Two days’ journey in canoes above the big rapids is the gorge of Ayaima, where the great stream is forced to rush through a channel 30 feet wide, between walls of granite. Above this the flat-topped, steep-sided peak of Achaba, and beyond it those of Arichi to the west and Améha to the east, may be seen. On his adventurous journey André reached the last of these, where he experienced one of the severe thunderstorms of the region, interpreted by the Waiomgomos as the angry voice of the spirits of the mountain.
These Waiomgomos are found in their original haunts round the head-waters of the Caura, and there they are said to go about with faces and bodies painted bright red, wearing only the guayuco or buja. It is strange that they are very reluctant to give their Indian names to outsiders, and always on approaching the bounds of civilisation adopt a Spanish name.
The forests and savannahs of the Lower Caura, like most of the districts near the Orinoco, are frightfully infested with bush-ticks, mosquitoes, and sandflies; higher in the hills these pests decrease, but they effectually prevent absolute enjoyment of an exploring trip where they are found.
Beyond the Caura’s mouth the main river is devoid of special interest to Caicara, where it comes sweeping round a hill, leaving a fine backwater behind as a safe anchorage for boats—the reason of the former importance of the town, now, alas! only a village of mud and wattle huts. Its commerce is confined to rice, tonka-beans, and hides, the latter from the savannahs which stretch away southwards in all directions to the hills.
The Cuchivero, which enters the Orinoco fifteen miles east of Caicara, is, in part at least, far better known than the Caura, and, though smaller, is a more important river at the present time, since the savannahs of the Cuchivaro support many cattle, and there are hatos here and there as far as the Raudal Seriapo. These savannahs are of guinea-grass, broken here and there by chaparral, moriche-palms, or morros—i.e., small rocky hills covered with trees, amongst which the Dipteryx odorata is common, giving to the wooded mounds the name of sarrapiales.
The waters of the Guaniamo, a tributary of the Cuchivero, are said to be noticeably affected by the quantity of sarsaparilla on the river’s banks, and the whole upper valley of the Cuchivero is rich in rubber, copaiba, quinine, mahogany, “cedar,” and other valuable forest products. According to Major Paterson, traces of gold, cinnabar, and silver are found in the hills. In the distant south are the typical mushroom peaks of Guayana, showing that here also the geology is similar to that of the goldfield area, and the minerals may therefore also be alike.
It is not pleasant travelling in the Cuchivero forests, Major Paterson tells us. The trees grow over loose rock, and the crevices under the tangled roots may often cause nasty falls; and there are the ubiquitous mosquitoes and sandflies, to make matters worse. But higher up the insects become fewer, and from the occasional savannahs or lajas splendid views may be obtained of the hill ranges to the south, between the Caura and the Ventuari. The Indians of these forests are presumably the Piaroas, said to be a peaceable, mild race.
The climate of all the lower Orinoco Valley is far from pleasant in the rains, but in the dry season, which lasts from October to March, an easterly breeze blows both morning and afternoon, the sweltering interval during the lull at midday serving only to accentuate the pleasant comparative coolness of the rest. The nights then are often chilly, owing to the heavy dews.