Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1893-12-07
THE WITCH DOLPHIN.
BY G. IBsEx.
From PHILADELPHIA Weekly Times.

The little steamer plowed its way
slowly up the river, for the current
was very swift and the steamer was
very old and asthmatic. But by
keeping out of the direct current
the crazy little vessel managed TO
make its way gradually up the
stream. The people on board cared
nothing for the slow rate of travel ;
they had nothing in particular to
do, and expected to spend the rest
of their lives in doing it. By a
fortunate dispensation the little
craft carried her perishsble cargoes
on the down trip, when the current
hurried her along so fast that only
a trifle of steam was used to give
her steerage way, while on the up
trip she carried the products of the
larger towns and the goods import
ed by way of Para and the seacOast.
These would keep indefinitely even
if they should happen to be delays
Of a trifie of year or so, the own
ers reflected, with great satisfaction,
that they would be just as useful
and profitable next year. Conse-
quently, everyone was enjoying him
or herself in whatever way a deli
ciOus laziness, born of the moist,
warm air suggested. Even the two
foreigners had succumbed to the
combined influences of the climate
and the example of their compan-
ions and were lying half asleep on
pile of mats placed as far forward
as the limited space would allow.
They could not spend their whole
time in sleeping, as their duskier
companions seemed to do, but were
drowsily, listlessly watching the
varied panorama of tropic life that
slowly unfolded its beauties before
them. 1t had been entirely new
and strange only few weeks ago,
but already they felt as familiar
with it all as though they had been
born in its midst.
Magnificent luxuriance of growth
drawled one of them pointing to
the nearer bank, nearly mile dis
tant.
so it is. But it's so still just
now that it looks dead-petrified
or something of that sort, returned
the other.
There is plenty of life to be
heard here at any time of the night
or day. said the first. But, l say
Bellinger, have you noticed how
little animal life there seems to be
visible in this country? Except
for the tame monkeys and parrots
in so many of the houses at Para,
and these internal pests of mosqui-
tOs that seem to be everywhere,
have hardly seen a single live thing
on the whole trip
No more have /, returned Bell
niger. Il am fast losing faith in
the 'teeming animal life of the
tropics that we used to be told
about in the school biographies.
Everyone | ever studied had sort
of composite picture. showing a
whole aviary, an alligator or two,
a tapir, an armadillo and jaguar
chasing a troop of monkeys
i know. And the monkeys al
ways escaped across a stream through
some of them making living sus-
pension bridge of themselves, over
which the rest escaped
so they did = laughed Bellinger.
But | always wondered how they
managed to get that bridge built,
and how they could spare the ne
cessary time when a jaguar was
chasing them
That's probably one of those
things that no fellow can under
stand, answered his friend. But,
even after learned better, my ideas
of the tropics were always more or
less colored by those deceiving pic
tures and feel defrauded that |
have not seen even a single wild or
dangerous animal yet
You forget that alligator at the
mouth of the Tocantins, said Bell
inger.
'You don't call that Wild ami
NAL. | should hope p snorted the
other man. When ten foot ga
tor lets an Indian haul him ont of
the water by his tail, and dies for a
little tap on the nose like he got,
he doesn't t deserve to be cIassed with
live things. He was only chunk