Page:The Overland Monthly Volume 5 Issue 3.djvu/42



Carib palates. With the exception of this curious development of the irrepressible conflict between Negro and Indian tastes, however, there was no cause to complain of disputes among the party; and, by dint of coaxing and promises, Watson, the Negro, was easily induced to forget his bruises, and continue to render his services until the end of the survey.

The first part of the proposed road lay through the savannas which fringe the edge of the lake, and occasionally extend several miles inland; and as the obstacles to be overcome on them consisted mainly of the long grass, which rises to a height of eight or ten feet, with a few clumps of trees scattered through it, the work advanced with considerable rapidity. The sun-baked nature of the soil, the burning heat, and, above all, the want of water, however, made the work very severe and painful, especially to the White engineers. For two or three days a supply was brought from the lake, but as the distance from San Miguelito became greater, the party was obliged to depend on the few stagnant pools they met with, and which were the chosen haunt of the tapirs, or dantas. This liquid, in which the brutes had been wallowing a few hours previously, had to be used for washing, cooking, and drinking, and its ill effects soon began to tell upon the health of one of the engineers. Garrapatas, or ticks, hornets, ants, jiggers, and all the other insect pests of the tropics, swarmed in those savannas, and waged unceasing war upon the invaders of their domain. Whites and Indians alike suffered from their attacks, and so painful were the stings of some of the insects that it was not uncommon to see the stoutest Indians howling and writhing in agony from their effects. The large, black ants were especially troublesome, and even clothing was an inadequate defense against their bites. It was, therefore, with feelings

of satisfaction that the party, on the eighth day after leaving San Miguelito, entered the forest which stretches thence down to the shores of the Caribbean, and in which they had at least less to suffer from their insect foes. The heat, too, was less insupportable under the shade of the lofty trees than it had been in the savannas; and with the help of mosquito-bars, which form an indispensable adjunct to "camping-out" life in those regions, it was generally possible to enjoy sleep of nights. Mosquito-bars, be it added, were a portion of civilization fully appreciated by the epicurean Caribs, who, indeed, displayed in general a regard for their own creature comforts fully as strong as that of the most egoistic of the superior race; and it was necessary to furnish each of them with an adequate supply of those luxuries, much to the disgust of Collinson, who regarded such aspirations on their part as a piece of insufferable impudence.

When the party had fairly entered the forest, the nature of their work and its difficulties underwent a material change. The progress of the cutting party through the tangled mass of vegetation—vines, bejucos, prickly-pear, and other parasitical plants that cover the soil so thickly that it is generally impossible to advance a yard without the aid of the machete—— became extremely slow, especially, as in order to preserve the line of the route exactly, it was constantly necessary to fell heavy forest-trees that barred the way. For some days after entering the forest the trees were chiefly various kinds of palms and other endogens; but as they advanced up the mountain chain that forms the water-shed between the lake and the Caribbean, numerous timber trees began to appear. Half a mile was often as much as could be accomplished in a day by the assiduous labor of all hands; and the slowness with which the work advanced naturally caused considerable anxiety about the possibility of