563 



Cariven an enterprising man, Don Felix Relin- 

 chon, had assembled some Jaruro and Otomack 

 Indians in a small village. It is an attempt at 

 civilization, on which the monks have had no 

 direct influence. It is superfluous to add, that 

 Don Felix lives at open war with the missiona- 

 ries on the right bank of the Oroonoko. We 

 shall discuss in another place the important 

 question, whether in the present state of Spanish 

 America these Capitanes pobladores and funda- 

 dores can be substituted for the monastic sys- 

 tem, and which of these two governments, alike 

 capricious and arbitrary, is most to be dreaded 

 by the poor Indians. 



Going up the river we arrived at nine in the 

 morning before the mouth of the Meta, opposite 

 the spot where the mission of Santa Teresa, 

 founded by the Jesuits, was heretofore situate. 



Next to the Guaviare the Meta is the most 

 considerable river that flows into the Oroonoko. 

 It may be compared to the Danube, not for the 

 length of it's course, but for the volume of it's 

 waters. It's mean depth is thirty-six feet, and 

 it reaches as far as eighty-four. The union of 

 these two rivers presents a very impressive as- 

 pect. Lonely rocks rise on the eastern bank. 

 Blocks of granite, piled upon one another, appear 

 from afar like castles in ruins. Vast sandy 

 shores keep the skirting of forest at a distance 

 from the river; but we discover amid them in 



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