The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1912-09-27


down and out. All of us, including
the boatmen, were scared enough when
the snakes dropped in on us, but the
reptiles seemed equally scared and
scrambled out. But when the wasps
were seen the natives scarcely breath.
ed for fear of disturbing them.
"In canoeing your way on these riv.
ers through a temperature in the sun
light of 40 degrees to $50 degrees
there are no stopping places save
where a shack can be seen on shore.
There you are sure of clearing and,
by the way, welcome. Always you
put up for the night at such shack,
and most of them are days journey
apart from one another. You cannot
stop on the river bank because the
jungle comes to the waters edge.
"The canoemen will not run at night
If they can avoid it, because snags
might overturn the boat and the i'm.
mense alligators that are in the waters
in great numbers like nothing SO
much as company. They have no
choice between dark and light meat.
But when you go to the friendly
shack you can get some sort of
nights rest, even though it will be
found densely populated, too. We
went to one shack, about twelve feet
square, that contained twenty-five
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 q
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.
1.-THE people in Colombia have no
idea of time, distance or haste. Al
one place they thought was an i'm
patient man because l kicked at a
little steamer being four days late
Once the canoemen wanted to stop a
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 boatsmeu
to going until 7 or 8 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
vencmous 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 snake without seeing 1t. 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
"dICi 4O"lc, lOOO
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
some of the monkeys are as big as
five-year-old child. These are esteem
ed as great delicacy by the natives
and l killed two of them for our pack
men.
I'VE saw tiger prints, which, from
their great size and the evidences OF
the animals stride, indicated a beast
twelve feet long. There was possibly
lively time in store for somebody, az
the tiger had evidently been trailing
the prints of a big black mans bare
foot. This was only a mile from a vii
Iage where the night before the tiger
got three hogs.
1--WE found one native whom the
tiger had visited two nights before.
The man went around to his house to
shoe the beast away. 1t ran around
ahead of him, slipped into the door
and the last the man saw Of it it was
scooting through the gloom with his
child in its mouth. 1t was also the
last he saw the child"