THE MODERN AMAZONS. 1^ 



" we were affured by his fon, a fenlible man, that 

 f what we had heard was by no means a falfehood : 

 " that his grandfather had aclually feen thofe Amazons 

 " at the mouthing of the Cuchivara, and that they had 

 " come thither from the river Camaia, which flows 

 " into the Maragnon. He had fpoken with four o£ 

 P them, whofe names he repeated to us. One of them 

 66 had an infant at her breaft. — All the Indians below 

 * c Koari confirmed to us thefe relations, with the ad- 

 c 6 dition of many other circumftances, which all agreed 

 i( in the main. 



" Among the nation of the Topayos we faw certain 

 " green ftones, of which they told us, that they in- 

 * c herited them of their forefathers, who received them 

 " from the Coungnantainfecuima, i. e. women without 

 " men." — ** A certain Indian, continues la Conda- 



mine, who dwelt in my miffion, begged of me to 

 " let him fhew me a river, by which one might pro- 

 " ceed to the vicinity of the prefent abode of the 

 u Amazons. But where the river is unnavi gable on 

 " account of the cataracls, if we would reach their 

 " country, we mull travel for feveral days through 

 ct the wilds that lie to the weft, acrofs a very moun- 

 " tainous diftricl:. This river is called the Iritzo, and, 

 " in confequence of this information, I afterwards 

 ** traced it up to its mouth. 



fC I farther got intelligence from an old foldier of 

 H the garrifon at Cayenne, who had been fent with a 

 ic detachment into the interior of the country in the 

 cc year 1726, for the purpofe of making difcoveries': 

 " that they penetrated fo far till they came to a long- 

 <c eared nation, called Amicuani, and inhabit the far- 



