The singer was Moë, and he explained, pointing to a heron, flying high over the river, that the honuré, i.e. the heron, is a peaiman (a medicine man), who was singing this song as he flew. The heron at any rate gains one advantage by being a peaiman; for no Macusi will eat its flesh.

The Indians, having finished all their meat, now announced their intention of waiting while the best huntsman amongst them went to try to get the mother tapir. To my great satisfaction this hunter came back emptyhanded; for if he had been successful we should have probably have had to wait till this new supply of meat had been consumed.

That day was spent in travelling along smooth reaches of the river, which are more monotonous, though even there the scenery is beautiful. The banks of the river are everywhere covered by dense forests, which sometimes grow on low flat land, sometimes on rocky and undulating slopes, and sometimes clothe a solitary mountain or small range of mountains up to the very highest rock. But most wonderful of all are the views which may be obtained by climbing to the top of some of the hills, and looking down on the great and wide sea of tree-tops ending only at the circle of the horizon, and unbroken except where here and there a long narrow thread of white mist, lying along the tree-tops, marks the winding course of some small stream.

As among the falls, innumerable islands, some of considerable extent, stud the river and hide its real width from the eye. The beauty of the scenery is in great measure due to the effect of the distant views as seen between the approaching headlands of each two of these islands. The traveller from his canoe in the centre of a lake-like expanse of still water, in the midst of a group of these islands, sees the water flowing toward and from him, through many channels, each of which is framed by the trees overhanging from two neighbouring islands. In the more open reaches of the river, in the dry season, when the water is low, banks of bright yellow sand swell up from the water, and either form islands, often of very con

siderable extent, or fill the bays in the curves of the riverbanks. Twice in each year, when at the end of each wet season these sandbanks show above water, the river turtles, which are very numerous, lay their eggs in the sand; and gull-like razor-bills (Rhynchops nigra) make their uncovered nests on the sand, and wheel about them incessantly uttering their harsh cry.

One evening we reached a hut on the Paripie creek belonging to some half-bred Brazilian Indians. These people, called Nikari-karus, are hybrids between Brazilians and Indians of various tribes. Their proper home is on the frontier of British and Brazilian territory; and the few settled on the Essequibo are deserters from the frontier forts and cattle farms, where, at any rate till recently, the labour done was forced. Except in two respects the habits of these people scarcely differ from those of the native Indians of the English territory. They make their cassava into farine, instead of into bread; and in making their hammocks they use coloured cotton, generally blue or yellow, instead of white, and the web is more close, and somewhat different from that of the ordinary Indian. At Yucarisi, a mile or two beyond Paripie, is another of these Brazilian settlements; higher up the river, at Arinda, is a third; and there is another on the Roopoonooni river near Anahee. These, I believe, are all

While sleeping in a house at Paripie several of our party were sucked by bats. I never could succeed in inducing a bat to taste my blood, though men sleeping round and close to me have frequently been attacked. These animals are a serious trouble to some travellers; for they seem to have a special liking for some people, an abhorrence of others. An Indian boy who served me for a short time was nearly bled to death by their nightly attacks. No amount of care seemed to prevail against them. To keep a light burning, which is often said to prevent their attacks, proved useless in his case. His parents used to sit up night after night to watch, and while they watched the bats never made an attack; but as soon as they fell asleep the bats bit and blood began to flow.

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The bite seems to cause not the slightest pain; and the danger lies, not so much in the quantity of blood sucked by the animals, as in that which afterwards flows from the unnoticed wound.

One morning about this time the Indians noticed my sponge, and expressed much wonder about it. Moë, as usual, put himself forward as spokesman. First he guessed that it was a hat; then a bird's-nest; then a shoe. When its use was practically illustrated, the whole company were overcome with laughter.

