New-York tribune., 1905-06-11

catad that the tribe was either migratory or on
march, that my captors nunDeseu - Issra,, ns.a a.,
several hundred strong, women and chiloren IN
cluded. I was offered no moestauon, uu. W.. We
compelled to remain under tree on the ous-
SKIRTS of the encampment under heavy gusro-
rTi,a sun had Redeemed the horizon by the tiho
we reached the camp, and in the nght OF .io =.
early morning object OF great ~,
to all those who remained In camp wins .nS Ia
rT.rriors ran out to see what 1t was that hao
come down into their midst from the skies
aco intense was the interest Of the women anu
children in me- clad 1 was In e close nt.liis
bITe acrobat costume that they had to pc driven
TO their duty OF preparing breakfast oy lneiI
male relatives Kept prisoner under suaIu,
hS 70 think that the intentions OF tho
chief toward me were entirely hostile, yet tnen
kindness in other respects puzzieo me ~. q
11ttIs We had no means of communicating e1-
cent by pantoniIne, but they readily unoerstooo
me NV first request was for drink OF wafer,
and in response to it woman was eai'eu e,+taTa
words exchanged between them ana the "otuaii WON
disappeared, to return in few minutes Win d
gourd fun of clear cool water. When had IL nm
tsbed drinking they asked by signs II
wanted more Ny food was sent to me by the
chief himself, and shortly after breakfast was
corra5 before him for inQuisition In al tEe
nanoplv of state and war he could muster up the
chief received me in front of his hut. He was
seated on a small log, surrounded py oe.aIt ,li.
1,9ent of warriors whom 1 presumed TO De ms
bodyguard and on the other side of the chier
stood two withered old creatures whom WaS
unable to determine were men or women
PUZZLED BY THE PRISONER
.I was invited to sit on log placed a short
distance in front of the chief, and an AWKWARD
etternnt at arriving at an understanding be-
tween us was made by means OF SIGNS. "e
didn't accomplish very much and In Ine enc
the chief motioned to the two old withereo
creatures who advanced toward me and walked
around me several times, jabbering IKE mon mon
keys all the while, their clatter occasiontiy
punctured by query coming from inc cAiea
What 1t was whether incarnation or not,
never knew, but it's close the chief arose anu
planting his assegai in the ground, folded his
md behind It, looking me
straight in the eyes. took 1t to be sort or cnaI
lenge respecting my intentions, and. rising also
pointed to the assegai, shook my head, raised
my arms, pointed toward the sky, then toward
the assegai again, shook my head once nloFe,
and, advancing, offered the chief my hano'
was q novice at ell this sort OF tnlng, put
thought [ made my amicable intentions clear.
The chief didn't take my hand, but pulling ms
assegai from the ground. waved his arms ana
I was marched back to my resting place ulluef
the tree. few hours later l was removed 10
a small hut with but one opening, Whlch served
as door. window and fireplace, and before TINS
a stout and dangerous looking warrior was
placed to keep an eye on me-
Il was decidedly uneasy after my interview
with the chief, and plans for escape revolVed In
nv mind but 1 was offered not the slightest
The guard sitting in the doorway
never removed his eyes from me, and at night
a fire was built Just before the entrance IN sucn
a position that it Illuminated the whole interior
of the hut
fore dawn to find the whole camp In an uproar
and preparati tions for removal evidently under
way Immediately after the morning meal l
was placed i'll a long boat made' from a single
log along with the chief and about fifteen war
rfors, and left the camp in advance Of the
Others whom never saw again.
HOW ESCAPE WAS EFFECTED.
ITO make long story short, we rowed down
the river all that day and far into the night
before arrived at a large kraal, Whlch was
our destination. without any delay l
was hurried to a small hut near an open place
in the centre of the village, and the same method
Of guarding established as that which mad
prevailed during my night in the other camp.
This hut however, had a small opening on either
side about four feet from the moor. in addiIon
to the door in front. The openings were only
about foot square but in addition to the guard
in front 1 soon discovered that another guard
had been placed in the rear to prevent my escape
by those apertures. Both men were drawn from
the boat crew, however, and it was due to this
that l was able effect my escape. Refreshed
by my sleep during the day, remained wide
awake all night but both of my guards were
evidently worn out by the hard rowing they
had been doing all day and during the evening,
and toward dawn 1 discovered that both of them
We're asleep.
DESCENDED AMONG SAVAGES.
1T my opportunity and wasn't lingering
any about taking advantage of it Fearing that
L might awaken the black at the door by at
tempting to leave that way, and not caring to
venture out in the glare of the fire, began to
wriggle out OF a window. 1t a hard Job, and
twice at least made SO much noise that it was
a miracle the guards didn't awaken, but they
slept 6Oun0ly, ana IN a Few minutes L fOunQ
myself outside the hut. Cautiously crept among
the huts to the forest close by, and then turned
toward the river, where had seen number Of
log boats of various sizes when we landed 1t
was probable they guarded, but L felt
that the only means for making good my escape,
If l had any at all. rested in securing of
those boats. realized that my chances Of
reaching them without detection were small. In
deed, but it would be better to meet death trying
to get away than to supinely await it cap
tive. That the way 1 felt as l crept slowly
toward the bank. but good luck with me
for if the boats were guarded the sentinels
slept and in a few minutes 1 had united the
vine rope which bound of the small boats
TO the bank, secured a paddle and was making
all the speed possible down the stream.
never was very good at Sculling, but that
morning drove my heavy little craft through
the water at such rate that, aided by the
current, III wager made ten twelves miles
in the hour or so just before dawn NV inten-
ton, formed after / had secured the boat was
10 row as far as possible until the sun was just
about up, and then. drawing my boat up into
the underbrush, hide during the day and con-
tlnue my voyage at night, but. to my complete
astonishmenr, as I rounded a bend in the
stream, l saw about two miles distant in the
gray light of the early morning a group of
houses cresting the top of a hill on the banks
OF the river. 1t evidently an outlying
European settlement, and made for it with all
haste
The settlement proved to be a Portuguese
trading station, where was received with the
and placed on the little steamer which made BIZ
weekly trips to Lorenzo Marques, and was due
to leave that afternoon for the voyage to the
coast The savages did not approa ch Ihe sta
ton up TO the time of my departure and the
portuguese were mystifed at their conduct
toward me while in captivity. They were
not Zulus, as l had supposed and
were not prone TO treat any Of their captives
with anything but cruelty. They had been
unfriendly with the whites for years and
therefore. it was surprising that they had even
made me a prisoner The consensus of opinion
al DURHAM however, which l reached several
days after my escape, was that they had re-
sarded me as some sort of superior being due
10 my descent from the sky and also my strange
acronetlc garb. but whether an evil or a good
spirit they unable to