The Schomburgks in Guiana. ig 



the conduct of the Chevalier SCHOMBURGK in taking 

 possession of the point of land at the mouth of the 

 Orinoco, which has caused so much distress to our 

 Venezuelan neighbours, was wholly unauthorized, and 

 orders have been given to remove the monuments, con- 

 sisting of two or three stakes driven into the ground, 

 which he erected upon that occasion ; so this momentous 

 affair is likely to be settled without bloodshed." 



In December 1841 the Commission, consisting of Sir 

 ROBERT SCHOMBURGK and his brother, Mr. GOODALL 

 an artist, and Mr. Frere a botanist, left Georgetown 

 for the purpose of defining and exploring the Brazilian 

 frontier. The party proceeded direct to Pirara, from 

 whence they journeyed to the river Takutu, tracing it 

 to its source, where was found a black sand containing 

 gold, but whether in sufficient quantity to pay for 

 washing there was no time to determine. Returning to 

 Pirara after an absence of two months, they remained there 

 for some time to await supplies from Georgetown. In 

 September 1842, the expedition proceeded to navigate the 

 river Cotinga to its source near Roraima, where after an 

 exploration of the neighbourhood the party separated, 

 Messrs. Richard Schomburgk, Goodall, and Frere, 

 returning to Pirara, while Sir ROBERT struck across the 

 country to the Cuyuni, returning to Georgetown in 

 January 1843. 



The views of the colonists on the expeditions were 

 fairly represented in an article in the Guiana Herald of 

 January 24th, 1^43 as follows : — " However general the 

 opinion may "be of the utter uselessness, if not inexpe- 

 diency, of mooting the question respecting the Boundary 

 line between ours and the Brazilian Territories; and, 



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