The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-10-24
IN TIE SOUTH SEA-.
Raids of the CannibaIS are Made Sim
ply and Purely to Supply the Vii
Iage Larder with Human Flesh.
Stalking Solitary Women and Children In the
Ficds-HOW the Feast IL COnducted-A Quiet,
Orderly Banquet, Not Wild War Danee-Ghasily
Picture from the Pen Of an Old Resident Of the
South Pacific Islands.
nv Churchill, in Ec,o York Herald

nv. Churchill IN NctD York Herald
If Fiji, long viewed MS the homo of cannibal
ism, has reformed no such story can be told of
the long chain of islands which stretch a thou
sand miles of the Australian coast all the way
between New Caledonia and New Guinea.
Rare, indeed. are the spots in these wild islands
| where the missionaries have been able to gain
footing, and even within the spots they have
succeeded in reaching savagery rules almost
undiminished. Savage man fights as does his
| civilized brother only more frequently, and,
| with n leencr sense of the obligation OF logical
sequence, he eats his fallen foe instead of leav-
ing him on the field of battle n useless corpse.
Hero in the Western Pacific cannbalsm is tho
accepted rule of life to which all gladly con-
| form, aud the trader and the explorer whose
| business and pleasure call them TO these Shores
soon become hardened and learn TO view these
| wild repasts with unConCern and indifference
| New Caledonia as n French penal settlement is
! of course, we'll policed but rs the policemen
are mainly Melanesians imported from groups
| to tho northward and rigorous enough in har-
| rying the white convicts they freely frateTni2e
with the native residents, aud police and ma
! tives are known to have united on more than
one occasion in prolonged feasts, marked more
| by the number of bodies eaten than for any
other feature of the affair." More and Lifou,
within easy sight to the eastward of New Gale
donna, are haunts of cannibals aud it is no ex-
aggeraton 10 say that in all the Banks, tho
New IIebrides, the Santa Cruz aud tho Salo-
mons groups of islands, there is not single
village which does not have its town ovens for
the cooking of the dead.
Savage man in all these islands leads truly
| savage life. His settlements arc uniformly in
the blight of little bays, which cut up the coast
line of these jagged peaks OF volcanic rock and
rise sheer from ring of cleaning coral. Here
he finds fresh water and space on which to
grow his cocoanuts, and the bay supplies him
with fish. Within the bay he is safe. The
two beadlands are his metes and bounds beyond
which lie implacabe hate aud bitter enmity.
Ashore his paths invariably follow the barren
backbones of the rocky ridges. where he may
walk secure against sudden attack from above.
Fighting is his rule OF life, has delight il be
only can get sufficiently long odds in his favor
The villagers in the bays next him are his
sworn foes-literally 4" his meat" as he is theirs,
according to the varying chances OF ceaseless
warfare.
OFF ON HUNT FOR HUMAN GAME.
! BY daybrcak the village feet Of war canoes
| puts out 10 sea. Propelled by shining paddles
welded by scores Of sinewy arms the canoes
| sweep down the bay and around the headand.
| With all the secrecy that savage craft can COM
! pass the fleet steals into the bay where lies the
! village 10 be attacked. The band OF marandcrs
make a landing with all their store of spears,
| arrows aud clubs. Stealthily they march upon
awarcs. The attack is made If tho chance
proves favorable. Deadly work is done the
club spares none within its reach, aud women
| and children and the aged share Inc death Of
| the warriors. The brush is thoroughly beaten
| for fugitives. aud tho village green is hcaped
/ with the bodies of It's former villagers stacked
rs wood is corded. OF such sort is the expcdi-
! ton in force. At other times smaller parties
OF 20 or 30 warriors steal across the ridge fully
armed and with their faces blackcncd with tho
SCOT Of the candlcuut. By stealth and cunning
they creep upon some woman digging in tho
taro beds. or some haif-growu boy Sharing birds
in the thick forest. As body is "a body, so Is
the glory the same whether the body be won
| in the hand-to-hand fight or by troachery and
| odds of 80 to one. Thus is tho larder repen-
ishcd.
TOWING HOME THE GAME.
The haybreak maraudcrs have won their vic
| tory they have exterminatcd their enemy,
aud the cords OF bodies must be moved The
| fleets of canoes arc brought 10 the beach to
| the stern of each is made fast a tow Of corpses
! fastened by ropes about their necka. No longer
by stealth. but by victorious shouts aud gleefal
/ songs the homeward voyage Is made. Tho
! sonorous ringing OF monster conchs gives warn
/ ing OF their approach aud as they open up 20
! view the matched houses OF their village the
! chorus of manly voices carries the news, Sc e
| have killed. We have killed.
How many p is the questioning shout that
echoes from the shore
| Then over the waters rings out the number
OF the slain aud in proportion ~ IL Is large 30
| Is the JOY of those within the village. Little
boys put out in their tiny canoes 20 meet the
returning feet. and fight among themselves for
| the privilege Of lowing some body. So with
| shouts ech1ing across the bay, tho feet draws
homewafd, aud when within earshot tho sev.
eral warriors begin to recount in Homeric
tones and with Homeric cxaggeration tho
| many valiant warriors who have fallen beneath
| their clubs. At last the canoes are beached
aud the fighters strut the strand admired by
all who view them, aud not tho least by them
selves. When the whole force is disembarked
| they dance 10 savage fashion TO the village aud
leave the beach TO the women.
| With eager haste the bodies are hauled ashore
out oil the reach of sharks. The women, both
old aud young. tail on to the ropes about the
neck Of each dead enemy and prospective meat.
Some old cr0ne sets the time. aud with wild
chorus these women drag body after body "a
the village green over the laud and the rough
paths. And this is the bolola song, the chorus
of dead bodies on their way TO be cooke aud
they pull IN quick rythm with the accented
| syliables just as sailor with his ShanLy:
A-ba-babnie,
| A-basbable,
| BhbHbc, DHbhbe
| A-R n. n, AL
lts chorus that can DO heard for miles
when shriled by scores Of high-ptched voices
OF luBty women. Ask them what it means aud
they can give no explanation. Ii Is a tradition
1t has been handed down from the fathers: II
has been III use always. Wee baby girls NAV
often be seen pulling the midrib OF a cocoanut
palm leaf from the Sea and over the sand pratt
Ting in their infantile treble this horrible
chorus, and they think IL the pleasantest snort
of their young and presumably innocent lives
The men meanwhile are seated on the VILLAGE
green in oil the glory of their war black. with
bloody weapons displayed. S0lcmnly, In Tho
order OF their rank, they tell the tale OF battle
the steaIthy approach Of the canoes, the sly
stealing through the thickets Of orange aud
lemon groves, the treading of the trackles
swamps OF maDgrOve trees, where oysters grow
the sudden rush upon the sleeping village III,
defense opposed by the people aroused from
sleep by shouts aud screams. Then each il
turn tells how he fought among the houses
how he shot all his arrows, how he hurled hi
spear, aud then laid about him with his Climb
Boosting is the order Of the day, and eacl
boasts his best
DRESSING THE MEAT FOR THE BANQUET,
So they spend the hours Of waiting recount
ing their deeds. Nor do they lack audience
The boys crowd about them, eager to grasp IN,
CORY clubs. The old men think of the day
when they were young aud men were brave
and the ovens we're never allowed to grow cold
Warriors who had TO stay ut home To defept