The weekly messenger. [volume] (St. Martinsville [i.e. St. Martinville] La.) 1886-1948, 1889-04-27
coral reef which now and then showed

the reef the water was ten feet deep anu
quiet enough to float canoe.
Ofthe southern coast of Japan there are
a lot of islands called the Leon hhleon
croup. All of them are Inhabited now'
but at that time only the two or three
larger ones were reopled. | was only
common sailor. but it did not take me
a great while to figure out that hau
been cast ashore on one of his group.
Had | started out to become second
Robinson Crusoe, | could not nave
chosen a better location to begin busi-
ne 5. The climate was perfect, the
island loaded with various wild fruits,
and fish were leaping up all around me-
Nv first move was to take of my wet
clothes and hang them up TO dry, ana
while they were drying made break
fast from wild fruits After getting into
nv clothes again | took an inventory
and found myself possessed OF sheath
knife, plug of tobacco, three or Tour
buttons, and few silver coins. fiad
there been wreck to draw on, as IN
Crusoe's case. | should have been more
cheerful. | then set out TO survey my
domain, and by noon found that | was
on an island about two miles long ana
one mile across. 1t was regular grove,
with high and dry ground, and an
abundance of fruits and berries. In
that walk | found the wild tea plant,
potatoes, maize, onions, cabbages, rice,
turnips, mulberries, and bananas. There
were plenty of birds, but did not find
reptile or wild animal of any sort.
The island was a paradise in almost
every sense, but long enough before
night was greatly troubled in my mind
as to how was to get along a young
sailor with hearty appetite Graves some
thing more solid than wild fruits. l
wanted fire, and | had no means of
procuring one. | wanted company, but
even the birds avoided me. | wondered
how | could make signal, and what
( sort of craft came that way, and how
/ Tar to the west the other islands were,
and before night was so homesick and
broken up that l was ready to shed tears.
crossed the island twice during the
afternoon, looking more particularly to
make sure that there were no snakes, OF
which | felt an awful dread, and as
failed to find any | made my bed that
night under a tree on some bOughs | cut
OFT. | slept fairly well, and my second
breakfast was again made CT fruits
When got my fill determined to make
a fire. The novelist of to-day will have
a cast-away youth rub two dry sticks to-
gether for a few minutes and start a
blaze, but got the dryest sticks could
find and rubbed until was completely
tired out, and l could not even blacker
them. got some dry moss and struck
stones together, but the sparks would
not ignite it. Three quarters of the da!
was spent in efforts to get fire, anc
then I had to give it up. A smoke
would have been the best signal to ;
passing craft, but l could not get fire
and as had no clothes to spare, being
in my shirt sleeves when | went over
board, had to abandon the idea an'
hope that some native craft would toucl
the shore.
had landed midway ofthe island, oil
the eastern shore, and the spot was a
pleasant as any other locality. There
fore. on the third day built me a com
Portable shelter under the trees, an
, settled it with myself that | was in for /
for some time to come. Twice that da
saw sailing vessels to the east, bu
, miles away, | also went to the south
, west and north sides of the island. an
: piled w shells on the beach above It'd
mark and placed sticks on top of ther
pointing my way. Whoever lande
t would be apt to see them and understan
4 that some one had been cast away.
e A week passed, and no craft came neaI
t At the end of five or six days l We
: thoroughly tired of my feed, but theI
, was no change, unless l wanted raw fis
? or flesh. could have made o net out {
1 vines and caught some fish, or I coul
, easily have killed some OF the birds wit
y a club, but the absence of fire WI
1 the drawback. Few men get less SCUM
sleep than a sailor Many time | hay
r promised myself slumber of week