THE GUAJIO INDIANS 
101 
Jiaa cooler, for tlie thermometer (which generally kept up 
•a the daytime to 30° or 35°) had sunk to 24°. The tempera- 
Jj 0- ® °o t lC T l' er was Httle changed : it continued constantly 
1 or 27°. The current carried with it an enormous 
Umber of trunks of trees. It might be imagined that on 
ground entirely smooth, and where the eye cannot dis- 
f n guish the least hill, the river would have formed by the 
orce of its current a channel in a straight line; hut a 
b ance at the map, which I traced by the compass, will 
0ve the contrary. The two banks, worn by the waters, 
J?*?* furnish an equal resistance; and almost impercep- 
e inequalities of the level suffice to produce great siuuo- 
e j es - Yet below the Joval, where the bed of the river 
s , a . r S es a little, it forms a channel that appears perfectly 
Sight, and is shaded on each side by very tall trees. 
, ls part of the river is called Cano Eico. I found it to 
a , one _ hundred and thirty-six toises broad. ¥e passed 
col °' V ^ ,s ^ anc i> inhabited by thousands of flamingos, rose- 
1 oured spoonbills, herons, and moorhens, which displayed 
So 1T | age the lnost various colours. These birds were 
Th C . , e together that they seemed to be unable to stir. 
Isi e island they frequent is called Isla de Aves, or Bird 
Aril' Yower down we passed the point where the Eio 
laro° 1Una ’ an arm °1' the Apure, branches off to the Cabu- 
sto ’ Ca ) n ''’* n g away a considerable body of its waters. We 
i'ito] i 011 rigIl t bank, at a little Indian mission, inha- 
,7 the tribe of the Guamos, called the village of 
Barbara de Arichuna. 
°u a 6 ? uamos * are a race °f Indians very difficult to fix 
With H Uled s P°t - The y have great similarity of manners 
taking +u^ cha ? uas ’ tlie Gu ajibos,t and the Ottomacs, par- 
g ea ® their disregard of cleanliness, their spirit of ven- 
difjg. e ’ ant l their taste for wandering ; but their language 
live h r es „ sen . tiall y- The greater part of these four tribes 
s itnat(vi ? s “tng and hunting, in plains often inundated, 
The n ? J(> twecn the Apure, the Meta, and the Guaviare. 
a Wand Ure °f these regions seems to invite the natives to 
# en ng life. On entering the mountains of the Cata- 
thev Cr .9^* observes that their Indian name is Uamu and Pa it, and 
t ThH;^ > T 1 ^ 1 . na **y dwelt on the Upper Apure. 
Yoi II 1 “ dlan name is Guahi ™- 
X 
