349 



ly traveller reposes himself in a cottage, the 

 inhabitants of which are ignorant of the febri- 

 fuge qualities of the trees, that shade the sur- 

 rounding vallies. 



Passing by sea from Cumana to La Guayra, 

 we intended to take up our abode in the town 

 of Caraccas, till the end of the rainy season ; 

 to direct our course thence across the great 

 plains of Llanos to the Missions of the Oroonoko ; 

 to go up that immense river, to the south of the 

 cataracts, as far as Rio Negro and the frontiers 

 of Brazil ; and thence to return to Cumana by 

 the capital of Spanish Guyana, vulgarly called^ 

 on account of its situation, Angostura, or the 

 Strait. It was not possible for us to fix the 

 time it would require, to accomplish a tour of 

 seven hundred leagues, more than two thirds of 

 which was to be made in boats. The only parts 

 of the Oroonoko known on the coasts are those 

 near it's mouth. No commercial intercourse is 

 kept up with the Missions. All the country 

 beyond the Llanos is unknown the inhabit- 

 ants of Cumana and Caraccas. Some think, 

 that the plains of Calabozo, covered with turf, 

 stretch eight hundred leagues to the south, 

 communicating with the Steppes or Pampas 

 of Buenos Ayres ; others, recalling to mind the 

 great mortality, that reigned among the troops 

 of Iturriaga and Solano, during their expedi- 

 tion to the Oroonoko, consider the whole coun- 



