The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-01
EVIL LURE OF THE PANAMA LUNCHES Fearful Fascination Of Depths Of The Forest And The Ter
 TOT Of The Darkness THE UNKNOWN AND
 THE UNKNOWABLE Strange Chill Sensation Which Calls For Strengthening Of
 The Back And Setting
 Of Teeth
tNew ork suno

tNew Y ork Sun3
 Jungles as deep and mysterious as those of Africa stretch away from the banks of Gatun lake. Within the present year the depopu1atfon of the only human habitation along the Panama canal will be those at the military camps and the quarters of the 1ocktenders. Then the wilder ness which is waiting on the edge of the cleared places will close in and devour the pitifully small strip of land that white men have held from it with varying success for near ly 400 years
 From the decks of passing steam CTS travellers will be able to look up on real jungle, and with this passing glance they will know almost as much as the 30,e90 Americans who work ed on the Panama canal found out during their life on the isthmus. For the jungle does not invite the trip- per. There are no pleasant, shady spots where one can read a book or eat lunch; mosquitoes and gnats would attack him from above, while. ants, spiders and ticks would busy. themselves with the part next to the ground.
 canoes take one into the jungle. but such an explorer gets only an out side view. The only canal men who know it intimately are the surveyors, who have developed the topograp phy' of the Chagres watershed, or made. special investigations at the various points Q. E. MaIsbury, in charge of the land surveys in the office of CoIss G. w. Goethals, is one of these. Tn recent account of the jungle he. said.
 Beauty, Mystery, Fear.
 = -tf 4 < 5 about the jungle I realize how little even one who has seen much of it kn ovs about it's life. Inp pressions of beauty, mystery and fear, a lure with menace, a smile that onry half cov-s CTS q snarl-and all else is told in a few isolated incidents when some special phase of the wilderness life has passed beneath the eyes. tAn orchid beckons from the branch of tree a pair of wild pigs dash away into the brush, tiger cat shows it's bright eyes for moment and in flash of sinewy grace is gone. birds dart overheard, the heron balances dainty on a reed by the rivers an alligator skitters from a mud bank into the water, monk eys lark in the trees, lion growls--in such slight things I is summed my jungle lore.
 .In one hour the sun looks through Etrees and bushes and traces thou sand patterns on the ground. in the Iinext the rattle of rain on the leaves is. deafening, soon night falls. and the parakeets, crickets, frogs, lizards be- gin. their unendingA chorus, then the howl of monkeys adds to the din, and now and again the cry of the | wildcat and growing bark of the mountain lion make one glad that he is beside bright fire and his ma chete or gun close at hand. l Black and Tawny
 The lion of the Pana ma jungle is of two kinds, black and tawny. Full grown he stands thirty inches high; his breast is broad like that of a bull dog, but his legs are long. His head l is square, tbut catlike; he growls all l most like a lion, but ends with a bark. I never heard of his attacking man, but the natives of the jungle fear him. He would be a dangerous ad- yersary at close quarters.
 It is generally understood that the I animals of Panama are afraid of l men. It is certain that they do not attack them, but. run away. Whether this is caution or fear is unknow- able. One night when Wiggins was on the watershed survey, he pitched his tent on the Trinidad ridge a few l miles beyond I.argatera. He. had with him four negro helpers. They lay down outside the tent covered with a tarpaulin and he rolled up under I the shelter.
 He was awakened by loud
 crash and angry growl and bal k | that seemed right outside the tent. 1 All together the negroes and he | jumped up and grabbed their ma
 chettes;<. they had no guns It was very dark, they saw nothing, but a crashing of branches in the jungle told that the lion had been scared "In a minute he raised his growl again and the air vibrated uncannily l with the noise. Five minutes later l the same grow1 and bark were heard l across the river. The negroes lit a fire and did not go to sleep again 1 that night. In the morning the marks of the lions paws were found
 near the food supplies, and within five feet of where the negroes lay I He must have smelled them before he got so close; but whether one turn ed in sleep and scared him. or he. 1 intending to attack, had lost courage
 at the last moment could 5 only be 1 guessed.
 To Be Certain, Experiment. The only way to be certain that a lion will or will not attack a man
 is to try one out. Personally, don't
 care enough for the truth to risk the 1 experiment.
 'sOne night we were in camp out
 near Gigante, our food hung up on
 a pole to keep ants and animals away
 from it. Apparently the pork at
 tracted a lion and at least one cat. for we heard them shifting around 1 in the jungle near us before we went l to sleep.
 ITO be awakened by cry and 2 roar. adjust your mind to the un l usual situation and9o realize that the
 wild things are still there is weird
 andxI slept no more until morning E