394 
VARIETIES OE SARSAPAR1REA. 
trees (theywma, or Bertholletia excelsa), in aromatic puchc- 
ries, and in wild cacao-trees, forms a point of division 
between the waters that flow to the Orinoco, the Cassi* 
quiare, and the Bio Negro. The tributary streams on the 
north, or those of the Orinoco, are the Mavaca and the 
Daracapo ; those on the west, or of the Cassiquiare, are the 
Idapa and the Pacimoni ; and those on the south, or of the 
Bio Negro, are the Paclaviri and the Cababuri. The latter 
is divided near its source into two branches, the western- 
most of which is known by the name of Baria. The Indians 
of the mission of San Francisco Solano gave us the most 
minute description of its course. It affords the very rare 
example of a branch by which an inferior tributary stream, 
instead of receiving the waters of the superior stream, sends 
to it a part of its own waters in a direction opposite to that 
of the principal recipient. 
The Cababuri runs into the Bio Negro near the mission 
of Nossa Senhora das Cnldasj but the rivers Ya and 
Dimity, which arc higher tributary streams, communicate 
also with the Cababuri ; so that, from the little fort of San 
Gabriel de Caehoeiras as far as San Antonio de Castanheira 
the Indians of the Portuguese possessions can enter the 
territory of the Spanish missions by the Baria and the 
Pacimoni. 
The chief object of these incursions is the collection ot 
sarsaparilla anct the aromatic seeds of the puchery-laurm 
(Laurus pichurim) . The sarsaparilla of these countries I s 
celebrated at Grand Para, Angostura, Cumana, Nueva Bar- 
celona, and in other parts of Terra Firma, by the name of 
sarza del Rio Negro. It is much preferred to the zarza ot 
the province of Caracas, or of the mountains of Merida ; n 
is dried with great care, and exposed purposely to smoke, u 1 
order that it may become blacker. This liana grows in pi''- 1 ' 
fusion on the humid declivities of the mountains of TTnturau 
and Achivaquery. Decandolle is right in suspecting that 
different species of smilax are gathered mider the name ot 
sarsaparilla. We found twelve new species, among wum 11 
the Smilax siphylitica of the Cassiquaire, and the Smil aX 
officinalis of the river Magdalena, are most esteemed 011 
account of their diuretic properties. The quantity of saf' 
saparilla employed in the Spanish colonies as a domesti 
