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Show UNKNOWN aPANMLa eIUaaewMawaMMWMsaeMMiiaMwaMiw " " " sVlJ aBBBpi mm HWhSlr iaBBVyHJiflraBs iBetg Jlv SffWs sHbbIbj JfmfruEHrnXmu LbV JJHHR.' B Nut Palm Beside the Jungle Trail. IBKI.IKVE It will surprise most I Americans, and perhaps u lew of our field naturalists, to learn that right at the back door of the Panama canal lies an almost unknown Jungle wilderness. unmapped and practically uninhublted In the Interior except for a few very primitive Indians. In-dians. Virtually the entire eastern portion of the republic of Paniiniu lying ly-ing between the (anal and Colombia, roughly :i(Ki miles long by from BO to l((i miles wide. Is unknown, and Unpublished Un-published maps of this country, except for the seacoast and the location of half a dozen small towns, are all faked, writes Lieut. Col. Townsend Whelen lu Natural History. It was my good fortune to spend the entire dry seasons (December to June) of 1910 und 11117 exploring a purt of this country. We found It necessary to know something of that portion of It nenrest the chiihI, uud It fell to my lot, assisted by Companies E und II. Twenty-ninth Halted stutes Infantry, to mill. i- a preliminary exploration with u view to planning and expediting expedit-ing Its accurate mapping by the engineer en-gineer corps. it is because this little piece of Jungle Jun-gle probably will remain virgin und unspoiled for many years that 1 think It ought to he brought to the attention of our field naturalists. It Is so easily accessible, and yet only the borders of It have been scratched by the scientist. scien-tist. No one yet knows what Is in the Interior, what secrets It contains, what new fauna ami flora Its exploration will reveal. In the Real Jungle, lu the Canal zone, which extends five miles to either side of the Canal, practically prac-tically all of the Jungle forest has long Since been cut off, and In lis place has grown up a dense, Impenetrable second sec-ond group of small trees, palms, creepers, creep-ers, thorns, und coarse grass. But if Ode cuts his way through this tangled growth for about the miles In from the caiiul he comes to the real jungle, standing up like u glganllc wall of green verdure. Once lu It all Is different, dif-ferent, even the very climate Itself. Here one can wander ut will, unimpeded unim-peded by thorns and creepers. It is even easier traveling hero than in the ..oils of our own Northeast, because as a rule then- Is much less "down" timber. It Is like a nov world, a world that one has not even read about. From the blazing sun nnd sweltering heat of ihe second growth one enters what is almost un underground world, cool and balmy. Everywhere the giant trees go up limbless Tor from ItX) to L'iMI feet, and then spread out their verdure, literally hiding the sky. Beautiful Beau-tiful slender palms grow in great profusion pro-fusion lu the seuiidiiikiicss forming the lower growth, Impeding one's view but not one's progrfss. Scarcely ever can one see more than Ml yards, and never does the explorer get an extended extend-ed view, even from the tops of the highest mountains. When I lnd entered en-tered the Jungle It was with an Indescribable Inde-scribable feeling of awe uud wonder, and this feeling has never left me : nay, It persists, drawing me, calling me to Come back, more In-istellt even than the "Call of the North." Unexplored Mountain Range. I h.ii part of the jungle in which my aiost intensive exploration wus conducted con-ducted lies to the east of the city of Colon, between there and the town of N'oinbre do Dole, dud extending from the Caribbean Coast inland to the bead waters of the Chagies river system. Between the fthagres basin ami the Caribbean coast rises the Cordillera of Cerro Bruja, a mountain range that starts about ten mile-, east of Colon. and rises steadily, culminating In the peak of Cerro Uruja (Il.'JiHl feet) about If miles south of the town of Porto I Hello. Enst of Cerro Bruja peak the Itio Piedrns rises almost in the basin of the Cbagrea, flows north nround the base of Cerro Brujo, then west, uud empties into the sen tut If wny between Colon and Porto Hello. The Pledrus Is one of the bilges' rivers of Panama, but you will not find It ou any map, even its mouth having been mistaken for ii lagoon Of the sea when the const line was charted. The ltlo Grande, figuring largely on existing maps, is au insignificant little stream, several miles long, really unworthy un-worthy of a name. Beyond the vulley of the upper Pledrus rises u reully Imposing Im-posing runge Of mountains culled Cerro Cer-ro Siixlmo, culminating lu a peak some-where some-where south of Nombre de Dois, which must attain an ultltude of from (1,000 to 8,000 feet. I think I am the only one who has ever viewed this range, as it. seems to be Invisible from any place where there Is any truce of human hu-man beings, and Its presence Is barely bare-ly noted on only one old map, with no Indication ns to Its altitude. Beyond Saxlmo neither 1 nor anyone any-one else know what. There ure rumors that the Interior beyond Is inhabited by Indians of the San Bias (Cuun-Cuna) (Cuun-Cuna) tribe, and that they ure very hostile to Invuslon of their country by whites. Plant and Animal Life. 1 must con less to absolute Incompetency Incom-petency when it comes to a description of the flora of the jungle. Incompetency Incompe-tency both scientific and linguistic. 1 doubt If the Jungle ns a whole can be described It cull only be ninrveled i't. It Is beautiful, appealing, terrifying. never cease to wonder ut the trees- giant morns, borigon, cuvauillesia. celbns, rubber, and fig. The enormous trunks with grout buttressed roots rise 100 feet without a limb, and then spread out literally to hide the sky Limbs, so high that one cull scurcel) see them niiiong the leaves, drop Haunt to the ground long tangled lines llk the wrecked rigging of some musted ship. Then there Is the secondur growth, n hundred varieties of tree ferns and palms, suited by nature tu grow In semidurknesM, robbed of the sunlight by their giant neighbors. The bird life Is no less wonderful than the vegetation. The Panama Jungle Is alive wilh birds. The variety and coloring ure truly remnrkiible. On the ground I observed several varieties of quail, tliiumoti, and pheasants. In the low-bush area ure wrens, humming birds, thrushes, mil birds, and u va riety of other species either common to the United States or unknown to me. In the medium zone, half way to the leafy ceiling of the jungle, dwell doves, guana, owls, motmots, und tro-gnus. tro-gnus. High up In the roof are parrots, pnrrnkcets. macaws, toucans, uud cotlngus. The mammal life of the jungle i also very abundant. The ordinary traveler, however, will see little of II owing to several conditions which only a mun with extensive hunting or col Nv , looting experience will realize. Among the animals I observed were tupir. door, peccary, ngoiitl pucu, sloth coati-iiiundl. kinkajoii, anteaters, monkeys, mon-keys, otter, puma, Jaguar (spotted and black), ocelot, squirrels, opossums o( many vurietles. uud rabbits. Snakes were fairly numerous, the harlequin snake, boa constrictors, und u very long and thin bright green tree BOake being the most numerous. |