CASCADE OF MANIMI. I53 



and islands with ledges of rocks stretching betT^-een them, 

 or reaching from shore to shore. Through the narrow 

 channels, over the huge bowlders, and long dikes, the wa- 

 ters wildly plunged as if they would whirl the very rocks 

 from their foundations, and sweep them down the rapids. 

 The islands and larger rocks were covered with alluvial 

 deposits, supporting a growth of beautiful palm-trees and 

 tropical vegetation, which rose in luxuriant masses of most 

 vivid green through the vapory clouds which hovered 

 over the waters. The river at the foot of the cataracts is 

 contracted to less than five hundred yards in breadth, 

 opening a shoi't distance below to twice that width. Thei'c 

 are three grand dikes, or falls, which form the striking 

 features in the rcnidales of the Maypures. The most re- 

 markable of these is the one terminating the cataracts. 

 Above this is the Cascade of Manimi, formed by the con- 

 tinuation across the river of the granitic ridge upon the 

 Avest, before alluded to. The most southern, a mile above 

 the base of the raudales, is divided by a huge and nearly 

 naked rock some three hundred feet in height, which rises 

 like an immense tower out of the midst of the whitened 

 waters. Above this, the river gradually widens to two 

 miles in breadth, and for nearly a league is filled with 

 rocks and shoals, which render it diflicult of navigation. 



East of the cataracts is a chain of hills, connected upon 

 the south with the lofty mountains of Cunavami, and the 

 truncated peak of Calitamini. The Suniapo River, taking 

 its rise among these ranges, flows into the Orinoco just 

 above the lowest cascade of the rapids. Upon the west 

 are tlie hills of Manimi, with isolated clifis, rocks, and 

 island-like formations, scattered over the partially-wooded 

 plain vrhich stretches out to the horizon. Some distance 

 to the westward of where the Orinoco at present flows is 

 a valley, which indicates itself as having been the ancient 

 bed of an arm of that majestic river. The land between 



