36 
Botanical Reminiscences. 
made. Our road leading over high, mountain chains, and 
through almost impassible ravines ; the load for one Indian 
was not heavier than about forty or fifty pounds, which, in 
consequence of having so many astronomical instruments, and 
provisions, maize, yams, cassava bread, etc., required at least 
about 100 Indians. The difiiculty we had experienced in 
engaging carriers in the neighborhood of Pirara was here 
repeated. The wants of the greatest part of the visitors round 
us had been satisfied by selling us provisions, etc., and 
receiving in return knives, axes, beads, combs, fish hooks, etc., 
therefore there was no inducement to accept the ofier of 
accompanying us. When we bargained with them in the 
evening about the price they would require to accompany us 
to Roraima, we got as a reply, that they would not venture 
to follow us, as the road was leading through a part of the 
country in which lately a war had been carried on amongst 
the Arekunas, and as the killed had not been hurried, the 
smell had driven everybody from the neighborhood, and as 
most of the villages had been burnt, no provisions would 
be got. 
Our plan was to follow the same road which my brother in 
his first expedition had then used, but this was so generally 
objected to, even by our followers from Pirara, that we were 
obliged to give in to Indian stubbornness, although on this 
road we would have fallen in with a great many settlements 
of Arekunas, and have been supplied with provisions. 
Individually, the news of the war, and the fact that those 
killed had not been buried, led me to hope to get possession 
of skulls and skeletons. The Indians^ abhorence and super- 
stitous fear of direct contact with the remains of their fellow 
creatures was stronger than our persuasion. When we stepped 
out of our huts in the morning, we did not recognize the 
place, as at least two thirds of the visitors assembled had 
noislessly left during the night. 
After endless trouble, and the promise that we would 
entirely follow their guidance, whatever the difficulties to 
cope with might be, we at last brought the number of carriers 
to fifty, which made it necessary to diminish our baggage, 
already scanty enough, to half the quantity, leaving the 
remainder to be fetched afterwards. We were unable to 
leave one of our men to protect the packages that were to 
remain at Torong-Yauwise, which for the most part consisted 
of articles of barter, as was well known to the inhabitants ; 
