The Lamar register., 1892-08-13

party of revolutionists in the center of
paramo in the mountains some dis
tance from Carache. Without stopping
to think of the consequences one of the
soldiers raised his gun and fred upon
the revolutionists. Instantly the par
amo dissolved, and the seven mon fell
dead.
This is supposition only, since no man
lived to tell how ithappened. All that
is known is that the men were found
dead in the paramo. without SO much
as scratch upon them, but the rifle of
one of the soldiers contained an empty
cartridge. Beyond all doubt the men
had been killed by this strange terror
of the mountains. Thereby hangs
remarlSa BILE story of this most remark
able country.
What is paramo? Frankly, l do
not know. There are many, many
strange things in this tropical region
that do not pretend to explain. From
all that can learn paramo seems to
be the visible breath of death. 1t is
sort of heavy mist, or fog. 1t turks
on remote mountain heights like
monster lying in wait for human prey;
If covers its place of execution with
white shroud, and it hides from the
eyes of the world its deed of wanton
murder.
The paramo is deadly only when dis
turbed. Fire gun, blow horn. or
even shout aloud and the vengeful
agent will instantly take your life and
leave you there to let your friends
wonder how you died. The only safety
is silence. Even then word spoken
above whisper, or the rafting of
loose rock may arouse the nurderous
wrath of the monster of the Andes.
Perpetual brooding silence-a silence
unbroken by song of bird or chirp of
insects the awful law of the paramo.
The penalty of disobedience is instant
death. A mysterious, awesome thing
is this
What is its origin? How does it act?
No man knows. Any man may con-
lecture quite as well as the learned
persons known as scientists and come
as near the true solution. The theory
is that the paramo is heavily charged
with some sort of gas or vapor so un-
stable in its chemical structure that it
breaks at conclusion into other gases,
one at least of them being so terribly
potent as to instantly freeze the hearts
blood of the victim within its grasp.
Paramos are of different sizes, from
the small one that may be passed in
ten minutes cautious walking to the
frightful monster that keeps the appre-
hensive traveller walking for the best
part of two days. There is one paramo
in the region. of Merida, in the State Of
Los Andes, that is SO large that the
traveller is compelled to camp in it one
night. At that camp no fire may be
lighted and no word spoken aloud. A
gruesome camp this.
Usually the paramos are not so large
but that the traveller may avoid them
by making detour of a few miles.
The monster near Merida, however, is
large for that manner of escape. If
the traveller goes through that part of
the country he must face the deadly
peril.
There are many stories of the sud-
den wrath of the paramo. Some of the
most interesting go back to the time of
the Spanish occupation. Two will
serve my present purpose. During the
preparatory outbreaks of the war for
South American independence, which
began in Caracas, a detachment of
Spanish troops in command of Il proud
and hot-headed Castilian officer,
had occasion TO pass through
paramo on the upper heights
of the Cordilleras, near Merida, in
what is now the Venezuelan State of
Los Andes. Natives warned the Span
ish officer not to go through the pa