The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1891-05-10
On tho Amazon.


On the Amazon.
vas second mate Of the British
steamer Forward during her two years or en-;
ploration in the mouths Of the Amazon anu
No other field could have been selecled 70
t,rrisb more daily adyeurUres. We bad WITH
ns a botanist. photographer. naturalist ga
artis, and TWO outside civil engineers VINO
wanted the experience. aud or MISSION Was
10 make a thorough exploration. ms meant
10 enter every chanuel where a steamer CUM
float TO tahe sOUndlngs; 10 observe inc tiues,
currents. floods, ETC.; 20 iecoru Tue Hs'u'n5
ava of the banks. changes of channels ana
a hundred other things tire knowledge "
which mi0nt be useful to the world,
IVo had a steam launch and two yaWi5 lot
ov,loration where the steamer could not 60
and there were six Of us oar III tue ltuu'.'
one day making sOundlngs IN great D5nu'
tyber, a monster crocodile rose 10 me suIiace
80 I'D us hinged forward and had his
bead and one leg over the gunwale Dstore any
one saw him. The engineer had ha'5nS1
within reach. aud with this he gave The reptile
such a blow a. made him draw OF ana slhA
ONT of sight The launch had scaEce'V HRh'-
"a herself however, wh6n a tu4 dozeh more
OF the sauriaps rose 10 the attack. W" hHoulu
have been capsized aud every man deY0ufeo
oIi,a had we been ia one Of the yawls. As II
vas. we drove ahead at full speed ana Ou'
ran them though some or them pursued y
for half a mile. and we were nearly swamped
with the Wa. er splashed into the boat A few
Javs later one afternoon as the steamer came
10 gnchor in a channel the anchor must nave
dropped among bed o. Sleeping cIocOolles
They rose all about us. Kissing and spssDlng
and this excitement brought up others, until
sixtv-yix enormous big fellows were 20 be
counted at one time. They attacked the
steamer with the utmost fury. and, while their
efforts were harmless their struggles rocked
ner as if she was at sea IN gale Niuse 9heIl
was prepared in keg. together wiJA uiree
pounds of loose powder, and at the proper
time the keg was thrown overheard. IL mad
drifted hundred feet astern before they saw
II and made rush They had pulled 1t anout
FIVE feet under the water when the explosion
came. aud full dozen OF the sauuans must
have been killed by it. 1t was nearly amonth
after that before another one came %DOul tne
steamer and it lOOAed 10 Us as u couuers ~"
been sent up and down with the news oHaO We
were an enemy TO be avoided.
The iaguar of the Amazon IS also called g
cougar. "a puma, and panther, and ne seems
to be one and the same beast, no matter Wna0
the name lie is 1.-the. fierce ana Elsl"hl'
andan enemy 10 be dreaded by even the best
armed man. We often saw pGmas on the
shores or crouched in trees. and now add then
floating past Us on drifting logs, and Their iar-
reaching cries were always 10 De hearu az
nigbt. If we lay within a mile OF Jungle. Inc
only man we had killed IN the TWO years met
his fate at the hands OF laguar and under
singular circumstances. We had wooded on
the rioht-haud shore and then paid out our
rome cable. bv which we were fast to tree, TO
be safe from a cave-in during the night. Inc
anchor watch for the night consisted OF only
one man. relieved at intervals of four hours
The man who went on at midnight had Deen
on duty only half an hour when a.caYe-ln TOOK
place. A strip of the bank, which was tour
4. rtsFa wa
dropped into the river, and with IL the tree 10
which We were fast. The tree fell directly
over the bows Of the boat, but only It's top
coming aboard and that without dong any
great damage We heard the mans shouts OF
alarm, but before any one mad turned ONT IL
WAS all over with him. Jagaur had Deen
hidden in the tree-tOp and az the tree fell ne
came aboard with 10 and 40 once spranS upon
the Waterman. He had the man by the throat
and was sucking bis blood as we turned out
and finished MN.
We dreaded the snakes more than az the
rest. as they were TO be met with on tne
water as wei. as on the shore. Go where you
would. YOU could not 1lu anulss ct them ana
every species seemed more inclined 20 DgnJ
than run On one occasion we came 10
beautiful stretch Ok sDOfe and the naturalist
and botanist were landed from my boat. We
Law for them at the bank under The shade OF
a great tree and AS soon as the poat was
the thwarts o. sleep. | had brought dOngia
hsh line and a d0uble-baTcied shotgun Not
caring 10 accompany the gentleman IN
the walk ashore. / proceeded to cast IN
nav hook aud await results Ten minutes
had passed, and We We're al very
quiet. where felt sudden thump,
followed bv veil and q struggle. On llmD
Ten feet over our heads "a boa constructor hao
been living He selected the man ly,ng ca
tho forward tnwert for his victim, aud made
A dart Cor MIN That serpent had never seen
a vawl boa: before. and he made a very Dsl-
uial mistake. IL trying - fling hls ccil
around lbe sailor be included the lnWart "a
his grip. 1t was a moment or excitement;
Yon can indge Ok The power ne possessed
when tep YOU that he almost lifted boat Had
all clear Oh the water and the only reason
he didn't puil Us up 70 the limb was because
the thwart gave wsy under The STRAIN ana
flew an as 1T sent from spnngbOaLd mo
sailor didn't get caught out ne lelt the IONS
o. the serpent. heard hiss IN ms ear end
rolled overheard INTO the water. Inc otnr,s
leaued ashore and / was LEFT alone IN the stefl
of The boat sikh the snake almost above me-
When the serpent discovered that he had 2
piece of board IN his coils instead OF I'VE
sailor be let 10 drop and began looking about
for another victim. The sailor called 10 me %
hurry ashore bat / knew that he would drop
on me- IL | made q movement 10 do 50. l
cooked the ouu and held il ready 70 fire, while
the meu ashore, who could see him better
than [ could, kept me informed or the ser
pent's movements. IL crawled from branch
to branch. seemingly confused. but at length
he came back to the former spot and made
ready for IA dart at me. got SIGHT OF his head
as he waved it to and fro. and by a lucky shot
blew it 10 pieces by d heavy charge. Most
of his body at once fell 70 the earth, but
MS tail had such grip on the limb that four
OF us could not pull it loose. He measured
twentv-three feet long. and evidently had the
muscular power to crush the largest Or.-Ncw
York Sun.