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river, when he is descending; and descending, when he is actually ascending."

Such was the account which Philips received concerning the Orinoco. But there was one scheme which, as he was active and fearless, he would have had great satisfaction in putting into execution, if the concurring report of every one with whom he conversed, had not shewed him that, besides being impracticable, it was attended with the greatest personal risk. The Orinoco, we have said, carries to the ocean the waters of an extensive valley, one thousand miles from west to east, and six hundred miles from north to south; but there is another stream of still greater magnitude, the river Amazon, to the south of the Orinoco, which receives the waters, of the American Continent from the latitude of two degrees north, to that of twenty degrees south, and extending across it from the Atlantie Ocean east, to the mountains of the Andes west; a space of about one thousand six hundred miles square. For a long time it had been believed, on the report of the natives, that there was a spot in the latitude of 20 North, where the two rivers approached so near each other, as to be only separated by a narrow ridge, not a mile wide; and two Europeans had not only actually established the truth of this account, but also had proved, that the two rivers were joined together by a subordinate stream; the river Negro, which is a branch of the Amazon, sending off a branch, which, under

noco,

the name of the Cassiaquari, runs into the Oriand thus unites these two immense streams. Now Philips's object would have been, to ascend the Orinoco as far as the seventh degree of latitude, where the river Cassiaquari flows into it; and by this, arriving at the Amazon river, to have navigated this mighty stream to its mouth. However, the savage tribes who inhabited the remote banks of both rivers, made this an impracticable scheme; and he was obliged to satisfy himself by collecting as much information as possible, from those who were best acquainted with the country.

The Amazon is formed by the united waters of the Junguragua, and the Ucayali; and it is a doubtful question which of these two rivers ought to be considered as the main stream; but if the remoteness of the source, and the length of the stream be taken into account, the latter is entitled to the pre-eminence.

The Amazon flows from West to East, across the Continent of South America, its course extending, as measured by the windings of the river, to the prodigious length of more than four thousand miles; and it gives us some idea of the vast body of water which it contains, that there is not a stream of any note on the eastern side of the Andes, for the space of seven-thousand miles, that does not pour its waters into this river. At the mouth it is one hundred and eighty miles wide; and with such violence does it fall into the ocean, that it carries out its own stream

as.

unmixed with the sea-water, to the tonishing distance of 240 miles, a circumstance which is the more extraordinary, because it has been ascertained, that from about four hundred miles from its mouth, there is scarcely any slope in the ground.

Its banks are clothed with immense forests, which are the haunt of Tigers, Bears, Leopards, wild Boars, and other wild beasts, besides an infinite variety both of birds and of venemous Snakes and Serpents; and the Alligators in the river, are often found twenty and thirty feet in length. It is, however, a remarkable circumstance, that throughout the whole of the country which is washed by this river, there is to be had no kind of precious stone, Gold, Silver, or any other metal.

During the seasons of the periodical rains, the Amazon swells to such a degree, that an extensive tract of land on each side, is laid under water, and its small islands are so com. pletely overflowed, that by the force of the current, many of them are found actually to change their situation, and frequently others are formed by the new channels which the river makes for itself.

Those parts of the river, where, from the rapidity of the current, a canoe or any species of boat would be quite unmanageable, are passed on rafts made of light beams bound together by twigs, called Lianas, which being extremely flexible, enable the raft to yield to the

motion of the water, or in case of its striking against rocks, which from the impetuosity of the current must often happen, they act as a kind of spring, and by their pliancy so deaden the shocks, that they occur almost unheeded.The greatest danger to which the navigator is exposed, is being carried by eddies out of the current, which he may find it impossible to regain, and instances have been known of persons being drawn into these whirl-pools, and kept in them for two days without provisions, and where they must have perished but for a providential swell of the river, which brought them back into the proper channel again.

Though the Amazon however, at present of fers such obstacles to travellers, Philips knew that it was not always an expedition of equal danger. In the year 1539, Francis D'Orellana, a Spaniard, having embarked on a river which took its rise on the eastern slope of the Andes, not much more than 100 miles from the shores of the Pacific Ocean, was carried by different subordinate streams into the main current of the Amazon, following which, he arrived at the North, after a navigation of at least 4000 miles. It was he who gave it the name by which it is at present known. Amazon means, an armed woman, and he so called it from having seen numbers of such on its banks.

But to return from this long digression, the vessel in which Philips embarked, and which was called the Erin, having a fine breeze, soon

made the mouth of the Orinoco, which lies between the island Cangrejos and a point of land called Cape Barima, These are twenty-five miles apart, but the breadth of the navigable part is only three; a quantity of soft mud, which is carried down by the current of the river, and deposited on each side, scarcely leaving water enough in some places to float small boat. These flats, as the natives call them, extend from Cangrejos seven leagues into the sea, but on the side of Cape Barima, they do not extend more than two leagues. The mud which forms them is so light and soft that any weight would be buried in it to a considerable depth, so that the pilots of small vessels passing up the channel, often take it as their guide in the course, and allow them without fear or risk to bury themselves two or three feet deep in it, making allowance for it in the soundings.

Just as the ship was entering the mouth of the river, their attention was attracted by what appeared to them a large schooner, lying at anchor on the side of Cape Barima. In a short time however, they discovered that the object which they had mistaken for the masts of a schooner, was no other than two tall pines which had been carried down by the current of the river, and having struck into the flat, the force of the stream had by degrees raised them perfectly upright, the other ends becoming more and more fixed in the sand; this position, however, Philips learned they would not long retain, as the