The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-06-02 00:00:00

BRITISH GUIANA.

Guiana is not devoid of phenomena which are of interest
to the geologist, and which add to the picturesque and mag-
nificent scenery of that colony. The greatest geological
wonder of Guiana is no doubt Ataraipu, which, with full
right, may be called a natural pyramid, far surpassing in
height and grandeur the Egyptian piles constructed by the
labour of man.

The Ataraipu is on the Western bank of the river Guidaru
in 2 deg. 55 min. N. lat. Its base is wooded for about 351)
feet; front thence rises the mass of granite, devoid of all
vegetation, in a pyramidical form for about 550 feet more :
making its whole height about 900 feet above the river.
A column fashioned by nature, and compared by the In-
dians to the trunk of a crownless tree, is called Pouracpiapa,
or " the felled tree," and is of great interest. It occupies
the summit of a small hillock at the outskirts of the I'aca-
raima mountains, and is about twenty-five miles N.N.W.
from the Macusi village of Pirara. This column, the regular
form of which would cause any one who viewed it at some
distance to suppose it to be the trunk of a decayed tree, is
about fifty feet high.
,Two gigantic piles of granite rise on the western banks of
the Essequibo, from the declivity of a hill to a height of about
140 to 150 feet. The Conmuti or Taquiare consists of a huge
boulder of granite. surpassing in size the celebrated pedestal
of the statue of Peter 1.; on this rests an oval piece of gra-
nite, which bears a third in the shape of a jar; it is covered
be a fourth, and the resemblance of the two latter to a water-
jar with its cover is so great, that the Indians have called it
Comuti or Taquiare, which in the language of the Arawaaks
and Caribs signifies respectively a jar.
The pile is called Kamai, which signifies the tube or strainer
which is used for expressing the juice of the cassada root,
before it is made into bread.

The mural precipices of Roraima, which I have already
mentioned, deserve the notice of every geologist and lover of
the picturesque. They are not only remarkable for their
structure, but from the cascades—the highest known, viz.,
1400 to 1500 feet—which descend from them.
There are many more remarkable structures which deserved
notice, if the limits of this work permitted their description ;
—the tracts of huge granite boulders; mountains several
thousand feet high, consisting of solid granite, covered
scarcely with any vegetation ; the great cataracts of the rivers
Corentyn, Berbice, Essequibo, which, although they offer
impediments to navigation, we cannot help admiring as lovers
of the picturesque.

RIVERS.

I The rivers or outlets .of British Guiana which drain the
colony between the 57th and GOth meridian, and from the 7th
parallel to the equator, are, commencing from the westward,
the Essequibo, the Demerara, the Berbice, and the Corentvn.
The Essequibo: is the largest river of Guiana, and receives
its origin in the Acarai mountains, forty-one miles north of
the equator, from whence, for the first sixty miles, its gene-
ral course is north-east, meandering in short turns through
a rich mountain valley ; it divides frequently into branches,
and numerous rivulets flow from the mountains into its bed.
During inundations its waters rise here front twenty-five to
thirty feet above its banks. It receives the Caneruau and
Wapuau from the south-east, the Camoa or Ouangou from
the south-west. Having passed the Ouangou mountains,
which rise on its eastern shore to a height of 3000 feet, and
form the northern angle of the Acarai mountains, its course
is north to the confluence of the Cassi Kityou or Ynawauri,
which joins the Essequibo from the south-west. The sources
of the Cassi Kityou are said to be in the vicinity of those of
the Unanahau, a tributary of the Rio Branco. From this
point it runs in a north-cast direction, and receives in 2 de4.
16 nun. N. lat. its largest tributary south of the Rupunum,
the Cuyuvini, which has its sources at no great distance from
those of the Rupununi, but on the eastern foot of the Cara-
waimi chain. The Essequibo follows now a north-western
course, and it is for the next seventy miles so much impeded
by cataracts, that it is even not navigable for the small canoes
of the natives. It forms in 3 deg. 15 min. N. lat. a large
cataract called Wiliam the Fourth's Cataract. The river is
here narrowed in by mountains to about fifty yards, and pre-
cipitates itself with great force over two ledges of rock about
twenty-four feet high ; and adopting a north-by-west direc-
tion, it receives in 4 deg. N. lat. the Rupununi, a large river
which has its source in a savannah at the western foot of
the Carawahni mountains. It forms in 2 deg. 39 min. a
cataract; and meandering through the savannahs it passes
the Saeraeri mountains, and flows northward through the
Cannucu, until the Sierra Pacaraima, in the vicinity-of the
mountain Annai, turns it to the east. It receives previously,
in 3 deg. 37 min. N. lat., the stream Awaricuru or Wauecuru
from the south-west ; by which, and its tributary the Quat-
tate, the Pirara may be reached, which latter river belongs
to the basin of the Amazon. having passed the southern
foot of the mountain Makarapan, the Rupununi receives
from the south its largest tributary, the Roina or Rewa, and
joins in lat. 3 deg. 39 min. N. the Essequibo. The course of
the Rupununi is about 220 miles ; it flows mostly through
savannahs, and its waters are white. After its junction with
the Essequibo, the latter continues in a north-western di-
rection, forming the cataract Orotoko, and receives in lat.
4 deg. 46 min. N. the River Siparuni or Red River from the
south-west. In its further course the Camuti and Twasinki
mountains cause it to describe almost the figure 5, and it is
impeded by several rapids and numerous islands. The river
Potaro or Black River joins the Essequibo, from the south-
west, a few miles below the cataract of Waraputa. By the
Potaro and a short laud-passage the Indians reach the river
Mazaruni. From the hills Oumai to Point Saccaro it turns
now for sixty miles due-north ; whilst its tributary, the Ma-
zaruni, twelve miles to the westward, and the river Deme-
rara fifteen miles to the eastward, hold a parallel course for
the same distance. Fifty miles from its mouth occur the
last rapids, which prevent-the tide and sailing vessels from
ascending any further. About six miles north-west from
Seem it receives the waters of the united rivers Mazaruni
and Cuyuni, which at the point of junction are about a mile
wide.

