The strange adventures of Captain Quinton; being a truthful record of the experiences and escapes of Robert Quinton during his life among the cannibals of the South seas, as set down by himself

THE STRAW
ADVENTURESfeOF

CAPTAIN QUINTON

GIFT. OF

'•

•^'

THE

STRANGE ADVENTURES OF
CAPTAIN QUINTON

Being a Truthful Record of the Experiences and

Escapes of Robert Quinton during his Life

Among the Cannibals of the South Seas

AS SET DOWN BY HIMSELF

PUBLISHED BY

THE CHRISTIAN HERALD
BIBLE HOUSE, NEW YORK

Copyright, 1912
The Christian Herald

Printed by The Christian Herald Press

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

I. AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND ..".... i

H. AMONG THE MAORIS 12

III. NATIVE DANCES AND TERRIFIC GEYSERS .... 23

IV. THE OVERTHROW OF A FALSE PROPHET ... 36
V. TONGA, SAMOA, NEW HEBRIDES AND LIBERTY ISLANDS. 45

VI. ATTACKED BY SAVAGES 56

VII. DEVIL-FISH AND SHARKS -. 68

VIII. WEIRD CUSTOMS IN NORTHERN QUEENSLAND . . 80

LX. HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE 88

X. DANGERS FROM SKY, SEA AND LAND .... 99

XI. PERILS AND PEARLS. AUSTRALIA AND JAVA . . . 114

XII. NEW GUINEA AND THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS . 126

XIII. FURIOUS FIGHT WITH A DEVIL-FISH 139

XIV. NATIVE THEOLOGY OF THE FIJIANS . . . . 151
XV. FEROCIOUS AND TREACHEROUS TRIBES OF THE SOLOMON

ISLANDS 164

XVI. ON THE WAY TO INDIA 175

XVII. ASTOUNDING EXHIBITIONS 185

XVHL A SCRIMMAGE OF TIGERS, PIGS, DOGS. CROCODILES AND

MEN 197

XIX. A NIGHT IN THE JUNGLE 207

XX. HUNTING BUFFALOES AND TIGERS — WITH A DEADLY BOA

FOR COMPANY 218

XXI. MORE FAKIR MAGIC AND A HUMOROUS RHINOCEROS . . 230

XXII. TIGERS, CROCODILES, MONKEYS AND BISONS . . 238

XXHI. SIGHT-SEEING IN JAPAN 257

XXIV. IN WEIRD KAMCHATKA 269

265591

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

XXV. THE CURIOUS ISLAND OF PANOPI. FIJI AGAIN

XXVI. STRANGE PAGAN ECHOES OF SCRIPTURE NARRATIVES .

XXVII. A BATTLE WITH RUBIANA HEAD-HUNTERS

XXVIII. NARROW ESCAPE FROM SOLOMON ISLANDERS

XXIX. DUK-DUK AND OTHER CRUEL SUPERSTITIONS IN NEW

BRITAIN

XXX. SPORTS AND FAITH IN NEW GUINEA ....

XXXI. AUSTRALIA AGAIN

XXXII. WAYS AND WISDOM OF THE SAVAGES ....

[XXXIII. BUFFALO HUNTING IN NORTH AUSTRALIA

XXXIV. DANCING BIRDS AND DANCING FISH. A FIGHT WITH a

MANTA

XXXV. OUR VESSEL BOARDED BY A HORDE OF DEVIL-FISH

XXXVI. IN THE PHILIPPINES ........

XXXVII. WHERE FLASH THE NORTHERN LIGHTS ....

XXXVIII. ALASKA AND THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS . .

XXXIX. WITH THE HAWAHANS AGAIN

XL. AMONG THE PEOPLE OF TRUK

XLI. BACK IN THE SOUTH SEAS AGAIN — WITH QUEER MATES .

XLIT. PELEW ISLANDS, ALASKA — AND HOME .

PAGE

279
298
3i9
329

340
354
365
375
387

403
411
420
429
440
450
462
47i
479

FOREWORD

In 1690, Daniel Defoe, who had never been out of England,
sat him down, and from the depths of his imagination evolved
Robinson Crusoe, a book that will probably remain forever
enshrined in the hearts of adventure-loving mankind.

In 1912, Robert Quinton, who had traveled the world over,
sat him down, and, without drawing on his imagination at all,
wrote a history of his experiences in the Crusoe seas that is
entitled to be placed beside the more famous book.

Much has been written of the South Seas, but 'The Strange
Adventures of Captain Quinton" is one of the most compelling
records of a life spent for the most part under the equator
that has yet been written. It reveals a new world of adven-
ture that is amazing to contemplate. Stanley, Livingston and
Peary all together could not have had so many thrilling moments,
so many escapes from death as had this unassuming sailor-man
whose simple and convincing story is as the essence of truth.

Open the book at any place, and you will find him encoun-
tering one or more of innumerable perils — canoeing on a boiling
lake; escaping under a shower of poisoned arrows; battling
with cannibals; racing through the tropical night in a launch,
pursued by crocodiles; imprisoned in a ship's cabin by a horde
of monster devilfish; spending the night in a tree with a
leopard; battling hand to hand with head hunters; being pur-
sued by angry monkeys; running a gauntlet of war canoes.

These are sanguinary experiences which must be read with
bated breath, yet they are not more thrilling in their way than
are the exquisite descriptions of treasure-chambers in caves
lurid and beautiful as a dream of Arabian Nights; of a wave
dance in which tribes of cannibals with an uncanny sense of
beauty and rhythm represent with their bodies the ocean
dashing high on imaginary coral reefs; of a silvery night spent
in tropical tree tops in order to witness the stately dawn-dance
of birds of paradise. The very multiplicity of incident is over-
powering, but it must be remembered that the experiences of
over thirty years are crowded into this book.

Assuredly Captain Quinton's truth is stranger than any fic-
tion possibly could be, and the spirit of the South Seas is in it.

THE CHRISTIAN HERALD

The Strange Adventures of
Captain Quinton

CHAPTER I

AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND

From my boyhood I had always had a strong desire to visit
Australia, that far-off land of which at that time we knew so
little. The stories which, from time to time,
I had heard told of this vast continent, and of
for a tne countless islands scattered over the broad

Far-off Land. Pacific, only increased my longing to pene-
trate the great unexplored territory inhabited
by head-hunting and cannibalistic black men, beasts and fish
hitherto unknown, filled with rare flowers, and birds whose
beauty and song could not be matched elsewhere.

Scarcely more than a boy, I happened one day down into
South Street, New York, that once famous docking place
for sailing clippers engaged in far eastern foreign trade, and
came upon a British bark displaying a sign that read:

KANGAROO LINE FOR AUSTRALIA

Promptly climbing on board the bark, which was named
the Thames, I sought the captain and asked for a chance to
ship as one of the crew. As a youngster I had gained some
little experience of sea life, which stood me in good stead, and
after the usual preliminaries were gone through with it was
with no little satisfaction that I found myself upon the ship's
articles for a voyage to the land of my dreams.

2 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

Within a week's time we bade good-by to New York,
which I, for one, was not to see again for many years, and
were towed down the harbor and out into the open sea. We
soon encountered heavy weather, which lasted several days ;
then the seas went down and the Thames made good time
under her great stretch of canvas. Nothing very worthy of
note occurred until we were passing the West Indies, and here
the night dews were so heavy that the water dripped from
our sails like rain.

The first land we sighted was Fernando de Noronha in
latitude 3° 50' S., longitude 32° 25' W., or about seventy
leagues from Cape St. Roque off the Brazilian coast. The most
prominent characteristic of Fernando de Noronha is the fa-
mous Campanario or Belfry, a rock rising to the height of a
thousand feet and so peculiarly formed that the summit far
overhangs the base. Shortly after passing it we ran into a
"pampero/' one of the frightful storms for which this coast is
famous, and were driven back within sight of Pernambuco, a
matter of a hundred miles or more. But the weather soon
cleared and we witnessed those nights of matchless tropical
splendor when the phosphorescent effects of the ocean are
weird and beautiful beyond dreams.

Far as the eye can see, the water appears like

Like the one vast sheet of molten silver, the dazzling

Golden splendor of which eclipses the starry radiance
Streets of the f . , .tt. . , , . . ^1

New °^ *ke t>rilnant tropical sky overhead. The

Jerusalem. wake of the vessel may be clearly traced for
miles astern in a glittering pathway of shim-
mery white water barred with brilliant orange, and golden
greenish lights beautiful enough to be the apocalyptic vision of
the golden streets of the New Jerusalem. Porpoises dart like
lightning through the waves ; a whale at play will perhaps leap
clear of the water, falling back with a splash and churning the
sea into a glittering mass of foam, for all the world like an

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 3

ocean of fire; a water-spout may go whirling past, towering
aloft a pillar of flame in the sunset glow, and the beholder
stands awed before the glory of God.

But we soon ran out of the region of fine nights, and kept
away to 47° 28' S., partly in order to avoid the strong current
which sets toward the westward around the Cape of Good
Hope, and partly to catch the strong winds which blow for-
ever from the westward clear round the globe in the latitude
of the "roaring forties." In this wild southern ocean the
waves sweep clear around the world unobstructed by land,
and here they attain a maximum height of forty feet and
average nearly fifteen hundred feet in length. On August 9
we sighted Kangaroo Island, and next day towed into Port
Adelaide, seven and a half miles from the city of Adelaide in
South Australia.

We had brought a general cargo from New York, and
after discharging it we loaded wheat and sailed for Sydney,
New South Wales, which we reached after experiencing the
usual dirty weather in Bass Strait. Approaching Sydney
Heads ships appear to be sailing head on to a wall of solid
rock, rising to a height of 300 feet and apparently without a
break. It is not surprising that Captain Cook, most careful
and observing of navigators, sailed past it without even dis-
covering the entrance.

A little way south of the entrance is a depression in the
wall, called "The Gap." A large English emigrant ship named
the Dunbarton was caught in a terrific easterly gale just out-
side the "Heads" some fifty years ago on a dark night and,
instead of standing off till morning, as he should have done,
the captain determined to run in ; mistaking "The Gap" for the
entrance, he ran his ship on the rocks. Only one man out of
the several hundred passengers and crew was saved.

As the vessel approaches, the rocky wall seems gradually
to open up and reveals the most beautiful bay in the world,

4 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

with the possible exception of Avatcha Bay in Kamchatka.
This magnificent harbor was discovered by Captain Arthur
Phillip, who was sent by the British Government to found a
penal colony here after the close of the Revolutionary War,
when the English had lost the American colonies and found
they could transport no more convicts to the plantations in
the Southern States of America. Captain Phillip first landed
at Botany Bay, but shortly after, on January 26, 1788, he
founded Sydney.

In the center of the harbor is a small fort of gray stone,
called Fort Pinchgut, though the authorities have recently
changed this name to Fort Donelson. In convict days pris-
oners obnoxious to the authorities were confined here and
actually starved to death.

To the terrible ill-treatment of the native con-
The v*cts kv tne British was due the Australian

Australian bushranger. Many people wrongly imagine

Bushranger, that all bushrangers were desperate highway-
men and murderers. This is not so. The
name was applied to all convicts who, at this time, escaped
from prison and torture and took to the bush. Many of them
died of starvation ; others gave themselves up and were cruelly
flogged for escaping; some joined tribes of native blacks and
lived and died among them; still others supported themselves
by rude farming far from civilization or became petty thieves
or bold highwaymen. Some of the most desperate of them,
who had been unjustly convicted and were so brutalized by
abuse that they regarded the whole human race as their ene-
mies, systematically robbed and murdered wherever they went.

A fair sample of this character of bushranger is the case
of the renowned Martin Cash, most celebrated outlaw in the
history of Australia. Cash, who was a free settler or emigrant
(not a convict), was what is called in the colonies a "carrier,"
that is, a teamster employing from one to any number of teams

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 5

carrying all kinds of merchandise between small bush towns
where there is no railroad. Mrs. Cash, his wife, lived with
the wife of the governor as cook, and, from all accounts, the
governor and his wife were modern types of the ancient Ahab
and Jezebel.

The governor himself was bad enough, but his

The w^e ^ar outdistanced him in cruelty and was

Story of constantly urging her husband to practice

Martin Cash, greater severity upon the prisoners. She was

taken ill one morning just as Cash was about
to start on a journey with his team, so he stepped into the kitchen
of the governor's house and quite complacently cooked some
breakfast there for his wife. The wife of the governor was
very angry at this ; but cunningly dissembling her wrath, she
smilingly asked Cash to deliver a note for her at the jail on
his way to town. The letter was stamped with the governor's
seal and was an order to the authorities "to flog and imprison
the bearer of it for impertinence and robbery/' Cash was
accordingly given a terrible flogging and sentenced to several
years' imprisonment. When his term was served and he was
finally released he found that his wife had died several years
before, and the property which he had acquired by his own
industry had been confiscated. He was penniless, branded as
a criminal, and subject to police supervision. Sufficient to
add, he took to the bush and became leader of the worst class
of Australian desperadoes.

As I was desirous of seeing the smaller South Sea Islands,
I left the Thames at Sydney and shipped in the bark Nardoo,
of Melbourne, carrying coal from Newcastle to Port Chal-
mers, in the southern part of New Zealand. It was the be-
ginning of summer (about the end of our November), the
weather was chilly and it rained nearly every day during the
six weeks we lay off Lyttelton, a beautiful town on a slope
between high hills and the bay.

6 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The amount of shell-fish which the natives can procure
at this place by simply digging in the sand is beyond belief,
and the very hills are covered with small sea-shells as though
they had once been the bottom of the ocean. It is interest-
ing in this connection to note that in 1847 the hulk of an
ancient ship was found 650 feet inland from the village of
Lyttelton, and far above high-water mark. The main harbor
is divided into several small bays. The one in which we first
anchored bears the Maori name Kaitangata, which interpreted
means, Lord of loving kindness.

Kaitangata's servants built a very beautiful

A Strange house for him and his father Rehua (the

Maori Legend. Maori name for the star Sirius) in the tenth

heaven, but one of the beams, being badly

fitted, fell upon Kaitangata's head and killed him. The Maoris

believe that his blood stains the sky red at dawn and evening,

and they speak of a red sunset as Te Rangitoto (the Sky of

Blood).

The Maoris, who possessed considerable knowledge of
astronomy, believed that the gods were constantly creat-
ing new worlds in the far distant realms of stellar space
beyond the Milky Way, and as each new world was
completed it took flight to the place assigned to it in the uni-
verse. Following this law Rehua suddenly burst in splendor
through the southern sky beside the Southern Cross when
passing from the place of his creation to the place which he
now adorns to the eastward of Orion.

The place where Rehua burst through the sky still remains
the strange black spot in the Magellan Clouds, commonly
known as the "Coal Sack," which is always so conspicuous
below the Southern Cross when all the rest of the southern
sky is perfectly clear and cloudless. Even the most casual
observer cannot fail to notice this phenomenon as it appears
in the lonely night watches of the sea. It is really a vast

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 7

space in the stellar system in which there is not even an atom
of stellar dust to shed a single flicker of luminosity.

Returning to Newcastle, we took a cargo of coal back to
Lyttelton, which is also on the eastern coast of New Zealand,
but farther north, so the climate is considerably warmer than
Port Chalmers. Lyttelton is a fine town situated on a gentle
slope between the hills and the bay; a walk to the top of the
hills behind the city affords some of the views for which New
Zealand is justly famous. On the one hand, the thriving city
of Christchurch stands in the beautiful Canterbury Plains,
which are many miles of fertile land devoted to wheat-growing
and sheep-farming. On the other spread the dark blue waters
of the vast Pacific. On the top of the hills, I noticed, the
ground abounded with small sea-shells, as though it had once
formed part of the bed of the ocean.

One of the most interesting exhibits in the

large Museum at Christchurch is the remains
TFiic .Extinct p «•<*•!

Moa of a moa, an enormous bird which once

roamed the New Zealand forests but is now
extinct. The skeleton is over sixteen feet
high, its legs are as long and as strong as those of a camel,
measuring more than a yard in length and more than twelve
inches in circumference. The feet and toes appear to have
been as strong as those of a tiger and were well adapted to
the work of digging up fern roots, the principal article of
food upon which the moa lived. While it is surmised that this
giant feathered tribe was in existence in New Zealand when
Captain Cook visited these waters, there is no record of the
time when the species last appeared, beyond a Maori tradition
to the effect that the last living moa was killed many years
ago in the Poverty Bay district, on North Island.

Tradition also says that its habit was to sleep standing
on one foot with its beak turned to the wind. Its extermina-
tion is probably due to the desirability of its flesh as an article

8 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

of food and to the beauty of its plumage, which was of regal
splendor. The moa was such a desperate fighter that it was
considered an act of great prowess and honor even to have
taken part in the killing of one, since a moa in the vicinity
usually meant the death of several natives. The moa, strange
to say, was closely related to the tiny kiwi bird, still so plenti-
ful in the New Zealand bush.

I often walked a couple of miles inland to a Maori village
from which many inhabitants used to come down to Lyttelton
in two large canoes on certain afternoons and perform their
hideous and savage war-dances.

Shortly after clearing Cook's Strait on our

My First return voyage to Newcastle, we were caught
Glimpse one night in a "southerly buster" during the

of Death. middle watch (12 to 4 A. M.). It came up
suddenly from the southward and blew with
hurricane violence. A fellow from Denmark and I went up
one breezy night to furl the foretopgallant sail, and as he was
shorter than I, I told him I would pick up the weather leech
while he unbent the gasket and stood by to reeve it as soon as
I got the sail on the yard. I had managed to get half the sail
in place, when suddenly the vessel luffed up in the wind, the
sheet tore away instantly from me and filled aback like a bal-
loon. There were no beckets to hold fast to, and the jackstay
was so close to the yard that it was impossible to get my fingers
around it or I might easily have hung by my hands under-
neath the yard and allowed the sail to fly over my head. But
I could only crook my fingers over the jackstay, and as the
sail flapped violently against my face and breast, tending to
force me backward off the yard, I held on for dear life until
the muscles in my back and shoulders burned like fire. In
spite of all my efforts to hold on I felt my grip failing, and it
presently occurred to me that there was no escape. I was
bound to be killed.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON g

I believe it is an established fact that no one is afraid
when he feels death to be inevitable. However that may be,
all at once a most intense curiosity about the other world
came over me. In a few moments I should be there and see
it for myself, thought I, and then I wondered whether any of
the other men on the ship would be killed and whether we
would be in heaven together or would I find myself there
alone.

While these thoughts passed rapidly through my mind, I
was suddenly thrown backward off the yard, and the wind,
dead ahead, carried me aft. Throwing out my arms as I
came down I caught on a craneline between the shrouds and
backstays and, as I pulled myself up onto the yard again, the
Dane was holding fast to the lift and staring straight into the
darkness at the place in the water where he supposed I had
disappeared. When he saw me on the yard again he started
so violently that he nearly fell overboard, and he afterward
told me that he was sure I was drowned and imagined he saw
my ghost alongside him. In the meantime, the captain, who
was at the wheel, kept the ship off a couple of points and we
had no further difficulty furling sail.

Soon after this I shipped in the schooner
A Sea Hinemoa, which set out for Auckland, on

of Extinct the northeast coast of the North Island.

Volcanoes. Auckland is situated on the south side of
Waitemata Harbor, a beautiful expanse of
water opening into Hauraki Gulf, and the town and harbor
present one of the most beautiful scenes in the world, espe-
cially when viewed from the top of Mount Eden, an extinct
volcano 700 feet high and situated between Auckland and
Manukau Harbor. All around may be seen the craters of
extinct volcanoes, three of them within a radius of five miles.
Majestic Rangitoto, with its triple cone, is at the entrance to
the harbor. Far out to sea on a clear day can be distinctly

io THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

traced the bold outlines of Great Barrier Island, sixty miles
away.

The charm of Auckland lies in its picturesque bays and
islands and beautiful emerald green surroundings, including
the sixteen extinct volcanoes that encircle the town, each of
which is covered with grass to the summit. The verdure is
almost tropical. The rainfall averages thirty-nine inches, and,
although the temperature rarely rises above 80 in the shade,
the climate is delightfully warm. The rich volcanic soil, humid
atmosphere, and warm sunshine combine to produce an abun-
dance of fruit and flowers. Every hillside is covered with
suburban villas, half hidden among trees and flowers and
vines. The thrushes, larks, vireos, and other song-birds im-
ported from Europe have multiplied in the congenial climate,
and their entrancing music fills the air and greets the traveler
everywhere. Almost every spot in this beautiful country is
associated with romantic Maori legends, in which fierce bat-
tles and cannibal feasts hold a prominent place.

Waitemata Harbor takes its name from the Maoris in
commemoration of a bloody battle which took place on its
waters between a large fleet of war-canoes belonging to the
Nga Puhi tribe, under command of the celebrated chief
Hongi, and a rival belonging to the Nga Timaru tribe of the
Auckland district. So many men were killed in this battle
that the Maoris commemorated it by naming the beautiful
bay on which the conflict took place Wai-temata (Waters of
Affliction).

In those days the narrow peninsula upon which Auckland
now stands was a very difficult and dangerous place to hold,
because it formed the boundary line between the fierce Nga
Puhi tribe on the north and the warlike Waikato tribe on
the south, and was constantly raided by both parties during
the desolating wars which these savage antagonists waged.
Mount Eden itself was a famous stronghold and the remains

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 11

of the terraced fortifications of the Maori warriors are plainly
visible on its sides. In days gone by, the Maoris regarded
righting as the main object of their existence; but since there
has been a stop put to their incessant warring their chief
amusement is in canoe races, deep sea fishing, and war-dances.

12 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER II

AMONG THE MAORIS

During the year and a half which I spent around the coast
of New Zealand, I was almost constantly in touch with the
Maoris and learned many interesting things
The about this splendid race, which belongs to the

Splendid same Polynesian stock as the Tongans, Sa-
Maoris. moans, Hawaiians, and Tahitians. These
branches all show their descent from a com-
mon ancestor, by similarity of features, manners, customs,
legends, traditions, and language.

One of the first characteristics which strike the observer
among the Maoris is that unquestionably they are a mixed
race; the chiefs, for example, are an entirely different type
from the common people. All the various branches of the
Polynesians believe that their chiefs have immortal souls, while
the common people, in their opinion, have no souls at all. In
explanation of this, they declare their chiefs to be lineal de-
scendants of a divine race that came from a sacred land
far away toward the setting sun, to which their souls return
after death. The common people, they believe, are descend-
ants of the slaves whom the chiefs brought with them or
conquered in New Guinea, Rongerupe, Rangitahuahua, and
other islands where they stopped on the way from their
original home, which they claim was submerged during a
terrific cataclysm which changed the entire face of the Pacific.

Now, singularly enough, Professor Agassiz, after careful
investigation during a six months' cruise in the U. S. Fish
Commission steamer Albatross, proved to his own satis fac-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 13

tion that a veritable sunken continent lies almost due west of
South America and covers an area of 200,000 square miles.
The eastern edge of this continent begins about 600 miles from
the west coast of South America and extends north from the
Galapagos Islands to a little south of Easter Island. Its
western verge is believed to extend nearly to the eastern
Paumotu Islands. This would place it exactly in that part
of the Pacific Ocean covered by the Maori legend.

According to the same ancient traditions, the ancestors
of the Maoris were at war, as usual, when a Tohunga, priest
and general wise man, named Te Kupe incurred the displea-
sure of the ruling chief and was compelled to escape for his life.
With a few attendants he sailed away in a canoe, landing
in a bay between Taranaki and Wanganui, on the southwest
coast of the most northerly island of New Zealand. About a
year later he returned and gave such glowing accounts of
the wonderful new country which he had discovered, abound-
ing in huge forests, burning mountains, steaming lakes, fertile
fields, and gigantic animals and birds, that he caused intense
excitement among his people. The chiefs promptly felled
great trees out of which they built seven giant canoes, the
legend says, which were called Amatiatias. Each canoe carried
one hundred men, besides their women and children, and was
three-masted. When the fleet was provisioned and about to
sail the chief in command of the fleet sent his first man,
Ruaeo, ashore on pretext of bringing something to him which
had been forgotten and then sailed away with his wife and his
children, leaving Ruaeo alone on the forsaken island. Hence
arose a saying constantly to be heard among the Maoris to
this day, "No te uru o te Arawa koe," you belong to "the
three-masted fleet — you are a cheat, a liar." The Maori chief
and his fleet landed at Maketu on the Bay of Plenty, and
proceeded up the coast to the mouth of the Mokau River,
forming settlements along the way.

I4 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The island of Rarotonga, on which the ancestors of the
Maoris fitted out the seven canoes which carried them to New
Zealand, is situated in latitude 21° 13' S., and longitude 159°
50' W. It lies to the northeast and is about 1,560 miles dis-
tant from the place where they landed.

I have seen statements in print that the Maoris have no
traditions and are supposed to have originated in Samoa
or in the Hawaiian Islands. But, in my opinion, nothing can
be more misleading, for many of the traditions of this race
are preserved with marvelous accuracy.

In the Wanganui district the Tohungas, or Maori priests,

maintained sacred colleges which they dedicated to their gods

with sacrifices of human beings. These colleges always faced

the east and were deemed so sacred that none

A Heathen but the purified could approach them. Boys

Ceremony prOperly fitted for these colleges were care-
Baptism. *u% instructed in astronomy and agriculture
and many useful arts, but, above all, in the
history and traditions of their race.

Schoolboys preparing for these places of instruction were
baptized with much pomp and ceremony. The priest, with
a sacred branch of karamu, sprinkled their bodies with the
water from the river and repeated the words :

"Baptized in the waters of Tu,
Be thou strong

By the strength of the heel of Tu
To catch men,

To climb the mountain ranges.
May the power of Tu be given this boy;
Be thou strong
To overcome in battle,
To enter the breach,
To grapple with the foe.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 15

Be thou strong by the power of Tu

To pass over the lofty mountains,

To ascend the mighty trees,

To brave the billows of the ocean,

To battle with its might.

Be thou strong to cultivate thy food,

To build great houses,

To make war canoes,

To welcome visitors,

To complete thy works.

There comes strength from the land of Death

To bear me to the northern strand,

To the place where spirits depart into night.

Ah! What know I further?"

These boys were obliged to study from sunset to midnight
during every night of the autumn and winter for five con-
secutive years.

A girl was baptized as follows :

"Baptized in the water of Tu,
Be thou strong by the strength of Tu.
To get food for thyself,
To make clothing,
To weave flaxen mats,
To welcome strangers,
To carry firewood.
To gather shell-fish.
May the strength of Tu be given this
daughter."

At regular intervals all the Tohungas and their pupils
met in public assembly and each one had to repeat aloud
historical traditions in the hearing of the whole company, so
that others might correct him if he made the slightest mis-

16 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

take. There is a striking resemblance between these meetings
of the Maoris and the Keltic Eisteddfods, which have been
celebrated among the Welsh from time immemorial.

The history of the race is also preserved in innumerable
historic wood carvings, somewhat resembling the totem poles
of the Alaskans. A very important lawsuit involving a large
tract of land was once being tried in Auckland when a Maori
claimant brought into court an elaborately carved stick bear-
ing the proof that his clan had owned the disputed land for
upward of five hundred years. A very little research into
Maori carving readily impresses one with the resemblance
that it bears to the carvings of ancient Egypt and Mexico.

Unlike most heathens the Maoris never make idols to
represent their gods. Each god has a toko, or symbol, which
is set up in his temple and before which sacrifices are offered.
These tokos are sticks of equal length surmounted with a huge
knob. The Maori year is divided into thirteen months and
begins with the first new moon after the star "Pu-anga" begins
to be visible in the morning.

Like all illiterate people, the Maoris are firm

Witchcraft. believers in witchcraft. If a priest cannot
diagnose a case of sickness, for example, he
conceals his ignorance by looking very wise and declaring that
the arch-enemy has bewitched his patient. He then studies
over the names of all who are likely to have a grudge against
the ill man or woman, and having once settled upon a suspect
that so-called guilty one is doomed to die. In such cases it
is common for the relatives of the doomed person to demand
compensation for his death, which is always readily paid, and
everybody is perfectly well satisfied.

One of the most common proceedings in cases of illness
is to dig a small hole in the ground and invoke the spirit of
the victim to appear. The spirit appears over the hole in
the form of a faint bluish-green light and the priest solemnly

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 17

prays that its eyes may drop out, its tongue may wither in
its mouth, etc.

If you ask what possible harm or good such a childish
ceremony can possibly do anyone, all I can answer is, the
Maori's view of it is very different from ours. The medicine
man who works the spell takes care that the suspected one
shall hear the curse set upon him, and often the victim im-
mediately gives up all hope and dies of fright. It is strange
that the Maoris, who are brave to the point of madness, and
who will go into battle as though life were of no value to
them, will yet die from sheer terror in the belief that some old
hag or wizard has bewitched them.

The natural intellectual powers of these people fitted them
to attain the highest degree of civilization, but the incessant
warfare in which they have passed their whole existence de-
graded them to the lowest depths of savagery.

The favorite weapon of the Maoris in battle has always
been the war-club. These clubs are usually made from the
wood of the ake tree, which is excessively hard and strong
and variegated black and white. The club is usually five feet
long, the handle being about an inch and a half wide and an
inch thick, while the paddle-shaped blade is usually about four
inches at the widest part and both edges are exceedingly
sharp. A powerful man can deliver a terrific blow with
such a weapon, and having been trained to it from childhood,
the Maori warriors can fight and fence so skillfully that often
their war-clubs have proved more than a match for British
bayonets.

When the English General Cameron, who commanded one
thousand three hundred men, besides artillery, once attacked
Orakau Pa, that famous fort contained about four hundred
Maoris all told, including women and children. The savages
had nothing to eat but a few gourds and raw potatoes and
not a drop of water. They were armed with war-clubs only.

i8 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

Notwithstanding this they fought the English off for two
days and nights, when General Cameron received strong re-
inforcements, and sapped the walls ; he then called upon them
to surrender, declaring that their lives might be spared if they
would stop fighting; but the heathen chief Rewi jumped upon
the fortification, shouting in the flowing Maori tongue, "We
will fight to the end, forever, forever, forever." General
Cameron then called upon the women of the tribe, signaling
them to come out so that they might not be killed, but they re-
plied that they would fight, too. Finding it was impossible to
hold the fort any longer, the warriors invoked Ta Whakaheke,
their god of destruction, and cried out to him to stand by and
help. Savage men and women then charged like demons
upon the British lines and, though they met a wall of bayonets
and were exposed to a tremendous fire, a great number cut
their way through the lines and escaped.

These indomitable fighters carried on war on the water
as well as the land, and took great pride in their huge war-
canoes, which were usually constructed of kauri pine, which
grows from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and sixty
feet high and from ten to twenty feet in diameter at the base
and eighty to one hundred feet to the lowest branches. The
canoe is usually hollowed out of the trunk of this tree in a
solid piece. The bow and stern are high and elaborately
carved and decorated, mostly in human heads with a tongue
extended to its utmost, and huge goggle eyes. The spaces
between the figureheads, which are on both stem and stern,

are carved in graceful waving lines and the

Shark war-canoes are usually painted vermilion.

Hunting. Many of them are over eighty feet long and

carry from fifty to sixty warriors.

All South Sea Islanders are expert canoe men, but the
Maoris surpass them all in this regard, and there is no occasion
when their skill is more conspicuous than during their an-

OF CAPTAIN QU1NTON 19

nual shark-hunting expeditions, extending from about the
middle of January to the middle of March. At this time
countless millions of young fish swarm the numerous bays
and rivers in these parts, and naturally attract multitudes
of sharks, who prey upon them, while the Maoris flock from
far and near to prey upon the sharks.

We were loading kauri pine in Kaipara, on

A Good tne northwest side of North Island, where

Shark Fight, the tide rises and falls from eight to fifteen

feet. The harbor is full of shoals and sand
banks left bare at low tide, with numerous deep channels and
lagoons between them, into which the fish crowd, while an
army of sharks hover on the outside to prevent the fish
escaping. They take turns in guarding their prey while two
or three dart like lightning among the frightened fish, which
leap into the air, where their brilliant scales flash like burning
silver in the bright rays of the sun.

The first shark fight that we witnessed was especially in-
teresting because, just as hundreds of frightened fish leaped
into the air to avoid the ugly ravenous jaws of the sharks,
they were picked up by an immense flock of equally ravenous
seagulls, which seized and flew away with them. Some blacks
in a whaleboat about ninety yards off our starboard side
harpooned a large hammerhead, one of the gamiest of the
shark family. In his frantic efforts to escape he first leaped
out of the water to a prodigious height ; then, diving, took a
course which led directly under our keel. Quick as a flash
one of the black men lifted the bight of the line out from
the bowchock and held it a few feet abaft the bow on the
starboard side. This threw their boat's head to port and
she shot past like an arrow without touching us. The shark
towed them in all directions for fully half an hour, when
they managed to haul him up under their stern and stunned
him with a shower of heavy blows on the snout from their

20 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

clubs. They then stabbed him where the head joins the body,
a thrust which disables the strongest shark in an instant, as
it severs its spinal .cord. It is difficult to say whether it in-
stantly kills or only paralyzes, but the moment he receives it
he becomes as inert as a log of wood.

A little later we saw them catch a fourteen-
A Fourteen- footer, but the line parted as they were haul-
Footer, ing him in and the game monster darted away
with a sharp hook in his jaw and a few fath-
oms of line hanging to him. This was a signal for a general
attack from all quarters and, though he fought desperately,
other sharks bore down upon him from all directions and
literally tore him to pieces, frequently leaping completely
over him in their efforts to kill him. The furious struggles of
the fishes churned the water into a sea of foam.

Although New Zealand is one thousand one hundred miles
long, it is so narrow that no part of it is over seventy-five
miles from the sea and the Maoris who live in the interior
have fishing-camps which they visit every summer, the same
that their ancestors have used from time immemorial. This
custom of shark-fishing in the season was so religiously re-
spected that it was not interfered with, even in time of war.
After the sharks are caught and cleaned and their heads are
cut off, they are hung up by their tails in the sun for three
or four weeks until the meat becomes as hard and dry as
wood. They are then wrapped in native mats and carried
to the Maori villages in the interior.

An Englishman and I made a special trip
Off to through North Island for the purpose of see-

North ing the hot lake district and the beautiful
Island. Wanganui River, because we had heard many
extravagant accounts of the great beauty of
these parts. We traveled principally on horseback, camping
at night in the bush. Our first stopping place was the Oroha,

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 21

where there are twenty-one mineral springs — alkaline, acidic,
sulphur, and magnesia — five of which are icy cold. The tem-
perature of the others varies from 86° to 150° Fahrenheit.
From here we proceeded to Tauranga, on the east coast, to
see the Maoris in their home surroundings, and to visit some
of the historic scenes of numerous battles between them and
the English.

We made the acquaintance of a fine old Scotchman. He
had served through the wars in which these savages had so
gallantly fought the white men. Like every one else with
whom I talked on this subject, he had the warmest admiration
for the Maoris and referred to them always as "that noble
race." Their courage in opposing danger, their skill in retir-
ing from it, and their magnanimity under all circumstances
might well serve as an example to many who have fairer skin.
Unlike the American Indians, the Maoris never tortured their
captives, though they frequently killed them by the blow of a
club and feasted on their dead bodies.

Upon one occasion a company of Maoris captured a con-
voy of provisions from the English army, so the old Scotch-
man told us, and immediately they released it and permitted
it to proceed to its destination, on the ground that it would
be cowardly and unmanly to deprive their opponents of nec-
essary food and thus render them incapable of fighting. At
the celebrated attack on Fort Gate Pa, near Tauranga, the
English force numbered over two thousand men and the fort
contained less than two hundred Maoris at the moment of
attack, but the savages were clever enough to plant their flag
one hundred yards forward of their fortifications among tall
bushes. This deceived the enemy and led them to fire many
volleys in the immediate vicinity of the flag, thereby wasting
much ammunition before they discovered the trick. By dint
of bullets and shot the English reached the fortification at
last and stormed it with heavy artillery, but the Maoris still

32 (THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

beat them back even after they had carried the outer defenses.
Then the cunning savages pretended to run away and. thus
thrown off their guard, the English soldiers swarmed into
the recently vacated position and began gathering up mats,
spears, and various other objects which had been purposely
left lying about to excite their cupidity. This trick, too,
worked to perfection, for the white men, grown too confident
of their ground, suddenly found themselves exposed to a
terrific fire which cut them down in great numbers, though
it was impossible to perceive whence the shooting came. The
Maoris had concealed themselves in rifle pits at their very
feet and successfully lured the enemy to their destruction.
Next morning the English again attacked the fort but found
it was deserted.

It is touching to relate that the Maoris, who escaped dur-
ing the night, had shared the scanty remains of their own
provisions with the wounded English prisoners, and had
taken the time to make each one as comfortable as possible.
They had even placed a cup of water beside each suffering
victim, although they had been obliged to procure the water
by penetrating the English lines at the risk of their lives.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 23

CHAPTER III

NATIVE DANCES AND TERRIFIC GEYSERS

Scarcely anything could be more enjoyable than a summer

trip through North Island, if only to see the magnificent

plumage and hear the wonderful music and

Matchless peculiar calls of the many birds which abound

^efutifu? there' The mak°-mako bird that sinSs like a
Trees. nightingale in the long twilight, and the war-

bling tui or parson bird, with notes like those
of the American thrush, cease their singing at sunset only to
resume it lustily at break of day. The beautiful notes of the
korimako or bell bird break softly on the air like silver bells
exquisitely tuned. They are ever a strong contrast to the shrill
sunset cry of the small night owl known as the ruru. Fiercest
of all birds in New Zealand is a species of goshawk known as
the kahu. It is very like the European goshawk in size and
general appearance. The kahu has been known to descend
with the swiftness of an eagle and carry off a chicken or a
rabbit from the dooryard at the very feet of the owner.

The kea parrot, which is found in the mountainous region,
is a curious example of a vegetarian changing to a carnivore.
These birds are said to have once lived solely on vegetables,
but learned to devour the carcasses of dead sheep which were
frequently found in the immense sheep-runs ; and from that
they acquired the habit of attacking living sheep for the sake
of the kidney fat which is their favorite portion.

Unlike Australia, New Zealand is almost entirely free

24 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

from snakes. The only known venomous things on the island
are small black katipu spiders, the bite of which is deadly.
In some parts of the bush, huge aki vines covered with bright
scarlet flowers run over the tops of the tallest trees. The
ground is covered with lovely native daisies, besides fragrant
small white flowers called pototara and fine blue lilies. One
day we were caught in a rain storm and stopped for the night
at a Maori shelter. As the sun went down and the night came
slowly on, the fallen trees and the flowery surface of the
ground sparkled in a thousand places with the phosphorescence
of decayed vegetable matter. The scene was as weirdly
beautiful as an acre of fairyland might be. Most of the trees
are lofty and the foliage is densely matted with creeping vines ;
the trunks and branches are thickly covered with filmy, lace-
like ferns, mosses, lycopods, and orchids.

Shortly after daylight one morning we were disturbed

by the excited barking of the dogs, and upon investigation

discovered a pitched battle raging between one of our ship

dogs and an ugly green lizard measuring about thirty inches,

with a row of short pointed spikes along its back and neck.

The lizard fought fiercely and the dog was rapidly getting

worsted when a black man with a noosed stick ran out and

captured the angry reptile and dragged it away. Even when

tied very tight in the noose it still fought and struggled until

it dropped into a small well at last, where, sinking from sight,

it remained submerged for several hours. This species of lizard

differs structurally from all known lizards and

A Happy-Go- seems to be a solitary and degenerate descen-

Lucky dant of the huge reptiles of the Saurian Age.

People. it is accounted sacred by the Maoris.

Roto Ita is a lovely sheet of water connected
with Rotorua by a winding river about a mile long. The
shores are indented with innumerable bays and coves, and
presented an ever-changing panorama as we paddled along

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 25

it in our borrowed Maori canoe. The water is so deep and
the surface so calm that the woods fringing the shores are
clearly mirrored there. At the head of the Roto a solid rock
called Matawhero rises like a wall to a height of eight hun-
dred feet and is completely clothed from base to summit with
most exquisite ferns and clinging woods.

At the extreme eastern end of the lake we came upon a
Maori village beautifully situated on a low, shelving beach,
completely surrounded with woodlands and splendid with
flowering vines, giant tree-ferns, and brilliant shrubbery, with
the dark-brown summit of the Matawhero rising grandly in
the background. As we approached the shore the inhabitants
saluted with cheery shouts of welcome. We stopped for the
night among them and were regaled with a feast of sweet
potatoes, maize, flounders, eels, and I know not how many
other things all stewed together in the same pot.

After supper we went to hear the native clergyman preach
in his own language. His sermon was an excellent one,
from the text "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that
bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that
saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth." Isa. 52:7.

The moonlight was clear and beautiful, every object shone
out as distinct as at noonday. The natives were variously
occupied, some fishing from their canoes or setting funnel-
shaped wicker baskets for catching eels; others were chatting
in little groups here and there or seated about their houses
singing at the top of their voices. I could not help contrasting
the lot of these happy-go-lucky people with that of the poorer
classes in civilized life who are compelled to toil early and
late, or starve. Very little labor enables these people to
procure abundance of food, so they eat, sleep, dance and
laugh their happy lives away, with never a care for the
morrow.

26 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

Next morning we went by a charming bush-road to Roto

Ehu, one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, with many

arms stretching in various directions and sur-

Ent ranee rounded by rolling hills clothed with magnifi-

to the cent foiiapre to the water's edge. The lake

Infernal .. • r v r

Regions. an<^ surrounding country is full of romantic

legends of bygone glories of the Maori race.
Proceeding westward we reached far-famed Tikitere, a deso-
late valley of mud volcanoes, solfataras, and boiling springs,
all in furious activity and blanketed with a dense cloud of
vapor. The entire surface of the valley is covered with hissing
steam holes and sulphur incrustations, the repulsive odor from
which is overpowering. Near the summit of a hill we came
upon "Great Fumarole," a hole in the earth's surface through
which steam roars as though it came from the escape valve
of some mighty boiler.

The most thrilling part of our journey, however, was
traversing a narrow pathway between two boiling lakes of
hissing, seething mud, a passage appropriately named the
Gates of Hades. The odor of sulphuretted hydrogen threat-
ened to suffocate us as we cautiously felt our way over ground
that trembled violently from the tremendous power of infernal
forces below, through dense clouds of vapor which only at
times opened sufficiently to afford us a fleeting glimpse of
the boiling waves of mud which licked our path on either side.

Passing through the Ohau channel we reached the village
of Hamurana, on the northern shore of Rua, and proceeded
up this beautiful stream to the immense fountain from which
it issues. Water, cold as ice and clear as purest crystal, flows
over a bed strewn with beautiful water flowers intermingled
with glistening rocks and snow-white sand. The stream is so
clear that a canoe on it seems suspended in mid-air and the
brilliant rays of the sun shining through the water produce
one of those strangely beautiful scenes to be found only in

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 27

the South Seas. The banks of the streams are clothed with
willows and cherry trees mingled with pines, ferns, and beau-
tifu" flowering vines. After our visit to the infernal regions
of Tikitere, this was Paradise.

Our next stopping place was the island of

The Holy Mokoia. This is the holy isle of the Maoris,
Isle of where the Tohungas preserve the sacred relics
the Maoris, which their ancestors brought with them from
the lost continent of Hawaiki. Mokoia was
the seat of the ancient religion of the Maoris, just as the
Holy Isle of Anglesey was of the ancient Druids of Britain,
and even during the time of fierce warfare it was always scru-
pulously respected. This island, rising six hundred feet above
the water level, is mostly covered with long grass and very
tall trees.

When we reached the pretty little town of Rotorua, near
the southern extremity of the island, my partner very truly
remarked that it was surprising how any one could retain
his health in the vile smell of sulphur and brimstone which
permeated the atmosphere. On every side were pools of
boiling, blubbering mud, spouting geysers and mineral springs
varying in temperature from lukewarm to two hundred and
twelve degrees.

Interesting it is to note the various uses which the natives
make of these pools. It is a common sight, for example, to
see them sitting for hours together in them with nothing
but their heads visible above the water, smoking black, short-
stemmed pipes. In the cold season they keep comfortable
by sitting all day long in the warm water. Should it rain
they lose no time in raising bamboo umbrellas by way of keep-
ing their heads dry. When cooking potatoes and other vege-
tables they tie them in crude sacks which they drop into the
boiling water and sit around like fishermen, hauling them up
when they are done to a turn. We saw one family cooking

28 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

a pig in an old packing case with the bottom removed and a
rude grill substituted. This was placed over a steam jet,
covered with old sacking, and on the whole it made a pretty
good oven. For washing clothes the women use a smooth,
flat stone precisely as white women use a washboard.

On certain appointed days the Maoris give
Like a a ser*es °^ dances beginning with the hideous
Dance of Kanikani, in which the performers sit side
Lost Souls, by side, each one endeavoring to make the
most frightful grimaces, which are accom-
panied with excruciating groans, shrieks, and yells. The spec-
tacle of these dark-skinned performers groaning and wailing
like lost souls and writhing apparently in the most frightful
agony, in the midst of the steam rising from the ground in
every direction and the strong smell of sulphur in the air,
might well lead the onlooker to believe he had finally reached
the infernal regions.

In strong contrast to the hideous Kanikani, the Poi dance
which usually follows is exquisitely pretty. The Poi consists
of two little reels of gay-colored flax fiber connected by a
short cord. This they twirl rapidly about, so as to make them
act in unison with the motions of the dancers. The cue is
taken from a leader and the accompanying air is sung with
graceful precision, while the performers go through intricate
and graceful evolutions, with a short rest between each divi-
sion, though the deft manipulation of the Poi is kept up
without ceasing.

But of all the dances I witnessed among the

The Fierce Maoris the crowning dance of all is the fierce

Haka Haka war-dance, in which the fury of canni-

War-dance. bal days is revived. The faces and bodies

of the warriors were painted with red ochre.

They formed in three lines facing the leader, their weapons

spread on the ground before them. At the first command

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 29

of the leader they began a rhythmic song and stamped lightly
with the right foot, keeping perfect time by slapping their
thighs with the palms of the hands. At the next order they
seized their weapons and the dance immediately became wild
and fierce, though every movement was executed with the
regularity of clock-work. The shouting and yelling grew
wilder and fiercer as they excited their naturally passionate
natures to the highest pitch, contorting their faces, thrusting
out their tongues and yelling taunts of defiance to imaginary
foes. Their eyebrows were painted in arches raised almost
to the roots of the hair and, with eyes rolling until only
alternate black and white were visible, they looked like fiends
incarnate and the scene was absolutely demoniacal. That the
entire tribe had gone stark mad seemed certain. They leaped
so high into the air and came down with such terrific force
that their stamping reverberated like strokes of a pile-driver,
while the women and children onlookers whooped and shrieked
as if demented. After an hour or more of this the dancers
gave a single frenzied shout of triumph, leaped nearly their
own height into the air, and as they dispersed broke into good-
natured laughing at their own performance.

It would be difficult to find more beautiful surroundings
than Rotorua presents. The clear blue lakes and crystal
trout streams, woody ranges gay with clusters of crimson
rata flowers, emerald islets dotted here and there and
joyous songs of birds are bewilderingly beautiful. The pic-
ture of these care-free savages at work in their patches of
sweet potatoes and grain, the smoke rising from their little
huts, canoes drawn up on the silvery beaches, their home-
made fish-nets hung up to dry, and the hum of women's voices
was a specially pleasing and restful picture of peace and
plenty. On every side we were greeted by the people with
friendly cries, in strange, liquid syllables, of "Good luck to
you, friend white man."

30 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

It was Sunday, so we attended a native missionary service,

as impressive as it was interesting. The text from which the

Maori clergyman preached an excellent ser-

Thc Lord's mon was "For God so loved the world that

Prayer He gave His only begotten Son, that who-

in Maori. soever believeth on Him should not perish,

but have everlasting life."

The Maori congregation joined devoutly in repeating the
Lord's prayer, as follows:

THE LORD'S PRAYER IN MAORI

E to matou I te Nangi, kia ton ingoa tukua mai tou
rangatiratanga.

Kai meatia tou hiahia ki te wenua me tou hiahia i te Rangi.

Homai ki a matou aianei to matou kai mo tenei ra.

Marau mo matou o matou hara, me matou hoki e muru
ana mo ratou e hara ki a matou.

Kaua matou e kawea atu ki te wakawainga, oliia wakaor-
angia matou i te kino.

Nau hoki te rangatiratanga, me te kaha, me te kororia,
ake', ake', ake. Amine.

Our next stop was at Whakarewarewa, south of Rotorua,
where we made a special trip to Te Horo, a well of boiling
water from fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. The water is
constantly leaping to a great height and ac suddenly falling
again. It boils furiously and sends up dense clouds of vapor.
When the cauldron is nearly full thousands of great bubbles
rise to the surface and immediately break into a succession
of beautiful fountains, dancing and leaping in the air. Lost
in amazement we did not notice a loud roaring, resembling
a heavy blast in a quarry, which sounded beneath our feet.
The native informed us quite casually that Te Pohutu (the
splasher), only a few yards away, was about to "go off."
And the ground on which we stood rocked and trembled as

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 31

a magnificent column of clear steaming water rose majestically
into the air to a height of more than one hundred feet. The
vapor accompanying this powerful discharge rose hundreds
of feet higher and vanished in various fantastic shapes against
the sky, while the glittering rays of the sun brightened
them up with every rainbow color. We watched the display
for over two hours until we began to fear that the earth might
give way and let us down into the boiling mud beneath.

It is extremely dangerous to go among the
G geysers at night, on account of the mud vol-

"Porridge canoes, the sides of which are as precipitous
Pots." as walls. White people call them "porridge

pots" because the mud in them boils with a
dull flop, flop, exactly like thick porridge. These mud vol-
canoes are of different colors, ranging all the way from pure
white to black, and the boiling springs just a little distance off
are blue, yellow, brown, red, and green.

One night we stopped at a hut where the Maoris were
holding a wake over a dead man. According to immemorial
custom all the friends and relatives of the family from far
and near had assembled to mourn for the departed as long
as the bereaved family could supply them with food. The
guests wore green boughs on their heads — the Maori sign of
mourning. The women shrieked and carried on in a heart-
rending manner. As each grew tired of shrieking and wav-
ing her arms frantically in the air she sat down and gorged
herself with food as though she had not tasted a mouthful
for a week, while another, just finishing the gorging act,
would immediately take her place and scream and fling her
arms about in apparent agony. It is a point of honor to out-
screech each other and to add one's utmost effort to the
uproar. Some of the mourners chanted a funeral ode enu-
merating the virtues of the deceased and the friends and rela-
tives all rubbed noses with the corpse before it was buried.

32 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

Of all the strange trees that grow in the forests of New
Zealand the rata is the strangest. It displays something so

closely resembling intelligence that it is not

Strangest to ^e wondered at that the Maoris regard it

of all with superstitious awe. When growing by

Strange Trees, itself the rata is just a beautiful tree, usually

from sixty to seventy feet high, which, in tHe
height of the season, flames with gorgeous crimson flowers
resembling the passion flower in shape. The wood of the
tree is dark red and commonly called ironwood. The wind
scatters the seeds of the rata, which alight, like the mistletoe,
in the forks of other trees, where they take root and send down
long tendrils into the ground. These tendrils soon increase
in size and encircle the root stem, which sends out lateral
roots at right angles. These root stems gradually become
united by laterals until they embrace the tree in a close net-
work and kill it. We saw many instances where the support-
ing tree had completely rotted away, leaving nothing but
a hollow cylinder of flourishing rata root stems. The upper
side of each leaf of the rata is dark green, the under side
downy white, and when the wind tosses the branches the
contrast between the white and green leaves and blood-red
flowers is so startlingly lovely as to be awe-inspiring. To the
Maoris the rata is sacred to the memory of fierce sea dragons
that once inhabited the South Seas. They associate it with
the dead and believe it to be possessed of supernatural powers.

After crossing Roto Tarawera we embarked
We Go in a small canoe upon a lake of boiling water.

One part through which we passed boiled so
Boiling Lake, fiercely that our small boat tumbled about like

a cork in the seething foam, and we freely
speculated on what our fate would be if we capsized or fell
overboard. But we landed safely at last and viewed the
"Terraces" that are constantly forming from the mineral

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 33

deposits which wash down from the hot springs above them.
These exquisitely beautiful Terraces, which, by the way, were
destroyed by the earthquake that devastated this region on
the night of June 10, 1886, extended in rippled gradations, like
vast steps draped with delicate lace and filigree work. They
rose to a height of seventy feet and immediately above them
were azure springs boiling fiercely to the accompaniment of a
loud and roaring noise. On the opposite shore the Terraces
were of the softest pink. The springs which formed them were
of a cooler temperature than those which form the white
Terraces of which I have just spoken. In strong contrast
to these beautiful and fairy-like formations, the rocky cliffs
bordering Rotomahana close by, covered with steam- jets and
blow-holes belching fire and boiling mud, are as suggestive
of the infernal regions as any spot on earth.

Another thrilling sight in this thermal region

A L k *s Black Geyser, which, I believe, is the larg-

Sinks Out of est active geyser in the world. The crater,

Sight. which is three hundred and nineteen feet long

and one hundred and eighty-two feet wide,
lies at the bottom of surrounding hills, and at intervals boiling
water mixed with huge stones and mud rises from it to an
incredible height. Some idea of the heat of the water thrown
out of Black Geyser may be inferred from the fact that the
water is still intensely hot after it has flowed two miles or
more from the crater. At first all we could see of it was a
pond of water boiling furiously below us, and the guide begged
us to leave the brink of the chasm and keep close to the shel-
ter shed, as he knew by some subtle signs, which were not
apparent to us, that a heavy explosion was about to occur.
Before we had reached the shed an immense volume of water,
mud, and stones was hurled higher than our heads without a
moment's warning, but it fell back into the crater without
even a stone from it reaching us. Another explosion fol-

34 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

lowed with about the same result and we advanced a little
closer to the crater to watch the phenomenon.

"The next one will be worse," the guide

I Escape shouted, and we ran back toward the shelter

with shed, but before we got inside the door there

My Life. was a terrific roar, as though several tons of

dynamite had exploded, and the earth shook
as if from a violent earthquake. I hesitated and looked
back and was surprised to see the boiling mass sink
down almost out of sight in the yawning abyss; but
the very next instant an immense column of red-hot stones
and seething mud was hurled with terrific force over every-
thing in sight, the air grew dark as a dungeon, and
through the din I followed the shouts of my two com-
panions who were inside the shed and reached the door. For-
tunately the shelter shed was very strong or the stones and
boulders which descended upon it would have demolished it.
It was several minutes before we could see anything and
when we left the shed we beheld a vast cloud of pure white
steam and silvery mist floating at an immense height and
showering everything with a fine diamond-like rain which
the sun converted into the most beautiful rainbow tints. We
had no means of judging the height of the explosion which
we had just witnessed, but I venture to say it was fifteen hun-
dred feet, exclusive of the clouds and steam.

One morning we saw some Maori boys catch-
Catching m% w^ ducks in a way which white boys
Wild Ducks might imitate where the nature of the current
by Hand. permits. Having covered their heads with

brushwood, they clasped hands in couples and
drifted down with the current in an upright position, so that
no part of the body was visible and not a ripple appeared
on the surface of the water. As the small heaps of brushwood
drifted through the flocks, there were several suppressed

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 35

"quacks" as duck after duck suddenly disappeared beneath
the surface, when the entire flock finally became alarmed and
flew away and the boys emerged, each with the heads of several
ducks tucked under his belt. On another occasion we saw
two men hunting wild pigeons with light four-pronged spears
of tough tawa wood thirty feet long at least. These spears
were placed upon rests and bait was placed upon a branch
where the birds were in the habit of alighting. The men
were completely concealed and when a bird lighted beside
the bait they would instantly transfix it with their spears.

A few miles before reaching Pipiriki we approached the
Ruapehu caves, which are situated upon the right side of
the river bank. The largest one is truly magnificent and the
view of the entrance, embowered in delicate ferns and flower-
ing lichens, is beautiful enough for a fairy scene. The first
cave opens out into an immense natural hall, at the furthest
end of which is a waterfall about twenty feet high. It is
supposed to derive its origin from the snows of Ruapehu
several miles away. Every spot along the beautiful Roto
Tarawera is famed in Maori song and story, but I was partic-
ularly interested in viewing Moutoa Island, eight miles below
Pipiriki. Of all the places surrounded by the halo of legend
and romance in this beautiful river, perhaps none can equal
the interest excited in the mind of the Pakeha visitor by the
memories of Moutoa Island, though the story of the battle
which has rendered it forever famous in New Zealand history
appears to be entirely unknown outside of the land in which it
took place. The incidents surrounding this battle seem far
more like a chapter from the history of the Crusaders or some
medieval romance than sober historic facts.

36 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER IV

THE OVERTHROW OF A FALSE PROPHET

A very worthy and self-sacrificing Episcopal missionary

named Rev. W. Grace had labored for many years at Poukawa,

near Tokaanu and the Waihi Pa, and had not

A B ttl only succeeded in turning many hundreds of
to the the surrounding Maoris from heathenism to
Teeth. Christianity, but had also taught them many

useful mechanical arts. About the begin-
ning of 1864 a Maori named Te Ua, who had previously pro-
fessed Christianity, suddenly announced that he had received
a special revelation from their own gods to destroy Chris-
tianity, restore cannibalism, drive the Pakehas from Aotea
Roa, and establish a new religion which he called Pai Mariri,
which was a singular mixture of some elements of Chris-
tianity, Judaism, original Maori heathenism, and nature-wor-
ship.

The means by which Te Ua gained his ascendancy over
the Maoris was rather curious and worth relating. When he
first claimed to be inspired, he acted so strangely that he was
taken to be a dangerous lunatic and was confined with a very
strong chain, but he broke the chain apparently without the
slightest effort. He was then confined with very strong ropes
made of harekeke, but he broke all the ropes which they could
put upon him and displayed such superhuman strength that
the superstitious Maoris believed him to be gifted with a
miraculous power and accordingly followed his leadership.

The followers of Pai Mariri are best known in New Zea-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 37

land history by their common nickname of Hau Hau (Hau
meaning wind), from the frantic cries which they uttered
during their heathen worship, which consisted chiefly in danc-
ing madly around a sort of May-pole which they called Tongi-
tongi (Staff of life) and shrieking like maniacs. Like most
new fads, the religion spread rapidly. Mr. Grace was forcibly
driven away, and the rapidly increasing numbers and intense
fanaticism of the Hau Haus soon rendered them formidable
not only to all the surrounding tribes, but also to the British
authorities. They sent the word out to the British inhabitants
that they would not only eat the heads of all the Pakehas in
Aotea Roa, but they would also eat the heads of all Mihanere
(the Maori word for missionaries and applied to all who
accept Christianity). They made a formidable attack upon
New Plymouth and besieged the city of Wanganui, the most
important missionary settlement. The most intense excite-
ment prevailed. The Hau Haus committed the most horrible
excesses by murdering and devouring outlying settlers, and
it seemed as though all the northern savage tribes, converts
and all, were on the point of joining them.

The British authorities were thoroughly
War of alarmed and set about making the most ex-
Extermina- tensive preparations for a war of extermina-
tion, tion, when the whole course of events sud-
denly changed in a most remarkable way.
The Maori tribes residing along the Wanganui River were
nearly all Christians, and after holding a public meeting at
which to discuss the situation, they promptly dispatched their
chief orator to the camp of the Hau Haus, challenging them to
settle the impending conflict and prove the merits of their
new religion by selecting one hundred of their best warriors
to meet one hundred Christian Maoris upon Moutoa Island
where the Hau Hau warriors might invoke the aid of their
false gods and fight in defense of them while the Wanganuis

38 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

would call on their Christian God and fight in defense of Chris-
tianity. The result of this battle was to prove whether Chris-
tianity or Pai Mariri was the true religion. Nothing could
be fairer or more acceptable to the mind of the Maori than
such a challenge as this. The Hau Haus promptly accepted
it, and on the morning of May 14, 1864, the rival war parties
landed from their various canoes upon Moutoa Island, and
many Maoris who were about persuaded to accept the new
Hau Hau belief gathered from far and near to watch the
issue and witness the grand triumph of Pai Mariri over Chris-
tianity.

The Maoris are among the best natural-born orators in
the world. The emissaries on both sides proceeded to make
stirring speeches in defense of their respective beliefs. Te Ua
performed his heathen incantations and ceremonies, which he
assured his followers would protect them in battle and render
them invincible, invulnerable, and victorious. "It is only nec-
essary," he added, "for you to rush forward calling Hau Hau
like dogs and hold up your right hand, palms turned toward
the enemy, and you will stop all the Wanganui bullets with-
out the slightest injury to yourselves." He pronounced the
most solemn curses upon Christian Maoris, railing down upon
them death and destruction. Although these curses and in-
cantations may seem childish and nonsensical to us, it must
be remembered that the Wanganuis, who had only recently
forsaken heathenism for Christianity, had always been taught
to regard them with most superstitious terror. It required
great fortitude on the part of these dark-skinned champions
of the Cross to boldly defy all the traditions of their race and
the vengeance of their ancient gods, believing that if they were
defeated in the coming battle their whole tribe would be ex-
terminated or carried into slavery.

While the heathen chief was performing his heathen rites
and ceremonies the chief of the Wanganuis prayed to the true

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 39

God to vindicate his worship by giving them the victory over
their heathen enemies, who were now seeking to destroy their
Christian beliefs.

Each party then sent forth an advance guard of fifty men
to engage first, while fifty more on either side were held in
reserve. Mete Kingi commanded the advance guard of the
Wanganuis, and Haimona Hiroti commanded the reserves,
while the great war-chief Metene commanded the advance
guard of the Hau Haus and the false prophet Te Ua com-
manded the reserves.

It is not surprising that the Wanganuis more than half
believed the Hau Haus to be invulnerable as they rushed for-
ward barking like dogs and defying the enemy to touch them.
The Christian Maoris were seized with such superstitious
terror that every one of their shots went wide, which only
served to strengthen the belief that Hau Haus were invulner-
able. But soon there came hand-to-hand fighting with spears
and tomahawks, when the Wanganuis quickly discovered that
their opponents were not invulnerable, nor invincible either,
and they joined with all their might in the combat.

Mete Kingi was slain early in the battle and two other of
his chiefs who succeeded him in command met the same fate
almost instantly. A young chief, Wirimu Tamihana, then took
command of the Wanganui advance and with the most des-
perate and heroic efforts attempted to retrieve the fortunes of
the day. With his double-barreled gun he killed two Hau
Hau warriors and was in the act of reloading when two
minor Hau Hau braves singled him out and attacked him.
Tamihana ran the first one through the body with his spear
and clove the skull of the second with his tomahawk. He
rallied like a hero and was leading the Wanganuis on in gal-
lant style when two bullets from the Hau Hau clan struck
him simultaneously and killed him on the spot. The death of
four of their leaders in such rapid succession discouraged the

40 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

Wanganuis and awakened their superstitions. Their line
wavered and then broke and Te Ua shrewdly perceived that
the critical moment had now arrived, so promptly he brought
up the Hau Hau reserves, believing he would achieve vic-
tory.

All was now apparently lost to the Wanganuis, but in this
deep emergency Chief Haimona proved himself worthy the
reputation he bore. Rallying the retreating Wanganuis he
commanded them to fall in behind the reserves, who were
fresh and eager for battle. Then, following a custom old as
the Maori race itself, he planted his spear, which was an
heirloom in his family, in front of the Wanganuis, declaring
he would never retreat from the spot where it was planted but
would win the battle or die there. This stand is always the
last desperate resort of a Maori chieftain. His followers
would die to the last man before they would desert him now.
It is a declaration that the battle will be one of extermination ;
no mercy will be shown. Then shouting to the Wanganui re-
serves to follow him, Haimona led the way onward toward the
spot where the Hau Hau clan was advancing. The Wanga-
nui reserves, eager for vengeance, followed lustily and made a
terrific charge in wedge formation, after the. manner of the
ancient Romans. The Hau Hau warriors stood their ground
and both parties closed in a deadly hand-to-hand combat with
spears, tomahawks and clubbed muskets in which no quarter
was asked or given. At this desperate moment a Wanganui
champion suddenly dashed single-handed in the midst of the
Hau Hau fighters and, cutting down all who opposed him,
captured a heathen banner and carried it away in triumph.
Still another Wanganui warrior slew Metene as he was cheer-
ing on the heathen reserves, and after a short but desperate
battle in which both parties fought like demons the Hau Haus
were entirely routed, defeated and beaten down, leaving up-
ward of fifty men dead upon the field, and almost all the others

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 41

were killed or captured as they attempted to escape by swim-
ming through the stream.

The false prophet Te Ua, seeing that all was
"Behold l°st to tnem> was among the first of the Hau
the False Haus to leap into the river and endeavor to
Prophet!" escape. Haimona, of the Wanganuis, saw him
swimming away and, calling a warrior to him,
pointed to Te Ua, shouting, "There is the false prophet." The
Wanganui instantly fired after Te Ua, but missed him; then
dropping his gun and grasping his tomahawk he leaped into
the stream and started in pursuit of him. Te Ua gained the
bank first and started running away like a deer, but the Wan-
ganui overtook him and brought back the heathen chief's
head and laid it at the feet of his own Christian chief.

The assembled Maoris were amazed at the re-
A Battle suit of the battle, for incredible as it may

u b*?"cen , sound the Wanganui had lost only twelve men
Heathen and '

Christian and thirty were wounded, while the Hau Hau
Maoris. warriors were about exterminated. The im-
portance of this battle must not be estimated
by the small number of men engaged in it; for it must be
understood that the Maoris regarded it not as a combat be-
tween two rival tribes, but as an actual and deciding conflict
between Christianity and heathenism. The battle terminated
so overwhelmingly in favor of the Wanganuis that the Chris-
tianized tribes for miles around regarded the result as miracu-
lous, and Hau Hauism had received its death-blow, for as is
usual in such cases its followers fell away as rapidly as they
had joined.

Nothing could be more entrancing than the Waitomo caves
situated about one hundred and thirty miles due south from
Auckland on the west coast. The Waitomo River runs through
them and they consist of a series of wide and lofty stalactite
chambers in the heart of a heavily wooded hill. One entrance

42 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

is at the point where the river emerges and the other through
a rocky portal high on the hillside in the midst of a thicket of

trees and underbrush. The caves abound in
Treasure romantic treasures. Vast domed ceilings and

winding corridors upheld by symmetrical
Maoris. white pillars sparkling with beads of moisture

and faintly lighted with myriads of glow-
worms form a scene to make one fairly catch breath with
wonderment at loveliness so unearthly. In a series of caverns
named the "courtrooms" there are luxurious formations ex-
actly resembling heavy hangings and many stalagmite forma-
tions so much resembling human figures as to startle one
on entering, and it is little wonder that the caves abound in
romantic and fantastic traditions.

The scenery along the western shore of Topomana is most
striking. The immense basaltic cliffs of the Western Bay, a
sheer wall rising to a height of fifteen hundred feet, present
an ever changing panorama. We made a twenty-five-mile
trip across the bay in a Maori canoe and landed at a small
settlement at the extreme southern end, at the foot of the ex-
tinct volcano Kakaramea. Here our attention was called to
a broad strip of red earth which still marks the course of the
terrific landslide of boiling mud which descended in May, 1845,
completely burying the little settlement of the great chief Te
Heu Heu and fifty-four of his people at the very moment when
the great Maori leader was defying all the powers of volcanoes
to harm them.

The most singular of the boiling springs in

Boiled tms vicinity are three large circular basins

to Death. situated very near together, and in which the

water rises and falls at uncertain intervals,
changing in temperature from cold to boiling point. There is
a legend that some Maoris paying a friendly visit here were
taken to bathe in one of these basins on the evening of their

OF CAPTAIN QViNTOtt 43

arrival. The following morning before dawn they went again
for a bath in the same place and, ignorant of the variable
temperature, jumped in and were at once scalded to death.

Our journey from this point to Taumaranni, our next stop-
ping place, on the upper reaches of the Wanganui River, was
through a vast forest of totara, rimu, and kahikatea, rare and
beautiful ferns, orchids, white clematis and the brilliant crim-
son flowers of the rata. The liquid notes of the larks, black-
birds, finches, thrushes, and starlings, which have been im-
ported from Europe, ring through this forest from earliest
dawn to twilight. Every spot in the surrounding country has
its legend of battle or cannibal feast during the wars which
raged between the tribes which owned it and the fierce north-
ern tribes which claimed it.

At every turn fresh scenes of interest succeed each other
like the shifting figures of a kaleidoscope. The stream sweeps
around cliffs rising five hundred feet straight up in the air
and expands into a lake, calm and still, like a sheet of clear
glass. Picturesque gorges open through cliffs delicately criss-
crossed with frail network of light and shade, while the sur-
rounding hillsides blaze in a crimson glory of constantly re-
curring rata. Every now and again we passed a village, and
the inhabitants, dressed in every color of the rainbow, invari-
ably waved their mats and clothes at us, saluting us always
with friendly shouts. At one point, suddenly rounding the
bend of the river, we came upon some native merry-makers
dressed in unusually brilliant costumes and singing at the tops
of their voices, grouped under a magnificent natural arbor of
rata flowers, a waterfall flowing like threads of silver from
the forest-clad hills in the background. They saluted and
pressed us to join them, but we glided silently on.

One of the most beautiful sights of Wanganui is Mount
Taranaki, which stands alone like a sentinel rising to a height
of 8,260 feet, strangely beautiful when the sun tinges its

44 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

snowy shroud with crimson. I was brought up on the banks
of the Hudson River, and have since seen the finest rivers in
the world, including the majestic Columbia River in Oregon,
but I never have seen any that equaled in beauty the Wan-
ganui River in New Zealand.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 45

CHAPTER V

TONGA, SAMOA, NEW HEBRIDES AND LOYALTY ISLANDS,

I next sailed from Sydney in the barkentine Agnes Edge-
hill, and our first stop was at Nukualofa, the capital of the
Tonga Islands. It was Sunday, and the mate

T ou- r and I went to church, where we heard a mis-

1 onip for

Tonga and sionary preach to the natives from the iden-
Samoa. tical text we had heard a converted savage
preach from on the Bay of Plenty, in New
Zealand, a few Sundays before.

The congregation squatted upon the floor, while several
men with long bamboo poles walked up and down, now and
again rapping over the head a member who did not pay strict
attention. We seated ourselves among the native worshipers,
but the old chief, squatting upon a raised platform facing the
congregation, sent one of his serving-men, who, extending
his hands on a level with his face, palms turned toward us,
exclaimed, "Faka moli moli, Papalangi, hau kohina," which
means, "I beg your pardon, white man, come here." We fol-
lowed him to our appointed places on the platform beside the
chief. When the congregation was dismissed the women quite
naively removed their long, loose calico dresses, which they
had put on in deference to the missionaries, and walked home
with them rolled up under their arms.

There is an especially interesting stone monument near
Nukualofa known to the islanders as Tuba Tui. It consists of
two large rectangular blocks of dressed stone set upright and
facing each other, like the gable ends of a house. These

46 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

blocks support a horizontal slab extending from one to the
other like a rooftree. Each end of the slab is neatly mortised
into the center of the top of one of the perpendicular slabs.
A huge stone bowl lying on the ground near by has in all
probability fallen during an earthquake, from its position in
the middle of the horizontal slab. This bowl is similar to
stone bowls on the island of Tinian, in the Mariana Islands,
three thousand miles away.

The island of Tuba Tui is of coral formation and only
slightly elevated above the sea. It contains no stone similar
to that of the monument just described, showing clearly that
these blocks must have been carried here on ships. The
stones also show the handiwork of a people possessed of cut-
ting tools made of steel or tempered copper, and we are told
that the ancient Phoenicians and Egyptians alone possessed the
secret of tempering copper.

The town of Apia, in which nearly all the white people
in Samoa reside, consists of one street along the beach and
was our next port of call. In approaching from seaward the
first prominent object that strikes the eye is a silvery water-
fall which gleams conspicuously against a background of
dark volcanic rock. This gleaming water can be seen for so
many miles out to sea that it is used as a lighthouse, and navi-
gators entering the harbor are instructed to keep the water-
fall directly in line over the tall spire of a church in the vil-
lage, this alignment assuring a safe passage through the reefs.
Some of the residences present a delightfully attractive ap-
pearance in their setting of tropical trees and
Gigantic flowers.

ofatthc The distinguishing characteristic of the

Polynesians. Polynesian islanders is their gigantic size. I

have seen specimens of nearly every race in

the world, including Patagonians, but I have never seen a

people who compared with the natives of Tonga and Samoa

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 47

for immense stature and muscular development, and the chiefs
not only are taller, but are considerably lighter in color than
the common people.

Upon one occasion I was about to remove my shoes and
wade ashore from our small boat, which had grounded a few
yards from the beach, when a chief with whom I was ac-
quainted rushed into the water, picked me up on one arm
precisely as a woman would gather up a baby, and carried me
high and dry to land. I am five feet eight and one half inches
tall without my shoes, but I appeared like a pygmy beside the
Samoan chief, who measured all of seven feet and was splen-
didly proportioned. He is a fair example of this giant race,
which reminded me constantly of the description of the
Canaanites that the spies brought back to Moses after their
journey of reconnoiter in the Promised Land. "All the people
that we saw in it are men of great stature. And there we saw
the giants, the sons of Anak which come of the giants: and
we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in
their sight." But these natives are as indolent in disposition
as they are large in size and cannot comprehend the white
man's way of working hard every day in order to make a
living.

The island produces finest coffee, cotton, tobacco, cocoa
and vanilla, and the Samoans, who are still in possession of
the greater part of the island, have more than they need.
Most of the soil is so uneven that it can be worked only by
hand. The native Samoans are far too proud and indolent
to work for others, so when I was there the foreign culti-
vators were compelled to import wild cannibals from New
Britain, New Ireland, the Solomon Islands and New Hebrides
to work on their large plantations.

The employment of this imported labor meant that spe-
cial cruises must be made to engage new workmen and return
others. We were commissioned to make such a cruise, and

48 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

as labor vessels were always liable to attack by the natives
owing to the fact that they carried miscellaneous cargoes of
cheap, gaudy articles acceptable to the cannibals for trading
purposes, we shipped a large crew of Tongans, Samoans,
Fijians, besides the white officers, all of whom were armed
to the teeth.

After an uneventful run we brought up at Aneiteum, most
southern of the New Hebrides. It would be difficult to imag-
ine a more striking contrast than that between the Polynesian
islanders and the inhabitants of Aneiteum. In appearance,
language, color, manners, and customs they are entirely op-
posite. The people of Aneiteum paint their faces and bodies
in various brilliant colors and wear their long hair hanging in
matty tresses or tied in a knot at the back of the head. Their
houses are nothing but hovels made of branches of trees stuck
into the ground, fastened together at the top and thatched
with leaves. As a rule these huts are not more than four feet
high and six feet wide, while the length of the house depends
only upon the number of people who sleep in it.

The men of this tribe devote infinitely more time to hav-
ing their hair dressed than to any other single occupation, and
for this reason the native barber is a very important member
of the community. The barber carefully separates their kinky
locks into small tresses, binding each one separately with a
thin pineapple fiber, and he continues this binding process at
intervals as the hair continues to grow.

These people divide themselves into four tribes, which lived
in a state of constant warfare before the missionaries came.
But the missionaries in a few decades have taught their con-
verts to live in peace, and to worship the true God instead of
demons.

In common with the other South Sea Islanders they be-
lieved absolutely in a future life in a paradise situated far
away to the west. The unconverted still believe in demons,

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 49

whom they endeavor to placate by sacrifices. Their chief god
is Matmase, whose dwelling place they firmly believe is in
the sky.

After securing a few recruits here we sailed for Tanna,
in the Loyalty Islands, one of the easiest of all the islands of
the Pacific to locate on account of the perpetually active vol-
cano of Yashur, situated near the southern point. Long be-
fore the land is visible dense clouds of flame and smoke can
be seen ascending from this natural lighthouse which rises
nine hundred and eighty feet above the sea level and is visible
at a distance of fifty miles.

Arriving at Port Resolution, about eight

Earthquakes m^es to t^ie eastward of the volcano, we came
and Flourish- to anchor. The formation of this harbor has

ing Towns, been considerably changed by three tremen-
dous earthquake shocks which occurred on
January 10, February n, and August 15 of the year 1878.
The natives said that previous to each eruption the volcano
was unusually active. With the first eruption a new volcano
burst out between the old volcano and the bay and a tidal wave
swept in from sea, roaring far inland and causing death and
destruction on all sides. Villages were wiped out and in a
moment's time nothing but rack and ruin marked the sites
of several flourishing towns and plantations. After the wave
had receded quantities of sharks and other fish were left high
and dry upon the rocks and what had been the bottom of the
harbor to the westward was forced above water level for a
distance of three hundred feet. With the second earthquake
another expanse of harbor bottom appeared above the surface,
further blocking the entrance. Entry to the harbor can only
be made to-day by most careful navigation, the passageway
being very narrow.

Tanna is extremely fertile, and even the highest moun-
tains are clothed to the summits with tropical vegetation.

50 THE STRANGE 'ADVENTURES

Yams, which the natives sell to passing ships, are 0ver three
feet long and weigh more than forty pounds, and all other
vegetable growths are in proportion to this.

The natives of these islands are dark in color,

Fashionable °f medium stature, well built and very active.

Head-dress. Their noses are flat, their eyes brown and
their bodies are covered with fine hair. The
women wear their hair short and arranged in hundreds of
erect little curls. The men wear their beards in ringlets and
the chiefs stick pieces of polished shell or ebony through the
septum of the nose. It is said to require five years to dress a
man's hair in the fashionable style, but it is dressed only once
or twice in a lifetime. Parents cut holes in the lobes of their
children's ears and insert pieces of rolled-up plantain leaf,
which, by the force of expansion, stretch the lobe. They
then load their ears with huge rings of tortoise-shell and other
ornaments until the elongated lobes are sometimes drawn so
far down as to lie upon the shoulders. They go practically
naked, but upon full-dress occasions array themselves in kilts
of bladed grass very neatly and handsomely woven. They
also wear bracelets of polished shell and the wonderfully in-
tricate carving upon these baubles shows a high order of
artistic skill.

The favorite ornament of all is a necklace of whale's teeth
or the teeth of human beings that the wearer has killed in
battle. Most South Sea Islanders look upon whale's teeth
in very much the way civilized people regard diamonds. It
is extremely dangerous to wear a necklace of whale's teeth,
and none but a valiant warrior would venture to do so, for it
is an open challenge to murder. On the other hand, a neck-
lace of human teeth is considered valuable only to the slayer
of the men whose teeth he wears as ornaments.

During the occasional intervals of peace the men paint their
faces jet black with a mixture of oil and powdered charcoal.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 51

Upon this background they place various patterns of red
ochre. Before going into battle they spend much time devis-
ing most grotesque combinations of colors with the idea of
terrorizing their enemies. We saw some with forehead
painted bright red, one cheek white, the other black and the
chin a brilliant blue. Others had lines of red and white radiat-
ing from the nose like the spokes of a wheel or the sun rays
on the Japanese flag. The outward sign of their conversion
to Christianity consists in wearing clothing and giving up
their heathen style of head-dress.

A savage named Nelwang and a woman

A Christian known as Yakin had embraced Christianity.

Savage They wished the missionary to marry them,

Wedding. and the bride determined to show the depth

of her Christian spirit by the amount of cloth-
ing she carried upon her person. She forthwith arrayed her-
self in every article of European apparel that she could beg
or borrow. Her bridal gown consisted of a man's drab over-
coat over her own native grass skirt, tightly buttoned and
reaching down to her heels. Over this she had a waistcoat
and a pair of men's trousers, the body drawn over her breast
and a leg dangling gracefully over each of her shoulders and
down her back. Fastened to one shoulder also was a red
shirt, and to the other a striped shirt, which waved about like
wings as she sailed along. Around her head she had twisted
another red shirt like a turban, and one of the sleeves hung
over each of her ears. She looked like a moving monster
loaded with a mass of rags. The day was excessively hot
and the perspiration trickled down her face in little streams.
The missionary shortened the service as much as possible in
order to afford the bride relief from her sweltering costume,
which had excited the unbounded admiration of the native
audience.

One night it was my good fortune to witness a social tribal

52 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

dance about six miles north of Port Resolution. The men
danced in an inner ring and the women on the outer side of
the ring. The dancers supplied their own music by shouting
at the tops of their voices and clapping hands in perfect time
with the measure of the dance. The dance itself consisted of
many highly intricate and graceful evolutions executed with
the machinelike precision characteristic of all savage dances.
Their naked figures, painted in every bright color, wheeling
and turning, cavorting and gyrating in the fitful gleams of
the firelight, and the perfect time which they maintained, yell-
ing savagely every minute, made a spectacle almost as great
as a corroboree among the Australian blacks.

The canoes and other craft of this tribe are
War Clubs ratner rude and clumsily made, but the ar-
Spears and rows, spears, tomahawks, and war-clubs are
Tomahawks, carved and adorned in the most elaborate and
graceful manner. War is the main object of
their existence, and for this reason they give much time and
attention to making weapons. Like almost all woolly-haired
races they make their war-clubs round; straight-haired races
make them flat. The typical weapon is about four feet long
and shaped much like an Indian club. It is considered the
greatest disgrace to lose the club in battle. Their spears are
beautifully made and no other Pacific race affords finer speci-
mens of savage art. The typical throwing spear is from eight
to ten feet in length, the thickest part of the shaft being less
than an inch in diameter. Instead of being barbed on two
opposite sides the barbs are put on in six whorls of four barbs
each. They also use a long and heavy "pike" in hand-to-hand
combat. Strange to say, they never use shields, but for that
matter shields are not used east of the Solomon Islands.

The famous kawas or killing stone of this people is made
of bluish-gray rock so strong and tough that no rough usage
will break it. Varying from fifteen inches to nearly two feet

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 53

in length and from an inch and a half to an inch and three-
quarters in diameter, it is so perfectly round and straight as
to look as though it had been turned in a lathe.

History tells us that ancient Roman legionaries first hurled
their javelins at the enemy, then engaged them hand-to-hand.
In like manner the Tanna warrior first hurls his kawas with
unerring aim at his enemy, then rushes upon him with his
ponderous two-handed club and kills him.

They believe that the efficacy of their weapons depends
quite as much upon magical charms and spells which have
been cast over them as upon the dexterity with which they
are wielded. The sorcerer of the tribe makes an easy living
performing incantations over new weapons and endowing
them with such magical powers that every wound they after-
ward inflict is guaranteed to be deadly; whenever a weapon
inflicts a mortal wound it is believed to be owing to the effi-
cacy of the spell which the sorcerer cast upon it — a sort of
"Heads, I win ; tails, you lose" arrangement. Every settle-
ment has at least one sorcerer or sacred man, who not only
casts spells upon weapons, but also is believed to have the
disposal of life and death by the practice of witchcraft.

The ancient Egyptians made gods of so many
Superstitious °bJects> animate and inanimate, that a Per-
and Strange sian king who invaded Egypt remarked, "It is
Beliefs. easier to find a god in Egypt than a man."
The same thing might be said of Tanna, for
the natives make gods of fish, snakes, birds, trees, rocks, in-
sects, springs, streams, departed spirits, heavenly bodies, vol-
canoes and so on. Their chief worship is paid to Karapana-
mun, the great evil spirit who is said to dwell in the volcano
of Yashur. They believe in a heaven called Aneai, though
their notions in regard to it are confused, for, like all savages,
they have no idea that conduct in this life could affect con-
ditions in the next.

54 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

When a native is taken ill his family and friends rush out
of his hut blowing a conch shell, by way of informing the
supposed enemy who is causing the illness that they are get-
ting ready to come and fight. The sorcerer of the village is
then called in to diagnose the case and discover who the
enemy is. The sorcerer proceeds to look wise and study the
case, performing the while magical rites which always pro-
duce a profound impression upon the family. Should the sick
person recover it is always credited to the superlative merits
of the sorcerer's magic. Should the patient die it is invari-
ably because his friends blew upon the conch shell too loudly
or not loudly enough.

They mourn for the dead with savage expressions of grief
and place food for them upon little platforms by the graves.
Upon one occasion we witnessed a wake over the body of a
man killed in battle. The mourners had painted their faces,
arms and breasts jet black and showed the depth of their af-
fection for the deceased by the vehemency of their lamenta-
tions and the severity of the wounds which they inflicted upon
themselves. They dashed themselves violently upon the
ground, knocked their heads against trees and gashed them-
selves with bamboo knives until they were covered with blood.

We were still recruiting in Port Resolution when two
tribes held a love feast near the beach, as a farewell to their
friends who were engaged to go with us. The natives seated
themselves in two large parties, facing one another, with im-
mense piles of roast pigs, fowls, fish, yams, breadfruit and
cocoanuts piled up between them. About fifty of the chiefs of
each tribe advanced to the center of the open space, standing
for a moment facing each other in two lines some ten feet
apart. The center of each line remained stationary, while
the ends advanced until they were about three feet apart. The
men at the extreme right of both lines then faced inward,
closing the gap at either end. They stood silently for a full

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 55

minute in this position, then simultaneously every man knelt
upon his right knee and extended his right arm in front of
him while he bowed his head to the ground. A chief began
chanting in a low tone, raising his voice gradually as he
slowly rose to his feet, until finally, with a blood-curdling yell,
he stood erect. The two lines of men immediately repeated
the performance and all stood erect at last yelling in a horrible
and fiendish way. Their voices rose then and fell with strange
ease and rapidity in a peculiar chant, and the performance
finally ended with a long-drawn wailing howl. Each man ex-
tended his right hand in greeting the other and, returning to
their respective places, the provisions were distributed and all
hands began eating ravenously as though they had not tasted
food for a week.

56 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER VI

ATTACKED BY SAVAGES

The island of Tanna is twenty-two miles long and eleven
miles wide, and strangely enough the inhabitants of so small
an area comprise several different tribes, all of which speak
languages so radically different that the inhabitants of one
district cannot understand those of another district, and each
tribe is so intensely hostile to the other that any native who
goes beyond the boundary of his domain does so at peril of
his life. This state of constant warfare with its concomitant
atrocities is chiefly the work of cannibal priests and sorcerers,
who use every effort to encourage belief in war and witch-
craft. The natives cultivate excellent crops in the valleys
running between the hills and the mountains, \\_-ich are cov-
ered to their summits with forests of finest woods.

After securing laborers at Tanna we set sail for Erro-
manga, about eighteen miles to the north, and anchored in
Dillon's Bay. The small woolly-haired natives of this island
are more related to the negro race than any other islanders of
the group. The women tattoo the upper parts of their bodies
and wear girdles made of leaves. The men go absolutely
naked. We could not do any business here owing to recent

troubles between the natives and several other

Pirates s^ips engage(* in "blackbirding," as the kid-

and napping of black laborers is called. It is not

Slavers. surprising that the natives despise all white

men and are ready to attack a ship on slight-
est provocation, for most white men engaged in the trading
business are little better than pirates and slavers. They stop at

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 57

nothing, it matters not how cruel it may be, so long as they are
enabled to kidnap natives to work upon their plantations. It
was common for a labor vessel to pretend to be a missionary
ship. The crew would sing a hymn to attract the natives on
board, the hatches would be left open and tins of biscuit in
great plenty would be placed in the hold. The natives would
gradually come on board and were directed to help themselves
freely to the biscuits in the hold. When a sufficient number
had boarded the vessel the hatches were closed and the ship
suddenly sailed away.

Another trick is to attract natives in their canoes along-
side the ships by offering them knives and trinkets. The ship
would suddenly run down two or three canoes and men in
small boats would capture the black fellows as they struggled
in the water. I have seen men armed with rifles stand by on
the ship's deck and fire at the struggling natives if they
showed fight. If "blackbirders" came upon canoes at firing
distance from the shore they would open up a fusillade upon
them until they all surrendered, allowing themselves to be
captured and carried away. There was great rivalry between
the crews of the pirate ships because they were paid a stipu-
lated sum for every native they captured. Should two vessels
meet on the same recruiting ground the respective crews would
fight it out in deadly earnest on the beach while the natives
looked on in amazement. The members of the defeated crew,
however, were obliged to leave the field to their rivals. It was
common for a captain to form an alliance with the chief of a
tribe and assist him in destroying some hostile tribe on condi-
tion that he would furnish the captain with
Labor laborers either from his own tribe or that of

Outrages. the enemy.

The outrages connected with the labor trade,
became so notorious that the British authorities intervened and
placed the trade under strict regulation, which put an end to the

58 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

worst of the abuses and assured some degree of justice to the
natives.

We had little success at Erromanga, so we proceeded to the
Vates. The Vates are the most beautiful group of islands in
the entire Pacific. They afford a magnificent panorama of lofty
mountains clothed in rich vegetation and splendid forests
of rich timber, besides vast plantations of cocoanuts,
bananas, sweet potatoes, sugar cane and other tropical pro-
ductions.

The inhabitants are tall and well formed. For clothing
the men wear a kind of wrapper made of matting several
inches wide and wrought in graceful pattern of red, white and
black. Their long hair is gathered in a huge knot on top of
the head and bleached yellow with lime. Their ears are greatly
distended from the habit of wearing very heavy earrings of
tortoise-shell or white seashell. They also pierce the septum
of the nose, in which they insert an ornament of white stone.
Many of them have raised scars upon the arms and chest ar-
ranged in definite patterns somewhat after the style of the
Australian blacks. Their armlets and anklets are ingeniously
and beautifully wrought of polished seashell and cocoanut
shell. The women wear a woven belt seven or eight inches
wide made of fiber, into which patterns have been woven.
The women as well as the men practice making raised scars
upon their bodies and arms.

The weapons of these people are remarkable
for their beauty of carving and finish. They
Weapons of are probably the finest to be found within the
Worfana^hip. range of the entire Pacific. The barbs of the
arrows, for example, are neatly and elabo-
rately carved and at the junction of the head
and the shaft is much beautiful ornamentation made of platted
fiber. Their spears are the finest I have ever seen. It is no
wonder they set so high a value upon them, for it requires an

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 59

immense amount of labor to construct such specimens of sav-
age warfare. Many of them have designs resembling finest
Gothic ornamentation. These beautiful barbs are always poi-
soned, and when not in use for fighting are kept in sheaths
made of banana fiber to protect them from injury.

Strictly speaking, they have no idols or images, but they
have many objects and many places connected with events and
people, which they hold to be sacred. They believe in a future
life in a paradise called Lakinatoto, which they locate far
away in the west somewhere. They worship the spirits of
departed chiefs and renowned warriors, but their chief god is
Supu, whom they revere as the creator of all things. Their
houses are good-sized and comfortable. One community build-
ing which served the double purpose of temple and council
chamber was one hundred feet long by twenty-five wide. One
side of it was entirely open, but the interior of the roof was
covered with bundles of bones which hung from rafters.
These islanders not only practice cannibalism, but they also
bury their old and infirm people alive; and parents think
nothing of burying new-born infants alive if they do not feel
inclined to rear them.

