Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1860-03-24
A NIGHT IN THE FOREST.

1
Il bique, in Central America, which separates
e part OF Cape Amatique from that Of Honduras
s at the furthermost end ofthe Caribbean Sea-
: Leaving his companions on landing, he started
: \ alone on the line of the coast the whole o.
. which is bordered by a dense forest, walking
FOR several miles through the burning sars un.
, til he reached the dwelling of young Eng
lishman named Stevens, who had the direction
! of gathering of cocoa uuts oil the whole terri
tory OF Manabiqne, for which purpose he en-
ployed small gang of Spaniards, negroes,
Tamb0os, Indians, Llandinos, &c.--the greater
number, criminals, who had escaped from the
pursuit OF justice by taking refuge in these soli-
tudes Above 10000 cocoa nuts are annnally
collected here Some idea Of the arduous life
Mr.. Stevens leads, may be gathered from the
fact that he has TO traverse, foot, long tracts
OF untrodden forest, and to paddle, IN small,
leaky canoes, along the coast--exposed 20 the
assaults of his lawless workmen-and 10 con
tinual bites and stings of numerous species of
insects.
Our naturalist rested here for few hours,
and then, after begging few roasted plantains
resumed his peregrinations. How he passed
the night in the forest we will permit him to
| relate himself:
" The beach from this point ohwards, pre-
sents monotonous and dismal aspect--it is
HAT and sandy and .,hows few signs of life
Now and then broad pelican, flying heavily
| o'ei tuc DuunuieSS OCe1iilt OF resting on come
| wave, and looking like distant canoe; or u
bird of prey, soaring higt above the neighbor-
ing forests, or few small sandpipers, trotting
along the bools are the only moving things
which divert the strangers attention from the
mourntul remains of wrecks which are strewn
along the whole line of this inhospitable
| coast.
travelled on for many miles, until, tried
and sorroful atheart, sat me dovn on n pros
Ia ga ha
cut masts of some large merchan tman, with
fragments of rope and iron work stilN attached
10 themi broken barrels, boards honey combed
oy'thc navy worm, fragments of boais loose
oars, and even cloths, trunks aud wat sr worn
articles OF toilet 1t was a melancholy picture
OF desolaton. Before me was spread far and
wide, the expanse of the ocean, not sail was
on il, not speck blemshcd its immensely Be-
hind me stood the dark and gloomy foresst from
whose shade echoed neither the song OF the
bird nor the chirp of the insect. All arOund
me was vast and silent II seemed to mel as il
had left this merry world of ours, and had
ulghteo on some abandoned and fallen loian-
CT, ieit so small, so weak, such an atoi in
creation at this moment. was the only hu-
man inhabitant on this coast. the only lor of
this domain. | reigned, as il were, over the |
death OF nature, and yet felt meek an d had |
no pride about me. For the srst time uyiug
my travels was lonely-I wished som, one
were with me. longed to be elswhere. NV 1
imagination, exalted by my long exposure to I
the tropical sum- would have its own way. |
saw the noble vessel, to which had belonged
yon broken spars, drifting on the stormy sea;
saw II oyertaken by the hurricane; | saw the |
drowning mariner clnging to il till he drop |
ped into eternity; / heard the distant wailing !
Of the mother for her son, who had never re-
turned from sea, and the gnashing of the teeth |
ofthe greedy sharks, rs they tore to pieces the |
ntad hadx AID tI... al
me disappeared and were replaced 10y folds Of
waving wheat and the desert ocean was cover |
ed by the white sails ofpleasure boats and |
heard the sweet music brought to me by the |
evening breeze. The scene was beautiful and |
full Of life and felt happy. How much lon
ger continued my reyery, know not, but
was suddenly brought to my real situation by
the distant rnmbling of thunder.
There was |, thousands of miles from home
and friends, halfsayage and half civilized my
feet and legs were bleeding, for had worn out
my last pair of moccasins two days before, and |
had now to walk barefootcd an old red pom
cho was swung across my shoulders the rags
of my tattered trousers swung in the wind; the
skeleton of Panama hat scarcely hid NV un-
combed hair; my faithful rifle lay on my knees.
Could this be I? No it was the spirit OF II ma
turalist.
Strange sounds now began to issue from the
woods; the waves reared on the beach the
storm was rising fast and night was coming
on. felt sngularly excited. | laughed and
shouted aloud, for was free, and IL sense of
unrestrained liberty, ndefnably pleasant. bu-
Dyed up my hopes and energies. | looked
around me for shelter from the storm, which
was increasing rapidly. By wonderful chance,
discovered at n distance, an abandoned ran
cho n walk Of few minutes brought me to II.
Cocoa nut gatherers had built this temporary
but some months previous; it consisted Of
sticks planted as AS into the ground, covered |
with half decayed leaves of the manaco palm. |
1t was open at both cnds and so low that |
had to creep into il on my hands and knees.
lighted pipe and stretched myself on the |
Threshold of my wild home, listening to the |
distant sound OF the rain which was pouring in |
cataracts over the forest, with constantly in-
crcasng tropical violence as it neared me-
Thousands and tens of thousands of minute |
sand-hies, [simulium, the true mosquito of |
Guatemala did not allow me a momout's re-
spite from their attacks. Swarms of them ns-
saultcd me on all sides, and made me half tram
tic With their painful bites, and by getting con-
stantly into my eyes, nose and mouth. This |
plague alone would be sufficient to render the
country uninhabitable to any whiteskned |
man,
Darkness came on. ! was soon ia the midst |
of the storm, and was reluctantly forced 10 |
creep into the rancho. The rain battered down |
with inconceyahle fury. Flash after flash of
the most vivid lightning rent the black sky, |
peal after peal OF the most terrific thunder |
deafened the ear and drowned tie loud roar
ing of the rolling waves us one after another
they broke, in long phosphorescent streaks Of |
lurid light upon the beach. The wind was |
blowing " chubasco," or stiff gale. ! was
wet through in less than five minutes, and felt |
chilly and weary. Now, did think with re-
gret Of the quiet pleasures the comfortable fire.
side Of home, around which, of wintry even
ing, was wont to sit with those loved. All |
was now gloomy, both night and my yetdarker |
thoughts. The thunder however, |
gradually ceased, but the rain fell heavily for |
some time longer. Then, for a short while |
nothing was heard but the dripping of water |
from the leaves of the forest trees, and the |
hoarse voice Of the blllows, One by one, the |
stars peeped out from behind the receding |
curtain which had veiled them. also VEN
turedo out Of my retreat and lay myself on the |
sandy beach to eat my supper, for dared not |
sleep through fear of being packed up by some |
rovingjaguar or alligator,
/ 1t was absorbed in reflection when suddenly |
/ perceived out in the sea, within about half a |
mile OF the coast a largo black mass APPROACH |
| ing towards me, | strained my eyes to pierce
! through it, and clearly dscerned small light, |
or lantern, moving regularly up and down. ]
knew by this that it must be some ship sailing
fast to destruction. Without losing moment
set fire to the rancho, and in a few seconds a
column Of fame was towering high up in the
air, and casting q ray Of light throughout the
surrnundiu0 wilderness Nv SIGNAL was Der-