The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-25


She deduced this latter fact from the &C.
centric circles which the tracks followed
Following up these tracks, we did find
a white man alone and dying from thirst
lie was hopelessly imbecLe. He lived with
me for two years, a serious incumbrance
and never regained his intelligence until
Just before he died. He asked who l was
and where he was. and then said his name
was Gtbbon, and that he had been a mem
Der of the Giles expedition. The place
where he was lost was, / now understand
called by the Giles expedition "Gibson's
Desert and it lies in the southeast of
Western Australia.
After Gibsons death 1 made up nv
mind to end my days in solitude, and
'he reason Tor this was partly that / SEEM
ed doomed to disappointment every time
an opportunity offered itself to return TO
civilization, and partly, also. on the. urgent
soIlCltations of my wife and the tribes
with whom lived. They pointed out to
me that l had everything a man could
want, and that I could be king among
them. 1t was moreover quite evident 10
lhem that my fellow white men did not
want me. Thus for something like twenty
years l made my home with them i'm the
mountainous region near the center of the
continent where 1 ultimately became king
or ruler, over number of large tribes.
from this mountain home 1 made frequent
long Journeys, and traversed at one time
or another a great part of the interior of
the continent
once L followed on the camel track of
white party with the tribe for the pur-
pose OF picking up empty tins and for
otner thlngS useful to us, and I came
upon an Australian newspaper. I remem-
per IL was the Sydney Town and Country
journal, bearing date somewhere between
1874 and 1876. 1t was a surprise indeed. I
re- Iea t II over and over, until l had learnt
II by heart, and preserved it in an opos-
sum skin cover until it was literally worn
to pieces.
Much of the information this newsnanar
contained puzzled me greatly, and l near.
~ worried myself into insanity over a
statement that the the deputies of Al
SAGE and Lorraine had refused to vote in
the German Parliament and had walked
out' lurn 1t over how l might, l could
not understand how the representatives
OF two great departments in nv own
country could possibly be in the German
Parhament-knowiug absolutely nothing
OF course, of the war of 1870.
The tribe over which | reigned was com
posed OF beings who were certainly low
down on the human scale, but at the same
time they have elaborate laws which gov
erh their daily life precisely as in the case
OF clVlllzed people. Briefly described thew
are saVages, repulsive in appearance, who
nave not even risen to such a point Of
CIVILIZATION as to have permanent houses
addicted to canniballsm, and altogetb4, Of
very degraded type. But, nevertheless
l must say that they have many gon5
qualities and that their code of honor
would bear comparison with that of anv
civilized nation,
although no permanent houses Wero
erected the natives with whom lived did
Dulld habtations, which they occupied
curing the two or three months of cold
weather. Ihese were made of sticks
driven into the ground around which
branches, twigs, roots and brushes were
interviewer like basket. The spaces in
the walls were covered with mud or with
the material used in the construction ar
the white ants nest. In cold weather tbe
nuts were lined with emu and Kangaroo
skins, and they are much more comfort
aple imam can probably be imagined from
my description.
Frequently the number of these hutg
gathered together in one place forms a
large village, though al other times the
communities split up into tribes of TWEEN
~ or thirty families each. Each family
on the average, consists of one man, three
women and i've or six children, so that
even single tribe makes a very consider
able gathering.
While my natives did not. as a rule
paint the body, on great occasions. such
as corroborees, initiation ceremonies. and
other festivities, they paint and decorate
themselves deliberately, each tribe having
It's own design of decoration, and even a
geometrcal design for each ceremony
The pigments used in decoration are If
many colors, but chiefly yellow, red.
white and black
Ordinarily the only clothing known con-
sists OF coating of greasy CLAW mixed
with charcoal. This serves many pur-
poses: 1t keeps off the cold during winter
ana Is also a protection against the at
lacks of insects. In summer a speciai
kind of pigment is used to keep off in
scots, and this material is scented with
KIND of penneroyal. They occasionally
stick on to this clay clothing the feather
down from swines, cockatoos geese
ducks, turkeys and other birds This
serves as a further protection, and when
they want to improve upon the touches
OF red, they use blood obtained from the
arm of man. Other ornaments are the
wing and tail feathers from all the large
birds, such as the emu or native conDan-
ion, these being worn in the hair usually
They also make use of feather tufts on
the breast and shoulders, while the bones
and teeth of animals are made into ling
ling necklaces. From this brief descrin-
ton, 1t will be evident that my subjects
presented most fantastic appearance on
full dress occasions. and 1t must be added
that they are cannibals.
CannlbaliSm prevails TO a very great ex-
tent, but is governed by many rules. Usu-
ally, IL Is the slain victims in battle that
are eaten by the victorious side. and as
the object seems to be to acquire the val
or and virtues of the person eaten. 1 en-
deayored to wean the tribes from carni-
balism by assuring them that If they made
bracelets, anklets and necklaces out of
the dead mans hair they would achieve
their end equally well. When a family
grows too large, and the mother-being
the beast of burden-is unable to carry
one of the children, the father orders IL
to be dubbed and eaten. This, however.
Is entirely actuated by love, as the ma
tives have a horror of natural decay.
Manned and deformed children are also
killed and eaten Women and people who
die natural death are never eaten. When
a man has to be eaten there is always
a grand corroboree. All parts are con-
sumed, the brain, heart and kidneys be-
ing considered special delicacies Some of
the bones, such as those from the ankle.
are used as ornaments. Often they are
strung together to form jingling neck,
laces. but they are chiefly made up into
War-belts, which rattle when the owner