414 



conduct us. His dress denoted the great sim- 

 plicity of manners, that prevails in those distant 

 countries. He had acquired a fortune of more 

 than 100,000 piastres, and yet he mounted on 

 horseback with bare feet, armed with large 

 silver spurs. We knew by the experience of 

 several weeks the dull uniformity of the vegeta- 

 tion of the Llanos, and preferred the longer 

 road, that leads by the Rio Apure to the Oroo- 

 noko. We chose one of those very large canoes, 

 called lanchas by the Spaniards*. A pilot ^ 

 and four Indians were sufficient to manage it. 

 They constructed near the stern, in the space of 

 a few hours, a cabin covered with the leaves of 

 the corypha, sufficiently spacious to contain a 

 table and benches. These were made of ox 

 hides, strained tight, and nailed to frames of 

 brazil wood. I mention these minute circum- 

 stances, to prove that our accommodations on 

 the Rio Apure were far different from those, to 

 which we were reduced in the narrow boats of 

 the Oroonoko. We loaded the canoe with pro- 

 vision for a month. Fowls, eggs, plantains, 

 cassava, and cacao, are found in abundance at 



* We payed for the conveyance from San Fernando de 

 Apure to Carichana on the Oroonoko, a distance that takes 

 eight days, ten piastres for the lancha, beside the price of the 

 days' works, which is half a piastre, or four rials f for the pilot, 

 and two rials for every Indian rower, 



f El patron. 



