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confined. " What that woman performed," 

 added the missionary ^ who gave us this sad 

 narrative, " the most robust Indian would not 

 have ventured to undertake. She traversed the 

 woods at a season, when the sky is constantly 

 covered with clouds, and the Sun during whole 

 days appears but for a few minutes. Did the 

 course of the waters direct her way ? The in- 

 undations of the rivers forced her to go far from 

 the banks of the main stream, through the 

 midst of woods where the movement of the 

 waters is almost imperceptible. How often 

 must she have been stopped by the thorny lia- 

 nas, that form a network around the trunks 

 they entwine ! How often must she have swum 

 across the rivulets, that run into the Atabapo ! 

 This unfortunate woman was asked how she 

 had sustained herself during four days? She 

 said, that exhausted with fatigue, she could find 

 no other nourishment than those great black 

 ants called vachacos, which climb the trees in 

 long bands, to suspend on them their resinous 

 nests." We pressed the missionary to tell us, 

 whether the Guahiba had peacefully enjoyed 

 the happiness of remaining with her children ; 

 and if any repentance had followed this excess 

 of cruelty. He would not satisfy our curiosity ; 

 but at our return from the Rio Negro we learnt, 

 that the Indian mother was not allowed time to 

 cure her wounds, but was again separated from 



