288 



banks of the Oroonoko, and the humid moun- 

 tains of Choco. 



May the 6th. We embarked at sunrise, after 

 having carefully examined the bottom of our 

 canoe. It had become thinner, but had received 

 no crack in the portage. We reckoned, that 

 the same boat would still bear the voyage of 

 three hundred leagues, which remained for us 

 to make, in going down the Rio Negro, ascend- 

 ing the Cassiquiare, and redescending the Oroo- 

 noko as far as Angostura. The Pimichin, which 

 is called a rivulet (canno), is as broad as the 

 Seine opposite the gallery of the Tuileries ; but 

 small trees that love the water, corossols * and 

 achras, narrow the bed so much, that there 

 remains open a channel of only fifteen or twenty 

 toises. Next to the Rio Chagre this river is one 

 of the most celebrated in America for the num- 

 ber of it's windings ; eighty-five are reckoned, 

 which greatly lengthen it. They often form a 

 right angle, and occur every two or three 

 leagues. To determine the difference of longi- 

 tude between the landing place and the point 

 where we were to enter the Rio Negro, I took 

 by the compass the course of the Canno Pimi- 

 chin, and noted the time during which we 

 followed the same direction. The velocity of 

 the current was only 2*4 feet in a second ; but 



* Anona. 



