victims to this dreadful scourge, as
did Captain French and Lieutenants de Winton and Archdale of the 1st
West India Regiment.

On the 11th of January, 1842, a detachment of the regiment, consisting
of two lieutenants (Bingham and Wieburg), two sergeants and twenty-seven
rank and file, left Georgetown, Demerara, by direction of the
Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (Lord John Russell), to
proceed to Pirara, on the south-western frontier of British Guiana, and
expel a party of Brazilians who had for some time encroached on British
territory. The country through which the party had to pass was
unexplored and almost unknown, and the duties were most arduous. It was
intended to reach Pirara by ascending the Essequibo and Rypumani Rivers,
and, to effect this, a particular description of boat, locally called
_corials_, had to be built, each capable of holding eight men, including
the Indians who paddled. During the journey seventy-three rapids or
falls were crossed, in most instances the _corials_ being unladen and
the stores carried above the falls; and it was not until February 12th
that Lieutenant Bingham's party reached a point on the Rypumani, eleven
miles from Pirara. Next day they took possession of the village of
Pirara, which they found occupied by a detachment of Brazilian troops
who had been quietly sent over the border. Having selected and fortified
a position, and raised temporary shelter for his men, Lieutenant
Bingham--as the Brazilian commander declined to withdraw--despatched
Lieutenant Bush, 1st West India Regiment, who had accompanied the party
as a volunteer, to Georgetown for further instructions. That officer
arrived there on March 11th, and on April 19th he again started with a
small reinforcement under Ensign Stewart. This second party reached
Pirara on May 21st, and found the detachment all well, but half-starved,
as the Brazilians refused to sell them anything, and the stores had been
some time exhausted. However, on the arrival of the reinforcement the
Brazilian troops considered it advisable to withdraw across the
frontier; and, with the exception of a few occasional night forays made
by half-breeds and Indians in the pay of the Brazilians, the detachment
met with no further opposition.

In 1843 it was decided to make an alteration in the system under which
the West Coast of Africa was continuously garrisoned by the 3rd West
India Regiment, and to remove that corps to the West Indies. The