Evening star., 1898-10-15
Louis De Rougemont's Experiences
Among the Cannibals.
an ORIGINAL WAY OF MAKING WAR
The Prestige That Followed His
Capture of Two Whales.
FIGHT WITH AN ALLIGATOR
Written for The Evening Star by Louis de Rouge
mont.

Written for The Evening Star by Louis de Rouge
mont
Copyright 1895 by S. S. Mcclure Coz
In a case of fever the natives resorted to
charms to drive away the evil spirit that
was supposed to be troubling the patient.
The universal superstition about maladies
is that they are caused by the ''evil eye"
directed against the sufferer by some enc
my. Should one member of a tribe be
stricken down with any disease, his friends
at once come to the conclusion that he has
been pointed at by a member of another
tribe who owed him grudge; 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
frequent occurrence. And not only so, but
every death is likewise the signal for a
tribal war There is no verdict of death
from natural causes AS a rule, the body
Of the dead brave was placed upon plat
form erected in the forks of trees, his
weapons neatly arranged below. Then, as
decay set in, and the body began to crum-
I le away, the friends and chiefs would
come and observe certain mystic signs,
which wera supposed to give informa tiOn
To what tribe or individual had caused
the death Of the deceased warrior.
1t must have been within month of my
lending in Yamba's country, in Cambridge
gulf, that / witnessed my first cannibal
feast one Of the fighting men had died in
our camp. and after the usual observations
had been taken. il was decided that he had
been pointed at and his death brought
about hv a member Of another tribe living
some distance away An expedition of
some hundreds of warriors was at once
fitted out. and the enemy was apparently
only too ready for the fray, because the
two armies promptly nat in an open plain,
and then | had an opportunity Of witness
lrg the extra ordinary method by which the
Australian blacks wage war. one of the
most redoubtabl4 of our chiefs stepped for
ward and explained the reason of their
visit. in comparatively calm tones. An op-
posing chief replied 10 him. and gradually
n heated alteration arose, the abuse rising
on CresCeEdO scale for ten or fifteen min
Utes- These two then retired. and another
c,u0le of champion abusers stepped for
ward 10 discuss the matter. This kind
Of thing went on for n considerable time,
the abuse being Of the most appalling de-
sCriDt!On. and directed mainly against the
organs Of the enemy's body Cheart, liver.
etcD. his ancestors. his OK. his ass. and
everything that was his" At length, when
every conceivable thing had been said that
Il was possible To say, the warriors drew
near. and at last some one threw n spear.
This. Of course. the signal for real
action and IN a few minutes the engage
rreut became general There was no STRAIT
egy or tactics Of any kind every man fight
Ing siEgle-handed.
Result of the battle.
But 20 ~e,urn to the battle was describ
ing Afta~ Il very few minutes fighting
the enemy were utterly routed. and prompt
ly turred tail and fed from the scene Of
the encounter leaving fehind them-after
all the uproar and the fcod Of vilifca ion
only three Of their warriors. and these not
dead. but only more or less badly wounded.
Quarter bailE neither given nor expected
IN these battles the PROSTATE blacks We're
promptly disrGtcfed by the leader of my
tribe. the COUT. de grace being given with
a waddy, o. ky ohted stick. TIE three bod
les were then placed on litters made out of
srearS aud grass. and were in due time
carried into our own camp
There We're many signs to prCSage
what was coming that l knew cannib;ll
feast was about to take place; but for OBJ
vic US reasons / did not protest against 1t.
nor did | take any notice whatever. The
women (whO do all the real work. fell on
their knees. and with their fingers scrape1
three long trenches in the sand. each about
seven feet long and three feet deep. Into
each of these ovens was placed one of he
bodies of the fallen warriors. and then the
trench was filed 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 re-
joIc,ng during this period and apparently
much pleasurable anticipation among the
triumphant blacks In due time the signal
vas given and the ovens laid open once
more. With a yell several warriors leaps
into each trerch and stuck spears through
the big Joints" And the moment the
roasted carcasses We're taken out of the
trenches the whole tribe literally fell upon
them and tore them limb from limb. l saw
rothers with q leg or an arm surrounded
by plaintive children, who were CRYING fer
their portion OF the toothsome dainty.
The First Cunufbnf Feast
Others. who were considered to have ta-
ken more than their share were likewise
fallen upon and their Joint" subdivided
and hacked to pieces with knives made
from shells. A more appalling more
ghastly or more truly sickening spectacle
Il IS impossible for the mind of man 10
conceive. A great cOrroboree was held
after the feast. but 1 crept to nv own
humpy and tried to shut out from NV rafa1
the shocking inferno l had just been com
PEELED TO witness. But let US leave so fear
fUl a subject and consider something mare
interesting and amusing. The women of
the tribe lived amicably enough together
as rule. but, of course, they had their
differences They would quarrel about the
merits AMI Gemerits of their own families
and countries; but the greatest source of
heartbur2ing and trouble was the iinpor-
tance of a new wife-especially If that wife
cFanced to be better looking than the
others In such case woe to the cornparn-
lively pretty wife. The women certainly
had novel way of settling their differ
eEces- The two combatants would retire to
some little distance. armed with one sttck
between them They would then stand
face to face, and one would bend forva ri
Uleekly while the other dealt her n try,v
terrific blow between the shoulders or on
the head-not with cane or light stick,