Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-08-09
A JUST RETRIBUTION.
BY WILLIAM NJ. GRAYpoN.

eoNA, e"iNS iSPChIeu, came through tho
open windows. Dropping everything ]
hurried up on deck.
The marines were gathered along the
rail, looking of to the right bank of tho
creek.
"Was that firing heard7" 1 inquired
eagerly.
81 think it was the report of gun,
Captain" said Lieutenant Osborne. oIt
came from the shore, at distance of
scarcely half mile"
All listened intcntly for a moment, and
then came repetition of the sound. and
mingled with it we seemed to hear n crv
hesltated what course to pursue. An
investigation ought to be made; and vct
to venture off into the forest with 81
handful of men seemed very risky pro-
ceeding, for these Arab slave dealers arc
no mean fighters, and this firing evident
ly could portcnd nothing else than that
they were about.
was in command of n gunboat at
tached to the man-of-war Racer, which
was stationed on the East African coast
some miles north of Zanzibar, and which,
was engaged i'll the slave blockade. 7
had been dispatched some fifty miles nm
Vannas Creek to investigate rumor that
the Arabs had Il slave station near ,bc
head waters somewhere.
up TO this time had met with no suc-
cess. The country seemed to be de-
serted. OF course we could not recon
inter lar from the banks, for our force
was small, and a sufficient guard must
always be left in charge of the gunboat.
For these reasons hcsitatcd to advance
into the Jungle; but two more shots in
rapid succession removed all doubts. and
ordered boat to be lowered instantly
landed my little forcc-a dozen trustv
marincs-in small cove, and We plunged
at once into the forest.
We moved with great caution. and soon
struck the rude path that bore traces Of
travel. We continued along this in Il
southerly direction, and had marched
nearly mile when the two men whom 7
mad sent forward rs an advance guard
hurried back ut full speed and reported
That number of natives and two white
men were only n few rods distant and
creating considerable disturbance.
This information staggered me- What
white men could be doing here was more
than l could understand. We advanced
slowly, with rifles in readiness. Before
us was break in the forest, and without
any difficulty we gained the edge of the
bush and obtained Il clear view of the
open.
Some fifty or sixty stalwart negroes
were dancing about and making strnnoe
gestures, while few yards away, ut the
base OF small hillock stood two swarthy
men. They were on the defensive, cvi.
IDENTIFY, for they held rifles in their hands,
and three dead negroes lay PROSTATE on
the ground in front of them.
Then saw something else, for in tho
center OF the open lay one great mass OF
glttering white ivory, tossed carelessly
In heap. 1t was an ivory caravan from
the interior; for these negroes belonged
to no coast tribes.
what the dispute was about I could moi
even guess, nor did have time to do so
for of sudden the negroes dashed for
ward with fierce shout. The men mus
nave been overpowered in spite of thci
lncessant and deadly fire; but just at thu
critical moment we swept out from tn,
bushes, and the negroes fell back il
nmazement.
The rescued men came forward will
outstretched hands, and saw on close
view that they were Portuguese.
"Senor, you have saved our lives. ,
said the leader, in tolerably good Eng
lish. He was an intelligent looking mar
OF thirty or thirty-fvc. 'SThcs
scoundrels were determined to kill us
My name is Torres, he continued, san,
this, T" pointing to his companion, sis m
friend, CASTILLO. We are ivory traders
and have brought these natives from tn
interior at great cost. We pledged oul
selves to send them home in safety. b,
the fools suddenly made up their mind
that we proposed selling them to tn
Arabs, and, mad with rage, they mad
this sudden attack on us.
never did put much faith in Port,
guesc, though this man was of bette
type than many had met. Still /
might be speaking the truth.
hesitated, not knowing what cour
to pursue. The negroes were eroupe
together at little distance, sulJcn
watching our movements, but making I
hostile demonstrations.
Suddenly one of them came forward
big, stalwart fellow, with leopard SIX
about his waist, and stopped in front
me.
M He began to jabber out mixture
bad English and native African, an
more from his gestures than from l
speech, 1 comprehended what he sal
He declared that the Portuguese intend
to sell them into slavery, and affirmed tn
he had seen Torres lurking behind on d
previous day to talk to an Arab that h,
come out of the forest.
He told me his name was Zuba, that
was head man in his tribe, and that
had picked up his English at Zanziba
where he had been on several occasion
He knew that ] was English, and that t