The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1890-06-15
THE NEW LOTUS LAND.
Costa Rica's Wild Shores and
Tangled ForestA
4 l.re or LOVE AND MUSIC.


- 80
80.
zrsDss
Ths na.skfng nssnsasns.
II you vish - - . stxanee ccass, laugh
fug ~ hofehk eFesn md grand, Wild ana
upounfainous, take sailing vessel and pro-
cd slowly southwasds Of San Juan des
sur: Or. stlIl bstsss. Il you have time and
money. hire paxty of msn and plunge
into the wilderness Of Costa Kica, tne
most southern of the Central Amerscan
repuhiics- Yea wfn - scenery never %
b forgotten - long - ron i've; yea vni
probahly expsFisnes accidents ana thrill
M odvuntures, ard pefbaps endanseS
vour M. hut after IN. what 4 iifsf II Is
sometimes worth white 10 risk IL
Mirhty a,sd MAGNIFICENT, stretches the
viId crast a Costa Rics. one unbroken
ehsfn a ,npuntnins. hieh and low. gloomy
snd ,ndianf. REGULAR and fantastic--a com
binaticn Of most marvellous beauty snd
imposing erundeur. And I'll this region
4 covered WITH egOp1cal forests Of giant
frsss ana parasitic plants, fresh and stu
pendous-s regular virgin. bewIIdsring
foresf of ~ South.
II Il very hard, travelling In . Central
Americsn forest. and you have to move
slowly step by step. Sometimes during
day you cannot 20 further than couple of
miles from The poins OF starting, sometimes
even less. You have 70 Gus your way
through the dense foliage and besides 10
look after Wild animals snd dangerous
snakes. Tor the Costa Rican forest, With Ill
il beauties, has also its dan
rerS. Cougars reign here In un-
disturbed possession OF the land
and ratslesnake, coral and scorpion, are
sco numerous Tor comfort. Besides. the
i.goons rreeks and rivers are full OF ALI
~.fovs whirh grow here and nuitiply with
= ysnsdifv unknown in any other country
=, ~. rrnri.s
The woods are full OF birds Of brilliant
rsumare. from noisy macaw 20 small and
h~autIIcl paroanet. The Wild turkey Is
abundant and she magnificent curassow or
hocco Il 10 Be- met with everywhere.
This semsskable bird could be domesti-
Gated very easily and il would be . great
addition 10 our poultry yards. It's flesh
il a u0rsef for the gods. In the last CEN
fury il was introduced into Holland and
into France. where il seemed perfectly at
Zone. but the stock was lost amidst the
subsequent wars which followed the French
revolution. The currassow is . gal
iinsreous bird and very large,
sousetimes even larger than turkey: Its
head i adorned with 4 crest Of feathers
curled forward. There are two species OF
this maenificent bird in Costa Rica. the
HACK and The brown. / brought some
with me 10 California and sent Z few to
Europe. and they became PERFECTLY tame
and domestic in their habits. They could
be introduced easily into Oregon and
Washington.
The Costa RIGA forest Is q paradise for
peccafies and COATS. Peccary or chanch0
del moate, a. Il Il called by the natives, re-
sembles very much hog, but IL Is smaller,
with narrow, white collar around the
neck. Il IL dangerous animal. for II you
kill one the whole herd viii attack you and
make good use Of their sharp
fusks. Once near the gull OF
Dulce ! killed leader of
Q herd Of peccaries and l saved myself
from the infuriated animals by climbing
q tree. Yet even then ! was not safe. for
the peccafies surrounded the tree and kept
me iE that uncomfortable position for sew
en- hours until my companions came to
the rescue and dispersed the herd. The
flesh Of peccary resembles that OF hog,
but tastes rather sweet.
The coat, or coati- mondi, resembles
raccoon. but has long tail and . very
long snout, which Is q sort OF flexible pro-
hosci. IL can climb the trees with great
agility, looking for insects The animal 10
often domesticated in Central america.
and. although very amusing, il Is rather
sreacherous.
But the largest animal OF Costa Rica Is
the tarir, very abundant IN swampy locali-
ties. The skin is often quarter OF an inch
thick. and the fiesh dark and sweet. The
natives cali IL bu,Ye del ase,.fe. or mountain
lsekass. Some naturalisfs assert that the
tapir Il not to be found north OF the 18th
mus OF parien-an assertion entirely false.
as the fapir Is not only found in Costa
Rica. but also in the other Central Ameri-
can republics.
There il nowhere ON the Snanish- Ameri-
can coax, from San Diego 10 Cana Horn
sncA number of deem hsv. and excellsnt
deem anehorases A. ON the vest coast of
Costa Rics. "a for instance Salinas Cule-
bra. Elena. Nurcielsro. Potrero Granae
Coed Bfsrilito. Juanilla. rrita and many
others. Such are the names of some Of the
hays many of them unkuown IN the ont
side world. and only discovered by the cx-
petition al which 1 was a member. These
hays are deserted and silent. There Are
no cities ON their shores and no eomm.rce
en.syens them. Nohoay lives i'm thar
vicinity. and where the water ends there
legins wilderness. inhabited only bv Wild
Nnin, ais and occasionally hv ipa,sn.