154 TlMEHRI. 
lesser rivers of the colony, the Canje is said to be one of 
the deepest between the Amazon and the Orinoco. 
However this may be, large vessels have loaded timber 
as far up as the mouth of the Icooroowa : and it is said 
to be navigable for vessels drawing 14 feet of water 100 
miles from the mouth. So navigable is it, indeed, that 
by cutting away a few tacoubas in the upper part, a 
small steamer might run right up to the savannah. It is 
not much affected by tidal influence, and the water, which 
is dark, and possesses the proverbial sweetness of the 
creek waters of Guiana, is fresh to within a few miles 
from the mouth. 
The whole of this forest region is not in its primitive 
state. Indeed, most probably, within a workable dis- 
tance for hauling timber of the banks of the rivers and 
creeks, very little of it is. During the Dutch possession 
of Berbice a good deal of the Canje River was occupied 
by colonists. Many estates existed in the upper part, 
and though these have now grown up into forest again, 
the localities bear the old names. In a few cases, the 
properties were sold after emancipation tc communities 
of black people, who were mainly the descendants of the 
slaves that lived upon them ; and these people and their 
families are now the chief inhabitants of the river, and 
constitute the villages that are here and there on the 
banks. Both banks of the mouth were also occupied by 
estates in those days, some of which are still in cultiva- 
tion. 
There are no Indian inhabitants at present on the 
river or its tributaries, and have not been for many years. 
Sir ROBERT ScH0MBURGH mentions having met some 
in the upper region in 1838, and traces of their residence 
