THE STORY

By now, the provisions they had brought with them from the coast would have started to dwindle, and they would have had to rely to a large extent on hunting for fresh meat. But it is a common misconception that, in the rain forest, animals dangle from every tree. The animals are there, a fact confirmed by the rich cacophony of sounds all around, but the sources remain concealed behind curtains of tangled vegetation. To survive in the forest an animal must remain hidden from potential predators, and the heavy sounds of humans moving through the undergrowth would have triggered alarm responses from ever watchful birds high in the canopy above; the sentinels of any approaching danger. For the explorers, struggling through the undergrowth below, the forest was a dark, steamy place, with no horizon, no view of more than a few feet, and only brief glimpses of sky. A place where, without a compass, it is easy to lose your bearings and walk around in circles. Day after punishing day, they pushed on through the gloomy, dank forest toward their goal, Mount Roraima. It seemed to them to go on forever, dulling their senses to annihilation.

Quite suddenly, though, the forest ends in a distinct line, and their path passed out of the deep forest shadows on to wide open savannah. At last there was a horizon, but it took a few moments to adjust their eyes to the bright sunlight, to gaze at rolling grasslands, and mountains in the distance. The sun cast welcome and warming rays on their faces, and a breeze helped to dry their perspiration soaked clothes.

Roraima and the ledge, from the sketch by Henry Whitely, 1884	Roraima and the ledge, 2000

With renewed vigour, the explorers walked briskly along ridges of open savannah and, with every step, they came closer to the mountain. On this part of their journey, they made special note in their journals of the paucity of wildlife, apart from some Giant Ant-Bears and of Rattlesnakes. It is the custom of local people to burn the savannah, by way of celebration, but this habit effectively kills any wildlife by burning, or drives animals away. The explorers' last contact with any human settlement would have been at the village of Teruta, a thriving indigenous village where they could find food and shelter. It was situated on a low hilltop above the River Kukenaam, commanding an impressive panorama of the two tepuis, Roraima and Kukenaam. The mountains were only a few miles distant, but the view of the cliffs was often obscured by shifting cloud and mist.