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ORINOCO
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ORINOCO , a See also:river in the See also:north of See also:South See also:America, falling north-See also:east into the See also:Atlantic between 6o° 20' and 62° 3o' W. It is approximately 150G M. See also:long, but it is several See also:hundred See also:miles longer if measured by its Guaviare See also:branch. Lying south and east of the See also:main stream is a vast, densely forested region called Venezuelan See also:Guiana, diversified by ranges of See also:low mountains, irregular broken ridges and granitic masses, which define the courses of many unexplored tributaries of the Orinoco. In 1498, See also:Columbus, when exploring the Gulf of Paria, which receives a large See also:part of the outflow of the Orinoco, noted the freshness of its See also: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 (1531–1532) he entered its See also:principal outlet, the Boca de Navios, and, at the cost of many lives, ascended to the junction of the See also:Meta with the See also:parent stream. From Ordaz up to See also:recent times the Orinoco has been the See also:scene of many voyages of See also:discovery, including those in quest of El Dorado, and some scientific surveys have been made, especially among its upper waters, by Jose Solano and See also:Diaz de la Fuente of the See also:Spanish boundary See also:line See also:commission of Yturriaga and Solano (1757–1763), See also:Humboldt (1800) and Michelena y Rojas (1855-1857). The last ascended to the Mawaca, a point about 170 M. above the See also:northern entrance to the Casiquiare See also:canal, and then a few miles up the Mawaca. A little knowledge about its See also:sources above these points was given by the savages to de la Fuente in 1759 and to See also:Mendoza in 1764, and we are also indebted to Humboldt for some vague data. At the date of the discovery, the Orinoco, like the See also:Amazon, See also: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 See also: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 See also:area of See also:country. The principal affluent of the Orinoco from the Guiana See also:district is the Ventuari, the See also:head-waters of which are also unknown. It is an important stream, which, See also:running south-See also:west, joins the Orinoco about 90 M. above its Guaviare branch. Two other large tributaries of the Orinoco flow north from the interior of this mysterious Guiana region, the Caura and the Caroni. The former has recently been explored by See also:Andre, who found it greatly obstructed by falls and rapids; the latter is about 800 m. long, 400 of which are more or less navigable. South of the Guaviare, as far as the divortium aquarum, between it and the Rio See also: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 See also:southern drainage area; but north of it, as far as 6° 30' N., the north-east See also:trade winds, which have escaped condensation in the hot See also:lower valley of the Orinoco, See also:heat against the See also:cold eastern slopes of the lofty Colombian See also:Andes, and ceaselessly pour down such vast volumes of See also:water that the almost countless streams which flow across the plains of See also:Colombia and western See also:Venezuela are taxed beyond their capacity to carry it to the Orinoco, and for several months of the See also:year they See also:flood tens of thousands of square miles of the districts they See also:traverse. Among these the See also:Apure, Arauca, Meta and Guaviare hold the first See also:rank. The Apure is formed by two See also:great See also:rivers, the Uribante and Sarare. The former, which rises in the Sierra de See also:Merida, which overlooks the See also:Lake of See also:Maracaibo, has 16 large affluents; the latter has its sources near the Colombian See also:city of See also:Pamplona, and they are only separated from the See also:basin of the river Magdalena by the " See also:Oriental " Andean range. From the Uribante-Sarare junction to the Orinoco the length of the Apure is 645 m., of which Codazzi makes the doubtful claim that 564 are navigable, for there are some troublesome rapids 114 M. above its mouth, where the Apure is 3 M. wide. The numerous affluents which enter it from the north water the beautiful eastern and southern slopes of the Merida, Caraboso and See also:Caracas See also:mountain ranges. A few of them are navigable for a See also:short distance; among these the most important is the many-armed Portugueza, on the main route south from the Caribbean See also:coast to the llanos. A few large streams enter the lower Apure from the south, but they are frequently entangled in lateral canals, due to the slight See also:elevation of the plains above See also:sea-level, the