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Presented  to 

tEhe  ICthrarg 

of  the 

Ptttucrsttu  of  ®onmto 

by 

Mrs.   7;ric  E.   Ryerson 


> 


THE  WIDE   WORLD    MAGAZINE 

October,    1903,  to  March,    1904 


THE 


WIDE   WORLD 


th 


MAGAZINE 


AN  ILLUSTRATED 

MONTHLY 

OF 

TRUE  NARRATIVE 

ADVENTURE 
TRAVEL 
■       CUSTOMS 

AND 

SPORT 

"TRUTH  IS 
STRANGER 
THAN 

FICTION" 

Vol.  XII. 

OCTOBER 

• 

1903, 

TO 

MARCH 

1904 

LONDON. 

GEORGE   NEIVNES,  LTD, 
SOUTHAMPTON  ST. 
STRAND 

/•4.S-&- 


•WITH  CKLESSNESS    THEY    FIRED    RIGHT    AND    1.1  I   ! 

(SEK    PAGE   6.) 


The  Wide  World  Magazine. 


Vol.  XII 


NOVEMBER,    1903. 


No.  67. 


&• 


The  story  of  a  highway  robbery  unique  even  in  the  annals  of  the  West.  In  the 
early  hours  of  a  Saturday  night  an  electric  tram  -  car  was  held  up  in  the 
populous  city  of  Los  Angeles  by  three  masked  robbers.  Enraged  by  the  resistance 
of  a  passenger,  the  miscreants  opened  fire  on  the  occupants,  killing  one  and 
wounding  several  more.  Then  they  disappeared,  and  from  that  day  to  this  no 
clue   has    been    obtained    as    to    their   identity. 


DRAMATIC  and  desperate  deed 
of  outlawry,  unparalleled  even  in 
the  lurid  criminal  annals  of  Far 
Western  America,  was  committed  in 
Los  Angeles,  Southern  California, 
on  March  21st  last.  At  the  south-western 
boundary  of  the  famous  "City  of  the  Angels," 
during  the  early  hours  of  a  Saturday  night,  a 
heavily-laden  electric  tram-car  bound  for  the 
seashore  town  of  Santa  Monica  was  stopped  by 
an  obstruction  on  the  track  and  boarded  by 
three  masked  and  heavily-armed  desperadoes. 
One  armed  passenger  fired  upon  the  chief  of 
the  criminal  trio,  precipitating  a  veritable 
fusillade  by  the  highwaymen.  From  the  rear 
door  the  frustrated  villains  wreaked  vengeance 
upon  the  helpless  passengers,  emptying  their 
revolvers  upon  the  backs  of  the  people  as  they 
sat  with  upstretched  hands. 

Vol.  Ml.— 1. 


When  they  had  exhausted  their  ammunition 
the  scoundrels  fled  into  the  darkness  without 
attempting  to  secure  any  booty.  Mystery  sur- 
rounds the  escape,  for  one  of  the  most  strenuous 
and  exhaustive  man-hunts  ever  conducted  in  the 
West  has  failed  to  yield  so  much  as  a  single  clue 
to  their  identity  or  whereabouts.  They  were  young 
and  desperate,  and  that  is  all  that  is  known. 

The  Los  Angeles -Pacific  electric  line,  on 
which  the  hold-up  occurred,  is  one  of  a  dozen 
inter-urban  roads  radiating  from  Los  Angeles, 
and  it  stretches  west  from  the  city  to  the  sea- 
coast,  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles.  It  is  a 
double- track  line,  and  the  fact  that  cars  pass 
each  way  every  ten  minutes  would  seem  to 
preclude  the  possibility  of  a  train-robbery  with- 
out speedy  discovery.  Nevertheless,  the  car 
was  detained  for  eight  minutes,  and  the  robbers 
got  clear  away. 


1111      WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE 


\       63   left   the  centre  of   the  city  at 
;e  of  Conductor   Fred   M. 
.1  n  d 
M  o  t  o  r- m  a  n 
'  "urrin. 
and      carrying 
about    fifty    p 

.  male  and 
female,    none    of 
them  even  think- 
_ 

the  _ed 

m    a    • 

to    the  tr. 
•  i     in     the 
P  h  h, 

only 
1  rated  by  wire 
!rom  op 
•ad 
that    point 

le  and 
it    for    a 

■ 

:     darkn- 
■  n  this    e 

at      a  Frolnl 


nearly  a  mile  a 
minute.  Suddenly 
the  current  was 
shut  off,  the  air- 
brakes applied, 
and  the  wheels 
reversed.  The 
car  jolted  and 
shuddered  with 
the  sudden  re- 
duction of  speed, 
and  some  of  the 
passengers  were 
thrown  roughly 
forward  out  of 
their  seats. 

The  powerful 
arc  head  -  light 
had  revealed  to 
the  motor-man  an 
obstruction  on 
the  line.  Across 
the  track  lay  a 
pile  of  debris 
nearly  four  feet 
high,  consisting 
of  a  heavy  box 
the  sizeofa 
coffin,  a  large  barrel,  several  planks,  and  an 
ordinary  steel  rail.     The  driver  barely  succeeded 


riioto. 


T  HE    HOLD-UP— THE   X 


ON    THE   TRACK    SHOWS    THE    EXACT   SPOT    WHERE   THE    CAR 

WAS   STOPPED.  [Photo. 


A    TRAM-CAR    HOLD-UP. 


in  bringing  the  car  to  a  standstill  before  running 
upon  the  barricade.  It  may  have  been  the 
heinous  design  of  the  highwaymen  to  wreck  the 
swiftly-moving  coach  and  in  the  confusion  and 
darkness  to  loot  the  victims,  living  or  dead. 
Many  would  doubtless  have  been  killed  in  the 
crash  had  not  the  motor-man  seen  the  formid- 
able obstruction. 

The  moment  the  car  stopped  a  man  sprang 
out  of  the  darkness  in  front,  revolver  in  hand. 

"Throw  up  your  hands!"  he  yelled,  at  the 
top  of  his  voice.  "  Put  up  your  hands,  every 
one  of  you  ! "  He  emphasized  his  ominous 
command  with  a  perfect  torrent  of  imprecations. 

He  was  standing  on  the  ground,  and  as  he 
shouted  he  waved  his  huge  weapon  backward 
and  forward  along  the  length  of  the  coach 
with  a  sweeping  motion.  He  was  a  short 
young  fellow,  of  athletic  build,  in  rough  attire. 
His  face  was  completely  hidden  from  forehead 
to  chin  by  a  black  handkerchief,  with  slits  cut 
for  the  eyes  and  mouth. 

The  robber  leader  confronted  half-a-dozen 
men,  who  were  occupying  the  open-air  seats  at 
the  front  of  the  car.  (The  photograph  shows 
the  car  reversed.)  Inside  sat  over  forty  other 
passengers,  half  of  whom  were  women.  All  eyes 
were  fixed  on  the  bandit  in  front,  and  those 
inside  did  not  raise  their  hands  in  obedience  to 
the  distant  command.  They  were  roused  from 
their  feeling  of  comparative  security  with  a 
start,  by  shouts  coming  from  behind.  Two 
other  masked  robbers  had  quietly  taken  up  a 
position  at  the  rear  doorway,  and  quickly 
repeated  their  chiefs  orders  to  those  inside. 
The  brigands  at  the  rear  seemed  to  be  mere 
boys  in  voice  and  physique,  and  their  faces  were 
hidden  with  white  eyeletted  handkerchiefs. 

With  horrible  threats  of  death  they  called  to 
the  passengers  to  put  up  their  hands  and  sit 
absolutely  still.  They  stretched  their  revolvers 
into  the  car  at  arms'  length  and  promised  to 
shoot  on  the  first  move  made  by  any  person. 

The  passengers  inside  were  completely 
terrorized  by  the  suddenness  of  the  occurrence, 
and  they  obeyed  the  commands  with  alacrity. 
Eighty  arms  were  stretched  high,  and  the  people 
sat  motionless,  wailing  to  be  relieved  of  their 
valuables.  The  conductor,  who  was  standing 
just  inside  the  front  door  when  the  car  stopped, 
shouted  "It's  a  hold-up!"  Then  he  dropped 
into  a  seat  and  threw  off  his  uniform,  in  order  to 
escape  being  made  the  principal  object  of  attack 
by  the  desperadoes.  The  motor-man  at  the 
front  squatted  on  the  floor  at  the  first  onslaught, 
and  sat  holding  his  stool  before  his  face  as  a 
shield  against  the  expected  bullets. 

Two  of  the  six  passengers  on  the  open  seats 
in  front  did  not  put  up  their  hands.     These  two 


men  were  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the 
fatal  fusillade  which  quickly  followed.  One  of 
them  was  intoxicated ;  the  other  decided  to 
show  fight. 

The  robber  leader  kept  up  his  stream  of 
commands  and  threats  from  his  position  on  the 
ground,  but  they  had  no  effect  upon  one  young 
man  sitting  directly  in  front  of  him  and  but 
three  feet  away.  This  young  fellow  was  in  a 
drunken  stupor  and  sat  facing  the  bandit,  with 
a  maudlin,  smiling  stare.  He  did  not  realize 
what  was  going  on.  The  desperado  stood  for  a 
moment  nonplussed  and  undecided.  Then  he 
stepped  forward  with  revolver  raised,  grasped 
the  upright  car-handle  with  his  free  hand,  and 
swung  up  on  the  footboard.  Leaning  over  the 
tardy  one  the  impatient  robber  bawled  out, 
almost  in  his  ear,  "Why  don't  you  get  your 
hands  up  ?  "  Still  the  stupefied  youth  made  no 
move,  and  he  might  have  paid  the  penalty  of 
his  indifference  then  and  there,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  intervention  which  proved  so  disastrous 
to  others. 

Seated  on  the  outside  near  the  outlaw  leader 
was  a  man  of  huge  physical  proportions  and 
stout  heart — Charles  A.  Henderson,  treasurer 
of  a  large  contracting  firm  in  Los  Angeles  He 
had  also  refused  to  raise  his  hands,  and  at  the 
first  command  prepared  to  fight.  The  robber's 
dispute  with  the  inebriated  man  gave  him  time 
to  gather  his  wits  and  extricate  his  revolver  from 
his  ulster.  As  the  desperado  stepped  aboard  the 
car  Henderson  turned  and  fired  at  him  point- 
blank. 

The  bullet  missed  its  mark,  but  instantly 
brought  a  return  from  the  robber,  As  fast 
as  they  could  pull  the  triggers  the  two  men 
blazed  away  at  each  other.  They  were  but  six 
feet  apart,  and  only  their  frantic  haste  in  shoot 
ing  accounted  for  neither  man  being  killed  As 
he  fired,  the  desperado  stepped  backward  off 
the  car,  and  as  the  last  shot  rang  out  he  had 
regained  the  ground  and  found  shelter  in  the 
darkness.  The  robber  had  fired  four  times,  and 
from  the  manner  of  his  retreat  many  of  the 
passengers  believed  him  to  have  been  wounded 
It  is  not  yet  settled  that  he  was  not  hit 
Henderson's  fifth  cartridge  failed  to  explode,  and, 
finding  himself  helpless,  he  leaped  from  the  car 
and  ran  pell-mell  into  the  fields  for  safety. 

Racing  across  a  vineyard  in  the  darkness, 
expecting  pursuit,  Henderson  ran  plump  into  a 
barbed-wire  fence  and  was  thrown  violently  to 
the  ground.  He  was  frightened  and  dazed,  but 
when  he  came  to  his  senses  he  noticed  a 
carriage  drawn  by  a  white  horse,  tied  to  a  post 
but  .twenty  feet  away.  The  vehicle  was  empty, 
and  had  evidently  borne  the  bandits  to  the 
scene.     Henderson  feared  a  lurking  confederate 


1'Hl      W1IM      WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


he  again  took 
i    is  i  ai  was   the 

the  identity  of  the 
and  the  police  hunted 
it. 
:  ut<  3  jotne  tragic 
d  inside  the  car.     The 
duel  tforni  was  the  signal 

the    two    villains    at    the    rear 
ince  on   the  innocent 
rhe  pa-  -  sat  helplessly, 

in  the  air  and  their  backs  to 
The    majority    seemed    almost 
ind  remained  motionless.     A 
i    ii  their  seats  in  a  Foolish  hope 
•  of  the  chairs  would  serve 
jperadoes'  bullets. 
•  chief  first 
in 
■ 

•    _    :t'ul 
■miit  later 
th(  ir    \\Mrk 
5 

in     1 
way     they 
training 

down 

;  he 

that  the 

•   -   bun 

nd     supple 

With 

nd 
fury 

nany  sh<  re  fired  that, 

had   any  particular  aim  been  taken,  more  than 

by   the  bullets  would 
ha\ 

oul   att  from    beneath 

er<   '■  mpor 

.  and  sat  patiently  and 

1  moaned  or 

I   unintelligibly  under  tip  of  the 

ter-  :it.  arly    all    the    twenty 

in  a  perfe<  t  agony  of 

nd    their    ;  i  ould    be   heard 

he  din.      Four  or  five  fainted,  some  sat 

groaning   in   a  gave   vent 

to    I  for   men  y.    while   others 

illy  at  the  top  of  their  lungs. 

Added   to  this,    the   continual   cracking  of  the 


MR.    liEOKGE  A.  GRISOWLD,    PRESIDENT   OF    THE    LEADING 
MANSON,    IOWA,    who    WAS     SHOT      DEAD    BY 
From  a)  THE    ROBBERS.  \PfwtO. 


revolvers  in  the  small  enclosure  and  the  ripping 
and  crashing  o\  the  bullets  through  woodwork 
and  glass  made  a  perfect  pandemonium. 

Suddenly  an  elderly  man  dropped  the  hand 
that  had  been  held  high  above  his  head  to  his 
side.       It    had    been  shot  clean  through,  and   the 

blood  trickled  down  profusely.  lie  was  a 
prominent  physician  of  Los  Angeles,  Dr.  C.  H. 
Haines.  Another  man  suddenly  fell  forward 
in  his  seat  and  then  sank  down  lower  with 
blanched  face.  He  was  shot  diagonally  through 
the  thigh,  and  his  blood  streamed  upon  the 
floor.  This  was  J.  C.  Cunningham,  also  of  Los 
Angeles.  Mis  left  leg  was  barely  saved.  E.  T. 
Pierson,  a  young  man  of  Sawtelle,  gave  one 
sharp  cry  of  pain  and  pitched  forward  with  a 
bullet  through    the   groin.       His  wound   nearly 

proved  fatal,  and  he  has 
not  yet  fully  recovered. 

In  the  midst  of  the 
pandemonium  an  elderly 
woman  turned  about  in 
her  seat  and  gave  a 
plaintive  cry  to  her  son, 
who  sat  across  the  aisle 
and  one  seat  to  the  rear. 
"Oh,  George,"  she 
pleaded,  "  why  don't  you 
hold  up  your  hands?" 
Then  after  a  second  she 
added,  "  Do  give  them 
anything  you  have." 

The    man     addressed 
was  the  only  one  inside 
the  car   who   had  failed 
to  obey  the  stem  order. 
Regardless  of  the  shoot- 
ing he  was  busilyengaged 
in    hiding   his  valuables, 
in  perfect  self-possession. 
As  his  mother  made  her 
agonized  appeal   he  was 
in  the  act  of  tucking  a  much-prized  watch  under 
his  leg.     The  robbers  evidently  thought  he  was 
bring  for  a  weapon  and   singled    him  out   for 
killing.       1  lis  mother's  plea   had   scarcely  been 
red  when  his  head  fell   back.     A   bullet  had 
struck  him  at  the  back  of  the  neck  and  caused 
instant  death. 

The  murdered  man  was  George  A.  Grisowld, 
president  of  the  leading  bank  of  Manson,  Iowa, 
and  a  member  of  one  of  the  most  distinguished 
families  in  his  State.  He  was  but  twenty-nine 
years  of  age,  and  was  on  his  annual  vacation 
tour  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  in  company  with  his 
mother  and  aunt,  Miss  Anna  Funk,  of  Mount 
Morris,  Illinois,  who  also  witnessed  the  killing  of 
her  nephew.  The  poor  mother  was  so  ill  after  the 
tragedy  that  for  days  her  life  was  despaired  of. 


A    TRAM-CAR    HOLD-UP. 


When  the  two  villains  had  emptied  their 
revolvers  they  tarried  for  a  moment  to  curse 
their  victims,  and  then  leaped  from  the  car  and 
disappeared  in  the  darkness,  to  be  seen  no 
more. 

It  was  fully  half  a  minute  after  the  des- 
peradoes had  fled  before  the  passengers  dared 
to  move,  and  some  were  completely  prostrated 
by  the  ordeal.  Temporary  relief  was  given  the 
wounded,  and  then  the  journey  was  continued 
with  all  speed.  The  interior  of  the  car  furnished 
an  eloquent  account  of  the  awful  affair.  The 
woodwork  was  shattered  and  splintered,  and 
the  windows  and  mirrors  broken  in  all  directions, 
while  the  floor  was  slippery  with  blood. 

Fred  M.  Meister,  conductor  of  the  ill-fated 
car  No.  63,  told  in  graphic  style  some  of  the 
details  of  the  tragedy 
after  it  was  over.  Meister 
is  a  young  man  of  good 
family  who  recently  went 
to  the  Pacific  Coast  from 
New  York  City,  and  is 
an  experienced  and 
trusted  railroad  em- 
ploye. His  life  has  been 
crowded  with  exciting 
experiences  sufficient  to 
make  a  book  in  them- 
selves, but  he  said  that 
the  Santa  Monica  hold- 
up was  the  most  thrilling 
adventure  he  had  ever 
had. 

"The  events  of  that 
terrible  quarter  of  an 
hour  surpass  the  power 
of  words  to  describe 
adequately,"  declared 
Mr.  Meister.  "  The 
intensity  of  the  excite- 
ment and  terror  had   to 

be  seen  and  felt  to  be  realized.  In  battle  a  man 
has  a  chance  to  run  or  resist,  and  the  excite- 
ment of  fighting  may  make  him  forget  the 
danger.  But  during  that  awful  time  we  were 
compelled  to  sit  with  our  backs  to  a  pair  of 
murderers,  at  close  range,  and  wait  for  what 
seemed  like  certain  death. 

"  Nobody  who  went  through  the  ordeal  will 
ever  be  able  to  forget  it.  The  shrieks  of  those 
agonized  women  ought  to  haunt  the  lives  of  the 
fiendish  robbers  for  ever.  The  poor  creatures 
suffered  the  pains  of  many  deaths  during  that 
awful  fusillade.  One  girl  sank  to  her  knees  in 
a  pool  of  blood  and  prayed,  with  the  tears 
streaming  down  her  cheeks.  Several  of  the 
women  were  thrown  into  the  most  violent 
hysteiics,  and  were   prostrated   when    it    was   all 


FRED    M.    MEISTER,  THE   CO 

From  a]  can 


over.     The  men   were  scarcely  less  frightened, 
but  they  remained  motionless. 

"  I  saw  all  the  three  robbers,  but  I  do  not 
think  I  should  be  able  to  identify  any  one  of 
them  ;  their  faces  were  so  effectually  masked. 
They  all  seemed  to  be  quite  young  fellows, 
especially  the  two  who  did  the  shooting  from 
the  rear.  My  idea  is  that  they  were  dare-devil 
ranch  hands. 

"  From  where  I  sat  I  had  an  excellent  view 
of  the  duel  on  the  front  platform.  I  was  just 
opening  the  front  door  to  speak  to  the  motor- 
man  when  the  car  began  to  slow  down.  I 
looked  ahead  and  saw  the  pile  of  lumber  on  the 
track.  As  the  car  stopped  I  glanced  down  at 
the  side,  through  the  window,  and  saw  the 
leader  of  the  bandits  standing  back  about  ten 

feet.      I  then  knew  what 

was  coming,  and,  calling 

out  to  the  passengers 
that  it  was  a  hold-up,  I 
turned  and  looked  for 
a  place  to  sit  down. 
Looking  back,  I  saw  the 
two  confederates  stand- 
ing in  the  doorway.  I 
stripped  off  my  cap  to 
conceal  my  identity  as 
conductor,  and  got  down 
low  in  the  nearest  seat. 

"Then  the  wild  shoot- 
ing commenced.  The 
firing  was  reckless,  many 
of  the  shots  going  over 
our  heads,  one  so  high 
that  it  went  through  the 
roof.  If  they  had  taken 
any  aim  at  all  they 
would  have  hit  at  least  a 
dozen  people.  As  it  was 
bullets  passed  through 
the  clothing  of  two  men 
and  one  woman  without  touching  their  flesh. 
I  think  they  took  deliberate  aim  at  Mr.  Grisowld, 
as  he  tried  to  hide  his  money,  and  they  thought 
he  was  drawing  a  revolver.  He  was  seated  just 
behind  me.  1  hope  I  may  never  have  to  endure 
such  another  eight  minutes.  It  seemed  like 
eight  hours. " 

Though  police  officers  in  extraordinary  force 
were  sent  to  the  scene  and  placed  on  guard 
around  the  vicinity,  and  though  the  subsequent 
quest  was  participated  in  by  the  ablest  criminal- 
hunters  of  Western  America,  not  so  much  as  a 
clue  has  been  secured  as  to  the  perpetrators. 
A  mystery  that  has  completely  baffled  solution 
surrounds  the  identity  of  the  murderous  criminals 
and  the  manner  of  their  escape.  It  is  believed 
the  meshes  of  the  law  will  never  hold  them. 


NDUCTOR    OK    THE    ILL-FATED 
NO.   63.  .  [Photo. 


1111.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


MR.    C.    H.  AND   THE 

1  a)  INEJ).  [Photo. 

nature  of  the  crime  and  its 
me  audacity  aroused  intense  and  wide- 
d    public   indignation,   as   it  came  at   the 

noteworthy  deeds 
::  ghway  robber}    i-    punishable 
I    liifomia.  and  the 
for   the  li\ 
he  ruthless  murderers.     The 
State,  the  Hon. 
Pardee,  the  electric 
mpany,  the  mother  of 
man,  his  busin 
and      several    high 
•1    extraordinarily 
•    'ards  for   the  capture 
and  f  the  despera- 

a  mount 
r    the    arrest  of    the. 
thr-  n  thou- 

me  of  the 
ffered  in  the  i 
State,  but  even  this 
■lid  not   bring  to  light 

>    the   i  en- 

shrouding the  crim-  icific 

-     -:upstr  timony 

a  f  On  I 

fishing    town  of    1 


dondo  a  stroller,  Mr.  C.  H.  Penrose,  came 
upon  a  large  sealed  glass  bottle,  which  had 
been  cast  up  by  the  waves.  It  contained  a 
message,  written  on  both  sides  of  a  crumpled 
piece ol  wrapping  paper.  It  read  as  follows:  — 
•  May  i,:; th,  1903,  off  point  north  of  San 
Pedro,  with  boat  from  Catahna  owned  by  C. 
Reeves.  I  bid  farewell  to  this  world.  I  am 
tired  of  life,  and  may  some  day  the  truth  of 
my  life  be  found  out.  I  was  the  one  who  held 
up  the  Santa  Monica  car.  My  pardnor  went 
south.  May  the  Lord  forgive  me  for  my  Crime, 
and  the  Law  protect  him  from  the  punishment 
which  I  should  have.  I  led  him  to  the  act. 
( lood-bye  ;  be  easy  with  him. 

(Signed)         "Z.  E.  Gesiuf." 
Subsequent  discoveries  tended  to  confirm 
this  implied  announcement  of  a  suicide  in  the 
channel  between  San  Pedro  and  Santa  Cata- 
lina  Island.   Shortly  after  the  singular  missive 
was  found  the  corpse  of  a  man,  disfigured  be- 
yond possibility  of  identification,  was  washed 
up  on  the  shore  near  San  Pedro.      It  was  also 
ascertained  that  the  Catalina  boatman  men- 
tioned had  actually  had  a  boat  taken  from  its 
moorings  at  night  about  the  date  mentioned, 
the  craft  never  being  found.     The  name  of 
"/.  E.  Gesiuf,"  however,  does  not  appear  in 
any  of  the  directories,  so  that  the  mystery 
remains  almost  as  deep  as  ever. 
Police  and  public  alike  are  wondering  whether 
the  chief  perpetrator  of  the  heinous  crime  I  have 
desoibed  now  occupies  the  nameless  grave  of 
the  suicide,  or   is    still   living   in    freedom,    un- 
punished for  his  villainous  deed. 


THE    REVERSE    OF     THE    MESSAGE. 


{Photo 


£G\»\C.T?ou\Ves.  rx. 


Fpfyr$maq. 


IV.— ALONG  THE  DALLUL  MAURI. 

The  continuation  of  Captain  Foulkes'  illustrated  account  of  his  experiences  on  a  journey  from 
London  to  the  mysterious  sacred  city  of  Sokoto,  and  thence  to  Lake  Tchad.  This  expedition, 
involving  over  two  thousand  miles  of  travel  in  regions  hitherto  quite  unknown,  should  prove 
of  unique  interest,  as  the  author  was  a  member  of  the  expedition  which  penetrated  six  hundred 
miles  up  the  Niger  and  thence  marched  westward  to  Sokoto — a  city  which  had  previously  been  visited 
by  only  one  Englishman,  who  went  there  many  years  ago  in  disguise,  since  when  the  treacherous  and 

fanatical    Fulani  have  refused  the  white   man    all    access. 


N  the  27th  December  we  left  Doli 
to  march  to  Bei-bei,  a  large  town  on 
the  Dallul  Mauri,  about  one  hun- 
dred miles  from  the  Niger.  A  con- 
siderate amount  of  transport  had 
been  collected,  and  on  our  arrival  we  were 
informed  that  twenty  camels  and  twice  as  many 
donkeys,  with  a  few  oxen,  were  all  ready  in 
camp  at  Kangakoi,  a  place  ten  miles  away  from 
the  river,  as  the  climate  nearer  the  Niger  was 
unsuitable  for  these  animals.  Pushing  on  with 
a  small  army  of  carriers,  we  reached  this  village 
late  on  the  day  following  our  disembarkation. 

At  Kangakoi  there  was  a  good  deal  to  be 
done  in  the  way  of  distributing  the  various 
loads  according  to  their  suitability  for  camel, 
donkey,  ox,  or  carrier  transport  ;  this  was 
satisfactorily  arranged  in  the  course  of  two  or 
three  hours. 

In  the  difficult  and  unknown  country  through 
which  we  were  to  pass  the  question  of  transport 
was  all-important,  and  before  proceeding  with 
the  account  of  our  march  I  must  say  a  few  words 
about  our  carriers  and  transport  animals. 

Vol.  xii.— 2. 


Owing  to  the  requirements  of  our  French 
neighbours  we  found  that  camels — most  useful 
animals  for  the  work  in  hand — were  difficult  to 
obtain.  Moreover,  owing  to  the  bad  quality  of 
the  native  saddles,  the  camels  are  only  capable 


of  taking 


three  or  four  loads  apiece,  while  the 
smaller  ones  can  only  carry  two  loads — still, 
they  require  little  looking  after,  can  march  long 
distances  over  waterless  country,  and,  on  arriving 
in  camp,  only  require  to  be  hobbled  and  turned 
out  to  graze. 

The  transport  donkeys  carry  two  loads  apiece, 
one  on  either  side,  and  the  oxen  a  similar 
number.  We  had  only  three  of  the  latter,  and 
one  of  these  proved  so  refractory  with  his  load 
early  in  the  first  march  that  he  had  to  be  put  to 
an  entirely  different  use. 

With  regard  to  the  carriers  available,  these 
men,  as  may  be  supposed,  vary  very  much  in 
quality  in  different  parts  of  West  Africa.  Pro- 
bably the  best  are  the  Mendis  from  Sierra 
Leone,  who  are  extensively  employed  in  many 
of  our  various  military  expeditions  in  this  part 
of  the  world.     Our  present  Hausa  carriers,  re- 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


chiefly  from  the  country  round  Ho,  were 

ially  in  view  of  the  lark  of 

n   the   march  and   the  difficulty   of  the 

h  at  this  time  of  the  year  are  deeply 

buri  ;:id. 

They  make  picturesque  figures,  too,   in   their 

striking   feature  of  their 

_  the  charms,  generally  worn  round 

ks    •  wi  its  as  protection  against  fever, 

bullets,  and   so  on.      In  addition   they  carry  a 

ol  water,  or  a  pair  of  sandals 

»ulderwith  strips  of  cloth,  and 

nail    bund  ■ 

e     the    rest     of 

their      beloi 

on 
• 
'eturn  to  our 
After    I 
Kangakoi      our 
1    ran    along    the 
left.  k   of 

illul    Mauri. 
-  liter- 
ally,    vail-  the 
■    .  trd 
•ion 
of 
to  I 

aut.  ;hal 


low  depression,  which  was  probably  at 
one  time,  under  different  climatic  con- 
ditions, the  bed  of  a  great  river  empty- 
ing into  the  Niger  at  Doli. 

The  bed  of  the  depression  is  some- 
times marshy  and  overgrown  with  tall, 
characteristic  reed-like  grass,  and  fan- 
palms  arc  very  abundant  in  places, 
though  the  ground  is  for  the  most  part 
sparsely  wooded,  even  the  baobab 
trees  being  comparatively  few  and 
d  war  lis  1 1. 

In  places  the  track  we  were  follow- 
ing was  very  ill-defined  and  difficult, 
but  in  others  it  consists  of  gently 
sloping  banks,  having  in  the  rear  lines 
of  almost  vertical  cliffs  from  one  to 
two  hundred  feet  in  height,  perfectly 
flat  on  the  top  and  covered  with  stunted 
bushes  sufficiently  far  apart  to  allow  of 
a  horseman  riding  through  in  any 
direction. 

Between  Bei-bei  and  the  Niger 
villages  were  but  few,  but  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Bei-bei,  which  is 
the  centre  of  this  district,  the  country 
is  well  populated. 
Of  the  various  tribes  we  met  the  Arewas  are 
perhaps  the  most  prominent  and  warlike.  The 
people  generally  are  Pagan  Hausas,  on  whom 
Mohammedanism  has  left  little  impression.  They 
are  in  a  constant  state  of  war  with  each  other 
and  are  divided  up  into  factions  or  communities 
of  villages,  all  of  which  are  in  constant  fear  of 
Fulani  slave  raids.  The  towns  are  invariably 
surrounded  with  strong  timber  stockades,  which 
have  a  certain  number  of  openings  in  them,  and 
there  is  generally  a  ditch  outside  this  line. 
Sometimes  the  stockades  are  made  more  than 


{Photo. 


A    VIEW    IN    THE    DRY    BED   OK    THE    DALI.UI.    MAUKI. 


[Photo. 


WITH    THE    BRITISH    TO    SOKOTO. 


1  i 


ordinarily  impenetrable  by 
thorn  -  bushes  being 
planted  along  and  among 
the  stakes. 

The  road  took  us 
through  the  village  of 
Banna,  near  which  a 
second  depression,  similar 
to  but  smaller  than  Dallul 
Mauri,  joins  the  latter. 
This  second  dry  water- 
course is  called  the  Rafin 
Fogha,  which,  being  trans- 
lated, means  the  valley  of 
salt.  As  in  a  part  of  the 
Dallul  Mauri,  salt  work- 
ings exist  all  along  it. 
At  frequent  intervals  we 
came  across  these  work- 
ings, which  are  easily 
located  from  the  immense 
mounds  of  debris,  on  the 
tops  of  which  are  perched 
the  hovels  of  the  natives 
who  carry  on  the  in- 
dustry. 

The  procedure  is  very  primitive,  and  consists 
of  collecting  a  quantity  of  impregnated  earth 
and  passing  water  through  it ;  this  latter  is 
caught  underneath  in  earthenware  pots  and  is 
then  evaporated,  the  salt,  a  coarse,  impure  pro- 
duct, being  left  behind.  Considerable  attention 
was  formerly  directed  to  this  trade,  but  of  late 
years,  owing  no  doubt  to  the  disturbed  state  of 
the  country,  the  output  has  much  decreased.  It 
is  a  curious  thing  that  none  of  the  country 
people   seem   to  have   any   definite  ideas  as  to 


From  a] 


A    NATIVE   GAME   AT   A    FRIENDLY   VILLAGE. 


[I'/wto. 


From  a\        the  commencement  of  the  overland  march  to  sokoto.        [Photo. 


where  the  Dallul  Mauri  originates,  or  even  in 
what  general  direction  it  runs.  In  one  place  I 
was  informed  that  it  reunites  with  the  Dallul 
Mauri  at  Tawa  (a  town  near  the  French  border, 
one  hundred  miles  north  of  Sokoto)  and  then 
continues,  via  Maradi,  as  far  as  Katsena. 

The  road  we  were  following  consisted  of  a 
rough  sandy  track  through  a  parched  country  in 
which  water  is  rarely  found  except  in  the  village 
wells.  The  Harmattan  wind,  hot  and  dry, 
charged  with  fine  sand,  makes  it  impossible  to 
see  more  than  about  half  a  mile 
ahead  on  many  days  of  this  season, 
and  the  obscurity  of  the  atmos- 
phere is  increased  by  smoke  rising 
in '  rolling  clouds  from  numbers  of 
grass-fires,  which  seem  to  originate 
spontaneously  in  all  directions,  and 
which  produce  a  glow  in  the  sky 
throughout  the  night. 

There  is  very  little  close  bush, 
and  extensive  sandy  patches  are 
to  be  seen  bare  of  vegetation  or 
showing  signs  by  their  blackened 
surface  of  recent  bush-fires. 

Very  rarely  a  water-hole  is  passed 
near  the  road  a  few  inches  deep, 
the  water  from  which — a  muddy, 
brackish  liquid — is  eagerly  scooped 
up  and  soon  exhausted  by  thirsty 
carriers.  The  wells  in  the  villages 
are  often  one  hundred  feet  and 
more    in    depth,    the    upper    fifteen 


11  IK    WIDE    WORl  l>    MAGAZINE. 


■  (1  and  the  excavation  tapering 

Fhe  water  is  drawn  by  means 

skin,  and  sometimes  a 

animals    is    to   be   seen    close    by, 

"Ut    of   a    single    tree    trunk,    like   a 

Guinea  corn  fields,  often  of 

i,    are   found   near   and    round 

.   small  extent   of  ground  is  also 

thin  the  stockade;   occasionally  one 

;tch  of  indigo  cultivation  or  a  small 

r  melons,  the  latter  carefully  fenced 

gi   is  matti   - 

•    the  towns  we  found  peaceably  dis- 

1  on  our  approach  streams 

:..     .   women,  and    children — came 

ying  calabashes 

full  und-up   guinea-corn,    the 

•    of    the    country.      The 
dmen,  too,  g  \  assistance 

and  provided  extra  carriers  when 

ir  march  tamp 
lly   roused    by 

2   a.m., 
hour     the 
d 
up   an 

-    little   i 

The 
d  on 
with     t: 

r  of  the 
ing  about  day- 

illy,  on  our  arrival 

rapidly  run 
mmodation, 

..  .  and  milk 


collected,  the  latter  from  neighbouring  "  Cow- 
Fulanis,"  or  travelling  herdsmen,  who  have 
established  a  recognised  position  for  themselves 
in  the  country.  Soon  after  halting  for  the  day 
the  soldiers  of  the  escort  are  sent  out  with  a 
number  of  carriers  to  cut  wood,  with  which  a 
zareba  is  built  round  the  camp. 

The  latter  presents  a  busy  scene  towards 
dusk.  The  night-guard  is  mounted  and  sentries 
are  posted,  partly  as  a  precautionary  measure, 
but  chiefly  to  watch  the  animals  and  to  guard 
against  desertion  among  the  carriers  at  night. 
Smoke  rises  from  scores  of  wood-fires,  round 
which  men  squat,  half-naked  and  in  groups, 
dipping  for  their  food  out  of  a  single  calabash 
with  their  fingers  ;  close  by  the  donkeys  are 
tethered  in  lines,  and  beyond  them  is  a 
group  of  camels  pegged  to  the  ground  and 
reclining  in  quaint  attitudes,  chewing  medi- 
tatively    from     a      pile     of    grass      leaves    or 


THE    BRITISH    COMMISSIONERS     TENT. 


[PJwto. 


WITH    THE    BRITISH    TO    SOKOTO. 


'3 


creepers  collected  and  thrown  down  in  front 
of  them. 

Seen  from  a  little  distance  away  (we  generally 
slept  under  a  big  tree  near  the  zareba)  a  haze  of 
light  seemed  to  hang  over  everything,  against 
which  the  figures  of  the  sentries  were  silhouetted, 
their  bayonets  glancing  as  they  paced  to  and  fro 
on  their  beat. 

Gradually  the  braying  of  the  donkeys  and  the 
weird  groanings  of  the  camels  ceased  and  the 
subdued  chattering  from  the  firesides  almost 
died  away,  the  silence  only  being  broken  by 
the  call  at  regular  intervals  throughout  the 
night :  "No.  3— All's  well  !  No.  2— All's  well ! 
Corporal    of   the    guard — All's    well  !  "     Then, 


were  counted  in  the  town  itself,  of  which 
number  about  thirty  fell  round  the  breach  in 
the  stockade  whilst  resisting  the  actual  entry 
into  the  town.  In  spite  of  this  example, 
another  group  of  villages  with  the  Seriki  of 
Lidu  at  their  head  were  now  behaving  in  a 
precisely  similar  manner,  their  depredations 
being  committed  chiefly  against  the  inhabitants 
of  the  district  owing  allegiance  to  Bei-bei. 
The  king  of  the  latter  place  had  always  been 
friendly  towards  us,  ever  since  the  earliest 
occupation  of  the  country,  and  in  this  he 
displayed  his  foresight. 

Rumours  of  these    troubles    began    to  reach 
us  at  about  the  time  of  our   arrival   at  Yellu, 


From  a] 


BUILDING   A   ZAREBA    ROUND   THE   CAMP. 


[P/lOtO. 


after  a  pause,  "  All  right !  "  in  a  muffled  voice 
from  under  a  blanket. 

A  few  weeks  before  our  arrival  in  the  country 
severe  measures  had  been  taken  by  the  military 
commandant  at  Argungo  (the  administrative 
centre)  with  a  village  called  Giwai,  which  is 
situated  about  six  miles  from  Bei-bei,  and 
against  the  people — of  whom  frequent  com- 
plaints had  been  made  in  the  past — for  slave- 
raiding,  cattle-stealing,  etc.  A  column  consisting 
of  fifty  men,  under  a  lieutenant  and  a  white 
non-commissioned  officer,  with  a  seventy-five 
millimetre  gun,  had  shelled  the  stockade  and, 
after  effecting  a  breach,  had  stormed  the  place 
amidst  showers  of  poisoned  arrows  shot  at  close 
range. 

After  a  stiff  fight  the  village  was  taken  and 
burnt.  The  nature  of  the  resistance  can  be 
judged  from  the  fact  that  over  a  hundred  dead 


which  is  close  to  Lidu,  but  is  situated  on  the 
opposite  bank  of  the  Dallul  Mauri.  One 
evening  a  messenger  arrived,  saying  that  a  big 
battle  had  just  been  fought  between  Bei-bei 
and  Lidu,  in  which  the  latter  had  lost  ninety- 
seven  killed.  This  news,  however,  proved  later 
to  be  false,  or,  at  any  rate,  grossly  exaggerated. 
Some  of  the  hamlets  which  we  passed  were 
found  deserted,  the  reason  given  for  this  being 
that  all  the  people  were  going  on  to  Lidu,  where 
preparations  were  being  made  for  a  big  "  war 
palaver."  At  Goro,  twenty  miles  from  Bei-bei, 
we  were  met  by  a  small  army  of  fighting  men 
sent  by  the  friendly  chief  to  welcome  us.  A- 
number  of  horsemen,  armed  with  sword  and 
spear  and  carrying  shields  of  raw  hide,  galloped 
along  the  road  towards  us,  and  on  arriving  at  a 
distance  of  a  few  paces  reined  up  suddenly,  at 
the  same  time  raising  their  spears  in  their  right 


THE    WIDE    IVOR]  H     MAGAZINE, 
he    head 


in 


i    the 

h  military  expedi- 

much  trouble, 

ip  in  with  loud 

I  pulling  up 


eighteen  inches  long,  bent  downwards  to  the  front 
and  rear,  with  sharpened  edges.  Riding-boots 
are  made  o\  soft,  will  prepared  leather,  usually 
dyed  red  .  they  reach  as  far  as  the  knee,  and 
are  continued  in  front  along  the  thigh  up  to 
the  waist,  as  a  protection  to  the  leg  from  thorns 
when  riding  among  hushes.     The  soles  are  soft 


m 


w> 


*6 


. 


TRIBESMEN    DRAWN    LI'    IN    FIGHTING    ARRAY    IN    HONOUR    OF    THE   VISITORS. 


\Photo. 


simultaneously    roll    their    eyes    upwards,    and 
ver  backwards  clash  their  shields  on 
the  ground. 

:i  the  day  a  military  display  was  given 

■ur  honour   on   the   plain  outside   (ioro,   in 

two  hundn  d  ol  the  Bei  bei  fighting 

part      Half   this   force  consisted  of 

i,  each  armed  with  a  how  and  a  quiver 

d  arrow  -       Some  had,  in 

addition,  s;  rid  others  swords,  whilst  two 

with  drums  slung  under  the  arm, 

■finite    signals    of   advance    and 

of    the    horsemen    carried    bows. 

are    primitive   and  consist  of  a 

native  woven  coloured  cloths  ;  they  are 

1  with  a  high  pommel  before  as  well 

ind   the   rider.     Chains  are  often  placed 

:  hor  i  are  usually  tied  round  their 

:  they  are  even   to  be  found  plaited  into 

their  tails. 

The  riders   have  very  little  consideration  for 

•f  which  are    sturdy   little 

endurance;  they  are  not  deficient 

.  and  1  have  known  two  or  three 

mounted   men  ride  down    and   kill  a  full-grown 

;>e  with  their  swords. 

times  sees  great  sores  on  the  ponies' 

.  and  the  bits  used  are  narrow 

stirrup-irons    are    quaintly 

sha:  ,n    in    which    the    foot    rests 

being  three  or  four  inches   wide  and   twelve  to 


also  ;  sandals  are  generally  worn  over  them  when 
walking. 

When  we  arrived  on  the  review  ground  the 
dismounted  contingent  was  drawn  up  in  single 
line  some  twenty  paces  in  front  of  the  horse- 
men, this  being  the  ordinary  fighting  formation. 
After  we  had  passed  along  the  line  and  tested 
the  range  of  the  bows  (which  we  found  to  be 
about  one  hundred  yards)  preparations  were 
made  for  a  cavalry  charge. 

The  archers  withdrew  to  either  flank,  a  word 
of  command  was  given  by  one  of  the  white- 
robed  leaders,  and  the  whole  of  the  mounted 
men  at  once  dashed  forward  towards  us  at  the 
gallop. 

This  movement  provided  a  most  effective 
spectacle.  Above  the  thunder  of  hoofs  the 
clatter  of  spears  on  shields  could  plainly  be 
heard  ;  the  horsemen,  their  many-coloured  gar- 
ments floating  in  the  wind,  advanced  at  the  top 
of  their  speed  whilst  making  the  best  use  of 
their  spurs,  followed  closely  by  a  dense  rolling 
cloud  of  dust.  At  a  distance  of  about  ten 
paces  they  all  pulled  up  suddenly  and,  raising 
their  right  hands  in  the  air  towards  us,  spears 
clenched,  shouted  out  simultaneously  in  salute. 

Shortly  afterwards  a  bull  was  led  out  from 
one  of  the  town  gates  and  allowed  to  gallop 
away  over  the  plain.  When  it  had  taken  a  good 
start  three  horsemen  spurred  out  from  the  line 
after  it,  and,  on  approaching  it,  from  consider- 
able distance  and  at  remarkable  angles,  threw 


WITH    THE    BRITISH    TO    SOKOTO. 


iS 


their  spears  into  it  with  wonderful  accuracy, 
while  going  at  full  speed.  One  of  them  then 
drew  his  sword  and  hamstrung  it  when  still  at 
the  gallop,  soon  after  which  it  was  put  out  of 
pain. 

That  same  evening  a  message  was  brought  in 
to  the  effect  that  the  inhabitants  of  Gisamo,  a 
village  two  miles  farther  on,  intended  to  kill  the 
white  men  when  the  latter  reached  their  town 
the  following  day. 

The  Bei-bei  road  passes  close  under  the 
Gisamo  stockade,  and  on  our  arrival  at  this  spot 
early  the  next  morning  (the  majority  of  our  con- 
voy having  already  gone  on  without  opposition) 
we  found  the  stockade  unoccupied  and  the 
town  deserted.  Three  or  four  hundred  yards 
in  the  rear,  however,  the  whole  of  the  Gisamo 
fighting  men.  numbering  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  (of  whom  perhaps  forty  were  mounted), 
were  drawn  up  in  battle  array,  in  a  precisely 
similar  manner  to  the  Bei-bei  people  at  Goro, 
excepting  that  longer  intervals  were  kept.     On 


and  on  the  arrival  of  the  remainder  of  the 
column  from  Argungu  the  whole  force,  con- 
sisting of  one  hundred  and  forty  men,  as  many 
ammunition- bearers  and  gun  -  carriers,  with  a 
millimetre  gun  (which  is  designed  for  man 
transport),  set  out  for  Lidu. 

Considerable  opposition  was  expected,  as 
Lidu  is  a  large  town  and  the  remnants  of  the 
Giwai  people  as  well  as  the  inhabitants  of  many 
of  the  surrounding  villages  were  reported  to  have 
collected  there.  However,  no  fight  took  place  : 
a  number  of  horsemen  advanced  towards  the 
column  with  the  usual  hubbub,  but  on  realizing 
the  number  of  the  troops  they  turned  round 
and  fled.  A  few  were  shot,  and  the  town  was, 
entered  and  burnt. 

Many  Bei-bei  horsemen  who  had  followed 
the  troops  out  of  sight  took  advantage  of  the 
situation  to  acquire  slaves  and  cattle,  and  were 
at  an  apparent  loss  to  understand  the  reason  a 
few  days  later  when  their  town  was  searched 
and  restitution  was  insisted  on  being  made. 


A   CORNER   OF   THE   CAMP,    SHOWING   A    BRITISH    OFFICERS   GRASS    SHELTER  ON   THE   LEFT. 

From  a  Photo. 


the  hills  behind  them,  too,  look-out  men  were 
posted,  and  single  horsemen  cantered  along  the 
lines  when  we  were  first  sighted. 

After  seeing  all  the  carriers  past  we  rode 
forward  with  the  twelve  men  composing  the 
rear-guard  of  the  escort,  but  this  proved  to  be 
too  'much  for  the  courage  of  our  opponents, 
who  retired  into  the  bushes  and  broken  ground 
at  the  foot  of  the  cliffs. 

At  Bei-bei  we  found  a  concentration  taking 
place  of  the  troops  forming  the  Argungu 
column  of  which  the  forty  men  of  our  escort 
were  part.     It  had  been  decided  to  attack  Lidu, 


The  condition  of  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the 
Western  Soudan  is  at  present  very  unsettled. 
Slave-raiding  is  a  universal  practice,  and  there 
is  little  security  for  life  or  property  outside  the 
stockaded  towns  ;  indeed,  no  one  goes  far  from 
their  gates  without  carrying  bows  and  spears. 
Such  a  state  of  affairs  cannot  be  altered  all  at 
once,  however,  but  there  is  little  doubt  that,  with 
the  adjustment  of  the  Anglo-French  boundary 
and  the  effective  occupation  of  the  countries  on 
both  sides  of  it,  order  will  gradually  be  restored 
and  a  state  of  peace  established  unknown  in  the 
memory  of  the  oldest  of  the  present  inhabitants. 


(To  be  cotifitiited.) 


A   Motor-Car  Caravan  in  Algeria. 

r,\   i in    Vis<  oi  n  i  in   Soissons. 

The  adventures  which  befell  three  well-known    French   automobilists  who   organized  a  motor-car 
ss    Algeria  and   .1  portion  of  the    Sahara.       Their    experiences    ranged    from    a    sharp  brush 
with  brigands  to  a  sandstorm  in  the  desert. 


SHORT  time  ago  three  chauffeurs, 

all     well     known     in      the     Parisian 

motoring  world     Messieurs  Etienne 

tetan    d<     Mi. mine,     and 

Chauchard-    organized  an  ambitious 

.    ria  with  a  "caravan"  of  motor- 

v    left    Algiers    early    one    morning, 

although  not  without  trouble,  for  the  rough  se.is 

in  t  terranean  had  inundated  two  of  the 

and  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  get  them  in 

Lgain. 

The    first    two    days   of    the   journey   passed 

'lit  incident  until  after  leaving  Palestro,  and 

they  were 

gl   e  wild 

mountain  region 

as     the 

Kabylia. 

their  atten- 

was  arrested 

harp  clatter 

on    the    stony 

i    behind 

them.     looking 

rou: 

Arab 

n      dart 

■  irner 

and     urge    their 

;fter  the 

guide, 

name 

el  - 

rror  when  he  saw  them. 

"  they  are  robbers, 

:r  gold  and  your  weapons,  and  also  after 

the    cars    was  accordingly    in 
-  ■;  _■  distance  between 
I    n-Haffar,  the  head 
le  of  the  rifles 
and  the   first   rie  HafTar   was 

i-:sman,  but  just  as  he  fired  the  motor- 
car I  round  a  bend  and  he  only  man.: 
■  it  the  I  bernous 


■ 

*:       •  "' 

JU 

*  - 

■ 
— 

II 

THE   START   OF   THE   MOTOR-CARS 

From 


The  pursuers  immediately  fired  a  volley  in 
reply,  but  the  bullets  from  their  old-fashioned 
wheel-lock  muskets  all  fell  short.  One  alone — 
the  man  at  whom  Ben-Haffar  had  fired — had  a 
good  gun  and  knew  how  to  use  it.  Three  shots 
whistled  round  the  guide's  head  from  the 
brigand's  rifle;  one  pierced  his  bemouse  at  a 
little  distance  from  th#  head,  the  second 
embedded  itself  in  the  butt  of  his  yataghan, 
and  the  third  hit  the  panel  behind  which  he 
was  crouching.  Then  came  Ben-Haffar's 
turn,  and  every  one  of  the  five  bullets  in  his 
magazine   found    its    billet,    leaving    horse    and 

rider   in  a  heap 
on  the  road. 

Two  minutes 
later,  to  the  tra- 
vellers' astonish- 
ment, the  pur- 
s  u  i  n  g  A  r  a  b  s 
swerved  to  the 
left  and  dis- 
appeared, as 
though  relin- 
quishing the 
chase.  Kaban- 
el-Harosh,  how- 
ever, compre- 
hended the  real 
meaning  of  the 
manoeuvre. 

" '  Faster, 
faster,"  he  yelled, 
"  we  must  pass 
the  next  path  that  leads  into  the  road  before 
they  reach  it  by  the  short  cut  they  have  taken." 
The  chauffeurs  set  their  teeth  as  the  motors 
dashed  at  breakneck  speed  over  the  bumpy  road. 
Once,  as  they  passed  over  a  very  high  part,  they 
saw  on  the  plateau,  a  little  below  them,  the 
Arabs,  who  were  now  ahead  of  them.  An 
anxious  moment  of  suspense  came  when  they 
neared  the  danger  spot,  and  then,  just  as  the  last 
car  passed  the  path,  four  of  the  Arabs  dashed 
out  at  headlong  speed. 

M.   de    Meaulne  promptly   dropped   three  of 


ON   THEIR  JOIRNKY   ACROSS    ALGERIA. 
a   Photo. 


A  MOTOR  CAR  CARAVAN  IN  ALGERIA. 


17 


THE    FOURTH    IMPRUDENTLY    ENGAGED    STEEL   WITH    DEN-HAFFAR. 


them  with  his  revolver,  and  the  fourth  im- 
prudently engaged  steel  with  Ben-Haffar,  a 
splendid  swordsman,  who  from  the  car  laid  his 
head  open  with  one  sweep  of  his  sharp  scimitar. 

The  other  rohbers  followed  the  cars  for  ten 
minutes  more,  firing  intermittently,  and  then 
retired  with  the  loss  of  several  of  their  number. 
On  the  other  side  two  Arabs  and  M.  de  Meaulne 
were  slightly  wounded  by  jezail  bullets. 

The  motorists  reached  the  town  of  Dra-el- 
Mizan  fairly  late,  but  only  stopped  there  until 
early  morning,  when  they  entered  the  mountain 
country.  It  was  hard  work  for  the  cars,  being 
nearly  all  uphill,  and  the  party  had  to  be  very 
careful  not  to  lose  the  road  to  the  El-Kantara 
pass. 

The  cars  were  working  slowly  up  a  hill  when 
suddenly  the  watchful  eyes  of  M.  de  Meaulne 
perceived,  over  the  edge  of  a  precipice  above 
them,  the  face  of  a  man,  and  under  it  the  barrel 
of  a  rifle  pointed  at  the  head  of  one  of  the 
guides.  In  a  moment  it  flashed  across  his 
mind  that  this  particular  guide  had  been  out- 
lawed by  his  tribe,  who  had  sworn  to  kill  him 
whenever  he  crossed  their  path.  M.  de  Meaulne 
therefore  picked  up  his  rifle  and  fired  without 
hesitation,  placing  a  bullet  in  the  man's  head. 
He  was  too  late  to  save  the  guide,  however,  for 

Vol.  xii.— 3. 


the  stranger  fired 
at  the  same  time 
as  he  did,  and 
two  bodies  fell  at 
once. 

The  assassin, 
struck  in  the 
temple,  toppled 
down  just  as 
poor  Kaban-el- 
Harosh  cried 
with  his  last 
breath  : — 

"  I  am  done  ! 
They  have  found 
me  out  and  ful- 
filled their  oath." 
This  tragedy, 
enacted  in  such 
a  short  space  of 
1 1  m  e,  made  a 
great  impression 
on  the  party,  and, 
taken  in  connec- 
tion with  the 
brigand  episode, 
brought  home  to 
them  vividly  the 
dangers  of  the 
trip  they  had 
undertaken. 
Having  disposed  of  the  bodies  as  well  as 
possible,  the  motorists  continued  their  journey. 
An  hour  later,  the  heat  becoming  greater,  they 
stopped  again  and  pitched  the  tent  which  they 
carried  with  them.  At  the  altitude  at  which 
they  were  now,  however,  the  heat  does  not  last 
long,  and  before  they  restarted  Ben-Haffar  pro- 
posed a  wild-sheep  hunt.  M.  de  Meaulne  and 
M.  Girand  accordingly  went  out  with  him,  and 
after  some  time,  from  the  top  of  a  shelving 
bank,  perceived  about  two  dozen  sheep  and 
three  rams. 

Unluckily  M.  Girand  slipped  and  rolled  a 
pebble  down  the  slope,  which  sent  the  sheep 
flying  helter-skelter  in  all  directions.  The  Arab 
and  M.  de  Meaulne  brought  down  two  with 
their  repeaters,  and  would  have  hit  more  had  it 
not  been  for  the  fact  that  the  three  rams  caused 
a  diversion  by  charging  the  hunters  with  their 
heads  well  down.  The  charge  was  so  entirely 
unexpected  that  all  the  men  forgot  to  fire 
except  M.  Girand,  who  was  smarting  under 
the  shame  of  not  having  killed  anything. 
His  bullet  struck  one  of  the  rams,  who  fell  in 
his  tracks.  Triumphant,  the  hunter  seated 
himself  on  the  prostrate  animal  and  cried  out 
laughingly  :  — 

"  Well,  my  friends,  who  has   made  the  best 


Till      Ull'l      WORM)     MAGAZINE. 


\ 


their  fallen  comrade 


killed  . 

Help!  help:" 

\-  if  by  magic  the 

and  bounded  off, 

M.    Girand    on    his 

ce,  and  then 

buck.     Sremg  the 

I    his   m«  rcy,    the.  ram 

s,  and  would   haw  gone 

b  killed  the  infuriated  animal 

■ 

with 

Arab 
: — 
ill  Nit 

■•  ?" 
M.  <    his 

. 

••  1  tho 

inned  him.     They 
.ilk    these 
ut    not    thick 
enoi:- 

And  the  .'  3       to 

gain. 
When    the     merriment 
hn<:  ied    the    game 

the  bun 
and    the  party 
back  to  the  camp. 
nearly  1 

ling  the 
.  when  M.  <  iirand 
ked  mournfully:  "The 
will    laugh    at    me 

.     who    was 
le    little     distance    in 
front,  overheard   him  and 
.  in  an 
ne  :  — 

lui'kly.     r 

11  hidden  ;  we  will  yet  laugh  at  them." 

It  nt    that    Ben-Haffar    had    seen 

•       _   ahead,   and  so  they  cautiously  crept 

"h<j  Arab  was  crouching. 

n   there   tl.  the    whole   camp, 

1  the  low  ledge,  in 

the  nt  was  pitched,  was  a 

flicking  away   the   flies  !     He 

1  by  the  smell  of  the  supper, 

ed   craned   his  neck  in 

an  a:..  .each  a  bag   of  biscuits   hanging 


from  one  oi'  the  corners  of  the  flat-topped 
Arabian  tent. 

••  Now.  nis.  be  quick  and  steady  !  Fire  twice 
at  his  back."  said  the  Arab  ;  and  M.  de  Meaulne, 
acting  on  the  advice,  sent  two  bullets  into  the 
bear's  bark,  tumbling  it  right  through  the  top 
of  the  tent. 

In  a  moment  the  camp  was  in  an  uproar  and 
the  sleepers  in  the  tent  were  rudely  awakened. 
The  bear,  which  was  only  wounded,  rushed  at 
M.  Chauchard  and  tried  to  hug  him.  Weapon- 
less and  only  half  awake,   the  unfortunate  man 


THE    UNFORTUNATE   MAN    CLAMBERED    DESPERATELY    IP    A    CLIFF. 


clambered  desperately  up  a  cliff,  closely  followed 
by  the  enraged  bear,  who  had  already  torn  his 
clothes.  The  game  was  going  too  far,  and  so 
the  three  practical  jokers  ran  down  and  put  an 
end  to  the  bear,  to  the  vast  relief  of  the 
frightened  Chauchard. 

As  everyone  thought  there  had  been  enough 
hunting,  the  travellers  left  again  after  having 
done  their  best  to  patch  up  the  battered  tent. 
It  was  decided  that,  as  M.  de  Meaulne  was  the 
man  who  had  shot  at  the  bear,  it  should  be  his 


A    MOTOR-CAR    CARAVAN    IN    ALGERIA. 


•9 


place  in  future  to  sleep  under  the  hole  caused 
by  the  fall  of  that  animal. 

That  day  they  travelled  late  into  the  night, 
and  then  only  stopped  for  a  couple  of  hours,  as 
they  wished  to  reach  the  pass  of  El-Kantara 
before  the  great  heat  of  midday  came  on. 
Before  nine  o'clock  the  engines  were  as  hot  as 
fire,  through  lack  of  water  in  the  cooling  pipes. 
This  is  only  too  frequently  the  great  drawback 
in  long  motor  journeys  across  big  stretches  of 
country.  In  spite  of  this,  however,  the  cars 
were  pushed  on.  When  they  reached  the  pass 
the  party  found  there  a  young  Arab  chief  with 
some  fifty  men.  He  informed  the  travellers 
that  his  name  was  Abder-Ali-Bey,  and  that  by 
order  of  the  Government  he  was  trying  to 
exterminate  a  tribe  of  roving  robbers.  They 
told  him  of  the  men  who  had  chased  them  and 
of  the  death  of  the  guide.  He  frowned  at  the 
news  and  then  said  : — 

"  I  did  not  know  that  they  had  gone  so  near 
to  the  towns.  As  to  the  guide,  I  knew  him,  for 
he  was  a  useful  man.  Of  course,  you  know  his 
story  ?  He  was  one  of  the  tribe,  but  he  did  not 
like  the  robbing,  and  so  left  them.  He  has 
now  met  with  the  punishment  they  promised 
him."  He  paused 
and  then  con- 
tinued :  "  Before 
long  they  shall  feel 
the  weight  of  my 
sword,  and  then  I 
think  it  will  be  a 
long  time  before 
the  tribe  of  El- 
Gam  will  rob 
again.1' 

The  chauffeurs 
conversed  with  this 
brigand  -  hunter 
until  the  arrival  of 
the  rest  of  his 
detachment,  when 
he  escorted  them 
five  miles  on  their 
way.  Here  they 
separated,  he  going 
off  on  his  mission 
of  extermination, 
and  the  travellers 
continuing  on  their 
way  to  Aumale, 
where  they  were  to 
hunt  the  gazelle. 

At  Aumale  they 
put  up  at  the  house 
of  the  Sheik,  and 
expressed  their 
desire  to  hunt  the 


fleet-footed  gazelles,  for  which  Aumale  and  its 
environs  are  renowned  throughout  Algeria. 
They  rose  at  eight  next  morning  and,  after 
breakfast,  were  provided  with  horses  and 
rode  off,  together  with  some  thirty  Arabs  and 
the  men  who  led  the  dogs.  Soon  they  were  all 
tearing  along  after  a  pair  of  gazelles,  who  had 
just  over  half  a  mile  start  of  them.  The  horses 
supplied  by  the  Sheik  were  of  the  best  Arab 
breed,  and  took  ditches  of  astonishing  width. 

The  best  part  of  the  hunt  came  at  half-past 
eleven,  when,  having  already  caught  half-a-dozen 
gazelles,  they  started  two  bucks  and  six  roes,  all 
of  a  bunch,  who  threatened  to  give  a  long  chase. 
The  horses,  however,  had  not  lost  their  wind  in 
the  least,  and  followed  the  eight  deer  gamely. 
After  half  an  hour's  chase  the  field  tailed  out, 
and  there  were  only  our  three  travellers,  the 
Sheik,  and  two  of  his  friends  still  following  the 
game.  Presently  the  deer  jumped  over  a  broad 
chasm  and  slackened  their  speed  a  little, 
apparently  thinking  this  would  be  an  effectual 
barrier  to  their  pursuers.  Three  of  the  horses 
refused  to  jump  the  gully,  and  the  dogs  gave  it 
up  entirely,  but  the  three  others  jumped  and 
landed    safely,    with   the    exception    of  M.   de 


HIS    HORSE   LANDED   ON    HIS    FOREFEET   ONLY. 


III1.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


1/1FROV. 


\Pkoto. 


His   horse  landed  on  his   forefeet 

nd  fell  down   the  precipice,   but   its  rider 

mble  clear  as  he  felt  the 

animal    slipping    backward.      The 

ik  and   M.   C1i.uk  hard,   who   negotiated  the 

h   brought   back  a   deer,    but 

irned   o\cr  the  chasm   by  a    bridge   half  a 

wn,  |V>r  it  was  a  jump  not  to  be  taken 

!        party  got   back  to  the  town  shortly 

-wards,    and    at    five   o'clock   on   the    same 

the    indefatigable    automobilists    left    for 

.Mara. 

Saint-Mara  they  forded  the  river  without 

nt  and  went  safely  on  to  Guifroy,  where,  to 

their  annoyance,  a  wheel  in  M.  C'hauchard's  car 

I  wron.:  two  Arab  guides  wereaccord- 

ruested  to  procure  a  couple  of  mules  to 


pull  the  car  to  the  hotel  at  which  they  intended 
to  stop  until  the  next  morning.  The  mules  were 
brought  and  were  about  to  be  harnessed  into  the 
car  when  one  of  them  heard  the  regular  "  teuf, 
teuf,"  o(  M.  Girand's  car,  as  he  started  it.  The 
sounds  tly  displeased  the  animal,  for  he 

turned  round,  pulling  his  owner  with  him,  came 
near  to  the  displeasing  motor,  and  aimed  furious 
kicks  at  it  with  his  hind  legs.  Only  one  kick, 
however,  reached  the  panel  at  which  it  was 
aimed,  for  Ben-Haffar  promptly  smothered  the 
mule's  head  in  a  bernouse  and  led  it  away,  still 
uttering  angry  squeals  and  kicking  viciously. 


HOT    EN    ROUTE. 


/USE 
'  hi:  a  Photo. 


I   IT   AWAY 


On  the  morning  of  the  third  day 
after  leaving  Aumale  the  chauffeurs 
entered  on  their  voyage  across  the 
Sahara  proper.  Once  they  passed 
close  to  a  camp  of  Bedouins.  The 
women  and  children  ran  into  the 
tents  at  the  sound  and  sight  of  the 
strange  monsters,  but  the  men  did 
not  move  from  the  rugs  on  which 
they  were  reclining,  only  reaching 
out  their  hands  involuntarily  to- 
wards the  swords  that  lay  by  their 
sides.  One  young  giant,  knowing 
what  he  could  do  with  ordinary 
vehicles,  playfully  seized  hold  of 
the  back  wheel  of  one  of  the  slow- 
moving  cars  with  the  intention  of 
stopping  it,  and  his  fist  would  have 
been  drawn  down  and  crushed 
had  not  M.  Chauchard  quickly 
reversed    his    engine.       The    Arab 


A    MOTOR-CAR    CARAVAN    IN    ALGERIA. 


21 


Hercules  smiled  his  thanks  and  then  courteously 
invited  them  to  partake  of  bread  and  salt. 

Knowing  that  it  would  be  a  deadly  insult  to 
refuse,  M.  Chauchard  stopped,  calling  on  his 
friends  to  do  the  same.  To  their  annoyance — 
for  it  was  the  best  part  of  the  day  for  travelling— 
they  were  detained  for  two  hours  by  the  hospit- 
able Arabs.  When  at  last  they  managed  to  get 
away  they  hurried  on  towards  the  village  where 
they  intended  to  put  up.  The  powerful  Gard- 
ner-Serpollet  cars  ploughed  heavily  through 
the  sand  with  their  fast-revolving  wheels,  for 
although  the  engines  were  at  full  pressure  the 
cars  only  went  at  half  speed  owing  to  the  yield- 
ing nature  of  the  ground.  The  smallest  car 
could  not  go  up  some  of  the  steep  mounds  of 
shifting  sand  that  accumulate  in  the  desert, 
and  the  larger  ones  therefore  had  to  pull  it  up. 

They  went  steadily  on  without  interruption 
until,  to  their  astonishment,  a  puff  of  wind  sent 
the  fine  sand  flying  in  all  directions.     The  auto- 


sand-storm  which  will  presently  be  raging.  You 
must  cover  the  cars  with  the  wraps  to  make 
a  tent  to  protect  your  heads,  for  you  will 
need  it  ! " 

For  a  moment  the  -chauffeurs  felt  inclined  to 
disregard  the  old  man  and  push  on,  but  seeing 
the  sand  beginning  to  fly  about  in  odd  little 
whirlpools  they  decided  to  take  his  advice. 
The  cars  were  accordingly  placed  in  a  hollow 
square  under  the  shelter  of  a  dune,  and  the  top 
covered  with  car-rugs  and  blankets,  thus  forming 
a  kind  of  square  tent.  These  preparations 
made,  they  went  to  the  top  of  the  hill  which 
sheltered  them  to  see  the  approach  of  the  sand- 
storm. 

First  there  came  a  slight  breeze,  which  ran 
close  along  the  ground,  raising  miniature  whirl- 
winds in  the  sand  as  it  came.  Then,  far  away, 
they  saw  a  sweeping  mass  of  sand  covering 
earth  and  sky,  and  looking  not  unlike  a  tidal 
wave.      It  struck  them  before  they  could  escape, 


THEY    HAD   ONLY   JUST    SUFFICIENT    STRENGTH    TO    DRAW   THEMSELVES   TO   THE   SHELTER    OF    THEIR    SOUARE 


mobilists  hastily  put  on  their  goggles  to  protect 
themselves  against  the  minute  grains,  and  were 
continuing  on  their  way,  when  the  guide  warned 
them. 

"  Take  care,  reis,"  he  said  to  M.  de  Meaulne, 
in  whose  car  he  was  sitting  ;  "  I  know  the  ways 
of  the  desert,  on  which  I  was  born  and  bred, 
and  I  advise  you  to  get  under  the  shelter  of  a 
hill  to  protect  you  against  the  full  force  of  the 


and  threw  them  down,  bruised  and  half-stunned, 
so  that  they  had  only  just  sufficient  strength  to 
draw  themselves  to  the  shelter  of  their  square 
before  the  main  wave  of  the  storm  struck  them, 
blotting  out  the  daylight  and  covering  every- 
thing deep  in  driven  sand.  In  seven  minutes, 
however,  all  was  over,  and  they  had  just  begun 
to  clear  the  sand  away  from  the  cars  when  the 
Arab  cried  out : — 


THE    WIDE    WOK  I  n    MAGAZINE 


sight  that  is  not 
thunderstorm." 
inusual,   then  ?      asked    M.    de 
i 

ar,  or   once  in   three 

n  or 

I  'iu  •  capricious 

r  talk  was  interrupted   by  a   vivid   blue 
I   lightning,  followed   by  a  rever 
thunder.    The  travellei  bed 


Ben-Haffar  surveyed  bis  work  with  satisfac- 
tion and  then  retired  to  rest.  In  the  middle  of 
the  night  he  was  awakened  out  of  his  slumber 
1<\  a  sudden  noise,  followed  by  a  volley  of 
curses.  Running  out,  he  saw  that  his  machine 
had  acted  perfectly,  for  on  the  floor  lay  a 
member  of  the  light-fingered  persuasion,  on 
whose  cranium  the  heavy  bucket,  together  with 
the  water  it  contained,  had  fallen.  To  add  to 
the  poor  man's  misfortunes,  the  sturdy  Ben- 
Haffar  picked  him  up  and  kicked  him  all  the 


hrotn  a] 


A    TARTY  OF   ARAU   CHIEFS   INSPECTING   THE   MOTOR-CARS 


[Photo. 


r  the  coverings  of  the  cars.      A  few 

truck  the  sand,  and  then 

inute  later,  there   was  such  a  deluge  of  rain 

ith  only  in  tropical  countries. 

Wet  and  bedraggled  the  party  at  last  reached 

the  town   of  Batna.     Ben-Haffar  warned  them 

ice  swarmed  with   thieves,  and  as  a 

ir   the   stealing   propensities  of  these 

ie  arranged,  when  his  masters  had  all 

ed  into  their  rooms  for  the  night,  a  curious 

raposed  of  a  framework  of  laths. 

This  he  pla  -he  door   that   formed  the 

n  entrance  of  the  whole  suite  of  rooms, 

he  took  good  care  to  leave  unlocked. 

worth)  of  the  ingenious  Arab, 

I   in  such  a  manner  that  when 

1  a   bucket  of  water,   placed 

the     framework,    fell    on    the 

intruder's  head. 


way  down  the  stairs  and  out  into  the  street, 
giving  him  a  final  heave  as  he  threw  him  out  of 
the  door. 

The  next  morning,  while  on  the  way  to 
Timgad,  he  related  his  exploit  to  his  masters, 
receiving  in  consequence  much  baksheesh 

Timgad  was  reached  without  incident,  and 
the  travellers  had  the  novel  sensation  of  passing 
through  the  ruined  and  deserted  streets  of  the 
noble  Roman  city.  They  felt  proud  to  be  the 
drivers  of  the  first  motor-cars  that  had  ever 
entered  its  ancient  gates. 

They  took  a  few  photos.,  as  they  had  already 
done  at  other  places  during  their  travels,  and 
then  returned  to  the  Arab  village  half  a  mile 
away,  where  they  awaited  the  arrival  of  President 
Loubet,  who  was  then  making  an  official  tour, 
and  with  whom  they  returned  to  Algiers  and  so 
to  civilization  once  more. 


XII     Trie  (END  of  THe 
JOUF^Ney 


Mr.  Kennedy  here  relates 
the  most  hazardous  experi- 
ence which  happened  during 
his  tramp  —  how  he  got 
hopelessly  lost  in  the  Pyre- 
nees during  a  heavy  snow- 
storm. When  almost  in 
sight  of  his  goal  —  the 
French  frontier  —  death 
stared  him  in  the  face,  and 
only  a  combination  of 
common  sense  and  good 
fortune  saved  him. 


N  the  shed  adjoining  the  posada  a 
middle-sized  man  was  raking  straw. 
I  hailed  him  and  told  him  that  I 
had  come  from  Andorra,  and  that 
Miguel  Calounes  had  told  me  to 
call  here  and  put  up  till  the  morning.  It  was 
all  right.  The  man  was  very  friendly.  He  was 
the  "  amigo  "  of  Miguel  Calounes  !  On  the 
morrow  a  party  was  leaving  the  posada  for 
Hospitalet.  I  could  join  them  !  And  he 
wound  up  by  telling  me  to  go  into  the  posada 
and  get  something  to  eat.  They  would  provide 
well  for  anyone  who  came  from  Miguel 
Calounes  !  At  this  he  resumed  his  work  and 
I  went  into  the  posada. 

Inside  the  usual  fire  of  logs  was  blazing  away. 
Before  it  sat  an  old  man  and  an  old  woman. 
They  were  evidently  the  father  and  mother  of 
the  man  outside.  On  the  fire  a  great  pan  of 
potatoes  was  boiling. 

The  old  woman  had  a  shrewd,  clever  face. 
She  looked  very  like  an  Irishwoman.  She  asked 
me  a  great  number  of  questions  concerning 
myself,  and  where  I  came  from  and  where  I 
was  going.  She  was  a  clever  old  woman,  but 
she  was  not  much  used  to  seeing  strangers,  for 
she  asked  me  if  I  were  French.  I  had  been 
asked  this  question  when  I  first  got  into 
Andorra.  And,  indeed,  I  had  been  asked  it  in 
Spain — in   the  province  of  Catalonia  and  even 

Copyright,  1903,  by 


in  parts  of  Castilia.  I  who  of  all  men  looked 
least  like  a  Frenchman. 

The  old  man  had  no  curiosity  about  me  at 
all.  He  just  looked  at  me  when  I  came  in 
first,  and  then  he  turned  his  head  and  blinked 
at  the  fire — in  the  manner  that  he  had  been 
blinking,  probably,  for  years. 

I  stopped  the  old  woman's  questions  by 
telling  her  that  I  wanted  something  to  eat.  She 
•  smiled  and  clapped  her  hands  loudly.  A  young 
woman  came  in.  I  could  see  that  she  was  the 
wife  of  the  man  who  was  working  outside.  One 
of  the  reasons  why  this  was  apparent  was 
because  of  the  expression  of  the  old  lady's  face 
when  she  entered.  It  marked  the  sign  of  the 
strained  relation  between  her  and  the  younger 
woman.  Mother-in-law  and  daughter-in-law 
evidently  did  not  always  pull  well  together. 
Andorra,  of  the  perfect  government,  was,  alas  ! 
no  better  off  in  this  respect  than  was  any  other 
place.     For  a  moment  I  felt  sad. 

But  I  was  soon  cheered  by  the  sight  of  a  good 
meal.  The  young  woman  set  it  out  for  me  in 
the  great  room  of  the  posada.  The  meal  was 
what  some  people  might  call  rough — but  it  was 
straight  and  honest.  There  was  plenty  of 
grilled  meat,  plenty  of  bread,  and  plenty  of  wine. 
The  walk  and  the  cold  had  made  me  tre- 
mendously hungry. 

After  I  had  finished  eating  I  felt  li-ke  a  king 

George  Newnes,  Limited. 


I  Hi;    wild     WOR]  l>    MAGAZINE. 


i!   Hospitalet.     Why 
lother   day  in   getting  to  my 
I    feeling  fit   a 

up    over    the 
four  hours'  march, 
might    be,  from    Hos 
it  ? 
.  up  1  £  the  table,  feel- 

iptimisttc    through    food    and 
of  the  posada  to  intei 
ian   who  was    raking    the    straw.      1 
ud  (Hit  how  many  hours  o\  sunlight 
me 
II  1        I  thre  hours  of  sun  and 

an    hour  v\   twilight.        This   would 
ne    half  an    hour    short,    but    I    felt    lit 
iull  up  that  half-hour,  and  even  it  1 
pull  it  up  I  would  be  near  enough  to  see 
-.     ss  thi   lights  of  Hospitalet. 
A  moment  after  I  had  paid  my  score  to  the 
:  woman   1   had  my  knapsack 
upon  my  back,  and  I   was  going 
a    the  path    at    a    rattling   rate.      As   1    was 
rd  the   man   who  was   raking  the 
E     ui  something   after   me.     But  I 
attention   to  him.      I    had   no   time   to 
if     I    were    going     to     make 
ilet  that  night.     I    felt  strong  and  swift 
nvwhere       Besides,  advice  was  a 
thing  to  !>e  disregarded  ! 

1    never  felt  so   well    in   my   life  as   I    went 

id  up.      I  was  still  some  distance 

u  the  actual  summit  of  the    Pyrenees,  but  I 

I   would  soon,  remedy  that.      I   was  in 

g  form. 

all  over  the  place,  and  it  was 

1        uld   have   followed  the   path   with 

■eak.      It  was  better  now 

than  it  had  been  at  anytime  since  I  had  entered 

her  end  of  the  republic. 

to  wonder  more   than   ever   why 

ad  wanted   me  to  break  the 

He  evidently  did  not  think 

much  of  my   climbing  powers   if  he  thought   a 

nine  hours'  climb  would  do  me  up  ! 

my  thoughts  as  I   went  quickly 

and   .  The  path  had   now    become 

and    it  curved    up  the   side  of  the 

;ntain  in  a   half  spiral.      I  could    see  it    up 

'  ■    wn  below  me.     A 

iath. 

it  an  hour's  climb  I  came  upon  a 

rs).     They  were 

than  it  was.'   And 

parenthetically  that   the   time 

en  ]  ineros  and  all 

:s.      Mountain    paths    are 

s  an<:  rful  affairs  that  are  best  left 

foot  of  man  and   to  the 


hoofs  and  feet  of  animals.  If  a  man  can't 
follow  a  trail  he  has  no  business  going  on  his 
own  through  mountains  And  making  a  road 
on  one  part  of  the  trail  spoils  the  eye  for  the 
rest  o(  the  trail.  The  road  is  easy  to  follow  and 
the  eye  becomes  lazy  and  loses  the  sharpness 
that  is  forced  upon  it  through  the  trail  becoming 
faint-  as  it  does  when  passing  over  a  rocky- 
place. 

1  asked  these  road-menders  the  distance  it 
was  to  Hospitalet.  The  answers  I  got  were 
even  more  varied  than  were  the  answers  I  got 
m  Seo  de  Urgel  when  I  asked  the  people  at 
dinner  in  the  posada  how  far  it  was  from  there 
i"  Andorra. 

The  first  road  mender  said  it  was  four  hours, 
the  next  said  it  was  three  hours,  and  the  man 
after  him  said  it  was  six  hours.  No,  he 
corrected  himself,  did  this  last  man  He  said 
it  was  "cinco  medio"  (five  and  a  half).  He 
wished  to  be  exact.  He  was  a  man  of  an 
honest  and  conscientious  turn  of  mind.  There 
were  seven  camineros  doctoring  the  road,  and 
all  of  them  gave  me  different  answers.  They 
were  stationed  about  fifty  yards  from  one 
another,  and  I  thought  I  would  ask  them  all  for 
the  humour  of  the  thing. 

After  I  left  the  camineros  I  noticed  the  road 
getting  soft.  They  had  been  grading  it  and  had 
evidently  been  covering  it  over  with  a  coating  of 
earth.  It  was  then  that  I  began  to  bless  them 
in  the  backwards  sense,  for  there  is  nothing  so 
trying  as  a  soft  road  when  one  is  climbing.  A 
man  slips  back  nearly  half  a  step  for  every  step 
he  takes. 

And  suddenly  it  began  to  snow  heavily. 

But  I  worked  along  as  hard  as  I  could,  for  it 
would  not  do  to  lose  any  time.  I  had  to  pull 
up  half  an  hour  through  starting  late  from  the 
posada  in  Soldao. 

But  whatever  else  I  had  counted  on  I  had 
not  counted  on  a  road,  or  trail,  that  was  soft  at  a 
height  of  something  over  ten  thousand  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  sea.  I  began  to  curse 
the  camineros  afresh.  But  I  soon  stopped  that 
I  needed  all  my  breath  for  work  that  was 
before  me. 

The  road  still  wound  in  a  half  spiral  up  above 
me,  but  I  could  tell  that  I  was  up  near  the 
summit  from  the  look  of  the  mountains  around 
me. 

By  this  time  the  continual  slipping  back  at 
every  step  had  begun  to  tire  me,  but  1  worked 
away  till  suddenly  I  was  struck  right  in  the  eyes 
with  a  clean  drive  of  snow.  For  a  moment  I 
wondered  what  had  happened 

And  then  it  dawned  upon  me.  I  was  on  the 
summit,  and  had  been  struck  in  the  face  by  a 
hard  wind   that  was  driving  right  across   it — a 


A    TRAMP    IN    SPAIN. 


25 


■ 


VySTw.-v^r.      '" 


.J 


I    WAS    STRUCK    RIGHT    IN    THE    EVES    WITH    A    CLEAN    DRIVE    OF    SNOW. 


wind  that  swept  the  snow  before  it  in  a  thick, 
heavy  drive. 

I  waited  for  a  moment— and  the  wind  veered 
a  little.  I  again  stepped  out  over  the  path.  It 
was  easier  walking  now.  There  was  no  climb- 
ing to  be  done.  The  camineros  had  been 
at  work  here — even  on  the  summit — for  the 
path  had  been  treated  exactly  in  the  way  it 
had  been  treated  lower  down.  I  could  tell  this 
as  I  walked  along. 

There  were  times  when  the  drive  of  snow 
blinded  me,  but  I  kept  going  as  quickly  as  I 
could.  And  then  all  at  once  there  was  no  path  at 
all.  Nothing  but  snow.  But  I  pressed  on  in  the 
direction  in  which  I  was  going.  It  would  not 
do  for  me  to  get  nervous.  And  soon  I  came 
up  to  it  again.  It  was  the  same  broad  path 
that  I  had  been  on  before — the  path  that  the 
camineros  had  graded — had  been  working  upon. 
Just  at  the  beginning  of  it  I  noticed,  or  thought 
I  noticed,  a  rather  faint  trail  that  branched  off 
to  the  left.  For  the  moment  it  struck  me  that 
possibly  this  might  be  the  trail  going  down  to 
Hospitalet.  The  snow  had  pretty  well  drifted 
it  over,  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  I  could  make 
out  the  line  of  it  as  it  ran  along.  However,  I 
decided  to  have  nothing  to  do  with  it— for  here 
was  the  broad  path  ! 

I  was  going  down  now  as  hard  as  I  could.  I 
was  enough  below  the  summit  to  be  sheltered 
from  the  hard  wind  and  the  blinding  drive  of  the 
snow.  I  could  see  the  snow  now  and  then  as 
it  was  being  whirled  in  clouds  up  above  my 
head. 

Vol.  xii.— 4. 


And  then  the 
path  suddenly 
stopped  again. 
There  was  no- 
thing before  me 
but  snow. 

I  turned  and 
began  to  climb 
up  to  the  summit 
again— this  time 
slipping  at  every 
step  as  I  had 
slipped  when 
climbing  up  to  it 
from  the  other 
side.  There  was 
no  time  for  me  to 
stop  to  think 
about  anything  at 
all.  I  had  to  get 
on.  My  instinct 
told  me  that  it 
was  useless  for 
me  to  press  on 
over  the  snow  as 
I  had  done  when  I  had  lost  the  path  in  the  first 
place.  And  I  felt  too  that  the  faint  trail  that  I 
had  seen  branching  off  to  the  left  on  the  summit 
was  the  right  trail — that  I  would  have  to  follow 
it  to  get  to  Hospitalet.  I  had  completely  lost 
my  bearings,  but  I  had  been  in  mountains 
before — and  I  had  followed  a  slight,  faint  trail 
before.  And  I  knew  also  of  the  fact  that  a  sort 
of  sixth  sense  would  guide  a  man,  used  to 
mountains,  over  a  path  where  other  beings — 
men  or  animals — had  been  in  the  habit  of  going 
before  —  however  faintly  the  path,  or  trail, 
showed.  Danger  but  sharpened  the  senses. 
The  reason  that  men  got  lost  was  because  they 
lost  their  heads  when  they  got  into  difficulties. 
The  great  thing  was  to  keep  oneself  easy. 

It  was  darker  now  than  when  I  had  started 
from  Soldao,  but  the  sun  had  not  yet  gone 
down.  Though  there  was  no  shining  from  it,  I 
could  tell  by  the  colour  of  the  sky  off  to  the 
west  that  it  was  still  up  over  the  mountains.  I 
would  have  still  time  to  get  to  Hospitalet  if  I 
had  any  sort  of  luck.  All  I  had  to  do  was  to 
keep  easy  and  not  lose  my  head.  Three  things 
had  worked  against  me  :  My  own  foolishness  in 
leaving  Soldao — the  spoiling  of  the'  trail  by  the 
camineros — and  the  snow. 

But  there  was  no  use  thinking  of  that  now  ! 
The  thing  for  me  to  do  was  to  get  up  to  the 
summit  and  find  the  trail  that  I  saw  branching 
off  and  follow  it.  I  knew  that  if  I  could 
manage  this  I  would  be  all  right.  I  could  not 
be  more  than  five  kilbmetros  from  Hospitalet — 
about  three  miles  ! 


1  111.    \\  IDE    NOK1  1>    MAGAZINE. 


1   \>.  gain  and  fighting 

th<  It     was    now 

.  my  w  towards 

til       Km  when 
nothing  but  a 

i   in  disyuisinq  the  fad  to 
til  hail  been  drifted 
1  had  been  last  there      1 
than   half  an  hour 
I   knew  by  the  set   o\  the 
that   1  was  looking  for  it   in 
!:    Iaj    off  over    there  — 
il    it  was   more    than  1 
How  it. 
I    1    thought  of 
the  other  side  ol 
suit,  and  finding  th>-  path 
went   down    to  Soldao.      It 
take  me  very 
;ada 
.  • 

_      d  fire  and 
But 
the:  wo    thii 

rrying-out 

<  Ine  was 

that  I  might  not  find  the 

ther  side —  J-^! 

might    have  -.-S^-'" 

: — and   the 

that    I    hardly 

the  people 

in   -  t  a   fool   I 

Id  wind  was 
:ng   the   snow   around 
in    clou  I    was    half- 

blinded  and  chilled  to  the 
ie.       Whatever   I    was 
ould  not 
■  on  this 
summit.    The  cold  would 
of    me, 
!  found 

d   by  the  next  people 
mg. 
■  k  again 
along  the  path  thai 
nov.  -     ,ii     I 

'  . 
mm  it.      I 
'.he   reach  of  the 
thrust  of   the  hard   wind 
that 

dea  \nd 

at  la 
of   the    | 
the  blank 

ROUND 


path  that  the  camineros  had  made!  It  had, 
indeed,  turned  out  to  he  a  blind  path  going 
nowhere.  Bui  tor  it  1  would  have  taken  the 
trail  that  I  was  Mire  now  must  have  been  the 
right  "il.-  the  trail  going  to  Hospitalet.  I 
might,  o\  course,  be  mistaken — no  man  was 
infallible.      But  I  felt  that  I  was  not  mistaken. 

It  was  coming  on  to  darkness  now,  and  the 
idea  came  to  me  to  go  over  the  snow  in  front  of 
me.  I  might  have  the  luck  to  come  across 
another  trail.  There  would  be  surely  more 
than  one  going  in  the  direction  I  wanted   to  go. 


. 


■:•    - 


-  'KKII     I  I  K  I .    A    1,11    A  1 
RUCK." 


And  even  if  there 
were  not  it  was 
better  for  me  to 
keep  moving  any- 
how. 

I  went  along  for  a 
while,  and  then  I 
made  out  in  the  half 
darkness  ahead  of 
me  an  object  that 
looked  like  a  great 
round  rock.  A 
hundred  yards  or  so 
from  it  the  snow  was 
all  gone  from  under 
my  feet,  and  I  found 
myself  walking  on 
loose  stones. 

When  I  got  to  the 
object  I  found  that 
it  was  a  circular  hut 
built  of  stones  and 


A    TRAMP  IX    SPAIN. 


27 


shaped  like  a  hive.  I  walked  slowly  round  it. 
There  was  the  entrance  into  it — a  space  about 
three  feet  high  and  two  feet  broad.  But  the 
snow  had  partly  drifted  up  the  space. 

I  cleared  away  the  snow  with  my  foot,  and 
bending  my  head  down  into  the  space  I  struck 
a  match  and  peered  in.  As  the  match  flared  I 
noticed  the  immense  thickness  of  the  wall  of 
the  hut.  This  hut  was  made  to  stand  the 
frightful  wind-pressure  that  drove  along  when 
great  storms  were  raging  here  on  the  mountain 
tops.  A  hut  built  in  the  ordinary  way  would 
be  blown  to  pieces.  But  this  hut  would  stand 
the  fiercest  hurricane  that  ever  blew.  Not  only 
was  it  immensely  strong,  but  its  shape  would 
allow  the  wind  to  get  no  hold  on  it.  A  circular 
hut  of  immense  power,  shaped  like  a  hive.  It 
was  evidently  built  as  a  storm-shelter  for 
shepherds — or  travellers. 

Someone  had  sheltered  in  it — how  long  ago  I 
could  not  tell.  I  was  standing  now  in  the 
centre  of  it  holding  a  match  up  in  my  hand 
and  looking  round.  The  curve  of  the  roof 
above  the  centre  was  about  eight  feet  high. 
Near  my  feet  was  a  small  pile  of  dull  white 
ashes — the  remains  of  a  wood  fire.  The  floor 
to  the  right  of  the  space  through  which  I  had 
entered  was  covered  with  a  heap  of  very  light 
twigs.  I  bent  down  and  touched  them.  They 
were  dry— dry  as  a  bone.  I  was  in  luck.  I 
could  stay  here  till  the  morning  came. 

I  took  off  my  knapsack  and  sat  down.  And 
then  the  cold  struck  into  me.  It  seemed  to  be 
almost  as  cold  as  it  was  up  on  the  summit.  I 
was  all  right  when  climbing  or  walking.  But 
almost  the  moment  I  stopped  exerting  myself 
the  cold  fastened  on  me. 

The  whole  thing  had  been  my  own  fault.  I 
had  been  guilty  of  knowing  too  much — of  being 
over-confident.  Had  I  listened  to  Miguel 
Calounes  in  the  first  place  this  would  not  have 
happened.  I  had  by  rare  good  luck  found  a 
place  of  shelter,  but  I  was  as  yet  by  no  means 
out  of  the  wood.  I  was  still  in  danger — a  great 
deal  of  danger.  If  the  temperature  were  to 
drop  still  lower,  suddenly — as  it  well  might,  it 
being  the  night  of  the  24th  of  October,  it  was 
hard  to  tell  what  would  happen.  I  was  lost, 
but  I  didirt  mind  that  very  much.  Finding  my 
way — in  daylight — was  the  easiest  thing  going. 
I  would  be  almost  certain  to  see  the  trail  down 
in  the  mountains  beneath  me  when  the  light 
came  in  the  morning.  If  I  failed  to  sec  it  there 
was  even  then  a  means  of  finding  my  way  that 
was  absolutely  sure.  I  was  over  the  summit  of 
the  mountains,  and  all  I  had  to  do  was  to  follow 
down  the  first  stream  I  came  to.  This  would 
naturally  run  down  into  a  bigger  stream,  and  I 
would  follow  the  stream  down  and  down  till  it 


came  to  the  main  water-course  running  through 
the  chain  of  mountains.  Along  the  main  water- 
course I  would  be  certain  to  come  across  places 
where  people  lived — and  that  in  a  very  short 
time.  No,  finding  my  way  was  nothing.  'What 
I  was  afraid  of  was  the  dreary  wait  of  at  least 
twelve  hours  in  the  darkness — and  the  cold. 

Suddenly  an  idea  came  to  me  and  in  a 
moment  I  was  outside  of  the  hut  and  fastening 
my  knapsack  .up  on  to  my  back  again.  My 
idea  was  to  try  and  find  Hospitalet.  I  could 
not  be  very  far  from  it,  and  if  I  got  up  on  to  a 
higher  elevation  I  might  see  the  lights  shining 
from  it.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  elevation 
over  on  the  other  side  of  the  gorge  would  be 
high  enough  for  the  purpose.  I  would  be  all 
right  if  I  could  only  see  the  lights  of  Hospitalet. 
I  could  then  make  my  way  down  to  it  slowly 
and  cautiously.  It  was  risky,  but  then  it  was 
risky  staying  in  the  hut  through  the  whole  of 
the  long  night.  There  was  nothing  in  it  with 
which  I  could  make  a  fire — nothing  but  the 
twigs  on  which  I  would  have  to  lie  through  the 
night  if  I  were  forced  to  come  back  to  shelter 


in   it  again. 


Burning    them    was    out    of    the 


question.  The  wood  that  had  been  in  the  hut 
had  all  been  burned  up.  Before  I  left  it  I  took 
note  of  its  surroundings.  Two  big  boulders 
lay  off  from  it. 

I  made  my  way  slowly  across  the  gorge. 
When  I  was  some  distance  over  I  turned  to  take 
another  look  at  the  hut.  I  wanted  to  mark  its 
position  well  in  my  mind,  so  that  I  would  be  able 
to  know  it  if  coming  towards  it  from  a  distance. 
Yes,  I  could  find  it  easily  enough.  From  where 
I  stood  it  formed,  with  the  two  boulders,  a  rough 
triangle.  The  triangle  so  formed  could  vary  but 
little  in  general  appearance  even  if  I  approached 
it  from  another  direction.  I  was  all  right  as  far 
as  finding  the  hut  was  concerned. 

I  turned  and  went  on  again  towards  the 
elevation.  I  had  not  gone  far  before  I  heard  the 
faint  roaring  of  water.  But  I  went  on,  hoping 
for  the  best.  It  might  not  be  running  between 
me  and  the  place  where  I  wanted  to  go  ! 

And  the  roaring  became  louder. 

Luck  was  against  me.  A  torrent  was  hurling 
along  at  the  foot  of  the  elevation  I  wanted  to 
climb.  I  had  either  to  ford  it  or  go  back  to  the 
hut  and  pass  the  night. 

I  decided  to  ford  it.  In  life  a  man  must  take 
a  chance,  and  besides,  a  torrent  running  down  at 
such  an  angle  could  at  the  most  be  no  more  than 
three  feet  deep.  It  made  a  lot  of  noise,  but  that 
was  nothing. 

I  went  along  it  to  try  and  find  a  place  where 
there  were  stones  going  across  so  that  I. might  get 
over  dryshod  if  possible.  But  I  failed  to  find 
stepping-stones  and  I  just  plunged  right  across. 


1111     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


I'HE    MIDDLE,    AND    !    WAS    NEARLY 
KNf>  :    BV    ITS    RUSH.  ' 

The  shock  was  sharp   but    short.     The   water        it  afterwards. 

up  to  the  middle,  and   I   was  nearly 
knr.  r  by  its  rush,  but  I  went  on  climbing 

vation  on  the  other  side. 

on  the  top  of  it  and  looking  around. 

I    i  nothing.      It   was  fairly   clear 

■  iy  down  beneath  me  it  was 

a  strange  sort  of  night  as  far  as 

rned — clear  in  some  places  and 

There  was  hardly  a  trace  of 

I  down— at  least  where  I  was. 

mother  elevation  still  higher  up, 

1  would  go  up  there  and  see  if  I 

inything.      Up   I  went.     But  it  was 

re  was  nothing  but  a  thick 

neath  me.     Even  if  I 

right  direction,  and  even  if 

re  shining  ever  so 

seen   them   through  a 

A  revolving  light  could 

ha;  It  was  like  a  wall. 

tor  it   but  to  go  back  to 
tht  :t  out  there  till  morning. 


It  was  then  that  I  noticed  that 
my  trousers  were  frozen  stiff  on 
me.  The  cold  was  sharper  than  I 
thought.  There  was  even  a  rim 
oi  ice  around  the  bottom  of  my 
jacket,  where  it  had  touched  the 
water  as  I  was  fording  the  torrent. 
Some  of  the  water  had  splashed 
in  my  face.  I  had  not  noticed  it 
at  the  time,  but  it  was  brought  to 
my  mind  now.  My  eyebrows  were 
frozen. 

1  lowever,  I  made  my  way  down 
the  elevation — and  down  the  one 
beneath  —  and  across  the  torrent 
again  —  and  over  to  the  hut. 
There  was  only  one  thing  to  be 
done,  and  that  had  to  be  done 
quickly.  I  must  get  off  my  frozen 
clothes  ! 

I  got  in  through  the  space — 
and  struck  a  match.  There  was 
the  heap  of  light  twigs  upon  which 
I  would  have  to  lie  till  daylight 
came  !  There  were  the  dull  white 
ashes  of  the  last  fire  that  had 
been  made  in  the  hut.  If  I  could 
only  make  a  fire  !  But  there  was 
nothing  to  be  gained  by  letting 
my  mind  .dwell  upon  that.  I 
must  make  the  best  of  it. 

I  struck  another  match  and  tried 
to  stick  the  unlighted  end  of  it  in 
a  crack  between  the  stones  of  the 
wall.  It  fell  to  the  ground.  Then 
I  stuck  one  into  the  crack  and  lit 
It  seemed  to  me  that  everything 


1  did  took  ten  times  longer  than  usual. 

My  knapsack  was  on  the  ground  now  and  I 
was  sitting  on  it,  trying  to  get  off  my  boots.  It 
seemed  as  if  I  would  never  be  able  to  get  them 
off.  Once  I  thought  I  would  have  to  cut  them 
off  with  the  big,  sharp  Spanish  knife  I  carried— 
the  knife  that  had  been  flung  in  the  row  in 
Granada.  I  wished  I  were  in  Granada  now — 
where  it  was  warm  ! 

My  boots  were  off  at  last.  And  then  I  got 
off  my  stockings.  My  feet  were  already  numbed 
with  the  cold.  I  had  been  none  too  soon.  I 
was  in  the  dark  now.  The  match  up  above  me 
seemed  to  have  gone  out  hours  before. 

I  had  everything  off  now — coat,  vest,  trousers, 
drawers,  shir'  and  undershirt— everything.  I 
stood  naked— shivering.  And  then  I  opened 
my  knapsack  and  fumbled  out  my  other  under- 
shirt, and  drawers,  and  a  pair  of  socks.  They 
were  dry.  I  had  kept  them  wrapped  up  in  a  big 
piece  of  oiled  paper— that  I  had  also  got  in 
(Iranada.      I    kept    thinking    about    Granada — 


A    TRAMP    IN     SPAIN. 


29 


where  it  was  warm.  I  lay  down  then  on  the 
heap  of  twigs  with  my  knapsack  under  my  head. 
I  covered  myself  up  as  well  as  I  could  with  the 
part  of  my  clotb.es  that  were  dry.  I  coiled  my- 
self up  as  much  as  I  possibly  could  in  a  circle. 

I  can't  describe  the  night  1  passed  in  that  hut. 
All  that  I  can  say  is  that  it  was  horrible.  I 
never  slept  through 
the  whole  of  the 
time.  I  had  one 
long  fight  with  the 
cold. 


going  to  Hospitalet  themselves.  They  were 
the  party  that  had  left  Soldao  that  morning 
the  party  that  I  could  have  gone  with  had  I 
waited.  They  had  come  by  a  short  cut  through 
the  mountains.  I  went  on  with  them.  We 
were  still  about  six  kilbmetros  away  from  Hos- 
pitalet.     When  I  climbed  up  the  elevation   the 


staring 
space    waiting 


The  dawn  was 
showing  at  last 
through  the  open 
space  of  the  hut. 
For  the  last  few 
hours  I  had  been 
at  that 
for 
it  to  come.  And  . 
it  had  come  at  last. 

I  was  dressing 
myself.  My  trou- 
sers were  still  stiff 
with  the  frost,  and 
so  were  my  boots. 
But  walking  would 
soon  cure  that. 

I  felt  so  stiff  and 
used  up  when  I  got 
outside  of  the  hut 
that  1  felt  as  if  I 
could  hardly  walk 

at  all.  But  after  going  a  hundred  yards  or  so  I 
limbered  up  a  little.  And  then  I  saw  the  trail 
just  as  I  thought  I  would  see  it.  It  was  away 
down  beneath  me — about  a  mile  and  a  half  off. 

And  to  my  joy  I  saw  a  party  of  three  men 
crossing  a  stream  that  lay  just  beyond  it.  They 
had  two  mules  with  them.  I  hailed  them  and 
hurried  forward  as  fast  as  I  could.  I  was  glad 
to  see  anyone.  And  I  wanted  to  make  sure  if 
I  were  going  in  the  direction  of  Hospitalet. 

They  were  coming  towards  me.  The  mules 
were  heavily  laden.  But  when  I  was  hardly 
more  than  half  a  mile  away  from  them  they  dis- 
appeared. I  soon  came  up  to  the  place  where 
I  had  seen  them  last.  But  I  could  make  nothing 
of  it.  The  whole  thing  looked  mysterious.  I 
could  see  no  place  where  two  mules  and  three 
men  would  be  likely  to  disappear. 

And  then  I  heard  the  tinkle  of  bells  off 
behind  me,  and  there  coming  along  was  a  string 
of  mules  and  men.  Seven  men  and  seven 
mules.     I  waited  for  them  to  come  up. 

Yes,  I  was   on   the   right   path  !     They  were 

THE 


YES,    I    WAS   ON   THE    RIGHT    1'ATH  !      THEY   WERE   GOING    TO    HOSPITALET    THEMSELVES  " 

night  before— to  look  for  the  lights — I  had  not 
been  as  near  to  it  as  I  thought. 

After  something  over  an  hour's  journey  we 
turned  to  the  left  out  of  the  pass,  and  there 
before  us  was  a  little  town  flashing  white  in  the 
sun — a  town  of  but  a  hundred  and  forty  souls — 
but  still  a  haven.  A  place  where  I  could  get 
food  and  shelter  and  what  I  needed  most — rest. 
My  journey  was  over — my  journey  that  had  had 
its  good  times  and  its  bad  times — that  had 
had  its  strange,  wonderful  interest,  and  its 
loneliness,  and  its  perils.  I  had  come  through 
the  whole  length  of  Spain  —  a  fascinating, 
beautiful  country,  peopled  with  a  strange  people. 
I  had  known  the  fine,  gay  And'alusians — the 
sullen  Castilians  —  the  dignified  people  of 
Arragon — the  hard,  strong  Catalans.  I  had 
eaten  out  of  the  same  pot  with  the  people 
in  country  posadas  —  I  had  lived  in  the  best 
hotels  —  I  had  tramped  hundreds  of  miles 
through  its  plains  and  mountain  chains. 

And  now  the  journey  was  over.  I  was  in 
France.  .  Here  was  Hospitalet. 

F.ND. 


w  w 


PETER    THE    SCRUBBER." 


i;\    I!.  J.   Hyde, 

[he    Scrubber"    was    an     Australian    wild    boar,    the   dread    of    the    countryside.      His    ferocity 
i    time    and    again    he   disabled    valuable   horses    and    killed    dogs   with  his  terrible 
I   pursuit,  so  that  he  came   to  be  looked   upon  as   bearing  a  charmed  life.     The 
how   this   porcine   outlaw  was   at  last    "  bailed  up  "  and   killed. 


r<  >S  I    up  country  stations  in  Australia 

B  paddock.     Tin's  is  a  small 

ground,    usually  of    about 

m    extent    and    securely 

fenced,  in  which  a  few  pigs  are  kept 

and  fed.      L'hough   bred  wild  in  the  bush  they 

.  and  are  sometimes  allowed  to 

•  1  about  the  homestead. 

brum  hie  "'  (wild)  jugs  do  no  damage  so 

their  number   is  kept  within  reasonable 

limits:  but  a  mob  of  pigs  if  neglected  increases 

in    alarming    rate    and    soon     overruns    the 

;try    to    such    an    extent    that    at    times    a 

g   a    head,   or   rather   snout,    is   paid   for 

the  n. 

The  scrub-bred  pig  is  entirely  different  to  the 

van  d  on  the  plains.      Like  Cassius,  "he 

;  a  lean  and   hungry  look,"  is  very  vieious, 

id    is   the    hereditary  enemy  of   the   "  snout- 

liunt  -    the    men    charged    with    keeping 

B     tie  called. 

At  one  station  I  was  on  we  were  troubled  by 

particularly    vieious    beast,    known    far    and 

gh    the   countryside   as    "Peter    the 

He  was  a  notorious  outlaw,  a  very  Ishmael 
among  pigs,  who,  from  his  fastness  among  the 
_.t  scrubs,  had  for  years  success- 
fining  influences  alike    of  the 
k  and  the  snout-hunters. 

ith   him  was  not   till  after 
I  discretion.     At  that 
v  quite  a  veteran   in  fighting, 
minus  the  end  of  his  tail  and 
i  upper  lip.     11  tusked  and 

on  his  ugly  hid<   and  muti 
many  a  encounter 

the    station    i  out    by  myself 

ting  turl  i        potted  "  him,  but 

half  the  <  r.-.-k    by  the  time  I 

i  all    I   could   do  was   to  send  a 
lie  went  up  the 
ank.     With  a  rifle  I  could  have  drop- 
but  his  luck  was  "  in  "  as  usual. 
1  upon  his  career  of  porcine  vice 


at  an  early  age.  One  day  a  stockman  came 
back  to  the  head  station  with  a  bandaged  leg 
and  his  legging  ripped  up.  When  questioned, 
he  explained  that  he  had  seen  a  mob  of 
"scrubbers  "  out  on  the  plain,  and  had  set  his 
dog  on  to  one  particularly  ugly  little  brute  with 
a  blue  patch  over  one  eye.  Unfortunately,  after 
he  had  dismounted  and  was  running  up  to 
throw  and  dispatch  the  animal,  his  dog  had 
loosed  his  hold.  The  porker  immediately 
(barged  between  the  stockman's  legs,  sending 
him  flying,  and  ripping  his  leg  up  as  he  did  so. 
The  pig  escaped.  Well,  indeed,  was  it  for  that 
unlucky  stockman  that  Peter  was  young  and 
comparatively  innocent,  and  that  his  tusks  were 
small. 

Shortly  after  this  incident  a  "  snout-hunting  " 
expedition  was  organized,  but,  though  the 
"  mob  "  was  found  and  the  men  returned  with 
many  snouts,  Peter's  was  not  one  of  them,  for 
an  attempt  to  yard  the  entire  "  mob "  failed, 
owing  to  one  of  the  party  having  ridden  too 
close  to  them  and  caused  the  pigs  to  split  into 
small  parties.  As  is  usual  in  such  cases,  each 
one  among  the  party  singled  out  his  particular 
victim.  Luckily  for  Peter  no  one  happened  to 
select  him  at  first,  and,  though  the  men  scoured 
the  country  and  killed  several  stragglers  after- 
wards, Peter  was  nowhere  to  be  seen. 

His  next  escape  was  from  a  stockman  who 
caught  and  threw  him,  but,  not  having  a  knife  to 
dispatch  him  with,  tied  his  legs  together  and 
rode  back  for  one.  On  his  return  he  was 
astonished  to  find  that  Peter  had  vanished. 

This  was  a  most  exceptional  stroke  of  luck, 
as  it  is  only  by  sheer  accident  that  an  animal  so 
secured  could  possibly  escape.  Peter's  luck, 
however,  still  stuck  to  him,  for  about  three 
months  after  he  was  again  "  bailed  up  "  by  a 
young  lad,  who,  however,  was  afraid  to  get  off 
and  tackle  him  on  foot.  After  a  prolonged 
struggle  with  two  dogs,  therefore — in  the  course 
of  which  he  had  the  major  portion  of  one  ear 
bitten  off — Peter  succeeded  once  more  in 
making  good  his  retreat. 


"PETER    THE    SCRUBBER." 


3i 


"HE   TIED    HIS    LEGS   TOGETHEK   AND    KOUE   BACK." 

Evidently  finding  life  on  the  plains  too 
exciting  for  his  fancy,  he  retired  to  the 
impenetrable  scrub.  Occasionally,  however,  he 
would  make  a  tour  round  his  old  haunts,  but 
whenever  he  was  sighted  there  was  a  fight  or  a 
chase. 

Soon  we  heard  from  a  neighbouring  station 
that  Peter  had  killed  two  dogs,  for  by  this  time 
he  had  grown  into  a  big  boy,  and  had  developed 
roaming  and  pugilistic  tendencies  of  no  mean 
order.  My  friend  MacFarlane  bailed  him  up 
one  day,  but  Peter  broke  away  from  the  dog, 
charged,  and,  passing  under  my  friend's  mare, 
ripped  her  so  severely  that  the  poor  animal  had 
to  be  destroyed.  Thereupon  another  black 
mark  went  down  to  Peter's  account  with  us. 

The  next  time  he  put  in  an  appearance — 
some  months  afterwards — he  had  evidently  been 
pretty  roughly  handled,  for  his  tail  and  lip  were 
missing,  though  how  and  where  he  had  lost 
them  we  could  never  find  out. 


A  horse  was  found  in  the 
scrub  about  this  time  with  the 
remnants  of  what  had  once  been 
a  saddle  still  on  his  back.  No 
one  ever  came  forward  to  claim 
him,  nor  could  any  trace  be  dis- 
covered as  to  how  or  when  lie 
had  been  lost.  Possibly  there  is 
a  solution  to  both  mysteries  in 
some  dark  corner  of  the  dense 
"  brigloes,"  in  the  shape  of  the 
bleaching  skeleton  of  some  rash 
traveller  who  had  the  temerity 
to  try  conclusions  with  Peter  in 
his  own  native  stronghold,  and  fell 
a  victim  to  those  merciless  tusks. 

The  station-manager  was  the 
next  to  bewail  the  loss  of  his 
favourite  dog  Ben,  killed  before 
he  had  laid  a  tooth  on  the  out- 
law. This  caused  quite  a  hue 
and  cry,  and  there  was  much 
racing  and  chasing  around  to 
punish  this  demon  pig.  But 
there  was  no  Peter  to  be  found 
anywhere  ;  the  brute  had  mysteri- 
ously disappeared.  We  could 
imagine  his  tattered  lip  assuming 
an  even  more  sardonic  grin  than 
usual  as  he  listened  to  the  tale  of 
slaughtered  innocents  borne  to 
him  in  his  lair  by  the  few  hard- 
pressed  porkers  that  in  despera- 
tion sought  shelter  from  our 
energetic  pursuit  in  the  surround- 
ing scrubs. 

After  this  Peter  lay  low  for 
awhile.  He  had  been  the 
recipient  of  several  long  -  distance  flying 
shots,  and  been  reported  dead  twice,  but  he 
bobbed  up  again  after  a  few  months.  He  had 
by  this  time  acquired  such  a  reputation  for 
killing  any  dog  set  on  him  that  everyone 
avowed  that  no  dog  could  possibly  hold  him. 
I  looked  at  my  own  faithful  Bluie  and  smiled. 
I  was  convinced  that  never  had  a  gamer  or 
better  dog  been  born. 

Peter  had  not  put  in  an  appearance  for  some 
time,  and  we  began  to  believe  that  the  last  report 
of  his  decease  was  correct.  One  day,  however, 
we  were  out  looking  for  some  pigs  that  had 
escaped  by  accident  from  the  pig-paddock, 
with  never  a  thought  of  Peter  crossing  our 
minds.  We  rode  wide  apart,  till  a  distant 
"  Coo-ee  "  warned  us  that  our  quarry  had  been 
sighted.  We  found  that  about  fifteen  of  the 
pigs  were  lying  in  the  creek,  so,  making  a  circuit, 
we  showed  ourselves  on  the  opposite  bank,  so 
as  to  start  them  towards  the  yard. 


THE    WIDE    WOR]  D    MAGAZINE. 


i 


[uealing  horn  their 

nk  and  out 

n.     As  I  •   ai  ol 

the  air.  and  a  moment 

n    and 

• 

k.     But 

r  in   th<  had 

hi<  h   promptly 

md  hung  on  for  dear 

I    the 
kmen  a  galloped 

I 
We  had  thr-  with  us 

jie,  and  a  ind    here    they 

g     _  on  like  grim  death  to  the  first 


pig  they  had  been  able  to  lay  hold 
of,  while  the  redoubtable  l'eter  was 
making  off  for  a  bend  in  the  creek. 
He    was    not     in    a     particular 
hurry,    apparently,    preferring    to 
i  si  rve    his   energy    for   the    light 
that    bitter  experience  must    haw 
taught    him   was    inevitable.       We 
wanted  to  bail  him  up  in  the  open, 
but    he  was  too  quick   for  us,  and 
we   only   just   caught    him   on    the 
bank    of  the   creek.      Savagely   he 
turned  at  bay  among  the  branches 
of  a  fallen  tree,  .his  ferocious  little 
eyes    glaring  defiance   at    us   from 
his    stronghold.      It   was   an    awk- 
ward   place,  and  we   had   to  keep 
the  dogs  back  as  they  would  have 
had  no  chance   had   they  tackled 
him   there.      lie   seemed   to  know 
it  too.  and  was  disinclined  to  shift. 
1    tried    to  draw  him   by  getting 
oft,   walking    as    near    as    possible 
and    throwing    slicks    at    him,    m 
order  to  induce  him  to  charge,  yet 
taking  good  care  to  keep  close  to 
a   tree   in   case  he  did.     Suddenly 
he  turned  and  made  for  the  creek 
The  moment  he  was  clear  of  the 
branches  we  set  the  dogs  on  him 
Bob  and  Bluie  seemed  to  recognise 
that    they    had    a    formidable    an- 
tagonist.     Bluie  was  an  old  stager 
at  the  game,  and  I  knew  he  would 
never  let  go  if  he  could  only  once 
get    a    good     hold,    but    Bob  was 
young  and  more  excitable,  though 
game  enough. 

We    had    no    firearms    with    us, 

otherwise     we    should    have    shot 

him,   instead  of  risking  our  dogs. 

Immediately    he    saw    tin     dogs     he    wheeled 

with   a    vicious  grunt   and   stood    ready    for   the 

fray  —  a    grim,    gaunt     figure,    with     the     froth 

dripping  from  his  mouth,  and  his  torn  lip  giving 

it  of  sneering  expression  to  his  savage  face. 

My   heart    sank   for  my  favourite  as  I   watched 

him  circling  round  seeking  for  an  opening.    Bob 

was  the  first  to  get  hold,  seizing   l'eter  by  the 

a     i  cond  later   Bluie  was  hanging  to  the 

shreds    of    the    missing    ear.       But    he    whirled 

round   like  lightning  and   shook  them   both  off 

in    a    second,    bluie    n  irrowly    escaping    those 

terrible  tu.^ks. 

I;.  Bob's  owner,  began  to  get  excited, 
and  rode  too  close  to  the  combatants ;  we 
shouted  to  him  to  keep  back,  but  it  was  too 
late.  Peter  spotted  him  in  a  twinkling  and 
charged  furiously.      Bluie  raced  after  him  and 


"PETER    THE    SCRUBBER.' 


33 


seized  him  by  the  hind  leg,  but  could  not  stop 
his  rush.  Over  he  rolled,  and  Peter  was  free 
again.  Jack  saw  him  coming  and  tried  to  wheel 
his  horse,  but  could  not  get  clear,  and  with  a 
vicious  rip  Peter  hamstrung  the  unfortunate 
animal  as  he  passed,  adding  yet  another  to  the 
long  list  of  his  delinquencies  before  he  dis- 
appeared into  a  clump  of  porcupine  bush  close 
by.  We  called  off  the  dogs  and  examined 
Jack's  horse.  We  found  it  a  hopeless  case,  and 
were  obliged  to  destroy  the  poor  beast.  Then 
we  turned  our  attention  to  Peter  again.  To 
have  sent  the  dogs  in  after  him  would  have 
been  to  send  them  to  certain  death. 

We  tried  everything  we  could  think  of  to 
"draw"  him,  but  without  success.  It  was  a 
dangerous  game,  for  we  did  not  know  for 
certain  where    he  was.     So  at    last   we  set  fire 


to  the  patch  and 
With  a  sudden 
dash  he  made 
across  the  open 
ground  for  the 
creek.  The  dogs, 
however,  caught 
him  on  the  bank, 
and  round  he 
wheeled  to  face 
them  again,  but 
his  long  fight  was 
now  beginning  to 
tell  on  him.  Bob 
was  the  first  to 
get  hold,  but 
Peter  shook  him 
off,  and  before  he 
could  recover  him- 
self the  boar's  two 


turned    him  out. 


front  teeth  were  on  him,  and  another  plucky  dog 
had  gone  to  swell  the  list  of  his  victims.  Just  as 
he  lowered  his  head  to  dispatch  poor  Bob  Bluie, 
seeing  his  long-watched-for  opportunity,  seized 
him  fairly  and  squarely  by  the  ear. 

Round  went  Peter  at  once,  but  he  might  as 
well  have  tried  to  throw  off  his  own  hide  as 
endeavour  to  shake  Bluie  off  once  he  .had  got 
a  fair  hold. 

I  rushed  to  his  assistance  and  grabbed  Peter 
by  the  hind  leg,  but  in  the  scrimmage,  before  I 
could  throw  him  or  realize  what  had  happened, 
part  of  the  loose  sandy  bank  gave  way,  and 
down  we  all  rolled  together  into  the  creek. 
Luckily  it  was  deep  water  we  fell  into,  and 
when  I  came  to  the  surface  Peter  was  making 
for  the  opposite  bank,  with  Bluie  in  hot 
pursuit. 

Up    the      bank     scrambled     Peter    and    off 

for  the  scrub,  but 
Bluie  had  got 
him  again  before 
he  had  gone 
twenty  yards.  I 
swam  across  after 
them.  Both 
were  well  -  nigh 
spent  when  I 
caught  and  threw 
the  boar ;  and 
so,  with  defiance 
in  his  eye  and 
the  gallant  Bluie 
still  hanging  tena- 
ciously to  his 
ear,  "  Peter  the 
Scrubber  "  met 
his  death. 


"  DOWN    WE   ALL   ROLLED    TOGETHER   INTO   THE  CREEK. 


Vol.  xii.  — 5. 


When  the  JYlissTssfppi  Breaks  JCoose. 


l'.\   John  S.   Kendall,  oi    New  Orleans. 

Every  year  the    mighty   Mississippi    is   subject   to  disastrous   floods,  caused  by  the    melting 

snows  in  the  mountains.     To  obviate  these,   gigantic  dykes  or  levees    have  been  built,  but 

every    now     and    again    the    turbulent    stream     forces    its    way    through.       What     happens 

then  is  described    and    illustrated  in  the   accompanying    article. 


HE     lower    portion    of    the    mighty 
Mississippi,     which     traverses     the 
central  portion  of  the  United  States, 
is  bounded  on  either  side  by  enor- 
mous   walls    of    earth,     known    as 
es,    which    have    been    erected    during    the 
twenty    years    at    an     expense    of    nearly 
million  dollars,  [tartly  by  the   Government, 
and  partly  through   the  exertions  of  the  people 
dwelling  in  the  States  through   which   the  great 
river  fl< 

The  first   levee  was  en  i  ted  in  front  of  New 


Orleans  about  the  year  1725,  by  Governor 
Perier,  one  of  the  officials  who  ruled  the  French 
possessions  in  colonial  times.  But  by  far  the 
greater  portion  of  the  lower  Mississippi  Valley 
was  then,  and  for  more  than  a  hundred  years 
after,  abandoned  to  the  annual  inundation  of 
the  river. 

Every  year  the    melting  snows  in   the   north 

and  along  the  big  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi 

—the  Ohio  and  the  Missouri  — cause  tremendous 


T   CREVASbE   AT    HYMEL — HALF    A    MILLION    SACKS   OF    EARTH    WERE    THROWN 

From  a  Plwto. 


NTO    IT   WITHOUT    EFFECT. 


WHEN    THE    MISSISSIPPI    BREAKS    LOOSE. 


freshets,  which  last 
from  early  in 
March  till  the  end 
of  June,  raising  the 
level  of  the  river 
to  an  extraordinary 
height,  and  rushing 
down  with  im- 
mense force. 
When  one  con- 
siders the  enor- 
mous volume  of 
water  let  loose  by 
these  freshets  it 
will  be  readily  ap- 
parent what  wide- 
spread damage  re- 
sults from  inunda- 
tions in  the  fertile 
and  highly  -  culti- 
\ated  country  bor- 
dering the  river. 

To  obviate  this, 
the  building  of 
the    levees    was 

taken  in  hand,  and  people  hoped  that  the 
impetuous  floods  which  had  annually  devastated 
the   country    side,    covering    the    smiling    cane 


THE     TEXAS 

From  a\ 


PACIFIC     RAILWAY 
TOP   OF   THE 


35 

plantations  mnny 
feet  deep  in  turbid 
wat'  mud, 

were  safely  cut 

But    the 
although    reared 
with   so  much  ■ 
and  at  such  a  great 
expenditure      of 
money,    are     not 
always  secure    bar- 
riers   between    the 
people    and    the 
water.      When    the 
defence   proves  in 
efficient,    and    a 
break       occurs,       a 
"crevasse       is 
formed  --  that     is, 
the    water    of    the 
river      flows       with 
headlong      impetu- 
osity    through     the 
gap  in  the  embank- 
ment, ever  widening 
and  deepening  the  channel,  and  spreading  ruin 
and  desolation  throughout  the  adjacent  country. 
Something     of      this      kind      happened      in 
Louisiana  during  the  present  spring 
The  great  river,  swollen  with  snow- 
water from  the  mountains,  surged 
against  its    levees  with    irresistible 
force,  and  the  bank  at    Hymel,  a 


—THE     FLOOTJ    WAS    LEVEL    WITH    THE 
EMBANKMENT.  [l'/loto. 


MANY   NEGRO    FAMILIES    WERE    DRIVEN    TO    TAKE    REFUGE   ON    THE    RAILWAV    F.MHANKMENTS,    AND    WERE    REDUCED  TO   CATC 
From  a]  FISH    FROM    THE    FLOOD    FOR   SUSTENANCE.  [P/IOCO. 


,; 


THE    WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


plantation  about  thirty  five  miles  above  the 
southern  city  of  New  Orleans,  broke 
unexpectedly  one  night  about  the  middle  of 
March.  With  a  thunderous  roar  the  Stream 
hurst  through,  the  banks  giving  way  before  it 
until  the  breach  was  seven  hundred  feet  wide 
and  the  water  seventeen  feet  deep. 

Knowing  what  was  at  stake,  the  people  made 

■rate  efforts  to   close  the  "crevasse,"  but 

without  success.     Over  half  a  million  sacks  filled 

with  eartii  were  dumped  into  the  breach   in   the 

,:t  without  effect  :  the  headlong  torrent 

hurled  them  aside  as  though  they  were   pebbles. 

An    immense    sum   was   spent   in   driving   piles, 

which     were    barely    put    in    place    when     they 

s  d   like    reeds   before  the   current.     The 


inundation  of  many  settlements  occupied  by 
negro  farm  hands,  who  were  driven  to  take  refuge 
on  the  railway  embankments,  which,  with  such 
trees  as  resisted  the  current,  were  the  only  things 
that  stood  out  above  the  sea  of  water.  This, 
five  miles  from  the  "  crevasse,"  was  no  less  than 
seven  feet  deep.  The  second  photograph  repro- 
duced depicts  the  line  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific 
Railway  Company.  The  flood  was  almost  level 
with  the  top  of  the  embankment,  through  which 
it  tore  a  passage. 

The  third  photograph  is  particularly  interest- 
ing. It  shows  a  family  of  negro  refugees  driven 
to  the  railway  embankment  by  the  encroaching 
waters,  and  reduced  to  catching  fish  from  the 
flood  for  sustenance.  Much  suffering  un- 
doubtedly resulted  from  this 
precarious  mode  of  existence, 
which  was  the  only  one  avail- 


r.SU    MAILS    HAU    TO    BE   TRA  ON    TROLLEY    HAND-CARS,    WHILE    PATROL-TROI  I.KVS    INSPECTED    THE    LINE. 

From  a  Photo. 


first   photograph   reproduced  shows  the  broken 

with    the   hastily    driven    lines    of    piling 

utterly  swept  away  from   the  central   portion  of 

the  "  crevasse,''  but  still  in  place,  although  sadly 

shaken,  at  either  side  of  the  gap,  through  which 

-  •  »rrent  is  still  rushing. 

The  water  from  this  "crevasse  "  made  its  way 

miles   into  the   interior  region,  gradually   filling 

the     swamps   and    depressions,    and    ultimately 

finding  an  outlet  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.      It   is 

nated     that    the    damage     done     exceeded 

ty-five  million  dollars,  though,   fortunately, 

the   people  were  warned  in    time   and   no   lives 

One  of  the  curious  effects  of  the  flood  was  the 


able,  however,  for  the  very  poor.  These  un- 
fortunate people  had  to  camp  out  on  the  embank- 
ments, living  on  the  fish  they  could  catch  and 
the  charity  of  others,  until  the  floods  subsided. 
Even  then,  of  course,  the  mischief  was  not  at 
an  end,  for  chaos  reigned  everywhere,  and 
many  of  the  sugar-mills  could  not  be  used  for 
several  months. 

The  railways  which  traversed  the  line  of  the 
flood  on  its  >vay  to  the  Gulf  were,  of  course, 
heavy  sufferers.  The  country  was  entirely  sub- 
merged for  many  miles,  and  in  some  places  the 
rushing  waters  cut  away  the  earthwork  under 
the  metals  and  compelled  the  temporary  sus- 
pension of  traffic.      In   such  cases    passengers 


WHEN    THE     MISSISSIPPI     BREAKS     EOOSE. 


37 


and  mails  had  to  be  laboriously  transported  on 
trolley  hand-cars,  while  each  section  of  line  was 
continually  inspected  by  a  guard  of  men  on  a 
patrol  -  trolley,  as  shown  in  the  foregoing 
photograph. 

The  officials  charged  with  putting  the  sub- 
merged lines  to  rights  did  not  have  by  any 
means  a  happy  time.  For  once  the  travelling 
facilities  they  enjoy  over  their  lines  were  of  no 
use  to  them,  and  they  had  to  charter  boats 
and  sail  over  the  floods  to  the  scene  of  the 
damage.  The  last  photograph  we  reproduce 
shows  the  officials  of  the  Texas  and  Pacific 
Railway  making  a  tour  of  inspection  of  their 
line  in  a  lugger,  which,  at  the  time  the  photo- 
graph was  taken,  was  drifting  across  a  sugar 
plantation  covered  by  many  feet  of  water. 

All  this,  of  course,  was  exceptional.  For 
nearly  six  years  -quite  a  long  time  when 
speaking  of  Mississippi   floods — nothing   like'  it 


has  happened,  although  even  the  recent   d 
trous  inundation  is  insignificant  I 
those   on    record.      Nevertheless,  tin  ility 

of  such  outbreaks  is  always  there,  and  the 
dwellers  by  the  side  of  the  mighty  stream  south 
of  Tennessee  fully  realize  it. 

In  time,  however,  the  levee  system  will 
completed.  Then  the  formidable  dvkes  which 
confine  the  turbulent  river  to  its  bed  will 
uniform  and  continuous  from  a  point  neailv 
five  hundred  miles  north  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
to  the  very  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  They 
will  be  so  broad  of  base  and  so  thoroughlv 
settled  and  secure,  it  is  hoped,  that  no  flood, 
however  great,  can  break  the  line  of  defence. 
But  in  the  meantime  the  river  will  now  and 
then  take  the  bit  in  its  teeth,  so  to  speak, 
carrying  ruin  and  desolation  far  and  wide,  and 
producing  such  curious  and  interesting  scenes 
as  those  here  shown. 


THE   OFFICIALS   OF   THE   TEXAS    AND    PACIFIC    RAILWAY    MAKING    A    TOUR    O" 
INSPECTION    OF    THEIR    FLOORED    LINE    IN    A    LUGGER. 

Fn::i  a  Photo. 


By  Miss  Cornelia  Sorarji. 

The  extraordinary  history  of  a  man  who  was  to  be  seen  at  Agra,  in  India,  up  to  a  few  years  ago, 
and  who  is  believed  to  have  been  the  original  of  Kipling's  "  Mowgli."  Sanichar  was  discovered  in 
a  wolt's  den  when  some  seven  years  old,  and  was  captured  after  a  hard  fight.  He  was  deaf  and 
dumb,  walked  on  all  fours,  and  had  a  number  of  other  curious  characteristics.  The  authoress 
visited  Sanichar  at  Agra,  learnt  his  strange  story,  and  secured  his  photograph. 


UDYARD  KIPL1 
•eloved  of  many 
but  comparativel) 
aware  that  there 
memory  of  this 
generation,  a  real 
'•  M  who      probably 

sat   for  the   Kipling    picture. 
He    was    called    "  Sanichar  " 
;     unlay),  from   the  day  on 
which     he    was    found,    and 
known  far  and  wide  as 
"the    Wolf- Hoy    of    North- 
tern    India."      His   find- 
ing was  in  this  wise. 

In  the   hunting  season  of 
1867  Indians    follow- 

ing large  game  in  the  un- 
den  jungles  of  Buland- 
shahr  came  upon  a  stray 
she-wolf  and  tracked  her 
to  her  cave.  This  was 
hidden  in  a»  low  hillo'  k, 
surmounted  by  a  great 
boulder:  and  on  the  rock, 
sunning  itself,  sat  an  odd 
little  object,  which  turned 
out  to  be  a  boy  !  At  the 
approach     of     the      hunters 


NG'S  '•  Mowgli" 

st  and  West, 

few    people   are 

was,    within    the 


SANICHAR  THE  WOLF-BOY  AT  THE  AGE  OF  ABOUT 
THIRTY-FOUR— THE  AUTHORESS  HAD  THIS  PHOTO- 
GRAPH   TAKEN    WHEN    SHE   VISITED   HIM  AT  AGRA. 


he  sprang  down  from  his  perch  and,  running  on 
all  fours,  was  hustled  into  the  cave,  under  the 
protection  of  the  old  mother-wolf. 

The  Indians  did  not  dare  to  attack  the  cave, 
but  carried  their  story  to  the 
magistrate  of  Bulandshahr. 
There  are  many  legends 
current  in  the  country  con- 
cerning children  abducted 
by  wolves ;  but  few  of  these 
children  have  been  known 
to  survive.  And  the 
hunters  felt  some  responsi- 
bility concerning  the  boy. 

The  magistrate  advised 
them  to  light  a  fire  at  the 
mouth  of  the  cave  at  a 
time  when  the  wolves  might 
be  presumed  to  be  at 
home.  This  they  did,  and 
with  success ;  for  as  Rud- 
yard  Kipling  has  told  us, 
an  Indian  wolf  dreads  no- 
thing more  than  the  fire  of 
the  "two-legged." 

The  mother  -  wolf  rushed 
out,  with  the  boy  behind  her. 
He  was  captured,  but  not 
without    a   hard   fight.     The 


SANICHAR    THE    WOLF  BOY. 


39 


wolf  did  not  want  to  lose  him,  and  the 
hunters  were  badly  bitten  ere  she  was  finally 
driven  off. 

The  child  at  this  time  must  have  been  about 
seven  or  eight  years  of  age,  and  he  was  sent 
to  a  mission  orphanage.  He  was  a  curious 
creature.  His  lower  limbs  were  extraordinarily 
developed,  probably  because  of  the  all-fours 
position  to  which  he  had  become  accustomed 
and  the  long  hind-step  of  an  animal's  walk  ;  lie 
had  a  sad  little 
face,  marked 
with  the  wrin- 
kles of  old  age; 
and  there  were 
scars  all  over 
him,  possibly 
caused  by  the 
rough  caresses 
of  the  mother- 
wolf.  His  head 
was  small  and 
his  brow  very 
low  and  con- 
tracted. His 
eyes  were  grey- 
ish, and  ex- 
ceedingly large 
in  proportion 
to  his  face; 
big  and  squint- 
ing, they  had 
-  the  look  of  one 
who  walked 
with  his  head 
to  the  ground 
and  watched 
continually  for 
an  attack  from 
some  unseen 
enemy.  In 
walking  he 
lifted  his  feet 
as  if  he  were 
wading  through 

a  swamp,  and  as  he  moved  all  his  body 
swayed.  Even  when  they  taught  him  to  walk 
on  two  feet  he  jerked  his  arms  forward  as 
if  they  helped  him  to  get  along.  He 
would  loll  his  head  about  constantly  from  side 
to  side,  and  roll  his  large  eyes  angrily,  looking 
behind  him  with  the  instinct  of  the  hunted. 

Of  course,  he  was  hard  to  civilize.  He  hated 
sleeping  under  a  roof,  and  he  tore  his  clothes  to 
shreds.  He  would  nibble  at  the  vegetables  he 
found  in  the  kitchen-garden,  picking  the  green- 
food  out  of  the  earth  with  his  mouth,  like  an 
animal,  and  he  would  gnaw  meat  from  the  bone. 

What  had  he  eaten  in  wolf-land,  one  wonders. 


LIKE   AN    ANIMAL    UK    WOULD    GNAW    MEAT    FROM    THE    BONE. 


He  was  deaf  and  dumb— naturally,  there  was  no 
one  in  the  wolf-lair  to  give  him  a  vocabulary- 
but  he  was  not  unintelligent,  making  himself 
understood  after  a  while  and  easily  understand- 
ing others  by  signs.  He  would  slap  his  stomach 
to  show  he  was  hungry,  and  was  always  imitat- 
ing the  smoking  of  a  cigar.  I  think  at  the 
back  of  his  half-wolf  mind  there  was  a  great 
gladness  that  he  could  come  so  near  the  fire 
and  yet  live.  A  lady  at  the  mission  told  me 
that  he  was  really  like  a  big  dog,  and, 
when  he  got  reconciled  to  the  parting 
with  his  wolf-mother  and  his  wolf- 
friends,  even  lovable.  He  would  re- 
sume the  all-fours  position  whenever  he 
could  ;  a  two-legged  waik  seemed  to 
tire  him. 

When  I  was  in  his 

part  of  the  world  and 

'  /  went   to  see   him    he 

fy/  was  about  thirty-four 

years  of  age, 
I  expect,  and 
I  have  a 
photograph  of 
him  taken  at 
that  time. 
He  died  the 
same  year  — 
of  smoking  ! 
He  loved 
cigars  ;  the 
first  time  that 
lie  saw  the 
head  of  the 
mission  smoke 
he  went  into 
fits  of  ghoul- 
ish laughter, 
seized  the 
thing  out  of 
h  i  s  m  o  u  t  h , 
and  puffed 
away  at  it- 
fearful  ly  at 
and  he  begged 
cigars  did  not 
and  proved  the 


first,    and    then    in    triumph  ; 

often    for    the     luxury.       But 

suit  the  constitution  of  a  wolf, 

commonplace  cause  of  his  death  in  course  of 

time. 

The  pity  was  that  no  attempt  was  ever  made 
to  get  at  the  mind  of  him.  What  did  he  think, 
one  wonders,  in  those  cave-days?  He  must 
have  known  the  language  of  the  beasts  ;  perhaps 
he  could  have  taught  it  us:  Did  lie  know  of 
any  difference?  But  no  one  asked  him  :  and 
one  cannot  resist  the  reflection,  Was  not  a  great 
wrong  done  to  him  on  that  transfer  to  the 
haunts  of  men  ? 


nil:    WIPE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


HE    PUFFED    AWAY    AT    IT    IN    1RIIMCH 


It  is  curious  that  these  human-beast  stories, 

in  all  ti'  .  should  be  connected 

with   the   wolf  alone,    or  almost  alone.      I  tried 

.■r   from    the    old    peasant  folk   of 

•r;i    India   whether  there    were    any 

.   nds  as  to  the  reason.      One  old  woman  said 

that  when  the  mother- wolf  of  a   pack   loses  all 

t   hungering  comes  over  her  for 

g  to  love  and  tend,  and 

unts  in  the  haunts  of  men  for  a  human 

I  myself  1  n  in  the  winter  at  Allahabad 

a    little    pack  of  wolvi  park,  quite 

the  club  tennis  courts,   no  one  hunting 
them. 

n  i  goo  an  odd  thing  happened,  which 

ation    of    the    old 

•  '  i     «;  famine  babies  who  were 

red    at    the     Dufferin 

I  at  Allahal  re  playing  one  morn- 

of  five  and  a  girl  of 

the  wolf  is  taking  away 
boy's  voice.     "  Oh,  the 
her  awa; 
ron  took  no  notice,  thinking  it  a  game. 


The  voice  called  again:  "But  the  wolf  has 
really,  truly,  taken  her  away.  Bring  her  back, 
oh,  bring  her  back."  And  this  time  the  real 
terror  in  the  voice  brought  help. 

The  wolf,  when  seen  and  pursued,  had  carried 
the  child  nearly  to  the  gate  of  the  compound. 
When  it  heard  the  shouting  it  dropped  its 
burden,  possibly,  as  the  servants  said,  because 
she  had  in  her  hurry  picked  up  the  child  by  its 
back,  instead  of  by  the  neck,  and  it  was  difficult 
to  carry  at  a  run. 

W  here  it  had  been  held  there  was  the  mark  of 
a  fang,  but  no  damage  had  been  done  to  the 
frightened  little  three-year-old,  and  I  saw  her  the 
day  after  playing  with  her  brother  at  the  pre- 
tended game  of  "  wolf,1'  and  swelling  with  pride 
at  being  the  heroine  of  so  exciting  an  adventure. 

How  the  wolf-boy  of  Bulandshahr  got  to  his 
cave  one  can  only  conjecture ;  he  may  have 
been  left  there  of  intention,  or  he  may  have  been 
stolen  from  his  home  by  a  wolf  with  the  mother- 
hunger  keen  upon  her.  That  he  had  been  there 
for  almost  all  those  seven  years  of  life  was,  I  am 
told,  certain.  But  it  seems  to  me  that  in  my 
category  of  unconscious  cruelties  the  retaking 
of  him  should  head  the  list. 


That  Night  on  the  Nyanga. 


By  David  Woodhouse. 

The  author — an  African  trader — while  rowing  up  the  river  by  night,  ran  right  into  the  middle  of  a  herd 
of  hippopotami,  who  attacked  and  sank  his  boat.     What  happened  afterwards  is  set  forth  in  the  story. 


O  be  attacked  by  hippopotami  and 
to  escape  without  serious  injury  is 
an  experience  which  may  safely  be 
described  as  phenomenal. 

At  the  time  of  my  narrative  I  was 
a  trader  in  an  out  of  the-way  place  some  twenty- 
four  hours'  journey  up  the  Nyanga  River,  on  the 
south  west  coast  of  Africa.  Mongo  Nyanga,  as 
my  station  was  called,  was  surrounded  by  dense 
and  impenetrable  forests  extending  for  hundreds 
of  miles  inland  and  infested  with  wild  beasts  of 
all  descriptions.    Although  it  was  not  exactly  the 


suitable  for  domestic  purposes,  whilst  my  gun 
seldom  failed  to  provide  me  with  fresh  meat  of 
some  kind  ;  and,  as  the  river  abounded  with 
fish,  I  managed  to  pass  the  time  tolerably  well. 
But  notwithstanding  these  apparent  attractions 
I  found  it  difficult,  when  trade  was  almost 
stagnant,  to  while  away  the  weary  hours,  and 
life  then  became  a  mere  existence  ;  for  there 
was  the  dreaded  malarial  fever  to  be  contended 
with  — that  awful  disease  which  leaves  one  in  a 
state  of  utter  collapse. 

It  was  just  after  one  of  these  attacks,  which 


t  roiu  a 


THE  AUTHOR  S  STATION  AI  MONGO  NYANGA. 


{Photo. 


kind  of  place  one  would  select  for  a  holiday 
resort,  yet  I  often  call  to  mind  the  many  happy 
hours  I  spent  there  during  my  sojourn. 

As  I  happened  to  be  the  only  European 
resident  I  devoted  the  major  portion  of  my 
leisure  hours  to  the  cultivation  of  bananas, 
plantains,  sweet  potatoes,  and  other  commodities 

\ol.  xii. —  6.  • 


had  laid  me  low  for  some  days,  that  I  was 
invited  to  my  depot  on  the  coast  to  pass  the 
period  of  convalescence.  As  I  seldom  had  an 
opportunity  of  inhaling  the  ozone  from  the  salt 
'water,  needless  to  say  I  was  not  long  in  making 
the  necessary  arrangements  for  my  voyage  down 
river  to  the  coast.     But  the  journey   was  not 


■  - 


1111.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


my    tli  >tate    of 

on  the  which 

However,  once 

ivered,  and 

a    month's 

und  for  my  return  to 

enced  in 

I*   mj   Kroomen  to  do 

Idl  s,   I   decided   that 

i  immence  at  sundown 



nd 

ineous 

the  I 

a  had 
with    a 
in   the 

■ 

1  cover:    g 

ling    more 

I   had 

the  l>  '.it  manned,  and 

irell 

principal 

m    the 
■     .  . 

pen    : 

ring 

iuid    n: 

like  a   mill-slui  i  only  a 

"int. 

•      Fth     day,  which 

thi  re  <  ame  a  damp, 

list,  wh  tied  thickly  on 

'he   river.      As   the    moon  would 

until  the  early  hours  of  the  morn 

lifficult,  and  kept  my 

the  look  out  for  snags 

e 

-lashing  paddles  as 

•iter,  accom- 

al   kinr  on    had 

essicn 

en  in  slumberland  I 

-■t  to  my  senses  in 

shaking 

rst  impression 

•  •    sness, 


1  HE    Al    rril  >K,    MK. 

From  a  Photo,   by    T. 


had  fouled  some  obstruction  in  the  shape  of  a 
sunken  tree  or  snag — a  common  occurrence 
when  travelling  at  night.  However,  I  had  not 
long  to  wait  before  finding  out  the  cause  of  the 
interruption,  and  this  time  there  was  no  mistaking 
the  awful  nature  of  our  predicament.  Crash  ! 
crash  !  Again  and  again  terrific  blows  assailed 
our  craft,  and  in  the  misty  half-darkness  I  saw 
to  my  horror  that  we  were  in  the  very  midst  of 
a  shoal  of  hippopotami!  The  crashes  I  had 
heard  were  the  blows  struck  by  the  infuriated 

animals  at  the  boat ! 

Like  a  flash  there 
came  to  my  mind  the 
recollection  of  a 
terrible  affair  that 
had  happened  only  a 
short  time  before.  A 
party  of  three  officers 
from  H.M.S.  Flirt 
who  were  in  the  care 
of  the  representative 
of  an  English  trading- 
house  at  Mayumba, 
a  place  thirty  miles 
south  of  Nyanga,  had 
gone  up  the  lagoon 
in  a  whale-boat  for  a 
day's  hippopotamus 
shooting.  Their  ex- 
pedition met  with  a 
shocking  ending,  for 
after  wounding  one 
of  the  beasts  their 
boat  was  attacked 
and  upset,  and  out 
of  the  four  English- 
men in  her  only  one 
survived  to  tell  the 
story.  Strange  to  say, 
he  was  the  commander  of  the  gunboat  —  the 
only  one  of  the  party  who  could  not  swim.  He 
d  his  life  by  climbing  on  the  boat  as  she 
floated  on  the  water  bottom  upwards  after  being 
capsized  by  the  angry  hippopotami. 

Was  the   fate  of  these  hapless  sportsmen  to 
be  ours  ? 

Presently,  after  a  particularly  violent  crash,  I 
discovered  that  the  side  of  the  boat  had  been 
stove  in,  and  that  it  was  leaking  so  badly  that 
we  could  not  possibly  remain  afloat  many 
minutes  longer.  To  make  matters  worse,  I  had 
been  sleeping  under  a  mosquito  net,  and  in  my 
rness  to  get  up  when  the  first  crash  came 
I  had  somehow  become  entangled  in  its  folds. 
I  could  already  feel  my  feet  in  the  rising  water, 
ana  tne  seriousness  of  the  situation  dawned 
upon  me  at  once,  for  it  appeared  as  if  I  should 
go    down     helplessly    with     the    sinking    boat 


DAVID    WOODHOUSE. 

//.    Midwood,   Ramsey 


THAT    NIGHT    ON    THE    NYANGA. 


43 


through  my  inability  to  extricate  myself  from  the 
clinging  net. 

At  last,  however,  after  much  struggling  I 
managed  to  gain  my  liberty,  and,  feeling  some- 
what  calmer,  I  surveyed  our  position.  Although 
the  men  had  been  baling  frantically  with  empty 


viciously,  with  such  force  that  we  could  hardly 
keep  our  balance. 

Presently  the  gunwale  of  the  battered  boat 
was  almost  level  with  the  water.  Our  position 
was  now  desperate.  Here  was  I,  weak  from  my 
recent  illness  and  unable  to  swim  a  stroke,  in 


WE    WEKK    IN    THE    VERY    MIDST   OF    A    SHOAL   OF    HIPPOPOTAMI 


gin-cases  I  saw  that  the  boat  was  doomed. 
This  meant  that  some  of  us  would  probably 
perish  in  the  turbid  waters  of  the  river  in  our 
endeavours  to  reach  the  shore.  So  far  as  I 
could  see  we  were  completely  surrounded  with 
hippopotami  —  each,  apparently,  on  mischief 
bent.  First  at  our  bow  and  then  at  the  stern 
the    monsters     would    rise,     striking    the     craft 


a  sinking  boat  in  mid-stream,  surrounded  by  a 
herd  of  savage  hippopotami  !  Anything  like 
shallow  water  was  more  than  fifty  yards  away, 
and  even  supposing  I  could  have  got  one  of  my 
terror-stricken  crew  to  consent  to  pilot  me 
ashore,  that  circle  of  ferocious  beasts  had  to 
be  faced.  To  mention  such  an  undertaking  to 
any   one    of   the   Kroomen    would    have    made 


THE     WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


1  resolved  to  use 

beneath  the 

made  a  plunge  clear 

ri  to  reach  the  shore. 

k,  I  was  able  to  grasp  hold 

■i  what  appeared 

md-<    .nil  struggle,  he  vainly  m 

his  unwelcome  burden, 


monsters,  added  to  the  horrors  of  a  scene  which 
will  never  be  effaced  from  my  memory.  The 
ony  of  mind  1  endured  during  the  seemingly 
interminable  space  of  time  occupied  by  our 
progress  shorewards  was  appalling;  and  to  this 
day  1  do  not  know  how  we  finally  managed  to 
elude  the  hippopotami  and  reach  shallow  water. 
['here,  more  dead  than  alive,  we  crawled  into 
the  long  grass,  in  which  we  hid,  with  the  water 


WE    EXPECTED   EACH    MOMENT   TO    BE   OUR    LAST. 


pn  him  in  j'-rky  sentences 

ashore,  as   be  could 

II  and  I  i  ouia  riot.     If  tl  ere  spould  be 

I       id,   we  v. c»uld  both  under 

oun  r,  tor  I  was  determined 

t  to   be   disposed    of 
:  mat  ntually   struck  out  for  the 

le    of    madly    excited 
•ami. 

nt   to   be  our  last. 

app<  ared  at  our 

and    then   dis- 

i  at  our  rear  almost 

r  over  us  in 

ingry  brutes  as  they 

the  terror- 

they  endeavoured  to 

dly   barrier  of  furious 


almost  touching  our  chins.  To  add  to  our 
discomfiture,  if  that  were  possible,  we  were 
tormented  for  the  remainder  of  that  awful  night 
bj  thousands  of  voracious  mosquitoes,  which 
made  war  upon  us  until  dawn  appeared. 

With  the  advent  of  daylight  we  were  able  to 
take  in  our  situation,  and  after  scrambling  and 
crawling  through  dense  bush  eventually  reached 
terra  firma  safely.  Fortunately  no  one  was 
missing,  but  what  a  miserable  crew  we  looked  ! 
All  that  we  possessed  had  sunk  with  the  boat. 
I  was.  perhaps,  the  worst  equipped  of  them  all. 
1  was  in  my  suit  ol  pyjamas,  just  as  I  had 
emerged  from  under  the  mosquito  net,  and 
hatless  and  bootless — a  nice  costume  in  which 
to  face  a  journey  on  foot  through  bush  and 
swamp  to  the  coast  or  the  nearest  village,  if 
such  could  be  found. 

To  remain   where  we  were  and  wait  for  the 


THAT    M(;HT    ON     THE    NYANGA. 


'•  WE   WERE   MET    BY   THE   CHIEF 


tributary  of  the    Nyanga   River,    we  disi 
later. 

Here  we  were  met  by  the  chief,  who  seemed 
annoyed  at  the  unceremonious  manner  in  which 
we  had  invaded  his  domain.       However,  alter  a 
satisfactory   explanation    on    our   part,    assuring 
him  that  we  only  desired   his    hospitality    and 
assistance,  and  that  we  were 
hungry  and  required  food,  he 
provided   for  our    consump- 
tion the  head  of  a  bush-deer, 
together,    with    some    native 
roots   called  cassava.       The 
stuff  was   certainly  not  very 
appetizing  to  gaze  upon,  but 
then    hungry    men    are     not 
fastidious,  and  as  I  had  now 
been  without  food  for  nearly 
twentv-four  hours  I  managed 
to  make  a  hearty  meal. 

The  loan  of  a  canoe  large 
enough  for  myself  and  two 
men  was  readily  offered,  and 
after  considerable  haggling 
over  the  extortionate  price 
asked  for  the  hire  of  the  craft 
a  bargain  was  arrived  at  and 
I  proceeded  down  the  creek, 
leaving  part  of  my  men  be- 
hind, and  eventually  reached 
Nyanga  in  a  very  sorry  plight, 
my  legs  being  fearfully  cut 
and  bruised  through  my 
wanderings  in  the  bush. 


s**"-' 


passing  of  a  canoe  or 
boat  was  out  of  the 
question  altogether, 
for  it  might  have  been 
days  before  such  an 
event  occurred.  We 
therefore  decided  to 
push  on  through  the 
bush.  This  we  found 
a  most  difficult  under- 
taking. The  under- 
growth was  so  thick 
that  progress  was  very 
slow,  and  it  was  only 
after  many  hours  of 
hard  work  —  during 
which  my  garments 
suffered  considerably 
-  that  we  struck  a 
track  which  even- 
tually landed  us  in  a 
native  village  on  the 
banks  of  a  creek  —  a 


THE    NATIVE    VILLAGE   WHERE   THE   AUTHOR    WAS    PROVIDED   WITH    FOOD   AND   A   CANOE. 

From  a  Photo. 


musing    account  of   the    trials  and    tribulations    which    befell     two     young   Britishers    who    ran    a 
aper    in    the   wilds    of   British  Columbia    in    its    early    days.       They    had    "  correspondents  "    who 
ote    •.  lie    personalities    and     made    the    office    a    bear-garden,    subscribers    and    advertisers    who 

paid    in    kind,    and    at    times    prowling   wild   animals    upset    the  daily  routine. 


1 1.   Winer,  I        i,  B.C.,  was  the 

I  ish   and    I 

-hip  to  buy.     We 

ich  (  apital,  but 

t   town    lot  in 

per  cent. 

at   fifteen   per 

-ugh 

the  purchase. 

for  the  task  before 
by   having 
ge,  where  he  had,  in  his  time,  < 

y  magazine.     I,  on  the 

■  ery  little — 

n  the  <    ast,  and  had  acquired 

•he  art  of  printing  in 

''a  five-pound 

Mome  "  outfit,  so  there 


was  nothing,  naturally,  about  running  a  paper 
that  I  did  not  know. 

I  was  to  be  editor  and  Mac  business  manager. 
He  was  well  suited  to  this  position.  He  was  a 
S<  otchman,  and  a  good  man  of  business,  for  he 
had  taken  a  college  course  of  book-keeping. 
Altogether  we  wen*  very  pleased  with  ourselves 
and  very  confident  of  success,  and,  though  in 
our  opening  number  we  modestly  quoted  "  Tis 
not  in  mortals  to  command  success,"  we  didn't 
really  believe  a  word  of  it. 

I  h<  Winer  had  been  printed  on  an  old  press 
of  the  hand-inking,  mangle  type,  but  our  prede- 
cessors had,  shortly  before  selling  out  to  us, 
ordered  a  foot-power,  self-inking,  bed-and-platen 
press,  and  this  had  now  arrived  at  Robson,  some 
thirty  miles  from  De  Capo,  for  which  distance  it 
had  to  be  brought  in  by  mule  pack-train. 


HOW   WE   RAN   THE    "MINER." 


47 


The  press  had  been  invoiced  by  the  manu- 
facturers as  "  i  So-and-so  Printing  Press, 
K.D.,"  and  the  "K.D."  had  bothered  us  not 
a  little,  until  we  found  that  the  letters  meant  no 
worse  than  "knocked  down,"  or  taken  apart, 
which  was  convenient,  as  it  enabled  us  to  arrange 
the  loads  for  the  mules  with  the  greater  ease. 
The  flywheel,  however,  was  not  "K.D.'d,"and 
weighed  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 
We  got  it  loaded  at  last  on  the  biggest  and 
strongest  mule  in  the  train,  and  started  for  home. 
The  mule,  Job  by  name,  was  very  unhappy 
about  it.  He  didn't  like  the  work  at  all.  His 
load  would  slip  from  one  side  of  the  pack- 
saddle  to  the  other,  and  wouldn't  give  him  a 
fighting  chance.  At  last  he  grew  tired  of  it  and 
threw  up  his  contract.  He  hurled  himself 
down  a  steep  gravel  bank,  flywheel  and  all,  and 
there  and  then  died,  twelve  miles  from  Da  Capo  ! 

