THE MAN-EATING TREE OF MADAGASCAR.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 854, 6 December 1877, Page 2

THE MAN-EATING TREE OF MADAGASCAR.

The following desoription of this siu^ular tree, found m the island of Madagascar, is copied from the * New York World.' It was originally published m the last ' Graefo and Walther's Magazine' of Carlsruhe, together with notes np m it by Dr Otnelius Fred owski, to whom the letter of Carl Leche, the discoverer, from whioh the following is extracted, was addressed : — «' I'he Mkodos are a very primitive race, going entirely naked, having only faint vestiges of tribal relations, and no religion beyond that awful reverence which they pay to tho saored tree. They dwell entirely ia

caves hollowed mit. nf the limestone reckon ihelrSaißrandare one^t the sratjlleat rof rs^es, ijia jmen seldom exceeding 56 inches injfejeht. At fcHbottom.»f a vate jfl had no ■bardmetvy bntAshonld^think if not 6Ver ,f 460 feet above the leiel o|tbe sea) and near its eastern eklretjiity. j about a' mile m diamete r, tne s^i tK 'sh .'... wattera of which pv>rfli^e&;jnW a ..7j tor l tuojiß,.<medy canal ,,that^ went «n---willin^lv into the .recewtes ot a black ■ : ''''- i fe < iMtt ;^i_igl4'bel6>iir; jj^ahovej. <A path diverging from *it&.' .snntfiern t aide, etrjiofe i boldly fpiJtJs $«$# of „ .; i He .forMddingf andiiseemwiSflvi im» penettablp foreftti *We«riok ''led! tha -iv*** vitotttf thii "path; ' I followed closely, behind .me a cnrions ra^Weof Mkodoa men, children. . Suddenly alt f he ' nntirps begun to cry, l • Tepetf Tepef* jand Henriok, stopping shorty : Baid 'Look!' The sluggish, c aial-like stream here, wound slowly by, land, m a bare. spot ; inYitg bond was! the most si njra'ar.of trees. 01 haye called r -A. it the Giihoda, because) when! its leaves are m action' it bears a striking- resemblance to that well-known; I fqwrij. the crinoid ?lillyst(in^ |br> St. ■Outhb >rt's heads. It was nnwj at resr, r hpwever, .and I will try to - ddscrtHe f it io youi "If Iyou1 you can im<gine,a pine apple eight feot hjah ■^Sn^fStti|ck'in proportion, resting upph \^^j|e^d dVn'ided'of leayesi jyott , ;4will^ihaye^ai«goo.d idea of?the trunk * of the tree, which, however, was not ; the colour of anana, bdt a dark, dingy 1 HroWn, ancj apparently IjaVd as irohr the^ apex s of, this trbhbite^ Q^ne, .at least'two feef-in diameter*- eight leaveslhung sheer to the ground, like doora? slung back on their hinges, These 'leaves, - which were joined at the-topipf the tree at . regular intervals* were about . eleven or.? twelve feet long, and -shaped very muoh like the American agaave or 7 century " p'anr. ; 7 They were 'two -feet through m their thickest parij and ;three feet'wjde, ' tapering (o a sharp point that looked ' yJike .a' (CpWa horn very cotfvex on. ■„ the oij|eri(b,ut now ;und>r) .surface, an I on the inner (now upper) surface slightly concave. This concave face ; w«8 thickly i set with (4 very strpng thorny hooks, like those upon the head of the teazle. These leaves, hanging thusj limpjand?life|esß^ dead green m c'rionr, had m appearance lhe. mnssiye, strength jof oak fibre. The apex of the cone- was a round, white, concave figure, like a smaller plaie . set ; - m -a larger one. This was not a flower, but a |receptacle, andthore exuded into it a clear, treßely liquid, honey"fweet, r and . possessed J of violent . m toxicY ting and sojiorifip properties. * • From underneath tbe rim, so to speak, of ' the undermost' plate a series pf long, hairy, green tendrils stretched m every direction towards the borizon. . The-e were seven or eight feet long' ; each, and ! tapered from four inohes to a half-inch m diameter, yet they stretohed; t qnt ; stiffly v as ironVrpds. ' Above these, from between theTipjier j ami under Clip." six* white, nlmobt transparent, pulpl reared them tel ves towards (lie sky, twirling and twist. • ing with a ptha^llotis incessant motion, vet constantly Teaching up- ; ward Thin as reeds and frail as quills HppaJent yj they were yet five or. sjx fee.t : tall,.iand.!s?ere.so com ; stantly and vigorously m motion, with snch a subtle, sinuous, ssenti 'ent throbbing against the ait;, that they raidn me shudder iii spite of myself., with theiij .suggestion of serpents fltyed, yet dnnoing on their tails. Tbe description I am giving you ; now is partly, made up from a sub: sequent cisirefulinSpeptiPn of tbe plants My bbgervations on this' occasion were, suddenly' interrupted by tbep^tiVes; who bad, been shrieking arouud the tree m their shrill . voices* and ohanting what Henrick told me; were prppitiatory hymns to the greiftt.tree devil. ; ., With st ill' , wilder sh tir ks and chants they surron nded one ot -. -t he women, ' and * ut^d her with the points of their tjavelius, until slowly, and with des^ pairing yoioe, she climbed; up the, stook/'bt'ttiV'^vee^an^^Btood'on-the--summit of the = cone, the palpi' twirling nil about her. «Tiskl Tisk !' (' drink 1 drink !•) cried the men, and stooping, she drank pf the viscid fluid m the cup, rising instantly again with wild frenzy m her face and convulsive cholera m ber limbs,. But Bhe did not jiimp down las) she had intended to di». Oh, no .'The atrocious cannibal that had been so inert and dead, came to sudden, savage life. The slender, delicate palpi with the fury of stuved serpen tn, quivered a moment over her. . head, then, as if by instinct with demoniac intelligence, fastened upon her m sudden coils, round and round her neck and arms; then wnile ber awful screams; and yet more awful la agh^er iuse wilder, to .. be instantly. Strang e I down again , into a« gurgling moan, the tendrils, One after, another, like great green serpents, with brutal energy and infernal rapidity vcm f retracted themselves, and wrapt her about m fold after fold, ever tightening, with the cruel swiftness V and say age ] teuapity of anacondas fustening upon their prey. It was the barbarity of the laocoon without its beauty —this strange, horrible mu uster, And now the great leaves rose slowly and stifly, like the arms of a derrick, erected" themselves m the air, approaching one another, aud closed about the dead and hampered victim with tbe silent force of an hydraulic ..-, t gres,sand;th.e ruthless. purpose of a hnmbftcrew.*. -A moment more, and, v- w i.ci donld see the^bases'orthese > ' gi eat levei speasiug more tight I j * '- - toward each. other, from thetf mtet .'*«« , .. .V...77 >■>*.•'*:»■ .*?. ■•;.'.- ■::-/ ■MA J

