164 ATABAPO AND UPPEE KIO NEGEO. 



are ohiong in shape, with a hard, calcareous shell, contain- 

 ing oil like those of the tortuga. We found this oleagi- 

 nous portion extremely delicious, although our Indians dis- 

 carded it, eating only the yolk. 



A short distance above Santa Cruz we left the Ataba- 

 po, which turns to the east under the name of Atacavi, and 

 entered the mouth of the Temi, whose Avaters were also 

 inky black. Passing one night upon this river, the fol- 

 lowing day we entered the Tuamini, a still narrower 

 stream, equally black ; and at 4 p. m. of the same day, the 

 10th of December, we landed at Javita, the terminus of 

 our journey up-stream. It was the turning-point in our 

 travels, for from here we were to float doAvn the current 

 of the Rio Negro to the Amazons. Sixty-eight years be- 

 fore, the illustrious Humboldt jienetrated these very wilds 

 by the Orinoco and Atabapo, as far as the borders of Bra- 

 zil, returning by the Cassiquiare. In 1851, the English 

 naturalist Wallace, in his journey upon the Kio Negro, 

 ascended that river as far as this place, retracing his steps 

 as he had come. But no American traveller had before 

 us penetrated to these remote regions ; we were the fii'st 

 to unfurl the stars and stripes upon these upper waters of 

 the Orinoco. 



The village of Javita has some thirty houses, with a 

 neat little church, and a great square which is kept scru- 

 pulously clean. The inhabitants, about three hundred in 

 number, are all Indians, and speak the Baniwa language, 

 although many of them converse fluently in Spanish. All 

 were well clothed, the men wearing pants and a camisa, 

 and the women gowns which hung loosely about their 

 persons. Some of the young girls were exceedingly beau- 

 tiful, and when attired in their best, with their black hair 

 neatly plaited, they presented a really attractive appear- 

 ance. Many among them, not over twelve years of age, 

 were already mothers and owners of chubby, enterprising 



