The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1899-06-29
TERMS Shopper year, in advance
Six Months SO cents,
TIE % THREE 81 S&$
FNVAlEEKo. .=

SAoO VI ~ 1C0C, Will Iruuk, Ir0Qu0QC-
ly feet in diameter. There are other
ferns, too, of great variety and great
beauty, that spring up beneath the
mass of foliage overhead. Brilliant
Towering plants and vines run riot
through and over these masses of rich
verdure. Here is the home of the
orchid, that curious and wonderful
flower of thousand varieties, over
which connoisseurs so often rave.
Serenely located in the tuft of fern
tree or high up in the fork of some
monarch of the jungle, this delicate
and fragile flower blooms in all it's
primeval beauty. Jim proved himself
to be quite an expert on the subject of
botany, and very frequently startled
the others of the party with his pro-
found learning on the flora of the
tropics. Antonio, much to his dis
pleasure, would often find himself fatty
contradicted by Jim, concerning state
ments relative to the plant life that
surrounded them. Jim was very busy
procuring and classifying specimens,
which he procured at every stop the
vessel made.
There are no sharks in these rivers.
but there are alligators and also croco-
diles; immense fellows that lie amid the
reeds of the muddy river banks or the
sloughs of the interior. Their presence
was first made known to the Privateers
by sound they make, similar to the
grunt of a hog. Bill Immediately
armed himself with a winchester. and
before the Amazon was reached, he had
succeeded in effectually discouraging
several big saurians that had remained
too long within the range of his gun.
The vital spot of the alligator, as with
large game, is Immediately behind the
shoulder. The scales along the back
and sides and on the head of the alli-
gator are almost impenetrable. Bill
was greatly elated with the results of
his Workmanship, but very reluctantly
refrained from securing a trophy of
each encounter. Bill no doubt would
have slain all the gators in the Para
had it not been found necessary to
limit his supply of ammunition.
1t was difficult work navigating the
Para, and on one occasion the naptha
launch was gotten out to tow the vessel
during part of an afternoon, that the
wind had died down into calm. This
difficulty was at an end when the Anna
zon was reached. This mighty river,
for over thousand miles of it's lower
course, is anywhere from to 80 miles
in width. At it's junction with the
Para it is almost 100 miles wide. With
this spacious leeway the Flying Spray
had little difficulty in running up the
Amazon. A few stops were made at
Indian villages, to buy fruit and fish.
These villages are built of palm leaves
and bark. The crude houses or shacks
are erected on spiles, about six feet
above the ground, though occasionally
a house will be found built among the
branches of tree. The houses are
tnus raised above the ground to protect
the inhabitants against malarial fevers,
overfows and the visits of prowling
wild animals. The house is reached by
a ladder, which is drawn up at night
The natives live almost entirely on fish,
fruit and roots. Along the lower course
OF the Amazon, the natives have
adopted some OF the customs of the
white man, but as race, they are far
down on the scale, and but little re-
moved from the brute. With the
exception of the jaguar, there are no
ferocious animals in the Amazon jungle,
and this animal only attacks men when
it is in a starving condition or when too
closely cornered. Of other wild ami
mails there are number, the largest of