248 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. 



late, and it was loo cool to walk about without a coat. The 

 wind sounded anything but trojjical, howling around the 

 ca\'es of the house lilvc a northern blizzard. The moon rose 

 aljout nine o'clock — a great flat-sided ball of orange, 

 lighting up the ])ale bare fields but throwing all the jungle 

 into blackest shadow. Soon the light became stronger and 

 the two southern crosses paled from view, the false one 

 higher up, kite like, and the vera critz, low and resting on its 

 side. 



"Sproston's" is a company which controls many of the 

 steamer and launch lines of the colony, and gives remarkably 

 good as well as reasonable service. When the day comes 

 that the tourist learns of the beauties of this country, the 

 transportation lines will become of immense value. Now 

 they depend jjrincipall}' on the man}- American concessions 

 and other interests for freight, and upon pork-knockers and 

 bovianders for passengers. 



At nine o'clock on the following morning, travelling again 

 on one of Sproston's launches, we left iNIr. Withers and 

 j^roceedcd up the Mazaruni, in about an hour reaching the 

 point of its confluence witli the Cuyuni. This was as beauti- 

 ful as the junction of the Essequibo and the ^Nlazaruni which 

 we had left. Turning up the Cuyuni we went on and on 

 through a region of indescribable beauty. The noble river 

 sjjreads out in a wide smooth expanse, — a tropical Hudson 

 with palisades of trees. It is very shallow and when the 

 water is low there is little but tide at this point. Hence 

 mangroves arc dominant, becoming, however, smaller and 

 less numerous as we proceeded. At eleven o'clock we 

 reached the beautiful falls at Lower Camaria Landing and 

 went ashore to And a delicious breakfast prepared for us 

 by the genial and hospitable Mr. French and served by his 

 aged man-sen-ant, who was christened Sican, but who was 

 familiarly known throughout the colony as "French's fioy." 