Mac  and  I  had  quite  a  time  of  it,  getting  the 
heavy  wheel  back  on  to  the  trail.  Mac  derived 
much  satisfaction  from  comparing  our  labours 
with  those  of  some  gentleman  in  the  classics, 
who  had  some  similar  trouble  of  his  own.  I 
had  never  known  the  man  myself,  and  was  far 
more  interested  in  wondering  how  we  were 
going  to  get  the  thing  into  town,  even  when  we 
had  it  once  more  on  the  trail.  Our  struggles 
were  watched  by  two  Chinamen,  who  found  us 
more  interesting  than  the  task  of  washing  for 
gold  in  the  gulch  below.  At  length  one  of 
them  spoke. 

"  Him  mule,  him  heap  no  good.  Him  China- 
man, him  heap  good.  How  muchee  you  pay 
him  tote  him  "  —here  he  whirled  his  arm  round 
in  a  circle — "  Sabby  ?  " 

"  Me  pay  plenty  cash,"  said  I  —  "two  dollar. 
Heap  good  plenty  cash.     Sabby  ?  " 

I  would  have  given  him  ten,  with  pleasure, 
but  never  thought  he  would  tackle  the  job. 

"  Two  dollar  no  good,"  said  he  ;  "John  tote 
him  floor.      Heap  cheap.     Sabby?" 

"  Three,"  said  I. 

"  Aw  litey,"  said  he,  and  started  off  to  his 
shack,  returning  with  a  very  stout  pole,  on  which 
the  two  Chinamen  soon  had  the  flywheel  slung, 
and  with  a  man  at  either  end  of  it  started  for 
town  at  a  jog  trot.  They  landed  in  our  office  in 
half  the  time  that  the  mule  had  taken  to  do 
his  part  of  the  journey,  and  didn't  seem  a  bit 
like  dying  over  it,  either. 

This  office  of  ours  is,  perhaps,  worthy  of  a 
word  or  two.  It  was  the  first  frame  building 
that  Da  Capo  had  to  boast  of.  It  had  been  built 
in  the  winter,  of  undressed,  unseasoned  lumber, 
the  space  between  the  boards  being  covered  by 
battens.  The  heat  of  summer  had  caused 
a  vast  amount  of  shrinkage,  so  that  it  was  not  at 
all  necessary  to  go  to  a  window  to  look  out  of 


doors.  This  was  no  great  matter  when  the 
weather  was  warm,  but  with  the  thermometer  at 
fifteen  degrees  below  zero,  so  much  airiness  had 
its  drawbacks,  especially  when  we  found,  as  was 
frequently  the  case,  that  our  beds  were  covered 
with  two  or  three  inches  of  drifted  snow.  Hut 
the  snow  was  dry,  and  we  soon  got  used  to  it. 
But  when  it  came  to  "sticking  type"  with  a 
blizzard  concentrated  on  one's  left  elbow,  whilst 
one's  right  side  was  slowly  browning  with  the 
heat  of  a  red-hot  box-stove  placed  within  two 
feet  of  the  type-case,  it  really  did  seem  as  if 
things  might  be  a  little  more  comfortable. 

We  began  our  career  as  journalists,  however, 
in  the  spring,  so  that  these  little  incidents  did 
not  come  along  to  annoy  us  until  everything 
was  in  good  running  order. 

The  organization  of  our  staff  of  correspon- 
dents was  not  an  easy  matter.  They  seerced  to 
think  that  any  time  was  a  t^ood  time  to  send  in 


their 


copy. 


The  matter  they  sent   us,   too, 


was  frequently  of  a  nature  that  we  hardly  cared 
to  publish  as  it  stood,  whilst  any  editing  was 
regarded  as  a  personal  insult,  to  be  instantly 
resented  by  the  resignation  of  their  "  position 
on  the  staff."  It  was  Mac's  idea  that  we  should 
try  "  to  draw  them  together,"  and  with  this  end 
m  view  he  urged  them,  when  in  town,  always  to 
look  upon  the  Miner  office  as  their  head-quarters 
—as  their  home,  in  fact.  This  invitation  was 
heartily  accepted.  But  as  our  correspondents 
seldom  or  never  came  to  town  except  on  business 
connected  with  the  purchase  of  spirituous 
liquors,  in  largish  quantities,  for  immediate 
personal  consumption,  our  home  -  life  was 
sometimes  not  so  quiet  and  uneventful  as  it 
might  have  been.  Our  Kokanee  correspondent, 
for  instance — a  young  and  genial  Englishman, 
six  foot  three  in  his  socks,  with  twenty  stone 
resting  on  the  soles  of  his  boots — always  showed 
the  home-like  feeling  that  possessed  him  by 
upsetting  a  newly-filled  case  of  brevier  type  on 
to  the  editorial  table.  One  of  our  printers- 
wages  were  seven  and  a  half  dollars  a  day  then 
—  could  sort  it  out  in  a  couple  of  days,  and  the 
change  of  work  was  a  relief  to  him. 

The  deficiencies  of  our  correspondents  were 
compensated  for,  to  some  extent,  by  the  cheer- 
fulness and  alacrity  with  which  the  general 
public  supplied  us  with  due  notice  of  the  occur- 
rence of  any  event  of  interest. 

Early  one  afternoon  I  was  out  for  a  stroll,  not 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  office,  having  taken 
a  rifle  with  me  on  the  off-chance  of  shooting 
grouse,  when,  on  rounding  a  bend  of  the  trail,  I 
met  two  miners  of  my  acquaintance,  who  were 
making  for  town  at  the  top  of  their  speed. 

"  Halloa  !  "  cried  one. 

"  There  you  are,"  shouted  the  other. 


rin:    WIDE    WORLD    maoa/.ine. 


1.    trying  stop    them. 

ml  thinking  that 
>l    1 
.  1 « > v\  them,  when  the  man  in  the  rear 
td  .u\\\  ejaculati 

\-    I    involunt  1    round    I    was 

nd  that  where  1  had  first  halted, 
'wr  tip  bears  ! 
me   they  reared  up  on 
rs  and  pi  battle, 

time  to  think  ol   running  away,  and 
iping  had   I   <;• 
lit    of  a    hear,   slow    as    it 
I  carries  the  animal   over 
;nd  at  a  that  a  man  cannot  keep 

I         d,  the  only  way  to 
:1k-  pertinai  ittentions   of  a  grizzly 

.  ariety)  is  to  climb 
run  at  full  I   along  the  side 

hill,  when  the  creature  is  hampered 
position    in    which    it    has   to 
el  to  foil  iw  on  your  trail. 
I    at  1    my   rifle,    a    '440    Marlin 

d   let  fly  at  the  heart  of  the  big 
The    bullet    struck    its    left  wrist 
and  deflected  from  the  body. 

With  a  grunt  of  pain  and  anger  it  dropped 
•    but,  finding  its  paw  broken, 
E      ).      In  the  meantime  the  smaller  and 
making   for  me,   so   I   had  a 
•   him,  aiming  over  the  top  of  the  head, 
ilders,  in  the  hope  of  breaking 
1  k. 
In  the  hurry  of  the  moment,  however,  I   fired 
and    the   result   was   that    the   animal    fell, 
I,  with  a  scar  all  the  way  up  his  forehe; 
■  miners  had    turned   on   hearing  the 
and  one  of  them   rushed    up  to  the 
ear,  inl  nidi   him  off  with   his 

.  which  he  had  drawn  from  his  pack. 

_   t   within  striking  distance 

inded   b  n    his  hind  legs  ready 

The  blow  was  warded  off 

ft  upward  motion  of  thi  irm  and 

{      ito  the  brush. 

I    could    not  fire,  as    th<  tly 

'   •  I    turned    my 

t   moment   to   the   bear  with    the 

hich  had  1.  wling  the  while 

-  und.     It  hots 

king  the  right  shoulder-blade 

1  the  first,  and   by  the  mi  ich- 

brain,  through  ti 
•id. 

fell  with  a  terrific  thump,  and  I  was 

and  see  whal  .   on 

:id  me  ;    for   by  this  time  the  young    bear 


hail  attacked  the  man  who  had  had  the  axe,  and 
was  some  lour  or  five  feet  behind  me. 

The  two  of  them  were  sparring  very  prettily 
for  an  opening,  the  man  with  a  sheath-knife  in 
his  h.md,  the  hear  with  nothing  but  his 
enormous  claws.  The  miner  was  getting  blown 
ami  flustered,  but  his  opponent  seemed  as  cool 
as  .1  cucumber,  though  very  cross  about  things 
in  general. 

It  was  marvellous  the  dexterity  and  agility 
the  animal  displayed,  and  it  seemed  a  shame 
to  interfi 

One  of  the  combatants  did  not  appear  to 
think  so,  however,  as  he  was  shouting  for 
help  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  instead  of 
keeping  his  breath  for  a  better  purpose. 

The  movements  of  the  two  were  so  swift  and 
erratic  that  it  was  impossible  to  seize  a  moment 
when  they  were  sufficiently  still  to  make  it  safe 
for  me  to  fire. 

Whilst  the  three  of  us  were  engaged  in  a 
kind  of  "  Here  we  go  round  the  mulberry  bush  " 
dance,  the  other  man  managed  to  get  his 
revolver  from  his  pack  and  suddenly  joined  in 
the  fun.  Whilst  we  were  engaging  Bruin's 
attention  on  either  side  he  stepped  up  behind 
and,  placing  the  muzzle  of  his  weapon  at  the 
base  of  the  skull,  fired,  and  the  battle  was  won. 

It  was  fortunate  that  he  took  a  hand  in  the 
game  just  when  he  did,  as  I  found  afterwards 
that  I  had  fired  all  the  cartridges  in  my 
magazine,  and  had  been  trying  all  the  time  to 
get  a  shot  with  my  rifle  empty  !  The  whole 
affair  did  not  last  five  minutes,  but,  as  the  critics 
sometimes  say  of  a  poor  play,  there  was  not  a 
dull  moment  in  it. 

1  was  deeply  disappointed  in  my  mining 
acquaintances,  however.  When  I  thanked  them 
for  having  been  so  thoughtful  as  to  come  directly 
to  the  Miner  office  and  give  notice  of  the 
vicinity  of  the  mother-bear  and  her  grown  cub 
they  frankly  admitted  that  they  had  never 
thought  of  doing  so,  but  when  they  had  run  up 
:ist  the  creatures  had  no  idea  of  doing  any- 
thing but  of  getting  out  of  reach  with  the 
utmost  dispatch  —  "at  their  earliest  possible 
convenience,"  so  to  speak. 

Our  subscribers  were  rather  a  trial  sometimes. 
It  was  hard  to  satisfy  everybody.  Early  on  in 
our  career  a  kindly  friend  told  us  :  — 

'  You     boys    are    too    blame    perlite.      The 
is  fust-rate.     Fust-rate.     A  high-flyer,     but 
there   ain't    enough    pers'nal    int'rest    in    it.      At 
t,  not  to  my  mind.      No,  sir  !     Fellers  like 
to  be  took  noti<  e  of,  so's  they  can  send  a  copy- 
to  the  old  folks  back  East." 

We  took  the  hint,  and  our  two  columns  of 
'"  Personal  Items  ;'  were  filled  with  such  para- 
graphs as  : — 


HOW     WE     RAN     THE     "MINER." 


49 


"  Rancher  Byles  "  —we  always  used  a  title  of 
some  sort — "  has  been  enlarging  his  premises. 
He  has  recently  added  two  chicken-coops  to  his 
already    capacious    hen  run.      They    are    much 


his  friends  at  home.  Our  "  Personal  Items  " 
and  our  "Mining  News  in  Brief'  brought  in 
many  a  good  dollar  in  this  way.  These  small 
amounts  of  money  were  especially  useful,  seeing 


"  HE    FIKE[>.    AN!)    THE    RATTLE    WAS    WON. 


appreciated  by  his  three  fine  broods  of  Minorca 
chicks." 

Or :  "It  was  Lumberman  Silas  Jones's  sixty- 
eighth  birthday  Wednesday.  Many  happy 
returns,  Si,  but  you  mustn't  be  so  reckless 
toboganning,  or  all  our  wishes  won't  help  you. 
We  hear,  too,  that  you're  going  to  get  married. 
Well,  Silas,  it's  never  too  late  to  mend,  is  it?  " 

Or  again  :  "  Contractor  William  Brusch  has 
secured  the  job  of  painting  a  gold  stripe  round 
Cap.  Higgins's  splendid  launch  the  Angostura. 
It  is  to  be  of  real  gold  leaf.  It  is  enterprise 
such  as  this,  Cap,  that  hasfcmade  the  West  the 
place  it  is." 

This  may  not  have  been  art,  but  it  paid. 
Probably  every  one  of  the  gentlemen  mentioned 
ordered  five  or  ten  extra  copies  of  the  issue  in 
which  his  name  appeared  and  sent  them  off  to 

Vol.  xii. —  7. 


that  most  of  our  accounts  were  paid  in  kind. 
Our  subscribers  were,  nearly  all  of  them,  liberal 
advertisers,  but  we  had  to  "  take  out  in  trade  "  the 
sums  they  owed  us.  Our  printers  and  ourselves 
boarded  at  various  hotels  as  the  necessity  arose 
for  their  accounts  to  be  settled.  Boots,  clothes, 
cord-wood,  pipes  and  tobacco,  necessities  and 
luxuries  alike,  were  received  in  exchange  for 
space  in  our  advertising  columns.  On  one  occa- 
sion, being  short  of  funds,  and  Mac,  whose  duty 
it  was  to  make  collections,  being  away  on 
business,  I  went  round  to  our  doctor  to  ask  for 
the  amount  of  his  account,  which  had  not  been 
presented  for  payment  for  some  months. 

"  Well;"  said  he,  "  I've  been  doctoring  and 
mining  in  this  American  Continent  for  twenty 
years  and  over  and  I've  never  paid  for  the  inser- 
tion of  my  professional  card  in  the  local  paper 


nil      w  [DE    VVOR]  l>    MAGAZINE 


tjU  .  \  ome  natural,  somehow. 

metimes  to  find 

\\  lien,  in  the 

.1   month  only 

•   iningthe  newspapers  was  often 

when  ever) 

.mi  had  left 


the  Revelstoke  Star  was  printed.  Its  contents. 
The  foolish  and  glaring  incompetency  of  its 
editor  and  his  staff.  Our  contempt  for  its 
opinion  of  us.  (After  a  round  or  two  we  used 
this  item  only  as  a  last  resource.  The  Star 
man  hit  luck,  hard  and  above  the  belt.  We 
had  taken  over  the  quarrel  with  the  Miner,  but 
soon  losl  interest  in  it.) 


I        U  I-  I'l      PAID    IN    KINi). 


ial  climate  :  v,  hen 
ly  nothing  going  on  in  town 
■   the  h  inding  n<  es 

This  list  was   ol  considerable 

i.l  tei        '    ;    <  ity    of    th  i  >ad    to 

e  our  riminal  I    in    not 

with    the    outside 
■  iffii  ials.      Its    own 

.  blind  id  pitalists 

lich    prevented    thi  rr 
I  louring 
i 
r   for    allowing 
f  him.     (W 

of 

'  4'i    and 

per  on  which 


The 
The 

and 


hey 


4.  The  high    prosperity  of  Da  Capo, 
very   ample    reasons   for   such   prosperity, 
enterprise  of  its  inhabitants,  both   persona 
collective. 

5.  The  extortion  of  the  Customs.  ( 
swooped  down  on  three  of  our  leading  trades- 
men and  confiscated  their  shipments  of  winter 
supplies,  lining  them,  also,  some  thirty  thousand 
dollars,  just  because  the  goods  had  been  in- 
voiced "In  plain  figures''  (below  cost),  to  save 
the  Customs  officials  time;  anal  trouble  in  calcu- 
lating and  collecting  the  duties.)  The  uncon- 
stitutionality (.Mao's  word)  of  taxes  in  general. 

6.  The  hopeless  state  of  chaos  in  which  the 
mining   laws    were^kept    by   an    irresponsible, 

ik,  knock-kneed,  self-seeking  and  hopelessly 
rotten  Government.  The  engaging  qualities  of 
any  member  of  the  same  who  might  be  visiting 
our  neighbourhood. 

I'.ui    even    with    resources   such  as  these  we 


HOW    WE    RAN    THE     -MINER." 


5i 


were  sometimes  short  of  copy.  I  remember 
that  late  one  Eriday  evening  we  had  yet  a 
column  and  a  half  to  make  up.  There  was  no 
news  and  not  an  exchange  in  the  office.  Lyell's 
"  Geology  "—a  work,  by  the  way,  invaluable  to 
us — had  already  contributed  a  page  and  a  bit  to 
the  issue.  There  was  nothing  for  it  but  to  make 
news  ;  so  I  resurrected  a  Swedish  prospector, 
who  had  been  lost  in  the  hills,  and  made  him 
give  an  account  of  how  his  life  had  been  saved 
in  a  miraculous  manner  after  a  fall  from  a 
precipice.  This  interview  was  largely  reprinted 
in  the  "  patent  insides  "  of  American  papers,  a 
glory  seldom  attained  by  any  but  an  American 
writer. 

It  must  not  be  imagined,  from  my  account, 
that  the  life  of  the  newspaper  man  in  the 
wilderness  is  entirely  devoid  of  humour.  Old 
Hoyle,  for  instance,  was  an  unfailing  source  of 
amusement — and  annoyance.  He  would  wait 
outside  every  morning,  until  the  office  fire  was 
lighted,  and  he  would  never  leave  us,  except  for 
meals,  till  the  last  ashes  had  cooled  in  the  stove. 
He  had  a  hundred  dainty  little  traits  which 
endeared  him  to  us.  It  was  through  him, 
though,  curiously  enough,  that  I  came  nearer  to 
doing  murder  than  I  have  ever  been,  before  or 
since. 

It  was  two  o'clock  one  Saturday  morning, 
and  we  were  late  with  the  paper.  I  had  the 
last  page  on  the  press,  and  had  been  pedalling 
hard  to  get  running  at  full  speed,  when 
Mac,  who,  every  now  and  again,  would  renew 
the  ink  on  the  ink-disc,  misjudged  his  time, 
and  the  hand-roller  he  was  using  was  caught 
by  the  press-rollers  as  they  flashed  up- 
wards and  twisted  out  of  his  grasp.  It  flew 
up  into  the  air  and  knocked  the  lamp  from 
the  hook  by  which  it  was  hanging,  so 
that  it  fell,  with  a  sickening  scrunch,  right 
between  the  platen  and  the  page  of  set 
type  ! 

The  machine  stopped  instantly,  with  a 
terrible  jar.  Mac  and  I  gazed  at  each  other  in 
hopeless  despair,  whilst  old  Hoyle,  taking  in  the 
situation  at  a  glance,  edged  nearer  to  the  door, 
and  blandly  murmured  : — 

"That's  one  way  of  throwing  light  on  the 
subject  ! " 

He  was  out  of  sight  by  the  time  I  reached 
the  door. 

Ten  minutes  afterwards  I  returned  to  the 
office,  my  hands  still  unstained  with  the  life- 
blood  of  a  fellow-creature,  to  find  that  three 
lines  of  type  only  had  been  injured.      Even  the 


press  was  in  going  order,  and   a  quarter  of  an 
hour's  work  set  all  to  rights. 

The  old  man  was  in  his  accustomed  place  the 
following  morning. 

Some  time  during  the  winter  it  became  our 
duty  to  chronicle  the  death  of  the  first  person 
of  importance  who  had  died  in  tin-  town.  I  it- 
was  a  capitalist  upon  whose  disposition  to  invest 
his  money  in  the  development  of  the  country 
we  had  largely  built.  It  was  a  great  blow  to  us 
when  these  hopes  were  rendered  unavailing  by 
his  sudden  death.  It  was  also  a  matter  for 
our  most  earnest  consideration  when  the 
proprietor  of  the  hotel  next  door  to  our 
office  handed  us  a  wire  from  the  deceased's 
next-of-kin  which  contained  the  request  that 
Mr.  X—  -'s  body  should  be  embalmed  and 
forwarded  to  Toronto. 

This  was  embarrassing.  It  was  impossible, 
for  the  sake  of  the  town's  credit,  to  admit  that 
we  did  not  possess  a  professional  embalmer. 
We  wished  to  curry  favour  with  the  inheritor  of 
so  much  wealth,  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
become  interested  in  our  mining  industries.  A 
very  great  deal  of  thought  was  expended  on 
the  matter,  and  it  was  at  length  decided  to 
carry  the  coffin  into  our  back-yard  which 
at  the  time  was  the  only  enclosed  space  in 
Da  Capo — and  freeze  the  body  hard  and  solid. 
The  thermometer  registered  ten  below  zero 
(Fahrenheit),  and  it  was  not  long  before  the 
task  was  accomplished.  To  make  assurance 
doubly  sure  we  went  one  step  farther,  and 
gradually  pouring  water  into  the  coffin,  with 
intervals  sufficiently  long  for  the  water  to 
freeze,  soon  had  the  corpse  enclosed  in  a  solid 
block  of  ice,  in  which  form  it  was  shipped  to 
its  destination,  and,  so  I  believe,  gave  the 
greatest  satisfaction. 

I  learnt  one  valuable  lesson  from  this  news- 
paper work,  which  the  reader  may  perhaps 
accept  as  a  parting  gift. 

I  have  said  that  Mac  was  a  man  of  business. 
He  had  a  positive  genius  for  book-keeping. 
Every  week-end  his  balance  would  come  out 
as  regular  as  clockwork.  There  was  never  any 
trouble  about  it. 

"System,  my  boy,"  said  he;  "system's  every- 
thing in  a  job  of  this  sort." 

It  was  not  until  long  after  we  had  dissolved 
partnership,  with  mutual  good-will,  that  I  dis- 
covered the  secret  of  his  system  ! 

He  had  a  ledger  account  headed  :— - 

Dr. Cash.  -Cr. 

Short —  —or —  — Over. 


FlUlordOja/) 


An     account     of    the    philanthropic    pawnshop   of    Paris,    the    Mont  de    Piete\    showing   the    difference 
between  "Uncle"   of   England  and    "My  Aunt"  of  France. 


HAVE  always  thought  that  there  is 

_  radii  ally  wrong  with  the 

of  pawnbroking  in  England. 

■nd  even  legislate  against, 

rs,  but  we  license  and  back  up 

:  authority  of   the  State  a  system 

a  privileged  body  to  prey  upon 

of  the   poor  and    needy.       The 

with   two  or  three 

ilute  security,  and  five 

ent   of  risk  comes 

But  1  roker  has  more  than  absolute 

rids  above  one  third  or,  at 

:lf  of  the    mar1.  lue  of  a 

est  rate  ol      terest  is  twenty 

.mliler  th<-  pledge,  and  coi 

the  pledger,  the  higher 

of  man;,  j   ment,  ware- 
than  the  layman  reali/ 
■•nbrokers  must    be   enor- 


mous, and  it  is  strange  that  no  philanthropist 
has  thought  of  placing  easy  loans  within  the 
reach  of  the  poor,  when  so  much  attention  is 
directed  towards  the  solution  of  such  hopeless 
problems  as  housing,  old-age  pensions,  etc.  I 
believe  that,  apart  from  philanthropy,  a  reason- 
able return  might  be  obtained  by  investors  who 
are  willing  to  organize  pawnbroking  at  some- 
thing like  bank-rate. 

In  this  connection  it  is  instructive  to  study 
the  foreign  system,  which  was  originally  started 
as  pure  philanthropy,  and  still  aspires,  under  the 
regis  of  Oovernment,  to  accommodate  the  masses. 
The  first  Mont  de  Fiete  was  founded  in  Italy  in 
the  fifteenth  century  under  one  of  the  Popes, 
who  hoped  that  the  extortions  of  Hebrew  usurers 
might  be  checked  thereby.  A  number  of  wealthy 
persons  provided  the  capital,  and  only  sufficient 
interest  was  to  be  charged  to  pay  bare  expenses. 
The  noble  family  of  Medici  assisted  the  enter- 
prise, and  their  arms — three  golden  balls — have 


A    NATIONAL    PAWNSHOP. 


53 


been  adopted  ever  since  as  the  pawnbroker's 
escutcheon  all  over  the  world.  The  movement 
was  thoroughly  successful,  and  soon  spread  to 
the  Netherlands,  France,  Spain,  and  elsewhere, 
but,  oddly  enough,  has  never  reached  this 
country.  The  Monts  de  Piete  have  had  many 
vicissitudes  and  have  not  always  been  spared  in 
time  of  war,  as  their  philanthropic  character 
should  have  given  reason  to  expect.  Napoleon 
Buonaparte  plundered  them  relentlessly  wher- 
ever his  arms  triumphed  in  Italy,  and  a  Pope 
was  forced  to  lay  hands  upon  those  in  his 
dominions  to  satisfy  the  indemnity  exacted  by 
the  French. 

Most  P>ench    institutions  are   stultified  with 


tive  generosity  of  his  establishment.  But  when 
I  raised  the  question  of  privacy,  he  seemed 
amazed  that  it  should  command  any  import- 
ance. In  his  eyes  the  furtive  demeanour  i.f  an 
Englishman  when  about  to  pledge  his  watch 
appeared  as  incomprehensible  as  shame  would 
be  in  a  person  about  to  cash  a  cheque  at  a 
bank.  After  all,  it  is  a  legitimate  and  honour- 
able transaction.  The  man  who  pawns  his 
watch  gives  ample  security  and  has  no  need  for 
concealment,  unless  poverty  is  necessarily 
shameful.  After  all,  it  is  probably  a  question  of 
national  temperament.  An  Englishman,  who  is 
utterly  indifferent  about  being  seen  on  tie 
threshold    of  a  public-house,  will  only  enter  a 


From  a  Photo.  by\ 


ENTERING   THE   MONT    DE    PIETE   TO    PAWN    AN    ARTICLE. 


[Paul  Geniaux. 


red  tape,  and  the  Monts  de  Piete  of  the 
Republic  would  certainly  be  far  more  useful 
to  the  masses  if  they  were  conducted  on  more 
human,  common-sense  principles.  But,  with  all 
its  faults,  the  Mont  de  Piete  of  Paris  is  far  and 
away  in  advance  of  any  similar  institution  in  the 
world.  By  the  courtesy  of  the  director,  I  was 
permitted  to  go  over  the  whole  establishment 
in  the  Rue  des  Blancs  Manteaux  and  cross- 
examine  him  about  the  administration  of  his 
department. 

Pfe  had  evidently  devoted  much  careful  study 
to  the  various  systems  of  pawn  broking  in  divers 
countries,  and  was  quite  convinced  of  the 
superiority  of  the  Mont  de  Piete  as  administered 
in  France.  He  plied  me  with  pamphlets  and 
statistics,  all  of  which   illustrated   the  compara- 


pawnshop  with  all  the  precautions  of  a  burglar. 
A  Frenchman,  on  the  other  hand,  will  calmly 
join  the  crowd  in  a  public  building,  wait  his  turn 
in  a  file  of  fellow-sufferers,  and  cheerfully  submit 
to  interrogations  in  sublime  disregard  of  his 
audience. 

The  procedure  of  pawning  is  as  follows  :  You 
enter  a  large  hall,  where  crowds  of  people  are 
standing  about,  some  with  bundles  to  be  con- 
fided to  "  my  aunt,"  as  the  French  dub  our 
"uncle,"  others  waiting  patiently  for  the  comple- 
tion of  the  somewhat  tedious  transaction.  All 
along  one  end  of  the  room  is  a  long  counter, 
like  that  of  a  bank,  only  to  be  approached  in 
single  file  between  narrow  rails.  Behind  this 
counter  sit  a  number  of  solemn,  prosperous- 
looking  clerks,  who  scrutinize  the  clients,  take  in 


Nil.     Wild.    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


• 


THE   VALUERS    A  r    \Y<  I 


THE   SMALLEST   SUM    OFFERED    IS    HALF    A    CROWN. 


\l\iul  CiUiiaux. 


_   5.  and  hand  out  numbered  metal  discs, 

, i  tickets.     Having  secured 

i wait  the  good  pleasure 

lers,    which    means    that    you    must 

t  huddled  among  unsavoury  persons  on 

if  about  the  hall  fur  nearly 

The  val  upy  an  inner  chambei 

IV  deliberately.     Though 

enabled    thi  m    to 

e  ince,    they 

rything 

• 

t  h  i  r  t 

- 


longer.  If  it  sells  for  more  than  the  amount  of 
the  loan,  as  is  almost  invariably  the  case,  you 
are  entitled  to  receive  the  difference  if  you  have 
the  time  and  patience  to  come  and  claim  it. 

While  we  are  waiting  for  our  number  to  be 
called  out  let  us  go  to  another  part  of  the  great 
building  and  witness  one  of  the  auctions.  These 
take  place  in  a  dismal  room,  from  which  light 
and  air  have  been  in  great  measure  excluded. 
An    indefinable    stench    of   musty   clothes    and 


N    OF    UN  REDEEMED    F'LEDGES. 


{Paul  C/nraux, 


A    NATIONAL    PAWNSHOP. 


55 


unwashed  humanity  appears  to  have  become 
chronic.  Bales  and  boxes  of  bed-linen  are 
spread  out  upon  a  circular  counter,  behind 
which  a  couple  of  clerks  walk  about  to  exhibit 
the  lots  and  identify  the  purchasers.  Behind 
them,  again,  the  auctioneer  sits  at  a  desk  with 
a  hammer  in  his  hand,  while  another  clerk 
beside  him  records  each  transaction  laboriously 
in  a  ledger.  Most  of  the  customers  are  Jew 
dealers  ,  but  there  is  also  a  fair  sprinkling  of 
the  thrifty  poor  on  the  look-out  for  bargains. 
As  each  lot  is  put  up  a  clerk  reads  out  the 
amount  for  which  it  was  originally  pawned,  and 
bidding  generally 
begins  at  that 
figure. 

On  our  way  back 
to  the  great  hall 
we  may  look  in  at 
the  desks  where 
pledges  are  re- 
newed. This  opera- 
tion also  requires 
an  undue  time  and 
many  formalities 
of  no  particular  in- 
terest. But  the 
director  will  pre- 
sently entertain 
you  with  plenty  of 
anecdotes  on  the 
subject.  You  may 
see  a  venerable 
umbrella,  for  which 
the  owner  has 
regularly  renewed 
his  ticket  during 
the  last  forty-eight 
years  !  You  may 
also  hear  of  a  cot- 
ton curtain,  which 
remained  in  pawn 
from  1823  to  1872. 
Thirty  -  five  francs 
were  expended  on 
interest,  and  it 
Only  fetched  five 
francs  when  at  last 
it  was  sold. 

Your  number 
has  now  been  called  out  in  the  central  hall, 
so  you  must  make  your  way  to  a  pigeon-hole 
and  hand  in  your  check.  An  official  men- 
tions the  sum  offered,  and  you  may  take 
it  or  leave  it.  Haggling,  expostulation,  and 
entreaty  are  alike  unavailing.  If  you  accept, 
you  are  publicly  catechized  as  to  your  name, 
address,  occupation,  etc.  These  are  written 
out  very  deliberately  on  a   coloured  form  and 


then  read  out  in  a  loud  voice  for  entry  in  a 
ledger,  amid  the  comments  of  the  crowd,  ribald 
or  good-natured  as  the  case  may  be.  If  your 
loan  is  above  fifteen  francs  you  must  also  pro- 
duce documents  to  prove  your  identity.  This 
affords  a  fairly  satisfactory  safeguard  against 
stolen  goods,  which  the  director  told  me  are 
very  rarely  received.  Out  of  one  million  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  watches  taken 
during  five  years  only  one  thousand  two 
hundred  and  seventy  were  proved  to  have  been 
stolen. 

public   is 


The  general 


A    COKNEK    OK    THE    M1SI   H  I 
From  a  Photo. 


not  admitted  behind 
the  scenes,  but  the 
courteous  director, 
justly  proud  of  his 
establishment,  is 
always  ready  to 
show  you  over  it 
you  come  to  him 
with  proper  recom- 
mendations. And 
the  sight  is  cer- 
tainly worth  an 
effort.  The  Paris 
Mont  de  Piete  is 
the  largest  pawn- 
shop in  the  world. 
At  the  central 
building  there  are 
nearly  four  miles  of 
passages  flanked 
by  walls  of  stored 
pledges,  piled  in 
serried  rows  right 
up  to  the  ceilings. 
Each  package  has 
a  number  corre- 
sponding to  the 
ledger  downstairs, 
and  the  system  is 
so  perfect  that  the 
officials  can  go 
direct  to  any  object 
that  may  be  called 
for  at  any  time. 
As  a  matter  of 
fact,  owing  to  the 
red  tape  which  is 
so  universal  in 
French  offices,  considerable  time  is  wasted  in 
redeeming  a  pledge,  but  it  is  actually  fetched 
very  quickly  :  no  sooner  has  it  been  found  than 
it  is  sent  spinning  downstairs  along  an  inclined 
plane.  On  a  busy  day  it  is  interesting  to  stand 
beside  t.his  and  watch  the  torrent  of  parcels 
rolling  downstairs. 

When    I   was   being   conducted   through    the 
corridors  of  cheap  jewellery   I  could  not    help 


IMi  lUSi    I  1.1'  DGEM    l>l 

by  Paul  Geniaux. 


nil;    WIDE    W0R1  n    MAGAZINE. 


Id  have  been  to  slip  a 

But  presently 

und,  and  tin  n   1  noticed 

I  themselv<  s 

imn  and    followed  all    my 

th    tlu-    utmost   vigilance.     How 

mong  bulky  goods 

■ 
1 

• 
id  that 
all 

The 
the 

tly 
When 
in  the 
moi 

:'    their 

n  a 

uniform,   which   is 

before    th< 

lin  ami 
tak  ;>ar- 

All   pie 

Ullds 

I  ac- 

■iied    by  at 

attend- 

nor- 

mous    iron    d 

emnly 

unlocked    and    la  ly    pulled    open.      We 

ne  -  floored    room 

5  of   iron  doors  on 

of  them    was    opened    to 

rage,  but   I  was   not 

r.      My  companion  told 

<\   pounds  had  just 

pledge,    which 

I  r  had  had  to 

o  :itral   hall  and  wait  about 

it.      No  one  need 

private  rooms 

but    it    was    very 

1  for  th  •   in   the 

ould  attract 

n  from  the  crowd.      It  is  even 

y   that  the 


From  a  Plwto.  by]         the  jewellery  department. 


owner's   name    is    known   only   to  the   director, 
who  is  the  most  discreet  man  in  the  world. 

Great  precautions  are  also  taken  when  it  is 
necessary  to  transfer  pledges  either  to  the 
branch  establishments  or  to  special  warehouses. 
Special  vans  of  exceeding  strength  are  utilized, 
and    a     more    careful    system     of    receipts    is 

employed  than 
even  the  Post 
Office  exacts  for 
registered  letters. 
The  jewels  are  all 
put  into  a  basket, 
which  the  man  in 
charge  must  never 
let  out  of  his 
hands  during  the 
transit. 

The  problem  of 
storage  is  the 
most  serious  which 
confronts  a  public 
p  awnbroker's 
establ  i  s  h  ment. 
Even  in  so  enor- 
mous a  building  as 
the  central  Mont 
de  Piete  of  Paris 
it  is  impossible  to 
find  accommoda- 
tion for  nearly  all 
the  pledges.  In- 
deed, three  per 
cent,  interest  has 
to  be  charged  for 
warehousing  in 
addition  to  the 
ordinary  interest 
— an  unfortunate 
fact  which  has  in- 
duced thoughtless 
persons  to  bring 
accusations  of  usury,  though  the  total  is  only 
seven  per  cent.  The  difficulty  is,  of  course, 
largely  increased  by  the  selfishness  of  persons 
who  utilize  a  comparatively  philanthropic  in- 
stitution for  the  purpose  of  warehousing  pianos, 
motors,  and  other  bulky  possessions,  at  a  cheap 
rate.  It  has,  indeed,  become  quite  a  fashion 
for  people  to  leave  their  bicycles  at  the  Mont  de 
Piete  when  they  go  out  of  town.  I  saw  what 
looked  like  acres  and  acres  of  bicycles,  not  only 
huddled  in  regiments  about  the  floor  of  one 
huge  room,  but  even  hung  up  in  the  air  in 
flying  squadrons  at  all  sorts  of  unexpected 
turns. 

Another  mania  of  the  hour  which  makes  its 
presence  felt  in  the  pawnshop  is  amateur 
photography.     There  are  whole  streets  of  hand- 


[Paul  Geniaux. 


A    NATIONAL    PAWNSHOP. 


57 


From  a  Photo,  by] 


"acres  and  ackes  of  bicvcles." 


[Paul  Geniaux. 


cameras,  some  carefully  sewn  up  in  linen  and 
labelled  "fragile,"  others  in  neat  canvas  cases, 
and  others  in  rude  cardboard  boxes. 

Statistics    show    that    garments    are    still    far 


bed-linen  generally.      I  saw  whole  mountains  of 
them    disappearing    away    into     the     darkness. 
Here  is,  perhaps,  the  most  appalling  evidence  of- 
the  painful  poverty  which  this  poor  man's  bank 


From  a  Photo.  by] 


K   WHOLE   STREETS    OF    HAND-CAMERAS. 


\Paul Gtniaux. 


and  away  the  most  numerous  class  of  pledge,  as 
they  have  been  ever  since  pawnshops  came  into 
existence.     Next   come  mattresses,  sheets,   and 

Vol.  xii.-8. 


struggles  to  relieve.  The  director  pointed  out 
to  me  that  there  were  corresponding  advantages, 
as    every    mattress    is    carefully    fumigated     on 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


must  have  a  useful   influence 
upon  the  hygiene  of  ti  No  fewer  than 

hundred     and     seventy 
d  in  a  vc.u.  and  no  ■ 

able  to  the 

\     ■  l"  the   pinch  ol    poverty 

i    which     sixty   three 
hun- 

i  e 

naturally 

minent    item.      I 
u  r  i  o 
^i     ;i      which 

I 

nr    dt 

ten 
in.        Th 
h a ve  not  e  n 

ured      w i  t  h 
pad     ..      but 
hung  up  (.hi  boai 

2 

i  n    a 

museum.      Imagine 

th  which 

i    dri\e    a    poor 

g  about 

th-  op     for 

an    hour    and    sub- 

ni:  Ireary    I   i 

nd   public 

in  the 

half 

on      a 


w  n 

director 

ry   in- 
inark 
iile  exhibiting  the  minute  statistics 
he    pointed    out    that    the 
nun  dep  -itc-d      in     a     yeai 

'4  the  poverty  of  the 
put   forward  the  apparent 
the  number  of  pl< 

<<f  the   poorest 

>n<  eption  of 

thril  i  .-rtain   number 

When  they  get  plenty  of 

'  -  II  r.-pair  to  the 

ire  incapable  of  eking 

:   to  week.     But   so 

into  a  little  money  they 

edges.      The   consequence    is 


I      KOKKS    AND   SPOONS   ARE    TAKEN. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Paul  Geniaux. 


that,  in  a  prosperous  year,  the  same  pledge  will 
go  in  and  out  again  ten  or  twenty  times,  each  of 
which  figures  in  the  statistics  as  a  separate 
transaction.  In  a  lean  year,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  pledge  goes  in  once  and  remains  there 
because  the  owner  is  unable  to  redeem  it.  In 
that  ci>e  it  is  entered  only  once  instead  of  ten 
or   twenty    times,    and   the   total  is  accordingly 

reduced. 

It  is  also  im- 
portant to  observe, 
for  reasons  which 
I  will  presently  ex- 
plain, that  the  poor 
are  by  no  means 
the  only  clients  - 
or  even  the  chief 
client  s — o  f  the 
pawnbroker.  In 
an  average  year 
the  working  classes 
(not  necessarily  the 
poorest)  are  only 
responsible  for 
56*5  per  cent,  of 
the  pledges,  and 
out  of  every  hun- 
dred pounds  ad 
vanced  they  only 
take  twenty  -  five 
pounds  twelve 
shillings.  No 
doubt,  when  we 
patrol  the  long 
corridors  of  the 
Mont  de  Piete,  our 
attention  is  especi- 
ally attracted  by  the 
thousands  of  par- 
cels of  poor  cloth- 
ing, the  mountains 
of  mattresses,  the 
forests  of  poor  cot- 
ton umbrellas,  the 
phalanxes  of  well-worn  sewing-machines,  and 
other  evidences  of  penury  and  fruitless  struggles. 
But  we  must  not  forget  the  treasury  of  precious 
stones  in  the  basement,  the  extensive  collection 
of  works  of  art,  pictures,  statuary  and  objects  of 
vertu,  the  inlaid  tables,  the  gilded  mirrors,  the 
rare  violins  and  countless  instruments  of  music, 
which  all  point  to  a  very  different  order  of 
clients.  These  are  the  needy  as  opposed  to 
the  poor,  the  reckless  and  extravagant  rather 
than  the  struggling  toilers,  and  the  question 
arises  how  far  they  are  deserving  objects  of 
philanthropy. 

Experiments    have    been    made    in    certain 
French  towns  (Grenoble,  for  instance)  of  lending 


A    NATIONAL    PAWNSHOP. 


59 


on  pledges  without  charging  interest.  As  the 
Mont  de  Piete  costs  a  large  sum  to  maintain, 
such  experiments  are  merely  a  form  of  charity  at 
the  expense  either  of  the  ratepayers  or  of  private 


than  to  accept  it  as  a  dole,  either  from  the  State 
or  from  individuals. 

I   set  out   by  protesting  that   English   pawn- 
brokers charge  excessiv<    interest  ;  but  I  do  not 


From  a  I  hoto. 


\l\u<l  Lit'nitiHX. 


subscribers.  The  conclusion  arrived  at  has  been 
that,  if  the  enterprise  is  conducted  on  business 
lines  and  deals  with  all  comers,  three-quarters  of 
the  benefit  will  go  to  undeserving  members  of 
the  middle  class,  and  the  balance  will  be  dis- 
tributed in  such  small  sums  that  the  poor  will 
scarcely  realize  the  relief.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  remission  of  interest  is  confined  to 
the  necessitous  and  deserving,  minute  inquiries 
are  unavoidable  and  the  pawners  are  pauperized. 
Most  self-respecting  persons  would  prefer  to 
pay  the  fair  cost  of  their  accommodation  rather 


on  to  advocate  the  introduction  of  Monts 
Piete  under  the  auspices  either  of  the 
State  or  of  Municipalities,  for  I  believe  such 
undertakings  are  forbidden  by  the  laws  of 
Political    Economy,    and    are 

practice, 
enterprise 
book    of 

earn  handsome  dividends 
on  absolute  security,  relieving  borrowers  from 
usury  in  a  paternal  rather  than  an  avuncular 
spirit. 


go 
de 


and    vexatious    in 
reason  why  private 
a   leaf  out    of    the 
establishments   and 


both    cumbrous 

But    I    see   no 

should   not  take 

the    Continental 


THE    STEAM=SLAVER. 

,  \i\    \\  1 1  roiS     FORSTER,    LATE    OF    THE    [MPERIAL    CHINESE    N.WY. 

n    command    of    a    small    Chinese    gunboat    Captain    Forster    received    orders    to     capture    or 
Der    engaged    in    the    coolie    slave-trade.     He    sought    and    found    his    quarry, 
.  ht    to  a  finish    with  her  in   the  teeth  of   a  rapidly-rising  typhoon. 


W  A  -  ing  then     too  you 

inclined  to  think,  to  ba\  e 
iced   in  charg<    ol  even  the 
•    I  was  in  command 
when  ;i  i  an  official  report 

;  th(  die  slaver  Fatchoy  was 

hands.       ft 
bj    an 
-    a 
the 
His     Excellency 
nd 
ssel   had    b< 
rtain  ( Chinese 
■  irbidden 
I 

if    I 

i  I 
jur- 

• 

•>rl 

_ 

I    ■ 

■ 


INTO  1  HEM 


ing  my  little  steamer  to  the  bottom  before  I 
could  do  so  !  But  I  imagined  it  was  far  more 
probable  that  I  should  neither  see  nor  hear 
anything  of  such  a  craft.  Whether  the  Chinese 
authorities  were  justified  in  taking  such  drastic 
action  as  this  the    following  (condensed)  copy 

of  the  report  will 
show  :  — 

The  faU  hoy  left 
Macao  (about  thirty- 
eight  miles  from 
i  1  ong  -  Kong)  on 
August  25th  with  a 
thousand  and  five 
coolies  on  board.  All 
went  well  till  the 
fourth  day  out.  On 
tins  day  a  cry  of  "  A 
riot  I "  was  raised. 
The  coolies  were 
fighting  their  armed 
guards,  one  ol  whom 
went  overboard 
while  the  other  took 
to  the  rigging.  Then 
the  coolies  rushed  to 
the  Chinese  cooking- 
galley,  but  the  mate 
and  second  mate 
commenced  to  fire 
into  them  from  the 
bridge,  shoot  in^r 
ilow i)  three,  and  thus 
quieted  the  disturb- 
ance. 

The  officers  after- 
wards assembled  and 
seized  a  number  of 
the  coolies,  tying 
them  by  their  long 
queues  (pigtails)  to 
tlie  iron  barricades, 
bars,  and  gratings 
ai  d  sending  the  rest 
below.  Then  more 
than  one  hundred 
and  thirty  were  put 
in  irons.  '1  he  next 
morning  the  Spanish 
captain  had  them 
broughl  up  from  be- 
low, some  bags  of 
rice  were  placed  on 
deck,  and  the  prison- 
ers   were    laid   across 


the  steam-slaver. 


61 


the  bags  face  downwards  and  stripped  of  all  their 
clothing.  They  were  then  fearfully  flogged  by  two  men, 
each  keeping  time  with  their  long  lashes,  the  blood 
flowing  at  every  blow  .  .  .  The  screams  of  the  tortured 
coolies  were  dreadful.  After  each  wretched  creature  had 
been  flogged  brine  was  rubbed  into  his  wounds  and  he 
was  carried  below  again. 

The  vessel  arrived  at  Angers  on  September  9th  and 
remained  there  two  days,  proceeding  from  there  to 
Mauritius,  where  she  took  in  water  and  coal,  the  ship 
meantime  remaining  in  quarantine.  From  Mauritius 
she  went  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  At  all  these 
ports  the  coolies  were  kept  below,  and  while  coaling  was 
going  on  the  hatches  were  kept  closed,  the  hospitals  for 
the  sick  being  entirely  closed  up  also  !  \  et  at  this 
time  the  heat  was  intolerable  even  in  the  open  air  !  The 
sufferings  of  the  coolies  on  this  voyage  were  unimagin- 
able. Ihey  were  flogged,  kicked,  beaten,  and  generally 
treated  with  the  greatest  cruelty.  The  filth  and  stench 
on  board  were  horrible.  The  hospitals  were  never  once 
cleansed  during  the  whole  voyage.  All  the  horrors  of 
the  African  slave  trade,  not  excepting  the  awful  "middle 
passage,"  never  surpassed  those  of  this  Chinese  steam- 
slaver  Fatchoy.  More  than  eighty  deaths  occurred 
during  the  voyage — over  8  per  cent,  of  the  total  number 
put  on  board  at  Macao  !  These  deaths  were  due  to 
floggings,  general  cruelty,  and  the  horribly  insanitary 
state  of  the  ship. 

On  reaching  Ilavannah  on  December  1st  the  Fatchoy 
was  not  put  into  quarantine,  but  proceeded  at  once  to 
discharge  her  living  cargo  ! 

After  I  had  perused  this  document  I  very 
quickly  made  up  my  mind  not  to  allow  a  second 
such  floating  hell  to  enter  on  a  similar  career  if 
I  could  possibly  prevent  it.  I  earnestly  hoped 
that  chance  would  send  this  sinister  stranger 
across  my  little  vessel's  path  before  she  got  clear 
of  Chinese  waters  and  anchored  in  Macao 
roads  to  receive  her  living  freight  from  the  great 
barracoons  there. 

One  sultry  evening,  a  few  days  afterwards,  I 
was  cruising  about  looking  for  my  quarry.  The 
wild-looking  sunset  presaged  elemental  strife  in 
my  weather-wise  old  pilot's  opinion,  but,  as  the 
barometer  had  not  then  fallen  to  any  consider- 
able extent,  I  had  declined  to  allow  him  to 
shape  a  course  for  shelter,  remarking  : — 

"  Certainly  not,  till  I  have  overhauled  those 
tankars  (fishermen)  yonder,  Chop-dollar  !  They 
seem  to  be  in  a  great  hurry,  judging  by  the  way 
they  are  tugging  and  pushing  at  those  long 
sweeps.  I  think  some  fresh  fish  wouldn't  come 
amiss  for  dinner  either,  eh  ?  " 

The  old  pilot  grinned  approval,  but  became 
stolidly  wooden  in  expression  again  on  recollect- 
ing that  "  buying  fish  "  was  frequently  my  term 
for  extracting  information. 

Now,  I  had  been  much  beholden  to  certain 
tankar  fisher-folk  for  valuable  information  on 
previous  occasions — and  1  had  twice  chartered 
their  vessels  for  special  work  at  a  remunerative 
figure  in  consequence.  Partly  from  this  cause 
and  partly  because  the  very  much  better  half 
of  the  nominal  owner  of  the   particular  pair  of 


boats  I  had  espied— a  more  than  middle-aged 
tankar  lady — had  been  pleased  to  take  a 
grotesque  fancy  to  the  "  young  Inglesh  foreign 
devil,"  I  was  always  welcome  both  to  informa- 
tion and  counsel  when  I  met  them.  I  need 
only  add  that  the  lady  was  an  almost  exact 
facsimile  of  the  amiable  Sally  Brass  as  depicted 
by  the  late  George  Cruikshank's  pencil,  and 
in  bad  weather  was  much  given  to  sporting  a 
second-hand  pilot  jacket,  red  comforter,  and 
Blucher  boots,  in  addition  to  her  ordinary 
Chinese  garments.  She  kept  her  husband  well 
in  hand  by  an  occasional  application  of  her 
long  wooden,  brass  bowled  pipe  to  his  shaven 
crown,  and  it  will,  therefore,  be  clearly  seen 
that  this  good  lady  was  quite  "a  character"  in 
her  way.  So  many  sage  suggestions,  indeed, 
did  she  make  that  in  time  I  became  quite  pro- 
ficient in  Chinese  fishing  lore,  and  the  ways 
of  the  Delta  folk— a  thing  by  no  means  to  be 
despised,  as  many  an  anxious  and  badgered  gun- 
boat  commander  could  testify.  For  a  European 
officer  has  little  chance  of  doing  much  good  on 
inland  Chinese  waters. 

When  we  came  near  enough  to  the  fishing 
junks  I  had  the  gig  lowered  and  boarded  the 
nearest.  In  the  fading  light  I  could  just  make 
out  a  tall  female  figure,  to  which  several  layers 
of  jackets  and  many  other  things,  built  very 
wide,  loosely  adhered,  ending  in  a  stout  pair 
of  second  hand  ammunition  boots,  the  jackets 
being  surmounted  by  a  wisp  of  hair,  gummed  and 
twisted  "tea-pot"  fashion,  beneath  a  funnel- 
on-a-saucer-shaped  bamboo  hat,  having  the  in- 
evitable pipe  sticking  out  below  the  brim, 
and  a  red  handkerchief  tied  above  it  ! 
Then  I  knew  that  I  had  made  no  mistake — 
those  charms  and  feminine  graces  could  only 
belong  to  one  tankar-pau  in  the  whole  Delta — 
and  so  it  was  the  fair  Sally  herself  who  welcomed 
me. 

Sally  was  effu  ive.  "Chin-chin,  Capitan," 
she  said.  "  My  no  have  see  you  long  time  ! 
How  you  do  ?     First  chop,  eh  ?  " 

I  assured  the  fair  speaker  that  I  was  first 
chop,  and  then  came  to  the  point  with  :— 

"  Tell  me,  Sally,  where  is  the  new  piecy 
steamer  for  '  catch  coolie  pidgin  '  ?  "  (the  coolie 
slave  trade). 

Sally's  little  black,  beady  eyes  twinkled  as 
she  tilted  the  place  where  her  fair  nose  ought  to 
have  been  in  the  air. 

"  Choi  !  Why  for  you  think  my  can  savey, 
Capitan  ?  " 

But  aware  that  this  was  only  extreme  modesty 
on  the  lady's  part,  I  ended  the  matter  promptly : 
"  For  ten  good  reasons  that  I  have  here, 
Sally." 

And  I  clinked  the  silver  dollars  in  my  pockets 


2 


1  III:    \\ll>l.    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


Then,  in  order  to  give  time  for  my 
.   1  picked  up  a  lighted  joss 

:n    the  little  altar    in   the  stern    and 
d  the  junk. 

amer  now,  Sally  ? "  1 
v. 

:>   1  .una.  Capitan.     He  have 

>ide   just  new  '     Flenche- 

"     But   more  better  you 

lenty  big  and  big  gun  have  got— 

-  lun-chi  ifour  little  steamer 

I.) 
"  1 1  .  that    she   is   the  '  catch 

.  Sally  ?  " 
••  i  .so  he  no  can  go  Hong-Kong 

t,  go    Macao.      1  le    no   likee 
m."     And  S  ointed  her  pipe  at  her 

timid  spouse  with  a  derisive  grin. 

ur  husband   was   not  allowed  to 
•    the   steamer   into    Macao   Roadstead  you 
will  earn  that  ten-dollar  fee  by  putting  me  on  his 
-   Ily  ?  " 
"Hi,    my  come    look   see    you    chop-chop." 
I  came  to  find  you  at  once.) 
:  you  see  if  she  had  been  fitted  for  the 
traffic  when  you  went  on   board  her,  Tankar?" 
-;iouse  nodded  vigorously. 
"Plentce    ilon   glatings  and    bolts,  Capitan" 
(many  iron  -  and  bars),  he  said.     "Eight, 

piecce    gun    have   got,  and   plentee 
der  and  mixed  shot,  too,  Capitan." 
I  had  learnt  all  I  wanted,  so  I  handed  the  ten 
-.     paid  for  some  fish  for 
evening  meal — some  fine   soles  for 
If  they  would  accept  nothing  for — and  got 
into  my  gig  again.     As  1  passed  under  the  stern 
r  junk   these   curious    tankar -folk  were 
red  joss  candles  on  the  little 
altar  at  the  stern,  exploding  bunches  of  crackers, 
and  vigorously  beating  a  great  gong  in  order  to 
invoke  the  protection  of  the  good  spirits  for  me 
1    started   on   what  they  evidently  con- 
red  a  desperate  venturi 

after  this  interview  my  little  vessel,  with 

ied,  glided  silently  out 

I  ght,         ■•    .    r,    was    even    then 

showing  ominous  signs  of  a  coming  hurricane — 

■nen    had   confirmed   the  old   pilot's 

'     '  lich  too  was  probably  the 

:  the  anxiety  displayed  by  the  Chinese 

ard  the  steam-slaver  to  reach  shelter. 

I    •         .  on    board   her 

ption  of  a  couple  of  half-caste 

Europeans  who  had   been   in 

sly  had   gone  on    to   Macao  in  the 

steamer  from    Hong-Kong,  in   order    to    avoid 

plications  when  the  slaver 

red  Chinese  waters.    "\  <     u  hers," 

therefor  r  to  Macao — a  pretty  tough 


crowd  of  apparently  between  a  hundred  and  a 
hundred  and  fifty  1  >elta  desperadoes.  These 
particulars  had  been  obtained  by  my  interpreter 
from  Sally's  brother-in-law,  who  had  spoken  much 
more  freely  to  him,  of  course,  than  his  elder 
brother  and  partner  had  done  to  me. 

By  this  time  the  barometer  was  falling  rapidly 
and  I  had  little  doubt  that  ere  long  the  strange 
steamer  would  be  driven  to  a  typhoon  shelter 
in  the  direction  in  which  I  was  then  heading. 
Soon  wild  squalls  began  to  alternate  with 
splashes  of  warm  rain  or  misty  drizzle.  Native 
craft  by  scores  and  several  large  sailing-ships 
driven  past  me  by  the  rising  gale.  The 
close  and  oppressive  atmosphere,  the  moaning 
of  the  wind,  and  the  starless  darkness  of  the 
heavens,  with  the  heavy  sea  that  was  rapidly 
rising,  combined  to  make  a  prospect  ugly 
enough  to  have  sobered  the  most  reckless. 
Not  so  with  my  wild  Hakkas.  however.  There 
was  a  fight  in  prospect  for  them — and  with  the 
abominated  slavers  from  whose  operations  their 
own  native  villages  had  been  quite  recent 
sufferers,  too,  so  that  it  would  take  a  storm 
indeed  to  daunt  them. 

The  odds  in  men  should  we  meet  the  slaver 
were,  so  far  as  I  could  reckon,  three  to  one. 
The  stranger  was  a  dozen  times  larger  than  we 
were,  but  the  difference  in  the  calibre  of  her 
guns  we  had  yet  to  find  out.  Unfortunately, 
too,  it  was  not  only  against  human  adversaries 
we  had  to  contend,  but  with  the  forces  of 
Nature.  For  there  was  no  mistaking  the  signs 
of  the  coming  typhoon.  Indeed,  with  any 
other  men  on  board  I  would  never  have  risked 
the  Viceroy's  new  gunboat  on  such  a  night. 
Little  they  were  troubling  their  heads  about  it, 
though,  as  was  evident  from  the  jokes  and 
impish  antics  going  on  for'ard  while  they 
cleared  the  decks  ready  for  action  and  put  the 
finishing  touches  to  her  fighting  trim.  The 
little  steamer  was  rapidly  stripped  of  all  super- 
fluous fittings,  whether  the  splinter  -  making 
material  was  wood  or  metal — if  they  could 
anyhow  be  dispensed  with,  overboard  or  below 
they  went.  By  eight  bells  we  were  rapidly 
approaching  the  highland  of  Lantao,  the  little 
vessel  doing  a  steady  twelve  knots.  Leap- 
ing lightly  above  the  heavy  seas  she  ascended 
their  heights  and  descended  their  depths  with- 
out an  effcrt.  As  we  drew  nearer  I  steadied 
myself  against  the  iron  railing  of  the  bridge,  and 
after  jamming  myself  in  one  corner  made  per- 
sistent efforts  to  focus  the  land  with  my  night- 
glass,  but  after  painfully  clearing  my  eyes  of  salt 
spray  and  driving  rain  I  could  only  make  out 
that  the  wide  waste  of  waters  was  void  !  Then 
an  even  heavier  sea  than  its  fellows  ended  its 
uncouth  gambols  in  a  sudden  crash,  tossing  the 


THE    STEAM-SLAVER. 


63 


little  vessel's  forefoot  aside  just  as  one  of  her 
crew  might  have  brushed  away  a  settling  gnat  ! 

"  Confound  it  !  Take  care,  Quartermaster. 
How  can  I  use  my  glass?  Mind  your  helm, 
will  you  ? "  I  growled,  half  stunned — and  soaked 
to  the  skin. 

••  More  better,  you  go  little  more  slow, 
Capitan,"  hazarded   Mr.  Chop-dollar.     He   had 


castle  head,  smothering  bridge  and  deck  as  far 
as  the  funnel  '.  As  I  sprang  to  the  engine-room 
tube  the  two  look-outs  were  shaking  themselves 
like  water-spaniels,  but  almost  before  the  hissing 
flood  found  its  way  over  the  side  I  had  shouted 
to  the  chief  engineer  : — 

';  Slow  her  down  to  ten  knots,  Mr.  Ferguson." 
But   still    down    to  leeward  —  from    whence     I 


GO   LITTLE   MORE   SLOW,    CAMTAN,'    HAZARDED   MR.    CHOP-COLLAR. 


to  scream  in  my  ear  before  I  could  catch  what 
be  said. 

'•  I  can't  yet,  Pilot.  Look  out  now,  Quarter 
master,"  I  cried,  as  the  little  vessel  in  fighting 
through  a  heavy  sea  fell  with  a  crash  into  the 
trough  beyond.  Then  all  five  of  us — com- 
mander, pilot,  quartermaster,  and  look-outs  — 
clung  on  with  a  grip  of  iron  as  the  next  great 
wave  broke  in  a  solid  mass  against  the  fore- 


expected  the  stranger  to  appear— there  was  no 
sign  of  any  approaching  vessel. 

"  Keep  her  nose  right  at  'em,  Quartermaster," 
I  repeated,  while  aijain  blinking  and  peering 
through  the  night-glass.  The  little  vessel 
quivered  from  stem  to  stern  under  her  punish- 
ment. Fortunately  she  was  well  and  truly  built 
and  her  engines  and  boilers  had  come  from  the 
le,  like'the  young  engineer  then  in  charge 


1111      WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


tremendous  beam 

n  the  ribs,  and,  tailing  in 

ned   to  rush 

I    it !     Slow  to 

.     1   again  shouted  through 

.  ••  1    maun   think    so  too, 

\    response.     Another 

Phi    watch,  a-   little   upset  at  the 

lany  water-rats,  found  nooks 

and  cranni  ».     I  was  bruised 


darkness  the  low  hull  of  my  little  vessel  was 
almost  invisible  even  at  close  quarters.  Sud- 
denly a  leaden  hued  water-mountain  formed 
barrier  like  in  front  of  the  gunboat.  In  quick 
response  to  the  lessened  strain  on  her  throbbing 
engines  she  rose  at  it  with  bird-like  lightness, 
and  when  perched  on  the  summit  a  huge  black 
hull  was  revealed,  staggering  and  wallowing  in 
front  of  her,  scarce  six  hundred  yards  away  ! 
(  (Uild  it  be  the  slaver  ? 

The  look-out's  warning  flung  down  the  wind, 


anr:  ipletely  drenched,  and  by 

of   it    r  sullen  by  this 

■ned  as   if   I    v.  _ain   naught 

mental  kicks  by  risking  my  little  vessel. 

nd  more  signs 

Iread  typhoon.     The  night 

ful  squalls  in  yet  more  furious 

wildly  from    windward,  and 

alt  spray  flew  in  blinding  showers  from  the 

enormous  waves.     In  the  rain  and 


NS    KORWARD. 


quickly  answered  by  rapid  orders  through  bell- 
mouthed  brazen  trumpet,  sounded  no  louder 
than  a  whisper  on  gun-deck  !  The  sharp  taps 
of  the  drum — even  its  lengthened  roll  as  it  beat 
to  quarters — were  both  lost  in  the  roar  of  the 
furious  elements  that  seemed  to  clutch  the  little 
gunboat  in  their  grip  !  Then,  summoned  by 
sight  rather  than  hearing,  two  -  score  dark 
shadows  glided  from  out  the  surrounding  black- 
ness in  response  to  that  thrilling  call,  while  eager, 


THE    STEAM-SLAVER. 


65 


barefooted  gun-crews,  stripped  to  the  waist, 
were  clinging  leech-like  to  sloping  side  and 
canted  deck  as  they  hauled,  thrust,  and  swayed 
the  long  guns  forward,  till  their  gaping  muzzles 
looked  menacingly  out  at  the  approaching 
steamer!  The  order,  again  bellowed  from  brazen 
trumpet  to  men  scarce  a  score  of  feet  away, 
sounded  but  whisper-like  in  their  ears  ere  it 
sped  away  down  the  roaring  gale.  But  in  quick 
response  the  sultry  blackness  and  flying  rain- 
mists  were  streaked  and  pierced  by  quivering 
flashes  of  ruddy  flame.  Yet  to  our  warning 
guns  and  show  of  signal-lamps  never  an  answer 
came  from  the  stranger,  and  she  passed  astern, 
like  a  phantom  of  the  night.  Then,  as  calls, 
loud  and  shrill,  sounded  from  bridge  and  fore- 
castle our  little  vessel  slowed  down,  reversed, 
and  then  again  went  full  speed  ahead  after  the 
challenged  steamer.  We  had  scarce  executed 
this  manoeuvre  ere,  through  the  starless,  pall-like 
sky  horizonwards,  out  of  mist  wraiths  and  warm 
rain  showers,  a  thin  line  of  clear  white  light 
showed  out,  and  then  disappeared  into  the 
distant  darkness  of  the  waters  in  a  burst  of  fire. 

"  That  was  answer  sufficient,  Pilot,"  I  said. 
"A  shell  from  a  rifled  gun  and  heavier  than 
ours  !  It's  the  steam-slaver  without  a  doubt  ! 
You  can  take  in  those  signal-lamps  now,  Bo'sun." 

Dense  volumes  of  flame-flecked  smoke  now 
began  to  bank  up  to  leeward  as  the  bluff  bows 
of  the  stranger  were  driven  through  the  heavy 
seas.  A  glimpse  of  these,  caught  through  my 
night-glass,  though  but  of  a  second  or  two's 
duration,  as  the  flash  of  her  bow-guns  lit  up 
the  for'ard  end  of  the  vessel,  enabled  me  to 
make  a  pretty  shrewd  guess  that  our  opponent- 
was  an  old  composite  American  war-vessel — an 
unsightly,  steam-collier-looking  craft  —  sold  by 
South  Americans  to  French  (Asiatic)  subjects, 
and  subsequently  disposed  of  by  them  to  the 
Chinese,  after  being  offered  in  many  other 
directions. 

These  speculations  were  quickly  cut  short  by 
a  second  shell  screaming  above  our  mastheads 
to  burst  far  away  in  the  blackness  astern.  Our 
funnel-flare  as  yet,  seemingly,  had  passed  un- 
noticed, and  with  lights  carefully  screened  we 
crept  up  towards  our  huge  enemy.  I  left  the 
bridge  for  a  few  moments  to  encourage  my  gun- 
crews. 

"I  cannot  change  your  bad  fuses,  Gunner," 
I  said.  "  That  is  the  greedy  German  con- 
tractor's '  pidgin.'  But  for  all  that  you  must 
still  keep  the  3-inch  steadily  laid  on  those  four 
bow  side-lights.  The  crews  of  the  four  next 
guns  will  keep  them  double-shotted,  and  lay 
them  on  her  water-line.  The  bar-shot  for  the 
smooth-bores  if  she  closes,  mind  ! " 

Not  till  I   had   heard  my  interpreter  repeat 

Vol.  xii. — 9. 


every  word  (though  I  had  been  understood  well 
enough)  close  to  the  gun  captain's  ears,  and  we 
both  had  had  to  shout  at   our  utmost  pitch- 
such  was  the  hurly-burly  of  the  elements — did  I 
wearily  climb  back  to  my  bridge. 

The  little  gunboat,  having  luckily  the  heels  of 
her  huge  opponent,  had  by  now  crept  nearly  up 
to  her.  Her  engines  had  been  slowed  down  till 
she  seemed  to  have  become  a  mere  unwieldy 
mass  rolling  heavily  amidst  the  whitened  surges, 
and  I  was  hoping  to  run  under  her  stern,  when 
in  a  momentary  lull  in  the  fierce  gusts  the  throb- 
bing of  my  little  vessel's  engines  carried  warning 
of  our  approach  and  proved  an  instant  signal  for 
the  bluff,  black  bows  toweing  high  above  us  to 
light  up  with  vivid  flashes,  the  missiles  from  her 
long  guns  tearing  through  the  little  gunboat's 
funnel  and  converting  her  trim  pole-masts  into 
ragged  stumps,  while  two  gaping  holes  were 
torn  in  the  bridge  canvas. 

The  veteran  pilot,  who  had  just  then  been 
assisting  the  quartermaster,  carefully  polished 
the  bright  teak  and  brass  wheel  where  it  had 
been  chipped  by  a  flying  metal  fragment,  ere  he 
again  glued  his  eyes  to  the  lighted  binnacle. 

There  were  ugly  gaps  in  the  guns'  crews,  too — 
though  these  were  filled  again  ere  the  double- 
shotted  "  twelves  "  and  rifled  bow-chaser  sent 
their  answering  broadside  into  the  great  black 
mass  to  leeward.  But  the  shells  from  the  guns  of 
both  vessels  seemed  blind  and  would  not  burst 
— roguery  or  climatic  damp  the  reason,  as  may 
be  !  So  that  those  small,  bright,  circular  side- 
lights— seeming  like  fiery  eyes — still  glittered 
balefully,  as  if  in  derisive  defiance  of  my  head- 
gunner's  efforts,  albeit  he  was  no  mean  shot. 

Presently  a  seeming  slackening  in  our 
antagonist's  speed  induced  me  to  reduce  the 
distance  between  us  more  still.  Then,  with 
suddenly  applied  speed,  the  huge  mass  ahead 
rushed  down  the  raging  seas  with  the  evident 
intention  of  ramming  us  and  crushing  her 
puny  but  persistent  antagonist  beneath  her 
heavy  forefoot.  But  the  attempt  "  to  give 
us  the  stem "  failed !  As  the  little  gunboat 
swung  to,  well  clear,  the  sharp  crash  of  the 
bow-gun  rose  above  the  roar  of  the  brass 
smooth-bores  as  solid  shot  and  blind  shell 
got  home  on  our  baulked  and  baffled 
enemy,  now  rolling  heavily  scarce  half  a  mile 
astern.  But,  meanwhile,  the  gunner  watched 
and  waited  in  vain,  staring  into  the  blackness 
astern  and  frowning  and  muttering  from  his 
unsteady  gun-platform  like  one  possessed.  For, 
shoot  straight  and  true  as  he  might,  those  small, 
round,  fiery  eyes  I  had  indicated  as  his  target 
seemed  to  mock  him  out  of  the  blackness, 
ahead  or  astern,  to  windward  or  to  leeward,  yet 
ever  unharmed. 


66 


II [E    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


i  III)    •  TWELVES      AND     K 

BROADSIDE    INTO    THE    GREAT    BLACK     MASS 


IhT.KI)     BOW-CHASER    SENT   THEIR    ANSWERING 


i   hotter,  yet  never  a 
1   his   patient  work.     Mean- 
time the  tr..  i  n  board  the  slaver  — 

rialist  deserters  or 

nd    pirates,    they   fired   fast    and 

d  in  a  brisk  fire,  and  fortunate  it  was 

:iat  naught  but  hot  and  blind  shell 

from  the 

I  was  just  i  on  the  small 

ht-hke  I  1   the  little  gun- 

•    :  ••     nted       hanks  to  her  superior  speed 

»n — when  suddenly 

there  came  an   appal  -h   like  the  sound 

-  in  collision,  or  a  sunken  wreck  staving 

>,   and  the  little  gunboat  reeled  and 

blindly    forward.      The    tearing   and 

rig  of  the  bulwarks,  mingled  with  the  cries 

of  desperately  wounded   men,    followed.     The 


enemy  had  left  his  mark  on  us  with  his  eighteen- 
pounder  projectiles. 

The  havoc  caused  from  stem  to  stern  was 
told  by  the  silent  guns,  and  at  such  close 
quarters  were  we  now  that  our  plight  could 
be  seen  by  the  light  of  the  gun-flashes— 
as  the  fiercely  exultant  yells  borne  down  on  the 
wind  from  the  enemy's  deck  then  gave  proof ! 

The  stream  of  wounded  once  carried  or  sup- 
ported below,  our  guns  were  quickly  manned 
again.  Grievous  was  it  to  me  to  see  the  quiet 
forms  lying  so  still  on  the  torn  and  dismantled 
deck,  and,  moreover,  there  were  beginning  to  be 
unmistakable  signs  that  the  last  hour  of  the 
little  gunboat  had  almost  come  ! 

Leaving  the  bridge  I  took  my  station  for'ard, 
encouraging  the  fresh  gun-crews  till  they  had 
grown   as   recklessly   indifferent,   yet   keen   for 


THE    STEAM-SLAVER 


67 


fighting  on  to  the  end,  as  their  dead  and 
wounded  comrades  had  been.  My  thoughts 
meanwhile,  however,  were  bitter  enough,  for  an 
honest  contractor's  fuses  would  have  averted 
this  loss  and  destruction  long  since.  I  now 
noted,  too,  that  a  new  rent  gaped  in  the  canvas 
around  the  bridge-rails  facing  me.  This  and 
the  smashed  iron  railing  were  dripping  and 
splashed  with  blood.  Had  I  been  there  at  the 
moment  I  was  descending  to  the  deck  it  would 
not  have  been  only  my  unfortunate  orderly's 
body  that  would  have  been  carried  overboard 
by  that  eighteen-pound  round  shot,  as  I  now 
realized.     Not  only   were   the   deck   structures 


ran  out  the  long  brass  twelves.  Their  blood- 
shot eyes  and  eager  attitudes  gave  them  a 
curious  resemblance  to  human  bloodhounds, 
mad  to  avenge  comrade  and  clansman,  friend 
or  blood  relation,  and  intent  to  fight  to  the  very 
end. 

The  Dragon  Flag  had  been  long  ago  nailed 
on  to  the  short  stump  of  the  mizzen-mast,  and 
there  seemed  every  chance  that  the  little  gun- 
boat would  go  down  with  it  there,  for  these  men 
were  of  the  wrong  race  to  strike  it  were  I  to  fall. 
Now  and  again  a  man  whose  ghastly  wounds 
compelled  me  to  order  him  off  the  deck  sulkily 
crawled  below.     But  none  of  the  others  stirred 


SUDDENLY  THERE   CAME   AN   APPALLING   CRASH. 


wrecked,  torn,  or  battered  out  of  shape,  but 
steam  and  smoke,  mixed  with  jets  of  flame,  were 
escaping  from  gaping  rents  in  the  funnel. 

But  the  head  gunner,  with  the  blood 
oozing  through  a  bandage  across  his  forehead 
and  his  left  arm  bound  round  with  his  "  sash," 
still  doggedly  stuck  to  his  post. 

"Well  done,  Ah  Ling,"  I  said.  "By  the 
law  of  averages  you  should  get  a  live  shell  home 
soon  !  " 

My  gunner  knew  nothing  of  any  such  law,  but, 
what  was  more  to  the  point,  was  aware  that 
there  were  unfortunately  but  very  few  more 
shells  left— were  they  live  or  blind. 

My  other  Hakkas  were  by  now  roused  to  a 
pitch  of  frenzy  as  they  sponged,  re-loaded,  and 


from  their  stations,  nor  would  they  have  done 
so  had  we  been  sinking,  I  believe. 

The  smart  little  vessel  of  that  morning  seemed 
now  to  be  wrecked  and  distorted  out  of  all 
recognition.  I  started  then  to  twist  the  wheel 
about,  but  though  she  darted  this  way  and  that 
in  quick  response,  she  could  not  escape  from  the 
iron  storm  that  followed  her  from  the  slaver's 
guns  !  The  funnel  was  split  from  uptake  to  cap, 
and  four  of  the  broadside  guns  lay  dismounted 
amongst  the  fragments  of  their  carriages,  only 
secured  by  ropes  to  the  side.  The  escaping 
steam  from  the  gashed  funnel  hissed  in  the 
slimy  crimson  pools,  as  black  smoke  and  red  jets 
of  flame  swept  across  the  deck. 

I  gripped   the  wheel -spokes,  with  set  teeth, 


T11K     Wlhi;     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


si  in  despair,  was  meditating  a  des 
ng,  when   shrill   yells  broke   from   the 
men  at  the  .;  gun. 

ng  :'  "    1    shouted,  in  .t 
tnentary  lull,  expecting  word  ol  some  fresh 

only    pointed   with 


a  jagged  breach,  from  the  edges  of  which  smoke 
and  flame  belched  in  volumes. 

One  shell,  out  of  all  those  expended,  had 
ved  "live,"  and  it  mattered  little  now  that 
our  last  shell  was  tired. 

The   hows  of  the  great  hull  to  leeward  were 


l       FOLLOWED    BV    A    DEAFEKING    ROAR. 


ting 


uninju- 
black  1  m. 

an    instant    I   caught    his   meaning.      No 

of  red  light  gl< 
In   pla<  e   of    th<  ming  i 

glittering  in   n,  kery,  there  was  now 


already  one  mass  of  rolling  flame.  The  protect- 
ing wall  of  cotton  bales,  or  coal  or  rice  bags 
that  "held"  our  solid  shot  had  just  failed  to 
keep  out  our  one  live  shell  or  prevent  its 
explosion,  and  they  were  then  burning  fiercely. 
Silhouetted  against  the  flames   scores  of  half- 


THE    STEAM-SLAVER. 


69 


naked  human  figures  were  sharply  outlined, 
striving  desperately  to  fight  the  fire.  All  the 
slaver's  guns  were  silent. 

Then  suddenly  there  came  a  blinding 
radiance,  followed  by  a  deafening  roar  as  great 
clouds  of  greyish,  yellow-tinted  smoke,  tinged 
and  streaked  with  flame,  and  specked  here  and 
there  with  pieces  of  metal-work,  spars,  and 
smaller  black  objects,  rose  in  mid-air.  The  great 
black  funnel  seemed  for  a  space  to  stand 
upright  in  a  fiery  furnace  of  lurid  flames,  and 
then,  with  a  final  gasping,  spluttering  hiss,  the 
vessel  heeled  over  and  buried  herself  under  the 
seething  cauldron  of  angry  surges  that  closed 
around  and  over  her.  Her  magazine  had  ex- 
ploded, and  the  steam  slaver  was  no  more  ! 

My  men  seemed  for  a  moment  dazed  and 
awe-struck  at  the  spectacle  !  The  old  pilot  and 
the  gunner  were  the  first  to  recover  their 
ordinary  stolid  composure.  The  one  was 
anxious  to  discover  if  I  had  noticed  that  the  lull 
in  the  fierce  strife  around  us,  which  had  set  in 
towards  the  end  of  the  fight— as  though  the 
elements  themselves  had  been  watching  the 
struggle — seemed  likely  to  cease.  The  other 
eagerly  asked  how  I  could  know  that  the  coolie- 
slavers  had  made  the  fore-compartment  of  the 
See-Chi  her  magazine.  Both  queries  were  un- 
heeded, for  far  more  important  matters  demanded 
my  prompt  attention.  The  carpenter  was  sent 
to  sound  the  well,  and  the  unwounded  men  to 
the  pumps  or  to  clear  the  deck  of  the  wreckage 
and  fragments  encumbering  it  ;  whilst  I,  after 
consulting  the  barometer  and  the  chart,  took 
counsel  with  my  chief  engineer.  For  though  I 
knew  that  we  were  within  a  dozen  miles  of  a 
secure  anchorage — yet  whether  we  could  manage 
to  keep  afloat  till  we  reached  it  was  by  no  means 
so  clear  to  me. 

According  to  my  barometer  we  were  in  for  one 
of  the  worst  typhoons  ever  experienced,  and  so 
in  the  event  it  proved.  My  only  hope  of  pulling 
through  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  islands  of  Lama 
and  Lantao  would  break  the  force  of  sea  and 
wind  while  we  could  keep  under  the  shelter  of 
their  steep  hills,  and  that  just  beyond  them  on 


the  other  side  of  Chut-Chu  Point  was  a  small 
bay,  the  far  end  of  which  was  perfectly  land- 
locked. Here  small  craft,  drawing  little  water, 
could  anchor  during  the  worst  typhoon  in  perfect 
safety.  My  problem,  however,  was  how  to  get 
from  the  shelter  of  the  islands  to  that  of  the  hay, 
across  a  short  but  very  dangerous  bit  of  open 
sea  ;  whilst  if,  when  running  along  under  the 
cliffs  of  the  islands,  the  engines  were  to  break 
down  even  temporarily  under  the  severe  strain 
imposed  on  them  we  should  be  quickly  ground 
into  matchwood.  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
pilot  or  quartermaster  blundered  in  the  smallest 
degree,  we  should  just  as  inevitably  founder. 

It  was  a  case  of  being  "betwixt  the  devil 
and  the  deep  sea  "  with  a  vengeance.  But  the 
fearful  wave-mountains  and  terrific  storm-gusts 
as  we  drew  away  from  shelter  at  once  confirmed 
my  barometer's  warning.  By  this  time  all 
that  the  tremendous  sea  running  permitted  of 
had  been  done  to  get  things  somewhat  ship- 
shape on  deck  and  put  our  battered  vessel  into 
fair  sea-going  trim  again. 

Not  a  rift  was  to  be  seen  in  the  great  black 
storm-clouds  overhead,  and  as  the  wind  pressure 
grew  greater  and  the  night  more  fearful  my 
engineer  became  increasingly  anxious,  for  the 
mountainous  seas  seemed  to  toss  our  little 
vessel  from  one  wave-crest  to  another.  Fortu- 
nately, by  greatly  reducing  our  supply  of  coal 
and  expending  nearly  all  our  ammunition,  we 
had  increased  our  buoyancy  a  good  deal.  For 
had  the  hurricane  sliced  off  only  the  summit  of 
one  of  the  huge  wave-mountains  rolling  after  us 
astern  and  flung  it  on  board  nothing  could  have 
saved  us.  Grand  and  awe-inspiring  spectacle 
as  that  raging  typhoon  was,  I  hope  never  again 
to  see  the  like  of  it.  Yet  there  was  little  time 
to  note  it  ere  from  out  that  tempestuous  inferno 
our  little  vessel  leaped  lightly  as  a  greyhound  into 
her  desired  haven,  and  so  to  absolute  security  ! 
The  mountainous  seas  receded  reluctantly, 
seemingly  enraged  that  the  sorely  -  tried  little 
gunboat,  which  was  for  so  long  their  sport 
and  so  nearly  their  prey,  had  finally  accom- 
plished her  mission  and  escaped  from  their 
clutches. 


i/lmonq  the  South  Sea  Cannibals. 

\\\  Captain   11.  ('ami  \   Webster,  F.Z.S. 
III. 

author   has    recently  returned    from  a  seven  years'  sojourn  among  the  fierce   man-eating  and 
intin^  of    the   South    Sea   Islands.      Captain  Webster's  narrative  makes  most  thrilling 

and  he  illustrates  it  with  a  number  of  excellent  photographs. 


WENT  a  little  out  o\  my  way  on 

pur  the     Admiralty 

Islands,    which    arc  situated   to  the 

north-east    o(    New  Guinea.      They 

w<  red    in    1615    by    the 

uten,  but  wry  little,  if  anything, 

them  until  twenty-eight  years  ago, 

steamed  through  them 

on  her  famous  cruis        Long  before  I  came  in 

the  low-lying  coastal   lands   the   natives 

111  the  mountains,  and 


The  fust  to  reach  us  was  crowded  with  men 
eager  to  approach  the  stranger  who  had  dared 
to  invade  their  shores,  but  in  their  anxiety  to 
behold  my  ship  they  quite  forgot  the  manipula- 
tion of  their  own,  for  they  did  not  fetch  up  in 
time,  and  consequently  the  next  moment  saw 
them  far  astern,  whereupon  they  all  jumped 
into  the  sea  and  tried  to  reach  us  by 
swimming,  shouting  and  yelling  in  their  mad 
excitement. 

The  next  lot  were  more  fortunate  and  hauled 
round  some  distance  before  we 
met,  thus  enabling  me  to  throw 
them  a  line,  and  very  soon  after- 
wards we  had  one  or  two  of 
their  number  on  board.  They 
were  the  wildest  and  most  excit- 
able people  I  ever  beheld  in 
my  life.  They  ran  up  the  rig- 
ging, down  into  the  saloon,  and, 
in  fact,  all  over  the  yacht,  shout- 
ing to  their  friends  in  the  canoe 
in  tow  and  working  themselves 
into  such  a  terrible  state  of 
Venzy      that      I      expected     every 


koto. 

like 

r     a 

'  many  came 

me,    th':  form- 

is  flotilla 
.  thoug'r 
looking  craft. 

-mous    dimensions, 
teadying  ou 
each  being  capa 

juite  forty  people. 


A    SNAP-SHOT    IN    A    FRIENDLY   VILLAGE. 

From  a  Photo. 


AMONG    THE    SOUTH    SEA    CANNIBALS. 


7i 


moment  to  see  one  or  other  of  them  fall  down  in 
a  fit.  When  we  arrived  off  the  Island  of  St. 
Gabriel  there  were  quite  five  hundred  natives 
surrounding  us,  all  shouting  at  the  top  of  their 
voices  and  gesticulating  wildly.  From  the 
quietude  and  peace  of  years  the  place  was  in  a 
moment  turned  into  a  perfect  state  of  pande- 
monium. 

Immediately  after  the  anchor  was  down  a 
canoe  shot  out  from  the  beach  and  a  moment 
afterwards  the  chief  of  the  island,  Kanau,  craved 
permission  to  come  on  board.  I  gave  the 
permit  at  once,  allowing  also  about  a  dozen  of 
his  followers  to  accompany  him.  None  of  them 
wore  any  ornaments  to  speak  of,  only  a  few  shell 
armlets  and  human  bones.  Sometimes,  however, 
when  they  are  in  fighting  array  they  wear  a  very 
curious  piece  of  wood  about  two  or  three  feet 
long  and  decorated  with  feathers,  which  they 
fasten  on  to  their  neck  at  the  back.  Their  hair 
is  allowed  to  grow  to  a  length  of  about  two  feet, 
and,  by  binding  it  round  with  fibres,  like  a 
horse's  tail  at  a  fair,  it  stands  straight  out  behind, 
imparting  a  really  ludicrous  appearance  to  their 
general  get-up.  Scuck  here  and  there  in  it  are 
many  streaming  feathers,  and  numerous-pronged 
bamboo  -  combs,  also  tipped  with  brightly- 
coloured  feathers,  are  thrust  through  at  the  sides 
and  front.  I  must  not  forget  to  mention  that 
they  carry  an  obsidian  (volcanic  glass)  dagger  in 
this  same  hiding-place,  the  handle  of  the  weapon 
being  decorated  to  resemble  a  hair-comb. 

The  "  Cruise  of  the  Challenger  "  stated  that 
the  natives  of  this  place  wore  a  shell  known  as 
the  Bulla  Ovum  as  their  only  article  of  dress, 
but  although  when  I  visited  them  this  shell  was 
invariably  carried  in  the  indispensable  basket 
over  their  left  arm,  and  which  also  contained 
their  betel-nut,  pepper,  and  lime-pot,  they  had 
substituted  a  larger  dress  of  beaten  out  bark, 
which  they  wound  round  their  loins. 

These  natives  are  born  traders,  and  were  very 
eager  to  barter  their  beautifully-carved  obsidian 
spears,  arm-rings,  and  bowls,  which  they  brought 
in  great  varieties,  for  red  cloth,  files,  and  knives. 
They  would  haggle  obstinately  over  a  small 
piece  of  tortoiseshell  or  an  arm-ring,  always 
wanting  a  little  more  in  exchange,  until  at  last 
I  would  lose  all  patience  and  refuse  to  trade 
at  all. 

On  one  occasion  a  native  brought  a  large 
food-bowl  in  the  shape  of  a  pig,  carved  out  of  a 
solid  block  of  wood,  two  feet  in  length.  He 
asked  for  it  an  axe,  which  he  saw  one  of  my 
men  using,  and,  on  being  indignantly  refused, 
requested  a  fish-hook.  This  I  gave  him  at 
once,  whereupon  he  wanted  a  long  piece  of 
copper-wire  attached  to  it  which  he  had  ob- 
served lying  on  the  deck.     When  I  gave  him 


this  also  he  was  not  satisfied,  claiming  a  longer 
piece,  and  all  the  time  holding  out  his  bowl 
by  the  legs  and  setting  forth  its  magnificence. 
Again  I  fastened  another  piece  of  wire 
to  the  end,  when  he  coaxingly  made  me 
understand  that  he  required  me  to  "  Fix  on 
another  fish-hook  at  the  other  end."  Losing  my 
patience  I  seized  the  lot  and,  cramming  it  into 
my  trading-box,  slammed  down  the  lid  and 
drove  the  discontented  savage  over  the  side. 
Very  shortly  afterwards  he  returned  and  gave  me 
the  bowl  for  a  very  much  smaller  fish-hook 
and  without  any  wire  at  all.  I  was  at  first 
at  a  loss  to  understand  his  sudden  change 
of  tactics,  but  immediately  afterwards  dis- 
covered the  reason  just  in  time  to  catch  him 
as  he  was  disappearing  into  his  canoe.  I 
found  that  one  of  the  legs  of  the  bowl  had 
broken  off,  which  defect  he  had  kept  carefully 
hidden  by  pretending  to  hold  it  by  the 
appendage  which  was  not  there.  Seizing  him, 
I  at  once  made  him  sit  down  on  the  deck  and 
repair  it.  This  took  him  the  whole  afternoon, 
but  it  taught  me  a  lesson  as  to  how  much  can 
be  done  without  tools — a  piece  of  obsidian  and 
a  shell  being  the  only  implements  he  possessed. 
Breaking  off  a  piece  of  the  pole  he  used  for 
punting  his  canoe  over  the  reefs,  he  besmeared 
the  end  with  charcoal  and  pressed  it  against 
the  broken  joint  ;  by  this  means  he  was  able  to 
see  what  parts  required  paring  off.  This  process 
he  repeated  several  times  until  the  two  pieces 
exactly  fitted  one  another.  Then,  rounding  off 
the  new  leg  to  the  required  length,  he  inserted 
some  small  pegs  of  wood  in  the  end  to  be 
joined  and  fitted  it  on  in  such  a  manner  that 
when  the  whole  was  painted  over  with  dampened 
charcoal  it  was  impossible  to  find  the  joint. 
He  demanded  an  axe,  but  received  a  few  beads 
for  his  trouble. 

During  the  few  days  I  remained  here 
Kanau  and  his  following  came  off  every  day 
at  sunrise.  They  lay  about  the  deck,  causing 
everything  they  touched  or  sat  upon  to  become 
black  and  filthy,  and  stayed  until  they  were 
literally  driven  into  their  canoes  at  night.  They 
were  all  very  fat  and  excessively  lazy,  chewing 
betel-nut  without  ceasing,  save  when  they 
desired  to  eat  the  food  they  had  brought  me  as 
a  present  in  the  morning. 

Only  once  during  my  whole  visit  was  I  per- 
mitted to  see  one  of  their  women.  She  was 
brought  on  board  one  morning,  and  was  said 
to  be  the  wife  of  the  chief.  She  was  most 
hideously  repulsive-looking,  and  her  hair  was 
matted  in  a  conglomerated  mass  with  some 
sticky  black  substance.  She  was  covered  with 
round  indentations  which  had  been  burned  into 
her  flesh  in  rows  and  designs,  and  round  her 


;- 


1  HI      w  [DE    WORLD    M.\i,.\/.INE. 


1  HI-    All  HOR  S    YACHT 

\Photo. 


and   body   there    had    been    woven   Ljrass 

■Is,   tourniquettcd   so    tightly  that  the    flesh 

had  prow n  completely  over  them  and  must  have 

■:ied  the  poor  creature  at   all   times   the 

:1V. 

I  next  visited   Admiralty  Island,  which  is  the 

■f  the   group.  ling    between    two 

Her  islands  at  it>  extreme   south    we    passed 

le  a  long  barrier  reef,  extending   for   many 

mil-  and    half  a   mile   farther   on 

:  under  the  lee  of  a  small  island, 

red   and    populated.      Mere    1 

main  until  the  following  morning, 

hut        I      as  immediately  surrounded  by  1 

quantities    of   natives    who    were 

a  different  disposition  to  my 

frier  ibriel,    all    of    them    shouting 

ticulating  in  a  most  un- 
tile   manner,  I  d    it  advis- 
able to  get  under                 in. 

■iled  on   to   the 

;hout  any  invitation  and  contrary  to  my 

ord'-  *rith     them    great    pieces    of 

human    meat,     and    expressing     their 

idence  in   every  way  I   must 

[fell  ifortably    situated. 

n    thirty   and   forty  large  war 

vhich   was    nearly  as  long 

h  carrying  i  rowds 

-en  all  an  .-th  with    obsidian 

and  daggers,  surrounding  a  small  cruising 

'een  hands  all  told,  and  thousands 

of  miles  from  any  civilization.     We   were  with- 


These 
observed 


out  steam  power,  and 
there  was  very  little  wind. 
The  savages  ran  wild  all 
over  the  ship,  all  talking 
and  screaming  at  once, 
and  for  a  time  things 
looked  ugly.  But  it  came 
to  nothing,  and  it  was 
with  an  intense  feeling  of 
relief  that  I  felt  the  yacht 
moving  ever  so  slowly 
through  the  water,  and 
saw  the  canoes  dropping 
one  by  one  astern. 

My  journey  across  to 
New  Guinea  was  unevent- 
ful. On  our  arrival  at  the 
head-quarters  of  the  Ger- 
man settlement  we  were 
at  once  besieged  with 
natives,  who  came  out  in 
small  dug-out  canoes  to 
offer  us  food  in  the  shape 
of  yams,  taros,  and  bana- 
nas, which  we  were  very 
glad  to  get. 
people  were  true  Papuans,  and  I 
here,  as   in  the  British    and    Dutch 


from  a) 


GROUP    OF     NEW   GUINEA 

NATIVES.  [P/lOtO 


AMONG    THE    SOUTH    SEA    CANNIBALS 


portions    of    the    island,    the    strong 
Hehraic  features  very  predominant. 

The  men  in  a  great  many  instances  were 
exceptionally  finely  built,  their  only  clothing 
being  a  piece  of  stringy  fibre  wound  round  the 
loins.  The  tightness  with  which  they  tie  these 
fibres  round  their  bodies  must  occasion  them 
as  much  pain  as  tight-lacing  does  to  Western 
ladies  !  A  typical  group  of  New  Guinea  savages 
is  shown  at  the  bottom  of  the  preceding  page. 

The  coast  village  seen  in  the  above  photo,  is 
built  at  the  mouth  of  a  river,  and  is  considered, 
for  New  Guinea,  a  very  large  one.  The  houses 
are  thatched  with  the  leaf  of  the  sago  palm, 
and  the  entrance  is  reached  up  the  trunk  of  a 
tree,  notched  for  steps.  This  leans  against  the 
opening,  which  is  just  large  enough  to  allow  the 
owner  to  crawl  in  and  out. 

These  houses  are  all  more  or  less  carved,  and 
in  a  great  many  instances  this  form  of  decora- 
tion is  exceedingly  well  done.  As  a  rule  the 
largest  house  of  the  village  is  the  visitors' and 
young  men's  house,  which  generally  stands  a ' 
little  apart  from  the  rest,  and  is  covered  with 
quaint  designs  carved  by  its  male  occupants. 

The  women  are  usually  of  smaller  stature 
than  the  men  and,  if  possible,  more  hideous  in 
appearance  ;  although  I  have  occasionally  seen 
young  girls  with  very  passable  features.  Their 
clothing  consists  of  a  small  bunch  of  grass, 
strung  on  a  fibre  and  tied  round  the  waist. 

Vol.  xii.— 10. 


TYPES    OF    NEW    GUINEA 
CANNIIiAI.S. 

From  a  Photo. 


llli;    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


two 
the 


isage  of  the 
the    nai  II    smoke   a    kind    of 

try,  which  they 

smoke,    and 

■  '.   mere   infants 

their    native  pipes !     1   have 

pig  and  her  child 

rrying   one   under   either 

rare  more   tor  the  welfare 

than   the   latter,    presumably    in 

iter  market  value. 

the   interior   took  about 

implish,    and    apart     from 

si    ■    -  filled  with  very  many 

we    passed    through 
our  intrusion  at  the  spear's  point, 
n    one  :i,    when    the    natives 

1  my  small   party,  we  were  oblij 
rs  Ives  \  igorously.     One  man 
found  to  have  been  killed  by  a  bullet 
ad  penetrated  his  arm  at  the 
elbow,   running    up   and   across   his 
nd   terminating  at  the  other 
arm,  showing   that    he  had  been  in 
the   act    of    drawing     his    bowstring 
when  he  was  struck  down. 

The    farther    I     marched 

inland    the  fewer   natl\ 

until  at    last    wi 

ign  of  habitation  be 

hind.     The  last  pe<  >ple  we 

met  with  lived  about  thirty 

mib  a     the    coast, 

and    they    seemed    a 

much    lower    type    and 

ntirely  a  differ- 

from    all 

|  r< 

had  come  across.    Their 

houses    were     low   and 

badly  built,  consisting  of  but  a  few  split  bamboos 

las!  'her  and  thatched  with  banana  leaves. 

lingly  frightened  of  me,  and  it 

':>  the  gi  difficulty  that  I  persuaded 

*  rne  ta  raphs. 

.  at  a  place  where  the  river 

had    been    following    divided,    one    branch 

fun  a  short  distance,  where 

from  the  mountain,  and  the 

other  to  the  south-west,  where  after  a  mile  or  so 

1  >r>  a  hort  waterfalls  coming 

me  mountain.     This  was  the  source 

tne  After  cutting  our  way 

for  a  whole  day  we  arrived  at 

aountain.    'This   was   the 

inland  I   n  and  was  after- 

s  named  after  the  discoverer. 

This  place  was  about  fifty  geographical  miles 


from  the  coast.  The  forest  was  always  so  thick 
that  with  six  natives  cutting  a  way  ahead  three 
miles  was  considered  a  good  day's  march.  One 
of  the  principal  objects  of  this  journey  to  the 
interior  was  now  accomplished.  I  had  come  to 
ascertain  the  exact  position  of  the  Bismarck 
Mountains,  and  as  a  result  was  able  to  remove 
the  entire  range  from  the  map.  for  I  found  it  to 
be  a  figment  of  the  imagination.  Whoeverposed 
as  its  discoverer  was  without  doubt  gazing  upon 
the  Albeit  \  i<  tor  Range  in  British  New  Guinea. 
With  the  exception  of  a  few  tribes,  who  seriously 
resented   my   intrusion,   and   who,   I  am  afraid, 


'i  "I  HE    I  .■.HI  HIM     sk,: 


I  HI-:    INTERIOR    REACHED    BY    CAPTAIN    WKBSTEK. 


[P/ioto. 


paid  a  heavy  penalty  for  the  attacks  they 
made  upon  us,  I  was  struck  by  the  general 
shyness  of  most  of  the  inhabitants  inland,  which 
in  many  instances  prevented  their  supplying  us 
with  native  foodstuff,  which  was  much  needed 
for  my  carriers.  Even  their  greed  for  red  and 
yellow  ochre — the  articles  of  barter  they  most 
prize — would  scarcely  induce  them  to  trade. 
They  greatly  feared  my  camera,  either  as  a  fetish 
or  a  dangerous  instrument  of  destruction,  and 
required  much  coaxing  before  they  would  come 
near  enough  to  be  photographed. 

On  my  arrival  off  the  coast  of  Dutch  New 
Guinea  I  sailed  up  the  Straits  of  Aidoema  and 
saw  many  natives  shoot  across  our  bows  some 
distance  ahead  in  small  canoes,  but  they  were 
too  frightened  to  show  themselves  within  speak- 
ing distance.     About  the  centre  of  the  Straits  I 


AMONG    THE    SOUTH    SEA    CANNIBALS. 


75 


perceived  a  habitation  on  shore,  surrounded  by 
clumps  of  cocoanut-trees,  and  so,  anchoring,  I 
quickly  went  ashore.  The  chief  of  the  village, 
strangely  enough,  was  a  woman,  and,  although 
excessively  nervous,  she  welcomed  me  to  her 
cannibal  home. 

This  lady  possessed  a  great  number  of  pearls, 
which  I  made  out  were  collected  for  the 
Macassar  traders  who  periodically  visit  these 
parts,  giving  the  natives  in  exchange  cloth  and 
beads.  I  purchased  what  I  could  from  her  for 
a  few  needles  and  thread,  a  reel  of  cotton,  and  a 
sarong.  She  told  me,  in  a  kind  of  broken 
Malay,  which  she  had  learnt  from  intercourse 
with  the  traders,  that  many  years  ago  the 
"  Orang  Ingris  "  (Englishmen)  had  lived  in  the 
bay  in  front  of  our  anchorage.  Indeed,  it  is 
quite  possible  that  they  may  have  done  so,  for 
it  was  in  1620  that  the  Dutch  drove  the  English 
from  Bantam,  when  they  emigrated  to  Amboyna, 
in  the  Celebes,  where  a  few  years  later  they  were 
the  victims  of  a  plot,  invented  by  a  Dutchman 
for  their  destruction,  and  were  again  routed,  a 
few  of  them  escaping  to  the  mainland  of  New 
Guinea.  This  was  the  Massacre  of  Amboyna, 
1 6th  February,  1623.  What  became  of  these 
few  miserable  outcasts  is  uncertain,  but  in  all 
probability  those  who  survived  the  terrible 
ravages  of  the  malarial  climate  were  killed  and 
eaten  by  the  savages. 

How  long  they  remained  here  alive  I  cannot 
tell,  but  they  must  have  known  only  too  well 
that  they  were  condemned  to  a  living  tomb  in 
this  wild,  desolate  spot,  where  the  face  of  the 
white  man  is  never  seen,  and  where  no  other 
sound  is  heard  save  the  "  Wok-wok "  of  the 
paradise  bird,  the  screech  of  the  cockatoo,  or 
the  weird  and  distressing  boom  of  the  "  tom- 
tom "  to  remind  them  of  the  cheering 
fact  that  a  cannibal  feast  is  taking  place  hard 
by,  and  that  it  may  be  their  turn  next.  I  saw  the 
remains  of  stonework,  where  these  poor  exiles 
had  built  a  small  landing-stage,  and  ruins  of 
ancient  stone  houses,  evidences  of  their  im- 
prisonment, now  nothing  but  crumbling  ruins 
entirely  covered  with  the  rank  undergrowth. 

After  a  very  short  stay  in  Triton  and 
Treachery  Bays  I  made  for  Etna  Bay,  where 
the  Charles  Louis  range  of  mountains  runs 
down  almost  to  the  water's  edge  and  where  I 
hoped  to  obtain  many  ornithological  prizes. 

I  arrived  at  the  head  of  this  bay,  some 
twenty  miles  inside  the  mainland,  after  numerous 
difficulties  in  the  way  of  adverse  winds  and 
currents,  looking  in  vain  for  people,  and  at  last, 
thinking  I  had  found  an  uninhabited  place, 
anchored  in  a  little  bay  under  the  very  shadow 
of  the  mountain  slope.  For  some  days  succeed- 
ing my  arrival  I  went  uninterrupted  far  into  the 


forest  collecting  many  valuable  species  quite 
new  to  science.  One  evening,  however,  I  saw  a 
canoe  creeping  along  on  the  northern  shore  of 
the  bay  containing  twelve  natives.  They 
hailed  us  from  a  long  distance  and  spoke 
a  dialect  of  Ceramese  partially  understood 
by  one  of  my  hunters.  After  much  persuasion 
I  got  them  to  come  aboard,  on  my  promising 
not  to  kill  them.  They  ate  most  ravenously 
the  enormous  bowls  of  rice  I  had  placed  before 
them,  and  were  in  a  terribly  emaciated  condition. 

The  next  morning  at  daybreak  a  great  many 
more  canoes  came  down  the  bay  all  filled  with 
people.  A  number  of  the  natives  came  on 
board  and  fought  like  wild  beasts  over  the  rice 
I  gave  them  to  eat,  some  of  them  absolutely 
standing  in  the  bowls  containing  it  and  snarling 
like  so  many  animals  at  the  weaker  ones,  who 
endeavoured  in  vain  to  get  their  share.  Their 
teeth  were  filed  to  points  like  a  dog's — always  a 
bad  sign — and  they  were  particularly  anxious 
that  I  should  purchase  one  or  two  girls  they 
had  in  the  canoes,  and  when  I  asked  them  what 
I  should  do  with  them  intimated  that  I  should 
fatten  them  for  food. 

All  went  well  for  a  few  days  until  one  morn- 
ing I  sent  my  men  ashore  as  usual  to  hunt  in 
the  forest.  An  hour  afterwards  one  of  them 
suddenly  rushed  down  the  beach  shouting  tome 
to  fire  the  machine-gun  I  had  mounted  on  deck, 
as  Lennel  (one  of  my  hunters)  had  been  killed  ! 

He  managed  to  swim  out  to  the  yacht  under 
a  heavy  fire  of  spears  and  arrows  from  the 
natives.  Sad  to  relate,  however,  they  killed  and 
ate  my  boatswain,  Johnston,  and  three  of  my  men, 
and  captured  five  rifles  and  a  whale-boat.  Later 
on,  when  the  tide  rose,  all  their  canoes,  which 
lined  the  beach,  began  to  float  off,  and  every 
time  they  attempted  to  run  from  the  thick  cover 
down  to  the  water's  edge  to  rescue  them  I 
brought  the  quick-firer  into  action,  raking  the 
line,  and  keeping  them  back.  By  this  means  we 
were  enabled  to  scuttle  nearly  a  hundred  canoes. 

These  natives  were  the  boldest  and  most 
ferocious  I  have  encountered,  and  numbered 
nearly  five  hundred.  For  five  succeeding 
days,  there  being  no  wind,  we  Could  not  get 
away,  and  during  that  time  they  made  six 
desperate  attempts  to  capture  the  yacht,  but 
thanks  to  my  small  but  plucky  crew  their  efforts 
were  unsuccessful. 

At  last  the  breeze  came,  and  very  soon  after- 
wards we  caught  the  steady  wind  of  the  south- 
west monsoon.  It  was  with  a  sense  of  exquisite 
relief  that  I  was  now  able  for  the  first  time  for 
many  days  and  nights  to  go  below  and  sleep  in 
safety,  but  the  strain  and  anxiety  of  that  week's 
experience  with  these  cannibals  will  never  be 
forgotten  if  I  live  to  be  a  hundred. 


Three   Girls   in   the    Wilderness. 

r.\    Mrs.   Eleanor  Griffin   McNett. 

The  experiences  of  three  young  schoolmistresses,   sent    out    to    Fort    Defiance,   Arizona,    to    teach    the 

They  found   themselves  literally  at    the  jumping-off  place  of  civilization— fifty  miles 

from  -tamp    and    two  hundred    from   a  tin  of   baking-powder  !       Finally    ugly    rumours    con- 

ng  of  the    Indians   began    to  float  about,  and    after   a    most    anxious   period   of  suspense 

the   three    teachers  were   sent    back   East  under  a    military  escort. 


HERE  was  wild  commotion  on  our 

native  heath  one  chilly,  winter  eve. 

ree  "female  tenderfeet  "      Mary, 

Rachel,  and  Priscilla — under  convoy 

I  ii      ^g(  ni  j    Surgeon  elect,   were 

into  the  "Wild  and  Woolly 

loolma'ams  we  were,  waving 

our   commissions  to  the  wily  savage,  sent  out 

-  im 

gs 

dy     India  n 

ting- 

•id 
M 
1  i 
nation,     the 

Indian 

1 1  fi  u  Ari 

Territory, 

a  m<  k  in 

wilderm 

i  m  i  r 

small  boys  lined 

the  plat- 

S 
they  thought,  we 
would     I 
nobbing    with 

rattle- 
snakes, and 
- 

>ter  anxious- 
■ 

the 
■  ore 
'  »ur 

I    our    necks   and    wept,   and 
a  shining  revolver  upon  me— 

last    present    sobered   us  considerably; 

enly  assumed  serious  proportions. 

for  fun  and  for  money,  but  we 


had  failed  to  reckon  with  the  stern  realities  of 
the  business. 

Such  an  array  of  baggage  !  Party  clothes  and 
potatoes,  croquet  sets  and  dictionaries.  We 
were  going  to  a  place  where  necessities  were 
luxuries,  and  so  these  things  were  to  thread 
deep  <  anyons,  and  to  ford  swift  torrents,  beyond 
the  frontier.     Only  two    months  out  of  nine  of 

absence  were 
we  to  be  in 
touch  with  those 
trunks  again. 

A  sombre 
morning  dawned 
upon  our  arrival 
in  Chicago.  We 
quickly  clam- 
bered into  a  car 
bound  across 
the  Mississippi 
to  Kansas  City, 
leaving  vivid 
memories  of  vast 
quantities  of  lug- 
gage   with      the 


i 


ticket-agent. 

Crossing  the 
swollen  Missouri 
the  following 
day,  we  pushed 
on  where  corn  is 
king.  In  inter- 
minable parallels 
the  rustling  rows 
stretched  away 
to  meet  the  sky. 
Then  past  an 
occasional  sod- 
house,  the  pion- 
eer's outpost, 
on  to  the 
cattle  range.  We  whistled  for  a  "round-up"  in 
the  Arkansas  valley,  where  thousands  of  bellow- 
ing beeves  were  relentlessly  urged  on  by  creatures 
in  spurs  and  sombreros — the  cowboys  of  our 
dreams  ! 

At    every   station    we   saw   piles  of  whitened 


THREE    GIRLS    IN    THE    WILDERNESS. 


11 


bones  awaiting  shipment  East.  This  had  been 
the.  stamping-ground  of  the  buffalo,  but  he  was 
gone. 

With  lengthening  twilight  came  the  "Great 
American  Desert  "  of  our  childhood.  The  sage- 
brush lent  a  mournful  hue  to  the  arrested  waves 
of  the  great  inland  sea.  All  about  us  were  vast 
areas  of  silence  and  mystery.  Not  so  much  the 
uncivilized,  but  the  unknown,  the  unknowable. 

At  La  Junta,  Colorado,  the  unusual  spectacle 
of  three  ladies  in  the  place  led  to  our  being 
taken  for  a  theatrical  troupe. 

As  the  day  waned  the  Spanish  Peaks  rose 
upon  the  horizon  clear  and  distinct  in  the 
rarefied  air,  pinnacle  after  pinnacle,  a  roseate 
vision.  With  another  engine  tacked  on,  we 
climbed  the  Raton  Pass,  sleeping  peacefully  at 
night  on  the  car  cushions  laid  lengthwise  on 
the  floor. 

Before  dawn  we  bundled  out  at  Los  Vegas— 
a  hustling,  cowboy  town.  How  quaint  the 
one-story  adobe  houses  looked  !  How  foreign 
the  Mexican  sehoras,  heads  draped  in  shawl  or 
black  mantilla,  going  to  early  Sunday  Mass  ! 
Monte  tables  were  in  full  blast.  A  gallows  in 
the  public  square  showed  that  three  horse- 
thieves  had  recently  received  their  deserts  from 
the  Vigilantes.  Everywhere  in  evidence  was  the 
ubiquitous  tin-can. 

That  night  the  stars  shone  bravely  through 
the  chinks  of  our  bedroom  wall.  We  had  one 
bed — a  tight  fit  for  three.  Knowing  that 
ignorance  is  bliss  we  carefully  lay  down  on  the 
outside  of  it,  wrapped  up  in  our  shawls,  and 
talked  of  the  proposed  stage-ride  of  the  morrow 
across  the  snowy  range  of  the  Rockies  to 
Santa  Fe. 

A  little  after  midnight  Prisci'.la  reached  across 
Mary  and  pulled  my  sleeve.  "  Rachel,  Rachel, 
h-u-s-h,  listen  !  " 

"  They've  got  money,"  growled  a  hoarse, 
deep  voice,  in  a  stage  whisper.  The  partition 
between  us  and  the  next  room  was  like  paper. 
Still  as  mice,  we  heard  our  financial  status 
discussed  minutely,  punctuated  with  vigorous 
language. 

"They'd  better  lookout,"  squeaked  a  falsetto. 
We  could  distinguish  no  more. 

Tip-toeing  to  the  surgeon's  door,  we  held  with 
him  a  council  of  war  and  decided  on  a  later 
start.  We  would  risk  nothing,  for  hold-ups 
were  not  infrequent,  even  on  the  main  highway 
to  the  capital. 

But  we  slipped  through  safely,  merely  spending 
a  very  bad  quarter  of  an  hour  on  a  narrow 
mountain-shelf.  In  front  was  a  jibbing  team, 
on  one  side  a  rocky  cliff,  on  the  other  a 
stupendous  chasm -- behind,  those  rumbling, 
protesting,  battered  trunks. 


We  were  following  the  old  Kit  Carson  trail  to 
Santa  Fe.  Sampling  alkali  pool  and  soda-spring 
impartially,  politely  offered  "tangle-foot  "  whisky 
by  a  party  of  surveyors,  we  arrived  at  the  city 
of  the  Holy  Faith. 

How  full  of  interest  the  novel  sights  and 
sounds  in  the  courtyard  of  the  hotel !  Prairie- 
schooners,  muleteers,  cowboys,  Indians  with 
gay  blankets  gave  a  vivid  dash  of  colour  to 
the  picture  framed  in  dull  adobe  grey. 

From  here  we  made  an  early  start  on  an  open 
buck-board  waggon  for  Fort  Wingate,  a  seven 
company  post,  the  bulwark  of  the  New  Mexican 
frontier.  Up  hill,  down  dale,  we  went— a  one- 
hundred-and-eighty-mile  ride — crossing  deserts 
where  for   sixty   miles  no  water  was  available. 

Fording  the  shallow  Rio  Grande  we  were  all 
night  climbing  the  slopes  of  Mount  Taylor, 
thirteen  thousand  feet  high.  All  the  next  day 
we  were  in  sight  of  giant,  castellated,  red  buttes, 
corroded  by  wind  and  weather  into  all  kinds  of 
fantastic  shapes  ;  so  we  worked  slowly  on  to  the 
frontier. 

We  three  girls  sat  in  the  back  seat,  wedged 
like  pigeons  in  a  pie.  Behind  us,  tightly 
strapped,  were  piles  of  mail-bags,  for  were  we 
not  the  fast  "  Star  Route  Outfit,"  carrying  the 
United  States  mail  to  Prescott  ?  We  were  in 
light  marching  order,  every  one  of  our  trunks 
left  behind  for  an  indefinite  period  in  Santa  Fe. 

Five  drivers  covered  the  distance.  With  a 
blood-curdling  war-whoop  the  last  drew  up  with 
a  flourish  in  front  of  the  sutler's  store  at  Fort 
Wingate.  How  homelike  the  twinkling  lights 
of  the  post  looked  !  How  delightful  was  the 
cordial  hospitality  of  the  officers  of  the  15th 
U.S.  Infantry  and  9th  U.S.  Cavalry  !  How 
inspiring  the  bugle  sounding  reveille  ! 

The  next  morning  Captain  Bennett,  Com- 
mandant of  the  post,  presented  Manuelita, 
hereditary  chief  of  the  Navajos,  to  us.  He  was 
a  Hercules,  over  six  feet  in  height,  finely  pro- 
portioned, resplendent  in  silk  velvet  breeches, 
adorned  with  rows  of  silver  buttons  hammered 
from  Mexican  dollars,  and  a  valuable  necklace 
composed  of  beads,  gold  and  silver  coins,  and 
medals  given  bv  the  U.S.  Government  to  his 
forefathers. 

We  were  now  informed  of  the  war-cloud 
which  was  lowering  on  the  horizon.  Tribal 
cousins  of  the  fierce  Apaches,  the  Navajo 
Indians,  second  only  to  the  Sioux  in  ferocity 
and  numbers,  were  balancing  Agency  blankets 
against  the  war-path. 

For  the  present  blankets  were  up  and  all  was 
well.  We  hurried  into  the  Agency  ambulance, 
eager  for  the  last  fifty-mile  stage  of  our  journey 
— the  climb  into  the  fastnesses  of  this  powerful 
tribe,  loyal  as  the  Swiss  to  their  mountain  home 


Till     WIDL    world    mai;a/ini:. 


•  CIST,    AGENCY    BLANKETS    Al'.AINSl    THE    WAK-I'ATM 


W  3  i  where  potatoes  could  not 

mty  crop  of  grain  was  reaped 

re  an  empty  parking  box   was  a 

ttraordinary  was  the  ordi- 

nd  the  unexpected  always  happened. 

•nfidently   informed   us  that   we 

live   on   the   picture   of  an  onion  for  a 

which,  in  a  way,  was  only  too 

IS,   furthermore,  that   a   tourist 

in  Yuma   sat   down   at   a   table  where  a  waiter 

•   him  a  plate  of  meat.      "  What   is  it  ?  " 

"Teal,   sir,"    replied    the 

il     i    it    wings    and    could    it    fly0'' 

The    astonished    waiter 

"Then    take    it    away,"    came    the 

gs  and  could  fly,  and 

from  this  place,  I  don't  want  any 

>ur  arrival  ar  Agency — we  were  an 

I  and  mongrel  curs 

.    from   every  direction, 

all  •  the  three  venturesome  girls 

I '  ich  and  to 

our  future  home  with 

aw  an  abandoned  military 

-ilt    in    the    form    of    a    hollow    square. 

buildings,  one  story  in  height, 

was  but  one  frame 

building— the  store-house  from   which  supplies 

given  to  the  Navajo  trding   to   the 

f  I  Issue  1  >ay." 

Colonel  Sumner,  of  the   ist  Dragoons,  built 


this  outpost  in  1851 — an 
answer  from  their  very 
midst  to  the  tribe  who 
had  dared  him  to  bring 
his  soldiers  hither.  That 
first  night  and  for  many 
a  night  after  we  slept 
three  in  a  bed,  until  the 
old  drug-store  could  be 
cleaned  up  for  our  occu- 
pation. The  one  who 
slept  outside  had  to  keep 
up  the  fire  in  the  little 
"  dobe "  fireplace,  the 
middle  one  was  nearly 
smothered,  and  the  in- 
side one  had  to  fight  for 
the  clothes. 

The  surgeon's  practice 
was  light.  Never  trust 
the  Indian  with  a  medi- 
cine, for  he  will  swallow 
the  contents  of  the  bottle 
all  at  once.  In  the  in- 
terval of  the  doctor's 
official  duties  he  made  a 
floor  for  us  from  the 
afore-mentioned  valuable  boxes.  His  bedstead 
he  swung  like  a  hammock,  secure  from  the 
mice,  who  ran  fearlessly  everywhere,  even  in 
the  daytime.  We  caught  eleven  at  one 
successful  swoop  in  a  wash-boiler  ! 

We  were  fifty  miles  from  a  postage  -  stam  p  ; 
occasionally  two  hundred  from  a  tin  of  baking- 
powder.  We  were  literally  at  the  jumping-off 
place  of  civilization.  For  the  road  leading  to 
the  plaza  of  the  Agency  stopped  there — dead. 
There  was  nothing  but  canyon,  mesa — mesa, 
canyon,  westward  to  the  Mormon  settlements. 
It  was  such  a  strange  land,  too.  As  a  Govern- 
ment inspector  said — "the  counterpart  of  the 
Syrian  desert." 

One  afternoon  a  medicine  man  visited  our 
room.  We  examined  with  curiosity  the  bag  of 
"big  medicine"  he  wore  suspended  from  a 
string  around  his  neck. 

Very  early  next  morning  we  were  awakened 
by  shots  upon  the  mesa.  His  incantations  had 
failed  to  cure  a  patient,  who  had  died.  As  the 
medicine  man  could  not  pay  compensation  he 
had  been  shot  by  the  infuriated  relatives.  He 
was  wrapped  in  his  best  blanket  for  his  trip  to 
the  "  happy  hunting  grounds,"  and  laid  in  a 
rocky  sepulchre  like  the  patriarchs  of  old. 

It  was  a  silent  land,  this.  There  was  no 
quiver  of  leaves,  no  blessed  sound  of  running 
water.  The  Bonita,  a  mere  thread  in  the  dry 
season,  crept  sullenly  along,  to  lose  itself  in  the 
muddy  arroyos  of  the  plain. 


THREE    GIRLS    IN    THE    WILDERNESS. 


79 


Out  yonder  in  the  desert,  where  the  "  dust 
devils  "  flew  in  their  mad  dance,  death  lurked 
in  myriad  shapes — quick,  slow,  lingering,  sure 
— whether  by  thirst,  starvation,  or  the  short, 
swift  madness  born  of  the  desert.  None  better 
than  the  frontier  women  know  the  safety  of  the 
home  corral. 

There  were  no  outside  distractions.  Our 
mail  came  fortnightly  by  pony  express.  As  one 
of  our  frontiersmen  tersely  remarked  :  "  Good 
spot  for  a  literary  cuss." 

The  housekeeping  was  as  remarkable  as 
everything  else  in  this  remarkable  place.  The 
cook  of  our  large  mess  had  to  rise  at  4  a.m. 
With  a  tiny 
stove  food  was 
cooked  in  re- 
lays. Table- 
cloths, up  to 
the  time  of  our 
advent,  had 
been  an  un- 
known quantity. 
We  solved  the 
problem  by 
using  red  flan- 
nel, cheery  and 
enduring.  Need- 
less to  say,  our 
menu  was  very 
simple  now  that 
we  were  six 
hundred  miles 
beyond  the 
frontier.  Three 
very  much  sur- 
prised young 
women  contem- 
plated bacon, 
molasses,  and 
soggy  biscuit  for 
breakfast ;  mo- 
lasses, biscuit, 
and  bacon  for 
dinner ;  biscuit, 
bacon,  and 
molasses  for  supper.  We  had  a  joyful  surprise 
— beans  and  rice  for  Sunday  dinner  !  Goat's 
milk  was  offered  us  in  a  dirty  brass  kettle.  Our 
mutton  came  from  wethers  who  were  living  on 
the  roots  of  the  grass  of  two  years  before,  our 
beef  from  animated  mummies,  "too  thin  to  cast 
a  shadow."  Hens,  too,  were  sickly  at  that 
altitude,  nine  thousand  feet  above  sea-level. 
There  were  no  eggs,  no  butter,  no  cow's  milk. 
There  was  one  lamp — in  the  Agent's  office.  We 
girls  used  tallow  candles — nasty  abominations, 
sputtering  and  guttering,  only  serving  to  make 
darkness  visible. 


The  hogshead  of  nickel-plated  casters  we  had 
brought  with  us,  that  Governmental  conundrum, 
furnished  an  inspiration.  We  stuck  the  candles 
in  the  cruets,  and  used  the  casters  as  reflectors, 
making  a  delightful  illumination.  We  had  no 
soap.  Our  washerman  dug  the  roots  of  the 
amole — Mexican  soap-weed — for  use  in  our 
laundry.  We  had  no  ironing-day,  because  there 
were  no  irons.  An  attempt  at  sweeping  revealed 
the  fact  that  the  Agency  possessed  no  dust-pan, 
but  the  handy  surgeon  improvised  a  substitute 
from  a  piece  of  sheet-iron. 

We  reached  the  Agency  during  Christmas 
week,  and  not  until  the  end  of  March  did  we 

see  those  pre- 
cious trunks  of 
ours.  Our  first 
school-work  was 
to  adjust  three 
Singer  sewing- 
machines,  which 
we  found  in 
good  order. 
Chindi,  a  half- 
breed,  took  the 
wildest  interest 
in  the  "  Pesh- 
nal-cott " —  iron 
that  sews— and 
proved  an  ex- 
cellent help. 
Then  began  the 
work  of  plan- 
ning mattresses, 
sheets,  and 
skirts,  and  the 
general  para- 
phernalia of  a 
boarding-school 
for  thirty.  A 
long     row    of 


IBM 


FORT    DEFIANCE,    ARIZONA —     THE   JUM 
From  a  Photo. 


I'ING-OFF    PLACE   OF    CIVILIZATION. 

by  Heisters. 


adobe  buildings 
was  converted 
into  sleeping 
and  dining- 
rooms,  laundry 
and  kitchen.  Another  row  had  already  been 
fitted  with  school -desks,  and  required  but 
few  alterations.  Uncle  Sam  dealt  generously 
with  his  little  Indians.  Every  schoolboy  received 
a  new  suit,  cap,  and  shoes,  every  schoolgirl 
an  outfit  made  by  our  hands  from  calico  and 
red  flannel. 

As  is  perhaps  inseparable  from  Governmental 
institutions,  there  was  a  great  deal  of  red  tape. 
The  teacher  in  charge  for  a  month  had  to  make 
requisitions-  upon  the  Agent  for  weekly  supplies, 
and  give  them  out  herself— particularly  sugar- 
or  else  there  was  sure  to  be  a  deficit.     Each 


Illl     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


had    to    be     made    out    in 

\\  it   cooks  :  one  belong 

addicted  t" 

I         rnment  ston  s, 

low  dirt    to  make  up 

dicate  in  favour  of 

•  ml  wln>  liked  ,^ood 

j  honest,  and  satisfied  the 

nl  bitter  need  have 


■—       ;    ■  ■■;■    I  11  Ml     SHIVERING  WAIF. 

tiake  the  best  of  any- 

M<  rally   boiled    with 

ol  tortillas  (Mexican 

in   9  a.m.  until    i  1.30, 

nd  from   1    p.m.   to    2.30, 

one    •  '.       had    thr        grades    of 

mid    read    and 

tion    table.       Oral 

.       •  '•     pro- 

I  '  ■    main   point 

"  ■      :  ol      attractive ;     this     we 

with     picture-books    and 

proud  of  the  fact  that  never 
end  for  the  interpreter. 

n    little    pet.    Miss    Attizzeh, 


deserves  attention.  She  came  to  us  one  raw 
cold  February  day  -a  poor  little  shivering  waif. 
She  was  a  slave  child,  a  mere  Pi  Ute  scrap  of 
humanity,  pinched  and  thin,  her  little  hands  and 
feel  cracked  with  the  cold.  A  hot  bath,  a 
scarlet  flannel  suit,  and  stylishly-arranged  hair 
did  wonders.     We  adopted  her  on  the  spot. 

For  about  a  week  neither  urging  nor  coaxing 
could  induce  her  to  say  a  word.  As  her  shyness 
wore  away,  however,  we  found  she  had  the 
sweetest  little,  soft,  low  voice  in 
the  world.  It  was  music  to  heat- 
her trip  over  our  strange  English 
words. 

She  shared  a  corner  of  our  room, 
and  when  the  doctor  made  her  a 
bed — a  real  bed— and  she  was  pro- 
moted from  her  blanket  by  the  fire- 
side, her  delight  knew  no  bounds. 
All  that  day  her  playmates  were 
marched  in  to  behold  the  miracle. 
No  prouder  or  happier  child  ever 
went  to  bed  at  first  fall  of  twilight. 
No  one  could  rake  the  embers  out 
of  the  fire-place  more  deftly  than 
she  in  the  early  dawning.  No  one 
was  swifter  of  foot  to  do  little 
errands.  Like  many  white  children, 
however,  prosperity  proved  too 
much  for  her.  If  we  refused  any- 
thing upon  which  she  had  set  her 
heart,  she  would  throw  herself  flat 
on  the  floor  and  set  up  a  wail  loud 
enough  to  appal  the  stoutest.  In- 
difference generally  proved  a  speedy 
cure;  neglect  she  could  not  endure. 
We  made  her  a  go-to-meeting  suit 
with  gay  red  trimmings  and  silver 
buttons  and  a  string  of  beads.  No 
peacock  ever  displayed  its  plumage 
with  more  pride.  She  proved 
bright,  quick,  intelligent,  and  it  is 
a  credit  to  our  Government  that  these  neglected 
children  are  being  trained  mentally,  morally, 
and  physically. 

As  irrigation  increases,  these  waste  places  will 
blossom  like  the  rose,  the  nomad  Navajo  will 
settle  down  under  his  own  roof,  and  the  bad 
old  ways  give  place  in  the  next  generation  to  a 
new  era  of  peace  and  prosperity. 

I  )uring  all  these  months,  though  everything 
was  outwardly  peaceful,  the  Agency  was  a  caul- 
dron of  seething  rumours. 

Southward  the  Apache  chief  Victoria's 
successful  forays  were  marked  by  burning 
ranches,  slaughtered  husbands  and  fathers, 
and  wives  and  children  borne  away  to  tortures 
inconceivable.  And  these  fiends  incarnate 
were  not  very  far  south  of  us. 


THREE    GIRLS    IN    THE    WILDERNESS. 


8t 


"  It  is  an  off  year  for  Indians,"  said  Captain 
Bennett  ;  and  there  were  only  sixteen  men  to 
do  post  duty  at  Fort  Wingate  ! 

Mariana,  the  powerful  Navajo  war -chief— 
a  savage  gentleman — was  our  faithful  friend. 
Was  Manuelita  ?  It  was  uncertain.  Old 
frontiersmen,  reliable  judges  of  Indian  character, 
shook  their  heads.  "  Never  saw  the  Indians 
more  saucy  and  insolent,"  they  said. 

Apaches,  Utes,  Pi  Utes,  were  all   urging  our 
tribe    to   go    on    the   war-path,  and  the  young 
bucks  were  eager  for  the  fray.     Civil  in  Decem- 
ber, they  had  be- 
come    rude     and      ~ 
disrespectful  in 
April.       Only  too 

well     they     knew  -'r  - 

the  nearest  avail- 
able force  was  at  §.-.. 
Fort  Lewis,  Color- 
ado. Three  of  the 
male  employes  re- 
signed, unable  to 
stand  the  strain. 
T  he  working 
Indians  in  pure 
w  a  n  t  o  n  n  e  s  s 
destroyed  their 
wheel-barrows  and 
other  tools.  The 
Agency  store- 
house, too,  was 
broken  into,  and 
extra  articles  for 
the  boarding- 
school  taken  from 
a  room  directly 
opposite  the 
Agent's  office.  All 
these  things  were 
signs  of  the  com- 
ing storm. 

An  old  frontiers- 
man with  a  squaw 
wife     begged     us 

to    leave    while    yet    there   was    time, 
coming     is    the    only    chance    for     my 
education,"  he  said,  "  but  go  !  go  !  " 

One  day  an  Indian  jumped  through  the 
kitchen-window  and  told  the  affrighted  cook 
that  in  a  few  days  they  were  coming  to  carry  us 
away  ! 

Another  day  as  we  were  carrying  on  our  usual 
iessons  we  noticed  an  unusual  number  of 
strangers  among  our  daily  visitors.  From  a 
vantage  point  I  saw  an  Indian  point  to  Priscilla 
and  deliberately  draw  his  finger  across  his 
throat  from  ear  to  ear. 

That  evening  Manuelita's  sister,  a  woman  of 

Vol.  xii. — 11. 


AX     INDIAN    Jl.MI'F.D    THROUl 


"  Your 

boys' 


powerful  influence  in  a  tribe  where  women  hold 
their  own  property  and  are  quite  advanced  in 
women's  rights,  came  stealthily  to  our  rooms. 
She  had  much  to  gain  by  our  remaining. 

"  Heza-a-clin  "  the  good  doctor — had  skil- 
fully alleviated  the  intense  suffering  of  her  poor 
little  boy  afflicted  with  mortal  disease. 

No  sister  could  have  shown  more  anxiety 
for  us. 

"  You  three  white  women  take  three  hors> 
she     said.       "Co     to     Shush  -  be  -  tow  "     (Fort 
Wingate).       "Go    now — go    quick!" 

And  still  we 
hesitated,  but 
when,  next  morn- 
ing on  the  way  to 
school,  Attizzeh, 
chattering  with 
her  mates,  cried, 
"  Kille,  kille  all 
the  white  men  '.  " 
we  went  through 
the  session  in  a 
dream,  carefully 
observing  our 
usual  routine  lest 
the  Indians  should 
notice  any  pertur- 
bation. Closing  at 
1 1  a.m.  instead  of 
1 1.30,  we  hastily 
threw  a  few  neces- 
sities into  gunny- 
sacks  and  got 
ready  for  flight. 

The  doctor 
brought  up  an  old 
rattle-trap  vehicle 
and  a  broken- 
down  horse.  We 
took  our  old 
places  on  the 
back  seat,  the 
Agent's  son  sitting 
with  the  driver  in 
front.  All  carried  revolvers  and  had  long  since 
practised  shooting  at  a  mark. 

The  Plaza  seemed  unusually  deserted— of 
itself  a  significant  sign.  Poor  Attizzeh  seemed 
to  realize  it  all  We  gave  her  a  hat,  a  little 
cape,  and  some  sugar,  the  usual  panacea  for  all 
her  woes,  but  all  to  no  avail,  and  when  we 
kissed  her  good-bye  and  drove  away,  she  threw 
herself  down  and  tore  her  hair,  crying  that  her 
"  Nakitte-sennie  "  were  "  ettin  "  ("her  white 
women  gone  "),  in  an  abandon  of  childish  grief 
pitiful  to  behold. 

We  had  thirty  miles  to  go  before  we  eould 
reach  the  shelter  of  a  roof.      How  anxiously  we 


ITCH  EN-WIND 


1H1      WIDE    W0R1  D    MAGAZINE. 


-  -  - 


I    iKSES,     SHE    SAID. 


(,()    Nc>\\"--<j<>    i,)L'ICIC. 


t    Flat ! 
n     met    our    eye,    its 
■id  wife,  in  abject  terror. 
•    hi  rds  of  si 
driven    past,    the    n 
-•  t 

W 
nud  nV 

;  was 
•  me 

to 

uld 

r,  Mary 
I 

rters. 

low 

The 

and 


V    THE 
GIRL,   ATTIZ- 

ZE.H   —  IT     ;  .  rs     ONE 

THE   THREE   SCHOOL- 


a  hundred  rounds  of  ammunition,  and  the  guard- 
house had  been  provisioned  and  water  provided. 
On  the  first  sign  of  danger  the  women  and 
children  were  to  be  taken  hither,  but  everyone 
knew  that  the  post  was  well-nigh  defenceless  in 
case  of  a  well-organized  attack. 

From  the  front  and  back  porches 
we  could  see  columns  of  light,  grow- 
ing momentarily  brighter,  shooting 
up  from  all  points  of  the  compass — 
now  light,  now  darker,  according  to 
the  mysterious  laws  of  Indian  tele- 
graphy. 

How  we  dreaded  the  darkest  hour 
before  dawn — the  favourite  time  for 
an  Indian  attack  ! 

Calmly  the  Army  women  gathered 
their  valuables  into  portable  shape 
and  hushed  their  fretful  children. 
Outside  we  heard  an  occasional 
sharp,  quick  word  of  command. 
How  relieved,  how  thankful  we  were 
when  the  sun  rose  upon  our  little 
band — pallid,  wan  with  our  vigil,  hut 
safe  !  And  how  gladly  we  welcomed 
the  relief  column  when  it  marchea  in  ! 
Later  we  went  back  East  unaer 
military  escort,  with  undying  me- 
mories of  our  serio-comic,  well-nign 
tragic,  experience  —  teaching  the 
Indians  in  the  wilderness. 


The  Last  Voyage  of  the  "Island  'Belle.99 

By  George  Rignold. 

The  well  -  known  actor  here  narrates  an  incident  which  happened  while  he  was  en  route 
to  New  York  on  board  the  White  Star  liner  "  Germanic."  A  derelict  schooner  was  sighted, 
with   four  men  on  board.     She    had  been  out  for  five    months,  and    the  survivors  of   her   crew 

unfolded  a  terrible  tale  of  privation  and  suffering. 

T  was  on  my  second  voyage  across 

the  Atlantic — under  engagement  to 

tour    in    the    United    States     with 

"  Henry    V."* — that    an     incident 

occurred  which  produced  a  vivid 
and  lasting  impression,  not  only  on  myself  and 
my  wife,  who  accompanied  me,  but,  I  think,  on 
every  passenger  who  witnessed  the  pathetic 
scene. 

Had  I  kept  a  diary  I  should  have  been  able 
to  give  the  exact  latitude  and  longitude,  but 
keeping  a  diary  is  a  habit  of  which  I  have  never 
been  guilty.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  we  were  on 
board  the  good  ship  Germanic,  of  the  White 
Star  line,  commanded  by  Captain  Perry,  and 
mid  -  Atlantic  was  about  the  locality.  The 
weather  had  been  favourable,  though  squally, 
and  the  usual  monotony  of  "  board-ship  "  life 
had  hitherto  prevailed. 

One  morning,  however,  about  5  a.m.,  just  as 
the  day  was  breaking  a  dull  grey,  the  ship 
suddenly  stopped.  All  who  have  voyaged  on 
a  large  ocean  steamer  will  recall  the  somewhat 
uncanny  experience  of  being  roused  out  of  sleep        MR. 

by  the  Sudden    Stoppage    Of    the    rhythmic  throb-  From  a  Photo,  by]  this  story.    {Stump  &°  Co.,  Adelaide. 

bing  of  the  engines  and  the  vibrations  pro- 
duced by  the  revolving  of  the  screw.  One 
finds  oneself  wide-awake  sitting  up  in  one's 
berth,  wondering  what  on  earth  is  the  matter ; 

the  almost  supernatural 
stillness,  broken  only  by  the 
water  lapping  softly  against 
the  sides  of  the  vessel, 
causes  a  vague  feeLng  of 
alarm  ;  the  reasoning 
faculties  are  for  the  moment 
numbed,  and  one's  great 
desire  is  to  reach  the 
deck  immediately,  and  if 
there  is  c  anger  to  see  what 
it  is. 

Most  of  the  passengers, 
including  ourselves,  scram- 
bled on  deck  in  hurried, 
motley  toilets  to  inquire 
what  was  the  matter.  It 
was  then  ascertained  that 
the    captain     had    stopped 

THE   WHITE    STAR    I.I  VER"  GERMANIC,"  ON   BOARD  WHICH   MR.  RIGNOI.D  WAS  A   PASSENGER   WHEN  (-J^g      g^jp      beCaUSC      he       bid 

THE   SURVIVORS   OF   THE   WRECK    OF    THE    ''ISLAND    HEI.LE  "    WERE    RESCUED.  ,    .  ,  r 

From  a  Photo,  by  Priestly  &  Sons,  Egremont,  Cheshire.  Seen   Something    Oil    the    tar 


*  Mr.  Rignold  has  visited  the  United  States  and  Australia  several 
times,  winning  much  success  by  his  impersonation  of  Henry  V. 
He  will  be  familiar  to  Australians,  moreover,  as  the  man  who  built 
Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  Sydney — at  the  time  the  most  magnificent 
Theatre  in  the  Colonies— where  he  produced  a  striking  series  of 
Shakespearian  plays. 


nir.    WIDE 


WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


out. 

in 

n     to 

the 

which    all 

At   length  we 

■■ml. 

slowed 

i.  until 

■in    the 

,1  now  see  that 

ntlj    wi 

•  which 
1  li  r  bulwarks 


What  a  strange  and  tragic  story  of  the  sea 
was  told  in  those  few  words  !  The  date  he  gave 
and  that  on  which  Ik-  was  now  speaking  denoted 
.in  intervening  period  of  five  months;  and  the 
dismal  spectacle  we  were  now  looking  down 
upon  gave  ample  food  for  the  imagination  to 
feed  upon. 

The  order  was  given  for  a  boat  to  be  lowered 
ami  rowed  alongside,  which  was  done  with 
amazing  rapidity.  Then,  to  our  great  surprise, 
n  was  found  that  the  man  was  not  entirely  alone 
on  th.it  dismantled  hull.  Two  loud  and  joyous 
barks  were  heard,  and  a  large  Newfoundland 
dog  appeared.  He,  strange  to  say,  seemed  in 
1  health  and  spirits,  for  he  was  the  first  to 
spring  into  the  boat,  evidently  quite  appreciating 


• 


:  UMI'  OF     Mil-     FOREMAST. 


;..  I  oth  her 

_;.t   or  ten   feet 

:        oas 

mm   the 

the    la! 
d  ck. 

tiding 

ving  his 

ir  ■  aptain 

ou  want  ?  " 

i    the  sub- 

"  Will 

17th 


the  long-looked  for  reprieve.  Then  more  dis- 
coveries were  made.  From  the  deck-house  our 
men  carried  a  half-unconscious  boy,  with  hollow 
•  heeks  and  sunken  eyes,  and  placed  him  gently 
in  the  boat.  Next  a  tottering  figure  with  frozen, 
useless  hands,  swathed  in  rags,  was  helped  in, 
and  after  him  another  dishevelled  and  be- 
wildered being,  carrying  some  papers  beneath 
his  arms.  He,  we  afterwards  discovered,  was 
the  captain  of  the  schooner.  Lastly  came  the 
^aunt,  dark  man  who  had  signalled  us.  There 
they  were — the  dog,  a  Lascar  sailor  with  frozen 
hands,  a  half-dead  boy,  the  dazed-looking 
captain,  and  the  tall  American,  all  in  a  state 
of  pitiable  emaciation. 

The  boat  came  alongside  and  was  hauled  up 


THE    LAST    VOYAGE    OF    THE    "ISLAND    BELLE." 


85 


in  two  and  sending 
ensuring 


"from  the  deck-house  our  men  carried  a  half-unconscious  boy.' 


bodily  with  all  on  board.  There  was  a  brief 
consultation  between  the  officers  of  our  ship, 
and  then  the  great  liner  swung  round  and  ran 
over  the  poor,  water-logged  derelict,  cutting  her 

her  to  the  bottom,  thus 
the  safety  of  other  vessels.  The 
waters  closed  over  the  battered  wreck  with 
placid  indifference,  and  the  Germanic  once 
more  ploughed  along  on  her  way  westward. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  rescue  of  the 
derelict's  crew  was  discussed  during  the  whole 
of  the  day.  A  concert  on  behalf  of  the 
castaways  was  organized  for  the  following 
evening,  and  this  realized  seventy  pounds, 
which  sum,  it  was  arranged,  was  to  be  divided 
among  the  survivors  according  to  their  grade. 

All  of  us  were  naturally  anxious  to  learn  the 
details  of  the  disastrous  voyage  which  had  led 
to  the  pitiable  plight  in  which  we  found  them, 
and,  as  the  poor  waifs  began  to  recover,  we 
gradually  gleaned,  piece  by  piece,  the  whole 
grim     story.       It     appeared     thac     the      man 


who  had  first  signalled  us,  and  whom 
we  had  naturally  taken  for  the  captain 
or  mate,  was  only  a  seafaring  man 
working  his  passage.  He  was  of  a  pro- 
nounced American  type,  lithe  and 
gaunt,  with  a  strong  accent,  and  we 
afterwards  learned  that  when  misfortune 
overtook  the  little  ship  he  had  become 
the  ruling  spirit.  It  was  his  iron  will 
and  dauntless  energy  that  practically 
pulled  them  through,  for  the  captain 
had  collapsed  under  the  terrible  mental 
and  bodily  strain,  though  at  the  last 
his  instinct  had  led  him  to  bring  away 
his  ship's  papers.  The  name  of  the 
schooner,  it  appeared,  was  the  Island 
Belle.  She  was  owned  by  her  captain, 
and  she  and  her  cargo  comprised  the 
whole  of  his  worldly  possessions.  There 
had  been  twelve  souls  on  board  at 
starting — the  captain,  his  wife  and  two 
children,  the  mate  and  four  sailors,  a 
boy,  a  negro  cook,  the  American,  and 
the  dog,  which,  we  were  told,  was  able 
to  haul  on  a  rope  like  a  man. 

After  being  about  a  week  out  they 
fell  in  with  bad  weather,  which  lasted 
some  eight  or  ten  days.  They  were 
much  knocked  about,  some  of  the 
spars  were  broken,  and  most  of  the 
canvas  was  blown  away.  Altogether 
they  were  in  a  perilous  condition,  but 
when  the  weather  had  slightly  mode- 
rated they  were  sighted  by  an  ocean 
steamer.  She  offered  them  assistance, 
which  was  accepted  to  a  certain  extent. 
The  captain  of  the  little  craft  said  he 
would  stick  to  his  ship,  but  he  would  be  grateful 
if  they  would  take  his  wife  and  children  on 
board  and  carry  them  to  New  York.  The  wife 
and  children  were  accordingly  transhipped  with 
some  difficulty,  and  after  he  had  been  given  some 
spare  canvas  to  replace  what  he  had  lost  and 
some  extra  stores,  the  husband  parted  from 
those  so  near  and  dear  to  him,  in  the  fond  hope 
of  a  happy  meeting  in  the  near  future. 

They  soon  made  the  little  ship  trim  again,  and 
continued  the  voyage,  though  she  had  been 
hlown  far  out  of  her  course.  All  went  well  for  a 
time,  until  the  weather  again  changed  and  they 
encountered  another  and  heavier  gale  than  the 
previous  one.  Then  the  great  struggle 
commenced.  With  pitiless  persistency  the 
storm  raged  on,  making  havoc  with  the  sails 
and  spars,  which  were  now  almost  beyond  repair, 
and  driving  the  vessel  farther  and  farther 
towards-  the  icy  north.  The  merciless  cold 
began  to  freeze  the  spray  upon  the  rigging 
and   sails   into    ice.     Their   only  safety  lay  in 


I  hi;   wide   world   magazine. 


id,  which  requ 

listed  their 

the  terrible 

|uall, 

I  his  fell   in 

,  dangerous 

.  the 

■  themselves  from 

.  an  extra  strain 

and    presently 

ving  the  schooner 

the  m<  rcy  ol  the  storm, 

.Jit.       I'he  order  was 

and   take   in  what 

ire  foresail.     Four 

■    ij    ■-.  th    ratlins  to 

rid  trying  with  numbed  hands  to 

-.  while  the  hitter  wind  all 

Suddenly 

.  and    th 

of  matchwood  just 

and  all  came  crashing 

lown   in  a  g  I  One   man    went 

n  no  more,  one  broke  his 

■ 

itly 

rig  a  i 

I 

■ 

numlx 

-nt. 

that 

t  he- 
she 
labo-  up     the 

d  with 


long  this  state  of  affairs  lasted,  though  they 
gathered  from  the  ever-increasing  cold  that  they 
were  being  driven  still  farther  north.  They 
kept  at  the  pumps  as  long  as  their  strength 
lasted,  but  still  the  water  gained  in  the  hold, 
and  meanwhile  the  ice  was  accumulating  on  the 
wave-washed  deck.  The  wreckage  beneath 
which  the  two  dead  men  lay  buried  retarded  the 
water  from  flowing  off  to  such  an  extent  that  it 
ime,  altera  few  days,  a  solid  block  of  ice, 
increasing  in  bulk  hour  ■  by  hour,  and  conse- 
quently weighing  the  vessel  down  still  deeper 
in  the  water  at  the  bows.  Through  this  icy 
sepulchre  the  dead  men,  wonderfully  magnified, 
could  be  faintly  discerned. 

The  sailor  with  the  broken  thigh  died  within 
a  few  hours,  and  was  put  overboard.  The  negro, 
whose  hands  became  badly  frozen,  also  died 
soon  after.  The  captain  gave  him  what  scanty 
comfort  his  own  deck-cabin  afforded,  but  the 
poor  wretch  became  delirious  and  beyond  hope, 
and  crawled  about  on  his  hands  and  knees,  till 
death  released  him.  The  only  thing  left  on 
board  that  would  sink  was  the  stove  from  the 

deck  -  house  —  long 
since  rendered  use- 
less from  the  lack  of 
means  of  lighting  it 
— and  this  was  tied 
to  his  feet  and  he 
was  also  committed 
to  the  waves. 

The  survivors 
huddled  together  in 
thedeck-house,  utiliz- 
ing the  dog  for 
warmth.  By  this 
time  the  ship's  stores 
were  entirely  exhaus- 
ted, and  they  were 
obliged  to  have  re- 
course to  the  cargo, 
consisting  of  raw  salt 
cod.  This  had  to  be 
got  out  of  the  hold, 
and  the  hatch  was 
consequently  re- 
moved and  the  salted 
fish  fetched  up.  But 
they  found  it  impos- 
sible to  subsist  on 
the  nauseous  stuff, 
full  of  salt  as  it  was, 
and  so,  in  order  to 
get  the  brine  out  of 
it,  it  was  tied  by  a 
line  and  trailed  in 
the  water  as  the 
•i  ice."'  vessel  drifted,     The 


THE    LAST    VOYAGE    OF    THE    "ISLAND    BELLE." 


87 


famished  men  found  that  even  then  it  was  hard 
to  swallow,  but  the  dog  seemed  to  thrive  on  it 
and  willingly  imparted  the  warmth  of  his  body 
to  his  frozen  companions.  Fortunately  they 
had  drinking  water  in  sufficiency,  thanks  to  the 
wonderful  forethought  of  the  American,  who 
had  collected  quantities  of  snow  during  the 
driving  squalls. 

Gradually  the  severity  of  the  weather  began 
to  abate  and  the  ice  slowly  melted.  With 
anxious  eyes  they  watched  the  heavy  block  in 
which  the  dead  men   were  entombed  gradually 


vessel      slightly     lifting     in 


diminishing,  the 
con  sequ ence. 
The  welcome 
change  in  the 
temperature  in- 
creased day  by 
day,  and  eventu- 
ally they  were 
able  to  get  at  the 
bodies  of  the 
poor  fellows  who 
had  been  frozen 
up  for  so  long, 
and  put  them 
overboard. 

The  weather 
now  admitted  of 
an  observation 
being  taken,  by 
which  they 
learned  their 
position.  They 
had  drifted  into 
the  Gulf  Stream, 
whose  warm  cur- 
rent was  carrying 
them  back  to  the 
more    temperate 

regions  from  which  they  had  been  blown,  and 
consequently  into  the  track  of  Atlantic  steamers. 
It  was  thus  that  our  captain  saw  them  and  came 
to  their  rescue,  as  I  have  described. 

As  we  neared  New  York,  Captain  Perry 
arranged  a  morning  for  the  division  of  the 
money  that  had  been  subscribed  for  the  relief 
of  the  sufferers  ;  and  a  touching  sight  it  was  to 
see  the  woebegone  little  band  pass  in  turn 
across  the  deck  to  receive  their  share.  The 
money  was  divided  as  follows:  The  captain, 
forty  pounds ;  the  American,  fifteen  pounds ; 
the  Lascar  with  the  disabled  hands,  ten  pounds  ; 
and  the  boy,  five  pounds. 

The  shipwrecked  captain,  accompanied  by 
his  dog,  was  the  last  to  step  forward  to  receive 
his  portion.  Several  of  the  passengers  had 
expressed  a  wish  to  purchase  the  dog,  and  many 


substantial  sums  were  offered  to  its  owner,  all  of 
which,  however,  he  steadily  refused,  saying  he 
did  not  wish  to  part  with  him.  But  on  the 
morning  of  which  I  am  writing,  with  unosten- 
tatious dignity,  he  asked  Captain  Perry  to  accept 
him  as  a  token  of  his  gratitude  to  the  man  who 
had  changed  the  course  of  his  ship  to  come 
to  their  rescue.  The  two  men  clasped  hands 
silently — there  was  a  mutual  understanding  of 
acceptance— and  these  two,  although  unused  to 
the  display  of  their  feelings,  betrayed  their 
emotion   by  the  moisture  in  their  eyes. 

There  is  still  to  be  recorded  a  singular  episode 


HE   ASKED   CAPTAIN    TERRY   TO   ACCEPT    HIM    AS   A   TOKEN    OF    HIS   GRATITUDE. 


in  connection  with  the  ill-fated  owner  of  the 
Island  Belle.  When  we  reached  New  York 
the  incidents  of  the  wreck  were  freely  circulated 
through  the  papers  and  much  sympathy  was 
aroused.  This  finally  found  expression  in  a 
public  subscription,  which  reached  a  good 
round  sum.  The  money  was  intended  to 
purchase  the  ruined  man — who,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, had  a  wife  and  two  children— a  new 
ship,  which  was  to  be  called  the  Good  Luck. 
But,  strange  to  say,  he  disappeared — disappeared 
as  completely  as  if  the  earth  had  swallowed  him 
— and  neither  he,  his  wife,  nor  his  children  were 
ever  heard  of  again.  Advertisement  after 
advertisement  appeared,  but  there  was  no 
response,  and  eventually  the  money  was 
divided  among  the  charities  of  the  city  of 
New  York. 


The   Wild    Tribes   of  Sakhalin. 


I'.\    (  ii  \ki  is   H.    II  wvi  s.    B.A. 


I 


the    interior    of   the    dreaded     island    of    Sakhalin.       The    natural 
centuated    by    the    danger    of  attack   by    escaped   convicts    from 
wh      prowl    about   the  forests,   rendered    desperate    through    persecution 
and  starvation. 


mtly  asking  me, 

i.    ami    what    on 

earth  1  will 

Wide    World 

particulai  my 

•  t     that    far 

nd,  a    full   account 

•    in  my   book,    "  To   the 

published   by 

utumn. 

S 

- 
I 

hundred    i 

It 

■ 

asula. 

I 
:iall 

I 

ith 


reports  that  it  was  the  worst  Russian  penal 
settlement  in  Siberia  were  sufficient  temptations 
to  a  wandering  Briton.* 

From  Khabarovsk  a  steamer  towing  two  barge- 
loads  el  convicts  for  Sakhalin  brought  me  down 
the  great  River  Amur  as  far  as  Nikolaevsk,  a 
point  on  the  mainland  immediately  opposite  the 
island. 

Higher  up  the  river  one  passes  strange 
horse  rafts,    whose    four-footed    occupants   fare 

better  with  pastures 
at  hand  than  the 
passengers  on  the 
steamers,  for  the 
latter  are  often 
grounded  on  sand- 
banks for  days  at  a 
time  and  pro\isions 
run  short  At  Niko- 
laevsk I  was  not  sur- 
prised on  being  told 
that  if  I  reached  the 
island  I  should  pro- 
bably be  shot  by 
escaped  convicts  or 
killed  by  the  natives. 
Regarding  these 
warnings,  however,  as 
exaggerated,  I  took 
passage  on  a  chance 
tramp -steamer  and, 
after  considerable 
difficulty,  was  drop- 
ped at  Alexandrovsk, 
the  chief  penal  settle- 
ment on  the  island. 
On  landing  I  was 
immediately  arrested; 
but,  by  the  timely  aid 
of  an  exiled  nobleman 
and  a  drunken   mer- 


- 

f-rom 


E  HE  Wore  DURING  HIS  JOURNEY. 

a  Photo. 


•  ,:  The  Island  of  Murder- 
ers.' Mr.  Hawes's  description 
of  the  convict  settlements  of 
Sakhalin,  appeared  in  our  issue 
for  March,  1903.  — Ed. 


THE    WILD    TRIBES    OF    SAKHALIN. 


