This Western Branch Of The Mountains Of Pacaraina Separates The Basin Of Rio Branco From That Of The Upper Orinoco, The Sources Of Which Are Probably Not Found East Of The Meridian Of 66 15 Minutes:

It is linked with the mountains of Unturan and Yumariquin, situated south-east of the mission of Esmeralda.

Thence it results that, while on the west of the Cassiquiare, between that river, the Atabapo, and the Rio Negro, we find only vast plains, in which rise some little hills and insulated rocks; real spurs stretch eastward of the Cassiquiare, from north-west to south-east, and form a continued mountainous territory as far as 2 degrees north latitude. The basin only, or rather the transversal valley of the Rio Branco, forms a kind of gulf, a succession of plains and savannahs (campos) several of which penetrate from south to north, into the mountainous land between the eastern and western branches of the chain of Pacaraina, to the distance of eight leagues north of the parallel of San Joaquin.

We have just examined the southern part of the vast system of the mountains of Parime, between 2 and 4 degrees of latitude, and between the meridians of the sources of the Orinoco and the Essequibo. The development of this system of mountains northward between the chain of Pacaraina and Rio Cuyuni, and between the meridians 66 and 61 3/4 degrees, is still less known. The only road frequented by white men is that of the river Paragua, which receives the Paraguamusi, near the Guirior. We find indeed, in the journal of Nicolas Rodriguez, that he was constantly obliged to have his canoe carried by men (arrastrando) past the cataracts which intercept the navigation; but we must not forget a circumstance of which my own experience furnished me with frequent proofs - that the cataracts in this part of South America are often caused only by ridges of rocks which do not form mountains. Rodriguez names but two between Barceloneta and the mission of San Jose; while the missionaries place more to the east, in 6 degrees latitude, between the Rio Caroni and the Cuyuni, the Serranias of Usupama and Rinocote. The latter crosses the Mazaruni, and forms thirty-nine cataracts in the Essequibo, from the military post of Arinda (latitude 5 degrees 30 minutes) to the mouth of Rupunuri.

With respect to the continuation of the system of the mountains of Parime, south-east of the meridian of the Essequibo, the materials are entirely wanting for tracing it with precision. The whole interior of Dutch, French and Portuguese Guiana is a terra incognita; and the astronomical geography of those countries has scarcely made any progress during the space of thirty years. If the American limits recently fixed between France and Portugal should one day cease to be mere diplomatic illusions and acquire reality in being traced on the territory by means of astronomical observations (as was projected in 1817), this undertaking would lead geographical engineers to that unknown region which, at 3 1/2 degrees west of Cayenne, divides the waters between the coast of Guiana and the Amazon. Till that period, which the political state of Brazil seems to retard, the geognostic table of the group of Parime can only be completed by scattered notions collected in the Portuguese and Dutch colonies. In going from the Uassari mountains (latitude 2 degrees 25 minutes, longitude 61 degrees 50 minutes) which form a part of the eastern branch of the Cordillera of Pacaraina, we find towards the east a chain of mountains, called by the missionaries Acaray and Tumucuraque. Those two names are found on our maps between 1/2 and 3 degrees north latitude. Raleigh first made known, in 1596, the system of the mountains of Parime, between the sources of the Rio Carony and the Essequibo, by the name of Wacarima (Pacarima), and the Jesuits Acunha and Artedia furnished, in 1639, the first precise notions of that part of this system which extends from the meridian of Essequibo to that of Oyapoc. There they place the mountains of Yguaracuru and Paraguaxo, the former of which gives birth to a gold river (Rio de oro), a tributary of the Curupatuba;* (* When we know that in Tamanac gold is called caricuri; in Carib, caricura: in Peruvian, cori (curi), we easily recognize in the names of the mountains and rivers (Yguara-curu, Cura-patuba) which we have just marked, the indication of auriferous soil. Such is the analogy of the imported roots in the American tongues, which otherwise differ altogether from each other, that 300 leagues west of the mountain Ygaracuru, on the banks of the Caqueta, Pedro de Ursua heard of the province of Caricuri, rich in gold washings. The Curupatuba falls into the Amazon near the Villa of Monte Alegre, north-east of the mouth of the Rio Topayos.); and according to the assertion of the natives, subterraneous noises are sometimes heard from the latter. The ridge of this chain of mountains, which runs in a direction south 85 degrees east from the peak of Duida near the Esmeralda (latitude 3 degrees 19 minutes), to the rapids of the Rio Manaye near Cape Nord (latitude 1 degree 50 minutes), divides, in the parallel of 2 degrees, the northern sources of the Essequibo, the Maroni and the Oyapoc, from the southern sources of the Rio Trombetas, Curupatuba and Paru. The most southern spurs of this chain approach nearer to the Amazon, at the distance of fifteen leagues. These are the first heights which we perceived after having left Xeberos and the mouth of the Huallaga. They are constantly seen in navigating from the mouth of the Rio Topayo towards that of Paru, from the town of Santarem to Almeirim. The peak Tripoupou is nearly in the meridian of the former of those towns and is celebrated among the Indians of Upper Maroni. It is said that farther eastward, at Melgaco, the Serras do Velho and do Paru are still distinguished in the horizon.

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