On THE Upper Berbice River. 317 



and of the few that remained several were thoroughly 

 prostrated with fever. Indeed at all the settlements met 

 with, the same tale of sickness was heard. 



Above Ahwiemah, and upwards until the sandy ridges 

 in the neighbourhood of Youacourie creek are met with, 

 the distri6l is almost a continuous swamp, in which the 

 prickly avvarra palms (Astrocaryum) luxuriate and in 

 some places completely line the riverside. The river 

 winds about in all directions, and at the bends opens 

 out into wide expanses, narrowing again where dense 

 masses of grass and mucco-mucco grow out into the 

 channel. Here and there, these proje6ling masses be- 

 come separated and form small islands. To judge from 

 the height of the water and the nature of the country, a 

 considerable portion of this distri6l must be swampy 

 even during the extreme dry season. 



Where the sand ridges abut on the river, the White 

 hill, the highest point, rises extremely steeply to a height 

 of about 100 ft., offering, owing to the loose sand, a by no 

 means easy climb to the top, from which, however, the 

 view over the top of the forest is very fine and quite worth 

 the trouble of the climb. The East bank being quite low, 

 an extensive spread of forest-covered country, from North 

 to South, away as far as the eye can reach, can be ob- 

 served, and far in the distance, a few low hills break 

 the even line of the horizon. Just at the foot of the hill, 

 the river bends away towards the East, forming a lake- 

 like expanse. The base of the hill is riddled with the 

 nest-holes of various species of kingfisher, chiefly Ceryle 

 torquata, which seem to congregate here in large num- 

 bers during the breeding season. On the top, the hill 

 is covered with low bush, behind which it slopes away 



RR2 



