CHAPTER VI 



OYER, THE MOUIfTAI]srS TO THE LLANOS. AFLOAT IX THE 



FOKEST, 



"Water-system of South America. — Our Route. — Leave Puerto Cabello. — 

 Last Visit to Valencia. — A Soutli American Eoad. — Fording a EiVer. — 

 Wild Scenery. — Niglit at a Posada. — First View of Llanos. — Their E.^- 

 tout and General Features. — Town of Pao. — Embarked for Baul. — Our 

 Bongo. — "Very bad" to wash before Breakfast. — Palms. — Bam- 

 boos. — Alligators. — Howling Monkeys. — Lost in the Forest. — Navigat- 

 ing under Difficulties. — Shooting Kapids. — Xight at a Llano Hut. 



The water-system of South America is a remarkable 

 one, not only in the vastness of its majestic rivers, but also 

 in the curious anastomosing of its great streams. The 

 Orinoco, Rio Negro, and Amazons, with their extended and 

 vmited arms, reach around and island the northeastern 

 portion of the continent, embracing Guiana, with a large 

 part of Venezuela, and a considerable portion of Brazil. 

 You might circumnavigate this tract with a canoe. No 

 continent affords better commercial facilities. Steamers 

 may pass up the Amazons, by its Peruvian waters, to the 

 foot of the Andes. The continent is thus not only 

 traversable its entire breadth, but also length, by means 

 of its w^ater-courses. A canoe starting in at the delta of 

 the Orinoco can be paddled lengthwise of the continent to 

 the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, the paddling being 

 exchanged for short towages around the rapids of the 

 Upper Orinoco and Madeira Rivers. 



