The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-07-09

description--in tho first place, that some
idea may be formed Of the sufRerinRs OF
this man when we know tho obstacles
ne had to surmount and also because
those immense forests. which stretch
from the Andes 10 the Atlantic, q space
OF i,20o leagues, have hardly been de-
scribed except by some poetical dream
era who have drawn upon their imagi-
nation for the greater part Of their facts
The real virgin forest seen from tho
Amazon produces on the traveller the
exact effect Of green wall. To pene-
trate 1t would seem to be as easy as 10
bury oneself In the perpendicular side
OF a granite mountain. The AK, in spite
OF what has been said to the contrary,
Is practically powerless to clear path
through the greenwood There is a plan
indeed by which q road may be made,
and that is by fire. but this is very dam
gerous plan. even when practicable.
If, under the guidance of an Indian,
you can penetrate one of the forest
paths. the sight presented to your eye
Is in the highest degree sublime. You
look upon enormous trees, tropical bind
weed closely interwoven, unknown flow
ers, sweet smelling shrubs, grass eight
feet high. thickets Of bramble and i'm
mense cactuses.
In the midst Of all this You perceive
that there exists a world Of strange
creatures, for every plant whose stalk is
moving. every climber that is being bent
down, every leaf that stirs, every crac-
king sound that makes itself heard---in
a word, every movement is produced by
some living being, charming or hideous,
tnoffensive or deadly, whether it be rep-
tile, saurian, overgown toad, bird,
quadruped or all the intermediate spe-
cies, the mere sight Of which is often
enough to make one shudder. But this
spectacle, grand and seductive as it is,
can only be found on the borders Of the
virgin forest after walking for an hour
ut most along the more chiefly frequent
ed paths, for II necessity of chance
leads you all this is changed
The branches ,;ome so thick that you
cannot pass them without having both
face and hands terribly torn by the
brambles, which grow to an incredible
size. 1t is true. you are still in path,
but it is one along which only tiger
could crawl The trunks of trees are
continually piled up across the track to
considerable height and between each
trunk grows good sized bush.
BY degrees the thickness Of the wood
assumes terrible aspect The ''impen-
etrabilis horror" Of Virgil becomes an
absolute truth. 1t is no longer the in
terlacing Of climbing plants and of
shrubs clinging or thorny. 1t has be-
come web Of incredible density, of
which giant trees form the woof.
Life in the interior of the forest has
become sort of low and incessant
growl To the right, to the left, before
you. under your feet, above your head,
everything is moving, leapiHg, singing,
kissing, roaring. Myriads of birds of
every size and every hue perch ON the
branches and cry out to each other.
There are cardinal birds, screaming par
rots and a thousand others, while a
whole army of apes has taken possession
OF i've or six cocoanut trees--that is, 4
all except one whom jaguar has just
stretched dead with q stroke Of his paw.
All along the trees like living para
sitical plants, glide in silence reptiles
or every possible size, and ray of the
sun has found its way through the To-
liage to the ground. which glitters
strangely beneath it. In fact, it is not
the ground which is SO brilliant. 1t is
water. running water. for beneath this
OF trees, living, upright,
dead, one can see that stream
Is ever flowing and all the more piuin=
~ perhaps because of the enormous laws
of crocodile which has just come to
the surface.
1t is needless to say that Alfonso, as
'oon as Ne was thoroughly awake, took
N all the horrors of the situation. He
lad at least 10 leagues to make under
hese conditions, and he could not count
IN doing them under four days at least,
or in order to advance safely through
his wall he was obliged to examine
arefully every object on which he was
yoing to place his foot, and he could
lot pass q tree without having first as
ured himself that there was no enemy
urking behind him. to say nothing of
he Indians, who had not yet lost their
aste for human flesh And he must eat.
Fruits? They were not cas-
~ met with, and he might possibly
make mistake and eat some poisonous
mes. Fortunately for him, he found
ONE birds nests and ate the eggs in
hem On his hammock of -hindweed he
ound dozen parrots nests. He made
ute feast and washed it down with
wo or three mouthfuls of brandy, for
Q had brought his gourd with him.
till he was not altogether rested from
is fatigue. and understanding that IL :
wished really to effect his escape
must have more strength than he
at present he determined to
ass the night upon his bed Of flowers
70 had good resting place there, plen.
OF eggs, and he was far enough from
alem to have no cause for fear. His
otion, then, was one that even a phi
Snnbav rnnlI A.A - fa.l< i'll. |