FOET SAN GABEIEL, 
Latitude, 0° 7' 30" S. Longitude, 67° 17' W. 
AFTER a stay of three days in Esmeralda, we left it on the afternoon of the 25th of February, and continuing the descent of 
the Orinoco to the west north-west for thirteen miles, we arrived at the remarkable bifurcation of this river, so well and so fully 
described by Baron de Humboldt, that little is left for any subsequent traveller to add. From this spot the principal branch of the 
Orinoco pursues its course west by north, winding round the foot of the Sierra Parima, and eventually, after a semicircular sweep of 
about eight hundred miles, falls into the Atlantic Ocean. The lesser branch, named the Cassiquiare, or Cassisiare, by the Guinaus 
and Maiongkongs, strikes off at a right angle to the south-west, and continues this course for about one hundi’ed and twenty miles, 
direct to the Rio Negro, a tributary to the great Amazon, and joins the former river about six miles above San Carlos ; thus connecting 
the two great basins of the Orinoco and the Amazon. 
We entered the Rio Negro or Guainia, as the Indian tribes call its upper course, on the 4th of March, and continued on it for 
about seventy miles, in a south south-east direction, passing the Venezuelan and Brazilian boundary forts, San Carlos, and San Jose 
de Marabitanas, and found ourselves, on the 10th of March, opposite the junction of the Uaupes or Ucayari with the Rio Negro. The 
Uaupes divides near its mouth into two branches, forming a low island about five miles long. Just below the southern point of the 
island the river has high banks, and is narrowed in by two ledges of rocks, to a width of four hundred yards, but scarcely has it overcome 
this impediment when it expands again, like a basin, to upwards of a mile in breadth, with islands near both banks, and studded 
with rocks. 
The prospect here is very lovely ; in the distance to the south south-east is the group of peaked mountains named Wanari-mapan ; 
nearer are some isolated hillocks, which rear their heads out of the plain, while the foreground is animated by several little cottages 
erected on the islands and banks of the river, surrounded by Plantain and Banana trees, above which the graceful Paripa or Pirijao Palm * 
raises its pinnated leaves. The river Cocobixi here joins the Rio Negro from the south, while almost immediately opposite, on a 
projecting point of the eastern bank, stands the lonely chapel of Santa Barbara, raising the peaceful emblem of Christianity even in 
these sequestered wilds, above the broad river which foams and flows at its foot. 
Such is the scenery at the spot in which the Rio Negro crosses the equator. More than fourteen months had elapsed since I 
had before traversed this parallel, five hundred miles further to the east ; and, although but an imaginary line, we cannot help attaching 
some interest to the great circle, to which we are accustomed to refer our chief geographical measurements. A low hill, about two 
miles south of the chapel of Santa Barbara, on the western bank, would, according to my reckoning, be exactly on the equinoctial 
line ; and in the absence of any other name, perhaps it may be permitted to call it Cerro do Equador. 
Below this the river is impeded by rapids and falls, which follow in quick succession, and a steady hand at the helm, and a quick 
eye, are of the first importance ; these excellent qualities we had in our old pilot Bernardo from Xi^ and we landed safely towards 
sunset at San Gabriel, a Brazilian fortress crowning a projecting eminence on the river’s left bank. 
The small fort upon the hillock is built of stone, and was erected, in 1763, to prevent the incursions of the Spaniards, who 
came from San Carlos. It mounts six guns, among them two English, and has in ordinary cases a garrison of fourteen men under 
a commandant who is an Ensign in the provincial militia. The guns were of iron, and three were spiked. When the insurgents, or 
Cabannos, were in possession of the Lower Rio Negro, the commandant did not consider himself strong enough to defend the fort, and 
after having spiked three of the cannons he left it to defend itself, and fled over the Venezulean boundary to San Carlos. 
The present commandant was in great dread of an attack from the Indians of the rivers Isanna and Uaupes. A slaving 
expedition, similar to the one which desolated the villages in the vicinity of the Ursato mountains, had been sent against the native 
Indians who inhabit the contested boundaries between the Brazils and Venezuela, and in return for the atrocities there committed, the 
Indians had threatened to storm San Gabriel, and devastate the villages along the Rio Negro. Such an attack would, at that time, 
have proved very awkward, when the fighting men from San Gabriel, and the surrounding environs, had been enlisted to proceed up 
* Guilielma speciosa Mart. Palm,, Tab. 66, 67. 
