Orontes

“ I should approve of the choice in one of a better Fortune; but you must conform your self to yours, and consider that I am not able to maintain you. If you don't hate Orontes, I will have you Marry him, he has given so great proof of his being a good Husband, that you can't fear he will be otherwise to you; he is Handsome enough, and very Rich; I believe he loves you, and in fine, I think you may be as happy with him as with any Man ”

“ Beyond question the whole valley of the Orontes abounding in water—already at Hemesa it is from 30 to 40 mètres broad and one and a half to three mètres deep—was once a great seat of cultivation. But even of the districts, which are now mere deserts, and where it seems to the traveller of the present day impossible for man to live and thrive, a considerable portion was formerly a field of labour for active hands. To the east of Hemesa, where there is now not a green leaf nor a drop of water, the heavy basalt-slabs of former oil-presses are found in quantities. ”

“ Orontes) , whose granite peak rises W. of it to an altitude of 11,900 ft. It is a busy trade centre with about 40,000 inhabitants (comprising 4000 Jews and 300 Armenians) , has extensive and well-stocked bazaars and fourteen large and many small caravanserais. ”

“ Remain here, and so far away from my country—from the deep glens where the heather blooms so sweetly! I cannot stay, Orono," continued the poor girl, wildly. "I have been taught to love my native land by the voices of my father, who fell in battle, of my mother, who died of sorrow, and of my brave husband, who perished in this hated wilderness!"
"Orono understands," said the Indian, quietly; "he, too, loves the hunting-grounds of the Iroquois; but he will protect the poor pale face and her child." ”

“ Orantes went to visit Cabeza who had been hidden by some Indians who favoured him, and it was a great satisfaction to these friends to meet, though in great trouble as being naked and miserable in a land of savages. They agreed to endeavour to proceed to the south-west, but to remain with the Indians till the nuts were consumed, and then to remove along with them to another place where they fed upon tunas; because if they should attempt to escape the Indians would kill them. ”

“ The Orinoco is indeed a wasted waterway. The vast empire it drains, covering more than half of Venezuela, is marvellously rich in minerals and in its forests, and could easily be made as rich in agriculture. Yet when we made our trip there were fewer people living along it than there had been four hundred years before when Ordaz, the Spanish explorer, ascended it to the mouth of the Meta, and I doubt if there has been any increase in the population since our visit. ”

“ The Spanish conquistador and his descendants have not been a blessing to the basin of the Orinoco. All they can boast of is the destruction of its population and products, so that the number of inhabitants of one of the richest valleys in the world is less to-day than it was four centuries ago. The entire river trade centres upon Ciudad Bolivar, on the right bank of the Orinoco, 373 m. above its mouth. The only other river port of any importance is San Fernando, on the Apure. ”

“ In these scattered features of the landscape, in this character of solitude and of greatness, we recognize the course of the Orinoco, one of the most majestic rivers of the New World. The water, like the land, displays everywhere a characteristic and peculiar aspect. The bed of the Orinoco resembles not the bed of the Meta, the Guaviare, the Rio Negro, or the Amazon. These differences do not depend altogether on the breadth or the velocity of the current; they are connected with a multitude of impressions which it is easier to perceive upon the spot than to define with precision. ”

“ It is currently reported throughout the coasts of Cumana, New Barcelona, and Caracas (which the Franciscan monks of Guiana are in the habit of visiting on their return from the missions,) that there are men living on the banks of the Orinoco who eat earth. On the 6th of June, 1800, on our return from the Rio Negro, when we descended the Orinoco in thirty-six days, we spent the day at the mission inhabited by these people (the Otomacs) . Their little village, which is called La Concepcion de Uruana, is very picturesquely built against a granite rock. ”

“ The night, lighted by the moon, allowed them to save a halt, and the giant raft glided peacefully on along the surface of the Amazon.
On the morrow, the 7th of June, the jangada breasted the banks of the village of Pucalppa, named also New Oran. Old Oran, situated fifteen leagues down stream on the same left bank of the river, is almost abandoned for the new settlement, whose population consists of Indians belonging to the Mayoruna and Orejone tribes. ”

