Chap. XXV.—B. P.] 
SIMON. 
429 
gether, certainly would have far exceeded twice the 
length of the canoe. 
A little before one we arrived at the place we had 
reached at daybreak yesterday; from here I found 
the river banks very low, scarcely three feet above 
the water, and a dead level as far as the eye could 
reach. 
About eight miles below this we passed the plan¬ 
tation of Simon, an old and faithful follower of mine. 
There is a good water-hole here, and the place is 
famous in the annals of Blewfields, as the first pro¬ 
vision ground cleared by a Blewfields man. The 
situation is well chosen, there being a creek near, and 
some rising ground not far inland, to which settlers 
could easily resort in case of a heavy flood. Here the 
river assumes a very imposing appearance, being at 
least four hundred yards across and very deep. 
Lower down, the banks (if banks they can be 
called, being scarcely better than a swamp), were 
thickly covered with bamboo, or, more strictly speak¬ 
ing, wild cane, of considerable length and thickness; 
but inland the ground rises much more than it does 
higher up, several very respectable hills making their 
appearance towards the mouth of the river. One 
especially, called Malapee, I should estimate to be 
at least four hundred feet in height. About this 
place, I observed that the so-called bamboo gave place 
to the Silico palm. 
Below this point no attempt has been made to clear 
any plantations, although no doubt there is abundance 
of excellent land to be had for the trouble of cutting 
