ITABRU, AND CHEISTMAS CATARACTS, 
ON THE RIVER BERBICE. 
Lnt.itiule, 4° 49' N. Longitude, 58° W. And Latitude, 4® 42 ' N. Long'itude, 57° 54’ W. 
I HAVE already alluded to the difficulties which we met with in our ascent up the river Berbice. We passed the first rapid on the 
13th of December, 1837, and in the afternoon arrived at a point where the river, hemmed in on both sides by ledges of rocks, forms 
an entrance to a natural basin, bordered by hills : it is followed by a second, the entrance to which, through barriers of rock, is only eighteen 
yards wide ; the basin spreads in the form of a curved lozenge, and is upwards of five hundred and thirty yards long, from west to east, 
by three hundred yards wide, with a depth of ten fathoms. At its northern point the river rushes violently over a dyke of rocks, and 
forms the cataract Itabru. I at once saw the impossibility of getting the loaded corials over the fall, and orders were consequently 
given to unload and transport the baggage to the head of the cataract. We selected a spot for our camp on the river’s left bank, 
near the foot of the cataract, a highly picturesque situation, as it afforded a prospect over the remarkable basin, which appeared as if it 
were perfectly “ land-locked,” to use a nautical term, being encompassed by hills from two hundred to six hundred feet high. Huge blocks, 
some consisting of light green chert, others of decomposing clay-stone porphyry were lying in the greatest confusion on the banks, 
and their surfaces smooth as glass, being covered with a crust of oxide of manganese, added to the peculiarity of the scenery. A large 
block of this description rises at the foot of the cataract, about ten feet out of the water, against which the stream dashes with the greatest 
fury. On the morning of the 15th of December we conveyed the last corial over the cataract, but as the river continued to be impeded 
by rapids and cataracts, our progress was slow, and after two days of the most fatiguing labour we were only five miles distant from 
Itabru. Our advance on the 18th of December was of short duration, for while turning round a sudden bend of the river, a series of 
formidable cataracts and rapids lay before us. On examination I found that they extended for upwards of a mile and a half, and 
that besides five cataracts, we should have to pass several rapids before we came to a place where we could embark again. I decided 
therefore to have the baggage carried over the different ledges of rocks which cause these falls, and to drag the corials after. In order 
to effect this, we had to sling our baggage on poles, and raise it over blocks which were occasionally ten feet high. Where the 
nature of the dyke permitted it, rollers were placed, and the corials, or canoes having been put upon them, we dragged them by main 
force over these ridges. As if to increase our difficulties, the Wacawais and Macusis, whom we had engaged in the river Berbice, 
and who formed part of our crew, deserted us. 
Christmas-day approached while we were still at these cataracts, toiling to overcome the impediments which they caused to our 
further progress. We enjoyed this sacred day in our peculiar manner, and allowed the Indians to partake of our better fare ; and, as 
we could not ascertain what might be the native name for these formidable impediments, the proposal to call them “ Christmas 
Cataracts” was gladly adopted. 
We re-embarked at the head of the southernmost of these cataracts, on the morning of the 28th of December, and as the 
details of our journey up the Berbice have been related elsewhere *, my limits do not permit me to dwell on it further than a few 
words concerning the most striking incidents. If we except the discovery of that splendid plant, which adorns the frontispiece, there 
is no cheerful gleam to brighten the retrospective view of this journey. No human being appeared for centuries to have inhabited 
these regions, and we had frequently to struggle for every foot which we advanced, so thickly was the river overgrown. Unable to 
procure fresh supplies of provisions, we were reduced to want, and were put for several weeks upon an allowance of six ounces of rice 
per day, and the game which chance led into our hands. The Caribs in our crew, as they saw that I was determined to continue, plotted 
to surprise us by night, and to take away the canoes, leaving us to our fate. Their intention was discovered, and they deserted us that 
very night, preferring to return on foot, the way they had come, to advancing further. We ultimately reached a path, on the 
22nd of January 1838, which leads from the Corentyn to the Essequibo, crossing the Berbice in 3° 55' N. Lat., from Avhence we 
marched over land to the Essequibo only nine miles distant, Avithout seeing any thing of the river Demerara, Avhich consequently cannot 
extend so far, and takes its rise to the north of that path. 
Want of provisions, and sickness, obliged us noAA' to retrace our route by the Berbice, and Ave again reached the uppermost of 
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society of London, 1837, vol. vii. 
