i68 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



River. On each side the luxuriant and dense vegetation over- 

 hangs the water, a virgin jungle, whose somber shade the bright- 

 est sunlight fails to pierce. Flaming red herons rise and flutter 

 or stand in comic solemnity watching us as we pass ; gaudy 

 macaws flash their flaring plumage among the leaves and utter 

 hoarse cries as the boat wends its way; close to the shore, among 

 the fallen trees and snags, huge alligators, innocent as yet of a 

 knowledge of rifle ball or hunter, lift their ugly beaks in mute 

 wonder at our intrusion upon their gloomy retreat. Indeed, a 

 river trip is not necessary to see all this, a mile back of the town 

 of Bluefields is the same impenetrable jungle. A meeting with a 

 native tiger or jaguar is not an unusual occurrence in the out- 

 skirts, while in the rainy season, alligators from the lagoons are 

 not too timid to carry off pigs and goats from the settlements. 



After about twenty miles of steaming through those dark and 

 gloomy channels, it is a pleasurable sensation to come upon the 

 first clearing and see once more a sign of human activity. On 

 every side are now evidences of thrift and industry. The pictur- 

 esque houses of the planters, built of bamboo after the pattern of 

 the native shacks and thatched with palm leaves, standing under 

 the shade of tall cocoanut trees, make an ideal picture of tropic 

 life. As the steamer lies to, for the purpose of landing supplies 

 at many of the banana plantations, an excellent opportunity is 

 given to study the manner of cultivation, if such it can be called. 

 The only implement used by the cultivators is the machete, the 

 universal native tool and weapon all in one ; it is a rather long 

 and broad knife, something between a broadsword and a cleaver 

 in appearance. With the aid of this implement the native first 

 clears the land of jungle and brush, each man being required to 

 cut at least one " task " (twenty square yards) per day. Although 

 this is only two or three hours' work, it is seldom that a native 

 will do more than one task in a day. The natural inclination to 

 work is of the faintest character. Nature has so bountifully pro- 

 vided all the necessaries of life that there would be no incentive 

 to make money were it not for the passion for gambling, and a 

 game of chance is the one thing the natives never seem too tired to 

 engage in. The brush thus cleared is burned during the diy sea- 

 son and the ground is now ready for the young plants or shoots. 

 These are " suckers " taken from older trees, and after planting 

 them singly at distances of about eight feet apart, nothing 

 further is required than occasionally to clear out the large weeds 

 which will crop up between them. In two years the trees mature, 

 reaching a height of ten to fifteen feet and bearing from one to 

 three bunches each. 



There is no such thing as a crop or a harvest as we under- 

 stand the term with our northern possessions. Every day in the 



