38 TlMEHRI. 
of rock, broken by faintly marked step-like ledges, 
over the whole of which in the heavy rainy season a 
continuous flood of water must pour, but which was now 
almost dry. At last the way to the top lay before us 
clear and, if somewhat difficult, certainly passable. 
We hurried down the slope before us, cutting our way 
through the long grass as quickly as we could. Then 
we came to the fall, under which we had to walk for 
some 150 yards. Luckily, comparatively little water was 
coming over at the time ; and this, descending from the 
great height of two thousand feet, fell upon us only as 
very heavy rain. In wet weather — and even two or three 
hours of rain, as we sometimes saw, swell these streams 
in a wonderful way — it would probably be quite impossi- 
ble to walk under this fall, though even then it would 
perhaps be just possible to walk behind it, between it 
and the cliff, clinging closely to the face of the latter. 
Just where the water fell on to the rocks grew in great 
abundance, a low, compact shrub, with small dense leafage 
and pretty little white flowers which I never saw anywhere 
else. The fall once passed we made our way up the 
slippery rocky part of the slope beyond, till we reached 
the upper part of the ledge, after its interruption by the 
cascade. This proved to be mainly covered by a dense 
growth of the Brocchinia cordylinoides, still very dwarf 
as compared with the habit of the same plant on the 
Kaieteur savannah ; and through this it was neither easy 
to make our way, simply by reason of the density of 
this plant growth, nor was it pleasant, by reason of the 
immense quantity of water which, held by the curiously 
arranged leaves of these plants, was poured over us as, 
in advancing, we crushed and sank into their leafage. 
