On the Potaro. 341 



for the Indians than hundreds of Missionaries and reli- 

 gious tradls. 



The need of a medical man in the Potaro is sorely felt 

 and it occurs to me that the Government have been very 

 remiss in not appointing one. There are between three 

 and four thousand men engaged in the gold fields on the 

 Potaro and Konawarook Rivers, and the amount of human 

 suffering there is something shocking. Several instances 

 have come under my notice of men dying from sheer 

 ignorance of the nature of their complaints, and the ex- 

 posure and delay at the waterside while seeking a passage 

 to the Hospital at Bartica. The following two instances 

 of intense suffering may be quoted, which go far towards 

 proving the dire necessity for a Do6lor and a Hospital in 

 the Distria. 



A labourer employed on a placer in the Konawarook 

 dislocated his jaw in vomiting, and although he applied 

 for relief to two competent sick nurses, one at the 

 " Hope" placer and the other at " Iron Sides," they were 

 both afraid of breaking the jaw in attempting to replace 

 it and fully two days elapsed before the poor fellow 

 succeded in obtaining a passage to Bartica. Whether he 

 reached there safely I am unable to say. Again, one 

 of three Indians etigaged in droghing provisions to a ■ 

 placer was taken sick with fever. His companions came 

 to our camp and asked for a dose of fever mixture. Not 

 having any I gave instead 5 grs. of quinine wrapped 

 up in a cigarette paper, For several consecutive morn- 

 ings they kept coming for quinine until cur slender 

 stock of the drug was finished. We did not see them 

 again for about a week, when suddenly one morning they 

 re-appeared and asked us to send a couple of our men 



