Spanish authorities , in a report dated 10 July 1788 , put forward an official claim against the Dutch expansion over her territory , and proposed a borderline : It has been stated that the south bank of the Orinoco from the point of Barima , 20 leagues more or less inland , up to the creek of Curucima , is low lying and swampy land and , consequently , reckoning all this tract as useless , very few patches of fertile land being found therein , and hardly any savannahs and pastures , it is disregarded ; so taking as chief base the said creek of Curucima , or the point of the chain and ridge in the great arm of the Imataka , an imaginary line will be drawn running to the south-south-east following the slopes of the ridge of the same name which is crossed by the rivers Aguire , Arature and Amacuro , and others , in the distance of 20 leagues , direct to the Cuyuni ; from there it will run on to the Masaruni and Essequibo , parallel to the sources of the Berbis and Surinama ; this is the directing line of the course which the new Settlements and foundations proposed must follow .
`` It has been stated that the south coast of the Orinoco from the point of Barima , 20 leagues more or less inland , up to the creek of Curucima , is low lying and swampy land and , so , reckoning all this tract as useless , very few patches of fertile land being found therein , and hardly any savannahs and pastures , it is disregarded ; so taking as chief base the said creek of Curucima , or the point of the chain and ridge in the great arm of the Imataka , an imaginary line will be drawn running to the south-south-east following the slopes of the ridge of the same name which is crossed by the Rivers Aguire , Arature and Amacuro , and others , in the distance of 20 leagues , direct to the Cuyuni ; from there it will run on to the Masaruni and Essequibo , parallel to the sources of the Berbis and Surinama ; this is the directing line of the course which the new Settlements and foundations proposed must follow . ''