Note 4 — Chapter V · EL RIO META

“Este raudal es muy maluco,”4—this cataract is very bad—said our pilot to us after the strain was over. “It is much more difficult to steer a boat through it than through La Puerto del Infierno, near Ciudad Bolivar.” Fortunately for all concerned, he knew his business well and was as conscientious as he was skillful. He had been navigating the Orinoco and the Meta for nearly twenty years and was thoroughly familiar with every feature and peculiarity of both of them. He had never had an accident and was justly proud of his record. He had the eye of a hawk and could judge of the relative depths of the water by differences of color that were quite imperceptible to the ordinary observer. Only once, during our entire journey, did we graze a sandbar, and that was only for a moment. But it was quite sufficient to make a young Ethiopian among our crew think that his last day had arrived, and that we were surely going to the bottom. Greatly frightened, he turned to us and remarked, “It am very unwholesome to travel in dis ribber. Dat am certain.”