Adventures amidst the Equatorial Forests and Rivers of South America; also in the West Indies and the wilds of Florida. To which is added 'Jamaica Revisited.' ... With many illustrations and maps

Front matter

i ■ ■ I I m ADVENTURES AMIDST THE EQUATORIAL FORESTS AND RIVERS OF SOUTH AMERICA. sketch, Map of EQUATORIAL AMERICA. NORTH EAST SECTION. A D 1/EN TURES A MIDS T THE EQUATORIAL FORESTS AND RIVERS OF SOUTH AMERICA; ALSO IN THE WEST INDIES AND THE WILDS OF FLORIDA. TO WHICH IS ADI1F.1> "Jamaica Revisited." By VILLIERS STUART, of Dromana, ALTHOK OF " F.GYPT AFTER THE WAR, " N'H.E GLEANINGS, ' ETC. WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS AND MAPS. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1891. LONDON : BRADBURY, AGNEW, & CO. LIMD., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARR. TO THEIR EXCELLENCIES SIR HENRY AND LADY BLAKE, THIS VOLUME is §tlinU1t.

Preface

. The narrative which I venture to submit to the public is chiefly compiled from letters and journals written at the time and on the spot. It relates to countries, some of which have been partially described before, but it has been my fortune to visit remote and little-known portions of them, encountering odd, original people, and taking part in adventures and incidents which I trust may not be found devoid of interest. The illustrations are partly from outline sketches of my own, partly from careful notes and descriptions worked up by a gifted and artistic young friend of mine, Mr. W. Whitelock Lloyd, who executed some of the marine pictures at the recent Naval Exhibition, and is beginning to attract notice. The photo-lithographs of scenes in Jamaica are reproduced on a much reduced scale from the admirable series of large photographs furnished by Dr. Johnston, of Brownstown, Jamaica, of which I have availed myself by special permission generously accorded. As regards the portion of this volume which deals with Jamaica, I may state that I first visited that

PREFACE.

. VIII island in the same year that witnessed my South American adventures ; but as I paid it a second visit last January I thought it best to postpone any description of it until I could combine my earliest with my latest impressions. These come last in point of time, and it therefore appeared most appropriate to place them last in the order of narrative ; but I venture to request my readers to refer back to the introductory observations which follow before commencing the perusal of the concluding section of this work. The Jamaica Exhibition, which formed an interesting incident in colonial progress, offered a suitable oppor tunity for calling attention to the present condition of the island, and to the important advance in material prosperity which it has achieved within the last quarter of a centurv.

It affords notable evidence of the vastness of the British Empire that so lovely a jewel in its crown as the island of Jamaica should be so little known to Englishmen as to pass almost unheeded in the cata logue of Imperial possessions. Yet I doubt whether such scenes of heavenly beauty are to be found in any other spot in their entire area. It is impossible to exaggerate its loveliness. The most skilful writers must despair of conveying any adequate idea of its fairy-like charms. But its claims to notice do not stop here. It offers an admirable health resort to those who seek to escape the rigours of a northern winter. Its mountain ranges

PREFACE.

. IX rise to a height of between 7,000 and 8,000 feet, so that the invalid may choose his own climate. There are gardens of Eden amongst the hills, where it is always cool and temperate, and which are rendered easily accessible by excellent roads, which have been of late greatly extended and improved by the present able and energetic Governor, Sir Henry Blake. It also presents an interesting illustration of the possibility of developing and improving the African race. I visited Jamaica about thirty years ago, and at that time found the coloured people in a semi-barbarous condition, lazy, insolent, and indifferent to all save the wants of the moment, caring not to better their condition or to arrive at any higher ideal than the beasts of the field — half naked on six days out of seven — rigged out in such finery as they could command on the seventh ; in fact this last passion was the only incentive ever to do a day's work.

