1893 Perron map DELTA OF ORINOCO (VENEZUELA) AND TRINIDAD (#29)

Description

Perron18_029
1893 Perron map DELTA OF ORINOCO (VENEZUELA) AND TRINIDAD (#29)
Nice map titled
Delta de l'Orenoque,
from wood engraving with fine detail and clear impression, nice hand coloring. Overall size approx. 21.5 x 17 cm, image size approx. 13 x 11 cm. From
La Nouvelle Géographie universelle, la terre et les hommes
, 19 vol. (1875-94), great work of Elisee Reclus. Cartographer is Charles Perron.
Orinoco River
Spanish Río Orinoco
major river of South America that flows in a giant arc for some 1,700 miles  (2,740 km) from its source in the Guiana Highlands to its mouth on the Atlantic  Ocean. Throughout most of its course it flows through Venezuela, except for a  section that forms part of the frontier between Venezuela and Colombia. The name  Orinoco is derived from Guarauno words meaning “a place to paddle”—i.e., a  navigable place.
The Orinoco and its tributaries constitute the northernmost of South America's  four major river systems. Bordered by the Andes Mountains to the west and the  north, the Guiana Highlands to the east, and the Amazon watershed to the south,  the river basin covers an area of about 366,000 square miles (948,000 square  km). It encompasses approximately four-fifths of Venezuela and one-fourth of  Colombia.
For most of its length, the Orinoco flows through impenetrable rain forest or  through the vast grassland (savanna) region of the Llanos (“Plains”), which  occupies three-fifths of the Orinoco basin north of the Guaviare River and west  of the lower Orinoco River and the Guiana Highlands. The savanna was given its  name by the Spaniards in the 16th century and long has been used as a vast  cattle range. Since the 1930s this region has been developing into one of the  most industrialized areas of South America.
Physiography of the Orinoco
The western slopes of the Sierra Parima, which form part of the boundary between  Venezuela and Brazil, are drained by spring-fed streams that give rise to the  Orinoco River. The source is placed in Venezuela at the southern end of the  Sierra Parima, near Mount Delgado Chalbaud at an elevation of some 3,300 feet  (1,000 metres). From its headwaters the river flows west-northwest, leaving the  mountains to meander through the level plains of the Llanos. The volume of the  river increases as it receives numerous mountain tributaries, including the  Mavaca River on the left bank and the Manaviche, Ocamo, Padamo, and Cunucunuma  rivers on the right.
Below the town of Esmeralda, some of the waters of the Orinoco flow south into  the Casiquiare River (Brazo Casiquiare; sometimes called the Casiquiare  Channel). This channel, a feature peculiar to the Orinoco River system, is a  natural passage that flows generally south until it combines with the Guainía  River to form the Negro River, thus linking the Orinoco and Amazon river  systems.
After its bifurcation in the Casiquiare, the Orinoco bends to the northwest and  flows in great meandering curves to its confluence with the Ventuari River.  There the river turns to the west to run between high alluvial banks, its course  marked by extensive sandbars. Near San Fernando de Atabapo, the Atabapo and  Guaviare rivers join the Orinoco, marking the end of the upper Orinoco.
Downstream from San Fernando de Atabapo, the river flows northward and forms  part of the border between Venezuela and Colombia. It passes through a  transitional zone, the Region of the Rapids (Región de los Raudales), where the  Orinoco forces its way through a series of narrow passages among enormous  granite boulders. The waters fall in a succession of rapids, ending with the  Atures Rapids. In this region, the main tributaries are the Vichada and Tomo  rivers from the Colombian Llanos, and the Guayapo, Sipapo, Autana, and Cuao  rivers from the Guiana Highlands.
The Atures Rapids mark the beginning of the lower Orinoco basin, in which the  river makes its great bend to the east. In this section, the river flows slowly  through the lowest level of the plains and increases to about five miles in  width. Along the bend, it receives the largest number of tributaries of its  entire course, including the Meta, Arauca, and Capanaparo rivers. The Apure  River contributes waters from numerous Andean streams, which form a swampy maze  in their lower courses.
From its junction with the Apure, the Orinoco meanders eastward over gently  sloping plains. Shoals and alluvial islands are abundant; some of the islands  are large enough to divide the channel into narrow passages. Tributaries include  the Guárico, Manapire, Suatá (Zuata), Pao, and Caris rivers, which enter on the  left bank, and the Cuchivero and Caura rivers, which join the main stream on the  right. So much sediment is carried by these rivers that islands often form at  the mouths. The Caroní River, one of the Orinoco's largest tributaries, joins  the river on its right bank after passing through the Guri Reservoir formed by  Guri (Raúl Leoni) Dam, above Ciudad Guayana (also called Santo Tomé de Guayana);  farther upstream, on the Churún River (a tributary of the Caroní), are Angel  Falls, the highest waterfall in the world (3,212 feet). Many lagoons, including  the Mamo, Amana, and Colorada, are located on the banks of the Orinoco west of  its confluence with the Caroní and east of Ciudad Bolívar.
About 30 miles downstream of Ciudad Guayana, at the town of Barrancas, the  Orinoco begins to form its great delta. The delta extends for about 275 miles  along the Atlantic coast, from Pedernales on the Gulf of Paria in the northwest  to Barima Point in the southeast on the Boca Grande (literally, the “Great  Mouth”). Scores of islands are connected by innumerable canals (caños), which  form an intricate network. The main channel of the Orinoco, known in the delta  as the Río Grande, flows eastward from Barrancas to discharge into the Boca  Grande.