We secured very few laborers here and the captain began
to feel somewhat anxious about the success of his voyage.
Altogether we had obtained only about two-thirds of the num-
ber we expected to take back, and we proceeded to Api Island
in the New Hebrides, and anchored in Yemyu Cove. This
cove has gained a notorious reputation on account of the very
savage character of the natives and their attacks upon labor
ships. This cove is a favorite retreating ground and is com-
monly known as Bushman's Bay ; a name which requires some
explanation. Many of the natives who live in the bush, or
interior, have never seen the ocean. The beach natives would
murder any bushman who ventured within their territory, just
as a bushman would murder a beachman who ventured in the

60 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

interior. Yemyu Cove is the only exception to this rule. The
bushmen of the interior come to this point to trade or ship in
labor vessels and, although they and the beachmen are ready to
cut each other's throats upon all other occasions they willingly
unite their forces for the purpose of attacking the white man
whenever they see an opportunity to do it.

The morning after our arrival we lowered

Ashore boats and pulled into shore to where a large

among body of natives were assembled on the beach.

the Natives. They appeared to have few weapons, but this

was no guaranty of safety ; they often appear

unarmed when they meditate attack. We secured twenty

laborers unmolested and the chief assured us that his tribe had

captured many prisoners, enough to complete our cargo, whom

he would have transferred to us the next day.

During the night many large canoes arrived at the cove
and hauled up on the beach. We could see through the glasses
that they were filled with armed men. By daylight the beach
swarmed with natives, and as soon as we signaled that we
were ready to receive them the canoes put out and paddled
rapidly toward us. Not only were these boats loaded with all
the men they could carry, but contrary to the usual custom of
peaceful trading many of them were armed, so the captain,
who understood a little of their language, called out that he
could not allow so many to come alongside at once. He also
inquired why they were armed, and insisted that all who ap-
proached must first pass their weapons into some of the other
canoes. For answer Nataio, the chief, stood majestically up
in his own canoe and, seizing two of the men by the topknots,
hauled them to their feet, pointing out that their hands were
tied and explaining that these were the captives whom he had
promised, and explaining further that it was necessary for
some of his men to be armed in order to guard the prisoners
and prevent resistance on their part.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 61

Nataio's explanation was plausible if not convincing, so we
prepared for all contingencies. The galley and forecastle doors
were closed and locked, all hands mustered aft
A and armed with rifles and, as a further pro-

Treacherous tection, a boarding netting made of barbed
Attack. wjre was triced up across the deck in front of
the crew, who had taken up their position aft
on the quarter-deck. This netting was five feet high and the
material used and method of securing made an ideal barrier
against any combined rush on the part of the savages.

The canoes drew alongside and three or four had already
discharged their loads of bound captives on the deck of the
vessel when a fierce wrangle broke out among them. The
warriors who had remained in the canoes sprang for the deck,
where they flourished their clubs threateningly over the heads
of the captives, but no blood was shed, though all hands ap-
peared to be much excited about something which we could
not comprehend. During the wrangle the mob of yelling,
gesticulating blacks had gradually swayed up to within a few
feet of the netting, where they spread out in such manner
that we could not observe what was transpiring on the for-
ward part of the deck.

Under cover of this excitement two canoes loaded with
armed warriors darted in under our bows and the warriors
clambered aboard. In the meantime the other canoes had
gradually edged up on both sides of the vessel, as though
maneuvering according to a prearranged plan, and the war-
riors aboard them suddenly broke out with a chorus of wild
yells and assailed us with a volley of arrows and several shots
from their trade guns. We instantly returned their fire, and
the canoes being so close up, practically every one of our shots
told. While our attention was occupied with the men in the
canoes the warriors who had lately been wrangling over the
prisoners also set up a yell of defiance and, rushing aft in a

62 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

body, endeavored to beat down the netting with their heavy
clubs. At the same time the "captives" who had been brought
on deck dropped the cords that bound their wrists and joined
eagerly in the attack, a supply of weapons having been passed
aboard for their use, we learned later, by the armed warriors.
The whole affair, needless to say, was a well-arranged plot
to capture the vessel, but in this case they had certainly reck-
oned without their host. Many of the assailants in their
ignorance rushed blindly on the barbed wire, only discovering
their mistake when they found themselves torn and lacerated
upon the sharp points. The captain and the main body of the
crew met the front attack from the deck, where was the cen-
ter of fighting; the mate and two of his boat's crew opened
fire on the canoes which were trying to board us on the port
side, while I opened fire from the starboard side. At this
moment, while my attention was engaged with the savages in
the canoes, the chief, who was leading the attack on my side
of the deck, suddenly lifted one of his men and threw him
bodily over the wire netting in such a manner that he de-
scended right where I was engaged in picking off the attack-
ing force with my rifle.

The assault was so sudden and unexpected

I Wrestle t^lat we ^°^ crashed to the deck, where we

with a rolled and wrestled in our individual efforts

Savage. to get the upper hand. In the scuffle the black

aimed at my head with his tomahawk, but
only succeeded in landing a glancing blow which inflicted a
scalp wound. While I was slashing at the savage with my
knife a powerfully built Tongan, seeing my predicament, ap-
proached and, drawing back his rifle, suddenly drove it into
the ribs of my opponent with such force that it entered his
body, killing him on the spot. I sprang to my feet in time to
see the enemy's ranks waver and break. While those nearest
the netting were trying to beat it down with their clubs those

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 63

in the background had been hurling volleys of arrows over
their heads and had managed to wound some of the vessel's
crew, for they have a peculiar way of hurling spears over a
barrier so that they will descend point first on the other side.
In the short time we had been fighting the enemy had suf-
fered severely, so we were not surprised to see them become
panic-stricken, retreat under cover of the galley and spring
overboard.

"Mbuka! Mbuka!" (fire! fire!) cried a Fijian at this mo-
ment, pointing to the galley, which was enveloped in a cloud
of smoke, for the villains had battered down the door and set
it afire, with the idea of burning the vessel and securing the
cargo. With the deck partially cleared the netting was hastily
cut down and a general rush made to put the fire out. A num-
ber of natives who had taken refuge on the forward part of
the deck met us with a shower of spears and arrows, but re-
ceived a well-directed volley from our rifles in return before
they had time to escape. A Rotuma man who happened to be
beside me received an arrow through his body and fell mortally
wounded, but the next moment the native who shot it threw
both arms in the air and went plunging over the bow with a
bullet through his chest.

During the melee the natives had battered in the door of
the forecastle with the object of looting it, and several of
them now emerged to find their retreat cut off. They fought
desperately with their clubs and tomahawks in their effort to
reach the vessel's side, but were all cut down or captured.

The fire was quickly extinguished with buckets of salt
water, although it would soon have been beyond control had
the natives kept up the fight a little longer. The galley fire
had been carefully extinguished before ever they were allowed
on board; so it became quite evident that they brought the
fire with them. Their ordinary method of carrying fire about
consists in lighting the inside of a dried cocoanut husk. This

64 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

will smolder for an hour or two, but never burst into flame.
When they wish to kindle fire they place the lighted husk
under some dried fagots and blow it.

Some of the canoes which had been badly riddled with
shot were now floating waterlogged and deserted, while others
withdrew as fast as their occupants could paddle them out of
the way. The greater part of the natives took refuge behind
rocks on the beach, hauling their canoes behind them.

We were pretty anxious to get away and we could see that
a light breeze was starting, so we hove up anchor and tacked
out of the harbor. A Samoan, a Fijian and one Rotuma man
on our ship had been killed outright in the skirmish and all
the rest of the crew were more or less severely injured. The
natives whom we secured the day before undoubtedly expected
to join in the attack; but the hatches had been successfully se-
cured with heavy gratings which allowed sufficient light and
air but prevented them from getting onto the deck.

Just before dark we anchored in Southwest Bay in lati-
tude 16° 20' S. and longitude 167° 25' E.

The natives, like all other inhabitants of the New Hebrides,
are evidently a mixed race, which accounts in a measure for
the vast variety of types which one sees here. The main stock
is unquestionably Papuan, and many of them would pass as
natives of darkest Africa. Each village has a hamal or sacred
temple which also answers the purpose of a council house. It
is large enough to contain all the men of the village; these
sacred hamals have high ridge poles, high pointed gables and
tiers of windows in the gables. The gable end next to the
water is provided with one or two lofty boards narrowing
toward the top and evidently intended for the passage of the
large war canoes.

In one of these hamals I saw a great number of human
skulls ranged upon shelves around the sides of the building,
besides many mummies of chiefs arranged upon carved wooden

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 65

beams, painted red and blue and hanging from the rafters.
The walls also were hung with paddles, bows, arrows, spears,
war-clubs, adzes, etc.

•Besides the hamal every village has a jgreen, level clearing
called an amil, upon which to worship the spirits of the dead.
The amil, which is usually about a hundred yards long, con-
tains a sacred stone which represents a god, and either a row
or a semi-circle of upright logs carved to represent some deity.
The upper end of each log is carved into a grotesque carica-
ture of a human face, and each image is hollowed out from the
back or side. These idols differ a good deal in some respects.
Almost every one has a large bird hollowed out of wood as
a sort of guardian angel, poised in the manner of a hawk
pouncing on its prey.

The devil dance is a religious ceremony in

The Devil honor of the dead. Music men armed with

Dance of ponderous hardwood clubs arrange them-

Malekula. selves behind these hollow idols and each man

beats his idol as though his salvation depended

upon the vigor of the blows.

I attended two of these strange ceremonies, one of which
was held at night and the other in daylight. The dancers
were all men armed with bows, poisoned arrows, spears and
war-clubs. They drew up solemnly around the idols and
began a very serious dancing chant to the music men's furious
attack upon their strange instruments. By degrees the danc-
ing grew faster and faster until it became furious and the
chanting was little less than blood-curdling howls and yells.
The black demons with feather-bedecked hair, their faces
painted black and red and pigs' tails thrust through their
ears, flittered and gyrated like thick black shadows under the
flickering light of a fire as they ran at full speed around
their idols, sometimes standing erect and brandishing their
weapons above their heads, then suddenly wheeling and turn-

66 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

ing and executing rapid and complicated evolutions apparently
in the most inextricable confusion, but in reality with the
precision of clockwork. Sweat dripped from musicians and
dancers alike, and their eyes took on a look of madness as
they wheeled and whirled and capered about belaboring their
drum idols with sledge-hammer blows.

One of the principal figures of the dance represented birds
swooping upon their prey, for the dancers ran with their heads
bent down and arms outspread, looking for all the world like
birds of prey. The most amazing feature of the entire per-
formance was the physical endurance of those who took part
in it. Their strength increased rather than diminished, their
chanting grew louder and wilder, and they scampered around
those hideous idols hour after hour. Wrapped in the mys-
terious gloom and deathlike stillness of the surrounding for-
ests, the whole scene was wild and weird enough to make
shivers creep up and down one's spine.

Before the evening was quite over the prin-

A. cipal chief performed a solo dance with a

Pig Dance, large squealing pig across his shoulders. A

native explained to us that the pig was to be
sacrificed to the god Namatas at the conclusion of the cere-
mony, and the chief through the squealing of the pig was an-
nouncing to the spirits news of the fine feast which had been
provided for him. In return for this hospitality he reminded
them by the medium of the same pig that he expected
them not only to protect the inhabitants of the village from
sickness and to send them good crops, but also to grant them
victory over their enemies. The sole object of the uproarious
ceremony was to placate evil spirits, consequently everything
must be of most joyous character in order to win their ap-
proval and protection. The poor pig was supposed to dance
and sing with delight at the prospect of being put to death to
furnish part of a feast for the spooks. His ear-piercing shrieks

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 67

were interpreted by the savages to be his particular method
of contributing to the general hilarity by singing with all his
might and main in the only way he knew how.

This tribe especially regard the pig with superstitious
veneration. A native chief is neither brave nor in fashion
unless he has a pig's tail thrust through a hole in each ear, a
boar's tusk hung upon his breast and a pair of armlets made
of the bones of the pig above his elbows.

I never remembered seeing any place outside of India
where caste separations are so strictly enforced as they are
among the natives of Malekula. No man may eat food which
has been prepared upon a fire belonging to a lower caste than
his own ; nor may he even light his fire with a brand from it,
but must make new fire for himself.

We got under way out of Malekula Harbor as soon as pos-
sible, and after rather an uneventful run all hands were glad
to anchor once more in Apia Bay.

68 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER VII

DEVIL-FISH AND SHARKS

During my enforced delay at Apia I spent the time in look-
ing up the ancient traditions and curious religious beliefs of
the Samoans. Although most of them now profess to be
Christians they still retain a regard for the ancient mythology
which their ancestors preserved with zealous care for count-
less centuries before the coming of the white man.

I started out with a native guide one morning to visit
some prehistoric stone ruins upon the mountains. War was
raging between the native tribes, so we went well armed.
Every native we met carried a knife about twenty inches long,
and had an uncomfortable habit of walking a few paces be-
hind us, apparently out of idle curiosity. Our course lay
along the Vaisingani River, which flows by Apia and forms
innumerable waterfalls on the mountainside. The scene is of
surpassing loveliness.

The ruin, which the Samoans call Fale o le
The Fe'e, meaning house of the octopus, consists

House o£ a iarge stone inclosure laid out on exactly
Octopus. tne same lines as the ancient Jewish Taber-
nacle, with outer and inner courts and the
holy of holies in the center. The walls consist of upright
blocks of black basalt. In the center of the building stands a
large stone pillar which in some way connects with the Samoan
tradition of the race of giants which once traded among these
islands.

It must be remembered that the Samoans have not lost all

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 69

faith in their ancient gods. When they are in trouble and
require assistance one or more chiefs repair to this mysterious
ruin and sit with their backs to the upright stones, remaining
in this position until one of them receives inspiration from
some god still hovering about the temple, who delivers in some
miraculous way advices which are received by the chief who
acts as oracle and implicitly followed.

The Samoans are excellent canoemen, with many types of
watercraft ranging from a small dugout for carrying one per-
son to a very large double canoe capable of carrying over one
hundred men. It is picturesque to see Samoans fishing from
their canoes at night. With flaming torches of dry cocoanut
leaves they attract the fish in large numbers. Some use hooks
and lines, others stand gracefully ready with spears and the
moment a fish comes within range they hit it with lightning
quickness. While some are fishing others amuse themselves
dancing on the beach, this dance usually being performed in a
sitting posture with hands, arms, head and body all in motion.
The men are generally tattooed from the waist to the thighs.
The implements used in tattooing are sharp-pointed little
combs made of pieces of human bone. The tattooer first
pricks the pattern on the skin, then places the comb exactly on
the line and drives the teeth through the skin with the blow
of a little mallet. At every second stroke he dips the comb
into a paste made of charcoal and water.

The pain is so great that only a very little
Excruciating tattooing can be done at a time, and while it
Tattooings. is in progress the friends of the victim sit

beside him and sing at the top of their voices
by way of drowning any groans which he might utter and
which would be considered unmanly. At first I supposed
that all tattooed patterns were exactly alike among them, but
there are many important differences, revealing not only the
particular island and tribe to which the man belongs, but even

70 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

his family, and the family of every chief has its own tattoo
symbol or coat of arms, as it were. A man who has per-
formed some great feat often has an additional sign made to
his tattoo in commemoration of the event, and it is surprising
to see how readily the natives can tell the nature of the feat
from the marks which are presented.

A favorite amusement of the Samoans is shark-hunting,
which they do in several ways different from those of any other
tribe. I have seen one man go out in his canoe with a baited
shark hook and line and much offal, while other men on the
beach held on to the other end of the line. The man in the
canoe throws pieces of bait into the water to attract the sharks
and when he sees a particularly large one he lowers the baited
hook, then draws it slowly back again. Smaller sharks are
apt to keep at a respectful distance, while the larger gulp the
bait ravenously. As soon as he has swallowed it the man in
the canoe gives a sudden jerk on the line to fix the barb in the
shark's throat, then lets go the bight of the line. The men
on the shore immediately set up a yell and haul on the rope
with all their might while the shark leaps wildly in the air,
lashes the water furiously with his tail and darts madly in all
directions in his efforts to escape.

The natives assert that it is only fair to give

Astonishing ^e s^ar^ a cnance> and as soon as they suc-

Tcnacity ceed in hauling him into shoal water they

of Life. dr0p the line and rush into the water and

attack him with their clubs. The scene which

follows baffles description. A shark will fight with the last

spark of his life; and the ferocity with which he defends

himself is only equaled by his astonishing tenacity of life.

He can twist himself until his head and tail meet, and a full

stroke from the tail of a large shark will instantly kill a man,

and should he secure a hold upon any one even death itself

will not make him relinquish, for his jaws will retain that hold

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 71

even after his head is severed from his body. I saw a native
boy cut out a shark's jaw three hours after the shark's head
had been severed from his body. During the operation the
jaw closed on his hand like a vise and had to be pried apart
before the boy could be released, and even then his hand had
to be amputated to save his life. Sharks have a habit of re-
tiring at intervals into the submarine caves in the coral reefs ;
then the natives catch them in this way: Several men armed
with war-clubs and whale-spades paddle along the reef; one
man carrying a slip noose drops into the water and, diving
into the cave, slips the noose on the tail of a shark and jerks
the line as a signal to the men in the boat to pull him up.
The bewildered shark rises rapidly to the surface, where the
battle for his life begins. I have frequently noted that a shark
never seems to struggle until he reaches the surface of the
water. If he comes close to the canoe they haul his tail out
of water and immediately he appears almost helpless. Should
he come up some distance away he struggles frantically to
escape and generally charges furiously at the canoe. It re-
quires the utmost skill to repel the attack of a very large shark.

One night I was with two natives who were

Surprised fishing from a canoe on the reef. In the

"D *U" darkness one of them hooked something

Himself. which he mistook for a shark. He hauled it

to the surface and was leaning over the gun-
wale to examine his catch when a large devil-fish suddenly
threw some of its arms around him as its hideous slimy body
appeared alongside the canoe. The bleary eyes of the monster
gleamed with malignant rage as he bit savagely at the side of
the canoe with his ugly maw and the remainder of its arms
splashed about in the water like writhing serpents. With the
canoe for an anchorage the great fish secured a firm hold on
the terrified native and was dragging him overboard when
his comrade grasped the situation and entirely unarmed sprang

72 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

upon the head of the monster fish and, driving his thumbs into
its eyes, destroyed its sight. Instantly the fierce brute relin-
quished its hold, writhing and plunging in intense agony and
emitting a strong musky odor which almost overpowered us.
We were pulling away when suddenly one of the long arms
brandished again in a final effort of revenge. It fell on my
shoulder like the stroke of a club and clung there until I
hacked it off with my knife. Finding itself pretty well worsted
the gamy brute gave up the battle and sank out of sight.
The black man was badly hurt and in great pain, for wherever
the suckers had fastened to his body the flesh had puckered
and blistered frightfully. It was two months before he re-
covered, but the scars, like burns, remained permanent.

The Samoans also find amusement hunting

The Gamy ^e ^erce wn*d pigs which ravage their crops.

Wild- The first time I accompanied a party of na-

Boars. tives on a wild-pig hunt the pig ran directly

across an open space and would have dis-
tanced his fleet pursuer, but just as he was about to enter a
thick scrub on the opposite side of the clearing another hunter
dashed out of the bushes and, wounded him slightly with his
spear. Like a flash the boar wheeled with an angry "Woof!
Woof!" while the native hastily aimed the point of his spear
at the boar's neck. Quick as lightning the animal caught the
spear sidewise in his mouth and before the man had time to
turn about the boar was upon him and gored him so horribly
that he died almost immediately. Before the boar could make
his escape into the thick scrub, however, two dogs came up
and, following the usual tactics of these cunning animals, one
of them attacked in front to distract his attention while the
other secured a viselike grip on his hind legs. The first dog
sprang to the boar's side to avoid the sweep of his tusks and
seized him by the right ear. It was a cunning ruse on the
dog's part, but success was only momentary, for in less time

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 73

than it takes to tell it the dog, like the native, was dead. The
boar then, despite the fact that there was a dog hanging fast to
his leg, faced with undaunted courage another native who had
joined in the attack. The native, taking warning from his
tribesman, pretended to drive his spear into one side of the
animal's neck, then drew it back and drove it with all his
might into the other side. It was a clever trick, and although
the native was a giant the boar actually forced him back by
main strength and tried to work its body up on the spear in
order to gore him. Even when the rest of us came up and
speared him from every side the brave beast fought desperately
to the last and expended his dying efforts in trying to drag
himself over the ground to attack us.

I left Apia shortly after this and took passage to Vavau,
in the Tonga Islands, where I entered into a trading partner-
ship with a white man and remained for some time.

The Tongans, like the Samoans and Fijians, are very fond
of drinking kava. Kava is an infusion of the root of a species
of pepper-plant and the singular thing about it is that it intoxi-
cates the legs and not the brain. Several cups of it will make
a man stagger and fall if he attempts to walk, but his brain
stays perfectly clear. The kava bowls used at feasts and war-
dances are very beautiful. Some of them are three feet wide
and deep in proportion, made of hard, dark-red wood, which
takes a beautiful polish. With use the inside becomes smooth
as glass aand shines with a play of delicate colors equal to
those of the finest opal.

Scarcely any of the tribes in the South Sea

The Islands have more varied dances than the

Paddle Dance, Tongans. One of the prettiest is the paddle

etc. dance, in which the performers carry in their

hands light, ornamental paddles. The chorus

sits in a circle around the dancers, chanting and beating

drums and applauding the various stately evolutions of the

74 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

performers. Faster and faster the dance proceeds and more
and more complicated the steps and figures grow until as a
grand climax the dancers sway their bodies violently from
side to side and end the performance of innumerable and
graceful evolutions. This really beautiful dance finishes with
a fiendish and terrific yell.

Another dance which we enjoyed seeing is the Otuhaka.
The chorus sat in a single line around the dancers and both
chorus and dancers wore reeds of brilliant scarlet hibiscus
flowers. The drums beat lustily for a few moments, then the
dancers in silence began to execute a series of the most intri-
cate movements in which their eyes, heads, mouths, arms,
fingers, legs, knees, feet and even their toes all performed their
separate parts with marvelous precision and unity of move-
ment. The strenuous performance ends with a long-drawn
note from all hands amid plaudits of "Malio! Malio!" (well
done) from the audience.

Most spectacular of all is the Doula, or night dance, per-
formed with torches. The quick and graceful movements of
the dancers, the soft cadences of their accompanying songs
and the flashing of the torches as they flit like shooting stars
here and there make a scene beautiful enough for a midnight
dance of woodland fairies.

These curious people have odd ideas in regard to wearing
European clothing. I once attended a dance in Vavau, where
one of the women was dressed in her own short skirt made
of ti tree leaves and barely reaching to the knees. Over this
she wore an old-fashioned hoop skirt and nothing else. And
one man was dressed in one leg of a pair of sailor trousers
and had his own leg painted blue to match.

I have rarely seen a lovelier spot than the Liku district in
the north of Vavau, which is a kind of playground for the
natives. A path leads through a panoramic succession of low
hills clothed with magnificent forest. Deep ravines blaze with

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 75

fragrant and beautiful flowers and rocky precipices rise like
walls of medieval castles. The only sounds that disturb the
sylvan retreat are the cooing of wood pigeons in the tamanu
and toa trees and the ceaseless roar of old ocean breaking
upon the rocks below.

The Tongans are inveterate shark-hunters,

Shark-Hunting and upon this particular occasion a large

party of natives making elaborate prepara-

Language. tions for a shark-hunting expedition asked me
to go along, and I went. Four huge war ca-
noes over sixty feet long, six feet beam and five feet deep
,were stripped of their outriggers, lashed together in couples
and supplied with provisions, fresh water in cocoanut shells,
also plenty of rope, several long spears and many war-clubs
and axes. We got under way shortly after daylight next
morning, and most of the inhabitants of the village came to
the beach to give us a rousing send-off. Some blew conch
shells and others chanted, the chant being taken up by the
rowers as they paddled away.

Upon reaching the "hunting grounds" the canoeists made
an outlandish uproar by rattling empty cocoanut shells and
yelling like demons, thus arousing the curiosity of the sharks,
who already had commenced to circle around us. A few
pieces of fat pork were thrown overboard, while other pieces
were dangled in the water on short ends of rope held by some
of the hunters who were perched upon poles extended be-
tween the canoes and who depended only upon their agility
to dodge the wolf-like snaps of the sharks' jaws.

Soon the greedy man-eaters swarmed thick about us. One
huge fellow ran his head through a rope noose, snapping
viciously at a piece of pork, and some of the men made the
mistake of hauling the line tight about his head with loud
cries of "Hiki, hiki!" (pull, pull) before the other line was
properly secured about the tail, and one man drove a spear

76 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

into his side and another aimed a premature blow at the back
of his neck with an ax. The angry shark leaped clear of the
water, breaking the spear short off and carrying off the line
which held him. He got about fifty yards away, whipping
the surface of the water into foam with his tail, then with a
long sweep he turned and darted straight as an arrow for our
canoe. His cavernous mouth was open and six rows of huge
teeth were displayed in warlike array. Whether he intended
to ram the canoe with his head or to leap on board and crush
it with his weight, as these voracious brutes sometimes do, I
do not know. When he got within a few feet of us two
strong spears were driven straight down his throat and he was
received with such sudden and terrific sledge-hammer blows
that his face and upper jaw were beaten almost to a jelly.
Instantly he snapped the heads off of the spears, however, and
dived under us, striking his back so violently against our keel
that several of us were thrown off our feet. Then he reared
his huge head out of the water on the other side, where two
strong nooses were thrown over him and the battle recom-
menced. He snapped savagely at every object within reach
and struck such terrific blows with his tail that the canoe
would have stove in but that the force of the blows was
broken by large wickerwork fenders which we instantly hung
over the side. At the same time his head was hauled partially
inboard over the gunwale, thus turning his tail away from the
canoe, and those of us who could get within reach of the
struggling monster united in a general attack upon him with
any missile that came to hand.

Watching his opportunity one man dealt him a killing
blow on the neck with an ax, severing his spinal column, and
with one convulsive shudder the huge body of the beaten
shark relaxed, vanquished at last. He was quickly hauled on
board and disposed of in the bottom of the canoe.

Another large fellow was almost immediately secured,

OP CAPTAIN QUL\TOX 77

three nooses being deftly adjusted this time before any one of
them was hauled tight. The moment he felt the ropes tighten
about him he darted away, dragging us after him and bringing
us in violent collision with the two other canoes, whose crews
were engaged in a lively battle with a man-eater on their own
account. We cleared the canoes without accident, hauling the
tail of our own catch so tightly that he could not lash it about.
But he could still use his teeth, so he snapped like a bulldog
at the occupants of each canoe alternately. One man named
Taviti, standing beside me, leaned far over the side and was
endeavoring to throw another noose when Mr. Shark suddenly
jerked in our direction and catching the outstretched arm of
Taviti in his jaws bit it off at the elbow as clean as though
it had been cut with a sword. The wounded man collapsed
into the bottom of the canoe, where a comrade bound up his
arm while the rest of us continued the battle.

We then proceeded to noose shark number
QUJ. three, one of the largest ever caught in that

Largest vicinity. The natives cried out with delight
Catch. at sight of him. At a given signal four strong

nooses were flung over him and hauled tight.
Baffled at his first attempt to dive away he allowed himself to
be hauled supinely to the surface and without the slightest
opposition. He remained motionless for several seconds as
though studying out the situation. Then with unexpected
suddenness he declared battle, lashing out right and left with
the fury of a thousand demons and taxing the utmost ingenu-
ity and strength of everybody. During the melee which fol-
lowed a native named Onitu was knocked overboard, landing
directly on the shark's head. Instantly he bounded off and
dived like a porpoise under the canoe and was hauled aboard
on the other side. This was regarded in the light of a casual
incident. The shark had dived after him but, missing his
prey, he seized the keel of the canoe in his teeth and shook it

78 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

violently by sheer main strength. It was afterward discov-
ered that the keel was bitten half-way through.

The crews of both canoes made a general attack upon the
giant, and finding it impossible to deal it any mortal wounds
from the boats one man, with never a word of warning, boldly
leaped upon his back and endeavored to stab him in the neck
with his knife. He was tossed aside like a bothersome trifle
and only by the narrowest margin escaped the jaws of an-
other shark, which his comrades beat off with their heavy
spears. Finding that our gigantic captive called for unusual
measures we gave the line attached to his tail a couple of
turns round one of the stout poles connecting the canoes, thus
raising his tail clear of the water.

In this position he got madder and madder,
We Are strug"g^ng so furiously that the pole broke
Knocked away, carrying the line with it and stripping

Senseless. the flesh from the fingers of those who held
it. In another instant the freed tail swept
over the canoe and descended on us like a battering-ram,
sending us in struggling heaps to the bottom of the boat.
Breathless and almost insensible, I extricated myself from the
mass of tumbled bodies to survey the damage. Several na-
tives were insensible, anether lay helpless with a broken leg,
still another had been killed outright, and I also noticed the
canoe was leaking heavily.

There was not the slightest thought of relinquishing our
fight with the shark, however, so in spite of disaster the "sur-
vivors" fastened another running bowline to the one already
tied, and the noose, hauled wide open, deliberately, as if by
some magic touch, slipped into position. One of these two
tail lines was passed to each canoe and the crews pulling in
opposite directions prevented a repetition of the recent catas-
trophe. Realizing his utter helplessness, at last the captive
attempted to dive, and finding this impossible, renewed the

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 79

fight, making intelligent efforts to leap aboard first one canoe
and then the other. In his struggles one of the lines attached
to his head slipped. Quick as a wink he seized one man by the
breechclout, stripping the flesh from his hip as though dagger
points had been drawn through it. This turn of affairs gained
the monster a new lease of life, while we, on the other hand,
were becoming exhausted with extended battle. A rolled-up
mat was finally thrown as a bait. He snapped at it, and while
his teeth were thus entangled a powerful black dealt him a
heavy blow on the back of the neck with his ax and the battle
was done. The great carcass was loaded in one of the canoes
and we returned to our settlement.

The very next day a couple of these natives
Enough and myself were diving off of a fringing reef
«u u when one of them suddenly cried "Anga!

for Once. anga !" (shark, shark), and a big man-eater
swam slowly between us and so close we
might have touched him with our hands. We adopted the
only course in our power, which was splashing the water and
yelling like madmen. This had the effect of driving him off
a little way and we swam for our lives. The very moment
we gained the edge of the reef he came at us with such a
rush that he stranded himself and stuck there for a while be-
fore he got afloat again. I, for one, had had enough of sharks.

8o THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER VIII

WEIRD CUSTOMS IN NORTHERN QUEENSLAND

My trading experience at Vavau being rather unfortunate,
due to my partner having lived so long among the natives that
they took full advantage of his propensity for making presents
of the various articles of our stock, for which, by the way, I
only had paid, I accordingly decided to return to Australia,
and making my partner a present of what was left of the trade
goods, took passage in the bark Meteor to Sydney.

At Sydney I shipped in an old vessel called the Result,
carrying coal from Newcastle to Wallaroo, in South Australia,
but she was in such bad shape that we were obliged to jettison
some of the cargo to prevent sinking in a gale, and, needless
to say, on our return to Sydney all hands lost no time in leav-
ing her. I then sailed for some time in a steamer, the Alex-
andra, running from Sydney to Brisbane, Rockhampton, Mac-
kay and other ports on the east coast of Queensland, later
being transferred to the Egmont, of the same company.

About this time a company was being formed for the pur-
pose of cutting cedar along the rivers of Northern Queens-
land, and as the blacks were troublesome and would probably
not hesitate to attack the South Sea Islanders who were en-
gaged to do the cutting, several whites, myself included,
accepted the company's offer to go along, and on very good
terms. Our destination was a little place called Cardwell, on
the mainland opposite Hitchinbrook Island, but we called at
Cairns, about eighty-five miles farther north, to pick up our
native laborers.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 81

Shortly after our arrival the blacks in the district gave a
corroboree in honor of a treaty of peace with a neighboring
tribe with whom they had been carrying on a desultory war-
fare, and two of us walked through the bush one evening to
see the ceremony.

They sent up smoke signals to recall mem-

Thc bers of the tribe who were hunting in other

Challenging parts of their territory, and other smoke sig-

Signal. na^s as a challenge to the enemy, who

promptly replied in like manner. We went to

the battle-ground on the morning of the expected encounter

and found the two hostile tribes camped within a few hundred

yards of each other, both busily engaged in overhauling their

weapons. The warriors were fantastically painted in streaks

of red and white — the signs of war.

When the signal was given both parties drew up in line-
of-battle array about four hundred feet apart and began
reviling each other, while boasting of their own prowess and
the great deeds they were now about to perform. The women
and children, ranged at a safe distance in the background,
howled on their warriors to annihilate the enemy, taunting
them with cowardice for not immediately doing so.

At length one man on our side hurled a spear, and the
battle had begun. Showers of spears and boomerangs whizzed
through the air as each man engaged his selected opponent,
while the frenzied shouts of the warriors and screeching of
the non-combatants arose in one prolonged clamor. As the
missiles began to grow scarce the warriors resorted to throw-
ing stones, this ammunition being supplied by the women and
children, and it was astonishing to see how adroitly a war-
rior could reach for and throw the stones while warding off
with his shield the stones aimed at his own head, body and
legs.

At last a young warrior received a spear through his body

82 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

and fell, mortally wounded, which terminated the battle. Fol-
lowing the battle preparations were immediately begun for the
celebration of the period of peace now entered on by holding
a corroboree, in which all — even those who received frightful
wounds — took part.

Meanwhile the death of the young warrior of our party
was held as proof conclusive that one of our tribe had be-
witched the warrior whose death had brought about the battle,
so after a consultation the doctor and the old men of the tribe
settled on the guilty man, who thereupon was challenged by
the brother of the dead warrior. The duel consisted of each
combatant in turn stooping and allowing his opponent to de-
liver a tremendous blow on his head with a waddy, and ter-
minated when the challenger eventually went down under the
succession of blows. It is remarkable that the loser in the
duel was only slightly stunned from the blows — any one of
which would undoubtedly have brained a white man — and in a
few minutes was actively engaged in assisting in the prepara-
tions for the corroboree.

A corroboree is always held at the full of the

Full moon and usually begins about half an hour

M°on before sundown. The ground or stage upon

Corroboree. which the corroboree takes place is smooth

and level and at the end of this one there was
a rude hut built of branches in which the performers attired
and painted themselves for the dance. The natives took no
notice of our arrival, but their dogs did, for a whole pack of
the starving brutes made a general attack upon us, and it was
not until nearly a dozen of them had been laid out for good
and all that the natives approached and drove off the re-
mainder with stones and abuse. Half a dozen fires were
burning brightly and the corroboree opened with three fan-
tastically painted men who came out and danced until the sun
went down. Meanwhile doctors and sorcerers of the as-

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 83

sembled tribes crooned a magic chant around one of the fires.
One of them took his stand on the top of a little knoll to
watch for the rising moon, others took burning sticks from the
fire and deposited them carefully on the extreme outskirts of
the corroboree clearing, as a warning to perambulating devils
to keep off the sacred spot and not defile the ceremony with
their presence.

The old man on the hillock signaled the moment he could
see the moon and the other actors immediately filed forth.
Their hair was arrayed in halos, adorned with red flowers and
cockatoo feathers, but their utmost skill had evidently been
expended in painting themselves with red and white stain and
yellow ochre in patterns varying in detail, but in general the
design was in imitation of skeletons. Foreheads were white
with broad circles around each eye, a white streak on each
cheek and a white band along each rib. Their legs were fan-
tastically painted in zigzag lines of white and red and tufts
of gum-tree leaves encircled their ankles.

The leader stood facing the dancers and was similarly
painted, except that he had ornamented his head with the
horns of a goat. If he had only supplied himself with a long
red tail and cloven hoofs he would certainly have been a strik-
ing likeness of the devil.

At a given signal the women began a monotonous chant
supposed to be descriptive of the particular part of the dance
which the men were about to perform. At the next signal
the dancers sprang forward like one man, placing their arms
akimbo and spreading their feet as far apart as possible. They
then made the muscles of their thighs quiver rapidly and gave
utterance to a series of sounds like those which a horse makes
by blowing through his closed lips. The music grew faster
and louder and dancers and spectators worked themselves up
to a pitch of frenzy ; dogs howled as though they would split
themselves, the eyes of the dancers glared wildly through the

84 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

heavy painted circles and every savage in the clearing began
a leaping and swaying and yelling that was fiendish, though
every sound and movement was in perfect unison and dis-
tinctly the result of much practice. The black skins of the

natives were invisible against the dark back-
Pandemonium, ground of the gloomy forest and the fitful

light of the fires and the moon falling upon
their rapidly moving forms gave them an appearance
as of skeletons endowed with life. The scene was weird
and ghostly beyond description. Pandemonium was cer-
tainly loose. This violent dancing continued amid the
wailing chant of the women, the howling of dogs, until at
a given signal three terrific yells indicated the end of the
first act.

The next act represented a kangaroo hunt. Two men
adorned with long thick tails in imitation of kangaroos hopped
about and pretended to eat grass. At intervals they started
up, looked carefully about them, scratched themselves and
wiggled long ears in perfect imitation. Two men representing
hunters followed them with spears, advancing from the sur-
rounding bush as noiselessly as shadows when the kangaroos
pretended to graze. Having finally worked within range of
their game both hunters discharged their spears simulta-
neously and struck the kangaroos, that bounded away,
carrying their hands precisely as the kangaroo oarries his
forefeet in running. The hunters started after in hot pur-
suit, yelling loudly the while, but the animals fell at last
and were picked up and carried back to the fires to be
cooked; when a shrill cry from the manager announced the
end of the act.

The next act represented a party of blacks attacking the
house of a white settler. A small shack was speedily run up
and roofed with pieces of bark. Pour actors elaborately
painted to look like white men appeared, carrying sticks which

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 85

looked like guns. Their bodies were painted to represent
white men's shirts, their legs were painted in imitation of mole-
skin breeches and their legs from the knees down were cov-
ered with rushes to represent leggings. Their appearance was
indescribably fantastic.

After looking carefully about they entered the hut and
were supposed to go to sleep. Armed blacks then appeared
and cautiously advanced, but one of the "white men," looking
out of the window, caught sight of the approaching enemy
and gave the alarm. All four white men instantly appeared
at door and window and pointed their imitation guns at the
approaching blacks, who instantly hurled spears at the hut.
Some carried torches, which they threw upon the frail struc-
ture, setting it on fire, then bounding through the flames a
hand-to-hand struggle followed. The whites fought as
white men will, but were overpowered and carried to the
fire to be cooked, while the spectators manifested un-
bounded satisfaction, and everything ended in a merrymak-
ing. The corroboree was carried on all night with an
occasional feast between the acts, but we left after this
act.

These savages are, in their way, intensely musical and
poetical, and the corroboree is their opera, ballet, and drama
all in one. It is also their method of preserving and teaching
the history of the tribe to the younger members of it, and
features great events in the history of the tribe, or ancient
legends which they wish to preserve. Every tribe has a
dramatist and tribal poet who invents new corroborees and
drills the tribe in their performance as carefully as a stage
manager drills an opera company. This tribal playwright also
sells his corroborees to other tribes and buys others from
them.

In many respects the savage inhabitants of Australia are
as clearly distinguished in mind and form from all other

86 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

savage races as its flora and fauna are different from those
of other lands. Their coming must have been very remote,
for their descendants are now found settled in every part of
this vast continent. It is a curious fact that Australia is the
only country in which no ruins or monuments are found to
afford clue to its ancient history.

One night we heard a terrific howling in a

Witchcraft native camp near our own and learned that a
Again. great warrior named Gurugan had died sud-
denly of witchcraft during the night. He had
gone only a short distance from the camp fire when he gave a
sudden cry of alarm. Two warriors instantly snatched up
torches from the fire and went to his assistance, but he died
almost immediately. The body of the old warrior showed
every symptom of death from snake poison, but the natives
scornfully rejected this explanation, declaring that his death
could only be the result of magical incantations of a hostile
tribe.

They interspersed their lamentations for the dead hero
with loud cries for vengeance upon the treacherous tribe.
The dead warrior was laid on his back with his knees drawn
up to his body and wrapped in an old opossum cloak. A kind
of funeral pyre was built of saplings and covered with many
thicknesses of bark. Several of the most distinguished men
of the tribe raised the body in position with the feet turned
to the east as usual. Then a large piece of fresh bark was
fastened over the body to protect it from rain and flesh-eating
birds. The mourners burst into heart-rending shrieks at the
end of the ceremony, beating their heads and faces with
boomerangs and sticks, until the blood trickled down their
dark skins. This tribe carefully avoid a place of burial for a
dozen moons or more until the body is completely shriveled.
They then remove the remains to a hollow tree, which is its
final resting place.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 87

We visited the native camp about half an hour after day-
light next morning to witness the "ordeal of spears," which is
a peculiar ceremony conducted according to
The Ordeal strictest rule. To begin with, the tribal doctor,

of Spears. an old gray-headed man, but wiry and active
as a wildcat, stood up and faced two much
younger men who were appointed to hurl spears at him.
The old man had no weapon, but was allowed a small shield.
In most instances the victim was compelled to depend upon
his agility for his life. The younger men were armed with
two spears and a boomerang apiece, and they stood at a
distance of sixty yards. The first one carefully adjusted
his spear and hurled it with unerring aim, but the old doc-
tor parried it. Another missile quickly followed, but like-
wise fell harmless to the ground. Others were hurled with
like result. At last the young warrior seized a war-boom-
erang, a far more difficult missile to avoid because its course
is so erratic that it is impossible to tell where it will strike,
frequently twisting around the shield and striking the par-
rier in spite of his utmost skill to evade it. The game old
fellow, over-confident of his prowess, with a short quick step
to the right warded the boomerang successfully, but to our
surprise, this most mysterious of weapons carried around the
shield and laid his arm open to the bone as clean as a knife
cut. The gallant old tribal doctor paid no attention to his
wound, but standing up, with consummate skill, escaped the
missiles of the second warrior, and the ordeal of spears was
ended for that time.

88 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER IX

HONG KONG AND SINGAPORE

The most distinctive and characteristic weapon of the Aus-
tralian blacks is the far-famed boomerang. This most mysteri-
ous of all weapons is made of various kinds
The °^ nai"dwood and is always made from a nat-

Mysterious ural crook. Many are not aware that there
Boomerang. are two separate and distinct kinds of boom-
erangs ; the return boomerang, which returns
to the thrower, and the war-boomerang, which does not re-
turn. This unique savage weapon consists of a thin, flat
piece of wood curved in the shape of a parabola, varying from
a right angle to a crescent. The underside of a return
boomerang is perfectly flat and smooth, while the upper side
is slightly rounded.

A war-boomerang is alike on both sides and is longer and
narrower in the center than a return boomerang. The chief
difference between them is that the arms of the "return" have
a slight twist in opposite directions to the center, while the
"non-returns" have no twist at all. The twist is made on
exactly the same principle as the arms of a windmill or the
blades of a propeller, the screw motion naturally tending to
raise the boomerang as it rotates rapidly in its flight.

Boomerangs vary in size as well as in shape, but they
average from two to three feet in length; the ends and edges
are sharp and the force with which they can strike an object
is equal to the stroke of a sword. I have read many ridiculous
stories about boomerangs : for example, that one of them will
strike an animal or an enemy and then return to the thrower.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT OX 89

When a boomerang of any kind strikes a solid object it falls
to the ground precisely as any other missile does.

The astonishing feats which a black fellow can perform
with the weapon are quite wonderful enough, without resort-
ing to exaggeration. A scientist who visited our camp and
witnessed some boomerang warfare said in his report : "These
savages perform feats which science declares impossible/' One
man's very common performance consisted in hurling the
boomerang in such a way that the underside touched the
ground lightly about forty paces away, rebounded and con-
tinued its flight at an angle of forty-five degrees until it
reached a great height, when it suddenly curved again and
came back in a straight line to the thrower. I have seen the
same man hurl the same boomerang in such a way that it
ricocheted along the ground the way a flat stone will do on
the surface of the water. It struck the ground and rebounded
three times in succession at intervals of about twenty yards.
The third time it rose almost straight up in the air and sailed
back to within a few yards of the man who had thrown it,
when suddenly it again changed its course, rose in a curve
over his head, and landed a few feet in front of him.

Still another common feat is to throw the weapon in such
a way that it makes one, two, or even three loops in its flight.
I have seen a native throw his boomerang in such a way that
it rose nearly straight into the air to a great height, when it
suddenly curved inward, sailing over his head, then, with a
downward drop as though it were coming straight toward
him, it flew outward and began again to rise, this time to
about twice its original height, when it described another loop
like the first, rose still higher in the air, and at last descended
in a straight line to the thrower's feet. The astonishing feats
performed with boomerangs are almost endless and, in spite
of the manifold theories which have been advanced to account
for the wonderful powers of this strange weapon, the Aus-

90 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

tralian boomerang remains a fascinating scientific problem.
On the native Australian bills of fare snakes are an im-
portant item and are considered a great
The Natives luxury. When a native hunter encounters a
Eat Snakes, fine specimen which is not poisonous, he spears
it at once and makes ready to eat it. Snakes
are cooked in various ways. When several men are traveling
or hunting together they make a fire, level the embers, and
coil each snake very carefully, securing it with long skewers
of wood; after which they place it in the embers and keep
turning it until it is cooked to a nicety.

Apropos of eating snakes, an amusing incident occurred
near our camp. A couple of native families were about to
begin a feast of roasted snakes when a large flock of crows
suddenly swooped down upon them, bent on carrying off
their dinner. Men and women sprang to their feet and with
waddies killed or wounded many of the intruders. The dogs
made short work of many more, but, in spite of the vigorous
resistance which those crows encountered, some actually did
succeed in carrying away part of the feast. The audacity of
these crows is something marvelous. Not only will they steal
food while it is being cooked or eaten, but they will hover
menacingly around a solitary traveler in the bush and fre-
quently try to peck out his eyes, especially if he appears ill
or disabled. In some districts they are destructive to sheep,
especially little lambs, and they have no hesitation in attacking
a dog. They are formidable enemies, for they always go in
flocks, and nothing frightens them.

Australian savages have not only invented

"Coo-ee!" ^e far-famed and unique boomerang, but

"Coo-ee!" their method of hailing will bear the palm

"Coo-ee !" over au others. The coo-ee of the blacks is

far more musical than most of the calls of

civilized people, and it can be heard at a great distance. This

call is used today among both whites and blacks from one

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 91

extreme of Australia to the other, and the sailors who run
on the coast use it in hailing as a preliminary to giving the
regular signals when wishing to board a vessel off shore. The
first syllable is very loud, full, and prolonged, and the second
is prolonged and piercing. Besides being a call and a signal
it is also a salutation and a warning. Ignorance of its use has
caused most of the deadly encounters which have taken place
between white travelers and the Australian blacks. Every
tribe has its own territory and regards the banks of rivers,
lagoons and water-holes in their vicinity as their own and are
jealous or suspicious of any one venturing to approach without
complying in every detail with proper formalities. Aboriginal
etiquette strictly forbids any one to approach water reserves
without receiving permission from the owners. A breach of
this general rule is not an insult merely, but is almost a dec-
laration of war.

About this time I shipped as second mate of the bark
E. M. Young of Melbourne for a voyage to Hong Kong and
return. Our boat lay alongside of Sandridge Pier and some
carpenters were employed in repairing the starboard bulwarks,
which had been stove in by a typhoon in the China Sea. We
sailed from Newcastle, where we loaded coal and steered
N. N. E., passing between the Kenn and Bellona reefs, Mellish
and Pocklington Reefs, then between New Ireland and Bou-
gainville Island, thence westward of Pelew Islands and direct
to the Ballintang Channel. We made the run from Newcastle
to Hong Kong in forty-five days.

While passing to the westward of the Pelew Islands we
picked up a canoe containing two men and a woman nearly
dead from hunger. They had sailed from the Pelew Islands
two weeks before and were caught in a squall which dis-
masted their boat. The wind and current had drifted them so
far that they were not able to paddle back. A few days
after this one of the men mysteriously disappeared and we

92 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

supposed that he had fallen overboard in the night. After
two days we found him hiding in an empty cask and he ex-
plained his disappearance by saying he feared we intended to
eat them.

We entered Hong Kong harbor through Lyee-Moon
Passage, which is nearly one quarter of a mile wide at its
narrowest part and is so strongly fortified that it seems ca-
pable of defying all enemies. The city, which extends three
miles along the shore of the bay, consists chiefly of stone and
brick houses perched in terraced rows on the steep hillside,
and Victoria Peak, which rises abruptly in the background,
seems to overhang the city. The average temperature of
Hong Kong is trying to white residents, so the finest homes
are on the top of Victoria Peak, where it is cool and com-
fortable the year round.

The principal business street is Queen's Road,
All and it is doubtful if any other place on earth

Nationalities could make such a remarkable show of dif-
in Queen's . _

Road. ferent nationalities. Here may be seen Chi-

nese in every variety of costume, from single
breechclouts to costly silken robes; Malays in gay-colored
sarongs ; Japanese women in obi and kimono ; Parsees in long,
somber robes of black and queer-shaped brown silk hats;
Sikh cavalrymen in white uniforms and red turbans; solemn-
looking Turks who seem never in their lives to have smiled,
some in semi-European costume, others in long pale green
robes and turbans, showing that they have visited Mecca;
corpulent Hindoo merchants and money-lenders, their fore-
heads bearing the white caste-mark or idol-mark; Ceylonese
merchants in short coats and petticoats, their long hair parted
in the middle and fastened with tortoise-shell combs ; tall wild-
looking Afghans, besides Arabs, Javanese, Burmese, Siamese,
Tamils, Eurasians, South Sea Islanders, and many others
whose nationality is probably known only to themselves and

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 93

the recording angel. The diversity of languages which may
be heard here reminds a foreign visitor of the scene which
must have taken place around the Tower of Babel on the day
of the confusion of tongues.

On a certain Chinese holiday I went ashore at
"Mad Dog!" Hong Kong to buy some curios to send home.
"Mad Dog!" Rose, the ship's dog, begged so hard to accom-
pany me that I took her along, but I must
confess she spent most of her time exchanging angry growls
with the queer-looking Chinese dogs that were apparently quite
as much astonished at her appearance as she was at theirs. When
we reached a large and fashionable Chinese store on Queen's
Road a little above the Clock Tower I told Rose gently but
firmly to wait for me outside, and she obediently sat down on
the sidewalk. Among a number of shoppers that evidently
had come ashore from some of the large steamers was an
immensely fat lady leading a dog by a string. Instinctively
I glanced backward and saw Rose sitting quietly enough,
though she was critically surveying the other dog. I had
just finished my purchases when, to my dismay, the two dogs
suddenly closed in mortal combat. The fat lady gave a sort
of choking scream and, turning around to discover the cause
of the racket, turned the wrong way. The string attached to
her small canine became entangled with her feet and, as the
two dogs rolled against her, she suddenly and heavily sat
down upon the floor.

In the effort to save herself she got hold of

A Shower of a cabmet of costly bric-a-brac which came

Costly down in a general shower of ruin upon her-

Bric-a-brac. self and the dogs; the wretched beasts were

so astonished at the sudden bombardment of

crockery that they immediately ceased hostilities and sought

safety in flight. Rose, in her effort to escape, darted toward

the rear of the store, coming in swift contact with the shins

94 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

of a Chinaman who was looking on in open-mouthed amaze-
ment but who made a heroic effort to detain her by seizing
hold of her tail. Rose promptly retaliated by tearing a mouth-
ful from his silken pantaloons, whereupon the bewildered Ce-
lestial uttered a loud "Hi-yah," leaped nimbly over the coun-
ter and climbed the shelves at the back with the agility of a
circus acrobat. At this juncture some idiot raised the cry,
"Mad dog! Mad dog!" and then it did seem that pandemo-
nium had indeed broken loose. Loud cries of "Mad dog,"
screams of terror, Chinese expletives, and unmistakable
Anglo-Saxon oaths mingled with the crash of breaking
glass as one excited shopper after another escaped from the
scene.

Some people see great amusement in such situations. I
confess it appeared anything but amusing to me, in view of the
fact that I might be arrested and compelled to pay for all
damages. Besides, the fat lady was still reposing upon the
floor and appeared to be dead. Not knowing but that I might
be charged with murder in addition to a few other miscellane-
ous crimes, I was looking for an avenue of escape, when Rose
solved the problem by trying to hide behind a party of women
who were huddled together in a screaming chorus. Seeing
what they believed to be a mad dog coming open-mouthed
for them, they dropped their umbrellas and innumerable par-
cels and joined the stampede for the door. It is scarcely nec-
essary to add that I was well ahead in this race, for, whereas
the others were running from a purely imaginary danger,
I was escaping from a real one. A minute later, on looking
around to see what had become of Rose, I caught sight of her
tail disappearing around the Clock Tower, at a pace that
defied pursuit, so I disappeared with equal agility in the oppo-
site direction. On reaching the boat landing I was not at all
surprised to see Rose come up to me with the usual penitent
look which she knew so well how to assume after the per-

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 95

petration of some particularly choice piece of villainy; but,

needless to say, I took care not to take her on shore again in

Hong Kong, and about a week later we sailed for Singapore.

The splendid harbor of Singapore can be

Singapore. approached in three directions and without
the assistance of a pilot. The city is situated
upon a low plain facing the harbor, and hills crowned with
tropical foliage rise in the background. The Singapore River
divides the town in two. The striking contrast between the
Chinese quarter on the west side of the river and the Euro-
pean quarter on the east is most noticeable. The harbor is
filled with shipping from all parts of the globe and the city
front comprises six miles of wharves, docks, and shipyards.
This is one of the busiest places in the world, and the enor-
mous amount of business is the logical result of its matchless
commercial situation and system of free trade.

By far the most attractive parts of Singapore are the Es-
planade, shaded with beautiful trees and affording a magnifi-
cent outlook upon the harbor and surrounding islands, and of
the botanic gardens, which are among the finest in the world.
The peerless collection of orchids to be seen in these gardens
surpasses anything of the kind I have ever witnessed ; no lan-
guage could properly convey a true description of their
strange forms and brilliant colors. It seems strange that
Singapore appears to be little known to orchid hunters.
The island, which is twenty-seven miles long and eleven
miles wide, abounds with them, and many rare and beauti-
ful specimens can be bought from the Malays and Chinese
for a trifle.

Lordly wealth and squalid degradation exist in strong
contrast in Singapore. On the outskirts of the city handsome
private residences of government officials, wealthy Arabs,
Chinese, European merchants stand in haughty seclusion, em-
bowered in tropical palms, ferns, and trailing orchids from the

96 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

lowly dwellings of the Malay and Chinese fishermen built of
wood and palm leaves and standing upon piles over the water.
Most of the business is in the hands of the Chinese and in
the background of all of their shops there is an altar to To
Pe Kong and his coterie of attendant demons, with joss sticks
always smoking in front of it.

The Malays are natural-born pirates and have not only
been the scourge of the Eastern Seas since they first became
known to history, but they have also been in the habit of raid-
ing all the neighboring coasts very much as the ancient Vikings
ravaged the coasts of Europe during the middle ages. It is
a mistake to suppose that Malay piracy is entirely a thing of
the past. It still flourishes on the coasts of Borneo, the Sulu
Islands, and the Philippines, in spite of all the efforts of the
Spanish to suppress it.

On Christmas Day the mate and myself went

Christmas ashore to see the sights. Among other places
Day in of interest we visited a Hindoo Temple in

Singapore. which priests were offering sacrifices to idols.
The chief priest took a wreath of flowers
from the neck of one of the images and presented each one
of us with a red and yellow blossom from it. In return he
demanded that we give him money and assured us that we
should participate in all the benefits accruing from the sacri-
fices which had just been offered to the idol. We had been
obliged to remove our shoes and leave them outside the inner
temple in which the sacrifices were offered. I had been so
intently watching the proceedings that I had not noticed that
the mate had left and I was alone. One of the priests, who
spoke fairly good English, assured me that we had taken part
in the sacrifices offered to their god, since we were present
at the ceremony, and I must pay a rupee for each member of
the party. I assured him I had no desire to share in sacrifices
offered to demons and therefore would give him nothing. He

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 97

evidently translated this reply to the other priests for they
placed themselves between me and the door and, although I
did not understand their language, I knew by their angry
demonstrations that they were determining among themselves
to have the money by hook or crook. One of them attempted
to seize hold of me but I hit him on the head with my walking
stick and made my way to the door amid a volley of curses.

As we were going along the street a little

The Azan. while later we suddenly heard a shrill cry
immediately over our heads. It was a muez-
zin calling the faithful to prayer from a little balcony sur-
rounding the minaret of a Mohammedan mosque. He was
walking around it with both hands raised to the height of
his head, the open palms turned to the front, while he called
the Azan in the usual shrill voice peculiar to most Asiatics.
We foolishly attempted to enter the mosque without remov-
ing our shoes, but this created such a sensation among the
faithful that we were glad to retire. Outside the door we
met with some Arabs whom we knew and they gained admit-
tance for us. We were obliged to remove our shoes, however,
and bathe our hands and faces in a tank of holy water, which,
by the way, was so filthy that it seemed more likely to create
a plague than to promote cleanliness. They reminded us to
be careful to put the right foot first over the threshold and
not under any circumstances to remove our hats. The wor-
shipers all faced toward a niche in the wall, called the Mih-
rab, which- indicates the direction of Mecca, and paid strictest
attention to the prayers. They bent over and reverently
touched their foreheads to the floor during the longer prayer,
after which a priest delivered a kind of sermon, then all
united in prayer again and quietly dispersed.

It is interesting to watch how every Mohammedan in-
stantly stops in the midst of his business, however urgent
it may be, the moment the muezzins begin to call the Azan.

98 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

He shows that all business interests are subordinated to re-
ligious duties, and whether he is in his shop or in a public
street, instantly he kneels down and prays with his face toward
Mecca, the birthplace of his religion, at the simple cry of
"Azan."

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 99

CHAPTER X

DANGERS FROM SKY, SEA AND LAND

After leaving Singapore we sailed south through Banka
Strait, between the islands of Sumatra and Banka. Banka
Island has been famous for its tin mines from time immemorial.
We anchored in the strait for the night because navigation
is dangerous here and we were likely to be becalmed.

Next day we called at Anjer, a village on the extreme west
coast of Java, and sailed close to the small volcanic island of
Krakatau, the main volcano of which caused such terrible
destruction in this vicinity only a little while later.

Several days after clearing the Strait of Sun-
Narrow da we had a perilously narrow escape from a
Escape meteor that plunged into the ocean and nearly
Falling buried us at sea. I had been on watch for
Meteor. four hours along with another member of the
crew and the night was singularly clear, as
nights are wont to be in the southern ocean, when all at once
an extraordinarily bright light flashed across the sky coming
directly toward the ship and leaving behind it a wide train
of fiery sparks. The light became so dazzling that we covered
our eyes to protect them from its blistering rays. "It will
strike us," cried the terrified sailor as we stood spell-bound,
and I, too, firmly believed that it would. It flew directly over
our heads, plunging into the ocean not two hundred yards
off our starboard quarter. A roar 'like an explosion and the
loud hissing of water reached our ears but the blinding light
had so dazzled our eyes that for the moment we seemed to be
in utter darkness and could see nothing. When we recovered

ioo THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

our normal sight everything was as serene and peaceful as
it had been the moment before and we could not help reflect-
ing that, had the great bolt struck us, we would have been
numbered with the countless ships that have put out to sea
and have never been heard of again.

An opportunity which I had long looked for came to me
at last, and I shipped as second mate on the schooner named
the Coorong, which was fitting out at Sydney for a voyage
among the pearl fisheries in Torres Strait, between northern
Australia and New Guinea. Although the salary was small
I was glad to go on this voyage, because it would take me
to a locality which I had never visited.

The crew consisted of the captain, mate and myself and
six Australian blacks. One of the blacks was named Callama
and belonged to the Chingallee tribe in the northern territory ;
another belonged at Port Darwin and was named Yaragoo;
the other four, whose respective names were Burragool, Gool-
wa, Yalgoon, and Karradook, belonged to the Kogai tribe,
which inhabits a certain district on the east coast of Queens-
land. In addition to trading with the pearl fisheries the captain
made a business of picking up native weapons and other curios
which he sold to travelers at a large profit.

After a somewhat uneventful run we entered the Mary
River, five hundred and fifty-six miles north of Sydney, and
anchored at Maryboro. We found the blacks gathering for a
corroboree on the east bank of Tinanna Creek, which flows
into the river opposite the town. Already we had noticed
small parties of blacks all traveling toward Tinanna Creek
and in several instances we saw young men carrying older
members of the tribe upon their backs. It is the invariable
rule, it seems, for every member of the tribe to attend a cor-
roboree, and, when any of them are too old and weak to
walk, the younger ones carry them carefully to the scene.

I suggested to the mate that we take a stroll to see the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTOX 101

blacks in their camp, but he peremptorily refused, reminding
me that he had no love for tramping in the bush either by
day or night. As it turned out, this fellow was mortally
afraid of kangaroos, although these curious animals are really
as inoffensive as sheep, except, of course, the
A Dangerous "boomer," which is an old male kangaroo and
Foe. a dangerous fighter. The word "boomer" is

a corruption of a native name, as buma is
from the same root as boomerang, which means to strike and
kill. A boomer is emphatically both striker and killer when
brought to bay. This I happened to know from sad experi-
ence.

A good-sized boomer stands from six and a half to seven
feet high, weighs something over two hundred pounds, and
has phenomenal strength and agility. He will back up against
a tree, rock, or thick clump of bushes and beat off all the
dogs and people that can attack him from the front. Each
of his hind feet is armed with a long, dagger-like claw, which
in close quarters he can use with terrific effect. Balancing
himself upon his powerful tail, an angry boomer deals light-
ning-like blows at his assailants with his hind legs. Attack
him near the water and he will bound into it, for he feels
especially safe and is a powerful swimmer. Boomers have
been known to drown men who attacked them in the water.

It was toward evening that we fell in with a family of
half a dozen natives bound for the corroboree. One stalwart
warrior stalked along in front with a very old man thrown
across his shoulders, much as he would have carried a sack
of flour; another followed with an old woman in the same
position. Yalgoon, who accompanied me from the ship, en-
tered into conversation with them and was getting details of
the approaching war-dance, when a boomer suddenly started
up in front of us and went bounding away at a great pace.
The blacks and their dogs uttered simultaneous cries of de-

102 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

light. The two men carrying the old people unceremoniously
dumped them upon the ground and one of them launched a
war-boomerang at the bounding kangaroo. Exactly at the
moment it left his hand, the boomer with a magnificent bound
leaped into the air and the boomerang flew wide of him.
Evidently thinking he had outwitted his pursuers he deliber-
ately stopped and gazed back at them, but, before he realized
his mistake, the dogs creeping through the bushes brought
him to bay. He wheeled and with a single blow laid one dog
dead, bounded over the heads of the others and made straight
for the bushes. It was a magnificent feat that one of these
black fellows performed at this instant. Taking deliberately
careful aim he sent his spear whirling through the air and at
a distance of fifty yards transfixed Mr. Kangaroo. The raven-
ous dogs instantly precipitated themselves upon it for a square
meal, and though mortally wounded the brave animal reso-
lutely fought off the pack until, exhausted from lack of blood,
he had to give up.

After leaving Maryboro our course lay outside

Great ^e Great Barrier Reef, which extends along

Barrier the coast of Queensland from Sanda Cape to

Reef. Torres Strait, a distance of about twelve

hundred and sixty miles. The channel be-
tween this immense reef and the mainland varies in width
from ten to a hundred and fifty miles and has an average depth
of twelve fathoms, but it is so beset with rocks and reefs that
it is dangerous sailing. It is also dangerous to sail too close
to the outside of the reef, because the wind is apt to die away
at any moment, leaving the vessel completely at the mercy
of the prevailing rapid currents of these tropical waters, which
are liable to set the ship directly on a reef and destroy her.
We next brought up at Port Moresby, New Guinea. We
reconnoitered here a few days collecting some curios, and
sailed on to Lavau. Our object in calling here was chiefly

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 103

to secure a cargo of sandalwood. Canoes loaded with natives
surrounded us the moment the anchor was down and the cap-
tain immediately commenced a lively trade, the two favorite
articles of the natives being salt and tobacco.

We engaged a chief named Paura to help us procure the
sandalwood and next morning I went ashore with four of our
crew and a host of noisy natives to start cutting it. We went
well armed, for the natives are treacherous and it is dangerous
to rely on them.

On the morning of the third day after our arrival we had
scarcely more than started cutting when loud yelling suddenly
resounded from the direction of the beach. Our natives in-
stantly darted away and we followed after them to the beach
and discovered that the captain had hoisted the ensign with
the union down as a signal of recall. There was great excite-
ment among the trading canoes owing to the sudden appear-
ance of four large double war-canoes which had entered the
harbor north of Lavau and were approaching our ship. Each
canoe contained many armed warriors, some of whom were
paddling, others blowing upon conch shells challenging the
enemy, while others danced and yelled and brandished their
weapons upon queer-looking platforms that connected the
canoes in couples. We lost no time in getting out to the ship.
Meanwhile the captain, mate, and crew had loosened the sails
and hove short, ready to get under way in case of an attack.
We hoisted the sails and manned the windlass but the breeze
died away and it became worse than useless to trip the anchor.
The trading canoes all paddled rapidly toward
A Short but tne beacn> where they stopped and shot arrows
Brisk at the war-canoes. The challenge was

Fight. promptly returned and arrows began to fly

thick and fast between them. The little
canoes edged closer toward the beach and the big war fel-
lows made a sudden dash to intercept them, but the little

104 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

"traders" reached the beach first, abandoned their canoes and,
jumping ashore, shot back at their pursuers while they re-
treated toward the bush. The enemy ran their war-canoes
as close to land as they could and then leaped into the water
for the purpose of destroying the little boats. No sooner had
they quitted their brave canoes than a powerful force of
armed men suddenly appeared from the bush and, letting fly
a volley of arrows, rushed upon them with their spears and
war-clubs and both parties joined in a short and savage hand-
to-hand battle. When a second war-party slipped out from
another part of the bush armed with unerring spears the bully-
ing invaders beat a hasty retreat into their great canoes and
quickly paddled out of range.

The beach by this time was swarming with armed natives
shouting insults to their assailants and challenging them to
come back and fight it out, but the war-canoes had drawn
together in council of war. As a light breeze had sprung up
we hove anchor and got under way, but immediately they
started in hot pursuit. Their canoes skim so lightly over the
water that with all ease they can sail around a ship.

We were standing toward the south channel

We Repel on the Pol~t tack, when it became evident that

Boarders. the canoe on our lee bow intended to close

with us and keep us engaged while the others

came up. At about a hundred and fifty yards from us they

suddenly let fly a volley of poisoned arrows, all of which stuck

in the sails or flew harmlessly over the deck. The captain

immediately ordered the helmsman to luff a couple of points

as if trying to avoid them, at which maneuver they gave a

shout of triumph because they believed we were trying to get

away. They changed their course to head us off and when we

were less than fifty yards from them the captain shouted to

the helmsman, "Port the helm and run them down!" Next

moment the schooner stood about and striking a double canoe

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 105

amidships cut straight through the pair of them as clean as
a knife. Some ten or twelve warriors caught in our martin-
gale shrouds and gained the forecastle head but we instantly
attacked them and those who were not cut down were glad
enough to save themselves by jumping overboard.

By this time the canoe on our weather bow had come
within range of us and sent a shower of arrows flying from
under cover of their shield. We put about and tried to run
them down, too, but warned by the fate of their comrades,
they avoided us and successfully got out of our way. In
doing this, however, they exposed their broadside and our
mate, who was an excellent shot with a rifle, took careful
aim and fired. The man steering the canoe threw both arms
in the air and fell head-first overboard, and we soon left the
canoe far astern. We sailed out to South Channel and
anchored at Maiva, a few miles to the southward, where we
secured a considerable quantity of sandalwood.

The villages of the Maiva tribe are built inland upon piles
eight or ten feet high. This permits the air to circulate freely
under each house and their villages are kept scrupulously
clean. The men of each village meet at the house of their
local chief for the purpose of discussing tribal affairs, so the
chiefs house is a kind of town-hall which consists of a plat-
form floored with split bamboo, covered with a cupola, and
open on all sides. The country surrounding the villages is
an alluvial plain heavily covered with cocoanut trees, bananas,
sugar cane, and sweet potatoes. In the dooryards between the
houses many rare flowers and shrubs are cultivated. Back
of this cultivated district is the jungle. The trees are of
immense size. The soil is of the very richest variety and
could support a very large population.

We left Maiva and sailed for Thursday Island, Lat. 10°
35' S., Long. 142° 13' E., and for the next long "spell" our
course lay to the southwest through endless labyrinths of

io6 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

rocks, reefs, shoals, and small islands, requiring the most care-
ful navigation. These islands are inhabited by strange tribes
which it would be difficult to classify.

Although Thursday Island is small, commerce there is so
lively that a thrifty town has sprung up directly on the beach,
the inhabitants representing every nationality to be found in
the vast reaches of the Pacific.

The surrounding seas abound with pearl oy-

Vast Pearl sters an^ the army of pearl fishers plying their

Fisheries. dangerous trade in these waters bring back

tons of most valuable pearl shell, and often

pearls of great value. Millions of dollars' worth of shell and

pearls have already been gathered and there is room for almost

endless expansion in the trade.

The pearl and beche-de-la-mer fishing brings Queensland
over $500,000 every year. The pearl shells are far larger
than the shells of the common oyster. A pair of South
Sea Island shells spread out often measure a yard in diame-
ter. The shells vary in price, the best running up to a thou-
sand dollars a ton. The coral reefs abound in beautiful sea
caves. In these sea caves pearl oysters are found hanging in
clusters from the roof. The finest of all pearls are found loose
in the flesh of the oysters. A single oyster will sometimes
contain a dozen small and perfect pearls.

After trading a few days at Thursday Island
We Build a we set sail for the Gulf of Carpentaria, and
Hut and Qn tne ^[^ we anchored there in a small
Natives Visit

Us. cove on the west side of Vanderlin Island

of the Sir Edward Pellew group in latitude
15° 41' S. and longitude 137° 4' E. We built a hut about
ten feet high on the beach because a white man cannot stand
the heat and glare of the tropical sun. Natives visited us and
because we treated them well they promised to bring many
men of their tribe to help us fish

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 10?

Meanwhile, we discovered much excellent sandalwood on
the island and all hands were set to work to cut it and raft
it to the vessel. True to their promise our black visitors
soon returned with a hundred members or more of their tribe.
All were fully armed with spears, shields, waddies, and boom-
erangs, and their appearance was so wild that we instantly
realized we must be on guard every minute, for it would be
like them to attempt to capture the ship.

This is the great reef fishing district and the natives are the
greatest divers in the world. The tides rise from four to
seven feet and, as it ebbs, many miles of reef and sandy bot-
tom are left bare, with innumerable pools of water in which
fish are left imprisoned.

The blacks wade into these pools and feel for the beche-
de-mer with their feet. They also carry fishing spears and
spear the fish for food. The beche-de-mer, which they throw
out upon rafts, is nothing more nor less than a large slug
averaging about eighteen inches long and from four to six
inches wide. The Chinese call it trepang, and it is the prin-
cipal fish of commerce in these islands. Some of it is eaten
in Japan, but the rest goes to China. When the tide goes
down the trepang is hurried to a smokehouse, where it is
thrown into large copper boilers and boiled for twenty minutes
in sea water. It is then split open, cleaned and dried, and
spread upon wire netting, where it becomes perfectly hard.
The Chinese boil and dry the trepang to a thick jelly and claim
it is a most nourishing article of food.

I noticed one day a great commotion in the

A Living water in the fishing quarters and found a

Trap. large shark had been caught and held in the

shell of a tridacna gigas, or giant clam. The

shark's head was out of water and it beat the surface and

snapped its teeth in impotent rage, but the giant clam held

it fast and it is impossible to say how the struggle would

io8 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

have ended had these strange antagonists been left to fight
it out, but some natives attacked them, beating the shark to
death with their waddies and securing the tridacna gigas,
after which they gorged themselves to their hearts' content
upon the carcass.

This giant clam is a serious menace, for it lies with its
shell open and the moment anything touches it the halves of
the shell come together like a bear trap. The soft part of it
weighs as much as twenty pounds and frequently the shell
weighs five hundred pounds. It is often three feet long by
two feet wide and the shell is so hard that the natives make
knives and axes out of it.

I was wading upon the reef one day when I came upon
a huge tridacna lying with its shell open and I ran a spear
into him. The spear had an iron head twenty inches long and
the serrated edges of the huge shell closed instantly upon the
iron like a vise. I wanted to see how the clam would act, so
held the spear perfectly motionless; in a few moments the
shell relaxed and the fish made a perceptible effort to expel
the intruding weapon. I tried the same experiment several
times and invariably discovered that the fish retained its
death-like grip so long as I struggled with it but always
relaxed its hold when I ceased to do so. In this they act ex-
actly like their cousins of our American rivers.

Many people have the erroneous idea that sharks are the
most dangerous enemies which divers have to encounter. This
is a mistake; there are other enemies more dangerous than
sharks; yes, even more dangerous than tridacna gigas. A
diver who goes down without armor has much to fear from
poisonous sea-snakes. I myself have been down a few times
and have seen these intensely venomous and belligerent crea-
tures bite savagely at the thick plate glass in the front of the
helmet before the eyes. I have had one twist about my leg
and bite at the diver's suit.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT OK 109

These creatures are as beautiful as they are deadly and

their motions as they swim about in search of prey are lovely

to see. Their necks are long and thin, and

The Deadly frequently they are to be seen swimming along

Sea-snake. the surface, gracefully turning their heads

from side to side, alert to dart at any prey that

may appear. The longest one we caught was eight feet.

Frequently we cut open sharks and found one or more of
these poisonous reptiles in the stomach. One day I was look-
ing over the edge of a coral reef at the brilliantly beautiful
fish swimming among the coral caves when a lurking sea-snake
suddenly darted his head from a grotto and seized a good-
sized fish with sharp spines, four or five inches long. The
snake poison killed the fish instantly, for its fins at once re-
laxed and were compressed against its body as the snake pro-
ceeded to swallow it head first. The enemy of these sea-
serpents is the sea-eagle. It is common to see one of these
birds descend like a thunderbolt, seize a snake at the back of
the head in such a position that it cannot bite, and then fly
away to some overhanging crag.

Poisonous serpents, man-eating sharks, and
The Octopus giant crabs, and all other enemies which a
or Devil-fish, diver encounters sink into insignificance, how-
ever, when compared to the terrible cuttle-
fish, or, as more generally known, devil-fish. A devil-fish
has a body resembling a huge gray sack, at one end of which
is a triangular-shaped steering fin which acts as a rudder.
Ten long arms grow in a circle around the mouth of the
sack, which consists of a thick circular lip and a huge parrot-
like beak, with which to tear any prey which the long arms
convey in. This beak is partially out of sight when not in
use.

The arms of this curious sea monster are very thick and
powerful near the body but they taper toward the ends. Two

no THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

of the arms are twice as long as the rest and are of a different
shape. To within about two feet of the tip they are smooth
and rubber-like but they flatten out like the blades of an
oar and are very strong. Along the edges of each are from
one to four rows of saucer-shaped sucking disks. Each sucker
has a movable membrane stretched across it and the instant
the monster twines its slimy arms about any living thing this
membrane retracts, creating a vacuum under each sucker. A
large cuttle-fish has upwards of two thousand of these suck-
ers. Immediately back of the arms are two enormous black
fiery eyes with white rims almost as large as dinner plates.
In the darkness they shine like cat's eyes, and the lambent
gleams which they emit often betray the creature's presence.
To add to its sinister appearance it appears to have the power
of changing color, so that, when lurking in a coral cave or
among rocks watching for prey, it harmonizes so perfectly
with the surroundings that it is impossible to detect its pres-
ence. When a cuttle-fish is alarmed or irritated it changes
color from gray to brick red and from white to mottle black.
The two long arms act the part of scouts and when lying in
wait for prey they are stretched among the rocks and sea-
weeds, while all the other arms are carefully coiled out of
sight. The largest recorded specimens of cuttle-fish which
have been captured in these waters measured over seventy
feet and weighed two tons. Powerful and destructive as they
are, they, too, fall victims to enemies more powerful than
themselves. The sperm whale and the grampus, or killer,
both devour the cuttle-fish as relentlessly as the cuttle-fish
devours the other denizens of the ocean. Their method of
defense is characteristic of these repulsive monsters. On
the approach of a sperm whale or grampus they will eject
large quantities of a dark fluid, enveloping the assailant
in a cloud, under cover of which the great mollusk hopes to
escape.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON in

Large fish of this variety sometimes attack boats and en-
deavor to devour the occupants. I have known them to sud-
denly board our schooner at night and drive all hands below,
where we stayed until after daylight, because it was too dan-
gerous to attack the creatures in the dark. It is decidedly
possible that these ocean monsters have caused the destruction
of many a small ship that has gone to sea and has never
afterwards been heard of.

Had any writer of wild romance invented the

The Mystery tale of the barkentine Marie Celeste he would

°* ^e have been credited with a very vivid imagina-

Celeste. ^on indeed. But truth is ever stranger than

fiction, and for the benefit of those who are
unfamiliar with the facts of the story it may be explained here
that the Marie Celeste sailed from New York for European
ports in the year 1887 with thirteen souls aboard, including
the captain's wife and child. Two weeks later an English
bark sighted her with all sails set drifting aimlessly about the
Atlantic Ocean. This was such an unusual sight that the
English bark ran close to her and hailed, but received no
answer, and the officers could discern no signs of life on
board. They immediately lowered a boat and boarded her
but found not a living soul there.

Everything was in its place ; the boats were securely lashed
to the davits ; the hull was not in any way damaged, the cargo
untouched; spars and rigging were intact; an awning covered
the poop ; the crew's weekly washing hung over the forecastle
to dry; binnacle, wheel and rudder were ship-shape; part of
the crew's dinner remained on the table in the forecastle, and
a half-eaten meal was on a dining table in the cabin. It
was evident that the captain's wife had been sewing a child's
garment, as, half-finished, it remained on the sewing machine.
The cabin clock and chronometer were ticking away, showing
that they had been recently wound, and the cash box in the

ii2 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

cabin was not touched. Even the log-book was written up to
within less than forty-eight hours of the time the vessel was
discovered, and showed they had had good weather. There
was no sign of a struggle, yet every living soul had vanished
as by a miracle.

Our government spared no pains or expense in trying to
solve the mystery, but to this day the fate of the crew of
the Marie Celeste remains one of the most inscrutable of old
Ocean's secrets. Many theories were advanced to account
for it. One was that pirates had murdered all hands, but this
was clearly impracticable, because there had been no pirates
in the Atlantic for many years ; moreover, pirates would cer-
tainly have looted the ship. Another theory was that the cook
might have poisoned every one on board and jumped over-
board in a fit of remorse. But the half-consumed food found
in the cabin, galley, and forecastle was carefully analyzed and
showed not the slightest sign of poison. Finally it was ad-
mitted as the most plausible theory that sea monsters might
have crawled on board and attacked the watch on deck and
when others ran to their assistance, as they naturally would
do, the monsters had dragged all hands overboard to destruc-
tion. In confirmation of this theory there were found newly
made cuts of a hatchet on the rail as if some of the crew had
been striking at the monster even while they were being
dragged overboard.

A certain class of stay-at-home naturalists solemnly tell
us there is no fish in the sea that could do these things. They
gravely assure us that all the strange monsters which have
been seen in so many parts of the world exist only in the
excited imagination of intemperate mariners. But every man
who has followed the sea knows it is common to see (though
dimly) hideous creatures plunging and wallowing about the
ship, especially during fine weather in the tropics.

Another monster which is a terror to divers is the giant

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 113

ray, variously known as the sea devil, sea bat, blanket ray,
or blanket fish.

Divers call it manta (Spanish for blanket)

A Winged because it bears a resemblance to an outspread
Monster. blanket. No one knows how large these rays
may grow, but I have helped to capture one
which measured twenty-two feet across the tips of its wings
and four feet thick through the middle. We had no means
of ascertaining its weight. The manta has a long whip-like
tail armed with dagger-like spines, double edged, with rows of
saw-like teeth projecting backward. This ocean monster has
a mouth large enough to swallow a man. Inside the mouth
there are flat teeth, resembling paving stones, for the purpose
of crushing the shell-fish upon which it largely feeds. It is
black above and white below and propels itself through the
water by gracefully waving wings or side fins, precisely as
a bird flies through the air.

The South Sea Islanders have no fear of any shark that
swims and will readily dive into the water to attack the
fiercest man-eater, but they all fear the manta as they do the
devil.

n4 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XI

PERILS AND PEARLS, AUSTRALIA AND JAVA

The day after our arrival at Vanderlin Island a Malay prau

of about twenty-five tons, carrying a score of men, anchored

in the bay less than a mile away and began

A Lot of fishing for trepang. The men were armed to
Cut-throats, the teeth, and I never saw a more venomous-
looking lot of cut-throats. They picked up
great quantities of trepang on their large spears with handles
from twenty to thirty feet long.

The prau is a clumsy-looking craft like a Chinese junk.
The sails are made of matting and most of the ropes and
hawsers are plaited rattan. The masts are of bamboo and
light poles are lashed from them to the rigging in such a way
as to form ladders upon which the crew mount when they
hoist or roll up sails. Every prau has two rudders, one
on each quarter. Their anchors are made of hard wood with
a large stone attached and when the anchor is let go it is
common to send a man down to see that it is properly fixed
in good holding ground. The bow is very low, the stern very
high ; consequently the usual way of getting on board is over
the bow, which is close to the water's edge.

The deck is generally of split bamboo worked together
with fiber and can be rolled up and laid away. The cabin
doors are just large enough to allow a man to enter by crawl-
ing on all fours and the places where the crew sleep are little
more than pigeonholes. The galley consists of a large iron
pan containing a sand pile upon which to light the fire for
cooking and food is almost entirely rice and fish. They also

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 115

use a great deal of cocoanut oil and a coarse sort of sweet-
meat made of molasses and boiled rice firmly pressed into
hollow bamboos. Most Malays have the most villainous faces
imaginable. Their filthy habit of chewing betel nut adds to
the repulsiveness of their appearance by staining their lips a
bright red and their teeth jet black.

Every prau is armed with many murderous-
The Malay looking spears, most of which are poisoned,
Kriss. and every man on board is certain to have

one or more krisses. The kriss is the most
characteristic Malay weapon. It is of peculiar workmanship
and is a terrible war instrument in the hands of those familiar
with its use. The blade of an ordinary kriss is about a foot
long, though they vary in length from six inches to over two
feet. This blade is invariably waved, or flamboyant, with the
handle at right angles to it. It is double-edged, dull, rough,
and full of long curved grooves. They are said to be made
of finest steel wire so loosely welded together that they appear
to be almost on the point of separating. The kriss makers
produce this effect by steeping a new blade in lemon juice.
They claim that European steel is useless for making these
fine weapons. Very true it is that notwithstanding their rough
and corroded appearance they are of marvelous excellence
and the finest European weapons cannot compare with them
for hardness and elasticity. The more valuable krisses have
beautifully ornamented handles of ivory, silver, or gold. A
Malay holds his kriss in much the same way a cavalryman does
his sword. I have often noticed a black line about a quarter
of an inch wide along the edge of the blade. The Malays tell
me these black lines are poisoned. They soak the blades in
pineapple juice before going to a fight. The action of the
juice on the blade when introduced into a wound causes acute
blood poison.

The kriss is surrounded with many superstitions and de-

ii6 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

scends from father to son, from generation to generation, as
the most valued of their weapons. The Malays are called
the Arabs of the sea, for their hand is against every man
and every man's hand is against them. Their swift piratical
praus were long the terror of the Far Eastern seas and they
spread death and ruin far and wide, wherever their raids
extended. These fierce pirates met their match only when the
English, French, and Dutch cruisers not only drove thern from
the sea, but chased them to their lairs. They are still ready
for smuggling or any lawless business, however, when there
is a reasonable chance of escape. For example, every vessel
that undertakes to fish for trepang or pearl shell from the
Australian coast is supposed to pay some tax for the privilege.
It is common for a Malay prau to run into a bay or a creek,
lower the mast to escape notice, secure a full cargo and sail
serenely away.

The Malays in the bay built a hut on the beach for drying
their fish and one morning before dawn, when I had gone
fishing with a couple of the crew, we were startled to see their
smoke-house burst into flame and a large party of naked
savages issue forth, dancing and yelling like fiends about the
burning building.

Several Malays who slept in an adjoining

Another ^ut rus^e(^ out> attempting to cut their way
Shipment of through the yelling blacks with long, heavy

Savages. krisses, while those aboard the prau jumped
into little boats and hurried ashore to
the relief of their comrades. As soon as they reached
the scene they were divided, and a frightful scene en-
sued as the sun came up over the bay. It was soon ap-
parent that the waddy of the black tribe was no match
for the Malay kriss, and the blacks broke and ran. The
Malays instantly hurried to their boats, but one man fell be-
hind because a stone had struck him in the leg and lamed him.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 117

He soon regained his feet and started after his companions,
but a powerfully built black man ran forward and intercepted
him before he reached the water's edge. The black man, twice
the size of the Malay, guarded himself carefully with his
shield and raised his waddie high over his head as the Malay
rushed at him. The Malay suddenly stood straight at bay and
raising his kriss high above his head aimed a sweeping cut
at the head of his enemy. Instantly the black fellow held up
his shield to ward off the blow, but quicker than lightning the
Malay drew back his kriss and, stooping until his head was
almost on a level with his knees, drove the razor-edged weapon
through the fellow's body. The victorious Malay was in the
very act of jumping into the water to swim out to the boats
when a spear pierced his back and he fell dead. The blacks
quickly outnumbered the visiting Malays and swarmed rapidly
over the prau while her defenders retreated to the hold.

Our captain was lucky in securing many

I Escape a curios and large quantities of trepang at this

Death place; but his trading was brought to an

abrupt close by an incident which filled
everyone with horror and dread.

We were in the habit of spearing fish on the reefs at night
with the aid of torches, and the natives had expressed great
delight at the dark bulPs-eye lantern which we sometimes used
because it would throw an intense light and still keep the
spearman completely concealed. I had accompanied a party of
blacks to the reef, where the water was not over two feet deep,
and, in flashing the light around to see that there was no
danger in walking over the edge of the reef, it disclosed a
fish close to our feet. A native named Yurragal poised his
spear when, without a moment's warning, a long arm shot out
of the water and instantly coiled itself around him. The at-
tack was so unexpected that the poor fellow had barely time
to utter a single cry of terror as he was dragged struggling

n8 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

over the reef and under the surface of the quiet water which
concealed his treacherous foe. I instantly sprang backward to
avoid a similar fate, and not a moment too soon, for the very
next instant another arm darted out, quivered for a moment
over the very spot where I had been standing, but was quickly
withdrawn. A momentary gleam of phosphorescent light
marked the spot where the deadly cuttle-fish had dragged
Yurragal down to his frightful death. His companions, help-
less to render assistance, could do nothing but withdraw. They
would have had no hesitation whatsoever in attacking the
monster by daylight, but these savage fish have every ad-
vantage at night because they see clearly and then are par-
ticularly bold and brazen. Not only will they pursue their
prey into shallow waters, but they will venture on to parts
of the reef that are high and dry, shuffliing about it with a
clumsy gallop, the ugliness of which is impossible to put into
words.

The blacks were convinced that either the lantern or I had
bewitched the man who had lost his life and we found it
difficult to do any further business with them. A few days
later we sailed away and brought up at the town of Broome
on Roebuck Bay, in Northwestern Australia.

Roebuck Bay is one of the finest harbors on this entire
coast, but great care is necessary in entering. It is eleven
miles long by eleven miles wide, and at high water it appears
to be a spacious, clear, well-protected sheet of water, land-
locked everywhere except to the westward. At low water it
presents a different aspect; though it still affords plenty of
good anchorage, it is full of shoals and sandbanks and is the
best place I know of for beaching ships.

Dampier Creek flows into the bay from the east. Pearling
vessels use this creek not only for the purpose of heaving
down but also as a place of refuge during the strong north-
west gales which occur here in the summer season.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 119

Broome is only a shanty town, nevertheless it maintains a

fleet of over 400 pearling vessels, and is the headquarters of

the great pearl fishing trade in these regions.

Broome the Strong northwest winds begin about the end

Notorious. of October, bringing rain and bad weather

which lasts till the end of March and puts

a stop to pearling during that time. Consequently, all the ships

return about the end of November and are laid up in Broome

for five or six months.

People imagine that the chief object of pearl fishing is
to obtain pearls. They will probably be surprised to learn
that the pearls are little considered in the matter at all and
that the calculations are based upon the pearl shell alone.
Pearlers may open hundred of shells without obtaining a pearl
of any value, though any day they may open a shell contain-
ing a jewel worth thousands of dollars. ?Such incidents are
regarded as mere accidents.

Few lines of business render such large returns as pearl-
fishing, even without obtaining any pearls at all. The owner
of each vessel counts on clearing $3,500 over and above ex-
penses each season with a few good pearls as extras.

The sudden transformation which Broome
The Illicit undergoes during the period when the pearl-
Pearl ing ships are laid up and their crews are on
the beach, is positively magical. A more re-
pulsive-looking crowd of thieves and cut-
throats than those sailors parading the streets and crowding
the drinking and gambling dens can scarcely be imagined.
Trading in stolen pearls, drinking, gambling, shooting, stab-
bing, foot-padding and other concomitant villainies flourish.
The divers are somewhat chary doing business with any one
they do not know, for there are plenty of spies and detectives,
and should a diver show him a valuable pearl he may compel
him to give it up or have him arrested for stealing it. The

120 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

divers are wonderfully quick in getting the measure of a
stranger even while appearing not to take the slightest notice
of him. They show ingenuity in concealing their thefts as
they do in committing them. Even the black men sometimes
offer for sale a valued pearl which they obtained by mur-
dering the original thief who stole it in the first instance.
Again, I have seen a black fellow sell a valuable pearl for a
bottle of liquor.

Broome is in telegraphic communication with the rest of
the world, for the submarine cable from Singapore via Banju-
wangi in Eastern Java reaches to Roebuck Bay, and coasting
steamers call at Broome at intervals of two and three weeks.
Meat is plentiful but vegetables are scarce. Almost everybody
appears to go about armed in Broome and carousing and
gambling go on unchecked all hours of the day and night.
In all other parts of the world which I have visited the year
is divided into summer and winter or wet and dry seasons;
but in Broome the year is divided into the live and the dead
seasons. The rich Kimberley gold mines are located only a
short distance northeast of Broome and, on the whole, this
is one of the richest districts in Australia.

Sir Walter Scott informs us in the Lady of the Lake
that it was customary for the Highlanders to extend hospi-
tality to any stranger ; but feuds were so common among them
that it was considered churlish to inquire his name or that
of his clan, lest he might happen to belong to a hostile clan.
In Broome it seems to be taken for granted that nearly every-
body in the place is either a criminal or else engaged in some
nefarious pursuit; and it is considered extremely bad form —
and sometimes extremely dangerous form — to inquire too mi-
nutely into any one's business or antecedents.

