Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1896-05-20
IN JOYFUL YUCATAN.
A TRAVELLING GROCERY MAN WAKES
ELOQUENT IN PRAISE.
He Talks Of Bread That Grows In Ncte.
MIX That Comes From Treea, Sirup
That Gathers ON Ants Backs and Light
That Shines From Leaves.

Seems to me that ought to be sorry
went down there, now," said John
Gilbert, the travelling grocery man,
who recently returned from n six weeks
stsy in Yucatan. IT don't see how
can go ahead and resume the rounds
that my business calls for without q
sigh aud a regret. that, go where / may
in my native land, will lock i'll vain
for the tree that in those tropical climes
gave me light by night. for the tree
That gave mo my daily bread, and the
one that gavc ne milk for my coffee, to
say nothing CT tho pleasing snd dubious
ant that gave me the sweetening fer 1t.
Time and cash customers may wear
down ard blunt the edge of this regret,
but it is sharp now, and really suppose
.hat 1 ought to be sorry went down
there.
"I didn't know anything about these
remarkable specimens Of the vegetable
and animal kingdoms when first struck
that country, bnt 1 noticed that tho
bread we had i'll camp was very good
and the milk very choice and creamy,
while the coffee was deliciously sweet
ened. Ono morning heard the cook Of
Our party hoIlering ont orders to the
Indian guides
"'Here, your lie hollcred. Hurry
up and pick so,no bread! And there
amt bit of nilki Go bore for sol,,e
right away! And say, you daGo over
yonder, what's the matter Of you
strainirg some sugar out o. tlieir ants?'
"This was little astonishing to NE,
and I asked for information. Then 1
found out all about it.
1.-THE tree that gave the bread we ate
down there doesn't look q bit rs If it
would do it. But I found out that looks
are deceptive under the equator. The
bread isn't bread exactly when it is first
picked, bat it is nice, stiff dough in
closed In nutshell aboIt the size of a
goose egg. They crack the she'll, take
out the dough, kncad it q little. and it
is ready for baking. By thinning it
down to batter with the milk they get
from another tree, cur camp cook used
to make first rate pancakes o,it OF 1t.
The day 1 came away he strained the
sweeteIing oct Of n quart Of ants. mixed
it uo with a batch of the dough and
made sweet cake that would have been
coed enough for anybcdy's folks to set
out before company.
"The ants that supply the honey, or
sirup, or whatever it might be called,
are worth travelling all the way down
there OIL mule to see. They are about
the size of small peanut, and on their
back is a transparent sack that they dis
til honey into until they swell mp as big
as q 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 suscep-
tible 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 go meekly off to fill up again.
"But this accommodating ant isn't
one whit more curious than the tree
that acts in the capacity Of dairy down
there. This tree has a big leaf, so tough
and leathery that they use it for half
soling shoes. When they want to milk
one of the trees, they bore a hole in the
trunk, and it lets down sap as white
and as sweet as any milk you ever read
about in summer hotel advertisements.
To get sweet milk cut of this vegetable
COW, though, you must milk 1t early In
the morning. After the sun has been up
two or three hours the tree gives sour
milk. They tell weird tale down there
about venSeful snake and foolhardy
Indian. The snake is Of the deadly ven,
omous aphidian family familiar IN
the tropics by queer Indian name which
| can't remember and which cOuldn''
| pronounce if did remember 1t. In Eng.
lish it is bushEan. This particular
snake had nest of young ones, and the
Indian was foolhardy enough to stea
them. The mother snake followed the
Indian to his hut only to find the deat
bodies Of her offspring lying about will
their heads smashed. The mother snake
disappeared Next morning the Indian
went out and tapped his COW tree fol
milk, and returning drank it for hi!
breakfast. He had scarcely swallowed i
when he began to double up and howl
His eyes bulged ont and his checks turn
ed fiery red and with yell fell dead
| "'The bushmanv cried his wife. 'Th'
bushman has stung him'
"He had all the symptoms that follow
the bite OF that cheerful serpent, but no
where about him could the marks Of tn
deadly fangs of one be found upon tn
dead Indian. Later they found tn
mother bushman lying dead in tn
bushes near the COW tree. In the trunl
of the tree, deeply embedded, they dis
covered her poison fangs. Then the ter
rible truth was revealed. The snake
despoiled of her family, had avenge
herself on the despoiler. She had min
gled her venom with the milk In tn
tree, and the Indian had drunk Of
deeply and met his awful fate.
"But the tree that gives Light inter
ested and amazed me more than the 9th
ers. This tree doesn't grow more tha
10 or IL feet high, but three Of theI
would light pretty good sized house
IF you rub its leaves smartly betwee
your hands they will glow in the dar
like lightning bug. AS soon Us nigh
comes the leaves on this tree begin t
shine as if they were SO many electri
lights. Looking eff across country, on
can see scores Of the trees shining he1
and there in the darkness like beacc
lights set in the hills. The Indians ca
it the witch tree, and l don't blan
them. 1t gives the best light after 1t hi
been drenched with water. and so If tt
tree begins to grow little dim all the
have to do is to douse two or three pal
of water over it, and it is just like gi'
ing the wick Of a lamp turn or tw
higher. New York Sun.
EYunsIOyS saa-esso