74 



A FLYING TRIP TO THE TROPICS. 



different manner. The large cane or bamboo, the " guaduas/' which 

 often is six inches in diameter, is taken and partially split in a 

 number of places about an inch apart, after which the whole tube 

 can be opened out, making a very rough plank from a foot to 

 eighteen inches in width. These are lashed to the framework with 

 bark or slender vines. We also saw many huts with nothing but 

 a roof and the four corner posts, protection from the sun and rain 

 being all that Avas required. 



The natives along the river are, as a rule, cleanly, amiable, inof- 

 fensive, and very indolent. All carry the " machete," a long and 

 heavy sword-like knife, which is the universal tool. It is about 

 thirty inches long, sharp on one edge, the back being very thick, 

 and the blade widens from the handle until near the point, where 

 it is sometimes five inches broad, then tapers suddenly. It is used 

 like a cleaver. Those that I saw were made in England and in 

 the United States. They are sometimes carried in a heavy leather 

 scabbard, sometimes in a small loop of leather tied around the waist. 

 I saw a few axes, but they were all of the old Spanish pattern, like 

 those shown in the old illustrations of " Robinson Crusoe," the blade 

 fan-shaped, with a ring at the back for the insertion of the handle. 



Notwithstanding the tremendous forests, lumber of all kinds is 

 scarce and dear. There are few, if any, saw-mills ; boards are usu- 

 ally sawn out by hand, and a plank ten feet long, a foot wide, and 

 an inch thick sells for a dollar in gold. 



Although the natives are indolent, they can work, for the bongo 

 men sometimes toil day after day under the broiling sun for a month 

 or six weeks, poling their heavy bongos up the Magdalena. And, 

 after all, a living comes so easily to them, their wants are so few 

 and so easily supplied, that there is no incentive for them to work. 

 When a native wishes to set up a house for himself, he selects a con- 

 venient spot along the river's bank, then with his machete cuts 

 down the bushes and vines and girdles the larger trees over an acre 

 or two, clears off the debris by fire, then plants a hundred plantain 

 shoots. In a little over six months the plants will have fruit ready 



