PASSAGE OF THE CATARACTS. 949 
at certain hours of the day, distinct species, as the 
missionaries say, mount guard. From half after 
six in the morning till five in the afternoon the 
air is filled with mosquitoes, which are of the 
genus Szmulium, and resemble a common fly. An 
hour before sunset small gnats, called tempraneroes, 
succeeded them, to disappear between six and seven ; 
after which zancudoes, a species of gnat with very 
long legs, come abroad and continue until near sun- 
rise, when the former again take their turn. Per- 
sons born in the country, whether whites, mulattoes, 
negroes, or Indians, all suffer from the sting of these 
insects, although not so severely as recently-arrived 
Europeans. | 
The travellers, after remaining two days in the 
vicinity of the cataract of Atures, proceeded on the 
17th to rejoin their canoe, already conducted by 
“eight Indians of the mission through the rapids, and 
reached it about eleven in the morning, accompanied 
by Father Zea, who had procured a small stock of 
visions, consisting of plantains, cassava, and fowls. 
_the river was now free from shoals ; and after a few 
“hours they passed the rapids of Garcita, and per- 
_ceived numerous small holes, at an elevation of more 
than 190 feet above the level of the current, which 
appeared to have been caused by the erosion of the 
waters. The night was spent in the open air, on 
the left bank. 
On the 18th they set out at three in the morning, 
and near five in the afternoon reached the Raudal 
des Guahiboes, on the dike of which they landed 
while the Indians were drawing up the boat. The 
gneiss rock exhibited circular holes, produced by the 
friction of pebbles, in one of which they prepared a 
