The proprietors of rubber-camps use the same system of keeping their employees that the commission merchants in Ciudad Bolivar, who are the purchasers of the crude product, employ in dealing with themselves; namely, they keep them constantly in debt by advancing quantities of merchandise at exorbitant prices. It is not unusual for one _patrón_ to sell some of his men to another for the amount of their indebtedness, or more, if he can get it, and sometimes an unsatisfactory _peon_ is turned loose in the wilderness to shift for himself; we picked up one who had been abandoned on a sand-bank, in a half-starved condition. The Cerro Carriche is another granite mass similar to Yapacana, but not quite so high. It stands on the south bank of the river, between the mouths of two small rivers called Carriche and Trocoapure. Early on February 21 we had the first distinct view of the Cerro Duida, looming, faintly outlined, in the distance. From afar it resembled a high, level plain, but as the vapor clinging to the huge, dark mass slowly dissolved itself, a well-defined short range appeared with twin peaks showing high above the rest of the mountains. The Orinoco steadily decreases in width until the distance across is not more than half a mile; in many places the banks are high and composed of pink and white clay streaked with layers of dark-blue clay. On both sides the jungle presents an unbroken wall of tangled verdure; occasionally a slender palm rears its delicate head high above the riotous mass, as if gasping for one more breath of air before being strangled by the figs and creepers slowly entwining its stem with their death-dealing tentacles. Among the lower growth are vast areas of palms, known as _coco del mono_, with long fronds resembling those of the _Seaforthia_, and bearing small, hard nuts; the leaves are used in thatching huts and the _carroza_ or covering of the boats. Another palm, tall and thorny, resembles the well-known _chonta_ of Colombia; it bears large clusters of red nuts, which are very palatable when thoroughly boiled. The heat was always intense and most oppressive; even the cool nights brought no respite, and in the early morning a thick vapor slowly rose from the water, to be later wafted above the tree-tops and disappear. Flocks of hoatzins, or lizard-birds (_Opisthocomus cristatus_), were seen almost daily. They fussed and fluttered among the dense vegetation, but could not be induced to leave their dark retreat. There were also nesting-trees of the black and yellow orioles, better known as caciques, which are about the size of a blue jay; sometimes a single tree contained thirty or more nests placed close together, and also invariably a number of large wasp-nests were placed in the same tree. The nests of these birds differed from those of the giant orioles (_Ostinops_) in being smaller and having the opening at the top instead of at the side of the swinging bag. [Illustration: A rubber-camp on the Upper Orinoco.]