The Goodland republic. [volume] (Goodland, Kan.) 1891-1907, 1904-06-17
Porto Cortez Honduras

paper railroads
Porto COrtez. Honduras.
From distance Americans are m
pressed with the idea that the people
and the governments are the principal
features Of Central America. tut here
on the ground one is impressed most
by the animal and plant life The
immensely and constantly changing
forms Of tropical growth is a cause for
continual astonish meut-
Here In Honduras. on the level land
Of low attitudes, the palm trees seem
to have at some time crowded out the
other plants. These palms now pre-
sent trunks Of about a foot IN diane
ter, with long fern-like leaves bTazch-
ing out about fifteen ceet from The
ground These leaves are each about
thirty feet in length aud intermingle
in such a way that the rays Of he sun
seldom reach the ground Thus all
smaller shrubs are squeezed out. But
on every hand one may see another
tree sitting the palms. The seeds
from the Giant tree, called by the na-
tiyes "Cieba," are deposited up in the
palms Just where the group Of leaves
branch out. The seed sprouts at once
and sends up a shoot With leaves not
unlike the oak. only larger. At the
same time roots start toward the
ground, entwining the trunks Of the
palms. The growth Ct the new tree
and OF its dangling and twiling roots
is rapid. and in o few years the palm
has been chOked 70 death and disap-
pears. The twisting rO5ts Of the Cieba
grow together into a solid trunk, and
1 have seen many Of the trees over ten
feet in diameter that had their start
in this way, the twist Of what were
once the roots being plainly seen up
10 twenty feet above the ground Along
in the valleys may be seen thousands
of instances Of this palm strangula-
ton in every stage. and may also be
seen the long Llama vines and orchid
parasites in their turn attacking the
Cieba trees and other giants Of the
forest that have been able 10 rear their
heads above the shade Of the palm
It is a constant struggle Of all the
plants TO reach the sunlight. and in
the scramble. like a human scramble,
many are chOked or trampled to death.
There are many vines which crawl up
the trunks of trees. and as they grow
I larger and squeeze harder the original
/ tree is killed and remains rigid only
/ long enough for the vines to cOnsOli-
date into a common trunk to be able
I to hold themselves in the air Then
I the original tree rots and disappears
and the vines turn into a tree them
selves. the trunk finally becoming
solid and presenting an appearance
not unlike that Of the giant Cieba-
Often PARISHES take root in the bark
/ of a tree limb and extend vine-like
roots to the ground These grow into
/ the ground and the circulation thus
/ formed changes the vine into another
/ trunk Of the parent tree, supporting
/ the outstretched limb. These and
many other wonderful growths would
| require a volume for adequate descrip-
/ ton.
| OF course, in this jungle Of battling
plants there is a numerous and varied
animal life The cOmman deer exist by
/ the hundreds of thousands and as
plantations and grass lands are eX-
/ tended by the chOpping down and
I burning OF the forests, the deer grow
/ more numerous in spite Of the fact that
/ they are killed by the thousands, max
\ ing venisOn the common meat food OF
all the rural population. The large
/ and spotted jaguars. the mountain
/ lions. wildcats. cOOns a mink as large
/ as q coon. and many other land ami
mails roam in countless numbers
/ through the jungles and over the
/ mountains. Iguanas. or large lizards
/ ranging from four inches to four feet
\ in length. are at every hand. and their
/ big uncles. the alligatOrs. infest the
/ rivers and hgCOns- In the swamps
4 the huge bOas and other snakes hang
/ from the tree limbs. In the larger
/ forests the monkeys race from limb
/ TO limb. chattering like demented be-
/ iugs- Everywhere are the parrots
/ macaws. and a thousand other richly
\ Dlumed and haTsh-vOiced birds. Ants
/ from minute forms TO sizes like wasps
] are constantly in search of prey
| Grasshoppers larger than Nebraska
I natives" join with crickets in making
! the woods resOund, while one lone
/ locust in a Cieba tree could teach
! voice culture to a square mile Of seven
/ teen-year locusts at home and make
( itself heard above them all
! Along the rivers are mosquitoes. and
J in the forests are chiggers, each intent
on the blood Of an Englishman.'
| Tarantulas abound in the bananas and
! centfpedeS and scorpions come into the
! houses TO show their sOciability.
/ The reader cannot but wonder what
| is attractive and pleasant in this cOun-
/ try. Yet It IS a fact that one visit tC
/ the tropics brings on a desire for mora
7 visits.