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more than 50°, and also to the thick shade of 

 the forests, which are traversed by the Atabapo, 

 the Temi, the Tuamini, and the Guainia, or Rio 

 Negro. 



What proves the extreme purity of the black 

 waters is their limpidity, their transparency, and 

 the clearness with which they reflect the images 

 and colours of surrounding objects. The small- 

 est fish are visible in them at a depth of twenty 

 or thirty feet ; and most commonly the bottom 

 of the river may be distinguished, which is not 

 a yellowish or brownish mud, like the colour of 

 the water, but a quartzose and granitic sand 

 of dazzling whiteness. Nothing can be com- 

 pared to the beauty of the banks of the Ata- 

 bapo. Loaded with plants, among which rise 

 the palms crowned with leafy plumes ; the banks 

 are reflected in the waters ; and the verdure of the 

 reflected image seems to have the same vivid hue 

 as the object itself directly seen, the surface of 

 the fluid is so homogeneous, smooth, and desti- 

 tute of that mixture of suspended sand and 

 decomposed organic matter, which roughens 

 and streaks the surface of less limpid rivers. 



On quitting the Oroonoko, several small ra- 

 pids must be passed, but without any appear- 

 ance of danger. Amid these raudalitos, ac- 

 cording to the opinion of the missionaries, the 

 Rio Atabapo falls into the Oroonoko. I rather 

 think, that the Atabapo falls into the Guaviare ; 



