JTJXCTIOIf WITH THE ORINOCO. 
173 
here was only three or four toises. It loses, no doubt, a 
part of its waters by the Bio Aricliuna and the Cano del 
Manati, two branches of the Apure that flow into the 
i'ayara and the Guarico; but its greatest loss appears to 
he caused by fill-rations on the beach, of which we have 
before spoken. The velocity of the Apure near its mouth 
'ras onlv 3'2 feet per second ; so that I eoidd easily have 
calculated the whole quantity of the water if I had taken, 
V a series of proximate soundings, the whole dimensions 
°* the tranverse section. 
We touched several times on shoals before we entered 
the Orinoco. The ground gained from the water is immense 
Awards the confluence of the two rivers. ¥e were obliged 
to be towed along by the bank. What a contrast between 
this state of the river immediately before the entrance of 
toe rainy season, when all the effects of dryness of the air 
an <l of evaporation have attained their maximum, and that 
a utumnal state when the Apure, like an arm of the sea, 
covers the savannahs as far as the eye can reach! We 
discerned towards the south the lonely hills of Coruato ; 
yfhile to the east the granite rocks of Curiquima, the Sugar 
boaf of Caycara, and the mountains of the Tyrant* (Cerros 
del Tirano) began to rise on the horizon. It was not without 
Motion that we beheld for the first time, after long ex- 
pectation, the waters of the Orinoco, at a point so distant 
r °m the coast. 
Palace of the Tuileries, and a little more than half the width of the 
£ mes at Westminster Bridge. 
This name alludes, no doubt, to the expedition of Antonio Sedeno. 
, e 1'ort of Cavcara, opposite Cabruta, still bears the name of that Com 
Hairtador. 3 T 
