222 WANDERINGS IN 



THIRD of the cayman ; but as the river Demerara did 



JOURNEY. 



- not afford a specimen of the larg % e kind, I was 

 obliged to go to the river Essequibo to look for 

 one. 



sails in a j g t the canoe ready, and went down in it to 



canoe down 



to the Esse- 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 perpen- 

 dicularly upon the top of my feet, betwixt the 

 shoes and the trowsers. Not feeling it disagree- 

 able, or being in the least aware of painful conse- 

 quences, 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 

 sitting still in one place, with your feet exposed to 

 the sun, was very different from being exposed to 

 the sun while in motion. 



suffers w e wen f. asnor e in the Essequibo, about three 



much pain 



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



from exces- ^ x 



sive heat, night's residence, to collect fire-wood, 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 



