Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1912-10-02

/ III "a voyage of 1000 miles made by
ST. Louisan, part OF the way
| on a fragile raft from near the source
! to the mouth of the Amazon, which
Is the longest river in the world. The
marvel of the trip is increased by the
4 fact that for most of the journey he
was without money.
The hero of the adventure is Frank
B. Farrar of ST Louis, mining engi-
neer His thrilling story, with humor-
Gus episodes, is told in his own
words
I left home in February, 900, under
contract to take charge of placer
mines in the interior of Bolivia. The
company by which l was employed
left me stranded and unpaid at La
Paz, Bolivia. in debt to a hotel $500
for board and lodging. Unable to pay,
l stole off in the night, slowed away
on a boat crossing Lake Titicaca
! (Which, 1900 feet above the sea
level, is said to be the highest lake
in the world, and SO made my way
to Peru.
Here, with varying fortunes, / OBJ
| tanned work which occupied me for
more than three years. l was en-
ployed at various times by the Peruv-
ian Railroad corporation and by diff
ferent mining companies. / was at
one time superintendent of the Yani.
nina camp 16,600 feet above sea level,
In the Andes, and rich in copper and
silver.
In the fall of 1910 I went to Lima,
The Paris of South America, and
passed three months. / also spent all
Of the money I had saved, not fore
boding that l was soon to fall i'll. |
obtained work in a lead smelter at
Huancayo and became poisoned with
the metal 1t was then that deter
mined to make my way to Yquitos, a
city on the upper Amazon, to which,
although $1,000 miles from the coast,
ocean steamers penetrate. l expected
there to obtain passage to New York.
1t was 1000 miles from Oroya, where
my journey started to Yquitos.
Two Hundred Miles Through Forest.
At Oroya l met a locomotive engf-
neer named Paddy O'Neil, who was
out Of employment, and, like myself,
without a penny. He decided to go
with me to Yquitos. where he had
heard there was plenty of work.
The first leg of the trip was 200
mile walk over the mountains to the
Pachitea river, which is the beginning
Of the Amazon. This tramp was Is
days of nightmare. We followed a
government trail through the impen-
etrable forests, in which at nights we
could hear the roars Of tigers and
jaguars. We subsisted by begging
from the natives whose huts we en-.
countered On the ninth day we were
so nearly famished that I took
O'Neil's watch, walked back ten
miles on the trail and sold 1t for 81
With the money I bought a bag OF
corn and lima beans, on which we
lived for the rest of the hike"
We passed several "tambos," or gov
eminent posts, in which we were per
mitted to sleep, but the officers OF
which never thought of inviting US to
eat. At last we reached the river, and
O'Neil built a raft of logs twelve feet
long and five feet wide, surmounted
by bamboo platform, on which we
were to sit to keep ourselves dry. The
logs were tied together with the bark
of the balza tree. We had no paddles
but only long poles.
The Pachitea river at that time was
narrow, but very swift, and there were
many logs floating on its surface. II
IN,
sisted upon striking every one OF
these logs, and at each collision
feared that the craft would go to
pieces Once 1t struck stump and
turned complete somersault, fling
ing US INFO the water.
Our danger was extreme. The wa
ter was infested with venomous
snakes, alligators and fresh water
sharks. 1t was impracticable to swim
ashore, because the dense tropical
bamboo forests would not permit us
to land, so thickly did they grow. But
If we could have landed we should
have been at the mercy of wild beasts
There was nothing to do but swim
after the raft, which was floating
swiftly down the current.
After great efforts we overlook it
and in a few days reached Porto Yer
mudis, where there is the first of g
string OF wireless telegraph stations
extending to the coast.
Here O'Neil and / both fell Ill Of
malaria. Despite the fact that We
could scarcely lift our heads. the ma
tive hotelkeeper made us cut dowr
trees to pay for the scraps of food he
doled out to US. There was no medi
cine available. A native woman