White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1928-05-25
GETS "MAG|C LOGS"
IN PANAMA SWAMP
Explorer Tells of Incredible
Hardships Endured.

Chicago.-Field Museum of Natural
History at Chicago announces the
early exhibition Of 'magic log" In
the quest Of this rare bit of wood a
collector risked his life in the steam
ing jungles of Bocas del Toro in west
ern Panama. This intrepid adventurer
Is G. Proctor Cooper, war veteran
and forester. The story of the hard
ships he has endured in his search,
such as tramping through miles of
knee-deep, yellow, Shiny mud, shoe
less part of the time, and Drawing the
perils of swamp fevers, to fall ex-
hausted for short sleep in the mud,
unmindful Of the attacks Of mosqui-
toes and crawling, creeping things,
was revealed in letter from Mr..
Cooper to Prof. Samuel ]. Record, re-
Gently made public at the museum.
Priced by Indians.
The magic wood-"magic" to the In
dams of Panama, who impute to 1t
arvelous curative powers-is the
bloodwood cacique pronounced kah-
see-key), one of the rarest woods in
the world, according to Professor
Record, who is research associate in
wood technology at Field museum
and q member of the faculty of the
Yale University school Of forestry.
1t is scarcely more than a name to
white men who previously have pene-
trated the region, and, even among
the Indians who prize and cherish it,
only the wisest can recognize it, says
Professor Record.
"Cacique" means chieftain and rep
resents the esteem in which the In
dams hold it. Bloodwood is descrip-
tive of its glowing ruby-andblack
coloration, in some lights suffused
with a golden sheen. Prior to Mr..
Cooper's discovery Of two logs on the
present expedition only one small
fragment no bigger than a mans
finger, obtained by a timber cruiser
from native and sent to Professor
Record at Yale, was known to exist
outside Panama.
Mr.. Cooper relates nj: adventures as
follows:
II have returned from the noun
tains, and that is really more than
thought likely at certain stages of the
trip. Honestly, l never had such
tough going in all my travels in the
bush. Mud, mud, yellow Shiny mud
to the knees, swamps to the waist,
ri, anti,
SO strong that the mules were car
ried any yards below the landings.
Rock and mud slides, which in one
case buried some of the packs, and
rains so hard that the trail was like
q steam bath.
Tough to Cut.
swell, the trail had to end eventual
ly and we got to camp at midafter-
noon.
"When l began to look for trees my
axman failed to show up, and l had
to hew them down with my machete-
and that was a blistering job. 1t was
good place to collect, and l finally
located the famous cacique. 1t was
tough one to cut, but l brought out
two sections Of the trunk. l used my
riding mule to pack these out, and /
had to hike-the last mile in my socks,
as my shoes began to drop off"
Bloodwood cacique comes not from
a live tree, but from rotting chunks
and logs in the jungle, Mr.. Cooper ex-
plains. 1t is the almost imperishable
heart Of fallen trunk that the ants
and worms have picked clean Of bark
and sapwood and left to molder half
buried in the putrescent litter, he
writes. There is something uncanny
about striking one of these seemingly
decayed sticks and bringing to light
the deep red, sound and solid wood,
he says. In the mystic rites of the
primitive natives a piece Of the wood
placed over a bad wound Is believed
to stanch the flow of blood ind quick
ly heal the injury. The Indians be-
lieve also thu bit of it behind ones
ear will purge the blood of fever.
For years vague tales of this rare
wood were heard, but previous eff
forts to obtain it or locate it's source
came to nothing, says Professor
Record.