Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-12-09
Captain Charles ROnneau Relates
Thrilling Exper-
fence.
His Ship Boarded by More Than
Sixty Cannibaiistic
Pirates.
Aided by Bull Dog the Crew
Succeeds in Clearing the
Deck.

\. \. Times: y Paris dispatch to the
Times, ;iiIluuncuts The UomDurdnent
ul Tie euure coast OF Dauoluey by
rencu HAWAI- forces and The invasion
and ii strucuon OF interior Danuult.yan
| tuWlls by In nch naval Drlg;tdes nad
;lu Interested reader Ill Capt. G.. Bon
nedu Oh Charlt sion, the famous Con
Il derate blockade ruuner OF the laSr
war. who III 1893, on tue Dahonlcy:u
, coast, escaped capture by the merest
lccIti, nj.
IN 1903 Bo1ne;u, having completed
. Il cruise III The United States navy us
secretary to Commodore Iugraham, and,
obtained the command OF Il handsome
| DcinS QeSlrouS OF some active work,
brig, the JelloSSe OF Charleston, S. g.,
ana under Instructions from the briggs
owners made Il run for the African
coast. Trade was brisk on the African
coast i'll those dayS-So brisk, i'll fact,
that all the principal powers kept war
ships on the station looking out for
just such Il craft as Bonneau command
! cd BonneauS account OF his expert
ence on the Dahomcyan coist is best
given as told 10y him to the Times cor
respondent.
1t was III 1885, said Bonneau,
while lying with the Jehosse ut Cape
Coast Castle, that l formed the idea
of running down for Il look ut the
southwest coast, dS that part of Africa
known as Dahomcy is styled. l Was
worried about approaching Porto Novo,
the place the French have just bonn
bardcu, because of the Warlike tribes
| that infeSt the whole country in and
around that port. l was told that re-
peated efforts had been made to estab-
I lish Il palm oil station ut Porto Novo,
but that luacO Qua, the head tribes
man of the country, had prohibited all
nations from even making Il landing
This luaco Qua, | was informed, was
the most bloodthirsty savage on the
!, coast. 1t had long been his practice
annually to Celebrate his yam Feast"
| by IN inauguration of the most horrible
and bloody tragedies i'll honor of the
occasion. Ills throne was burst upon
the skulls of hundreds of prisoners, all
murdered in his presence and dispatch
ed in a cruel and ficndiSh manner so
We'll known to the brute.
''Despite the stories | heard Of the
Dahomeyans | determind to run down
their coast, and SO one hot morning
about 10 o'clock | was standing in on
the starboard tack with Porto Noyo
Il .,IN ~ 4
was rough and high broken here and
there by deep 1f,vines and marked
along it's entire stretch by high crags
In the interior high mountain ranges
could be seen stretching far away to
the southwark and eastward The
wind at the time j was standing in
was extremely light. | made u grave
mistake in approaching n suspicious
coast under such conditions. 1t would
have been wiser had | waited for the
strong sea breeze which regularly
sprang UP later in the day, coming IL
ways from the southwest.
CAS- I continued to head in on the
starboard tack l shortly made out
ahead three canoes putting out from
the land, each canoe containing twelve
or thirteen men. Fearing nothing FROM
these few crafts, ! allowed them to
approach the briggs side and began to
question them about the country. I
had an interpreter abroad whom / Sc
cured before making the present cruise
"While engaged in questioning the
canoes alongside my attention was call
ed by my people to several larger can
oes seen to be approaching from the
shore, each one containing no less than
twenty-five men, and in one boat in
particular appeared to be some officer
of rank.
''The first boats that had approached
made no signs of a desire to board the
brig, the fellows in the canoes appar-
emily contented to keep close up to me
for look only. But now on the APP
proach of the larger canoes just OBJ
served the boats near by pulled right
alongside, and without any further ado
every man that could climb over my
rail jumped on deck. The manner in
which these fellows landed themselves
looked suspicious. I did not fancy it
ali. No sooner had they planted their
feet upon deck than they began asking
as to what we had to sell and what
we wished to buy, and then soon fol-
lowed up their inquiries by demands
for rum, and this they did without any
attempt at asking for it.
''The sudden, suspicious actions of
these black fellows caused me quietly
to pass word among my crew, and
at the same time I saw to it that each
man had his pistol and cutlass ready
at hand. l at once ordered the briggs
wheel put down, and passed the word
to take stations for lacking ship. To
my great relief the former light breeze
was now refreshing. No sooner, !
though, had given the order to tack
than there was a peculiar movement
discernible on the part Of those who |,
had boarded me, and at the same time |
every canoe about the brig commenced |
pulling in alongside, their inmates
catching hold of every available rope
hanging over the side and swinging
themselves UP and on board.
''The brig at this time was under top
gallant sails. I gave the order to loose
and set the royals and to hoist the
lower staysail, for found I had now
no less than sixty blacks on my decks,
and nearly every one of the brutes had
managed to get on board while the
brig was In stays.
= ~f~ n -