R. H. SCHOMBURGK. 35 



Our travellers, after passing a deserted Indian 

 settlement, arrived, some miles farther, at the rivu- 

 let Annai, leading to a village of the Macusi In- 

 dians. Hither they transported their baggage and 

 collections ; and, having satisfied the principal per- 

 sons of the tribe with a few presents, took up their 

 abode in a hut, which, however humble, was luxury 

 itself when compared with the cramped-up position 

 they were obliged to keep in their corials, and to 

 the privations and toils of their long and difficult 

 wayfaring. 



A month had passed away at Annai, during 

 which their health was recruited, abundant infor- 

 mation obtained from the natives, and specimens of 

 natural history collected, when they proceeded on 

 their ascent of the Rupununi. Vestiges of the last 

 inundation of this river were observable wherever it 

 made a turn ; and in many places trees broken down 

 by the current, or withered away, made its banks 

 appear as though a tropical hurricane had swept 

 over the country. Leaving several groups of moun- 

 tains, they debarked at an inlet, and rode on horse- 

 back to Pirara, a village of fourteen houses and 

 from eighty to a hundred inhabitants, remarkable as 

 lying on the border of the once famed Lake Amucu. 

 Next morning they returned to the corials, and 

 wended their way up the river; extensive savan- 

 nahs bounded its banks on either side, wliile beyond 

 these, to the eastward, could occasionally be seen 

 patches of gently undulating and well-wooded 

 {[••round. 