Any ambition is better than none at all, and the desire to earn Sunday broadcloth for themselves and earrings and bracelets for their wives rendered some effort and exertion necessary, and redeemed them from absolute idleness. All this is changed now. I came out here for the opening of the Jamaica Exhibition, and have been astonished at the contrast presented by the existing condition and character of the coloured population as compared with that which I remembered on the occasion of my first visit.

PREFACE.

. X One is met on all sides by evidences of industry and improvement. The peasantry are now neatly and well dressed, and remarkably courteous and obliging. They all seem to aim at raising themselves in the world and attaining a better position. An eagerness to turn an honest penny whenever they can has taken the place of the former helplessness and indifference. The women may be met by the score on their way to market, carrying, balanced on their heads, up hill and down dale, often their own weight of bananas or other agricultural products. They will march fifteen or twenty miles for the chance of trading away these goods for a few shillings, and they are so merry and good-humoured withal ; they always have a word of greeting for the casual tourist — "Good morning, massa," or whatever it may be, smiling the while and showing a set of ivories that would drive a dentist to despair.

On Sunday they form model congregations. They have musical voices and sing well ; their children attend school regularly. They have also become exceedingly loyal. I doubt whether in any part of Her Majesty's dominions the enthusiasm with which Prince George of Wales was welcomed on his landing last January could have been exceeded, or the mainifestations of attachment to the Queen surpassed. The visit of H.R.H. was for the purpose of opening the Exhibition, the importance attached to which by the Jamaicans is indicated by the fact that upwards of

PREFACE.

. XI noo of the inhabitants joined in the guarantee fund, subscribers sending in their names from every district of the island. The Exhibition building was exceedingly handsome and most creditable to the good taste, public spirit and enterprise of the Colony. The architecture was Moorish. The Governor, Sir Henry Blake, in his opening address to the Legislative Council said : " His Royal Highness was deeply impressed by the beautv, the extent and the value of the Exhibition, and equally so by the loyal enthusiasm with which he was greeted in the splendid reception given to the grandson of the Queen by the people of Jamaica. It would be difficult to over estimate the importance of the Exhibition to Jamaica. Carried out as this great work has been by the hearty co-operation of every class ol the community, it has demonstrated how much can be done when all work to gether for the common yood ; it has stimulated intellec tual activity among the people, and has brought Jamaica with her possibilities and attractions before the world with a prominence unequalled during the present century.

The consequence is to be seen in the keen competition for her trade, and there are already indications that the close of the Exhibition will find the island endowed with more than one valuable industry hitherto undeveloped, while markets will be found for products till now neglected. Nor will the benefit be confined to Jamaica, for the products of the Bahamas, Barbadoes, Grenada, St. Vincent, and Turk's Islands are exhibited in their

PREFACE.

. XII respective courts, and are being noted by observant eyes." The result fully bore out his Excellency's anticipation. Large numbers of the coloured population from all parts of the island attended, and the educational effect in enlightening their minds and enlarging their ideas must have been excellent. Before its close upwards of 300,000 individuals had passed the turnstiles. It may be useful here to state that the population of ihe island is about 650,000 ; its area is upwards of 4,000 square miles or 2,500,000 acres ; its circuit 400 miles. Its exports, according to the last returns, were valued at £1,614,824. Its imports at £1,597,600. The chief articles exported consisted of coffee, sugar, bananas and other fruit, dye-woods, annatto, cocoa-nuts, rum, pimento, cattle and horses ; also fibre plants (for which the island is eminently fitted), ginger and many minor products.

In 1888-89, dye-woods formed 25 per cent, of the exports ; bananas and other fruit 20 per cent., coffee ig per cent., sugar 16 per cent. The banana trade is rapidly increasing, the demand being inexhaustible. This product has become a great favourite as a food with the working classes in the United States, who find it a very sustaining as well as a palatable, agreeable and convenient article of diet. The miners of Colorado are specially fond of it. In 1888-89 1,417,282 bunches were exported ; many bunches contain 100 bananas.

PREFACE.

