Cottonwood report. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1893-1901, 1893-11-10
THE WHITE DEATH"

Inc ranch of Senior Diaz was on a charm
ing slope, overlooking the broad smooth
waters of one of the tributaries of the pa.
rama, ON whose opposite shore the rank
grass grew ten and twelve feet high.
Inc house itself had tropical charac
ter; it was Spanish-American. with cool
| shady veranda, u long, low front. painted
walls and latticed windows, a spacious
court and fat roof, provided with a nara.
pet, which gave the whole structure tbe
appearance of fort. Many acres of cult.
waited land showed long lines of sugar cano
and tall trees laden with bananas. in snr.
prising contrast to the dark, impenetrable
mass of wild husband which in the dis.
lance surrounded the settlement.
Sonora Diaz was one of the tropical bean.
ties OF whom Murillo dreamed.
u am going to test your gallantry.n she
SAID, coming out on the veranda where /
sat, by asking you to help me to water INV
flowers, for with my lame hand it is not
easy for me to lift the heavy watering bot .
Il am at your service, but allow MEAN
L wrong?-to remind you that YOU prom
ised to tell me the story of how your hand
was famed"
Certainly. AS soon as the flowers are
watered we will have coffee on the veranda
and you will hear all about it."
Accordingly was shortly afterward sim
ping coffee with the little Lolita, my hosts
only daughter and my pet, beside me. while
ner mother rolled a cigarette, lighted it
and began as follows:
When we first came here, years ago. il
was very different looking place. The
wlid husband reached to the edge of the
water, and was such a dark wilderness of
thorns, brambles, palms, wild fig trees and
other tropical vegetation that | did moi
dare venture into its depths But nv hus
pand and his workmen went manfully to
work, felled trees, uprooted stumps, made
hedges and bitches all day long, except in
the seyerest heat, and / often saw them
come home so wearied that they would fall
asleep where they stood, and first think of
food three or four hours later when thew
awoke.
After awhile they got a portion of the
ground under subsection, but after the
acres We're cleared and we began to plant
we had throng of foes to combat The
worst were the ants, which being watched
Tor on account of their depredations on
plantations have way of making under
ground passages till they undermine the
whole surface of field, and it falls in like
the crust of cake
just north of us is a great gap in the
ground, full of bushes and wild grass, with
mere and there some rotten timber, where
whole settlement sank in consequence of
the ants undermine the foundations. From
this comes the saying we have in Para
quay that our rstenemies are the Indian
braves and the Indian ants.
ln
were friendly ones, who exchanged all
KINDS OF provisions, especially dried meats,
FOR knives and brandy. We poisoned the
ants, dug up their nests, flooded their pas
sageways with boiling water, and SO, in
great measure, were free from them, al
though even now they sometimes come
from the woods to attack the plantation.
But after them. came another plague
snakes. For long time thought it was
hopeless to contend against them NV
husband used to call them the tax collect
ors, and they did come just as regularly.
NO DAY passed without our finding one or
more in the house. And once-oh, heavenl
what fright hadl
When Lolita was baby, my husband
and his men went off one morning to work,
as usual, and the child lay asleep ON mat
wv
the floor the skin of a mouse, from which
the whole body had been sucked, as from an
orange. knew at once that a snake must
be near, for they feed on mice and eat them
in this fashion; but, carefully as looked
about me, could see no snake, till all at
once it occurred to me that it might be I'M
der the baby's mat. | snatched the child
up and placed her in safety Then | lifted
a f. of ha -
the long, Shiny, green and gold reptile,
coiled up and fast asleep. All, how
jumped l ran out into the COURTYARD to
call for help. Luckily our man, Jose, was
there, and he killed the reptile But as we
cleared more acres the snakes left us to hide
themselves in the forest | began to hope
just begun. Wild beasts now first appeared
On the scene.
One morning while we were at breakfast
one of our herdsmen brought the news
that our cattle, which Craze in the tall |
grass on the other side of the river, had
been attacked by a jaguar that had killed |
one of the bulls. The man who told us |
ibis had escaped with his life, yet he would |
nave scarcely done so if he had not misled |
,he beast, or had there not been a fat OK |
here
A week passed without new alarm, and |
We had come to think less about it, when |
suddenly three or four Indians rushed in |
20 tell us how great jaguar had broken |
INTO their camp and killed woman and |
me of their dogs.
When my husband heard the story he |
judged that it was the same animal that |
lad attacked our bull, for the Indians de |
cribed it as a creature of singular color, |
ar lighter than any they had seen about |
here, so that they named it THE White |
Death"
We all thought it high time to do some
hing and my husband called his people to-
,ether to go out and hunt the animal.
| remember that morning distinctly. |
They went away cheerfully enough, each |
nan with his gun and hunting knife, and |
doro, our bloodhound, was with them. My |
husband turned around just as he entered |
he wood and kissed his hand to me; then |
10 and his companions vanished in the for
st.
When i found myself with Lolita alone
q the house and thought of what might
appen if they met that terrible wild ami
nal, such anxiety seized me (although !
ever thought could be in danger), that
could not be contented till / had locked
very door in the house; and then seated
Myself in the great sitting room, took Lo-
TIA on my lap and tried to tell her story.
Suddenly | heard a scratching along the
oof, and then duh thud, as if something
eavy had fallen
Anxious and nervous as l was, started
p with a cry, although had no PRESENT.
lent what it was.
The next moment heard just over me