SETTLEMENTS ON THE DEMERARY, &C. 367 



vigable. This prodigious extent of river-coast is no less 

 adapted for every variety of tropical production, than the 

 brink of the Nile, or Ganges. . But some European colonies 

 must be founded at the confluences of the chief streams, be- 

 fore those agricultural arts can be put in motion, to which the 

 climate and the soil of this province are so admirably adapted. 

 Millions of men might be fed and employed by the produce 

 of its fertile savannas. 



As yet the interior of the district has been little penetrated, 

 A chain of mountains, called Mei, nearly parallel with the 

 form of the coast, and a lake called Parima, whose extent va- 

 ries with the seasons, form the only prominent objects of ob- 

 servation. From these mountains, rivers radiate in every di- 

 rection : some, like the Essequebo, fall into the Atlantic ; 

 some, like the Caroni, or as Sir Walter Ralegh calls it, the 

 Caroli, join the Orinoko ; and some, like the Rioblanco, 

 unite with the river of Amazons. Savage tribes, resembling 

 in manners the Caribbees, but whose dialects differ from each 

 other, are thinly scattered over the whole district : they de- 

 pend more on fishing than hunting, and prefer to frequent the 

 edges of the waters ; their labor is most easily obtained for 

 purposes of navigation. 



The climate of Guyana is the mildest and most wholesome 

 of any tropical country hitherto inhabited by Europeans. This 



