7 



the whole wealth of the Guaraon Indians ; and 

 it is somewhat remarkable, that we had found 

 it again one hundred and sixty leagues farther 

 south, in the midst of the forests of the Upper 

 Oroonoko, in the savannahs that surround the 

 granitic peak of Duida*. It was loaded at 

 this season with enormous clusters of red fruit, 

 resembling the cones of firs. Our monkeys 

 were extremely fond of this fruit, which has the 

 taste of an overripe apple. These animals, 

 placed with our baggage on the backs of the 

 mules, made great efforts to reach the clusters, 

 that were suspended over their heads. The 

 plain was undulating from the effect of the 

 mirage^; and when, after travelling for an 

 hour, we arrived at these trunks of the palm- 

 tree, which appeared like masts in the horizon, 

 we observed with astonishment how many things 

 are connected with the existence of a single 

 plant. The winds, losing their velocity when 

 in contact with the foliage and the branches, 

 accumulate sand around the trunk. The smell 

 of the fruit, and the brightness of the ver- 

 dure, attract from afar the birds of passage, 

 which delight in the vibrating motion of the 



* The murichi, like the sagus Rumphii, is a palm-tree of the 

 marshes (vol. iii, p. 278 > vol. iv, p. 334 j vol. v, 50^ 55(1, and 

 726) } not a palm-tree of the coast, like the chamserops humi- 

 Iis, the common cocoa-tree, and the lodoicea 

 + Vol. ii, p. 196 j iv, 327. 