. XIII Of course all these staple products, together with the processes of preparation, were amply illustrated at the Exhibition, and formed a most interesting and instructive feature of it. The coloured visitors took an intelligent interest in the contents of the various courts, though I fear the band and the steam merry-go-round had the best of it in the race for popularity by day, and the illuminations and fireworks by night. But is it otherwise at South Kensington ? The Governor has promoted the Indus trial School movement, an encouraging beginning has been made, and the little Africans who attend are quite competent to profit by them. They make good car penters, and are quick to learn. The popular idea of Jamaica is of an island ruined by the Emancipation, a region of derelict estates with a scattered population of negro squatters paying no rent, living in squalid huts, supporting life on yams and bananas, and indebted to the calabash tree for their only household utensils.

This idea was true once, but the realities of native Jamaican life are far different now. There are many thriving and prosperous estates owned by planters, some of whom are resident, manage their estates themselves, and form an influen tial element in Jamaican society ; others leave the work to agents, and content themselves with an annual visit. There are sugar estates in the lowlands, and coffee

PREFACE.

. XIV and cocoa estates in the highlands, which return a handsome income to their possessors ; there are ex tensive grass lands on which cattle and horses are raised, the latter so good as to have attracted the attention of military authorities as suitable for troopers. The agricultural population consists chiefly of small cultivators, who pav an average rent of one pound sterling per acre for their holdings, live in neat cottages built of wattles and thatched with palm leaves, cultivate bananas, yams, bread-fruit, sugar, coffee, cocoa, ginger, arrowroot, ground nuts, cocoa-nut palms, and other tropical products, such as custard apples, star apples, oranges, pine-apples, mangoes, and a variety of fruits the names of which would convey no meanings to those who have never had the privilege of visiting the West Indies.

The coloured population are well dressed, and gave me the idea of being the merriest and happiest peasantry I had met with in anv part of the world. The varied produce is brought by the women for sale to the nearest town. At every centre of population there is an excellent market hall, airy, open and cool, beneath the shade of which growers and consumers meet and bargain. The wife has tramped on foot for miles under a hot sun, loaded as above described ; the husband has ridden to market comfortably on the familv donkey, beneath the shade of a cotton umbrella, the only article he has carried.

PREFACE.

. XV In my various expeditions through the island I was much struck by the intelligence of the negro drivers ; they gave me much information, and were all unanimous in praising the present Governor, and detailing the improvement in roads and everything else due to his energy and conscientious devotion to his duties. H. VILLIERS STUART, of Dromana. Xovembery 1891. PAGE I 24 CONTENTS. EQUATORIAL FORESTS, ETC.

Chapter I. Surinam

Voyage from Demerara to Dutch Guiana — The Nicarie River — French Convicts — The Surinam River — Paramaribo — Vultures — The Market Place

Chapter II

SURINAM— continued. S tart for the Interior — Arawak Indians — Bush Negroes — Cocoa-nut Milk as a Beverage — Grandeur of the Surinam Forests — Tree Lilies — Settlers' Houses — Inflating the Air-Bed — Licence allowed to Slaves — A Forest Bungalow — My Indian Escort — Tropical Insects and Birds ...... 9

Chapter III

SURINAM— continued. The Great Equatorial Forest — Monkeys — Parasol Ants— Vegetable Thugs — Parasites — Poisoned Arrows — Impressive View of the Sierra dividing Guiana from the Basin of the Amazon — My Crew Mutiny and Disappear — Desperate Straits — Return of the Deserters — Again at Paramaribo

Chapter IV. Cayenne

The Maroni River — A Convict Settlement — A Curious Phenomenon — Cayenne — Badonel— The Governor's Visit — Escaped Convicts — A Terrible Incident — Convict Tradesmen — A Garden of Eden — Coasting Vessels — An Unsatisfactory Interview .......... 36

