221 



that part of the Upper Oroonoko between the 

 Esmeralda and the mission of San Fernando 

 were considered as a tributary stream ; the 

 Oroonoko would preserve, from the savannahs 

 of San Juan de los Llanos and the eastern de- 

 clivity of the Andes to it's mouth, a more uni- 

 form and natural direction, that from south- 

 west to north-east. 



The Rio Paragua, or that part of the Oroo- 

 noko which you go up to the east of the mouth 

 of the Guaviare, has clearer, more transparent, 

 and purer water than the part of the Oroonoko 

 below San Fernando. The waters of the Gua- 

 viare, on the contrary, are white and turbid ; 

 they have the same taste, according to the In- 

 dians, whose organs of sense are extremelv 

 delicate and well practised, as the waters of the 

 Oroonoko near the Great Cataracts. " Bring 

 me the waters of three or four great rivers of 

 these countries," an old Indian of the mission of 

 Javita said to us, "on drinking them I will tell 

 you without fear of mistake, whence the water 

 was taken ; whether they come from a white or 

 black river ; the Oroonoko or the Atabapo, the 

 Paragua or the Guaviare." Tne great croco- 

 diles and porpoises (toninas), which are alike 

 common in the Rio Guaviare and the Lower 

 Oroonoko, are entirely wanting, as we were told, 

 in the Rio Paragua (or Upper Oroonoko, be- 

 tween San Fernando and the Esmeralda). These 