“ For between May and September the river of Orenoque riseth thirty foot upright, and then are those islands overflown twenty foot high above the level of the ground, saving some few raised grounds in the middle of them; and for this cause they are enforced to live in this manner. They never eat of anything that is set or sown; and as at home they use neither planting nor other manurance, so when they come abroad they refuse to feed of aught but of that which nature without labour bringeth forth. ”

“ The Indians in Orocué, as everywhere else along the Meta and Orinoco, were a subject of never-ending study for us. Most of the inhabitants of Orocué are Indians or mestizos, and it would be difficult to find anywhere a gentler or more peaceful people. The town was founded by the Salivas Indians, whose nasal language the early missionaries found so difficult to master, but whose gentle nature and amiable disposition were ever the subject of the highest eulogies. ”

“ Although the Orejones have left off some of their savage customs, and are becoming more civilized, they are still sufficiently barbarous to permit their women to do most of the work. I saw today twenty of the lazy rascals loitering about, whilst the same number of women were fetching earth and water, trampling it into mud, and plastering the walls of the convento with it. I also saw the women cleaning up and carrying away the weeds and bushes of the town; most of them, too, with infants hanging to their backs. These marry very young. ”

“ The higher one ascends, and the farther one penetrates beyond the Maipures rapids into the heart of the Alto Orinoco, the wilder the scene, and the more perilous the river. Sparsely populated as is the vast region above and immediately below the rapids, it is often the home of anarchy and misrule, and always a domain where the passions of men know not the restraints of law, and civilization is still a dream. ”

“ Some of the houses near the river banks have a most cozy appearance. They are almost embowered in a mass of flowers of every hue, and surrounded by lofty palms whose lovely emerald coronals were each a picture of rarest beauty.
“These princes of the vegetable world” always had a peculiar fascination for us, no matter where we saw them. And during our long journey from the delta of the Orinoco they were never absent from view even for a single hour. ”

“ Here, instead of finding supplies with which to return, Orellana could obtain barely enough food for himself and his men. To attempt to ascend against the swift current of the river was impossible. To go back by land was a formidable task, and one that would add nothing to the comfort of those left behind. In this dilemma Orellana came to the daring decision to go on down the Amazon, visiting the populous nations which he was told dwelt on its banks, descending to its mouth, and sailing back to Spain with the tidings and the glory of a famous adventure and noble discovery. ”

“ It is in this region, after receiving the Apure, that the Orinoco leaves the granitic chain of mountains and flows eastward to the Atlantic, dividing the impenetrable forests of Guiana from the grassy plains on which the vault of heaven seems everywhere to rest as on the horizon of the ocean. Thus the elevated cluster of the Parime mountains, which occupies the entire space between the sources of the Jao and the Caura, is surrounded on three sides, to the South, to the West, and to the North, by the Orinoco. ”

“ The ancient town of Orense, the capital of the Galician province of the same name, which was founded by the Romans, and greatly esteemed by them on account of its warm springs, is the centre of the industry, and the country is scored and bored with many indications of the enterprise and energy of the ancient miners. Beariz, a little village in the mountains of Balcovo, is situated on a hill that is tunnelled with Roman workings in what are probably the richest tiniferous deposits in the richest tin district in Spain. ”

“ Judging from the work we saw them do, we were not surprised to learn that they are considered among the best warriors among the savage tribes in this part of South America.
The first place of any special interest on the Orinoco above Ciudad Bolivar is what is known as La Puerta del Infierno—The Gate of Hell. It is nothing more than a contraction of the river where the current is unusually strong, and where, on account of the large rocks in the river bed, there are numerous eddies and whirlpools. ”

“ Between the latitudes of 4 and 8 degrees, the Orinoco not only separates the great forest of the Parime from the bare savannahs of the Apure, Meta, and Guaviare, but also forms the boundary between tribes of very different manners. To the westward, over treeless plains, wander the Guahibos, the Chiricoas, and the Guamos; nations, proud of their savage independence, whom it is difficult to fix to the soil, or habituate to regular labour. ”