We had been anchored in the harbor about a week when
a boat came quietly alongside one night and put two men and
their belongings on board. We spent the next forenoon

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 121

in replenishing our water supply and sailed in the afternoon,
although the weather was still threatening. One of the men
who had come on board was so severely wounded that he
required the utmost care and it seemed doubtful if he would
survive to reach port, but he and his companion kept entirely
to themselves and none of us made any inquiries into the
circumstances of the case. We were obliged to beat to the
northwestward, between the Rowley Shoals and Lynher Reef,
and after clearing these dangers the captain informed us that
our destination was Sourabaya, on the north coast of Java.
We passed through Lombok Strait, between Bali and Lombok,
then toward the northwestward between Takat Reef and a
number of small islands lying off the eastern end of
Madura, and anchored in Sourabaya Harbor on the tenth
day after leaving Broome; though we could have made the
run in considerably less time had the weather not been so
rough.

We had to proceed a little over twenty miles up a broad,
muddy river to reach the town. It is considered the best land-
locked harbor in Java, but most of the surrounding country
appears to be little more than a marsh overgrown with man-
grove and various other tropical trees and bushes. The dull,
vapory heat which arises from this watery jungle is excessively
depressing, and the Chinese appear to be about the only ones
who are able to work in it.

The Dutch authorities have constructed a network of
tidal canals through every part of Sourabaya, and especially
through the European quarter called Simpang. This is in
order to prevent stagnant water ; and the houses are all lo-
cated amid groves of stately shade trees to protect them from
the intense heat of the tropical sun. The rise and fall of the
spring tides is from six to eight feet, but the ground is so
level that this leaves a wide expanse of mud between the
town and the bay at low water. Soft mud is about the most

122 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

difficult thing in the world to traverse, but the native fishermen
manage to do it in a most extraordinary manner.

Each fisherman carries a board about five
Extraordinary or six feet long, two feet wide, and turned
Method of at ^ forward en(l. When he wishes to

Getting Over , . ,

Mud cross the mud between his boat and the town

he places his left knee in a slight hollow in
the exact center of the board, and holding fast with both
hands to two little handles, kicks backward with his right
foot against the mud. In this way he can travel a good deal
faster than he could walk, but the maneuver requires more
skill than may appear necessary at first sight. He cannot stop
or his board would begin to settle in the mud, and should
it sink even an inch there is no possible way of starting it
again. Should he lean too far to either side he will capsize,
and then nothing could save him from being smothered in
the mud. These boards are carefully oiled or greased, and
the fishermen never allow mud to harden upon them.

Our two passengers left us here and stated that they
intended to go to Tosari, the chief health resort of Eastern
Java, which is located upon a spur of Mount Tengger, 5,850
feet above sea-level and only one day's travel from Sourabaya.

It struck me that the sickly, steaming heat of Sourabaya
would soon finish even a white person who was in robust
health, to say nothing of an invalid. The sweltering heat
of the place compels the inhabitants to live in open houses,
and, as a natural consequence, burglary is rampant in spite of
severe penalties which the Dutch authorities inflict upon any
one convicted of this crime. The sentence of death is rigidly
enforced upon any burglar who is caught with a weapon upon
his person, and an unarmed burglar is compelled to serve
twenty years in chains.

At intervals of about a mile or so throughout the city
and suburbs there are guard-houses, each of which is pro-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 123

vided with a very large gong which can be heard at a great
distance. They have a splendid system of transmitting sig-
nals by means of these gongs ; and should a thief endeavor to
escape by running, the gong in the nearest guard-house sig-
nals the direction in which he is going and the police run out
from every direction to intercept him.

The natives live in little wicker-work houses

Natural somewhat resembling large baskets, and rice
Irrigation constitutes almost their only food, as it does

Method. in au countries of Southern Asia. The best
kind of rice is grown in water, and here the
natives cultivate water-crops on the sides of steep mountains,
accomplishing this result by terracing the sides of the moun-
tains exactly like steps, the width of each terrace being in
proportion to the steepness of the ground. The outside of
each terrace is built up with a bank of hard clay about two
feet wide, and the water inside this bank is about six inches
deep. They regulate the depth of water in each terrace by in-
serting bamboo spouts through the banks of clay, and when
the water rises to the level of these spouts it flows through
them into the next terrace below. The young rice looks
very much like rank grass, and when the grain is fully matured
they cut off the heads with a sort of knife called ani-ani.
They thrash these heads by placing them in a hollow log and
pounding them with the end of a heavy piece of hardwood
called tumbukan, very much after the style of churning. Of
course, they cultivate rice on level ground as well as on hill-
sides; and each flooded rice field is used not only for culti-
vating rice but also for raising goldfish, precisely as the
Hawaiians raise goldfish in their flooded taro beds. These
goldfish are excellent eating and frequently attain a length
of eighteen inches.

Instead of boiling rice as we do, they steam it in a bam-
boo basket, called a kukusan. This basket, which is cone-

124 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

shaped, is hung point downward on top of a brass or copper
kettle called a dang-dang, which is filled with boiling water,
so that only the steam penetrates the rice. During this steam-
ing process the basket is kept carefully covered with a lid of
bamboo or crockery ware.

Like the natives of India, they use a great deal of curry
and pepper along with their rice, and those who live near
the coast can always secure plenty of fish for the labor of
catching them. Both whites and natives are equally fond of
the pisang (banana), one of the most nutritious vegetables
in existence.

There are also plenty of wild pigeons which might be
easily trapped or shot, but the natives never seem to trouble
about them, although their flesh is very good to eat. The
native men and women both indulge in the common Malay
practice of chewing betel nut wrapped in betel leaf and dusted
over with lime, with the result that their lips and teeth are
stained a dark ugly reddish brown.

The chief article of clothing for both sexes is the sarong,
a piece of figured cotton six feet long and three feet wide ; and
both sexes wear it in the same way, by drawing it tightly
around their hips and tucking the ends together in front.

Like the South Sea Islanders, they have what may be
called a chief's language called kromo (high), which they
always use in addressing any one of higher rank, and another
called ngoko (low), which they use in addressing those of
lower rank. In addition to the kromo and ngoko they have a
third language called madyo, which is used only between the
most intimate friends. The most convenient native words for
a stranger to know are "Mana?" (where?) "Brapa?" (how
much?) "Apa nama ini?" (what is the name of this?)

There are many beautiful orchids and other flowers in
this place, and travelers who penetrate into the bush either for
the purpose of hunting, collecting orchids, or examining the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 125

numerous ruins, generally provide themselves with a frying
pan and a straight sword called a golok, which is one of the
finest implements in the world for cutting through thick
vines and bushes. The best time to see the flowers in bloom
in this country is during the rainy season, from November to
March or April, when northwesterly winds and bad weather
prevail. The finest orchids do not bloom during the dry
southeast monsoon, which prevails from April to November,
though this is the coolest and pleasantest time of the year and
a light shower occurs every day.

126 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XII

NEW (GUINEA AND THE TROBRIAND ISLANDS

Having disposed of the passengers, the captain purchased
a cargo of rice and returned to Broome. While passing
through Lombok Strait the wind suddenly died out and we
narrowly escaped drifting ashore on account of the strong
and erratic currents which run in this locality. Shortly after
clearing the Strait we encountered one of the strong southerly
gales which occur in these seas during the months of January
and February, after which we had strong northwest winds all
the way to port. The captain disposed of his cargo to excel-
lent advantage in Broome and returned to Thursday Island,
where he learned that a party of miners were waiting in Cook-
town (in northeastern Queensland) to be conveyed to New
Guinea. Accordingly he proceeded to Cooktown and loaded
a cargo of mining supplies, together with a number of miners,
after which we sailed out through Lark Passage in the Great
Barrier Reef, in latitude 15° 07' S. and longitude 145° 45' E.
We passed through Jonard Entrance, just west of the Louis-
iade Archipelago; through Goschen Strait, between Norman-
by Island and New Guinea; then through Ward Hunt Strait,
south of Morata Island, bringing up in the mouth of the
Mambare River, in northeastern New Guinea.

The miners whom we met told us that they

Gold in found gold in paying quantities up the river,

Paying but they suffered a good deal from malarial

Quantities. fever an(j from the hostility of the natives as

well. They assured us that the natives were
so uncertain and treacherous that no one could depend upon
them. They would profess the utmost friendship for a white

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 127

man and help him in every way they could ; but the very next
day they would try to murder him without any known cause,
and several miners had lost their lives in this way. The na-
tives are not only inveterate cannibals, but are also frightfully
cruel. At first we were inclined to doubt the stories which
the miners told of their fiendish cruelty; but we changed our
minds when we saw them roasting pigs alive over a slow fire,
because they claim that meat tastes much better when cooked
alive.

The tribes are continually at war, and they capture their
enemies alive in order to cook them alive for a cannibal feast.
I afterward learned that more than one white man had been
captured and slowly roasted to death. The miners had re-
taliated by destroying some of the native villages. Some of
my readers might believe that these are simply idle stories
which I gathered from the miners, but they are not. I learned
these facts, not from the miners alone, but from missionaries,
natives, government officials, and officers of an English
cruiser who had been called upon several times to punish the
natives for such atrocities. They all declared that the women
were the chief instigators of these cannibal orgies because
they were in the habit of taunting the men with cowardice
if they did not bring home prisoners to be cooked and eaten.
The consequence was that when the miners attacked a native
village, they acted upon the principle of "equal rights without
regard to sex" by killing men and women alike. The mis-
sionaries stated, however, that the primary object of the
natives in roasting prisoners alive was not so
Strange much for the purpose of torturing them as to

Weapons. make their flesh more tasty. Their weapons
consist of spears, shields, and war-clubs. The
war-club has a hardwood handle and a stone head very neatly
made in the manner previously described, and looks formid-
able enough to smash the skull of an ox. They use long,

128 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

barbed spears made of some kind of hard and remarkably
strong wood, and a lighter and shorter spear which they hurl
like a javelin. Their shields are a little over a foot wide and
about three feet long, so that one of them covers a warrior
from the neck to about the knees.

Although the natives are expert in throwing their light
spears or javelins, they are not nearly so dangerous as the
natives of German New Guinea, which begins immediately to
the westward of the mouth of the Mambare River. The na-
tives of British New Guinea (the southeastern portion) have
no missile weapons except the javelin, while those of the
German (or northwestern) portion use bows and arrows as
formidable as were those of the English archers before the
invention of gunpowder. It seems strange that the natives
along the Mambare have never learned from their enemies to
use bows and arrows in their own defense; for the natives
of the neighboring German territory often descend upon them
and spread death and destruction far and wide in their fierce
raids. In case of a pitched battle between them, the natives of
German territory are invariably victorious on account of the
superiority of their weapons, unless the Mambare natives
manage to surprise them.

These circumstances render the northwestern natives so
fierce and arrogant that they are far more dangerous and diffi-
cult to deal with than those of the British territory; and a
white man who goes among the former must exercise constant
vigilance to guard against an attack, which is apt to be made
at the most unexpected moment.

When bound on a raid or a warlike expedition of any kind,
they always paint their faces red and black (the sign of war),
and generally wear an ornamental head-band adorned with
the huge upper mandible of the hornbill. The bill of this
curious bird is so long that it looks like a horn springing
out of the warrior's forehead; and it struck me that it must

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 129

interfere to some extent with their vision, for the tip extends
down almost to a level with the point of the chin. Painting
the face red and black appears to be the accepted signal of
war among all the different tribes along this coast, and when
any party of natives appear with their faces painted in this
way, they are always looking for a favorable opportunity to
make an attack, no matter how strongly they may profess
friendship. They bear a considerable resemblance to the na-
tives of the New Hebrides both in appearance and customs,
and I noticed that they have the habit of preserving the skulls
of the victims whom they devour, which is common through-
out a large part of the Pacific Ocean, but especially among the
Malays of Borneo.

I visited a couple of native villages, and in the center of
one was a raised platform covered with rows of ghastly-look-
ing human skulls and piles of human bones. In the center
of the other village was a tall post elaborately carved and
painted and bearing some slight resemblance to the drum-idols
of the New Hebrides, though it was solid instead of hollow
and was adorned with a fringe of small pennants or streamers
near the top. Around this were some shorter posts set in
the ground and supporting horizontal poles which were hung
with human skulls and jawbones mixed up with the bones
and heads of pigs and crocodiles. All these were hung close
together and, as far as I could learn, it seems to be the cus-
tom to keep the poles always full and to throw away the old-
est ones as they secure fresh supplies of each kind to take
their place.

In spite of their dark skin and kinky hair, it is a curious
fact that all the tribes show a strong Hebraic cast of features
in all parts of New Guinea. They live in houses built upon
piles and cultivate crops of sugar cane, sago, taro, bananas,
cocoanuts, etc., which grow luxuriantly on account of the
extreme fertility of the soil.

I3o THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The Mambare River discharges through three mouths, and
the western mouth opens into Mambare or Duvira Bay, in
which we were anchored. The river is in
A River with ^°°^ during the summer months of Decem-
Thrce ber and January on account of the rains; but

Mouths. during the balance of the year it is too shal-
low for anything but boats, although it is quite
wide. The delta of the river is low and swampy and the
water fairly swarms with sharks and crocodiles.

The natives asserted most positively that the crocodiles
devour the sharks, and wishing to test this statement, the
captain hung a piece of fat pork over the stern more than
five feet above the surface of the water. About a couple of
minutes later a large shark appeared upon the surface and
after circling round and eyeing the pork for a few moments,
suddenly leaped half out of the water and disappeared with
bait and part of the line, which it snapped like a thread. The
captain repeated the experiment, and the same shark returned
and was evidently about to repeat his part of the performance
when a large crocodile also appeared upon the scene and en-
deavored to secure the bait by raising his huge head out of
the water and snapping at it until his spike-like teeth clashed
together like the jaws of a steel trap. He then seemed to
catch sight of the shark for the first time, and the two savag«
brutes began circling around and regarding each other with
most malevolent looks.

The captain suddenly lowered the bait to
Shark and within about a foot of the water, and both
Crocodile instantly darted at it from opposite directions.
Fight. The crocodile seized it first, but just as he

did so the shark seized him by one of his
forelegs. The reptile instantly relinquished the bait and man-
aged to twist his head sufficiently to one side to secure a grip
on the body of the shark.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 131

The two powerful brutes began plunging and lashing about
in the water so furiously that it was impossible to follow their
gyrations; but when they separated the shark had bitten the
leg clean off the crocodile, while the crocodile had torn a
huge mouthful of flesh out of the side of the shark. A shark
appears to be almost insensible to pain, and notwithstanding
the deep wound which he had received, he seized the bait
and was making off with it when the crocodile made a dart
at him and caught his tail. It is difficult to say how the battle
might have terminated, for the commotion and the blood in
the water had collected a number of sharks and crocodiles,
and the presence of blood excites these fierce brutes as a red
rag excites a bull. They came swimming up from all direc-
tions and darted about in a state of great excitement when
the captain hung another piece of pork over the stern by way
of bringing them all together in a bunch, then dropped it in
their midst. This was the signal for a battle royal indeed.
In an instant the surface of the water for the space of an
acre was transformed into a mass of flying spray, lashing
tails, and snapping jaws, as each maddened brute endeavored
to catch the pork or take a mouthful out of his nearest neigh-
bor. Some were actually torn to pieces and devoured ; others
gradually became separated as they found no more bait for
which to fight; though a number of them continued hover-
ing about the vessel for the remainder of the day. The New
Guinea river mouths, creeks, and swampy inlets fairly swarm
with alligators.

The captain obtained a good many curios of the natives,
after which he sailed for the Trobriand Islands, where he
expected to do some trading before returning to Sydney. We
ran a little to the southward of east till we picked up the Tro-
briands in latitude 8° 18' S. and longitude 150° 5' E., and
entered a channel between Kiriwina Island on the east and
Kaileuna Island on the west, in latitude 8° 32' S. and longi-

I32 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

tude 150° 58' E. This channel, which is a little over a mile
wide, has a mean depth of from six to eight fathoms and
leads south into a land-locked harbor about seven miles wide
and eleven miles long. This harbor is protected from all
winds and has a depth of from six to nine fathoms, but
in some parts contains a large number of dangerous coral
patches.

We received an official visit from the head chief of the
group, who resided in the village of Emarakana, and the cap-
tain took care to secure his good graces by means of gifts,
after which he conducted a good trade with his dusky
subjects.

All the islands of this group are low but extremely fertile
and the inhabitants are evidently of the same race as those
of New Guinea. The islands are densely wooded and con-
tain many valuable kinds of wood. I have never seen such
quantities and quality of ebony in any other part of the world ;
in fact, ebony is so plentiful that most of their weapons and
implements are made of it. They use long, heavy spears
which are sometimes fifteen feet long and made of solid ebony.
They also use formidable ebony swords which are short and
very heavy, but have a fine edge which cuts almost like
steel weapons.

They have one peculiar kind of wood which I have never
seen in any other part of the world and the name of which I
have never been able to learn. We called it ivory wood, be-
cause it looks so much like ivory that it would be difficult
to tell them apart. The wood is clear white and seems to be
almost as hard as bone and takes a most lovely polish. I
noticed particularly that it does not seem to grow darker
from exposure to the air as so many light-colored woods do,
and it struck me that it would make excellent piano-keys
among the many other uses to which ivory is now put, and to
which it might be applied.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 133

Although the natives belong to the same race as the na-
tives of New Guinea they are a far finer and more intelligent-
looking people and wear their hair in ringlets

Excellent over tne*r shoulders instead of in huge mops
Native like those of the larger island. They are also

Craftsmen. far superior as craftsmen, and the captain
could easily have loaded the ship with beauti-
fully carved ebony swords, spears and implements of various
kinds, together with a great variety of really beautiful orna-
ments which showed a high degree of artistic skill. This skill
is conspicuously displayed in their canoes, which are probably
the handsomest to be found in any part of the Pacific.

Up to quite recently they used their beautiful canoes as
pirate boats, and they are not to be trusted too far even at the
present day. Like all South Sea Island and Chinese pirates,
they are particularly liable to attack any vessel that may be
becalmed in the neighborhood of their islands.

These islands are so extremely fertile that they produce
immense crops of the finest yams, cocoanuts, bananas, and
other tropical productions. It is their custom to send two or
three canoes alongside of a ship ostensibly to trade, but in
reality to discover whether the crew are off their guard. Of
course these canoes apparently are all loaded with provisions
only, no weapons of any kind being visible, unless the crew
express a desire to trade for weapons, when a few swords and
spears will be brought out for trading purposes only. Fol-
lowing the invariable custom of all treacherous natives who
contemplate an attack upon a vessel, other canoes will gradu-
ally edge up one by one, completely surrounding the stranger
ship, and unless the crew are on their guard and constantly
compel them to keep at a distance, under some pretext or other,
such as passing up bunches of bananas, baskets of yams, etc.,
as many as possible of the savages will get on deck and en-
gage the crew in trade in order to distract their attention until

134 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

the chief gives the signal for attack, when they overwhelm
the crew by a sudden rush and general slaughter. In such
attacks they use long, heavy spears, and not only slaughter
the crews, but afterwards feast upon their bodies, when they
loot the ship at their leisure and burn her to conceal their
crime.

I am often asked if there is any danger of a vessel being
attacked at the present day in any of the South Sea Islands.
Evidently many people imagine that such piratical attacks as
I have described are entirely a thing of the past, but this is a
great mistake. The Solomon Islanders are as dangerous as
ever and are never under any circumstances to be trusted.
The natives of many other South Sea Islands as well are al-
ways ready to attack a foreign ship if they see an opportunity
to surprise the crew. On the other hand, the natives of some
groups of islands may be trusted, and even the most ferocious
are not quite so bad as they were in years gone by, thanks to
the severe lessons which they have received from English,
French and Dutch cruisers, and also from American whalers
which they attacked.

A number of natives who belonged to the
Another village of Kaibola (which is located upon the
Slaughter northwest side of Kiriwina Island) came on
Self-defense, board our ship to trade one day, and one of
them who could talk a little broken English
engaged our attention with telling us that a large party of
them once attempted to capture an American whaler while
supplying her with provisions. Several large canoes man-
aged meanwhile to get alongside of us and a number of others
remained about a hundred yards away, ready to dash in and
take part in the fray as soon as hostilities should commence.
The captain warily purchased a large quantity of bananas,
yams and cocoanuts, after which the natives asked permission
to grind some iron tomahawks which they possessed upon our

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 135

grindstone, which the captain granted. Then, watching their
opportunity, they made a sudden attack upon the crew and
killed two of our men, but the rest of us attacked them
furiously in return and opened a rifle fire upon the outstand-
ing canoes, so disabling them that the natives had to abandon
them and swim for their lives.

Under ordinary circumstances the natives do not appear to
have the slightest fear of sharks ; but these brutes are always
dangerous to any one when there is blood in the water, and
it is curious how it seems to attract them even from a con-
siderable distance.

We traded chiefly with the villages of Kavatari, Taiava,
and Oburaka, which are located upon the eastern shore of the
harbor in which we were at anchor; and the inhabitants of
these three villages treated us to a torchlight dance and en-
tertainment a few nights before we sailed away. Upon land-
ing we found the natives assembled in large numbers upon the
village green at Taiava, and their savage appearance would
certainly have formed an interesting study for a painter who
desired to depict man in a primitive state. They regard every-
thing in the shape of clothing as a useless encumbrance; but
every man seemed to have exhausted his utmost ingenuity in
painting his face in the most grotesque combination of colors
which his fancy could suggest, and in ornamenting his hair
with bright-colored feathers and the brilliant flowers of the
scarlet hibiscus.

The entertainment began about an hour be-

Sham *ore dark witn a series of sham fights be-

Fights. tween champions of the different villages.

Some fought with spears and shields, others

with swords and shields; but they defended themselves so

skillfully that it is not surprising that so few of them are

killed in an actual battle. In some cases one champion was

armed with a sword and shield, the other with a spear and

!36 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

shield; in such cases the latter would endeavor to induce his
opponent to strike a heavy blow at his shield, when he would
skip nimbly out of the way and allow the swordsman to ex-
haust his strength by striking at the empty air. Two bodies
of warriors representing rival war-parties engaged each other
and fought so determinedly amid the encouraging yells of
their friends that it seemed as though the friendly contest
would terminate in actual battle. But everything was con-
ducted with the utmost good nature and with the strict ad-
herence to established rules which is characteristic of all
savage entertainments, and when a loud yell announced the
end of this act the audience testified their approval of the per-
formance by bursting into a loud laugh.

The most attractive feature of the entertain-
The ment was the torchlight dance which took

Torch place some time after dark. The dancers con-

Dance, sisted of about three hundred men, who drew
up in two bodies facing each other about ten
yards apart, and each party was in charge of a leader who
carried a lighted torch. At a given signal each leader applied
his torch to that of the man nearest to him, and the light was
passed rapidly along each line till the whole body of gaily
painted dancers stood out in bold relief under the ruddy glow
of the tall torches which rose above their heads. At the first
roll of the drums they began to advance and retire in slow
and stately evolutions. Their movements gradually increased
in rapidity while the boom of the drums grew louder and the
droning chant of the orchestra rose in a strange and weird
effect amid the deep silence of the surrounding forest. The
whole scene was singularly picturesque and would have af-
forded a magnificent view of savage life had it been possible
to depict upon canvas the rapidly moving torches which flitted
like shooting stars against the impenetrable gloom of the lofty
forest as the waving lines of dancers wheeled and gyrated in

OF CAPTAIN QULNTOX 137

swift and graceful evolutions. The endurance which savages
display under such circumstances is something phenomenal,
and every movement was executed with the marvelous pre-
cision which is the result of lifelong practice.

The musical chant of the orchestra and the reverberating
boom of the drums seemed to grow wilder and louder, the
dancers fairly flew over the ground as though they were in-
capable of tiring, and the torches went flitting to and fro in
rapid and ever-changing convolutions like the shifting views
of a kaleidoscope till the scene took on the appearance of a
midnight revel of gnomes or fairies. The violent exertions
of the dancers seemed only to add new vigor to their move-
ments, and the dance went on with undiminished ardor until
a loud yell announced the end of the piece and the audience
broke into a loud laugh of approbation as the dancers retired
to enjoy a well-earned rest.

The next act represented a scene which was undoubtedly
common in the lives of these warlike natives. Part of the
warriors lay down and pretended to be asleep around the
fires when another body of warriors were seen stealing noise-
lessly out of the bush for the purpose of attacking them. A
man who was supposed to be acting the part of a sentinel gave
a loud yell of alarm, whereupon the sleepers instantly sprang
to their feet and, giving a yell of defiance, met their assail-
ants in a vigorous hand-to-hand fight. The spectators became
wildly excited as though they were watching a real battle in
which their existence was at stake as they watched the com-
batants surging back and forth; but the battle ended in the
defeat of the assailants and the capture of several of their
number, who were carried back to the fires amid the tri-
umphant yells of the victors.

It may be necessary to explain that the wooden swords and
spears which they use in these mock battles are not sharp like
those which they use in actual fighting. Nevertheless the

138 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

swords are capable of inflicting severe bruises, but the natives
pay no attention to such trifles and they defend themselves so
skillfully with their shields that it is seldom one is wounded.

We sailed next morning at daylight, and while standing
to the southward, between Kitava and Kiriwina, hove to to
trade with several canoes which came out from the village of
Wawera, on the east coast of Kiriwina. They wanted to-
bacco, and in return for it the captain obtained a number of
very fine spears pointed with obsidian, together with hatchets
and daggers of the same material, though I believe that all
these weapons originally came from the Admiralty Islands,
500 miles to the north and westward.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 139

CHAPTER XIII

FURIOUS FIGHT WITH A DEVIL-FISH

While trading with the natives in the Trobriands our cap-
tain learned that a schooner, the name of which we could not
determine,, had been wrecked upon Murua
A Wreck on (Woodlark) Island, which lies about eighty-

Woodlark three miles to the southeastward. A party of
Island. natives who had just arrived in a large canoe
from Murua declared that the wrecked ship
contained a valuable cargo of tortoise shell and pearl shell,
and one of them volunteered to go along with us and point
out the wreck, expecting a reward, of course, if his informa-
tion was correct.

The captain accepted his terms and next morning we
anchored in the harbor of Guasopa, near the southeast ex-
tremity of Woodlark Island. The harbor lies inside a de-
tached portion of the barrier reef about a mile and a half
long, in the center of which is a low island called Vavi-ai,
which is about half a mile long and covered with trees from
forty to sixty feet high. The entrance is three hundred and
sixty yards wide and both the fairway and the inner harbor
have a depth of eight to twelve fathoms, which decreases to
about five fathoms near the village of Guasopa, some four
miles eastward of Vavi-ai.

Almost immediately after anchoring we received cere-
monious visits from the chiefs of the villages of Guasopa and
Dabanu, which are located at the eastern head of the harbor,
and Omdamuda, which is two miles northeast of our anchor-
age. The captain established friendly relations with them by

i4o THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

means of some small gifts, after which we got the diving
apparatus into a small boat and proceeded to the scene of the
wreck. The native piloted the way to a reef off from the little
island of Nubara, which lies about six or seven miles to the
eastward, and sure enough our diver found a valuable cargo
on board the sunken ship just as the native had said.

The natives, who are excellent divers, had
In the stripped her upper works, but had not

broached the cargo in the hold, simply because
Devil-fish. tnev could not remove the hatches. The

captain hired a large canoe to carry the cargo
to the schooner and I remained in charge of the boat.

It was probably an hour after the captain left with the
first canoe-load, and everything was going on as usual, when
suddenly I felt a frantic pull on the life-line, which is the
signal to haul the diver to the surface. While one man con-
tinued turning the crank of the air-pump all the rest of us
seized the life-line and hauled with all our might, and con-
trary to all expectations the diver came up without resistance.
As he approached the surface we all strained our eyes to dis-
cover what was the matter, and as soon as he came within
sight we noticed that something was clinging to him. As his
head emerged from the water we were horrified to see him
locked in the embrace of a huge devil-fish, which had its
loathsome tentacles wound in a death grip about his body and
limbs.

One of its tentacles had been cut clean off, but in spite of
this the hideous beast still retained its hold, and its huge,
staring eyes gleamed with indescribable fury. I instantly took
a turn with the life-line to hold the diver and shouted to the
men to attack the monster with their knives, for it was dan-
gerous to use a hatchet for fear of wounding the diver. In
an instant the men drew their knives and with a resounding
war-whoop they leaped upon the monster in a body and began

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 141

cutting and slashing him like maniacs. The savage beast
unwound some of its arms from about its victim and made a
most determined effort to beat off the assailants. The con-
fused mass of ghastly, corpse-like arms shot out like lightning,
quivered for a moment in the air, and descended upon the
men like coiling boa-constrictors, while its horny, parroty
beak suddenly rose up from the midst of its writhing arms
and seized the gunwale of the boat.

The monster endeavored to drag the men into the water
or within reach of its great beak, while they retaliated by cut-
ting its snake-like arms to pieces and gashing its body, which
resembled a huge, shapeless sack. Although the savage crea-
ture was nearly hacked to pieces, its remaining arms still re-
tained their hold until the men succeeded in driving their
knives into its eyes, when it began to writhe in agony and
snap its beak in impotent fury. Even in its death agony it
managed to secure a grip around the neck of one man and
actually dragged his head under water, nearly drowning him
before the others succeeded in rescuing him by cutting off the
arm which held him.

Most of its arms had been cut off by this time, and some
of them remained in the boat, and there was something sick-
eningly repulsive in the way in which these slimy arms writhed
and twisted about precisely like wounded serpents. I watched
a man pick up one of them in his hand ; it twisted about his
arm after the manner of a snake. We quickly removed the
diver's helmet and found that he had been severely squeezed,
and the claws of the devil-fish had badly lacerated one of his
hands.

For the benefit of the uninitiated it may be explained that
a diving dress in those days consisted of a single garment
made of rubber and canvas about half an inch thick. The
diver gets into it feet first, and it covers him from the feet
to the neck, and a large brass helmet is screwed on over his

142 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

head and neck and the sleeves are secured around his wrists,
thus leaving his hands bare.

He explained that the wrecked vessel lay on her starboard
bilge, and only a faint light entered by the main hatch under
which he was at work; all at once the hold became darkened,
and at the same instant something seized him by the leg. He
turned to see what it was, and beheld the huge eyes and snake-
like arms of the loathsome, slimy reptile entering the open
hatch. He instantly drew his knife and slashed off the ten-
tacle which had seized him, but quick as a flash several other
arms shot out and locked around him. While he was slash-
ing at the arms which held him fast the creature seized the
hand which held the knife and in the struggle the weapon fell
from his grasp. Providentially the savage brute had anchored
itself to the deck outside the hatch ; and, as it drew him out of
the hold for the purpose of tearing him to pieces with its
terrible beak, he managed to seize the signal line with his left
hand and give the signal which saved his life. At the same
time he made a desperate effort to free himself and noticed
that the monster had let go its hold upon the deck and wrapped
all its arms around him, and it was so intent upon securing
its prey that for the moment it did not notice that it was being
drawn upward toward the surface, though it quickly threw
out a couple of its arms to secure a hold upon the ship, but
it was too late. When one of these brutes secures a hold
upon anything solid it will allow itself to be torn to pieces
before it will let go its hold unless it is wounded in the eyes.
Had it retained its hold upon the deck it would have been
impossible for us to save the diver's life in any way except
by sending another man to assist him by stabbing the monster
in the eyes.

Pearl-fishers consider the Australian blacks the best men in
the world for this kind of business; for they are almost as
much at home in the water as the devil-fish himself, and will

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 143

not only dive to great depths, but will attack anything that
swims so long as they have a good strong knife at hand. Al-
though the men had vanquished the devil-fish, they had not
come off scatheless by any means, for the hideous fish had in-
flicted horrible wounds upon their naked limbs and bodies.
As previously explained, the arms and tentacles of the cuttle-
fish and octopus are covered with disks or suckers on the
inside ; and each sucker is armed around the edge with a circle
of sharp claws which dig into the flesh of any living thing
which it seizes. The natives have very tough skins from their
habit of going naked ; but wherever one of these suckers had
touched any of them the flesh was puckered and blistered.
We returned to the ship at once and treated the wounds with
such remedies as we had in the medicine chest, but it was over
a month before any of them healed, and every one left a per-
manent scar resembling a burn.

I have often heard divers declare that a short spear with
a sharp steel point is the best of all weapons for meeting such
attacks, but the difficulty is that a spear is not so handy to
carry as a knife, and the attack of a devil-fish is so marvelously
quick that a diver is liable to find his arms pinioned before he
has time to use it. It is quite common for a number of these
savage fish to congregate in one place and render diving
highly dangerous; in such a case the pearlers get rid of the
brutes by exploding a charge of dynamite among them.

Our diver being temporarily laid up, one of

A Second tne other men took his place, and everything

Attack. went on as usual for a couple of days. On

the morning of the third day we had been at

work about an hour when I received the signal to "haul up,"

but all our efforts failed to move the diver. Goolwa instantly

volunteered to dive down to his assistance ; and having hitched

the lanyard of his knife to his right wrist and taken a few

long breaths, he leaped into the water and disappeared. The

144 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

moments seemed like hours, but actually in a very short time
we felt the diver yield to the strain which we kept on
the life-line, and a moment later Goolwa's head shot out
of the water like a porpoise. "Mingangurrin" (good), he
cried triumphantly, reverting to his native language as the
blacks frequently do when excited. "Me killum plenty
quick."

We found that the diver himself was not injured, but his

diving suit was cut almost entirely through in several places

where the claws of a devil-fish had fastened upon it. The

diver said he had scrutinized the surroundings very carefully

before entering the hatch, and saw no sign of any lurking

devil-fish. It was evident that the monster had taken up its

quarters in the hold, where it was too dark to see it. He said

he was working in almost complete darkness

In the Grip wnen ne was seized by the legs, and the sud-

of a den jerk threw him off his feet. He, too,

Devil-fish. had taken the precaution to have a knife se-
cured to his right wrist, and immediately be-
gan cutting at the monster arms that held him, but finding it
very difficult to regain his feet he gave the signal to be drawn
up. The monster had anchored itself in the hold, so all our
efforts were useless. One of its arms seized tight hold of the
hose which conveys the air from the pump to the diver; and
knowing that his life was at stake, the diver succeeded by a
desperate effort in cutting off the limb before any serious
damage was done. His knife was as sharp as it could be
made, but he said the creature's arm was almost as hard to
cut as sole leather.

All this had occupied a very short time, and the fish had
been slowly but steadily advancing upon him until its head
came into plain view under the square of the hatch, though it
took care to keep some of its arms anchored within the hold.
Fearing that the brute might seize the hand in which he held

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 145

his knife he extended it behind him and watched for an op-
portunity to plunge it into the fish's eye as it drew him to-
wards its beak. At this moment Goolwa entered the hatch,
and began slashing at the monster with all his might in order
to attract its attention. Goolwa drove his knife up to the hilt
into one of its eyes and immediately shot upward again. The
monster at once relinquished its hold and began writhing and
twisting in agony, as these savage creatures always do when
wounded in the eyes, and the diver was drawn up without
further difficulty.

The captain concluded after this to abandon the enterprise
on account of the irreparable injury to the diving suit, though
he spent a few days in trading with the natives, whose chief
weapons are swords and spears which, like nearly all their
implements, are very neatly made of the finest kind of ebony
and bone.

This island is not only well supplied with ebony and other
fine wood, but is also abundant with alluvial deposits of gold,
as we learned from a white miner whom we carried from here
to Sydney. This miner showed us a quantity of gold which
he had taken out by panning, and said the greatest drawbacks
to obtaining it were the thick vines and dense scrub which
covered the ground and the scarcity of water due to the
ground being too porous to retain it. He believed that these
difficulties could be overcome and was on his way to Sydney
for the purpose of organizing a company to mine on the
island.

We reached Sydney after an uneventful run, and in a few
days the captain sold his entire cargo of curios to a number
of European tourists at a figure which left him a handsome
profit. In fact, he stated that he made more on the sale of
the curios than he did on all the rest of the cargos that we
handled during the entire voyage.

In Sydney I met a captain whom I had known in Tonga.

146 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

He asked me to ship with him as mate of his schooner trad-
ing between Auckland and the South Sea Islands.

The captain had cleared the same day and meant to put
out to sea at daylight, but we hove up our anchor the minute
we got on board and quietly set sail; but the wind was light,
so that we could make little headway, and off Rangitoto it died
out completely. We hailed a tug which towed us past Tiri-
tiri Island, where we caught a steady breeze and were well off
shore by daylight. We ran north to the Fiji Islands, dispos-
ing of our cargo at various points throughout the group. The
captain obtained a charter from a merchant in Levuka on the
Island of Ovalau to collect a cargo of best Fijian timber to
send to England. The charterer made a contract with Tui
(King) Thakau, chief of the powerful Thakau Ndrovi tribe,
to send a large number of his men to cut the timber and raft
it to the vessel. Most of this tribe reside upon the island of
Vanua Levu (Vanua, land; Levu, big, or great), and ac-
cordingly we anchored in Nathava Bay, on the east end of
this island.

Among the various kinds of timber which we collected was
one species known as ndakua (damara vitiensis), which grows
quite tall and is from six to seven feet in diameter. The wood
bears a strong resemblance to the fine kauri pine of New
Zealand and, like the kauri, contains large quantities of gum.

One of the most beautiful woods is a species of greenheart
called vesi (afzelia bijuga), which resembles mahogany and
grows to a diameter of four feet. The tree has white bark
and small, scaly leaves, the wood is very strong, hard and
heavy. It is fitted for all kinds of uses; for it is remarkably
durable and takes a beautiful polish which makes it ex-
tremely ornamental. The ndamanu is a very fine timber and
makes handsome furniture. It is the favorite wood for masts
and spars, for it is very strong and tough, while at the same
time it is not too heavy, as many of the other timbers are.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 147

Yasi (true sandalwood) is still found in these islands,
though it is getting scarce owing to the reckless way
hi which it has been destroyed; but there are large quan-
tities of a very fragrant kind of bastard sandalwood called
thevua which grows from one to two feet in diameter and
is probably quite equal to yasi. The wood, which is strong
and very hard, is a bright yellow like satinwood; it has a
close, silky grain, and takes a very fine polish. Makita wood
is strong and tough and is the favorite wood for making
spears. Male (wild nutmeg) is used for bows, though the
favorite wood for this purpose is the root of the mangrove.

The most beautiful flowering tree in the
A group is the kau sulu (ixora), which I after-

Gorgeous ward found growing in Ponapi, where it is
Tree. called katiu. It seems to be always in bloom

and is covered with a gorgeous display of the
most brilliant gold and scarlet flowers. The golden yellow
'stamens bear such a striking resemblance to the crest of the
head of a peacock that the Malays call this flower bunga
waruk (peacock flower). The wood, which is dazzlingly
white, is so tough and elastic that it is often used for bows
and spears. Without any exception it is the most beautiful
flowering tree that I have ever seen in any part of the world.
The nokonoko (casuarina) is the toa of the Polynesian
Islands and the she-oak of the Australian bush. The wood
of this tree is so strong and tough that war-clubs and wooden
swords are usually made of it. The most durable wood of all
South Sea Island woods is the mbiiambua, a species of box-
wood which grows to a gigantic size. The wood, which is
extremely fragrant, resembles boxwood in color and texture
and is almost as hard and heavy as stone. It answers ad-
mirably for all the purposes of ordinary boxwood and is
practically indestructible. There is a tall, tapering tree of
majestic appearance, with large, glassy leaves handsomely

I48 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

veined with red and white, which the natives call kau kara.
The slightest contact with the leaves of it produces a fright-
ful itch which is maddening. The most effectual cure for
the intolerable poison is powdered charcoal.

Almost all nations associate some particular tree with the
dead, and the Fijians plant the red-leaved ngai tree upon the
graves of their departed friends as yew trees are planted in
English graveyards. The ngai is a species of dracaena and
is intimately associated with their heathen superstitions, espe-
cially with the unearthly Vilabila Irevo or Fire-walking Cere-
mony, as will be described further on.

The natives generally make their canoes of uto lolo (bread-
fruit tree) or a kind of cedar called mbau vundi, which is
strong, easily worked, and very durable. Of course niu
(cocoanut) trees are plentiful near the beaches. Papaws are
plentiful near the villages, but the natives never seem to make
any use of the fruit except to feed it to pigs. The papaw
is one of the most remarkable trees in existence, for the
toughest kind of meat becomes perfectly tender if wrapped
for a few hours in the leaves or cooked with a little of the
juice of the fruit. If a few of the huge leaves are soaked
with soiled clothes they do away with the use of soap.

Cacao trees are cultivated and constitute one of the best
paying crops in the islands. They are small trees and gen-
erally divide into four branches near the ground. The tree
bears very pretty flowers of a deep orange color and smooth,
dull green leaves about four inches long. The fruit is shaped
somewhat like a cucumber but more deeply furrowed on the
sides. The fruit is green in tfie immature state, but some
turn to a pretty shade of yellow when ripe, while others turn
to a sort of purple shade with pink veins. The fruit, which
is from six to eight inches, contains from twenty to thirty
kernels shaped very much like almonds and consisting of a
shell resembling parchment. These seeds or kernels are

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 149

dried in the sun and afterwards manufactured into the choco-
late of commerce.

Savaira mbunindamu is a fine dark redwood

Trees of which takes a good polish, though inferior

Many Kinds, to yaka and mbau ndina in point of beauty.

It is remarkably tough and strong, and is

easily steamed and bent into the most fanciful shapes for

chairs, boat timber, wheels, and other purposes.

In addition to the great variety of wood to be obtained at
this place there is no lack of food in the bush for any one who
knows how to find it. The ivi tree grows everywhere and
produces abundant crops of excellent chestnuts; while the
ntavola, which is equally common, furnishes abundant crops
of fine almonds. Mbatata (potatoes), kumala (sweet pota-
toes), ndalo (taro), and uvi (yams) grow wild everywhere,
and several kinds of delicious berries.

A stranger might readily recognize the yams by the tops,
which grow in the form of slender climbing vines with tri-
angular leaves like those of the morning glory. There is also
a tall, slender, parasitic plant called wa yaka, the root of which
is baked or boiled and has a sugary taste very much like
liquorice root. The large root of the ngai, which often weighs
forty pounds, is baked and tastes very much like the root of
the wa yaka. Vundi (bananas) and ntovu (sugar cane) grow
everywhere, mostly in cultivation, but sometimes wild. Among
the many other tropical productions of these islands is a thick,
rope-like liana which furnishes excellent drinking water when
cut.

The rainfall is so copious that the islands are full of water-
courses, and the land is so unusually rough and mountainous
that these streams form innumerable waterfalls, which consti-
tute one of the most charming features of these islands. Noth-
ing could be more beautiful than these silvery waterfalls set
in dense jungles of giant flowering trees, variegated shrubs,

150 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

mottled crotons, and lovely ferns. The gigantic trees which
tower far above these lonely streams support immense fes-
toons of most lovely climbing ferns, the delicate, lace-like
foliage of which forms a scene of such exquisite beauty that
the natives call this particular species of trailing fern God's
fern.

The vicinity of these waterfalls is the favorite resort of
large orange-colored spiders which remind me of those I had
seen in the Australian bush. Strange to say, they were wet
with the spray from the falls, although most land spiders dis-
like water. Occasionally a solitary kingfisher flits along the
surface of the water, while green and crimson parakeets and
orange and rainbow doves flying about flash like jewels in the
sun, and the falling of the water is the only sound that breaks
the silence of these solitudes.

Savage races all seem to have a craving for
A Queer semi-putrid food, and the Fijians are no ex-
Delicacy, ception to the rule. They bake or boil great
quantities of taro root, which they knead with
their feet, wrap in leaves, and bury in the ground for many
weeks until it is in a very advanced state of decomposition.
They then dig it up and feast upon it with great gusto. The
horrible stench and disgusting appearance of this highly rel-
ished delicacy were, I must confess, too much for me, and I
always kept at a respectful distance when I happened to be in
the vicinity of a feast of it.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 151

CHAPTER XIV

NATIVE THEOLOGY OF THE FIJIANS

The Fijians have an elaborate system of theology. Ndengei,
who occupies the form of an enormous serpent, lives with a
single attendant named Uto in a rocky cavern called Raki
Raki, and, notwithstanding the tropical climate of Fiji, he
always keeps up a fire composed of two logs, one of which
is thirty miles in circumference.

Next in rank to Ndengei are his two sons, Tokairambe
and Tui Lakemba Randinandina, who act as mediators be-
tween him and the human race and transmit the prayers and
supplications of all worshipers to their father.

Offerings of food of any kind are always acceptable to
Ndengei, but the most acceptable of all offerings is mbokolo
(meaning literally "long pig"), which was nothing more or
less than a human body baked ready for eating. The god is
supposed to feast upon the spiritual or immaterial part of the
offering and the priests and worshippers eat the material part.

If the prayers are not answered the priest is always ready
to explain that the failure is owing to some subsequent sin or
failure to fulfill the conditions on the part of the suppliant.

It would occupy too much space to give a list
Devil °f an" tne devil-gods which they worship;

Gods. they are invariably represented as monsters

of infamy whose greatest pleasure is devour-
ing the souls of human beings. Their god Walu-vaka-tini, for
example, had eighty stomachs and is always hungry for hu-

152 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

man souls with which to fill them. Their god Thangwalu is
believed to be sixty feet in height, with a forehead six feet
high, and a huge mouth like a cave armed with teeth like
the points of spears. Another monster named Roko Mbati
Ndua (the One-toothed Chief) has one tooth in his lower
jaw, but it is so large that it projects above his head and is
used for rending every victim he can lay hold of. He has
wings instead of arms, and these wings are armed with sharp
hooks or claws for seizing his victims. He rushes through
the air with incredible speed and emits sparks of fire as he
passes.

Formerly the Fijians believed that nothing was more an-
noying to the Fijian gods than noise, and during the month of
December everybody was strictly forbidden to make the least
noise of any kind on pain of death. The reason for this is that
Raitumaimbulu, the god of life and of crops, is supposed at
this time to come to earth in the form of serpents and cause
all fruit trees to blossom and crops to flourish. During his
stay the people in olden days came from all parts to present
soro (offerings) and implore him to give them good crops.

They are very particular to celebrate the ceremony of
Sevu (Firstfruits) by presenting the first fruits of the yams
to Raitumaimbulu in the month of February. They are in
many places still in the habit of celebrating a mandrali 01
thank offering to the gods for success in any enterprise, de-
liverance from danger, or a recovery from disease. While
Christian missionaries have done much to stamp out many of
these ancient beliefs and superstitions, there are many tribes
where they are still the tribal religion.

It seems strange to find the same beliefs among people so
widely different as the Australian blacks, the Fijians, and other
islanders who are entirely distinct from them. The Fijians
believe that every one of their gods resides in or is symbolized
by some natural form such as plants, trees, fish, birds, crabs,

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 153

reptiles, but above all serpents. Every man, woman and child
in olden times among them was considered under the special
protection of some particular god, and it was sacrilegious for
any one to eat the fruit, fish, bird, plant or animal in which
their protecting deity was enshrined.

The members of every profession, such as
A God for canoe-builders, fishermen, agriculturists, club-
Every Trade, makers, etc., worshipped the god who pre-
sided over their particular calling, and the
worship was performed in sacred groves as it was in ancient
Palestine. Large shooting stars were believed to be traveling
gods, but the smaller ones were supposed to be the departing
souls of human beings on their way to the abode of Ndengei
to be judged; though this latter belief seems inconsistent with
the idea that the souls of the dead traveled in a canoe. There
is a sacred fruit tree called tarawau which bears very fragrant
flowers, but they consider it far too sacred to interfere with
because they believe that the spirits of the dead plant it
throughout the islands. Like all unenlightened people, they
employ figurative language in speaking of the dead; and in-
stead of saying that a friend or relative has died, they in-
variably say "Sa laki tei tarawau ki Nai Thombo Thombo"
(he has gone to plant tarawau in Nai Thombo Thombo).
Nai Thombo Thombo is the northern headland of Mbua Bay,
on the west side of Vanua Levu, and here the souls of the
departed are supposed to embark for the abode of Ndengei.
The natives were in the habit of making pilgrimages to Nai
Thombo Thombo to mourn for their departed
A Sacred friends.

Gathering These untutored natives are far keener stu-
Place. dents of nature than white people are likely

to suppose, for the scenery of Nai Thombo
Thombo is so strikingly grand and beautiful that they re-
garded it as the sacred gathering place of their gods when they

154 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

mysteriously came from their celestial home in Mburotu to
regulate the affairs of their worshippers. The deep blue of
the ocean forms a pleasing contrast with the white sandy
beach and the bold, towering cliffs clothed with bright tropical
vegetation. Beyond the cliffs the ground is covered with a
majestic forest of gigantic trees festooned with the most
lovely ferns and creepers, which envelop the lonely forest
aisles in solemn twilight gloom, and the only sound that
breaks the deathlike silence is the droning roar of the ocean
swell breaking upon the distant coral reef.

Up to a quite recent date, when a Fijian chief

Mb 1 died, most of his wives were strangled in

the Fiji order that they might accompany him to the

Heaven. spirit land; and a certain number of slaves,

proportionate to his rank, were either clubbed

to death and buried in his grave or else buried alive in it.

The friends of the dead chief also placed his best war-club in

his right hand in order to enable him to fight his way, and

hung a number of whales' teeth around his neck. On the

way to Mbula the soul of the chief had to pass a number of

demons or gods who were stationed as guards at various

points along the route, and if he could not answer all their

questions satisfactorily they would kill him or turn him back.

Therefore the souls of the slaves or kaisi who had been buried

with him were supposed to precede the soul of the chief, and

while the demons were examining them the soul of the chief

would endeavor to slip by unnoticed.

Whales' teeth are to this day considered by far the most
valued of all possessions and occupy the same position with
the Fijians as diamonds do with us. They believe the god
places an equal value upon whales' teeth, and therefore bury
a number of them with a chief in order to enable him to bribe
his way where he cannot succeed by fighting, lying or dodging.
The dead body is never carried out through a door, but always

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 155

through a hole specially cut through the wall, this hole being
always carefully filled up again as soon as the body passes out.
The reason for this is because they believe that a ghost can
return only by the same way as it left. It is surprising to
find how many uncivilized races hold this belief.

The reason for murdering his wives was to prove that the
deceased was a married man, for the spirit of a bachelor is
never allowed to reach Mbula. One of the gods named Nanga
Nanga always seizes the soul of a bachelor, dashes it to pieces
upon a large black stone, and devours it. The spirit of a de-
ceased chief never, according to Fiji superstition, goes direct
to Nai Thombo Thombo, but repairs to a conical hill named
Takiveleyawa, a few miles from Nai Thombo Thombo, and
there waits until the spirits of his wives and slaves join him.
Superstition dies hard among these natives, and even the
Christian natives regard this solitary hill with such dread that
it is difficult to induce them to approach it. It is composed of
the hard red clay which is so common in these islands, and
the natives assert that the black boulders which crop out of
the surface are evil spirits which were turned to stone when
their former worshipers became Christians.

As soon as the souls of the murdered wives and slaves
rejoin the soul of the chief the whole party repairs to Nai
Thombo Thombo, where they embark in a canoe and a current
carries them towards the abode of Ndengei. Before reaching
it they must needs, according to fantastic Fijian belief, cry out
with savage yells and demonstrations by which the inhabitants
were warned to open all doors and allow the spirits to pass
through their houses; for spirits can travel only in straight
lines, they say, and all the houses have their doors directly
opposite to each other in order to allow the spirits to pass.

There is a curious analogy between this curious custom
and the Chinese belief that evil spirits cannot turn corners,
but must always travel in straight lines. This is the reason

156 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

why the Chinese make their roads so crooked in order to pre-
vent evil spirits from passing along them, and also why they
never let the roofs or sides of two adjoining houses come
exactly in line. This is in order to prevent any evil spirit pass-
ing from one to the other.

Mbula is the Paradise into which none but

Deceiving chiefs and their wives are supposed to be ad-

the Gods. mitted; but some common men succeed in
beating their way in by lying so skillfully
under cross-examination as to deceive the gods and gain admit-
tance under false pretences.

Only a few favored mortals of the very highest rank are
ever admitted into Mburotu, which is the true Heaven and
abode of the immortal gods. When human souls succeed in
reaching the heavenly shores of Mburotu they come to a
stream or fountain called Wai ni Mbula (Wai, Water; ni, of;
Mbula, Life) by a speaking tree called Nakau ni Mbula (Tree
of Life), and upon drinking of the stream and eating of the
fruit of the Tree of Life they at once become immortal and are
believed to be forever free from sickness, pain, and sorrow.
In this blissful region every man is supposed to grow to the
stature of a giant and live in a magnificent house situated in
the midst of a beautiful garden which he cultivates and which
produces the finest kinds of crops and rarest flowers.

It is strange to find an absolutely identical tradition in re-
gard to the Isles of the Blest, in Ireland and the Fiji Islands.
When I was a small boy I heard my father relate the popu-
lar Irish tradition that on a clear day the inhabitants of the
west coast of Ireland could see the towers and palaces of a
magnificent city rising from the Atlantic far away towards the
westward; but although mariners had often sailed for months
in quest of this city they had never been able to find it. Many
years afterwards I found that the Fijians had an identical
tradition in regard to Mburotu. As they sail westward from

OF CAPTAIN QWNTON 157

the Lau or Lakemba Islands toward Suva or Kandavu they
sometimes catch sight of an indescribably beautiful city on the
far western horizon; but though they have frequently loaded
some of their largest war-canoes with provisions and sailed in
quest of it the beautiful hills fade away as they approach and
appear to be still further and further away until at last they
vanish from sight. This is Mburotu, where the gods are be-
lieved not only to roast and eat the souls of the kaisi (common
people), but also to inflict various punishments upon the souls
of chiefs who have displeased them. The most degrading pun-
ishment of all is inflicted upon the soul of the chief who has
not killed any one. Such souls are condemned to spend all
eternity in beating a heap of filth with a war-club. All whose
ears are not pierced must go about forever with the kind of
log, upon which women beat, lashed across their shoulders.
If any woman has neglected to be tattooed, other women who
had reached Mbula cut her in pieces with sharp shells and
made her into bread for the gods ; or else they constantly chase
and cut her with sharp shells whenever she attempts to rest.
They bury the dead in graveyards which they call Ai
mbulu mbulu (Place of graves) ; and, like the Tongans, the
nearest relatives cut off a joint of the little finger as a sign of
grief, while others exhibit their sorrow by wounding them-
selves in various ways or by cutting off their hair or beard.
They apply the name loloku to everything done out of respect
for the dead, though the word was formerly applied chiefly
to the strangling of the wives and slaves of the deceased.
Each friend and relative who comes to the wake is supposed
to bring a present to the family of the deceased; and as they
present their gift each one bestows a farewell kiss upon the
corpse and joins in lamenting his death and extolling his vir-
tues. This custom, which is called ai rengu rengu, from the
word rengu (to kiss), is said to have been the means of
spreading various contagious diseases among the natives. Like

158 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

the Maoris, they consider feasting a very important part of
mourning ; for the two go on together under the name of Kana
mboji (feasting till evening). These mourning feasts last from
ten to twenty days, according to the rank of the deceased.

On the fourth day after the death of the de-
Feasts ceased the mourners display the most intense
ST^ and join in a wailing ceremony called
vaka vindiulo (jumping of maggots), because
the decomposition of the body is then supposed to have fairly
set in. Yet with the inconsistency of such races they quickly
change from sadness to gaiety, for on the evening of the fifth
day the friends gather and endeavor to cheer the bereaved
family by giving a series of farcical entertainments called vaka
ndrendre (causing to laugh). The period of mourning winds
up with a general feasting which goes by the ambiguous name
of mbongi ndrau, which means a hundred.

I noticed one curious difference between the Fijians and
the other South Sea Islanders, and that is that whereas all the
other islanders with whom I have come in contact, as well as
the Australian blacks, have an intense aversion to mentioning
the name of a deceased person, the Fijians not only have no
objection to mentioning it, but even endeavor to preserve the
name from oblivion very much as we do, by dedicating a new
house or a new canoe to the memory of a loved one and calling
it by his name. This custom in heathendom is called law a ni
mate (memory of the dead), and in the old heathen days it
was common to bury aged people alive and afterward preserve
their memory in this way. In fact, it was considered a filial
duty for children to kill their aged parents or bury them alive,
and sing at the wake or funeral :

A mate na rawa rawa;
Me mbula na ka ni thava?
A mate na thengu

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 159

(Death is easy;

Of what use is life?

To die is rest).

This seems to us like the most revolting and unnatural cruelty,
but the Fijians regarded the matter in a very different light.
They believed that every one appeared in the spirit world in
the same condition as he left this; consequently they did not
want their parents to become too feeble and infirm before go-
ing there, and believed that they were doing them the greatest
kindness by strangling them.

The high chiefs have their finest turbans

The made from the fiber of the leaves of a species

Enchanted of plantain called vunda vula, which is spun

Scarf. an(i WOven into a sort of gauzy cloth as soft

as satin and fine as a spider's web. This cloth
is highly prized and a common tribesman would be clubbed to
death for wearing it. Should a person accused of a serious
crime refuse to confess it, the chief takes a scarf of this fine
cloth and threatens to catch away his soul in it unless he con-
fesses. Should he still refuse to do so the chief waves the
scarf back and forward a few times over his head until the
victim's soul is supposedly caught in it. The chief then rolls
it up and has it carefully lashed to the bow of his canoe and
goes away with it. It is a foregone conclusion that the ac-
cused person would certainly pine away and die for want of
his soul; therefore he almost invariably confesses and takes
his punishment no matter whether he is guilty or innocent.

When a tribesman or woman sneezes it is the custom for
any or all who happen to be present to say, "Mbula" (life to
you), and the one who has sneezed replies, "Mole" (thanks).
This graceful custom appears to be common to nearly every
race in the world. It would be interesting to discover how it
came to be so universal.

160 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The natives of these islands have two slightly differing
traditions of the Deluge. One is that once a good man built
a very large decked canoe upon a mountain
The Deluge, top far from any water and loaded it with
provisions as if for a long voyage. His friends
and neighbors imagined that he had gone insane and laugh-
ingly asked him how he expected to launch his enormous ca-
noe. He and his family, numbering eight persons in all,
then took refuge in the canoe and carefully closed the hatches.
Immediately the rain began to come down in such torrents
that the canoe slid down the mountainside and crushed people
to death in its course. (This was the origin of the old Fiji
custom of launching all war-canoes over the bodies of a cer-
tain number of people, all of whom were crushed to death
beneath it.) As soon as the great canoe began sliding down
the mountain the sea suddenly rose and drowned everybody
in existence except the occupants of the canoe and a few
people who had gone up a mountain to gather yaka plants, the
fiber of which makes best fishing nets. The yaka gatherers
retreated before the rising flood to the very highest pinnacle
of the mountain, when they cried to the gods to save them
and the floods were stayed. They had things to eat with them,
but no water. So they nearly perished for want of fresh
water to drink, for the water surrounding them was all salt.
In their distress they cried again to the gods to send fresh
water, and the gods sent a chief who bade them follow him.
They followed the chief to a rock which he struck with his
staff and a stream of fresh water instantly flowed out of it
and saved their lives. Meanwhile the great canoe with its
cargo floated upon the ocean until the waters subsided, when
it settled upon a mountain on the little island of Mbenga, a
few miles south of Viti Levu.

It is worthy of note that the people who were saved in the
canoe numbered eight, precisely as the Bible tells us that eight

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 161

persons were saved in the Ark. The people who were saved
upon the mountain became the ancestors of the kaisi or com-
mon people, but those who landed upon Mbenga became the
ancestors of the aristocratic class and speak of themselves as
"Ngali thuva ki Langi" (Subject only to Heaven).

One story is that the Xa Ivilankata priests of Mbenga
have ever since celebrated the unearthly Vilavila Irevo, or
Firewalking Ceremony, on their island in honor of the de-
liverance of their ancestors from the Flood ; but I have heard
different accounts of the origin of this strange ceremony,
which I will tell about further on in the account of our voyage
to Mbenga.

The other tradition of the Deluge relates how the god
Ndengei had a favorite bird named Turukawa, and his two
grandsons killed it. Ndengei called upon the culprits to make
atonement for their offence; but instead of doing so they
defied him in the most insulting manner. They then raised a
large army, with which they fortified their town and declared
themselves independent of him. Ndengei spent three months
in mobilizing a vast army which he sent against the rebels,
but the latter fought so hard and so well that it could not
conquer them. Ndengei then withdrew his army and caused
a mighty flood to overwhelm the earth for the purpose of
drowning his enemies. He still called upon them to repent
as the waters rose higher and higher, but they retreated be-
fore the rising flood to higher territory and still defied the
old chief. At last when they had reached the highest point
of land in the world, and saw their great army drowned be-
fore their eyes and the flood still rising, they cried to ont of
their gods to help them. The god came to their rescue and
showed them how to build a canoe in which four men and
four women escaped ; and as the flood subsided the canoe was
stranded upon the Island of Mbenga and the eight persons
in it became the ancestor's of the present inhabitants.

1 62 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

One splendid Fiji legend says that some common people,

shortly after this great flood, formed a settlement near Na

Savu, on Vanua Levu. Being ignorant of

The Tower tne eight souls who had been saved in the
of Babel. canoe, they imagined they were the only peo-
ple in the world; and so they determined to
find out if there were people in the moon, and if there were,
to communicate with them. Many years were spent in piling
up a vast mountain of earth and stones which was to form the
foundation of a tower which would reach the moon. They
then cut down and squared an immense number of huge trees
and, having dragged them to the top of the mountain, built an
enormous tower which reached to within a short distance of
the moon, and just as it was on the point of completion the
enormous weight proved too much for the foundation and the
whole vast structure collapsed, killing many of the workmen
and scattering the rest over all the islands.

The striking resemblance between their traditions and the
story of the Bible is far too close and circumstantial to be the
result of mere accident or coincidence. Many of the Fijians
show a strong Semitic cast of countenance, their laws of
tambu (which are practically identical , with the tabu of the
Polynesian Islanders) are very similar to the laws of Moses,
and the practice of circumcision prevailed throughout all these
islands.

The Fijians are unquestionably a mixture of the tall,
straight-haired Polynesians to the eastward of them and the
dark-skinned, woolly-haired Melanesians to the westward ; and
the more carefully any thoughtful person studies their tra-
ditions, laws, manners, and customs the more firmly he be-
comes convinced that the ancestors of the Fijians and Poly-
nesians were in intimate contact witfa the inhabitants of Pal-
estine in long-past ages. I have often spoken of this to white
men who have lived for many years among the islanders I

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 163

have mentioned, and they have invariably replied that they
believe these natives to be the descendants of the "Ten Lost
Tribes."

I may say in advance that I do not believe this exactly;
but there can be no doubt that they received their traditions
of the Creation and the Flood, their laws of tabu, the cere-
mony of offering the first-fruits of their crops to the gods, and
the ceremony of "passing through the fire" from the sacred
land of Palestine.

1 64 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XV

FEROCIOUS AND TREACHEROUS TRIBES OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

After spending several months trading in the Fijis the

captain secured a charter to carry a load of island laborers,

whose time had expired, to their homes in

Among the ^e Solomon Islands. Most of them were

Solomon from Taviuni Island, lying southeast of

Islands. Vanua Levu, which is the garden spot of the

Fijis, and we took on the laborers at Vuna,

which is the principal settlement of whites and is located at

the southwestern end of the island.

It was the season of the southeast trade winds which blow
regularly from the beginning of May to the end of October,
so we were pretty sure of fair wind in running to westward.
This is known as the fine weather season because it is not
quite so rainy as during the season of northwest winds which
prevail from November to April.

We passed south of Tucopia Island between the Santa
Cruz Islands on the north and the Banks Islands to the south.
We anchored in Selwyn Bay, on the southwest side of Ugi
Island, on the eighth day after clearing the Fijis.

The little island of Ugi, which is situated four miles off
the north coast of the large island of San Cristoval, is only
six miles long and about two and a quarter wide. Selwyn
Bay is the only anchorage in the island. Some of our pas-
sengers belonged to this little island, so we put in to Selwyn
Bay and laid in goodly supplies of yams, water, wood and
other necessities.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 165

One remarkable characteristic of the people of the Solo-
mon Islands is the excellence of their artistic skill in wood
carving. Considering that they have few tools and the wood
is laboriously scraped away with sharp shells and pieces of
bone, their work is amazingly beautiful. Their best crafts-
men are usually set to carving and decorating the village coun-
cil house, which is often ornately decorated with elaborately
carved figures representing gigantic human beings and many
open-mouthed sharks and sea monsters. These people worship
the shark and devil-fish as minor gods, and though they are
cannibals they have an intense and sensitive love of flowers.
Their villages are commonly embowered in masses of lovely
orchids, climbing ferns and flowering shrubs, and are among
the most beautiful of all savage settlements.

After leaving the island of Ugi we sailed along the south-
ern shore of Guadalcanar, then stood to the north and west-
ward until we reached Gatukai, where we hove to, and landed
at the village of Peava, in latitude 8° 48' S. and longitude
158° 14' E. The tribesmen whom we landed were welcomed
with the most extravagant expressions of affection and delight.
A stranger would have found it incredible that people capable
of such affectionate demonstration are among the most in-
veterate head-hunters of the whole Solomon group. They re-
gard the larger island of Vanguni as their particular hunting
ground, and when they want a fresh supply of human heads
the large war-canoes of Gatukai make a mysterious and sud-
den descent upon the island and slaughter every native they
can find. These sudden and desolating raids of the head-
hunters have driven the natives of Vanguni Island to seek
refuge in the thick forests which cover the hills in the interior
of the island, where they have much better chance to defend
themselves, for the Gatukai head-hunters believe in making a
sudden raid and getting away before their victims can gather
in sufficient force to attack them in return.

i66 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

As soon as we entered canoes came from all directions to

trade. The lagoon in which we anchored is studded with a

great number of pretty coral islets, all of

Canoes Come which are flat-topped, densely wooded, and

Toward Us aimost precisely alike. The islands have the

from all , t

Directions. peculiar appearance of having been hauled up

from the bottom. Proof of this, according to
geologists, is shown in the case of Mboli Island, the northern
end of which shows a remarkable gallery on the face of a
limestone cliff many feet above the present high-water mark,
which at one time formed the waterline. In some places this
overhanging gallery is deeper than others and stalactites and
stalagmites in every stage of formation may be seen among
them. There are many native villages known as Bili Lupa
picturesquely built in these overhanging galleries.

After witnessing a funeral ceremony late in the day on the
island of Mbulo I strolled a short distance into the bush and
was surprised to see a clearing in which were a great number
of graves, each one covered with weapons and other curios.
The odds and ends which I saw in that savage burying ground
would have stocked a large museum. I would have been glad
myself to carry off some of them as mementos, but I resisted
the temptation, for the natives would kill any one who dese-
crated the graves of their heroes.

The Solomon Island canoes are the finest and most pic-
turesque in the entire Pacific. The tomako or large head
hunting canoes vary in length from fifty to seventy feet, and
one of them will carry upwards of sixty men. They are so
well balanced as to require no outrigger. They are never
rigged with sails, but are propelled at a very rapid rate with
narrow, short-pointed paddles, and are elaborately ornamented
at bow and stern with wooden figureheads. The entire upper
portion of the canoe, especially the high prow and stern, are
usually neatly inlaid with mother of pearl and nautilus shell

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 167

and are apt to be garlanded with cowry shells around the outer
edge. The last touch on the prow is usually a human skull.
Just above water line on the bow there is apt to be a gro-
tesque figure of a god, who is supposed to keep lookout for
rocks, reefs and enemies. Sometimes this god is represented
with two heads, one looking forward, the other backward, so as
to enable him more thoroughly to look after the safety of the
canoe.

I took a small boat ashore one day to fill some of our water
casks at a little stream above the village of Repi, and I stopped
to watch what was apparently the magician of the tribe per-
form the ceremony of first fruits. At first he would not allow
me to come too close, but I quickly settled his scruples with
a stick of tobacco, which amply paid my way. He placed some
breadfruit upon small altars and also upon the points of many
sharp-pointed sticks which he planted in the ground. He
then stood up and muttered incantations. Fire was obtained
by rubbing two pieces of wood together and applied to the
altar, the priest repeating incantations all the while. The
purport of the strange chant, I afterward learned, was an
invocation to the devil to accept the first fruits of the bread-
fruit crop and to grant them an increase of the crop in the
future. It was a strange experience and worth a trip to the
island to see.

The inhabitants of the Solomon Islands are commonly of
moderate height, well proportioned and very strong and active.
The color of their skin varies from copper color to almost jet
black, and their eyes are deeply sunk under heavy, projecting
eyebrows. Their lips are thick, noses short and chins reced-
ing. They wear no clothes and perhaps to compensate for
their lack in this direction they load themselves with a savage
array of belts, combs, feathers, bead hair ornaments, armlets,
necklaces and streaks of paint.

An ornament which ranks of great value among them con-

1 68 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

sists of an armlet laboriously and ingeniously cut out of the
tridacna gigas shell or giant clam. This shell looks like
marble and is so hard that often it is ground into axes and
adzes with which they hew the planks in building their canoes.
It requires an untold amount of labor to make a clam-shell
armlet, and they are valued solely for the amount of labor
bestowed upon them.

Another valuable ornament which is worn
Valuable suspended upon the breast consists of a large
Ornaments. shell ring overlaid with delicate tortoise shell
fretwork and ornamented with pendants. The
wearing of these ornaments is almost a challenge to murder
and is quite as dangerous as it would be for a white man to
frequent the haunts of criminals with many thousand dollars'
worth of diamonds openly displayed upon his person. They
are the cause of endless wars and murders, yet for some mys-
terious reason they can be left openly upon the graves of
chiefs and warriors, where no one dares to disturb them for
fear of incurring the wrath of the evil spirits who are be-
lieved to guard the abodes of the dead.

It is common among them to offer sacrifices to the devil
for the recovery of a sick person, especially a chief or great
warrior, and human sacrifice is considered by far the most ac-
ceptable. Among some of the tribes it is customary to nurse
a sick person as long as there is any apparent hope of recov-
ery, but when the case is deemed hopeless they take the pa-
tient into a little house erected for the purpose, and place some
food and water beside him and leave him to live or die.

The Solomon Islanders believe in a paradise
» which exists far away to the westward, and

Fantastic offer sacrificial feasts to demons in order to
Belief. induce them to permit the souls of their de-

parted friends to enter there. They also fan-
tastically believe that the singularly large and beautiful fire-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 169

flies which flicker like fairy lamps amid the trees at night are
the souls of departed tribesmen who in this way revisit the
scenes of their earthly career. When I asked for an explana-
tion of this strangely romantic fancy a chief explained to me
that a departed soul is possessed of little, if any, more power
than it had in the body: but once it has been admitted to the
happy land it becomes gifted with the power of metamorphos-
ing itself into the form of a firefly and revisiting the place of
its birth and looking after the welfare of its friends and rela-
tives.

It is customary to bury common people in the sea, but
different sections have slightly different ways of disposing
of the remains of those who belong to higher ranks. In some
cases the bodies are buried; in others, exposed until the flesh
is entirely removed from the bones, when they are cleaned
and placed inside of a large wooden mold carved to represent
a porpoise, a shark or a swordfish.

Like the Fijians, they believe that all inanimate objects
such as canoes, tools, weapons, etc., have souls as well as liv-
ing things. The soul of the wooden mold containing the
bones of the dead chief is believed to carry the soul of the
man to paradise.

We next brought up in Rendovax Harbor

Most with its two entrances. We entered by the

Ferocious t littl islets { Kuru Kuru on th west
Tnbes in the

World. and Aumbari on the east. Probably the most

ferocious tribes in the world are gathered
around this beautiful bay.

We had scarcely more than anchored when large canoes
began to crowd around us again, and, though no weapons
were visible, we knew perfectly well that canoes in these parts
never go anywhere without being manned and armed to the
decks. A few natives came on board to greet their returning
friends among the crew and to hear accounts of the strange

170 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

lands they had visited. Some of them handed up long-
handled hatchets and tomahawks, requesting permission to
sharpen them upon the vessel's grindstone. One of the in-
terpreters whom we had taken on at Ugi Island excitedly
pointed to the many canoes hovering round and whispered,
"No good, no good. Bimeby plenty fight, make plenty killa
man ; no good, no good."

It required considerable show of force to keep the canoes
away from the ship; but they all drew back like frightened
birds at the approach of a large superbly decorated craft con-
taining a chief whose upper arms were completely covered
with shell armlets, showing that he was a chief of very high
rank. He came on board in a very stately fashion and in-
formed us in broken English that his name was Ingova and
that he was the king of the Rubiana Lagoon. The captain
got his good will with presents of matches, a butcher knife
and a carpenter's chisel, in return for which he sent us gifts
of rams and fish. He also sent some of his men to assist us
in getting fresh water.

The only way to do business with such dangerous natives
is to immediately make friends with the chief and transact
all business through him. Our captain had intended loading
up with sandalwood, but the natives brought such splendid
samples of ebony, rosewood and lignum vitae that we decided
to load up these woods as well. We found that the small
islands of the group are overrun with wild pigs.

These natives are as uncertain as children,

Native anc^ ^or some reason that was not apparent to

Treachery. us Ingova ceased his visits to our vessel and

other natives began to show unmistakable
signs of hostility. We soon discovered that the chief was
away on one of his murderous head-hunting raids and the
natives in his absence had determined to do a little pirating
on their own account. By hook or crook we got rid of the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 171

last of them and the captain concluded to pull up anchor and
get under way before daylight. Early as it was two large
canoes had already entered the harbor and were swiftly ap-
proaching us. Their actions were most sus-
picious, and they separated in such a way that
we would be compelled to pass between them,
and kept their canoes turned end toward us
as they always do when contemplating an at-
tack. Within hailing distance they turned both canoes slightly
and, holding up two axes, indicated that they wished to come
alongside, offering us the axes as gifts. This of course was a
blind, for each canoe was loaded with warriors who undoubt-
edly would overpower us if they succeeded in getting near.
The captain, through an interpreter, told them to keep their
axes and their distance or we would fire into them if they came
any closer, whereupon the savage head-hunters set up a yell
and came on full speed, but when they were within a few yards
of us the captain suddenly slewed the schooner around, send-
ing her bow smashing through the canoe to the leeward of us
and capsizing her. The crew of the other canoe yelled defiance
and instantly assailed us with a volley of poisoned arrows and
bullets, some of which struck our bulwarks and others passed
through the sails or flew harmlessly overhead. They were
so close we could scarcely miss them with our guns, but they
held their shields at a sharp angle for the purpose of deflecting ^
the bullets and presented as small a target as possible; the
only objects visible outside of the tall prow were the shields
of the savages. Taking careful aim we fired. Several shields
were thrown into the air and as many warriors went plunging
overboard. The canoe promptly fell astern and it was soon
practically impossible for us to hit them. Two other large
canoes loaded with warriors appeared around the south end of
the nearest island and paddled rapidly towards us. Their
course exposed their broadside to us and we fired several

172 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

shots at them. They instantly checked their way and pointed
their prows at us to avoid being hit. Finding themselves
repulsed by our firearms they kept at a respectful distance
and we got safely away.

Blanche Harbor, which lies between Mono Island on the
north and Sterling Island on the south in latitude 7° 24' S.
and longitude 155° 33' E., was our next stopping place.

Sterling Island is only three miles long with an average
breadth of half a mile, but it rises to a height of about two
hundred feet and has the general aspect of having been up-
heaved from the bottom of the ocean like so many other is-
lands in the Solomon group. Canoes belonging to the vil-
lages of Faveke and Falamai surrounded us before we had
time to anchor. A few small presents established friendly
relations at once and our experience here was more or less
peaceful.

I paid several visits to the near-by villages, and one day I
was persuaded to go some distance in the bush with half a
dozen natives who were hunting wild pigeons with bows and
arrows. They moved about noiselessly as cats and could read-
ily detect a bird in foliage where it was perfectly invisible to
the untrained eye. At one place a monster lizard five feet
long suddenly started up in front of us and darted up a large
tree to what he considered safe height, when he stopped and
looked down upon us. One of the natives promptly brought
him down with an arrow, and though the fall alone seemed
sufficient to kill him he fought savagely until the native broke
his neck with a blow from his bow.

A short distance further on a black man be-

"Nifi! Nifi!" hind me cried "Nifi! Nifi!" and pointed to

the ground not two feet ahead of me. At

first I could detect nothing, but the native darted his spear

among the creepers and quickly drew it back with a venomous

looking snake hissing and writhing upon the point of it. Its

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 173

triangular head was dark brown, its back was covered with
rings of white and reddish brown. Its belly was white as milk.
It is the habit of this variety of reptile to conceal itself in the
vegetation and strike at any one who approaches its place of
concealment.

I have never seen such splendid butterflies as I saw that
day. Many of them measured as much as nine inches across
the wings and they were purple and yellow and green and
brilliant peacock blue. At night the forest was brilliant with
myriads of fireflies which flit like fairy lamps among the trees,
and the oppressive silence which reigns by day was broken by
the ceaseless chorus of tree frogs, bullfrogs and the ghostly
hoots of the night owl.

One night we were fishing in the boat a little way up the
Mulamabuli River beneath the giant trees which overhang
the stream, when a long streak of pale phosphorescent light
approached the boat, in perfect silence and without creating
so much as a ripple in the water. "Umau" (crocodile), whis-
pered a native who was with us in the boat. It approached
until its head was within about six feet of the boat, where it
stopped to take observations ; and the moment it stopped it
became invisible because the phosphorescent light which be-
trays its presence shines only while the creature is in motion.
I had brought along a shot gun in the hope of being able to
shoot some wild ducks which are plentiful in the streams ; and
aiming in the direction of the crocodile, I told a Fiji man to
throw a fish where we judged the crocodile's head to be.

The sudden phosphorescent swirl which the

A Phosphores- crocodile gave in grabbing the fish clearly

cent Target, revealed his presence, and I fired as nearly as

I could at his eyes. The next moment the

brute gave a funny snort and deluged us with a shower of

spray as he began wheeling rapidly round and round, lashing

up the water into sparkling foam. We quickly pulled to a

174 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

place of safety, for a single stroke of his tail would have re-
duced our small boat to kindling wood. The natives declared
that the crocodiles not only attack people in small canoes at
night, but also that they prowl around the villages and run
off with sleeping pigs, dogs, or human beings whenever they
find a favorable opportunity to do so. They also confirm a
story which I had often heard in the Australian bush to the'
effect that these savage creatures are far bolder and more
daring at night than in daylight.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 175

CHAPTER XVI

ON THE WAY TO INDIA

Singapore and Hong Kong are the centers of the sandal-
wood trade, and after completing our cargo in Choiseul Ba}
we sailed for Singapore, where the captain hoped to dispose
of the ship and cargo. Our course lay through Jonard En-
trance, between the Louisade Archipelago and a multitude of
small islands off the extreme southeastern end of New Guinea ;
thence through Torres Strait, the Arafura Sea, the Banda Sea,
the Floris and Java Seas and Carimata Strait to Singapore.

Shortly after clearing Torres Strait a large
A Strange shark began to follow the vessel. At first we
Convoy. took no notice of him, for such an occurrence
is far too common to even merit attention,
[t is quite common for a shark to follow a ship for several
iys at a time; but after he had followed us persistently for
>ver a week we began to look upon him in the light of a com-
inion in spite of the traditional enmity which exists between
the sailor and the shark. Day after day and week after week
he followed us over the entire course until the very day that
we entered the harbor of Singapore.

We really felt a sort of regret when we finally missed him.
The question is often asked, "Do fish sleep?" This shark had
followed us for three weeks over a distance of 2,500 miles,
id during this time he certainly had no rest and so far as
we could see never ate anything except the few scraps that
we threw overboard, and which were not worth considering.

176 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

I think it is no exaggeration to say that the physical endur-
ance of a shark surpasses that of any other living creature;
and the greatest compliment which the Maoris can pay to the
memory of a slain warrior is to say that he "died like
a shark."

The captain disposed of the cargo to good advantage, and
his curios also sold well. The ship was purchased by four
Russians, who contemplated a general cruise in the Pacific,
partly for amusement 'and partly for the purpose of collecting
curios and orchids. They also contemplated a visit to Kam-
chatka, to investigate an alleged gold discovery. But the
season was so far advanced that they concluded to spend the
winter months hunting big game in India and visit Kamchatka
in the spring. Being anxious to visit the islands where we had
been, they engaged me to go in command of the ship. They
also purchased a steam launch for the purpose of towing the
vessel in and out of the harbors where the sailing was diffi-
cult and dangerous.

We provisioned and fitted out at the little
I Take island of Pulo Penang (Arecanut Island),
Command which lies off the west coast of the Malay
of a Ship. Peninsula, about 370 miles from Singapore.
The harbor, which is always full of shipping,
is really the channel between Penang Island and the mainland,
and varies from two to five miles in width. Nearly all the
business here is in the hands of the Chinese, who raise pigs,
poultry, cattle, etc., in great numbers. The capital city, which
is also called Penang, though the English officials call it
Georgetown, is situated on a low, level point of land which
projects from the northeast extremity of the island toward the
mainland. This favorable situation enables the town to enjoy
a fine sea breeze, while the rest of the island, which is mod-
erately high and densely wooded, is sweltering under the rays
of a southern sun.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 177

One day the native Klings who were bringing provisions
to us announced that they could not work for two days, be-
cause they were about to celebrate a Harvest
A Horrible festival which they called Kar-a-day, and
Harvest which is held always in September in honor

Festival. of their god Sammi. The comprador, who
spoke good English, invited us to attend the
festival, and assured us that over twenty of the priests would
walk barefooted upon a huge fire, while others would torture
themselves in various excruciating ways in order to secure the
favor of Sammi for the coming year. They spent the next
day in bathing, shaving, etc., for it is an article of faith with
them that every worshiper must be perfectly clean, and, al-
though few of them wore anything except a loin cloth, the
latter was always new or freshly washed.

On the second day we went ashore to witness the fire-
walking festival, and I can only say that the repulsive sights
furnished an eloquent lesson on the horrors of heathenism.

It is a part of this belief that no one can expect good
crops nor good fortune unless he undergoes some kind of
torture to please Sammi, and the greater the torture the better
the fortune of the victim who endures it. The general rule
is that each worshiper must bring to Sammi some offering
representative of his occupation, and the offering must be
brought to the place of sacrifice, not in his hands, but sus-
pended from silver skewers stuck through some part of his
anatomy, such as the face, tongue, breast or back.

We soon sickened of looking at the disgusting sights, and
the comprador led the way to a fire pit in which a huge fire
was burning. The heat from the fire was so intense that we
did not attempt to approach near enough to gather any idea
of its dimensions, but as nearly as I could judge the pit was
about ten feet wide and thirty feet long, and filled with hard-
wood logs laid close together like a corduroy road, and it

178 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

must have been quite deep, judging from the large bank of
earth thrown up around it. The comprador assured us that
twenty-five devotees would walk barefooted through the mid-
dle of the fire from one end of the pit to the other without
receiving the slightest injury from it. Some of our own party
sneered, and declared that anyone who approached close to
the fire would be burned to death in short order. "No fear,"
replied the comprador, "they pray to Sammi, and Sammi won't
let the fire burn them."

Gradually the devotees assembled near one
Walking end of the fire, where it seemed to me that

Barefoot on the heat was sufficient to destroy an ordinary
Blazing . * f

Coals. human being, and we heard a faint hum of

voices like a low chant. The natives stand-
ing around became as still as statues as the chant ceased, and
one man deliberately stepped into the pit and on to the blazing
coals. He wore nothing but the ordinary cloth which the
poorest class of natives wear around their waists, and, believe
it or not, he walked through that fire the whole length of the
pit as unconcernedly as though he were walking along a coun-
try road. Each of the other devotees then took his turn
(there were twenty- four of them), and walked slowly and
unconcernedly through the fiery furnace without showing the
slightest trace of suffering. The whole performance was
weird and sinister.

I have since had numbers of stay-at-homes assure me that
I must have been mistaken, because no one could pass through
such a fire alive ; "it was all an optical illusion, a trick," and
so on, they say. The people who make these assertions in
regard to matters of which they are ignorant would do well
to explain the "perfectly natural means" of which they talk so
glibly. Of course, a stay-at-home scientist has an immense
advantage over a traveler; the traveler can only relate what
he has seen, frequently without being able to account for it,

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 179

whereas the alleged scientist settles the whole difficulty to his
own satisfaction by squaring the facts to suit his theories.
The fact is that this fire-walking stands on a par with many
other mysteries of the Far East which are performed every
day in the presence of hundreds of keen and intelligent ob-
servers, who are looking for the slightest sign of fraud, yet
the brightest intellects in Christendom have never been able to
comprehend or explain them. For my own part, I believe that
the Klings worship the devil under the name of Sammi, and
I believe the weird performance which we witnessed is a
survival of the sinister heathen ceremony of "passing through
fire" which flourished in Syria and Palestine three thousand
years ago. I did not think to inquire whether the performers
who passed through the fire were a separate class who were
specially gifted or whether every worshiper of Sammi pos-
sessed the same mysterious power.

Leaving Penang we passed through Preparis South Chan-
nel in latitude 14° 30' N. and longitude 93° 30' E., and we
had a straight run to the mouth of the Hooghly River, on
the Bay of Bengal. Our first view of the mouth of the
Hooghly River was certainly not attractive. Far as the eye
could see a mass of trees and tangled brushwood reached,
apparently rising out of the water and forming the huge delta
known as Sunderbuns.

Late in the day we anchored in front of Cal-
Calcutta! cutta, so named in honor of the hideous Kali,

goddess of destruction, whom the Hindus
delight to honor. One of the most interesting sights of the
city is the botanic garden, extending one mile along the river,
and containing two hundred and seventy-two acres, beautifully
laid out in tropical trees and flowers. The orchid house alone
is worth a visit to India to see. In the center of the garden
is a pond filled with a great variety of water plants. One huge
banyan tree, which is a hundred years old and more, has a

i8o THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

central trunk more than fifty feet in circumference, and a
whole regiment of men could camp comfortably under its
wide-spreading branches.

The native bustees (villages) on the outskirts are of
huts built of mud and straw, and each one clusters round
a tank of filthy but sacred water in which they bathe. The
rule seems to be that the water increases in sanctity in exact
proportion to the amount of filth with which it is contami-
nated, and the traveler ceases to wonder that the country has
always been the home of cholera. Almost every house is pro-
vided with its "thakoor barri" or idol shrine. The greatest
antiquity in the place is the famous Kali Ghat, in which the
hideous monster Kali is worshipped with rites too repulsive
for description.

One day we were compelled to take refuge

The from the rain in the courtyard of a hotel

Snake- where a snake-charmer was giving an exhi-

charmer. bition of his skill. His stock in trade con-
sisted of two baskets of poisonous snakes
and a sort of flageolet called a tubri. He removed the lid
from one basket, and, squatting in front of it, began to play
a low, plaintive tune on his pipe. In a few seconds the head
of a deadly East India cobra slowly rose above the rim of the
basket. It began swinging its head in time to the music and
made several feints at striking, but always recoiled. The music
suddenly ceased, and the performer made a rippling sound,
which made the snake angry. Its slender neck puffed out on
either side in the form of a hood, on the back of which ap-
peared two very prominent oval-shaped marks like a pair of
spectacles. It crawled out of the basket and attempted to dart
away, but its master deftly caught it by the tail and jerked it
back, whereupon it became so enraged that, hissing loudly, it
made several swift darts at him, but he easily evaded the
savage attacks.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 181

Well knowing that the slightest miss meant death, he nar-
rowly watched the enraged reptile, and suddenly caught it by
the neck with a motion almost too quick for the eye to follow,
and the next instant he leaped to his feet, holding the snake
at arm's length toward the spectators. It was all done so
quickly that we gave an exclamation of horror, supposing the
snake had bitten him and was hanging fast to his hand. The
serpent only struggled desperately to get free, however, lash-
ing the air with its tail and twining itself around its master's
arm. The man then brought the cobra's head to within a few
inches of his face, and began a low crooning song, keeping his
eyes firmly fixed the while upon those of the snake. The
effect was magical, for the writhing reptile suddenly became
limp, and hung down like a piece of rope in its master's hand.
He laid it upon the ground, and it remained perfectly motion-
less in whatever position he twisted it about.

Some of the spectators then remembered they had heard

that the serpent was not dangerous to handle because its poison

fangs had been extracted, and openly said as much. The

Hindu smiled quietly, asked if they would give him a chicken,

and when this was brought made some passes with his hands

and uttered some sounds which quickly aroused the snake to

its former state of belligerency. He then threw the chicken

on the ground in front of it. The cobra

Death to the darted at the chicken like lightning and

Chicken. seized it by the breast. After a little while

it let go and crawled quietly away, and the

man picked it up and threw it into the basket. The liberated

chicken gave a few cries of terror, ran a few steps and fell

dead.

He also showed us a snake-stone which is supposed to
cure any kind of poisonous bite or sting. This sounds like
a fairy tale, but I have seen numbers of white people who
declare they have seen it tried, and they all agreed in stating

182 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

that it did all that is claimed for it. They said the stone was
placed upon the wound and held there for a second or two,
after which it adhered of itself for a few minutes until it had
absorbed as much poison as it could contain and then dropped
off. It was then placed in a pan of milk, which drew the
poison out of the stone, and the stone then sank to the bot-
tom, while the poison floated on top in the form of yellow
scum. In color the stone was dark brown or black, and its
hard surface was polished apparently from long usage.

But the most remarkable part of the performance was kept
until the last. The Indian drew a long, ordinary leather strap
from a basket, and passed it around for every one of the com-
pany to examine. We all examined it very carefully, and cer-
tainly it seemed to be nothing more than a common leather
strap. It must be remembered that the snakes had been re-
placed in their baskets and the ground was bare. The last
man who examined the strap threw it on the ground ; the per-
former stepped forward, picked it up in his right hand by one
end, then suddenly flicked it in the air like a whip and threw
it on the ground. The spectators fairly gasped with astonish-
ment when they saw that strap which they had just examined
suddenly become a live, hissing cobra.

Not willing to trust his eyesight, one of the party poked

the serpent with his cane, and it bit savagely at it. It must be

remembered that the performer wore no

How Did It clothing but a breech-clout, and could not

Happen? possibly have a snake concealed anywhere
about him; moreover, every one of the spec-
tators was keenly watching for the least indication of fraud,
and would have been ready to expose him had they been able
to detect it.

I have often read that all poisonous serpents have triangu-
lar heads, but it is certainly not so with the cobra. I noticed
particularly that their heads were not triangular but cylindri-

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 183

cal, though they expand the neck (not the head) in the form
of a hoed when they are very angry. They range from four
to five feet in length and about five inches in circumference.
I afterwards killed and helped to kill several cobras, and thus
had an opportunity to examine their teeth, and was surprised
to find that the two poisonous fangs were not hollow, as I
had always understood them to be. The opening from each
poison gland is at the base of each fang, not through the
fang, consequently the cobra is obliged to hold fast to its
victim for a moment after biting in order to allow the poison
to reach the two punctures which the fangs have made.

