CHAPTER VIII. 



AFLOAT UPOX THE LLANOS. 



Aspect of tae Inundated Plains. — Wild Horses and Cattle. — Crocodiles. — 

 Anacondas. — Electric Eels. — Cannibal-Fish. — Experiences upon the 

 Payara. — Myriads of Aquatic Birds. — A Breakfast and Cock-light. — 

 Manati, or "Sea-cow." — Upon the Arauca.— Over Flooded Savan- 

 nas. — At Asaiba. — Niguas. — Jaguar. — Abnormal Butchering. — Em- 

 barked for the Orinoco. — Navigating Submerged Forest. — Lost upon 

 'the Llauos. — An Uncomfortable Night. — Arrival upon the Orinoco. 



Our first experiences upon tlie Apuro were terminated 

 at a late hour, by our hauling up in the immediate vicinity 

 of a sugar-mill in operation, v,'here all night long the 

 tramp of animals, as they turned the rude grinding-ma- 

 chine, kept time to the hum of sancudos that filled the air. 

 The next morning, early, we recommenced our voyage. 

 The banks became lower as we proceeded, until they final- 

 ly sank beneath the floods, when we pushed out of the 

 river-channel over the inundated savannas. During the 

 season of rains, the Apure, Arauca, Conaviche, and Ca- 

 panaparo Rivers, with their labyrinth of branches, by their 

 overflow submerge a vast territory, which presents the as- 

 pect of an inland sea. The hamlets and huts which are 

 scattered here and there over the savannas scarcely rise 

 above the surfiice of the water. Crocodiles and anacon- 

 das, with other reptilian monsters, which lie buried in the 

 dry mud of the Llanos during the months of drought. 



