Eighth Bay's Instruction.

RIVER ORONOKO.

THE northern boundary of Spanish Guiana is the Oronoko, a river the most extensive of all the South American streams, except the Amazon; and the sources of which are now scarcely more known to the Spaniards, than those of the Nile were to Europeans before the travels of Mr. Bruce. These sources are believed to spring among the mountains north-west of the lake Parima, in the central parts of Guiana. But the savage character of the adjacent Indians has hitherto rendered access to this part of the country too dangerous to be attempted.

From its source to the Atures, the Oronoko traverses a country which it is believed to fertilize to little purpose; and which will probably long continue abandoned to its native possessors. Near the Atures it directs its course toward the north. Here are some cataracts formed by rocks across the stream, down which the water rushes with terrific noise, and over which no vessel whatever can pass.

Lower down, and about the sixth degree of north latitude, the Meta falls into the Oronoko, on its northern shore, and forms important commercial relations between the whole eastern part of the kingdom of Santa Fe and Spanish Guiana. This river is navigable through a great extent of country, but its banks are still a wilderness, or are inhabited only by Indians, who have an aversion equally decided against social life and agricultural occupations: they are wild, though not ferocious; and being as little qualified for attack, as they are for defence, they preserve their independence only by flight. Numerous other rivers fall into the Oronoko, many of which also are navigable; and along several parts of their banks are fertile grounds,

where great numbers of cattle, horses, and mules are fed.

The navigation of the Oronoko, from the Meta downward, is far from being so easy and certain as the magnitude of the river might lead us to suppose. Interspersed with islands that obstruct its channel, and throw its bed sometimes towards the right bank, and sometimes towards the left: occupied by rocks of various size and height, some of which are on a level with the water, and others beneath its surface; and being subject to dreadful gusts of wind, it can here be navigated only by good pilots, and in vessels of peculiar size and construction.

At the distance of about a hundred and twenty miles from the sea, the Oronoko, like the Nile, forms, by its numerous streams or channels, a kind of Delta or fan. These streams are spread over a tract of country sixty miles in extent along the sea-coast; and are upwards of fifty in number, though not more than seven are navigable by vessels of burthen. The islands that are formed by them are inhabited by a tribe of Indians, called Garaunos; but the difficulty of navigation is so great, that even the Indians themselves are sometimes in danger of being lost. Though they subsist by a fishery, which obliges them incessantly to navigate the openings and inlets of the islands, it is requisite they should always know exactly where they are; yet these very men, amphibious as we may almost consider them, are frequently perplexed, and are obliged to seek for the current, that they may let it carry them to the sea, in order that they may enter by the channel that is adapted for their return. This expression of seeking a current may seem extraordinary to those persons who are not aware, that there is a certain skill necessary to discover it. The channels of the Oronoko are here so numerous, and have such various directions that, for the most part, no current can be perceived. In some of them the eddies and winds establish false currents, which carry the navigator up instead of down the river. The use of a compass, when he is once lost,

will not secure him from losing the direction he ought to take, and even from returning to the very point whence he set out. All these circumstances evince the necessity there is of having a good pilot, either to enter, or to go out of the Oronoko. One of the mouths of this river, is called the "Ship's Mouth," because it is the only one by which vessels of two or three hundred tons burthen can enter.

Few parts of the world are more calculated to captivate the admiration of the naturalist than the country adjacent to the banks of this river. In some places these banks are bordered by forests of the most majestic trees imaginable; are enriched with underwood, and filled with birds of exquisite plumage. Several kinds of monkeys animate the scene, and amuse the voyager up the stream, by their cries, their leaps, their grimaces, and feats of agility. In other parts immense plains, covered with excellent pasture, afford to him a relief from the sameness of forest scenery. Every thing concurs to excite his admiration of the order, the wisdom, and the harmony of nature.

Like the Nile, and other great rivers, the Oronoko has an annual and periodical rise. This varies according to the wetness of the season, but the ordinary rise, before the town of San Thomas, is about twenty-six feet. The river begins to flow in the month of April, and to fall about the first of October.

