you can reckon what the expenses must be, and then again about five to seven days coming down the river, and a couple of days to lay over.  Then you must count two trips like this, one to bring you up, and one to bring you down three months after, when you return with your collection.  Besides this, you run the risk of losing your boat in the rapids either way, which happens not very unfrequently either going or coming; and we have not only to record the loss of several boats with goods, etc., every month, but generally to record the loss of life; only two cases happening last month, in one case seven, in the other twelve men losing their lives.  Besides, river-hands and blacks will not go further than the boats can travel, and nothing will induce them to go among the Indians, being afraid of getting poisoned by Inds.  (Kaiserimas) or strangled.  So you have to rely utterly on Indians, which you often cannot get, as the district of Roraima is very poorly inhabited, and most of the Indians died by smallpox and measles breaking out among them four years ago, and those that survived left the district, and you will find whole districts nearly uninhabited.  About five years ago I went up with Mr. Osmers to Roraima, but he broke down before we reached the Savannah.  He lay there for a week, and I gave him up; he recovered, however, and dragged himself into the Savannah near Roraima, about three days distant from it, where I left him.  Here we found and made a splendid collection of about 3000 first-class plants of different kinds.

While I was going up to Roraima, he stayed in the Savannah, still too sick to go further.  At Roraima I collected everything except Catt.  Lawrenceana, which was utterly rooted out already by former collectors.  On my return to Osmers’ camp, I found him more dead than alive, thrown down by a new attack of sickness; but not alone that, I also found him abandoned by most of our Indians, who had fled on account of the Kanaima having killed three of their number.  So Mr. Osmers—­who got soon better—­and I, made up our baskets with plants, and made everything ready.  Our Indians returning partly, I sent him ahead with as many loads as we could carry, I staying behind with the rest of baskets of plants.  Had all our Indians come back, we would have been all right, but this not being the case I had to stay until the Indians returned and fetched me off.  After this we got back all right.  This was before the sickness broke out among the Indians.

Last year I went up with Mr. Kromer, who met me going up-river while I was coming down.  So I joined him.  We got up all right to the river’s head, but here our troubles began, as we got only about eight Indians to go on with us who had worked in the gold-diggings, and no others could be had, the district being abandoned.  We had to pay them half a dollar a day to carry loads.  So we pushed on, carrying part of our loads, leaving the rest of our cargo behind,