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Fedon took possession of Mount Quaqua, a high, steep, and somewhat bald mountain in the interior, and there encamped with his army. The base of the mountain was cultivated, and furnished excellent pasturage for the many cattle which were driven thither from the various plantations to furnish subsistence for his army.
This history seems framed on the traditions which circulate among the Indians of the Maranon, and among the Caribs; yet the Quaqua Indian, of whom Father Gili speaks, was ignorant of the Castilian language; he had never had any communication with white men; and certainly knew not, that south of the Orinoco there existed another river, called the river of the Aikeambenanos, or Amazons.
He then invested Mount Quaqua, cut off all supplies from the army of Fedon, and compelled him to fight, surrender, or starve. The insurgent chief, with some of the leaders of the insurrection, and a portion of the rebels, attempted to cut their way through the English army, and some of them succeeded, among whom was Fedon.
I have often heard them mentioned on the Orinoco, above the mouth of the Meta; and, what is very remarkable, it is asserted* that missionary Jesuits have found Quaquas as far distant as the Cordilleras of Popayan. The name of Quaqua is found on the coast of Guinea. Perhaps these two nations, which speak almost the same language, travelled together towards the coasts.
Their language, of which the Jesuit Anisson has composed a grammar still in manuscript, is, with the Caribbean, the Tamanac, the Maypure, the Ottomac, the Guahive, and the Jaruro, one of the mother-tongues most general on the Orinoco. Father Gili thinks that the Ature, the Piraoa, and the Quaqua or Mapoye, are only dialects of the Salive.
Bates found one seated alone on a branch, at no great elevation, uttering at intervals, in a complaining tone, its usual cry of "quaqua." It appeared to be a dull, inactive bird, and even when approached seemed very unwilling to take flight. Among the characteristic members of the feathered tribe in these forests are the jacamars, as they are found in no other part of the world.
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