370 
THE CAHO PIMTCHIK. 
The Indians say that these reptiles, slow in their more* 
ments when they are not pursued, creep near a man 
because they are fond of heat. In fact, on the banks of 
the Magdalena a serpent entered the bed of one of our 
fellow-travellers, and remained there a part of the night, 
without injuring him. Without wishing to take up the 
defence of vipers and rattlesnakes, I believe it may be 
affirmed that, if these venomous animals had such a dis- 
position for offence as is supposed, the human species 
would certainly not have withstood their numbers in some 
parts of America ; for instance, on the banks of the Orinoco 
and the humid mountains of Choco. 
We embarked on the 8th of May at sunrise, after having 
carefully examined the bottom of our canoe. It had be- 
come thinner, but had received no crack in the portage . 
We reckoned that it would still bear the voyage of three 
hundred leagues, which we had yet to perform, in going 
down the Eio Negro, ascending the Cassiquiare, and re- 
descending the Orinoco as far as Angostura. The Pimichin, 
which is called a rivulet (cano) is tolerably broad; but 
small trees that love the water narrow the bed so much 
that there remains open a channel of only fifteen or twenty 
toises. Next to the Eio Chagres this river is one of the 
most celebrated in America for the number of its windings : 
it is said to have eighty-five, which greatly lengthen it. They 
often form right angles, and occur every two or three 
leagues. To determine the difference of longitude between 
the landing-place and the point where we were to enter 
the Eio Negro, I took by the compass the course of the 
Cano Pimichin, and noted the time during which w’ e 
followed the same direction. The velocity of the current 
was only 2'4 feet in a second; but our canoe made by 
rowing 46 feet. The embarcadero of the Pimichin appeared 
to me to be eleven thousand toises west of its month, and 
0° 2' west of the mission of Javita. This Cano is navigable 
during the whole year, and has but one raudal, which 1 3 
somewhat difficult to go up ; its banks are low, hut rocky- 
After having followed the windings of the Pimichin for four 
hours and a half we at length entered the Eio Negro. 
The morning was cool and beautiful. We had now been 
confined thirty-six days in a narrow boat, so unsteady tli»* 
