CHAPTER XII 

 LIFE IN THE GUIANA WILDS 



A NATTitiALiST might spend many years in Venezuela and 

 still exhaust but a very small fraction of the possibilities 

 offered to the field-observer — so vast are the resources of 

 that zoological wonderland. Exigencies beyond our con- 

 trol, however, recalled us to Trinidad, and after a brief rest 

 we turned our eyes toward British Guiana. 



The distance between the island and the low Guiana 

 mainland is not great; it required just two days of imevent- 

 ful sailing for the Sarstoon of the Quebec Line to plough 

 through the deep water and schools of flying-fish, and finally 

 nose her way carefully through the mud to Georgetown. 



The city is built on the low coastal land, and a great 

 stone wall prevents the sea from reclaiming its own at high 

 tide. The streets are wide and bordered with trees. No 

 more suitable style of architecture could be desired for a 

 tropical country than that employed in constructing the 

 houses of the better class of inhabitants; they are practi- 

 cally all doors and windows, giving admittance to every 

 passing breeze. The wide verandas are carefully screened. 



Numerous canals, spanned by picturesque little wooden 

 bridges, divide the city into sections. At low tide the locks 

 in the sea-wall are opened to permit the excess of water to 

 escape; at high tide the locks are closed to keep the low- 

 lands from being flooded. Growing in the water are masses 

 of Victoria regia lilies with white or pink flowers; the giant 

 leaves, with uptimied edges, and often several feet across, 

 resemble huge pies; but the plant is lovely from a distance 

 only, as the veins and midribs are covered with long, sharp 

 spines that effectively prevent any intimate advances on 

 the part of an overenthusiastic admirer. 



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