702 



second * four hundred and ninety. These mea- 

 sures surpass four or five times that of the Seine 

 near the Jardin des Plantes, and yet this part of 

 the Oroonoko is called a choking, or a strait. 

 Nothing* is better fitted to give an idea of the 

 mass of water of the great rivers of America^ 

 than the dimensions of these pretended straits. 

 The Amazon, according to my measurement 

 is two hundred and seventeen toises wide at the 

 Pongo de Rentema ; and according to Mr. de 

 la Condamine, twenty-five toises at the Pongo 

 de Manseriche, and at the strait of Pauxis^ 

 nine hundred toises. This last strait conse- 

 quently differs little from the breadth of the 

 Oroonoko at the strait of Baraguan %. 



When the waters are high, the river inundates 

 the keys ; and it sometimes happens, that even 

 in the town imprudent men become the prey of 

 crocodiles. I shall transcribe from my journal 

 a fact, that took place during Mr. Bonpland's 



74° 33' 10'' and 90°. Distance deduced 889 metres, or 456 

 toises ' } but we must subtract 76 toises, or the distance from 

 Punta San Gabriel to the Carcel on the key. Now 456 t. — 

 76 == 380 t., or 885 varas cast. 



* Base measured in the Alameda, 193-6 met. Angles ^ 

 78° 34' 25'' and 90. Distance deduced, 958 met - 491 1., 

 or 1145 varas. The breadth naturally varies according to the 

 rising of the waters. 



4 I measured the Amazon when the water was low, 400 

 poises above the mouth of the Rio Chinchipe. 



t I found it to be 889 toises. bee Chap, xix, vol. iv,. 

 p, 504. 



