New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-07-06
IN A TROPICAL FOREST.
GLINlPSES OF ANIMAL LIFE FROM A SEAT
on LOG.
INTERESTING SIGHTS II THE wILDS OF SOUTH
AMERICA, AFRICA AND INDIA
rOr-xDe Avn
SOUNDS AND SILENCE.

Ny first recollection Of forest trees is when As a
small boy I played under the stately deodar, that
forever dropping its small spikclike leaves MADE Il
carpet softer than the thickeSt Persian overhead
! now and again flight Of noisy parrots womb hush
into momentary silence the cvcrchatterlng mlhhahS
and through the sOmbre shade some gorgeous butcr-
ey would fash like jewel. And what background
First forest clad mountains standing out in a deep
nurple against the snow capped peaks OF the HIM
aIavas with Dwaagheri frowning down on all his
! smaller ncighbors.
The forests Of temperate zones arc lovely. Most
of us have wandered through some of them all nave
read Of their charms strange forest is the pine
one in Northern lands, where all lies hhhed Ill t7
10y. grip Of winter. 1t is sort Of crisp silence
broken at times by some Of frozen snow shaken
from a bough above adding to it's weight as IL fallS
from twig to twtg and then buryng itself III inc "hD
sheet below. The sudden swapping OF boueh. u
self too heavily laden sounds like piston crach' Lie
seems 10 be alternating but the stiffness IS suddenly
broken by the hoarsc challenge of some elk OF oarOo
answering to the plaintivc cry oil lis mate
WHERE NATURE Is RAMPANT.
:, q, all digcront in n tropcal forest Here nature
e mining rampant Giant trees mass oi folage'
| md many of them crowned with clusters OF lnagnii
cent flowers shut out the rays Of the ma gay sun
except here and there through some chihh }" inc
leaky roof a few rays find their way down u" INC
ground below and look like diamonds In BLACK Sc'hs
/
tnk slowly but surely killing the tree in their close
and silent embrace. Every bouch. too, Is an aerial
garden for orchids have made their homes Oh 'hc'"
and tighten the gloom with their quaint b"V o''"
ufn dowers. Pervading all IS awful silence. one
is in natures cathedral with rs long asle' ana arches
and clcrcstories. No more solemn, quiet 'hr'" "'N
| child or man or woman ever enter
T,c si,enco Tas a strange effect upon the Indians
uho have made their homes In these vast forest" Oh
| Central and Northern South America lhey aiV
silent race as a rule. hardly ever dl'urbhS Inc i"''
A. they move from place to place III S'r'h l'' e"''
for their guns or bows blovppes. The man u'cl
10 the busy hum Of life stands appalled, at the s"iul
silence There comes back that sort ot dicad tn''
| one remembers when a child he Thought a. ~
came down the dark stairs that there was something
following him. and his first impression was to "bolt'
| or cry out
| WITH LOG FOR \ SEAT
But let one sit down, and If he remain quite quiet
he will see that around Is life There are lou 81
Iors about 10 give "A seat. soon troop OF monkey
swinging from bouyh TO hough. give notice oil th'T
presence BY lively chatcrng, for right in their path
| onc of them has discovered snake lying along
| limb which IL co,el, resembles. waiting for some
| unwary victim with rapidty almost lncrNlul''
the monkeys have turned of sharp 10 the reht ana
are soon out Of sight and hearing. par oil ''uo'h'
break the stiffness Of the forest by chpPihs uer
| sonorcus hcaks. or giving vent TO their piercing
cries they nit from tree - tree III al INC "7''
| nccncc Of their pumagc.
All around ON the ground there Is lie also. From
under the fast ruttng leaves a moth escaping rom
lts chrysall,. struggles 10 mount some h''eh'''"-
friendly plant aad prcad its pcnt mp wings y i''F'
hungry and all aeog FOR quarry. se''' the So" Ho.''
