Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1910-09-03
Baltimore Man Risks
Life in Amazon Jungles
Thrilling Experinces of Men En-
ployed in Building Railroad
3 In the WildS of Brazil.

The principal weapon is the bow and
arrow.
"The poison they use on their darts is
known as Carara poison and has the
peculiar effect Of paralyzing a person
without deadening consciousness or
sense of feeling. While in this condi-
tion the natives amuse themselves by
infiicting tortures. Their favorite pas
time is to gradually crush the bones in
the arms, beginning at the ends of the
fingers and working upward little by
little. They use human skulls for drink
ing cups and make musical instruments
with shin bones.
"The only place white man is real
ly safe from them is in one of their de-
serted villages. 1t seems that they have
custom of burying their dead under
their houses or huts. After so many
have been buried in this manner the
tribe moves out. The last thing the
tribe does is to turn it over to the Bru-
jas, or witches. and never again can you
get an Indian to enter. II white man
would be unmolested by them he need
only camp in one of these haunted
spots.
No Fresh Vegetables.
I'm our camp we never had any fresh
vegetables. The only fresh vegetable
saw in two years was potato. In
that part of the country there is no
fruit, so we had to resort to canned
goods. Our chief meat was monkey and
parrot. The latter is pretty bad, but
monkey is good if tender. In addition
to this we sometimes had wild hog and
wild turkey. Now and then our flour
supply would run out, and we would be
without bread for weeks and sometimes
months.
The jungles about US were filed with
many kinds Of beasts and reptiles.
Monkeys swung in the trees by thou
sands and there were great focks of
beautifully plumaged birds. There were
few wild deer. The snakes are deadly
and plentiful. Boa constructors are fire.
quently found raging from 20 to 30 feet
| in length.
The waters are also alive with crea-
lures. the most interesting of all of
them being possibly the electric eel. II
is veritably storage battery. We had
to warn our men continually not to 60
in swimming in the big river. for SO
great is the electric energy in these
animals single contact with them
will so paralyze man he will drown
before he can recover himself. touched
one of the creatures with long knife
one day and got as heavy shock as
ever want. If | had not been pre-
pared for it, it might have taken me off
my feet.
Hard 10 Baflse.
"The only places we had to bathe
were in the small streams running down
into the river and these we're so filled
with poisonous snakes and these eels,
not to mention crocodiles, that we had
to explode stick of dynamite in the
water before we dared to venture in.
Crocodiles are thick in every rivulet and
their eggs are frequently found. never
have eaten any crocodile eggs, but we
did eat turtle eggs and found them very
good.
These are only few of the interest
ing experiences of the railroad con-
structors in the jungles. DIR. Brannon's
accounts of camp life are many of them
thrilling. Way of from everywhere and
especially safe from police Intervention.
life is absolutely lawless. Outlaws from
every country have taken up their
abode there. There are bandits, muir
derers and every variety of criminal
upon whose heads is the sentence of
death and large reward for their cap
ture. There is one American who Is
wanted here for bigamy. Displayed
conspicuously on his cabin walls are six
marriage certificates.
4