89 


chant,  was  eventually  freed,  and  on  the  fifth  day 
after  my  arrival  promptly  made  for  the  interior 
—to  the  great  relief,   I  have  no  doubt,  of  the 


course,  it  is  possible  to  see  an  occasional 
Russianized  specimen  in  Alexandrovsk,  or  at 
the    neighbouring     village     of    Arkova.       The 


From  a 


Governor  and  the  chief  officials.  After  a  fifty 
miles  journey,  partly  over  a  convict-made  road 
and  partly  along  forest  tracks,  in  a  rude,  spring- 
less  vehicle,  my  farther  advance  by  this  method 
of  travelling  was  barred  by  dense  forests. 
Carrying,  as  I  was,  tent,  canvas,  shubas  (rough 
fur  or  sheep-skin  coats),  food  in  the  shape  of 
black  bread,  rice,  etc.,  and — for  barter — quanti- 
ties of  buttons,  coarse  leaf-tobacco,  bricks  of 
tea,  gunpowder,  shot,  caps,  cloth,  needles,  etc., 
transport  presented  considerable  difficulties,  for 
the  forests  are  practically  impenetrable,  and  in 
making  short  excursions  into  them  I  had  to 
follow  the  tracks  made  by  bears  and  other  wild 
animals  in  passing  to  and  from  the  river  to 
their  lairs.  On  Sakhalin  there  are  two  rivers 
of  fair  length,  the  Tima  and  the  Poronai,  each 
with  a  course  of  some  three  hundred  miles,  and 
these  form  the  highways  for  native  travel — in 
summer  by  canoe,  in  winter  by  dog-sledge. 

It  having  been  my  good  fortune  to  strike  the 
River  Tima,  my  plan  was  now  to  follow  it  to  its 
mouth — two  hundred  miles  distant — and  then, 
if  possible,  to  coast  along  the  north-eastern  ride 
of  the  island  for  about  one  hundred  miles  or  so, 
visiting  en  route  the  tiny  villages  of  the  tribes 
living  on  the  banks  of  the  river  and  in  the 
bays.  It  was  in  this  region  that  I  met  my 
first    primitive    Sakhalin    Gilak,     although,     of 

Vol.  xii.— 12. 


HALTS'    GIl.AKs. 


\Photo. 


above  photograph  represents  a  group  of 
these  curious  people,  whose  Mongol  features 
are  somewhat  modified  by  a  Tungus  strain. 
They  wear  their  black  hair  in  pigtails,  and  their 
Manchu  tunics  contrast  with  sealskin  moc- 
casins. At  the  back  of  the  group  a  man  will  be 
seen  holding  a  bear-spear,  concerning  which  I 
shall  have  more  to  say  later  on. 

It  was  with  a  buoyant  feeling  of  expectancy 
and  the  hope  of  adventure  to  come  that  I  set 
out  to  explore  a  land  quite  unknown  to  my 
own  countrymen.  These  natives,  whose  mode 
of  living  and  primitive  beliefs  are  as  the  poles 
asunder  from  our  own,  had  never  seen  an 
Englishman  before.  In  their  eyes  he  was  a 
prince  who  came  from  a  far-off  country — so  far 
away  that  no  words  of  theirs  could  compass  the 
distance.  So  limited  were  their  notions  of 
geography  that  a  few  weeks  later  one  of  them 
offered,  with  the  help  of  three  others,  to  take 
me  in  his  canoe  to  the  "  end  of  the  world  "  for 
a  sum  that  would  buy  them  a  cauldron  each  ! 

My  anxiety  now  was  lest,  having  set  out  for  an 
expedition  of  several  weeks'  duration,  I  should  be 
thwarted  by  lack  of  transport.  Entirely  depen- 
dent as  I  was  upon  native  canoes,  I  had  arrived 
at  an-  unfortunate  moment,  for  all  the  men-folk 
were  engaged  in  catching  fish  for  their  winter 
stores.     While  I  was  wondering  how  I  was  going 


90 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


led  a  canoe 

.  the 
them   and 

f  thi       w 

the 
\        they 
,1    roub 

lown 
put 
my  interpreter  and 
was  a  con- 
thousand  and 
Ith  who  owned 

I 

I  lad 
in- 

which    we   now 

the 

■ 

the 

inta  had  a 

[)U- 

irned  by  soldiers  who  were 

I    • 

we  got 

fe  or  property.     The 

us    farther  on 

to  select  two 

jbtful    '  t,    who 

ill    a    primitive    boat 

■•vn    the    river,     on     the 

natives  willing  to    make 

i     I     had     in  ards 

ral  failures,   we 

ner 

with  the  help  of  a 

ir  us.     The 

th  our  new 


From  a] 


THE   AUTHOR  S   CANOE   ON    THE   RIVER, 


acquaintance,  Weinka  by  name,  in  the  bow,  and 
his  friend,  Armunka,  in  the  stern.  My  inter- 
preter is  seen  sitting  at  the  bottom  of  the  boat, 
and  my  own  place  was  vacated  while  I  took  the 
photograph. 

For  main  days  we  paddled  down  the  river, 
camping  at  night  on  sandy  reaches,  the  only 
disadvantage  oi  which  was  that  they  were  the 
particular  and  private  property  of  the  bears 
which  came  down  to  drink  and  fish  under  cover 
of  darkness.  These  were  so  numerous  that  we 
saw  in  the  course  of  two  and  a  half  days  the 
tracks  of  about  one  hundred  on  the  banks. 
These  nights  were  periods  of  excitement  and 
frequent  false  alarms.  To  protect  ourselves 
from  the  bears  we  barricaded   one  end  of  our 

hastily  -  erected 
shelter  —  the  end 
where  our  heads 
lay  —  while  the 
other  end  was  left 
open  for  rapid 
egress  if  necessary. 
We  could  have 
warned  off  prowl- 
ing beasts  by  big 
fires,  but  it  would 
have  been  fatal  to 
light  them  at 
night  on  account 
of  the  greater 
danger  from  es- 
caped convicts 
rendered  des- 
perate by  starva- 
tion. 

The  native  vil- 
lages are  scarcely 
worthy  of  the 
name,  consisting, 
as  they  generally 
do,  of  five  or  six 
huts.  These  are 
very  sparsely  scattered  about,  and  for  more 
than  three  days  we  punted  up  this  deserted 
waterway  without  seeing  a  habitation  or  a  living 
soul. 

The  yelping  of  great  sledge-dogs  and  strings 
of  fish  drying  in  the  sun,  just  visible  at  the  bend 
of  the  river,  announced  our  arrival  at  a  village. 
Hailed  from  the  shore  in  the  Gilak  tongue  we 
were  asked,  "  Have  you  any  tobacco  or  bricks 
of  tea?"  We  in  turn  wanted  to  know  if  they 
had  any  seal-skins  or  bear-skins,  and,  stepping 
gingerly  from  our  frail  craft,  we  waded  ashore, 
guns  in  hand,  followed  by  yelping  dogs.  The 
next  photograph  gives  an  excellent  idea  of  one 
of  the  Gilak  huts,  which  are  built  on  piles,  ex- 
cepting where  a  high   river-bank  gives   security 


{Photo. 


THE    WILD    TRIBES    OF    SAKHALIN. 


9i 


From  a] 


A   TYPICAL   GILAK    HUT. 


{Photo. 


from  floods.  Behind,  and  half-hidden  by  the 
woman  on  the  left  of  the  picture,  is  the  ladder, 
consisting  merely  of  a  log  with  three  or  four 
notches  in  it,  by  which  access  to  the  shanty  is 
obtained. 

The  following  photograph  shows  a  group  of 
Gilaks,  who  were  our  hosts  at  a  village  named 
Niva,  on  the  far  north-eastern  coast 
of  Sakhalin.  The  head  of  the 
family  was  the  chief  man  of  the 
village  and  a  person  of  some  im- 
portance. His  two  wives — one  of 
whom  was  the  belle  of  the  tribe 
—  together  with  the  inevitable 
sledge-dogs,  complete  a  character- 
istic picture  of  Gilak  domestic 
life.  When  we  stumbled  into  the 
semi-darkness  of  the  chiefs  hut  we 
collided  violently  with  the  cross- 
poles  of  the  structure  and  with 
strange  objects  which  were  dangling 
therefrom,  and  the  clouds  of  chok- 
ing smoke  which  filled  the  dwelling 
forced  us  to  drop  on  to  the  floor. 
At  last,  our  streaming  eyes  becom- 
ing accustomed  to  the  strange 
atmosphere,  I  made  out  a  mat 
composed  of  fish-skins  spread  in 
our  honour  upon  the  floor.  The 
air  was  stifling,  as  well  as  smoky,  for 
in  the  narrow  compass  of  the  hut 
squatted  more  than  one  family, 
according  to  European  reckoning.  From  a] 


In  all  not  fewer  than  twenty  persons  shared 
the  hut  with  us  that  night.  Besides  the  head  man 
and  his  two  wives,  there  were  my  host's  brother 
and  mother  and  children  and  several  relations 
and  friends.  In  the  centre  of  the  chamber  was 
a  rectangular  space  boarded  in,  in  which  a 
fire  was  always  kept  alight  ;   over  this  hung  a 


GfLAKS  at  the  village  OF   NfVA, 


iPfwto. 


HIT    WIDE    WORLD    MAGA/INE. 


iired   in 

is    from    some 

While  the  evening 

id  man   wished  to 

u  happened,  had 

as   he 

nly  wei  Fortu- 

mi  any  of  us,  and 

wall  of  the  hut  ;  but 

, .  who  flung  it  on  the 

•  i  devil  in  it  !  " 

made  ready  the  eve  i 

fish  and  an  infusion  of  brick 

round  a  birch  basket 

the  mere  smell  of  which  was 

chile  my  amiable  hosts  with  their 

into  shreds  the  uninviting 

_  them  into  the  oil. ate  them 

subsequent  washing-up 

articularly  edifying.     (  me  oi 

h(  r  platter  by  a   plentiful 

mtinued  the  operation 

_    '        dish    with    grass,    and     finally 

h<  r  mi"  casins.     Supper  over, 

s    probably  about  sixty 

but  or   ninety,  produced    a  pipe, 

nded    to   a    three-year-old,    who, 

from  th<  .  hearth,  lighted 

ir  experimental  puffs, 

Imother. 

I    lay  there    on   the    fish-skins, 

round  pig-tailed  crea- 

the    river    and     play- 

.  who  could  not  conceive   of 

the  forest,  who  devoured 


raw  fish,  and  were  innocent  of  ever  having 
washed  1  wondered  whether  my  good  friends 
in  Europe,  if  they  knew  the  company  I  was 
keeping,  would  receive  me  back  into  their 
drawing  rooms.  Above  my  head  hung  fishing- 
nets  and  the  axe  with  which  the  head  of  the 
house  fashioned  his  canoes  from  tree-trunks, 
birch-bark  bowls  for  water  and  seal-oil,  and 
strange-looking  cradles  like  butchers'  trays,  one 
of  which  a  fond  father  or  perhaps  obedient 
husband  was  diligently  swinging.  Stowed  away 
in  the  corners  was  an  amazing  melee  oi  children, 
skins  of  fish,  dogs,  seals,  and  reindeer.  From 
the  roof  hung  two  small  pine  twigs,  which  we 
were  informed  had  only  to  be  placed  on  a  sick 
child  to  insure  its  recovery. 

The  Gilaks'  staple  article  of  food  is  dried  fish, 
but  in  summer  they  are  able  to  add  to  their 
menu  such  luxuries  as  bilberries,  cranberries,  a 
few  roots  and  cedar  nuts.  In  fact  they  live  very 
much  like  their  friend  and  enemy  the  bear.  At 
the  salmon-spawning  season  Bruin,  who,  like 
the  Gilaks.  has  a  special  liking  for  salmon  heads, 
will  steal  down  at  night  to  the  river  edge,  catch 
as  many  as  twenty  or  thirty  salmon,  devour  the 
heads  only,  and  throw  away  the  bodies.  I 
remember  on  one  occasion  we  were  suffer- 
ing for  want  of  flesh-food,  and  even  our 
stock  of  black  bread  was  gone.  Winter  was 
upon  us,  the  birds  had  migrated,  and  the 
spawning  season  was  over,  so  we  were 
reduced  to  a  cup  of  boiled  rice,  until  our 
natives  had  the  good  fortune  to  shoot  a  seal, 
which  they  prepared  as  a  piece  de  resistance  in 
another  sense   than   a  chef  would  use  the  term. 


/    *£ 


■ 


FISH    BY  THE   RIVERSIDE. 


[  Photo. 


THE    WILD    TRIBES    OF    SAKHALIN. 


93 


case,  and  this  is  a  rather  unusual 
practice,  for  as  a  rule  this  tribe 
always  spear  the  salmon  and  build 
little  weirs  from  which  they  catch 
them  in  a  hand-net.  The  canoe 
drawn  up  under  the  stage  is 
exactly  similar  to  the  one  we  used 
on  our  travels.  The  craft  are 
simply  hewn  with  an  axe  out  of  a 
poplar  tree  trunk,  and  form  won- 
derfully light  racing  craft ;  but  it 
is  absolutely  necessary  for  safety 
to  sit  exactly  in  the  middle,  and 
not  to  recline  on  one  side  or  the 
other.  In  the  picture  shown  at 
the  top  of  this  page  is  seen  another 


From  a] 


A    NATIVE    BIRCH-BARK   CANOE. 


[Photo. 


Four  or  five  days  after  this,  while 
on  the  upper  reaches  of  the  Tima, 
we  were  surprised  and  delighted 
to  come  upon  two  natives  with  a 
boat-load  of  salmon.  Our  boat- 
men immediately  drew  their  knives, 
whipped  off  the  head  of  a  salmon, 
and  began  tearing  with  their  teeth 
the  mucilaginous  portion  of  the 
cheeks. 

The  picture  at  the  bottom  of 
the  preceding  page  was  taken  at 
spawning  time,  and  shows  one  of 
their  curious  methods  of  preparing 
the  fish.  High  upon  the  staging, 
above  the  reach  of  the  dogs,  a 
Gilak  and  his  wife  may  be  seen 
cleaning,  slicing,  and  hanging  fish. 
A  seine  net  has  been  used  in  this 


THE    RICHEST   MAN    IN    THE    WORLD  "—HE   OWNED   THIRTY-FIVE    REINDEER! 

Front  a  Photo. 


form  of  craft  —  a    birch-bark 
canoe,    used    by    the    Golds, 


From  a] 


THE  AUTHOR  S  OROTCHON   HOSTS. 


[Photo. 


tribal  neighbours  of  the  Amur 
Gilaks. 

Dwelling  alongside  the 
Gilaks,  at  least  along  the 
north  -  eastern  coast  of  the 
island,  is  a  tribe  called 
the  Orotchons.  Racially  they 
have  very  much  more  of  the 
Tungus  strain  in  them  than 
the  Gilaks.  In  the  accom- 
panying photograph  will  be 
seen  one  of  my  Orotchon 
hosts,  his  children,  and  his 
old  mother,  whom  I  disturbed 
in  her  operations  of  cleaning 
fish.  On  the  evening  of  that 
day  I  took  up  my  quarters  in 


1111      WIDE    WORLD    MAi'.A/.lM.. 


ID   WILL   BE   SEEN 
J- nun  a  Photo. 

m  at  the  next  village  who, 
lemnl  the  "  richest  man 

wealth,  after  all,  is  only  rela- 
tion Yanderbilt  may  have 
•  he  showed  me  his  vast 
wit,    no   fewer  than   thirty-five 
rtant      personage     and 
;  of  h  irtrayed  on  the  previous 

fishermen,  and 

their    fish    in    their    huts,     the 

not  particularly  pleasant, 

i,  has  its  advantage 


over  that  of  the 
(iilaks.  Store- 
houses are  built, 
as  here  shown  in 
the  picture,  in 
which  to  place 
the  dried  fish, 
and  to  prevent 
the  attacks  of 
rats  and  other  ro- 
dents it  is  usual 
to  place  little 
umbrella-shaped 
pieces  of  birch- 
bark  on  the  piles 
supporting  the 
structure.  I  have 
said  that  the 
smoke-curing  of 
fish  by  the  Orot- 
chons  has  its 
advantage,  since 
tin'  ( 'iilaks,  who  only  dry -cure,  are  dependent  on 
a  sunny  August ;  for  if  it  be  a  rainy  month  then 
a  very  small  quantity  of  fish  will  be  dried,  winter 
stores  will  soon  give  out,  and  many  Gilaks  will 
die  of  starvation.  A  few  who  live  by  the  sea 
will  eke  out  the  winter  by  the  method  of  fishing 
illustrated  by  my  last  picture.  The  scene  is  in 
the  Straits  of  Tartary,  the  frozen  sea  between  the 
mainland  and  the  island,  which  is  here  about 
sixty  miles  across.  The  Gilaks,  warmly  dressed 
in  dog-skins,  have  made  a  hole  through  the  ice, 
to  which  dorse  are  coming  to  breathe,  only  to 
be  quickly  caught  by  the  watchers  above. 


STOREHOUSES    FOR    DRIED    FISH. 


.' 


gIlaks  fishing  through  a  hole  in-  tiif.  ice. 

(To  be  continued.) 


[Photo. 


By    Colonel     Julius    G. 

Tucker,  late  U.S.  Consul 

at  Martinique. 

Colonel  Tucker  here  tells  an 
amusing  story  illustrating  the 
gross  superstition  which  pre- 
vails among  the  lower  orders 
of  Mexicans.  It  is  safe  to 
say  that  John  Merriweather's 
"  wake  "  and  the  strange 
occurrences  that  happened 
thereat  will  be  remembered 
for  many  a  day  in  Edinburg, 
Hidalgo  County,  Texas. 


HE  Mexicans  as  a  race  are  extremely 
superstitious,  this  being  especially 
the  case  with  the  lower  classes,  who 
firmly  believe  in  ghosts,  hobgoblins, 
witches,  and  devils,  attributing  any- 
thing which  they  cannot  readily  understand  to 
supernatural  causes. 

The  Mexicans  living  along  the  borders  of  the 
Rio  Grande,  both  in  Mexico  and  Texas,  are 
particularly  ignorant,  and  many  instances  of 
their  belief  in  the  supernatural  have  come 
under  my  notice  during  a  long  sojourn  amongst 
them. 

Some  years  ago  I  had  occasion  to  visit  the 
town  of  Edinburg,  situated  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
in  Hidalgo  County,  sixty  miles  above  Browns- 
ville, Texas.  I  arrived  there  about  five  o'clock 
p.m.,  and  went  to  the  house  of  a  Mexican  friend 
to  spend  the  night.  Both  during  and  after  sup- 
per I  noticed  a  state  of  suppressed  excitement 
prevailing  in  the  family,  which  caused  me  to  ask 
the  head  of  the  house  if  anything  unusual  had 
happened.  He  looked  inquiringly  at  his  wife, 
who  turned  her  head  away  as  though  not 
wishing  to  be  questioned.      After  pondering  a 


moment,  he  remarked,  gravely,  "  Senor  Coronel, 
a  miracle  has  happened  ! " 

"A  miracle!"  I  repeated.  "What  wis  it? 
I  should  like  to  hear  about  it." 

Here  the  good  wife  interposed.  Devoutly 
crossing  herself,  she  said  to  her  husband  in 
warning  tones  :  "  Tomasito  (little  Tom),  it  is 
not  good  to  speak  about  such  matters,  for  by 
doing  so  you  may  incur  the  animosity  of  the 
evil  spirits  and  bring  disaster  upon  yourself  and 
your  family." 

Tomasito,  however,  being  pressed  to  speak, 
disregarded  his  wife's  caution  and  told  me  an 
extraordinary  story. 

"Senor  Coronel,"  he  began,  "you  know  the 
carpentero  Americano  (American  carpenter), 
Merriweather,  who  lives  here  ?  " 

"Of  course  I  do,"  I  replied. 

"Well,"  said  he,  "  he  died  two  days  ago." 

"You  are  joking,  aren't  you?",  queried  I. 
"  I  met  him  this  evening  as  I  came  into  town, 
and  he  was  anything  but  dead  then." 

"  Yes*"  replied  the  Mexican,  "  that  is  just  it 
—  that  is  the  miracle." 

By  dint    of   inquiry    I    finally    succeeded    in 


I  Hi      w  [I)E    tt'ORI  l>    MAGAZINE. 


,.  which  ran  as 

■ 

-  i    lied, 
that  time  in  1  < 

id  ol   a 

i  i         5  a  widower 

insell  l>v  occasional 

ui  two  days  before 

•  heard  to  groan  in 

.1  b)  the  roadside) 

ning,  and   next 

lead  upon  his  bed,    which 

\    impn  'lit  of  some 

and  he  was  prepared 

1  upon  two  chairs, 
he  should  be  buried 

:   to  sit  up  with  the  corps< . 

>U(  h  a  large  number  being 

that  they  might  keep  up  one 

They     likewise    provided 

ral   bottles  of   mescal,   or 

same  pui 
ck    at    night  one    of   the 
k  i  if  cards     the  Mexi- 
-      and  proposed   a 


I  KROH. 


small  game  o(  "  monte  "  in  order  to  vary  the 
monotony  of  their  vigil.  This  proposition  was 
accepted  with  acclamation,  and  as  there  were 
no  <  hairs  in  the  room,  and  only  a  small  table, 
a  blanket  was  spread  upon  the  floor  close  to  the 
coffin.  Upon  this  were  placed  the  money  to 
be  wagered  and  two  bottles  of  mescal.  The 
game  proceeded  in  a  regular  and  satisfactory 
in  inner  for  about  an  hour — and  then  the 
miracle  happened  ! 

It  seems  that  Merri weather  awoke  about  this 
time  from  an  epileptic  fit,  which  had  thrown  him 
into  a  species  of  trance,  and  thus  caused  people 
to  think  him  dead.  He  looked  about  him  in 
astonishment  ;  lie  was  thunderstruck,  as  he 
afterwards  declared,  to  find  himself  respectably 
laid  out  in  a  coffin  and  dressed  in  his  Sunday 
cloihes,  and  for  awhile  he  thought  that  he  was 
actually  dead.  His  numbed  faculties  had  not 
yet  got  into  proper  working  order.  In  the 
meantime,  feeling  very  chilly,  and  seeing  two 
bottles  of  mescal  within  his  reach,  he  decided 
to  take  a  drink. 

He  had  not  stirred  when  he  recovered  con- 
sciousness, and  the  company,  being  deeply 
interested  in  their  game,  never  looked  at  the 
coffin  :*so  Merriweather,  without  saying  a  word, 

reached  down  from 
his  coffin  and  picked 
up  a  bottle.  The 
Mexican  nearest  the 
bottle,  seeing  it  rise 
into  the  air,  sud- 
denly looked  up 
and,  to  his  horror, 
saw  the  corpse  in 
the  very  act  of  rais- 
ing the  bottle  to  its 
mouth  !  He  gave 
a  yell  of  terror,  up- 
set the  other  bottle, 
and  bolted  headlong 
out  of  the  room, 
followed  by  his 
companions. 

M  eanwh  i  le, 
M e  r  r  i wea  t  her 
wriggled  himself 
out  of  the  coffin, 
which,  as  he  said, 
was  rather  nar- 
row, took  another 
drink,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  collect 
t  h e  scattered 
money,  which 
amounted  to  be- 
tween seven  and 
eight      dol  lars. 


JOHN    MERRIVVEATHER'S    "WAKE. 


97 


Gathering  the  cards  together,  it  occurred  to 
him  to  ascertain  how  the  game  would  probably 
have  terminated  but  for  the  unfortunate  inter- 
ruption caused  by  his  awakening,  so  he  care- 
fully mixed  the  cards  and  began  to  play  "  monte 
solitaire." 

In  the  meantime  the  whole  village  had 
become  aroused,  and  it  was  proposed  by  some 
hold  spirit  to  go  back  and  ascertain  what  the 
"  ghost  "  was  doing.  No  one  being  willing  to 
go  alone,  however,  a  crowd  of  about  fifteen  men 
and  two  women  started  en  masse  for  the  house 
and  peeped  fearfully  in  at  the  open  door. 

Merriweather  was  sitting  quietly  upon  the 
floor  dealing  the  cards.  He  was  dressed  in 
black,  and  the  two  flickering  candles  behind 
cast  a  fantastic  dancing  reflection  of  himself 
against  the  whitewashed  wall  opposite. 

The  crowd  saw  Merriweather  dealing  the  cards 
and  heard  him  making  loud  remarks  in  doing  so, 
and  opposite  they  saw  as  plainly  as  could  be  his 
Satanic  Majesty  (it  was,  of  course,  the  shadow). 
They  only  looked  once,  then  they  gave  utter- 
ance to  a  combined  yell  and  ran  for  dear  life, 
upsetting  the  women  in  their  mad  haste  to  get 
away. 

The  two  women  fainted,  as  might  be  expected, 
and  were  left  lying  in  the  road  while  the  gallant 
men  folk    raced    for   a  place  of  safety. 
After    their   first   fright    had    somewhat 
subsided  it  was  determined   to    rescue 
the  women,  and  two  of  the  most  cour- 
ageous men  crawled  to- 
wards   the    spot    where 
they    lay.       When    they 
neared  them  one  of  the 
women    went    into    hys- 
terics   and    commenced 
"  howling    like    a     mad 
coyote,"  as  Tomasito  put 
it.     This  at  once  fright- 
ened  the  would-be   res- 
cuers away,  as  they  de- 
clared that  the  Evil  One 
had   stopped   playing 
cards  with   Merriweather 
and    was    now 
himself    by 
the  woman. 

In  the  course  of  time, 
however,  the  cries  ceased, 
and  then  another  attempt 
was  made  to  rescue  the 
women.  This  succeeded, 
the  pair  being  uncere- 
moniously dragged  away 
by  their  feet  until  they 
reached  a  spot  some  dis- 
tance   from     the    house, 


when    they    were    carried    home   and   forthwith 
put  to  bed. 

In  the  meantime  Merriweather  had  become 
greatly  interested  in  his  game ;  he  heard  the 
commotion  outside,  but  paid  no  attention  to  it. 
He  had  likewise  taken  several  more  drinks, 
which  made  him  drowsy,  so  he  decided  to  go  to 
sleep.  The  coffin  being  handy,  he  gathered  up 
the  money,  which,  together  with  the  cards,  he 
deposited  therein.  Then  he  took  the  blanket, 
scrambled  into  the  coffin,  covered  himself 
carefully  up,  and  was  soon  sleepng  the  sleep 
of  the  just. 

As  for  the  citizens  they  held  an  impromptu 
meeting,  at  which  it  was  decided  that  someone 
should  go  and  ascertain  what  had  become  of 
Merriweather's  ghost  and  his  visitor. 

Volunteers  were  called  for  for  this  desperate 
enterprise,  and  four  young  fellows  stepped 
forward  who,  after  screwing  up  their  courage  by 
a  big  drink  of  mescal,  proceeded  to  investigate, 
promising  to  report  immediately. 

They  kept  their  promise  faithfully,  for  they 
had  been  absent  barely  three  minutes  when 
with  blanched  faces  and  breathless  from  running 


amusing 
tormenting 


HE    ENCOUNTERED    THE    WOMAN   CARRYING 
A   COFFEE-POT,    WHICH    SHE    DROPPED." 


Vol. 


xii. — 13, 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


re  the  meeting 

mbled 

led  some 

jumped 

I 

state   of 

ovenng, 

ubtedly 

p     to   be 

the  room  through 

ither  lying  in 


Merriweather,  meanwhile,  made  himself  at 
home.  He  raised  the  coffee-pot  from  the  floor 
where  it  had  dropped,  hunted  about  for  some- 
thing to  eat,  found  it,  sat  down  by  the  fire  to  warm 
himself,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  his  breakfast. 

He  had  become  aware  by  this  time  that  the 
people  considered  him  dead  and  were  afraid  to 
approach  him,  so  that  when,  in  the  course  of 
halt  an  hour,  a  number  of  men  came  near  the 
door  to  investigate,  he  suddenly  turned  about, 
made  a  face  at  them,  and  said  "  Shoo  !  "—at 
which  they  all  scattered  in  terror.     It  took  him 


HEM,    AND 


d  un  inimously  to 

the  following  morning. 

morning  dawned 

my  arriv  ther   fright 

rnunity ;  for  it  appears   that, 

n  the  i:  Mi-rnweather 

He   got   out  of  his 

f  a  Mexican 

t  some 

ountered 

which    she 

_  out  of  the 

:  by  her 


fully  an  hour  before  he  could  convince  anyone 
that  he  was  really  and  truly  alive  and  in  the 
flesh. 

After  this  old  Merriweather  always  kept  his 
money  —  when  he  had  any — in  his  cofifin, 
which  he  declared  to  be  safer  than  any 
bank,  as  no  Mexican  would  dare  rob  it. 
As  a  matter  of  economy  he  kept  the  coffin 
for  future  personal  use,  and  was  eventually 
buried  in  it  when  he  died  some  six  years 
later. 

But  I  do  not  think  the  good  citizens  of 
Edinburg  were  quite  easy  in  their  minds  until 
he  was  safely  buried.  They  had  too  vivid  a 
recollection  of  that  previous  abortive  "  wake." 


Dynamiting  an  Ice-Jam — "  English  as  she  is  Written  " — The  Boy  Hermits  of  Maine— A  Bush 
Boarding-House— A  Moving  Mountain — On  the  Way  to  the  Andamans,  etc.,  etc. 


HEY  have  a  rough  and  ready  way  of 
dealing  with  floods  in  the  States 
when  there  is  any  possibility  of  getting 
rid  of  them  by  prompt  action.  In 
February,  iyoo,  an  ice-jam  formed 
in  the  Auskerda  River,  New  York  State,  "just 
above  the  Dolgerville  Power  Company's  dam, 
and     disastrous     inundations     resulted.       The 


photograph  which  we  reproduce  below  shows 
five  charges  of  dynamite  being  exploded  simul- 
taneously by  electricity  with  a  view  to  break- 
ing up  the  ice  and  allowing  the  imprisoned 
water  to  escape.  The  man  in  the  foreground 
has  just  completed  the  circuit  and  caused  the 
explosion.  In  the  background  of  the  picture 
will  be  seen  a  flooded  road. 


From  a  Photo.  by\ 


REMOVING   AN    ICE-JAM    WITH    DYNAMITE. 


[  John  Mutchlcr,  Ju>i. 


Illl      WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


9^ 


A£A* 


1  w 
taken 
■ 

i>  one 

ingly 

•  English 

by  the 

that 

r  our 

■    •  way  you 

utely 

only 

irt  of 

son   who 

d  to 

mers 

n  inary 

-  tting, 

nderful, 

_    unusual—  some- 

the 

Hence   "  Mosl  Greater 
s  it  must  be  added,  how- 
ire  a  good 
sh. 
nt     wr:  While    in     the 

summer    I    took    the 
ring    near    Dexter. 
■   in  a  tree'  and  its  two 
boys  of  about  eight  en, 
ome  and  gradually 
>ds.     Here    they 
■n  in  the  photograph 
!  it.     They  live  in  the  hut 
-    by   hunting 

d     instructive    article 

Ikmen   of  different 

I     of 

who  lead  goats 


round  Spanish  towns,  milking  the  quantity 
required  at  your  doors.  Two  curious  milkmen, 
or  rather  boys,  are  here  shown.  They  were 
photographed  at  Kimberley,  South  Africa. 
Most  of  the  milk  used  for  domestic  purposes  on 
the  diamond  fields  is  delivered  in  extraordinarily 
inappropriate  vessels — old  wine,  beer,  whisky, 
or  vinegar  bottles — often  with  only  a  wisp  of 
paper  stuck  in  the  neck  by  way  of  a  cork.  The 
bottles,  placed  in  canvas  or  linen  carriers,  are 
slung  round  the  boys'  necks  or  carried  in  the 
hand  as  depicted  in  the  photograph. 

There  is  an  old  and  threadbare  joke  against 
Americans  to  the  effect  that  their  sense  of  pro- 
priety impels  them  to  dress 
horses  and  even  table-legs 
in  trousers.  The  people  of 
the  French  Pyrenees  do 
not  go  quite  to  this  length, 
but  they  generally  rig  out 
their  oxen  in  short  dust- 
coats  during  the  hot 
weather,  these  curious 
coats  being  a  useful  pro- 
tection against  the  swarms 
of  flies  which  pester,  the 
animals.  The  beasts  are 
quite  accustomed  to  their 
raiment  and  make  no 
attempt  to  wriggle  out  of  it. 
Even  in  the  streets  of  up-to- 
date  Biarritz — as  shown  in 
our  photo,  at  the  top  of  the 
following  page  —  you  may- 
see  a  pair  of  oxen  wearing 
their  white  coats  as  they 
draw  the  dustman's  cart. 


i.I.I-.V    MILK-HOY! 

From  a  Photo. 


From  a] 


THE   BOY   HERMITS   OF    MAINE. 


[Photo. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


101 


4*M 


From  a\ 


Dl'ST-COATS        AT    BIARRITZ. 


I  Photo. 


We  have  next  to  consider  a  very  remarkable 
photograph.  It  does  not  represent  a  mountain 
rising  abruptly  from  the  roadside,  as  one  might 
suppose,  but  a  vast  heap  of  sand  which  has 
blown  up  from  an  adjacent  sea  beach  !  This 
migratory  sand-mountain  has  taken  almost  entire 
possession  of  a  ranch  which  happened  to  lie  in 
its  course.  It  moves  a  few  yards  every  year, 
and  one  of  its  sides  is  now  within  two 
or  three  feet  of  the  ranch-house,  and  has 
swallowed  up  a  flourishing  oichard  (the  withered 
tops  of  the  trees  will  be  noticed  projecting  on 
the  left),  and  will  shortly  have  completely 
obliterated    every    trace    of    man's    handiwork. 


About  twenty-five  years  ago,  when  the  house 
was  first  built,  the  sand  had  not  commenced  to 
pile  up,  but  the  cutting  down  of  the  timber 
which  formerly  sheltered  the  place  gave  the 
wind  full  sweep,  and  gradually  the  sand  accumu- 
lated until  it  is  now  a  vast  mountain  a  mile  and 
a  half  long.  In  the  twenty-five  years  it  has 
travelled  half  a  mile  from  high  tide  mark.  The 
sand  does  not  move  bodily  ;  the  wind  drives  the 
loose  grains  over  the  top  and  they  roll  down 
the  other  side,  and  so  the  octopus  creeps  on  its 
way,  relentless  and  irresistible.  This  peculiar 
phenomenon  is  to  be  witnessed  near  Westport, 
Mendocino  County,  on  the  coast  of  California. 


From  a]  a  moving  mountain  of  sand  which  has  overwhelmed  a  ranch. 


[Photo. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


aph     we 

- 
ance. 

>ur- 
nine 

itiala, 

n     the 

diminutive 

his 

giant 

d  wai 

Id- 
iy     morning 
Annakali 

tan- 

pital    of 

Every 

rith  people,  and,  look- 

over  the  country,  the  roads  by 

which  t  •  arc  most  distinctly  marked  even 

in  tl  by  the  rows  <>f  white  figures. 

the   market  is  held  presents 

:d  —  rows  upon  rows  of 

thatched  stalls,  appropriated  in  different  quarters 


N    ARE    TWENTY    I  WO    YEARS    ol.D,    ONE    BEING 
QIW     HI'. II    AND    THK    "  I  HI  R 

pyright  Stereo  Photo,  by  I  ,nderwood&'  Underwood. 


to  different  kinds  of  pro- 
duce -  -  straw  mattings, 
native  water-pots,  bamboo 
poles,  bundles  of  wood, 
etc.  A  part  of  the  market 
is  given  up  to  imported 
manufactured  goods,  such 
as  ironmongery,  crockery, 
and  cotton  goods  ;  and 
money-changers  sit 
gravely  at  little  round 
tables.  But  the  people 
themselves  are  the  real 
sight  of  the  place  —  the 
thousands  who  make  up 
the  eager,  talkative, 
bright  -  looking  throng. 
Nearly  all  are  in  white 
lambas,  the  women  bare- 
headed, with  dark  hair  in 
multitudes  of  tiny  braids, 
and  the  men  wearing  the 
large  drooping  straw  hat 
of  native  manufacture. 
Looking  down  from  the 
hill  in  the  blue  brightness 
of  the  Madagascar  day,  the  white-draped  multi- 
tude in  it§  setting  of  red  roads  and  houses  makes 
a  striking  picture,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  photo- 
graph. The  French  Government  have  estab- 
lished markets  in  all  the  leading  villages  round, 
which  are  said  to  have  made  a  difference  to  this 
central  one,  but  it  is  still  a  wonderful  concourse. 


THe   FRIDAY   MORNING   MARKET  AT   TANANARIVO,    MADAGASCAR. 


{Photo. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


T°3 


From  a] 


A   BOARDlNCi-HOUSE   IN  THE    AUSTRALIAN   BUSH. 


The  photograph  reproduced  above  shows  an 
extraordinary  boarding-house  in  the  back-blocks 
of  Australia.  "  Last  January,"  writes  the  reader 
who  sent  us  the  picture,  "  I  had  occasion  to  go 
to  Gulgong,  a  small  township  about  eighteen 
miles  from  Mudgu,  N.S.W.  Like  most  of  the 
inland  towns  Gulgong  has  only  one  street,  con- 
taining several  stores  and  'hotels,'  a  post-office, 
a  blacksmith's  shop,  a  police-station,  a  branch 
bank,  a  dozen  or  two  wooden  boxes  called 
private  houses,  with  roofs  of  galvanized  iron,  and 
a  number  of  'humpies.'  It  was  one  of  the 
latter  that  I  photographed,  thinking  it  a 
strange  boarding  -  house,  and  wondering 
where  they  would  put  the  boarders.  It  was 
only  a  low,  two-roomed  affair,  built  princi- 
pally of  old  packing-cases,  with  a  roof  of 
stringy  bark  and  old  kerosene  tins  flattened 
out.  Being  of  an  inquiring  turn  of  mind  I 
managed  to  get  a  look  through  the  place. 
In  the  living-room  there  was  a  plank  table 
resting  on  stakes  driven  into  the  clay  floor. 
Everything  was  scrupulously  clean.  The 
slab  shelves  were  covered  with  newspaper, 
and  a  variety  of  tins  on  them  were  polished 
up  like  silver.  The  walls  were  covered  with 
illustrations  from  old  Christmas  papers  from 
'  home,'  but  the  greatest  surprise  was  to  see 
in  one  corner  a  very  fair  piano  !  I  found 
that  a  plausible  traveller  had  persuaded 
them  to  have  it  on  the  '  hire  -  purchase 
system,'  and  that  the  children  were  going 
to  have  lessons  soon.  The  '  boarders"  bed- 
room was  furnished  with  a  stretcher-bed 
made  of  saplings  and  a  mattress  consisting 
of  three  bushel  bags  full  of  straw.  The 
sheets  were   clean   and  white,   and  on  the 


floor  were  several  kangaroo 
and  opossum  skins  for 
mats.  For  cleanliness  and 
hospitality — -'  all  the  com- 
forts of  home,'  so  to  speak 
—I  can  safely  recommend 
this  quaint  little  bush 
boarding-house,  in  spite 
of  its  unprepossessing  ex- 
terior." 

The  next  photograph  we 
reproduce  shows  a  very 
curious  sight  to  be  wit- 
nessed in  Cyprus  —  a 
woman  rolling  the  roof  of 
the  house  to  make  it  firm 
and  hard  and  to  keep  the 
grass  and  weeds  from 
growing.  These  houses 
are  built  entirely  of  mud, 
with  holes  cut  in  the  side 
for  window  and  door. 
The  roof  is  made  of  branches  stretched  across 
and  covered  with  mud.  The  roof -roller  is 
made  of  stone,  and  is  pulled  about  by  pieces 
of  rope  looped  over  the  ends.  One  trembles 
to  think  what  would  happen  to  the  unfortunate 
occupants  of  the  dwelling  if  the  roller  dis- 
covered a  weak  spot  and  descended  into  the 
living-room  ! 

All  criminals  in  India  between  the  ages  of 
eighteen  and  forty-five  sentenced  to  imprison- 
ment for  life  are  transported  to  the  convict 
settlements    in    the    Andaman    Islands,    a    fate 


{Photo. 


From  a] 


ROOF-nOLLIN'C    IN   CYPRUS. 


\Pkoto. 


III!      WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


V    lo     IMF.    ANDAMAN    ISLANDS. 


d   upon  by  the  natives  as   almost 

If,  they  having  extraordinary 

in  store  tor  them  across  the 

']  he  photograph    here    repro- 

some  hundred-and  fifty 

i  their  way  to  the  steamer 

ke  them   to  the   Andamans.      (  Mi 

•rival  there  they  are  detained  at  the  main 

on  A  i    jik!  for  a  certain  time,  after 

ermitted   to  work    outside  the 

a  further  ;  finally  granted 

and  allowed   to   marry  and  settle 

ivn  particular  trades  or  callings. 

ver,  leave  the  islands. 

nemy  of   man    in    the    Swiss 

hn,"  or 

which    ari 

• 

along    the 

_    from  south  to 

it  '  ause 

>f  the  snow 

that 

••vn,  imperil- 

_    of  the 
■    ri 
i 

I 

i 
■ 
When    the 
•low    all 
liately  put  out, 

11,  rush 

/•  roni  a] 


setting  the  whole  place  in  a  blaze 
before  the  housewife  knew  what 
had  happened.  Such  an  occurrence 
happened  not  long  ago  in  the  small 
village  of  Ried,  near  Viege,  in 
Canton  Yalais  ;  and  within  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  ten  dwelling- 
houses  and  thirty  cowsheds  and 
storehouses  were  one  mass  of 
(lames.  Most  of  the  stores  of 
grain  and  hay,  with  nearly  all  the 
furniture  and  implements  and  some 
sixty  head  of  cattle,  fell  a  prey  to 
this  fire.  A  short  time  after- 
wards, while  the  "  foehn "  was 
blowing,  some  children  in  the 
village  of  Agaren  were  playing 
with  matches  when  their  little 
fire  was  caught  up  by  the  gale  and  carried  on 
to  the  wooden  tiles  of  a  roof,  setting  fire 
to  the  house,  and  in  a  few  minutes  all  the 
buildings  south  of  that  house  were  ablaze, 
forty  five  dwelling-houses  and  as  many  out- 
buildings were  destroyed,  but  most  of  the 
cattle  were  saved.  Of  the  whole  village  only 
the  slate-covered  chapel,  one  dwelling-house, 
and  two  cowsheds  remained  standing,  and  fifty 
families  were  left  homeless  and  starving.  A 
portion  of  Grindelwald — including  the  far-famed 
Bear  Hotel — -was  destroyed  by  fire  during  a 
"  foehn  "  gale  a  few  years  ago.  The  photo,  we 
reproduce  represents  a  small  "  foehn  "  fire  in 
the  valley  of  the  Rhone. 


[Photo. 


FIKE    IN    THE   RHONE   VALLEY. 


ME    LARGER,    AND    IX    SPRANG    A    MAX." 

E    114.) 


The  Wide  World  Magazine. 


Vol.  XII. 


DECEMBER,    1903. 


No.  68. 


tof!sw#>.W« 


From  a] 


\Photo. 


By  Lui.'Gf.r  Sylbaris. 


When  the  rescue  parties  got  to  work  in  the  smoking  ruins  of  the  annihilated  city  of  St.  Pierre, 
Martinique,  the  only  person  found  alive  out  of  its  population  of  forty  thousand  was  the  author  of 
this  narrative,  who  was  dug  out  of  an  underground  cell  in  what  had  been  the  city  gaol.  He 
had  been  forgotten  by  his  gaolers  when  the  first  mad  panic  seized  the  doomed  town !  Words 
cannot  express  the  accumulated  horrors  of  his  experiences  during  the  ensuing  days  and  nights 
experiences    almost    beyond  the    limits    of  human  endurance. 


T  was  the  night  of  May  7th,  1902. 
My  sweetheart,  the  beautiful  Julie 
Richard,  and  I  were  sitting  at  a  table 
in  the  City  Hall  Plaza  restaurant  at 
St.  Pierre,  in  Martinique,  watching 
the  crowds  as  they  came  and  went. 

I  had  gone  to  Fort  de  France  for  Julie,  during 
the  afternoon.  I  reached  her  home  about  sun- 
set. In  the  north  Mount  Pelee  was  rumbling 
and  moaning ;  and  every  little  while  the  earth 
shook  and  trembled  slightly.  But  for  Julie  and 
me,  who  loved  each  other,  there  was  no  thought 
for  anything  save  one  another. 

We  sat  a  while  and  talked,  and  then  started 
off  to  St.   Pierre.      We  thought    very  little   of 

Vol.  xii  — 14. 


Pelee.  It  had  been  groaning  for  some  time- 
had  even  sent  showers  of  dust  down  upon  the 
town.  But  it  only  made  the  people  of  St. 
Pierre  curious,  so  that  they  joined  excursions  to 
see  it.  And  Julie  and  I  were  too  well  used  to 
grumbling  Pelee  to  give  it  a  thought. 

A  merry  company  went  over  on  the  boat  to 
St.  Pierre  from  Fort  de  France.  What  were 
earth  tremblings  or  the  smoke  from  a  groaning, 
fussy  mountain  to  them  ?  The  faint  evening 
breeze  on  the  water  was  sweet  after  the  day's 
heat.  The  black  shroud  over  the  mountain  hid 
its  summit  from  us.  The  world  was  very  dusty, 
but  s*till  very  fair  to  live  in. 

As    for    me,    I    had    only    one   thought   that 


mi.    wild      WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


itiful.      She    was    tall 

IIlT 

But 

on   the 

i  me 

She  was 

rhen  she  looked 

then  the  whole 

1   was  bom  at 

■at   now   my   father 

.  in  .1  small 

au.      My  work  on 

■.   during  the  daytime, 

in  the  evenin  ught 

uld  lake  walks  along  the 

ir   to   some  of   the 

mbled  when  work 

'■'  Sj    laris,  was 

r  Julie.      1   never  saw 
thai  evening.     My 
rom  home.  and.  escaping  the 
■ 

:iou- 
my 

lur- 
ant 

full  1      I 

- 

■ 
and 

■ 
I 
II 
d     I 

. 
■ 

I 
t  he 


me, 


not  see  me.  It  hurt,  but  Julie  did  not  observe  my 
pain.  The  place  began  to  fill  up.  Julie  became 
more  radiant.  The  admiring,  glances  of  the 
men  who  passed  seemed  to  make  her  brighter ; 
1  became  more  and  more  sad  every  minute. 
She  took  less  and  less  account  of  me  with  the 
arrival  of  one  group  after  another.  At  last  I  could 
stand  it  no  longer  and  said,  reproachfully : — 

'■  fulie,  you  ought  not  to  flirt.  You  must 
not." 

But    she    did    not    even   seem  to    hear 
distributing  her  smiles  right  and  left. 

The  people  sitting  (lose  by  noticed  my  em- 
barrassment and  appeared  to  enjoy  it.  I  no 
longer  felt  hurt  at  Julie's  thoughtless  behaviour  ; 
1  was  beginning  to  be  really  angry. 

•  Julie,"  I  said,  at  last,  "  I  treat  you  with  con- 
sideration. Can  you  not  show  some  feeling  for 
me  and  stop  smiling  at  these  strangers?" 

"  You  be  quiet !  Don't  try  to  rule  me,"  she 
answered,  loudly.     "  I  won't  have  it  !" 

The  people  near  us  laughed  audibly  at  this, 
and  I  felt  my  self-control  vanishing.  I  cannot 
plead  any  excuse  for  my  next  act.  I 
did  not  stop  to  think ;  I  did  not  reflect 
upon  my  folly;  I  felt  only  the  humilia- 
tion of  my  position.     I  had  been  openly 


flouted 


girl 


• 


l  HE    EAR. 


I  loved,  and  1 
stretched  out 
my  hand  and 
slapped  her 
lightly  on  the 
ear. 

What  an  up- 
roar followed  ! 
I  could  hear  all 
sorts  of  epithets 
hurled  at  me.  I 
was  the  centre  of 
furious  glances. 
Nothing  more 
was  needed  to 
transform  my 
irritation  and 
quick  repent- 
ance of  my  hasty 
action  into  a 
deep,  over- 
mastering wrath 
—not  for  Julie, 
poor  girl,  but  for 
these  insolent 
city  exquisites 
who,  by  their 
caieless  glances 
of  admiration 
for  a  pretty  face,  had 
turned  my  sweet- 
heart's   head    and    had 


BURIED    ALIVE    IN    ST.     PIERRE. 


109 


tempted    her    to    put     me    to    shame    in    that 
public  place. 

Julie  promptly  began  to  cry.  I  could  see 
she  was  bitterly  angry  with  me,  and  she  turned 
away,  while  I  faced  the  crowd  and  said  nothing. 

Out  of  the  midst  of  the  throng  there 
stepped  a  man  who  had  been  most  persistent  in 
ogling  Julie.  When  he  reached  me  he  glared 
into  my  eyes.  I  looked  at  him  steadily. 
Neither  of  us  spoke.  Suddenly  he  knocked  me 
fiat  on  my  back.  The  blow  dazed  me  for  a 
brief  space,  but 
I  quickly  came 
to  myself  and 
leaped  to  my 
feet.  That  blow 
was  what  I  had 
needed  for  the 
past  half-hour. 
1  had  been  sit- 
ting there,  boil- 
ing with  resent- 
ment, unable  to 
d  o  an  y  t  h  i  n  g , 
compelled  to 
suffer  all  the 
cruel  smiles  and 
gibes  of  those 
around  until,  at 
last,  they  tor- 
mented me  into 
doing  what  1 
had  never 
dreamed  of. 
But  now  there 
were  men  to 
fight,  plenty  of 
them — so  many 
that,  if  I  hoped 
to  come  out 
with  my  life,  I 
must  fight  quick 
and  hard,  and 
with  the  first 
weapon  I  could 
seize.  This,  as 
luck  would  have 
it,  was  a  bottle 
that  stood  on 
the  table  beside  me.  Before  me,  ready  to 
strike  again,  was  the  man  who  had  knocked 
me  down.  Around  us,  crowding  in  angrily, 
were  the  rest,  all  ready  to  attack  me.  A  swift 
snatch  at  the  bottle,  an  arm  flung  outward,  and 
the  vessel  caught  him  full  on  the  forehead.  The 
dull,  flat  sound  of  the  blow  was  followed  by  his 
falling  senseless  to  the  floor. 

An  outcry  went  up  from  those  around,  half  of 
dismay,   half  of  rage.      It  was  to  be  a  regular 


battle,  I  could  see.       I  backed  into  the  cornei 
and  stood  ready  for  them. 

As  I  retreated  fresh  shouts  arose  at  the  door. 
Were  more  coming  for  me  to  fight  ?  I  asked 
myself.  But  the  crowd  grew  silent.  Two 
policemen  entered  and  demanded  that  the 
quarrellers  should  be  pointed  out.  Every  hand 
pointed  accusingly  towards  mc. 

My  late  antagonist  lay  on  the  floor,  as  still  as 
if  dead.  Julie  was  cowering  in  another  corner, 
to  which   she  had   fled  :  she  could  not  escape 

for  the  crush 
that  surged 
around  us.  The 
policemen 
started  to  take 
me  away.  I 
turned  to  look 
at  Julie.  Weep- 
ing quietly  in 
the  corner,  she 
did  not  seem 
aware  of  my 
presence  ;  so  I 
turned  sadly 
and  departed,  a 
policeman  on 
either  side  of 
me.  Once  more 
I  looked  back 
and  saw  Julie 
still  crying  in 
the  comer.  1 
never  saw  her 
again. 

It  was  but  a 
step  from  the 
restaurant  to  the 
City  Hall,  and 
a  number  of 
steps,  going 
deep  down,  led 
to  the  gaol  in  its 
basement.  My 
name  was  en- 
tered in  a  book, 


the    charge 


THE    VESSEL   CAUGHT    HIM    FULL   ON    THE    KOREHEAD 


against  me  was 
noted,  and  I 
was  led  to  a  cell.  The  basement  was  divided  by 
a  corridor,  with  cells  on  either  side.  Mine  was 
at  the  extreme  end,  against  the  foundation 
walls  of  the  City  Hall,  which  adjoined  those  of 
the  Comedie  Theatre  de  St.  Pierre.  Not  a 
sound  of  the  doings  of  men  in  the  upper  world 
could  be  heard  in  those  depths. 

Once  left  to  myself,  I  sat  down  on  the  straw 
of  my  cell  floor.  In  the  dark,  alone,  I  had  my 
first  chance  to  think.     Yet  I  could  not  form  an 


TH1     WIDE    W0R1  1>    MAGAZINE. 


lickly  .  I 

!  the  hour 

iad  happened  long 

d  to  be  dim 

in  the    world    was 

I 

my 

■ 

But 

I 

■ 

shaking. 

:   mu  filed    thunder    that    had 

•ound   in    my  cars  as   I  went   to 

ght.       I     began     to 

night    before. 

I  irly.       I    felt    again     the 

.      n    me  taurarit. 

my  eyes.      I 

with   whirh     the    bottle 

Was  I  a 

to  be  always  on  my 

■  J    Would 

friends,  liberty, 

n   was  I  to 

■•   the  judge  and 

to    one 

rowding  on 

i  ad. 

I       ;  ned  as  a 

.  It  was  the 


I    LOOKED    BACK    AND   SAW    |l  1  I K    STILL   CKVING 


gaol  attendant  coming  with  my  prison  breakfast 
ol    bread  and  water. 

1  ate  little.  1  sat  still,  and  my  thoughts  again 
began  to  run  wild.  Again,  as  in  a  vision,  I  saw 
the  man    1    had   struck   lying  quiet  on  the  floor 

and  Julie  crying  in  the 
corner. 

Then,  with  a  sudden- 
ness I  cannot  describe, 
the  whole  appearance 
of  the  tiny  cell,  to  which 
my  eyes  were  now  con- 
fined, was  changed.  It 
was  so  quick,  so  com- 
plete, so  unaccount- 
able, that  I  could  make 
no  effort  to  understand. 
The  air  darkened. 
Even  the  little  light 
that  somehow  filtered 
into  my  cell  was  blotted 
out.  I  heard  the  run- 
ning of  feet  through  the 
corridor  of  the  gaol 
overhead.  Appalling, 
1  ncom  pre  he  n  s  i  b  le 
noises  of  many  sorts 
seemed  to  come  from 
all  quarters.  In  the 
intense  darkness  I 
could  see  nothing. 

Blinded,  and  with 
hearing  confused,  I 
could  still  feel.  What 
I  felt  no  other  human 
being  in  St.  Pierre  felt 
and  survived  to  de- 
scribe. With  the  same 
dumfounding  sudden- 
ness that  attended  the  obliteration  of  the  light  all 
the  air  in  my  cell  seemed  to  be  converted  into  an 
invisible  fire.  It  was  everywhere,  from  wall  to 
wall,  from  floor  to  roof — in  my  eyes,  my  nostrils, 
my  mouth,  and  my  lungs  ;  on  all  parts  of  my 
body,  clothed  and  uncovered — a  dry,  scorch- 
ing, flameless  fire,  hotter  than  the  blaze  of  any 
furnace. 

I  wondered  whether  I  could  cry  out.  I  tried. 
My  voice,  in  its  full  strength,  echoed  above  the 
strange,  terrifying  noises  that  encompassed  me  ; 
and  it  seemed  to  be  hurled  back  upon  me,  as  if 
the  demons  that  were  abroad  had  snatched  up 
its  echoes  and  pelted  me  with  them.  But  no 
sound  of  another  human  voice  came  back  to  me. 
I  shouted  again  ;  I  yelled  madly,  and,  as  my 
voice,  with  a  sudden  weakening,  broke  in  its 
volume,  I  cried  to  whoever  might  hear  to  come 
and  let  me  out.  » 

Hut  still  there  was  no  answer. 


BURIED    ALIVE    IN    ST.     PIERRE. 


]  !  I 


"• 


trtww 
I  v  •  t 


THE    UNDERGROUND   CELL    IN   THE   FOUNDATIONS   OF   THE   CITY   HALL   AT   ST.    PIERRF.    IN    WHICH    THE   AUTHOR   WAS    IMMURED. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Fverard  Fade  lie,  Dominica. 


That  flameless  fire,  that  awful  heat,  was 
still,  more  intense,  more  consuming  than 
I    was    helpless.       A    great   fear   settled 
upon  me — an  unreasoning  dread,  different 
the    vague    terror    I     had    at    first    instinc 
experienced.       Then 
my  brain  cleared  and 
I   began    to  consider 
my  position  and  de- 
bate what   could    be 
happening.      This 
heat    could   not    be 
from    a    fire    in    the 
gaol,  for  no  one  ap- 
peared   to   take    me 
out,  and     no    sound 
came    as    if    anyone 
were    attempting    to 
fight  flames. 

While  I  tried  to 
find  some  explanation 
the  world  began  to 
move.  Not  the  small 
world  of  my  cell,  but 
the  solid  earth.  The 
walls  of  the  City  Hall 
— against  whose  foun- 
dations my  cell  rested 
— q  uivered  and 
wavered ;  I  could 
hear    them    and    feel 


I  I'DGER    SVI.BARI 

From  a] 


there         them   swaying,  although  the  jetty  blackness  of 
ever.         the  deepest  night  was  all  about  me.     Was  the 
down         whole   towering  mass    going   to   crumble   and 
from         overwhelm  me  in  its  fall  ? 

tively  I    must   cry  out  again.      If  there  was  a  man 

within  reach  of  my 
voice  who  could  come 
to  me,  my  call  must 
bring  him.  It  was  a 
strange,  new  voice 
that  went  out  into 
the  darkness  and  the 
heat  —  so  thin,  so 
weak,  now  high  like 
a  child's,  now  hoarse 
and  gasping  like  a 
dying  man's — that  it 
frightened  me.  And 
there  was  never  an 
answer.  I  had  been 
left  alone. 

A  new  sound  came. 
It  was  not  trembling 
walls  this  time  ;  it 
was  the  deep  note  of 
falling  buildings, amid 
a  thunder  of  other 
noises.  Was  the  gaol 
indeed  to  be  my 
grave?  It  had  seemed 
so  strong,  so  solid.    I 


THE    AUTHOR,    WH{ 
IN    ST.    1'IERRE. 


ED   ALIVE 

[Photo. 


I  HI     \\  IDE    WORl  0    MAGAZINE. 


they  did, 
,,  d  me 
tions  ol 
lain  mi 

my  cell  was 

they  fell  ?     Was  1 

neath    a    mountain    of 

of  my  narrow  tomb, 
i  that 

.id 


As  1  sought  desperately  to  escape  the  rising 
tide  ol  hot  mud  I  began  to  smell  something 
like  sulphur,  which  was  attended  by  a  burning 
ation  difficult  to  describe.  It  seemed  as  if 
the  end  must,  indeed,  be  at  hand.  Was  the 
.  in  truth,  on  lire?  The  intense  heat  from 
which  1  suffered  seemed  to  prove  that  it  was  ; 
but  why,  1  asked  myself,  did  not  the  engines 
come  to  put  it  out  ? 

It  was  most  strange,  I  reflected,  that  I  could 

hear    nothing    Horn    above — not    a    sound    to 

indicate  that  a   human   being  was  near.     I  was 

oming  accustomed  to  the  thought  that  I  had 

i   forgotten  and  would  be  left  to  die  in  my 

underground    cell. 


But  why  should  the 


'.  \    AGONY    OF    FEAR. 


that   I  might  be  able  to  find 

1       It  a  fierce  burning 

f  my  feet       I  '1  down  to  find 

I  felt  the  sensation, 

thing  iike  hot  mud 

I  could  feel  it, 

like  molten 

[   fled  t  t  of    the  room    to 

nt    panting.      Then 

I   felt   1  le  burning  on  my 

jd  that  had    come   so 

usly  into  my  cell  was  pur- 

•  was   filling  with  it 

k    with  ith    in    another 

I  to    be   en- 

tth — killed    by 

I  if  fear. 

relentlessly. 
It  burned   me 
I  fell  in  tr; 
'    ■ 


gaol   be  allowed   to  burn,  in  the  centre  of  the 
city,  without  an  effort  being  made  to  save  it  ? 

The  last  human  sound  I  had  heard  was  the 
hurrying  of  feet  along  the  corridor,  just  before 
the  heat  attained  such  an  intense  stage.  But  I 
did  not  know  whether  it  was  because  the  other 
fearful  noises  had  drowned  out  the  sounds  of 
man's  presence,  or  whether  my  own  agonies  of 
body  and  mind  had  prevented  me  from  hearing. 

Still  I  perceived  none  of  the  familiar  signs  of 
fire.  The  awful  choking  smell  of  sulphur  grew 
well  nigh  unbearable.  I  could  scarcely  breathe  ; 
d  as  if  my  throat  must  buist.  The  hot 
mud  still  pursued  me,  and,  work  as  hard  as  I 
could  to  avoid  it,  I  could  not  help  being  still 
more  fearfully  scalded. 

After  a  time,  however,  the  pains  began  to 
dimmish.  I  cannot  tell  when  the  first  relief 
came,  or  how  long  my  suffering  lasted.  It 
appeared  a  lifetime.  My  sensations  became 
dulled.  The  thick  darkness,  the  pungent,  acrid, 
choking  sulphur,  the  crashing  of  falling  masonry 
upon  the  roof  of  my  cell — all  seemed  forgotten, 


BURIED    ALIVE     IN     ST.    PIERRE. 


"3 


or  like  things  at  a  distance.  Time  went  by 
without  leaving  any  impression,  any  memory 
of  what  was  passing.  Whether  it  was  night, 
day,  morning,  or  evening,  I  did  not  know  for  a 
Ion.;  time  ;  I  could  not  strive  to  form  an  idea. 
It  was  on  the  morning  of  May  8th,  just  after 
the  gaol  attendant  had  brought  my  breakfast, 
that  I  first  felt  the  heat  and  first  heard  the 
sounds  that  seemed  to  indicate  the  building 
had  fallen  above  my  head.  But  what  the  lapse 
of  time  had  been  since  then  I  could  not  even 
guess.  I  was  either  asleep  or  in  a  waking 
unconsciousness. 

When  I  recovered  myself  my  throat  and 
tongue  were  aching  with  a  maddening  thirst. 
I  searched  eagerly  in  the  darkness  for  what  was 
left  of  the  water  the  gaoler  had  left.  I  drank 
it  all  and  lay  down,  for  the  hot  mud  had  cooled 
sufficiently  to  make 
it  possible  for  me  to 
he  upon  it.  I  went 
to  sleep  —  possibly 
lapsed  into  uncon- 
sciousness :  I  do  not 
know.  I  remember 
now  that  the  sounds 
outside  had  ceased 
and  that  a  death-like 
stillness  had  ensued 
lor  which  I  could 
not  account.  There 
was  no  break  in  it ; 
it  was  like  the  in- 
tense silence  of  the 
grave. 

I  had  some  break- 
fast left,  but  I  do 
not  remember  eating 
it.  Hunger  did  not 
seem  very  keen.  But 
my  thirst  was  so  in- 
tense, so  desperate, 
that  it  excluded  al- 
most every  other  feeling.  Of  all 
my  experiences  I  remember  that 
awful  thirst  most  vividly. 

I  grew  weaker.  I  must  have 
been  unconscious  most  of  the 
time  ;  how  much  of  it  was  spent  in  sleep,  how 
much  in  stupor,  I  have  no  idea.  A  new  dis- 
comfort came  upon  me — an  insane  desire  for 
a  good,  hearty  smoke  of  strong  tobacco.  With 
the  thirst,  the  burns,  and  that  queer,  yet  natural, 
craving  I  was  almost  beside  myself  during  my 
waking  moments.  I  wondered,  but  dully  now, 
that  no  one  approached  ;  that  the  silence  was 
not  broken  by  the  faintest  sound  which  could 
indicate  the  presence  of  any  people.  As  to  the 
lapse  of  time,  I  was  guided  only  by  the 


I     WAS     LYING 


Vol.  xii.  — 15. 


ight, 


which  now  reached  me  again,  and  which    told 
the  difference  between  night  and  day. 

Darkness  and  light  succeeded  each  other 
three  times.  The  madness  of  my  thirst  was 
growing  unendurable.  I  could  scarcely  stand. 
Anxiety  as  to  my  fate,  numbed  though  my  mind 
was,  was  also  beginning  to  tell  on  me. 

I  was  lying  awake,  or  half  awake,  watching 
rhe  growing  light,  when  my  heart  gave  a  bound. 
I  heard  a  slight  tapping  against  the  cracked  and 
crumbling  mass  of  stone  that  had  once  been 
the  wall  of  my  prison  ! 

I  listened,  fearful  that  I  had  made  a  mistake, 
or  that  it  might  be  a  delusion.  No  !  I  was 
not  wrong  '.  1  heard  the  picking  sound  again 
—  and  then,  unmistakably,  human  voices. 
Could  it  be  true?  Hid  I  hear  my  name  called 
— and  in  a  voice  that  sounded  familiar,  too? 

I  answered,  but 
my  voice  was  so  faint 
that  I  knew  my 
rescuers,  if  such  they 
really  were,  could 
not  hear  me. 

The  sound  out- 
side continued.  I 
heard  my  name 
called  again,  a  little 
more  loudly.  1  tried 
to  answer  again.  This 
time  it  seemed  as 
though  they  must 
have  heard  me,  for 
the  sounds  increased 
in  frequency.  Soon 
more  light  burst  in 
on  me. 

Three  men  ap- 
peared at  the  little 
opening  in  the  ruins 
which  they  had 
made.  I  could  see 
but  little,  for  the 
bright  sunlight 
blinded  me.  All  I 
could  tell  with  cer- 
tainty was  that  there 
were  three  men,  and 
that  one  of  them  looked  like  a  priest. 

Catching  a  glimpse  of  the  interior  of  my 
prison  tomb,  the  men  seemed  to  be  working 
with  redoubled  haste. 

"  What  if  we  should  find  him  alive  ?  "  I  heard 
one  say. 

"  It  would  indeed  be  a  wonderful  providence 
of  God,"  responded  a  dignified  and  sober  voice, 
which  thrilled  me  strangely.  It  sounded  so 
sweet,  so. comforting,  so  familiar. 

"  Let  us  hurry,  Nelcha,"  said  a  strange  voice. 


AWAKE,     OR     HALF     AWAKE 
THE    GROWING    LIGHT." 


WATCHING 


THE    N  IDE     WORLD     MAGAZIN1  . 


n  be  aliv<    1 

M   him." 

Surely 

H  ould 

d   what  could  kill 

il   the   man    1   had   hit 

1    made   some    sort    of 

plied  tin- person 
minutes    may    be    the 

:  the  picks  fell  upon 
ame  larger,  and    in 
i   some- 
what.     In  a 
I   in  the  open   -faint,  almost 
d    by    the   light     The 
me  : — 
■  1  be  praised  you  are 

I    ther   Mary,  my  good  parish 


"  Why,  you  arc  worth  a  million  dead  men 
vet."  said  one  of  lather  Mary's  companions. 

"  A  cigarette  !  "  repeated  the  other ;  and  then 
they  all  shouted  again. 

Father  Mary  and  his  two  assistants,  Victor 
Emmanuel  Saint-Aude  and  Elius  Nelcha,  took 
me  through  what  I  supposed  must  have  been 
streets.  But  1  did  not  see  anything  except  tumble- 
down walls.  Not  a  single  place  bore  the  guise 
it  did  when  1  was  sent  to  prison.  I  was  only 
half  conscious,  for  all  my  desire  for  a  smoke  ; 
or  perhaps  I  fell  into  a  stupor  and  things  seemed 
hazy  and  indistinct.  When  I  was  conscious  I 
remember  asking  myself  what  could  have  hap- 
pened to  change  the  city  so  fearfully  in  the  few 
days  I  had  been  shut  up. 

The  sun  was  high  in  the  heavens.  It  was 
just  about  noon  on  Sunday,  May  nth.  We 
wound  slowly  along  the  road  to  Morne  Rouge 
in  a  carriage.  On  the  way  I  asked  someone 
what  was  wrong,  and  for  the  first  time  learned 
that   Pelee   had    broken    forth   and,  in  a   single 


™E  AT    MORNE    ROUGE." 


at  Morne  Rouge, 
My  senses 
first  desire 
ongin"  f< 

one  of  the 
ugh. 


paroxysm  of  fury,  had  destroyed  the  city  soon 
after  the  gaoler  brought  my  breakfast  the  morn- 
ing subsequent  to  my  fight  and  imprisonment. 
It  was  then  that  I  first  felt  the  awful  heat,  smelt 
the  sulphur,  and  had  my  feet,  legs,  and  body  so 
frightfully  burned  by  the  hot  mud  that  came 
trickling  into  my  cell.  That  sulphur  smell  was 
in  my  nostrils  for  a  month  afterwards. 


BURIKh    ALIVE    IN    ST.    PIERRE. 


"5 


vi.^  ^£/  <£«•« 


f*-Ji    ^?ta+ 


/9a£  **-a~'i£  7.'*    &£:' 


'  ^<S-/*.    \S<L~u. 


>wfc^C».  /~&C**44y  -*4^rr-c*    C4*  _■ 


V  POUR  LEGALISATION  DE  L*  SIGNATCUE 
5E  H  Ji;   C,eftL 

LE  GOUVEIUCEim  DE  LA  MARTINIOUE 
PAH  PEiEGATlON 
LE  CHEF  DE  CABINET 


FACSIMILE  OK  CERTIFICATE  ATTESTING  THE  FACT  OF  THE 
AUTHORS  INCARCERATION  IN  THE  CITY  HAI.L  DUNGEON  OF 
ST.  PIERRE  WHILE  THE  ERUPTION  WAS  IN  PROGRESS.  IT 
IS  SIGNED  BY  THE  TWO  MEN  WHO  RESCUED  HIM,  THE 
MAYOR    OF    PRECHEUR,   AND  THE   GOVERNORS   SECRETARY. 


I  was  taken  to  the  house  of  two  good 
women — Mesdames  Jedeon  and  Marie — at 
Morne  Rouge.  I  learned  from  them  that 
my  Julie  had  perished  among  the  thousands 
in  St.  Pierre  and  that  I  should  never  see 
her  again.  I  have  only  the  memory  of 
her  as  she  crouched  in  the  corner  of  the 
restaurant  after  the  fight,  with  her  hands 
before  her  face  to  shut  out  the  sight  of 
the'man  lying  so  still  on  the  floor.  I  shall 
always  feel  grief  for  the  blow  I  gave  her. 
And  the  man:  was  he  dead  or  alive?  I 
do  not  know,  and  all  those  who  could 
tell  me  have  perished  ;  but  I  do  not  think 
he  died  from  my  blow. 

I  spent  two  months  in  the  house  of 
Mesdames  Jedeon  and  Marie.  I  grew 
better  slowly,  but  it  was  long  before  I 
could  move  without  pain.  The  burns  were 
fearful  ;  I  have  the  scars  —  broad  marks 
where  the  skin  has  remained  permanently 
discoloured — on  mv  hands,  feet,  and  legs. 
1  suppose  I  shall  always  have  them. 

Recovered  from   my  wounds,  I  went  to 


Fort  de  France  and  stayed  there  four  months, 
working  on  the  farms  around  the  city.  1  spent 
two  months  afterwards  in  the  hospital  at  Fort  de 
France  with  a  fever,  until,  recovering,  I  went  to 
the  United  States. 

Over  a  year  has  passed  since  Julie  was  lost  to 
me.  But  whenever,  in  the  new  land,  some  face 
meets  my  eye  that  reminds  me  of  my  dear  one, 
the  memory  of  my  lost  happiness  and  my  fearful 
experience  returns  with  yet  keener  suffering. 

TRANSLATION  OF  CERTIFICATE. 

We,  Victor  Emmanuel  Saint- Aude,  agricultui ist,  and 
Elius  Nelcha,  cobbler,  l><>th  residing  in  the  aforemen- 
tioned Precheur,  living  since  the  catastrophe  at  Fort  de 
France,  certify  that  the  said  Ludger  Sylbaris  .... 
was  incarcerated  in  the  prison  of  St.  Pierre  on  the  8lh 
of  May,  1902,  and  that  he  was  only  released  from  the 
cell  in  which  he  was  confined  on  Sunday,  the  Ilthol 
May  following. 

,o-       ,,     (    Victor  Emmanuel  Saint-Aude. 
(Signed)     (    Euus  NliICHA. 

Fort  de  France,  the  13th  February,  1903. 
Witnessed,    for   legalization,    the   above   signatures  of 
Victor  Emmanuel  Saint-Aude  arid  Elius  Nelcha. 

The  Mayor  of  Precheur. 
(Signed)  II.  GfeELET. 

Fort  de  France,  the  13th  February,  1903. 
Witnessed,   for   legalization,   the  signature  of    Mr.    II. 
Grelet. 

The  Governor  of  Martinique. 
As  delegate  : 
Chief  of  the  Cabinet. 
(Signed)         J.   BlLI.AUD 
Fort  de  France,  the  141I1  February,  1903. 


FORM    FOR  AUTHENTICATION   CF   SIGNATURE 


{stst* 

of  the/United  Stages  at. 
that  the  signature  of. 


Consular  Service,  VL  S.  £L, 
Fort -de -France-  Martinique*  ~Z((£l*j*+fJ*' 7  90 


lartinique 


"a     Jf  /P  heret 


_dp  hereby  certify 
she  foot 


of  the  paper  hereto  annexed,  is  his  true  and  genuine  signature,  made  and 
acknowledged  w  my  presence,  and  that  the  said.   f%J<-f-*^^t^C u 

~*  v's  personally  known  to  me. 

In  ivir~e*s  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed  the  seal 
of  the  /^<J-*^<si*jK?a^ic.  at       FortdeFrance.  Martinique  the 

day  and  year  next  above  written,  and  of  the  Independence  of  the  United 
States  the      /  <b  / J^Vf* — 

— 1 — r^— 


o'  the    VnuaO    StiUJ 


CERTIFICATE   GIVEN    BY   THE     UNITED    STATES   CONSUL    AT    FORT    DE    FRANCE 

ATTESTING   THE    AUTHENTICITY   OP   THE    OFFICIAL   SIGNATURE   AT 

THE    FOOT    OF    THE    FIRST   CERTIFICATE. 


TfcOM 


BY 

GeoLya/ch 


XCEPT  for  the  short  water-journey 

the  Channel  from  <  Calais  to 

Dover    I    might    have    called    this 

Fi    m   Pekin   to   Piccadilly 

.  Kail."     I  made  the  journey   on 
the  very  first  trains  after  the  starting  of 

from   Dalney. 

f  my  trip  from    Dalney  after  my 

at  being  asked  by  many 

After  all,    how 

iiing,     because 

in  any  of  the  text-books  of 

rked    on    none    but    the 

i  had  no 

I    e  land  where  the  city 

arren,   I  tract  of 

••  I  want  you 

-aid  the  '  'zar,  pointing 

map,   and    he 

to  build  it,  whom   I   had  the 

tvernor  of  I  >alney, 

on  the  ( ompletion  of 

"far  away,"  but  it 

n  one   can 
irteen  and  a   half 
a  Pekin  it  is  not   n 


It  is  now  possible  to  go  right  through  from  Pekin 
to  Paris  by  an  express  train,  doing  the  long 
journey  in  about  sixteen  days.  In  this  article  the 
well-known  war  correspondent  describes  his  trip 
in  one  of  the  very  first  trains  of  the  new  service. 


to  go  to  Dalney;  one  joins  the  express  at 
Tachechou  about  eight  hours  after  it  has  started 
on  its  long  journey  overland. 

It  was  a  bright,  clear  morning  when  we  left 
Pekin  at  seven  o'clock  on  that  journey  which 
was  to  end  at  Paris.  The  first-class  railway- 
carriages  were  fairly  filled,  and  there  was  a 
dining-car  on  the  train,  the  greater  part  of 
which  was  made  up  of  open  trucks,  which 
were  simply  packed  with  Chinese,  and  many 
travelled  wherever  they  could  find  room— on 
barrels  or  cases-  in  the  freight-cars.  However 
the  Chinese  may  object  to  the  construction  of 
railways,  they  are  most  certainly  good  patrons 
of  the  lines  that  have  been  constructed.  The 
fares  are  very  low  in  these  open  trucks,  and  the 
passengers  are  packed  literally  as  close  >as  they 

n  be  squeezed  into  them. 

All  the  way  from  Pekin  to  Tientsin  and 
beyond  the  country  gave  evidence  of  the  terrible 
drought  from  which  the  land  was  suffering. 
What  ought  to  have  been  at  this  time  a  rich 
tract  of  country,  covered  with  waving  crops,  was 
nothing  but  a  dusty  desert.  Here  and  there  one 
could  see  faint  lines  where  the  crops  had  just 
shown  above  the  ground,  but  had  not  grown 
more  than  a  couple  of  inches. 


FROM     PEKIX    TO     PARIS     BY     RAIL. 


117 


The  train,  although  called  an  express,  went 
very  slowly  and  stopped  at  many  stations.  Of 
course,  there  are  no  refreshment  buffets  at  the 
stations,  but  their  place  is  taken  by  a  crowd  of 
natives  offering  for  sale  pears,  radishes,  Japanese 


Shan  Hi  Quan  is  a  walled  city,  one  side  of 
which  forms  part  of  the  Great  Wall,  which 
extends  to  the  sea  on  the  west  and  can  be 
traced  right  up  the  mountains  towards  the 
north-east,  its  course  marked  by  the  towers  on 


/*  roiu  a  1 


CHINESE    TRAVFt  I.1NT,    IV    OPEN   TRUCKS. 


[PA,  to. 


beer,  and  a  variety  of  evil-looking  cakes.  Yang- 
tsun  was  the  first  place  I  recognised,  from  the 
time  I  traversed  this  route  with  the  forces  that 
relieved  the  Legations.  It  was  here  that  the 
Chinese  destroyed  the  iron  bridge  that  spans 
the  river  and  made  a  stand  behind  the  high 
embankment — practically  the  only  engagement 
of  any  seriousness  during  the  whole  march  to 
Pekin. 

Tientsin  platform  was  a  veritable  pande- 
monium of  yelling  natives,  struggling  madly  to 
get  themselves  and  their 
belongings  on  or  off  the 
train.  The  country  was 
flat  and  uninteresting  in 
the  extreme  all  the  way. 
Nearing  Shan  Hi  Quan 
the  heat  was  intense  and 
the  dust  simply  awful.  For 
the  last  hour  of  the  jour- 
ney, however,  the  scenery 
was  picturesque  and  in- 
teresting. We  arrived  at 
Shan  Hi  Quan  at  six 
o'clock,  and  there  was 
time  before  dinner  to  have 
a  look  at  the  Great  Wall 
of  China,  which  here 
comes  down  to  the  sea. 
It  has  a  brick  facing  about 
three  feet  thick  on  the 
outer  side,  and  within  a 
great  bank  of  sloping 
earth,  flattened  on  the  top.        From  a 


their  summits.  An  excellent  little  hotel  has 
just  been  opened  close  to  the  railway  station, 
so  that  it  is  no  longer  necessary  to  sleep  in  the 
train  as  heretofore. 

They  don't  run  the  trains  at  night  in  China. 
We  started  again  at  seven  o'clock  in  the 
mornino;.  There  was  «;reat  commotion  at  one 
of  the  first  stations  we  came  to.  Lines  of 
Chinese  soldiers  were  drawn  up  with  large  flags 
and  long  trumpets.  There  were  a  number  of 
mandarins    gathered    around  the    w.iiting-rocm, 


NATIVE    FAIR   CLOSE   TO   A    RAILWAY   STATION. 


\Photg. 


THE    WIDE    WORI  h    MAGAZINE. 


A    GLIMHSK  OF    THE   GREAT   W.M.I.   Or    CHIN/ 


{Photo. 


which   presently   emerged    the  Taotai   ol 

I  with  his  red  button  and 

I  le  was  followed   by  three 

ind  highly-painted  Chinese  ladies 

— who  were,  carried  across  the  plat- 

l  chairs  to  a  reserved  coupe. 

train  left  ami'  blowing  of  trumpets, 

saluting  by  ducking  down. 


is   a  good 


lotel  there,  and  just  behind  it  the 
Russian  (ieneral  Condratowitch  has  his  head- 
quarters. There  is  no  apparent  sign  of  the 
Russians  evacuating  the  place.  The  Taotai,  our 
fellow-passenger  on  the  train,  came  alongside 
the  bund  in  a  special  steam-launch  towing  a 
bargeful  of  his  retainers  and  their  belongings, 
but  whether    the    Russians    who    met    him   ex- 


similar 
la  like  i:  monstration. 

d  the  broad 
nth  the  sedge- 
Chinese  junks.  There 


plained  that  they  did  not  wish  to  trouble 
him  bv  handing  over  to  him  the  duties  of 
'  iovernor  or  not,  the  fact  remains  that  he 
departed  up-stream,  and  we  heard  that  he  was 
to  leave  the  town  on  the  following  day. 


FROM    PEKIN    TO    PARIS    BY    RAIL. 


119 


Three  miles  from  the 
hotel  is  the  station  of 
Inkou,  and  an  hour's  jour- 
ney from  there  brought  us 
to  Tachitciao,  where  we 
waited  for  the  arrival  of 
the  express.  This  was 
our  first  glimpse  of  the 
main  line,  which  is  a 
broad-gauge  one,  five  feet 
three  inches  wide.  The 
station-houses  are  solidly, 
almost  massively,  built,  of 
brick,  with  limestone  fac- 
ings. The  platforms  are 
one  foot  high,  a  compro- 
mise between  the  English 
and  American  styles. 
Here  one  saw  what  was 
to  become  so  familiar 
during  the  next  few  days, 
the  solidly  -  built  houses 
and  barracks  for  the  forces 
who  are  supposed  to  be 
"guarding"  the  railway 
and  the  dwellings  for  a 
large  staff  of  officials. 

Our  particular  express 
was  made  up  of  six  cars. 
A  luggage- van  with  sleep- 
ing compartments  for  the 
servants  made  up  the  first 
car.  Then  came  the  dining-car,  capable  of  seat-  ing  partition  betw 
ing  over  forty  people  at  tables  with  seats  for  four.         opened  if  desired 


A  STKIKING   SHOP   SIGN    IN   NEWCHWANG. 

From  a  Photo. 


our  trip,  by  the  way,  was 
a  jolly-faced,  stout  old 
Russian  lady  who,  morn- 
ing, noon,  or  night,  was 
never  without  her  cigar- 
ette. The  third  and  fourth 
cars  were  second  -  class, 
the  fifth  a  first-class,  and 
the  sixth  a  composite  car- 
riage of  first  and  second, 
but  this  was  reserved  for 
M.  Isvolski,  the  Russian 
Minister  to  Japan,  who 
was  returning  home  with 
his  wife  and  family. 

A  wide  passage  ran 
through  the  train  on  the 
right-hand  side  of  the 
cars,  on  which  the  doors 
of  the  compartments 
opened,  the  cards  of  the 
occupants  being  generally 
placed  on  the  outside. 
The  second-class  carriages 
all  accommodated  four 
people,  two  on  either  side 
transversely.  The  first- 
class  compartments  are 
for  two  people,  as  a  rule, 
with  a  few  for  four.  By 
a  neat  arrangement  of 
folding  doors  the  interven- 
een  two  compartments  can  be 
If  the  train  is  not  crowded, 


[Photo. 


This  was  divided  across  by  a  swing-door  to 
separate  the  smokers  from  the  non-smokers, 
both  male  and  female.     The  greatest  smoker  on 


so  that  only  two  persons  occupy  a  second-class 
compartment,  they  are  much  better  off  than  in  a 
first  for  two,  as   there  is  nearly  twice  as   much 


I  • 


1111.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


can  have  a    lower 

ving  to  >p-side." 

\„  .  omfort  of  the  two 

scept  in  the 

ml  in  the  one  having 

dished  pine  ol 

ven  than  those 

irranged  in  the 

mpartments  and   in    the   passage 

I  quantity  of  luggage  ran  be 

Everyl       g,  like  suit-cases. 


fitting  closely,  so  that  the  dust  cannot  penetrate. 
The  cars  are  well  ventilated  from  below  as  well 
as  from  above.  Of  the  heating  apparatus  I  had 
no  means  of  judging,  but  the  arrangement  of 
the  cars  into  compartments  would  allow  the 
occupants  of  each  to  regulate  the  temperature 
for  themselves.  There  is  a  thermometer  in 
every  compartment  as  well  as  right  along  the 
passages.  The  beds  are  comfortable,  and  fresh 
linen  sheets  are  put  on  every  two  days.  The 
upper  berth   folds  flat  against  the  wall  during 


' 


is,   and,   in  fact,  small  trunks, 

d  away  in  the  carriage.     The 

each    person    to    be 

luggage-van   is  only  ten 

large  boxes   between   Dalney 

-t  you  about  five  pounds. 

a  truly  admirable  idea  to  put  this  tax 

travelling   with   ridiculously 

ion   has   been   paid  to 
truction    of    the    carriages. 

■ 

.     ling  or  gaudy  ornamentation,  but 
'ong  at.  There  is 

able  for  writing  on  in  each  coin 

i  smoothly 

-  handle-,  and  if  they  swing  right 

h.     The   passages 

hich    are    kept   close 

-havi  verlapping  floor  system 

There 
"hroughout     the     train, 


the  daytime.  There  are  two  roomy  lavatories 
at  the  end  of  each  car,  with  large  basins  and  a 
plentiful  supply  of  hot  and  cold  water  and  an 
arrangement  for  giving  your  head  a  shower-bath, 
which  may  be  found  grateful  and  comforting  if 
one  should  happen  to  have  been  sitting  up  late 
the  night  before  with  convivially  -  hospitable 
Russian   officers. 

It  is  in  the  matter  of  the  officials  that  the 
train  contrasts  most  favourably  with  the  trains 
in  America.  The  chef  de  train  occupies  the 
position  of  a  host  at  a  well-managed  hotel. 
He  takes  a  personal  interest  in  the  comfort  and 
welfare  of  each  of  his  guests,  and  acts  as  in- 
terpreter to  those  who  do  not  understand 
Russian,  lb-  is  an  encyclopaedia  of  informa- 
tion about  the  route,  and  is  always  untiringly 
attentive  and  obliging,  making  suggestions  on 
his  own  initiative  for  your  more  thorough  enjoy- 
ment of  the  trip.  There  are  two  attendants 
on  each  car,  who  make  the  beds,  keep  the  com- 


FROM     PERIN    TO    PARIS    BY     RAIL. 


121 


partments  spotlessly  clean,  and  answer  the 
electric  bell  at  any  time  of  the  night.  Of  the 
two  in  our  car,  one  was  a  fine  specimen  of  a 
Russian,  who  from  his  carriage  and  bearing 
had  evidently  gone  through  more  than  the 
compulsory  period  in  the  army.  The  other  was 
younger,  and  both  were  willing,  good-natured 
fellows,  most  anxious  to  oblige.  Although  they 
only  spoke  Russian,  they  were  quick  at  in- 
terpreting very  broken  language,  or  the  panto- 
mimic gestures  that  had  so  often  to  take  its 
place. 

The  line  is  much  better  laid  and  ballasted 
than  I  expected  from  what  I  had  heard,  and 
it  is  being  still  further  improved.  One  can 
write  in  comfort  and  shave  in  safety  while  the 
train  is  in  motion.  When  you  wash  the  water 
does  not  go  swishing  over  the  top  of  the  basin, 
and  you  don't  cannon  off  the  sides  of  the 
corridors  when  going  through  the  train  or  down 
the  passages  between  the  cars.  Among  the  leu- 
things  that  might  have  been  arranged  better  are 
the  windows. 
They  might  well 
have  been  larger, 
both  in  the  com- 
partments and 
corridors.  There 
is  only  one  win-  * 
dow  in  each  com- 
partment, and  this 
is  not  large  enough 
to  give  an  ex- 
tended view  un- 
less one  is  close 
up  to  the  glass. 
The  carriages  are 
built  of  steel, 
heavier  and  ap- 
parently stronger 
than  American 
cars  of  equal  size, 
but  it  seems  a 
great  pity  that 
they  have  not 
the  bright  effect 
that  larger  win- 
dows   would     give  From  a] 

them. 

During  a  journey  of  nearly  a  week  the 
restaurant  department  becomes  naturally  an 
important  feature,  and  one  sits  down  to  the  first 
meal  with  a  considerable  amount  of  interested 
curiosity.  '1  here  is  nothing  to  cause  appre- 
hension, however,  on  this  line.  The  food  was 
most  excellent  and  extremely  well  cooked.  We 
had  a  large  number  of  passengers  on  our  train. 
and  this  being  hitherto  quite  unusual  was  given 
as  an  excuse  for  the  considerable  slowness  there 

Vol.  xii.-1S. 


was  in  the  service.  Breakfast  is  a  la  carte. 
The  bread  and  fresh  butter  were  very  good,  and 
all  the  foreigners  seemed  to  take  kindly  to  the 
Russian  tea,  served  in  glasses  with  lemon  and 
sugar.  The  principal  meal  of  the  day  was 
any  time  between  one  and  five.  It  consisted 
of  four  courses  :  soup — the  Russian  borsch,  'with 
vegetables  and  large  slices  of  meat,  which  to  a 
person  of  small  appetite  would  suffice  for  a  meal 
in  itself — then  two  courses  of  meat,  beef-steak 
being  usually  one,  and  some  sort  of  fowl  or 
cutlets,  and  sweets  or  ices  with  tea  or  coffee. 
One  rouble  was  all  they  charged  for  this  meal. 

I  was  quite  astonished  with  the  richness  of 
Manchuria.  During  the  first  couple  of  days,  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach  on  either  side  of  the 
railway,  every  acre  of  land  seemed  to  be  tilled. 
Harbine,  which  is  reached  the  second  day  of 
the  journey,  is  a  city  that  has  been  built  by  the 
Russians,  and  is  already  a  place  of  considerable 
importance.  Since  1900  four  large  American 
roller  mills  have  been  erected  there.     There  is 


IIAHBIXK,    THE    Nl-W   TOWN    I'.Ull  T    BY    TIIIC    RUSSIANS. 


[Photo. 


practically  an  unlimited  supply  of  wheat  to  be 
obtained  from  the  country  round  at  a  very  low 
price,  and  an  immense  demand  for  flour,  so  it 
was  not  surprising  to  learn  that  the  proprietors 
of  one  of  the  mills  made  sufficient  profit  in  the 
first  eighteen  months  to  pay  for  the  cost  of  its 
erection. 

There  is  an  interesting  piece  of  railway  travel- 
ling in  crossing  the  Kilgran  Mountains,  where, 
with   an   engine   before   and    behind,    the  train 


llli:     WIDE     WOKl.li     M  At  ".A/INK. 


summit     A  tunnel  a  mile  and 

■n  at 

with  the  development 
and  thai  "i  Manchuria  is  a  white 

us,  bracing 
air  that  stimulates  and  invigoral 

than  in  wheat 
n.ula  :  then-  is  not  a  very 

verely  as    the 

■  1  lead  one   to  expect     This 

•  I  'ranee  and  ( lermany 

will  almost   immediately   become   a 


here  was  ninety -four  roubles  first-class,  fifty- 
seven  roubles  and  fifty  kopecks  second  ;  and 
from  there  to  Moscow  it  is  a  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  roubles  first-class  and  one  hundred  and 
eight  second. 

The  Customs  examination  by  the  courteous 
Russians  was  a  purely  formal  affair.  Our 
tickets  were  handed  over  to  the  chef  detrain,  and 
we  had  no  more  trouble  with  them  until  we 
reached  our  destination.  After  crossing  into 
Siberia  the  country  traversed  reminds  one 
forcibly  of  the  South  African  veldt,  save  that  the 
grass  appeared  to  me  to  be  closer  and  more 
luxuriant.      Here  and   there    immense    herds  of 


i  T   OF    DALNEY. 


[Photo. 


i  it  only  requires  a  very 

■    m   the  pr  ,n   the 

impetition  of  Manchurian 

felt  in   the  markets  of  the   Pacifii    ports. 

ria  and   Siberia,    how< 

are 

d    every- 

and  in  the  imn  est  land 

iw-mill,  all  the  timber 

on  Saturday  night 
tion  on  Wednesday 

lamination 
.   ticket  '  i  k»_-n. 

k    right     thi  >ug1 

P   to 


rattle  were  to  be  seen,  tended  by  types  of  the 
nomad  aborigines  on  shaggy  little  Mongolian 
ponies. 

A  little  child  who  had  been  looking  through 
the  window  for  some  time  in  silence  turned  to 
her  mother  and  said,  "  What  a  great,  big  country 
this  is,  mother!  She  voiced  exactly  the  im- 
pression that  is  made  on  everyone  travelling 
through  it.  There  is  something  almost  awe- 
inspiring  in  the  bigness  of  it.  After  spending 
the  whole  day  going  through  undulating  prairie- 
land  without  a  solitary  tree  visible  to  the 
ids  of  the  far-off  horizon,  we  would  wake  in 
the  morning  to  find  ourselves  going  through  a 
i  covered  with  magnificent  primeval 
forest      This    variety    in    the    character   of  the 


FROM    PEKIN    TO    PARIS    BY    RAIL. 


123 


A    TRAIN    GOING   ON    BOARD   THE    ICE-BREAKING   STEAMER — SHE   CAN   CARRV    THREE    WHOLE    TRAINS 

From  a\  at  a  time.  \ Photo. 


country  takes  away  from  the  monotony  of  the 
journey.  The  train  proceeds  leisurely,  averaging 
a  little  over  twenty-one  miles  an  hour,  and 
makes  frequent  stops.  Sometimes  it  waits  as 
long  as  three-quarters  of  an  hour,  which  gives 
one  time  for  a  short  walk  and  a  glimpse  of  the 
towns  or  villages  on  the  way.  In  the  crowds  of 
inhabitants,  whose  curiosity  brings  them  to  the 
stations,  one  finds  all  sorts  of  strange  types. 
The  Chinese  in  Manchuria  merge  in  racial 
gradations  into  those  of  Eastern  Siberia,  and  one 
observes  the  gra- 
dual change  in 
costume  until,  as 
one  proceeds 
westward,  every- 
thing becomes 
purely  Russian. 

A  most  inter- 
esting break  in 
the  journey  is  the 
crossing  of  Lake 
Baikal  in  the 
great  ice  -  break- 
ing steamer.  A 
line  is  in  course 
of  construction 
which  will  go 
round  the  south- 
ern end  of  the 
lake,  but  it  will 
be  more  than  a 
yeai    before   this 


On  the  trip  we  made  in  the  ice-breaker  she 
carried  three  whole  trains  across  and  the 
journey  took  exactly  four  hours.  Late 
though  it  was  in  the  season,  the  ice  for  a 
couple  of  miles  from  the  shore  on  the  east  side 
was  about  two  feet  thick.  There  is  a  propeller 
beneath  the  bow  which  sucks  away  the  water, 
and  the  great  flat  bow  crashes  down  on  the 
surface  of  the  ice  with  a  loud  noise.  Only 
four  weeks  before  we  were  there  the  crossing 
had    to    be    made    on    sleighs.       The    scenery 


IS      completed.  Frvma] 


LAKE    BAIKAL    AFTER   THE    PASSAGE   OF   THE   ICE-BREAKER. 


\Photo. 


124 


NIK    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


•    the    mountains    surrounding    the    lake     is 

fin<        fhe  Eastei      I  Railwa) 

Baikal,  and  after 

the  lake  one  finds  waiting  either  the 

n  Imperial  expn  ain  oi  the  ( !om- 


the  settlers  arc  just  ordinary  goods  waggons, 
which,  for  military  purposes,  bear  the  significant 
legend,  "To  carry  forty  men  or  eight  horses." 
In  the  centre  of  each  was  a  stove  with  a  chimney 
through  the  middle  of  the  roof,  and  at  each  end 


i 


A    Kl'SslAN    FUNERAL    AT    IRKUTSK. 


{Photo. 


lie    Internationale    des   Wagons-Lits,   whirl) 
ght  through  without  change  to  Moscow. 
tremely  picturesque  journey  of  two 
rig   the  left  bank    of  the   Angara    we 
Irkutsk,   the  administrative  capital  of 
This  was  one  of  the  places  at  which  I 
Ice   my  journey,   and  it   well  repays  a  visit. 
lb"  a    good     insight    into    the 

empire-building  which  is  in  progress  throughout 
thi-  mntry.     It  is  a  hand- 

town,  half  encircled  by  a 
broad  river  which  sweeps  around 
it.      There    are  fine 

chur  whose  and 

cupolas,  with  their  green   t 

tal    dis- 
to     its      ap] 

with 
■  long 
difficult  to  iin 
in    the 
ria. 

■'  saw 

f    that 

irds  along  the 
rom      1  into 

I  rain   after   train   full 
daily. 


were  three  broad  shelves,  the  top  one  for  luggage 
and  the  other  two  capable  ot  holding  five  or  six 
people  lying  side  by  side.  Physically,  these 
emigrants  are  magnificent  specimens  of  humanity, 
deep  chested,  strong,  and  healthy.  As  a  rule  they 
were  well  clothed,  the  men  with  fur  caps  and 
high  top-boots  and  the  women  in  thick  woollen 
gowns  with  bright  handkerchiefs  tied  over  their 
heads.     Hot  water  is  supplied  at  all  the  stations, 


EMIGRANTS    AT    A    WAYSIDE    STATION. 


[  Photo. 


FROM    PEKIN'    TO    PARIS    BY    RAIL 


125 


and  there  are  booths  and  stalls  alongside  the 
principal  ones,  where  excellent  food  is  to  be 
obtained  at  very  low  prices.  Ten  eggs  can 
be  bought  for  twopence  halfpenny.  Milk, 
huge  loaves  of  bread,  and  those  enormous 
sausages  so  dear  to  the  Russians  seemed  to  be 
the  principal  viands.  The  paternal  Government 
of  Russia  treats  the  emigrants  very  much  like 
children.  Doctors  are  provided  at  stations 
along  the  route,  and  when  they  arrive  near  their 
destination   carts  are  at  hand   to  convey  them 


the  promised  land  of  Siberia.  The  villages  and 
houses  of  the  Siberian  peasantry  were  far  more 
comfortable-looking,  and  I  was  not  surprised  to 
hear  that  the  standard  of  comfort  is  much  higher 
there  than  in  Russia. 

For  one  travelling  with  limited  time  at  his 
disposal  Moscow  is  better  worth  lingering  at 
than  St.  Petersburg.  St  Petersburg  is  European  ; 
Moscow  is  purely  and  thoroughly  Russian. 
The  journey  from  Moscow  to  Paris  takes  two 
days  and  a    half,  which  makes  the  total  journey 


From  a\ 


A    BATCH    OF    EXILES    FOR    SIBERIA. 


{Photo. 


to  the  ground  assigned  them.  For  the  first 
three  years  they  are  exempt  from  all  taxation, 
for  the  following  three  they  are  only  required  to 
pay  half,  and,  in  addition,  they  are  given  free 
timber  for  the  erection  of  their  houses  and  can 
obtain  agricultural  implements  from  the  Govern- 
ment on  a  system  of  easy  payments. 

On  the  journey  I  passed  three  trains  carrying 
prisoners.  There  were  iron*  bars  across  the 
windows  and  soldiers  as  guards  at  each  end  of 
the  carriages.  One^of  them  was  laden  with 
political  prisoners,  &nd  some  refined  and  in- 
tellectual faces  looked  out  from  between  the 
bars. 

Coming  into  European  Russia  was  a  rapid 
progress  into  summer.  The  harvest,  which  in 
Siberia  was  only  just  showing  above  the  ground, 
was  here  waving  in  rich  luxuriance.  The  mean 
houses  and  squalor  of  most  of  the  Russian 
villages  afforded  explanation  for  the  cheerfulness 
and  light-hearted  spirit   of    these    emigrants  to 


from  Pekin  to  Paris  seventeen  days.  The  cost 
first-class  all  the  way  is  just  thirty-nine  pounds, 
and  twenty-seven  second-class.  This  makes 
it  to  my  mind  the  cheapest  railway  journey 
in  the  world.  It  is  necessary  to  go  first-class 
from  Pekin  to  Newchwang,  but  from  there  to 
Moscow  second-class  is  every  bit  as  comfortable. 
With  the  experience  of  not  a  little  railway 
travelling  (I  have  been  five  times  across  the 
American  continent  by  different  lines)  I  have  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  I  consider  this  journey 
by  the  Trans-Siberian  the  most  comfortable 
long-distance  railway  journey  I  know.  It  is 
obvious  what  an  effect  it  will  have  in  making 
the  most  interesting  places  in  the  East  comfort- 
ably accessible  to  travellers.  A  new  service 
will  be  in  operation  next  year  between  Dalney 
and  Japan  which  will  reduce  the  journey  from 
Dalney  to  Tokio  to  only  forty-eight  hours,  so 
that  it  will  be  possible  to  go  from  London  to 
the  capital  of  Japan  in  eighteen  and  a  half  days. 


A  Voyage    Down   a    Burning    Flume. 

l'.\    Harris    I".  Silverton,  of  Broken   Hill,  New  South  Wales. 

A   thrill:-  -of-the-way  experience.     Cut  off  by  a  forest  fire,  the  author  and  his  friends  had  no 

pen  to  them   than  a  trip  down  a  water-flume  which  carried   timber  to  the  mines. 
The  Hume  itself  caught  fire,  and  the  party  only  made  the  terrible  journey  just  in  time. 


Ill  ll  !  N  Mill   ride  down  a  burn 
water-flume   through    a    raging 
fire  was  not  one  of  the  things 
t  coi  templated  wh<  n  I  set  out  on  a 
irowie,  away   in   the    un 
if  Central  New  South  Wales, 
i    if    1    ever    make    this    lonely 
my    permanent    place   ol    residence— 
I  trust  1  shall  never  haw- 
such  a  trip  again. 
5  how   it    happened.       My   chum,    Mr. 
|.    I  .   u    will  known    Australian   hush 

rontn  nd    I    had    arranged    to    visit 

I   pal    Mines,  which  arc  owned  by 
I  .    1.    Mars,   one   of  the  wealthiest  of  the 
nining  magnati  s. 

d  the  mines  I   noticed  that  a 

[uantity  of  timber  was   used   about   the 

nd.  not  having  seen  any  suitable  wood 

.    I    asked   whence  it  came.      Mr. 

Id   me  that    he  had  some  large  timber 

out  fifteen  miles  away,  and  when  I 

I   how  they  got  the  timber  to  the  mines 

I  v..  d  that  it  all  came  down  a  flume. 


THE    AUTHOR,    MR.    HARRIS    l.   SILVERTON,    OF    BROKEN    HILL, 
NEW    SOUTH    WALES. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Friihling  Studio,  Adelaide. 


THE    PLUMB   CARRIED   TIMBER     FROM    THE    FORFST    TO 

[Photo. 


or  water-race,  as 
it  was  almost 
impossible  to 
construct  a  road 
through  such 
country. 

That  was  the 
beginning  of  my 
connection  with 
the  flume.  Un- 
doubtedly it  is  a 
wonderful  piece 
of  engineering. 
It  is  built  upon 
trestles  and 
stringers,  and 
the  incline  is  so 
pronounced  that 
there  is  little 
possibility  of  the 
logs  jamming. 
The  trestlework 
is  very  substan- 
tial, and  would 
easily     carry     a 


A    VOYAGE    DOWN    A    BURNING    FLUME. 


127 


narrow-gauge  railway.  The  flume  runs  over 
hills,  through  valley's,  and  around  mountains, 
and  is  in  places  seventy  feet  high.  The  highest 
point  above  the  plain  is  three  thousand  six 
hundred  feet.     As  the  crow 

flies    the    flume    is    seven  

miles  in  length  ;  the  twists 
and  turns  make  up  the 
other  eight  miles  of  its 
course.  The  fall,  I  was 
told,  is  two  thousand  feet 
in  the  fifteen  miles,  and  the 
sharpest  fall  is  three  feet 
m  six.  The  water  is  sup- 
plied by  two  reservoirs,  and 
the  whole  flume  was  built 
in  ten  weeks,  two  hundred 
men  being  employed  on  it. 
In  its  construction  two 
million  feet  of  lumber  was 
used  and  no  less  than 
twenty-eight  tons  of  nails. 
With  all  its  appurtenances 
the  flume  cost  twenty  thou- 
sand pounds.  These  details,  with  the  accom- 
panying photographs,  will  perhaps  enable  the 
reader  to  understand  my  story  better. 

A  proposal  from  Mr.  Mars  that  we  should  visit 
the  source  of  this  flume  metwith  a  ready  response, 
and,  horses  being  sup- 
plied, we  found  ourselves, 
after  a  circuitous  ride  of 
three  hours  over  rough 
ground,  well  within  the 
timber  "limits."  After 
observing  the  method  of 
cutting  and  launching  the 
timber  on  its  journey  down 
the  chute,  we  sat  down  to 
a  typical  Australian  bush 
dinner,  after  which  we 
started  making  our  fare- 
wells, preparatory  to  the 
return  journey  to  the  mines. 

Suddenly,  however,  our 
attention  was  arrested  by 
the  peculiar  density  and 
fog-like  appearance  of  the 
atmosphere  a  few  miles 
away.  Instantly  the  camp 
was  in  a  commotion,  for  the 
experienced  eyes  of  the 
timber-cutters  detected  that 
most  dreaded  of  Australian 
scourges — a  bush  fire  ! 

My  friend  and  I  wanted  to  return  immedi- 
ately, but  Mr.  Mars  laughed  derisively,  telling 
us  that  the  fire  in  its  onward  course  would  pass 
directly  over   the  track  whicli  we  must  traverse, 


MR.     \V.    J.     DOGERTY,     THE    WELL  -   KNOWN 

AUSTRALIAN     BUSH     MAIL-CONTRACTOR. 

From  a  Photo. 


MR.    F.     J.     MARS,    THE     OWNER     OF     THE     OI'AL 

From  a]  mines.  [Photo. 


and,    in    consequence,    our     lives    would     be 
jeopardized. 

Here   was    a  predicament,  and  no    mistake ! 
It    was    absolutely    necessary   that   we   should 

return,  in  order  to  catch 
the  mail  coach,  which  only 
passed  the  district  bi- 
weekly ;  moreover,  the  pro- 
spects of  making  a  pro- 
longed stay  in  such  an  in- 
hospitable region  were  by 
no  means  alluring. 

After  an  anxious  consul- 
tation we  at  length  per- 
suaded Mr.  Mars,  much 
against  his  will,  to  make 
a  dash  for  home,  trusting 
to  get  through  the  belt  of 
timber  before  the  flames 
reached  the  road.  Our 
inexperience  and  stubborn- 
ness almost  cost  us  our 
lives. 

Mounting  our  horses,  we 
started  off  at  a  hard  gallop,  and  soon  felt  the 
effects  of  the  approaching  fire.  The  atmosphere 
was  hot  and  oppressive,  the  air  was  filled  with 
smoke,  and  away  behind  and  on  either  side 
sounded  an  ominous  crackling  and  a  subdued 

roaring  as  the  flames  ate 
their  way  onwards.  The 
horses  became  restive,  birds 
flew  wildly  by,  and  reptiles 
could  be  seen  scurrying  to 
the  rocky  headlands  for 
shelter. 

After  galloping  a  few 
miles  at  our  best  pace  I  saw 
that  our  self-imposed  task 
was  hopeless  ;  the  fire  was 
steadily  outflanking  us  and 
gaining  upon  us  in  its  in- 
exorable march  across  the 
forest.  To  proceed  meant 
courting  certain  death. 
Mars  evidently  thought  the 
same,  for  he  drew  rein, 
exclaiming  that  to  proceed 
farther  by  road  was  hopeless. 
We  were  now  within  a 
short  distance  of  the  first 
of  the  water-wheel  reservoirs 
that  provide  the  flume  with 
water  ;  and  our  leader  in- 
formed us  that  our  only 
chance  of  escape— and  that  a  desperate  one — 
was  to  reach  the  reservoir  and  thence  travel 
to  the-  mines  by  water,  via  the  flume.  The 
proposal  did  not  convey  very  much  to  us,  but 


:  in 


WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


|  I  .   us. 


trough  than  anything  else. 
It  tapered  to  a  point  at  the 
front,  but  was  more  or  less 
open  at  the  back. 

As  quickly  as  possible  this 
odd  craft  was  placed  in  the 
flume,  kept  stationary  in  the 
rushing  torrent  by  a  stout 
rope.  1  noticed  that  its 
edges,  or  sides,  just  fitted  the 
Hume.  This  boat,  it  appeared, 
was  utilized  by  the  timber- 
men  to  carry  tools,  such  as 
crowbars,  hammers,  etc.,  to 
repair  the  flume  or  to  dis- 
lodge jammed  logs,  the  men 
walking  on  a  footboard  along- 
side the  water  and  holding 
the  boat  back  with  a  rope 

Into  this  weird  vessel  Mars 
now  told  me  to  jump. 
Human  beings,  not  tools, 
were  going  to  make  the  trip 
down  the  flume  this  time, 
with  no  steadying  rope  be 
hind  to  check  the  mad  pace 
of  the  boat ! 

I  looked  at  the  flume. 
(  )wing  to  the  heavy  gradient 
the  water  was  dashing  down 
at  a  tremendous  pace,  and 
I  do  not  mind  admitting 
that  my  heart  failed  me. 
Behind    us  was   that  sea  of 


our 
-    and    I  f  for 

r. 

hed  the 
Hid  I 

I    our 

■ 

ir  our 
liber- 

■ 

tim- 
'd  do 
r    them. 
i 

iume, 

ich 

g 


THE    V.  ATEK-tt'HEEL   RESERVOIRS    WHICH    Bl 


[Photo. 


A    VOYAGE     DOWN    A     BURNING    FLUME. 


i  20 


fire,  advancing  to  engulf  us  ;  and  the  prospect 
in  front  seemed  only  death  in  another  form. 

To  reassure  us  Mars  himself  stepped  into  the 
boat,  and  then  my  courage  returned.  If  a  man 
worth  a  million  was  prepared  to  risk  his  life,  I 
thought  I  could  afford  to  risk  my  less  valuable 
self.  So  Dogerty  and  I  got  in,  the  rope  was 
cast  off,  and  with  a  wild  rush  we  were  off. 

The  terrors  of  that  awful  ride  will  never  be 
effaced  from  the  memory  of  at  least  one  of 
the  party.  At  the  start  we  went  at  the  rate 
of  about  twenty  miles  an  hour,  borne  along 
like  a  cork  on  the  surface  of  the  water.  At 
the  heaviest  grades  the  water  came  in  so 
furiously  in  front  that  it  was  impossible  to  see 
where  we  were  going  or  what  was  ahead  of 
us  ;  hut  when  the  grade  was  light  and  we 
travelled  more  slowly  the  view  over  the  forests 
and  hills  was  delightful,  although  at  times  awe- 
inspiring.  When  the  showers  of 
spray  allowed  me  to  look  around 
I  could  see  the  trestlework  extend- 
ing ahead  of  us  for  miles,  so 
small  and  narrow  that  I  can  only 
compare  it  to  a  slender  cord 
winding  in  and  out  among  the 
hills.  And  all  the  time,  high  in 
the  air,  we  were  sliding  along  at 
a  terrific  rate. 

The  minutes  seemed  hours  as 
we  sped  on,  and  the  overpower- 
ing feeling  caused  by  the  smoke 
from  the  burning  forest,  with  its 
green  leaves  and  resinous  woods, 
made  us  dizzy  and  faint.  It  was 
evident  that  the  fire  was  now  ver^ 
near  us. 

It  seemed  hours  before  we 
reached  the  most  dangerous  part 
of  the  flume,  where,  Mars  in- 
formed us,  the  flume  had  nearly 
forty-five  degrees  of  inclination  ! 
It  was  here,  if  anywhere,  that 
the  fire  would  cut  us  off.  The 
suspense  as  we  approached  it  was 
terrible.  The  flames  and  smoke 
seemed  all  around  us,  licking  at 
the  woodwork  and  eddying  over 
the  swirling  water  as  we  dashed 
onwards,  apparently  to  our  doom. 

It  was  a  race  for  life  —  run 
under  conditions  which  have 
surely  never  been  duplicated. 
Should  we  be  enabled  to  pass  this 
dreaded  spot  ere  the  flames  en- 
gulfed the  flume,  or  should  we 
rush  into  a  vortex  of  fire,  smoke, 
and  steam  where  death  would 
;ome  swift  and  awful  ? 

Vol.  xii.— 17. 


How  our  flying  boat  kept  the  track  is  more 
than  I  know.  During  the  easy  grades  I  had 
decided  to  try  and  form  some  idea  of  the  speed 
we  were  travelling  at,  but  when  the  danger 
came  so  close  I  had  other  things  to  think  about. 
I  huddled  close  to  Mars  and  looked  towards 
the  blazing  hills.  Everything  was  hazy,  the  heat 
insufferable,  and  the  smoke  choking.  Every 
object  I  rested  my  eyes  on  was  gone  before  I 
could  plainly  discern  what  it  was. 

The  roar  of  the  flames  was  getting  nearer 
every  second,  and  already  red-hot  ashes  and 
burning  leaves  were  dropping  all  around  us. 
Mountains  passed  like  visions  and  shadows, 
and  it  was  with  difficulty  we  could  draw  breath, 
huddled  there  in  the  boat,  clutching  it 
desperately,  every  now  and  then  blinded  and 
drenched  with  showers  of  spray. 

Another    minute    and    we    had    reached    the 


A    NIGHTMARE    OF    FIKE   AND   SMOKE    AN'D    HORMlR. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


<)F  our  boat  moke  dead  than  alive. 


We 

sur- 
fire— 

■ 

g  furi- 

i 

Jt    to 

■ 


horror — and  we  were  through 
the  seething  mass  and  the 
blazing  area  left  behind. 

Not  much  more  remains 
to  be  said.  We  reached  the 
end  of  the  flume  in  safety, 
to  the  vast  wonderment  of 
the  timbermen.  We  were 
thoroughly  drenched,  and 
were  helped  out  of  our  boat 
more  dead  than  alive. 

We  had  made  that  awful 
journey  in  less  time  than  an 
ordinary  railway  train,  and 
part  of  the  distance — when 
we  shot  through  the  fire  at 
the  place  where  the  flume 
was  burning — we  went  faster, 
I  believe,  than  a  railway  train 
ever  went.  The  trip  occu- 
pied approximately  twenty 
minutes.  It  seemed  like 
twenty  centuries  ! 

Mars  declared  he  wouldn't 
make  the  journey  again  for 
the  whole  of  Eurowie ;  and 
Dogerty  said  he  would  never 
again  place  himself  on  an 
equality  with  lumber.  As  for 
me,  I  was  too  limp  to  say  any- 
thing. Next  morning  we 
learnt  that  the  fire  had  badly 
burnt  a  section  of  the  trestle- 
work,  which  would  have  to 
be  replaced,  be- 
sides utterly  des- 
troying a  valuable 
timber  "limit." 
A  heavy  down- 
fall of  rain  dur- 
ing the  night, 
however,  had  for- 
tunately retarded 
its     further     pro- 


gress. 


Neither  Mars 
nor  Dogerty  was 
able  to  leave 
his  bed,  whilst 
I  had  only  suffi- 
cient strength 
to  say  that  I 
had  had  enough 
of  flumes  to  last 
me  to  my  dying 
day.  And 
that  statement 
I  repeat. 


THE    FINISH    OF    THE    I 


Describing   how  a  dispute    between  second-year  students    and    "  Freshmen  "   at    the  University 

of    Pennsylvania    led    to   the    establishment    of    a    remarkable    annual    contest    known    as  "  The 

Battle  of    the    Bowl."      The    "battle,"    which  is    a   very    realistic    and   exciting   affair,    is   well 

illustrated    in    the    photographs   which    accompany  the    article. 


HAT    brain 
developed 
established 
educational 


and    brawn    should    be 

synchronously      is     an 

tenet      in      American 

circles.        The    faculty 


of  most  institutes  of  learning  in  the 
United  States  take  more  than  a  casual  interest 
in  the  athletic  department  of  the  college.  So 
long  as  athletics  do  not  clash  with  studies  they 
have  the  warm  approval  of  the  educational 
authorities.  A  wide  latitude  is  allowed  American 
University  students  in  the  matter  of  inter-class 
contests,  and  so  long  as  the  public  peace  is  not 
disturbed  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  scrim- 
mages, impromptu  hand-to-hand  conflicts,  and 
dormitory  forays  that  are  as  common  a  feature 
of  college  life  in  the  United  States  as  duels 
among  students  in  Germany. 

But  there  is  one  annual  event,  peculiar  to  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania  and  known  as  "The 
Battle  of  the  Bowl,"  that  narrowly  escaped 
official  interdiction  this  year  because  of  the 
unusually  ferocious  nature  of  the  combat,  and 
the  fact  that  a  college  boy,  the  son  of  a  pro- 
minent clergyman  of  Philadelphia,  was  .  left 
senseless  when  the  battle  ended  and  hovered 
between  life  and  death  for  many  days. 

The  Battle  of  the  Bowl  has  come  to  be 
regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  contests 
of  Pennsylvania  University.  The  story  of  its 
origin  is  interesting  as  showing  upon  what  very 
small  incidents  great  events  turn  in  the  life  of 
the  college  boy. 

One  hot  day,  several  summers  ago,  a  group  of 


second-year  men  were  kicking  their  heels  in  the 
grounds  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  when 
a  very  young-looking  Freshman,  passing  oppor- 
tunely, aroused  their  dormant  interest  in  matters 
extraneous.  A  shower  of  chaff  was  directed  at 
the  youngster  as  he  passed  on  his  innocent  way. 
Finding  the  subject  a  good  means  of  diversion 
in  warm  weather,  the  Sophomores  decided  to 
follow  up  the  joke.  An  enormous  bowl  was 
obtained  and  filled  with  food  of  the  kind 
usually  given  to  infants,  and  with  the  largest 
spoon  to  be  found  on  such  short  notice  the 
luckless  Freshman  was  forced  to  swallow  a 
liberal  allowance  of  the  mess. 

The  news  that  the  Sophomores  were  perse- 
cuting a  member  of  their  honourable  body 
speedily  reached  the  ears  of  the  Freshmen, 
and  vengeful  hosts  descended  on  the  scene  of 
the  feeding  operation.  A  hot  fight  ensued, 
every  availal ile  man  on  both  sides  being  brought 
up  to  swell  the  opposing  ranks.  When  the 
excitement  had  calmed  down  it  was  expected 
that  the  affair  would  prove  nothing  more  than 
an  ordinary  college  scuffle,  to  be  heard  of  no 
more.  Some  of  the  Sophomores,  however,  had 
been  roughly  handled  by  the  swarm  of  Freshmen, 
and  they  were  by  no  means  willing  to  allow  the 
matter  to  rest. 

Another  Freshman  was  caught  the  next  day 
and  forced  to  swallow  infants'  food  from  a 
bowl.  Spoons  appeared  from  everywhere  as  if 
by  magic,  and  the  college  precincts  were  filled 
with     struggling     groups     centralizing    around 


mi;    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


. 


READY    FOB    TIP-:     FRAY. 


[Peirce  &  Jones. 


p  quieting  matters  by  ordi- 

students  called  a  meeting 

the  bowl  fight  an  annual 

c  ilar  rules  drawn  up  for  the  contest. 

1    ttle  of  the  Bowl   has  been 

ir  at   the  University  of  Penn- 

i  in  the  following  way  :— 


The  .Sophomores  and  Freshmen  of  the  college 
are  drawn  up  on  opposite  sides  of  a  field 
attached  to  the  college  grounds.  In  possession 
of  the  second-year  men  is  a  large  bowl,  orna- 
mented with  the  crest  of  the  college  and  the 
insignia  of  the  different  classes.  The  Freshmen 
are  then  told  to  bring  to  the  centre  of  the  field 


/  - 


THE    BEGINNING   OP   THE   BATTLE. 


[Peirce  &>  Jones. 


THE    BATTLE    OF    THE    BOWL. 


133 


SOPHOMORES   AND    FRESHMEN    WATCHING   THE   STRUGGLE 

from  a  Photo,  hy  Peirce  &* 

the  man  whom  they  have  selected  for  the 
position  of  "  bovvlman."  The  identity  of  this 
individual  is  kept  a  strict  secret  until  the 
last  moment,  as  otherwise  the  Sophomores 
would  kidnap  him --he  being  always  the 
strongest  Freshman — and  thus  force  the  juniors 
to  bring  forward  an  inferior  article. 

When  the  bowl  man  has  been  brought  to  the 
front  i.he  referee  blows  his  whistle  and  the  tight 
begins.      During  the  first  half  it  is  the  object  of 


the  Sophomores 
to  touch  the  bowl- 
m  a  1 1  with  the 
bowl  before  he 
can  escape  over 
the  fence  behind 
them.  If  the 
bowl  man  scales 
the  fence  before 
he  can  be  touched 
the  Freshmen  win 
the  half.  This  year 
the  Freshmen 
formed  a  hollow 
square  around 
their  bowlman 
and,  successfully 
resisting  the 
efforts  of  the 
Sophomores  to 
break  through, 
rushed  their 
champion  over 
the  fence  in  a 
minute  and  a  half 
after  the  battle 
began. 

The  second 
half  is  a  different 
affair  to  the  first.  In  this  half  the  bowl  is  placed 
in  the  centre  of  the  crowd  of  Sophomores  and 
Freshmen,  and  when  the  signal  is  given  both 
sides  are  at  liberty  to  rage  around  it  as  they 
please  for  ten  minutes.  At  the  end  of  that  time 
the  whistle  is  blown  again  and  the  referee  counts 
the  number  of  hands  holding  to  the  bowl. 
According  as  the  owners  of  the  hands  are 
Freshmen  or  Sophomores  the  palm  of  victory 
goes.    This  year  the  Freshmen  won  this  half  also. 


FROM    THE   COLLEGE    BUILDINGS. 

Jones. 


From  a  PI Otff.  M  FRESHMEN    ENDEAVOURING    TO    RUSH    THEIR    "  BOWLMAN  "    THROUGH    THE   ENEMY S    RANK 


Peirce  •."-'  fona 


THE     Wini:     WORLD    MACAZIXI 


Frou     i   -       to.  by  Pcirce  &*  Jones. 

■\1  is  hardly  a  sight  for 
I    public,    for  the    hoys   go  into   the 
;  .ill  superfluous  garments,  and 
!  it  with    considerably  less 
:it   in.     Nevertheless,    there    are 
rowned 
seen 
'v    from 
:lege 
>ture 
• 

and 

■ 

ind    the 

uen 


strongest  men  to 
hold  on  to  that 
trophy  while  the 
rest  concentrated 
their  attention  on 
cutting  out  isola- 
ted Sophomores 
from  the  ruck  and 
holding  them 
prisoners  until 
the  fight  was  over. 
Two  or  three 
Freshmen  would 
grab  a  "  Soph," 
drag  him  bodily, 
kicking  and 
squirming,  to  the 
outside  of  the 
ring,  and  there 
sit  on  him  while 
the  battle  progres- 
sed. With  their 
strongest  chain 
pions  thus  taken 
from  the  fight  the 
Sophomores  were 
unable  to-  make 
headway  against 
the  rushes  of 
the  Freshmen, 
and     superior 


numbers  ultimately  won  the  day. 

After  the  fight  the  dusty  and  perspiring  con- 
querors paraded  with  the  bowl  around  the 
college  grounds,  singing  songs  of  victory  and 
triumph. 


From  a  Plioto.  by] 


THE  BOWL  AND   ITS  GUARDIANS. 


[Fcirce  &  Jones. 


Our  Trek   into   Griqualand. 


By  Mrs.    Fred    Maturin. 


I. 


The  authoress  undertook  a  long  and  arduous  trek  into  Griqualand  in  a  Cape-cart  in  order  to 
witness  something  of  the  "  repatriation  "  of  the  Boers.  She  describes  her  adventures  in  a  bright 
and  amusing  fashion,  and  throws  some  interesting  side-lights  on  the  state  of  affairs  now  prevailing 

in  the  new  Colonies. 


rifJRVl 


Auckland  Valley,  Johannesburg. 
E  were  to  have  started  last  night  for 
our  trek  into  Griqualand,  instead  of 
which  I  am  lying  on  my  bed  with  a 
swollen  ankle  and  the  rest  of  me 
a  mass  of  bruises,  and  it  is  all  the 
fault  of  Spotty. 

Special  carriages  were  secured  in  the  train 
which  was  to  take  us  as  far  as  Klerksdorp,  and 
Spotty  was  enjoined  to  fetch  me  from  here 
before  dark.  But  whatever  Spotty  undertakes 
goes  wrong.  He  is  the  essence  of  laziness,  and 
he  never  started  from  Johannesburg  till  after 
dark  ;  managed,  of  course,  to  secure  jibbing 
horses ;  and  the  consequence  was  we  lost  our 
train  by  four  solid  hours,  spending  that  time 
out  on  the  pitch-dark  veldt  between  here  and 
Johannesburg,  in  imminent  peril  of  our  lives, 
having  completely  lost  the  road  and  got  out  on 
to  that  part  of  the  veldt  where  chasms  and  holes 
and  nasty  places  abound. 

One  minute  our  carriage  was  being  galloped 
up  a  rocky  kopje  ;  the  next  we  went  crash  into 
a  disused  gold  claim ;  then  into  a  barbed-wire 
fence  Then  a  yell  from  the  Kaffir  driver,  "  Get 
off  quick,  missis,"  just  as  a  precipice  yawned 
behind  our  carriage-wheels. 

Spotty,  knowing  that  relays  of  mules  were 
waiting  for  us  all  along  the  veldt  beyond 
Klerksdorp,.  and   that   "  Me-Charlie  "  (Captain 

E )  would  be  rightly  furious  with  him  for 

his  carelessness,  perspired  freely  and  slashed  at 
the  horses,  imploring  me  to  "sit  tight." 

This  is  Spotty  all  over.  He  only  wanted  to 
save  himself  from  blame  and  catch  that  train. 
When  my  head  and  limbs  felt  as  if  I  had 
been  beaten,  and  my  heavy  portmanteau  had 
described  a  circle  in  the  air  and  descended 
upon  my  feet  and  shoulders  three  times,  I  lost 
my  temper  and  refused  to  go  on,  train  or  no 
train.  It  took  another  two  hours  to  induce  the 
ponies  to  return  to  my  house — it  was  now 
midnight— and  was  only  then  accomplished  by 
taking  them  out  of  the  shafts  and  dragging 
them  and  the  carriage  along  separately. 

We  roused  N ,  my  little  maid,  from  her 


slumbers,  and  Spotty  straightway  fainted — from 

fear  of  Captain  E 's  wrath,  I  suppose — on  to 

a  Boer  settle  in  the  stoep,  upon  which  N at 

night  spreads  all  the  stick-fast  fly-papers  we 
have  used  during  the  day.  On  to  six  of  these 
(one  mass  of  buzzing  flies  and  wasps)  Spotty 
sank  with  low  moans,  which  changed  into  loud 
ones  as  a  score  of  wasps  straightway  resented 
this  fresh  outrage  in  a  very  practical  manner, 
while  thousands  of  flies,  glued  between  the 
stick-fast  and  the  seat  of  Spotty's  trousers,  buzzed 
piteously  in  a  dismal  chorus. 

It  was  useless  to  turn  him  on  to  his  face  and 
try  to  remove  the  fly-papers.  We  tried,  but  he 
feebly  implored  us  to  stop  and  "  leave  them  on," 
which  it  seemed  more  discreet  to  do. 

Meanwhile,  a  large  party  of  friends  having 
collected  at  Johannesburg  Station  to  see  us  off, 
consternation  prevailed  when  K — ■ —  (who  had, 
unknown  to  me,  followed  our  carriage  on  his 
bicycle,  as  a  surprise,  taking  the  road  we  had 
gone)  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  we  had  lost  the 
track  and  been  killed. 

A  search-party  was  organized,  headed  by 
"  Me-Charlie "  (who  is  a  superintendent  of 
repatriation),  fairly  dancing  with  rage  at  the 
vision  of  his  mules  and  drivers  all  along  the 
veldt,  for  days  perhaps,  foodless  and  waterless, 
and  vowing  vengeance  on  that  "  infernal  little 
Spotty." 

No  dead  bodies  or  debris  being  found,  the 
search-party  arrived  at  my  cottage  about  3  a.m. 

Spotty  put  on  an  air  of  great   bravado,  and 

Captain    E straightway     went     for     him. 

Spotty,  his  trousers  plastered  with  fly-papers, 
stood  in  a  dignified  attitude  of  injured  virtue, 
while  Captain  E called  him  the  most  insult- 
ing names  he  could  think  of, 

Some    of     the    search-party    took     Captain 

E 's  part,    some    Spotty's,  but,   anyhow,    it 

ended  in  a  general  row. 

I  got  rid  of  them  all,  and  retired  to  bed 
aching,   and  here  I  am.     And  we  start   again 

to-night,    Captain   E having  gone  on   this 

morning  to  re-arrange  the  mules,  and  my  escort 
as  far  as   Klerksdorp  is  to  be  Spotty  !     It  will 


II II      WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


urg  and  its  market 
riqualand. 

off !  1  feel 
taken  for  a  honey- 
ni y  partner.     This 

iss  the  veldt 
{ II  course, 

our  carriage, 
f  and    said    it    was 

S|     tty,  rubbing   his   hands 
!   Johannes- 
waving  handken  hii  fs 
and    smiling, 
a  honeymoon  pair  !  " 


"Certainly,  please  do!"  I  tried  to  say,  but 
Spottv  was  loo  t|iiick  for  me. 

"  1     think     I     told    you     this    carriage    was 

■VYd.].'' 

"  Don't  see  any  signs  of  it,  stranger.  Anyhow, 
I've  got  to  come  in." 

Then,  with  another  most  objectionable  wink, 
as  he  arranged  his  things  for  the  night,  "Can't 
be  done,  me  boy-train  too  full.  Can't  be  done 
at  any  price  !  " 

"  Mr.   P ,"    said     I    to   Spotty,    furious, 

"why  should  this  gentleman  not  come  in  herd? 
For  my  part,  I  told  you,  to  start  with,  I  pre- 
ferred to  find  a  ladies'  compartment." 

But  the  American  was  not  so  easily  gul'eJ  — 
or  so  he  thought. 

"  Don't  distress  yourself,  my  dear  lady.      No 


" 


■■jr+~* 


* 


TO    DISTL'KI)    YOU,    MISTER. 


teful  idea  !     I 
osyllables 
hing  his  moustache 
■     and 

upwards,  now  his 

'i    again 
relief. 

with  a  wink, 

•     and  I've  got  to 

in  ':.•  • 


need  to  call  him    Mr.  P or  Mr.   Anything. 

Call  him  the  usual  thing  and  don't  mind  me. 
Don't  break  his  heart  because  of  me.  I  don't 
go  farther  than  Potchefstroom." 

I  could  have  murdered  both  the  Yankee  and 
Spotty.      I  turned  my  back  on  both. 

Outspanned  on  the  Veldt. 
We    had    breakfast    at    Klerksdorp   with    the 
triation   officers   in   their  cool   huts   on  the 
veldt,  with    Klerksdorp  simmering  half  a  mile 


OUR    TREK     INTO    GRI  QUA  LAND. 


137 


away  across  the  sunlit  plain.  I  had  a  bath  and 
did  my  hair,  and  right  glad  was  I  that  my  tete- 
a-tete  with  Spotty  was  at  an  end,  for  "Me- 
Charlie"  is  now  with  us. 

Our  Cape-cart  was  brought  up,  and  all  our 
luggage  tied  on  to  it  behind.  What  a  ram- 
shackle-looking thing  to  travel  all  those  hundreds 
of  miles  in  ! 

"  Is  it  safe  ? "  I  inquired,  dubiously  ; 
"mightn't  the  wheels  come  off?"  eyeing  the 
one  opposite  me,  which  had  a  limp,  tipsy- 
looking  air,  while  the  harness  was  tied  in  a 
dozen  places  with  tape  and  string. 

''  Oh,  that's  nothing  for  a  Cape-cart,  if  it 
does,  Mrs.  Maturin.  They  often  come  off. 
We  take  plenty  of  odd  straps,  bits  of  rope,  and 
chain,  for  repairs  in  case  of  accidents." 

"  But  doesn't  it 
hurt  if  the  wheel 
comes  off?  " 

"  Hurt  the  cart  ? 
Oh,  dear,  no  !  " 

"No!  Doesn't  it 
hurt  the  people  inside 
if  the  wheel  comes 
off?" 

"  Oh,  if  you  want 
to  trek  in  Africa  you 
must  Lret  used  to 
that !  That's  nothing! 
You're  lucky  if  that's 
all  that  happens.  Are 
you  ready  to  get  in  ? 
You  ought  to  be 
starting;  if  you  don't 
reach  Riet  font  tin 
before  dark  it  won't 
be  pleasant,  for 
there's  nowhere  else 
to  sleep." 

"  How  many  miles  is  it  ?  " 

"About  seventy-five.  You  change  mules 
first  at  Leuwkop.'' 

"Are  there  any  shops  anywhere  about  here?  " 
said  I,  gazing  at  the  veldt  around,  for  civilization 
and  the  railway  end  here. 

"You  surely  don't  want  to  start  shopping?" 
exclaimed  Captain  E ,  with  true  male  dismay. 

"  Tve  forgotten  all  my  stockings"  I  was  forced 
to  reply,  "  and  we  are  going  into  the  desert. 
Please  mayn't  I  buy  some  ?" 

What  man  could  resist  such  an  appeal  ? 

We  climbed  into  the  Cape-catt,  while  the 
long  team  of  mules  were  yelled  at  by  the  Kaffir 
boy  who  accompanied  us.  Then  we  bade 
farewell  to  our  kind  hosts,  and  with  a  jerk  and  a 
crash  which  sent  my  head  flying  against  the  top 
of  the  cart,  away  we  flew. 

It  was  a  truly  exquisite  morning  and  we  could 

Vol.  xii.— 18. 


THE  CAPE-CAKT  IN  V  HICH  THE   AlH 

From 


see  forty  miles  whichever  way  we  looked.  It 
was  early,  so  the  air  sparkled  like  diamonds 
and  was  delightfully  cool.  We  halted  a  few 
minutes  outside  a  general  store  on  the  edge  of 
the  township,  and  here  I  descended  and 
invested  in  stockings  and  a  Boer  sun-bonnet, 
which  I  donned  instead  of  my  African  sailoi 
hat.  Then,  with  fresh  yells  and  imprecation; 
from  the  Kaffir,  we  started  in  earnest  at  a  hare 
gallop,  oblivious  of  ruts,  holes,  and  dongas  ! 

Crash  we  went  over  and  through  everything 
— away,  away,  across  the  great  trackless  veldt. 

Klerksdorp  grew  smaller  and  smaller,  till  at 
last  it  became  only  a  smudge  on  the  sky-line, 
and  we  were  alone  !  As  much  alone  as  any  shir 
on  the  vast  ocean  ! 

There  is   something   marvellously  fascinating 

about  the  veldt.  You 
gaze  around  and 
draw  in  your  breath. 
Far  as  you  can  see 
around  there  is  not  a 
speck  !  Not  a  dwell- 
ing !  Not  a  tree  or  a 
shrub  !  The  cry  of 
an  eagle  somewhere 
in  the  blue  above, 
the  scuttle  of  a  grey 
meercat  across  the 
track  —  that  is  all. 
On  and  on  you  go. 
You  get  tired  of 
talking.  It  is  enough 
to  look.  Nothing  to 
see,  and  yet  so  much ! 
Of  what  importance 
becomes  every  speck 
you  do  see  !  A  man 
on  the  sky-line!  His 
very  limbs  and  pose 
stand  out,  silhouetted  black  against  the  everlast- 
ing blue.  He  is  carrying  something  on  his  head. 
How  far  is  he  off  ?  Oh,  quite  ten  miles!  Two 
hours'  hard  galloping  before  we  reach  him. 

Ah  !  a  ruined  Boer  farm  ;  the  first  we  have 
seen.  Its  blackened  arches  stand  as  if  toppling 
far  away  on  the  edge  of  the  world,  or  as  if  a 
child  were  building  bricks  on  the  rim  of  a  vast 
flat  table.  It  has  no  roof.  Blue  heaven 
smiling  through  windows  to  which  happy 
children  once  pressed  little  faces,  but  where 
rain  and  wind,  sun  and  storm,  can  now  riot 
through  unchecked.  Blue  heaven  to  be  seen 
through  the  desolate  doorways,  where  friendly- 
doors  have  been,  but  now  are  not.  Blue  heaven 
for  its  roof.  Fallen  bricks  and  dust  and  weeds 
for  its  floor ! 

Another  ten   miles   and    we  were  at  L , 

another  ruined  farm,  but  the   family  had  that 


HORESS  TRAVELLED    FOR    EIGHT   DAYS. 

a  Photo. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


their  home  by  the 

|      i    to  last  a 
themselves  a 

ts  and   a   row.  and 

k    from    St. 

iw  his  farm  three  years 

Jit  for  an  already 

happy  lion  .  sur 

His 

touted  from  tin- 


There  is  a  tear  in  his  eyes,  and  he  turns  away, 
and  we  turn  away  respectfully  also. 

We  went  tor  a  ramble,  talking  sadly,  through 
the  once  beautiful  farm  gardens  and  orchards. 
1 1  ere.  in  this  fair  garden,  "  Me-Charlie  "  told  us, 
a  hot  engagement  took,  place,  which  he  was  in. 

H,  described  how,  after  marching  all  night, 
they  heard  the  cooing  of  hundreds  of  doves, 
and  other  sounds  not  so  peaceful— the  ping  of 
tin-  Mauser  bullets  ! 

"Oh,  such  a  lovely  morning!     Just  like  this 


i  I'.iY    LITTLE    CHAP    HANGING    TO    HIS    MOTHER'S   SKIRTS. 


1 3  she  sat   in 
and  the  chick' 

I  his   day 
■    fated    to    watch     his 

1    and  speaks   brokenly  of 

and   the 
rimy  little  chap  hanging 
to  : 

died  in  die   concentration 
p." 


one  now  !  And  here,  behind  this  pomegranate 
hedge,  we  all  crouched,  with  the  orange  and 
lemon  trees  over  our  heads,  and  soon  this 
garden  of  Eden  was  one  terrible  scene  of 
carnage.  The  bullets  and  shells  and  oranges 
and  pomegranates  all  lay  thick  on  the  ground 
together,  and  the  dead  and  wounded  amongst 
them.  The  doves  stopped  cooing  while  the 
fighting  was  on,  but  they  flew  back  when  all  was 
quiet  again,  and  sat  in  the  orange-branches  and 
sang  their  gentle  requiem  to  the  fallen." 

Thus  we  talked  as  we  wandered  beneath  the 


OUR    TREK    INTO    GRIQUALAND. 


x39 


I    STARTED    BACK,    SHUDDERING,    FOR   A    HUMAN    SKUI.L  LAY  HIDDEN'    AMONG    THE    FI.OWEKS. 


groves,  now  tangled,  wild,  and  neglected.  Ah, 
some  English  violets  !  A  whole  deep  hed  of 
them,  overgrown,  but  sweet  to  smell.  I  stooped 
to  pick,  and  started  back,  shuddering,  for  a 
human  skull  lay  hidden  among  the  flowers  ! 

"  Me-Charlie  "  handed  me  a  ripe  fig  off  a 
monster  tree,  but  I  could  not  eat  it.  I  wanted 
to  get  back  to  the  farm,  and  try  and  comfort  the 
poor  family. 

The  old  Boer  came  to  meet  us,  and  invited 
us  to  have  some  mealie  coffee,  the  only  refresh- 
ment they  could  offer. 

We  stepped  across  the  ruined  threshold, 
climbed  over  a  high  pile  of  fallen  bricks  and 
mortar,  and  entered  the  roofless  kitchen. .  The 
frau  sat  there  on  a  log  of  wood  —  furniture 
there  was  none.  The  sun  and  blue  sky  shone 
flat  down  on  us.  A  regular  "  Tant  Sannie  "  was 
the  frau  —  a  mountain  of  phlegmatic  flesh,  of 
such  proportions  that  one  could  only  hope, 
looking  at  her,  that  her  capacity  for  mental 
suffering  was  not  acute. 

We   talked   to  her   and  pretended    to  enjoy 


the  concoction  so  hospitably 
offered  us.  We  asked  her 
questions,  and  she  replied 
with  a  bland,  phlegmatic  smile 
and  with  some  naivete.  She 
lost  five  children  in  three 
weeks  in  the  concentration 
camp.  I  glanced  at  her  with 
deep  sympathy,  but  it  was 
impossible  to  tell  whether  the 
fact  caused  her  any  great 
sorrow. 

Yes  ;  she  was  glad  to  have 
her  man  back  from  St. 
Helena,  and  she  hoped  they 
would  get  on  together  now. 

"  Didn't  you  get  on  together 
before  ?  " 

"  No.  I  likes  to  'ave  my 
own  way  "  —  this  without  a 
spark  of  humour,  but  with  a 
simplicity  befitting  a  young 
child,  not  a  woman. 

"We  all  like  that,"  said 
"  Me-Charlie,"  jocularly. 

"  It  is  the  cause  of  all  life's 
quarrels,"  said  I.  "  Kruger 
wanted  his  own  way  and  we 
wanted  ours." 

"  I  not  like  Kruger,"  said 
the  dame,  munching  black 
bread ;  "  he  has  done  all 
this." 

And  a  huge  fat  hand,  like 

a  monster    red  pin  -  cushion, 

waved  heavily  at  the  paneless 

casements,    doorless    doors,    roofless    roof,    and 

floorless  floor  around  us. 

Sitting  in  the  kitchen  you  could  see  through 
the  whole  house — part  of  it  through  a  rent  in 
the  wall,  made  by  a  shell,  that  a  carriage  and 
pair  could  drive  through. 

As  we  were  going  a  little  Kaffir  girl  brought 
in  figs  for  us,  which  we  accepted  with  thanks. 
Then  we  walked  out  on  to  the  veldt,  where  the 
Cape-cart  stood  outspanned. 

The  new  mules  were  careering  delightedly 
over  veldt  and  kopje,  pursued  by  the  drivers,  the 
usual  thing  at  every  outspan.  Kaffirs  turned 
out  in  all  directions  to  catch  them.  At  last  they 
were  secured  and  inspanned,  and  waving  fare- 
well to  "Tant  Sannie,"  who  had  waddled  out  to 
see  us  off,  while  the  old  Boer  raised  his  crape- 
bound  slouch  hat  respectfully,  though  with  some 
reserve,  we  galloped  away  on  our  next  stage. 

Du  P 's  Farm. 

We  'had  to  spend  the  night  here.  We  reached 
Wolmaranstad   about    3    p.m.    yesterday,    and 


1111.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


they  had  to  be 

dt. 
le  and 

till  the 

I 

n    the    veldt,    who 

tion    stores  in 

triation 

.  ountry. 

.  applies  for  it  and, 

lily  rations, 

iy  for  two  years 

s  help  towards 

g  hi>  farm. 

families 
their  homes  in  thi 

51  heme,  which 

rnment  a  mint  of  money,  and 

ving  this  aid 

land  (one  morgen 

I   yet  refuse   to  sell   even 

iment  !     I  must  frankly 


much 

sand 
ert  with 


'THREE  OKI)  BOER  WOMEN  OVTS.PANNED  ON  THE  VELDT. 

From  a  Photo. 

a  dirty  hovel  on  it ;  and  it  was  the  same  before 
the  war. 

They  plant  nothing,  they  sow  nothing,  they 
never  touch  the  ground  ;  many  have  not  even  a 
patch    of  garden.     Their    so-called    "farming" 

consists  of  sitting 
in  their  stoep 
while  their  cattle 
wander  over  the 
veldt  around, 
which,  as  far  as 
eye  can  reach,  is 
theirs.  The  cattle 
increase,  and  they 
sit  still  and  call  it 
farming  1 

For  such  "  far- 
mers "  one  cannot 
feel  over  much, 
when  one  learns 
they  are  living  on 
us  and  yet  refuse 
to  sell  an  acre  or 
bestir  themselves 
in  any  way  to- 
wards making  a 
living. 

Others  are 
different,  and  for 
them  one  has 
every  sympathy. 

The   three   old 

w  o  m  e  n    1  n    m  y 

photograph     were 

all  made  widows  by  the  war,  but  each  one  owns 

a  farm  of  one   thousand   six  hundred  acres  and 

will  not  sell  an  acre  of  it,  but  come  daily  to  the 

itriation  people  for  food. 


(To  be  concluded.) 


WHERE  CORN  IS   KING. 


By  Jeremy  Broome. 

When  a  bountiful  harvest  makes  glad  the  hearts  of  the  people  in  the  great  "  corn-belt "  region  of 
America,  they  celebrate  their  good  fortune  by  elaborate  festivals,  in  which  corn  is  put  to  an 
amazing  variety  of  uses.     King  Corn  is  the  reigning  monarch,  and  everybody  and  everything  wears 

his  golden  livery. 


HE  day  when  corn  is  truly  king  is 
play-day  on  the  American  prairie. 
Sometimes,  of  course,  he  is  not 
king.  His  very  existence  depends 
upon    the    weather,    upon    droughts 

and  climatic  change  ;    and  often  he  is  a  com- 
plete   failure.       At    such    times     he    does    not 

venture   to  show  his   head,  and   the   public,  of 

course,     do     not 

celebrate.  When, 

on   the   other 

hand,  Nature  has 

smiled  upon  the 

farmer's  1  and, 

when  miles  upon 

miles  of  territory 

ore  covered  with 

a   monotonous 

succession     of 

tasselled    corn- 
stalks,    like    a 

plumed  army   in 

the  field,  and  the 

farmer   finds   his 

pockets    filled 

with  money,  then 

comes  the  day  of 

festival. 

Happily  for  all 

concerned,  the 

festivals    have 

outnumbered  the 

failures,      and 

there  is  hardly  a 

prairie     town    or 

State    capital    in 

the  corn-growing 

West  that  has  not 

indulged    during 


past  autumns  in   some  carnival,  lig  or  little,  in 
honour  of  King  Corn. 

These  celebrations  are  unique.  What  the 
prairie  people  do  not  know  about  corn  is  not 
worth  knowing.  They  know  how  to  build,  from 
the  kernels  and  husks,  gigantic  structures  like 
the  buildings  in  the  fairy  tales.  They  make 
hats  and    dresses   with    the   tassels  and    husks, 

decorating  the 
hats  with  corn- 
flower roses. 
The  very  flags 
waving  in  the 
streets  are  made 
of  silken  corn. 
The  shop  signs 
and  street  adver- 
tisements are 
designed  by  corn 
artists. 

In  the  tourna- 
ments held  dur- 
ing the  carnival, 
knights  in  corn- 
husk  armour 
joust  with  corn- 
stalk lances.  It 
is  corn,  corn 
everywhere  —  the 
cause  of  all  pros- 
perity.  And 
with  joyous  heart 
the  people  do 
loyal  honour  to 
a  bounteous 
monarch. 

The  kingdom 
over  which  King 
Corn   presides 


KEF.T    ADVERTISEMENT    MADE   OF   COKN. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Hill. 


THE    WIDE    WORl.n    MAGAZINE. 


I  [RELY    IN    CORN. 
Fro:  1 1  HI. 

"  corn  belt," 

Illinois,  Iowa, 

two  I  >akotas.    It 

-    .tes,  and,  in 

I,  ior  its  yearly  output 

;,_:ircs  that  aim*  >st 

I  ■    output  of  so-called 

may  believe  the  staie- 

n  early 

tly  it  is 

the    bast  asked 

before  the 

unci  through  which 

tunnel,  sah," 

• 

'  ilks  shuts 
'lay- 
ered 
cept    as 
oi    the 
The 
are    interesting   only 


because  they  relate  to  the  crops  turned  out 
by  one  of  the  most  fertile  sections  of 
country  in  the  world. 

What  the  people  do,  and  not  what  they 
say,  is  far  more  interesting.  At  carnival 
time  they  seem  never  tired  of  doing  some- 
thing, and  tireless  in  doing  anything. 
From  grandfather  to  grandchild,  from 
mother  to  daughter,  and  from  cousin  to 
uncle,  it  is  fur  all  a  season  of  hilarity, 
of  sheer  enjoyment  in  the  spending  of 
money,  and  of  •ebullitions  of  excitement 
over  the  realizations  of  agricultural  dreams. 
The  farmer  with  money  in  his  pocket 
conns  into  the  town,  with  his  family,  to 
spend  it.  The  local  Board  of  Trade,  or 
Citizens'  Association,  or  whatever  the 
local  organization  of  merchants  is  pleased 
to  call  itself,  spends  some  money,  too,  in 
attracting  him  to  the  town  and  preparing 
pleasant  surprises  for  him  in  the  way  of 
decoration  and  entertainment.  The  mil- 
roads  offer  him  special  inducements  to 
travel,  and  the  hotels  put  on  a  new  coit 


THE   COKX    OBELISK    OF    THE    BLRLIN'GTON    RAILROAD. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Hill. 


WHERE    CORN    IS    KING. 


143 


of  paint  or  get  cleaned 
up  for  the  great  fes- 
tival. The  merchants, 
who  know  as  well  as 
anyone  what  a  big 
crop  means,  lay  in  a 
plentiful  stock  of 
clothes,  hats,  boots, 
mowing-  machines, 
neckties,  seed,  and 
everything  else  under 
the  sun  for  the  farmer 
to  take  back  with  him 
for  the  winter  months, 
and  they  dress  up  their 
windows  as  attractively 
as    possible.      The 

townspeople  are  as  enthusiastic  as  the  farmers, 
and  join  heartily  in  a  common  cause.  "  It  is  sur- 
prising," as  one  Western  writer  has  recently 
said,  "  what  can  be  done  with  a  thousand 
dollars  in  cash  used  for  a  single  day  of  glory — 
and  that  is  spent  by  more  than  one  prairie 
town  in  having  its 
annual  fun." 

The  corn  carnival 
originated  in  Atchi- 
son, Kansas,  and  the 
ideas  there  adopted 
in  the  first  and  fol- 
lowing years  of  festi- 
val have  been  widely 
copied  throughout 
the  West.  We  have 
already  mentioned 
the  costumes  made 
of  corn  which, 
according  to  the 
custom  of  the  car- 
nival, are  worn  by 
one  and  all  —  cos- 
tumes  which  our 
photographs  prettily 
illustrate.  Not  to 
wear  clothing  made 
of  corn  or  to  disport 
some  corn  -  wrought 
token  of  the  occa- 
sion is  to  declare 
oneself  an  outsider. 
Many  of  the  dresses 
show  wonderful  skill 
and  good  taste.  The 
hats  are  sometimes 
of  great  beauty,  the 
well  -  known  Gains- 
borough style  being 
closely  imitated  by 
young  ladies  with  a 


EVEN    THE   CHARMING     HATS   WORN     HY   THE    LADIES    ARE    MADE   OF 
CORN    AND    DECORATED    WITH    CORNFLOWER    ROSES. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Hill. 


HERE   WE   SEE   KING   CORN    HIMSELF  SEATED  ON    HIS   CORN-COB   THRONE. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Hill. 


knack  for  millinery. 
There  seems,  indeed, 
to  be  no  limit  to  the 
possibilities  of  the  coi  n 
husk  for  use  in  cos- 
tume or  decoration, 
and  novelty  of  effect 
is  sought  for  each  year 
with  increasing  ardour. 
No  carnival  is 
deemed  to  be  com- 
plete without  a  pro- 
cession, and  it  is  in 
these  functions  that 
the  handiwork  of  the 
corn  artist  is  best  seen. 
No  procession,  more- 
over, is  complete  without  King  Corn  himself, 
who  is  usually  represented  seated  on  a  throne 
of  corn-cobs.  His  robes  are  of  silk,  his  arms 
and  hands  of  cobs,  his  face  of  papier-mache, 
and  his  eyes  of  glass.  He  is  the  personification 
of  regal  dignity,  and  as  the  procession    passes 

near  him,  headed  by 
the  local  band,  he 
attracts  the  un- 
divided attention  of 
the  merry  -  making 
populace. 

That  such  a  boun- 
teous  monarch 
should  exist  without 
a  home  was  soon 
discovered  by  the 
exuberant  Western- 
ers to  be  absurdly 
inappropriate. 
Accordingly,  in 
some  of  the  cities 
palaces  have  been 
erected  in  his  special 
honour  —  not  tem- 
porary structures, 
but  actual  palaces, 
made  to  last.  It  was 
left  to  the  people  of 
Mitchell,  in  South 
Dakota,  to  build 
King  Corn  his  first 
palace.  This  was  in 
the  year  1892.  The 
palace  was  inaugu- 
rated as  a  means  of 
advertising  the  re- 
sources of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  imme- 
diate increase  of 
farmers  throughout 
the    State    was    the 


II  li:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


which 

e    luin- 
;wo 
nearly    one 
building    is 

■  i)    this   are 
are  in  every  con 
.ill    made    of    corn.      To 
an   endless  task 
-  ii  fa       with 
much    ii 
The    ruin    is 
I  moist  and  is  then 
idinally,    the    flat    surl 


wheat  and  flax  straw,  and  from  the  flagstaff's 
wave  the  flags  of  the  various  nations.  The 
whole  exterior  exhibits  a  bewildering  splendour 
to  the  eye.  Word-painting  gives  a  very  inade- 
quate description  of  the  exterior  and  interior 
beauty  of  the  structure;  it  must  be  seen  to  be 
appreciated.  Except  that  the  beautiful  colour- 
ings of  the  corn  are  lost,  our  photograph  gives 
a  very  good  representation  of  the  building. 

The  interior  of  the  corn  palace  shows  a  wider 
range  of  decorative  art,  and  it  is  here  that  the 
ladies  are  given  a  free  hand  to  display  their 
artistic  ability.  A  gallery  runs  around  the  entire 
circumference  of  the  building,  and  this  space  is. 


THE   C  INGs    I'ALACE   AT    MITCHELL,    SOUTH    DAKOTA 


Hoyt  Cox. 