This peculiarity renders the cobra far less
Safety in dangerous than it would be otherwise to per-
Clothing. sons wearing clothing; the fangs themselves
will penetrate through thick cloth, but the
poison will be deposited on the outside of the garment, even if
it is only moderately thick, and no harm will result if the poi-
soned clothing is removed from around the wound before the
poison has time to soak through. I have seen several varieties
of poisonous snakes strike at their intended victims, but the
cobra's method of striking differs from that of all others, for
it springs into the air as it strikes. After striking it holds
fast to its victim for a second or two, as described, and twists
its head rapidly from side to side, after the manner of a dog
worrying another dog. This act of jerking its head to one
side helps squeeze the poison gland on the side toward which
it turns its head. The two poison fangs are curved backward
like the teeth of a crocodile, and immediately back of the fangs
are two rows of teeth in the upper jaw. The rest of the upper
jaw is like the mouth of a shark ; each successive row of teeth
is smaller than the row in front of it. When one of the poison
fangs happens to be broken off another soon grows in its place.
I noticed in the case of the snake-charmer that the cobra's
mood varied with every change in the music. When the latter

184 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

was quick and lively it swayed its head rapidly from side to
side in the most graceful curves and in perfect time, while
soft, dreamy music seemed to lull it almost to sleep, and loud,
inspiring notes, again, would rouse it to the utmost enthusiasm
and cause it to exhibit every symptom of the most intense
delight.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 185

CHAPTER XVII

ASTOUNDING EXHIBITIONS

Next day we visited a place a few miles north of Cal-
cutta, where the natives made gods and goddesses. Any one

may make an idol of almost any material, but

^ it is of no account until a priest gives it

Idol power by pronouncing a proper formula over

Factory. ft and anointing it with sacred paste made of

sandalwood. An idol made of wood is en-
dowed with many powers, and is believed to fulfill many wishes
of the worshiper. It seems difficult to comprehend how any
reasonable person could ask for more, but an idol made of gold
is warranted to give its owner salvation, and one made of sil-
ver will insure him heavenly bliss. An idol of copper is calcu-
lated to bestow long life upon its worshiper; one of metal
symbolizes peace ; but an idol made of clay may bring all these
blessings and more. The clay must not be burned but dried
in the sun, then covered with two or three coats of chalk,
and when this is thoroughly dry the whole figure is painted
with the various colors required. The idol must be free from
any defect or deformity or it will bring misfortune upon its
owner. Gods are sold at all prices to suit all pockets, and you
can buy a common, every-day god, warranted to give satisfac-
tion, at prices ranging from eight to twenty-five cents of our
money.

Next day we visited the Temple of Kali. The way led
through several very narrow streets, lined on both sides by
shops, in which were sold the various kinds of cheap foods
upon which these poor people manage to exist, also tobacco,
clothing, gods, pictures of gods and various other things.

1 86 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The hovels in which the people live are huddled together
without the slightest attempt at sanitation or drainage, and

this, combined with the intense heat of the

The sun, is the reason why India has always been

Temple t^e }lome of plague and cholera. As we ap-

Kali. proached the temple we came upon hundreds

of beggars, who formed one of the most piti-
ful yet repulsive sights which I have ever witnessed. They
showed about every variety of horrible deformity, for, be it
remembered, many parents disfigure their children in the
most frightful manner in order that their misfortune may
excite pity and enable them thereby to obtain a steady income.
The door of the temple was crowded with worshipers
who were constantly coming and going, and there was some-
thing peculiarly sinister, even fiendish, in the appearance of
each departing worshiper, marked, as they all were, with a
smear of blood between the eyes, which is the mark of Kali.
The hideous goddess has ten arms, and her face, neck and
arms are painted a brilliant yellow, while her head is adorned
with a very elaborate mukuta or head-dress. Close by is the
place of sacrifice, where her worshipers try to appease her
wrath by sacrificing sheep and goats in her honor. The
heads of many sheep and goats were piled on one side, and
the ground was fairly soaking with blood, which formed little
pools here and there, while the officiating priests were busy
marking each worshiper with a religious sign in the shape of
a smear of blood between the eyes.

The day following the visit to the temple of
A Kali we had an opportunity of witnessing the

Mystifying feats of one of those jugglers whose mys-

Perform- . J ,

ance. terious powers transcend all deductions of

science, and must be seen to be believed.
Unlike the alleged spirit-mediums of our own country, they
do not perform their feats in the dark upon their own prem-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 187

ises, but in the full light of day in any situation and in the
midst of any number of spectators, every one of whom is
keenly watching for the slightest indication of fraud or
trickery. We seated ourselves upon chairs arranged in a
semi-circle under a huge tree in a courtyard. Shortly after
we were seated the magician appeared in company with a
boy who carried his simple paraphernalia in a basket.

He took his place about twelve feet in front of us and
began to entertain us with some clever but commonplace
tricks, after which he requested each one of us to write some-
thing on a piece of paper and keep it concealed in our hands.
Without changing his position he told each one in turn, word
for word, what he had written. I held a piece of paper in
such a position that no one could possibly see it and wrote
on it in Fijian, "Sa ndro na Singa; malua marusa." When
he looked at me he gave a quiet smile and said: "You did
not write yours in English." "In what language is it writ-
ten?" said I. "Sahib," he replied, "if you will look at the
paper which you have crumpled in your hand you will read
the English translation of what you have written, and also
the name of the language in which you wrote it."

I opened the paper, and could scarcely credit my own
eyes when I read on it in English, "The day is vanishing;
procrastination is destruction — (Fijian)."

The Fijian words which I had written had disappeared
completely, and the English translation appeared in the same
spot, and written in my own handwriting. Scarcely willing
to trust my eyes, I asked a white man who sat next to me
to read what was on the paper, and he read the translation
as given above. "Sahib," said the performer to me again,
"will you fold the paper for a moment and then unfold it
again?" After taking another look at the paper I crumpled
it in my hand again and held it fast for a few seconds, and
upon opening it once more I was amazed to read the two

i88. THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

former sentences in Fijian, precisely as I had written them in
the first place.

Not being quite satisfied with this, I retired within the
house and wrote upon a piece of paper "Ika tonu taku ihi i
runga i taku whenua." No one could possibly have seen
what I wrote, and I immediately folded the paper and held it
fast in my hand as I returned to the courtyard, and, as soon
as I had taken my seat, the Indian asked me to open the
paper. I opened it forthwith, and instead of the words I had
written, I read the correct English translation as follows:

"My fire has been kept burning upon my land" (Maori),
which was the exact translation of what I had written. It
is a common expression among the Maoris, meaning that their
enemies have never succeeded in driving them or their an-
cestors off the premises which they hold. I showed the paper
to some of the others, and they read the words as given above.

Several others tried the same experiment by writing sen-
tences in Russian, Persian, Turcoman and Yakut, and in
every case the words were correctly translated into English.

At the magician's request we now placed our
A chairs in a circle around him, to enable us to

Wonderful see everv movement, while the house-servants
Experi-
ment. and others who were attracted to the scene

• crowded close together around us. He first
spread a white cloth on the ground and made the boy sit
down in the center of it, then turning to the audience he said :
"Will any gentleman write a note, seal it carefully in an enve-
lope without letting any one see what is written on the paper,
and place it under the boy's turban?"

Some one immediately did this, and with his own hand
placed the sealed envelope under the boy's turban. "Sahib,"
said the Indian to our host, "will you lend me a sword?"
A servant promptly brought a sword, and the performer handed
it around, requesting us all to examine it. Then he and the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 189

boy conversed for a few moments, after which he covered the
youngster with the basket and resumed the conversation, the
boy replying to his questions from the inside of the basket.
In a little while the magician pretended to become greatly
enraged about something or other, and spoke in a threatening
way, while the voice of the boy could be heard apparently
pleading for mercy. Suddenly the man seized the sword
which we had been examining, and drove it to the hilt through
the center of the basket. A loud scream came from beneath
the basket, and the spectators gave an involuntary cry of
horror as he drew back the sword, dripping with blood, and
plunged it again and again through the basket.

The cries of the boy soon ceased, and the performer coolly
wiped the blood-stained sword upon one end of the white
cloth. He then pushed the end of the cloth, which was drip-
ping with blood, under the basket, and covered the whole
thing, basket and boy, with the other end of the cloth, which
was clean. After muttering something which sounded like
an incantation he threw back the cloth and raised the basket.
We were amazed to see that the boy had vanished as com-
pletely as though the earth had swallowed him. Moreover,
there was not a speck of blood on the white cloth, although
a moment before it was dripping with it. He also held up
the basket and asked us to examine it, and there was not the
slightest sign of a cut on any part of it, although we had
distinctly seen him drive the sword through it several times.

After giving us time to examine this carefully, he turned
around and called the boy. There was a movement among the
spectators who stood around us, and the next instant the boy
made his way out from among them and salaamed politely to
the company, then, raising his turban, drew out the letter
which had been placed there, and presented it with a bow to
the one who wrote it.

The necromancer then turned to our host again and said,

i9o THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

"Sahib, will you let one of your servants bring a small flower-
pot and a couple of handfuls of earth ?" When these were
brought we made sure that the pot was empty by feeling
inside of it with our hands, for by this time we had begun
to doubt all evidence of our own eyesight. He filled the pot
with the earth which the servant had brought and planted a
small seed of some kind in the center of it. One of the com-
pany now requested permission to take a photograph of the
pot as it stood, and the performer instantly granted the re-
quest. He next poured some water on the pot and covered it
with the white cloth previously mentioned, after which he
brought out what he called a tubri simmil, consisting of a
sort of pipe flaring at one side and having a large bulb in the
center. Squatting in front of the pot, he began to play on
his small musical reed pipe (which these magicians all carry)
in a low, droning tone, but soon started playing faster. After
a little we distinctly saw the center of the cloth begin to rise,
while the player kept his eyes fastened upon it and played with
might and main as though his lungs would split. Suddenly
the frantic music ceased and he raised one side of the cloth.
We all were more than astonished to see a plant about four
inches high growing in the center of the pot.

He calmly replaced the cloth and began playing as before;
but instead of playing in an even tone he played faster and
faster, until the music became a continuous long, screaming
sound; he would suddenly lower his tone from time to time
and begin again in the low, monotonous tone in which he first
started to play. All at once he ceased his music, laid aside
his pipe and sat with his arms folded gazing intently at the
cloth, which continued rising in the center by almost imper-
ceptible degrees until it was nearly a foot above the edge of
the pot, when he again took up his flute and began to play
the same wild music as before, whereupon the cloth began
promptly to rise until it had attained a height of about thirty

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 191

inches, when the cloth gave a strange tremor, as though some
one were moving it, and then remained perfectly stationary.

He ceased his music and sat staring at the cloth for a few
minutes, then lifted it up, and we beheld a plant apparently
about thirty inches high, covered with bright green leaves and
beautiful red and yellow blossoms. The man who had taken
the first photograph asked the juggler for permission to take
another picture of the plant. "You are not only welcome to
take as many photographs as you like," replied the Indian, "but
you are welcome to pick the flowers off the plant and keep
them." I need not say that every one of us eagerly availed
ourselves of this permission, and the plant was quickly stripped
of its beautiful flowers. I secured two of them, which I kept
for several years, but finally lost in the course of my travels.

I have since heard some people say that this
More iug§ler must have hypnotized us and led us to

Indian imagine that we saw objects which had no

Jugglery. reai existence. Without stopping to discuss
this, it is sufficient to say that he could not
have hypnotized the camera with which the first photograph
was taken, before he covered the flower-pot with the cloth,
and the second photograph after the cloth had been removed.
The first photograph showed the pot containing nothing but
a few handfuls of earth ; the second showed a plant over two
feet high covered with leaves and flowers, and with our own
hands we picked the flowers and leaves.

We engaged a couple of native hunters named Cassim and
Ghoolah Khan, who were familiar with the Sunderbuns, and
we also purchased four large, shaggy, dark-brown hunting
dogs which looked like a cross between a St. Bernard and
a wolf, with a strain of hyena. These are the best dogs in the
world for hunting dangerous game, for they are as cunning
and sagacious as they are brave. They are particularly valu-
able in protecting hunters from the mad attacks of wounded

192 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

animals. They rush in and bite so savagely at the hind legs
that the angry beast is compelled to turn upon them in self-
defense, but nine times in ten they elude him.

I was anxious to get down the river before the rising of
the spring tides, which occurs from two days before to two
days after the full May moon. These tides raise a bore which
rises like a wall from twelve to fifteen feet high, and rushes
up stream with tremendous force and noise, carrying every-
thing before it. A bore in this river usually consists of three
great rollers following each other in quick succession about
five or six yards apart, and traveling at the rate of twenty
miles an hour. The bore in the Hooghly occurs in May and
again in October.

After taking on a supply of water and pro-
Thc visions we left Calcutta and dropped down

Wildest with the strong river current to the ocean.
on It was about the middle of the afternoon

Earth. when we passed Pilot's Ridge Lightship, and,

knowing that the Sunderbuns is far too dan-
gerous a place to approach at night, we kept to the southeast
in order to avoid being set on the mud flats by the terrific
tides which occur at the change of the monsoons. For the
benefit of those who do not understand the nature of the
Sunderbuns, it is well to explain that it consists of a region
of forests, jungles, swamps, creeks and rivers extending
nearly 200 miles east and west, with a breadth of about 80
miles, and is situated at the head of the Bay of Bengal. It is
probably the wildest place on earth, and swarms with wild
boars, crocodiles, tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses, buffaloes,
wildcats, deer, monkeys, serpents and birds.

We intended ascending the Raymangal River, so we stood
well to the eastward, longitude 89° 15' E., and then moved
due north to the mouth of the river.

In approaching the mouth of the river from seaward, trees

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 193

seem to rise directly out of the water, obstructing every
possible entrance, and it is difficult to tell where land begins.

We found the current so strong that we were compelled
to tide all the way up to our anchorage, even in spite of the
steam launch, which made little headway against it.

We towed about fifteen miles up the Ray-
Where mangal River, then turned a little to the left
Crocodile to ayoid mud flats and anchOred for the

King. mgnt> taking care to moor the ship both

stem and stern, and with her head to sea-
ward on account of the terrific tides which sweep up these
tropical rivers.

In the morning we retraced our pathway a short distance
and started to tow up the Hariabanga River, and had not
proceeded far when we sighted a tiger swimming rapidly
across the stream just off our bows. He had nearly gained
the opposite bank when suddenly he uttered a loud, terrified
cry, and disappeared from view. A moment later he came to
the surface again in a cloud of spray, and we saw that he
was fighting for his life with a crocodile which had seized
him. The crocodile had secured a grip on the tiger's hind-
quarter, while the tiger, true to his instinct, fought desper-
ately to tear out the eyes of his dreaded assailant. At that
moment we grasped the meaning of the expression, the liv-
ing terror of the jungle, and would willingly have helped old
tiger had it been in our power to do so. But in deep
water a crocodile is more than a match for any land animal
living. They seem to know that it is only necessary to
hold their prey under water long enough, and the water will
do the rest. The tiger fought gallantly, but in a few seconds
was dragged down, and only a slight commotion in the water
marked the scene of the combat.

We towed about twenty-one miles up the Hariabanga
River, then turned to the right and re-entered the Ray-

194 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

mangal. After proceeding several miles we ran the ship
up a creek which opened on the west side of the river, and
again moored her stem and stern, with her head toward the
main river.

I happened to be looking over the bow as the anchor was
let go, and almost immediately a large crocodile appeared
under the bow, lashing the water into a foamy surface with
its tail. The anchor had probably excited his wrath by falling
upon his back.

The banks of black mud all the way up both the Hooghly
and Raymangal Rivers were alive with these brutes. It would
be difficult to imagine anything more repulsive than the sight
of so many of them gathered together. The full-grown man-
eaters range in length from fifteen to eighteen feet. They
have broad, flat muzzles, with large uneven teeth of odd sizes
and shapes, and the outline of the closed jaws shows protrud-
ing teeth interlaced, which gives to the crocodile its ferocious
aspect. They attack fearlessly all large animals which come
within their reach, but it is a well established fact that they
always let go of their prey, whatsoever it may be, if some-
thing is thrust into their eyes. I could never quite under-
stand how it was that these rivers are invariably so full of
fish, since so many crocodiles are constantly devouring them.

Some natives who were in our crew pointed
The out w**k Sreat Pride and interest the sundar

Beautiful tree, from which this region takes its name.
Sundar Tree. The name sundar, or sundari, means vermil-
ion, and the wood of this tree is a beautiful
clear reddish color. It is a gloomy looking tree, however, and
is easily distinguished among all the other trees, even at a
great distance. It is found wherever the tide inundates the
land. The leaves of the sundar are dark green on one side
and silvery white on the other; the bole is usually about two
feet in diameter, and often it reaches a height of thirty feet

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 195

from the ground to the lowest branch. The wood is very
valuable, though in Calcutta it is used for fuel. The United
States Government made extensive tests, and discovered that
charcoal made from sundar wood is the best in the world
with which to make gunpowder. It was also discovered that
while the rangoon teak, famous for its durability, broke under
a weight of eight hundred and seventy-six pounds, the same
size log of sundar wood sustained a weight of one thousand
three hundred and twelve pounds. It is probably the strong-
est and most elastic wood in the world, and is used where
great strength and extreme elasticity are required. Wood
cutters generally kill this tree one year before felling it, and
season it in water before using it for mechanical purposes.
The wood is perfectly straight-grained and easily worked.
The sundar is sometimes called red mangrove, and lately there
is some talk of a cure for leprosy which is being made from
the bark.

We were anxious next morning to start off on a hunting
expedition inland, but the barometer was falling rapidly and
all the signs of the weather indicated a storm, so we turned
our attention once more to the crocodiles. We had excited
their curiosity, and it was quite a common sight to see one
of them swimming the entire length of the ship with his nose
pressed against the side, as if trying to investigate us very
seriously. We rigged a running bow line on the end of a
three-inch manila rope, and let the bight hang down well be-
neath the surface of the water, keeping one side of it pretty
far off the ship's side with a boat hook. We had not long to
wait before an inquiring crocodile came nosing along, but in-
stead of putting his head through the noose, as we expected
him to do, the crocodile began biting the line, which lay
against the ship's side. It was difficult for him to get hold of
it, however, because it lay so close to the ship's planks. Fearing
he might make a success of it at last, we let down a piece of

196 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

fat pork and dangled it several feet in front of his nose. Then
as he leaped forward to secure it we hauled the noose around
his head. He uttered an angry cry as his head was hauled out
of the water, and jerked himself from side to side like a wet
dog in his frantic efforts to bite the line which held him. The
strength of these brutes is amazing, and he lashed about so
furiously that I feared to have him hauled on board, for he
would seriously injure the ship with the blows of his tail.
Nothing seemed easier than to hang him by the neck until he
should die, but the brute proved more cunning than we ex-
pected, for, finding that he could not turn his head far enough
to reach the line upon which he hung, he sank into the water
until his body was straight up and down, thus bringing his
jaws close to the line. Then by a quick lateral motion he
caught the rope in his teeth and bit it in two just as we sent
two rifle bullets into his head. But he disappeared from view
and we never saw him after that.

When hauled clear of the water the crocodile makes a
loud, hissing noise, and emits a strong, musky smell, then
locks his jaws with an angry hiss that is horrible to hear.
After we began firing among them they dispersed, and many
of them went to the bottom of the river.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 197

CHAPTER XVIII

A SCRIMMAGE OF TIGERS, PIGS, DOGS, CROCODILES AND MEN

About sundown of the same day the wind began to blow
a strong gale, which increased toward midnight until it was

blowing with hurricane violence, but our

A sheltered position protected us somewhat.

Stormy The incessant crash and roar of the thunder

Night. was so terrific that the ship quivered beneath

each violent concussion, while the lurid glare
of the lightning illumined the whole sky and the surrounding
forest with blazes of blinding light that were appalling. When
the storm was at its height it really seemed as though both
earth and sky were on fire, and the roar of the thunder made
all other sounds inaudible. I remained on deck until daylight,
when the worst of the storm was spent, and we were fairly
safe from danger, unless a bolt of the still vivid lightning
should happen to strike us.

Shortly after I turned in the watchman reported that the
dogs were excited and growling angrily. He could not make
out what it was all about, so I went on deck to investigate,
and found them barking at the forecastle and uttering low
growls. We examined the place carefully, but could see noth-
ing there but an old tub, so I was greatly puzzled, for these
dogs seldom make mistakes. At daylight Cassim crawled
under the forecastle head, but quickly drew back, crying,
"Snake ! Sahib, Snake !" We hauled out the tub with a boat-
hook, and immediately behind it was a full-grown hooded cobra,
with its head reared about two feet up from the deck and
hissing angrily. A couple of blows from the boathook killed
it, but we were puzzled to know how the dogs had been aware

198 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

of its presence in the dark, when they could not possibly have
seen it. Cassim and Ghoolah Khan explained that cobras take
very readily to the water, and often crawl up the anchor chain
and into the hawse pipe of a ship at anchor. It seems strange
that dogs who will readily attack a tiger or a wild bull buffalo
are afraid to approach a feeble snake, which any one of them
might easily kill, yet all dogs seem to comprehend perfectly
the nature of a poisonous snake. Toward noon the storm
ceased, but the forest was so dripping wet that we did not
attempt to go hunting that day.

Next morning we started for a day's outing in the steam
launch, and took the dogs along, although Cassim and Ghoolah
Khan both solemnly assured us that crocodiles are sure to
attack a small boat when dogs are aboard. This was good
advice, for a crocodile will run almost any risk to obtain dog
meat. We were feeling pretty fearless, though, and really
enjoyed the prospect of an attack from crocodiles, and
promised ourselves to give them a lively reception. The coun-
try through which we passed was- not really swampy, as I
had been led to believe it would be, although it is crossed by
many creeks and rivers. The low banks are almost perpen-
dicular and the ground is covered with most luxuriant vege-
tation, owing to the extreme fertility of the soil, which con-
sists entirely of silt. Occasionally we would pass a solemn
looking heron standing motionless on the edge of a stream,
reminding us of the familiar Maori proverb, "As lonely as
a white heron," and in strong contrast to the brilliant and

beautiful kingfishers which darted past with
Crocodiles an a^ert> inquiring look, in pursuit of their

and finny prey.

Tigers. xhe abundance of crocodile life was beyond

our wildest expectations. The guides first
called our attention to numerous dark specks like pieces of
wood floating upon the water or moving slowly before a very

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 199

faint ripple, every one of which was the nose or the eye of a
crocodile on the lookout for prey. We had not gone more
than a few hundred yards from the ship when we sighted a
long, black, loggy-looking creature sixteen or seventeen feet
long, lying asleep on the bank. Mud-covered and slimy he lay
there with his head downward toward the water, and his huge
mouth opened to its widest extent, displaying a disgustingly
red throat and a long wavering line of wicked looking teeth.
If it had not been for his open mouth he could easily have
been mistaken for a log which the tide might have washed up
on the bank.

Two shots were fired at him, and it was very evident that
they struck him, for the next instant he bounded into the air
and went through a series of violent contortions which no
one would have believed possible in such a sluggish and clumsy
looking beast. He bent and twisted his body in every direc-
tion and snapped his jaws in impotent rage, but disappeared
in the water before we could catch up with him.

We were now approaching a place where the stream nar-
rowed slightly, when we saw a tiger swimming rapidly across
in front of us, with a crocodile in close pursuit. The tiger
managed to land, and was in the act of springing up the bank
when the crocodile snapped and caught one of his hind legs
and jerked him backwards. Quick as a flash the tiger turned
and thrust his claws into the eyes of the crocodile, which
promptly released his hold and swam away. The tiger was in
the act of turning away to spring up the bank when a second
crocodile, which had evidently been asleep in the bush, jumped
open-mouthed down the bank and gripped the tiger's neck.
The momentum of the onrush was so great that he carried
the tiger to the water's edge, and a pretty fight ensued. The
tiger was caught in such a way that he could not reach the
crocodile's eyes or throat. So, in spite of his struggles, he
was quickly dragged down and drowned.

200 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

We next came to an open place, where we decided to land

and explore. Several crocodiles splashed into the water at

our approach, and we discovered a long row of the brutes on

the bank a few yards from where we landed. Wishing to

examine them at close range, we crept silently through the

bush close enough to have a good look. They were of all

sizes, from babies three feet long to big fellows of sixteen and

eighteen feet. I was surprised to see that some had had both

eyes torn out, which in a measure accounted

The for their docility. It is surprising how these

^ame> blind ones manage to make a living in such
and the a strenuous state °f existence. Many had

Blind. broken noses, others had lost the tips of their

tails and some of their toes, while others were
minus a leg or two. The intervening bushes sheltered us
from their view, and at a given signal we all fired our guns
among them. The sudden volley caused the wildest commo-
tion. Some instantly plunged into the water, others snapped
savagely at everything within their reach, while still others
got tangled up with their neighbors as they rolled about and
tumbled into the water, where most of them immediately dis-
appeared.

Leaving the two sailors in charge of the launch, we started
along an open glade that led almost at a right angle to the
stream. The dogs led the way, as they usually did. We had
gone only a short distance when a slumbering crocodile sud-
denly wakened, and, slipping out of the scrub, charged open-
mouthed at the dogs, which were a little way ahead. I
promptly shot him in the side, whereupon he instantly left the
dogs and charged at me. I fired down his throat and jumped
to one side in the nick of time to avoid his attack. He turned
quickly and lunged at three others of the party who hap-
pened to be standing close together. But they made short
work of killing him.

OF CAPTAIN QVINTON 201

It was late in the afternoon when we emerged upon the
bank of a small but deep stream, on the other side of which
a wild sow and her little half-grown pigs were contentedly
rooting among the rank sedge in a small opening surrounded
by dense jungle.

"There's a fine chance for some excellent roast pork," said
one of our men.

"Yes, if you could only reach it," replied another. "It

would be easy enough to shoot them, but I would rather be

excused from swimming across the stream to

A Jungle secure them after they are shot," and he

Pastime. pointed to the ugly snouts of some crocodiles
which were moving slowly along in the mid-
dle of the stream without so much as causing a ripple on its
surface. It was curious to notice that the dogs had observed
the projecting snouts, and were watching them as intently as
a pointer watches a bird, although a casual observer might
have thought they were nothing but pieces of wood drifting
with the current. It was of no use to shoot the pigs, since we
could not secure them without a boat, so we were about to
leave when a tiger suddenly leaped from the nearby bushes
and struck one of the young sucklings dead with a blow of
his paw, and, picking it up in his mouth, trotted away to
begin his repast.

The rest of the pigs meanwhile had set up a terrific squeal-
ing, and, as if in answer to their cries, a magnificent boar
broke from the jungle and confronted the tiger. The tiger
dropped his prey, and for a moment the two savage antago-
nists surveyed each other in menacing silence. The tiger beat
his sides with his tail and uttered a coughing growl, to which
the boar replied by tossing his powerful head and uttering a
loud "Woof! woof!" of resolute defiance. The tiger then
began circling around his antagonist for the evident purpose
of attacking him in the rear, as these beasts invariably attempt

202 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

to do when about to attack a really dangerous enemy. The
boar as resolutely faced the tiger, and as cleverly maneuvered
until they were about three yards apart, when the boar, with
a sudden "woof ! woof !" made a particularly vicious lunge at
the tiger.

It has been well said that when a wild boar makes a charge
nothing but death will stop him; it proved to be true in this
instance. I was surprised to see that the tiger did not spring
upon the boar, as I had always read that these beasts did ;
instead, he crouched low until the boar was within his range,
then, leaping nimbly to one side and rising on his haunches,
Mr. Tiger aimed a blow at the boar's hindquarters, where he
would be most easily disabled. But the boar wheeled like
lightning and the blow landed upon the upper part of his
shoulder, where the hide is almost as impervious as if it were
sheathed with boiler-plate. Before the tiger could recover the
boar dashed underneath his guard, as a prize-fighter would say,
and actually bore him back by main strength. The tiger
cried out with pain and rage and fought with teeth and
claws, while the tusks of the boar were cutting him through
like sword-blades. The tiger tried to get clear of the boar,
with the evident intention of fighting at longer range, but
the boar, grim and silent, stuck to him as relentlessly as death
itself. In a short time the tiger was so fearfully gored that
he endeavored to crawl away from his antagonist, but the boar
followed him, and never stopped attacking even after every
vestige of life had vanished from the almost shapeless remains
of the tiger. Finally the boar paused, and, after looking care-
fully over the remains of his enemy, as if to make sure that
he was dead, crawled away and lay down to rest. We all
agreed that it would be far more merciful to shoot him than
to leave him to perish slowly of his wounds and scratches,
but none of us had the heart to do it after he had so gallantly
defended his family, but even while we were debating the

OF CAPTAIN QUIXTOX 203

matter he pulled himself off into the thick jungle, where the
rest of his family had disappeared.

The noise of the combat attracted the crocodiles, for we
now counted dozens of them swimming toward the scene of
conflict. One of them got up on the bank ahead of his com-
panions, and, seizing the remains of the tiger, was about to
indulge in a comfortable meal when two or three others closed
in on him and fought for the prize. It was easy then to form
some idea of the strength of these monsters from the blows
which they dealt each other with their tails. These bumps and
blows resounded like the strokes of a ship-carpenter's maul
upon the side of a ship, though they seemed to produce little
effect upon the ironclad hides of these savage fighting
crocodiles.

It was now late in the day and we made all speed to return
to our headquarters, especially as the mosquitoes were terribly
troublesome. We had got about half way when all of a
sudden a whole family of wild pigs plunged pell-mell into
the stream on our left and began swimming for the opposite
bank in great haste to escape pursuing crocodiles.

The pigs understood perfectly well the risk

Wild Pigs they were running, and several long, con-

£Un verging lines of ripples showed that croco-

Gauntlct. diles were pursuing them. We slowed down

for the purpose of intercepting the pigs and

securing one or two of the young ones, which are very good

eating. They were nearly abreast of the launch when one of

the smallest ones gave a pitiful little squeal and disappeared

from view. Two of the ubiquitous crocodiles had evidently

seized it. Fearing that if we shot one of the pigs it would

sink and be lost, we ran close to them, and Cassim dexterously

seized one by the hind legs and hauled it on board just as the

ugly head of a crocodile emerged from the water, and the

huge jaws snapped together like a steel trap within about a

204 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

foot of the squealing pig. Before the hideous thing had time
to withdraw Korovin fired with the muzzle of his revolver
almost touching the monster's jaws, and blew off the top of
his nose, while some one else shot him in the side. The next
moment we were deluged with spray from the monster's tail
as it struck the water with a force that would have stove a
hole in the launch had we not been going fast enough to
avoid it. But now an unforeseen difficulty confronted us,
for the squealing of the pig attracted crocodiles from every
direction to the launch, and excited them to such an extent
that it really seemed for a while that they would make a com-
bined attack upon us. It was difficult to shoot the pig,
or even to cut its throat in the bottom of a launch, and no
power in nature could apparently stop its perfectly appalling
squeals. The more it squealed the more it excited the croco-
diles. In the meantime all the other pigs had scrambled up
the bank and disappeared. The squealing pig in the launch
also excited the dogs and they began to bark. This added the
finishing touch to the general excitement. Crocodiles now
started pursuing the launch in the same way they had been
pursuing the pigs, and it was a thrilling moment.

"Look out for their tails," cried the two
Thc Hindoos together, "they are liable to sweep

Hunters us and knock some one overboard." They had
Hunted. scarcely more than spoken when an unusually
large one raised his head and rested it upon
our gunwale, then opened his jaws to the fullest extent and
snapped savagely at the nearest man within his reach. But
we blew most of his head to pieces with rifle shots, and saved
the man he would have hauled overboard in a twinkling. The
whole party of us opened a fusillade upon the reptiles by this
time, and were inclined to regard the matter as fine sport, al-
though Cassim and Ghoolah Khan both declared that if our
machinery broke down and the launch were disabled the

O/< CAPTAIN QUINT OX 205

crocodiles would swarm on board and sink us in spite of all
we might do to prevent it.

We slowed down for some time, and soon noticed that
the crocodiles around us were rapidly increasing in numbers
as well as in boldness. Under ordinary circumstances they
seem to fear the report of firearms, but the squealing of the
pig evidently made them reckless. One man was resting his
rifle on the gunwale in the act of aiming at a crocodile a few
feet away, when another of the brutes suddenly raised his head
close alongside, and, seizing the rifle with his teeth, jerked it
overboard, very nearly carrying the owner along with it. The
brutes now seemed to have lost all fear of firearms, although
the wounded were violently plunging and contorting in every
direction. The situation assumed a more serious aspect when
some of them began to poke their snouts over the side of the
launch and snap at us. So we started up full speed for the
ship. To our utter dismay the whole herd of crocodiles not
only came along with us, but others seemed to spring up
on all sides and join in the pursuit.

It was now near sundown, and would be dark before we
could reach the ship, because in the tropics the darkness fol-
lows almost instantly upon sunset. We knew that crocodiles
are far bolder in the dark than by daylight, and that they
would stay with us as long as we had the pig.

I believe the brutes could smell the pig in the bottom of
the boat, for they followed us all the way to the ship, and
became so aggressive that wre were obliged to drive them off
in a somewhat novel way before getting the pig and dogs
on board. We poured a quantity of kerosene on the water
all around the launch, and, as they usually swim with their
eyes on a level with the surface, the stuff got into their eyes,
and annoyed them to such an extent that they kept at a
distance, and we got safely away.

The young pig which we had captured still showed traces

206 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

of the stripes which distinguish them in youth, for the color

of these wild pigs varies greatly according to age. A very

young one is brownish-yellow with lighter colored stripes,

but this color gradually darkens until it becomes almost black

when the pig is a year old. They attain their full growth in

five years, and the color is then a blue-black,

Most but at the age of eight or nine they begin to

Dangerous get gray. • A full-grown boar weighs a great

Animal in

the Tropics. deal less than a roll-grown tiger; neverthe-
less, a boar in the prime of his life is a match
for any tiger living. A full-grown boar weighs about three
hundred pounds, stands about thirty-eight inches high at the
shoulder, and is nearly five feet long. His tusks are as for-
midable as a pair of 'daggers, and his immense strength, in-
credible ferocity and lightning-like quickness make him one
of the most dangerous animals in the tropics.

These wild pigs have a curious way of protecting them-
selves from the heat in the middle of the day. They cut a
quantity of coarse, rank grass and spread it upon the ground,
after which the whole family crawl underneath it and sleep
comfortably until it is time to go forth and feed. They are
more destructive to crops than any other animal, but the na-
tives have a very cunning way of keeping them out. In the
settlements in the northern part of the Sunderbuns the natives
surround their farms and villages with impenetrable hedges
of giant bamboo and betel nut planted in zigzag fashion. When
full grown the stems are so close together as to form an im-
penetrable barrier as solid as a stone wall, and no animal
living, not even a rhinoceros, could force its way through. I
have seen these hedges so thick that it seemed to me that it
would be impossible for even a snake to wiggle through them.
Moreover these hedges are very beautiful to look at.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 207

CHAPTER XIX

A NIGHT IN THE JUNGLE

We were particularly anxious to go hunting for wild buf-
faloes, and next morning started on a tramp through the
jungle in quest of them. The dogs, which
Our were a little in advance, suddenly began to

First bark excitedly, and the next moment a bull

Rhinoceros, rhinoceros crashed through the bushes and
charged upon the dogs,» scattering them right
and left. Three of us fired, and evidently struck him, for he
instantly turned from the dogs and charged straight at us like
a runaway locomotive. The dogs valiantly closed in upon
him and bit at his hind legs, but of course their teeth
had no effect upon a hide which is proof against the claws
of a tiger. He was only about ten yards away from us, and,
realizing that a rhinoceros always rushes in a straight line,
we leaped aside just in time to avoid his rush and fired two
more shots at him as he passed. He fell heavily to the
ground, and we ran up to examine him, when suddenly he
sprang to his feet, and, giving a loud snort, ran smashing
and tearing through the bushes for a distance of about fifty
feet, and then dropped dead.

These animals are fearfully dangerous, for they stand or
lie among thick bushes and give no indication of their
presence until the unwary hunter approaches their place of
concealment, when, without a moment's warning, they charge
upon him like a thunderbolt. They fear no living animal, and
invariably attack anything that excites their attention, no
matter what it may be. Their eyesight is poor, but their sense

208 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

of smell is excessively keen, and enables them to locate an
enemy at a great distance. If a rhinoceros possessed the
cunning of a wild boar he would undoubtedly be the most
formidable beast in the world; but he is as stupid as he is
ferocious, and seems scarcely to be conscious of what he is
about.

I noticed one peculiarity about the dead rhino which does
not appear to be commonly known, and which may help to
account for their ill-temper. The creases and other sensitive
portions of his skin were alive with ticks and small leeches,
and the biting and burrowing of these pests, together with the
mosquitoes, must be maddening.

We always managed to find our way back to the launch
through a jungle in which there were no trails by cutting a
young tree half through at intervals about four or five feet
from the ground, and bending the upper portion horizontally
across the path, a plan which I had often seen used in the
Australian bush.

We were proceeding in single file, and Koro-
vin, who happened to be in advance, was
Jaws of pushing through some bushes, when a tiger
a Tiger. sprang up suddenly almost from under his
feet and seized him by the right shoulder.
The attack was so sudden that his rifle was knocked out of his
hand before he had time to use it, and, although we all rushed
to his assistance, the tiger was dragging him in such a way
that it was difficult to shoot the tiger without the risk of shoot-
ing Korovin. All hands were excitedly shotting in several dif-
ferent languages, and nobody knew exactly what to do, when
the dogs suddenly darted after the tiger and seized him by
the hind legs with such ferocity that they actually jerked his
feet from under him and brought him down with a thud. The
tiger let go his prey with a harsh, rasping cry and made a
lightning charge upon the dogs, but they dodged his attack

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 209

with marvelous agility. Korovin endeavored to regain
his feet, but Cassim and Ghoolah Khan shouted simulta-
neously, "Lie still ! Lie still ! Don't move, the dogs will draw
him away from you," and also shouted words of encourage-
ment to the brave dogs in a language which they understood.
It was a matter of agility now; they scattered whenever
the tiger charged, then quickly wheeled, snapped fiercely at
his hind quarters, and were off again like the wind before
he could turn to attack them. One dog would deliberately
present himself in front of the tiger and bark furiously to
attract his attention and induce him to charge, but the moment
he did so the other dogs closed in and bit him so savagely
that his hindquarters were bleeding as though they had been
cut with knives. The dogs had cunningly drawn the tiger
some distance from Korovin, when the poor frightened crea-
ture jumped up and escaped. Watching our opportunity we all
fired together and the tiger fell, apparently dead.

The dogs were now about to rush upon him again, but
Cassim and Ghoolah Khan excitedly called them off, and also
shouted warning to us not to approach too close, as he was
not dead, but only shamming, though he lay as rigid as a log
of wood, and certainly looked dead as the proverbial doornail.
The dogs were much excited, and in spite of the warning
cries of the two natives, one of them rushed in and began
worrying his fallen enemy, when like a flash the tiger sprang
to his feet and laid him dead with a single stroke of his paw.
Two of our men instantly fired more bullets into him at short
range, and he gave one convulsive bound and fell dead.

Korovin's shoulder proved to be badly lacer-

Nativc ated, though not as badly as we expected,

Surgery. and the next question was to know what to

do for it. Cassim and Ghoolah Khan de-
clared that they had seen several such cases, and that it
was an established fact that the best of all remedies known

210 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

for such a bite was fresh wood ashes applied while hot. They
explained that this remedy caused great pain, but was the
best antiseptic known, and was sure to prevent any serious
after effects; otherwise a tiger's bite is liable to cause blood
poison. The natives are generally right in such matters, and
we could do nothing better than follow their advice, especially
as we had no other remedy at hand; but our chief difficulty
was to light a fire where every thing was so damp. The
two natives managed to find some half-dry sticks, which
were whittled into kindling with our knives, and after a
great deal of trouble we succeeded in getting up a fire by
burning up all of our spare clothing. After washing the
wound with some of the fresh water we had brought along,
Cassim unwound his turban and bound a quantity of ashes
upon Korovin's shoulder, while the rest of us prepared a lit-
ter, which we lashed together with bark and vines. We did
not waste time in skinning that tiger, but before leaving
we scooped out a grave and buried the dog, after which
we took turns at carrying the wounded man back to the
launch.

Continuing the hunt was now out of the question, so at
daylight we towed down the river and returned to Calcutta
to put Korovin under the care of a doctor. The fresh wood
ashes which had been applied to his wounds caused him great
suffering, but the medical authorities whom we consulted in
Calcutta assured us that it was the best possible remedy which
under the circumstances we could have used. They also as-
sured us that it would not be safe for Korovin to leave the
hospital for a month or six weeks, and since they did not wish
to proceed without him the other members of the party had
no alternative but to await his recovery.

Incidentally the doctors gave us some good advice on the
subject of malaria. They said that the Sunderbuns was the
hotbed of miasmatic fever, and that the chief reason why

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 211

none of us had suffered from it was because we always slept
on board the vessel instead of sleeping ashore.

During the enforced delay which followed the other mem-
bers of the party proceeded to Port Canning, at the head of
the Mutla River, about twenty-two miles southeast of Cal-
cutta. They traveled by rail from Calcutta to Port Canning,
and upon their arrival they found the Mutla River so favor-
able for hunting that they sent me word to bring the ship
around to Port Canning, which I did with the assistance of
a native pilot. We still retained Cassim and Ghoolah Khan,
although some of the party blamed these two men for the ac-
cident to Korovin because they were not leading us at the time
of the occurrence. But Korovin, like a hero, exonerated
them from all blame and declared it was his own fault for
pushing so far ahead of the rest of us. In reality the best
plan in these hunts is to let the dogs lead the way, which
they are always more than willing to do. The intelligence of
these animals is wonderful, and it is only necessary to point
out to them the direction in which you wish to go and they
will spread out in front of the hunters and examine every
clump of bush so carefully that nothing really dangerous es-
capes their observation.

The second day after the arrival of the vessel

We Spend we determined to spend the night in the trees

9. Night on the bank of the stream, where wild animals

in Tree*. were in the habit of drinking. Each hunter

took care to provide himself with a piece of
mosquito netting in which to swathe his head, as mosquitoes
are dreadfully troublesome at night, and we rubbed our hands
with some native preparation which in a measure prevents
these pestiferous creatures from biting, and in pairs took our
positions in trees, which we climbed by means of the large
vines hanging from the branches. Darkness followed almost
immediately upon sunset and the alternate eerie noises and

212 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

death-like silence which pervade the lonely forest by day gave
place to a weird chorus of unearthly cries and growls and
prowling noises as night approached. Darkness had scarcely
fallen when a jackal set up a series of hideous yowls close by
our place of concealment, though the brute himself was en-
tirely invisible to us. The water-fowl kept up an incessant
clatter all night long, and it seems strange how these crea-
tures manage to escape the crocodiles, which not only swarm
in all the streams, but also hunt their prey at considerable
distances inland during the hours of darkness.

Low, moaning sounds seemed to float in the

A Thrilling a*r» an(^ occasionally a wilder call resounded

Night in from the depths of the jungle. I was watch-

the Jungle. ing the ground near our tree when I noticed

the faint outline of some large animal moving
toward the stream as noiselessly as a shadow. I touched my
companion, who was a little higher up in the tree, and silently
directed his attention to it, and a moment later* we saw a
tiger steal silently across a streak of moonlight which streamed
between the trees. We both took aim, but he instantly disap-
peared in a deep shadow. Presently he came into view again,
and in shifting my position to get a better aim I happened to
make a very slight noise. Slight as it was it attracted his at-
tention, for he instantly wheeled halfway round and glanced
warily about him but did not look up, for it is a singular fact
that wild animals very seldom look upward. The uncertain
light rendered aiming somewhat a matter of chance, but fear-
ing that he might disappear again I took hurried aim and
pulled the trigger of my gun.

Simultaneously with the report of the rifle the tiger
emitted a furious, angry cry, and sprang directly up the trunk
of the tree where we were perched, and almost touched our
legs. It is impossible to say whether he would have succeeded
in climbing it or not, for my partner immediately fired straight

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 213

down the trunk and killed him on the spot. The report of
the rifles and the ear-splitting roar of the tiger seemed to
rouse the savage denizens of the jungle, and for miles around
it was as though pandemonium had broken loose. Savage
cries and shrieks of fear resounded in a prolonged uproar
from every direction, mingled with the sound of heavy bodies
breaking through the bushes in a frantic race for safety.

The uproar was at its height when we heard three sharp,
whistling snorts and a rhinoceros came warily through the
jungle, but stopped short and began sniffing the air exactly
as though he had detected our presence. Four of us fired
right into him and he fell, but almost instantly regained his
feet and, with more snorting and wild-eyed astonishment,
rushed headlong through the bush like a runaway loco-
motive.

Two members of the party who were posted in a tree

nearer the water had a more serious adventure which came

very near ending in tragedy. Seeing what they supposed to be

a tiger stealing by the foot of their tree, one of them fired

and wounded it, whereupon it set up a most appalling series

of blood-curdling yells, screams and roars, showing that it

was a leopard and not a tiger. It turned out that there were

two leopards instead of one, and the wounded

Treed animal, which happened to be the female,

by sprang into a deep shadow which concealed

Leopards. her from view after receiving her death
wound. While the two hunters were peering
down and trying to discover her whereabouts her male com-
panion nimbly climbed the tree on the opposite side, and the
hunters only became aware of his presence when he thrust
his head around the trunk and yowled in the ear of the
lower man. As almost any one may imagine, that man wasted
no time turning his rifle around to shoot the beast, just as the
creature was clutching at him with its claws. But in doing

214 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

so he either lost his grip of the rifle or the leopard knocked
it out of his hand, for it fell heavily to the ground and the
man instantly sprang farther out on the branch upon which
he was perched and, although he had no time to turn himself
around, drew his revolver and began firing backwards just as
his companion, on a branch higher up, fired and mortally
wounded the beast. Although wounded to the death the leop-
ard managed to retain his hold for a few moments amid the
thick branches, and the screams he set up roused his mate
to the utmost fury. It happened that she had only been shot
through the flank, and hearing her male companion screaming
in his death agony she bounded up the tree and was fairly on
the hunters before they realized it, clutching one of them by
the calf of the leg, so that her dagger-like claws cut through
his canvas legging as though they had been slashed with a
knife, inflicting a long, though light scar upon the skin be-
neath. The man with the rifle pressed the muzzle close to her
face in order to make sure of his aim, her jaws closed on the
barrel just as he fired, and she was killed instantly.

A little later my companion fancied that he

A Hideous saw some animal moving near by and reached

Snake Climbs out his hand to pick up his rifle, which he had

Up to Us. laid across a couple of branches close to the

trunk of the tree. He screamed with sur-
prise as his hand came down on something cold and clammy,
and a loud angry hiss warned us of the proximity of a serpent
of some kind. We both crawled a little farther out on the
branches and tried to locate the lurking reptile, but it was too
dark to see clearly enough. We were inclined to think that
it was a boa constrictor, though the guides had warned us
that numbers of the poisonous snakes also habitually climb
trees, and in the darkness one was about as dangerous as the
other. It was evidently crawling over my partner's rifle, con-
sequently I handed him mine and told him I would light some

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 215

matches while he stood ready to crush it with the butt of the
rifle.

Although we spoke in a low tone our voices seemed to
irritate the reptile and it gave another loud hiss apparently
nearer to us than the preceding one. I struck some matches
and the light revealed the body of a large snake slowly as-
cending the trunk of the tree while its head was stretched
out on the branch on which my partner sat. The light went
out as he was about to strike it, and I hurriedly struck some
more matches and my partner quickly brought down the butt
of the rifle, crushing the reptile's head. It writhed and lashed
itself about in the most violent manner for some time, then
slowly relaxed and slipped to the ground.

The shots seemed to have frightened the rest of the game
from our immediate vicinity and for the remainder of the
night we caught only a few fleeting glimpses of animals steal-
ing noiselessly by, though we frequently heard the sound of
larger prey forcing their way through the bushes.

As soon as daylight appeared we examined
The *^e dead snake, which lay where it had fallen,

Deadly and were rejoiced to find that it was a fine
Hamadryad. specimen of the hamadryad, or ophiophagus
elaps, the largest poisonous serpent in the
world. The native guides called it a sunerkor and declared
it the most dreaded of all serpents of India, not only on ac-
count of its deadly venom, but also on account of its fierce
and aggressive disposition, for it unites the venom of the
cobra with the strength of the boa constrictor and is always
more ready to fight than run. It was not of the largest size
by any means, although it measured twelve feet. A stuffed
specimen which we afterwards saw in the museum in Cal-
cutta measured sixteen feet.

The one we killed was dark olive green above, with numer-
ous V-shaped cross-bands of dirty white or whitish yellow

216 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

converging towards the head, and the belly was a uniform
pale green. It had large shields or scales surrounding the
back of the head, and these shields, together with the scales of
the neck, the hinder part of the body and the tail, were light-
colored in the center and edged with black. Its head ap-
peared to be round, rather than flat and triangular, like the
heads of many poisonous serpents, and I was surprised to see
that its fangs were comparatively short. At first we supposed
that its fangs had been broken, but upon examination we
found that the gun had descended upon the neck instead of
the head and had almost severed the head from the body. It
had a thin, tapering tail, which measured about one-fifth of
its entire length. I afterwards learned that its poison con-
tains about ninety-five per cent, of nerve-destroying and about
five per cent, of blood-destroying elements, and the fatal bite
causes scarcely any suffering. The poison of the viperoids, on
the other hand, contains about ninety-five per cent, of blood-
destroying and about five per cent, of nerve-destroying ele-
ments and causes untold agony. The only good thing that
can be said in the hamadryad's favor is that it lives upon
other serpents, which it readily overcomes by means of its
great strength and deadly venom.

The natives attended to skinning the snake

After the and the other creatures which had been shot,

Wounded while the others started to follow up the

loceros. wounded rhinoceros. There was no difficulty

in following him, for he left a trail which

looked as though a cart had been forcibly driven through the

jungle, and it was surprising to see the thick bushes which

he had broken off in his stampede. We followed the trail for

about two hundred yards, when it suddenly turned off at a

right angle to the left and a little further on we found the

rhinoceros lying dead beside a bunch of trees. It struck me

that the senseless practice of slaughtering inoffensive animals

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 217

is little short of criminal, although it undoubtedly is right
enough to kill animals which are dangerous to human life.

We were on our way back to the launch when we noticed
something moving towards us through the grass and bushes
and stopped to investigate. It was a large crocodile evidently
returning home after a night of hunting. We were between
him and the stream, and we knew that no matter where a
crocodile may be placed he always, with unerring instinct,
makes for the nearest water.

The crocodile lunged open-mouthed at the man who hap-
pened to be nearest him. Two of us fired at his side as he
rushed past and one of the bullets penetrated his side just
back of the foreleg, where a wound usually proves fatal to a
crocodile.

The blood was streaming from his mouth and he was un-
doubtedly mortally wounded, but in spite of all he turned so
quickly upon my partner that the latter only saved himself
from the savage snap of his jaws by leaping nimbly aside.
But a crocodile is equally dangerous at both ends, and the
savage brute aimed a blow at him with his tail in passing,
which undoubtedly would have broken both legs, if indeed it
had not killed him outright. Seeing that it was too late to
get out of the way, he had the presence of mind to throw him-
self flat on the ground just in time to avoid it.

2i8 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XX

HUNTING BUFFALOES AND TIGERS WITH A DEADLY BOA FOR

COMPANY

It was at this stopping place in our strange travels that we
acquired a tame mongoose for a pet. The shy little animal

did not prove as friendly as we expected, for

A Battle ** ^ve<^ *n a state °* btoer hostility towards

of Mongoose the dogs and regarded them always as intru-

and Cobra. ders. We were obliged to exercise constant

vigilance in order to preserve peace between
them. The movements of the little mongoose were quick and
serpentine like those of a weasel, and when excited it scam-
pered about so rapidly that the most active squirrel would ap-
pear slow and clumsy by comparison. Always anxious to
accompany us on our hunting expeditions, it would dash and
flash through the bushes in quest of prey, but would always
return promptly to us when we called it.

One day when we landed from the launch and had gone
a short distance inland our little friend the mongoose darted
like lightning into a thick clump of bushes, and a moment later
a large cobra came out from the bushes hissing and dancing
in front of him. Instantly it coiled into a fighting attitude,
its head reared a couple of feet from the ground. Its hood
was distended and its forked tongue darted like slim tendrils
from its mouth, while evil gimlet eyes glared in suppressed
fear and anger. The mongoose crouched deftly before it;
nose close to the ground and hindquarters erect, its tiny red-
dish eyes blazing like coals of fire. The cobra swayed its
head and the upper portion of the body lithely from side to

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 219

side as a feint to lure the intent enemy within range of its
deadly fangs. The mongoose remained motionless and keenly
alert. The cobra then changed its tactics and swiftly swayed its
head backwards and forwards with evident intention of dart-
ing at the little fellow. Cunningly it increased the length of
its oscillations by almost imperceptible degrees until at length
into the air it sprang and darted at the mongoose. Quick as
the cobra was the mongoose was quicker, springing just far
enough to evade the strike of the deadly fangs. Instantly the
cobra recovered its former attitude. The illusive mongoose
again crouched in front of it. In our opinion the advantage
at this point was entirely with the mongoose, for it seemed
almost to be resting while the cobra was exhausting itself by
the tremendous exertion of holding over two-thirds of its
body erect. Watching its opportunity the cobra made an-
other swift dart and another and another, but each attack was
easily evaded. The mongoose then changed its policy and be-
gan dancing and leaping around the cobra with such quick-
ness and agility that it was difficult for the eye to follow.
The cobra swayed just enough to be constantly facing the
enemy, but it made no attempt to strike and presently both
resumed their first watchful attitudes. Slowly and deliber-
ately the cobra swayed its head backwards and forwards as be-
fore, when the mongoose, with a sudden spring, pretended to
seize the reptile by the throat. The cobra as promptly met
the expected attack. The mongoose once again leaped aside
and then, quicker than the eye could follow, jumped upon the
reptile from behind, seized the back of its head in a vicelike
grip in which the cobra was helpless. It writhed and twisted
and wound its body around the mongoose, but the plucky little
animal retained its hold. They struggled in battle royal for
a short time, but the little victor planted one of its forefeet
on the cobra's head and held it down the way a dog would
hold a bone and quickly dispatched its enemy with its teeth.

220 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The little enemy to the deadliest of all reptiles was so ex-
hausted after the hard fight that we sent her back to the
launch, where she coiled up and slept for hours.

We were still anxious to secure some heads

„ of the wild buffalo which are found hereabouts

Hunting . .

Wild m the swamps, not having found any trace

Buffaloes. of such big game in the first places in which
we had landed, so we returned to the launch
and proceeded further up the stream until we sighted a herd
of big fellows feeding on the edge of a swamp. We ran the
launch close in to the bank and were then obliged to wade
through deep mud overgrown with long grass. This was a
dangerous situation, for the mud came to our knees and these
savage brutes are so perfectly at home in swamps and mire
that it is impossible to phase them. More than this, we had
no place of concealment in case they charged at us. We
stealthily made for firmer ground within a short distance of
the herd and fired into them. Two of the largest bulls fell
and the others charged instantly at us. We set out with might
and main for the boat, and as we reached it they were so
close upon us that one of the native hunters tripped and fell
and was killed by the maddened animals. Safe and sound on
the launch we shot two more of them, while the rest of the
herd retreated, snorting with rage and shaking their heads
in what looked like baffled fury. As soon as they were out of
sight we landed again, however, and it was necessary to use
the greatest caution in doing so, for these wild buffaloes are
as cunning and treacherous as they are fierce and intelligent
in attack.

When one of them is wounded or conscious of being
hunted and discovers that he cannot reach the hunter any
other way, he will run straight ahead for some distance and,
returning by a detour, conceal himself in bushes close to the
trail which he has left, and remain there still as a statue until

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 221

his pursuer approaches, when he charges like a thunderbolt at
him, and oftener kills him than not.

We had advanced some distance when we heard a shot in
front of us and a sudden rushing of one or more large ani-
mals through the jungle near by. After this all became quiet
again. Cassim and Ghoolah Khan, the natives with us, led the
way a couple of hundred yards further, where suddenly they
stopped, and pointed to a buffalo bull standing motionless in
a clump of bushes about thirty yards away. We took careful
aim at him and fired. Two bullets struck him back of the
shoulder ; and though he was mortally wounded he charged at
us and we jumped aside only in the nick of time to avoid his
charge, just as he received another bullet, this one in the
heart. He ran twenty yards further, wheeled and charged
at us again, but fell with a groan that was half bellow and
died almost at our feet.

These formidable brutes are considered much
More more dangerous hunting than the tiger, for a

Dathan°US tiger rarelv attacks a man un^ss he can steal

Tigers. upon him unawares, whereas the buffalo will

lunge at either man or tiger without any

provocation whatsoever. The tiger will devour buffalo calves

whenever he has the opportunity, but he fears the full-grown

buffalo even as he fears his dreaded enemy the rhinoceros.

We cut off the heads of the slain buffaloes and carried them

to the launch by slinging each one on a long pole. We also

saved the hides, which were highly valuable.

Some hunters shoot these buffaloes solely for the sake of
preserving their magnificent horns. The method which they
adopt for cleaning the head of a buffalo or crocodile is as
simple as it is effective. They simply leave the head near an
ant hill. The ants remove every particle of flesh and skin in
a very short time.

Buffalo horns furnish the favorite material for bows

222 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

throughout Asia, especially in the southern and eastern por-
tions. The elasticity of these bows is little short of wonderful
and they retain their vigor and elasticity indefinitely instead
of deteriorating as wooden bows do. The war bows are
nearly six feet long. They are much lighter than a wooden
bow and are so enormously strong as to require a pull of sixty
to a hundred pounds. This is the bow which made the fero-
cious Tartar savages the terror of the heathen world. It is
by means of this weapon that the Tartar hordes spread death
and destruction from the shores of the China Sea to the Baltic,
to the Mediterranean and the Nile and from Delhi to Mos-
cow. Asiatics draw the bow-string principally with the thumb.
They wear a broad thumb-ring made of ivory or bronze or
even gold, according to the rank of the wearer. The ring has
a groove on the inside for holding the bow-string. When the
archer seizes the string with his thumb he bends the fore-
finger over it to strengthen his grip. They claim that this
method enables them to release the arrow without disturbing
the aim as the European method tends to do. The arrows
are fitted with barbed steel points, and winged with three
small feathers, and for the most part are tipped with deadly
poison.

Wishing to test such a bow and arrow in actual hunting
we took one along with us one day in the launch and the
guides led the way up one of the numerous streams where
wild animals were in the habit of drinking. We followed a
poorly defined trail into the jungle and soon reached the point
where it divided. Following the trail to the right we soon
emerged upon the bank of another creek where an unusually
large crocodile lay apparently fast asleep on the opposite bank.
Strange to say, his head was not turned towards the water,
and his cavernous mouth was opened to its fullest extent.
The carrier of the bow and arrows quickly placed a poisoned
shaft and taking careful aim discharged it at the sleeping

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 223

monster, striking him squarely in the throat. Startled at so
rude an awakening he snapped his jaws together and lashed
his tail as he bounded down the bank and plunged into the
water. Soon he reappeared upon the surface. That he was
suffering great pain was most apparent from his actions. In
a twinkling he turned over belly uppermost and undoubtedly
sank to furnish a meal for his cannibalistic companions.

It was still quite early in the morning, the
Hunting time when wild animals are in the habit of
LaF4ithGame drinkinS before retiring for the day. Fearing
War-bow. ^est our shooting might have alarmed any
game which might be in the neighborhood we
moved on a half mile further up the creek. All wild animals
except the most daring fear to drink where the banks of the
stream are covered with scrub or thick forest. Some instinct
tells them that enemies may be hiding there and they will
travel great distances to find an open place. After searching
for some time we found a promising place in which to conceal
ourselves, opposite what seemed to us a good drinking place
for wild animals, and from which two or three trails radiated
into the jungle. Scarcely had we taken up our position when
a family of pigs under the leadership of a huge gaunt boar
came down to the stream and began to drink. We sent a
poisoned arrow clean through a half-grown pig and the rest
of them set up a loud squealing, while the valiant boar held
himself erect, uttering his defiant "Woof! Woof!" and look-
ing eagerly about for some enemy upon which to wreak ven-
geance. His frightened brood crowded close together, when
suddenly a second arrow from our hidden cover brought down
another. At this the rest broke and ran, the courageous boar
bringing up the rear, and as long as he was in sight he kept
wheeling from side to side challenging the unseen enemy to
come forth to mortal combat. Cassim and Ghoolah Khan,
who were still with us, swam across the creek and recovered

224 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

the young pigs that we had killed. They placed the entrails
in thick bushes about thirty yards away on our side of the
creek. Many small wild animals and one or two deer came
to drink, but we did not trouble them, because the crocodiles
were gathering thick and fast in the stream and it was too
late and too dangerous to attempt to cross it.

Before long a solitary buffalo bull marched down and
slaked his thirst, and proceeded to roll himself in the mud and
water, utterly indifferent to the crocodiles. His mud bath
over, he leisurely emerged within a few yards of our hiding
place and suddenly became alert, sniffing the air inquiringly
and shaking his head as though he had detected the presence
of enemies. Ghoolah Khan aimed an arrow, which struck him
behind the shoulder. Up he leaped into the air, bellowing,
and much to our astonishment fell down heavily on his side.
Almost instantly the poisoned animal regained his feet, how-
ever, and darted into the jungle. We knew that he was mor-
tally wounded, so we followed him for about half a mile and
found him kicking and struggling on the ground in great
agony. We shot him through the brain and ended his suf-
fering. We saved the head and left the carcass to the tigers
or other carnivorous animals and posted ourselves in trees to
watch for more game. Within a very few minutes a jackal
sneaked out of the jungle, glanced cautiously about and began
feeding upon the bull carcass. We were about to frighten
him away when Cassim whispered that his presence would
surely attract any tigers that might be round about. Sure
enough, the jackal continued eating ravenously for a little
while, then suddenly stopped, gazed fixedly into the jungle
and a moment later a tiger and a tigress cautiously emerged.
The sight of the jackal enjoying such a sumptuous meal
apparently filled them with wrath, and they stole towards
him, but he promptly bounded into the jungle and disap-
peared.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 225

The tigers, naturally suspicious, glanced warily around,
sniffing the air apprehensive of danger. The fact that the
jackal was there probably allayed their fears and very soon
they, too, began a feast upon the hindquarters of the buffalo
bait. At a given signal every member of our party fired
simultaneously and both tigers fell, mortally wounded; but
while we were climbing out of the trees the tigress regained
her feet and bounded into the jungle. We followed her trail
and came upon her in a clump of bushes, and though she was
wounded mortally she was still full of fight and attempted to
charge at us, but we shot her down at short range.

We secured the skins of both the tigers and pitched camp
in a cool, shady place during the hottest part of that day.
Cassim and Ghoolah Khan cooked a young pig for our lunch-
eon and while we were resting Ghoolah Khan regaled us with
interesting reminiscences of the manners and customs of the
people of ancient India.

While we were listening to Khan's strange

In the stories Cassim suddenly called our attention

Coils o to something moving through the grass not

constrictor. ^ar awav- WG got up and looked, and to our

horror discovered it to be a large boa-con-
strictor. It attempted to glide away at our approach, but
finding its retreat cut off it began to hiss loudly and endeav-
ored to escape by coiling itself up into a tree. We wanted its
skin in as good condition as possible, so we endeavored to
break its neck with sticks. The ugly creature anticipated us
and darted like a streak of lightning at Cassim, coiling itself
around him in such a way as to completely disable him. He
must surely have been crushed to death had no one been near.
Cassim raised his hand to protect his face, and the boa had
just sunk its fangs into his hand when every man of us rushed
in and seized him. The hideous writhing thing struck out
savagely with its tail and I received a blow across the shins

226 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

which felt exactly like the blow of a club. We dispatched
him and Cassim was saved from a hideous death and the skin
of the boa was added to the day's collection.

Late in the afternoon of this most eventful day we re-
turned to the launch, and the two sailors who had been left
in charge of it reported that many wild animals had come
there to drink during our absence. An unusually fine buffalo
bull stepped out of the jungle on the opposite side of the
stream almost on the moment of our return and was in the
act of drinking when I fired and hit him. Instantly he wheeled
around and disappeared in the long grass. We hurried after
him, Ghoolah Khan climbed a tree to discover his where-
abouts. He saw him standing motionless in a clump of bushes
about a hundred and fifty yards further on and a little to the
left of the trail which he had been following. We made a
slight detour and advanced noiselessly for a distance of about
a hundred and thirty yards, when all of a sudden he made a
dash for us, charged like lightning at us, but every man, bent
on self-preservation, leveled his gun and fired a volley which
brought him down on the spot.

While the two natives were removing the hide and head
I noticed the grass moving very gently in the distance, so I
slipped behind some bushes and watched to see what it meant.
I was scarcely out of sight when a leopard loomed into view,
moving as silently as a shadow and stopping occasionally to
sniff the air. Obviously he was making towards the carcass
of the buffalo, of which he had evidently caught the scent.
Reaching a convenient tree, he sprang up into it as lightly as
a cat and stretched himself along one of the branches, from
which he could carefully watch the natives at their work.
Vastly interested was he in the skinning process and patiently
waited to secure a meal as soon as everybody had retired. I
leveled my gun, took the most careful aim I knew how to
take, and fired. Almost simultaneously with the report of the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 227

rifle he bounded into the air and set up a series of blood-
curdling shrieks and screams as he clutched wildly at the
branch and fell heavily to the ground. He tore up the grass
beneath the tree in his ravings until another shot from my
rifle entered his brain and finished him.

The natives in this region suffer great losses from cattle-
killing tigers and 'leopards, yet they seem to be incapable of
comprehending that it would be cheaper to buy firearms with
which to kill the marauders than to lose their cattle. It seems
useless to argue with them on the subject, since every man
moves in the same rut as his father did before him, and such
a thing as initiative or an independent action is utterly incom-
prehensible to them.

One day during our sojourn a deputation of
Spearing settlers visited us and begged us to kill a
Tigers. certain tiger that had devoured so many of
their cattle that they were afraid to drive
them to pasture. They offered as reward an ample meal of
curry and rice for all the neighbors who would volunteer to
act as beaters, and to the hunters themselves. Enough curry
and rice was prepared to feed two hundred people and we
volunteered the services of our steam launch to tow native
canoes as near as possible to the scene of action, where we
found an assemblage of upwards of eight hundred natives who
declared they had tracked the tiger into the jungle close by
and they believed that he was still concealed there, because
there were no tracks leading out of it. Nets were spread in
a semi-circle on the edge of the jungle and a deputation of
men remained in charge of them while others surrounded the
section of underbrush in which the tiger was thought to be.

At a signal from the leader the huge company of beaters
began blowing horns and beating tomtoms and yelling like
bedlam let loose as they slowly advanced in a great semi-
circle. We had brought along a number of rockets, thinking

228 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

to assist the natives with them, and we had taken up our posi-
tions near the net, keeping a sharp lookout to guard against
surprise and accident. All at once we caught sight of the
tiger crawling through the underbrush stealthily and evi-
dently planning to break through the line. We discharged
two of the rockets, which struck the ground in front of him
and he hastily plunged back into the long grass and low bushes
from which he had emerged. The uproar from the shouting
beaters continued until suddenly the bewildered tiger found
himself in the meshes of the net. It was necessary, of course,
to close down the ends as quickly as possible before he discov-
ered that he was in a trap, so there was a general skirmish to
close in stealthily, because if he discovers that he is trapped,
the tiger is sure to make a desperate charge to regain his
liberty. As it was he took swift refuge in a small clump of
bushes in the center of the enclosure and the ends of the net
were closed in without further difficulty. The spears, which
the natives had ranged around the outside of the semi-circle
enclosed by the net, were more than twelve feet long with
steel heads shaped like a double-edged dagger and sharp as a
razor. Promptly seizing their smaller hand spears the blacks
ran about shouting and blowing crude horns to further terrify
the tiger. Then almost as though they were drilled to it they
formed in close order and presented an unbroken circle of
short spears while a few "outsiders" tried to drive him from
his retreat with enormously long bamboo poles. We rallied
to their assistance by again discharging half a dozen rockets
into the bush, and this time two ferocious tigers sprang out,
charging open-mouthed into the net. If it had not been tre-
mendously strong and securely fastened the tigers would have
torn it to shreds in short order, but it was so loose and so well
managed that it yielded to their impact and they soon became
almost hopelessly tangled up in it. Those of the natives who
were stationed directly in front instantly attacked the tigers

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 229

with long spears and before they could escape they were pretty
badly cut up. They succeeded in extricating themselves, how-
ever, and once more retreated to the bushes, whence a fresh
discharge of rockets again drove them forth. This time one
tangled again in the net, and the other sprang on top of it,
bearing down the upper edge until it was less than four feet
from the ground. A shout of alarm went up from every one
as they instantly realized this unexpected danger, and instantly,
from all quarters, we rallied to one point of attack. The tilt-
ing animal freed his forequarters and in less time than it takes
to tell it cleared the net, and the force of his jump knocked
half a dozen net-holders off their feet. Determined to escape
this time, he put up as fine a fight as I ever witnessed, and
even seized one of the pointed spears in his mouth, snapping
it clean off at the head. Brave as he was that magnificent
fighter was no match for the circle of long spears, and though
he fought desperately to the very last he fell dead beside his
companion, who lay in the net defeated and utterly exhausted
with her efforts to escape.

When the fight was all over the natives performed a curi-
ous ceremony of dipping their hands into blood of the slain
tigers and smearing it on their foreheads, muttering an in-
cantation to their gods begging them to endow the victors
with the strength and courage of the tiger.

THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XXI

MORE FAKIR MAGIC AND A HUMOROUS RHINOCEROS

The two days before setting sail from this point we spent

ashore in Port Canning, and Ghoolah Khan insisted that we

see the best-known fakir of the port perform

The Startling the startling trick of cutting a boy to pieces,

Trick of immediately mending him up and restoring

CBoyn?oa him t0 life aSain' We had heard of this
Pieces. trick frequently, and seized the opportunity

of actually witnessing it. In prompt order
Ghoolah Khan turned up, accompanied by a very dirty, gray-
haired old man and a boy, neither of whom wore anything in
the way of drapery but the usual turban and loin cloth. The
old one promptly threw down upon the ground a large sack
which he carried and both man and boy salaamed profoundly
before us. The boy then seated himself upon the ground while
the old man opened the bag and extracted from it a large ball
of common twine. Holding the loose end of the twine in his
hand, he threw the ball straight up into the air, and it rose
rapidly until it disappeared entirely from sight. He then let
go the lower end, but the twine remained hanging perpendicu-
larly as though the upper end were fastened to some object
up yonder which we could not see. A light breeze was blow-
ing, and I noticed particularly that the twine was perfectly
motionless. The wind had absolutely no effect upon it.

After muttering some perfectly incoherent words the old
man seized the twine with one hand and tried to pull it down ;
finding it did not yield he grasped it with both hands and ap-
peared to pull with all his might. He then feigned to become

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 231

very angry because he could not recover the ball and said
something in his own language to the boy who, without a
word, seized the string with both hands, pulled himself up
from the ground and deliberately climbed hand over hand
upon the string until, like the ball, he, too, completely disap-
peared from view.

The twine still hung limp in the air and the fakir stood
staring upward for a minute or two as though expecting to
hear something from the boy. He called to him several times
at the top of his voice and apparently became more enraged
every moment at receiving no answer. At last, losing all con-
trol over himself, he ran to his bag, took out a murderous-
looking curved knife, and placed the back of it in his mouth,
then, seizing the twine, he also climbed rapidly up it until he
disappeared from view. In a few minutes we heard a piercing
shriek which sounded as though it came from a very great
height and, looking up, we saw something falling through the
air slowly. It struck the ground within a few feet of where
we stood, and we all gazed at it, amazed and horrified to see
that it was the head of the boy covered with blood and still
wearing the turban. As we looked in speechless horror a
bloodstained arm fell beside it, and in another moment the
other arm followed. Then down came each of the legs in turn,
and last of all the dismembered body fell with a heavy thud
and rebounded on the ground. The fakir then deliberately
climbed down the twine, the knife, bloodstained, between his
teeth, and throwing it upon the ground quietly pulled down
the twine and rolled it into a ball without the slightest diffi-
culty. He proceeded quickly to gather up his bag, which had
been lying spread out on the ground, and in it he placed the
fragments of the boy. Then facing us and covering his face
in the usual way with the palms of his hands he bowed very
low, threw the bag over his shoulder and started to walk away.
Before he had gone a dozen steps something inside the bag

232 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

began to kick and struggle. The old man stopped and with
well-feigned surprise opened the bag, whence the boy stepped,
wreathed in smiles and perfectly sound, showing not the
slightest trace of injury of any kind.

By this time we had begun to doubt the evidence of our
own senses and, fearing to trust our eyes, we felt of the boy
to make sure that he was really a human being and not a
spirit or a shadow. The fakir smiled at this evident high ap-
preciation of his performance. We attempted to question him,
but the attempt was useless, and he declined to say anything
about his performance.

I have been asked a great many questions about this spe-
cial trick, but it is utterly useless to discuss the matter, for the
simple reason that no satisfactory explanation of it seems
possible. Had we been the only white people to witness it I
would not attempt to tell of it here, because I should be pooh-
poohed. Thousands of people have seen it, to be sure, but so
far as I know no one has ever explained it satisfactorily. I
even had some photographs of it in my possession until they
were destroyed in the great San Francisco fire. Even if a
fakir could hypnotize the spectators it is absurd to say that
he could hypnotize the camera. Moreover, I do not believe
that we were hypnotized, nor do I believe, on the other hand,
that a boy was cut to pieces. After studying the matter over
for years I am still unable to reach any satisfying conclusion
concerning this marvelous piece of jugglery.

We met another fakir one day, and for fun
Another told him that one of us would conceal a coin

Trick that which he was weicome to if he could tell

Astonished .

Us. which one had it. He was placed in such a

position that he could not possibly see what
took place; we all sat in a circle and one man placed a coin
on his knee, covering it with his hand. We all sat with our
hands on our knees looking absolutely unconcerned, and with-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 233

out a moment's hesitation the fakir pointed to the hand which
covered the coin and, furthermore, declared it to be a Russian
ruble (which it was), though it is not likely he had ever heard
of such a piece of money before. It has always seemed
strange to me to come in actual contact with men who appar-
ently possess faculties bordering on the miraculous and re-
alize that they lead such wretched lives as they do, content to
perform feats astounding to the brightest minds in Christen-
dom for the price of a pound of rice.

We passed through Siberoet Strait, immediately north of
the island of the same name, and anchored in the mouth of
the Padang River. The picturesque town of Padang, which
is the chief settlement of the Dutch on the west coast of Su-
matra, is situated on the north side of the river, and the land
on this side is low and marshy, while the south side is bold
and lofty. The district surrounding Padang is called Menang-
kabau, a corruption of Menang Karabau. It is interesting
to note that the gable ends of the native houses hereabout are
built to represent the head and horns of the big game of the
district, the native word for which is karabau (water buffalo).

A romantic tradition to which is probably

A traceable the origin of this name is as follows :

Savage The tribe inhabiting Menang Karabau had

Tug o' War. t^en at war with an island tribe for many

years until most of the best men in both
parties were killed off and the tribes had been reduced to the
verge of starvation, principally owing to the fact that each
feared to plant crops lest the enemy, attracted by them, might
come at harvest time as marauders. The chiefs of the warring
tribes held various consultations, at last agreeing to settle
future differences as follows : Each side might select an animal
and pit it against an animal chosen by the other tribe. The
two animals were enclosed in the corral and left to fight until

234 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

one had killed the other ; the tribe whose animal won were de-
clared to be victors and the other tribe must submit to what-
ever terms the enemy dictated. The inhabitants of Menang
Karabau invariably chose a water buffalo, while their enemies
chose a tiger. The battles were fierce and bloody and both
parties watched the issue with intense solicitude, realizing that
the fate of the entire tribe depended upon the result.

We made several trips into the interior to investigate valu-
able deposits of gold, tin, copper, coal and other minerals
plentifully scattered throughout this island. We also visited
an extinct volcano, Mount Talang, which has three craters,
one of which is filled with the finest variety of sulphur. We
soon realized that while Sumatra is one of the most beautiful
islands in the world it is also one of the most unpleasant on
which to travel. The average rainfall is fifteen feet, the heat
is frightful and mosquitoes, leeches and flies make life a burden.

It is possible to guard against the mosquitoes and even
flies, but there seems to be no way of escaping the pestiferous
leeches which infest the leaves and underbrush through which
one is obliged to pass. They will hurry towards you from
every quarter, it matters not how quietly you go, and the mo-
ment they touch -you they crawl rapidly over your clothing,
managing quickly to get beneath it, where they suck blood
until they are full and drop off. Strange to say, the bite of
this pest is not apparent at first, nor can you feel it until the
blood trickles down your arms and legs and you wonder what
is the matter with you.

We camped for one night in a clearing, be-

A Rhinoceros cause we nad learned by experience that it is

Has a bad policy in this vicinity to camp under

Little Joke, trees ; for not only noxious insects, but snakes

also have a habit of dropping from the

branches upon sleepers during the night. We built a large

fire of logs, though it was difficult to get them to burn on ac-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 235

count of the great dampness, and the natives promised to keep
what aboard a vessel would be called "anchor watch." Dogs
and all slept inside the tent on account of the. big rain, and
it was some time after midnight that these faithful animals
aroused us by their sudden and excited barking. Appreciating
that hunting dogs never bark unless there is pretty good cause
for it, we all sprang up to see what was the matter. We got
outside just in time to see a rhinoceros dash out of the jungle
and charge upon our fire, sending some of the logs flying into
the air. The dogs attacked him, endeavoring to bite his hind-
legs, but their teeth had no effect upon his hide and he paid
not the slightest attention to them. Without pausing in his
lumbering career in our camp he delivered a sidelong blow
with his horns, cutting one side clean out of the tent and then,
to our astonishment, plunged back into the jungle, where we
could hear him smashing and tearing about in the usual
blundering way peculiar to these beasts.

All this had occupied but a very few seconds. He had
ruined our tent, partly demolished our fire and was gone be-
fore any one had time to fire a shot at him. It was like an
ugly dream, and since it poured rain in torrents we had no
alternative but to crawl under the remains of our tent and
shelter ourselves as best we could until daylight, trusting to
the dogs to warn us again in case the rhinoceros should pay
us another visit.

By daylight we got up and repaired the tent as well as
we could, returning to Pa dang by a circuitous route that took
us three days. On the first day we came upon a Dutch planter
who, with a number of coolies, was engaged in building a
large tiger trap for the purpose of trapping the tigers which
were nightly devouring both his cattle and coolies. The trap
was fourteen feet long and just wide enough to permit a tiger
to enter. It was made of strong bamboo sticks set deeply into
the ground and securely lashed together with rattan. They

236 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

tied a goat inside to the far end of the trap. The other end
was left open except for a few light sticks lashed across it as
a blind. Should the end of the trap be left entirely open the
tiger would be likely to suspect danger and might decline to
enter. The light sticks look to him as though they had been
placed there to protect the goat which he hears bleating
inside, and accordingly he smashes through the sticks with a
single blow of his paw and unsuspectingly enters the trap.
A strong bamboo door instantly closes behind him and holds
him a helpless prisoner. This kind of trap is commonly used
in this country when the object is to capture the tiger alive.
Where the object is simply to destroy him it is common to set
a bear trap close to the entrance of the bamboo box and cover
it over with leaves. The tiger cannot enter the box without
stepping into the steel trap which is firmly secured to a con-
venient tree with a very strong chain, and even should he
succeed in dragging the chain from the tree, the end of it is
provided with a grapnel or four-fluked anchor which would
amply detain him by catching in all kinds of obstructions.

The next night we camped in a small opening

Still More on ^e ^ank of a stream and once again were

Tigers about to drop off to sleep when the dogs

Visit Us. barked excitedly at a short distance from the

tent. Naturally supposing it to be another
rhinoceros every man of us seized his rifle and ran out to
their assistance. But this time we found the valiant fellows
surrounding a tiger which was growling angrily and charg-
ing first at one, then at another, as they ventured near. It was
difficult to shoot him owing to the uncertain light and the
rapid movements of both the dogs and their enemy, but we
brought the old tiger down at last with two bullets that must
have killed any ordinary animal. That tiger seemed to think
the dogs had dealt him the wounds he had just received and
he rallied enough to fight them further. Once again it was

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 237

a brave fight that we saw in that fading light of our camp
fire. Another volley from our rifles felled the tiger and the
natives turned to and skinned him and, after cutting off as
much flesh as the dogs could eat as a reward of merit, they
dragged the carcass some two hundred yards from the tent
and we all turned in.

We were serenaded the rest of that night with an almost
incessant chorus of howls, snarls, yowls, whines and growls
from the direction of the carcass, and about two hours be-
fore daylight the uproar became unbearable, so we got up,
shouldering our guns, and stole as noiselessly as possible to
within what must have been some thirty or forty yards of the
chorus of voices ; and although we could not see the chorus-
makers we fired helter-skelter and all together in the general
direction from which the sound proceeded. Almost simul-
taneously with the report of our guns came a wilder chorus
with the sound of a retreating stampede into the jungle. After
this things were comparatively quiet until daylight.

Before decamping in the morning we examined the re-
mains of the tiger and found the bones stripped clean, while
close beside it lay an unusually large wildcat which we had
shot through the body when we fired in the dark. The na-
tives carried the tiger skin to the ship by hanging it over a
pole with the inside turned to the heat of the sun. It would
have spoiled in a single day had it been otherwise folded.

238 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XXII

TIGERS, CROCODILES, MONKEYS AND BISONS

We left Pedang and proceeded by way of Sunda and
Banka Straits to Singapore, there to replenish our provisions
before proceeding further north. While out-
All Races fitting in Singapore we visited the Chinese
Assemble quarter of the city and witnessed a Sem ba
at Singapore, yang, which is a great Chinese feast for the
spirits of the dead. We found a long line of
tables extending for fully two hundred yards along one side of
the principal street. These tables were literally heaped with
every kind of food and drink known to the Orient, and im-
mense bouquets of orchids and every other tropical flower
were very neatly and tastefully arranged in bunches and fes-
toons around the edges. Although the Chinese predominated,
the street was crowded with multitudes representing every
race of the Far East arrayed in every conceivable color, while
overhead hung millions of bright paper lanterns which ren-
dered every object as clear as day, imparting to the whole
shifting panorama the appearance of some fantastic fairyland
as beautiful as a dream.

Goats, pigs and fowls were roasted whole and stood in
rows, and at either end of the table were placed an especially
large-sized goat and pig with their mouths stuffed full of the
joss-sticks which play so important a part in all Chinese re-
ligious observances. A long broad bench was placed across
the lower end of the table. This we were told was for the ac-
commodation of the visiting spirits and there were no seats of
any kind along the sides. The Chinese believe that the spirits

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 239

of the departed feast upon some immaterial part of the pro-
visions which they offer and when they are satisfied it is per-
fectly proper for the living to feast upon what seems to them
to be the material part which remains.

After leaving Singapore we proceeded to the mouth of the
Pahang River, about one hundred and fifty miles further north
on the east coast of the Malay Peninsula. We entered the
river at high tide and anchored near the town of Pekan, which
is the residence of the High Sultan of this district. The sur-
rounding country is low and flat and extremely fertile. It
would probably have been thoroughly developed long before
this had the river been deep enough for ships to navigate;
but owing to the soft alluvial nature of the soil the river is
so shallow that only vessels of lightest draught can navigate
it. We paid our respects to the Sultan of Pekan and pro-
ceeded to engage promptly a number of natives and their
large canoes for a voyage upstream. We got well under way
next morning about two hours before daybreak and with a
fair wind proceeded at a record rate to the Sungai Cheni, a
small stream which opens to the south from the apex of a
sharp V which the Pahang takes about thirty miles above
Pekan. Like all tropical rivers the shores
Up the °f tne Pahang are lined with thick mangrove
Sungai Cheni. forests for several miles from its mouth; but
as we ascended the stream these gradually
gave way to stately tropical woodlands and reedy jungles.
Many small islands, sunken snags and whirlpools render navi-
gation hereabouts dangerous. The surface of the water is
dotted with many small objects resembling lumps of wood
lying either motionless or moving slowly almost without a
ripple, and we were well aware that every one of these ap-
parently insignificant objects was the nose of a deadly croco-
dile. The river is full of fish in spite of the crocodiles, and or
the banks were many adjutant birds which stand motionleso

240 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

on the river's edge awaiting their finny prey. In the trees
perched innumerable buzzards waiting for anything eatable
that they might discover.

We anchored the canoes about twenty yards from the land
at the mouth of the Sungai Cheni and our sudden appearance
caused a great commotion among a troop of dark-brown
monkeys who whistled and chattered like so many excited
magpies as they peered at us from the tops of the trees that
overhung the river at this point. We slept in the canoes at
night, and there was no need to warn the Malays to keep a
sharp lookout, for they were well aware of the immediate dan-
gers that surrounded us. Not only do the crocodiles fre-
quently go aboard canoes and devour their occupants, but
prowling tigers and poisonous reptiles are apt to crawl aboard
small ships at anchor. The mosquitoes would have been in-
tolerable had we not provided ourselves with a mosquito
curtain.

We were sitting under our curtain admiring the beautiful
scene and listening to the strange subdued sounds which came
from the depths of the forest near by when all at once the
long, quavering cry of a tiger rose loud and clear from the
bank near our anchorage. Every man seized his rifle and
watched for a good shot, but though the roar was repeated
many times with startling distinctness we failed to see the
beast himself.

It is strange that an animal which depends upon hunting
for a living as the tiger does should disclose his presence by
roaring, nevertheless he frequently does so, especially just
before sunset, which reminds me of the Japanese police who
sound a large rattle as they walk their beats at night to warn
evildoers that they are coming.

At first we paid no attention to the crocodiles swimming
around us, but as the night advanced we were no little dis-
tressed to see the repulsive beasts gather around the canoes

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 241

and constantly increasing in numbers. We could not imagine
what it was that attracted them, but long afterwards came to
the conclusion that it was a kind of relish which the Malays
use with their rice and fish, and of which they had a consider-
able quantity on board the canoes. This mixture, which they
call blachang, is a sort of paste, the smell of which was so
appalling that one would suppose any self-respecting crocodile
would swim with all its might out of range of it.

As had happened so often before, we had

A been asleep but a short time when a sudden

Familiar general uproar broke in upon our slumbers

Guest. an(j aroused all hands. As might have been

expected, a crocodile had come up under the
stern of one of the canoes and, placing his four feet on the
gunwale, was masterfully climbing on board. He attempted
to seize the lookout, who promptly drove his spear down the
yawning throat, and the rest of the crew made a general at-
tack with their long spears. It was only a matter of a few
moments when the wounded brute fell back into the water
with a gurgling groan that made us shudder. It was far too
dark to see much of what was taking place, but the commotion
in the water indicated the arrival of more crocodiles. They
came surging around the canoes in a most menacing way, and
we concluded the only way to get rid of them was to shoot
as many as we could manage to shoot in order to furnish the
others with something to eat. This required some cunning
on our part, for it is a bad policy to wound a crocodile if his
tail is within a few yards of your boat, for he is almost certain
to knock some one overboard or do other serious damage with
his tail. I lighted a dark lantern and flashed the light across
the water while the others prepared to shoot. The light had
a singular effect upon the crocodiles, for they remained per-
fectly motionless with astonishment as though hypnotized.
We shot several of them and the others turned to devouring

242 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

their dead or wounded companions. We soon discovered,
however, that our troubles were increasing rather than grow-
ing less, because such an uproar no one ever heard here be-
fore and all the crocodiles in the world seemed swimming up
to us, each one more anxious than the other to secure his
share of something, we could not make out what.

A particularly bold one snapped at the muzzle of a rifle

resting on the gunwale and jerked it overboard, although this

was a familiar trick by this time. In his sudden surprise the

gunner held fast to his gun, as a person would naturally do,

and would have gone overboard along with it if another man

had not had presence of mind to catch hold of him and keep

him from it. Quickly as possible we hauled up anchors and

paddled for the beach; but although it was only a few yards

away the brutes jerked two of the paddles out of the hands of

the rowers and we had to pull for the shore as best we could.

The Malays built two large fires which almost

Night surrounded our temporary camp on the shore,

and a chiefly to guard against further attack from

Campfire. the crocodiles. These brutes are far more

cunning than is commonly supposed, and if

a victim gets beyond their reach on the bank of a stream it is

common for them to resort to a flank attack, when they will

travel some distance inland, crawling quietly down upon their

victim until they get close enough to see him, and by a sudden

jump carry him into the water.

Simong, the head man among our Malays, now proceeded
to show us how we in turn might have revenge upon the
crocodiles for the trouble and fright which they had given us.
We cut up a number of pieces of hardwood in twelve-inch
lengths and sharpened them at both ends. Then taking a
strip of bark we lashed one of these sticks crosswise on the
end of a light board about twenty feet long. We then fastened
some bits of meat on the sharp-pointed crosspiece for bait.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 243

Approaching the water as near as we dared we held the im-
provised bait within a few inches of the surface and instantly
a crocodile opened his jaws and closed them on the tempting
morsel with a contented snap. The crosspiece was held verti-
cally so it passed through both his upper and lower jaw and
the surprised monster leaped half out of the water at first
and then actually turned a complete somersault in its pain
and rage. It plunged about, ploughing the water into foamy
waves, in its effort to get rid of the torturing obstruction in
his jaws, until it finally disappeared from our sight. Simong
tried the same trick upon others with similar results. It was
a curious sight to see so many crocodiles with eyes like glit-
tering stars in the flickering unsteady light of our camp fire.
The dogs, which had previously crouched in the bottom of
the canoes, now shrank back as close as possible to the fire
and whimpered with terror, and they seemed almost humanly
aware that a crocodile will risk almost any danger in order
to feast upon a dog.

We took turns sleeping and keeping watch during the re-
mainder of that night, and in the morning proceeded by
canoes to the head of the Cheni.

One of the principal objects of our expedition to the Cheni
was to hunt the sladang, or seladang, an unusually fierce and
wild bison found on this peninsula. The natives assured us
that this was the best locality in which to find them. We
made our way through a jungle of enormous trees interlaced
with rubber vines and rattans often several hundred yards long
and so thick that the natives who led the way were often
obliged to cut a path through the brush with their axes and
parangs.

