WANDERING IN AMAZONIA

Evening Star, Issue 19062, 3 October 1925, Page 2

WANDERING IN AMAZONIA

EXPLORER TELLS HIS STORY PREYING CONDORS I'Bv G. M. Dvott. in the ' Sunday Chronicle.’] It is nearly two years' ago since 1 said good-bve to my friends in London and disappeared into tho great forests of eoualorial South America, but i seems like centuries. And now that I am back once more I have to. ask my way about like a country cousin up to visit Wembley. In the jungle you don fc ask yom wav; you just go, and keep on going,\ with possibly a star or two to you if your compass gets out of ordei. During my long sojourn in tho wilderness 1 was accompanied by my gooct friend, G. (J. Johnston. It was his first trip in the wilds, but fie got on famously, and together wo spent many interesting and exciting days tramping through tho primeval forests of the Amazon, ascending lofty mountain ranges, and, last, hut not least, scaling slippery slopes that led up to the smoking craters of active volcanoes. Of course, wo had a delimte object in view all the time—namely, to explore certain unknown areas of .country, familiar only to the forest .Indians who roam the leafy solitudes, or else the giant condors of tho mountains. . The eyesight of these great birds is particularly keen, and if ever a mule m our pack train showed signs of exhaustion by lagging behind it was soon spotted by the condors ns a possible banquet. Once I saw a horse fa 1 by tho wayside, dead beat, and unable to proceed. Before it was dead down swooped a great condor and pocked its eyes out. . , . . Johnston liked the mountainous part of our journey right enough, but it was the tropical forests, festooned with vines and creepers, that interested him most. PALM SALADS. . It was not only the warmth of tho low land that appealed to li ra, but the bettor and larger variety of food that made him feel more at home. . les; there wore many things we ate in the forest country. Nature is kind there, and provides quite a variety of succulent dishes which would be passed oyer by the uninitiated. Toadstools, tor instance; dainty white toadstools with little frills round their edges. A species of red fungi also; an excellent dish, though somewhat tough. And poisonous, uo doubt, you migpt say. But, no; after you have lived m the hingle you find out many things, and one is that any kind of mushroom or toadstool fhat grows on wood is quite harmless. ~ , _ r Delectable salads grow on the top ot many palms, and if you are willing to spend an hour hacking the trunk in two your efforts will he rewarded with the delicate white heart, superior to the most tender lettuce. If you have lived in the forest long and appreciate a real delicacy when you see it, you will always choose a chonta palm for your salad, and then, marking tho place where it fell, return to the same scene a few months later. During your absence the dead palm will have been visited by numbers ot caterpillars, which have bored their way into the trunk. To be exact, they are a species of white grub, largo and. fat. Carefully pick these out of the holes in which tliev have hidden themselves, and in uo time you will have a basket full of delicious wriggling morsels greatly prizfid by the Indians. TOASTED CATERPILLARS. I was initiated into the delights of caterpillar eating by my friends the Aguaruns Indians, those charming fellows who, having killed an advoisaiy, out off his head, remove the skull, and then shrink the fleshy part down to tho size of an orange, which they preserve by way'of a souvenir. I recall very vividly how these caterpillars were served in one particular household that I visited. A dozen or more would be stuck on a long splinter of green bamboo placed, over the enibcis of a fire, and toasted until they wore a ruddy brown color. When well cooked the chef removed the skewer from the fire, and, slipping off one caterpillar after another in quick succession, dealt them out to the family tho way one might deal a pack of cards. Saving caught your caterpillar in mid-air, you took it firmly in the left hand, pulled off the head, and then squeezed the body with the lingers from the tail up. The meat, which was a yellowish green color, issued forth very much like toothpaste out of a tube, and did not look particularly inviting, although I. must. admit that they had quite a distinctive flavor. In Amazonia there are thousands of caterpillars of all shapes and sizes, but it is the smooth white ones which are edible. The wooly ones arc not palatable, and in some cases are very poisonous to the touch. Speaking of touching things, I had to warn Johnston to be careful in this respect. You never know what your indiscretion will lead to, as sometimes, the most harmless-looking insect is armed with a deadly sting. Furthermore, plants and trees are just as bad, and many an innocent-looking leaf bides a vicious spike. Time after time lie would be. tripped up by the innumerable wailing vines that lay in our path*

and to prevent a fall he won Id naturally grab some nearby branch, only to have hundred thorns tear the iiesh like some animal’s claws. The forest Indians go barefooted, hut years in the jungle have taught them to walk with care and touch with caution ; in fact, they do these things automatically. VENOMOUS INSECTS. While talking of things that sting, I ought to mention the great trouble wo had with mosquitoes. Of course, everyone knows that a mosquito’s bite is unpleasant, but imagine millions of them hovering over you at night. Without a proper net you would he devoured in no time, so it is most important to be well protected if yon wish to sleep at all. The mesh must not bo too large, otherwise during the day, when you have the opportunity ol taking a sieta, .you will be eaten alive by sandflies. These venomous little insects are so ’ tiny that they pass through ordinary mosquito net like an open window, and when they bite they bite hard, leaving behind a little blood blister in the centre of an ugly white blotch. I cannot say that I really enjoyed being devoured by insects or eating caterpillars, hut tire fascination of travel lies in the big things one sees, not the small things that cause discomfort. Travel also increases one’s appreciation of things English, and the thousand and one trivial matters that go to make life in this country just what it is.