The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1905-03-23
INF THREE GUIANAS.
nyFy INTO THE BACKWOODS.
Wv ~ THE DEMERARA RIVER.

.,..s crmr~pondence of The J0urnall
.,ArIBo, DUTCH GUIANA, Feb.
There is only one line of steam.
..rr lirect and regular trips be-
U.s. ,.r capitals of the three Guianas
ri amsterdam, with the jaw -dislo-
.-r.r 'koninkijke est-Indische
..rs which sends trim little
., NAY once every month. In
.+..fu of waiting Gin our case near
weeks. one cannot do better
..+ ume-killing than to 60 into
4..ar IN every direction as far as
..4-l taeiities of local travel al
the purpose of gaining all pos
..7,uation concerning this inter-
.- most unknown portion of
sr.jCa. The longest of these
that up the Demerara
.-. tsslna. a distance of l2O miles.
.. one of the tiny paddle
.. -feAmers that ply these Gui-
only - for the round trip.
.--.. merely pays for the privi-
.. wing a comfortable cane
.. ...r Oh the little throne-like,
d upper deck, perched
--t Idle box. Sleeping accom-
.. .- .- not provided. You may
..aft hours of darkness in the
like-if gigantic mosqui-
nod-sucking vampires per-
YOUR hammock wherever
.... found, or secure a settee
.- . all are not pre-empted.
.,ei they may be had on board
..- DO not object to absurdly
-t.runguessable conundrums
t az # Dutch cookery, or you
Sely live out of lunch
IT,, eer-rdlIy packed at the English
r. .tra rgetown.
--lsarcara flows almost due north
.,mta more than 200 miles, nobody
.F. exactly how far, because its up
.me. mains entirely unexplored.
slall.u report that it is broken by
,no,- eontinuous succession of
.a.sl ascades, the first of which
,r, 'f>- above Akyma, the steam
& te-l us. At this point, where
-ur q, narrowed to $50 feet, its
FED , lack as the Rio Negro of
d. r.yably from the same cause,
M1E- Washed over vast quantities
.-4l-I srgetable matter. On its
lu- ard course the color grad
, to chocolate-brown and
t s'Y yellow from the clayey
r.. u.le-and-a-half-w wide mouth.
,H.ss 4rks of the man-eating va
rs . a ming Y numerous in the
t-lrgetOwn; the moist shores
Z. s.. warming with alligators,
r- tWenty-footers are not
rH -pecimens: and higher up
'uDl of those huge fish the
VII. CD from ten to fourteen
E. 0.- I'd in plate-armOr of great
-. red with rosy line. This
.t st. Goldfish upon which the
.7- .s.-r.l subsist, and whose odor,
-.. IS fartherest from that of
1T best.
Be-. fri .J miles up the Demerara
Uninterrupted succession of
a- ates, with their numerous
~ M groups of houses, the
FIR, s.. y as to be often flooded,
Ir- board floor far as the eye
l:-- II we come to a series of
/. Ills, none more than 100
imposed of sand so fine and
IS ,o ook like sugar-loaves set
.m h., ne the celebrated "Demer-
'1sl.s which command a higher
r tf markets of England than
i'ae- lgar. Immediately beyond
p .ls e primeval forests begin,
se. Vay hundreds of miles, hid
l@Nuy huows what wonders of the
.la a4 vegetable kingdoms and
aasr Eases of human life. The
d. 7lg5 If the wilderness is border
~ 5-saAtlc reeds, in which mango
% ana rms nearly as tall are grow
.d-bt by buttressed silk-cotton
~ hg ro an enormous height, and
'l' nj many varieties so thickly set
s '4taD,Iy intertwined and curtain
.H '- and creeperS and world
aNa parasitic growths that it is
''''.'I+ 'o distinguish species amid
--s has- Of living green. Occasion
.'t ing intently into the dark
Hds u he forest, you may see a
@' ''N IT a lurking manatee, or a
: stretched out on log; but as a
''. is slvnt as the grave, except for
.''l. paroquets and chattering
.ua. Us and is of course entirely un-
.'Ollea there are only three regular
'4'i' at which the steamer calls be-
VII ''-9rgetown and Akyma, but her
''''a H'5h the government compels
'F Tor every boat that may put
-''.- SUore to hail her, whether it
'.'"'e cad of passengers, a scow of
'''' 'garden-sass," or a tiny
' point sharp as a pin and a
.5 md to town for a yard of
.ne female squatter.
nd Il