448 



morning in the hope, that our dog had only 

 strayed. Three days after we came back to the 

 same place; we heard again the cries of the 

 jaguars, for these animals have a predilection 

 for particular spots ; but all our researches were 

 vain. The dog, which had accompanied us 

 from Caraccas, and had so often in swimming- 

 escaped the pursuit of the crocodiles*, had 

 been devoured in the forest. I mention this 

 incident only to throw some light on the artifices 

 of those large cats with speckled coats. 



May the 21st. We again entered the bed of 

 the Oroonoko, three leagues below the mission 

 of Esmeralda. It was then a month since we 

 had left that river near the mouth of the Gua- 

 viare. We had still a voyage of seven hundred 

 and fifty miles-}" to perform to Angostura, but it 

 was with the stream, and this consideration 

 lessened our discouragement. In descending 

 great rivers, the rowers take the thalweg, the 

 middle of the bed, where there are few mos- 

 chettoes ; while in going up they are obliged, in 

 order to avail themselves of the dead waters and 

 counter currents, to sail near the shore, where 

 the proximity of the forests, and the detritus of 

 organic substances thrown on the beach, accu- 



* See vol. iv, p. 425. 

 + Of nine hundred and fifty toises each, or two hundred 

 and fifty nautical leagues. 



