The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1878-05-09
AvEGETABLE DEVIL.
The s1an.Eatinr Tree OF sraa.xa.e.r.

CaIIsTune, IOgcIner Win SIX notes upon
il, by DIR. Omelius Fredlowski, to when /
the letter by Carl Leche, the discoverer, /
from which the following is extracted, |
was addressed ''The Mkados are very
primitive race, ssgoing entirely naked, |
having only faint vestiges of tribal rela~ |
tions, and no religion beyond that of the |
awful reverence which they paw to the |
sacred tree. They dwell entirely in
caves followed out of the limestone
rocks IN their hills, and are one of the
smallest of races, the men seldom ex-
ceeding ffty-six inches in height at
the bottom ct q valley Il had no barom-
eteT, but should not think it more than
400 feet above the sea, and near its east
ern extremity, we came TO deep, tarn-
like lake, about mile in diameter, the
sluggish waters of which overlooked
into tOrtuOus reedy canal that went
unwillingly into the recess OF black
forest, jungle below, palm above. A
path diverging from its southern side
struck boldly for the heart of the for
bidding and seemingly impenetrable
forest, Henrick led the way along the
path, followed closely, and behind me
a curious rabble of Mkados men, women
and children. Suddenly all the natives
began to cry Tepe TepeI" and Hen
rick stopping short, said, "Looki' The
sluggish, canal-like stream here wound
slowly by, and in bare spot in its bend
was the most singular of trees. / have
called it the crinoda, because when its
leaves are in action it bears a striking
resemblance to that well known fossil, the
crinOid ilystone of st. Cuthbert's beads.
1t Is now at rest, however. / viii try to
describe it to you. If you can imagine
pineapple eight feet high, and thick in
proportion, resting upon its base, and
denuded of leaves, you will have q good
idea of the trunk of the tree, which,
however, was not the color of the
banana, but dark, dingy brown, and
apparently hard as iron. From
the apex of this truncated cone lat least
two feet in diameter) eight leaves hung
sheer to the ground, like doors swung
back on their hinges. These leaves, which
were Joined at the top of the tree at reg
ular intervals, were about eleven or
twelve feet long, and shaped very much
like the American agave, or century
! plant. They were two feet through in
| their thickest part, and three feet wide,
taperiDg to a sharp point that looked
like a cows horn, very convex on the
outer (but now under) surface, and on
the inner (now upper surface slightly
| cOncave. This cOncave face was thickly
set with very strong, thorny hooks, like
those upon the head of the teazle. These
leaves, hanging thus limp and lifeless,
| dead green in color, had in appearances
| the massive strength of the oak fiber. The
| apex OF the cone was q round, white con-
| cave figure, like smaller plate set within
a larger one. This was not flower, but
a receptacle, and there exuded into it
a clear treacle liquid, honey-sweet,
and possessed of violent Intoxicating
and sOpOriic properties. From under
meath the rim, so to speak, of the under
most plate, series of long, hairy, green
| tendrils stretched in every direction
toward the horizon. These were seven
or eight feet long each, and tapered from
four inches to a half in diameter, vet
they stretched out stifly as iron rods.
! Above these (frOm between the under
and upper cup) six white, almost trans
parent, palpi reared themselves toward
the sky, twirling and twisting with q
marvellous lncessant motion. yet con-
stantly reaching upward. Thin as reeds
and trail as quilts apparently, they were
yet five or six feet tall, and were 90 con.
stantly and vigorously in motion, with
such a sinuous, silent throbbing, throb
| bling against the air that they made me
shudder in spite of myself with theiI
suggestion of serpents hayed, yet dancing
on their tails. The description I an
giving you now is partly made up from
a subsequent careful inspection of the
plant.
My observations on this occasion were
suddenly interrupted by the natives, whC
had been shrieking around the tree il
their shril voices, and chanting Wha
Henrick told me were ptopitiatory hymn
to the great devil tree. With still wilde
shrieks and chants they surrounded on,
of the women, and urged her with tn,
points of their javelins until slowly anC
with despairing face she climbed up tn.
stalk of the tree, and stood on the SUNNI
, of the cone, the palpi twirling all abeu
her. Tiskl tisk J." drink drink
, cried the men, and stopping, she dranl
7 of the viscid fluid in the cup, rising in
, stantly again with wild frenzy in he
face, and cOnvulsive cholera in he
limbs. But she did not jump down a
! she seemed to intend to do Oh, no
The atrocious cannibal that had been s.
inert and dead came to sudden, savag
r life. The slender, delicate palpi, witt
{ the fury of starved serpents, quiv
3 cred for a moment over he
I head; then, as if by instinct, with de
! moniac intelligence, fastened upon her il
: sudden coils round and round her necl
: and arms; then, while her awful scream
and yet more awful laughter rose wilde
TO be instantly strangled down again int
q gurgling moan, the tendrils, one afte
another, ike great green serpents, wit
2 brutal energy and Internal rapidity, rose
t retracted themselves, and wrapped he
? about in fold after fold, ever Tightening
/, with the cruel swittness and savage te
? nRcity of Auacondas fastening upon theI
prey, 1t was the barbarity of the Lao
: coon without its beauty, this strange
3 horrible murder. And now the grea
l leaves rose slowly and stifly like tn
8 arms of q derrick, erected themselves i
] the air, approaching one another an,
3 closed about the dead and hampers
victim with the silent force ofau hydraul
D ic press and the ruthless purpose of
thumb-scerw. A moment more an
t while l could see the bases of the grea
3 leaves pressing more tightly toward eac
/ other, from their interstices there tIickle
3 down the stalks streams of blood an
i oOEing viscera of the victim. At the sigh
t OF this the savage hOTdes around us, vellin
: madly, bounced forward, crowded to tn
tree, clasped it, and with cups, leavel
d hands and tongues. got each one enOug
n OF the liquor to send him mad an
J. frantic Then ensued a g.otesoue an
= indescribably hideOus orgy, from which
1 even while its convulsive madness VS.
:. running rapidly into delirium and il
g sensibility, HenTick dragged me hurriedl
n away into the recesses of the fores
hiding me from the dangerous brut,
Q and the bTutes from me. May nevc
Y see such a sight again.
g The Grateful Poodle.
: Marx Twain In Atlantic Monthly for Nay.I
@ All my life, from boyhood up, hay