Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1899-11-22
LIGHTNING BUGS.
Strange Sight Witnessed After Dark
by an American Traveller
I'm Mexico.

81 was riding through the jungle the
other night on an 18-inch trail. ALI was
darkness, and such darkness!" said an
American traveller. 81 could feel it. I
would put my hand up before my face
very few minutes to see if could see
lit, but the darkness was too intense.
| 1t made me very nervous, for the trails
are SO little used that the brush is apt
to be lower than a mans height, and
one is in danger of being brushed from
ones saddle in going along in the dark.
I felt as though my head might be
brushed from my shoulders.
''The quiet was intense, except for
the calls of wild beasts and birds, some
Of which sounded to me in my nervous
state like thousand fiends. Even in
the. daylight many of the calls sound
more like those of person than an
animal.
MY horse was picking the trail, and
[ had one arm over my head so as to
protect myself from the brush over
head, when suddenly I saw lantern
with greenish light ahead of me a lit
tie way, but to one side. My blood
froze. 1 was literally frightened stiff.
In my overweight state / did not
ask myself what it was. 1t was there,
and that was enough. Who says the
imagination is not as bad as the reality
while it lasts? Sometimes, as in this
case, it is only few seconds, but what
agony of fright can be felt in those few
seconds and what an eternity those
seconds seem.
81 saw the light flash across my path,
then dart back into the jungle again.
By the time it flashed across my path
the second time came to, as it were,
from my fright, and realized that there
was no one for perhaps hundred miles
around, except the natives, and knew
they knew nothing of lanterns. Be
sides that, animals would not dart back
and forth. I then began to see many
more of these greenish lights. There
were plenty of firefiies darling around,
but what could these be? However,
they did not hurt me, and l did not
bother them.
81 knew they must be winged some
things, as they were high and low,
and so must fly, By degrees recovered
my composure, and, watching intent
ly, L thought it-whatever it was
was small. Arriving at last at an In
dams where l was to spend the night,
I went to bed in a hammock swung
under the rafters, tired out, sore and
very much unnerved. / could not sleep
and lay with my eyes wide open, turned
to the rafters and matched roof. The
ludicrous side of my fright and how aw-
full and real it had been rushed over
me. I called to the Indian, who was
hung up in another hammock few feet
from me, and asked him what it was
He told me 'kookOogugu,' or something
| that sounded as much like nothing as
that, for 1 had come to Mexico know
ing no Spanish; but as / seemed so in
| terested and ignorant he made a funny
sound with his lips a few times and
down the insect flew-for insect it was.
He captured it and gave it to me.
''It was a large black snap beetle
with two large greenish lights, which
I supposed to be its eyes, but upon
carefully examining it found they were
not 1t also had a streak of this same
light under it's body. The light was
luminous, shedding its rays quite few
inches, this making it appear at dis
lance quite as large as an ordinary Ian
tern. Well, after that went to sleep
and slept well.
81 often laugh when think the most
horrible fright ever experienced was
caused by harmless little lightning
bug" -Minneapoli Journal.