ITINEEAET. ]xXV 



agriculture and the support of quite a large population. The fine 

 quality of the various products indicates the nature of the soil ; and 

 though in some cases they have been grown in lands just cleared and 

 brought under cultivation, yet in others they had been obtained where 

 many other crops had been produced ; land this is noteworthy con- 

 sidering the very primitive methods in use by the people, and what 

 might be done by advanced methods and suitable appliances. True, 

 large areas are quite unsuited for agriculture ; and this is more 

 especially the case with the Brazilian territory, west of the Upper 

 Ireng and Kotinga rivers, which includes the south-eastern districts of 

 Roraima by which travellers reach the mountain. The British 

 territory to the north and east is mostly wooded, showing its 

 possibilities ; and where savannahs occur much of them would be 

 available for grazing, as in the eastern Ireng lands occupied by 

 Mr. Menzies for a cattle-ranch. If these elevated tracts were opened 

 out, there would he opportunities for products characteristic of the more 

 temperate climes, with the great benefits of healthier conditions in 

 such hill-stations, as compared with the lowlying swampy coast. 

 There can hardly be any doubt, from what is already ascertained, that 

 considerable mineral wealth also lies stored away in these regions, 

 awaiting exploration ; and in the case of the diamond, which has been 

 found broadcast in the eastern and southern districts below the 

 great escarpments of the sandstone plateau, and in disintegrated 

 fragments of that formation, there is every reason for believing that 

 research will some day lay bare many hidden sources of supply, if not 

 indeed some original " chimneys "of its formation. 



By the end of October I was able to tell McConnell I thought I could 

 manage the journey. He was anxious to get back, and the Indians 

 were restless after the long stay. I had been the unfortunate log 

 blocking the path. Little by little I had been training myself, at first 

 by getting in and out of the hammock and up and down the steps of the 

 house, more and more quickly, and then by ranging around the village 

 as fast as possible, and up and down the rocks and slopes, farther and 

 farther afield. The long tramp would be very difierent, especially those 

 terrible ascents and descents after two or three days, with streams to 

 be gone through, and pei'haps 'much of it in rain ; but it had to be 

 done, and that was all to be said. 



Schoolmaster assured us there was a track round the western part of 

 Roraima by Kukenaam, across the savannahs to the Kako,-that was 

 much shorter and easier than the route by which we had come. While 

 this would have been welcome news at the start, if we had had a guide, 

 it was of no use now. Our woodskins were nearly at the head of the 

 Aruparu ; besides we had supplies awaiting us at the villages, and 

 the half -day camps would now just suit me, taking the whole day to the 

 half-journey. 



The loads were quickly arranged — among them some fine clumps of 

 Cattleya Lawrenceana, the rare and beautiful Roraima orchid which 

 grows to such perfection in the moist gorges and for which so many 

 collectors had already made the journey. Schoolmaster's people had 

 prepared large supplies for us ; and there was some also from the 

 village, though Jeremiah had not been in favour with McConnell 



