THE ORINOCO. 219 
CHAPTER XVII. 
Voyage up the Orinoco. 
Ascent of the Orinoco—Port of Encaramada—Traditions of a Uni- 
versal Deluge—Gathering of Turtles’ Eggs—Two Species de- 
scribed —Mode of collecting the Eggs and of manufacturing the 
Oii— Probable Number of these Animals on the Orinoco—Decora- 
tions of the Indians Encampment of Pararuma—Height of the 
Inundations of the Orinoco—Rapids of Tabage. 
Leavine the Rio Apure the travellers entered the 
Orinoco, and presently found themselves in a coun- 
try of an entirely different aspect. As far as the eye 
could reach there lay before them a sheet of water, 
the waves of which, from the conflict of the breeze 
and the current, rose to the height of-several feet. 
The long files of herons, flamingoes, and spoonbills, 
which were observed on the Apure, had disappeared ; 
and all that supplied the place of those multitudes 
of animated beings by whom they had been lately 
accompanied, was here and there a crocodile swim- 
ming in the agitated stream. The horizon was 
bounded by a girdle of forests, separated from the 
river by a broad beach, the bare and parched sur- 
face of which refracted the solar rays into the sem- 
blance of pools. 
The wind was favourable for sailing up the 
Orinoco; but the short broken waves at the junc- 
tion of the two rivers were exceedingly disagreeable. 
They passed the Punta Curiquima, a granitic pro- 
montory, between which and the mouth of the 
