THE ORINOCO. 



189 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Voyage up the Orinoco. 



Ascent of the Orinoco— Port of Encaramada— Traditions of a universal 

 Deluge— Gathering of Turtles' Eggs— Two Species described — Mode 

 of collecting the Eggs and of manufacturing the Oil— Probable Num- 

 ber of these Animals on the Orinoco — Decorations of the Indians — 

 Encampment of Pararuma— Height of the Inundations of the Ori- 

 noco—Rapids of Tabage. 



Leaving 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 croco- 

 dile swimming in the agitated stream. The hori- 

 zon was bounded by a girdle of forests, separated 

 from the river by a broad beach, the bare and 

 parched surface of which refracted the solar rays 

 into the semblance of pools. 



The wind was favourable for sailing up the Ori- 

 noco ; but the short broken waves at the junction of 

 the two rivers were exceedingly disagreeable. They 

 passed the Punta Curiquima, a granitic promontory, 

 between which and the mouth of the Apure the 

 breadth of the stream was ascertained to be 4063 

 yards, and in the rainy season it extends to 11,760. 

 The temperature of the water was in the middle of 

 the current 82'9°, and near the shores 84*6°. They 



