The banner-enterprise., 1883-04-19
A PECULIAR COMMUNITY.
4 FREE REPUBLIC WITHIN THE BoR.
DERS OF L )LISIAIA.

A 1In'ay Settlement Of Fi,hermr VI il iIau
Won ~ in II II toits and r.tn:i 4. I e.
ofa Strnn 20 PeDpe.
For years past most remarkable re-
ports about Malay settlement at the
mouth of a small bayou running into
Lake Borgne on the extreme southern
limit lave been in circulation. Tales
which would have furnished material
4 for many volumes of sensational liter
/ ature have been twice told about this
peculiar spot, until the passage of time
and the absence of accurate detail con-
cerning this terra incognita gave to
4 them the corro5oration of general ac-
I quie cence, and st. Malo was regarded
by those who hear of the settlement
as akin to the buccaneers resorts OF
the Caribbean sea, or the mysterious
retreats of III smugglers Of the Span
ISL main. 1t is true, now aud again
some indefatigable amateur hunter or
fisherman would stray into its neigh.
borhood but they never remained long,
and their short visits served rather to
heighten the co,or of past rumors than
to tone them down to the n ter-or
fact standard of to-day.
All that was definitely known was
that many years ago number of ma
tives of Manila, one of the Philippine
islands. north Of Java, had established
themselves in q village on u piece of
land in the sea marsh Of Louisiana,
near a bayou, and there with miles
and miles Of ruStling rushcs and reeds
between them and civilization had
built up an autonomy of their own,
holding allegiance to no power or po-
tentate and, though within the geo.
graphical boundary of our State and
the United Stae5, yet beyond the
reach of its laws. 4 stern and rigidly
enforced statute of the colony was
that of complete exclusion of the fe-
nal sex, and many were the CHASTITY
traditi rs of the enforcement of this
ordinance.
According to the whispered story,
shortly after the settlement was made,
and the small-eyed natives OF the Pa
ciic began to thrive with their fishery,
one Of their number, following the ey-
ample of the average American citi-
zen, as well as the dictates Of semi
Mongolian taste, carried thither a wife,
and established her at the head Of his
little household Withia a few months
afterward unplcaialt reports began to
spread in the village, at first against
the chief. and then against the smalle t
and most insignif eant fisher assistant
there. Gossip, with her idle tongue,
invoked private cnmity where brother
ly love existed before, and old friends
found themselves separated by some
mali ming slandercr. Feuds were
created. The crease and the knife
were resorted to, and the peaceful st.
Malo threatened to ecomc place of
sickening deeds. The oder heads
gathered together and discu u'scd this
unlooked-fUr change in the affairs of
their microcosm. The logic of facts.
by very simple induction, pointed to
the woman as the cause, and her fate
was sealed Traditions Ter as to the
means taken to bring about the d Sired
result. One has it that she was tiel
out in the mar,heS to stake for the
mosquitoes t, suck out her life-blood;
another tells of the short shrift of
knife and SeyeriDg Of the bloody
limbs from the hr2dlpss trunk. 1t
matters little which may lie true, the
result r mained, and woman nn1cr
more set eyes on st. AIa'o.
The fishing is conducted by COM
panics, each of which is composed Of
u captain and four cr five men, The
captain is generally the owner or the
seine. They start out in fine weather
down the shore of Lake Borgne and
haul the seine until a sufficient guam
tity is caught to fill their cars. All
return to st. Malo, where the fish are
punched and sold to luggers which ply
between that point and New Orleans.
The first share goes to the seine, and
then all take share and share alike Of
the proceeds. Each man. when lucky,
clears between SIS and SIS per week.
They do not care for the cold, and work
winter and summer, although summer
Is the best fishing season, The men
live on rice, fish and beans, and once
week they get meat. They are all con-
tented without wives. and seldom
have trouble with one another. When
they first came they built their houses
with latanier (palmetto) leaves and
with straw from the marsh; now they
are built of cypress.
No such thing rs warrant of a
court, tax bill, a lawyer, a doctor or
an election is known there. Their only
Judges to settle their disputes are arbi-
traitors selected by those who dispute
the property in a skiff, a bunch of fish
or plrogue. When man gets drunk
on liquor brought on the luggers from
the city and he gets noisy. he is imme-
diately taken down to fish cal, (which
Is simply large skiff, some ten feet
long, decked over with open seams
about an inch in width, so that when
1t is anoat the water will flow through |
1t to keep the fish alive. The drunken
man is put in the fish car, the sliding
door on top is closed and a peg inserted.
He is then safe. If he becomes too
obstreperous the car is pushed out into
the water until it is half filled, the cold
bath effectually quieting the ardor Of
.he prisoner .--Neic Orleans Times.
rrr;oIS of aver1, bind ,,,o,. or-o;t 80,