Of the vet dcfcncclcss moth and with f." h'P' ''
nearly gained IT. meal when from under lo- snake
cldes out and then and there j, short cross country
RIM. The frog the hare the snake. the hound. ana
I'm this case the hound corccd and satisfied return 10
il, home 70 sleep and digest 1t, meal
MORE ENEMIES FOR THE MOTH
In the meantime the ants, harborci IN some tree or
having an earth home. attracted by the scent oil ne"
HE are quarcrinr 10 and fro to strike the scent
They take II up and with their antennae mo'inf
h.thcr and tithcr soon at the foot Of ia" plant
Nd which the moth had but lately crlwlcd. Nature
iv.s nr,tection 10 all her creations aad the moth
led by instinct has mounted some sticky STALK an
bristng with small hairs, ladder T. Itself perfect
obstacle 10 H., enemies. Buttcrilc, every now ana
then rs lazily by great azurchHe onc' or swallow
tall,. They seem to 90 '|wly and just rap 'n'r
way along. but - in pUr'irt ana Won VIII H'' ""'
their pace /. no mean one.
As the sun sinks lower and lower. TIE life "i q
,ropical forest begins really % awaken ont Of yondc
thlckc: a deer peers cautiously and makes i'r some
ncchboring brook Animals Of all sorts emerge ii''
their lair, where they have rested thr msh the neat
Of the DAY and begin foraeing around for supper soon
insect lie makes itself heard, and every trr seems %
be the headquarters Of ccada or som" Other -trin'l
| ing cricket
few times the writer has heard the bell bird IN
the forest, Of British toll out IT. SOLEMN note
for vcspcIs. bell bird * white and about the sfe
| Of a dove A feshy horn grows from the middle OF
the forehead. I'd this hangs down. except when inc
bird il calling II IS then inflated with and stands
| m nearly three inches high II Is by means OF TINS
that II tolls ont its sonorous note. 1t Is well"
| uucanny sound and it is wonder that the Indians
| regard thc bird with supcr5tus awe. 10 one M
used 10 a tropical forest tho ccasce,s ain OF insects
! the whlrr Of some giant hawk moth. aud the cry 'i
| tho different animals, nj first sounds d'd chIHE' Du'
one soon gets used 20 H. one of the strange seh'' j.
the dancing lights Of the fire flies and their lar r.
COUSINS the lantern flies, they dash here ana there
numinng the night with Natures own t'T'i"
! PATHS THAT BECOME WATER cot RISES.
On the West Coast Of Africa. for mile" Inland the
| forests are 80 choked with impcnetribc underwood
that the traveller can only follow the narrow pain
| that have been made 10y the natives These are "nN
wide enough TO allow people to march In single M
and As tho,e paths always become waiefcoure;' during
| the rainy season. they are anything but peasant !"
walk on. The forests t.cmsciyc- are chiefly mace up
of immense bomhaN or SILK cotton tta, 'h,Ir
| gray trunk, standing ont IKE ,chuhos a'"".il "''
dnIk gloomy bush ana the Fnc, oeitn IN SII'"'
Fuorro4s buttfcsscs stretch Oat from their base %"
| cvc.y side often twenty and thirty ret hsh. De
| tween them, however, "H" can 6clcriH! nani w."
camp except for those pests OF every tropcal u" !.
! thc ants one of the worst place 10 camp in toufn
| ~ the danger OF a nut falling ana striking one
In these forests the hum -! He ~ NlFll l. "a ttt"
o., ear inland 10 be awakened at nj ut by the snlrn
Toa Of The Non but the most awful cry to BE- H. ii'i
i tbe.r fore IL is tie Of the small rmur Ih'''
| me-, ~ The forest BEGIN with a low plantive cry
| mat gradually Increasing, sounds a. though some
human being In the last throcs OF torture III u'
| Nshantcc the wrt.r remembers a Sen,Ty wln "
ohsoltcly paralyzcd with feat at the grc"sonc no''.
10 stuck 10 his post few men have ever been 80
| Sr,cbtoned nc that man Was Snakes rule cause
| but little trouble They viii Invariably crawl away
from man. and only when irod on OF at'acNol "o ''S
| strike.
A FOREST IN \ LAKE.
| The strangest forest ! saw was sHbmcrFn
one This was in Oyo country, northwest oil Lagos
| II was entirely composed Of bombaN. The trunks
were under water, the dense leafY tops i'rhhnS +"
hundred Islands, These swarmed with water fowl and
| ,o. ,rniIo every limb was a garden Of orrhid,. II
,as ncarIy the end Of the rainy ana the Niger
nr ono Of s tributaries had overlooked IT, banks ana