Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1888-09-15
HUNTING TIE GUACHARO,
SOME ON THE SPORTS OF cen.
TRIAL AMERICA.
A Chapter Not to be Read Until
You Have Finished Your
Sunday DiEner.

SAN JUAN COSTA Rica), Sept. l, 1888.
We have been making journey up the
coast ON novel mission, viz: the annual
guacharo hunt, or the gathering of coil
BIRDS" for culinE-y and Illuminating pur-
poses. OF all queer freaks of nature, the
quacharo is qgeerest, both in itself and
the use to which it is put. Naturalists
give it the name of Stedtorais caripeasis,
of the order Insessories and tribe Fissiros-
ire Commonly referred to in the family
Coprjmul3i3e); but no name suits it as
well as the Indian word, which signifies
coil bird" A full-grown guacharo is
nearly as large as dove, with plumage of
brownish gray and a remarkably strong
bill. 1t more than uuadruples its size
while maturing, and when first able to
fly is not much larger than an overgrown
whip-poor-will,o or Trinidad "goat-suekern
Its most singular trait is that of being noe
turnal, though frugiyorous. 1t makes its
home in deep, dark caverns, at the edge of
the ocean, living entirely upon oleagenous
fruits, such as aguatates {" vegetable but
ter" castor beans, nuts of the cil-palm, etc
Being always on the glti ricc for novel
ties, as journalistic duty demands, we
begged the privilege of accompanying a
hunting party, but found great difficulty in
obtaining our point. Though life is wild
enough, heaven knows, in this strange
country, and the majority of the natives
seem TO have no notion of conventional
ties, yet nowhere on earth are social dis
tinctions more clearly defined, or rules of
etiquette more rigorous, regarding the con-
duct Of the so-called upper class" The
laws of Medes and Persians may change,
and death, taxes and the plumber NAV
sometimes be eyaded; but for a lady to
step aside one hairs breadth from the time
honored Though often absurd) costun,bre,
means social ostracism, complete and final.
For example, Central American ladies 90
nowhere except in the beaten paths and
regular routine prescribed by the narrow
est Of local fashions-to church, to the
opera, the bull-fght, the paseo-never being
allowed the slightest latitude for indulg-
ing in vagrant fancies in the way of ram
bling about, or gratifying an investigating
turn Of mind by sightseeing privileges.
Here woman's sphere" is exclusively the
home circle where she is expected to re-
main in religious seclusion-to look as
pretty as possible, and spend her days like
Solonon's lilies, which toll not, neither
do they spin"-eating, smoking, sleeping,
rearing children, having holy horror Of
all literature except such as pertains to the
church Cest it lead to that pernicious
strongmindedness which IS supposed TO
afiiict many Northern women), obeying
her husband implicitly in all things, and
praying strict attention to the prayers and
OresoRe8 that, it is believed, willopen heav-
ems gates at last to her less prayerful male
protectors. OF course, all this applies only
TO the aristocracy, and to diverge from it
is to write ones self down irrevocably as
belonging to the other class, who go to the
opposite extreme in ignoring the common
decencies of life.
Although in this country, as in Europe,
Americans are allowed much more lati-
tude than native ladies because of the ex-
aggerated reports of their free-apd-easy
ways at home), our kind entertainers
stood aghast when we proposed joining the
guacharo hunt. On the ground that the
United States was waiting with breathless
interest to read all about it in the col
umns Of the RECORD UNION, the matter
was at last arranged by the accommodate
ing Alcalde, who not only offered to escort
us himself in official capacity, but oblig-
ingly loaned his aunt and an elderly
female servant to act as our duennas.
Probably our northern friends would
have smiled at the figure we cut, as,
mounted on scrubby little donkeys in the
midst of a cavaIcade of Indians, male and
female, we came Gin at the death" in as
fr n
NIT. Our destination was q gruesome
cavern If enormous extent, near the his
tofic iahia del Almirante, the bay so
named in honor of the great Admiral
Christopher Columbus, who cruised its
WATERS in the year 1902.
tor many miles Cur route lay along the
RIO Estrella River of the Starr which
flows through that region comprising the
lands granted by the Spanish Crown to
Columbus aud his descendants. As usual
in those days, this territorial grant was
accompanied by title of nobility; and
hereabouts, to this day, the famous dis
coverer is called FL Duque Columbo de
Neragua. Duke Christopher, however,
never occupied his Costa Rican possessions,
and soon after his death his eldest son,
Don Luis Colon Columbus, entered into
an agreement which INCORPORATED this
duredom of Veragua with the Royal estate
More and more difficult became the way
as we neared the rock-bound coast, the
steepest hills being covered with groups OF
pines-as if sown for spite on the perilous
ascents, instead of on the level plains-the
thick carpet of needles rendering the de-
cliyities so slippery that our mules liter
ally slid down them. These trees of the
north, rarely found in this latitude, were
held sacred in Aztec mythology to Metla-
cueya, mother Of the gods, who, curiously
enough, fills the part of Cybele among the
Greek goddesses, whose favorite tree was
also the pine.
Wherever squalls Of wind had cracked
the trunks, resin was tricllling out in trans
parent streams. We saw some Indians
manufacturing turpeutine after their US
ual improvident fashion. Instead of tap
ping the trunk and letting the resin flow
to an extent not to cause death, they cut
down the valuable tree to within foot of
the ground. At once the fluid begins to
ooze out, and soon fills the gourd and pig
skin bottles placed to receive it: after
which the tree is chopped up into faggots.
The latter are in great demand, especially
during the Lenten season among the In
dians, whose poor homes and affairs are il
Illuminated by nothing more brilliant than
the smoky glimmer from pine faggot.
We observed an occasional Lentish
shrub, like those of the Mediterranean
countries, which yield the valuable gum
resin called mas'ie, also clumps of the
genuine turpentine tree" from which is
produced that commodity known to COM
merce as eaian, or cypress turpentine. In
color and consistency it resembles strained
honey, and is Of agreeable odor and
pleasant taste, in all respects like the tur-
pentine of commerce except that it is free
from acridity. Instead Of making of it a
profitable industry, the lazy Costa Ricans
obtain little by slashing TIE trees With
their mechates and placing stones for the
turpentine TO flow upon; and then the ac-
emulation is scraped of, very esrly in the
morning, before the heat of the sun has
again liquifed it
Arrived at the guacharo cayern-into
and out of which the restless tides ebb and
flow with sound like thunder-the first
thing was to build large fire near the
entrance and make preparations for "trv-
ing out" the nestlings. Then, rushing in
with great noise shoutino hrand;sb;,,rr