The natives have three different kinds of spears or parangs,
two of which are intended solely for fighting. The one here
referred to is virtually a pointed double-edged sword which
weighs over two pounds and measures about twenty inches in

244 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

length. The blade is triangular and cross-sectioned; in other
words, one side of it is flat while the opposite side is beveled
from the central ridge to both edges. The blade is a little
over two inches wide, tapering to about three-quarters of an
inch near the hilt. Either edge can be used, and it cuts right
or left-handed much on the same principle as the edge of a
carpenter's chisel.

The dogs started several small deer, but we

We are ^id not snoot at them *or *ear °* alarmmg

Followed larger game. We were strongly tempted,

by Monkeys, however, to shoot at a troop of dark-brown

monkeys which followed us in the treetops

and kept up an incessant chatter, sufficient to alarm any animal

within the radius of a mile. Watching his opportunity, Dola,

one of the crew, wounded with a freshly poisoned arrow one

of the pursuing monkeys, and although it instantly hid in the

thick foliage its cry of mortal agony was pitiful to hear, while

the others wailed a dismal monkey chorus, but their voices

died away gradually as we left them behind in the trees.

In many places the jungle was so thick that we could not
have seen an animal a dozen yards away, and we were all
suffering from the bites of leeches which swarm in this tropi-
cal vegetation. The jungle became more open as we ad-
vanced, and we found some of the most beautiful orchids in
varieties I had never seen before growing upon decayed trees.
The cicadas kept up an incessant chorus of strident cries
and I was particularly surprised to hear at intervals a
long musical coo-ee that was strongly suggestive of the
coo-ee of the Australian bush, and the Malays explained that
it was the ordinary cry of the stealthy and beautiful argus
pheasants.

The Malays called our attention to the many buzzards
hovering in the air a short distance away and explained that
a tiger or leopard was surely devouring some animal directly

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 245

beneath them. We kept the dogs in the rear and made a de-
tour in order to approach from the lea side lest the animals
we were in quest of should scent us. After advancing about
three hundred yards we found a flight of fifty or more buz-
zards hovering closely over a clump of bushes so dense as to
seem impossible to penetrate. We discovered, however, a
tiger feasting upon the carcass of a small deer. His head was
turned away from us and we were advancing very quietly
when I stepped on a dry twig which snapped with a slight
report. Slight as the noise was the tiger instantly wheeled
and with a low angry growl advanced in our direction, lashing
his furry sides with his tail. Fearing he might dart away in
the jungle and escape, four of us fired together and the tiger
fell dead. Two of the bullets had pierced his head, another
struck him in the chest, while the fourth grazed one of his
forelegs. The Malays removed his skin and hung it inside
out on a high branch in order that we could see it and find it
upon our return. It was still quite early in the day and as
we resumed our tramp through the dense jungle Simong ex-
plained that the sladang travel in herds from ten to thirty
strong and, like most other jungle animals, they feed in the
morning and evening and rest during the day.

They led the way toward a small sulphur spring, a favor-
ite drinking place for sladang, and we noticed that our guide
became very nervous as we approached the spring, for they
hung back and begged that the dogs be sent forward to range
in front and guard against sudden surprise. But this we re-
fused to do for fear of the dogs alarming the

At Last! game> f°r numerous tracks could be seen
A now through the long grass. We were

Sladang! tramping in single file along a narrow trail

which led directly to the spring, when a short,

angry bellow sounded close by from a thick clump of bushes

from which, even as we looked, emerged a magnificent bull.

246 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

With not a moment's warning he charged full speed upon
us. I shall never forget the yells of terror with which those
natives stampeded to the nearest tree, up which they ran
like monkeys. The dogs met the charge of the angry bull like
heroes, closing upon him from opposite sides and biting his
heels savagely enough to cause him to wheel and strike at
them with his long horns. This gave us time to aim and fire
simultaneously, and in the same instant the noble old beast
threw up his head and fell down heavily with scarcely a strug-
gle, whereupon Simong, ever the leader among the guides,
hastened up and seized what he supposed to be the dead bull
by the tail, and the others were in the act of turning him on
his back for the purpose of skinning him when, like the shot
out of a gun, the beast sprang to his feet, scattering the sur-
prised crowd from right to left as he charged from side to
side with his last remaining strength. Simong had the un-
canny presence of mind to retain his hold upon the tail as the
bull whirled round and round in his efforts to hit him, and it
became a most difficult problem just how to shoot the beast
without risking shooting the man as well, as they circled
around together. Before any one had time to decide upon
the course of action the sladang staggered and plunged ahead
for a few paces and fell dead.

Such experiences seem incredible, but one grows to regard
them as a part of every day in savage lands where they are
made little or nothing of. It is scarcely to be wondered at,
however, that the Malays, armed with their inferior weapons,
regard the sladang with such abject terror. This one was a
truly magnificent beast. His color was a dark coffee brown
with forehead and legs of dirty white. The hair was short
and thin, especially upon the hindquarters, where the skin was
almost bare. A high ridge ran from the middle of the neck
to the middle of the back, where it dropped abruptly about
four or five inches to the loins. The highest part of this ridge

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 247

was between the shoulders in the center of the back which
formed a kind of hump, but it bore no resemblance whatso-
ever to the flabby hump on the backs of hump cattle of India.
The hoofs were small and the legs neat and tapering. It
measured five feet ten inches from the hoofs to the shoulders,
and although we had no means of weighing it it is generally
known that full-grown bulls of this class weigh anywhere from
a ton to a ton and a half. Its horns, which turn slightly in-
ward at the tips, were immensely powerful and measured
thirty-four inches on the inside from the base to the tips,
forty-one inches on the outside, and were twenty inches in cir-
cumference at the base. Its ears drooped slightly and the
skin was more than an inch thick upon the back and the sides.
The vitality of the beast was unbelievable, for we discovered
that every one of the bullets had struck him in the body and
one had gone clean through his heart. The Malays removed
the skin and hung it in the sun to dry and then we sat serenely
down in the shade of a spreading upas tree and ate our lunch-
eon. After all the excitement I found myself quietly reflect-
ing upon all the solemn nonsense which I had read concerning
the upas tree: how birds fell dead if they flew over it and
animals dropped senseless if they but ventured beneath its
branches. The natives warned us to turn our faces away lest
some sap might strike our eyes and then they chipped away
some of the bark and showed us the poisonous sap which is
viscid, milky and of a yellowish color as it flows from the tree,
but it soon turns brown from contact with the air and hardens
into a gum very much like resin.

While the Malays were preparing camp the white members
of the party strolled about exploring the immediate vicinity.
We gradually became separated and noticing some very beau-
tiful orchids growing upon the bole of an old tree some twenty
feet from the ground I climbed up and secured them, roots
and all, by chopping a piece out of the side of the tree. As I

248 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

started to return to camp with the orchids I heard several
shots fired to the right of the course which I was following

and turned to go in the direction from which
At Close the sounds came. I had just entered a small
Quarters opening in the jungle when I heard a rum-
Buffalo, bling bellow and caught sight of a buffalo

heading for me, his tail in the air. The
orchids dropped mechanically from my arms, and scarcely
knowing just what I was about I caught my rifle and fired. He
merely tossed his head, and with a still angrier bellow darted
toward me, with what seemed to be the speed of a train. My
rifle was a single shot and there was no time to reload. I
jumped into a bunch of trees and avoided a charge, and no man
that has not been there can realize what it meant to me when I
discovered that even by turning his head sidewise and striking
at me with one horn my position was such that he could not
reach me, though I instinctively stepped backwards to avoid
the charge. I was in the act of inserting a fresh cartridge
when I heard a warning hiss at my feet. Glancing downward,
I beheld a venomous snake ready to strike, and instantly
dropped the butt of my gun on its head. All this had occu-
pied only a few seconds, and the bull, finding he could not
reach me from where he was, wheeled and darted to the op-
posite side of the trees. As any one may easily imagine, I
fully realized it was up to me to shoot him in a vital place. I
aimed at his eye and the bullet passed through his neck, and
although the blood streamed from the wound it only increased
his anger and vigor. In his next attack he turned a side toward
me and I shot him back of the shoulder, where a wound is
generally fatal, but he only bellowed more loudly and dashed
his head, stupidly, I thought, against the tree behind which I
stood. He then retired a couple of paces or more and began
to paw the ground, regarding me the while as though he in-
tended to besiege the position until he compelled me to come

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 249

out where he could successfully get at me. These animals
have been known to besiege an enemy in a tree for twenty-
four hours at a time. While he glared at me I took as de-
liberate and careful aim as I ever took in my life and shot
him in the left eye. He uttered an ugly kind of a moaning
bellow, reeled and fell, but I was still unwilling to trust to
appearances, so I fired another shot through his head and an-
other and another before leaving him, and then crept out of
my retreat and started for camp, meeting on the way some
of the other men who had come to investigate the noise of the
firing.

Towards sundown a tiger approached the spring to drink,
but catching sight of our camp he bounded lithely into the
jungle and disappeared before we had time to fire at him.
Several deer also came to the spring, but we did not molest
them.

Just after sunset Dola, one of the bravest and
A Poisoned finest of our natives, and two white men con-
Tiger, cealed themselves in the branches of a tree

close to the carcass of the first sladang that
we had killed. About half an hour after darkness set in
two tigers stole from the jungle as silently as shadows and
began to feast upon the dead body. Dola quietly lodged an
iron-pointed poisoned arrow in one of them. The beast started
and snarled angrily, but soon began eating again. In a few
moments, however, it began moaning as if in great pain, and
rambled off into the jungle. Its mate the white men killed
with their rifles. In the morning they followed the trail of
the other tiger for about two hundred yards and found it in
the grass and bushes lying dead as though it had died in great
pain. The Malays offered to skin it, but the white men would
have nothing to do with it. They actually feared to handle
anything in which a poison so deadly as that used upon this
arrow was concealed.

250 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

We had intended to remain a few days in our present
camp, but the Malays told us of a hill called Bukit Duri

which lay a few miles southeast of us at

Wc the head of a stream called Sungai Duri, and

Scare up declared it was an excellent place for hunting

Rhinos. the various kinds of game peculiar to this

vicinity, but more particularly the rhinoceros.
So we returned to our canoes, which we had hauled up, and
proceeded to follow the blacks to Sungai Duri, the entrance of
which is nearly three miles east of the entrance to the Sungai
Cheni. We had gone some nine miles or more when we
reached Bukit Duri and camped on the bank of the stream
which flows along the base of the hill on its western side.
During the night we discovered several pairs of glary eyes lev-
eled on us through the darkness, but we dared not shoot for
fear of disturbing any game that might be close by. About
midnight the Malay lookout who was on guard over our sleep-
ing camp quietly awakened us, calling our attention to a lurk-
ing crocodile staring directly at us not ten yards away pre-
cisely as though we had hypnotized him, but he quickly slipped
into the darkness terrified at the volley of blazing sticks with
which we assailed him. The same thing happened over again
just before daylight, and in each instance it seemed as though
the lurking brutes must have remained staring at us all night
if we had not flamboyantly driven them away. The fire seemed
to possess some irresistible attraction for them. They were
both fascinated by it and terrified at it.

Leaving a couple of natives in charge of the camp, we set
out after breakfast towards the open to which the natives had
referred as good hunting grounds, and had not gone far when
we came upon a fresh trail of a rhinoceros which we immedi-
ately started to follow. The natives were rather nervous and
Simong especially said that it would be a bad place in which
to encounter either a buffalo or a rhinoceros, for the jungle

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 251

round about was so thick that one of the beasts might easily
be in hiding and charge upon us before we could possibly see
it. The dogs were sent ahead to scout and nothing exciting
occurred until we reached a place where the thick jungle
grass was three or four feet high. While rounding a small
clump of bushes we came suddenly in full sight of a rhinoc-
eros quietly browsing some hundred yards away. We were
moving very stealthily and he could not possibly have seen us,
for his head was turned away, so we instantly leaped behind
the bushes. But in spite of our precaution he grew suddenly
apprehensive of our presence, for he promptly wheeled around,
facing us and sniffing the air suspiciously. He turned his head
most intelligently a few times as though trying to locate his
enemies, then reaching his great head as high in the air as he
could, he swiftly ran away at right angles to the course we
were following. Meanwhile all the Malays except Simong
had taken refuge in the nearest trees and Simong excitedly
whispered so we all could hear : "He run round like this in
circles till he pick up smell, then he come quick like the light-
ning."

Sure enough, the beast stopped when he got exactly to lee-
ward of us, then charged furiously up the wind and went
breaking his way through some of the very bushes in which
we were concealed. He ran some fifty yards further and,
finding that he had lost the scent, he stopped, sniffed the air
inquiringly and again began trotting around in a circle. We
let the dogs loose now for the first time and they closed in on
the rhinoceros. He charged upon them in self-defence and
one of the boldest of them barely escaped with his life, for
while the rhinoceros is one of the most clumsy looking of
animals it can twist and turn and attack with an agility that
is astonishing. While he was occupied chasing the dogs we
stepped out of the bushes with our guns leveled. At that very
moment he caught sight of us and, scattering the dogs right

252 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

and left of us and giving an angry snort, he charged at us
headlong, but our volley of bullets knocked him out and soon
he was stretched out dead on the ground before us.

While the Malays carried the hide of our

Carrion first big game in this vicinity back to the

Buzzards. camp we once more concealed ourselves

among the bushes and held the dogs in check,
hoping that tigers might smell out the carcass and come to it.
Simong, who remained with us, explained carefully that it
was best not to disturb the buzzards which gathered upon the
carcass, because, he added in quaint English, tigers follow
buzzards precisely as buzzards follow tigers. Sure enough,
in less than half an hour a tiger stole up to the dead rhinoc-
eros and after glancing warily about began to feed upon it.
The buzzards flopped heavily out of his way but settled
thickly upon the dead meat wherever they could manage to
reach it without coming in range of the tiger's claws, while
the tiger on his part appeared not to notice them. He was
facing us and had just raised his head to glance about him
as these wary animals are in the habit of doing while eating,
when a couple of well-aimed bullets struck him in the breast
and with a convulsive jump he dropped dead in the midst of
the astonished buzzards.

The day was so intensely hot that we sought shelter under
the branches of a large tree near by and remained under
cover until late in the afternoon. About an hour before sun-
down another tiger crept from the jungle and began to feast
upon the remains of the rhinoceros, but almost instantly some-
thing aroused his suspicion, for he suddenly stopped eating
and looked terrifiedly round about him. One of our crew
quietly stepped out of the bushes and was in the act of aiming
his rifle at the wary animal when it caught sight of him,
but before he had time to move the rifle cracked, the tiger sat
straight upon his hind quarters and throwing out both fore-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 253

paws to either side fell over backwards, quite dead. We ran
up to examine him and found that the bullet had struck him
fairly between the eyes and passed through his brain, killing
him instantly.

Soon after daylight we set out for our ship. We had
passed less than three miles north of the camp when we came
to a place where the stream makes a bend to the right. A
party of Malays in a smaller canoe about a hundred yards
ahead of us had just rounded the bend, when suddenly they
stopped paddling and began gesticulating and pointed excitedly
ahead. We hurried up to join them, and discovered a water
buffalo struggling fiercely near the edge of the stream where
the water was not more than three feet deep; while the long,
scaly tail of a large crocodile could be seen churning the water
into islands of foam as the hideous reptile endeavored to drag
the noble beast into deeper water. Both combatants were so
intent upon their life and death struggle that they paid no
heed to our approach. We discovered that the crocodile had
secured a monster grip on one of the forefeet of the buffalo
and was dragging him into deeper water for the purpose of
drowning him, of course, while the buffalo was trying his
utmost to back out of the stream and also to hook his scaly
antagonist with his formidable horns. Handicapped as he
was, the great strength of the buffalo enabled him to back
slowly to the bank, though the crocodile clung to him with
the grip and tenacity of a bulldog and the buffalo could not
get his horns into an effective position, partly on account of
the water and on account of his short length. A bullet sent
through the hind quarters of the crocodile only set him plung-
ing madly about snapping his jaws, while several long con-
verging lines of ripples showed that other crocodiles were
coming up to take part in the fray. In one of his frenzied on-
rushes he came up open-mouthed to our canoe and poked his
long, heavy snout at us over the gunwale, but instantly we

254 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

filled his throat with bullets and he sank out of sight never
to be seen again on the surface. In the meantime the buffalo
had struggled out of the water, but he was in a pitiful condi-
tion; for the teeth of the crocodile had stripped the skin and
flesh off his left foreleg so that we shot him down and put a
quick ending to his sufferings.

Shortly before reaching the junction of the

A Strange Duri and Pahang we sighted a tiger crossing

Enemy. the stream just in front of us. I fired and

wounded him just as he merged upon the
right bank. We immediately landed and had followed his
trail less than five hundred yards when the Malays, who were
in the rear, uttered a low exclamation of absolute terror and
darted back over the trail along which we had come, as though
evil spirits were pursuing them. Simong, who was close be-
hind us, cried in a low, excited tone, "Run back for your
lives !" and without stopping to explain darted after his flying
comrades. At first we were inclined to laugh at him, for we
supposed they were in terror at the thought of the tiger
charging back upon us; but Simong as he ran pointed to
something over our heads and, looking in the direction indi-
cated, we saw a swarm of hornets hovering over us darting
angrily about from side to side in the way these fierce insects
do when excited.

The moment we realized the real nature of the danger we
followed the Malays at our best speed until we came to
Simong hiding under some thick underbrush and, looking
back, we could see some of the hornets still hovering im-
mediately over our trail, though it was evident they had aban-
doned the chase. It is little wonder the natives regard these
ferocious insects with such abject terror, for they are almost
as large as locusts, and many a person, both white and native,
has died in fearful agony from the effect of their poisonous
sting. They are so vicious and aggressive that they almost

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 255

invariably attack, with or without provocation, any living- crea-
ture that approaches them. We concluded that the wounded
tiger had disturbed them, and had it not been for the Malays
we should never have noticed them before they had attacked
us, in which case they must almost certainly have stung us to
death. Needless to say we abandoned the pursuit of the tiger
and returned to the ship.

The Malay peninsula is the most extensive
Mount storehouse of tin in the world and gold and
Ophir. silver also occur there plentifully. The mem-

bers of our party set out for the purpose of
investigating the gold and tin mines especially, but not being
interested in mining I did not care to accompany them.

The early Portuguese navigators were so firmly convinced
that this was the site of the Ophir of the Bible that they be-
stowed the name Mount Ophir upon one mountain near the
west coast of Sumatra and also upon another mountain on
the peninsula. It is a matter of history that commercial in-
tercourse has been maintained at intervals between the Arabs
and the Malays from very early times. It is interesting to
note, also, that Sumatra and the Malay peninsula were the
first of all Eastern countries to adopt the Mohammedan faith
and customs, and a great many Arabic words are found in the
Malay vocabulary. An Englishman who had lived for many
years in this section called my attention to the fact that Su-
matra and the Malay peninsula are the only places in the
world which could have supplied all the various articles men-
tioned in II -Chronicles 9:21. Everything mentioned in this
verse is found here in abundance, while silver and peacocks
are not to be found at all in Africa, where some people at-
tempt to locate Ophir. Peacocks are found only in India and
on the Malay peninsula, and in the language of Orang Benua
(the aboriginal inhabitants of the peninsula) the word for

256 THE STRANGE^ ADVENTURES

peacock is shim, which is the exact termination of the Hebrew
name tuchim, meaning peacocks. In Ceylon at the present
day the peacock is called tokei. Hebrew commentators state
that the algum timber mentioned in the loth and nth verses
of the same chapter and also in I Kings 10:11, 12, is the same
wood which is found in southeastern Asia and also in the
South Sea Islands.

I call special attention to these rather impressive facts be-
cause all the years which I have spent among the South Sea
Islands have convinced me that the ancient Phoenicians or
Carthaginians navigated the Indian Ocean centuries before
the Christian era and are intimately connected with the won-
derful prehistoric ruins which still remain silent mementos
of a civilization whch perished long before the dawn of au-
thentic history.

OF CAPTAIN QUIXTOX 257

CHAPTER XXIII

SIGHT-SEEING IX JAPAN

During the absence of the rest of the party I frequently
went hunting with some of the natives along the banks of the
river, and they were always anxious that I should shoot at
the crocodiles which were a constant menace to them and
caused the death of many of their number.

A cat is commonly credited with having nine

Nine lives, but a crocodile exhibits a tenacity of

Lives of life which almost surpasses the meager record

a Crocodile. of the cat. One morning some natives

brought word that they had just seen a well-
known man-eating crocodile asleep in the bushes a few feet
from the water's edge. They had recognized him by the ab-
sence of one of his forefeet, which had been bitten off in a
fight with one of his own cannibalistic tribe. We crept up
very quietly and shot him behind the foreleg exactly in the
spot where a wound is usually mortal. The crocodile bounded
convulsively, snapped his jaws and his tail and then rolled
over on his side, remaining perfectly motionless as if dead.
Scarcely wishing to trust to appearances I walked up close
and fired another shot clean through him and alongside of the
first one. This all happened a little before eight o'clock in the
morning, and there he lay in the same position until we re-
turned to the spot at six o'clock that evening, when the Malays
prepared to skin him. The moment they stuck their knives
into him he delivered one terrific blow with his tail, knocking
two of the men senseless into the bushes a dozen feet away,

258 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

and would certainly have killed them had the bushes not
broken the force of the blow. He snapped like a bulldog at
the men in front of him, who barely saved themselves by deftly
getting out of the way, and although I fired another bullet
into him he plunged into the water and disappeared.

It is not commonly known that the Malay
Malay pirates, who, by the way, are not by any

Pirates. means extinct, formerly wore a sort of armor
and carried shields made of crocodile hide.
One of these shields would deflect even a rifle bullet if it hap-
pened to strike at an acute angle. The English, French and
Dutch cruisers frequently chased the Malay pirate ships and
tried to capture them, but the clever robbers would pull into
the shore towards the numerous mangrove swamps and dis-
appear from view as completely and mysteriously as though
they had vanished into air. The armed boats of the cruisers
would then carefully search every place along the shore, but
could find nothing save impenetrable forests of mangrove trees
growing straight up out of the water. The easy disappear-
ance of the pirate ships was so unaccountable and mysterious
that the pursuers became superstitious about it and began to
wonder if the pirates were spirits or if they themselves were
victims of optical illusion.

In reality the explanation is very simple. The savages
had constructed a series of slips for the purpose of drawing
their boats out of the water and literally carrying them to the
tops of the trees into a channel inside the mangrove trees.
This slip consisted of two long rows of piles driven into the
bottom at such an angle that they crossed each other in the
form of an X.

The boat was hauled through the upper open space, and
the whole thing was so constructed that each end of this sec-
tion was several feet beneath the surface of the water, while
the central portion rose almost to the tops of the mangrove

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 259

trees. Two stringers were securely lashed along the inside
of the piles to bind them together, and the inner side of each
stringer was carefully smoothed off and kept well greased in
order to permit the boat to slide along easily between them.

Whenever any of their boats were out on a piratical expe-
dition the men who remained at home kept a constant watch
both day and night from a lookout station carefully concealed
among the tops of the trees, and the long ropes made of
twisted rattan were kept stretched along the stringers. When-
ever the watch sighted a cruiser chasing one of their canoes
he gave the alarm, and every man, woman and child turned
out and manned the two ropes stretched along the stringers.
Unless very hotly pressed the pirates never pulled straight
for the spot where the slip was located. Instead they ran as
close inshore as they could get, but at some distance away
from it, then pulled along in hiding until they reached the
place where the slip was carefully concealed under the thick,
overhanging foliage, and quickly disappeared from view.
They ran the bow of the canoe into the upper open space be-
tween the top of the piles till her keel grounded upon the
junction of the piles, and instantly lowered her masts. They
then secured the ends of the two ropes to her bow, and every-
body pulled with might and main, drawing the boat up the
gradual incline with her sides resting against the stringers.

One day I visited a little Malay hamlet the
Native inhabitants of which were engaged in trap-
Crocodile ping crocodiles and selling their hides to the
TraP- Chinese traders. Their trap consisted of a

strong stake fence extending about twenty
feet into the water, and in the center of the fence was an
opening just wide enough to permit the largest crocodile to
enter. The two stakes which formed the side-posts of this
entrance were deeply notched on the sides next the bank, and
a strong piece of hardwood about three inches square was

260 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

laid across the entrance, resting in these two notches, about
a foot above the surface of the water. A young tree which
grew on the bank had been stripped of its branches and its
top bent down over the water. A strong rope was made fast
to the top of the tree, then passed through a hole in the
center of the timber which lay across the entrance, and
knotted underneath, while the lower end of the rope was
formed into a slip noose, which was spread across the en-
trance upon some little pegs in the side-posts. The bait con-
sisted of a dead monkey suspended from the tree about ten
feet inside the entrance, and I was invited to remain and see
how the trap worked. The houses in which they lived were
between two and three hundred yards from the trap ; and after
setting the trap they tied two dogs to a bush on the bank near
the bended tree and retired out of sight. As soon as their
masters retired the two dogs began to bark and whine, while
casting apprehensive glances at the water ; for they well knew
that a crocodile prefers a dog to almost any other kind of
prey, and the barking of a dog never fails to attract any
crocodile that may hear it. We had not been long in ambush
when we noticed a small, dark object moving along the sur-
face of the water toward the trap, and leaving behind it a very
faint ripple. The crocodile approached one side of the trap,
raising his huge head out of the water, and appeared to
be on the point of climbing the bank in order to get around
the obstruction ; but finding that it was carried well up among
the trees, he changed his mind and began swimming along
the improvised fence looking for an opening.

When he reached the entrance he paused for a moment as
if in doubt, but the sight of the monkey hanging a couple of
feet above the water, and the two dogs tied to a bush on the
bank, offered temptation which no crocodile could be ex-
pected to resist, and he quickly ran his head through the
noose and swam towards the monkey. As soon as his fore-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 261

legs came in contact with the noose his onward motion pulled
the cross-piece out of the notches which held it down, and the
tree instantly flew upward, jerking the noose tight around his
neck and lifting his head several feet out of the water. The
astonished reptile gave vent to a sort of choking, gurgling
bellow, and began lashing with his tail and struggling so
fiercely that it seemed as though the line which held him must
break. Had the line been alongside of his head he could
have turned his head far enough to one side to bite it through,
as I have seen these creatures do ; but it led straight up from
the back of his neck, where he could not possibly reach it.

Another running bowline had been passed around the tree ;
and with a couple of long bamboo poles they pushed this up
over the top of the tree and let it fall down around him, after
which they hauled his hindquarters up on the bank, taking
excellent care to keep out of reach of the sledge-hammer
blows of his tail. They killed him by stabbing him several
times behind the shoulder with a long spear, then they wisely
let the body hang for some hours after every sign of life had
gone before attempting to skin him. They said that it would
be useless to leave their trap set at night, for crocodiles are
so cannibalistic in their habits that they would be sure to
devour any that might be caught during the hours of darkness.
When the rest of the party returned to the ship they brought
the skins of two black leopards which they had shot; and we
were told that these animals were common in these parts.

Although the southeast trade wind had ceased
Off for blowing before we left the Pahang River,
Japan. there was still a rather heavy surf on the bar,

and we hired a number of large canoes to
help tow us out, and we used the steam launch besides. We
provisioned in Hong Kong and proceeded to Yokohama, in
Japan. While here we took the train to Tokio, which is
eighteen miles from Yokohama. Aside from seeing the sights,

262 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

our principal object in visiting the capital was for the pur-
pose of witnessing the strange ceremony of Hi Wattara (Hi,
fire; Wattara, walking), which the Shinto priests perform in
the temple. Our jinrikisha men took us to the temple late
in the afternoon, and we were requested to pay at the en-
trance, though we noticed that the natives crowded in with-
out paying anything; and they did not appear to treat the
place with any particular reverence, for they chattered away
among themselves precisely as they would have done in the
street.

A party of coolies prepared a bed of charcoal twelve feet
long, four feet wide, and a foot or more in thickness in the
dark, dim courtyard of the temple, and when all was ready
they lighted it with a quantity of straw and kindling wood
about twenty minutes. past 5 P. M. They were careful to light
it on all sides at the same time; and as soon as it was seen

that the charcoal was thoroughly ignited

Fire- from bottom to top, the priest struck a small

Walking. gong to announce that the ceremony was

about to begin, and a death-like hush in-
stantly fell upon the audience. I have often been in heathen
temples while sacrifices were being offered to demons who
were worshiped in them, and it has always seemed to me
that a decided Satanic influence permeated the atmosphere of
the place. On the present occasion there was something pecu-
liarly suggestive of the infernal regions in the lurid glare of
the burning charcoal, which imparted a still more fiendish
look to the hideous idols amid the darkening gloom of the
twilight. The priests who were to take part in the ceremony
had previously prepared themselves for it by fasting, praying,
and offering sacrifices to the fiends whose aid they invoked
to protect them during the fiery ordeal. Two priests now
advanced through the audience and made their way to a
small shrine in one corner of the courtyard, where they knelt

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 263

down and offered long prayers to a small idol within the
shrine.

Our guide informed us that this idol was the god who
presided over the ceremony, and the priests were praying to
him to "take the soul out of the fire," so that they could pass
through it without pain or injury. These two priests seemed
to think that the fire was not hot enough to suit them, for
they took long poles and long-stemmed fans from some of
their attendants and poked and fanned it until the spectators
were compelled to fall back out of range of the intense heat.
The two priests then walked alongside of the fire and pounded
it down to a level along the center, after which the chief priest
gave a signal, and a number of fire walkers gathered at one
end of the fire. One of the priests then raised his hands and
prostrated himself three times in honor of his guardian demon
who had taken the soul out of the fire ; after which he stepped
upon a wet mat and rubbed his bare feet lightly in some pow-
der which the other priest had placed upon the mat. Imme-
diately after rubbing his feet in the powder he deliberately
stepped into the fire and walked to the other end as coolly and
unconcernedly as though he was walking upon an ordinary
piece of matting.

It must be remembered that his feet were perfectly bare,
and the heat was so intense that the heat waves constantly
blew his light cotton kimono, which reached to his heels, up
around his waist. When he reached the other end he turned
and walked very slowly back through the center of the
burning coals, returning to the starting point, when he stepped
out and rubbed his feet in the same white powder which he
had used before entering the fire. He repeated the same per-
formance a number of times (I did not count how many),
and each time he reached the end at which he started he
stepped out and rubbed his feet lightly in the powder.

Darkness had now fallen upon the scene, and the fierce

264 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

glow of the fire cast a sinister light upon the gloomy outlines
of the temple and the dark, stolid faces of the spectators, who
stood silent and motionless as ghosts. The crackling of the
charcoal was the only sound that broke the death-like silence,
and the sight of a human being walking unharmed through
the midst of a fiery furnace, amid such eerie surroundings,
was indescribably weird and ghastly.

After the ceremony we examined his kimono,
After the which was made of light cotton stamped in
Ceremony. Japanese style, and not the slightest trace of

a burn could be found on any part of either
his clothing or his anatomy. We tried to learn from the guide
the nature of the white powder in which each performer rubs
his feet, but he professed utter ignorance on the subject, and
declared that this was a secret which was known only to the
priests. The guide informed us that the fire would be renewed
from time to time, and other priests would continue the per-
formance of "passing through the fire" until after midnight,
but we concluded that we had seen enough of the ceremony.

Among other sights we visited the image of

The Great "^a* Butsu (Great Buddha), which was set

Heathen up during the reign of the Mikado Shomu,

Dai Butsu. Wh0 died in the year 748 A. D. The total

weight of the metal used in the construction
of this enormous memorial to an imaginary deity is some-
thing over 450 tons, comprising pure gold, silver, tin and
copper. The height of the figure from the sacred lotus flower
upon which it sits is 53^2 feet. The leaves of the lotus flower
between the enormous petals on which the figure is seated
are covered with several pounds of pure gold leaf. There are
fifty-six of these leaves, and every one is ten feet long and
six feet wide.

We purchased an extensive collection of ancient Japanese
arms and armor, including swords, spears, bows and arrows,

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 265

etc. The swords of Japan are most formidable weapons, and
experts declare them superior to the far-famed blades of To-
ledo and Damascus, though they have very little elasticity.
The temper of these weapons is so perfect that a Japanese
sword has been known to sever an iron bolt with a single
blow without leaving the slightest trace of injury to the
sword with which the feat was performed. The sword-maker
bestows an astonishing amount of labor upon his work, and
every item connected with it receives the most minute care
and attention. Most of the blades are perfectly plain, though
I have seen some that were most beautifully ornamented with
figures of dragons worked in the steel; but I believe these
were intended chiefly for show, for such ornamentation
weakens the blade for actual use. These swords are keen as
razors, and equally adapted to cutting or thrusting.

Their armor consists of a great number of light, thin steel
plates hung upon strong cloth and profusely ornamented with
gilding; but it does not seem that the Japanese ever made
much use of the shield. Their famous yumi (war-bow) is
seven feet long, and made of horn and sinew, after the manner
of the Tartar bow already described, except that the yumi has
no wooden end pieces like the kung (Tartar bow), and when
unstrung it curves backward to a considerable extent, instead
of being almost straight like the kung. One peculiarity of the
yumi is that the handle is not quite in the middle, but a little
nearer to one end, and the short end is always held downward
when the bow is in use.

I bought an ancient spear for a very small sum of money,
though the head of it was a genuine work of art. The dia-
mond-shaped head and the socket which fitted upon the end
of the shaft were forged out of a single piece of steel, and each
was about six inches long respectively. The socket was very
beautifully and elaborately ornamented with the figure of a
silver dragon wound around the socket in a spiral with out-

266 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

stretched claws, as if climbing up towards the point, and every
detail of the figure, such as teeth, claws, scales, eyes, etc.,
was worked out with a neatness beautiful to see. There is a
peculiar reason for ornamenting weapons in this way. The
dragon is still worshiped in the Far East as the emblem and
embodiment of the devil, and the custom of ornamenting arms
and armor with the figure of a dragon is intended as a direct
appeal to Satan to aid the one who carries his emblem. As
the figure of the cross is the type or emblem of Christianity,
so the figure of the dragon is the type or emblem of idolatry
and devil-worship, and as such it receives divine honors from
its votaries.

The Japanese live in little wooden houses with tiled or

thatched roofs, and the doors consist of sliding wooden frames

covered with glazed paper. There is usually a veranda all

around the house, and at night this veranda

Charming is closed in with sliding wooden doors a

Houses quarter of an inch or less thick. As a rule
of the

Japanese. tne onv furniture in a room consists of a
very soft and clean matting about two inches
thick and wide enough to cover the whole floor, and a hibachi,
or small brass basin for holding a charcoal fire, which is the
only means of heating the houses. Every room is used for
sleeping purposes, and the bedding consists of a pair of thick
cotton quilts and a wooden pillow covered with paper. They
do not remove their clothing when they retire, though they
usually don a different garment from the one which they
wear out of doors. The ordinary dress of a working man
consists of a tenungwe, or handkerchief, twisted around the
head like a rope and knotted upon the temples ; a kimono, an
obi, and a pair of zori or geta, according to the weather.
The kimono is a long loose garment reaching to the heels, and
provided with loose, flowing sleeves. The obi is a girdle
about four inches wide and twelve feet long, usually of very

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 267

heavy silk, and is used to confine the kimono around the waist.
The zori are straw sandals, which are worn in fine weather,
and the geta are wooden clogs, worn in rainy weather, to-
gether with a pair of meriyasu (stockings), but inside of the
house everybody goes barefooted. The geta consist of a
wooden sole provided with a wooden cross-piece under the
heel and another under the ball of the foot, and these cross-
pieces, being from four to six inches high, raise the wearer
out of the mud.

A woman's kimono is called a hakama, and a woman's obi
is a foot wide and twenty feet long. The women have differ-
ent ways of dressing their hair, according to whether they
are maids, wives or widows, and also to show whether they
wish to marry or not. Everybody takes at least one bath,
and sometimes four or five baths, each day, and I have often
seen them bathe in water so hot that I could not bear my
hand in it. The bath is in front of the house and in plain
sight of the street ; but all the metqbers of the family and the
servants strip naked and bathe in the same tub and water,
though the order of precedence is carefully regulated in each
family.

They are very artistic, and always try to have the little
dooryard in the rear of the house adorned with a tiny moun-
tain, a stream, a waterfall, trees, flowers, and a fish pond,
even though the yard may not exceed ten by fifteen feet in
diameter. I believe I have never seen any people except the
Eskimos who could stand the same amount of cold as the
Japanese. I have often been in Yokohama in winter time
when the thermometer was down to the freezing point, yet the
market boat would come alongside each morning with the
meat and vegetables for the day, and every member of the
boat's crew was absolutely naked except for a narrow rag
which they call a findosi around the waist. The people are
clean, happy and cheerful, though a stranger from other cli-

268 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

mates is puzzled to know how any people can exist, much less
be happy and cheerful, upon so little. They have certainly
reduced the cost of living to a minimum, for absolutely noth-
ing is wasted, and their mode of existence offers the most
indubitable proof that "man wants but little here below."

Their method of bowing consists in placing the hands
upon the knees and bending down till the back is nearly, if
not quite horizontal, and the greatest mark of respect consists
in frequently drawing in the breath with a hissing sound as
it passes between the teeth as they talk with you.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 269

CHAPTER XXIV

IN WEIRD KAMCHATKA

From Yokohama we sailed for Kamchatka and for a few
days the weather was fine, with a steady breeze. This state
of things did not last long, however, and sud-
L denly we found ourselves enveloped in one of

in a the impenetrable fogs so characteristic north-

Fog, ward of Japan. It was necessary to stand

well to the east to avoid the strong currents
liable to sweep a ship among the dangerous Kuril Islands
which form an almost continuous chain from farthest north
of Japan to farthest south of Kamchatka. On the sixteenth
day from Yokohama the fog cleared and we were afforded a
magnificent view of one of the grandest scenes to be wit-
nessed in any part of the world. Three smoking volcanoes,
which mark the Kamchatkan coast, towering boldly in the
foreground, the rays of the rising sun tingeing their snow-
white crests to a rosy pink. The brilliant gold and hazy
blue of the distant mountains added to the glory of the
haloed volcanoes was a scene the majestic wildness and
serenity of which could scarcely be surpassed. The coast
consists of rugged cliffs rising sheerly to a height of four
hundred feet and the ceaseless dash of ocean breakers has
worn these rocky highlands into innumerable sea caves in
any one of which a good-sized ship might hide with all
safety. Numerous tiny waterfalls leap from the jagged rocks
and tumble in long lines of snow-white foam in pleasing
contrast to the dark, frowning sea cliffs beneath. Myriads

270 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

of sea birds make their nests in these cliffs and caverns, while
the rocks below are covered with seals and sea lions. The
seals are particularly noisy during a thick fog, when their
hoarse barking and bellowing can be heard a mile or more
away. They have saved many a ship from going on the
rocks. Undoubtedly their object in barking so loudly during
foggy weather is to guide the seals which are out at sea back
to the rookery.

As we approached we sighted Racoff Lighthouse and sig-
nal station, which are built on the brink of a high promontory
on the north side of the entrance. A little to the south of
the entrance Mt. Vilyutchin rises in impressive grandeur to a
height of 7,257 feet. This is the lowest of the famous peaks
in this vicinity. The distant cone of Mt. Avatchinskaya is
8,000 feet and more, while Mt. Korianski towers over the
others to a height of more than 1 1 ,400 feet above the sea.

The magnificent bay of Avatcha is nearly circular in shape
and is about eleven miles in diameter. The depth averages
eleven to thirteen fathoms, and there is excellent anchorage
everywhere in the bay. We hauled up on the east side of the
bay opposite the town of Petropavlovski, whence a small boat
came out to pilot us in. The town was named in honor of
the two ships, the St. Peter and St. Paul, in which the ex-
plorer Behring made his voyages to these seas.

The first thing we did was to go hunting.
Strange ^e to°^ a couP^e °^ guides with us and had
Fear of some luck, and the funniest thing that
Lizards. happened to us on the first day was this:
One of the men suddenly drew his knife and
uttering strange guttural exclamations began slashing vigor-
ously at something, we could not discover what, in the grass.
The other guide quickly drew his knife and great consterna-
tion ensued. We supposed at first they had discovered a
poisonous snake and were killing it, but to our amazement

OF CAPTAIN QUINTOX 271

we discovered that it was nothing but a small, harmless
lizard. It seems that these people believe that all lizards
are emissaries of Satan, and assume the form of lizards in
order to escape observation. They firmly believe that these
impish little creatures come to out-of-the-way places for the
purpose of spying on the people in order to report their
doings to the devil. The natives pretend to get even with
his Satanic majesty by cutting every lizard they see into small
pieces and scattering the bits very far apart, because they
firmly believe if the pieces are left near each other they will
crawl together and again become an annoying spy upon them.
These strangely superstitious people also believe that unseen
powers are intensely malignant and spiteful. It is necessary
to constantly placate their curses by sacrifices of great value.
Frequently they will sacrifice a best dog to some foolish little
evil spirit which they declare is troubling them, and they
firmly admit that formerly human sacrifice was practiced
among them until the Russians, to whom these lands belong,
put a stop to it in so far as it was possible.

One night before pulling out from this har-

A bor we happened upon a unique performance

^unique jn a native settlement back in the mountains.

ance. A chief beat a drum with all his might and

main and chanted a bit monotonously perhaps,
while many native hunters vigorously and seriously bounded
about in imitation of the animals which they hunt. It was a
wonderful sight to see them bounding like reindeer, trotting
like foxes, loping like wolves, floundering about after the
clumsy manner of the seal, imitating the while the voice or
cry to perfection. Imaginary hunters moved about enacting
perfectly the pantomime of spearing, shooting, lassoing or
trapping the animals. There was more or less precision in
the dance, the wild grace and beauty of which was as-
tonishing.

272 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The morning on which we sailed from Petropavlovski was
so warm and bright we might almost have imagined ourselves
in the tropics. The rising sun tingeing the snowy crests of the
volcanoes and the beautiful hills which surround the harbor
were reflected in the unruffled surface of the water, and the
atmosphere was so clean that every object loomed up with
a distinctness that was startling.

The first night out we saw a magnificent display of aurora
borealis. The sky at times was arched with a triple rainbow
bordered with clear white light, and in a trice all would
change. The brilliant dome above us would be crossed and
recrossed with quivering streamers of every color, the radiance
of which rendered us speechless. The display was a fore-
runner of the thick fogs characteristic of this region and
which render navigation particularly dangerous, owing to
the strong and erratic currents which are liable to drift
the ship a long way out of her reckoning in a very
short time.

On the third day the fog cleared sufficiently to allow us
to make Amphitrite Strait, which leads from the Pacific
Ocean to the Okhotsk, between Paramushir Island on the
north and Onekotan Island on the south, in latitude 49° 55'
North. The wind died out suddenly, however, and we were
obliged to get out the launch to tow the ship through the
strait.

We anchored at the entrance to the Gulf of Amur, where
a pilot came on board and took us up the river to Nikolayevsk,
a typical little Siberian town built upon a plateau upon the
north side of the river. We climbed the wooden stairway
which leads from the wharf to the town, and came upon
a score or more of Cossack men and women singing and
dancing in a circle with clasped hands. They stopped to
greet us with friendly shouts of welcome, and then com-
placently continued the dance.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 273

Shamanism is a form of devil-worship peculiar to the Si-
berians in this particular vicinity. Little is known about this
peculiar form of worship, but it is the gen-
Shamanism, eral custom among the tribes to meet in lonely
A T?"^ forest clearings after midnight on moonless
Worship. nights and actually worship the devil with
weird and uncanny ceremonies. The custom
is deeply rooted. The Shamans believe in the efficacy of
these ceremonies just as the Christian believes in prayer; and
the custom of devil-worship is so well known that the Rus-
sians have bestowed the name Shaitanskaya upon the forest
clearings in which the unholy rites are held. No white man
is allowed to witness the ceremonies, though we managed by
great dexterity to see one, knowing all the time that our lives
would have been taken had we been discovered.

They also practice ancestor worship and represent their
ancestors by hanging streamers on the branches of trees.
Each streamer bears the name of the ancestor to whom it is
dedicated and to whom they make supplication. After sev-
eral thrilling experiences which made the natives rather sus-
picious of us we ran close in shore and anchored under the
lee of the dark towering cliffs which lie on the right bank of
the river. Even before the anchor was down, however, a
whole troop of native dogs saluted us with such a deafening
chorus of barks and howls that we might have supposed a
pack of wolves had been set loose to attack us. Above the
din we heard a human voice calling out something to which a
native on the ship gave answer. Whereupon the dogs were
dispersed as if by magic, and we were invited to come ashore
and spend the night.

We presently found ourselves in a good-sized room with a
bright fire burning on a large box of earth in the center of
the floor. There was a square hole in the roof to permit the
smoke to escape, and there were several sleeping-bunks ranged

274 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

around the fire. The inmates treated us to roast fish and
berries, and wanted us to sleep in the bunks, but we had our
misgivings. The natives, known as the Gyliaks, became greatly
agitated as we were about to leave the house, and we were
at a loss to understand the cause of their anxiety. It seems
that they have a superstitious dread of untold calamities which
would result if they permitted the least particle of fire to be
taken out of their house. So strong is this feeling among them
that if such a thing should occur they would burn the house
at once and no one would think of entering it again, much
less of occupying it. One of our men was smoking a pipe
and the possibility of his carrying it lighted from the house
was the cause of their consternation.

In the morning Kulenko led the way up the
Famous c^ upon which the famous monuments
Monu- which we had come to see stand. The monu-
ments, ment cliff is a short distance from the vil-
lage of Tir. The wild, majestic grandeur and
picturesque beauty of the landscape which lay spread out be-
fore us combine to form one of the most magnificent scenes
to be found anywhere, and we ceased to wonder that the
mighty Tartar conqueror chose this spot to mark the north-
eastern extremity of his vast empire.

The cliff from which we looked over the face of the earth
faces the south and juts boldly out into the majestic stream
which flows in a semicircle around its base. Looking up the
river, the main stream extends toward the southeast, while
an arm almost as wide as the main river extends due east
for a distance of about seven miles, then flows south into the
main stream, inclosing one large and several smaller islands.
The western bank of the river is covered with dense forest
through which the streams which form the delta of the Am-
gun River flow into the Amur River directly opposite where
we stood. Still further away to the westward we could trace

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 275

the course of the broad Amgun and its numerous tributaries
meandering like threads of silver through the extensive plains
which stretch from the western bank of the river to the dis-
tant mountains.

The first monument we approached is made entirely of
granite and is an ordinary upright column about five feet high
and slightly rounded at the top, which is unusually thick in
proportion to its other dimensions. About fifteen feet from
this one is another which stands close to the brink of the
cliff and consists of an octagonal base or pedestal supporting
a plain octagonal column of porphyry. The pedestal spreads
out a little around the top and is about three inches wider all
around than the column which it supports. The top of the
porphyry column is broken off, although there appears to be
no flaw in the stone, and it seems as though some relic-hunter
had broken or chiseled off a piece of it as a souvenir of his
travels ; for it is difficult to comprehend how it could have been
broken in any other way. About twelve feet from this one
is a third monument which stands about six feet from the
edge of the cliff and is shaped almost exactly like the first
one, except that the pedestal is made of granite and the upper
part of a very fine-grained gray marble, the surface of which
is wonderfully well preserved considering that it has been ex-
posed to the rigorous winters of Siberia for nearly seven hun-
dred years. A fourth monument stands nearly four hundred
yards further east upon a bare and narrow rocky promon-
tory, which is a little higher than the ground upon which
the other three stand. The general form of this fourth
monument is octagonal, but it is larger and much more orna-
mental than any of the others, and the top of it is shaped
very much like an octagonal vase. It stands so close to the
point of the almost perpendicular cliff that one fancies it is
in danger of toppling over.

Immediately back of the first three monuments are the

276 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

ruins of a large temple and also several large stones which
Russian authorities say were ancient altars of sacrifice. These
sacrificial stones are nearly square, and the surface of each
one slopes slightly downward toward the center, through
which a groove an inch deep extends from side to side evi-
dently for the purpose of conveying the blood of the victim
into some receptacle. The two monuments, which resemble
tombstones in shape, are engraved with Chinese and Mon-
golian characters, some of which Kulenko, one of our guides,
translated for us. One inscription is "Tai Youman shou chie
lee goon boo," variously translated, "The great Youan spreads
the hand of force everywhere," or "The power of the great
Youan Dynasty extends everywhere." The Youan (or
Yuen) Dynasty was that of Jinghis Khan, who erected these
monuments ; and this human tiger certainly justified the senti-
ment which he engraved upon them, for he slaughtered un-
counted millions of human beings and spread wholesale ruin
and destruction throughout the fairest portions of the world.
Another inscription is the mystic formula "Om Mani padme,
houm" (O jewel of the lotus, amen!), which in the Far East
is credited with such marvelous virtues that it would require
a whole separate volume in which to explain them.

The Gilyak tribe consider this spot pe-
Spot culiarly sacred to the evil spirits whom they

Saored worship, and they keep two poles about forty
Spirits. ^eet high always planted in the ground be-
side the first three images. Kulenko stated
that they renew these poles at regular intervals and conse-
crate them to the worship of the evil spirits by the sacrifice
of one or more dogs — their most valuable possession. Be-
fore setting up these poles they remove both bark and
branches to within a few feet of the top, with wreaths of
shavings bound together with strips of bark. The monu-
ments and sacrificial stones also were decorated with grar-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 277

lands of splint very artistically worked and lashed together
at intervals with willow twigs, and a number of small wreaths
of shavings were hung upon little sticks thickly planted in
the ground. Ignorant and degraded as the Gilyaks are, they
believe firmly that they belong to the race that once ruled
the world; for traditions never die in the East. They know
that Jinghis Khan erected these monuments at the outset of
his world-conquering career, and they attribute his amazing
success to the favor of the evil spirits in whose honor he
erected them.

They endeavor to secure the favor of the same spirits not
only by the sacrifice of dogs at various seasons of the year,
but chiefly by the annual sacrifice of a bear in January of each
year. Each village in turn is bound to provide a bear for this
great sacrifice, and the inhabitants of all the other villages
within the district come together for the purpose of taking
part in the ceremony and sharing in the favors of the gods
whom they meet to worship. The village priest accompanies
the party and chants his incantations to the deep, booming
sound of his drum. He calls his Satanic Majesty's attention
to the unusually fine bear which they are about to sacrifice to
him; begs him to remember the trouble which they took in
capturing him and the good care which they have since be-
stowed upon him; and reminds him that he (Satan) is ex-
pected to bestow his choicest favors in return, not only upon
all his worshipers in general, but more particularly upon the
men who captured the bear which they now offer to him.

In order to discover whether their prayers will be an-
swered or not, they drag the bear to the river and endeavor
to make him drink water through a hole which they cut in the
ice. They also offer him fish upon a large platter made of
wood or birch bark, but as a rule the bear is too enraged to
eat or drink, and the assembled worshipers hail his refusal to
do so with loud shouts of delight, because this is a sure sign

278 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

that the shaman's incantations have prevailed and the coming
year will be one of great prosperity. On the other hand,
should the bear attempt to eat or drink, it is a sure sign that
some dreadful misfortune is about to befall; but in such a
case the shaman always averts the impending calamity by
incantations. It may thus be seen that the shaman is sure, in
any case, to come out on top, and he always reaps a rich
harvest, no matter what happens.

They then drag the bear back to the sacrificial ground and
secure him with strong ropes to a sacred post, where he is
permitted to rest while the shaman chants some more of his
incantations. One of the chiefs then shoots an arrow through
his heart, and as soon as life is extinct the shaman cuts the
body of the bear into pieces and distributes a piece to every
house in the village. This piece of the sacrificed bear is sure
to prevent evil spirits from entering the house, they say, and
the skull of the animal is placed among the branches of a tree
as a warning to all perambulating devils to keep clear of that
village.

They believe that after death the soul of a Gilyak passes
into his favorite dog, except in the case of a man who is
killed in a combat with a bear. In the former case the friends
or relatives of the deceased feed the dog upon the choicest
food and pay the shaman to pray the soul of the deceased
out of the dog and start it on the way to paradise. When the
shaman feels that he has worked the game for all there is in
it and that he is not likely to get any more pay, he announces
that he has just succeeded in releasing the soul from the dog
and is guiding it safely into paradise. The friends of the
deceased then sacrifice the dog by solemnly cutting its throat
upon the grave of its deceased master, and everybody is sup-
posed to be happy ever after.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 279

CHAPTER XXV

THE CURIOUS ISLAND OF POXAPI. FIJI AGAIN

The short Siberian summer was now drawing to a close,
and it was necessary to sail for more southern latitudes. We
had intended to proceed next to the Philippine Islands, but our
itinerary was changed for the purpose of collecting curios and
exploring some of the prehistoric ruins upon several of the
South Sea Islands.

On Ponapi in the Eastern Carolinas there are
The Place ^e immense ruins called Nan Tauach, which
of Lofty means The Place of Lofty Walls. An im-
Walls. mense outer wall rises some seven feet from
the edge of the canal by which approach to
the island is gained, and the landing is built of massive basalt
blocks rising only a few feet above high tide. The island itself
has the appearance of having sunken several feet since these
walls were erected, and is littered with basalt blocks thrown
down in all probability by earthquakes. To add to its ancient
beauty the principal pile of ruins is entirely overgrown with
vines, trees and brushwood. The only entrance is a tunnel-like
gateway in the western wall and a small square hole near the
northeast corner. A raised terrace six feet high and some ten
feet wide surrounds the inside of the outer wall, which is all of
fifteen feet thick and varies in height from twenty to forty
feet. The inner enclosure is centrally located. It also has
two small entrances. At the center of this enclosure there
is what must originally have served as an altar. The entire
place gives evidence of having been both temple and fort-
ress, and, as was the case of the Jewish tabernacle, the wor-
shipers evidently gathered in the outer court. The smaller

280 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

entrance may have served for priests to enter for the per-
formance of mystic rites. The tombs, vaults and chambers
are clearly designed for holding human sacrifices. Many
points of similarity between the architecture of these ruins
and the ruins of Solomon's temple have repeatedly been noted
by archaeologists. The builders of these mysterious and dig-
nified structures undoubtedly understood the highest principles
of masonry.

Most of the small islets in this neighborhood are sur-
rounded with high sea walls of stone blocks neatly fitted to-
gether, and some idea of the labor involved in building them
may be gathered from the fact that, together with the canals
which separate them, this little group occupies an area of
over eleven square miles. Many of them contain paved en-
closures and raised platforms built of the same kind of blocks,
and the little island of Nan Katara has a single wall twenty-
seven feet high surrounding a huge paved enclosure, which
was undoubtedly an ancient council house, for it was in this
enclosure that the chiefs and priests of the tribe met to make
laws, to hold feasts and to worship their strange gods. I
have several times visited these ruins and have always found
that even the natives who profess Christianity regard them with
superstitious dread and believe them to be haunted.

An unusually intelligent chief who called himself David

Lumboi, and spoke good English, besides professing to be a

Christian, once accompanied me into the ruins of Nan Tauach.

He declared that he trembled with fear all the while he was

within the ruins, and that nothing could in-

The Beautiful ^uce ^lm to enter them except in company

Islet of with a white man.

Nan Tauach. it is a curious fact that Nan Tauach is the

only one of these islets which is not a perfect

parallelogram. It faces directly on the canals to the north,

east and west sides ; but the south side runs off to an indefinite

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 281

point, and is so overgrown with trees and brush that it is im-
possible to follow the outline of it.

By scratching the ground on this island with a stick I dug
up a number of shell beads in the bottom of the central vault.
These beads are about an eighth of an inch in thickness and
vary in diameter from half an inch to more than an inch and
a half. Some were rectangular, others were circular, and
each bead had a hole through the center.

There is a theory that these islets were constructed for
fortifications, and that the ground has subsided and allowed
the sea water to overflow them, forming canals of what
originally were streets and public squares. These and other
massive ruins in the South Seas prove beyond a doubt that
the Pacific Ocean in these parts was in prehistoric times the
scene of a high civilization.

It is curious that the natives of the various

Mysterious islands where ruins are found all trace their
Ancient origin out of the west. They also unite in

Inhabitants, locating their paradise at some indefinite
point in the west, and all hope to go there
when they die. It is evident that those ancient races were
great slaveholders with important business interests in the
seas, or they never would have undertaken the enormous labor
involved in the construction of such buildings, roads and
bridges, whose picturesque remains bear silent witness to the
greatness of the mysterious people that constructed them.

It also is evident that these structures were erected to
protect and facilitate trade and not in any way for the sake
of glory or to perpetuate the memory of the inhabitants, for
no inscriptions of any kind are to be found among them.

This mysterious people who have left monuments of em-
pire all the way from Easter Island in the extreme southeast
to the Pelew Islands in the extreme northwest, evidently came
there in large decked ships and practiced some distinct and

282 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

elaborate form of paganism. It is interesting to surmise who
they were and how they vanished so completely, leaving no
record of their identity on the face of the earth.

On the little island of Nan Tamarui are the

Little People graves of tne so-called Little People who lived

against upon this special island. They were very

The Giants. snort and black; and when the ancestors of

the present inhabitants dispossessed them of

their land they retreated to their fastnesses in the interior of

the island and maintained a long and desultory war against

the invaders.

Their method of warfare consisted chiefly in making sud-
den raids upon the enemy, burning houses, destroying crops
and canoes, killing every one in their way, and as suddenly re-
tiring to the inaccessible fastnesses of the interior. The in-
vaders, who were giants, made repeated attempts to follow
the Little People to their retreats, but were so assailed from
leafy coverts, which completely concealed the little war men,
with sudden and manifold volleys of myriads of poisoned ar-
rows, that the giants were glad enough to beat retreat.

The trail from Nan Tamarui to Ponial. where the graves
of the ancient Little tribe are located, is almost impassable, and
we reached the place at last and discovered it to contain only
nine graves all told, and these were the resting places of dis-
tinguished chiefs, which accounts for their elaborateness and
for the remoteness of them also.

Some of the dances of the remaining tribes on Nan Tama-
rui are especially beautiful, though they have nothing of the
savagery of the dances of the tribes south of the line. The
performers are usually naked to the waist, except for wreaths
of flowers around the head and festoons of leaves on the
neck and arms. They dance to the tap-tapping of castanets,
which resemble finger rings, and also they use a drum made of
a hollow log and varying from three to five feet in length.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 283

This is set up on end, covered with manta skin and beaten in
time to the measure of the dance.

The men alone perform one class of stand-
Thc Dances *n£ dances which they call kalek. Men and

of Kalek women together perform various varieties of

and Wen. sitting dances known as wen. They are fond
of singing, and it is quite common to come
upon small groups of them singing lustily to the accompani-
ment of fifes and drums and castanets. The kol or full dress
kilt of the men reaches nearly to the knees and hangs loose
like a long fringe of flax. The common costume is made of
banana fiber and is little more than a waist clout.

Unlike most South Sea Islanders the Ponapians make their
houses square. They first build a stone platform four and a
half or five feet high and fill the interstices between the
stones with sand and pounded coral. Upon this platform they
erect a wooden framework, lashing the pieces together with a
cord made of cocoanut husks. The height of the ridge pole
varies from fifteen to twenty feet, and the rafters are in-
variably made of the aerial roots of the mangrove. These
houses are thatched with leaves of the cocoanut tree and the
sago palm, while the sides are covered with tall leaves lashed
to the bamboo uprights of the framework. Each village has a
Nach or Big House, where strangers are received and enter-
tained, the affairs of the tribe are discussed and dances are
performed. When the chief wishes to assemble the people
quickly for a council he blows lustily upon a large shell
trumpet.

At a Ponapi wedding which we attended one day at noon,
the bridegroom had provided a sumptuous feast at his own
house where he and his friends waited for the coming of the
bride with her numerous friends and relatives. The bride
seated herself beside the bridegroom, whose mother performed
what is known as the ceremony of anointing, by vigorously

284 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

rubbing her back and shoulders with cocoanut oil. The bride-
groom then crowned her with a wreath of fragrant and beau-
tiful star-shaped wedding flowers which they call chair-en-
wai. Then everybody partook of the wedding feast and the
ceremony was over.

Frequently we went fishing with natives at
The night. They live in great dread of the flying

£arfish> which often leaP from the water and
Garfish. kill men who chance to be in their line of

flight. I frequently have seen these flying
fish leap over the boat at night. They whizz through the air
like an arrow. One night we were calmly fishing and a na-
tive was standing in the bow of our canoe when a small gar-
fish flew past and struck him on the leg. The man fell over as
if he had been shot, and there was a wound in his leg like a
large spear cut. We took him to the big ship as quickly as
possible and dressed the wound, and he got well of it in time,
but his superstitious fears and dread were fearful to contem-
plate.

Upon another occasion I was cutting some aerial mangrove
roots for the purpose of making them into fishing poles,
when I suddenly came upon a macho, as deadly a reptile as
there is anywhere, coiled upon the spider-like roots of the
tree. Instead of escaping, as I fancied it would, it at once
showed signs of fight, so I fought, too, and killed it after a
twenty-minute battle, with a blow of my axe. Some years
afterward I saw the same variety of venomous dark-green
water snake in the Pelew Islands, where the natives fear its
sting like a death blow.

After experiencing considerable dirty weather we arrived
off the entrance to Ahurei Bay on the east coast of Rapa
Island, where a native pilot came aboard and took us into the
inner harbor, which is commodious and well sheltered. Rapa
bears a striking resemblance to some portions of Fiji on ac-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTOA 285

count of its extraordinary sharp-pointed mountain tops. The
natives evidently belong to the Polynesian race, though they
are smaller of stature than those found on islands farther
west. We had learned from a whaler of some interesting
ruins on Rapa. The natives readily agreed to show them to
us and we found them most interesting.

The ruins of Ponapi are in the water and
Ruins in those on the island of Kusai are only a little

Fine State distance above the water, but the ruins on
of Preserva- _ ., _ . 1 . , t .„

tion. Rapa are built upon the tops of six high hills.

Instead of being built of basaltic prism laid
crosswise without cement as are the other ruins in this region,
those of Rapa are made of huge stones all neatly squared and
accurately joined together with cement which is as hard as the
stone itself. It is owing chiefly to the excellence of the cement
used in their construction that these ruins are in such a fine
state of preservation. No plants or roots of trees have been
able to force themselves between the stones and force them
apart by the power of expansion.

While the actual building of these ruins required an in-
credible amount of labor, this feature sinks into insignificance
when compared with the rare beauty and workmanship of the
finish and the elaborate minor details of* their construction.
They are as far superior to the other ruins which we had
seen as a fine mansion is superior to a common building.
This would seem to indicate that this lonely little island of
Rapa may possibly have been the chief capital of the
same mysterious civilization which flourished here, the very
heart and center, perhaps, of some elaborate form of heath-
enism.

Tradition tells us that a race of white giants lived in
fortified hills somewhere hereabouts at a remote period and
wore white garments in time of peace but clothes of iron in
time of war.

286 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

There can be little doubt that these buildings are the work
of some highly civilized people far advanced in the mechan-
ical arts and possessed of steel tools capable

The Work of cutting the hardest of stone. They also

°Civir8edy had c°PPer tools temPered to cut like steel.
People. I* is a strange experience, this actually
being among the mystic, silent relics of
long-forgotten ages.

We searched the buildings for inscriptions or hieroglyphics,
but found none. We spoke of what might be buried beneath
these great buildings and agreed that if any treasures or relics
are to be found beneath any of the ruins or monuments scat-
tered throughout these tropical islands they should surely be
found here.

The climate of Rapa is remarkably mild and delightful and
we were told it is entirely free from storms and hurricanes.
We had rather squally weather on our run westward to Ton-
gatabu where we anchored in Nukualofa Harbor. Our object
in revisiting the Tonga group was to secure a collection of
native cloths made of the bark of the paper mulberry and
also to see the ruins there.

An interesting point about the island of Tongatabu is a
low coral formation only slightly elevated above the sea. This
island contains no other such stones as those of which the
ruins are built, which shows beyond doubt that the builders
must have conveyed the huge monoliths to the islands in large
ships of some kind. These upright stones must be very
deeply and firmly planted in the ground, for they have suc-
cessfully withstood severe earthquake shocks, one of which
threw a huge stone urn off the horizontal roof-slab upon
which it stood. This particular monument seems to be built
to stand for all time. It required an immense expenditure of
labor, first to hew the gigantic monoliths into shape and then
to convey them to the place where they now stand, and lastly

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 287

to set them up and place into position the roof-slab and the
stone bowl. It is interesting to note that this monument upon
which so much labor was expended stands entirely alone, and
it is difficult to surmise the object for which it was erected,
for like all the other ruins which we had visited it reveals no
sign nor inscription, though it clearly conveys the impression
of having been the center of some idolatrous religion.

Leaving Tonga we sailed again for Fiji and anchored in
the mouth of the Rewa River on the southeast coast of Viti
Levu, which consists of a mangrove swamp several miles in
extent, abounding with wild duck.

We ascended the Rewa to its junction with the Wai ni
Mouka or Water-of-fire-river, for the purpose of trading with
the mountain people. The river banks were covered with
magnificent forest trees festooned with a network of lianas,
climbing ferns and orchids. The beautiful mountain ranges
rising in the background make a supremely beautiful pano-
rama. We stopped at several points and secured many rare
and beautiful orchids and the native Kai Tholo tribe furnished
us with a fine collection of curios consisting of bows, arrows,
war clubs, spears, stone axes and the most beautiful wood
carving of any of the islands we visited. The principal articles
they wanted in return were strong knives, hatchets and calico.
Before we left the Kai Tholos invited us to

Beautiful witness a Wave Dance representing the ocean
of all waves breaking upon a coral reef, and we en-

Savage joyed the performance of it more than we
could express to each other.

The faces of the dancers were painted in various light
colors and in a great variety of patterns. Their hair was
adorned with scarlet parrots' feathers. They first seated
themselves upon a little knoll which represented the coral
island around which the waves were rising. By far the great-
est number of dancers were men and boys wearing snow-

288 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

white turbans and long sashes of pure white masi cloth as
fine as gauze and representing the waves. These snow-white
sashes were so arranged that they floated in long streamers
from the heads and waists of the dancers like the white crests
of breakers ; and their grace and beauty, as they waved in per-
fect harmony with the music, and all in such barbaric sur-
roundings, was unearthly and unspeakably beautiful.

The music began in a low droning murmur, like the cease-
less murmur of ocean surges, while the dancers formed in
long lines and began advancing in imitation of the rising tide.
The smallest children represented the tiniest wavelets and the
entire company waved on with bowed heads and outspread
hands until at a given signal they began to break up into
smaller companies, precisely in the way that incoming waves
break against minor obstructions in their course. When the
long waving lines of dancers reached an imaginary shore,
they all suddenly sprang into the air and waved their long
white streamers in imitation of the snowy crests of larger
waves and breakers while the murmuring dance of the music
swelled to a thundering roar like the reverberating boom of
high waves beating upon the shore. The movements of the
dancers gradually increased in rapidity as they alternately ad-
vanced and retired in imitation of the rising tide and they
steadily gained ground until high tide was reached at last.
The process then reversed, and though the dancers advanced
and retired as before, they steadily receded by imperceptible
degrees to the point where they had started, which repre-
sented low water resounding. The dancing was as graceful
as it was realistic and every movement and attitude of those
performing savages was exquisite in the extreme. Suddenly
everybody around about, except our astonished selves, uttered
a resounding wawo and the most beautiful savage dance in the
world ended.

The climate of Fiji is rainy, so every house is built upon a
stone foundation several feet high in order to keep it well

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 289

above the damp ground. The floor is evenly covered with a
thick layer of soft, dry grass and the grass in turn is covered
with rich woven mats which are kept scrupulously clean. A
large wooden bowl of water is always kept outside the door
and every one must wash his feet before entering.

The Fiji canoes are large double boats a hundred feet long
and six feet deep, capable of carrying several tons of cargo
besides a hundred or more men. A small pilot house is built
upon a platform extending between the boats, which carry
large matting sails, by means of which they can travel very
fast.

Fiji canoes belonging to chiefs are elaborately carved and
decorated, and their snow-white sails and long bright-colored
pennants streaming in the wind present a gay and fantastic pic-
ture as they glide over the water with the speed of a race horse.
On completing our trading operations we pro-
The Home ceeded to Suva, which is situated about

H** t?c twenty miles to the westward on the south
Gods. side °f Viti Levu, thence to Mbenga, where

we again witnessed the unearthly fire-walking
ceremony, well known as characteristic of the islanders of the
Fiji group. It is celebrated to-day only on the island of
Mbenga, a little basaltic islet only five miles long by three
broad, and, like all the rest of the Fiji group, is beautiful
enough to make the spectator wonder not at all that the Fiji-
ans believed it to be the residence of their god. Small as it
is it has two good harbors, in one of which, Kovanga, we
anchored.

On the north side of the entrance is a wide beach of white
sand, back of which is a pretty native village of about thirty
houses. The entire habitat of the island is scarcely 750 souls,
who call themselves "Ngali thuva ki Langi," which, translated,
means Subject only to Heaven, because they consider them-
selves and their island sacred and acknowledge no earthly
authority.

290 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The priests who perform the mysterious fire-walking are
called Na Ivilankata, a word which seems to have an endless
variety of significant meanings. The lovo, which is the pit
where the fire-dancing takes place, is some four feet deep and
probably twenty-two feet in diameter. The bottom is paved
with large flat stones. First a quantity of kindling wood is
laid upon the stones and covered with logs to a height of ten
feet. Many stones are placed upon the top of the logs and
before daylight the fire is lighted. The hardwood logs which
they use give out a great heat; as the fire gradually burns
down a fresh supply of dry logs is thrown in on top of the
stones until they are heated to a white heat.

Between four and five o'clock in the afternoon the master
of ceremonies gave the signal and the natives began clearing
the burnt logs and embers oflf the stones. The men who did
this wore clothes of banana leaves by way of a protection
from the fierce heat. They dragged away the half-burned logs
with running nooses of tough vines attached to long poles.

While this was going on two medical men,

Again the along with us, requested permission to ex-

InCFi?ciblC amine the feet °f the Performers- This was

Walking. readily granted. They examined not only

their feet, but their entire bodies and limbs,

and acknowledged there was nothing unusual about them,

while the native priests declared positively that they had not

undergone any preparation whatsoever for the ceremony.

There were ten dancers, so called, and they wore only breech

clouts of common calico and anklets of dried fern leaves,

which, by the way, are highly inflammable. They also wore

wreaths of the ti tree upon their heads.

Starting in single file, they walked slowly and measuredly
across the red-hot stones, chanting in a low monotone. They
walked backwards and forwards in the glowing heat, showing
not the slightest evidence of inconvenience.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTOX 291

A native who stood by and who spoke good English in-
stantly invited one dancer to satisfy the mind of an incredu-
lous white man about the heat of the stones by allowing him
to touch any one of them, which he had declared must be
non-conductors of heat. Another dancer tied a white hand-
kerchief to the end of a long bamboo pole and held it all of
two feet above the red-hot stones; the handkerchief instantly
scorched and burned up. Some one else threw a rolled-up
bit of cloth in upon the stones. It blazed up and burned in-
stantly. Still others threw in branches and twigs, which
promptly sent up clouds of smoke and burned up in flames.

The performers remained in the pit for about ten min-
utes and then marched out. The doubters examined their feet
carefully, but were obliged to admit that they were perfectly
normal, and I noticed that their loin cloths and anklets of
dry fern leaves showed not the slightest evidence of being
scorched.

In a little while the performers reentered the fire and de-
liberately seated themselves upon a layer of green leaves,
which, of course, could afford no real protection from the
intense heat ; nevertheless they remained seated on the hot
stones for several minutes, chanting their monotonous incan-
tation. At a signal from the leader they all arose and marched
out as unconcernedly as they had marched in.

I have talked with missionaries who have lived among these

people for many years and they all agree that the Fijians have

the same traditions, which, according to the

The leader of the fire-walkers, who is a very in-

Traditipn of teliigent man and speaks good English, is as
the Kire- £ -.
Walkers. follows :

A great many years ago, ages before the com-
ing of Popalangi, a kind of fairy god named Tui Na Moliwai
lived in seclusion among the hills in the Sawau district of
Mbenga Island and performed many miracles. One day a

292 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

strange story-teller appeared in the village of Narakaisese and
entertained the inhabitants with wonderful stories of the many
foreign lands which he had visited. After several days when
Tui Na Moliwai was about to take his leave the chief of the
village asked each one in the audience what gift he would
make to the story-teller. A high chief named Tui Ngalita
promised the story-teller a large eel and the next morning he
started out to secure one. He went to the pond which had
been named in honor of a certain sprite who was supposed to
live near it, and he thrust his hand into a small but deep hole
and felt for eels. He first drew out a man's girdle, which the
threw away. He next got hold of a man's arm, which proved
to be the arm of no other than the story-teller. Tui Ngalita
informed his captive that he must be baked in the pit and
eaten. The story-teller then confessed that he was no other
than the fairy sprite, and offered the chief great rewards if he
would release him. The request was refused, and his captor
insisted he must be cooked like an eel and eaten. "If you will
release me, and not put me in the fire, but only allow me to
walk through it," insisted the sprite, "I will confer upon you
and upon all your descendants forever the mysterious power
to walk through fire whenever you wish to without the slight-
est injury to your body." This offer Tui Ngalita accepted.
The sprite immediately constructed a large long pit, lined it
with stones which he heated white hot and led Tui Ngalita into
the furnace, where they remained without feeling the least
discomfort for the whole day. "You are now invulnerable
to fire," said the sprite to the savage, "and this power shall
remain with you and with your descendants forever." So say-
ing the sprite vanished in a flame and has never been seen
since.*

*It must be remembered that this unearthly fire-walking ceremony
is not performed in secret by any means, and that many most intelli-
gent and highly educated white people have witnessed it.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 293

It must be understood that this strange ceremony of
fire- walking is not confined to the Fijians alone. In Hono-
lulu I saw the famous Papa Ita, a native
Jn of Tahiti, give his famous exhibitions of

San fire-walking there. He afterwards went to

Francisco. San Francisco, where an immense crowd
of spectators witnessed his ceremonious
fire-walking performance.

A large square place was dug in the form of an oven in
front of a church, and ten or twelve cords of wood were piled
in it. On top of the wood were piled about eight or ten tons
of large stones and broken blocks of lava; the fire was kept
burning for about seven hours before the performance began.

Medical experts have been sent to examine the performers, but
after most careful scrutiny all have been compelled to confess that they
could find no explanation of the mystery. My own opinion is that this
fire walking is nothing more nor less than a survival of the ancient
heathen rite of passing through the fire to some heathen deity so often
mentioned in the Old Testament.

"And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through
the fire, and used divination and enchantments." — II Kings 17:17.

"And he made his son pass through the fire, and observed times,
and used enchantments, and dealt with familiar spirits and wizards." —
II Kings 21 :6.

"And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of
Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass
through the fire to Molech." — II Kings 23:10.

As Christian baptism and the Eucharist are the visible bonds which
unite humanity to divinity, so passing through the fire was evidently
an unholy heathen sacrament which formerly united its votaries to
Satan. The Bible does not say that they were consumed in the fire, but
simply that they passed through the fire as a dedication of themselves
to some of the devil gods worshiped by the heathen.

No intelligent person could spend several years of his life among
the Polynesian Islanders and not notice the great similarity of many
of their manners, customs and traditions to many customs mentioned
in the Bible.

294 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

When the fire had burned down sufficiently they leveled the
stones with long poles, and Papa Ita, removing his shoes, in-
vited any one to examine his feet. Several medical men made
a very careful examination, but could find nothing unusual
about them. I noticed particularly that Papa Ita, who had
most likely never heard of the Fiji Islands or their inhabitants,
wore upon his head a wreath composed of the leaves of the ti
tree, exactly like those which the Fijian performers wore
under the same circumstances. He also carried a bunch of
the same leaves in his hand and constantly waved them above
his head during the entire performance. As he approached the
fire he began chanting a low and- melancholy though singu-
larly musical incantation which was plainly audible amid the
death-like silence of the spectators. He walked slowly and
deliberately across the white-hot stones without the slightest
hesitation and landed safely on the other side, amid the cheers
of the onlookers. He then turned and walked back to the
center of the furnace, where he stopped and remained for
some time, looking around him, then stepped out on the side
where he had first entered.

He now held out his hand towards the hundreds of spec-
tators and made a short speech in the Tahitian language. His
native interpreter said that he invited any of the spectators
to follow him through the fire, and assured them that the fire
would not have the slightest effect upon them, because they
would be under the protection of the fire goddess. No one
accepted his invitation and he turned and walked slowly back
and forwards through the glowing furnace several times, then
stopped and stood for a few minutes in the center again,
where the heat was so intense that the heat waves caused his
robes to flutter around him. He never ceased his chant while
in the furnace, and also kept the bunch of ti tree leaves con-
stantly waving about his head.

His feet were carefully examined after the performance,

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 295

but were found to be perfectly normal and did not show the
least sign of being burned. Some of the people then threw
pieces of meat upon the stones and they were burned to cin-
ders in short order. A thermometer was hung six feet above
the stones and the solder melted when the instrument regis-
tered 282 degrees; and several parties took photographs of
Papa Ita during the performance.

Representatives of the Honolulu papers interviewed him be-
fore his departure for San Francisco and questioned him in
regard to his mysterious power over fire. In reply to their
inquiries Papa Ita said: "I am the last lineal descendant of
the original fire-walkers of the Tahitian Islands. Countless
ages ago the goddess of fire, Hina nui a te Ahi (Great maiden
of the Fire), chose my ancestors to represent
An Address her in this world and gave them complete
H m * power over fire and heat ; but I am the last

Tongue. °f ^e ^ne- Hina nui a te Ahi is offended
with my people because they have forsaken
the worship of their old gods and have accepted Christianity.
Therefore the goddess whom I worship has decreed that I
shall die childless, and with me dies the last of the fire-walk-
ers of modern times.

"She protected my forefathers and she will protect me as
she has so often done. It is only through special power that
I am kept from being burned to death.

'The goddess of fire once visited us from her home in the
moon. She appeared to my ancestors completely enveloped
in the leaves of the ti tree, and it is to the ti tree leaf and her
watchful care over me that I owe immunity from all harm in
the fire. She told my forefathers that many thousands of
years ago a bird flew to the moon and plucked the berries of
the ti tree, which is sacred to the gods, and in carrying them
over our islands dropped them upon the soil, where they took
root and grew, and thus it was that this sacred tree first ap-

296 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

peared upon this earth. So long as I am enveloped in the
sacred ti leaf and chant my prayer to the fire-goddess all fire
is as harmless to me as the rays of the sun. Time and time
again I have walked barefooted over white-hot stones in the
presence of hundreds of spectators without feeling the least
pain or even noticing the heat.

"It is no trick, I assure you. It is the power of our god-
dess which protects me. My people are dying out and are
afflicted with various calamities because they have forsaken
the worship of their ancient gods, and there is no help for
them except to return to their old mode of life and the wor-
ship of their former gods."

A Breath from ^e ^°°^ ^ack w^ a sort °* va§lie curiosity
Forgotten to the Biblical account of the passing through
Ages. the fire and other kindred abominations which

were practiced in honor of Baal, Ashtoreth,
and Moloch in the days of the Hebrew prophets; but it
seems like a breath from these long-forgotten ages to find
that the same religion still survives and the same weird, un-
canny ceremonies are being performed to-day in our own
land. We know as a matter of history that the Phoenicians,
who were by far the greatest navigators, merchants and trad-
ers of antiquity, carried the religion of 'Baal and Ashtoreth
with them wherever they went and made it the religion of al-
most the entire ancient world. It is not difficult to under-
stand the secret of their success in spreading their religion;
for the spectacular always appeals to the multitude and the
amazing spectacle of people walking unharmed through a
fiery furnace would naturally tend to convert whole tribes of
natives to the worship of the gods who could enable their
votaries to defy the laws of nature.

The world-empire of the Arabo-Phcenicians is now dis-
tinctly traced from the Orkney Islands, on the north, to Zam-
besi and Lindi Rivers in South Africa, and from the Canary

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 297

Islands, in the Atlantic, to Malacca and Sumatra in the Far
East. Hanno, the Carthaginian admiral who sailed around
Africa about B. C. 570, or more than 2,000 years before
Vasco da Gama or Bartholomew Diaz rounded the Cape of
Good Hope, carried 500 men in each of his ships besides their
provisions and other stores.

Extensive Phoenician ruins are now found in East South
Africa, and the Makalanga tribe, residing along the Zambesi
River, still worships the ancient Semitic Baal under the name
of Bubu. It is known that the Phoenicians (or Carthaginians)
planted colonies in the British Islands and introduced the wor-
ship of Baal ; and it is curious to find that this worship never
became entirely extinct in those Islands, although what was
once practiced as a matter of religion is now practiced as a
mere matter of fun or in obedience to ancient custom. The
intensely religious Keltic inhabitants of Ireland, Wales and
Scotland still celebrate Midsummer Night (June 2ist) with
bonfires upon the hilltops in honor of the sun as their Cartha-
ginian or Phoenician ancestors did in long-past ages upon the
shores of the Mediterranean. Some roll blazing hoops or
blazing wheels (the emblem of the sun) down hillsides in
commemoration of the annual course of the sun. Young
couples clasp hands and leap over the bonfire, entirely uncon-
scious of the fact that they are only celebrating in a milder
form the dark heathen rite of passing through the fire, which
was celebrated in honor of Baal the Sun-god upon the hills
of Palestine three thousand years ago.

298 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XXVI

STRANGE PAGAN ECHOES OF SCRIPTURE NARRATIVES

The colonies and trading posts of the Phoenicians and
Carthaginians are clearly traced from the British Islands to
Malacca and Sumatra, but it is against reason to suppose that
such enterprising traders and navigators would stop at the
entrance to the Pacific without exploring further. It might
be argued if the Phoenicians or Carthaginians built the im-
mense ruins which still remain in various parts of the Pacific,
they would surely have sought to perpetuate their memory
by inscribing their names and achievements upon the build-
ings or monuments which they erected. But it is a matter of
history that these people were so extremely avaricious that
they cared absolutely nothing for what is known as "glory,"
the sole object of their existence was gain. Avarice with
them destroyed patriotism, and led to their ruin and extermi-
nation; for they depended entirely upon hired mercenaries to
fight their battles while they devoted all their energies to buy-
ing, selling and hoarding.

They were also extremely secretive and
And sought always to conceal the sources of their

A?ir<Hands wealth- lt is on record that a Carthaginian
ship bound to Britain for a cargo of tin ore
was followed by a Roman galley for the pur-
pose of discovering where they obtained the tin. The Cartha-
ginian captain, finding that he could not get rid of his pur-
suers, deliberately ran his vessel ashore on the coast of Gaul
and drowned all hands, rather than run the risk of any one of

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 299

his men betraying such a valuable secret to their hated
rivals.

All the Polynesian races without exception have very dis-
tinct traditions that their ancestors emigrated to these islands
from the westward; but every existing proof goes to show
that this emigration must have been very remote. It could
not possibly have occurred within recent or historic times, for
no other people now in existence bear a sufficiently strong re-
semblance to the Polynesians in their language and chief
mental and physical characteristics. The first settlers must
have arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in very early times, be-
cause human bones are found beneath the ancient coral beds
and lava flows. In New Zealand human bones are found
under the peat beds of the Molineaux River, thus proving the
great antiquity of man in this region. There can be no ques-
tion that a highly civilized race once held sway in these is-
lands of the Pacific, and it is equally beyond question that the
ancestors of the Polynesians were intimately associated with
the people of the Holy Land.

The Polynesian traditions of the War in Heaven, the Crea-
tion, the Fall of Man, the story of Cain and Abel, the Flood,
the eight persons who were saved from the flood in a large
canoe, etc., all agree so closely with the Bible story that it
would be preposterous to say that they are the result of mere
chance or coincidence. Competent authorities declare that
the Polynesian institution of tabu, or tapu (which has been
described elsewhere in this story), is identical with the Hebrew
toebah. They adhered strictly to the law of Moses in regard
to circumcision and the test of virginity, and their laws and
restrictions in regard to consanguinity and marriage are very
nearly identical with those found in the Bible.

While the Polynesians are doubtless a mixed race, there
seems no reasonable doubt that the main stock (especially the
chiefs) are of Semitic and Hamitic descent, and that they

300 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

came with the early Phoenician navigators from their original
home on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to the col-
onies which they planted in the South Sea Islands.

The views expressed in the following paragraphs are found
in the introduction to Legends and Myths of Hawaii, by King
Kalakaua of the Hawaiian Islands :

The strictly Polynesian tribes can be traced back to an
Aryan beginning, somewhere in Asia Minor or Arabia.

Their legends clearly repeat the story of the Jewish Gen-
esis. Following the channels of the commerce of those early
days they drifted to India and at length found a home in the
Asiatic Archipelago from Sumatra to Luzon and Timor. From
thence they spread, or were pushed, further east, and made
their first general round-up in the Fiji group, where they un-
doubtedly left their impress upon the native Papuan inhabi-
tants. From Fiji they gradually spread over the Pacific, oc-
cupying by stages the several groups of islands where their
descendants are now found.

Their religion was a system of idolatrous forms and sacri-
fices engrafted without consistency upon the Jewish story of
the creation, the fall of man, the revolt of Lucifer, the Deluge,
and the repopulation of the earth. Their legends were pre-
served with marvelous integrity. Their historians were the
priests, who met in council at regular intervals and compared
their genealogical "meles" in order that nothing might be
either changed or lost.

How did the Hawaiian priests become possessed of the
story of the Hebrew Genesis? It was old to them when the
Discovery and Resolution dropped their anchors in Kealakea-
kua Bay, and also to their ancestors when the latter quitted
the shores of Asia. They believed that from the beginning
there existed a trinity of gods, who were the sole and all-per-
vading intelligences of Po (night, chaos, darkness). These
gods were: Kane (Kah-ney), the originator; Ku, the archi-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 301

tect and builder; Lono, the director and executor of the
elements. This "Hikapoloa" (trinity), according to their
traditions, first brought light into chaos. They next created
the three heavens as their dwelling places, and then the
earth, sun, moon and stars were made by them. From
their saliva the Hikapoloa then created a host of angels to
minister to their wants.

Finally they created man's body and limbs of

Another rec* eart^' rmngled with the saliva of Kane,

Creation and his head of white clay which Lono
Story. brought from the four quarters of the earth.
The name Adam means red in all Polynesian
dialects, and it will be noticed that the body of the Hawaiian
Adam was formed of red earth. He was created in the image
of Kane, who breathed into his nostrils, and he became alive.
While he slept the gods took a rib from his side and made a
woman. The Hikapoloa named the man Kumu-honua, and the
woman Ke-ola-ku-honua. The newly created pair were placed
in a very beautiful paradise called Paliuli. Three rivers of the
"waters of life" ran through it, and on the banks of these
rivers grew every inviting fruit, including the "tabued bread-
fruit tree," and the "sacred apple tree," which were intimately
connected with the fall and expulsion from paradise.

The three rivers had their source in a beautiful lake fed by
the "living waters of Kane." The waters were filled with fish
which fire could not destroy, and when these waters were
sprinkled upon the dead they were restored to life.

The legends tell also of instances in which these waters
were procured through the favor of the gods for the restora-
tion of the life of distinguished mortals long dead.

One of the angels created was Kanaloa (the Hawaiian
Lucifer), who incited a rebellion in heaven and was cast out
with all his followers. When man was created Kanaloa de-
manded that the man should adore him. Kane refused to

302 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

allow this, as both angels and men were alike the creation of
Deity, whereupon Kanaloa determined to create a man who
would worship him. Kane allowed him to proceed, and he
made a man in the exact image of Kumu-honua, but could not
give life to it. He breathed into its nostrils, but it would not
rise ; he called to it, but it could not speak. This enraged him,
and he determined then to destroy the man and woman whom
the Hikapoloa had created. He therefore assumed the form
of a moo (lizard) and crept into Paliuli. In some way which
the legends do not state he deceived the man and woman and
induced them to commit some offence for which they were
driven from Paliuli by the "large white bird of Kane."

Kumu-honua and Ke-ola-ku-honua had three
Heathen sons, of whom the eldest, named Laka, mur-
Cain and dered the second. The youngest son was Ka
Abel. pjij^ ancj there were thirteen generations be-

tween him and the Deluge. The Hawaiian
Noah is called Nuu, and at the command of the Hikapoloa
Nuu made a canoe of wood and he and his wife entered it
with their three sons and their wives, and a male and female
of every breathing thing. The waters then drowned the world,
and when they subsided the Hikapoloa entered the canoe,
which was resting upon a mountain overlooking a beautiful
valley, and commanded Nuu to go forth upon the waters with
all of the life which the vast canoe contained. In gratitude
for his deliverance Nuu offered a sacrifice to the moon, which
he mistook for Kane. Kane descended upon a rainbow and
reproved his thoughtlessness, but left the rainbow as a per-
petual token of his forgiveness. These legends are rich in
parallel as may be easily seen.

Ten generations then followed between Nuu and Ku Pule,
who "removed to a southern country," taking with him as his
wife his slave woman Ahu. Ku Pule established the practice
of circumcision, and was the grandfather of Kini-lau-a-mano,

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 303

whose twelve sons became the founders of twelve tribes, from
one of which, named the Menehune, the Hawaiians are de-
scended.

The legends tell a story similar to that of Joseph and men-
tion the return of the Menehune from the southern country
to the land which Kane had set apart for them. Two brothers
led the Menehune through waters and over deserts on their
return to this land. Hawaii-loa, a very distinguished chief
and the fourth in generation from Kini-lau-a-mano (which
latter evidently refers to Abraham), sailed with his followers,
and, guided by the Pleiades, discovered the Hawaiian Group.
He gave his own name to the largest island, and the names of
his children to the smaller ones. The traditions relate that
the ancestors of the chiefs came from the westward, but the
common people were descended from the slaves or dependents
whom they brought with them, and from the various slave
races whom they subdued. The traditions also seem to show
that the Menehune (men-e-hoo'ne), from whom the Hawaii-
ans claim descent, built the ruined temples or monuments
which are now found scattered throughout the various islands.

The Hawaiians and Tongans had Puhonuas, or cities of
refuge, like those of the ancient Jews. The gates of a Puho-
nua were always open, and in time of war a large white flag
was hoisted over each gate to guide fugitives to the sanctuary
within. Each Puhonua was inclosed in thick stone walls, and
criminals of all kinds, even murderers, were perfectly safe
there from the moment they entered; for not even the king
himself could enter a Puhonua in pursuit of a fugitive.

An Hawaiian heiau, or temple, had an inner court cor-
responding to the Holy of Holies of the Jewish Temple. The
door of this inner court was covered with a large breadth of
kapa (native bark cloth) corresponding to the veil of the
Temple, and within was placed the Anu, which is a wicker
enclosure four or five feet in diameter, in which stood the

304 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

oracle. It will be readily seen that this Anu corresponded to
the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple at Jerusalem, and all
sacrifices were killed outside the temple, as was the custom
with the ancient Jews.

