San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-08-10
BOARDED BY MAN EATERS.
TWO MEN AND A BOY ON SHIP At
Tackled BY CANNIBALS.

A Thrilling Adventure OF the Coast of
New Guinea-The Sea Rover's Narrow
Escape-Fighting Against Great Odds.
Rescued at Last.
After had recovered from a terrible sea
sickness and had become reconciled to the
limited fare of the ship-'salt horse, dun
ierfunk," hard tack" and ropy water-l
quite enjoyed the life on the sea.
We had been out four months without
raising whale, and my friend, the mate,
had told me that must be Jonah, when
one morning the welcome cry Of There she
blows!" came down from the masthead.
The ship was laid to, and soon all the boats
we're lowered, and the cook, cabin boy and
myself were left to keep ship"
We watched the flying boats as the sailors
bent to their oars, and there was at least one
longing pair of eyes following their course.
Superstition is strong among whalemen, and
the hint that was, perhaps, the cause of all
previous i'll success kept me from being
among the blubber hunters
We were about two miles from the island
of New Guinea, or Papua, where the people
in those days rather hankered after roasted
white man, but as many whaling vessels
visited them they hardly dared practice their
cannbalistic propensities, so we felt little if
any fear from that source. The ships boats
were soon lost sight of as they drew behind
the land, and we busted ourselves in various
ways to pass the time away
THE UNwELCOME VISITORS.
Some six hours passed, and the cook began
to grow uneasy at the long absence of the
men, fearing that some accident had betauen
them.
Two hours more passed, and still no signs Of
the boats | was coiling rope near the miz-
zenmast when heard the cook exclaim:
Well. fob de Lawd's sakel" Thinking he
had sighted the boats, went to his side and
looked in the direction of the islands
The sight that met my gaze was not
pleasing one, and | confess to a cold chill
creeping up my spine Coming toward US
from the shore, and making excellent time,
were no less than six canoes, each one con
tanning eight or ten of the islanders, their
black skins cleaning in the afternoon sun
light while their bushy heads gave them
hideous appearance.
What does this mean" asked.
Dis chile 'iraid he mean trubble," an
swered the cook ''Sumf'n done happen to de
boats, an de rascalssknow we heah, an dey
mean to take vantage OBJ it,"
you don't think they will hurt us, do
youp asked the cabin boy, and his face grew
pale
Don't know CANT count on what dem
debbils will do. We got to hustle roun lively.
anyway, an git ready for 'em."
Under the cooks direction we prepared
the matches so they could be secured firmly
from the Inside, and after collecting all the
available munitions of war we awaited their
near approach with what compoSure we
could.
When within speaking distance the cook.
who could talk the lingo after a fashion,
asked them. what they wanted. They said
they wanted tobacco, and that they had fruit
to exchange for it.
As the bottom of each canoe could be plainly
seen, and no fruit was in sight, we were forced
| to think that the visit was hostile one, espe-
cially as each native carried lance, and the
cook ordered them to come no nearer
Two of the canoes kept on, however, and
as they paid no heed to the order we pointed
our guns at them, and when within a few
| yards the cook whispered. "FireW and we
| fired.
Our pieces were loaded with buckshot, and
| at such short range could not but prove eff
| fective Four men in the nearest canoe fell
| into the water, and two from the other, while
it was evident that number were quite badly
| wounded.
The canoes quickly turned and joined those
that had stayed behind. Wild gesticulations
and loud jabberng followed, which soon quiet
ed down, and in short time the entire feet
was headed for the ship We did not wait
| for them to come very near before we blazed
away at them.
! We,emptied all our pieces, of which we had
a dozen, and had the pleasure of seeing quite
a number of our enemies fall into the sea, but,
| as no time was allowed to reload the guns
were useless by the time the canoes aad come
alongside.
DANGERS COMPLICATED.
But we had other weapons-spades, lances
and harpoons, all sharp as razors which we
had brought from below-and these were
hurled with frantic strength. They dIo good
service and many were killed or disabled
but their numbers we're too many for us, and
soon there was a score of black heads looking
over the tail of the ship
Each taking a lance, we rushed for the
matches, and hastily slipping through them,
made things fast on the inside and felt safe
for time at least, hoping that our men
would arrive in season to relieve us. The
black raScals could be heard moving around
the deck and it was not long before they
commenced to pry open the matches.
After what seemed years to us, their per
} sistent work beTan to have effect, and we