697 



carpus that were three feet long, and eighteen 

 inches broad, remarkable dimensions in a plant 

 of the family of the dicotyledons. 



I shall terminate this chapter by a succinct 

 description of Spanish Guyana (Provincia de la 

 Guyana), which is a part of the ancient Capi- 

 tania general of Caraccas. Having made known 

 at large whatever is remarkable on the banks of 

 the Apure, the Oroonoko, the Atabapo, the Rio 

 Negro, and the Cassiquiare, that relates to the 

 history of our species, and of the productions of 

 nature, it may be interesting to collect these 

 scattered features, and trace the general picture 

 of a country, which, awaiting a higher destiny, 

 begins already to fix the attention of Europe. I 

 shall first describe the situation of Angostura, the 

 present capital of the province ; and shall then 

 trace the Oroonoko as far as the delta, which it 

 forms at it's mouth. Making known at the 

 same time the real course of the Rio Carony, the 

 fertile banks of which contain the greater part of 

 the Indian population of Guyana, I shall show 

 from the history of geography the origin of those 

 fabulous lakes, which long disfigured our maps. 



Since the end of the sixteenth century three 

 towns have successively borne the name of Saint 

 Thomas of Guyana. The first was opposite the 

 Island of Faxardo, at the confluence of the Ca- 

 rony and the Oroonoko. It was this which was 