Chapter V. Demerara

Georgetown — The Essequibo River — Mangrove Thickets — An Unpleasant Experience — Climbing Fish — A Native Village — Petty Sessions Court — Negro School-Children — Georgetown again — Voyage resumed — My Fellow- Travellers — A Chequered Honeymoon — Flora and Fauna of the Orinoco River ............. 49 b CONTENTS. XVIII

Chapter VI. The Orinoco

PAGE River Travelling— A Plague of Mosquitoes— Maracotto— A Forest March— Ant-Bear and Jaguar — A Sand-Storm — Arrival at Angostura— A Coloured Governor — The Town described— Trade carried on by the Indian Tribes- White Indians 62

Chapter VII. Trinidad

Forest Excursions — Gulf of Paria — Port of Spain — Coral Trees — "Flowing Bowles " — Negro Love of Finery — The Pitch Lake — A Gastronomist — ■ Ortolan Pie 7>

Chapter VIII

TRINIDAD— continued. Visit to a Whale-fishing Establishment — My Host — Whale-steaks — Fishing Expedition — Sharks — An Exciting Incident — A Romantic Bath — My Host meets with an Accident — The Wonderful Bellows — Vampires ... 78

Chapter IX. Martinique

Grenada — St. Vincent — Barbadoes — Arrival at Martinique — St. Pierre — A Trip into the Interior — A Tug of War — Fort de France — Tree Ferns — The Bains des Pitons — Mountain Crabs — A Tour on Horseback — Trinity — A Mountain Pass — A Country Seat — The Island of St. Thomas ... 90

Chapter X. Florida

Trip to the Everglades — St. James on the Gulf — Tarpon Fishing — Punta Rassa — Shipping Cattle — Fort Myers — Professional Hunters — A Weird Cemetery — The Everglades — Seminole Indians — Lake Ocheechobee — Kissimmee River 106

CHAPTER XL

FLORIDA— continued. Prairie Fires— Encounter with a Prairie Bull — Rattlesnakes — Wild Fowl — Pelicans — Lake Kissimmee , .117 CONTENTS. XIX

Chapter XII

FLORIDA— continued. PAGE Lake Worth — A Primitive Settlement — Return on foot to Jupiter Inlet- Professional Wreckers — A Toilsome Tramp — The Inlet at last ■ A Strange Love-Bower — An Indian Shell-Mound — The Indian River- Manatees 129

Chapter III

The Opening of the Legislative Council — The Governor's Address — Brilliant Banquet LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. MAP SHOWING WATERSHED BETWEEN GUIANA AND THE AMAZON basin Frontispiece EQUATORIAL FOREST — MY FLOATING HOME .... To face page l6 MY INDIAN ESCORT ,, 24 INDIAN WEAPONS ,, 32 SCENE ON THE MARONI ,, 40 A MORNING WITH THE MANGROVES ,, 48 PETTY SESSIONS — ESSEQUIBO ,, 56 WHITE SQUALL ON THE ORINOCO ,, 64 WHALING OFF VENEZUELA „ 72 ST. PIERRE, MARTINIQUE ,, So MY MORNING BATH — BAINS DES PITONS „ 88 TREE FERNS „ 96 THE PITONS, MARTINIQUE ,, IO4 MAP: SECTION OF THE EVERGLADE REGION, FLORIDA . . „ 112 ENCOUNTER WITH A PRAIRIE BULL „ 120 OUR YACHT — UPPER KISSIMMEE RIVER ,, 128 YOUNG COCOA-NUT GROVE ,, 1 36 HOME RULE IN HAYTI ,, 160 MYRTLE BANK, KINGSTON HARBOUR ,, 168 BOTANIC GARDEN, JAMAICA ,, 1 76 ROARING RIVER, JAMAICA ,, 192 TOM CRINGLE'S TREE, JAMAICA ,, 208 LUCEA ,, ADVENTURES AMIDST THE EQUATORIAL FORESTS AND RIVERS OF SOUTH AMERICA; ALSO IN THE WEST INDIES AND THE WILDS OF FLORIDA.

