Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1895-09-02
A MILD ORIENTAL.

hanged by the neck till he was dead,
and nobody cared whether he was right
)r wrong.
Three years ago, when the Elsass-
Lothringen steamer Saarbuck was coal
ing at Alden and the weather was very
hot indeed, Nurkoed, the big fat zanzi-
bar stoker who fed the second right
furnace 80 feet down in the hold, got
leave to go ashore. He departed a
"Seedee boy" as they call the stokers.
He returned the full blooded sultan Of
zanzibar-his royal highness Sayyid
BuIgash-with bottle In each hand
Then he sat ON the fore hatch grating
eating salt fish and onions and singing
the songs of far country. The food be-
ionged to Pambe, the serang, or head
man Of the lascar sailors. He had just
cooked it for himself, turned TO borrow
some salt, and when he came back Nur-
keed's dirty fingers were spading into
the rice. A serang is person of i'm
portancc far above stoker, though the
stoker draws better pay. He sets the
chorus of "Hya, hullal Heeah, heh,
when the captains gig is pulled up to
the davits. He heaves the lead, too, and
sometimes, when all the ship is lazy,
he puts ON his whitest muslin and a
big red sash and plays with the passen-
gers children on the quarter deck.
Then the passengers give him money,
and he saves it for an orgie at Bombay,
Calcutta or Pulu Penang.
"Ho, you fat, black barrel, you're
eating my food" said Pambe in the
other lingua franca which begins where
the Levant tongue stops and runs from
| Port Said eastward till east Is west and
the sealing brigs Of the Kurile islands
gossip with Hakodate junks.
"Son of Eblis, monkey face, dried
sharks liver, pig man, / am the Sultan
Sayyid Burgash and the commander OF
all this shipl Take away your garbage, "
and Nurkeed thrust the empty pewter
rice plate into Pambe's hand. Pambe
beat it into a basin oyer Nurkeed's
woolly head. Nurkeed drew his sheath
knife and stabbed Pambe In the leg.
Pambe drew his sheath knife, but Nur-
keed dropped down into the darkness OF
the hold and spat through the grating
at Pambe, who was staining the fore
deck with his blood.
Only the big white moon saw thes'
things, for the officers were lookini
after the coaling and the passenger
were tossing In their close cabins. "Al
right" said Pambe, and went forward
10 tie up his leg. I'VE will settle th'
account later" He was Malay, borI
In India, married once In Burma
where his wife had cigar shop on thu
Shwe Dagon road; once in Singapore y
Chinese girl and once In Madras TO
Mohammedan woman who sold fowls
The English sailor cannot, owing Il
postal and telegraph facilities, MARI,
50 profusely as he used TO do, but ma
tive sailors can, being uninfiuenoed b.
the barbarous inventions OF the western
savage. Pambe was a good husband
when he happened 10 remember the on
istence of a wife, but he was also yer,
good Malay, and 1t Is not wise to ofen'
A Malay, because he does not forget any
thing. Moreover, In Pambe's case bloc
had been drawn and food spoiled Nex
morning Nurkeed rose with blan
mind. He was no longer sultan OF Zan
Eibar, but very hot stoker. so he wen
ON deck and opened his jacket 10 th
morning breeze till q sheath knife cam
like a flying fish and stuck into tn
woodwork of the cooks galley, half a
inch from his right armpit Heran dow
elbow before his time, trying to remen
ber what he could have said to tn
owner of the weapon. At noon, whe
all the ships lasoArS were feeding, Nul
keed advanced into their midst ana d
ing placid man with large regar
for his own skin he opened negotiation
saving: MEN Of the ship, last night
know that behaved unseemly TO som
one or another Of you. Who was thu
man. that may meet him face TO fa'
and say that was drunk
-Pambe measured the distance
Nurkeed's naked breast II he spran
at him, he might be tripped up and
blind blow at the chest sometimes on
means a gAAh on the breast bone. hil
are difficult TO thrust between unle
the subject is asleep. 30 he said notl
ING. nor did the other lnsoars The
faces Immediately dropped all EXPIRE
sion. as is the custom Of the orienta
when there Is killing ON the carpet 4
any chance of trouble. Nurkeed look'
long at the white eyeballs. He vi
only an African and could not re'
oharacterA A big sigh. almost groa
broke from him. and he went back
the furnaces. The lasoars took up q
conversation where he had interrupts
IL They talked of the best methods
cooking rice.
Nurkeed suffered considerably durii
the run TO Bombay from lack OF fre
air. He only came ON deck TO bIeatl
when ali the world was about, and ev'
then a heavy block once dropped from
derrick wiaAin foot Of his head and
apparently lashed grating ON which
,et his foot began 10 turn with the int
ton of dropping him ON the oased car
M 10 feet below, and one inanpportAh
Nj light the sheathknife dropped nom o
~ ro;o's'le, and this time 1t drew bloc
50 Nurkced made complaint and WIN
lie saarbruok reached Bombay ned ~
lI-sa t.s..aaif amona 400. 600 pooK