639 



plays a more majestic aspect, than when con- 

 templated from the hut of the missionary, Fray 

 Ramon Bueno. It is more than two thousand 

 six hundred toises broad *, and runs without 

 any winding-, like a vast canal, straight toward 

 the east. Two long and narrow islands {Isla 

 de Uruana and Isla vieja de la Manieca) con- 

 tribute to give extent to the bed of the river ; 

 the two banks are parallel, and we cannot call 

 it divided into different branches. The mission 

 is inhabited by the Otomacs-f-, a tribe in the 

 rudest state, and presenting one of the most 

 extraordinary physiological phenomena. The 

 Otomacs eat earth ; that is, they swallow every 

 day, during several months, very considerable 

 quantities, to appease hunger, without injuring 

 their health. Since my return to Europe, this 

 incontestable fact has become a subject of warm 

 dispute, because two assertions have been con- 

 founded together, which are extremely different ; 

 that of eating earth, and that of being nourished 

 by it. Though we could stay only one day at 

 Uruana, this short space of time sufficed to in- 

 struct us in the preparation of the potja (or balls 

 of earth). I also found some traces of this vi- 

 tiated appetite among the Guamoes ; and be- 

 tween the confluence of the Meta and the Apure, 



* Base, 140 metres, angles 90° and 88° 27' 40". Breadth, 

 52 LI metres. 



+ Otomacos in Spanish, Ottomacu in Indian. 



