The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-03-10
ABOUT HAMMOCKS.

Just now while residents OF the northern
States find themselves either trudglng
through wastes of snow or spiashlns
through rivers of slush, seems good time
to take I'D the study of the hammock as
mild dissipation. Hanging in the corner
there is a relic of other days True, 1t is
slightly torn and somewhat stained by the
storms and rough usage that are part OF
camp life; still it recalls vividiy the scenes
amid which it has sWung-noW on the mouh-
tain height overlooking miles and miles of
SUNNY landscape, now in deep gorges, echo-
ing the wild music of some unnamed water
fall. now on the deck of some ocean racer,
now on shore-always our inseparable COM
panion and unfailing friend.
Probably small proportion of the mil
lions who daily recline in this restful con-
trivance has any idea of its origin The
name itself suggests a world OF romance,
and if we will. trace it's history we must
leave the busy, bustling times in which we
live and go back through four centuries
hack to the dreamy days of the Spanish
conquest: days around which the purple
mists of years have gathered, half conceal
ing the actors in sort of rosy mist-actors
whose daring audacity and reckless bravery
has never been excelled in the worlds his
tory. perhaps; back to the days of chivalry,
locked up in dismal towers to wait. sadly
but hopefully, for the gallant knight in
flashing armor who somehow always came
to the rescue just in time to save the beau
tifuI prisoner and carry her off slight
reward for his timely service; back to the
DAVIS of Columbus and his intrepid follow
ers, for to this enterprising genius of the
fifteenth century mankind is indebted not
only for the discovery of a new world, but
for the invention of a new word, for he was
the first to give it place in the Spanish
vocabulary by employing it in one of his
glowing reports to his royal patrons, in
which he describes the 'hammaca" as one
of the articles manufactured by the natives
of the newly discovered islands, little
dreaming that the rude sleeping net would
force its way to the remotest corners of
the earth, and the name would be pro-
nounced by thousands who might never
hear of its illustrious discoverer. for it is
fact that large proportion OF the inhabi-
tants of tropical countries have never heard
the name of the bold navigator of the West
ern seas.
IT is uncertain whether the Indian word
which the Spaniards adopted in the above
form referred to the article itself or the
material from which it was made, the
manner of it's use. or-who can deny it,
TO the name Oh Tie inventor. Ouc lHlnS
however, is very certain. the Spaniards
found it admirably adapted to- their lam
guild habits and from them its use rapidly
extended to other nations, until at the pres
ent time this delightful device is found in
every land and is alike the solace of prince
and peasant. In its restful meshes swing
the high and the low, rich and poor, Chris
tan and pagan, old and young: in It's en-
tfcing folds lovers are gently swaying to
the music of their young dreams, chill
dren, charmed into forgetfulness, siumber
sweetly.
charm and he never sees one without being
carried back. as on invisible wings, to. a
months it formed his only couchs and pic
lures of tropical luxuriance rise before him:
again he hears the murmur of the wind
among the palms. between which. In the
distance, the blue sea Is sparkling in the
bright sunlight--memories Of an endless
round Of summer days passed IN most de-
Hcious idleness, in which to swing and
when he escaped the tyranny Of the bar
barous PEN and ceaged for q while to