336 TiMEHRI. 



through the kindness of Mr. H. H. GRANT, I was offered 

 a passage in the lona,^ a boat he was taking up to the 

 Potaro Landing with provisions and material for Mr. 

 V. R. Carter, the officer superintending the making of 

 the new tuad between the Potaro and Konawarook rivers. 

 Bidding adieu to Bartica, I set out on what proved to be 

 the most uncomfortable trip I ever experienced. 



The time usually allowed for laden boats to make the 

 voyage from Bartica to the Potaro is from seven to eight 

 days, though it has been done in five, but this latter was 

 an exceptionally quick passage. In our case it took the 

 whole of the allotted time (eight days) to accomplish the 

 journey. 



Our crew was as motley and lazy a crowd as could be 

 picked up anywhere, and consisted of the regulation 

 Boviander Captain and Bowman, five Partamona Indians, 

 a Russian sailor, several black and three coloured men, 

 one of whom was an ex-tailor from Georgetown and 

 mortally afraid of the falls. 



Although we had made an early start from Bartica, 

 we camped that night much below Bethany Island, and 

 on spreading our tarpaulin it was found so perforated 

 with holes, as to be hardly of any use should rain fall ; the 

 prospe6l of a fair night however induced me to sling my 

 hammock under the trees. This promise was however 

 deceitful, for no sooner had I settled down comfortably 

 and dropped off to sleep, than the rain began to fall 

 heavily, and unfortunately for me, a couple of the men who 

 had tied their hammock ropes over mine had contrived 

 to get well under shelter of the tarpaulin, and were so 

 sound asleep, that finding it impossible to awaken them 

 in time to untie the ropes, I was compelled to leave my 



