/ 



540 



which we see immediately above us in the 

 plains. 



The Oroonoko, full of islands, begins to divide 

 itself into several branches, of which the most 

 western remained dry during the months of 

 January and February. The total breadth of 

 the river exceeds two thousand five hundred or 

 three thousand toises. We perceived to the 

 East, opposite the island of Javanavo, the mouth 

 of the Cano Aujacoa. Between this Cano and 

 the Rio Paruasi*, or Paruati, the country be- 

 comes more and more woody. A solitary rock, 

 of an infinitely picturesque aspect, rises in the 

 midst of a forest of palm-trees, not far from the 

 Oroonoko *f-. It is a pillar of granite, a prisma- 

 tic mass, the bare and steep sides of which at- 

 tain nearly two hundred feet in height. It's top, 

 which surpasses the highest trees of the forest, 

 is terminated by a shelf of rocks, with a hori- 

 zontal and smooth surface. Other trees crown 

 this summit, which the missionaries call the 

 peak, or Mogote de Cocuyza. This monument 

 of nature, in it's simple grandeur, recalls to mind 

 the Cyclopean monuments. It's outlines, strongly 

 marked, and the group of trees and shrubs by 



* The Jesuit, Father Morillo, had formed on the banks of 

 the Paruasi a mission of the same name, by assembling to- 

 gether some Maypoyes or Mapoi Indians j but it was soon 

 abandoned. (Gili, vol. i, p. 37.) 



+ Opposite the Hato de San Antonio. 



