229 



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rock of Kemarumo, in the midst of Indian plan- 

 tations, a gigantic bombax* attracted our curi- 

 osity. We landed in order to measure it ; the 

 height was nearly one hundred and twenty feet, 

 and the diameter between fourteen and fifteen. 

 This enormous effort of vegetation surprised us 

 the more, as we had till then seen on the banks 

 of the Atabapo only small trees with slender 

 trunks, which from afar resembled young cherry 

 trees. The Indians assured us, that these small 

 trees do not form a very extensive group. They 

 are checked in their* growth by the inundations 

 of the river ; while the dry grounds near the 

 Atabapo, the Temi, and the Tuamini, furnish 

 excellent timber for building. These forests 

 however, (and this observation is important, if 

 we wish to form a precise idea of the equatorial 

 plains of the Rio Negro, and the Amazon) do 

 not stretch indefinitely to the east and west 

 toward the Cassiquiare and the G uaviare ; they 

 are bounded by the open savannahs of Manute- 

 so, and the Rio Inirida. We found it difficult 

 in the evening to stem the current, and passed 

 the night in a wood a little above Mendaxari ; 

 which is another granitic rock traversed by a 

 stratum of quartz. We found in it a group of 

 fine crystals of black schorl. 



April 29th. The air was cooler. We had 



* Bombax ceiba. 



