Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-05-04

You certainly would not find much difficulty
in believing it if you could once see their
bows. They are at least g. feet long, and al
the middle are as thick as my wrist; could
not bend one of them. The strings are made
from the bark of trees. The arrows are
about 5 feet in length, and are invariably
tipped with poison"
BEATS JERSEY FOR MOSQUITOES.
Arrived at Manaos, thriving town !, ,00O
miles up the Amazon, which is the GEN.
ter OF the rubber trade, he found the people
greatly excited over the murder of native
said to have been worth $4,000, 900. All
foreigners were under arrest, and things
looked very warlike until the actual crimi-
nal was caught and confessed his guilt.
while at Manaos," continued Mr.. Nc
Gowan, ''twO young mechanics had occasion
to send a gang of men up one of the
tributaries OF the Amazon to repair small
steam launch. The mechanics were unable
to return the first night, but they did not
fail to get back the next day in double
quick time, and such sigh. as they pre-
sented shall never forget Their heads
were swollen to twice the normal size, aud
were covered with Jumps as large as hen 8
eggs, while their noses looked like full
blown caulihower. 1t was the result of the
mosquitoes getting in their fine art. They
told me that the only way in which they
could worry through the night with any de-
gree Of comfort was by sinking their canoes
in about three feet of water, and then by
sitting in them submerged in water up to
their necks.'
"The small insects that infest the forest,
however, are fully as troublesome, and their
bites are, in most cases, much more poison
Gus. 1 had my own sweet time with them.
One of the most troublesome kind of these
small tartars is the peum, small, red ami
NAL, invisible to the naked eye He bur-
rows underneath the skin and causes heap
of itching. But there is another pest which
eclipses the peum for pure. unadulterated
cussedness. and never fails to play havoc
wherever he chances to alight. He is very
appropriately called jigger. He digs
under your flesh. and lays eggs there, caus-
which can only be cured by cutting out the
jigger.
A GREAT CITY OF THE FUTURE.
"While at Manaos had very good op-
portunity of observing the laborers gather
rubber, which they brought from the rivers
Purus and Madeira, tributaries to the Am
azon. The labor is performed by Poems,
who are natives, and a more hardy or robust
set of men never trod on Gods footstool
They are employed in gangs of 500, and per-
form the roughest kind of work for mere
,pittance. One thing is certain, and that is
the rubber supply will never become ex-
hausted, as the trees are not cut down. 1t
is prohibited by law. English capital,
backed by Brazilian enterprise, is pushing
public improvements in Manaos, and the
place is destined to be magnificent city.
At the present time the people are engaged
in constructing water works on a gigantic
scale"
Mr.. MCGOWAN arrived at Iquitos, Peru,
$500 miles from the mouth of the Amazon,
December 16, 1887. The city was started BY
the Peruvian Government as headquarters
for repairing steamships. 1t contains many
Americans. Striking across from Iquitos,
accompanied by three Inca Indians. Mr..
MCGOWAN made bee-line for the River
Napa. He carried among his baggage tin
box containing 800 silver dollars, and was
afraid to go to sleep at night for fear his In
dian guides would rob him of his scalp and
his silver. He describes the journey as the
hardest he ever undertook; and several times
he came near sinking from exhaustion.
BIRDS, BEASTS AND SNAKES.
Once when he lay down to rest he heard a
bird mimicking human groans of distress so
true to life that one might readily believe a
man were dying in some secluded spot near
him.
SIT was," said he, "the first time 1 had
ever heard the cry of this bird, but recog-
nized its notes at once from the accounts l
had read of it when a boy in Buttons
Natural History. 1t was always regarded
as forerunner of death. had now almost
given myself up for lost.
81 sank back in stupor, when Vas.
sa1denly-Nwalsss2- -~6y']a~ fierce efowI.
Dancing about me 1 saw one of the Indians,
who pulled and tugged at me roughly, and
pointing into the forest, said in Spanish,
big tiger"
Rescued from this peril by his guides, be
reached the river In safety and continued to
Quito, his objective point. There was con-
slant danger from prowling Indians, wild
beasts and venomous snakes, and to add to
the horror of the situation provisions began
to run short. He travelled by canoe on the
Napa, the Aquarico and the Santiago river.
On the latter stream loathsome river snakes
Is feet long were encountered. 1t was now
the rainy season; the temperature was 100,
and sand-fies made life a burden. Plenty
of fish were to be had in this river, SO the
party did not suffer for food.
BRUTAL CELEBRATION.
Reaching Quito he made that place his
headquarters for various excursions into the
interior. At Cali, an old town founded by
Spaniards in 1882, he witnessed a strange
celebration, on the anniversary of the Re-
public's independence.
Bull fighting is the most popular pastime
for the blood-loving populace. On this oc-
casion, however, they varied the monotony
by sewing huge frecrackerS to the hides of
the animals, and, having ignited the fuse,
turned them loose in the square for the edif-
cation of vast crowds of people. OF course
as the crackers exploded they tore open the
flesh and put the animal In wild rage. The
people were intensely delighted and their
enthusiasm knew no bounds.
During trip in the Cordilleras the ex-
plorer and his party were shaken by an
earthquake in their camp, saw numerous
traces OF mountain lions and tigers, and dis
covered IS silver mines After varied ex-
periences with serpents and beasts, they
finally reached Buena Ventura, whence Mr..
MCGOWAN took passage on Pacific mail
steamer for home.