IN THE PRIMEVAL FOBEST. 267 



the Orinoco at the confluence of the two rivers, not far from 

 the granite rock of Curiquima, where I was able to measure 

 a base line, still upwards of 11430 French (12180 English) 

 feet wide. Yet this point, i. e. the Eock of Curiquima, is 

 four hundred geographical miles in a straight line from the 

 sea and from the Delta of the Orinoco. Part of the plains 

 watered by the Apure and the Pagara are inhabited by 

 tribes of the Yaruros and Achaguas, who, as they persist in 

 maintaining their independence, are called savages in the 

 mission villages established by the monks : their manners, 

 however, are scarcely more rude than those of the Indians 

 of the villages, who, although baptized and living " under 

 the bell" (baxo la compana), are still almost entirely untaught 

 and uninstructed. 



On leaving the Island del Diamante, in which Zambos 

 who speak Spanish cultivate sugar-canes, we entered on 

 scenes of nature characterized by wildness and grandeur. 

 The air was filled with countless flocks of flamingoes (Phreni- 

 copterus) and other water birds, which appeared against the 

 blue sky like a dark cloud with continually varying outlines. 

 The river had here narrowed to between 900 and 1000 feet, 

 and flowing in a perfectly straight line formed a kind of 

 canal enclosed on either side by dense wood. The margin 

 of the forest presents at this part a singular appearance. In 

 front of the almost impenetrable wall of giant trunks of 

 Csesalpinia, Cedrela, and Desmanthus, there rises from 

 the sandy river beach, with the greatest regularity, a 

 low hedge of Sauso, only four feet high, consisting of a 

 small shrub, Hermesia castaneifolia, which forms a new 



