The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1875-08-05

III
Seventeen Years among saVaEes'
An interesting case Of the naturalization
of white mYn among savaees has just come
to light in Australia. Seventeen years ago
the French ship st. Paul, with three nsh-
dred and twenty-scven Chinese coolies ior
Aus,ralia, was wrecked on reef on kossel
isaud, in the LouiSiade Archipelago, east OF
New Guinea. The coolies were landed on
al island. where they were left by the cap
tain. Tue story Of the Cinnamon is short
one: for As the natives happened to.be can.
nibals It seemed good TO them TO fetch off two
OF the fuitest every day and eat them. 50
that when at last ship came te fetch
them away there were only seventeen lett.
The boat continuing the captain and his
crew of eight Frencbmen made the coast
Of Austrsla near Cape Direction, on Inc
Cape York peninsula. and the captain ana
crew larded in sesrcn OF water. Among
them was boy about twelve years Ola
named Narciase Peilctier, OF st. Giles. near
Bordeaux. who cut bis feet badly IN Walking
over the rock, and was unable 10 keep up
with the others consequently "nen the
boat started on It's course he was left Denlnu,
and remained three days alone on tue coast.
He was lying asleep under tree wnen gen
tie shaking made bun aware that ne was III
the presence OF three black men anu lWo
black women, who made signs OF surprise
and commt,Seration. They gave him some
food and led him away without any violence
| TO their camp, where he was received 10y
others Of the trine IN an equally lrlehuit
manner. He became one OF the trlDe anu
adopted their way Of living, which, AS ne dc'
scribeS it, i. perhaps, 1S prim'tNt Is
any that can be found. Shelter ana c'oth'
| ium are dispensed with altogether. except
| that the women wear small tringed 9lrdle
around the hips. Their food consists of fish,
which they take entirely by Spear'ug ano
hurpooning fruits, and a few ANIMALS. ney
| use fire for cooking, obtaining II 10y ruDhihH
two pieces Of dry wood together. Ineir
personal ornameutatlons consist oi ie"
scars made by cutting the flesh with broken
bottles aud pinching up the lnci>ion repeat
edIy mill a cork-lHe eXcresence is formed.
| Tie design, AS cycmpIrticd in his person,
consists Of TWO straight cords across the low
or part OF the chest. the longer Of them about
| ten inches In lcu4th, about third OF an men
thick in the middle, and taperlng OIL TO me
| ends. the other >omeW hat sms!Ier; four OF i've
short lines parallel to these ana above them on
.sch side Of The front Of the chest, all the lines
| being about au inch apart; some similar snort
| lines or .crackllng" in front Of the right Shou-
| der. aud Il few slight ones in front ol the
| left: besides that he has hole through the
| lobe Of the right ear large enough 10 hnlu
! piece Of wood Of the size OF nvc-irahc
! piece when stretched. and hnaliy noie
| through the division Of the nose TO ADMIT Il
piece OF bamboo as large As common lcad'
| pencil ilst below the no>trilS. iney DO not
! pructlce any other mulilalion or modlhca-
ton Of anv part of the body, but they cut
their hair, Vi hich is black and straight-not
curled in the smallest degrce-wlth broken
bottles. The incisions applied to the women
differ only in pattern from those OF the
men. When it rains heavily they try 10
shelter themselves with pieces of bark or
branches. but they have not even the rudl'
ments of Il hut. They seldom stay long
in one place. They have no stone imple-
ments in USE their weapons and hsh'spears
are timed with iron, obtained from the
hoops OF casks picked up on the beach.
Their language, about Il hundred words OF
which have been written down from Pelle-
tiers dictatiou, does not appear 10 have any.
thing IN common with Malay, or with any
of the Papuan dialects, OF which Vocabula-
! rie. are at hand. 1t abounds in nasal sounds
They are wholly unable 10 count, and have
no words for numbers. Their relations
between the sexes are those which oDtal1
among animals other than man. The strong
est take three or four women each, and ilght'
for their possession are of frequent occur.
renee. When a man for any reason is dlSsatis
fled with or tired Of his wife he simply spear:
her, and there is an end OF 1t. Domestic
troubles are consequently of short duratlor
Neither cannihaism nor infanticlde is prac
ticed by this tribe; on the contrary, accord
| ing TO Pclletier's statement, they are rather
good-natured people, and would be klnd t(
anv white man who came among them un
armed. OF any religion, or belief in tue eN
istence of any kind of unseen world. the!
appear not to bave the slightest vestige. Pei
| letter is, OF course, living curiosity. He Il
| 70 be handed over to the French consul a
| Sydney, who will no doubt forward nim tt
France. What his ultimate fate may be nj
/ one can say. but it is certain that II he Is te
thrive as acyi.ized man he will require
/ larger amount OF discretion than his training
| up to this point is likely to have given him
L.ond0n 1Mess.