402 NOTES OF A BOTANIST 
large a space is left dry that there is only a narrow 
channel left on each side of the river, and the 
water must be still more contracted when the river 
is at its lowest. . . . The vegetation has quite the 
same aspect as that of the Solimoes, though possibly 
all the species are different. There is much steep 
bank with no gapo. Where the shore is sloping 
and inundated, as on some islands (of which there 
are several), there are the same two Ingas as on the 
Casiquiari, but palms are scarcely so numerous. 
We reached Esmeralda about lo a.m. on the 
24th. 
The village consists of six houses scattered 
round a square plaza. One is the casa real (guest- 
house). In the centre is a cross, and there is a 
taller cross to the northward on the shoulder of the 
Cerro de Zamurro. (This cross was erected a few 
years ago to ward off thunderbolts, which have 
several times done much damage to Esmeralda.) 
This cerro is a ridge of fantastically piled granite 
blocks forming a cirque at the back of the village ; 
it extends from S.E. 10 S. to N.W. 5 W., as seen 
from the cross in the centre ; and nearly reaching 
the river on each side. Its highest point is three 
or four hundred feet above the pueblo. . . . 
The inhabitants of Esmeralda assure me that 
nearly every summer fire is seen to issue from the 
summit of Duida, illuminating all the heavens 
above and emitting a considerable degree of smoke 
but nothing more. It is not the forest that is 
burning, for that only occurs on the sides. 
In winter large pieces of rock are detached by 
torrents which are seen foaming down furrows in 
white lines. They are sometimes accompanied by 
