The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-01-23
Won HaIbeck's Adventure.
"a Tale Of the Guiana Hinterland.
From the Evening Post In Seven Parts.)
PART "

! From the Evening Post. In Seven Parts.)
PART ".
| Each year two virgins were set aside
| and confined in the house / have already
| spoken Of One Of these was destined 10
! be offered up as sacrifice. The girls
| were set aside each year on the day fol-
| lowing the annual ceremony, and were
! treated with the greatest care after their
| withdrawal from Ihe rest Of the tribe. The
| best food obtainable was given 10 them,
| and their one scanty garment was made
| of the finest and softest ibres, and brill
iantly colored with vegetable dyes
| Should either of the girls die during the
| year, the remaining one was sacrificed; IL
| both were alive on the day preceding the
/ sacrifice the choice was made in a man.
ner I will describe later. The one, whose
| fortune it was 10 be rejected. resumed
| her ordinary life in the tribe on the day
| following the sacrifice.
The victim was offered up in the follow
| ing way: She was given bunch Of bril-
liant flowers, and holding this in one
hand, was led by the chief OF the tribe
TO the side of the river. Arrived there,
a tree trunk was thrown across to the
small ledge where the burnt sacrifice was
daily offered up and along this the girl
passed. She then walked out to the small
point of rock at the edge of the chasm,
and stood with her back TO the statue
while the preparation were being made,
The mode Of sacrifice was strange in the
extreme. A large stone was secured in
a sling of grass-rope, the ends of the sling
being fastened TO tree stumps on either
side Of the river. The center of this
sling was then braced up by rope, which
was fastened round the reckoning hand
of the statue. AS the tree stumps were
situated some distance further down the
stream than the statue. The stone. on be-
ing released, swung outward with great
force, and precipitated the victim into the
awful abyss beyond.
But the way of releasing this horrid
messenger of death was a strange one and
offered some slight chance that
the victim might be saved A fire, con-
sisting of twenty-four sticks, was light
ed under the rope which held back the
stone, and II was at the moment that the
fire burnt through the rope sufficiently 10
allow the strain to tear ii apart that the
victim was hurled into the chasm. There
was just a possibility that the fire would
not burn through the rope. This had &C.
CURED on two occasions within the mem
DRY of the oldest of the Barawois men
living. On one occasion strong wind
had blown the fire away from the rope
and on the other a heavy rain had put the
h.
chance was indeed a slender one, but still
ii was a chance. In the event of this &C.
curing the girl was taken pack into the
tribe and given the curious privilege OF
choosing any man In the tribe for her
husband, being treated moreover with the
greatest consideration for the rest of her
days.
I settled down among these people with
a conviction that would be able to make
my escape as soon as 1t no longer suited
me to remain with them. But as the
weeks passed it became evident to me
that nothing short of miracle would en-
able me to leave the tribe. Sentinels were
posted al the only places where descent
from the plateau was thought possible,
and only on one occasion in the year
the evening of the great sacrifce-were
these men ever absent from their posts,
and then it was but for half an hour.
Even had l the opportunity of getting
away on that particular OCCASION which
was extremely improbable, seeing that
such a possibility would certainly be fore
seen and guarded against, carefully, the
fact that I was in an unknown country
and unprovided with guide or the neces-
sary stock of food rendered such an OPP
portunity quite useless to me.
With my servant Bian soon establish
ed friendly relations. She was a pleasant
girl and became attached to me, a cir
cumstance which was of the greatest i'm
portance to me later on In conversation
with her / learned that the great annual
sacrifice had taken place about d week
before my arrival al the village, and that
the two virgins had been set aside accord
ing to custom. One of them happened
to be a sister of Bans, and it caused me
the greatest establishment to observe the
in wit
ed her probable fate. One evening as
was returning from a stroll on the banks
of the river I passed close to the honse
of the sacrif1cial victims and saw leaning
against one of the corner posts of the up
per story young girl of great beauty.
Those who know the Won Halsbecks I'M
derstand that female beauty is thing of
which our family has some knowledge
Prof. Krause inserts here long note
in which he explains this reference to fe-
male beauty. 1t appears that the women
of the Won Halsbeck family have always
been noted for their extreme beauty; and
the professor relates at great length the
story of one. Helene Won Halsbeck, whose
beauty all but made her an empress. The
story is of great interest but as II does
not concern this present narrative, omit
it,
When ] say, therefore, that this was the
most beautiful of beautiful women I
have known, those who read this nara
tive will understand my establishment at
finding such perfection in such an out
landish place. The girl was. I should
judge, about seventeen years of age. Her
form was of the most perfect symmetry,
slender and graceful, and full of the most
delicate. tender lines, giving her whole
figure an air of gentle, budding woman
hood, charming beyond the power OF
words TO express. Her face was not less
pleasing than her form. Her eyes were
large and set well apart, her forehead
low and broad, her nose small and slight
~ aquiline. Her mouth was somewhat
large. but was exquisiteiy shaped Add
to this, long. coarse black hair, a skin
OF rich golden-brown color, and you
have before YOU as far as 1 can paint
her. Opaie, the sacrifice.
That night I questioned Bian about the
girl l had seen.
The Reward Of ValOr.
- To