f 
i 
<1 
jy l. v>»r : : .4 
L< f s* ' ^ f ** *. m% t« • 
■r« r ’V', » *_ 
s - 
:'•*•<** 
' * ’ 
• i T* ' " K 
V . ,. . . 1 « 
. K . - 
“ J V - r. ... 
were attempting the consolidation of t 
their respective claims to the Alto Ori-. , 
noco. Yavita, an Indian chief from the 
Rio Caqucta, came to Cario I emi 
about this time, ostensibly to propa¬ 
gandize for the Portuguese territorial 
and spiritual claims, but actually (ac¬ 
cording to Humboldt) to collect slaves. 
After being captured by the Spanish 
conquistador Solano, he was converted 
to the Spanish cause and the town 
named for him was established in 1756. 
The old chief was still alive when 
Humboldt and Bonpland arrived in 
Yavita on May 1, 1800; the portage 
road had been constructed only five 
years before. 
At the time of Humboldt’s arrival 
from San Fernando de Atabapo, Yavita 
had a Spanish monk in residence among 
one hundred and sixty Indians. ( I he 
1959 population of Yavita was about 
thirty, including an outpost of the 
Venezuelan Guardia Nacional.) The 
two naturalists remained there several 
days while their dugout was rollered/ 
across to Pimichin; they then proceeded 
downstream to the Rio Guainia on 
May 8. A welter of impressions and 
observations were recorded by Hum¬ 
boldt; at Yavita was first seen cupana , 
the source of a popular tropical drink; 
the botanical source of curare was first 
collected at Pimichin; jigua , the edible 
fruit of a Caryocar , was sampled at 
Pimichin ; the abundance and lethal ef¬ 
fects of the mapanare (fer de lance) 
made a deep impression on the “last of 
the universal men.” The eighty-five 
curves of Cano Pimichin Humboldt 
rated second only to the windings of 
the Chagres River. While in the port¬ 
age’s high forest, the envy of a tropical 
plant .collector was well expressed by 
Humboldt: “What we could gather 
appeared to us of little interest com¬ 
pared to what we could not reach.” 
Wallace’s long approach to Yavita 
\ 
was from the Amazon and Rio Negro. 
He arrived at Pimichin on February 1, 
1851, and at Yavita on February 18. 
Here he remained collecting specimens 
(chiefly insects) until March 31. Like 
Humboldt, Wallace’s details of a black 
jaguar, fUh puUens, mapanares } and 
chiquichiquc are an indicative record 
of the shaping of a great mind. The 
concrete evidence of Ids sojourn sur¬ 
vives only in his writings. The ship on 
which he and his large collections were 
(Continued on page 13) 
• v .'V /-JVv V fi. - / • 
• ■ "j 
;k • r ',v 5V, Jy/A v:Vy‘ ' ■ • r ,• '• • t 
* * j v. > k• f * * • . V‘ ■ v, *• .. v. * r \ * j* 
t ' '■-■***& - A . . • "A • •.*> 
; v; - ^ t . - 
' r^^- rsf.v • ■ ■■■'' . -• • •' 
*3-br.:. 'f;. 
1’.. .J 
^ i * » » • ' . 
i • j (4 1 
UjJ T v 
• ‘ ^ n qpfrX* 
1• .Ifc : 
1 J* J . • 
-i.. .-‘J -'~ 
Yavita today is even smaller than in 
Humboldt's time. 
p, --7 T rr-vr—r-- 
* a*/ /• J <<-■ «. j 
+ -s- A / J ' ,• . >' . : 
^ • V ' ^ -» W * / * * ' 
Chiquichique palm fiber (from Leopoldinict 
piassaba Wallace ex Archer) is still an im¬ 
portant natural product of the Guainfa- 
Atabapo area, as it was in Wallace's 
time. It is exported to the United 
States and Europe for brooms 
and whisk-brooms. 
/ 
.)V 3 
L v tv**\ r ', r - 
M W— \ J 4 
If. 
^ L-. 1 . 
• [■ 4 
- 1 •: - 
The high forest along the portage is very 
rich in plant spegies. 
-- ->>> 4'" ' 
- J r— • 
ZmT- * . !»■ . ., 
s c 
■ 6 
kV 
:> 
;<> 
■ 
* 
' ^. 
4 /. 
V' 
I 
-- j,, < hv . 
- J r rJ i *■ 
, ' v * v> 
iW . - 
> ■; 
: A 1 r« * 
• k ' ; <• 
;t^# l* 
. c ^ *. • , ' • : 
u > »' ‘T ^ ^ ^ T* - ‘ vV * , 
- - At - ;>• ' . 1 ■■ y>* 
° **■ . Tf <* j »,, ? * i • - > j 
'■•■ryr,- •••vv;,, .. A 
• A 4-' 
/'.vvr > " • 
i. v 
4MmE s 4 » 
tUf * * 
JANUARY-FEBRUARY, 1960 
r w 
