18 COURSE OF THE ORINOCO. 





j>f Chaguanes, Angostura might be defended against ail 

 enemy that should attempt to penetrate by one of* the locas 

 cliicas. In my time the station of the gun-boats was east 

 f San Rafael, near the northern bank of the Orinoco. This 

 is the point which vessels must pass in sailing up toward 

 Angostura by the northern channel, that of San [Rafael, 

 which is the broadest but the most shallow. 



Six leagues above the point where the Orinoco sends oft' a 

 branch to the bocas cliicas is placed an ancient fort (los Cas- 

 tillos de la Vieja or Antigua Guayana^) the first construction 

 of which goes back to the sixteenth century. In this spot 

 the bed of the river is studded with rocky islands ; and it is 

 asserted that its breadth is nearly six hundred and fifty 

 toises. The town is almost destroyed, but the fortifications 

 subsist, and are well worthy the attention of the government 

 of Terra Firma. There is a magnificent view from the bat- 

 tery established oil a bluff north-west of the ancient town, 

 which, at the period of great inundations, is entirely sur- 

 rounded with water. Pools that communicate with the 

 Orinoco form natural basins, adapted for the reception of 

 vessels that want repairs. 



After having passed the little forts of Vieja Guayana, the 

 bed of the Orinoco again widens. The state of cultivation 

 of the country on the two banks affords a striking contrast. 

 On the north is seen the desert part of the province of Cu- 

 mana, steppes (Llanos) destitute of habitations, and extend- 

 ing beyond the sources of the Eio Mamo, toward the table- 

 land or mesa of G-uanipa. On the south we find three popu- 

 lous villages belonging to the missions of Carony, namely, 

 San Miguel de Uriala, San Felix, and San Joaquin. The last 

 of these villages, situate on the banks of the Carony, imme- 

 diately below the great cataract, is considered as the etnbar- 

 cadero of the Catalonian missions. On navigating more to 

 the east, between the mouth of the Carony and Angostura, 

 the pilot should avoid the rocks of Guarampo, the sand- 

 bank of Mamo, and the Piedra del Eosario. From the 

 numerous materials which I brought home, and from astro- 

 nomical discussions, the principal results of which I have 

 indicated above, I have constructed a map of the country 

 bounded by the delta of the Orinoco, the Carony, and the 

 Cuyuni. This part of Guiana, from its proximity to the 



