38 \VANDliRINGS IN 



FIRST Ask those who live high up in the Demerara, 



JOURNEY. 



and they will, every one of them, tell you that 



there is a nation of Indians with long tails ; that 

 they are very malicious, cruel, and ill-natured ; 

 and that the Portuguese have been obliged to 

 stop them off in a certain river, to prevent their 

 depredations. They have also dreadful stories 

 concerning a horrible beast, called the Water- 

 mamma, which, when it happens to take a spite 

 against a canoe, rises out of the river, and in the 

 most unrelenting manner possible carries both 

 canoe and Indians down to the bottom with it, 

 and there destroys them. Ludicrous extrava- 

 gances ! pleasing to those fond of the marvellous, 

 and excellent matter for a distempered brain. 

 Anecdote. 1'hg misinformed and timid court of policy in 

 Demerara, was made the dupe of a savage, who 

 came down the Essequibo, and gave himself out 

 as king of a mighty tribe. This naked wild man 

 of the woods seemed to hold the said court in 

 tolerable contempt, and demanded immense sup- 

 plies, all which he got ; and moreover, some time 

 after, an invitation to come down the ensuing 

 year for more, which he took care not to forget. 



This noisy chieftain boasted so much of his 

 dynasty and domain, that the government was 

 induced to send up an expedition into his terri- 

 tories to see if he had spoken the truth, and 

 nothing but the truth. It appeared, however, 

 that his palace was nothing but a hut, the monarch 



