Guyana is an unknown place to most Guyanese
Kaieteur News
December 23, 2006
Dear Editor,
Most of the population of Guyana is confined to the narrow coastal belt. Probably like a lot of Guyanese, their first plane ride was their departure trip from Guyana .
It is a land that we love, yet we know so little of and about it. We know that it is wonderful, yet we have never seen most of its captivating beauty. We know that it is interesting, yet we have never seen, or experienced, what is interesting about it. The Indigenous People are a source of tremendous knowledge, yet we disrespect, or have little contact with them, etc.
If we know this place, we would truly love it even more, and appreciate its peoples, plants, and animals. Others have been coming here for decades to study this land and its peoples, flora, and fauna, etc. Maybe we can learn from others about our own home. One such person was internationally acclaimed naturalist, zoologist, and author, Dr. William Beebe (1877 – 1962), former Director, Department of Tropical Research, New York Zoological Society.
The tropical research station in then British Guiana was “situated at Kartabo, at the junction of the Cuyuni and Mazaruni Rivers in British Guiana .” Part of his work is documented in: “Edge of The Jungle” published in 1921, 1949 and 1950 by Duell, Sloan and Pearce , New York , USA . Dr Beebe had made several trips and spent several years in British Guiana (BG), and also in neighbouring Venezuela and Brazil .
Dr W. Beebe's writings give us a great snapshot of the then time, place, etc. in B.G.
He also mentioned the great Roraima plateau, a hundred fifty miles west from where he was sitting in Kartabo, which was the inspiration for Conan Doyle's “The Lost World.” Nearby was the Mazaruni prison. “The concentration of Negroes, coolies, Chinese, and Portuguese on the coast furnishes an unfailing supply of convicts to the settlement.”
(Dr. Beebe was in British Guiana before (starting from around 1914) and after World War 1. He served as an officer on the front in WW1.) He also collected various specimens for the NY Zoo. (If you can still see/hear a kiskadee there, you can be assured that it came from British Guiana .)
Dr. W. Beebe said that he has taken numerous guests, including “a great evolutionist, an artist, an ornithologist, a poet, a botanist, a photographer, a musician, an author, adorable youngsters of 15, and businessman, and within half an hour I shall have drawn from them superlatives of appreciation, each after his own method of emotional expression – whether a flood of exclamations or silence.” This one place was the “Botanical Gardens of Georgetown, British Guiana . As I hold it sacrilege to think of dying without again seeing the Taj Mahal, or the Hills from Darjeeling , so something of ethics seems involved in the necessity of again watching the homing of the herons in these tropic gardens at evening.” (Local Guyanese artist Mr. Vinod C. Budhram had brilliantly captured this scene on canvas.)
“In the busy, unlovely streets of the waterfront of Georgetown, one is often jostled, in the markets it is often difficult to make one's way; but in the gardens a solitary labourer grubs among the roots, a coolie woman swings by with a bundle of grass on her head, or in the late afternoon, an occasional motor whirs past.”
“A guidebook will doubtless give the exact acreage, tell the exact mileage of excellent roads, record the date of establishment and the number of species of plants and orchids. But it will have nothing to say of the marvels of the slow decay of the Victoria regia leaf, or of the spiral descent of a white egret, or of the feelings which Theodore Roosevelt and I shared one evening when four manatees rose beneath us.
It was from a little curved Japanese bridge (now called by locals, the “ Kissing Bridge ”), and next morning we were to start up-country to my jungle laboratory.
There was not a ripple on the water, but here I choose to stand still and wait. After ten minutes of silence I put a question, and Roosevelt said, “I would willingly stand for two days to catch a good glimpse of a wild manatee.”
“And St Francis heard, and one after another, four great backs slowly heaved up; then an ill-formed head and an impossible mouth, with the unbelievable harelip, and before our eyes the sea-cows snorted and heavily gamboled.”
President Theodore Roosevelt (Presidential terms: Sept., 1901 to March 1909) was known as the great conservationist.
He placed large areas of the USA under protection as national parks, national forests, game and bird reserves and reclamation projects. In March, I907 Roosevelt said: “The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others.” And later in October, said:
“ In utilising and conserving the natural resources of the nation, the one characteristic more essential than any other is foresight…The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies almost every other problem of our national life.”
His words have proven prophetic; hopefully, we heed his advice and learn from the errors of others.
(Lamar Underwood in his book: “The Greatest Adventure Stories Ever Told,” says this - “Of all the men so casually labelled “larger than life,” one who truly lived up to that distinction was Theodore Roosevelt. The twenty–sixth President of the United States was a man unlike any other at his level of influence and authority.
He loved the strenuous outdoor life, as rancher, hunter, naturalist, and explorer.” President Roosevelt with his brother Kermit Roosevelt, and crew, had just ventured down Amazon tributaries such as the Rio da Duvida, or River of Doubt , which had never been mapped.
They missed death several times - see Roosevelt 's book (1914), “Through the Brazilian Wilderness.” As best as I can estimate, he was in British Guiana sometime in Sept. 1914 on his way back to the United States .
Maybe the Tourism Board can market this feature – the late President Roosevelt was in the Botanic Gardens in1914 on the “ Kissing Bridge .”
The great and the famous of the world appreciate our gems – e.g. Botanic Gardens. This botanic gem of the world was defaced by President Burnham, when he annexed part of the Botanic Gardens for his residence. The rapid decline of the Gardens had begun under the PNC regime. A visit to the Gardens and Zoo (and Museum) used to be a rite of passage for schools from outside Georgetown . (Teenagers used to write their names on the cacti at the back of the Garden.) I had taken all my science classes there during my stay in Georgetown (while at UG).
The students always enjoyed the trips, and these places were great teaching and learning tools. The Garden and Zoo (and Museum) were among my favourite places to visit in Guyana .
On my return to Guyana (2001), the Garden and Zoo that I visited was in a sad state of decay. It was hard to believe that our national shrine was littered with Styrofoam food boxes, and other garbage. We should respect such places. Next time I visit, I hope that Dr. Walter Rodney is honoured there. As I have said before, I cannot think of a person more deserving of this honour.
He taught us to see beyond the appearances, and judge others by their character. This rare and most beautiful flower of our nation deserved to be in a garden of beauty.
This would tell the world, especially when they visit, what we respect and cherish most - character, decency, courage, and sacrifice.
Let us clean up this garden and restore it to its former glory, so that we can once again have pride in this gem of our national heritage.
I shall try to bring you some glimpses of what others saw in our past natural history. We have a lot to be proud of, we just do not know about it. When we know ourselves and our home, we can stride forward with confidence.
Seelochan Beharry