Map of the plantations around the Berbice, Demerara and Essequibo rivers

Title Leupe: A Chart of Coast of Guyana, comprehending the colonies of Berbice, Demerary and Essequebo.

This British map of the mouth of the Demerara, Berbice and Essequibo and the plantages along the estuary and seacoasts on both sides of the mouths gives a clear overview of the extension of cultivated land at the late eighteenth century. This was due to investments in irregation and clearing land. Not all investments succeeded. The two incompleted canals which were supposed to connect the rivers are mapped next to the earlier waterways from which they are now indistinguishable. The registers at the top of the map show plantations names as well as the names of their owners. An insert map displays the mouth of Demerara in detail. At sea, soundings and annotations with advice on navigation are found. In addition, the location of the ship Babette, from which some of the measurements were apparently taken, is given. The map was composed during the British occupation of the colony between 1796 and 1802 and thus fulfilled the need of an administration which needed to register all landowners in their system.

North is right.

Scale-bar of 20 Nautical Miles = 195 ‘strepen’.