Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1886-12-17
TALES FROM sAvAoEs' LANDS.
Some Remarkable stories That White
Trnvelera Have Set Going.

Travellers Have Set Going.
Travellers have told many strange
tales about new countries they have vis-
tied. A great many wonderfully yarns have
been sprung by sailors and traders, who
are often too ignorant to tell tho truth
about what they see. even if they can
resist the temptation to tell good story
at the expense of accuracy. Here Is
striking instance of the differences that
may occur in the accounts given by an
ignorant and an intelligent man Of the
same thing:
Capt Lancaster, many years ago, told
of wonderful plant hc found ON the
sea sands of am island in the East Indies.
He said he found the shore covered
with small twigs growing up like young
trees. When he tried to pull them up
he was astonished to find that they
shranlx down to the ground, and even
sank out of sight unless he held on very
hard. In the course of time Darwin ex-
amined the wonderful products OF ma
ttIre which Capt. Lancaster had discov-
cred. He found that the supposed plant
did not belong to the vegetable king
dom, but was a species of the animals
known as zoophytees or Seapens. AT
low water.n he wrote. hundreds OF ZOO
phytees might be seen ejecting like stub
BILE. When touched or pulled they sud-
denly drew themselves in with force, 50
as to nearly or quite disappear.
Besides the travellers who willfully or
ignorantly dstort facts there arc not
few who could journey around the world
L II
hearing of their travels. A while ago
man who had travelled good deal in the
western Pacific was asked to describe the
Solomon islands, Allie could say was
that the water there was very blue; that
the bathing was excellent and that lle
saw many lovely sites for villa resi-
dences. 1t was learned that he had long
been real estate agent in Melbourne.
Mr.. Romilly says that n few years ago
a traveller who was addressing an audi
ence in England. including many scienti-
fc men, solemnly assured them that the
natives of New Britain mcnded broken
legs by inserting piece of tortoise shell
into the bone. The shell was neatly fit
ted into a groove that was cut IN the
bone, and the ends Of the broken bone
i'm this manner were kept together. His
hearers never thought of questioning lis
veracity when he surprised them further
by asserting that the science of dentistry
was far advanced in New Britain. He
said the natives made beautiful
teeth Of mother of pearl, which they
attached to the jaw by fine threads Of
sinnet. Later visitors to New Britain
have failed TO find any evidence of these
accomplishments.
One of the funniest stories that ever
gained wide circulation was that about
the bone eating trees of the Inuisade arch
ipelago. The story ran that during the
night the branches of these trees bent to
the ground. and that the leaves, like
those OF the fy-catcDling plants, closed
about all bits of bone or flesh that they
happened 10 touch. Before morning all
traces of the bones and meat had dsap-
peared. the trees having completely az
simulated them. The natives worshiped
them as deities. and placed offerings Of
bones and flesh near them 70 appease
their appetites This story was doubt
less derived from the fact that many Of
the Pacific islanders place thousands ct
bones in the crotches of trees, and in the
progress of growth many of these be.
come imbedded in the wood, like The
horseshoe which has long been on ex-
hibition in Nassau street window.
The imaginative element Is Iarg0Is
developed in most savages. and they AZ
always happy to entertain their wliite
-isitors with wonderful stories. some 81
which are afterward repeated in civil
lied lands as solemn facts There are
many sailors who believe to this day
that there Is q tribe in central New Gui-
nea which Is adorned with tails. Sonfs
of the natives Of the southeast coast are.
wiling to swear BY ali their gods that
they have seen men from the interior
Of whose anatomy tails are natural
and highly ornamental feature. The
sailors think they ought 70 know. Jack
Tar has also circulated that other inter-
esting yarn frow New Gslinea 20 tile ef-
feet that some of the natives bore holes
through their left hands to fire arrows
through them, Atlanta Constitution e