The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-11-10
A MEETING WITH CANNIBAIS.


adventure III new Guinea with Some Very
Tough Savages
On the sixth morning from the start
we were treated to a surprise party
which | shall never forget. suppose
/ was the first to awake, and what
woke me vas something whistling
over my face, as if it had come from
below. / opened my eyes and listened.
l could hear what sounded like the
hum of voices at no great distance, and
the next something whistled
past my face again, then another, then
two, then three, and then a perfect
shower. They were arrows-there
was no mistake about that and if they
We're poisoned, the slightest scratch
from n of them, meant death in hor-
rible agony within an hour. l saw
that the three guides had already slid
noiselessly from their beds and were
lying fiat on their faces among the
creepers, with their eyes just peering
over the edge of the foliage. My mates
and l did the same. There we saw our
surprise party. At the foot of the bluff,
cutting us off from our trail through
the forest, stood fifty Or sixty of the
grimmest figures | ever saw. They
were immensely tall men. each with
a great winged mask or helmet over
his head, and long hair standing out
like n fringe beneath it, a cumbrous
cuirass of the same dark brown and
yellow color, and greaves or leg pieces
to match. When the first shudder of
surprise had passed, / recognized the
arrow proof armor of tortoise shell
worn by certain warrior tribes of New
Guinea, n specimen of which l had seen
in the British museum; and knew we
were face to face with some of the
most bloodthirsty wretches on earth.
They carried their testimonials with
them. As they came nearer and nearer
to us / saw that each had a string of
human heads slung around him, still
dripping with gore and smearing the
tortoise shell armor at each stride the
warrior took. called hoarsely to the
guides to know what we were to do. l
felt my flesh creep all over when l saw
that they were gone. We three un-
armed whites were at the mercy of
these CHASTITY monsters.
How l knew what was the right
thing to do, or how l nerved myself to
do it, / can not tell. But l did it.
Whispering to my companions not to
stir, i slid down from under my bed
place, opened my white umbrella, and
walked slowly down the slope to meet
the mail-clad phalanx. / don't be-
lieve l was in my senses, but the effect
was just as good rs il 1
had been in the habit of receiving
that Is~l 1880
ing. They all stood still and stared at
me in blank establishment, exactly as I
seen a mob of wild cattle do when
1 have suddenly turned and faced them
in h Australian desert. Steadily adj
vancing, l gave them a loud saluta-
ton which they instantly returned
with a strange, melodious cry like a
choric song. II was neck or nothing
now. Marching straight up to the
foremost warrior, who had thrown
his mask and displayed
hideous face, 1 placed the palms
of my hands against the palms of his,
already stretched out to meet me and,
standing on tiptoe, 1 pressed my nose
against his and my cheek
his cheek. My mouth and
and throat filled with a stencil
SO frightful that l felt my very bowels
rise. l knew only too well what it
1t was the fetid smell Of human
blood, with which the wretch was
gorged. But my own life and my COM
panions' were at stake, and / gulped
my horror and completed the
embrace. 1t was quite sue
The huge, ponderous bar
barians, with their rafting armor and
their reeking trophies, clustered round
me, paving me over like great dogs,
and indulging their ~speechless Curl
osity by opening and shutting my UNI
and feeling the texture of my
flannel clothes. -Lippincott's Maya.
zine.