xxii INTRODUCTION 



attack man, but I found my nerves rather shaken, 

 and I was very glad to see them disappear. 



I found a pocket field glass to be of the greatest 

 assistance, as with its aid I was able to identify 

 many birds and beasts. Several times I found 

 that what seemed to be merely a mass of greenish 

 orchid roots was in reality a sloth, and once when 

 examining through its lenses a large thatch-like 

 nest of termites high in a tree, I noticed an ex- 

 crescence on the nest and was able to make out a 

 tamandua or ant-eater, which was making a meal 

 of the insects. Several times I identified the 

 cunning little sacawinki monkeys and marmosets 

 watching me from a tree. What a great advan- 

 tage Waterton would have found it, and likewise, 

 how he would have enjoyed the pocket electric 

 flash-light, that night when the jaguar investi- 

 gated his camp. I found it of great value in 

 identifying bats, and night-birds, as well as in 

 finding which kinds of toads and frogs made the 

 different notes of the chorus that swelled out 

 every evening just at dusk. 



I foimd the camera of comparatively little use, 

 for the sun was too bright and the shade too 

 dense. The heat and dampness spoiled my films 

 and softened the glue which held together the 

 camera, but then I am but an indiiferent pho- 

 tographer at best, and another may well succeed 

 where I failed. 



The scenery is rather monotonous going up the 

 Demerara Eiver, but after crossing over to the 

 Essequibo, it improves greatly and the islands, 

 rocks, rapids, and the wooded hills are very beau- 

 tiful — and the waterfalls are magnificent; the 



