CAMP OF INDIANS. 129 



Besides the tortuga, there are several other species of 

 tortoises inhabiting the Orinoco and its tributaries, the 

 largest of which is the terecai, weighing about twenty-five 

 pounds. Gobesonas, galapagos, and the little chipiries^ 

 scarcely five pounds in weight, also abound, especially 

 in the upper waters of the Orinoco and Rio Negro. The 

 large tortuga is not found above the cataracts of those 

 rivers ; not that these would be barriers to its ascent, but 

 probably because of the absence of extensive beaches, the 

 favorite and essential haunts for the deposit of its eggs. 

 Turtles are, ecclesiastically, classed the same as fishes, 

 being cold-blooded animals, and their flesh is allowed to 

 be eaten during Lent and on other fast-days of the Church. 



The second night from Urbana, spent upon a playa, we 

 experienced a severe storm, which nearly caused us the 

 loss of our buco. It shipped the water to such a degree, 

 that we were obliged to land every thing from the boat. 

 The tempest subsiding, about three o'clock in the morning, 

 we reembarked, that we might have the benefit of the fa- 

 vorable breeze then blowing. As daylight came, the wind 

 died away, and the men took to their paddles. During 

 the forenoon we passed upon our right Sinaruco, a stream 

 of considerable dimensions ; and the outlets of Suapure 

 and Caripo to our left. To avoid the strong current we 

 kept close in to shore, which afforded us frequent views of 

 groups of audacious monkeys that sat among the branches 

 of the trees, seemingly indifferent to our passing. 



It was late in the evening when we stopped at a playa 

 upon which was a camp of Indians similar to those before 

 mentioned. The women were huddled in the small, Hot- 

 tentot huts, with their heads and feet protruding from all 

 sides, while their naked lords lay stretched in the sand 

 without. Their language, like that of Indian tribes gener- 

 ally, we found to be exceedingly simple and curious, con- 

 sisting more in signs than verbal utterances. "We observed 



