BRITISH GUIANA (1) 115 
on the high seas for three weeks with none of their natural food 
to fall back on. 
Showing my queer assortment of charges to passers-by made an 
interesting diversion, as even residents of long standing are poorly 
acquainted with the animal-life of the Guiana forests. The Three- 
toed Sloths always attracted attention, especially as they had be- 
come accustomed to eating bananas and were now so tame that 
they would do their upside-down act by walking along a hori- 
zontal pole to a visitor and take fruit from his hands. So ingrained 
was the story about their bear-like hug that even Europeans were 
staggered to see me pick these sloths from their perches and 
nurse them like babies. 
A visiting official, who evidently thought that his temporary 
escape from the world of officialdom should be made an occasion 
of celebration, became very much the worse for drink, and this 
might easily have meant the end of the rest-house and much of 
my collection. Although all the mammals and some of the larger 
birds were given the run of various sheds, the small birds and the 
cock-of-the-rock were kept in a box-room adjoining my bedroom 
where I could keep an eye on them. The furniture dated back to 
the days of the Dutch occupation, the beds were enormous, square 
and canopied, with huge carved bedposts. The oil lamps were the 
largest I have ever seen and their glass containers must have 
held gallons. It was one of these that nearly caused a tragedy. Just 
before dinner one night I was sitting downstairs talking to an- 
other of the visiting party when I heard a crash upstairs. Knowing 
that our friend was tipsy we took no notice of this, but suddenly 
there was a shout for the servant, who ran upstairs. I visualized 
a broken bottle of whiskey on the floor with the owner trying to 
mop it up. But such a commotion went on after the servant arrived 
that I tore up the stairs myself to see what had happened. When 
I arrived, I found the wooden floor of the reveler’s bedroom 
covered in flames. He had dropped or knocked over the lamp! I 
shall never forget this half-dopey creature standing in the flames 
trying to stamp them out with his feet and staggering all over the 
place as he did so. The black servant was sweeping madly at the 
burning oil with his duster, but as fast as he put it out in one 
place, it flared up again. It was obviously useless to attempt to gain 
