The National tribune., 1898-10-13
CHAPTER Xxx.

i
den in their lairs and dens in the day
time, come out at night in search of food
Birds are seldom seen. and the monkeys,
so common in the Philippines, shun the
solitude of these immense forests.
One kind of insect is met with in great
abundance, and it plaques the traveller to
the utmost. They are the small lecches,
which are found on all the mountains OF
the Philippines that are covered with
forests They lie close to the ground in
the grass, or on the leaves of the trees,
and dart like grasshoppers on their prey,
to which they fasten. Travellers are
therefore always provided with little
knives, cut from the bamboo, to loosen
the hold OF the insects, after which they
rub the wound with a lit le chcwed to-
bacco. But soon another leech, attracted
by the flowing blood, takes the place Of
the one which was removed, and con
slant care is necessary to avoid being
victimised by those little insects, of which
the voracity far exceeds that of our com
mon leecheS. Our way lay through these
singular creations of nature, and | was
engaged in looking at and examining the
c,ri0sltieS around me, while my Indians
were seeking some kind of gamc-deer
buffalo, or wild bOar-to replace our stock
of rice and venson, which was exhausted.
We were at length reduced to the palms
as our only resource; but the palms,
though pleasing 60 the palate, are not
sufficiently nutritixr to recruit the strength
of poor travellers, when. suffering under ex-
trenc fatigue and after Il aborious.march,
they find no lodging, hut the moist ground,
and no shelter but the vault of thc sky.
We directed our course as near as pos
sible towards theoeaseern coast. which is
bathed by the Pacifief Ocean. We knew
that it was in that direction the Aietas
commenced their. settlement. We wished
| to pass through the large Tagalese village,
| Binangonan de Jamp3n, which is to be
found, isolated aid hidden, at the foot of
the eastern MOUNTAINS, in the midst Of
| the SavageS. Or
A TROPICAL STORM.
/. We had already spent several nights in
! the forest, and without experiencing any
| great inconvenience The fires which we
/ lighted every evening, warmed us, and
4 saved us from the nfyriads of terrible
lleeches, which otherwise would certainly
have devoured us We imagined that we
were within one day simarch of the sea-
shore where we expected to take some
time for rest, whcn,I Ola sudden, burst
| of thunder at distance gaic us reason to
| apprehend "A storm.
| Nevertheless,9we continued our journey;
| but in a short time the growing Of the
!. thunder approached so near as to Leave
| no doubt that the hurricane would hurst
over us. We stopped, lighted our fires,
cooked our evenings repaSt, and placed
some of the palm leaves on poles by the
side Of a slope to save. us from the heavy
rain. .,
We had not finished all our preparations
when the storm broke. If we had not had
| the glimmering glare of or firebrandS we
should have been in profound obscurity.
although il was not yet night, We I'll
| three, with pieces Of palm branches in our
hands, crouched under the slight shelter
which we had improvised, and there
awaited the full fotce Of the storm. The
thunderclaps were Tedoubled; the rain
began with violence to batter the trees,
and then. to aSSail us like q torrent.
| Our fires were speedily extinguished;
we found ourselves in the deepest dark
ness, interrupted only by the lightning,
which from time tn time rushed, serpent
like, through the trees of the forest, scat
tering a dazzling light, tO leave us the
moment after in profound obscurity
Around us the din was horrible; the
thunder was continuous, the echoes of
the mountains repeating from distance To
distance it's sound, sometimes deadened,
and sometimes with awful grandeur The |
wind which blew with violence, shattered
the uppermost parts OF the trees, breaking
off large branches, which fell with crash |
to the ground. Some trunks were up
rooted, and while falling, tore down the
boughS of the neighbOring trees.
The rain was incessant and in TIE |
intervals between the thunder we could |
hear the awful roar Of the waters of a tor |
rent which rushed madly past the base OF
the mound where we had taken refuge |
Amidst all this frightfnl commot;on,
mOurnful and dismal sounds were heard |
like the howls Of a large dog which had |
lost its master; they were the cries of the |
deer in their distress, seeking for place |
of shelter.
Nature seemed 10 be in convulsions |
and To have declared war in every element
The loose thatch under which we had |
taken refuge was soon penetrated, and we |
were conn letely deluged. We soon Quilted
this miserable hole preferring To move our |
stiffened and almost deadened limbs. Gov
cred with the fearful little leeches, which |
terrible infiiction deprived us of the |
strength SO necessary in our awful posi- |
ton.
A FRIGHTFUL NIGHT
avOw that at this moment sincerely
rcpented my fatal curiosity, for which ! |
paid so dearly. l could compare this |
passed in the banboos, when l was
wrecked on the lake. In appearance
there was not suol1 pressing danger for |
we could not be- swallowed up by the
waves; but there ,YGreT large trees, under
which we were obliged 70 stop, and one of
which might be uproofed and fall unon
u.s. a bough torn off BY the wind MINI
crush us; and the- Nghtning equally
terrific in its reports and its effects, might
espeeay ni amy Cold pae aed thing hs
Guilty OF moving our frozen and almost
paralyZed limbs. 10 ~
We waited with impaticnce the cessa-
ton OF the storm: but 1T was not until
after three hours Of mortal agony that the
thunder gradually ceased. The wind fell.
the rain subs sided and for some time we
heard nothing but the large drops which
drpped from the tIeeS,e and the dread
sound of the torrents. Calm was restored.
the sky became pure and starry: but we
were deprived of that view which gives
hope to the traveller, for the forest pre-
sented only dome of green, impenetrable
to the sight.
Exhausted as we were by our exposI,re
to the elements and our exertions we
were so overpowered by natures great
renovator, sleep, that, notwithstanding orr
clothes were saturated with the rain we
were able to pass the remainder of the
night in tranquility. At break of day The
forest. which few hours previously had
been the scene of the terrors which have
described, was again tranquil and silent
When we quilted our lair we were fright
full to look at; we were covered with
leeches, and the marks of blood on our
faces rendered us hdeous. On looking mt
my two poor Indians l could not avoid
laughing aloud; they also looked at me.
but their respect for me prevented their