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by the portages between the Cababuri, the Pas- 

 simoni, the Idapa, and the Macava, to gather 

 the aromatic seeds of the puchery laurel behind 

 the Esmeralda. The Indians, I repeat, are ex- 

 cellent geographers ; they turn the enemy, not- 

 withstanding the limits traced upon the maps, 

 in spite of the forts and the estacamentos ; and 

 when the missionaries see them arrive from such 

 distances, and in different seasons, they begin 

 to frame hypotheses of pretended communica- 

 tions of rivers. Each party has an interest in 

 concealing what it knows with certainty ; and 

 that propensity for all that is mysterious, which 

 is so common and so powerful among the igno- 

 rant, contributes to perpetuate the doubt. It 

 may be observed farther, that the various Indian 

 nations, who frequent this labyrinth of rivers, 

 give them names entirely different ; and these 

 names are disguised and lengthened by termi- 

 nations that signify water, great water, current. 

 How often have I been perplexed by the ne- 

 cessity of settling the synonymy of rivers, when 

 I have sent for the most intelligent among the 

 natives, in order to interrogate them by means 

 of an interpreter on the number of tributary 

 streams, on the sources of the rivers, and on the 

 portages ! Three or four languages being spoken 

 in the same mission, it is difficult to make the 

 witnesses agree. Our maps are loaded with 

 names arbitrarily shortened or disfigured, To 



