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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: ORC-PAI |
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ORINOCO , a river in the north of South America, falling north- east
east
In 1498, Columbus, when exploring the Gulf of Paria, which receives a large part of the outflow of the Orinoco, noted the freshness of its waters, but made no examination of their origin. The caravels of Ojeda which, in 1499, followed almost the same track as that of Columbus, probably passed in sight of one or more of the mouths of the Orinoco. The first to explore any portion of the mighty river was the reckless and daring adventurer Ordaz. In his expedition (15311532) he entered its principal outlet, the Boca de Navios, and, at the cost of many lives, ascended to the junction of the Meta with the parent stream. From Ordaz up to recent
At the date of the discovery, the Orinoco, like the Amazon, bore different names, according to those of the tribes occupying its margins. The conquistador Ordaz found that, at its mouth, it was called the Uriaparia, this being the name of the cacique of the tribe there. The Caribs, holding a certain section of the river, named it the Ibirinoco, corrupted by the Spaniards into Orinoco. It was known to other tribes as the Barragufn and to others as the Maraguaca. The Cabres called it the Paragua, because it flooded such a vast area of country. The principal affluent of the Orinoco from the Guiana district
South of the Guaviare, as far as the divortium aquarum, between it and the Rio Negro branch of the Amazon, the country is dry and only partially swept by moisture-laden winds, so that few streams of moment are found in its southern drainage area; but north of it, as far as 6 30' N., the north-east trade winds, which have escaped condensation in the hot lower valley of the Orinoco, heat against the cold eastern slopes of the lofty Colombian Andes, and ceaselessly pour down such vast volumes of water that the almost countless streams which flow across the plains of Colombia and western Venezuela are taxed beyond their capacity to carry it to the Orinoco, and for several months of the year they flood tens of thousands of square miles of the districts they traverse. Among these the Apure, Arauca, Meta and Guaviare hold the first rank. The Apure is formed by two great
elevation
great
The " Oriental " Andes of Colombia give birth
The Meta is known as such from the union of two Andean streams, the Negro and Humadea, which rise near Bogota. At their junction, 700 ft. above sea-level, it is l000 ft. wide and 7 ft. deep in the dry season, but in flood the Meta rises 30 ft. It is navigable up to the old " Apostadero," about 15o m. above its mouth, but launches may ascend it, in the wet season, about 500 m., to the junction of the Negro with the Humadea. In the dry season, however, it is obstructed by reefs, sandbanks, shallows, snags, trees and floating timber from the " Apostadero " up, so that even canoes find its ascent difficult, while savage hordes along its banks add to the dangers to be encountered. The Guaviare is the next great western tributary of the Orinoco. Eugenio Alvarado, a Spanish commissioner
Between the Guaviare and the Meta the Orinoco is obstructed by the famous Maipures cataract, where, in several channels, it breaks through a granite spur of the Guiana highlands for a length of about 4 m., with a total fall of about 40 ft., and then, after passing two minor reefs, reaches the Atures rapids, where it plunges through a succession of gorges for a distance of about 6 m., winding among confused masses of granite boulders, and falling about 3o ft. At the mouth of the Meta it is about i m. wide, but as it flows north-wards it increases its width until, at the point where it receives its Apure affluent, it is over 2 M. wide in the dry season and about 7 M. in floods. It rises 32 ft. at Cariben, but at the Angostura, or narrows, where the river is but Boo ft. wide, the difference between high and low river is 5o ft., and was even 6o in 1892.The Orinoco finds its way to the ocean through a delta of about 700 sq. m. area, so little above sea level that much of it is periodically flooded. The river is navigable for large steamers up to the raudal or rapid of Cariben, 700 m. from the sea, and to within 6 m. of the mouth of the Meta. Maintaining its eastern course from the Apure, the main stream finds its way along the southern side of the delta, where it is called the Corosimi river, and enters the sea at the Boca Grande; but in front of the Tortola island, at the beginning of the Corosimi and too m. from the sea, it throws northwards to the Gulf of Paria another great arm which, about loo m. long, and known as the Rio Vagre, bounds the western side of the delta. En route to the gulf the Vagre sends across the delta, east and north, two canos or canals of considerable volume, called the Macareo and Cuscuino. The delta is also cut into many irregular divisions by other canals which derive their flow from its great boundary rivers, the Corosimi and Vagre, and its numerous islands and vast swamps are covered with a dense vegetation. The Boca Grande outlet is the deepest, and is the main navigable entrance to the Orinoco at all seasons, the muddy bar usually maintaining a depth of 16 ft. 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. It is a stopping-point for the incipient steamer traffic of the valley, which is principally confined to the Apure and lower Orinoco. It occupies, however, but a few small steam craft. There is steam connexion between Ciudad Bolivar and the island of Trinidad. Cattle are carried by vessels from the valley to the neighbouring foreign colonies, and a few local steamers do a coasting
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