FLOATING LOGS WERE A MASS OF LONG-LEAVED PLANTS AND SLENDER REEDS, SUR- 

 ROUNDED BY BLUE-TINTED AND FRAGRANT WATER HYACINTHS ( SEE PAGE 163) 



like those of the North, that are so partial 

 to "burnings" and the tender vegetation, 

 were likely to abandon a section unex- 

 pectedly covered with smoke and dis- 

 turbed by crackling flames, since in the 

 dense and humid jungles fires are rare 

 and seldom progress very far, even with 

 the aid of man. 



After the house-boat had been tied up 

 to a large tree, a few yards from shore, 

 we were visited by the native superin- 

 tendent and given a generous welcome. 

 As Captain Brown was anxious to return 

 to Gatun before the morning wind had 

 roughened the lake, he left with Ander- 

 son, who was to bring the launch back 

 the next day. Less than a mile away a 

 mass of floating logs was encountered, 

 and the moon now being below the ho- 

 rizon, we were compelled to stop until 

 daylight. 



In the morning, as the sun arose, flocks 

 of chattering parrots flew over, and oc- 



casionally a pair or two alighted on the 

 higher trees, peering down on the half- 

 screened boat. A shot from the cabin in 

 the clearing, a descending object and a 

 thud proclaimed a doubtful addition to 

 the larder, an oft-repeated occurrence, 

 showing that nothing was spared by the 

 native hunters, for there are no game 

 laws outside the Zone and no effort to 

 preserve even the ornamental birds of 

 the country. 



The well-earned outings of the canal 

 employees were too often signalized by 

 making a target of harmless, non-game 

 animals and birds until Colonel Goethals 

 undertook to prevent such thoughtless 

 destruction. 



While there is little likelihood of any 

 species living within the jungle becom- 

 ing extinct, it would require but little 

 effort to make the lake region a wonder- 

 ful outdoor zoological garden that would 



[67 



