216 



VIEW OF THE FALLS. 



CiiAP.Xvail shelves or bars are at Purimarimi, Manimi, and the 

 jy ~ Salto de la Sardina, the last of which is about nine feet 

 high. To obtain a full view of the falls, the travellers 

 frequently ascended the eminence of Manimi, a granitic 

 ridge rising from the savannah, to the north of the 

 church. " When one attains the summit of the rock," 

 says Humboldt, "he suddenly sees a sheet of foam a 

 mile in extent. Enormous masses of rock, of an iron 

 blackness, emerge from its bosom, some of a mammillar 

 form, and grouped like basaltic hills ; others resembling 

 towers, castles, and ruins. Their dark colour contrasts 

 View of the '^vith the silvery whiteness of the foam. Every rock 

 ^^ and islet is covered with tufts of stately trees. From 



the base of these prominences, as far as the eye can 

 reach, there hangs over the river a dense mist, through 

 which the tops of majestic palms are seen to penetrate. 

 At every hour of the day this sheet of foam presents a 

 different aspect. Sometimes the mountain-isles and 

 palms project their long shadows over it ; sometimes 

 the rays of the setting sun are refracted in the humid 

 cloud that covers the cataract, when coloured arches 

 form, vanish, and reappear by turns." 



The mountain of iManimi forms the eastern limit of a 

 plain, which presented the same appearance as that of 

 Atures. Toward the west is a level space formerly 

 occupied by the waters of the river, and exhibiting 

 rocks similar to the islands of the cataracts. These 

 masses are also crowned with palms ; and one of them, 

 called Keri, is celebrated in the country for a white 

 spot, which Humboldt supposed to be a large nodule of 

 quartz. In an islet amidst the rush of waters there is 

 a similar spot. The Indians view them with a myste- 

 rious interest, believing they see in the former the image 

 of the moon, and in the latter that of the sun. 



The inhabitants of the mission were Guahiboes and 

 Macoes. In the time of the Jesuits the number was six 

 Imudred, but it had gradually fallen to less than sixty. 

 Tliey are represented as gentle, temperate, and cleanly. 

 They cultivate plantains and cassava, and, like most cf 



Moontain of 

 UanlmL 



Native* if 

 the muuioD. 



