The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1898-10-26

,nIv Of cannibals and canHlbal
!. shortly to be published as re
i, of the experiences of an Austrian
,;,,;.t and explorer, Joachim Frei
,.r yon Brcnner, who recently re
.n,,.d from Sumatra, where he has
,,., for several years engaged in tat
,n,v Of the native blacks. Vor
p,.nuer. who is apparently mos,
;,,,erii Young man, went into the
.nliect with German thoroughness,
.n,, will probably make large and
..urrehcnSivc volume, covering in
,r,,v ,hasc and detail the life and
,,.,,,u. of the natives Of that island.
Included in the equipment with which
10 started out, was camera, with
rbcn he has taken several hundred
cory striking and interesting photo
,,,,,b, to illustrate every point Of his
story.
,hhouri, Won Brenner's work was
Undertaken for the sake Of its scion
,ic value in the fields Of geography,
history and anthropology, his expert
srcr. will cnclude much that is of
,on,ar interest aud entertainment.
.s may BE- readily believed, it was an
Undertaking Of some hardibood to
study tribe Of cannibals at close
rausc. and when the young Austrian
,ruouncci his purpose he met with
considerable opposition from his
fr;cu.- ard associates, who freely
pplhesied that he would never return
ia announce the result Of his under
takir-. Even after his arrival in
pc. the Dutch residents, who had
some experience with the half civil
lied natives, did their best to persuade
him to give up his project and it was
with great difficulty that he secured
an outfit with which to penetrate into
the interior of the country, where
alone, of all lands known to white man,
cauuibalism is still regularly prac-
ticed Won l}renner's account of his
experiences after leaving civilization,
though told in plain and modest Ian
guage shows that the fears of his
friends and advisers were not alto
gether ungrounded. He says.
Il set out on my trip to the land of
the Bataks after having secured by
inducements, which to them appeared
caravan of thirty-six
carriers. There was but one European
in the party besides myself. We
we're conducted by native guide from
one Of the hill tribes, who was recon-
nended as thoroughly trustworthy
man, and who indeed proved invalua-
bic as time went on. Our course lay
over the high mountains which lie a
lew miles back from the coast at Deli,
md 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
ngratiating myself with the blacka I
'arrled large supply of all kinds Of
'lass beads, mirrors, knives cnd vari-
'us colored cloths: especially sort of
ed cloth with gold border, which the
blacks esteem very highly.
"The partially civilized tribes that
came across in the earlier stages of
ny journey, afford many opportunities
Or interesting study, and our progress
7as, therefore, slow, for I reasoned
nat the more thoroughly I understood
be customs and ways of these people
he better 1 should be able to under
tand those in the wilderness beyond,
'hlch was our ultimate destination.
"Une peculiar custom which was
'aturally among the first to impress
'Seli upon me and which apparently
'leval.ed among all the natives of the
slaId. is the method Of preserving
ac dead. The body is burned but
nc head is placed in small basket
u 'oi' OF bamboo pole as thick as
nan arm, and .ha.ched ever she top
'l'A the leaves Of the sugar. palm.
iere 1t Is left to bleach and dry and
nc sight of these CHASTITY sign posts
'mch we frequently came across was
a thing but reassuring. In some
aces the head is not detached, but
ae entire body is hung up in a SOFT Of
''cker work wrapping, suspended be-
"een two posts several feet above the
round, and it is possible to view
trough the interstices in the basket
'Ofk the CHASTITY remains which the
leezes swing to and fro as they would
~ hammock, with most uncabry eff
among the natives whom I first
neoantered I was en- object of mild
'u' intensely curious interest. It
.e,neo y, to give them great delight to
a'ner In crowds and watch me when