Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-12-20

the long slow days OF voyaging up tho
Magdalena, passengers must possess
their souls In patience as best they can
with nothing to do but fight MOSQUITOES
and keep as cool as circumstances win
ALLOW. Male passengers wary The
monotony little by shooting az the
alligators that In some places literally
line the banks. a school OF them is
always following the boat probably In
hope Of human meal. The gator I,
by no means risky creature as those
who are acquainted with his habits
may know, but he is not 20 be trusted,
even In his hours OF apparent oblivion.
with his nose TO the river his small
eyes closed and great jaws halt.0pen
he seems 20 be sound asleep, ana looks
the most harmless Of creatures nut ut
naked piccannny come Within
range or yenturesome swimmers
lex and IN the twlnhlng OF aa eyt
snap 90 the jaws, like mammoth
rat-trap, and a red stalu upon The
water tells the rest Of the story
For the first 200 miles above Barran
quilla one sees little, nt this time NJ
year but continuous swamps ON either
side The river itself. directly m rs
mouth, is fully mile and q halt Wide.
and It's lover valley IL one vast alluvial
plain which. like the Nile region IL
subject 20 periodical overflow FOR 300
miles the most magnificent Grazing
lands stretch away 10 the north ana The
south, covered with cattle most OF this
year-unul lust before the foods that
follow the rainy season, when they are.
driven up into the mountains Wher-
ever the land has been cultivated Il
shows surprising fertility and the over.
lloW might easily be controlled and
turned into a blessing, By a system Of
dykes similar to those I'm use on the
lower Mississippi Years ago thorr
We're profitable plantations, worked by
negroes, all up and down the middle
valley Of the Magdalena; but after the
slaves We're emancIpated (Which took
place In Colombia In 1855 ! beleve),
the estates rapidly went TO ruin ana
were finally abandoned by their own.
ers. II seems that Spaniards ana In
dams cannot endure hard labor ~ this
climate and neither love nor lucre can
Induce the eX-slayes 10 do stroke "
II and today the once rich plantn tons
show no traces OF having ever boon cul-
tiyated, being completely overrun with
the riotOus vegetation Of the tropics.
while the negroes themselves have re-
lapsed into state Of standardization.
Since nature has provided generously
for all the black mans simple needs,
and he has no ambition to crafty. why
should he not emulate the scriptural
example Of the lilies which toll not
neither do they spin?"
These Magdalena boats are built on
much the same plan as those used on
| the Ohio rlyer-with a paddlewheel IN
| the rear They draw only foot or two
| OF water, even when laden to their at
most capacity, as otherwise they could
| never get over the sandbars. The
great river itself Is a natural curiosity
| trayersing the whole of Colombia and
| draining an enormous area Of NOM.
tains covered with perpetual snow and
| forming the sole outlet for seven
states of the republic. Its water is as
| muddy as the Missouri, and as swift
as the Mississippi which il greatly re-.
| embes. SO strong Is It's yellow tide
and so full of sediment that II will not
mix readily with the salt water of the
sea, but like the Amazon can be dis
| tlnctly traced for many miles. In
some places It Is scarcely hundred
feet wide; In others eight or ten miles.
It's channel having never been wen
| cleared, Is full Of snags. sandbars and
| hoatlng boys, making n pilots position
| by no means sinecure During the
| rainy season the SWOLLEN current Is so
swift and strong that progress up
stream Is necessarily very slow, but
| when the moon Is bright the boats are
kept in motion both night and day. At
! other times they can run only in the
| Al "a q