THE LIFE OF THE ABARY SAVANNAS. 359 



region, reaching in places even lo the Demerara. Then Hoods 

 came, broke through the loosened barrier of tangled roots, and 

 infiltrated through the soil. Grass and reeds toolv the place 

 of the great moras, and now, almost to the horizon, stretches 

 the flat, open expanse of marsh. Indeed it is only to the west 

 that trees are visible, where two miles away "eta bush" 

 begins. In the tops of these palms the black Muscovy 

 Ducks make their homes, feeding out on the marsh and bring- 

 ing down their young — so it is reported — in their beaks. 



Sixty years ago or thereabouts, many runaway slaves fled 

 into the interior, most of them hiding in the recesses of the 

 "bush" or high woods. These lived either with the Indians, 

 in many cases intermarrying with them, or founded settlements 

 by themselves. Some of these unfortunate blacks, however, 

 made their way up the Abary and when they had come thus far 

 — eighteen miles — finding no habitable land they set to work 

 to make an island. 



In the midst of this then (as practically now) une.x])lored 

 region, these desperate men toiled at the black muck of the 

 river edge, scooped it up and packed it on the foundation 

 of reeds until a more or less dry island of about five acres had 

 been formed. Here to-day we found a low mound of rich 

 black mould, with nine good-sized isolated trees, several 

 cocoanut palms and a few bananas. Corn planted here 

 grows with wonderful rapidity. 



The long occupancy and numerous inhabitants of the 

 islet is attested by the thousands of pieces of pottery with 

 which the ground is covered. On some I found a rude 

 attempt at decoration, and the shape of the rims and handles 

 were much like the primitive African art of to-day. There 

 was probably a low hummock or mound as the nucleus for 

 the island, and four or five feet beneath the surface several 

 Indian stone axes have been unearthed — telling of still earlier 

 human habitation — perhaps in the days of the jungle. 



