186 VIEWS OF NATURE. 



far to the north. Schomburgk calls the last-named river 

 Rupununi, according to the pronunciation of the Macusis; 

 and gives as the synonymes Rupunuri, Rupunuwini and 

 Opununy, which have arisen from the difficulty the Carib 

 tribes of these districts find in pronouncing the letter 

 "r." The position of the lake Amucu and its relations 

 to the Mahu (Maou) and Tacutu (Tacoto) correspond per- 

 fectly with my map of Colombia drawn in 1825. We agree 

 equally well regarding the latitude of the lake of Amucu, 

 for while he places it in 3 33', I considered it to be in 3 35'; 

 the Cafio Pirara (Pirarara) which connects the Amucu with 

 the Rio Branco, flows from it towards the north, and not to 

 the west as I had marked it. The Sibarana of my map, the 

 sources of which Hortsmann placed to the north of the Cerro 

 Ucucuamo near a fine mine of rock crystal, is the Siparuni 

 of Schomburgk' s map. His Waa-Ekuru is the Tavaricaru of 

 the Portuguese geographer Pontes Leme, and is the branch 

 of the Rupunuri which lies the nearest to the lake of Amucu. 

 The following remarks from the report of Sir Robert 

 Schomburgk throw some light on the subject in question. 

 " The lake of Amucu," says this traveller, " is without doubt 

 the nucleus of the Lake of Parime and of the supposed White 

 Sea. In December and January, when we visited it, it was 

 scarcely a mile in length, and was half covered with reeds." 

 The same observation occurs on D'Anville's map of 1748. 

 " The Pirara flows from the lake to the W.N.W. of the Indian 

 village of Pirara and falls into the Maou or Mahu. The last- 

 named river rises, according to the information given me, north 

 of the ridge of the Pacaraima mountains, which in their eastern 

 portion do not attain a greater elevation than about 1600 feet. 

 The sources of the river are on a plateau, from whence it 

 is precipitated in a beautiful waterfall, known as the Corona. 

 We were on the point of visiting this fall, when on the third 

 day of our excursion to the mountains, the indisposition of 

 one of my companions compelled me to return to the station at 

 the lake Amucu. The Mahu has black coffee-coloured water, 

 and its current is more impetuous than that of the Rupunuri. 

 In the mountains through which it pursues its course it is 

 about 60 yards in breadth. Its environs are here extremely 

 picturesque. This valley as well as the bank of the Buroburo, 

 which flows into the Siparuni, are inhabited by the Macusis. 



