The times., 1899-10-08
"A BRUSH WITH sAvAeEs.
Captain srocum Finds new Use for
Carpet Tacks.
lFrons the Centnrr !

trfofE the CenfuFr.f
Capt Joshua Slooum. in his solitary voy-
age around the world in the sIoop Spray
found new and exciting use for carpet
taeks. He thus describes an encounter with
the natives OF TERRA dei Fuego:
Canoes. manned by savages from Fort
esque. now came in pursuit The wind fail
ing light. they gained on me rapidly, un-
I'll coming within hail, when they ceased
padding and bowleggeJ savage stood
up aud called TO me, 'Yammerschooners
yammerschoonert' which is their begging
term. ] said No. Now. I was not for
letting them know that was alone. and so
stepped into the cabin. and. passing
through the hold, came out at the fore
seuttle, changing my clothes as / went
along That made two men. Then the
| piece of bowsprit which I had sawed OF
at Buenos Aires. and which had still on
board, L arranged forward on the lookout
dressed as seaman. attaching a line by
which l could pull it into motion That
! made three of US. and we did not want to
| yammerschooner; but for all that the saw
ages came on faster than before. I saw
| tnat, besides four at the paddles in the
canoe nearest to me. there were others in
| the bottom. and that they we're shifting
| hands often
| AT eighty yards | fired shot across the
| bow OF the nearest canoe. at which they
all stopped. but only for moment See
! ing that they persisted in coming nearer.
| fired the second shot so close to the chap
| who wanted TO .yammerschooner' that he
/ changed his mind quickly enough and bel
lowed with fear, sBueno 10 via Tsla; and
sitting down in his canoe he rubbed his
starboard cathead for some time. / was
thinking OF a good port captains advice
when l pulled the trigger, and | must
have aimed pretty straight; however. a
miss was as good as mile for Mr. Black
Pedro. as he it was. and no other. a leader
| in several bloody massacres He now di-
rected the course Of his canoe for the ISL
and, and the others followed him. / knew
i by his Spanish lingo and by his full beard
+! that he was the villain / had named. a
! renegade mongrei. and the worst murderer
/ in TERRA del Fuego. The authorities had
! been in search Of him for two years The
Frsgans are not bearded. At
night, March s, at anchor in a snug cove
/ at the Turn, every heartbeat counted
4 thanks. Here / pondered on the events OF
! the last few days, and. strangely enough.
instead Of feeling rested from sitting or
] lying down. now began to feel jaded and
worn, but hot meal Of venisOn stew soon
brought me right. so that / could sleep
As drowsiness came on first sprinkIed the
7
! Samblich had given me, and then turned
| in. l saw TO it that not a few of them
stood business end up; for when the
/ Spray passed Thieves Bay two canoes had
!, put out and followed in her wake. and
| there was no Disgusting the fact any long
er that was alone.
Now, il is we'll known that cne cannot
step on tack without saying something
about it. pretty good Christian viii whis-
tie when he steps on the commercial
end of carpet tack "a savage win howl
and claw the air, and that was just what
! happened that night about II o'clock.
while was asleep in the cabin, where the
| savages thought they had me- sloop and
ALL They changed their minds, however.
when they stepped On deck. for then they
thought that I or somebody else had them
had no need of a dog. they hoEled like
a pack of hounds I had hardly use for
gun. They jumped peil-meIl some into
their canoes and some into the sea. 10 cool
off, l supposed, and there was deal of
free language over it as they went. l
fired the raseals a salute OF several gupS
when | came on deck, TO let them know
that / was at home, and then I turned in
again, feeling sure that l should not be
disturbed any more BY people who left
in so great a hurry"