518
VELOCITY
OF
THE
CURRENT.
b e s u r m o u n t e d than those o f the D a n u b e b e t w e e n V i e n n a and Linz. W e meet with no great bars, no real cataracts, until w e g e t above the Meta. T h e U p p e r O r i n o c o , t h e r e lore, with t h e Cassiquiare and the Rio N e g r o , forms a particular system o f rivers, where the active industry o f A n g o s tura and the shore o f Caracas will remain long u n k n o w n . I obtained horary angles o f the sun in an island in the midst of the Horn del I n f i r n o , where we had set up our instruments. T h e longitude o f this point according to the c h r o n o m e t e r is 67° 10' 31". I attempted to determine the magnetic dip and intensity, but was prevented by a heavy storm o f rain. As the sky again became serene in the aftern o o n , we lay d o w n to rest that night on a vast beach, on t h e southern bank o f the O r i n o c o , nearly in the meridian o f the little town o f Muitaco, or Real Corona. I found the latitude b y three stars t o be 8° 0 ' 2 6 " , and the longitude 67° 5' 1 9 " . When the Observantin m o n k s in 1752 made their first entradas on the territory o f the Caribs, t h e y constructed on this spot a small fort. T h e proximity o f the lofty m o u n tains of Araguacais renders M u i t a c o one o f the most healthy places on the L o w e r O r i n o c o . There Iturriaga took up his abode in 1756, to repose alter the fatigues o f the expedition o f the boundaries ; and as he attributed his recovery to this h o t rather than humid climate, the town, or more properly t h e village, o f Real Corona took the name of Pueblo del Puerto sano. G o i n g down the O r i n o c o more to t h e east, we left the mouth o f the Rio Pao on the north, and that o f the Arui on the south. The latter river, w h i c h is somewhat considerable, is often mentioned by Raleigh. T h e current o f the O r i n o c o diminished in velocity as we advanced. I measured several times a base along the beach, to ascertain the time taken by floating bodies In traversing a known distance. A b o v e Alta Gracia, near the mouth of the Rio Ujape, I had found the velocity o f the O r i n o c o 23 feet in a second; between M u i t a c o and Borbon it was only 17 foot. T h e barometric observations made in the n e i g h b o u r ing steppes prove t h e small s l o p e o f the ground from the longitude o f 69° to the eastern coast o f G u i a n a . W e found in this c o u n t r y , on the right bank o f the O r i n o c o , small format ions o f primitive grünstein, superimposed on granite (perhaps even embedded in the r o c k ) . W e saw between