Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1912-11-08

grown persons, including eighteen men
and four women, ten children, four
teen dogs and lot Of hogs and chick
ems. These inhabitants were not ham
pered by furniture. All the human be-
ings were eating out of one pot
These, with our party, slept in this
place that night. A number Of the ma
tives and children scrambled up to
roost that had been made by placing
bambooS across from side to side Of
the house at the caves. Two of our
own party had hammocks. We had al
so mosquito nets and blankets.
The people in Colombia have no
idea of time, distance or haste. At
one place they thought l was an Inn
patient man because | kicked at
little steamer being four days late.
Once the canoemen wanted to stop
days journey at p. m. because the
next shack was too far away. We
tried to travel each morning at day
break, but couldn't get the boatsmen
to going until or o'clock When
we were caught on the river one inky
night with the rain pouring down the
wonderful instinct of the boatmen
came out One fellow lay in the bow
and detected every snag ahead of us.
He saw and heard and even smelled
his way. Suddenly he exclaimed in
Spanish: Il ss'--.l smoke. Steer the
boat in here" He ran the canoe with
in five feet of a shack and We called
, out to the people and one appeared
with burning ember.
Venomous Snakes Abound.
"On our land journeys small ven
omous snakes gave us most concern.
Lying coiled up on the trail, only the
sharp eyes of the natives could dis
Germ them. We had practically to
shoot our path through them as they
were pointed out. On one occasion
two native blacks and the Indian boy
passed a snake without seeing it. We
saw but one boa constructor, but were
often near them, as we know by the
peculiar odor they give off. These
snakes grow thirty-fve feet long and
a foot thick.
I'VE saw hundreds of thousands of
water fowls, including many food
ducks Birds of the most brilliant
plumage about and there are parrots.
macaws. cockatoos, and pink white
and black herons Monkeys, deer,
wild turkeys and wild pigs abound, and
sprpa IF tho rnopEavs ORC os hio &c
| ive-year-old child. These are esteem
ed as a great delicacy by the natives,
and l killed two of them for our pack
men.
We saw tiger prints, which from
their great size and the evidences of
the animals stride, indicated a beast
twelve feet long There was possibly
a lively time In store for somebody as
the tiger had evidently been trailing
the prints of a big black mans bare
foot This was only a mile from a vii
lage where the night before the tiger
got three hogs.
We found one native whom the
tiger had visited two nights before
The man went around to his house to
shoe the beast away. II ran around
ahead of him. slipped into the door
and the last the man saw of II II was
scooting through the gloom with his
child in its mouth. 1t was also the
last he saw of the child.
"On one part of our overland trip
we had to make a forced march, be-
cause the difficulties had caused US to
| tighten our load of provisions. We
walked for thirteen hours on a stretch,
doing from three to four miles an hour
over the rough trail. Night found US
with q river between us and a shack.
and our immediate party caught hold
of hands and walked across, with wa
ter up to our armpits. We formed our
human chain TO steady ourselves, for
, the current was strong.
Luckily, in this wild land of no
roads did not fail sick Of malaria. but
at one time while on a river Mr. Mont.
gomery and Luis, the guide. aud two
boatmen had the breakbone fever, &C
climated as they were. The principal
obiece Of our search was. however.
found in higher and healthier lands
AS explorers. though, we had 10 go
through all the dangers"