagues, which we had yet to perform, in going 

 down the Bio Negro, ascending the Cassiquiare, and re- 

 descending the Orinoco as far as Angostura. The Pimichin, 

 which is called a rivulet (cario) is tolerably broad; but 

 small trees that love the water narrow the bed so much 

 that there remains open a channel of only fifteen or twenty 

 toises. Next to the Bio Chagres this river is one of the 

 most celebrated in America for the number of its windings : 

 it is said to have eighty-five, which greatly lengthen it. They 

 often form right angles, and occur every two or three 

 leagues. To determine the difference of longitude between 

 the landing-place and the point where we were to enter 

 the Bio Negro, I took by the compass the course of the 

 Cano Pimichin, and noted the time during which we 

 followed the same direction. The velocity of the current 

 was only 2'4 feet in a second; but our canoe made by 

 rowing 4*6 feet. The embarcadero of the Pimichin appeared 

 to me to be eleven thousand toises west of its mouth, and 

 2' west of the mission of Javita. This Cano is navigable 

 during the whole year, and has but one raudal, which is 

 somewhat difficult to go up ; its banks are low, but rocky. 

 After having followed the windings of the Pimichin for foul 

 hours and a half we at length entered the Bio Negro. 



The morning was cool and beautiful. We had now been 

 confined thirty-six days in a narrow boat, BO unsteady tliat 





