210 CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO, 



pear, the ridge of which is composed of pointed 

 cliffs, rising like huge pillars above the trees. When 

 these columnar masses are situated near the Orinoco, 

 flamingoes, herons, and other wading birds perch 

 on. their summits, and look like sentinels. In the 

 vicinity of the cataracts, the moisture which is dif- 

 fused in the air produces a perpetual verdure, and 

 wherever soil has accumulated on the plains, it is 

 occupied by the beautiful shrubs of the mountains. 



The rainy season had scarcely commenced, yet 

 the vegetation displayed all the vigour and brilliancy 

 which on the coast it assumes only towards the 

 end of the rains. The old trunks were decorated 

 with orchideae, bannisterias, bignonias, arums, and 

 other parasitic plants. Mimosas, figs, and laurels 

 were the prevailing trees in the woody spots ; and 

 in the vicinity of the cataract were groups of heli- 

 conias, bamboos, and palms. 



Along a space of more than five miles the bed of 

 the Orinoco is traversed by numerous dikes of rock, 

 forming natural dams, filled with islands of every 

 form, some rocky and precipitous, while others re- 

 semble shoals. By these the river is broken up into 

 torrents, which are ever dashing their spray against 

 the rocks. They are all furnished with sylvan vege- 

 tation, and resemble a mass of palm-trees rising amid 

 the foam of the waters. The current is divided into 

 a multitude of rapids, each endeavouring to force a 

 passage through the narrows, and is everywhere 

 ingulfed in caverns, in one of which the travellers 

 heard the water rolling at once over their heads and 

 beneath their feet. 



Notwithstanding the formidable aspect of this long 

 succession of falls, the Indians pass many of them 

 in their canoes. When ascending they swim on 

 before, and after repeated efforts succeed in fixing a 

 rope to a point of rock, and thus draw the canoe up 

 the rapid. Sometimes it fills with water, and is not 

 unfrequently dashed to pieces against the shelves ; 



