The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-08


 ssI am an IIishman, sir
 Irish Irishg'
 Yes, sir.
 That, of course, explains it. Let me see, you have given me your prom ise that my confidence will be respect ed That confidence, I may say, will he far from complete. But I am pre- Eared to give you few indications which will be of interest. In the first place, you are probably aware that two years ago I 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 thay had themselves noted them. If my expedition had no other results 1t would stil have been noteworthy, but a curious incident occurred to me while there which opened up an entire ly fresh line of inquiry.
 t.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 a great number of tributaries, some of faem entirely un- charted, run into the main river. It was my business to visit this little known back country and to examine it's fauna, which furnished me with the materials for several chapters for that great and monumental work upon zoology which will be my lifefsN justih- cation. I was returning, my work ac- comp1ished, when had occasion to spend night at small Indian village at point where 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. had effected some cures among them upon my way up the river and had impressed them con siderabIy with my personality, so that I was not surprised to find myself ca gerly awaited upon my return I gath cred from their signs that some one had urgent need of my medical serv- ices, and I followed the chief to one of his huts. When I entered I found that the sufferer to whose aid I had been summoned had that instant ex- pired. 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 albipo. He was clad in rags, was very emaeiated and bore every trace Of prolonged hardship. So far as I 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.
 N.sThe mans knapsack lay beside the couch, and I examined the contents. His name was written upon tab with in Maple White, Lake avenue De- troit, Mich
 From the contents of the knapsack 1t was evident that this man had been an artist and poet in search of effects There were scraps Of verse. do not profess to be a judge of such things, but they appeared to me to be singu- larIy wanting in merit.
 q was turning away from him when I observed that something pro- jected from the front of his ragged jacket It was this sketchbook. which was as dilapidated then as you see it now. Indeed, can assure you that 8 first folio of Shakespeare could not be treated with greater reverence than fhis relic has been since it came into my possession. hand it to you now, and Ixask you to take 1t page by page and to examine the contents 7
 He helped himself to a cigar and leaned back with a fercely critical pair of eyes, taking note of the effect which this document would produce. I had opened the volume with some expectation of a revelation; though of l what nature could not imagine. The I first page was disappointing, however, as if contained nothing but the picture of very fat man in a pea jacket, with l the legend, Jimmy Colver on the Mail Boat,1 written beneath it. There fol | lowed several pages which were filled | with small sketches of Indians and their ways. Then came a picture of 1 a cheerful and corpuIent ecclesiastic in a shovel hat, sitting opposite very 1 thin European, and the inscription,
 seLunch With Fra Cristofero at Ro- sario.' Studies of women andS babies
 accounted for several more pages, and ] then there was an unbroken series of
 animal dra wings with such explana- tions as "Manatee Upon Sandbank, 2
 Turtles and Their Eggs" "Black l About Under Mirid Palm" the mat ter disclosing some sort of piglike ami maj, and finally came double page
 of studies Of long shouted and very unpleasant saHrians. c0u19 make