“ Ordonio. A tender-hearted, scrupulous, grateful villain,
Whom I will strangle!
Valdez. While his two companions—— 135
Ordonio. Dead! dead already! what care we for the dead?
Valdez (to Teresa) . Pity him! soothe him! disenchant his spirit!
[857] These supernatural shews, this strange disclosure,
And this too fond affection, which still broods
O'er Alvar's fate, and still burns to avenge it— 140
These, struggling with his hopeless love for you,
Distemper him, and give reality
To the creatures of his fancy.
Ordonio. Is it so?
Yes! yes! ”

“ In New Granada there is a final and unique display of Andine grandeur: the Cordilleras combine just above the equator into one dizzy ridge, and then spread out like a fan, or, rather, like the graceful branches of the palm. One sierra bends to the east, holding in its lap the city of Bogota, and, rolling off a thousand streams to swell the Orinoco, terminates in the beautiful mountains of Caracas ”

“ Orianna flies up through her tree house to the tallest branch and shoots her love-tipped arrow straight into the heart of all Indians, and so you see the children need never be afraid any more of dreaming of Indians, for all Indians are good and Orianna is always on the lookout from the top of one of her homes, and that is the reason she so seldom comes to visit us. ”

“ In the collection of pictures were views of the great Cathedral at Caracas, the numerous Public Buildings, the Botanical Gardens, the wonderful railroad bridges around the mountains and over the valleys, the harbors at La Guayra, the waterways leading to the [166] mighty Orinoco, and views of the great river itself, showing the canyons to be found in certain localities and the fierce rapids. The latter views interested them most of all.
“I’m just aching to get on that river,” said Frank. “What fun we will have, hunting, fishing and camping out! ”

“ It was compulsory upon healers to post in a conspicuous place on the temple walls to which they were attached the number of cures made, and by 150what processes. Orondo being a civic leader, the law required that his malady should be written on the tablet back of the Chief Councilor’s chair in the Temple of the Sun.
“Pains in all the bones, and in the cords which give them motion,” he continued. “The air-bellows rise and fall one-half, and the hammer in the left breast moves slowly and is very weak. ”

“ Orendain, either through remorse of conscience, or because he dreaded some attempt against his person, took refuge in the Augustine convent at Tondo. As the doctor was treasurer of the Cruzada, the Royal Fiscal took up the idea that his voluntary retreat into a sanctuary indicated his being in debt to the Royal revenue, and on this ground he was taken from his asylum, imprisoned in Fort Santiago, and Señor Villa Corta was ordered to proceed against him. ”

“ Orellana arrived safe in Spain, and was favorably received. His act of insubordination in leaving his commander was forgotten in the success of his achievement; for it had been successful, even if the naked facts only had been told, inasmuch as it was the first event which led to any certain knowledge of the immense regions that stretch eastward from the Andes to the ocean, besides being in itself one of the most brilliant adventures of that remarkable age. ”

“ Several days passed, during which she hovered between time and eternity; but nothing, even in civilized life, could surpass the watchful kindness and attention of the poor but grateful savage on whose mercy she found herself thrown. How Ossong became possessed of the regimental gorget—whether he had found it in the wood, or torn it from her husband's neck when dead, Orono could never discover, as his tawny compatriot was animated in no measured degree by the worst attributes of the American Indian—craft, timidity, fickleness, ferocity, revenge, and quickness of apprehension. ”

“ This was the only spot in South America where we found [Pg 179] milk to our stomachs' content; Itulcachi, with its herds of cattle, did not yield a drop. Our dormitory was a mud hovel, without an aperture for light or ventilation, and in this dark hole we all slept on a heap of barley. Splendid was the view westward from Tablon. Below us were the beautiful valleys of Chillo and Puembo, separated by the isolated mountain of Ilaló; around them, in an imposing semicircle, stood Cayambi, Imbabura, Pichincha, Corazon, Iliniza, Rumiñagui, Cotopaxi, Sincholagua, and Antisana. ”