Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-07-09

moeks, reading or smoking, or, perhaps
sleeping the afternoon away. The mans
c'srk y probably doing likewise and the
nah OF hustle says TO himself and others.
~ Tx this sort of business" AT that
ne inausurates broad system of reform
ana tries to convert the people of the
pace from their innate Iaziness. In Il
months time he has caught the inertia
and like the others he levotes his after
Moons to nothing more laborious than
quiet thought"
What Is the programme Of the lay?''
was asked
People get up about or 6 O'Clock and
nave coffee. Then comes the business and
Tor while about the market places and
business streets.thcre Is something which
snspiciously resembles activity. At II
O'Clock everyone has breakfast of eggs,
meat or fish and fried piantains the
standby of many of the South American
countries. After dinner there is a long
loaf One does little and society, what
little there is. has the call. At 4 o'clock
dinner Is eaten and after the sun goes
down. the people bath
'fhe water Is delicious. and the sand
on Inc shores is soft and white, Of a
mostly coral nature. at leasfin British Hon
duras and Guatema,si where passed
much of my time The water is warm
and sharks are numerous. but have
never known OF a case where anyone was
attacked while in the water all over A
man loses an arm or leg quite often
where that member is hanging in the wa
ter
one night. speaking of sharks. from a
high bluT. a party of us saw swimming
FAR below two Carib girls. They looked
like dclphins in the moonlight Ahead
OF them, a short ways, was the fin of an
evidently great shark. We called to at
tract their attention. They either heard
us not or else did not care for they kept
on and the shark did not bother them.
Another time the police officers, so called
of the place, / happened to be in Belize.
the capital of British Honduras, had ar
rested a man on some prctcxt He was Il
had customer. They reached from one
boat into the one he was in and caught
him by the collar of his coat. AS they
dragged him over. he slipped out of his
clothing aud he swan away The gov
eminent quay was swarmed with people
who watched him swim across the bay
THE water was alive with sharks, yet
none touched him. He was native and
dark, which may have caused it, The
water there is of a clear green shade
which is pretty ana which is transparent
50 that one opening his eyes beneath the
surface can see long distance"
what do people wear
what they do The women are dressed
in light material and they if anything are
more eoolly dressed than the men. The
latter have a jacket, something like a
military coat. nj a light material. This
coat serves the part of collar and shirt.
vest and outside sack. 1t buttons up the
middle and rather close fitting about the
neck, not unlike BARRIERS jacket
You would find the nights the most In
teresting." he continued .'on account of
the bugs, beetles and bats which swarm
about the dwellings, mostly of a thatch
roof and open beneath the caves. The
beds. at least that the foreigners use are
mostly of iron. with a continuation of
the four legs making a frame work for
heavy mosquito netting. This is tucked
closely about the mattress.
"Whcn one gets into bed he pulls the
netting loose and crawls in. He has to
pull his clothes in after him and hang
them up inside the netting or they would
boots are left outside and they have to
be inverted and struck to have the scor-
plons knocked out
THAT reminds me of an interesting ex
perience | once had. 1 was aroused at
night by feeling some bad bites. | got up
and after rummaging about in the dark
for a while | discovered n few ants In
my bed. / did not mind that, as l sup
posed | had Killed them all l laid down
again to get some more bites. That was
too much. l knew something was radi-
cally wrong. l got up and lit the lamp.
There across the room was an unbro-
ken line of army ants that had found me
ont and having made an entrance by one
of the legs to my canopy so precious. had
evcrrun my couch. | overhauled things
generally and poured kerosene about the
legs This they would not cross and ]
had no more trouble. But sometimes
these army ants Will enter a house, eat
everything eatable and the regular occu-
pants have to make way and leave tho
sstptors to their pleasure before they are
permitted to return. The ants are of ali
sizes from the little ones as large as the
head of a pin to the big sandpopers' an
inch or so long. The food has to BE-
placed in vessels suspended from tho
ceiling The cord passes through vessels
filled with Kerosene. down which the ants
would come were they not thus prevent
ed
al night bats fly about in the houses,
ana lizards and bugs of all kinds crawl
about on the heavy thatch roof and over
everywhere they take a notion.
There is little pleasure or comfort
there with all its ease of a certain kind.
one degenerates there fast, and becomes
a very inactive specimen of humanity
An this naturally tends to carelessnesst
one gets TO caring little what he docs or
does not do. The fact of the yellow fe-
yer being everywhere present ready To
take one off at any time, is enough in
Itself to make one Indifferent as to the
future At Belize. as in many of the
al ha hail rn wi N