366 TiMEHRI. 



ing of this word Caricuri, HUMBOLDT says in his Per- 

 sonal Narrative {V o\i 3, BOHN'S Edition page 51, also 

 page 344, note): "This denomination clearly indicates 

 " the country of gold, for I find that this metal is 

 " called Caricuri in the Tamanac, and Carucuru in the 

 " Caribbee. Is it a foreign word that word that de- 

 " noties gold among the nations of the Orinoco as the 

 " words sugar and cotton are in our European languages? 

 " This would prove that these nations learned to know 

 " the precious metal among the foreign produ6ls which 

 " came to them from the Cordilleras* or from the plains 

 " at the eastern back of the Andes." 



At the present time, and unfortunately somewhat to 

 the discredit of the colony, the reported diamond dis- 

 coveries in the Mazaruni have not been follovyed up and 

 thoroughly investigated. What is now required is an 

 exhaustive inspeflion of the diamond bearing ground, 

 and full reports on the locality, with dire6lions for reach- 

 ing it, accompanied by a carefully made chart of the 

 Mazaruni Ri/er and the main creeks in its neighbour- 

 hood, together with the dire6lion of a suitable path 

 by which to reach the diggings from the riverside. 

 This should be taken in hand without delay and if it 

 prove feasible, and the reports on the diggings are 

 favourable enough to warrant the expenditure of money 

 to open up and improve communications with it, 

 this should be done. Cheap copies of the map when 

 made might be reproduced by the ferro-prussiate process 

 of photography and issued to the public to induce them 



• In Peruvian or Quichua (lengua del Inca) gold is called cor/, whence 

 are derived chichicori, gold in powder and corikoya, gold ore. 



