Uamp Prisoners. 
US 
our company. .Wliile it was simple fever that afflicted us before, dysen- 
tery was now so intimately associated with it that, what with Mr. 
Glascott having been also attacked, my brother found himself forced to 
leave with Dr. Echlin alone for the Ainacura which was assumed to be 
part of the boundary line between Venezuela and British Guiana. For 
several days prior to his departure my feet, that had been cut when the 
chigoes were extracted, commenced to be so painful that not a moment's 
rest either by day or night was lo be thought of, the inflammation final- 
ly increasing to such an extent as to make my following him impossi- 
ble. With the healthier of (he boathands and some of the Indians he 
left us sufferers and Cumacka on the 27th May, comforting one another 
and trying to while away the weary monotonous interval. 
388. Though up to now I had bravely withstood all the attacks of 
fever and dysentery to which (lie others had succumbed, the inflamma- 
tion during the early days of its onset did not permit of my once putting 
my feet to the ground. Considering that this condition of affairs was 
now aggravated by the angered onslaughts of mosquitoes which 1 could 
avoid just as little as Mr. King, our despair and anxiety, as the evenings 
set in, can well be appreciated. 
389. The soaked cassava -bread poultices had worked such wonders 
with Mr. King, that I applied tiiem on myself, and within a few days 
felt so relieved, in fact, the inflammation was already so much reduced 
that I could again trust myself to stand for a short while: I was more 
than delighted at this because the many and varied blossoms which the 
hunters brought home from/ their daily excursions indicated only too 
clearly that the rainy season had called quite a new flora into existence. 
390. My feet nevertheless did not allow of my going more than a 
few hundred yards, lint to lie in my hammock with such [botanical se- 
ducements was impossible: I had to get outside, and in order to do so, 
measures were soon concocted. With my limbs carefully wrapped in 
cassava poultices, I let myself be taken to the Cumaka and journeying by 
corial up to the Aruka, collected all I could, at least from along its 
banks. 
391. My hopes were fulfilled to a high degree. The continued 
moisture had supplied the whole river-side with entirely new orna- 
ments and where formerly the eye only noted the most varied shades 
of verdant foliage, it now revelled in the richest floral decoration of 
orchids and masses of creepers which spread in multi-coloured confus- 
ion over the trunks and branches up to their very tips. Tn this lovely 
tapestry embroidered with flowers were particularly noticeable the 
glorious Cacoucia coccinea Alibi., Norantea guianensis Aubl., Ilian on in 
lieterophylla Willd., B. alba and II. incarnata, Petrea rolubilis Linn., 
Passiflora coccinea , Allamtnula Aubletii Pohl., Bccnridnca rolubilis 
Linn., and Clitoria Poitcani Deft with their red. yellow, blue, and white 
blossoms which formed a really fairy-like contrast of colour with the 
dark rich foliage of the trees to which they had trusted themselves. The 
large white waxy flowers of the Gustavia angustifolia Linn, and Clusta 
insif/nis Mart, only increased this magic colouring still more. Oh! it is 
times such as these that amply compensate us for our many grievous 
hours, shattered hopes, and bitter experiences! Once fixed iu our heart and 
soul, they become our life-long companions and ever presenting novel 