stices there trickled down the staik streanitfofthe'Visdiiiihoney-like fluid "mangled '■horribly with the bloods hu<| Joeing ?viscera of the viptira. | Ap sight of this the sa Vagal hordes arouifd* me, yeUipg^niadly bounded; forward, crowded to the tree clasped it, and witSh^cuf*, leaves, handstand tongyesgot each enough of the lienor to send him mad and frantic. Then I Ensued ift grot'tflsique and ihrte«cri bably | hideous ?orgie,^ t froin which, even I while '(^n'vulsiVe madness [was turning* rapidly into delirious insensibility. 7 YJt^nftpk" 'dragged [mo '■Hurriedly" away ijpto; the reeeSsfcs ex the forest, hiding rae from j tho brutes, 5 and the- brutes from; m 0 May I never see such a sigrht again The indescribable rapidity and^ energy 4 r ; >i*itß,;inOvem"entß"niHy bb iufen'ed.from^ th.c face .that T saw a smaller one seize, captnre and des troy an active little lemu which, dropping (by accident upon it while j watching , ajidY grinning at; me, m vain eudea you md . : to . escape fro m the fatal coils. With Henriir-k's assistance /andY the Consent of some of the head men of the Mkodos (who, however, did not dare to stay to .5 withess the ' act of sacrilel: i), I ont 5 down onej of the minor; trees ;anr|" dissected it carefully.' — K'aeL Leohe. ifn „_ ..p. 7. . „ j