394 VARIETIES OF SARSAPARILLA. 



trees (the^wwa, or Bertholletia excelsa), in aromatic puclic- 

 ries, and in wild cacao-trees, forms a point of division 

 between the waters that flow to the Orinoco, the Cassi- 

 quiare, and the Bio Negro. The tributary streams on the 

 north, or those of the Orinoco, are the Mavaca and the 

 Daracapo ; those on the west, or of the Cassiquiare, are the 

 Idapa and the Pacimoni; and those on the south, or of the 

 Rio Negro, are the Padaviri and the Cababuri. The latter 

 is divided near its source into two branches, the western- 

 most of which is known by the name of Baria. The Indians 

 of the mission of San Francisco Solano gave us the most 

 minute description of its course. It aifords the very rare 

 example of a branch by which an inferior tributary stream, 

 instead of receiving the waters of the superior stream, sends 

 to it a part of its own waters in a direction opposite to that 

 of the principal recipient. 



The Cababuri runs into the Eio Negro near the mission 

 of Nossa Senhora das Caldas; but the rivers Ta and 

 Dimity, which are higher tributary streams, communicate 

 also with the Cababuri ; so that, from the little fort of San 

 Gabriel de Cachoeiras as far as San Antonio de Castanheira 

 the Indians of the Portuguese possessions can enter the 

 territory of the Spanish missions by the Baria and the 

 Pacimoni. 



The chief object of these incursions is the collection of 

 sarsaparilla and the aromatic seeds of the puchery-laurel 

 (Laurus pichurim). The sarsaparilla of these countries is 

 celebrated at Grand Para, Angostura, Cumana, Nueva Bar- 

 celona, and in other parts of Terra Pirma, by the name of 

 zarza del Rio Negro. It is much preferred to the zarza of 

 the province of Caracas, or of the mountains of Merida ; it 

 is dried with great care, and exposed purposely to smoke, in 

 order that it may become blacker. This liana grows in pro- 

 fusion on the humid declivities of the mountains of Unturan 

 and Achivaquery. Decandolle is right in suspecting that 

 different species of smilax are gathered under the name of 

 sarsaparilla. We found twelve new species, among wnicn 

 the Smilax siphylitica of the Cassiquaire, and the Smilax 

 officinalis of the river Magdalena, are most esteemed on 

 account of their diuretic properties. The quantity of sar- 

 aaparilla employed in the Spanish colonies as a domestic 



