Down the Orinoco in a Canoe
"There were excellent reasons why Senor Perez Triana left Bogota in a hurry...there was one of the usual rows...the Orinoco and a canoe furnished the necessary opportunities...remarkable for originality of thought." -NY Times, May 16, 1903
"An interesting account of a novel journey from the Colombian Plateau down the Orinoco River to the Atlantic . A wild untraveled land well described." -Book Buyer, 1903
"His scenic description give evidence of artistic feeling and literary power. -The Churchman, 1903
"Wields a pen at once poetic, humorous, and picturesque." -The Outlook, 1903
Forced to flee his country in 1893 because of political revolution, Santiago Perez Triana (1858-1916) made his escape on canoe by way of the Meta and the Orinoco Rivers. A true South American, thoroughly familiar with the history and legend of his native land, Triana tells us in his charming 1902 book "Down the Orinoco in a Canoe," of the dread inspired by the thought of "the uncertainty of the journey we were undertaking to unknown regions, probably never trod by the foot of civilized man."
Fleeing from one of the ever-recurring revolutions that afflict the republic of Colombia, Triana, a prominent man of affairs in Colombia who was son of a former President of that highly polished state, thought it would be safer for him to take flight by a sort of back door to his native land, instead of going to Panama or Colon. He hurried across country till he struck the River Tua, by which he reached the Meta in four days.
After several days' journey on the Meta, he struck the Orinoco two days after leaving Santa Catalina. Some part of the journeying on this great river was done, not in a canoe, but in "a one-masted schooner," presumably E sloop. At Bolivar a steamer was taken as far as the British island of Trinidad.
This is no stereotyped book of travels. The first chapter reads like the beginning of an old Spanish adventure novel. The region Triana covered by muleback and canoe is one of the richest and most beautiful in the world, and has rarely been visited by civilized man since the old Spanish conquerors came that way.
Triana offers observation on wildlife encountered on the rivers, including jaguars (tigers) and alligators:
"The alligator rivals the tiger in voracity and fierceness. They are sworn enemies, and attack each other whenever they meet. The odds are on the tiger's side if the struggle be on land, and in favour of the alligator if the pair meet in the water.
"The tigers frequently cross rivers infested with alligators, and display a really marvellous cunning in avoiding their enemy in his own element. The tiger will stand on the beach at a given point of the river, and there roar with all his might for an hour or so on end. The alligators, in the hope of getting at him, congregate in the water at that particular point. When the members of the assembly thus convened have, so far as the tiger can judge, met at the appointed place, he starts up-stream along the banks as rapidly as possible, and crosses two or three miles higher up."
Triana writes of the dangers of the rivers:
"These beautiful clear waters, so harmless, so placid, in appearance, are in truth full of danger. Apart from alligators and water snakes, they abound in a species of small fish called caribe, which attack men and animals, especially if they find a sore spot in the skin. They swarm in such quantities and are so voracious that a bull or a horse crossing the river, if attacked by these fish, may lose a leg, or receive such a deep wound in the body that death is inevitable. No less perilous is the electric eel, which, on being touched, gives a shock."
Triana hired Indian guides and visited their villages. He notes the Indians "are the bakers, if I may so call them, of that great region.
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"An interesting account of a novel journey from the Colombian Plateau down the Orinoco River to the Atlantic . A wild untraveled land well described." -Book Buyer, 1903
"His scenic description give evidence of artistic feeling and literary power. -The Churchman, 1903
"Wields a pen at once poetic, humorous, and picturesque." -The Outlook, 1903
Forced to flee his country in 1893 because of political revolution, Santiago Perez Triana (1858-1916) made his escape on canoe by way of the Meta and the Orinoco Rivers. A true South American, thoroughly familiar with the history and legend of his native land, Triana tells us in his charming 1902 book "Down the Orinoco in a Canoe," of the dread inspired by the thought of "the uncertainty of the journey we were undertaking to unknown regions, probably never trod by the foot of civilized man."
Fleeing from one of the ever-recurring revolutions that afflict the republic of Colombia, Triana, a prominent man of affairs in Colombia who was son of a former President of that highly polished state, thought it would be safer for him to take flight by a sort of back door to his native land, instead of going to Panama or Colon. He hurried across country till he struck the River Tua, by which he reached the Meta in four days.
