The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1901-05-03
HUNTING AND BOATING.
Interesting Letter From a Mankato Boy
in the Philippines.

home to his parents, Mr.. and Mrs.
J. Jessup. He ~says that he is we'll,
although there is considerable sickness
in the company, the form of sickness
starting with chills and fevers and
malaria, which is always present there.
Mr.. Jessup with seven of his company
went on a five days hunt, we'll armed
and provisioned. They went six miles
the first day to the edge of a jungle,
fording two rivers. The result of the
first days hunt was a deer and two
wild hogs. Two were always on guard
against the natives while the others
were in the grass house which. they
constructed to protect themselves from
the rain. The next day was rainy,
but that did not prevent the party
from hunting and exploring the noun
tains. They killed great deal more
game than they could use, as it was
very plenty. Mr.. Jessup killed three
deer. five hogs, several chickens and
one wild turkey, while some of the
others did better than that. He also
killed some large monkeys, which were
very numerous.
1t rained more or less every day and
night, making the woods dripping
mass, with leaves always falling, dead
branches and occasionally a big tree
crashing down with a thud, causing
the monkeys and birds to keep up a
constant chatter day and night. The
mosquitoes were very busy also and
cut sleep short.
The second night a party of fifteen
Moros came sneaking around just
across the river at about one clock in
the morning. They watched the
hunters very closely and seemed to
want to find out just how many there
were in the party. The latter fired a
volley to scare them, and were troubled
by them no more.
Mr. Jessup took a tramp through
the almost impenetrable jungle and to
the summit of mountain, where he
could look down on rain storm. He
examined the trees and found many of
the large, nice looking ones to be too
soft for lumber. There was some
mahogany and ebony, but it grows in
such places as to make it expensive to
get il out. Mr.. Jessup thinks the
richness of this island over rated, both
as regards timber and minerals. On
returning to camp that day, darkness
overlook him and he could get back
only by firing his rifle and hearing the
answer in camp. He had been in hopes
of seeing some of the little monkey
like looking people that inhabit the
Businesses of the mountain, but failed,
although he was sure that he was near
them at times and thought that once
he was so near to some of them that
they went tearing through the forest
like jack rabbits. There is very little
fruit on the island, and little of any
thing else of value except coffee and
rubber gum. The small valleys along
the coast are nice to look at, but the
soil is very thin and there is no sub
sofia great bed of black sand under
lying the sandy soil that produces
nothing but tough kind of grass.
Back in the hills and mountains the
soil is better, but it would be big
undertaking to clear IN much of a
plantation.
In his second letter Mr.. Jessup says
that his company has very little fight
ing to do, as the Moros are trying to
act friendly. He says that he and a
soldier from Window, Mimi, own a
boat, hewed out of log by the Moros
and having side riggings of bamboo
and rattan to keep it from tipping
over. 1t cost 81. 90. He says:
II often 60 out in the morning for a
ride on the river and nearly every
evening three or four of us take ride
when the tide is high and the salt
water comes up from the sea, and I tell
you it is just grand about shutdown TO
ride on the crystalline water and see
the different fish down in the water
ten or fifteen feet deep, or to take a
look at the white vapor clouds hang
ing down on the mountains which are
but about two miles distant, or glide
by the native villages of little huts
built of bamboo, leaves or grass, and
see the natives, old and young, men
and women, padding around in the
water like SO many ducks, while some
of them are in their huts or casas
making music on tom toms and bam-
boo harps, while the little, sharp
cared, fee bitten, sneaking yellow ker
dogs sit around and howl to the
moon.
Feb. 22d was holiday and Mr.. Jes-
sup and three others went down the
river in their boat and saw several
crocodiles and many kinds of large
lizards, and going out onto the sea
they gave school Of porpoises chase.
They saw the Chinese sail boats COM
ing in from Cattabata to trade. They
gave chase, overlook the fleet, were
thrown rope and were towed back tc
the fort,
Mr.. Jessup speaks of the Moros as
being treacherous. A party of hunters
was out couple of weeks before and
the Moros came sneaking.. around and
the sentry shot one of them and the
rest left quickly. 1t is supposed that