A TERMITE S NEST IN THE FLOODED 

 DISTRICT 



These ant-like creatures were still active, but 

 doomed to slow starvation 



sistant on many former expeditions, ac- 

 companied me again in the same capacity. 

 In the interim of selecting and then 

 reconstructing the boat-house, we made 

 a number of excursions by launch, the 

 principal ones up the Gatun and Chagres 

 valleys, referred to elsewhere. 



A STRANGE-EOOKING CRAFT 



Late in the afternoon of March 6 the 

 house-boat was ready, and in the tow of 

 the launch came to the wharf for our 

 outfit. Such a strange-looking craft and 

 the first of its kind on Gatun Lake ex- 

 cited considerable interest among the na- 

 tives and canal employees, who half an 

 hour later saw us depart with Captain 

 Brown, the owner of the launch, at the 

 wheel. Our destination was the Trini- 

 dad River, where we were to leave the 

 flooded valley several miles up and enter 

 a trocha leading to a new plantation, 

 three miles inside the flooded forests, 

 following the narrow lane that had been 

 cut out by felling the larger timber be- 

 fore the coming of the lake. 



Of the thousands of employees about 

 the locks none had ever visited the plan- 

 tation except our pilot, for this particular 

 region was regarded as a most likely one 

 to get lost in, and of this we were warned 

 by the resident engineer. A heavy but 

 favorable sea was running, and as the 

 waves surged harmlessly along the low 



deck we wondered what would be the 

 rate of speed or the condition of the boat 

 were we headed into it. 



Before dark the interior of the house- 

 boat was put in order, interrupted now 

 and then as the wheelsman took a short 

 cut through the dead timber, when all 

 hands with boat-hooks and oars assisted 

 in keeping clear of the trees and floating 

 logs. It was several hours after sunset 

 and under the light of a half moon that 

 we reached the nearly submerged point 

 indicating the entrance to the valley of 

 the Trinidad. 



AN ENTERPRISING CHINAMAN 



Here at the base had once been the na- 

 tive village of Escobal, now covered ex- 

 cept for several huts on top of the ridge 

 (see page 171), in one of which lived 

 an enterprising Chinaman, who made a 

 poor living selling groceries and a better 

 one dispensing various intoxicants ; for 

 he was safely located a few yards beyond 

 the zonal line of Federal prohibition. 



By previous arrangement the China- 

 man had two native guides for us, and, 

 with these aboard, we quickly departed, 

 in order to reach the plantation before 

 the setting of the moon. Seated within 

 and facing the open side, we were able 

 to watch the course through the tops of 

 the great dead forest, where the deep 

 waters had destroyed or covered over 

 many of the smaller trees. 



Running at low speed, we were several 

 hours crossing over, but by a combination 

 of good luck and skill Captain Brown 

 found the entrance of the trocha just 

 ahead, unmarked except by the knowl- 

 edge he had of trees near the mouth. 

 How the house-boat ever got up this nar- 

 row and more or less blocked passageway 

 was a mystery, for while running it later, 

 in daylight, with the launch, we often got 

 astray or fouled on snags a foot or two 

 below the surface. 



JUNGEES TOO DENSE TO BURN 



At midnight, in rounding a turn, there 

 was a barking of dogs and we could see 

 the glowing embers of scattered fires, for 

 in clearing such ground the cut timber is 

 stacked and then burned continuously 

 during the dry season. This unexpected 

 condition I feared would alarm the wild 

 animals of the neighborhood, which, un- 



166 



