The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-16

renSated for by the enormous amount
Of prestige which accrued to me from
this whale episode. To cut long story
short, the natives fully believed that
had killed, single-handed, and brought
ashore both whales. And in the corro-
boreeS that ensued the poets almost
went delirious in trying to find suitable
eulogiumS to beStoW upon the mighty
white hunter. The mother whale sur
passed in size any 1 had ever seen or
read about. I measured her length by
pacing, and [ judged it to be nearly $50
feet. My measurements may not have
been absolutely accurate, but still the
whale was certainly larger than any
had ever seen or even read of. AS she
lay there on the beach the head tow
cred above me to height of nearly
Is feet. Never can l forget the scene
that followed, when the blacks from the
surrounding country had responded to
the smoke signals announcing the cap
ture of the great fish" From hum
dredS of miles south came the natives,
literally in their thousands-every man
provided with his stone tomahawk and
whole armory of shell knives. They
simply swarmed over the carcass like
vermin, and l saw many of them stag
gering away under solid Jumps Of flesh
weighing between 80 and 20 pounds.
For about a fortnight this cutting
and gorging went on. The spectacle
witnessed on the beach would have
been intensely comical were it not so
revolving. Many of the men and women
mad gorged themselves TO such an eX-
tent as to be absolutely unable TO walk,
and they rolled about on the sand,
tearing at the ground in agony. 1t
may amuSe you TO know that smoke
signals We're at once sent up for all the
istering angels could presently be seen
with their massage shells. rubbing the
diStended stomachs of the sufferers as
they lay on the beach. | saw some men
fairly bowling with agony, but yet still
devouring enormous quantities of oil
and blubber. Besides the massage
treatment with the thumbs as well as
Shells) the doctors" administered a
kind cf pill, or pellet, of some green
leaf, which they first chewed in their
own mouth, and then placed in that Of
the patient. So magical was this potent
herb in its action, that I feel sure it
would make the fortune of an enter
prising syndicate. Others, who had OBJ
tanned temporary relief through the
kind Offices OF the medicine men, re-
turned to the whales again, and had
another enormous gorge. In fact. the
blacks behaved more like wild beasts of
the lowest order than men, and in a
very short time-considering the enor-
nous bulk OF the understanding re-
manned except the immense bones.
MAKE USE OF THE VISITORS.
The orgy, however, had it's uses from
my point ot view. because 1 took adj !
vantage of the arrival of so many |
strange tribes to make myself ac-
Guainted with their chiefs, their lam
guages and their manners and customs,
in the hope that these tribes might be /
useful to me some day when l com
menced my journey overland to civil |
cation. For, of course, all hope of es-
cape by sea had now to be abandoned, |
since my boat was destroyed.
Soon after the loss of my boat, by the !
way. Yamba made me a small bark |
canoe, about Is feet long, but not more !
than IA inches wide and in this we I'M
dertook various little excursions TO-
studded the bay. The construction Of
this little canoe was very interesting. |
Yamba, first of all. heated the bark, !
and then turned the rough part under !
meath, in order that the interior might |
be perfectly smooth. She then sewed up
the ends, finally giving the little craft !
coat of resin, obtained by making in
cision in the gum trees. OF course, 1 |
missed my own substantial boat, and it |
was some little time before grew ac- |
customed to the frail canoe, which |
necessitated the greatest possible care !
in handling, and also on the part of the |
passengers generally.
OFF ON A WOMBAT HUNT.
One day I decided to go and explore
one of the islands, in search Of wom- |
bats, as wanted some skins to make
into sandals for myself / knew the
wombats haunted the islands in count
less thousands, because had seen them
rising in clouds every evening at sun
set. AS usual, Yamba was my only