The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1892-09-08
OFFER I.ANDC

of the great island as region as re
markable for its scenery and produo-
tiveness as for its salubrious climate
perpetual May in the terrace lands
with March and April plateaus here
and there in the highest mountains
The area of the whole island exceeds
that of Texas, but its population hard
ly aggregates million, ninetenths OF
the aborigines being lowland settlers
black idlers gorged with the yam roots
and wild hog steaks of the coast plain
The uplands, too, abound with game
and fish, and the only conceivable rea-
son why the natives should limit their
hunting grounds to the sweltering
coast jungles is preference for a
climate that enables them to dispense
with dry goods the year round. In
the Torres range there are srlmmits
towering to a height of LILO 2 feet,
but the close proximity of the equator
has covered the highlands with lux
uriant vegetation. Snow is hardly
ever seen, but chill nights light frosts
even-Occur now and then, and the
frizzle haired coast dwellers AVOID the
mountains as the Indios Mansos OF the
Mexican lowlands avoid the terra fra
Papua is paradise of birds, but the
kingdom of mammals IS represented
only by a few ,narsupials ground kan
garoos, tree kangaroos and opossums)
besides the wild hogs Of the river jun
giles.
A much stranger country in regard
to the absence of wild animals is found
in the near neighborhood of our own
continent The West Indian archi-
pelago, with it's four magnificent
islands and countless islets, has been
justly termed the ''gameless country
a region of more than hundred thou
sand square miles, monopolized al
most entirely by birds and insects
(even reptiles being scarce), as if the
archipelago had been somehow over
looked on the last two days of creation,
and left to be settled by such creatures
as could reach its coasts swimming OF
! flying. There are forests teeming
with spontaneous fruit, but no mon
keys, no wild hogs, no bears or rae
coons. The larger carnivora are not
represented by single spicies. Nc
pumas or jaguars Though both are
found On the coasts of the neighbor-
ing mainland), no panthers, lynx, OF
wild cat. Foxes, wolves, and jackals
too, are conspicuous by their absence
The caves of the limestone Sierra
would seem to be admirably adapted
to marmots and wood chucks. but
they are tenanted only by bats. On
the fine highland pastures there are
no bisons, no deer, no antelopes, and
strange to say, not even rabbits
Sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, cows
hogs, and even dogs, were introduced
after the Spanish conquest; the only
domestic mammal kept by natives al
the time of the discovery was small
kind of wolf (prairie wolff imported
from Mexico and species which the
Cubans fattened for culinary purposes
without knowing anything about a
classic precedent the gliraria (rat-
kennels) of the ancient Romans, who
preferred dormouse on toast to the
best Syrian pheasant pies.
Dogs and cats We're unknown. and
that lack of household pets seems tc
have driven the aborigines to strange
expedlents, for in ''Ogilvy's Voyages
there is an account of a San Domingo
cacique who kept tame manatee that
bad its headquarters in an artificial
pond, and was SO well trained thai
when called by its name, Matoom
would come out of the water and &C
directly to the cacique's house, where
being fed, it returned to the pond
accompanied by men and boys, who
seemed to charm the manatee by their
singing, and it often carried two
children at time on its back. Being
once, however, struck by pike in the
hands of Spaniard, it would never
after come out of the water if there
was clothed man near"
Manatees have become rather scarce
on the coasts of San Domingo, but
are often seen near the island OF
Plnos, northwest of Cuba, where
shoals of the strange creatures NAV
be seen sporting about the reef like
the sea lions below the Cliff House
Of all aquatic mammals the manatee,
however, can claim the championship
in the art of lodging a sudden attack
a leveled harpoon is enough to make
them plunge under with ''no you
don't" snort, and then pop up again
at unexpected times and places, way
ing their fippers in derision and ready
to disappear for good at the first sus-
plcious motion. The luxury of the
dominican cacigue was therefore not
apt to be shared by many of his sub
jects. Puppies and kittens were
never seen IN their cabins, and the
largest land animal of the island was
an overgrown rat known as the hutia
and measuring about eighteen inches
without the tail Its caudal appen-
dage is compromise between that OF
the true rat and the California gopher
whom it resembles in its fondness fo,
grain and in it's burrowing mania
one pair owning often as many as fom
| different dens, more or less connected
by subterranean tunnels.
With the exception of that shy no
dent, Cuba, San Domingo, Jamaica
and Costa Rica have no land creature.
deserving the name of game animal
for even the omnivorous appetite o.
the Haytlan darkies draws the line al
the musk scented giant rats of thf
coast flores is
HE KISSED THE MINISTER.
A ministerial notebook could scarce
ly fail to be amusing The man who
meets all sorts of people, in their
moods OF extreme joy and sorrow, has
every opportunity for getting at what
ever kernel there may be in the human
grain. Amusing occurrences are COZ
stantly to be met with in connect, OF
with the marriage ceremony. The
following, related by a clergyman. is
fair sample of such oddities: