348 tiMEHRl. 



grow profusely on the sand heaps, and it is by no means 

 an uncommon thing to meet with a few shrubs of the 

 pleasantly flavoured " Marivirrie" pepper. Wonderful 

 downy-leaved Melastomaceae, prickly Solanums, and the 

 Guana's tail, or " Wait-a-bit " bush Mimosa myriandcna, 

 form the bulk of the vegetation, making it almost impos- 

 sible to walk in some places without tearing one's clothes. 



In the clearings around the gold-diggers' camps, a 

 species of Sida very like .S". rhombifoliaj the sweet 

 broom, Scoparia dulcis, the leaf-of-life, Bryophyllum 

 Calycinum and the " half-a-bit" or " himara scales" Bey- 

 richia scutellaroides — a tiny Scrophularia — are all com- 

 mon plants ; this last is said to be a powerful emetic. 

 Side by side with this wild vegetation, pumpkins, sweet 

 potatoes, plantains, peppers (capsicums), guinea-pepper, 

 (Amomum Granum-paradisi), yams, pine apples, sugar 

 canes and limes are cultivated, giving an air of homeli- 

 ness and comfort to many camps which they really do 

 not possess. 



The principal forest trees of Potaro are mora, dackama, 

 kakarally, monkey-pot and wallaba, but crabwood, purple 

 heart, silverbally and greenheart, are also to be found 

 in several places. 



There seem to be two sorts of crabwood and silver- 

 bally. Of the former, one kind is called " bull-fore- 

 head" crabwood and is generally avoided by axemen 

 and sawyers, as being very much harder than the common 

 kind. The wood is very difficult to saw into planks, 

 dulling the cross-cut saws and often breaking the axes, 

 when felling. It is distinguished from the common crab- 

 wood, Carapa Guianensis, by large protruding excres- 

 cences on the trunk. 



