Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1889-04-04

| followed adesperate struggle-"the hottest
| thing was ever in," wrote Fame. The
blue-Jackets, after giving the Cariberoes
| couple of volleys point-blank, fell on them
with cutlasses and dubbed muskets, and
were oravely supported by their native
allies. The fight lasted fifteen minutes,
ana there Is no telling how it might have
| ended II the ambush party, hearing the
nrlng, mad not made a diversion in the
rear, whereupon the invaders, being seized
with panic, threw away their arms, and
made OFF in all directions Many were
killed; more were taken prisoners; only a
very small remnant succeeded in reaching
their boats and getting away.
| The Caribs had no idea of keeninp the
prisoners alive, and were proceeding to
make short work of them, when Commau-
der Fame interposed. He would have no
! body killed in cold blood The question
then arose as to how the prisoners were to
be disposed of. To let them go away
would never do; they might come back an
other day. To let them roam about the
| country was equally impolitic; they would
| be chronic trouble and permanent dam
! ger. There was only one other alterna.
| tive, and that was adopted. They were
enslaved.
| Fame had many advanced ideas, but the
age in which he lived was neither senti-
mental nor a humanitarian age. He not
! only thought there was no wrong in slav-
| cry, but that the best use to which the
| prisoners could be put was to reduce them
| to servitude. So they were bound in twos
and threes and distributed among their
captors and slavery became ore of the
| permanent institutions of the island.
The invaders, as Fame afterward ascer-
! tanned, came from an island about hun
dred miles east of Fair Island. and when
he first saw them their appearance excited
his unbounded surprise. Some were black,
! others copper-colored or red; but the great
er part had the same spotted skins as the
/ Caliban crew of Fields boat-were, in
! fact, their ancestors. How African negroes
! had found their way so far west was
matter OF conjecture: they were probably.
rs Fame surmised, the q
cargo of revolted slaves, who, after killing
! their captors, had landed on the island and
| intermarried with the natives.
! Speaking for myself, am unable to as
sign any cause for the peculiar hue of these
| people, or to decide whether it was the out
| come of some subtle evolutionary process,
or a mere caprice of atavism. AS the mix
! ture of aborigines with Englishmen on the
| one hand, and negroes on the other, pro-
duced analogous results, the piebaldism Of
their progeny may be attributable either
to soil or climate, or possibly to some racial
popularity. have heard of tribes in Gen.
trail America presenting similar character
| istics and it is well-known fact that the
| issue of black and white, or a mulatto
| and white, are not always of the Same
type. Their children are occasionally born
with black limbs and a white face, or vtce
Uersd, and know Of no reason why the
offspring of mixed races should not have
varlegated skins rather than skins of one
uniform color throughout. Miscegenation
has produced even stranger results.
But as l am simply relating my own per
sonal adventures, it is no part of my pur-
pose to suggest explanations of the obscure
natural phenomena which have come un-
der my notice.
| And now to resume my story.
When the prisoners (among whom were
many women, the object of the invaders
being to take entire possession of the
tsland) had been disposed of, the Carib
chiefs waited on Commander Fame, and,
after expressing unbounded gratitude for
the great service he had rendered them,
begged of him to stay with them for good,
and offered him the sovereignty of the
country. AS for his people, they might
have as much land and as many slaves as
| they liked, and choose for thomsolves
wives from among the most beautiful girls
of the island.
| To be continued.