The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1875-08-27

they wandered along the shore, unit
at length they found a small quantity o.
water, the whole of which was eagerly
drank by the men, leaving none for the
poor little cabin boy, half dead will
hunger, thirst, exposure, and fatigue
and whose feet were cut to pieces by the
sharp coral Of the reef. Their thirst hav,
ing been quenched, the Captain and his
men-eight in all-returned to their boat
and sailed away again, leaving the boy
to die by the empty water hole. They
reached New Caledonia in safety, and
there the Captain reported the loss OF
his vessel and the hardships which he
and his companions had undergone. He
did not, however, report his abandon
ment of Narcisse Peltier.
The Chinese left at Roussel Island
were, it was afterward ascertained, grad
ually killed and 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 q close
even before his Captains arrival in New
Caledonia, had it not CHANGED 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 "des noisettes," and then led him
away gently by the hand to their tribe,
with which lie has remained uninterrupt-
edly until the present time, period of
no less than seventeen years.
Narcisse is a short. thick-set, active
man. His skin is of a bright red color,
and glazed upon the surface by con-
tinued exposure to the sun. He is clean
in his person, and says that the blacks
among whom he has lived are so also
a statement apparently confirmed by the
disgust he expressed for the Chinese on
board the Brisbane, whom he styled
dirty pigs {" DIES sales cOchon8'0
lines of raised flesh about the thickness
of an ordinary lead pencil. The upper
one extends from nipple to nipple, the
other, rather shorter, 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
sort of gridiron has been scored, consist
ing of four verticle cuts inclosed in one
passing all round them. These cuts
were made with pieces of broken bottles
obtained from ships, and the tips of the
cut raised by continually pinching them
up. No earth or other foreign matter
has been introduced into the cut. These
scars, he states, are made simply for or
and he is proud of them, or was
a short time since. The lobe of his
right ear has been pierced, and the flesh
itself considerably drawn down, appar-
emily between two and three inches.
When found he wore a piece of wood in
this aperture about half an inch in diam
eter and four inches long. This orna-
ment he gave to one of the sailors of the |
schooner which brought him to Somer-
set. When speaking of the size to which |
the ear had been drawn down, he men
toned with evident admiration, some |
men 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 a day or two, how
ever, he came to the conclusion that the |
best thing he could do would be to have |
the lower part of his ear cut off, az not !
being the right thing" in civilized
society.
His nose is also pierced, and he was
to wear in it piece of white
shell, probably that of the pearl oyster.
When first found by the blacks he says
he was very unhappy, often thought of |
his father, mother, and brothers, and
often longed to get away. In the course
Of time the recollection of them became
ess vivid and painful and he ultimately
Unidentified himself with the
.ribe. He had never made an attempt to
escape, as, being alone, he could not
nave managed to canoe out at sea; and
hough he had often seen vessels passing
along the coast, he had never been al
owed to get near them, having been
always sent by the blacks into the woods
II the interior when they went on board
ship. 1t is not clear how they came
% allow him to be seen at last by the
sailors of the John Bell.
When first recaptured he could hardly
'ecall word of French, and the rapidity
With which he has recovered it is re-
Even when he came on board
lie Brisbane week ago his knowledge
If his own language was very limited,
md it was curious to see the manner in
which q word or its meaning would sud
lenly recur to his recollection. He now
speaks French flnently, and in proper
ion as it returns to him he forgets the
anguage of his tribe, of which, however,
lbout 100 words have been collected
rom him and taken down by Lieut.. OF
ley, Il. Z. What is very much more
however, than his recovery
If his mother tongue, is the fact that he
las not lost the powers of reading or
writing after disuse of several years,
Turing which he of course never saw
/ book, and, as he says, never wrote q
inc nor indeed, did the blacks know
he he possessed the power to do so.
Very probably he did not knowit himself.
after two or three weeks residence at
Somerset, however, he wrote, as has al
eady been mentioned, few almost un-
lines. Before coming on
,oard the Brisbane he had much inn
proved in intelligence, and pronounced
correctly the names he saw written upon
he boats and elsewhere about the ship.
lis progress since has been most rapid.
lie now spends a great deal of every day
n reading, though whether he under
tands all that he reads may possibly be
\ e. .Iaxs. NJ. -