ITINERAEY. XVU 



Indian were told off. They had a gun and fishing tackle to help add 

 to their store. Had an Indian settlement been close by, where we 

 could leave our things in charge of the chief, or had our friendly 

 miner's camp not been rather far up the Mazaruni, there would have 

 been no difficulty. Of course, the men did not like staying in the place, 

 which to them was surrounded by kenaimas or bad spirits of all sorts ; 

 and, besides, the people up here were Akkawoios, and other tribes are 

 mostly considered " bad people." At length, however, their fears were 

 calmed — the gun being their main solace, with plenty of powder to 

 scare away kenaimas, and a lamp and plenty of oil and matches, though 

 they would always keep a good- fire going at night. 



The first lot of loads were sent off early next morning under charge 

 of Ritchie, who was to select a camp at under half-a-day's distance, 

 sending back a sufficient number of carriers for the remaining loads, 

 while the other men put up a good shelter with the tarpaulins. This 

 was essential, as rain frequently falls in these mountains, even in the 

 height of the dry weather, and in some places it is not an easy matter 

 to get palm leaves for a good roof. 



We had remained for the second batch of carriers, to make sure that 

 everything requisite should be sent off, and we had only just left the 

 camp when we came on the "old warrior" leaning on a stiok and 

 limping painfully from an apparently badly swollen knee, which was 

 thickly bound up with a mass of leaves and rags and bush-rope. His 

 story was that he had slipped on a difficult psirt of the rocky track, 

 and had sprained his knee ; and, as it was impossible for him to go on, 

 he had taken his time to come back as well as he could. Remembering 

 his face trouble at Kaburi — it was not yet quite all right, — we gave 

 him our sympathy, but it was impossible to do anything then for him, 

 as the medicine-box was above. He assured us that the leaves were 

 the best thing, put on hot, and that there were plenty of "very good" 

 leaves about. Ordinarily we would have looked at the injury, but now 

 we were really pressed for time, as the men had gone on, and we were 

 of course anxious to get -over, by good daylight, a trail they had called 

 " very bad." Besides, one of us had to return to the camp to tell the 

 second Makushi — not Adam — to take Pembroke's load and come on 

 with us. We couldn't help wondering how the two men would get on, 

 as neither spoke the other's language ; but there was this advantage, 

 that whether prospectors for gold or Indians passed along the creek or 

 trail, one would be able to speak to them. 



We found the track indeed a very bad one, rising very steeply in 

 places for some 1500 feet. In parts it was very wet and slippery, 

 over narrow and rough rocky ledges or ridges, winding over, under, or 

 between huge rocks, mostly hidden by masses of broken debris of all 

 sorts, with very insecure foothold, and covered by creepers and other 

 growths, into which one sank occasionally up to the crutch, wondering 

 if one were going through altogether, as there were at times nasty- 

 looking chasms on either side not far away. But perhaps the worst 

 part was over a sort of meshwork of bare and rough tree-roots, often 

 narrow-edged, from which the soil below had been washed away, or 

 they had grown over the broken rocks. It was no wonder Pembroke 

 had come to grief. The only marvel was how the Indians, with much 



