BOOK XCII. DESCRIPTION OF AMERICA CONTINUED. 553 Guiana. BOOK XCII. Name of The the coun Coast. GUIANA, or Guyana, derives its name from a tributary stream of the Orinoco, and is bounded on the south by the Amazons, on the west by the Rio Negro, and on the north and north-west by the Orinoco and Atlantic ocean. coast, from its lowness, is subject in many places to inun- try; dations; the land, at the distance of several leagues from the sea, is deluged by the tides. The sailor loses sight of the capes or promontories at a short way from the shore; but ships can approach them without danger, for the distance may be ascertained with sufficient accuracy by means of the sounding line. The turbid appearance of the sea is owing to the great quantity of alluvial matter borne down by rivers; the mangrove grows on the low Low grounds in which the sea water remains stagnant; several grounds. fens or marshes, occasioned by the inundations of rivers, are covered with reeds, that afford shelter to the cayman and different sorts of water fowl. These marshes, as well as the open and dry meadows, of which the pasture is excellent,* are commonly called savannas. The sand and Bajon, Mémoires sur Cayenne. Pinkard's Notes on the West Indies. Leblond, description abrégée de la Guyane Francaise. XCII. Hills. BOOK shells, with which the soil is mixed, indicate its origin; the sea at every inundation leaves a deposit; heights are thus raised along the coast, and the ocean makes a barrier for itself, that must one day put a stop to its inroads.* After sand or ooze has been thrown on the shore, the red mangles make their appearance; at a later period mounds of sand are successively formed, and, as the water is thus intercepted, the plants wither and decay; but it is difficult to account for the formation of hills in the midst of these marshes, unless we suppose that they have been islands added to the continent by continued alluvial deposits. This hypothesis is rendered more probable from the circumstance that there are islands or primitive rocks consisting of granite, quartz, and schistus, at no great distance from the land. No calcareous rocks have hitherto been observed in Guyana, the hills near the shore are generally parallel to the coast; as the course of rivers is thus impeded, many waterfalls are formed, which vary in height from twenty to sixty feet. The highest inland mountains are not more than 1800 feet above the level of the sea,† and are situated to the north of several streams, which enter the Amazons, or flow into the ocean. The broad and shallow mouths of the principal rivers, the Oyapok, the Maroni, the Surinam, and Essequibo, must be attributed to the lightness of the soil, and the lowness of the ground. None of the numerous cataracts are lofty; there are eight on the Oyapok, within the distance of twenty leagues; those of the Maroni are less frequent but more majestic; no fewer than thirty-eight falls very near each other have been counted on the Essequibo; cascades of this description are not confined to these rivers, they are observed on the Demerari, the Berbice, the large Corentins, the Sinamari and the Arouari, which last was for some years the boundary be Rivers. *Laborde, Journal de Physique, 1773, t. I. p. 464, &c. Bajon, Mémoires, t. I. p. 12. Leblond, Traité de la Fievre jaune. Leblond, Description abrégée, p. 55, 59. XCII. Seasons. tween the French and Portuguese possessions. The dry BOOK season lasts from the end of July to November, and the rainy season corresponds with the winter months in Europe; but the most violent rains fall sometimes in January and February; the weather is dry and agreeable during the month of March and the beginning of May; this period has for that reason been denominated the short summer. The whole of April, and the latter part of May are subject to continued rains. The climate of Guiana is not liable to the excessive heat of the East Indies, Sencgambia or the Antilles. At Cayenne the centigrade thermometer never rises above 28 degrees in the course of the dry season, and reaches rarely 24° during the rainy months; the climate of Surinam is still milder. M. Cotte supposes that the greatest mean heat does not exceed 25° 8', and calculates the mean temperature of the year at 20°.