Meese ARCHEOLOGY IN BRITISH GUIANA 19 
lized in recent times for cattle, now being superseded in the Abary 
by the cultivation of wet rice. 
THE UPPER ESSEQUIBO 
The upper Essequibo River and its major tributaries, the Kassi- 
kaityu and Kuyuwini, flow through forest that extends unbroken in 
all directions except to the northwest, where it fades into the Ru- 
pununi savanna. Along the Brazilian border, a ridge rises to 304.8 
meters (1,000 feet) elevation, but the rest of the area slopes gradually 
from 152.4 meters (500 feet) in the headwaters to sea level at the 
coast. In keeping with the generally low and level character of the 
terrain, riverbanks are typically low and the major part of the area 
floods at some time during the rainy season. Sticks and debris lodged 
in the overhanging branches of trees showed the level of the Essequibo 
to rise annually 4 to 5 meters (13.1 to 15.4 feet) above its lowest level, 
or about 3 meters (9.8 feet) above the December-January water level. 
The banks are not uniform in height, but in most places their elevation 
is low enough to flood at the peak of the rainy season. Above the 
mouth of the Kassikaityu, two small rapids interrupt the smooth flow 
of the river. Rock outcrops are more frequent below the Kassikaityu 
mouth, where they often jut spectacularly into the Essequibo River. 
The riverbanks form dense walls of vegetation, whose composition 
varies with the elevation (pl. 40). Tail slender palms, their trunks 
bristling with downward pointing spines, grow where the land is 
readily flooded. On high banks, the large trees are festooned with 
clumps of epiphytic plants whose long, slender aerial roots hang 
down like streamers. Behind this wall, where sunlight is filtered out 
by the high canopy of tree tops, undergrowth tends to be spindly, 
delicate, and sparse. 
The forest shelters a variety of animal life, the majority of which 
is rarely visible. Birds and monkeys are most commonly seen, but 
tapir, peccary, and smaller mammals are hunted for food by the pres- 
ent Indians. The river contains quantities of many varieties of fish, 
which are easily caught. Land high enough to escape flooding and 
thus suitable for agriculture is available along the river, but such 
areas are typically small and may be isolated by wide stretches of 
low land that is inundated during half of the year. 
THH RUPUNUNI SAVANNA 
The Rupununi savanna is the eastern edge of a formation that ex- 
tends over adjacent Brazil and into parts of Venezuela. In British 
Guiana, it divides naturally into two parts. The north savanna lies 
between the foothills of the Pakaraima Mountains and the Kanuku 
Mountains. The northern part is flat and contains wide treeless ex- 
