374 



governments are vexatious in many points of 

 view ; but the loss of liberty is at least compen- 

 sated in the Portugueze colonies by somewhat 

 more of ease and civilization. 



Among the tributary streams which the Rio 

 Negro receives from the north, three ought to 

 fix particularly our attention, because on ac- 

 count of their branchings, their portages, and the 

 situation of their sources, they have a marked 

 influence on the problem so often debated of the 

 origin of the Oroonoko. The most southern of 

 these tributary streams are the Rio Branco*, 



* As the names Rio Branco and Rio Parime signify in Por- 

 tugueze and in Caribbee river of white waters, and great water, 

 it is natural, that these expressions, applied to different tribu- 

 tary streams at once, have caused many errors in geography. 

 The great Rio Branco, or Parime, often mentioned in this 

 work, is formed by the Urariquera and the Tacutu, and 

 flows, between Carvoeyro and Villa de Moura, into the 

 Rio Negro. It is the Quecuene of the natives ; and forms 

 at it's confluence with the Rio Negro a very narrow Delta, 

 between the principal trunk and the Amayauhau, which is a 

 little branch more to the west. The ancient maps of D'An- 

 ville, La Cruz, and Caulin, enlarge this Delta in a fabulous 

 manner, and exhibit all the rivers that flow into the Rio 

 Negro, for the distance of forty leagues, between the ancient 

 mission of Dari and Carvoeyro, as branches of the Rio 

 Branco. Thus the Daraha, the Padaviri, and the Uaraca, 

 which are tributary streams, independant of each other, have 

 received the names of fourth, third, or second branch; 

 thus the great Rio Parime, or Quecuene, has been sometimes 

 distinguished from another Rio Branco, which is the Pada- 



