Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1910-03-18

Are you ling Tor m- n tel you au'l
oar friends about our trip t. E-u-zuei
last a--kf Wish some Of you eoull .
have, been along with rs, hut very Often
w. have 10 visit foreign countrirs
through the eyes of our friends aud i'm
agiuatIou.
At the kind invitation Of the captain !
Of the yachting, "Viking", owned by |
the NV York x Bermudrz Asphalt |
Company, W. went on board at seven IA
the evening Of the 22ud, hound for
Guauoco, Venezuela. It was rainy, but
We did not care, expecting the weath'r
ing is a small boat OF ouly 300 tons, but
is iiuely fitted up with all the convent
euces for Ordinary travel, aud | may as
we'll say now that the attention given US
by the captain, aud manager Of the
company at Guanoco was all that could
be desired, aud the table was most ex-
cellent, including many appetizing
things both from Trinidad aud New
York.
We reached Brighton, where the
great Pitch Lake of Trinidad is located
about ten o'clock, aud remained there an
hour, after which We sailed directly west,
| across the Gulf of PARA; the distance
from Port of Spain being nearly 100
miles, # was Yer! windy night, aud
the little boat rolled in the trough OF the
sea, but We are all good sailors and were
not seriously disturbed, although it re-
CURED some WatchfuIness on our part
to remain safely in bed.
At break of day We passed over the
Bar aud entered the mile wide mouth of
the San Juan river, aud were truly with
in the limits Of South America. This
section OF Venezuela is mostly lowand,
IN fact, extensive swamps, through
which tide rivers silently flow in aud
out, in the midst of forests Of mangrove
trees and dense foliage of vine aud al
most every tropical growth these rivers
are deep, aud have tide rise and fall OF
ten feet. The gracefully sweeping
! curves made by the rivers, with ever
/ .,ta lt,t
cry the regular formation Of the mud
banks seen at low tide, but lost from
view III the dense foliage of the vegeta-
ton resting on the very waters when
the tide Is ia; the green wall OF foliage
banking either side to the height OF
fifty feet, 50 dense and regular as to
seem as if it were pruned aud trimmed
by some divine gardener; the long roots
Of the trees seen at low tide as they
reach from the tree trunks down into
the mud, and interlaCed like fence of
real design; the lace like nipples made
by our propeller, reaching III zlgzag
course from shore to shore the occasion.
al opening in the dense vegetation as ii
branch breaks away from the main
stream to take its own course through
the forests the songs OF wild parrots as
they enjoy life in their native haunts !;
(posslbiY | should say noise instead OF
songs j the long legged famingoes and
on the shore, apparently stupidity Won
deIjng what freak of nature has broken
III upon this solitude with its strange
noises the great tlocks of birds OF beau
tItul plumage resting among the trees,
which frightened by our approach, be-
come a moving, shifting cloud of deep
crimson colors above the waters, going
on before us for while, aud then silently
becoming lost among the trees; fat
aud lazy Indian, reclining in his canoe
made of a tree trunk dug out to mere
]
some fish to come and dine with him
these are some of the things which firm
ly hold our attention as we sail up the
San Juan for 20 miles, when we branch
of into the St. Francis, one of its tlibu-
taries and equally interesting although
smaller 20 miles further inland, and
then, after passing customs at an inland
office, we turn aud retrace our way to
the San Juan, up which we further sail
few miles and Their take another
branch, the Gnanoco for ten miles, the
end OF the boat ride until our return.
We reach here in the late evening
and do no looking about until morning
This little village consists of fe"
huts of bamboo covered with thatch and
mud built at the base and Oh the steel
side of very abrupt hill, from which
, the trees have been cut away in small
patches to make room for the huts. The
dwelers here are Negroes, Spaniard,
5 and Venezuelan Indians, except the few
g., white men who compose the staff of the
? Asphalt Company, who have fine es
70 tabIishment built Oh small savannah
$ aud where they enjoy all the comforts
aud many luxures, of truly the Amerl
+ Can style of living; they are mostl,
+ young men from the Middle States
r This company, mostly American CAPT
e tai, is Differed in Philadelphia, ant
= have only local agents located here il