Hawaiian traditions relate also that a great
The priest and prophet named Naula-a-Maihea

Heathen was sailing in his canoe from Waianae, on
Jonah. the island of Oahu, to Kauai. His canoe
capsized in a sudden squall and he would
have been drowned, but a whale swallowed him and after-
wards vomited him alive on the beach at Waialua, in Kauai,
which was the exact place of his destination.

Like the Phoenicians, the Polynesians considered human
sacrifice by far the most acceptable offerings to their gods, and
in times of famine or pestilence their altars were heaped with
human victims. The Maori priests always kept on hand a
quantity of food set apart for the gods, exactly corresponding
to the shew-bread of the ancient Jews; and this most sacred
worship was paid to their gods in sacred groves, as it was in
ancient Palestine and as it still is in the Island of Timor. The
Fijians, many of whom are now stanch Christians, still have
a dread of stepping upon the threshold of a vale ni lono (vale,
house; ni, of; lono, faith), and we read. that in olden days it
was death to step on the threshold of a heathen temple. This
custom bears a striking resemblance to the custom mentioned
in I Samuel 5 15 : "Therefore neither the priests of Dagon,
nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold
of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day."

The spies whom Moses sent to spy out the Promised Land
reported, "All the people that we saw in it are men of a great
stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak,
which came of the giants : and we were in our own sight as
grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight." I believe I
have seen every nationality in the world, including Pata-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 305

gonians ; but the Polynesians as a class are the largest people
I have ever seen. It is a mistake to believe that the Poly-
nesians were or are to this day ignorant savages. Even when
the whites first discovered them they were a half-civilized race
possessed of well-established forms of government together
with intensely spiritual religious doctrines and usages and a
sacred language which only the priests understood. These
islanders are undoubtedly the descendants of some highly
civilized race who have degenerated on account of their
long and complete isolation from the rest of the world, their
lack of iron, and the fact that they possess such a beautiful
climate and a soil which supplies all their wants without the
necessity of labor. They are light-brown in color, but they
would be much lighter if they did not rub their skins with
cocoanut oil, which has a tendency to darken it. I have often
seen children of native missionaries who did not rub their
skins with this oil, and they would almost have passed for
white ; in fact, they were a great deal whiter than many Span-
iards and Portuguese whom I have seen. Many of them show
such a strong Semitic cast of countenance that it is common
to hear white traders, who live among them, say that they be-
lieve them to be among the descendants of the Ten Lost
Tribes of Israel.

The Phoenicians called themselves Kanaani (Canaanite),
meaning "Lowlanders" ; but the Greeks and Romans called
them Phoenices, meaning deep-red or reddish brown, on ac-
count of the color of their skin. Rawlinson says in his history
of the Phoenicians : "They were of a complexion intermediate
between the pale races of the North and the swarthy inhabi-
tants of the South, having abundant hair, sometimes curly, but
never woolly. They were above medium height, and had
features not unlike the Aryans or Caucasians, but somewhat
less refined and regular; the nose rather broad and inclined
to be hooked; the lips a little too full; and their frames in-

3o6 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

clined to stoutness and massiveness; while both in form and
feature they resemble the Jews, who were their near neigh-
bors and frequently intermarried with them." This descrip-
tion fits the Polynesians (especially the chiefs) so closely that
it might have been written of them instead of the Phoenicians.

While Solomon was building the Temple at Jerusalem
and his palace at Lebanon, we read in I Kings that he main-
tained a force of 183,000 Jews, and the record seems clearly
to indicate that there were an equal number of Phoenicians,
which would bring the total to 366,000. The building of the
Temple occupied seven years and the building of the palace
thirteen years, and Solomon fed and paid this great army of
workmen during this entire period of twenty years. In spite
of this enormous drain upon the treasury we read in the tenth
chapter of Kings : "And all King Solomon's drinking vessels
were of gold, and all the vessels of the house of the forest of
Lebanon were of pure gold ; none were of silver ; it was noth-
ing accounted of in the days of Solomon." The writer of the
Book of Kings does not leave any doubt in regard to the
source of all this enormous wealth, for he proceeds to explain
it as follows : "For the king had at sea a navy of Tharshish
with the navy of Hiram: once in three years came the navy
of Tharshish bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and
peacocks." "And King Solomon made a navy of ships in
Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth on the shore of the Red
Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his
servants, ship men that had knowledge of the sea, with the
servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophir, and fetched
from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and
brought it to King Solomon."

This clearly shows that Solomon and Hiram built at Ezion-
geber, on the Red Sea, a navy of large ships, patterned after
the large armed vessels which the Phoenicians were in the
habit of building at Tharshish on the Mediterranean. It was

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 307

necessary that these vessels should be very large and strong,
for it is expressly stated that the voyages upon which they
were bound lasted three years. Speaking on this subject, the
Jewish Encyclopedia says: "Any large vessel capable of
making a long sea voyage was styled a 'Ship of Tharshish/
though this did not necessarily mean that the vessel sailed
either to or from Tharshish." Records tell us distinctly that
the long voyages which these fleets made were the chief source
of Solomon's vast wealth, and the enterprise was considered
so important that the wisest men of Tyre were sent in charge
of the expeditions. "The inhabitants of Zidon and Arvad
were the mariners ; thy wise men, O Tyrus, that were in thee,
were thy pilots" (Ezekiel 27:8).

The next question that occurs to us is, What

Solomon's voyage could have lasted three years ? Again

Gold. the record, according to Josephus, says that

they brought gold from Ophir, and Jo-
sephus, who was certainly thoroughly familiar with Jewish
history and tradition, declares that Ophir was located in the
Malay Peninsula. We read that "Hiram, King of Tyre, sent
a sufficient number of men to Ezion-geber for pilots, and such
as were skillful in navigation; to whom Solomon gave this
command, that they should go along with his own stewards to
the land that was called of old Ophir, but now the Aurea
[Golden] Chersonesus, which belongs to India, to fetch him
gold. And when they had gathered four hundred talents
($11,520,000) they returned to the king again." The Golden
Chersonesus was beyond doubt the Malay Peninsula, and pea-
cocks are found only in Southeastern Asia and the neighbor-
ing islands. The almug, or algum, trees which the fleet
brought back are found only in Southeastern Asia and the
South Sea Islands. (Sandalwood is called valgum in Sanscrit.)
The fleets brought back gold, ivory, apes, and peacocks;
and it is worthy of note that the names which the old Hebrew

3o8 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

writers applied to these things in the Old Testament are
identical with the names which the natives of Ceylon apply to
the same things to-day. Although Josephus locates Ophir in
the Malay Peninsula, we must remember that the Jews ap-
plied the name of Ophir in an indefinite way to all the various
lands lying to the eastward of Arabia in the direction of the
Indian Ocean, very much as we use the word Orient. It is
not to be supposed that the Phoenicians would betray the
source from which they brought back such fabulous wealth
for fear that the Greeks and Romans might supplant them as
they had done nearer home.

Again, it is absurd to suppose that such practical seamen
and shrewd business men would waste three years on a voyage
if it could possibly be performed in less time ; and in Ridpath's
"Great Races of Mankind" we read that a Phoenician ship
could carry 500 men and make from 120 to 150 miles in 24
hours on an average. It was their custom to establish colonies
or trading posts wherever they went (as, for instance, in the
British Islands), so that the officials in charge of these trading
posts could have cargoes ready for their ships upon arrival
and thus avoid delay.

The wonderful ruins of Mexico and Peru, together with
the ruins scattered among the South Sea Islands, all point to
a common origin, and all are marked with the peculiarities
characteristic of Phoenician architecture. The stupendous
ruins of Ancient Egypt bear such a striking resemblance to
those of Mexico and Peru that there is every reason to believe
the latter were copied from the former. Yet the Egyptians
were never seamen or travelers, and their country was closed to
every other nation except the Phoenicians, who were welcomed
everywhere because they catered to the wants of all with
whom they came in contact.

The Phoenicians were the only foreigners who were suffi-
ciently well acquainted with Egyptian architecture to be able

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 309

to reproduce it on the opposite side of the world; and the
friendship between the Egyptians and Phoenicians was so
strong that one of the Pharaohs dug a canal where the pres-
ent Suez Canal is located to enable the Phoenician vessels to
pass between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. After the
destruction of Phoenician commerce the drifting sands of the
desert gradually filled it in and its existence was forgotten.

A curious coincidence often struck me while cruising
among the South Sea Islands. The ancient Egyptian name
for the sun was Ra, and all the Polynesian tribes throughout
the Pacific call the sun Ra, or La. (Some of the Polynesian
tribes cannot pronounce the sound of R, and substitute L in its
place.) Thus, the sun is called Ra in Maori, Tahitian, and
Raratongan; and La in the dialects of Tonga, Samoa, Niue,
Fakaafu, Manahiki, and Hawaii.

It would be impossible to give a resume of all

Phoenicians t^le evidence there is to prove that the Phce-

Visited nicians visited this continent. Suffice it to

America. say that M. Renan and other competent au-
thorities describe the ruins of Mexico and
Central America as of Phoenician origin, and the historian
Bancroft proves apparently beyond doubt that the Phoenicians
visited the American continent in the time of Solomon. In
fact, the religious customs and beliefs of the natives of Mexico,
Central America, and Peru, their architecture, their calendar,
their arts and many other things which the Spaniards found
when they conquered America, all reveal such startling coin-
cidence with the details of Asiatic beliefs and Asiatic civiliza-
tion as to leave no doubt of their Asiatic origin. It is in-
credible that so many striking coincidences could exist be-
tween the civilizations of two widely separated continents
unless the civilization of one was chiefly borrowed from the
other.

One of the most common ornaments found in the walls of

310 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

the temples in different parts of Mexico consists of the pat-
tern known as the Greek fret, or Greek key pattern, and a
perfect elephant's head is sculptured upon the walls of
Palenque, although no elephants are found in America. The
Toltecs understood astronomy so well that they had a more
correct idea of a year's duration than did most European
nations; and it is said that the Mexican calendar stone is the
only calendar ever invented that is absolutely correct for all
time, and the best scientists can not discover how it was
worked out.

The Mayas, who preceded the Toltecs, have left the most
incontestable proofs that they attained a degree of civilization
to which the rest of the ancient world could scarcely afford a
parallel. The remains of their vast public works, their costly
edifices, their splendid sculptures and paintings, and their
finely carved symbolic writing attest a height of civilization
of which any nation might be proud at the present day ; yet all
the remains of this great civilization show the marks of its
Phoenician origin.

The Phoenicians also introduced the horrible custom of
human sacrifice wherever they went, and this prevailed
throughout all the Polynesian Islands and to an appalling ex-
tent in Mexico. Both Mexicans and Fijians firmly believed
that their gods devoured the souls of all bodies which were
eaten ; hence the practice of cannibalism was the surest way of
pleasing the gods ! The Bible tells us that the Canaanites (the
Phoenicians) considered human sacrifice the most acceptable
of all sacrifices to the gods whom they worshiped.

The skulls of sacrificed human beings were preserved in
Fijian temples and Mexican temples alike.

It has been truly said that the sun-dance and other self-
tortures of the American Indians are a relic of the sun wor-
ship of Baal Peor upon the hills of Palestine. The human
sacrifice, the passing through the fire, and all the other hideous

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 311

abominations which the Hebrew prophets denounced three or
four thousand years ago upon the hills and sacred groves of
Palestine were contemporaneous and simultaneous practices in
both hemispheres until the advent of the Spaniards and the
overthrow of the Montezumas. These cruel practices, which
still prevail in isolated parts of this continent, attained their
greatest development in Mexico; and the Mexican calendar
stone duplicates in essentials the calendars of India and Asia
Minor, from which these practices were evidently carried to
the Western Continent.

We know that Solomon derived most of his
Solomon's enormous wealth from the long voyages of
Voyages. his fleet, and both Hebrews and Phoenicians
were far too practical to waste three years
on a voyage unless the profits of the voyage warranted it. The
combined fleets of the Hebrews and Phoenicians must not only
have gone to some country at an immense distance from Pales-
tine, but it must also have been a country which furnished
gold and silver in fabulous quantities ; and no other portion of
the globe has ever furnished such prodigious quantities of gold
and silver as Mexico and Peru. Cerro de Potosi, in Bolivia,
has furnished not less than $2,000,000,000 to the world's stock
of precious metals since the Spanish conquest. Pizzaro took
20,000 pounds of pure gold and 82,000 pounds of silver from
one Inca temple alone. He imprisoned the Inca Atahualpa,
and the latter promised to fill the room in which he was im-
prisoned as high as he could reach with pure gold if the Span-
iards would release him. The Spaniards promised to do so,
and Atahualpa's subjects filled a room 22 feet long and 17
feet wide to a depth of 9 feet with plates and ornaments of
pure gold ; but when it was filled the demand was doubled and
although the natives brought this also and promised four times
as much silver, the Spaniards treacherously put him to death.
Among other treasures the Spaniards captured ten solid

312 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

gold statues of women and four solid gold statues of llamas,
all life size.

The French expedition under M. de Pointis, in 1544, took
$200,000,000 from the city of Cartagena alone. Among
the immense treasures which Quesada captured in Peru was
one golden lantern belonging to a temple, worth $13,800, and
Mexico has yielded $3,110,000,000 in gold and silver since the
Spanish conquest.

When Sir Francis Drake captured the ship Nuestra Senora
de la Conception, which was carrying a cargo of treasure to
Spain, his crew were three days transferring the gold and
silver to his own ship.

It is known that the natives threw immense quantities of
gold and precious stones into Lake Amatitlan, and suffered the
Spaniards to torture them to death rather than betray their
place of concealment. Among the treasures which they con-
cealed were many life-sized idols of pure gold ; but there is a
native tradition that the time will come when these idols will
arise of themselves from the lake, the ancient worship will be
restored, and the Golden Age of the Aztecs will be ushered in.
The priests and religious leaders to-day say that although the
natives often profess to believe in Christianity they very sel-
dom keep their word if sworn upon the cross; but among
themselves they swear entirely by the sun and never think of
breaking this their most solemn oath, because they still secretly
worship the sun as their god.

The stories of the prodigious quantities of gold, silver, and
precious stones which the Spaniards took from the New
World read more like fairy tales than a sober relation of well
authenticated facts. The Mexicans and Peruvians not only
possessed vast quantities of the precious metals, but they had
secrets which are not known at the present day. They also
made their little hollow figures of thin gold, some of which are
still found in Mexican museums, and no civilized jeweler of

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 313

the present day can imitate them or tell how they were made.

It is curious to find a similar (if not identi-

Oldest cal) ceremony celebrated on the same day of

Hallowe'en, the year among the ancient Druids and the
ancient Aztecs. The Druids celebrated a
feast upon the night October 3ist (Hallowe'en), when the
sacred fire was extinguished and the souls of all who had
died during the year embarked in boats and went to the god
of the dead, who awarded each his lot. The Aztecs celebrated
a Xiuhmolpilli or cycle of 52 years, and the celebration always
occurred on the night of October 3ist. They had a tra-
dition that the world was once destroyed at this time and
would be again. On this night all the fires in the nation were
put out and as midnight approached human sacrifices were
offered to avert the threatened calamity. As soon as midnight
was safely past the priests kindled a fire by rubbing two sticks
together, swift couriers distributed brands from this fire over
the whole nation, and all fires were relighted from it.

While we have the strongest reasons for believing that the
main stock of the American Indians are of Mongolian origin,
there are equally good reasons for believing that the Mexicans
and Peruvians derived their civilization from the Phoenicians.
Montezuma claimed that his ancestors were white. Don
Pablo Felix de Cabrera of Guatemala, who made an exhaus-
tive study of the subject, says that a large emigration of Car-
thaginians to America took place during the Punic Wars, and
that the Carthaginians founded the kingdom of Amahuamecan.

This is no idle theory, for the ruins of both Mexico and
Peru afford indisputable evidence that a Semitic race possess-
ing a very high standard of civilization once ruled upon the
Western Continent ; and the only point of dispute is the man-
ner in which they got here. From the ruins of a temple in
Peru, and from the altar of a prehistoric ruin in Mexico, ex-
plorers have unearthed a number of "picture rocks," or hiero-

3I4 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

glyphic tablets, on which are represented characters neither
Toltec nor Aztec, but strangely unlike either of the two great
races of ancient Anahuac or Peru. The figures on these stone-
paintings are unquestionably those of Jews, for the hair is
curly and the typical Hebrew nose and other lineaments are
portrayed as truthfully as in a photograph. Scientists tried
to account for their presence on this continent by supposing
that they crossed from Asia by way of Bering Strait about
the time that a tribe of Israelites settled in China. In order to
do so they would have been obliged to wander through thou-
sands of miles of Arctic deserts, where they would most likely
have died of cold and starvation, even if the savage inhabi-
tants of these bleak deserts had not murdered them.

It is far more reasonable to suppose that the prodigious
wealth of the New World induced large numbers of Jews and
Phoenicians to settle in Mexico and Peru during the voyages
of their fleets, and here created the civilization which after-
wards perished as completely as did that of the mother-coun-
try from which it sprang. Both Jews and Phoenicians were so
avaricious that they would take every precaution to prevent
their contemporaries from learning their secrets, and it suf-
ficed them to say that they brought their wealth from "Ophir."

It is an historical fact that Scipio was severely taken to
task for not bringing back some of the enormous wealth which
Carthage was known to possess, after such bloody fighting
and such terrible loss of life. Scipio replied that he could find
no treasure there; for the Carthaginians, realizing that the
city must fall before the Romans, had sent away their enor-
mous treasures in their ships, and no one has ever discovered
where they were sent.

The descendants of this race in Tehuantepec still color
their fabrics with a dye which they obtain from the mollusc
aptisia depilans, which is said to be the same as that which
the ancient Tynans used in making their famous Tyrian

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 315

purple. It gives a splendid purple dye and requires no mor-
dant to fix the color.

Although we did not visit the Society or Marquesas Is-
lands, I afterwards learned that both these groups contain a
number of prehistoric stone buildings which testify to the
early settlements of the Phoenicians, and bear a striking re-
semblance to the buildings on Rapa.

On the Island of Nukahiva (Marquesas Group) is a
building called Paepae Tapu, which consists of three tiers of
terraces on the slope of a hill, and in front of these terraces is
a ruined parapet enclosing an arena. No trace of any super-
structure remains on the terraces or the parapet.

On the Island of Hivaoa there is another of these pre-
historic buildings, in which there are rows of stone benches
and isolated seats of honor for eminent persons.

The buildings in the Society Islands are generally in the
form of platforms or terraces placed upon hilltops or elevated
spots and formed of huge blocks of hewn stone which are
often of very great size. On the center of each is placed a
sort of massive altar.

A very large building of this kind is found at Papawa in
Tahiti. The base measures 94 feet wide and 270 feet long,
and from this rise ten steps or terraces, each of which is
about six feet in height. They are called Marae, or Moria,
suggesting the name of Mt. Moriah in Jerusalem.

It is a source of unflagging interest to note
Ancient tne striking analogy between some of the
Ideas. heathen practices mentioned in the Bible and
some that are found at the present day in the
South Sea Islands. Thus some of the ancient nations held
that it was unseemly to represent the gods whom they wor-
shiped by carved images, and worshiped them in the form
of unhewn blocks of stone. The natives of Timor worship
Usi Neno, the sun god, under the form of rough stones which

316 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

they call Vatu Lull (sacred stones), and those which I saw
looked exactly like meteorites. It seems quite evident that the
cultivated people of Ephesus worshiped their goddess Diana
under some such form. "What man is there that knoweth
not that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great
goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupi-
ter?"

A curious fact is that idolatry seems always to be insep-
arably connected with licentiousness. The natives of Timor
practice the same abominations as did the ancient Canaanites
in their sacred groves which they call Uma Luli, and the So-
ciety Islanders had a society called Areoi, who practiced the
most horrible and unbelievable orgies as the surest way of
pleasing the gods whom they worshiped.

It would require a good-sized volume in which to enumer-
ate all the points of resemblance between the Polynesians and
the ancient Canaanites, but because it is so interesting I enu-
merate here some of the principal points :

Solomon derived most of his enormous wealth
Striking from the long voyages of his fleet. The corn-
Resemblances, bined Hebrew and Phoenician fleets must
have gone to some far-distant country be-
cause each voyage occupied three years, and both parties were
far too practical to waste three years upon a voyage if it could
have been performed in less time; nor would they have done
so unless the profits of the voyage were enormous. No other
portion of the world has ever furnished such prodigious quan-
tities of gold and silver as Mexico and Peru. The architec-
ture, civilization, sun worship, human sacrifices, etc., of
Mexico and Peru show unmistakable traces of their Phoenician
origin. The immense ruins so widely scattered throughout
the Pacific Ocean all indicate a common origin with those
of Mexico and Peru. The Polynesians show beyond a doubt
that their ancestors came from Palestine, for their traditions

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 317

of the War in Heaven, the Creation, the Fall of Man, the
Flood, the eight persons who escaped the Flood, the Twelve
Tribes, the Story of Jonah (Naula a Maihea), etc., might
almost have been copied word for word from the Bible. All
the Polynesian traditions state very clearly and distinctly that
their ancestors came from the westward in large decked ves-
sels capable of carrying several hundred people. The Phoeni-
cians were the only people of ancient times who made long
voyages and planted colonies and trading posts in distant
lands, though they were extremely secretive in regard to the
sources from wrhich they derived their wealth. The ceremony
of passing through the fire is still celebrated as it was in the
time of the Hebrew prophets and the worship of Baal and
Ashtoreth still survives ; for Hina-nui-a-te-Ahi, the Fire God-
dess and Moon Goddess of the Tahitian fire-walkers, is noth-
ing more than Ashtoreth, the Moon Goddess and Queen of
Heaven of the Ancient Phoenicians.

The approximate distance which the Phoenician and He-
brew fleets would have to traverse from Ezion-geber to
America would be as follows :

Head of the Red Sea to Singapore 4,803 miles

Singapore to Callao, Peru 10,900 miles

Red Sea to Callao Total, 15,703 miles

Head of the Red Sea to Singapore 4,803 miles

Singapore to Acapulco, Mexico 9,520 miles

Red Sea to Acapulco Total, 14,323 miles

A few years after this visit to Fiji I was in command of
the bark Helen W. Almy, of San Francisco, and I brought
her from Metalanim Harbor in Ponapi (latitude 6° 52' N.,

318 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

longitude 158° 30' E.), to San Francisco (latitude 37° 48'
N., longitude 122° 28' W.), in forty-five days, but I was be-
calmed three days on the trip, making the actual sailing time
forty-two days. I was obliged to run as high as 40° north
latitude in order to avoid the northeast trade winds and catch
the northwesters ; and my course on the charts measures 6,350
miles, making an average of about 151 miles for each sailing
day. Estimating that the Phoenician vessels could average
120 miles in twenty- four hours, they could go from the head
of the Red Sea to Peru in 131 days, and to Mexico in 120
days.

Juan Sebastian del Cano, the Spanish captain who was
with Magellan's fleet, sailed around the world in the Victoria
and returned to Spain in a little over three years, making a
great many stops at different places.

All of which goes to show that the Phoenicians had ample
time not only to visit the American continent, but also to stop
and trade at many other places on the way during the course
of their three-year voyages.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 319

CHAPTER XXVII

A BATTLE WITH RUBIANA HEAD-HUNTERS

After leaving the Fijis we sailed to the northwest and
anchored in Lakona Bay, on the west side of Gana Island, in
the New Hebrides. We spent two days trading with the na-
tives of Lakona village, situated at the north end of the bay,
and obtained a magnificent collection of bows, poisoned ar-
rows, war-clubs, spears, slings, obsidian daggers, mats, orna-
ments, etc., in return for tobacco, pipes, beads, fishhooks,
calico, hatchets, and knives.

Most of the bows were made of black palm,
Reall kut some were of mangrove roots, bamboo,

Splendid and the wood of the wild nutmeg tree. These
Weapons. bows are indeed formidable weapons, for they
are seven feet long and so powerful that it
is difficult for a white man to draw one of them, though life-
long practice enables the natives to do so with ease. The
arrows, which were in proportion to the size of the bows, were
mostly neatly barbed with pieces of human bone as fine and
sharp as needles, and some were pointed with conical pieces
of very hard wood. Both war-spears and war-arrows are
poisoned with the sap of a very poisonous plant called salata,
though the natives stated that they sometimes poison their
arrows by setting their points in decayed human flesh, par-
ticularly the brain.

The slings, which are called talvava, have very long strings,
and the natives can throw stones with such surprising force
and accuracy that these weapons are really more to be feared

320 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

than the wretched guns which they obtain from traders. The
war-clubs were very much like those which we obtained in the
Solomon Islands.

We were anxious to visit some of the prehistoric ruins in
the interior of Gana Island, and the natives readily agreed to
conduct us to them, but their actions before we started out
became so suspicious that we abandoned the project.

Generally speaking, it is reasonably safe for a ship's crew
to go ashore so long as some of the natives remain on board,
though it is a common trick for a company of natives to re-
main on the ship as hostages in order to induce the crew to go
ashore when they wish to murder and eat them. There may
not be a canoe within sight and the natives will saunter care-
lessly about the deck, as though intent only upon gratifying
their curiosity, when suddenly, if not carefully watched or
kept under some kind of rigid restraint, they will spring over-
board like flying dolphins, and as they swim like ducks they
make the shore without the slightest difficulty even though it
may be several miles away.

After leaving Gana we proceeded towards the northwest
and anchored in Wanoni Bay, on the north coast of Bauro
(San Cristoval) Island, at the southeastern extremity of the
Solomon Group. We spent some time in trading with the
natives of Salipawa village and visited their council house,
which is sixty feet long and twenty-five feet wide. The
center of the roof is sixteen feet high and rests upon four
large posts which are elaborately carved. The lower part of
each post is carved in exact imitation of a shark standing
upon its tail, with its mouth open, while the
Dolphin upper part represents a man.
Tombs. It is common to find wooden images of
dolphins or porpoises hung inside of the coun-
cil house, or placed on wooden trestles around the outside of
it. Each of these wooden dolphins contains the dead body

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 321

of a chief, and the head of the dolphin points to the
westward because they believe that the soul of the fish
will carry the soul of the dead man through the ocean to
Paradise.

Many large canoes came every day from the neighboring
islands, bringing cargoes of curios to trade; they were par-
ticularly anxious to obtain firearms in exchange ; but we posi-
tively refused under any circumstances to furnish either arms
or ammunition. Among other things we bargained for were
fine ebony spears from Bugoto (Ysabel) Island, and a kind of
spear called kona, elaborately barbed with human bone from
Ngela (Florida) Island, together with stone axes and wicker-
work shields. The shields varied somewhat in detail, but they
averaged three feet long by ten or eleven inches wide, and
were made of light rattan securely lashed together with strips
of bamboo.

Leaving Bauro, we proceeded through Indispensable
Strait, and anchored in Ramada Bay, on the east coast of
Rubiana (New Georgia) Island in latitude 8° 12' S. and
longitude 157° 40' E. After establishing friendly relations
with the natives of Ramada village we secured a dozen of
them to accompany us in an exploring expedition up the
Piongo Lavata River, a short distance south of Ramada.

The fierce Rubiana head-hunters, who live on

Midnight tne opposite side of the island, have very

Attacks. nearly depopulated this whole district; and
the Ramada natives told us that the head-
hunters accomplished this chiefly by crossing the center of the
island (a distance of about ten miles) and attacking the Vaholi
villagers at night. The native villagers endeavor to protect
themselves against these midnight attacks by planting small,
sharp-pointed stakes in the path which the enemy is most
liable to take. These stakes vary in length, but in general are
about eighteen inches long and an inch in diameter, and are

322 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

made of very hard wood. They plant the butt end of them
about a foot deep in the ground, and leave the point, which
they have rubbed with poison and concealed with leaves and
grass, projecting at an angle of about forty-five degrees, in
the direction from which the enemy must approach. In spite
of these hideous precautions the head-hunters manage to sur-
prise and murder them in their midnight raids.

Our native friends told us that the Rubiana
^ head-hunters had beheaded three people from

Gruesome the bush village of Kererao while they were

Warning. a^ work jn the taro patches only two days be-
fore our arrival. They also volunteered the
cheering information that the head-hunters prized a white
man's head above all others, and, though outwardly peaceable,
were liable to attack us if they found an opportunity to take
us by surprise.

The natives led the way in their own canoes and we fol-
lowed with most of our crew in our own boat and the little
steam launch, and we were all pretty well armed. The lower
part of the river flows through a low, alluvial district clothed
with a dense forest of splendid timber, and the water is
brackish; but after ascending a couple of miles the current
becomes more rapid and we found the river perfectly fresh
and sweet.

About four miles from the mouth we came to a creek
which flows into the main stream, and went up it for some
distance, but found that the banks were covered with such
dense forests as to make it useless to attempt to land.

As usual in these tropical forests, the branches of the huge
trees which lined the banks met overhead and interlaced at a
height of 150 feet above the water, supporting a canopy of
lianas and other climbing plants which hung in festoons across
the stream, and the quiet that reigned was like the silence of
the tomb. The only living things we saw were some hornbills

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 323

flitting among the trees, and a crocodile which plunged into
the water at our approach.

Returning to the main stream, we ascended it about half
a mile farther, when we came to an open forest and made a
landing. Wild ducks and white herons and kingfishers were
plentiful along the river, and in the open forest we found
many rare orchids and beautiful flowering trees. One variety
of these trees had glossy green leaves and great clusters of
fragrant white star-shaped flowers. Another was beautiful
with crimson blossoms ; climbing vines with large purple flow-
ers shaped like a butterfly wound in and out among the
branches. Among other trees we recognized the varnish nut
tree which is so common in the Caroline Islands, and which
the natives here call Tita. Many of the large trees have huge
flanges or buttresses which often rise to a height of fifteen
feet on the trunk, and extend fully twenty feet outward along
the ground.

We also came upon a number of very fine specimens of
sandalwood trees scattered through the forest. It is a curious
fact that sandalwood trees seem always to grow singly instead
of in families as most other tropical trees do, and the wonder
is how they become planted there in the first place. Although
we had not come for sandalwood, we cut down a few of the
slim trees to take back to the ship.

It seems that there is plenty of this very valu-

An able sandalwood in the interior of the island,

Earthly but it would not pay to attempt to cut it be-

Paradise. cause the workmen would be exposed to the
incessant attacks of the head-hunters. It does
seem strange that the natives of these beautiful islands should
be such frightful savages, for nature has beeri so lavish in the
bestowal of her beauties and loveliness that the scene re-
sembles one's ideal of an earthly paradise.

The numerous mountain streams which flow through these

324 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

lovely forest glades, the stately palms, the brilliant flowers of
the hibiscus and flame trees, the giant forest trees, often en-
veloped and garlanded with luxuriant flowering vines, and the
Karu Mahimba Mountains rising grandly in the background
combine to make idyllic surroundings of sylvan beauty and
grandeur.

But here silence reigns supreme, for the head-hunters have
practically exterminated all the inhabitants, and the cooing of
the wood-pigeons is about the only sound by which the sol-
emn stillness is disturbed.

British, French, German, Dutch, and Austrian men-of-war
have repeatedly shot down hundreds of head-hunters, burned
their villages, felled their fruit trees, and destroyed their crops
and canoes, but it seems that nothing will cure them of their
murderous ways, and they are eternally on the watch for an
opportunity to obtain fresh heads to add to their grim collection.

Shortly after noon we were tramping through the bush ; we
came upon several wild pigs feasting upon wild pineapples,
and shot three of them as they attempted to escape. A little
later it began to rain so hard that we were obliged to take
refuge under the tarpaulins in the boats. It seems to rain at
least two-thirds of the time in the Solomons.

Late in the afternoon the rain cleared away

An Opal and we were about to get under way to re-
butcher tum to t^le S*"p w^en ^our natives stepped up
Knife. to us> and one> wn° was evidently a chief,
offered us a fine rough opal. We gave him a
stout butcher knife in exchange for his opal, and he expressed
himself as highly satisfied with the trade. He also informed
us, through a native interpreter, that there were plenty more
of such opals among the mountains in a place to which he was
willing to conduct us. After considering the matter we de-
cided not to go just then but to spend the night where we were
and accompany him in the morning.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 325

Our native friends eyed the newcomers very suspiciously,
and one of them who had been much in the Fijis and spoke
broken English expressed himself as follows: "Him fella
belong head-hunters ; plenty no good. Four piece man come ;
s'pose you go (pointing to the mountains), plenty piece man
come quick, bimeby kill you ; plenty no good."

Shortly after midnight our man who was on watch awoke
me and whispered that some wild pigs were drinking along
the edge of the stream a little above where we were anchored.
So some of us landed and made a detour through the bush
by way of heading them off, while the others remained in the
boats to attack them in the water should they attempt to swim
across the stream. The pigs were so busy squealing and right-
ing they did not notice our approach till we were about to
rush on them, when one man tripped and fell, and hearing the
disturbance the pigs instantly darted back directly into our
midst. All hands joined eagerly in the fray and the natives,
along with us, were so carried away with excitement, that
their yells might have been heard a long way off. The pigs
fought savagely, as they always do, but we killed a lot of
them, and could not tell how many wounded ones might be
concealed in the bushes, for wild pigs are cunning enough to
keep perfectly quiet until they are discovered.

We were congratulating ourselves upon our

Head- "catch/* and were dragging the pigs down

hunters the bank to the boats, when the whole sur-

Attack Us. rounding bushes suddenly resounded with
savages yelling like wild beasts, and a shower
of arrows hurtled over our heads. It was worse than useless
to attempt to escape to our boats, for the moon had risen high
enough to reveal any object in the water, and the savages
could shoot at us from under cover of the trees on the bank
without exposing themselves. So we instantly dropped down
behind the bank just as a second volley of arrows sped over

326 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

our heads ; and the head-hunters, for our assailants were noth-
ing less than a bunch of this savage tribe, calculating that we
had taken to our boats, gave another volley of yells and, dash-
ing forward, received in turn a volley of shots from all hands,
which brought down several of them and made the others
dart back into the bushes.

This was not because they were the least bit afraid, mind
you, but because this is their regular method of fighting. It
is their custom to make a hidden attack, and if they find that
they are losing they run away exactly as though they had
given up the combat, but this is only a ruse to put their
enemies off their guard, for invariably they will steal back as
silently as a tiger stalks its prey, and make a sudden attack
at the very moment when any one would suppose them to be in
full retreat. Knowing this, we stealthily hitched a long rope,
which fortunately we carried with us, about thirty inches from
the ground and directly in front of our position, and then we
all crouched down to avoid the shower of arrows which we
knew would precede any hand-to-hand attack they might make
upon us.

The new position which we had taken up was several yards
in advance of our former position, and we were completely
hidden from view in the deep shadow of the trees. For a few
minutes everything was deathly still ; and even the savages in
our line scarcely dared to breathe. Then a third series of wild
yells suddenly resounded upon our right hand and so close to
us that we were thunderstruck at how they had managed to
approach so near without being discovered. We had wit
enough not to fire in the direction from which the yells had
come. We knew them to be only a ruse to get us to disclose
our true position and waste our ammunition, for we realized
instinctively that the real attack would come from some other
direction.

Sure enough, while the small party on our right were yell-

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 327

ing for all they were worth, we managed to discern a large
body of the savages stealthily advancing and evidently under
the impression that we still occupied our former position. All
at once they stopped, discharged volleys of arrows in rapid
succession at the place where they supposed us to be; then,
with the customary war-whoop, they dashed forward with the
intention of annihilating us by a sudden onslaught.

The New Georgian natives are extremely

We fleet runners, and as they rushed forward the

Thwart foremost ones landed on their heads over the

hunters." r°Pe w^tn sucn crushing force that the wind
was completely knocked out of them, and our
crew cut them down as they struggled to regain their feet.

Although so completely taken by surprise the others in-
stantly closed upon us and endeavored to cut us off from our
boats, but we kept close together and fired into them at such
close range that every shot told, and our Ramada friends were
so rejoiced at an opportunity to wreak vengeance upon their
hereditary enemies that they used their spears with an ac-
curacy and a deadly effect that was amazing.

I came in collision with one of the savage beasts myself,
and he instantly aimed a blow at me with his war-club, but
fortunately for me I wore a topi * or sun helmet, which I
had obtained in India, and this helped to break the force of
the blow. About the same instant that he struck me I cut him
across the face with a cutlass and he never struck any one
again, I can assure you.

All this had occupied but a very short space of time, and
the head-hunters now retired as rapidly as they had come, and
we fired a parting volley after them just by way of expediting

* These topis, which are made from the pith of a tree, are an inch
thick, but are remarkably light. They are a sure preventive of sun-
stroke, and it is strange that they are not more generally used by trav-
ellers in the tropics.

328 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

their departure. Two of our crew and two of the Ramada
men were killed outright in the skirmish and every one of us
was wounded more or less severely. One of the crew received
a spear wound which penetrated his lung ; we did the best we
could for the poor fellow by leaving him in charge of a medi-
cal missionary in New Britain.

The strangest case of all was that of a Fijian, who received
a poisoned arrow through the calf of his leg. His leg after-
wards shriveled till all the muscle seemed to disappear and
the skin appeared to be drawn tight to the bone. He did not
complain of much pain; and it afterwards filled out and be-
came as well as the other leg. I escaped with a slight wound
from an arrow on the left thumb, and it festered for two
months before it healed.

We immediately returned to the ship, and next day we
buried the two dead bodies where we were sure the natives
would never find them; for they are so addicted to cannibal-
ism that they will dig up a freshly-interred body for the pur-
pose of devouring it. Our party liberally rewarded the Ra-
mada natives to compensate them for the loss of the two men
who had been killed; but death by violence is so common
among them that the bereavement did not seem to trouble
them very much, and they gave a dance in our honor the night
before we sailed.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 329

CHAPTER XXVIII

NARROW ESCAPE FROM SOLOMON ISLANDERS

After leaving Ramada Bay we proceeded towards the
northwest and next anchored in Tonolai Harbor at the ex-
treme southeastern end of Bougainville Island, geographically
a member of the Solomon Island group. This fine harbor is
four and a half miles long, with an average breadth of three-
quarters of a mile, and is open to the southward. The
land surrounding it is high. It is perfectly protected from all
winds, and good anchorage is found everywhere in from four-
teen to twenty fathoms, sand and mud.

At the entrance there is a patch of coral with a sand key
about two feet above water, but this is easily passed on either
side. Tonolai is not only the best harbor in this district, but
it is also about the best place for collecting native weapons
and other curios. We gathered a fine collection of stone axes,
spears pointed with obsidian and human bone, shields, slings,
war-clubs, and the powerful seven-foot bows which the na-
tives in this group use with great skill, and some very fine
orchids besides.

We made the acquaintance of a chief named Kalikona, who
offered to conduct us on an exploring expedition into the in-
terior of the island, but the natives of this immense island
are so ferocious that we did not care to accept their invitation.
They are so undependable that they appear to be very friendly
one moment and the next they may try to murder you with-

330 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

out the slightest apparent cause. Strange to say, Kalikona
quite willingly posed for his photograph, a thing which sav-
ages very seldom do; for the workings of a camera are so
mysterious and incomprehensible to them that they believe
there is an evil spirit inside of it, and that any one who pos-
sesses their photograph can bewitch them or "steal their soul."
Kalikona was a typical specimen of a Solomon Island cannibal
chief in all his quaint array of savage finery, and although he
wore no clothing, the labor of making the shell bead orna-
ments which he wore is far greater than we might have sup-
posed had we not known about it. His necklace is made of a
number of small white disks strung on cords. The method of
making these disks consists in laboriously rubbing a shell
upon a smooth stone covered with wet sand until the re-
mainder of the shell is worn away and only a small disk, from
the center of the shell, is left. When a sufficient number of
disks are made they are carefully polished and strung upon
cords braided from the hair of victims whom the wearer has
killed and helped to eat.

The rest of the beadwork which he wore was
Ear-lobes made of beads of various contrasting shades

arranged in very neat geometrical patterns,
Head. producing a very picturesque and harmonious

effect, and serving to show that these wild
cannibals are not without good taste in their savage ornamen-
tation. The lobes of his ears were sufficiently enlarged to
allow them to be passed around large tortoise shell earrings.
The custom of enlarging the lobes of the ears is very general
throughout all the Solomon Islands. Sometimes the lobe is
enlarged to such an extent that the owner can cover his head
with it.

While we lay in Tonolai Harbor, three large canoes ar-
rived from Mono Island in charge of Mule Kopa, the head
chief of Mono, for the purpose of trading. They also were

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 331

very anxious to obtain firearms, as these natives always are,
but we persistently refused to trade firearms under any cir-
cumstances, and as usual they had to content themselves with
the knives, hatchets, fishhooks, bright-colored calico, etc.,
which we always carried for trading purposes. At first the
strangers and the local natives eyed each other in scowling
silence, and just before their departure a fierce quarrel broke
out between them from some cause which was not apparent to
us, and in a short time everything around about was in wild
excitement. The local natives who were on board our ship
or in their own canoes alongside, shouted excitedly to their
friends ashore to launch their war canoes and attack the
Mono Islanders before they could get away; but we insisted
that there must be no fighting on board our ship, and also
that the Mono Islanders should 'be allowed to get outside the
harbor before being attacked.

The local natives had only two war canoes at hand, for
the very good reason that the others were in use on some
murderous head-hunting raid, so the Mono Islanders got
away before these canoes could be prepared to attack them.
Nevertheless a number of small Tonolai canoes followed them
out of the harbor and attacked them with volleys of arrows;
but the Monos gave them better than they sent, and the small
canoes did not attempt to close with them, because the larger
canoes have the advantage in hand-to-hand fighting. While
one warrior used his bow another always held a shield in
front of him to protect him, and the smaller canoes were
:ept with their heads turned towards the enemy in order

present as small a target as possible. These natives are

)d marksmen with their formidable bows and arrows,
lough they could shoot much straighter than they do if they
ithered their arrows. It is a curious fact that none of the

ith Sea Islanders have any idea of putting feathers on an
irrow to guide its flight.

332 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The Chinese paint two large eyes upon the bow of every
one of their junks in order to enable them to see where they
are going, because, says John Chinaman,
c "S'pose no have eye, no can see." The Solo-

With mon Islanders carry out the same idea in a

Eyes. slightly different way. Instead of painting

two eyes upon the bow of a canoe, they
carve an extremely grotesque figure of a god of war or of the
sea and secure it upon the bow of the canoe, just above the
water line; and sometimes this god is provided with two
heads, one of which looks forward and the other backward.
The canoe and its occupants are then supposed to be under the
protection of this god, who is expected to keep a bright look-
out not only for storms and enemies, but also for rocks or
reefs beneath the surface of the water.

It is a remarkable fact that the natives of this group of is-
lands improve in physique and increase in ferocity as you go
from south to north. The natives of Bougainville and Buka,
for example, are among the finest physical specimens of man-
hood to be found in the South Sea Islands, and beyond all
comparison they are the most ferocious and dangerous. It is
most emphatically true of them that their hand is against every
man and every man's hand is against them, for they are for-
ever on the warpath, and neither give quarter nor expect it.
We did not see a single old man among them,
jg0 and it is extremely doubtful if any one is

Old permitted to grow old. The sole object of

Men. their existence is to secure heads to add to

their ghastly heap, and human bodies to de-
vour in their cannibalistic orgies. A never-ending war of ex-
termination is waged between the coast natives and the wild
tribes who live among the mountains in the interior of the
island, and the mountaineers, it seems, are generally the
victors. They frequently descend from their mountain fast-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 333

nesses at night, and not only destroy the crops of the low-
landers, but set fire to their houses and murder the inmates
as they endeavor to escape from the flames. Even by day-
light small parties of them frequently prowl in the bushes and
murder coast natives who are hunting or working upon their
plantations, and they are so amazingly fleet of foot that they
generally make good their escape before they can be attacked
in return.

In this fierce forest warfare the powerful seven-foot bows
and poisoned arrows which the natives use are probably quite
as dangerous as rifles, for the wounds which they inflict are
more deadly, and they reveal no indication of the whereabouts
of those who are using them, as the report of a rifle does.
These famous bows and arrows are used not only for the pur-
pose of shooting enemies, but also for shooting birds and fish,
though, as a matter of course, the poisoned arrows are used
only in warfare, as the poison would render game uneatable.

One day we trailed along with a party of natives a short
distance into the bush and startled one of the six-foot lizards
which are common in these islands. The creature ran up the
smooth trunk of a tree to a height of about fifty feet, when it
stopped and looked down at us. One of the natives raised his
bow and sent an arrow apparently without taking aim at it,
and the next instant the lizard fell to the ground with the
arrow through its body.

They pointed out a spot where some men of their tribe

had been fishing in a stream when a party of bush natives

suddenly attacked them and killed every one

Savage °^ tnem before they had an opportunity to

against defend themselves.

Savage. We saw a party of Tonolai natives who were

starting upon a hunting expedition succeed

in cutting off the retreat of some bush natives, and the latter

took refuge behind a remarkable-looking rock which rises a

334 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

short distance from the bank of the stream. The Tonolais at-
tacked them, but the mountaineers defended themselves with
the courage born of desperation, and endeavored to keep their
assailants at bay with their poisoned arrows until night, when
they hoped to escape in the darkness.

At first, and for some minutes, volleys of arrows were ex-
changed, both parties keeping themselves so well covered with
3 their shields that the arrows did little harm. The ^Tonolai
natives sent for reinforcements by runners, who brought a
number of thick, heavy mats, and under cover of these they
rushed the position and slaughtered every one of the enemy,
after which they feasted upon their bodies. The new acquisi-
tion of heads added much to their glory.

The coast natives make long expeditions in their large
canoes for the purpose of attacking distant villages and se-
curing heads. They generally conceal their canoes by day in
some creek or sheltered bay near the scene of the proposed
raid, and some of the crew remain to guard the canoes while
others make detours through the bush and murder and secure
the head of any man, woman, or child whom they can sur-
prise.

Among these head-hunters it is considered braver to take
the head of a woman than a man, and still braver to take the
head of a child. Men are in the habit of going long distances
in the bush for the purpose of hunting and fishing, therefore
it is comparatively easy for a practiced assassin to lie in wait
and shoot a man with an arrow or run him through with a
spear while he is passing through some thick underbush. True
it is that women work upon the plantations, but these are
close to the houses, and there are almost always a number
of women together and ready to shout for help if an enemy
appears ; therefore the murder of a woman is supposed to in-
volve greater risk than that of a man. Children, on the other
hand, are always supposed to be in sight of the houses and

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 335

under the eyes of the older folk, therefore the murder of a
child is supposed to involve the greatest risk of all.

The Solomon Islands are beautiful by day,
Firefly ^ut ^ey possess an indescribable charm by
Spirits. night, and the fireflies which flit like fairy
lamps among the trees diffuse such a bril-
liant light, faintly tinged with delicate green, that the natives
call them pito pito (stars). They believe that these beautiful
fireflies are the spirits of their departed friends, who assume
this form in order to revisit the scenes of their earthly exist-
ence. Yet death constantly lurks amid all these beautiful and
apparently peaceful scenes, and no one knows what bush may
conceal a treacherous and blood-thirsty savage with an up-
raised stone hatchet or a poisoned arrow to his bow.

Bougainville is said to contain gold and other valuable
minerals, but owing to the bloodthirsty and treacherous na-
ture of the natives it would require a large, well-armed com-
pany to prospect for them. That the natives did not attack us
while we were at anchor was due solely to the fact that we
never allowed more than a small number to come aboard at
one time, and took care to let them see that we kept an armed
watch at all hours of the day and night. Kalikona supplied
us with live pigs, fish, yams, taro, bananas, etc., for which
we paid him with various articles of trade.

I believe I have not spoken of one particular
A Strange method of poisoning quite common among
Method of these apparently unsophisticated savages,
Poisoning. which is as follows: The seas surrounding
these beautiful islands contain many varieties
of fish, some of which are deadly poisonous. When the na-
tives wish to poison a white man, or, perhaps a whole crew,
it is a common custom for them first to bring to their in-
tended victims several gifts of fish which are perfectly harm-
less and good to eat ; and, having thus allayed suspicion, they

336 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

will next bring a gift of the poisonous varieties, which are
almost sure to cause death. They are far more likely to
practice this deception upon white men than natives, because
the latter are more familiar with the ruse than the former.
Knowing this, we always trusted to our own natives to judge
of and prepare the fish that were brought to us, and we never
knew them to make a mistake.

After leaving Tonolai Harbor, we sailed along the eastern
coast of Bougainville, which presents a grand and attractive
appearance from every point of view. The mountains in the
interior rise from 4,000 to 10,000 feet in height, and the vol-
cano of Bagana, which is located near the center of the
island, was in a state of active eruption, and was visible at
night at a distance of over fifty miles. We made a short call
at the village of Numa Numa, which is located upon the north-
eastern coast of the island, in latitude 5° 50' S. and longitude
155° 09' E. Here we secured a number of curios of various
kinds, particularly a fine collection of stone axes, after which
we continued our course to the eastern coast of Buka, the
most northern island in the group. While coasting along
Buka several large canoes came out to trade with us, and,
finding that we wanted only curios, they brought out whole
canoe loads of them. Each canoe contained so many power-
fully built warriors, however, that we never permitted more
than one canoe to approach at a time.

We were about five miles north of East Point, when the
wind gradually died away, and I was alarmed to discover that
the current was slowly but surely drifting us towards shore.
At the same time a whole fleet of large canoes loaded with
warriors rapidly collected from different quarters, and,
although they made no open demonstration of hostility, it was
evident that they realized our helplessness and were as deeply
interested in the outcome as ourselves, for they are notorious
pirates. They knew that unless a breeze providentially came

OF CAPTAIN QUJNTON 337

to our rescue the heavy swell would inevitably set our ship
on the reef, after which they would have us at their mercy.

Accordingly, as there was not the slightest indication of
wind, we got the steam launch overboard for the purpose of
towing off shore, when we were further alarmed to learn from
the man who was running the launch that the engine would
not work, and that it would require fully half an hour to fix
it. He was well paid to keep the launch in perfect condition,
and his neglect to do so was likely to cause the loss of the
ship and most likely all our lives as well; for even if we

(escaped from the wreck in the boats, the canoes could readily
overwhelm us by force of numbers.
The natives, who knew nothing about the use
^ye of a steam launch, evidently concluded that

Break we were about to abandon the ship and escape

in the small boats, so disposed their canoes
in such a way as to prevent our boats
from escaping to sea. At last the launch was in working
order and the natives set up a wild yelling of rage and disap-
pointment as it began to tow the vessel steadily off shore, but
we had not proceeded over a mile when the engine again
broke down. The natives were now much excited, and be-
coming bolder every minute, as they saw that we might escape
them after all by slipping out to sea, while on the other hand,
it is scarcely necessary to say that all our crew were standing
by with loaded rifles ready for instant use. In about fifteen
minutes the launch began towing again, and this seemed to set
the natives perfectly frantic. With more yelling and gesticula-
tions than we had ever seen before, they formed in a circle
all around, and came on us with a rush. They kept the bow
of each canoe pointing straight toward the ship, and the
actual warriors covered themselves carefully with their long
shields. One-half our crew were stationed aft and the other
half forward, and instead of firing at random among them,

338 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

each one of us concentrated fire upon two or three of the
canoes at a time. The moment after we fired the first volley
we saw several shields thrown into the air, and the warriors
who had held them went plunging over the side, or fell back
helpless among their companions. The natives replied with
yells of defiance and a volley of arrows, some of which hit us,
while others fell far wide of the mark. Knowing that it was
their lives or ours that weighed in the balance, we fired into
them as rapidly as we could reload; but even this failed to
stop their onrush, notwithstanding that numbers of them were
already killed and several of their canoes were completely
wrecked by our bullets.

We now adopted a plan which I never knew

A to fail against South Sea Islanders, and the

Last only reason we had not resorted to it before

Resort. was because we did not think it would be

necessary. While the rest of the crew con-
tinued firing, three of us brought up a lot of large rockets and
began discharging them at the advancing canoes. The first
one struck against a shield in one of 'the nearest canoes and
instantly exploded, scattering a shower of blazing sparks all
over the crew and setting fire to something inflammable,
which immediately burst into flame. The effect was magical.
The savages, who were not afraid to face our firearms, were
so amazed at this sudden shower of fire which descended upon
them that with a yell of terror they all plunged overboard,
leaving their canoe to burn. This maneuver was so success-
ful that we continued discharging rockets among the canoes,
which were now so close that we could scarcely miss hitting
them. The shower of fire from the rockets, together with the
rain of bullets from our rifles, effectually stopped their ad-
vance, and they paddled rapidly away amid a babel of yells
and curses, such as few people have ever imagined.

We towed the ship twenty miles off shore, then took the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 339

launch on board, and, although the deadly calm lasted to the
next morning, we found the current did not affect us here as
it did further inshore. Several large canoes were seen hov-
ering around us during the night, but a few shots fired in
their direction warned them effectually to keep at a respect-
ful distance. At daylight we were surprised to see a still
larger fleet of war canoes drawn up inshore, as if preparing
to renew the attack upon us, but before they were ready to
do so, we caught a steady breeze which carried Us rapidly over
the sea to the north.

340 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XXIX

DUK-DUK AND OTHER CRUEL SUPERSTITIONS IN NEW BRITAIN

After rounding Cape North (the northernmost point of
Buka), we stood to the westward and anchored in Montagu
Bay, on the south coast of New Britain. The natives here
belong to the same Papuan race as the Solomon Islanders,
but they are not so stalwart and powerful as the natives of
Buka and Bougainville. They were anxious to trade, and
salt was one of the articles which they particularly desired.
The party obtained, without any difficulty, a fine collection of
stone axes, war-clubs, spears and slings, but these natives did
not seem to use bows and arrows, as nearly all other tribes
of the great Papuan race do. Many of the war spears had a
piece of human leg bone fitted upon the butt-end like the fer-
rule upon a cane. This shows that the spear had killed the
victim whose bone was used in decorating it. Such a spear is
supposed to endow the man who owns it with all the additional
strength and courage of his victim; consequently, it is the
most highly prized of all weapons, and commands a far
higher price than one which is not decorated with this grue-
some emblem of death.

Although they do not use the bow and arrow,

Man-killing ^ne sling is quite as formidable in their hands.
Slings. The average length of the sling is about eight
feet, though this varies slightly, and the na-
tive places the stone in it with his toes, which he uses almost
as dexterously as he does his fingers. The action of raising
such a long sling from the ground in order to obtain the proper

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 341

swing round the head is a very difficult feat for any one who
is not accustomed to it, though the native accomplishes it
very easily and gracefully. They use these slings both in
war and in hunting, and their aim is deadly up to about two
hundred yards, while at a distance of one hundred yards they
can bring down a tiny bird from the branch of a tree. The
sling in their hands may be quite as effective as the bow and
arrow in open ground, but it is quite evident that it could not
be used in thick bush where a bow can be used, because there
would not be room to swing it. We saw them use their'slings
in canoe fighting, though it would seem almost impossible* for
a man to use one of these weapons while standing on such
an unsteady foundation.

The Australian blacks are unquestionably the best stone-
throwers in the world so far as hand-throwing goes, and any
one of them could pick up and throw several stones in quick
succession with unerring aim while the New Britain native
was throwing a single stone with his sling. But the former
have no knowledge of the sling, and in a pitched battle be-
tween them the latter would slaughter the black fellows be-
cause they can throw stones about twice as far and with an
equally accurate aim. They defend themselves with shields,
and, since they became acquainted with white traders, one of
their favorite weapons consists of the head of an ordinary
hatchet fitted upon a native handle three feet long. At short
range they can throw spears with deadly accuracy for a
distance of twenty-five yards or more.

We paid several visits to the large village of Ruaka, which
is situated on the east side of Montagu Bay, and also the vil-
lages of Pilimaso and Malano, which are located to the east-
ward of Ruaka, in the order named. The houses are rather
long but low, and each one has a small, low door in either
end. Instead of rising to a point in the center, as is the
case with many South Sea Island houses, the roof is an even

342 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

height from one end to the other and is rounded in such a way
that it looks a good deal like the bottom of an upturned
canoe.

The beds consist of shelves made of bamboo ranged around
the walls like bunks in a ship's forecastle, and the rafters
are hung with human skulls, together with the skulls of large
fish or the lower jaws of pigs, besides stone axes, shields, and
spears, the butt ends of which are decorated with human
bones.

The natives themselves wear enormous headdresses made

of parrots' feathers, and they paint their bodies in the most

grotesque and gorgeous manner in every color of the rainbow.

One of the greatest curiosities which we ob-

Dcwarra tained here was a collection of dewarra, or

or Native native money, composed of a great number of
Money. small cowrie shells threaded upon strips of
rattan. Of course, this dewarra possesses no
intrinsic value in itself, but the shells are tiny and are found
only in very deep water ; consequently, it is valued on account
of the difficulty, first of collecting the shells, and next of
boring and stringing them in the proper fashion. When first
made each piece of dewarra is about thirty feet long, and as
an inch of dewarra contains about twelve shells, each com-
plete strip of money would contain about 4,320 of these shells.
A piece of dewarra six feet long is the recognized standard
of value, and seven fathoms is considered a fair price for a
full-grown pig or a human being. The dewarra seems to
increase in value towards the western end of the island, and
the natives thereabouts often cut it into pieces not over an
inch in length.

The children make a false dewarra of common shells and
play with it among themselves, but it is absolutely worthless
as a medium of exchange. Nevertheless these unsophisticated
savages commonly endeavor to sell this false dewarra to

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 343

strangers, and we only learned of the deception after purchas-
ing a quantity of the worthless stuff.

Every native is supposed to give a feast after
A his or her death, and one day we went to

Death see the funeral of an old man who had just

Feast. been killed. Upon our arrival we found the

assembled mourners gorging themselves upon
roasted lizards, pork, fish, shrimps, shell-fish, yams, taro, etc.,
while the body of the deceased was placed in a sitting posture
with its back against a tree. The deceased was most fantas-
tically painted in all colors of the rainbow and a coil of de-
warra was placed in each of his hands, while a large quantity
of it was hung around his neck.

The eldest son of the deceased cut .the dewarra into pieces
and threw one of these pieces to each of the assembled mourn-
ers. Some of the bits were quite large, while others were
very small; but the size seemed to make no difference and
every one was equally well satisfied, no matter whether he
received a large or a small piece. The son then threw a
large piece into the grave to pay the evil spirits to permit the
soul of his father to pass into paradise, after which the body
was placed in the grave in a sitting posture. Some of the
relatives then threw into the open grave a stone axe, a shield,
a war club, a sling, and two spears ornamented with human
bone. For some fantastic reason the spears were broken before
being thrown in, after which they filled the grave and dis-
persed. These were the only savages I had ever seen who
showed no indication of mourning or lamenting for the de-
ceased; for as a rule savages indulge in the most frantic
demonstrations of grief over their departed relatives.

I have asked a number of savages of what use it was to
bury broken weapons with a dead man ; for broken weapons
are useless and, if they believe he has to use them at all, they
ought to be whole, I invariably argued. Their reply was that

344 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

the dead man himself is broken at death, though his spirit still
continues to exist, and the spirits or souls of the weapons con-
tinue to exist just the same, no matter whether the weapons
themselves are broken or not. A live man can use only ma-
terial weapons, while a dead man can use only the spirits of
the weapons ; consequently, the spirit of the deceased uses the
spiritual weapons as he used the material ones while alive.

. Dewarra is used in purchasing a wife the

Wives arc same as in purchasing any other commodity,
Bwhhht and' though the Parents of the bride invari-

Dewarra. a^Y ^x tne PT1CQ at a n*gn figure, they do not
expect their son-in-law to pay it in full.
When the bridegroom concludes that he has paid enough he
builds a small house in the bush and he and his bride, to all
intents and purposes, elope to it. The father of the bride and
a party of his friends then start out to hunt for the son-in-law,
vowing to kill him on sight, though they have no intention
of doing so ; but they burn the hut in which the couple have
been living, and this ends the nuptial ceremonies. But before
the elopement takes place the father is supposed to give his
prospective son-in-law a hint that he is satisfied, or otherwise
they would try to murder him in earnest. It is curious how
this idea of stealing a bride prevails in so many parts of the
world. The natives of New Britain resemble the Australian
blacks in that they have no actual hereditary chiefs, and a
man's standing in the community is reckoned according to
the amount of dewarra which he possesses, very much as it is
among ourselves.

The old men of the different tribes have a most ingenious
method of living in luxury by working upon the superstitious
natures of their ignorant dupes. This particular method of
thieving, called Duk-duk, is supposed to be a tribute which
is paid to the evil spirits whom they worship. These evil
spirits are supposed to have their home at the bottom of

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 345

the sea, and the old men of the tribe who have been duly
initiated are the only ones who have the power to call them
from the deep. These evil spirits, who are really none other
than the old men in disguise, are supposed to appear in bodily
form and at sunrise, at certain fixed times, such as the day
of the month when the new moon first becomes visible.

The old men always announce the date of arrival of the
evil spirits a month in advance in order that everybody may
be sure to provide a liberal tribute of food and dewarra
to appease their wrath. And the people exert the utmost ef-
fort to comply with these demands, because they know that
the penalty will be very severe if they fail to do so. The
women either disappear in the bush the day before the arrival
of the evil spirits or else remain hidden in the houses until
after the Duk-duk has taken his departure. All the male
inhabitants of the district assemble upon the beach before
dawn on the morning of the Duk-duk's arrival, but it is in-
stant death for a woman to look upon anything which has to
do with the Duk-duk performances.

We had delayed our departure several days
Duk-duk on purpose to witness this unlikely ceremony,
Horrors. and at first the natives declared most posi-
tively that they could not permit us to see it,
because, forsooth, the spirits would be terribly offended and
curse them with sickness, failure of crops, and various other
dire afflictions. Of course, this was merely a ruse on the
part of these wily savages to induce us to give them a bribe,
and when we did this the old men, who are believed to be in
constant communication with the spirits, suddenly discovered
that the spirits had withdrawn their objections and were per-
fectly willing to allow us to be present. We landed on the
Duk-duk beach a little before daylight and found the as-
sembled natives jabbering and rushing about in great excite-
ment, while the sound of singing and the boom of native

346 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

drums could be heard from the seaward. The moment the
sun rose we saw five canoes lashed together with a platform
built over them paddling towards the beach, while two most
extraordinary looking figures were dancing very rapidly on
the platform. Upon nearing the beach the two dancers began
uttering sharp, shrill cries very much like the yelping of a
small puppy, while some of the other passengers continued
singing and beating the drums.

The fantastic costume of the old men who
Calculated personate evil spirits is intended to represent
to Freeze a huge cassowary with a most hideous and
the Blood. grotesque caricature of the human face. The
'•# part which covers the body is made of the

leaves of the dragon tree (the ti tree of the Polynesian Isl-
ands), and this part does bear a strong resemblance to the
body of a cassowary. The neck and head-pieces consist of a
cone about five feet long, made of very fine wickerwork and
covered all over with some kind of gum on which a hideous
representation of the human face is painted. Openings are
left for the eyes, mouth, and nostrils, but the hands and arms
are completely concealed under the costume, which extends
to the knees.

The natives fell back as the Duk-duks landed, for we were
assured that if any one touched one of them, even accidentally,
the Duk-duk would kill him on the spot. After landing, the
Duk-duks danced around each other in imitation of the clumsy
movements of the cassowary, and also imitating the cry of
that huge bird. They are very careful to utter no cry but
this during their whole stay, for their voices might betray them
if they spoke in a natural tone, and this would spoil their hor-
rible game. Some old men had built a hut for the Duk-duks
in a part of the bush where it was most carefully concealed,
and here they took their meals; but they spent the rest of
the flay running about through the village and terrifying the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 347

natives. In the evening every man and boy brought his
tribute of food and dewarra. Each one advanced and de-
posited his offering in turn until a vast pile of rubbish was
collected, while the old villains stood by in grim silence and
narrowly watched the offerings which each one presented.
Occasionally the old Duk-duks would start jumping and yelp-
ing, which at once brought matters to a standstill and created
great excitement until the one who had just deposited his
offering ran off and brought more; and we were informed
that this was an intimation that the amount of tribute was not
sufficient.

Other old men then carried all the food and dewarra into
the bush, ostensibly for the gods but really for themselves,
and no one dared to spy upon them. The Duk-duk is not
satisfied with simply robbing the deluded people, but also loves
to indulge his savage propensities to torture them as well.

As soon as all the food and dewarra had been

More carried away, the young men ranged them-

Horrors. selves in rows of six or seven and held their

hands as high above their heads as they could
possibly reach. One Duk-duk then appeared from the bush
carrying a bundle of stout canes about six feet long, while
another carried a heavy club of hard wood. Throwing down
his bundle of canes the first Duk-duk selected one of them
and with both hands dealt one of the young men a terrific
blow with all his strength. The blow was a brutal one, for
the supple cane twisted around the young man like a snake
and drew blood all around his body, yet he bore it without
showing the slightest sign of pain. The same young man then
stooped down until his head was about two feet from the
ground, when another Duk-duk dealt him a blow with his
heavy club on the lower end of the spine; and, incredible as
it may be, every young man present was obliged to go through
this ordeal over twenty times during the ceremony,

348 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

And this is not the worst of it, for they must go through
the same ordeal every night for a fortnight, when the Duk-
duks take their departure as mysteriously as they came,
though they are very careful to let no one see them go. It
might be supposed that the old men who personate Duk-duks
would be missed during the performance, and this might lead
to suspicion, but they guard against this in a very simple way.
One old man will act the part of a Duk-duk for half a day or
even a whole day, as the case may be; he will then slip into
his house in the bushes and remove the Duk-duk dress,
which another old man immediately puts on, while the first
one will quietly mingle with the crowd and present his tribute
along with the others.

The Duk-duks commonly visit every native village once
every two months, and a young man's Duk-duk initiation lasts
about twenty years; hence it will be seen that every young
man undergoes an amount of flogging which would seem suf-
ficient to kill him. It may be asked why the young men sub-
mit to this torture? The answer is very simple. They be-
lieve that they are doing it as a religious duty for the benefit
of the community in which they reside. All heathens believe
their gods to be ferocious and malignant monsters whose chie'f
delight is to afflict humanity; and the heathen idea of wor-
ship is to ward off the malignity of these wicked gods by
doing something unspeakably cruel to his fellow man in order
to please his deities.

The young men of New Britain firmly believe these Duk-
duks to be some of the devil-gods whom they worship, and
that, being gods, they love to torture their worshipers. They
believe that these gods would wreak the most terrible
vengeance upon the whole community if they did not supply
them with all the food and dewarra they require and permit
them to torture them as they do. In addition to all this, the
Duk-duks claim and exercise the right to murder any one, and

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 349

no one dares to question their right in this or in anything else
they desire. The young men are made to believe that the
terrible floggings which they undergo will serve to prepare
them in some way for having the mysteries of the Duk-duk
explained to them when they grow to be old men.

After the Duk-duks depart everything which they have
touched is carefully burned. We afterwards learned that the
reason they do not like to have white men witness the cere-
mony is because they are afraid they will expose the fraud
of it all and thus spoil the game which they carrv on under
the cloak of worshiping the gods. No one can appreciate the
blessings of Christianity until he has seen something of the
horrors and cruelties of heathenism.

Like all savages, the natives of these islands

Belief in are firm believers in witchcraft. They believe
Witchcraft. that any one is able to bewitch another and
bring the most awful consequences upon him
if the person who wishes to work the spell can only ob-
tain a fragment of something which his victim has used, such
as an ornament or a scrap of clothing. It is curious how this
particular form of superstition seems to prevail pretty nearly
all over the world. I have heard ignorant white people de-
clare that one person could bewitch another if he could but
obtain a lock of his hair.

The favorite method of causing the death of an enemy by
witchcraft is to make a wooden likeness of the victim and either
bury it at once or apparently torture it first and bury it after-
wards. In the former case the victim will be sure to die. In
the latter he will suffer the identical tortures which are in-
flicted upon his likeness and die in the bargain.

White people may laugh at such superstitions as these
and declare that they can do no harm ; but if a native believes
that some one has cast this evil spell upon him, he quietly re-
signs all hope and dies. The only alternative they use is to

350 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

work a counter-spell of a still greater potency; but this is
such a costly, tedious and uncertain process that it is liable
to bankrupt the man who tries to do it. This counter-spell
must be worked against the enemy who cast the first spell,
and no one but the sorcerer of the tribe is able to discover who
this is; for if worked against the wrong person it is liable to
come back upon the head of the one who works it like curses
that come home to roost. The sorcerer is extravagantly
paid to work the counter spell, but if he afterwards discovers
(as he generally does) that he has worked it against the wrong
person, he must then be paid to protect his client from the con-
sequences ; and in this way he carries on the game as long as
the client has anything left with which to pay him. It is par-
ticularly worthy of note that all mistakes in regard to dis-
covering the real enemy are invariably owing to wrong in-
formation which the client brought to the sorcerer or to some
mistake which he made in carrying out his part of the pro-
gramme. It is never known to be the fault of the sorcerer.

The sorcerers also derive much profit from
Often Hags casting spells, and certain old women of the
Are Clubbed trjbes make an equally comfortable living by
Eaten. acting the part of professional poisoners. Oc-
casionally these murderous hags get clubbed
and eaten for plying their vocation ; but this is regarded as a
mere incident and nobody minds it. If a man hires one of
them to poison an enemy, he is liable to club her to death if
she fails to carry out the contract, and the friends of the
victim are equally liable to club and eat her if she succeeds in
doing so and they discover her identity ; hence it may be seen
that the grim profession of spell-casting and poison-giving
have their drawbacks. What with continual head-hunting
raids, sorcerers, poisoners, Duk-duks, and secret assassins,
the natives of these beautiful islands lead a rather strenuous
existence and are not likely to suffer from ennui.

OF CAPTAIN QUIXTOX 351

The native dances are very tame affairs and consist of

monotonous movements with the hands and feet, though the

male dancers wear most diabolical looking

Dancing masks, made of human skulls. Each dancer

Masks of js supposed to have killed the victims whose
Skulls. skulls he has made into a dancing mask, and
he wears them at all public functions as the
American Indians wore the scalps of their victims. The na-
tives chew betel nut and bleach their hair by plastering it
with a heavy coat of lime, as previously described in the cases
of the Tongans and Samoans.

The natives throughout New Britain have a very treacher-
ous look and, although we had been ashore several times, we
always took care to guard against being taken by surprise.
Before leaving we made a trip in the launch up a wide stream
which empties into the east side of Montagu Bay, directly to
the west of Ruaka village, which is located at its mouth. We
towed the boat containing our water casks, and after ascend-
ing the 'Stream some distance we came to a small mountain
stream which flowed into the main one and proceeded to fill
our casks. We had nearly completed filling them when one of
the men called attention to two natives standing motionless as
statues and watching us from among the trees, at a distance
of about fifty yards. We held up a couple of pieces of red
cloth, which has such an irresistible attraction for these peo-
ple that they will do almost anything to obtain it; and after
talking excitedly among themselves for a few moments, they
both ran forward and offered their spears and shields in ex-
change for the cloth. Wishing to make friends with them,
we bestowed the cloth upon them for nothing and told them
through the interpreter that they might retain their weapons.

They stood looking at us in perfect silence for some time,
then silently took their departure; and a few moments later
the surrounding hills suddenly resounded with the native as-

352 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

sembly cry, "Kuo! kuo! ku! ku! kuo!" We had filled our
casks by this time and immediately got under way. Upon
reaching the main stream we saw about a dozen natives stand-
ing on the bank opposite the mouth of the smaller stream
from which we had just emerged.

We promptly held up some more red cloth,
We Are ^ut mstea(^ °^ coming to receive it, they an-
Taken by swered us with yells of defiance and a shower
Surprise. of stones and spears. Knowing the treacher-
ous character of the natives, we had provided
each boat with an awning made of two thicknesses of heavy
canvas and so arranged that it could be swung to either side
to ward off missiles. These awnings stopped the stones read-
ily enough, but the points of the spears cut through them,
though their force was perceptibly broken. We did not wish
to kill any of them if it could be avoided, but it was necessary
to do something to repel their attack, so we fired at their legs,
whereupon several of them bounded into the air with loud
cries of pain and astonishment; then as suddenly as they had
come the whole lot of them darted into the bush.

We soon discovered that our troubles had only begun, for
the next moment, although we were beyond the reach of the
spears, the stones began to fall around us like hail, and hun-
dreds of voices could be heard yelling, "Kuo ! kuo ! ku ! kuo !
ku !" At the same time, the natives themselves were invisible
and we could do«little more than fire at random at the places
where we believed them to be concealed amid the dense foliage
along the bank of the stream. Fortunately for us they were
all on one side of the stream, so our position was less preca-
rious than it otherwise would have been.

Some one proposed to stop the launch and cease firing in
order to give them the impression that we had broken down
and were at their mercy, and thus induce them to quit their
hiding places for the purpose of making a general attack upon

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 353

us. This proposition was rejected because we were able to
make good our retreat in any case and, while the savages un-
doubtedly merited severe treatment at our hands, it was not
desired to kill them if we could avoid doing so. Neverthe-
less, they kept up an irritating bombardment with stones until
we were within a short distance of Ruaka village, when they
drew off. We saw the natives of Ruaka running about on
the beach evidently greatly excited; and a little later in the
day some of them came on board and told us through the inter-
preter that the natives who had made the attack belonged to
a certain bush tribe which was their deadly enemy.

It is perfectly true that these natives are treacherous and
bloodthirsty and frequently murder white men in the most
brutal manner for no apparent cause, but there is another side
to this story. White people coolly appropriate these islands
and settle upon the lands of the natives without asking their
consent, and there is no record of the outrages which unscru-
pulous white men commit upon them. A white person would
quite naturally try to seek revenge upon the person who com-
mits the injustice, but this is incomprehensible to the mind of
the savage. If one white person injures them, they will at-
tempt to avenge the wrong upon the first white person who
happens to be in their power, although the latter may have had
absolutely nothing to do with the affair.

At the same time the savages are whimsical and uncer-
tain as children, and frequently make murderous attacks with-
out any provocation whatsoever, and the whole subject is so
involved that none but the Creator himself could decide the
rights and wrongs of it.

354 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XXX

SPORTS AND FAITH IN NEW GUINEA

The next day after the attack with stones we sailed from

Montagu Bay and, rounding the southeast end of New Guinea,

anchored in Port Romilly, on the south coast of the island,

in latitude 7° 42' S. and longitude 144° 49'

•yyc E. We spent several days at Kaimari village,

Haul Up which is located near our anchorage on Kai-

Anchor. mari creek. Baimuru village is nearby, on

Aia creek ; Kaa village on a small creek to

the westward ; Evarra village on the Wame River ; and Tumu

village a few miles above the junction of the Aird River delta.

For defense the natives here use oblong shields, some of
which are made of wood and others of rattan. Some of the
natives wore armlets made of the jawbones of enemies whom
they had killed and helped to eat, while others strutted about
with the bones of enemies dangling from their woolly hair or
about their necks, and the bows of all their war canoes were
adorned with human skulls.

The head-hunters use a peculiar kind of weapon resem-
bling a sharp-pointed spear with a loop of rattan about eight-
een inches wide projecting from the end. Stealing noise-
lessly up behind a man who is passing through the bush or
an enemy who is in retreat, the head-hunter throws the loop
over his victim's head and gives it a powerful jerk backwards.
This action jerks the neck of the man back upon the sharp
point of the spear, which penetrates at the base of the brain
or in the spine, inflicting a mortal wound,

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 355

When I lived in the Tonga Islands I heard of some
frightful cases of torturing prisoners of war in the olden
time, but none of the South Sea Islanders ever torture their
prisoners as the American Indians did, though they may kill
them with a club and afterwards cook and eat them. The
natives of New Guinea, on the other hand, not only torture
their prisoners in the most fiendish manner, but also cook
them alive, because they claim this makes their flesh taste
better.

In the center of each village we found a sort of platform
made of carved logs, with a center pole carved and painted
in various patterns, and with an ornamental fringe of fiber
near the top. These logs, like others we had seen, were or-
namented with long strings of human skulls and jawbones,
together with those of pigs and crocodiles, and we found all
the rafters of the houses hung with the same gruesome tokens
of murder and feasting. Each warrior has a mark tattooed
on his breast or back for every enemy he has slain, and the
mark is varied to indicate the rank of the enemy.

The skulls of the slain are always offered to the evil
spirits when hung up, and a warrior is sacred after shedding
blood till the next new moon. They are very skillful in
warding off spears with their shields, and place great value
upon shields which bear the scars of contact with spears and
war clubs

Their war dances were always held in the evenings, and

in them their movements were extremely swift and graceful.

They swung their shields rapidly up, down,

More left, and right, to ward off imaginary blows,

DWarti° t*len ^^d or retreated rapidly before an

dancing. oncoming attack. Sometimes they formed in

a sort of open order and discharged rapid

volleys of arrows while they sheltered themselves behind

trees and bushes or danced about to avoid the arrows of their

356 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

enemies. Near the end of the dance they began to give way
as if defeated, though they still continued shooting back at
the enemy to cover their retreat. Suddenly they all dropped
their bows and, forming shoulder to shoulder, gave a final
war whoop and made a furious charge upon the imaginary
enemy with spears, shields, and war clubs, evidently with the
intention of taking them by surprise. This dance usually
terminates in this manner.

One of their favorite methods of fishing is with the bow

and arrow. They plant a long, stout post firmly in the sand,

and near the top of it is a heavy cross-bar,

Fishing upon which they stand. Each man has his

with j head covered with a piece of native cloth to

Arrow. protect it from the intense heat of the sun,

and they stand almost as motionless as statues,

their bows and arrows ready for instant use. The moment a

fish approaches the surface one of the fishermen transfixes

it with an arrow, or, if he should happen to miss (which is

a very rare occurrence), one of the others is almost certain

to catch it before it has time to escape.

We found that each village contained an erabo (temple),
the rafters of which were hung with human skulls, while the
skulls of pigs, crocodiles, and cassowaries were arranged in
rows along the floor. A great many masks, charms, and
fetishes of various kinds are placed on shelves around the
walls or hung on pegs which are driven into the posts which
support the roof.

Externally an erabo bears considerable resemblance archi-
tecturally to a giraffe, for the open end is very high and rises
to a point resembling the neck of a giraffe, while the roof
slopes sharply downward to the other end, which is not over
seven feet in height. The smaller or lower end of the erabo
is considered the holy place, and is invariably shut off with
a screen from the main portion of the temple. This holy place

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 357

is likely to contain about a score of hideous-looking gods
made of wickerwork and called kanibu.

The skulls which are placed in the erabo are the remains
of victims, human or otherwise, which have first been offered
to the kanibu and afterwards eaten. The kanibu or evil spirits
are supposed to feast upon the soul or immaterial portion of
everything which is offered to them, and the object of placing
the skulls in the temple is to remind them that they are ex-
pected to extend their favors to the worshipers who furnished
them with so many feasts. They judge the devil-gods, whom
they worship, by themselves; and as they consider human
flesh superior to every other kind of food they consider human
sacrifice the most acceptable of all sacrifices to their gods.

Like all the other islanders in the Pacific,
An these tribes celebrate a kind of harvest-home

Old-Home festival in the month of May, and even tribes

Festival. which have been at war together meet in
peace and fraternize for the time being. They
cut down trees from fifty to seventy feet long and, after
chopping off the smaller branches, proceed to plant the
trunks firmly in the ground along both sides of the principal
street of the village in which the festival is to be held. The
trunks and larger branches are then so thickly hung with
bananas, cocoanuts, and other food that the wood of the tree
cannot be seen. For a week before the great day of the feast
they dance every night without intermission from sunset to
sunrise.

In honor of this occasion the natives paint not only the
face but the whole body, in addition to which they all wear
very fine head-dresses made of the white feathers of the cock-
atoo and the magnificent plumes of the bird of paradise.
They are also extremely fond of decorating their woolly pates
with the lovely orchids which are more plentiful in this local-
ity than in any other portion of the world.

358 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The principal feast day is celebrated with much dancing,
shouting, singing, and drum-beating, and food is distributed
liberally to the multitude. It is the custom then to finish up
the affair with a social fight in which many people are killed.
A war canoe consists of two very long canoes
Magnificent lashed together with long poles, and a plat-
War form built upon the poles between them.
Canoes. . Forty men act as paddlers, while nearly as
many warriors stand on the platform armed
with extremely powerful bows and arrows. Such a canoe
presents a very picturesque appearance, for the members
of the crew wear gaudy feather head-dresses and they, as well
as the canoes, are gorgeously painted in rich colors.

In spite of the great power of their bows and their con-
summate skill in using them, a battle is not so very danger-
ous, because they defend themselves so skillfully with their
shields that most of the arrows are broken or wasted. They
always endeavor to avoid exposing their broadside to the
enemy, and each side watches for an opportunity to dash
alongside the other at an unguarded moment, when the fight-
ing becomes hand-to-hand, and spears, clubs, and tomahawks
are used with disastrous effect.

The young people wear a little clothing, but the adults wear
practically none, though they cover themselves with a good
many ornaments, made chiefly of tortoise shell. They wear
head-dresses and necklaces made of shells laboriously ground
down and strung upon cords of human hair or strips of fine
rattan. Their huge earrings are very elaborately carved from
tortoise shell, and they wear shell ornaments, sometimes as
much as three-quarters of an inch in diameter, through the
septum of the nose, and large shell armlets, elaborately carved.

In war they wear the broad belts previously described,
but some of the young swells wear bands or belts made of
the bark of the paper mulberry, dyed in the most brilliant

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 359

colors. These belts they wear drawn so very tight that the
wonder is they are not cut in two. On ordinary occasions they
paint their faces black, white, red, and yellow; but, at times
of mourning for their dead, they paint themselves black all
over, and wear queer collars made of very fine network. Like
civilized people they have different degrees of mourning. We
saw, for example, some natives hobbling about enveloped in
a kind of fine wickerwork dress, which extended from the
neck to the knees, and drawn so tight around the body that
they could scarcely walk in it. At first we mistook this for a
sort of armor, but upon inquiry learned that this tightly
drawn wickerwork suit represents the very deepest degree of
mourning for a very near relative or friend.

They believe that the god Kanitu created two

More men an^ *wo women ou* of the ground, and

Incredible these four became the progenitors of the

Beliefs. whole human race. The people of the earth

became very wicked and neglected the wor-
ship of the gods as they increased in numbers. Finally, they
all ceased offering sacrifices to the gods altogether, with the
single exception of a priest named Lohero. Accordingly
the gods ordered Lohero to sacrifice a man to them, and after-
wards to place one of the bones of the victim in a small
stream. Lohero did this and immediately the water rose and
flooded all the lowland. The people fled to the mountains,
but the waters rose so high that they drowned all but a very
few who had taken refuge upon the very highest peaks. These
few survivors remained upon the lofty peaks until the waters
subsided, when they descended to the lowlands and repeopled
the earth.

The natives of this part of the coast carry on an exten-
sive commerce with those further east by means of their laka-
tois, or large trading canoes. A lakatoi is several large ca-
noes securely lashed together and decked over. They load

36o THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

them with sago and other provisions and sail for the east
during the northwest monsoons. At Port Moresby and other
eastern points they trade their provisions for crockery ware,
armlets, head-dresses, necklaces, tomahawks, knives, beads,
fishhooks, red cloth, etc., and, as soon as the regular south-
east trade winds set in, they sail for home, thus having a
fair wind each way. At all the points which we visited in
New Guinea we found the most popular articles of trade to
be salt, tobacco, red cloth, tomahawks, knives, and fishhooks.
We made a run up the Kapaina River, which
We flows into the head of Port Romilly, and about

Establish ten mijes from jts mouth we entered the

Friendly

Relations. Wame River, which we ascended to the vil-
lage of Evarra. A few gifts established
friendly relations with the natives and they insisted upon our
remaining with them all night. While they were crowding
around us and examining our clothing with the greatest cu-
riosity, we heard a pig squealing as if in mortal agony. On
looking into the matter we found that they had lashed the
poor animal to a stout pole supported upon a wooden frame-
work and lighted a fire under it for the purpose of cooking it
alive! We protested, through the interpreter, against this
fiendish cruelty, and insisted that the pig must be killed or we
would shoot it, whereupon two of the natives speared it. They
seemed greatly surprised at this, and informed us, also
through the interpreter, that sometimes they drown pigs and
sometimes club them to death ; but they insisted that the flesh
tasted far better when cooked alive, and they wished to cook
it in this way on the present occasion out of respect for us.

The frogs kept up a lively chorus all night, and myriads of
beautiful fireflies flashed like stars among the tall forest trees
which surrounded us. The dismal falsetto howls of the
native dogs, which are evidently of the same race as the
Australian dingoes, reminded us to some extent of the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 361

howling of the Siberian dogs, though the cry of the latter is
infinitely less strident.

It was some time after midnight that we
Another heard a great commotion going on in the vil-

Strcnuous lage, and supposing that enemies were mak-
Night. mg an attack, we seized our firearms and
rushed out of the house in which we had been
sleeping. The dogs were howling, the natives were shouting,
and a pig was squealing in a way that was positively deafen-
ing. Upon investigation we found that a crocodile had seized
a large pig that was quietly sleeping by its owner's door and
was making off with it to the river. The natives rushed to the
rescue with torches, spears, and war clubs, but in spite of all
their efforts the crocodile made good its retreat to the river
and carried the pig along with it. The natives assured us that
crocodiles often enter hamlets at night and boldly carry off
pigs, dogs, and even people; consequently they generally have
a strong fence or hedge between the houses and the river in
order to guard against the raids of these reptiles.

We found the surrounding country well watered; the
streams abounding in wild ducks, curlews, plovers, sand-
pipers, and kingfishers, while flocks of beautiful creamy-white
pigeons fly about among the tall forest trees, and many quiet
pools which we passed were covered with fragrant water lilies
of a beautiful blue shade with a vivid yellow center. Others
were pure white, or yellow, or light blue with white centers.
We found also many very large, sweet-scented crinum lilies
growing along the banks, and in one place we came upon a
vine covered with huge clusters of large flowers of the most
vivid scarlet I have ever seen.

The steamy heat was fairly sweltering, and, while I am
certain the climate would be most unhealthy for a white man,
these very conditions seem to be unusually favorable to the
blacks and also to the growth of orchids. I have never seen

362 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

so many nor such a variety of these flowers in any other place.
We employed the natives to make a very large collection
of these orchids for us, but for some reason they never look
so well in hothouse or garden as they do in their natural wild
surroundings.

We saw a number of graves, each one of which had
planted alongside the body a stake on which were hung the
utensils which the deceased used during life. The stake by
a man's grave, for example, was hung with spears, war clubs,
bows, arrows, etc., while that on the grave of a woman was
hung with her skirt, bonnet, cooking utensils, etc. These arti-
cles are always broken or "killed," as they believe that the
soul of the deceased uses the souls of the articles in the future
life. Some years afterwards I saw the same custom followed
among the Eskimos in Alaska.

While we were looking at one of the graves

More a couP^e °f native dogs started up an iguana,

Jungle but instead of trying to escape the fierce crea-

Game. ture stood them both off by the vigorous use

of its sharp teeth and the cutting blows of

its long tail. One of the natives rushed at it with a club, but

it darted away, and another shot it dead with an arrow as it

was running up the trunk of a large tree.

Walking through the bush we heard a peculiar booming
call, which at once attracted the attention of the natives, who
promptly concealed themselves behind trees and bushes, while
one of them answered the call in the same tone of voice.
Shortly after a fine pair of jungle fowl came into view and
the natives shot both of them with their arrows. These
stately birds were of delicate slate color and the male weighed
eight pounds, the female a little less.

The native dogs started a family of young wild pigs and
were pursuing them when a full-grown boar dashed out of
the bush and stood off the whole pack in gallant style. It

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 363

was evident that nothing would have suited him better than
to have the pack rush upon him, for he wheeled from side
to side and champed his tusks as if inviting them to come on,
but he looked so formidable that they took care to keep out
of his reach. Two of the natives shot a couple of huge arrows
into him, and although the wounds which they inflicted were
probably mortal he scattered the dogs right and left and
charged like a thunderbolt upon those who had wounded him.
His charge scattered the natives as it did the dogs, and they
ran up the nearest trees like squirrels, and then assailed him
with their arrows. He fell as though exhausted, and the dogs
made a rush to finish him, but quick as a flash he was on his
feet and ripped three of them with his terrible tusks before
they could escape. But this was his final effort, for a moment
later he dropped dead.

The natives place great value upon the tusks of these boars,
and the larger they are the more highly they are prized.
Sometimes a boar tooth is worn through the septum of the
nose, but the general custom is to lash a couple of them to-
gether and hold them in the mouth during battle. In this
case the points of the teeth project from the side of the war-
riors' mouths very much as they projected from the mouth
of the boar; and they believe that this imparts something of
the strength and ferocity of the boar to the warrior who
thus wears his tusks.

The young pigs on this island are colored

Striped black and brown in alternate longitudinal

Pigs. stripes, extending the whole length of the

body, but upon reaching maturity these lon-
gitudinal stripes assume a gray or speckled color, and some-
times are even jet black.

The natives not only hunt these pigs with bows and ar-
rows, but also catch them in very strong nets made of the
inner bark of the aerial roots of the pandanus. While the

364 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

pigs are struggling in the net the hunters spear them to death.
A small present of tobacco induced them to allow us to ex-
amine the holy place, or innermost sanctuary
An of the temple, in which their gods are kept

Innermost behind a heavy woven curtain. These gods

Sanctuary. numbered about twenty and consisted of
wickerwork images representing sharks,
crocodiles, and hideous nondescript monsters which bore no
resemblance to any known living creature.

They explained that whenever a cannibal feast is held they
always convey the body (or bodies) with great ceremony to
the holy place behind the curtain and present it to the gods ;
and the gods always take out a bite to show that they accept
the sacrifice, after which the bodies are eaten by the feasters.

Each of the images behind the mysterious curtain is quite
large enough to hold a priest inside of it ; hence it is not diffi-
cult to understand how it is that the gods take a bite out of
each offering.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 365

CHAPTER XXXI

AUSTRALIA AGAIN

We sailed from Port Romilly and, passing through Torres
Strait, crossed the mouth of the Gulf of Carpentaria and an-
chored in the mouth of the Liverpool River, on the north
coast of Australia, in latitude 12° S. and longitude 134°
14' E. Here we found a well-sheltered an-
^e chorage, safe from all winds, under the south

Dangerous s^e °^ Entrance Island, in nine fathoms,
Streams muddy bottom. Next day after our arrival

a revenue cutter visited us to find out whether
Rivers. , . „ , . e . .

we were engaged in fishing for either pearls

or trepang, in which case we would be obliged to pay the reg-
ular license. Finding that we were only collecting curios
they warned us to beware of treachery on the part of the local
blacks, who had recently made several unprovoked attacks
upon Malay praus and European pearling vessels.

The river affords ideal hiding places for the natives, for
both banks are heavily timbered and the whole district abounds
in game. On the western bank a densely wooded range, rising
to a height of 150 feet, approaches close to the belt of man-
grove which lines the water's edge, while the eastern bank
is low and is also heavily timbered. For the first twelve miles
or so we found both banks so thickly overgrown with man-
grove that it was almost impossible for any one except perhaps
an experienced black fellow to effect a landing ; but higher up
the ground is clearer of timber, with open grassy plains here
and there along the banks that are lined with fan palms, cab-
bage palms, eucalyptus, and paper-bark trees.

