TO CATARACTS OF MAYPURES 453 
Among these are some Xirids, Utricularise, Polygalese, the same 
large blue-flowered Burmannia as at Maypures and Esmeralda 
{B. bicolor, Mart), etc. Of shrubs, very frequent is a Melastomad 
with copious roseate flowers, and a pretty slender Cassia growing 
2 to 4 feet high. 
The Atabapo is a counterpart of the Pacimoni, a little broader 
in its lower part, but shallower. In the summer there are a few 
small rapids, and sometimes it dries so much that all but the 
smallest canoes have to be dragged over sandbanks. As in the 
Pimichin, it has a broad caatinga gapo, bounded by lofty forest. 
The Voyage down the Orinoco to Maypures 
{Abstract) 
[On June i8, about noon, Spruce left San 
Fernando in company with Senhor Lauriano, a 
trader, to whom he lent two of his men so that they 
might travel together. The water of the Guaviare 
is whiter than that of the Upper Orinoco, and for a 
considerable distance below the junction the Orinoco 
is dark on the right and white on the left side. 
The general aspect of the river is like that of the 
Solimoes (Upper Amazon), but that there are no 
willows on its margins. There are only two small 
Indian villages between San Fernando and May- 
pures, at the second of which, Marana, they 
stayed for the night. There was here a small 
cane-field and rum distillery, and the refuse cane 
had attracted millions of biting ants which swarmed 
everywhere in the village and down to the port, so 
that it was impossible to walk anywhere without 
being overrun and bitten. No kind of food can 
be saved from them. The travellers slung their 
hammocks in the open shed where the cane was 
crushed, and were glad to embark early the next 
morning. 
At 9 A.M. they stayed to cook a fowl at the 
