The sun., 1900-12-30
RESCUED FROM CAPTIVITY.
A BLACK GIRL WHO WAS THE TALK OF
PARIS TEN YEARS AGO.
Princess Niarinse, Who Shot an Arab ~ Ne
Was stshbinE the Explorer Crampe,. 10
Found at Last In the soudan The Ro-
mantle Story Of 4 Bright west African Girl

| mantle Story Of . Bright west African Girl.
| Thirteen years ago Paul Crampel. brilliant
| young Frenchman. who had made a name by
| exploring the depths OF tho French Congo
country. was welcomed home to Paris with
| all the honors and attention that the French
| bestow upon their successful men. He brought
| with him a young black girl. and the French
| were entertained by her novel and romantic
story. Newspapers and magazines pub
lished pictures OF Paul Crampe and Marine
the bright. Jolly girl OF the Pahouins. the
| greatest tribe In West Africa
| Three weeks ago the French newspapers
| printed long accounts Of the overthrow OF
Sultan Rabah. who for years has been master
Of the Central soudan. They told OF the
killing OF this powerful potentate and Of tbs
| establishment Of French authority where he
had ruled supreme: and the long story con-
| tained one little paragraph which seems noe
| to have attracted much attention. IL IL said
| that the negro girl Niarinze. who had accom-
| panied Crampel back to Africa, and who for
| years had been a captive in the hands OF
Rabah, was found among the women who
| surrounded his tent as the French soldiers
| marched up To the quarters of the fallen Sui
tan. These soldiers were greatly surprised
| TO he addressed in French by woman Of the
| throng, 1t was Marine. Her days OF cap
| tvtv were over.
| The story of this girl Ia a most unusual one.
| About 1887 Crampel lived for months In tbs
| unknown east part of the French Congo. Hs
| wandered from chief to chief OF the great
| Pahouin tribe. that numbers at least a million
| souls. one day a chief surprised the young
explorer by remarkiug:
| i am astouished that you have lived 70
| come through all this country, The chiefs
| have treated you badly. and now you say YOU
will return alone among the whites A great
man like Won ought to take home women from
all the nations he meetS. Nov am going
TO show YOU that am the friend of the whites.
I will give YOU one Of my daughters to take
home with you"
The explorer protested IN vain that he did
not desire such present. lie told Chief lgus
hat he had left young wife at home. and
that among his people n man has only ons
wife. But the more they talked the more
certain it was that the chief would be offended
If his present were rejected. Crampel hal
only small following. and he could not AFFORD
to turn a friend into an enemy. So he said
he would accept the present
The next day at a large meeting OF ths
people the chief appeared leading Niarinzs
by the hand. The girl was then IL years old
when her father had brought the child befors
Crsmpel he said to the smiling little creature:
Now you have no longer a father or
mother or brothers or sisters. You belong
to the white man and you are going To his
country"
Thus it happened that this little girl was
taken from her native forests and introduced
TO the wonderful sights Of Paris where she
was soon placed in school. Crampel and his
wife expected that she would learn TO read
and live ont her years in France. But ons
day the plans for Narinze's future were sud
ham ad
commission to go TO the region between tho
Congo and Lake Tchad. He was to make
treaties with the chiefs Of the tribes and place
them under the protection OF France. In
fact. he was to be Frances representative
in the race for Lake Tchad in which England
and Germany were participating. Crampei
greatly needed an interpreter to accompany
him on his journey. II was believed that the
influence Of the Pahouins extended there and
that the tribes probably understood this
language He needed IA ahouin interpreter.
There was no time TO he lost. for his mission
required celerty. The young girl coming
her French lessons was an interpreter to his
hand. and so it happened that she went with
him back to Africa. The last their friends
saw of them was as they stood on deck wav-
ing their handkerchiefs as the ship bore them
out OF the harbor.
Crampe had not heard Of the conouerins
adv ance OF Rabah in the Soudan and he ap-
preached his destination little dreaming
that he and his small party were at the mercy
Of powerful foe Rabah was informed Of
every step the explorer took. He permitted
him to adv ance until tho little party had en-
tered the southern part of Wada. on tho
southern edge Of the Sahara. Then he sent
party to meet Crampel with orders To kill
the intruding white man. One day crowd
of apparently friendly Nobammedans sud-
denly overpowered and dis armed the Senegal
soldiers while at the same moment another
throng attacked Crampel and his Arab in-
terpreter aud stabbed them repeatedly with
knives. Then as the diving men lay on tho
ground the Arabs shot them through the head.
All lltheirclothingwas stripped from the bodies.
which were dragged through the scrub and
abandoned by the murderers. The black
members ofthe ex xpedition were kept as slaves.
One Of them escaped and he told this story OF
the part Niarinze had taken in the fearful
scene
He said that when the attack came, AZ
unexpected a. n thunderbolt on n sunny
day. the young girl seized a gun. shot dead
one Of the men who was stabbing her master
and a moment later she too fell dead with
a bullet through her body
But Mr.. Dybowski. who led the search
expedition which France sent out TO ascer-
tain what had become OF Crampel. returned
home with another story which he believed
to be the true one. He said that all the nativs
and Arab versions Of the affair that he could
gather agreed ia saying that the girl had
seized a gun TO defend her master. had shot
an Arab and wa- Immediately knocked down
and disarmed, that she had recovered from
the severe injury she received and was taken
further north as the sls We Of one of CrRmpel's
murderer-
This account now appears to have been
correct. The girl seems sooner
or later to have become attached to the es-
tsblishment Of the Sultan Rabah himself
lie doubtless heard that she had been in tho
white mans party and probably endeavored
to obtain from her all the information she
could give about Cramrel and his country.
Dybowski sought In vain for any written
account Of his Journey that Crampel might
have prepared Not until this late day
were any details OF this nature brought to
light. But on the same day that Marine
was rescued Crampel's diary was found
in Rabah's baggage.