Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1888-10-26

tell by his looks that he had received |
: deadly bite. In ten minutes ho wa
rolling on the ground in agony, and IL
fifteen his body began to swell. While
he had not seen the serpent, we had nj
doubt of its species. 1t is known il
the East as the collar snake, and il
found sn all the islands in tho 1ndiar
Ocean. 1t attains n length OF two feet
and has white ring or collar about IL:
neck. There is no more poisonous
snake. In forty minutes from the
time the man received the bite he was
dead, nih his body was n 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 tho collar
snakes between the tent and the spring,
and felt assured that the firing would
rid the neighborhood of any which had
escaped us. They had probably been
drawn that way by the scent of the
blood and meat The tragedy had up
set 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 pi-
racy. Al this time almost every island
had its boss wrecker, who was no bet
ter than pirate. While not daring to
attack ship, il size was caught in dis
tress it went hard with her 1t was
quiet, starlight night, and | was sitting
outside the tent while my comradc was
lying down inside, when | caught
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 spice boat. She had sim
gle mast and a lanteen sail, and during
n calm was pulled b. oars. ran back
to my companion, and we crept for
ward on hands and knees to discover
the object OF the visit. Had the men
been honest they would have been talk
ing and singing. They wo Id not have
come into the rip had they not known
of our presence, ana the fact of their
coming so quietly boded i'll for us. The
craft was grounded about 100 feet above
us, and twelve or fifteen natives leapcd
out on the beach.
When we had seen this much we re-
turned to our tent, secured the three
guns and coarse ammunition, and took
up our stations between the tent and
the water In five minutes we had
burrowed out 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 figures around
the boat, and they would soon let us
know whether they were friends or en-
emies. 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. Naslen they had come up
quite close to the tent they raised II |
loud yell and dashed forward, hurling |
their spears and swinging their clubs, |
and il was two or three minutes before |
they discovered that the tent was unoc- |
cupied. Then, as they huddled TO-
gether, we opened fire. They were
not more than sixty feet away, and the |
buckshot had to tell. There were
screams, and shouts, and n stampede. |
All broke for the boat-all who We're on |
their feet after our fire. Two or three |
men had been left in charge of the |
craft, and as soon rs they heard the fir
ing and yelling 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 outcry, calling and
commanding, but those in the boat did |
not even reply.
The situation was this: We had the |
fellows penned up on neck of sand
without cover, and we had firearms and |
they 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 us.
They were afraid to attack us, and as
for surrender it was not to be thought |
of. In the five years sailed among the
islands never knew quarrel between
white men and natives to terminate in u
draw. One party or the other ran
away or were wiped out. These wreck
ers had meant TO butcher us, Had |
offered them terms, they would have re-
fused. Had they captured us alive, they
would have lanced us off-hand, and been
at any protest. Lying in our
rife-pits, we both realized that it was
question of the survival of the strong
est, and that we would have no relief
until the last man was wiped out We
heard them chattering and cursing for
nm hour or so, the leader evidently
seeking to work their courage up to the
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 dis
covered why they had braved the sharks
TO reach that spot. The boat had run
down the rip, circled around outside
the surf, which was very light there,
and attempted to land on the head OF
The bar. The fellows had swan over
to be taken off, but the craft
had struck a rock and filed and sunk
in fifteen feet of water. There must
have been three men with her, for the
on the bar was now twelve.
The only explanation of why the sharks
did not seize any OF the nine was that