" Timehri " and Development. 177 



As Mr. de la Bastide previsioned, nothing- came at the time of the 

 main trunk line proposals, and until 1908 nothing practical in the way 

 of railway prospection was done. In April of that year Colonel Link 

 representing the Colonial Rail and Tramway Syndicate ottered on certain 

 terms to raise the capital required for a railway to the frontier, inviting 

 the Government to suggest the route " best calculated to advance the 

 interest of the Colony." With the draft concession sent in however a 

 map was enclosed showing a line within some miles of which (to be deter- 

 mined by negotiations with Government) the line would run. 



In their reply to the Syndicate the Government named the junction 

 of the Takutu and Ireng Rivers as the probable point on the Brazilian 

 frontier which such a line should strike. 



In his despatch to the Secretary of State oOth April, 1908, Sir 

 F. M. Hodgson lays down four possible starting points and routes as 

 follows : — 



' ; There are four starting points for lines into the interior, namely, (a) 

 Georgetown, (h) Vreed-en-Hoop on the West Bank of the Demerara 

 River and opposite to Georgetown, (c) Bartica, situate at the point where 

 the Essequibo and Mazaruni Rivers meet, and (d) Cartabo Point, at the 

 junction of the Mazaruni and Cuyuni Rivers. 



" The proper starting point for all trunk lines into the interior is. in 

 my opinion, Georgetown, which is so to speak the hub of the colony, for 

 it is at Georgetown that nearly all the trade is concentrated and to and 

 from which the greater bulk of it proceeds, where the merchants have 

 their offices and where facilities exist for the loading and unloading of 

 ships. I understand that Colonel Link is in favour of Georgetown. If 

 Georgetown were adopted as the starting point, the route would lie along 

 the right bank of the Demerara River through the Crown lands at the 

 back of the estates bordering the river until Christianburg is reached, 

 when it would be taken across the river to Wismar and follow the line of 

 railway now existing to Rockstone. Thence it would cross the Essequibo 

 River at Gluck Island and curving on the other side towards what is 

 called the Bartica-Caburi road proceed southwards to the Potaro gold- 

 fields and so on to the Brazilian frontier. But this route has one 

 insuperable objection. Until it reaches Golden Grove (see " Chart of the 

 Sea Coast of the Colony of British Guiana ") it would pass through 

 private property, the cost of acquiring which would probably kill the 

 enterprise. It is mainly on this account that Georgetown as the starting 

 point for lines of railway to the interior has had to be discarded and must 

 I think, be discarded now. 



" The adoption of Vreed-en-Hoop as the starting point means follow- 

 ing the existing line of railway which proceeds thence to Vergenoegen, 

 then continuing that line along the right bank of the Essequibo River 

 until "Monkey Jump'* (shown in the recently published map of the 

 Northern portion of British Guiana) is reached, taking it across the 

 Essequibo River at that point and so to the Bartica-Caburi road. The 

 principal objection to this route is that, if adopted, it would interfere with 



