The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1909-09-17
THE RAIN FOREST.
A Glimpse OF the Greatest Wonder OF
the World in Savage Africa.

Until only a few years ago, the great.
est wonder OF the world Law hidden
away in one of the most savage parts
OF Africa. The natives of that region.
terrified by its mysterious columns Of
vapor and its subtcrranean thunder.
did not venture within many miles Of
II. The white men who had looked IN
on IL could be counted on the fingers OF
one hand
And yet. more than fifty years have
I passed since the explorer Livingstone.
( Journeyias eastward along the Fam
best. first beheld that rainbow mist
! rise above the forest OF its cause he
\ could learn nothing from the savages.
I and so except for his own coniectures.
he came quite unprepared upon his
I splendid discovery. He approached IL
by the river. which above the falls is a
mile wide. and below them runs for
fifty miles at the bottom Of gorge be-
tween four and five hundred feet deep.
whose twin walls of black. precipitous
rock show for all that distance scarcely
ledge or slope where the smallest
plant may cling So. after a peep
downward at the falls. from the island
on their brink which now bears his
name. he left his newly found marvel
less than half seen, and departed
whence he came
And the loneliness OF those vast soli-
tudes brooded once more over forest
and river. to be broken only at rare
intervals by some wandering hunter.
or perhaps by a party OF men adyen-
turing through endless toll and danger
10 behold a wonder whose fame. even
then. spread as far as that tiny portion
OF South Africa where white men dwelt
and civilization held sway So things
remained until the day OF Cecil Rhodes,
under whose name auspices went forth
the voortrekkers. or pioneers 20 colo.
nize tie vast land now called Rhodesia.
in the heart OF which Victoria falls lie.
Many of these voortrekkers. and their
wives and children. died at the hands
OF the savage Amatabele tribe OF ma
lives. but the survivors in the end were
victorious. and the country became
their own
Cecil Rhodes died. and was laid in
his lonely grave among the MatpJo
Hills, on a rocky summit which looks
far out over the land ha loved But
his wishes We're remembered the |
greatest and the least OF them and /
still. year by year. the Central African
railway grows. every year a little !
northward through the forests. And I
now IL has reached the Zamhesi. and |
over that hitherto unconquerabie gorge
has been thrown one of the most won /
deTful railway bridges ever built: and /
close by has sprung up a great hotel /
so that the Victoria Falls and their 4
surroundings are attainable at last toy /
all the world
For many days the approaching trav-
eler has been flying through mighty ,
tropical forest. in which a path has /
been cut for the railway line. but
which is otherwise so undisturbed. so
vast and silent and lonely. that il is |
hard TO believe white men can ever
make a home In II. Here the lion
prowls at his own sweet will. and
legions of antelopes. great and small.
Craze on the sweet veldt And here
elephants wander in troops of fifty or
more, and in the swamps the hippopOt-
anus plows his way through the papy-
rus reed and the ten-foot Rhodesian
grass. The little iron shanties OF the
railway men are the only signs OF civ
ilizied life. The natives of the country
are few and far between. their kraals.
with the conical huts peculiar to this
race of Africans, look down from the
rare, slight eminences
There is no change in the scenery.
little 10 give warning Of the wonder
that one approaches. Only. above the
noise Of the train, a far-off murmur OF
sound grows upon the ear and little
while after. floating upward from out
Of the forest. there comes in sight a
long line Of snowy vapor. which. as the
low sun touches IT, CLOVIS with soft.
many -colored lights This mist-cloud
Is caused by the sudden narrowing of
he great Zambesi river in the chasm.
not 200 yards wide, which receives the
falls at the end Of their leap. The
cloud rises al times as much as 500
'eet into the air. and there condenses
nto rain. which falls i'm eternal show
srs glorious in this thirsty land and
makes in the country close about the
'alls one perpetual spring.
This trad. Of land is known as the
-ain forest and in its tropical mag
lifcence. it's soft and delicate beauty. !
an surely be surpassed by nothing on
Nicholas