EOKAIMA. 
Latitude of Eastern Point, 5° 9' 40^' N. Longitude, 60° 48' W. 
VAGUE accounts of a mountain, steep as a wall, and from the summit of which water flows in abundance, had been given to me during my 
first visit to Pirara in 1835 and 1836. I compared these with some details concerning a lake, which are to be found in the manuscript journal 
of Hortsman, who says, that “ at the distance of two days’ journey, below the confluence of the Malm with the Rio Parima, a lake is found on 
the top of a mountain, which is stocked with the same fish as those in the Rio Parima, but the waters of the former were black, and those of the 
latter white Neither direction nor distance however agreed with that which I had heard, and it was therefore planned, when we departed 
from Pirara in 1838 for the Orinoco, to make a detour in order to visit this remarkable mountain. 
After we had passed Mount Mairari, instead of following the longitudinal valleys of the Pacaraima chain, we turned northward 
over the mountains, and on the 19th of October entered the country of the Arecuna Indians, a tribe of people, which it appears formerly 
inhabited the river Uaupes, and whom Monteiro and Ribeiro accuse of cannibalism. Our party was however most hospitably received, 
and as we were the first white people who had come to visit them, we excited the greatest curiosity, and whenever we passed through one of 
their villages, we found entertainments prepared for us. A ridge of mountains, difiering widely in appearance from those we had 
hitherto seen, extended east and west, which on our approach we found to consist of red and white sandstone, and after we had 
ascended them, we continued our march on table-land and entered the fluvial district of the Orinoco. At an abandoned settlement 
we got the first view of those remarkable mountains, to visit which was the object of our present journey. Wrapped in dark clouds 
and distant about forty miles to the north north-east, they rose like gigantic walls, and contributed to the enchanting view which 
we enjoyed, while the vegetation that surrounded us displayed an interesting and peculiar aspect. In lieu of granite rocks we 
observed only compact sandstone more or less crystaline, and with -this change in the geological feature of the country, the form 
of the plants appeared to have undergone a similar alteration. Almost all were new to me ; but one of the most interesting 
was an Orchidea, doubtless the largest yet described, and which, for the gracefulness of its stem, the splendid shape of its flowers, 
and its aromatic smell, is perhaps not equalled among this most singular and most fragrant tribe of plants. Long before we reached it 
the eastern breeze wafted the delightful odour towards us, and I looked inquisitively from side to side to discover the source of this 
fragrance ; at last I espied flowers, white as a lily, which rose on graceful stems above the surrounding shrubs. I hesitated in 
pronouncing it to be an Orchidea, strange and eccentric as all this tribe may be in their forms : on coming nearer no uncertainty was 
left, and it proved to be one of the most beautiful of its class, and has since been named Sobralia Elizabetha in honour of Her Majesty 
the Queen of Prussia f. 
Such were the interesting features of the landscape in which Roraima, capped by clouds, formed the most striking object, and 
heightened our desire to visit it ; but various circumstances intervened before we could execute our design, and the 25th of October approached 
before we left the Arecuna village, Uruparu. We continued our journey in a northern direction, upon an extensive table-land, and followed 
the southern foot of a range of sandstone hills, remarkable for their resemblance to fortifications on a gigantic scale. After we reached 
the foot of mount Anaupaim, our path turned over hills so cleft and rugged in their structure, that we could only ascend them by treading 
in the exact steps that had been worn, or perhaps cut out by the Indians. Having ascended mount Canaupang, one of the highest 
we had yet crossed, and perhaps not less thair four thousand feet above the level of the sea, our road led us on the descent towards a 
wood, which we shortly after entered. We issued from it again, entered a savannah, and turning round a small hillock, a pretty 
* Humboldt’s Pers. Narrative, vol. v, p. 800. The mountain here alluded to is the Caruma or Sierra Grande, situated at the eastern or left bank of the Rio Branco, 
and about thirty-one miles below Fort San Joaquim. The popular tradition of the existence of this lake still existed when we sojourned in Fort San Joaquim, and the 
superstition, that he who should ascend its summit would die in the course of the year, had no doubt prevented its non-existence from bein^ ascertained. I planned an excursion 
thither with Senhor Pedro Ayres, and we prevailed upon Andres Miguel, the patriarch of the Vaqueiros, or herdsmen, to accompany us, who said, that if we, who had still pretensions 
to some years of life, could risk ours, he might easily forget the few years likely to be granted to him. We reached the top after many toils, but no lake was to be seen, nor 
is the second tradition much to be trusted — that death within a year is the penalty for treading upon the summit of Caruma ; for while I write this, two years have elapsed since 
I enjoyed a splendid prospect from its highest point. 
f For a representation of this beautiful plant, see frontispiece. 
