Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 2 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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Lower Down We Passed
The Point Where The Rio Arichuna, An Arm Of The Apure, Branches Off To
The Cabulare, Carrying Away A Considerable Body Of Its Waters.
We
stopped, on the right bank, at a little Indian mission, inhabited by
the tribe of the Guamos, called the village of Santa Barbara de
Arichuna.
The Guamos* are a race of Indians very difficult to fix on a settled
spot. (* Father Gili observes that their Indian name is Uamu and Pau,
and that they originally dwelt on the Upper Apure.) They have great
similarity of manners with the Achaguas, the Guajibos,* (* Their
Indian name is Guahiva.) and the Ottomacs, partaking their disregard
of cleanliness, their spirit of vengeance, and their taste for
wandering; but their language differs essentially. The greater part of
these four tribes live by fishing and hunting, in plains often
inundated, situated between the Apure, the Meta, and the Guaviare. The
nature of these regions seems to invite the natives to a wandering
life. On entering the mountains of the Cataracts of the Orinoco, we
shall soon find, among the Piraoas, the Macos, and the Maquiritaras,
milder manners, a love of agriculture, and great cleanliness in the
interior of their huts. On mountain ridges, in the midst of
impenetrable forests, man is compelled to fix himself; and cultivate a
small spot of land. This cultivation requires little care; while, in a
country where there are no other roads than rivers, the life of the
hunter is laborious and difficult. The Guamos of the mission of Santa
Barbara could not furnish us with the provision we wanted. They
cultivate only a little cassava. They appeared hospitable; and when we
entered their huts, they offered us dried fish, and water cooled in
porous vessels.
Beyond the Vuelta del Cochino Roto, in a spot where the river has
scooped itself a new bed, we passed the night on a bare and very
extensive strand. The forest being impenetrable, we had the greatest
difficulty to find dry wood to light fires, near which the Indians
believe themselves in safety from the nocturnal attacks of the tiger.
Our own experience seems to bear testimony in favour of this opinion;
but Azara asserts that, in his time, a tiger in Paraguay carried off a
man who was seated near a fire lighted in the savannah.
The night was calm and serene, and there was a beautiful moonlight.
The crocodiles, stretched along the shore, placed themselves in such a
manner as to be able to see the fire. We thought we observed that its
blaze attracted them, as it attracts fishes, crayfish, and other
inhabitants of the water. The Indians showed us the tracks of three
tigers in the sand, two of which were very young. A female had no
doubt conducted her little ones to drink at the river. Finding no tree
on the strand, we stuck our oars in the ground, and to these we
fastened our hammocks. Everything passed tranquilly till eleven at
night; and then a noise so terrific arose in the neighbouring forest,
that it was almost impossible to close our eyes.
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