1   :ilding.     The  corn  is  of  all 

v,  white,  red,  mottled, 

I        various  colours  aid 

n'ally  in  forming  and 

the  most  famous  of 

Mr.  A.   :  »f  Lawrence, 

in    the    foregoing 

g,  the  base 

-.  unique  designs  being 

ral  plan 

irisapor- 

king  picture 

.  silk.     The 

mty  an  wetry 

and    th      .  lecorative 

are  covered  with 


divided  into  booths,  designed  as  fancy  dictates. 
Some  of  these  booths  are  shown  in  illustrations, 
as  also  are  a  few  of  the  set  pieces.  All  the 
material  used  in  the  decoration  of  these  booths 
is  grown  on  the  local  farms.  The  material  com- 
prises corn  silk,  corn  husks,  pampas  grass,  and 
grains  of  com,  the  latter  being  used  to  work  out 
myriads  of  designs.  In  one  booth  are  shown 
the  primitive  inhabitants  of  the  erstwhile  Dakota 
Territory,  whose  domain  was  extensive  in  the 
early  days  of  the  settlement.  The  Indian  is 
pictured  with  a  tepee,  made  of  corn  husks,  and 
other  articles.  A  millinery  booth  shows  figures 
draped  in  corn-husk  dresses,  and  wearing  hats 
made  of  pampas  grass  which  has  been  coloured 
for  variety.      One's  eye  is  everywhere  greeted 


WHERE    CORN    IS    KINO. 


MS 


THE    INTERIOR    OF    A    .MILLINER'S    SHOP— ALL   THE    "  CREATIONS  "    DISPLAYED   ARE    MADE    AND   TRIMMED    WITH    I 

From  a  Photo.  l>y  Hoyt  Cox. 


with  the  spectacle  of  corn  designs  worked  out 
with  beauty  and  intelligence.  Every  piece  of 
rafter,  ceiling,  and  wooden  support  in  the  build- 
ing is  decorated  in  some  manner.  It  is  a 
gorgeous  scene  indeed. 

On  the  first  floor  the  county  exhibits  are  to 
be  seen.     The  counties  surrounding  send  their 


products  to  the  cum  palace,  and  they  are 
arranged  as  is  shown  in  one  of  our  photographs. 
A  dozen  counties  make  a  display  every  year, 
and  these  are  seen  by  the  Eastern  visitor,  who 
is  thus  given  a  very  fair  idea  of  what  can  be  pro- 
duced in  South  Dakota.  The  variety  of  the 
products    is  indeed   surprising   to    the   average 


From  a  Photo,  by] 
Vol.  xii.-  19. 


INTERIOR    OF   A   CARNEGIE   LIBRARY,"   TASTEFULLY   DECORATED    WITH    CORN-COBS.  [Hoyt  CoX. 


146 


1111.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


ONE  OF   THE  COUNTY   EXHIBITS. 


might  well  be  incredulous  as  to  the 

In   this  one 

:   many   different   varieties  of 

irley,    grasses,    timothy, 

.   which  grow  abundantly  here ; 

-.    walnuts,    butternuts,     potatoes — 

1    mammoth    size — celery,    bi 

■.  :is,  squash,    and,    in    the   way   of   fruit, 

-    peaches,  and  strawberries. 

•heir  place  in  the  growth  of  the 

in    this  and    to    a  greater  extent 

.•er  beli.  sible.     What  is 

ounty 

ining     the 
they 

na- 

red      • 

- 

-jn    into 
pi 
..    and 

1  .ce    of 


1 

1 

\0; 

1 

1 

"    FRUIT   AND    FLOWERS    MADE    ENTIRELY  OF   CORN 
ARE  THE   CORN    I'ALACE. 

Irom  a  Photo. 


\Hoyt  Cox. 

hundred  miles  around.  The  interior  of  the 
building  is  lighted  during  the  afternoon  and 
evening  with  hundreds  of  incandescent  electric 
lights. 

The  corn -palace  exhibit  is  fostered  wholly 
by  the  citizens  of  Mitchell.  They  contribute 
money  each  autumn  to  establish  the  enterprise, 
and,  although  it  is  a  gigantic  undertaking  for  a 
town  of  five  thousand  people,  it  has  never  yet 
failed  of  success.  As  an  advertising  feature  of  the 
State  it  has  worked  wonders.  It  has  displayed  the 
products  and  resources  of  the  State  in  the  most 

varied  form,  and  has 
demonstrated  what 
can  be  produced 
fioin  the  soil  under 
all  conditions.  The 
development  of  a 
new  country  like 
South  Dakota  is 
somewhat  of  a  d;ffi 
cult  problem  because 
of  the  scepticism 
that  exists  in  the 
minds  of  the  Eastern 
people,  who  have  to 
be  shown  things 
before  they  believe. 
The  corn  palace 
teaches  a  lesson 
which  can  be  learned 
in  no  other  way. 


The   "  Sea-Serpent "    of    the    "Tresco." 

By  Joseph  Ostens  Grey,   Second  Officer  of  the   ss.  "Tresco." 

Will  the  problem  of  the  "  sea=serpent  "  ever  he  satisfactorily  solved?  Scientists  and  others  scoff  at  the 
idea  of  its  existence,  and  cast  ridicule  upon  those  who  claim  to  have  seen  it  ;  nevertheless,  hardly  a  year 
passes  without  a  seemingly  well  authenticated  account  of  its  appearance  being  added  to  the  cases  on 
record.  We  publish  herewith  the  story  of  Mr.  J.  O.  Grey,  second  officer  of  the  ss.  "  Tresco,"  of  the  well- 
known  Earn  Line,  whose  statements  are  corroborated  by  the  captain  of  the  vessel  and  other  eye-witnesses. 


THE    AUTHOR, 

From  a] 


MR.    JOSEl'H    OSTENS   GREY,    SECON I)  OFFICER    OF 

THE   SS.    "TRESCO."  [Photo. 


EAFARIXG  men  expect  storms  and 
sometimes  wrecks,  but  for  most  men 
of  the  merchant  marine  in  times  of 
peace  there  is  much  monotony  in 
their  voyages  to  and  from  the 
various  ports  they  seek  during  their  years  at 
sea.  On  an  ordinary  voyage,  such  as  I  have 
taken,  year  in  and  year  out,  for  sixteen  years,  a 
remarkable  experience  befell  me  recently. 

I  know  that  the  very  word  "  sea-serpent "  is 
the  signal  for  joking,  ridicule,  and  utter  incredu- 
lity. While  many  reports 
have  been  brought  to 
land,  no  sea-serpent, 
small  or  large,  and  no 
fragment  of  head  or  fin 
have  ever  been  subjected 
to  study  by  any  recognised 
scientist  ;  and  yet  such  a 
creature  confronted  the 
steamship  Tresco  when  on 
her  last  outward  voyage 
horn  the  United  States. 

We  left  the  port  of  Phila- 
delphia, in  Pennsylvania, 
on  May  28th,  1903,  for 
Santiago  de  Cuba,  which  we 


reached  on  June  5th,  and  wTe  arrived  back  in 
Philadelphia  on  June  14th.  The  Tresco  belongs  to 
Mr.  E.  C.  Thin,  a  shipowner  whose  office  is  at 
27,  Chapel  Street,  Liverpool  ;  she  is  under  a  two 
years' charter  to  the  Earn  Line,  o(  Philadelphia. 
The  Tresco  is  a  large  cargo-steamer  engaged  in 
the  West  India  trade.  She  plies  from  one  port  to 
another,  usually  laden  with  sugar,  but  sometimes 
with  iron.  Her  length  is  three  hundred  and 
eight  feet,  her  registered  tonnage  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty  tons,  and  her  gross 
tonnage  three  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
tons. 

On  this  trip  it  so  happened  that,  instead  of 
the  Tresco  being  heavily  laden  with  a  return 
cargo,  she  was  going  out  in  water  ballast  ;  the 
ship  was  therefore  very  light.  She  rose  well  out 
of  the  water,  her  rail  some  twenty  feet  above 
it.  Her  draught  was  no  more  than  twelve  feet 
and  she  was  extremely  "tender."  Twenty  tons 
of  coal  deposited  on  either  side  of  the  main 
deck  would  have  given  her  a  dangerous  list  to 
port  or  starboard,  as  the  case  might  be.  We 
encountered  no  heavy  weather  and  all  went  well 
on  board ;  it  was  the  true  monotony  of  the 
merchant  marine. 

Our  crew,  of  course,  changes  from  trip  to 
trip,  but  our  officers  have  been  a  long  time  with 
the  company,  all  of  whose  ships  have  somewhat 
similar  names,  beginning  with  Tr,  like  Tripoli 
and  Tronto.  Our  skipper  is  Captain  W.  H. 
Bartlett,  whose  home  address  is  James  Villa, 
Looe,  Cornwall ;  our  first  officer  is  Mr.  Elias 
Griffiths,     who    lives    near    High     Park    Street, 


11 1 1     WIDE    WORLD 


li  O. 

i    irnish 
■  had  twenty 

\ 

thirty  t: 
man   to 

my 
11 
tl    introduc- 

Now  I  51    IV. 

what 
iblem  i- 
Wl  the 

mutiny    may    be, 
are   at 
hand  on  ai  -li   ship  :  it 

I 
ir  pirati- 
the  ti 

When  in 
oilman 
i  nothing  more  awe- 

lan  a  harmli  ss  camera,  which  accom- 
ges   up  to  the  one 

iut,   some   ninety   miles 
s.     All  wa.s  going  smoothly 


MAGAZINE. 

his 


I  N"    W.    1 

From 


Photo. 


paint- 

■ 

but 
30th 

1    the 

■ 


work    of    the    ship  was 


demanding     his    attention,    he    was     taking    a 
morning  nap. 

About  ten  o'clock  I  saw,  on  our  port  bow, 
something  creating  a  vast  amount  of  disturbance 
in  the  water,  l'hc  commotion  was  so  great  that 
I  judged  it  to  be  a  school  of 
porpoises,  which  herd  together 
and  play,  jumping  above  the 
water  like  great  Newfoundland 
dogs.  It  is  not  at  all  un- 
common to  see  a  school  of 
them  in  those  waters  ;  but, 
somehow,  the  approaching 
school  seemed  different.  I 
watched  them  closely  as  they 
neared  the  vessel  from  the 
south-east. 

Whatever  was  approaching 
the  vessel,  the  water  was  surg- 
ing about  some  large  fish  which 
presently  I  discovered  were 
not  porpoises,  but  sharks. 
Now  sharks  are  common 
enough,  but  not  in  solid  masses 
as  was  the  school  I  now  beheld 
travelling  at  such  great  speed. 
It  seemed  to  me  a  phenomenal 
departure  from  anything  I  had 
heretofore  observed  in  regard 
to  these  voracious  and  savage  creatures.  They 
were  not  attracted  to  the  vessel  by  anything 
thrown  overboard,  but  held  steadily  on  their  way. 
They  seemed  to  be  some  maritime  express, 
bound  for  Cape  Hatteras  ;  for,  from  the  time 
we  sighted  them  until  they  disappeared,  they 
kept  to    their    course,   as   if  making    all   speed. 

What  impelled  them 
to  travel  at  such  a 
rate  I  could  not  im- 
agine ;  nor  could  I 
offer  any  explanation 
for  their  assembly  in 
such  a  solid  mass. 

Sharks  differ  in  size 
and  there  are  several 
varieties.  So  far  as 
I  could  tell  these 
were  the  usual  bottle- 
nosed  shark.  They 
were  swim  m  i  n  g 
shoulder  to  shoulder, 
closely  packed  to- 
gether, their  dorsal 
fins  cutting  the  water 
steadily.  Occasion- 
ally their  snouts  ap- 
peared. It  was  a 
curious  spectacle, 
and.  while  in  no  way 


■^-■'  1^  I,,.,  1 


i:l        II  WHO    VOUCH 

INK    TRUTH    HI-     HIS    STATEMENTS. 

From  a  Photo. 


THE    "SEA-SERPENT"'  OF    THE    "TRESCO." 


[49 


S.S.  Tre  sc  o" 


Seamonsfer 


CHART   SHOWING   THE  COURSE   OF   THE       TRESCO       FROM    THE    TIME 

THE    MONSTER    WAS    FIRST    SIGHTED    UNTIL   THE  ORIGINAL 

COURSE   WAS    RESUMED. 

alarmed,  I  watched  them  until  they  were  out  of 
sight.  In  all,  as  nearly  as  I  could  count  them 
as  they  passed,  their  number  was  about  forty. 

I  saw  no  more  sharks.  The  time  went  by 
uneventfully.  My  mind  reverted  several  times 
to  that  rushing  herd  of  sea  -  tigers,  and  no 
reason  for  such  swift,  steady  pursuit  of  an  un- 
changing course  occurred  to  me.  My  wonder 
rather  increased  than  diminished. 

The  passing  of  the  sharks  had  made  me 
unusually  on  the  alert.  About  an  hour  later  I 
espied  a  fresh  object  in  the  water  on  our  port 
bow.  It  was  some  distance  away,  due  south-east 
—  exactly  the  direc- 
tion from  which  the 
sharks  had  appeared. 
It  was  floating  low, 
and  it  looked  black. 
I  thought  it  must  be 
a  derelict  —  one  of 
those  wandering, 
drifting  hulks,  so 
desolate  to  see,  so 
dangerous  to  en- 
counter. 

I  instantly  gave 
orders  to  the  man  at 
the  wheel  to  steer  for 
the  derelict.  The 
Tresco  was  steaming 
along  due  south  ;  but 
now  she  swung  gradu- 
ally about  until  she 
was  going  exactly 
south-east.  The  sea. 
was    still    calm     and 


smooth.  We  sped  easily  on  our  way,  with  little 
said  except,  "  It  is  a  derelict ;  steer  for  her." 

The  man  at  the  wheel  beside  me  on  the 
bridge  thought  so  too  as  we  headed  for  it, 
wondering  how  much  of  a  hulk  it  would  prove 
to  be,  or  what  we  should  ascertain  of  its  history. 
We  always  steer  for  derelicts  in  the  hope 
of  possibly  rescuing  survivors  ;  or  some  poor 
bodies  may  remain  that  need  decent  Christian 
consignment  to  the  sea.  It  is,  besides,  an 
important  duty  resting  upon  the  masters  of  all 
vessels  to  report  to  the  Hydrographic  Office 
the  name  of  every  derelict  met  with. 

During  the  twenty  minutes  we  were  steering 
toward  it  I  was  decidedly  puzzled.  It  seemed 
to  me  that  this  low-lying,  dark  object  was 
moving  toward  us,  as  well  as  we  toward  it.  It 
did  not  look  like  the  hull  of  a  vessel  ;  nor  could 
it  be  a  raft.  Neither  would  move  so  swiftly 
toward  us.  What  could  it  be?  The  puzzle- 
grew  stranger.  I  stared  intently,  as  every 
moment  brought  us  nearer.  We  would  soon 
know,  at  all  events.  The  powerful  engines  were 
driving  us  onward  so  rapidly  that  the  solution 
would  be  now  a  matter  of  but  a  few  minutes. 
And  yet  the  time  seemed  long.  Nearer  and 
nearer  we  drew  and  at  last  we  were  but  two 
ships'  lengths  away.  With  a  conviction  that 
grew  ever  deeper,  and  ever  more  disquieting,  we 
came  to  know  that  this  thing  could  be  no 
derelict,  no  object  the  hand  of  man  had 
fashioned,  no  object,  probably,  the  eyes  of  man 
had  ever  seen. 

Now,  swiftly,  with  a  terrible  uprising,  a  mighty 
and  horrible  head  came  out  of  the  water,  sur- 
mounting a   tall,   powerful    neck    that  had   the 


THE   AUTHOR    AND   THE   QUARTERMASTER   ON   THE    BRIDGE   OF    THE    "  TRESCO  "    IN    THE     EXACT    POSITIONS 
From  a]  THEY   OCCUPIED   WHEN    THE    MONSTER   WAS   FIRST   SIGHTED.  [Photo. 


Till      WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


iwful 


Iral  p 

the  In, 

uartermaster,    a 
I,   held  the 

n  upon 
it  well,  and 


'•Jump.    Leon 


I     OF     1  lit    U  ATKI 


not  daring  to 

ith  an  unknown,  overmastering 

on  the  bridge 

2jon-like    head, 

rful   neck.       It 

lid  it  be?  — 

ar. 

II  as  the  helmsman 

Jan  de  Man,  the 

latswain,    and   a 

.,    who  from 

\fter  the 

ik  place  on 

iscipline,  were 

■   for  himself.      ( )f 

below,  and 

down  to 

1  haste ;    and  I 

not  know. 
i  bsorbed  by  the  object 


in  the  water.  I  felt  that  I  must  run  somewhere, 
anywhere,  to  get  away  ;  and  yet  the  weird  and 
awful  thing,  there  before  us,  held  my  gaze  in  the 
one  direction. 

At  length   I    recovered  some  measure  of  my 
self-possession. 

jump  down  into  the  wheel- 
house!"  I  shouted. 
"  Steer  down  there.  Let's 
get  out  of  this  fellow's 
road  !  " 

The  man  obeyed  with 
alacrity  ;  and  I,  only  too 
gladly,  followed  him. 
There  were  seven  steps 
to  be  descended ;  and  I 
felt  like  a  child  afraid  of 
the  dark  does  when  it 
runs  upstairs  to  bed,  think- 
ing a  bogey  is  after  it  in 
the  hallways.  I  was 
frightened ;  there  is  no 
use  to  deny  the  fact. 

Once  inside  the  wheel- 
house,  1  flung  the  door 
to  and  locked  it,  thank- 
ful for  even  this  frail 
barrier— thankful  for  the 
slight  protection  of  the 
wheel  house,  a  mere  no- 
thing to  such  an  adver- 
sarj .  There  we  were, 
silent  both  of  us.  Leon 
took  his  place  at  the 
wheel.  We  waited  for 
what  was  to  come  next, 
still  with  the  same  sense 
of  awe  and  huge,  overwhelming  dread  upon  us. 
The  wheel-house  and  chart-room  adjoin,  being 
one  compartment  with  a  partition.  In  front 
there  are  four  windows,  commanding  a  wide 
range  ;  but,  unluckily,  from  his  position  at  the 
i  Leon  could  no  longer  see  the  object. 
It  was  too  near.  He  stayed  at  his  post,  need- 
ing no  orders.  I  stepped  into  the  chart-room 
to  his  left,  where  I  could  obtain  a  full  view  of 
the  serpent  as  it  faced  us. 

I  could  see  it  steadily  and  well  from  the  chart- 
room  port-hole.  I  looked  and  tried  to  notice 
every  possible  thing  about  it.  yet  wondering 
anxiously  all  the  while  how  we  should  escape. 
The  man  at  the  wheel,  and  I  with  my  face  close 
to  the  port-hole,  were  stricken  too  dumb  with 
astonishment  and  tear  combined  to  say  a  word 
to  each  other.  We  did  not  say,  "What  is  it? 
What  shall  we  do  if  it  comes  nearer?"  Nor 
did  we  discuss  its  appearance  and  actions.  To 
me  it  was  sickening  and  horrifying,  and  Leon  had 
seen  quite  enough  before  he  fled  from  the  bridge. 


THE    "SEA-SERPENT"    OF    THE    "TRESCO." 


151 


Out  of  the  formless  horror  within  me  a  dread 
arose  which  shaped  itself  into  a  distinct,  dis- 
maying apprehension.  What  if  the  thing  should 
attack  the  steamer  ?  The  consequences  loomed 
up,  fearfully  appalling,  to  my  swiftly  realizing 
imagination.  The  creature,  assuredly,  was 
enraged.  So  enormous  was  its  size,  so  vast  its 
strength,  that  even  a  steamer  like  the  Tresco 
would  be  in  danger  of  some  kind — perhaps  of 
many  kinds.  The 
rail  of  the  ship,  it 
was  true,  was  twenty 
feet  above  the  water ; 
but  the  head  and 
neck  of  the  serpent 
were  already  elevated 
to  a  height  of  fifteen 
feet.  It  could  easily 
come  aboard.  The 
whole  deck,  all  the 
upper  works,  in  fact, 
would  be  at  the 
mercy  of  its  rage  ! 

But  far  more  seri- 
ous to  contemplate 
was  the  problem  of 
its  mere  weight.  That 
alone  was  a  menace 
to  the  ship's  safety. 
As  I  have  said,  we 
were  going  out  in 
ballast,  very  light. 
Such  a  weight  on 
one  side  would  in- 
evitably list  the 
vessel,  for  the  centre 
of  gravity  was  so 
high  that  any  heavy, 
ill  -  placed  burden 
meant  the  gravest 
danger. 

There  that  evil  thing  remained,  the  body 
motionless,  the  tail  undulating  vertically.  As  it 
lashed  the  water  with  the  long,  snake-like  tail 
the  head  all  the  time  was  reared  high,  regarding 
the  lresco  as  if  waiting  to  see  what  such  a 
thing  as  a  ship  might  be  and,  until  it  should 
decide,  determined  to  maintain  its  watchful 
position.  It  looked  for  all  the  world  like 
some  fantastic  Chinese  dragon  become  a 
living  reality ;  or  a  page  from  a  scientific 
work  picturing  some  ancient  saurian  monster, 
neither  reptile  nor  beast  wholly,  but  both  in 
part. 

When  I  first  saw  it,  lying  so  low  as  to  appear 
like  a  derelict,  I  must  have  seen  only  the  back 
and  body.  The  head  was  probably  resting  on 
the  shoulders,  as  a  swan  sometimes  rests,  until, 
coming  within  two  ships'  lengths,  we  alarmed 


WE   WAITED    FOR    WHAT   WAS   TO    COME   NEXT 


it  by  our  unfaltering  approach  to  the  position  of 
defensive  attention. 

We  needed  no  binoculars.  A  sailor  sees  as 
no  landsman  sees ;  his  eyes  are  trained  to 
watch  sky  and  sea  and  every  object  which 
may  affect  the  welfare  of  the  ship.  And, 
indeed,  the  serpent  was  so  near  that  even 
untrained  eyes  could  have  distinguished  the 
most  minute  details  of  its  appearance. 

I  estimated  the 
length  of  the  crea- 
ture at  about  one- 
third  that  of  the 
Tresco,  or  one  hun- 
dred feet.  We  saw 
it  only  in  perspec- 
tive up  to  this  time, 
for  it  remained 
facing  us,  neither 
wheeling  nor  chang- 
ing position. 

I  judged  it  to  be 
about  eight  feet  in 
diameter  in  the 
widest  part  of  its 
body,  and  so  about 
twenty  feet  in  cir- 
cumference. The 
body  was  not  cylin- 
drical at  all.  It  had 
a  noticeable  arch 
toward  the  top,  and 
the  hump  of  the  back 
sloped  downwards  to 
the  neck  as  well  as 
toward  the  tail.  It 
was  widest  at  the 
forward  end,  rapidly 
tapering  backward 
from  the  hump  above 


the  shoulders. 

There  was  something  unspeakably  loathsome 
about  the  head,  which  was  five  feet  long  from 
nose  to  upper  extremity.  Such  a  head  I  never 
saw  on  any  denizen  of  the  sea.  The  neck,  eighteen 
inches  in  diameter,  was  slender  by  comparison. 
Underneath  the  jaw  there  seemed  to  be  a  sort 
of  pouch,  or  drooping  skin  ;  there  may  have 
been  a  slight  bulge  there.  The  neck  was 
smallest  half-way  between  the  head  and  where 
it  joined  the  body. 

The  nose,  like  a  snout  upturned,  was  some- 
what recurved.  It  was  rather  pointed  in  its 
general  formation,  but  blunt  at  the  end.  I  can 
remember  no  nostrils  or  blow-holes.  The  lower 
jaw  was  prognathous,  and  the  lower  lip  was  half 
projecting,  half  pendulous.  Presently  I  noticed 
something  dripping  from  the  ugly  lower  jaw. 
Watching,  I   saw  that  it  was  saliva,  of  a  dirty 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


hich  dropped  from  the  cornei 

.  it  did  po 

molars.     There  were 

and    backward  like  walrus's 

in   length,  at  the 

ith.      They  were  of  a  dirty 

th  or  tongue  it  did  not 

t  il     mouth  was  red. 
of    a    de(  ided    reddish 
in   the  head,  like 

r-fowl.     'I!, 

not    lateral,    were 

d,  and  were 

d.     Th  >test 

1  their  extreme 

pupil  w.  ble.     The 

to  be  red,  of 

tne  They  carried    in    their 


dull  depths  a 
sombre,  baleful 
glow,  as  if  within 
them  was  concentra- 
ted all  the  fierce 
menacing  spirit  that 
raged  in  the  huge 
bulk  behind. 

Below    the    eyes 
some  scales  a  p- 
peared,  which  drag- 
ged    backward,    be- 
coming   larger   and 
larger  until,  on  the 
body,    they   were 
great  plates,  or  pro- 
tuberances  like  the 
denticulated    ridges 
of  an  alligator's  hide. 
They  did  not  glisten 
like  the  scales  of  a 
fish.     The   smallest 
of  the   scales,  near 
the  eyes,  measured 
about   three   inches 
in     diameter,     and 
were  so  little  oval  as 
to  appear  completely 
round.     The  largest 
of  the  scales,  or  in- 
durations,     located 
upon  the  shoulders, 
presented     a     form 
more  pronouncedly 
oval,  and  these  were 
some    eight    inches 
long,     five     inches 
wide,  and  four  inches 
high,  theirapex  being 
a  distinct  ridge. 
The  hide,  in  the  general  tone  of  its  colour, 
could    be    compared    to    nothing    but    antique 
bronze,    showing   the   distinct    light  green   hue 
of  the  oxidized  metal.     The  tone  of  the  colour 
was   lightest  upon  the  back  and  sides.     As  it 
shaded  toward   the    almost    wholly    submerged 
belly  it  became  a  dull,  dark  green,  deepening 
its    hue  with   the   decrease  in  the   size    of    the 
plates  or  indurations  constituting  the  creature's 
nsive  armour.* 
It  held  itself  in  the  same  relative  position  to 
the  ship  during  all  the  time  the  impressions  I 
have  enumerated   were  photographed   indelibly 
on    my    brain.       Its    side    fins,    extending  one- 
third    of    the   way   from    the   shoulder   to    the 

(  Mjr  readers  will  find  it  interesting  to  compare  this  description 
with  that  of  the  monster  seen  by  Captain  Thomson,  of  the  Sydney 
(N.S.W.)  steamer  Nemesis,  and  Captain  Grant,  of  the  ss.  Perth, 
off  Cape  Naturaliste,  West  Australia.  This  appeared  in  our  issue 
f..r  March,  1901. — Ed. 


1ESE    DRAGON. 


THE    "SEA-SERPENT"    OF    THE    "TRESCO." 


*S5 


LOG  of  the  S.S.     (S'Wjfrf 


\4;'*W 


Z&dL 


beginning  of  the  tail,  and  broadest — about  a 
foot — near  the  shoulder,  worked  like  fans  in 
swift  agitation  of  the  water. 

As  I  gazed,  fascinated  with  the  horror  of  the 
thing,  it  raised  its  dorsal  fin,  obviously  in  wrath. 
And  then  a  thing  happened  which,  strange  as  it 
may  appear  after  the  recounting  of  the  fearsome- 
ness  of  the  serpent's  dreadful  front,  was  more 
appalling,  more  sickeningly  terrifying,  than  any- 
thing I  had  yet  beheld.  Suddenly,  at  the  back 
of  the  head,  a  great  webbed  crest  uprose,  and 
from  the  eyes,  hitherto  so  dull  save  for  the 
glow  smouldering  in  their  depths,  a  scintillating 

glare  appeared,  as  if 

the  creature  felt  the 
moment  had  come 
for  attack.  The  crest 
was  a  foot  in  height 
at  its  forward  ex- 
tremity, where  it  was 
supported  by  a  sharp- 
pointed  spine. 

The  undulations  of 
its  tail  increased  in 
violence.  It  lashed 
the  water  in  fury.  Its 
reddish  eyes  were 
fixed  upon  us ;  but, 
threatening  as  it 
appeared,  it  came  no 
nearer.  The  novelty 
of  our  appearance, 
and  our  size,  seemed 
to  make  it  hesitate. 
In  what  way  it  would 
have   attacked   us   I 


monster.  I  unlocked  the  door  and  flung  it  wide, 
and  ran  aft  along  the  starboard  side  as  fast  as 
I  could.  I  burst  in  upon  the  captain  in  his  state- 
room. He  was  lying  down,  but  was  fully  dressed. 
The  noise  of  my  entrance  startled  him. 

"  Come  on,  captain,  quick  !  "  I  exclaimed. 
"  Come  up  and  see  this  animal  !  " 

Springing  up  instantly  he  was  ready  to  follow. 
He  comprehended  that  something  unusual  was 
near,  yet  he  was  astonished  at  such  a  report 
from  an  excited  mate,  five  seconds  more  and 
we  two  stood  together  on  the  poop,  where  we 
could  have  a  clear  view  and,  as   I  knew  now, 


/-■ 


from  /s?bUJLJf//M*:J2' 


True  Course. 


At  Noon — 


L«t_ 

Long.. 


Latitude. 


By  krriil"  9  A 
ByObe 


Longtitude. 


tig  Ac-  ?i''-  /f  flfty  Acc. 
B;  Chr By  Obo  _ 


Bearing. 


Distance  Hun 


Direction. 


X/A  hty. 


towards  ■Jyfrist.Ai.G.Jr'0 


HEMATICS       ON 
;  day  <■/      StlAsO' 


lft^S 


Cmil  Ti.in<- 


A.      /^'^*L — AnflT   j6fcr,-iti.    <X<<K-i-. 

F^ 


't*   {$&«-  /tWu. 


^A^/~  -^£- 


Aa^A'   Jsz*^*-    f/  J^-<—.    s++id£  0tt, 


4  flh      #*~ 


^ 


7  ./fa       o-A     ^oc/^Z 


'ZiajUf'  £/~  jt^i^y^Ar  /!a^£<J/*  d&tZi*<tjL^L- 


'faSftr  //*jUr  /«/<$*«  cAi^J^ 


r 


(?ovnm  mirier 


-..£.  4y^^^:    -  Mau 


FACSIMILE   OF   A    PAGE    IN    THE 


can  only  imagine. 

This  hesitation  and 
anger,  combined,  kept  it  at  a  standstill,  and  our 
fear  and  helplessness  for  resistance  kept  us 
quiet.  The  creature  remained  in  this  fashion, 
glaring  at  us,  for  a  few  moments  more.  Then 
I  saw  it  was  about  to  act. 

It  was  going  to  turn  away  from  us.  I  could 
scarcely  credit  my  senses.  I  watched  its  new 
tactics  carefully.  Yes,  it  was  moving  and  turn- 
ing ;  it  was  about  to  go  from  us.  I  felt  an 
infinite,  deep-breathed  sense  of  relief. 

Its  great  body  turned,  as  if  on  a  pivot,  inward 
in  a  circle,  followed  by  its  long  tail.  With 
astonishing  ease  for  so  huge  a  bulk  it  made  the 
sweeping  evolution.  And  only  then  did  it  lower 
its  ugly  head,  that  had  so  long  confronted  us  in 
open  antagonism.  I  began  to  breathe  more 
steadily.  I  was  certain  now.  It  was  afraid,  and 
would  go  peaceably. 

_^  Only  at  that  last  moment  did  I  think  of 
Captain  Bartlett.  I  must  call  him,  now  that  I 
dared  to  venture  out.      I  wanted  him  to  see  the 

Vol.  xii.— 20. 


'  TRESCO  S       LOG   SHOWING   THE    ENTRY    CONCERNING   THE   SCHOOL 
SHARKS    AND   THE   SEA    MONSTER. 

a  safe  place  from  which  to  gaze  upon  our  grue- 
some visitant.  I  was  half  glad,  half  worried  to 
find  it  was  still  in  sight.  The  captain  would 
not  think  me  demented. 

Captain  Bartlett  stood  transfixed.  A  moment 
and  he  found  his  voice  : — 

"  Good  heavens  !     What's  that  ?  " 

"I  take  it,  sir,"  I  replied,  "to  be  a  sea- 
serpent." 

"  I  believe  you're  right,"  he  rejoined. 

We  stood  there  waiting  to  see  whether  it 
would  go  or  return. 

The  serpent,  or  whatever  else  it  may  have 
been,  was  on  our  port  quarter,  for  the  engines 
had  been  driving  us  steadily  ahead.  The 
distance  at  which  it  was  then  removed  was  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile.  Its  tail  was  now  toward 
us.  The  back  of  its  head,  sunk  upon  the 
shoulders,  was  visible,  together  with  the  twenty- 
five  feet  of  the  body  which  I  have  hitherto 
characterized  as  the  hump  of  the  back.     As  we 


1111     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


THAT? 


without   changing    the 

k,  lurched  forward 

n  which  I  can  compare, 

.   and  great  dis- 

r,    to    nothing   except  the 

:d,  watei  I    sailing 

lich  plunges  down  I 

ttles  in  the  water. 

n   all    it  _    undulating   extension, 

merely  to 
dragged    down 
■vhich  it 

'  laptain    Bartlett 
what  really  had   heen 

efore,   Grey  ?  " 
d. 

om,  sir," 
it  the  terrifying  thing   was  gone   we 


could  talk  and  compare  our  obser- 
vations and   ideas  concerning  it. 
As  I  have  said,  I  did  not  notice 
any  nostrils  ;    but  I  believe  it  was 
a  breathing  animal,  endowed  with 
lungs.     While  no  sound  reached 
my  ears  as  we  approached  it,  and 
while  Leon  and  I  were  hidden  in 
the  chart-room,  Captain  Bartlett 
thought  he  heard  distinctly,  as  we 
stood  side  by  side  on  the  poop,  a 
noise  which  came  from  the  crea- 
ture that   was  in   the  nature  of  a 
snort  or,    to    be    exactly    correct, 
a  hoot.     The  sound,  according  to 
the  recollection  of  Captain  Bart- 
lett,  might    be  compared   to  the 
noise  of  a  shrill  tug-boat  whistle. 
For  myself,  I   must  frankly  say  I 
can    recall    absolutely  no  sound. 
The  coincidence  of  the   appear- 
ance  of   the   sharks   and  of   the 
great  lizard  during  the  same  hour 
is  something  I  can  affirm  but  can- 
not attempt   to  explain.     An  in- 
ference that  would  seem  obvious 
is    that    the    sharks    were    fleeing 
from  the  monster.     But,   in   the 
absence    of    definite  knowledge, 
it  must  remain  coincidence,  and 
nothing  more. 

After  the  exchange  of  these 
few  observations  Captain  Bartlett 
turned  to  me  and  said  : — - 
"  I  have  had  many  strange  ex- 
periences, as  you  know ;  and  I 
have  seen  many  strange  sights. 
But  I  confess  this  thing  is,  with- 
out doubt,  the  most  horrible  and 
blood-curdling  that  I  have  ever 
looked  on.  Grey,"  he  continued,  "  words  can- 
not describe  its  loathsomeness,  or  the  horror 
and  terror  with  which  I  gazed  upon  it." 

All  this  time  none  of  the  crew  had  dared 
come  on  deck.  Our  chief  officer,  Mr.  Griffiths, 
was  asleep  in  his  cabin.  The  men  who  had 
fled  so  hastily,  and  the  others  who  came  at 
their  call,  looked  out  fearfully  at  the  serpent 
from  the  forecastle  ports.  The  steward,  John 
Jackson,  a  coloured  man  from  Baltimore,  who 
saw  it,  was  greatly  terrified.  He  has  since  left 
the  Tresco,  having  been  engaged  only  for  the 
voyage.  Those  who  did  not  see  it,  like  Chief- 
officer  Griffiths,  can  testify  to  the  general  excite- 
ment and  the  facts  elicited  by  the  subsequent 
discussion  among  the  men  who  did. 

When  the  danger  was  over  the  men  cautiously 
returned  to  the  deck.  Faces  appeared  at  the 
hatches,   and,  after   a   little    reconnoitring,  up 


THE    "SEA-SERPENT"    OF    THE    "TRESCO." 


*55 


u 


f 


f&Jin,. 


Sjua_  s_^_ 


CERTIFICATE    SIGNED    BY    CAPT.    BAKTLETT    ANP    MEMBERS   OF 

THE   CREW    WHO    SAW    THE   MONSTER.       THE    CHIEF    OFFICER 

AUTHENTICATF.S    THE    SIGNATURES. 


the  companion-way  they  came,  looking  carefully 
astern,  to  assure  themselves  that  the  monster 
was  really  gone.  Gradually,  as  they  regained 
courage,  they  resumed  their  work,  although 
they  were  careful  to  remain  in  groups,  still 
talking  over  the  astonishing  event.  After  a 
long  time  had  elapsed  they  were  hardy 
enough  to  joke  about  it,  although  they  had 
been  so  scared  ;  and  they  repeated  the  story 
to  the  men  in  the  engine-room,  who  had,  of 
course,  not  even  caught  a  glimpse  of  the 
stranger. 

All  this  time  the  sea  had  remained  quiet 
and  the  weather  the  same,  so  the  conditions 
throughout  were  most  favourable  for  view- 
ing the  monster. 

I  now  ordered  the  vessel  to  be  put  on 
her  course  again — due  south.  The  incident 
was  over  ;  our  work  was  before  us. 
Whatever  danger  had  existed  was  passed. 
Santiago  was  to  be  reached,  and  we  made 
that  port  on  the  fifth  day  afterward. 

As  I  watched  through  the  port  and,  later, 
on  the  bridge,  when,  my  fear  abating,  I  could 


collect  my  thoughts  better,  I  wished  we  possessed 
powerful  guns  which  could  tear  a  hole  in  that 
appalling  head  or  through  the  armoured  body, 
so  that  we  could  secure  the  carcass  as  a  trophy 
and  settle  once  for  all  the  controversy  concern- 
ing the  sea-serpent.  And  I  clenched  my  hands 
with  annoyance,  as  I  have  clenched  them  many 
times  since,  when  I  thought  of  that  camera  of 
mine,  ashore  and  useless,  awaiting  my  next  trip 
to  St.  Thomas.  Why  had  I  left  it  there,  when 
now,  for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  I  really 
needed  it  ? 

During  the  five  days  that  were  required  for 
the  remainder  of  the  voyage  our  conversation 
naturally  reverted  to  the  exciting  morning  and 
to  the  experience  we  never  expect  will  be  ours 
again.  I,  for  one,  sincerely  hope  it  will  not  be 
repeated,  unless  for  the  corroboration  of  this 
statement  and  to  assist  science  by  delivering  to 
some  learned  body  the  carcass  of  another  such 
monster. 

We  have  carefully  collated  all  the  facts. 
Our  conclusion  is  that  the  creature  was, 
without  doubt,  a  mammal,  like  porpoises  and 
whales,  although  more  like  a  reptile  in  appear- 
ance. 

At  Santiago  I  prepared  a  report  for  the  Press 
of  Philadelphia,  to  be  presented  on  my  return. 
Although  I  made  it  out  carefully,  it  drew  forth 
the  usual  jests  in  several  quarters,  but  it 
was  credited  in  others.  How  bitterly  I  have 
regretted  that  I  had  no  photographs  to  settle 
the  doubts  of  those  who  questioned  the  accuracy 
of  the  drawings  I  have  since  made  from 
memory  !  I  have  but  to  shut  my  eves,  and 
that  ineffaceable  picture  rises  before  my  mind  in 
all  its  horrible  detail. 


OUuC    522 jiTb        ■ 

-lie,    sjJK2^cc*    L^ci   'ZU   ^-^-Q 


Co-^-^~^C-  <*•*•    (^*~ 


THE   AUTHORS   LETTER  VOUCHING    FOR   THE   TRUTH  OF   THE  ABOVE   STORY. 


VMONG     THE     BOOBIES. 


Bv  Captain    Boyd  Alexander,   Rifle    Brigade. 

ce  of  savages  living  in    the   little  -  known    interior   of   the    Island    of 
.oast  of  Africa.     The  author  recently  visited  these  curious  people,  and 
describes  his  experiences  in  the  accompanying  article. 


11    the   in 

rd  life 
n  the  I 

r<>.  i 

mied 
ral 

<  H  th(  se  an 

.  Mr.  i 

\ 

:  di- 

N  _  r    in 

\l(  -srs. 

■in  — 

with 

•id 

.  a  monument  marking  their  resting- 

for    a    short    time    the 

-eat  of  Govern- 

■  'ii  Museum, 

dition,  and 

ian   naturalist,  was  re- 


THE    AU1  HOK,    C.\ 

RIFLE 
From  a  Photo,  by  G. 


Owing  to  the  great 
dearth  of  labour  on  the 
island  I  found  that  it 
was  absolutely  necessary 
to  engage  carriers  from 
the  West  Coast,  and  for 
that  purpose  I  decided 
to  consult  Sir  Ralph 
Moor,  the  High  Com- 
missioner of  Southern 
Nigeria,  on  my  arrival 
at  Old  Calabar.  He 
kindly  gave  me  every 
assistance,  putting  at  my 
disposal  a  gang  of  good 
carriers  for  a  period  of 
two  months.  They  were 
a  little  afraid  to  go  at 
first,  but  with  the  offer 
of  good  pay  and  the 
assurance  that  they 
would  be  brought  back 
again  I  overcame  their  scruples.  Fernando  Po 
has  a  bad  name  among  them.  Labourers  who 
have  been  induced  to  go  to  the  cocoa  planta- 
tions there  have  been  badly  treated.  The  chief 
transgressors  are  Sierra  Leone  natives,  who 
have  acquired  ownership  of  a  great  many  of 
the  farms. 


I.IAWNDF.K,    OF    THE 
UK. 

//  'est  d~  Sons,  Sout/isc-a. 


'    PO. 

From  a  Photo. 


AMONG    THE    BOOBIES. 


157 


After  a  stay  of  five  days  at  Old  Calabar  the 
ss.  Oron  weighed  anchor,  and  another  day  at 
sea  brought  us  within  sight  of  Fernando  Po. 
It  was  towards  evening,  and  the  lofty  Clarence 
Peak,  cut  in  two  by  long  rifts  of  fleecy  clouds, 
stood  out  clear  and  distinct,  bathed  in  the  last 
glows  of  a  tropical  sunset.  Unlike  the  Canary 
Islands,  with  their  volcanic  peaks  covered  with 
the  filmy  green  of  short-lived  grass,  Fernando 
Po  rises  from  the  sea  a  mass  of  lofty  hills, 
clothed  to  their  very  summits  with  thick  bush 
and  virgin  forest. 

The  approach  is  from  the  northward,  the 
steamers  dropping  anchor  in  the  beautiful 
little  Bay  of  St.  Isabel,  whose  background  is  the 
lofty  peak,  ten  thousand  eight  hundred  feet  in 
height.  Away 
across  the  water  to 
the  distant  left  its 
taller  sister,  the 
Camaroon  Peak, 
also  clothed  with 
forest  growth,  is 
visible  even  down 
to  the  white-walled 
houses  of  Victoria, 
nestling  at  its  base. 
From  the  illustra- 
tion of  St.  Isabel 
reproduced  on  the 
previous  page  some 
idea  can  be  formed 
of  its  beauty.  The 
bay  is  in  the  form 
of  a  semi-circle,  and 
the  sides  all  round 
are  steep,  affording 
ample  protection  to 
the  boats,  while 
within  twenty  yards 
of  the  shore  anchor- 
age in  five  fathoms 
can  be  obtained. 

On  the  left  of 
the  picture  the 
two  large  houses 
represent  the 
barracks  and 
the  hospital.  A 
company  of 
Senegalese  sol- 
diers forms  the 
garrison.  The 
church  is  a 
Roman  Catho- 
lic one,  and 
belongs  to  the 
padres  on  the 
island,  Principal 


Father  Coll  and  Padres  Renola  and  Albanell, 
to  the  latter  of  whom  I  am  much  indebted 
for  the  photographs  in  this  article.  They  are 
kind  people,  and  have  done  much  excellent 
work.  They  can  turn  their  hands  to  anything; 
nothing  seems  to  come  amiss  to  them. 

There  is  nothing  beautiful  or  picturesque  in 
the  town  itself.  Zinc  buildings  predominate, 
occupied  by  the  Government  officials  and  the 
Spanish  and  English  merchants,  who  chiefly  carry 
on  the  cocoa  trade  for  which  the  island  is  famous. 

There  is  one 
thing,  however, 
worth  seeing, 
and  that  is  the 
great    mango 


THE   GREAT   MANGO   AVENUE— IT    IS    MORE   THAN    HALF    A    MILE 
LONG   AND   PROVIDES  THE   NATIVES   WITH    AN   AMPLE 

From  a]  store  of  food.  {Photo. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


•\n.    planted    by    a 

than  half  a  mile 

\  mmetrical  beauty. 

.    forming   a 

tedral,   and   in   the 

i!i.   ground 

food  to 

■ 

said    good-bye    to 

.  and    wenl   ashore 

i.l  carriers,  the  expedition 

I  surf  boats.      rhrough 

-.  arranging   our  loads 

an  early  start  into  the 

•  morrow.      Much  assistance  was 

1  I  the  well-known  West 

firm    of    Messrs.    Holt.      The 

r,  thi  |uis  Montefuerte,  also  showed 

s,  and  allowed  all  our  ige  to 

ms  duty.     This  was  a  distinct 

-    re  heavy  ;  for  instance, 

it.  is  charged  on  spirits  and  50  per 

■ 

rl  difficulties  were  much  increased 
ur  havii  •   ke  with  us  trade  goods,  such 

r,  cloth,   etc.,   for 

-  in  the  interior  <>f  the   island  put  no 

<  1  can  seldom  be  induced  to 

it      i  a    and   collecting  kit, 

k  up  a  number  of  loads, 

■  •  be  taken  for  our  men. 

'     wi    had  carriers  with 


us,  as  dure  was  not  a  single  spare  labourer  to 
be  had  on  the  island — a  curious  state  of  things 
in  a  country  so  fertile  and  full  of  possibilities. 

At  5.30  next  morning  our  column  was  on  the 
move.  This  quick  departure  surprised  everyone. 
The  hotel  keeper,  a  Spaniard,  exclaimed,  "The 
English  can  do  anything,"  while  "They  mean 
business      was  the  remark  to  be  heard  on  ah 

sides. 

The  natives,  known  as  "Bubis,"or  in  English 
"  Boobies,"  are  extremely  indolent,  and  nothing 
will  induce  them  to  work.  They  are  a  peculiar 
race  and  lack  the  intelligence  of  the  West 
African  native.  Of  short  stature,  with  broad 
faces,  especially  the  women,  they  are  by  no 
means  prepossessing  in  appearance,  while  they 
add  to  their  natural  ugliness  by  means  of  several 
curious  customs.  A  hempen  band  about  six 
inches  wide  is  fixed  tight  round  the  upper  arms 
and  often  below  the  knees.  This  in  time  pro- 
duces horrible  deformity.  These  curious  bands 
will  be  seen  in  the  next  photograph,  which 
shows  a  native  group  at  a  cocoa  farm.  They 
also  coat  their  bodies  and  faces  all  over  with 
mud,  d\vd  red  with  the  leaf  of  a  tree  grown  on 
the  island,  patterns  often  being  made,  especially 
on  the*  face,  the  lower  portion  of  which  is 
smeared  entirely  over,  terminating  in  a  line  as 
far  as  the  nostrils. 

As  a  rule  their  hair,  which  is  very  woolly,  is 
likewise  reddened  with  this  mud,  while  children 
are    treated    in   the  same  way  by  their  mothers. 


IOBIRS   AT   A    COCOA    FARM. 


\rhoto. 


AMONG    THE    BOOBIES. 


*59 


I  have  constantly  seen  little  babies  on  their 
mothers'  backs  literally  coated  with  red  mud. 
the  poor  little  beggars  looking  far  from  happy. 

The  hats  worn  are  peculiar.  They  are  made 
of  plaited  grass,  flat  or  in  the  form  of  an  in- 
verted saucer,  terminating  in  a  little  pepper-pot 
of  a  crown,  which  is  often  adorned  with  the 
blue  wing  and  tail  feathers  of  a  large  crested 
plantain-eater,  locally  known  as  "  pheasant," 
which  is  found  in  the  mountains. 

Heavy  anklets  and  bracelets  about  six  inches 
wide,  deftly  woven  together  in  alternate  bands  of 
colour,  are  worn — red,  yellow,  and  blue  being 
the  most  favoured  colours.  These  ornaments 
sometimes  consist  of  a  very  small,  pointed 
land  shell,  treated  in  the  same  way  as  the  beads. 
These  show  rank  in  the  wearer.  This  shell  is 
much  prized.  It  is  found  in  the  southern  por- 
tion of  the  island,  and  before  the  introduction 


tracks,  made  greasy  by  the  dripping  trees.  The 
rainy  season  was  not  yet  over,  and  showers 
succeeded  by  heavy  mists  obscured  and  en- 
veloped everything.  It  was  hopeless  to  try  and 
keep  dry.  Our  boots  soon  became  mere  pulp, 
from  which  the  water  oozed  at  every  step  ;  water 
ran  from  our  clothes ;  and  it  was  with  the 
greatest  difficulty  that  we  were  able  to  keep  our 
cartridges  fit  to  use  in  the  small  guns  which 
we  carried  for  collecting  specimens  by  the  way. 
Occasionally  as  we  turned  the  bends  of  the 
twisting  track  we  came  upon  parties  of  young 
native  girls.  As  soon  as  they  caught  sight  of  us 
they  dropped  their  baskets  of  yams  and  rushed 
into  the  bush,  crouching  there,  panting  like 
timid  dogs.  Nothing  would  induce  them  to 
come  back  until  our  column  had  passed.  Two 
white  men  armed  with  guns  and  heading  a  long 
column    of    carriers    proved    an    extraordinary 


From  a] 


BOOBIES   ON    A    FETE    DAY. 


of  trade  goods  was  the  current  coin  amongst 
them,  just  as  the  cowrie  is  among  the  natives 
on  the  West  Coast. 

In  character  these  natives  are  unamiable  and 
distrustful,  and  are  veritable  Shylocks  regarding 
property.  A  present  or  "  dash  "  of  a  fowl  to  the 
white  man  is  looked  upon  as  good  for  twice  its 
value  in  return,  and  nothing  will  induce  them  to 
think  that  they  are  not  being  robbed  by  you, 
while  sinister  motives  are  always  put  upon  your 
actions. 

At  Rebola,  on  the  northern  coast  of  the 
island,  we  met  with  our  first  difficulty  at  the 
hands  of  these  curious  people.  It  was  after  a 
tiring  march  through  the  thick  bush,  the  whole 
way  slipping  and   stumbling   along  the   narrow 


spectacle  to  them,  and  quite 
enough  to  frighten  them  out  of 
their  wits. 

Towards  sundown  we  arrived 
at  the  village  of  Rebola,  which, 
like  the  majority,  consisted  of  huts  scattered 
among  plantations  of  yams.  These  villages 
are  situated  just  on  the  borders  of  the  culti- 
vated portions,  sloping  gently  to  the  sea,  and 
the  forest  hills,  beyond  which  no  habitations 
are  found.  These  villages  ire  connected  by  a 
main  "  Boobie  track,"  from  which  emanate 
many  smaller  ones  leading  into  the  forest  hills, 
and  made  use  of  only  by  the  native  hunters. 
The  huts  are  oblong  in  shape  and  not  more  than 
five  feet  high,  with  low  roofs  made  of  palm  leaves, 


1111      WIDE    WOR]  l>    MAGAZINE. 


hewn  sli 

!         ntrances 

md    th(  in  rally 

lown  after  them  a 

ne  principle  as  the 

as  two  families 

all  hut.     Their  dirt  is 

m.    it   ever, 

\     i   a   rough  wooden 

ring  tied  round  the 

I  the  left  arm.  is  used  to  scrape 

s.      (  >nce   a  year     just 

great  pilgrimage  is  made 

( ing,  and  drinking  are 

.  then   all.    both   old  and 

i   to  the  water's  edge  for  their 

I   depart    again  to  their   huts 

!•     >  a  kind  o\  fete  day  amoi 

graph  on  the  preceding  page 

h  an  occasion.     Their  straw 

with  monkey  skins,  surmounted 

rsof  the  crested  plantain- 

[vantage  of   these  occasions, 

ring  down  small  quantities 

.   which  they  exchange 

ir  mm  or  tobacco. 

unexpected.     We 

of  the  huts   quite  unfit  for  a 

so  we  pitched  our  tent  close  to 

of  huts.      This  was  the  signal 

kelter  of  the  owners  into 

and  bush.     Mothers  caught   up 

ran.  while  the   men  stafed 

then  tailed  off  like  a  string  of  geese 

.hbouring    huts,    jabbering    all   the  way. 

is   still  an   hour  of  daylight  left,  which 

s  tin  ;ii  and  make   up  the   birds  we 

•  '••lained  during  the  day.     Amongst  them 

our  fr  -a  black   weaver  bird 

and  this  I  named  in 
rl  Maxwell. 

Tall  palm  trees,  with 

n,  reared  their   trunks 

-urrounding  our 

all  mi  and  re<  rossed  the 

turbing    the    silence, 

gain  be  broken   by  the 

le,  and  then 

•  out  to  catch  a  glimpse  of 

ire  bed- 

an  uproar  of  fowls  being 

nade  it  clear 

ted.      Tins 

lunted  upon 

I  the  next  day. 

daylight    broke,  we 

pre]    rations  to  move 

got  rid  of 

rowded  r  d  our  column, 


shouting  and  jabbering  excitedly.  Soon  they 
began  to  tail  off.  however,  and  eventually  left  us, 
having  quite  made  up  their  minds  that  we  were 
making  for  the  roast  line.  However,  after  being 
quit  o(  them,  I  doubled  back  and  fortunately 
stumbled  upon  a  track  which  led  into  the 
wooded  hills,  my  object  being  to  gain  the 
Clarence  Peak  from  this  direction. 

After  much  hard  work  and  climbing  I  reached 
an  altitude  of  some  three  thousand  feet  and 
took  possession  of  a  small  Boobie  hut,  evidently 
used  by  hunters.  This  came  in  convenient  for 
my  carriers,  and  a  space  close  by  was  cleared 
for  my  tent.  The  whole  of  the  next  day  we 
were  at  work  and  began  to  form  the  nucleus  of 
our  collection.  U  was  by  no  means  easy  work, 
since  we  found  the  forest  to  be  a  perfect  maze 
of  small  foot-tracks,  many  of  them  indistinct, 
but  enough  to  make  one  lose  one's  way.  These 
tracks  are  made  by  the  Boobies,  who  are  excel- 
lent hunters.  Armed  with  their  long  Dane 
guns  and  cutlasses  similar  to  those  used  by  the 
natives  on  the  West  ('oast,  they  seek  the 
wooded  hills,  cutting  tracks  as  they  go.  Nothing 
comes  amiss  to  them  ;  tree  squirrels,  small 
antelopes  (duikers) -of  which  there  are  two 
kinds,  one  red  and  the  other  mouse-coloured  — 
and  monkeys  are  ail  fair  game.  The  most 
prized  of  all,  however,  is  the  tree  dassie,  which 
nothing  will  induce  them  to  part  with.  The  tree 
dassie  is  a  peculiar  brindle-brown-coloured 
animal,  much  like  a  large,  long-haired  guinea-pig 
to  look  at,  with  the  tusks  of  a  wild  pig.  Living 
in  the  tops  of  the  palm  trees,  or  in  the  leafy 
portions  of  forest  trees,  it  looks  comical,  indeed, 
as  it  runs  along  the  broad  branches  from  one 
thick  retreat  to  another. 

The  Boobies  are  quick  to  discover  its  home. 
Every  likely  tree  is  scanned,  and  the  least 
shaking  of  the  leafy  tops  seldom  escapes  their 
keen  sight.  While  one  stays  below  with  a  cut- 
lass and  Dane  gun  and  a  couple  of  native  dogs 
another  scales  the  tree  in  no  time  and  violently 
shakes  the  dassie's  home.  Poor  dassie  falls  with 
a  great  thud  on  to  the  ground  and  attempts 
to  run,  but  the  dogs  keep  it  at  bay.  The 
next  moment  it  is  quickly  dispatched  with  the 
cutlass. 

Hut  let  us  return  to  our  narrative.  The 
Boobies  soon  got  to  know  where  we  were,  and  a 
large  number,  headed  by  the  King  and  Queen, 
appeared  before  our  tent.  A  few  could  speak 
broken  English,  and  they  told  us  they  did  not 
want  us  to  go  up  to  the  big  hill — it  was  their 
me)  country,  and  no  good  for  a  white 
man.  We  must  come  back  with  them,  for  if  we 
stayed  we  should  lose  ourselves.  They  told  my 
carriers  of  a  big  river  "up  there  " — pointing  to 
the  mountain — and  said  that  if  they  crossed  it 


AMONG    THE    BOOBIES. 


ibi 


they  would  die.  The  West  African  native  is 
always  superstitious  and  susceptible  to  the  in- 
fluence of  "  Ju-ju,"  and  all  their  tales  were 
believed  ;  so  much  so  that,  fearing  desertions,  I 
decided  to  return  on  the  third  day.  Accord- 
ingly we  evacuated  our  camp  at  daybreak,  and 
were  half-way  down  the  hill  when  we  were  caught 
up  by  the  Boobies, 
armed  with  Dane  guns 
and  cutlasses 

They  talked  excitedly. 
It  soon  became  a  howl- 
ing  mob,   and  with   no 
interpreter    I    found     it 
impossible     to      under- 
stand   them.     Our  pro- 
gress   was    slow.      The 
carriers    puffed    and 
panted    under    their 
loads,  and  the  Boobies, 
getting    impatient,    kept 
rushing  ahead  and  dis- 
appearing into  the  thick 
bush.      Fearing  an  am- 
bush, I  had   frequently 
to    halt    and   send  out 
one     or     two    men     as 
scouts.     This  kind  of 
thing   went    on    until 
we  got  within  a  mile 
of    Sipopo,   a   collec- 
tion of  houses  belong- 
ing to  a  cocoa  planter. 
Then  the  Boobies  left 
us,  melting  away  into 
the  thick  forest. 

The    King,    who 
was   with   them,   is 

shown  in  the  annexed  photograph.  His  heavy 
bracelets  and  anklets  consist  of  the  small 
shell  I  have  already  alluded  to,  and  denote 
his  rank.  His  legs  are  covered  with  mud, 
which  is  also  smeared  over  his  shoulders  so 
as  to  form  a  kind  of  tippet.  A  monkey-skin 
and  some  cock's  feathers  complete  his  equip- 
ment. 


THE    KING   OF    THE    BOOBIES. 

From  a  Photo. 


At  Sipopo  we  collected  for  several  days,  thus 
giving  a  much-needed  rest  to  our  carriers.  As 
soon  as  daylight  came  I  and  my  collector  used 
to  start  off  with  a  couple  of  carriers  along  one 
of  the  native  tracks  into  the  bush.  As  a  rule 
we  obtained  during  the  morning's  trek  about 
thirteen   or   fourteen    specimens,    and    returned 

with  them  to  camp, 
where  we  skinned  and 
made  them  up  during 
the  afternoon,  going  out 
collecting  again  towards 
evening.  At  this  rate  we 
accounted  for  an  average 
of  eighteen  to  twenty 
birds  a  day.  On  one 
occasion,  after  following 
a  track  for  nearly  four 
hours,  we  were  suddenly 
startled  by  a  stampede 
in  the  bush,  just  like  the 
noise  a  herd  of  sheep 
would  make  in  getting 
through  some  obstacle. 
The  next  moment  a 
weird  howl  of  voices 
broke  upon  us,  like  the 
whines  of  many  dogs, 
all  in  unison.  A  few 
steps  farther  on  the 
path  was  littered  with 
plantains.  A  party  of 
frightened  natives  had 
evidently  fled  to  their 
huts,  which  lay  un- 
seen somewhere  to  our 
left.  About  an  hour 
afterwards  we  again 
passed  this  spot  on  our  return  home.  No  one 
was  visible,  but,  all  the  same,  we  w^ere  followed. 
From  time  to  time  the  reports  of  Dane  guns 
rolled  out  behind  us,  but  we  saw  no  one. 

The  Boobies,  made  bold  by  our  retreat, 
followed  us  like  an  angry  flock  of  geese,  firing 
their  guns  at  a  respectful  distance  just  to 
frighten  us. 


(To  be  concluded,) 


Vol.  xi.-2f. 


The    BlocKade  =  Runners, 


\\\   Walter  (.'..   Patterson,  of  Helena,   Montana. 

oolies    into    the   United    States    is    forbidden    under   extremely   heavy 
,  .     In  this  story  Mr.  Patterson  narrates  the  tragic  story  of  one 
who    managed   to  run   "  Uncle  Sam's    blockade,"   only  to  be  detected  and 
deported  when  they  deemed  themselves  safe. 


ilie  labourers  are  barred 

entering  the  United  States  by 

.!  enactment.     Vet  they 

ng.       Bar    the     German 

s   nl    or    the    Russian    or   Italian 

fresh  arrivals  from 

Dualities    would    be    hard   to 

Chinaman    comes    in 

trg   I3  helped 

n   law  -bi 

A  1. ilk    with    an 

1 

1      w  i  t  h 
tion    of 
■  .  '  . 

their 
.-  and  su 

nd    fail- 
id  in  t! 

■  rut  the 
ark- 
able 

'     linaman's 
by 
'  lity. 

1  Irient 
■ 

1     am 

* 

unusual      <  1     stial. 

ful. 

.   the 

■ 

1    »rner  of  the 
ouver- 
lundrel 

-     not  in  t  1  was 

Vould  dev 


I'hoto.  by  If. 


the  fact  that  the  party  were  listed  for  Canada, 
that  when  he  saw  the  official  coming  out  to  the 
vessel  he  hustled  the  chattering  band  into  one 
of  the  "water-tights,"  or  a  refrigerating  compart- 
ment. Unfortunately,  this  hiding-place  proved 
to  lie  also  air-tight. 

When  well  out  to  sea,  upon  releasing  the 
( !hinese,  four  of  them  were  found  to  have  been 
smothered.  This  was  inconsiderate  on  the  part 
of  the  defunct,  as  they  still  had  many  taels  in 

money  sewed  up  in  their 
blouses.  There  was  yet 
the  land-agent,  a  second 
shark  in  this  speculative 
venture  at  blockade-run- 
ning, to  receive  his  com- 
mission, and  their  prema- 
ture death  was  unfair  to 
him. 

On  the  fifth  day  out  the 
officer  "  below  decks,"  in 
going  his  morning  round 
of  the  steerage,  stumbled, 
to  his  horror,  upon  the 
stark,  lifeless  bodies  of  two 
more  of  the  Chinamen, 
hone  -  handled  Oriental 
daggers  still  piercing  their 
hearts.  Across  the  dead 
men's  brows  were  knife- 
outs  in  the  forms  of  crude 
crosses,  which  told  the 
frightened  Mongolians  still 
alive  that  these  two  rwere 
victims  of  the  "  High- 
binders'"* vengeance;  and 
even  the  belligerent  Ching 
had  uttered  no  protest. 
He  was  well  aware  that  the 
two  victims  must  have  been 
marked  out,  or  "  spotted," 
on  shore,  and  then  fol- 
lowed on  shipboard  by  the 
'avengers,"  in  the  guise  of  coolie  freight- 
llers,  who  assassinated  and  "  branded  "  them 
at  the  first  opportunity. 


RAIT    TAKE  N      [I        I  III 
His    CAP! 


-  fun. 


Chinese    si  iety    which   has    many   adherents    in   the 

Western  States     i   America,  and  which  is  said  to  have  committed 
numberless  crimes. —  Ed. 


THE    BLOCKADE-RUNNERS. 


163 


But  Ching  spoke  in  an  awed  whisper  even 
when  admitting  this  knowledge,  such  was  his  fear 
of  the  murderous  "  Highbinders." 

This  foul  deed  reduced  the  emigrant  band  to 
eight ;  three-sevenths  of  the  land-shark's  commis- 
sion had  gone  ruthlessly  before  the  journey  was 
fairly  under  way. 

The  party  reached  Vancouver,  however,  with- 
out further  accident ;  and  eight  would-be 
American  citizens  were  turned  over  there  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  aforesaid  land-shark,  Ching 
being  in  command,  as  a  Chinee  who  "  knew  the 
ropes." 

Ching  had,  indeed,  had  prior  experience  in 
blockade-running,  though  not  over  this  particular 
route.  On  his  first  trip  he  had  used  the  certifi- 
cate of  a  brother  who  had  preceded  him,  the 
latter  having  mailed  his  own  certificate  to  Ching 
in  Canton. 

This,  of  course,  is  frequently  done  ;  a  little 
matter  like  the  certificate-holder's  photograph 
accompanying  the  document  being  easily  over- 
come by  these  clever  Celestials,  who  claim  to  be 
the  inventors  of  photography. 

Another  method  attempted  to  aid  would-be 
emigrants  known 
to  Ching  was  the 
forging  of  entire 
certificates.  The 
firm  of  Chinese 
printers  who  tried 
this  plan,  however, 
overleaped  them- 
selves. They  ran 
off  several  hun- 
dred copies  in 
exact  imitation  of 
a  genuine  certifi- 
cate, but  from 
ignorance  of  the 
English  languag 
every  holder  of 
one  of  the  spurious 
passports  was  de- 
scribed therein  as 
"  five  feet  six  and 
one  half;  a  mole 
in  the  outer  edge 
of  the  right  eye- 
brow, and  two 
front  teeth  miss- 
ing," the  indi- 
vidual's name  and 
his  photograph 
being  the  only 
things  changed. 
After  a  dozen  or 
so  emigrants  had 
passed    in     under 


this  description,  the  Commissioners  began  to 
doubt  there  being  more  of  that  particular 
kind  who  were  genuine.  The  next  dozen  who 
presented  these  cards  were  promptly  deported ; 
and  the  dishonest  printers  sought  advice  as  to 
what  was  wrong  with  their  English. 

Among  other  things  Ching  had  learnt  from 
experience  was  knowledge  of  the  rascality  of  the 
so-called  "agents"  who  brought  the  coolies  over. 
His  first  independent  stand  was  made  when  the 
particular  pair  of  beauties  concerned  in  the  land- 
ing of  his  party  undertook  to  make  Ching  hand 
over  to  them  the  money  of  the  six  dead  Chinese, 
which,  they  argued,  was  forfeited  to  themselves. 
One  look,  however,  at  Ching's  powerful  frame, 
one  glance  at  the  determined  expression  in  his 
slanting  eyes — helped  out,  perhaps,  by  the  sight 
of  an  enormous  old-fashioned  Chinese  pistol 
nearly  two  feet  long,  which  he  carried  in  his 
blouse  and  did  not  seem  averse  to  display — 
cooled  the  insistence  of  the  white  men  most  re- 
markably. One  of  Ching's  first  business  moves 
on  reaching  land,  after  this  encounter  with  the 
agents,  was  the  remitting  of  the  money  to  the 
dead  Chinamen's  relatives  in  Canton. 


M^-^MV 


THE   SIGHT   OF    AN    ENORMOUS    PISTOL    COOLED    THE     INSISTENCE    OF     illK    WHITE    .MEN    MOST    REMARKABLY. 


nil:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


them  at   Vancouver    for  some 

on  the  western 

them  :       ■     ■  ise  their 

had    likewise 


■1.  the 
.:    away 
•\ hen  they  left  China. 

the  frontier 

much  of  their  "easy  money  " 

he  bonier  around  the 

5  had  been  recently 

at  a  dismal    station  in 

north 

ling 
them  •  uth  and 

•ir 

.     knew 

e   neral 

nd  they 

I  hey 
their  clients 

fterwards 

;ng. 
ais- 
un- 
scrupui 

their    lives 
:he  occ. 

mpt     to 
ike   off"    -    .    Hi 
and 
par. 

. 

the 

fu 

.ion  and 

>pulous  city  of  the  United  States," 

.uth  of  Canada. 

inary  risks:  but   he 

:iuch  of  the  lurking  perils  in  the  trails 

rt  and  the  unblazed  mountain 

I  that 
■  '  re  I  that  route. 

11  i  <  on- 

tongui  the 

ou    allee 
ee    l  o    muchee 

e,  too  i  o  much 

ost  and 


And  again  the  glint  in  Sau  (Thing's  eye  and 
that  small  cannon  he  carried  in  his  blouse  for- 
bade argument. 

Suspe<  ting  treachery,  Ching  determined  that 
their  rascally  white  guide  should  stay  with  them 
until  the  little  band  was  at  least  within  sight  of 
an  inhabited  section  in  the  United  States 
i  r.  and  so  he  kept  close  beside  that  elusive 
individual  when  they  left  the  cars  at  the  wood- 
camj).  A  suspicious  move  of  the  agent  toward 
the    rear-car    platform    as    the    departing     train 

stood   caused  a    prompt 
>  cannon  and  a    few   in- 
tense   words    of   "  pid- 


swept    by 


unlimbering 


where 
of 


they 


Ching' 


his    ■ 
i    little 


CHINATOWN  IS  RAIDED 
THREE  TOPE  DEPORTED 

Immigration  Agent  Hampton  With  Force  of  Offi- 
cers Arrests  Five  Celestials  Who  Have  Not 
Proper  Credentials— One  Arms  With 
Pitchfork  and  Shows  Fight. 


Thare   was  more  excitement  In  China- 
town i Ms  momlnf  than  has  been 
<S«r.rfl   is   that   quarter   (or   many  e,   d-iy 
*ad  It  was  all  on  account  of  an  unexpect- 
ed visit  of  Em  migration  Agent  Hampton 
of    Gr*at    Falls    and    two    Inspectors     of 
Chinese.      It    was    a    wild    scene,    while    It 
Im'.H  and  Ihf  Chinamen  scattered  In  all 
n».     Aa  a  result  of  the  raid  four 
.  j   are   now    held   In   custody     on 
-it*  of  being  Illegally  In  the  United 
States.     The  fifth,  who  was  arrested,  was 
raleaaed  after  examination  before  United 
Slates  Oirnmlr:  ;_n-2r  P.   P.  Sterling'.    The 
tsea  are  being  considered  this  aft- 
ernoon. 
Agent   Hampton   had  a  narrow  escape 
oat  one  of  the   Chinamen, 
for    the   lit  it   was   armed    with    a    large 
pitchfork  with  which   he  Intended  to  de- 
-r-self 
leaurcfcea    7-odgln«    Honse. 
Mr    Hampton  d   the  city  but 

'    time  and  while  strolling  through 
to—  quarter   saw  the  large  lodg- 
M   next  the- cty  hall  and  getting 
Ms    two    Inspectors    and    Deputy    United 
Marshal    Charles    K.    Gage,    began 
a  search.     TTiey  entered  the  building  un- 
expectedly   and'  »    panic    ensued    among 
I   ■'    ■  man    J.    A-    Mackey 
lanca    of    the   officers 
sr.d  *verr  avenue  of  escape  was  guarded. 
Two  China:!  h  f   whom  could 

■peak  English,  and  clad>  In  the  garments 
srhJta   cot.,    several   size*   too  ■  large 
foT  tTifm,  were   found   corcealed   In   one 


of  the  rooms  and  were  promptly  escorted 
to  the  city  Jail  alid  placed  In  the  "bridal 
chamber.  Search  was  then  made  through 
cellars,  attics  and  underground  passages. 

Mr.  Gage  had  taken  a  station  at  the 
south  doorway  and  saw  two  Celestials 
peeping  over  the  fence  to  ascertain  If 
anyone  was  on  guard.  They  were  quick- 
ly waved  hack,  however,  by  a  Chinam-m 
stationed  In  the  street,  and  disappeared. 
Mr.  Gage  saw  them  and  Boon  Mr.  Hamp- 
ton was  on  the  trail.  He  Jumped  the 
fence  and  found  one  of  the  men  In  a 
smell  outhouse.  It  was  some  time  toefore 
the  other  one  was   located. 

Threatened    by   Giant. 

Mr.  Hampton  descended  a  nabrow  stair- 
way leading  underground  anu  owing  to 
the  change  from  light  to  darkness,  was 
unable  to  see  anything  for  a  brief  period. 
He  had  almost  reached  the  bottom  of  the 
ladder  when  he  saw  a  Chinaman  at  least 
six  feet  tall  and  armed  with  a.  pitchfork. 
Whipping  out  his  revolver  Mr.  Hampton 
commanded  him  to  drop  the  weapon  and 
follow  him  up  the  ladder,  which  he  did. 
Only  one  more  Chinaman  was  caught  and 
th?n  the  entire  crowd  was  taken  before 
United  States  Commissioner  If.  P.  Ster- 
ling, where  the  examination  was  con- 
ducted by;  United  States  District  Attor- 
ney Carl  Raech  and  Mr.  Hampton.  One 
of  the  crowd  showed  his  papeia  and  was 
released,  but  6a u  Ha  Ching.  Wong  See 
Chu  and  Wong  Chung  had  hearings  be- 
fore Commissioner  Sterling  and  were  or- 
dered deported.  The  other  will  be  given 
a    hearing    this    afternoon. 


gin 
the 


l  HELENA     DAILY    REO  >RD        DESCRIBING 

HA    CHIN'U'S    FIGHT    AN!)    CAM 


. 


talk  which  warned 
white  man  that 
upon  a  second  attempt 
of  the  kind  he  would 
find  himself  shot  full 
of  holes  and  diffused 
over  the  landscape — a 
feat  which  the  weapon 
seemed  thoroughly 
capable  of  performing. 
Then,  with  an  un- 
easy glance  across  the 
broad  plain  southward 
■ — an  almost  limitless 
stretch  of  sand,  rocks, 
and  sage-brush,  fringed 
in  the  purple  distance 
by  the  first  range  of 
the  Rocky  Mountains 
of  Montana  —  the 
guide  struck  out  in  no 
amiable  mood  to  brave 
the  countless  dangers 
he  knew  lay  before 
him.  Following  him, 
the  packs  on  their 
backs  well  stored  with 
provisions  suitable  for 
the  long  journey,  and 
all  chattering  excitedly 
except  Ching,  were  the 
eight  Chinese  blockade-runners. 

Ching  himself,  watchful  and  grim-visaged, 
kept  close  to  the  white  man.  Barring  the 
suffering  which,  despite  their  roaring  sage-brush 
fir.-,  they  endured  from  the  chilly  blasts,  this 
first  night  passed  uneventfully.  An  occasional 
gaunt  and  hunger-crazed  band  of  prowling 
coyotes  or  fierce  wolves  came  as  close  as  they 
dared  to  the  fire,  and  then  sat  back  on  their 
haunches  and  announced  their  discomfiture 
in  prolonged  howling,  but  the  coolies  soon  grew 
accustomed  to  this. 

( Ihing   never  once 
his  vigilant  watch  on 


during   the 
the  unwillini 


night 


relaxed 
escort,  the 


T H  E    BLOC K  ADE  -  R U X X E  RS. 


•65 


"agent."  He  figured  that  he  could  make  up 
his  lack  of  sleep  after  the  party  were  about  three 
days  farther  along.  By  then  the  white  man 
would  have  less  to  gain  by  deserting,  as  many  of 
the  dangers  would  be  in  the  rear  of  them  ;  and, 
for  the  same  reason,  they  would  care  less  them- 
selves for  his  companionship. 

Early  upon  the  morning  of  the  second  day 
the  little  party  espied  in  the  clear  air  two 
Canadian  Mounted  Frontier  Police  distant 
three  or  four  miles.  At  a  word  from  the  guide 
the  Chinamen  fell  fiat  on  their  faces,  which 
position  they  maintained  until  the  horsemen 
disappeared  over  the  horizon.  It  was  the 
danger  of  meeting  these  vigilant  range-riders  - 
officials  on  the  look  -  out  for  contraband 
Chinese  smugglers  or  Customs  evaders  of  any 
description — which  filled  the  white  man's  breast 
(an  undoubtedly  cowardly 
breast)  with  apprehension. 
Twice  more  the  same  day 
glimpses  were  caught  of 
these  riders  at  a  safe  dis- 
tance, the  same  tactics 
being  pursued  by  the 
refugees  to  keep  out  of 
their  sight. 

Then,  late  in  the  after- 
noon, two  of  the  mounted 
police  appeared  suddenly, 
coming  into  view  unex- 
pectedly over  a  small 
ridge,  scarcely  a  half-mile 
away  on  the  plain,  and 
this  time  the  fugitives  were 
caught  sight  of. 

The  first  impulse  of  the 
white    man    had    been    to 
run  towards  the  horsemen 
with    the    intention    of 
escaping,  purposing  to  tell 
the    officers    a    harped-up 
story   about    his    being    a 
prisoner   in    the   hands   of 
the    Chinamen;     but 
straightway,  with  ready  in- 
tuition   of    the    coward's 
intention,    Ching   got    be- 
tween   the    rascal  and   the   horsemen, 
pressed  the  muzzle   of   his   big   pistol 
in  the  small  of  that  individual's   back, 
and  forced  him  to  "  set  the  pace  "  on 
a  run  for  sate  cover.     With  the  loss  of 
part    of   the    men's    packs,    and    with 
them  a  large  part  of  their  food  supply, 
the    little   band    managed    once   more 
to  evade  capture  by  rushing  pell-mell 
down  the  steep  banks  of  a  coulee.    Here 
they   separated    and    hid    themselves 


behind  large  rocks  and  in  patches  of  thick 
willows,  Ching  taking  care  of  the  guide,  the 
baby  cannon  supplying  the  place  of  all  argument. 
A  score  of  times  the  two  horsemen,  having 
dismounted,  passed  within  a  few  steps  of  some 
one  of  the  men — upon  one  occasion  actually 
stepping  on  the  toe  of  a  hiding  Chinaman's  felt 
"boat"  without  knowing  it — but  they  failed  to 
discover  them,  though  darkness  supervened 
before  they  finally  abandoned  the  search. 

After  this  incident  the  white  guide  became 
desperate  to  make  his  escape,  knowing  he  had 
been  plainly  seen  by  the  policemen,  and  that 
his  presence  with  the  Chinamen  would  be  fully 
understood. 

During  that  night,  "camp"  having  been 
made  at  the  foot  of  the  same  ravine  they  had 
hidden   in.   Ching,  overcome   with   a   fatmue   he 


K 


THE    LITTLE    BAND    MANAGED    TO    EVADE   CAI-TURE    BY  RUSHING    PELL-MELL 
PQWN    THE    BANKS   OF    A    COULEE." 


THE    WIDE     WoRl  1>     MAGAZINE. 


p,  onlj 
that  lie 

1  le  find   the  white  man 

':iim  ;  1  llumined  in 

fiendish 

I  grasped  in 
guide,  felt  a  heavy 
•  of  hempen  ro]  - 
li  :ed   thai   he  was 

:it  lie 
• 
vine 
r  in  i  i 

lirty- 

had 

runn 

had    fallen 
ff  in  a 

■ 

•mined 

i     that 
had  hut  to  rid 

•  f    this 

hite 
the 

this 

hurl   him  < 

|< 

•      rei      enl    his 

nward  in  a 

•mi    to    his 

old,  with  a 

his 

the 

the 


THE   WHn  HtNfi    TO    Till      . 

LIFF." 


At  i  moment  when  his  every  effort  was  being 
strained  to  its  utmost  to  do  a  cowardly  and 
despicable  murder  he  had  met  his  own  well- 
merited  doom  instead.  Call  it  a  simple  coinci- 
dence, an  accident,  an  act  of  Providence,  what 
you  will,  the  fact  remains  that  a  foul  deed  had 
been  prevented  in  the  very  second  of  its  culmi- 
nation.    1  ven  the  Chinamen  were  awed  by  it. 

Though  freed  from  their  human  enemy  the 
next  few  days  in  the  yellow  men's  tramp  wit- 
nessed   a    constant  succession  of  hardships  and 

perils.  A  storm 
«n  came  up  on  that 
second  night, 
ushered  in  by  bril- 
liant  lightning- 
Hashes,  and  in  this 
frightful  blizzard 
two  of  the  thinly- 
clad  Chinamen 
perished,  being 
virtually  frozen  to 
death.  Bright, 
warm  spells  in  the 
daytime  were  some 
compensation,  yet 
they  scarcely  served 
to  drive  the  chill 
out  of  the  bodies 
of  the  survivors. 

Then  came  two 
days  of  almost 
aimless  wandering 
—worse  than  aim- 
less, for  at  the  end 
of  thirty-six  hours 
the  little  band 
brought  up  at  the 
very  same  canyon 
they  had  left,  hav- 
ing been  altogether 
off  their  proper 
trail  and  wandering 
over  the  plains  in 
a  circle.  Without 
a  guide,  alone  on  a 
plain  of  never- 
varying  clumps  of 
sage  -  brush  and 
heaps  of  sand 
reaching  northward  for  two  thousand  miles  and 
a  thousand  miles  laterally,  it  is  not  strange  that 
these  ignorant  travellers  lost  their  way. 

Nexl  came  two  days  of  scant  fare,  a  mouthful 
of   raw   rice    each   comprising    the   final    meal, 
after   which   followed   two  other  days  with 
food  at  all. 

In  their  extremity  they  ran  down,  killed,  and 
ate  a  number  of  the  little  prairie  rodents  known 


no 


THE    BLOCKADE -RUNNERS. 


167 


as  "gophers."  Weak  as  they  were,  and  half- 
blinded  by  the  fierce  sun-glare  on  the  sand,  they 
would  start  now  and  again  to  chase  shadowy 
mirage  visions,  keeping  up  the  insane  though 
weak-kneed  race  until  they  fell  on  their  faces 
exhausted.  No  one  who  has  not  been  lost  in 
the  desert,  deprived  for  days  of  all  food  save 
reptiles  and  the  small  animals — which  in  his 
weakened  condition  would  soon  be  too  fleet  for 
him  to  catch — can  form  any  idea- of  the  horrors 
of  the  experience.  Such  water  as  is  chanced 
upon  in  the  little  streams  and  pools,  too,  is  so 
strongly  alkaline  as  to  be  a  mere  aggravation  of 
the  wanderer's  intense  sufferings. 

At  one  time  the  starving  band  even  attempted 


in  amongst  the  Chinamen,  who  were  then  lying 
exhausted  upon  the  ground,  and  again  it  was 
Ching  who  drove  them  off. 

Then,  after  many  hours'  repetition  of  these 
horrors  and  unspeakable  sufferings,  a  providential 
sight  was  caught  ahead — two  white  men  en- 
camped on  the  plain  !  The  spectacle  infused 
new  life  into  the  almost  dead  fugitives,  and  after 
hanging  round  the  camp  for  sometime — for  past 
experience  with  white  men  had  rendered  them 
cautious — they  finally  made  friends  with  the 
strangers,  the  hospitable  whites  sharing  their  food 
with  the  famished  Celestials. 

The  two  travellers  were  Swedes,  and  were  on 
their  way  to    Helena.     They  took   pity  on   the 


EVEN    THE    COYOTES    AND    1KA1RIE  WOLVES    BEGAN    TO   GROW   OVERBOl  D. 


to  chew  the  bitter  sage  leaves.  They  would 
gladly  have  eaten  the  rattlesnakes  which  they 
saw  had  they  had  strength  left  to  catch  and 
kill  them. 

Finally,  so  weak  did  they  get  that  they  could 
do  no  more  than  drag  their  emaciated  frames 
across  the  plain.  Often  they  stumbled  and' fell. 
Ching,  the  one  who  had  kept  his  strength  longest, 
had  great  difficulty  in  preventing  some  one  of 
the  poor  wretches  from  lying  down  and  refusing 
to  get  up.  Even  the  coyotes  and  prairie  wolves 
began  to  grow  overbold,  seeming  to  know  that 
a  speedy  end  was  at  hand,  and  toward  nightfall 
several  great  grey  brutes,  their  jaws  wide  apart 
showing  their  gleaming  fangs,  actually  bounded 


poor,  starving  Chinamen,  and  next  day — regard- 
less of  the  risk  they  ran  of  being  arrested  as 
blockade-runners — they  took  the  little  band  on 
to  a  place  called  Havre,  where  one  of  the  coolies 
was  left  in  hospital.  Two  others  elected  to  re- 
main in  the  town,  but  three — including  Ching — 
accompanied  the  white  men  to  Helena,  where 
they  parted  company. 

It  seems  that  they  spent  five  days  among  their 
compatriots  of  Chinatown  in  Helena,  and  then 
misfortune  again  befell  them.  Emigration  Agent 
Hampton  and  two  Inspectors  of  Chinese  raided 
the  quarter  in  search  of  "  suspects,"  and  five 
"  uncertified  "  Celestials  were  rounded  up.  Poor 
Sau  Ha  Ching  and  his  companions  were  among 


PHE    WIDE    W0R1  D    MAGAZINE. 


D    FIGHT    WITH    A    PITCHFORK. 

I  at  the  thought  of  arrest  and 

ill  that  he  had  gone  through, 

ght 

■ 

and    made 

I        r    in 

the   day   he,    with 

I 

id  it 

■ 


plains  and  rough  mountain  trails 
which  lead  down  from  Canada, 
mounted  police  and  vigilant  immi- 
gration officials  notwithstanding. 
But  the  Dominion's  new  emigration 
law  will  soon  put  an  end  to  the  un- 
welcome emigrants'  even  landing  on 
( 'anadian  soil. 

And  so  we  take  leave  of  poor 
Ching  and  his  heartbroken  fellow- 
countrymen  cooped  up  in  the 
Helena  gaol,  bemoaning  that  hard 
luck  which  has  for  ever  made  futile 
their  vision  of  prosperity,  as  the 
proud  proprietors  of  back  alley  wash- 
houses  in  some  American  town — 
ultimately  to  return  triumphantly  to 
their  native  land  as  rich  men,  there 
to  be  welcomed  by  some  dusky- 
cheeked  maiden  whose  eyes  shall  be 
set  at  that  exact  and  bewitching  slant 
essential  to  John  Chinaman's  ideal 
of  piquant  beauty. 

From  this  miserable  cell  these 
poor  emigrants,  who  ask  of  Uncle 
Sam  nothing  but  the  privilege  of 
toiling  at  work  which  the  white 
labourer  scorns  to  perform,  will 
be  deported  —  forced  back  to  the 
Orient,  whence  American  rascals 
lured  them,  robbed  of  even  the  little 
pittance  a  life  of  previous  deprivation 
had  enabled  them  to  save. 

I  am  no  believer  in  cheap  Chinese 
labour.     I  am  much  less  a  believer 
in  the  Celestials  being  imposed  upon 
in  such  a  rascally  fashion.      For  the 
matter  of  that,  Uncle  Sam  and  his  Chinese  Com- 
missioners feel  as  I  do.      But  what's  to  be  done? 


HELENA,    WHERE    CHI  4RRESTKI)    BY    EMIGRATION    AGENT    HAMPTON. 

/■'rem  a  Photo,  by  If.    F..   Norris,  Jun. 


The  Wild  Tribes  of  Sakhalin. 


By  Charles   H.    Hawes,  B.A. 
II. 

An  adventurous  expedition  into  the  interior  of  the  dreaded  Island  of  Sakhalin.  The  natural 
difficulties  of  the  journey  were  accentuated  by  the  danger  of  attack  by  escaped  convicts  from 
the    Russian    settlements,   who    prowl    about   the    forests,    rendered    desperate    through    persecution 

and   starvation. 


HE  natives  are  often  very  hard 
pressed,  for  they  have  to  supply 
food  not  only  for  themselves,  but 
for  their  dogs,  and  the  bears  which 
they  capture  when  young  and  keep 
against  the  great  religious  festival,  which  I 
describe  later.  In  the  summer,  it  is  true,  the 
dogs  find  themselves  in  food  by  fishing  like 
their  masters,  but  they  have  to  be  fed  in  winter. 
A  piece  of  salmon  is  regularly  reserved  for  the 
animals,  and  in  dividing  the  fish  two  slices  are 
cut  from  either  side  for  the  masters'  consump- 
tion, while  the  backbone,  tail,  and  head,  with 
the  flesh  clinging  to  them,  are  dried  for  feeding 
the  dogs  and  bears. 

The  bear  plays  the  chief  role  among  the  wild 
animals  on  Sakhalin,  and  in  olden  times  the 
sacrifice  of  Bruin  must  have  been  a  religious 
festival,  but  now  it  has  almost  entirely  lost  its 
original  significance,  and  has  become  merely  a 
great  fete.  In  those  days,  no  doubt,  a  full- 
grown  bear  was  caught,  and  the  difficulty  and 
danger  of  this  probably  enhanced  its  value  as  a 
sacrificial  offering,  but  now  an  attempt  is  made  to 
procure  cubs  and  to  rear  them  for  the  purpose. 

On  our  way  back  from  the  Okhotsk  Sea  we 
came  to  the  village  of  Ado  Tim,  where  we 
found  great  native  rejoicings,  for  the  Gilyaks  had 
had  a  successful  bear-hunt  two  days  before.  One 
of  them  solemnly  told  me  that  when  the  hunters 
came  upon  a  she-bear  with  two  cubs,  and 
began  the  chase,  the  dam  said  to  the  cubs, 
"  You  run  up  that  tree,"  which  they  did  as  soon 
as  the  mother  was  shot.  One  of  the  natives, 
more  daring  than  the  rest,  at  once  followed  with 
a  seal-thong  noose,  lassoed  one  of  the  cubs, 
and  descending  pulled  the  noose  tight,  compel- 
ling the  poor  little  beast  by  degrees  to  climb 
down  the  trunk. 

In  late  winter  Bruin  is  hunted  for  his  fur  and 

*  The  full  account  of  Mr.  Hawes's  recent  travels  will  be  published 
by  Messrs.  Harper  Bros,  in  his  work,  "  The  Uttermost  East." 
Vol.  xii.-22. 


flesh,  and  is  by  nc  means  an  easy  capture.  When 
he  first  emerges  from  his  cave  after  his  long 
winter  sleep,  somewhat  dazed,  the  hunters'  aim 
is  to  worry  and  harass  him,  and  so  to  weaken  him 
by  spear  and  arrow  wounds  that  he  shall  fall  an 
easy  prey  before  he  can  come  to  close  quarters 
with  any  one  of  his  pursuers.  Some  of  the  party 
climb  trees  to  be  out  of  the  bear's  way,  but  occa- 
sionally one  is  felled  by  a  blow  from  the  great 
paw  or  crushed  in  the  monster's  embrace.  It  is 
when  Bruin  is  weakened  by  loss  of  blood  that 
there  comes  the  opportunity  of  the  spearman. 
He  certainly  takes  his  life  in  his  hand.  He  must 
not  show  his  spear,  or  even  appear  to  thrust,  for 
the  animal  is  so  wary  a  combatant  that  he  will 
parry  the  thrust  and  crush  his  enemy.  The 
hunter,  therefore,  stands  right  in  the  bear's 
path,  and  with  the  spear-shaft  firmly  planted  on 
the  ground  and  the  blade  hidden  by  his  tunic, 
but  pointed  at  the  bear,  he  awaits  the  onrush  of 
the  animal.  As  the  great  creature  falls  upon 
him  he  slips  aside  with  great  agility,  and  Bruin 
is  impaled.  At  the  junction  of  the  blade  and 
shaft  of  the  spear  is  a  semi-circular  piece  of 
iron  attached  by  a  thong.  I  asked  what  was 
the  use  of  this,  and  the  natives  said  that 
Bruin  was  so  cute  that  if  impaled  he  would 
quickly  push  the  spear  right  through  him  and 
rush  after  his  assailant. 

When  captured  the  cub  is  placed  in  a  strong 
log  cage,  and  our  next  picture  shows  one  of 
these  dens  at  the  village  of  Kamarvo,  on  a  lonely 
sand  dune  stretching  along  the  north-eastern 
coast  of  Sakhalin.  Here  I  had  the  good 
fortune  to  snap  Bruin  while  he  was  being  fed 
with  fish.  He  had  thrust  his  great  paw 
through  a  hole,  and  was  trying  to  clutch  the 
fish  held  out  to  him,  as  I  came  on  the  scene 
with  my  camera.  Above  hangs  a  birch-bark 
basket .  filled  with  water  to  quench  his  thirst. 
These  brown  bears  are  of  enormous  size,  and 
are  bigger  the  farther  east  and  north  one  goes. 


IIIF     WIDE     WORLD     MAC,  A/INK. 


WITH    FISH 


irraal  specimen   stands 

n     feet    on    his    hind     1 

-   khalin  ti       si         tear  is  not  only 

.  ii  to  th<-  river  to  bathe,  and 

-iitutional.    but  it  must 

ment  that  he  is  tamed 

the  contrary,  he  is  ex<  eed- 

e  confinement. 

_     I    arrived  at   the  village   of   Irr 

one   of    our    native    oars- 

Vrmunka,  who  himself  v  reat  hunter. 

b    ir  to    be   brought  out 

'»ut     was    informed     that 


there  were  not  sufficient 
men-folk  in  the  village  to  get 
him  out.  After  some  persua- 
sion, however,  two  cubs  of 
tin  age  of  three  months 
were  hauled  out.  They 
whirled  and  twisted,  snarled 
and  swore,  and  tried  to  tear 
us  with  their  claws ;  but,  being 
held  by  men  at  the  ends  of 
thongs,  it  was  possible  to  keep 
out  of  their  reach.  My  inter- 
preter took  a  photograph  of 
this  proceeding,  but  it  was 
then  twilight,  and  the  picture 
is  not  so  clear  as  it  might  be ; 
so  I  reproduce  a  similar  scene 
taken  at  Korsakovsk,  in  the 
extreme  south  of  the  island. 
Here  the  bear  has  been 
brought  out  by  request  of  the 
Governor,  who  is  visiting  the 
settlement.  Bruin  is  being  held 
in  check  by  a  number  of  hairy 
Ainus. 
The  bear  festival  is  generally  held  in  January. 
Invitations  are  sent  round  by  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  the  four-year-old  bear,  and  on  the 
day  appointed  the  animal  is  hauled  out  of  the 
cage  by  means  of  a  noose  slipped  over  his  head 
and  one  paw.  He  is  then  tied  between  two 
trees,  and  in  some  villages  worried  by  the 
shooting  of  blunt  arrows,  as  depicted  on  the 
next  page.  At  the  same  time  two  dogs  are 
strangled  as  a  sacrifice.  The  Cham,  or  medicine- 
man, comes  forward,  and  holding  a  pine-twig 
over  its  head  exhorts  the  bear  not  to  say  any- 
thing unkind  of  his  master  to  the  Great  Spirit, 


i      !  hi:    den. 


OR    HIS    CONSTITUTIONAL. 


[P/ioto. 


THE    WILD    TRIBES    OF    SAKHALIN. 


'7 


and  recites  the  benefits  that  he  has  received  at 
his  hands — viz.,  the  best  water,  the  beautiful 
yukola  (dried  fish),  and  the  walks  and  the  baths 
and  warm  winter  quarters  that  he  has  enjoyed. 
The  Cham  further  explains  to  him  that  it  is  not 
his  master  that  is  about  to  kill  him.  In  front  of 
the  bear  is  then  placed  a  stake  pointing  to  the 
east,  the  abode  of  the  Great  Spirit. 

The  reason  of  this  is  quite  clear  to  any 
ordinary  Gilyak,  who  argues  as  follows  :  The  bear 
is  a  Gilyak,  but  he  is  not  a  pious  Gilyak  ;  he  never 
makes  offerings  to 
the  Great  Spirit, 
the  god  of  the 
mountains  and 
forests.  Whereas 
the  Gilyak  himself 
is  most  punctilious 
in  his  religious 
duties,  and  at  the 
conclusion  of  every 
meal  makes  offer- 
ings of  tobacco, 
brick  tea,  or  fish, 
the  bear  is  exceed- 
ingly remiss  and 
never  does  any- 
thing of  the  sort. 
He  is,  therefore, 
a  heathen,  and 
cannot  be  ex- 
pected either  to 
know  where  the 
Great  Spirit  lives 
or,  in  his  unen- 
lightened state,  to 
wish  to  go  to  him. 
They,  therefore, 
indicate  the  direc- 
tion and  rely  on 
the  spirits  of  the 
dogs,  of  whom  on 
earth  the  bear  was 
frightened,  to  hunt 
his  spirit  to  the 
Great  Spirit. 

The  bear  having  been  shot  by  a  skilful  archer, 
with  loud  cries  of  victory  the  Gilyaks  rush  for 
the  dead  beast  and  quickly  strip  off  his  skin. 
Cutting  his  body  in  pieces,  each  takes  a  small 
portion,  but  first  of  all  the  Cham  cuts  out  the 
heart  and,  after  dividing  it,  gives  portions  to  the 
most  honoured  members  of  the  clan.  These 
are  offered  to  the  gods  and  then  eaten,  this 
ensuring  to  the  eater  success  in  the  season's 
hunt.  A  big  feast  is  then  held  and  great 
rejoicings  follow.  Songs  are  sung  of  past  heroes 
of  the  hunt,  and  the  young  men  enter  into 
contests. 


gIlyak  archers  worrying  the 
Front  a 


Though  a  very  cheerful  people,  the  Gilyaks 
seem  to  have  few  amusements.  They  play, 
however,  a  game  of  ball,  at  which  they  are 
seen  disporting  themselves  in  the  next  photo- 
graph. It  resembles  that  played  in  Bur- 
mese villages,  in  which  the  ball  has  to  be 
kept  from  touching  the  ground,  and,  while  no 
one  wins,  all  have  opportunities  of  displaying 
their  skill. 

They  show  some  elementary  artistic  notions 
in   crude   carvings   of  bears,    ducks,    and  other 

animals  ;  but  per- 
haps the  women 
display  more  in 
their  needlework. 
Bone  needles  were 
used  until  the 
advent  of  an  occa- 
sional Japanese 
j  u  n  k  ,  bringi  ng 
ships'  needles. 
These,  not  so  long 
ago,  were  so  valua- 
ble that  they  were 
the  pi  ice  of  a  wife  ! 
Instead  of  cotton, 
sewing  is  done 
generally  with  rein- 
deer hair  taken 
from  the  mane. 

Fish  -  skin  and 
seal- skin  used  in 
times  past  to  be 
exclusively  the 
material  of  their 
summer  and  winter 
clothing,  and  is  so 
to  a  considerable 
extent  even  now. 

Having  reached 
one  day  the  village 
of  Chaivo,  where  I 
heard  there  was  a 
Cham,  or  medi- 
cine-man, I  sent 
for  him  in  the 
hopes  of  learning  more  than  I  could  from  the 
Gilyak  "man  in  the  street."  After  consider- 
able evasion  he  was  induced  to  appear. 

It  was  evening  as  we  (myself  and  interpreter) 
sat  on  the  sand  dune  that  divided  the  bay 
before  us  from  the  Okhotsk  Sea,  which  was 
rolling  in,  in  great  booming  breakers,  through,  a 
narrow  strait  hard  by.  A  glorious  sunset  met 
our  gaze  westward  ;  angry  masses  of  black  cloud 
were  fired  by  reddening  rays  as  they  gathered 
behind  the  distant  blue  mountains,  to  the  foot 
of  which  stretched  vast  forests.  'Twas  a  Sunday 
evening,  calm  as  an  English  village  scene,  but 


BEAR    WITH    BT.UNTED   ARROWS. 

Photo. 


1111.    wild      WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


I  Photo. 


hov  lit!     B)    what  a  gulf  were  we  sepa- 

civilization  !  n     us    and 

>.nd  lay  impenetrable  forests,  the  home  of 

.r  and   the  escaped   convict   armed   and 

:  with  starvation,  forests  that  could   be 

lays  and  days  of  punting  up 

d    by    weeks    of    travel    ere    the 

I   be   reached,   and,    finally,    the 

(tent    of    snow-bound    Siberia   to    be 

ires  of  the  villagers,  attended 

thered    closer    round    us    as 

i  and  I   talke.d  of  the  Gilyak 

of  their  fathers,  and  the  home 

tie  natives,  no  doubt. 

the  white  men  from  a 

I  want  to  know  these  thin 

rant    of  what    was    common 

laughing  at  them  ? 

o,  and  to  allay  his 

m  that   I   was  a  friend   of  the 

ry  far-off  land, 

his   father   or  fatl 

ever   told    him   anything  about    his 

■   the  main- 
land lying  he  asked 
ns  had  ,  and  why, 
1  in  large  villages  and 
on   and 
•    brief, 
rtant  pi  ge  and  is 
..  itters,    but 
-    ■  ■  ■     scer- 
nt  has   I               ing  before 


he  was  taken  ill, 
he  waits  until 
night  descends, 
when  he  begins 
his  operations  in 
the  semi-dark- 
ness of  the  hut, 
having  previously 
driven  out  all 
unnecessary  per 
sons.  Placing 
on  his  head  a 
band  of  birch- 
bark  with  rosette 
like  pendants, 
he  next  sets 
three  little  cups 
containing  food 
in  the  cor n e r 
of  the  hut,  and 
near  them  two 
small  figures 
bound  back  to 
back,  one  of  a 
laughing  man 
woman.  If  he 
the   patient    will 


and  the  other  of  a  weeping 
has  made  up  his  mind  that 
recover  he  artfully  places  the  figure  of  the 
weeping  woman  opposite  the  cups  of  food. 
Then  he  begins  to  use  his  powers  of  exorcism, 
during  which  he  whirls  round  the  hut  beating  a 
tambourine,  and  gradually  increasing  his  voice 
from  a  whisper  to  fearsome  howls  and  screams. 
His  wild  springings  and  the  flickering  fire  cause 
strange  shadows  to  flit  across  the  hut ;  these,  and 
the  unintelligible  sounds  emitted,  strike  awe  into 
the  souls  of  the  spectators.  The  evil  spirit  having 
been  exorcised  naturally  prefers  to  go  into  the 
figure  nearest  the  food,  while  the  good  spirit 
enters  into  that  of  the  man  with  the  laughing 
face. 

Next  the  Cham  draws  one  of  the  cups  near 
to  the  masculine  figure,  whereupon  the  two 
spirits  begin  to  fight.  Of  course,  the  victory 
is  with  the  stronger  party — that  is,  to  the  good 
spirit.  Then  follow  negotiations  as  to  how 
much  in  the  way  of  an  offering  the  evil  spirit 
will  require  to  consent  to  entirely  quit  the  sick 
man. 

"  Put,"  I  said  to  an  elder  sitting  by,  "  if  your 
child  falls  ill,  and  notwithstanding  the  Cham's 
efforts  it  die.,?  " 

"  Oh,"  said  he,  in  his  simple  stoical  faith, 
"  we  make  offerings,  and  if  the  child  recovers 
it  is  well,  but  if  the  spirit  does  not  make  it  well 
it  is  good  also." 

Our  next  picture  shows  a  great  Shaman  among 
the  Tungus  on  the  mainland.  This  tribe  I  also 
found   on    Sakhalin.     They    were    wilder    than 


THE    WILD    TRIBES    OF    SAKHALIN. 


i73 


A   GREAT    SHAMAN,    1  >R    MEDICINE-MAN,    OF    THE   TUNGUS. 

From  a  Photo. 


he  strikes  his  tambourine  and  summons  an 
audience.  Whirling  around  the  lire,  jangling 
his  ornaments,  banging  the  tambourine,  he  beats 
himself  and  howls  until,  his  face  disfigured  and 
his  whole  appearance  maniacal,  he  collapses  on 
the  floor  of  the  hut.  Here  he  is  tended,  and 
the  next  day  is  awaited  his  great  revelation, 
whether  it  be  as  to  the  next  season's  catch  of 
fish  or  how  to  avoid  threatening  misfortunes,  or 
where  lost  articles  may  be  found. 

The  photograph  below  was  taken  in  the  depths 
of  the  forest,  for  only  in  very  secret  places  do 
the  natives  place  their  dead.  Space  fails  me  to 
tell  of  the  lying  in  state,  of  the  Gilyak  cortege  of 
dogs,  of  the  strange  rites,  and  of  the  burning  of 
the  body.  One  day  I  had  the  good  fortune  to 
come  upon  a  single  coffin,  which  was  merely  a 
log  hollowed  out  and  placed  upon  two  props. 
It  was  an  Orochon  grave,  and  underneath  was 
a  dog  howling  in  the  most  pitiable  and  weird 
way,  such  as  I  have  heard  no  other  dogs  do.  I 
can  quite  understand  the  natives  saying,  as  the 
chorus  of  the  dogs'  howls  swell  into  a  half- 
human  wail  at  midnight,  that  they  are  greeting 
the  spirits  of  Gilyak  ancestors  who  are  passing 
by.  The  photograph  shows  an  important 
Tungus  grave.  The  body  is  wrapped  in  birch- 
bark  and  placed  on  the  staging  out  of  the  reach 
of  wild  animals.  The  next  picture  has  peculiar 
interest,  showing  as  it  does  the  farthest  spot 
north  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Sakhalin  ever 
reached  by  white  men.  This  is  not  a  clearing, 
but  a  series  of  petroleum  lakes. 

Besides  the  Gilyaks,  Orochons,  Tungus,  and 


either  the  Gilyaks  or  the 
Orochons,  and  better 
hunters,  too.  Their  skin 
tents  were  pitched  in  the 
recesses  of  the  forest. 
The  Gilyaks  said  of  them 
that,  to  meet  an  escaped 
Russian  convict,  one  man 
to  one  was  dangerous,  but 
to  meet  a  hostile  Tungus 
was  certain  death. 

The  Shaman  is  cleverer 
and  has  far  greater 
authority  than  any  Cham 
on  Sakhalin.  It  will  be 
seen  that  around  his  waist 
is  tied  a  short  red  canvas 
skirt  hung  all  over  with 
dangling,  jangling  odds 
and  ends,  scraps  of  iron, 
bells,  and  what  are  to 
them  curios.  Standing 
just  inside  his  hut,  in 
which    grass    is    burning, 


From  a] 


A   NATIVE   GRAVE    IN   THE   DEPTHS   OF   THE   FOREST. 


[Photo. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


Photo. 


Yakuts  whom  I  have  not 

in  the  south  of 

and    lives    that    race    which    is    still    an 

Ainus.    They  resemble 

i,  the  northernmost  of  the 

.  though  the  reports  of  their 

■-.  if  applied  to  the  Sakhalin 

ounted.    Their 

wild  _       us  life,  their 

g,  and 

they  fall  an  t  asy 

iible     for     their 

I 

lcome  addition    to 

id    they    and    their 

vouring  it  p 
n   putrefied,    while 
d  to 

hies. 
I 

and  l  in  trying  to 

i  r  and 

hunt  is  also  not  with- 

photograph     si. 
some  of  th<  who  ha 

ith    the    Jap.. 

ins    for 
ures 

and  lazier  than 


the  Gilyaks  and  Orochons.  Their  one  claim  to 
superiority  is  their  knowledge  of  weaving,  for 
they  make  a  coarse  cloth  from  nettle  fibre.  The 
women  work  very  hard  and  age  very  quickly  ; 
but  we  had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  one  who 
was  yet  youthful,  and  the  belle  of  the  tribe. 


A    GROUP   OF   SAKHALIN'    AIMS. 


{Photo. 


By  O.   Bartlett. 

The  author  arrived  at  an  Indian  village  just  in  time  to  learn  the  particulars  of  a  tragedy.     A  strange 

black  "  devil "  had  taken  up  its  residence  in  the  village  "  tank  "  or  reservoir,   and  had  killed  a  woman 

and  a  dog.     Mr.  Bartlett  undertook  to  rid  the  villagers  of  their  unwelcome  visitor,  and  finally  succeeded 

in  killing  the  "  devil,"  which  turned  out  to  be  a  monstrous  "  mugger,"  or  crocodile. 


WAS  out  shooting  small  game  about 
five  miles  from  Bargar,  in  India, 
one  day,  when,  just  as  I  was  beating 
a  paddy-field,  I  heard  a  commotion 
in  a  little  village  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  away.  By  the  screams  and  shouting  I 
knew  something  very  terrible  must  have  hap- 
pened, so  I  left  off  shooting  and  ran  over  to 
see  what  was  the  matter. 

As  I  got  near  it  became  apparent  that  some- 
one had  been  killed,  from  the  wailing  cries  of 
the  women.  When  I  came  on  the  scene  every- 
one was  shouting  and  running  about,  gesticu- 
lating wildly.  So  I  slackened  my  pace  and 
approached  very  cautiously,  for  it  occurred  to 
me  that  some  of  the  natives  might  be  having  a 
fight  amongst  themselves,  in  which  case  they 
would  probably  resent  my  interference.  As  I 
came  out  of  the  jungle,  however,  with  my  gun 
ready  across  my  arm,  an  old  man  saw  me  and, 
shouting  out  "  Barra  sahib  shikaree,"  came 
running  towards  me,  salaaming  profusely.    When 


he  got  up  to  me  he  started  jabbering  away  and 
pointing  first  to  his  leg  and  then  to  the  village, 
while  two  or  three  other  men  and  women  who 
had  run  up  with  him  also  pointed  to  my  gun  and 
beckoned  me  to  go  with  them. 

I  could  not  properly  understand  what  it  was 
they  wanted  me  to  do,  but  made  out  enough  to 
know  they  wished  me  to  shoot  something  for 
them,  so  I  went  along  with  them,  much  to  their 
joy.  About  thirty  yards  brought  us  to  the  scene 
of  the  tragedy  which  had  caused  the  wailing. 
Lying  on  the  ground  in  front  of  one  of  the  huts 
was  an  old  woman,  quite  dead.  All  the  men, 
women,  and  children  in  the  village  were  standing 
round,  the  men  jabbering  excitedly  and  the 
women  and  children  crying  and  wailing,  making 
a  horrible  din.  I  noticed  that  the  left  leg  of  the 
corpse  had  been  torn  right  off  by  something,  but 
there  were  no  other  marks  of  violence.  Alter 
examining  the  body  I  looked  round  for  the 
headman  of  the  village,  intending  to  find 
out     how    it    had    happened.      An    old,     grey- 


l'HI      WID1      WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


H      said    that   the 
had 
near  the  Milage 
hildren 
vv  a  big 
us    nnuith   jump 
r,    whereupon    the 
and    told    the 
•!.     A  lot  o\  the  men- 
Is    to   investigate, 
■.    bubbles   rising  from 
•    some  time,  but 
of   the   next 
gi  rs   had    bathed  and 
v   water,  they  saw 
iman  screaming, 
n    up    and    saw    her    being 
tank    by    some   "big 
Thi  _!it    her   by  the   arms 

me  beat  at 

■    ■   vouid  not  let  go, 

■  idually  pulled 

1  inally  it   snapped   the 

n   into  the  tank,  while  the 

■   woman   back  to  the 

It   was  evident,  con- 

Iman,   that    the    tank   was 

vil." 

I  v  me   the  tank,  and  he 

go  firsl        1    had  no 

v    -. er,  as  it  was 

th.      When    I    came   to  within 

e  tank  1   stopped  and,  taking  out 

my    gun    with    a    shell 

I     knew   <mall    shot    would 

vil '"     which,  I  made 

ir  crocodile  of 

to  the  edge  of  the 

i  ompanying  natives 

1   a  little   way  in   rear. 

could  see  plainly 

pi  the 

n  all  din  i  tions.      1 

'  the  track  to 

out  of  the 

of  him  ; 

- 

.'lit'-  dry.      Next   I 

d  into   the 

en  a  bubble 

would    not    show 

[I 

morrow.     I 

and    told    the 

They 

I  ild    stay  at    the 

me  out, 

afraid   he 

.ally   if   ' 

back 


to  Bargar  for  some  tilings  I  required.  So  aftef 
,i  drink  ol  milk  I  left  them,  promising  to  come 
early  in  the  morning  and  try  to  kill  the  " devil" 
for  them. 

1  started  from  Bargar  next  morning  with  my 
native  hoy  carrying  my  things.  Besides  my 
double-barrel,  I  had  my  sporting  carbine,  with 
explosive'  bullets  for  big  game.  We  reached  the 
village  about  seven  o'clock,  and  the  headman  — 
who  seemed  much  relieved  at  our  advent— gave 
us  a  hut  to  put  our  things  in.  My  hoy  could 
talk  the  native  dialect,  and  as  he  also  spoke 
English  well  I  told  him  to  ask  the  villagers  if 
anything  further  had  happened.  It  appeared 
that  they  had  seen  nothing  more  of  the  "devil," 
but  were  afraid  to  go  near  the  tank  to  get  water. 
Thereupon  I  offered  to  go  with  them,  promising 
that  if  the  "devil"  appeared  I  would  shoot  him, 
but  they  one  and  all  refused  to  go  near  the 
accursed  spot. 

While  the  boy  was  preparing  breakfast  I  took 
my  carbine  and  went  along  the  track  to  the 
tank,  looking  about  very  carefully,  but  could 
see  no  signs  of  the  brute  ;  everything  seemed  as 
it  was  the  night  before.  I  therefore  went  back 
to  the  village  again,  where  I  found  breakfast 
ready.  After  the  meal  I  instructed  the  boy  to 
bring  my  gun  along,  intending  to  go  and  watch 
the  tank.  He  was  not  in  the  least  afraid,  as  he 
had  often  been  out  shooting  with  me  before,  and 
I  told  him  what  I  thought  the  "devil  "  was.  As 
we  went  down  to  the  tank  the  villagers  followed 
us  at  a  discreet  distance,  but  when  we  came  in 
sight  of  it  they  stopped  and  sat  down  on  the 
track  to  watch  us.  The  boy  and  myself  went 
forward  cautiously  to  the  edge  of  the  tank,  but, 
seeing  nothing,  we  hid  in  the  jungle  so  that  we 
could  see  the  crocodile  if  he  came  out  or  showed 
himself  anywhere  in  the  water. 

An  hour  went  slowly  by,  and  then,  as  nothing 
happened,  1  told  the  boy  we  must  try  and 
entice  him  out,  as  he  was  probably  asleep  at 
the  bottom.  The  question  was  how.  I  told 
the  villagers  they  had  better  come  down  to 
the  tank  and  draw  water.  If  the  beast  came 
after  them  they  were  to  run  away  and  I  would 
shoot  him.  But  this  they  were  afraid  to  do;  so 
I  bade  them  bring  their  chatties  and  I  and  my 
boy  would  fill  them  and  try  to  get  him  out. 
They  soon  brought  their  chatties  and  put  them 
down,  and  I  told  the  boy  to  take  them  one  by 
one  and  fill  them,  while  I  stood  by  with  my 
carbine.  He  took  one,  and  we  went  to  the 
tank  and  he  filled  it  and  took  it  back,  I  watch- 
ing the  water  all  the  time. 

He  had  filled  about  half-a-dozen  without 
mishap,  when  I  thought  I  saw  something  black 
moving  at  the  bottom  of  the  tank  and  coming 
towards  us  ;  there  were  also  some  bubbles  on 


A    FIGHT    WITH    A    "  MUGGER. 


177 


the  surface.  I  shouted  a  warning  to  the  boy, 
who  was  just  going  to  dip  another  chattie  in,  for 
I  knew  the  "  mugger  "  could  rush  up  and  seize 
him  before  I  could  shoot.  He  jumped  back, 
oil  which  the  "  mugger  "  came  nearer  and  then 
stopped.  I  could  not  see  him  very  well,  but 
could  tell  he  was  a  big  fellow. 

And  now  the  question  was,  how  was  I  going 
to  get  him  out  ?  It  was  far  too  dangerous  to 
let  my  boy  go  near  the  water  any  more,  so  we 
must  try  some  other  method.  I  told  the  boy 
to  ask  the  villagers  if  they  had  a  small  puppy 
dog  in  the  village.  A  man  immediately  ran  off 
and  brought  a  little  dog  in  his  arms.  I  then 
sent  the  boy  into  the  jungle  with  the  dog,  with 
instructions  to  make  the  little  animal  cry  out. 
The  crocodile,  I  knew,  would  have  to  come  out 
close  to  where  I  was  hiding,  for  the  banks  were 
too  high  for  him  to  get  out  very  easily  anywhere 
else.  As  he.  passed  me  I  could  give  him  an 
explosive  bullet  with  the  carbine,  and  before  he 


grunting  and  squealing.  All  this  time  I  was 
hidden  in  the  bushes  by  the  side  of  the  tank, 
watching  the  "  mugger,"  so  that  I  could  not  see 
what  they  were  doing  up  the  track.  But  the 
squealing  woke  the  crocodile  up,  for  he  came 
crawling  very  slowly  nearer  the  edge.  Mean- 
while the  grunting  and  squealing  came  nearer 
and  nearer,  till  I  guessed  it  was  only  about  ten 
yards  from  the  tank.  I  had  just  turned  my 
head  to  look  for  the  pig  when,  with  a  rush  and 
a  splash,  the  crocodile  came  out.  I  jumped  out 
of  the  bushes  and  saw  the  natives  bolting  wildly, 
tumbling  over  one  another  along  the  track,  and 
yelling  frantically. 

A  big  pig  was  trying  to  follow,  squealing 
horribly  ;  but  the  crocodile  had  one  of  its  hind 
legs  in  his  jaws.  Grabbing  my  gun,  I  ran  up 
and  then,  dropping  the  gun,  fired  the  carbine  at 
the  crocodile,  aiming  behind  his  fore  leg.  Then 
I  picked  up  the  gun  again — only  just  in  time, 
for  the  "  mugger"  had  let  go  the  pig  and  turned  on 


//■ 


I    FIRED    THE   CARlilNE    A'l      I  l|r    CROCODILE 


could  get  back  to  the  tank  the  shell  and  buck- 
shot from  my  gun  would  be  coming  his  way,  for 
I  felt  sure  he  would  take  a  lot  of  killing. 

The  lad,  however,  could  not  make  the  dog 
cry  out  loud  enough,  so  I  called  him  back,  for 
although  the  "  mugger  "  had  come  a  little  nearer 
the  edge  he  was  still  at  the  bottom.  I  next 
asked  the  villagers  to  get  a  pig,  and  two  or  three 
of  them  went  off,  and  very  soon  I  heard  a  lot  of 

Vol.  xii. — 23. 


me  open-mouthed — and  let  drive  the  shell  right 
down  his  throat.  I  only  jumped  back  just  in 
time  to  avoid  his  rush  and  the  vicious  sweep  of 
his  tail.  I  could  see  that  both  shots  had  taken 
effect  and  that  he  was  feeling  pretty  sick,  for  he 
could  not  stand  properly,  and  the  blood  was 
coming  'from  his  mouth  in  streams,  but  these 
awful  brutes  take  a  lot  of  killing,  and  he  was 
far  from  dead  yet.    As  he  turned  his  head  round 


[Hi;    WIDE    WOR]  D    MAGAZIN1 


red  the  buckshot,  aiming 

With    a    kind    of 

in,  but  this 

tting  away,  for 

terrible  jaws  he 

weep  of  lus  tail 

At    first    1    thought    my 

and    that    I    was    done    for, 

ting    to    sic    him 

I  was  surprised,  how- 

him  making  his  way  off,  not  I 

track  to  the  village.     1 


me  pass  safely.  Soon,  however,  he  blundered 
out  into  the  open  against  the  village,  and  I 
slipped  round  him  and  got  in  front.  Dropping 
my  carbine  again.  1  fired  both  barrels  down  his 
throat  and  then  jumped  back  to  the  carbine 
and  waited  the  result.  The  great  brute  stood 
stock  still  for  a  minute  and  then,  opening  his 
jaws  to  the  fullest  extent,  rolled  over  with  a 
gurgling  kind  of  bellow. 
savagely  for  a  moment  and 
died. 

I    looked  all   about,   but  could  not   see   any 


He  lashed  his  tail 
then  lay  down  and 


HE   KNOCKED    ME   CLEAN    OVER    WITH    A    SWEEP   OK    HIS    TAIL. 


to  my  feet,  and  although  my  leg  hurt  me 

I   knew    it  i    broken,  so,  picking  up  my 

gun,    I    loaded    them    both   as    I 

line  the  "mugger."     I  soon  came 

up  to  him,  and  then   I  could  see  what  was  the 

of  his  fore  legs  was   broken  and 

lot  had  blinded  him,  so  that  he  did 

not  km  iat  direction  he  was  going.     But, 

although  he  had  lost  his  sight,  he  was  still  very 

!  in  front  of  him  to 

his  throat  again,  as  he  kept  opening 

mouth   and   snapping  his  great  jaws  ;  but  I 

did  the   pi  of  another   smack 

il  and  the  path  was  too  narrow  to  let 


thing  of  the  villagers;  not  a  soul  was  to  be 
seen  anywhere.  I  shouted  to  my  boy  and 
presently  saw  him  coming  along  the  track  from 
the  tank.  He  said  that  when  the  "  mugger  "  came 
rushing  out  of  the  tank  and  seized  the  pig  he 
had  jumped  into  the  bushes  out  of  the  way,  and 
that  everything  since  had  happened  so  quickly 
he  had  no  time  to  come  and  help  me.  After  a 
lot  of  shouting  we  managed  to  get  the  scared 
villagers  back  again,  and  their  joy  at  the  death 
of  the  "  devil "  was  good  to  see.  They 
solemnly  hacked  him  to  pieces  and  burnt  him, 
after  which,  there  being  nothing  more  to  do,  the 
boy  and  I  went  back  to  Bargar. 


The    White   Man's    Luck. 

By  J.  C.  Sparrow. 

The  author  went  for  a  voyage  to  the  Solomon  Islands  on  board  a  schooner  engaged  in  recruiting 
"boys"  for  the  Queensland  plantations.  At  one  of  the  islands  the  natives  had  been  badly  treated 
by   a    previous    ship,      and     they    determined    to    take    their   revenge    upon    the    new  -  comers.      Then 

ensued  a  most  exciting  experience,  which  is  here  set   forth. 


OU'D  better  take  Ivens  with  you, 
as  'Cock  Sparrow'  wants  to  stay 
on  board,  not  feeling  very  fit  this 
morning,"  said  Captain  Shorthouse 
to  the  mate. 
Ivens  was  the  carpenter  of  the  schooner 
Black  Bess,  and  I  was  "  Cock  Sparrow,''  other- 
wise John  Cockerell  Sparrow,  a  naturalist,  and 
an  old  friend  of  the  skipper.  What  brought 
me  aboard  the  schooner  was  my  desire  to  do  a 
little  exploring  in  the  Solomon  Islands  in  the 
interests  of  my  pet  science.  The  voyage  of 
the  Black  Bess  offered  me  a  fine  chance,  and 
so  I  had  shipped  with  my  friend  Shorthouse, 
intending  to  remain  with  him  until  his  work 
was  done,  and  then,  on  the  homeward  trip,  to 
be  put  ashore  at  Aola,  on  the  Island  of  Guadal- 
canal*, to  be  taken  thence  on  his  next  voyage. 

It  was  towards  the  end  of  May  when  we 
reached  the  Island  of  Ysabel,  where  we  were  in 
hopes  of  doing  a  lively  business.  We  were  in 
the  hiring  trade  for  the  Queensland  plantations, 
but  when  we  sailed  into  the  little  harbour  where 
we  were  destined  to  have  such  a  fight  for  life 
had  only  succeeded  in  getting  two  or  three 
"boys."  Captain  Shorthouse  remembered  the 
pla^.e  well  from  a  visit  he  had  paid  it  three  years 
before,  and  quite  expected  to  secure  his  full 
freight  there.  Something,  however,  had  hap- 
pened in  the  meantime  which  had  roused  the 
hostility  of  the  natives  against  the  white  man, 
and  we,  though  perfectly  innocent,  were  destined 
to  feel  the  effects  of  their  rage. 

This  business  of  hiring  is  a  peculiar  one,  and 
needs  a  word  or  two  of  explanation.  The  men, 
or  "  boys,"  as  they  are  called,  are  hired  for  three 
years.  A  price  is  paid  to  the  chief  under  whom 
they  live  to  let  them  go  ;  they  are  then  conveyed 
to  Brisbane,  or  some  other  port,  where  they  are 
hired  out  to  planters  at  a  certain  wage  per 
month.  They  are  provided  with  European 
clothes  and  huts  in  which  to  live,  and  at  the 
expiration  of  their  period  of  service  are  carried 
back  to  the  village  from  which  they  were 
originally  hired. 

All  this  is  now  done  in  a  much  more  regular 
manner  than  was  formerly  the  case,  the  hiring 
being  conducted  under  the  direction  of  a 
Government  agent,   whose  business  it  is  to  see 


that  the  natives  are  properly  treated,  and  that 
they  are  duly  returned  to  their  native  place 
when  their  time  is  up.  But  even  with  the  best 
of  schemes  irregularities  will  sometimes  occur, 
and  this  was  particularly  the  case  a  few  years 
ago  in  this  traffic  with  the  Solomon  Islands. 
For  instance,  returning  natives  would  be  landed 
on  the  first  island  sighted  instead  of  at  their 
native  village,'  the  result  being  that  they  were 
often  murdered  by  the  hostile  inhabitants. 

The  Solomon  Islanders  are  a  treacherous  and 
bloodthirsty  race,  and  war  mercilessly  one  upon 
another,  not  merely  for  plunder,  but  for  the 
sake  of  the  bodies  of  their  victims,  they  being 
addicted  to  cannibalism.  Frequently  villages 
but  a  few  miles  apart  are  thus  at  deadly  feud 
with  one  another,  and  should  a  native  of  one 
village  chance  to  be  landed  or  find  his  way 
within  the  territory  of  another,  it  is  twenty  to 
one  against  his  going  out  alive. 

It  was  an  incident  of  this  very  nature  that 
was  the  cause  of  all  our  trouble.  Two  years 
previously  a  vessel,  after  landing  nearly  sixty 
natives  on  the  Island  of  Guadalcanar,  found 
itself  with  a  few  left  for  the  Island  of  Ysabel, 
which  lies  somewhat  farther  north  and  east,  and 
either  through  ignorance  or  indifference  one  at 
least,  a  "  boy  "  named  Savu,  was  landed  a  few 
miles  south  of  his  native  village.  He  was  in 
consequence  seized  by  a  hostile  tribe,  killed,  and 
eaten. 

This  event,  as  already  said,  took  place  two 
years  previous  to  our  present  voyage  ;  but  it  had 
not  been  forgotten  by  his  fellow-tribesmen,  and 
when  they  saw  the  Black  Bess,  the  first  ship 
that  had  in  the  meanwhile  visited  them,  round 
ing  the  point  that  formed  the  southern  boundary 
of  their  land-locked  bay,  they  resolved  that  his 
death  should  be  fully  avenged. 

It  was  bright  moonlight  when  we  slid  with 
the  tide  into  the  cup-like  basin  of  Navaltu,  as 
the  natives  called  the  bay,  and  cast  anchor 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  curving  pro- 
montory that  formed  the  southern  lip  of  the 
bay's  mouth.  After  coffee  in  the  morning 
Captain  Shorthouse  ordered  the  boats  to  be 
lowered  in  order  that  business  might  be  com- 
menced as  soon  as  possible. 

The  hiring  of  the  "  boys  "  is  gone  about  as 


rill.    WIDE    WORl  n    MAGAZINE. 


d  to 

d   ami   ilo   tin- 
I  with   the  chiel  or 
-  to  the 
.  bottles,  p 

given  for 

■  boy  "  is  taken 

.  which   lies  a   little 

.  .nid  ready, 

hostilities,    to    render 

!  -  ommanded  by  the 

iported   by  one 

.  the  remainder  of  the  boat's 

I  t  is   well  armed, 

.vith   rifles,  which    are   hidden 

un  the  sidi 

left    the   ship's    side 
at  the  end  of  the  bay 
nth  nat:-.    -      <     ptain  Shorthouse,   who, 
■viih  the  strict  rules  of  the  set  \ 

hed  the  boats 

He  then  a-  eagerly 

the    proceedings 

I  to  work. 

Mi    I       ik,  our  second  mate, 

.  and  that  his  boat's  crew  con- 

■    natives.     The    first    mate,     Mr. 

•mmanded  the  covering  boat,  which 

I    much  own   length   from 

oing  on. 
1  two  sailors  with 
him  -  one  I  lornishman,  nan 

■ 

Otfk 

I 

that  bi 

■ 

:T  a 

■ 

lion.     V. 
had 

■ 
and 

number    I 
start/'    o' 

Short- 


housi  ,    .i^    he  counted    the   hired    men  through 
his  glass. 

•'  It  might  be  a  bad  sign  if  they  were  going  to 
sit  down  to  dinner,  sir,"  said  the  cook. 

"  True  ,  but  1  should  have  preferred  any 
other  number,"  replied  the  skipper,  who  was 
inclined  to  be  of  a  superstitious  turn. 

Hie  "boys"  were  fine,  strapping  fellows- 
models  o(  manly  beauty  so  far  as  strength  and 
shapeliness  of  limb  were  concerned  ;  but,  judged 
by  their  physiognomies,  they  were  as  villainous 
i  as  you  could  pick  up  anywhere  in  the 
islands. 

They  wore  no  clothing,  with  the  exception  of 
the  usual  loin-cloth.  Many  of  them  were 
tattooed,  not  only  on  the  face,  but  on  the  breast 
and  limbs.  One  of  the  number  had  on  each 
side  of  his  chest  a  rough  representation  of  the 
frigate-bird,  and  we  therefore  christened  him 
"  Frigate  Bird."  from  his  bearing  he  gave  one 
the  idea  of  being  a  young  chief.  He  wore  a 
necklace  of  dogs'  teeth,  which  is  a  favourite 
ornament  all  over  the  Solomon  Islands.  A 
complete  necklace  must  contain  five  hundred 
t<  eth,  and,  as  two  teeth  only  in  a  dog  are  avail- 
able, it  is  evident  that  they  take  some  time  to 
collect. 

Hach  man  carried  on  his  shoulder  a  little  bag. 
This  serves  in  place  of  pockets,  valise,  or  knap- 
sack, and  will  usually  be  found  to  contain  a 
stick  or  two  of  tobacco,  a  dirty  clay  pipe,  per- 
haps a  box  of  matches,  two  or  three  areca  nuts 
foi    chewing,   a    little    package    of  betel -pepper 


1    "I  HA1     Bl  SI  NESS    WAS    IllUsK. 


THE     WHITE     MAN'S     LICK. 


181 


leaves,  and  a  neatly  ornamented  bamboo  box 
for  holding  the  lime  used  in  chewing  the  betel. 
There  may  also  be  a  pearl-shell  scraper  for 
scraping  cocoanut,  a  cccoanut  spoon  for  eating 
the  paste  or  soup  which  forms  common  native 
dishes;  also  a  pair  of  cockle-shells  used  as 
tweezers  for  pulling  out  superfluous  hair. 
Without  these  impedimenta  life  to  a  Solomon 
Islander  is  not  much  worth  living. 

After  dinner  and  a  short  siesta  the  two  boats 
rowed  to  land  again  and 
the  business  of  hiring 
recommenced.  They 
may  have  been  gone  an 
hour,  or  it  may  have 
been  two,  when,  as  I  lay 
dozing  in  the  captain's 
cabin,  I  suddenly  heard 
a  great  commotion  on 
deck.  I  could  not  think 
what  it  was  ;  but,  as  one 
gets  used  in  these  seas 
to  taking  every  precau- 
tion, I  seized  a  revolver 
and  ran  to  the  compan- 
ion-way. The  cook  — 
who,  with  two  sailors 
and  a  native  or  two,  was 
the  only  person  left  on 
board,  with  the  exception 
of  the  captain  and  my- 
self and  the  newly-hired 
men  —  happened  to  be 
just  ahead  of  me,  and  as 
I  put  my  foot  on  the  low- 
est step  he  was  struck 
with  a  marling  spike  by 
a  native  and  felled.  He 
came  head  foremost  on 
the  top  of  me  and 
knocked  me  down.  As 
I  lay  groping  in  the 
semi  -  darkness  for  the 
revolver,  which  had 
dropped  from  my  hand, 

I  saw  the  native  "  Frigate-Bird  "  step  on  to  the 
companion-way,  followed  by  several  others. 
Evidently  they  had  seized  this  opportunity  of 
capturing  the  schooner. 

Knowing  that  I  had  no  chance  unarmed 
against  so  many,  I  crept  stealthily  away  and  hid 
in  the  chain-locker.  Panting  with  terror  I 
awaited  the  result,  feeling  that  I  had  not  many 
minutes  to  live,  and  rapidly  reflecting  how  I 
could  sell  my  life  most  dearly.  Suddenly  I 
heard  a  fearful  screaming.  I  knew  that 
the  two  natives  who  had  been  left  on  board 
were  asleep  in  the  forecastle,  for  I  had 
seen  them  there,  and  I   felt  only  too  sure  that 


';HE  CAME    HEAD    FOREMOST   ON    THE   I'll'   OF    ME. 


the   "  boys  "  had  discovered  and  were  murder- 
ing them. 

My  first  impulse  was  to  run  to  their  assistance, 
but  I  immediately  perceived  how  fruitless  and 
even  mad  the  attempt  would  be,  and  remained 
quiet.  Then  all  became  still,  and  I  waited 
tremblingly  for  the  next  act  in  this  awful  drama. 
What  would  it  be  ? 

I  could  not  doubt  that  the  captain  had 
been   killed,  together  with  such  of  the  crew  as 

were  on  board.  When 
the  commotion  first 
began  on  deck  I  had 
heard  several  shots  and 
one  or  two  heavy  splashes 
in  the  water.  It  was 
certain  that  both  the 
skipper  and  his  men 
would  defend  themselves 
as  well  as  they  could. 
But  what  could  three 
men  do  against  thirteen, 
and  such  demons  as  they 
appeared  to  be? 

I  felt  sure  that  I  was 
the  only  one  remaining 
alive  of  the  whole  of  the 
ship's  company  left  on 
board,  and,  as  I  have 
said,  I  waited  in  fear  and 
trembling  for  the  natives' 
next  act,  which  I  doubted 
not  would  be  my  own 
discovery  and  murder. 

I  had  not  been  long 
in  hiding  before  one  of 
the  fiends  came  groping 
his  way  to  where  I  was. 
Surely  my  end  was  now 
come,  I  thought.  Help 
was  not  to  be  thought 
of ;  escape  was  impos- 
sible. Suddenly,  in  the 
imminence  of  my  peril, 
I  reflected  thai  death 
sooner  or  later  —  that  the 
-that   it  is  best  to  face  it 


comes  to  all  of  us 
pain  must  be  brief 
like  a  man. 

At  once  I  became  preternaturally  calm.  My 
htart,  which  had  been  throbbing,  as  it  appeared 
to  me,  like  a  church  clock  in  the  dead  of  night, 
fell  to  beating  quite  normally;  and  though  one 
of  the  natives  — it  was  "  Frigate-Bird,"  I  believe— 
was  so  near  to  me  that  I  could  have  touched 
him  with  my  hand,  yet  I  was  no  more  agitated 
than  if  I  had  been  playing  at  hide-and-seek  in  an 
English  garden. 

While  the  villain  was  thus  near  to  me  I  heard 
a   shot   and   then   a  shout.     It   was  the  boats 


THE     WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


Instantly  tl 

id  and  a  sound  of 

away   and    I 

n.     1  now  stole 

iddenly 

f  dynamite 

vverin  his  cabin,  1  took 

them  in  my  pocket.     I   then 

•    impanion  way  and 

ar  the   natives  palavering 

what  to  <.\o. 

.m\  1  advanced  up  the 

s  i  the  happiest 

my   life   struck    me.      Eying   by   the 

an  iron    stew  pan, 

iad    held   in    his    hand   when  struck 

:i  and  killed.     This    I    took    up   and  put  on 

a  helmet,    with    the    handle    sticking    out  in 

horn.      I   don't   know  what  I  looked 

•  I  nol    have  appeared  a  beauty. 

stood  near  the  companion, 


GAVF   A    VF.I.L  OF   DISMAY.' 

rea'  on    the  head  anyone  who  came 

y  thought,  for,  instead  of  hitting  me 
with  the  marlii  „,!< 

-an  for.  -ha  terror  and 

joined  the  rest     Hi  i   of  disma 

ind  thus  d   all   t!  who 

rig    in    the 
direction  of  tl  .  to  turn 

suddenly  jound  and  fa< 

The-  .ere  all  so  startled  by   my  extra- 

ordinary- and   unexpected  apj  ■   that  they 

1    for    a    moment    wondering  —  and    that 


moment  was  their  loss  and  my  salvation.  For 
instantly,  with  all  my  force,  I  threw  one  of  my 
dynamite  cartridges.  My  intention  was  to  throw 
it  tight  in  their  midst,  but  it  fell  a  little  short, 
struck  the  deck  in  front  of  them,  and  exploded 
with  such  violence  that  it  seemed  to  send  them 
all  Hying.  They  all  certainly  went  into  the 
water,  some,  1  am  inclined  to  think,  hurled 
overboard  by  the  force  of  the  concussion,  others 
impelled  by  their  own  terror.  All  that  I  know 
positively  is  that,  half-stunned  myself  by  the 
nation,  I  had  a  momentary  vision  of  a  mass 
of  legs  and  arms  flying  in  the  air,  and  then,  the 
instant  after,  I  saw  a  rent  in  the  deck  as  big  as 
a    harrow. 

I  ran  to  the  side  of  the  schooner  and 
saw  the  fellows  struggling  in  the  water. 
Some  were  already  making  towards  the  shore, 
but  others  seemed  inclined  to  scramble  on 
board  again  ;  but  my  appearance  caused  them 
to   make   all    speed    to  land. 

I  was  now  able  to 
consider  the  position 
of  the  boats,  which 
were  coming  at  full 
speed  towards  the 
ship,  hotly  pursued 
by  a  canoe  manned 
by  at  least  twenty 
natives.  The  boats 
were  well  ahead,  but 
the  canoe  was  gaining 
upon  them  hand  over 
fist.  It  was  a  peril- 
ous position,  and  for 
a  moment  I  thought 
all  was  lost.  Then, 
still  further  to  com- 
plicate matters,  I  sud- 
denly caught  sight  of 
Captain  Shorthouse 
and  the  two  sailors 
struggling  in  the  gig 
with  a  single  oar, 
some  distance  astern 
of  the  ship.  I  learnt 
afterwards  that  when 
the  attack  commenced,  seeing  the  small  chance 
they  had  against  the  thirteen  natives,  they  had 
jumped  overboard,  swimmingto  the  captain's  gig, 
which  lay  at  the  stern  ready  for  any  emergency, 
climbed  into  her  and  cut  loose,  apparently 
unobserved  by  the  natives,  who  were  so  intent 
on  killing  all  those  on  board  that  they  took  no 
further  notice  of  the  men  they  had  driven  over- 
board. 

The  captain's  first  intention,  thinking  all  was 
lost,  had  been  to  make  for  the  mouth  of  the 
bay  and  so  get  out  to  sea  ;  but  when  he  heard 


THE    WHITE    MANS    LUCK. 


'S3 


the  crash  of  the  dynamite  and  saw  the  natives 
fly  overboard  he  and  his  companions  changed 
their  minds  and  made  for  the  schooner,  but 
their  pace,  sculling  with  a  single  oar,  was  very 
slow.  Their  position  put  me  in  greater  anxiety 
even  than  the  peril  of  the  other  boats,  because 
It  seemed  to  me  that,  tremendous  as  was  the 
pace  of  the  canoe,  the  boats  would  reach  the 
ship  first,  whereas  the  gig  was  making  such  slow 
progress  that  it  was  possible  for  the  discomfited 
natives,  who  had  now  reached  shore,  to  swim 
out  again  and  intercept  her. 

Then  it  was  that  the  captain's  presence  of 
mind  stood  him,  and  indeed  all  of  us,  in  good 
:stead.  Calling  out  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  he 
bade  me  slip  the  anchor.  Though  I  failed  to 
see  his  aim,  I  obeyed,  and  the  vessel  imme- 
diately began  to  drift  with  the  tide — which  was 
just  on  the  turn — towards  the  mouth  of  the  bay. 

I  thought  at  first  this  was  imperilling  the  men 
in  the  boats,  but  I  soon  perceived  that,  though 
a  slight  advantage  was  given  to  the  canoe  by 
letting  the  schooner  drift,  it  was  not  so  much  as 
to   counterbalance    the   advantage   we 


gained. 


No  sooner  had  the  captain's  foot  touched  the 
deck  than  he  called  out  to  me  to  put  the  helm 
hard-a-port.  This  brought  the  ship  broadside 
on,  and  so  greatly  stopped  her  "way."  Then  he 
made  the  men  bring  up  a  rifle  apiece,  and  as  he 
stood  by  my  side,  his  hawk-like  eye  taking  in 
the  whole  situation,  he  said,  "  It's  the  '  white 
man's  luck'  now,  'Cock,'  or  we  are  done  for." 

The  boats  were  now  so  near  that  the  captain's 
stentorian  voice  could  reach  them,  and  he  cried 
out,  "  Give  way,  lads  !  Another  pull  and  you 
are  right." 

The  cheering  words  encouraged  then),  and 
both  crews  put  their  backs  into  the  work  with  a 
will. 

Shorthouse  now  turned  to  me  and  said, 
"  Now,  Sparrow,  they  are  within  range.  Give 
them  a  shot  !  " 

I  at  once  did  so,  and  a  paddle  was  instantly 
dropped.  Then  another  and  another  followed 
suit,  and  the  game  was  practically  up.  The 
speed  of  the  canoe  fell  off  and  the  boats  shot 
ahead.  Then  first  one  and  then  the  other  ran 
alongside,   and   their   crews   sprang   on    board. 


I    GAVE    THE) 


•I  SAL    SHOT. 


For  every  moment  brought  the  schooner  nearer 
to  the  gig  and  so  lessened  the  danger  of  the 
captain  and  the  two  sailors,  whilst  it  increased 
our  chances  of  effectually  helping  the  others 
when  the  critical  moment  arrived. 

I  did  not  let  the  craft  go  wildly,  of  course, 
but  kept  her  well  in  hand,  so  that  she  drifted 
closer  and  closer  to  the  boat,  and  in  a  very  few 
minutes'   time   the   three    men  were  on  board. 


At  the  same  moment  the  schooner's  head  was 
brought  round,  the  main  sheet  was  let  out,  and, 
as  she  began  to  feel  the  wind,  we  felt  that  the 
traditional  "white  man's  luck'1  had  not  left 
us  yet. 

The  canoe  still  followed,  though  with  con- 
siderably less  spirit,  and  when  I  gave  them  a 
final  shot,  which  caused  the  headman,  seated 
in  the"  stern,  to  drop  his  spear,  all  the  paddles 


nir    wide    WOR]  n    magazine. 


then,  after  a  minute's 

and. 

ten  our  enemies 

i  in  p<  Such 

k,     however  ;      for    no 

•    taken     place    on 

number    o\    armed    men 

thers  and  dive  into 

•  that  point. 


cannot  say,  but  it  was  soon  evident  that  the 
savages  did  not  appreciate  their  reception,  and 
one  after  another  quickly  tailed  off  and 
scrambled  back  to  land.  One  only  reached 
the  ship's  side  and  made  a  vain  effort  to  get  on 
bond  ;  but  Ivens,  the  big  Cornishman,  hit  him 
on  the  head  with  the  butt  of  his  rifle,  and  then, 
as  tin  poor  wretch  rolled  over  and  dropped  his 
spear,  the    boatswain,  lying   down   at   the  gang- 


iATSWAIN    IIAl'I.F.I)    HIM    AI'.OARD. 


.  divine  the  game  that 
v  to  the  fore  ;  but  we  were  not  long  left 
in  dc 

of  the  passage  out  of  the  bay  was 

r  narrow,  and  as  we  approached  it  Captain 

suddenly  impressed  with  the 

that  the  men  who  had  gone  into  the  wood 

had  this  point,  with  the  intention  of 

It  was  a  shrewd  guess,  for 

'    '  nething   like  twenty  men 

jumped  inl  water  and  swam  towards  us, 

I  and  hurled  spears  at 

r   as  we   could 

.    firing    at    the  swimmers. 

lr  shots  took  effect  or  not   I 


way,  reached  out  and  hauled  him  aboa  d  by  the 
hair  of  his  head. 

It  proved  to  be  "  Frigate-Bird,"  the  leader  of 
the  band  who  had  attempted  to  seize  the  ship. 
Although  stunned  he  was  not  much  hurt,  and 
came  round  after  we  had  got  to  sea.  The 
young  chief  proved  to  be  a  great  acquisition, 
'lamed  by  his  defeat  and  by  the  kindness  which 
was  shown  towards  him  until  he  got  well,  he 
helped  us  a  great  deal  in  our  efforts  to  get  a  full 
hiring,  and  as  a  reward  was  placed  with  a  good 
master  when  the  Black  Bess  reached  Brisbane. 

Thus  the  "  white  man's  luck "  saved  us 
from  as  deadly  a  peril  as  perhaps  a  ship's  crew 
was  ever  in. 


My  Visit  To  Tfrs  Ameer  of  Bokhara. 

By   Lieutenant   Olufsen,   Leader   of   the    Danish    Pamir    Expedition. 

The  author  describes  the  visit  paid  by  the  members  of  his  expedition  to  the  Ameer  of  Bokhara.     His 

Highness  received  them  most  graciously,  placed  a  palace  in  the  capital  at  their  disposal,  and  took  care 

that  they  should  see  all  the  curious  sights  of  this  most  picturesque  of  Eastern  cities.     Lieutenant  Olufsen 

illustrates  his  article  with  some  interesting  photographs  of   scenes  in    Bokhara. 


MADE  my  entry  into  Bokhara  in 
the  middle  of  July,  when  the  real, 
baking  summer  of  Central  Asia  had 
already  completely  dried  up  all  the 
moisture  from  the  roadways  and 
steppes.  Clouds  of  fine  dust  ascended  with  the 
hot  air  as  if  by  suction,  covering  the  vineyards, 
the  apricot  and  mulberry  plantations — every- 
thing, in  fact — with  a  thick  yellow  layer. 

Bokhara,  the  ancient  capital  of  Trans-Oxenia, 
is  now  a  centre  of  Mohammedan  fanaticism,  as 
in  the  pre-Islamite  era  it  was  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal strongholds  of  the  Parsee  religion,  the 
religion  of  light.  Bokhara  is  literally  a  land  of 
light,  where  in  the  summer  the  all-consuming  sun 
destroys  every  kind  of  vegetation  that  is  not 
sustained  by  artificial  watering.  At  the  same  time 
it  calls  forth  a  luxurious  herbage  of  mushroom 
growth  in  the  well-watered  and  fever-smitten  oasis. 

After  a  trying 
journey  across  step- 
pes and  deserts,  in 
the  overheated 
and  terribly  dusty 
carriages  of  the 
Trans-Caspian  Rail- 
way, we  at  last  arrived 
at  the  railway  station 
of  New  Bokhara,  a 
Russian  town,  which 
is  about  seven  miles 
distant  from  Old 
Bokhara,  the  capital 
of  Russia's  most  im- 
portant vassal,  the 
Ameer  of  Bokhara. 

Round  the  station, 
which  is  built  in  the 
style  of  an  Oriental 
villa  and  painted 
white,  a  large  crowd 
had  assembled. 
There  were  natives 
in  gorgeous  and  pic- 
turesque dresses, 
wearing  rich  white, 
red,  and  blue  tur- 
bans, some  of  them 
with  silver-mounted 
curved    swords,    sis- 

IT        .  ..  >  O 

Vol.  xii.— 24. 


From  a] 


HIS    HIGHNESS   THE   AMEER    OF    BOKHARA. 


nifying  that  they  were  native  Government 
officials  or  officers  ;  Russian  functionaries  in  all 
kinds  of  uniforms  ;  merchants  in  light  summer 
attire  with  sun-hats ;  fruit  vendors  and  all  sorts 
of  odds  and  ends  of  Oriental  humanity.  Russian 
and  native  cabs  were  everywhere,  and  everything 
seemed  in  utter  confusion. 

From  the  station  we  drove  straight  to  the 
house  of  the  Russian  agent,  who  lives  at  New 
Bokhara,  and  who  had  arranged  for  us  an 
audience  with  the  Ameer.  For  sundry  reasons 
the  Ameer  never  lives  at  Bokhara,  but  at  Ker- 
mineh,  east  of  the  city. 

A  train  conveyed  us  from  New  Bokhara  to 
Kermineh,  where  we  spent  the  night  at  the 
small  primitive  station.  The  next  morning,  at 
six  o'clock,  we  were  fetched  in  the  Ameer's 
carriages — up-to-date  Russian  conveyances,  to 
which  the  drivers,  in  their  many-coloured  kaftans 

and  white  turbans, 
formed  a  peculiar 
contrast.  The  sec- 
retary and  the  drago- 
man of  the  Russian 
political  agent  ac- 
companied us  as  in- 
terpreters, and  the 
equipages  were  sur- 
rounded by  an  escort 
of  mounted  Mussul- 
mans, wearing  elabo- 
rate silk  kaftans,  with 
silver-mounted  belts 
and  costly  swords. 
We  drove  at  full 
gallop  over  the  sun- 
scorched  steppes  to 
the  town  of  Ker- 
mineh, of  which  we 
could  see  the  mina- 
rets and  domes  of 
glazed  blue  and  yel- 
low tiles  gleaming  in 
the  distance  above 
the  compact  mass  of 
yellowish  -  grey  clay 
houses. 

It    blew    pretty 

hard,    and    the    fine 

ypiwto.       dust  dealt   very   un- 


rilK    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


-    •  forms,   c<  mpletely 

.    who    simply   looked 

rushing     across     the 

lied  the  town     the 

which   were  surrounded 

re    received  by 

on    magnificent    black 

An      i  -    master    of    the 

servant,   had 

:   the  Ameer. 

red  silk   kaftan,  round 

led    with    precious 

He  held  a  wl  ■  in  his  hand. 

f    the    ceremonies    took     us 
narrow     streets    and 
filled  with  people,   who  inter- 
watch  our  procession. 
>tle    or    stronghold 
i    with  ay  walls,  the  so-called 

Ameer.     Our  carriages 
in    the    outer    courtyard,   and    then, 
the  ceremonies,    we 
apartment   strewn 
meal,  served  by  a  number  of 
-   on  various   tables. 
it    dishes,    pillafs,    and 
-     it,   and   tea. 
I   an  assembly  of  gaily-attired 
I  with  us.     They  had  been  in 
rly  morning,  the  Ami  er  being  an 
nd   fond  of  holding   his  receptions 

n  proceeding  for  half 
I  vo 

I  vet 

cur- 

;  iro- 

i     with 

the 

had 

the 


We  had  only  gone  a  few  steps  when  we  were 
startled  by  sharp  words  of  command,  which 
emanated  from  a  recess  in  the  wall,  where  a 
native  guard  of  honour,  in  red  skin-trousers, 
black  coats,  and  tall,  black  fur  caps,  were 
drawn  up,  presenting  arms  as  we  passed. 

Having  gone  through  several  narrow,  round- 
about passages,  we  presently  reached  an  open 
square,  where  a  number  of  Circassians  in 
Caucasian  attire  formed  a  kind  of  body-guard, 
their  swords  drawn,  in  front  of  an  open  door, 
through  which,  by  stooping  considerably,  we 
passed  into  a  cool  and  beautiful  garden.  The 
roses  and  the  large  blue  iris  were  in  full  bloom, 
and  between  the  flower-beds  were  small  canals, 
the  picturesque  scene  being  overshadowed  by 
tall  acacias.  In  a  corner  of  the  garden  was  a 
small  palace,  the  abode  of  the  successors  of 
the  Grand  Sultans,  and  which  only  differed 
from  the  other  clay  houses  by  it's  large  glass 
windows  and  a  high  flight  of  steps,  upon  which 
were  spread  some  splendid  Turcoman  rugs. 

At  the  foot  of  the  steps  the  Ministers  bowed 
to  the  ground.  Through  the  open  door  we 
could  see  the  Ameer  sitting  on  his  gilt  chair. 
He  wore  a  dark-red  velvet  kaftan,  with  the 
distinctions  of  a  Russian  General,  and  his  breast 
was  covered  with  liokharan  and  foreign  Orders 
in  brilliants.  The  room  was  plain  enough  ;  the 
floor  was  covered  with  rugs,  and  some  swords 
and  daggers  adorned  the  white  walls. 

The  Ameer  rose  when  we  entered,  and  asked 
us  to  be  seated  on  some  chairs,  which  had  been 


THE   AMEER'S   GILT   THRONE. 


\Pkoto* 


MY    VISIT    TO    THE    AMEER    OF    BOKHARA. 


187 


specially  placed  there  for  the  occasion.  He 
bade  us  welcome  in  flowery  language,  and  in- 
numerable questions  were  exchanged  between 
the  Ameer  and  ourselves  about  his  and  our 
state  of  health,  coupled  with  a  corresponding 
number  of  good  wishes  as  to  his  and  our  future. 
This  is  the  custom  in  these  parts.  The  Ameer 
is  a  middle-aged  man,  big  and  corpulent,  and 
very  typical  of  his  people,  but  his  pale  face  and 
dull  eyes  betray  but  little  energy  and  initiative. 

