108 TlMEHRI. 



in. Early on Tuesday, we got off in our one large 

 bateau, with a crew of twelve men, made up of SCHOM- 

 BURGK, the captain, and his son, and of five river men 

 and live Indians. Owing to the difficulty of handling a 

 large boat in the catara6ls and rapids, and the impossi- 

 bility of our boat being portaged by the men past the 

 great falls below the Kaieteur, it would have been advi- 

 sable to have taken a couple of smaller bateaux ; but as 

 these would by no means have been so suitable for our 

 special work, while the expense of an extra captain and 

 bowman would have been a considerable item, all idea 

 of visiting the Kaieteur was put aside, unless the chance 

 of a corial or woodskin offered itself later on when the 

 neighbourhood was reached. 



Settlements of various sizes are to be found along the 

 river above Bartica Grove, of which Agatash and St. 

 Mary's Mission, may be particularly mentioned; and 

 these settlements, prettily and advantageously situated on 

 the rising ground and embosomed by the forest, present a 

 most inviting appearance. With such settlements be- 

 fore one's eyes, one cannot help wondering whether a 

 more liberal land policy — under which free grants should 

 be made, under special conditions of occupation and 

 cultivation, of the land now lying useless and unde- 

 veloped, and beyond the confines of civilisation— might 

 not tend materially to the advancement of the colony. 



About twenty miles above Bartica Grove, and about 

 five miles above the mouth of the Morabally Creek, 

 where there is a large wood-cutting grant with a 

 fine house most beautifully situated, the granitic bars, 

 causing the various rapids which render the river 

 unnavigable, begin to appear. Below this point, the 