* The refreshing influence of the north winds during the rainy sea- Prevailing son, and of the east or south-east winds during the dry months is felt throughout the whole of Guiana. These winds, cooled by passing over a vast extent of ocean, render the atmosphere less sultry and the heat less oppressive. Europeans affirm that the morning and evening breezes are cold in many parts of the interior. The climate varies in different districts; Cayenne is less subject to rains. than the country watered by the Oyapok. The summer and winter, or rainy and dry seasons, begin in Surinam about two months later than in Cayenne; Mr. Stedman believes that the duration of the seasons has not been ascertained, and that the time of their succession is as variable as in any country of Europe. winds. As to the salubrity of the country, Guiana has perhaps Diseases been thought more unhealthy than it really is. It cannot be denied that it possesses the disadvantages of a warm and rainy climate, and of being covered with thick woods and uncultivated lands. Settlers are liable, on their arrival, to malignant and intermittent fevers; and it has + Bajon, Stedman. Cotte, Mémoire de Météorologie. BOOK been supposed, that the cutting down of the woods is unXCII. favourable to the health of the colonists.* The sun dilates Inunda tions. Vegetaion, fruit trees. in these places the miasms exhaled from putrid vegetable matter heaped together for ages. But this danger, if it really exist, cannot, at all events, be of long duration. The tertian and quartan agues, so common in this country, are not considered dangerous; epidemic diseases are very rare, and the small-pox is at present unknown. Guiana is subject to annual inundations; all the rivers, swollen by continued rains, overflow their banks; forests, trees, shrubs, and parasitical plants seem to float on the water, and the sea tinged with yellow clay, adds its billows to the fresh water streams. Quadrupeds are forced to take refuge on the highest trees; large lizards, agoutis and pecaris quit their watery dens and remain on the branches. Aquatic birds spring upon the trees to avoid the cayman and serpents that infest the temporary lakes. The fish forsake their ordinary food, and live on the fruits and berries of the shrubs through which they swim, the crab is found upon trees, and the oyster multiplies in the forest. The Indian, who surveys from his canoe this new chaos, this confusion of earth and sea, suspends his hammock on an elevated branch, and sleeps without fear in the midst of so great danger. It is well known that the trees which bear fruit during the whole of the year in this country, yield more abundant crops in particular seasons, as the orange, the lemon, the guava, the laurus persea, the sapota, the amiona and others, which grow only in cultivated lands. The trees in the woods and all those in a wild state bear fruit but once a year, and the greater number of them at a season that corresponds with our spring; the most remarkable of these trees are the grenadilla and different species of palms. The mango and other East Indian plants thrive in Guiana, but the fruits of Europe, with the exception of the grape, the fig and pomegranate, are not adapted to Leblond, Traité de la Fievre jaune. XCII. Aromatic the climate. The first European settlers observed in this BOOK country three species of the coffee tree, the Coffea guyanensis, Coffea pariculata, and Coffea occidentalis; a fourth kind from Arabia was afterwards added by the colonists. plants. Many aromatic plants were imported by the earlier settlers; the country produces in abundance cloves, cinnamon, and different sorts of pepper.* The cocoa tree grows spontaneously on the east of the Oyapok, indigo and vanilla are indigenous to the soil; manioc and cassada are considered the best alimentary plants, the potato, the igname, two kinds of millet and the tayove are also very nutritive. Guiana is famed for its medicinal plants; it supplies Eu- Medicinal plants. rope with quassia or the wood of Surinam. The Dolichos pruriens, the Palma Christi, a species of ipecacuanha, gentian, the Arabicus costus, the Copaifera balsamum and many others are mentioned in the memoirs of Bajon and Aublet. Leblond, a celebrated traveller and botanist, tells us that cinchona does not grow in Guiana; as this plant has generally been observed on mountainous districts, the low plains on the confines may be unfavourable to its growth. The most active vegetable poisons are found Poisons. in the forests; the duncane occasions instant death; although most of the lower animals avoid instinctively what is fatal to their existence, it has been ascertained that sheep and oxen are fond of this shrub. The Indians dip their arrows in a solution of the bark of the woorari tree. Mr. Stedman takes notice of their destructive weapons, and tells us that a negro woman, whose skin had been grazed by one of these arrows, expired in a short time, and that her infant, though not wounded, lost its life from sucking her breast. trees. Some of the trees, as the bananas and mangles, are so Forest soft and porous as to be unfit for every useful purpose. The andera, the bulata, and ouatapa are susceptible of a fine polish, but it is very difficult to cut them with any Aublet, Plantes de la Guyane. + Stedman. |