Here
is a new field opened to the adventurous and experimental naturalist: I
have trodden it up and down till I am almost weary. To get at it myself I
have groped through an alley which may be styled in the words of Ovid:
Arduus, obliquus, caligine densus opaca.
I pray thee, gentle reader, let me out awhile. Time passes on apace; and I
want to take thee to have a peep at the spots where mines are supposed to
exist in Guiana. As the story of this singular head has probably not been
made out to thy satisfaction, perhaps (I may say it nearly in Corporal
Trim's words), on some long and dismal winter's evening, but not now, I may
tell thee more about it; together with that of another head which is
equally striking.
It is commonly reported, and I think there is no reason to doubt the fact,
that when Demerara and Essequibo were under the Dutch flag there were mines
of gold and silver opened near to the River Essequibo. The miners were not
successful in their undertaking, and it is generally conjectured that their
failure proceeded from inexperience.
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