The Oronoko abounds in fish, the kinds of which are innumerable: turtle are also extremely numerous. The Indians catch these animals and dry their flesh for food, and they extract a great quantity of oil from their eggs. Alligators, seals, and other amphibious animals, are found in the waters of this river.

Narrative of the Voyage of Messrs. HUMBOLDT and BONPLAND down the River Apuré, and thence up the Oronoko.

THESE gentlemen had been several months in South America, and had arrived at San Fernando, a vil

lage on the banks of the Apuré. Here they remained three days, in order to make preparations for their voyage down that river. They hired a large canoe, and a pilot and four Indians to navigate it. In this canoe a sort of cabin was constructed at the stern, with leaves of the fan palm some ox-hides were stretched on frames of Brazil wood, to serve for a table and benches; and the travellers laid in a month's provisions, consisting of fowls, eggs, plantains, cassava, and other articles. The Apuré abounds in fish, manatees, and turtles; and its banks are frequented by an innumerable quantity of birds; among which are two that may be considered as the pheasants and turkies of these countries.. The travellers, consequently, added to their provisions fishing instruments and fire-arms; they also added a few casks of brandy, to serve as a medium of barter with the Indians of the Oronoko.

The river Apuré, like the Oronoko, has its periodical inundations, and overflows a great part of the adjacent country. In the rainy season the horses that wander in the savannas, and have not time to reach the rising grounds, perish by hundreds. The mares, followed by their colts, may often be seen during part of the day to feed on the grass, the tops of which alone wave upon the surface of the water. In this situation they are sometimes pursued by crocodiles; and it is not unusual to find marks of the teeth of these carnivorous reptiles on their thighs. The carcases of such as perish attract innumerable vultures, which devour the putrid remains, and thus act as the scavengers of this torrid climate.

At San Fernando the breadth of the Apuré is about thirteen hundred feet. Notwithstanding the great distance of this place from the sea, several cetaceous animals, in appearance resembling porpoises, were observed by Baron de Humboldt to play about, in long files, on the surface of the water.

The travellers embarked on the 30th of March. Two days before this the weather had been stormy, but when they left San Fernando, it was clear and intensely hot.

In the early part of their voyage they saw, on the left bank of the river, a tribe of Indians called Yaruroes, who live by hunting and fishing, and who supply the European markets with skins of the jaguar, or American tiger. They had a few huts, constructed with reeds and the stalks of palm-trees. The individuals, whom Baron de Humboldt had an opportunity of seeing, had a stern look, an elongated eye, and high cheek bones; but the nose was prominent throughout its whole length. The missionaries, who resided in the neighbourhood, praised the intellectual character of this people, and stated, that they had formerly been a powerful and numerous nation.

During the voyage from San Fernando to San Carlos on the Rio Negro, and thence to the town of Angostura, Baron de Humboldt confined himself to writing, day by day, either in the boat, or where they disembarked at night, whatever appeared to him worthy of observation. Violent rains, and a prodigious quantity of musquitoes with which the air was filled, occasioned the only interruptions that were experienced in this labour.

The voyagers passed through a land inhabited only by tigers, crocodiles, and a species of quadrupeds belonging to the genus Cavia of Linnæus. They saw flocks of birds crowded so close together, as to appear like a dark cloud that every instant changed its form. The banks of the river were generally covered with a forest, the trees of which were very singularly disposed. In some places the bushes formed a kind of hedge, about four feet high, which appeared as if it had been clipped by the hand of man. A copse of cedars, ligneum vitæ, and other trees, rose behind this hedge. Palm-trees were here very rare. In this scene of untamed and savage nature, the voyager along the river, at one moment is delighted with the sight of the jaguar, or some other wild quadruped; and at another with the peacock, pheasant, or cassew bird with its black plumage and tufted head moving slowly along the verge of the woods. Gliding down the stream, animals of the most