Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-10-19
BOARDED By MAN EATERS.
TWO MEN AND A BOY ON SHIP At
Tackled BY CANNfBALS.

| A Thrilling Adventure or the Coast Of
New Guinea-The Sea Kover's Marrow
Escape-Fightins Against Great Odds.
| Rescued at Last.
| After had recovered from terrible sea
| sickness and had become reconciled to the
limited fare of the ship--'salt horse" "dun-
| dsrflmk," 'hard tack" and ropy water-I
| quite enjoyed the life on the sea-
| We had been out four months without
raising whale, and my friend, the mate,
| had told nae that must be a Jonah, when
| one morning the welcome cry Of ''There she
blowsi" came down from the masthead
The ship was laid TO- and soon all the boats
were lowered and the cook, cabin boy and
myself were left to keep ship"
We watched the flying boats as the sailors
bent to their oars, and there was at least one
longing pair of eyes following their course.
Superstition is strong among whalemen, and
the hint that was, perhaps, the cause Of all
previous III success kept me from being
among the blubber hunters.
We were about two miles from the island
| of New Guinea, or Papua, where the people
in those days rather hanlzered after roasted
white man, but as many whaling vessels
visited them they hardly dared practice their
cannibalistic pFopensities, 80 we felt little if
any fear from that source. The ships boats
were soon lost sight of as they drew behind
the land, and we busted ourselves in various
ways to pass the time away.
THE UNwELCoofE VISITORS.
Some six hours passed, and the cook began
to grow uneasy at the long absence of the
men, fearing that some accident had befallen
them
Two hours more passed, and still no signs Of
the boats. was co!ling a rope near the miz-
zenrnast when l heard the cook exclaim:
'sWell, fob de Lawdis sskeI" Thinking he
| had sighted the boats, went to his side and
hooked in the direction of the islands
The sight that met my gaze was not a
pleasing one, end l confess to cold chill
creeping up my spine. Coming toward us
from the shore, and making excellent time,
were no less than six canoes, each one con-
tanning eight or ten of the islanders their
black skins cleaning in the afternoon sun
light, while their bushy heads gave them .
hideous appearance.
"What does this n1eanF' I asked.
"Dis chile fraid he mean trubble," an
swered the cook ''Sumf'n done happen to de
boats on de rascals know we hesh, an dey
mean to take vantage OBJ it,
''You don't think they will hurt US, do
youg" asked the cabin boy, and his face grew
pale.
DON'T know. CANT count on what dem
debbiis viii do. We got to hustle roun' lively,
anyway, an git ready for EN-"
Under the cooks direction we prepared
the matches so they could be secured firmly
from the Inside, and after collecting all the
available munitions of war we awaited their
near approach with what composure we
could.
When within speaking distance the cook,
who could talk the lingo after fashion,
asked them what they wanted. They said
they wanted tobacco, and that they had fruit
to exchange for it.
As the bottom of each caroecould be plainly
seen, and no fruit was In SIGHT, we were forced
to think that the visit was hostile one, espe-
caaliy es each native carried q lance, and the
cook ordered them to come no nearer.
Two Of the canoes Kept On, however, and
as they paid no heed to the order we pointed
our guns at them, and when within few
yards the cook whispered, "Firei" and we
fired
Our pieces were loaded with buckshot, and
fectiva -Four men in tho nearest canoe fell
into the water, and two from the other, while
it was evident that a number were quite badly
wounded.
The canoes quickly turned and Joined those
that had stayed behind. Wild gesticulatiOns
and loud jabbering followed, which soon quiet
ed down, and in short time the entire feet
Was headed for the ship. We did not wait
away at them.
We enptied al our pieces, of which we had
a dozen, and had the pleasure of seeing quite
a number of our enemies fall into the sea, but,
as 10 time was allowed to reload, the guns
W @ useless by the time the canoes had come
alongside.
DANGERS COMPLICATED.
But we had other weapons-spadea, lances
and harpoonS, all sharp as razors, which we
had brought from below-and these were
hurled with frantic strength. They did good
service, and many were killed or disabled,
but their numbers were too many for Us, and
soon there was score of black heads looking
over the tail OF the ship.
Each taking lance, we rushed for the
matches, and hastily slipping through them,
made things fast on the inside and felt safe
for a time at least, hoping that our men
would arrive in season TO relieve Us. The
black rascals could be heard moving around
the deck, and 1t was not long before they
commenced 10 pry open the matches
After what seemed years TO Us, their per-
sistent work began to have effect, and we
knew that another hiding place must be Sc
cured. The cook had plan ready, however,
and as the matches gave way by his direction
we concealed ourselves N some empty oil
casks in dark corner of the hold and awaited
developments.
The blacks were unable to locate US, and
when we were confident that they had re-
turned to the deck we crawled out from our
uncomfortable quarters
But now danger that we had not fore
seen menaced US When we We're driven be-
low dead calm prevailed, but now we could
hear the water ripping under the ships bow
and realized that she was under considerable
Roadway.
With a crew that knew nothing about
handling vessel the chances were that we
would soon be ashore. Even the cooks black
face blanched little as he took In the situa-
ton.
On the ship went, we knew not whittier.
Each moment We expected the shock
We were upon the point OF rushing on deck
when our ears were gladsaed by shout
that we knew came from American Threats,
followed by q scrambliug on deck, and when
we yentured to peep above the hatch what
was our JOY to find the ship deserted
Not a moment too soon had our deliverauce
come, for less than a hundred yards of a