The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1875-06-01
THE NAVIGATING TREE.
Horrible Product OF Snture-The
Deyn-Fish of the Vegetable King
dom.

dom.
Ifvou ssn imagine a pineapple eight
feet high and thick i'll proportion, resting
upon it, base and drnujrd OF leaves, You
/ will have good idv., Of the trunk of the
tree. which. however, was not the color
: of an uuana, but dark diugy brown, and
apparently as hard as iron. From the
apex %! this !u,ticatcd cone ~ least two
iret III diameter, eight huge leaves sheer
O. the ground, like doors swinging back
on their hinges. These leaves which
were ioincd ut the top Of the
trees ut regular intervals, We're
dove OF twelve feet long, and
shaped very much like the leaves OF an
American agaye, or century plant. They
are two feet through in their thckcSt
point and three wide, taperiHg 10 u sharp
point that looked like COWS horn, very
convex on the outer (but now UNDER
surface. ard on the under NOW upper
IsII,IrIy cOnrayr This COuCHvc lac"
was thickly set with strong thorny hooks
/ Ike those upon the head ofa tcazle. These
/ leaves, hanging limp and iieIeSs dead
green IN color, had lnappearunce III" mas
~iyr strength OF uuk fibre. The apex OF
the cone was around white concave figure
/ ike a smaller plate set within Il larger
one. This i not flower but roCcptN-
Gle. and there cXuded into it u clear, rca-
civ. LIQUID honey. ~ .et, and possessed ii
. violent intoxicating and sOpOrIlc proper
/ ties. From underneath the rim Dso 10
speak Of the undermost plate, series OF
! long. hairy. green tcudrils, stretched out
in every direction toward the horizon.
These we're seven or eight feet long and
tapcrrd from four inches To- "a half inch in
diemeter, vet they stretched out stIily rs
iron rods. Above these from between
the upper and under cup six white, a
most transparent pa pi reared themselves
toward the sky, twirling and twisting with
marvellous iucr>saut motion, vet con-
,tantlv reaching upward. Thin a reed
and frail rs quilts, apparently, Wer" yet
live or six feet tall, and were SO constantly
and vigorously in motion, with such a
subtle. siuuOuS. silent throbblng against
the mir with their suggestions Of serpents
Aaycd..ye dancing on their tails. Ny oh-
s.ryatiOus on this occasion were sudden
lv interrupted by the natives: who.
had been Shrieking around the tree
with their -nriil voices, and chanting
what lluudrick told me We're propi-
tiulury hymns To- the great tree
devil. With still wilder shr.eks and
chart, they now surrounded ONE Of the
women, and urged her with the points
Of their inyelirs, until slowly. and with q
de,pairing face, she climbed up the stalk
of the Tree and stood ON thrsUmmt OF the
conc. the pulpl swimming all about her.
"Tsik TsIk' drink. drinkll cried the
man. STOPPING She drank OF the yiscid
ilud in the cup, rising instantly again
with wild frenzy in her face and con-
yu.iyc cord, in her limbs. But she did
not Jump down, Is she seem
ed Ia intend to do Oh, no.
Tho atrocious cannibal tree, that had
been 50 inert and dead, came t" sudden
life. The slender, delicate palpi, with
the fury of starved ScrpentS, guiyerrd Il
moment over her head, then, rs if IN
stiuct with demoniac Intelligence, fastrn-
ed upon her in sudden coil round and
round her neck and arms, and while her
awful screams and vet more awful laugh
ter rose wildly to be instantly strangied
down again into a gurgling moan, the
,cnlril, one after another, ike great
green serpeuts, with brutal energy and in
formal rapidity rose, protracted themselves
and wrapped her about in fold after fold,
ever tightening with cruel Swiftness and
savage tenacity Of unacoudas fastening
upon their prey. 1t was the barburitv OF
the LAGOON without il, bcauty-thiS
STRANGE horrible murder. And now the
great leaves rose slowly and stillly. like
the arms Of derrick, erected themselves
in the air, approached one another and
closed about the dead and hampered
victim with the silent force of II hydraulic
pres, and the ruthless purpose OF a
thumb-scrcw \ moment more, and
while ! could see the basis Of these great
levers pressing more tightly towards each
her from their interstices, there trirkied
down the stalk of the trce great streams
of the vi>cid honcy-lihg fluid, min-l ed
horribly with the blood and oozing
viscera OF the victim. Al ,Ight of this the
,ayagrs gathered around me, yelling
madly. bounded forward, crowded 70 the
tree, clusped it. and with cups, leaves,
hands. ana tongues, each one obtained
enough of the liquid to send him away
mad and frantic-Dr Jag IN the Nonth