TliF. SCHOMBURGKS IN GUIANA. 



All geographical information was to be considered as the 

 property of the Society, but his collections were to be at 

 his own disposal, with the exception of one set of natural 

 history specimens to the British Museum, and a geolo- 

 gical collection for the Geological Society. For the 

 first year or eighteen months, everything was to be 

 subordinate to the object of investigating the physical 

 character and resources of the great central ridge which 

 furnishes tributaries to the great rivers of British Guiana. 

 When this was finished he was to pass the mountains, 

 and conne6t his positions with those of Humboldt. As 

 the expedition could not begin till August, SCHOMBURGK 

 need not arrive in Demerara before June. 



He arrived in Georgetown on the 5th of August 1835, 

 where he stayed for six weeks, his delay being caused by 

 the unusual length of the rainy season. The Governor 

 took great interest in the expedition, but the planters 

 and inhabitants generally were so much taken up with 

 the political squabbles of the time, that his arrival was 

 hardly noticed. The great question of Emancipation had 

 ended in what the planters considered as a defeat, and 

 what with the disputes respecting the compensation 

 money, and the new laws for the apprenticed labourers, 

 the relations between the Government and the estate- 

 owners were very much strained. 



On the 2 1 st of September, he proceeded to the Essc- 

 quebo Post, which stood on the site of what is now the 

 Penal Settlement, for the purpose of engaging corials 

 and Indians for the expedition. While waiting for the 

 final arrangements, he made a short trip up the Cuyuni, 

 making observations, and collecting a tew specimens 

 Leaving the post on the 1st of October, the expedition; 



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