541 



which it is crowned, stand out from the azure of 

 the sky. It seems a forest rising above a forest. 



Farther on near the mouth of the Paruasi, 

 the Oroonoko narrows. On the East a moun- 

 tain is perceived with a bare top, projecting in 

 the form of a promontory. It is nearly three 

 hundred feet high, and served as a fortress for 

 the Jesuits. They had here constructed a small 

 fort, which was furnished with three batteries of 

 cannon, and constantly occupied by a military 

 detachment. We saw these cannons dismounted, 

 and half-buried in the sand, at Carichana and 

 at Atures. The fort of the Jesuits (or fortaleza 

 de San Francisco Xavier) has been destroyed 

 since the dissolution of their society ; but the 

 place is still called el Castillo. I find it set 

 down, in a manuscript map, lately constructed 

 at Caraccas, by a member of the secular clergy, 

 under the denomination of Trinchera del despo- 

 tismo monacal*. In all revolutions the geo- 

 graphical nomenclature partakes of the spirit of 

 innovation, that seizes on the multitude. 



The garrison, which the Jesuits maintained 

 on this rock, was not intended merely to protect 

 the missions against the incursions of the Carib- 

 bees : it was employed also in an offensive war^ 

 or, as they say here, in the conquest of souls, 

 conquesta de almas. The soldiers, excited by 



* Intrenchment of monachal despotism* 



