NICARAGUA AND THE MOSQUITO COAST. 169 



year is seed time, every day is harvest time. Plants in various 

 stages of maturity, plants in flower and in fruit and ready for 

 the machete, stand side by side, and there is no winter to interrupt 

 the process of vegetation. While the fruit is still quite green the 

 plant is cut down, and the bunches being removed, these are car- 

 ried to the river bank, where they are made into heaps and cov- 

 ered with the large leaves of the plant, so that the rain and sun 

 may not unduly hasten the ripening. Only the largest bunches 

 are reserved ; the others are thrown into the river and left to drift 

 away with the current. 



THE HOUSE IN A TREE. Rama is a town of about eight hun- 

 dred inhabitants and, like Bluefields, is dependent chiefly upon 

 the banana industry for its prosperity. It is situated right on 

 the boundary line between the Mosquito Reservation and Nicara- 

 gua, and its population is a cross-breed of Spaniards and Indians. 

 While at Rama I heard of a mysterious individual, a white man, 

 who makes his home in a tree. Satisfying myself as to the sub- 

 stantial truth of the rumors, I determined to have a sight of the 

 strange house of this eccentric person. 



As the river steamer Heudy was to make a trip up the Rama 

 River the following morning, passing the house in the tree, I ac- 

 cepted the invitation of Captain Tucker to accompany him. The 

 captain was a typical Yankee, who had lived several years on the 

 rivers of Nicaragua, and whose fund of information seemed inex- 

 haustible. He kindly offered me his guidance to the house. After 

 steaming several miles we came upon the " clearing " of Captain 

 Henry Wilderson, for such is the name of the tree-dweller ; and 

 here, within a hundred yards of the river, stood this remarkable 

 structure, its white painted sides and green window blinds making 

 a striking object against the dark jungle surrounding it. Imagine 

 a tall tree trunk nearly four feet in diameter and stripped of 

 branches, rising fifty feet or more straight up into the air, and 

 perched upon its summit this strange abode, looking for all the 

 world like a huge lantern. It is said that Wilderson objects to 

 visitors on curiosity bent, and a photographic camera pointed at 

 the house would be quite apt to bring forth protests from the in- 

 mate, backed up if necessary by force and violence. Fortunately, 

 on the day of our visit the captain was not at home, so our inves- 

 tigations were carried on without interruption. The tree upon 

 which the house is built is a variety called the ebo ; its wood is of 

 great strength and hardness, and, as it would require days of work 

 with an axe to fell it, Wilderson can feel quite safe on his lofty 

 perch. The building is about twenty-five feet square and about the 

 same in height. The tree runs completely through the center of the 

 house to the roof. The first story is occupied by the kitchen ; a sit- 

 ting room and bedroom, with a small piazza facing the river, take 



