602 



tumulus; the rocks alone show us, and this 

 through a great extent of country, rude sketches > 

 which the hand of man has traced in times 

 unknown, and which are connected with religi- 

 ous traditions. When both Americas shall be 

 peopled by men, who regard with less disdain 

 the soil that feeds them, the relics of former 

 ages will be more numerous in our eyes from 

 day to day. A feeble light will spread over 

 the history of the barbarous nations, over these 

 steep rocks, which tell us, that the regions now 

 desert were heretofore inhabited by a race of 

 more intelligent and active men. 



Before I quitted the most savage part of the 

 Upper Oroonoko, I thought it was proper to 

 mention facts, which are important only when 

 they are considered in their connection with 

 each other. All I could relate of our navigation 

 from Esmeralda to the mouth of the Atabapo 

 would be merely a dry enumeration of rivers 

 and uninhabited places. From the 24th to the 

 27th of May, we slept but twice on the land ; our 

 first resting place was at the confluence of the Rio 

 Jao, and our second below the mission of Santa 

 Barbara, in the island of Minisi. The Oroonoko 

 being free from shoals, the Indian pilot made us 

 navigate all night, abandoning the boat to the 

 current of the river. This part of my map, be- 

 tween the Jao and the Ventuari, has conse- 

 quently little accuracy in what regards the wind- 



