The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1890-05-09
UP THE MALINGA.
The Plucky Explorers Penetrate
the Cannibal Country.
The Easement Party's Thrilling Expert
ences with the Tainted Savages OF
the Upper Malinga-out into the
Watery Wilderness Again.

WH~ ~ -I~O-<<zhIsSz[ NdINS dCi Ooo IL Jill
6SsssS%I, bank to bank, we
'GY HRC(NNES came III sight Of
aXN\SsFHEP0 this redoubted
%AVAS1uHvTGZEIl stronghold of the
{ MAn>es.n1o hunted Balolo,
[ ZIyg s sHtsndin sonat for
yards along the top OF a steep bank some
ten or fifteen feet above the river. From
the vast concourse Of SayageS lining the
shore, and from the numbers of canoes
we observed darting about ahead OF US,
we concluded the size of the village
must be much greater than its river
front would have led us to suppose.
A great cry went up from the multi
tude as we shot into view. and the emo
ton they experienced at the strange
sight of the big vessel putting and pant
ing up against the current Of their river
was soon intensified when the deep
boom of her ''harmony" whistle rang
out over the waters, and the ludicrous
Rlacrity of the chief who had been
standing on the bank surrounded by the
notabilities of his village to accord us
aignified welcome, to quit the scene on
the breaking out of that sound, was only
little less premature than that OF the
sncircling crowd of men, women and
children.
However, we soon restored quiet, and
Elenge Mimic, Bukunu and others of
the most intelligent of the Equator ma
tives jumped on shore and went up in
search of the chief to tell him who we
were and why we had come to his coun-
try. They returned bearing an invita-
ton to US three white men to as end to
the chiefs abode and become his
blood-brothers. Patsie, my bulldog,
Shocks and Spot, were already on
shore, having been the first to land, and
were driving great crowds of people be-
fore them, who had never seen beasts
such as these, and who, although they
past longing and gluttonous eyes On
Patsie's noble proportions, and the
rounded limbs of Spot, who looked
particularly sneering and pulled up with
bloated aristocratic pride among the
wretched canine inhabitants of Malinga,
were warned by the strange look in the
bleary red eye of the former, and the
independent strut of the latter that they
were animals better left untouched.
The three dogs following in our
steps, we soon reached the enclosure of
the embarrassing through the most
crowded collection Of the smallest huts
ever witnessed in an African village.
On every side stretched lines of these low
grass or palm thatched structures, in
narrow streets, and being rather tall
man | was able to almost see over the
tops of them all. Bounding this LADY,
rinth of streets, or maze of beehives 1
might call it, for they buzzed and
hummed with wondering human voices
as we passed along, rose the high bar
rier all along the land side of the forti-
6cation--a structure built up of tree
trunks, plantain stems and old canoes
stuck on end into the ground, their fat
parts facing the enemy, all securely
lashed together by Llama ropes.
On arriving at Esekiyaka S, the chiefs
house, we found him waiting for us in
the midst of crowd of similarly attired
and marked savages to those we had met
Mt the little fishing village lower down,
all armed with spears and shields,
while in their girdles glistened the cop
per handles of long, bright-bladed
knives which rested on the thigh.
These knives, when they talked
among themselves as the savages often
did during our interview with the chief,
they would grasp in their hands and
emphasize every point Of their speech
by the wave Of bright blade through
the air, and the fash of it's copper handle
rs they pointed it at their neighbor.
The effect of this glittering metal, added
to the repulsive and hideously marked
features of all who gazed upon US, show
ing dirty, discolored rows of filed teeth
as they smiled CD back on us-and above
all, the odor of unwashed bodies, not to
mention cannibal orgies. which the
leering, cruel look we met at every turn
too plainly revealed what these people
often INDUCED in, was to make US wish
ourselves little further off Malinga
and out in the pure breezes of mid
stream.
However, the rites of blood brother
hood were soon performed, our pale
skinned arms contrasting with the rich
brown of the muscular old Esekiyaka' IS
as we barred them to the shoulder, while
the little knife used on these occasions
punctured the skin just below the ell
bow, causing blood to flow.
We were on the point of returning to
che Florida, when a tremendous clamor
arose from the direction of the barricade,
and shouting out that the Lufembi were
upon them. Every man rushed off
70 the stockade, brandishing spears and
knife. Only Esekiyaka and one or two
OF his aged counsellors remained be-
hind. and had my hands full endeavor-
Ing to pacify Paddy and keep him from
following after the rushing crowd of ex-
cited Malinga warriors (Snooks and Spot
being in full cry at their heels), who, I
feared, would leave in Paddy's iron
Jaws, if he once got on their track, more
real cause for canine satisfaction than
their floating tails of monkey skin or
fur.
The alarm, however, proved to be a
false one. In a few minutes the crowd
resurrounded us, grinning and leering,
SO we thought it advisable to retire
from the chiefs presence and take up
our quarters on the foredeck of the
Florida, where we were speedily be.
sieged by clamoring, bowling crowd,
endeavoring to get near enough to ex-
change their spears, knives, shields
and any brass rods they might possess
for small blue, white and pink beads,
or cowrie shells. So dense became the
crowd, so pertinacious the small boys
and outsiders in climbing up on deck,
and so odorous the atmosphere that we
were more than once compelled to re-
sort to the extreme measure of pulling
the connecting string Of the whistle;
but the relief SO gained was only tenn