The National tribune., 1902-07-10

fairly outside of Melbourne hirbor. our
ship's company had received a mysterious
addition of 45 men. who now made their
appearance from every conceivable place
where q human being could conceal him
self from viSilart eyes. Fourteen of the
number erept out of the bowsprit, which
was of iron, and hollow. where they had
come very near ending their existence by
suffocation: 30 more turned out of some
watertanks which were dry; another de-
tachment was unearthetI from the lower
hold, and at last the whole number of
stowaways were mustered forward, and
word was passed to the Captain to learn
his pleasure concerning them
Personally, l felt good deal of an
noyanee ever the Affair, as it had been
my watch part of the preceding night,
and strict orders had been given to pre-
vent any sailors from coming on board
EXCEPT our own. as we were far from
wishing to complicate ourselves IN any
way with the English Government. How
such n number of men could have gained
our decks unseen was Il mystery to me
then and is still; but there they were,
and the question now was, how to dis
pose of them
Capt WadieN soon made his appear
ancp. not In The best of humor. and with
out any circumlocutiOn demanded of our
new recruits to what country they be
IOngcd and for what purpose they were
there.
The old sea-dogs chuckled. rolled over
their tobacco. hitched up their trousers,
and with one accord. protested that they
were natives of the Southern Confederacy,
and had come on beard thus surreptItious-
ly for the purpose OF joining us.
There was something absolutely refresh
ing in the effroEtery with which that mot
ley crew had first stG!ca en- board, at the
moment of our leaving port. and then
claimed the privilege OF remaining. on the
ground that they were our countrymen.
l verify believe half the nations of the
earth had contributed to this proposed
accession to our numbers, but sailors are
genuine cosmoPelitarS. and. as general
thing change their nati0nalities as readily
as they do their names: besides, we really
needed their assistance. and as they mad
come through no cG1rivance of ours, We
determined to consider it providential, and
they were al enlisted A few who were
not seamen. we made available as
marines
We now laid our course for New Zea
land, where we hoped to fall in with
Yankee whaler or two, but after cruising
unsuccessfully for several days, we
steered to the northw:fd. and ere long
sighted Drummond's Island. one of the
South Pacific cTo;Tp. somewhat Of fav-
orite resort of whalers for the purpose of
procuring water and fruit.
AMONG THE CANNIBALs.
Drummond's Island is about 20 miles
in circumference. and lies very near the
equator. As seen from the sea, its gen.
eral appearance is beautiful in the ez-
treme. and with every variety Of tropical
fruit growing luXuriantly on its sur
face. and lovely climate, tempered as
ii is by the breath Of the great Southern
Ocean, it seems too fair q spot TO be the
Inheritance of the miserable race of saw
ages who inhabit It. Until very recently
these natives had numbered eannibaiiSm
among their accomplishments, consci"n-
tiously jevouring every one whom they
captured or slew in battle
When about eight miles distant from
the Island. upon which we were bearing
down under steam. we discovered a boat
making towards US. and in about two
hours it WAS alongside.
Il contained three natives, all perfect
ly naked and frightfully tattoOed, wn-
brought with them an abundance of iish
and fruit which they exchanged with us
for tobacco. the only article of nIsrchan-
disc for which they seemed disposed to
barter.
We had on board an old sailor. who
had visited the Island years before in an
American wha!er, and had acquired suGi-
cielit knowledge Of their language to con-
verse with them after i fashion. Through
him we inquired of them if any whalers
had BEEN there lately. and learned that
there had not within the last three
months
As there seemed no immediate pros
pact of capturing "A prize in that vicinity,
We got under weigh again, greatly to the
astOnishmert Of our cannibal friends. who
Were evidently at less to understand by
wha: process we moved through the wa
ter with no sail set, or through the
agency of any other motive power that
they could discover. Cautiously they
padded in cur wake. cuFioRsly scanning
the troubled waters. beneath which the
propeller was revolving. apparently with
the view Of studying out the mystery of
the strange craft that had visited their
seas, until the engineer. at n hint from
the officer Of the deck. performed 4 stir
ring solo upon his steam whistle, when.
with every appearance Of CONSERVATION.
they took TO their paddles. and only
paused when they had placed Il safe dis
tance between Themselves and the scream
iI.;- monster.
Before saHdown the first Of the Canni-
bal Islands bad faded in the distance. and
having let oar steam 20 down, we gEdet!
along with all sail set before the south
east trade winds, at about seven knots
sn h0Cr.
The next afternoon, just before the
sun disappeared below the horizon, we
could discern black speck far off to the
northward. Ere lepy the man at the
masthead reported it 10 be sail stand
ing toward us. and before dark we
brought her 70 by Il blank cartridge from
oar i2poUnder. An officer was dispatched
On board 10 ascertain her nationality and
returning, reported her TO be the schooner
j. Fiert of HOrclHlu. on trading ex
ncdiiion among the islands for eocoanu,
oil, which is almost their sole article oi
merchandise.
This much Of the hnariin. officers re
port was OF no especial interest. but h.
added an adtiendHn that was more TO the
purpose. The Honolulu craft brought tht
gratifying Intelligence that five Yanke,
whalers were lying -t anchor off Ascen
Sion Island. so thiiher we steered bu
made Il slight detour on the way to yisi
Strons's Island, where whalcrs frequently
put in.
This island is situated about 500 mile
to the northward of Drumm0nds, and i
in reality a most charming spot 50 far a
its pbysie: features CO. Like the on
we had lately left. it produces. spontan
eously, all the luscious fruits of the tropi
cal zone, and like that. also, is the abid
ing place of similar degraded race.
About 6 O'Clock on the afternoon o
March 81, we had the island on CIR star
board beam. and field and spy-glasse
were in rpuuSition 10 discover whcfle