The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1896-11-26

figures would serve we'll as artists
models in the altogether A dory,
by the way, is usually followed from a
single log of mahogany or cedar, and
is from % to 80 feet in length. A mag
nitcent boat, SO buoyant and safe that
those accustomed to its management
may venture fearlessly out to sea in
weather which would surely swamp a
larger vessel The pit-pan is another
variety of canoe, not so large as the dory
but excelling it in point of speed. 1t is
of the same material, but has perfectly
flat bottom. Both are sharp, trim and
graceful in shape and the natives propel
them with remarkable rapdity by single,
broad bladed paddles, stuck vertically in
the water, first on one side, then on the
other. As we were leaving ''Thanks- to-
Cod town, repeating its name softly to
ourselves for the privilege, an immense
canoe shot past us, manned by a score of
naked Indians, just come down from the
far interior with a cargo of crude rubber
to sell. At Gracias they find ready
market for the rubber; and having invest
ed the proceeds in aguardiente (rum) and
Cheap John motions from the Pennsyl-
vanian's store, and the little that may
remain in needed provisions for the dis
tant camp, they will row back again up
the silent river, no richer than they came,
to their lonely life in the forest.
Approaching Bluefelds, lit used to be
spelled Blewtelds) you see no sign till
close upon it, of the great Moscos territory
which Columbus found in 1902, and Won
der that he ever discovered it at ALL At
last line of white sand appears, barely
above the level of the water, with a green
belt above it, pierced here and there by
solitary palm tree, and low, blue hills be-
yond-all tame, fiat and uninteresting
| Finally you come into a great lagoon,
hidden from the sea by sand bar which
is fringed on the inner edge with dense
masses of mangrove trees; and this is
| the celebrated harbor of Bluefields, once
the home of pirates, to which England
chung with such grim determination The
entrance to it is narrow, but not difficult
at the foot of high rocky bluff which
completely commands the passage The
town itself, port and capital of the Res
erva Mosquito, lies nine miles from the
entrance, and to reach it much lacking
and backing and filling is necessary to
| oh No ha, Il oI,o
in the lagoon. The once imperial city and
residences of the black court of the Mos
quito Kingdom, is mere collection of
rude huts, picturesquely set upon a bluff,
at point where the Bluetield river emp
ties into the lagoon. In reality there are
two villages, the smaller one called
'Carlsruhe" $50 named by a colony of
Prussians, who attempted to establish
themselves here many years ago and most
disastrously failed. The huts and few
american style tin-roofed houses are
surrounded by palm and plantain trees,
with detached stalks of the papaya laden
with golden fruit; and the shore is lined
with the usual canoes, pit-pans and
dories. The Moscos are an amphibious
race. They ride the toughest seas like
sea gulls, and if a boat Gpsets they right
! it in moment aud clean it of water with
their broad paddles not in the least dis
| concerted by so tritiing an accident
Among the crowd of people at the land
ing we We're surprised to see very few
white faces, OF even dstinctively Indian
the vast majority being unmitigated ne
groes from Jamaica,or ''Sambos, " as they
are Called. e, of mixed negro and In
dian blood. We have always understood
that the Mosquito shore is occupied by
Mosquito Indians-but the truth is that
hardly a pure blooded Indian is left in
the country. The miserable race which
goes by that name has been mixed more
and more with trader blood from jana
lea, with which island this coast has it's
principal relation, until the aboriginal
element is about eradcated. AS long ago
as Lussan, the ee-booter, wrote he said
''The coast has long been inhabited by
lHuldSltlS (iuuldllOeS) ana negroes, DOCl
men and women, which have greatly null
tiplied since Spanish ship bound from
Guinea, freighted with their fathers, was
lost here. Those who escaped from the
wreck were courteously received by the
Mousticks (buccaneer for ''mosquitos,'
Spanish Moscos), who lived hereabouts.
The Indians assigned their guests place
to grub up and intermixed with them.
They are very slothful and plant and
sow very little, their women perform
ing all the labor. When they are inclin-
ed to sleep they dig hole in the sand,
into which they put themselves. -
The negroes cast ashore from the Span
ish slave ship were largely augmented by
cimarones, or runaway slaves from Span
ish settlements in the interior. Still later,
when the English planters from Jamaica
attempted to settle on this coast, they
brought along their slaves, who also con-
tributed their quota toward mixing up the
mongrel race which now prevails along
these borders. combining the blood of