26 



C. U. C. p. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



February, 1918 



RAFTS OR "BALSAS" 



together in layers at right angles to one another, until the required buoyancy is 

 secured. For passenger travel, a sheet of slender bamboos or matting is laid 

 across the top. Above this an arched roof is made by bending flexible poles and 

 the whole is covered v^^ith a thatch of banana leaves, which affords a perfectly 

 water-tight protection. A short portion of the front is left uncovered to afford 

 freedom of movement in paddling and in performing other duties. Here the 

 simple meals are cooked upon a tub or basin filled with sand. Plantains and cas- 

 sava root constitute the bulk of the ordinary diet, which is varied more or less 

 with fresh or dried, often half putrid meat. One expects to see much fish eaten, 

 but the river men will not take the trouble to catch them, and appear to care but 

 little for them when obtained. More affluent travellers can easily obtain pota- 

 toes, sweet or white, onions, yams, delicious rhacache, related to our parsnip, or 

 in many cases, parsnips, carrots, beets and cabbages. Many forms of native 

 sweetmeats, especially guava jelly, are to be obtained in the village markets. Cu- 

 rious edible tubers are those of species of Oxalis, Tropaeolum, and Basella. Tur- 

 keys, chickens and eggs are cheap when obtainable. Table luxuries, such as we 

 know, tinned meats, fruits and vegetables, are little known in the interior, the 

 people being too poor to use them. The preparation of canned soups for our 

 meals always attracted a staring crowd, and our evaporated vegetables were re- 

 garded as almost a miracle. The throwing away of an empty can was the signal 

 for a grand rush and scramble to secure so rare a prize. 



Travelling by night upon these rafts is perilous in the highest degree, and is 

 resorted to only under the stress of extreme necessity. The regular course of 

 procedure is to rise an hour or two before daylight, prepare and eat the morning 

 meal and push off as soon as it is light enough to see. A simple lunch is prepared 

 while the raft is moving. As darkness is coming on, a suitable landing place is 

 found and the craft is securely tied to the trees or rocks upon the shore. Our 



