106 



nately, all the missions of the Oroonoko have 

 been placed too near the banks of the river 

 from the first. At Esmeralda the inhabitants 

 assured us, that, if the village were placed in one 

 of the five plains surrounding the high moun- 

 tains of Duida and Maraguaca, they should 

 breathe freely, and enjoy some repose. The 

 great cloud of moschettoes*, to use the expression 

 of the monks, reposes only over the Oroonoko 

 and it's tributary streams, and is dissipated in 

 proportion as you remove from the rivers; so 

 that we should form a very inaccurate idea of 

 Guyana and Brazil, were we to judge of that 

 great forest four hundred leagues wide, lying 

 between the sources of the Madeira and the 

 Lower Oroonoko, from the vallies of the riyers 

 by which it is crossed. 



I learnt, that the little insects of the family 

 of the nemocerse migrate from time to time 

 like the alouat monkeys that live in society. 

 In certain spots, at the commencement of the 

 rainy season, different species appear, the sting 

 of which had not yet been felt. We were 

 informed at the Rio Magdalena, that at Simiti 

 no other culex than the jejen-f was formerly 

 known ; and the night was passed tranquilly, 

 for thejejm is not a nocturnal insect. Since the 



* " La nube de Moscas," 

 + Or xewett. 



