260 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



that no exact period can be fixed; for in December, 

 1824, an Indian in the river Demerara gave me a young 

 cock of the rock not a month old, and it had just been 

 brought from the Macoushi country. By having a 

 young specimen at this time of the year, it puts it out 

 of one's power to say at what precise time the old birds 

 are in full plumage. I took it on board a ship with me 

 for England ; but it was so very susceptible of cold, 

 that it shivered and died, three days after we had 

 passed Antigua. 



If ever there should be a great demand for large sup- 

 indian-rub- P^ es f gum-elastic, commonly called Indian- 

 rubber, it may be procured in abundance far 

 away in the wilds of Demerara and Essequibo. 



Some years ago, when I was in the Macoushi country, 

 An Indian there was a capital trick played upon me 

 about Indian-rubber. It is almost too good 

 to be left ont of these Wanderings, and it shows that the 

 wild and uneducated Indian is not without abilities. 

 Weary and sick, and feeble through loss of blood, I 

 arrived at some Indian huts, which were about two 

 hours distant from the place where the gum-elastic trees 

 grew. After a day and a night's rest, I went to them, 

 and with my own hands made a fine ball of pure Indian- 

 rubber ; it hardened immediately as it became exposed 

 to the air, and its elasticity was almost incredible. 



While procuring it, exposure to the rain, which fell 

 in torrents, brought on a return of inflammation in the 

 stomach, and I was obliged to have recourse again to 

 the lancet, and to use it with an unsparing hand. I 

 wanted another ball, but was not in a state the next 

 morning to proceed to the trees. A fine interesting 

 young Indian, observing my eagerness to have it, ten- 



