l66 TlMEHRI. 
trict that extends from the Canje to the Corentyn River. 
Since the days of the first colonization of Berbice it has 
been occupied by wood-cutters, and though so much timber 
during the last century has been got out, I found the 
bullet-tree more plentiful there than perhaps any where 
else on my journey. Some of the largest and best of 
the other trees of the colony are also found on the 
banks of the Icooroowa, such as tonka-bean, of which I 
saw numerous fine specimens, simiri, also plentiful and 
large, mora and many others. A difficulty is often ex- 
perienced in getting large timber out for want of water 
when in dry weather the creek is low. Overhanging 
the water the banks are lined for miles and miles with 
Gustavia augnsta a Desmoncus near palustris, Bactris 
trichospatha and B. leptocarpa, the cannaheri, — Pa- 
chira aquatica — and dense thickets of a trailing prickly 
bamboo that I have seen nowhere else with long trail- 
ing whip-like shoots. Numerous plants of course are 
mixed with these here and there, but hardly anywhere 
in sufficient quantity to give character to the growth. 
The trees on the opposite sides often meet overhead 
and their branches are occupied by a few species of 
ferns, lycopods and orchids, among which I gathered 
some rare and interesting things. 
The real river people, that is those who have been 
bred and born there and get their living entirely from 
the forest, occupy only the upper part of the river. 
They are almost entirely of pure negro blood. There 
are a few coloured descendants of the Dutch, but they 
are very few. I am indebted to the Registrar General 
for a sketch of the river showing the distribution of the 
population, The total number is 8,346, but of this 
