nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord.”
The boat being shoved off, Colonel Fourgeoud now declared to us, that having ransacked the forest in every direction, and driven the rebels over the Marawina in Cayenne, he was determined no more to return to the woods, but in a few weeks to draw the long and painful expedition to a conclusion.
Now, reader, it remains with you to acknowledge that I have not led you about the bush, but through it, with indefatigable perseverance: the more so, when it is to be considered that in the middle of the above hurry and distress, under which so many have sunk, I have often been deprived of pen, ink, and paper to make proper annotations; which last defect I have even more than once supplied by writing with a pencil on my cartridges, or on a bleached bone: had this not been unavoidably the case, more accuracy and many more remarks might with [[342]]justice have been expected, which one need never be at a loss to make in a country so replete with different objects for speculation.
Having rowed all night, and breakfasted at the new cordon (which was begun to be cut not far from our former post Devil’s Harwar) on a dram and a biscuit, we came about noon to the estate Lapaix, where we dined with the planter, Monsieur Rivieres; after which Fourgeoud, with his adjutant, proceeded on their voyage to town, while I with another officer went to the sea-side at the back of the plantation to shoot snipes and curlews.
On our march thither and back again, passing two posts of the Society, the flag was hoisted, refreshments offered us, and every other civility shewn us that was in the power of the commanding officers. In shooting, however, we had very little sport, except that of killing some snipes, which flew in such clouds that they almost darkened the sky; so that by only firing from time to time above our heads at random, we brought down scores at every shot, but they were of such a diminutive species, that they were scarcely worth the picking up. We might have here killed birds of greater size, such as spoon-bills, cranes, red curlews, and wild ducks of many kinds, had we not unluckily been cut off from the banks on which they were scattered, by the sea overflowing the quicksands betwixt us and them. They afforded us, nevertheless, a most delightful view, the beech appearing at a distance like a sheet of scarlet and purple, embroidered with every other colour. [[343]]
The Spoon Bill or Shoveler.
The Jabiru, or Crane of Guiana.
London, Published Decr. 1st, 1791, by J. Johnson, St. Paul’s Church Yard.
The shoveler or spoon-bill (which has some affinity to the cranes) is about the size of a goose: the legs are not very long, and it is web-footed but for a little way between the toes: the feathers are a beautiful rose-colour, though they are white when young; but the bill is truly remarkable in this bird, being flat, much broader before than at any other part, and circular, in some degree resembling a spoon, from which it takes its name. They are said to feed on frogs, rats, and lizards, yet fish is evidently their principal nourishment, from their frequenting the sea-side, and having a fishy taste when they are killed.