KAIETEUR AND RORAI'MA 



229 



Drawn by A. H. Bumstead 

 A MAP OF THE GUIANAS, WITH AN INSET SHOWING THE TERRITORY TRAVERSED BY 



THE "kaieteur AND roraima" expedition 



barked with our equipment and an in- 

 valuable Hindu servant, Raggoo, for the 

 run of 65 miles south on the Demerara 

 River to Wismar, from which a railroad 

 took us across the flat plains of the allu- 

 vial coastal strip to Rockstone Landing, 

 on the Essequibo River — our real point 

 of departure into the interior. 



The river was high above its bank and 

 flowed ten feet deep about the pillars 

 supporting the bungalow built here for 

 the rest and recuperation of those com- 

 ing out of the forests and for a last night 

 of comfort for those making the break 

 from civilization. 



WEIRD NIGHT SOUNDS IN THE "BUSH" 



All through the night, our first in 

 the "bush," a chorus swelled from the 

 throats of countless toads and frogs, each 

 with its individual note of deep, booming 

 bass or shrill, piping treble. The fish and 

 alligators splashed in the waters about 



the house, many of the former falling 

 prey to the servants, who dropped their 

 lines from the convenient windows of 

 the kitchen. Under the late full moon a 

 boat or two of rubber collectors came 

 toward the shore, singing their musical 

 chanteys with rich and powerful voices. 



It was a night which can never be for- 

 gotten. 



The howling monkeys aroused us in 

 the morning by their calls, as they came 

 by families to drink and to bathe at the 

 water's edge. Although one of them is 

 no larger than a terrier, the bony flask 

 at the throat enables it to magnify its 

 call to a resonant roar that is quite the 

 equal. of a jaguar's at feeding time in the 

 menagerie. 



After a day of notable observation and 

 collecting, the journey was resumed by a 

 diminutive steamer, and night brought us 

 to the cataracts of Tumatumari. 153 miles 

 from Georgetown, on the Potaro River, 



