The native Virginian. [volume] (Orange Court House, Va.) 1867-187?, 1868-03-06
FOR THE NATIVE vIRGIYIAN.I
THE STUPES BORNEO.
A REMARK ABLE PEOPLE.


stated. There seems, too, to be an OBJ
scurc moral conveyed. We do not, Of
course, vouch for the facts, because we
have no personal acquaintance with the
narrator, retired sea-captain, who
commanded for manyyear the HERNIA
phrodite brig, Betsy, of Norfolk. We
are told however, that Capt. Shaddles
is in every respect, an entirely relia-
BILE gentleman, and a man of good
deal of reading and obsei vation. Here
is his letter.
MoBJAoK BAY, Feb. 1s, 1868.
To the Editor of the Native Virginian.
DEAR SIR In the interior of the is
land of Borneo, there has been found a
certain race of wild creatures, of which
kindred varieties have been discovered
in the Philippine Islands, in Terra del
Fuego, and in Southern Africa. They
walk usually almost erect upon two
legs, and in tina. attitude measure about
four feet IN height; they are dark, wrin
kled, and hairy; they construct no habi
tations, form no families, scarcely asso-
ciate together, sleep in trees or in caves,
feed on snakes and vermin, on ants and
ants eggs, OIL mice, and on each other;
they cannot be tanned, nor forced to any
labor; and they are hunted and shot
among the trees, like the great gorillas,
of which they are q stunted copy
When they are captured alive, one finds,
with surprise, that their uncouth jab-
bering sounds like articulate Language;
they turn up human face to gaze up
on their captor; the females show in
stincts of modesty; and, in fine, these
wretched beings are Men.
have, myself, seen many hundreds
of these creatures, and, before became
satisfied that they were not monkeys,
have shot some dozens of them for sport.
tried to tame one of them for Cabin
boy, but failed entirely. Ibid succeed,
however, in teaching one of the females
to make up my bunk and sweep the
cabin floor, but, unfortunately, she died
at Callao, on the return cruise. 1t was
one of these creatures which Barnum
had in his Museum as the "What-is-It ?"
and which puzzled the New York doc
tors so. Old Sailors knew very well
we'll what it was, but | supposed Bar
mum paid them hush-money.
A still more remarkable race of peo-
pie live in Borneo, of whom no account
has ever been published in any book of
travels that ever read, and 1 have
read all could sec or hear Of. Meth
is there any description of them given IN
any of the scientific books on the races
of men, which l have read these five
years since Iquit sea-faring. 1 allude
to the Stupes, as they are called by sea-
men, who live in the tract of country
adjoining these same Borneo man-mon-
keys. The natives have another name
for them, but / have forgotten it, and
my log-book, containing that and many
other particulars, was lost when was
wrecked off the Blight of Benin in 1913,
March IA.
These people live in city of some
size, called Stupeton, which was once a
very pretty and thriving place on the
river Jamze, but is now going to decay.
They were formerly fine looking body
of men and women, and even now
many of them will compare with Vir-
ginians. They are very proud of their
ancestry and claim to be-lineal descen-
dants of the Latin tribe of PoSt-poneS.
Others trace their origin directly to the
nation of the Procrasti, mentioned by
Pliny. r.5
But be that as it may, they have
mighty littNto brag of now, for they
have nothing left but their pride and
their laziness. 1t is the only instance
ever saw, and have been round the
globe four times and spent five and
thirty years at sea; of a fine race of men
who had given up entirely Why, sir,
when was there last; in Jan. 1862, the
man monkeys mentioned in the begin
ming of this letter had actually invaded
Stupeton, taken possession of many pri-
vate houses, and 1 saw them with my
own eyes jabbering ,chattering and how
ling in the State House Every one of
them was armed with club or other
weapon, while there was not to be found
among the Stupes single creese or
match-lock.
The state of things was so alarming,
that tried my best to arouse the peo-
pie to a sense of their danger, but to no
purpose. Some said there was no dan
ger, while others, who felt their peril,
declared they were too poor to buy wea-
pons. Then, again, all of them had so
high an opinion of themselves and so
great contempt for the monkeys, that
would make no preparation, believing
that if it ever came to a fight, they could
exterminate them in jifty. l offered
to take my men and drive the apes back
to the woods, but the Stupes would not
hear of it. There was some law, or
some foreign power, or something some
where they said which made it inadmis-
sable to act or even to take any precau-
tions. The truth is, they were too lazy,
and too much in the habit of putting of
things to do anything, although their
own lives and the lives of their wives,
and children, say nothing of property,
were at stake. SO lett then to their
fate, which they deserve.
know that the negroes in Hayti first
killed and drove out all the whites, and