EXHAUSTION prata,
is m a n i f e s t l y
notions c o l l e c t e d
OF ANCIENT
borrowed
by Acunha,
from
with
what
the
383
Spanish.*
The
F a t h e r F r i t z , a n d La C o n d a -
mine, o n t h e gold-washings south U a u p e , agree
MINES.
and north o f t h e river
I learnt o f the auriferous
soil o f
t h o s e c o u n t r i e s . However great we may suppose t h e comm u n i c a t i o n s that t o o k place b e t w e e n the nations o f the Orinoco did
before
n o t draw
Cordilleras.
t h e arrival
their gold
Quito.
rocks
they
certainly
declivity
it is a l m o s t e n t i r e l y
in t h e p r o v i n c e s
of the
composed of
of Popayan,
Pasto,
and
T h e gold o f Guiana p r o b a b l y c a m e from t h e c o u n t r y
east o f t h e A n d e s .
I n our d a y s a l u m p o f g o l d h a s b e e n
in a ravine n e a r
found
Europeans,
t h e eastern
T h i s declivity is p o o r in m i n e s , particularly in
mines anciently w o r k e d ; volcanic
of
from
we m u s t
the mission
n o t b e surprised
in t h e s e
wild
spots,
we
if,
hear
o f Encaramada,
since less
Europeans
o f t h e plates o f gold,
g o l d - d u s t , a n d a m u l e t s o f j a d e - s t o n e , which could be o b t a i n e d by b a r t e r .
from
t h e Caribs
T h e precious
and
settled
heretofore
and other wandering nations
metals,
n e v e r very
a b u n d a n t on
t h e b a n k s o f t h e O r i n o c o , t h e R i o Negro, and t h e A m a z o n , disappeared almost e n t i r e l y w h e n t h e s y s t e m of t h e m i s s i o n s caused t h e d i s t a n t
communications
between
t h e natives t o
cease. T h e b a n k s o f t h e U p p e r Guainia in general a b o u n d less
in fishing-birds
and
the Auraca,
cient t o enrich scarcity
than
where
those
ornithologists
would
i m m e n s e l y t h e collect ions o f
o f animals
arises,
n o doubt,
shoals a n d flat, s h o r e s , as well
as from
nish
less
aliment
Indians
t o aquatic insects
of these countries, during
y e a r , feed on birds o f passage, which
find
This
t h e want o f
t h e quality very
o f the
purity) fur-
a n d fish.
However,
t w o periods repose
suffi-
Europe.
from
black w a t e r s , which ( o n a c c o u n t o f t h e i r the
much
o f Cassiquiare, t h e M e t a ,
of the
in t h e i r l o n g
* The Parpens say, instead of prata, rata. It is the Castilian word plata ill-pronounced. Near the Yurubesh there is another inconsiderable tributary stream of the Rio Negro, the Curicur-iari, It is easy to recognize in this name the Caribbee word carucur, gold. The Caribs extended their incursions from the mouth of the Orinoco smith-west toward the Rio Negro; and it was this restless people who carried the fable of El Dorado, by the same way, but in an opposite direction (from south-west to north-east), from the Mesopotamia between the Rio Negro and the Jupura to the sources of the Rio Branco.