444 



of that severe malady, under which he nearly 

 sunk on our arrival at Angostura. Happily for 

 him and for me, nothing led us to presage the 

 danger, with which he was menaced. The view 

 of the river, and the hum of the insects, were a 

 little monotonous ; but some remains of our 

 natural cheerfulness enabled us to find sources 

 of relief amid our wearisome voyage. We dis- 

 covered, that by eating small portions of dry 

 cacao, ground without sugar, and drinking a 

 large quantity of the river water, we succeeded 

 in appeasing our appetite for several hours. 

 The ants and the moschettoes occupied us more 

 than the humidity and the want of food. Not- 

 withstanding the wants to which w r e were exposed 

 during our excursions in the Cordilleras, the 

 navigation from Mandavaca to Esmeralda has 

 always appeared to us the most painful part of 

 our travels in America. I advise those, who are 

 not very desirous of seeing the great bifurcation 

 of the OroonokOj to take the way of the Atabapo 

 in preference to that of the Cassiquiare. 



Above the Canno Duractumuni, the Cassi- 

 quiare pursues a uniform direction from north- 

 east to south-west. There, on it's right bank, 

 they have begun to found the new village of Va- 

 siva. The missions of Pacimona*, Capivari, 



* Perhaps it may have been intended to indicate Manda- 

 cava under this name. 



