SHOALS. U J) 



the island of Apurito. Multitudes of gnats made their ciiAi' 

 appearance regularly at sunset, and covered their faces onatl" 

 and hands. On the 5tli they were much struck by the 

 diminution the waters of the Apure had undergone, 

 which they attributed chiefly to al)sorption by the sand 

 and evaporation. It was only from 128 to 170 yards 

 broad, and about twenty feet deep. Humboldt estiriiates 

 the mean fall of this river at 14 inches in a mile. The 

 canoe touched several times on shoals as they approached 

 the point of junction, and it became necessary to tow it 

 by means of a line. 



