The Big Stone post. (Big Stone Gap, Va.) 1890-1892, 1890-08-29
DANCE, THE GREAT TRAVELLER.
Some Curious Sights He Has Seen in Dis
tant Countries and Some Thrilling
Adventures.


Adventures.
"What are some Of the striking scenes
YOU have witnessed"
"To an old traveller everything becomes
monotonous as time passes, but will
name few interesting points; for i'll
stance, the island Of st. Helena, whore
Napoleon Bonaparte was first buried
Everybody knows how the great rock rises
out of the sea. You ascend from the ship
by means of 3G5 steps, and the first objec,
visited is the little cottage where Napoleon
lived. and next his tomb. The tomb j,
square and is built of marble, with step,
leading down to where the body was
placed seventy years ago The spot i
made beautiful by the most lovely flower
beds | ever saw. Then there are many
interesting points in India. The towers
of silence, in which the Parsees bury their
dead, are striking objects to the Traveller
These towers are round and are 100 feet
high. The top is reached by means Of
ladders. On the top is an iron gratins.
and here the bodies of the high caste Par
sees arc laid to be torn to pieces ly the
yultures. An excavation, carried t.
great depth, connects beneath the tower
with the river, to convey away those por-
tions of the body which fall through the
grating.
1.-THE most beautiful building ever saw
was the Tai, at Agra, about HOO miles IN
the interior of Northern India, above Ca.-
cuttn. The structure is built OF snow-
white marble, and looks as if it were co'a-
plcted Yesterday. At the time of the
Indian mutiny the British soldiers gained
entrance to the Tai, and with their bay.
onets they scooped out bushels of rubcs.
emeralds, sapphires and other precious
stones, with which the interior of the cdi
flee was ornamented. The bayonet marks
may be distinctly seen. 1t is said that
the entire Koran is engraved in stone in
the interior OF the building ] didn't stay
long enough to verify the truth OF this
assertion
"At one time" continued Mr.. Dance. Il
saw 700 elephants camped under the
which the princes of Northern India enjoy
about Christmas time. Some of the
princes travel 800 miles on the backs o
these animals in order to reach the camp
ing place. | staid several days OH the
spot and witnessed many curious fear> d.
Juggling; for the best jugglers of tie
country were there.
''One jugglcr brought out little ANNA!
about the size of Il ferret. 1t is called
mongOosc. \ string was attached to tie
mongoosc and ut the distance of about
twenty feet was fastened to q stake. Then
II big cobra was produced and let loose
upon the dcfensclcss little creature. Do
you believe it? The mongoosc killed the
cobra. There was hot fight, and tle
snake tried to crush his antagonist 10
death by winding round his body, but the
little fellow had no bones and crept OUT oi
the Shiny folds uninjured.
son the same day juggler brought out
an empty basket and turned it upside
down on the ground over Il little hor.
Then he thrust his sword repeatedly
through the basket. We could hear the
screams of the child and see the blood
flow, and just rs the crowd was rushing Al
the man he kicked the basket over and
the boy was nowhere 10 be seen. ! les
minutes later he came rushing from the
crowd This trick has never been r..
yealed to foreigners. also tasted mango
fruit, grown apparently from seeds planted
ground. We could see the young tree
grow and the green fruit appear and
ripen."
Mr.. Dance said that on one trip in Inii
his palanquin-b became frightened
at the presence of Bengal tigers, and
wading out into the Gangces river, they
stood all night up to their shoulders in ii.
water, holding their charge above tie
food. The tiger will never enter wafer,
even to seize the most tempting prey.
Mr.. Dance was in Buenos Ayres, So.'h
America, during the plague, when the PEG.
pie Of the city were dying at the iaic Of
600 day, but was never sick an hour in
his life.
The hottest place he ever saw was On
the plains near the Himalayas, where tie
thermometer registered G5 degrees in Tie
shade, and at night the lowest point
reached was l25 degrees. The TEN pela-
ture remained in this condition for IL
weeks, the only relief being afforded by
the natives throwing water on the gra..
mating of the windows
| AS an ostrich farmer, II few wears s.o
when ostrich feathers were in demand
Dance proved splendid success and
reaped golden harvest from 300 iiri.
which be looks after in South Africa. He
has made several trading expeditions into
the interior of Africa, palming off sla:.
beads upon the unsophisticated natives in
exchange for ivory, gold dust and ostrich
feathers. On one Of his trips he met tie
negro boy who picked up the celebrate
diamond known as the "Star of South
Africa" This sparkler weighed ST. ca.
rats, and is one Of the finest ever dsc9s.
cred in the world. sheep farmer traded
the youth out of his fortune, giving in *.
change 300 sheep, sixteen yoke OF oxen sd
a Dutch wagon. The farmer sold the dl-
mond for 100000, English money, AID II
was for some time exhibited at Cape Town
at the rate of G2l l. cents head. The dA-
mond was sold second time for e30.G@.
and finally found place among the crown
diamonds Of England at the price Of
ESQ, 600.
Nr. Dance traded for curios in China
and Japan. and made lucky streak hya
deal in mules at Buenos Ayrcs. Fora
bottle OF whisky he bought negro baby
now girl fourteen years Of age in Ne"
York city.
Mr.. Dance says he never carried 'e-
volyer or weapon Of any kind
| DE considers Australia as having me
finest climate of any country in the world
but Colorado the finest scenery.
| Having become enamored OF the Roxy
Mountains, this unique man has fu@lk
| decided to make an attempt at settling
| down, and within a few weeks he will en-
bark in the mining iuainnss ~ iI,lcua.