The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-06-16

Wisned TO give the least possible trouble
l have seen, on the other hand. whales
swimming IN a circle around a school of
in!ssr rnnsg and with mighty exertion
punching them together in whirI-
pool set In motion by their flukes, and
when the small fry were all whiried nice
ly together, one or the other of the levi
athans, lunging through the center with
open jaws, take in a boatload or So at
a single mouthful. Off the Cape of Good
Hope l saw schools of aidines or other
small fish being treated in this way bv
great numbers of cavally-fish. There was
not the slightest chance of escape for the
and around, feeding from the edge of the
mass; 1t was interesting to note how
rapidly the small fry disappeared; and
though 1t was repeated before my eyes
over and over, l could hardly perceive
the capture of a single sardine so dex-
terously was it done.
While passing through the Straits of
Magellan. he was pursued by savages.
Who, when they neared the Spray. called
to him Yammerschooner! yammer-
schooner! which is their begging term:
easily fooled. He writes:
was not for letting them know that
was alone, and so 1 stepped into the cab
IN, and passing through the hold, came
out at the fore-Scuttle, changing nv
clothes as l went along. That made two
men Then the piece of bowsprit which
which | had still on board, 1 arranged
forward the lookout dressed az a
seaman, attaching a line by which I
could pull it into motion. That made
yammerschooner but for all that the
savages came on faster than before 7
saw saw that, besides four at the paddles in
the canoe nearest to me, there were 9th
erS in the bottom, and that thew were
shifting hands often. At eighty Yards |
hred shot across the bows of the near
est canoe, at which they all stopped but
only for moment. Seeing that they
persisted in coming nearer | fired the
second shot so close to the chap who
changed his mind quickly enough and
beloved with fear, 'Bueno 10 via Isla -
and, sitting down in his canoe, he rubbed
was thinking of the good port captain
advice when l pulled the trigger and
must have aimed pretty straight: howev-
er; miss was as good as a mile for Mr.
Black Pedro" as he it was and no
other, leader in several bloody massa-
ores He now directed the course of his
canoe for the island, and the others fol-
lowed him. | knew by his Spanish lingo
ana by his full beard that he was the
villain have named, a renegade mon
Srel ana the worst murderer in TERRA
gel fuego. The authorities had been in
search of him for two years The Fue-
gans are not bearded
A few days later when the Spray pass
ed Thieves Bay two canoes put out and
followed in her wake, so that night
Captain Slocum prepared for them by
sprinkling on the deck tacks which a
friend had given him:
Now, it is well known that one can NOT
step on a tack without saying something
about IT. a pretty good Christian will
whistle when he steps on the CONNER
howl and claw the air. and that was Just
what happened that night about II
o'clock, while 1 was asleep in the ca bin
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 | or
plC GO ha6 har
OF dog: they howled like pack of
hounds. l had hardly use for a gun. They
jumped pell-mell, some into their canoes
and some into the sea, to cool off | sup
pose. and there was deal of free Ian
guage over 1t as they went | fired the
rescals salute of several guns when I
came on deck, to let them know that I
was at home, and tnen L turned in again
feeling sure L should not be disturbed
any more by people who left in so great
hurry.
The Fuegans, being cruel. are natural
ly towards: they regard a rifle with su-
perstitious fear:
~, The only real danger one could see
would be from allowing them to surround
one within bow-shot, or to anchor within
range where they might lie in ambush
even had L not put tacks about, L could
have cleared them off by shots from INV
cabin and the hold. 1 always kept a
the hold and in the cabin and in the
forepeak, so that retreating to any of
these places | could hold the fort sim
ply by shooting up through the deck
Perhaps the greatest danger to be APP
pretended was from the use of fire. Ev-
cry canoe carries fire; nothing is thought
OF that; for it is their custom to commu-
nlcate by smoke signals. The harmless
brand that lies smoldering in the bottom
of one of their canoes might be ablaze
In ones cabin if he We're not on the
alert. The port captain of Sandy Point
warned me particularly of this danger.
Only a short time before they had fired
a Chilean gunboat by throwing brands in
The Spray had no openings in the cabin
or deck, except two scuttles, and these
were guarded by fastenings which could
not be undone without waking me II
were asleep.
At Port Angosto many ludicrous Incl
dents occurred, the writer says:
When l found myself, for instance. dis
entanglng the sloop's mast from the
branches of tree, after she had drfted
three times around a small island.
against my will, it seemed more than
speak about it, so 1 thought, or die of
lockjaw, and 1 apostrophized the Spray
as an impatient farmer might his horse
or his OK. Didn't you know cried /
didn't you know that you couldn't climb
tree?" But the poor old Spray had
essayed. and successfully, too, nearly ev-
and my heart softened toward her when
l thought of what she had gone through.
Moreover, she had discovered an island.
On the charts this one that she had sailed
around was traced as a point of land. I
named 1t Alan Eric Island, after a wor-
thy literary friend whom l had met in
strange by-places, and l put up a sign,
Keep off the grass which. as discov-
erer. was within my rights.
Captain Slocum visited Juan Fernandez
the island where Alexander Selkirk (Rob-
| inson Crusoe) lived in complete solitude
/ for four years and four months. One of
the most pleasant experiences he had on
| his whole voyage a day spent with
the children of the little community, who
one and all. went out with him to gather
wild fruits:
We found ounces. peaches. and figs.
! and the children gathered a basket of
! each. 1t takes very little to please chill
/ dren. and these little ones. never hearing
a word in their lives except Spanish, made
the hills ring with mrth at the sounds
of words in English. They asked me the
names of all manner of things on the
! island. We came to q wild hg-tree load
( ed with fruit, of which l gave them the
! English name. "Figgies, fggies!" they
cried. while they picked till their baskets
I were full. But when l told them that
| the bra they roir az only :,