312 



the Rio Vichada and the Meta a channel, by 

 which the waters of the superior lake, those of 

 the plains of the Amazon, forced their way 

 towards the inferior basin, that of the Llanos of 

 Caraccas, separating the Cordillera of La Pa- 

 rime from that of the Andes* This channel is 

 a kind of land-strait*. The ground^ perfectly 

 level, between the Guaviare, the Meta, and ,the 

 Apure, displays no vestige of a violent irrup- 

 tion of the waters ; but on the edge of the Cor- 

 dillera of Pari me, between the latitudes of 4° 

 and 7°, the Oroonoko, which flows in a western 

 direction from it's source to the mouth of the 

 Guaviare, has forced it's way through the rocks, 

 directing it's course from South to North. All 

 the great cataracts, as we shall soon see, are 

 placed in this interval, When the rivei' has 

 reached the mouth of the Apure in that very 

 low ground, where the slope toward the North 

 is met by the counterslope toward the South- 

 East, that is to say, by the talus of the plains, 

 which rise imperceptibly toward the mountains 

 of Caraccas, the river turns anew, and flows 

 toward the East. It appeared to me, that it 

 was proper already to fix the attention of the 

 reader on these singular inflexions of the Oroo- 

 noko, because, belonging at once to two basins, 



* Andreossy, Voyage a V Embouchure de la MeuNoire, 1818, 

 p. 27, 34, and 311. 



