Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-08-23
INHABITANTS OF FISHERS ISLAND.

Savages Who War no CIothing-Persor-
a! Description of the People--An EN-
bIem of Peac..
A correspondent of the Edinburgh
Scotsman writes as follows: We left
Sydney May 6, 1876, arriving at Hong
Kong the 18th, after a pleasant voy-
age, the weather being fine. The pas
sages from Sydney to Hong Kong are
very little known yet; we came the
middle passage, that is east of New
Guinea, New Britain and New Ire
land, but west Of the Solomon Islands.
On passing small island called Fish
er's Island, situated close to New Ire
land, we noticed canoes coming off, so
stopped to see what the blacks wanted.
or rather savages. About forty canoes
came alongside, with crews of from
one to six men, bringing with them
bananas, cocoanuts and apples. These
creatures wore no clothes Of any kind,
barring a few who had head dresses.
They sand about five feet four, rather
well made, not stout, nor of the deep
black you see an African, but more of
the Eengalee co'or and appearance.
The hair seems to have been originally
black, but they die it two or three diff
ferent colors, as black, green and
white, some all red, of brick shade.
| 1t is cut short, but with what I do not
know. Some wore q necklace, some
bracelets Of shells, but only one with a
ring through Lis nose. There were g.
few tatooed, but to very small extent.
We were rather surprised to find one
IN each boat have on his right arm q
few green leaves resembling those of
the olive. They did not draw our at
tentlon to them, SO suppose thought
we were aware Of it meaning an en-
blem Of peace. That seems to be
known by every savage tribe. Even
when seen by white men they wave the
green. These men seem to De quite
friendly, trying to make us under
stand them. We gave them lot of
clothes and little odds and ends.
Knives they were anxious to get, but
above all things, bottles. They use
the glass for carving on wood. One
fellow got a looking glass; he turned it
round and round, up and down, just
like a monkey, waiting to see the in
side. [ shall never forget the laugh he
gave when he first saw his black face
IN it. The more he laughed, the more
his likeness laughed; he could not
make it out, he imagined there was
some one at the back. x....z-
The clothes we gave them had only
one fault, that YVES they did not know
how to put them on. 1t was ludicrous
to see them trying to put On vests. 1t
shows how little they know of white
men, if anything. We offered them
pipes, tobacco, and matches, but they
refused them ALL Now, the first
things black who has been in compa-
ny with whites asks for are rum and
tobacco. | think it probable these saw
ages had never seen a steamer or white
man before. and everything being be-
yond their comprehension accounts for
their not being frightened They all
seemed highly pleased. There were
about two hundred of them, and a.
great many were coming off, but we
could not wait. have every reason to
believe that we made a good impress
sion on them; but they are not to be
trusted. When vessels are lost on the
islands, they first take the ship, then
murder the whites and eat them. The
canoes are very nicely cut out of log,
and prettily ornamented at the ends
This they do with sharp stones. They
use a small paddle as an oar. On our
steaming ahead they accompanied us
two or three miles; but seeing they
could not keep pace they gave us a
loud cheer and turned homeWard."