Importance of of longitude due east from the right bank of the River Barima, Barima Point ad mitted by Lord and to be carried thence south," etc. Rosebery. Points of special importance. Moruca-Pomeroon Region. "This line is identical with that which was suggested in Lord Granville's note to Señor de Rojas of the 15th September, 1881, a copy of which accompanied his Lordship's despatch to your predecessor of the 30th of that month. "Her Majesty's Government, however, still reserve their right to insist on a more westerly boundary hereafter, although, partly for the purpose of establishing a more convenient natural boundary, and partly from their willingness to gratify the wish of the Venezuelan Government to possess the right bank of the Orinoco from its mouth, they are ready to come to an understanding with the Venezuelan Government, and are prepared to concede to Venezuela a portion of the disputed territory beyond the line now to be marked out, provided," etc.* The facts so set forth, in the opinion of the Venezue lan Government, clearly establish the two points first mentioned with regard to the Orinoco Delta Region. These are: 1st. That geographically it is a unit, knit together by its net-work of connecting rivers and streams; and, 2nd. That politically it is likewise a unit; the commercial, political and military control of the entire Orinoco being necessarily dependent upon the exclusive possession and control of all its mouths, especially of its principal mouth. 2.-MORUCA-POMEROON REGION. The second tract into which the disputed territory may be divided, and which, for convenience, will here be designated as the Moruca-Pomeroon Region, has the Essequibo and the ocean for its eastern boundary; is separated on the west from the rest of the coast region by the water parting which divides the Orinoco delta from the region watered by the Moruca, Wacupo and Pome* Appendix to Case, iii, 160. roon; and extends inland as far as the junction of the Essequibo with the Cuyuni and Mazaruni rivers. Its general character near the coast is like the Orinoco Delta Region above described. There is a fringe of alluvial mud from one to four or five miles wide; back of that are the sand reefs, and yet farther back the lowest slopes of the Imatacas and the Blue mountains. The point of special importance regarding this tract is its entire separation from the Orinoco, by natural barriers. To make this clear, it is needful to understand the formation of the coast region in general, and in particular the conditions which divide the coast at the Moruca into two distinct parts. The present coast is alluvial: it constitutes the delta or river-made land. An enquiry as to what preceded this made land reveals the fact that there was formerly a sand beach from which the ocean has gradually receded, but which, by reason of its still existing pecu liar shape, has exercised an appreciable influence upon subsequent events. Rodway, in his 1893," says: Moruca-Pomeroon Region. Its separation from the Orinoco. "Hand-Book of British Guiana, The Sand Reefs. "The Sand-Reefs. Behind the fringe of plantations, which rarely extend beyond three miles from the sea-shore, lie swamps choked with tall sedges, the soil being a kind of disintegrated peat, called pegass. Here and there an island of sand crops up, on which a few trees and bushes manage to exist, with grand clumps of the Eta palm (Mauritia flexuosa) scattered here and there, or perhaps surrounding what looks like an extensive meadow. Wherever the land begins to rise these magnificent palms rear their heads in the foreground, while behind, the wall of interminable forest closes the view. Here comes the white sand beach of long ages ago. Miles and miles of pure sand, washed as clean as driven snow, throw up a glare under the noonday sun which is dazzling to the eyes and sometimes quite pain The Sand Reefs. ful. The barefooted Indian cuts two pieces of bark, and makes himself a pair of slippers when crossing the 'Mourie,' as it is called, and even the well-shod European feels it hot to the soles of his feet. But even here, where there is hardly a trace of mould, some hardy bushes manage to exist, their roots penetrating far below the surface where it is always cool and moist."* Line of Old Beach. Schomburgk, in his "Description of British Guiana," p. 3, says: "This alluvial flat extends from ten to twenty, and in some instances (as between the rivers Berbice and Corentyn) even to forty miles inland, and is terminated by a range of sand-hills, from about 30 to 120 feet high, which approach the sea within two miles of the Arabisi coast of the Essequibo."t The geological survey, made between 1867 and 1873, on behalf of the British Government by Messrs. Brown and Sawkins, has traced approximately the line of this old beach; that is to say, the line which divides the firm land from the filled delta; and where this line has not actually been followed out, it may nevertheless be traced by the places where the water-courses change from true flowing streams to interlacing bayous. To map 4 of the Atlas accompanying this Case, the results of the survey by Brown and Sawkins have been transferred. By reference to this map it will be seen that the old beach line, which in the Orinoco delta is now well inland, makes its nearest approach to the present seaboard near the mouth of the Moruca: it is now elevated land, according to the quotation from Schomburgk above given, and approaches the sea within about two miles. A result of this is that the alluvial deposit at this point is, comparatively speaking, a mere strip which * Rodway (J.) Hand-Book of British Guiana. 