The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1888-12-29

swell. While he had not seen the ser
pent, we had no doubt of its species. Il
is known in the East as the collar snake,
and is found on all the islands in the
Indian Ocean. 1t attains a length o.
two feet, and has white ring or collar
about its neck. There is no NOR,
poisonous snake. In forty minutes from
the time the man received the bite he
was dead, and his body was a terrible
sight to look at.
When we had buried our companion
In the sands we loaded our guns with
fine shot and went snake hunting. We
Killed round dozen of the collar snakes
between the tent and the spring, and
felt assured that the firing would rid the
neighbOrhood of any which had es-
capped us. They had probably been
drawn that way by the scent of the blood
and meat. The tragedy had upset us
both, and neither was inclined to sleep
that night. 1t was well that we were in
wakeful mood. Ever since the Indian
Sea was navigated by European vessels
there has been more or less piracy. At
this time almost every island had its
boss wrecker, who was no better than a
pirate. While not daring to attack a
ship, if she was caught in distress it
went hard with her. 1t was a quiet, star
light night, and / was sitting outside
the tent while my comrade was lying
down inside, when | caught a sound
from the water which alarmed me As |
rose up and advanced caught sight of
native craft stealing into the rip from
the lower side. She was from the Pindo
Islands, to the north of US. and was a
spec boat She had a single mast and a
lateen sail, and during aim was pulled
10y oars. ran back 30 my companion,
and We crept forward on hands and
knees to discover the object of the visit.
Had the men been honest they would
have been talking and singing. They
would not have come into the rip had
they not known of our presence. and the
fact of their coming so quietly BODIED ill
Tor US. The craft was grounded about
100 feet above Us, and twelve or fifteen
natives leaped out on the beach.
When we had seen this much we re-
turned to our tent, secured the three
guns and course ammunition, and took
up our stations between the tent and the
water. In five minutes we had burrowei
our rifle pits and charged the guns with
buckshot. 1t was not for us to open the
fight. We could just make out the
group Of figurts around the boats and
they would soon let us know whether
they were friends or enemies. We had
Just got fairly settled when we saw the
crowd stealing over the sands in the
direction of the tent. All had spears
and clubs, and their cautious movements
proved them bent on mischief When |
they came up quite close to the tent they (
raised loud yell and dashed forward, /
hurting their spears and swinging their /
clubs, and it was two or three minutes /
before they discovered that the tent was
unoccupied. Then, as they huddled .
together, we opened fire. They were
not more than sixty feet away, and the
bucksho: had to tell. There were
screams, and shouts, and stampede.
All broke for the boat-all who were on
their feet after our fire. Two or three
men had been left in charge of the craft,
and as soon as they heard the firing and
Yelling a panic. seized them, and they
pushed the boat off, sprang into her,
and made Off down the rip. Nine
natives were thus left in the lurch. They
raised great cry, calling and command
ng, but those in the boat did not even
,epiy.
The situation was this: We had the
fellows penned up on a neck of sand
without cover and we had firearms and
hey had none. / have no doubt we had
been spied upon before they came to
make the attack, and very likely they
believed there were three of u.s. They
we're afraid to attack Us, and as for sur
'ender it was not to be thought Of In
he five years | sailed among the Islands
never knew a quarrel between white
men and natives TO terminate in a draw.
me party or the other ran away or were
wiped out. These wreckers had meant
20 butcher us. Had offered them terms,
hey would have refused. Had they
Us alive, they would have
anced Us off hand, and been astoni.hed
It any protest. Lying in our rifle
pits, we 10Th realized that it was aues-
ion Of the survival of the strongest, and
hat we would have no relief until the
asst man was wiped out. We heard
hem chattering and cursing for an hour
Dr. so, the leader evidently seeking to
work their courage up to the attacking
point, and then all was quiet.
Daylight came at last, and what was
our astonishment to discover that the
nine had crossed the channel to the sand
bar, leaving most of their weapons on
the main shore. We also soon discov-
cred why they had braved the sharks to
reach that snOt The boat had rim
down the rip, circled around outside the
surf, which was very light there, and at
tempted to land on the head of the bar.
The fellows had swan over expecting to
be taken off, but the craft had struck a