Chapter I. Surinam

VOYAGE FROM DEMERARA TO DUTCH GUIANA. THE NICARIE RIVER.- — FRENCH CONVICTS. — THE SURINAM RIVER. PARAMARIBO. VULTURES. THE MARKET PLACE. Wishing to explore the great equatorial forest in the interior of Guiana, and to reach the watershed which separates it from the valley of the Amazon, I embarked in November, 1858, at Demerara for Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam. There were twenty other passengers, all Dutch. Unluckily for us, both the mail steamers were under repair, and we had to make the trip in a small river boat. She plunged about in the ocean swell as if she were bent on committing suicide ; my fellow travellers were soon hors de combat, and the floor of her little saloon was paved with ladies, babies, and basins ; there were no berths nor any other sleeping accommodation except the floor.

In the midst of this scene of woe the cabin table was arranged for dinner B SURINAM. |CHAP. I. 2 by the steward, a raw Dutch lad with yellow hair and broad beam, who had much difficulty in laying the cloth. In doinsr so he trod on some of the unfortunate " vraus " and " vrauleins," who I must say bore their sufferings with greater fortitude than the French and Spanish ladies whom I had seen under similar adversities. The dinner consisted of soup, in which every element of soup had been omitted except the grease, and two starved chickens whose legs stuck out rigidly as if they had died from the effects of strychnine. These delicacies our worthy skipper dispensed to the fair occupants on the floor through the medium of the steward, whose width of base stood him in good stead in the violent pitching and rolling which prevailed ; nothing else saved the lad from plunging head foremost amongst the bevy of beauties (Dutch, creole and mulatto) that adorned the carpet.

I had descended only to reconnoitre, and soon made my escape to the deck with a biscuit and a piece of Dutch cheese. Every mattress was occupied, but I triumphantly drew forth from my portmanteau the air-bed which I had brought with me, and inflated it to the great astonishment of the black steersman, who became so absorbed in contemplation that he forgot the helm, and the little craft began yawing about in the trough of the sea more furiously than ever. Curiosity is a weakness of his race. His duties were manifold, for when we approached shallow water he would leave the wheel, run to take soundings, and then skurry back again, and begin working it frantically. I did not obtain as good a night's rest as I expected. I had placed the aforesaid air-bed on deck, and every sailor as he passed stopped to punch it, causing one to dream of sub-marine earth- CHAP. I.] THE XICARIE RIVER. 3 quakes. 1 was awoke for the last time at daybreak by a final paroxysm of punching, and found two good looking mulatto women pushing and squeezing away at my mattress, their tongues going in Dutch at the rate of twenty miles an hour.

I immediately jumped up and offered to let them try whether it was comfortable ; they giggled, displayed two very white sets of ivories, and would evidently have liked of all things to take me at my word, but after a little hesitation they came to the conclusion that it would not be quite the thing, and declined. Soon afterwards we entered the Nicarie river, up which lies the first Dutch frontier settlement. The channel is very narrow, and dense forest comes down to the water's edge, while mangrove thickets invade the sea itself and form an impassable fringe along the shore and river bank. At its mouth a little Dutch war-sloop is anchored, with her guns ready to blow to pieces anything attempting to pass between her and the mangroves without her commander's consent. O The settlement, which consists of a few wooden houses and a church, is closely besieged by the forest, but higher up the river occur coffee, cane, and cotton plantations, which create some trade for the little port.

I saw here for the first time a very thick hard nut the kernel of which tastes like the sweetest fresh butter ; the milk tree is also indigenous. At the time of my visit the value of this last was not fully understood, but recently it has been discovered that not only does its sap abound in caoutchouc, but that the article manufactured from it possesses peculiarities which impart to it special virtues. I may here mention that a variety of trees and vines in the equatorial forest produce india- B SURINAM. [CHAP. I. 4 rubber and gutta-percha. Amongst these are the bush ropes or lianes which form such a characteristic feature of the vegetation of these latitudes. The Governor, to whom I was introduced, told me that far up the river lived wild negroes without whose permission no boat could pass.

