28 
ITABRU, AND CHRISTMAS CATARACTS. 
that series of falls, which we had called the Christmas Cataracts, on the 9th of February. In consequence of the river having been 
swollen by the late rains, the rocks, which we found bare on our ascent, were now mostly covered, and the falls, from the increased 
volume of water, more powerful. Our attempt to descend the first fall without unloading proved nearly fatal, and we determined 
to carry the baggage over land as we did during our ascent, while we were still obliged to hazard the corials. Our camp was 
stationed on a small island, near one of the most dangerous cataracts, and we watched at its foot for the descent of the corials. It 
is an exciting scene when once the corial is in the current, shooting along with the swiftness of lightning ; she arrives at the edge of 
the cataract, and balancing for a moment, she plunges headlong into the surge below, dashing the spray on either side against the rocks 
that bound the passage ; she then rises, and again obeying the helm of the intrepid steersman, is carried forward by the increased current. 
A mistake on the part of the pilot, or if the crew do not act in strict obedience to his orders, would cause her to split by coming in 
close contact with those rocks which she appears almost to touch in her descent. My own corial was the last which was to descend 
the dangerous cataract, when Mr. Reiss, a young man of talent and courage, and who accompanied the expedition as a volunteer, 
expressed his desire to descend in her with the Indians. I remonstrated with him, as he was not an experienced swimmer, but my 
advice was not taken. I proceeded over land to the foot of the cataract, to witness her descent, and when the corial came in sight, 
the first object that struck me was Mr. Reiss standing on one of the thwarts of the corial, when prudence dictated that he should sit 
down. From that moment to the catastrophe, not two seconds elapsed. The corial was directed to a point where the fall was very 
precipitous. The shock, when her bow struck the surge, caused Mr. Reiss to lose his balance; in falling he grasped one of the iron 
staunchions of the awning. The corial was upset, and in the next moment, her inmates, thirteen in number, were seen struggling with 
the current ; and, unable to stem it, were carried with rapidity towards the next cataract. My eyes were fixed on poor Reiss ; he 
kept himself above water but a short time, sunk, and reappeared ; and when I hoped that he might reach one of the rocks, the current 
of the next rapid seized him, and I fear he came in contact with a sunken rock ; he was turned completely round, and disappeared in 
the whirlpool at the foot of the rapid. Immediately I could muster men enough to guide a corial, we commenced a most diligent 
search, in which we were assisted by some who had manned a second corial. For two hours all our endeavours were fruitless. At 
length we found his body, in a direction where we least expected it, and where an under current must have drifted it. Life was 
extinct ; nevertheless, the usual means for recovering drowned persons were resorted to, but in vain. The Indians had saved themselves 
by swimming, and he alone paid with his life for the rash attempt. 
Two aged trees stand on the western bank of the river, opposite to the place where our poor companion was drowned, whence 
I desired a path to be cleared to a rising ground, which the water, even when at its greatest height during inundations, does not reach. 
Here, on a level spot, where Mora trees and Palms, the latter an emblem of the Christian faith, form an almost perfect circle, now rises 
a pile of stones, under which rests our lamented companion to await his Maker’s call. A small tablet, which he himself brought in 
order to engrave his name, and to leave it as a remembrance, in case we should reach the Acarai mountains and the sources of 
the Essequibo, is firmly fixed to one of the trees which form the circle, and now bears this inscription — 
DROWNED, 
12th FEB., 1837, 
CHARLES F. REISS, 
AGED 22 YEARS. 
CATARACT ITABRU, ON THE RIVER BERBICE. 
