284 A NATURALIST IN THE GUIANAS 



to accompany the expedition : the others said that as 

 the rainy season had set in they -v^ere planting up their 

 gardens and could not leave. On the afternoon of the 

 third day of our arrival I had the satisfaction of seeing 

 the relief party off. It was not a very sober lot of men 

 I shook hands with, when I tried to impress upon them 

 at the last moment the importance of the mission they 

 were going upon. But I knew from long experience that 

 it would have been useless to have attempted to prevent 

 the peons from getting drunk on the day of their departure 

 on a trip of several days. Their instructions were to get 

 beyond the falls of Para if possible, and to do everything 

 in their power to rescue those who had remained behind. 

 It was only after they had left, that ' the Pirate ' ven- 

 tured to express an opinion on their chances of success. 

 ' I do not like to meddle with what does not concern 

 me,' he said, ' but I believe it is waste of time to have sent 

 a boat to meet the men, because I am pretty certain that 

 they have not followed the river. I did not care to tell you 

 this before,' he continued, 'because it may be that after we 

 separated they changed their minds ; but Pancho told me 

 privately the last night we spent together, that he had 

 discussed the matter with the others and that they were 

 thinking of leaving the river and striking through the 

 forest in the direction of the Chawarro where the 

 Camaracotas dwell.' I learnt in addition that it appeared 

 to be Pancho's belief that the savannahs were not far 

 from where we were at the time, and that it would be 

 much easier to reach them than to get to La Prision 

 by the river. This had been one of those occasions on 

 which the men had made plans and kept their intentions 

 secret from me. The same thing happened afterwards at 

 Para, where my followers had deliberated as to the advisa- 



