The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1897-03-08

others, and in this way the beach
comber has done his share"
Seeing that looked incredulous. nv
host continued, with pleasant smile:
THE FIRST BEACH COMBER.
The first Pacific beach-comber OF
whom the world has any knowledge
was our old friend Alexander Selkirk.
He was maroOned on an uninhabitei
island by a cruel captain. Being put
ashore against his viii differentia-es
him very decidedly from the vast army
of successors. But it was this event
that inspired Defoe 70 write the i'm
mortal Robinson Crusoe. without the
reading OF which no boys education
is complete II was the same subject
that gave us Cowper's most popular
poem outside OF John Gilpin.
"A hundred years after Selkirk We
have the first attempt at wholesale
beach-comb in the mutiny OF the
Bounty Captain Bly, may have been
a tyrant; most merchant captains were
in those days; but his being set adrift
in an open boat out in that vast ex-
panse with a few friends, and the
final rescue, form one of the most
thrilling chapters in the history of the
sea. Byron immortaliZed this drama
in his poem, the Island You know
the story, how the crew under Christ
ian and Adams took native wives, set
tied in Pitcairn's Island, and for nearly
two generations were lost TO the outer
world. Then came this unexpected dis
covery, when all but one of the origi-
nal crew were dead. The world learn
ed OF their woes, their troubles, their
sufferings. their meanness, and withal
of their triumph, out on the desolate
little island. and condoned their crime.
When discovered, they had OutgrOwn
the land. Adams, from an old Bible,
had taught the swarming half-breeds
TO read and write, so that when found
there was not a more moral or peace
full community under the sun than
these descendants of outlaw whites and
savage native women. The English
government has transported most Of
these people to a larger island, where
let us hope, in the language of your
own Rip Van Wrinkle. they and their
families may live long and prosper
a CURIOUS CAREER.
l recalled this remark of the famous
scout and guide when, years after
ward. | spoke with Sam Brant in the
Island of Hawaii both of us sitting at
the time on the glistening igneous rock
that forms the shore line of Kilauea's
ever-burning lake.
Sam Brant was, if ever there was
one, a professional beach-cOmber, and
quite as proud of the name as the
veteran is of his medals. When the
whaler or merchant sailor deserts his
ship in Pacific island he remains in |
hiding until the inevitable search is
4 l., l.
makes friends with the natives, who |
rarely betray the refugee in their |
midst The deserter marries and soon |
acquires the language and drops into
the customs of the people, but it is not |
until years have brought forgetfulness
and security that he ventures to the |
shore when ship casts anchor.
The story of this mans life, as out |
lined 10 me, was one of the most inter |
esting | had ever heard. During his |
long career in the Pacific he had been |
in a dozen or more islands, and knew |
as many languages, and had adopted |
as many heather religions. Whenever
he took his departure he left behind
him children and at least one wife. /
But they didn't need much clothes
and could get all they wanted to eat,
so that it didn't much matter where l
went" he said by way of explaining /
his seeming neglect of duty.
At this time Brant had wife in the
Famine group of islands. He had come
ND to Honolulu for a change and was
about to return to his last wife and
last lot of children in q few days.
When | met Sam Brant he told me
he was seventy-one years of age, al /
though he might have passed for fifty.
he was so straight, strong and supple.
I've been a beach-cOmber out here
in the Pacific" ne explained, as we sat |
looking at the fiery waves below us /
and smoking our pipes, for just fifty /
five years. / began when l was six /
teen. Why did l start? Well, it's the |
old story. I was born at Sag Harbor. |
Long Island. My father and mother |
died when / was fifteen, and as | was /
my own master ! signed articles and !
shipped on the whaler John Adams. |
Why. in those days there was no |
kerosene that the world knowed OF. |
and so whaling was the business. Al |
one time there was over 700 whaiers |
mostly Yankee, out in this ocean.
When l first shipped it was with |
the notion that one day I'd be a |
master myself, but then l was boy |
and a fool. The captain of the Adams |
was Il man udllcu IuiDpS. very 14Nf
and smooth on shore, but hog when /
out to sea We hadn't doubled the |
Cape when another boy and me made
up our minds to desert the first OPP
portunity. and that chance came IL
the Bay of Islands in northern New
Zea land. We married and lived with
the natives for two years. Then wal,
broke out. we were suspected and Tom
Davidson my chum was killed. My /
wife warned me and l lit out and
made my way south TO Auckland. Al /
that port 1 shipped on an Englishman
bound for Fiji. This captain was worse
than Phipps. so l deserted with man
named Ross. a ScOtchman. and We
married and lived with the Fijians IN
til the missionaries came. Then we
left
Many incidents about the beach
combeTs. learned from the narrative
of his Apian associates. but, still more
valuable. CLEANED from his own sym
pathetic and unsurpassed powers o.