We took on board six French convicts, who had escaped from Cayenne in a canoe, and had lived in the bush some weeks before they were finally captured. A more repulsive, wicked, reckless-looking half-dozen I never saw. They were attired in prison dresses of coarse sackcloth, and had dirty cotton handkerchiefs fastened round their close-cropped heads. They were escorted by six Dutch soldiers and a corporal ; the latter wore a very handsome order, the highest military decoration which the Dutch Government has to bestow. It is their Victoria Cross, and carries with it the title of knight. The corporal had earned it on the coast of Celebes island. A nest of pirates occupied a rock from which they kept up a destructive fire upon the corvette sent to capture them. The heroic soldier offered to scale this stronghold if five others would accompany him, and he succeeded with his little band in dislodging the robbers, killing many of them, and driving the sur vivors into the clutches of the main attacking party.

The Government would have rewarded him with his commission, but the poor fellow could not read or write, which was a fatal bar to his promotion ; it was imprac ticable even to make him a sergeant. The prisoners beguiled the time in chewing tobacco, eating salt fish and coarse bread, and in sleeping, to all outward appearances quite indifferent to their somewhat clouded prospects. CHAP. I.] COLONIAL ARCADIAS. 5 We reached the mouth of the Surinam river twenty hours later, and the outlaws were the only passengers who seemed sorry that the trip was approaching its termination. The Surinam forests are the grandest I have yet seen ; trees of noble stature actually overhang the salt water, a little way back immense buttress trees extend their great cedar-like branches above the lesser growth, and from those huge arms droop tangled masses of vegetable cordage which descend till they are lost amongst the under-growth of minor bush ; these details I discerned by the aid of an excellent telescope which the Captain lent me.

Vegetation goes on with such formidable energy here that if land be neglected for six months it is covered with a dense growth of shrubs and saplings, and in two years impenetrable bush hides all trace of human occupation. Neatly laid out plantations sloping to the water's edge occur all the way up the river to Paramaribo, and greetings were interchanged as we passed between the passengers on board and the Dutch lairds who were smoking their pipes beneath their pretty verandahs. Each plantation appears as a square clearing, covered with bright green sugar-cane, tall forest trees standing sentry all round. The planter's house is usually situated near the river, with a long low sugar-boiling factory and its tall chimney close by ; not far off, too, are the cottages and provision grounds of the slaves, but evil days are in store for these patriarchal little Utopias.

Emancipation is close at hand, and then the forest will claim its own again, and Mynheer's pipe will no more send up its incense from those Arcadian bowers, till abundant immigration shall have supplied the labour market anew. [chap. i. 6 SURINAM. The country is quite flat, though its level is rather higher than that of Demerara. We steamed along the coast the whole way from Georgetown, three hundred miles ; it is all low, and covered with forest. The climate is the most equable in the world. Since I have been in these latitudes the temperature has never varied from 8o° — 85 , day or night, by sea or land. It would be the paradise of consumptive patients. We passed Fort Amsterdam and the confluence of the Commerwine with the Surinam, and soon afterwards a turn in the river disclosed Paramaribo, with its shipping, its painted houses and pretty gardens, and its stately palm and tamarind avenues.

There lay at anchor a gunboat, two mail steamers, and several Dutch, English, and American ships. The scene was further diversified by canoes, and queer-looking countrv barges thatched with palm leaves. On arrival at the wharf, custom-house officers came on board, and civilly passed my luggage without examination. When casting my eye over the map of South America I had often looked with curiosity at Dutch Guiana, and wondered what sort of a place it might be which was so near the equator, and yet inhabited by natives of damp, foggy Holland. What form would Hollandism assume when transplanted to the torrid zone ? I little imagined that I should one day have an opportunitv of judging for myself, but here I was in the heart of that remote little known colony, and felt agreeably surprised to find it a very pleasant abode.

