702 



second * four hundred and ninety. These mea- 

 sures surpass four or five times that of the Seine 

 near the Jardin des Plantes, and yet this part of 

 the Oroonoko is called a choking, or a strait. 

 Nothing is better fitted to give an idea of the 

 mass of water of the great rivers of America, 

 than the dimensions of these pretended straits. 

 The Amazon, according to my measurement -f-, 

 is two hundred and seventeen toises wide at the 

 Pongo de Rentema ; and according to Mr. de 

 la Condamine, twenty-five toises at the Pongo 

 de Manseriche, and at the strait of Pauxis, 

 nine hundred toises. This last strait conse- 

 quently differs little from the breadth of the 

 Oroonoko at the strait of Baraguan %. 



When the waters are high, the river inundates 

 the keys ; and it sometimes happens, that even 

 in the town imprudent men become the prey of 

 crocodiles. I shall transcribe from my journal 

 a fact, that took place during Mr. Bonpland's 



74° 33' 10" and 90°. Distance deduced 889 metres, or 456 

 toises j but we must subtract 76 toises, or the distance from 

 Punta San Gabriel to the Carcel on the key. Now 456 t. — 

 76 = 380 t., or 885 varas cast. 



* Base measured in the Alameda, 193*6 met. Anglei ; 

 78° 34' 25' and 90. Distance deduced, 958 met. = 491 t., or 

 1145 varas. The breadth naturally varies according to the 

 rising of the waters. 



t I measured the Amazon when the water was low, 400 

 toises above the mouth of the Rio Chinchipe. 



+ I found it to be 889 toises. See Chap, xix, vol. iv, 

 p. 504. 



