The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-21
THANKSGIVING In PAPUA.
How Col. Hobbs Nearly Became
THANKSGIVING Turkey.

How Col. Hobbs Nearly Became a
Thanksgiving Turkey.
The Ce!ebes sea is full of Chinese
pirates. Their junks drift about in the
trade winds as far down as the Ara
furka sea, and Frederic Henry island,
and prey upon small traders and de-
fenseleSs beche-de-mer and pearl she'll
ing islanders who venture too far from
shore. The have recently attacked
larger ships with ferocity, and were
with difficulty beaten off. Recently
some Of these pirate junks appeared in
! the straits of Sunda, and successfully
oVerhauled some beche-de-mer craft.
laden also with pearl. The cargo was
| taken. Then the northeast monsoons
caught them with typhoon force and
| blew them over the Arafurka sea to-
! wards New Guinea, and wrecked them
on the coast of the very PapuanS they
! had previously so ruthlessly robbed of
| their slug and pearls. The angry sea
! which this tornado left caught the little
eX-missionary schooner in which Col
onel John f. Hobbs and Captain Lii
| blad. with two sailors, were attempt
! ing to round cape York peninsula from
| the gulf of Carpeulria.
The little craft was torn out of her
course, tossed like a helpless chip in the
rough sea, and finally heaved bodily
upon the rocky shadows of a small
! blight of about a mile or Two from the
wreckage of the Inflated junks and
their crews.
The little 10-tonner had her bottom
stove in, and was beached.
The colonel and the captain left their
disabled boat il charge of the two
! sailors, and proceeded to reconnoiter
| the vicinity for repair material They
had not gone far over a rise before they
| heard a great noise, and crept toward
! it. Presently they discovered some
nude tribesmen lurking in their rear.
! Others ran out of the bush. Retreat
| was dangerous. Before them shrieked
d multitude. while great lights illu-
| mined the clouded air.
Colonel Hobbs led the ships skipper
| to the turbulent scene. 1t was the an
niversary of Thanksgiving day, when
| the turkey was roasting in the United
{ States. What Thanksgiving met these
TWO here in distant Papua!
More than 1000 wild Dongaras danced
a mad rejoicing over and gave thanks
for the blessing of so or more Chinese
pirates and their recaptured store on
this late November day. The approach
Of the two white men alarmed the fes-
tive host. The dance stopped. The
crazy chant OF the women stopped also.
And Stealthily the gaunt fellows armed
with clubs, spears and arrows eau
tiously encircled the visitors.
On The ground were gruesome evil
| dences that the feast and dance had
been 81 progress for more than day.
There lay before the visitors eyes the
| bodily evidence that these tribesmen
had terribly evened things with the Chi
nese pirates who had forcibly taken
! their treasure. The recaptured trophy
and more lay in the trophy heaps neal
the chiefs huts. The rescued wreckage
of the junks blazed on the fires. While Il
or 90 lifeless bodies lay about the
ground ready for their turn. A few
more helpless Cinnamon stood tied to
small trees. where they slept standing
| and were kept alive with food.
Captain Lilblad turned to go, but a
bronze wall OF armed nudity stopped
him.
The head chief approached. He bore
an odd-looking ornamental spear-head-
ed staff with which he gave orders and
commanded silence. Behind this CHIEF
walked the eDicure chief This head
faster or chef, carried a long, sharp
pointed assegai. His orders were exc
cuted by the men. They both inspect
ed the captain first said Colone
Hobbs, relating the incident. The
skipper wasn't scared, but he felt un-
easy. Then they passed him pro tenn
and inspected me. I was the taller
larger, fatter man of the two, and pos
sibly esteemed to he more succulent
than the salt-seasoned tar When the
head chief raised his painted wand al
most in my face, and the chief cook
essayed to jab his tasting rod into me
l knew the die was cast and experience
ed a queer feeling. Intuitively, l jerhe6
my SiX-ShoOter from my side, thrust il
against the ear of the great chief anC
fired. The fash of the WEAPON with
the awful coacussion and noise of the
sudden explosion against unaccustomeC
ears struck awe to the very soul of tbs
untutored savage He gave one vile
Shrek OF pain, which came from his
inner soul, scuatted, and hurled him.
self with a spring which must have
lifted him ten or more feet away. There
he stood like an aspen, piteously tremb
ling with abject fear. He had never
felt thunder and lightning so near be.
fore, nor so much of it out of such {
little thing. The Whole affair was the
result of an instructive impulse.
claim nothing more. But it Sufficed
Thanksgiving turkey for a Gambia
feast on a day when Americans d.
some turkey eating themselves. See
ing that the terror which possessed tht
chief infected the whole horde Of hi;
hungry warriors about US. we strolleC
coolly among the nauseating viands, a:
bluff, picked up some skins will
which to repair our little schooner, anC
left the feast of rejoicing more willingl!
than the cowed tribesmen could wisl
us to go. l fancy l can see Lilblad'.
4 two big horse pistols, like two midget.
on piston rods, working up and dowr
on his hips. in his hurried, stumpy
walk. And every November 1 remem
Der that awful ten minutes. when
was being selected in a eold-bloodeC
manner as Thanksgiving turkey, anC
return thanks for my providential es
cape from the hungry cannibals of Pa
pua." In due course, the four wrecked
white men reached Port Moresby and
finally, Cooktown,