Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1914-08-02

S1ble to say. They had not hurt the clothes,
getting in under them which made it seem
likely that there had been no struggle.
These man-eating fish are a veritable
scourge in the waters they frequent. But
it must not be understood by this that the
piranhas-or, for the matter of that, the
new-world caymans and crocodiles-ever
become such dreaded foes of man as for in
stance the man-eating crocodiles of Africa.
Accidents occur, and there are certain places
where swimming and bathing are danger
Gus; but in most places the people swim
freely, although they are usually careful to
find spots they believe safe or else to keep
together and make splashing in the water.
Some Thrilling Experiences.
During his trips Colonel Rondon had met
with various experiences with wild Great
ures. The Paraguayan caymans are not or
dinarily dangerous to man, but they do
sometimes become man-eaters and should
be destroyed whenever the opportunity Of
fers. The huge cayman, or crocodile, of the
Amazon is far more dangerous, and the
colonel knew of repeated instances where
men, women and children had become its
victims.
Once while dynamiting a stream for fish
for his starving party he partially stunned
giant anaconda, which he killed as it crept
slowly off. He said that it was of size that
no other anaconda he had ever seen even
approached, and that in his opinion such
brute if hungry would readily attack. Twice
smaller anacondas had attacked his dogs;
one was carried under water-for the ana
conda is a water-loving serpent-but he res
cued it. One of his men was bitten by a
jararaca; he killed the venomous snake, but
was not discovered and brought back to
camp until it was too late to save his life.
The puma Colonel Rondon had found to
be as cowardly as l have always found it,
but the jaguar was formidable beast,
which occasionally turned man-eater, and
usually charged sayagely when brought to
bay. He had known hunter to be killed
by jaguar he was following in thick grass
cover.
All such enemies, however, he regarded
as utterly trivial compared to the real dan
gers of the wilderness-the torment and
menace of attacks by the swarming insects,
from mosquitoes and the even more intOler-
able tiny gnats to the ticks and the vicious
poisonous ants which occasionally cause
villages and even whole districts to be de-
serted by human beings These insects, and
the fevers they cause, and dysentery and
starvation and wearing hardship are what
the pioneer explorers have to bear.
The conversation was to me most inter-
esting The colonel spoke French about to
the extent I did; but of course he and the
others preferred Portuguese and Kermit
was the interpreter
A Hot December Evening.
In the evening, soon after moonrise, we
stopped for wood at the little Brazilian
town of Port Martinho. There are about
1900 inhabitants Some of the buildings
were of stone; large private house with a
castelated tower was of stone; there were
shops and postoffce, stores, a restaurant
and billiard hall, and warehouses for matte;
of which much is grown in the region
roundabout Most of the houses were low,
with overhanging, sloping caves; and there
were gardens, with high walls inside of
which trees rose many of them fragrant.
We wandered through the wide, dusty
streets, and along the narrow sidewalks. 1t
was hot, still evening; the smell OF the
tropics was on the heavy December air.
Through the open doors and windows we
caught dim glimpses of the half-clad in
mates OF the poorer houses; women and
young girls sat outside their thresholds in
the moonlight. All whom we met were
most friendly the captain of the little Bra
lillian garrison the intendente, local ira
der; another trader and ranchman, Uru-
guayan, who had just received his newspa-
per containing my speech in Montevideo,