When  I  asked  one  of  the  courtiers  how  the 
Ameer  spent  his  time  I  was  informed  he  had 
plenty  to  do  with  giving  orders  to  his  Governors, 
as  the  country,  so  far  as  internal  affairs  are  con- 
cerned, is  independent  of  Russia — on  paper,  at 
least.  His  Highness,  unfortunately,  suffered 
from  sleeplessness,  and  often  sat  up  till  very 
late,  the  Ministers,  of  course,  having  to  remain 
with  him.  At  such  times  the  Ameer  generally 
placed  them  in  a  circle  round  him  on  the  floor, 
where  they  had  to  while  away  their  ruler's  weary 
hours  of  wakefulness  by  telling  fairy-tales  and 
droll  anecdotes.  If  any  one  of  the  luckless 
courtiers  grew  sleepy  and  began  to  nod  the 
Ameer  promptly  knocked  him  on  the  head  with 
his  stick.  When  the  Ameer  had  at  last  grown 
tired  of  their  stories  he  and  all  the  dignitaries 
present  took  pans  and  set  to  work  to  see  who 


way  of  meals  and  processions.  We  were  now 
the  Ameer's  guests  as  long  as  we  chose  to 
remain  at  Bokhara,  and  a  small  palace,  with 
servants,  carriages,  etc.,  was  placed  at  our  dis- 
posal in  Old  Bokhara,  which  is,  perhaps,  the 
most  original  and  un-European  town  in  all  Asia. 
We  lived  entirely  at  the  Ameer's  expense  ; 
several  of  his  courtiers  were  told  off  to  show 
us  all  the  sights  of  the  city  which  are  open  for 
the  guests  of  the  Ameer  ;  and,  to  crown  all,  we 
received  presents  on  departing. 

According  to  Bokharan  etiquette,  the  first 
thing  to  be  done  after  an  audience  with  the 
Ameer  is  to  announce  one's  intention  of  call- 
ing upon  his  Prime  Minister,  and  as  soon  as 
we  had  returned  to  New  Bokhara  a  messenger 
on  horseback  was  dispatched  in  order  to  give 
notice  of  our  forthcoming  call  upon  this  official 
at  the  residential  palace  of  Old  Bokhara.  A 
similar  procession  to  the  one  of  the  morning 
was  formed,  and  we  proceeded  along  a  broad, 
well-kept  road  to  the  ancient  city.  En  route 
we  met  a  number  of  highly  interesting  and 
characteristic  types  —  men  in  many- coloured 
kaftans  ;  women  with  close  horsehair  veils  over 
their  faces  and  blue -striped  capes  drawn  up 
over  their  heads,  making  them  look  like  wander- 
ing ghosts  ;    Kirghizes,   with   their  caravans   of 


s>  ^^^^s.^kca»iMks^^1 


SiT-  nirr li'iiagmM^^^ 


could   make  the  best    pillaf — surely  a   curious 
occupation  for  a  ruler  and  his  Ministers  ! 

After  the  audience  there  were  the  same  pro- 
ceedings to  be  gone  through  as  before  in  the 


camels  and  dromedaries;  long  strings  of  native 
vehicles,  the  so-called  arboes,  with  their 
immensely  high  wheels  ;  and  any  number  of 
people  on  donkeys. 


rill      WIDE    Wokl.h    MAGAZINE. 


..':i   wall,   with   its  round  towers 

ts,  whic  inds  the  whole  city, 

ials  met  us  in 

ing.     We  then 

i  the  towers 

ificant-looking 

,iid,  up  till  but  a  few 

re  hung  and  tormented  to 

th  the  old  wall,  which 

nany  a  ,  and  outside  which 

3    dlowed   without  a   special 

i    n  night,  at  which  hour 

d.   We  then  entered  a  number 

iui  carriages  only  made 

th  difficulty  between  a  multitude  of 

nd    camel,    dromedary,    and    donkey 

itil  we  reached  the   Rigistan  Square, 


-i  I'lioto. 


•he   not  -     sruHah    jn    |,js 

'i    Embassy  to  carry  on 
'h   his  chi<  k,  whilst  he 

ear-path  in  Turkestan. 
tands  the  old  [  •   the  Ami 

irrounded    by    wal  d    battle- 

it  in  the  centre  of  the  town.  It  has 
e  entranc--.  outside  which  we  pulled  up. 
-h  portal  of  the  entrai  ,,n]y 

:  tdi    for  the 

-ull.ih    by  an    Italian,  who   in  return 
I  l»y  the  Ameer,  wl 
■ant  an;  mjiar 

oorway  and 
and  narrow  Ian 

-  lard  of  honour 


was  drawn  up  and  a  band  played  as  we  passed, 
until  wc.it  last  came  upon  the  Prime  Minister, 
standing  in  the  doorway  of  a  small  courtyard, 
which  was  full  of  Mussulmans,  all  wearing  huge 
white  turbans.  The  Premier  is  a  handsome, 
white  bearded  old  gentleman,  Mirza  Shah 
Divambegi  by  name.  The  reception  ceremonial 
was  tin  same  as  with  the  Ameer,  with  state 
meals,  etc.  During  the  meal  we  shook  hands 
times  innumerable  whenever  a  good  wish  was 
expressed  for  the  opposite  party. 

Divambegi  is  the  highest  official  at  Bokhara, 
and  the  whole  burden  of  the  Government  in 
reality  rests  on  his  shoulders.  He  looks  after 
the  entire  administration  of  the  Ameer's  exten- 
sive realm,  from  the  Hindu  Kush  Mountains  to 
the  Lake  of  Ural,  and  he  is  at  the  same  time 
Prime  Minister  of  the  Interior,  War  Minister, 
and  Lord  Chief  Justice.  The  latter  office 
entails  a  considerable  amount  of  work,  inas- 
much as  the  conditions  of  life  in    Bokhara  are 

extremely  patriarchal, 
and  the  humblest  su In- 
ject may  seek  the 
advice  of  Divambegi 
about  the  veriest 
trifle.  A  man  living 
many  miles  from  the 
city  may,  for  instance, 
bring  a  complaint  that 
his  neighbour's  sheep 
are  in  the  habit  of 
straying  on  to  his 
fields ;  another  thinks 
he  has  not  been  fairly 
dealt  with  as  regards 
the  water  from  one 
of  the  big  canals  used 
for  the  irrigation  of 
the  country  ;  a  third 
holds  that  his  neigh- 
bour has  built  a  high 
wall  too  near  his  land, 
thereby  robbing  his  vine  of  its  due  measure  of  sun. 
All  these  troubles  Divambegi  must  see  to,  besides 
attending  to  correspondence  with  the  political 
agent.  Another  drawback  attached  to  his  office 
is  the  restriction  that  he  must  not  leave  the 
palace  when  the  Ameer  is  absent  from  Bokhara, 
which  he  always  is.  Should  he  leave  the  palace 
his  power  would  be  broken,  and  with  his  that 
of  the  Ameer,  whose  representative  he  is.  Every 
Friday  he  witnesses,  from  a  loggia  over  the 
entrance  of  the  palace,  the  executions  of  the 
week,  which  always  take  place  in  the  Rigistan. 
'I  he  executioner  on  such  occasions  uses  a  huge 
knife. 

The   visit    to  Divambegi    over,    we    were    at 
iiberty  to  proceed  to  the  palace  placed  at  our 


OK    Till-:    l-RIME    MINISTERS    PALACE. 


MY    VISIT    TO    THE    AMEER    OF    BOKHARA. 


189 


disposal.  It  was  called  Oltichane,  the  "house 
of  the  strangers."  It  had  a  number  of  glass 
doors  opening  on  to  a  spacious  courtyard,  and 
some  of  the  rooms  were  partly  furnished  in 
European  fashion,  although  the  splendidly 
carved  ceilings  with  their  colours  and  gilt,  the 
many  small  stucco  niches  in  the  walls,  and 
the  long  tables  with  their  profusion  of  fruits 
would  not  allow  one  to  forget  that  one  was  in 
Bokhara. 

Besides  a  staff  of  servants,  five  begs  were 
stationed  at  the  palace  ;  they  were  in  a  way 
attached  to  us,  and  it  was  their  duty  to  show  us 
everything  of  interest  in  the  town.  With  these 
men  for  our  guides,  we  at  once  set  out  to  see 
the  city  in  which  there  lives  but  one  foreigner,  a 
Russian — the  Ameer's  Court  apothecary.  Just 
outside  the  palace  there  is  a  large  fruit  market, 
where  are  offered  for  sale 
most    of    the    fruits     of 


From  a] 


A  SCENE   IN    THE   FRUIT   MARKET, 


Asia  ;  fruit  is  brought  even  from  India  by  the 
caravans.  Of  special  interest  are  the  booths 
of  the  melon-vendors,  where  the  fruits  are  hung 
on  cords  under  matting  so  as  to  protect  them 
from  the  burning  sun.  The  most  luscious 
melons  can  be  had  for  a  mere  trifle,  and  in  the  hot 
season  the  natives'  daily  fare  consists  of  nothing 
but  a  couple  of  melons  and  a  little  bread  and  tea. 
Close  to  the  market-place  we  passed  a  large 
public  pond.  These  ponds,  of  which  there  are 
several  in  various  parts  of  the  town,  serve  not 
only  as  water-troughs  for  animals,  but  also  supply 


drinking-water  for  the  people,  especially  in  the 
warm  season,  when  the  River  Swafichan  is  dried 
up.  The  inhabitants  of  Bokhara  also  wash  their 
clothes  and  themselves  in  these  ponds,  but  their 
greatest  attraction  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  steps 
leading  down  to  the  water  are  in  the  afternoon  a 
favourite  resort  for  the  good  people  of  Bokhara, 
who,  their  work  done,  gather  there  in  order  to 
discuss  the  news  of  the  day. 

Round  the  ponds  are  numbers  of  restaurants, 
or  tjajchane  (tea-houses)  as  they  are  called, 
where  melons  and  other  kinds  of  fruit  are  also 
served.  A  water-pipe,  made  from  a  dried  gourd, 
is  provided  free  of  charge,  and  passes  from 
mouth  to  mouth,  each  guest  taking  but  one  long 
pull.  Gambling  of  a  kind  is  also  resorted  to  in 
these  tea-houses,  the  method  being  somewhat 
peculiar.  Two  sets  of  gamblers  each  have 
their  thrush  or  partridge,  which  is  especially 
trained    for    fighting.       Each     set    urge    their 

particular  bird 
on  to  fight,  the 
winning  side 
appropriating  the 
stakes. 

The  native 
doctors  or  physi- 
cians always  live 
at  the  ponds. 
They  are  the  dis- 
ciples  of  the 
ancient  Arabian 
physicians,  and 
still  practise  the 
same  methods. 
They  use  certain 
herbs  and  drugs, 
which  can  all  be 
bought  in  the 
bazaars,  and 
some  of  their 
remedies  are 
very  quaint. 
When  the  good 
folks  of  Bokhara 
feel  unwell,  the 
first  thing  they 
do  is  to  get  bled  ;  the  blood  always  gets  the 
blame  for  causing  the  illness.  Sitting  in  the 
open  air  outside  his  residence  at  the  pond, 
with  his  knives  and  scissors  handy  on  a 
small  stool,  the  native  surgeon  bleeds  his 
patients,  on  the  head  or  the  arms,  as  the 
case  may  be,  according  to  the  whereabouts  of 
the  pain. 

The  dentist,  who  also  officiates  as  barber— 
the  Bokhara  men  have  their  heads  shaved,  but 
let  their  beards  grow— knows  but  one  way  of 
preventing  toothache — extracting  the  tooth.    He 


II  il      WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


SERVE    AS    RESERVOIRS,    BATHS,    AND 
GENERAL    RENDEZVOUS. 


/■>;>///  <l  rhoto. 


ing   the  luckless  patient's 
en  his  knees. 

we   made   our   way   to   the 

situated  upon  a  hill  in  the 

of   the    town,    and    guarded     by    native 

in  a  kind  of  Russian  uniform.      From 

d  into 

•     rd,   which  is 

sur  all    sidi  s    l>y 

.on 
I  which 

in  which   t) 

only 

In  the 
time  of  th' 
ullah  t 

■  h  e  i  r 

k- 

:1. 
The      pri- 
are  partly  under- 

I 


A  NATIVE  DOCTOR  AT  WORK  IN  THE  STREET. 


wretched,  small,  filthy,  and  ill-smelling  com- 
partments are  full  of  prisoners,  who  sleep  on 
the  bare  ground  or  on  what  rags  they  have 
brought  with  them.  All  the  prisoners  under 
these  clay  domes  go  about  without  chains, 
crammed  together  like  bees  in  a  hive,  but  the 
worst  criminals  are  kept 
chained  hand  and  foot  in  a 
compartment  close  to  the 
guard-room.  One  still  sees 
the  underground 
caves  or  holes  into 
which  prisoners 
used  to  be  thrown 
in  order  that  they 
might  be  stung  to 
death  by  insects. 
Russia,  however, 
has  put  a  stop  to 
these  practices, 
as  well  as  to  that 
of  throwing 
prisoners  down 
from  a  high 
tower  in  the 
town. 

The    noisome 

atmosphere      of 

the    gaol   drove 

Photo.        us  quickly  away 


MY    VISIT    TO    THE    AMEER    OF    BOKHARA. 


191 


THE    PRISON    Op    BOKHARA. 

From  a  Plwto. 


from  the  miserable  place,  and  having  thrown 
a  handful  of  coins  to  the  prisoners,  we,  by  way 
of  a  contrast,  drove  to  Schirbeden,  one  of  the 
Ameer's  most  beautiful  palaces,  situated  just 
outside  the  city  wall. 

The  palace  is,  a. straggling  group  of  two-storied, 
flat-roofed  clay  houses,  surrounded  by  high  walls, 
inside  which  there  are  magnificent,  well-watered 
gardens,  with  a  profusion  of  fruit  trees  and 
flowers.  Inside  the  courtyards,  along  the  dif- 
ferent rows  of  •  houses,  are  verandas  and 
balconie^-iSupported  by  wooden  pillars,  painted 
in  gorgeous  hues  and  ornamented  with  painted 
and  gilt  stucco  decorations.  There  are  large 
assembly  halls  with  balconies,  behind  the  trellis: 
work  of  which  the  women  can  watch  the  Ameer 
in  council  with  his  high  dignitaries.  The  walls 
and  the*xeiling  are  ornamented  with  stucco,  rich 
in  gold  and  colour.  Numerous  mirrors  are  let 
into  the  walls,  especially  in  one  recess,  the  floor  of 
which  is  somewhat  elevated,  and  here  the  Ameer 
sits  on  his  gilt  throne-chair.  I  made  bold  to 
remove  the  throne  for  the  purpose  of  photo- 
graphing it.  It  is  a  present  from  Czar  Alexander 
III.  In  the  palace  there  is  accommodation  for 
the  harem,  with  the  Ameer's  one  hundred  and 
twenty  wives.  There  were,  however,  no  women 
in  the  palace  on  the  occasion  of  our  visit,  and,  as 
women  are  always  veiled  in  the  streets,  we  had 
some  trouble  in  photographing  any.  We  per- 
suaded one  of  the  begs  attached  to  us, 
however,  to  show  us  his  wives,  whilst  we  sent  his 
colleagues  away  for  the  time  being  under  some 
pretext  or  other.  With  the  obliging  beg  we 
drove  to  his  house,  which,  according  to  flokhara 


booths  were 
gear —  black 
caps,    and 
native    school, 
children  of  the 
the  Koran  in  Arabic 


notions,    was    very   well   ap- 
pointed— that  is  to  say,  there 
were    plenty   of  good    rugs, 
>ut    no    furniture.       In   the 
room  where  his  three  wives 
lived    we   were    entertained 
with  tea  and  fruit,  whilst  the 
wives,  two  of  whom  were  not 
bad-looking,   did  their    Inst 
to  amuse  us  with  music  from 
some  long  guitars  with  metal 
strings.     These  black- 
haired,     pale-faced 
women    of    the    East 
wore  htavy  silver  orna- 
ments and  a   number 
of     coral      necklaces. 
Several    times  during 
the  meal  they  refreshed 
themselves  with  a  pull 
from  the  water-pipe. 

We     next     drove 
through   the  street  of 
the  hatters.     Here  the 
full  of   manifold    kinds   of    head- 
fur   caps,    many  -  coloured    velvet 
gold  -  tasselled    boys'    caps    for    a 
where    a    mollah     teaches    the 
Bokharan    upper    ten   to  read 
This  they  learn  by  heart, 


without  in  the  least  understanding  the  trans- 
lation. They  also  learn  to  read  and  write  the 
languages  of  the  country,  both  Turkish  and 
Persian,  a  little  algebra  and  mathematics,  and, 
more  especially,  the  history  of  Bokhara.  The 
teaching  is  delightfully  primitive,  all  the  children 
reading  the  lesson  aloud  at  the  same  time.  In 
a  small  recess  in  the  wall  the  teacher  keeps  his 
indispensable  little  tea-pot,  together  with  his  not 
very  ambitious  library  and  several  formidable 
rods,  with  which  he  occasionally  birches  in- 
attentive pupils.  This  weird  school  is  depicted 
on  the  next  page. 

Having  had  enough  of  the  children's  buzz,  we 
proceeded  to  the  vast  burial-ground  of  the  city. 
As  is  the  custom  of  Bokhara,  the  bodies,  wrapped 
only  in  white  shrouds,  rest  in  brick  sarcophagi, 
which  from  want  of  space  are  often  placed  on 
top  of  one  another,  to  the  height  of  several 
stories.  Here  and  there  one  sees  larger  funeral 
vaults  or  chambers,  which  contain  the  graves  of 
holy  men,  and  which  are  distinguished  by  the 
tail  of  a  yak  stuck  on  a  pole  at  the  entrance. 
The  graves  of  the  prophets,  more  especially, 
boast  large  funeral  vaults  with  towers.  The 
Mohammedans  believe  in  the  prophets  of  the 
Jews,  and  amongst  many  others  Job  (Ajup)  is 
said  to  be  buried  at  Bokhara.  His  vault— seen 
in   our  final    snap-shot— consists    of   numerous 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


THE    INTKKIOR   OF    A    NATIVE   SCHOOL. 


partments,  with  ancient  inscrip- 

walls.      In    the    inmost 

'■■I ick  sarcophagus, 

of  beautifully  carved 

•t     the    thirteenth    century. 

who  keep  watch   over  the 

■1    us    with    very   angry    looks,  but 


some   good    Bokhara   money  brought   about  a 
wonderful  change  in  their  attitude. 

During   ihe  whole  of  our  stay  we  were  most 
hospitably  treated,  and  bade  farewell  to  Bokhara 


with  sincere  regret. 


The  author  writes  :  "  This  is  the  history  of  one  of  the  most  exciting,  perilous,  and  disastrous  gold- 
rushes  that  have  ever  taken  place  in  Australia."  Hundreds  of  diggers  set  out  from  Coolgardie 
bound  for  a  reported  new  "  rush,"  and  got  hopelessly  lost   in  the  bush,  where  many  of  them  went 

mad  and  died  from  want  of  water  and  food 


NEW  gold-rush  has  been  dis- 
covered by  Frost  and  party,  and 
a  '  reward  claim  '  applied  for  and 
granted." 

Such  was  the  welcome  news 
which  spread  with  startling  rapidity  amongst  the 
hardy  diggers  of  Coolgardie  one  bright  morning 
in  October,  1893.  The  alluvial  gold,  which 
had  been  fairly  plentiful  for  a  few  months  after 
Bayley  found  his  Reward  Mine,  was  becoming 
scarce,  and  fresh  gold  finds  were  being  every- 
where sought  for  by  the  most  daring  lot  of  men 
who  had  ever  faced  danger  and  difficulty  in 
Australia.  There  was  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction 
and  unrest  abroad,  for  it  seemed  more  than 
probable  that  the  great  gold  discoveries  at  Cool- 
gardie had  begun  to  "  peter  out." 

The  prospectors  of  the  alleged  new  find  had 
reported  that  it  was  from  seventy  to  seventy- 
five  miles  N.N.W.  of  Coolgardie.  and  a  most 
difficult  place  to  get  at.  By  dinner-time  of  the 
day  the  news  arrived,  however,  nearly  every 
person  who  could  do  so  was  rushing  round 
getting  ready  to  set  out  for  the  new  field. 

Picks  and  shovels  fetched  five  times  as  much 
as  they  were  being  sold  for  in  the  early  morning, 
and  all  classes  of  eatables  increased    100  per 

Vol.  xii. — 25. 


cent,  in  price  Water  was  scarce,  but  the  price 
stood  at  one  shilling  and  sixpence  pei  gallon  till 
about  two  o'clock,  when  the  condenser  proprie- 
tors declared  they  had  sold  out  all  their  reserves. 
An  informal  meeting  of  teamsters  was  held,  at 
which  were  discussed  the  charges  to  be  made 
for  the  carriage  of  goods,  the  direction  to  be 
taken  in  order  to  reach  the  reported  new  find, 
and  the  location  of  supplies  of  water  along  the 
road.  After  a  considerable  amount  of  argument 
all  the  preliminaries  were  settled,  and  a  route 
agreed  upon  via  "  Raeside's  Soak,"  a  place 
thirty-five  miles  from  Coolgardie,  where  it  was 
known  water  was  obtainable. 

By  six  o'clock  that  evening  Coolgardie  was 
pretty  well  deserted  and  several  hundred  men 
were  on  their  way  to  "  Raeside's  Soak,"  many 
on  foot  and  carrying  their  swags,  while  others 
had  their  blankets,  stores,  etc.,  on  the  waggons 
and  walked  behind  themselves.  That  night  the 
bulk  of  the  diggers  reached  Bullabulling,  about 
seventeen  miles  from  Coolgardie,  where  they 
camped  till  the  morning.  On  the  following 
day  the  "Soak"  was  reached  by  several  hundred 
men,  who  found  a  plentiful  supply  of  water  at 
the  foot  of  the  granite  rocks.  It  was  discovered, 
however,  that  they   were    no  nearer  their  goal 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


*  ■-■  4: 


*"*^         w^                             1 

V  ^       ^^^"*_ 

V 

-  ^ 



. 

— 

IV   ON    FOOT    WERE   CARRYTNt;   THEIR    SWAGS. 


than  they  had  been  when  they  started,  for  it  was 

v  those  who  professed  to  know  that 

"  rush  "    was    about    seventy    miles    from 

.    and   the    way    lay  through 

an    intensely    desolate    country,   where    not    a 

rop  of  water  was  available. 

't  to  be  .  at  that  many  of  the  " 

-in  view  of  the  fact  that  no  one  knew 

re   the    "  find  "    was  — 

I    the    risks    too    great    and    decided 

'^ardie.       But   there   were 

hundreds  of  resolute  men  who  determined  at  all 

hazards   to  _oldfield   or  perish 

in    the   attempt,  and    they  proceeded    to   bake 

bread  and  lay  up  a  supply  to  last  them  till  they 

reached  the  new  "  rush/' 

r  of  diggers,  many  of  them  splendid 

shmen,  determii  ght  through  the 

n-in  the  di-  h  the  new  "rush" 

reporte'.  The  task  of  clearing   the 

road  for  the  heavily-laden  waggons  through  the 

ia  most  serious  one. 


But,  despite  all  difficulties, 
everyone  worked  with  the 
greatest  energy,  and  a  track 
about  fifteen  miles  long  was 
cleared.  But  the  day's  work 
had  been  so  heavy,  the  heat 
was  so  intense,  and  the  diffi- 
culties still  to  be  encountered 
were  so  great  that  a  goodly 
number  of  the  fainter-hearted 
turned  back  to  Coolgardie. 

The  following  day  another 
fifteen  miles  were  negotiated 
by  the  teams,  but  the  intense 
heat  made  the  men  who  were 
toiling  so  terribly  thirsty  that 
it  was  found  most  of  the  water 
reserved  for  the  trip  had 
already  been  used.  When 
this  discovery  was  made  a  sort 
of  panic  seized  the  diggers, 
who  were  beginning  to  realize 
the  seriousness  of  their  posi- 
tion. They  had  no  definite 
information  as  to  the  locality 
of  their  objective,  and  no  cer- 
tainty that  even  if  they  reached 
it  they  would  be  able  to  get  a 
single  drop  of  water. 

The  clamour  for  water  now 
rose  to  a  considerable  pitch, 
and  the  men  applied  to  the 
teamsters  to  let  them  drink 
the  fluid  that  was  left  in  the 
tanks  for  the  use  of  the  horses. 
The  teamsters  naturally  ob- 
jected to  giving  away  this 
water,  knowing  full  well  that  unless  the  horses 
were  well  fed  and  watered  they  could  never 
hope  to  reach  the  new  "  rush."  But  the  diggers 
were  in  no  mood  to  consider  the  needs  of 
horses.  They  were  feeling  the  pangs  of  thirst 
and,  willy-nilly,  they  must  be  supplied.  All, 
however,  who  had  money  were  perfectly  willing 
to  pay  a  fair  price  for  the  precious  fluid,  but 
those  who  had  none— and  there  were  quite  a 
number  of  such — demanded  a  supply  as  well, 
and  each  man  had  to  receive  a  small  quantity. 

The  following  morning  what  water  was  left 
from  the  previous  evening  was  doled  out  by  the 
teamsters  to  the  thirsty  diggers,  and  they  then 
prepared  to  leave  their  loads  and  go  back  to 
"  Raeside's  Soak  "  for  a  fresh  supply.  It  was 
three  days  before  they  could  get  back  with  sup- 
plies of  water,  during  which  time  the  larger 
number  of  the  diggers  had  become  desperate. 
Strong  men  began  to  babble  of  running  brooks, 
and  "  Water  !  Water  !  Give  us  water  !  "  was  the 
wild,     despairing    cry    of    the     maddened   and 


THE    "SIBERIA"    GOLD-RUSH. 


195 


stricken  gold  diggers,  who  by  this   time   were 
nearly  all  unnerved  and  demoralized. 

But  the  return  of  the  waggons  with  a  fresh 
supply  of  the  life-giving  fluid,  some  of  which 
was  sold  at  three  shillings  and  sixpence  per 
gallon,  put  the  men  into  good  heart  again  and 
restored  their  mental  equilibrium.  Part  of  the 
goods  was  reloaded  and  another  attempt  made 
to  get  to  the  reputed  new  gold  discovery.  For 
two  days  longer  both  men  and  horses  toiled 
hard  to  get  through  the  bush,  till  the  animals 
began  to  drop  in  their  tracks.  The  diggers  now 
found  themselves  once  more  in  a  desperate 
plight,  as  many  of  the  horses  were  dead  and 
most  of  the  others  dying. 

A  diggers'  "  roll-up "  or  meeting  was  called, 
and  the  serious  situation  discussed  by  those 
men  who  still  retained  their  mental  faculties.  It 
was  decided  that  there  was  no  chance  of  the 
teams  being  able  to  get  through  to  the  "  rush." 
Each  man  would  have  to  do  the  best  he  could 
for  himself,  as  it  was  now  a  matter  of  sauve 
qui  petit.  The  teamsters  who  had  horses  able 
to  carry  them  determined  to  ride  back  to  the 
"Soak,"  and  this  they  did,  promising  to  send  aid 
back  to  their  mates.  Several  lightly-equipped 
parties  passed  the  famished  men  with  supplies  of 
food  and  water,  but  refused  to  share  them  with 
the  famished  diggers.  In  some  instances,  how- 
ever, they  were  held  up  and  compelled  to 
distribute  their  supplies  at  the  point  of  the 
revolver. 

Several  horsemen  passed  the  desperate  band 
on  their  way  back  to  Coolgardie,  and  they 
informed  them  that  the  reported  new  find  was  a 
rank  "duffer,"  and  advised  them  on  no  account 
to  go  on  any  farther.  This  news  increased 
the  hoiror  of  the  situation.  Many  old  and 
experienced  prospectors  who  had  battled  their 
.way  through  all  the  difficulties  and  dangers  to 
this  stage  without  a  murmur  began  to  realize 
their  desperate  plight. 

The  hope  of  sharing  in  the  good  fortune  ot 
those  who  had  made  the  new  discovery  had 
buoyed  them  up  and  kept  them  going  ;  but  the 
news  that  the  "  rush  "  was  a  "  duffer  "  was  a  facer 
to  them  all.  Those  who  were  less  inured  to 
hardship  and  disappointment  lost  heart  com- 
pletely. Some  of  them  succumbed  to  their 
despair  and  lay  down,  utterly  unable  to  go 
farther.  Ever  and  anon  some  delirious  digger 
would  rush  from  the  track  into  the  bush,  confi- 
dent, it  seemed  to  his  mates,  that  just  a  little 
way  ahead  there  was  a  stream  of  running  water 
at  which  he  could  quench  his  consuming  thirst. 
In  all  probability  that  was  the  last  ever  seen  of 
these  unfortunates. 

It  was  a  wild,  mad  rush  to  get  back  from  the 
terror  of  the  lonely  bush  and  the  glare  of  the 


pitiless  sun  and  the  ravings  of  delirious  men. 
Oh,  the  horror  of  it  !  Men  who  had  been 
true  as  steel  to  each  other  for  years  permitted 
their  mates,  with  scarcely  an  effort  to  prevent 
them,  to  leave  the  track  and  plunge  into  the 
bush,  knowing  full  well  they  were  going  to  their 
doom. 

Swags  had  been  thrown  away  first  of  all  by 
the  unfortunate  men  as  useless  encumbrances ; 
next  the  precious,  but,  unhappily,  empty,  water- 
bags  were  abandoned  ;  then  all  superfluous 
clothing  had  been  discarded  to  enable  the 
haggard,  hollow-eyed,  thirst-stricken  little  army 
of  men  to  reach  water  again. 

But  there  were  a  few  who  went  on  towards 
their  goal,  undaunted  by  danger,  determined  to 
conquer  the  difficulties,  find  the  reported  gold 
discovery,  or  die  in  the  attempt,  although  they 
were  even  now  practically  without  food  or  water, 
So  they  pushed  on,  ever  on.  The  babblings  of 
crazy  men,  the  hysterical  shrieks  and  groans  of 
thirst-induced  delirium  were  nothing  to  them. 
They  could  not  render  any  assistance,  and  could 
only,  if  they  stayed,  swell  still  louder  the  chorus 
of  agony  and  despair  which  resounded  on  all 
sides.  All  their  energies  were  directed  towards 
reaching  a  high  mountain  that  towered  above 
the  surrounding  plain,  and  whence  they  hoped 
to  see  some  signs  of  the  camp  which  they 
calculated  must  have  arisen  near  the  scene  of 
the  new  "  rush." 

At  last  the  bottom  of  the  hill  was  reached. 
One  old  prospector,  who  had  been  on  every 
goldfield  in  Australia,  was  the  first  to  reach  the 
summit  and  gaze  eagerly  out  over  the  plain 
beyond.  Yes  !  there  away  in  the  distance  were 
little  curls  of  smoke,  sure  signs  of  human 
habitation.  A  wild,  hoarse  roar,  or  rather 
shriek,  of  triumph  burst  from  the  parched 
throats  of  the  excited  diggers,  which  was  taken 
up  in  trembling  but  no  less  joyful  chorus  away 
down  the  line  to  the  last  straggler,  and  not  a 
few  of  those  hardy  diggers  knelt  down  on  the 
ground  and  with  streaming  eyes  gave  thanks  for 
the  fact  that  their  goal  was  now  in  sight. 

Fresh  hope  had  been  instilled  into  them  by 
the  view,  and  with  bleeding  feet,  tattered  clothes, 
bloodshot  eyes,  and  swollen  tongues  they  still 
held  on  their  way.  Shortly  after  they  had 
seen  the  smoke  they  met  a  party  of  diggers, 
who  confirmed  their  conjectures  as  to  the 
locality  in  which  the  new  gold  discovery  was 
situate.  They  told  them,  however,  that  it  was 
a  "duffer."  This  was  confirmed  by  a  board 
hanging  near  the  track  bearing  the  legend, 
"  Keep  away  from  Frost  and  Bonnor's  rush,  as 
it  is  a  duffer."  That  night,  while  the  party  sat 
round  the  camp  fire,  one  of  them,  not  quite  so 
spent  as  the  others,  suggested  that  it  would  be 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


in   any   other 
i    W<  stern 
;t,  they 
their  thirst, 
and  oni 
i   r  the  arid 
•    and    ill-starred 
risten    the    new- 
It  n  by  that  name  to 
i 

morning  the  little  band  set 

avely  along,  though   many 

ik  and  exhausted  that 

At   last   they   crept 

E  i  amp,  a  squalid,  hungry, 

d  :  their  clothes  in  tatters,  unable  to 

full  of  that  invincible  determina- 

..  i  ■■•   ught  them  undaunted  through 

Fheir  pitiable  appear- 

jympathy  of  the  whole  ramp, 

invenience  obtainable 

it  their  disposal.     As  soon,  however, 

en  were  revived  by  a  supply  of  food  and 

the  gold  which  it 

_     :        -  found  by  the  prospectors, 

and  for  which  the  reward  claim  had  been  granted. 

news   that  the   "rush"   was 

ived  by  them  on  the  road 


But  to  the  relief,  as  well  as  to  the  unbounded 
delight,  of  the  exhausted  band  the  most  con- 
vincing  proof  of  the  value  of  the  reported  new 
find  was  shown'  them  in  the  shape  of  hundreds 
of  ounces  of  splendid  alluvial  gold,  which  had 
been  concealed  in  a  hole  in  the  ground  beneath 
the  floor  of  the  prospectors'  tent. 

Meanwhile  the  other  diggers  who  had  taken 
different  toads  and  those  who  had  turned  back 
had  tared  very  badly.  One  of  the  prospectors, 
who  was  mounted  on  a  good  horse,  seeing  the 
serious  plight  that  the  diggers  were  in,  galloped 
back  to  Coolgardie  and  raised  the  alarm  that 
hundreds  of  men  were  out  on  the  road  to 
the  new  "rush,"  many  of  them  delirious  and 
running  about  the  bush  mad  with  thirst  and 
hunger.  Unless  prompt  and  decisive  measures 
were  taken,  he  said,  the  bulk  of  the  men  who 
had  started  from  Coolgardie  a  few  days  before 
would  undoubtedly  perish. 

The  dreadful  news  spread  with  startling 
rapidity,  and  Warden  Finnerty,  who  was  the 
Government  Resident  Magistrate,  and  Mr. 
Renou,  the  then  Chief  of  the  Public  Works 
Department,  threw  themselves  into  the  work  of 
organizing  measures  of  relief  with  an  energy  and 
promptitude  that  did  them  the  greatest  credit. 
Every  team  that  could  be  obtained  was  "  com- 


\,  i 

BjTx 

s 

Wto 

they  ha  that  whoever 

gold  was 

ngeance 

men  w  1   such   a   frightful 

jour: 


mandeered  "  by  these  masterful  public  servants  ; 
tanks  of  water  were  placed  in  waggons  and 
hurried  away  to  the  scene  of  the  reported  catas- 
trophe ;  and  about  thirty  camels  were  also 
requisitioned  and  sent  out   with  from  forty  to 


THE     "SIBERIA"    GOLD-RUSH. 


197 


fifty  gallons  of  water  each,  to  get,   if  possible, 
right  through  to  "Siberia." 

The  experience  of  "  Billy  "  Smith,  who  drove 
one  of  the  relief  waggons,  may  be  taken  as  a 
sample  of  the  work  carried  out  by  the  flying 
column  of  rescuers.  Billy  was  a  first-rate  bush- 
man,    and,    guided    by   the    description   of   the 


"  UI'ON  smith's  approach  he  cried,  '  'ter  !  'ter  ! 

man  who  brought  in  the  news,  he  struck  the 
track  of  the  diggers  about  thirty-four  miles  from 
Coolgardie., 

He  had  been  driving  his  team  at  a  smart 
pace  since  early  morning,  but  had  seen  no  signs 
of  the  derelict  men.  Suddenly  he  saw  to  the 
right  of  the  track  on  which  he  was  travelling 
what  he  took  to  be  a  naked  black  fellow,  but 


the  feeble  wave  of  the  arm  showed  that  he  was 
a  white  man  who  was  dragging  himself  towards 
the  waggon.  Upon  Smith's  approach  he  cried, 
in  sepulchral  tones,  "Ter!  'ter!"  at  the  same 
time  pointing  to  his  mouth.  Billy  filled  a 
pannikin  with  water  and  held  it  to  the  man's 
mouth,   and   he   gulped   it   down   in   a    second. 

He  was  then  lifted  to  the  edge 

of  the  track  so  that  he  could 
be  picked  up  as  the  waggon 
came  back  again,  and  Smith 
pushed  forward  to  assist  the 
others.  About  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  ahead  he  began  to  meet 
small  parties  of  men,  all  of 
whose  wants  he  supplied  till 
his  water  ran  out. 

Many  of  these  diggers  were 
almost  nude  and  well  -  nigh 
dying,  and  altogether  they 
formed  one  of  the  sorriest- 
looking  crowds  ever  seen  in 
Australia.  The  way  they  had 
come  was  easily  followed  by 
the  boots,  clothes,  tools,  etc., 
strewn  along  the  track.  Some 
of  the  diggers  on  getting  water, 
although  nearly  dead,  yet 
volunteered  to  go  back  with 
the  relief  parties  and  pick  up 
their  mates.  In  this  way 
many  men  were  rescued  from 
a  fearful  and  lingering  death. 
Others,  however,  had  plunged 
into  the  bush  mad  with  thirst, 
and,  becoming  exhausted,  had 
lain  down  to  die.  How  many 
actually  perished  in  that  awful 
march  will  probably  never  be 
known. 

Mr.  Renou,  to  whom  the 
success  of  the  relief  parties 
was  largely  due,  did  not  reap 
any  advantage  from  his 
humane,  though  rather  drastic, 
measures  of  relief— rather  the 
reverse.  The  "commandeer- 
ing "  of  horses,  waggons,  and 
camels,  purchase  of  water, 
etc.,  cost  four  hundred  pounds,  which  the 
Government  were  obliged  to  pay,  and  this 
expenditure  was  not  viewed  any  too  favourably. 
But  the  hardy  diggers  will  never  forget  Mr. 
Renou's  services  to  them  in  the  hour  of  their 
direst  peril,  nor  those  of  Warden  Finnerty, 
who  still  retains  his  position  os  leading  warden 
of  the  gold  fields. 


lor    the    Love    of    Lazaro. 


By  Leslie  Coi  i  ins. 

nt,  and  accompanied  the  American  troops  to  China  and  the  Philippines. 

•  le   Is'and  oi  Panay  he  made  the   acquaintance  of  a  beautiful  and  accomplished 

many  suitors.      One  of  these,  a  Spaniard,  maddened  by  jealousy,    had  Mr. 

irried   into  captivity  among  the  enemy.     The  author  relates  how  the  courageous 

...  .    discovered  the  plot,  and  rescued  him  at  the  risk  of  her  life. 


;    A  j  with     the    Govern- 

\5y^l  [loilo,     en     the 

^?i>i^  Panay,  one  of  the  larj 

"i   Philippine  group, 

I    had   the   pleasure  of  making  the 

.    a     •"  M  lady,     called 

1  should  explain, 

half-bn    ds,    as    distinguished    from    full- 

W  hen    1    first   knew   her  she 

lirty,  and  her  loveliness  was 

ommon    half-caste    Spanish- 

ayan  type  of  the  Oriental  Indies. 

not  married   I   do  not  know,  for 

in    the  s    marry    early.       Of    her 

v    family   1    was   never   informed, 

that  her  only  brother  was  an  officer  in  the 

under    Delgardo.       He,    poor 

his  last   long  sleep  with  his 

n  the  fair  Panaian   hills,   having 


THE 

I,  kissing  the  land 

N  edless 

n£  to  h«  beauty  and 

charm    of   her    manner  [  :izaro 

had  many  admirers.     One  of  them  I  noticed  in 


particular  -a  tall,  dark,  handsome  Spaniard  with 
rlashing  black  eyes. 

Many  evenings  found  me  enjoying  the  hospi- 
tality of  this  popular  lady.  She  was  a  charming 
entertainer.  At  the  piano  she  was  fascinating, 
in    conversation    brilliant,   and   graceful   in   the 


R,    MR.    LESLIE   COLLINS. 

Front  a  Phoio. 


dance.  Small  wonder  that  the  men  admired 
her.  The  Don  and  I  never  met  at  her  home. 
He  was  insanely  jealous  of  her,  although  she 
treated  him  exactly  like  everyone  else.  He  and 
I  even  had  some  words  about  the  matter  of  my 
calling  upon  her,  but  I  laughed  at  him  and 
treated  it  all  as  idle  talk. 

One  beautiful  evening,  after  a  long,  hot,  sultry 
day— and  evening  to  one  in  the  sun-kissed 
tropics  means  rest  to  a  tired  soul— I  was  taking 
my  usual  walk  down  the  beach  towards  Molo. 
Molo  is  a  native  suburb  of  Iloilo,  and  although 
at  that  time  it  was  perfectly  quiet,  it  had  long 
been  known  to  be  a  lurking-place  for  both 
factions  on  the  Island  of  Panay— a  rendezvous 
for  the  cut-throats  and  desperadoes  who  served 
under  "  Quintin  Silas,"  the  Ladione  leader, 
and  the  ignorant,  hot-headed  "  insurrectos " 
under  Delgardo. 

On  this  particular  evening,  as  it  was  very 
warm  and  as  I  had  taken  the  walk  a  hundred 
times  with  nothing  to  mar  its  pleasure,  I  had 
foolishly  discarded  my  side-arms.  All  I  carried 
was  a  small  mahogany  cane  to  keep  off  the 
wild  dogs  of  the  beach.  I  was  strolling  along 
aimlessly,  close  to  a  disreputable-looking  native 
shack,  when  a  band  of  men  suddenly  emerged 
from  it  and   surrounded  me,  and  in  less  time 


FOR    THE     LOVE    OF    LAZARO. 


199 


than  it  takes  to  tell  I  found  myself  seized  by 
no  fewer  than  a  dozen  Filipinos.  With  the  only 
weapon  I  possessed,  a  mere  cane,  it  would  have 
been  folly  to  show  fight ;  it  was  useless  even  to 
shout,  and  in  a  moment  I  was  bound  hand  and 
foot,  a  sickening  gag  was  placed  in  my  mouth, 


1    WAS    BOUND    HAND    AND    FOOT   i 


and  I  was  hurriedly  carried  into  the  shack. 
Imagine  my  surprise  when  I  found  myself  in  the 
presence  of  the  handsome  Spaniard — the  jealous 
suitor  of  Lazaro,  with  whom  I  had  quarrelled. 

What  he  said  to  me  I  do  not  care  to  repeat. 
I  was  heside  myself  with  rage,  not  so  much 
because  I  was  in  the  power  of  this  love-sick 
madman,  but  because  I  had  been  such  a  fool  as 
to  walk  unarmed  into  his  trap.  Smiling  an  evil 
smile,  he  gave  me  to  understand  that  I  was  in 
his  power,  and  that  he  could  do  with  me  as  he 
saw  fit.     He  kicked  me  viciously  as  I  lay  there 


helpless,  and  sneered  in  his  violent  and  self- 
satisfying  rage.  With  curses  in  Spanish,  he  told 
me  I  "  was  a  dog,  and  only  fit  for  this  "  —draw- 
ing a  dagger  from  his  pocket  and  brandishing 
it  significantly.  As  I  lay  there  on  the  dirty 
bamboo  floor  of  that  foul-smelling  shack,  bound 

hand  and  foot,  with  a 
nauseating  gag  in  my 
mouth  and  suffering  in- 
sults from  a  man  who 
seemed  likely  to  stick  at 
nothing,  is  it  any  wonder 
I  became  desperate  and 
struggled  to  burst  my 
bonds  ? 

I  think  I  must  have 
fainted  after  a  time,  for  it 
was  far  into  the  night 
when  I  awoke.  I  found 
I  was  still  tightly  bound, 
but  the  miserable  gag  had 
slipped,  so  that  I  could 
breathe  easier.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  reeds  that  held 
me,  cutting  deeply  into 
my  flesh,  I  saw  that  I  was 
fastened  to  the  centre- 
pole  of  the  shack  by  a 
heavy  chain. 

My  first  thought,  of 
course,  was  of  escape.  I 
looked  around  as  far  as 
I  could  in  the  cramped 
position  in  which  I  was 
lying,  and  found  to  my 
delight  that  my  amiable 
Spanish  friend  had  de- 
parted. 

I  do  not  think  I  have 
ever  seen  such  an  utterly 
villainous  lot  of  Filipinos 
as  the  crew  who  filled  the 
shack.  They  were  all  busy 
drinking  "  tuba,"  a  vile 
native  spirit,  and  they 
swore  and  howled  at  me 
like  fiends.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  vigilance  of  my  guards,  who 
appeared  to  have  strict  orders  to  keep  me  alive, 
I  believe  I  should  have  been  cut  to  pieces  then 
and  there,  for  bolos  were  flashing  on  every  side. 
I  begged  my  captors,  as  well  as  I  could  amid 
the  frightful  din,  to  loosen  the  reeds  that  bound 
me,  as  I  was  lightly  clad  and  the  bonds  were 
cutting  deep  into  my  flesh,  but  they  answered 
me  with  curses. 

After  a  time  the  rest  of  the  men  became  more 
or  less  intoxicated  and  took  but  little  notice  of 
me,  so  1  turned  my  attentions  to  the  women,  of 


1111.    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


All  were  of 

a    woman    is 

hvavs  have  a  woman  s 

her  her  skin  be  black  or 

1  man  took  pity 

ut  the  torturing  bonds, 

ill  chained   to  the 
1    asked 
it. 

re-  4 

sh. 
••  oat  1  had  sus-  I 

Spaniard, 
.    had    had    me 
:isurre> 
and  what  r.  would 

■  inly  knew. 
my 
to  help  m< 
1  her 

muci 

i  and  in- 

r  even 

my 

II  in  vain  : 

poor    woman    was 

'.ife. 

3  wer 

me  g  her  I 

her 
I    h.         _    od 
.   .   how- 
iat    after    I 

into  the  interior  she  did  actually  make 
Iloilo  and  inform  the  authorities  and 
rita. 

woman    told    me    that     "  poco    tempo, 

a  little  while — perhaps  to-morrow)  I 

into  the  interior  to  Delgardo, 

_    nt  general.     Sure  enough,  just  before 

I  was  carried  out  (still  heavily  chained) 

and    thrown    i:  y    into    a    cov 

bou  cart,      i  Id  that  if  I  made  a  sound 

instantly.     (  >ne  doesn't 

make  much  noise  in  such  circumstances. 

.   ral   days' 

duration  over  a  I  "try,  and  I 

but   litl  at    or   drink.      At    last,   one 

.    id  I  was    taken 

to  the  i  entre- 

pole  of  the  ho;:  '  |  around 

Id  that  if  I  escaped 
-  it  with  their  In 
In  •.  rooms,  a  thick, 

eparating  them.     One 
I 

from 
side   of    the    partition.      It    spoke 


splendid  Visayan,  yet  I  knew  the  person  talking 
to  Ik  cither  an  American  or  an  Englishman. 
In  Visayan  the  native  does  not  recognise  a 
period  or  lower  his  voice  at  the  end  of  the 
tences.  An  American  or  Englishman,  no 
matter  how  well  he  speaks  the  Visayan  language, 
invariably  lets  his  voice  fall  at  the  end  of  each 
sentence.     It  is  force  of  habit.      Hence,  for  this 


'for  i.ove  OF  i  azaro,    she  replied. 

reason,  and  also  because  of  his  accent,  I  knew 
that  an  American  was  addressing  me.  I  learned 
afterwards  that  this  man  was  a  deserter  from 
one  of  the  Volunteer  regiments  stationed  in 
Iloilo  at  that  time. 

During  my  two  weeks' captivity  I  heard  him 
speak  every  morning,  but  never  saw  him.  I 
asked  him  many  questions,  always  speaking 
Visayan  or  Spanish.  I  told  him  he  could  not 
deceive  me,  and  that  I  knew  him  to  be  of  the 
bianco  sangre  (white  blood).  For  the  sake  of 
that,  if  nothing  more,  would  he  not  help  me  to 
escape  ?  Then,  with  much  emotion,  I  asked 
if  he  were  not  a  Christian  or  the  son  of  a 
Christian  mother,  who  was  even  now  praying  for 
him  as  I  knew  mine  was  for  me.  This  last 
question  seemed  to  cut  him  to  the  quick.  He 
remained  silent  for  a  long  while,  as  if  weighing 
the  terrible  consequences  should  he  try  to  help 
and  fail.  The  mention  of  the  word  "mother," 
perhaps,  had  awakened  a  thousand  bitter-sweet 
re<  ollections  of  home  and  friends  across  the  sea. 
His  pensive  silence  grew  painful.  Anything,  I 
thought,  to  break  the  awful  suspense.  I  cried 
aloud     and    demanded    to    be    taken    before 


FOR    THE    LOVE    OF    LAZARO. 


20I 


GUARDS   WERE     PLACED    AROUND   THE    HUT, 


Delgardo.  Why,  I  asked,  should  the  general 
treat  and  starve  me  like  a  cur? 

At  that  time  all  I  received  to  eat  daily  was  a 
small  handful  of  raw  fish  in  the  morning  and 
about  half  a  pound  of  half-cooked  rice  in  the 
evening.  My  unseen  interlocutor  assured  me 
I  should  be  well  looked  after,  and  told  me  he 
would  see  that  I  had  more  to  eat,  if  he  himself 
had  to  smuggle  it  to  me.  I  thanked  him  for 
his  generosity. 

The  deserter  informed  me  that  both  I  and 
the  insurgent  general  had  been  made  the  victims 
of  a  skilful  trick.  It  was  a  well-known  fact  that 
a  certain  American  general  used  to  walk  alone 
and  unarmed  along  Iloilo  beach  every  evening, 
and  my  Spanish  friend  accordingly  got  into 
correspondence  with  some  of  the  leading  "  in- 
surrectos  " — possibly  with  Delgardo  himself  — 
and  offered  to  seize  the  general  for  them,  pro- 
vided they  paid  him  well.  The  Filipinos  jumped 
at  the  offer,  but  the  Spaniard,  not  having  the 
courage  to  carry  out  his  plan,  conceived  the 
idea  of  capturing  me  instead,  thus  effectually 
putting  me  out  of  his  way,  and  deceiving,  the 
insurgents  long  enough  for  him  to  get  his 
reward.  He  had  managed  to  kill  two  birds 
with  one  stone  with  a  vengeance  !  Of  course, 
the  mistake  was  soon  discovered,  but  by  that 
time  the  wily  villain  had  collected  his  blood- 
money  and  vanished. 

I  was  now  to  be  held  for  exchange,  my 
informant    told    me,   and    in    the   meantime  as 

Vol.  xii.— 26. 


much  informa- 
tion as  possible 
was  to  be  glean- 
ed from  me. 

One  evening 
about  midnight 
as  1  lay  in  the 
wretched  shack, 
turning  over 
plans  of  escape, 
I  was  suddenly 
startled  to  see 
the  figure  of  a 
woman  crouch- 
ing in  the  semi- 
darkness  of  the 
doorway.  For 
an  instant  only 
she  faltered,  and 
then,goingdown 
on  all  fours,  she 
carefully  and 
noiselessly 
crawled  towards 
me.  I  lay  per 
f  ec  t  ly  still, 
hardly  daring  to 
breathe.  It  was  very  dark,  but  still  not  abso- 
lutely so.  When  the  figure  came  nearer  I 
found  myself,  to  my  intense  surprise,  looking 
into  the  handsome  face  of  Senorita  Lazaro  ! 
I  was  about  to  speak  when  she  placed  her  hand 
over  my  mouth  and  whispered  an  injunction 
to  be  silent.  Then  she  crawled  back  to  the 
door,  and  two  big  Chinamen  crept  in  in 
the  same  noiseless  manner.  They  carried  files 
in  their  hands.  A  Chinaman,  by  the  way, 
makes  a  splendid  filer.  These  men  said  not  a 
word,  but  commenced  work  immediately  on  my 
fetters,  and  soon  I  heard  their  files  cutting  into 
my  chains.  Now  that  rescue  seemed  close  at 
hand  a  fever  of  impatience  consumed  me,  and 
1  implored  them  to  hurry.  They  were  probably 
about  an  hour  in  doing  their  work,  but  it 
seemed  ages  to  me.  I  became  nervous  and 
apprehensive  lest  my  guards  should  appear ;  but 
at  last  my  joy  knew  no  bounds,  for  the  chain 
gave  way  and  I  was  free.  Then  the  two  half- 
naked  Celestials  crawled  out  into  the  darkness 
as  quietly  as  they  had  come  and  left  me  alone 
with  my  deliverer.  She  hesitated  for  an  instant 
as  a  drunken  guard  turned  over  in  his  "  tuba  "- 
induced  slumber,  and  then,  when  the  man  lay 
still  again,  she  told  me  she  had  managed  so 
that  all  the  guards  were  intoxicated  and  asleep. 
Taking  me  by  the  hand  she  led  the  way,  and 
we  both  crawled  out  into  the  night.  All  was 
still  in  the  forest  save  for  the  occasional 
howl     of     an     ape      or      the      weird     cry     of 


THE     WIDE     WORLD     MAOA/.INK. 


I    SAW    A    FILIPINO  STANDING,    HOLDING   A    HORSE.' 


night   bird, 
distance    from 
alio  "  (horse),  a 
.   We  both 
■  from  tl  ind,  and  in 

.  tree 
2,  hi  iN! 
the  head.      He 
.  .vith  li is 
'.  not  withstand- 
that    it  k,   I 
r,  and  I 
.   outline  of 
I 
no 
•   than  th>              ■   of  my 
I    quickly 
rhile  my 
a     Filipino 
nto  my  hand.      I 

ted  I  not  a 

it  a  mor: 
In      thai    i  gun  would 

I 

I 
ong  at  ult  ride 

to  lloilo. 


After    we    had 
hut    La 
nd  then   1  knew 


THE    Rl 

AUTHOR     BY   SENOKITA    LAZAKo, 


Riding  only  by  night,  with  infinite  caution, 
and  hiding  through  the  long,  sultry  days  in  the 
rice  paddies,  I  made  my  way  towards  freedom. 
On  the  evening  of  the  fifth  day, 
tattered  and  torn,  and  utterly 
exhausted,  I  rode  into  lloilo. 
I  saw  to  the  horse  which  had 
carried  me  nobly,  and  had  a 
general  clean-up  myself.  Then, 
buckling  a  Colt's  pistol  about 
me — for  I  had  learnt  wisdom 
from  experience — I  set  out  for 
the  house  of  Senorita  Lazaro. 
She  had  been  anxiously  await- 
ing my  arrival,  and  was  over- 
joyed to  see  me. 

The  Spaniard  ?  I  have  not 
seen  him  since  he  left  me  to 
my  fate  in  the  native  shack  on 
Molo  beach — nor  has  Senorita 
Lazaro. 

I  have  the  little  dagger  she 
gave  me  now.  It  lies  on  the 
desk  before  me  as  I  write.  I 
cherish  it  as  a  token  round 
which  linger  fascinating  memo- 
ries that  carry  me  far  across  the 
sea  to  that  midsummer  night 
in  the  Island  of  Panay  when 
I  was  rescued  from  the  "  U> 
surrectos." 


Odds   and    Ends. 


A  Californian   Fruit  Fair — "The  Longest  Name  in  the  World" — A  Hole  with  a  History- 

"  Calamity  Jane's  "  Last  Resting-place,  etc.,  etc. 


STATE  that  boasts  of  twenty  million 
orange  trees,  producing  about  twenty- 
two  thousand  car-loads  of  delicious 
golden  oranges  every  year,  can  afford 
to  indulge  in  fairs  where  the  choicest 
examples  of  its  fruit  may  be  seen.  The  State 
in  question  is  California,  and  the  fairs  referred 
to  are  wonderful  exhibitions,  where  all  kinds 
of  devices,  made  entirely  out  of  oranges  and 
lemons,  are  often  to  be  seen.  The  giant 
lemon,  made  out  of  three  thousand  lemons,  de- 
picted in  our  photograph  is  an  example  of  what 
the  Californian  grower  is  capable  of  accom- 
plishing when  he  desires  to  attract  the  attention 
of    visitors.        Although    attractive    this    is    by 


entirely   out    of 

kind  of  Western 

to    an    ordinary 


no  means  the  most  novel  exhibit  that  has 
graced  the  citrus  fairs  of  Southern  California. 
At  the  Los  Angeles  fair  of  1891  there  was 
a  carriage  and  pair  created 
oranges.  The  carriage  was  a 
coach,  very  similar  in  design 
London  'bus.  It  was  literally  covered  with 
choice  fruit,  even  the  wheels,  roof,  seats,  and 
step  being  made  of  oranges.  To  complete  the 
effect  the  horses  were  also  made, out  of  the  same 
fruit.  In  the  same  fair  there  was  a  magnificent 
tower,  built  up  of  five  thousand  oranges.  In  a 
recent  exhibition  an  immense  globe  made  up 
of  ten  thousand  oranges  was  the  principal 
attraction. 


-> 


A   GIGANTIC    LEMON',    BUII.T    UP   OF   THREE   THOUSAND    LEMONS,    AT   A   CALIFORNIAN    FRUIT    FAIR. 

From  a  Photo,  by  C.  B.   Waite,  Los  Angeles ,  Ceil. 


I  Hi;     WIDE     WOR]  1'     MAC.AZINK. 


i  V    A    TREE. 


[Photo. 


Dw<  Hi  rs  in  India  know  how  the  "  pippul,"  a 
to  the  Hindu,  will  make  its  appear- 
anywhere  and  everywhere,  and  will   thrive 
nt    "f  sustenance   and  attain 
-   under  the   most    Inhos- 
surroundin;>       No  hand  will  pluck  out 
■  r    injure    a    leaf  even    to    save    the 
•  il  well   of    the   village   from   collapse  or 
from    decay,    for   fear 
wrath  of  Vishnu,   whose  tree-  it  is.      In 
rdinary   instarv  have    to    con- 

Mid  threw  out  arms  which 
•ween  the  masonry  of 
e   which 
gained  in  strength  it 
-  in  its  mighty  arms, 

and  _rreat  slabs  of  stone 

I,  till    now.  like  a  ,^iant 
piHai  upport  a-  high 

a  r;  ich      The  outstretched  arm  of  the 

m3'  he  left  of  the  photograph  will 

f  th(  to    which    the 

heavy   ston  have    I  Our   photo- 

graph was  '    ■  -n   the  outskirts  of  the  nt     0f 

azipur,  about  forty-five  miles  from  Benares. 


The  boy  seen  in  the  snap-shot 
next  reproduced  is  not  wearing  a 
lifebelt,  as  you  might  think,  but 
simply  his  own  baggy  breeches, 
tilled  with  air.  These  breeches 
are  made  of  coarse  homespun 
wool,  and  the  manner  of  inflating 
them  is  distinctly  ingenious.  The 
boy  first  jumps  into  the  water  and 
soaks  the  cloth,  thus  making  it 
air-tight.  Then  he  returns  to  the 
shore,  takes  off  the  breeches,  and 
waves  them  to  and  fro  until  they 
are  full  of  air.  Then  he  quickly 
ties  up  the  belt  which  fastens 
them,  and  floats  off  on  his  curious 
life  -  raft.  Our  photograph  was 
taken  at  the  Island  of  Kasteloryzo, 
near  the  Anatolian  coast,  where 
one  may  see  dozens  of  boys  stop- 
ping in  the  water  for  hours  at  a 
time,  supported  by  their  novel  air- 
bags. 

A  correspondent  writes  :  "  In 
your  July  issue  I  noticed  a  photo- 
graph of  the  name-board  of  an 
Indian  station.  The  name  con- 
tained nineteen  letters,  and  you 
asked  whether  any  of  your  readers 
could  beat  it.  Well,  I  think  I  can, 
and  that  without  going  outside  the 


THIS    BOY    IS    NOT   WEARING    A    LIFE-RELT,   HUT    IS 

From  a]  the  air  in  his  baggy  breeches 


SUPPORTED   BY 

!         [Photo. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


205 


British  Isles  !  The  name  I  submit  contains  no 
fewer  than  fifty-eight  letters,  and  is,  I  am  sure, 
the  longest  name  given  to  any  place  in  the  world. 
It  is  the  actual  name  of  a  village  on  the  Anglesey 


witness  the  plays  they  pass  through  Llanfair, 
etc.,  which  they  call  '  the  village  with  the  long 
name,'  wisely  leaving  the  awe-inspiring  desig- 
nation unspoken." 


LLANFAIRPWLLGWYNGYLLG0GERYCHWYRHDR0BWLLLLANDISIL1QG0GQG0CH 


HE  LONGEST  NAME  IN  THE  WURLD 


-IT    CONTAl 


•KWEK    THAN    FIFTY-EHiHT    LETTERS,    AM)    BELONGS    TO    A    WKL! 

From  a  Photo. 


side  of  the  Menai  Straits  —  in  fact,  the  first 
station  in  Anglesey  reached  by  the  London 
and  North -Western  Railway  after  crossing 
the  Tubular  Bridge.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
village  call  it  '  Llanfair,'  life  not  being  long 
enough  for  its  full  title  ;  but  as  many 
other  Welsh  villages  have  this  name  the 
letters  '  P.G.'  are  tacked  on  to  the  end  for 
the  convenience  of  the  postal  authorities. 
Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobvvll-  Llan- 
disiliogogogoch,  needless  to  say,  means  some- 
thing. It  stands  for  '  The  Church  of  St.  Mary 
in  a  hollow  of  white  hazel,  near  to  the  rapid 
whirlpool  and  to  St.  Disilio,  near  to  a  red  cave.' 
Owing  to  its  difficult  guttural  pronunciation— 
which  is,  however,  effected  by  Welshmen  with 
ease — the  name  has  been  called  '  the  English- 
man's cure  for  lockjaw.'  I  may  add  that 
Anglesey  Castle,  the  seat  of  the  Marquis  of 
Anglesey,  of  pantomime  fame,  is  situated  near 
this  village,  and  when  people  visit  the  castle  to 


A  daring  attempt  to  escape  from  a  Transvaal 
prison  is  illustrated  in  the  photograph  below. 
One  night  some  officers  who  were  patrolling 
outside  the  gaol  in  question  suddenly  saw  a 
man's  head  protrude  from  the  wall,  and,  run- 
ning up,  they  discovered  a  gaping  hole  about  two 
feet  high  and  three  feet  wide.  One  of  the 
officers,  with  extraordinary  presence  of  mind,  at 
once  hit  the  would-be  gaol -breaker  over  the 
head  with  his  truncheon,  "  so  that  he  should 
know  him  again,"  and  then  an  alarm  was  raised. 
An  examination  of  the  cell— which  was  occupied 
by  seven  men — disclosed  blankets  full  of  debris 
removed  from  the  wall,  a  small  crowbar,  and  a 
blanket-rope  with  which  the  prisoners  intended 
to  pull  one  another  through  the  hole.  They 
had  worked  night  and  day  at  the  cavity,  singing 
lustily  to  drown  the  noise,  and  intended  to 
escape  that  night.  As  a  result  of  their  enter- 
prise the  ringleader  received  an  additional  six 
months  and  his  accomplices  three  months  each. 


From 


A    HOLE   WITH    A    HISTORY. 


[Photo. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAOA/.1NK. 


ISLAND    WHICH     I  RAVELLED    l-lil;    SEVERAL    MILES    ACROSS   A    LAKE. 
From    a    Photo,    by    C.    M.    Curtis. 


heard  of  floating   islands, 

actually    seen    one.     The 

•   graph  depicts  a  little  islet 

good  deal  of  wandering.      On 

-  d<  tached  from  the  bank 

tide   and    wind,   and  was    driven 

I         Neahtawanta  (situated  at 

ilton,  New  Jersey)  for  a  distance 

nd  a  half.      Arrived  at  the  other 

ay   grounded  in  about  six   feet  of 

in     our    photograph.        The 

of    peaty   ground,    bound 

•I   the   trees  and   reeds 

and 

one    hundred   feet 

graph 

Rajahs     and     other 
the    R( 
f     Mandi,     an 
nativ*      3l         of 
importa 
the    Ra 

;nto 
but 
I 
in   their 
_u  re- 
in   the 

a  nut 

the  nu 

irned 


bearing  as  many  as  seventeen.  In  the  tablets 
erected  since-  this  horrible  custom  was  abolished 
by  the  British,  of  course,  these  are  not  to  be 
seen.  In  front  of  all  the  other  stones,  covered 
by  silk  draperies  and  a  birch-bark  umbrella,  will 
be  seen  the  memorial  of  the  late  Rajah,  who 
died  in  December  last.  This  stone  is  the  largest 
of  the  collection,  but  the  carvings  will  not  be 
exposed  to  public  view  till  the  anniversary  of 
his  death. 

It  is  said  that  there  is  but  one  place  in  the 
world  where  four  States  or  territories  join.  This 
is  the  spot  in  the   Carizo  Mountains  where  the 


* 


THE    MEMORIALS   OF    THE    RAJAHS   OF    MAM)!. 


[J'/ioto. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


207 


i 


>•  • 


•  - 

■ 
-    -      , 

. 

~~   - 

+ 

£         '       ~ 

-     --■ 

~*>  V    -w~*? 

— 

■ 

m 

~ 

■   . 

Si  ■ 

AT„_   ^    ***'- 

From  a] 

A   PLAC 

A   PLACE    WHERE    FOUR   STATES    MEET. 


\Plioto. 


States  of  Colorado  and  Utah  and  the  territories 
of  Arizona  and  New  Mexico  meet.  The  spot 
is  marked  by  a  monu- 
ment erected  by  United 
States  surveyors,  and 
inscribed  with  the  names 
of  the  States  and  terri- 
tories whose  boundaries 
meet  there.  It  is  reached 
by  a  trail  from  the  road 
which  leads  from  the 
Ute  Indian  Reservation 
in  Colorado  to  the  San 
Juan  River.  A  monu- 
ment which  formerly 
stood  at  the  spot  was 
destroyed  by  Navajo 
Indians,  but  during  the 
summer  of  1901  another 
surveying  party  visited 
the  place  and  rebuilt  the 
monument.  In  the  photo- 
graph the  man  in  white 
shirt  sleeves  to  the  left 
stands  in  Utah,  the  man 
in  the  middle  is  in  Colo- 
rado, the  man  to  the 
right  is  in  New  Mexico, 
and  the  pony  on  the  ex- 
treme right  is  standing  in 
Arizona. 

On  August  1st  there 
died  in  South  Dakota 
one  of  the  most  famous 
characters  the  Wild  West 
has   ever   produced —     THF-  GRAVE  of  "wild  bill' 

4l   p,       .  .r  '  "CALAMITY    [ANF.,  '    NOW 

Calamity    Jane,        From  a  p/l0to.  i,y  Locke  &> 


woman-scout,   express-rider,   and  Indian -fighter. 

By  a   curious  coincidence  The  Wide  World 

Magazine  for  August, 
published  on  July  22nd, 
contained  a  full  account 
of  "  Calamity's "  extra- 
ordinary career.  It  was 
always  supposed  that 
Jane  cherished  a  liking 
for  J.  B.  Hickok,  better 
known  as  "Wild  Bill," 
a  famous  frontiersman 
who  was  treacherously 
shot  at  Dead  wood  in  1876 
by  a  desperado  named 
Jack  McCall,  whom 
Jane  subsequently  pur- 
sued and  captured.  The 
supposition  has  been 
confirmed,  for  just  before 
her  death  "  Calamity " 
requested  to  be  buried 
beside  "Wild  Bill"  in 
the  little  cemetery  at 
Mount  Moriah,  Dead- 
wood.  Her  dying  request 
has  been  complied  with, 
and  the  two  famous 
border  characters  are 
now  sleeping  their  last 
long  sleep  side  by'  side, 
under  the  pine  trees  of 
Mount  Moriah. 

During      the      tremen- 
dous and  unprecedented 
hickok— his  or.n  comrade,      snowstorm  at  Algiers 

LIES    BURIED    BESIDE    HIM.  .  o  L 

Peterson,  Deadwood,  s.  Dak.      m     January,     i bg  1,     the 


II  li:     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


. 


MAKING    SNOWBALLS    IN    ALGIERS. 


[Lorcntx. 


in  the  above  photo,  was  rolled  in 

the  public    gardens,   and   a   snow   man 

built    in    the   centre   of   the 

loving  Arabs   shivered  beneath 

r    turbans    and     bernouses,    and    regarded 

-  a  visitation    from    the   powers  of 

.    if  any,   of   them   had   ever  seen   a 

flake  b<  ;rer  than  the  peaks  of  the  Atlas 

: mains,    and    they   did    not    know   what   to 

it. 

accompanying  photograph  represents  a 

natural     bridge     near     Point     Arena, 

County,  California.     The  ceaseless 

n   of  the  waves  has 

cut     through     t; 

rock    of    the    cliffs    and 

kind  of  inland 

lak'  p   the  strij 

:i    in    tl 

■ 

\r    in 
number  and 

difficulty  in 

.    in    fine 
her.      I  his  extra- 
ordinary   ser 

the 
of  Sighs,"  from 
J 1  i  a  r    - 
the  tide  makes  when 


running  in  from  the  Pacific  Ocean  and  passing 
through  the  rocky  portals. 

The  fifth  instalment  of  ''  With  the  British  to 
Sokoto,"  by  Captain  Foulkes,  R.E.,  has  not 
reached  us  up  to  the  moment  of  going  to  press. 
Our  readers  will  understand  the  difficulties  of 
sending  matter  from  the  remote  regions  of  Kano 
or  Sokoto,  where  Captain  Foulkes  now  is — a 
difficulty  which  has  been  considerably  enhanced 
by  the  recent  recrudescence  of  trouble  in  these 
newly-acquired  and  little-known  territories.  The 
series  will,  however,  be  continued  at  the  earliest 
pi  issible  moment. 


BRIDGE  OF  SI' 


ANGE  FREAK  OF  NATURE  ON  THE  CALIFORN1AN  COAST. 

From  a  Photo. 


;\    FOR   YOUR   LIVES!     THE   CLOUD-BURST   IS   COMING!" 

(see  page  213.) 


The  Wide  World  Magazine. 


Vol.  XII. 


JANUARY,    1904. 


No.  69. 


3    Race   With   a  Cloud=Burst. 

A    RIDE    THAT   SAVED   FIVE    HUNDRED    LIVES. 
By  Victor  Pitt-Kethley. 

Our  readers  will  remember  the  disastrous  cloud-burst  at  Heppner,  in  Oregon,  which  blotted  out  a 
thriving  town  and  killed  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons.  This  is  the  story  of  a  deed  of  heroism 
beside  which  the  famous  "Ride  of  Paul  Revere"  fades  into  insignificance.  It  describes  how  two 
young  farmers  rode  a  wild  race  in  front  of  the  raging  flood  to  warn  the  hapless  towns  and  villages 
lower    down  the  valley,  accomplishing  their  apparently  hopeless  task  with  a  margin  of  only  a  few 

minutes,  and  saving   several  hundred  lives. 


N  Sunday,  June  14th  last,  there 
occurred  at  Heppner,  Oregon, 
U.S.A.,  one  of  the  most  disastrous 
cloud-bursts  that  ever  happened  in 
the    United   States,    if    not    in    the 

world.     The  morning  was  balmy  and  pleasant, 

and  many  people  had  left  the  town  to  spend  the 

day  with  their  friends   at   the  hospitable  farm- 
houses in  the  surrounding  hills.     Thereby  they 

saved  their  lives ; 

but  they  returned  to 

find   their   homes 

wiped  off  the  face  of 

the  earth. 

Heppner    is   situ- 
ated   between    steep 

hills  at  the  head  of 

Willow     Creek,     or, 

rather,    near    where 

Balm     Fork     and 

Hinton  Fork  join  to 

form  Willow  Creek, 

and    extends    down 

Willow  Creek  for 

two  miles  toward  the 

mighty  Columbia 

River,    forty-five 

miles  away. 

Northward  toward 

the     Columbia, 

Willow  Creek   flows 

around    among    the 

hills  and  then  passes 

through   a   beautiful 

valley  containing  the 

villages  of  Lexington 

and  lone,  finally  emptying   into  the   Columbia 

at  Heppner  Junction.    At  Heppner  itself  Willow 

Creek  is  so  narrow  that  a  man  can  almost  jump 

across,  but  a  descent  of  fifty-eight  feet  in  a  mile 

makes  it  very  swift-flowing.     It  comes  rushing 

Vol,  xii.-27. 


MAP   OF    A    PORTION    OF    THE   STATE   OF    OREGON,  SHOWING    HEPPNER  AND 
THE   TOWNS   OF    LEXINGTON    AND    IONE. 


down  from  the  foot-hills,  which  rise  almost 
abruptly  for  a  few  hundred  feet,  while  behind 
and  beyond  them,  with  plateaux  between,  rise 
higher  and  still  higher  hills  until  the  timber-line 
of  the  Blue  Mountains,  some  fifteen  miles  away, 
is  reached. 

The  hills  adjacent  to  the  creek  are  without 
trees  or  verdure  of  any  kind,  and  shed  the  rain 
into  the  creeks  as  fast  as  it  falls  upon   them. 

These  details  will 
enable  Wide  World 
readers  to  properly 
understand  the 
catastrophe  which 
befell  the  little  town 
on  that  memorable 
14th  of  June. 

In  the  middle  of 
the  Sunday  after- 
noon dark  clouds 
appeared  in  the 
south,  and  rain  soon 
began  to  fall,  accom- 
panied by  thunder 
and  lightning.  The 
people  were  glad  to 
see  the  rain,  which 
was  much  needed  by 
the  growing  crops, 
but  as  it  came 
down  thicker  and 
faster  many  made 
haste  to  return  to 
their  homes. 

Each  moment  the 
reverberations  of  the 
thunder  and  the  patter  of  the  rainfall  grew  louder, 
drowning  the  awful  roar  of  the  flood  which  was 
gathering  in  the  hills  until  it  was  fairly  upon  the 
little  town. 

Whilst  the  storm  was  at  its  height  a  darkness 


I'll'     WIDE    WORLD     MAOAZINE. 


ireboding  pall, 

te  of  the  fact 

f-past   five  on  a  June 

lere   came   a   far-away 

ul  wh:  -   high   above   the 

tunder  and  the  swish  of  the 

riding  the  people,  sitting  cowering 

the  windows  in  a  vain  attempt 

.-.   it  was.     The  roaring  grew  louder 

'ii.l   until   the  air  was   filled   with 

•^  looked  at  one  another  with 

oud-burst  came  to  Heppner — a  solid 
;    water,  nearly    tony    feet  high, 

is<  s,  f(  m  es,  and  human  beings 
ts  foan  ■•  ng  destruction  and 

its   •'■.ike. 

Where   Halm   Fork  flows  into  Willow  Creek, 

the   mmith   of  Balm    Fork,  there 

:.  high,  rocky  promontory,  against 

torrent,    rushing  down    Balm    Fork, 


.is  though  they  were  egg-shells,  and  hurling 
those  which  it  did  not  completely  crush  down 
the  \alley  at  railroad  speed. 

Meanwhile  the  thunder  rolled  continually 
and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents.  The  court-house 
k  stopped  at  twenty  minutes  to  six,  and  it 
is  believed  the  shock  of  the  liquid  avalanche 
when  it  struck  the  rocky  bluff  in  Willow  Creek 
canyon  jarred  the  entire  town  and  stopped  the 
clock.  Be  that  as  it  may,  the  fact  remains  that 
the  clock  stopped  at  that  time. 

The  onslaught  of  that  relentless  torrent  was 
so  sudden  that  no  one  had  time  to  even  think 
of  saving  anything  but  themselves.  One  and 
all  sought  safety  by  flight  to  the  nearest  hills. 

In  the  upper  part  of  the  town  those  who 
were  out  in  the  streets  or  gardens  were  washed 
away  and  drowned,  while  those  who  took  refuge 
in  the  second  stories  of  their  homes  were 
carried  away  with  their  houses.  Parents  had 
their  children  torn  from  their  arms,  husbands 


LTLOCK,  with  the  horse  on-  which  he  made  his  wild  ride. 


[P/wto. 


with     terrific     fan  e.       Rebounding,     it 

He]  ''Her. 

which  stood  highest  up  the  creek 

I    the   force  of  that  awful 

nuddy  water.     They   were  swept 

bod  their   occupants    were    never 

have  been  a  compact  mass  of 

itre  of  the   current  which 

kind  of  battering-ram,  crushing  the 

-•  two-st  ,  and  business  houses 


and  wives  were  wrenched  apart,   never  to  see 
each  other  alive  again. 

Those  who  reached  the  higher  ground  saw 
their  children  and  their  neighbours  struggling  in 
the  mad  waters  and  were  unable  to  help  them 
in  any  way. 

Screams  of  terror  and  cries  for  help  were  heard 
on  all  sides,  and  many  were  the  almost  miraculous 
escapes  and  brave  rescues. 

The  station  agent,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  it 
was  almost  certain  death  to  remain,  nobly  stayed 


A    RACE    WITH    A    CLOUD-BURST. 


213 


at  his  post,  trying  to  telegraph  a  warning  to 
Lexington  and  lone,  two  towns  lower  down  the 
creek.  Finding  his  efforts  futile,  however,  he 
ran  out,  but  was  caught  up  in  the  swift  current 
and  drowned — a  martyr  to  duty. 

But  of  all  the  brave  deeds  done  that  day — and 
there  were  many — the  ride  of  Leslie  Matlock  and 
Bruce  Kelly  was  the  bravest. 

A  few  minutes  before  the  flood  reached  the 
railway  depot  at  the  lower  end  of  the  town,  a 
young  stock  -  farmer  named  Leslie  Matlock, 
accompanied  by  a  friend,  Bruce  Kelly,  rode  out 
of  some  stables  on  the  higher  ground. 


rushing  toward  it ;  and  beyond  that  again  was 
lone,  while  dotted  about  between  were  many 
scattered  homesteads.  To  reach  these  and 
warn  the  people  ere  the  flood  struck  them  was 
what  these  two  heroes  were  now  straining  every 
nerve  to  accomplish. 

On  and  on  and  on — over  rough  hillsides 
strewn  with  boulders,  over  gullies  and  ravines  ; 
now  dismounting  to  cut  a  wire,  and  then  up  and 
away  again.  Spurring  their  sweating  horses, 
they  rushed  on  through  the  night.  Wherever  a 
light  twinkled  through  the  driving  rain, 
betokening  the  presence  of  a  homestead,   the 


THE   TWO   YOUNG    MEN    DASHED   ONWARDS. 


"  Good  heavens  !  "  cried  Matlock,  as  he  gazed 
over  the  appalling  scene  of  desolation  behind 
him.  "  What  about  Lexington  and  lone  ?  Can 
we  beat  the  flood  and  warn  them  ?  " 

"  We  will  try,"  said  Kelly,  laconically  ;  and 
so  the  enterprise  began.  Procuring  a  pair  of 
wire-nippers  to  cut  the  barbed-wire  fences  which 
lay  in  their  road,  the  dauntless  pair  galloped  off 
on  their  wild  ride ;  and  all  who  saw  them 
thought  they  had  gone  to  their  deaths,  for  who 
could  hope  to  outdistance  that  raging  sea 
behind,  sweeping  onwards  with  relentless  fury? 

Meanwhile  the  two  young  men  dashed  on- 
wards on  their  self-imposed  mission  of  salvation. 
Lower  down  the  valley  lay  the  town  of  Lexing- 
ton, all  unconscious  of  the  awful  fate  even  now 


riders  made  for  it,  and  as  they  rushed  by  there 
came  to  the  startled  occupants  the  wild  cry  : 
"  Run    for    your    lives  !       The    cloud  -  burst    is 


coming 


Families  sitting  quietly  in  their  homes, 
listening  to  the  roaring  of  the  storm,  heard 
that  awful  warning  from  out  the  blackness  of 
the  night. 

"  Don't  wait  to  save  a  thing  !  To  the  hills  for 
your  lives!"  And  the  steaming  horses  and 
their  phantom  riders  were  swallowed  up  in  the 
gloom.  But  the  roar  of  the  flood,  following 
swift  behind,  emphasized  the  fact  that  no  time 
was  to  be  lost. 

On  and  on  and  on  !  Voice  and  rein  and 
spur  urged  the  horses  forward,  while  ever  the 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


inded    louder   and 

'..rn  the  hap 

i   fell  with   him 

he  was  up  in  a  flash  and 

.  with  an  encouraging  word  to 

g      i    low-hanging   tree 

oulders   threatened  to 

rom    their  saddles,    and   only 

d  man  and   beast  from 

g   that    wild    ride    through  the 

I    boulders    encumbered    the 

rushwood  had  to  be  leaped  ; 

nihility  of  blunder- 

■'.  ire  fence  at  full  gallop.      But 

int  did  those  intrepid  men  draw 

Full  well  they  realized  that  five   hundred 

■ 

'okeii  between  them  as 
5,  their  lips  set  tight. 
5  Si  IT       g  1     : 

.  a  But  ever 

and  again  one  of  the  pair 


thev  shouted.  "The  water  is  coming!"  And 
the  roaring  behind  corroborated  their  words  and 
sent  the  frightened  villagers  scurrying  to  the 
safety  oi  the  hills. 

On  and  on,  mile  after  mile,  through  the  dark- 
ness and  the  rain,  went  the  flying  horsemen, 
their  rough  path  occasionally  lighted  by  lurid 
Hashes  of  lightning,  till  finally  the  lights  of 
Lexington  came  into  view.  Madly  the 
messengers  clattered  down  the  quiet  streets,  for 
now  they  were  but  a  few  minutes  ahead  of  the 
raging  sea  behind.  "  Heppner  is  washed  away 
by  a  cloud-burst !"  rang  the  terrible  cry.  "Flee 
for  your  lives  !     To  the  hills,  to  the  hills  !  " 

As  the  people,  with  pallid  faces  and  starting 
eyes,  and  tongues  that  asked  questions  which 
could  not  be  answered,  crowded  out  of 
their  houses,  the  messengers  dashed  off 
again,  for  a  long  ride  still  lay  before  them. 
But     the     pace     had     been     too     much     for 


his 
shou  lacken- 

his  headlong  pa 

what  h  tded  to  see 

of  the  pursuing  flood. 

ner  and  Lexington  there  were 

ma-  -:  farms  i  directly  in 

•  avalanche  of  water,  but  the  wild 

'    of  the  '  out  the  inmates  in 

time  to  ame  the  small 

ght  in  the  danger- 
zone,  and  int  -  aim  the  horsemen 
broke  rude             [*o  the  hills   for  your  lives  ! " 


HE    CALLED    FOR    ANOTHER    H 


Matlock's  noble  horse,  and  the  poor  beast 
fell  exhausted.  Many  a  man  would  have 
abandoned  the  enterprise  at  this  point,  deeming 
he  had  done  enough,  but  not  so  the  young 
stock-raiser.  Loudly  he  called  for  another 
horse,  and  the  moment  it  was  brought  he 
mounted  and  set  off  once  more,  for  lone,  with 
its  two  hundred  and  more  inhabitants,  still 
remained  to  be  warned. 

This  time  the  danger  the  two  intrepid  men 


A    RACE    WITH    A    CLOUD-BURST. 


"5 


ran  was  enhanced  a  hundred-fold.  Hitherto 
they  had  had  a  way  of  escape  open  to  them — 
the  higher  ground  on  their  flank — should  the 
flood  overtake  them,  but  in  order  to  reach  lone 
they  had  to  follow  the  main  road — the  very 
track  along  which  the  waters  were  rushing 
towards  them  ! 

Few    men    would    knowingly   take  such   an 


PRESENTLY   ANOTHER   AND   ANOTHER    FIN-POINT  OF    LIGHT    PIERCED   THE   GLOOM 


appalling   risk,    but   these   two    young   farmers 
never  hesitated  for  a  moment. 

At  every  ranch  and  farm  they  passed  their 
ringing  cry  brought  the  people  out,  and  one 
glance  at  the  smoking  horses,  flecked  with  mud 
and  foam,  and  their  wild-eyed,  dishevelled 
riders,  showed  the  inhabitants  the  imminence  of 
the  danger. 

Would  lone  never  come  in  sight  ?  Every 
moment  the  flood  drew  nearer,  every  moment 
the  horses — stumbling  and  staggering  over  the 
rough  track— grew  more  distressed,  and  still  the 
little  township  was  far  away.  Would  they  be 
overwhelmed  and  the  town  swept  away  ere  the 
warning  could  reach  it  ?     It  must  not  be  ! 

Faster,  ever  faster,  the  horses  were  urged, 
though  the  animals  seemed  instinctively  to  know 


what  was  required  of  them,  and  strained  every 
nerve  to  outstrip  the  awful  pursuer  behind. 
Fortunately  the  valley  widens  out  at  this  spot 
and  the  waters  did  not  come  along  so  swiftly. 

At  last,  through  the  driving  rain,  the  anxious 
eyes  of  the  leading  horseman  caught  a 
momentary  glimpse  of  a  far  away  twinkle.  Pre- 
sently another  and  another  pin-point  of  light 
pierced  the  gloom.  Hurrah  ! 
lone  was  at  hand,  and  the 
riders'  voices  urged  their 
**.,  mounts    to   a    final    effort    as 

;%i  they  thundered  down  the  un- 

even road. 

So,  drenched  to  the  skin, 
breathless  from  their  headlong 
pace,  bruised  all  over  from 
their  falls  and  collisions  with 
trees  and  boulders,  and  keep- 
ing in  their  saddles  only  with 
the  greatest  difficulty,  Matlock 
and  Kelly  finally  rode  into 
lone,  nineteen  miles  from 
Heppner,  exactly  one  hour 
before  the  flood  exhausted 
itself. 

The  people  were  just  gather- 
ing into  the  churches,  but  the 
hoarse- shouted  warnings 
brought  them  hurrying  out, 
and,  as  in  Lexington,  not  a 
single  life  was  lost.  The  two 
heroes  had  accomplished  their 
task,  for  from  lone  onwards 
the  telephone  swiftly  carried 
on  the  warning  to  Douglas 
and  other  places  along  the 
line  of  the  flood. 

During  the    whole    of  that 

interminable  night  the  villagers 

stayed  on  the  bleak  hillsides, 

anxiously  praying  for  the  dawn. 

With    daylight    came     the    realization    of    the 

terrible  catastrophe  which  had  befallen  that  once 

smiling  valley. 

The  residential  section  of  Heppner  had  been 
simply  wiped  out,  and  the  place  where  it  had 
stood  was  covered  deep  with  slimy  mud.  A 
hundred  and  fifty  houses  had  vanished,  not 
a  board  remaining  to  mark  their  site.  The 
telegraph  and  telephone  lines  were  entirely 
destroyed,  and  for  nine  miles  the  railway  line 
was  torn  up,  the  stout  steel  rails  being  twisted 
into  fantastic  corkscrews.  Every  bridge  was 
washed  bodily  away,  and  stout  two-foot-thick 
tree-trunks  were  snapped  like  match-sticks. 

The  toll  of  human  life  was  fearful.  At  first 
it  was  reported  that  five  hundred  people  had 
perished,  but  fortunately  this  was  soon  reduced 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


i 

.  :>-burst. 

to  two  hundred  and  fifty. 

A    hundred    and    eighty 

bodice    were    recovered  — 

them    t  w  e  1  v  e 

mil-  .    their   homes 

-  but    many    more    were 

into     the 

•nubia   River 

•    be  found 

in. 

-on    as    the   n< 
.  the  outside  world 
ing- 
ton  by  rail  and  thenc 
tri 
;  >a  rt 
of  thre-  iou- 

sand  n. 

in  r  g  the  d  ' ris  and 

in  the  melancholy  task  of 
searchi    .  ,d  bur 

the  dead. 

Money  was  ;  :ito 

:th  the  uf 
liberality,    and   men,   pro- 
nd    clotl: 
re  sent  at  one  . 
n    and    hamlet    in 
Oregon     contributing     its 
share. 


The  whole  country  rang 
with  the  brave  deed 
accomplished  by  Matlock 
and  Kelly,  but  both  men 
are  as  modest  as  they  are 
brave  and  will  talk  but 
little  concerning  their 
wild  race  with  the  flood. 
Their  heroism,  however, 
will  long  be  remembered 
by  the  people  whose  lives 
they  saved,  and  the  stir- 
ring story  of  their  exploit 
will  be  handed  down  from 
father  to  son  in  the  annals 
of  the  State.  It  is  said 
that  the  national  and  State 
authorities  intend  to  pre- 
sent both  men  with 
medals  of  honour  com- 
memorating their  ride  ; 
and  well  they  deserve  it, 
for  a  braver  deed  was 
never  done,  either  in  the 
Old  World  or  the  New. 


Ftom  a  Photo.} 


-BURST— A    HUNDRED   AND    FIFTY    HOUSES    WERE    SWEPT 
■■•I    HUNDRED    AND    FIFTY   PEOPLE    DROWNED. 


BODILY    AWAY 

[by  Sigsbee. 


V^M^ 


The  story  of  what  is  perhaps  the   most  remarkable  voyage   ever   made  by  a  ship.      Although  it  lasted 
over  two  months  it  was  not  until  the  last  day  of  the  trip  that  the  vessel  floated  in  her  natural  element. 


HIS  is  the  story  of  perhaps  the  most 
wonderful  voyage  ever  taken  by  a 
ship.  Although  it  lasted  over  two 
months,  at  no  time  did  the  vessel 
float  in  fresh  or  salt  water,  and 
seldom  did  she  move  her  own  length  in  a  day, 
for  this  remarkable  cruise  was  made  entirely  on 
land. 

Lightship  No.  50,  as  she  is  called  by  the 
United  States  Government,  holds  the  record 
for  strange  cruises.  The  one  I  am  about 
to  describe  was  made  from  sheer  necessity. 
No.  50  is  not  an  amphibious  craft,  intended  to 
travel  on  sea  or  shore  ;  she  was  designed  to 
warn  mariners  of  the  dangerous  bar  which 
stretches  partly  across  the  mouth  of  the  great 
Columbia  River  in  the  State  of  Washington. 
This  is  one  of  the  spots  on  the  Pacific  coast 
which  is  most  dreaded  by  seamen,  owing  to 
the  frequency  of  the  storms  and  their  awful 
violence.  The  bar  itself  is  composed  of  sand,  and 
at  low  tide  only  very  small  craft  can  pass  over 
it.  The  ship  channel  is  crooked  and  narrow, 
and  the  Government  found  it  impossible  to 
construct  a  lighthouse  on  shore  which  would 
properly  mark  its  course,  so  No.  50  was  built 
specially  for  this  station.  She  is  a  stout,  staunch 
craft,  with  a  hull  of  heavy  steel,  else  she  could 

Vol.  xii.— 28. 


never  have  made  the  curious  journey  referred 
to.  She  is  one  of  the  larger  type  of  light- 
vessels,  and  on  her  two  masts  are  fastened 
lanterns  whose  rays  can  be  seen  far  away  at  sea 
even  in  thick  weather. 

After  building  No.  50  the  next  question  was 
how  to  fasten  her  so  that  she  would  not  be 
moved  out  of  her  proper  berth  and  thus  deceive 
the  sailor  depending  on  her  lights  to  enter  the 
river.  What  are  termed  "mushroom  "  anchors, 
from  their  resemblance  in  form  to  this  familiar 
vegetable,  were  cast  especially  for  the  purpose. 
To  each  was  fastened  two  hundred  and  forty 
feet  of  chain,  so  heavy  that  each  link  represented 
as  much  weight  as  a  strong  man  could  lift,  for 
the  iron  bars  of  which  they  were  composed  were 
no  less  than  two  inches  in  thickness. 

It  was  supposed  that  with  such  fastenings  the 
ves.cel  could  easily  ride  out  the  heaviest  gale, 
aided  by  the  powerful  steam-engines  with  which 
she  was  equipped,  as  well  as  a  suit  of  sails. 
But  one  night  the  elements  combined  against 
No.  50,  a  gale  setting  in  which  blew  at  a  rate  of 
seventy -four  miles  an  hour,  according  to  the 
instruments  of  the  weather  observer  stationed 
on  the  coast.  It  piled  up  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific  in  waves  which  reached  far  above  the 
deck  of  the  vessel  and  forced  the  crew  to  seek 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


I  the  lightship 
and  tinally  the  strain  was 
ichor  chains  to 
■    if    made  oi  wire. 
a  full  h<  steam  to  be 

was  made  to  work  away 
.    ::i.      Slowly  but  surely 
\  what   is   known  as 

.t   pile  o\    rock   which   would 
und   her  to  pieces,  and   where  it 
n  impossible  for  one  of  the  crew 
ishore  alive.     Seeing  this  danger, 
mmander  gave  orders  to  steer  for  a  little 
i  near  the  mouth  of  the  river.     Mean- 
pie  on  shore  had  seen  the  vessels 
.uid    two     powerful     steamships 
I  to  her  assistance.      Although  ropes 
from    them    to   No.    50    nothing 


she  was  stranded  is  composed  of  sand  so  soft 
that  the  great  weight  of  the  vessel  forced  her 
into  it.  Day  after  day  she  sank  deeper  and 
deeper  undl,  by  the  time  arrangements  had  been 
made  to  pull  her  back  into  the  water,  nearly  half 
the  hull  had  disappeared  from  view,  and  No.  50 
was  literally  buried  in  the  beach. 

While  the  engineers  believed  the  lightship 
could  be  raised  after  considerable  trouble,  the 
problem  of  floating  her  was  far  more  difficult. 
The  waves  which  had  carried  her  ashore  were 
of  such  size  as  to  make  the  ocean  navigable 
where  in  calm  weather  it  is  scarcely  deep 
enough  to  float  a  row-boat.  At  this  point  a 
person  can  wade  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  into 
the  ocean  before  becoming  entirely  submerged, 
and  to  secure  sufficient  depth  of  water  to 
float   the   vessel,    which   draws    twelve   feet,    it 


From  a] 


THE    LIGHTSHIP   AS   SHE   APPEARED   AFTER    EEING  DRIVEN    ASHORE. 


[Photo. 


woi.  rain  in  the  awful  sea,  and  the 

lines  soon  parted,  the  relief  ships  being  obliged 

k  to  the  harbour  to  save  themselves. 

■  nee  to  save  the  lives  of  those 

on  board,  the  bow  of  the  lightship  was  again 

tun  ird  the   beach   and   she  was  driven 

far  up  it  by  the  force  of  the  waves  and  the  full 

power  of  her  ei  .An  idea  of  the  power  of 

ne  can  be  gained  when  it  is  stated 

hat  after  the  storm  -hip  was  left 

0  hundred  feet  from   the 

tunately  no  lives  were  lost. 

A  ied    an    examination 

.'.hull  had  been  but  little 

damaged   even   by   this  rough   experience,   and 

the  question  arose  as  to  the  best  way  to  get  the 

~1    into    her    natural    element    again.       It 

happened  that  the  part  of  the  beach  upon  which 


would  be  necessary  to  go  out  nearly  a  mile. 
The  idea  of  making  a  channel  was  considered, 
but,  as  it  would  be  filled  with  sand  almost  as 
rapidly  as  it  could  be  excavated,  the  scheme 
had  to  be  abandoned.  Several  other  plans  were 
considered,  but  all  were  proved  to  be  impractic- 
able, and  the  Government  officials  had  almost 
decided  to  abandon  the  rescue  of  the  ship 
when  someone  proposed  the  idea  of  a  land 
voyage. 

The  beach  on  which  No.  50  rested  forms  part 
of  a  peninsula,  on  one  side  of  which  is  the 
ocean  and  on  the  other  side  Baker's  Bay.  The 
water  of  the  bay  is  so  deep  close  to  the  shore 
that  once  upon  this  side  the  vessel  could  be 
slid  into  its  waters  with  little  difficulty  ;  but  the 
question  was  how  to  get  her  across  the  country. 

It  was  indeed  no  ordinary  undertaking.    First 


THE     DRY-LAND    VOYAGE    OF    LIGHTSHIP 


"5°." 


219 


THE   COMMENCEMENT   OF    THE   OVERLAND    JOURNF.V — CETT1NG   T 
Fro/ua]  CRADLE. 

she  must  be  dug  out  of  the  bed  of  sand,  and 
then  started  on  a  journey  through  an  extensive 
forest,  over  several  quite  large  hills,  and  across 
a  swamp  before  reaching  her  destination.  A 
great  tunnel  must  be  made  through  the  wood- 
land by  cutting  down 
trees  and  removing 
underbrush,  a  path- 
way had  to  be  con- 
structed over  the 
marsh,  and  the  task 
of  removing  logs, 
boulders,  and  other 
obstacles  on  the  route 
required  the  services 
of  a  small  army  of 
men.  After  carefully 
considering  the  mat- 
ter, however,  the 
engineers  decided 
that  this  was  the  only 
plan,  if  the  vessel  was 
to  be  saved.  The 
first  thing  to  be  done 
was  to  secure  the 
necessary  power,  and 
a  score  of  teams  of 
powerful  horses  were 
secured  from  the 
vicinity,  as  well  as  a 
corps    of     workmen 


armed  with 
crowbnrs,  sho- 
vels, and  axes. 
Enough  timber 
to  build  a  ship 
was  needed  for 
the  artificial  bed 
on  which  to 
place  the  vessel, 
and  this  was 
secured  from 
adjacent  towns, 
together  with 
miles  of  rope 
and  chain  need- 
ed to  keep  her 
upright  on  her 
journey  and  pull 
her  along. 
Several  weeks 
were  required 
for  these  pre- 
parations. Then 
a  force  of  men 
was  placed  at 
work  to  dig  out 
the  ship.  It  was 
necessary  not 
only  to  make  a  great  hole  in  the  beach,  but  to 
clear  the  inside  of  the  vessel,  for  the  force  of  the 
gale  which  drove  her  ashore,  and  other  storms 
which  had  occurred  since  she  was  stranded,  had 
filled  the  hull  itself  with  sand.     This  was  taken 


HE    VESSEL   ON    TO    HER   TRAVELLING 

[Photo. 


A    NEAR    VIEW   OF   THE    MULTITUDE 


OF   CABLES    AND    CHAINS   WHICH    HAULED   THE   LIGHTSHIP    ALONG. 

From  a  Photo,  by  J.  F.  Ford. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD  MAGAZINE. 


-  much  as  possible. 
h  had  been  di  that  the 

ivs  were 

tnd   in   this  way  the   mass 

higher  until  it  was  on  a 

He  was  being  con- 

a  framework  o\  heavy 

:  a  number  of  small  wheels. 

n  which  the  ship  was  to  make 
,1.  The  formation  of  a  suit- 
die,  however,  was  one  of 
-  me  portions  of  the 
rm  and  level  that  the  wheels 
without  sinking  in.  but  for  a 
nee   what    might    lie   called   a 


to  her  new  resting-place.  Now  she  was  ready 
for  her  novel  voyage.  The  windlasses  were 
moved  to  tin-  pathway  in  front  of  die  ship,  and 
the  lines  and  also  a  big  chain  were  attached. 
This  chain  was  so  heavy  that  to  keep  it  from 
ging  on  the  ground  it  was  supported  high 
in  the  air  on  a  wooden  framework  and  passed 
over  fjulleys  in  order  to  prevent  friction.  To 
the  chain  were  attached  a  dozen  of  the  most 
powerful  horses,  and  these  formed  the  principal 
motive  power. 

At  first  the  progress  made  was  very  slow, 
sometimes  less  than  fifty  feet  being  covered  in  a 
day,  for  the  utmost  care  had  to  be  observed  to 
prevent  the  vessel  from  toppling  over  or  being 
hauled  off  the  cradle.    There  were  places  where 


m 


•  ■■-.     EMERGING    FROM    THE   WOODS. 


{Photo. 


had  to  be  constructed  of  timbers 

.    plank  the    top  in  order   to   afford 

a  si:  mooth  and  hard,  while  the 

".he  hillocks  had  to  be  cut  away  in  order 

that  th-  I  climb  these  ascents. 

i  raised  she  was  moved 

in   this    way  :     Huge 

t  driven  deep 

distributed  round  about 

h  extended  a  cable  which 

rt  of  the  ship.     Each 

windlass     was     revolved      by      two      or      four 

powerful    1.  When    the    lines    had    been 

mac  at  the  command    of    the    superin 

tendent   the  dr  the  horses  started  them, 

and  inch  by  ued  round  on 


the  roadway  sank  into  the  ground  under  the 
great  weight,  and  had  to  be  propped  more 
securely  before  the  craft  could  pass  over  it. 
The  ascent  of  some  of  the  hillocks  formed  one 
of  the  most  difficult  portions  of  the  work,  and 
the  roadway  through  the  woods  was  so  narrow 
in  places  that  the  trees  on  either  side  almost 
touched  the  hull,  so  that  it  was  necessary  for 
those  in  charge  to  "steer"  a  very  straight 
course.  But,  nothing  daunted  by  the  obstacles, 
the  navigators  on  this  singular  voyage  kept  to 
their  task.  A  month  passed,  and  they  had  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  they  had  gone 
half-way  across  the  peninsula. 

The  progress  was  celebrated  by  dressing  the 
vessel  with  the  flags  of  all  nations  in  honour  of 


THE     DRY-LAND    VOYAGE    OF    LIGHTSHIP 


"50/' 


221 


NO.    50       DRESSED   WITH    FLAGS    IN    HONOUR    OF    THE    SUCCF. 

From  a]  half  of  the  "voyage." 

the  event,  and  a  banquet  was  held  on  board. 
Again  a  start  was  made,  and  at  last  the  welcome 
sight  of  Baker's  Bay  greeted  them.  Arriving  at 
the  beach  which  formed  their  destination,  a 
launching-way  was  constructed  of  planking, 
which  extended  into  the  water  far  enough  to 
float  the  ship.  The  top  of  the  way  was 
thoroughly  greased,  and  with  the  aid  of  several 
powerful  tug-boats  No.  50  was  pulled  from  her 


cradle  and  slid  into 
her  natural  element 
amid  the  cheering  of 
thousands  of  people, 
who  had  gathered  to 
witness  the  end  of 
the  voyage,  and  the 
whistles  of  the 
steamers. 

The  manner  in 
which  this  curious 
cruise  was  made 
would  be  called  by 
sailors  "warping." 
The  windlasses  were 
used  to  aid  the  horses 
in  pulling  on  the 
lines,  the  arms  of 
the  windlasses  acting 
as  levers.  As  they 
were  turned  they 
wound  up  the  cables 
and  pulled  the  ship 
forward  to  this 
extent.  As  soon  as 
the  cable  was  reeled 
in  it  would  be  dis- 
connected from  the 
windlass,  which  would 
be  moved  forward  and  the  operation  repeated. 
The  voyage,  considering  its  length,  is  probably 
the  costliest  on  record,  for  in  all  it  cost  the 
United  States  Government  about  thirty-five 
thousand  dollars  —  almost  as  much  as  the 
outlay  for  feeding  the  thousands  of  people 
on  a  Transatlantic  liner  and  paying  her 
other  expenses  during  a  trip  from  America 
to  Europe  and  back. 


SSFUI.    ACCOMPLISHMENT   OF    ONE- 

[Photo 


From  a] 


THE   ENP   OF   THE   JOURNPY — THE    LIGHTSHIP   READY   FOR    LAUNCHING   IN    DEEP   WATER    AGAIN. 


[Photo, 


THE    "GLORY-HOLE"    GOOSE. 


V-\    B.   Minto  Wade. 

ig  the  adventures  of  a  goose  that  went  astray.       The  author  writes:    "All 
si  ppressed,  but  the  dialogue  is  almost  a  verbatim  report  of  what 
the  accuracy  of  the  story  I  can  vouch  absolutely." 


AN<  ayed  Mr.  K> 

of  the  Monaghany 

I  right  aft,  were  enjoy- 

a   spell    before 

turning    in.      When    the    exhausted 

at  or  squatted  on 

Limed   their   pipes    Mr.    Keggs 

itle  entertainment  by  accompany- 

ng. 

call  a  bit  of  real  playin'," 

aky,"  who,  it  was  alleged,  was  so 

thin  that  the  wind." 

••  It  his  as  gi    id  as  his  playin', 

uldn't  we,  '  Streaky  '  ?  " 


fltfflPV 


KR,    KEGGS   WOC-  EY   ACCOMPANYING    HIMSELF   AS    HE 


remarked  Tinkler,  the  second  steward,  in  the 
thin  man's  ear,  and  giving  him  a  wink  and  a 
nudge  at  the  same  time. 

But  Keggs's  quick  ears  had  caught  the  con- 
temptuous words  and  he  fired  up  instantly. 
"What's  the  mattei  with  my  cookin',  anyway?" 
he  demanded. 

"  It's  all  wrong  for  us — on  Sundays,  anyhow — 
whatever  it  may  be  for  the  saloon  durin'  the 
week,  when  the  passengers  is  mostly  too  sick  to 
notice  anythink,"  was  the  candid  reply.  And 
then  he  added,  maliciously,  "  But  p'r'aps  it's 
that  what  turns  'em  up." 

"  Here,  stow   that !  "  exclaimed    Mr.   Keggs  ; 
_       "  I've   forgot    more   about    cookin'   than 
you  ever  learnt." 

"  Forgotten  all  of  it,  most  likely,"  was 
the  unflattering  rejoinder.  "  Why,"  he 
continued,  darkly,  "I  notice  that  the  old 
man  and  the  chief  and  the  purser  have 
all  on  'em  fallen  off  their  feed,  and  the 
old  man's  losin'  his  complexion  fast — 
not  to  mention  his  temper.  Take  my 
advice,  Keggs  ;  sign  off  the  galley  and  go 
back  to  the  pantry.  You're  a  first-rate 
pantry-man,  I'll  allow,  but  you're  a  mighty 
poor  cook  !  "  And  he  puffed  at  his  pipe 
with  an  air  of  one  who  has  settled  the 
question. 

"  You  get  me  some  decent  stuff  to 
cook,  you  paralytic  saloon-swabber,"  ex- 
ploded the  enraged  Keggs,  "an'  I'll  cook 
it  !  If  I  was  well  found,  you'd  be  well 
found  !  "  which  logical  argument  he  defied 
anyone  to  dispute. 

"  It's  a  shockin'  poor  com- 
missariat, an'  that's  true," 
sighed  "  Streaky."  "  I've 
been  livin'  on  my  imagina- 
tion ever  since  poor  old  Jim 
signed  off.  I  feel  I'm  gittin' 
weaker  an'  weaker  ;  I'm 
bein'  gradually  transformed 
into  a  walkin'  phantom." 

"  You  puts  good  grub  into 
a  bad  skin,  that's  'ow  it  is," 
the  cook  assured  him,  sulkily. 
"  Time  to  turn  in,  boys,  if 
we  want  any  sleep,"  warned 
Mr.  Tinkler,  "for  we'll  have 
to  show  a  leg  pretty  early. 
Tomorrow'll  be  a  busy  day." 
And  the  second  steward 
made  a  move  below, 


THE    "GLORY -HOLE"    GOOSE. 


223 


"  Keggs,'  said  he,  turning  to  the  cook,  with  a 
serious  expression,  "  for  goodness'  sake  do  give 
the  boys  a  bit  of  a  treat — I'm  sick  of  their 
growling." 

Presently  they  all  went  below,  and  the 
Monaghan,  under  the  eye  of  a  solitary  watch- 
man, swung  on  her  cable  in  the  tideway. 

On  the  Saturday  morning  following  there  was 
a  tremendous  rush  for  places  on  the  famous 
commodore  boat  by  passengers  bound  for 
Watertown.  Peter,  Keggs's  lieutenant,  seated 
in  the  dark  alley-way  near  the  galley  door,  was 
busy  scraping  potatoes,  and,  spurred  by  the 
scathing  remarks  of  Keggs  within,  hurried  to 
complete  his  task. 

Presently  Peter  looked  up  and  saw  a  man 
who  had  just  struggled  across  the  gangway  and 
was  now  staring  about  him  in  that  wondering 
and  surprised  way  that  one  generally  associates 
with  the  rustic  mind.  The  man  carried  a 
hamper  from  which,  Peter  noticed,  there  pro- 
truded a  few  white  and  grey  feathers  ;  and  from 
the  fact  that  the  basket  quivered  convulsively 
every  now  and  then  the  galley-boy  concluded 
that  the  contents  were  alive.  Peter  promptly 
became  highly  interested  in  the  countryman, 
and  assumed  a  gratuitous  guardianship  over 
him,  of  which  the  said  countryman,  Mr.  Reuben 
Stirk,  was  blissfully  unaware. 

Outside  the  harbour  the  sea  was  decidedly 
lumpy,  and  the  Monaghan  began  to  kick  her 
heels  in  a  way  that  surprised  Mr.  Stirk  and 
filled  him  with  feelings  of  regret. 

The  basket  of  which  he  took  such  tender 
care  became  a  nuisance,  so  he  staggered,  with 
much  difficulty,  under  the  bridge,  and  de- 
posited it  in  an  obscure  corner  amidst  some 
nondescript  articles.  Then  he  retired  to  a 
place  of  observation  where  the  air  was  fresher 
than  it  was  near  the  engine-room. 

He  returned  several  times  to  assure  himself  of 
the  safety  of  his  precious  charge,  but  these  visits 
grew  fewer  as  the  sea  increased,  which  it  did 
rapidly,  causing  the  Monaghan  to  conduct  herself 
in  a  very  indelicate  manner.  Finally,  Mr.  Stirk 
abandoned  the  basket  to  its  fate.  He  also 
abandoned  his  present  happiness  and  future 
prospects,  and  with  a  groan  subsided  in  abject 
misery  into  the  lee-scuppers,  where  he  sank  into 
a  merciful  state  of  temporary  oblivion. 

Mr.  Stirk,  without  the  slightest  effort  of  his 
own.  made  several  trips,  in  a  diagonal  direction, 
across  the  deck,  until  he  was  brought  up  with  a 
round  turn  by  a  kindly  sailor.  All  this  time 
Peter  had  kept  one  eye  on  Mr.  Stirk  and  the 
other  on  the  basket ;  and  when  a  big  green  sea 
popped  over  the  side  and,  rushing  under  the 
bridge,  carried  all  the  loose  gear  before  it, 
including  the  basket,  he  was  not  in  the  least 


surprised.  Neither  was  he  surprised  when  the 
basket-lid  somehow  flew  open  and  the 
imprisoned  tenant,  with  a  hoarse  kind  of 
chuckle,  scrambled  drunkenly  on  to  the  stream- 
ing deck.  But  when  the  escaped  captive,  after 
a  brief  and  uncertain  survey  of  strange  sur- 
roundings, actually  flopped  in  an  ungainly 
fashion  through  the  temporarily  open  door 
of  the  cook's  larder  Peter  was  genuinely 
astonished,  and,  looking  upon  the  incident  as 
quite  providential,  promptly  closed  the  door,  for 
he  was  afraid  that  such  unlooked-for  beneficence 
might  be  rescinded.  Then  he  told  the  cook  of 
the  occurrence. 

"  The  very  thing  ! "  said  Mr.  Keggs  ;  "  it'll  be 
a  fair  treat !  " 

"  It's  our  professional  salvation,"  responded 
Peter,  with  his  funny,  wheezy  laugh.  "  We'll 
show  the  '  glory-hole  '  what  we  can  do." 

Mr.  Stirk's  only  anxiety  was  to  escape  from 
the  treacherous  deck  of  the  Monaghan,  and 
when  that  good  ship  bumped  alongside  of 
Watertown  pier  Reuben  was  among  the  first  to 
stagger  across  the  gangway  to  terra-firma.  It 
was  not  until  he  stood  on  the  pier  that  he 
remembered  his  charge,  and  then  it  was  too  late 
to  return  through  the  press  that  was  surging 
shorewards.  He  had  to  wait,  and  when  he  got 
on  board  once  more  the  basket  was  empty  ! 

Mr.  Stirk  appealed  to  the  first  person  he  saw, 
who  happened  to  be  the  bo'sun. 

"  Gone  !  d'ye  say  ?  "  said  the  old  shellback. 
"  Well,  now  I  come  to  think  of  it,  I  seed  several 
pigeon-fliers  come  aboard,  and  some  of  'em  let 
their  birds  off  just  outside  the  Head.  P'r'aps 
yours  was  one  ?  " 

"  It  wasn't  a  pigeon,   it  was    a "    began 

Mr.  Stirk,  but  someone  called  for  the  bo'sun, 
and  he  hurried  forward. 

All  was  confusion ;  no  one  seemed  to  have 
time  to  pay  Mr.  Stirk  any  attention.  At  last  he 
told  a  man  who  seemed  to  be  in  authority,  but 
he  only  laughed  unfeelingly.  "  Did  you  give  it 
in  charge  of  the  purser,  or  anybody?"  he  in- 
quired. 

"N— no,"  replied  Reuben,  "I  didn't.  I 
thought  I'd  look  after  it  myself,  but  it's  gone, 
seemingly." 

"  Then  we  are  not  responsible,"  the  man 
decided,  turning  away  to  address  someone  else. 

Had  Mr.  Stirk  looked  into  the  little  room 
built  out  on  the  port  sponson  he  would  have 
been  surprised — and  so  would  Peter  Whalin, 
who,  very  busy,  had  been  there  the  greater  part 
of  the  afternoon. 

Reuben,  an  entire  stranger  to  Watertown,  was 
some  little  time  in  arriving  at  his  destination — 
the  house  of  a  Mr.  Corkhill.  He  felt  a  great 
disinclination    to    visit    that    gentleman   at   all, 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


f 


!  II  HE    FIRST    1  I  I      SAW 

•hnt    his    gift    of    propitiation    had    so 

red.      Truth    to    tell,   he 

made  a  call  ral  calls,  in  fact— to  fortify  the 

inner  man.  much  di  d   both  in  body 

ntly  his  i  ourage  returned, 
[uite  a  jaunty  air  he  approached  the 
house. 

lill  answered  the  door  himself,  and 
Reuben  was  much  taken  aback  when  he  recog- 
i    him    the    man    who    had    so    cruelly 
ed  at  his  1 

Mi    '     rkhill  ?  ':  he  stammered. 
I  am,''  said  the  official.      "  What  d'ye 
war 

'ha  sheepish  grin, 
■  I   -"mi  n   Stirk,  your  daughter  Martha's 

2      an." 

lied  Mr.  Corkhill,  rather  stiffly. 

rk,  "an'  Martha  an'  me 

it  you,  an'  she  says  to  me, 


she  savs,  '  Why  not  go  over  to  Watertown  an' 
sec  our  folk  ?  '  An'  I  said,  '  Why  not  ?  '  '  An' 
tak'  a  bit  of  a  present  with  yer,'  she  says." 

"  Come  in,  come  in,"  invited  Mr.  Corkhill,  his 
fa<  e  brightening  visibly.  "  Hannah  !  Hannah  !" 
he  called  to  his  wife,  "  here's  our  Martha's 
young  man  called  to  see  us  and  brought 
us  a  present."  Mrs.  Corkhill,  followed 
by  several  curious- eyed  youngsters,  at 
once  hurried  into  the  parlour  and  was 
introducea, 

"And  the  present?"  anxiously  in- 
quired Corkhill,  after  what  he  thought 
was  a  decent  interval. 

"  It's  —  it's     gone,"    replied 

Reuben,  sadly  shaking  his  head. 

"Gone!"  exclaimed  Mr. 

Corkhill,  his  jaw  dropping. 

"  Sure    as    yesterday ;     flew 

taway,  I  think." 
^^^  "  Flew   away !      Why,    what 

▼        was  it  ?  " 

"Ay,"  continued  Mr.  Stirk, 
without  directly  answering  the 
question,  "as  fine  a  one  as 
ever  I  raised ;  weighed  fourteen 
pound.  It  must  have  got  out 
somehow." 

"  Why,"  exclaimed  Corkhill, 
a  sudden  light  dawning  upon 
him,  "you  are  the  very  man 
who  complained  to  me  on  the 
boat  of  having  lost  something, 
I  believe." 

"  I  believe  I  am,"  said  Mr. 
Stirk,  plucking  up  spirit,  "an' 
I  believe  you  didn't  seem  to 
be  much  concerned  about  it. 
If  I  remember  right,  you 
seemed  to  think  it  a  good  joke." 

"  I — I  — I'm  very  sorry,"  assured  Corkhill.  "  I 
didn't  know  it  was  for — so  serious,  I  mean. 
How  did  it  escape  ?  " 

"That's  what  I  want  to  know,"  replied 
Reuben.    "  I  know  I  fastened  the  basket." 

"Isn't  Keggs  comin'  down  to  breakfast?'' 
inquired  the  second  steward  of  Peter,  as  he  was 
serving  the  coffee  in  the  "  glory -hole."* 

The  galley-boy  wore  an  air  of  profound  mys- 
tery, winking  solemnly  at  each  man  in  turn. 
"  Och  !  '  he  answered,  with  one  of  his  queer, 
choking  laughs,  "  the  cook  an'  me  had  our 
breakfases  in  the  galley  an  hour  since ;  an'  it's 
there  Mr.  Kiggs  is  now,  preparin'  a  faste  for  you 
all  that'll  set  your  mouths  waterin'  for  a  month 
wid  the  recolliction  of  it." 

This  set  the  whole  table  agog  with  curiosity, 

*  Ship-stewards'  mess-room. 


THE    "GLORY -HOLE"    GOOSE. 


225 


but  Peter  declined  to  say  more.  He  contented 
himself  with  shaking  his  head  knowingly  and 
uttering  sepulchral  noises. 

Being  Sunday  the  crew  were  ashore  at  their 
homes,  all  excepting  the  stewards,  and  they, 
with  the  addition  of  the  purser — who,  with  the 
aloofness  befitting  his  superior  rank,  kept  to  his 
room  on  the  bridge — -had  the  Munaghan  to 
themselves.  In  vain  they  sought  to  elucidate 
the  mystery,  but  the  cook  and  Peter  would 
permit  no  one  to  come  near  the  galley,  threaten- 
ing to  douse  with  hot  water  any  man  who  dared 
to  pass  the  main-hatch. 

At  last,  amid  much  enthusiasm,  the  dinner 
was  served.  Never  before  had  there  been  such 
a  feast  in  the  "glory-hole"  of  the  Monaghan, 
and  when,  to  wind  up,  a  monster  plum-pudding, 
with  brandy-sauce,  was  set  upon  the  table  with  a 
flourish  by  the  grinning  Peter,  Mr.  Keggs  gazed 
upon  the  company  with  a  smile  of  triumph. 

"  The  rations  on  this  yer  packet's  improvin'  a 
good  deal,"  graciously  allowed  "  Streaky,"  "  an' 
my  heart  warms  towards  you,  Mister  Keggs,  with 
the  friendliest  sentimints."  Even  the  dignified 
purser  so  far  unbent  as  to  send  down  word  that 
he  had  never  tasted  a  better  dinner. 

"  Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon,    purser;    I    didn't 


Vol.  xii.— 29. 


'a  monster  plum-pudding  was  set  upon  the  table. 


know  you  were  at  dinner,"  said  Mr.  Corkhill,  the 
shore-steward. 

"  It's  all  right,  Corkhill ;  I'm  just  finished," 
replied  the  purser,  at  the  same  time  pushing 
away  his  plate  and  uttering  a  sigh  of  content. 
He  then  observed  to  the  shore-steward  that  the 
quality  of  the  rations  supplied  on  the  Monaghati 
had  a  distinctly  upward  tendency.  "  If  to-day's 
menu  be  any  criterion,"  he  said,  "  I  shall  dine 
aboard  on  Sundays  instead  of  ashore — at  this 
end  of  the  trip,  at  any  rate." 

Mr.  Corkhill  eyed  the  fragments  of  rich 
pudding  suspiciously,  and  then  hazarded, 
"  What  were  the  other  courses,  if  I  might  be 
so  bold?" 

"There  was  only  one,"  replied  the  purser: 
"roast  goose  and  trimmings,  and  as  fine  a  bird 
as  ever  I  tasted." 

"  Roast  goose  ! "  ejaculated  Mr.  Corkhill, 
with  a  meaning  glance  at  Reuben,  who  accom- 
panied him. 

"  That's  what  I  said,"  remarked  the  purser, 
with  a  look  of  inquiry.  "It's  a  bit  early  in  the 
season,  I  allow,  but  none  the  less  enjoyable, 
and  a  credit  to  the  cook." 

"  I  bet  that  was  mv  goose  ! "  burst  out  Mr. 
Stirk. 

An  explanation  followed  ;  but  instead  of  the 
sympathy  that  Mr.  Corkhill  desired,  and 
evidently  expected,  the  callous  purser 
gave  vent  to  a  peal  of  merri- 
ment. He  chuckled  and 
laughed  until 
his  fat  sides 
shook  like  a 
shuddering 
wind-sail  ;  he 
slapped  his 
thighs  and 
roared  until 
the  tears 
coursed  down 
his  jolly  old 
face,  and  in 
choking  ac- 
cents declared 
it  was  the  best 
joke  he'd 
heard  f o r 
many  a  day. 

"You're  an 
unfeeling 
man  !  "      shouted 
Corkhill,    wrath- 
ful^. 

"N  — not  so," 
spluttered  the 
purser,  going  into 
another     hurricane 


THE    WIDE    W0R1  D    MAGAZINE. 


•  i     i  v   much!     Ha, 

tly    out    oi     the 

*  l.u mcJ, 

practical   jest— 

and  he  knew  that, 

.  he  would  be  a  butt 

ol    the   Packet 

re. 

to  do  now  ?  "  inquired 
Mi     I  lorkhill,   as   he 
cross  the  bridge. 
What  can  we  ^  ? "  cried  Cork- 
laughing  stock  for  the 

.  for  he 

Mr.    K   ggs   and    Peter  on 
-.     bearing 
e    remains    of    the 
I 

he 
■     up    here. 

•  _  lley-boy 

and, 

their    burdens 

ime  up 

the  n   and    s 

awful  majt  - 
the  >rd. 

••  W  i.ere     did    you    [ 

u  cooked  and 

hel:  eat  to-day  ?  "  he 

-mg  the    cook 

K-  v  trans- 

lity 

he 
about 


said  Corkhill,  sternly,  indicating  Mr.  Stirk,  "  and 
you,  Peter,  are  a  common  thief." 

"Och,.sir!"  exclaimed  Peter,  incredulous 
amazement  stamped  on  his  face.  "Sure  I 
thought  it  was  a  wild,  wild  bird,  seein'  as  there 
was  no  farmyard  in  the  neighbourhood  !  An'  as 
for  bein'  a  thief,  it  was  the  bird  itself  that  was 
the  transgrissor,  seein'  it  was  gobblin' " 

"Silence  !  "  roared  Mr.  Corkhill.  "The  pair 
of  you  will  have  to  pay  damages,"  he  ordered, 
"  or  I'll  dock  it  from  your  wages." 


ma:  '    >rkhill,  fixing  him  with  a  severe  eye, 

-u  know  about  it?'' 

ly    thi-  honour,"    explained     the 

- 1 tly.     "  When   we  was  about 

toss   the    passage  I    was 

an'  surprised  to  find  a  big  bird  a-floppin' 

the   larder.      It    was    reelin'  an'  backin' 

something  cruel,  »o   I   wrung  its  neck   to 

:m'    that's  all    I    know   about   it, 

that  it  lindid   dinner  for  the 

ed,  with  a   most  deliberate 

and  confidential  wink,  "  it  saved  the  company's 

• 

>  this  gentleman  here," 


BTER,'    DEMANDED   CORKHIU.,    'WHAT    DO    YOU    KNOW   ABOUT    IT?' 


There  was  an  awful  row  in  the  galley  that 
afternoon.  "  That  comes  o'  stealin',  you  Water- 
town  rat!"  complained  Mr.  Keggs,  smarting 
under  the  imposition. 

"  Hold  yer  wishtj  you  soup-boilin'  swab," 
scathingly  observed  Peter;  "didn't  I  give  you 
the  chance  of  your  life  ?  " 

Thus  they  slanged  each  other,  and  finally 
fought,  both  emerging  from  the  fray  considerably 
damaged.  Afterwards  no  one  dared  so  much 
as  to  sniff  within  yards  of  the  galley,  and  to  cry 
"  Quack  "  was  to  raise  a  storm.  But  it  will  be  a 
long  time  before  that  goose  will  be  forgotten  in 
the  "giory-hole"  of  the  Monaghan. 


AMONG    THE     BOOBIES. 


By  Captain  Boyd  Alexander,  Rifle  Brigade. 

II. 

The    Boobies   are    a   strange   race    of  savages   living   in    the   little  -  known  interior  of  the    Island  01 
Fernando  Po,  off  the  West  Coast  of  Africa.     The  author  recently  visited  these  curious  people,  and 

describes  his  experiences  in  the  accompanying  article. 


travelling 


NOTHER  two  days' 
brought  us  to  Lakka,  a  large  cocoa 
plantation  belonging  to  Messrs. 
Holt  and  managed  by  Mr.  Mays- 
more,  who  showed  us  much  kind- 
ness. The  Protestant  missionary,  Mr.  Barley- 
corn, lent  me  one  of  his  Booby  boys  as  an 
interpreter,  and  this  lessened  our  previous 
difficulties  considerably.  After  a  day's  rest 
we  started  off  to 
reach  the  village  of 
Bakaki,  where  I 
hoped  to  ascend  the 
mountain.  The 
path  was  very  diffi- 
cult, leading  down 
constantly  into  steep 
ravines  and  through 
swift-flowing  streams. 
In  many  places  we 
had  to  cut  our  way, 
the  rate  of  travel- 
ling being  seldom 
more  than  one  mile 
an  hour.  We  pushed 
through  dark  forest 
growth  skirting  the 
cultivation  of  the 
island,  into  which 
the  path  now  and 
again  dipped  towards 
the  sea,  where  the 
sunlight  and  open 
view  again  cheered 
us.  Innumerable 
palm  trees  dotted 
the  sloping  ground 
below  us,  with  occa- 
sional gigantic 
cotton  trees,  whose 
white  stems  stood 
out  sharply  against 
the  blue  sea. 

Another  day  and  a  march  through  drenching 
rain  brought  us  to  Bakaki.  In  this  district  we 
found  another  race  of  Boobies,  speaking  a 
different  dialect  and  further  distinguished  by 
tribal  cuts  on  the  face.  The  men  generally 
have  four  on  each  side  of  the  face,  reaching 


From  a} 


A    BOOBY   CHIEI 


from  the  nose  to  the  ear.  A  large  number  of 
fowls  are  reared  by  these  Boobies.  We  con- 
tinually came  across  them  in  the  woods  a  long 
way  from  any  habitation. 

There  are  at  least  five  distinct  groups  of 
Boobies,  which  is  remarkable,  considering  the 
small  populated  area  of  the  island.  But  the 
reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  Booby  is  a 
wonderfully  stay-at-home  creature.     I  constantly 

came  across  old  men 
and  women  who  had 
never  been  outside 
their  own  villages, 
and,  taking  into 
account  the  moun- 
tainous nature  of  the 
island,  it  is  easy  to 
see  how  the  race 
has  split  into  groups. 
The  Booby  appears 
to  have  migrated 
from  the  mainland 
about  four  hundred 
years  ago,  where  he 
belonged  to  the  in- 
digenous race  of 
Bantus,  who  reached 
the  Cameroons  from 
the  East  at  some 
unknown  epoch. 
These  curious 
people  do  not  over- 
burden themselves 
with  names,  having 
no  Christian  names 
at  all.  One  man 
will  call  another 
"bubi"  should  he 
want  to  attract  his 
attention,  which  in 
English  means 
"  men."  Again,  their 
country  is  divided  up 
into  districts,  each  having  three  towns,  and  each 
town  bearing  the  same  name  as  the  district. 

Bakaki  is  merely  a  collection  of  native  huts 
at  the  foot  of  the  big  mountain.  The  natives 
here  showed  more  confidence  in  us,  and  the 
fact   of    having   an    interpreter   made    all    the 


[Photo. 


rill:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


round  us  and  watched 

I,  with  wonder ;  but  what 

than  anything  else  were 

l'luv  could  not  make  out  how 
■it  up. 

all  the  men  came  and  danced 

y    the  least,  it   was  a  curious 

mi-circle  was  formed,  and  the 

l  their  hands,  commenced 

I  a  few  words  over 

i  ipori,"  they  chanted, 


huts,  shouting  lustily    "Yo  sa  ipori,"  "Yo  sa 
ipori." 

Each  village  has  its  dancing-green  just  out- 
side the  range  of  huts,  consisting  of  a  square 
level  clearing  in  the  bush,  and  here  their  orgies 
are  held.  It  is  extraordinary  how  fond  these 
people  are  of  drink.  They  only  live  to  drink 
and  smoke,  and  their  excesses  are  fast  enfeebling 
them  as  a  race.  The  mischief  has  greatly  in- 
creased since  the  importation  of  German  gin, 
which  is  nothing  more  than  liquid  fire.     There 


fBS^f: 


wh  We   hid  you 

hole  while 

iternately  with  either  foot.     Now 

ild  leave  the  ring  and  dance 

hers. 

did  not  mean  to  do  this  for 

oon    asked   for  gin    and,   still 

g,  the  bottle  in  turn  was 

j  mouth.     The  effect  was 

grew  louder  and 

ncing  more  frenzied,  till  it  culminated  in 

i  general  scramble  to  drink  the  last  dregs  of 

es,  and  then  they  tailed  off  to  their 


VO    SA    Il'ORI,'    THEY   CHANTED. 


is  hardly  a  hut  that  does  not 
contain  one  or  more  demi- 
johns of  this  terrible  spirit, 
which  the  natives  receive  from  the  traders  in 
exchange  for  the  little  cocoa  that  they  cultivate. 
Apart  from  the  gin,  they  go  in  hot  and  strong 
for  palm  wine,  or  "topi"  as  they  call  it.  To 
keep  a  Booby  away  for  a  single  day  from  his 
palm  wine  is  to  make  him  wretched.  As  regular 
as  clockwork  they  go  to  their  palm  trees,  which 
are  all  parcelled  out  and  owned  by  the  different 
families.  To  encroach  upon  the  palm  tree  of 
another  would  be  a  terrible  thing  in  their  eyes. 
About  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  villages 


AMONG    THE    BOOBIES. 


229 


are  deserted.  Each  family  troops  off  in  Indian 
file,  little  children,  weighed  down  with  cala- 
bashes, following  the  older  members.  They 
return  at  dusk  with  the  precious  wine.  To 
obtain  it  the  fibrous  head  of  the  tree  is  cut 
away  on  one  side,  into  which  is  driven  a  piece 
of  metal  tubing,  the  other  end  of  the  tube  being 
inserted  into  the  neck  of  a  gourd.  This  taps 
the  tree,  and  the  palm  wine  trickles  into  the 
gourd  during  the  day.  The  native  ascends  the 
tree  with  the  help  of  a  bamboo  hoop,  elliptical 
in  shape.  This  he  passes 
round  the  tree-trunk  and 
the  lower  part  of  his 
back,  and  the  hoop  is 
then  fastened  by  a  loop 
knot  on  one  side.  Lean- 
ing back,  his  feet  against 
the  tree,  he  commences 
to  climb,  shifting  the 
hoop  as  he  proceeds 
with  his  hands. 

Having  put  the  natives 
into  a  good  mood,  I 
asked  their  chief  the 
next  day  for  a  guide  to 
take  me  to  the  top  of 
the  "  big  hill,"  at  the 
same  time  showing  him 
a  barrel  of  gunpowder 
as  a  present.  After 
much  talking  he  re- 
turned with  other  men, 
and  said  they  were  not 
fit  to  take  me  up,  saying 
it  was  their  country, 
and  they  did  not  want 
us  to  go  and  build 
houses  up  there.  This 
was  annoying,  after  all 
the  gin  and  presents  I 
had  given  away  the 
night  before. 

The  only  thing  to  do 
was  to  find  the  best 
way  myself,  so  I  started 
off  with  one  of  my 
carriers,    and    with    the 

aid  of  my  prismatic  compass  took  a  north- 
westerly direction.  As  luck  would  have  it,  I 
stumbled  upon  one  of  the  Booby  hunting- 
paths  which  maintained  pretty  well  the  required 
bearing,  eventually  leading  to  a  small  open 
hut  at  a  height  of  about  six  thousand  feet. 
Now  and  again  when  the  mist  cleared  off  the 
point  of  the  peak  was  just  visible  high  above 
us.  The  hut  appeared  to  be  as  far  as  the 
Boobies  had  gone  on  their  hunting  expeditions, 
since   no   sign    of  any   track   could    be   found 


THE    NATIVE   ASCENDS   THE 
A    BAMBOO 


farther  on.  I  therefore  decided  to  make 
this  place  my  base  camp,  and,  well  satis- 
fied with  my  day's  work,  returned  to  Bakaki. 
I  was  met  by  the  chief,  who,  seeing  that  the 
game  was  up,  offered  to  take  me  to  the  "  big 
hill "  in  return  for  the  barrel  of  gunpowder. 
I  told  him,  however,  that  his  services  were 
not  required,  and  his  chagrin  was  great  when 
he  saw  that  he  had  lost  the  precious  gunpowder. 
The  next  day,  towards  evening,  I  arrived 
safely  at  the  hut    with   all   my  carriers.     Just 

before  debouching  into 
the  open  space  from  the 
narrow  track,  two  pieces 
of  stick,  black  and 
rotten-looking,  had  been 
stuck  into  the  ground. 
My  Booby  boy  ex- 
claimed anxiously, 
"  Master  no  touch  ;  bad 
Ju-ju."  He  then  spat 
upon  them  and  threw 
them  away  into  the 
bush.  This,  he  said, 
"killed  Ju-ju."  My 
collector,  greatly 
amused,  took  up  another 
of  these  ill-omened 
sticks.  "  You  go  die  ! 
You  go  die  !  "  ejaculated 
the  boy,  who  seemed 
greatly  astonished  at  our 
callousness.  The  Booby 
believes  in  an  evil  spirit, 
and  this  curi  us  "  Ju-ju  " 
of  rotten  wood  from  a 
certain  tree  is  planted 
at  the  places  he  is  sup- 
posed to  haunt.  Any- 
one touching  these 
spirit-sticks  sickens  and 
dies. 

We  stayed-  two  days 
at  the  hut,  busy  the 
whole  time  collecting. 
Most  of  our  rare  and 
new  species  were  ob- 
tained in  this  locality. 
On  the  third  day,  much  to  my  disappointment,  I 
found  I  had  to  return  to  Bakaki,  as  my  collector 
was  by  no  means  well  and  was  threatened  with 
an  attack  of  fever.  The  Boobies  could  not 
conceal  their  satisfaction.  The  "Ju-ju"  was 
working— I  had  failed  to  reach  the  peak,  and 
my  collector  would  soon  die.  After  a  two  days' 
rest,  however,  he  got  well  enough,  although  still 
weak,  to  continue  our  march  to  Bilelipi,  when  I 
determined  again  to  attempt  the  ascent  of  the 
peak.     On  our  route  we   constantly  traversed 


TREE   WITH    THE    HELP   OF 
HOOP." 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


ief  (ood  o(  the 

'.ion,  tin  v   suit 

-   well.     In   the  gathering 

all    placed    in   a    square 

ane  just    outside    the 


)   |ACULATED    THE    BOY. 


lelipi    my  chances  of  success  seemed 

by  hunters  were  found  willing 

to  take  the  peak.     Accordingly,  on  the 

rations    for   an    early    start   were 

A   hea>  hung  round   everything, 

and  the  outline  of  the  lofty  range  was  hardly 

n  headed  our  column  as  pioneers 

Jt  a  road.     Our  loads  had  to  be  greatly 

reduced  in  .  while  ten  carriers  were  told 

off  I  ,f  water.     It  did  not  take 

for  u  ne  drenching  wet   as  we 

it  our  way  through  the  thick  forest  growth, 

th     moisture.       Our     progress    was 

••    track,    little    frequented 

as   much  overgrown,  and 

ixe  and  5  had  to  be  u-  ntly. 

In  man;  the  path  led  through  tunnels  of 


impenetrable  thicket.  It  was  hopeless  to  cut 
this  away,  so  we  had  to  crawl  through  on  hands 
and  feet,  the  loads  being  passed  on  from  one 
carrier  to  another. 

About  one  o'clock  we  reached  a  small  Booby 
hut.  The  distance  to  this 
place  could  not  have  been 
more  than  three  miles,  yet  it 
took  us  seven  hours  to  reach. 
The  hovel,  which  was 
merely  a  roof  of  leaves, 
served  as  shelter  to  the 
carriers,  while  a  space  in  the 
forest  close  by  was  cleared 
for  my  tent.  The  carriers 
were  literally  done  up,  so 
the  whole  of  the  next  day 
was  given  over  to  rest.  My 
hunters  took  advantage  of 
this  and  went  off  into  the 
forest,  bringing  back  towards 
evening  two  grey  duikers  and 
several  tree  squirrels.  It  was 
extraordinary  to  see  with 
what  avidity  they  ate  these 
small  mammals,  hardly  giving 
time  for  the  meat  to  be 
cooked  through.  As  long 
as  the  hair  was  burnt  off  it 
was  sufficient  for  them  ;  the 
blackened  carcass  was  torn  in 
pieces  and  eaten,  skin  and  all. 
From  this  camp  our  ascent 
was  more  difficult.  The  way 
became  so  steep  and  rough 
that  all  loads  over  twenty 
pounds  had  to  be  discarded 
and  tents  abandoned.  Water, 
too,  had  to  be  carried.  We 
could  still  hear  the  murmur 
of  the  rivers  below  us,  the 
last  of  which  had  been  crossed 
many  hours  ago.  No  longer  having  tents,  we 
slept  the  next  night  under  a  covering  of  leaves. 
That  was  the  worst  night  of  all.  We  shivered 
through  our  blankets,  the  damp  cold  seemed  to 
penetrate  everything,  and  the  carriers  huddled 
together  for  warmth,  in  spite  of  the  cordon  of 
fires. 

For  a  long  time  I  remained  awake.  The 
great,  lonely  mountain  was  wrapt  in  mysterious 
silence,  broken  now  and  again  by  the  frenzied 
cry  of  the  flying  squirrel.  The  fires  had  burnt 
to  embers,  and  the  carriers  slept  heavily. 

Suddenly,  without  the  slightest  warning,  every 
man  was  on  his  feet  yelling  with  pain.  Many 
rushed  madly  into  the  forest  beating  their  bodies 
frantically.  The  whole  place  was  alive  and 
black   with    driver  ants  !     The   bites   of  these 


AMONG    THE    BOOBIES. 


231 


ferocious  insects  cause  terrible  pain,  like  the 
burning  of  hot  coals.  It  was  not  long  before 
some  sort  of  order  was  restored,  when  sticks 
were  cut  and  the  embers  of  the  fires  scattered 
over  the  ground.  A  few  minutes  after  not  an 
ant  was  to  be  seen.  The  next  morning  naturally 
the  carriers  were  not  in  the  best  of  tempers. 

"  Master,  Fernando  Po  no  good,  we  go  die," 
was  a  remark  continually  addressed  to  me  ;  and 
it  was  only  by  offering  each  a  "  dash  "  (present) 


EVERY    MAN    WAS    ON    HIS    FEET    YELLING    Willi    PAIN. 


of  five  shillings  if  the  top  of  the  hill  was  reached 
that  they  once  more  took  up  their  loads. 

At  a  height  of  six  thousand  feet  we  found  the 
kola  nut.  The  carriers  picked  them  up  greedily. 
This  was  fortunate,  as  my  supplies  were  running 
short.  From  time  to  time  the  sun  would  break 
through  the  mists  that  swept  over  us.  Then  we 
had  glimpses  of  what  looked  like  a  fairy-land. 
In  the  beautiful  valley  below,  tree  ferns  six  feet 
high  and  with  great  trunks  flourished  luxuri- 
antly. Then  came  flat  expanses  of  tree-tops  of 
variegated  tints,  and,  far  beyond,  the  quiet  sea. 
But  these  glimpses  were  soon  succeeded  by 
periods  of  darkness  and  heavy  mist.     The  day- 


light was  obscured,  the  dreary  twilight  of  the 
forest  became  more  depressing,  and  the  birds 
were  silent. 

Towards  afternoon  the  ground  became  less 
steep,  and  sudden  gusts  of  a  chilly  wind  from 
the  north-west  struck  our  faces.  Our  labours 
were  ended.  The  peak,  after  a  toil  of  four 
days,  had  been  successfully  ascended. 

The  descent  lasted  two  days.  On  Novem- 
ber 29th  we  reached  Banterbari  Beach,  where 

Messrs.  Holt  have  a 
store  and  cocoa  farm. 
Mr.  Blissett,  their  repre- 
sentative, gave  us  much 
assistance,  putting  at  our 
disposal  one  of  the  surf- 
boats  belonging  to  the 
farm  to  take  us  to  Port 
St.  Isabel.  The  only 
means  of  communication 
between  the  different 
farms  on  the  island  is 
by  these  surf-boats, 
which  are  manned  by 
Sierra  Leone  natives. 
There  are  no  roads  in 
the  interior,  only  native 
tracks  which  I  have 
already  described. 

On  December  5th, 
with  tattered  clothes 
and  worn-out  boots,  we 
arrived  at  Port  St.  Isabel, 
and  were  glad  to  get  a 
change  of  attire.  A  day 
or  two  later  the  ss.  Oron 
arrived  on  her  home- 
ward journey,  and  by 
her  I  left  for  England, 
leaving  behind  my  col- 
lector, Mr.  Lopes,  to 
work  the  southern  por- 
tion of  the  island.  The 
photograph  reproduced 
on  the  following  page 
shows  him  ready  to  start  for  the  interior  once 
more.  From  an  ornithological  point  of  view 
the  results  of  the  expedition  were  remarkable. 
The  collection  numbered  nearly  five  hundred 
specimens  representing  sixty -eight  species,  of 
which  thirty-nine  have  proved  entirely  new  to 
science,  including  three  absolutely  new  genera. 
Many  of  these  I  have  had  to  compare  with 
forms  from  the  East  Coast  of  Africa. 

Not  only  is  Fernando  Po  rich  in  bird  life, 
but  it  is  remarkable  for  its  prolific  growth  of 
orchids,  ferns,  and  mosses,  many  of  which 
have  been  identified  with  those  on  the 
Abyssinian  highlands.    This  supports  the  theory 


THE    WIDE    VVOR]  l>    MAGAZINE. 


. 


,    FOR    THE    INTERIOR. 


[Photo. 


that    Fernando    Po 
at    one   time 
to  the  Came- 
The  narrow 
inel    that     now 
from  the 
r    is    from    two 
hundred  and  eighty 
hundred 
and    ninety   feet   in 
.    which    sud- 
den', .own 

• 
hundred      fatl. 

further 

:  i  s     the 

tion    I   have 

on 

•  il.      In    the 

of  the    vil- 
irds, 


in  gorgeous  breeding  plumage — 
some  studies  in  yellow,  others  in 
scarlet  and  black  —  frequent  the 
tall  palm  trees,  which  are  hung 
with  their  woven  nests.  Then 
away  in  the  thickets  of  fish-cane 
the  babbling  notes  of  the  bulbul 
come  at  frequent  intervals,  while 
the  kloofs  and  misty  ridges  of  the 
forest  hills  are  the  homes  of  many 
silent  and  retiring  birds.  Where 
the  sun  is  strongest,  the  beautiful 
metallic  hues  of  the  sun-bird  as 
it  hovers  round  some  tree  in 
blossom  often  catch  and  please 
the  eye.  Then  towards  evening 
the  discordant  screech  of  the  grey 
parrots  grates  upon  the  ear  from 
time  to  time  as  they  journey  with 
rapid  flight  high  above  the  tree- 
tops  to  some  favourite  feeding- 
place. 

The  bird  shown  in  my  last 
illustration  is  a  species  of  fly- 
catcher, and  is  one 
of  the  most  re- 
markable of  the 
new  discoveries. 
Retiring  in  nature, 
it  seeks  the  sunny 
dells  and  quiet 
thickets  of  the 
mountain  side. 
And  there,  with  its 
large  beady  eyes,  it 
watches  intently 
the  passing  insects. 
As  daylight  wears 
away  it  commences 
to  utter  a  series  of 
grating  notes, 
enough  to  set  one's 
teeth  on  edge,  one 
bird  calling  con- 
stantly to  another 
long  after  other 
birds  have  fallen 
asleep. 


II     PLY-CATCHER    DISCOVERED    BY   CAPTAIN    ROVD    ALEXANDER. 

From  a  Drawing  by  H.  Gronvold. 


Christmas  in  a  Bear-Jrap. 

By  T.  C.  Boyd,  of  Plumas  County,  California. 

A  young  Californian  prospector,  on  his  way  over  the  mountains  to  spend  Christmas  with  some  friends,  had 

the  misfortune  to  fall  into  a  bear-trap.    All  attempts  to  climb  out  failed,  and  only  the  sagacity  of  a  mongrel 

dog  saved  him  from  what  would  probably  have  been  a  lingering  death  in  his  curious  prison. 


NE  December,  a  good  many  years 
ago  now,  a  young  man  named 
Kenneth  Morley  was  prospecting 
near  a  small  stream  that  emptied 
into  the  Feather  River,  Plumas 
County,  California.  Five  miles  from  his  claim 
stood  a  cosy  log-cabin  occupied  by  the  Widow 
Nevins  and  her  son  Tom,  the  latter  a  teamster 
by  trade. 

Young  Morley  found  his  prospecting  a  very 
lonely  life  for  a  young  man — particularly  as  the 
woik  was  not  dazzlingly  remunerative — and  on 
Sundays  he  would  go  over  to  the  Nevins's  cabin 
and  stay  all  day,  making  himself  useful  in  the 
little  household  and  enjoying  the  unusual 
luxury  of  having  someone  to  talk  to 
after  the  enforced  solitude  of  the  week. 

He  soon  became  quite  a  favourite 
with  the  widow 
and  her  son.  The 
latter,  by  the  way, 
owned  an  Indian 
dog  of  doubtful 
pedigree,  called 
"  Dusty."  It  was 
a  very  appropriate 
name,  for  he  was 
the  colour  of  the 
road  from  always 
following  his 
master's  team.  He 
and  Kenneth  be- 
came great  friends. 

Just  at  this  sea- 
son the  hospitable 
Mrs.    Nevins    was 
planning  to  get  up 
a  grand  Christmas 
dinner,    the     sub- 
stantial of  which 
were  to  be  game 
and    bear's   meat, 
the    luxuries    mince-pie    and 
plum-pudding;    and    to    this 
magnificent     feast     Kenneth, 
much  to  his  gratification,  was  cordially 
invited. 

Before  proceeding  any  farther  I 
should  explain  that  this  part  of 
Plumas  County  is  about  three 
thousand   feet   above    sea-level,   with 

Vol.  xii.-30. 


a  climate  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  northern 
countries  of  Europe.  On  the  night  before 
Christmas  Day  there  was  a  fall  of  snow,  but  in 
the  morning  the  sun  shone  brightly  out  over  the 
white  covered  landscape.  The  young  prospector, 
thankful  that  he  had  somewhere  to  go  to,  got 
up  bright  and  early  in  order  to  make  his  way  to 
the  Widow  Nevins's  hospitable  cottage. 

As  he  looked  round  at  his  little  claim — 
where,  if  gold  existed,  it  had  hitherto  succeeded 
in  eluding  his  search  — he  mentally  thanked  his 
lucky  stars  that  he  was  not  doomed  to  spend 
his  Christmas  by  himself  in  that  desolate  spot, 
where  every  stick  and  stone  was  familiar  to  him 
—  and    no    dearer    for    being    so.       Instead    of 

going    by    the 


.^  ''- 


'   \ 


4 


HIS    FEET   SANK    THROUGH    THE   SNOW. 


road     as     usual, 
Kenneth     struck 
out  over  the  hills 
so  as  to  get  more 
exercise,    for    he 
felt   in    the  very 
best     humour 
with  himself  and 
everybody.      He 
thought    of     his 
loving       mother, 
far     away,     and 
wondered     what 
she     was     doing 
just     then,     and 
whether  she  was 
thinking    of    her 
son,  the  prospec- 
tor — ■  that    well- 
loved    boy    who 
was  going   home 
to  her  as  soon  as 
ever     he    had 
"struck  it  rich." 
The     air     was 
delightfully  crisp  and  brac- 
ing, and  Kenneth  tramped 
quickly  over  the  powdery 
snow.  He  had  gone  about 
two  miles  when  suddenly, 
without  the  slightest  warn- 
ing, his  feet  sank  through 
the  snow  and  he  dropped 
heavily  for  a  distance  of 
about  twenty  feet. 


Till:     WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINK. 


the  fall,  but  not  hurt,  and 

he  ( ould  see 

I    which    filtered    down    from 

i  an  old,  abandoned 

ich  had   been   lightly 

as  a  bear-trap  ! 

mpletely  covered  with 

uiall  was  thoroughly  dis 

neth  had  unsuspectingly  walked 

;  !v  light  that  reached  him 

the  small  and  ragged  hole  he  had 

del   I  didn't  break  my  neck,"  the 

he  looked  around. 

thing  now,  of  course,  was  to  get 

this  Kenneth  found  to  be  no  easy  task. 

i  laft  were  quite 

•  -ular  ;      moreover,      they 

n    hard.      After  a 

scale  them 

up  in  despair  and 

n  a   pile  oi  debris   to 

sition.     He  realized 

rly  that    1  oner 

unless  he  had  outside  aid,  and  so 

touted    lustily,   in    the    faint 

•    that    someone   would    hear 

him,    although    he    knew  no  one 

likely  to  be  within  half  a  mile 

.  I      only    chance,  and 

ne,  appeared  to  be 

the    possibility  that    whoever    51  t 

the  trap   might  visit   it,   but  how 

it    would    be    before    that 

irred     was     an      uncertainty. 

iid  not  even  know  how  long 

the  trap  had  been  set. 

le  pondered  over  these  un- 
ts  he  ruefully  decided 
uld    not    be    able    to 
eat    th-  /.anticipated    Christmas    dinner, 

pend  the  time  instead  at 

torn  of  this  horrible  bear-trap.      Did  ever 

man  have  such  hard  luck  ?      The  darker  side 

-  the   possibility   of   a   lingering 

death  from  starvation  if  nobody  came  near  or 

he  was   unable   to  climb  out  — the  young  pro- 

>lutely  ignored.     Death  might  come 

in  another  form,  too.     If  a  bear  should 

happen  to  come  along  and  fall  into  the  trap  it 

ild   undoubted  ik    vengeance    on    the 

ner  at  the  bottom,  who,  at  close 

ind  unarmed,  would  stand  no  ghost  of 

ad  of  dwelling  on   his  awkward   plight, 

is   mother  in   Bloomfield, 

t  Christmas  morning  would  go  to  church 

fer  for  the  safety  and  success  of 

en  he  remembered  the  Testament 


she  had  given  him,  and  which  he  had  with  him 
in   the  pocket  of   his  jacket.       Taking  out  the 
little  volume  he  opened  it.     On  the  flydeaf  was 
written  in  his  mother's  familiar  hand  : — 
"  Kenneth  Motley,  from  his  Mother. 

"  May  this  book  be  your  guide,  and  light  you 
along  the  only  safe  and  sure  path.  For  who- 
ever shall  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall 
be  saved." 

The  tears  came  in  his  eyes  as  he  read  the 
lines,  and  he  knelt  down  in  that  gloomy  shaft 
and  prayed  for  deliverance  from  the  strange 
trap  into  which  he  had  fallen. 

Presently  he  heard  a  slight  sound  above,  and 
looking  up  eagerly  he  saw  a  face  framed  in  the 
little  ragged  patch   of  daylight  where   he  had 


At 


I  mm  §m  ,L 


NEVER    WAS   AN    ANIMAL    MORE   WELCOME   THAN    THAI- 
DISREPUTABLE   YELLOW    MONGREL." 


fallen  through  the  brushwood.     It  was  the  face 
of  a  dog — Tom  Nevins's  dog,  Dusty. 

Never  was  an  animal  more  welcome  than 
that  disreputable  yellow  mongrel.  Kenneth 
appealed  to  him  as  though  he  were  a  human 
being,  begging  him  to  bring  assistance,  while 
the   dog   looked    at    him   intelligently   with   his 


CHRISTMAS    IN    A    BEAR  TRAP. 


*35 


bright  eyes  and  wagged  his  long  tail.  It  was 
one  of  his  many  peculiarities  that  he  could  not 
bark ;  he  could  only  whine  "  like  a  coyote,"  as 
his  master  said.  This  he  now  did  by  way 
of  reply  to  Kenneth's  solicitations,  and  presently 
ran  away. 

Kenneth  waited  in  great  suspense.  Would 
the  dog  bring  anyone,  or  would  he  simply  go 
home  ?     Everything  depended  upon  his  sagacity. 

Providentially  for  the  young  prospector,  a 
trader  at  a  camp  called  Beckworth  had  gone  to 
the  Nevins's  cabin  that  morning  and  asked  Tom 
to  take  a  load  of  supplies  to  a  mining  settle- 
ment near  at  hand.     Tom  had  refused,  as  it  was 


and  looking  down  discovered  his  imprisoned 
friend.  As  quickly  as  possible  Tom  got  a  rope 
from  the  waggon  and  brought  the  prospector  to 
the  surface. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  cabin  and  Mrs. 
Nevins  heard  of  the  mishap,  she  said :  "  It 
was  a  miracle  that  sent  Dusty  to  the  rescue. 
That  dog  shall  never  want  for  a  good  meal  as 
long  as  he  lives  !  " 

While  they  were  eating  the  dinner — which 
turned  out  fully  equal  to  all  expectations — Tom 
said  he  had  just  heard  of  a  big  "strike"  at  a 
place  called  Bidwell's  Bar.  There,  he  said,  the 
climate  was  mild,  and  being  low  down  they  had 


THE  DINNER  TURNED  OUT  FULLY  EQUAL  TO  ALL  EXPECTATIONS. 


