Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1891-05-16

the man with the lead line.
We held the boat stationary and prepar-
ed to signal TO the steamer. which was a
mile below, when ali OF a sudden fifteen
foot crocodile landed on the tongue Of
land and began crawling toward the drift
wood. he had just reached the pile when
a native VINO had been skill!ul,y concealed,
10 sc up with cry of despair. tie had IL
reed or kiowgun in his hand, and he
made frantic motions 10 Us to save him.
We were consulting what TO do when the
crocodile made a rush. drove him off the
pile, and followed afterf 70 catch him in the
water As we saw nothing of the man
after that, we felt positive OF hts horrible
tate, though We had no sympathy TO waste
Perhaps no instance OF the destructive
power Of q ski FOUNDER can be recorded
to match the one | am about to relate
We were about forty miles above the sea,
and had come To anchor aboat pistol shot
from the shore. which was here entirely
clear of bushes. when we we're suddenly
greeted by a flight OF arrows and darts
from over our port quarter We knew
from the nnGlOer OF missiles that there
must be at least fifty natives punched
there. They had not waited TO see who
we were or what we wanted, but had sent
out a challenge to battle before our anchor
was fairly buried in the mud. As our
mission was one of peace, we sheltered
ourselves and made no reply t0r some
time. This simply emboidened the tei-
lows, who doubtless comprised some war
party passing up or down, aud they shot
so many arrows and darts into the steamer
that her port side literally bristled with
them 1t was at length decided to teach
them lesson, and the captain ordered the
six-pounder on that side cast loose and
loaded with a shell. This was done under
cover of a screen provided for the purpose
and when all was ready the gun was aim
ed at the center of the grove and fired.
One loud long wall folloHe the explos
ion, and then We heard no more OF the
natives An hour later when we landed
TO secure some wild fruit, we found four
teen dead and dying natives III the grove
all the work Of that one she'll which had
exploded III the midst OF the crowd. in
this case, too, the news seemed to spread
with great rapidity, for we were not an
noyed again for months.
The jagvar of the Amazon is also called a
cougar, a puma and a panther, and he
seems to be one of the same beasts, no mat
ter what the name. He is 1.-the, fierce
and vigilant, aud an enemy to be dreaded
by even the best armed man. We often
saw rumas on the shores or crouched in
trees, and now and then floating past US
on drifting logs, and their far-reaching
cries wer- always to be heard at night, if
we lay within a mile of ajungle. The
only man we had killed in two years met
his fate at the hands Of jaguar and un-
der singular circumstances. We had
landed on the right-hand shore, and then
paid out our rope cable, by which we We're
fast to a tree, to be safe from a cavern
during the night The anchor watch for
the night consisted of only Que man, re-
lieyed at intervals otf9ur hours.
The men who went on at midnight had
been on duty only half an hour when a
cave-in took place. A strip of the bank,
which was 4 feet above the water when
we turned in, dropped into the river, and
With IS the tree to which we were fast.
The trees fell directly over the bows Of
the boat. but only its top coming aboard,
and that without doing any damage.
We heard the mans shout for alarm, but
before amy one turned out ii was all over
with him A jaguar had been hidden in
the traetop, and as the tree fell he came
aboard with it and at once sprang upon
the wltcam IN. H. had the man by the
throat and was sucking his blood, as we
turned out and finished him.
We dreaded the snakes more than all
the rest. as they were to be met with on
the water as well on the shore. Go
where you would you could not ran
amisS of them and every species seemed
more inclined to fight than run On one
occasion we came 20 a beautiful stretch of
shore. and the naturalist and the bordnist
were landed 10y boat. We lay for
them at the bank, under the shade OF a
great tree aud as soon as the boat was Sc
cure the men stretched themselves out on
the thwarts TO sleep. ] had brought along
"a fish line and a dOuble-barreled shotgun
Not caring 10 accompany the gentlemen on
their walk ashore, | proceeded to cast IN
my hook and await results. Ten minutes
had passed and we were all very quiet
when | felt a sudden thump. followed by q
sell and a struggle. On limb ten feet
over our heads "A boa constructor hah been
lying he selected the man lying on the
forward thwart for his victim, and had
made dart for him. That serpent had
never seen n yawl boat before. and he
made a very natural mistake. In trying
20 fling coil around the sailor ne IncIud-
cd the thwart in his grip. 1t was a mo-
meut OF excitement. Yon can judge the
power he possessed when ] tell you that
he almost lifted boat and all clear Of the
water, and the onjy reason he dIdn' pull
us no to the limb vas because the thwart
gave way under the strain and flew FROM us
as if sent from a springbomd. The sailor
didn't get caught. but he felt the folds Of
the serpent. heard a hiss in his ear, and
rolled overheard into the water. The
others leaped ashore and ! was left alone
in the stern Of the boat with the snake al
most above me.
When the serpent discovered that be
+ had piece Of board IN MS coil instead of
/ live sailor he let it drop. and began look
I ing about for another victim. The sailors
called to me To hurry ashore, but knew
+ that he would drop on me if [ made d
movement 20 DO SO. cooked the gun and
\ held it ready ID ile, while the men ashore
who could Sac him better than / could
+ kept me informed Of the serpent move
mcuts Il, eraw ri from branch to branch,
seemingly confused, but at length he came
back to the former spot and made ready
for Gart at me. got sight on his head
lis he waved & To- and fro. and bya lucky