The topographical plan of the district sketched by me shews the facilities which the nature of the ground offers for the opening of a canal from the Cameji to the Toparo, which would form a navigable side arm to the river, the dangerous portion of which would be thus avoided. I proposed its execution to the Governor-General of Venezuela. The Raudal of Atures closely resembles that of Maypures; like it, it is a cluster of islands between which the river forces its way for ten or twelve thousand yards; a forest of palms rising from the midst of the foaming waters. The most celebrated “Steps” of this Raudal are situated between the islands of Avaguri and Javariveni, between Suripamana and Uirapuri. When M. Bonpland and I returned from the banks of the Rio Negro, we ventured to pass the latter or lower half of the Raudal of Atures with the loaded canoe, often leaving it for the rocky dikes which connect one island with another. Sometimes the waters rush over these dikes, and sometimes they fall with a hollow thundering sound into cavities, and flowing for a time through subterranean channels, leave large pieces of the bed of the river dry. Here the golden Pipra rupicola makes its nest; it is one of the most beautiful of tropical birds, with a double moveable crest of feathers, and is as pugnacious as the East Indian domestic cock. In the Raudal of Canucari the rocky dike or weir consists of piled-up granite spheres. We crept into the interior of a grotto the damp walls of which were covered with confervæ 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 round 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-grey colour shewed 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 Raudal, 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 more practicable passage.