454 



meridian height of a. in the Southern Cross. The 

 latitude of the mouth of the Apure is 7° 36' 23". 

 Father Gumilla fixes it at 5° 5' ; D'Anville at 

 7° 3' ; and Caulin at 7° 26'. The longitude of 

 the Boca of the Apure, calculated from the alti- 

 tudes of the Sun, which I took on the 5th of 

 April in the morning, is 69° 7 29", or 1° 12' 41" 

 east of the meridian of San Fernando. 



April the 5th. We were singularly struck at 

 the small quantity of water, which the Rio Apure 

 furnishes at this season to the Oroonoko. The 

 Apure, which, according to my measurements^ 

 was still one hundred and thirty-six toises broad 

 at Cano Ricco, was only sixty or eighty at it's 

 mouth *. It's depth here was only three or four 

 toises. It loses no doubt a part of it's waters by 

 the Rio Arichuna, and the Cano del Manati, two 

 branches of the Apure, that flow into the Payara 

 and the Guarico ; but it's greatest loss appears 

 to be caused by filtration s on the beach, of which 

 we have spoken above. The velocity of the 

 Apure near it*s mouth was only 3*2 feet a se- 

 cond ; so that I could easily have calculated the 

 whole quantity of the water, if I had taken by 

 a series of proximate soundings the whole di- 

 mensions of the transverse section. The baro- 

 meter, which at San Fernando, twenty-eight 



* Not quite so broad as the Seine at the Pont Royal, op- 

 posite the palace of the Tuileries. 



