216 



MISSION OF MAYPURES. 



Maypures. The night was extremely dark, and the 

 village was at a considerable distance ; still, as the 

 missionary caused copal-torches to be lighted, they 

 proceeded. As the rain ceased the zancudoes re- 

 appeared, and the flambeaux being extinguished, 

 they had to grope their way. One of their fellow- 

 travellers, Don Nicolas Soto, slipped from a round 

 trunk on which he attempted to cross a gully, but 

 fortunately received no injury. To add to their 

 distress, the pilot talked incessantly of venomous 

 snakes, water- serpents, and tigers. On their arrival 

 at the mission they found the inhabitants immersed 

 in profound sleep, and nothing was heard but the 

 cries of nocturnal birds and the distant roar of the 

 cataract. 



At the village of Maypures they remained three 

 days, for the purpose of examining the neighbour- 

 hood. The cataract, called by the Indians Quittuna, 

 is formed by an archipelago of islands, filling the 

 bed of the river to the length of 6395 yards, and by 

 dikes of rock which occasionally join them together. 

 The largest of these shelves or bars are at Purima- 

 rimi, Manimi, and the Salto de la Sardina ; the last 

 of which is about nine feet high. To obtain a full 

 view of the falls the travellers frequently ascended 

 the eminence of Manimi, a granitic ridge rising from 

 the savanna, to the north of the church. " When 

 one attains the summit of the rock," says Humboldt, 

 " he suddenly sees a sheet of foam a mile in extent. 

 Enormous masses of rock, of an iron blackness, 

 emerge from its bosom, some of a mammillar form, 

 and grouped like basaltic hills ; others resembling 

 towers, castles, and ruins. Their dark colour con- 

 trasts with the silvery whiteness of the foam. 

 Every rock and islet is covered with tufts of stately 

 trees. From the base of these prominences, as far 

 as the eye can reach, there hangs over the river a 

 dense mist, through which the tops of majestic palms 

 are seen to penetrate. At every hour of the day this 



