WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 227 



tion, there will be no offensive smell, but a strong 

 scent of mnsk. 



I had long wished to examine the native haunts 

 of the Cayman; but as the river Demerara did 

 not afford a specimen of the large kind, I was 

 obliged to go to the river Essequibo to look for 

 one. 



I got the canoe ready, and went down in it to 

 George-town; where, having put in the necessary 

 articles for the expedition, not forgetting a couple 

 of large shark-hooks, with chains attached to 

 them, and a coil of strong new rope, I hoisted a 

 little sail, which I had got made on purpose, and 

 at six o'clock in the morning shaped our course 

 for the river Essequibo. I had put a pair of 

 shoes on to prevent the tar at the bottom of the 

 canoe from sticking to my feet. The sun was 

 flaming hot, and from eleven o'clock till two beat 

 perpendicularly upon the top of my feet, betwixt 

 the shoes and the trousers. Not feeling it dis- 

 agreeable, or being in the least aware of painful 

 consequences, as I had been barefoot for months, 

 I neglected to put on a pair of short stockings 

 which I had with me. I did not reflect, that sit- 

 ting still in one place, with your feet exposed to 

 the sun, was very different from being exposed 

 to the sun while in motion. 



We went ashore in the Essequibo, about three 

 o'clock in the afternoon, to choose a place for the 

 night's residence, to collect firewood, and to set 

 the fish-hooks. It was then that I first began to 

 find my legs very painful : they soon became much 

 inflamed and red and blistered; and it required 

 considerable caution not to burst the blisters, 



