D E M 



eot 



Demerary. the operation of subterranean heat in producing elastic 



' v vapour, might be retained. 



Professor Playfair, the able illustrator of the Hutto- 

 nian theory, differs widely from all those who are dis- 

 posed to call in the aid of extraordinary causes and ef- 

 fects, to account for the enormous collection of loose, 

 heterogeneous materials which, for the mo9t part, form 

 the surface of the land. At the time when Mr Playfair 

 wrote, the subject had not been fully stated by any of 

 the partisans of a deluge ; and he acknowledges that 

 he has been combating an unseen enemy. Sir James 

 Hall has now stated one side of the question ; but he 

 has not by any means exhausted the facts and argu- 

 ments which tend to corroborate the opinion, that a de- 

 luge has swept the face of the earth, and caused that ar- 

 rangement of the surface which we now observe. We 

 intend to prosecute an examination, already begun, of 

 some districts in which facts illustrative of this subject 

 abound ; and we hope in a future article to give a more 

 ample and distinct view of the subject, than it admits of 

 at the present time. The chief object of research ought 

 first to be, to discover whether, in reality, there exist 

 any facts which seem to owe their origin to some ex- 

 traordinary operation of water ; and when such an ope- 

 ration shall be deemed necessaiy, it will be time enough 

 to make attempts to reconcile it with natural causes and 

 effects. 



We close this brief notice with stating a fact which 

 seems to have escaped the observation of diluvian spe- 

 culators, and which is doubtless of no small importance 

 in the question concerning the animals whose remains 

 are found in northern climates, having belonged to one 

 farther to the south. If we suppose that a torrent has 

 swept the earth, we should expect to find the exuviae 

 of the human race, as well as those of inferior animals. 

 But this has never occurred, even to the observation of 

 the indefatigable Cuvier ; and the alternative is, that 

 the human race did not exist at the time when the 

 supposed catastrophe happened. See Saussure's Voya- 

 ges dans les Alpes, vol. i. ; Pallas' Observations sur Infor- 

 mation des Montagues, p. 71, Petersbourg, 1782 ; Nov. 

 Comment. Petropol, torn. xvii. p. 576. ; De Luc Lettres 

 sur I'histoire physique de la terre, p. 233, &c. ; Play- 

 fair's Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory, p. 412; 

 Cuvier's Essay on the Theory of the Earth; and Sir 

 James Hall On the Revolutions of the Earth 1 s Surface, 

 in the Edinburgh Transactions, vol. vii. p. 139 — 211. 

 (s. K.) 



DEMERARY, a settlement in Guiana in South 

 America. The river Demerary, from which this settle- 

 ment derives its name, after a north-easterly course of 

 about 200 miles, falls into the Atlantic Ocean, in lati- 

 tude 6° 50' north, longitude 58° west from London. At 

 its entrance, the river is a mile and a half broad, and is 

 navigable for ships of considerable burden, for about 

 100 miles : well cidtivated plantations adorn its banks 

 for nearly another 100 miles inland ; when the naviga- 

 tion is obstructed by cataracts, the wild and mountain- 

 ous scenery of which, though forbidding to industry, 

 attracts frequent parties of pleasure. A little above 

 these cataracts, two streams unite to form the Demerary, 

 the one flowing from the south-east, the other from the 

 south-west, the sources of which, however, have not 

 been explored by Europeans. The Demerary, shelter- 

 ed from every wind, and never visited by those hurri- 

 canes, so frequent in tropical climates, forms one of the 

 finest harbours in the world, and could contain with 

 ease all the navy of Great Britain. Unfortunately, 



DEM 



however, a bar of mud stretches acress its mouth, over Demeraty. 

 which no vessel drawing more than nine feet can pass x — — v— ' 

 until half flood : at high water in spring tides, the bar 

 is covered to the depth of eighteen feet, but still requires 

 very cautious navigation. 



The country of Demerary, for many miles from the 

 shore, consists of fine savannahs, in which nOt a moun- 

 tain, hill, or even a mole heap occurs, to diversify the 

 landscape. About twenty miles from the mouth of the 

 river on its western bank, there are some hills of sand, 

 from 100 to 150 feet high, and nearly perpendicular. 

 In ascending towards the source, the country becomes 

 more varied and mountainous. 



The scenery along the banks of the river, though 

 uniform, is pleasing. Plantations regularly ranged on 

 either side ; dwelling-houses built close to the river's 

 brink ; buildings of different descriptions, scattered 

 without order in every direction ; on the sugar estates, 

 mills driven by wind, by water, or by cattle ; on the 

 coffee plantations, logies or barns, three stories high ; 

 form a very picturesque and beautiful prospect ; while 

 boats continually sailing up and down the river, give 

 animation to the scene, and afford a favourable idea of 

 the industry of the inhabitants. The plantations along 

 the river, as well as in the other parts of Demerary and 

 the adjoining colonies, were surveyed, and laid out in 

 allotments of five hundred acres, by the Dutch West' 

 India Company; with a conditional grant of as much 

 more behind the first, when two thirds of it should be 

 cultivated : to this grant all the estates on the river are 

 now entitled. Every plantation has a wharf, or land- 

 ing place, opposite the dwelling-house ; and is surround- 

 ed by canals, with sluices, for the double purpose of 

 draining from the land all superfluous moisture, and 

 of harbouring boats, ] while they are loading and dis- 

 charging. Thus every estate is completely insulated; 

 and for the convenience of travellers, a bridge is thrown 

 over the canals on each side, which the proprietor is 

 obliged to keep in repair, and to have painted white, 

 that they may be discernible in the dark. The only 

 articles of cultivation are sugar, coffee, and plantains, 

 with a small quantity of cocoa and rice. Though the 

 culture of rice was but recently introduced, no doubts 

 were entertained of its success; and it was even hoped 

 that, if encouraged by government, it would rival that 

 of South Carolina, a country which Demerary strongly 

 resembles in climate. The live stock on a Demerary 

 farm consists chiefly of poultry, with a few sheep, oxen, 

 and swine. Rearing stock for the markets, particularly 

 horned cattle, is here very profitable; and the fine sa- 

 vannahs in the interior afford so excellent pasture, that 

 there is every reason to hope that these colonies will, 

 in a short time, rear such numbers of cattle as will prove 

 an abundant source of wealth to the grazier, and an 

 unfailing supply to the West India islands. It is on 

 his sugar, however, that the planter chiefly depends. 

 Of this valuable commodity, the soil of Demerary, when 

 properly cleared and prepared, yields very abundant 

 crops : and the rum distilled from the molasses is cal- 

 culated to defray all the expences of a sugar estate. 

 Eighty gallons of rum are expected from every hogs- 

 head of sugar ; and the Demerary rum has a richness of 

 flavour, which gives it as high a preference in the Ame- 

 rican markets, as Jamaica rum has in England. 



Of the value of this colony, some idea may be formed 

 from the following statement of the produce cleared 

 from the port of Demerary, for the three first years 

 after the last establishment of the British custom-horn? 



