94 INTRODUCTION. 



V/'hen we ascended the river Berbice, two "Wac-, 

 cawai boys belonged to our party, who navigated 

 one of those pakasses. They were perhaps not 

 more than eight years old, but we were highly de- 

 lighted to see how ably they managed it. The 

 boat seemed to fly through the water; and the 

 juvenile steersman directed its course with such 

 judgment and precision, that it never grounded, 

 though it went over places where there was not 

 more than eight or nine inches water. They were 

 equally expert in the use of the bow and arrow; 

 and wherever they observed one of the finny tribe, 

 the pakasse was halted, the bow strung, off flew 

 the pointed arrow, and when taken out of the 

 sand, which the water barely covered, we generally 

 observed a fish struggling for liberty. In spite of 

 these occasional detentions, they were always in the 

 van when the hour approached for our stopping for 

 breakfast or to encamp for the night. 



The first impediments which are thrown in the 

 navigation, on ascending the Essequibo, are the 

 Aritaka Rapids, distant about sixty miles in a direct 

 line from the mouth of the river. They are the 

 beginning of a series which extends for six miles, 

 caused by the rivers passage through a chain of 

 hills about two hundred feet high. The most con- 

 siderable of them is the Itaballi Rapid, and the 

 manner in which these impediments are overcome 

 is as follows. If we except the larger cataracts, 

 where the mass of water falls over a level ledge> 

 and to overcome which the canoes must be drawn 



