SOUTH AMERICA. 
37 
FIRST 
JOURNEY. 
off, and others as though they had lost their apex- 
Here tAvo hills rise up in spiral summits, and the 
wooded line of communication betwixt them sinks so 
gradually, that it forms a crescent; and there the 
ridges of others resemble the waves of an agitated 
sea. Beyond these appear others, and others past 
them; and others still farther on, till they can 
scarcely be distinguished from the clouds. 
There are no sand-flies, nor bete-rouge, nor mos¬ 
quitos, in this pretty spot. The fire-flies, during the 
night, vie in numbers and brightness with the stars 
in the firmament above; the air is pure, and the 
north-east breeze blows a refreshing gale throughout 
the dav. Here the white-crested maroudi, which is 
never found in the Demerara, is pretty plentiful; 
and here grows the tree which produces the moran, 
sometimes called balsam-capivi. 
Your route lies south from this place; and at the Route, 
extremity of the savanna, you enter the forest, and 
journey along a winding path at the foot of a hill. 
There is no habitation within this day’s walk. The 
traveller, as usual, must sleep in the forest; the 
path is not so good the following day. The hills, 
over which it lies, are rocky, steep, and rugged; and 
the spaces betwixt them swampy, and mostly knee- 
deep in water. After eight hours’ walk, you find 
two or three Indian huts, surrounded by the forest; 
and in little more than half an hour from these, you 
come to ten or twelve others, where you pass the night. 
They are prettily situated at the entrance into a 
savanna. The eastern and western hills are still 
