The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-26
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deed a living picture that presented itself.
| The house was full of natives. Seated on
a platform were the chief, the tribe and
| the priests We were invited up here as
my host was a chief and was considered
to be white one The feast had COM
menced. A large pile of stones, similar
10 those used in our clambakes, were re-
| moved and we could see beneath large
quantities of roast pig. possibly some dog,
corn, bread, fruit and other delicacies. BY
| courtesy to the white stranger and Ameri-
can, I was served first
After the feast the war dance was be-
gun. The men arranged themselves in
line and gave their war cries, the kind of
noises that make one think of the demons
of the inferno. They made many gestures
with their hands all the while, singing a
mournful dirge to the departed, who had
fallen bravely in battle. Suddenly they
seized their clubs and spears and native
fight commenced, each warrior giving his
battle cry. 1t was wild scene. Their
long hair flying in the wind and the dis
| tant mountain peaks reverberating the
echoes of the cries, left deep impressions
on my senses of hearing and seeing. After
the dance the remainder of the feast was
divided among the chiefs and l was given
a portion.
THE following day I was invited by
| chief to go to his island and bring nv
| violin. We arrived after a long sail and
! after supper the tribe gathered together
! and requested me to play the instrument
| Ihey knew some of the American tunes
| and clapped their hands as I played many
! of them. When 1 played some of the old
| missionary tunes, as Shall We Gather
! at the River? or Jesus Lover of NV
| Soul, tears would gather in their eyes.
| They Joined me in the songs and their
| sweet voices gave a patheticnesS to the
! scene as the fire lighted their enthusi-
| asuc faces. There is an ancient ruin in
/ Ponape whose history has been lost in an
! uquity. It is supposed to have been the
| work, centuries ago of the Phoenecians
! The captain and myself started one day
| FOR the island of Metalene, on which II is
situated. We were going into a dan
/ gerous country, as the natives were hos
! Tile TO the Spaniards but being Ameri-
| cans, We had every season to believe the
| trip would be made in safety. few
| days before a sailor who had run away
| from a vessel had been killed by the rs
! landers. They had mistaken him for a
| Spanish spy.
After a rather adventurous SAIL we
! found the chief and his tribe on the Meta
| lene, and We're Hospitality received. In the
| morning the chief went with us to see
| the ruins, but being superstitious, he would
not go inside. The ruins are fifteen to
! twenty feet in length, the walls of which
/ are crumbled by the decay of time. They
/ are covered by cocoanut trees and vines.
! OF all the wild savages I have seen the
natives of the Ruke Islands We're the
1 widest in appearance. Imagine a man
! with long hair down to his waist, huge
| holes cut in his ears, covered with paint,
/ and carrying a war club or spear. We
were well received by the Ruke tribes
| and enjoyed our stay among them.
During my visit among the Carolines
/ the daughter of a chief was taken sick
| n
/ anOt her island and she died of exposure
on the way They buried her in the white
sands under the cocoanut trees, singing
| in the meanwhile a horunful dirge, so
that the spirit Of the deceased might rest
! in peace on the bosom of their native
god, Lulap. The little boys would walk
with me on the beach in the twilight of
| evenings and ask me TO sing the mis-
| sionary hymns. They would tell me that
| Lulap is mani MANI very good"
DR.. Duncan gives it as his opinion that
! the Pelew are the queen Islands of the
! Pacific. Said he:
This isolated group OF islands of Poly
/ nesia are mountainous with bold and lofty
peaks covered with luXuriant tropical
| trees. Many Of the islands are cone-shap-
| cd, with their base washed out by the
| sea. Some are close together and, as you
1 wind in and out between them in your
/ canoe, hearing only the cooling of the pig
! cons in the trees and the splash of waves
against the rocks, you are reminded
strongly of a fairyland. The Pelew nadvos
are kind and hospitable; their homes are
! always open TO the stranger for refresh
nent and rest"
Dr. Duncan says>that he thoroughly en-
! joyed his long stay among the Carolines
/ and other islands of the South Sea- He be-
/ came we'll acquainted with the natives
! learned their ways and grew to like them.
! That he was popular with the chiefs is ev-
idenced by the large number of curios
which he brought home with him, all of
! which had been the property of the high
! men and women of the tribes, by whom
| they had been presented to the doctor on
! his departure
! The great archi peiago known as the Car
/ olines lies in the Pacific ocean east of The
| Philippines aud south of the Ladrones
! lt is divided into three groups. known 10
/ the Spaniards who claim them, as the
/ Eastern. Central and Western CarolinA
! The eastern group is also known as the
! Mulgrace Archipelago, and the western as
/ the Pelew Islands. The Central Carolines
| number between 400 and 500 and are divid-
cd into forty-eght groups. IL is 500 mites
/ from the most eastern 10 the most western
/ island, and from the most northern to the
most southern about $50 mites. Thus
| the sea over which they are scattered
| has an area OF more than 100000 square
! miles. but tie islands themselves measure
/ only about 800 square miles.
The Carolnes were first discovered b.