FIRST JOURNEY. 6 



mournful sound does the ear in music, and seem to 

 beckon to the sentimental traveller to stop a moment 

 or two, and see that the forests which surround him, 

 like men and kingdoms, have their periods of mis- 

 fortune and decay. 



The first rocks of any considerable size that are 

 observed on the side of the river, are at a 



Rocks. 



place called Saba, from the Indian word, 

 which means a stone. They appear sloping down to 

 the water's edge, not shelvy, but smooth, and their 

 exuberances rounded off, and in some places deeply 

 furrowed, as though they had been worn with continual 

 floods of water. 



There are patches of soil up and down, and the huge 

 stones amongst them produce a pleasing and novel 

 effect. You see a few coffee -trees of a fine luxuriant 



growth : and nearly on the top of Saba 



Residence , , , ,-,-, -n- 



of the post- stands the house of the postnolder. He is 

 appointed by Government to give in his 

 report to the protector of the Indians, of what is going 

 on amongst them, and to prevent suspicious people 

 from passing up the river. 



When the Indians assemble here, the stranger may 

 have an opportunity of seeing the Aborigines, dancing 

 to the sound of their country music, and painted in 

 their native style. They will shoot their arrows for 

 him with an unerring aim, and send the poisoned dart 

 from the blow-pipe, true to its destination ; and here 

 he may often view all the different shades, from the 

 red savage to the white man, and from the white man 

 to the sootiest son of Africa. 



Beyond this post there are no more habitations of 

 white men, or free people of colour. 



B2 



