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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I Was
Assured Also By Some Indians, Who Dwelt Formerly To The West Of The
Island Of Amanaveni, Beyond The
Confluence of the Rio Supavi, that
going in a boat on the Guaviare (in the manner of the savages) beyond
The strait (angostura) and the principal cataract, they met, at three
days' distance, bearded and clothed men, who came in search of the
eggs of the terekay turtle. This meeting alarmed the Indians so much,
that they fled precipitately, redescending the Guaviare. It is
probable, that these bearded white men came from the villages of Aroma
and San Martin, the Rio Guaviare being formed by the union of the
rivers Ariari and Guayavero. We must not be surprised that the
missionaries of the Orinoco and the Atabapo little suspect how near
they live to the missionaries of Mocoa, Rio Fragua, and Caguan. In
these desert countries, the real distances can be known only by
observations of the longitude. It was in consequence of astronomical
data, and the information I gathered in the convents of Popayan and of
Pasto, to the west of the Cordillera of the Andes, that I formed an
accurate idea of the respective situations of the christian
settlements on the Atabapo, the Guayavero, and the Caqueta.* (* The
Caqueta bears, lower down, the name of the Yupura.)
Everything changes on entering the Rio Atabapo; the constitution of
the atmosphere, the colour of the waters, and the form of the trees
that cover the shore. You no longer suffer during the day the torment
of mosquitos; and the long-legged gnats (zancudos) become rare during
the night.
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