The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1922-03-02

This mass of flight disconnected the
boa constructor somewhat, but the
monster soon recovered its wits and,
leaving La Varre sitting quietly in the
boat preparing his gun for action.
slipped its long body over the side OF
the vessel and set out i'm pursuit Of
one or two of the comparatively slow
swimming human beings. One slower
than the rest went into new panic
when he turned and saw the sinister
form gliding menacingly near behind
him His panic made him forget to
swim for an instant and he went down.
Then shot rang out and the body of
the boa went limp La Varies aim
had been good His bullet had crashed
through the head of the reptile. and
after little while the scattered ma
tives came back to their boat which
was drifting for lack of man power
Boa 10 Feet Long
MIR la Varre said the snake seemed
10 him ass me- watched it's threatening
antics and as ne prepared to shoot the
biggest reptile in the world But when
IT'S carcass was recovered from the
stream and the explorer set to work 10
skin it the boa turned ont to be pa,.
tr, is tcet i'm length
Nothing fnehtens the native SO
greatly ass snake Consequently
they avoid am places where they think
snakes might be i'm hiding La Varies
hief hunter disclosed the fact that ne
had never seen a huge snake nor even
q iaguar during all his days of wan
derng under the canopy of the .ungle
And the Jungle is overrwn with wild
beasts and reptiles The explorer has
captured many rare specimens and
presented them to museums and ZOO
logical institutions i'm this country.
Another Battle With Snake.
on an occasion La Varre had a bat
tie with a big snake i'm the Jungle
this time with venomous one-and
was bitten. lie went through terri
hle ordeal and his life was on the
brink of going more than once before
he recovered from the effects of the
bite
But to get back to diamonds The
name given to the large diamond la
Narre found is THE Kurupung." II
resembles nothing more in it's rough
state than a disproportionate lump of
green bottle glass "If you came across
it in the street" he says, you would
knock it out of the way"
Then he goes on to describe it:
-
a certain oily sheen which is very
typical of the rough diamond It's
shape is octahedron and. measuring
seven -cighths of an inch from apex to
apex, it is peculiarly heavy for so
small an object
"The bushman's idea that anything
but diamonds can be bitten with the
teeth still holds good Down in the
bush the natives bite all of the stones
they are doubtful about and those that
break under the pressure of molars
are thrown away. If the teeth break
the stones are kept for further exam
nation.
Diamonds of Volcanic Origin.
"The results of my last expedition
into the jungle makes me feel that
perhaps the diamonds which are GER
tainly there are of volcanic origin. The
character of the Kurupung is alluvial.
While it is held fast in the clutches OF
of solid rock it had been worn by fric-
ton. This diamond was so exposed
that groove was worn in il by loose
where this big stone was found
thousand other stones have been
aroded from the ground mass and
floor by the almost perpetual rains
Then they were swept into the streams
lowing through British Guiana"
La Varre believes he is getting
nearer and nearer always to the true
source of the diamond deposits by the
processes of elimination which he fol-
ows. He has found many small dia-
nonds and much imperfect formation
If the near diamond species. Wherev-
NJ in streams and near them he has
ound no gems he has eliminated. NOW
lie has come down to two streams in
he beds of which diamonds are lying,
nd ne hopes to follow these rivers to
common head and there find che
iamond field he seeks.
The diamonds he has found vary in
olor-white, pink blue. yellow. green
nd black and their shapes range
rom spherical to flat and include some
Practically perfect diamond shaped
ems The largest South American
tone on record previous to his find was
My half as large. weighing IA carats
{ was discovered by a pork knocker"
hugh native whose ordinary voca-
ion was something like that of
utcher
Interest in Animal Life.
On his prospecting trips Mr.. La
'arres interest in natural history and