Clarksville evening tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1890, 1890-03-07

istan as chaplain during the war between
the British and Afghans, and was made mill
tary chaplain by the British commander-in-
chief, Gen Roberts.
he was in the midst Of the bloody fight Of
Malwand with Burrows, when the British adj
vance guard was cut to pieces and the sur
viving remnant forced to fee across the desert
as far as Candahar, he helped to gather the
dead bodies Of the battlefield and often cele-
brated military mass over the trenches Of the
dead At the close Of the war in Afghanis-
tan, Pope Leo conferred ON him the title and
powers Of project apostolic of Lebanon and
Northern Borneo and ordered him to make
an attempt to evangelize the savages.
The missionaries started for Borneo with
scarcely any temporal resources. They knew
nothing Of the language spoken by the tribes
Their journey was long and perilous one
They were compelled to go to sea in rude
native boats, and after being repeatedly ship
wrecked were landed on the savage shores by
pagan boatmen.
At the peril of their lives they were forced
to make long and dangerous journeys to UNI
known and almost inaccessible places in the
inland, wading through rivers infested with
crocodies and climbing mountain ranges
In the day time they suffered from the in
tense heat, and at night were almost stung
to madness by the sandhies and other in
scots which abound in the jungles of Borneo
'Most Of the tribes" said Father jackson,
"are rude and uncivilized They are gene
rally located far apart and fond of changing
their dwelling places. They have barbar-
Gus custom of killing people in order to OBJ
tain human skulls, which they suspend from
the roofs Of their huts Their greatest hero
is he who is In possession OF the largest num-
Der of skulls At times as many as forty Of
these CHASTITY looking objects may be seen
suspended from the roof of little hut"
Notwithstanding all these bRrbarous Gus
toms, they have many good qualities They
are truthful and honest and have great af-
lection for their children Polygamy is al
most unknown among them.
There are several missionary stations on
the island, the main one being Father Jack
sons cathedral This is built of bamboo,
covered with large leaves sewn together.
Father Jackson says that it is almost impos-
sible to convert the Dykes, as the adults of
the interior tribes are called, and the main
attention of the missionaries is given to the
children, whom they hope in time to make
susceptible to higher civilization.
One great drawback to Christianizing the
Dykes Is their peculiar habit Of continually
changing the location Of their villages. In
selecting village site they choose piece of
forest, generally on the bank Of a river, and
burn down the timber. Here they erect their
huts and plant their RIGA Each year they
move to another place.
| The fact Of their once locating upon piece
of ground gives them title to it, and from
the ururpation Of the deserted villages by
other tribes arises the various feudS which
exist among them.
The village consists Of one long building,
raised on posts about twenty feet from the
/ ground, and are roughly built Of bamboo and
leaves The buildings are elevated not only
on account Of tho moisture of the soil, but to
protect the inhabitants from the spear thrusts
Of their enemies, who, IL the huts were low,
could easily spear the occupants while asleep
The natives appear to have very little idea
of religion. They believe, however, that a
! God or q Good Spirit exists in the many
varieties Of the birds that abound In the
island.
One day an old native was naming the gods
for me on his fingers, and after he was through
he started to count on his toes. l thought
surely that he would stop at his last toe but
instead of that he turned to his wife and I'm
ished the count on her little toe.
The marriage custom varies, the general
method being for the bride and groom to be
brought out before the tribes and seated side
by side A betel nut is then cut in two by
the medicine men of the tribe One half is
given to the bride and the other half to the
groom. They begin to chew the nut, and
the old women, after some sort Of incarnation,
knock their heads together. This completes
the ceremony.
The Chinese do a great deal Of trading
along the coast OF the island and In the do
minion OF Rajah Brook. The rajah is an
Engishman, who rules as king over 100000
natives His dominion embraces over 500
miles Of coast line in the island. He has
about forty Europeans with him, upon whom
he has conferred various titles and who assist
him in the management Of the kingdom. lie
has n personal guard Of 200 natives, who are
drilled and supplied with modern arms. His
navy consists of little gunboat, about $50
feet long, carrying a few guns His sway is
absolute and lis authority fully recognized
by the native Chiefs with whom he sits in
Judgment upon various disagreements among
the tribes His government is recognized by
no European power. The work that Father
Jackson has before him is long and arduous,
and he says his only aim is to educate the
heather children. Philadelphia Times