The Delta independent., 1916-06-02

noyed at my outbreak.
Round headed" he muttered.
"Brachycephalic, gray eyed, black
haired, with suggestion OF the negroid.
Celtic. presumeg"
IT am an Irishman, SIR
Irish Irishg'
Yes, sir"
THAT, Of course, explains 1t. Let
me see, you have given me your prom
Use that my confidence viii be respect
ed That confidence. may say. will
be far from complete. But l am pre-
pared to give you a few indications
which will be of interest. In the first
place, you are probably aware that
two years ago l made journey to
South America. one which will be
classical in the scientific history of the
world. The object of my journey
was to verify some conclusions OF Wal
lace and of Bates, which could only be
done by observing their reported facts
under the same conditions in which
they had themselves noted them. II
my expedition had no other results 1t
would still have been noteworthy. but
curious incident occurred to me
while there which opened up an entire
ly fresh line of inquiry.
You are aware-or probably, in this
half educated age, you are not aware
that the country round some parts Of
the Amazon is still only partially ex-
plored and that great number Of
tributaries, some of them entirely I'M
charted, run into the main river 1t
was my business to visit this little
known back country and to examine
its fauna, which furnished me with the
materials for several chapters for that
great and monumental work upon
zoology which will be my LIES justifi-
cation. l was returning. my work ac-
complished, when l had occasion to
spend night at a small Indian village
at point where a certain tributary
the name and position of which with
hold-Opens into the main river. The
natives were Cucama Indians, an
amiable but degraded race, with men,
tai powers hardly superior to the aver
age Londoner. l had effected some
cures among them upon my way up
the river and had impressed them con-
siderably with my personality, SO that
was not surprised to find myself ca
gerly awaited upon my return. gath
cred from their signs that some one
had urgent need of my medical serv-
ices. and / followed the chief to one
OF his huts. When l entered | found
that the sufferer to whose aid | had
been summoned had that instant ex-
PRED. He was, to my surprise. no In
dian, but white man Indeed, | may
say very white man, for he was flax
en- haired and had some characteristics
Of an albino. He was clad in rags. was
very emaciated and bore every trace OF
prolonged hardship. So far as / could
understand the account of the natives
he was a complete stranger to them
and had come upon their village
through the woods alone and in the
last stage Of exhaustion.
THE mans knapsack lay beside the
couch. and examined the contents
His name was written upon tab with
In it-'Maple White. Lake avenue. De-
troit, Mich
From the contents Of the knapsack
II was evident that this man had been
an artist and poet In search Of effects.
There were scraps OF verse. I do not
profess to be judge Of such things.
but they appeared to me to be singu-
Iarly wanting In merit.
II was turning away from him
when / observed that something pro-
jected from the front of his ragged
jacket 1t was this sketchbook. which
was as dilapidatcd then as you see 1t
now. Indeed, can assure you that a
first folio OF Shakespeare could not be
treated with greater reverence than
this relic has been since 1t came into
my possession. hand 1t to you now.
and ask you TO take 1t page by page
and to examine the contents
He helped himself to a cigar and
leaned back with hercely critical
pair of eyes. taking note of the effect
which this document would produce.
] had opened the volume with some
, expectation of a revelation, though Of
what nature could not Imagine. The
first page was disappointing. however.
as it contained nothing but the picture
of a very fat man in pea jacket. with
the legend, Jimmy Colver ON the Mall
Boat" written beneath 1t. There fol-
lowed several pages which were filed
with small sketches OF Indians and
their ways. Then came picture OF
cheerful and corpulent ecclesiastic
I'm a shovel hat. sitting opposite very
thin European, and the inscription.
LUNCH With Fra Cristofero at Ro-
sario." Studies of women and babies
accounted for several more pages, and
then there was an unbroken series Of
animal drawings with such explana-
lions as "Manatee Upon Sandbnnk.
Turtles and Their Eggs" Black