RIVERS OBSTRUCTED BY ROCKS. 14 7 



leaped into the water, and having drawn the boat to 

 shore by means of a rope, made it fast to a shelf of bare 

 rock, on which they passed the night. The thunder 

 continued to roll during a part of the night ; the swell 

 of the river became considerable ; and they were several 

 times afraid that their frail bark would be driven from 

 the shore by the impetuosity of the waves. 



The next day they found the bed of the river, to the 

 length of thirty -six hundred feet, full of granite rocks. 

 They passed through channels that were not five feet 

 broad. Their canoe was sometimes jammed between 

 two blocks of granite. When the current was too violent 

 to be resisted the rowers leaped into the water, and 

 fastened a rope to the point of a rock, to warp the boat 

 along. This manoeuvre was very tedious ; and the tra- 

 vellers sometimes availed themselves of it, to climb the 

 rocks among which they were entangled. The rocks 

 were of all dimensions, rounded, very black, glossy like 

 lead, and destitute of vegetation. It was an extraordinary 

 phenomenon to see the waters of one of the largest rivers 

 on the globe in some sort disappear. They perceived, 

 even far from the shore, those immense blocks of granite 

 rising from the ground, and leaning one against another. 

 The intervening channels in the rapids were more than 

 twenty-five fathoms deep ; and were the more difficult to 

 be observed, as the rocks were often narrow towards their 

 bases, and formed vaults suspended over the surface of 

 the river. 



From the mouth of the Meta, the Orinoco appeared to 

 be freer of shoals and rocks. Thev navigated in a channel 

 three thousand feet broad. The Indians remained row- 

 ing in the boat, without towing or pushing it forward 



