SOUTH AMERICA. 



235 



of all power of steerage, and she became tlie sport of the Third 



Journey. 



torrent ; m a second she was half full of water, and I 



cannot comprehend to this day why she did not go down ; 

 luckily the people exerted themselves to the utmost, she 

 got headway, and they pulled through the whirlpool : I 

 being quite in the stern of the canoe, part of a wave 

 struck me, and nearly knocked me overboard. 



We now paddled to some rocks at a distance, got out, 

 unloaded the canoe, and dried the cargo in the sun, 

 which was very hot and powerful. Had it been the wet 

 season, almost every thing would have been spoiled. 



After this, the voyage down the Essequibo was quick 



mid pleasant till we reached the sea-coast ; there we had 



ii trying day of it ; the wind was dead against us, and 



the sun remarkably hot ; we got twice aground upon a 



mudflat, and were twice obliged to get out, up to the 



middle in mud, to shove the canoe through it. Half way 



betwixt the Essequibo and Demerara the tide of flood 



caught us ; and after the utmost exertions, it was half 



past six in the evening before we got to George-town. 



We had been out from six in the morning in an open Reaches 



George- 

 canoe on the sea-coast, without umbrella or awning, town. 



exposed all day to the fiery rays of a tropical sun. My 



face smarted so that I could get no sleep dm-ing the 



night, and the next morning my lips were all in blisters. 



The Indian Yan went down to the Essequibo a copper 



colour, but the reflection of the sun from the sea, and 



2 n 2 



