134 



heretofore the bed of the river*. The lofty 

 mountains of Cunavami and Calitainini, between 

 the sources of the rivers Cataniapo and Ventu- 

 ari, stretch toward the west in a chain of gra- 

 nitic hills. From this chain flow three small 

 rivers, which embrace in some sort the cataract 

 of Maypures. There are, on the eastern bank, 

 the Sanariapo, and on the western, the Cameji 

 and the Toparo. Opposite the village of May- 

 pures, the mountains fall back in an arch, and, 

 like a rocky coast, form a gulf open to the south- 

 east. The irruption of the river is effected be- 

 tween the mouths of the Toparo and the Sana- 

 riapo, at the western extremity of this majestic 

 amphitheatre. 



The Oroonoko now rolls it's waters at the foot 

 of the eastern chain of the mountains. It has 

 abandoned the ground to the west, where, in a 

 deep valley, the ancient shore is easily recog- 

 nized. A savannah, scarcely raised thirty feet 

 above the mean level of the waters, extends from 

 this desiccated valley as far as the cataracts- 

 There the small church of Maypures has been 

 constructed with trunks of palm-trees, and is 

 surrounded by seven or eight huts. The dried 

 valley, which runs in a straight line from south 

 to north, from Cameji to Toparo, is filled with 



* See the plan of the raudal, in my itinerary chart of the 

 Oroonoko (Geographical Atlas, pi. 16). 



