British Guiana Gold Diggings. 69 



man who found it, dropped his tools and ran, and it took 

 three men to fetch them away. One day, crossing the 

 creek on a fallen tree, I had the misfortune to slip in, and 

 five independent and reliable witnesses came forward 

 and stated that they saw " that worthless fellow," mean- 

 iug the ghost, deliberately " shove me in." When there 

 has been a bad day's work, I am frequently told by the 

 men that they saw the ghost watching them, " in his 

 flannel and sliders." 



One thing is very noticeable and satisfa6lory with the 

 men ; they are always glad when they find gold, although 

 it is not for themselves. Thev seem to take an interest 

 in their work, and in my opinion they work very hard for 

 their money, which, when they get it, they squander 

 recklessly. Occasionally a hammock man enters on 

 the scene, and he is best got rid of before he 

 spoils good hands. It is always easy to make things 

 warm for a lazy man, so that he is glad to go before 

 worse befal him. I know a manager who wishing to get 

 rid of such a man, put him to dig "a task" on the top of 

 a hill. Now "a task" is a portion of work to be com- 

 pleted in a day, and for which one day's pay will be given, 

 whatever time it may take to finish. Its dimensions are 

 seven feet square, to dig until " pay dirt" is found. Af- 

 ter digging fruitlessly for several days, our poor friend 

 said to the manager: " Mr. S., I'm digging and digging 

 and can't get the gravel, sir." He replied : " Bo-oy, 

 dig no! Am is dere de Mama dere." After that the boy 

 dug again for some days and then said : " I can't catch 

 the gravel, sir, the place is too deep." The reply came 

 back : " I know it's deep. That's why I put you there. 

 Am is dere de Mama dere." After a time the boy gave 



