CHAPTEE III 



History of the Orinoco steamers — Seizure of the steamer ' Bolivar ' — 

 Departure from Trinidad — The hammock — Gambling on board — 

 Guaraunos — Barrancas — Guayana la Vieja — Ralegh and Guayana 

 la Vieja — Simon Bohvar and Los Castillos — San Felix — El Callao 

 mine — The Caroni — Ciudad-Bolivar. 



Although I had promised the Indians to return at the 

 end of the year, circumstances over which I had no con- 

 trol, to use a hackneyed expression, prevented me keeping 

 my promise. While descending the lower reaches of 

 the Caura, after my departure from Mura, I contracted 

 malaria of so virulent a type that for five months I did 

 not leave my bed, and for a considerable time after I was 

 unable to travel or to collect orchids. My long illness and 

 inability to do any remunerative work had resulted in my 

 having to dispose of the whole of my slender resources, 

 so that any voyage of exploration requiring outlay was 

 for some time an impossibility. Towards the middle of 

 1901, however, I had a run of luck, and began to think 

 of the journey to Ameha. At the same time Mr. Aurelio 

 Battistini, an old schoolfellow, who was established as a 

 merchant at Ciudad-Bolivar, paid a visit to Trinidad. 

 During his stay we frequently discussed the possibilities 

 of the rubber industry on the Caura, he being largely 

 interested in a concession of a considerable tract of 

 country on the banks of the Nichare. He suggested that 

 I should accompany an American gentleman who would 

 be going at the end of the year to inspect the concession 

 on behalf of a syndicate. He agreed to place his steamer, 



D 



