434 



herons, and moorhens, which displayed a mixture 

 of the most various colours. These birds Were 

 so close together, that they seemed to be unable 

 to stir. The island they inhabit is called Ma 

 de Aves. Lower down we passed the point, 

 where the Rio Arichuna, an arm of the Apure 3 

 branches off to the Cabulare, carrying off a 

 considerable body of it's waters. We stopped 

 on the right bank, at a little Indian mission, in- 

 habited by the tribe of the Guamoes. There 

 were yet only sixteen or eighteen huts constructed 

 with the leaves of the palm-tree; yet, in the 

 statistical tables presented annually by the mis- 

 sionaries to the court, this assemblage of huts 

 is marked with the name of the village de Santa 

 Barbara de Arichuna. 



The Guamoes * are a race of Indians very 

 difficult to fix on a settled spot. They have 

 great similiarity of manners with the Achaguas, 

 the Guajiboes *f, and the Otomacoes, partaking 

 their disregard of cleanliness, their spirit of 

 vengeance, and their taste for wandering ; but 

 their langnage differs essentially. The greater 

 part of these four tribes live by fishing and hunt- 

 ing, in plains often inundated, and situate be- 

 tween the Apure 5 the Meta, and the Guaviare. 

 The nature of these regions seems to invite the 



* Father Gili asserts, that their Indian name is Uamu and 

 Pau, vad that they originally dwelt on the Upper Apure. 

 t Their Indian name is Guaiva, pronounced Guahiva. 



