New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-11-24
A STORM ON LAKE IZABAL
CANOEING HAS A SPICE OF DANGER IN
GUATEMALA.

a, ,,s co,npotitlon and gathers TO its own net the
wealth Of ocean, river and land. 1t carries the miS'
for which 1t receives large subsidy rom the ""'
roan government it furnishes lighters for all ocean
vesscl, dischargng or receiving cargo, and controls
oil passenger and freight traffic entering the port OF
iviurtnn from any direction. To perform THIS NarcA
service requires number Of steamers and stoWs ana
large force Of shcd ana unShiled labor The SAi"eu
ohor l. mostly from the states. although the captain
OF one Of the steamer, Is full blood Card III
cripple from BIRTH both legs being painfully deiorhe'
IN, his Gear head sound judgment and powerful VIII
have helped him, in spite Of his defoimiN' 10 "'
responsible position he now occupies IN Ia" NaFlsa"o'
ComDauy's employ. His young wife, shiny, BLACK anu
handsome Judged by tie Carib standard. ATTENDS n"
cons 0ntly and IS most valuable assistant
laborcrs are all Caribs. They alone seem to be c'l
Of enduring the heat and miasma OF the coast any
even they droop and die under TIE 'ou'h OF '"' '''
lence ,.
We left the ship and went on shore at Li'i"s '''
rolirontlv and under protest and remained at Li'lnH
ston bv compu,ion. Everything seemed 10 eoispIe
against Us. The steam lighter which shou'u 40"
taken rs from our ship TO the shore eAP'ou'u Wv
as it was crossing the bar, and drlit'd Lac" INV Wv
river and anchored TO await repairs Al noun "
vcr. taken on shore by the Comandahle i'll inc WV
eminent boat expecting take the river mai s''''
,he ncyt morning for Yzalal. As soon a. possible we
.,c,e,d n,ssogc md then established ourselves al ''
spcacd "hoel' for the afternoon ana his"'' At was
the most unattrsctive resting pace IL ""s ever III" W.
tune 10 be in Tie landladv, Sharpl"oco' S",,
tonclIod LaanO, whose husband had reoeh'N Wv"
trorn tle fvcr lent an added horror to the sur
roundinss Tat night we slept on NATURES
., ,vhich n yourc EngllShman had dici from
.ov.r two NIGHTS before Fresh stains upon te mat
ting caus, d unpleasant iorcboding', ana "l'V' u"
dressing we wore the night away Ill i'N'TlS" "'."".
Al coffee the following morning We iirSt le'fH'u w
history Of our room and OF tho house In wien W.
were STAYING. Tie outline OF IL" story was S""''''
,macnatjou fiji ID in the details. and without "I'N''
for particulars we seized baggage and stArV' ''
Tho dock The wafer curgled uneasiN IN the bol''S
of the little steamer, and quiVcIing Jets OF s'e' '
dernd In It's escape by latte:cd pipes S''i"cu Z" an
in sharp sArill notes. good bye to LIVINGSTONE VIZ"
IFS bold beautiful palm bordered blur us p''"'S"
cottage, and It's fever laden air. As 'he mus WV
about I, b., cast OFF there low. nnfh'd i"'>''
the rush and swish OF escaping steam, hurried Scr"H
,ung for the dock screams of terror and mnttere'
c,rsns \ valve had exploded and the boat WAS use
less enc steamer l1y In the river WITH an 'NPo''U
valve this one in the same condition III inc u'' il"
another lay far up upon the shore where " I'D"
hauled for repairs. and three more MP 'He rN'I "''
hod no, hncu heard from for several days. In thl~
dilemma We had 10 the consular AGENT d. l.
