The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-02-21

grow in pods about the size Of q CO.
coanut there being about forty beaus
as large as a filbert nut in each pod.
Each tree only Yields one pound of
merchantable cocoa in season, and il
does not begin 10 bear until u is
years Of age. But once it begins TO
bear. II never wears ont. At 20 years
Of age it Yields a better quality OF
fruit than at first. and there are trees
on plantations here which have been
yielding for 100 years. The trees re-
duire very little care. the only atten-
tiOn needed being to remove the weeds
and underground from around them
The labOrers vino work on he plan
tstions are paid 40 cents a day. and
they board themselves. Ecuador has
eight millionaires, and it is q sig
nificant fact that all of them are own
ers OF cocoa plantations, and that they
are natives OF the country. As yet the
foreigner has not been able TO Guido
them in the business.
Serpents and Scorpions.
The crop Of snakes never falls short
in Ecuador The talk about them IS
almost as disturbing to the travellers
peace Of mind as the yellow fever
stories The resident likes to tell yarns
in the presence of the new arrival. just
TO see the .-tenderfoot' vince. Aside
from the yarns. the unvarnished truth
is enough 10 make the wayfarer IN
easy. Not long ago q woman who
was a guest at the best hotel in Quay
aauil, was doing in her hammock,
when she was h0Trifed 10 feel some
thing crawling beneath her clothes.
She screamed and sprang to her feet,
but not in time TO save herself. II
as she moved it buried its fangs in the
flesh Of her thigh. Her leg soon be
came terribly swollen. and although
her life was saved, she had a very mar
row escape from death.
These little house serpents are very
numerous in some parts Of South
America In many of the coast towns,
where there are adobe houses. they
breed il the dirt roofs and are liable
to be dropping into he rooms below
at any time A missionary told me
that frequently he had killed as many
as six or eight on his premises in q
weeks time The little reptiles like
the heat and the fat roofs, where the
sun beats hard. is a favOrite place for
them. When they are disturbed and
happen 10 fall into the rooms below,
they make for the Warmest place they
beds. or shoes. or clothing In the bar
rem districts the snakes are dull col
ored. like the surroundings, but in the
forest regions they are as brilliantly
colored as the vegetation around them
The coral snake is one Of the smallest
members Of the snake family. 1t sell
dom grows to be larger or thicker than
lead pencil. In addition to being
small. it also has the distinction Of
being one Of the most gorgeoUsly col
ored snakes in existence. and one Of
the most deadly. A victim rarely re-
covers from its bite. 1t has eyelashes
like q person. Tt makes the tourist
shudder in addition to all the above,
TO be told that one of its favorite re-
treats is between the coverings of beds.
However this species is not nearly 50
common as the dun colored serpent
that lives in the earth of the adobe
houses, and this is fortunate, because
the latter is not 50 poisonous. Scor-
pions are another source Of danger
They frequent the houses and their
bite is likely to be fatal. One must
be constantly on the lookout for these
obnoxious providers.
One of the best snake stories in cir
culation is that told by A. l.. NJ. Colts