Christmas  Day,  but  his  kind-hearted  mother, 
feeling  sorry  for  the  "  boys,"  who  would 
be  short  of  food,  had  persuaded  him  to 
go.  Having  delivered  the  goods,  Tom  was 
returning  home,  his  dog  Dusty  following  as 
usual.  Seeing  a  squirrel,  Dusty  gave  chase 
until  he  lost  him  in  a  hole.  While  looking 
around  for  his  quarry  he  discovered  Kenneth, 
and  then  ran  after  the  team,  making  such 
unusual  demonstrations  that  Tom  was  finally 
induced  to  follow  him.  As  he  drew  near  the 
pit  the  teamster  recognised  Kenneth's  voice — 
for  the  latter  was  now  shouting  again.  Moving 
forward  slowly,  the  muffled  cries  telling  him  that 
his  friend  had  met  with  some  mishap,  his  keen 
eyes  presently  detected  the  tell-tale  hole  in  the 
snow.  Caution  now  became  necessary,  but  in 
a  very  short  time  he  was  on  the  edge  of  the  pit, 


no  snow.      Kenneth  said  for  that  reason,  if  no 
other,  he  would  go  down  there. 

Accordingly  a  few  days  later  he  left  his 
claim,  after  bidding  his  kind  friends  good-bye. 
His  luck  changed  in  the  new  location,  and  his 
first  week's  work  netted  him  five  hundred  dollars. 
This  he  sent  to  Mrs.  Nevins  as  a  return  for  her 
many  kindnesses,  with  a  request  to  look  after 
his  good  friend  Dusty.  In  the  course  of  a  few 
months  he  had  made  no  less  than  ten  thousand 
dollars  out  of  his  claim,  and,  being  homesick, 
resolved  not  to  wait  to  increase  his  wealth 
further.  Instead,  he  went  home  to  Bloomfield 
to  his  mother  and  became  a  prosperous  farmer. 
But  he  never  forgot  good  old  Dusty,  without 
whose  sagacity  he  would  have  lost  that  long- 
anticipated  dinner  and  spent  his  Christmas  in  a 
bear-trap. 


'TOUCH    AND    GO." 


A    CHRISTMAS   EVE     EXPERIENCE    IN    THE    SOUTH    SEAS. 

l'kli  !      \    VR-YAR,     OF      I'aNW.     \  I  \\      !  ll  I'.KIDKS,    AND    SET     DOWN 

by  John  Gacgin,  of  Melbourne. 

Mr.  G  t  some  thirteen  years  in  the  islands,  and  here  relates  a  story  which  was  told  him  by 

v.  who  had  worked  in  Queensland  and  picked  up  a  very  fair  knowledge  of  English.      "  The 

few  years  ago,"  writes  Mr.  Gaggin,  "  and  might  just  as  easily  happen  to-day." 


had    come   from    Santo    during    the 


\  1  ■  were  o(\  ( >ba*  in  the  hot 

i.  when  the  trade  wind  ceases 

ow,  and   it  was   near  Christmas. 

when    you    whites    make    merry.       1 

was  in  a  larg  I,  and  she  had 

.1  -  two  hundred,  perhaps 

■ik  on   the  plantations.     We  had  a 

ai  ami  agent,  ami   nearly  every  night 

But  we  wire  short  eil"  yams,  for  we 

iny,  and  the  whites  talked  of  feeding  us 

i  the  boys  were  m  bad  spirits,  even 

although  it  time,  tor  yams  are  the 

•i   us  out   of  the  earth.       The   s<  a 

:  our  vessel  simply 

tin  the  vasl  -well  of  the  wide  ocean,  and 

there   was    no  wind   at   all.      We    lay,  just   after 

inrise,    some    three    miles    off    the     "  1  lemon 

at    Walu-riki,    where    the   spirit- 

the  Oba  m  :ter  death 

ie  captain  then  stood  forward  on 

1  of  the  poop  and  ordered   the  port 

wered,    but    the   white   sailors 

murmured  and   said  it  was  Christmas  Eve, 

and  like  Sundav.      Then  the  Government 

•'  Men,"  he  said.  "  I  want   a 

id  of  yams  and   a   pig   to  give   our 

_ive  them  rice  on 

m  -    i  That  silenced  the  grum 

ind    the   boat   was   lowered   and   the 

ded  and  put  in  the  stern. 

the   ship's   head   round  to  sea 

pulled  for  the  land.     Do  you  know 

•he  I  -     We   went  into   that   little 

•roe  bay  just  below  the  "  1  )emon  Rock."' 

making,  and  we  pulled  to  the 

tween    the 

thick    scrub   and    the   sea   and   shoved    the 

•f  our  boat  on    tl  h.      There 

on   the   sand,  perhaps 

•    -     (f,  and  the  mate  stood 

rn  and  <alled   them,  but  they 

te  was  not  a  white, 

hink,  and  I   did  not  care  for  him.      He 

hard  on  us  boat-i  ■  ie  habit  of 

ood  is  mixed.      He-  . 

hand  in  tfv  d  not  know 

A  talk.   Then  the  mate  turned 

was  in  the  bows  reading, 

-iland  in 


and  said,  '"1  don't  understand  these  people;  will 
you  try  ?  Tis  you  who  want  the  food."  I  don't 
think  these  two  seemed  very  good-minded 
towards  each  other.  Then  the  white  put  away 
his  paper  and  strode  aft  from  thwart  to  thwart. 
He  was  big  and  tall  and  strong,  taller  even  than 
I  am,  and  perhaps  stronger,  for  you  whites, 
although  not  so  big  as  we  are,  seem  stronger 
somehow.  He  had  big  grey  eyes,  and  when 
he  was  angered  they  took  fire  and  seemed  to 
hum.  How  is  it  that  we  South  Sea  folk  cannot 
look  into  the  eyes  of  you  whites?  They  all 
seem  to  flash  like  fire,  and  we  cannot  look  you 
face  to  face. 

This  big  white  stood  up  in  the  stern  sheets 
and  said,  "  So  you  want  me  to  trade,  do  you  ? 
Very  well,  I'll  trade  this  trip.'    You  go  and  sit 


AT    FIRST   ONLY    THE   TALI.EK    ONE    WOULD    COME   CLOSE    OP, 


"TOUCH    AND    GO." 


237 


down  ;  I'll  manage  alone."  And  he  unslung 
his  VVinchester  off  his  big  shoulders,  and 
dragged  his  heavy  revolver  to  his  hand,  for  no 
one  would  think  of  trading  at  Oba  without 
weapons.  The  mate  said  "  All  right,"  and  went 
forward.  Then  the  white  called  out  in  the 
island  talk,  and  the  girls  looked  up  surprised, 
and  laughed  and  came  towards  us,  bringing 
their  baskets  of  yams.  But  at  first  only  the 
taller  one  would  come  close  up.  By  Yasher  !* 
she  was  a  beauty,  tall  and  slender  as  a  young 
palm,  her  smooth  skin  the  colour  of  the  cedar 
you  bring  from  the  land  of  the  whites,  and  she 
had  courage,  mind  you.  The  other  two  were 
frightened,  but  she  stepped  up  like  a  chieftainess 
and  offered  her  yams  with  a  smile  and  a  jest. 
She  was  of  chiefly  blood,  too,  as  her  fringed  waist- 
mat  showed.  Our  big  white  laughed  and  jested 
also,  and  slapped  her  cheek  lightly  and  patted 
her  face.  He  refused  to  buy  from  the  others,  so 
she  had  to  brin^  the 
yams  and  sell  to  him. 
Then  he  gave  her  a 
present,  and  stooped 
low  and  whispered 
in  her  little  ear.  I 
heard  him — he  called 
her  "Pretty one," and 
kissed  her.  Not  that 
nasty  white  kiss  with 
the  lips  which  re- 
minds one  of  canni- 
balism, but  the  South 
Sea  "  smelling  kiss  " 
we  use,  and  the  girl 
coloured  under  the 
brown  skin,  and  he 
whispered  her  to 
bring  down  all  the 
women  to  trade  with 
yams,  and  she  went 
with  a  nod  and  a 
smile  ;  but  she  first 
kissed  him,  too,  in 
return. 

The  village  was 
only  some  two  hun- 
dred yards  off  on  a 
little  knoll;  and 
soon  troops  of 
women  and  children 
came  down,  bringing 
yams,  and  kawais, 
and    taro,   and   even 


I    KNEW    HE    WAS    THE    CIIIK 


Pl£ 


The    white 


was  an  old  tradtr,  I  saw  at  a  glance,  and 
tobacco,  blue  and  red  paint,  pipes,  and  turkey- 
red  changed  hands  quickly,  and   the  boat  was 

*  A  sacred  volcano  in  the  Island  of  Tanna. 


shortly  filled  and  went  off  to  the  vessel,  where 
it  was  unloaded,  and  came  back  again  in  little 
or  no  time,  and  trading  began  again.  Not  as 
before,  though,  for  the  white  was  reading  again 
in  the  bows  and  the  mate  trading  astern. 

As  I  sat  leaning  over  my  shipped  oar  I  saw 
a  little  lad  going  to  the  bows  in  a  canoe  and 
whispering  to  the  big  white.  My  ears  are  as 
sharp  as  the  flying  fox's,  and  I  heard  every 
word.  "  The  young  girl  there,"  he  said,  "  wants 
you  to  take  her  as  your  wife,  white  chief,  if  you 
are  unmarried.     She  sent  me  to  speak  to  you." 

I  glanced  round  astern.  There  on  the  sand 
stood  the  young  beauty  who  had  spoken  to  us 
at  first,  with  her  soul  in  her  eyes.  How  she 
watched  him  !  He  glanced  up  and  gave  her  a 
look.  A  light  flashed  over  his  face  ;  I  saw  he 
was  tempted,  and  who  could  blame  him?  For 
a  moment  he  eyed  her,  then  he  shock  his  head 
slightly.      "Tell   her  to  wait,"  he  said;  "I  can't 

this  trip,  but  I'll 
come  back  again." 
The  beauty  waited 
for  no  reply ;  the 
shake  of  the  head 
told  her  everything. 
How  her  eyes  blazed ! 
How  her  white  teeth 
snapped  !  The  next 
moment  she  had 
bounded  into  the 
thick  scrub  with  a 
cry. 

Presently  all  the 
women  drew  back 
and  refused  to  trade 
further.  They  cared 
not  for  the  grudging 
trading  of  the  half- 
caste,  so  to  satisfy 
them  the  big  white 
came  back  again.  I 
noticed  he  often  stole 
a  glance  at  the  part 
of  the  scrub  into 
which  the  slighted 
beauty  bad  vanished. 
Was  he  sorry,  I 
wonder  ? 

Well,  the  boat 
filled,  and  went  and 
came  two  or  three 
times  after  this.  To- 
wards the  dinner- 
hour  men  gradually 
began  to  trade,  and  the  women  to  <;o  back.  Sud- 
denly the  chief  stood  among  us,  a  head  over  the 
rest,  and  all  his  great  body  down  to  his  waist-mat 
was  blackened.     I  knew  he  was  the  chief  by  the 


nil      \\  1 1>1'.    WOKI  D     MAGAZINE. 


frim  '  '  ■•'  mats 

il  and  .is  fine  .>-  your  cloth.     Did 

them   an 
did,  for  the  order  came  at  once, 
"  Pull  out  quickly  now."  and  in  a  second  the 
it   half  full,   shot  out.     When   a 
:'  tin-  parleying  began. 
"  yelled  the  chief.    "  Where  are 
1  are  not  full  up  yet." 
to  trade  with  women,  not   fight  with 
.1  back  the  agent. 
1  1  :    we   don't   want    to   fight  :  the  women 
have  gone  for  more  yams."  was  the  answer  : 

and  as  the  chief  shouted  this  the  men  went 
k  and  the  children  crowded  to  the  beach 
n. 

The  white  hesitated,  and  just  then  that  foolish 

mat-  d.    "  You    seem   afraid  !     See,    the 

women  are  returning."     Grim  was  the  look  the 

whi;     .         him,  but  he  answered  nothing,  then 

ked  in  the    boat  again,    and  trading 

m    as    before.     For   some    twenty   minutes, 

it     went     on,     and     we      were     filled. 

v    the    chief    gave    a     yell,    and     every 

lan  and  child  darted  off  the   narrow  beach 

in    a   second.     We  heard   a   rush    through    the 

lb,   and    in    1 
time  than    I    take  to 
tell     it     the    circular 
little    bay  beach   was 
.   with  two  hun- 
dred men,  all  in  their 
.  with 
muskets.      poisoned 
arrows,     and    clubs, 
and  with  their  bodies 
kened  for  war. 
We  were  so  taken 
trprise   we    had 
no  time  to  move  an 
oar.     A  great    brute 
laughing     and 
_     1  not 
:    us. 

but  nt  made 

m.     We 

r 

but  had  to  put 

them  down  too.     If 

one   • 

orders,  one  is  a: 
head  bi 
in  white  men 

"  I     can     d 

shooting,''  the  white 

red        His     rifle 

hand.      I 

stole   a  look   at  the 


"AS    IN   THE   WATER   Tp   HER    WAIST   NEARLY. 


half-breed — he  had  not  moved,  but  his  face  was 
green  -with  fear.  The  Fijian  pulling  the  oar 
next  me  was  shivering,  but  the  white's  eyes 
were  ablaze,  and  he  and  the  big  chief  eyed 
each  other,  not  ten  yards  apart.  I  found  myself 
thinking  who  would  go  under  first,  the  chief  or 
1  he  white,  and  I  swore  to  myself  to  do  for  that 
big  brute  ramming  home  his  powder  just  in 
front  of  me.  Coolly  the  chief  gave  his  orders, 
and  the  scores  of  men  pressed  ever  closer.  We 
1  ned  doomed,  the  whole  lot  of  us.  "  Is  the 
agent  ever  going  to  shoot  that  beast  of  a  chief?" 
I  thought.  I  heard  the  click  of  the  Winchester 
as  he  cocked  it.  Now  for  it  !  Suddenly  he 
lowered  the  hammer  with  a  half-laugh  to  him- 
self. "  What  is  thtre  to  laugh  at  ?  "  I  thought, 
when  I  expected  to  join  my  fathers  at  Vasher 
within  five  minutes.  The  white  stooped  to  the 
trade-box  and  picked  out  a  big  Jew's-harp,  all 
shining  like  gold. 

"  Here  is  a  present  for  the  chief's  daughter," 
he  said,  quietly. 

I  looked  up  to  see  a  winsome  little  lassie 
standing  by  the  chief.  The  Obas  are  a  hand- 
some race,  men  and  women  alike  ;  Fll  say  that 
for  them.     The  chiefs  daughter  was  holding  his 

hand  and  had  evi- 
dently just  come. 
"  Pass  it  along,"  was 
the  cry.  "Oh,  no  ; 
let  the  girl  come  her- 
self," spoke  the  white. 
The  little  thing — she 
was  about  eleven, 
perhaps— looked  up 
to  her  father  for  per- 
mission ;  he  nodded, 
and  she  stepped 
daintily  down  among 
the  warriors  for  her 
present.  Our  boat 
was  just  afloat,  and 
she  was  in  the  water 
to  her  waist  nearly. 
Here  was  this 
wretched  white,  in- 
stead of  shooting  the 
chief,  making  a  pre- 
sent to  a  child  ! 

But  I  noticed 
now  how  low  he 
was  stooping.  Sud- 
denly the  great  arms 
were  round  her,  and 
in  an  instant,  with  a 
swing,  she  was  in  the 
boat  and  placed  right 
aft  in  front  of  the 
white  and  facing  the 


"TOUCH    AND    GO. 


239 


crowd.  "  Pull  your  hardest !  "  he  bellowed,  and 
the  stout  ash  oars  bent  and  strained  as  we  pulled 
our  very  best. 

A  hundred  guns  were  levelled,  but  the  white 
laughed  out,  "  Fire  away,  Obas,  and  shoot  your 
chief's  daughter  !  " — and  not  a  gun  went  off.  I 
thought  the  little  girl  would  scream  ;  but  not  a 
bit  of  it.  She  clapped  her  little  hands  and 
thought  it  a  great  joke.  The  yelling  and 
howling  from  the  beach  were  deafening.  The 
chief  foamed  with  rage  and  dashed  himself  on 
the  sand,  rolling  and  moaning  but  in  his  pain, 
"  The  apple  of  my  eye  is  gone  ! "  Then 
there  was  a  rush  to  the  big  war-canoe  hauled 
up  on  the  beach. 

The  agent  jumped  on  the  after-thwart 
beside  me,  still  holding  the  little  one  in  his 
arms.  "  Drop  that  canoe,  you  Oba  fools  !  " 
he  shouted.  "  Before  she  touches  the  water 
I  can  be  at  the  vessel.  Chief,  send  a  little 
boy  out  in  that  small  canoe,  and  I'll  give 
you  back  the  'light  of  your  eyes.'  " 

'Twas  odd  how  they  obeyed  him.  We 
lay  still  about  two  hundred  yards  off,  and 
in  five  minutes  the  little  canoe  was  along- 
side. The  boy  came  on,  laughing.  "Oh  ! 
what  fools  you  have  made  of  us  all ! "  he 
said.  "The  chief  will  never  get  over  the 
chaffing  of  your  getting  his  pet  like  that." 

Then  the  white  put  the  little  girl  out  of 
his  arms  into  the  canoe,  and  gave  her  fifty 
or  sixty  sticks  of  tobacco  and  a  dozen  Jew's- 
harps,  and  kissed  and  fondled  her,  and  the 
little  lassie  did  the  same  to  him.  "  By 
Jove  !  little  one,  you  saved  all  our  lives,"  he 
said,  and  I  think  he  was  right.  As  the  boy 
took  his  paddle  the  agent  said  to  him,  "Tell 
your  chief  that  when  whites  want  to  fight 
they  fight,  and  when  they  don't  want  to 
an  Oba  chief  can't  make  them.  Let  the 
chief  thank  his  gods  he  is  to-day  dealing 
with  whites  and  chiefs." 

The  canoe  shot  off,  not  direct  towards  the 
shore,  but  at  right  angles,  and  she  had  barely 
gone  twenty  yards  when  every  gun  on  the 
beach  was  fired  at  us  and  the  bullets  rained 
round  us.     None  hit  us,  however,  for  the 
Oba  men  are  poor  shots  and  we  were  some 
distance    off.       We    seized    our   weapons    and 
replied,  but  the  beach  was  by  this  time  deserted, 
and  the  Oba  men    under  cover   in   the    thick 
scrub. 

The  agent  did  not  fire  ;  he  was  laughing — 
laughing,  and  the  bullets  splashing  in  the  water 
all  round  us  !  "  What  are  you  firing  at,  Lyas  ?  " 
he  said  ;  "  the  trees  ?  "     So  I  stopped. 

"  I'll  fire  at  something  besides  trees,"  snarled 
the  Fijian   next   me,  and  he  swung  half  round 


and  levelled  at  a  cluster  of  girls  who  came  out 
of  the  scrub  at  the  end  of  the  bay  to  meet  the 
canoe.  But  the  white  threw  up  the  muzzle  of 
the  gun  and  yelled  fiercely  at  him  until  the  boy 
cowered  down.  I  thought  the  agent  would 
have  hit  the  lad,  but  he  did  not.  The  next 
moment  he  seized  his  Winchester.  Right  in 
the  clear  space  in  front  of  the  empty  village 
walked  out  in  full  view  a  great  pig.  "  Sights  at 
four  hundred  and  all  fire  at  the  big  boar  ! " 
sang  out  the  white,  and  at  the  first  fire  over 
toppled  the  great  brute,  stone-dead,  and  a 
wailing  yell  went  up  from  the  forest  when  the 
Obas  saw  their  pet  pig  rolled  over. 


"THE    WHITE    PUT    THE    LITTLE   G1KL    INTO    THE   CANOE. 

After  this  we  pulled  off  to  the  vessel ;  no 
more  trading  for  us  there.  Next  day  the  sea 
was  still  calm,  and  it  was  Christmas  Day,  and 
we  had  a  great  feast  and  dancing.  The  whites 
sang  and  danced,  some  over  crossed  knives, 
and  we  had  great  fun.  The  Oba  people  ashore 
envied  us,  I  know.  But,  by  the  shades  of  my 
fathers,  we  all  escaped  by  the  skin  of  our  teeth 
that  time  !  My  tale  is  ended,  white  man,  and 
'tis  true  as  I  have  told  it. 


ADRIFT    ON    A    LOG. 


By  Walter  J.   Mowbray. 

A    terrible    experience    in    the    lonely  Abercrombie   ranges  of  New  South  Wales.      The  author  endea- 
jred    to    cross   a   flooded    torrent   on    a   log  which    was    wedged    across    it,   with    the   result    that    he 
and  the  log  went  adrift.     Then  followed  a  veritable  race  with   Death. 


WAS  halt  way  across  the  mountains 

n   the   rain    began    to   descend. 

All   through    the   day  the  sky  had 

overcast,  while  now  and  again 

the   ominous   mutter  and    rattle    ol 

tant     thunder    warned    me    of    what    was    to 

follow.     There  was  an  oppressive  stillness,  too, 

in  the  air.  as  though  Nature 

paused    to  summon    all    her      , 

the    approaching 
the   short   after- 
It    |  ened    into    night 
rm,  so   long  dela 
I     suddenly     out     of 
the  darkening  heavens.      The 

illness  gave  pi 

to  a  deep  roar,  as  the  wind 

madly  through    the 

gn.v  rted    bran< 

of   the   blue   gum    and    box 

and    raced    along    the 

id  then  the 

rain   came  ping    by  in 

.    -heets  that 

wash-  mountain  slopes 

the  rain 
Jitly  in   far 
■ 

id  dark  lay  the 
untain-chain   of    the 
rcrombies,  while  betw< 

rid    tumult  of   the  thunder  and   the 

'    •'       wil    •   ■  ould    be   heard  the 

.  murmur  of  a  thousand  cascades 

the  steep  slopes  to  swell  the 

torrents  that  were  fast  gathering 

was    rugged    and    narrow,    and, 

1  anxiously  through  the  darkness, 

-n    no     shelter    from    the   storm, 


1  HE    AUTHOR,    MR.    w 
From  a  /'/into,  by  //'.  E. 


either   for  myself  or   my  terrified   horse.     The 

.poor    beast    was    trembling    violently    in    every 

limb,   and    as   each    rapidly    recurring    flash   of 

vivid  light   blazed  before  his  eyes  he  screamed 

and  swerved  and  pawed  the  air  in  added  terror. 

At  length  L  espied  a  ruined  and  deserted  hut 

by    the    side    of    the    track,    and    after    a  little 

persuasion  induced  the  terri- 

— 1     tied  animal  to  enter  the  low 

doorway  and  stand  in  the 
comparative  shelter  within. 
The  drops  that  percolated 
persistently  through  the  roof 
troubled  us  but  little,  for  we 
were  drenched  already. 
Soothing  the  frightened  crea- 
ture with  a  few  encouraging 
words,  I  stepped  back  to  the 
doorway of  the  hut  and  looked 
out  at  the  raging  storm. 

It  was  a  truly  magnificent, 
yet  terrible,  sight.  Dense, 
impenetrable  blackness, 
pierced  through  and  through 
by  rapid  flashes  of  dazzling 
light  that  seemed  to  sear  and 
scorch  one's  eyes,  lay  over 
the  rugged  ranges  that 
stretched  away  on  every  hand. 
The  thunder  cracked  and 
bellowed  overhead,  the  wind 
shrieked  on  :.he  lonely  mountain-tops  and  hum- 
med in  the  hollows  and  ravines  below.  Sturdy 
trees  strained  and  groaned  and  snapped,  and 
went  hurtling  down  the  steep  rain-swept  slopes 
till  they  plunged  at  last  into  the  foaming  torrents 
in  the  valleys.  And  still  those  numberless  mur- 
muring cascades  ran  down  from  rock  to  rock  to 
swell  the  roaring  flood,  whose  deep,  sonorous 
voice  came  up  to  me  from  the  blackness  far  below. 


ALTER   J.    MOWBRAY. 
//  'right,  Wa/t/ia>rstim 


ADRIFT    ON    A    LOG. 


241 


The  track  i  was  traversing  wouid  lead  me 
sometimes  through  these  lonely  valleys,  ana  I 
couid  not  repress  an  exclamation  of  annoyance 
as  i  foresaw  the  added  difficulties  and  dangers 
which  I  should  now  have  to  encounter.  There 
was  no  other  track  from  Crookwell — the  small 
New  South  Wales  township  from  which  I  had 
come — to  Trunkey  Creek,  and  my  business  was 
both  urgent  and  important.  But  in  such  a  storm 
it  was  impossible  to  proceed  until  the  morning, 
so,  with  a  philosophic  forgetfulness  of  the  dis- 
comforts of  the  road,  I  made  myself  as  comfort- 
able as  the  leakiness  of  the  hut-roof  and  my 
wet  clothes  would  permit,  and  after  a  frugal 
supper — shared  with  my  still  nervous  horse — I 
wrapped  myself  up  in  a  damp  rug  and  slept 
fitfully  until  the  morning. 

Before  day  broke  the  storm  had  passed  away, 
but  it  was  still  raining  heavily.  It  had  been  an 
unusually  wet  season,  and  the  valleys  were  full 
of  hurrying  streams.  The  sky  was  leaden  and 
grey,  and  the  reveille  of  the  usually  jubilant 
jackass  had  in  it  more  of  despondency  than  of 
merriment. 

The  prospect  outside  the  hut  was  a  dreary 
one.  Storm-draggled  trees,  with  broken  branches 
and  limp 
leaves,  huddled 
together  on  the 
rain -sodden 
hills.  Cascades, 
streams,  rivu- 
lets, rapids, 
and  great  deep 
mountain  tor- 
rents had  been 
born  in  a 
single  night. 
Down  in  the 
valleys  and  on 
the  mountain 
slopes  fences 
and  dam-banks 
had  been  swept 
away,  while  on 
the  foaming 
surface  of  the 
racing  floods 
were  to  be  seen 
the  carcasses  of 
dead  sheep, 
the  dismem- 
bered logs  of 
mountain  huts, 
and  floating 
stacKS  of  sod- 
den hay  that 
told  only  too 
plainly    of    de- 

Vol.  xii. — 31. 


1  CANTEREU  OVER  THE  RUGGED  MOUNTAIN  TRACK 


vastation  and  destruction  higher  up  the  storm- 
washed  ridges. 

But  it  was  now  light,  and  for  the  present,  at 
least,  there  was  no  further  reason  for  delay. 
Mounting  my  horse,  therefore,  I  cantered  over 
the  rugged  mountain  track,  fording  the  many 
streams  which  now  intersected  it  and  which 
foamed  and  swirled  above  my  horse's  girths,  till 
we  were  within  seven  miles  of  our  destination. 
Here  we  encountered  an  obstacle  more  formid- 
able than  any  we  had  hitherto  surmounted. 
For  some  distance  I  had  been  aware  that  we 
were  approaching  a  mountain  torrent  of  unusual 
size.  A  deep  roar,  which  increased  as  we  pro- 
ceeded, sounded  in  my  ears,  and  as  I  drew  rein 
on  the  brink  of  a  great  rushing  flood  of  seething 
waters  and  looked  hopelessly  across  to  the 
opposite  shore  the  senses  of  sight  and  hearing 
grew  dizzy  and  confused  with  the  swirl  and  roar 
of  the  raging  torrent.  It  was  about  fifty  feet 
broad,  but,  owing  to  the  steep  declivity  of  the 
mountain  sides,  the  water,  as  I  could  see  at  a 
glance,  was  far  too  deep  to  ford. 

To  attempt  to  swim  in  such  a  torrent  would 
have  been  sheer  madness,  for  neither  man  nor 
horse  could  live  in  that  angry  flood.     The  entire 

surface  was 
white  with 
foam  that  his- 
sed and  bub- 
bled as  it  went 
swirling  by. 
The  very  fish, 
borne  help- 
lessly down 
from  some 
swollen  stream 
far  up  the 
ranges,  had 
been  stunned 
and  killed,  and 
floated  past 
limp  and  life- 
less. A  little 
to  the  left  was  a 
ruined  bridge, 
half  torn  away 
by  the  swollen 
torrent,  whose 
waters  dashed 
with  a  roar 
through  the 
dismantled 
beams  be- 
neath. For 
little  more  than 
twenty  feet  the 
bridge  jutted 
out    over    the 


nil.    WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


then  t  rs  and  twisted 

how  the  flood    had   swept    the 

n  now  straining 

action.     Even  now 

id    the  gaunt  timbers 

it  their  splintered  arms  appealingl) 

imp  that    still   remained   em 

hank. 

mounting  itiously  traversed  the  bridge 

■  i  beams,  and  looked  fearfully 

:    tb  waters    beneath.      Thirty 

me  from  the  opposite  shore, 

shook  violently  under  my  feet. 

I    has  and    returned    to   my  patient 

I   .  n,  in  sheer  dismay,  1  looked  about 

me  waj  I   the  difficulty. 

to  where  I  stood,  and  on  the  very  brink 
of  t  a  belt  of  sturdy  blue  gums. 

a  moment   I   hesitated,  since  the  suggestion 
:    inspired   would,  if  carried   into 
abandon  my  horse.     But  my 
iiitted  o(  no  delay,  and,  though  not 
>ut  reluctance.  I  decid  idopt  the  idea 

that  had  come  to  me  as  the  only  possible  way 
.  fficulty. 
rtunately  my  equipment,  which  was  strapped 
e's  back,  contained  that  always  indis- 
ible  article   in   densely-wooded   regions — a 
Selecting    the    tallest    and 
>f  the  trees  at  the   water's    edge,   I 
into  position  and  brought  the  sharp  axe- 
blade  down  on  the  great  trunk  with  long,  swinging 
I  iie  white  chips  flew  fast  around  me, 
and  and  deepened  in  the  shivering 

ilculating  the  natural  tendency 
of  the  tree  to  fall  where  there  was  least  resistance, 
I  its  descent  that,  when  at  last  it 

•nd  snapped,  its  leafy  crest  swung  out- 
tmine   torrent,  and,  with  a  final 
the  trunk  splintered  and  Split  beneath 
t,  it  crashed  down  over  the 
m  tied   with    its   topmost 
boughs  the  ite   bank.     It  was   not  quite 

r,  for  the  crest  had  fallen  some 
her   up    the    valley    than 
of   the    torrent,   the  great 
in  down  into  the  foaming  flood. 

■n    better  than    I   had 

eipa*  in  the  absence  of  ropes  when 

with  uide  a  falling  tree,   it  is 

impo  its   descent   with    any 

5.     Still,   the   slight   slant   of 

meant   greater   insecurity,  and  I 

led  with   breathles  as  the   waters 

flood  against  the  strain- 

md.  hissing  ana  foaming  as  they  went, 

.  ana    away  down   the   valley  to 

nes    beyond.       One    by    one     the 

ches  which  had  not  been    broken  ofi"  when 


the  tree  fell  snapped  and  went  swirling  down  on 
the  crest  of  the  loam. 

Presently  there  was  a  louder  report,  and  the 
trunk  itself  broke  and  parted  near  the  top. 
Leaving  the  leafy  crest  of  the  tree  behind  it, 
the  free  end  of  the  great  log  splashed  into  the 
water  and  shot  down  the  stream  for  three  or  four 
feet.  Then,  before  it  could  lift,  it  was  caught 
and  held  by  some  projecting  rock  or  boulder  on 
the  opposite  bank,  so  that,  except  where  the 
lower  and  thicker  end  of  the  trunk  ran  down 
into  the  racing  torrent  on  my  side,  it  was 
scarcely  visible  beneath  the  white  glistening 
foam  which  swept  over  it.  One-third  of  the 
journey  across  would  therefore  be  comparatively 
easy,  but  the  remaining  two-thirds,  with  the  log 
literally  under  water,  would-  be  hazardous  in  the 
extreme. 

I  waited  to  see  if  the  log  would  change  its 
position  again ;  but  it  now  appeared  to  be 
tightly  wedged  between  the  steep  sides  of  the 
valley,  though  it  still  strained  and  heaved  as  the 
surging  flood  dashed  against  and  over  it  in  a 
futile  attempt  to  wrencb  it  from  its  lodgment 
and  sweep  it  away.  Each  moment  I  expected 
to  see  the  upper  end  of  the  great  trunk  lifted 
by  its  own  buoyancy  to  the  surface,  but  it  re- 
mained firm.  For  nearly  an  hour  I  waited,  but 
there  came  no  abatement  either  in  the  falling 
rain  or  the  racing  torrent.  Then,  my  horse 
having  by  this  time  finished  grazing  on  the  none 
too  fertile  slopes  of  the  rocky  ranges,  I  tethered 
him  to  a  neighbouring  tree  with  a  long  thong 
of  raw  hide,  slipped  a  card  bearing  my  name 
beneath  the  saddle,  and  braced  myself  for  the 
dangerous  journey  across. 

For  the  first  fifteen  or  twenty  feet  I  was  able 
to  maintain  an  upright  position  on  the  great 
log,  carefully  choosing  my  steps  to  prevent  the 
slightest  slip.  But  as  I  neared  the  deeper  part 
of  the  surging  stream  and  the  trunk  dipped 
down  beneath  the  surface  I  was  forced  to  pro- 
ceed on  my  hands  and  knees.  I  found,  too, 
that  my  added  weight  pressed  the  bending 
trunk  still  deeper  into  the  foaming  torrent,  till, 
by  the  time  I  had  reached  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  the  log  was  so  far  under  water  that  I 
was  compelled  to  cling  on  with  the  strength  of 
desperation  to  prevent  myself  from  being  hurled 
into  the  raging  rapids  as  they  swept  by  me  with 
a  roar  that  was  well-nigh  deafening. 

My  limbs  grew  numbed  and  cold,  and  f 
caught  my  breath  in  long,  laboured  inhalations 
before  each  successive  movement  on  the  great 
quivering  iog,  for  as  I  stirred  the  frail  bridge 
unon  which  1  crouched  strained  and  shook  with 
aiarming  violence,  increasing  my  perii  a 
thousand-fold.  I  have  often  thought  since  what 
a  curious  appearance  I  must  have  presented  at 


ADRIFT    ON    A    LOG. 


243 


UAs    ALlLli    TO    MAINTAIN    AN    IM'KIGHT    POSITION. 


this  moment — apparently  crossing  a  foaming 
mountain  torrent,  devoid  of  all  support,  upon 
my  hands  and  knees,  since  the  trunk  was  now 
deep  in  the  surging  white  foam  that  hissed  and 
hubbled  about  me.  The  torrent  here  could  not 
have  been  less  than  fifteen  to  twenty  feet  deep, 
yet  from  my  appearance  it  might  have  been 
scarcely  as  many  inches. 

I  had  accomplished  about  two-thirds  of  the 
distance  when  I  found  that  the  log  was  now  so 
far  under  water  that  it  was  impossible  in  my 
present  position,  owing  to  the  terrible  force  of 
the  racing  flood,  to  prevent  myself  from  being 
swept  off  my  submerged  support.  Strain  and 
grip  and  clutch  as  I  might,  the  current  was  too 
strong  for  me,  and  I  was  rapidly  becoming 
exhausted.  With  a  sudden  resolve  I  let  my 
numbed  and  aching  limbs  slip  down  on  either 


side  of  the  trembling 
log,  intending  to  sit 
astride  it,  and  so  slowly 
and  painfully  work  my 
way  across  to  the  oppo- 
site bank.  This  position, 
too,  would  bring  my  sup- 
port higher  out  of  the 
water  and  considerably 
lessen  the  force  of  the 
torrent  in  its  attempts 
to  hurl  me  to  a  miser- 
able death. 

As  I  shifted,  however, 
the  trembling  trunk, 
temporarily  relieved  of 
more  than  half  my 
weight,  vibrated  and 
shook  with  renewed 
violence.  With  a  quick 
gasp  of  terror  I  clutched 
wildly  at  the  sodden 
bark  till,  after  a  brief 
but  desperate  struggle, 
I  succeeded  in  steady- 
ing myself  on  the  rock- 
ing log.  But,  even  as  I 
did  so,  to  my  dismay 
the  top  of  the  long  trunk 
released  itself  from  its 
hidden  entanglements 
on  the  opposite  slope, 
and,  springing  upwards 
with  a  sudden  bound, 
cut  the  white  foam  above 
it  and  showed  above  the 
surface  of  the  torrent. 
The  end  did  not  now 
reach  the  bank,  and 
therefore  began  instantly 
to  swing  round  with  the 
racing  flooa.  As  it  came  immediately  opposite 
the  severed  stump  on  the  bank  I  had  quitted,  it 
again  grated  on  the  rocky  slope  of  the  mountain. 
But  the  impetus  it  had  now  gained  was  far  too 
strong  to  be  thus  lightly  checked.  Another 
couple  of  feet  snapped  suddenly  off,  and  the 
great  log  swung  still  farther  round,  gaining  in 
force  and  velocity  each  instant  as  it  answered 
ponderously  to  the  bounding  torrent  that  surged 
resistlessly  around  it. 

Glancing  momentarily  backward,  I  saw  that 
the  lower  and  thicker  end  of  the  great  trunk 
was  still  held  fast  to  the  severed  stump  by  a  few- 
ragged  fibres  of  white  wood.  In  all  probability, 
therefore,  the  floating  tree  would  swing  round 
until  it  touched  the  bank  I  had  started  from, 
where  it  would  be  held  fast  by  the  still  un- 
severed  splinters  which  held   it  to  the  stump, 


IHi:     WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


and  nt  exertions  would   count   for 

;  up  the  leg  nearest  to 

iv  rapidly  approaching 

sustain   a   fracture— I 

ning  impact  to  enable  me  to 

ack  on  to  the  slope  where  I  had  lefl 

ssibility— I    might 

rtainty.      All  at  once,  to  my 

thai   the  swinging  log 

the   filnes    which   still 

■Id   it  imp.     One  by  one  the  white 

sted  and  snapped,  and  before   the 

mplished   more  than  half  the 

the  shore    the  thick   end  rolled   from 

stump  and  slipped  into  the  surging  waters 

the  torrent     and    I  was  adrift,    helpless  and 

,  in  a  sei  thing  river  of  white  foam,  racing 

ng  I         struction  down  a  wild  mountain- 

ie. 

II  .  and  hopelessly  I   looked  from  cliff 

liff  in  a  fruitlei  rch   for  the  means  of 

pe.      All  who  have  seen  the  mad 

and  heard  the  dull,  deafening  roar 

wollen    mountain   torrent    will   know  how 

\    my  dang(  r.      Indeed,  I  can  give 

no  adequate  description  of  the  terrible  picture, 

tl)    majestic   that,   even   in   those 

moments  of  direst  peril,  the  wondrous  grandeur 

-    red    within    me   a    thrill    of 

that  all  the  terrors  of   my   position 

could  not  quell. 

N  idling   breathing  could   have  lived    for   five 

short   minutes  in   those   seething   white   wati  rs. 

_   down   their  steep    mountain-bed, 

reat   jagged    rocks   and    deep  transverse 

es  that  made  the  foaming  torrent  pause,  and 

and  eddy,  and  swirl,  lashed   into  fury  by 

behind  and  below1;  they  carried 

diem,  and  made  one  wonder 

at  the  havoc  and  tation   which  the   mere 

in  upon  the  mountains  could 

their   foundations    under 

mir.-  rashed  into  the  foam 

•■nt    swirling   on    to   final    and 

till  m  Hugi  boulders 

n  thc-ir  sturdy  s<  ttings, 
11   with  a  i  plash   into 

in  a  kind  of  apathy,  I 
perils  in  the  terrible 
nning.  mere 

entanglement  with  a  torn-up  tr- 
into  the  flood,  where  the   breath 
aten  out  of  my  helpless  body 
ind  -        •  is  undercurrents  would  suck 

••■vn. 

>m  time  to  time  the  steep  ravines  through 
■  heights  still    m 


precipitous,  and  I  was  many  times  compelled 
to  crouch  down  upon  the  flying  log  to  prevent 
projecting  or  overhanging  crags  from  sweeping 
me  off.  Sometimes,  too,  the  great  log  struck 
the  mountain -sides  as  it  dashed  impetuously 
round  a  curve  in  the  ravine,  and  the  sickening 
shock  of  the  sudden  impact  well-nigh  hurled 
me  from  my  seat.  But  even  these  momentary 
and  violent  returns  to  land  were  of  no  avail, 
since  the  towering  walls  of  the  mountains 
wne  now  far  too  precipitous  to  afford  me  foot- 
hold even  for  a  single  instant,  and  my  position 
on  the  log  was  every  moment  becoming  more 
perilous  and  insecure. 

When  I  had  started  on  that  wild  race  down 
the  mountain  torrent  there  had  been  but  five 
branches  remaining  on  the  shattered  tree. 
Three  of  these  had  now  been  torn  away,  and 
but  two  remained  to  steady  my  unwieldy  craft. 
The  significance  of  this  will  be  at  once  realized 
when  it  is  remembered  that  a  log  completely 
stripped  of  branches  rolls  in  its  own  displace- 
ment, and  in  water  such  as  this  would  revolve 
with  such  rapidity  that  no  one  could  remain 
seated  upon  it  for  ten  consecutive  seconds. 

Presently  I  became  aware  of  another  sound, 
deeper  and  more  sonorous  than  the  roar  of  the 
racing  torrent.  With  a  sudden  dread  I  peered 
anxiously  ahead  as  I  shot  round  each  successive 
curve  in  the  narrow  ravines ;  but  for  some 
minutes  nothing  was  to  be  seen,  though  the 
sound  increased  in  volume  as  I  proceeded.  At 
last,  when  I  had  grown  almost  sick  with  appre- 
hension and  alarm,  the  scene  I  so  much  dreaded 
burst  upon  my  view.  The  valley  through  which 
I  was  being  whirled  had  been  narrowing  percep- 
tibly for  some  time,  and,  suddenly  shooting 
round  a  sharp  curve  in  the  mountain-side,  I 
saw  to  my  horror  that  it  ended  less  than  a 
hundred  yards  ahead  and  apparently  dropped 
sheer  down  into  another  and  transverse  valley 
broader  than  that  in  which  1  now  was  and  some 
fifty  feet  below. 

I  could  see  as  I  sat  astride  my  racing  log  the 
smooth,  arched  curve  on  the  brink  of  the  fatal 
fall,  where  the  water  dashed  down  to  the  gulf 
below.  With  a  sudden  fear  I  thought  of  those 
two  branches  which  stood  between  me  and  the 
flood  and  hope  went  from  me.  Clutching  the 
log  with  desperate,  frenzied  fingers,  I  set  my 
teeth  and  waited.  A  moment  and  I  was  on  the 
very  brink  of  that  terrible  fall.  I  had  one 
glimpse  of  the  shining  sheet  of  falling  water 
gleaming  through  a  mist  of  hissing  spray,  and 
then  the  log  leaped  far  out  over  the  falls  and 
went  hurling  down  to  the  foaming  river  beneath. 

Never  shall  I  forget  that  terrible  plunge,  with 
the  roar  of  tne  cataract  ringing  in  my  ears  and 
the  nails  of  my  numbed  fingers  cutting  into  the 


ADRIFT    ON    A    LOG. 


245 


THE   LOG   WENT    HURLING   DOWN    TO    THE    FOAMING    RIVER    BENEATH. 


bark  of  the  great  log  with  the  frenzy  of  despair. 
The  roar  died  suddenly  to  a  murmur  as  the 
chill  water  closed  above  my  head,  and  I  went 
down,  down,  still  desperately  clutching  the 
great  log  with  hands  and  knees,  almost  to  the 
bed  of  the  dark  river  below.  Slowly,  very 
slowly,  the  impetus  ceased,  and  the  log,  answer- 
ing to  its  own  buoyancy,  rose  again  to  the 
surface.  But  my  breath  was  well-nigh  spent 
when  the  waters  parted  above  my  head  and  I 
was  able  to  gulp  in  the  precious  air  of  Heaven. 
With  a  sigh  of  unutterable  relief  I  saw  that  I 


had    escaped     the 
whirlpool  at   the  foot 
of  the  falls,  and  was 
now     riding      less 
rapidly    down    a 
broader     and      shal- 
lower    valley.       But 
another    branch    had 
jeen  snapped  off  my 
tree  in    that   terrible 
descent,    and 
now     but     one 
remained     to 
steady  the  great 
log. 

The  river 
into  which  I 
had  dropped 
still  ran  far  too 
swiftly  to  allow 
of  my  swim- 
ming to  land, 
though  but  for 
this  the  task 
would  not  have 
been  difficult  to 
accomplish,  for 
here  and  there 
the  low  moun- 
tains sloped 
more  gently 
down  to  the 
margin  of  the 
stream.  But  he 
who  has  learned 
the  mysteries  of 
the  mountains 
knows  only  too 
well  that  be- 
neath these 
swiftly-speeding 
torrents  lurk 
many  a  trea- 
cherous eddy 
and  undercur- 
rent that  would 
engulf  the 
its   cruel    embrace,  per- 


strongest    swimmer    in 
chance  to  rise  no  more. 

As  soon  as  I  could  sufficiently  collect  my 
scattered  senses,  however,  I  set  to  work  to  dis- 
cover some  way  of  escape.  I  could  not  long  go 
on  like  this,  for  at  any  moment  my  one  remain- 
ing branch  might  break,  and  the  log,  stripped  of 
all  encumbrance,  would  then  roll  helplessly  over 
and  over  and  fling  me  into  the  water.  Suddenly 
I  saw,  floating  alongside,  the  thick,  gnarled 
branch  which  had  last  been  wrenched  from 
the  great   log.      With  a    sudden   inspiration  I 


iiii:    win:    worlp    maca/.im.. 


I  out  and  clutched  it.      Perhaps  I  might 
er  my  unwieldy  craft  sufficiently 

nablc  me  to  land.     The  task 
sible,  hut   it  was  worth  the 

•l  in  that    moment  oi  danger  the  remem 
nnected  itself  with  the 


1    USED   MY    BRANCH    AS    A    BACK-WATER. 


decision  I  now  had  to  make  as  to  which  bank  I 
aid  attemp'.  I  oming  to  the  con- 

clusion that  the  one  to  the  right   must  be  the 
nearer  to  Trunkey  Creek,  I  leaned  far  out  over 
the  swirling  waters  and  used  my  branch  as  a 
-:r.      It   was   terribly  hard   work,  and   I 
more  than  once  in  imminent  peril  of  being 
torn  from  my  seat.     Twice,  too,  the  end  of  the 
1   off,  and  once  I  almost  lost  it 
-ether.     But  slowly,  very   slowly,  the  great 
my   improvised   "helm"  and 
moved  heavily  towards  the  shore. 

"■'muse      I  isted  in  my  frantic 

effor  ach  the  bank,  and  at  last  a  thrill  of 


unspeakable  relief  ran  through  me  as,  nearing 
the  side,  my  feet  grated  on  the  hard  ground 
beneath,  and  with  a  sudden  cry  of  joy  I  leaped 
from  the  log  and  sprang  up. the  slope  of  the  hill. 
For  a  hundred  yards  or  more  I  never  stopped, 
tearing  up  the  mountain-side  in  the  intensity  of 
relief  and  the  reaction  from  peril  to  safety.  Then, 

hatless  as  I  was,  and 
with  the  water  still  drip- 
ping from  my  drenched 
clothes,  I  dropped  rever- 
ently upon  my  knees  in 
those  desolate  mountain 
solitudes,  and,  remember- 
ing to  whom  I  owed  my 
rescue  from  death, 
breathed  a  fervent  thanks- 
giving for  my  escape. 

Wearily  and    painfully 
I  made  my  way  to  Trun- 
key Creek,   encountering 
on  the  way  no  more  for- 
midable   obstacles    than 
numberless  rapid  but  ford- 
able    mountain     streams 
and  an  occasional   gully 
or  gap,  which  I  was  suc- 
cessfully able  to  leap.  But 
that    terrible    race  down 
the   flooded   torrent    had 
lengthened    the    journey 
from    seven   to  well-nigh 
twenty  miles,  and  when  at 
length  I  reached  my  des- 
tination I  was  in  the  last 
stages   of   weariness   and 
exhaustion.     I  was,  how- 
ever, able  to  transact  the 
business    which     had 
brought  me  there,  and  a 
few  days'  rest  in  the  peace- 
ful little  mountain  town- 
ship sufficed  to  renew  my 
strength.     I  found,  too,  to 
my  unbounded  delight,  that  my  good  little  bush 
horse,    becoming     impatient   at    my    prolonged 
absence,  had  snapped  the  law-hide  thong  with 
which   I   had  tethered  him  and  galloped  back 
over  the  mountain  track  to  a  place  called  Tuena, 
where  he  was  caught  and  stabled  until  inquiries 
could  be  instituted  as  to  my  whereabouts. 

So  all  ended  well— far  better,  indeed,  than  I 
had  ever  anticipated.  But,  to  the  last  day  of  my 
life,  I  shall  never  forget  that  terrible  dash  down 
the  swollen  mountain  torrent,  with  the  white 
foam  surging  and  hissing  around  me,  with  the 
din  and  roar  of  many  waters  ringing  in  my  ears, 
and  the  fear  of  death  before  my  eyes. 


Jo  fyn.&Papfiae/ 


£*■ 


THE   CHATEAU    D  ANET,    NEAR  WHICH 

THE  CAVE-DWELLERS'  VILLAGE  IS 

SITUATED. 

From  a  Photo. 


-i  HiriiMi 


Within  a  two  hours'  railway  ride 
of  Paris  there  exists  an  extra- 
ordinary community  of  cave- 
dwellers,  with  the  manners  and 
customs  of  the  Stone  Age.  The  author  visited  this  remarkable  Troglodyte  settlement  on  behalf  of 
"The  Wide  World  Magazine,"  and  illustrates  his  description  with  specially-taken  photographs.  It 
is  difficult  to  conceive  that  such  a  place  as   this    Troglodyte  village   can   exist   in   a   civilized    country 

in  the  twentieth  century. 


ITHIN  a  few  miles  of  the  historic 
plain  of  Ivry,  where,  in  the  battle  of 
which  Macaulay  sang,  King  Henry 
of  Navarre  broke  up  the  armies  of 
the  League  in  1590,  and  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  fine  old  Chateau  d'Anet,  is 
a  village  of  the  Age  of  Stone. 

I  came  upon  it  unexpectedly  one  sunny 
Sunday  morning.  A  vine-grower  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood had  taken  me  out  for  a  walk  to  see 
the  beauties  of  the  country,  when  my  foot 
slipped  and  I  began  running  downhill  con- 
siderably quicker  than  was  either  necessary  or 
comfortable. 

"  Be  careful,"  cried  my  friend,  "  or  you  will 
commit  burglary."  A  friendly  tree  arrested  my 
precipitous  descent,  and  when  I  had  recovered 
my  breath  again  I  asked  him  what  he  meant.- 

"  We  are  within  a  few  yards  of  the  Troglodyte 
village,"  said  my  friend,  "  and  if  you  entered 
one  of  their  dwelling-places  through  the  window 
or  the  chimney — they  amount  to  the  same  thing 
— I  do  not  think  they  would  be  pleased  to  see 
you  or  would  receive  you  hospitably." 
"  Troglodytes  ?  "  said  I. 
'  Yes,  Troglodytes,  or  cave-dwellers  if  you 
prefer  the  term.      These  hills  are  honeycombed 


with  caverns,  and  under  our  feet  there  is  a 
village  of  some  sixty  people,  men,  women,  and 
children,  who  have  no  other  dwelling!  " 

We  made  our  way  carefully  over  an  over- 
hanging bit  of  grass-grown  cliff,  which  formed 
a  sort  of  natural  roof,  and  got  on  to  a  level  bit 
of  road.  In  the  hillside  facing  us  were  several 
gaping  holes  and  a  rough  door  or  two.  "  This 
is  the  village,"  said  my  friend,  "and  if  you 
listen  you  will  hear  the  amiable  inhabitants." 

There  was  a  curious  noise  as  of  cats  quarrelling, 
which  seemed  to  come  out  of  the  very  bowels 
of  the  earth,  and  just  as  I  was  wondering  what 
it  was,  "  Look  !  There  is  Pere  Roclaux,"  my 
friend  exclaimed. 

"And  who  is  Pere  Roclaux?  "  I  asked. 

"The  King  of  the  Cave-dwellers,"  replied  the 
vine-grower.  He  came  down  the  stretch  of 
level  road  towards  us — an  old  man,  above  middle 
height,  with  the  broadest  back  and  shoulders 
that  I  have  ever  seen  on  any  human  being, 
except  Eugen  Sandow.  He  had  long,  loosely 
swinging  arms,  powerful  bandy  legs,  and  a 
springy  step  which  belied  the  yellowish  white 
in  his  hair  and  beard.  He  was  dressed  in  his 
Sunday  garb,  a  much-patched  shirt  and  trousers 
of  blue  cotton  stuff,  wore  a  flat  cap  upon  his 


nil.     WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE 


i  0GLODY1  E    VILLAGE. 


.  I,  and  on  his  feet  a  ragged  pair  of  stockings. 

His   hair  and   beard  were   thickly   matted,   and 

there  was  little  of  his  face  to  be  seen   except  a 

:  of   flashing  dark   brown    eyes.      What    skin 

-  tanned  a  dark  mahogany  by  the 

-un  and  by  exposure. 

As    he    came  towards  us  the  hillside 

lile,    and    while    I    was    still 

_  whether  the  forms  I  saw  upon 

re  human   beings  or  apes  the  tribe 

i      -      lytes  had  clustered  round  us. 

mutt  nenaces    and    in    the    same 

-_     .  for  sous  and  cigarettes. 

difficult  to  believe  that  we  were 

i  little  more  than  two  hours  by  a  fast 

•  from   .  ave-dwellers 

•    were    more    like    half-  clotl 

-  nes  of  the  Stone  Ag< 
thai.  tury  human  beings. 

'  Wh  u     want     with     us  ? 

laux,  in  a  patois  which 
I   founc  ill   to   understand.     Then 

-it    of   my  l,   and 

to    smash    it.      "  V 
our   own   lives  and  we  wont  be 
of,  as  if  v  :  wild 

■     he  growled.      "  Get  out  with 

J 

the  old  man  knew  my     " 
-.    and    this  acquaintance  and  a 

timely    distribution    of  cigarettes   and 
did   much  to   ensure  something 

of  a  welcome,  and  we  began  to  talk.  Fro 


Pere  Roclaux,  although  he 
looks  much  younger,  is,  he  told 
us,  eighty-three  years  old,  and 
ie  has  lived  in  one  or  other  of 
the  caves  on  the  hill 
of  Ezy  for  over  fifty 
years.  He  soon 
cleared  a  circle 
round  us  by  grip- 
ping as  many  naked 
arms  and  legs  in 
either  hand  as  he 
could  clasp  and 
throwing  his  turbu- 
lent tribesmen  from 
us,  and  then  with 
some  use  of  the 
knotted  staff  and  a 
growled  warning  in 
patois  secured  us  a 
few  moments' 
peace. 

On  our  assurance 
that  we  meant  no 
harm  and  wanted  a 
few  photographs, 
owing  to  our  admiration  of  the  picturesqueness 
of  the  place,  the  old  man  became  more  amiable, 
and  even  posed  before  the  camera  at  his  garden 
gate,  as  shown  in  the  photograph.  He  "dressed" 
for  this  performance,  by  the  summary  procedure 


{Photo. 


THE    KING   OF    THE    CAVE-DWELLERS    IX    HIS    "GARDEN.  [Photo. 


THE    CAVE-DWELLERS    OF    EZY. 


249 


THE    UEU.E   OF   THE    TKIBE   AT    BREAKFAST 
From  a  Photo. 


3f  fixing  his  shirt-band   with   a   thorn 

and  putting  on  a  colourless  unbuttoned 

waistcoat.     Then,  with  a  shrill  whistle, 

he  introduced  us  to  his  seventh  wife,  who,  when 

we  snap-shotted   her,   was   having   breakfast    at 

the  cavern  door. 

"You  have  lost  six  wives,  then  ?"  I  remarked. 
"  Not  lost  thein  exactly,"  replied  the 
King,  carelessly  ;  "  five  of  them  are  in 
the  village  somewhere."  Laughing  at 
my  astonishment,  my  friend  the  vine- 
grower  informed  me  that  the  usual  laws 
of  civilization  do  not  prevail  in  the  cave- 
dwellers'  village,  and  that  the  fair  sex 
predominate  largely. 

We  learned  that  the  seventh  Madame 
Roclaux   was  the  belle  of  the    village, 
and  that  the  old  man  had  a  numerous 
progeny — the  Royal  Family,  so  to  speak, 
of  the  cave-dwellers.     One  of  the  King's 
daughters,  a  girl  of  about  thirteen,  was 
shortly  to  be  married  to  a  woodman, 
who  was  to  take  her  to  a  house — a 
veal  house,  she  said,  with  some  pride 
—not   a   cave  —  in    the   forest.      We 
photographed    the    bridal    home    of 
Mile.    Roclaux   on   our   way  back   to 
Anet.     It  will  be  seen  that,  although 
picturesque,     it    is     by    no    means   a 
palatial  dwelling,  but,  if  physiognomy 
stands   for   anything,   she  should    be 
happy,  for  the  young  woodcutter  was 

Vol.  xii. —  32. 


a    tine    figure  of  a  man, 
and    he    wore    an    entire 
suit   of  clothes,  which   is 
evidently  a   rarity  in  that 
part  of  the  world,  although 
some  of  the  cave-dwellers 
do  "  dress  up"  for  their 
excursions  into   town  on 
Sundays   and    fair    days, 
and  are  extremely  proud 
because  they  do  so.     We 
found  these  members  of 
the    tribe   by   no    means 
reluctant    to    be    photo- 
graphed. 

One  package    of   our 
cigarettes  had  gone.  The 
boys  and  girls  -—  it  was 
not  always  easy  to  dis- 
criminate    between     the 
sexes — had  broken  them 
in    halves,  and  all  were 
smoking     greedily,     but 
when  we  asked  to  see  the 
inside   of    the   caves   we 
were    not   very   well    re- 
ceived, although  the  old 
King  was  quite  proud  of 
his  itite'rieur.      He  had  a 
spacious    two-roomed 
rave,  which  was  furnished   after  a  fashion,  and 
lighted  through  the  doorway  and  the  chimney. 
a  rough  hole  in  the  roof.      His  furniture  was  a 
quaint     mixture    of     primitive     necessities    and 


THE    BRIDAI 
From  tr\ 


HOME   OF    Till      KING'S    DAUGHTER— "  A    REAL    HOUSE,    NOT    A.   CAVE, 
SHE    CALLED    IT.  {t  hoto. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


village  luxury.  For  in- 
stance, while  the  tabic  was 
built  up  of  three  rough 
to  cranky  log  legs  with 
them,     and     the 


planks    nailed    on 

the    bark    still     on 

bed   merely  a  mattress  in   the  corner, 

there    was   a   quantity   of   little   china 

ornaments  such  as  are  bought  at  fairs  ; 

and  nailed  into  the  chalk  wall  of  the 

rn   was  a  cuckoo-clock   with   one 

;it    and    no    hands.      "It    doesn't 

re  Roclaux  told  us,   "  but  the 

_'it  is  useful  to  throw  at  intruders  !  " 

And,  to  show  us,  he  tried  it  on  a  small 

ing  in. 

"I'd    like  my  friend  to  see   Julot," 

the  vine-grower  remarked. 

The  cave-dweller  King  shrugged  his 

lis  own  risk,"  he  said. 

"Julot  and  la  fille  Mathilde  have  not 

le  their  cave  for  four  days, 

and  Jul  •   likely  to  be  in  a  good 

tern;  <an  g>  there  if  you 

•bird  cave  up  the  hill, 

a  real   savage,  and 

»glodytes  are  afraid 

ildest  cavern 

I,   and   is  half   savage    and 

half  madman.     "  Get  your  cigarettes 


ready  and  keep  the  camera  out 
of  sight  as  much  as  possible," 
was  the  vine-grower's  warning 
to  me  as  we 
clambered  up 
to  the  two  caves 
which  he  and 
la  fille  Mathilde 
inhabited. 

A  savage  face 
with  black  hair 
and  beard 
peered  at  us 
out  of  the  semi- 
darkness  as  we 
approached  the 
cave,  and  a 
moment  later  a 
large  piece  of 
rock  whirred 
just  between 
our  two  heads, 
but  fortunately 
missed  us.  We 
shouted  "  Bon- 
jour,  Jules ;  we 
are  bringing 
y  o  u  some 
cigarettes,"  in 
friendly  tones  and  as  cheerfully  as  we  could 
manage  in  the  circumstances  ;  and  Jules,  who 
had  been  sitting  up  and  peering  at  us  from 
his    doorway,   came   out    and    stood    before    it. 


CHURCH    PARADE. 


[Photo. 


Front  a\ 


A  COUPLE  OF  YOUNG  TROGLODYTES. 


|  Photo. 


THE    CAVE  -  DWELLERS    OF    EZY. 


251 


The  doorway  to  his  cave  was  not  quite  three  feet 
high,  and  he  had  to  scramble  out  through  it  on 
hands  and  knees.  When  lie  stood  up  the 
ground  around  the  entrance  was  so  rocky  that 
it  was  all  he  could  do  to  keep  his  balance, 
and  our  progress  towards  him  was  a  very  slow 
and  stumbling  one.  He  was  in  shirt  and 
trousers,  and  took  our  cigarettes  roughly,  but 
apparently  in  a  friendly  spirit,  snatching  them 
from  us  much  in  the  way  that  monkeys  at  the 
Zoo  snatch  nuts.  And  then,  without  a  word,  he 
turned  to  crawl  back  "home,''  but  his  bulging 
shirt  caught  in  a  bit  of  protruding  stone  and 
ripped.     Jules  gave  a  yell  which  was  almost  too 


branches  and  some  ragged-looking  cushions. 
No  coverlet,  no  counterpane,  no  blanket,  no 
covering  of  any  sort.  Apparently  when  Jules  is 
cold  he  tears  one  of  his  curtains  down.  I  asked 
if  this  were  so,  but  he  refused  to  answer. 

The  bedroom  was  apparently  Jules's  dining 
room  as  well,  for  by  the  bed's  head  were  a 
couple  of  rough  earthen  pots,  and  there  was  a 
wine-bottle  at  the  foot  of  it,  while  on  the  bed 
itself  a  half-gnawed  bone  showed  that  we  had 
disturbed  the  amiable  gentleman  at  dinner. 
Our  conversation  with  him  was  a  short  one,  and 
his  contribution  to  it  mainly  grunts  and  un- 
intelligible   sounds.      He     was    not    so    much 


From  a] 


IUI.OT    AT     THE    MOUTH    OF    HIS    CAVE. 


{Photo 


much  for  my  composure,  and  tore  the  shirt  off, 
trampling  it  on  the  rocks  under  his  naked  feet 
until  they  bled.  Then  he  yelled  with  laughter 
at  our  evident  dismay,  and  as  he  did  not  say  we 
might  not  follow  him  inside  his  cavern  we 
did  so. 

I  cannot  in  this  article  describe  the  utter 
horror  of  the  place.  It  has  a  sort  of  window  at 
the  far  end,  to  which  Jules  has  made  a  rough 
shutter  and  over  which  hung  something  of  the 
nature  of  a  curtain.  The  cave,  like  all  the 
others,  was  carved  in  the  chalky  limestone  of 
the  hill  and  floored  with  beaten  clay.  A  hole 
served  for  chimney,  and  underneath  it  a  few 
bits  of  dead  wood  were  smouldering.  Up  in 
the  far  corner  was  the  "  bed,"  a  heap  of  small 


annoyed  at  the  camera  as  we  expected  him  to 
be,  although  the  flashlight — we  could  not  resist 
a  photograph  of  him  at  dinner — brought  him  to 
his  feet  with  a  howl  of  terror.  I  do  not  think 
that  he  can  have  seen  anything  of  the  kind 
before,  and  the  stench  of  the  magnesium  fumes 
in  that  den  of  his  was  terrible.  After  we  had 
taken  his  picture  he  threw  himself  on  to  his 
couch,  after  a  very  summary  toilet,  and  took  no 
more  notice  of  us— even  when  the  flashlight 
was  set  off  a  second  time. 

And  now  for  Mile.  Mathilde.  She  had  been 
watching  us  through  the  chimney  of  her  neigh- 
bour's cave,  and  when  we  penetrated  into  hers 
she  met  us  smilingly.  She  was  not  violent  at 
all — at  all  events,  not  when  we  saw  her;    and 


nil;    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


r  fur- 

iiildc 
bed, 

■  Lire. 


ide  it 
m    a     broken 

nd  has  a  mattress  such  as  more  civilized 

mortals  who  live  in  real  houses  usually  affect. 

She  owns  a  ragged  blanket, 

and  some  bed  clothes  too, 

.    and   as  far  as   I 

d  see  her  clothes  and 

the     bed  -  coverings     were 

•f    the    same    stuff. 

Matl  glory    is 


the  wall,  and  T 
do  not  think  she 
ever  sits  on  it. 

And  then  we 
got  away,  and 
found  to  our 
amusement  that 
a  return  to  the 
lower  portion  of 
the  cave -village 
seemed  almost  a 
return  to  civilized 
existence.  Pere 
Roclaux  and 
another  old  man, 
Pere  Penet,  who 
has  a  twisted  leg 
and  hobbles 
about  with  a 
crutch,  were 
much  amused  at 
our  account  of 
our  reception  by 
Julot  and  Ma- 
thilde,  and  told 
us  that  none  of  the  other  villagers  would  dare 
approach  them.  "  He  does  not  often  miss  his 
shot,  le  Cas  Julot,"  he  said  ;  and  a  small  boy 
with  one  foot  tied  up  in  blood-stained  rags 
grinned  meaningly  and  pointed  to  it. 


is  a  real  chair,   with  a 
d'k  at,    and    has    no 

not    matter,    nor   does  a 
-      -  .  for  it  is  propped  up  against 


MAI  HILDE,    THE    PROUD    POSSESSOR   OF    A 

KEAL    BED    AND    A    BROKEN    CHAIR. 

From  n  J'/iotn. 


These  Troglodytes  of  Ezy  live 
chiefly  upon  watercress,  mushrooms, 
and  berries.  The  country  round  is 
very  rich  in  these  products,  and  they 
can  gather  more  than  sufficient  for 
their  needs.  They  grow  salads,  too,  and  beans 
in  what  they  call  their  gardens,  and  get   money 


'THE'   CAVE-DWELLERS    OF    EZY. 


253 


to  buy  bread,  and  even  wine  sometimes,  by 
selling  cress,  mushrooms,  and  salads  that  they 
cannot  eat  themselves,  to  the  villagers  in  the 
neighbourhood.  Two  days'  hard  work  for  a 
profit  of  a  few  halfpence  is  nothing  unusual,  and 
our  visit,  with  its  harvest  of  copper  coinage  and 
even  a  silver  piece  or  two  and  cigarettes,  would, 
Pere  Penet  informed  us,  enrich  the  colony  for 
several  days.  The  way  of  living  of  these  people- 
is  primitive  in  the  extreme. 

They  are,   when   one  gets   used  to   their   un 
couthness,  merry  and  simple  folk,  and  would  be 
quite  happy,  Pere  Penet  said,  if  it  were  not  for 
the  rent. 

"  The  rent  ?  "  I  asked. 

"Oh,  yes.  Our  ca\es  belong  to  a  vine- 
grower  in  Ezy,  and  we  pay  ten  francs  a  year 
rent  for  them,  or  two  shillings  a  quarter." 

"  And  if  you  do  not  pay?  "  I  asked. 

The  old  man  made  a  sweeping  movement 
with  his  crutch  and  a  sharp  hissing  sound. 
"  Pssst  !  Out  we  go,"  he  said,  dramatically.  It 
would  be  laughable  if  it  were  not  really  tragic 
to  think  of  an  eviction  from  such  lodgings  ;  but 
I  can  quite  understand  that  a  landlord  would 
not  unwillingly  get  rid  of  Jules. 

As  we  were  leaving,  an  extraordinary  head, 
with  a  mouth  in  it  which 
literally  stretched  from 
ear  to  ear,  rose  from  a 
hole  a  little  way  above 
us. 

"  Bochtor !  Bochtor  !  " 
the  others  shouted,  and 
in  a  moment  all  the 
children,  and  a  number 
of  the  older  folk,  yelling 
and  laughing,  rushed  in 
hot  pursuit  of  a  strange, 
ape -like  creature,  who 
came  towards  us  crab- 
fashion  upon  hands  and 
feet,  howling  a  some- 
thing which  Pere  Ro- 
claux  said  was  meant  to 
be  the  Marseillaise. 
Before  we  could  bring 
the  camera  into  play 
Bochtor  had  doubled 
and  was  off  again  and 
out  of  sight,  the  others 
all    in     hot     pursuit, 


yelling  and  pelting  him  with  stones.  Poor 
Bochter  is  half-witted.  He  is  a  youth  of 
twenty,  and  makes  such  living  as  he  can 
by  pulling  faces  and  playing  tricks  at  fairs. 
He  often  disappears  for  weeks  together,  and 
although  I  went  back  for  a  photograph  a  few 
days  after  my  first  visit  I  found  that  nobody 
had  any  news  of  him,  and  Julot  had  gone 
too.  But  that  was  quite  an  ordinary  occur- 
rence, and  all  the  Troglodytes  were  glad  when 
Julot  went  away. 

Bochtor's  natural  aptitude  for  making  ugly 
faces  has  been  enhanced  by  a  horrible  accident 
which  he  met  with  about  a  year  ago.  Some 
half-drunken  villagers  bet  him  a  demi  seder  (a 
quarter  of  a  litre)  of  red  wine  that  he  would  not 
hold  a  billiard-ball  inside  his  mouth.  He  got  it 
in,  but  could  not  get  it  out  again,  and  the  poor 
wretch's  jaw  was  broken  by  its  forcible  extrac- 
tion. He  does  not  seem  to. mind  much,  we  were 
told,  for  since  his  accident  he  is  uglier,  and 
therefore  more  popular,  than  ever,  and  earns 
countless  odds  and  ends  of  food,  which  satisfy, 
or  nearly,  his  enormous  appetite. 

As  we  went  back  to  Anet,  a  prosperous  little 
village  nestling  in  the  sunshine,  I  learned  that 
the  cave-dwellers'  one  festivity  occurs  when  one 

of  the  community  hap- 
pens to  die.  Presum- 
ably in  sign  of  joy  that 
one  of  their  number  has 
been  released  from  the 
miseries  of  life,  they 
collect  all  their  wealth  of 
halfpence  and  engage  in 
a  drinking  bout  which 
usually  lasts  several  days 
and  nights.  After  the 
orgie,  when  some  of 
them  have  slept  off  the 
effects  and  are  suffi- 
ciently sober  to  know 
what  they  are  doing,  a 
hole  is  dug  somewhere 
and  the  body  buried  in 
it  without  any  further 
ceremony. 

And  these  people  live 
in  the  twentieth  century, 
within  a  two  hours'  rail- 
way run  and  a  short 
climb  from  Paris  ! 


JULOT    AT   THE    WINDOW    OF    His   CAVE. 

From  a  Photo. 


MEJ^OILlNCliAkE 

or  jpOMINICA 


officer's  account  of  his  visit  to  the  strange  Boiling  Lake  of  Dominica.  So  dreaded  is  this  remarkable 
place,  that  no  native  living  in  the  vicinity  will  go  anywhere  near  it,  and  its  poisonous  fumes  have  proved 
fatal  to  several  previous  explorers.  The  author  illustrates  his  article  with  a  series  of  striking  photographs. 


E,  the  said  Wilfred  M.  Clive,  also 

accidentally,  casually,  and  by  mis 

fortune    got   overpowered    by  the 

poisonous  gas  which   issued  from 

the   lake   and    craters,  and  before 

could    be   obtained,  then  and  there 

ed  and  died. 

ThF  .'erdict  of  a  West  Indian  jury 

which    two  years  ago  inquired    into  the   death 

i  unfortun:  Jish  tourist   named  Clive, 

the  terrors  of  the   Boiling  Lake  of 

It  was  scarcely  reassuring  to  another 

uld-be  explorer.     The  additional  information 

that  Mr  idedied  with  him,  that  another 

•rquently  fell  into  a  pool  of  sulphur 

1  instantly,  and  that  every  native  dreaded 

ppi       h  the  Boiling  Lake  was  by  no  means 

Yel  srood    luck    I   managed 

to  ii  thoroughly  this  mysterious  place, 

which  had  previously  been  the  grave  of  several 

too  curious  and  intrepid  explorers.     The  result 

of  my  exploration  established  the  fact  that  the 

»f  Dominica  i-  >f  the  most 

interesting  acti  •  face  of  the 

>e,  and  yet  one  of  the  nown. 

re  relatii  _  .  let  me  give  a 

of  the  Boiling  Like.     It  is  five  miles 

;nt  from  Roseau,  the  capital  of  Dominica, 

.  ered  about  thirty     years  ago. 

its  on  the  island  did  not  know  of  its 

e  that  time.     The  circumstances 

its  discovery  were  as  now  given. 


One  day  in  the  early  part  of  1870  Mr.  Watt, 
a  Government  official  in  Dominica,  having  lost 
his  way  in  the  thickly  wooded  hills  in  the 
interior  of  the  island,  noticed  a  strong  smell  of 
sulphur.  On  proceeding  farther  he  found  a 
number  of  sulphur  springs,  a  circumstance 
which  he  related  on  his  return  to  Dr.  Nicholls, 
a  well  known  resident.  Nothing  was  done  in 
the  way  of  investigating  the  matter  at  the  time, 
but  some  years  later  these  two  gentlemen  again 
visited  the  spot,  and  in  addition  to  the  springs, 
which  they  found  still  active,  they  discovered  a 
remarkable  boiling  lake. 

live  years  later  an  eruption  took  place  from 
the  crater  in  which  the  Boiling  Lake  and 
springs  both  lie — an  eruption  of  sufficient 
violence  to  discharge  ashes  over  Roseau,  five 
miles  distant.  From  that  day  to  this  no  un- 
usual phenomena  have  been  recorded  owing  to 
the  dread  in  which  the  crater  is  held  by  the 
few  inhabitants  in  its  vicinity. 

This  terror  was  accentuated  by  the  accident 
in  1 901  in  which  Mr.  Clive  lost  his  life.  He 
was  staying  at  Roseau  whilst  on  a  holiday 
tour  from  England,  and  was  attracted  by 
the  curious  stories  he  heard  concerning  the 
Boiling  Lake.  Accordingly  he  made  up  his 
mind  to  visit  it.  Whilst  photographing  on 
its  brink  his  attention  was  called  by  one  of 
his  native  guides — a  man  named  Matson 
Rolle— to  the  fact  that  the  lake  was  in  an 
unusual      condition,      inasmuch      as      it      was 


THE    BOILING    LAKE    OF    DOMINICA. 


255 


in  a  state  of  ebullition,  but  was  giving  off  no 
vapour. 

A  few  moments  later  Matson  Rolle — as  he 
relates  the  story  to  me — saw  the  second  guide, 
his  bi other  Wylie,  lying  on  the  ground  face 
downwards.  Matson  Rolle  shouted  out :  "  Mr. 
Clive  !  Mr.  Clive  !  Wylie  is  dead  !  "  Clive  ran 
up  to  Wylie  and  gave  him  some  whisky  from  his 
flask.  By  this  time  Matson  himself  was  almost 
asphyxiated  by  foul  gases,  and  was  feeling  sick 
and  faint.  He  saw  Wylie  jerking  his  hands  and 
feet  spasmodically,  and  at  Mr.  Clive's  orders  ran 
off  to  bring  a  doctor. 

Some  hours  later  a  relief  party  arrived  and 
found  both  Mr.  Clive  and  Wylie  lying  dead  in 
the  hollow  which  the  lake  occupies.  The 
bodies,  however,  could  not  be  recovered  at  the 
time,  as  several  of  the  party  were  already  suffer- 
ing from  the  effects  of  gas-poisoning,  and  it  was 
not  till  four  days  later  that  the  funeral  took 
place  at  Roseau.  The  position  in  which  Mr. 
Clive's  body  was  found  seemed  to  suggest  that 
after  a  while  he,  too,  had  experienced  ill-effects 
from  the  noxious  gases  and  had  attempted  to 
get  away,  but  had  not  moved  more  than  twenty 
yards  before  he  was  overcome. 

Some  time  afterwards  another  native, 
known  locally  as  Zinzi — the  father  of  Wylie  and 
Matson  Rolle  —  while  acting  as  guide  to  a 
gentleman  who  is  now  one  of  our  Colonial 
Governors,  fell  into  one  of  the  pools  near  the 
sulphur  springs  and  was  instantly  killed. 


From  a] 


A   DISTANT   VIEW    OF   THE    BOILING    LAKE, 


Since  the  time  of  Mr.  Clive's  death  no  one 
had  been  to  the  crater  until  after  the  first 
eruption  at  St.  Vincent  and  Martinique  had 
taken  place.  Mr.  Hesketh  Bell,  the  present 
Administrator  of  the  island,  then  asked  Mr. 
Selwyn  Branch,  a  local  planter,  to  make  a 
report  on  its  condition.  Branch  proceeded  by 
himself  to  the  lake  on  the  18th  of  May  and 
found  it  dry. 

On  reaching  Roseau  on  the  evening  of  the 
ioth  of  June,  1902,  I  was  fortunate  enough  to 
make  Mr.  Branch's  acquaintance,  and  was  able 
to  arrange  for  the  trip  to  the  lake  in  his  com- 
pany on  the  following  morning.  In  anticipation 
of  my  arrival  two  natives  had  been  engaged 
from  a  distant  part  of  the  island  to  carry 
refreshments,  etc.,  as  no  one  living  within  many 
miles  of  the  lake  would  venture  near  it  at  any 
price. 

Our  start,  which  was  timed  for  3.30  a.m., 
was  delayed  for  nearly  two  hours  by  the 
non-arrival  of  our  carriers  ;  but  at  length  the 
party,  consisting  of  Mr.  Selwyn  Branch,  his 
cousin,  Mr.  George  Branch,  and  myself,  set  off 
on  horseback  for  Laudat,  a  mountain  village, 
followed  by  two  natives.  The  road  was  of  the 
poorest,  but  this  was  fully  compensated  for  by 
the  glorious  scenery  through  which  it  ran.  Pre- 
cipitous wooded  cliffs  rose  on  both  sides  of.  the 
Roseau  valley  to  a  height  of  many  hundreds  of 
feet,  while  in  the  depression  between  them  ran 
a  mountain  stream  of  considerable  dimensions, 

on  both  banks  of 
which  planters' 
dwellings  could 
be  seen,  sur- 
rounded with 
groves  of  lime, 
cocoa,  and 
banana  trees. 

Twice  from  the 
road,  which  as- 
cended the  north- 
ern slope  of  the 
valley,  we  made 
out  hot  springs 
at  the  foot  of 
the  hills  oppo- 
site, throwing  up 
steam  ;  and  from 
one  spot  we 
caught  a  glimpse 
of  the  upper  por- 
tion of  a  distant 
water-fall,  which 
is  reported  to 
have  a  clear 
drop  of  five  hun- 
dred feet. 


IPltoto. 


nil      WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE 


Hi  IR  s    PARTY   IN    rill- 
From  a  Photo. 


The  next  four  hours'  walking  pro- 
\ided  me  with  the  most  severe  exertion 
I  have  ever  undergone.  I  was  at  a 
c  msiderable  disadvantage,  too,  in 
having  on  a  pair  of  English  riding 
breeches,  tight  at  the  knees  and  made 
of  thick  rloth.  We  were  anxious  to 
arrive  at  the  lake  early,  so  as  to  escape 
the  heat  of  the  day,  and  pushed  ahead 
at  a  very  fast  walk.  The  path  itself 
was  hardly  distinguishable,  and  to  the 
unpractised  eye  could  not  be  seen  to 
exist ;  in  fact,  at  one  place  even  Selwyn 
Branch  lost  it  altogether  and  spent  half 
an  hour  before  striking  it  again. 

Tropical  forest  trees  grew  every- 
where, meeting  overhead  and  shutting 
out  the  light  and  breeze,  whilst 
creepers,  ferns,  and  bushes  with  extra- 
ordinary leaves  and  stems  formed  a 
dense  undergrowth.  Hour  after  hour 
we  toiled  along  the  narrow  track  in 
single  file,  sinking  at  times  ankle  deep 
in  mud  and  at  others  slipping  on  the 
wet,  twining  tree-roots,  which  in  parts 
covered  the  whole  surface  of  the 
ground.  Sharp  stones  after  a  while 
became  very  noticeable  through 
sodden  boot  -  soles,  and  welcome 
were  the  places  where  decaying 
leaves  and  vegetation  had  made  a 
soft    carpet    inches    deep. 


Parties  of  natives  whom 

-     n  repair^ 

road,   or   carrying 

fruit  and  veget- 

uarket,  after 

■  ■     ■ 

died 
in      th 
■  I  >on't 
Finally, 
• 

just 
in      p 

- 
.main   i 

if- a 
in 

left 

and 
Mr. 
yn     Branch    leading. 
cleai 


OF   'Mil-.    BOILING    Rl 


\rhoto. 


THE    BOILING    LAKE    OE    DOMINICA. 


257 


Scrambling  up  almost  precipitous  cliff-sides, 
with  knees  touching  our  chins,  and  holding  on 
with  both  hands  to  the  coarse,  strong  grasses 
on  either  side,  we  gained  summit  after  summit, 
and  only  obtained  relief  from  the  oppressive 
moist  heat  of  the  forest  depths  when  we  emerged 
upon  some  mountain  torrent  and  slipped  across 
its  boulder-strewn  bed.  At  length,  after  a  long 
pull  up  a  steep,  narrow  ledge,  we  arrived  on  a 
mountain  top,  from  which,  for  the  first  time,  the 
absence  of  trees  permitted  a  view  of  the  sur- 
rounding country.  This  was,  in  fact,  the  edge 
of  the  crater,  and  in  the  hollow  below  steam 
could  be  s^en  rising  from  the  Boiling  Lake. 
Deep  down  at  our  feet  vapour  was  issuing  with 
considerable  vi<  lence  from  a  number  of  sulphur 
springs,  the  odour  of  which  had  been  perceptible 
for  some  time  pas'. 

Stretching  away  to  the  westward  as  far  as  tin' 
sea,  and  separated  from  the  crater  by  the 
narrowest  of  ridges,  on  which  we  stood,  was 
the  Roseau  valley,  whilst  a  similar  natural 
feature  extended  from  the  east  of  the  crater, 
which  is  open  on  that  side,  to  the  windward 
shores  of  the  island.  The  Boiling  Lake  appeared 
to  be  only  a  few  hundred  yards  away  from  us, 
but  it  took  us  over  an  hour  to  reach  it  from  the 
spot  where  we  stood. 

The  climb  down  the  almost  vertical  side  of 
the  interior  of  the  crater — which  is  about  five 
hundred  feet  deep— was  a  difficult  undertakin.;. 
The  ground  was  composed  of  a  loose,  clayey 
material,  very  treacher- 
ous under  foot,  and 
capable  of  considerably 
accelerating  our  descent 
— under  some  thousands 
of  tons  of  decomposing 
rock.  A  cold  wind,  too, 
was  beating  violently 
against  us,  and  this  did 
not  help  us  to  keep  our 
balance.  After  a  rime, 
however,  the  climbing  be- 
came easier,  and  at  length 
we  reached  the  hot  springs, 
which,  with  their  sur- 
roundings, bore  a  striking 
resemblance  to  similar 
springs  I  had  previously 
visited  at  St.  Lucia, 
though  the  activity  of 
these  was  cons;derablv 
greater. 

Steam  was  rising  with 
more  or  less  violence  from 
a  number  of  vents  in  the 
bed  of  a  hot  river.  From 
one      water     was 

Vol.  xii.  —  33. 


sprayed  up  to  a  height  of  twenty  or  thirty  feet 
in  the  air,   the  noise  of  each  discharge  sound 
ing  like  the  throbbing  of  a  ship's  propeller. 

Away  from  the  springs  sparkling  streamlets 
were  to  be  seen  over  the  whole  bottom  of  the 
crater,  the  temperature  of  some  being  high, 
whilst  others  were  icy  cold.  The  white,  yellow, 
and  red  deposits  in  their  beds  lent  their  colours 
to  the  water  trickling  over  them.  The  larger 
streams  were  in  the  nature  of  torrents ;  and 
thin,  greyish  waters  dashed  down  in  streaming 
cascades,  forming  pools  over  which  one  could 
scarcely  step.  The  entire  bed  of  the  crater 
was  composed  of  the  same  crumbling,  chalky 
material  which  I  found  in  the  St.  Lucia 
Soufriere,  and  there  were  the  same  deposits  of 
beautiful  amber-coloured  crystals. 

In  one  tepid  stream  I  found  some  curious, 
cigar-shaped  caterpillars,  about  an  inch  in 
length  and  a  quarter  of  an  inch  in  diameter  : 
and  in  a  shallow  excavation  which  we  made 
we  discovered  the  remains  of  beetles,  cock- 
roaches, and  spiders  still  in  a  perfect  state  of 
preservation,  but  encased  in  a  coating  of  fine 
sulphur.  All  this  time  the  smells  around  us 
were  most  offensive,  and  the  carriers,  who  had 
followed  us  so  far,  were  becoming  terrified  and 
were  on  the  point  of  bolting  back. 

Curiously  enough,  the  vegetation  in  this  reek- 
ing inferno  did  not  seem  to  have  suffered  much, 
and  only  rarely  were  any  signs  of  blight  or  even 
discoloration     visible.       After     crossing     three 


being 


THE     nOILING     LAKE,     PHOTOGRAPHED     THROUGH     THE    CLOUD? 

COVER    ITS   SURFACE. 


OF     STEAM     WHICH      PERPETUALLY 


fHE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


'A,     /!<///, 


/  <<&< 


/ /<  //i  i //  >  1 1 1 


■ 


7 

... 

the 
they 
were 
tions 

wind. 


LAKK,  THE    SULPHUR    SPRINGS,    AND    rHE 

Fron  by  the  Author. 


IOT    RIVKKs. 


small    hot-water    rivers,    separated    from    each 

otlv  .   bush-covered  ridges,  we  finally 

d  ourselves  looking  down   into  the  weird 

This  extraordinary  sheet  of 

at   the  bottom  of  a  basin,  which  has 

-ides  cliffs  forty  or  fifty  feet  in  height.     The 

lake  does   not   entirely  fill   the   bottom   of  this 

-.  as  there  is  a  flat  ledge  running 

d    the   edge,   which    varies   in    width    from 

nty  yards   on  the  west  to  almost 

.      i  the  east. 

about  fifty  yards  in  diameter  and 

two   pure   cold-water   streams,   one   of 

ich    enters    the    hollow    in    the    form    of   a 

■eautiful   cascade.  ray  mingling   with  the 

ma-  m   rising  from  the   boiling  water. 

In  view  ol  1    fatality  at   this   spot   the 

hollow  was  a  risky  experiment. 

•  \er,  one  at  a  time. 

vere  noticeable,  we 

all  :  vn  there  together.       Then 

'.lie  relics  of  poor  Clive's  party. 

ig  on  the  ground  were  a  dilapidated   native 

■   with  steam,  an   enamelled  iron 

:i    pannikin,  a    rusty  cutlass,    and   a 

cup  th  i   to  Wylie. 

dark  water  of  the  lake  beat 

.     eiks,  whilst  in  the  centre — 

point  of  activity — the  ebul- 


tremity    of    the    lake 


lit  ion  was  so  violent  that 
at  times  a  dome -shaped 
mass  of  water  rose  to  a 
height  of  four  or  five 
feet,  to  subside  again 
suddenly  into  innumer- 
able bubbles  and  wave- 
lets. Dense  clouds  of 
steam  were  being  given 
off  all  the  time  from 
the  whole  surface  of 
lake.  These,  as 
rose  into  the  air, 
blown  in  all  direc- 
by  a  strong,  cold 
The  latter  strik- 
ing one's  face  in  the 
intervals  contrasted  un- 
pleasantly with  the  moist 
warmth  of  the  steam. 
There  was  little  noise  in 
the  hollow,  and  the  sul- 
phur smell  was  not  nearly 
so  strong  as  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  springs. 

At  the  eastern  ex- 
the  water  found  egress 
through  a  narrow  "V"  shaped  opening  in 
the  cliffs,  and  joined  farther  down  the  other 
streams  which  issued  from  the  crater.  After 
refreshing  ourselves  from  the  cascade  and 
laughing  at  the  terror  of  our  native  carriers — 
whom  nothing  would  have  induced  to  descend 
to  the  water's  edge — I  walked  round  to  the 
farther  end  of  the  lake,  so  as  to  have  the  wind 
behind  me  in  photographing  its  boiling  surface. 
In  returning  I  had  a  narrow  escape  of  slipping 
into  the  water.  The  treacherous  edge  crumbled 
away  under  my  feet  without  warning,  and  I  only 
just  succeeded  in  saving  myself  and  my  camera 
from  what  I  was  told  would  have  been  certain 
death  in  the  seething  waters  of  the  lake. 

None  of  us  were  sorry  when  we  turned  back 
at  last,  and  had  recrossed  the  swampy  crater 
floor  and  reclimbed  its  side.  Arrived  at  the  top 
once  more,  we  could  see  traces  of  the  eruption 
of  1880  in  the  shape  of  a  few  stunted  tree-trunks, 
similar  to  those  to  be  found  all  over  the  destroyed 
areas  round  Mont  Pelee  and  the  Soufriere  of  St. 
Vincent.  And  so  we  bade  farewell  to  the  Boiling 
Lake  and  set  off  on  our  return  journey.  "We 
reached  Roseau  twelve  hours  after  leaving  it  in 
the  morning,  our  horses  quite  tired  out,  and  I, 
at  least,  have  no  wish  ever  to  make  that  journey 
again. 


n 


Ine  hero  of  the  most  lurid   melodrama  ever  staged 

was  never  placed  in  a  more  awful  position  than  that 

of  Conductor  Fred  Loomis,  the  central  figure  of  this 

narrative.     Two  train -wreckers  laid  a  dastardly  plot  to  blow  up  a 

bridge  and  hurl  a  train  down  a  precipice.     The  conductor  learnt  of 

the  scheme  and  endeavoured  to  warn  the  train,  but  was  captured  by 

the  robbers,  who,  in  revenge,  bound  him  to  the  doomed  bridge,  directly  over  the  lighted  mine  ! 


T  the  time  of  this  story  Captain  Fred 
Loomis,  who  narrated  it  to  me,  was 
a  railway  conductor.  He  ran  the 
"  mixed  "  train,  freight  and  passenger, 
between  the  little  junction  town  of 
Englewood,  six  miles  below  Deadwood,  and  the 
city  of  Spearfish,  in  the  heart  of  the  famous 
Black  Hills  of  Dakota. 

This  road  was  insignificant  in  point  of  track- 
age, as  it  was  only  thirty-one  miles  in  length. 
But  it  boasted  no  fewer  than  three  hundred  and 
seventy  curves!  There  were  two  loops  in  that 
thirty-one  miles,  seven  ellipses,  and  the  letter 
"  S  "  four  times,  to  say  nothing  of  just  the  plain 
curves.  Likewise,  to  add  to  the  tangled-'up 
nature  of  the  right  of  way,  there  were  thirty-three 
bridges — big  bridges  and  little  bridges,  complex 
and  simple  ones.  Then  a  part  of  the  line  stood 
practically  "  on  end,"  the  gradient  of  one  con- 
siderable stretch,  where  the  road  followed  the 
old  Spearfish  River  bed,  being  over  two  hundred 
feet  to  the  mile  ! 

A  great  many  tourists  now  add  this  beautiful 
canyon  to  their  itinerary  as  a  side  trip,  but  in 


the  earlier  days  these  gloomy  gorges  afforded 
ideal  localities  for  the  work  of  the  train  wrecker. 
That  no  such  affair  ever  reached  a  successful 
culmination,  however,  was  due  partly  to  the 
robbers'  "  bad  luck,"  but  chiefly  to  intrepid 
train-crews  and  the  safeguarding  regulations  of 
the  railroad  corporation. 

Nowadays,  while  the  wild  mountain  scenery 
remains  intact,  there  are  too  many  settlements 
and  outlying  "cliff-dwellers"  in  the  gorges  to 
make  such  deeds  possible,  or  at  least  promising, 
to  prospective  "hold-ups."  Probably  the  nearest 
approach  to  a  successful  "  plant  "  by  these  gentry 
is  embodied  in  this  experience  of  Mr.  Loomis. 

One  morning  in  the  fall  of  1887  Conductor 
Loomis's  train  —  the  "accommodation"  for 
Spearfish— while  "  looping  the  loop "  on  this 
wonderfully  tangled-up  stretch  of  road  near 
Spearfish  Canyon,  directly  beyond  the  "Deep 
Cut  Rock "  curve,  had  a  "  close  call  for  the 
ditch  "  by  running  into  a  big  land-slide.  Land- 
slides being  unusual  at  that  season,  this  one 
caught  the  engineer  only  partially  on  his  guard, 
and  the  engine's  nose  was  fairly  into  the  slide 


THE    WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


:  is  :•  mm.    The  consequence 
ition"  was  stalled  there 
g  it  hours,  shovellers  having  to  be 
i  brakeman  on  foot  from  Spear 

onus  resolved  to  improve 
new  small  calibre   Rem 
in   hour  or  so.     He  was 
v  inclined,  and  the  canyons  were 

with  hirds. 

ul  preliminary  look  around,  there 

vide  first  of  all   tor  the  comfort  of 

the  conductor  scrambled  leisurely 

rth  wall  beyond  "  I  >eep  (  lit." 

'.    -  with  his  shot-gun.  the  loose, 

■:!    made    it    an    excessivel)     difficult 

nly,  upon  rounding  a  huge  abutment  ol 

■no  hundred  feet  from  the  base  of  the 

mis    •  ught    to   attention  with  a 

beholding,   not   a   dozen  paces 

lad  of  him.  a  full-grown   mountain  cat-   the 

anin  rally  referred  to  in  Western  America 

-   mething  seemed  to  be  amiss 

as  the  hunter  ji'dged  instantly 

arattitui 

I   performanet  s  :   and 

n    advancing 

•  d  to  dis- 
r    that    one   of    its 
had 
-    :    by 
land  -  slide. 
I   that  a   p< 

.   was 
pinning    that 
•     ■      the 
.  n  d . 

_ht 

snarling  brut 

the  moment  it 

.   a 

rm 

id 

mis      beheld 

the    animal    in 

■ 

-    ■ 
ul  and  the 

jling 

] u  e  n  1 1 ;. 
spoke   the  lions 


.11!::  E  OF    ITS    FOREI'AWS 

HT    BY   THE   LAND-SI 


The  loud  hissing  of  escaping  steam  from  the 
engine  below,  together  with  the  loud  roaring  of 
the  wind — which  in  the  Spearfish  gorge  is  never 
quiet — had  drowned  the  sound  of  the  beast's 
angry  protests  until  Looniis  was  close  to  it,  and 
the  unexpected  encounter  startled  him.  Averse 
to  "potting"  even  a  "raging  lion"  when  help- 
less, Mr.  Loomis  paused  to  consider  what  was 
best  to  do.  He  was  in  want  of  just  such  a 
"specimen,"  wishing  to  have  the  same  mounted 
for  a  friend  in  the  Last.  Here  was  a  chance, 
with  a  little  care,  to  give  the  beast  his  quietus 
without  injury  to  the  fur  or  hide.  He  had  his 
revolver.  One  shot  in  the  ear  of  the  lion, 
and  the  thing  would  be  done. 

Just  here,  however,  came  another  surprise, 
which  changed  the  whole  aspect  of  affairs. 
While  Loomis  stood  hesitating,  a  second  brute, 
a  male  of  the  same  species  of  cat,  came  bound- 
ing down  the  steep  incline,  giving  voice  to  a 
steady  and  deafening  roar — a  sound  which 
jarred  the  conductor's  nerves,  and  induced  him 
to  retreat  forthwith  behind  a  boulder. 

"  lotting"  a  trapped  female  mountain  lion  at 
close    range,    and    engaging    her    rampant    lord 

and  master  in  a 
hand-to-hand 
conflict,  when 
one's  only  wea- 
pons are  a  simple 
bird  gun  and  a 
pocket  pistol,  are 
two  very  different 
propositions. 

The  conduc- 
tor, therefore, 
wisely  decided  to 
keep  in  hiding 
behind  the  boul- 
der and  content 
himself  with 
such  stolen  ob- 
servation  as 
seemed  comfort- 
ably conducive 
to  health. 

The     majestic 
male      beast 
seemed  at  a  loss 
just  at  first  what 
to    make    of   his 
companion's  pre- 
dicament.     First 
he     "nosed" 
about  the  rock  near  the 
imprisoned    foot,    once 
or    twice     striking     the 
impediment     with     his 
paw   as    though    to  test 


WHAT    HAPPENED    AT    BRIDGE    "21. 


261 


'  DEEI>   CUT   ROCK,      NEAR    WHICH  CONDUCTION   I 

From  a\  into  the  land-si.idi-. 


T  K  XIX   R  A  > 

[i'lioto. 


its  stability ;  and  then  he  fell  to  caressing  the 
face  of  his  captive  mate  with  his  muzzle,  with 
an  appearance  of  almost  human  sympathy.  By 
his  expression  and  actions  he  seemed  to  be 
announcing  to  the  female  that  no  assistance  was 
in  any  way  possible. 

Suddenly,  as  Loomis 
craned  his  neck  eagerly 
round  the  boulder,  watch- 
ing the  animals,  two 
deafening  rifle-shots  rang 
out  from  some  near-by 
spot,  and  with  a  shriek 
of  agony  and  one  deep 
and  convulsive  shudder 
the  captive  female  fell 
over  dead.  Apparently 
slightly  hit,  the  terrified 
male  disappeared  up  the 
mountain  side,  the  air 
filled  with  his  howls  of 
pain  and  fright. 

Glancing  round  in 
surprise  the  conductor 
soon  discovered  the 
marksmen.  On  the  in- 
stant the  rifle-shots 
sounded  two  stalwart 
men,  one  a  white  and 
the  other  a  Northern 
Cheyenne  Indian,  as  his 


head-gear  made  plain,  broke  from  cover  a  few- 
feet  to  the  east  of  the  railroad  man's  hiding- 
place,  having  been  crouching  there,  apparently 
engaged,  as  Loomis  was,  in  watching  the 
manoeuvres  of  the  animals. 

As  the  pair  came  hurrying  along,  the  white 
Granger  noisily  and  the  Indian  stoically  jubilant, 
Loomis  felt  a  curious  premonition  to  be  wary  of 
them.     Instead  of  greeting  them  cheerily,  there 
fore,  as  it  was  his  first  impulse  to  do,  and  con- 
gratulating them  upon  the  result  of  their  shots, 
he  remained  perfectly  quiet.    Had  the  approach- 
ing men  not  been  so  intent  upon  their  quarry— 
the  white  stranger  essayed  a  second  shot  at  the 
fleeing  lion  as  he  and  the  red  man  ran  forward— 
they  must  surely  have  perceived  this  predecessor 
of  theirs  before  the  boulder  once  more  hid  the 
latter  from  view. 

A  moment  later  the  fragment  of  a  sentence 
which  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  on-coming  white 
stranger  not  only  served  to  startle  the  concealed 
Loomis.  but  caused  him  at  the  same  instant  to 
bless  the  lucky  premonition  of  danger  which 
had  kept  him  hidden. 

"Tulip,"  Loomis  heard  the  white  man  re- 
mark, gaspingly,  to  his  companion,  as  the  pair 
sped  past,  "  them  bullets  was  meant  for  Tom 
( )rmsby,  but " 

Just  then,  however,  the  speaker's  foot  sank 
into  a  slight  depression  and  caused  him  to 
stumble,  so  that  the  balance  of  his  words  were 
inaudible. 

This    was   one   of  those   occasions,   however, 


A   VIEW    IN    Sl'EARFlSH    CANYON. 


[Burlington  Railroad. 


THE     WIP1.    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


iad    revealed   a    whole 

e    hiding    man    would     have    been 

had     he     hoard     no    more 

p,"  which  told   him  who 

lian    was.      He    identified 

hin  this    name    as    a    renegade 

•roper  tribal  nam  :  was  "  Two 

i  K.r  v  apture,  as   I  oomis  re 

Is  were 

pending    for 

nun  i  m  e  s ,  i  n  - 

murders. 

••  1  om   i  "  was  to 

.ai    equall) 

r    name,    Ormsby 

g    then,  and    as    late 

.  die  railroai 

ger  on    this 
the  Burlington 

0  running  men 

had  by  this  time  readied 

t  where  die  moun- 

lion   lay,  its  last  eon 

vuls  and 

began  to 

ith    his    knife,    pre- 

.  inning    it, 

the  1     man    e<: 

limit    of 

his     shelter,     determined 

5   much  of  any 

inal  plot  which  might 

he  could  learn 

overhearing    the   talk 

of  these  two  men. 

"  1  ulip"        •   Ormsby  on  his  future  "scalp 

the  time,  as  Loom  is  happened  to  know. 

for  the  -  one  day  some  months 

this,  had  put  the  Indian  off  the  "blind 

'  just  out  of   Englewood.     An  Indian 

rgets  an  injury,  if  he  ever  does  ;  and 

he  never  foi  g  me. 

Indian's    white    companion 

the  o  nductor  was  uncertain.     If  it 

to    be    a  rado    called    "Buck" 

as  he   half  suspected — that 

a  at  the  time  but  shortly  out  of  the 

dal   prison  — then  there  was  surely  some 

us    mi  being    concocted.        Forsyth 

lid  not  have  tarried  even   the  eight  or  nine 

out  of  duress  in  this  country, 

well  known,  without  having  some 

it  "  in  sight. 

it  turned  out,  was  to  find  out  very 

lat  it  was  indeed    Buck  Forsyth 

m    he    was    eavesdropping,    but    that 

there  really  was  a  "  plant :   hatching  ;  he  was  to 

learn  all  the  infamous  details  of  the  same  ;  and 


«  iiVDL'l    I  in;    FUIU)    LOOM  I 


likewise  he  was  to  find  out  what  a  dangerous 
game  eavesdropping  is.  He  was  to  have  all 
this  knowledge  forced  upon  him,  furthermore, 
under  most  disagreeable  circumstances. 

The  first  half  dozen  sentences  which  Loomis 
was  enabled  to  catch  from  his  new  position  at 
the  edge  of  the  rock  put  him  practically  in 
possession  of  the  rough  outlines  of  a  plot  which, 

for  sheer  cruelty  and 
cold  blooded  wickedness, 
he  had  never  thought 
it  possible  for  human 
beings  to  conceive.  Yet 
these  men,  or  fiends, 
were  discussing  the 
actual  execution  of  the 
dastardly  work  with  the 
same  calmness  they 
would  have  manifested 
in  arranging  an  ordinary 
business  venture. 

Rendered  desperate 
and  impatient  by  the 
uniform  failure  of  all 
prior  train-wrecking  and 
hold  -  up  plots  in  this 
vicinity  —  intrepid  train- 
crews  having  succeeded 
in  besting  the  robbers 
in  every  attempt  up  to 
date,  generally  by  simply 
being  "  prepared  "  for 
the  latter,  and  proving  to 
be  the  handiest  artists 
with  the  shooting  -  irons 
-  this  pair  of  rascals 
had  concocted  a  murderous  scheme  which 
was  to  effectually  dispose  of  these  obstinate 
employes  and  enable  them  to  loot  a  train  at 
their  leisure.  In  plain  words,  they  proposed, 
by  the  use  of  giant  powder  skilfully  placed, 
to  wreck  Bridge  "21"  at  the  moment  when 
the  12.40  morning  up  -  train  should  be  well 
upon  that  structure,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
let  the  train  itself  fall  into  the  dry  river  gorge 
which  Bridge  "21"  had  been  built  to  span. 
Only  the  "  rankest  of  luck,"  as  the  white 
scoundrel  expressed  it,  could  leave  anyone  on 
the  train  sufficiently  alive  after  the  catastrophe 
to  offer  resistance.  Those  who  were  not  stunned 
or  killed  by  the  concussion  of  the  dynamite 
would  be  disposed  of  effectually  by  falling  with 
the  wreckage  into  the  old  river-bed— a  matter 
of  some  sixty-five  feet.  The  robbers  were  to 
await  the  outcome  of  the  explosion  in  some  safe 
spot  on  the  upper  bank.  If  things  "  went  off" 
to  suit  them  after  they  had  sprung  their  mine, 
they  were  then  to  hasten  down  to  the  battered 
wreck  of  the  train  and  loot  it. 


[Photo. 


WHAT    HAPPENED    AT    BRIDGE    "21. 


263 


Horrified  and  excited  at  what  he  had  over- 
heard, Loomis  inadvertently  stuck  his  face  a 
little  too  far  above  the  edge  of  the  boulder — for 
just  the  fraction  of  a  minute.  "  Which  fool 
features,"  said  Mr.  Loomis  in  relating  the  story, 
"  that  lynx-eyed  redskin  espied  as  quick  as  a 
flash."  With  the  leap  of  a  panther  the  Indian 
sprang   upon   the   white   man  and    pinned  him 


THE    INDIAN     STRANG    UPON    THE    WHITE    MAN    AND    FINNED    HIM     BACK    AGAINST    THE.  BOCK. 


back  against  the  rock,  with  the  grip  of  iron 
fingers  at  his  throat  and  a  knife  poised  over 
his  heart. 

Loomis  had  no  time  to  use  his  own  weapons, 
the  action  was  so  rapid — and  physically  he  was 
no  match  for  the  brawny  savage. 

Of  more  brutal  nature  even  than  the  Indian, 
the  white  desperado  hastened  to  the  spot, 
sputtering  vicious  oaths  as  he  came,  and  with 
no  word  of  warning  dealt  the  conductor,  help- 
less prisoner  though  he  was,  a  heavy  blow 
across  the  temples  with  the  butt  of  his  rifle, 
knocking  the  unfortunate  man  senseless. 

This  entire  adventure,  or  series  of  adventures, 
so  far,  had  occupied,   all  told,   less   than   fifty 


minutes.  Quite  within  hailing  distance  under 
ordinary  conditions  were  half-a-dozen  human 
beings — passengers  and  railroad  employes  —  all 
of  them  entirely  ignorant  of  what  was  being 
enacted  above  them. 

When  Loomis    next  came  to  his  senses  he 

found  himself  lying,  bound  hand  and  foot,  on 

what  seemed  to   be  the  floor  of  a  small,  dark 

cave,  partially  lighted  by  two  resinous 

pine-fagots  stuck  into  crevices  in  the 

rocky    sides.       Many    of    these    caves 

exist  in  this  South   Dakota  limestone 

formation,  some  of  them  extending  for 

miles  under  the  hills. 

Kneeling  close  by, 
looking  him  intently  in 
the  face  and  seemingly 
in  an  attitude  of  strained 
listening,  were  his  two 
captors. 

A  moment  more  and 
the  prisoner  heard  the 
booming  noise  made 
by  the  locomotive's  fog- 
siren,  and  knew  straight- 
way that  this  was  not 
only  what  the  two  men 
were  listening  to  hear 
repeated,  but  that  it  was 
a  signal  of  warning  and 
recall  for  himself. 

It  was  then  nearly 
night-fall.  The  section- 
hands  and  train  -  crew, 
as  Loomis  learned  later, 
had  at  length  despaired 
of  removing  the  ob- 
struction from  the  right- 
of  -  way  before  being 
overtaken  by  darkness, 
and  so  had  "  cross-cut " 
the  loop  with  a  tem- 
porary line  of  rails, 
which  would  allow  the 
belated  "accommodation"  to  edge  cautiously 
around  the  land-slide. 

Everything  being  in  readiness,  the  fog-horn 
must  have  been  sounding  at  intervals  for 
nearly  an  hour  to  call  in  the  missing  conductor, 
before  its  jarring  resonance  brought  that  gentle- 
man back  to  life.  This  fact  he  also  learned 
subsequently. 

Search  parties  were  finally  sent  out  from  the 
train  to  ascertain  if  the  conductor  had  met 
with  an  accident,  and  one  of  these  groups  of 
anxious  searchers  passed  within  six  feet  of  the 
cave  in  which  the  very  person  they  were  in 
search  of  was  secreted,  the  entrance  of  the 
cavern  being  hidden  in  dense  brush. 


Illi:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


in  the  cavern  heard  the  party 
if  their  talk   being  distin 
I  oomis   was    tempted    to 

At  the  first   mo\  ;>en 

veiled   their  revolvers 

tive's  head.      The   <  \ 

l,  bent  his   menacing  glance   lull 

t'  the  captive  with  a  look  which 

the  latter  to  make  a  sound  :  and 

nvict  maintained  until  the 

rty  had  out  o(   hearing.      To 


the  picturesque  Spearfish  side  trip  is  made 
over  a  busy  stretch  of  track,  the  town  itself 
being  a  modern  city  of  considerable  importance. 
The  danger  of  an  attempt  at  the  rescue  of 
their  prisoner  being  thus  averted,  the  two 
['loiters  engaged  for  some  moments  in  an 
earnest  conversation  in  the  Indian  tongue,  of 
which  Loomis  knew  enough  to  ascertain  that 
his  own  doom  was  being  discussed.  The  white 
man  suggested  that  it  would  be  wise  to  hold  their 
prisoner  as  a  hostage.     He  pointed  out  that  if 


KU    I  III  HA.NDKE  i  ■    •  ,  \i ,    HIM." 


himself  future  bother  of  the  kind,  Forsyth 

.   handkerchief  at  this 
2,  him. 

m  eternity  to  the  prisoner, 

h  dark,  the  belated  Spearfish 

nt  puffing  down  the  canyon 

:  -  uardian  ;  the  exigencies  of  the 

th   the   importunities    of   the 

clayed      passengers,      having 

rendered  the  departure  imperative. 

da t ion  ;'  was  at  that  time  the 
_;ular  train  on  the  branch,  though  to-day 


their  work  at  Bridge  "21"  by  any  mischance  went 
wrong  and  they  themselves  got  captured,  they 
''Mild  say  that  unless  they  were  set  at  liberty 
the  life  of  Loomis  would  be  forfeited.  They 
would  leave  him  gagged  and  bound  in  this  cave, 
the  location  of  which  was  known  only  to  them- 
selves, and  if  their  captors  refused  to  make  terms 
then  Loomis  would  be  left  to  his  fate. 

This  "  Buck  "  Forsyth  was  the  same  reprobate 
who  had  robbed  the  Canton  Bank  two  years 
before,  at  which  time  he  had  not  only  shot  the 
bank's    aged    president,    but    had    also    fired 


WHAT    HAPPENED    AT    BRIDGE    "21. 


265 


indiscriminately  into  a  crowd  of  non-interfering 
bystanders,  wounding  four,  the  murderous 
scoundrel  having  performed  this  latter  deed 
from  pure  wantonness.  A  reward  of  some 
twenty-five  hundred  dollars  had  induced  one  of 
Forsyth's  accomplices  to  assist  the  detectives  in 
effecting  his  capture,  and  he  had  only  recently 
left  prison  after  serving  his  sentence. 

"Buck"  Forsyth  was  an  absolutely  unscrupu- 
lous and  extremely  dangerous  man,  most  of  whose 
life  had  been  lived  between  stone  walls.  He 
possessed,  however,  a  certain  shrewdness  of  the 
criminal  variety.  It  was  a  clever  idea  of  his  to 
safeguard  himself  and  his  partner  against 
possible  imprisonment  by  holding  Loomis  — 
who,  as  Forsyth  knew,  had  relations  high  up  in 
the  councils  of  the  Burlington  Railroad — as  a 
hostage  for  their  own  freedom. 

This  detail  disposed  of,  the  two  robbers  fell 
to  discussing  their  nefarious  enterprise,  seeming 
to  be  in  doubt  as  to  which  direction  a  bridge  of 
the  "21  "  class  would  fall  when  disrupted  by 
giant  powder. 

Bridge  "21,"  which  had  been  selected  as  the 
scene  of  the  coming  tragedy,  was  an  old- 
fashioned  "  box  "  bridge,  enclosed  in  plank  and 
roofed  over  in  the  form  of  a  square  tunnel — a 
style  of  structure  more  common  in  the  early 
days  of  railroads  than  it  was  even  in  1887. 

Twice  when  a  look  of  intelligence  came  to 
the  prisoner's  face  while  his  captors  were  dis- 
cussing the  fall  of  the  bridge,  and  again  when 
his  horror  at  some  fiendish  detail  of  the  plot 
manifested  itself  in  the  conductor's  features, 
Forsyth,  suspecting  that  the  prisoner  under- 
stood their  talk,  scowlingly  peered  into  the 
latter's  face,  as  if  in  doubt  whether  that  fact 
called  for  a  blow  or  not ;  and  at  length,  when 
it  happened  again,  Forsyth  deliberately  gathered 
a  handful  of  loose  dirt  and  packed  it  tightly 
into  the  prisoner's  ears.  After  this  Loomis 
heard  no  more. 

But  he  was  doing,  all  this  time,  a  little  quiet 
plotting  himself. 

How  he  got  through  the  long,  weary  hours 
up  to  midnight  he  could  never  recall.  His 
vision  limited  to  that  murky  cave,  his  limbs 
bound,  his  mouth  gagged,  nothing  to  rest  his 
eyes  upon  in  the  dim  light  save  the  villainous 
features  of  that  precious  pair  of  cut-throats,  he 
would  have  found  solace,  had  he  not  been  thus 
ruthlessly  robbed  of  his  hearing,  in  listening  to 
the  sounds  from  without  —  the  fury  of  the 
mountain  gale  and  the  occasional  scream  of 
some  prowling  beast. 

As  midnight  drew  nigh  the  captive  affected 
an  air  of  drowsiness,  and  when,  soon  after,  the 
robbers  sought  to  tighten  his  bonds,  preparatory 
to  starting   forth   uoon   their  awful   work,   they 

Vol.  xii. — 34. 


were  obliged  to  bestow  a  number  of  vicious 
digs  upon  his  ribs  to  secure  more  wakeful 
attention. 

As  a  result  of  this  assumed  indifference  the 
two  miscreants  were  content  with  a  careless  twist 
or  two  at  the  captive's  bonds,  deeming  them 
already  secure  ;  and,  as  a  further  outcome  of  the 
conductor's  bogus  sleepiness,  barely  had  the 
two  scoundrels  disappeared  in  the  outer  dark- 
ness, some  twenty  minutes  prior  to  midnight, 
heading  toward  Bridge  "  21,"  before  Conductor 
Loomis,  freed  of  bonds  and  gag,  and  with  his 
ears  cleared  of  impediments,  was  directing  his 
way  furtively  and  cautiously  in  the  same  general 
direction. 

Although  some  sixteen  years  have  elapsed 
since  that  eventful  night  in  the  old  conductor's 
career,  I  noticed  a  pallor  in  his  cheeks  and  an 
unmistakable  tremor  in  his  voice  when  he 
recounted  to  me  the  balance  of  the  awful  ex- 
periences of  that  night.  He  had,  of  course, 
been  disarmed  when  made  captive  by  the  train- 
wreckers  ;  and  besides  taking  away  his  weapons 
they  had  cleared  his  pockets  of  all  the  cash  they 
contained.  Two  things  only  they  had  over- 
looked, or  else  neglected  to  remove,  deeming 
them  valueless — two  railway  "  torpedoes  "  or 
detonators.  These  Loomis  discovered  when  he 
instinctively  ran  his  hands  through  his  pockets 
after  rising  to  his  feet  a  free  man,  and  they 
suggested  to  him  at  once  a  way  of  warning  the 
train,  which  must  even  now  be  coming  on 
towards  destruction. 

Until  satisfied  that  no  unlucky  chance  had 
caused  either  of  the  two  miscreants  to  be  listen- 
ing near  the  cave,  whereby  his  escape  would 
be  known,  the  conductor  paused  breathlessly 
between  his  steps,  keenly  alert  for  suspicious 
sounds ;  but  at  length,  reassured,  he  moved 
down  the  dark  mountain  slope  at  the  best  pace 
consistent  with  a  pathway  filled  with  unseen 
dangers. 

Reaching  the  abrupt  bend  in  the  canyon  wall, 
at  the  spot  from  which  the  trend  is  due  south 
into  Spearfish  City,  he  saw  instantly,  reflected 
on  the  dark  sky,  the  glow  from  the  opened 
furnace  door  of  the  up-train's  locomotive.  Then 
there  fell  on  his  ear,  a  second  later,  the  laboured 
exhaust  and  churning  tremble  as  the  train  itself 
took  the  heavy  grade  ;  and  he  knew  from  these 
signs  that  the  time  for  action  was  close  at  hand. 

Above  all  the  more  or  less  imaginary  fears 
which  harassed  the  conductor  there  was  one 
imminent  danger  which,  if  it  came — and  the 
anxious  conductor  knew  it  might  develop  at  any 
moment^would,  he  feared,  make  all  rescue  of 
the  imperilled  train  by  his  aid  impossible.  This 
was  the  rising  moon,  now  nearly  due.  The 
plan  which  had  flashed  across  his  brain  like  an 


riu    Wide  world   magazine. 


while    still   a    prisoner,    bound    and 

was  the  simple  one  ot  heading  the  two 

:'   in    the    race    for    the    bridge    and 

iin-crew  of  the  perils  ahead.     He 

meet   the   train   a  safe  distance 

i  the  incline,  a  matter  of  say  one  hundred 

w    Bridge    u2i,"   and  swing  himself 

ird  the  engine,  as  they  would  be  running  a 

up  the  heavy  grade.     Failing 

this  he  could  warn  the  engineer  that  something 

using   the   detonators  which,  as 

luck  would  have  it.  the  train-wreckers  had  left 

him. 

At  the  very  instant  when  his  foot  struck  the 
railway  embankment  the  contingency  he  had 
dreaded  came  to  pass — a  broad  shaft  of  moon- 
light shot  down  the  mountain  and  illumined 
the  gorge  with  the  brightness  of  day ! 

The  escaping  prisoner  had  directed  his  course 
perly,  and  had  come  out  near  the  peak  of 
the  incline  on  the  Spearfish  side  of  Bridge  "  21," 
but  decidedly  in  too  close  proximity  to  that 
structure  to  suit  him,  considering  that  the  moon 
was  shining,  and  that  there  were  a  pair  of 
ant  and  murderous  train-wreckers  likely  to 
add  themselves  without  warning  to  the  land- 
scape. From  this  point  onward  I  cannot  do 
better  than  tell  the  story  in  Loomis's  own  words. 

I'll  admit  I  was  scared.  I  was  grey-headed 
at  thirty.  That  night's  experience  was  the 
principal  cause  of  it. 

Until  I  struck  the  track  and  the  big  round 
moon  came  into  sight,  luck  seemed  coming 
my  way.  But  then  I  began  having  trouble. 
Naturally,  the  first  thing  I  did  was  to  take 
a   glance   over   toward  the  bridge,   which   was 

rcely  twenty  yards  away. 

Right  in  the  centre  of  the  track,  but  luckily 
looking  in  the  other  direction,  I  beheld  the  two 
hold-ups.  They  were  both  of  them  big  fellows, 
but  either  the  manner  in  which  the  light  struck 
them  or  the  state  of  my  nerves  gave  them  the 
;re  of  giants.     I  was  too  frightened  to  run, 

.  just  did  the  next  best  thing  and  sat  down. 
I  tried  to  look  as  small  as  I  could,  hoping  they 
would  look  over  me. 

'  Rattled  "  is  about  the  word  to  express  my 

condition    of  mind.      I    couldn't    think   for   a 

couple  of  minutes  what  course  to  take.    I  knew, 

r,  a  second  later  that  I'd  got  to  do  some- 

:hing,  and  that  mighty  quick,  for  I  could  feel 

the  ground  begin  to  tremble  under  me  with  the 

;ht  of  the  approaching  train. 

le    two    robbers    had  all  the   guns,   both 

mine  and  their  own  ;  and  here,  sixty  feet  to  one 

side  of  me,  was  a  covered  bridge  all  mined  to 

blow  up,  to  let  a  train  full  of  human  beings  fall 

down  a  precipice,  while  half  a  mile  or  less  on 


the  other  side  was  the  train  itself  which,  as  soon 
as  it  got  up  the  grade,  would  come  toward  me 
at  the  top  of  its  speed.  Betwixt  me  and  the 
bridge  were  the  robbers,  in  easy  rifle-shot  dis- 
tance, getting  ready  to  touch  off  the  fuse,  and 
the  moonlight  showed  up  just  in  time  to  make 
every  move  of  mine  seen,  and  show  the  hold-ups 
a  good  place  to  aim. 

That  was  the  lay-out.  Wouldn't  that  have 
"  rattled  "  most  men  ? 

Well,  presently,  as  if  I  were  not  already  in 
plain  enough  sight,  the  flash  of  the  locomotive's 
head-light  came  shimmering  down  the  narrow 
track,  and  focused  full  on  me.  I  don't  believe 
a  single  spear  of  it  went  any  farther  than  just  to 
light  me  up.     Anyhow,  I  thought  so  then. 

And  it  was  at  this  interesting  juncture  that 
Tulip,  the  Cheyenne,  turned  to  look  at  the  train 
and  spied  me !  I  never  found  out  whether  he 
recognised  me  as  his  recent  prisoner  or  not. 
When  the  Indian  yelled  and  struck  out  for 
me — Forsyth  being  needed  to  watch  the  fuse 
they  had  by  that  time  lighted  somewhere  close 
to  the  bridge — why,  I  naturally  struck  out  also. 
I  can  speak  jestingly  of  all  this  now,  but  I  was 
serious  enough  when  it  was  all  transpiring,  you 
may  rest  assured. 

The  only  really  logical  thing  I  did  in  this  part 
of  the  adventure  was  to  place  those  two 
"  torpedoes  " — which  I  had  in  my  hand  ready 
for  emergencies — on  the  rails,  one  on  each  side 
of  where  I  was  sitting,  before  I  started  that  race 
for  life. 

I  was  somewhat  less  heavy  twenty  years  back 
than  I  am  to-day,  and  I  put  up  a  pretty  good 
race  for  a  non-professional  sprinter.  If  the 
distance  'twixt  me  and  the  on-coming  train  had 
been  three  -  fourths  of  a  mile,  instead  of  less 
than  half  of  that,  I  think  I  should  have  won. 

As  it  was,  at  about  my  tenth  leap,  a  pistol 
cracked  behind  me  and  a  cold,  tingling  sensa- 
tion across  my  wrist — there  where  you  see  that 
white  ridge—  told  me  that  I  was  hit.  I  had  my 
two  hands  pressed  to  my  sides  while  running, 
and  one  of  half-a-dozen  shots  the  Indian  let 
loose  at  me  passed  between  my  left  arm  and 
my  body,  just  grazing  my  wrist. 

Thinking  I  was  seriously  hurt  I  mechanically 
slowed  down  a  trifle,  and  the  red  man  caught  me. 
He  just  wrapped  those  two  sinewy  arms  of  his 
about  my  body,  managing  between  his  gasps  for 
breath  to  work  in  a  few  guttural  Cheyenne 
swear  words — and  the  next  thing  I  fully  realized 
was  that  I  was  being  bound  to  an  upright  in 
the  south  entrance  of  the  covered  bridge.  I 
knew  intuitively  that  I  was  being  placed  where 
the  exploding  giant  powder  would  put  it  out  of 
my  power  to  make  further  trouble  for  the  train- 
robbers.       I    said   a   short  prayer  beneath  my 


WHAT    HAPPENED    AT    BRIDGE    "21." 


267 


A    PISTOL   CRACKED    BEHIND    MK. 


breath,  though  the  horror  of  the  thing,  the 
rapid  sequence  of  events,  and  the  long  string  of 
exciting  incidents  I  had  taken  part  in  naturally 
tended  to  prevent  my  fully  realizing  what  was 
about  to  befall. 

I  don't  believe  I  was  really  frightened  at 
that  moment.  I  was  too  benumbed,  or  men- 
tally paralyzed.  I  remembered  later  that  I 
gazed  curiously  up  through  the  long  black 
bridge  tunnel,  then  down  into  the  gloomy 
abyss  between  the  open  sleepers  below  my  feet. 

And  then  —  then  came  the  sound  which 
cleared  my  fogged  brain  !  I  heard  the  splutter- 
ing noise  of  a  burning  fuse  !  Another  second, 
and  I  saw  a  shower  of  sparks,  down  in  the 
underpinning  beneath  the  bridge. 

I  had  heard  the  whistle  of  cannon-balls  when 
a  very  young  man,  and  the  "ping"  of  rifle 
bullets  close  at  hand,  but  not  once  had  I  heard 


a  sound  so  indescribably  para- 
lyzing as  that  half-muffled  hissing 
beneath  my  feet. 

Then  came  a  glare  of  light, 
looking  as  big  as  though  the 
midday  sun  itself  had  dropped 
down  out  of  the  sky  before  my 
eyes ;  I  felt  myself  seized  in  a 
powerful  grasp,  heard  a  subdued 
muttering,  and — well,  I  thought 
it  was  all  over. 

I  awoke  to  find  myself  in  a 
room  at  the  Spearfish  hotel,  safe 
and  sound,  save  for  the  trifling 
flesh-wound  where  Tulip's  bullet 
had  grazed  my  wrist ! 

It  was  several  days  before  I 
gathered  all  the  details  of  what 
transpired  there  in  the  canyon 
over  and  above  what  I  had  myself 
gone  through. 

It  seems  that  after  the  up- 
train  reached  the  top  of  the  hill 
she  stopped  to  set  down  the 
first  contingent  of  a  party  of 
searchers  who  had  been  sent 
out  from  Spearfish  to  scour  the 
hills  in  search  of  myself  —  a 
possible  action  on  the  part  of 
my  friends  which,  in  my  excite- 
ment, had  never  occurred  to 
me.  Two  other  similar  parties 
were  to  be  put  off  the  train 
farther  along  in  the  cut,  it 
having  been  decided  that  I 
had  met  with  some  serious 
mishap. 

The  locomotive  had    scarcely 

begun   moving    again    after    this 

dead  stop  when  it  ran  over  the 

two  warning  "  torpedoes  "  I   had  placed  on  the 

track  ;  and  then  the  engineer,  Maxwell,  shut  off 

power  again. 

Without  this  second  pause,  it  was  figured  out 
later,  the  train  would  just  have  been  entering 
the  bridge  when  the  "blow-up"  came.  This, 
however,  wasn't  a  very  serious  explosion 
after  all.  The  powder  was  apparently  wet ;  and 
although  the  explosion  loosened  three  or  four 
sleepers,  and  might  have  derailed  the  train,  it 
was  a  practical  "fizzle."  There  was  quite 
enough  force  in  it,  however,  to  have  sent  me  out 
of  the  world,  as  I  was  fastened  almost  directly 
above  the  mine. 

Jumping  off  the  engine  when  the  "  torpedoes  " 
exploded,  both  engineer  and  fireman  caught 
sight  of  me  fastened  up  there  in  the  full  glare 
of  the  head-light.  They  suspected  from  prior 
experiences    what    was    afoot,    and  at    the    im- 


!HK    WIDE    WOR1  D    MAGAZINE 


rushed  to 
.1  carried  me  out 

Both    Forsyth  and 

.«  had,  d  when  the)  saw  how 

had  fallen  through  ;  though 


killed  by  a  Dakota  sheriff's  posse,  five  years  ago, 
while  they  were  trying  to  arrest  him  for  stealing 
horses  which  was  one  of  "Two  Leaps's" 
specialities. 

I   may  be   mistaken   as   to  this,   however,  as 
re  were  a   number  of  similar  occurrences  a 


IED    TO    MV    KESCUE   AND   CUT    MY    BONDS 


i  not  sorry  to  add  that  Forsyth  was  hai 
own    in     I 

Time  there:    and    I    i  that   that   squares 
.  and  m 

i me  of  th-  I     eyenne  has 

m>'    n                  f  have    just   a    faint 

Election,  however,  that  it   was  he   who   was 


few  years  back  in  the  South  Dakota  "  Bad 
Lands."  Nevertheless,  it  is  fairly  safe,  I  think, 
to  say  that  "Two  Leaps''  has  gone  to  the  happy 
hunting-grounds  of  the  red  men.  What  he  is 
doing  there,  of  course,  I  do  not  know;  but  he 
will  steal  horses  if  there  is  the  least  bit  of  a 
chance. 


Our  Trek   into   Griqualand. 

By  Mrs.    Fred    Maturin. 
II. 

The  authoress  undertook  a  long  and  arduous  trek  into  Griqualand  in  a  Cape-cart  in  order  to 
witness  something  of  the  "  repatriation  "  of  the  Boers.  She  describes  her  adventures  in  a  bright 
and   amusing  fashion,  and    throws    some   interesting   side-lights  on    the   state  of  affairs  now  prevailing 

in  the  new  Colonies. 


E  did  not  get  away  from  Wolmaran- 
stad  till  5  p.m. 

Our  next  stop  was  to  be  a  winkel 
(store)  thirty  miles  away,  at  Riet- 
fontein,  a  lonely  enough  spot  in  the 
heart  of  the  veldt,  as,  indeed,  Wolmaranstad 
i'.self  is.  The  storekeeper,  however,  is  obliged 
by  Government  to  keep  three  beds  for  travellers, 
and  to  this  haven  we  pressed  on,  darkness 
rapidly  closing  in  round  us. 

Had  anyone  at  Wolmaranstad  offered  even 
me,  the  one  lady  of  the  party,  a  bed  for  the 
night,  knowing  that  the  chances  were  against 
our  reaching  any  shelter  that  night,  we  would 
gladly  have  waited,  but,  as  it  was,  we  had 
perforce  to  go  on. 

We  felt  wretched  as  the  night  grew  apace, 
enveloping  the  great  silent  desert  around  us 
in  an  impenetrable  blackness.  No  stars  or 
moon  shed  on  us  their  friendly  beam  !  Black 
clouds  hid  them  from  earth.  Low  and 
ominous  rumblings  on  the  horizon  told  of  a 
coming  storm,  and  an  African  thunderstorm 
on  the  open  veldt  at  night,  in  a  Cape -cart 
with  no  lights  and  a  team  of  sixteen  terrified 
mules,  is  apt  to  be  a  serious  matter. 

The  darkness  grew  intense.  The  road  was 
a  mere  rough  track,  and  consisted  of  deep 
heavy  sand  through  which  our  wheels  dragged 
noiselessly  and  painfully. 

The  mules  seemed  worn  out,  and  had  to 
be  urged  on  every  moment.  Far  as  the  eye 
could  reach  was  darkness,  and,  as  I  have 
already  observed,  we  had  no  lights  of  any  kind. 

"  Me-Charlie  "  kept  saying,  "  We  can't  be  far 
from  Rietfontein  now,"  but,  alas  !  no  cheering 
spark  denoted  any  sign  of  human  habitation  ; 
and  every  time  we  asked  the  Kaffir,  "Where 
is  the  winkel,  boy  ?  "  he  would  point  with  his 
whip  through  the  darkness,  and  say,  mournfully, 
"  Ha— ar  is  de  winkel!'" 

Dar,  short  and  not  drawn  out,  means  that 
the  distance  is  not  great,  but  if  they  say  Da — ar, 
long  drawn  out,  the  distance  is  as  great  in  pro- 


portion as  the  time  ihat  the  voice  spenas  over 
the  word  !  So  each  time  he  gave  us  a  long 
Da — a — ar  our  hearts  sank  more  and  more. 

A  gleam  of  a  far-distant  light  at  last  !  On 
we  pressed,  and  in  about  an  hour  it  seemed 
appreciably  nearer.  Our  spirits  revived,  when 
suddenly  down  tore  the  mules  into  a  deep 
spruit  or  river,  which  we,  of  course,  could  not 
see  ahead  of  us.  We  simply  found  ourselves 
shooting  down  a  steep  incline,  and  then  crash 
into  some  deep  water  !  A  wheel  went  up  on 
to  a  rock,  and  over  we  toppled. 

A  scene  of  fearful  confusion  followed  in  the 
darkness.  The  hood  alone  saved  me  shooting 
into  the  water,  but  I  hung  on.  "  Me-Charlie  " 
and  Spotty  burst  into  imprecations  at  each 
other.  The  mules  plunged.  The  Kaffir  shouted. 
I  was  told  to  hold  on,  and  finally,  after  about 
twenty  minutes,  the  cart  was  righted,  and  we 
emerged  on  the  opposite  bank  more  dead  than 
alive. 

The  red  light  now  shone  down  on  us  from 
the  black  brow  of  what  was  evidently  a  hill,  and 
we  made  for  it.     It  tvas  not  the  winkel ! 

Instead,  a  long,  low  farm  was  disclosed,  and 
as  we  drew  up  a  Boer  came  out  and  informed 
us,  to  our  dismay,  that  the  winkel  was  still  ten 
miles  away  on  quite  another  track,  and  we  could 
never  reach  it  that  night  !  As  he  spoke  a  vivid 
flash  of  forked  lightning  rent  the  black  sky 
ahead  of  us. 

We  asked  him  if  he  would  give  us  shelter. 
"  Yes,"  he  said  ;  but  he  had  only  one  bedroom, 
which  the  lady  could  have,  and  the  two  gentle- 
men must  sleep  in  the  stoep. 

He  seemed  a  friendly  old  fellow,  and  I  was 
for  accepting  his  offer  at  once,  but  my  two  com- 
panions seemed  nervous,  and  feared  treachery. 

We  had  no  idea  where  we  were.  Some  of 
these  outlying  farms  are  exceedingly  lonely. 
We  might  very  easily  be  made  away  with  out  of 
revenge  or  robbery  ;  and  who  would  ever  trace 
us  ?  We  had  evidently  strayed  from  the  beaten 
track. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


ning  rumble  and  flash,  how- 

We  would  risk  it. 

\\  i  and  told  the  Kaffir  to  out- 

ep  under  the  cart  himself, 

to   be    in    readiness  in 

d  him. 

ushered   us   into   his  kitchen, 

I  a   pretty  young  girl  of  eighteen— 

and    marvellously    spruce   and 

three  little  girls,  and  two  lads 

n  and  sixteen,  whom   he  introduced  as 

lildren. 

in    deep    mourning.     The    mother 
and    three    other    children     had    died    in    the 
■  trati<  in  camp. 
The    whole    party    stared    at    US    with    open- 
mouthed    interest       I  :.  v    never   see    a    human 
I     is   was  the  first  farm  we  had   passed 
roof  on,   and 
:iad  already  seen 
r    mor- 
ion    bla<  kened 
ruins.     W  d  the 

.   and    the  far- 
mer said    it   was  be- 
the  h< 

man's. 
who  ha'  .  it. 

He  vn  while 

k  o(  a  m 
delicious  dish       eggs 
pre- 
pared for  us,  and  told 
us    many  of 

the  war  with  perl 
d-temper,  thoi: 
y. 

ie  walls  and  floors  of  all  the  rooms   were 

mud.       Our    dinner-table    consisted    of    some 

planks   suj  on   legs.     His    five    younger 

-•   od  opposite  us,  their  backs  squeezed 

;iud  wall,  staring  at  us  as  we  ate,  with  all 

their  ten  large  dark  eyes. 

The  pointed  out  the  two  boys.     They 

had    fought    in   a  commando,    and    Henrick— 
■    a    shy -faced    lad    of    sixteen,    still 
_   a  mere  child — had  shot   five   English- 
men,  had   taken   two    pri  and    had    got 
and   braces   of  one   Englishman 
his  hand  hung  as  a  trophy  in  the 
ep!        We  afterwards  saw  them. 

'   childish  delight  of  the  old  Boer 
>  he  related   this  amused   even   while  it  sad- 
hut  the  narration  appeared  to  raise 
and    distrust    in    the    minds    of    "  Me- 

vent  into  the  stoep  and 

talked    together.     It    was    agreed    that    one    of 

i  would  keep  awake  all  night,  taking  it  in 


Frotn  a  | 


A    RUINE  1)    li'   Ml 


turns— which,  I  may  add,  meant  Spotty  sleep- 
ing and  "  Me-Charlie  "  keeping  awake.  Each 
carried  a  loaded  revolver  in  his  pocket,  and 
these  were  duly  examined.  Then,  as  the  night 
was  going  on  apace  and  we  had  to  start  again 
at  daylight,  I  bade  the  old  Boer,  his  daughter, 
and  my  companions  good-night,  and  retired  to 
my  room,  the  farm,  of  course,  being  all  on  one 
floor. 

The  bed  looked  clean,  though  rough,  and 
Johanna,  the  girl  of  eighteen,  escorted  me  to  it, 
and  showed  me,  in  a  simple,  guileless  manner, 
some  field-glasses  on  the  window-sill  —  which 
opened  on  to  the  stoep — which  her  father  had, 
I  understood,  "  taken  from  Lord  Methuen.'; 
On  the  brown  mud  wall  was  pasted  a  Bovril 
advertisement  of  a  wounded  English  officer  in 
the  arms  of  a  pretty  Red  Cross  nurse,  entitled 

"  An  Angel  of  Pity," 
the  nurse,  of  course, 
being  in  the  act  of 
pouring  Bovril  down 
the  warrior's  throat. 

I  soon  fell  asleep, 
strange  as  were  my 
surroundings ;  but  I 
was  worn  out  with 
the  day's  trek. 

"  Me-Charlie  "  and 
Spotty  lay  in  the 
stoep  on  to  which 
my  window  opened. 
I  was  awakened  about 
an  hour  after  by  the 
bursting  of  the  storm 
that  had  been  threat- 
ening so  long. 
It  lasted  over  an  hour,  and  was  truly  terrific. 
Thankful  were  we  to  be  under  shelter.  The 
two  men  constantly  called  out  to  ask  if  I  had 
been  struck,  I  making  the  same  inquiry  of 
them,  each  of  us  hardly  able  to  hear  the  other's 
voices. 

Finally,  when  the  worst  seemed  over,  I  once 
more  fell  asleep. 
But  not  for  long. 

"  Me-Charlie  "  was  lying  with  his  eyes  half 
shut,  about  i  a.m.,  when  he  heard  a  movement 
in  the  passage.  Without  moving  he  turned  his 
eyes,  to  behold  a  tall  dark  figure  softly  turning 
the  handle  of  my  bedroom  door  ! 

With  a  yell  he  started  up  and  pointed  his 
pistol  at  the  intruder. 

It  was  only  Johanna,  the  Boer  girl,  pale  and 
trembling.  Might  she  call  me  ?  Her  little 
sister  Lisbeth  was  dying  of  fits.  The  English 
lady  might  know  what  to  do.  The  poor  girl 
was  sobbing  and  crying.  I  got  up  at  once,  put 
on    a   dressing-gown,  and  was   ushered   into  a 


\Photo. 


OUR    TREK    INTO    GRIQUALAND. 


271 


crowded  bedroom  with  mud  walls,  lit  by  one 
bad  candle.  The  whole  family  slept  in  it.  It 
was  chock-full  of  beds,  out  of  which  the  inmates 
had  scrambled,  and  now  knelt  and  stood  round 
the  poor  widowed  father,  who  sat  on  a  chair 
with  the  child  on  his  knee,  insensible,  her  limbs 
and  face  undergoing  violent  contortions. 

Everyone    seemed    frantic   with    fright    and 


THE    FATHER   SAT  ON   A   CHAIR    WITH    THE   CHILD   ON    HIS   KNEE 


anxiety,  and  Johanna  sobbed  to  me  in  broken 
English  that  this  was  her  poor  dead  mother's 
favourite  child. 

Meanwhile  the  father  sat  and  squeezed  the 
child's  throat,  and  would  certainly  have  squeezed 
the  last  breath  out  of  her  had  I  not  begged  him 
to  stop  it,  loosen  her  nightdress,  and  give  her 
air. 

It  was  a  hot  night,  yet  every  chink  was  shut ! 

They  next  fetched  cold  water,  and  thrust  the 
poor  child's  feet  into  it !  I  was  much  struck  at 
their  utter  ignorance  of  how  to  deal  with  illness. 
I  recommended  a  hot  bath,  and  had  my  work 
cut  out  getting  it  ready  and  running  to  stop  one 
or  another  member  of  the  family  from  squeezing 
Lisbeth's  throat  with  all  their  ten  fingers,  calling 
piteously  to  her  the  while,  "  Bettee  !  Lisbeth  ! 
Bettee  I "  the  poor  little  invalid  struggling 
frantically  and  trying  to  beat  them  off. 


"Me-Charlie"  also  came  to  the  rescue  and 
helped  light  a  fire,  while  the  useful  Spotty  lay 
in  the  stoep,  murmured  something  about  hot 
salt  and  mustard  plasters,  and  went  to  sleep 
again. 

I  got  back  to  bed  about  3  a.m.,  and  at  four 
was  up  again  and  dressed  ready  for  our  trek. 
The  little  Lisbeth   was  in  a  very  dangerous 

condition.  I  felt  so  sorry 
for  them  all,  and  we 
were  all  ashamed  of  our 
groundless  suspicions  of 
the  old  Boer,  who  had 
been  all  that  was  kind 
and  hospitable. 

The  sun  was  now 
rising  and  it  was  daylight, 
and  one  could  see  how 
lovely  the  farm  was.  We 
were  far  off  the  track, 
which  we  could  see  five 
miles  away.  On  the 
distant  ten  -  mile  -  away- 
sky-line  stood  up  a  white 
patch — the  tv  hike  1 1 

We  stopped  at  the 
winkel  for  breakfast. 
The  store,  a  tin  hut  with 
a  whitewashed  house  of 
mud  close  by,  is  kept  by 
an  Englishman  and  his 
brother.  The  elder,  who 
owned  a  nice  farm  close 
by,  was  given  six  hours 
by  the  British  column  in 
which  to  load  up  a  wag- 
gon with  his  most  cher- 
ished belongings,  and 
the  rest  was  then  set 
fire  to.  This  was  as  necessary  in  the  case 
of  Englishmen  as  of  Boers,  and  is  a  reply  to 
those  who  have  made  an  outcry  about  the 
burning  of  the  farms. 

I  cooked  our  breakfast  here  in  a  mud- 
kitchen,  in  company  with  a  Basuto  girl,  whose 
face  was  profusely  ornamented  with  designs  in 
blue  chalk.  The  storekeeper  said  my  omelette 
looked  so  nice  that  we  invited  him  to  share  it 
with  us,  and  we  all  sat  down  together. 

The  lonely  storekeeper  remarked  pathetically, 
"  Why  doesn't  my  food  ever  taste  like  this  ? " 
but  I  thought  I  had  better  not  say,  "  Because 
your  Basuto  girl  stirs  it  with  her  finger,  sucking 
that  member  clean  each  time."  Where  ignor- 
ance is  bliss — don't  disturb  it. 

Bloemhof. 
This  little  township  suffered  heavily  during 
the  war,  and  is  now  a  blackened  ruin.     Not  a 


THE    WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


The  little  church  is  alone 

turned  into   the  repatria- 

.    and    pi  >  a   curious   spectacle, 

flour  and  oats  ! 
An   hospital.      I  am   glad   to 
nsecrat 
I  mules  again  here,  and  continued 
our  jour' 

Kareepan. 

er    halt,    and    fresh    mules.     What    a 

s  :     The  day  is   roasting 

it    we    had    an    argument    every   time    I 

ested  let    the    mules 

drink  !     I  hope  in  the  next  lite  Spotty  will  be  a 

mule  himself,  and  have  to  draw  a  heavy  Cape- 

.    piled    with     luggage    and    four    people, 

through  a  sandy  track  without  a  drop  of  water, 

and  on  a  roasting  day. 

How   lovely,    how    vast,   how    solemn   is    this 
end  dt '.      Our  army  marched  all  along 

here,  and  have  left  grim   milestones  of  the  path 
thes    '  in  thousands  of  bleaching  skeletons 


:hed  all  along  here  and  have  left  grim  milestones  of  the  path.': 


of  mules,  cattle,  and  now  and  then  a  man.     By 
■■-  alone  we  know  our  w 

retary-birds  just  now— huge 
creatures  on  tw  _  -  .       ...       |  hey  walk  in  a 

dignified    manixr.    and    are    the  of   large 

storks.      W  also  seen  several  antelopes, 


utterly  fearless.  They  stood  close  to  the  track 
and  watched  us  pass.  Man  has  no  terrors  for 
them  yet. 

Kromellanboorg  Farm  (burnt). 
A  most  picturesque  Melrose  Abbey  sort  of 
ruin  ;  This  farm,  being  a  very  fine,  well-cared- 
for  one,  was  spared  burning,  until  two  English- 
men, riding  up  and  seeing  a  woman's  white 
petticoat  floating  as  a  "  white  flag  "  on  the  end 
of  a  long  pole,  were  brutally  murdered  in  cold 
blood  on  asking  for  a  drink.  One  dropped 
from  his  horse,  and  was  then  stabbed  till  he 
died.  The  other,  mortally  wounded,  implored 
to  be  spared  immediate  death,  in  order  to  say 
good-bye  to  his  wife  and  children  at  Christiana. 
He  was  left  alone,  and  a  convoy  passing  took 
him  to  Christiana,  where  he  died  the  next 
day. 

In  consequence  of  this  outrage  the  farm  was 
then  burnt  and  everything  round  it,  and  the 
repatriation  authorities  will  probably  refuse  (and 
rightly)  to  do  anything  towards  compensating  the 

owner. 

Christiana. 
We  have  stopped 
the  night  here.  It  is 
a  pretty  little  veldt 
village,  with  green 
trees  meeting  across 
its  roads,  and  deep 
running  brooks,  six 
feet  wide,  rippling 
down  the  sides  of 
each  street.  What 
charming  men  are 
the  repatriation 
officers  here ! 

The  superintend- 
ent is  quite  the  nicest 
man  I  have  seen  on 
the  road,  and  lent 
me  his  room,  his 
camera,  his  films,  his 
books,  and,  in  fact, 
any  of  his  worldly 
goods  I  liked  to 
carry  off! 

He  begged  me  in 
the  morning  to  come 
and  see  his  office, 
where  the  repatria- 
tion work  goes  on, 
and  where  Boers  of 
crowd  all  day  for 
his  office  is  a  small 


both  sexes  and  all  ages 
repatriation  aid.  Next  to 
store,  bearing  on  a  board  the  pathetic  inscrip- 
tion, "J.  Van  Z — ,  Ex-Boer  General,  and  now 
General  Agent  for  tinned  provisions." 

I    couldn't    help  smiling.       Poor   old    chap ! 


OUR    TREK    INTO    GRIQUALAND. 


273 


Picture  our  Lord  Roberts  or  General  Buller 
subsiding,  after  the  war,  into  the  selling  of 
tinned  lobster  and  Swiss  milk  ! 

I  found  the  superintendent  very  angry,  and 
with  reason.  The  repatriation  superintendents 
require  their  wits  about  them,  truly,  for  the 
Boer  can  be  a  slippery  customer.  I  need  only 
copy  an  entry  I  found  in  his  big  book — being 
the  copy  of  a  letter  from  an  influential  burgher, 
himself  a  member  of  the  repatriation  com- 
mission :  — 

"To  Superintendent,  Repatriation, 

"  Christiana. 

"Dear  Sir,— Mrs.    B.,   of  E.,   is   in   want  of 
food    supplies.     I    am    convinced    she    has    no 
money    at     all, 
being  very  poor 
and  a  widow." 

The  letter 
went  on  to  re- 
commend her 
for  repatriation 
help.  Under- 
neath the  letter 
the  superintend- 
ent had  made 
the  following 
note : — 

"  M a d e  in- 
quiries, and 
found  the  poor 
widow  owns 
eight  hundred 
morgen  of  land 
(one  thousand 
six    hundred 

acres)  and  will  not  sell  an  acre ;  and,  on  help 
being  refused,  promptly  produced  one  pound 
five  shillings  out  of  her  pocket  to  pay  for  a  bag 
of  meal  at  repatriation  rates  !  " 

We  left  Christiana  early  in  the  morning,  and 
are  now  at  the  end  of  our  long  trek  and  at  one 
of  the  chief  repatriation  depots  in  Griqualand 
West.  We  are  here  close  to  Warrenton,  where 
some  of  the  hottest  fighting  took  place,  and 
where  the  magistrate's  house  was  shelled  across 
the  Vaal  River  by  the  Boers  until  the  family 
bolted,  after  which  the  Boers  used  the  house  as 
their  hospital. 

We  all  went  to  have  tea  with  them,  and  very 
kind  and  hospitable  they  were.  We  had  tea  at 
the  dining-room  table  used  by  the  Boers  as 
their  operating  table  !  The  walls  are  full  of 
shell  and  bullet  holes.  Miss  A ,  the  magis- 
trate's daughter,  gave  me  some,  photos  taken  by 
herself  of  their  house  on  the  banks  of  the  Vaal. 

A  very  interesting  little  blockhouse  I  found 
at  Christiana  had  been  turned  by  a  cheery  old 
Boer   into    a    snug    little    home    while    waiting 
Vol.  xij.— 35, 


"12-  "j^  *,i*?i.  /:j*°i3S$&t 

m 

I       i 

1  * 

* 

■ 

\    > 

K&SmI 

■ 

pmsi 

<■■■* 

, 

Fr 


A  LONELY  SOLDIEK  S  GRAVE  ON  THE  VELDT. 


repatriation  aid.  He  has  ingeniously  spread  a 
tent  over  its  top  to  make  it  rain-proof,  and  lives 
in  it  with  his  frau,  cultivating  a  pretty  little 
garden  around  it,  and  drying  the  biltong,  which 
you  see  hanging  in  strips  to  the  tin  sides  of  his 
blockhouse  home. 

The  repatriation  here  is  conducted  on  an 
extensive  scale,  and  the  stores  are  so  vast  that 
the  superintendent  has  his  work  cut  out  to 
protect  them  from  theft.  Kaffir  policemen  and 
repatriation  employes  patrol  them  all  night,  and 
no  one  is  allowed  to  approach  the  stores — which 
are  in  a  barbed  wire  enclosure  on  the  open 
veldt — without  a  password. 

The  night  after  I  arrived   the  password  was, 

in  compliment 
to  my  arrival, 
the  name  of  my 
last  novel  —  a 
very  long  sen- 
t  e  n  c  e  for  a 
Kaffir  to  make 
head  or  tail  of ! 
Several  of  us 
went  for  a  stroll 
after  dinner  past 
the  stores. 

"Who  goes 
zere?"  called 
out  a  half-naked 
individual,  pre- 
paring to  fell  us 
to  the  earth  with 
a  bludgeon. 
"The Thin  Red 
Line  of  Heroes!" 
yelled  "  Me-Charlie,"  and  the  constable  remarked, 
"  Pass  on.     Olswell,"  as  duly  instructed. 

"I'm  sure,"  said  I,  "they'd  let  us  pass  witl 
any  word.  They  can't  possibly  tell  tin 
difference." 

"Try,"  said  the  superintendent,  with  dignity; 
"  try,  as  we  return." 

"Who  goes  zere?"  shouted  the  same  man, 
a  little  later. 

"  Eggs  and  Bacon,"  was  my  reply. 
"  Pass  on,"  said  the  highly  useful  constable. 
"  Olswell." 

After  that  "  Me-Charlie"  applied  to  the  Kaffir 
dictionary  for  his  password. 

I  have  been  watching  repatriation  work  all 
the  morning.  It  is  hard  work  for  all  concerned, 
and  I  venture  to  say  the  British  Government 
never  have  had  more  zeal  and  energy  put  into 
any  work  done  for  them  than  in  their  repatriation 
depots. 

Superintendents'  posts  in  particular  are  ones 
of  vast  responsibility,  requiring  a  clear  head,  a 
kind  heart,  and  yet  a  stern  sense  of  justice. 


I  /  'lioto. 


THE    w  IDE    WOR]  1)    MAGAZINE. 


IUTS1DE   1HF.    SUPERINTENDENTS    RUSH-COVERED    HUTS. 


"Branding  the  cattle"  is  a  very  harrowing 
phase  of  the  repatriation  work  to  watch,  and  it 
a  relief  after  one  long  roasting  afternoon  at 
it  to  see  "the  repatriation  at  play,'1  viz.,  after- 
noon tea  outside  the  superintendent's  pretty 
d  huts,  designed  entirely  by  himself, 
and  com  pi-  toa  bath-room  ! 

In  ("amp  on  Vaal  River. 
The  heat  h' 
soterri:     I  ral 

ion  m- 
I    up,   and    I 
felt    so   ill    also  that 
-  agreed  to  trek 
pot 
on    the    Vaal    River' 
for    a    week,     from 
whence     the    men 
could   go  daily  in  to 

Cross 

:n  for 

iken 
i,  and  a 

Mr.     II 

and    I  head 

in    the    early    morn- 
ing,  with  the  whole 


J-rom  a\ 


convoy   behind   us,   to  choose  a  site   and   get 
all  ready. 

The  forest,  mainly  composed  of  gigantic 
mimosa  trees,  now  a  mass  of  fluffy  yellow 
blossom,  grows  thick  to  the  water's  edge,  and 
we  had  to  have  the  jungle  cut  away  to  drag  our 
waggons  through,  a  matter  of  half  a  day's  work. 
Everyone  arrived  about  5  p.m.  on  horseback; 

camp  fires  were  soon 
burning  a  little  way 
back  in  the  forest, 
and  two  English  ex- 
soldiers,  who  under- 
took the  cooking, 
were  shortly  busy 
round  them.  Kaffirs 
jabbered,  ponies 
neighed,  mules  hee- 
hawed,  and  a  pret- 
tier, homelier  scene 
could  not  be  pic- 
tured. 

We  had  meals  under 
the  great  bucksails 
spread  from  waggon 
to  waggon.  The  river 
rippled  past  all  day 
and  all  night  with  a 
cooling  sound. 


N    THE    VAAL    RIVER. 


OUR    TREK    INTO    GRIQUALAND. 


275 


A  farm  on  the  veldt  behind  the  woods 
supplied  us  with  milk,  but  the  men  shot  or 
fished  for  most  of  our  other  food.  Quite  a 
Robinson  Crusoe  existence  ! 

