The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-09

island. Included in the equipment with
which he started out, was a camera,
with which he has taken several hun
dred very striking and interesting pho
tographS to illustrate every point of his
| story.
Although Won Brenner's work was
undertaken for the sake of it's scientific
value in the fields of geography, his
| tory and anthropOlogy, his experiences
viii INCLUDE much that is of popular in
terest and entertainment. AS may be
readily believed, it was an undertaking
of some hardihood to study tribe of
cannibals at close range, and when the
young Austrian announced his purpose
he met with considerable opposition
from his friends and associates, who
freely prophesied that he would never
return to announce the result of his
| undertaking. Even after This arrival in
Deli, the Dutch residents, who had had
some experience with the half-civilized
natives, did their best to persuade him
to give up his project, and it was with
great difficulty that he secured an out
fit with which to penetrate into the in
terror of the country, where alone, of
all lands known to white men, canni-
balism is still regularly practiced. Won
Brenner's account of his experiences
after leaving civilization, though told
in plain and modest language, shows
that the fears of his friends and ad-
visers were not altogether ungrounded.
He says:
II set out on my trip to the land of
the Bataks after having secured by in
ducements, which to them appeared eX-
traordinary a caravan of sc carriers.
There was but one European in the
party beside myself We were con-
Quoted by native guide from one of
the hill tribes. who was recommended
as thoroughly trustworthy man, and
who, indeed. proved invaluable as time
went on. Our course lay over the high
mountains which lie a few miles back
from the coast at Deli. and beyond
which is the land of the Bataks, in
which, as far as I have been able to
find, no European had hitherto set foot.
For the purpose of ingratiating myself
with the blacks I carried a large sup
ply of all kinds of glass beads, miro 5,
knives and various colored cloths, es-
pecially a sort of red cloth with gold
border, which the blacks esteem Hery
highly.
THE partially civilized tribes that I
came across in the earlier stages of
my journey. afford many opportunities
for interesting study. and our progress
was, therefore. slow. for I reasoned that
the more thoroughly unueTSIOOu the
customs and ways of these people the
better 1 should be able to understand
those in the wilderness beyond, which
was our ultimate destination.
PRESERVING THE DEAD.
"One peculiar custom which was nat
urally among the first to impress itself
upon me, and which apparently pre-
walls among all the natives of the is
land. is the method of preserving the
dead. The body is burned, but the head
is placed in a small basket on top of
bamboo pole as thick as a mans arm,
and matched over the top with the
leaves of the sugar palm. Here it is
left to bleach and dry and the sight
of these CHASTITY sign posts which we
frequently came across was anything
but reassuring. In some places the head
is not detached, but the entire body is
hung up in a sort of wickerwork wrap
ping, suspended between two posts sew
eral feet above the ground. and it is
possible to view through the interstices
in the basketworll the gristly remains
which the breezes swing to and fro as
they would a hammock, with a most
uncanny effect.
I'm climbing the mountain the con-
slant rains which wash out deep gull
leys, afforded greater obstacles to our
progress than even the trackless under