The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-05-15
ODD TALES OF CHINA.
suPERsrlrloNs WHICH STRANGELY
INFLUENCE THE MoNGOLlANs.

"~omc years ago, said Edward : Bed
loo Cy consul to Annoy. "thc steamer Nam
Chow sailed from singapore in the straits
ior Annoy. She carried several hundred
Chincsc us passengers on the second day
out the captain from his position on the
bridge saw great connection among his
Chinese passengers forward and sent the
mate TO find out the cause Of the disturb
ancc, which aru-o seemingly without rea-
son and grew with each moment The
mate shortly rcturncd from his mission,
with look Of mingled pcrploxity and
amusement on his bronzcd and weather
beaten face
g Captain, said he, this is the FUNNIEST
lot Of hoathons / have struck vet Blow
me II can make thom out The bcppars
have n yarn, and they all stick TO 10 like
lot of sea lawyers lying under oath They
say that just before the rumpus began
what they call "buc devil" came down
on deck right out Of the smoke from the
stacks and walked up 10 them. The whole
bilin Of EN- declare they saw him, and
that he said the steamer was going to be
wrecked and nearly all on board lost He
said, so they give It, that there is Just one
honest Cinnamon on board, and that for
his sake he came 90 give them warning.
They say that when the "blue devil" got
through with his palaver he gave an awful
grimacc, walked backward into tho smoke
and disappeared. And now they are as
crazy as March hnres, and every mothers
son Of 'om in a blue funk with fear that
the Nnm-C Chow will 90 to Davy Jones
locker in the next hour
THE captain was yisihly ANNOYED, but
he said little He had sailed too long in
Chinese waters TO be thrown off his bal
anco by any queer freak on the part Of
lot Of Chinese deck passengers but his
Scotch blood was too full Of belief In sec
ond sight not TO give him feeling OF relief
when the harbor of Annoy was reached in
safety. Within a week the cargo was dis
charged, and the vessel was ready for her .
return trip to Singapore But, though the
Nam Chow usually took several hundred
Chinese deck passengers, not one was
booked or could be induced to go The
native cooks and walters had also deserted
the ship, leaving their wages with the
purscr The story of the blue devil had
got around, and not a Chinaman would
put his foot on the steamer for love or
money. The captain was in quGndary,
but shrcwdly set to work TO find a way I
out. He consulted the local authorities
and in n few hours he had every Chinese
priest in Annoy down on the steamer beat
Ing tomtoms, burning joss sticks and rails
ing general hullabaloo to scare of the
blue devil and exercise his evil influence.
When this was done to the satisfaction of
the priests they pronounced the vessel
safe, and inside the next "a hours tho
missing members Of the crow and the nor
nal passenger list put In an appearance.
and the Nam-Chow sailed. Within 4s
hours the propeller shaft broke, pounded
a holo in the bottom of the steamer--it
was at highland of the 400 odd souls
aboard only 30 were saved.
Tho Chinese - continued DIR. Bedloe,
'arc firm believers In the transmigration
of souls. The dogs i'm the streets may con-
tain the spirits of ones departed ancestors,
and they treat all animals with the great
est circumspection
Il once went with n party ON a tiger
hunt several days journey in the interior
We arrived at last in the tiger country and
made inquiry at a village II there were any
tigers I'm the nciRhborhood The head mag
istrate, shrewd old Mongolian, declared
in the most positive terms that there were
none nor had there been. he affirmed, in
many years. We had been informed other
wise but could learn nothing and so pro
ceedcd further into the country. We had
proceeded but few miles before runner
came from the village we had just left
with message from the magistrate He
begged our most humble pardon hut
would the illustriOus and most benevolent
gentlemen be SO kind as to return at onoe'
He had been mistaken in saying there
were no tigers in the ncighbOrhood There
was one, and ii was very bad and most
dangerous one. just after our departure
It had entered the village, seized young
woman and made OIL with her into the
jungle. Would we be so condescending as
to hunt up the tiger and kin himi
"We returned, got ON the track Of the
tiger, and with "A strong force Of bcaters
succeeded in killing him after about four
hours of cautious hunting We then re-
turned 10 the village leaving TO our at
tendants the task of skinning the tiger
and bringing in the hide The old magis-
trate could not abase himself enough for
the falschood hc had told US, but his apol-
ogy was the most remarkable feature. He
gave us "A good meal OF currcd chicken,
bamboo sprouts, fish and some excellent
tea, and as we ate he told us the following
story;
One cannot be too careful about ami
mails said he They may be good ami
mails, and ones own parents might have
passed into them Think how sad It would
be If one should kin a relative, thinking
it was n tiger This tiger which you killed
today had never done us any harm, only
taking a goat or dog once in awhile, and
we thought him good tiger until today,
when he seized the daughter Of sung Tsao.
We had bitter experience In this village
once which shows the truth Of what l say.
Our village had been guarded for many
years by good tiger. He gave warning
Of his first visit by stopping outside the
village and roaring 20 give us timo 10 get
into our houses and out OF the WAY. Then
he came in lcisurcly, looking around, and
seizing a goat made of We knew at once
he was good tiger and did not attempt
10 drive him away. Once or twice "a week
he would come and get goat or a dog al
ways roaring before he came and after he
had gone He generally caIpe IN the day
time, while bad tigers usually como at
night.
One night we heard our good tiger
roaring fcarfully outside the village but
he would not come in, staying outside and
roaring fcarfully, We knew that some
thing was wrong, and we went outside
and listened. We heard the rushing of a
fearful flood in the river and We had bare
ly time to escape 20 the hills before tho
food came and washed the village away.
Then we know that our good tiger had
come TO warn us and recognized that he
held the soul OF "a great philanthropist who
had died only few days before the tiger
made his first appearance.
Fan OF the sixth Century.
The oldest Christian fan In existence
dates, IL is claimed, from the sixth cen