Bismarck weekly tribune., 1889-10-18


beautiful corals, shells and sponges. His
voyage into the everglades Of Florida was
fraught with danger and hardship, but the
rare specimens secured fully repay him for
the arduous task.
One Of the most notable journeys made by
Col. Goss was to Central America in the
winter of 1856. Speaking of this trip,
he said: Leaving New Orleans on the
steamer City Of Dallas, the first point
stopped at was Belize, the capital of British
Honduras. This city, situated along the
coast, is about mile in length, is located Oh
a swamp and is built upon mahogany chips
and dredgings. made my headquarters at
St Thomas, Guatemala. One of my notable
exploring trips was up the Chocon river,
when spent several nights twenty-five
miles away from any settlement, and was ac-
companied by only four natives, who rowed
me up the stream. At night we could hear
the cries of tigers on every side of us. Ow-
ing to the dense jungles that exist in this
country. wild animals may be within few
feet of the explorer and yet out of sight.
''The lizard, the small red deer, many va
rieties of wild hogs, the peccary and peca,
jaguar, parrots of every species, alligators Of
enormous size, sharks, serpents and beautiful
birds are almost the sole inhabitant Of this
wild country. In the week spent on the
Chocon river lost ten pounds of flesh be-
cause of the heavy dew which falls every
night. This dew is equal to some of our
showers and causes the death Of many trav-
elers The climate is very warm, the ther-
mometer never registering lower than 65
degs. It is necessary to wear veil over the
head and face for protection from mosquitoes
and gnats" 59.s.
A tour made by Col Goss into Mexico in
the winter of 1878 is described as a
most pleasant journey. The scenery about
La Paz, port on the lower part of the penin-
sula Of Lower California, is unrivaled for
beauty and grandeur. The harbor is fringed
with cocoanut trees, and back of the town
rise green hills which are finally merged into
the blue of lofty ranges of mountains. The
town once reached, it is surrounded with
cactus and nesquit thesoil poor, but oranges
and other tropical fruits are raised in abun-
dance where they have water for irrigation.
In Mexico, opposite La Paz, Col. Goss added
to his valuable collection several rare speci-
mems, among them male and female he'll
meted crested jay, superb birds, measuring
thirty inches, with tails thirty inches long,
His journey to the guano island, in the Gulf
of California, between La Paz and Guaymas,
was also rewarded in specimens of the rare
birds which infest that isolated locality.
Col. Goss has devoted many weeks and
months to the collection of Kansas birds, and
it is his pleasure and delight to point out to
visitors such specimens as have been cap
tured upon her great prairies. He has ira
versed the state, tented for days along the
streams and on the prairies in order to pre-
serve in his collection specimen of every
bird that rides the wind or wave.
What pleasure to the student of natural
history, the lover of birds, to find here in
the Capitol building of Kansas collection
gathered from almost every section of North
America, all mounted, each bird in its place
and marked with its name.
The casual observer does not realize the
thousands of miles Travelled over land and
sea in the collection of these birds AS q
writer has said: "These now folded and ST.
lent wings have been dipped in the spray
that dashes against the shores of Nova SEQ
tia, or where the Oregon hears no sound
save its own dashing, or have famed the
cold heights about the crests of the Rocky
mountains, or have been reflected in the
dark bayous of Louisiana, OF have litup with
their sudden flash the gloomy forests of trop-
ical America. Yet here they are, all in their
places, form and plumage, perfectly pre-
served by the skillful hands of one man."
Let it be said that this generous gift to his
state, his self sacrifice and his devotion to
work which to him has been labor Of
love will in after years be treasured by his
fellow citizens as gift which money cannot
buy, and which nothing but the arduous toll
of lifetime can secure
D. o. McCRAY.