172 A CANNIBAL AMONG THEM. 



him into their service. "What whs their horror when, talk- 

 ing to-him by means of an interpreter, they learned, that 

 the flesh of the marimonde monkeys, though blacker, 

 appeared to him to have the taste of human flesh. lie 

 told them that " his relations preferred the inside of the 

 hands in man, as in bears." This assertion was accom- 

 panied with gestures of savage gratification. They in- 

 quired of this young man, so calm and so affectionate in 

 the little services which he rendered them, whether he 

 still felt sometimes a desire to eat of a Cheruvichahena. 

 He answered, without discomposure, that, living in the 

 mission, he would only eat what he saw was eaten by 

 the Padres. 



As they approached the bifurcation of the Orinoco 

 their passage became troublesome, on account of the 

 luxuriance of the vegetation. There was no longer 

 a bank: a palisade of tufted trees formed the margin 

 of the river. They saw a canal, one thousand two 

 hundred feet broad, bordered by two enormous walls, 

 clothed with lianas and foliage. They often tried to 

 land, but without success. Towards sunset they sailed 

 along for an hour seeking to discover, not an opening, 

 since none existed, but a spot less wooded, where their 

 Indians by means of the hatchet and manual labour, 

 could clear space enough for a resting-place for twelve 

 or thirteen persons. It was impossible to pass the night 

 in the canoe; the mosquitos, which tormented them dur- 

 ing the day, accumulated towards evening beneath the 

 roof covered with palm-leaves, which served to shelter 

 them from the rain. Their hands aud faces had never 

 before been so much swelled. Father Zea, who had till 

 then boasted of having in his missions of the cataracts 



