Area—General character—San Fernando de Atabapo—The upper Orinoco—Communication with outside world—Atures and Maipures rapids—Humboldt’s description—The Compañía Anónima de Navegacion Fluvial y Costanera—General Chalbaud—Railway projects—The Piaroas—_Curare_—Savannahs—Rubber—Brazil-nuts—Wild cocoa—Mineral wealth—Water-power—Rubber prospectors—Method of working—Esmeralda—The place of flies—Mt. Duida—Gold possibilities—The Raudal de los Guaharibos—The limit of exploration—The Ventuari—An old Spanish road—A midnight massacre—Stock-raising lands—The Maquiritare—Trading with gold-dust—The Casiquiare bifurcation—Life of the natives—Eau de Cologne in the wilds—The Guainia and Rio Negro—Maroa—Cucuhy—The Atabapo—Lack of population—Education—Colonisation—General prospects. On the right bank of the Orinoco above the confluence of the Meta and below that of the Atabapo, and south-eastward of this on both banks of the main river, lies the great but little known Territorio Amazonas, extending over the ill-defined watershed into the Rio Negro, and, therefore, the Amazon, basin. The area included in the territory amounts to some 281,700 square kilometres or 101,400 square miles, and of this vast region practically nothing is known, save the character of the banks of the larger rivers and of such parts of the hills and forests as may have been traversed by the few explorers who have entered the hinterland of the Guayanas. On the northern and eastern borders the general character of the region is like that of the greater part of the State of Bolivar, the boundary to the north being more or less arbitrary, in part at least. The Brazilian frontier follows the watershed of the Sierra Parima in its northern part, but near the Rio Negro this line also ceases to be determined by any clearly marked natural features. The capital of this huge and almost unknown area is San Fernando de Atabapo, little more than a village from the point of view of population, which amounted to only 388 in 1891, but still the largest centre in the region. It is situated at the junction of the Atabapo and Orinoco, the land on which it stands being practically an island on account of the channel connecting the two rivers behind the settlement; the Inirida and Guaviare enter the Atabapo opposite the town, the contrast between the white waters of the Guaviare, the black, clear stream of the Atabapo, and the muddy Orinoco being very noticeable. The capital is the seat of the Governor and a Judge of First Instance and minor officials, who constitute an appreciable fraction of the population.