LAND OF VAMPIRES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20385, 14 October 1929, Page 18

LAND OF VAMPIRES.

ATTACKS BY BATS. SCIENTIST'S EXPERIENCES.. . [rnoM our owx coiiuesi'ondent.] NEW YORK, Sept. 18. Being attacked while they slept by vampire hats which, without causing any pain to wake them, sucked considerable blood from their bodies, was among the thrilling experiences of Mr. Llewellyn Williams, of the l'icld Museum, while traversing regions of tho Amazon said by Indians never to have been crossed by white man. Accompanied only by Incas, Mr. Williams mado a trip by canoe and afoot of 325 miles into the interior of the Nanay region of the Amazon and its tributary, tho Bio Nanay. Entering tho jungle with bush knives on one hip and .snakebite antidote on tho other, Mr. Williams camped in abandoned Indian huts of palm leaves. The party cut their way through vegetation, waded for miles knee-deep in mud, or swarn across streams. Wild pigs and pumas prowled round tho camp at night. Provisions ran out, ' and it was necessary to shoot monkeys, tapirs, squirrels and birds for food. " I was surprised to find monkey-meat so appetising," said Mr. Williams; " the Indians regard it as a delicacy." Medicinal plants grew in profusion in the jungle, and tho Indians had a wealth of knowledge of their properties for curing various ailments, ranging from simple nervous diseases to complications of the internal organs. From theso plants thoy developed specific remedies, for rheumatism, nervous disorder, tumours, nervous debility, anaemia, and other maladies. They also developed fish poisons, which, thrown on the surface of the water, kill all the fish in the vicinity. I hawing through the trunk of a rare tree the party were attacked by a swarm of vicious ants, living in the trunk, which | .stung them from head to foot, and caused a suvere lover for two days.