Lexington weekly intelligencer., 1877-04-07

The captain kept the boat off, and eX-
amined the islanders carefully. The IT
nocent. simple people danced and sang. |
and ran into the water. imploring their
white visitors by gestures to |
come on shore. Not creature among
them carried arms of any sort; hos |
pitable curiosity animated the entire
The men cried out, in their !
smooth, musical language. "Come and
eat! - and the plump, ack-eyed wo-
men. all laughing together, added their
own invitation, Come and be kissedn'
Was it in mortals to resist such tempta-
tions rs these? The captain led the
way on shore; the women surrounded
him in an instant and screamed for JOY
at the glorious spectacle OF his whiskers.
his complexion. and his gloves. So the
mariners from the tar north were well
coined to the newly y-diScovered island.
CHAPTER H.
The morning wore on. Mr.. Duucalt,
in charge Of the ship. cursirg the island,
over his rum and water, as "a beastiy
green strip of a place, not laid down in
any Christian chart" was kept waiting
four mortal hours before the captain re-
turned to his command, and reported
himself to his officers as follows:
He had found his knowledge OF the
Polynesian dialects sufficient to make
himself in some degree understood by
the natives Of the new island. Under
the guidance of the chief he had made Il
first journey OF exploration, and had
seen for himself that the place was Il
marvel of natural beauty and fertility.
The one barren spot in it WAS the peak
OF the volcanic mountain. composed OF
crumbiny rock originally, no doubt,
lava and ashes which had cooled and
consolidated with the lapse OF time. 50
lar Is he had seen, the crater at the top
was now an extinct crater. But. Ii hd
had understood rightly. the chief had
spoken OF earthquakes and cruptions At
certain bygone periods, some Of which
Iay within his own earliest recollcctiOns
of the place. Adverting next to con-
sderations of practical utility, the cap
tain announced that lie had Seen sandal
wood enough on the island to load a
dozen ships, and that the natives were
willing to part with it for a few toys and
trinkels generally distributed among
them. To the mates disgust. the For
tuna was taken inside the rect that day.
and was anchored before sunset i'll Il
natural harhor. Twelve hours of recre
alton, beginning with the neat morning,
were granted to the men. under the
wise restrictions III such case established
hv the captain That interval over, the
work of cutting the precious wood and
loading the ship was to be unintermlt-
tinglv pursued.
! Mr. Duncalf had the first watch after
the Fortuna had been made snug. He
took the boatswain aside (;ln ancient sea
dog like himseif) and he said in u grutl
whisper: "My lad. this here amt the
| island laid down i'll our sailing orders.
| See il mischief dent come OF disobeying
| orders before we are many days older.
Nothing in the shape of mischief hap
pened that night. But at sunrise the
next morning Il suspicious circumstance
occurred; and Mr. Duncali whispered
to the boatswain What did tell you =
The captain and the chief OF the island
ers held 4 private conference in the
cabin; and the captain, after first tor
bidding any communication with tht
shore until his return. suddenly left the
ship alone with the ciiet, i'll the chiei'
own canoe
What did this strange disappearanc,
mean? The captain himself, When IA,
took his seat in the canoe. would have
been puzzled to answer that question.
shall we be long time away from
the ship" he asked
The chief answered mysteriously
Long time or short time, your lite de
pends on it. and the lives of your men.
Padding his light vessel in silence
over the smooth water inside the reel
the chief took his visitor ashore Al
part .: the island which was quite new
to the Captain. The two crossed ;
raviue and ascended an eminence be
yond. There the chief stopped an,
silently pointed out to sea.
The captain looked i'll the direction
indicated to him, and discovered II sec
ond smaller island, lying away to III
southwest at Il distance of under tw
miles. Taking out his telescope from
the case by which it was slung at hi
back, he examined the place throug
his glass. Two of the native canoe
were lying off the shore of the nev
!. island and the men in them appeare
, TO be all kneeling or crouching in curl
ously- chosen attitudes. Shifting hi
, range little. the captain next behel
the figure of tall and solitary man
the one inhabitant OF the island WHOM
he could discover. The man was stand
, ing on the highest point OF 4 rocky cape
: A fire was burning at his feet Now h
lifted his arms solemnlv to the sky
now he dropped some invisible fuel in
, to the fire, which made Il blue smoke
and now he cast other invisible object
into the canoes floating beneath him
which the islanders reverently recciv
ed with bodies that crouched in Il
: iect submission. Lowering his teI
escope. the captain looked aroun
, at the chet for an explanation
The chief gave the explanation readily
His language may be interpreted in thes
, terms:
Wonderful white stranger. the islam
l YOU see wonder is :. holy island. As sue
, it is IuL00--an island sauctitied and :.
| apart. The honorable person whom yo
= notice on the rock is an all poweriu
! tavorite of the gods. He is by voca,o
l sorcerer. and by rank a priest. lo
now see him casting charms and bles:
, ings into the canoes OF our fishermen
J who kncel To nm Tor me weather an
great plenty OF fish. If any proian
person, native or stranger. presumes t
set loot on that island, my otherwis
! peaceable subjects will Gin the perior
, nance of a religious duty) put that pen
: son to death. Mention this to your men
, they will be fed by my male people, an
t iondlei by my female people. so long Il
they keep clear of the Holy Isle. A
they value their lives. let them respec
this prohibition. Is it understood bc
tween US? Wonderful white stranger
f my canoe is waiting for you. Let us G
back
| Understanding enough Of the chief
language illustrated by his gestures
to receive in the right spirit the con-
municatlon thus addressed to him, tn
+ captain repeated the warning to tn
5 ships company in the plainest possibl
English The officers and men the
). took their holiday on shore. with til
f exception OF Mr.. Duncalt, who positive
ly refused TO leave the ship. For twelv
delightful hours they were ted by til
male People and fondled by the femal
people. and then they We're merciIessl
torn from the tlesh-pots and the arms u
, their new friends, and set to work o
the sandalwood in good earnest. MI
, Duncali superir:endcd the loading. an
, waited for the mischief that was to com
of di>obeying the owners orders. witt
Il confidence worthy of L better cause.