I met with much civility from all the Dutchmen with whom I came in contact. They retained their characteristics unimpaired. Every thing is neat, clean, and orderly ; the streets carefully CHAP. I.] PARAMARIBO. 7 swept and strewn with sand and shells ; the houses newly painted outside, trim and tidy within ; the thoroughfares lined with beautiful avenues of trees; the gardens adorned with lovely flowers and sedulously weeded. All business is conducted with clockwork punctuality, especially the business of dinner, for Mynheer has lost none of the gastronomic prowess of his ancestors. The Paramaribo citizen is proud of Holland, but he is prouder still of Paramaribo ! He is constantly exacting admiration for his town. One wooden house after another is pointed out as an architectural triumph : the barracks, the public offices, the clubs and churches are all displayed as chefs-d'oeuvre.

The Paramaribean is very courteous. It is the custom here to raise the hat to all strangers. On landing several passers-by offered me their hands, and bade me welcome to their town ; they introduced me to the club, invited me to their houses, and gave all the information in their power. This is very different from the neighbouring colony of Demerara, where the inhabitants unite with one accord in abusing the country and everything connected with it, and whose only aim is to coin dollars as fast as possible, and get back to Europe. Conspicuous citizens of Paramaribo are the black hooded vultures, which stalk about in the streets and fraternize with ducks, poultry, and naked children, promenade amongst the market baskets, and line the river banks and house-tops. There is a fine of 200 dollars for shooting one of these birds, a fact which appears to be well-known to them.

I have seen fifty together under the tamarind avenues, where the marketing goes on. The aspect of the market place is varied by whimsical looking little girls of various SURINAM. [chap. i. shades of colour, with strings of coral wound several times round their middles, — and nothing else in the way of toilet except tufts of plaited wool which stick out from their heads at every possible angle, giving them the appearance of little Medusas. Another feature is the midday siesta, which is a sacred institu tion, everyone taking to their hammocks at noon, and the stillness of midnight prevails in the town until 4 p.m. Any one arriving at Paramaribo within those hours would suppose it to be a deserted city, the inhabitants of which had been laid under a spell by the wand of some enchanter.

Chapter II

S U R I N AM— continued. START FOR THE INTERIOR. — ARAWAK INDIANS. BUSH NEGROES. COCOA-NUT MILK AS A BEVERAGE. GRANDEUR OF THE SURINAM FORESTS. TREE-LILIES. SETTLERS' HOUSES. INFLATING THE AIR-BED. LICENCE ALLOWED TO SLAVES. A FOREST BUNGA- LOW. MY INDIAN ESCORT. TROPICAL INSECTS AND BIRDS. After a few days' sojourn at Paramaribo I engaged a boat manned by slaves, and started for the interior. I had selected the Surinam for my attempt to reach the watershed of the Amazon basin, because it takes its rise in that section of the dividing ridge which approaches further northwards than any other in its entire extent. The sources of the Surinam were at that time unsurveyed, and are even now, I believe, but im perfectly traced. My crew consisted of six negroes and a steersman. Their laziness exceeded anything that an Englishman can imagine, prior to experience.

While rowing they keep up a languid chant, not unlike cats upon the house-top, the strokes of the oar occurring in the course of this performance as a sort of surprise at the end of each verse. These efforts, few and far between, are constantly interrupted by noisy disputes and by attempts to stop the boat for the day at every [chap. ii. SURINAM. 10 plantation reached. To listen to them one would suppose that they were just expiring of fatigue. They groan, they catch crabs, they roll about on the thwarts, and in the midst of these proceedings the tide turns, and they have not reached half way to the point where they are to spend the night ; then they drop their oars and declare they will work no more, but will go back to the last plantation. At this crisis the angry Briton emerges from his den — a cabin composed of palm stems.