The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-05-03
WEIRD JOYS OF rUcAnAN.
bread that Grows In Nuts, MIR that
Comes f-oun Trees. Syrup thss Gathers
on Anta' Racks, and Light In NJ shines
from I.ayes-A Puneh aud n story.

Comes frnm Ircess BNEup thnf snthere
on Aut.' BACKS, nrd LiSht that shines
from Leayes-A Punch aud n story.
"seoms 10 me that ! ought IN be- sorry I went
down there. now said John Gilbert. the trav-
cling Vroceryman. who recently returned from
n six weeks stay In Yucatan. ~ don't see how
can 20 ahead and resume the rounds that my
business calls for without n sigh and n regret.
that, 20 where ] may in my native land. I will
look in vain for the tree that in those tropical
climes gave me light by night. for the tree that
gave me my daily bread, and the one that gave
me milk for my coffee, TO say nothing of tho
pleasing and dubious ant that gave me the
swectcning for II. Time and cash customers
may wear down and blunt tho edge OF this re-
greet. but It is sharp now, and 7 really suppose
that | ought to be sorry l went down there.
"1didn't know anything about these remark
able specimens Of the vegetable and animal
Kingdoms when I first struck that country. but
| noticed that the bread we had In camp was
very good and the milk very choice and creamy,
while tho coffee was deliciously sweetened. Ono
morning I heard the cook Of our party hollering
out orders TO the Indian guides.
Here, your no hollered. Hurry up and
pick some bread! And there amt n bit of milk.
60 bore for some right awayl And say. you
Dago over yonderl What's the matter OF you
straining some sugar out o. them ants p
This was n little astonishing to me, and I
asked for information. Then | found out all
about It.
The tree that gave the bread We ate down
there doesn't look a bit as IL It would do It. But
I found out that looks are deceptive under the
EQUATION. The bread isn't bread exactly when II
Is first picked, but it is a nice stiff dough en-
closed in a nutshell about the size Of a goose
egg. They crack the shell, take out the dough,
knead It a little. and It is ready for baking. BY
thinning 1t down to n batter with the milk they
get from another tree, our camp COOK used to
make f~lrst-rate pancakes out OF II. The day I
came away he strained the sweetening out of a
quart Of ants. mixed it up with a batch of the
dough, and made sweet cake that would have
been good enough for anybody's folks to set out
before company.
1.-THE ants that supply the honey. or syrup,
or whatever 1t might be called, are worth trav-
cling all the way down there on a mule to see.
They are about the size Of a small peanut. and
on their back is a transparent sac that they distil
honey into until they swell up as big as a good
sized marble. You can scoop these ants up by
the peck. They make this honey to feed their
young on. but they are so good -natured. and so
susceptible to familiarity that all one has to do is
to tickle them under the fore shoulder, and they
will give you every drop of honey they have in
stock. and then 60 meekly of to fill up again.
Blu this accommodating ant isn't one whit
more curious than the tree that acts in the ca
pacity OF dairy down there. This tree has q big
leaf, so tough and l~eathery that they use It for
half-sollng shoes. When they want to milk
one Of the trees they bore a hole In the trunk.
and II lets down a sap as white and as sweet as
any milk you ever read about In summer hotel
advertisements. To get sweet milk out of this
vegetable COW. though. you must milk 1t early
in the morning. After the sun has been
IN two or thrce hours the tree gives sOur mill
They tell u weird tale down there about a
vengeful snake and n foolhardy Indian. The
snake is OF the deadly venomous aphidian
family familiar in the tropics by a queer Indian
name which / can't remember. and which I
couldn't pronounce If l did remember 1t. In
English it Is bushman. This particular snake
had a nest Of young ones. and the Indian was
foolhardy enough to steal them. The mother
snake followed the Indian to his hut
only to find the dead bodies of her
offspring lying about with their heads
smashed. The mother snake disappeared. Next
morning ~he Indian went out and tapped his
COW tree for milk. and. returning, drank 1t for
his breakfast. lie had scarcely swallowed It
when he began to double up and howl. His
eyes hulged out and his cheeks turned fiery red.
He swelled up like fifty thousand honey ants.
Tho b%ushman", cried his wife. The BUSH
man has stune him"
ne naI HI tue sy"pIpIls Una Hollow Ilb
bite of that cheerful serpent but nowhere about
him could the marks of the deadly fangs of one
be found upon the dead Indian. Later they
found the mother bushman lying dead in the
bushes near the COW tree. In the trunk of the
tree. deeply embedded. they discovered her
poison fangs. Then the terrible truth was re-
vealed. Tie snake, despoiled of her family. had
avenged herself on the despoiler. She had
and the Indian had drunk of it deeply and met
his awful fate.
But the tree that gives light interested and
amazed me more than the Others. This tree
but three of them would light a pretty good sized
house. II you rub its leaves smartly between
your hands they will glow in the dark like a
lightning bug. As soon as night, comes the
so many electric lights. Looking Off across
country one can sec scores of the trees shin
ing here and there in the darkness like beacon
lights set In the hills. The Indians call it the
the best light just after 1t has been drenched
with water. and so If the tree begins to grow a
little dim all they have to do is to douse two or
three pals of water over 1t and 1t is Just like
They distill a very far-reachinR article OF rum
from the leaves of this witch tree by boiling them
down and letting the result stand In the sun a
few days. The natives are very fond of this
tipple. and 1t will be strange T. two or more of
your attendants in camp aren't busy most OF
the time snoring off the result of injudicious
ia importing with 1t while il WAS a trife new. We
hr ewed n punch one dav from COW tree milk,
right down there, but | doubt whether IL would
be safe to introduce IL into our own Sixth ward.
That punch WAS a dream! Still. II ! ever go
there again | think I'd take my liquor
with me-"
SAW A WHITE OTTER.
An Aibino of the Sea Whose Peit WouId