26 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



erosion, until Turagua would have wasted away to an 

 inconspicuous hill like those we had left behind us, while 

 those hills would have disappeared into the surrounding 

 plain. 



For a considerable distance we skirted the base of the 

 titanic wall which forms the crest of the mountain, with- 

 out being able to find any spot by which it would be 

 possible to attempt the ascent to the plateau above. Our 

 progress was slow, for in many places the ground was 

 strewn with the debris brought down by the masses of 

 rock in their descent from the cliffs. I sat down and 

 rested while the Indians went ahead to try to find some 

 place by which the peak might be scaled. In about an 

 hour's time they returned. They had seen, they said, a 

 gully which appeared to lead to the top of the mountain, 

 but the ascent by it would be, they thought, difficult and 

 dangerous. Isidor suggested that we should try the 

 other side on the morrow, when we might find some spot 

 offering easier means of access than the gully on this side. 

 I determined, however, to see for myself what chances of 

 success we should have in making the attempt by the 

 gully. I found, on reaching the spot described by the 

 Indians, that they had not exaggerated the difficulties of 

 the ascent by this way. A narrow streak of vegetation, 

 consisting mostly of ferns, marked where a stream had 

 cut a shallow bed in the face of the cliff towering above 

 us. For the first 200 or 300 feet our climb was up a 

 surface almost upright, the deviation out of the per- 

 pendicular being so small that it only just allowed us to 

 lie on our faces while holding on to the ferns and roots 

 of the plants which the moist rock supported. 



Sylvestre and Maite went first, I was third, and Isidor 

 last. These Indians are excellent climbers. Even the 



