Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-08-07

INShiN VNN ~ Wtii WbNoTeO.
We find many rubber trees, and could we
but have the yield Of all we see we should
be well repaid for all our work. A large
sized rubber tree will yield eight pounds Of
rubber. and with rubber at thirty cents,
Il would not take many hours n day TO earn
n modest livelihood. The caouchero, or
rubber-huntor, having found treo. first ex-
cavatos hole in tho roots Of 1t, and then
with macheto. (a huge knife two feet long
by four inches wide) makes n number Of
cuts like KS in the wood Of tho tree. These
cuts all join each other. and through them
the sap cxuding flows TO the cavity hollow.
At first tho rubber is thin and white, but nf.
ter being buried in tho ground for ten days,
1t solidifies and grows black. The proof that
the rubber is cured, is when it is black to
the center. At the storehouses II IL allowed
to dry still more, and loses semo fifteen per
cent. of its weight. 1t is taken to Panama
where 1t is passed through hydraulic presses,
and is thon ready for export. the caoucho-
ros make large wages. but they spend their
money rs fast as ii comes. Here as every
where. "wine, women, and song" cause far
more pain than pleasure, Strauss's waltz to
the contrary notwithstanding.
The forests have little animal life, and ono
passes days scarcely seeing oven a bird; but
every foot teens with insects. From the
cheerful hum of the mosquito to the hiss OF
the snake, enc Is never Mt II loss for some in
dications Of thor presence. Centipedes me-
andcr slowly and meditatively over ones
feet, inquisitive ants explore every recess Of
your clothing until finding soma unguardod
point they soon make their presence known.
OF ants there is no end. From the little
brown fellow no bigger than tho head of u
pin, to the mighty bravo, over an inch long,
they are everywhere. We have every genus,
every species, and all varieties. The trails
are everywhere visible in the woods,-R Lii
liputian road, smooth, hard-trodden, and NJ
clear Of stick or stone rs n well kept turn
pike. Over streams, fallen trees, and i'm
monse boulders. they are as clearly defined,
and as plainly marked us the best stage road
in the White Mountains. At this season
they are all busy in gathering their stores
against tho rainy season. and in good sooth
they have need to be, for the shining hours
are few in this latitude. Whilst mt work.
they turn neither to tho right nor LEFT, but
mind their own business, and keep rs busy
as bees. Endless streams pass each other
ono stream laden with portions of leaves.
cut with their own scissors. from the tree /;
the other, empty-handed, hurrying back for
u fresh supply. When thus employed. one
can watch them for hours without molesta
ton; but attack their nest-once arouse
their anger-then flee from the wrath to
come. They swarm by in millions. The
whole surface of the ground seems advance
ing towards you. Every living thing flies
before them; large snakes are surrounded,
and in an instant stung to death. Woe, woe
unutterable to the hapless man that finds
himself in their midst lie is covered with
thousands, and their stings are only excelled
in virulence by the scorpions. When about
to sting they arch their backs like bucking
mule. and the next instant their sting would
start an elephant The size of the larger
ones is simply Incredible. have measured
black braves, over an inch and half in
length, and when it Is remembered that this
is u country where grasshoppers grow = foot
long, it will not appear incredible.
If one gets tired Of the ants, sudden
twinge of pain will turn his attention to him
self, and the discovery OF thirty or forty ticks.
or gallapatats, ensconced on various parts of
the body, will give him still greater respect
for u country which must realize an insects
ideal of paradise and mans of the reverse.
If one docs sometimes indulge in inverted
psalms, under the circumstances he is cx-
cusable. Tho ticks aforesaid vary IN size
from pins head to u silver fiye-cent piece,
and strongly resemble turtles at very ten
der age The chief beauty of the tick con
sists in the case with which their heads part
company with their bodies, remaining in tho
skin to tester, when you pull the body of
with jerk which would dlsintegrate for
| ty-foot boa. Next TO these are the chigas or
jiggers. which terminate in tho skin from
eggs laid by small fly. These convert u
man, unwittingly, into huge Matching ma
chine for the production of cheerful looking
worms. Tho worst Of these is that one new
er suspects their existence until he has in
cubated score, and then the soreness OF
the flesh, and the Juggling ut the muscles
give news through the night" that the sur
geons lancet will be needed in the morning.
| agree with you that it is horrible, disgust
ing, but what will you doP when in Rome"
ETC., SO in Darien, and surely if we would
know the capabilities of the Isthmus, we
must experience every thing. "He who
dances must pay the piper" and IL scorpions,
ants, and chigas are not pipers they make
you dance with vigor excelled only by u
Virginia breakdown.
Concerning mosquitoes, l say nothing
Words fail when put to such task to convey
any adequate meaning. You, ut home, have
all seen him, and are acquainted with his
cheerful hum, but here in the wilds Of his
native businesses, he is u far different crca.
ture. Here we have two sets, the dlngy
blacks, who take tho night watches, and tho
brilliant blue CUES, who keep guard during
the day. The black ones are the more nu >
merouS and the more persistent. but the blue
ones can pierce through any substance softer
than cast steel.
OFFICERS We sec an occasional one, and of
peccaries, or wild hogs, quite number. We
are usually too busy to hunt, and when We
do we rarely get repaid for our work. What
we don't hunt hunts us, aud what hunts us
gets far more game and better sport than wO
| do.
I"
Tho following is extracted from later lot
ter by the same writer:
The days passed along without noteworthy
incident, and on the first Of April we took
our last level sight on the CUM line at its
junction with the Atrnto. Here VIC found the
small village of Vizia, and were entertained
with good quarters and fresh food by Don
Carlos Lenos, the chief man in this section,
aud tho owner, under n state grant, of the
Napipi river. As we had had no rest for
days, we concluded to remain for iorty-eight
hours before starting on our long journey