12°, Georgetown, 1893, p. 10. Schomburgk (R. H.) Description of British Guiana, etc. 12°, London, 1840, p. 3. contains no natural waterways; and as a consequence Line of Old Beach. there is no natural inland water communication between the Orinoco delta, on the west, and the Moruca, on the east. Communication The practical effect of this lack of natural water between Moruca communication is that actual communication between and Orinoco Delta Region, difficult the two regions has been very slight. The difficulty and limited. of crossing from the Moruca to the region west has been so great as to constitute an actual barrier between them, a barrier which, in the history of settlement has in fact served to keep the two regions apart. Mr. im Thurn, in a paper read before the Royal Geographical Society and published in its Proceedings for October, 1892, gives the following account of a journey from the Moruca to the Waini: "After five hours' boat journey up the Moruka, the country on each side of the river becoming gradually more and more openthe river at last winding through open savannahs, and broadening out here and there into pools so thickly set with water-lilies that it was difficult to force the boat through them—we reached the point where the waterway leaves the river and passes along a narrow itabbo, or artificial water-path, which connects the Moruka with the Waini River. This connecting passage is in all about 30 miles in length; but only about the first 10 miles of this is actually semi-artificial itabbo, made by the constant passage of the canoes of the Redmen through the swampy savannah. After that it runs into the Barabara and then into the Biara River, which latter runs into the Baramanni River, and that again into the Waini, at a point about 80 miles from its outflow into the sea. We found the itabbo section of this passage very difficult to get through. Generally, it was hardly wider than the boat, and its many abrupt windings added to our difficulties. Again, the trees hang down so low over the water, that even after we had taken the tent off the boat, we had either to force the boat u er the low-lying branches or make a passage by cutting them away. On either side of the channel the ground is so swampy as hardly anywhere to allow foothold of even a few inches in extent. The Difficulty of this communication, ac cording to im Thurn. Difficulty of light hardly penetrates through the dense roof of leaves; and in communication between Moruca and the gloom under the roof only a few aroids, ferns, lilies, orchids, Orinoco Delta Re im Thurn. * gion, according to and great masses of a palm which had at the time of my journey not been described, * * grew among the fantastically twisted tree-roots which rose from the bare mud. Only close to the channel itself, where just a little more light penetrated, did these same plants grow a little more densely. Physical Barrier between the two. Cuyuni-Mazaruni Basin. Its This itabbo is quite dry in the longer dry seasons, and is then, of course, impassable; for walking along its banks is out of the question-a circumstance which has had a good deal to do with the fact that the parts beyond had up till then been almost completely shut off from the rest of the colony. Even now, though the overhanging trees have been cleared from this part of the waterway, it presents no slight obstacle to the swarm of gold boats which would press through it to the goldfields beyond." * The above facts would seem to place beyond question the point of special importance regarding this MorucaPomeroon Region; viz., that a natural and effective physical barrier separates it from the Orinoco Delta Region. 3.-CUYUNI-MAZARUNI BASIN. The third of the tracts to be considered is the great interior Cuyuni-Mazaruni basin. The two rivers from which this basin derives its name unite and flow into the Essequibo this fact constitutes the sole connection between this and the Essequibo. Except for this connection, a connection which in this instance is without practical importance, the interior basin, watered by the two streams, is a connection region quite separate and distinct from the Essequibo. The Cuyuni-Mazaruni basin is connected, geographically and historically with the Orinoco-not with the Essequibo: the approach to it is from the west-not from the east its fluvial connection with the Essequibo, as will in a moment be made apparent, serves rather with the Orinoco. *Royal Geog. Soc. Proc., London, 1892, Oct., vol. 14, p. 674. |