Que Village. 
187 
leaves tor the tliatehiug of the roofs uud sides. The fall of these palms 
IS always accompanied by a peculiar whistling noise, duo to the fronds 
cutting through the air so quickly. On the third day we were able to 
start with the furniture and out -Utting. Some of the tin boxes served as 
seats, two of them pushed close together formed^ a tal)le, two of tho 
stronger cross-beams were utilised for hanging our hammocks on, and a 
frame of latlis was raised for holding the luggage, so as not to get it 
damaged by the moisture of tho ground. A sort of shelf served as a place 
of security for my botanical and other natural history treasures and also 
protected them from getting wet and from being attacked and damaged 
by insects, especially the very dangerous ants {Atta ccplutlotcs) the 
presence of which I was iiainfully enough made aware of during the very 
first night, by finding next morning even the plants under the jjress 
destroyed. A deep gutter around hoth houses served to carry off the 
water after a thunderstorm. By evening time the two little mansions 
stood before us completed and it was with feelings of pride, satisfaction, 
and conrfort, that we i-egarded the results of our handiwork wherein for 
the first time we should be strengthening our weary limbs with a good 
sleep. It was the first, and to all appearances also the last, house of 
which we ourselves not only designed tlie ]dan. but shared the labour of 
its construction from the ground up. On the fourth day we comnu^nced 
a third, fourth, and fifth building for our companions from Georgetown 
and our faithful Macusis, and a. sixith to serve as a kitchen, all of Avhich 
under the many skilful hands rose like mushrooms from the levelled 
ground. ''Our Village" as we baptised our little ]»lace. already consisted 
of six hons(»s liy the fifth day. 
4.>2. After finishing the building operations, we paid our starved 
attendiints their well-earned wages, to which we added some presents in 
recognition of the faultless manner in which they had fulfilled their 
duties, and let them go back home: our Macusis, devoted to us body and 
soul, alone remained Avith us. 
433. The continual drain upon the provisions of the Arekunas at 
Canaupang had naturally caused them to disappear soon enough: we 
accordingly ]U'oi)Osed luiying from the friendly old chieftain, Kaikurang 
— who never failed to put on his dirty old shirt, and apology for a hat 
whenever coining to see us — a portion of his ripe cassava-field, out of 
which the women who had followed us from Pirara could sui^ply our 
daily wants of bread. The \nece of ground Avas communal pro]ierty, a 
general conference had to decide the matter, and after a shor^t discussion 
Kaikurang returned with their unanimous api^roval. Two axes and a 
cutlass, for the common property, and a few small gifts tö the wife and 
children of the chief were the cost-price. On account of the women carry- 
ing out their specified duties from earliest morn till fall of eve, the next 
few days unfortunately showed that our field would soon be worked out. 
Nothing was to be ex])ected from ranaupang because the plantations 
there had likoTS-'ise been reaped and so help had to be sought from farther 
afield and according to what Kaikurang told us, this would be obtained 
from the Serekongs, a trilie occupying the district around the sources of 
the Mazaruni. One of the Indians offered his services as messenger to 