The  fighting  all  along  here  was  at  its  hottest. 
Almost  opposite  our  camp  is  the  kopje  where 
one  of  the  peace  treaties  was  signed.  Now,  how- 


paradise,  or  the  dusky  nights,  spangled  with 
stars  and  streaked  with  silver  moonbeams, 
when  we  paddled  up  and  down  the  river  in  our 
boat  or  raft,  and  sang  coon  songs  and  called  to 
each  other,  it  was  all  a  dream  of  delight. 
Then  back  to  the  camp,  where  the  Kaffir 
servants  had  made  a   huge    fire    of   trees    cut 


"the  men  shot  ok  fished  for  ouk  food. 


ever,  all  is  quiet  and  peaceful  !  And  but  for 
the  lonely  grave  of  an  occasional  soldier,  buried 
where  he  fell,  which  you  come  upon  unex- 
pectedly in  some  lovely  wild  spot,  there  is 
nothing  just  here  to  mark  the  ravages  of  war. 

To-morrow  ends  the  repatriation  picnic  on 
the  Vaal  River.  How  lovely  it  has  been  ! 
Whether  it  was  the  cool  African  dawn,  when, 
as  you  opened  your  eyes  in  one's  waggon, 
facing  the  blue  water,  you  heard  the  shots  of 
the  Nimrods  upon  whom  fell  the  providing  of 
the  breakfast  table — or  rather  table-cloth — or 
the  heat  of  the  long  golden  day,  when  we  sat  in 
the  shade  and  fished,  or  the  evenings,  when  we 
rode  across  the  veldt  to  meet  the  repatriation 
men  returning  from  their  labours  to  this  African 


down,  and  stood  round  it  and  sang  to  us  !  Yes  ! 
Each  bit  of  each  day  was  lovelier  than  the  last  ! 
Many  a  night  in  the  years  to  come  will 
the  eighteen  of  us  who  made  up  this  happy 
party  recall  our  waggon  camp  on  the  banks 
of  the  Vaal  River  !  Many  a  night  in  humming 
London,  in  quiet  English  villages,  in  dusty 
African  cities,  and  in  many  other  spots  on  the 
earth,  will  not  the  familiar  Kaffir  song  we 
encored  so  oiten— the  simple  performers  clap- 
ping themselves  as  delightedly  as  we  did  !— ring 
in  our  ears  ?— 

When  the  Maxims  they  go  pom-pom, 
And  the  Englishmen  come  over  the  hill  ; 

When  the  big  guns  go  bom-bom  — 
The  veldt  is  covered  with  kill  ! 


m 


JtC 


Jirsf   u  Wireless 


11 


Newspaper. 


H\    E.   Leslie  Gilliams. 


bout  the  first  newspaper  which  receives  its  news   by  wireless  telegraphy.     This  paper,  appropriately 

'.'>.  ireless,"  is  established  at  Avalon,  on  Santa   Catalina    Island,  off  the  coast  of  California, 

v  by   day  a  synopsis  of   the  world's  news  flashed  across  the  ocean    from  a  "  wireless  " 

station    on    the    mainland. 


X 


I  III. I',    wireless    telegraphy    had    its 

birtli   in   Europe  and    has  been   i  \ 

perimented  with,  with  more  or  less 

.    in    England    and    on    the 

ntinent,     to    the    United     States 

distinction   of  producing    the   first 

dai.  ;  aper  whose  general  news  reports  are 

furnished  exclusively  by  wireless  telegraph. 

-   unique  journal    is   appropriately   called 

and  is  published  at  Avalon,  Santa 

ilina    Island,    the     famous     pleasure     resort 

which  has  I  I  as  "an  enchanted  isle 

a  sumnv 

I  atalina  is  the  most   beautiful  island  of 

the  Santa  Barbara  group, 

g    off    the    coast 

ithern    California. 

Imy    climate    and 

gnificent      situation 

make  it  a  favourite  resort 

for  many  Californians  on 

tsure    bent.       Avalon 

the  only  town  on  the 

island,  and  is  a    famous 

anglers,    who 

mighty    tuna, 

1  the    gamest    fish     that 

ns." 

The  tuna-fishing  alone 

is      a     great     attraction 

apart     from     the     other 

features    of    the    island, 

and     Santa    Catalina 

asts  a  plea- 

ilation    of    five 

d. 

the    advent  of 
the      wireless     telegraph 
the    island   was   more  or 
from     the 
ou-  itua- 

ted  a  distance  of    three 
and  a  half  hours'  run   by 
mer  from    the    main- 
land, and   the  onlv  other 

™,««_^  ~r  •  o|E  Alios- 

means  of  communication  From  a 


was   by  boat,  and  occasionally  by  carrier-pigeon. 
(  able  communication  there  is  none. 

Sojourners  on  the  island  were  thus  cut  off 
from  the  rest  of  the  world  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  day,  the  daily  mail  and  morning 
newspapers  from  Los  Angeles  not  arriving  at 
Avalon  until  after  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
During  the  morning  hours,  therefore,  no  matter 
what  was  happening,  the  inhabitants  of  the 
island  had  to  go  news-hungry ;  and  if  they  had 
any  urgent  messages  to  send  to  the  mainland 
it  took  the  best  part  of  two  days  to  forward 
them  and  receive  the  replies,  even  under  the 
most  favourable  conditions. 

With  the  steady 
growth  of  population 
and  trade  with  the  main- 
land the  need  of  rapid 
communication  began  to 
be  increasingly  felt.  The 
enterprising  owners  of 
the  island  were  contem- 
plating the  laying  of  a 
cable  to  meet  the  situa- 
tion, when  along  came 
an  American  wireless 
telegraph  company  and 
satisfied  the  long  -  felt 
want  at  far  less  expense 
than  the  laying  of  a 
cable  would  have  en- 
tailed. Not  only  this, 
but  they  supplied  a  news- 
paper as  well,  and  a 
unique  newspaper  at  that. 
The  system  of  wireless 
telegraphy  used  is  of 
purely  American  inven- 
tion, distinct  from  the 
Marconi  system  and 
claiming  to  be  superior 
to  it.  The  proprietors 
of  the  telegraph  and 
newspaper  are  pioneers 
in   the  business  of  trans- 

CATALINA    ISLAND.  .  •     1  J 

Photo.  mitting   commercial    and 


THE    FIRST    "WIRELESS"    NEWSPAPER. 


277 


From  a\ 


THE    INTERIOR    OF    THE    NEWS-ROOM    OF    "THE    WIRELESS.' 


{Photo. 


Press  messages  between  permanently  established 

stations  at  a  profit. 

The  company  established  its  head-quarters  in 
Los  Angeles  in  the  spring  of  1902,  and 
immediately  began  the  installation  of  a  wireless 
telegraph  station  at  White's  Point,  a  headland 
on  the  coast  of  Los  Angeles  County,  near  San 
Pedro.  They  built  another  at  Avalon,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  channel  separating  Catalina 
Island  from  the  mainland.  These  stations  were 
completed  in  the  course  of  a  few  months,  and 
proved  a  complete  success  in  the  prompt  and 
accurate  transmission  of  messages  across  thirty- 
three  miles  of  ocean. 

The  "  line "  was  opened  to  the  public  on 
July  22nd,  1903,  and  since  that  time  thousands 
of  messages  have  been  transmitted  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  business,  without  a  single 
breakdown  or  error  on  the  part  of  the 
apparatus. 

The  Western  Union  wires  connect  with  the 
"  wireless "  at  the  White's  Point  station,  and 
thus  telegraphic  communication  is  established 
between  Santa  Catalina  Island  and  the  entire 
world. 

The  apparatus  used  by  the  newspaper  com- 
pany resembles  in  some  respects  that  of  Marconi, 
but  differs  in  many  details.  Each  station  is 
located  on  a  high  point  and  at  an  isolated  spot, 


so  as  to  avoid  all  outside  noise  and  electrical 
disturbances. 

A  tall  mast  is  erected,  from  the  arm  of  which 
ten  parallel  copper  wires  are  strung  vertically, 
connecting  at  the  lower  end  with  the  receiving 
and  sending  instruments  in  a  building  at  the 
foot  of  the  mast. 

At  first  only  one  vertical  wire  was  used,  but  it 
was  found,  by  experimenting,  that  multiplying 
the  wires  increased  the  vibrations  or  etheric 
waves  in  proportion,  thereby  augmenting  the 
distinctness  of  their  perception  at  the  receiving 
station. 

The  electric  energy  required  for  the  working 
of  the  system  is  supplied  by  a  dynamo  operated 
by  a  small  gasoline  engine  at  each  station.  A 
high  voltage  is  obtained  by  means  of  an  induc- 
tion coil  containing  five  hundred  miles  of  fine, 
closely-wound  wire. 

From  this  highly-charged  coil  the  electric 
force  is  discharged  by  means  of  an  ordinary 
Morse  key,  the  opening  and  closing  of  the 
circuits  by  means  of  the  key  causing  flashes 
between  two  copper  spheres  placed  a  short 
distance  apart,  one  being  a  positive  and  the 
other  a  negative  pole. 

The  sharp,  crackling  sounds  produced  by 
these  flashes  are  the  dots  and  dashes  of  the 
Morse  code.     The   instant   they  are   produced 


THE    wini      WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


VOL.  i.     NO 


SSDED  daiiT  at  Ssntl 
Citiltni.  •  the  Enchanted 
a  Summer  Sea." 


ISSC 
11 


the  masthead,  whence 

■    in    (.■very   direi  tionj 

-  like  the   dropping  of  a  pebble 

instrument    located   on    tlu- 
which  is  keyed  to  the  same  tension 
.  apparatus  and  tea  duplicate  of  it 
spends  to  these  subtle  waves 
ind  the  sounds  arc  reproduced  bj    a 
ithfully  as  though  the  receiving  and 
n    nts   were   connected   by  a  eon 
ircuit 
method  of  sending  and  of  recei\  ing  is  the 
as  that   employed  in  operating 
graph  line  by  the   Morse  system,  the 
onl  being  that  the  "back  stroke  "is 

not  used  by  the  "win  operator  in  sending. 

This    makes    it   impossible    to    send  with  as 
mil  d  as   by   the   wired  telegraph,    but  a 

method    will    soon    be    perfected 
which   the  "wireless"  can  be 
i    with    as    much     speed 
the  old-fashioned    wire.     Any 
.;r     telegraph    operator    can 
adapt  himself  in  a  few  lessons  to 
the    use    of    this    new    American 
ess  telegraph  system. 
ie    successful    enterprise    in- 
variably    begets     another.       No 
sooner  was  the  wireless  telegraph 
in    successful    operation 

'       ilina    Island    and    the 

mainland  than  one  of  the  leading 

newspapers    in  California  availed 

wireless    "  wire  "  to 

Tress  despatches  from  the 

island. 

aper  has  a  large  circula- 
tion    at    Avalon,    and    there    is 
always  a  great  rush  for  the  news- 
steamer  arrives 
norning    papers    about 
lock  p.m. 
order    to   give    the    people 
Avalon  a  chance   to  have   the 
.  up  to  them 
at  breakfast,  the  members  of  the 

impany,    of 
whi>  .eral      Harrison     Gray 

teran  publisher  and 
editor,  well  known  among  Ameri- 
can Pressmen,  is  president  and 
general    m..  conceived    the 

idea  of  publishing  a  "  wireless " 
daily  in  Avalon,  containing  a 
syn<  published  in 

the  .geles  morning  pa] 

together  with  the    local    new 
the  island. 


Accordingly  a  printing  outfit  was  shipped  to 
Avalon,  and  arrangements  were  speedily  com- 
pleted lor' the  handling  of  a  special  Press  report 
every  morning. 

The  Wireless,  which  was  the  name  chosen  for 
the  unique  journal,  was  launched  on  its  career 
a  short  time  ago,  and  has  been  coming  out 
regularly  ever  since.  It  shows  every  promise  of 
having  "come  to  stay." 

( )n  the  very  first  night  of  going  to  press 
the  telegraph  service  of  The  Wireless  was  given 
a  severe  test.  A  rain  and  thunder  storm  of 
almost  unprecedented  violence  was  raging  over 
the  bay  and  island.  But  the  report  came 
through  without  interruption  or  error,  and  the 
publishers  now  have  no  fear  that  it  will  ever  fail 
them. 

The  birth  of  the  first  "  wireless  "  newspaper 
was  attended  with  considerable  ceremony,  and 


ess 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  LOS  ANCELES  TIlk.ES. 


3  CENTS 


The  OrJy  Newspaper  In  the  World  Publlsbloa  ©ure-enouob  L»ispatchefl  Transmuted  by  wireless  Telearaph. 


AVALON,  MARCH  25,  1903. 


)  In  tbo  Pacific  Ocean,  off  the 
■v  Smiitaem  California  <  ■•■' 
I   Lai UW°N..  Long.  11WW. 


A  FAR  CRY  FROM  THE  SEA. 

The  Birth  of  "The  Wireless." 
The  following  telegrams.,  cross- 
ing   THE    CHANNEL    BY     WIRELESS 

telegraph,  have  passed  between 
the  office  of  The.  Times  in  Los 
Angeles  ?nd  the  office  of  "The 
Wirei.f.ss"  (newspaper)  in  Ava- 
lon.    They  explain  themselves. 

Kb     1 

orr:cz   of   t/tf    time*     l«    An**].* 

March  ».  1901 —MoHm.  Mimcr  Avalan'  8*. 
coma.  (Co-l-'fv.or'l  meanin*.  "Ttf-'CraD!*  what 
progr**a  you/arc  making. "j  OTla.  O.  M. 

Ke    : 
OFFICE    ^P    "THE    WIRET.ESP."    AraJon. 
Warrh  r    ITS  — Cm.   (Jan.  Manacr    Ix>«  Ange- 
i  i/m.     /'Am   quite   rea<J»   lo  rttrf.") 

Tha  rhiW  '-Wireles*"  *  kicking  lor  the  light 
al  Car  MATHE5.   Manager. 

No.  1. 
OrnCE    OF    THE     TIME?.     L«a     Ant***. 
Kirch    K.    1503 -Dr      Mathea.    "^    th*    apot." 
A«  a  [on      L»t   th*  arcoachrment  fw'i 

OTIS.  O.  M. 
No,   *. 
OFFICE    OF    THK     TIMES.     Lo*     Armies 
March   71.    IWl -A     1.     Ne-w.    General   Mjuh-i 
-Hfji    Telrgraph    Company.    Avalon. 
Catoiina    Hi  and.     sanjnua      ["Aeotpt   '-ur   best 
Uuaka."|  OTIS,  u    M. 

No    S 
A'.'alOS     i-Catatlnai     March     tt.     If!  -<J*il. 
Oil*.     Lot     Anr'le*        Arlertvj        (    •--■nirraiulale 
yott  upon  tn-    r.appy  event      J  .NKiV     Q.    M 

Thus  is  born  into  the  numerous 
family  of  the  world's  notable  jour- 
nals this  unique  infant,  nowshout- 
jrig  lustily  on  the  shores  of  this  Pa- 
cific island  resort:  "Tell  it  not  in 
Gath,  but  publish  it  m  a  loud  tone* 
of  voice  on  the. streets  of  Avalon,' 


NEWS  OF  THE  MORNING. 

■PPCIAL  DISPATCHES  DI- 
.   >  A/    AVA- 

-  <■  tkl:  KAcmc  v/ire 

*     H    LINE    ACROSS    1  IfE 
IUINO   ^A-.TA   <-,.TAUl.NA 
JSi-A>D  rliOM   THE   MAINLAND  I 
Lo*   Anrki. 

Los  AffCELES,  March  25— Tor- 
rential rains  here. 

Rain  causes  worst  tie  up  of 
street  car  lines  in  history  of  city. 

Doom  of  street  fakirs  fixed  by 
new  law  and  the  Governcr  im- 
plored not  to  sign  it. 

Huntington  friendly  to  Gar- 
vanza   trolley  line. 

Eighteen  more  clerks  and  thir- 
teen more  carriers  requested  for 
poslofBce.  Six  thousand  dollars 
price  on  Santa  Monica  trolley  car 
Jobber's  heads.     Charges  made  in 


police  department  decide  Super- 
visors to  remove  County  Hospital. 

Deacon  Joseph  Mims,  colored,  of 
Long  Beach,  convicted  of  grand 
larceny. 

New  County  Hospital  to  be  built 
of  home-sold  material. 

C.  L.  Parker,  carpenter,  kills 
himself  with  gas. 

Saatbern  California  Neva. 

Pasadena  rain  shuts  in  Rocke- 
feller. 

Robber  murderer  believed  cap- 
tured in  San  Bernardino. 

Oxnard  labor  situation  gTave. 

Colton  vigilantes  drive  out  ho- 
bos. 

Long  Beach    invites    President. 

Riverside  looking  for  Salt  Lake 
•line.. 

Pacific  .Slope 

'  Lone,  highwayman  in  attempt  to 
hold-up  Okiah  stage  kills  Messen- 
ger Overmeir. 

Coroner's  jury  finds-the  Stokes 
were  murdered. 

Midnight  ride  with  mysterious 
woman  cost  C.  E.  Hayes  his  life. 

Sheridan  H-  Chipman,  Espee 
clerk,  killed  by  Frank  J.  Gund- 
man. 

General  Funston  laughs  at  Di*? 
Parkhurst's  remarks. 

Beast  assaults  insane  woman  near 
Arcade. 

'  left!  r  il    Pailr  rn  Nf*i 

Mrs  Rurdick's  testimony  throws 
no  light  on  murrler,  but  shows 
remarkable  relations  existing 
among  all  parties  to  mystery. 

Indiana  coal  companies  re- 
strained  from  combining. 

New  York  butler  steals  jewels 
valued  at  $2500, 

Rumored  merger  of  Postal  and 
Western  Union  Telegraph  and 
Eastern  telephone  lines 

Miner's  strike  in  Colorado  may 
spread. 

Bridge  workers  out  at  Pitts- 
burg. 

Burlington  and  Santa  Fe  in 
rrerce  stnrggle  for. mail  "contract 

Margon  discusses     international 


yacht    races    with    Widener    and 
others. 

WatHlntrTo*,. 

Spanish  government  lo  sign  pro- 
tocol with  both  countries  regula- 
ting Venezuelan  claim  . 

Three-million  dollar  issue  Phil- 
.ipptne  certificates.  Wabash  rail- 
road working  for  entrance  to  cap* 
ital. 

Foreign. 

at  lu   Los  Angeleai 

thence    from    The    Time*    .  *■   -     to  vVhtio'a     , 

Folnl.    San    Tedro.    thrnc*  by    Pacific  Wlrel*** 
Telegraph,  to  Avalon  J 

Editor  Stead  denounces  the  ; 
story  that  King  Edward  accepted  I 
money  from  Whittaker  Wright. 

Another  revolution  in  Nicara-  | 
gua. 

Assembly  of  Department  of  I 
Panama  urges  Canal  question  on  ' 
Colombian  congress. 

General   Macdonald,     command- 
ing   British    army  in  Ceylon,  ac*  . 
cused  of  immorality. 


t-rril  j*t*?h  of  the  world'*  n*wa.  a*  oofflnaal 
hvroir*.  win  be  found  In  TME  T1MP*  *Mch 
will  arrive  #1  Avalon  later  today. 


SECOND   EDITION. 


11:30  O'CLOCK  A.  M.  MARCH  33,   1903 


The  following  wireless  messages. 
which    also    explain    tbenuelres,    w«r« 

'■V'  harir;'-!  between  the  signers  about 
the  middle  of  the  forenoon  today: 

No.      4 

OFFICE  OF  "THE  WIRPLE9S.','  Avalon. 
-..'.   ti.    ittl.   )•  10  a  ..-u     otlo.  "Lbe   An- 

■*!«■:  "Wlreleaa"  on  the  atseet.  PoprilAro 
rviid  with  curiotlty  and  ri"tetr»*oL  Bend  ra  >ra 
tfpe,  mora  meohiaery.  mora  men.  Preparing 
•econd  -•!■!,,  g.  j    BfATffCS.   Mi 

No     7 

OITICB  OT  THE  TTMES.  Majrh  IS  IMJ. 
lilt  a.  m  —  Math**,  onire  or  the  wlaard-HW* 
•Wirelew."  Avalon;  Calm  yourself,  raj-  doc- 
(or.  and  roateT  .'.-  luiiy  lnfajit_  Materia  la 
tor  eipamllnf  Mm  will  be  ahlpprd  today. '  Oon- 
■  ratulatlona  on  thla  notable  event  In  th*  broad 
domain    et    mod.*™    human    achievement. 

OTIS;   O.    H. 
NO.   I. 

AVALON   <C«J.»   March   B.    ItOt.   ION   a.m - 

Gen     OUa.    Manager  Tlmra.  l*i    Anfrlaa       "Tbo 

wirtl«ta"   made   great   hit.     Again   I   congritg. 

lata  you.  a.   L.    NEW. 

»o    >, 

OFFICE  OP  T^E^  TTMES  Ma.M».-U  1M1 
U  li  a-m-G^h.  A.  u  .Ve*.  Ar»l«,  Tb^ 
yon  The  congr«fu1ati«na  ar*  mutual.  Tow 
have   don*  a   great    thing.  OTJS.    Q.    M 


FACSIMILE    OF    'IMF-.    IKON)     i'A(,K    OK    THE    FIRST    ISSUE   OF    "  THE    WIRELESS. 


THE    FIRST    "WIRELESS"    NEWSPAPER. 


279 


was  the  occasion  of  the  interchange  of  many 
congratulatory  messages  between  Avalon  and 
the  places  with  which  it  was  connected  by  wire- 
less telegraph. 

In  the  "  foreword "  to  the  first  number  the 
editor  points  with  pardonable  pride  to  the  fact 
that    The    Wireless  is  "the  first-born    progeny 
of    the    greatest    of    all    the 
achievements     of      electrical 
enterprise  —  telegraphy    with- 
out wires  in  daily  letterpress." 
Another    writer    bursts     into 
poetry:  — 

Flash  the  news  to  Avalon — 
News  of  wreck  and  flood  and  fire, 
News  of  battles  dread  and  dire, 
News   that   strenuous   times   re- 
quire, 
Good    and    bad    news,    flashed 

entire, 
Without  cables,  without  wire — 
Flash  the  news  to  Avalon. 

Flash  the  news  to  Avalon — 

Read   the   news   of    frauds    and 

shams, 
Price   of   wheat   and   wool    and 

hams, 
Flooding  rivers,  bursting  dams, 
The    lion's    roar,    the    bleat    of 

lambs  ; 
All  the  latest  wirelessgrams — 
Flash  the  news  to  Avalon. 

The  demand  for  this  first 

edition — a  facsimile  of  the  first 

we   have   reproduced  -  -  was   so 


MR.    W.    G.    SENER,    THE    CHIKF   OPERATOR    AT   THE 
MAINLAND    STATION. 

Photo,  by  The  Pinero  Studio,  Philadelphia. 


page  of  which 
great  that  an 
additional  thousand  were  ordered  and  printed 
within  thirty  minutes  after  the  first  thousand 
left  the  press. 

As  much  as  a  dollar  was 
offered  for  single  copies  when 
the  second  edition  was  ex- 
hausted. 

Since  then  many  extra 
thousands  of  the  initial 
number  have  been  run  off, 
and  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  meet  the  demand  for  the 
subsequent  editions. 

The  Wireless  was  started 
as  a  three-column  folio,  the 
size  of  the  pages  being  eight 
by  eleven  inches.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  second 
week  it  was  increased  to  a 
four-column  sheet. 

The  staff  of  the  new  daily 
was  soon  made  up,  the  re- 
sident correspondent  of  one 
of  the  California  papers,  Mr. 
S.  J.  Mathes,  serving  as  first 
editor.  But  the  work  of 
conducting  The  Wireless  soon 


MR.    C.    E.    HOWELL,    ONE  OF  THE    EDITORS  OF        THE 
WIRELESS" — HE   RECEIVES  THE  MESSAGES 

From  a]        at   santa  catalina.  [Photo. 


proved  too  much  for  him  alone,  and  several 
other  gentlemen  were  speedily  added  to  the  staff. 
Mr.  C.  E.  Howell  is  the  magician  who 
conjures  the  "  wireless  "  messages  from  the  skies 
every  morning  at  early  dawn,  and  "  Wireless 
Joe,"  the  first  "  wireless "  messenger  boy  on 
earth,  is  the  lad  who  carries  the  messages  from 
the  wizard  eye  on  the  heights 
overlooking  the  beautiful  har- 
bour of  Avalon  down  to  the 
office  of  The  Wireless,  a  new 
building  specially  constructed 
on  Metropole  Avenue. 

The  equipment  of  The 
Wireless,  like  its  staff,  is  as  yet 
rather  meagre,  but  is  being 
rapidly  enlarged  and  im- 
proved. The  paper  is  printed 
on  a  half  medium  job  press. 

The  telegraphic  report  of 
The  Wireless  consists  of  six 
hundred  to  eight  hundred 
words,  comprising  a  digest  of 
the  leading  news  of  the  day 
from  all  parts  of  the  world,  as 
appearing  in  the  California 
papers  of  the  same  date. 

This    news  summary  gives 
the  readers  of   The    Wireless 
an  inkling  of  what  is  going  on 
in  the  great  busy  world,  and  serves  as  an  appeti- 
zer for  the  fuller  reports  contained  in  the  ordinary 
daily  papers  which  they  receive  later  in  the  day. 
In  addition  to   the   telegraphic   feature   The 
Wireless  also  contains  a  brief 
record  of  the  local  happenings 
on  the  island  from  day  to  day, 
including  storiesof  marvellous 
catches  by  the  anglers ;  the 
adventures  of  the  wild  goat- 
hunters  ;    reports  of  golf  and 
tennis  games  and  other  sport- 
ing and  social  events  ;  lists  of 
arrivals  at    the  hotels ;    talks 
with    travellers,  and    a  great 
variety  of  interesting  informa- 
tion  for    tourists  and  others, 
with     pithy    editorial     com- 
ments. 

Thus  a  large  demand  for 
copies  of  The  Wireless  is 
created  by  persons  who  want 
to  let  their  friends  see  how 
important  they  are  and  what 
they  are  doing  on  "the  en- 
chanted isle  set  in  a  summer 
sea."  Without  a  doubt  The 
Wireless  is  the  most  unique 
newspaper  in  the  world. 


By   Ras.  im    s.   Magnussen,  of  Broken  Hill,  N.S.W. 

■.  months  ago  Broken  Hill,  in  New  South  Wales,  a  city  of  nearly  thirty  thousand  people,  was  stncken 

tstrous  water  famine.     Mines  were  shut   down,  and    formerly  prosperous  people  had  to  accept 

I  relief.    The  local  authorities  were  inundated  with  letters  from  people  who — for  a  consideration 

—  offered  to  "  make  rain."   One  or  two  of  these  offers  were  accepted,  with  the  results  set  forth  in  this  article. 


R.OK.EN      HILL,    in     New    South 

W'a  phically,    but    literally 

in  the  centre  of  Australia,  near  the 

States,  has  recently 

i    a    novel    experience — novel   in 

■rrible  in  another. 

In  June   of   190,5    the  local   water  supply  ran 

out.      What  this   means  to  a  town  of  twenty-six 

thousand  to  thirty  thousand  inhabitants  can  be 


is  connected  with  civilization  by  a  narrow-gauge 
railway  which  ends  at  Adelaide,  the  capital  oi 
the  adjacent  State.  Its  water  supply  is  pro- 
vided by  a  private  company,  which  years  ago 
placed  a  dam  across  the  bed  of  a  creek 
which  possibly  carries  water  half-a-dozen 
times  a  year.  When  full  the  reservoir  thus 
created  is  a  magnificent  sheet  of  water, 
but  one  result  of  the  drought  which  has  cursed 


SILVER,    LEAD,    AND   ZINC    MINES 
rld's  ANNUAL  OUTPUT. 


WHICH    PRODUCE   ONE-EIGHTH    OK    THE 

{Brokenshire. 


than  described.      Broken 

H'!  -        and   its   existence 

h  silver,  lead,  and  zinc  mines  — 

wni  ne-eighth    of    the    world's    total 

situated  in  the  centre  of  an 

It  has  no  other  town  near  it,  and 


the  interior  of  Australia  for  several  years  past 
has  been  that  more  water  has  been  required  from 
the  reservoir  than  has  run  in.  Although  the 
greater  part  of  the  country  was  blessed  with 
magnificent  rains  in  1903,  Broken  Hill  did  not 
share  in  Nature's  bounty.     In   1902,  for  the  full 


RAIN -MAKING    AT    BROKEN    HILL. 


281 


twelve  months,  only  3"45in.  of  rainfall  was 
registered  in  the  town.  For  the  first  six  months 
of  IQ03  the  fall  was  3'55in. — seven  inches  in 
eighteen  months  ! 

For  eighteen  months  the  fact  that  the  town's 
water  supply  was  in  a  bad  way  had  been  gradually 
borne  in  upon  the  inhabitants,  and  an  energetic 
agitation  proceeded  in  -favour  of  the  Govern- 
ment assisting  the  people  by  the  construction  of 


position  became  so  dangeious,  that  the  "rain- 
maker "  was  communicated  with  and  informed 
that  his  terms  were  too  high — even  though  three 
inches  of  rain  meant  to  Broken  Hill  the  differ- 
ence between  ruin  and  prosperity.  He  was  told, 
however,  that  if  he  could  undertake  the  task  for 
a  lower  figure  a  bargain  might  be  completed. 
He  promptly  reduced  his  five  thousand  pounds 
to  two  thousand  five  hundred. 


From  a] 


THE    STEPHENS   CREEK    RESERVOIR,    ON    WHICH    BROKEN    HILL    DEPENDS    FOR    ITS   WATER    SUPPLY. 


[Photo. 


another  dam  across  another  creek,  in  which  to 
store  up  water  for  the  expected  shortage.  But 
the  Government  hesitated,  and  nothing  was 
undertaken  until  it  was  too  late.  As  the  water 
receded  in  the  Stephens  Creek  reservoir  its 
normal  rate  of  consumption  and  evaporation 
increased,  and  one  morning  in  June,  when 
people  awoke  and  proceeded  to  prepare  for 
bath  and  breakfast,  they  found  that  the  water 
had  been  cut  off.  By  the  afternoon  several  of 
the  mines  had  been  closed  down  ;  by  the  follow- 
ing morning  all  were  idle,  and  Broken  Hill  found 
itself  with  its  sole  reason  for  existence  sus- 
pended, and  about  five  thousand  men  suddenly 
thrown  out  of  work. 

That,  if  rain  did  not  fall,  some  such  situation 
would  have  to  be  faced  had  long  been  foreseen, 
and  when,  a  few  weeks  previously,  the  agitation 
that  the  Government  should  come  to  the  aid  of 
the  town  became  acute,  a  doctor  of  medicine,  Dr. 
C.  de  Lacy  MacCarthy,  of  Melbourne,  tele- 
graphed to  the  mayor  offering  to  provide  three 
inches  of  rain  for  Broken  Hill  for  five  thousand 
pounds  — "  no  rain,  no  pay."  The  offer 
was  taken  as  a  huge  joke,  and  was  laughed 
at  from  end  to  end  of  Australia.  But  events 
followed    one    another    so    quickly,    and    the 

Vol.  xii.—  36. 


This  was  Broken  Hill's  first  experience  of 
rain-making — in  recent  years,  at  any  rate.  In 
its  early  days  it  also  had  a  proposal,  but  that 
does  not  count. 

No  sooner  had  the  fact  been  printed  in  the 
city  newspapers  that  Broken  Hill  was  taking 
Dr.  MacCarthy  seriously  than  the  town  began 
to  be  bombarded  with  offers  from  rival  "  rain- 
makers." Where  these  "  rain-makers "  came 
from  and  where  they  were  hidden  during  the 
years  of  the  great  drought  are  still  mysteries. 
The  mayor,  the  chamber  of  commerce,  and 
the  local  newspapers  were  inundated  with  pro- 
posals and  suggestions,  in  which  explosive 
chemicals,  balloons,  kites,  cannon,  and  prayer 
all  played  a  part.  Several  persons  in  far-distant 
parts  offered  to  pray  for  Broken  Hill.  But  all, 
men  and  women  alike,  with  one  exception, 
asked  for  payment — even  those  who  offered 
their  prayers. 

Day  after  day  tantalizing  clouds  passed  over- 
head, which  condition  of  affairs  led  the  mayor, 
when  offered  by  telegraph  the  "  very  latest 
American  cloud-breaking  kite,  with  full  gear," 
for  five  pounds,  to  wire  back  instantly,  over  a 
distance  of  about  one  thousand  miles,  "  Send 
kite   at   once."     The   kite   arrived    by    express 


nil'     WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


THE   IVOXDERI'UI.        CLOUD-BREAKING        KITE 


\riioto. 


train   (freight  two  pounds),   and  so  did  a  sight 

draft  for  the  five  pounds.  The  "cloud-breaking" 

kite  proved  to  be  merely  an  extra-large  American 

box-kite,    priced    in    the    United    States   at    six 

shillings,  and  the  "  gear  "  consisted  of  a  ball  of 

To   mention   kites   to    the    mayor    (a 

Scotsman)  in  the  troublous  days  that  followed 

to  invoke  a  fierce  vocabulary   of  strange 

lie  oaths. 

,e  "rain-making"  proposal,  the  one  for 
which  the  man  who  made  the  offer  generously 
asked  no  payment,  bore  the  stamp  of  sincerity. 
It  was  referred  to  several  local  chemists,  who 
agreed  that  the  scheme  suggested  seemed  fairly 
The  proposer  stated  that  a  mixture  of 
sulphuric  acid,  zinc,  and  water,  in  certain  speci- 
fied proportions,  and  mixed  in  open  pots,  would 
form  spiral  column  lour  which,  penetrating 

into  the  higher  atmosphere,  would  create  a 
disturbance  and  produce  the  much-needed  rain, 
nmittee  of  experts  was  appointed  to 
experiment  on  these  lines.  The  committee 
consisted  of  a  doctor,  a  chemist,  the  resident 
ma>  the    technical    college,    a    leading 

\  and  the  head  of  the  electric  light 
periments  lasted  a  week,  but  no 
rain   fell — no   rain   worthy  the    name,    that    is  ; 
though     it    was    certainly   a    coincidence    that 
folic       -      n  each  separate  experiment  a  light 


shower  descended.  But  the  committee  was  not 
vain  enough  to  claim  these  showers.  In  fact,  it 
is  not  particularly  proud  of  having  touched  what 
it  is  now  inclined  to  regard  as  charlatanry. 

The  mayor,  although  Dr.  MacCarthy  first 
communicated  with  him,  was  not  disposed  to 
deal  with  the  professional  "  rain-maker,"  so  it 
was  left  to  the  chamber  of  commerce  to  carry 
on  the  negotiations,  which,  pending  the  local 
experiments,  had  been  allowed  to  remain  in 
abeyance.  The  chamber  sought  to  get  the 
mining  companies  and  the  water  corporation  to 
guarantee  a  portion  of  the  two  thousand  five 
hundred  pounds  the  doctor  asked  for,  but  the 
latter  only  would  join  in  the  project.  Further 
letters  and  telegrams  were  exchanged,  the  out- 
come being  that  Dr.  MacCarthy  consented  to 
produce  the  rain  for  one  hundred  pounds  pre- 
liminary expenses — cash  down — and  a  guarantee 
of  live  hundred  pounds  if  the  promised  down- 
pour eventuated.  The  one  hundred  pounds 
were  collected  in  the  town  by  public  subscription 
in  a  couple  of  hours. 

For  a  time  after  the  completion  of  the 
negotiations  the  eyes  of  all  Australia  were 
centred  on  Broken  Hill.  Dr.  MacCarthy, 
interviewed  in  Melbourne,  expressed  himself 
confident  of  success.  He  had,  he  said,  brought 
the  rain  in  Japan  and  at  a  couple  of  places  in 


RAIN -MAKING    AT    BROKEN    HI  LI.. 


2*3 


Victoria,  and  would  not  hear  of  failure.  He 
and  several  assistants  left  Melbourne  on  a 
Friday,  arrived  in  Adelaide  on  Saturday,  and 
travelled  to  Broken  Hill  by  a  special  train  pro- 
vided by  the  South  Australian  Government, 
reaching  the  silver  field  about  eight  o'clock  on 
Sunday  morning.  The  warmth  of  his  reception 
would  have  delighted  any  world-famed  hero. 
During  the  Sunday  and  Monday  he  had  but  to 
appear  on  the  balcony  of  his  hotel  or  in  the 
street  to  attract  a  crowd  which  in  its  pleasure 
would  now  and  again  give  vent  to  its  feelings  in 
a  cheer. 

Active  operations  started  on  the  Tuesday,  and 


Certainly,  while  the  "  rain-maker  "  and  his 
staff  were  at  work  very  promising  clouds  con- 
tinually hung  over  the  watershed,  often  when 
the  town,  nine  miles  away,  was  domed  by  a 
clear  blue  sky.  But  the  rain  refused  to  fall. 
Altogether,  in  four  weeks,  one  solitary  point 
was  registered,  even  though  at  times  the 
clouds  hung  so  low  that  they  seemed  to 
actually  press  down  on  the  town  The 
nights  were  exceedingly  frosty  and  bitterly 
cold  ;  one  day  there  happened  along  a  fierce 
dust  storm  —  the  Barrier  challenges  the  Sahara 
in  the  matter  of  dust  storms  ;  and  the  daily 
shade  temperatures  (maximum)  ranged  between 


From  i 


THE    LOCAL    "  RAIN-MAKING "    COMMITTEE   AT   WORK. 


[Pho/O. 


with  one  break  were  continued  for  nine  days. 
Yet  Nature  remained  perverse.  The  "  rain- 
maker"  setup  three  "stations"  on  the  catch- 
ment of  the  reservoir,  at  the  three  points  of  a 
triangle,  each  "station"  being  five  miles  apart. 
These  "  stations  "  were  canvas-walled  enclosures, 
ten  feet  in  length,  breadth,  and  height,  open  at  the 
top.  No  one  except  the  "  rain-maker  "  and  his 
assistants  was  allowed  inside,  so  what  magic  was 
performed  the  outside  world  does  not  know.  The 
doctor  absolutely  refused  to  give  a  hint  of  its 
formula,  admitting  only  to  his  use  of  certain 
chemicals  creating  a  vapour,  which  rising  high, 
miles  into  the  atmosphere,  produced  a  vacuum. 
This  vacuum  was  to  attract  the  clouds,  which 
would  then  burst.  But  they  didn't,  to  the 
disgust  of  Broken  Hill  and  the  apparent  dis- 
appointment of  Dr.  MacCarthy. 


fifty  -  two  degrees  and  seventy  -  six  degrees. 
Through  this  varying  weather  Dr.  MacCarthy 
stuck  to  his  task,  telling  all  who  saw  him  (and 
many  men  drove  out  the  few  miles  between  the 
town  and  the  catchment  just  to  chat  with  him) 
that  he  couldn't  possibly  fail.  "To-morrow" 
or  "  Two  days  hence  "  —to  all  he  gave  one  of 
these  two  replies.  Once  during  the  nine  days 
of  experiment  he  journeyed  into  town  for  a 
short  rest.  Interviewed,  he  reiterated  every- 
thing he  had  said  before  he  entered  on  his  task. 
He  was,  he  said,  "doing  nicely,  thank  you"; 
everything  was  proceeding  satisfactorily  :  he  was 
more  sanguine  than  ever. 

But  the*  rain  held  off,  and  one  evening  about 
seven  o'clock  there  stumbled  into  Broken  Hill 
a  footsore,  dejected,  jaded  man.  It  was 
MacCarthy.     Weary  and  disgusted  at  his  con- 


284 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


tinned  dismal  failure  he  had  suddenly  "  thrown 
up  the  sponge,"  and,  no  vehicle  being  available, 
he  had  set  out  to  walk  the  nine  miles  inter- 
ween  the  dry  watercourse  and  the 
town. 

As  soon  as  he  had  had  dinner  the  "rain- 
maker "  went  to  bed,  and  stayed  there  for 
■i  hours. 

A  couple  of  days  later,  when  he  had  recu- 
sed, the  doctor  took  the  train  back  to 
Melbourne,  still  assertive,  still  hopeful,  blaming 
Nature-  the  frost  and  the  dust— for  his  non- 
success.  ro  the  last  he  refused  to  admit  that 
his  scheme  was  at  fault.  He  agreed  that  he 
had  failed-  to  deny  that  would  have  been  utter 
stupidity — but  put  all  the  blame  on  the  unusual 
climal  nditions  he  had  had  to  face.  Certainly 
broken  Hill  is  strong  on  weather.  It  some- 
times has  ten  to  twelve  varieties  a  day,  and  I've 
known  the  temperature  to  drop  sixty  degrees 
within  twelve  hours,  and  that  more  than  once. 


thousand  gallons  of  water  from  the  adjacent 
State,  over  a  distance  of  from  one  hundred  to 
one  hundred  and  seventy  miles.  Some  of  the 
mines  buckled  to  also  and  erected  condensing 
plants,  so  that  the  highly-mineralized  water  in 
the  workings  might  be  utilized. 

Meantime,  about  three  thousand  men  were 
out  of  work  and  over  two  thousand  only  work- 
ing "  short  time,"  while  no  fewer  than  three 
thousand  six  hundred  people  had  registered  to 
receive  Government  relief.  The  street  trams 
ceased  running,  the  supply  of  gas  and  electric 
light  was  reduced  about  a  half,  business  places 
were  "  sacking  "  hands  right  and  left,  and  even 
some  of  the  hotels  closed  their  bars.  Strikes 
and  accidents  are  bad — Broken  Hill  has  experi- 
enced both— but  a  water  famine  is  deadly. 
Never  before  has  Broken  Hill  been  in  such  dire 
straits. 

If  Dr.  MacCarthy  had  only  succeeded,  what  a 
tremendous  amount  of  distress  would  have  been 


iCCARTHV    AND   ONE    OK    HIS        STATIONS. 


[Photo. 


Dr.  MacCarthy  left  the  railway  station  the 
Broken  Hill  people  bade  a  long  farewell  to 
artificial  rain-making,  and  set  their  minds  to  the 
task  of  grappling  with  the  situation  by  ordinary 
methods.  A  Minister  of  the  Crown  visited  the 
town,  journeying  a  thousand  miles  to  do  so, 
and  certain  proposals  were  placed  before  him. 
The  result  was  that  arrangements  were  made 
for  the  carriage  by  train  weekly  of  eight  hundred 


averted  !  As  it  is,  Broken  Hill  has  had  to  return 
to  its  faith  in  Dame  Nature  and  await  the  good 
lady's  consideration.  Its  experience  may  prove 
a  valuable  lesson,  in  that  once  the  present 
difficulty  is  overcome  the  people  will  see  to  it 
that  it  has  no  chance  of  repetition.  And,  at  any 
rate,  the  experience  of  the  town  has  placed 
"  rain-maker "  stock  at  a  discount  on  the 
Australian  market. 


By  J.    Walter 


Rl£LT>, 

I. 


of  Pennsylvania. 


^»  F.R.Hors!rwn* 


t 


There  formerly  existed  in  the  Southern  States  of  America  a  number  of  powerful  secret  societies, 
which,  under  such  names  as  the  "  Ku  Klux  Klan "  and  "White  Avengers,"  caused  a  veritable  reign 
of  terror  throughout  the  regions  wherein  they  operated.  Everything  possible  was  done  to  play 
upon  the  superstitious  fears  of  the  population,  and  deeds  of  fiendish  cruelty  and  cold-blooded  ferocity 
were  wrought  under  cover  of  darkness.  This  story  describes  the  thrilling  experiences  of  a  young 
school-teacher  who  incurred  the  enmity  of  one  of  these   terrible  organizations. 


P£^ 


H  E  adventures  herein  narrated 
occurred  more  than  thirty  years 
ago  ;  they  comprise  the  thrilling 
experiences  of  a  young  Northern 
man  who,  at  the  close  of  the  great 
Civil  strife  in  the  United  States,  went  into  the 
Southland  to  "  teach  school  "  among  the  newly- 
freed  slaves. 
_  The  feeling  of  the  Southrons  toward  the 
victorious  Yanks  at  the  time  was  the  very 
natural  one  of  deep  enmity.  To-day  this 
feeling  has  worn  itself  completely  out,  and  in 
its  stead  there  is  a  sentiment  of  firm  friendship  ; 
the  two  "  sections  "  of  old  are  now  a  united 
people.  There  is  to-day  in  America  no  North 
and  no  South,  except  in  a  strict  geographical 
sense. 

The  adventures  I  shall  relate  arose  directly 
from  the  manoeuvres  of  certain  bands  of  lawless 
individuals  who  sprang  into  being  at  the  close 
of  the  war.  They  were  the  riff-raff,  the  scum  of 
the  Southern  forces — that  class  of  men  who  inflict 
themselves  upon  all  great  armies;  and  the 
sudden  cessation  of  hostilities  threw  them  out  of 
a  job.    Various  terror-inspiring  cognomens  were 


assumed  by  these  lawless  societies,  the  one  most 
widespread  in  notoriety  being  the  "  Ku  Klux 
Klan,"  or  "  K.  K.  K."  The  particular  band, 
however,  whose  bloodthirsty  deeds  are  dealt 
with  in  part  in  this  narrative  was  known  through- 
out a  small  area  of  South-Western  Alabama  as 
the  "White  Avengers."  Their  avowed  purpose 
was  to  rid  the  earth  of  "  nigger  sympathizers,' 
stray  Yankees,  and  weak-kneed  ex-rebels  who 
were  too  ready  in  yielding  renewed  allegiance  to 
the  Government — and,  in  fact,  to  weed  out  any 
and  every  one  less  rabidly  bitter  than  themselves 
at  the  outcome  of  the  war.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
however,  this  rabble  was  as  great  a  menace  to  the 
representative  Southern  folk  themselves,  pros- 
trate as  they  were  from  the  recent  deplorable 
strife,  and  too  weak  to  eject  these  alleged 
"avengers"  from  their  lands.  Vengeance 
doubtless  inspired  some  fiery  spirits  among 
these  secret  bands ;  pure  wantonness,  love  of 
rapine,  and  a  wild  life  inspired  more.  Every 
nation  oh  the  earth  has  the  material  in  its 
midst  for  just  such  societies.  When  circum- 
stances ripen  the  occasion,  as  in  this  Southern 
United  States  case,  they  spring  into  life.    History 


rill      WIDE    WORLD     M.U'.AXINE. 


is  full  of  the  deeds  actly  similar  bands  of 

free  .  from  the  brigands  of  Italy  to  the 

"  \\  hit  cap]  s  and  New  York. 

The    "  Ku    Klnx    Klan"   and    the    "White 
ed  upon  the  circumstances  to  a 
mask,  under  the  guise  of  extreme 
S    uh.    deeds   o\    sheer   cruelty. 
I  by  innate  bloodthirstiness. 
There   was,    of  course,    a    strong    sentiment, 
in     the     part     of    the     Southron 
nst  the  Northern  man  at  the  close  of  the 
war.      Coupled    with    this,    the    Southern    folk 
rjy  prejudiced  against  any  act  tending 
to  lift  the  n  to  a  social  status  higher  than 

as,  Mr  instance,  by  educating  them. 
The  young  man   I   speak  of,  therefore,  being 
'   only  a   Northerner  but  about   to  engage   in 
educating   the   negroes,    was   doubly    under   the 
oan  of  Southern  ostracism. 

The    story   here   told    is  an   outline   of  what 
!  him  in  this  work,  as  witnessed  and  partici- 
pated in  by  my  own  lather,  then  a  young  man. 

The    self-elected    pioneer   of    education    was 
Horace  E.  Johnson.     He  was  a  stranger  to  fear, 
and   earned    later  the   distinctive    sobriquet    of 
'The  Fighting  Yankee  School-Teacher."     He 
knew    to    some    extent     before    leaving    Penn- 
inia    what    he    would    have    to    encounter 
socially  in  the  South,  but  the  methods  pursued 
toward  so-called  "Yankee   interlopers"  by  the 
'  White  Av  and  similar  associations    In- 

had  to  a  great  extent  yet  to  learn. 

The     first     stop     young 
Johnson   made  in  his  jour- 
south  was  in    the  Ala- 
bama ci:  ;   lma.      Here 
he   was    to    be    met    by   a 
ured  man  with  a  team 
of  horses  and  to  be  driven 
ce    thirty  -  eight     miles 
into  the  country,  where  hi , 

found    his    colour..'; 
driver    at    an    agreed 

ous  toward  night  — 
catch  a  darky  leaving  town 
till  the  last  moment  !— and 
began  his  long  ,  trip. 

which    was    to    be    br 

•n  miles  out  at  a  way- 
ry. 
The    first    instalment    of 
that   dr:  remem- 

"terwards  as  an  en- 
trancing dream. 
-     Khern  twilights  are  long. 
t   fields  of  bur 
white  cotton,  the  grovi 
magnolia,  gum,  and  live-oak, 


alive  with  strange,  gaily-plumaged  birds,  the  per- 
fume .laden  air,  were  all  strangely  fascinating  to 
him.  But  now  the  scene  shifted  rapidly.  The 
young  teacher's  "  experiences "  were  to  begin 
that  very  night. 

Arrived  at  the  country  hotel,  a  sort  of  wayside 
inn  of  a  past  age,  Horace  entered,  and  while 
the  driver  was  looking  after  the  team  he  re- 
quested supper  and  a  night's  lodging  for  himself 
and  the  darky. 

Now,  even  the  Northern  American  has  certain 
social  objections  to  the  man  of  colour.  For 
instance,  as  a  rule  he  would  not  think  of  sitting 
down  to  dinner  at  the  same  table  as  a  black 
man.  Horace  did  think,  however,  that  it  was 
within  the  proprieties  to  eat  in  the  same  room 
— particularly  in  this  backwoods  hostelry.  But 
he  was  to  learn  his  mistake.  In  the  South  the 
negro  must  take  his  meals  in  a  room  by  him- 
self; on  the  cars  he  must  confine  himself  to 
the  negro  compartment ;  and  this  law  applies 
to  every  human  being  with  one  single  drop  of 
negro  blood  in  his  veins. 

"  The  driver  and  I  are  nearly  famished,"  said 
the  young  Northerner  amicably  to  the  heavy- 
browed  Southern  host.  "Let  enough  food  be 
brought  into  the  dining-room  to  satisfy  two 
healthy  appetites." 

"  Meanin'  that  nigger,  I  reckon,  to  eat  in 
where  the  white  folks  eat?"  queried  the  amazed 
proprietor,  doubting  the  evidence  of  his  ears 


*& 


w 


^ 


IN     THAT    NIGGER,    I    RECKON?'    QUERIED    THE    AMAZED    PROPRIETOR." 


THE    "WHITE    AVENGERS." 


287 


"Why,  yes,  certainly,"  replied  the  Northerner, 
somewhat  sharply.  "Black  folks  have  to  eat 
down  here,  don't  they,  same  as  the  white 
people  ?  " 

Then  the  crowd  of  disreputable-looking,  long- 
haired loungers  about  the  dingy  hotel  "  office," 
who  had  been  eyeing  Horace  askance,  broke 
into  a  sneering  guffaw  of  laughter,  casting  upon 
the  stranger  at  the  same  moment  marked  scowls 
of  disapproval. 

"  You're  a  Yank  ! "  said  the  Boniface,  con- 
clusively, after  a  slow  scrutiny  of  his  prospective 
guest's  face  lasting  some  seconds.  Then  he 
glanced  expressively  toward  the  grim  visages  in 
the  background. 

The  effect  of  the  landlord's  deduction  upon 
these  latter  individuals  was  electrical.  As  one 
man  they  rose  to  their  feet,  a  low  murmur 
running  about  the  smoke-laden  room,  and 
clanking  their  heavily-spurred  boots  as  they 
came,  they  advanced  menacingly  toward  the  low 
hotel  desk  where  the  guest  stood. 

The  most  villainous-looking  member  of  the 
crowd  paused  directly  in  front  of  young 
Johnson. 

"  Be  ye  a  nigger-lovin'  Yank,  young  fellow  ?  " 
he  asked,  insolently,  at  the  same  moment 
drawing  a  monstrous  saddle  -  pistol  from  an 
open  holster  or  leather  pocket  at  his  side,  and 
fanning  the  air  in  front  of  the  lad  carelessly 
with  the  weapon  to  give  emphasis  to  his  talk. 
"'Cause  if  ye  be,"  he  continued,  "ye  want  to 
make  a  right  smart  move  back  up  to  Vermont 
and  get  busy  a-making  wooden  nutmegs  an' 
such-all  things.  That's  you-alls  line,  'stead  of 
comin'  down  here  into  we-alls  country  to  put 
fool  ideas  into  the  heads  of  our  niggers.  Do  ye 
understand  that  ?  Be  I  right,  fellows  ?  "  and 
the  burly  ruffian  turned  inquiringly  to  the 
other  occupants  of  the  room,  still,  toying  care- 
lessly with  the  pistol. 

A  loud  shout,  mingled  with  much  profanity, 
left  no  doubt  in  the  young  man's  mind,  had  he 
originally  possessed  any,  that  this  sentiment  met 
the  unanimous  approbation  of  everyone  present 
—save  himself.  With  this  vocal  endorsement 
of  their  leader  the  crowd  coupled  action  and 
closed  about  the  surprised  Yank. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  the  object  of  their  dis- 
pleasure, composedly,  "  I  came  down  here  into 
your  country  to  teach  school,  and  not  to  have 
trouble.     I " 

"  Who-alls  you  goin'  to  teach,  then  ?  "  broke 
in  a  voice  from  the  crowd,  in  that  same  drawling 
dialect  of  the  first  speaker. 

The  awful  enormity  of  young  Johnson's 
daring  had  not  even  then  occurred  to  his  inter- 
locutors. They  supposed  now  that,  at  worst, 
he  was  simply  an  interloping  "  carpet  -  bagger  " 


seeking  to  open  a  "  boarding-around  "  school  of 
white  patrons,  though  even  these  schools  were 
then  rare  in  the  South.  Among  wealthy  white 
people  the  "  tutor "  system  was  prevalent ;  the 
"poor  whites  "  went  mostly  untaught. 

"  I  expect,  gentlemen,  to  teach  the  coloured 
children — over  beyond  Greensboro,  in  Hale 
County.     I " 

"  You — expect  to — what  did  he-alls  say, 
fellows  ? "  gasped  the  individual  who  had  first 
questioned  Johnson,  turning  to  the  audience  to 
corroborate  words  so  atrocious  of  import  that 
he  doubted  them. 

"  Why,  I'm  eternally  blessed ! "  he  went  on 
in  a  breath,  "if  we-alls  ain't  caught  a  nigger- 
teachin'  white  Yank !  Got  th'  nerve  to  tell 
we-uns  right  to  our  teeth  what  he-alls  aimin'  to 
do,  too  ! 

"  Does  y'alls  hear  that  ?  Now,  here's  my  own 
answer,"  he  added,  and  struck  the  unsuspect- 
ing young  Northerner  several  vicious  blows  in 
the  face  with  his  clenched  fist. 

"  Fellows,"  he  cried  out,  in  a  sudden  access 
of  fury  as  Horace  Johnson  unexpectedly  struck 
back  one  strong,  muscular  blow  in  the  big 
brute's  face,  completely  closing  that  worthy's 
right  eye,  "  snatch  open  that  door  there  !  No 
scrub  of  a  Yank  shall  strike  Dink  Botsford  and 
live  long  enough  to  spread  the  rumour  !  "  Then 
a  dozen  brawny  roughs  seized  hold  of  the 
school-teacher  and,  jostling  and  kicking  him 
as  they  went,  rushed  him  swiftly  through  the 
opened  door.  From  outside  a  score  of 
frightened  darkies  scurried  pell-mell,  having 
been  congregated  there  in  the  dark,  tremblingly 
listening. 

Once  outside  the  building,  a  running  start 
was  made  forthwith  for  a  neighbouring  live-oak 
possessed  of  a  convenient  lower  limb ;  the 
young  Northerner  making  frantic  efforts  the 
while  to  free  himself.  Then  a  queer  incident 
occurred.  The  stalwart  form  of  a  young  man 
whom  no  one  had,  previously  observed  suddenly 
sprang  from  the  shadows.  Uttering  no  word, 
he  made  his  way  by  force  into  the  middle  of 
the  ruffianly  throng,  its  members  going  to  earth 
in  a  struggling  heap  before  the  powerful  sweeps 
of  his  arms.  Then  he  called  out  somewhat 
breathlessly  to  Horace  to  follow  him,  and 
disappeared  at  a  bound  as  unexpectedly  as 
he  had  come,  the  astounded  but  grateful 
Northern  lad  a  good  second.  The  discomfited 
mob  at  the  oak  tree  seemed  paralyzed  with 
amazement. 

Over  fences,  meadows,  and  pastures  the 
fleeing  pair  plunged  ahead  through  the 
dark",  pausing  for  nothing,  while  close  behind, 
soon  after  crossing  the  first  meadow,  they  could 
plainly   hear    their   incensed    and    bloodthirsty 


THE     WIDK     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


"THI-V    RUSHED    HIM    SWIFTLY     IHKOI-i;H    THE    OPENED    HOOR.' 


pursuers.  Glancing  back  as  they  ran,  the  lads 
saw  the  shadowy  outlined  forms  of  the  enraged 
mob,  seemingly  gaining  on  them.  Twice,  three 
times,  they  felt  the  close  "  zip  "  of  bullets  sent 
to  stop  them. 

Suddenly  the  stalwart  stranger  swerved  to 
one  side  to  leap  a  small  stream,  grasping  his 
companion  by  the  arm  and  bidding  him  breath- 

-ly  to  jump.  Then,  still  guided  by  the 
stranger,  Johnson  entered  a  heavily-timbered 
swamp.  A  safe  distance  within  its  depths  the 
panting  pair  sat  down  upon  a  fallen  log  to  rest ; 
and  then  for  the  first  time  Horace  learned 
something  of  his  benefactor.  For  the  time 
their  surroundings  would  give  them  ample  pro- 
tection ;  though  the  school  -  teacher  chafed  at 
this  one-sided  encounter,  and  the  fact  that  he 
was  hiding  from  an  enemy. 

The  stranger,  Johnson  learnt,  was  the  son  of 
a  neighbouring  planter.  One  of  the  coloured 
boys  who  "  belonged "  to  the  plantation  had 
brought  him  word  that  a  gang  of  "  Kluckers " 
had  the  young  Northerner  surrounded,  and  it 
needed  no  telling  in  that  troublous  period  what 
the  outcome  would  be.  A  Southron  himself, 
with  all  a  Southern  man's  prejudices,  the 
young  planter  had  none  the  less  acted  as  any 
true   Southern  gentleman  would    have    acted, 


and  at  the  peril  of  his  own  life  instantly  rushed 
to  the  rescue. 

I  must  pause  here  to  state  that  this  young 
Southern  planter,  later  on  in  life,  displayed  the 
good  taste  to  become  the  male  parent  of  the 
writer  of  this  narrative. 

Seated  there  in  that  black  swamp,  the  planter's 
son  explained  to  his  companion  all  the  cruel 
methods  and  deeds  of  bloodshed  which  em- 
ployed the  night-time  of  these  bands  of  so-called 
"  Avengers."  The  very  mob  from  which  young 
Johnson  had  been  rescued  comprised  the  most 
dangerous  characters  of  all  the  merciless  night- 
riding  guerillas  in  the  whole  South. 

The  Northern  lad  learned  in  detail  many  of 
their  atrocious  barbarities  and  the  unspeakable 
cruelties  practised  by  them  upon  their  victims, 
ot  which  hanging  was  a  mere  merciful  surcease 
from  suffering. 

The  pair  had  but  the  briefest  time,  however, 
for  regaining  their  breath  ;  deadly  dangers  were 
approaching  them  even  then — dangers  which 
would  demand  every  effort  they  were  capable  of. 

The  young  planter's  plan  of  escape,  hastily 
formed,  was  that  they  should  secrete  themselves 
in  the  labyrinths  of  the  swamp  until  opportunity 
should  come  for  them  to  escape  unobserved, 
and    then    make   their   way   cautiously   to   his 


THE    "WHITE    AVENGERS." 


289 


home,  two  miles  distant.  From  here,  later  on, 
the  young  teacher  could  safely  proceed  on  his 
way. 

Suddenly  the  late  moon  threw  its  first  broad 
beam  through  the  fringe  of  trees  separating  the 
two  young  men  from  the  open  fields  ahead.  At 
that  same  instant  a  peculiar  and  indescribable 
sound,  proceeding  from  somewhere  on  the  edge 
of  the  swamp,  fell  upon  their  straining  ears — 
a  sound  which  the  Northern  man  had  never 
before  heard,  but  concern- 
ing which  the  young 
Southron  needed  no  ex- 
planation. It  was  an 
extraordinarily  hollow  and 
uncanny  clucking,  almost 
like  the  death-rattle  of  a 
dying  man.  It  was  the 
gruesome  battle-cry  of 
the  "  Ku  Klux  Klan," 
especially  devised  by  them 
for  its  fearsomeness  —  a 
sound  which  had  caused 
the  laces  of  many  a 
wretched  victim,  both 
black  and  white,  to 
blanch,  and  their  hearts 
to  stop  beating  from 
sheer  terror. 

Glancing     quickly    to- 
ward   the   outer    edge  of 


We  felt  there  that  night  in  the  swamp  much 
as  the  treed  opossum  does  when  surrounded 
by  the  hounds.  It  was  fight,  swim,  or  die — 
possibly  and  die.  Two  young  lads  against  a 
horde  of  murderers  !  We  had  some  little  variety 
in  our  choice  of  death,  and  that  was  all.  We 
were  poorly  armed  for  such  an  unequal  contest, 
but  we  seemed  thus  far  to  be  well  hidden, 
having  snugged  down  behind  two  giant  water- 
oaks,  and  so  we  waited  anxiously. 


the  swamp,   whence    this 

awful 

come, 


to 


fugitives 


sound   seemed 

the  two 
now  beheld  two  score 
dreadful,  white-shrouded 
forms,  which  seemed  to 
have  sprung  out  of  the 
earth,  scattered  through 
the  heavily- foliaged 
Southern  swamp  trees. 
With  a  thrill  of  horror 
the  young  planter  recog- 
nised in  them  the  mur- 
derous "  White  Aven- 
gers" in  their  full  "uni- 
form "  of  long  white  robe 
and  peaked  pillow-case 
head  gear,  in  which  holes 
were  slit  for  the  eyes. 
Across  the  breast  of  the 
robe  was  a  black  death's 
head,  skull,  and  cross- 
bones  complete— all  factors  for  inspiring  terror. 
It  was  evident  that  the  scoundrels  at  the 
"hotel"  had  called  out  their  full  regiment; 
there  was  foul  work  ahead  for  them  this  still 
night.  From  this  point  I  may  as  well  continue 
the  story  in  my  father's  own  words  :  — 

Vol.  xii. —  37. 


"the  young  planter  recognised  in  them  the 
murderous  '  white  avengers.'" 


B  Then,  all  at  once,  there  came  a  lurid  glare, 

gradually  growing  in  size  and  intensity  until 
the  whole  edge  of  the  wood  seemed  ablaze.  Our 
hearts  nearly  stood  still  as  we  realized  the  awful 
import  of  this  spectacle.  We  were  to  be 
smoked  out  of  cover,  or,  rather,  driven  out  by 
the  fierce  heat  of  the  forest  fire  the  fiends 
behind  had  started!     The  "fat"  pines,  dry  as 


rHE    WIDE    WORLD    MAOAZINE. 


tind  ve  the  high-water  mark  oi  the  swamp, 

with  inflammable  resin,  and  the 

withered  tr<  med  and  matted  in  a 

ve  our  heau>,  formed  a  quick 

id  tlic  •  ration. 

Driven  out  of  our  hiding-place,  we  plunged 

vamp.     That  way  there  was  a 

lif<  .    toward   the   fiends  in   human 

site  direction  no  chance  at  all. 

ile   the  clucking   demons  watched,  ex- 

ry  moment  us  leap  into  sight 

n  of  (lames.      But  we  were  grimly 

rmined   to  disappoint   the  uncanny  horde, 

and  disappoint  them  we  did. 

lathsome  swamp  snakes  dropped 

rendered   blind   by   the  flames,  and 

furry  r>  idded  past  us  in  terror.     Screech- 

-  wild   felines,   the  Southern   ti_    i  cats,   going 

in   great   bounds  from   one  fallen  tree-trunk  to 

anothci.  fresh    danger    to   our  surround- 

_   .  shagg)  black  b<  ar  arose  on 

his  haunches  in  our  path  to  dispute  our  further 

;s— an    unconscious   ally    of    the    wilder 

beasts    in    human    form    who    were    even    then 

king  our  lives. 

:  iddenly   we  sank  knee-deep  in  a  bog,  the 

roaring  cauldron  of   flames  sweeping  toward  us 

like  a  cyclone.      It    parched   and    blistered   our 

tmosphere  turned  blood  red. 

Involuntarily  we  closed  our  eyes,  and   I   must 

admit  I  gave  up  all  hope.     We  could  hear  the 


voices  of  the  "  Kluckers "  away  behind,  now 
interspersing  hoarse  shouts  with  their  awful 
death  clucks — 1  know  not  what  else  to  call  the 
sounds. 

Suddenly— a  fancy  we  concluded — we  thought 
there  were  human  voices  in  front  of  us.  We 
had  begun  to  sink  deeper  into  the  quagmire, 
each  wild  plunge  sending  us  farther  and  farther 
down  into  the  inky  slime. 

Then  once  again  in  our  frenzy  we  thought 
there  were  cries  from  in  front.  A  moment 
more,  and  this  fancy  proved  a  happy  reality. 

The  gigantic  frames  of  two  powerful  black 
men  burst  suddenly  into  view  in  the  dark  back- 
ground, seeming  to  our  distracted  vision  like 
beings  from  the  nether  world.  The  onrushing 
conflagration  cast  a  yellow  glow  on  the  black 
swamp  walls  behind  them,  lighting  the  negroes' 
faces  with  the  pallor  of  corpses  ;  and  the  flicker- 
ing flames  gave  them  demon  motions  and  the 
stature  of  giants. 

They  were  not  demons,  however,  but  our 
rescuers. 

In  their  hands  the  black  men  bore  long  poles 
with  which  they  had  been  engaged  in  knocking 
over  the  little  animals,  the  swarms  of  'possums 
and  the  like,  which  were  driven  out  of  their 
swamp  nests  by  the  flames. 

These  poles  the  two  men  now  stretched  out 
to  us,  and  with  them  they  drew  us  slowly  and 
painfully   from   the   bog-pit  into  which  we  had 


,EV    '  LOWl.Y    AND    IAIN  FULLY    PROM    THE    BOG-PIT," 


THE    "WHITE    AVENGERS." 


291 


fallen.  This  task  was  accomplished  at  the  very 
instant  when  the  "  Avengers  "  were  just  revealing 
their  horrid,  expressionless,  white-masked  visages 
at  the  far  edge  of  the  mire  pool,  which  the 
flames  had  already  leaped  over. 

They  saw  us  and  our  dusky  rescuers  at  the 
same  instant  ;  and  the  awe-inspiring  clucking 
arose  in  unison  from  their  throats.  Our  black 
friends  were  so  stricken  with  fear  at  the  sound 
that  they  had  hard  work  to  keep  sufficient 
courage  to  stick  to  their  mission  of  salvation. 
Their  eyes  rolled  in  fright  and  their  teeth 
chattered,  but  they  stayed  by  us  until  they  had 
hauled  us  on  to  firm  ground. 

As  we  started  to  run  in  the  direction  taken 
by  the  negroes,  our  pur- 
suers, seeing  us  escaping 
them,  began  a  fierce 
fusillade  with  their  long;- 
barrelled  sharpshooters' 
muskets,  such  as  were 
used  during  the  Civil 
War.  The  bullets 
whistled  about  us  like 
hail. 

The  two  black  men 
had  often  come  to  this 
swamp  forest  to  hunt  ; 
and  through  the  mile  or 
more  yet  remaining  of 
successive  sink  -  holes, 
edged  with  treacherous 
underbush  and  clogged 
with  fallen  giant  pines, 
they  had  laid  a  trail, 
through  which  they  now 
guided  us  in  nimble 
leaps. 

We  were  just  con- 
gratulating ourselves 
upon  our  certain  escape 
from  the  swamp,  the 
outer  edge  of  which  we 
could  now  see  dimly  in 
the  distance,  when  the 
foremost  of  our  black 
guides  suddenly  uttered 
a  shrill  scream  of  agony, 
threw  his  hands  wildly 
above  his  head,  and  fell 
prostrate.  A  musket- 
ball  had  pierced  his 
heart,  and  when,  an  in- 
stant later,  I  knelt  down 
by  the  poor  fellow's  side 
I  found  him  stone  dead. 

This  sad  catastrophe 
speedily  dispelled  all  our 
previous 


ness;  the  school-teacher  was  so  infuriated  at  the 
deed  that  I  had  trouble  in  restraining  him  from 
going  back  into  the  swamp  and  engaging  the 
swarm  of  white-shrouded  demons  single-handed. 

We  could  do  nothing  for  the  dead  man,  and 
were  forced  to  leave  him  where  he  was,  much 
as  we  regretted  doing  so  after  his  brave  efforts 
in  our  behalf. 

There  were  more  pressing  matters  claiming 
our  instant  attention,  however,  if  we  proposed 
saving  ourselves.  The  conflagration  having 
reached  the  rim  of  some  of  the  larger  mire 
pools,  which  were  practically  ponds  of  water, 
had  run  short  of  fuel,  and  was  now  dying  out. 
Coupled   with  this,   the  moon,   hitherto  shining 


lighthearted- 


THE    FOREMOST   OF    OUR    BLACK    GUIDES    THREW    HIS    HANDS    WILDLY   ABOVE    HIS    HEAD   AND 

FELL    PROSTRATE." 


THK    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


brilliantly,    had    gone   under   a    huge    bank   of 
clou  I    at    the    moment    the   first  waft   of 

from   the  open   fields  struck  our  faces,  at 
the  of  the  swamp,  the  air  about  us 

:ne  inky  dark. 
A:  a  distance  back  in   the  dismal  lagoon  we 
could  hear  the  hoarse  cries  of  the  demon  horde 
—the    white-shrouded    "Avengers" — now    too 
■  extricating  themselves  from   the  swamp  to 
rt    to   their  devilish    duckings.       Without 
Idenly  engulfed  in   intense  dark 
-.  they  were  getting  deeper  and  deeper  into 
•   ake  dnd  alligator  infested   labyrinths  of 
the  mor 

We  made  our  way 
■v.ird  the 
open  fields  with  the 
hoarse    cries  of    our 
pursuers  still  ringing 
ars.     In   at- 
tempting  to  trap  us 
ring  the  swamp 
-  behind  us,  they 
had   got  caught   I 
then.  instead. 

We  only  hoped  they 
re    stuck    deep 
enough    in   the  bogs 
to  permit   us  to 
-     >d    start  toward 
plantation,   after 
which  we  would  trust 
tq  our  Once 

on   the   plantation,  I 
had  what  I  still  con- 
a   clever    trick 
in    mind,   wherebv   I 


could  set  the  teacher  and  the  remaining  negro 
guide  safely  upon  their  way  in  disguise,  for  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  negro  would 
henceforth  be  a  marked  man  to  these  swamp 
demons,  and  that  his  life  would  be  forfeit  if  he 
did  not  get  well  out  of  the  country. 

Bordering  the  side  of  the  swamp  we  were 
approaching  was  a  broad  field  of  cotton,  through 
the  centre  of  which  ran  a  rough  trail  leading  to 
the  plantation  buildings,  two  miles  away,  all  the 
vast  property  being  owned  by  my  uncle,  with 
whom  I  then  made  my  home.  A  few  feet  from 
the   trail,   and    running  parallel   with   it,   a   big 

trench  had  been  dug 
to  serve  as  a  drain. 
This  was  eight  or  ten 
feet  deep,  and  of 
about  the  same  width, 
and  it  extended  from 
the  swamp  right 
through  the  cotton- 
field,  terminating 
near  the  centre  of 
the  plantation,  some 
distance  beyond  the 
mansion.  Several 
stout  bridges  crossed 
the  trench  in  its 
course. 

A  knowledge  of 
these  facts  is  essential 
to  the  proper  under- 
standing of  the  series 
of  strange  adventures 
which  were  to  happen 
in  the  cotton-field  a 
few  moments  later. 


'   A    PART    I  IV AMP    WHERE    THR    YOUNG    SCHOOL-TEACHER 

From  a]         AND    His    RESCUER    bAFFI.F.D   THEIR    PURSUERS.  {Photo. 


(To  be  continued.) 

>.nt  of  this  exciting  narrative  details  the  further  adventures  of  the  fugitives 
"Avengers"    in   order   to   baffle   their  pursuers:    and    ho7V   t/ie   school- 
teacher xfely  away  at  a  moment  when  capture  seemed  certain. 


Jfre  Gorroboress  of  JMeu?  South  Wales. 

By  Charles  H.   Kerry. 

The  well-known  Sydney  photographer  tells  all  about  the  strange  and  fantastic  dances  of  the  aboriginal 
savages  of  his  Colony,  and  illustrates  his  paper  with  a  set  of  striking  photographs,  taken  by  himself. 

HE  decadence 
of  the  aborigi- 
nal races  of 
Australia  and 
the     absolute 

certainty    of    their    utter 

extinction   in  the  Colony 

of  New  South  Wales  (and 

that  at  an  early  date)  lend 

a  mournful  and  pathetic 

interest  to  the  movements 

of  the  few  scattered  rem- 
nants which   are   all  that 

now  remain  to  tell  of  the 

past  glories  of  the  powerful 

tribes  who  ruled  this  old, 

weather-beaten    continent 

until   the   advent   of  the 

pale  face  a  few  generations 

back. 

Modern  civilization 

grafted   on    to   a    savage 

mode   of    life    has    been 

fatal  to  our  native  race. 

With    no   inherent   knowledge   to   guide    their         were 

selection  of  the  new  customs  presented,  they         parts 


From  a]        THE  king  of  the  tribe — HIS  hut  is  considered  quite  pretentious. 


[P/wto. 


unable  to   assimilate   any  of   the  higher 
of  civilization,  but  most  faithfully  copied 

the  worst  of  its 
vices,  with  de- 
plorable results. 
The  shrinkage 
in  number  of  our 
full  -  bl  ood  ed 
aboriginals  in 
the  short  space 
of  a  few  years  is 
sad  but  eloquent 
testimony  of  the 
fact  that  we  are 
within  measur- 
able distance  of 
the  time  when 
the  last  natural 
lord  of  the  soil 
will  have  follow- 
ed Tasmania's 
"  Trucanini  "  to 
the  Great  Un- 
known. 
Under 


drafting  sheei 


-this  was  performed  in  honour  of  a  neighbouring  sheep-owner. 
From  a  Photo. 


the 
of  a 
spe- 
cially constituted 


supervision 
"Board," 


the    wide   World   magazine. 


- 


HEALING   THE   SICK    WARRIOR    — THE    MEDICINE-MEN    EXAMINING   THE    PATIENT. 


for  their  protection,  the  few  fragments  of  tribes 
which  still  remain  in  different  districts  are 
lered  into  locations  specially  reserved  for 
their  use.  At  yearly  intervals  blankets  and 
clothing  are  doled  out  to  each  member,  and 
food  rations  are  also  regularly  allotted  to  the 
.  children,  and  old  warriors.  A 
certain  amount  of  influence  is  also  exercised  to 
minimize  the  drifting  of  population  from  one 
location  to  another;  but  the  old  primitive 
nature  will  assert  itself  at  intervals,  and  despite 
official  regulations,  the  desire  to  enact  the 
ancient  role  of 
the  savage  finds 
vent  ever  and 
anon  in  great 
menials,  of 
which  "corro- 
jrm 
the    principal 

corro- 

are.     in 

:,  theatrical 

.  ta  t  i  o  n  s 

cumstat; 

: C  h     have 
come  under  the 

gnizanci 
members  of  the 
tribe,  and  which 
it  is  desirable 
shall  be  always 
r  e  m  e  m  b  e  red 


and  perpetuated. 
Thus,  according 
to  its  different 
experiences, 
each  tribe  may 
have  a  totally 
different  reper- 
toire of  scenes 
for  representa- 
tion, and  these 
again  may  be 
varied  or  added 
to  as  occasion 
arises.  Pro- 
ficiency is  gained 
by  frequent  re- 
hearsals, and 
thus  young 
members  are 
continually 
being  trained  in 
knowledge  of 
events  which 
may  have  hap- 
pened long  before,  and  in  this  way  is  savage 
history  recorded.  Australian  aborigines  are 
essentially  poetical  and  musical,  and  therefore 
a  very  necessary  adjunct  to  a  corroboree  is  a 
weird  chanting  by  the  gins,  who  keep  time  by 
beating  two  sticks  together,  their  voices  rising 
or  falling  with  the  varied  excitement  engen- 
dered by  the  stirring  details  of  the  corroboree. 
The  theme  in  each  case  is  descriptive  of  the 
events  then  being  portrayed  by  the  warriors. 

When    a    series    of   these    representations    is 
decided  on  a  full  muster  of  the  tribe  is  arranged, 


[Photo. 


From  a] 


YEARS  AGO. 


ENCOUNTER    WHICH   TOOK    PLACE 

[Photo. 


THE    CORROBOREES    OE    NEW    SOUTH    WALES. 


295 


From  a 


ONE  OF  THE  CURIOUS  DANCES  PERFORMED  BEFORE  THE  AUTHOR. 


{Photo. 


and  invitations  are  dispatched  to  adjoining 
sections  for  the  purpose  of  securing  a  thorough 
and  effecthe  display.  Latterly  the  practice 
has  fallen  so  much  into  disuse  that  a  private 
intimation  of  such  a  meeting  to  be  held  in  an 
unfrequented  part  of  our  Western  district  was 
sufficient  to  induce  me  to  make  a  very  hasty 
trip  over  the  intervening  five  hundred  miles  for 
the  purpose  of  being  present. 

The  tribe  undertaking  the  honours  on  this 
occasion  number  about  one  hundred,  and  their 
camp  is  picturesquely  situated  on  the  fringe  of 
that  peculiar 
natural  feature 
known  as  the 
"Macquarie 
Reed-Beds." 
This  is  the  spot 
where  the  River 
Macquarie  sud- 
denly loses  its 
identity  as  a 
defined  stream, 
and  merges  into 
a  maze  of  pools 
and  channels, 
alternating  with 
enormous  fields 
of  giant  reeds,  the 
whole  covering 
some  hundreds 
of  square  miles. 
The  spot  is  well 
chosen    for    the 


abiding-place  of 
a  nomadic  hunt- 
ing  tribe.  Of 
wild  game  there 
is  no  lack  ;  the 
r  abounds 
with  fish  :  thou- 
sands of  wild 
pigs  roam  over 
the  reed  -  beds  ; 
r  -  fowl  in- 
numerable find 
a  breeding-place 
there  ;  and  kan- 
garoos and  emus 
throng  the  plains 
which  stretch 
out  to  the  West- 
ern sun. 

The  " m  i  a 
mias,"  or  huts, 
are  of  the  usual 
primitive  cha- 
racter, consisting 
chiefly  of  a  few 


sheets  of  bark  supported  on  poles.  The  King's 
dwelling-place,  as  befits  a  monarch,  is  more 
pretentious,  being  further  adorned  with  a  few  old 
bags.  The  accommodation  in  each  hut  is 
limited,  but  is,  nevertheless,  shared  equally  with 
the  horde  of  dogs  who  owe  allegiance  to  the 
camp.  Adjoining  the  settlement  a  circle  of  about 
forty  yards  diameter  has  been  marked  out 
with  a  trench,  and  the  centre  thoroughly 
cleared,  levelled,  and  swept.  This  is  the 
corroboree  ground,  and  here  the  painted  and 
bedecked    warriors    thronged    nightly   to    enact 


'  A  DUEL  TO  THE  DEATH 


SECONDS  AND  SPECTATORS  ARE  PREPARING  TO  INTERFERE. 

From  a  Photo. 


rill.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


their  various 
pa r t s  in  the 
mimi  :nes. 

Mr.  In/  W.  Hill 

the 

sheep 

statioi  .  "•  Qua  u- 

b  o  n e " —  had 

made  the  neces- 

y    arrange- 
niei  my 

visit    and    h  e 

mpanied  me 
to  the  tamp, 
w  li  i  c  h  w  a  s 
ed  at  night- 
fall. A  system- 
atic course  of 
h  u  m  a  n  e  a  n  d 
kindly  treatment 
had  end 
Mr.    Hill    to   the 

whole  of  the  tribes,  and  his  arrival  was  greeted 
with  many  manifestations  of  pleasure.  We  were 
escorted  to  the  corroboree  ground  and  placed 
on  the  edge  of  the  circle,  so  that  the  light 
from  the  numerous  fires  around  should  provide 
a  full  view  of  the  weird  proceedings.  An 
interpreter  stood  beside  us  and  explained  the 
meaning  of  the  various  movements. 

As    a    compliment    to    Mr.    Hill,    the    first 

■;boree  was  "  1  )rafting  Sheep  on  Quambone. " 


■ 

3 

|l              J 

mm&       ^ 

/*>5^H 

W^<—>  fc*  v3 

aft 

LkAl      W> 

■^^| 

i^s™ 

1 

+% 

^                     4 

t- 

V2           ^  &Z/1*  * 

From  a] 


THE    QUAINT        FISH    CORROBOREE     —OBSERVE   THE   ANTICS   OF    THE        FISH. 


|  Photo. 


Front  a] 


RS— WARRIORS 
OF    l-LACES    VISITED. 


A  number  of  warriors  in  full  war-paint  stepped 
into  the  ring,  grouped  themselves  together,  and, 
at  a  signal  from  the  King,  dropped  on  all  fours. 
These  were  the  sheep.  Two  men  took  up  an 
adjacent  position  with  boomerangs  in  each 
hand,  held  with  the  point  to  the  ground. 
These  were  in  charge  of  the  drafting  gates. 

Another  fierce  and  picturesque-looking  savage 
stood  by  to  count,  and  attempts  were  then 
made  to  drive  the  "  sheep "  through.  This, 
however,  the  mob  evidently  resisted 
strongly,  and  excitement  ran  very  high 
as  they  rushed  and  backed  and  bleated 
and  kept  ringing,  until  in  desperation  a 
man  was  directed  to  secure  one  of  the 
sheep  and  pass  him  bodily  through  as 
a  decoy.  He  rushed  to  the  group, 
seized  one  by  the  head,  and,  in  spite 
of  violent  resistance  on  the  sheep's  part 
and  many  attempts  to  butt  his  captor, 
dragged  him  forcibly  through  the  gates. 
Following  the  decoy  came  all  the  mob, 
the  counter  and  drafters  meanwhile 
doing  their  work  most  carefully  and 
systematically.  The  tally  showing  that 
some  sheep  were  missing,  they  were 
recounted  through  the  gates,  and  the 
performance  with  variations  was  re- 
peated until  a  correct  tally  was 
announced.  The  gins  then  ceased 
tluir  chant,  the  men  assumed  an  erect 
position  once  more,  and  the  scene  was 
over.  The  weird  light  of  the  fires,  the 
rhythmic  cadence  of  the  accompanying 
song,  and  the  intense  earnestness  of 
the  performers — painted  savages  all — 
with    their     marvellous     attention     to 


II   '.     NAMES 

{Photo. 


THE    CORROBOREES    OF    NEW    SOUTH    WALES. 


297 


THE   MYSTIC    "  BORA,"    OR    INITIATION    OF    THE   YOUNG    MEN — PROBABLY   THE   LAST   THAT   WILL   EVER    BE    HELD    IN   THE 

From  a]  colony  of  new  south  wales.  [Photo. 


detail,  made  the  whole  corroboree  a  study  of 
absorbing  interest. 

"A  Sick  Warrior"  followed.  In  this  the 
principal  performer,  lying  prostrate  in  the  circle, 
apparently  in  a  state  of  utter  collapse,  is  dis- 
covered by  another  warrior.  The  chief  medicine- 
man is  brought,  and  he  carefully  examines  the 
patient.  Then,  failing  to  effect  any  improve- 
ment, he  retires,  to  return  presently  with  two 
others,  also  of  the  "  medical  profession.''  The 
case  being  serious,  an  incantation  is  necessary, 
and  the  three  approach  by  devious  courses, 
crouching  low  to  the  ground  and  making 
numerous  mystic  signs  and  gestures.  Another 
examination  of  the  sick  man  follows,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  tribe  are  summoned.  These 
approach  in  the  same  manner  as  the  doctors, 
and  under  special  treatment  the  patient  exhibits 
gradual  signs  of  improvement.  Finally  he 
recovers,  and  is  able  to  leave  with  the  others 
amid  shouts  of  rejoicing. 

'  The  Unfaithful  Gin  "  depicts  the  decoying 
away  of  a  gin  from  the  camp  by  a  brave  of 
another  tribe.  The  journeying  through  the 
forest,  the  tracking  of  the  fugitives  by  the 
wronged  husband,  and  the  ultimate  discovery, 
followed  by  a  fierce  fight,  in  which  the  whole 
tribe  assist  in  beating  the  culprits  to  death. 
render  this  corroboree  a  thrilling  and  fascinating 
spectacle. 

"A  Battle"  is  descriptive  of  incidents  in 
connection  with  a  sanguinary  engagement  said 
to  have  taken  place  many  years  ago  between 
rival  tribes  in  the  Far  West. 

'The     Drunken     Wife,"     "Rival     Cooks," 

shearing  Sheep,"  and  other  corroborees  re- 
produced for  our  benefit  were  all  staged  with 
the  most  minute  attention  to  detail. 

Vol.  xii,-  38. 


Immediately  at  the  termination  of  each  scene 
the  assembled  warriors,  obeying  a  given  signal, 
rushed  in  a  body  to  the  centre  of  the  rng  and, 
following  the  1  ad  of  a  chief,  recited  in  a  loud 
voice  and  in  quick  sucression  the  names  of  a 
number  of  spots  in  the  district,  marching  rapidly 
around  the  while  and  accompanying  each  name 
with  an  elevation  of  their  weapons  and  a 
heavy  stamp  of  the  feet,  the  whole  ending 
with  a  unanimous  chorus  of  "  He  !  He  !  He  ! 
Waugh  ! " 

At  each  repetition  of  this  act  fresh  names 
were  used,  so  that  in  the  course  of  an  evening 
some  hundreds  were  thus  recited.  This  custom 
is  part  of  the  education  of  the  young  men,  and 
is  intended  to  impress  on  their  memories  the 
names  of  spots  which  in  their  wanderings  they 
might  have  occasion  to  visit. 

The  corroborees  referred  to  herein  formed 
only  a  small  part  of  the  Macquarie  tribe's 
repertoire.  New  scenes  were  introduced  nightly 
for  about  a  week,  the  tribal  meeting  eventually 
ending  with  a  "  Bora,"  or  initiation  of  young 
men.  This  mystic  ceremony,  which  we  were 
privileged  to  see  and  photograph,  is  probably 
the  last  that  will  ever  be  held  in  this  Colony. 
The  moving  spirits  in  these  tribal  rites  are  the 
older  braves,  and  as  they  pass  on  to  their  happy 
hunting-grounds  the  younger  men  lose  the 
incentive  and  inclination  to  submit  to  anything 
in  the  nature  of  an  ordeal.  This  is  not- 
surprising  —  the  artificial  nature  of  their  sur- 
roundings engenders  an  apathy  not  easily 
disturbed,  -and  which,  perhaps,  is  after  all  only 
a  merciful  preparation  for  that  inevitable  doom 
which  awaits  the  race  ;  for  certainly  the 
characters  on  the  wall  are  writ  large  enough 
for  all  to  see  and  interpret. 


Showing   how  a  scheming   Indian    chief    arranged   a   match  for  his    pretty  niece    that  would    bring 

him  much   wealth;  how  the  niece   disapproved  of  the  arrangement  and  fled  to  the  woods;  how  her 

irate  guardian  pursued  the  fugitive;  how  the  poor  little  maid  was  rescued  in  the  nick  of  time  by  her 

white  friend  ;    and  how  confusion    fell  upon  the  match-makers. 


AHEM  A,    a   Comanche   maiden    of 
fifteen,  had  just  returned  from  the 
"  grass    payment "    near    Fort    Sill. 
She    went    back   from   the  payment 
with  her  uncle,  Pad-i-acre,  her  father 
:ng  died  while  at  the  payment,  either  from  a 
cold  he  contracted  or  from  the  effects  of  poison 
in  the  "boot-It.  y"  that  so  often  finds  its 

among  the  Indians  at  "grass-payment" 
time.  Her  mother  had  died  years  before,  at  a 
time  when  Nahema's  age  rendered  her  recol- 
lection very  indistinct. 

nanche  laws  her  uncle,  Pad-i-acre, 

became  not  only  her  guardian,  but  occupied 

aim-  tly    the    place  of   her  father   as    to 

the    future  disposition  of   her  person   and    her 

prop-  ,    father    of   Xahema    was    the 

owner    of    one    hundred    head    of    ponies   and 

nearly  as  many  cattle,  but  they  were  all   herded 

-  rther  with  those  of  his  brother,  Pad-i-acre. 

Now,  Nahema's  uncle  was  a  man  of  business, 

so  far  as  business  qualities  are  possible  with  an 


Indian,  and  being  the  guardian  of  Nahema  and 
the  keeper  of  her  property  he  conceived  the 
shrewd  idea  of  giving  her  away  in  marriage  to 
some  Indian  who  would  take  her  for  herself 
alone,  and  not  want  any  ponies  or  cattle. 

Many  Comanches  of  good  repute,  who  had 
not  more  than  two  or  three  wives  of  their  own, 
were  looking  with  wistful  and  hopeful  eyes  on 
the  pretty  Nahema,  whom  the  old  squaws 
usually  called  "  The  Fawn,"  on  account  of  her 
graceful,  fleet-footed,  and  wild  appearance. 

Of  all  the  Comanche  maidens  Nahema 
was  the  fairest.  Many  white  men  who 
hoped  to  become  "  squaw "  men  and  have 
Indian  rights  in  the  tribe  looked  upon  her  in  a 
favourable  way,  and  with  her  property  she 
could  have  had  her  choice  from  among  a 
hundred  men  outside  and  inside  her  tribe.  But 
Pad-i-acre's  business  eye  had  selected  a  husband 
for  her,  and  according  to  Indian  custom  she 
had  no  word  of  choice  and  no  further  need  of 
action  than  to  go  with  the  mate  chosen  for  her 


THE  WEDDING  THAT  WENT  WRONG. 


209 


by  her  uncle.  No  ceremony,  no  words,  no 
witnesses,  no  license,  no  anything  but  the 
"giving  away  "  of  the  bride. 

Old  Tis-i-quava,  an  Indian  who  had  already 
three  wives  in  his  tepees,  was  the  one  selected 
for  the   husband  of  Nahema.      He  was  willing 


NAHEMA,    THE    COMANCHE    MAIDEN"    WHO    FI.ED    FROM    HER 
MARRIAGE    WITH    THE*  OLD    INDIAN    CHIEF    TIS-I-QUAVA. 

front  a  Photo. 


to  take  her,  waive  all  right  to  her  property,  and 
give  twenty  ponies  besides. 

Pad-i  acre  gave  a  big  dance  and  "  mescal 
eat  "  at  his  house  and  invited  numerous  friends 
to  come  and  eat  and  dance  with  him.  An 
Indian  runner  from  Mexico  had  brought  a 
big  supply  of  mescal  beans,  and  could  not 
Pad-i-acre  afford  to  be  liberal  now  that  he  was 
to  get  so  many  horses  from  the  giving  away  of 
his  niece  ?  He  thought  so,  at  least,  and  pre- 
pared for  a  "  heap  big  time."' 

Tis-i-quava  came  and  pitched  two  big 
tepees — one  for  his  family  and  one  for  his 
bride.  To  this  he  was  to  lead  home  the 
youthful  and  pretty  Nahema,  for  Pad-i-acre  had 
agreed  that  the  big  "  give  away  "  should  take 
place  at  the  dance.  There  were  present  also 
the  tepees  of  a  dozen  other  prominent  men  of 
the  neighbourhood,  who  would  eat  mescal  and 


congratulate  old  Tis-i-quava  on  his  good  luck 
in  catching  the  graceful  Fawn. 

The  eating  went  on,  the  wild-eyed  Comanches 
danced  or  related  stories  of  the  past,  as  best 
suited  their  humour,  and  the  old  cow-hide  drum 
resounded  steadily  to  the  strokes  of  sturdy 
young  bucks  brought  there  for  the  purpose. 

Nahema  was  not  without  suspicion  of  her 
uncle's  intentions  ;  in  fact,  it  had  been  told  to 
her  that  she  must  be  prepared  to  be  given  away. 
Every  beat  of  the  old  drum  in  her  uncle's  housi 
sent  a  shock  to  her  heart.  She  little  relished 
the  idea  of  becoming  the  fourth  wife  of  old 
Tis-i-quava.  She  had  seen  many  glances  from 
white  men  and  listened  to  words  that  suited  her 


PAD-I-ACRE — NAHEMA  S    UNSCRUPULOUS    UNCLE. 
From  a  Photo. 

ideas  of  future  domestic  bliss  better  than  those 
suggested  by  the  plans  of  her  uncle.  She  had 
little  the  appearance  of  a  happy  bride,  though 
the  old  squaws  had  fixed  her  up  in  the  most 
flashing  colours  of  red  calico,  ribbons,  and  a 
buckskin-  jacket,  ornamented  with  elks'  teeth, 
that  had  been  worn  by  her  mother.  She  impa- 
tiently waited  for  the  hour,  hoping  that  it  might 
never  come,  yet  wishing  that  it  were  ended. 


nil-     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


.1  eat  "  went  on,  all  night 

the  drun  n,  and  all  night  and  the  next 

the  old  Indians  sat  and  ate  and  talked  and 

During    all    this    time    the    poor 

Indian  _  for  the  sacrifice,  until  the 

_    of    tl  wh   n     she    was 

inmmon  i    her   uncle  and 

•us  old  Tis-i-quava. 

trances,    gave    way    in 

■     uncle,    and 

gained  ,    .  nt  from  each  aged  Indian 

- 

"Let    m<  it   last,    "go   with    old 

..  here  I  will 
aw  of  my  husband." 

This  request  was  accepted  by  all  with  grunts 


of  approval,  and  Nemica  led 
Nahema  to  the  tepee  of  Tis- 
i-quava.  At  the  door  of  the 
tepee  the  bride  stooped  and 
went  in,  bidding  Nemica  go 
hack  to  the  house  and  notify 
Tis  i-quava  that  she  awaited 
his  coming. 

Xo  sooner  had  the  moc=- 
casined  feet  of  Nemica 
started  back  to  the  house 
than  Nahema  lifted  the  other 
side  of  the  tepee  and  ran 
out  into  the  darkness.  Now 
she  was  indeed  the  Fawn — 
the  frightened  fawn  hunting 
for  cover.  She  knew  her 
time  was  short,  and  her 
hiding-place  must  be  quickly 
found. 

Now,  once  upon  a  time 
Pad-i-acre  had  built  himself, 
at  the  solicitation  of  some 
contractor,  a  barn  which  he 
needed  as  badly  as  he  did  a 
fifth  wheel  to  his  waggon. 
This  barn  was  a  story  and 
a  half  high,  having  a  loft  for 
hay  which  never  had  any  hay 
in  it.  Having  no  use  for  the 
barn,  Pad-i-acre  put  a  chain 
and  lock  on  the  door,  so  that 
it  was  never  opened  from  one 
year  until  another.  Nahema 
ran  to  the  barn,  as  the  near- 
est place  in  her  flight,  and 
tried  to  open  the  door,  but 
finding  it  locked  she  pulled 
out  the  bottom  of  the  door 
and  pushed  her  slender  body 
through.  Once  inside  she 
climbed  to  the  loft  and,  with 
her  heart  beating  hard  against 
her  side,  listened  for  the  uproar  that  was  sure 
to  follow. 

Tis-i-quava  was  not  long  in  following  the  old 
squaw  back  to  the  tepee,  and  his  step  was 
very  light  for  a  bridegroom  of  sixty  winters. 
When  the  tepee  was  reached  and  found  to  be 
empty  the  truth  dawned  upon  them.  The  little 
Fawn  had  dared  to  disobey,  and  had  run  away 
from  the  commands  of  her  uncle  and  guardian  ! 
A  shout  and  a  wail  of  disappointment  aroused 
Pad-i-acre,  who  was  happy  with  the  results  of 
his  scheming.  In  great  wrath  and  with  many 
threats  he  summoned  help  from  the  old  men 
and  the  young  men  to  go  in  search  of  Nahema, 
and  bring  her  back  to  the  tepee  of  her  husband. 
There  were  hurrying  feet  in  every  direction. 


THE  WEDDING  THAT  WENT  WRONG. 


301 


All  about  the  barn  they  searched,  and  in  every 
tepee  and  hiding-place.  The  barn  door  being 
locked  and  tried,  and  no  other  opening  offering, 
it  was  decided  that  it  was  useless  to  look  inside, 
and  that  the  Fawn  must  have  made  a  run  for  the 
timber,   over  half  a  mile  away.     Thither   they 


calling 


away, 
her   name    and 


demanding 


her 


retreating 


foot- 


went, 
return. 

No  sooner  did  she  hear  the 
steps  and  the  receding  voices 
than  she  climbed  down  from 
the  loft,  squeezed  out  again  a 
the  bottom  of  the  door,  and  ran 
for  the  prairie  in  the  opposite 
direction  to  that  in  which  her 
pursuers  had 
gone.  On  she 
went  like  the 
wind,  her  light 
form  gliding 
through  the  dark- 
ness  like  a 
shadow,  and  her 
buckskin  coat 
and  long  black 
hair  flapping 
in  the  wind 
behind  her.  On 
she  went  unti 
she  was  met  by 
the  timber  and 
the  roaring 
waters  of  Cache 
Creek.  She  was 
soon  across  and 
lost  in  the  heavy 
brush  and  timber 
and  the  huge 
rocks  that  bor- 
dered it  on  both 
sides.  On  and 
on  she  went  until,  turn  by  green  briers  and 
scratched  by  thorns,  she  finally  sat  clown  in 
a  thicket  to  rest.  Her  pursuers  were  entirely 
baffled,  and  she  felt  certain  that  they  could 
not  find  her. 

Now  fur  the  first  time  the  loneliness  of  her 
situation  and  her  utter  helplessness  dawned 
upon  her — alone,  without  food,  with  no  shelter. 
and  no  hope  of  help.  The  night  grew  cold  as 
she  rested,  and  a  heavy  clap  of  thunder  came 
from  a  cloud  in  the  north.  Then  lightning 
flashed  and  the  thunder  roared  as  if  the  rocks 
would  roll  from  their  places.  The  rain  came 
down,  cold,  chilling,  almost  freezing.  It  found 
its  way  through  her  buckskin  coat  and  thin 
calico  skirt.  What  a  place  for  the  delicate 
Fawn  !  She  almost  wished  that  she  had 
obeyed   her    uncle,    believing    that    the    storm 


SHE    KAN    FOK    THE    t'KAlKlh. 


had    been    sent    as    a   punishment  for  her  dis- 
obedience. 

Pad-i-acre  and  his  assistants  were  also  caught 
out  in  the  storm,  and  when  the  tempest  was  at 
its  worst  his  uneasy  conscience  pricked  him  and 
he  repented  of  what  he  had  dune.  He  firmly 
believed  that  the  storm  was  sent  to  deter  him 
from  his  purpose  of  making  Nahema  the  wife  of 
Tis-i-quava  and  for  stealing  her  fortune.     With 

fear  and  trem 
bling  and  shiver 
ing  with  the  cold 
and  wet  he  re- 
turned tu  his 
house,  deter- 
mined to  appease 
the  celestial 
puwers  by  beat- 
ing drums  and 
"  making  medi- 
cine "  until  an- 
other day. 

Nahema    sal 
crunching  in  her 
culd,  wet  hiding- 
place  until  all  at 
once    she    heard 
the    brush    crack 
near     her,      and 
looking    in    that 
direction  she  saw 
two  eyes    gleam- 
ing  in  the  dark- 
ness.  She  sprang 
to  her  feet  in  alarm.     Then  there 
rang  out    an    ear-splitting    scream, 
such    as    wild    cats    and    panthers 
sometimes    utter.       This   sent    her 
off  like  a  shot  through  the  bushes, 
through     the    briers,    through     the 
cold  rushing    waters   of   the    creek 
up  to  her  waist,  until  she  had  gained  the  bank 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream. 

She  did  not  stop  running  until  she  came  out 
on  the  prairie  in  sight  of  Pad-i-acre's  house. 
Sitting  down  on  the  prairie  and  looking  at  the 
lights  she  reviewed  the  situation.  She  had 
almust  resclved  tu  return  and  becume  the  bride 
uf  the  repulsive  Tis-i-quava  when  the  tum-tum- 
tum  uf  Pad-i-acre's  drum  recalled  her  to  the 
realities  of  the  life  she  had  fled  from.  Now, 
brought  face  to  face  with  it  again,  she  dreaded 
the  sturm,  the  cold,  the  wild  cat,  and  even 
death  itself  less  than  she  did  the  fate  that 
awaited  her  as  the  wife  of  Tis-i-quava.  Again 
she  turned  about  and  ran  toward  the  creek  and 
the  dark  woods  and  the  rocks  and  the  wild  cat. 
Again  she  waded  the  now  swollen  and  roaring 
stream,    and    again    she  wandered   farther   and 


I  HI      WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


Sometin  would  take  shelter 

.  which    broke  the  force  of 

gave   her  a  little  rest,  but  the  cold 

mist    keep   moving  or  she 

helplessn*  ss      She 

step  was  a  stagger, 

■ 

I,  daylight  came  at  last.  and. 

out.  the   poor  child   found  a  place 

where      the     sun     shone 

i    her   kindly   and    put    her   to   sleep.      She 

a  tin   that  she  was  pursued   by 

nd  his  hand  of  followers,  was  chased 

ind  streams  and  over  rocks  and 

.  and  was  about  to  be  captured  when 

met  her  girlhood  friend,  a  white  boy  named 

tdopted  by  the  tribe. 
amed  that  he  took  her  upon  his  horse 
in  front  of  him  and  ran  away  with  her,  leaving 
the  Indian  band  far  in  the  rear.  She  dreamed 
that  they  were  making  their  escape  successfully 
when  t:  te  to  a  deep  river  swollen  by  the 


canyon  in  which  she  lay  hidden  and  looked 
out  across  the  bottom  in  hopes  that  we  might 
see  someone  coming  along  a  road  that  she  knew 
ran  up  and  down  the  valley. 

After  a  time  a  lone  horseman  appeared  in 
sight  upon  the  road  and  was  coming.  Oh,  how 
her  heart  throbbed  with  hope  !  She  got  behind 
a  clump  of  bushes  so  that  she  could  see  whether 
he  was  a  Tivo  (white  man)  or  an  Indian. 

The  horseman  came  on  at  a  fierce  gallop  and 
she  saw  that  he  was  a  white  man.  Then,  to  her 
intensejoy,  she  recognised  Newton,  her  friend 
and  playmate.  Her  dream  was  coming  true  ! 
He  passed  at  a  gallop,  and  when  opposite  her 
she  gave  as  loud  a  cry  as  her  growing  weakness 
would  permit.  He  paused,  checked  his  horse, 
and  looked  round,  listening.  But  Nahema  did 
not  repeat  the  cry,  for  she  saw  farther  down  the 
road  Pad-i-acre  and  his  band  hunting  for  her. 
Newton  rode  on  to  meet  them. 

After  the  storm  abated  and  daylight  had 
come  and  Tis-i-quava  had  demanded  his  bride 


HID    TQ    AV( 

From  a  Pltoto.  l>y  Collins 


-   d  in  and  the  cold  water.-, 

art  and  a  shriek    to   find 

!.  that  she  had  slept  a  long 

ime,  and  ti,  ne  down.    Another 

which  mid   not   hope    to 

r.     She  attempted  to   move, 

^ut  her  benumbed  limbs. 

crawled    to   the    top   of   the   bank  of   the 


HD    THE    II   !>-,UIT   OF    TAU-1-ACRE  -    BRAVES. 
Portrait  ami  I  'tew  Company. 

or  the  return  of  his  twenty  ponies,  Pad-i-acre 
changed  his  mind  in  regard  to  the  mission  of 
the  storm  and,  gathering  all  the  forces  he  could, 
set  out  upon  another  hunt  for  the  errant  Fawn. 
All  day  he  had  hunted  and  all  day  been  dis 
appointed,  until  he  unexpectedly  ran  up  against 
Xewton.  He  remembered  the  friendship  of 
Newton  and  the  girl,  and  at  once  made  up  his 
mind    that    Newton    was    responsible    for    her 


THE  WEDDING  THAT  WENT  WRONG. 


3°3 


escape.  He  and  his  band  surrounded  him  and 
questioned  him,  but  he  told  them,  truthfully, 
that  he  knew  nothing  either  of  the  "  giving 
away,"  of  her  escape,  or  of  her  present 
whereabouts. 


Then  on  another  dark  night,  after  she  had 
recovered  her  strength,  he  took  her  up  behind 
him  on  his  horse  and  rode  with  her  the  greater 
portion  of  the  night,  across  roaring  streams, 
over  stony  mountain  paths,  down  dark  canyons, 


c«o{Lt,ftS<"P^a 


He  had  not  forgotten  the  pain- 
ful cry  he  had  heard  at  the  head 
of  the  canyon,  however,  and  when 
the  Indians  were  out  of  sight  he 
made  a  circuit  and  rode  back  to 
the  spot.  There  he  found  his 
little  Indian  girl  friend,  almost  dead  with 
fatigue,  exposure,  hunger,  cold,  and  fear.  In 
a  moment  he  was  off  his  horse,  and  had  taken 
his  big  Government  overcoat  and  wrapped  it 
about  her.  Then  he  put  her  up  in  front  of  him 
and  rode  away  southward  across  the  swollen 
and  roaring  torrent,  until  finally,  about  mid- 
night, he  came  to  the  cabin  of  a  lone  cowboy 
who  looked  after  the  interests  of  a  big  cattle- 
man. There  he  put  the  worn-out  little  maid  to 
bed,  fed  her,  and  took  care  of  her  for  two  days. 


FOUND    HIS    LITTLE    INDIAN   GIRL    FRIEND   ALMOST 
DEAD   WITH    FATIGUE. " 


and  along  uncertain  roads,  until  he  reached  one 
of  the  mission  churches  and  schools  established 
for  the  benefit  of  Indian  children.  There  he 
left  her,  and  there  she  remained  for  many 
months  under  the  kindly  care  of  the  mission 
folk.  On  his  information  the  Indian  agent 
at  Anadarko  investigated  the  case.  Old  Tis-i- 
quava  got  back  his  twenty  ponies,  but  lost 
his  bride,  and  the  scheming  Pad-i-acre  was 
forced  to  give  up  to  his  niece  the  property  left 
her  by  her  father. 


*-<   ^>"£ 


'MteSEtm 


Hidden  away  in  the  wilds  of  Cumberland  is  the  quaintest 
little  railway  imaginable — a  comic-opera  line  with  one 
engine  and  a  "  Royal  saloon,"  consisting  of  a  cattle-truck 
with  glass  windows.  The  stations  are  wooden  huts,  each 
official  fulfils  the  functions  of  half-a-dozen,  and  the 
••  express "  train  will  stop  to  pick  you  up  or  set  you 
down  where  you  like. 


ES  I  ERN    CUMBERLAND    is   in 

a  great    measure  as   yet    unspoiled 

by  the  trammels  of  civilization.     A 

large   portion   of  it  is   wild,  rugged, 

and  sparsely  inhabited,  not  offering 

sufficient  attraction  to  the  average  tourist  in  the 

way  of   amusement  to   spoil   its  grand  solitude 

with    the    clamour    of    the    multitude.     To  the 

r  of  the  beautiful,  however,  there  are  many 

.  and  the  sportsman  and  the  busy 

worker  with    a    taste  for  undisturbed  rambling 

will  find  it  a  paradi-'        Even  in  the  lonely  dales 

the  whistle  of  the  railway-engine   is  not   heard. 

nor  does  the  motor  as  yet  defile  the  landscape, 

laps  on  account  of  the  steep  hills  engineered 

the  playful  architects  of  Fate,  who  strew  them 

with  diabolically-contrived  booby-traps. 

The  roads  are  awe-inspiring  in  their  steepm 

but  ther  ke  up  the  thread  of  my  story 

—a    still    more    surprising    railway.       North    of 

Barrow-in-Furness    is  a  junction   called   Raven- 

ange    here    for    the    Eskdale    line," 

;  the  porter.       As  your  ticket    is  for  Irton 

-n   that    line    you    dismount    and    look 

around  for  your  train.     The  porter  collects  your 

goods   and,    stepping    across    the    rails    past    a 

ads  you  to  a  tiny  siding  whereby 

is   a    tar-coated    wooden    shed,    covering    some 


extremely  crookedly-laid  rails,  three  feet  in 
gauge.  On  the  rails  are  an  engine  of  primitive 
design,  a  van  ditto,  and  one  coach  still 
more  so.  The  coach  is  a  "  composite  " 
one,  containing  a  guard's  box,  one  third 
"  smoker,"  and  one  ordinary  third.  These 
carriages  hold  at  a  pinch  four  slim  adults  a-side, 
and  are  innocent  alike  of  racks,  cushions,  or 
communication -cords.  As,  however,  the  pace 
never  exceeds  five  miles  per  hour,  nervous 
passengers  need  not  be  deterred  from  journeying 
on  the  line  on  this  account,  for  it  is  quite  within 
the  bounds  of  safety  to  alight  while  the  train  is 
going  at  full  speed.  Behind  these  vehicles,  but 
not  coupled  to  them,  is  another  passenger- 
coach,  containing  a  first-class  carriage — the 
Royal  saloon,  so  to  speak.  To-night  this  is 
left  behind  to  ease  the  engine's  burden. 

There  are  no  porters  visible,  but  presently  a 
guard  arrives,  and  the  engine,  which  has  been 
employing  its  leisure  in  giving  rides  to  two 
small  boys,  is  coupled  on  ahead,  and  the  guard, 
a  composite  official,  unlocks  a  cupboard  in  the 
dim  recesses  of  the  shed  and  doles  out  four 
third-class  tickets  to  the  three  others  and  your- 
self who  comprise  his  load.  He  then  locks  up 
his  "  ticket  office "  and,  packing  you  in,  stares 
his    tiny   train    on    its    perilous   career   up   the 


A    RAILWAY    IN    CHANCERY. 


3°5 


valley.       It    lurches,  and 
groans,    and    rolls    along 
in  a  manner  that   makes 
you  wonder  why  you  did 
not     invest     your    spare 
coppers  in  insurance  tic- 
kets.    You  also  speculate 
whether  the   bottom   will 
fall     out    of    the 
carriage,     the 
train  pull  up  the 
rails,  or  the  whole 
affair  topple  over 
into  the  river. 
Thick  bracken 


Fr 


THE   SOLITARY    LOCOMOTIVE   OF   THE    LINE. 


[Photo. 


brushes  the  footboards  at  either  side,  from  out 
of  which  the  head  of  an  ancient  Herd  wick  ram 
gazes    up   at    the    snorting,  labouring 
engine.      It    is   evidently  an   old   ac- 
quaintance, and  he  pays  but  little  heed 
to  it.     The  stoker,  whistling 
cheerfully,  sits  on   the  cab, 
swinging  one   leg  over  the 
side  with  an  airy  grace  all 
his  own.     Presently,  with  a 
dislocating    jerk,    the    train 
pauses  dead  with 
an  abruptness 
that   lands    your 
portmanteau    on 
your    toes,    and 
the    stoker    des- 
cends     leisurely 
to   drive   a  mis- 
guided ewe  and 
lamb  off   the 
track     into    the 
clustering    brac- 
ken.     This    act 

Vol.  xii.— 39. 


SOME   OP   THE    ROLLING-STOCK — IN    THE   REAR    IS 

From  a]    the  "royal  saloon"!      {Photo. 


of  mercy  being  accomplished,  and 
a  pedestrian  who  suddenly  appears 
over  a  wall  having  climbed  on  board 
for  a  "lift,"  this  weird  express  grunts  its  toilsome 
way  at  last  into  "  Irton  Road  Station,"  a  wooden 
hut,  with  a  siding  whereon  reposes  a  decaying 
truck  filled  with  bricks.  Here  you  dismount,  and 
the  guard,  who  has  unlocked  the  hut  and  doled 
out  more  tickets,  starts  his  comic-opera  collec- 
tion of  relics  off  again  on  its  uncertain  way 
round  a  bend,  up  into  the  beautiful  cleft  among 
the  hills  where,  several  stations  away,  lies  the 
terminus,  which  is  known  as  Boot. 

Boot  is  a  quaint  little 
hamlet.  It  owns  an  inn, 
of  course,  a  most  pictur- 
esque old  mill, 
hoary  with  an- 
tiquity, stand- 
i  n  g  on  t  h e 
brink  of  a  brawl- 


From  a  ] 


the  terminus  ov  the  eskdale  line. 


[Photo. 


I  HK     WIDE    WORLD    MAC.A/.IXK. 


THE  TICKET- 
VRATORY  Tii   ISSUING  Tit! 

■  to. 

mountain  torrent,  several  venerable  cottages 
and   homesteads,   and,  last  but  not   least,    the 

on,  which  is  the  usual  wooden  shanty. 
Above  it  on  the  steep  mountain  side  are  the 


its    birth.     Boot — indeed,  all   Esk- 
daJe— was   supposed  to  be   rich  in 
iron  ore,  but  in  a  very   short    time 
it  was   found   that  the   workings 
were     unremunerative.     and     for 
many  years   little  or    no  ore   has 
passed    over    the    line,   which    is 
eight  miles  long,  with  five  stations. 
The  country,    beautiful    as  it  is,   is 
very     scantily     populated  ;     conse- 
quently   the    passenger   and    goods 
traffic  is  of  a  decidedly  limited  des- 
cription.    It  is  not  surprising,  there- 
fore,   that    the    working     expenses 
swallow    up    most   of    the    receipts, 
and  for  some  years   now,   I   under- 
stand,   the    railway    has    been     "  in 
Chancery,"  the  consequence    being 
that  no  repairs  or  renewal  of  rolling- 
stock  are  made  which  are  not  abso- 
lutely necessary,  the  utmost  economy 
being  exercised   in    the  working   of 
the  line.     There  is   only  one    loco- 
motive,   which    comprises    all     the 
hauling  power,  so  those  afflicted  with 
nervous  fears  of  collisions  need  have 
no  dread  of  travelling  on  the   line, 
though  it  be  but  a  single  one. 

The  holiday  season  and  trips — to  local  cattle 

shows    and    fetes— strain    the    powers    of    the 

officials  to  the  utmost.    Passengers  who  can- 


THF.        ESKDALE    RXPRESS       EM    ROUTE. 

From  a   I'hofo. 


old  iron  .an  almost  perpendicular 

railway  bringing  the  ore  down  to  the   main  line 
e  the  mark  ! — of  the  "  Boot  Express."     For 
it    was    as    a    mineral    line    that,  about    thirty 
years  ago,  this  practical  joke  of  a  railroad  had 


not  be  squeezed  into  the  van  or  into  the  scanty 
carriages  are  accommodated  in  open  coal-truck -- 
which    the    guard    thoughtfully    provides    witl 
seats    in   the   form  of  planks  placed  from   sidt 
to   side.      Those   who    cannot    obtain    a    seat 


A    RAILWAY    IN    CHANCERY. 


3°7 


sit   perched   on   the   sides   of    the 
trucks,  often  dangling  their  legs  over 
the  sides.     There  is  also  a  primitive 
cattle-truck  which  is  pressed 
into  service  upon  occasion. 

There  is  also  a  saloon 
car  on  this  unique  line ! 
Imagine  to  yourself  a  cattle- 
van  with  its  ventilation 
panels  glazed.  Inside,  in 
the  middle,  is  a  long 
wooden  bench  of  exceed- 
ing hardness  and  narrow- 
ness. All  round  are  more 
benches.  Early  comers  sit 
on  the  benches  ;  unpunc- 
tual  ones  stand  in  between. 

The  sleepers  are  ancient 
and  the  rails  ditto,  and  tall 
yellow  daisies  grow  between 
the  rails.  At  intervals 
along  the  line  there  are 
ominous  notice  -  boards, 
which  nobody  seems  to  take  the  least  notice  of, 
warning  the  adventurous  against  the  awful  perils 
of  trespassing  on  the  line. 

It  is  by  no  means  an  uncommon  sight 
to  see  a  venerable  lady  standing  by  the  line 
waving  an  umbrella  at  the  engine-driver,  who 
courteously  pulls  up,  a  la  tram-car,  when  the 
lady  is  hoisted  on  board  by  the  obliging  guard. 
On  my  last  journey  a  gentleman  of  agricul- 
tural pursuits  was  sighted  at  a  curve  making 
signals  with  a  side  of  bacon  from  a  wall. 
He  wished  to  be  taken  on  board,  and  so  we 
stopped  and  took  him.  It  will  thus  be  seen 
that  if  the  rolling-stock 
is    primitive    and    limited, 


n 


From  a] 


SOME    SPARE    KOI. LING-STOCK. 


[Photo. 


_ 


From  n\ 


'  EXCURSION  "    MAKES    THE   OFFICIALS    BUSY. 


so    also    is     the     method    of    conducting    the 
business. 

The  guard,  the  composite  official  before  re- 
ferred to,  discharges  in  himself  the  functions  of 
head  -  quarters  officials,  guard,  station-master, 
ticket-clerk,  porter,  and  shunter.  He  issues 
the  tickets,  sees  that  the  passengers  are  seated 
and  that  no  more  are  visible  anywhere  on  the 
horizon,  and  then  starts  his  train.  On  arrival 
at  the  next  station  he  jumps  off,  opens  the 
shanty  called  by  courtesy  the  "  office,"  collects 
and  issues  tickets  (taking  with  him  what  money 
is  paid  over),  dismisses  and  takes  in  passengers 
and  their  luggage,  and  so  on  throughout 
the  journey.  It  is  said  that  at  one  station, 
where  there  is  an  hotel  close  by,  the  train 

will  obligingly  pause 
while  intending  pas- 
sengers finish  con- 
suming their  refresh- 
ment !  Just  outside 
Beckfoot  there  is  a 
tiny  cistern  wl 
the  engine  takes  in 
water,  and  passengers 
can,  if  they  wish,  re- 
fresh  themselves  dur- 
ing this  operation 
with  the  wild  rasp- 
berries which  grow 
in  profusion  by  the 
side  of  the  line. 

In  addition  to  the 
halting  at  the  five 
stations  mentioned 
above,  the  "  Eskdale 


nil-.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


-  "  will  obligingly    stop    anywhere    when 
i    thoughtful    custom    around   which 
many  witti<  ire   hung   by  the  residents  in 

thy. 

ce,  it  is  man  who 

i  purchase  a  horse  from  a  tanner  living 

•    the    railway    that    on    getting    out    of    the 

guard  to  be  Mire  and  pick 

him   up  on  the  return  jourm  That  official 

pped   the   train  opposite  the  field 

d   was  being  hotly 

till  a  bargain  was    struck,  and 

uyer  on  board  the  "express." 

that  on  one  occasion  an  indivi 

pped  the  train   to  ask   the   time   of  day, 

but  •   It    to   be  encroaching  too  much 

the    c   nveniences  of   the  line,   and  he   was 

in  ! 

ter    leaving     Muncaster     the    first     station 

the     line     passes     within     a 

i  mile  of  Miteside   House,   so  called 

;      .)    its   close    proximity   to    the     River    Mite. 

fficient  energy  to  venture 
a  journey  by  the  early  morning  train,  you  may 
notice  that  the  Eskdale  ••living  Dutchman" 
pulls  up  opposite  this  house,  where,  a  few  yards 
-:  from  the  line,  stands  an  old  boat  resting 
on  its  side.  Under  its  sheltering  hull  is  a  seat, 
and  it  is  known  locally  by  the  sarcastic  title  of 
"M  -    tion." 

Under    the    boat,   should   it    he   raining,    the 

rd  deposits  parcels  or  papers  for  the  house, 

the  engine-driver  sounds  a  loud  and  ear-piercing 

st  on  his  whistle  to  give  notice  to  the  family 


that  their  cargo  for  the  day  has  arrived,  and  the 
train  lurches  slowly  round  the  corner  on  its  way 
up  the  valley.  It  is  related  of  a  former  master 
of  the  dwelling  that  when  he  wished  to  stop  the 
train  after  darkness  set  in  he  was  accustomed  to 
strike  a  flaming  fusee. 

The  same  gentleman  had  a  collie  dog,  who 
usually  accompanied  his  master  to  a  certain 
station  on  the  line,  but  no  dog-ticket  was  ever 
issued  or  asked  for  because  the  master  on 
entering  the  train  left  the  faithful  hound  outside, 
and  the  dog  was  always  found  waiting  at  the 
station  for  the  train  and  his  master. 

The  Eskdale  Railway  is  by  no  means  expen- 
sive to  travel  on.  Indeed,  a  friend  of  the  writer 
stated  that  when  going  hunting,  or  when  the 
usual  train  service  did  not  fit  in,  he  and  his 
friends  have  frequently  chartered  a  special  train, 
the  cost  of  which  was  ten  shillings,  which,  it 
must  be  admitted,  is  not  a  ruinous  charge  for 
the  aristocratic  luxury  of  a  "special." 

As,  some  summer  evening,  you  journey  in 
the  heaving,  groaning  little  train,  wedged  in 
between  worthy  tillers  of  the  soil,  you  cannot 
but  be  struck  with  the  amazing  beauty  of  the 
wild,  rude  country.  'As  your  train,  with  a 
screeching  of  brakes  —  there  is  a  vacuum 
brake,  wonderful  to  relate,  though  the  line  is 
innocent  of  signals  —  sidles  into  Irton  Road, 
great  hills  frown  down  on  you,  and  while  you 
stand  in  the  middle  of  the  grass-grown  track 
watching  the  end  of  the  luggage-van  reel  round 
the  curve,  grey  crag  and  green  fir  are  softened 
and   blended  in  the  rosy  evening  light   of   the 

dying  sun,  and  a  moun- 
tain stream  tinkles  down 
amongst  the  stones, 
under  which  lurk  wily, 
scarlet-spotted  trout. 

Shouldering  your  port- 
manteau, you  stride  away 
up  the  great  hill  round 
whose  shoulder  the  road 
winds  like  a  tawny  rib- 
bon into  Wasdale.  You 
feel  glad  that  the  Chan- 
cellor's quaint  little  en- 
gineering effort  still  sur- 
vives, and  has  not  yet 
been  swept  away  by  a 
hideous  electric  tramway, 
or  a  rushing,  bustling  ex- 
press, for  the  primitive 
simplicity  of  this  extra- 
ordinary line  seems 
more  in  keeping  with  the 
peace  of  the  dale  and 
the  majesty  of  the 
mountains. 


Odds    and    Ends. 


A    Christmas    Carnival     in    West    Africa — A    Fenland    Goose    Farm — The    "  Miracle    Church  " — More 
"  English  as  She  is  Written  " — A  Flag  That  Stopped  a  Railway,  etc.,  etc. 


From  a] 


A   CHRISTMAS   DAY   GALA   ON    THE   OPOBO    RIVER,    WEST   AFRICA. 


[Photo. 


HRISTMAS  is  celebrated  in  the 
farthest  corners  of  the  Empire  with 
just  as  much  enthusiasm  as  it  is  at 
home.  The  accompanying  photo- 
graph shows  the  annual  Christmas 
Day  gala  on  the  Opobo  River.  AH  work,  of  course, 
is  suspended,  and  canoe  races 
are  the  order  of  the  day.  All  the 
chiefs  have  their  canoes  overhauled, 
and  the  boats  are  manned  by  the 
best  paddlers  available,  each  carry- 
ing from  thirty  to  forty  men.  The 
rate  of  speed  attained  is  pro- 
digious and  the  excitement  of  the 
spectators  intense.  The  European 
traders  find  the  prizes,  and  some 
official  is  usually  appointed  judge. 
After  the  finish  of  the  races  the 
"  boys "  retire  to  the  town,  where 
dancing  and  feasting  are  indulged 
in  till  daybreak. 

The  curious  little  photograph 
here  reproduced  was  taken  from 
the  top  of  the  famous  Cam- 
panile Tower  at  Venice  some 
time  before  it  collapsed.  The 
camera  was  pointed  down  to- 
wards   the    square   of    St.     Mark, 


where  a  band  was  playing  at  the  time, 
while  crowds  of  music-loving  Venetians  were 
strolling  up  and  down.  The  picture  gives 
a  good  idea  of  the  great  height  of  the  old 
Campanile,  and  is  probably  one  of  the  last 
taken    from    its    summit. 


»' 


u 


LOOKING    DOWN    FROM    THE   TOP   OF    THE   OLD   CAMPANILE   TOWER    AT   VENICE. 

From  a  Photo. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


K    THF.   CHRISTMAS    MARKET   ON'    A    FENLAND    FARM. 


An   thi  r  phase  of  <  Christmas  forms  the  subject 

F  the  above  photograph,   which  will   give  our 

read  ne  idea  of  the  scale  on  which  geese 

reared     for    the    Christmas    market.       The 

■shot  was  taken  on  a  farm  in  Cambridgeshire 
ind  shows   seven  out  of  a  total  of  nine  pens, 
each   of  which  contains   between    five   and   six 
hundred   gees 
Think   of   it!      Be- 
tween  five    and    six 

-and  plump  and 

itiful     birds,    all 

ned  to  have 
their  necks  wrung 
and  to  take  their 
;  •  hristmas 

dinn 

the  country  !      i 
April  till  November 
the  b 

it  during  the 

month  there  is 

und-up," 

and    th-  are 

pent  hown  in 

the     [j 

I    the 
tro    a  -rn, 

listinctly 
I,  and  the  i 
mad-  myriads 

birds    is 


siderable   distance    both 
by  day  and  night. 

We  have  now  to  look 
at  an  extraordinary 
photograph,  showing  the 
interior  of  the  "miracle 
church"  of  Ste.  Anne  de 
Beaupre,  a  few  miles 
from  Quebec.  This 
church  may  well  be 
called  the  Lourdes  of 
(  anada,  and  many  thou- 
sands of  devout  Catho- 
lics make  the  pilgrimage 
to  it  every  year.  Innu- 
merable are  the  claims 
made  of  wonderful  cures 
of  the  halt  and  maimed, 
and  as  evidence  thereof 
the  visitor  is  shown  huge 
pyramids  of  crutches  and 
sticks  left  behind  by 
pilgrims  who  no  longer 
required  them.  This 
collection   is   well  shown    in    our 


{Photo. 


extraordinary 
snap-shot. 

'1  he  huge  fantastic  growth  shown  on  the  next 
page  is  probably  the  most  remarkable  Cactus  in 
the  world.  It  stands,  a  veritable  giant  of  its  kind, 
on  the  sun -scorched,  wind-swept  desert  of 
Arizona,    in    the    home    of   the    species,    the 


for 


a    con- 


TIIE   INTERIOR   OF   THE    "MIRACLE   CHURCH    '   OF   STE, 

From  a  Photo,  by  Notman. 


ANNE   DE    BEAL'rRE, 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


3" 


From  a] 


gnarled,  twisted,  snaky  branches 
making  a  grotesque  figure. 
Thousands  upon  thousands  of 
square  miles  in  the  southwestern 
States  are  thickly  dotted  with 
these  strange  and  repulsive-look- 
ing natural  monstrosities,  but 
the  one  shown  in  the  photo- 
graph, which  is  located  in  a 
dreary  spot  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pima,  Graham  County,  is  the 
largest  and  "  freakiest  "  yet 
discovered. 

Our  next  photograph  was 
taken  on  the  quaint  little  Island 
of  Marken,  in  the  Zuider  Zee. 
Its  point  of  interest  is  the  tree, 
as  it  is  the  only  one  in  the  whole 
of  the  island  !  There  are  some 
fourteen  hundred  inhabitants,  all 
told,  dwelling  on  this  little  patch, 
which  even  at  its  best  cannot  be 
called  "dryland."  Neither  pota- 
toes nor  cabbages,  nor  any  of 
the  things  that  help  to  eke  out  a  poor  man's  in- 
come will  flourish  in  this  barren  spot — barren  of 
all  except  the  long,  salt  marsh -grass.  The  dwel- 
lers' only  occupation  is  fishing,  and  they  live 
almost  exclusively  on  a  fish  diet.  Yet  they  are 
a  sturdy  race  of  people,  quite  distinct  in  dress 
and  many  customs  from  the  rest  of  the  Dutch 
nation.  The  children  are  dressed  alike,  both 
boys  and  girls,  until  they  are  eight  years  of  age, 
when  the  boy's 
hair  is  cut  short 
and  he  is  put  into 
knickerbockers. 
Prior  to  the  eighth 
year  the  boy  wears 
a  stripe  worked 
with  white  mate- 
rial on  the  front 
of  his  jacket,  and 
a  little  button  on 
the  top  of  his 
cap ;  these  are 
the  only  distin- 
guishing marks. 
There  is  not  a 
single  horse  on 
the  whole  island, 
so  when  a  funeral 
takes  place  the 
coffin  is  put  into 
a  boat,  which  is 
drawn  by  the 
nearer  relatives 
to  the  place  of 
interment,  near 


AN    EXTRAORDINARY   CACTUS   IN   THE   ARIZONA    DESERT. 


[Photo. 


THE   ONLY  TREE   ON   THE   ISLAND   OF    MARKEN. 

Prom  a  Photo,  by  F.  IV.  Jacobs. 


the  centre  of  the  island.  In  winter -time 
the  greater  part  of  the  island  is  flooded, 
and  then  the  islanders  climb  up  into  the 
attic  portions  of  their  dwellings,  taking  their 
cows  with  them.  It  is  no  unusual  sight  for 
those  who  pass  in  vessels  to  see  the  cows  poking 
their  heads  out  of  the  upper  windows  of  houses 
that  rise  out  of  the  water.  Of  sheep  there  are 
none,  and,  moreover,  no  Dutchman  eats  mutton. 

As  fisher  -  folk 
deriving  their 
bread  from  the 
practice  of  their 
calling  on  the 
Zuider  Zee,  they 
naturally  look 
forward  with  ap- 
prehension to  the 
time  when  the 
Zuider  Zee  will 
be  no  more,  for 
the  Dutch  Govern- 
ment are  consider- 
ing a  project  for 
draining  the  sea 
and  turning  the 
area  it  occupies 
into  fertile  land. 

In  our  October 
number  we  pub- 
lished a  brilliant 
specimen  of 
"English  as  she 
is  written  "  in 
Spain.      We   give 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


!        f&'i-ftV'xj** 

1     *£               M 

$BL                   rm 

Bee   provision   never   to 
every  good 

v  :■> 

Si 
,  .-    f      br      •         ns   bottoms  large,  then, 

bout    ti   ,,           can 

ht 

^                     .slz1  ki,          ■ 

WH<                                    ><  "K 

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u_ 

• 

ITTEN. 


[/' 


above   a    J  sp<  i  imen    almost    as  good. 

Concerning    ii    a    reader   sends    from     British 

1    dumbia :    "Whilst  coasting    in    the  schooner 

bhin  we  landed  in  a  small    bay  at  the  north- 

iint  of   Texada    Island,   in  the  Gulf  of 

\     .   North    Pacific  Islands.      The    nearest 

:it   was    an    Indian   village    some    miles 

ich  I  picked  up  the  enclosed 


paper,  which  had  evidently  been  washed 
ashore.  In  all  probability  it  had  travelled 
all  the  way  from  Japan,  some  four  or  five 
thousand  miles  distant.  It  had  evidently 
adorned  some  tinned  delicacy,  and  carries 
a  legend  in  Japanese  and  an  English  trans- 
lation." The  charm  of  this  translation  is 
its  mystery.  What,  for  instance,  does  "by 
its  tins  bottoms  large"  mean?  And  how 
is  one  to  know  if  the  stuff  is  bad  if  it  has 
to-be  sent  back  "without  to  open"? 

The  last  photograph  shows  how  the 
American  flag  stopped  operations  on  a  rail- 
road. Recently  the  employes  of  a  company 
operating  a  division  of  the  Maine  Central 
Railroad  left  work  on  account  of  a  griev- 
ance which  they  had  against  an  official.  The 
people  along  the  route  sympathized  with 
them,  this  being  especially  the  case  at  a 
town  called  Vassalboro.  The  feeling  here 
reached  such  a  pitch  that  timbers  and  other 
obstructions  were  placed  on  the  rails  to 
prevent  the  running  of  trains.  The  company 
had  these  removed  several  times, 'when 
finally  the  villagers  placed  some  ties  across 
the  track  and  erected  over  them  an 
American  flag.  Several  men  with  guns 
then  mounted  guard  over  the  barrier, 
threatening  to  shoot  anyone  who  molested 
"Old  Glory."  As  a  result  trains  were  discon- 
tinued, the  officials  being  averse  to  interfering 
with  the  flag.  Finally  they  decided  to  compromise 
with  the  locked-out  employes,  whereupon  the 
flag-protected  obstruction  was  removed.  Prob- 
ably this  is  the  only  instance  in  which  the 
popular  sentiment  for  the  national  flag  has  been 
made  use  of  to  stop  the  running  of  a  railway. 


From  a] 


A    FLAG   THAT   STOPPED    A    RAILWAY. 


[Photo. 


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The  Wide  World  Magazine. 


Vol.  XII. 


FEBRUARY,   1904. 


No,  70 


Philadelphia     has    the     reputation    of 

being  one  of  the  most  quiet  and  digni- 
fied cities  in  the  United  States,  but  once  a  year  it  lapses  into  un- 
restrained frivolity.  The  occasion  is  a  curious  carnival  called  the 
"  New  Year  Mummers'  Parade,"  which  is  here  described  by  a 
resident  of  the  city. 


OR  three  hundred  and  sixty-four  days 
in  the  year  Philadelphia  lives  up  to 
its  national  reputation  of  being  the 
"  slowest  "  city  in  the  United  States; 
but  for  one  glorious  day  the  Quaker 
town  vies  with  New  Orleans,  Rome,  and  Paris  as 
a  centre  of  frivolity  suddenly  stricken  mad.  It 
is  a  very  methodical  madness,  however,  for  the 
chief  participants  in  this  great  annual  festival  of 
Philadelphia — which  is  known  as  the  New  Year 
Mummers'  Parade — begin  their  preparations  for 
the  following  year  as  soon  as  the  sun  sets  on  the 
scene  of  gaiety. 

One  of  the  objects  to  be  gained  is  the  winning 
of  large  cash  prizes  offered  by  the  civic  authorities 
for  the  most  elaborate  and  novel  costumes  worn 
in  the  procession,  and  for  the  club  whose 
members  make  the  most  striking  appearance  on 
parade. 

Each  year  the  eccentricity  of  the  costumes 
exceeds    that   of   the  previous  year.     Immense 


Vol. 


40. 


sums  are  spent  on  the  costumes  of  the  Kings, 
of  whom  there  are  several  in  the  procession,  and 
numbers  of  girls  are  employed  for  months 
previous  to  the  date  ol  the  festival,  cutting  out 
and  embroidering  the  material  intended  for 
their  Majesties'  finery  on  festival  day.  The 
larger  the  robe  and  the  finer  the  embroidery, 
the  better  the  chance  of  winning  a  prize.  A 
hundred  young  Philadelphians  will  form  them- 
selves into  a  club  and  do  little  else  in  their 
spare  time  but  plan  and  prepare  for  the  annual 
parade,  paying  subscriptions  into  a  general 
fund,  from  which  the  milliner's  bill  is  to  be  met, 
and  looking  forward  to  winning  a  cash  prize 
sufficient  to  at  least  reimburse  them  for  the 
initial  outlay. 

As  many  as  ninety  pages  are  sometimes  re- 
quired to  support  some  of  the  gorgeous  robes 
worn  by  the  Kings  at  this  curious  festival. 
The  parade  takes  place  on  Broad  Street,  the 
widest  thoroughfare  in  the  city,  and  the  Royal 


11  IK    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


A         KIM.        AND    HIS    RETINUE    PASSING    DlllVX    BROAD    STREET. 


{Photo. 


robes  are  made  large   enough   to  stretch   from 

i  to  kerb  when  pulled  out  to  their  full  width 

the    attendant    ]>.i_< -.     Their    weight    being 

enormous,  it  would  be  impossible  for  even  the 

sturdy  men  selected  as  Kings  to  support   them 


but  for  the  small  army  of  gorgeously-clad  pages 
who  carry  sections  of  the  train.  At  times, 
when  the  street  narrows  or  the  crowd  is  so  dense 
that  it  is  impossible  for  the  pages  to  stretch  the 
robe  to  its  full    length,  the    weight   necessarily 


1  HE    "  KINGS  "—THESE    I 


From  a\ 


MHAPl'V    MONAKCIIS   OKTKN    l-AINT    hliu.M    THE 


WEIGHT   OF    THEIR    GORGEOUS    ROBES. 


E\i  IRMOUS 

[Photo. 


A    NEW    YEAR    PARADE. 


falls  to  a  great  extent  on 
the  shoulders  of  the 
King,  and  His  Majesty 
frequently  faints  from 
the  terrible  strain  of  sup- 
porting his  splendour 
without  the  aid  of  the 
pages. 

These  pages  are  attired 
in  costumes  that  match 
the  robe  of  the  King, 
and  as  a  Royal  retinue 
passes  along  to  the  music 
of  a  military  band  the 
spectacle  is  a  magnificent 
one.  But  the  Kings  are 
not  the  entire  show  by 
any  means.  Following 
each  Royal  personage 
comes  a  motley  proces- 
sion of  revellers,  each 
dressed  according  to  his 
own  peculiar  fancy,  but 
all  with  some  attempt 
at  expressing  a  meaning 
in  the  masquerade. 
Public  men  who  are  not 
popular  are  held  up  to 
ridicule  by  men  who  im- 
personate them  in  the 
most  grotesque  costumes 
conceivable ;  current  events  are  depicted  by 
cars   in  which    Young   America    exercises    his 


WHO   WON    A    PRIZE   AS   A    FEMALE    lMI'EKMiNAK 

From  a  Photo. 


317 

wit-  ".,  a  manner  that  the 
man  in  the  street  can 
understand ;  and  jests 
that  are  occasionally 
couched  in  language 
more  forceful  than  polite 
are  carried  aloft  on 
transparencies.  Pretty 
"girls,"  whose  large  feet 
and  mannish  stride 
betray  the  sterner  sex, 
stalk  along  beneath  be- 
witching sunshades  or 
dance  merrily  with 
maskers  in  all  manner  of 
foolish  guises ;  and  a 
regular  Noah's  Ark  of 
animals,  with  trousered 
legs  protruding  through 
the  corners  of  their 
anatomy,  march  solemnly 
along  with  nodding  heads 
and  cavernous  smiles. 

At  the  City  Hall  the 
procession  halts  while 
the  mayor  and  his  cabinet 
review  the  parade.  Then 
for  hours  it  plods  along 
through  avenues  of  cheer- 
ing citizens  to  a  point 
where  the  committee  to 
whom  is  left  the  selecting  of  the  prize- 
winners critically  scans  the  costumes  and  the 


From  a 


PECULIAR    FAN'CV. 


[Photo. 


n  IK    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


app<  each    marching     hand.        The 

ot  made  known  until  several  days 

has   been  laid  away  to 

or  other  the  succeeding 

When    the    nai  winners 

there  is  generally  a  howl 

from   those  passed  over  and 

mui         k    if  unfairness  and  bias. 


fact,  is  merely  a  "  warming-up  "  for  the  incidents 
of  the  night.  After  dark  on  festival  night 
Philadelphia  is  aglow  with  red  fire.  The  streets 
are  a  mass  of  colour,  reflected  from  the  Royal 
robes,  the  rainbow  hued  parasols  of  the  maskers, 
the  flags  and  bunting  of  the  marching  clubs, 
the  draperies  of  the  gods  on  the  cars,  and  the 
diaphanous    costumes    of  the   goddesses,    who 


■■:  a]  THE    "  KATZENJAMMER   CHOIR 


ORGANIZATION    WHICH    FIGURED    IN    THE    PROCI  - 


[Photo. 


prizes,    however,    do    not    interest    the 

citizen    much.      He   is   only  concerned 

with    the    procession.       Kach    portion    of    the 

de  represents  a  particular  ward  of  the  city, 

and  it  is  a  matter  of  pride  with  the  spectator  to 

cheer  more  loudly  for  his  own  representatives  in 

the  procession  than  the  next  man  cheers  for  his. 

When   the  different  clubs  reach  the  end  of  the 

line  of  march  each  is  received  by  its  admirers 

and  escorted  to  the  ward  from  whence  it  came, 

he  procession    is    repeated  on  a    small 

:id  revelry  rei.uns  unrestrained  for  a  few 

hours,    the   police,   by  general  consent, 

allowing   any    liberty   to    be    taken    with    the 

>o  long  as  good  nature  prevails 

and  nothing  radically  wrong  goes  on. 

endid  as  the  scenes  are  during  the  day, 
however,  they  are  totally  eclipsed  by  the  spec- 
tacles at  night.      No  matter  how  magnificently  a 

nbroidered,  by  daylight  it 

of  the  tinsel  finery  of  the  circus 

than  real  regal  splendour.      At  night,  when  lli> 

Royal  parade,  attended 

rch-bear  and  preceded 

11  umi nations  of  every  hue,  the  scene 

is   brilliantly  attractive.     The   day's   parade,   in 


glide  along  attended  by  imps  and  courtiers. 
The  entire  city  goes  festival  mad  —  for  one 
evening  only.  A  stranger  coming  into  Phila- 
delphia on  festival  night  would  imagine  himself 
in  New  Orleans  on  the  last  day  of  the  Mardi 
Gras  celebrations.  The  crowds  are  enormous, 
the  scene  bewildering  in  its  illuminated 
splendour,  and  the  constantly  moving  pano- 
rama of  colour  as  the  revellers  skip  along  to  the 
music  of  the  bands  in  the  smoke  and  glow  and 
glare  of  hundreds  of  vari-hued  lights  is  a 
veritable  nightmare  of  festivity  unrestrained. 

There  is  no  particular  mean.ng  attached  to 
the  festival.  No  other  city  has  one  like  it.  It 
is  bimply  the  one  day  and  night  in  the  year 
wlvn  Ph  ladelphia,  whose  name  is  regarded  by 
the  rest  of  the  United  States  as  a  synonym  for 
sobriety  and  d  gnity,  throws  care  to  the  winds 
and  revels  in  an  atmosphere  of  jollification  which 
rivals  that  of  Paris  or  Nice  in  carnival  time. 
Tlu  day  following  the  annual  festival,  and  for 
three  hundred  and  sixty-three  days  theieafter, 
Philadelphia  is  just  the  "  Quaker  City,"  the 
"City  of  Brotherly  Love,"  o  any  other  name 
suggestive  of  sober  qui  -tude  that  its  cr  tics  ike 
t  >  call  it. 


By    Louis    Lavier,    of    Paris. 

The    author    is    a   mining    engineer,  and    here    describes    a    terrible    experience   which   befell   him 
in    an    Italian    lead-mine.      The    curious   coincidence    to    which    Monsieur    Lavier    owes    his    life 

makes  his  narrative   of  additional  interest. 


APOLEON  said  that  "the  rarest 
kind  of  courage  was  the  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning  courage,"  by  which 
he  meant  that  there  were  few  men 
who,  being  just  aroused  from  sleep, 
would  possess  sufficient  coolness  and  presence 
of  mind  to  face  danger.  I  am  a  quiet-going 
professional  man,  boasting  of  no  particular 
courage,  and  devoid  of  any  ambition  in  that 
direction ;  but  there  were  fifty  hours  of  my  life 
during  which  I  would  willingly  have  exchanged 
places  with  the  most  daring  of  Napoleon's 
marshals  in  the  hardest-fought  battle  in  which 
he  was  ever  engaged. 

I  am  by  profession  a  mining  engineer.  One 
morning,  some  few  months  ago,  my  clerk 
informed  me  that  an  Italian  gentleman  wished 
to  see  me.  He  was  introduced,  and,  as  he 
did  not  speak  much  French,  opened  the  in- 
terview by  producing  from  a  leather  handbag 
he  carried  some  specimens  of  galena  ore,  which 
he  dumped  down  on  the  desk  before  me.     He 


then  began  a  long,  rambling  statement,  the 
whole  of  which,  interspersed  as  it  was  with 
Italian  words,  I  could  not  understand,  but  I 
gathered  enough  to  learn  that  he  was  the 
proprietor  of  a  mine  in  North  Italy,  and  that  he 
wanted  my  professional  opinion  on  the  samples 
produced.  I  replied  in  the  usual  stereotyped 
phrases  to  the  effect  that  I  could  not  give  any 
opinion  until  the  samples  had  been  assayed, 
and  that,  even  if  the  assay  proved  favour- 
able, much  would  depend  on  the  facility  of 
working  and  the  means  for  transporting  the  ore 
when  worked.  The  stranger  informed  me  that 
the  mine  was  in  the  province  of  Milan,  at  no 
great  distance  from  the  little  town  of  Varese,  and, 
though  no  railway  ran  close  to  it,  communication 
with  the  high  road  could  be  easily  established. 
The  entrance  to  the  mine,  he  said,  was  by  an 
adit  driven  in  the  side  of  a  mountain  forming 
one  of  the- many  spurs  of  the  Alps. 

My  client  told  me  that  he  had  inherited  the 
mine  at  the  death  of  his  father,  and  not  having 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


sufficient  capital  to  work  it  had  come  to  Pans 

rs    before    and    consulted    a    mining 

r,  whose  name  he  had  forgotten,as  to  the 

Ability  of  forming  a  joint-stork  company  to 

k  tlu-  nunc.       The  negotiations,  however,  fell 

through,   owing  to  some  legal  difficulties,  and 


THK  1ELK    LOUIS    LAVIER,  WHO    NEARLY 

:     HIS    LIFE   IN    AN    ITALIAN    LEAD-MINE. 
From  a  Photo,  by  Gilbert,  Paris. 

from  that  time  to  the  present  day  no  further 
steps  had  been  taken  in  the  matter. 

1    told  Signor   Ramazotti   that  as  soon  as  I 

received   the  assayer's  report   I   would  let  him 

know  the  result.      In   the   meantime,    I   said,  I 

hoped  he  would  not  show  any  specimens  of  the 

to  any  other  mining  agent,  and  he  promised 

he  would   not.     Very  fortunately  for  me,   how- 

.  he  did  not  keep  his  word,  or  I  should  not 

be  relating  this  story. 

A  few  days  later  I  received  the  assayer's 
>rt,  which  was  even  more  favourable  than  I 
had  anticipated,  and  I  at  once  sent  round  to 
the  adc  -  .nor    Ramazotti   had  given;  but 

the  hotel-keeper  informed  me  that  he  had  left 
and,  he  believed,  had  returned  to  Italy. 

The  speculation  appearing  to  me  likely  to 
prove  a  profitable  one,  I  resolved  to  start  for 
Milan  that  night  and  sec-  Signor  Ramazotti. 
After  resting  a  day  in  that  city,  I  pushed  on  to 
a  small   village  a  few   miles    from   Varese.     I 


reached  my  destination  by  diligence— and  an 
Italian  diligence  is  many  degrees  more  uncom- 
fortable than  a  French  one,  which  is  saying  a 
good  deal. 

I  put  up  at  the  best  inn  the  tiny  hamlet 
afforded,  and  then  went  round  to  Signor  Rama- 
zotti's  house,  but  was  annoyed  to  find  that  he 
had  not  returned  home  and  was  believed  to  be 
still  in  Paris.  I  thought  it  very  probable  that 
he  had  gone  on  to  London  to  see  if  he  could  do 
any  business  there,  but,  as  I  was  first  in  the  field 
and  did  not  intend  to  make  a  long  journey  for 
nothing,  I  resolved  to  visit  the  mine  without 
him  and  have  a  look  at  it  for  myself. 

The  Italians  are  an  inquisitive  and  talkative 
race,  and  as  I  possessed,  as  I  thought,  sufficient 
information  to  be  able  to  find  the  mine  without 
asking  any  questions,  I  did  not  take  the  land- 
lord into  my  confidence — a  piece  of  superfluous 


MONSIEUK     I.EVASSEUR,     "lie    rescued    the    author 
FROM    HIS    PERILOUS    POSITION. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Gilbert,  Paris. 

caution  which  I  bitterly  repented  of  during 
many  hours  of  mental  and  bodily  torture.  If  I 
had  stated  that  I  was  going  to  explore  a  cavern, 
the  landlord  of  the  inn  would  have  sent  a 
search-party  after  me  when   I  failed  to  return, 


LOST    IN    A    MINE. 


321 


and  I  should  have  been  rescued  many  hours 
earlier  than  I  was. 

My  mining  boots,  jersey,  a  small  lantern,  a 
pocket-compass,  and  my  geological  hammer  I 
packed  in  a  Gladstone  bag.  I  also  had  a  Navy 
revolver  in  a  leather  pouch,  for  sometimes  foxes 
or  other  wild  animals  are  found  in  mines  having 
an  opening  on  the  level. 

The  next  morning  I  was  up  betimes,  and 
after  a  good  breakfast  caught  the  diligence, 
which  passed  through  the  village  early  in  the 
morning  on  its  way  from  Varese  to  Luino.  I 
got  down  at  what  I  considered  to  be  the  nearest 
point  to  my  destination,  and  guessed  pretty 
correctly,  for  I  soon  found  the  cave,  with  the 
assistance  of  a  shepherd-boy  I  was  lucky  enough 
to  meet.  Not  even  the  offer  of  a  lira  would 
induce  him  to  enter  it,  however,  and  I  must  own 
it  did  not  appear  very  inviting,  for  the  entrance 
was  only  about  five  feet  high,  and  the  inside 
looked  as  black  as  a  chimney.  He  ran  off  as 
quick  as  his  little  sheepskin-bound  legs  would 
carry  him,  and  shouted  back  something  which  I 
suspect  was  Piedmontese  for  "  idiot." 

It  may  have  been  the  contagion  of  fear,  or  it 
may  have  been  a  presentiment  of  coming  evil, 
but  for  a  moment  or  two  I  felt  a  strong  inclina- 
tion to  run  after  him.  But  it  was  too  late  to 
draw  back,  so  I  sat  down  on  a  boulder  and 
changed  my  clothes.  Having  hidden  my  bag 
behind  a  bush  I  lighted  my  lantern  and  boldly 
entered  the  cave. 

When  once  I  had  passed  the  entrance  I 
found  the  roof  was  much  higher — some  eight  to 
ten  feet,  as  far  as  I  could  judge.  The  floor  was 
worn  pretty  level,  slanted  gradually  downwards, 
and  was  covered  with  small  stones  or  bits  of 
rock.  The  passage  was  fully  ten  feet  wide  in 
some  parts,  though  considerably  narrowed  here 
and  there  by  jutting  rocks.  It  seemed  to  extend 
into  the  very  heart  of  the  mountain.  I  followed 
it  for  some  fifty  or  sixty  yards,  but  saw  no  sign 
of  any  metalliferous  ore,  and  I  was  about  to 
give  up  further  search — at  least  for  the  day — 
when  I  entered  an  opening  which  led  off  to  the 
right,  and,  as  I  imagined  it  would  be  only  a  few 
yards  long,  I  thought  I  might  as  well  explore  it 
before  I  turned  back. 

I  had  hardly  entered  it  before  I  realized  that 
there  was  a  change  in  the  strata  in  this  part  of 
the  cavern,  and  that  I  was  amidst  "pay  rock." 
Galena  was  glistening  everywhere  around  me  in 
the  dim  light  cast  by  the  lamp,  showing  both  in 
large  masses  and  small  patches.  But  I  had  little 
time  to  enjoy  the  spectacle.  Exactly  what 
happened  I  do  not  know,  but  I  suppose  that 
in  my  excitement  I  omitted  to  take  the  most 
elementary  precautions,  and  did  not  notice  that 
I  was  standing  almost  at  the  edge  of  a  deep  hole. 

Vol.  xii. — 41. 


At  any  rate,  the  next  step  I  took  was  on  thin  air, 
and  in  another  second  I  was  half  rolling,  half 
stumbling  down  a  steep  incline,  falling  with  a 
mighty  splash  into  some  water  at  the  bottom. 

In  a  moment  I  had  struggled  to  my  feet,  and 
the  first  thought  that  flashed  through  my  mind 
was  a  feeling  of  thankfulness  that  the  water  was 
hardly  more  than  a  foot  deep.  Shallow  as  it 
was,  it  had,  however,  sufficed  to  break  the 
force  of  my  fall,  and  I  was  unhurt — scarcely 
bruised,  in  fact.  My  lantern,  which  was  fastened 
to  my  jacket,  had,  of  course,  gone  out  when  I 
tumbled  into  the  water.  I  quickly  felt  for  my 
matches,  but  alas  !  I  had  been  foolish  enough  to 
carry  them  in  a  cardboard  box  instead  of  a  metal 
case,  and  the  water  had  got  into  my  pocket  and 
the  matches  were  sodden  and  useless.  This  made 
little  impression  on  me,  for  I  calculated  that  I 
could  not  have  fallen  more  than  a  few  feet,  and 
I  thought  it  would  be  easy  enough  for  me  to 
scramble  out  of  the  hole  and  imke  my  way  out 
of  the  cave.  With  the  utmost  care  I  groped 
round  the  walls  of  my  prison,  and,  as  my  eyes 
grew  accustomed  to  the  gloom,  I  was  able  to 
make  out  where  I  was.  I  had  fallen  into  a 
funnel-shaped  hole  of  no  great  depth,  for  the 
floor  of  the  cave  was  barely  three  or  four  feet 
above  my  head.  But  it  might  have  been  thirty 
for  all  the  good  it  was  to  me.  The  sides  were 
too  steep  to  climb  without  the  aid  of  projections 
for  the  hands  and  feet,  and  were  almost  as 
smooth  as  though  they  had  been  faced  by  a 
stonemason.  With  a  good  jump  I  could  bring 
my  hands  to  the  level  of  the  sloping  floor,  but 
there  was  nothing  to  lay  hold  of,  and  though  I 
tried  a  score  of  times  I  only  fell  back  exhausted, 
with  torn  hands  and  broken  nails. 

