The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1904-07-24


and gaze in open-mouthed wonder at
prehistoric skeletons from Siberia, to-
tenn poles from Alaska, bone spears
| from the cannibal islands of the Pa
| cific, and thousand other curios from
! all the end of the earth, they seldom
| give a thought to how the things came
there. 1t seems as natural as for the
morning milk to appear promptly on
the breakfast table. Yet the collec-
ton of museum specimens Is one of
the most difficult and adventurous of
| professions.
In one of the principal museums of
| America the other day a group of Of
ticials were talking about one of their
number who happened to be away on
| sick leave. He's never been really
we'll since he came back from his ex-
petition to Patagonia said man
whose face was brOnzed by long ex-
posture to the tropical sun in many
| parts of the world "He had to sleep out
| in the open for many months, without
even tent part of the time, and the
rains were so incessant that for over
/ three weeks he never wore dry cloth
| ing. No wonder he got broken up, poor
fellow! His health was completely
ruined by that trip, and now he is al
ways suffering from rheumatism and
| ague."
And do you know" said another of
| the officials. that he was ordered off
| on that trip at a days notice. He was
asked one afternoon by the authorities
whether he could be ready to sail for
Buenos Ayres and thence to Pata-
| gonia, on the following morning. He
was young and unmarried. so he said
| yes. In this line of work a man has to
be ready to move to the other side of
| the earth as rapidly as a war CORE
| spondent or a soldier, but l think the
| dangers that he runs are even greater
| than theirs"
| The reports sent in by various coll
lectors who have been sent abroad by
| American museums in recent years
bear out this statement. Consider, for
| example. the remarkable experiences of
| DIR. Berthold Laufer of the Berlin
| Academy of Sciences among the Gill
| yak, fungus and Ainu tribes on the
Island of Saghalin about six years
ago.
After spending some time on the
| island, gathering idols, amulets and
other articles for a well-known Ameri-
| can museum, DR.. Laufer was taken i'll
| ablywith the grippe at a Gilyak village
| He lay on his back for weeks, and di-
rectly he got up again he was at
tackled by pneumonia--the result of
| the hardships OF his life-and his in
vestigations suffered a long interrupt
| ton.
AS soon as he could stand, the doc
| tor got horse and rode over the
| island to visit the fungus and Ainu
| tribes. After a few days he collapsed
| from exhaustion and could no longer
| ride his horse; but he got a reindeer
sledge and continued on his journey.
| Then he received a telegram from the
| Russian Governor of the island, tell
| ing him to return Immediately If he
| valued his life, for a band of outlaws
was terroriZing the region by Staying
the natives and holding up travellers.
Dr. Laufer put the telegram in his
| pocketbook and calmly drove his rein
deer ahead until he reached the Ainu
| TRIBES and collected lot Of valuable
| information from them, as well as
some remarkable museum specimens.
Il had very good success in using
the photograph" said DR.. Laufer.
land obtained songs of the Gdlyak
and fungus. 1t was difficult to talk
| to the people, because there were no
| interpreters, and nobody knew more
than the most common phrases of
| Russian, although Saghalien is a Rus
sian colony. Among the Ainu, Rus
sian is entirely unknown, and for the
| purpose of interpreting / had to use
| Japanese, with which, however. they
are not very familiar either. Never
| theless, my knowledge of the Japanese
| language facilitated my work among
them, since they like the Japanese
| people.
Il did not succeed in obtaining any
| anthropometric measurements. al
4 I 10 do rTNa--
were afraid that they would die at
| once after submitting to the process
| Although I had their confidence. I
| failed in my efforts i'm this direction.
| even after Offering them presents
which they considered of great value
II only succeeded in measuring q
single individual, man of imposing
stature and great strength. He was a.
| fine-looking creature, but after a few
measurements had been taken he fell
PROSTATE on the floor the picture of
despair, and groaned: Now am
| going to die Tomorrow
When / visited one of the Gilyak
| villages the people were celebrating
their bear festival For five days I
assisted in the ceremonial, and was
even permitted to witness the sacrifice
Of the dog. which is kept secret from
the Russians.
while among the Giiyaks I took
photographic records of songs, which
| created the greatest sensation among
the Russians as well as among the ma
tives. A young Gilyak woman who
| sang into the instrument said:
1T took me so long to learn this
song, and this thing has learned It at
once. without making any mistake.
There is surely man or spirit in
the box which initiates me-
UAII tho tiuna she nrvf,aar aad
laughing with excitement"
DR.. Laufer's diary contains the fol-
lowing entry:
"2d January started by dog
sledge northward. This journey was
exceedingly difficult and sometimes
even dangerous. At one time | mar
rowly escaped drowning when cross
ing the ice at the foot of a steep pro-
montory. 1 broke through the ice,
which was much weakened by the ac-
ton of the waves. Fortunately, my
guide happened to upset his sledge at
the same moment when broke
through Thus IL was that he saw my
situation and extricated me with his
staff"
One Of the most remarkable expedi-
tions undertaken by a museum collec-
tor in recent years was that of Walde-
mar Jochelson I'm Siberia, from the Sea
Of Okhotsk westward over the Stano-
vol Mountains TO the Yukaghir, and
thence to Yakutsk and Irkutsk. This
Journey amounted to nearly 5000 miles,
and Mr.. Jochelson was accompanied
all the way by his wife, herself a not
ed scientist and a doctor OF medicine