40 



WANDERINGS IN 



First in numbers and brightness with the stars in the firma- 



JoURNEY. 



ment above ; the air is pure, and the north-east breeze 



blows a refreshing gale throughout the day. Here the 

 white-crested Maroudi, which is never found in the 

 Demerara, is pretty plentiful ; and here grows the tree 

 which produces the moran, sometimes called balsam- 

 capivi. 



loute. Your route lies south from this place ; and at the ex- 



tremity of the savanna, you enter the forest, and journey 

 along a winding path at the foot of a hill. There is no 

 habitation within this day's walk. The traveller, as usual, 

 must sleep in the forest ; the path is not so good the 

 following day. The hills, over which it lies, are rocky, 

 steep, and rugged ; and the spaces betwixt them swampy, 

 and mostly knee-deep in water. After eight hours' walk, 

 you find two or three Indian huts, surrounded by the 

 forest ; and in little more than half an hour from these, 

 you come to ten or twelve others, where you pass the 

 night. They are prettily situated at the entrance into a 

 savanna. The eastern and western hills are still covered 

 with wood ; but on looking to the south-west quarter, you 

 perceive it begins to die away. In these forests you may 

 find plenty of the trees which yield the sweet -smelling 

 resin called Acaiari, and which, when pounded and burnt 

 on charcoal, gives a delightful fragrance. 



From hence you proceed, in a south-west direction, 

 through a long swampy savanna. Some of the hills which 



