Colonial Jottings. 95 
full to overflowing, a thought struck me that by 
making use of a woodskin instead of a batteau 
or corial, I would be able to perform the journey 
from " Mannaca-secaru" Creek to Post Ampa in two 
days instead of three days, — the time usually occu- 
pied by travellers. In the hope therefore of making 
the journey agreeable, and for other reasons, I hired 
a woodskin and two Indians as paddlers, who knew 
the short cuts, for my track then lay not in the 
river but through the forests. By adopting this course 
all the windings of the river were avoided, which 
materially shortened the journey, reducing the time 
occupied in travelling to thirty hours instead of 
three days. 
I was delighted with the appearance of the country I 
passed over. The clumps of trees scattered through 
extensive meadow-like tracts of land, covered with rich 
vegetation of sweet grass and a variety of flowers, brought 
vividly to my recollection many park-like places I had 
seen in the old country, and I felt assured that if the 
lands lying between the rivers Berbice and Demerara 
were in the hands of persons of experience they would 
soon be turned to profitable account either as cattle farms 
or for agricultural purposes. I felt so much persuaded to 
this opinion that I jotted down in my note book the fol- 
lowing remarks made at the time : — "The tra£t of land 
lying between the river Berbice and Demerara is, in many 
respe6ts, better calculated for colonization than any other 
part of British Guiana; first, and chiefly, the healthiness 
of upper Berbice River is proverbial, the river water 
throughout the year, is pure and wholesome ; again the 
savannas are extensive, and their formation, generally, 
