708 



humid banks of the Oroonoko, below the mouth 

 of the Carony, yield an immense quantity of 

 squashes*, plantains, andpapaws-f. These fruits 

 were eaten raw, even before they had reached 

 their maturity; and the people being at the same 

 time addicted to the use of spirituous liquors in 

 excess, this i mproper way of living diminished the 

 population from year to year. The archives of 

 Caraccas are filled with memorials on the neces- 

 sity of changing the seat of the present capital of 

 Guyana. According to the official papers which 

 have been communicated to me, it has been pro- 

 posed sometimes to go back to the Fortaleza or 

 Vieja Guayana; sometimes to place the capital 

 close to the great mouth of the Oroonoko, ten 

 leagues west ofCapeParima, at the confluence of 

 the Rio Acquire % ; and sometimes to have it re- 

 moved twenty-five leagues below Angostura, to 

 the fine savannah that surrounds the Indian vil- 

 lage of San Miguel. The government was no 

 doubt influenced by a narrow policy in pretend- 

 ing, that, cc for the better defence of the province, 

 it was fit to place the capital at the enormous 

 distance of eighty-five leagues from the sea, 

 and to construct no town in this space, that 

 could be exposed to the incursions of the ene- 



* Patillas. 

 f Fruit of the carica papaya. 

 % Mr. de Pons calls it the Rio Aguirre (vol. in, p. 333). 

 Compare Caulin, p. 56. 



