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two rivers, which are united a little above the 

 mission of San Augustin de Nieto, form* the 

 Japura, or Caqueta. The sources of the Rio 

 de Mocoa are separated by the Cerro del Porta- 

 chuelo, a mountain that rises on the table-land 

 itself of the Cordilleras, from the lake (Sienega) 

 of Sebondoy, which is the origin of the Rio Pu- 

 tumayo or Iza. The Meta, the Guaviare, the 

 Caqueta, and the Putumayo, are consequently 

 the only great rivers, that rise immediately from 

 the eastern declivity of the Andes of Santa Fe, 

 Popayan, and Pasto. The Vichada, the Zama, 

 the Inirida, the Rio Negro, the Uaupe, and the 

 Apoporis, which are marked in our maps as 

 reaching to the west as far as the mountains, 

 take rise at a great distance from them, either 

 in the savannahs between the Meta and the 

 Guaviare, or in the mountainous country, which, 

 according to the information given me by 

 the natives, begins at four or five days' journey 

 distant, to the west of the missions of Javita 

 and Maroa, and extends, through the Sierra 

 Tunuhy, beyond the Xie, toward the banks of 

 the Issana. 



It is remarkable, that this ridge of the Cor- 

 dilleras, which contains the sources of so many 

 majestic rivers, (the Meta, the Guaviare, the 

 Caqueta, and the Putumayo,) is as little covered 

 with snow, as the mountains of Abyssinia from 

 which flows the blue Nile ; but, on the contrary, 



