EDITOR’S PREFACE. 
Some thirty years ago, when strolling along the ponds in the Queens- 
land Botanic Gardens, Brisbane, I gazed in wonder and awe at the lovely 
Victoria Regia lilies which just then happened to be in bloom: 1 never 
dreamed in those days that I should live to visit their native home in the 
reaches of the upper Rupununi River. It was the first occasion that 
gave me the name of Schomburgk, their discoverer, which thus fixed itself 
upon my memory for all time. 
Twenty years later, whilst annotating the literature bearing on Gui- 
anese Ethnography, I had the pleasure of perusing in the original, 
Richard ' Schomburgk's Travels, and was at a loss to understand how 
such a monumental, so interesting, and valuable a work, had become 
forgotten as it were, and had never been “done into English,” since 
it deserves to rank with the highest works on South American travel and 
adventure. 
On the other hand I regret to admit that almost every subsequent 
writer on Guiana has stolen more or less of the subject matter without 
acknowledgment. I read the work a second time, as few can escape doing, 
who taste of its delights, and was determined that as soon as circum- 
stances permitted I would try to convey some of the enjoyment and in- 
struction that I had derived, to others favoured with less linguistic 
advantages — surely the Creoles will be anxious to learn something reli- 
able about the autochthonous natives,, the geology, mineralogy, and gen- 
eral natural history of their own country, set out as these are in as at- 
tractive a form as Waterton’s Wanderings or Defoe’s immortal though 
mythical Robinson Crusoe. 
The translation itself has occupied the whole of my time that could 
be spared from official duties during the past eighteen months. It would 
be idle to deny that I have met with many and many a difficult passage, 
but these have been invariably cleared up by my friend, Rev. J. B. 
Biezer, S.J., of the Santa Rosa Mission, Moruka River, who has invari- 
ably and most ungrudgingly rendered me most valuable assistance and 
encouragement. 
The original w T ork consists of three volumes, the first and second of 
which are devoted to the narrative of the Travels proper: the third is 
practically a catalogue of the fauna and flora, compiled by various w r ell- 
known specialists. As a large proportion of the names in this compen- 
dium are obsolete, as W'ell as for other reasons, a translation of the third 
volume has not been considered desirable. So again, the Appendix to the 
second volume, .consisting of a few short vocabularies, and an extract 
from Missionary Quandt's Arawak Grammar have likewise been omitted. 
.With a view to bringing Schomburgk’s record up to date, I have 
been in direct communication with the following three gentlemen whose 
authority in their respective lines of research is unassailable — Mr. E. E. 
