And savage people, nations and tribes--Guahibo, Aguaricoto, Ayano, Maco, Piaroa, Quiriquiripo, Tuparito--shall I name a hundred more?
It would be useless, Rima; they are all savages, and live widely scattered in the forests, hunting with bow and arrow and the zabatana.

Consider, then, how large Guayana is!" "Guayana--Guayana! Do I not know all this is Guayana?
But beyond, and beyond, and beyond?
Is there no end to Guayana ?" "Yes; there northwards it ends at the Orinoco, a mighty river, coming from mighty mountains, compared with which Ytaioa is like a stone on the ground on which we have sat down to rest.

You must know that guayana is only a portion, a half, of our country, Venezuela.

Look," I continued, putting my hand round my shoulder to touch the middle of my back, "there is a groove running down my spine dividing my body into equal parts.
Thus does the great Orinoco divide Venezuela, and on one side of it is all Guayana; and on the other side the countries or provinces of Cumana, Maturm, Barcelona, Bolivar, Guarico, Apure, and many others." I then gave a rapid description of the northern half of the country, with its vast llanos covered with herds in one part, its plantations of coffee, rice, and sugar-cane in another, and its chief towns; last of all Caracas, the gay and opulent little Paris in America.
This seemed to weary her; but the moment I ceased speaking, and before I could well moisten my dry lips, she demanded to know what came after Caracas--after all Venezuela.
"The ocean--water, water, water," I replied.
"There are no people there--in the water; only fishes," she remarked; then suddenly continued: "Why are you silent--is Venezuela, then, all the world ?" The task I had set myself to perform seemed only at its commencement yet.

Thinking how to proceed with it, my eyes roved over the level area we were standing on, and it struck me that this little irregular plain, broad at one end and almost pointed at the other, roughly resembled the South American continent in its form.
"Look, Rima," I began, "here we are on this small pebble--Ytaioa; and this line round it shuts us in--we cannot see beyond.