St. Landry democrat., 1888-10-13
BENEATH THE EQUATOR.
What Traveller Saw in the Tropical Coun.
tries of America.

Wkst a Traveller Saw in the Tropical Coun'
tries of America.
''Did you ever i've in The tropics P''
| This question was asked by a yellow
faced, bIuff-fooking man of a reporter,
who admitted that he had not as yet
gained that experience,
"Well, you don't know what life is, or
rather what misery is. It Is perpetual
summer there tc begin with. TO have
50 degrees at midnight, snnrise, midday
and siif'set, from one end of the year to
the other, is somewhat monotono1i..
Then there's the humidity, That's al
ways present. Why, my boy, the per-
centage Of humidity is so great that the
works of your watch will rust in your
pocket, and bearsl1in cloak Is hardly
thick enough to keep the ordinary
clothing from becoming saturated in
two ttinsttes after the sun has gone
down. And yet there would be to the
eyesight no 81 gn of dampness in the at
lnosphere. The moon and stars can be
seen plainly from where you may be
standing; yet if you ascend a slight ele~
walton you will perceive that the place
which you had just left is completely
hidden amid thick white mist"
THAT must be unwholesome."
"Well, | should think so. Severe
fevers are thought so little of that, in a
street salutation, the mention of IA per-
sou btiHg stricken down is regarded
with about as ffinGh concern as if it had
been said that d neigfthor had caught
cold. What kind c. fevels? On the
Isthmus Of ftirama and in the West
Indies there are remittent, intermittent
and rellow fevers; besides that worst
of all climatic disorders, the 'Chagres
fever That is d concentration of
about ten thousand chills and fevers
bound ttp in the same person. Shake?
Why, I shook 1iiyself down from 1856 to
IS pounds. AID all throtigH that con-
founded humidity. BESIDES which the
disease drives a sufferer Crazy, and
many go out of the world raving. |
was only saved by leaving that place;
but the marks Of Yellow Jack have, as
you see, d yed my skin.
II have known what it is to 60 to bed
with a cobra: Our beds were simply
canvas-stretched tfestEes, what is known
here as d DR.: Tanner, covered with a
sheet only, the head being supported
by a pillow. The reptile had by some
means got into my room xyd concealed
itself under the pillow. Fortunately
before going to sleep discovered the
presence of the creature. There is an
animal in the tropics with nose like
rat and body like ;t rscoon; He is as
much an enemy to the cobra as the cat
to the rat. These are kept in hOttsss as
you keep cats. When the presence of
the cobra was stscertained this animal
was turned into the room. He soon
found the snake and there was sharp
battle, ending in the death of the rep
tile. But this was nothing to my ex-
perience with anacondas. | was travel
ing through some woodland, with
guide, when I noticed lot of trees with |
shoots hanging down from the branches.
These shoots grow downward until they |
reach the ground, when they strike into |
the earth and take root. There were
number of these hanging shoots all |
around me. Suddenly my guide stopped |
and, pointing to one of these apparent |
shoots, took my rifle from my hand. |
He fired at the cause of his sudden stop |
page, and in an instant it fell writhing
10 the ground. It was an anaconda over |
fifteen feet long. My guides shot had
broken the creatures back. The agita-
ion of other branches not far distant
the presence of more of these
Neither my guide nor myself
elt much inclination to pursue the path
urther, nor did we feel quite safe until
entirely clear of the wood. 1t was only
ny guides quick eyes that saved us
10Th from being crushed in the folds of
his reptile"
"Did you ever see tropical storm ''
eff you can imagine the lightning
lashing and the thunder rolling and
racking continuously for thirty hours,
Without even moments cessation, with
he rain falling in steady downpour
or ten days, you may have some con-
eption Of what tropical storm is like.
N. 7. Mait oasd Empress.