The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1912-03-14
GAME IN The PANAMA CANAL ZONE
Description of AKunt Furnished The
Republican by e Friend

NCpubAANAh Ny = AEOhu'
The following is a communication
written a relative by Mr.. L, A. Bonner,
a musician in the United States Army
who is attached to the command now
stationed at Las Cascades. Panama, and
is descriptive of hunt for big game in
the Panama country:
The New York boat arrived last week
with your letter, but did not get it I'M
til Yesterday, as have been out hunt
ing since last Friday, seeing one fine
time and lots of country. | was miles
into the interior among the San Bias
Indians. They are treacherous peo-
pie and no white man is welcome among
them. Their main villages are about
fifty miles southwest of here and no
white man, | am told has ever lived to
come back from so far inland and from
their regular hunting grounds. | had
no idea of going there, or as close as |
did, when | started, but the hunting
was good and we had Indian guides so
were comparatively safe. The guides
stayed with US and brought US back
after nearly a week of fine hunting
along the streams and water courses, in
khikurkas, or boats about twenty feet
long hewn from mahogany trees. They
| travel very fast.
There were only two of US, myself
and a man named Hefner, whose home
| is near Arnold, W. Va, and who is 60
! ing home tomorrow. He wanted to 90
| hunting before he went back to the
States, and | went with him. A gov
eminent employe. a civil engineer, who
knows the country, furnished US with
guide apiece and boats, and we left
Gatun lake Friday morning about sun
rise and padded up stream all that day.
We killed several ducks and few small
alligators About eight O clock we land
ed an a small round knoll about fifty
! feet high, and pitched our tents while
the guides got supper. They could cook
| fine, and served three course meal
that was not surpassed by any hotel on
| the Isthmus. The mosquitoes soon found
US out and we had to don our leather
gloves and mosquito lars or suffer in
tense pain from their remarkably long
bills After supper we took q plunge
! in the river and went to bed.
| was nearly asleep twice but the dogs
kept making a lot of racket and finally
| the guides came in and said, Big cat;
him come see. :" We grabbed our guns
and started for the door but we never
got there that night. OF all the I'M
earthly and blood-curdling wells l ever
head Such a piercing yell that prom
| Used fair to burst cur ear drums at first
and dying away into a low rumbling
groWl that apparently shook the ground
with its vibrations and | know that it
shook my nerves and | could feel nv
hair standing on end. All right, you
may laugh if YOU wish, but | did not,
neither then nor the rest of the night
nor sleep either, and by the steel gray
dawn next morning we found the tracks
of a great tiger cat. - The guides
said he was heap big, much whopper. ;"
We followed his trail through the soft
mud and weeds all forenoon but never
overlook him. Coming back to camp
we killed two small wild pigs and wild
turkey and back load of squirrels
After dinner and good long rest we
united the dogs again and started for
the sWamps to hunt tapir. We found a
fresh trail after an hour or so and soon
had it travelling through the jungle like
a freight train. We clambered through
and over cactus thickets and around
sWamps until almost dark and was
starting home along deer trail when
the dogs ran it right up the trail. We
got out of its way and it went out Of
sight into the creek, and then came
back to within few feet of US again
before we could kill it. 1t weighed
about 1000 pounds. We skinned if, cut
few tenderloin steaks and came on
into camp, tired, hungry, half stripped
I nf eliot bInU and fapn onH loprs
swollen from mosquito bites, to find our
camp inhabited by a million more or
less-army ants, diligently CARRYING
away our provisions, and when we tried
to prevent them they began on US. We
had to move our tent across the stream
that night.
The rest of the time put in along the
small water courses for deer and gators
and succeeded in capturing sixteen foot
gator by shooting its head almost Off
with our pistols.
Monday morning we lost our best dog
among a drove OF hogs and had to turn
our heads to avoid seeing him dev0ured
alive by twenty or more roaring, charg-
ing and maddened wild bGars. 1t would
have been as much as our lives were
worth to shoot one or let them know
where We were. II was iillG uIIGIilOOIl
before | CHANGED a shot at anything
again, although the white faced mon
keys would jabber from the tree tops
and the squirrel and other small game
were plentiful
When we came out on the main
stream again We saw q number Of naked
Indians in khlkurkas gathering bananas
and oranges along the banks, Evident
ly there was d village close for there
were d number Of children and squaWs
staring at US from the bushes. Each
buck carried long steel bladed knife
called a "Machet, and looked very
sullen at US. They are a short necked,
broad shouldered and very strong look
ing people with dark beady eyes and
long black hair
No, I'm notgolng hunting for anything
in that country again and have had
about all the alligator scraps | care
about for awhile.
The most peculiar animals of all that
are down here are the ants and the
great ant eaters. | have never seen
the latter but have seen its effects and
its hide. There is an ant here that
grows mushrooms. They will build
long roads through the jungles, carry
leaves along these roads and pile them
in one big pile to decay. This makes a
hot bed for the mushrooms. They live
on them almost entirely.