WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 305 

 alley, which may be styled, in the words of Ovid, — 



**Arduus, obliquus, caligine densus opacit.'* 



I pray thee, gentle reader, let me out a while. 

 Time passes on apace; and I want to take thee 

 to have a peep at the spots where mines are sup- 

 posed to exist in Guiana. As the story of this 

 singular head has, probably, not been made out 

 to thy satisfaction, perhaps (I may say it nearly 

 in Corporal Trim's words), on some long and 

 dismal winter's evening, but not now, I may tell 

 thee more about it ; together with that of another 

 head, which is equally striking. 



It is commonly reported, and I think there is no 

 reason to doubt the fact, that when Demerara 

 and Essequibo were under the Dutch flag, there 

 were mines of gold and silver opened near to 

 the river Essequibo. The miners were not suc- 

 cessful in their undertaking, and it is generally 

 conjectured that their failure proceeded from 

 inexperience. 



Now, when you ascend the Essequibo, some hun- 

 dred miles above the place where these mines are 

 said to be found, you get into a high, rocky, and 

 mountainous country. Here many of the moun- 

 tains have a very barren aspect, producing only 

 a few stinted shrubs, and here and there a tuft of 

 coarse grass. I could not learn that they had 

 ever been explored, and at this day their miner- 

 alogy is totally unknown to us. The Indians are 

 so thinly scattered in this part of the country, 

 that there would be no impropriety in calling it 

 uninhabited : — 



"Apparent rari errantes in gurgite vasto.*' 



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