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''El Orinoco ilustrado y defendido'' (The Orinoco illustrated and defended), is a book written by the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

missionary

Joseph Gumilla Joseph Gumilla (1686, in Cárcer – 1750, in the Llanos) was a Jesuit priest who wrote a natural history of the Orinoco River region. Biography In 1705 he left Spain for New Granada (today Colombia) where he studied at the Universidad Javer ...

. He explored the

Orinoco River The Orinoco () is one of the longest rivers in South America at . Its drainage basin, sometimes known as the Orinoquia, covers , with 76.3 percent of it in Venezuela and the remainder in Colombia. It is the fourth largest river in the wor ...

basin in the eighteenth century. The book provides details on the tributaries of the

from

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

, as well as customs of the indigenous people, medicines, food, etc.

External links

Jose Gumilla Biography on page´s Gumilla Center

Google Books
Venezuelan literature Jesuit publications Books about Venezuela