Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-09-18
JOHANNES ISLAND.
Where II IL ana wh., !. ~. -.
An0WD Aboat ~

""ero ~ L. and what Naval On,c..
KNOW About II.
EVER been toJohannes IsIand pt satd
naval officer on leave Of nbseoce tn a
reporter. :"
Think not; where Is stp Anvwber.
In the Soundp"
Not exactly. It's one Of the Comoro
group"
and where Is the Comoro erouppr
ihe Comoro group is of Madapas-
car, that Is. from 200 to 500 miles of,
madagascar. In the Indian Ocean. CIT
mate tropicalI vcrdure magnificent. air
'piced and dreamy. White men idle:
negroes not very busy, women drowsy
and half dressed"
What took you down therepn
"Oh. you know some United state,a
snip is always slipping through GibraI-
tar, creeping down the Mediterranean.
sliding through the Suez Canal and the
hed Sea, skirting down tho coast OF
Africa and then shooting across to Rio
DR. Montevido. They follow one
another, man after man, as we used To
say when we played marbles. We got
through In the Alliance early this wear
and another vessel is doing the same
thing this very minute. It's our Govern
ments method of notifying the world
that there's civilized power in the
Western hemisphere.
"And do they all go to the Comoro Is
landsP"
moi think not We went Their,
looking for slave ship. Odd. isn't H.;
II was our business to look up Yanke,
schooner that was said to have beer
carried of by her master, a Yanke.
sailor. and sold to Doctor Wilson.
former surgeon in the United State.
navy, who was charged with using her
In the slave trade. Queer story for the
year 1888, isn't itp Further. we were
ordered to seize her by force If neces-
sary wherever we should find her, pro-
vided 1t was safe to do so, and send her
back to this country with a prize
crew"
''Did you do ftp"
I'VE found her, but we didn't seize
her. She was under British protection
at Mauritius. But you ought to see
Wilson's place on Johannes. He's been
living there like a prince for l don't
know how many years, with absolute
power OF life and death over seven hum
dred to eight hundred slaves and de-
pendents, with thousands OF acres In
sugar plantations, and no rival but the
Sultan, who has twice as MANY slaves
as Wilson. and | don't know how MANY
wives. Wilson lives in bungalo, which
Is one-story house with wide veran-
dhhs, hammocks, great fans run by lit
tie negroes and every conceivable lux
ury OF the tropics He has ice the year
round, makes the best and coolest cock
tails imaginable, gets the New York
Herald, two or three English papers, all
the best American magazines and no
end of new books. Once a month he
sends little steamboat OF his own to
an island three hundred miles off to
bring over his mails"
keep harem?"
well, If he does it wasn't on exhibi-
ton
And did he use the Yankee schooner
in the slave tradep"
''Blest If l know; but he said he
didn't, and he treated us with the hos
pitality Of a prince"
And, Of course, you didn't disturb
him?"
Yes, we did. We sent dozen men
over 70 one OF his sugar plantations;
tore away three or four great copper
boilers which we insisted belonged to
the schooner, and carried them off to
South America. Then we took part
ing drink with Wilson and left him to
his grievance and his tropic paradise"