“ A TRAMP WITH REDSKINS,” 281 
on the brink of a river, and with many cares as to what 
was to come next, 
Having decided to cut down trees and build a raft, 
we set to work at once ; and, though none of us had 
ever built a raft before or knew anything about it, by the 
evening of the third day we launched surely the 
clumsiest looking craft that ever was seen. On this we 
proposed the next morning to trust ourselves and our 
baggage, and to pass down the many miles of river which 
lay between us and the Kaieteur fall. Ever since we 
had entered the forest region seven days before, rain had 
continuously fallen, though not a drop had fallen on us 
during our long walk across the savannah. Now, life 
in a tropical forest into which the sun never penetrates, 
is at all times depressing ; but when, night and day, and 
day after day, each of the myriad leaves overhead drips 
rain into the gloom, the sense of depression is almost 
infinitely deepened. Moreover, our supply of food was 
by this time very nearly exhausted, ; nor had we time 
during the previous few days to replenish it by hunting. 
We were all, therefore, eager to be off in the morning. 
The morning came; and as we carefully packed 
all our belongings on the craft our anxiety became 
- deeper as it sank lower and lower into the water. At 
last, just as the last pack was put on, but before any of 
us had embarked ourselves, the whole thing sank. First, 
we fished our property out of the water; and then we 
began to devise some new plan. 
My three boys made their way through the trackless 
forest up stream in search of the remnants of a settle- 
ment which was supposed to exist there. That whole 
day I sat watching in the rain; but towards evening 
