Revieto of Louilorv's Gardener^ s Magazine, 267 



ment, and on vvliich an old fort and a bori)l)-i)ioof majrazine, in perfect re- 

 pair, ar« still rLMiiaining. These, and many other large islands, are thieUly 

 interspersed with smaller ones, exhibiting every possible variety of size and 

 shape, of whieh the ehief beauty consists in their being, one and all, covered 

 with vegetation to the water's edge." 



After proceeding up the river Masseroni several miles, Mr. Hench- 

 man, with his six or eight Indians, landed on the banks of the river 

 about 6 o'clock, for the night ; his account of his night's repose, is 

 exceedingly interesting : — 



"The sun sets in Demerara from six to a quarter past, and in ton minutes 

 after, ])erfect darkn.iss succeeds: so that our dinner was eaten by the light 

 of our fire : and about seven o'clock we all turned into our hammocks ; the 

 Indians soon sinking into their slight watchful repose, while I was thinking 

 over the events of the day, the discoveries made, and treasures collected, and 

 forming jilaiis for future expeditions. It sometimes ]iap])ened that I awoke 

 in the night, and found myself swinging in my hammock between two trees; 

 the moon, perhaps, shining full upon my lace ; the silence of tlie night and 

 the solitude of the Ibrest urdjroken, s^ave by the dull sound of the waters as 

 they foamed over the rocks ; tlie roar of the jaguar, as he roamed through 

 the bush in search of his prey ; the shrHl cry of the ourang-ontang, which 

 seemed to thrill through me ; the still more disagreeable moan of the baboon ; 

 or any of the other noises peculiar to the bush : and one whose imagination 

 was at work nn'ght have fancied, as the light land breeze whistled gently 

 through the trees, or disturbed a few of the dry leaves, that the bushmaster 

 was wreathing himself round one of the brancdies of the tree which sup- 

 ported the hammock ; or that some other of the many large snakes with 

 which this country abounds was trailing its colossal body beneath. This 

 combination of sounds, till the senses became accustomed to it, produced a 

 feeling of mixed pleasure and pain ; nor was this diminished by the flapping 

 of the wings of the large vampire bat, as he occ.isionally passed within a fe\v 

 inches of my nose ; for I candidly admit that, though the presence of this 

 bird or beast did not give me any mieasiness, I did not, like the immortal 

 Watcrton, feel any peculiar wish to experience, when I awoke in the morn- 

 ing, the pleasure of finding that my great toe had been punctured by this 

 treacherous foe, and that I had lost twelve or fourteen ounces of blood 

 through its agency. If anything more could be wanting to complete the 

 interest which a European must feel in such a situation, he need only reflect 

 on the beings who are sleeping around him, i)art of whom are in a state of 

 entire barbarism ; while the others, to the ignorance of the savage, add but 

 too often the acquired vices of the unfortunate negro." 



" On the 23d, I reached the Indian settlement of Wamokai, which is sup- 

 posed to be about 700 miles from the mouth of the Essequibo ; and I deter- 

 mined, with much regret, to retrace my course, after one more day's pro- 

 gress up the river; for the limited s;)ace of my canoe was already pretty 

 well filled with specimens of Orchide.-B which I had collected. The Mas- 

 seroni, for about 400 or .500 miles from its junction with the Essequibo, 

 abounds in rapids, and in falls, none of which possess more than |)erliaps 5 

 ft. or 6 ft. of perpendicular fall ; yet there is often a succession of small falls, 

 which renders the descent of the river sufficiently dangerous. Some of the 

 principal of these falls are, Waranambo, Amaii, Wajiojiekai, Sarpua, Paro- 

 kas, and Tekie, which are the last and most dangerous. In proceeding up 

 the river, the canoe was hauled up over sonu; ])art «f the rocks, where there 

 was but a small body of water. I used to laugh much at the Indians, as 

 they were floundering about in the water, hauling and shoving at the canoe; 

 but I was given to understand that they ex|)ccted to have the laugh against 

 me in descending or shooting the falls, for which process the main fall is 

 always chosen, as there is less danger of sunken rocks : and I candidly own 



