Orinoco

Orinoco, a river of South America, rises in the south-east of Venezuela, and flows in a northwesterly direction as far as San Fernando de Atabapo, where it joins the Inirida. It then flows due north as far as the middle of Venezuela, when, having been joined by the Meta, the Apuse, and several other streams, it takes an easterly turn, and enters the Atlantic by many mouths about 200 miles south of Trinidad. The total length of the river is 1,550 miles, of which more than half is navigable, the cataracts of Atures, however, making a considerable break. The Orinoco drains an extent of country whose area amounts to nearly 370,000 square miles, and overflows its banks between May and January.