The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-11-02

| been east away that he first saw a sal
on the horizon. Although in the
course OF two and a half years five
ships passed the Sand-spi; he failed
utterly 10 attract their attention
Water he never lacked for. when n n
water save ont he condensed sea-wa CT
IN his kettle. Seeing that pe..cans
We're in the habit OF visiting the island
and flying away into unknown sp zee.
ne conceived the idea OF utilizing them
as messengers. He scratched a mes
sage with a sharp nail on the tin disk
which forms the bottom OF tins OF con
densed milk. This message he pre-
pared in English. French. Dutch. Ger
man and Italian. He fastened them
round the necNs of the pelicans by
means of fsh gut and shark hide The
birds flew away and never returned 90
the island. Twenty years aI-erward.
on his return % civilization. some Cd
inhabitants OF Freemant'a told him
that a pelican carrying tin disk
round its neck. bearing a message in
French had been found many years
previously by an old boa-man on the
beach near the muulL OK the Swan
rive.
on one occasion his island was visit
ed by a flock of parrots. who ate up
nearly all his green corn and then went
off. HE made an almanac with piles OF
shells, keeping account Of the years by
making nOtcEes on his bow.
After two years he heard his dog
barking wildly on the beach. Rushing
down to the shore. he saw catamaran
nearing the island upon which several
human beings were lying PROSTATE.
When the oatamaran came near to- the
island he saw that il was surrounded
by sharks and carried four black per-
sons-d man, a woman and two boys
all lying PROSTATE from exhaustion
He drove off the sharks. beached the
catamaTan. and carried the blacks in
TO his hut. After considerable efforts
he succeeded in reviving them. They
were very frightened. imagining that
they had died and We're in the pres
ence OF the Great Spirit. He lived wiUh
them some time on the island and sue
ceeded in teaching them some English
The man was always sullen and super
stitiOus. so that De Rougemont found
it necessary to keep a strict eye upon
his movements and 10 deprive him OF
spears and other weapons with which
ne might take his life After they
had been six months on the island they
succeeded in dragging the heavy boat
across the Sand-spit and launching il
on the opposite side. They then took
on board a liberal allowance OF food
and water, buried the box of pearls
deep in the sand on one end OF the
island, and leaving the hut of pearl
shells intact, they set sail in the direc-
ton indicated by the native woman,
who was the most intelligent of the
quartette On the fifth day they sight
ed a small island, and on the tenth day
they reached the Australian mainland.
His native fellow-passengerS at once
landed, and by means OF smoke sig
nails announced their arrived to the
tribes in the vicinity. An immense
crowd speedily assembled and behaved
as IL he were god. They then pro-
vided him with a wife. a young woman
who remained his wife for one day
only. On the following day he effect
ed an exchange with the man who had
been cast ashore on his island. The
man was glad to obtain younger wife,
while De ROugsmont was delighted to
obtain a companion with whom he
could converse in English and who re-
garded him with dog-like fidelity,
which more than once saved his life.
The locality where he landed was the
Cambridge Gulf, on the north-nCr,h-
west coast of Australia. The natives
possess a certain degree of civilization.
He settled down among the natives.
who held him in high honor. His des-
cription of his life among the black
men has hardly been commenced, and
the story is TO be continued month
after month until ii is finished.
This story of European who has
lived thirty years among savages in a
country that has hitherto never been
explored is one without precedent or
parallel. The editor of the Wide
World Magazine declares that he has
satisfied himself by the closest investi-
CATION of the absolute accuracy of al
the statements made by NJ. de Rouge
mont.
cit only remains TO add to this re-
markable and thrilling story that it is
a fabrication. Investigation has estab-
lished beyond a question that De
ROugemont is an impOsterD