259 



Were employed in dragging it by land, placing 

 branches of trees to serve as rollers. A small 

 boat passes in a day, or a day and a half, from the 

 waters oftheTuamini to those of Canno Pimichin, 

 which flow into the Rio Negro. Our canoe being 

 very large, and having to pass the cataracts a 

 second time, it was necessary to avoid with par- 

 ticular care any friction on the bottom. In con- 

 sequence the passage lasted more than four 

 days. It is only since 1795 that a road has been 

 traced through the forest. The Indians of Ja- 

 vita performed the half of this labour ; the other 

 half was the task of the Indians of Maroa, Da- 

 vipe, and San Carlos. This road, measured by 

 means of a cord of a hundred varas, was found 

 by father Eugenio Cereso to be seventeen thou- 

 sand one hundred and eighty varas* long. By 

 substituting a canal for this portage, as I pro- 

 posed to the ministry of King Charles the 

 Fourth, the communication between the Rio 

 Negro and Angostura-^-, between the Spanish 

 Oroonoko and the Portugueze possessions on the 

 Amazon, would be singularly facilitated. Boats 

 coming from San Carlos would no longer pro- 

 ceed by the Cassiquiare, which is full of windings, 

 and dreaded for the strength of it's current ; 

 they would no longer go down the Oroonoko 



* According to Antilla, 1 vara 083 of a metre. 

 + See pages 168, and 198 of the present volume. 



s 2 