366 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The river is lively with crocodiles and wild ducks. King-
fishers and ibis gather here in great numbers, and beautiful
white cockatoos are so plentiful as to literally cover the trees
at sundown. At first we saw nothing of the natives, though
we knew they were watching us, for we discovered smoke
ascending from several signal fires. Knowing themselves to
be guilty of many murders of white men, they supposed we
knew it, too, and believed that we were laying some kind of a
trap for them ; so they kept pretty far out of our way.

They showed their treacherous nature in the instance oi
a small Malay vessel which was anchored a few weeks pre-
vious to this in the same place where we now were. It is
commonly supposed that the Australian blacks never make
an attack at night because they are afraid of the terrible Bun-
yip which prowls about in the bush at night and devours
every black that he can catch away from his fire — for the Bun-
yip will not come within sight of a fire. The blacks do not
like to leave their fires at night, nevertheless they have fre-
quently been known to murder white settlers and burn their
houses during the hours of darkness. This was the case with
the small vessel to which I have referred ; for the blacks swam
quietly out to her while the whole crew was fast asleep and
murdered all but two men who managed to escape, one of
whom was the captain. The next season the brother of the
murdered Malay captain anchored in the same place and made
friends with the blacks by giving them liberal gifts of to-
bacco. Finally he induced a large number of them to come
to Entrance Island, which is three-quarters of a mile long
and sixty-five feet high, and there opened upon them with
the two-pound guns with which his ships were equipped. A
few of the blacks managed to get into the water and tried to
escape by swimming, but the Malays were in their canoes ready
for them, and killed them off to a man with the aid of poi-
soned arrows and spears.

OF CAPTAIN QUJNTON 367

We had come to the Liverpool River for the purpose of
obtaining Australian curios, particularly boomerangs; and,
finding that none of the blacks came on board, or bothered
about us, we ascended the stream to where the Taylor and
Tomkinson Rivers flow into it from the east, about a mile
and a half above Bat Island. We went about ten miles up the
Tomkinson River, which is much larger than the Taylor River,
and is very crooked besides, though it has an average width
of about eighty yards and an average depth of five fathoms.

As yet we had seen nothing of the natives hereabouts,
though it was evident that they were watching us closely, for
we could hear their long-drawn "coo-ee" reverberating now
and again through the bush.

We were running close to shore while rounding a bend of
the river, when suddenly a spear came whizzing through the
air and struck the bow of our launch with such force that
the point passed clean through the planking. The very next
instant a dozen or more armed savages appeared upon the
bank brandishing spears and yelling defiance as mysteriously
as though they had risen out of the earth. Instead of firing
at them, we held up some pieces of tobacco and motioned to
them to come and get it. After conferring among themselves
they beckoned us to come ashore ; but by this time there were
so many warriors in sight and so many convenient hiding
places from which they could hurl spears without exposing
themselves to our fire that we preferred not to accept of their
insistent hospitality.

The injury to the launch could be easily re-
Again paired, and we had no desire to kill any of

We Are them unnecessarily. But when we held up

Invited ..,

Ashore. our n"es to show that we were armed, in-
stantly every savage disappeared. It was as
though the earth had swallowed them up. Their dexterity
in hiding is marvelous. They can completely conceal them-

368 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

selves in grass or behind small bushes where one would think
a cat could scarcely find cover.

About a mile farther on we came to a place clear of trees,
though the ground was covered with long thick grass, and
here we halted. As usual a number of blacks loomed up in
the distance, and one came running towards us hailing us in
broken English. He explained that he had been engaged in
pearl-fishing and could talk "old fellow English" like a white
man.

For some unaccountable reason they apply the name "old
fellow" to almost everything, and are continually begging for
old fellow tobacco, old fellow knife, old fellow tomahawk, etc.
They also beg for old fellow coat and old fellow hat, though
they would not wear these things after obtaining them. Noth-
ing would induce them to wear clothing under any circum-
stances, except when they enter a town on a begging expedi-
tion, when they are obliged to wear some manner of drapery
for fear of being arrested.

Our guest was wildly delighted when one of our men
presented him with tobacco and a clay pipe; and when we
asked him why the other blacks were afraid to come and trade
with us he waved his hand contemptuously in the direction
from which he had come, and exclaimed, "Him fellow all same
fools." Like all South Sea Islanders he was anxious to ob-
tain "whikky" (whiskey), but we always persistently refused
to furnish them with liquor or firearms on any pretext what-
soever.

Our friend explained that his name was Burroloola, and,
being told that we wished to trade for boomerangs and other
native implements, he disappeared and soon returned with a
whole armful of boomerangs, for which we paid him liberally.
Many more native islanders had drawn near by this time, and
meanwhile were growing as friendly as they had previously
been suspicious. We secured a good collection of implements,

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 369

shields, nulla-nullas, wummeras, stone axes, etc., besides a
number of unique mosquito nets very neatly made of finely
plaited grass.

It seemed to me very strange that these blacks had never
learned to use bows and arrows ; for the Malays who visit the
coast use bows and arrows for hunting as well as in their fre-
quent fights with the blacks, and these weapons are so vastly
superior to spears that one would suppose the blacks would
see the advantage and adopt them.

Having established friendly relations with the blacks, we
returned to our ship ; and after that they visited us every day
bringing weapons and curios to exchange. We were con-
stantly on a sharp lookout for treachery, however.

Two days after our arrival, Burroloola invited
A us to A Big Fellow Fight to be held at a large

"Big Fellow camp of blacks several miles up the Tomkin-
Fight." son River, and he took pains to assure us that
the star attraction of the night would be a
most unusually brilliant and terrific "big fellow fight." It
was scarcely necessary to tell us this, for I believe the Aus-
tralian blacks would not consider any red letter night worthy
the name if it did not include a knock-down fight or two,
which they regard as the choicest of pleasures.

We said yes, we would come, and reached the camp late
in the afternoon. As is customary on such occasions we found
the warring parties camped together and apparently fraterniz-
ing in the most friendly manner without the slightest sign of
hostility. The participators in the fight were painted red and
white and decorated with much white down off the eagle-
hawk, carried in thin wavy lines from the shoulders to the
knees and pasted on the face with iguana fat, which sticks
like mucilage.

About an hour before sundown the peacefulness of the
scene was changed in a twinkling. Both parties drew up in

370 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

battle array and began abusing each other in the way that
precedes a fight, while the women stood in the rear and
shrieked like fiends, by way of urging them on. It would be
impossible to say just when the fight began, but spears and
boomerangs began suddenly to fly through the air at such a
rapid rate that it was little less than marvelous how any of the
combatants escaped instant death from them. And their yells
of defiance and war cry were deafening.

The women and children kept the warriors supplied with
spears, stones and boomerangs, and when these missiles were
exhausted or broken they rushed in and attacked each other
like maniacs, with their shields and waddies, apparently be-
coming more and more enraged every moment, until at last
they were fighting with such demoniacal fury that it seemed
as though the general shrieking pandemonium could end in
nothing less than the annihilation of every one concerned in it.
But these people defend themselves with such marvelous skill
that no one was killed, though many were bleeding from
wounds which would surely have killed any ordinary white
man.

Every detail of the fight was conducted according to strict
rules and regulations, and it must be said to their credit that
they always fight fairly. The battle stopped at sunset, and
when it was ended every trace of enmity apparently ended with
it, for both parties began instantly to prepare for the dance
which was to follow.

Burroloola informed us that the combatants had been hunt-
ing together and it was their custom to celebrate the occasion
with a social fight and a dance before separating. After the
fight is over each war party takes its turn in dancing for the
amusement of the other until daylight, when they part on
good and friendly terms. When we left for our ship, the two
parties who had lately been, to all intents and purposes, trying
to slaughter one another, were dancing together in the most

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 371

amicable way. Even after we lost sight of them altogether the
yelling of the dancers, the dismal howls of the dingos, and the
wailing chant of the women could be heard resounding with
weird effect through the midnight silences of the lonely river.
The river is beautifully bordered with tropi-
The Old ca^ fl°wers and shrubs and on that night the
Enemies moonlight imparted an indescribable charm to
Again. jts ^^p beauty; but the moonlight also re-

vealed to us innumerable small, dark objects
floating upon the surface, each of which represented a silent
but deadly crocodile in quest of prey. At frequent intervals
wild ducks, swans, pelicans, spoonbills, and other aquatic birds
rose from the water at our approach and flew away with
cries of alarm. We could not help wondering how they man-
aged to escape the crocodiles, which swarm so thickly in every
portion of the river. In spite of the ever present crocodiles,
however, the river contains plenty of excellent fish and the
natives have several interesting ways of catching them, one of
the most peculiar of which is this :

They find a hollow log, and hitch a rope made of currajong
bark around the larger end, and sink the log to the bottom of
the river, where they allow it to remain for a couple of days
or more. Crabs, eels, and fish of various kinds take refuge
inside the log, probably bent on avoiding the crocodiles. A
fisherman then draws the larger end of the sunken log to the
surface and hauls it ashore by means of a rope while another
man dives down and covers the small end with a pad of curra-
jong bark to prevent the escape of the catch. One day two
natives hauled up a large log in this way near to where
we were anchored, and among its other contents was a poison-
ous sea snake marked with alternate brown and yellow bands.
It is doubtful if these venomous creatures can see when out
of the water, for it twisted about and struck wildly in every
direction until one of the blacks killed it.

372 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

These blacks, like all savage races, are be-

Witchcraft Hevers in witchcraft, and the medicine men

Again. or sorcerers of the tribe make an easy living

by trading upon their superstition. When a
man manufactures a new weapon of any kind whatever, he
pays a sorcerer to sing over it, and endow it with power. So
the sorcerer invents an incantation over it in some language
which is not understood; or possibly he invents the language
to suit the occasion, and guarantees the weapon to be charmed
or bewitched, finally assuring the owner that it is more deadly
and effective than it would otherwise have been. The sorcerer
also does an extensive trade in charms of various kinds, par-
ticularly pointing bones and pointing sticks. The latter are
made of wood but the former are made of the femur or fibula
of dead men, sharpened to a needle point at one end. The sure
witchcraft way to destroy an enemy is to attach a pointed bone
or stick to the point of a spear, then slip quietly into the dark-
ness and point it at the enemy while he is seated at his fire,
entirely unconscious of what is going on behind his back.

The reader may argue that such childish non-
Another sense can not possibly injure any one; but it

Variation of ^ produce death in the same way as pre-
Transmigra- .. » ,« ,

tion. viously described in the case of the Maoris.

A hint is dropped in such a way that it is
sure to reach the ears of the victim to the effect that he has
been "pointed at," and upon hearing this he at once gives up
all hope and dies according to the programme, rather than
disappoint his enemy.

They all believe in a future state, though they entertain
different ideas in regard to it. In common with many other
blacks, they believe that after death the soul of a black fellow
ascends above the sky through the strange black spot which
is always so strikingly conspicuous beside the Southern Cross.
The soul then travels all the way across the sky until it reaches

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 373

the opposite side, when it is reborn into this world again.
Since they became acquainted with white people, many of
them believe the whites to be reincarnated blacks who have
passed through these celestial regions.

The tribes are divided into different clans, each member
of which is usually named after some plant or animal, though
there are also such totem names as wind, sun, water, cloud, etc.
The blacks firmly believe that every individual is a direct de-
scendant of the animal, plant, or other object after which their
totem is named ; hence they believe that there is intimate asso-
ciation between the individual and his or her totem.

The deep-rooted theory of animal descent

The forms the basis of their religious beliefs, and

Kobong the object of the ceremonies associated with

or Totem. the totems is to secure the increase of the
animal or plant which gives its name to the
clan. The totem, which some Australian tribes call the ko-
bong, is not only the badge or emblem of the clan, but is
also a family signal, an expression of religion, an intimate
bond of union, and a regulator of the marriage laws and other
social institutions. Thus a man must not marry a woman
belonging to the same totem as himself, and if he were to
eat the plant or animal which his kobong represents, it would
be sure to kill him.

The blacks believe that the obligation of mutual help is
binding upon the totem as well as upon those who owe alle-
giance to it, and if a man takes care of his totem, he expects
the totem to return the compliment by taking care of him.
Should the totem be a dangerous animal or a poisonous snake,
it must not injure any of its clansmen ; and the ceremony of
initiating the youths of the clan consists in teaching them the
mysteries of the totem to which they belong. Every youth
must pass through certain ceremonies of initiation, many of
which are of a most revolting nature, before he can be ad-

374 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

mitted to the secrets of the tribe and be regarded as a fully
developed member of it.

Every totem has its own ceremonies, and at certain times
a long series of ceremonies connected with all the totems and
extending over a period of three months is performed at a joint
meeting of all the clans composing the tribe. The men of
each totem wear the regalia pertaining to their particular
totem during these ceremonies. One very common form of
regalia (which must represent a very large totem) consists of
down pasted upon the face and body with blood or iguana fat.
The curious structures which some of the ardent tribesmen
wear upon their heads are very carefully preserved, and their
loss is regarded as the greatest calamity that can befall a tribe.
These headgears are intimately associated with the totems, and
women and uninitiated youths are never permitted to see them
under penalty of very severe punishment or even death. When
not in use they are kept hidden away in secret storehouses and
only brought out on occasions of ceremony.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 375

CHAPTER XXXII

WAYS AND WISDOM OF THE SAVAGES

Singularly enough, all the Australian tribes believe in a
kind of Golden Age, when war and fighting were not known
and universal peace and happiness prevailed. They have many
differing traditions in regard to the way in which man fell
from this blissful condition which existed in long-past ages;
but they believe in a coming millennium when the Edenic con-
ditions will be restored and peace, prosperity, and perfect har-
mony will forever prevail.

They use a light hunting spear five or six feet long com-
posed of a light reed pointed with hard wood, bone, or obsidian.
The wummera or throwing stick used by
Spears these tribes is very neatly made of myall or
as Slim o£ t^e mangrove, both of which are almost as
Pencil. tough as whalebone. With the aid of the
wummera a hunter can hurl one of these light
spears over two hundred yards. These spears are sometimes
used for fighting; but their regular throwing war spear is at
least eight feet long and five-eighths of an inch in diameter at
the thickest part (about half a foot from the point), while the
butt end is scarcely thicker than a common lead pencil. The
head and shaft are all one piece of hard wood, and the point
is sometimes plain but generally fitted with one or more barbs
of wood, bone, or obsidian. The butt end has a slight hollow
to fit on the hook on the end of the wummera, and to prevent
it from splitting it is wrapped with fine kangaroo sinews
smoothed over with something known as black boy gum.

376 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

They also use a heavier kind of spear as a pike for hand
to hand combat, but this is from nine to ten feet long and a
little over an inch in diameter. Both the head and shaft are
made of one piece of wood and the head is generally armed
with three rows of barbs, extending about eight inches from
the point, and all carved out of the solid wood.

Besides the ordinary boomerang, they use a peculiar kind
of boomerang with a horn or beak at one end, and Burroloola
explained that this is used only for throwing at birds, because
the horn makes it more effective when hurled among a flock
of flying game.

In addition to the ordinary straight waddy, they use a
waddy shaped like a one-pointed pick or a capital L, and the
sharp pointed head is useful in striking downward over the
top of a shield or around the side of it.

I knew of a case in Queensland in which a white trooper
who was a famous swordsman tried to arrest a black man for
murder. The trooper was armed with a cavalry sabre and the
black fellow with one of these L-shaped waddies. I do not
remember whether he had a shield or not. The trooper tried
his best to cut down the black fellow with his sword. The
savage not only parried every blow successfully, but severely
wounded both the trooper and his horse without receiving a
scratch himself. Finally the black man struck the point of his
waddy clear through the nose of the white man's horse, caus-
ing the terrified animal to rear and throw his rider. The black
at this instant bounded away like a deer and made good his
escape before the trooper could regain his seat or his feet.

One of the very picturesque sights in these

Fishing Parts *s ^e natiyes fishing with torches at

by night on the river ; and one of the most sur-

Torches. prising features of the fishing is their utter

indifference to the crocodiles swarming

around them. Two blacks always fish together in one small

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 377

bark canoe, which seems so frail that a white man would never
trust himself in it.

This tribe, like all other Australians, are given to cutting
frightful scars in their flesh, and some men, and women too,
are completely covered with such huge scars that the wonder
still remains how they ever managed to survive the operation.
The patterns in which these scars are cut vary according to
the taste of the individual and according to the district to
which he belongs and the women do not usually wear so many
scars as the men.

During the rainy season, they commonly sleep in huts built
something like low hay stacks. They first stick a number of
light poles like fishing rods into the ground in a circle, then
lash the upper ends together in the center, after which they
weave lighter rods in and out among them like basket work.
They then thatch this crude inclosure carefully with long
coarse grass. There is never any chimney or windows either
to these huts, and the door is usually so low that it can only
be entered on hands and knees.

Besides killing water fowl with spears and
A boomerangs, one of their favorite methods is

Clever to swim underneath a flock and drag them
Decoy. down by the legs ; the length of time a black
fellow can remain under water is astonishing.
In some parts of the river they have stakes planted and hori-
zontal poles laid across them about a foot above the surface of
the water. After gorging themselves with fish, the birds light
upon the horizontal poles and begin to doze. Without a sound,
one or two black fellows concealed among the bushes on the
bank, will slip into the water and swim under it to the perch
upon which the birds are dozing; each wary boy dextrously
seizes a bird in either hand, dragging them beneath the sur-
face, where they are quickly drowned.

It was especially amusing to watch them catching pelicans

378 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

as they calmly swam upon the river. These birds, be it re-
membered, are strong and bite savagely when caught, but as a
matter of course a black fellow pays no attention to such a
trifle as that, for he drags them down and breaks their necks
before they have time to bite. They always break the neck of
the bird at once and they do this so quietly and skillfully that
we often saw a black fellow secure a number of birds out of a
flock before the rest took alarm and flew away.

Two or three blacks generally hunt together when they are
going for birds on the wing with boomerangs. One man first
launches his boomerang at the birds, and as they try to dodge,
the second and third men hurl their boomerangs with unerring
aim among the flock, and in this way they kill birds as readily
as a white man can with a shot gun.

They are particularly fond of roast snakes and eat the
poisonous as well as the non-poisonous varieties. One day we
were shooting birds along the bank of the river when one of
the party came upon a very handsome and deadly poisonous
snake, which at once showed fight instead of trying to retreat
as they usually do. It was such a handsome thing that we
were anxious to secure it without injury in order to preserve
the skin ; so Burroloola caught it with a noose of bark on the
end of a stick and held it under water until it drowned. The
snake was only twenty inches long and its back was a rich
dark brown, covered with bright yellow spots, and the belly
was a brilliant yellow. Its head was black, like the head of the
tiger snake, and it had a strikingly beautiful collar of vivid
scarlet around its neck. After we had skinned it, Burroloola
cooked the remainder upon the embers of a fire and ate it.
Venomous snakes (which are akin to the cobras of India)
are rather common along this river.

One of the blacks started a snake which was five feet eight
inches long and was covered with alternate bands of black
and dark olive, with a yellow belly. Wishing to show his skill

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 379

with the shield, he stood within two feet of it and poked it with
the point of his spear. The venomous creature struck re-
peatedly at him, but he dexterously caught every stroke on
his narrow shield till at last the snake lay on the ground ex-
hausted. He then severed the head from the body with a
blow of his stone tomahawk and the blacks cooked and ate it.

These people also eat a species of lizard which attains a
length of seven or eight feet. They teach their dogs to hunt
for it in the bush; but the lizards are so fierce that the dogs
do not care to attack them without the assistance of their mas-
ters. I have seen one of these lizards not only stand off two
hunting dogs, but chase after them. They are very quick and
agile and not only bite savagely with their long, needle-like
teeth, but also deliver cutting blows with their whip-like tails.
As a rule the dogs serve only to detain the lizard until their
masters corr»e to their assistance and despatch it.

One day we came upon one of these lizards
Lizards devouring a poisonous snake, which appeared

_ .an<* to have been very recently killed ; and Burro-

Snakes, loola declared most positively that they kill
and eat all kinds of snakes and that the snake
poison has no effect upon them. These lizards also kill and eat
such animals as opossums, wombats, and bandicoots, and we
often heard one of these animals screaming in agony during
the night when a lizard had caught it. I heard, not only
from the blacks, but also from white bushmen in various
parts of Australia, that snake poison has no effect upon these
lizards, and it appears to be a fact. It must also be remem-
bered that Australia has a larger proportion of poison-
ous snakes than any other country in the world, for it is
said to have sixty-two varieties and forty-three of these are
venomous.

The poison of a rattlesnake is said to have no effect upon
a pig, and it seems also to be the same in the case of these

380 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

Australian lizards, although scientists who have studied the
subject declare that the venom of the Australian tiger snake
is the most deadly of all known snake poisons.

Finding that we wished to obtain specimens of different
kinds of reptiles to add to our collection, the natives smoked a
number of snakes out of decaying logs and old stumps. One
of the first to come out of a very large log was a very fine tiger
snake. One of the natives secured it in a small net and carried
it on the end of his spear to the river, where he drowned it in
spite of its struggles. On turning over some decaying logs
by means of long poles, we found not only snakes but whole
colonies of scorpions and centipedes. The centipedes, which
were of a rich bronze color, were over a foot long and could
jump several feet. One of our party had a narrow escape
from one of these venomous creatures which sprang directly
at his face, and he barely managed to jump backward in time
to avoid it. I believe they are one of the chief causes of the
chronic warfare which exists between the Australian savages.
They undoubtedly cause the death of many a black man, es-
pecially during the hours of darkness. But the tribal sorcerer,
who has a keen eye to business, always attributes these deaths
to witchcraft and the relatives of the deceased must pay him
to discover the enemy who caused it.

Like all the rest of the Australian blacks, they

The believe in the terrible Bunyip, which prowls

Fearful about in the bush at night and devours people

Bunyip. who get out of sight of a fire. They claim

that they sometimes see the tracks of the
Bunyip in the bush ; but this mysterious monster has the pe-
culiar habit of turning his feet other ways about in order to
deceive people in regard to the direction in which he is travel-
ing. Thus he will sometimes travel with his toes in front in
the orthodox way, then reverse his feet and travel with his
heels in front, so that no one but the medicine man of the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 381

tribe can tell which way he is really going. Whenever they
camp at night, they stretch themselves around their fires and
everybody joins in a low, droning, yet musical chant for the
purpose of driving away any evil spirits that may be prowling
around, or the terrifying Bunyip; then they feel more or less
secure so long as they keep within sight of their protecting
fires.

It is a curious sight to see them breaking firewood for their

camp fires, for they always break it upon their heads, instead

of across their knees as a white man does. The skulls of these

blacks are so excessively strong that I have seen them bear

with equanimity a succession of terrific blows any one of which

I believe would have killed an ordinary white man on the spot.

It is common for two men or two women of

Strange the same tribe to settle a quarrel by fighting

Methods an improvised duel in the presence of their

Dueling. friends, and it must be said to their credit

that they fight fairly. The women sometimes £
fight by scooping up hot ashes or embers upon pieces of bark
and throwing them upon each other, but as a rule they fight
their duels in much the same way as the men do. The two
who are going to fight meet at the appointed place along with
a number of their friends, and the one who has issued the chal-
lenge stoops down and resting both hands upon his knees offers
his head to his opponent. The latter grasps his heavy waddy
in both hands and, raising it high in the air, brings it down
with all his might upon the skull of his antagonist, which has
no protection of any kind except the thick covering of tangled
hair.

The challenged man next bends down in the same way
while the other delivers a terrific blow with his waddy upon his
skull ; and this exchange of blows is kept up until one of them
falls to the ground stunned or killed, and the other is declared
the victor.

3&2 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The tribes communicate with each other through the
medium of intertribal messengers who wear a special decora-
tion to show their calling; and these messengers are always
treated as honored guests and never molested in any way, even
though the tribes through which they pass are at deadly feud,
as they generally are. Each messenger carries one or two
message sticks marked with dots and notches which vary in
arrangement according to the nature of the message which he
carries. In other words, certain arbitrary arrangements of
dots and notches are understood to stand for certain fixed
meanings among all the tribes, and the messenger fills out the
message verbally.

They have also a very complete code of smoke

Smoke signals which can be seen a long distance in

Signals. the clear Australian atmosphere, but they have

always shown great reluctance to explain to

white men their code of smoke signals.

If one man requires assistance from the other members
of his tribe, he lights a small fire and places a handful of
green grass or leaves upon it in order to make it send up a
thin column of smoke. He then extinguishes it suddenly by
throwing sand or earth upon it and, after waiting awhile, if he
gets no response he repeats the same signal until the assist-
ance arrives or some one answers it in some way, showing
that his signal has been seen and assistance is on the way.
By means of these smoke signals, they convey messages over
immense distances in an incredibly short time.

About three miles south of the Tomkinson River, the Liver-
pool River makes a sudden bend toward the northwest for a
distance of about three miles. It then makes a very sharp turn
to the south. Burroloola conducted us to a place where we
found excellent fresh water on the western side of the river,
directly opposite the sharp turn where the river runs in a
southerly direction. While we were filling our water casks, a

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 383

buffalo cow and her calf came out of the bush and plunged into
the river for a bath as buffaloes often do.

We were watching them swim about and en-
A joy themselves, when all at once the hideous

Mother head of a crocodile rose above the surface of
Young tne water and the calf disappeared with a
One. stifled cry of terror. The cow quickly re-

gained the bank, where she ran up and down
bellowing piteously for her calf, but catching sight of us, she
bounded into the bush and disappeared.

Perhaps few people are aware that herds of wild buffaloes
are found all over Northern Australia and even extending into
the north of Queensland. Of course they are not indigenous to
the country, but are the offspring of some that were imported
from the Malay Peninsula and were left behind when the sol-
diers abandoned the settlements on the northern coast. They
seem to prefer the coarsest and rankest kind of herbage, and
at the time of our visit (March, the end of the rainy season)
the coarse, wiry grass, which they feed upon, was higher than
our heads.

This northern territory is a sportsman's paradise, but it is
of little use to attempt to hunt the wild cattle during the sum-
mer or rainy season (December to March), partly on account
of the heavy rains which frequently flood the low lands, and
partly on account of the height of the grass. Even with the
aid of a horse it would be most difficult to penetrate the rank
grass, and the hunter would be likely to find himself face
to face with a savage buffalo bull before he suspected his pres-
ence. These solitary bulls are extremely fierce as well as cun-
ning, and the blacks are chary of following their trails through
the long grass, though they have no objection to attacking- them
on open ground, where they have room to dodge. The blacks
are so nimble that it is practically impossible for a wild bull
to catch one of them in the open.

384 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

While the crew filled the water casks we went some dis-
tance up the river in the launch and were amazed at the abun-
dance of birds. We passed acres of wild
Acres geese and wild ducks, together with countless
of thousands of white cockatoos, ibis, and ja-

Birds. birus. The ducks and geese flew away at
our approach, but the cockatoos flew about us
and screeched at an appalling rate. The blacks who accom-
panied us made good use of their boomerangs and brought
down such quantities of birds that we could have loaded the
launch with them.

They called our attention to the fact that they used differ-
ent kinds of boomerangs for different purposes. Their war
boomerangs are made of very hard, heavy wood which would
instantly sink in water and be lost; hence on the water they
use the hooked boomerangs, made of a lighter kind of wood,
which floats on the water and is easily recovered.

A little further on, we saw numbers of Torres Strait pig-
eons, doves, turkeys, parrots, spoonbills, quail, jungle fowl,
and many beautiful small birds of which we did not know the
name. In one place where the grass was low we came upon a
flock of native companions which were amusing themselves as
usual by dancing, what looked to us like minuets and qua-
drilles, and bowing to each other in the most artistic and grace-
ful manner. No one could help admiring these graceful birds,
and an old bushman would consider it little short of murder to
kill one of them. They are easily domesticated, and not only
make affectionate pets, but are particularly useful in killing
poisonous snakes and protecting domestic fowls from the at-
tacks of crows and eagle-hawks, which are very destructive to
all kinds of poultry in the bush.

On rounding a sharp bend in the river, about two miles
south of our landing place, we came upon a very fine barra-
munda sunning itself upon a log. One of our blacks instantly

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 385

launched his spear in its direction, but it caught sight of us
and plunged into the water in time to avoid the missile, which
grazed the log on which it had been reclining and stuck fast
in the bank beyond.

The jungle scenery along the river is most entrancing and
includes towering gum trees, banyans, flowering vines, and
handsome ferns growing in greatest luxuriance down to the
water's edge.

We also found a sort of thorn which the bushmen call the
"wait awhile," or "bush lawyer/' which is very troublesome
and exasperating, for it is armed with sharp, hooked thorns
which easily tear even the strongest clothing.

Burroloola told us that he and some companions were once
on a hunting expedition and camped at night quite a long dis-
tance from the river; but during the night a crocodile crept
out of the bush so silently that it seized one of the dogs before
these animals were aware of its presence, although the native
dogs are uncommonly alert. The cries of the dog quickly
aroused the camp and Burroloola and some of his companions
instantly assailed the crocodile with blazing sticks from the
fire, while some of the others attacked it with their spears.
One man ran up and endeavored to spear it, but the reptile,
with a blow of its tail, broke both of the man's legs. It re-
leased the dog and, seizing the wounded man in its jaws,
bounded away with him into the bush before his companions
had time to haul him out of its reach. The other savages were
afraid to pursue it in the darkness for fear of evil spirits.

Seeing a couple of kangaroos drinking on the edge of the
river, we shot them for the blacks who accompanied us; and
as they could not carry them in their frail bark canoes, we
ran in shore and took them aboard the launch. One of the
native dogs ran into the bush and was left behind, but when
we reached the middle of the stream he appeared upon the
bank and started to swim towards the launch. He had pro-

386 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

ceeded only a few yards when a crocodile seized him ; but in-
stead of sinking at once as these reptiles usually do when they
seize a victim, he gave his head an upward twitch and de-
liberately threw the dog high in the air, then seized him as he
came down and instantly plunged beneath the surface.

The nights on the river were indescribably
"More beautiful, for the extraordinary brilliancy of
J°rk>" the moonlight rendered every object almost
Pork." as Kgnt as day and the strange sounds which
came from the depths of the surrounding for-
est added a touch of weird melancholy to the lonely scene.
Usually a small brown owl kept up a hoarse, dismal croak
sounding exactly like "more pork, more pork," while the loud
croaking of the bull frog mingled with the long-drawn howls
of the prowling dingos and the occasional shriek of some night
bird, made night strangely lonely. At earliest dawn, these
weird sounds give place to the wild guffaws of the laughing
jackass and the delightful music of magpies, whose tones re-
semble a combination of the flute and organ exquisitely modu-
lated.

Our parting from our black friends was as cordial as our
reception had been hostile, and we next anchored in Port
Essington, in latitude 11° 15' S. and longitude 132° 10' E.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 387

CHAPTER XXXIII

BUFFALO HUNTING IN NORTH AUSTRALIA

This fine harbor, nineteen miles long and seven miles wide

at the mouth, is almost land-locked. But the land on either

side of the entrance is so low that it is dif-

Port ficult to make it out and it is necessary to be-

Essington. ware of Orontes Reef, which lies off the en-
trance. Our chief object in calling was to lay
in a supply of fresh beef from the wild cattle which are plen-
tiful here. They are descended from some English cattle
which the old settlers left behind when they abandoned the
place.

As usual, we first made friends with the blacks by means
of some presents of sugar and other supplies, and they read-
ily undertook to conduct us to a place where we would find
cattle. Some of them came in the boat and the launch with
us while others followed in their bark canoes ; we took /our own
dogs along. Running up a small creek which flows into
Knocker Bay on the southwest side of the harbor, we landed
and struck out toward the west.

The scenery resembled that of a beautiful park, for the
ground rose with a gentle slope from the beach and was cov-
ered with short green grass and fine trees. We saw im-
mense flocks of pigeons and a number of natives. After
trailing about a mile, we suddenly .caught sight of a herd of
some twenty-five wild horses quietly grazing and apparently
unconscious of danger. Having no desire to hunt them, we
crept close and sat down to watch them. They were in splen-
did condition and appeared to be a very fine lot of animals;
their whole appearance seemed to indicate that the district

388 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

was well adapted for stock raising. All at once one of them
caught sight of the dogs and uttered a loud snort, whereupon
the whole herd ran together snorting with terror and gazed
at us for a moment, then bounded away with the speed of
greyhounds.

A little further on we heard cattle lowing, though we
could not see them. Following the sound, we came in sight of
a small herd feeding, while a magnificent bull stood with his
head high in the air, evidently keeping watch over the others.
Two of the blacks, who had been in the pearl fishing busi-
ness, could talk a little broken English, and before leaving the
vessel we had supplied them with a couple of pieces of bright
red calico. The grass was not nearly so high as along the
Liverpool River, and the blacks who were with us requested
permission to stalk the bull and attack him with their spears,
while two of them remained with us and held the dogs.

They certainly gave a splendid exhibition of stalking, for
the moment the bull turned away his head, they ran forward
without a sound, but when they saw that he was about to look
in their direction, they disappeared completely. Finally his
suspicions were excited and he stood staring fixedly in their
direction, when all at once we saw a piece of red calico slowly
waving upon the end of a spear, though the man who held
it was not visible. Without a moment's hesitation the bull's
head went down, his tail went up, and he charged like a deer
upon the scrap of red. The next instant the blacks sprang
from the grass with a terrific yell, meeting his headlong charge
with their spears, while the two who were back with us re-
leased the dogs. Even when mortally wounded, the bull
charged the blacks like lightning. They eluded his attacks
with marvelous agility and the dogs, coming up at this mo-
ment, began to snap at his heels. He wheeled and delivered a
sweeping stroke of his horns, which cut one dog nearly in
two and sent another twenty feet into the air, killing him on

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 389

the spot. The rest of the pack beat a hasty retreat. Whenever
the infuriated animal made a charge upon one of the blacks,
the others danced around him and yelled like fiends to distract
his attention. The noble creature was mortally wounded and
bleeding from many spear thrusts before he fell.

It was surprising to see how quickly the

Shooting Wild blacks cut up the carcass with their rude

Cattle. stone knives and carried every pound of it,

skin and all, to the launch, which conveyed it
to their main camp on the other side of the bay. Turning to-
wards the north and proceeding about a mile in the direction
of Kennedy Bay, we sighted another herd of cattle feeding, a
bull standing on guard as usual. We approached within about
three hundred yards of them, then all fired together, killing
two of the cows outright and breaking one of the legs of
another. The remainder of the herd disappeared in an in-
stant and even the cow with the broken leg ran like a deer till
the dogs brought her to bay, when we ran up and finished her.
We skinned and dressed the carcasses in the usual way; but
the blacks did not allow any part to go to waste, for it would
be difficult to name anything in the shape of animal food
which would come amiss to them.

They carried the meat to the launch for us, and after get-
ting it on board, we salted part of it in barrels, but most of it
was cut in strips and hung up in the hot sun, which quickly
turned it black and dried it almost as hard as a board. In
this condition it seems to be capable of keeping indefinitely,
but exposure to dampness is sure to spoil it.

We visited the main camp of the blacks and found they
were about to hold a corroboree in honor of a party of blacks
who had just arrived on one of their periodic trading jour-
neys from some distant tribe. Ignorant as they are, they have
a well-organized system of trade, which enables the different
tribes to exchange natural or manufactured products to the

390 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

mutual advantage of both. They almost always start on these
trading journeys in the fall (about March) because all the rock
holes, springs, and water courses are then full from the regu-
lar summer rains, and the routes along which they always
travel have been fixed from time out of mind. These trading
journeys occupy a long time, but the natives who take part in
them are received in the most friendly manner and entertained
with social fights, feasts, and corroborees everywhere they go.

The party of native traders who had just arrived from a
distant tribe wore sandals made from the bark of the tea tree
(entirely different from the ti tree of the Polynesian Islands)
to protect their feet from stones. These trees are generally
so plentiful that they can renew their sandals at almost any
point on their journey. In the company was the tribal sor-
cerer or medicine man who wore a pair of sandals made of
emu feathers matted together. This is regarded as one of
their distinguishing marks, for no one except the medicine
man ever wears this variety of sandal. The sorcerers or medi-
cine men always wear them when they go to "point at" any
man for the purpose of causing his death ; and, although the
tracks which they leave are quite plain to the sharp eyes of
the blacks, yet no one dares to follow them, because they
know they are the tracks of a medicine man and they fear
his magical powers.

The regular corroboree ground of the tribe consisted of
the usual open space in the forest, and every stick, stone or
other obstruction had been very carefully removed from the
surface, which was as level as a table. The dancers were
painted as usual in imitation of skeletons with a mixture of
ochre and stale grease; and several of them had adorned
their heads with a pair of horns, which combined with the
lurid glow of the fires to give them a strong resemblance to the
common conception of the devil.

The wild, wailing chant of the women, which sounded

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 391

like the wailing of evil spirits, the dark background of gloomy
forest, the skeleton-like figures leaping and dancing under the
lurid gleam of the fires, the wild yells of the dancers, and the
frantic howls of the dogs combined to form a scene which
baffles the power- of description. The physical endurance of
the Australian blacks is phenomenal, and instead of tiring
from their frantic exertions, they seemed to gain fresh vigor
as the uproar proceeded. The women redoubled their howls
and beat their opossum skins with might and main; the
dancers yelled as though they had gone mad and leaped from
side to side with such marvelous quickness that the spectators
almost turned dizzy from watching them; the dogs lay back
on their haunches and shrieked as though they would split
themselves, while their eyes seemed almost starting from their
sockets, though the sagacious brutes took excellent care to
keep out of the way of the waddies and other flying missiles.
It began to look as though the dance would
Relay g° on a^ night* but finally the leader gave a

Dancing. signal, the whole performance instantly
stopped, and the dancers gave three terrific
yells to indicate the end of the first act, after which they dis-
persed among the spectators to receive congratulations, while
a fresh party of dancers immediately took their places.

We sailed at daylight next morning, and passing through
Van Dieman Gulf and Clarence Strait, anchored in Port Dar-
win, latitude 12° 28' S., and longitude 130° 51' E. Our
chief object in calling here was to pay our respects to the
authorities of the district, who reside in the little town of
Palmerston on the east side of Port Darwin.

The town is built upon a peninsula which separates the
main portion of the harbor from Fanny Bay, and is, for a
tropical climate, very healthy. It is about sixty feet above the
level of the water which almost surrounds it. The nature of
the ground causes the heavy summer rains to run off into the

392 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

harbor immediately after falling and thus prevents malaria;
cool breezes blow almost constantly throughout the year. This
constant cool sea-breeze is the only thing which renders the
climate bearable for white people. The houses have no chim-
neys, for on account of the intense heat, all cooking is done in
outer sheds. The surrounding country would be a fine hunt-
ing ground for any one who could stand the furnace-like heat,
for it abounds with wild buffaloes, kangaroos, crocodiles and
many kinds of wild fowl ; but the mosquitoes are very trouble-
some in addition to the heat.

We visited the main camp of the blacks, which is about a
mile from Palmerston, and attended one of their corroborees.
The more I saw of the blacks, the more strongly I felt in-
clined to accept an opinion which I frequently heard expressed
in Australia to the effect that the aboriginals are really a race
of black Caucasians.

As a rule, they have a very strong objection

Natives Object to bein£ photographed because they believe
to Being photography to be a species of witchcraft;

Photographed, but our party managed to obtain a few photo-
graphs by bribing them with sugar or pieces
of tobacco. I have one of a black fellow named Yandinna,
and I think most people would agree that he would pass for
a European if his skin were white instead of black. White
marks on his chest are a sign that he is in mourning, though
white lines also indicate, when arranged in a different way,
that there is a death to avenge.

In general form and feature these Australian aboriginals
bear a considerable resemblance to the Ainus whom I saw in
Japan, though, of course, of a different color. The ornamental
scars which Yandinna wears across his chest may be seen
under the white lines, though they do not show very well in
the photograph. I have seen the statement in print that the
hair of the Australian blacks is woolly ; but this is a great mis-

OF CAPTAIN QU1NTOX 393

take. Their hair is never woolly, though it is generally curly,
as may be seen in the case of Yandinna.

Perhaps the most singular characteristic of this country
is the huge ant hills, extending as far as the eye can see in
every direction. In some places they cover, at intervals of
only a few yards, as much as a hundred square miles, some
of them measuring twenty-five feet in height and eight feet in
diameter. The ants construct them of red clay, with fissures
extending up and down the sides from top to bottom. It is a
singular fact that no one ever sees these ants at work, no
matter at what time of the day or night the hills may be ex-
amined. There is a great difference between those I have just
described, and the meridional ant-hills, which are only about
four feet wide at the base and from three to six feet high.
They taper regularly from the ground upward like a wedge, or
the two sides of a small tent to a sharp ridge, and it is remark-
able that this ridge always extends due north and south;
hence their name.

It is well known that these ants are terribly destructive to
ordinary woodwork, and it would be interesting to know how
such countless myriads of them manage to live where they
seem to have nothing to eat. I heard here, as well as in
Queensland, that these ants will devour every known kind of
Australian timber except one, the cypress pine. This timber
is consequently in great demand and gangs of Chinamen are
constantly engaged in cutting it.

While the town of Palmerston is healthy for its situation,
there is considerable fever and ague in the surrounding coun-
try and a white man would hardly be able to work in it ; hence
the Chinamen, who seem to be climate and disease-proof, carry
on nearly all the work of the place and are said to surpass the
whites as gold miners. The land is well watered and so fer-
tile that in some places the grass grows fifteen feet high. The
Chinamen, though they seem immune to disease, are unfortu-

394 THE< STRANGE ADVENTURES

nately not proof against the black fellows, and while we were
at anchor, the black men killed and ate three Chinese timber
cutters, and then took refuge in an impenetrable swamp
jungle which lies due east of the town and in which it was im-
possible for the constables to follow them. The news of the
calamity spread consternation among the local Chinamen, who
rendered the following night hideous by beating gongs to drive
away the devils who were supposed to have bewitched them
and caused the disaster. A fat priest named Whang Bung,
who was supposed to have great influence with the powers
of evil, also burned a choice assortment of ill-smelling punks
and offered several roast fowls to the devils to induce them
to curse the black fellows for devouring his countrymen.

The rivers and water holes abound with crocodiles, but in
spite of these there are plenty of fish, and the blacks have
several ingenious methods of catching them. One method
consists in placing twigs and leaves of the bloodwood or eu-
calyptus in water holes and leaving them all night. This stu-
pefies the fish and causes them to rise to the surface, where
the blacks secure them with their spears. Sometimes they form
a sort of wall of coarse grass large enough to reach across
a water hole and a line of men push this wall in front of them
from one end of the water hole to the other. This grassy wall
extends from top to bottom of the water, and the other natives
who are on watch spear the fish which it encloses.

When stalking such game as emus or kangaroos in an
open place where there is no cover, the hunter carries a bush
large enough to conceal him and walks slowly forward till
near enough to hurl his spear or boomerang.

Port Darwin is a common meeting place for various tribes
from the interior and affords excellent facilities for any one
who wishes to study the aboriginal blacks, though it is not the
best place for collecting curios, because the white residents
collect them for museums or for their friends. I was inter-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 395

ested to discover, in making a study of the language used by
the blacks about Port Darwin, that the native word for la-
menting the dead is Keening, which is exactly the Irish word.
Our party was anxious to secure the heads of
Wary a few buffalo bulls to add to their collection,

Buffaloes. but learned that it would be easier to secure
them in Melville Island, about thirty miles
north, than around Port Darwin. Buffaloes are plentiful
enough all over Northern Australia and are frequently shot
in the very suburbs of Port Darwin ; but the surrounding coun-
try is so thickly overgrown with mangrove, bamboo, and eu-
calyptus that it is almost impossible to penetrate many parts of
it. Moreover, these noble beasts are so tenacious of life that
they can run like greyhounds after being mortally wounded,
and are almost certain to escape in the thick bush unless they
can be shot in an open place. In several instances a buffalo
bull has been known to charge and gore a hunter to death
after the animal had been shot through the heart.

We were also told that the buffaloes in the neighborhood
of Port Darwin were shyer and more wary on account of hav-
ing been hunted, whereas those on Melville Island had not
been molested and consequently were bolder and less likely
to seek cover. Accordingly, we sailed from Port Darwin
and anchored off the southwest coast of Melville Island, about
five miles to the westward of Cape Gambier, the southern ex-
tremity of the island. This would have been a very dangerous
anchorage during the northwest winds, but the regular south-
east trade winds seemed to have set in and there was every
indication of fine weather.

Near the anchorage we found a creek which was said to
be a favorite resort of both buffaloes and natives. Its mouth
was bordered with mangrove as usual, but a little further up
we found both banks lined with tall casuarina trees, the she-
oak of the Australian bush and the toa of the Polynesian Is-

396 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

lands. The stream swarmed with water fowl of various
kinds, in spite of the numerous crocodiles which slipped from
the banks into the water at our approach, and a flock of black
swans flew overhead with their curious melancholy cry.

Upon rounding a bend in the stream we
A Buffalo caught sight of the head of a buffalo bull tak-
Surprised. ing his morning bath. The moment he caught
sight of us, he sprang out on the bank and
stopped for an instant to stare at the strange intruders. The
whole party of us fired together and he fell, though he did not
give the peculiar groaning bellow which cattle always give
when mortally wounded. The dogs sprang ashore a few
yards from where he fell and began worrying his hind quar-
ters. All at once he sprang to his feet and attacked them with
such fury that they barely managed to escape the lightning-
like strokes of his horns. His movements were so rapid that
it was difficult to hit him, but we fired another volley, where-
upon he threw his head in the air, and with a short, quick
bellow, broke away and ran about seventy yards, and, with a
deep groan, fell dead.

He was a magnificent animal. It is no wonder the blacks
are chary of attacking these wild buffaloes, though they do not
hesitate to attack the wild cattle. This one was covered with
short dark brown hair, but his legs were white from the knees
down, and he had an immense pair of flattened horns, which
measured seven feet ten inches from tip to tip. We cut the
head from the huge body with an axe, took it aboard the
launch and, leaving the carcass to the crows and crocodiles,
proceeded on our way. A couple of miles further up we
came upon a small herd of cows and calves bathing. They in-
stantly stampeded at our approach and disappeared in the
bush. We noticed that they followed a well-beaten trail which
led off at right angles to the stream, and, leaving the launch
in charge of two of the crew, we followed this trail about a

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 397

mile, when we sighted two very fine bulls feeding at a distance
of about two hundred yards.

We were advancing quietly toward them when G., who
happened to be leading the way, suddenly jumped aside just
in time to avoid a stroke from a venomous black snake which
was hanging from the branch of a tree, and struck viciously
at his face. The deadly reptile made no attempt to escape but
swung its head back and forward hissing loudly and gazing
defiantly at us, until one man cut a stout switch and, with a
vigorous blow, broke its neck. These deadly serpents, which
are closely akin to the famous cobra of India, are almost invar-
iably found near water, and have a habit of climbing trees or
bushes and striking at any living thing that happens to come
within reach.

The snake having been dispatched, we all fired together at
the bulls, mortally wounding one and breaking the leg of the
other. The latter caught sight of some of the party and in
spite of his wound came for us at great speed. The dogs
closed in and began biting savagely at his heels, but he wheeled
like a flash and attacked them so vigorously that it required
their utmost agility to evade his onslaughts. The underbrush
was so thick that the dogs were at a disadvantage, and in such
situations they are likely to become entangled and be gored
to death. On the other hand one of these buffalo bulls is so
extremely powerful that ordinary brush seems to offer no im-
pediment to his movements and he goes crashing through it
after the manner of a rhinoceros. The dogs were wise enough
to recognize this, and to keep at a respectful distance till the
powerful beast fell with a bullet through his brain, though he
was game to the last.

In the meantime the other bull had regained his feet and
disappeared in the bush. We followed his trail for about two
hundred yards, when all at once he came crashing through
the bush and charged upon us from an entirely different di-

398 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

rection. Although we were taken greatly by surprise, he in-
stantly received a volley which killed him on the spot. Upon
examination, we found him to be so riddled with bullets that it
seemed incredible that he had been able to make his last
charge, but the vitality of these beasts is phenomenal.

None of us wore much clothing, but the heat

A Shower was so intense that it seemed as though we

of Spears. would melt, and the flies were excessively an-
noying. We had just finished severing the
head of the bull when the dogs began to growl angrily, and
as we were wondering what excited them, half a dozen spears
suddenly came whizzing through the air and fell around us.
Fortunately no one was wounded. Without a moment's hesi-
tation we fired in the direction from which the spears had
come, and it was evident that some one was hit, for one of the
largest black fellows I ever saw sprang in the air with a yell
of pain, then bounded away with the speed of a deer. We
also caught sight of a number of other blacks, running at a
pace that defied pursuit, and leaping from side to side with
marvelous quickness, as they always do when retreating, in
order to dodge the missiles of their enemies. We did not fire
again at them as we had no desire to injure them except in
defence of our lives, but we lost no time in getting the heads
of both the bulls to the launch.

We knew that buffaloes generally come down to the water
early in the morning and near sundown, and the trail which
we had been following was evidently one leading to a favorite
resort. So we hid the launch under some overhanging bushes,
I and climbed trees on the bank of the stream concealing our-
selves among the branches. We had not been here long
when we caught sight of thirty or forty blacks stealing quietly
along the trail toward the stream, closely examining our
tracks.

They were all armed with spears, shields, waddies and

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 399

war boomerangs, and came on without making a sound. Hav-
ing reached the edge of the stream, they glanced very sharply
in every direction, but seeing nothing of us, seemed to con-
clude that we had taken our departure and began chattering
excitedly among themselves. Several of them jumped into th&
stream and began swimming about, and one or two stepped out
on the opposite side and looked carefully up and down the
creek. Suddenly one of the swimmers uttered a loud yell and
pointed to the launch. This produced great excitement among
them and at first they seemed inclined to seek cover ; but see-
ing only two men in the launch, they all sprang into the
stream together and advanced toward it, their spears poised
over their heads, and uttering yells of defiance. Not wishing
to kill any of them if it could be avoided, we shouted at them
from the trees, and they hastily retreated, instantly concealing
themselves in the bushes on the opposite shore.

Knowing that it was useless to attempt to hunt while they
were there, we descended from the trees and called to them
in English (which of course they did not understand) that
we wished to be friends with them. A few heads appeared,
and holding up some pieces of tobacco we motioned for five
of them to come across to our side and receive presents.
Finally five of them ventured across and we gave them tobacco
for themselves and their friends. Others came one by one
until there were a dozen of them around us. Not being sure
that we could trust their apparent willingness to be friendly,
we boarded the launch and conversed with them by signs, but
could not make them comprehend what we wanted to do with
the heads of the buffaloes. We inquired if there were many
of these animals in this locality, and one man who acted as
spokesman swept both hands around the horizon to indicate
that they were everywhere. He also patted pne of the horns,
then tossed his head in imitation of a bull and made a motion
of ripping up his stomach and throwing something in the air

400 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

to indicate how buffaloes had tossed members of his tribe.

These men were the largest, most stalwart blacks that I
ever saw in any part of Australia. Perhaps their great size
can be accounted for by the abundance of food throughout all
this northern region. But they all seemed inclined to be
treacherous and we found that it was somewhat dangerous to
trust them.

We made an agreement to meet a party of
Our Biggest tnem next day, an(* at daylight they were on
Buffalo. hand at the same place. They led the way
through the bush to a place where several cat-
tle trails converged upon the water from both sides. We did
not disturb the cows and calves which came to drink and bathe,
because the sound of the firing would frighten the larger
game, which we were anxious to secure. About half an hour
after we had taken our position, a very fine buffalo bull ap-
proached the water on our side, and we were about to fire at
him when one or two of the blacks pointed eagerly across the
stream. At first we could see nothing in the direction they
indicated; but a minute or two later we sighted the largest
buffalo bull we had yet seen, advancing majestically from
among the trees. His horns were of such enormous size that
we decided to secure him at all hazards. The blacks quickly
signified that they would cross the stream lower down and
drive him over to our side, and the next moment they disap-
peared in the bush as silently as snakes.

The bull was in the act of drinking when all at once we
heard the most blood-curdling yells, and the blacks sprang
from the trees behind him, and assailed him with a shower of
stones. They afterward explained that had they speared
him, the pain would have irritated him to such an extent that
he would have charged them and almost certainly escaped.
The sudden surprise from the shower of stones and their fran-
tic yells startled him to such an extent that he plunged into

OF CAPTAIN QU1NTON 401

the stream and crossed to our side, where he stood snorting
and shaking his head angrily, as if meditating a charge upon
his pursuers. We all fired together at a spot just back of the
shoulder, and he fell like a stone; but, not wishing to trust
to appearances, we ran up and gave him another volley just
as he was in the act of rising to his feet.

The whole party declared that this capture was worth all
the others, for his horns measured eight feet eleven inches
from tip to tip. I afterward learned, however, that still larger
ones had been obtained in the same locality. We cut up the
carcass for the blacks, who cooked and ate the whole inside,
but did not attempt to eat the rest of the flesh because it
is too tough. I have tried to eat buffalo meat on more than
one occasion ; but, although I did succeed in cutting it after a
prolonged effort, I never succeeded in chewing it, and I do not
believe any one else ever did, for it is very much like sole
leather.

Shortly after, we fired at a bull standing about three hun-
dred yards distant, and wounded him severely, but in spite of
his wound he ran like a deer, and the dogs immediately
started in pursuit. The blacks, who can run very nearly as
fast as the dogs, led the way, and we found him fighting both
dogs and blacks about a mile from the place where he was
wounded, although one of his legs was broken in addition to
other wounds. After disposing of him, we noticed for the
first time that one of the dogs was missing and were greatly
puzzled to know what had become of him. A shout from one
of the blacks revealed his whereabouts, and we found him
lying dead with a death-adder coiled close to him and hissing
viciously. After pointing to it, the black drove his spear
through the venomous reptile and held it up while it writhed
and bit savagely at the weapon upon which it was impaled. It
was evident that the dog had run upon the serpent while in
pursuit of the buffalo. We all felt sorry to lose the faithful

402 THE STRANGE ^ADVENTURES

animal, and stood mournfully by while the blacks dug a grave
and buried him.

We secured several more pairs of horns during the day, for
the buffalo in this locality were not so shy as in places where
they are more extensively hunted. We also earned the grati-
tude of the blacks by shooting a couple of young cows for
them to eat, in addition to rewarding them with tobacco and
sugar.

We sailed away next morning at daylight and made a stop
for one day in Hoya Bay, in the south coast of Ceram, in
latitude 3° 23' S. and longitude 129° 34' E., where we oV
tained a supply of maize, sago, and sweet potatoes.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 403

CHAPTER XXXIV

DANCING BIRDS AND DANCING FISH. A FIGHT WITH A MANTA

We next anchored in McClure's Inlet, on the west coast

of New Guinea, for the purpose of securing birds of paradise,

which are not found anywhere else in the

Birds world except in New Guinea. The natives

of did not seem to be very anxious to assist in

Paradise. the business in spite of the presents which we

made them, but finally we secured four men

who accepted the terms offered. Of course we could have

shot the birds with our shot guns, but this would spoil their

lovely plumage and the natives went about it another way.

They conducted us several miles into the bush and pointed
out some of the trees upon which the male birds were in the
habit of dancing, but they warned us to keep under cover
lest our appearance would frighten the birds. They did not
seem disconcerted by the presence of the natives, who con-
structed a house of branches in which we could watch. Late
in the afternoon a number of the birds assembled in the trees
and began their curious antics. No language could convey
an adequate idea of the matchless beauty of these lovely
creatures. It has been truly said that they seem to be the one
relic which remains in the world to recall the glories of Eden
and the splendors of the Golden Age.

It seems a pity that such lovely birds were not gifted with
sweeter voices, for their loud cries of "Wauk! Wauk!" are
singularly out of harmony with their exquisitely beautiful ap-
pearance. They would sometimes lie flat on a branch with
their heads stretched out, their wings raised vertically over
their backs, and their rnarvelously beautiful plumes, which

404 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

rival the most gorgeous hues of the rainbow, waving in every
variety of graceful motion and attitude. They are beautiful
enough when seated upon the trees, but when flying through
the air with their exquisite plumes flashing like jewels in the
brilliant sunlight, they really seem like visitors from the
realms of Paradise. The trees upon which they were dancing
and leaping from branch to branch were fully three hundred
feet high; and during the night the natives climbed two of
them by means of vines or lianas and constructed two small
huts, resembling bird cages, of bamboo and rattan at a height
of two hundred feet from the ground. These they covered
with twigs and leaves, and one man armed with a bow and
quiver of arrows concealed himself in each hut before dawn
while other men remained upon the ground.

The natives almost always use bows made of black palm or
the aerial roots of the mangrove for fighting and hunting, but
they prefer bows of male bamboo for hunting birds of para-
dise. The shaft of the arrow is a light reed, the head a piece
of very hard wood, rounded like a bullet, so that it kills the
bird by the force of its impact, but does not injure the feath-
ers. When they wish to capture a bird alive, they use an
arrow armed with three prongs like a small eel-spear. These
prongs are made of hard wood and are barbed on the inside
but the points are blunt. They shoot these arrows at the
legs of the birds, and if it strikes, the weight of the arrow
brings the bird to the ground.

We were surprised to find that none of the birds of para-
dise visited the trees the next day ; but the natives assured us
that though they were often absent from their favorite play
trees for several days at a time, they were sure to return. We
found that the bush contained other beautiful birds, notably
bronze-winged pigeons, and kingfishers of a beautiful royal
blue with snowy-white breast and tail, coral red beak, and
two long tail feathers,

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 405

As in other tropical countries, the best time to hunt birds
is in the morning and evening, for, like the Spaniards, they
take a siesta in the afternoon. The cries of the parrots were
incessant in the early morning, and at intervals a flock of horn-
bills would fly overhead with a noise resembling the stampede
of a herd of cattle, but we did not hear any beautiful song-
sters like the Australian magpie.

While going along the bank of the stream

A Host we sighted a wild sow and a litter of nearly

A j full-grown pigs, two of which we shot. Our

Warriors! native attendants were dressing them, when
we heard the sound of approaching footsteps
and a large body of armed warriors came into view, but im-
mediately stopped and regarded us with evident astonishment
as though not quite certain what to make of us. Each war-
rior was armed with a huge long bow and a quiver of arrows,
carried a shield upon his left arm and wore a wristlet of
woven fiber upon his left wrist to protect it from the stroke
of the bow-string. Our guides belonged to a place called
Tabini, on the north side of the Inlet, and one of them who
spoke broken English whispered that this war party belonged
to a tribe of head-hunters, who were hostile to the people of
Tabini. He was instructed to inform them that we were
friendly and only engaged in hunting birds.

They replied, through our guides, that they had heard the
shooting and come to investigate, fearing that we were ene-
mies, since this is a country where every man's hand is against
his neighbor. While we were talking a flock of hornbills flew
overhead with the usual loud, rushing noise and the warriors
instantly let fly a volley of arrows which brought down over
half the flock. The birds were black and their outspread
wings measured five feet from tip to tip. The warriors
wished to secure them for their huge bills, which measure
about eight inches in length. It is a common custom, as be-

406 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

fore stated, for a warrior to wear one of these huge bills on
his forehead, secured to a band which goes around his head,
with the point of the bill reaching as low as his chin a few
inches in front of his nose.

After a great deal of talk the warriors took
"Umph! their departure and we returned to our camp,
Umph!" where the natives cooked the pigs we had
Walked shot. Late in the afternoon the two men who
Away. had been on the lookout in the bird-cages de-
scended to the ground and declared that none
of the birds would show up that evening, but they would most
likely appear in the morning. Shortly after this a very large
wild boar walked deliberately out of the bush and took a lei-
surely survey of our camp, gave an "umph" of contempt and
turned to walk away. Several members of our party seized
their guns to shoot him, but Kapuna, who had just been telling
us how the natives hunted, cried out that they would kill him
with their bows and arrows. So saying, he discharged an ar-
row which wounded the boar in the hindquarters. The savage
animal wheeled with a cry of rage and made at him with the
speed of a race horse. Kapuna hastily slung his bow on his
left arm and ran up a large tree by means of a liana which
grew on the trunk, while the boar vented his rage by tearing
at the liana with his teeth. The other three natives were stand-
ing by convenient trees some distance away, and one of them
began to dance and yell like a mad man. The boar seemed
to take this for a challenge, for he charged upon the dancer,
who saved himself as Kapuna had done, by running up a tree.
While the boar was again venting his rage upon the tree, two
other natives discharged a couple of large arrows which
passed almost entirely through the boar from opposite sides.
Either wound seemed sufficient to kill him ; but in spite of this
he still endeavored to continue the fight by chasing his assail-
ants, who constantly eluded his attacks by running up the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 407

trees. He dropped dead at last from his wounds, and the na-
tives cooked and ate him. We found his flesh too rank for
our taste. Kapuna assured us that if a hunter attacks several
wild pigs at once, and takes refuge in a tree, they will besiege
him and take turns in digging under the tree until they suc-
ceed in uprooting it, and bringing him down, when they will
tear him to pieces.

Shortly before dawn two of the natives again
The ascended to their cages in the tops of the

Dance trees, and sure enough, the paradise birds be-
Paradise gan to assemble at daylight. There were

Birds. eight males and several times as many females
sitting upon the branches. Instead of begin-
ning their dancing at once as we expected, their first care was
to make their morning toilet, which each one did with the
most scrupulous care. They lifted their lovely plumes and
kept their extended wings gently waving as if in flight, while
they turned their heads in the most graceful manner and care-
fully inspected every part of their plumage. Each one uttered
lit intervals the loud cry of "Wauk! Wauk!" while preening
his feathers, which he did by passing each one separately
through his bill and arranging it with the utmost care and
precision; after which he took a final survey of his magnifi-
cent plumage to make sure that his toilet was satisfactory.

Having finished their toilets, they began their elaborate
dancing, half jumping, half flying from branch to branch in
the wildest excitement and uttering their loud cries of enjoy-
ment as though the happy creatures fairly reveled in the pleas-
ure of existence. The whole tree seemed filled with their
lovely, waving plumes and they presented such a picture of
perfect happiness that it seemed a positive sin to kill them.
So intent were they upon their enjoyment that they did not
notice their enemy in ambush before six of the males had been
killed. The rest then took alarm and flew away.

408 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

It was two days before they returned to their haunts, and
we spent the intervals between their visits in collecting orchids,
which we packed in crates made of lengths
The °^ bamb°° lashed together with tough vines.

Deadly Having finally completed our collection, we
Katipu. had it taken on board the ship, and two of
the party were rearranging the orchids in
one of the crates which had just come on deck when a
native who was assisting them suddenly uttered a warn-
ing cry and pointed to something in the crate. Upon look-
ing to see the cause of his excitement we discovered one
of those tiny, but deadly, spiders which the Maoris call katipu
ensconced in one of the orchids. Had it not been for the sharp
eyes of the native some one of the party would most likely
have met with a horrible death from its bite.

This spider is about the size of an ordinary pea, black in
color with a very bright red spot on the center of its back.
Small as it is, it probably possesses the most deadly venom of
any known poisonous reptile or insect in the world. Its bite is
so very small that it can scarcely be seen with the naked eye ;
yet it causes paralysis of the intestines and contracts them into
knots; the victim suffers the most horrible agony for several
days till death brings relief. This deadly insect is all the
more dangerous from the fact that it does most of its prome-
nading during the hours of darkness ; and although it will try-
to escape if possible, it will jump a considerable distance at
any one who attacks it, or if it thinks its retreat is cut off.

The day before sailing we towed the vessel
Dancing to Tabini, and while the crew were taking on
Mantas. water there, we sighted something that looked
like a number of shark's fins moving through
the water. A closer inspection showed that the fins were mov-
ing in a circle and not in the zigzag course which a shark
pursues. I knew at once that it was a school of mantas "dan-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 409

cing," as the sailors call their strange performance. The
boats being engaged in watering, we secured a native canoe
and a couple of paddlers and set out for the mantas with
a harpoon and a coil of line. There were eight or ten of
them swimming round and round in a circle about thirty-
five yards in diameter, and as they circled round each one
raised the tip of its outer fin a foot or two above the sur-
face of the water,, while the fin toward the center of the
circle was correspondingly depressed. These creatures bear
a striking resemblance to huge bats. They are about twenty
feet across the back, and as they move through the water
their huge wings rise and fall precisely like the wings of
a bird flying through the air. They are jet black above and
pure white below; and although their every motion is the
perfection of grace, their huge size, their long tails, and their
bat-like form combine to give them a singularly weird and
diabolical appearance.

After watching them for a few minutes, G. drove the har-
poon into the back of one of them, and the next moment the
two natives backed the canoe with all their might as its vast
bulk shot high in the air and fell back with a resounding crash.
The force with which it struck the water threw up a mountain
of spray which wet us from head to foot, and nearly filled the
canoe. Before we knew what we were doing the manta darted
away with the canoe in tow and we found ourselves going
through the water almost with the speed of an express train.
The strength of one of these creatures is prodigious and the
strain upon the canoe was so great that I knew it was certain
to be wrecked. At first the manta ran straight out to sea,
then turned and ran a while at right angles to its former
course; but, finding that it could not get rid of the drag
which clogged its progress, it suddenly turned and came
straight for the canoe and was upon us before we could get
out of its way.

410 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

"Jump for your lives!" I sang out, and just as we struck
out the huge body of the manta once again shot out of the
water and came down upon the canoe with crushing force.
We all dived to avoid his attack, and when we came to the sur-
face we saw nothing of the canoe but splinters and wreckage
floating upon the water, but the manta and the harpoon had
disappeared and that was the last we saw of either.

A canoe from the ship soon arrived and picked us up. The
blood and the commotion in the water had attracted the sharks
as usual and we could see several fins cutting the surface of
the water around us. We were glad to make liberal compen-
sation to the owner of the wrecked canoe as well as to the
crew of the canoe which rescued us.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 411

CHAPTER XXXV

OUR VESSEL BOARDED BY A HORDE OF DEVIL-FISH

Next morning we sailed to the westward for the Philip-
pine Islands via the Molucca Passage between Celebes and

Gilolo. The third day out we caught a very

A fine tiger shark, the most beautiful and also

Jf.inc one of the most savage of all the shark

Shark. family. Its back is a handsome brownish

yellow, overlaid with black or brown trans-
verse bands or round snuff-colored spots; and the arrange-
ment of the colors is so harmonious that it presents a very
attractive appearance, rather at variance with its fierce dispo-
sition. The shark hook was immediately set again, and about
an hour later we imagined that we had caught another, but
instead of a shark we hauled up a large fish called, among
the Polynesian Islanders, "pain" It was seven feet long and
weighed three hundred pounds. Its back was dark blue and
covered with fine, closely set iridescent scales. Its sides were
paler blue and the belly pure silvery white. It had a very
strong tail shaped like a crescent, and both the tail and fins
were tipped with bright orange. This peculiar fish is about as
dangerous as any shark. Its head is composed almost entirely
of solid bone ; the gills and sides of the head are covered with
bony plates of great strength and hardness ; the jaws are set
with serrated plates of bone fifteen inches long and one-third
of an inch thick, and the strength of the jaws is so great that
the palu can bite a man's hand clean off at a snap. It is ex-
tremely voracious and is often seen chasing schools of flying
fish and bonito, It is ready enough to bite 3 baited hook in

412 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

daylight, though for some reason it never seems to bite at
night. The hook (an ordinary shark hook) must be attached
to a piece of strong steel chain, for the powerful jaws of the
palu would sever a rope as readily as a pair of scissors would
cut string.

We were becalmed while passing through
At the the Celebes Sea, and the vessel began to drift

Head- toward the innumerable small islands corn-
quarters of . . ,_
Pirates. posing the lawi lawi group, at the southern

extremity of the Philippines. Seeing no im-
mediate prospect of a breeze, I anchored near a small island
named Ubian, about eleven miles east of Tawi Tawi. The
calm lasted for three days, during which time some of our
party visited the main island; but we were anxious to get
away, for this group is the headquarters of the most incorrig-
ible pirates on these seas.

On account of the heat the crew slept under an awning
on the main deck. Some time after midnight of the second
night I heard a sudden commotion on deck. My first thought
was that the pirates had boarded us. We rushed on deck pre-
pared to repel them, but instead of pirates we beheld a wrig-
gling, slimy object which resembled a huge serpent, reaching
over the rail and clutching the arm of one of the crew. In-
stantly we knew it was»the arm of either a cuttle fish or an
octopus, and we attacked it with knives and cutlasses. But
the flesh of these hideous monsters is extremely tough and
rubber-like, and while we were hacking at it two more slimy,
snake-like arms suddenly shot up into the air, where they
writhed and quivered for a moment as if selecting victims.
One of the huge arms became entangled in the rigging, but
the other descended with almost lightning-like quickness and
secured a death-like grip around the neck of another one of
the crew. He would have been strangled to death if we had
not severed the arm which was choking him.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 413

While this was going on, the monster drew itself up the

•vessel's side until its hideous head appeared above the rail.

The huge, corpse-like eyes gleamed balefully

Besieged *n tne uncertam n&nt and its slimy, shapeless

by body shone with a diabolical phosphorescence.

Devil-fish. There was something indescribably hideous
and repulsive in the huge, shapeless body with
its snake-like arms quivering in the air, like the hair of Me-
dusa; even the arms which had been cut off writhed and
twisted about the deck like living serpents. Some one fired a
shot into one of its eyes, and in an instant the monster released
its hold and fell back with a loud splash into the water, where
it lashed about in agony and disappeared in a long streak of
phosphorescent light.

It took some time to dress the wounds of the men who
had been attacked and we had scarcely more than got to
sleep when there was a fresh commotion on deck, and the
watchman sang out excitedly, "Plenty devil-fish come 'board !"

Again we rushed on deck where we saw a huge octopus
lumbering about near the cabin door. Its long, sprawling legs
were so bent, on account of their boneless, gelatinous nature,
that its shapeless body was raised only a few inches above
the deck. Before I realized the situation the creature shot
out one of its arms and seized me firmly by the ankle, but the
next instant some one fired a shot into its eye, and it relin-
quished its hold. This had occupied but a few seconds, and
we were glad enough to jump back into the cabin, for the
deck was soon swarming with the monsters and more were
coming over the rail. I shouted to the crew to go into the
forecastle and close the door, which they did. We could see
the brutes crawling over the cabin skylight and hear them
dragging things about the deck, but it would have been worse
than useless to attack them during the night.

As soon as it was light enough to see, we opened the cabin

414 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

door and looked out. Only three of the brutes were visible on
deck, but curiously enough, a number of their arms were dang-
ling over both rails, showing that the creatures themselves
were hanging alongside as they are often seen hanging to
rocks. After a short consultation, we made a sudden rush on
deck and tried to cut off all the arms that were hanging on
the rails, before attacking the three which were on the deck.
But as fast as one arm was cut off, others shot up into the air
and seized hold of the rails or rigging; and the water around
the ship was all in a commotion from the octopi which were
swimming around us and beating the water with their arms.

In the meantime the crew (which was made up now of
South Sea Islanders) rushed from the forecastle with loud
yells and began a furious attack with knives and hatchets upon
the three which were on deck. The tenacity of the brutes was
something amazing. They fought till they were literally cut
to pieces, but we soon cleared the deck of them. There were
still plenty of them swimming all around us and we tried
shooting them, but the bullets produced very little effect un-
less they happened to strike their eyes, and it was nine o'clock
before the last of the loathsome brutes swam away from our
side.

When we had time to look around we were amazed at the
appearance of the deck, which looked very much as if pirates
had boarded us. Practically everything movable had been
dragged overboard. The devil-fish had not only torn the
tarpaulins off the hatches, but had also torn the covers off
the smaller boats, broken the machinery of the launch and
dragged the oars overboard.

The more I have thought over this incident the more
strongly I am inclined to think that the crew of the Marie
Celeste may have met with a similar experience, which in
their case ended with dire results.

The nearest place where we could have the launch re-

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 415

paired was Zamboanga, on the extreme southwest coast of
Mindanao, in latitude 6° 54' N. and longitude 122° 3' E.,
and accordingly we proceeded there at once. The town, which
is situated at the mouth of the Zamboanga River, is large and
clean and has a long pier extending out to moderately deep
water. Although it is only an open roadstead, it affords safe
anchorage and is said to be one of the very few places in the
Philippines which has never been visited by a hurricane. It
commands the strait of Basilan, the regular highway for
steamers plying between ports in the China Sea on the north
and Australia and Celebes on the south; but at the time of
our visit the excessive harbor dues and outrageous customs
restrictions kept vessels away from it and killed the splendid
trade which it would otherwise have enjoyed. One of the
most attractive features of the town is a canal of clear, fresh
water which runs down the center of the main street, each
bank of the canal planted with fine shade trees.

The town was founded as a base of operations
The against the fierce Moro pirates and has the

Beautiful begt climate in the Philippines. The tern-
Town of

Zamboanga. perature never vanes more than a few de-
grees. It is beautifully situated on an exten-
sive plain covered with cocoanut groves and innumerable rice
fields, and to the east of the town lies the fortress of del
Pilar whose strong stone walls proved of the greatest service
during the piratical invasions of the Moros. The country sur-
rounding Zamboanga is beautiful by day, and at night count-
less thousands of brilliant fireflies, which the natives call alitap-
tap, illuminate the forest like fairy lamps in every direction.
The Moros, who are brave to the point of madness, are as
superstitious as they are brave, and have one curious supersti-
tion which bears a strong resemblance to the Australian beliefs
in the terrible Bunyip. They believe in the existence of a ter-
rible spirit, named Wok- Wok, who assumes the form of an

4i6 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

ape and devours Moros whom he catches in the dark. Like
the Australian Bunyip, he can not bear light of any kind.
They also have an intense dread of the weird and melancholy
cry of a night owl, which they regard with very much the
same feelings as the Irish peasants regard the banshee, for
they believe that its cry betokens death or misfortune to all
those who hear it.

The "pandito," who corresponds to the medi-

Hideous cme man °f tne American Indians, wields

Superstitions, immense influence among them and lives in

luxury by catering to their superstitions. He
is consulted upon all matters of importance, and receives one-
tenth of the plunder and slaves taken in all piratical raids, and
one-tenth of all crops, fish, pearl and pearl shell. In return
for this the pandito is supposed to invoke the spirits to assist
those who pay him in robbing and murdering; and the people
believe that if they fail to pay him, their next venture would
end in disaster. The Moros are all nominal Mohammedans.
Such a religion is especially congenial to the Moros, who are
all natural born pirates, thieves, murderers, and slave-raiders.
In fact a Moro would sell his father, mother, wife or chil-
dren if he could make a good bargain by so doing, and their
piracy is not quite at an end even yet.

For three hundred years their fast sailing praus ravaged
all the northern islands and penetrated every inlet, when they
burned towns and villages, murdered the old and helpless, and
led thousands of Christian men, women and children into
slavery. Like the ancient Danish pirates, they depended upon
making sudden raids upon their victims, then escaping to sea
before the latter could muster in sufficient force to attack
them in return. Their light craft were too fast for the old-
fashioned sailing men-of-war, and they always endeavored
to run into shoal water where the heavier men-of-war could
not approach them without running aground. They would

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON

even watch for an opportunity to cluster around a solitary
man-of-war and capture her, swarming stealthily on board
and overpowering the crew by force of numbers. They
neither gave nor expected quarter and every one of them
fought with the fury of a demon so long as a spark of life
remained.

The Spaniards were equally brave when well led, but they
experienced the same difficulty in getting at their slippery
enemies as our own troops did in fighting the Indians. One
of the best leaders the Spaniards ever had in these islands
was Colonel Juan Arolas, who led an expedition against the
headquarters of the pirates in the capital of the Sultan of Sulu
in 1887. The pirates were strongly entrenched in their cottas
(forts), consisting of walls twenty-four feet thick and thirty
feet high, faced with huge logs of hard wood laid horizontally,
the space between being filled with earth and stones. The
Colonel brought a gunboat to shell the cotta from seaward
while he led a landing party and attacked it from the landward
side.

Arolas asked if the Moro women would withdraw before
the Spaniards stormed the fort; but they replied that they
would accept no favors from Christians, that they could fight
as well as the men and would take their share in torturing
the Christian dogs after they had captured them. The Span-
iards opened a furious fire upon the cotta, and although the
Moros were cut down in great numbers, they replied with
spirit by firing heavy charges of grape from the lantacas
which they had mounted upon the walls. As the Spaniards
advanced the Moros met them with volleys of spears which
they hurl to a surprising distance and with unerring aim. In
spite of the murderous fire from the pirates, the Spaniards
resolutely advanced and mounted the walls at the same mo-
ment as the sailors from the gunboat cut their way in from the
opposite side. The panditos rushed about yelling to their

4i8 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

savage followers that the gates of Paradise were open to all
who died shedding Christian blood, and the Moros, who out-
numbered the Spaniards six to one, fought with the fury of
incarnate devils. The Moro women fought as ferociously as
the men, but the Spaniards cut them down till not a Moro re-
mained alive within the cotta.

After this brilliant victory the Spaniards burned the pirate
town of Sulu (now Jolo; pronounced Holo), and the Sultan of
Sulu, who was the head of the piratical confederacy, was
obliged to remove his capital to Maybun on the south side of
the island. The Spaniards were not only greatly outnumbered
in this battle, but their victory was all the more creditable to
them from the fact that the pirates wore armor made of croco-
dile hide, wire and buffalo horn. The Moros also use large
round wooden shields ornamented with rays radiating like the
spokes of a wheel from a painted disk in the center. They
are not expert in the use of fire-arms, but are among the most
desperate hand-to-hand fighters in the world. Savage as they
are, they manufacture steel weapons of the very finest quality.

They use two kinds of swords, one straight,

Swords *ke otner waved ; the campilan, a two-handed

and sword, wide at the tip and narrow at the

Javelins. handle ; several kinds of spears and bolos. In

boarding vessels they attack the crew by
throwing javelins, a weapon consisting of a light wooden shaft
and a sharp-pointed steel head about half an inch wide. Some
of them can throw as many as four javelins at a time and
make them spread out in their flight. But their favorite wea-
pon is the bolo, which is frequently mentioned in the accounts
of the fights between our own troops and the insurrectos.
The bolo is a short, heavy sword with a blade about eighteen
inches long and a handle about six inches ; but it has no guard
for the hand like a cavalry sabre. The blade is about three
inches wide at the widest part, which is about seven inches

OF CAPTAIN QUINTOX 419

from the point ; and from this it tapers to the point and to the
hilt. The blade also tapers from a thick back to a razor-like
edge, so that the weapon is equally effective for both cutting
and thrusting, and the natives wield it with deadly skill. The
blades of many of their weapons are very neatly inlaid with
silver or gold and fitted with hard wood or ivory handles, most
artistically carved and frequently ornamented with gold or sil-
ver bands. Before going into battle the fierce Moros are in the
habit of poisoning their weapons with the resinous gum of
two plants, called dolit and hammaco.

420 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XXXVI

IN THE PHILIPPINES

One of the most curious institutions among the Moros is
the custom of seeking death by running amuck; and the men
who seek to end their existence in this way
A are called juramentados (pronounced hura-

Murderous mentados) from the word juramento, mean-
Superstition. ing a solemn oath. The laws of the Sulu
make the bankrupt debtor the slave of his
creditor, together with his wife and children ; and he can free
his family only by becoming a juramentado and taking the oath
to die killing Christians. Having shaved off his eyebrows, he
goes before a pandito, who encourages him in his pious re-
solve until he is brought to a frenzy of enthusiasm. The pan-
dito sings to him an impassioned chant that holds out the most
entrancing visions of the joys of Paradise and the perpetual
happiness which awaits him, and the terrible pains and penal-
ties which await him if he draws back. He reminds him that
his act will free his family from slavery, and describes in such
glowing colors the ravishing joys which await him, that the
ignorant juramentado is excited to the fury of madness and
becomes more of a wild beast than a human being. He knows
that he is going to certain death, but that is but the door to
Paradise and nothing can stay him. He oils his body and
limbs and grasping a large kriss or bolo rushes forth like a
wild beast and cuts down not only Christians, but every living
thing that comes in his path, no matter of what race, creed or
sex.

On one occasion, one of these juramentados rushed at a

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 421

Spanish soldier, but the latter ran him through with his bay-
onet till the point of the bayonet projected from his back.
In spite of the wound which he had received, the infuriated
juramentado seized the rifle with one hand and made the most
desperate efforts to kill the soldier with his bolo.

But every story has two sides to it, and the
O rcssion natives na(* good reason for hating the Span-
of the iards as they did. The cause lay in the cruel-

Spaniards, ty, arrogance, and exactions of the friars, the
oppressive taxes, the licenses and numerous
fees, and other exactions on the part of the Government offi-
cials, who robbed the people until they were reduced to the
verge of actual starvation in the midst of plenty. Further-
more, the natives were compelled to submit to usurious loans
whenever they wished to raise money to carry on their do-
mestic enterprise. If a native was not able to satisfy the
claims against him, the government immediately confiscated
all his property ; and the government officials fleeced the well-
to-do natives in the most outrageous manner by enforcing this
power of confiscation upon the flimsiest pretext. The Span-
iards introduced all the horrors of the Inquisition, and it is
not to be wondered at that the natives were driven to despera-
tion and retaliated by inflicting the same tortures upon any
Spaniards who happened to fall into their hands.

Among other curios our party obtained were a number of
suits of common armor, made of crocodile hide, together with
several more pretentious suits which the chiefs wear, consist-
ing of plates of buffalo horn joined together with rings or
links made of steel wire. It is said that the Arabs settled the
Sulu (now Jolo) Islands at the time of the Crusades and
brought their religion and other customs and ideas, which sur-
vive to the present day. It is also said that the Arabs taught
the natives to smelt iron ore and make the splendid steel wea-
pons which they know so well how to use and which are said

422 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

to be equal to the far-famed Toledo blades of the Spaniards.
We also obtained a fine collection of the lovely pina and justi

cloth which I believe is not made in any other

Interesting Part °^ ^e world. The pina is woven from

Methods of the fiber of the wild pineapple, which grows

Weaving. extensively in the wild state and is also

cultivated, not for its fruit, but for its fiber.
This species (Bromelia pinguin ) produces leaves varying from
three to eight feet in length. The leaves of the older plants
abound in fiber of great strength and durability, but of coarser
quality than that of the younger plants. The natives manufac-
ture the fiber of the younger plants into pina cloth, which is so
delicate that it resembles the finest gossamer or spider web ; and
it comes in such beautiful designs and exquisite shades of color
that it always commands a very high price. For this lovely
cloth they choose only the best pineapple spikes, which they
tie in the inside bundles of larger and coarser leaves, then
place the bundles in a running stream, and cover them with
heavy stones. They are left in the water for two or three
days, after which each bundle is opened and its contents ex-
posed to the sun and air for a short time. They then examine
each piece to see if it has been sufficiently soaked to enable
them to separate the threads from the woody fiber ; if not, it is
placed in the water again.

The threads are extremely fine and vary in color from pure
white to grayish white and deep creamy yellow. Having dried
the threads in the sun, they next beat them with a grooved
club of hard wood. They moisten it again during this second
beating to separate the threads, and after cleansing them from
all flaws, they dry them once more in the sun, then spin and
weave them, upon their crude hand looms, into pina cloth.
When finished, the cloth shows the most beautiful iridescent
colors, and is often beautifully embroidered. Among other
uses, this pina cloth is made into very pretty scarfs called

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 423

which the wealthier Filipino women wear around
their necks.

The justi cloth is made from the very finest quality of abaca,
which is commonly called Manila hemp, though it is not hemp
at all but a species of banana plant. The finest quality of abaca
is called lupis, or quttot, and is of a beautiful pearly luster;
but for some inscrutable reason it can not be produced in any
other part of the world. The abaca plant (Musa textilis) has
been introduced into India and many other places, and al-
though the plant grows apparently as well as in the Philip-
pines, the quality of the fiber is so inferior that the two can
scarcely be compared. It grows best on volcanic soil, and in
its wild state attains a height of eight or twelve feet, while
in cultivation it reaches fifteen to twenty feet, with a trunk
from eight to twelve inches in diameter. The stem is enclosed
in layers of half round perioles, which are taken off and cut
into strips two or three inches wide, after which they are
drawn under a long, sharp knife to remove the woody fiber
from the threads. The second quality of abaca, called bandala,
is used for making the best ropes known ; and even under the
slip-shod native method of working an abaca plantation is es-
timated to yield thirty per cent, annually on the sum invested.
There is probably no other place in the world
Quick *kat affords a more varied assortment of rare

Fortunes in and lovely orchids than the Philippines, but
Orchids. many of those who have engaged in the busi-
ness of collecting them have been murdered
in the interior or have died from the bites of the venomous
serpents which lurk in the lonely forests. On the other hand,
numbers of collectors have come to these islands, and after
spending a few months in the interior have returned to civili-
zation with baskets of strange and beautiful orchids which
they have sold for a fortune.

It seems strange that so very few people know anything

424 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

about orchid-hunting, which probably offers the best oppor-
tunity of any business in the world for a man of adventurous
disposition, wishing to make a fortune in a short time, and
willing to engage in a risky occupation in which he can count
upon making a fortune or losing his life.

We made a run in a native canoe to the head of the Masin-
log (or Masingloc) River, which lies about three miles north-
east of Zamboanga. We also ascended the Tumaga, the Ria-
chuelo, and the Julianan Rivers, all three of which empty into
the head of the Masingloc. We secured many very fine or-
chids, and in one place we found the bushes covered with the
lovely flowers of a climbing vine, known botanically as clitoria
ternata, or clitoria ternatensis. The Fijians often cultivate this
vine around their houses on account of the beauty of its deli-
cate, feathery foliage and the exquisite blue of its butterfly-
shaped flowers. It produces the seeds in pods very much like
the sweet pea.

As my comrade on this particular expedition was reaching
among the bushes and collecting some of these seed pods, the
head of a green snake darted like lightning from the foliage
and fastened its deadly fangs in one of the heavy buckskin
gloves which he wore. He held his hand perfectly still, then
coolly seized the deadly reptile around the neck with the other
hand and deliberately strangled it to death. It twisted around
his arm and struggled fiercely, but he held it until every sign of
life had departed, though its fangs still clung to his glove.

Fearing that the fangs might have penetrated
g ^ the glove, I cut off the snake's head, then

by a seized hold of it and pulled on it in such man-

Glove, ner as to hold it as far as possible from the

skin of the hand while the glove was drawn
off. We found the fangs had not quite penetrated the glove,
which were made very thick in the wrist and back of the
hand, perhaps for this very purpose. The snake was green,

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 425

speckled with black, and upon close examination we discovered
it to be one of the deadly hooded cobras which cause such ter-
rible loss of life in India, and which are found all the way
through the Malay Peninsula to the Philippines.

Shortly after this, one of the natives who accompanied us
speared a small green snake which they called dahon-palay
(rice leaf) snake, because it is short and very slender and
looks so like the rice leaf that it might be mistaken for one.
Small as it is, its bite causes almost instant death. We also
killed another poisonous green snake which differed widely
from the last. Its body was short, thick, and strong; but its
neck was very slender in proportion to the size of its body,
while its large triangular-shaped head was armed with a for-
midable pair of fangs and unusually large poison glands.

The natives are particularly afraid of a snake which they
call damonapoly, not only on account of its unusually deadly
venom, but chiefly because it is extremely quick in its move-
ments and is always ready to fight if disturbed. It is about the
size of our own rattlesnake. The natives claim that a plant
which looks very much like the Seneca snake root is an anti-
dote for its bite if applied immediately. I also heard them say
that a dressing of equal parts of wet salt and indigo will cure
snake bite if frequently renewed. They cure the bites of pois-
onous spiders, scorpions, and centipedes by covering the wound
with bruised garlic, then putting on a plaster of linseed meal
mixed with four or five drops of laudanum, renewing the plas-
ter as fast as it dries.

The largest snake in these islands is the py-

Snakes thon, which the natives call saua. It is quite

aj common to see snake-peddlers selling small

catchers. pythons in the towns. They are kept like pets

for the purpose of catching rats and mice.

They perform this duty far better than cats, for they follow the

rats and mice into their holes and over the ceilings of the

426 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

rooms; but when they become full-grown, they pay little at-
tention to such small game and prefer devouring pigs and
chickens. In the forests they grow to an enormous size and
live by devouring wild pigs, monkeys, deer, and sometimes
even human beings. They frequently occasion serious loss
among the cattle by devouring the young animals. These huge
pythons have fixed abiding places, which the natives call their
"houses." They are caves in the limestone rocks or hollows in
very large trees, to which, after gorging themselves with food,
they return to sleep.

Crocodiles are numerous and become very dangerous when
once they have tasted human flesh. The fierce wild carabavs
are found in all the large islands of the group, and hunting
them is dangerous and exciting. They will charge a white man
on sight, and if they once succeed in getting into close quar-
ters, it is all up with the hunter. The very sight of a white
man seems to rouse them to madness; even after being shot
through the heart, they have been known to kill a hunter. But
a native will hunt one of these fierce animals with no weapon
but his bolo. The native employs a tame carabao which he
has trained for the purpose, and at night the tame animal
feeds slowly along towards the wild one up the wind while the
hunter creeps along in its shadow. When the two animals
come close together the hunter watches his opportunity, then
slips quietly around and despatches the wild carabao with two
strokes of his bolo. Should he miss either stroke, his failure
costs him his life, for even a badly wounded carabao can run
very swiftly and is sure to overtake the fleeing hunter and
gore and trample him to death.

Perhaps the most interesting animal in the group is the
timarau, which is a small buffalo, apparently found only on
the island of Mindoro. The timarau resembles the carabao
in color but not in habits, for it never bathes in the water or
wallows in the mud as the carabao does. It is much smaller

OF CAPTAIN QU1NTON 42?

than the carabao, and its short, strong, and sharply-pointed
horns run almost directly backwards like those of the antelope.
It sleeps during the day in the densest jungles and comes forth
only at night to feed and slake its thirst at some neighbor-
ing water course.

As we were eating luncheon one day a native
A called our attention to a lizard perched upon

Flying a tree near by and eyeing us intently. It
Lizard. Was about eighteen inches long, and its pink
throat was palpitating rapidly, while the rest
of its body showed a variety of brilliant colors. We moved
forward to examine it, but it suddenly spread its filmy pink
wings and went sailing gracefully through the air to another
tree. It seemed to disappear the moment it lighted upon the
tree; but we looked carefully and found that it had assumed
the color of the tree so perfectly that it was well nigh in-
visible. We saw several more, but did not attempt to shoot
them and after returning to Zamboanga we bought a tame one.
These little creatures are known as flying dragons, and they
live upon flies, bugs, fruit, bread crumbs, etc., are easily tamed
and make very affectionate pets.

After repairing the launch, we proceeded north through
Mindoro Strait and anchored in Manila Bay, which is more
like a lake than a bay, and is too large to afford proper pro-
tection to shipping during a typhoon. Moreover the water is
so shoal near the City of Manila that all deep-draught vessels
must lie at a distance and discharge by means of lighters.

