240 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



on the torrents of rain which for nearly three-fourths of 

 the year are of daily occurrence. 



When we returned to our camp on the Merevari on 

 the morning after the storm the leaves were dripping 

 with moisture and the hollows were pools through which 

 we had to tramp sometimes up to our knees in water, so 

 that by the time we reached our collection of huts on the 

 river we were wet through and through. 



Things had not gone smoothly during my absence. 

 Jacobson said that he had had a severe attack of fever, 

 and that the * Bird Carpenter ' had given him a good 

 deal of trouble. I examined the specimens collected. Of 

 mammals the men had secured several adouries (Dasy- 

 procta acuchi), and some capuchin monkeys. Amongst 

 the birds were four skins of the bald-headed cotinga, and 

 some other species quite new to me. Two game-birds, 

 a kind of partridge and a tinamu, were to my mind the 

 most interesting things obtained. 



It rained heavily from midday to about four in the 

 afternoon. Jacobson, two of the men, and myself went 

 in the small boat a little w^ay up the river to a spot from 

 which a very good view of Ameha could be obtained. 

 Several photographs were taken of different parts of the 

 mountain, as we found it impossible to get the whole of it 

 on to one plate. 



Ameha was in all its glory. The cascades which 

 dwindle away to mere threads after several days of dry 

 weather were broad sheets of silver. Although we were at 

 a considerable distance from the mountain we could hear 

 the roar of the falling water as it dashed over the cliffs 

 into the abyss beneath. I noticed from where we were 

 standing that there is a narrow cleft towards the southern 

 end, cutting right into the very heart of the mass. I 



