319 



Pachaquiaro, or Rio Negro of Apiay, forms the 

 Meta; more to the south lies the Rio Ariari, 

 which is one of the tributary streams of the Gua- 

 viare, the mouth of which I saw near San Fer- 

 nando de Atabapo. In following the back of 

 the Cordillera toward the Ceja and the Paramo 

 de Aponte, we find the Rio Guayavero, which 

 passes near the village of Aramo, and joins the 

 Aviari*. Below this confluence, the two rivers 

 take the name of Guaviare. South-west of the 

 Paramo de Aponte, at the foot of the mountains, 

 near Santa Rosa, rises the Rio Caqueta ; and 

 on the Cordillera itself the Rio de Mocoa, cele- 

 brated in the history of the conquest. These 



* The passage of these two rivers, the Ariari and Guaya- 

 vero (Guayare or Canicamare), is clearly distinguishable in the 

 account of the expedition of Jorge de Espira (Georg von 

 Speier) from Coro to the province of Choques, in 1536. But 

 what is that great river Papainene (Rio de Plata) , which 

 this conquistador passed after the Guayavero, and which co- 

 mienca a las espaldos, that is, to the south-east of the villa de 

 Timana? Beyond a doubt it is the Caqueta, or the Rio 

 Fragua, which flows into the Caqueta. (Fray Pedro Simon , 

 Notici. de la Conquista, p. 188 — 201, and 332). Mr. Southey 

 well observes, that an ample folio volume might be filled with 

 the accounts of the expeditions, that have been made to dis- 

 cover el Dorado. A compilation of this kind would furnish 

 not merely a sad picture of human sufferings, cruelties, and 

 follies, but might also serve to throw some light on the geo- 

 graphy of the interior of South America, if, (which has not 

 been hitherto attempted) the roads pursued by these expe- 

 ditions were discussed. 



