664 



In sending to Europe the complicated appa- 

 ratus, which the Otomacs employ in order to 

 inhale the powder of niopo, I directed the atten- 

 tion of the learned to an analogous custom, which 

 Mr. de la Condamine observed among the natives 

 of the Upper Maragnon. The Omaguas, whose 

 name is rendered celebrated by the expeditions 

 attempted in search of Dorado, have the same 

 dish, and the same hollow bone of a bird, by 

 which they convey to their nostrils their powder 

 of curapa. The seed that yields this powder is 

 no doubt also a mimosacea ; for the Otomacs, 

 according to Father Gili, denote even now, at 

 the distance of one hundred and sixty leagues 

 from the Amazon, the acacia niopo by the name 

 of curupa *. Since the geographical researches, 

 which I have recently made on the theatre of 

 the exploits of Philip von Huten, and on the real 

 situation of the province of Papamene <f-, or of 

 the Omaguas, the probability of an ancient com- 

 munication between the Otomacs of the Oroo- 

 noko and the Omaguas of the Maragnon has 

 become more interesting and more proba- 

 ble. The former came from the Meta, perhaps 

 from the country between the Meta and the 

 Guaviare ; the latter assert, that they descended 



* Gilt, vol.i, p. 201. La Condamine, Voyage a V Amazon*, 

 p. 62. 



t See above, p. 319, 323, 340 



