217 



lasm that covet' the shore. You no longer suffer 

 during the day the torment of moschettoes ; and 

 the gnats with long legs (zancudoes) become 

 rare during the night. Beyond the mission of 

 San Fernando these nocturnal insects disappear 

 altogether. The waters of the Oroonoko are 

 turbid, and loaded with earthy matter ; and in 

 the coves, from the accumulation of dead croco- 

 diles and other putrescent substances, diffuse a 

 musky and faint smell. We were sometimes 

 obliged to strain this water through a linen 

 cloth before we drank it. The waters of the 

 Atabapo on the contrary are pure, agreeable to 

 the taste, without any trace of smell, brownish 

 by reflected, and of a pale yellow by transmitted 

 light. The people call them light, in opposition 

 to the heavy and turbid waters of the Oroo- 

 noko. Their temperature is generally two de- 

 grees, and when you appproach the mouth of 

 the Rio Teini three degrees, cooler than the 

 temperature of the Upper Oroonoko. After 

 having been compelled during a whole year to 

 drink water at 27° or 28°*, a lowering of a few 

 degrees in the temperature produces a very 

 agreeable sensation. I think this lowering of 

 the temperature may be attributed to the river 

 being less broad, and without the sandy beach, 

 the heat of which at the Oroonoko is by day 



* 22-4° or 22'8° of Reaumur. 



