LIFE IN THE GUIANA WILDS 193 



Some of the areas in which malaria abounds are practically 

 uninhabited by human beings, so this agent in the propaga- 

 tion of the disease is of course lacking at least to a con- 

 siderable extent. It naturally follows, therefore, that some 

 other creature or creatures, may be preyed upon and inocu- 

 lated by Anophiles. I have on several occasions observed 

 pet cebus and woolly monkeys (Lagothrix) that showed 

 decided symptoms of suffering from malaria, and to me it 

 seems highly possible that monkeys may be at least one of 

 the animals that serve to keep the infection alive. 



While at Minnehaha Creek I received the information 

 that Colonel Theodore Roosevelt was shortly to embark 

 on a voyage to South America; and also, much to my 

 pleasant surprise, that I had been selected as a member of 

 his expedition. The time remaining at our disposal was 

 very limited, so we rather reluctantly gave up our intended 

 visit to Kaieteur Falls and Mount Roraima, and returned 

 to Wismar for our last work in British Guiana. A strip 

 of land several miles wide on either side of the railroad con- 

 necting Rockstone and Wismar, is owned by Sproston's, 

 and the greater part of it has been cleared of forest. In- 

 stead of the dense growth of tall trees there are now impene- 

 trable thickets of high slender sprouts and bushes. These 

 jungles harbor almost every bird and animal found in the 

 region, and while it is impossible to enter them for any great 

 distance, we had not the slightest difficulty in making large 

 and varied collections along the borders. One evening the 

 superintendent of the line was returning from a tour of in- 

 spection, and as the motor-car in which he was riding slowly 

 rounded a curve, a jaguar suddenly appeared on one side 

 of the track; he promptly killed it with a shotgun as it was 

 only a few yards distant. 



We returned to Georgetown, from which place Mr. Igle- 

 seder, who had been my assistant, started for New York, 

 while I sailed for Barbados, where I planned to await the 

 arrival of Colonel Roosevelt and join him on his expedition 

 into the wilderness of Brazil. 



