Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1889-03-15

yards scrape the brow of some beetling
cliff, and only by Heavens help and old
| Toms skillful pilotage do we escape utter
| destruction.
| At length the stress is over. and with an
indescribable sense of thankfulness and
relief we sail into open water. We can
| breathe freely. Danger and the dark sea
are behind, nope and a harbor of refuge
| before US. We are in a wide, crescent
shaped bay, fringed with shore of white
sand, from which rises, IN gentle slopes, a
] glorious mountain, on whose summit waves
a cloud banner, which at first sight mis-
| take for the smoke of a volcano.
Save for the white limestone crags with
| which it is crowned, the mountain is clad
with yerdure from top to bottom. Field
| elternates with forest; / can distinguish
roads, too, and here and there is quaint
house of wood, not unlike the chalets that
| lend so great a charm to the valleys Of
! Switzerland and the Tyrol.
| All this, of course, through binocular.
| We are still too far off to see much with
| the naked eye.
| Heaven only knows where we are" l
said to Tom, who by this time had come
| aft. But it seems civilized sort of place.
| No danger of our being killed and eaten,
| think"
Not bit. Cannibals don't build houses
! or make roads like them there. / wonder
whether it's an island or a CONTINENT
| Anyhow, it is well protected. That line
| of reefs stretches from one point of the
| bay to the other. 1t is a miracle how we
| got through. II the fog had not lifted just
| when it did-and it did not lift much-we
| should have gone to everlasting smash.
| We came out OF it; that was 1t. Look
| thereP'
1t was true. Beyond the barrier OF rocks
! the mist still rested on the sea, looking in
| the distance like q chain of billowy noun
| tains.
"The tide-or may be IT'S a CURRENTS
| running fast" said the bOatswain, few
! minutes later 81 wonder whether we are
| in soundings' / will heave the lead, and
| IL we are we must make ready to let 60"
| He had evidently not seen the inscrip-
ton on the white rock; and it was quite as
well He would have been able to think
| of nothing else.
"By all MEANS" answered. at would
! never do to run aground, and there Is not
much chance of getting pilot, | fear"
Whereupon Tom took the lead, and went
| into the chains. When he came back he
| reported that the depth was nine fathoms,
the bottom sandy, and the water rapidly
shoaling. He thought that, to ne on the
safe side, we should let go at once, though
we were still three or four miles from the
| nearest part of the coast.
| To this | OF course agreed, for in matters
| of seamanship always deferred to Bolso-
| ver's opinion; and five minutes afterward
the DIANA" was riding at anchor, her
| stern toward the land, her stem toward the
| rocks
How about going ash ref" l asked.
"Can we lower bOat?"
81 think so; and if it comes to that, we
must. But wait bit; there's no hurry.
May be some on 'em-natives or what not
will be coming off 10 u.s."
"AIl right. I'll run below, put on clean
shirt and make myself presentable."
"As you like, sir. But as for me, shall
| take no such trouble. / shall do well
enough as | am. | don't suppose the PEG
| pie of this country are of much account
niggcrS or greasers, or summaL o. that
sort. They don't wear no clOthes-not
they; and they are sure to speak some con-
founded outlandish lingo that nobody I'M"
| derstands but themselves"
Though we had survived the dangers OF
| most perilOus voyage, escaped death as
! by miracle, and brought the Diana" to
safe anchorage, poor old Tom was evil
IDENTITY in an unhappy frame of mind. 1t
was easy to guess the reason. We had
seen nothing of the treasure-ship, nor any
sign of her, and for several reasons l did
not think the time had yet come to make
mention Of the writing on the rock.
When / returned to the deck, feeling all
the better for good wash and fresh rig
| l.. Ii
| glass.
There's a boat putting Off" he said; "a
! biggiSh boat with latccn sail, and u crew
| OF six or eight men-custom-house chaps,
OF course; for you may be cocb-sure of one
thing; if a country hasn't as much trade as
would keep a colony of heas, it is sure to
have custom-houses-for you see, if Gus
tom-houses isn't trade, they looks like it."
/ took glass and had n look on my own
account The boat was under way, and
evidently making for the "Diana;" but
owing to the lightness of the breeze and
the flowing tide, the latecn sail did not
seem to be of much use, and the crew were
taking to their oars which they appeared
to handle with great deXterty. But gave
less heed to the boat and her management
than to the people she carried. | burned
with curiosity to know where we were and
what kind of people we had fallen among;
and | thought that | might possibly gather
some idea of their characters, perhaps even
of their nationality, from the personal APP
pearance of the boats occupants.
AT any rate they were clothed; so far.
SO good. Houses, roads, boats, garments
all these were unmiStakable signs of civ
ilization.
a acks, by -r' sung out ION, VIM,
albeit older than ], had not dimmed his
sight by bending over desk.
"Nonsensel They are dark, perhaps; but
certainly not black; and those two men in
the stern are certainly white"
at looks so: but we cannot surely have
got to the West Indies, nor yet to the Bra
zils And you are wrong; they are not
white. and the others are not black"
What on earth are they, them"
''They are BY the Lord Harry they
are sppttcd-every man jack of EN-. Those
chaps in the stern are white and red; and
them as is rowing red and black"
And Tom dropped his glass and gave me
look so comically expressive of fear, be-
wilderment. and surprise, that l laughed
outright.
What can they be?" I asked for though
my vision was less keen than his. | could
see Ini}I the people III inc DOdI uau very
queer compilations.
"Cannibals-SayaGes in their war-painti
Nothing else-And they'll eat us, too, il
they get chance. But Pm not going to
be eaten if can help it. Mr.. Erie. Well
sell our lives dearlv-we will that. There's
arms in the captains cabin. Let us load
them at once And those old carronades'
(twO brass pieces we had for firing signals),
''we'u load them, too. l know where the
cartridges are"
But we have no ball"
Never mind; We'll charge them with
old nails and bits of iron"
Every well: do so then. We may as well
be prepared, But, for my part, l cannot
say that l have any great fear OF these
painted people At any rate, it Is better
to speak them fair before we show fight"
Speak 'em fart What's the use of
speaking fair-or foul either, for that mat
ter-to lot of savage devils as can't I'M
derstand a word you say As soon as they
get within shooting distance they'll let fly
a harrow at your head-uuleSs you are be-
forehaud with 'em Eve been among such
like in the Pacific, and l know. However,
you stop here and watch 'em, Mr.. Erie, and
I'll get the arms ready"
The boat came on apace, and the nearer
she drew, the more puzzled l became. The
rowers being naked to the waist, natur-
ally saw good deal of them; but whether
they were red men dabblei with black or