The Palls of Bue-Imeru. 
179 
stomaclis elamouriug iii revolt. Though stretching itself out so 
charmingly before us, neither the lovely valley of the Kukenam, nor 
the delightful mountain panorama could silence the cries of hunger. 
The Kukenam after being joined some 6 miles further to the westward 
iby the Wairing runs a course towards the N.W. into the Yuruani which, 
under the name of Caroni, flows into the Orinoco. It was too late in 
the day to pay the Great Falls a visit. Our carriers sought their night's 
lodging inside the house, but we on the contrary pitched our little tent 
outside, where, however, we found but little res^t owing to there l>eing 
amongst our Indians a piai who spent the whole night in curing the 
fever-stricken Barapang chieftain of his complaint, 
420. We woke in the morning sliivering with cold and the thermometer 
still barely (50° Fahr. : we were 3,230 feet above sea-level. Our anxiety 
to see the Falls, the grandeur of which we were anticipating, together 
with the frost, sent us scurrying down the slope into this deep narrow 
gorge in Nature's wonder-land, whence the turbulent noise of its waters 
was already heard thundering out of the valley. The way wasi fascinat- 
ingly beautiful and the air filled with the sweetest of perfumes. In 
between Tliihandla, Andromeda , Trrnsitrörnia , Bejaria, Vaccinhcm, 
glorious SlohroJiar, CfattJei/as, Epidendnim interspersed with roseate 
blooms, and isolated trees of Ladenhergia Roraimae and Ladenbergia 
F)Choml)vrgkn, we arrived at the forest extending to the base of the 
steep declivity. The wild din of the split-up masses of water increased 
with every forward step until we unexpectedly came upon a downward- 
sloping terraced stratum of dark red jasper from which, throngh| the 
fresh verdure of the trees and scrub, we saw the unshackled element 
dissolved in thousands of foam-flakes shimmering quite a hundred feet 
bolow. The precipitous slopes of the bed of jasper were soon left 
behind, a rocky ravine revealerl itself in fron/t of us, and the foot of 
one of Guiana's mightiest and most picturesque waterfalls* was 
reached. From over a 120 ft. high absolutely perpendicular jasper 
wall, and breaking into foam and mist when) already half-way down, 
the mass of water poured on; to a broad shelf of similar material to 
form, after tin's first mighty plunge, another 10 cascades from 4 to 40 ft. 
hiijh and 1 to S ft. broad when, at tlie very foot of the last one, it finally 
joined the Kukenam after a total drop of say 220 feet. Dumb with 
astonishment, and enthralled at its terribly sublime aspect, we gazed 
upon the tumult of the struggling waters, the deafening thunder of 
which swallowed up every other sound. It was not without difficulty 
that we broke our way through the wall of vegetation, which on account 
of its foliage being kept continually on the move by the air current, 
allowed the foam flakes collecting on it to fall upon us in heavy 
showers, and so reached the foot of* ithe Great Fall. Here we eazed up 
at the white blue clouds and down at the enchantingly beautiful series 
of cascades, the crystalline waters of which, tinned by the dark brown, 
red and rosy ledges of jasper Vith the most varied shades of colour, 
were rolling in between a superabundance of vegetation, as can only he 
* The Kaieteur (Kaieteuk) Fall on the Potaro was not discovered uptil 1874. (Ed.) 
