The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-12-04
THE BOAT STEERER.

va wv
or 700 miles you will sight tho Ellico
group-low lying, palm clad coral atolls,
fringcd on tho Ice with shimmcring sandy
beaches. On tho weather side, exposed to
tho long sweep of tho ocean rollers, there
nro but short, black looking reefs, backed
by irregular piles of loose, fat, sea worn
coral, thrown III mt accommodating till its
surface is brushed by the pendent leaves of
the cocoanuts, only to be washed md
swirlcd back scuward when tho wind
comes from tho westward and sends II
fierce, sweeping current along tho white
beaches and black coral rocks alike.
Twenty-thrcc years 4 these islands
wore almost unknown to any one save q
few wandering traders and tho ubiquitous
New Bedford whalcr. But now, long ere
you can SEQ from the ships deck tho snowy
tumble Of the surf on the reef, Il hugo
white mass, grim, square and ugly, will
meet your cyc-whitowashcd walls of II
distrcssful ghastlincss a~cccntuatcd by
doors and windows of the dcadlicSt black.
This cheerful cxcrcsccncc on tho face of
suffering nature is u native church.
The people have mostly assimilatcd
themselves, i'll their manners and mode of
life generally, to the new order of things
represented by tho fearful looking struc-
turo ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS is to say, oven
as the Tongan and Fijian, they havo de-
generated from u fierce, hardy, warliko
race into white shifted, black Dated
saints. whose ideal of II lovely existence is
to have public praye twice n day on week
days and all day on Sunday. To them it is
n good thing to get half Il dollar from tho
white trader for u sick fowl, which, when
bought, will be claimed by another native,
who will have the white man fined 50 for
buying stolen property. Had the white
man paid 81, he had done wisely; that
coin sometimes goes far in the Tokclaus.
For instance, tho truly unctuous native
Christian may ask II dollar for two fowls,
but he will also lease out his wife for II
similar amount.
limo was, in tho Elliccs, when tho I'M
duo complaisanco of Il married woman
meant II sudden and inartistic compression
of tho jUgular or n swift blow from tho
heavy ebony wood club of tho wrongcd
man. Nowadays, since the snug faced
native teacher hath shown them tho right
way, such domestic troubles arc condoncd
by Sl-thnt Is, If 1t DO n genuine Amcri-
can dollnr-or two British ilorins, for out
ragged honor would not accept the cast iron
Bolivian none or the poor silver OF Chile
and Peru. And for 81 tho native Chris
tian' can all but pay for q nicely bound
Biblc, printed in tho Samoan tongue, and
thus no doubt out of evil would como
good, for he could by means of his newly
acquired purchase picture to his dusky
mate tho tcrrors that await those who look
upon strange men and tupo fa' apupuln
bright and shining money!.
But l want to tell abou Kennedy. Ken
ncdy, tho boat stccrcr he was called, al-
though 20 years had passed and gone since
that day at Wallis island when he, n bright
eyed, bronze faced lad, with the fighting
blood Of the old Puritan Endicotts run
ming like fro through his veins, dcspitc
his New England bringing up, ran his
knife into II ~shipmatc'S heart and fled for
ever from all white associations. Over u
woman 1t was, and only u copper colorcd
ono ut that; but then she WAS young and
beautiful, with dreamy, glistcning eyes
and black, wavy hair, ornamcntcd with "a
wreath of orange flowers and coil upon
coil of bright huod scn-sca berries strung
together, hanging from her neck and rest
ing upon her dainty bosom.
Standing ut the doorway of his house,
looking over tho placid waters ut tho ris-
ing sun, Kennedy folds his brawny arms
across his bare, sun tanned chest and NUT
ters to himself i'll his almost forgotten
mother tongue: Twenty years, 20 years
ago! Who would know mo there now?
Even If L plncardcd my name on my back,
and what l did, tain likely I'd hnvo to
face u grand jury for running II knife into
II mongrel Portugeo, way out in tho south
seas, q score of years ago. Poor littlo Ia
lamalu! I paid a big price for hcr-aO
years Of wandering from Wallis island to
tho Bonins, and wherever 1 go that in
fcrnal story follows me up. Well, I'll risk
1t anyhow, and tho first chance that comes
along III cut Kanakn life and drinking
ships rum and go see old dad and mum
to home. Here, Tikena, you Tokelau
devil, bring mo my toddy."
A native, clad in his grass It'll, takes
from II wooden peg In tho house wall two
shells of toddy, and tho white wandorcr
tnhos 0iio and drinks. Ho is about to re-
turn tho other to tho man, when two girls
come up from the beach with their arms
around each others waists, Tahiti fashion,
and one calls out with n laugh to "leave
some In tho she'll" This is Laumnnu,
and If there is ono thing in tho world that
Jake Kennedy cares for above himself it
is this tall girl with tho soft eyes and litho
figure. And he dreams of hcr pretty often,
ana curses nucntly to think that she is be-
You'd his reach and is mover likely to fill
tho place of Talanalu and hor many sue
ccssors. For Laumanu Is tabu to u Nuitao
chicf-that is, she has been %botrothcd but
the Nuitno man is 60 miles away, at his
own island, and no ono knows when he
will claim his uvaga Then tho girl gives
him back tho empty toddy shell, and, slyly
pinching his hand, sails away with her
mate, whcrcupon the susceptible Kennedy,
furious with long Disappointment, filings
himself down on his bed OF mats, curses
his luck and his unsuspccting rival at
Nuitao, and finally decides not to spring a
surprise on dad and num- by going
'humh for q considerable numhcr NJ vnnro
to come.
Mr.. .Iakn Kennedy Mt this tima IL