371 



one to go up the Amazon beyond the mouth of 

 the Cababuri, a river celebrated for the collec- 

 tion of sarsaparilla, all that has been recently 

 published, even at Rio Janeiro, on the geography 

 of those countries, is extremely confused. In 

 going down the Guainia, or Rio Negro, you 

 pass on the right the Canno Maliapo, and on the 

 left the Cannos Dariba and Eny. At five leagues 

 distance, consequently nearly in 1° 38' of north 

 latitude, is the island of San Josef, which is pro- 

 visionally recognized (for in the interminable 

 dispute of the boundaries every thing is provi- 

 sional) as the southern extremity of the Spanish 

 possessions. A little below this island, in a spot 

 where there are a great number of orange-trees 

 now growing wild, you are shown a small rock, 

 two hundred feet high, with a cavern called by 

 the missionaries the Glorieta de Cocuy. This 

 summer-house, for such is the signification of the 

 word glorieta in Spanish, recalls however re- 

 membrances, that are not the most agreeable. It 

 was there that Cocuy, the chief of the Manitivi- 

 tanoes, of whom we have spoken above*, had his 

 harem of women, and where (to tell the whole), 

 from a peculiar predilection, he devoured the 

 finest and fattest. I have no doubt, that Cocuy 



* P. 206, 207 of the present volume. At San Carlos an 

 instrument of musie is still preserved, a kind of large drum, 

 ornamented with very rude Indian paintings, which relate to 

 the exploits of Cocuy. 



2 b 2 