waters of the Apure, especially during flood See also:time, having opened a great number of caiios before reaching the Orinoco. The " Oriental " Andes of Colombia give See also:birth to another great affluent of the Orinoco, the Arauca, which soon reaches the See also:plain and See also:parallels the Apure on the south. See also:Perez says that the Sarare branch of the Apure has formed a gigantic See also:dam across its own course by prodigious quantities of trees, See also:brush, vines and roots, and thus, impounding its own waters, has cut a new channel to the southward across the lowlands and joined the Arauca, from which the Sarare may be reached in small See also:craft and ascended to the vicinity of Pamplona. The Arauca is navigable for large boats and See also:barges up to the Andes, and by See also:sail to its See also:middle course. In floods, unable to carry the additional water contributed by the Sarare, it overflows its See also:banks, and by several cantos gives its surplus to the Capanaparo, which, about 18 m. farther south, joins the Orinoco. The Meta is known as such from the See also:union of two Andean streams, the Negro and Humadea, which rise near See also:Bogota. At their junction, 700 ft. above sea-level, it is l000 ft. wide and 7 ft. deep in the dry See also: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 See also:timber from the " Apostadero " up, so that even canoes find its ascent difficult, while See also:savage hordes along its banks add to the dangers to be encountered. The Guaviare is the next great western tributary of the Orinoco. Eugenio See also:Alvarado, a Spanish See also:commissioner for the boundary delimitation of Colombia with See also:Brazil in 1759, informed the See also:viceroy at Bogota that the rivers Arivari and Guayabero rise between Neiva and See also:Popayan, and unite to take the composite name of Guaviare. In those times they called it Guaibari, or Guayuare. The Guaviare is about 500 m. long, of which 300 are called navigable, although not See also:free from obstructions. Its upper portion has many rapids and falls. The banks are forested throughout, and the river is infested by numerous alligators, so ferocious that they attack canoes. Two-thirds of the way up, it receives its Ariari tributary from the north-west, which is navigable for large boats. Near its mouth the Guaviare is joined by its great south-western affluent, the Ynirida. Above its rapid of Mariapiri, 18o m. up, this stream runs swiftly through a rough country, but for a long distance is a See also:succession of lakes and shallow, overflowed areas. Its head-waters do not reach the Andes. Between the Guaviare and the Meta the Orinoco is obstructed by the famous Maipures See also:cataract, where, in several channels, it breaks through a See also:granite See also:spur of the Guiana See also:highlands for a length of about 4 m., with a See also:total fall of about 40 ft., and then, after passing two See also:minor reefs, reaches the Atures rapids, where it plunges through a succession of See also: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 See also: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 See also: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 See also:island, at the beginning of the Corosimi and too m. from the sea, it throws northwards to the Gulf of Paria another great See also:arm which, about See also:loo m. long, and known as the Rio Vagre, See also: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 See also: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 See also:bar usually maintaining a See also: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 See also:population and products, so that the number of inhabitants of one of the richest valleys in the See also:world is less to-See also:day than it was four centuries ago. The entire river trade centres upon See also:Ciudad See also:Bolivar, on the right See also:bank of the Orinoco, 373 M. above its mouth. The only other river See also:port of any importance is See also:San Fernando, on the Apure. It is a stopping-point for the incipient steamer See also:traffic of the valley, which is principally confined to the Apure and lower Orinoco. It occupies, however, but a few small See also:steam craft. There is steam connexion between Ciudad Bolivar and the island of See also:Trinidad. See also:Cattle are carried by vessels from the valley to the neighbouring See also:foreign colonies, and a few See also:local steamers do a See also:coasting trade between the river and the Caribbean ports of Venezuela. A transit trade with Colombia, via the Meta river, has been carried on by two small steamers, but subject to interruptions from See also:political causes. (G. E. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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