110 AFLOAT UPON THE LLANOS. 



compass furnished the only clew by which to extricate our- 

 selves. After many hours of wearisome efforts, we emerged 

 into the Arauca ; only known to be a river by the forest 

 walls which formed a narrow channel. So floating down, 

 we came, by 2 p. m., where dry land appeared, and here we 

 disembarked for food and rest After a couple of hours 

 spent upon the slightly-elevated bank, we continued our 

 voyage, shut in by interminable lines of verdure which 

 bordered the stream. Just before night shrouded all, 

 a sudden turn in the river revealed to our view in the 

 distance the hills of Guiana, beyond the Orinoco. After 

 our long voyage over an inundated country, where not 

 the slightest elevation breaks the sameness of the land- 

 scape, it was with a feeling of relief, mingled with inex- 

 pressible joy, at the near prospect of a more propitious 

 land, that we beheld the range of hills, which stretched in 

 distinct outline against the rich background of the even- 

 ing sky. 



It Avas after dark Avhen we floated into the waters of 

 the Orinoco, and moored our canoe upon the western shore 

 of that majestic river, Avhose floods, gatheredbytlie count- 

 less tributaries which drain the vast regions of Venezuela, 

 together with much of Colombia, bringing down the melt- 

 ing snows from the Andean su7nmits, rolled onward in one 

 mighty, impetuous tori*ent until lost in the Atlantic. No 

 river in the world possesses such grand and sublime scenery, 

 varied by such picturesque mountains, plains, rapids, lovely 

 islands, forests, and life in so many thousand and attrac- 

 tive forms. This was the stream upon which we were now 

 to sail, and these the scenes that were to delight us. Upon 

 the sandy bank of the river we threw ourselves for the 

 night, with the mountain glimpses calling to our dreams 

 the hills of our own distant home. 



