Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1923-04-15

Osa and / spent our sec-'
ond night in the camp of the savages,
while an armed guard stood watch
against an attack by enemy tribes.
AT sunrise Nagapate came and ask
ed If we would shoot off our guns to
: brighten the enemy. Since we did
not wish to seem suspicious, we
granted the request. But we fired
in rotation, instead of in a volley, so
that there would always be some
among US with ready rifles. And I
have never seen such snappy reload
ing as that OF our black boys!
After the volley l gave Nagapate
my rifle to shoot. He unloaded her
as fast as he could pull the trigger
and begged for more. I did not care
TO waste many cartridges. so I ex-
planned through Atree, one of the saw
ages, who understood a little pidgin
English, that the gun,had to cool Off,
and Nagapate seemed satisfied with
the explanation.
The natives apparent believed
that their enemies, convinced that
they were we'll supplied with ammu-
IillOH. "oulu ne " SldIl HoS-
tilities. We ourselves were more at
ease and I went up to some Of the
soldiers and examined their fighting
equipment. Their guns were old and
rusty. but they all had cartridges,
which they carried in leather car
fridge cases slung over their shoul-
ders. None had clubs. Instead. they
had big knives. some of them three
feet long. for hand-to hand fighting.
There was no government ban on
them as on rifles and cartridges.
One afternoon NaSapate brought
up man we had not seen before. He
uas nearly as large as Nagapate him
self. and had an air of commanding
dignity.
'Rambi. Rambi:" growled Maya
pate, pointing TO his companion. Then
the chief went through rapid pan
tomime. in which he seemed to kill
off a whole army of enemies. We
gathered that Rambi was minister of
war. as. indeed. he was. We learned
from Paul that the tribe was ruled
by sort of triumvirate, with Maya
nate in supreme command. and
tsamDi anu ii thru ShiSh.
Velle-TelIe. who acted as primitive
prime minister, next in authority.
Rambi enjoyed being Photograph
ed. although he did not have the
slightest idea of what the operation
meant. He capered like a monkey
in front of my camera and actually
succeeded in injecting a little enthu-
siasm into the rest of the natives,
gave presents of tobacco for
every picture T made. ! must nave
uaid out several dollars worth OF to-
bacco each day.
Once l missed Osa- had some
tt,irp Of a hunt for her, but I finally
found her in the shade at the edge
Of the clearing, playing with httie
naked pickaninny, Atree and Maya
nate suuatted nearby, watching her
with grave. intent faces.
Napapate was Osa's constant COM
r,nion The great chief had taken
n fancy to the white Mary. Every
dav he sent her gifts, and his vans
and fruits ana cocoanuts pleased her
Itaore than if they had been expensive
presents Of civilization. They seemed
ner an dSSul dtlCC VI MS SSoN
But the rest of us were bit uneasy.
Perhaps NaSapate was planning 10
massacre us, ff the occasion oHered'
and keep Osa to share his wretched
hut. The strain of constant watching
was telling on our nerves. Like
children. the savages soon weary or
81 diversion. We were becoming
familiar dangerously familiar to
them. and our gifts and even the
magic, taught me by the great
Houdini, had begun to pail. We be-
gan to feel that it was time for US
TO go.
asa and l talked it over as we
~ walked about the village the
Following afternoon. We strayed
farther than usual and suddenly
found ourselves near what seemed
TO be a deserted hut. We walked
around 1t and found. on the far side.
a we'll beaten path that led to a tiny
door. Without thinking, 1 crawled
through the doorway, and Osa fol-
lowed me. 1t was several seconds
before our eyes became accustomed
. to the dim light. Suddenly Osa gasp
ed and clutched my arm.
All about us. piled in baskets, were
dried human heads. A CHASTITY frieze
of them grinned about the caves.
Skulls hung from the rafters, heaps
OF picked human bones lay in the
corners We crawled out of the hut
and lost no time in getting back to
the center of the village.
We gathered Paul Mazouyer and
,,Perrole and Stephens about US and
told them of our adventure, and it
did not take the conference long to
decide to return to the beach on the
following day. The other white men
told us that if we had been seen in
or near the headhouse the chances
were that we should all have been
murdered, for such houses were
sacred and taboo to all, save the men
of the village.
That evening a great fire was start
ed in the clearing. Until late in the
night the ordinarily lazy savages
piled on great logs that four men
were required to carry. Nothing was
cooked over the fire. 1t was not
needed for warmth. for the night was
stiflingly hot. We asked Atree the
reason for the illumination. He re-
piled that he did not know. We fear
ed some sinister purpose In it and
lay sleepless, on guard the night
through.
At dawn we were up. We did our
packing in hurry. and then we sent