WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 167 



drawing fast to a close. Every day for the last 

 six montlis has been employed in paying close 

 attention to natural history in the forests of Dem- 

 erara. Above two hundred specimens of the finest 

 birds have been collected, and a pretty just knowl- 

 edge formed of their haunts and economy. From 

 the time of leaving England, in March, 1816, to 

 the present day, nothing has intervened to arrest 

 a fine flow of health, saving a quartan ague, which 

 did not tarry, but fled as suddenly as it appeared. 

 And now I take leave of thee, kind and gentle 

 reader. The new mode of preserving birds, here- 

 tofore promised thee, shall not be forgotten. The 

 plan is already formed in imagination, and can be 

 penned down during the passage across the At- 

 lantic. If the few remarks in these Wanderings 

 shall have any weight in inciting thee to sally 

 forth and explore the vast and well- stored regions 

 of Demerara, I have gained my end. Adieu. 



Charles Waterton. 



April 6, 1817. 



