The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-09-30

NOss'S
water failed, and when at length they
reached the shore, which they did at
First Red Rock Point, south OF Cape
Direction, latitude - degrees and 3
minutes south, longitude 143 degrees
east, their first thought was the altlevia-
ton of their thirst. Leaving the boat,
they wandered along the shore until at
length they found a small quantity of
wafer, the whole of which was eagerly
drank by the men, leaving none for the
poor little cabin boy, half dead with
hunger, thirst, exposure and fatigue,
and whose feet were cut to pieces by the
sharp coral of the reef Their thirst
having been quenched, the Captain and
his sailors-eight in all-returned to
their boat and sailed away again, leay
ing the boy to die by the empty water
hole They reached New Caledonia in
saftey, and there the Captain reported
The loss of his vessel and the hardships
which he and his companions had under
gone He did not, however, report
his abandonment of Narcisse Peltier
The Chinese left at Roussel Island
were, it was afterward ascertained, grad
ually killed aud eaten by the natives,
with the exception of some twenty, who
ultimately escaped.
The career of the boy Narcisse Peltier
would undoubtedly have come to close
even before his Captain S arrival in New
Caledonia, had it not chanced that some
blacks crossed the footprints left by the
sailors in their search for water, and fol-
lowed them up until they found the dy-
ing boy by the side of the dried up well.
They gave him food, which he describes
as les noiSettes, and then led him away
gently by the hand to their tribe, with
which he has remained uninterruptedly
until the present time, a period of us less
than seventeen years.
NARCIsSE IS A SHORT, THICK-sET ACTIVE
MAN.
His skin is a bright red color, and glaz-
ed upon the surface by continued ex-
posure to the sun. He is clean in his
person, and says the blacks with whom
he has lived are so also-a statement APP
parentIy confirmed by the disgust he ex-
pressed for the Chinese on beard the
Brisbane, whom he styled dirty pigs
(tes safes cochOaas). Across his chest
L. toll e
| about the thickness of an ordinary lead
pencil. The upper one extends from
nipple to nipple; the other, rather short
er, is about an inch lower Above each
breast are four short horizontal scars,
one above the other, and on the upper
part Of the right arm a sort of gridiron
has been scored, consisting of four YER
teal cuts Enclosed in one passing all
around them. These cuts were made
with pieces of broken bottles obtained
from ships, and the tips of the cut rais-
ed by continually pinching them up.
No earth or other foreign matter has
been introduced into the cuts These
nament, and he is proud of them, or was
q short time since. The lobe of his right
ear has been pierced, and the flesh it
self considerably drawn down, apparent
ly between or 3 inches. When found
he were piece of wood in this aperture
about inch in diameter and inches
long. This ornament he gave to one of
the sailors of the schooner which brought
him to Somerset. When speaking of
the size to which the ear had been drawn
down, he mentioned, with evident adj
niration, some of his tribe who had
trained the lobe of the ear down, or
nearly down, to the shoulder. After
having been on board the Brisbane q
day or two however, he came to the con-
clusion that the best thing he could do
would be to have the lower part of his
ear cut off, as not being s'the right
thing IN civilized society.
His nose is also pierced, and he is
accustomed to wear III it white shell,
probably that of the pearl oyster. When
first found by the blacks he says he was
very unhappy, often thought Of his faith
er, mother and brothers, and longed to
get away. In the course of time the re-
collection Of them became less vivid and
painful, and he ultimately completely
identified himself with the tribe. He
had never made an attempt to escape as,
being alone, he could not manage a
canoe out to sea; aud though he had
| seen vessels passing along the coast, he
had never been allowed, to go near
them, having always been sent by the
blacks into the woods in the interior
when they went on board a ship. 1t is
not clear how they came to allow him to
be seen at last by the sailors Of the John
| Bell
WHEN FIRST CAPTURED
he could hardl = recall a world of French,
and the rapidit!y with which he has re-
| covered it is remarkable. Even when
| he came on board the Brisbane a week
| ago, his knowledge of his own language
was very limited, and it was curious to
see the manner III which word of its
meaning would suddenly recur to his re-
collection. lie now speaks French
fiuently, and in proportion rs it returns
to him he forgets the language of his
tribe, of which, however, about one hun
| dred words have been collected from