The junction of the Mazaruni and Cuyuni takes place eight
miles west of their confluence with the Essequibo. Opposite
'their confluence, but in the Mazaruni, is the small island
Kyk-oer-all, where the Dutch in former times erected a fort
against the incursions of the Spaniards. The Mazaruni is
only navigable for small sailing vessels to the island of Carid;
further south commence the rapids, which are no doubt
caused by the same ledge of rocks that form the Aritaak
rapids in the Essequibo§. The Cuyuni runs from its conflu-
ence with the Yuruario east and west. The Essequibo con-
tinues its northern course, growing continually wider until
at its mouth it forms an estuary nearly twenty miles wide
(according to others only fifteen.) In its wide estuary there
are numerous islands, some of which are of considerable ex-
tent. The cultivation of Hog Island, which is about fifteen
miles long, is restricted to its northern point. Wakenaara,
of equal length, and Leguan, about twelve miles long, are
however in a high state of cultivation. Tiger Island, the
most western in the mouth of the Essequibo, is less culti-
vated.

•
The entrance of the Essequibo is much impeded and ren-
dered dangerous for navigators by many shoals and sand-
banks which extend to seaward. The best and safest of the
four channels formed by the three islands is between the east
shore and the Island Leguan, which has a depth of from two
to four fathoms. According to the volume of water which
there is in the river, the current is more or less strong ; but
it is seldom more than four knoti, even during the rainy sea-
son. The course of the Essequibo, taking its windings into
account, is not less than 620 miles, exceeding in length any
river in France, and vying with the Vistula in Poland.
East of the Essequibo and parallel to it is the Demerara or
Demerary, having its sources probably in that small group of
mountains which approach the Essequibo in 4 deg. 28 min.
N. lat. and are called Maccari. Its upper course is only
known to the Indians. At 5 deg. 19 min. N. lat. it forms a
great cataract, impassable even for canoes, which the Indians
convey here overland until the river is again unimpeded. The
last rapids (Kaicoutshi Rapids) are a distance of about eighty-
five miles in a straight line from Georgetown, to which point
it is navigable for vessels of smaller size. A square-
rigged vessel has been known to load tigiber at Lucky
Spot (in 5 degrees 57 min. N. lat.,) about seventy-five miles,
(the windings included,) from the river's mouth. Towards
its mouth it widens to a mile, and where it enters the sea it
is more than a mile and half across. A bar of mud extends
about four miles to seaward, with only nine feet of water at
half-flood, but the channel along the eastern shore has nine-
teen feet of water at• high-tide. The river's average current
is about 21 knots ; it sweeps, however, with much more
strength at the anchorage at George Town, where, assisted by
the reflux of the tide, it has been known to reach a velocity
of seven knots in an hour, or 11.9 feet in-,.a second. The
Demerara, running parallel between the in-,.a
to the
west and the Berbice to the east, does not receive any tribu-
taries of magnitude; the tide extends about seventy-five
miles in a straight line from its mouth.
The river Berhice discharges itself into the Atlantic about
fifty-seven miles to the east of the Demerara ; its source is
probably near the third parallel of latitude. In its upper
course it approaches so near to the Essequibo that the direct
distance in 3 deg. 55 min. N. lat. amounts only to nine miles.
It takes from hence a north-western course, sometimes nar-
rowing to thirty feet, at other times spreading into lake-like
expansions ; its banks arc low and frequently marshy. The
river is studded with boulders.
In lat. 4 deg. 19 min. N. and about seven miles further
north commence the cataracts and rapids, which impede the
river for upwards of fifty miles ; the last cataract is in 4 deg.
50 min. N. lat., and the river is now flee for boat navigation.
Where the fifth parallel crosses its course it follows a north-
eastern direction to its outflow into the Atlantic. It is navi-
gable for vessels which draw not more than twelve feet water
to lat. 5 deg. 20 rain., upwards of 105 miles, according to the
river's winding course; vessels of seven feet draught may
ascend it for 165 miles, measured along its numerous wind-
ings. The influence of' the tide is perceptible nearly to that
distance.

* Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, val. iv. p. 32.
t Hartzink Beschryving van Guiana, vol. i. p. 266.
1: The Essequibo is said to have received its name from
Don Juan Essequibel, an officer under Diego Columbus. At
its lower course it was called by the Indians who inhabited
the coast " Aranauma." The Tarumas call the upper Esse-
quib
Sipou " Coatyang Kityou," the Macusis, • and Caribees
"
§ Mr. Hillhouse, who has ascended the Mazaruni and the
Cuyuni to a considerable distance, found both rivers much
impeded by rapids and cataracts. 1 suppose the Mazaruni
has its sources in about 5 deg. N. lat. ; the course of the
rivers Mahu, and Sipartmi, and the situation of Roraima,
cause me to form such an opinion.

process of de-
stroyingGaitsnifor some time
.NVl,e,iskoesun.rtlilc eater-
CATERPILLARS.—The following von, „„.,
caterpillars on gooseberry tree's-IY.
whilst
been practised in the gardens of Mr. , at Hull San-
ton, near Whitehaven, with complete smep Obtain a
quantity of finely-powdered hellebore, and'
pillars begin to make their appearance avail
the
first evening or morning after a shower of iuin:ae, td of.
the foliage is wet, to dredge a quantity of the hellebore
the infected trees from a pepper box or any similar article,
taking taking care that the interior portions of the branches ar
well sprinkled with the powder. If the caterpillars make,
their appearance during a dry season, better wet the trees'
from a watering pan and apply the powder as above. De-
struction is almost instantaneous, and the operation is as
simple as it is cheap—a pound weight of the hellebore, which
costs only is. Bd. being sufficient for one hundred ordinary
sized trees.—Carlisle Patriot.

EXTRACTS FROM " A DESCRIPTION OF BRITISH GUIANA,
GEOGRAPHICAL AND STATISTICAL : EXHIBITING ITS
RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES, TOGETHER WITH THE

PRESENT CONDITION, AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF T 1
COLONY. BY R. H. SCHOMBLIRGIC, ESQ."
(Continued from our last.)
GEOLOGY.
Mr. Hillhouse, in his voyage up the Mazaruni, observed
at some distance a conical peal, resembling the crater of a
volcano*.

There is a tradition that a volcano still in action exists up
the river Siparuni, and it, is mentioned by Hartzink that it
had been discovered in 1749 f. Though I attempted repeat-
edly to procure_ information on this.subject, when in those
regions, I did not succeed. If, therefore, an active volcano
existed, it is probable that it is now extinct. The Indians of
Pirara told me that there was, on the south-western angle of
the Sierra Pacaraima, a mountainwhence, from time to time,
detonations are heard.

Earthquakes are very seldom felt in Guiana, and the shocks
are but slight; if therefore the connexion between volcanoes
and earthquakes be admitted, the rarity and slightness of the
shocks do not point to the circumstance that volcanic phe-
nomena find much fuel in Guiana. Major Staple, well known
for his experiments, and in many instances for his great suc-
cess in obtaining fresh water in George Town by boring,
discovered a mineral spring upon his own premises in
Cuminsburgh, which is strongly impregnated with iron. I
have frequently met with springs in the interior which were
more or less impregnated with that metal, sometimes so
strongly that the water was of an ochreous colour, but none
which possessed thermal waters.