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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



AT THE) VERY RIM OF THE KAIETEUR FALLS ONE SEES THE WAY THE EDGE RECEDES 



(SEE ALSO PLATE XIIl) 



The sill of rock breaks away in huge blocks so that a step is formed upon which the 

 water dashes into spray before plunging below. The roar of the cataract can be heard for 

 many miles. In the cavern behind the waterj curtain, myriad swallows find shelter at night, 

 winging their way home in the late afternoon after the day's flight about the country. 



a branch of the Essequibo, where the 

 hills about the river made a welcome and 

 restful change from the low, unbroken 

 levels of the coastward country. 



In this region we met the first signs 

 of Indian inhabitants, who are few and 

 scattered and dwell mainly in the fur- 

 ther interior. Here and there, on the 

 borders of the river, a clearing had been 

 made, where, among the stumps of the 

 felled trees, the cassava or manioc plants 

 were growing. 



Xow the days passed quickly. A still 

 smaller launch conveyed us to Potaro 

 Landing, where a carry, or portage, of 

 seven miles across sandy roads and low- 

 forested hills ended at Kangaruma. on 

 the river above the Pakatuk Rapids. 



From this point to Tukeit, in the 

 Kaieteur Gorge, we traveled in heavily 

 built river boats manned by Indians and 

 negroes arrayed along the gunwales. 

 Throughout the long day, with its alter- 

 nating blistering heat and drenching 



showers, they wielded their small-sized 

 paddles in a rhythm that was kept by 

 crashing the handles of the paddles 

 upon the boat's edge between successive 

 strokes in the water. The result was a 

 not unmusical effect, which called to 

 memory the booming of the clubs on the 

 hollow logs of distant Fiji. 



THE GORGE OF KAIETEUR BEGINS I9O 

 MILES FROM GEORGETOWN 



So the carries at Amatuk and Waratuk 

 were reached and passed. Xot far be- 

 yond the latter, a little more than 190 

 miles from Georgetown, the river gave 

 up its tortuous course and straightened 

 out in the lower gorge of Kaieteur. 



The sides now rose abruptly to more 

 than a thousand feet above the placid 

 water, in which the scene beyond was 

 mirrored with almost photographic faith- 

 fulness. Even the white streak of the 

 falls itself, many miles away, was dis- 

 played in the inverted picture. However, 



