We saw the Indians dancing. These dances are all the more monotonous as women do not dare take part. The men, both young and old, hold hands, form a circle, and for hours turn around to the right, then the left, in utter silence. Usually the dancers themselves are the musicians. Weak notes blown from reeds of different sizes make it all seem slow and sad. To mark the time the leading dancer bends both knees rhythmically. The reeds are tied together in rows. We were surprised to see how quickly young Indians could cut reeds and tune them as flutes when they found them on the banks.

It is difficult to give an idea of the dreadful noise made by thousands of these birds in the darkness of the cave. It cannot be compared to the noise of those crows who live together in nests in our northern pine forests. The guàcharo's piercing scream reverberates against the rocky vault and echoes in the depths of the cave. The Indians showed us their nests by tying torches on to long poles. They were some 50 to 60 feet above us in holes riddling the ceiling in the form of funnels. The further we penetrated into the cave with our copal torches the more the frightened birds screamed. If for a few moments the din around us quietened we heard the plaintive cry of other nesting birds in other parts of the cave. It was as if differing groups answered each other alternatively.

The Indian pilot who had led us from San Fernando de Apure up to the Pararuma beach did not know his way through the Orinoco rapids, and no longer wanted to sail our boat. We had to accept his decision. Luckily the Carichana missionary agreed to loan us a fine pirogue quite cheaply. Father Bernardo Zea, missionary from Atures and Maypures near the Great Cataracts, even offered to accompany us himself to the Brazilian border. The number of Indians willing to carry the canoes along the cataracts was so few that without this monk's presence we risked waiting weeks in that humid and unhealthy area. Father Zea hoped to recover his health by visiting the Río Negro missions. He talked of those places with the enthusiasm that all those in the colonies feel when talking about far-off places.

In the evening we passed the mouth of the Cano del Manati, named after the immense amount of manatees caught there every year. This herbivorous animal of the Cetacea family is called by the Indians apcia and avia, and reaches 10 to 12 feet long. The manatee is plentiful in the Orinoco. We dissected one that was 9 feet long while at Carichana, an Orinocan mission. The manatee eats so much grass that we found its stomach, divided into several cavities, and its intestines (108 feet long) filled with it. Its flesh is very savory, though some prejudice considers it to be unwholesome and fever-producing. Its flesh when dried can last for a year. The clergy consider this mammal a fish, so they eat it at Lent.