691 



the granite of Parima. Muitaco was the last 

 spot where we slept in the open air on the shore 

 of the Oroonoko : we navigated two nights more 

 before we reached Angostura, which terminated 

 our voyage. This navigation in the middle of 

 the thalweg of a great river is extremely plea- 

 sant ; there is nothing to be feared except those 

 natural rafts, formed by trees which the river 

 roots up, when overflowing it's banks. When 

 the nights are dark, canoes are liable to strike 

 against these floating islands, as upon sand- 

 banks. 



It would be difficult for me to express the sa- 

 tisfaction we felt on landing at Angostura, the 

 capital of Spanish Guyana. The inconveniences 

 that are undergone at sea in small vessels cannot 

 be compared to those, that are suffered under a 

 burning sky, surrounded by a swarm of moschet- 

 toes, and lying whole months stretched along in 

 a canoe, which on account of it's instability does 

 not permit of taking the least bodily exercise. 

 In seventy-five days we had made a voyage of 

 five hundred leagues (twenty to a degree) on the 

 five great rivers, Apu re, Oroonoko, Atabapo, Rio 

 Negro, and Cassiquiare ; and in this vast space 

 we had found but a very small number of inha- 

 bited places*. Although, after the life we had 



* I shall here note for the use of persons who inhabit these 

 countries the following itinerary distances. From San Fer- 



2 y 2 



