The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-02-10
In UCEANICA.
The AnthrOpOphages of New
Zealand.

| VAo AHIeA0SIlDR 4eCltdI VI voyage IL
Oceanica that NJ. de Variqny published
in the Revue Des Deu1 Monde. Here il
a new fragment of this recital. It treats
ut the anthropophages of New Zealand
Twenty years ago l was sojournine
with one of our compatriots, NJ. B
proprietor of vast rancho in the island
of Kaui, of the Sandwich group. My
host had visited the Polynesia AID the
Malag Islands. In the course of bis
numerous voyages he often had bone
to pick with the aboriginal tribes
notably with. the enthropophages, OF
whom he protested himself to be good
hater
After a casual encounter with those
of New Zealand he had succee d ed aided
by his domestics, in interrupting their
festival and delivering several prisoners
who were waiting with fatalistic re-
signation their turn to be served up in
the banquet. Among the prisoners
there happened to be young woman
belonging to distant island, and who
| did not know where or how to regain
her own people. My host took pity on
her and brought her to his wife, lnduc-
ing Nine. b to instruct her in
household matters and make her as
useful as possible.
Wenga, as she called herself, was in
| telligent. although very INDECENT, as is
usual with the natives, but she took
rather easily to the sweeping, washing
and ironing; she learned besides an odd
sort of broken French Of which she ap-
peared very proud.
Wenga was large and of good form !;
indeed, among the Canaques, she passed
for beauty; but each country has its
own style of female loneliness. / used
to chat with her sometimes, and thanks
to her bizarre French, and above all.
to the native language which she spoke
volubly, we succeeded at last in com
pretending one another. questioned
her about her country and her tribe,
| the customs and the mode of life of her
compatriots.
Upon occasions they also made a re-
past of their captiyes, when they could
procure them; and, Notwithstanding
the grand gestures of horror, of which
| Wenga was very prodigal in reoounting
their diabolical feasts, | conceived the
| idea that perhaps she did not turn up
her nose so much as she pretended,
and that human joint cooked to q
turn could not have much affrighted
her. She strongly refrained there
from l was thoroughly convinced.
One day, after speaking of her father
(of whom she did not seem to be very
clear, seeing the Divers names and the
dissimilar portraits that she made of
him), of her mother and her two broth
ers, (who, according to what she told
me about them led me to believe they
were atrocious scoundrels,) inquired
of her as TO what age the young women
of her tribe were married.
From the time that they are 10 years
old, !" she said.
And thou. Wenga, art thou mar
ried ?"
To this simple question she did not
respond, but the contraction of her
brow and the nsion of her features
indicated that there was contest going
on inWardly as to researches very COM
plicated. waited patiently that she,
might ind in some hidden nook of her
brain some conducting thread. After a
silence of soma minutes her features
relaxed, her breathing became short
and hurried (this was herius ual No amer
ofrecoveriDg after strained intellectual
etfort); then she replied to me in these
words, which have after haunted me
since:
ME not know, massa; me lose my
thr p"
"tvFrt thread ?" said /.
She explained TO me then, and not
without some trouble, that it was the
usage in her tribe, to note all the i'm
portant events of life, with the aid of
roots of different forms upon flexible
Irvine. that they attach around their
persons and which constitutes at the
same time the only garment Of the in
dividual. But the chiefs, she added
hastily they are much better dressed.
They wear beautiful collar made of
little shells around their necks.
Now Wenga had, it appeared, lost
this valuable thread in a scuffie pre-
ceeding her waiting to become a repast
for her captors. The only thing that
she appeared to remember was that
one of the knots of this cord stated this,
that she called her sex. Estim ating
that she would have no more want of
that ornament, since they were going
to roast her, these amphitoyons had
despoiled her of it.
"But really, lWenga, thou hast not
any want of this thread, of which I
comprehend thou dost deplore the loss,
fol remembering whether thou hast had
a husband or not?"
Breathing hard and seemingly per
picked in not having her unyielding
memory come to her aid, she responded
as at first.
Me not know, massa."
Then with tone more shrilly la
mentable; "Me lose my thread u
Impossible to make her swerve from
that, could not draw anything more
from her.
l learned since from my hostess, this,
which more than half suspected, that
the embarrassment of Wenga proved
not so much the incertitude of her
memory as the confusion of her souye-
Mrs; and that she had the same reasons
for not remembering a husband, that
she had for not being very steady in her
mind with regard to the subject of her
father-the embarrassment of choice
Translated from q French Journal by
George Hamlin.
NATTprecrc Foothors Ou;l1e opd