784 



(or the isthmus between the Carony, the Esse- 

 quebo, and the Rio Branco), and to the ancient 

 abode of the Manaos, the inhabitants of the 

 banks of the Jurubesh. I have just mentioned 

 v the situation of the latter spot, which is cele- 

 brated in the history of the conquest from 1535 

 to 1560 ; and it remains for me to speak of the 

 configuration of the country between the Spanish 

 missions of the Rio Carony, and the Portuguese 

 missions of the Rio Branco or Parima. This is 

 the country lying near the Lower Oroonoko, the 

 Esmeralda, and French and Dutch Guyana, on 

 which, since the end of the sixteenth century, 

 the enterprises and exaggerated narratives of 

 Raleigh have shed so bright a splendour. 



From the general disposition of the course of 

 the Oroonoko, directed successively toward the 

 west, the north, and the east, it's mouth lies 

 almost in the same meridian as it's sources # : so 

 that by proceeding from Vieja Guyana to the 

 south the traveller passes through the whole of 



* The difference does not probably exceed 3° of longitude. 

 The Raudal of Guatharibos, east of Esmeralda, is in the 

 longitude of 67° 38'. I believe consequently, that the sources 

 of the Oroonoko are a little more to the east than the meri- 

 dian of Santo Thome del Angostura, which, according to my 

 observation, is in 66° 15' 21*. It results from the whole of 

 my discussions on the astronomical geography of Guyana, 

 that Vieja Guayana (long. 64° 43') and the confluence of the 

 Rio Branco with the Rio Negro (long. 64° 34') do not sensi- 

 bly differ in meridian, 



