688 



and Cariven, or Carichana Vieja *. Neither of 

 these three obstacles is to be feared with expe- 

 rienced Indian pilots. I dwell on these hydro- 

 graphic details, because a great political and 

 commercial interest is now connected with the 

 communications between Angostura and the 

 banks of the Meta and the Apure, two rivers that 

 lead to the eastern side of the Cordilleras of New 

 Grenada. The navigation from the mouth of 

 the Lower Oroonoko to the province of Varinas 

 is difficult only on account of the force of the 

 current. The bed of the river no where presents 

 obstacles more difficult to vanquish, than those 

 of the Danube between Vienna and Lintz. We 

 meet with no great bars, no real cataracts, but 

 above the Meta. The Upper Oroonoko there- 

 fore, with the Cassiquiare and the Rio Negro, 

 forms a particular system of rivers, where the 

 active industry of Angostura and the shore of 

 Caraccas will remain long unknown. 



I obtained horary angles of the Sun in an 

 island in the midst of the Boca del hifierno, 

 where we had set up our instruments^*. The 

 longitude of this point according to the chrono- 

 meter is 67° 10' 31". I attempted to determine 

 the magnetic dip and intensity, but was pre- 



* See vol. iv, p. 544 and 562. 

 t At 9 h 20' in the morning, the thermometer at the sur- 

 face of the Oroonoko 28*2° cent, ; in the air, 26 (P; hygr, 

 88° Sauss. ; sky cloudy. 