Anderson Iii, house and al that he possessed Were
,,ocod NJ or disposal, and because Of his generous
hosra,ality we were relieved from the dreaded environ
,nent Of Tho hotel aud the p"slilencelaieh ATMOSPHERE
OF the Caib village, ..,
For two day. W. remained unwilling but efa''IG!
guest, at the Consular residence trying to deNS' SOM
means to get away from tie p'stil'nIial coast NJ
last we succeeded In engaging Carib crew OF io"f
noddler, and a captain, with cedar canoe lHTN
door In length and thirty inches wide. In which We
pro,,osed to make way up the hVer u I""@o9
Our bag-age was In the boat ana We We're re'N 80 push
of when messenger Informed us That the - ann
had been repaired ana WIS ready to start We VIA
in fo NJ
seemed rs We steamed away from The dock as Il '"f
troullcs were over and this beautiful river wa
4Iethc.- The river of forgctfulness Tr hours steam
inc brought us to Y7alal, the Custom House port Oh
Lake Yzatal From here the steamer returned 10
livingston and we proceeded in our canoe
Death has been active here as on the coast an
who can have left for the interior Some are dead
and unhuriod some are diving and all are panic
stricken. The doctor took short walk up 'h' d'c"'
I'M, som returned and We proceeded al once on our
tourney The Rio Du!ce Is or" o. the historic rivers
of Central America Tour centuries ago Noi'H al
his followers drcd down II on their way To lo"uH"H'
The Old fort san Philippe occupying the point Of lana
vr'nre the Rlo Dulce leaves the lake, is a monument
OF his visit lis Cd walls stand Is he left them bu'
fine fort IS now occupied by Iarcfoood soldiers In bla"
lean uniforms II, armament Of cannon + TOO ancient
10 be dangerous ana too modern TO We curious
We pushed from the dock at Ynlal as the afternoon
breeze began 10 rule the water Of the CLASSY IaAe'
The boat loaded dec9 with lagease and crew. ana
under the pressure of two sails, which our crew A'
rggcd We hardly felt the force Of the Increasing breeze
as pushd Ms through the yielding water with lncrcas
ing momentum Gradually the wind increased III
violence \ sheet Of transparent water rolled from
either SIDE OF the boats bow and fell In Sparkling
dror~ \ live Of foam steched far asicrn AM
marked our course The waves lifted higher ana
higher and occasional tongue Tapped over the si'
Of the boat. feeling Ike the cod tongue Of snake
ucl.. flesh. We
directly lc.orc the wind. II We hau!'d on tl'
wind the boat woald sramp. We were sailing al u'
speed Of twelve mile, hour or possibly moro. N
first we could not realize, the wind had increased Sc
gTaGually and each wave had lifted so little higher
than the last, that 1t gaze. and the wav"' were
chasing with fOaming crostS ana angry surge u'loi'
We thought Of danger
The polochlc River enters the lake by two channels
one I'm the centre ana the other further TO the north
The north channel Is navgable, the other Is MARIO"
DANGEROUS aud fun of shoals We were trying fo
tie north channel. but the wind and waves Were
AGAINST U.s. The end Of the lake j. semi cir' c
and where the lake ends Il Wild swamp begins. Iher
Is no shore. only quici-and shoa covered by nbon
n foot Of water ard the lake IS stI Beyond th
shcal The lagoon extends for miles, swamp
filed with water loving trees ana vines Cur boa
seemed 10 ily: the swelling waves could hardly over
take us As We swept nearer to the irownlng ior's
we realized the utter imposiNty Of mailing the nort
channel Of the river looked In vain for the cenr
channel. We could not fnd il and concluded II mus
be TO the south OF Both sails had been lowered Il
check our speed bui the breakers were not NV rod
distant. Now Carils gave an exhibition OF th'i
skill a, boatmcn. We were In the breakers ana III
water came over our boat in flood. The doctor mySe
and two Cards ballcd three CabS managed The boat
They ba anced 1t on the curling crest' Of the sweepn
waves and forced II along parallel with ana but few
rods distant from the shore. They were battling VII
fate with TIE Odds against them. There was no cA
hihiton OF fear on the part OF any We al Know Ia
chances were n thousand to one against Us, but II
one spoke Nearer 10 the sunkcn shorc-a moncli
NOR. and our boat would be dashlng among the limb
OF the giant trees and should be beyond nell
Only three weeks before Americans ana an hheA'
man were lost In this place. The canoe wa
FISH OF 1he LLke AcIZcl ID