VII 



A WILDERNESS LABORATORY 



Robinson Crusoe had a wreck well stored 

 with supplies, and we inherited only four walls 

 and a roof. Still, we had a boy Friday — Sam, 

 an ebony Demeraran, exactly half of whose 

 teeth had been lost in the only automobile ride 

 he had ever taken. Sam was sent by some per- 

 sonal Providence — perhaps the god of intelli- 

 gence bureaus — as the first of our faithful fol- 

 lowing in Guiana. Sam had formerly been a 

 warden in the Georgetown jail, and rumor had 

 it that he left because he saw "jumbies" in the 

 court where one hundred and nine men had been 

 hung. And surely that was where jumbies 

 would be found if anywhere. Even Crusoe's 

 man must have admitted that. How wardenship 

 could bu of aid to us in our scientific work was 

 a puzzle. 



Only once before did a servant's previous 

 experience surpass this in utter uselessness. 



140 