The city is built upon low, level ground, no part of which
is more than a few feet above tide-water; the ancient walls
and drawbridges of the old town, together with the air of
dreamy repose which pervades it, and the strange costumes
of the pedestrian in its streets, are sufficient to impress a trav-
eler with the idea that he has been suddenly carried back to
the Middle Ages.

428 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The walls vary in height and thickness, but in general,
they are about twenty-five feet high. They are faced with
stone on both sides and the interior is mostly filled in with
dirt, though in some places the wall is hollow ; and these hol-
low spaces are used as jails. On the outside of the walls is a
moat which is supposed to be filled from the Pasig River ; but
the sluices are decayed and the moat is half full of mud, filth,
and rotten vegetable matter and abounds with poisonous snakes
and vermin.

The Spaniards and natives applied the name Manila only
to the walled city, which lies south of the Pasig; but, since
the American occupation, the name of Manila is applied to
both the walled city and the business suburb of Binondo,
which lies on the north side of the Pasig. We intended to
engage in a carabao hunt in the interior of Luzon, but there
was so much red tape about getting permission to carry fire-
arms that we gave up the idea.

We were about to sail for Hong Kong, where we intended
to sell the ship in which we had been making the voyage, but
a local trader bought her for the Island trade, and after tak-
ing an affectionate farewell of my Russian friends, I sailed
for Sydney, Australia.

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 429

CHAPTER XXXVII

WHERE FLASH THE NORTHERN LIGHTS

After reaching Sydney, I shipped in the old steamer City
of New York (since wrecked), and proceeded to San Fran-
•cisco, where I spent some time running in various vessels
from San Francisco to Mexico, Central America, Puget Sound,
and the Hawaiian Islands. I then shipped in the old Coast
and Geodetic Survey steamer Hassler, which was engaged in
surveying the coasts of Alaska and the Aleutian Islands.

Upon our arrival in these waters in early
Glories spring, we saw some intensely brilliant and

of the beautiful displays of the Aurora Borealis. At
Northern , .„.

Lights. times the whole northern sky was brilliantly

illuminated with an immense arch of fire
which glowed for a moment like a girdle of burnished gold;
then it seemed as though some invisible hand were rapidly
waving long streamers of bright orange, green, pink, rose, yel-
low, and crimson between earth and heaven. The rapid gyra-
tions and scintillations of light and the blending of brilliant
colors were intensely bewildering and superbly beautiful. The
whole phenomena of waving wreaths, flickering rays, curtains,
fringes and arches of flashing light and motion, now high in
the heavens, now falling like hangings of gold and silver lace,
sparkling with myriads of rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and
diamonds, penetrating dark gulches and darting through som-
ber green forests, combined to make a scene infinitely outrival-
ing the fairy palaces of the Arabian Nights.

These magnificent displays not only illumine the sky, but
they light, with a thousand brilliant colors, the icy peaks and

430 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

pinnacles of the glaciers, which flash as though they were set
with countless jewels of dazzling brightness. The surpassing
beauty and weird, unearthly glory of these celestial displays
have led to many interesting native traditions.

For example, the Eskimos believe that the souls of the
dead go to a blissful region situated under the north star,
where they amuse themselves with feasting and dancing. All
the dancers carry torches which flame with vari-colored lights.
As they wave their torches to and fro in the rapid evolutions
of the dance, the light from them streams across the sky and
causes the northern lights. They believe that the spirits of the
departed take this method of signaling to their friends on
earth and of affording them a view of the glories of the
future life.

Singularly enough, the natives call Ursa Major Ogalok
Ongaruit (Big Bear), and believe that this constellation is a
powerful spirit always keeping watch while the other spirits
are in the Happy Hunting Ground dance. They believe that
when an infant dies its soul is liable to wander astray and miss
the road to this happy land. Consequently, it is their custom
to kill the favorite family dog and bury its body in the grave
of the infant, because they say the dog can find its way every-
where, and the spirit of the dog will guide the spirit of the
infant to the Happy Hunting Ground.

The strange mirages which are continually
•pjje coming and going in the summer sky are quite

Silent as wonderful as the northern lights are beau-
City, tiful. It is common to see ships reflected in
the sky with such startling distinctness that
they appear to be sailing through the clouds almost over the
heads of the astonished spectators. It is common to see well-
defined reflections of objects which certainly do not exist in
Alaska ; and none of these is more curious and interesting than
the mirage of the Silent City, which not only is seen every

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 431

summer, but has been frequently photographed. The Indians
were perfectly familiar with this strange phenomenon before
the advent of the whites, and gave minute accounts of "the
city which was built in the sky." But the white men did not
believe the story until they had seen it for themselves.

We saw it at about five o'clock one afternoon in the early
part of July. It first appeared like a heavy mist, but soon be-
came clearer and assumed the form of a city with well-defined
streets, trees, spires, and large buildings, a city such as would
number 25,000 or 30,000 inhabitants. It is now one of the
recognized summer sights of the country, but it is well known
that there is no city like it in Alaska, nor within a thousand
miles of that territory. Some have claimed to recognize it as
a city of Russia, others as a city in England, but the fact
remains that no one can tell what or where it is. It does not
appear to any one like a dead city and shows every indication
of being inhabited.

The Eskimos around St. Michael hold a festival of the
dead every year at the end of November, or the beginning of
December, and a still greater festival for the same purpose at
intervals of several years. Like the Chinese, they provide
food, drink, and clothes for the spirits of the departed; but
whereas the Chinese place these offerings on the graves, the
Eskimos bring their offerings to the 'Kozre geei, or council
house, where the returning spirits are supposed to meet them.
The kozre geet is used as the general meeting place of the vil-
lage, where all the inhabitants meet to feast, dance, sing, and
take council, and every man and woman belonging to the vil-
lage has his or her appointed place in it.

On the occasion of a feast for the dead every man or
woman who wishes to honor the memory of a dead friend
sets up a lighted lamp filled with seal oil in front of the
place which the deceased formerly occupied in the council
house, where it burns day and night while the festival lasts

432 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

in order to light the visiting spirits to their old seats and back

again to the Happy Hunting Ground. Should any man or

woman fail to set up a lamp and keep it burn-

A Feast *n& throughout the festival, the spirit whom

with the he or she wishes to honor could not find its
Dead. wav to the place and consequently would
miss the feast.

Almost all uncivilized races believe that the dead have
power to punish the living, but the Eskimos believe that the
living have power to punish and insult the dead. If a man
or woman has been hated by the tribe during life it is com-
mon to ignore his or her spirit by lighting no lamp for it, and
this is considered the severest punishment possible.

At the meetings the whole company first sings songs of
welcome to the spirits of the dead, after which each person
who has lighted a lamp takes a small portion of food from
each dish he has brought and throws it upon the floor near
the large fire in the center of the council house, and pours a
little water on it. Like the Chinese and the South Sea Island-
ers, the Eskimos believe that the spirits of the departed par-
take of the spiritual essence of the food, after which they
themselves are free to eat the material part. Considerable time
is spent in dancing and singing in honor of their ghostly
visitors, then the shaman dismisses the spirits to their own
abode.

The feasts of the dead which are held at intervals of sev-
eral years are conducted on a much more elaborate scale. On
the eve of the festival the nearest male relatives go to the
graves and summon the ghosts to the festival. This is done
by hanging over each grave a small wooden model of a seal
spear if the deceased was a man, or a wooden dish in the
case of a woman. The model thus left on the grave is always
marked with the totem to which the deceased belonged; but
if the deceased was lost at sea, the model is thrown into the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 433

sea instead of being placed on a grave. In this case each
person assumes the name of the spirit which he or she desires
to honor, and the underground door of the council house is
opened to enable the spirits to enter without difficulty. As
soon as the shaman has performed his rites and the songs of
welcome have been sung, the spirits enter the hollow fireplace
in the center of the floor and take possession of the bodies of
their namesakes. Each person then makes an offering of food,
drink, and clothing to some other person present on behalf of
the spirit whom the latter is supposed to represent, and dancing
and singing are kept up continuously for several days and
nights. Most of the dancing is done in the council house, but
they also dance at the grave of each dead relative. If the rela-
tive was drowned they dance on the ice.

There are many inconsistencies, in the beliefs of uncivilized
races. For instance, although the Eskimos believe that the
souls of the departed live in a region of bliss where they are
continually feasting upon the finest kind of whales and seals,
they also believe that they suffer great destitution if there is
no one to make offerings to them. The Eskimos are afraid to
die without leaving some one who will sacrifice to their spirit,
and if they have no children of their own, they invariably
adopt one or more for fear their spirits might be forgotten
or neglected at the festivals of the dead.

Nearly all uncivilized people are terribly afraid of visits
from the spirits of the dead, but the Eskimos welcome them.
The conditions of life which surround them and the forces of
nature which they see exhibited in the volcanoes, the aurora
borealis, the mirage, etc., all tend to fill their unenlightened
minds with vague superstitions regarding the strange forces
which they can not comprehend ; and the shamans, who claim
the exclusive ability to interpret the occult, encourage this
superstition for their own benefit. Many people who have
never come in contact with these shamans imagine that even

434 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

the ignorant Eskimos ought to be able to see through their
ridiculous chicanery. The stories commonly related of the
shamans would lead one to suppose that their tricks are too
silly to deceive even a child. But the truth is that the sha-
mans, like the fakirs of India, maintain their sway over their
followers by performing the most amazing tricks which no one
has yet been able to explain though many white people assert
that they have seen them.

At Point Hope, we met a shaman who talked
fairly good English, which he had learned

from the whalers- He told the officers that
he would like to have the crew tie him hand

and foot in any way they liked and he would
instantly throw off the ropes without untying them. Accord-
ingly, two of the crew tied him from head to foot with new
ropes in such a way as none but sailors could do ; and he was
so securely bound that it seemed impossible for him to move,
much less free himself. While they were engaged in tying
him, two of his attendants beat their drums and chanted in the
usual monotonous way, while he himself crooned in a low
tone. He then asked the officers if they were satisfied with
the way in which he was tied; on being assured that they
were, one of his attendants covered him with a deer skin gar-
ment reaching to the knees. The moment the garment was
drawn over him he sprang to his feet, threw it off, and pointed
with a triumphant smile to the ropes lying on the ground, but
still securely knotted. We examined the ropes carefully and
found they were not cut or injured in any way; every knot
was tied as securely as it was in the first place, and how he
managed to remove them thus instantaneously was a mystery
we could not attempt to solve.

I afterwards learned of other well authenticated cases of
marvelous legerdemain worked by these men. The sha-
man acts as peacemaker of the tribe, and at the potlaches

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 435

and feasts of the dead he often drags men who are deadly
enemies together, clasps their hands, performs an incantation
over them, and insists that they must thenceforth forego
their enmity and become brothers.

Some of the natives of Alaska believe in a

Legends supreme being named Teki Ankaose. He

of lives on the summit of a mountain amid a

Creation. garden of azure flowers. Although Kanook,

the Creator, is the oldest and most powerful
of all the gods, they believe that he leaves the general man-
agement of things to Teki Ankaose. They also believe there
was a time when there were no sun, moon, stars, animals,
plants, lakes, or rivers, because a gigantic demi-god had con-
fined all these things in a vast box, but Kanook overcame the
wicked demi-god and released them from their confinement.

Kanook often assumes various forms and comes to the
relief of men who are in distress or trouble. Some believe
that all who die fighting are at once admitted to heaven and
have for their slaves all those whom they have overcome in
fight. Some cremate the dead, and believe that all whose
bodies have not been cremated will never be allowed to draw
near the fire at which the souls of those who have been cre-
mated warm themselves in the spirit world.

The Thlinkets believe that their shamans can assume the
form of any beast or bird, in which form they can kill any one
by a single glance. We can scarce wonder at these untutored
natives cherishing such a belief, when we find white people of
our own day who profess to be Christians solemnly declaring
that witches can assume the forms of hares for the purpose
of injuring their neighbors. These beliefs are now giving way
before the splendid work of the missionaries, but the chief
difficulty is that the natives, like the ancient Hebrews, try to
combine the worship of the true God with that of demons in
order to stand well on both sides.

436 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The following is the Lord's Prayer in the Thlinket lan-
guage :

"Ais waau wet wwetu tikeu; ikukastii itsagi bae; faa at-
quakut ikustigi ibee ; atquakut attuitugati bee ikachtekin linki-
tani zu tlekw. Katuachawat waan zuikwulkinichat akech waan
itat; tamil waan chanikchak aagi zu uaan akut tugati ajat; ilil
waan zulkikagatii taat anachut waan akalleelchwetach. Tu."

The long word "akalleelchwetach" means "from the evil
spirit."

Like all ignorant people, the Eskimos believe in witchcraft ;

they have unbounded faith in the power of shamans to control

the elements, to reward friends, to kill or punish enemies, and

to give them success in hunting or fishing. In their private

quarrels they have more confidence in curses than in fighting.

The sure death and destruction hoodoo is worked as follows :

When the members of one family wish to

H odooin hoodoo those of another they first pay the

the shaman to curse them. Then, having kindled

Neighbors. a fire where the enemy can see it, the whole
family dance and jump around the fire while
they shake their fists and howl out the most frightful curses.
This is absolutely guaranteed to settle the account of any
enemy unless the latter can pay the shaman to work a
counter-hoodoo of still greater power, in which case the
double curse is sure to fall upon the heads of the original
aggressors.

When a Mahlemoot boy reaches the age of maturity, be
chooses some bird, beast, or fish to be his patron and wears
a piece of its skin or a bone as a charm. In return the spirit
of this particular bird, beast or fish looks after him and pro-
tects him in all danger. Their whole religious system con-
sists of a belief in spirits who are mostly malignant in charac-
ter and the various methods of appeasing their malignity.
These spirits are divided into three different classes, the Upper

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 437

Ones, or the spirits of the air ; the Lower Ones, or spirits of
the land ; the Water Ones, or spirits of the sea.

The moment a child is born, the Creator appoints a guar-
dian spirit, who not only protects and guides it all through
life but also endeavors, after its death, to bring its spirit to
the Happy Hunting Grounds. The yek does every-
thing in his power to protect and guide his protege, and only
abandons his charge in the case of his becoming very wicked.

Their ideas of right and wrong, however, differ very widely
from the ethics of the Christian religion. Every act of life,
every fish or animal which they hunt, and every phenomenon
of nature requires a separate religious observance of its own
to placate the particular spirit who presides over it.

Right living is supposed to consist in a strict observance
of these religious observances (observances which often lead
to deeds of the most unnatural cruelty), and last, though by
no means least, in paying the shaman.

One of the most important religious observ-

Wceping ances of the Thlinkets is the Weeping Dance

fo^the for the Dead' which is held about the end of
Dead. August or early in September. This dance

differs in many particulars from the Eskimo
festival of the dead. We were invited to one of these dances
near Sitka, and found that large quantities of food, clothing,
weapons, baskets, fish nets, and everything which was thought
to be useful to the dead, had been collected.

The natives had planted a number of young trees about fif-
teen feet high in a large circle close to the graveyard and had
stripped off the leaves. All the lighter articles which they had
to offer were hung upon these trees while the heavier articles
were piled on the ground at the foot; and just before dark they
lighted a huge fire of logs in the center of the circle of trees.
The men and women who brought the offerings seated them-
selves in a circle around the fire inside the circle of trees, and

438 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

as the fire blazed up the shaman began to beat his drum and
chant; for they believe that even the shaman himself could
not summon the spirits unless he chanted and danced to the
sound .of a drum or rattle.

It is curious how this idea of providing for the wants of
the dead prevails among so many different people from the
Chinese to some of the South Sea Islanders. The Chinese
burn imitation paper money and other useless articles for the
benefit of the departed; the Eskimos offer small quantities
of the food which they bring and eat all the rest of it them-
selves; but everything which the Thlinkets offer to the dead
must be brand new and of the finest quality. Moreover, all
these valuable articles (including fine furs), which have cost
them a very large amount of labor to provide, must be burned
in the fire and not the slightest article must be saved or used
for any other purpose.

The endurance displayed by the dancers was phe-
nomenal. Instead of tiring they seemed to gain fresh
vigor as, hour by hour, the dance progressed. Their move-
ments became gradually more violent, their chanting grew
wilder and louder until the whole ceremony was demoniacal.
When completely exhausted at last, several lay down, just out-
side the circle of dancers but inside the circle of trees, and
slept. After hours of this hideous revelry some of the danc-
ers began to take down the articles from the trees and cast
them into the fire. In doing this they called out the name of
the departed friend for whom the article was intended. The
most valuable articles were kept to the last, but everything
was, according to the strict rules of the ceremony, burned
before the first sign of dawn appeared in the east. The sleep-
ers roused themselves after short respites and resumed their
respective places among the dancers, while others dropped out
and took their places for a nap, and in this way the perform-
ance was kept up all night.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 439

In the Shumagin Islands (south of the Alaskan Penin-
sula) explorers have found numerous burial caves containing

various objects, such as carved and painted
Where masks differing very little from those of the
^rhe!5 ancient Toltecs. The dead bodies were mostly
Graves. placed in a crouched position with their heads

resting upon their knees, as in the case of
the Peruvian mummies; but some were stretched upon beds
of moss and their weapons and various utensils were buried
along with the bodies. It is impossible for the natives to dig
graves for their dead, as we do, because the subsoil never
thaws out, and the different tribes have different ways of dis-
posing of them. A few cremate their dead, but as a rule the
bodies are wrapped in reindeer or seal skins and either placed
upon an elevated scaffold out of reach of wild animals or on
the ground and covered with driftwood. All the weapons or
implements of the deceased are placed upon the grave or hung
over it; and the figures and emblems which adorn it tell the
story of the departed in a way which is as plain to the natives
as the words on a tombstone are to us.

The underground houses in which these people live have
the outward appearance of a circular mound of earth rising
a couple of feet above the surface. They are covered with
grass and have a small opening at the top for the escape of
smoke. The entrance is through a small door and narrow hall-
way to the main room, which varies from twelve to twenty
feet in diameter and has no light or ventilation except what
comes through the smoke hole, and that is frequently closed
with a curtain made from the intestines of seals. In summer,
these underground houses become too damp to live in; the
natives then move into tents made of walrus hide.

440 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XXXVIII

ALASKA AND THE ALEUTIAN ISLANDS

Alaska is a land of sudden transitions from Arctic desola-
tion and twilight gloom to golden sunshine and fairy-like love-
liness. No other country except possibly S'beria equals it for
brilliancy of light, variety of color, and •? fume of flowers
which cover the ground in summer time. I have often lain on the
soft, dry moss, when the thermometer registered 75° to 80°,
gazing alternately at the sun shining from a cloudless sky and
at miles of park-like meadows literally covered with the most
gorgeous display of wild roses, iris, gentians, asters, sweet
peas, blue bells, violets, columbines, and crocus, watered by
mountain streams and backed by the brilliant gold and filmy
blue of the distant mountains looming grandly through the
yellow haze«of the summer air. The whole scene was so sur-
passingly beautiful that it was like a dream of Paradise.

Besides the flowers, there is an endless pro-

The fusion of wild strawberries, red currants,

Alaskan huckleberries, gooseberries, black currants,

Paradise. red raspberries, salmon berries, fox berries,

wintergreen berries, and others of which I
could not learn the names.

The natives and the bears consume immense quantities of
these berries. The south and southeastern portions of the
country are heavily timbered, and I saw logs ten feet in diam-
eter at the saw mill in Sitka. Undoubtedly the finest timber
in the country is the yellow cedar, which the Russians call
dushnik (scent wood) on account of its agreeable fragrance.
It is a very fine close-grained wood which takes an excellent
polish and grows to such a size that the Haida Indians use it

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 441

for their dugout canoes, which are sometimes seventy-five
feet long, eight to ten feet beam, and capable of carrying a
hundred people.

During the war between the Russians and the Aleutian
Islanders, the Russians used this yellow cedar in building a
number of small vessels which they call skitiki (sewed ves-
sels), because they had no iron and were obliged to sew the
timber together with seal skin thongs. There is no timber on
the Aleutian Islands, the Aleutians had no bows, though it
seems strange that they never learned to make bows of whale
bone as some of the Eskimos do, and they were in the habit of
killing whales. It is interesting to study how these poor, ig-
norant savages made the most of the scanty means at their
disposal for opposing the firearms of the Russians, although
they had .no weapons except slings, spears, and throwing
sticks. They constructed huge shields or screens of seal or
walrus hide and stuffed them with dried grass or seaweed
which they pounded in very hard, so that each shield looked
like a huge mattress. Lashing their canoes two together,
they placed one of these huge shields across the bow and some
of the men held it upright in such a way that it protected the
occupants of both canoes as they paddled towards the Rus-
sian vessels. Sure enough these shields stopped the bullets
from the Russian muskets, and the Aleutians replied with
volleys of stones from their slings. When they got near
enough to the Russian vessels they assailed them with volleys
of hand grenades made of dried grass and sulphur, which they
obtained from the volcanoes. Each grenade was bound to-
gether with a small seal skin thong, and immediately before
being used it was dipped in seal oil and lighted, then thrown
with a thong. The choking fumes from the burning sulphur
rendered it difficult to get rid of them as they fell on the decks,
and they came in such numbers that the Aleutians succeeded
in burning several of the Russian vessels.

442 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The chief consideration which induced the Russians to
conquer the Aleutian Islands was a desire to obtain the valu-
able skins of the sea-otters which were then

Conflicts verv plentiful but are now almost extermi-
With the nated in many portions of this long chain of
Russians. islands. It is a lamentable fact that the na-
tive Aleuts have been very largely extermi-
nated along with the sea-otters, and this circumstance is com-
monly attributed to the brutality and inhumanity of the Rus-
sians. It is true that the leaders or commanders were Russians,
but most if not all of their followers were really Tartars, who
had no more regard for a human life than they had for the
life of a dog, and who delighted in committing every kind of
atrocity and outrage upon any one who happened to be in their
power. The Tartar conqueror, Attila, boasted that he shed so
much human blood wherever he went that "the grass never
grew on any place where his horse trod;" the Tartars have
always spread ruin, death, and destruction in every portion of
the world where they have held sway, and the Aleutian Islands
are no exception to the invariable rule.

Aleutian hunters frequently shoot the otters with rifles, but
even yet the most common method is to spear them from
bidarkas (canoes made of a wooden framework, covered with
untanned sea-lion skin). Sometimes two hunters hunt in a
single bidarka, but as a rule a small fleet of canoes hunt the
sea-otter together. When they sight an otter, they endeavor
to approach as near as possible without disturbing it, but the
wary animal soon detects their approach and instantly dives
beneath the surface. The bidarka which happens to be nearest
to it paddles up to the spot where it disappeared while the
others range themselves in a circle around it. If the otter were
allowed to come to the surface and fully inflate its lungs, it
could easily swim a mile under water before coming up again,
and thus escape the circle of canoes which surrounds it. But

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 443

the moment it appears upon the surface the hunters set up a
wild yell and paddle towards it, and the terrified animal im-
mediately dives again before it has time to fill its lungs ; conse-
quently, it is obliged to come to the surface in a very short
time and in this way it soon becomes helpless and falls an easy
victim. Every hunter who is within range of the animal
throws his spear at it every time it appears upon the surface,
and its skin becomes the property of the hunter whose spear
first strikes it.

These valuable sea-otters have been hunted to such an
extent that they have become very scarce and most of the na-
tives have taken to hunting foxes instead. There are different
methods of trapping wolves and foxes, but in the timbered
portions of Alaska the method most commonly used is as
follows :

The hunter takes a long cord made of twisted whale

sinews (which by the way are enormously strong), and passes

it several times around two young trees growing a few feet

apart. Taking a stout club about two feet or a little more in

length, he inserts the small end of the club between the strands

of the cord and turns it round and round till the strands are

very tightly twisted. He then secures the

A striking end of the club to the ground by

Strange means of a trigger, and places a bait on the

Fox Trap. ground in the exact -spot where the head of
the club will strike when the trigger is re-
leased. A cord connects the bait with the trigger, and the
moment a fox or wolf seizes the bait the cord pulls the trig-
ger and the head of the club comes down on him with the
force of a sledge hammer. In this way many fox skins are
secured.

A fine specimen of the black fox skin easily brings more
than $1,000, and a prime one has brought as much as $1,200,
while the skin of a silver gray will bring from $125 up, accord-

444 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

ing to quality. Very few people know anything about the

business of raising foxes for their fur; and many might be

surprised to learn that at the present time no

Fox Raisin ^ess ^an th^tyfw6 of the smaller islands off

as a the Alaskan coast are used for breeding

Business. foxes. The government does not sell these
islands, but rents each one for $1.00 per year,
and the time will soon come when they will all be utilized for
the purpose of raising elk and cattle as well as foxes for the
market. The long chain of Aleutian and other Alaskan
Islands undoubtedly affords the best facilities of any place in
the world for this purpose. The Aleutians consist of a roll-
ing country with moderate hills between the mountains and
the sea. Hot springs are numerous and most of the soil is
very fertile and produces fine crops of carrots, turnips, par-
snips, cabbages and potatoes, as well as a most luxuriant
growth of grass suitable for cattle and wild berries.

The climate is moist and equable, with an average annual
temperature of 36° to 40°, and has been found to be very
healthy. Fine springs of water are found at the foot of the
mountains, and either flow into the sea or form ponds which
fairly swarm with wild geese, ducks, sea gulls, and other fowl.

On St. George Island, the foxes are fed only during the
severest weather of the winter, but during the summer they
live entirely upon the millions of sea birds which swarm in
all these islands. The foxes are extremely expert in catching
these birds in the long grass, and prefer their flesh to any
other kind of food. The young foxes are born in May and a
litter generally consists of from five to eight. The killing sea-
son is from November to January, when the fur is at its fin-
est, and the foxes to be killed are secured in the feeding sheds
instead of in traps to avoid injury to the fur. An island offers
immense advantages in raising foxes because the surrounding
water prevents their escape, provided there is no other island

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 445

within at least a mile of it. If there is land within this dis-
tance the foxes will readily swim to it.

The south coast of Alaska has hundreds of small islands
admirably suited to this purpose. Moreover, the climate of
this district produces the finest fur known, for it is not so
coarse as that produced in colder climates. The warm cur-
rent from Japan strikes the southeastern coast of Alaska and
warms it to such an extent that it enjoys a milder climate than
New York. Contrary to the opinions of those who have never
visited Alaska, the southeastern parts of the country are never
very cold, but the temperature is low the whole year round,
though it seldom reaches the freezing point. The cold rains
and almost constant fogs which prevail cause the fur-bearing
animals to grow the finest kind of fur for their own protection,
and the absence of bright sunlight makes their fur darker.

The foxes are nearly omnivorous, but their chief food con-
sists of fish, berries, sea weed, and sea-birds. The surround-
ing seas swarm with fish of various kinds and the foxes catch
salmon for themselves during the run in summer, while there
is not the slightest difficulty in laying in a supply of fish to
feed them during the winter. The fish for winter use is some-
times smoked, but generally kept in fish oil, and some raisers
give each fox a daily allowance of six to eight ounces of fish
and corn meal. It is necessary to feed them in little cabins
erected for the purpose in order to protect the food from the
crows, ravens, and eagles which abound upon the islands.

The running expenses of a fox farm are very small and
every fox raised is likely to yield a skin worth over a hundred
dollars. As a sample of the profits of fox-raising, one man
leased Hound Island (near Sitka), which contains about 800
acres at high tide and 900 acres at low tide, and stocked it with
twenty pairs of blue foxes in the fall of 1905. In the follow-
ing spring there were no young foxes on the island, and they
increased so rapidly that in the spring of 1909, he estimated

446 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

that there were from 1,000 to 1,400 all told; and the skin of
a blue fox is worth not less than $30.00.

Curiously enough, all the natives of Alaska are perfectly
familiar with the appearance and habits of the mammoth or
mastodon, which the Eskimos call kelig' abuk; and they can
draw pictures of it which look exactly like those which we
see in books. In fact some of the miners who have pene-
trated far into the country go so far as to express their belief
that living mastodons may still exist in the unknown interior.
Quite recently dispatches from Alaska stated that the natives
were greatly excited because they had seen one alive.

It is a common, but very erroneous idea that the Eskimos
are short, fat, dull, and stupid. I have seen hundreds of them,
and have never seen one that could properly be called fat. The
average height of the men is five feet six or seven inches,
though I have seen numbers of them (especially towards the
north) who were fully six feet, and they are all immensely
strong. I have never seen a white person who could beat one
of them in driving a bargain.

The first time I saw the natives of Cook's Inlet, I felt cer-
tain that they were a colony of Japanese; it would take an
expert to detect any difference except, perhaps, they average
somewhat larger in stature than the average Japs.

I believe that Alaska is the only country in

Gruesome tne world of which it can be truthfully said
Fare. that the houses are underground and the cel-

lars are upstairs. The winter stores of dried
fish are kept in a small store house made of logs and erected
upon stout posts eight or nine feet high, to keep it beyond
the reach of dogs or wolves. The fish are simply split open
and dried in the sun, but no salt is used in their preparation,
first because the natives have no salt, but also because they
can not endure the taste of it when any one gives it to them.
The smell which emanates from these stores of half-cured

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 447

fish is so overpowering that few white people care to approach
them, but the natives devour the half-putrid fish with the great-
est gusto. It might be supposed that such food would kill all
who partook of it; but the natives enjoy excellent health and
the strength of their appetites may be judged from the fact
that each adult native consumes an average of ten pounds of
fish every day in addition to large quantities of seal, bear, deer,
wild sheep, seal and beluga oil, berries and roots of various
kinds.

They are very fond of athletic sports, especially running
and wrestling, and it is useless for any but an exceptionally
strong or active white man to attempt to compete with them,
for they can run almost like greyhounds, and their strength is
so great that one of them can throw a white man with the
most contemptuous ease. In spite of their filthy habits it is a
great mistake to suppose that they habitually eat their food
raw, though they do so occasionally, for they cook it after a
fashion.

One day some of us were in an igalu (underground house),
and the women of the family were roasting fish over the fire
in the center of the floor, while about half a dozen dogs were
fighting savagely on the roof. The rest of the family sat
around watching the cooking with hungry eyes, as though they
could not wait long enough for the fish to roast before begin-
ning to .gorge themselves. All at once the whole pack of
wolfish dogs, locked in a death grip, came tumbling through
the smoke hole, and landed fairly on top of one of the women.
The dogs, the fish and the cook all rolled in the fire together.
The woman was quickly dragged to one side, and the dogs
wasted no time in getting out of the fire, and next in
getting out of the igalu, followed by the imprecations of the
family and all the portable articles they could lay their hands
upon.

Sulphur is used in producing fire, and the natives who re-

448 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

side in the neighborhood of the volcanoes carry on a very ex-
tensive trade in this useful article with those who live at a dis-
tance; but they say that those who cannot obtain sulphur
produce fire by rubbing two sticks together. In order to pro-
duce fire with sulphur, the natives first spread a layer of very
dry moss upon a large flinty stone with a fairly smooth sur-
face, then dust it over with powdered sulphur. One of them
takes a large stone of flint or quartz in his hand and strikes the
moss and sulphur with all his might. He does not strike
straight downward, but at a slight angle, so that the stone in
his hand partly scrapes along the surface of the larger stone
beneath, and the force of the concussion lights the preparation.

The underground houses are heated partly by

Plenty means of fire made of driftwood which the

of Heat ocean currents wash upon the beach, but prin-

Indoors. cipally by means of stone lamps. Each lamp

consists of a large stone laboriously hollowed
out in the center, then filled with fish, seal or whale oil, and
supplied with wicks made of twisted moss. Some lamps have
a large piece of blubber suspended over them so that the
flame melts the blubber and causes it to drip on the wick and
this keeps it burning. In this way they keep their houses
almost as hot as ovens, and the members of the family usually
move about nearly naked. But the sudden and violent transi-
tion from the hot, stifling atmosphere of the hut, to the intense
cold of the outer air, tends to shorten their lives, for they have
no very old people among them. It is also a curious fact
that they almost invariably catch severe colds when they
come to San Francisco, as many of them do in the whaling
vessels.

In spite of their cheerless surroundings, they eat, drink,
dance, sing, and lead happy lives, where it is safe to say any
other people in the world would quickly perish from cold and
hunger.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 449

The summer climate of Southern Alaska is not bad, but I
did not like the climate further north, and in some portions of
the country the mosquitoes are such a horrible pest that they
render life a burden. Preferring voyages to other lands I left
the service when we returned to San Francisco.

450 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XXXIX

WITH THE HAWAIIANS AGAIN

After my Alaskan voyage I ran for some time between

San Francisco, China and Japan, and afterwards between San

Francisco and the Hawaiian Islands, justly

The called the "Paradise of the Pacific." The

Great chief port of call in the Hawaiian Islands is

Pali Pass. the City of Honolulu, where perpetual sum-
mer reigns and the fragrance of beautiful
flowers fills the air the whole year round. About Honolulu
there are many interesting sights and scenes, including the
magnificent view from the top of the Punch Bowl, an extinct
volcano, immediately back of the city. But the chief object of
beauty and grandeur is the famous Pali, a narrow mountain,
whose precipitous sides rise to a height of 1,500 feet. The
Pali affords a magnificent view of both sides of the Island,
and Hawaiians are fond of calling it a gateway between Para-
dise and Fairy Land. The pass is overgrown with hau, alga-
roba, ohia, and other trees, which impart an air of gloom
and mystery to this far famed mountain pass around which
many romantic legends cling.

The Pali is not only an object of beauty and grandeur,
but it is also historic ground, for here Kamehameha, the Ha-
waiian Napoleon, who conquered all the Islands and united
them into one kingdom, gained his great victory over the King
of Oahu. The latter allowed himself and his army to be driven
from Honolulu up the beautiful Nuuanu Valley into this nar-
row pass, where they were hemmed in like rats in a trap.
Kamehameha's well-trained warriors then charged them with

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 451

spears and war clubs and drove most of them over the beetling
precipice, where they fell shattered and mangled upon the
rocks below. The natives, who are naturally superstitious,
believe that the voices of the dead warriors who were driven
over the Pali can still be heard in the roar of the wind that
blows forever through this mountain pass.

They also believe that the Pali was once the home of the
gigantic moo (lizard), which plays exactly the same part in
the Hawaiian account of the Garden of Eden and the Fall of
Man, as the serpent does in the Biblical account. The Ka-
hunas (priests, doctors and sorcerers) are believed to receive
communications from the moo, and they believe that the lat-
ter had his home somewhere among the mountains, though
they did not know the exact locality till the following incident.
They relate how one day a native and his son
The went up to the Pali to cut some of the trees

Terrible which grow there, but the moment they
Moo. struck one of the trees with their stone axes,

the tree began to writhe and twist in such a
strange and astonishing manner that the father and son stood
paralyzed with fear and astonishment. They were still more
astonished to notice that all the other trees in sight were writh-
ing and twisting in the same amazing way and the wind began
to blow with such terrific force that both were blown off
their feet. At once it dawned upon them that they had in-
vaded the sacred dwelling place of the terrible moo, and both
instantly fled for their lives and never stopped running till
they reached Honolulu.

But the Pali is not the only place where the voices of the
spirits of the dead can be heard in the wailing wind. The
weird and mysterious sounds which are heard in the night
winds upon Puu Ohia are of such an extraordinary nature
that they cannot fail to produce a feeling of awe, if not a
positive fear in the mind of any one who hears them. Puu

452 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

Ohia, which the white residents call Mt. Tantalus, is 2,013
feet high, situated half way between Honolulu and Pali on
the east side of Nuuanu Valley. Singularly enough these
strange sounds can be heard only at night, and their extraor-
dinary sweetness and melancholy cannot fail to thrill and
mystify even the most staid unbeliever. Sometimes these
strange screams of death are loud and boisterous, like the wild
revels of Valhalla, and again they soften to a low musical wail.
Some of our party started to sing while stand-
Ghostly m£ °n one of tne cliffs ; immediately the song
Echoes. was taken up and carried from cliff to cliff,
vanishing into the distance in one direction
and returning in another until it made a complete
round of the mountain tops. The singers stopped, but
the mountain crags continued singing in all directions with
such a wild and melancholy cadence that it was impossible to
shake off the impression that human spirits were all about us,
and we ceased to wonder that the natives attribute this ghost-
ly music to the souls of the dead. The real cause of this
strange phenomenon is believed to be the roar of the ocean,
breaking upon the reefs on the weather side of the Island, and
the softer cadence of calmer surf within the reefs, alternating
with the roar of the trade winds among the rugged crags of
the mountains.

Another curiosity of a somewhat similar nature is found
in the "Barking Sands" which cover the beach at a place called
Mana, a little north of Konole Point on the southwest coast
of Kauai Island. The beach is covered with low sand dunes
which emit a sound resembling the barking of a dog when any
one walks over them. The natives make a business of sell-
ing small bags of this sand to tourists, and it is said to re-
tain the same peculiar quality no matter where it may be
taken. I afterwards noticed the same peculiarity in the sands
on the beach near San Bias, on the coast of Mexico.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 453

Although the missionaries have converted nearly all the
Hawaiians to at least a nominal acceptance of Christianity,
many of them still retain a strong affection for their old hea-
thenism, and are still under the sway of the kahunas. In olden
times, these dignitaries reigned supreme, and no one thought
of undertaking any enterprise without consulting one of them.
The kahuna, who was supposed to represent the god, always
promised a degree of success in proportion to the value of the
fee which he received; and if the promised success failed to
materialize, it was always owing to some mistake on the part
of the client in following the directions of the kahuna. The
kahunas of the present day are considered inferior to those of
ancient days, but their power over the people is still greater
than is commonly supposed.

The following incident, which occurred in Hawaii only

about a year ago, is a fair sample of their exercise of power.

A regular physician undertook to treat a na-

The tive who was sick and would doubtless have

Bible restored him to health, but the native and his

Adminis-y w^e ^a<^ ^ar greater confidence in the incan-
tered. tations of the local kahuna than in the medi-

cine of the white doctor. Accordingly, the
wife of the sick man brought the kahuna, who first examined
the fee which he was to receive and next proceeded to examine
the patient whom he was expected to cure. After a critical ex-
amination, he declared that a devil had entered into the sick
man, though this information seems rather superfluous in view
of the fact that a kahuna always pronounces the same diagno-
sis, no matter what the complaint may be.

They all admit that the Christian religion is more powerful
than their heathenism, but they like to stand well on both sides
and in this case, therefore, the kahuna concluded to compro-
mise matters by using a family Bible in conjunction with his
heathen rites. Accordingly the wife of the patient borrowed a

454 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

large family Bible ; and, while the kahuna howled and yelled at
the evil spirit, commanding it to leave his patient, he endeav-
ored to enforce his commands by beating the sick man on the
head with the heavy Bible on the ground that evil spirits were
afraid of the Good Book, and that this was the best way to
impress them with a due respect for its weight. When the
kahuna wearied of this exercise, the patient's wife came to
the rescue and continued the treatment by beating her husband
vigorously on the head with the Bible, till, between them, they
beat out his brains and killed him. The kahuna then declared
that the devil had been driven out of the sick man, and de-
parted with his fee ; but the authorities arrested him and held
him in $500 bonds for manslaughter on the ground that the
Bible was not intended for external use as a war-club.

The kahunas are principally divided into two

Praying classes, doctors and sorcerers. The natives

Enemies believe that the kahunas can control the mes-

to Death. senger-gods and when a kahuna is engaged

to perform ana-ana (praying any person to
death), he calls upon his familiar spirit to go to the spirit of
the victim within his reach. The kahuna then catches the
spirit, and the victim thus deprived of his spirit is sure to pine
away and die in a short time. The goddess who assists the
sorcerers in luring spirits to destruction is Hiiaka i ka poli o
Pele, the sister of Pele, the goddess of fires and volcanoes.
They believe that any one may cause the death of another
by scraping the wood of a very poisonous tree, called Kalaipa-
hoa, and blowing the dust which they scrape off towards the
enemy whom they wish to destroy, while they repeat the in-
cantation, "E, Kalaipahoa, ee oe e pep-ehi ia Mea !" (O Kal-
ai-pa-ho-a, go and destroy), naming the enemy whose death
is desired. Kalaipahoa is supposed to be a hideous and very
malignant goddess who is always ready to assist in murder
or any other kind of villainy if a sacrifice is offered to her;

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 455

but the incantation is far more effective if a kahuna pro-
nounces it.

Each family is believed to have a family deity, the spirit of
a deceased ancestor, who resides in some beast, bird or sacred
stone whose sacredness cannot be violated without fatal re-
sults.

The kahuna is supposed to exercise control over the family
deity and the latter makes its will known to the family which
it protects through the kahuna. Every kind of disease is
believed to be the result of a devil entering the sick person,
and in olden times human sacrifices were offered to the evil
spirits when a chief was very ill. After the prayer and sacri-
fice, the kahuna goes to sleep in order to receive a message
from the spirits through dreams or visions, and a pig, fowl,
or fish is baked for the deity of the family of the sick person.
The patient is then placed in a small hut and wet leaves are
thrown upon red-hot stones for the purpose of giving him a
steam bath, after which he is dipped in the sea. If he does not
recover after this treatment, it is proof that some one is pray-
ing him to death and has sent an evil spirit to destroy him.

Sometimes a sorcerer preserves the bones of a deceased
person and thus holds control over his spirit. In such a case
he generally appeals to this spirit which he holds in subjection
to assist him in catching the spirit of any one whom he wishes
to destroy ; but it is absolutely necessary for the kahuna to re-
peat an incantation to this spirit at every meal which he eats
or else the spirit will destroy him.

The kahunas perform their ceremonies at night in a se-
cluded place over a fire of wood on hot stones between which
the sacrifice is baking ; and after the spirits have devoured the
soul of the sacrifice the kahunas eat the material part. It is
necessary that something belonging to the victim, such as a
lock of hair, a piece of finger nail, or even a small piece of his
clothing, should be burned in the fire while the kahunas are

456 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

chanting their imprecations. When a native learns that he is
being anaana-ed, he either succumbs and dies of terror or else
employs one or more kahunas to counter anaana the enemy
who is praying him to death.

However any one may attempt to explain it,

The White it is a fact that the kahunas prophesied the
Man's coming of the Haole (White men) ; and this

Prophesied, prophecy was embodied in the chant of Kualii,
which was composed and chanted at public
gatherings centuries before the first white men appeared in
the Hawaiian Islands. It is commonly believed that Captain
Cook was killed in a quarrel which accidentally arose be-
tween him and the natives, but intelligent Kanakas have told
me that the kahunas planned the murder of Captain Cook
shortly after his first arrival in the Islands. They told the
people that it was necessary to kill Cook or his countrymen
would dominate the Islands and introduce the worship of a
God of invincible power who would destroy or dethrone
the Kanaka gods, and the Kanaka people would perish with
them.

This is the chief reason why so many of the natives en-
deavor to combine the worship of the true God with that of
their heathen deities; for while they freely admit that the
Christian God is immeasurably superior to the latter, they are
afraid to abandon their worship of their own gods altogether
for fear the gods might destroy or injure them.

When they saw Captain Cook, they called him Akua vaha
ula-ula (Akua, God; vaha, mouth; ula-ula, red; — the god with
the red mouth), because he came ashore smoking, and they
had never before seen a man with fire in his mouth.

It is remarkable that the Hawaiians always believed in a
Hikapolo'a (Trinity), composed of Kane, the originator; Ku,
the architect and builder; and Lono, the executor and direc-
tor of the elements. The highest angel whom the Hikapolo'a

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 457

created was Kanalo'a (Lucifer), who incited a rebellion in
heaven and was cast out in consequence.

Kanaloa then entered Paliuli and demanded that the man
Kumu-honua should worship him and submit to his leader-
ship, as one-third of the angels had done; but Kumu-honua
refused to do so, because both angels and men were the crea-
tions of the Hikapoloa, and worship was due only to the lat-
ter. Kanaloa then assumed the form of a Moo (lizard or
serpent) and tempted the woman to transgress the will of
Kane by eating the tabued breadfruit which grew on the bank
of the river of life.

Kanaloa made a practice of going about the

Where a world in the form of a Moo and tempting
God mankind to offend the gods and thus lead to

Sleeps. their own ruin. He often visited the Ha-
waiian Islands and one of his favorite
sleeping places was in the crater of an extinct volcano called
Leahi, which is situated three and a half miles southeast of
the City of Honolulu.

Many centuries before the coming of the haole (white
people) a large war canoe from one of the other islands was
sailing along the southern coast of Oahu one dark night when
the crew sighted the strangest light they had ever seen shining
from the top of Leahi. The strange light shone with such a
variety of the most beautiful rainbow colors that at first the
crew were frightened and supposed that one of the gods must
have come down ; but finally they furled their sails and part of
the crew ascended the mountain to investigate.

Upon reaching the top of the hill, they found the dreaded
Moo fast asleep and holding in his mouth such a magnificent
diamond that it dazzled their eyes to look upon it. Knowing
that the Moo would devour them if he happened to wake, they
crept very cautiously forward and stole the diamond, then
hastily returned to their canoe and sailed away with all speed.

458 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

The Moo was terribly enraged when he awoke and found
his diamond gone; and the sacred Oo bird, whose yellow
feathers were used in making the royal man-
A God ties, told the Moo that he had seen the crew
^f^H^ °^ ^e war canoe ascending the mountain,
Jewels. and also the direction in which they had sailed
away. The Moo immediately swam away to
search for the canoe which had robbed him of his diamond,
and has never been known to visit the islands since. In com-
memoration of this legend, the white residents have named the
extinct crater of Leahi, on which the incident took place, Dia-
mond Head.

One of the most peculiar features of heathen legends is
that they frequently represent, as in the case just cited, a
mortal as deceiving or getting the better of a god. We find
numbers of similar crises in the ancient Greek and Roman
mythology.

It might surprise some people to know that public sacri-
fices were offered to Pele, the goddess of volcanoes, as late as
1882. A broad stream of lava from Mauna Loa had de-
stroyed everything in its course for a distance of twenty-five
miles and had reached a point within a mile or two of Hilo
Bay. It moved slowly but steadily, and everything indicated
that it would certainly destroy the town and harbor of Hilo,
for there was absolutely nothing to check its steady advance.

Ruth, a surviving sister of the fourth and

The fifth Kamehamehas, had a rude altar erected

Lava in front of the approaching lava, then offered

Stayed. a number of sacrifices to Pele and prayed to

Pele to stop the flow of the lava and save

Hilo. She then told the people that they need not be afraid

because Pele would certainly stop the flow of the lava and

save the town. Sure enough the stream of fire at once ceased

to move, and to-day its glistening front stands like a wall

OP CAPTAIN QUINT ON 459

around Hilo. Whatever the cause may have been, the fact
remains that this incident had a very injurious effect upon
the work of the missionaries, for the natives were convinced
that it was an exhibition of the terrible power of Pele.

On the other hand, I have heard numbers of white resi-
dents declare that Ruth was so atrociously ugly that her witch-
like appearance frightened even the lava, so that it stopped in
disgust rather than come near her.

The Hawaiians are so perfectly at home in
A Boy tne water that they will readily dive and at-
and a tack a shark in his own element with a knife

Shark. or Spear Qn one occasion we were throwing
nickels into the water for some native boys
who were diving and catching them before they reached the
bottom, stowing them in their mouths as they caught them.
A shark, which had been attracted to the spot, suddenly at-
tacked one of the boys who was separated from his com-
panions. The boy treated the matter as a joke, coolly waiting
till the shark came close to him and turned over on his side
(not on his back as it is commonly supposed), as they are
obliged to do in order to bite, and snapped savagely at the boy.
The moment he did so, the boy dived and quickly reappeared
several yards away.

He repeated the same tactics several times, to the evident
perplexity of the shark, when a native man who had been
watching the pair seized a sharp knife and sprang into the
water. We saw him come up under the shark, and the next
moment the latter shot clear into the air like a porpoise and
lashed out furiously with his tail, while the blood streamed in
torrents from a frightful wound in his stomach. The shark
quickly turned and attacked the native with the ferocity of a
tiger, but the Kanaka again dived and coming up under him
cut his stomach completely open.

Nevertheless, a shark takes an awful amount of killing, and

460 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

the savage brute continued the attack till the native stabbed
him in what would be the back of his neck, if he had a neck,
upon which he turned belly up and floated helplessly away.
The one shark which the natives really fear is called niuhi,
which is not only very large but also so savage that it will
readily attack a boat and endeavor to wreck it by springing
out of the water and throwing its whole weight upon the
boat.

The natives are not only very fond of the fish which they
take from the sea, but they also raise great numbers of large
gold fish in the taro patches for food. They claim that these fine
gold fish not only furnish an excellent article of diet, but also
devour the larvae of mosquitoes ; scientific research has proved
this opinion to be correct.

There are plenty of wild goats, pigs, and cattle on the large
island of Hawaii, and any one who desires excitement in hunt-
ing can find it in the mountains, for the wild bulls and boars
are very savage. It is said that these animals never take a
drink for nine months of the year, for they live on the upper
altitudes of the mountains where there are no streams or
pools, except during the three rainy months. They live upon
a kind of jointed, juicy grass which the natives call maniua
which supplies both food and drink.

The Hawaiians formerly celebrated an annual festival,
called Nakahiki, which lasted from October to January. Every
one from chiefs to slaves attended, and the most popular of all
the sports indulged in was moko, or fist-fighting. Each moko
moko (fist-fighter) had his hands securely wrapped with cords
made of cocoanut fiber; and the object of each was not only
to strike his opponent in the face, but also to ward off his
blows by meeting fist with fist and not with the forearm as
Caucasian fighters do. This method of covering the hands
with hard cord bears a striking resemblance to the cestus of
the ancient Greeks and Romans, and, like the latter, the Ha-

OF CAPTAIN QUINT OX 461

waiian pugilists fought till one of them was killed or com-
pletely disabled.

I have seen the same kind of fighting in
Difficult Tonga and Samoa. Another popular sport

"Bowling." which bears a striking resemblance to that of
the ancient Greeks and Romans is throwing
the disks, called Ulu Maika. Each ula maika consists of a pol-
ished stone disk six inches wide and about an inch and a half
thick, slightly convex on the sides. The length of the throw
was not the only test, for sticks are set up at the end of the
track and the disk must pass between them in order to score
a victory. The polished stone rushes along the smooth track
while the thrower remains immovable, and the excited specta-
tors endeavor to keep pace with the swiftly moving disk and
shout their cries of approval. Some of the old tracks are over
1,200 feet long, and the skill of the natives in this difficult form
of disk throwing is very remarkable.

It is also worthy of note that the victor was always crowned
with a wreath in token of victory, as was the custom of an-
cient Greeks. The Hawaiian helmets were also shaped exactly
like those of the Greeks and these various circumstances, to-
gether with many others which might be mentioned have led
some ethnologists to endeavor to trace the origin of the Ha-
waiians to the ancient Greeks.

I believe Hawaii is the only place I have ever seen where
the native salutations have superseded those of the whites.
The white people almost invariably salute each other with
"Aloha" (Love to you, or my love to you). If a number of
people are to be saluted collectively, the proper form is "Alo-
ha oe" (My love to you all).

462 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

CHAPTER XL

AMONG THE PEOPLE OF TRUK

After running to the Hawaiian Islands, I next served for
some time as mate of a steamer called the Whitelaw, which
was chartered to carry supplies to a party of government em-
ployees who were building a lighthouse near Crescent City,
California. Later I was engaged to take a schooner, the O. S.
Fowler, from San Francisco to the Caroline Islands and bring
back from the islands a bark, the Helen W. Almy.

Passing south of the Hawaiian Islands, I first

With the called at Ebon Atoll, the most southern of the
Missionaries. Marshall Islands, after which I proceeded to
Kusai and called upon Dr. Pease and the
other missionaries. Leaving Kusai, I proceeded to Pingelap,
which is nearly half way between Kusai and Ponapi and in a
direct line between them. From Pingelap, I sailed to Ponapi,
where I found the captain of the Helen W. Almy, who had
brought her from San Francisco and had arrived a few days
before me. Both vessels anchored in Mutok Harbor on the
south side of Ponapi, and from the harbor I had to go thirty
miles in a boat to report to the Spanish Governor, Don Luis
Cadarsa, who resided in the northwest side of the island.

Having a head wind, I was obliged to stop all night at the
house of the native who acted as pilot. Like all Ponapian
houses, it was thatched with cocoanut leaves, while the walls
were formed of two thicknesses of reeds lashed together with
cord made of cocoanut husk. This style of architecture allows
plenty of ventilation ; but it rained hard during the night and

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 463

the rain beat through the walls in a way that was rather un-
comfortable to me, though the natives did not mind it.

The Governor could not talk a word of English, conse-
quently his daughter acted as interpreter, and also asked me
a great many questions in regard to the United States. She
explained that her father had been a captain in the Spanish
navy and would like to talk to me about shipping if we could
only understand each other.

On my return trip I slept at the missionary station at Oua
and found the missionaries anxious to know what was going
on in the rest of the world. They were the Rev. Mr. Doan, Mrs.
Cole, and Miss Palmer, all accomplishing a noble work in civ-
ilizing and Christianizing these wild natives, who are contin-
ually at war with the Spaniards.

After reaching Ponapi, I took command of
Unsafe tne Almy. I found that she had been an-
Anchoragc. chored near a coral reef in thirty-nine fathoms
of water and had fouled her anchor. One
night it began to blow very hard and she dragged her anchor
and touched the reef. I hired a number of natives in addi-
tion to the crew, and after working all night succeeded in
hauling her to the opposite side of the harbor and anchoring
her in a safe place.

I sailed from Metalanim Harbor, on the east coast of Pon-
api, on February I3th, and encountered fresh northeast trade
winds ; consequently, I proceeded north till I caught the north-
west winds, crossed the iSoth meridian in latitude 34° 40' N.,
and reached San Francisco in forty-five days.

I next took command of the schooner Equator, of San
Francisco, which was engaged in carrying supplies to the
American missionaries in various islands. On one occasion, I
took a cargo of provisions from Butaritari, Gilbert Islands, to
the missionaries in the islands of Kusaie and Truk (pro-
nounced Trook).

464 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

I arrived off the harbor of Coquille, on the west side of
Kusaie, just at sunset, and was obliged to haul off for the
night, for it must be understood that there is
The no twinght m these latitudes and darkness

Sudden falls immediately after the sun disappears.
Dark. The entrance to the harbor is barely 240

yards wide, and as it is necessary to beat in,
it will readily be seen that it requires daylight to do so. I
afterwards learned that a hurricane had desolated the island
shortly before and had reduced both natives and missionaries
to the verge of starvation. Not knowing that I had a cargo
of provisions for them, they supposed the Equator to be some
casual trading vessel, and that I was about to sail away and
leave them. Next morning I was back at the entrance at day-
light and learned that two of the missionaries, named Dr.
Channon and Miss Hoppin, had come out in a native canoe
the evening before and followed us for several miles in the
hope of buying some provisions.

After leaving Kusaie, where I had shipped some native
sailors, I proceeded westward to Truk and was becalmed for
two days within sight of the lagoon. Toward sunset of the
third day, it came on to blow a strong gale and I determined
to enter, although I would be obliged to do so in the dark, and
I had never seen the place before. I had a crew of Gilbert
Islanders, who are never, by any means, so reliable as white
men, consequently I ordered the second mate to take the
wheel and the mate to work the deck while I kept a lookout
for the entrance from the masthead. Before the sun set I got
a good view of the entrance through the barrier reef which
surrounds the whole group, and noticed that strong tide rips
extended clear across it.

We were quickly enveloped in darkness after the sun set,
and the only thing which I could see from aloft was the snow
white breakers on both sides of the entrance. As soon as we

OF CAPTAIN QUINTOX 465

got fairly into the lagoon I lost sight of the breakers, but I
knew we were safely inside, because the sea immediately
moderated, though we were still exposed to the full force of
the gale. After proceeding about four miles inside the en-
trance, I sighted Gregoire Island and anchored a little to the
west of it.

As soon as daylight appeared I hove up the anchor and
proceeded to the mission station, which was less than two
miles from the place where I anchored.

Truk consists of ten lofty basaltic islands and numerous
low coral islands enclosed in a barrier reef about forty miles
in diameter. The highest islands vary from ten to fifteen
miles in circumference and from one hundred to about four-
teen hundred feet high; and good anchorage may be found
almost everywhere in the lagoon.

The natives of the group number about 10,000

Fashions and are continually at war, chiefly head-hunt-
in Truk. ing. The men wear long hair and paint their
cheeks, chin, and the upper part of the fore-
head a bright orange, with a paint made from the root of the
wild turmeric, while the nose and central part of the face are
painted a bright blue. They wear a single garment about six
feet long and two feet wide, woven of banana fiber. In the
center of the garment is a slit about fourteen or fifteen inches
long, through which the wearer passes his head and lets one
end hang down behind and the other in front.

One Sunday morning, I counted over a dozen large war-
canoes returning from a night head-hunting raid which had
evidently been successful, for the crews were singing and yell-
ing like fiends. The missionaries truly take their lives in their
hands when they go among these fierce savages, and the change
which they produce in their habits and modes of living is
nothing short of marvelous.

By the way, the missionaries have some curious experi-

466 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

ences in dealing with savage races, especially in translating
the Bible into their various languages, for it must be remem-
bered that the latter have no equivalent for many of our com-
mon English words. Two missionaries, for instance, trans-
lated the New Testament into the language of Truk and got
along fairly well until they came to the food of John the
Baptist. The New Testament says that his food consisted of
locusts and wild honey, but the natives have no knowledge of
either of these things. However, the islands abound with
swarms of cockroaches as large as ordinary mice, and the na-
tives frequently saw the missionaries using molasses; hence,
with many misgivings, the missionaries translated the words to
read in the Truk language that his food consisted of "cock-
roaches and molasses."

I attended a service in the missionary chapel and noticed
that the Christian natives do not paint their faces, and each
one gives a cocoanut as his or her contribution to the collec-
tion. The men are very fond of wearing a great variety of
ornaments in their ears, and are particularly pleased with any-
thing which they can obtain from a white person for this pur-
pose. It sounds incredible, but close to the missionary sta-
tion I saw a native man wearing the entire

A Clock works of a good sized clock in one of his ears,
for an which was stretched to such an extent that

Earring. the iofe of hjs ear came below his shoulder.
They are very expert in the use of the sling,
which they employ (when not in use for fighting) in tying
up their long hair. One of their favorite weapons is a heavy
two-handed club called a moira, both edges of which are
deeply serrated like the teeth of a very large saw. Like all
islanders, they are expert in throwing the spear, which they
grasp with all the fingers of the hand. One day, a chief handed
me some sharp spears and motioned to me to throw them at
him from a distance of three or four yards. I did so and he

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 467

parried every one of them by striking them aside with his bare
arms without receiving a scratch. I never saw them use
shields.

The old hymn, Rock of Ages, has been translated as fol-
lows, into the language of Truk :

Trawn Amonau, Trown Sele,
I pue fai to op la rem ;

En siuili ai ninni,

Pual uou nganai ai tipij

O pue alia letip ai,
Amatru ai mueu leilai.

II

I soto nganai angang,
Pukin feri lamalam;

Allimi la letip ai,
Jetiti om umaumat;

En etrek me a uon* om,*
En etrek Trawn Amanau.

Ill

Semen pisek I ua to,
En etrek I ken luku ;

Falung eleng etrek ngan,

Ngang me uoingau angiau,
Ngang me tipij, ualingau

En etrek selani iei,

Pronounced oo'-un,

468 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

IV

Lupuan ai nom fanufan,

Lupuan ai epue me la,
Lupuan ai fai ta uawn lang,
Utueli om ling at,

Trawn Amanau, Trawn Sele,
I pue fai la op la rem.

The natives of Truk worship the rainbow and believe that
the god of the sea sits upon this beautiful phenomenon of the
skies. Whenever they go on a canoe voyage, they give them-
selves into the care of the rainbow god and always wear vari-
ous charms to propitiate him. These charms consist of bones,
beads, plaited cords, pieces of wood, and best of all, anything
which they can obtain from a white man. Before starting on a
voyage, they hold these charms in front of their eyes and mut-
ter prayers to the rainbow god for a successful voyage.

They have many other gods beside the rain-

The k°w g°d and they believe that there are two

Two heavens, but it does not occur to them to even

Heavens. matters by making a plural of Hades. The

first heaven is the heaven of the clouds; the
second, the higher heaven beyond the clouds, where only the
powerful spirits of good dwell. The first, or heaven of the
clouds, is the home of the Anua, or souls of men who watch all
that is going on in the world and keep the higher spirits of the
second heaven well posted on current South Sea Island events.
Each tribe, each family, and sometimes each individual have
their own Anua, who is supposed to look after their welfare,
and in return for this protection each worshiper is expected
to see that his guardian spirit never goes hungry for cocoa-
nuts, oil, fish or taro. The method of offering these things

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 469

consists in throwing them up toward the sky and leaving them
to decay wherever they happen to fall; for it would be con-
sidered sacrilege for any one to touch them after they have
been offered to the spirits.

In the second heaven is a great Anua, who is supreme over
all the other Anuas, and who sits upon a magnificent throne
in a private part of the heavenly region and receives reports
of everything that goes on in the world. It is worthy of note
that this supreme Anua is only good, while the lower Anuas
are often very malignant. When the supreme Anua receives
an account of good behavior on the part of the tribes of earth,
he may show his appreciation by ordering a needed shower, by
sending more fish, or by persuading a trading schooner to drop
into the lagoon with a good cargo of calico, pilot bread, beads,
long knives, and liquor. He also rewards any subordinate
Anua who brings good news, but never likes to punish any
one.

Contrary to the customs of most savages, only the Truk
women are sorcerers and these are supposed to cause deaths
and all kinds of mischief by the aid of their familiar spirits.
These witches are supposed to invoke the aid of their par-
ticular Anuas (who are really the deified spirits of their an-
cestors) to cause the death of an enemy. In answer to the
invocations of the witches, evil spirits enter into human beings
and cause all the ailments that flesh is heir to. The devil is
believed to find visible form in cripples and the old witches
who lead the devil dances and cause all the social scandals in
the islands.

The soil of the Gilbert Islands is poor, while that of Truk
is very rich, and, having no return cargo, I loaded the vessel
with enough Truk soil to form a small garden in Butaritari.
I bought a quantity of taro to help feed the crew and before
using each piece, cut off the head and planted all the heads
in the ballast in the hold. The weather being fine, I kept the

470 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

main hatch off, and when I reached Butaritari, I had a fine
crop of taro growing in the hold.

It seems strange that the Gilbert Islanders
Christian are sucn large, strong men, for the islands
Islanders. which they inhabit are nothing but low coral
atolls; the soil is poor, and the islands are so
over-populated that the inhabitants are obliged to utilize their
scanty resources to the very utmost in order to secure enough
to eat. Most of them are now Christians, but before their con-
version they were among the fiercest warriors and pirates to
be found in the whole Pacific.

They have formidable swords and spears, very skillfully
edged with sharks' teeth, and they formerly used armor made
of cords of cocoanut husk. Their old religion consisted of the
worship of certain gods and the spirits of their deceased an-
cestors. The latter were supposed to visit their descendants
for the purpose of looking after their welfare, and on such oc-
casions they were supposed to occupy certain sacred stones,
one of which was set up in front of every dwelling. These
stones were anointed with oil and worshiped with prayer and
offerings, and also used for the purpose of divinations.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 471

CHAPTER XLI

IN THE SOUTH SEAS AGAIN WITH QUEER MATES

After returning to San Francisco, I went by way of
Panama to New York to see my mother and sister, whom I
had not seen since I sailed for Australia.
A While in the east I made the acquaintance of

Queer a country doctor and a curious adventurer

Partnership, known as "Baldy S.," both of whom expressed
a strong desire to go into the South Sea Is-
land trade with me, and I was foolish enough to enter into
an agreement with them, but even before reaching San Fran-
cisco I saw clearly that neither of my partners had the least
business knowledge or ability, and that any business which
they managed was sure to end in failure, but I did not like to
desert them after coming so far.

S., who according to his accounts had been at different
times State Senator, a factory hand, railroad engineer, laborer,
tramp, etc., was over sixty years old, rather corpulent and had
remarkably short legs. His fat, puffy face was deeply wrin-
kled, while his pale blue watery eyes had that peculiar stare
which seems to indicate an unbalanced mind. He was an in-
veterate smoker, was rather erratic in some ways, not the least
of which was a desire for drawing public attention upon him-
self.

On a chartered schooner, the Golden Fleece, we sailed from
San Francisco, passed between Oahu and Molokai (Hawaiian
Islands), and encountered a strong kona, a storm peculiar to
the Hawaiians. A few days later we crossed the iSoth meri-
dian in latitude 15° 45' N. We sailed so close to the southern

472 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

shore of Taka, one of the Marshall Islands, that we con-
versed with the natives on the beach in passing ; passed north
of Wottho Island (latitude 10° 5' N., longi-
A tude 166° 4' E.). The weather was overcast

Perilous and squally while passing through the Mar-
Calm, shalls, but after this we had fine weather till
we sighted Ponapi at one p. m. on December
7th. At 1 1 p. m. I hove to ten miles northeast of Ponapi and
a few minutes later the wind suddenly died completely out. I
soon found that the vessel was drifting towards the barrier
reef which surrounds the island, and ordered the crew into the
boat to tow her against the current; but they could not hold
her, and escape appeared impossible.

Having sailed over the same ground several times before,
I happened to know of a spot where there was anchorage if
we could only reach it. Accordingly, I ordered the boat to
haul her at right angles to the course she was drifting and
after considerable effort managed to reach the place, where
we anchored in thirty-nine fathoms. We hung on all night
with our stern about two hundred yards from the surf, and,
S., who had previously roundly denounced the Christian re-
ligion, declared that he had prayed for the first time in fifteen
years.

During the night a whole fleet of native canoes assembled
inside the barrier reef for the purpose of attacking and plun-
dering the vessel as soon as she drifted on the reef, but,
happily, their expectations were not realized. At daylight, we
could see part of the wreck of the English yacht Nyansa in
which an English lord was making a voyage round the world,
wfeen she was wrecked on the same reef; on the other side
lay the wreck of a Norwegian bark, while a little further south
was the wreck of the American brig Champion. We could
not help pondering what fate had befallen the crews of these
unfortunate vessels.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 473

At eight a. m., a light breeze sprang up from east by

north, blowing directly toward the reef, and I took the wheel

while all hands hove away on the anchor.

Almo t f°resa^ an(^ mainsail were set and I or-

on the dered the mate to see that everything was
Reefs. clear for setting the head sails, and he de-
clared that everything was clear. As soon as
the anchor was aweigh, I sung out to him to set the head
sails, and he and one of the men tried to do so, but found that
he had forgotten to let go the downhauls, and the sails could
not go up. Of course this caused some delay at the most
critical time and allowed the vessel to drift nearer the reef.

As soon as I could get her under way, I headed her S.E.
5^E., but coral bottoms are always very rough, the coral ris-
ing in some places like walls, and she had not gone over a
hundred yards when the anchor got foul of a coral reef and
brought her up in the wind. By good management we cleared
the anchor once and got her round on the opposite tack, but
the same thing happened four or five times in succession, and I
saw that I must lose either the anchor or the vessel. Accord-
ingly I unshackled the last thirty fathoms of the chain and
slipped it and the anchor.

We then ran three miles parallel with the reef, and so close

to it that the vessel was continually rising and falling on the

swell of the breakers. The wind was very light, and if it had

failed for a minute nothing could have saved the vessel. We

then reached a point where the barrier reef trended south by

east, and the vessel began to draw slowly

Natives away from it. At one p. m. we rounded Port

for"our Aaru and were out of danger.

Wreck. While we were getting under way, the natives

were constantly gathering in their canoes in-

side the barrier reef (which is three and a half miles from the

main island), and I have no doubt they cursed us heartily when

474 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

they saw our escape. They are as friendly and ready to trade
when the vessel is prepared to beat off an attack as they are to
plunder the vessel and attack the crew when the vessel is dis-
abled. We had good reason to be thankful for our escape, for
very few vessels ever escape destruction under similar cir-
cumstances.

I anchored in Kiti (dog) Harbor, on the southwest coast
of Ponapi and next day called upon the Spanish Governor,
who insisted that I should have called upon him before an-
choring. I remained all night in Santiago, where every five
minutes during the night, the sentries passed the word,
"quieta" (quiet), equivalent to our "all's well/* their voices
ringing sharply on the night air. The natives were at war
with the Spaniards and sentries were kept posted at all hours
of the day and night to guard against a sudden surprise.
After watering from the Kapennepellop River at the head of
the harbor, I sailed from Kiti, beat through the passage be-
tween Ponapi and Andema, and anchored in Santiago harbor.
Before leaving San Francisco, I had received
A a power of attorney to look for and seize the

Strange schooner - O. S. Fowler (which I formerly
Assignment, commanded) wherever I found her.

The Spanish authorities had seized a pirate
schooner, which was then held under guard in Santiago, and
it was reported that she was the O. 5. Fowler, which I had
brought from San Francisco. I showed my papers to the
Spanish admiral, and he sent a subordinate with me to examine
the seized schooner; but I saw at once that she was not the
vessel I was after. The right name was the Ninorahiti, of
Tahiti ; but this name had been clumsily erased from the stem
and the name Poi painted over it.

Two French brothers named DeGrave had taken passage
in her at Avarua, in the Marquesas Islands, but at sea they
shot the captain, poisoned all the rest of the crew except the.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 475

cook, then sailed away with the vessel. They put into Ponapi
and offered her for sale at a suspiciously low figure, but the
cook betrayed them and they were seized. The Ninorahiti was
held in Santiago, but the DeGrave brothers were put in irons
and sent on the Spanish man-of-war San Quentin to Manila,
to be tried for murder and piracy. The Ninorahiti being under
the French flag, the DeGraves were turned over to the French
authorities and, being found guilty, were sentenced to life im-
prisonment on Devil's Island off the coast of French Guiana.

The admiral also gave me written authority to proceed to
Metalanim Harbor and take whatever property I claimed for
the company I represented.

Next morning, I left in the boat to find Lum-
boi, one of the head chiefs of the Metalanim

tribe> wh° had Sailed with me as pilot °n the
O. S. Fowler and Helen W. Almy. I reached

Metalanim Harbor at dark, but could not find
Lumboi's place among a multitude of small islands; conse-
quently, I hailed him several times, and at last a sentinel posted
among the trees sung out, "Ichcoa?" (Who is there?) I
answered, and a moment later, Lumboi called me by name and
brought a number of his men to haul the boat up on the beach.
He took me to a very large house filled with warriors of the
tribe, who were eating their supper of yams, which they cut
with knives twenty inches long. They invited me to join them,
giving me some very fine bananas, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
They were a villainous-looking lot, and, having recently de-
feated the Spaniards in two battles, many of them bore marks
of the encounters in the shape of missing limbs and ghastly
wounds.

At one a. m., Lumboi called some of his men to haul the
boat into deep water, as the tide was rising, and we started
for the company's old store, where Lumboi's family lived. We
reached the place at three a. m. : as soon as I stepped ashore

476 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

a number of dogs rushed out of the bush and made a general
attack upon me, and it was not until I had laid one out that
they decided to leave me alone.

I slept on a native mat laid on the floor, with a piece of
cocoanut tree for a pillow; and at dawn the whole place re-
sounded with cries of rage from the dogs and pigs, who were
engaged in a regular pitched battle under the house. The awful
din which they made seemed to indicate that several deaths
were imminent, but some of the natives rushed out and put
a stop to the uproar with their clubs. I have noticed in vari-
ous islands here that while the dogs and pigs seem to treat
each other with contemptuous indifference during the rest of
the twenty-four hours, dawn, for some inscrutable reason,
appears to be their favorite time for settling all outstanding
grievances in a free-for-all fight. The natives shot a number
of wild pigeons and prepared a stew of yams and pigeons for
breakfast.

Lumboi showed me an old geography which he had taken
from a vessel recently wrecked on the coast, and the first
page I opened showed pictures of Poughkeepsie and Lake Mo-
honk. It awoke in me many dear memories, our family having
lived in the outskirts of Poughkeepsie before I went to sea.

I gave Lumboi the order to deliver to me the remainder of
whatever the captain of the O. S. Fowler had left in his pos-
session. He showed me some cheap trade stuff, but refused
to give it up till the company paid him a claim of $237.00,
which he said the captain owed him for services rendered ; at
his dictation, I wrote a letter of explanation to the company.
As I started to return, the natives stood on

A Novel the beach and each one extended his right

Farewell. hand and clasped his right wrist with his left
hand (their greatest mark of respect, show-
ing that the recipient is a "two-handed" chief), while he called
out "Kacha lilia, main" (main is pronounced exactly like the

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 477

English word mine, and is never applied to any one except a
person with a title).

On our return we were passing through a rather dangerous
boat passage in the barrier reef when we were caught in a
squall and the jib halliards carried away. A Kanaka named
Ka Lani went to the masthead to reeve a new one, when an-
other Kanaka, who was steering, let the boat come broadside
on to the wind and she heeled over till she began to fill. I
sung out to Ka Lani to jump overboard, which he did, and I
put the boat about to pick him up. He came up in front of
the bow and, as he saw the boat rushing at his head, dived
under like a porpoise and boarded her over the stern.

After leaving Ponapi, we proceeded to the Truk Group and
anchored off Annapau on Uela Island, where I called upon my
old friends the missionaries. We next went to Utat Island,
where I found a former shipmate who had been keeping a
trading station for "King" O'Keefe, but the natives were at
war as usual and had threatened to kill him, so I took him on
board. The natives gathered in large numbers and threatened
to attack us, but changed their minds when they found us
well prepared to receive them.

We next went to Ranolu Island, where the natives were at
war on account of some one "working the spirits" (causing
death by witchcraft). We then anchored between Fairup and
Fala-pongas; but I found that trading had been ruined for
any white man, for the Japanese had got into the business and
were selling goods so cheap that no white man could possibly
compete with them.

Passing out of the Truk lagoon through a fine, wide pas-
sage at the southwestern extremity of the reef we proceeded to
Pulo Suk Island (in latitude 6° 40' N. longitude 149° 16' E.),
and there being no anchorage, we were obliged to stand off
and on while trading. Here I met with a slight accident, when
during the night the fore gaff carried away during a squall,

478 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

and part of it struck me on the head and knocked me down, but
fortunately I was not seriously hurt.

We visited Lamotrek Island and while passing through an
opening in the reef, a squall came on and the rain was so heavy
that we could not see the reef. We anchored till the squall
was over, when we proceeded to an anchorage by moonlight.
Next we visited the Oleai Group, where we
Waving experienced a very severe electric storm. The
Rain Oleai natives were engaged in drying copra,

Away. and whenever a rain squall came on, two men

would start out in a canoe and one would pad-
dle the canoe about while the other waved his arms from side
to side above his head and chanted to the spirits to drive away
the rain. Although the inhabitants of these islands have never
seen a missionary, they believe in a future state and a Supreme
Being, whom they call Aliulap. At a native funeral one day
the natives asked us, through an interpreter, if we could tell
them what became of them after death, which showed that
they were trying to solve the problem in their own way.

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 479

CHAPTER XLII

PELEW ISLANDS, ALASKA — AND HOME

I now saw clearly that our voyage was bound to end in
failure, for neither S. nor the doctor had the least idea of
business. I grew heartily tired of my contract, but must, of
course, finish the voyage. We next went to the Pelew Islands,
where both of my companions began to associate freely with
the natives, and where finally each of them married a native
wife, S. choosing the twelve-year-old daughter of the native
King Abbathul. I was left to manage the business alone in
addition to looking after the vessel.

While here, I went in the boat to see some valuable timber
which a Japanese trader wished to sell. The first part of our
route lay through a multitude of small islands, most of which
rise to a high conical hill in the center, and all are clothed
with bamboo, cocoanut and other trees, besides beautiful flow-
ering shrubs. Around the bases of these islands are innum-
erable sea-caves lined with purple and yellow coral, and the
islands are very beautiful.

We stopped the first night at Oretoi village
In the anc* next ^av reacned Gabroon, where the Jap

Chiefs resided. Having accepted the timber, I re-

Palace, turned to the vessel and taking our own boat
with the second mate and four sailors
started back to Gabroon. We stopped at Arrarai and pre-
pared to pass the night on the beach, but Addalool, the head
chief of the place, came down with a number of men carrying
torches and insisted that we should pass the night at his abalu

480 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

(palace) according to the Pelew custom, which requires the
head chief to receive and entertain all visitors.

Addalool called me his brother and, according to the South
Sea Island custom, we exchanged names, so that Addalool be-
came the latest addition to the considerable list of South Sea
Island names which I have received at various times. Adda-
loors attendants prepared a substantial meal of roast pork and
wild birds together with boiled taro and a drink made of hot
water and a sort of native molasses. After this they treated us
to a war dance, which was much less frenzied than those seen
south of the line.

Next morning Addalool accompanied me to the boat and

his brother-in-law Kasilo, who had been a sailor, accompanied

me to Gabroon as interpreter. I hired a large number of

natives to get the timber to the vessel on bamboo rafts and

agreed with their chief Araklai to pay them when it was done.

In the meantime, the Jap's wife wanted me to show her how to

make bread in American style from flour,

An which her husband had bought aboard the ves-

Unsuccessful sel. I would willingly have done so, but was
Baking. obliged to confess that I did not know much
about making bread. A Malay belonging to
the boat's crew claimed to have been a cook in the Mexican
navy and to understand how to make bread, but declared he
could not make it without yeast or baking powder. I told
him to do the best he could, and he succeeded in manufactur-
ing a sort of cake almost as black as himself and nearly as
hard as a brick. The head Jap eyed the cake askance and ut-
tered a long prayer before attempting to eat it. They did not
ask for any more "American bread."

Meantime the second mate and the remainder of the boat's
crew had manufactured a variety of musical instruments out
of bamboo and were giving a miscellaneous entertainment in
the cook-house. They were not particular about a program,

OF CAPTAIN QUINT ON 481

but most of them sang whatever occurred to them in all the
various languages which they knew. Those who could not
sing endeavored to compensate for the deficiency by vigorous
acrobatic dancing and prolonged howls, which were highly
approved by the native audience, who expressed the unani-
mous opinion that the "American style" of dancing was decid-
edly more lively and varied than that of Pelew. If the "Amer-
ican bread" was a failure, the musical and terpsichorean
entertainment was voted a howling success by the local society.

Next day I went with the Jap and several natives to see a
very pretty lake far up among the mountains, and, while there,
the Jap asked me to show him how to build a mill dam in
order to utilize the outlet of the lake to run a sawmill. While
we were busy at this the natives killed a number of birds by
blowing small arrows through bamboo tubes which they called
bo'-az.

I have previously spoken of two stone images which are
unquestionably several thousand years old, and which I firmly
believe to be the work of the ancient Phoenicians. A party
was negotiating with me with a view to fitting out a schooner
from San Francisco to secure these images, but the negotia-
tions fell through. The images were close to Gabroon, on the
east coast of Babelthuap, the largest of the Pelew Islands.
They stand rather near together on level ground, within two
or three hundred yards of the water's edge.

The Pelew natives swim like ducks and will work in water

up to their shoulders in loading the vessel, but, strange to

say, are afraid of wetting their hair; the moment it starts to

rain they will all rush under cover. A chief

A Bucket named Sanpal, who was next in power to

for a Araklai, secured an iron bucket in trade

Hat. aboard the vessel, and a few days later I met

him ashore during a heavy rain squall, dressed

in little else but the bucket, which he wore inverted upon his

482 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

head with the handle lashed fast under his chin. He said he
supposed it was meant for a "Katheranaballeth algo" (white-
man's hat).

I had endless trouble with the natives in getting the tim-
ber, for they are as uncertain as children. When the work
was half done, they demanded that I should pay some of them
or the others would not work. I paid them, whereupon the
others refused to work unless I paid them nearly twice what
I had agreed to do, and would send away Kasilo, whose tribe
was at war with them.

After endless wrangling, I managed to get all the rafts
ready and paid them what I had first agreed. They threat-
ened to attack us, and I afterwards learned that Araklai en-
couraged them to do so, but we were well armed and I started
away with all the rafts in tow of the two boats and a large
canoe which Addalool sent from Arrarai to assist us. After
going ten miles, seventeen of the rafts broke adrift. I an-
chored them and, leaving the canoe to look after them, took
the other seven rafts on to Arrarai. Addalool sent his men
to bring the other seventeen to the vessel, and I stopped at his
house that night and left next morning for the vessel. At
eleven p. m., we reached the passage between Koror and Bau-
beltaub, but the wind was very light and I found that the tide
was sweeping us out to sea. I tried to reach the weather
shore to anchor for the night, but could not make it with both
sails and oars and was obliged to anchor on the lee shore. It
rained and blew hard during the night, but we slept in the
boats under tarpaulins, and at daylight I found that two rafts
had broken adrift and been carried out to sea. The other
twenty-two I got safely to the vessel.

I was disgusted to find that, while I was risking my life
to obtain a cargo for the vessel, S. and the doctor had given
away nearly all of the remaining cargo to the natives instead
of trying to assist me, On the north side of Koror Harbor,

OF CAPTAIX OULVTOX 483

in the side of a high island, I saw a large cave, the floor of
which was completely covered to a depth of several feet with
the finest kind of guano. This is far superior to guano which
is exposed to the weather, for in the latter case the rain
washes the ammonia out of it. On the other hand, dry guano
found in a cave is the most dangerous for any one to work, for
the fine dust would almost certainly cause the death of the
workmen unless they could wear something like a diver's hel-
met and have air pumped through a hose.

Having obtained a good cargo, we sailed for
In a Hong Kong and had heavy northwest gales

Typhoon. and light southwesters, finally encountering a
typhoon. The wind first came from the north,
showing that the storm center bore east of us and would pass
near where we were ; consequently I ran towards the southwest
till the wind changed to northwest, then hove to. At daybreak
the wind suddenly lulled, but almost instantly came from the
opposite quarter, carrying away our main boom. Later, when
in Hong Kong I learned that a large four-masted English
ship which passed through the same typhoon further north
had three of her masts carried away and some of her crew
killed.

Passing through Ballintang Channel, we encountered west-
erly winds and a current setting toward the northeast. The
wind then died out and we were becalmed for two days, dur-
ing which the current swept us dangerously near the rocks
off the southern end of Formosa, but we finally caught a light
breeze which took us into Hong Kong.

I sold out my interest in the business at a loss and paid my
passage to San Francisco in one of the Pacific Mail steamers.
After I left the vessel, S. engaged a navigator named Laurie
to command the Golden Fleece and take her back to the Pelew
Islands ; but after reaching the latter place he left Laurie to
shift for himself, and returned to his wild life among the

484 THE STRANGE ADVENTURES

natives. The vessel soon ran out of provisions, but S. refused
to furnish her with either provisions or a cargo, and at last,
in despair, Laurie took her to the Truk Islands and secured
what provisions and cocoanuts he could. He then held a con-
sultation with his crew to decide what to do, and they decided
to proceed to Yokohama, which they did. In the meantime
debts had piled up against the vessel and the
The End firm to which she belonged in San Francisco
G Id ^ad kikd- The crew were in a starving con-

Fleece, dition when they reached Yokohama, and ac-
cordingly Consul Mclvor, the representative
of the United States at the latter place, ordered the vessel to
be sold to satisfy the claims of the crew. She was sold to a
Japanese firm and was afterward wrecked in a gale near
Manouran, on the coast of Japan.

This was not to be my last experience with incompetent
companions. On a later voyage from San Francisco to Mexico
I was unfortunate enough to be navigator with a most igno-
rant captain. Still later another impostor, named B., who
claimed that he had a gold mine in Alaska, persuaded a num-
ber of men to join him in an expedition and engaged me as
captain of his vessel, the Prosper. He narrowly escaped
hanging when his fraud was discovered. He deserted his
ship and party to save his own skin, and after our men had
had enough of mining ventures we made our way back to
San Francisco without the owner. I have always kept as a
souvenir of that voyage a testimonial with which the men of
the party closed a newspaper account of their experiences and
of B.'s rascalities:

"We desire to publicly return our thanks to

A Captain Quinton for our safe return. We had

Testimonial, no chronometer and not a single sailor in the

party to assist him, and the card compass

which we had proved to be so unreliable that we were obliged

OF CAPTAIN QUINTON 485

to steer by a little pocket compass. We encountered several
strong gales and the weather was so foggy that he was
obliged to go for weeks at a time without being able to get an
astronomical observation, but he brought us through safe and
sound."

It was really a foolhardy enterprise to undertake such a
voyage in so frail a vessel, for she went to Alaska again with
a professional crew on board, but was wrecked in a gale and
drowned all hands.

Later I took another vessel to Alaska to be delivered to
the government representatives at St. Michaels, in charge of
the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey. Again I was unfortu-
nate in shipping, at the urgent request of the builder, a man
for mate who was rather unfortunately near to being a lunatic.
The vessel itself was a poorly built craft and we had many
minor mishaps on our way.

I stopped to coal in Dutch Harbor, which af-

Beauties fords a picture of surpassing scenic beauty

of Dutch when the surrounding country is not envel-
Harbor. oped in the almost endless fog, which renders
navigation so dangerous in these seas.

Once, however, we did see the place clear of fog, and the
beautiful scenery combined with the strikingly sweet songs of
the birds to make a never-to-be-forgotten picture.

The songbirds here include the golden crowned song spar-
row and the dwarf hermit thrush, but the most prominent of
all is the Lapland longspur, which is seen everywhere. The
longspurs are constantly seen hovering in the air and pouring
out their delightful liquid notes, but they have a curious habit
of suddenly dropping downward into the grass and flowers in
the midst of their song.

The white inhabitants raise some fine cattle and the climate
is so mild that they run out of doors all winter. The native
Aleuts look so identically like Japanese that they might be

486 ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN QUINTON

taken readily for them, and there seems to be little doubt that
they are of Japanese origin.

This was at the time when people were rush-
Back to mS to Alaska in almost anything that would
San float, and on the way between Dutch Harbor

Francisco. an(j 5^- Michaels, I sighted a new steamer

breaking up in latitude 58° 15' N. longitude
167° 40' W. I ran close to her to make sure there was no
one on board, and the hull broke in two while we were looking
at it. After delivering the vessel to the representative of the
Coast and Geodetic Survey in St. Michaels, I had an oppor-
tunity to see the sights of the place before I secured a pas-
sage to San Francisco; and I could not help contrasting the
desolate nature of the surrounding country with the beautiful
scenery of Southern Alaska. About the only flowers which I
saw here were iris, and the only specimen of a tree is a species
of Arctic willow which grows about as thick as a man's thumb
and creeps along the ground like a vine.

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the country during the Lincoln-Douglas debates ; photographs taken
while he was running for United States Senator; during the Mis-
souri Compromise; on the battle ground of Antietam, the bloodiest
day in the Civil War ; last photograph of Lincoln ever taken ; Secret
Service photographs of Lincoln's assassins taken on the gal-
lows; photographs of the funeral bier and procession while Lincoln
was being taken on his sixteen-hundred-mile journey to Spring-
field, when twenty-five million people were attending memorial ser-
vices to the martyred President.

"The Portrait of Lincoln," however, is not merely a collection of
photographs. Accompanying them is a prose commentary by Dr.
Francis Trevelyan Miller, which throws further light on the life of
this great man. As near as possible Dr. Miller has told it in Lin-
coln's own words, that is, with copious quotations from his speeches
and sayings, which show the foundation of Lincoln's character; the
influence of love on his life ; his political principles ; the rugged hon-
esty of his heart; the problems that tested his strength; the gather-
ing of humanity under his leadership; his fortitude in the hour of
trial; his faith in the common people; his humility in the hour of
victory; his sympathy for the unfortunate; the veil of sorrow that
spread over the nation when he was assassinated. The volume
contains Lincoln's first public speech and many of those delivered
throughout his life, particularly the address at Gettysburg, in mag-
nanimity of spirit, simplicity, brevity and historical import, the
greatest speech in American annals.

The volume contains a chronology of the historical events in the
growth of the American nation from the birth to the death of
Lincoln.

Truly, this volume is one which should be used as a text-book by
every one interested in the uplift and preservation of integrity of
character. It is an inspiration.

Bound in cloth, with illustrated cover, this volume is offered as a
premium by THE CHRISTIAN HERALD. The book retails at $2. Send
us $2 and we will send you THE CHRISTIAN HERALD for one year,
The Christian Herald Almanac and The Portrait Life of Lincoln,
all postpaid. Or we will send the book free, postpaid, as a premium
for one neio subscription for THE CHRISTIAN HERALD at $1.50.

Address: THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, Bible House, New York

The Pictorial Life of Christ

Eighty Magnificent Sculptural Illustrations by the
Famous Italian Master-Sculptor

DOMENICO MASTROIANNI

A new master of art has arisen — a Prince of Sculptural Artists.
For six years his genius has been devoted to illustrating the Gospel
narrative of Jesus' earthly sojourn, and the result, now given to the
world in eighty remarkable plastic pictures, has excited the wonder
and admiration of connoisseurs on two continents. This already
famous Italian Master-Sculptor, Domenico Mastroianni, has "im-
bibed the very spirit of the Holy Land." In his scenes, every figure
stands out with vivid distinctness and almost startling clearness of
detail. The characters, postures and surroundings are those of
Nazareth and Jerusalem. We see the Saviour himself — a com-
manding figure of royal dignity blended with divine pity, yet withal
intensely human — "in all things as we are."

These magnificent pictures are not paintings. They are some-
thing finer. The originals are combinations of sculpture and
sculptural reliefs done in wax and clay and wonderfully grouped
and photographed in such a way as to bring out in sharp contrast
the lights and shadows and perspectives. The resulting photo-
graph is something absolutely and entirely different in the history
of art. There is a depth of space realized in looking at these pic-
tures that you have never known in looking at a drawing or paint-
ing. Throughout all the pictures there is a reverence, an atmos-
phere of worship in the treatment of these themes, which is in-
stantly appreciated. Never has the artist lost sight of the fact
that his task was a sacred one. His work will be an inspiraion to
all who view it in this book. Splendid as a triumph of art, these
pictures are priceless as the highest tribute that consecrated genius
can pay to the greatest subject the artist could have chosen. He
has brought us into intimate touch with the daily life of Jesus and
shed a flood of radiance on the Life and Mission of the Saviour of
men and brought them before us in vivid and realistic portrayal.

No expense has been spared in producing a book worthy in every
respect of these wonderful pictures. The binding is an extremely
handsome design in gold scroll-work with combination of red-and-
gold letters upon the side and back of the cover, which measures
7x10 inches. This splendid volume will instantly attract attention
wherever shown. The New Pictorial Life of Christ would ordi-
narily sell in bookstores for not less than $4 a copy.

The Christian Herald Almanac for 1913 — a 104-page Year Book
of religious and general information — will be given to each sub-
scriber free of charge. We will send The New Pictorial Life of
Christ, a year's subscription to THE CHRISTIAN HERALD and the
1913 Christian Herald Almanac, all sent postpaid for $3.

Address: THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, Bible House, New York

14 DAY USE

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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY