76 MEMOIR OP 



great change of weather ; the rivers began to swell, 

 and by the middle of May the savannah represented 

 a lake, out of which Pirara, being eighty feet above 

 the level of Lake Amucu, rose like an island. To- 

 wards the end of May, the heavy canoes of the 

 expedition, with their collections, were launched on 

 the Quatata, which communicates with the Rupu- 

 nuni; they soon floated on the latter river, and, 

 carried rapidly forward by a strong current, reached 

 its junction with the Essequibo on the 11th June. 

 The Essequibo was full to overflowing, and its falls 

 no longer impeded their progress ; so that in four 

 or five days they reached the Protestant mission at 

 Bartika Point, under the firing of guns and hoisting 

 of flags. By a strange coincidence, Mr. Schomburgk 

 was on this occasion, as he had been on his return 

 from his first expedition, received on landing by 

 the Bishop of Barbadoes, who was now, as then, on 

 a visit of inspection to the mission: it was with 

 sincere regret that that prelate heard the sad news 

 of the dispersion of the mission at Pirara. 



Two-and-twenty months had elapsed since Mr. 

 Schomburgk had passed this spot, on his ascent of 

 the Essequibo, and bade adieu to civilized life and 

 its comforts. During this period he had examined 

 the Essequibo to its sources; made the circuit of 

 upwards of three thousand miles, chiefly by water ; 

 and was now, by the blessing of Providence, re- 

 turning safely to Georgetown, which he reached on 

 the 20th June, 1839. 