After several days' journey on the Meta, he struck the Orinoco two days after leaving Santa Catalina. Some part of the journeying on this great river was done, not in a canoe, but in "a one-masted schooner," presumably E sloop. At Bolivar a steamer was taken as far as the British island of Trinidad.
This is no stereotyped book of travels. The first chapter reads like the beginning of an old Spanish adventure novel. The region Triana covered by muleback and canoe is one of the richest and most beautiful in the world, and has rarely been visited by civilized man since the old Spanish conquerors came that way.
Triana offers observation on wildlife encountered on the rivers, including jaguars (tigers) and alligators:
"The alligator rivals the tiger in voracity and fierceness. They are sworn enemies, and attack each other whenever they meet. The odds are on the tiger's side if the struggle be on land, and in favour of the alligator if the pair meet in the water.
"The tigers frequently cross rivers infested with alligators, and display a really marvellous cunning in avoiding their enemy in his own element. The tiger will stand on the beach at a given point of the river, and there roar with all his might for an hour or so on end. The alligators, in the hope of getting at him, congregate in the water at that particular point. When the members of the assembly thus convened have, so far as the tiger can judge, met at the appointed place, he starts up-stream along the banks as rapidly as possible, and crosses two or three miles higher up."
Triana writes of the dangers of the rivers:
"These beautiful clear waters, so harmless, so placid, in appearance, are in truth full of danger. Apart from alligators and water snakes, they abound in a species of small fish called caribe, which attack men and animals, especially if they find a sore spot in the skin. They swarm in such quantities and are so voracious that a bull or a horse crossing the river, if attacked by these fish, may lose a leg, or receive such a deep wound in the body that death is inevitable. No less perilous is the electric eel, which, on being touched, gives a shock."
Triana hired Indian guides and visited their villages. He notes the Indians "are the bakers, if I may so call them, of that great region.
Down the Orinoco in a Canoe
"There were excellent reasons why Senor Perez Triana left Bogota in a hurry...there was one of the usual rows...the Orinoco and a canoe furnished the necessary opportunities...remarkable for originality of thought." -NY Times, May 16, 1903
"An interesting account of a novel journey from the Colombian Plateau down the Orinoco River to the Atlantic . A wild untraveled land well described." -Book Buyer, 1903
"His scenic description give evidence of artistic feeling and literary power. -The Churchman, 1903
"Wields a pen at once poetic, humorous, and picturesque." -The Outlook, 1903
Forced to flee his country in 1893 because of political revolution, Santiago Perez Triana (1858-1916) made his escape on canoe by way of the Meta and the Orinoco Rivers. A true South American, thoroughly familiar with the history and legend of his native land, Triana tells us in his charming 1902 book "Down the Orinoco in a Canoe," of the dread inspired by the thought of "the uncertainty of the journey we were undertaking to unknown regions, probably never trod by the foot of civilized man."
Fleeing from one of the ever-recurring revolutions that afflict the republic of Colombia, Triana, a prominent man of affairs in Colombia who was son of a former President of that highly polished state, thought it would be safer for him to take flight by a sort of back door to his native land, instead of going to Panama or Colon. He hurried across country till he struck the River Tua, by which he reached the Meta in four days.
After several days' journey on the Meta, he struck the Orinoco two days after leaving Santa Catalina. Some part of the journeying on this great river was done, not in a canoe, but in "a one-masted schooner," presumably E sloop. At Bolivar a steamer was taken as far as the British island of Trinidad.
This is no stereotyped book of travels. The first chapter reads like the beginning of an old Spanish adventure novel. The region Triana covered by muleback and canoe is one of the richest and most beautiful in the world, and has rarely been visited by civilized man since the old Spanish conquerors came that way.
Triana offers observation on wildlife encountered on the rivers, including jaguars (tigers) and alligators:
"The alligator rivals the tiger in voracity and fierceness. They are sworn enemies, and attack each other whenever they meet. The odds are on the tiger's side if the struggle be on land, and in favour of the alligator if the pair meet in the water.
