Feb. 8, 1858.] EXPEDITION TO THE GOLD FIELDS OF CARATAL. 157 
Guayana possesses natural advantages for pasturage and cultivation 
that are equal, if not greater than those of any ground in the far 
interior. — F. G. 
The President : We return thanks to Sir William Holmes and Mr. Camp- 
bell for this very clear description of a country that they have traversed, and also 
to the Earl of Clarendon, our constant friend, for sending us this interesting 
communication from the Foreign Office. You will all recollect that the person 
to whom we are most indebted for a knowledge of the great territory adjacent 
to the country now explored is Sir Robert Schomburgk, a gold medallist of this 
Society, and formerly our Consul at St. Domingo. The subject is one that 
would have interested you infinitely more a few years ago ; for the quantity of 
gold now found in the adjacent province of Venezuela would then have 
astounded most people, whilst it now passes for little. In fact, the description 
of the country accords with the accounts we have from all gold countries. 
The gold is found in the broken detritus of the country, at a few feet below 
the surface, as we know to be the case with a great number of the gold diggings 
of Australia and California. We are much obliged to these gentlemen for 
their interesting communication and their accurate account of the physical 
geography of the country. There was only one geological slip in the paper. 
The authors alluded to the country being of volcanic origin, and immediately 
afterwards spoke of a great deal of quartz. I beg leave to say that volcanoes 
and quartz rocks have no natural connexion. 
Mr. John Crawfurd, f.r.g.s. — I agree with you entirely in thinking the 
paper is very well written. Notwithstanding this, I have a few observations 
and a few strictures to make. The country is very like all countries situated 
in the eighth, ninth, and tenth degrees of latitude in possessing enormous 
forest trees. These gentlemen dwell upon the value of the timber, but it 
would have been as well to have told us what the quality of this timber is. 
They have not told us whether it is fit for shipbuilding, which is the only 
purpose for which it could be well exported. In the next place, they state 
that the country is well fitted for the growth of coffee. That is not the case. 
In a latitude of eight or nine degrees it requires an elevation of three or four 
thousand feet above the level of the sea to grow good coffee. This is the case, 
I believe, in Ceylon. No good coffee can be produced at the low elevation of 
a thousand feet. 
Dr. Shaw. — They report a mountain two thousand feet high. 
Mr. Crawfurd. — That is the top of the hill ; whereas to cultivate coffee 
we must go to the sides of the hill. I do not believe it to be an extremely 
fertile country. It is not volcanic, and you seldom find a country fertile that 
has not a considerable share of volcanic formation. Australia is a case in 
point. With respect to the gold, it is not at all to be regretted that the 
country does not belong to us, for its productive powers seem to be far inferior 
to both California and Australia. But, supposing the territory had been ours, 
it would have been impossible to introduce any kind of labour. What kind of 
labour could we get ? I know there are gentlemen here partial to Australia as 
a penal settlement, who would say that Europeans might settle in this country. 
I am perfectly certain they never could. The Bed Americans are totally unfit 
for labour. To employ negro labour, we must have slavery, and that we 
should never consent to ; and, as for Chinese labour, it is very costly, and the 
people very offensive. 
