Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 3 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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Ordaz Pursued In Preference
The Navigation Of The Orinoco, But The Cataracts Of Tabaje (Perhaps
Even Those Of The Atures) Compelled Him To Terminate His Discoveries.
It is worthy of remark that in this voyage, far anterior to that of
Orellana, and consequently the greatest which the Spaniards had then
performed on a river of the New World, the name of the Orinoco was for
the first time heard.
Ordaz, the leader of the expedition, affirms
that the river, from its mouth as far as the confluence of the Meta,
is called Uriaparia, but that above this confluence it bears the name
of Orinucu. This word (formed analogously with the words Tamanacu,
Otomacu, Sinarucu) is, in fact, of the Tamanac tongue; and, as the
Tamanacs dwell south-east of Encaramada, it is natural that the
conquistadores heard the actual name of the river only on drawing near
the Rio Meta.* (* Gili volume 3 page 381. The following are the most
ancient names of the Orinoco, known to the natives near its mouth, and
which historians give us altered by the double fault of pronunciation
and orthography; Yuyapari, Yjupari, Huriaparia, Urapari, Viapari, Rio
de Paria. The Tamanac word Orinucu was disfigured by the Dutch pilots
into Worinoque. The Otomacs say Joga-apurura (great river); the Cabres
and Guaypunabis, Paragua, Bazagua Parava, three words signifying great
water, river, sea. That part of the Orinoco between the Apure and the
Guaviare is often denoted by the name of Baraguan. A famous strait,
which we have described above, bears also this name, which is no doubt
a corruption of the word Paragua.
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