] ITINERARY. 



arrow-shafts from the strong pedicels of the inflorescence, the silvery- 

 pink panicles of which are so much like those of the sugar-cane that 

 they at times raised false hopes at a distance, the deceptive appearance 

 being soon corrected, however, as the plants flourish by the banks of 

 the streams. The Crowia, including also some bromeliads, furnishes a 

 very fine quality of strong fibre, which is much prized for thread, fish- 

 lines, and hammock-ropes. The plants grow in profusion on some of 

 the more arid rocky slopes, where other vegetation is sparse ; their 

 leaves are sometimes used as a thatch in the smaller houses and open 

 sheds, which are only occasionally occupied. 



Farther away, and over the lower districts, many palms are met 

 with, of which the fruits are used to increase the food supply in hard 

 times, such as the species of the spiny Acrocomia and Astrocaryum. 

 The urua palm [Attalea), which occurs so locally in the colony, is very 

 rarely to be seen in the forest, yet just above the Kotinga we had 

 passed plants which were taller and finer than any others I had ever 

 seen, the spread of the leaf reaching to about from 30 to 40 feet. 



At Roraima itself I had no opportunity, on this journey, of a close 

 examination of the provision fields, which were situated on the slopes 

 of Kukenaam Mountain ; but it was clear from the profusion and 

 quality of the cassava, yams, sweet potatoes, corn, pumpkins, and 

 sugar-cane, that they grew in good soil and under favourablec onditions, 

 the disintegration of the volcanic racks in the sand-stone providing 

 fertile areas that are brought under cultivation both in the valleys and 

 on the slopes. At some of the outer settlements we had been very 

 interested in finding plants of a large scandent pea (Biodea), with 

 large pink and white, purplish flowers, and of an edible Solanum, not 

 unlike a tomato, but with oval-oblong yellow fruit and very large 

 leaves. There were specimens, too, of another kind of Solanum 

 {S. crinitum), said to be inedible, which, in an abandoned settlement 

 and field farther away, was found growing luxuriantly to a height of 

 about ten feet, and forming a thicket over nearly the whole area. The 

 flowers are large and vivid blue, the fruit bright yellow, nearly round 

 but inclining to oval, and of the size of a small orange and very 

 abundant. The whole plant is covered with thick soft prickles, and 

 with hard spines scattered about, while the leaves carry spines and are 

 large, though smaller than in the edible kind. It was not found 

 growing anywhere as a true wild plant in the country, but in full fruit 

 and flower it was one of the most striking forms that came under 

 observation. 



In these elevated savannah districts, rubber trees of a species of 

 Sapium, called by the Makushis " Kash-a-ye," occur in favourable 

 localities. In the neighbourhood of a settlement at some distance 

 from Roraima, there were several large trees growing in the open 

 from which the people were obtaining supplies. They yield abundant 

 milk in the wet season, but little in the dry, though it is said to be 

 then of a finer quality. The rubber is used in making balls for a 

 game, in which the fun consists in running wildly after the ball which 

 is kept going in a series of long and high bounces by sharp strokes of 

 the hand, any miss of the stroke being greeted with shrieks of derision. 

 Investigation may possibly reveal considerable sources of supply. 



