Woodville Republican. (Woodville, Miss.) 185?-current, 1888-10-20
NO. IL.
BENEArA rAE EQuAroR.

s.Did YOU ever live in the tropics P''


'.Did you ever live in the tropics ?"
This question was asked by Yellow
faced. bluf-looking 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. 1t is perpetual
summer there to begin with. To have
80 degrees at midnight, sunrise, midday
and sunset, from one end of the year to
the other, is somewhat monotonous.
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 bearskin cloak is hardly
thick enough to keep the ordinary
clothing from becoming saturated in
two minutes after the sun has gone
down. And yet there would be to the
eyesight no sign Of dampness in the at
mosphere 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
street salutation, the mention Of a per-
son being stricken down is regarded
with about as much concern as if it had
been said that a neighbor had caught
cold. What kind Of feversP On the
Isthmus of Panama and in the West
Indies there are remitteut, intermittent
and yellow fevers; besides that worst
of all climatic disorders, the 'Chagres
fever That is a concentration OF
about ten thousand chills and fevers
bound up in the same person. Shaker
Why, shook myself down from 1856 to
rs pounds. And all through that con-
founded humidity. Besides which the
disease drives a sufferer crazy, and
many go out of the world raving. 1
was only saved by leaving that place;
but the marks of Yellow Jack have, as
you see, dyed my skin.
81 have known what it is to go to bed
with cobra. Our beds were simply
canvas-stretched trestles, what is known
here as a DR.. Tanner, covered with a
sheet only, the head being supported
by pillow. The reptile had by some
means got into my room and 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 racoon. He is as
much an enemy to the cobra as the cat
to the rat. These are kept in houses as
you keep cats. When the presence Of
the cobra was ascertained 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 a
guide, when noticed lot of trees with
shoots hanging downfrom the branches.
These shoots grow downward until they
reach the ground, when they strike into
the earth and take root. There were a
number of these hanging shoots all
around me. Suddenly my guide stopped
and, pointing to one of these apparent
shoots, took my rife from my hand.
He fred at the cause of his sudden stop
page, and in an instant it fell writhing
to the ground. 1t was an anaconda over
fifteen feet long. My guides shot had
broken the creatures back. The agita-
ton of other branches not far distant
betrayed the presence of more Of these
serpents. Neither my guide nor myself
felt much inclination to pursue the path
further, nor did we feel quite safe until
entirely clear of the wood. 1t was only
my guides quick eyes that saved us
both from being crushed in the folds OF
this reptile"
'Did you ever see a tropical storm :"
''If you can imagine the lightning
flashing and the thunder rolling and
cracking continuously for thirty hours,
without even moments cessation, with
the rain falling in a steady downpour
for ten days, you may have some con-
ception of what a tropical storm is like.
IN. 7. Mall and Express.
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