take in a fresh lading; he therefore having found a companion ready to accompany him, resolved to employ the intervening time, in making an excursion up the great river Orinoco, the mouth of which lay but a few miles from Cumana, and which being navigable for a great part of its course and running through a most interesting country, promised to afford him much gratification. It had also to him another recommendation, for he remembered to have read, and that so long ago as 230 years, Sir Walter Raleigh, a Gallant English Admiral, had sailed 600 miles up its stream.

Before we proceed however, to describe the excursion on which Philips was now about to embark, it is necessary to say something of the general appearance of South America, in order that the reader may carry in his mind some idea of the great features which nature has marked on it. South America, then, is a great peninsular continent; that is, it is surrounded by water except at its North West Point, where the narrow strip of land, (which in one part is only thirty-seven miles broad,) called the Isthmus of Darien, connects it with the other Continent of North America. Its figure may be said to be triangular, the base of which is formed by that long and irregular line of shore lying between Terra Del Fuego South, and the Gulf of Panama North, which is washed by the Pacific Occan. The two other sides, meet

ing at Cape St. Roque in the 5th degree of South Latitude, and running along the Southera and Northern Atlantic Ocean, till the latter forms that part which is called the Caribbean Sea. All this extensive country, extending through 67 degrees of latitude, or 4,700 miles, is divided between two European powers, the Spaniards and the Portuguese, the Colonies belonging to Great Britain and France being only slips of the coast, and even the unconquered countries very small, when compared with those of the two powers first named

Through this vast extent of country, there runs from South to North, almost parallel with the Pacific Ocean, an unbroken range of mountains, called the Andes, some of which, as we shall have occasion hereafter to describe, rise to the height of 21,000 feet or about three Irish miles above the level of the sea. From the Western or Pacific Ocean, the land rises suddenly into this great ridge, so that in many parts, it reaches its highest point, at about 150 miles from the western shore, while towards the east, it slopes more gradually, and frequently extends to the length of 1,500 or 2000 miles, before it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. This great ridge sends out several parallel branches from its side, which run eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. It will simplify our notion of the country if we consider only three of them. The first or most northern fronts the Caribbean Sea. The second runs

C

between the rivers Orinoco, and the river Amazon; and the third between the river Amazon and the river Plata. It is a well known fact, that the greatest rivers are always in the neighbourhood of the highest mountains, and' therefore we may form some idea, not only of the height to which the mountains rise in South America, but of the extent of country which these branches traverse, in saying that the three rivers mentioned are amongst the largest in the world.

These were the points which Philips endea voured to fix in his mind, when he was learning the geography of the country :-one great ridge, like a back bone, running up from south to north; three side-ridges, like ribs, branching off to the east, and feeding with the streams which flow down their sides, the rivers Orinoco, Amazon, and Plata. It is true, there were a great many smaller ranges, branching off, in all directions, from these collateral chains, and, of course, a great many smaller rivers; but these latter only went to feed those already mentioned; and the former were not to be compared, either in extent or height, with the leading branches.

Having made all the necessary preparation for this expedition, Philips's next care was to look out for a vessel which would carry him along the coast, from Cumana to the entrance of the Orinoco, where he hoped to find a schooner sailing up the river, in which he could pro

cure a passage. However, he was not obliged to wait long for an opportunity of doing both. The merchant to whom the cargo of his own vessel had been consigned, was actually sending a ship of his own, for commercial purposes, in the very track along which he wished to go. There were several passengers also on board, bound to the different towns which lay along the banks; and as they were intelligent, and had a perfect knowledge of the country, our traveller not only found their society pleasing, but was enabled to gratify his ardent thirst for information.

The river up which he was now about to sail, as he learned from one of his fellow-passengers, is one of the largest in the world, whether we consider the extent of country through which it flows, or the prodigious quantity of water which it into the ocean. Its source has never pours been accurately ascertained, since the most enterprising travellers who attempted to ascend its stream, were prevented from advancingbeyond a certain distance, by a nation of fierce savages, who would certainly massacre any one who made the attempt. It rises, however, according to the information of the natives, in a small lake called Ipava, not more than three hundred miles from its mouth; and then, sweeping round in a semi-circular direction, it enters the lake of Parina. It then takes another eircular sweep before it holds its course north; and, having received the waters of numerous large rivers from

the eastern side of the Andes, it swells to a great size, and rushes along with rapidity. Its length is calculated at one thousand three hundred and eighty miles; and its volume of waters is so immense, that, at six hundred miles from the sea, it has a breadth of two and a half Irish miles. It gives us a more accurate idea of its size to say, that it carries to the ocean the wa ters of an extensive valley, extending one thousand miles from East to West, and six hundred miles from north to south.

"The Orinoco," continued Philips's informant, "makes its way into the ocean by a great number of different channels. It is said that it has fifty out-lets, of which only seven are navigable; and, so difficult is it to know the bearings of them, that even the Guayanos Indians, who are born in the place, and ought to be accustomed to their appearance, frequently lose themselves in the intricacies of this labyrinth, and are obliged to allow the current to carry them out to sea, and then, not without the minutest observation, to ascertain the proper passage to re-enter. It even requires considerable skill to find the current; for the numerous channels have such different directions, that in many of them no current at all is perceptible; and in others, the eddies, or the winds, often give the current a direction up the river, instead of down. So that when a person once loses his course, he is obliged to wander several days among the Guayanos islands, imagining that he is ascending the