112 
Queen Victoria’s Birthday. 
Colonists on account of its smell, style and colour of timber greatly re- 
sembling the well-known Bermuda cedar. Besides the Idea they also 
particularly utilise the colossal trunks of Bomb ax Ceiba and B. 
ylobosum. If on felling the tree, the trunk has the jength of corial re- 
quired, they hollow it out and throw it into the water for several days: 
if too big to transport without special contrivance to a rather distant 
sheet of water, the already completed concavity is kept continually full 
of water. When they think that it- is now sufficiently soaked, the manufac 
tore is completed by bringing it to the right lines with the help of sev- 
eral fires lighted under the staging on which it is placed, the expanded 
sides being held apart by means of strong sticks whereby the corial, on 
account of the action of the heat, obtains its trough-like shape at each 
extremity: this is the one single risky part of the operation when owing 
to the slightest neglect or inexact equality of the fires, the wood immed- 
iately splits. 
384 As I had to have a corial 1 seized the opportunity offered and 
bought for myself from chief William one of the smaller kind at a cost 
of ten Spanish dollars (at four shillings the dollar). It was 33 feet 
long and during the whole of my three years' travels under countless 
difficulties, completely justified the trust I had set on it at the time of 
nurcliase. 
385. My brother and the Englishmen accompanying him could not 
let the 24th May, Queen's Birthday, pass without a celebration. The 
rising sun was greeted with a salute of 21 guns and a thrice repeated 
hurrah. This form of salutation, unknown to the Indians, aroused a 
general disturbance in the settlement at first and drew to our quarters 
all the neighbouring villagers who could not understand the reason for 
such a cannonade. As however, on their arrival, they recognised ad- 
equately enough from our faces that the cause of the shooting was any- 
thing but a hostile demonstration, they immediately joined in the gen- 
eral rejoicings. To their intense enjoyment, from the large flag-staff 
set up in front of my brother’s house there flew on the light morn in« 1 
breeze the huge ensigns of Great Britain, Holland, Columbia, and 
Brazil which my brother had with him on account of the interests of 
these Powers sharing in the fixation of the Boundary. The crews re- 
ceived double rations, each Indian a glass of rum, while we drank the 
Queen's health in the champagne with which the Governor had present- 
ed mV brother on his departure from Georgetown. Everything was 
given up to enjoyment and Cumaka could have scarcely ever spent a 
day like it: the influx of the Indians who had all become inquisitive 
about the firing lasted throughout the day. 
386. Unfortunately poor old King could not take part in these fes- 
tivities, although his improvement was considerably advanced. Our 
fears about his having completely lost Bis sight were soon dispelled 
when the swelling subsided : this was effected by the application of a 
very simple measure, namely, continuous poultices of cassava bread 
soaked in hot water, whereby further inflammation was prevented. He 
soon began to recover vision, and this revived his good spirits that until 
then had lain dormant. 
387. The everlastingly violent tropical rainshowers. and resulting 
atmospheric moisture unfortunately gave rise to fresh sickness amongst 
