July 1891.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH. 171 



knowledge. The very fact that what he sees is new to him 

 may lend a freshness to his observations which a more 

 lengthened residence would tend to dull. It is on these 

 considerations that I venture to think it is not presumptuous 

 in one who made a short stay in British Guiana to offer a 

 short account of what struck him most on first acquaintance 

 with the flora of the country, and that only for the benefit 

 of those who have not had the advantage of seeing it with 

 their own eyes. The paper will also serve as an introduc- 

 tion to the lantern slides which I propose to exhibit, and 

 which have been prepared from photographs which were 

 taken by myself. 



I went out to British Guiana in October 1889, and lived 

 there for five weeks. I had not an opportunity of seeing 

 almost any part of the colony, except the district of the 

 Pomeroon Eiver. ]\Iy object being to make some acquaint- 

 ance with tropical vegetation, and especially to see a tropical 

 forest, perhaps no part of the world could have been chosen 

 which would have suited my purpose better. The Pomeroon 

 is situated between the 7th and 8th degrees of north latitude, 

 and lies immediately to the north of the Essequibo. 

 Throughout its whole course it flows through the dense virgin 

 forest, but towards its mouth there are a few small clearings 

 occupied for the most part by Portuguese. It is not a lai'ge 

 river for that part of the world, but from its depth carries a 

 large volume of water. The whole district rises little above 

 the level of the sea, and the tide flows up to a great distance. 

 With the exception of a few Europeans near the mouth, the 

 population is entirely composed of native Indians thinly 

 scattered here and there along the banks. The two great 

 requisites of a luxuriant flora exist there in perfection — heat 

 and moisture. The thermometer varies from about 70° 

 during the night to 85° during the day all the year round, 

 there is a very considerable rainfall, and the dense covering 

 of trees prevents any great evaporation from the surface of 

 the flat and swampy ground. The consequence is a growth 

 of vegetation, rich, varied, and picturesque. 



To give anything like an adequate idea even of its super- 

 ficial features would demand greater space than I can allow 

 myself. I shall only try to give a rough general idea of it, 

 and I shall particularise only those trees or plants which 



