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. 



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, Konawaruk, 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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