"The tigers frequently cross rivers infested with alligators, and display a really marvellous cunning in avoiding their enemy in his own element. The tiger will stand on the beach at a given point of the river, and there roar with all his might for an hour or so on end. The alligators, in the hope of getting at him, congregate in the water at that particular point. When the members of the assembly thus convened have, so far as the tiger can judge, met at the appointed place, he starts up-stream along the banks as rapidly as possible, and crosses two or three miles higher up."
Triana writes of the dangers of the rivers:
"These beautiful clear waters, so harmless, so placid, in appearance, are in truth full of danger. Apart from alligators and water snakes, they abound in a species of small fish called caribe, which attack men and animals, especially if they find a sore spot in the skin. They swarm in such quantities and are so voracious that a bull or a horse crossing the river, if attacked by these fish, may lose a leg, or receive such a deep wound in the body that death is inevitable. No less perilous is the electric eel, which, on being touched, gives a shock."
Triana hired Indian guides and visited their villages. He notes the Indians "are the bakers, if I may so call them, of that great region.
"An interesting account of a novel journey from the Colombian Plateau down the Orinoco River to the Atlantic . A wild untraveled land well described." -Book Buyer, 1903
"His scenic description give evidence of artistic feeling and literary power. -The Churchman, 1903
"Wields a pen at once poetic, humorous, and picturesque." -The Outlook, 1903
Forced to flee his country in 1893 because of political revolution, Santiago Perez Triana (1858-1916) made his escape on canoe by way of the Meta and the Orinoco Rivers. A true South American, thoroughly familiar with the history and legend of his native land, Triana tells us in his charming 1902 book "Down the Orinoco in a Canoe," of the dread inspired by the thought of "the uncertainty of the journey we were undertaking to unknown regions, probably never trod by the foot of civilized man."
Fleeing from one of the ever-recurring revolutions that afflict the republic of Colombia, Triana, a prominent man of affairs in Colombia who was son of a former President of that highly polished state, thought it would be safer for him to take flight by a sort of back door to his native land, instead of going to Panama or Colon. He hurried across country till he struck the River Tua, by which he reached the Meta in four days.
After several days' journey on the Meta, he struck the Orinoco two days after leaving Santa Catalina. Some part of the journeying on this great river was done, not in a canoe, but in "a one-masted schooner," presumably E sloop. At Bolivar a steamer was taken as far as the British island of Trinidad.
This is no stereotyped book of travels. The first chapter reads like the beginning of an old Spanish adventure novel. The region Triana covered by muleback and canoe is one of the richest and most beautiful in the world, and has rarely been visited by civilized man since the old Spanish conquerors came that way.
Triana offers observation on wildlife encountered on the rivers, including jaguars (tigers) and alligators:
"The alligator rivals the tiger in voracity and fierceness. They are sworn enemies, and attack each other whenever they meet. The odds are on the tiger's side if the struggle be on land, and in favour of the alligator if the pair meet in the water.
"The tigers frequently cross rivers infested with alligators, and display a really marvellous cunning in avoiding their enemy in his own element. The tiger will stand on the beach at a given point of the river, and there roar with all his might for an hour or so on end. The alligators, in the hope of getting at him, congregate in the water at that particular point. When the members of the assembly thus convened have, so far as the tiger can judge, met at the appointed place, he starts up-stream along the banks as rapidly as possible, and crosses two or three miles higher up."
Triana writes of the dangers of the rivers:
"These beautiful clear waters, so harmless, so placid, in appearance, are in truth full of danger. Apart from alligators and water snakes, they abound in a species of small fish called caribe, which attack men and animals, especially if they find a sore spot in the skin. They swarm in such quantities and are so voracious that a bull or a horse crossing the river, if attacked by these fish, may lose a leg, or receive such a deep wound in the body that death is inevitable. No less perilous is the electric eel, which, on being touched, gives a shock."
Triana hired Indian guides and visited their villages. He notes the Indians "are the bakers, if I may so call them, of that great region.
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Down the Orinoco in a Canoe
Down the Orinoco in a Canoe
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940186575702 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Far West Travel Adventure |
| Publication date: | 07/16/2022 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 543 KB |
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