104 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



where Humboldt, besides the missions, visited 

 tlie great cataracts,* which produced a lasting 

 impression on his mind. This was the case also 

 at the sight of the cataracts of Atures and May- 

 pures, where the travellers remained five days. 

 He visited afterwards San Fernando de Ata- 

 bapo, and continued his voyage on the Cassi- 

 quiare, which in reality unites the Orinoco and 

 the Rio Negro. At the little place called Atabapo 

 a new route had been projected, at the suggestion 

 of the principal of the mission in that district. 

 Humboldt and his companions resolved, ac- 

 cordingly, to navigate first the river Atabapo, 

 and follow afterwards the course of the rivers 

 Temi and Tuamini. Baron Humboldt found 

 himself suddenly in an entirely new country, 

 and on the shores of a river whose name he 

 had never before heard. He penetrated regions 

 where man had scarcely left a trace of his 



* " Cloud-girdled thunder ! embodied storm ! 

 Whether enrobed in vapours dark and dun, 

 Or looms, magnificent, thy giant form 

 Through the prismatic broidery of the sun. 

 Wondrous alike ! what floods have swept thy brow 

 Since the bold plunge of thy primeval wave ! 

 From whose tremendous advent, until now, 

 Thou hast not paused nor failed. Yon boiling grave 

 Hoars from its depths the song creation gave." 



Howison. 



