ITINEHARV. XIX 



faction they left, inteudiiig to .stay in the lueautime at Irewang. a small 

 village under the Takutu hills, a day's journey to the north-west of 

 Kwaimatta ; before they left we bought two hammocks from them in 

 exchange for white salt, a great luxury to them, the only substitute 

 Avhich they were able to obtain for themselves being very inferior 

 stuff" from some swamp in the savanna. 



Very little of interest happened during our stay at the village. We 

 were out the greater part of each day with our guns looking for birds, 

 and in the end succeeded in obtaining a very fair collection. One of 

 our favourite w^alks after the water had dried off" a little fi-om the 

 surrounding country was down to a large pond or keeriha about three 

 miles from the village. Trees, on which were a large number of 

 orchids, particularly the Cattelya superba, grew thickly on all sides, 

 but a path ran round for the convenience of fishing. One end of the 

 water was thickly covered with Victoria regia, the gigantic water-lily, 

 and on these we shot several water-birds — Tiger-Bitterns, Night-Herons, 

 Bronze Cuny Curry ; and in a swamp at one end the rushes and flats 

 ■were alive with Snipe, Plover, and Ducks. ^,Ve also obtained specimens 

 of the three larger Ibises and the small Ardetta. Large alligators, 

 10 to 12 feet in length, were very common, and of these later on we 

 obtained several specimens. 



At the end of the month the Arecunas returned as they had pro- 

 mised, but unfortunately w^e were again obliged to keep them waiting 

 ■while -vve w^'ote letters and prepai'ed the little boat, which had just 

 ari'ived from tow-n, for the return journey ; she had taken 40 days in 

 going from the mouth of the Rupununi to Georgetown and back to 

 Kwaimatta. Some delay was caused in repairing her at Bartica Grove 

 after an accident in the Itanime rapid, in which she upset, losing a 

 gun, all the cooking-utensils, and a few small things belonging to the 

 crew, besides having the gunwale of one side ripped oft' against a rock 

 on a narrow part of the channel. 



Two days more were spent in arranging for the start anil dividing 

 our provisions and other necessaries into suitable loads for the bearers, 

 but unfortunately everything did not run so smoothly as expected. 

 The foul drinking-water proved too much for the Arecunas, and 

 on the day on which we should have started only five were able to 

 turn out of their hammocks, the others being laid up Avith fever and 

 diarrluoa. The Macusis whom we had engaged from Kwaimatta and 

 one or two small settlements near at hand began to show signs of 

 impatience, and it seemed that a general strike was imminent ; they 

 had never been anxious to go, and it had taken much argument and 

 promises of good pay to persuade them to entertain the idea at all. 

 There was the superstitious di-ead of the mountain to which we were 

 bound, and also the fear of the Arecunas with whom they were not 

 friendly and through whose teriitory we had to pass, and very little 

 would have made them change their minds. At last it was decideil 

 that the only way to restore order was for us to separate, and that I 

 should go on together with [jt^nnox and the Macusis to the Karona 

 Falls on the Ireng, and there await Quelch, who was to stmt in two 

 days' time. He had hoped that this interval would havn givni 

 tiie fcick men time to recover, bvit he was again drsfined to be 



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