The Americans in the Interior of British Guiana. 137 
they ave to leave whatever occupation they may be engaged in for the time 
and perhaps return after an ebsence of 3 or 4 days with food enough for one 
meal for a hungry man. ‘io most people this would be most disappointing; 
they accept it without 2 murmur as pert of the inevitable. Whene new house 
is to be built, and this happens every few years, it will probably be necessary 
tocut and then carry or haul the timbers from the forest 2 few miles away; it 
is not unusual to walk an hour or more to obtain palm leaves for the roof and, 
of course, they have to be carried all the way in the burning sun. The cutting, 
clearing and burning of the forest tract and the subsequent planting of cassava 
and other provisions ell meen great labour. A man may have to take a day’s 
journey to obtain some cassava cuttings to plant in his new field. It is not at 
all surprising that from time to time the Indian feels the need of relaxation 
and this takes the form of 2 drunken feast. 
No doubt, the Indian can treasure up 2 grievance and he has the reputation 
of returning en injury although he may have to wait long for an opportunity, 
yet on the whole he lives very much in the present. It is the circumstance of, 
the moment that chiefly effects him. If you wish him to go a long journey 
to-morrow efter a day’: work to-day let him have a good night’s rest before 
you speak to him about it. Ifyou want a job done, wait until your man has 
had a good meal, as labour is not pleasant to hungry people. An Indian : cts 
hold of some idea, perhaps he resolves to journey to-morrow to see his friend ; 
divert his attention, which, I believe, is the nursery method, and by to-morrow 
the friend will probably have been forgotten andthe man is at your service 
for what you may require. 
Reference has already been made to the scattered communities in which 
the Indians live ; the chief reason for these is the difficulty of food supply. It 
is obvious that the more inhabitants a tract of country has the more they will 
eat wp the natural resources of the place and fish and game willtend to become 
extinct. This is already the case in some instances where in the present day 
the huntsman has to go out two or more days’ journey from home before he is 
likely to get a shot. Then as it 1s the custom to share your food with all comers, 
it seems a wise precaution tc live at a respectable distance so as indirectly and 
to some extent regulate the number of your visitors. 
The subject of food leads on to the remark that the Indian in his native 
place and state seems as a rule a strong and healthy member of the community, 
On the other hand, the Indian soon becomes more or less incapacitated after 
labour and this seems to prove that the ordinary food he is able to get is not 
nourishing enough to give him a strong constitution. If he could learn to 
produce better food and could learn something of medicine and hygiene the 
healthy native Indian might acquire a stronger constitution. It is not unusual 
to find among these Indans in the interior families of five or more children ; 
in one case at least, the two widows of one man brought 10 children to be 
baptized 
Of course, the Indian lives eat, drink and to follow the impulses of nature ; 
yet the unseen world is very real to him; he is no materialist. Give him the 
inducement to live and work supplied by religion and he ought to become a 
valuable neighbour and colonist instead of being a forgotten “ buck.” 
