CHAPTER III. 



GENERAL ACCOUNT OF THE EXPEDITION. 



Accompanied by Mr. S. E. Shideler, I sailed from New York on August 23, 

 1908, arriving in Georgetown on September 6th. 



From August to December is the long dry season in Guiana. In consequence 

 the upper portions of the rivers are lowest in October and November, and the 

 fishes are then concentrated in the channels of the streams. We had rain during 

 the first week of our stay in Guiana, but later were only once interrupted by rain 

 or high water. While on the Guiana plateau at Holmia a rain lasting a day and 

 a night caused the river to rise many feet. 



' 



mmmi 



Fig. 1. Mouth of the Demerara River at Georgetown, British Guiana. 



The two main objects of the expedition have been outlined in the Introduction. 



I desired to secure as many characins as possible and to compare the fauna of the 



plateau with that of the lowland. The former became an incident in the study of 



the latter question. To get an idea of the lowland fauna a series of collections. in 



fresh water was made at sea-level within tidal influence from Lama Stop-Off to 



Morrawhanna, Wismar, Malali, and Bartica. Above tidal influence collections 



were made at Rockstone, Crab Falls, Ivonawaruk, and Warraputa, in the Essequibo 



and along the Potaro from its mouth to the Kaieteur. The fauna of the plateau 



was studied in the Potaro from the Kaieteur to the Aruataima Cataract. 



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