CAVE OF ATARUIPE. 277 
navigation in descending the stream, they arrived 
at the bifurcation, and reposed on the same beach of 
the Casiquiare where, a few days before, their dog 
had been carried off by the jaguars. The cries of 
these animals were again heard through the whole 
night. The black tiger also occurs in these districts. 
It is celebrated for its strength and ferocity, and 
appears to be larger than the other, of which, how- 
ever, it is probably a variety. 
Leaving their resting-place before sunrise, and 
sailing with the current, they passed the mouths of 
the Cunucunumo, Guanami, and Puruname. The 
country was entirely desert, although rude figures 
representing the sun, the moon, and different ani- 
mals, are to be seen on the granite rocks; attesting 
the former existence of a people more civilized than 
any that they had seen. 
On the 27th May they reached the mission of San 
Fernando de Atabipo, where they had lodged a month 
before on their ascent toward the Rio Negro. The 
president had allowed himself to become very un- 
easy respecting the object of their journey; and re- 
quested Humboldt to leave a writing in his hands, 
bearing testimony to the good order that prevailed in 
the Christian settlements on the Orinoco, and the 
mildness with which the natives were treated. This, 
however, he declined. From this point they retraced 
their former route, and passed the cataracts. On the 
31st, they landed before sunset at the Puerto de la 
Expedicion, for the purpose of visiting the cave of 
Ataruipe, which is the sepulchre of an extinct nation. 
“ We climbed,” says Humboldt, “ with difficulty 
and not without danger, a steep rock of granite, en- 
tirely destitute of soil. It would have been almost 
