THEIB DISU USTING VOKA-dTl. 
233 
Orinoco on the west. The Jesuit Fathers had already 
formed a mission on this spot, and bearing the same name, 
r^o tribe is more difficult to fix to the soil than the Gua- 
hibos. They would rather feed on stale fish, scolopendras, 
a nd worms, than cultivate a little spot of ground. The 
°tlier Indians say, that “a Guahibo eats everything that 
ex ists, both on and under the ground.” 
In ascending the Orinoco more to the south, the heat, far 
r om increasing, became more bearable. The air in the day 
''■' L s at 2G° or 27‘5° ; and at night, at 23’7°. The water of 
the Orinoco retained its habitual temperature of 27'7°. The 
lament of the mosquitos augmented severely, notwithstand- 
ing the decrease of beat. We never suffered so much from 
hem as at San Borja. We could neither speak nor uncover 
? Ur faces without having our mouths and noses filled with 
'asects. We were surprised not to find the thermometer 
j't 35° or 36° ; the extreme irritation of the skin made us 
*eve that the air was scorching. We passed the night on 
10 beach of Guaripo. The fear of the little caribe fish 
Invented us from bathing. The crocodiles we had met 
Vl th this day were all of an extraordinary size, from twenty- 
° to twenty-four feet. 
, -ur sufferings from the zanciulos made us depart at five 
■ -lock on the morning of the 14th. There are fewer insects 
11 the strata of air lying immediately on the river, than 
ear the edge of the forests. We stopped to breakfast 
.the island of Guachaeo, or Vachaco, where the granite is 
, 1IQe diately covered by a formation of sandstone, or con- 
® 0lIle rate. This sandstone contains fragments of quartz, 
e ven of feldspar, cemented by indurated clay. It exhi- 
0r little veins of brown iron-ore, which separate in lamina;, 
tli h a tes, of one line in thickness. We had already found 
< se p] a t es on the shores between Encaramada and Bara- 
b 11 n - where the missionaries had sometimes taken them for 
and 
an 
that 
tli ; 010 8° hi, and sometimes for tin. It is probable, 
pi 8 secondary formation occupied formerly a larger space. 
Uie'ivr^ P asse, I the mouth of the Bio Parueni, beyond which 
p. laco Indians dwell, we spent the night on the island of 
Q a UlQ ana. I could with difficulty take the altitudes of 
' T hiq' 3US ’ an or< Ier to fix the longitude of the point, near 
Cl the river suddenly turns towards the west. The 
