SETTLEMENTS ON THE DEMERARY, &C. 301 



country presents itself, a most beautiful dank plain, with here 

 and there a solitary tree, which has its effect in diversifying 

 the scene; such an immediate change of country and appear- 

 ance is as unexpected as pleasing to the beholder. 



Soon after my arrival in the colony, I was highly gratified 

 by an excursion into these savannahs, being on a visit at a cot- 

 tage, as it is modestly called by the owner, in the Carrabanna 

 district, about five miles from Mahaica. I was invited with my 

 friendly host to breakfast, in the company of a large party, at 

 Brome-hall, a neighbouring estate. We were fifteen or twenty 

 in number, and every delicacy which the colony afforded, was 

 provided by our hospitable entertainer ; tea, coffee, and rich 

 soups, fowls and mutton, noyau, sangaree, and wine. Break- 

 fast being finished, we mounted our horses, attended by ne- 

 groes on foot, for the purpose of exploring a path through the 

 savannah to some part of the Mahaica creek; and from the 

 direction we took, it was intended to be beyond the cultivated 

 estates, and as near the head of the creek as we could reach. 

 The day was remarkably mild ; a fine clear open country ; all - 

 the party in spirits ; some bethought themselves of the plea- 

 sures of the chace, which they had enjoyed in England. The 

 hunting cry was given, and re-echoed from one to another; 

 two or three old hunters, as if by instinct, started at the well 

 known sound, and were soon the headmost in the field. The 

 wirrebocerra, a sort of deer, was our projected game. A 



