. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana . ants? At that very hour the New York Theatreswere pouring their gay crowds into the brilliantly lightedstreets. How far away it all seemed, down there in the greatprimeval forest of another continent! We walked out underthe stars to the edge of the forest, black and mysterious,teeming with the hidden life, which we were so eager tostudy. Our world, for the present, was this forest wilder-ness, stretching unbroken for mile upon mile, with only the A WOMANS EXPERIENCES IN VENEZUELA. 9
. Our search for a wilderness; an account of two ornithological expeditions to Venezuela and to British Guiana . ants? At that very hour the New York Theatreswere pouring their gay crowds into the brilliantly lightedstreets. How far away it all seemed, down there in the greatprimeval forest of another continent! We walked out underthe stars to the edge of the forest, black and mysterious,teeming with the hidden life, which we were so eager tostudy. Our world, for the present, was this forest wilder-ness, stretching unbroken for mile upon mile, with only the A WOMANS EXPERIENCES IN VENEZUELA. 93 twinkling lights of Guanoco to remind us of human habita-tions. I dreamed that night of being stabbed in the back bya howling monkey, while the safe of the Pitch Lake Companywas broken into by a band of shrieking Macaws! On the morning after our arrival at Guanoco we sorrowfullysaid good-by to the Josefa Jacinta. As we watched hersail away we consoled ourselves by planning another and alonger trip on her — a trip which never took place. Lookingback after almost two years I realize that life can bring me. Fig. 49. Loading Pitch on the Hand Cars. few experiences more full of interest and charm than thosedays on a little Venezuelan sloop exploring the mysteriousuntrodden mangroves! How could you enjoy it? J amoften asked: but the trilling discomforts were all in the dayswork and more than compensated by the beauty and free-dom and wonder of it all. They served to make us knowthat it was not all a dream. Our days at Guanoco began early and were full to over-flowing of interest and of work. In the heat of midday wepreyed flowers, skinned birds and wrote up our journals, 94 OUR SEARCH FOR A WILDERNESS. but in spite of being so busy, we found time to get a littleinto the atmosphere of the human life. Here is the daily program at the lake of pitch, — this littleoutpost of humanity, deep hidden in the tropical jungle. Atdaybreak the group of sheds and thatched huts gives up ahorde
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