Page 10 - aruba-today-20230825

Friday 25 august 2023 LOCAL
A10

A scientific journey across the island - Part III

On the 3rdof January 1885, I re-
ceived on Aruba: I have received
a warning; never again travel with-
out a hammock.

Meanwhile the rays of the sun
speedily banished these somber
thoughts. As soon as it was pos-
sible we set out for Jamanota, and
were astonished to see a puddle
of fresh water of about three or ancient Indian population sculp-
four feet across in the slate-bed tured frogs figure prominently, and
which comes to the surface there. to this day people are wont to sing
My guide scooped some tadpoles a monotonous melody about the
from it. It was known to us that the dori once recited to me with great
frog, the so-called dori, occurred tenderness by an old woman:
on Aruba, but everyone told us Dori, dori mako, si mi mori …ken ta
that we should not encounter it, dera? Fontein.” (Prof. Martin proceeds to
because in the dry season it creeps The Mako frog...”if I die…who shall give an explanation of the origin of
into the soil, being found there oc- bury me? these caves informing us that the
casionally at a depth of as many Actually it is the “Sapo” or Cane Indians chose them as their dwell-
as six meters. This seeming contra- Toad that the lady in question is re- ings at a later period, but that now
diction was resolved the next day ferring to in this song, who happily only bats and rats inhabit them.
by our finding a grown-up frog, sings all night in celebration of the Furthermore he describes the In-
which according to all the natives coming harvest abundance. dian drawings).
was decidedly different from the “Through the dense undergrowth
dori, so that the island possesses of spiny Hubada and cacti, prick- “We continued our journey along
two kinds of frogs, whereas they ing our legs and feet and scratch- the north coast of the island, in-
do not occur on Curacao and Bo- ing our faces, and sometimes tending to ride along the beach sun-dial, and it even possesses a
naire at all” wrenching our hats off our heads, of Fontein to Daimari, which can type of wind-gauge, made of two
we struggled on in a wide curve now be reached from Oranjestad calabashes. The professor found
The dori, the species of frog the sometimes crossing narrow brook- by an easy path enabling us to ar- a man here whose father was a
inhabitant of Aruba is familiar with beds filled with rubble, in order to rive there already by noon. It con- Dutchman, and who had earned
appears in great masses at the be- return to our point of departure on sists of a single house on the bay twenty-four thousand guilders as a
ginning of the rainy season and it the north coast.” of that name and is, like all other gold-seeker, but had as soon lost
is therefore quite understandable houses of the residence, of a pe- them again.”
that the population greatly honor “First we arrived at Miralamar culiar construction and subdivision, …and so are the stories of Aruba
him, being as he is in a manner of where there is a quartz passage if one is justified in using this word in the second half of the 19th cen-
speaking, their redeemer from the rich in gold and where in former at all. Two small rooms_ just large tury.
prolonged periods of drought in times a lucrative mine was worked enough for a few hammocks, a
consequence of which the pinch by an English company. February crude table and primitive chairs on To get to know more over Aruba’s
of hunger and misery is so often felt. 1st, 1885, Sunday, our people will which, in fact, we hardly dared sit and its origins, its animals and cul-
Already on the implements of the ture, we highly recommend you to
not budge. The donkeys, too, are for fear of their collapsing under us book your visit for our renowned
tired, and so we shall have to stay that was the interior of this house.” cultural encounter session has
in the vicinity of Fontein till next “By the side of the house, which is been entertaining curious partici-
morning: “poco, poco,” said our spotlessly white-washed, there is a pants for decades. Mail us at et-
guide. lean-to, a cooking-place open on nianativa03@gmail.comto confirm
several sides in which there is gen- your participation. Our facilities
“In the morning we visited the sta- erally a seat. Daimari boasts an and activities take place close to
lactite cave at no more than a object of great luxury. Before the high rise hotels.
few hundred yards distance from door stands a simple but usable