The San Francisco call., 1898-10-09

gathered a middle-aged woman rose and began to stamp the ground Tn tlIne to the rude music of the drum ana cala- bash. Her movements became qulckeI and quicker she IoOsened her hair, her eyes flashed, she seemed to be raging witch. The chief joined the dance TOT few minutes. and as he resumed ms seat three other women dashed 1orWaru and joined the wild dance, shriekl1g and jumping as if possessed Suddenly the music ceased, the dancers paused, deathlike stiffness prevailed. The lead ing dancer was given mixture or palm wine and camphor to refresh neT 0He danced again more wildly until she Tell exhausted to the ground, where she lay repeating visions of victory on the nlor- row.
 At the village of Lontong I was made prisoner, along with my carriers, The chief had been very. friendly when we first appeared and we had no means or knowing why he had made us captives, but the prospect was very discouragtng. From where l was seated in the native hut which served as a prison, and which was guarded by two stalwart blacks armed with jagged war clubs, l could overhear an earnest discussion going on among the warriors who had gathered a short distance away.
 The guide who was beside me told me that they were discussing the fate of their prisoners and as the babble Cf conversation went on he interpreted such remarks as We must overcome them while they sleep, slay and eat them" It is needless to say such prospect was sufficient to banish every thought of sleep. The guide inform ed me that there were two parties to the discussion; one wished to kill and eat us and the other to let us pass. We had no means of knowing which would prevail, and we sat all night with our seven guns loaded and ready for in .4,o nd ,11y~ r0iC A1C sides There was a tumult in the early morn ing and we gripped the guns, ready to sell our lives as dearly as possible. There were cries of The enemy, the enemy'' and soon it appeared that a neighboring tribe had attacked the Vil- lage. carrying off two of its women.
 A little later the chief called to see me and said: What if we keep you to work in our fields for a year or two?' I answered, You would not do such a thing" and to prove that did not fear him. 1 gave the chief handsome pistol, which delighted his savage heart and apparently restored him to the great est friendlineSs. Seeing that had made an impression, l added: If you dare to touch a hair Of our heads, our brothers will come and kill all of you. The chief immediately declared that he had no intention of injuring me, that, in fact, he took me under his protection.
 The next tribe that we fell in with was the one I had come so far to study. They received me good naturedly be- cause their chief had just overcome the head of rival tribe, and they had en- joyed a great feast
 These natives in the interior of Su- matra are, I believe. as degraded can nibals as ever lived 4 man will steal upon-an enemy when he is asleep, and with sharp, scimiter-like sword, strike off his head at a single blow. Then he will strip the head of flesh and bury 1t on some trail so that even the friends of the. dead man will step upon him and lose his good will in the other world. Afterward the skull is dug up and kept as a trophy the rank of each prince being fixed according to the number of skulls he can display.
 During my stay I saw one man eat en. He had been made captive in a raid against a hostile tribe, and when I saw him he was bound to a tree The rajah, or chief, first approached the victim and cut off the flesh from the inner side of the forearm and the cheek, two portions esteemed a great deliCacy. The chief drank some of the blood and then roasted the flesh slieht- Iy by the ire and ate 1t. Thereafter the rest of the warriors fell upon the victim and stripped the flesh from his bones, roasted and ate it.
 Generally, cannibalism is an act of vengeance upon captured enemies. but dillOl1Sf LIlC ODdhS tile taste TOT human flesh has become so much developed that they often eat harmless slaves and old women. A Popak Prince in Pen ganibatan told me that he had just given a feast at which eleven Chinese had been eaten, and he added that they were very good. This Prince, by name Si Gallak, was very rich, having his teeth gilded and wearing a ha .dsone jeweled collar, in the center of which a tooth was set, the tooth of an enemy Txh n a aOf fcT1 LQ1Jf I,o himself soon fell a victim to his foes as evidenced by the skull and half burned hand which 1 found some weeks later in possession of a Batak chief Then conversation took place some what after this fashion:
 Where did you get that skull and hand that you carry?"
 "They belonged to an enemy who fell into our hands,.
 Did you eat him?"
 'Yes My brother-in-law and his peo- ple ate him. His name was Si Kemat Si Gallak He had fled from his country, in which he was rajah, with his brother, his wife and his mother. He called himself a wizard, and sought to become ruler of Pantio, where my brother-in- law was chief. My brother-i -in-law de- clared war against him and captured him.
 Was there battle?"
 NO. We took him prisoner. We lay III aHDuSQ III Ln0 T1Ce UStOS, ana when we saw him pass through alone we leaped upon him and brought him to the chief"
 And his hrother?"
 We shot him at night while he was asleep. The ball hit him in the right arm, and he stood up holding a knife in his left hand; but we were victorious, for we were many: we knocked him down and sent his head to the chief. Don't you call that war"
 What happened to his body?"
 ''That-we ate it. The head? Our chief put that in front of Si Kemat that he might know what to expect"
 Couldn't he ransom himself?"
 Ransom? Impossible; he had to die"
 Didn't he cry?'
 "Oh, yes, but that did no good; he was bound fast"
 And then?"
 We ate him up, of course. The next day when the sun ceased to rise and hod hoSv fN Gat