800 



We have now examined a White Sea *, which 

 the principal trunk of the Rio Branco is made to 

 traverse; and another-}- which is placed on the 

 east of this river, and communicates with it by 

 the Cano Pirara. A third lake % is figured on 

 the west of the Rio Branco, respecting- which I 

 found recently some curious details in the ma- 

 nuscript journal of the surgeon Hortsmanih 

 " At the distance of two days' journey below the 

 confluence of the Mahu (Tacutu) with the Rio 

 Parima (Uraricuera) a lake is found on the top 

 of a mountain. This lake is stocked with the 

 same fish as the Rio Parima; but the waters of 

 the former are black, and those of the latter 

 white May not Surville, from a vague notion 

 of this basin, have imagined, in his map prefixed 



southern hemisphere, as lake Parima has been made to per- 

 form in the northern. Hondius and Sanson have made the 

 Rio de la Plata, the Rio Topajos (a tributary stream of the 

 Amazon), the Rio Tocantines, and the Rio de San Francisco, 

 issue from the Laguna de los Xarayes. 



* That of D'Anville and La Cruz, and of the greater part 

 of the modern maps. 



f The lake of Surville, which takes the place of lake 

 Amucu. 



J The lake which Surville calls Laguna tenida hasta ahora 

 por la Laguna Parime. 



§ <f Aos 24 de junho 1740. Rio Parima, no qual logo, 

 2 dias depois da minha entrada, esta hum monte, o qual tern 

 hum grande lago no cima j o qual fiz ver e achei peixe, no 

 dito lago, da mesma sorte como se acham no mesmo Rio ; 

 demais a agua he preta no lago, e no Rio Branco." 



