The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-02-22
STORIES,
Derelicts in Australia Who Pre-
ceded Louis de Rougement.
AN ESCAPED CONVICT.
White Men Who Had Lived So
Long Among the Sayages that
they Had Forgotten Their
Native Language.
Native Language.

.
Native Language.
The meteoric appearance OF Louis oe
Rougemont, with marvellous story OF
hitherto unheard-of adventures during
an alleged residence Of some thirty
years with the blacks of Northern Aus
tralia, revives recollections Of the wild
white men" that from time to time
have fallen into the hands Of the un-
civilized Australian aborigines and
been restored to white humanity after
long years of separation and degrada-
ton.
The first recorded wild white man
was William Buckley, a native Of Mac
clesfeld, and at the close Of the last
century a soldier in the 4th, or Kings
Own, Regiment. On December "a, 1902,
in company with six other soldiers, he
was involved in an attempt on the life
Of the Duke Of Kent He was SEN
fenced to transportation for life and
taken out in convict-ship to the An
tipodes. During a brief stay at the
head of what is now the harbor of Mel
bourne he contrived to escape in COM
pany with two other convicts. The
latter perished-how was never ascer-
tained-and when Buckley was subse-
quently questioned as to their fate he
was exceedingly reticent and discon-
certed That it was case of cannibal-
ism was the general belief Of the early
settlers around Melbourne. Anyhow, in
the last stages Of hunger and privation,
Buckley lay down upon what proved to
be the grave of recently buried chief.
Luckily for him the widow came along,
and superstitiously concluded that her
dear departed had returned to life in
the shape Of white man. She prompt
ly annexed him as her own, led him to
the camp of the blacks, exclaimed the
circumstances under which she had
found him, and secured his admission
as chief of the tribe, a position for
which he was physically well qualified,
as he was man of great stature &c feet
Z inches), strength and endurance.
For the next thirty-two years Buck
ley led the life Of a savage, hunting,
fishing, and fighting with the tribe that
adopted him. It was on July y, 1885,
that he saw a white face for the first
time after the lapse of more than thirty
years. On that day the pioneers Of the
city Of Melbourne landed from their
little schooner, and Buckley advanced
to meet them. He had by this time be-
come but little superior to the savages
around him, but the newcomers noticed
the comparatively light color OF his
English words from the depths of his
memory, and at last succeeded in ar
ticulating the word bread" He made
himself very useful as an interpreter
between the new white settlers and the
blacks, and when his story reached
London, the imperial authorities mag
unanimously drew the sponge over his
offence and sent him free pardon. He
enjoyed a small pension in his later
years, and lived until February 2, 1856,
when he was thrown out of a cart and
killed in lis seventy-sixth year. The
site of the present town of Geelong,
about forty miles from Melbourne, was
the headquarters of the tribe to which
Buckley was attached during his three
decades Of savage life. Three miles
from Geelong there is still shown a
cave in a river gorge where he is said
to have resided, and the adjacent rap
IDS continue to perpetuate his name as
Buckley's Falls.
James Morrill,, native Of Maldon,
Essex, was the sole survivor Of the
shipwreck of the bark Peruvian, that
struck on reef off the northeastern
coast Of Queensland on March s, 1916.
He lived with the Queensland blacks
until his rescue in February, 1868. An
other shipwreck sailor, John Renton by
name, was with the Queensland blacks
for an even longer period, twenty years.
The story Of a little cabin-boy named
Narcisse Pierre Pellatier ought to have
attracted the attention Of the boys
novelists long before now. He en-
gagged as cabin boy on the St. Paul,
bound from China to Australia with
$50 Chinese emigrants. She also struck
on reef off the northeastern coast Of
Queensland Officers and crew got
away in the boats. not troubling them
selves about the Chinese passengers,
and in their hurry forgetting the little
cabin boy, who was subsequently found
by the blacks in dying condition in
a Granny among the rocks. They
nursed him back to life, fed him, treat
ed him well, and, in fact, made him the
pet of the tribe. Nearly all the Chinese
passengers were captured by the blacks
and eaten up two at time. The flesh
of a Chinaman is esteemed great deli
cacy by the cannibal blacks OF Queens
land. From the point of view of a can
nibal, vegetarian is vastly superior to
a meat-eater. Little Pellatier lived
with the blacks for seventeen years,
and was rescued by British ship, the
John Bell, on April II, 1875.
Aluminium Instead OF Linen.
Collars, Cuffs, shirt-fronts and like
articles usually made Of linen are be-