Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-06-17

assumed such OF their customs as best
pleased himself Foremost among these
customs, and tho ono continued with tho
most persistency. is that OF polygamy. Some
Of these mon have four or Ave wives. and as
| many as twenty-five children. As rule.
these children, although, as might be ex-
pected, OF low moral standard, are magni-
1cent specimens OF physical manhood. l
saw number OF these half-breed women at
Upola in tho Navigator's group who, with
their superb, 1.-The forms, gold-bronze COM
plerions and great, dark eyes. looked like the
finest types of gypsy maldens, in which tho
old Spanish painters delighted. The half
breed men are even superior to the women.
They will average six feet in height, and in
repose look like bronze statues OF the old
Greclau gladlators.
met the father OF some OF these half
breeds and, to my surprise, found he was an
American and a native OF Sag Harbor, Long
Island. At first he was inclined to be re-
ticont, but after he had tasted several times
Of bottle, provided for the purpose, he
thawed out and became more communicative.
He took me to his hut, near tho shore; 1t
was exactly like that OF the natives, and sit
ting down cross-legged, as the natives do, no
1T the cheroot handed him, and looked as
happy as chief. He told me his name, on
Long Island, was Seaman, and that his
family was one OF the oldest in that part OF
the State. "But." he said, ''as it's fifty years
since l settled down here, suppose all my
folks over there are dead but my family here
is all right" and he laughed and nodded at
tho children and grandchildren, playing
under tho breadfruit trees outside.
Seaman was now, he thought, about
scNenty-nve years Of age he certainly looked
twenty-five years younger. For nearly thirty
years no had mover spoken a word OF En-
glish, "beoause," as he said, "there was no
one to speak to. l picked up the Upola
tongue, and now that's about all l know"
He had actually forgotten most OF the only
language with which he was acquainted up
TO his twenty-ffth year. He hesltated and
shook his head while speaking, as II trying
to recall the half-forgotten English, and fire.
quently used native word without know
ing the difference.
GLOW did you come to leave the world and
take up this kind Of lifel' asked
"Well, l didn't think about leaving the
world. What wanted to do, - he said, slowly,
twas to get away from that ship. She was
whaler named the Albatross, from New Bed
ford, and the captains name was Snow, and
a - - - meaner man than that Snow
never sailed ship
| particularly noticed that while Seaman
had forgotten much OF his English, he had
retained a distinct memory OF all the vulgar
and ptofane words with which he had been
acquainted, and he used them freely and
copiously, and evidently without any idea OF
their character. l learned subsequently,
that from the first he had kept up the habit
of swearing, even when talking the native
language, and this explained something that
had puzzled me before, and that was that
seaman's children and grandchildren, not
one OF whom knew decent word OF English,
all swore In way that would have put to
blush the proverbIal trooper, and as they
did it without anger or seeming cause, 1t was
all the more startling.
81 suppose" said anxious TO learn his
story. for he was a typical beach comber,
"that 1t was Shows harshness that led you to
run away from the ship"
YES; 1t was that that first started mo
thinking about 1t. We had been down whal-
ing around the Chatham Islands, where we
was treated did rough, and we came up
here, expecting to find ship to send home a
lot OF oil and bone In. As soon as / saw
these islands, and the women : said to my
self, This is heaven, sure, and I'll give up
whaling. ltwasn't SO easy getting away, for
as q lot Of the crew had deserted at different
places, close watch was kept. We was then
at Pango-Pango. But Snow found It hard
work keeping men from going over the side
at night and swimming ashore, and that's
what l and mate named Pearsall did.
Pearsau, he was from Sag Harbor, too, and
just bout my age
as pearsall lyingr" asked.
mo- no hung on for few years. then he
'peared to break right down, and he kind OF
lost his head. know he lost heart but then
no was kind OF soft, tenderish chap. WHY,
d-n him, after we thought best to leave
Tetuila and come over to this island, where
no whalers touched, Pearsall give out and
began to fade away. He'd go down to tho
shore and sit there for hours at a time A
watching for ships that never came; and
he'd talk TO me bout the old home, where
We was boys together, and sigh to get back,
TIL he made me mad enough to knock him in
the head. Well, he kept that up till he
fortinitely died." and Seaman pulled his
cheroot md smiled, as II he were relating
the most ordinary incident.
"And had you never any longlngs to GET
homer"
"Yes, at first felt bit queorlsh, and 1
had dreams about getting back to sag Harbor
and giving up tho sea and being a farmer;
but every beach comber will toll you that he's
always felt that way first on. l soon got
over my softness, but 1t wasn't till ] felt that
upola was to DO my home forever that begun
to live. Why, after I'd been hero three YEAR,
and had a wife Of my own and couple of
young ones, felt I'd rather die than be tool
away
tom" si''ii@a-
You mean for the old way back there,n
and he waved his brown hand in the diree-
ton OF the ocean.
Eyes"
"No; what have they got over thore-I
mean the poor. the folks that got to WORK
that haven't got and id sight better,
Is It grubi Why there alnt no hungry people
in these Islands. No need to steal grnb Nora
It's on the trees and in the water all about
YOU II you but just reach out your hand. Ia
II line clothes7 We don't need EN-. and the