OCR Text |
Show CATARACTS OF THE ORINOCO. 183 of tropical bird , with a lloublc movable crest of feathers, and is as pugnacious as the East Indian domestic cock. In the Randal of Canucari, the rocky dike or weir consists of piled-up granite spheres. W c crept into the interior of a grotto the damp walls of which were coyercd with confervre and shining Byssus, and where the river rushed high above our heads with deafening noise. We had accidentally more time than we desired for the enjoyment of this grand scene of nature. The Indians had left us in the middle of the cataract, proposing to take the canoe around a long narrow island below which we were to re-embark. We waited an hour .and a half under a heavy tempestuous rain; night was coming on, and we sought in vain for shelter between the masses of granite. The little monkeys, which we had carried with us for months in wicker cages, by their mournful cries attracted crocodiles whose size and leaden-gray color showed their great age. I should not here notice an occurrence so usual in the Orinoco, if the Indians had not assured us that no crocodiles were ever seen in the Cataracts; and in dependence on this assurance we had even ventured repeatedly to bathe in this part of the river. Meanwhile our anxiety lest we might be forced to pass the long tropical night in the middle of the Randal, wet through and deafened by the thundering noise of the falling waters, increased every moment; until at last the Indians reappeared with our canoe. From the low state of the waters they had found the steps by which they had intended to let themselves down inaccessible, and had been forced to seek among the labyrinth of channels for a mo~e practicable passage. Near the southern entrance of the Randal of .A.tures, on the right bank of the river, is the cave of Ataruipe, which is widely celebrated among the Indians. The grand and melancholy character of the scenery around fits it for the burying-place of a deceased nation. We climbed with difficulty, and not without danger of falling to a great depth below, a steep and perfectly bare granite precipice. It would be hardl:y possible to keep one's footing on the smooth surface, if it were not for large crystals of feldspar, which, resisting "weathering," project as much as an inch from the face of the rock. On reaching the summit, the traveller beholds a wide, diversified, |