84 TlMEHRI. 
It is evident that GRAVESANDE must have been a com- 
mander of great ability, whether his a6lions were guided by 
written instructions, of which we have no record, or whe- 
ther he simply acted on his own judgment. There is strong 
presumptive evidence that the Commander had very ex- 
tensive powers given him as to the granting of land ; for 
we find that, in the case of the grants on Grote Creek, 
large territories were granted, probably to favourites, 
the boundaries being roughly described as "as far as the 
tide flows," ; and these titles are still recognised, al- 
though the land is only used for timber cutting. The 
chart in question points to his having been as- 
sisted by able surveyors and other advisors, ; it bears 
evidence that the Demerara river had been carefully 
surveyed and the boundaries of concessions laid down 
prior to any having been granted, for the date of the 
grants are in no way in sequence with the number of 
allotment ; for instance, Lot i, part of the washed away 
Plantation " Best" was the last concession given off, in 
1769, to Jan Jacob Becker. 
At the death of GRAVESANDEin 1773 the young colony 
of Demerary had risen to such importance as to call for 
Courts of Policy and of Civil and Criminal Justice ; these 
were established at " Borslem" an island 20 miles up the 
river, but in the following year the seat of Government 
was removed to Stabroek. In 1789 there would appear 
to have been considerable differences of opinion between 
the old colonists of Essequibo and the younger branch 
settled on the Demerary. These differences were inquired 
into, and in 1789 we find the plan of redress or new 
constitution for the Government of the united colonies 
was introduced ; and there can be little doubt that along 