After passing the mouth of the Potaro river, on which is the Kaieteur fall, the men began to hunt for turtles' eggs in the sand-banks; and just before reaching Warrapoota they found a considerable number. The Brazilians at Yucarisi had given us some of these eggs smoked and dried. But in this state, though they keep good a considerable time, they cannot be recommended for delicacy of flavour. Now, however, that we got them fresh from the nest it was a very different matter. Those which we first found were about the shape and size of pigeons' eggs, with roughish and very elastic shells, or, rather, skins. Another species of turtle, equally common in these rivers, lays a much larger and rounder egg. Both kinds are boiled; the albumen is expressed, and the yelk, which is then of a buttery consistency, is eaten. These eggs are certainly very delicious food. The Indians fully appreciate them, and, though they will not touch the egg of a fowl, consume these turtle eggs greedily. I have occasionally seen large canoes literally filled with the eggs which Indians have collected. The egg of the iguana lizard (Iguana tuberculata) is very similar, and is equally sought after.

At Warrapoota cataracts I for the first time saw the rockpictures which form so strange an addition to some of the landscapes of this part of South America. A large number of somewhat conspicuous figures are engraved on the surfaces of a group of granite boulders in the very midst of the

cataract.

Camping that evening just above Warrapoota, I was once more disturbed by a freak of the Indians in the middle of the night. Roused by a moving light, I saw a procession of our Indians moving round the camp; foremost was one apparently taking aim with his gun; behind were others of whom each held a blazing palm-branch high over his head. To my sleepy remonstrances they replied that they had heard an omar (an evil being) and that they were looking for it; but, as the tracks showed in the morning, the noise had been made by a poor little labba (Cœlogenys paca).

The next day was memorable. We passed Paiwarikaira, a large granite boulder which rests on a slender columnar base. It is commonly reported that a certain Dutchman, when his countrymen possessed the land, brought a hundred slaves to overturn the rock; but he failed, and the rock remains to this day in position, to interest the traveller and to awe the passing Indian. No Indian, unless he be a peaiman, willingly looks at Paiwarikaira; for the sight of it is followed by misfortune. Heedless of this, and regardless of the entreaties of the Indians, I approached, and even touched the rock. When, shortly afterwards, it began to rain the Indians attributed this solely to my disrespectful treatment of Paiwarikaira; nor, as will presently be shown, was this the only evil that befel us, as my men said, in consequence.

Only about two hundred yards higher up the river is another rock in which, according to the half-civilised Indians, God has shut up a negro, who is not to be let out until for one whole year he ceases to swear. His chance of freedom, if he is like most of his race, must be small indeed. The Indians' hatred of black men is noticeable in this and many other circumstances.

That evening we were stopped for the first time by a fall, up which it was impossible to take the loaded canoes; but in the morning they were unloaded, hauled up empty, and then reloaded.

Among our men was a peaiman, or medicine man, who about this time gave me some trouble. He used to tie his

hammock to the same tree to which mine was tied; and being, like all Indians, very restless at night, he frequently shook and disturbed me. On telling him to move his hammock he did so with a very bad grace, and when I laughed at him, he angrily and somewhat inconsequently told Moë that he was not afraid of us.' Some fresh offence being again given to this man, he, once more using Moë as an interpreter, remarked that he would kill us all, and even mentioned the order in which he would do this. We shortly had good reason to remember this remark.

Misfortunes now began to fall thickly upon us. First, our bread was exhausted, and it was with great difficulty that we obtained a small fresh supply from one of the few Indian settlements on the river. Then sickness appeared among us. Moë, owing, not improbably, to his sudden rejection of clothes, had been ill for some days. He and another boy, named Woijeau, were our cooks. The peaiman, who was usually unwilling to do work of any sort, of his own accord now undertook to prepare our meals. Soon after, one by one, we all became ill, in exactly the order in which the peaiman had threatened to kill us. I cannot prove the case against the man, but I have little doubt that he intentionally caused our illness; the Indians, on the other hand, were convinced that the misfortune was due to our disrespectful treatment of Paiwarikaira.

This illness greatly impeded our progress. Fever was especially prevalent. As a similar misfortune is very likely to attack all travellers in that land, where the days are always burningly hot, the nights, by comparison, bitterly cold, and the atmosphere is always saturated with moisture, it may not be out of place to say that these attacks, though frequent and very troublesome, are but rarely dangerous. The traveller of ordinarily good constitution, who leads a temperate life, need not fear anything more than great discomfort. If, on the other hand, his system has been saturated with alcohol, or broken by other excesses, there is considerable danger. To this cause must be attributed the