Evening star., 1934-08-18
FIERY FOREST TRIP
TOLD IN OLD BOOK
Rival of MunchauSen Saw
Fish-Horse in Strange
Journey.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
The mendacious Baron Munchau'


The mendacious Baron Munchau-
sen had a worthy rival.
What seem to be the "tallest tales"
to have come from the new world
are contained in a rare old book
which has just come to light in the
National Museum. 1t is "A Journey
Overland From the Gulf of Honduras
to the Great South Sea-" by John
Cockburn. 1t was printed in London
in 1881.
Baron Munchausen himself hardly
imagined things more fantastic than
Cockburn's fresh-water tree and his
gigantic f1sh-horse which dwelt in
Lake Nicaragua. He and his COM
panions, he relates, we're captured by
an English pirate named johnson
who operated in the Caribbean and
put ashore on desert island off the
coast of Honduras from which,
through voracious SwarmS of croco-
diles, he and five companions swan
to the mainland They we're entirely
naked and bleeding from gashes made
by the pirate cutlasses.
On shore they fell into a pirate
village where they we're fed and let
loose, still without clothes, although
yellow ants as big as bees" were
crawling over their bodies. Then
they traversed 1890 miles in 10
months through desolate mountain
and beast-infested jungle, finally
reaching Panama and getting safely
back to England.
Through Fiery Hills.
The marvellous side of their ad-
ventures starts as soon as they leave
the pirate village.
The naked men "by direction of
the Negro took path that led
through mountains that were all on
fire; there was nothing growing on
them that was not one continuous
blaze which made a dreadful roar
ing. We travelled thus eight leagues
almost scorched to death, as If in
the fiery regions of hell"
Then they came into "a passage
between the mountains about 20 feet
broad, very rocky and full of great
stones. We hardly could discern
whether 1t was day or no, for the
mountains we're so very high and
bent so toward one another that we
could never see the skies but were
ever forced to carry brands of fire
in our hands. Such was the roaring
and yelling of the wild beasts without
this cavity and such the horror and
gloom of the place we were in, that
we seemed verify in the regions of
darkness. Nor was there a drop of
water to be had"
Out of this gloomy pass the wan
derers emerged into sun-scorched,
barren valley where every step of the
bare feet on the burning hot stones
was torture and their bare skins
burned so that I'VE were like to be
pealed alive" They were saved by
veritable miracle, for in the center
Of the desert valley they came upon
q tree dripping water from the tips
of its leaves-the only moisture for
many miles around. And for days
all they had to eat were locusts from
the swarms in the waste place.
Bitten by Scorpion.
The first Spanish settlement they
reached they were thrown in jail
There Cockburn was bitten by a
scorpion on the bare thigh so in a
half hours time I was all over in
agonies, with my teeth loosening in
my head and my tongue hanging out
of my mouth, in which condition
lay groaning." He was found by an
Indian prisoner, who told him that
If the scorpion who bit him was not
found and killed he would be dead
by morning. Together they found
the insect, whereupon the Indian
crushed it and rubbed it over the
bite. "Whereupon, says Cockburn,
Il was much relieved"
The governor of the Spanish town
intended to send the Englishmen ito
the Mines" but his wife, affected by
their sad stories, prevailed upon him
to release them and let them 90
through the country to the English
settlement at Panama, which they
were to reach in any way they could.
Cockburn became separated from
his companions and his narrative
become more and more fantastic as
he proceeds with his long, hazardous
journey. He reached the shore of
Lake Nicaragua, hoping some boat
would pick him up. For 80 days he
remained on rocky promontory
overlooking the lake, waiting for q
boat. -Four days and nights he re-
mained in a tree because of a crea-
ture which came out of the sea with
the head, neck and part of the body
OF horse, but whose hind part was
in the nature of a fish 1t had fat
feet with which it waded along the
shore. 1t seemed as big as any four
horses put together"
Cockburn and five others finally
reached the English settlements in
safety and were sent back to Eng
land, where, strangely enough, he
found himself considered a liar"