The Grenada gazette., 1888-04-28
A HEATHEN TATTOO.
How It Proved q Remarkably
Lucky Thing for Me.

One day over thirty years ago, as on
ship, the Three Partners, was lying ii
the harbor at Rangoon waiting to dis
charge cargo, native boat in whic]
were three people met with an acciden
while drawing near us, and the occu
pants were thrown into the water.
was at the moment on the ships bow
spirit. and without taking secont
thought | dropped into the water and
seized an old man who had gone dowr
for the second time and was almos
done for. A rope was thrown me from
the ship, and after good deal of trou
bic the old chap was lifted over the
rail and brought back to life. The two
other men were swept away and
drowned. But for the fact that the
captain of the ship was my brother,
the mate would probably have broken
my head as regained the deck. A
madder man | never saw. - "
"Why, you internal, good-for- moth
ing IDIOT? he roared as he danced
around me. "The idea of your Jump
ing overheard among the sharks and
crocodiles to save the life Of con-
temptible heathenn
At that time, and presume it is still
the case, the life Of common Siamese
was Of no more value than that of a
dog in the eyes of white men. 1t was
my first voyage to those waters, and |
was also young and impulsive.
"See here. young man!' continued
the mate after he had exhausted his
stock of curses, and as walked to the
port quarter and looked over into the
muddy waters the head of a crocodile
was plain to be seen.
The native whom had rescued was
an old man, at least sixty. He had
venerable, dignified look, and was evi-
IDENTIFY man of much intelligence. He
could speak English fairly well, and,
as soon as he was able to talk, he took
me by the hand and said:
THE white people are born brave; /
would not have done it, had been a
young man, for one Of you. lean do
nothing to reward you. had wealth.
but it went to the bottom of the harbor
when the boat was wrecked"
l told him that no reward was ex-
pected, or would have been received, il
rendered. and that would get the cap
tain's permission to pull him to the
shore. He looked at me for couple Of
minutes, still holding my hand, and
finally asked il had India ink and
needles. When l brought thclu to him
he told me to bare my breast, and he
slowly and carefully prickcd into my
desh right over the breast bone. sign or
token. Of which the following is copy:
j. A II
II right and left hand figures may |
BE- capital "rs" and the middle one ali
inverted capital ~" He was won
drously swift with his work, and was
evidently an adept. When he had com.
pleted his task he said:
II offer you this as a reward. II you
ever need help in India show this
sign" II was four or five hours after
the rescue that he was pulled ashore.
and no one aboard the ship knew Of
the sign he had left behind. While l
felt certain in my own mind that l was
with native Free Masonry,
and was given to me in all earnestness.
10 have shown 1t to the crew would
have been to make me q but. Of ridi-
,ule. The ink was prickod in so
leeply that the punctures were much
onger in healing than those made in
'ailor work, and when the wounds 4
we're healed the sign stood out as bold
md plain rs II put on with black paint
In due time the ship was unloaded,
received her cargo, and sailed for
3oston, at which port she arrived
afely. l had the misfortune to break I
ny leg before we had reached our slip Q
md consequently did not make the
,ext voyage. Instead, made voyage 4
o Liverpool and return, went back to t
liverpool and was paid off, went to t
singapore before the mast, and there
Oined an English Government survey 8