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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The
Capuchins Of Catalonia And The Observantins Of Andalusia And Valencia,
Have Already Made Settlements In The Valleys Of The Carony And The
Caura.
The tributary streams of the Lower Orinoco, being the nearest
to the coast and to the cultivated region of Venezuela, were naturally
the first to receive missionaries, and with them some germs of social
life.
Corresponding to the Carony and the Caura, which flow toward the
north, are two great tributary streams of the Upper Orinoco, that send
their waters toward the south; these are the Padamo and the Ventuari.
No village has hitherto risen on their banks, though they offer
advantages for agriculture and pasturage, which would be sought in
vain in the valley of the immense river to which they are tributary.
In the centre of these wild countries, where there will long be no
other road than the rivers, every project of civilization should be
founded on an intimate knowledge of the hydraulic features of the
country, and the relative importance of the tributary streams.
In the morning of the 26th of May we left the little village of Santa
Barbara, where we found several Indians of Esmeralda, who had come
reluctantly, by order of the missionary, to construct for him a house
of two stories. During the whole day we enjoyed the view of the fine
mountains of Sipapo, which rise at a distance of more than eighteen
leagues in the direction of north-north-west. The vegetation of the
banks of the Orinoco is singularly varied in this part of the country;
the aborescent ferns* descend from the mountains, and mingle with the
palm-trees of the plain.
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