Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-10-08


Marajo, but none, believe inland The most
important are Breves, Corralinho, Boavista,
MuAns, SQUIRE and Salvsterra. The two latter
being nearest to Bars are the Newport and
Long Branch Of the region. where the wealthy
Psranese come to spend the cheated term" be-
tween September and March. The tide brings
in fine flow Of sea water, something as ut Old
Point Comfort, and the breezes blow much
cooler than in the capital city. At both resorts
there are cottages and a passablo hotel, and the
tine beach presents IN animated scene, not to
mention fine opportunity for the study Of
anatomy at all hours Of the day and evening.
After the hours in which fashionable people dis
port themselves, los pobros flock down on masse
and literally blacken the watsrs-men, women
and children together-without any formalities
in the way Of bathing suits Cor any other way,
for that matter), with much enjoyment and
absence Of shame as so many amphibious ami
mails.
THE ExPoRrAT1oE OF CATTLE.
The banks Of the island are lined with market
gardens, from which vegetables are sent to
Para. Farther back are small farms, where
sugar cane, cocoa, cotton, rice and mandiroa
are grown. But the great industry of Marajo
Is the expectation Of cattle, the trade reaching
10000 head a year, furnishing beef for Para
and other Amizonian towns. The butchering
and selling is all done in Para under municipal
directions, and the price of beef is regulated
by law, usually about cents per pound. The
cattle are brought over in small vessels fitted
for the purpose and landed at the wharves of
the government slaughter houses, whose loca-
tion You may easily determine by the great
number Of zipalotes (vultures), which are
always lowering like black pail above it. An
other thing which the government now wisely
regulates is the turtle egg harvest which other
wise would soon become extinct Everybody
has heard Of the famous tartaruga or Amazon
ian turtle, which abounds by millions all along
the river and its affiuents, and of the manteigs
da tartaruga turtle egg butter), a substance
peculiar to this quarter of the globe.
THE TURTLE EGG HARVEST.
At certain seasons of the year they come
ashore and deposit their eggs in the sand. Then
the streams will be fairly speckled with them,
each padding clumsily up to his native sand
bar, for it is positively asserted by those we'll up
In turtle lore that not one of them will lay an
egg anywhere except on the very spot where it
was itself Matched out. 1t is said that tho noise
OF their shells striking against one another in
the rush and scramble to shore may be heard q
great distance. Each lays from eighty to one
hundred and twenty eggs every other year.
Their work commences at dusk and ends with
the following dawn, when they again scramble
back into the water. During the day time the
natives collect the eggs and pile them in great
heaps, sometimes twenty feet in diameter and
Of corresponding height as cannon balls are
piled in a navy yard. While yet fresh the eggs
are thrown into wooden troughs, broken with
sticks and stamped fine with the feet; water is
then thrown on over the mass and exposed to
the rays of the sun. The intense heat brings
the oily matter Of the eggs to the surface from
which II is skinned off. This when clarified
over gentle fire resembles melted butter and
Is the nanteiga of commerce. 1t Is conveyed
to market packed in earthen pots and the In
dams, negroes and lower classes generally prize
1t very highly for seasoning their food, though
1t retains strong flavor of fish oil.
GREAT DESTRUCTION OF EGGS.
It is estimated that in the earlier times as
many as $50, 000. 900 turtle eggs were destroyed
every year in the manufacture of manteiga
and there are still extensive beaches, notably
on Msrajo, which yield every year as many as
1000 pots OF oil, each pot containing five gal
Ions, the product Of about $500 eggs. The
wonder is how any turtle can come. to maturity,
so many enemies lie in wait for it from the mo-
ment it energies from the shell and makes its
way to the waters. Alligators are waiting to
swallow it, jaguars to feed upon, buzzards,
eagles and great wood ibises to pounce upon
and devour it; and il Its escapes all these and
reaches the water ravenous fishes are waiting to
seize upon it in the stream. But SO pro-
digiously prolific are they that only their most
powerful enemy-man-has visibly diminished
their numbers. FANNIE B. WARD.