348 
The Summit of Ilamikipang. 
towered over one another to such an extent that we could not climb 
them at all but had to make immense circuits round them. Huge 
specimens of the Cryptocarya pretiosa Mart. ( Mcspilodapline pretiosa 
Nees. ), Amapaima of the Macusis, Casco pretiosa of the Brazilians, were 
met with : its aromatic cinnamon-smelling bark, of which the Indians 
employ a decoction for dysentery, diarrheoa and similar affections, 
contains an uncommonly copious amount of ethereal oil. Tillanclsiae 
and orchids covered the giant trees, which in the damp atmosphere were 
rapidly going to absolute ruin. It was only with the greatest effort 
after the failure of many an attempt to force our way up, that by a very 
great effort we at last reached the summit of Ilamikipang, which ran 
out into a small platform covered with a most flourishing growth of 
Pitcairniae , TiJlandsiae and a dainty grass. But the reward that offered 
itself for my troubles was rich and ample. I must have been standing 
some 2,500 feet above the savannah which, with its dun yellow covering, 
showed infinitely more extensive than from the Curassawaka. It was the 
highest point of the mountain range, the loftiest spot I had hitherto 
climbed in Guiana. While my vision in a southerly direction swept 
unchecked over the broad savannahs of the Rio Branco, it dwelt in the 
North-East upon the Makarapang Range which, rising in the bluish mist, 
merged into one and the same contour along with the northern slope of 
the Canuku. To the northward, the bleak Pacaraima Range raised its 
gloomy head, and towards the North-West some mountain tops, scattered 
here and there over the savannah, closed in the view: in the South-West 
the glorious panorama was limited by Mounts Zemai, Pasimang and 
Yackariwuiburi, the western spurs of the Canuku Range. But at my 
feet there reposed a regular waving sea of verdant tree tops out of which, 
like rocky crags upon an ocean, there merged huge isolated shattered 
masses of granite. Thick clouds of smoke in scattered situations on the 
savannah shewed where the Indian Nimrods had been setting fire to the 
dry grass, while other smoke columns, curling up in between* the thickly 
enclosed tops of the forest massif and savannah oases leading to the 
base of the range, indicated the peaceful settlements and homes of the 
sparse populace. Here and there one could still distinguish in certain 
spots the herds of wild cattle grazing in the savannah down below, as 
well as the snow-white plumage of the herons and storks which must 
have gathered in huge swarms on isolated swamps to encircle them as 
with a white fringe. The most profound rest and quiet reigned at this 
height, which was only now and again interrupted by the rustling of the 
foliage set in motion by a breath of wind. Not a bird was to be heard, 
the carrion crow alone circling around the rocks in unruffled and stately 
flight. It was with an effort that I had to tear myeslf away from this 
enchanting picture, and although I had already retraced my steps a few 
times, my tardy feet still hankered after the little platform, until my gaze 
once more glided into the ghastly depth. On the northern side the cliff 
formed a perpendicular abyss several hundred feet deep, out of which 
the dark tree tops hardly rose to a quarter of its height : the mere thought 
of a false step, of a plunge into the gulf was enough to make one shudder. 
