The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-16
BY LOUIS DE RoUGEMoNr.

Copyright, 1898, by S. s. Mcclure Coz
In case of fever the natives resorted
to charms to drive away the evil spirit
that was supposed to be troubling the
patient Che universal superstition
about all maladies is that they are
caused by the "evil eye directed
against the sufferer by some enemy.
Should one member of a tribe be strick-
en- down with any disease, his friends
at once come to the conclusion that he
has been pointed att By a member of
another tribe who owed him grudSe;
he has, in short, been bewitched, and
an expedition is promptly organized to
seek out and punish the individual in
question and all his tribe. From this it
is obvious that war is of pretty fre-
,quent occurrence. And not only so, but
every death is likewise the signal for
tribal war. There is no verdict of
death from natural causes" AS a rule,
the BODY of the dead brave was placed
upon a platform erected in the forks
of trees, his weapons neatly ar
ranged below. Then, as decay set in,
and the body began to crumble away.
the friends and chiefs would come and
observe certain mystic signs, which
were supposed to give information as
to what tribe or individual had caused
the death of the deceased warrior
1t must have been within a month of
my landing in Yambas country, in
Cambridge gulf, that 1 witnessed my
first cannibal feast. One of the fighting
men had died in our camp, and AFTER
the usual observations had been taken,
1t was decided that he had been pointed
at, and his death brought about by a
member Of another tribe living some
distance away. An expedition of some
hundreds of warriors was a once fitted
cut, and the enemy was apparently
only too ready for the fray, because the
two armies promptly met in an open
plain, and then had an opportunity of
witnessing the extraordinary method
by which the Australian blacks wage
war. One OF the most redoubtable of our
chiefs stepped forward and explained
the reason of their visit, in compare
lively calm tones. An opposing chief
replied TO him, and gradually a heated
alteration arose, the abuse rising on
crescendo scale for 10 or Is minutes.
These two then retired, and another
couple OF champion abuSerS stepped
forward to discuss" the matter. This
kind of thing went on for a consider
able time, the abuse being of the most
appalling description, and directed
mainly against the organs of the enc
my's body (heart, liver, etc.), his an
cestors, his OK his ass, and every
every conceivable thing had been said
that it was possible to say, the war
riorS drew near, and at last some one |
threw a spear. This of course, was the !
signal for real action and in few |
minutes the engagement became gen. |
eral There was no strategy or tactics |
of any kind, every man fighting single |
handed.
But to return to the battle was de- |
scribing. After a very few minutes I
fighting the enemy were Utterly routed, /
and promptly turned tail and fled from |
the scene of the encounter, leaving be- :
hind them-after all the uproar and the |
food of viilifcation-only three of their !
" warriors, and these not dead, but only
more or less badly wounded. Quarter |
being neither given or expected in
these battles, the three PROSTATE blacks
were promptly dispatched by the leader
of my tribe, the coup de grace being
given with a waddy, or knobbed stick.
The three bodies were then placed on
filters made out of spears and grass,
and were in due time carried into our
own cam9.
4 COMING HORROR.
There were so many signs to presage
what was coming that 1 knew a canni-
bal feast was about to take place; but
for obvious reasons l did not protest !
against it, nor did I take any notice
whatever. The women (who do all the
real work. fell on their knees, and with
their fingers scraped three long
trenches in the sand, each about seven
feet long and three feet deep. Into each
of these ovens was placed one of the |
bodies of the fallen warriors, and then
the trench was filled up-first with
stones, then with sand On top of all a
huge fire was built and maintained
with great fercenesS for about two
hours. There was great rejoicing dur
ing this period, and apparently much
anticipation among the tri-
blacks. In due time the sig
nal was given and the ovens laid open
once more. But. perhaps. the /
less said about this horrible spectacle
the better. With a yell several war
riors ieaped into each trench and stuck