At this point of union are found two villages of Guaraons. They also
bear the names of Imataca and Zacupana.) This channel is near eight
leagues long; at its western extremity a second bifurcation appears;
and as the summit of the delta is in the northern branch of the
bifurcated river, this part of the Orinoco is highly important for the
military defence of the country. All the channels* that terminate in
the bocas chicas, rise from the same point of the trunk of the
Orinoco. (* Cano de Manamo grande, Cano de Manamo chico, Cano
Pedernales, Cano Macareo, Cano Cutupiti, Cano Macuona, Cano grande de
Mariusas, etc. The last three branches form by their union the sinuous
channel called the Vuelta del Torno.) The branch (Cano Manamo) that
separates from it near the village of San Rafael has no ramification
till after a course of three or four leagues; and by placing a small
fort above the island of Chaguanes, Angostura might be defended
against an enemy that should attempt to penetrate by one of the bocas
chicas. In my time the station of the gun-boats was east of San
Rafael, near the northern bank of the Orinoco. This is the point which
vessels must pass in sailing up toward Angostura by the northern
channel, that of San Rafael, which is the broadest but the most
shallow.

Six leagues above the point where the Orinoco sends off a branch to
the bocas chicas is placed an ancient fort (los Castillos de la Vieja
or Antigua Guayana,) the first construction of which goes back to the
sixteenth century. In this spot the bed of the river is studded with
rocky islands; and it is asserted that its breadth is nearly six
hundred and fifty toises. The town is almost destroyed, but the
fortifications subsist, and are well worthy the attention of the
government of Terra Firma. There is a magnificent view from the
battery established on a bluff north-west of the ancient town, which,