The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1897-12-23
ADVENTURES OF A SAILOR.
By THOMAS W. KNOX =.

valry was gone long ago, II we may
| believe celebrated writer; steam has
destroyed the romance of the sea; the
mystery of the unexplored region of
Africa exists no longer; the mael-
strom is a myth; the sources of the
Nile have been visited and described,
and even the sea serpent has fallen
before the searching gaze of star eyed
science. The Car of Juggernaut,
which once crushed hundreds of vic
TINS in its annual professions, now
remains harmless in its temple; the
cremation of living widows at the
side of their dead husbands is rigidly
prohibited through the length and
breadth of India; and the King of
| Uganda can to day receive a distin
guished visitor without slaughtering
a dozen courtiers in his honor The
horrible fascination that cliDgs to the
cannibal and the story of his perfor
mahces is greatly circumscribed, as
| the labors of missionaries and the
spread of commerce have demonstrat
ed that man can be put to better nses
than to be served up for provisions.
But the cannibal still fingers in some
parts of the world, though he is only
to be found by those who seek him
with great diligence.
Within the memory of those of us
who have not yet passed beyond mid
die life the Feeiee islands were noted
| for their habit of devouring the bodies
of their enemies, and also, under eer
tain circumstances, those Of their
friends; since missionaries and mer
chants were established there, and
the islands became subject to Great
Britain, and British prejudices have
prevailed, and the practice is now
confined to few benighted tribes of
began their teachings the natives
gave ready approval to the Scriptnral
Injunction, love your enemies" but
they were disappointed to learn that
1t had no reference to the love of
gourmet for canvas back duck. Ia
noa, the old ruler of the Fejees, and
father of the late King Thakombau,
had palate so delicate that he could
distinguish between An English and a
French sailor when served at the ia
bic, and he could even name the PEG
pie Of the different islands of the Fee
jee group when a slice OF each was
placed before him. An acquaintance
of mine claims to have had a narrow
escape from being the piece de resis
tance at one of Tanoa's banquets, and
of beng taken to and into the royal
bosom. He told me the story one
day while we were sailing over the
Pacific, and wondering if the good
old times of the cannibals would ever
come again.
Il was on whale ship" said he,
that was cruising in the South Pa
citic and had pnt into the Feejees for
water The ship was old and leak ky.
the captain was tyrant, the mate
brute, and every sailor on the ship
was ready to desert at the first oppor
tunlty. We had a chance to go into
one of the groups where there were
40 cannibals, but the captain knew
that if he did there wouldn't be
man of us left. His only hope of hold
ing on to crew was by having them
choose between the ship and the na
tives who would eat them. The most
frightful stories were told about the
practices of the people, and not one of
rs would venture yard from the
beach where we landed to get water.
We kept the natives at distance,
and made them understand that while
we would leave plenty of trinkets and
old hoops on the shore to pay for the
water, we wouldn't go near the little
creek on the beach unless they stood
great way off from it. They had no
canoes, and SO they didn't bother US
by trying to get on board.
''One afternoon party of us had
gone ashore to fill toe last of the
casks; the mate was with us and it
was one of his ugliest days, for he
kicked rs about as though we had no
more feeling than the ground we
stood on. Because | didn't please
him about something he struck me
with an oar, AID then l struck back
with my fist and downed him. The
rest of the men pulled me off, but
they didn't pull very hard, as they
"tl W NCc tuS ltlltW
pounded at last When they got us
apart | saw what / had done and
knew the mate would have his re
| veuge on me as soon as we got to sea
again. | thought 1t all over in a Sc
cond, and IN my frenzy concluded I
might as well be eaten by the savages
as beaten to death by the mate and
| thrown over for the sharks before we
made another port.
Il turned and went straight to the
bushes where | knew the natives were
watching us. l just said Good bye
to my shipmates and nothing more.
They yelled for me to come back,
but / didn't turn nor stop The mate
started after me, but he thought bet
ter of il and wheeled around before
going twenty yards.
"ln five or ten minutes | was in the
middle of group of natives who were
armed with spears and clubs, and had
their bodies streaked and painted il
a hideous way They wore no cloth
ing except strip around the waist
and more than half of them could moi
boast as much as that. They tore of
my clothes, and then examined my
limbs exactly as butcher examines
an OK to ascertain his condition. One
old fellow who seemed to have some
sort of authority over the rest pinched
my arm till | almost screamed with
pain. The fsct that ! didn't scream
seemed to impress him favorably, and
at word from him l was less rudely
treated after that. l wasn't partic
ularly good prize. as the hard fare OF
the ship had made me pretty thin
and my ribs fairly stuck out so you
might count them. saw they disap
proved of me, but probably they
reasoned that half loaf was better
tLan no baead. and so they took me
along.
Three of the natives escorted me
through the tropical fores. while the
rest remained, probably with view