i85i.] THE CASSIQUIARE, l62 



arrived at Sao Carlos, the principal Venezuelan village on the 

 Rio Negro. This was the furthest point reached by Humboldt 

 from an opposite direction, and I was therefore now entering 

 upon ground gone over fifty years before by that illustrious 

 traveller. At the landing-place I was agreeably surprised to 

 see a young Portuguese I had met at Guia, and as he was 

 going up the river to Tomo in a day or two, I agreed to wait 

 and take him with me. I went with him to the house of the 

 Commissario, got introduced, and commenced my acquaintance 

 with the Spanish language. I v/as civilly received, and found 

 myself in the midst of a party of loosely-dressed gentlemen, 

 holding a conversation on things in general. I found some 

 difficulty in making out anything, both from the peculiarity of 

 accent and the number of new words constantly occurring ; for 

 though Spanish is very similar to Portuguese in the verbs, 

 pronouns, and adjectives, the nouns are mostly different, and 

 the accent and pronunciation peculiar. 



We took our meals at the Commissario's table, and with 

 every meal had coffee, which custom I rather liked. The 

 next day I walked into the forest along the road to Solano, 

 a villageon the Cassiquiare. I found a dry, sandy soil, but 

 with very few insects. The village of Sao Carlos is laid out 

 with a large square, and parallel streets. The principal house, 

 called the Convento, where the priests used to reside, is now 

 occupied by the Commissario. The square is kept clean, the 

 houses whitewashed, and altogether the village is much neater 

 than those of Brazil. Every morning the bell rings for matins, 

 and the young girls and boys assemble in the church and sing 

 a few hymns ; the same takes place in the evening ; and on 

 Sundays the church is always opened, and service performed 

 by the Commissario and the Indians. 



Soon after leaving, the village we passed the mouth of the 

 Cassiquiare, that singular stream which connects the Rio Negro 

 with the Orinooko near the sources of both. It is a mixture 

 of white and black water, and swarms with piums, which are 

 abundant down to Sao Carlos ; but on passing the mouth of 

 the Cassiquiare they cease immediately, and up to the sources 

 of the Rio Negro there is a freedom at least from this pest. 

 In the evening we stayed at an Indian cottage, and bought a 

 fine cabegudo, or big-headed turtle, for a basin of salt : it 

 furnished us with an excellent supper for eight persons, and 



