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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We Passed The Night At The Island Of Cucuruparu, Called Also Playa De
La Tortuga, Because The Indians Of Uruana Go Thither To Collect The
Turtles' Eggs.
It is one of the best determined points of latitude
along the banks of the Orinoco.
I was there fortunate enough to
observe the passage of three stars over the meridian. To the east of
the island is the mouth of the Cano de la Tortuga, which descends from
the mountains of Cerbatana, continually wrapped in electric clouds. On
the southern bank of the Cano, between the tributary streams Parapara
and Oche, lies the almost ruined mission of San Miguel de la Tortuga.
The Indians assured us that the environs of this little mission abound
in otters with a very fine fur, called by the Portuguese water-dogs
(perritos de agua); and what is still more remarkable, in lizards
(lagartos) with only two feet. The whole of this country, which is
very accessible between the Rio Cuchivero and the strait of Baraguan,
is worthy of being visited by a well-informed zoologist. The lagarto
destitute of hinder extremities is perhaps a species of Siren,
different from the Siren lacertina of Carolina. If it were a saurian,
a real Bimanis (Chirotes, Cuvier), the natives would not have compared
it to a lizard. Besides the arrau turtles, of which I have in a former
place given a detailed account, an innumerable quantity of land
tortoises also, called morocoi, are found on the banks of the Orinoco,
between Uruana and Encaramada. During the great heats of summer, in
the time of drought, these animals remain without taking food, hidden
beneath stones, or in the holes they have dug. They issue from their
shelter and begin to eat, only when the humidity of the first rains
penetrates into the earth. The terekay, or tajelu turtle which lives
in fresh water, has the same habits. I have already spoken of the
summer-sleep of some animals of the tropics. As the natives know the
holes in which the tortoises sleep amidst the dried lands, they get
out a great number at once, by digging fifteen or eighteen inches
deep. Father Gili says that this operation, which he had seen, is not
without danger, because serpents often bury themselves in summer with
the terekays.
From the island of Cucuruparu, to the capital of Guiana, commonly
called Angostura, we were but nine days on the water. The distance is
somewhat less than ninety-five leagues. We seldom slept on shore but
the torment of the mosquitos diminished in proportion as we advanced.
We landed on the 8th of June at a farm (Hato de San Rafael del
Capuchino) opposite the mouth of the Rio Apure. I obtained some good
observations of latitude and longitude.* (* I had found, on the 4th of
April, for the Boca del Rio Apure (on the western bank of the
Orinoco), the latitude 7 degrees 36 minutes 30 seconds, the longitude
59 degrees 7 minutes 30 seconds; on the 8th of June I found, for the
Hato del Capuchino (on the eastern bank of the Orinoco), the latitude
7 degrees 37 minutes 45 seconds, the longitude 69 degrees 5 minutes 30
seconds.) Having two months before taken horary angles on the bank
opposite Capuchino, these observations were important for determining
the rate of my chronometer, and connecting the situations on the
Orinoco with those on the shore of Venezuela.
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