FIFTEEN HUNDRED MILES ON THE ORINOCO 155 



was only eighteen feet long, with about two inches of free- 

 board, but fortune favored us and after two days we reached 

 the mouth of the Tuparo. The first night out had been 

 spent on a laja, or shelf of rock which extends over the 

 water; the men set the dry vegetation in back of the camp 

 afire in order to keep away jaguars, and built a fence of 

 brands along the outer edge of the rock to frighten off the 

 crocodiles. The second night was spent on a large sand- 

 bank just below the rapid of Guajibo. In approaching 

 this site the canoe had been caught in a sudden hurricane 

 and swamped before land could be reached; but fortunately 

 we had gained shallow water, so nothing was lost. On this 

 sand-bar lived three species of terns, one of very small size 

 that came in immense flocks after nightfall and, dropping 

 on the sand, immediately disappeared from view; also num- 

 bers of yellow-legs and a few gulls. The wind blew steadily 

 all night, so that by morning everything and every one was 

 half buried in the loose sand. 



The rapid of Guajibo is one of the most treacherous in 

 the whole Orinoco. Each year the rubber-gatherers pay 

 heavy toll in lives while traversing this notorious spot. A 

 great horseshoe-shaped ledge of rock extends across practi- 

 cally the entire river, and over this the water rushes at 

 great speed; below is a series of scattered rocks extending 

 for a quarter of a mile, and forming a raging, roaring gorge. 

 We portaged around the spot, although the country is very 

 difficult, owing to the many high rocks and the deep crev- 

 ices between them. An acquaintance who had just passed 

 attempted to have his men drag their boat through, with 

 the result that they lost the canoe and three men. Shortly 

 after a large piragua coming from up-river attempted to 

 run the rapids to save time; seven of the crew, as well as 

 the owner of the outfit, paid for their folly with their lives, 

 and the entire cargo of rubber, together with the boat, was 

 lost. A few days later another party wrecked their canoe 

 and lost two men. These are all cases which came under 

 our notice, and I was told of many others. 



