246 WANDERINGS IN 



THIRD me that he was accustomed to pass and repass 



JOURNEY. 



these falls. 



Accordingly we determined to push down : I 

 was at the helm, the rest at their paddles. But 

 before we got half way through, the rushing 

 waters deprived the canoe of all power of steerage, 

 and she became the sport of the torrent ; in a 

 second she was half full of water, and I cannot 

 comprehend to this day why she did not go down; 

 luckily the people exerted themselves to the 

 utmost, she got headway, and they pulled through 

 the whirlpoool : I being quite in the stern of the 

 canoe, part of a wave struck me, and nearly 

 knocked me overboard. 



We now paddled to some rocks at a distance, 

 got out, unloaded the canoe, and dried the cargo 

 in the sun, which was very hot and powerful. 

 Had it been the wet season, almost every thing 

 would have been spoiled. 



After this, the voyage down the Essequibo was 

 quick and pleasant till we reached the sea-coast ; 

 there we had a trying day of it ; the wind was 

 dead against us, and the sun remarkably hot ; we 

 got twice aground upon a mudflat, and were twice 

 obliged to get out, up to the middle in mud, to 

 shove the canoe through it. Half way betwixt 

 the Essequibo and Demerara the tide of flood 

 caught us ; and after the utmost exertions, it was 

 half -past six in the evening before we got to 

 George-town. 



