The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1876-01-20
Seventeen Years Among Savges.

An Australian correspondent Of the Lon.
don Times writes "An interesting case of
naturalization of white man among sava-
ges has just come to light. Seventeen
years ago the French ship St. Paul with
three hundred and twenty-seven Chinese
coolies for Australia, was wrecked on a reef
off Rossel Island, in the Louisiade Archi-
pelago, east of of New Guinea. The coolies
were landed on an island, where they were
left by the captain. The story of the China
men is u short one, for, as the natives hap
pened to be cannibals, it seemed good to
them to fetch off the fattest every day and
eat them, so that when at last ship came
to fetch them away there were only seven
teen left. The boat containing the captain
and his crew Of eight Frenchmen made the
coast Of Australia near Cape Direction, on
the Cape York Peninsula, and the captain
and crew landed in search Of water. Among
them was boy twelve years old, named
Narcisse Pclletier, of St. Giles, near Bor-
dcaux, who cut his feet badly in walking
over the rock, and unable to keep up with
the others consequently, when the boat
started on its course he was left behind,
and remained three days alone on the coast.
He was lying asleep under a tree when a
gentle shaking made him aware that he was
in the presence of three black men and two
black women who made signs of surprise
and commiseration. They gave him some
food, and led him away without any vio-
lence to their camp, where he was received
by others of the tribe in an equally friend
I L Il, l.
and adopted their way Of living, which, as
he describes it, is, perhaps, as primitive as
any that can now be found. Shelter and
clothing are dispensed with altogether, ex-
cept that the women wear a small fringed
girdle around the hips. Their food con-
sists of fish, which they take entirely by
spearing and harpooning, fruits, and a few
animals. They use fire for cooking, obtain
ing it by rubbing two pieces Of dry wood
together. Their personal ornamentations
consists Gf few scars made by cutting the
flesh with broken bottles and pinching up
the incision repeatedly until cork-like e1-
! crescence is formed. The design, as ex-
| emplifcd in his person, consists of two
/ straight cords across the lower part of the
chest, the longer of them about ten inches
| in length, about third Of an inch thick
in the middle, and tapering off to the ends,
! the other somewhat smaller four or five
short lines parallel to these and above them
on each side of the front of the chest all the
lines being about an inch apart some similar
short lines or cracking in front of the right
shoulder, and few slight ones in front of
! the left besides that he has hole through
! the lobe Of the right ear large enough to
! hold piece Of wood Of the size of five
! franc piece when stretched and finally a
! hole through the division Of the nose TO ad-
nit piece Of bamboo as large as common
lead pencil just below the nostrilS They
do not practice any other mutilation OF
modification Of any part of the body, but
they cut their hair (Which is black and
straight-not curcd in the smallest degree,
with broken bottles The incisions applied
to the women differ only in pattern from
those Of the men. When it rains heavily
they try to shelter themselves with pieces
of bark or branches, but they have not even
the rudment of u hut. They seldom stay
long in one place. They have no stone i'm
plements i'll use their weapons and fish
spears are tipped with iron, obtained from
hoops of casks picked up on the beach
Their language, about hundred words o.
which have been written down from Pelle
tiers dictation, does not appear to have any
thing in common with Malay, or any Pa
puan dialects, of which vocabularies are a
hand. 1t abounds in nasal sounds. They
are wholly unable to count, and have NJ
words for numbers. Their relations betweel
the sexes are those which obtain anon:
animals other t'su man. TIE strongs,