The morning call., 1893-04-15

fever? What il the sea were running
noun tains high and the head winds blow
ing a steady gale, and the icebergs drifting
perilously near?
Soon the gale would go down and then
home, ah, sweet home, would be reached.
But the gale didn't go down and home
was not m ade-no, not for whole month.
For thirty long, cold. frozen, stormy days
the gale lasted. with intervals of abatement
less than twenty-four hours in duration.
And often as the Wakefield gained fifty
knots headway toward New Y ork just so
often was she driven back into the fogs and
mists OF the gulf stream.
1t was not till the last day of January that
Sandy Hook was finally rounded and pilot
sighted.
"What made it SO bad for us was that we
! had been sailing for the past twelve months
/ in tropical waters" says the captain, land
the extreme cold nearly froze the marrow in
! our bones.
such n climate Is only fit for the Esqi-
maux," he added, con ontemptuously. II
wouldn't live in such place. ! have some
relatives up in Maine, where l was born,
and Ind intended going uu To visit them
But | had enough of ice and snow to last
me foc one good long while. and just as soon
as had settled accounts, l made q bee line
across the continent Tor my sunny little cot
tage in san Rafael, and, the captain might
nave added, to the longing arms of pleas
ant-faced little lazy who Is the mistress of
that sunny cottage, and who in times gone
By, has encircled the globe with her hus-
band three difieren! times.
And now about those caunIbals. The
dramatic proprieties having been strictly
observed by keeping the interest alive and
saving the meat of the story for the deuoue-
ment, it is time TO state plainly that when
the king of the cannibal islands rose In his
canoe, grasped his spear and made fearful
grimace. he also male sign which was
| quickly Interpreted to mean that the savages
were on friendly errand and that they
only wished TO trade bananas for fshhooks.
They came unarmed," says Captain
! Minot. Save for the wooden spears they
always carry, and their canoes were loaded
with cOcoanuts and tropical fruits which
they desired to swap for plug tobacco, wire
! and fshho0ks.
"They made no hostile demonstrations
! and appeared to be as little in the mind of
/ boarding US as we were to have them aboard.
Ihey tossed the c0coanutS and fruits on
| the deck and we threw them down the de-
| sired tobacco and fishhoOks and wire
| No; l do not think they desired the
wire to manufacture into crinolines, for to
| tell the truth the prevailing fashions have
not yet reached these benighied islanders.
Their costumes are very simple more
simple in fact than that of the most m udern
| ballet-danceTs. The prevailing fashions on
these Islands are those which once reigned
at the garden of Eden, before even the fig
| leaf skirt was invented.
Men, women and children are stark
naked. That's blunt, but it's the truth.
These skull hunters arc somewhat fairer
in hue than the ordinary Kanaka. They
are total savages, and no white men inhabit
| their islands.
They have a strange custom of dyejng
| their long hair brilliant hues. The chief
had all his bair dyed bright pea green. the
| queen wore hers pink. Others had their
! hirsute apDcndages colored blue, yellow,
| red, purple and all sorts OF colors
sbavr t,,,,
| Of dyes, that is certain, and Judge from
the brilllancy of the colors selected by them
! that the clothing establishment that should
| locate down there must carry very gaudy
! line of uonds