310 WANDERINGS IN 



FOURTH ou t to thy satisfaction, perhaps, (I may say it 



JOURNEY- * r \ J 



nearly in Corporal Trim's words,) on some long 



and dismal winter's evening, but not now, I may 

 tell thee more about it ; together with that of 

 another head, which is equally striking. 



It is commonly reported, and I think there is 

 no reason to doubt the fact, that when Demerara 

 and Essequibo were under the Dutch flag, there 

 were mines of gold and silver opened near to the 

 river Essequibo. The miners were not successful 

 in their undertaking, and it is generally conjec- 

 tured, that their failure proceeded from inex- 

 perience. 



Now, when you ascend the Essequibo, some 

 hundred miles above the place where these mines 

 are said to be found, you get into a high, rocky, 

 and mountainous country. Here many of the 

 mountains have a very barren aspect, producing 

 only a few stinted shrubs, and here and there a 

 tuft of coarse grass. I could not learn that they 

 have ever been explored, and at this day their 

 mineralogy is totally unknown to us. The 

 Indians are so thinly scattered in this part of 

 the country, that there would be no impropriety 

 in calling it uninhabited : 



" Apparent rari errantes in gurgite vasto." 



It remains to be yet learnt, whether this portion 

 of Guiana be worth looking after, with respect 

 to its supposed mines. The mining speculations 



