37 



uprooted by the river, and swept along in it's great 

 floods. Wo to the canoes, that during the night 

 strike against these rafts of wood interwoven 

 with lianas ! Covered with aquatic plants, they 

 resemble here, as in the Mississipi, floating 

 meadows, the chinampas* of the Mexican lakes. 

 The Indians, when they wish to surprise a tribe 

 of their enemies, bring together several canoes, 

 fasten them to each other with cords, and cover 

 them with grass and branches, to imitate this 

 assemblage of trunks of trees, which the Oroo- 

 noko sweeps along in it's thalweg, or middle 

 current. The Caribs are accused of having 

 heretofore excelled in the use of this artifice ; 

 at present the Spanish smugglers in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Angostura have recourse to the same 

 expedient, to escape the vigilance of the custom- 

 house officers. 



After having gone up the Oroonoko beyond 

 the Rio Anaveni, we find, between the moun- 

 tains of Uniana and Sipapu-f, the Great Cata- 

 racts of Mapara and Quittuna, or, as they are 

 more commonly called by the missionaries, the 

 Raudales of Atures and Maypures. These bars, 

 which extend from one bank to the other, pre- 

 sent in general a similar aspect ; they are com- 

 posed of innumerable islands, dikes of rock, 



* Floating gardens. 



t According to the Indian pronunciation « Tipapu." 