When  I  had  tired  myself  out  with  futile  efforts 
I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  only  thing  to 
do  was  to  await  help  from  the  outside.  But 
whence  was  it  to  come?  The  landlord  of  the 
inn  was  under  the  impression  that  I  had  gone  off 
on  an  excursion,  and  was  not  likely  to  know  that 
I  was  caught  in  a  death-trap  in  this  old,  forgotten 
mine.  The  driver  of  the  diligence — if  he  thought 
of  the  matter  at  all — would  come  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  I  was  a  botanist,  and  intended  to  walk 
back  to  the  village  as  soon  as  I  had  secured  my 
specimens.  There  remained  only  the  shepherd- 
boy,  and  though  he  might  conclude  that  the  evil 
spirits  which  in  his  opinion  infested  the  cave 
had  made  away  with  me,  he  would  be  sure  to 
talk  about  it,  and  that  would  lead  to  a  search 
being  made. 

It  was,  indeed,  probable  that  the  boy  was  still 
near  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and  would  fetch 
help  if  I  could  attract  attention.  I  shouted  at 
the  top  of  my  voice  as  long  as  I  could,  but  the 
sound  died  away  in  a  rumbling  echo  and  no 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


the  awful  stillness.  I'hen  I 
remembered  my  revolver.  The  brass  cartridges 
were  not   likely   to  have   been   affected  by    my 

d  would  still  go  off.  1  pulled  out 
the  pistol  and  fired.  The  report  reverberated 
through    th  and    echoed    a    dozen    times 

i     fainter,    and    then    died    away.      1 
ninutes  and   then   fired  two  more 
nick  su  in. 

ral    of  my    friends   have    asked    me    to 
the    thoughts   and    impressions    which 
h    my   mind    during  the    horrible 
hours   1    was     incarcerated   in    that 
■    not   think    1    could,  nor 
.id     I    if  I    could.        1  Hiring    the 
•.    part    of     the   time    the    hours 
__   d  terribly,  or  at  least  it   seemed 
Strang      as   it   may  appi 
d    little    from     hunger     and 
thirst      1   scooped  up  in  my  hand 
the     brackish     water    in 
which    I    was  standing,   but   it  was 
not      because      1    felt     thirst  v.    but 
»imply    because     I     wanted     some- 
thing to  do.     To   help   to 
time    I    tried    to 
_  ther     all      the 
fabl  La    Fontaine    I 

had  learnt    at  school,  and 
did,   or  tried  to  do,  i 

led  mathematical  pro- 
I    felt   that    I   was 
ng    dangerously     near 
g  out  of  my  mind,  and 
my    rescuers    inform     me 
that  when  I  was   taken  out 
of  the  pit  I  d  utterly 

devoid  of  energy  or  intelli- 
•e. 
I  can  quite  b  this, 

ilui     d  and 
indistinct    impression    still 
in   my   mind   that   when   I 
M.      I  :ur,     the 

gentleman  who  res< 
me,  and  the  two  guides 
my  head  and  peer- 
ing down  into  the  pit,  I 
had  a  kind  of  feeling  that 
they  had  no  ri^ht  to  be 
there,  and  intruding 

on  my  priv, 

Being    deprived    of    all 
it,    I    knew   nothing    of 
days   or    hours,  and  was  absolutely  astonished 
after  my  rescue  to  learn  that  I  had  been  fifty- 
two  hours  in   the  cave.     If  I  were  asked  as  to 
how  that  time  sped,  I  should  reply  that  the  first 


i     PEERING    DOWN    INTO  THE  PIT, 


second  like  twelve  months,  and  the  last  twenty- 
four  only  three  or  four  hours  at  the  most. 

I  have  said  that  I  do  not  wish  to  remember 
all  that  passed  through  my  mind  in  those  terrible 
hours — for  that  way  madness  lies — but  I  dare 
saj  a  good  many  people  would  like  to  know  if  I 
had  not  one  comforting  thought  which  supported 
me  during  that  trying  period.  Yes,  I  had,  but 
it  was  not  religious,  philosophical,  or  ethical,  and 
I  cite  it  as  showing  the  curious  workings  of  the 
human  mind.  I  had  brought  a  pair  of  heavy 
mining    boots    which    came    up   to    my    knees. 

They  were  ugly  and 
clumsy,  and  more 
than  once  before  I 
reached  the  cave  I 
was  sorry  I  had 
brought  them.  But 
all  the  while  I  was 
standing  in  that  pool 
of  muddy  water  I 
could  think  of  no- 
thing but  how  ex- 
ceedingly wise  and 
clever  I  had  been 
to  don  them,  and  I 
grew  to  have  quite  a 
feeling  of  affection  for  those 
boots,  fancying  they  would 
be  the  means  of  saving  my 
ife.  No  doubt  they  did 
contribute  in  some  degree 
to  that  end,  for  they  prob- 
ably saved  me  from 
rheumatic  fever. 

Of  the  circumstances  of 
my  rescue  I  remember  little 
or  nothing  beyond  the  in- 
distinct recollection,  as  of 
a  dream,  that  three  men, 
two  of  them  carrying 
torches,  appeared  at  the 
end  of  a  long  gallery  and 
shouted  to  me  in  some 
language  I  could  not 
understand  ;  and  then  I 
remembered  nothing  more 
till  I  woke  out  of  a  sleep 
and  found  myself  in  bed 
in  a  strange  room  at  an 
hotel  at  Varese. 

The  most  curious 
coincidence  about  my 
rescue  was  that  the  man 
who  saved  me  also  came  from  Paris,  and 
lived  almost  in  the  next  street  !  This  would 
sound  improbable  in  a  novel,  but  the  ex- 
planation is  very    simple.       Signor    Ramazotti, 


seemed    like    twelve   years,    the        the  proprietor  of  the  mine,  had  promised  me 


LOST    IN    A    MINE. 


323 


that  he  would  not  go  to  any  other  mining 
engineer,  but  soon  after  leaving  my  office  he 
remembered  the  name  of  the  agent  he  had 
consulted  three  years  previously.  He  there- 
fore went  to  him— partly  because  he  considered 
he  had  a  prior  claim,  and  partly,  I  expect, 
because  he  thought  he  might  just  as  well  have 
two  strings  to  his  bow.  He  submitted  to  M. 
Levasseur  specimens  of  ore  similar  to  those 
he  had  shown  me.  The  report  of  the  assayer  to 
whom  they  were  handed  was  so  favourable 
that,  like  me,  M.  Levasseur  resolved  to  visit 
the  mine    personally.       But  he   travelled   by   a 


away.  M.  Levasseur  addressed  me  in  Italian, 
German,  and  English,  at>d  I  only  stared 
vacantly,  he  afterwards  told  me  ;  but  when  he 
tried  French  I  muttered  a  few  words  and  then 
fainted.  One  of  the  men  got  down  into  the 
pit,  and  with  a  good  deal  of  trouble  they 
hauled  me  out  and  half-led,  half-dragged  me  to 
the  carriage  which  was  waiting  in  the  open  air. 

My  rescuer  assures  me  that  for  four  days  I 
was  delirious,  and  he  was  really  afraid  my  reason 
had  been  permanently  affected.  After  that  I 
began  to  mend,  thanks  to  the  skill  of  Dr. 
Biancbmi,  of  Varese,  and  the  kind  nursing  of 


■THEV    HALK-LEU,    HALF-DKAUGED    ME    TO    THE   CARRIAGE   WHICH    WAS    WAITING 


different   route  —  the    St.    Gothard    line  —  and 
stayed  at  Luino. 

From  there  he  came  on  to  inspect  the  mine, 
and  very  wisely  brought  a  couple  of  guides 
with  him,  well  provided  with  torches  and  cords. 
They  had  not  proceeded  far  aown  the  cave 
when  they  heard  low  moans.  It  took  them 
some  time  to  find  where  the  sound  came  from, 
and  when  at  last  they  did  discover  me  I  looked 
so  gaunt,  weird,  and  wild  that  the  superstitious 
Italians  were  almost  qn  the  point  of  running 


my  preserver.  But  it  was  three  weeks  before 
I  had  anything  like  recovered  the  shock  to  my 
nervous  system. 

I  have  only  to  mention  the  last  and  crowning 
act  of  M.  Levasseur's  kindness.  After  we  re- 
turned to  Paris  he  formed  a  small  syndicate 
of  capitalists  to  work  Signer  Ramazotti's  mine, 
and  then  turned  over  the  whole  management  of 
what  bids  fair  to  be  a  very  profitable  speculation 
to  me.  He  said  he  thought  the  mine  owed  me 
that  revenge ! 


There  is  a  tiny  island  in  the  Pacific  which  Nature  seems  to  have  set  aside  as  a  birds'  paradise.  Countless 
millions  of  birds  of  various  species  are  to  be  found  dwelling  amicably  side  by  side,  presenting  a  most 
extraordinary    spectacle,    as   will    be    seen    from    the    striking    photographs,   taken    by  J.   J.    Williams, 

Honolulu,  T.H.,  which  accompany  this  article. 


THINK  that  there  must  be  nearly 
a  million  birds  shown  in  the  photo- 
graph   of    a    Pacific    bird -paradise 
oduced  on   the   next   page,   but 
nyone   of  a   statistical    turn    of 
min  after  due  consideration,  that  there  are 

million  albatrosses  in  the  snap-shot  I  shall 
him.     To  enumerate  the  birds  is,  I 
.    a    physical    and    mental    impossibility, 
who  looks   upon  such  a   picture   must    be 
content  with  an  approximation  of  numbers  and 
not  with  accuracy. 

That  which  is  shown,  however,  is  but  a  small 
of  the  whole.  If  there  be  a  million  in  this 
single  picture,  what  must  there  be,  in  number  of 
birds,  throughout  this  paradise  ?  Xot  yet  has  any- 
one risen  to  suggest  the  total.  Those  who  have 
i  fortunate  enough  to  visit  Laysan  Island, 
on  which    these  creatures   of   the  air   live   and 

%g   red  at    the   sight,  and 

have    returned   to  tell  an  almost   unbelievable 

i  little  place  less  than  six  miles  square, 

3  do  not  fear  the  approach  of 

man,  and    from    which   eggs   are   taken   by  the 

barrow-load.      It  is  a  place  which  Nature  seems 

part  for  one  specific  purpose,  where 

thousands   of  birds  sacrifice  their  lives  nightly 

flapping  in  vain  combat  with  the  brilliancy  of  a 


lone  lighthouse,  and  where  the  albatrosses  are 
so  select  in  their  tastes  that  black  will  not 
consort  with  white. 

YVest-nor'-west  from  Hawaii  a  distance  of 
eight  hundred  miles  lies  this  little  island,  sur- 
rounded by  a  coral  reef,  with  its  highest  point 
about  forty  feet  above  sea-level.  The  island  is 
oval  in  shape  and  has  the  usual  lagoon  of 
brackish  water  in  the  centre.  By  digging  a  few 
feet  in  any  part  of  it  water  is  to  be  found, 
although  all  is  more  or  less  tainted.  The  place 
is  so  far  out  of  the  track  of  ordinary  traffic  that 
few  people  have  visited  it,  and  the  occasional 
stranger  is  always  sure  of  a  pleasant  welcome 
from  those  who  so  seldom  catch  a  sight  of  man. 
The  ordinary  approach  to  it  is  known  by  the 
ceaseless  calling  of  myriads  of  birds. 

Besides  the  albatrosses  and  their  brother 
birds  of  the  sea,  Laysan  is  inhabited  by  a  few 
people,  mainly  Japanese,  who  have  gone  there 
for  commercial  purposes.  They  eat  the  eggs 
and  sell  the  natural  deposit,  which  has  existed 
there  for  ages.  To  the  occasional  visitor  it 
seems  a  lonely  life,  but  the  labourers  and  their 
overseers  appear  quite  content  with  their  station 
in  life,  and  the  work  goes  on  day  after  day,  year 
in  and  year  out,  on  this  desolate  bit  of  land,  to 
the  accompaniment  of  countless  raucous  cries, 


A    PARADISE    OF    BIRDS. 


325 


in  the  heat  of  a  Pacific  sun.  In  many  senses 
this  is-  a  story  of  wanton  destruction,  for, 
although  the  eggs  of  the  albatrosses  are  there 
by  thousands,  reinforced  each  day  by  thou- 
sands more,  yet  the  gradual  extinction  of  these 
eggs  points  inevitably  to  the  disappearance 
of  the  tribe.  In  one  sense,  however,  the 
destruction  is  pardonable,  for  the  labourers 
support  their  own  lives  by  living  on  the  eggs, 
which — owing,  I  believe,  to  Governmental  action 
—are  no  longer  gathered   for  commercial  use. 


between  the  two  different  colours  of  birds  is  as 
distinct  as  if  it  were  measured  by  a  surveyor. 
The  black  "  gooney "  chooses  the  windward 
side  of  the  island,  leaving  the  lee  side  to  the 
white  birds.  The  photograph  below  shows 
the  white  birds  on  their  own  division  of  land, 
stretching  away  by  myriads  to  the  horizon,  an 
ever-widening  vista  of  spots  of  white,  like  an 
ocean  decked  with  symmetrical  patches  of 
foam.  Our  next  illustration  shows  the  black 
"  gooneys,"  but  in  much  less  profusion.     They 


From  a) 


WHITE    ALHATKOSSES   ON    THE    ISLAND    OF    LAYSAN. 


[P/ioto. 


The  bird  life  on  Laysan  is,  however,  not  confined 
to  albatrosses.  There  are  man-o'-war  birds, 
pelicans,  tropical  birds,  gannets,  terns,  petrels, 
and  other  species.  The  albatrosses,  however, 
outnumber  the  others.  Known  to  naturalists 
under  the  name  of  Diomedea  immutabilis,  they 
are  here  called  by  the  less  dignified  name  of 
"  gooneys,"  of  which  there  are  two  kinds 
black  and  white. 

It  is  a  curious  illustration  of  the  ways  01 
Nature  that  these  two  kinds  of  birds  in  no 
way  come  together;  and  on  Laysan,  as  one 
passes  over  its  flat  and   tiring   surface,  the  line 


are  about  the  same  size  and  shape  as  the  other 
birds,  but  less  spectacular,  owing  to  the  absence 
of  white. 

The  "gooneys"  are  the  lords  of  Laysan,  and 
their  demesne  is  a  mine  of  wealth  for  the 
adventurous  phosphate-hunter.  At  all  times 
these  men  may  be  seen  at  work  digging  up  the 
deposits  and  carrying  away,  at  stated  intervals, 
the  millions  of  eggs  laid  by  the  birds.  The 
Japanese  prefer  these  eggs  to  any  of  the  com- 
pany's supplies,  and  boil  them  hard  with  their 
rice,  living  on  them  constantly  with  the  enjoy- 
ment of  simple   tastes.     Sameness  of  diet  does 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


+^*L 


* 


■?>* 


cp 


D1ST1NCI     As    IK    I1KAWN    l.\    A    SURVEYOR. 


BETWEEN    THEIR    BREEDING-GROUNDS 

\Pll0t0. 


not  seem  to  interfere  with  their  state  of  health,  as 
is  shown  by  the  active  and  well-developed  figures 
in  our  illustrations.  The  labourers  collect  the  eggs 
in  a  peculiar  fashion.  They  draw  a  circle  covering 
an  a<  re  or  so,  and  from  such  a  circle  collect  the 
ggs  daily  in  wheelbarrows  until  the  supply  is 
and  wheel  them  to  a  railway  in  the 
middle  of  the  island,  wh  re  they  are  placed  on 


trucks  and  carried  off  to  the  company's  camp. 
In  one  of  our  illustrations  may  be  seen  not 
only  the  wheelbarrows  but  a  train  of  loaded 
cars,  for  which  the  motive  power  is  supplied  by 
a  sleepy  mule.  This  picture,  with  srveral 
others,  illustrates  the  wonderful  tameness  of 
the  birds.  Here  we  li  d  them  nesting  and 
preening  their  feathers  within  a  few  feet  of  the 


.  \TkaordinakY   TAM6NE.SS  OP   THE   BIRDS 


iri.0  0. 


A    PARADISE    01-     BIRDS. 


327 


COLLECT  P.  OR    THE    LABOURERS. 


{Photo. 


children  and  the  train.  The  size  of  the  eggs 
can  easily  be  estimated  from  their  surroundings. 
When  one  lot  of  eggs  is  collected  the  labourers 
move  to  another  area  and  the  collection  con- 
tinues daily. 

Thick  as  the  birds  are  above  ground,  it  is 
estimated  that  ten  times  as  many  are  to  be 
found  under  the  surface.  The  island  is  honey- 
combed with  the  nests  of  the  mutton  bird, 
these  subterranean  homes  being  shown  in  one 
of   our    illustrations,    with     the    "squabs"    at 


the  entrance  to  the  burrow.  The  old  birds 
come  out  just  before  sunset  darkens  the  island, 
and  when  darkness  comes  on  are  not  seen  till 
the  next  evening.  Thousands  are  killed  nightly 
by  driving  against  the  lighthouse  when  the  light 
is  burning.  The  squabs  are  said  to  be  good 
eating,  and  are  exported  to  Australian  and 
London  markets  by  way  of  New  Zealand,  this 
being  one  of  the  departments  of  the  company's 
business  which  brings  in  considerable  profit. 
The  game  birds  are  many,  but  he  who  likes 


Frvni  a] 


ANOTHER    VIEW    OF   THE    GUAM)    DEIOSITS. 


[Photo. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


birds  lends,  of  course,  special  interest 
to  the  island  life.  Different  in  plumage 
and  varied  in  cries,  they  are  both 
picturesque  and  noisy,  the  island  at 
times  being  a  babel  of  bird-calls,  in 
which  thev  naturalist  should  take  a 
keen  delight.  Nature  arranges  her 
seasons  with  the  sea-birds  so  that  they 
will  not  clash  with  each  other,  and 
manages  to  make  the  different  species 
live  here  in  pleasant  companionship. 
One  of  our  illustrations,  for  example, 
shows  albatrosses  mating,  with  a 
neighbouring  man-o'-war  hawk  on  her 
nest — a  pretty  picture  of  real  content. 
This  is  not  to  say  that  fights  are  of 
rare  occurrence.  It  is  no  unusual 
thing  for  a  hawk  and  a  booby  to 
quarrel  over  a  fish,  and  commence  in 
mid-air  a  battle  which  is  fought  with 
desperation    until  the  combatants  fall 


:  TON    BIRD, 
ir    1  H  I-     ENTRANCE 
From  a]  TO  THE  BURROW.  [Photo. 


to  carry  a  gun  finds  no  need  for  it 
here.       The    camp    is    supplied    with 

:ie  by  a  method  interesting  in  its 
very  simplicity.  A  string  is  tied  to  the 
dining-room  door  and  a  few  crumbs 
are  placed  on  the  floor,  which  the 
marked  game  scramble  with  avidity  to 
capture.  Then  comes  the  supreme 
moment  when  the  string  is  pulled  by 
the  practical  Laysan  sportsman,  and 
the  birds  are  caught  in  a  bunch.  It 
is  like  going  fishing  when  fish  are  to 
be  caught  without  any  trouble.  There 
is  no  fun  in  it,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Laysan,  living  as  they  do  with  so  many 
denizens  of  the  air  in  fearless  proxi- 
mity, indulge  in  this  small  enjoyment 
only  when  the  inner  man  demands  a 
change  of  diet. 

Besides  the  sea-fowl  and  the  game- 
birds,  several  species  of  canaries  are 
native  to  the  island.  Some  feed  on 
insects  and  others  on  grain,  and  all 
are  so  tame  that  they  can  be  caught 
simply  by  putting  a  hat  over  them. 
The  insect  canary  is  a  positive  nui- 
sance, as  it  alights  on  the  face,  hands, 
and  other  parts  of  the  body  with  an 
indifference  that  at  first  occasions 
surprise  and  then  annoyance.  The 
presence  of  these  different  classes  of 


From  a] 


BIRDS    FOR    THE   LARDER. 


U'/ioto. 


A    PARADISE    OF    BIRDS. 


329 


to   the   ground.      Such  antagonism  finishes  in 
victory  for  one  and  death  to  the  other. 

The  vegetation  on  the  island  consists  of  a 
native  palm  and  strong  grasses  seeded  from 
Australia  and  India.  The  absence  of  foliage  is, 
of  course,  monotonous,  and  there  is  nothing  on 
the  island,  except  the  structures  built  by  the 
company,    to   afford   protection    from   the   sun. 


control  of  phosphate  deposits  are  allowed  to 
ship  and  sell  the  products  of  such  islands, 
as  they  have  been  allowed  for  very  many 
years,  a  problem  arises  which  is  difficult 
to  solve  without  Governmental  interference. 
In  the  Farallones,  some  thirty  miles  west 
of  the  Golden  Gate,  ,  the  business  of  col- 
lecting eggs  from  these  natural  rookeries  is  in 


From  a) 


ALBATKOSSES   AND    MAN-0  -WAR    HAWK    NESTING   SIDE    BY   SIDE. 


Photo. 


Near  the  water's  edge  the  hair  seal  and  turtle 
can  be  found  in  abundance,  and  many  of  these 
are  of  considerable  size.  An  alderman  might 
discover  some  prospect  of  gastronomic  happi- 
ness in  the  presence  of  these  turtles,  but  the 
labourer  on  the  island  finds  little  in  them  to 
stimulate  his  appetite,  for  the  flesh  is  coarse 
and  oily.  The  seals,  too,  are  of  little  suc- 
culence. 

One  of  the  great  dangers  threatening  the  bird 
colonies  of  the  world  is  the  destruction  of  eggs 
such  as  that  already  mentioned,  and  it  is  of 
interest  to  note  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  looking  to  the  future,  is  doing 
all  in  its  power  to  prevent  such  destruction  in 
its    possessions.       When    great    companies    in 


the  hands  of  Italians  and  Greeks,  and  the 
number  of  eggs  gathered  is  enormous.  Happily 
the  value  of  the  eggs  has  declined,  and  in  1896 
fewer  than  ninety  -  two  thousand  were  sold, 
whereas  in  1854  over  half  a  million  were  dis- 
posed of  in  less  than  two  months.  In  1897  the 
attention  of  the  Lighthouse  Board  was  called  to 
the  decrease  in  the  number  of  birds,  and  instruc- 
tions were  issued  prohibiting  the  further  gather- 
ing of  eggs  for  market.  The  same  instructions 
exist  to-day  in  Laysan,  one  of  Uncle  Sam's 
latest  possessions  ;  and  if  this  island  in  future 
should  be  a  Mecca  for  ornithologists  it  will  be 
because  a  parental  Government  has  foreseen  an 
imminent  danger,  and  has  protected  those  which 
cannot  protect  themselves. 


Vol.  xii. — 42. 


The  Man-Eater 
of  Lalpur=Arani. 


By  C.   I..  Gouldsbury,   District  "  Superintendent  of  the  Bengal  Police. 

Being  an  account  of  the  appalling  havoc  wrought  by  a  man-eating  leopard  in  a  group  of  Indian 
villages.  In  twenty  months  it  killed  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  and  fifty-four  persons,  causing  such  a 
that  many  people  abandoned  their  homes  and  fled  !  Numerous  expeditions  went  in  search  of 
the  monster,  but  it  invariably  escaped,  until  the  natives  began  to  look  upon  it  as  a  demon  against 
whom  it  was  useless  to  contend.  Finally,  a  large  party,  organized  by  the  district  magistrate,  got  on 
the  track  of  the  brute,  and,  after  a  tough   fight,   the  man-eater  was  laid  low. 


N      the     East     Indies,     and     other 
:ntries   in   which    the   larger   car- 
nivora  are    to  be    found,   the  man- 
eater  is  as  recognised  and  us  much 
dreaded     a     scourge     as     cholera, 
ma,   or  any   of  the   other   ills    that  people 
_  in  the  Tropics  are  subject  to. 

loubtful  whether  the  most  notorious 
man  -  eating  animal  that  has  yet  been  heard 
of  in  any  part  of  the  globe  ever  caused  such  a 
.  i  of  terror  in  the  neighbourhood  it  fre- 
quented or  took  such  heavy  toll  of  human  life 
as  the  one  criminal  history  is  now  to  be 

recorded      In   some  cases  whole   families  were 
des:  while    there    was    scarcely    a    single 

household  in  the  monster's  sphere  of  operations 


that  did   not  supply  at  least  one  victim  to  his 
murderous  rapacity. 

The  animal  which  forms  the  subject  of  this 
narrative  was  a  leopard  that  had  taken  up  its 
abode  in  the  jungle  around  a  group  of  villages 
in  Northern  Bengal,  of  which  one,  Lalpur-Arani, 
was  the  chief  and  centre.  This  record  of  its 
unprecedented  career  and  subsequent  death  is 
compiled  from  the  notes  of  a  prominent  official 

*Mr.  Gouldsbury  writes  :  "  I  certify  that  this  story  is  an  absolutely 
true  record  of  the  havoc  created  by  a  man-eating  leopard  in  the 
village  of  Lalpur-Arani,  in  the  Ragshyi  district  of  Lower  Bengal, 
during  the  years  1850-91,  and  part  of  1892.  The  narrative  is  com- 
piled  from  notes  now  in  my  possession,  made  by  the  late  magistrate 
and  collector  of  the  district,  who  took  a  prominent  part  in  the 
pursuit  and  final  ki'ling  of  the  monster.  A  nominal  roll  of  the  one 
hundred  and  fifty-four  victims,  giving  sex,  age,  place,  and  date  of 
death,  is  in  my  possession,  and  can  be  shown  to  any  person  duly 
authorized  by  the  Editor  of  The  Wide  W<  ri  d  Magazine." — Ed. 


THE    MAN-EATER    OF    LALPUR-ARANi. 


W 


of  the  district  in  which  the  events  to  ;k  place, 
and  who  formed  one  of  the  party  of  sports- 
men by  whom  the  hapless  victims  were  finally 
avenged. 

The  district  in  question  was  contiguous  to 
the  one  in  which  the  writer  was  posted  at 
the  time,  and  he  well  remembers  the  terror 
established  in  the  neighbourhood  by  the  appal- 
ling number  of  persons  killed  and  eaten 
monthly   by  the  savage  brute. 

The  leopard — which  soon  became  known  as 
the  "  Lalpur  -  Arani  Man  -  Eater  " — first  mani- 
fested its  propensities  early  in  July,  1890,  when 
it  carried  off  and  ate  a  little  girl  of  four  who 
was  playing  in  a  courtyard.  Later  on  in  the 
same  month  it  killed  a  boy  of  eight  and  then 
devoured  an  infant  of  eighteen  months.  The 
next  human  victim  was  a  child  killed  in 
December. 

Many  shooting  parties  were  organized  by 
both  European  and  native  gentlemen  for  the 
destruction  of  this  pest,  but  without  success, 
for  whenever  hunted  the  wily  brute  sought 
refuge  in  one  of  the  many  sugar-cane  crops, 
which  for  eleven  months  of  the  year  are  rich 
and  abundant.  These  crops  not  only  afforded 
the  best  possible  cover  for  the  hunted  animal, 
but,  as  they  were  of  considerable  value,  a  line 
of  elephants  could  not  be  taken  through  them 
without  causing  serious  damage  to  the  owners. 
So  the  man-eater  defied  the  guns  and  continued 
his  sanguinary  career. 

From  January,  1891,  to  the  end  of  December 
in  that  year  it  had  killed  and  wholly  or  partially 
devoured  exactly  one  hundred  persons,  mostly 
women  and  children,  and  in  the  following  year, 
up  to  April  6th,  when  it  was  shot,  it  had 
accounted  for  fifty-four  more,  thus  making  the 
appalling  total  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-four 
persons  killed  within  a  space  of  about  twenty 
months. 

The  terror  created  by  such  a  wholesale 
slaughter  of  human  beings  in  one  particular 
group  of  villages  may  be  more  easily  imagined 
than  described.  The  people  were  fairly  panic- 
stricken.  Some  deserted  their  homes  and 
sought  refuge  in  distant  villages  ;  others, 
abandoning  all  thoughts  of  sleep,  barricaded 
their  doors  and  windows  and  kept  on  the  watch 
all  night ;  while  some  of  the  younger  and 
braver  men,  goaded  to  desperation  by  the  loss 
of  wife,  child,  or  other  near  relative,  lay  in  wait 
for  this  demon  in  feline  form,  and,  when  he  next 
made  his  onslaught,  attacked  him  in  a  body, 
armed  with  sticks  and  stones,  but  only  on  each 
occasion  to  lose  some  of  their  own  number. 
For  the  bloodthirsty  brute,  encouraged  by  former 
successes  and  now  wholly  devoid  of  fear,  charged 
boldly  into  the  crowd,   clawing  right  and   left, 


sometimes  killing  one  or  two  and  always  mauling 
others  before  making  its  escape  practically  un- 
injured. 

By  the  time  the  monster  had  killed  some 
eighty  women  and  children  the  villagers  were 
thoroughly  cowed  and  paralyzed  with  fear. 
They  glanced  round  suspiciously  and  fearfully 
even  when  discussing  the  animal,  whom  they 
had  now  come  to  regard  as  a  veritable  demon, 
against  whom  it  was  idle  to  contend,  and 
speaking  with  bated  breath  as  if  afraid  it  might 
overhear  them  and  take  revenge. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  dread  beast  continued 
its  ravages,  practically  unmolested,  and  by  the 
end  of  March,  1891,  it  had  added  another 
seventy-four  persons  to  its  already  long  list  of 
victims.  Emboldened  by  his  further  successes 
and  encouraged  by  the  impunity  with  which  he 
could  seize  and  devour  his  prey,  he  no  longer 
confined  his  attention  to  women  and  children, 
but  took  to  attacking  men  also. 

The  man-eater's  movements  were  so  amazingly 
rapid  that  it  was  impossible  to  say  when  he 
might  not  appear.  For  instance,  on  the  19th 
of  March,  at  6  p.m.,  he  killed  a  woman  in  a 
hamlet  four  miles  to  the  south  of  the  main 
village.  The  very  next  afternoon  he  killed  and 
devoured  a  boy  at  a  place  five  miles  to  the  east, 
and  again  the  next  evening  attacked  a  man  in  a 
village  four  miles  to  the  north-east,  and  so 
severely  mauled  him  that  lie  died  soon  after. 
On  twelve  occasions  the  awful  brute  killed  two 
people  in  one  day,  and  on  three  occasions  as 
many  as  three  per  day  ! 

Except  in  the  first  year  of  its  murderous 
career,  seventeen  days  was  the  longest  interval 
it  allowed  to  pass  without  killing  someone. 

Of  the  total  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-four 
persons  that  he  destroyed,  he  wholly  or  partially 
devoured  seventy-two.  Of  the  remaining  eighty- 
two,  in  some  cases  he  left  the  bodies  untouched, 
whilst  from  others  he  was  driven  off  before  he 
had  time  to  commence  his  meal  ;  these  being 
cases  in  which  he  was  seen  to  kill  and  was 
followed  up  by  large  crowds  of  yelling  villagers. 

The  above  figures  need  little  comment,  and 
it  is  small  wonder  that  the  people,  timid  and 
superstitious  as  the  agricultural  class  of  Bengal 
generally  are,  should  have  become  thoroughly 
demoralized  and  imbued  with  the  belief  that  the 
"destroyer"  was  no  ordinary  animal,  but  some 
supernatural  monster  of  Satanic  origin  specially 
sent  for  their  destruction.  Indeed,  a  similar 
visitation,  were  such  possible,  would,  even  in 
civilized  Europe,  be  likely  to  create  equal 
consternation  and  be  calculated  to  arouse  super- 
stitious belief  of  a  somewhat  kindred  nature.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  the  situation  had  now  assumed  a 
most  alarming  and  terrible  aspect. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


THE    BLOODTHIRSTY    BRUTE   CHARGED    BOLDLY    INTO   THE   CROWD. 


One  hundred  and  fifty-three  human  beings  had 

already  fallen  victims  to  the  monster's  insatiable 

for  human   flesh,  and  it   was  evident  that, 

unless  some   preventive    measures    were    soon 

.  the  villages  affected  would  speedily  be 

:lated. 

Public    feeling    ran   strong  ;    the  subject  was 

n    up   by    the    Press    and   discussed   in   a 

manner  not    altogether    complimentary    to    the 

local    authorities,    and    the   people   themselves 

were  not  sparing  in  their  insinuations. 

But  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  responsible  district 

officials,   while    fully  alive   to    the    necessity    of 

tutting  an  end  to  this  horrible  scourge,  were 

■verless. 

They  had  made  every  endeavour  possible  to 

:  and  destroy  the  brute,  and  all  recognised, 

and   many   hitherto  unknown,  methods  for  the 

uction    of   man-eaters   had    been    adopted, 

but  all    without    success.     The    only   plan    left 

untr  ining   ot   the  kills,  which, 

under    ordinar  imstances,    and    with    an 

•iary  animal,  would  in  all  probability  have 

ful. 

ise  unsportsmanlike  manner  of 
destroying  dangerous  game  would,  in  the  pre- 
sent instance,  have  been  pardonable,  and  would 
have  been  gladly  resorted  to,  so  desperate  had 
the  situation  b  Unfortunately,  however, 

one  of  this  wily  monsters  peculiarities  was  that 
it  never  returned  to  its  kill  after  making  the  first 
meal  off  it,  a  practice  which,  though  entirely 
opposed  to  all  recognised  and  well-established 
theories  as  to  the  habits  common  to  all  animals 


of  the  cat  tribe,  secured  for  it  an  absolute 
immunity  from  any  such  attempts  at  its 
destruction. 

Moreover,  as  I  have  already  mentioned,  the 
hundreds  upon  hundreds  of  acres  of  dense 
sugar-cane  crops  which  covered  the  face  of  the 
country  was  another  serious  obstacle  to  the 
location  of  so  active  and  cunning  an  animal, 
and  one  taken  full  advantage  of  by  the  shrewd 
beast. 

Frequent  consultations  were  held  by  the  per- 
turbed officials  and  other  European  and  native 
gentlemen  of  the  district,  and  the  alarming 
situation  discussed  in  all  its  bearings. 

Finally,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  gentleman  to 
whose  notes  this  narrative  is  due,  a  shooting 
party,  on  the  largest  possible  scale,  was  arranged 
for  early  in  the  month  of  April,  a  time  when  all 
the  sugar-cane  crops  would  be  cut  down  and 
only  the  natural  jungle  left. 

The  party  were  to  be  in  readiness  on  the  first 
day  of  the  month,  and  would  be  summoned  to 
meet  at  the  village  where  the  first  kill  should 
occur  after  that  date,  when  they  would  beat  up 
all  the  jungle  in  the  neighbourhood  in  an  effort 
to  locate  the  man-eater. 

They  had  not  long  to  wait,  for  on  the  2nd  of 
April  came  a  report  that  a  boy  of  twelve  had 
been  killed  and  eaten  in  the  village  of  Arbab, 
some  six  miles  north  of  Lalpur. 

By  the  4th  instant  all  the  members  of  the 
party,  accompanied  by  some  twenty  elephants, 
had  assembled  at  this  place,  and  early  on 
the    morning   of    the    5th    they    proceeded    to 


THE    MAN-EATER    OF    LALPUR-ARANI. 


333 


beat  up  the  jungle   round  about,   but  without 
success. 

On  the  morning  of  the  6th,  no  more  news  of 
any  recent  kill  having  been  received,  the  jungles 
around  some  neighbouring  village  were  tried. 
About  ten  o'clock,  while  the  beat  was  still  pro- 
ceeding, an  old  man  came  running  up  with  the 
news  that  he  had  just  seen  the  "man-eater"  in 
the  branches  of  a  large  tamarind  tree  in  his 
village  and  had  watched  it  for  some  time. 
Finally,  seeing  it  descend  and  enter  a  cane- 
brake  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  he  had  come  as 
fast  as  he  could  to  give  information. 

Not  very  much  importance  was  attached  to 
the.  excited  old  man's  statement,  but  as  his 
village  was  only  a  mile  off  it  was  thought 
advisable  to  go  there  and  test  the  truth  of  the 
story. 

On  the  way  to  the  village  the  old  native 
informed  the  sportsmen  that  his  own  wife  had 
been  carried  off  by  the  man-eater  a  month 
or  two  ago,  while  carrying  home  a  water-pot 
from  an  adjacent  pond, 

That  this  part  of  the  country  was  a  favourite 
haunt  of  the  man-eater  was  evident  to  the 
sportsmen  from  the  number  of  deserted  home- 
steads they  passed,  from  which  the  owners  had 
fled,  owing  to  some  member  of  the  family  being 
carried  off. 

When  the  party  reached  the  village  the  old 
man  pointed  to  a  depression  of  the  ground 
under  the  tamarind  tree,  covered- with  a  thorny 
cane  growth,  as  the  place  where  the  leopard  lay 
concealed,  and  opposite  which  was  another 
deserted  house,  where  the  man-eaer  had  once 
killed  someone. 

Subsequently  several  other  deserted  houses 
were  found  in  the  village,  which  covered 
a  considerable  area,  also  the  potsherd  which 
the  old  man's  wife  had  been  carrying  when  sh- 
was  killed. 

The  elephants  were  now  put  into  the  cane 
jungle,  the  howdahs,  with  the  guns,  accompany- 
ing the  line,  the  patch  of  cover  being  too  small 
to  necessitate  their  being  posted. 

It  was  indeed  an  anxious  moment.  Most,  if 
not  all,  of  the  sportsmen  present  had  been  out, 
time  without  number,  during  the  past  twenty 
months  in  the  hope  of  encountering  and  put- 
ting an  end  to  this  ruthless  slayer  of  women 
and  children.  They  had  toiled  for  many  a  live- 
long day  in  broiling  heat  and  drenching  rain, 
only  to  return  to  camp  again  and  again  hopeless 
and  dejected  and  with  the  knowledge  born  of 
past  bitter  experience  that,  even  while  they  were 
hunting  for  him,  the  leopard  was  probably 
adding  other  victims  to  his  score  several  miles 
away ! 

But    now    everything    seemed   to    point    to 


success  and  all  the  conditions  were  favourable. 
The  crops  were  down,  and  the  animal,  it  was 
alleged,  had  actually  just  been  seen  to  enter 
this  very  jungle  whence  he  could  not  escape 
without  snowing  himself.  No  fresh  kill  had 
been  reported  since  the  one  they  were  now  con- 
cerned with.  Hope  was  therefore  strong  in  the 
breast  of  every  sportsman  present,  each  praying 
that  his  might  be  the  lucky  shot  that  would  rid 
the  country  of  this  terrible  scourge,  and  restore 
peace  and  security  to  a  people  now  well-nigh 
maddened  with  terror  and  despair. 

The  line,  beating  close  and  carefully,  had  nearly 
reached  the  end  of  the  cover,  when  suddenly  a 
leopard  jumped  up  from  almost  under  the  feet 
of  one  of  the  howdah  elephants.  He  was 
immediately  fired  at,  but  broke  back  into  the 
canes. 

The  line  was  quickly  wheeled  round  and 
surrounded  the  spot  where  the  brute  was  last 
seen,  and  as  the  elephants  converged  towards 
the  centre  the  animal  appeared  again,  receiving 
another  salute  from  the  same  howdah,  which 
apparently  took  effect,  for  he  acknowledged  it 
with  a  growl  of  disapproval  as  he  rushed  through 
one  side  of  the  circle  and  on  to  the  farther  end 
of  the  cover. 

The  whole  line  now  started  in  pursuit — the 
sportsmen  so  close-packed  that  no  animal  could 
evade  them — and  soon  came  up  to  him  lying, 
badly  hit,  in  a  thick  patch  of  cane,  out  of  which 
they  tried  in  vain  to  drive  him. 

Finally  a  big  tusker  elephant  was  sent  in,  and 
as  it  approached  the  spot  where  the  leopard  lay 
the  latter  reared  its  body  up  for  an  instant  as  if 
to  attack  its  formidable  foe.  This  so  aggravated 
the  huge,  but  usually  good-tempered,  old  tusker 
that,  rushing  quickly  forward,  he  attempted  to 
pound  the  leopard  with  his  feet,  but  the  man- 
eater,  though  evidently  sorely  hurt,  retained 
sufficient  activity  to  avoid  the  crushing  blows, 
and  after  a  short  scrimmage  wriggled  itself  clear, 
and  crawling  a  yard  or  two  away  crouched  down 
in  full  view  of  all  the  howdahs. 

The  sportsmen,  unable  to  use  their  rifles 
during  the  tussle  with  the  elephant,  now  eagerly 
seized  their  opportunity.  They  fired  a  volley 
into  the  crouching  brute,  and  when  the  smoke 
cleared  away  the  leopard  was  seen  to  be  dead. 

Thus  died,  at  last,  the  terrible  man-eater  of 
Lalpur-Arani,  meeting  with  a  death  far  more 
honourable  than  his  bloodstained  life  had 
merited,  and  one  wholly  incommensurate  with 
the  many  lives  he  had  taken,  some  of  them  in 
the  mere  wantonness  of  his  cruel  nature. 

The  delight  of  the  sportsmen  at  having  at 
last  'achieved  what  they  had  so  long  and 
arduously  striven  for  in  vain  may  well  be 
imagined,  though  at  the  time  it  was  somewhat 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


in;ir:  loubt  as   to  whether   the  animal 

he   real   man-eater  or   not     This,  in 

•.he  emphatic  asseverations  of  the  jubilant 

villai  nbled  in  hundreds,  was  natural 


The  skin  was  not  in  the  least  degree  mangy, 
as  is,  erroneously,  believed  to  be  generally  the 
case  with  man  -  eaters,  and  when  cured  was 
7ft.  gin.  in  length  and  very  handsomely  marked. 


iTTKMITED    TO    POUND    THE    LEOPARD    WITH    HIS    FEET. 


enough  considering  the  number  of  leopards  in 
the  locality  and  the  marvellous  mobility  possessed 
by  the  one  in  question. 

The  carcass  was  carefully  measured  and  proved 
to  be  in  all  respects  that  of  an  ordinary  male 
leopard  of  6ft.  6in.,  and,  except  for  an  abnormally 
large  head  and  immensely  powerful  shoulders, 
somewhat  below  the  average  in  weight  and 
bulk. 


To  clear  up  all  doubt  as  to  the  identity  of  the 
animal  the  party  remained  encamped  in  the 
locality  for  several  days,  but  no  further  kills  of 
human  beings  were  reported  from  any  of  the 
villages,  whereas  during  the  preceding  three 
months  they  had  been  of  almost  daily  occur- 
rence. It  was  thus  proved  conclusively  that 
the  leopard  killed  was,  in  truth,  the  dreaded 
"Man-Eater'" 


Zfifhti7U/Snou)i>>tiK  ftackieb 


From  a  Photo.  by\  [Dr.  C.  H.  Scott. 

By  Wm.  MacLeod   Raine. 


(7N 


\ 


How  the  great  railways  of  America  wage  war  against  the  relentless  forces  of  Nature   in  a  region 
where  trains  occasionally  get  blocked  for  a  week  on  end,  and  where  the  snowdrifts  are  thirty  feet 

deep,  and  sometimes  frozen  solid  as  well. 


HE  "globe-trotter,"  whirled  across 
the  American  continent  in  a  luxurious 
"  limited "  train,  equipped  with 
palace  cars,  library,  buffet,  barber's 
shop,  electric  fan,  stock  -  report 
tickers,  and  an  excellently-appointed  dining-car 
service,  knows  nothing  of  the  elaborate  care 
and  watchfulness,  the  toil  and  skill,  and  even 
heroism,  which  are  necessary  to  make  his  journey 
safe  and  comfortable.  The  first  half  of  his 
trip  is  comparatively  easy  travel,  but  when 
he  reaches  the  foothills  west  of  Denver  the 
utmost  diligence  is  required  on  the  part 
of  the  railroad  employes  to  avoid  accidents 
on  the  steep  mountain  divisions.  Especially  is 
this  true  in  the  depth  of  winter,  when  the  heavy 
snows  and  drifting  winds  combine  to  make 
transportation  almost  impossible. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  the  mountain 
towns  of  Colorado  are  cut  off  from  communica- 
tion with  the  rest  of  the  world  for  nearly  six 
months  of  the  year.  Then  hardy  men  don 
their  snow-shoes  and  venture  across  the  blizzard- 
swept  mountains  to  carry  the  mails  and  the 
necessities  of  life  to  the  inhabitants  of  these 
mining  camps.  The  railroads,  too,  take  up  the 
challenge  of  grim  Winter,  and  go  forth  with  all 
the  implements  of  modern  science  and  all  the 


ancient  courage  and  endurance  of  die   Anglo- 
Saxon  race  to  conquer  the  rugged  snow-king. 

Time  was  when  the  railroads,  even  with  the 
best  intentions  in  the  world,  would  have  been 
unable  to  face  such  a  task  successfully,  but 
modern  science  has  furnished  a  weapon  suffi- 
cient even  for  the  arduous  work  they  have  to 
undertake.  The  old-fashioned  snow-plough 
was  simply  an  immense  plough-shaped  wedge 
attached  to  the  front  of  an  engine  to  clear  away 
the  snow.  Such  a  device  is  well  fitted  to  cope 
with  the  light  falls  customary  in  ordinary 
climates,  but  in  the  grim  fastnesses  of  the 
Rockies  it  was  found  to  be  totally  inadequate. 
To  take  its  place  there  was  constructed  what 
used  to  be  known  as  a  "  gouger,"  which  was 
simply  a  box  car  with  a  great  curved  flat  scraper 
in  front,  fitted  with  hinged  side  -  wings  that 
could  be  opened  to  widen  the  path.  When 
the  "  gouger  "  attacked  a  close  pack  of  snow, 
heavily  banked  together,  the  plough  was  wont 
to  back  away  a  mile  or  so  after  each  attack,  and 
then,  with  throttle  thrown  wide  open,  to  dash 
forward  at  the  obstruction.  This  was  repeated 
again  and  again,  until  at  last  the  drift  was 
conquered.  Occasionally,  however,  it  happened 
that  a  snow-bank,  soft  externally,  hardened  to 
an  iceberg  farther  from  the  surface.     In  such 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


>kjrt* 


•Is*  !    !' 

i  Fin 


>  IST-OFFICE   OF    A    SNOWF.D-UP    VILLAGE. 

From  a  Photo. 


:se  disaster  followed.  Then  from  the  broken 
machine  in  the  snow-bank  brave  men  were  dug 
i  iut  by  their  comrades,  dead  or  dying.  At 
Truckee,  California,  twenty-five  years  ago,  eight 
engines  "  bucked  "  headlong  into  a  slide  pack, 
and  from  the  debris  less  than  one-half  of  their 
crews  came  forth  uninjured. 

radays,  however,  every  Western  railroad 
is  equipped  with  a  large  force  of  snow-fighters. 
Rotary  snow-ploughs,  and 
men  who  know  how  to 
run  them,  can  cut  their 
way  through  drifts  that  in 
the  early  days  of  Western 
railroading  would  have 
resulted  in  complete 
blockad  The     rotary 

snow-plough  is  one  of  the 
marvels  of  the  modern 
railroad,  and  it  is  a  liberal 

•  ation    in    the    art    of 
_rhting   to   see  one 

'.hem  eating  its  way 
through  a  white  drift  that 
threatens  to  cut  off  com- 
munication between  East 
and  West.  Many  of  the 
Rocky  Mountain  passes 
form  a  constant  menace 
to  train  crews.  Nearly 
all  the  Wyoming  and 
Colorado  lines  encounter        ^S^P8 


at  times  serious  blizzards 
which  necessarily  delay  trains 
and  would  hold  them  storm- 
bound for  weeks  and  months 
were  not  the  most  careful  pre- 
cautions taken  to  keep  them 
from  getting  stopped.  At  the 
top  of  the  Great  Divide,  where 
the  elements  have  full  'sway, 
the  storms  are  of  the  worst. 
Boreas  Pass,  in  Colorado,  is 
a  case  in  point.  As  early  as 
September  the  snows  are  fall- 
ing at  Boreas,  and  they  con- 
tinue to  fall  well  on  into  May. 
Occasional  storms  occur  in 
the  midsummer  months,  but 
these  are  of  no  serious  import 
compared  with  the  heavy 
winter  snows. 

Only  a  few  railroad  men 
live  at  Boreas,  and  it  is  no 
uncommon  thing  for  them  to 
get  up  in  the  morning  and 
find  themselves  buried.  The 
one  store  is  usually  at  the  end 
of  a  tunnel  cut  through  an 
immense  snowdrift.  Snow  at  Boreas  does  not 
merely  fall ;  it  rages.  It  is  blown  about  in 
swirls  and  eddies,  and  is  for  ever  forming  new 
drifts  as  treacherously  as  a  river  that  is  con- 
stantly shifting  the  sond-banks  of  its  mouth. 
These  drifts  are  not  little  affairs  that  will  barely 
cover  a  fence.  They  are  piled  ten,  twenty,  and 
thirty  feet  high,  and  they  spring  up  in  a  night. 
To  a  "tenderfoot  "  it  would  seem  impossible 


DIFFICULTIES — TAPPING   THE   WIRES   OF    A    BURIED   POLE   UNDER    A 

THIRTY-FOOT   SNOWDRIFT.  \Dr.  C.  H.   I.    ot!. 


FTGHTING    SNOW    IN    THE    ROCKIES. 


137 


I 


From  a  Fhoto.  by 


A    KOTAI'Y    PLOUGH    AT    WORK. 


[Dr.  ('.  II.  Scott. 


to  plough  a  way  through  these  drifts  at  Boreas, 
but  when  a  huge  rotary  snow-plough  comes 
whirling  up  the  track  with  three  or  four  engines 
pushing  vigorously  behind  it  the  "  tenderfoot " 
reserves  his  decision.  He  is  still  inclined  to 
favour  the  snowdrift,  but  he  prefers  to  await 
developments  before  committing  himself.  With 
a  rush  and  a 
plunge  the  big 
rotary  is  hurled 
into  the  white 
mass  of  snow. 
Black  smoke 
pours  from  the 
engines,  and  the 
great  blades  of 
the  snow-plough 
eat  relentlessly 
into  the  drift. 
The  snow  shoots 
out  of  the  orifice 
at  the  side  of  the 
plough,  forming 
a  huge  white 
semicircle  con- 
stantly moving 
forward.  One 
can  keep  track 
of  the  progress 
of  the  plough 
by  following  the 
advance  of  this 
rainbowofsnow. 

Vol.  xii.-43. 


Foot  by  foot  the  rotary  eats  its  way  forward, 
and  finally  it  and  the  engines  are  buried  in 
a  huge  trench  of  white.  Only  the  stacks  of 
the  engines  can  be  seen,  belching  their  blackness 
on  the  virgin  garb  about  them.  But  the  great 
white  semicircle  never  fails  to  go  forward,  until 
finally  the  "tenderfoot"  knows  that  the  drift  is 


ANOTHER    VIEW    OF    A        ROTARY       ON    A 

From  a]  into 


DOWN  GRADE— NOTICE  THE   BEAUTIFUL   ARCH   OF   SNOW    HURLED 
THE    AIR    BY   THE    MACHINE.  [PkotO. 


nil'     WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


mquered.    When  the  regular  "  Overland 

,;   few  hours  later,  the 

iot  kn«  he  battle  that  has 

I      y  travel  through  a  canyon  of 

but  they  have  no  idea 

tremendous  force  required   to  cut   this 

of  the  continent.     So 

in  their   Pullmans   all  unconscious, 

ilroad  men  at  the  next  siding  ahead 

id  gird  up  their  loins  for  the  next 


the  unused  road,  each  hour  bringing  new- 
menaces  to  railroad  men  and  passengers  alike. 
The  rotary  is  such  a  simple  device  that  one 
wonders  the  principle  did  not  occur  to  someone 
before.  It  is  in  effect  a  great  revolving  auger 
carried  in  a  protecting  shield.  It  looks  like 
a  wrecking -car,  inside  of  which  is  the  engine 
that  works  the  "  eater."  The  machine  has 
for  an  end  a  great  wheel  in  a  circular 
shell,    with   a   square-cut  guard  in   front.     This 


SHOWING    THE    POWERFUL    SCKEW-PLOUGH    WHICH    EATS    INTO   THE    SNOW.  [Photo. 


battle,  which  they  know  Boreas  will  be  prepa 
them  in  a  few  hours. 
The   experiences   at    Boreas   during   a   hard 
winter   are    duplicated   at   many  other  railroad 
ky  Mountains,  to  sav  nothing 
-eat  stretches  at  lower  altitudes  which  have 
always  been   the  favoured  haunts  of  snowdrifts 
which  give  railroad   men  great  trouble.     It 
;  the  une.x:  ment  at  these  points  that 

lends  such  a  serious  aspect  to  the  situation.  At 
the  passes  over  the  Great  Divide  railroad  men 
are  prepared  for  trouble,  and  consequently 
serious    bl<  few ;    but    when    word 

comes  that  a  train  has  failed  to  fight  its  way 
through  the  drifts  one  hundred,  or  perhaps  two 
hundred,  miles  from  the  nearest  available  rotary- 
plough,  th*  :  risternation.  To  get  r.  rotary- 
plough  to  the  blockaded  train  takes  time,  and 
in  the  meantime  the  drifts  are  accumulating  on 


wheel  has  oblique-cutting  flanges,  which  bore 
into  the  banks  of  snow,  whirling  like  a  steamer's 
screw  propeller.  The  diameter  of  the  wheel  is 
about  twelve  feet,  and  the  flanges  may  be  so 
adjusted  as  to  be  turned  in  either  direction. 
Behind  the  wheel  are  twelve  radial  conical 
tubes,  each  containing  a  slot  with  a  blade.  The 
snow  falls  through  tubes  to  the  rear  of  the 
auger,  which  discharges  the  snowr  like  a  great 
fan.  Behind  the  propelling  engines  come  the 
tender  car,  *"he  repair  car,  and  cars  containing 
the  shovellers  and  their  tools.  With  ice-cutters 
and  flanges  going,  the  plough  attacks  the  snow 
and  eats  it  with  a  roar.  Streams  of  snow-chips 
are  flung  in  an  oblique  cascade  far  back  from 
the  track.  If  the  snow  is  light  and  not  more 
than  four  feet  deep,  the  rotary  can  plough 
through  it  at  a  rate  of  about  twelve  miles  an 
hour. 


FIGHTING    SNOW    IN    THE     ROCK  U.S. 


339 


From  a  Photo.  by\ 


KOTARV    BURIED    UP   TO    ITS   CHIMNEY    IX 


BAD    DRIFT. 


[Dr.  C.  //.  Scott. 


A  rotary  is  often  sent  ahead  of  a  passenger 
train  to  open  the  way  for  it,  and  in  this  event 
the  passenger,  delayed  while  the  rotary  is 
"  bucking "  its  way  through  bad  drifts,  some- 
times has  to  keep  moving  alternately  backwards 
and  forwards  to  prevent  the  snow  from  banking 
up  and  holding  the  wheels  fast.  Meanwhile  the 
plough  is  valorously  attacking  the  icy  snow-pack 
which  has  filled  the  "  cut,"  and  if  it  is  not 
entirely  buried 
the  rotary  will 
probably  go 
through  faster 
than  a  walk.  But 
if  its  outlet  is 
shut  off  by  snow, 
as  sometimes 
happens,  the 
gang  of  shovel- 
lers is  called 
forward  and  set 
to  work.  Per- 
haps the  cold  is 
extreme  and  a 
blizzard  is  blow- 
ing, so  that  the 
men  can  work 
only  in  short 
relays.  They  are 
then  sent  back 
for  a  rest  and  re- 
galed with  food 
and  hot  coffee, 
while  another 


From  a]  SHOVELLERS  at  work  clearing  away  an  avalanche. 


gang  goes  to  the  front.  The  men  work  tier 
above  tier,  the  snow  being  thrown  up  from  one 
bank  to  another.  Sometimes  it  has  to  be 
thawed  by  a  steam  hose  from  an  engine  before 
the  shovellers  can  work  ;  or,  again,  the  wind 
sends  it  sliding  back  in  drifts  like  sand.  Often 
"  cuts  "  have  to  be  opened  a  dozen  times,  for 
the  reason  that  they  fill  up  almost  as  soon  as 
they  are  dug  out.      It  may  happen,  too,  that  the 

snow  is  packed 
into  an  icy  mass, 
i  mpenet  r  a  ble 
either  to  shovel 
or  plough.  Then 
drills  are  set  to 
work  and,  with 
giant  powder, 
whole  drifts  are 
loosened.  On 
the  other  hand, 
the  snow  may  be 
very  deep  and 
soft,  in  which 
ease  men  tread 
it  down  so  that 
the  plough  can 
fling  it  out.  The 
wheels  of  the 
train  occasion- 
ally do  not  grip 
the  rails,  but  run 
some  inches 
above  them.  In 
this  case  the  ice 


[P/wto. 


THE    WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


red  and  the  machine  runs  bark 
irwards  till  the  grip  is  again  firm. 
ins  and  snowdrifts,  bad  as  they 
not  the  only  difficulties  with  which  the 
I    nun    have    to    contend.      From    the 
main    sides   .1  ;reat    masses    of   snow- 

down    upon    the    track.       These 
her    in    their    descent     boulders. 
.    n  tree-trunks.      The  flanges  of 
■..irking  at   terrific  speed,  bite  into  a 
lite  brought  down  by  the  snow,  and 
Then,  in  the  biting  cold,  with 
whirling   about   them    in    eddies,   the 


ADIAN    PACIFIC    RAILWAY — THESE    I 

',   THE    LINE    IN    DANGKKOI   s    LO<    M.l'l 

-ubstitute    another    blade,     working 
:th   a    patient   courage   and    endurance 
which  is  very  nearly  akin  to  heroism. 

The  wint  r  ot  1898 — 99  was  the  worst  known 

in    the  for    many    years.       Nearly  all 

_    towns   among   the  mountain-,  such 

as  Ward,  Aspen,  and  Breckenridge,  were  isolated 

I   for   months.      At   Breckenridge 

Ward    no  attempt  was   made  to  keep  the 

'  ienr    <  f    snow,    but    tunnels    were    run 

under    it    to   the  The    three    principal 

lines    of    Colorado      the    Denver    and 

lie   Colorado    Midland,   and   the 

5    uthern — all    made    herculean 

efforts  to  keep  their  tracks  open,  as  did  also  the 


great  trans-continental  lines  to  the  north.  Gangs 
of  shovellers  and  many  snow-ploughs  were  kept 
constantly  at  work.  Often  rotaries  worked  up 
from  different  sides  of  the  pass  or  the  drift, 
until  after  a  long  night's  battle  with  the  enemy 
they  came  at  last  nose  to  nose  in  the  middle  of 
the-*'  cut." 

Trains  may  be  blocked  for  days  or,  as  has 
occasionally  happened,  for  weeks,  and  in  such  an 
event  provisions  run  low  and  the  passengers 
have  to  be  provided  for.  In  these  unsettled 
mountainous  stretches,  where  there  is  not  a 
ranch-house   within    miles,   the  situation   is   not 

exactly  pleasant  even  to 
die  passengers.  They 
are  face  to  face  with  the 
possibility  of  starvation, 
but  it  is  to  the  credit  of 
the  energetic  Western  rail- 
road managers  that  the 
possibility  does  not  be- 
come a  probability. 
Strenuous  exertions  are 
made  to  forward  provi- 
sions by  rail  to  the  nearest 
accessible  point,  and  from 
there  parties  of  volunteers 
carry  forward  the  necessi- 
ties of  life  to  the  im- 
prisoned travellers. 

Hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  are  spent 
annually  by  the  railroads 
of  the  Rockies  in  fighting 
the  snow.  Special  crews 
are  kept  for  the  work,  and 
hundreds  of  men  are  put 
on  the  pay-roll  temporarily, 
simply  to  dig  snow.  The 
snow-sheds  erected  by  the  Union  Pacific  alone 
would  cost  a  large  fortune,  and  -those  of  the 
Canadian  Pacific  are  even  more  extensive, 
running  for  many  miles  along  the  main  line.  In 
Wyoming  and  other  Western  States  the  windy 
sweeps  are  protected  by  "  wind-breaks."  which 
are  simply  fences  running  along  the  exposed 
points.  Along  the  Canadian  Pacific  may  be 
seen  timber  "  glances,''  which  are  used  to  serve 
the  same  purpose.  It  is  a  noteworthy  tribute  to 
the  energy  and  persistence  of  the  management 
of  the  mountain  lines  that,  despite  the  gnat 
difficulties  under  which  they  labour,  their  toads 
show  a  smaller  share  of  accidents  than  those 
traversing  less  dangerous  localities. 


i\  ^    EXTKNU    I-'  IK    V  AN  V    M  III 

ii  s.  [G.  .V.  //  'aterlcnv. 


T  was  Sunday,  and  Bullarook  Station, 
in  the  Wimmera,  the  great  plains 
bordering  on  the  vast  Central 
Desert  of  Australia,  seemed  quieter 
than    usual    as 


3LONE    IIN    THE    WIMNERA. 

By  Miss  E.  Boucher. 

Miss  Boucher  was  a  governess  at  a  sheep-station  in  the  Wimmera,  the  great  plains  bordering  on  the 
Central  Desert  of  Australia.  One  day,  accompanied  only  by  a  dog,  she  wandered  away  from  the  station 
and  got  hopelessly  lost.     In  this  story  she  describes  her  subsequent  strange  experiences  in  the  desert. 

camphor  scented  gum-leaves.  I  looked  at  it 
from  every  side  and  was  supremely  content,  for 
once,  with  life  in  the  bush. 

We  were  two  fools — my  dog  and  I — but  we 
were  happy.  I  felt  in  the 
cool,  sweet  air  that  I  could 
go  on  for  ever,  and  took 
no  notice  of  time  or  space, 
till  Dingo,  rushing  up  from 
his  hunting,  seemed  to  call 
my  attention  to  something. 
"What  is  it?"  I  in- 
quired. "  Ah  !  The  sun's 
setting  !  We  must  return." 
But,  softly — where's  tin- 
track?  Surely  it's  easy  to 
find?  No,  it  isn't  !  And 
now  the  sun  has  set 


MISS    E.     BOUCHER      ttlln    WAS     LOST     l\      I  1 1 1 
WIMMERA    PLAINS. 
.    From    a    Photo    by    Nandin. 


I  came  out  on  to  the 
veranda  and  looked  around. 
Everyone  had  dispersed  to 
their  own  occupations  — 
and  I,  as  the  governess, 
and  English,  might  have 
been  supposed  to  be  "  put- 
ting on  side "  by  staying 
out  of  doors  ;  "  putting 
on  side "  being  jocularly 
imagined  by  bush-folk  to 
be  a  favourite  recreation  of 
"  new  chums." 

Instead  of  which,  being 
free  to  do  what  I  pleased, 
I  called  a  dog  —  a  re- 
puted sheep-worrier  whom 
I  had  managed  to  get 
reprieved  —  and  went  off 
for  a  walk.  Now,  walking 
is  anathema  to  a  native 
Australian,  so  I  should 
not  be  supposed  to  be 
out  of  the  house,  and 
this  thought  gave  a  sense 
of  secrecy  and  flight  to  my  movements.  Light  as  all  my  interest  with  Mr.  Lessar,  the  owner, 
an  arrow  I  went  on  and  on,  a  slim,  solitary  and  as  much  diplomacy  as  a  Russian  courtier, 
figure     on     the  to     get     poor 

great  plains,  for  ^^  ^^         Dingo     out    of 

my   dog    Dingo        Ak  |j^      the      power     oi 

was    too    intent      /|  AHl  indignant 

on  flying  visits 
to  shy  opossums 
or  loping  kan- 
garoos to  do 
more  than  give 
an  occasional 
backward 
glance  to  see 
where  I  was. 

I  had  on  a 
n e  w  winter 
dress  from  Mel- 
bourne, and, 
unafraid  of  any 
critics,  I  trailed 
it  over  the  dry 
and     rustling 


I  sat  down  on  a  log 
to  think,  and  Dingo  came 
up  soberly  and  put  his 
head  in  my  lap  with  a 
little  prophetic  whine. 

Would  he  be  blamed 
with  losing  me  as  he  had 
been  with  sheep- worrying  ? 
This,  of  course,  is  a 
capital  crime  in  the 
Wimmera,  and  it  had  cost 


Miss    RruiCHKK 
/■'/on/  n  '''■  ''•'.  by] 


in-. c;    liisi.li,    WHO    WAS    WITH    HER     \l      on-    TIME    "I      HER 

mjventuke.  \R.  1.   Shelton,  Oxford. 


oversea  i"  . 
Rivers,  between 
whom  and  my- 
self there  was 
a  death-feud  on 
the  subject  of 
does.  "  Rivers 
is  a  wretch,"  I 
said,  caressing 
1  )ingo,  for  want 
of  something 
else  to  do. 
"  He  will  be 
glad  if  we  are 
lost  —  but  we 
can't  be.  really. 
Let's  have  a  try 


rill.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE 


luii.  i  red  that 

in    t  stly    twilight,   with  dew  mists 

•     round  us,  we  were  as  lost  as 
our  most  deadly  enemy  could  desire. 

We  made  many  attempts,  all  most  mournfully 

futile,  to  find  the  track,  always  returning  to  our 

tral  starting  point,  till  we  both  felt  like  crying 

and  disappointment. 
.\  or  two  passed  by,  hugely 

the    mist,    but     Dingo    felt    lost 
i  and  remained  with  me. 
the  moon  n 

s  emed  to  he  high  in  the  heavens, 

rn.  pale  light   over  the  white  sea 

ew.     Who 

-  the  moon  is  lovely? 

is    istray  in 

the  if  the 

earth    it    is    dread; ul    to 

assuming  its 

triR  i      weird 

and  horrible  lifelessness. 

It    has    no    mercy,    like 

al  sun  ;  it  points 

out    your   folly    in    pale 

and   ghostly  characters. 

led     to     me    to 

I       k    at    me.    I 

am     lifeless  :     you    will 

i  be  the  sari 

this    point    Dingo 
looking  up 
at    the    moi  • 
I    knew     it     s   oke 
him. 
It   began  to  f< 
chilly   too— misfor- 
any    sort 
a     chill 
id  all  our  ela 
tion    h  ne. 

whe:  -  of 

5t  -  killed   cattle 

and    lost    men    lay 

i   to 

through     my 

id    folks    found    by    seeing 
2  in  the  air  over  them  ;  stories  of 
thirst,  of  hunger,  and  of  wandering  sun-downers 
'  leir  sufiferii 

id,  with   a  little  gasp  of  fear,  "  we 

hon  ,  if  Rivers  does  sneer 

rid  ignoran<  e.      He  is  only  a 

■  man.   and   he  sha'ivt  shoot  my   dogs,  any- 

We  were  miles  from  the  station  and  in  a   wild 
itry,   where  the   old    ;  A    mi  s    is   as 


'  AT     Tills     l'i  Jl'.T     DIM  ,"     M«  IWI   I    II.' 


^<od  as  a  mile"  was  extremely  applicable.  A 
miss  in  .a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  the  waste  VVim 
mera  can  land  you  in  eight-foot-high  jungle 
of  a  kind  of  water-cane,  the  growth  of  which 
resembles  that  of  the  Cuban  cane-brakes.  So 
deadly  alike  is  it  that  one  lost  may,  if  silent,  be 
passed  a  yard  away,  unseen  by  would-be 
rescuers.  And  in  that  lone  land  thirst,  hunger, 
and  exhaustion  soon  silence  even  the  hardiest. 

To  find  a  track  in  the  rivers  of  mist  which 
encompassed  us  would  have  been  impossible 
even  had  there  been  one  to  find,  which  was  not 
the  case  ;  but  the  cold  impelled  us  to  wander 
about    like   two   forlorn    ghosts,    till    my    velvet 

skirts  and  Dingo's 
long  shaggy  hair  were 
as  wet  as  though  we 
were  wading  in  a 
river. 

I  did  not  think  of 

anything  sublime  just 

then,     only    of     the 

moon,  which  seemed 

an     embodiment     of 

death  and  desolation. 

After  a   succession 

of    attempts    to   find 

a    track    and     signal 

failures,      Dingo 

quietly     lay    down 

at     the    foot   of    a 

tree  and  composed 

himself     to     sleep, 

refusing    to    move. 

At  length,   wearied 

out,     I     sat    down 

beside     him     and, 

leaning  against  the 

tree,  fell  asleep. 

We  were  in  a 
little  depression  in 
-he  plain,  but  the 
ghastly  moon 
would  net  leave 
us  in  peace,  but 
shifted  round  and 
shone  on  our  eyes 
till  it  woke  us. 
We  were  about  to  move  away  from  its  evil 
influence  when  I  beheld  an  extraordinary 
spectacle.  Skimming  silently  past  on  the 
edge  of  the  rising  ground  went,  in  swift 
succession,  one  weird  figure  after  another.  I 
ga/.ed  at  them  fascinated,  while  Dingo  lay  still 
as  death.  Then,  like  a  flash,  I  realized  the 
meaning  of  the  apparitions — they  were  natives 
going  to  a  solemn  midnight  corroboree. 

Now,    many  people    think   they   have   seen  a 
corroboree,  but  I  can  safely  aver  that  what  they 


ALONE    IN    THE    WIMMERA. 


343 


have  seen  is  a  comic  exhibition  as  much  got 
up  for  ship's  passengers  as  the  Christy  Minstrels 
for  a  London  audience.  To  see  a  real  secret 
corroboree  is  a  different  thing  as  I  saw  it  there 
that  night  in  the  Wimmera. 

Of  course,  the  aborigines  saw  us  ;  they  even 
discussed  us  for  a  moment.  But  what  could  we 
do  to  harm  them — a  girl  and  a  dog  that  the 
morrow  would  snuff  out  of  existence  ?  ^Ye 
were  less  than  nothing  to  them.  On  the  borders 
of  the  Central  Desert  estimates  of  relative  values 
are  strangely  changed. 

They  passed  on  in  single  file,  and,  determined 
not  to  be  again  left  in  solitude,  we  followed, 
fearless.  Even  had  they  been  cannibals  I 
would  have  followed ;  it  was  so  lonely  with 
only  the  awful  glare  of  the  moonlight. 

Dingo,  after  a  few  evil 
growls,  mingled  with  the 
horde  of  mongrel  dogs  who 
accompanied  the  black  fel- 
lows, while  I,  keeping  at  a 
discreet  distance,  trotted 
after  them  —  for  their  long, 
light  steps  would  soon  have 
taken  them  out  of  sight  had 
I  not  determined  not  to  lose 
them. 

There  was  no  exchange 
or  amenities ;  not  a  word 
passed.  The  savages 
seemed  not  to  see  me  ;  and 
to  surprise  an  Australian 
native  is  beyond  the  power 
of  mortal  man  or  woman. 
Had  they  objected  to  my 
presence  a  spear  would  soon 
have  settled  the  difficulty, 
but  evidently  the  desert  was 
held  to  be  entitled  to  its  toll 
of  human  life. 

All  my  fatigue  vanished  as  if  by  magic  as  I 
toiled  on  after  the  savages.  We  soon  left  all 
the  wooded  land  behind,  and  before  us  lay  the 
great  desert,  silvered  by  the  moonlight,  which 
was  now  bright  as  day. 

Evidently  the  rite  had  been  prepared  for,  as 
standing  about  a  circle  of  small  fires  were  some 
splendidly  got- up  natives,  in  all  the  glory  of 
frizzled  hair  set  up  halo-fashion,  with  red  flowers 
flattened  out  in  it.  Some  had  their  long  hair 
dyed  yellow  with  ochre.  Their  attire  consisted 
chiefly  of  kangaroo-skin,  the  darkness  of  which 
harmonized  with  their  brown  limbs.  To  the 
women  of  the  party  was  left  the  lighter  grey  of 
the  opossum-skins.  All  had  their  hair  gloriously 
arranged. 

I  never  saw  anything  more  splendid,  or 
that    must    have    taken    more    time    and    pains 


From  a  Photograph. 


to  arrange  .  every  hair  seemed  to  stand  out 
distinct,  like  the  hinged  petals  of  the  crimson 
flowers  they  had  flattened  carefully  into  it. 

The  women,  so  far  as  I  could  >..  med  to 

have  no  share  in  the  chief  ceremony  of  the 
corroboree,  except  as  musicians.  They  w 
clustered  at  a  short  distance  from  the  circle  of 
fires,  and  beat  out  on  a  sort  of  flat  wooden 
drum  a  kind  of  march — tuneless,  but  in  splendid 
time. 

k  was  midnight.  Over  the  great  desert  there 
was  no  mist;  it  shone  like  a  plain  of  silver, 
and  on  its  surface  white  bones  could  plainly  be 
seen  scattered  at  intervals.  I  saw  them  without 
emotion  or  care ;  the  corroboree  enchanted  me 
and  drove  away  all  thoughts  of  fear.  Men  who 
seemed  to  me  of  majestic  height  and  stature, 
with  hair  that  was  a  glory 
and  a  crown  in  itself, 
went  in  a  dizzying  circle, 
threading  their  way  among 
the  fires  as  they  danced  to 
the  loud,  clear  note  of  the 
march.  So  quickly  they 
went  that  the  fires  gleamed 
from  among  them  so  silently 
that  they  might  have  been 
planets  moving  in  their 
orbits.  I  never  saw  or 
imagined  anything  like  it  ; 
its  dignity  and  stateliness 
were  marvellous. 

After  the  performers  had 
had  a  rest  the  character  of 
the  dance  changed  ;  if  not 
exactly  from  a  rite  to  a  revel, 
still  nearer  to  earth.  The 
men  had,  in  some  way  I 
could  not  fathom,  fastened 
on  them  enormous  kangaroo- 
tails  which  stood  high  up 
above  their  heads  ;  and  with  these  weird  adorn- 
ments waving  wildly,  they  hopped  now  in  exact 
imitation  of  the  kangaroo,  uttering  its  peculiar  cry. 
This  was  so  exact  an  imitation  of  the  peculiar 
hop  of  the  kangaroo  that  at  a  short  distance  it 
might  have  passed  for  a  party  of  marsupials 
frisking  in  the  moonlight — but  for  the  incessant 
tapping  of  the  wooden  drums.  I  was  more 
impressed  than  amused  with  it.  The  solemnity 
of  it  all,  the  loneliness,  and  the  fact  that  the 
women  took  no  share  in  it  assured  me  that  it 
had  some  religious  character  and  was  an  act 
of  worship,  as  in  the  ship  -  passenger  corro- 
borees  at  King  George's  Sound  all  the  natives 
join  in  carelessly,  and  half  scornfully,  even  the 
children. 

Presently,    ceasing   to    personate    kangaroos, 
to    my    great    delight    the    dancers     began    to 


THE       OVERSEER       AT      THE       SKEEP 
STATION. 


THE    WIDE    W0R1  D    MAGAZIN1 


'  IHEV    DANCED    TO     I  H I      LOUD,    (II    \K    NOTE    ('I      I'Hfi    MAR     H 


cliant.*  This  was  repeated  to  quicker  and 
quicker  time,  till  it  attained  lightning  speed 
without  a    syllable,    the    time    was    so 

perfectly  kept 

5  me  day  I  hope  to  interest  some  friendly 
musician  to  write  down  the  air  of  that  weird 
chant  and  so  preserve  it  as  an  ethnological 
curiosity  from  a  fast-vanishing  race. 

I  another  dance  the  natives  sang  another 
chant,  to  slower  time  and  a  more  plaintive  tune. 
It  may  have  been  a  farewell  to  the  festival  per- 
formance, for  the  sudden  setting  of  the  moon  — 
which  had,  though  unremarked  by  me,  long 
been  waning — left  the  desert  at  once  a  ghastly 
solitude.  The  natives  seemed  to  vanish  with 
the  last  moon-rays,  and  I  might  have  thought  it 
all  a  fantasl  m  had  not  Dingo  gone  yelping 

after  them,  loth  to  lose  his  new-found  friends. 


*  I  had  never  hi  .             since,  of  any  instance 

heing  -  having  any  notion  of  music  among 

themselves.     It  is,  tl  ethnological   item  of  no  small  im- 
portance. -    '. 


I  stooped  and  picked  up  a  fire-stick  from 
one  of  the  sacrificial  fires  now  burning  down, 
and,  weeping  at  being  again  left  alone,  Dingo 
and  I  rushed  back  to  the  plain  as  though  pur- 
sued by  demons.  Compared  to  the  desert  the 
plain  spelt  comparative  safety,  and  possibly 
life. 

Fatigue  and  excitement  sent  us  off  into  a 
spell-bound  sleep,  from  which  we  were  awakened 
by  the  hot  sun-rays  of  morning.  The  mist  had 
already  rolled  away,  leaving  the  plains  strewn 
thickly  with  great  globules  of  dew,  sparkling 
like  big,  round  diamonds.  While  we  stupidly 
gazed  around,  the  sun  drank  up  the  dew  and 
then  came  and  scorched  and  harried  us  from 
our  resting-place.  Its  great  heat  burnt  through 
my  velvet  as  though  it  were  a  cobweb,  and 
Dingo's  long  hair  hung  scorched  and  matted. 
His  eyes,  restlessly  rolling,  sought  mine  a: 
though  to  ask  counsel  or  comfort,  till  at  last 
with  a  complaining  whine,  he  rose  and  led  the 


ALONE    IX    THE    VV1MMERA. 


345 


way   towards   the   scene   of   the   corroboree,   I 
following  reluctantly. 

The  desert  lay  like  a  dead  sea  of  heat  and 
dazzling  light  before  us.  Where  had  the  natives 
gone  ? 

Here  at  our  feet  was  the  silent  witness  to  the 
corroboree  of  the  night — a  circle  of  dead  fires 
and  a  broken  spear. 

Not  a  foot-.print  on  the  shifting  sand  pointed 
out  the  way  the  black  fellows  had  gone,  and  it 
would  have  been  useless  to  try  and  track  men 
already  perhaps  fifty  miles  or  more  away. 

Yet  Dingo  was  for  doing  it.  He  trotted  on  a 
few  yards,  then,  seeing  me  irresolute,  came  back 
and  tried  to  coax  me  to  follow,  but  I  was  now 
scorching  in  the  sunbeams.  By  noon  I  knew 
they  would  be  stifling,  and  so,  picking  up  the 
spear,  I  retreated  from  the  great  desert. 

I  lay  down  listlessly  in  a  deep  crack  in   the 
sun-baked   plain,   thereby  securing  what   shade 
there  was.     The   scanty-foliaged   gum  trees   arc 
no    protection    from   a    vertical 
sun,  and  I  had  seen  the  sheep 
and  cattle  creep  into  these  cracks. 
While  the  hot,   scorching  after- 
noon   slowly   wore    away    I    felt 
neither    hunger  nor    thirst,    but 
with  the  cool  evening  came  the 
ravening  of  hunger,  the  faintness 
and  desolation  of  thirst. 

What  fools  we  had  been  to  let 
the  natives  go.  At  the  worst  they 
could  but  have  speared  us,  and 
by  now  we  should  have  begun 
chapter  one  of  another  romance 
of  bleached  bones. 

As  we  had  watched  the  dawn 
so  we  watched  the  sunset — and 
the  heavy  mists  of  evening  seemed 
to  slake  our  thirst  as  we  per- 
force breathed  them. 

Dingo,  who  now  obstinately 
refused  to  obey  me  in  any  way, 
and  who  had,  so  to  speak,  dis- 
solved partnership,  presently 
began  searching  around.  I  got 
up  hungrily,  th  nking  that  per- 
haps the  natives'  dogs  had  left  a 
bone  or  two,  and  quite  prepared 
tognawihem — if  I  gotihechance. 

Lo  !  what  is  this  ?     Hundreds 
and    hundreds    of    little    white 
mushrooms  !     I    gathered    them 
eagerly,  hy  hand  uls.     I  was  very  fond  of  mush- 
rooms, but  the  few  I  ate  raw  induced  naus  a. 
Oh  !    the  beatific  vision    of   a   fiying-pan    and 
fork  and  some  butter  ! 

I  sat  down  and  groaned,  not  at  the  fact 
that    we    were    lost  —  that  seemed  our    normal 

Vol.  xii. —  44. 


stHe  —  but  that  we  could  not  fry  the  mush- 
rooms. 

Dingo  howled.  Mushrooms  did  not  matter 
to  him,  but  he  habitually  took  a  gloomy  view 
of  things,  owing  to  a  prophetic  insight  into  the 
overseer's  evil  intentions  with  regard  to  him.  I 
took  his  beautiful  head  on  my  Ian  and  tried  to 
comfort  him.  I  promised  him  that  in  the  event 
of  our  chancing  on  any  sheep  he  should  round 
them  up  into  a  mob,  if  he  would  only  stop 
short  of  rushing  into  the  compact  mass  and 
worrying  a  selected  quarry. 

Dingo  understood,  and  readily  promised  with 
his  eyes.  He  was  a  most  lovely  dark  sable  collie. 
How  he  chanced  amongst  the  useful  but  non- 
descript curs  of  the  Wimmera  I  do  not  know. 
Rivers  regarded  him  as  the  deadly  nightshade 
of  the  country ;  and  Dingo  knew  this  and  kept 
close  by  me,  sharing  even  misfortune  rather 
than  be  met  alone  on  the  station. 

Soon  between    us    and    the    fast-sinking    sun 


l.o  !      WHAT    Is    THIS  '. 


there  came  some  black  specks  at  a  distance, 
which,  rapidly  approaching,  showed  us  some  of 
the  carrion-crows  of  the  Wimmera  making  their 
way  to  us. 

Dingo  danced  with   fury  as  they  came  near 
and    hovered,    cawing,    above    us,    wheeling    in 


i  ill     w  [DE    world    MAGAZINE. 


rcles  till  their  wicked  white  eyes  sei  med 
almost  within  reach. 

1  stood  up  and  waved  the  spear  at  them,  to 
which  they  replied  by  flying  still  closer,  as 
though  to  inspect  their  possible  prey. 

\   ■       g  frightens  a   Wimnera  crow.      They 

are  reputed  to  be  the  very  messengers  of  death 

,\\k\  desolation.      From  my   intimate   knowledge 

leir  boldness  and  strange,  unfamiliar  courage 

1  was  afraid  that  they  might  attack  my  eyes,  for 

arms      are      weak 

t  h  e  i  r 

idly       patience 

I  cunning.    Bui 

Dingo,    also    a 

if    prey. 

-    a    match    for 

n.  Iging 

an     attack,     and 

while    they    were 

intent  on   me.  he 

suddenly  jumped 

up     and      caught 

the    I 
rible      brutes     by 
the     wing,      his 
°  white  teeth 
closing    on    his 
shrieking    captive 
like  a  trap.     The 
instantly 
■  iped  down  on 
him,  and  it  was 
much  as    I   could 
it    them 
o  \  f    w  i  t  h     m  v 
broken   spear. 
while   1  Jingo  hur- 
riedly    tore      his 

I 

The    uproar    and 

lamentation    of 

thers    grew 

loud   that    the 

res  »unded 

w'th  th<  B  fried  and   beaten  at  last,  the 

black  wreti  tired   to  a   bush  mar  by  and 

■'•  n  with  shrieks  of  wrath. 

od  Dingo  !    Oct  another  !  " 
lied   out.  excitedly,  as,  growling  like  a  lion 
r  his  prey.  Dingo  scarce  left  one  feather  on 
a  not 

The  at  the  bush,  when 

silent  now,  the  crows  sat  in  sorrow,  and  as  they 
lenly  flew  off  for  a   few    hundred 
yards   he  cam  k   and  commenced  to  play 

about  light-heartedly. 

Dingo  was  a  lid   fellow,   and   his   latest 

feat    raised   him   vastly   in    my  estimation.     To 


I  HE    HORRIBLE    FSRU  1  F  S    1:1      I  111-    WING. 


out  general  a  Wimmera  crow  is  no  contemptible 
feat,  as  the  most  hardened  bushman  will  tell 
you. 

The  desert  soon  became  like  a  great  black 
cavern,  for  the  moon  rose  later  to-night,  and  we, 
getting  back  to  Nature's  curfew,  were  soon 
sound  asleep.  After  our  varied  excitements 
nothing  awoke  us,  neither  the  moon-rays  (though 
we  felt  them),  the  cry  of  the  -curlew — that 
ghostly  wail  that  thrills  the  Australian  wanderer 

— nor  the  packs 
of  dingoes  or 
wild  -  dogs  which 
went  boldly  into 
the  desert  from 
pur  plain,  and 
whose  plaintive 
howling  we  heard 
in  our  dreams. 

Both  Dingo 
and  I  had  had 
food,  of  sorts,  and 
the  mist  had 
slaked  our  thirst. 
Nothing  more 
fearful  than  crows 
was  near,  and 
they  would  not 
trouble  us  till 
daybreak.  In  my 
close-fitting  crack 
in  the  scorched 
ground  I  was  in 
some  degree  shel- 
tered from  the 
rivers  of  mist,  and 
kept  warm  by  the 
well-warmed 
earth.  Everything 
in  this  Wimmera 
hotel  of  mine  was 
the  best  of  its 
kind  and  under 
entirely  new 
management. 
I  did  not  feel  at  all  miserable  or  doubtful. 
We  should  live  somehow,  even  if  we  were  not 
found 

Already  the  station  seemed  a  far-away  vision 
of  the  past.  After  all,  teaching  was  a  bore. 
The  lot  of  a  governess  was  like  living  under  a 
microscope.  The  desert  was  wide  and  free,  and 
Shakespeare's  bones  would  not  be  less  disturbed 
than  ours. 

It  was  sheep-shearing  time  at  the  station,  and 
I  felt  sure  that,  but  for  being  so  busy,  Rivers  or 
Mr.  Lessar  would  have  ridden  out  to  look  for  us. 
Tint  what  would  you?  All  their  wealth  was  in 
the  wool, and  they  could  not  be  expected  to  spoil 


ALONE    IN    THE    VVIMMERA. 


347 


a  year's  patient  expectancy  for  a  mere  wandering 
governess,  who,  besides,  was  not  over  clever, 
saved  sheep-worrying  dogs,  and  put  on  "  side." 

So  Dingo  and  I  slept  like  the  dead,  indifferent 
and  resigned. 

My  dread  of  the  desert  faded  away.  In  the 
morning  we  would  go  into  it  and  vanish,  causing 
no  trouble,  grieving  no  one. 

"  Halloa  !     Halloa  !     Coo-oo-e-ee  !  " 

How  silly  people  are  !  We  want  to  be  let 
alone  ! 

"  Coo-oo-e-ee — Coo-oo-e-ee — Coo-oo-e-ee  !  " 

I  sat  up  in  my  crack,  with  wild,  dishevelled 
hair,  and,  recognising  Rivers's  voice,  hastily  tried 
to  pin  it  into  some  semblance  of  order.  But, 
no  !  my  hands  trembled  too  much,  and  the  long 
tresses  of  yellow  hair  fell  over  my  brown-velvet 
dress  in  a  manner  suggesting  Art. 

I  felt  very  angry  and  tugged  at  them  till, 
getting   them   all    together,    I    managed    to   pin 


I  looked  ai  Rivers  critically.  He  was  a 
young  man  who  never  did  himself  justice.  He 
was  very  fair,  with  pale,  fierce,  blue  eyes,  tall  of 
stature  and  of  great  muscular  power,  and  one  of 
the  best  horsemen  in  a  region  of  good  riders. 
I  always  admired  his  riding. 

"Well,"  I  said,  at  last,  "so  you've  got  the 
grey  !     And  doesn't  he  blunder  along  ?  " 


"Well,  I'm " 

For  a  minute  or  two  Rivers's  light-blue  eyes 
looked  out  of  his  blackened  and  sunburnt  face 
in  a  dumfounded  stare. 

Then  he  said,  falteringly,  "  Is  it  you,  really  ? " 

"  Will  you  give  Dingo  a  drink  ?  " 

He  sprang  from  his  horse  and  held  out  his 
hand,  taking  both  mine  into  one  of  his. 

"  Little  bits  of  hands,"  said  Rivers,  half  t«» 
himself,   "and  no  fear." 

"  Dingo,  come  and  have  a  drink,"  I  said. 

Dingo  looked  at  him    suspiciously,  retreated 


...  »*pi 


RIVEK.S    RODE    UP. 


them  neatly  up.  Then  I  was  happy,  even 
jubilant.  I  got  out  of  the  crack  with  vast  haste 
and  had  even  succeeded  in  brushing  the  dust 
off  my  dress,  when  the  tearing  gallop  of  a  horse 
ever  the  hard  plain  sounded  in  my  ears,  and 
Rivers,  almost  black  with  heat  and  dust,  rode 
up — stopping  his  horse  so  abruptly  as  to  throw 
the  animal  on  his  haunches. 


behind  me,  and  then,  loping  off,  was  soon  lost  to 
sight. 

"  It  was  lucky  for  me  you  were  riding  this 
way,"  I  said,  taking  my  hat  from  the  branch  of  a 
tree-shrub  and  dusting  it  ere  I  put  it  on. 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  said  Rivers,  wonder- 
ingly. 

"What   I   say!     Considering  you  are  all   so 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


I  could  not  expect  to  see  anyone  from  the 

Ml." 

"Good  heavens  ! " 

"  Put  me  on  the  track  before  you  go." 

"Why,  before  you  ride  home.    I'll  walk  fast." 
••  l  ke  some  brandy,"  said   Rivers,  still 

staring  at  me  in  amazement. 

1    declined,  wondering  why   he  had    brandy 


"  If  you  will  kindly  show  me  the  track,"  1 
again  said,  diffidently. 

"  Here  they  come,"  said  Rivers,  who  had  not 
been  listening  to  me,  only  holding  my  hands 
tightly,  as  though  he  feared  I  should  melt  away 
into  air. 

The  sound  of  galloping  horses  over  the  plain 
came  tumultuously  nearer. 

I  stood  with    Rivers         -  to  his  big  iron-grey 


111  II      TKEY    O  IMF.,     s  A  1 1 1    RIVERS. 


with    him    in    the    morning,    for    most     native 
ralian  young    men    are   very  temperate  by 
choii 

"Don't  let  me  hinder  you,"  I  said,  at 
length,  to  break  a  long  silence  and  that  awful 
star 

•Hinder  1.  '  he  burst  out.  "Why,  I'm 
here  to  look  for  you,  with  seventy  men — all  we 
could  muster  from  the  neighbouring  stations. 
Not  a  man  would  be  left  behind.  And  the 
—  Ha,  ha  !  And  Rivers,  who  loved 
horse,  laughed  loud  and  long  as  he 
thought  of  his  scratch-mounted  regiment. 

I  thought  it  was  a  joke,  and  laughed  too, 
pleased  that  he  was  not  angry  at  the  shearing 
getting  neglected. 


horse,  and  as  the  men  rode  up  some  of  them, 
not  catching  sight  of  me  in  their  haste,  called 
out,  "  Any  track  ?  "  "  Any  news  ?  "  then  sank 
into  a  sudden  leaden  silence  on  catching  sight 
of  me,  staring  at  me  as   Rivers  had  done. 

As  they  came  pouring  up  I  felt  as  if  in  a 
dream.  So  much  kindness,  so  much  zeal,  so 
much  interest  and  trouble  ungrudged — and  all 
for  me  !  I  felt  unworthy  of  it  all,  and  could 
only  console  myself  for  my  folly,  as  I  rode 
home  with  Rivers  at  the  head  of  this  regiment 
of  bush  cavalry,  by  thinking  that  out  of  the 
goodness  of  their  hearts  these  noble  fellows 
would  have  mounted  and  searched  to  the  very 
farthest  horizon  of  the  Wimmera  in  order  to 
cheat  the  desert  of  its  prey. 


LOG-ROLLING. 


By  Charles  E.  Simmonds. 

This  is  not  a  disquisition  on  the  gentle  art  beloved  of  politicians  and  place-hunters,  but  an  account  of  a 
very  interesting  and  lucrative  Indian  industry—  so  profitable,  in  fact,  that  it  is  a  strict  Government  monopoly. 


MAGINE  a  steep,  rocky  defile,  with 
a  rapid,  roaring  torrent  at  its  base, 
upon  the  breast  of  which  huge  logs 
—trunks  of  mammoth  trees  shorn  of 
their  branches  and  cut  into  lengths 
— are  being  carried  swiftly  along,  over  enormous 
projecting  boulders,  down  sudden  declivities, 
appearing  and  disappearing  like  tossing  straws, 
but  always  travelling  onward  until  they  pass  out 
of  sight  into  the  hazy  distance. 

The  scene  is  the  Higher  Himalayas,  and  the 
logs  and  planks  are 
trees  felled  in  the 
forests  and  thence  slid 
into  a  mountain  tor- 
rent to  be  carried  away 
to  the  main  stream 
situated  a  considerable 
distance  below.  Along 
this,  for  about  a  hun- 
dred miles,  their  pro- 
gress continues  swift 
and  adventurous.  This 
is  "  log-rolling  "  as  the 
term  is  understood  in 
the  Forestry  Depart- 
ment of  the  Govern- 
ment of  India — and  a 
very  lucrative  business 
it  is. 

The  work  is  carried 
out  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  European 
officers,     who    employ 
native     labour.       The 
climate  being  a  really 
superb    one,    appoint- 
ments as  forest  officers 
are  much  sought  after.         ~~\^ 
There  is  also  the  addi- 
tional  incentive  of  the  adventurous    character 
of  the  employment,   which    entails  not  a  little 
risk     to     life     and    limb.       The     officer    may 
also    supplement    his    legitimate     duties    with 
large   and   small  game   snooting.       As  I   have 
already    indicated,    the   work    itself    is    of    an 


exciting  character,  demanding,  as  it  does,  tin- 
negotiating  of  difficult  country — of  which  the 
first  photo,  gives  a  good  idea  — the  crossing  of 
raging  torrents  when  the  native  bridges  are 
swept  away,  and  the  disentangling  of  sleepers 
and  logs  from  the  sides  of  rivers  where  their 
course  is  blocked  or  from  boulders  in  mid- 
stream on  which  they  may  be  jammed.  For  sport 
there  are  such  game  to  be  shot  as  black  and 
red  bear,  burrel  (or  wild  sheep),  leopard,  gooral 
(wild-goat  or  chamois),  half-a-dozen  varieties  of 


BAGGAGE   COOLIES   TRAVERSING    A    FOREST    PATH. 

From  a  Photo. 

pheasant,  chikor  (red  partridge),  frankolin 
(black  partridge),  an  occasional  woodcock,  and  a 
profusion  of  bluerock.  In  addition  to  these, 
one  meets  on  the  higher  levels  snow-leopard, 
ibex  and'tahr,  snow-pheasant,  and  snow-pigeon. 
In  the  summer  you  may  obtain  an  abundance 
of  such  luscious  fruits  as  apples,  gooseberries, 


ifck 


apricots,   peaches,  wild 
»,  barberries, 
1      rhubarb. 
while    water 
is  plentiful  in 
all  the  f 

ms.  But 

in  the  winter 

re    arc 

ten  to  twenty 
snow 

o  n      t  h  e 
ground,  and 
then  travelling  is 
no  joke ! 

I  let  us  re- 
turn  to  our  log- 
rolli     -         The 
mainstay   of  the 
sti  ••  I  >epart- 
m cut   in    t  h e 
Himalayas  is  the 
grand    d  e  o  d  a  r 
tree,  or  cedar  of 
in.    Other 
_  own  on  the  hills  lor  shade,  fruit,    etc.,   or 
limatization    purposes,  are   the   Spanish 
-tnut.   oak,  ash,   and   elm.     None  of  these, 
however,  are  useful  as  timber,  being  either  too 
knotty   or  growing   too  far  from  a   river  to  be 
floated  down. 
1  »eodar  sleepers 
the  attacks 
of  white  ants,  this 
rty     making 
them,  in  a  country 
like    India. 

•ly    valuable, 
that  account, 
and  also  in   con- 
of    the 
large  demand  for 
sleepers    on     the 
always  annu- 
ally    constr 
there  is  little 
for    wonder    that 
I .-  vernment 
in    the    lucra- 
business    of 

in   their    own   hands  and   keep 
out  al  This  applies,  how- 

to  land-  under  their  own 
immediate  control.  Semi-independent 
rajahs  usually  let  their  forests  out  to 
contractors,  who  can  afford  to  pay 
handsomely  for  the  privilege  in  view 
of  the  large  profits  to  be  made. 


1111,    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


A  BOUNDARY  PM.I.AR  IN  THE  KOREST 
From  a  Photo. 


The   largest  deodar  tree  on  record  was  fifty- 
four  feet  in  circumference,  but  an  old  tree  with 

a    girth    at    all 
approach  i  n g 
that  size  wou  d 
be  hollow  in 
the  middle  and 
useless.  Deodar 
trees  are   often 
from   one  hun- 
dred   and    fifty 
to    over    two 
hundred 
feet    in 
height. 
They   only 
attain  con- 
siderable 
height  and 
size     when 
they    grow 
on  a  slope 
facing 
north     or 
east,  south- 
erly   and 

westerly  slopes  being  too  hot  for  them.  They 
are  cut  when  from  one  hundred  and  twenty  to 
one  hundred  and  fifty  years  old. 

When  deodars  are  interspersed  with  inferior 
descriptions  of  pines,  etc.,  the  latter  are  ring- 
barked,  and  con- 
sequently die  off, 
and  are  blown 
down,  leaving 
greater  space  for 
the  more  valuable 
tree  to  flourish. 
An  exceptionally 
large  deodar  will 
yield  one  hundred 
broad-gauge 
sleepers.  The 
ordinary  yield, 
however,  is  about 
thirty  -  five,  thus 
making  an  average 
tree  equal  to  the 
value  of  about 
seven  pounds  ster- 
ling. To  replenish 
the  forests,  deodar  seeds  are 
sown  yearly  from  October  to 
November,  and  seedlings  are 
transplanted  in  July. 

Boundary  pillars  of  stones 
and  slabs,  like  the  one  shown 
in  the  above  photograph,  are 
erected  every  here  and  there  at 


A    STUDY    IN    RAGS     — A     HILL- 
MAN   EMPLOYED  ON  FOREST  WORK. 
From  a  Flwto. 


LOG-ROLLING. 


35* 


the  junction  of  the  forest  lands  with  those  of 
the  villagers,  to  demarcate  the  line  over  which 
no  tree-cutting  is  allowed,  no  cattle  may  trespass, 
and  no  fires  may  be  lit.  Forest  guards  are  sta- 
tioned at  different  villages  to  prevent  fires,  cattle- 
trespass,  or  theft  of  wood.  These  are  mostly 
hillmen,  who  are  paid  from  six  to  ten  rupees 
(eight  to  fourteen  shillings)  per  month. 

The  trees  are  cut  either  with  American  or 
native  axes,  and  afterwards  sawn  into  lengths 
with  an  ordinary  two-handed  cross-cut  saw. 
The  men  employed  at 
all  these  works  are 
usually  the  hillmen  of 
the  particular  district, 
generally  superintended 
by  intelligent  Punjabis. 
One  of  these  forest 
workers  —  "a  study  in 
rags" — forms  the  subject 
of  my  snap-shot  at  the 
bottom  of  the  preceding 
page.  All  the  work  is 
done  by  contract.  A 
tree  is  cut  at  two  annas, 
or  twopence  per  foot 
diameter,  and  three- 
pence for  each  log. 
Rolling  down  to  the 
river  and  launching 
costs  about  a  penny  per 
cubic  foot.  This  is, 
however,  regulated  by 
the  distance  to  the 
river  and  the  difficulties 
of  the  slide.  The  work 
lor  the  pay  here  quoted 


includes  numbering  and  brand- 
ing with  the  Government  mark. 
Two  natives  with  small  axes 
will  cut  in  a  day  two  trees  of 
twenty  feet  circumference  each. 
Logs  average  from  twenty-five 
to  thirty- five  cubic  feet 
each. 

The  sawing  of  the 
sleepers,  which  are  in 
seven  different  lengths, 
costs  about  sevenpence 
each,  and  twopence  per 
mile  is  paid  for  transport- 
ing and  launching  each 
sleeper.  The  sleepers,  until 
they  are  launched,  are  piled  at 
the  sides  of  the  rivers  in  stacks 
of  one  hundred  each,  covered 
with  grass  and  earth  to  prevent 
them  cracking  by  exposure  to 
the  sun,  and  branded  with  the 
Government  broad-arrow.  The  annexed  photo- 
graph shows  a  batch  of  big  sleepers  being 
launched  into  a  river  on  their  long  journey 
down  to  civilization. 

The  great  point  of  interest  attached  to  the 
sleepers  and  the  logs  ds  the  distance  they  have 
to  travel  alone  and  unguarded,  first  down  a 
raging  mountain  torrent,  full  of  rapids  and 
boulders,  and  then  down  the  main  river  for  a 
distance  of  a  hundred  miles  or  more. 

The    trees    in    some    parts    are    over    three 


THE   LOGS   TRAVEL   ALONE   AND   UNGUARDED    FOR    UPWARDS   OF    A    HUNDRED    MILES 


DOWN    MOUNTAIN    TORRENTS    SUCH    AS    TJIE    ONE    HERE   SHOWN. 


I'Hl      WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


thousand  feet  above  the  river  on  which  they  are 
be  launched:  and  when  this  is  the  case 
"timber  slides"'  are  cut  down  through  the 
tnd  made  to  project  over  the  river  bank. 
Where  a  slide  is  very  steep,  as  often  happens, 
baulks  of  timber  are  driven  into  the  ground 
at    intervals  across   it,   to  arrest   the   too   rapid 

the  logs. 
Where    the    slope   is 
slight,  however,    hill- 
men    are    emp] 
who   shift    the    huge 

feet  at  a 
time  with  skids  and 
props,  blasting  has 
lently  to  be  done 
to  make  these  slides 
available  where  rocks 
and    boulders    inter 


ally,  and  from  seven  thou- 
sand to  ten  thousand  logs, 
the  latter  amounting  to 
about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  cubic  feet. 

The  district  of  Bussa- 
hir,  which,  with  Kunowar, 
adjoins  Tibet,  will  afford 
a  good  instance  of  the 
distance  the  logs  and 
sleepers  have  to  travel 
and  how  they  are  con- 
ducted to  their  ultimate 
destination  far  down  in 
the  plains.  They  are  first 
either  launched  into  some 
large  mountain  stream 
flowing  into  the  Sutlej  or 
direct  into  that  river  itself. 
Down  below  Bussahir  men 
are  stationed  with  inflated 
buffalo  -  skins.  On  these 
queer  rafts  they  paddle 
about  to  catch  the 
sleepers  ;  otherwise  at  this  time  of  the  year, 
during  high  water,  the  sleepers  would  be  carried 
away  out  to  sea.  It  would  be  useless  launching 
them  above,  however,  at  any  other  time,  as  there 
would  not  then  be  sufficient  water  to  carry  them 
over  the  numerous  rapids  and  boulders.  These 
inflated  buffalo-skins  are  weird-looking  objects. 


The     launching 
commences  in  June, 
and    is    in    full    pro 
during  July 
and    August,    as    in 
two     months 
are  at  their 
.   to  the 
melting  of  the  snows 
on  the  mountains 
In   one  dis- 
trict from  fifty 
thousand  to  seventy 
thousand     sleeper-, 
'aunched    annu- 


4:te'^^g^SS<sa^>>^!feyfel- 


- 

m 


I 
V 


9 

I 

^1 


4^^^im 


From  a\ 


ING    KOR    A    KISE    IN    THE    RIVER, 


!/"•   ■' 


LOG-ROLLING. 


353 


A  "swimmer"  with  his  buffalo-skin  raft. 
From  a  Photo. 

They  are  very  light  and  easily  carried, 
and  a  man  marching  with  one  on  his 
hack  presents  an  odd  appearance. 
When  the  air  escapes  from  the  skins, 
the  fastening  on  one  of  the  legs  is 
loosened  and  the  skin  is  blown  up 
again  like  a  bladder.  These  men,  who 
go  by  the  vernacular  name  of  the 
"  swimmers,"  catch  and  stack  the 
sleepers  by  the  side  of  the  river  for  a 
modest  fee  of  one  shilling  and  eight- 
pence  per  hundred. 

The  sleepers  are  launched  again  in 
November  by  contract,  when  the  big 
river  below  is  less  turbulent  and  much 
more  narrow.  The  men  on  the  skins 
then  take  them  down  to  Neila,  distant 
one  hundred  miles  or  more,  inside 
British  territory,  sweeping  up  any  that 
may  have  passed  them  and  become 
stranded  at  the  sides  of  the  Sutlej. 
At  Neila  the  sleepers  are  all  banked 
and  made  into  rafts  of  from  two  hundred 
to  three  hundred  each,  and  then  raited 


down  to  the  junction  of  the  Sutlej 
Canal,  along  which  they  travel  for  about 
thirty  miles  to  a  station  on  the  North- 
western Railway  in  Ludhiana.  The 
logs  are  treated  in  a  similar  way,  and 
are  made  into  rafts  of  from  twenty  to 
thirty  each.  These  are  also  taken  down 
by  contract,  the  rate  of  pay  varying 
according  to  the  size  of  the  logs. 

At  the  railway  station  the  logs  are 
classed  in  four  divisions,  according  to 
the  knottiness  or  soundness  of  the 
timber,  and  those  of  the  first  class  are 
sold  at  one  penny  per  cubic  foot  of 
their  length  and  one  foot  in  addition  ; 
thus  a  twelve  -  foot  log  would  sell  for 
one  shilling  and  a  penny  per  cubic  foot. 
They  are  bought  principally  by  railway 
contractors  for  bridge-timbering,  station- 
building,  etc.  Second,  third,  and  fourth 
class  logs  realize  proportionately  less. 
Sleepers  are  divided  into  three  classes, 
and  are  sold  at  from  three  to  four 
shillings  each. 


From  a] 


STRANDED    LOGS    IN    A    MOUNTAIN    STREAM. 


[Photo. 


Vol.  xii.— 45. 


The    "  White    Avengers." 

By  J.  Walter  Reed,  of  Pennsylvania. 
II. 

The    continuation  of   this   exciting    story,  which    describes    the    adventures  of  a  young   school-teacher 

who   incurred   the   enmity  of  a  terrible    secret    society   known    as   the    "White    Avengers  "—a    band  o. 

miscreants  whose  very  name  struck  terror  into  the  hearts  of  residents  in  South-Western  Alabama. 


!  we  neared  the  edge  of  the  swamp 
the  moonlight  began  to  straggle  once 
more  through  the  canopy  of  leaves 
over  our  heads ;  and  suddenly,  with- 
out  the  least    warning,    we  saw  our 
guide,    who    was    some    distance    ahead, 
■  plunging  back   through   the  bush,   waving 
rms  frantically  in  the  air,  and  calling  out  at 
the  same  time  something  which  seemed  to  be  a 
warning  for  us  to  fly. 

As    he    came     nearer    we    caught    the     word 
"  Klukkahs."    and     in     another     moment     he 
I    down    in    front    of    us    on    his    knees 
implored    us  to  get   back    into    the    bush, 
saying  that    "  mo'  dan  eight   millyums  "  of  our 
stly  enemies  had   come  round   to   this  side 
ie  swamp  and  were  drawn  up  in  the  cotton- 
field  waiting  to  cut  off  our  escape  ' 

While  we    did   not    whollv  share   the  negro's 

Jit,  the  announcement  was  certainly 

not    one    to    make    us    feel    comfortable.      We 

realized  at  were  in   a  dangerous 

fix  again.     The  gang  we  had  just  escaped  from 

barred  retreat   toward  the  south,    while    an    im- 

imp  stretched  out  for  miles  in  two 

other  direction-.     Straight  ahead   was  the  road 

plantation,  in  which  direction  safety  lay, 

and  her  confronted  by  a  fresh  band  of 

enemie 

A  wild  idea  of  attempting  to  bolt  through  the 

fellows  ahead  of  us  came  to  our  mind-,  ;   but  the 

'    the    long-barrelled    rifles  of  the 

"A'  "  and    the  fact   that   they  were  dead 

-  to  a  man,  speedily  di-  2  -d  this  scheme. 

-  n  to  a  safe  distance  and   then 

taking  to  our  Ik  med  but  little  safer  in  the 

■  nlight. 

Creeping  cautiously  to  ti  _■•  of  the  forest. 

and  keeping  well  hidden  in   the   dei  p  shadow-. 

that  what  to  the  negro's  excited 

mind  h  ared  a  1    ;  t  of  spectral  forms 

in    real:'  nprised    about    a    score  of   them. 

drawn  up  a  few  yards  out  in  the  thick 

_    with   their  shrouded  arms 

the    lagoon,    and  a     through    the 

mumrr,  jr  wordless  confabs — 

rving  enough  under  the  existing  conditions 

all  of  w':,  decided  that  they  \ 


about  to  enter  the  black  forest  on  a  hunt  for 
ourselves. 

Recollecting  a  thick  hedge  of  brush  we  had 
passed  in  coming  out  toward  the  field,  we 
decided  instantly  to  hurry  back  to  it  and  hide 
until  the  gang  had  got  out  of  sight  of  the  spot, 
and  then  to  try  again  to  make  our  escape.  It 
looked  dangerous  to  stay  where  we  were  for  a 
single  moment. 

Then,  all  at  once,  we  were  startled  to  hear  the 
sound  of  a  long,  quavering  whistle,  apparently 
coming  from  the  lower  end  of  the  cotton-field. 
That  it  was  a  signal  to  these  fellows  we  were 
spying  upon  became  instantly  manifest,  for  upon 
hearing  the  sound  all  but  three  of  them,  who 
seemed  to  be  left  behind  as  a  guard,  turned 
about  abruptly  and  started  at  an  awkward  gallop 
in  the  direction  they  had  come  from. 

This  incident  put  an  entirely  new  face  on  the 
situation.  The  thought  came  to  the  teacher 
and  myself  at  the  same  time  that  an  avenue  of 
escape  was  now  opened  for  us,  which  called  for 
nothing  but  a  little  bravery  on  our  part.  The 
negro  had  meanwhile  recovered  his  "  nerve  " 
and  had  crept  up  behind  us.  When  he  heard 
our  cautious  whispering  as  to  the  daring  move 
we  proposed,  it  savoured  so  strongly  of  a 
"  frolic"  that  he  instantly  became  enthusiastic. 

The  risky  plan  we  had  in  mind  was  nothing 
less  than  making  a  circuit,  creeping  stealthily 
upon  the  trio  in  the  cotton-patch,  and  seizing 
them  by  the  throats  in  a  sudden  spring.  Then, 
having  bound  and  gagged  them — the  negro  had 
plenty  of  stout  cord  with  him.  used  in  his 
hunting  operations — we  were  to  drag  them  a 
safe  distance  back  into  the  forest  and  take 
forcible  possession  of  their  masquerade  suits. 
This  accomplished,  our  prisoners  were  to  be 
■  curely  bound  to  the  trunks  of  trees,  while  we 
hurried  back  into  the  open  and  there  passed 
ourselves  off  upon  the  returning  members  of 
the  band  as  the  guard  they  had  left  behind. 
[|  was  necessary  to  do  this,  for  we  should  soon 
have  been  overtaken  had  we  merely  overpowered 
scoundrels  and  then  hurried  on  toward  the 
farmhouse.  Our  idea  was  to  get  the  "  Avengers  " 
well  out  of  sight  and  then  to  doff  our  disguises 
and  make  a  bolt  for  it, 


THE     "WHITE    AVENdliRS. 


355 


Quick    action    was    essential,    and    we    acted 
quickly.      Probably  three  more  surprised  rascals 


"  Avengers 


never    existed    than     those    three 

were  when  they  felt  themselves  suddenly  seized 

from  behind,  a  sensation  which  gave  wav  rapidly 


to  alarm  and  fury  when  they  were  roughly 
gagged  and  bound,  and  then  hauled  without 
ceremony  through  the  dense  underbrush  and 
clinging  vines  of  the  lagoon. 

Perhaps  the  prisoners  realized  that  they  were 
to  be  given  time  to  reflect  upon  the  evil  of  their 
lives  when  they  found  themselves  being  trussed, 
backs  up,  against  stout  young  gum  trees,  in  a 
far  recess  ot  the  lagoon,  with  the  gags  still  in 
their  mouths. 

In  the  dim  light,  when  they  next  beheld  their 
captors  getting  swiftly  into  their  borrowed 
shrouds  and  shouldering  three  long-barrelled 
muskets,  the  angry  and  discomfited  captives 
doubtless  "tumbled  "to  the  daring  game  which 
was  being  played. 

Up  to  a  certain  somewhat  disastrous  point  the 
balance  of  our  risky  scheme   worked  well.      We 
lined  up  in  the  cotton-patch,  erect  and  motion 
less,  trying  to  look   as   much  like  genuine  cut 
throats  in  disguise  as  we  could.      We  were  some 
what    nervous    and     mighty    awkward     in     the 
ghostly  rigs,  and  incidentally  very  glad  that  silence 


was  one  of  the  regulations  <  i  the  hand,  as  lead 
ing  questions  might  have  resulted  in  both'  our 
literal  and  figurative  undoing.  When  the  long 
line  of  white-robed  rascals  filed  past  us,  how- 
ever, going  toward  the  top  of  the  field,  they 
.  seemed  to  see  nothing 

j^  suspicious    in    our 

Jr      -  looks. 

They  halted  when 
the  leader  reached  the 
head  of  the  field,  and 
then  all  straightway 
began  to  disappear  in 
the  forest.  We  at  on<  c 
started  to  shed  our 
shrouds,  so  as  to  run 
when  they  were  far 
enough  out  of  sight 
among  the  trees. 

It  was  at  this  criti- 
cal juncture,  however, 
that  our  plan  seemed 
about  to  end  dis- 
astrously. One  loud, 
angry  howl  reached 
our  ears  of  a  sudden 
from  away  back  in 
the  swamp,  then  a 
perfect  pandemonium 
of  infuriated  yells  and 
shrill  cries  arose.  It 
needed  nothing  fur- 
ther than  the  fury  in 
the  sounds  to  tell  us 
that  our  trick  had 
been  discovered  by 
one  of  the  band  stumbling  upon  his  captured 
mates. 

We  didn't  run  —  we  flew.  We  kicked  the 
portions  of  the  stolen  costumes  which  still 
clung  to  our  limbs  far  out  into  the  field  and 
dashed  away  through  the  cotton  toward  the  big 
house,  two  miles  distant. 

We  could  even  then  hear  the  gang  crashing 
through  the  brush  toward  the  open,  in  their 
eagerness  to  prevent  our  escape.  Looking  back 
after  we  had  run  a  U:w  hundred  feet,  we  saw 
their  ghostly  forms  breaking  through  the  black 
wall  of  the  swamp  in  a  score  or  more  of  spots, 
and  then  spreading  out  upon  both  sides  of  our 
path  to  intercept  us  by  making  a  wide  detour 
through  the  field. 

It  was  a  regular  race  for  life.  Musket-balls 
whistled  uncomfortably  close  to  our  ears  now 
and  then,  but  although  we  had  clung  to  our 
stolen  weapons  we  made  no  effort  to  return 
their   fire. 

When  over  half-way  through  the  field  we 
noticed  with  no  little  consternation  that  a  single 


Till      WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


our  pursuers  had  outstripped  their  com 
d    were  almost    up    with    us 
a  for  a  bridge  in  order  to 
ross         :•   nch,  and.  while  the  struc- 
lui  -    -   mewhat     nearer    us    than 

5,  it  was  their 
at     intention     to 
irer   it   in   time   to 
it  will  be 
ui:  1    that    thi 

our  pursuers  who  had 
me  out  on  the  right- 
hand    side   oi    the   field 
when    the    hand     broke 
m    the    swamp   now 
ind  themselves  on  the 
wrong  side  of  the   deep 
nch,  and  would  have 
it    by   means 
the  bridges  in  order 
_  •   back  to  our  side 

After  affording    us  a 

momentary   glimpse   of 

the  leading  pair  of  put 

the  moon     which 

had     heen    in    and   out 

,i  behind  a  large  bank  of  clouds  a  dozen 
times  during  the  race  —  suddenly  went  out  of 
:  again,  and  just  then  we  had  a  happy  in- 
ition.  We  would  beat  the  rapidly  approach- 
ing rascals  in  the  race  for  the  bridge  and  cap- 
ture them  when  they  came  over  it,  instead  of 
waiting  for  them  to  capture  us  !  If  we  suc- 
ceeded our  path  would  be  clear  again,  the  rest 
of  the  band  being  still  far  behind. 

Our  scheme  was  to  trip  up  the  approaching 
pair  by  thrusting  the  long  barrels  of  our  muske  s 
icross  their  path  in  the  dark  as  they  came  by  on 
a  run,  and  grab  them  while  they  floundered 
helj  i  cumbersome  uarb. 

But  once  again  the  moon,  which  had  been 
playing  so  important  a  part  in  the  night's 
adventures,  took  it  u:  o  i  herself  to  come  into 
suht  at  the  identical  moment  when  we  had 
thrown  our  rifles  across  the  footpath  of  the 
bridge  —  the  identical  moment  likewise  when 
th.-  tw(  leaped  upon  the  structure 

;.t  the  oppo  ite  side.  Naturally,  the  first  things 
the  surprised  rascals'  eyes  fell  upon  were  the 
shining  barrels  of  the  weapons,  at  the  sight  of 
which  mysterious  and  unlooked-for  barriers  in 
their  paths  they  instantly  jumped  back. 

Without  an  instant's  delay  we  sprang  out  at 
them    from    under    tl  mer    of    the    bridge 

platform,  with  our  muskets  clubbed.      My  man 
went  to  the  hard  floor  like  a  log.     The  school- 
teacher swung    wild,    and    the    blow   he   aimed 
/glanced    harmlessly    off    his    intended    victim's 


A    SINGLE    PAIR- OF    OUR    PURSUERS    IIAH    OUTSTRIPPED    THEIR    COMPANIONS. 


shoulder.  In  a  flash  the  bony  fingers  of  the 
angry  "  Avenger  "  closed  about  the  teacher's 
throat  in  a  death-grip.  The  boy  was  sprawling 
upon  the  platform  of  the  bridge  an  instant  later, 
with  the  knee  of  his  antagonist  pressing  heavily 
upon  his  chest.  Then  a  long  dark  shadow 
leaped  suddenly  through  the  red  haze  between 
the  boy's  eyes  and  the  form  of  his  captor,  and 
he  lapsed  into  unconsciousness. 

He  came  slowly  back  to  life  some  time  later, 
to  find  himself  lying  alongside  the  apparently 
lifeless  bodies  of  the  two  "  Avengers  "  in  the  dark 
space  underneath  the  bridge,  with  the  negro 
and  myself  bending  over  him  and  bathing  his 
face.  We  found  it  necessary  to  tell  and  retell 
the  story  of.  the  fight,  so  foggy  and  blurred  were 
his  senses.  How  the  black  man  had  rushed  to 
his  relief  in  the  very  nick  of  time  to  save  his 
life  ;  how  it  was  his  powerful  arm  which  had 
landed  a  blow  between  the  eyes  of  the  murder- 
ous "Avenger"  which  would  have  felled  an  ox  ; 
and  how  we  dragged  the  two  limp  forms  of  our 
enemies  to  the  edge  of  the  bridge  and  dumped 
them  unceremoniously  into  the  trench,  whence 
we  pulled  them  out  of  sight  under  the  bridge. 

As  you  may  imagine,  we  were  completely 
fagged  after  our  encounter  with  the  two 
"  Avengers."  We  were  close  enough  to  ex- 
haustion before  that,  but  the  violent  exertion  in 
the  rough-and-tumble  fight  had  finished  us. 
being  safe  under  the  bridge  and  finding  a  dry 
space  on  one   side   of  the    trench   capable   of 


THE    "WHITE    AVENGERS." 


357 


accommodating  us  all,  we  resolved  to  stay  there 
until  we  were  partly  recuperated. 

We  frequently  heard  other  members  of  the 
band  hurrying  across  the  bridge  overhead,  still 
in  hot  pursuit  and  apparently  as  fresh  as  when 
they  started  ;  and  we  congratulated  ourselves 
upon  having  dropped  out  of  the  chase. 

Obeying  the  rules  of  civilized  warfare — after 
first  seeing  to  our  own  comfort — we  gave  some 
attention  to  our  prisoners.  We  bound  their 
bruised  skulls  in  portions  of  their  own  uncanny 
costumes,  and  then,  as  they  began  to  show  signs 
of  life,  we  devoted  other  portions  of  their  dis- 
guises (the  negro's  supply  of  cord  being  ex- 
hausted) to  binding  their  arms  and  legs  and 
putting  gags  in   their  mouths. 

We  stayed  on  under  the  bridge  until  it  was 
within  an  hour  of  daybreak.  There  had  been 
no  sound  of  footsteps  over  our  heads  for  some 
time,  and  we  began  to  think  of  moving  on 
before  the  rising  sun  added  to  the  dangers  of 
travel.  As  we  knew  the  field  between  us  and 
the  plantation  would  by  this  time  be  fairly  alive 
with  "Avengers/'  both  those  who  had  crossed 
the  bridge  and  the 
contingent  upon 
the  left  side  of  the 
trail,  we  decided  to 
complete  the  trip 
under  cover  of  the 
trench.  It  was 
nearly  dry  from 
here  onwards,  and 
would  afford  us 
much  better 
chances  for  con- 
cealment, Euckily, 
too,  it  ran  within  a 
hundred  feet  of  the 
big  house  after 
bending  around  the 
long  row  of  cabins 
the     negro 

quarters." 

Suddenly,  to  our 
intense  dismay,  we 
heard  footsteps 
again  on  the  bridge, 
apparently  those  of 
a  solitary  straggler 
who  had  been  out- 
distanced by  the 
rest  of  the  band. 
In  the  very  centre 
of  the  structure  the 
man  paused.  It 
was  now  as  bright 
as  day  outside  our 
place    of    conceal- 


i  n 


"he  was  caught  by  his  dangling  extremities. 


ment,  and  the  rascal  seemed  to  have  espied  on  tin 
bridge  floor  some  signs  of  the  recent  battle.  He 
began  to  walk  slowly  about,  keeping  up  his  pro- 
menade for  some  moments.  Then  he  came  to 
the  edge  of  the  bridge  and,  as  we  judged,  peered 
down  into  the  trench.  Something  had  manifestly 
aroused  his  suspicions. 

To  our  deep  consternation,  directly  after  this 
a  white-peaked  head-gear  came  in  sight  over  the 
side  of  the  bridge  platform  ;  then  the  two  eye- 
slits  in  an  "Avenger's"  white  mask  slowly  showed 
themselves  as  the  rascal  strove  to  peer  into  our 
dark  hiding-place  by  lying  flat  on  his  stomach. 
The  darkness  was  too  intense  in  the  little  shelter, 
however,  or  the  spy's  position  was  too  uncomfort 
able.  Anyway,  the  white  head-gear  disappeared, 
and  in  its  stead,  almost  immediately,  a  man's 
legs  appeared,  clad  in  a  pair  of  everyday  home- 
spun trousers,  the  enveloping  shroud  having 
been  caught   back  on  a  nail. 

As  a  rule,  to  be  sure  of  a  welcome,  visitors 
should  always  await  invitations  before  appearing 
in  strange  places — even  when  those  places 
happen     to     be    the    dark     spaces    underneath 

bridges.  Although 
the  individual  in 
question  had  not 
observed  this  social 
regulation,  he  yet 
found  himself  ac- 
corded an  unex- 
pectedly warm 
reception,  probably 
the  most  fervid  one 
of  his  life. 

Before  the  man 
knew  where  he  was 
he  was  caught  by 
his  dangling  ex- 
tremities and  jerked 
down  off  the  bridge. 
Once  brought  in- 
side, his  hosts— 
now  rapidly  becom- 
ing expert  in  bind- 
ing and  gagging 
hostile  "Aven- 
ers  "  —  soon  had 
stowed 
alongside  the 
rascals  who 
preceded  him. 
had  left  a  good 
share  of  his  white 
garb  behind  him 
in  his  rather  un- 
conventional en- 
trance ;  but  what 
was     left    of     it 


him 


up 
two 
had 

He 


rill     WIDE    wok  l.D    MAGAZINE 


5  gi  gs  for  his  own  safe 

It  is  unn  give  a  detailed  descrip- 

>ur  flight  through  the  trench.     We  made 

...-.  ,   it  without  mishap.      Our  latest 

aptives    were    naturally    left     behind, 

igl    we  set  them    up  against    the  bridge  sun 

the  wet.     We  had  no  love  for  the 

ther  were  we  bloodthirsty. 

:n  came  up  just  as  we  were  in   sight  of 

■•  quart*  Being  anxious  to  know 

finite     about    our    pursuers    we 

climbed  a  little  way  up  the  muddy  hanks  of  the 

ch,    and    were    immediately    rewarded    by 

e   about   a   do/en   of  the  scoundrels  some 

ance  ahead  making  their   way  into   hiding- 

-     i  the  high,  thick  brush  which  skirted  the 

upper  end  o\   the  cotton-field.      By  hiding  here 

ley  would  have  a  pretty  clear  view  of  the  yard 

it   the  sin-house  and   the    rear  of   the   big 

nansion-   in   which,   of  course,    the   miscreants 

sed  we  were  by  this  time  concealed. 

An  incident  occurred  when  we  came  to  climb 

out  of  the  trench  which  gave  us   a   good    laugh, 

in  -  ing  <  h  >se  to  collapsi  . 

Where  the  big  drain   cut  through   behind  the 

.   rters"  a    large  enclosure  was   formed   by  a 

board  fence,  shutting   in    three   sides,   and 

.  of  cabins  in  front.      The  spaces  between 

•ins  were  also  boarded  up  as  high  as  the 

We  knew  it  was  not   sale  to  attempt  to 

h    the     mansion     in     direct     range     of    the 

lemies  oncluded   to  leave  the 

i  in  this  enclosure  where  they  couldn't  see 

nd  then  betake  ourselves  for  the  present  to 

'  '       cabins.      There  had  been  none  of  the 

■  iks  on  the  place,  as  it  happened,  when  I 

icle  being  down  at  his  lower  plantation 

the  rest  of  them  on  a  visit  to    Montgomery. 

I  would  learn  from    the  negroes  in  the  cabins  if 

jncle  had   returned,  and,  if  so,  gel  word  to 

him  privately  of  cur  whereabouts. 

had  been  a  night   ol   deep  excitement 

imong  _  They    had   seen    the   high 

it    into    the    sky    from    the    burning 

up  :  and  the  more  superstitious  ones  had  at 

first  thought  it  was  the  millennium. 

H  the     chool-teacher's    negro    driver 

his    way    to     the    plantation     afoot 

during  the  night,   scared  out  of  his  darky   wits. 

and  had  told  of  the  fracas  at  the  inn     after   a 

1     style    of   his    own-  and    of   the    "  voting 

with  the   Yankee   boy  to  the 

This    had    frightened    the    blacks    in 

"young  marstei  lalf.     Anion:;  them  were 

some  very  brave  men.     These    began   instantly 

-ganize  a  posse  of  volunti  m  among  i 

their  fellow  plantation   hards  to   go  to  "  young 

mar-  ue.      1  hey  had  started  late  with 


the  organizing,  ami  daylight  found  them  gathered 
in  front  of  the  negro  cabins   in   excited  groups. 

All  at  once  they  saw  three  beings  who  had 
arms  and  legs,  but  who  were  otherwise  unlike 
anything  human  they  had  ever  beheld.  One  cf 
the  creatures  was  a  coal  black  giant,  whose  eyes 
rolled  as  the  eyes  of  an  ogre  are  supposed  to 
roll  :  he  had  long  strips  which  had  evidently 
been  torn  from  human  shrouds  wrapped  about 
his  head  and  neck.  The  terror-stricken  negroes 
felt  confident  that  three  ogres  wen1  now  trying 
to  capture  and  devour  them.  The  giant's 
two  males,  while  slightly  shorter  in  stature  than 
himself,  were  equally  fierce  ;  and  upon  leaving 
the  trench  they  all  started  savagely  in  a  crouch- 
ing run  towards  the  group  of  darkies,  who  with 
one  accord  turned  to  fly. 

Suddenly  one  of  the  negroes  heard  the  well- 
known  voice  of  "young  marster "  calling  him  by 
name  and  commanding  him  to  stop.  Even 
then  it  took  some  time  to  reassure  the  frightened 
negroes  that  the  three  creatures,  who  were  encased 
in  black  trench  soil  from  head  to  feet,  were 
really  "young  marster"  and  his  human  com- 
panions. Then  we  informed  the  black  men 
that  they  were  on  the  eve  of  a  visit  from  a  band 
of  more  dangerous  beings  than  ogres,  telling 
them  about  the  band  of  "Avengers"  who  were 
hiding  in  the  cotton-field. 

We  soon  learned  that  my  uncle  had  not 
yet  returned  from  his  other  place  ;  and  then, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  eager  but  somewhat 
shamefaced  negroes,  we  entered  one  of  the 
large  cabins  and  began  to  scrape  the  thickest  of 
the  rnud  off  our  faces  and  clothing,  1  mean- 
while explaining  to  the  school-teacher  and  the 
negro  guide  the  scheme  I  had  in  mind,  by 
means  of  which  1  proposed  to  set  them  upon 
their  way  to  safety,  directly  under  the  eyes 
of  the  rascals  who  were  hidden  in  the  brush 
and  by  this  time,  no  doubt,  watching  the 
yard. 

At  this  season  of  the  year  the  planters  were 
busily  engaged  in  moving  their  cotton  crops — 
loaded  on  heavy  drays,  drawn  by  several  yokes 
of  oxen  each  -to  the  Black  Warrior  or  Tom- 
bigbe  rivers,  either  of  which  crooked  streams 
was  twenty  miles  distant.  In  the  course  of 
time  lazy  little  side-wheeler  cotton-boats  called 
at  the  river-landings  for  the  stacks  of  five- 
hundred-pound  "bags"  of  cotton,  which,  piled 
in  walls  from  the  decks  right  up  to  the  two 
black  funnels,  were  leisurely — everything  "down 
South  "  is  leisurely — conveyed  to  the  great  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

Stationed  upon  the  high  driver's  seat  of  the 
loaded  drays  were  solitary  negroes,  called  the 
"  bosses,"  while,  armed  with  long,  steel-headed 
goads,    other    black     men     rode    on    horseback 


THE    "WHITE    A  VENDERS." 


359 


THE    TERROR-STRICKEN     SEGROES    I  HIT   CONFIDENT    THAT     I'HREE    OGRES    WERE    Now     TRYING    TO    CAPTURE    THEM. 


alongside  to  guide  the  movements  of  the  plod- 
ding beasts  and  keep  them  going. 

My  scheme  for  outwitting  the  watchful 
"  Avengers"  was  the  simple  one  of  blacking  the 
school-teacher  up  as  one  of  these  "  bosses  "  and 
putting  him  in  charge  of  one  of  the  loads, 
which,  fortunately,  were  to  leave  the  plantation 
early  that  morning.  The  negro  was  to  take  the 
place  of  a  mounted  guide. 

The  school-teacher,  of  course,  would  have  to 
doff  his  own  clothes  and  put  on  one  of  the 
regulation  garbs  of  the  plantation  hands — a 
broad  palmetto  hat,  checkered  nankeen  blouse, 
and  linen  trousers.  He  would  also  have  to 
go  barefooted,  as  the  field  hands  invariably 
eschewed  foot-wear,  so  that  his  feet  and  ankles 
would  also  have  to  be  well  blackened.  In  the 
darky's  case,  he  would  be  well- enough  disguised 
by  simply  changing  the  ragged  garments  he  had 
on  for  a  regulation  plantation  garb. 

I  thought  it  wise  to  assume  one  of  the  negro 
wagLon-men's  disguises  myself.  Otherwise  I 
should  have  had  to  remain  hidden  while  my 
companions  were  putting  the  plan  through  ;  for 
if  the  sharp  eyes  which  would  be  following 
every  move  being  made  by  the  pretended  group  of 
teamsters  fell  upon  me  undisguised  they  would 
have  instantly  suspected  the  trick. 

Well,    everything    was    ready    for    the    move 


toward  the  loaded  drays  in  about  twenty 
minutes,  the  negroes  entering  into  the  rather 
risky  "  frolic  "  in  great  glee.  It  appealed  exactly 
to  their  peculiar  ideas  of  sport  and  adventure. 
I  expected  to  receive  the  attentions  of  the 
"Avengers"  to  my  personal  self  a  little  later, 
but  it  was  the  same  chance  I  had  been  taking 
for  months,  in  common  with  all  the  planters 
in  the  neighbourhood  who  dared  to  make 
antagonists  of  the  scoundrels. 

That,  however,  is  a  separate  story.  I  will  only 
state  that  I  have  carried  two  or  three  bullets  in 
my  body  for  over  thirty  years  that  were  fired 
from  ambush  a  few  days  after  the  school- 
teacher's escape,  and  that  the  "Avengers  "  kept 
on  my  trail  relentlessly.  They  were  afraid  to 
attack  me  openly  because  of  their  wholesome 
respect  for  my  uncle.  He  had  once  openly 
defied  their  leader,  Dink  Botsford,  and  his 
gang  of  roughs,  and  had  rescued  from  their 
hands  a  pooi  negro  whom  they  were  about  to 
kill  for  some  trifling  deed  which  had  aroused 
their  ire.  The  old  gentleman  had  showed  his 
contempt  for  them  so  fearlessly  at  that  time — 
calling  Dink  Botsford  by  name,  when  it  wasn't 
considered  etiquette  to  recognise  the  disguised 
scamps— that  they  had  fought  shy  of  him  ever 
since. 

If  tl^ve  was  some-  noticeable  awkwardness  in 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


the  little  crowd  of  negro  teamsters  who  ambled 
he  broad  yard   toward  the  warehouses, 
the  watching  rascals  attributed  it  to  other  than 


the    real 


■a 

cause. 


They    might,    however,    have 


thought  it  odd  when  they  saw  two  of  the  tough- 
ed field  hands  picking  their  way   with  such 
:  the  rough  gravelly  path. 

Perhaps  it  was  the  clumsy  way  in  which  one 
of  the  pseudo  "bosses"  climbed  to  his  high 
ii,  or  the  involuntary  glances  of  apprehen- 
which  he  cast  toward  the  fringe  of  bush  in 
the  neighbouring  field.  Whatever  the  reason, 
the  teacher  was  no  more  than  safely  stationed 
in  the  driver's  seat  the  negro  who  had  been  his 
companion  in 
adversity  astride  a 
young  mule  al 

(which  he 
had  preferred  to  a 
horse)  —  than  a 
dozen  or  more 
white  forms  began 
pushing  their  way 
out  of  the  bush 
and  starting  im- 
mediately on  a 
run  toward  the 
loaded  cotton- 
waggons. 

Upon  reaching 
the  spot,  where 
there  was  now  a 
suddenly  accelera- 
ted movement  to 
get  under  way,  the 
new  arrivals  —  as 
sadly  bedraggled 
and  ragged  a 
dozen  of  once- 
white-garbed  ras- 
cals as  ever  started 
out  upon  a  "visi- 
tation " — at  once 
began  to  form  in 
a  circle  about  the 
foremost  dray, 
which  was  ready 
to  start,  whil< 
long,  lean-framed 
"Avenger,"  the 
apparent  leader, 
walked  direct  to 
the  front  of  a 
conveyance  and  paused  by  the  side  of  the 
high  driver's  seat.  He  rested  his  hands, 
about  which  the  shrouded  sleeves  of  his 
costume  hung  in  tatters,  upon  the  top  of  the 
waggon  wheel  and  peered  up  into  the  face  of 
the  pretended  darky  "  boss,"  having  stood  his 


HE    I  UK    FACE    OF    THE    PRETENDED    DARKY    'BOSS. 


long-barrelled  musket  against  the    side  of  the 
load  of  cotton. 

Before  the  gaunt  "  Avenger  "  could  open  his 
lips  to  speak  there  was  heard  the  loud  clatter  of  a 
horse's  hoofs  from  the  near-by  highway,  and  an 
instant  later  my  uncle,  the  old  planter,  rode  into 
the  yard  on  the  back  of  a  spirited  thoroughbred 
horse,  a  mere  colt,  which  no  one  but  himself 
was  permitted  to  mount. 

I  think  I  have  indicated  the  fact  that  the  old 
gentleman  "was  high  tempered.  He  saw  the 
circle  of  "  Avengers  "  gathered  about  what  he 
supposed  to  be  some  of  his  own  negroes,  bent, 
as  he  also  thought,  upon  one  of  their  pernicious 

"  visitations  "  - —  a 
thing  it  was  tacitly 
understood  was 
not  to  be  indulged 
in.  He  therefore 
rode  up  in  a  quick 
rage  and  confron- 
ted them,  leaping 
from  his  horse,  as 
it  happened, 
directly  by  the 
side  of  the  school- 
teacher on  the 
high  seat,  where 
the  "Avenger" 
had  stood  a  mo- 
ment before.  He, 
however,  had 
stepped  back,  the 
angry  planter 
seeming  to  have 
it  in  mind  to  ride 
directly  over  him. 
Being  excited,  the 
old  gentleman 
handed  the  horse's 
bridle-rein  up  to 
the  person  whom 
he  took  to  be  one 
of  his  negro  dray- 
bosses  ;  so  that 
the  school-teacher 
suddenly  found  his 
troubles  added  to 
by  having  to  bend 
over  in  an  uncom- 
fortable position 
to  cling  to  the 
fractious  thorough- 
bred.    But  this  all  proved  to  be  well  ordained. 

My  uncle  turned  instantly  upon  the  surprised 
"Avengers,"  who  would  much  rather  not  have 
had  the  old  planter  in  the  game  at  this 
stage,  and  asked  them  angrily  what  they  were 
trying  to  do  with  his  negroes.    "  Colonel  R ," 


THE    "WHITE    AVENGERS." 


361 


replied  the  tall  leader  of  the  band — who,  by 
the  way,  was  not  Dink  Botsford  ;  it  developed 
later  that  Dink  was  one  of  those  who  were 
embogged  in  the  swamp,  from  which  he  was  ulti- 
mately released,  half-devoured  with  mosquitoes, 
and  with  a  myriad  of  leeches  fastened  to  the 
exposed  parts  of  his  body. 

"  Colonel  R ,"  said  the  tall  man,  in  re- 
sponse to  the  angry  planter's  attack,  "  we 
understand,  sir,  that  you  are  harbouring  a 
Yankee  nigger-sympathizer  on  your  place  ;  and, 
sir,  we  are  determined  to  have  him.  We  have 
tracked  the  Yank  to  this  spot,  sir,  in  the  com- 
pany of  your  young  nephew  and  a  renegade 
nigger,  and,  sir " 

"  You're  talking  nonsense,  man,"  interrupted 


HE   LEAFED    I.IKE   A    FLASH   TO   THE    BACK    OF    THE    FRANCING    HORSE 


my  uncle.     "  These  are  all  my  own  teamsters, 
every  man  of  them." 

"Tears  like  to  me,  sir,"  the  lean  rascal  inter- 
rupted at  this  instant,  as  he  stepped  forward  a 
foot  or  so  and  pointed  his  ragged  arm  toward 
the  uneasy  youth  in  the  high  waggon-seat,  "that 
if  that's  one  of  your  niggers  he  must  have  a 

The  concluding  instalment  of  this  story  describes  the  young 

school,  his  reluctant  abandonment  of  the  hopeless  enterprise,  and  his  final  escape  to  the  North  and  safety. 
Vol.  xii. — 46. 


powerful  lot  of  white  blood  in  his  veins,  for, 
sure  as  you  are  born,  Colonel,  he's  getting  streaky 
about  his  face.  And  if  I'm  any  judge,  sir,  the 
streaks  are  showing  up  the  white." 

Then,  seeing  it  was  all  up,  the  school- 
teacher sprang  his  daring  coup.  He  leaped  like 
a  flash  from  the  high  seat  to  the  back  of  tin: 
prancing  thoroughbred  horse,  dug  his  heels  into 
the  startled  animal's  sides,  and  was  off  down 
the  road,  bending  low  over  the  horse's  neck  to 
escape  any  bullets  which  might  be  sent  aftei 
him.  He  was  out  of  sight  in  a  thick  cloud  of 
dust  before  any  of  us,  let  alone  the  surprised 
"Avengers,"  had  wholly  realized  the  plucky 
manoeuvre. 

That  ends  the  school-teacher's  adventures  for 

a  time,  so  far  as 
I  figured  in  them. 
The  scene  which 
followed  the 
teacher's  escape, 
to  use  an  expres- 
sion that  you  may 
have  heard  be- 
fore, beggared 
description  ;  but 
after  a  time  my 
uncle  indignantly 
ordered  the 
"  Avengers  "  off 
his  land,  and 
slowly  and  sul- 
lenly they  with- 
drew, a  bedrag- 
gled and  discom- 
fited band. 

The    negro 
guide,  fortunately 
"  blacked  up  "  in 
a  more  permanent 
fashion   than   the 
school-teacher, 
escaped     detec- 
tion, while    I,   of 
course,     even     if 
they    suspected 
me,    was   tempor- 
arily   safe    under 
my    uncle's    pro- 
tection.       The 
negro  got  safely  away   with   the   loaded  drays, 
and    later   joined    the    young    Northerner,  who 
secured   him  work   about   his   school-buildings 
and  helped  him  to  an  education. 

Horace  Johnson  found  no  pathway  of  roses  in 
his  chosen  field,  and  his  subsequent  experiences 
were  extremely  thrilling.     I  will  tell  them  later. 

teacher's  appalling  experiences  after  the  opening  of  his 


r*t 


-*  MAicksDr?  Taggark 


■  >-^>T- 


A  narrative  of  unique  and  pathetic  interest.  Seven  years  ago,  while  climbing  Long  Crag,  in  the 
Ennerdale  district  of  Cumberland,  Mr.  Taggart  lost  his  footing  and  fell  a  distance  of  a  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  on  to  the  rocky  "  scree  "  below.  Strange  to  relate,  he  never  once  lost  consciousness 
during  his  terrible  fall,  and  describes  his  curious  sensations  in  detail.     As  a  result  of  his  injuries 

the  author   has  never  been   able  to  walk  since. 


HEN  strange  experience  has  fallen 
to  the  lot  of  anyone  it  seems  fitting 
that  he  or  she  should  place  on 
record  an  account  of  it,  if  only 
that  something  may  thereby  he 
d  to  the  knowledge  of  the  workings  of  the 
mind. 

And    few,     if    any,    ran 

have      passed      through      a 

similar     experience     to 

mine   on    Bowness    Knott, 

for  an  unusual  combination 

i  ircumstances    left    me 

iscious  to  note  the  ever 

•  hanging  sensations  of 

thought    and    feeling    and 

preserved  my  life  to  relate 

them.     Hence,    over   seven 

years    afterwards,     I      take 

pen    in   hand  to  record    as 

nearly  as    may   be   what    I 

nt  through  on  that  occa- 

It  has  long  been  my 

wish    to    do    this,    but    till 

recently     any     attempt     to 

recall   the   incidents  of  my 

accident  was  attended  with 

injury    to    my    nerves,  and 

when     for    the     first 

time    I    seek    to    set    then, 

fully    down,     I     find    each 


sensation  almost 
each  incident  as 
day  it  occurred. 

Ennerdale  is  o 
Lake  District  dal 
most  remote.     Y 


%m 


THE    AUTHOR,    MR.     M.     IlICKSON    TAG' , A  I;  I  . 

APPEARED  I     CI-IMIt    WHICH 

ENDED    SO    [MSAS1  ROUSI.Y. 


From  a  Photo,  by  Bellman,  Whitehaven. 


as  vivid  as  when  experienced, 
clear  to  my  mind   as  on   the 

ne  of  the  least  known  of  our 
es,  perhaps  because  one  of  the 
et  it  is  not  without  claims  of  a 
special  kind  to  beauty  and 
interest.  It  is  surrounded 
by  some  of  the  most  famous 
English  mountains.  Great 
Gable's  towering  bulk  finely 
heads  the  dale ;  to  the  left 
the  Pillar  stands,  a  noble 
mass  of  rock,  while  on  the 
opposite  side  Red  Pike  rears 
its  graceful  peak  skywards. 
In  July,  1896,  I  went  to 
Ennerdale  to  spend  a  few 
days  with  some  friends  at 
their  farm.  I  had  often 
stayed  there,  for  I  was  a 
welcome  guest  with  the 
hardy  dalesmen,  and  I 
loved  them. 

On  the  Saturday  a  friend 
and  I  together,  but  unroped, 
climbed  the  shoulder  of 
Bowness  Knott  nearest  to 
the  lake.  It  was  a  stiffish 
climb,  but  we  got  safely 
up,    and    descending    near 


MY    LAST    CLIMB. 


363 


From  a) 


DOWNESS    KNOTT,    SHOWING    LONG   CRAG    IN    THE   CENTRE. 


Herdus  were  crossing  the  field  in  front  of  a  rock, 
which  we  afterwards  learned  was  Long  ( 'ray, 
when  my  friend,  pointing  to  it,  asked  me  if  I 
thought  it  possible  to  climb  it.  I  replied  that 
it  looked  difficult,  but  that  one  might  perhaps 
get  up  the  arrete  or  ridge  at  the  right  side. 

"  Well,"  said  he,  "  there  seems  to  be 
scarcely  any  foothold,  and  it  wouldn't  be  safe 
to  attempt  it." 

I  agreed  with  him  and  the  subject  dropped, 
but,  strange  to  say,  it  kept  cropping  up  again 
and  again  in  my  mind,  and  a  day  or  two  later  I 
formed  the  project  of  climbing  it  on  my  way  to 
Gillerthwaite,  which  I  intended  to  visit.  It  was 
running  a  great  risk  for  a  solitary  and  com- 
paratively inexperienced  climber  to  essay  a  diffi- 
cult and  unconquered  crag,  for  it  is  always  a 
help  to  know  that  a  climb  has  been  done  before, 
and,  if  tried  at  all,  this  should  have  been 
attacked  by  two  climbers  at  least  with  a  good 
length  of  rope. 

It  was  nearly  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of 
Wednesday,  the  22nd,  when  I  left  the  farm  for 
my  last  walk — the  last  for  years  at  least,  if  not 
for  ever.  Fate  awaited  me  at  Bowness  Knott, 
and,  all  unwitting  and  unwarned,  I  strode  on  to 
the  meeting. 

Presently  I  found  myself  at  the  foot  of  the 
"  scree  "  below  Long  Crag.  Here  I  sat  down  for  a 
tew  moments  to  reconnoitre  the  face  of  the  rock 
and  choose  a  plan  of  attack.  A  "  chimney  " 
separates  the  crag  from  that  to  the  right,  up  which 
we  had  climbed  a  few  days  before,  and  as  this 


"  chimney  "  is  (juite  prac 
ticable,  I  thought  that  it 
I  failed  to  surmount  the 
cliff  I  might,  perhaps,  be 
able  to  u  traverse"  into  it 
and  finish  the  climb  that 
way.  1  may  lure  say  that 
by  right  or  left  I  always 
mean  my  right  or  left  as 
I  faced  the  rock. 

Some  young  oak  trees 
grew  on  a  kind  of  terrace 
which  projected  from  the 
foot  of  the  crag,  and, 
shading  as  they  did  the 
base  of  the  main  climb 
for  a  few  feel,  lent  a  tic 
titious  air  of  safety  and 
assistance,  for  when  I 
crossed  the  "  scree  "  and 
surmounted  the  terrace  I 
found  they  were  too  weak 
to  afford  any  support,  and 
that  the  rock  face  they  hid 
was  devoid  of  any  save 
the  slightest  footholds.  I 
scrambled  up,  however,  and  emerging  through 
tlic  branches  pushed  on  slowly  but  steadilv,  and 


[P/ioto 


"l    UKGAN    TO   FF.l'.l.    RATHER   NEK> 


;<m 


THE     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


though  1  began  to  feel  rather 
ended  and  saw  the 
lually  recede,  while  the 
1]  impended  tar  above 
nth  never  a  scratch  o\  previous 
climl  nails   to   encourage 

,  I  never  I        ght  o\  giving  up, 
and   ind  re   long    1    doubted 

ther   return    was   open  to   rne, 
though  by 
i   fiend,    I    stretched   dis- 
tances,    on     1  dg<  -    s<  arce    large 
support  to  th< 
;.  which,  in  descending 
with    the   arm    rigid,    would    have 
entailed   a   drop  of  two   or   three 
inches  and  the  risk  of  an  almost 
.in  fall. 

■  limbing  tor  half  an  hour 
or  thereabouts  1  reached  a  ledge  a 
I  height  up  the  right  arrete  :  it 
.    !ar  in  shape,   having  a 
about  a  foot  and  sides  of 
double  that  length,  and,  being  the 
first  large    enough  to  offer  a  seat, 
I     thankfully    sat    down    with    my 
gainst  the  cliff  and  my  legs 
dan_  for  I    felt  exhausted  with 

the    continuous   arm   work.     As  I 
d    there,    admiring   the  lovely 
i  young  people  crossed 
the  field  in  front,  evidently  intend- 
ing to  climb  Bowness  Knott  by  the 
usual  way  near  Herdus.      They  did 
to   notice    me   on    my 
perch,  and  when  they  passed 
I     limbed  on  again. 

I  made  my  way  upwards  to  the 
left  for  perhaps  another  fifty  feet, 
when  I  gained  the  stump  of  an 
oid  oak.,  whose  gnarled  roots  clung 
itely  to  a  longitudinal  crack 
in  the  r*jck,  and  whose  trunk, 
to  judge  from  the  blackened  remnant,  had 
apparently  been  burnt  off  by  lightning.  The 
stump  projected  horizontally  from  the  cliffs  and 
supported  against  it  a  large  loose  stone,  which  had 
slid  out  of  the  crack  or  fallen  from  above. 
When  my  weight  was  superadded  the  tree  swayed 
violently  up  and  down,  the  loose  rock  oscillating 
the  while  in  an  alarming  manner — alarming,  that 

_'ed  in,  its  fall  might  have 
:i  the  precursor  of  that  of  the  tree  and 
;  en  if  the  stone  alone  fell,  as  all 
climbers  well  know,  the  crash  of  a  shattering 
rock  away  below  is  most  trying  to  the  nerves, 
particularly  when  in  an  awkward  position— it 
seems  so  suggestive.  And  certainly  I  was  in  an 
awkward  position.     I  was  only  a  few  feet  from 


CRAG — THE 


WHITE  CROSS   INDICATES  THE  PLACE  FROM  WHICH  THE  AUTHOR  FELL, 

From  a  Photo. 


the  top  of  the  actual  precipice.  That  accom- 
plished, the  rest  was  easy  ;  but  those  few  feet 
possessed  no  excrescence  larger  than  a  fly  could 
have  utilized  for  foothold,  and  were  perfectly 
plumb,  if  not  absolutely  overhanging,  so  that 
my  progress  upwards  was  effectually  stopped. 

One  glance  downwards  told  me  that  there, 
too,  was  no  way  of  escape,  for  sheer  rock 
dropped  below  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  to 
terminate  in  steeply  sloping  "scree";  in  fact,  1 
noticed  that  it  seemed  to  slope  inwards,  so  that 
to  me  the  foot  of  the  rock  was  invisible.  Safe 
descent  alone  and  unroped,  therefore,  was  im- 
possible, and  even  to  attempt  it  would  be 
suicidal.  There  remained  the  sides ;  was  there 
a  chance   of  a  traverse  ?     Not   to   the   left  at 


MY    LAST    CLIMB. 


365 


any  rate,  for  it  was  like  the  side  of  a  house. 
To  the  right,  then  ?  Well,  there  was  a  little 
ledge  on  that  side,  perhaps  about  four  or 
five  feet  away,  from  which  I  might  possibly 
get  round  into  the  "  chimney,"  and,  though 
the  rock  between  slightly  bulged,  I  deter- 
mined to  try  to  reach  it.  Of  course,  there 
was  one  other  way — to  stay  where  I  was  and 
call  for  help  till  someone  heard  and  organized 
a  rescue  party,  who,  having  ascended  the 
cliff  another  way,  would  haul  me  up  by  a 
rope  let  down  for  that  purpose.  I  can't 
really  say  whether  the  idea  of  adopting  this 
plan  occurred  to  me,  but,  if  it  did,  I  can 
well  believe  I  would  hesitate  to  cause  so 
much  trouble  and  such  a  sensation 
while  yet  a  chance  to  escape  unaided 
remained. 

With  the  tree  swaying  and  the  rock 
shaking,  my  nerves  and  limbs  felt  so 
unsteady  that  it  is  extremely  doubtful 
whether  I  could  much  longer  have 
maintained  my  position  even  if  the 
roots  had  held,  which  is  by  no  means 
sure.  Be  that  as  it  may,  I  resolved 
to  try  and  reach  the  ledge.  I  flat- 
tened myself  against  the  rock, 
stretched  as  far  out  to  the  right  as 
was  possible,  and  took  a  firm  hold.  Then 
quitting  my  perch,  even  yet  without  fore- 
boding of  misadventure,  I  swung  myself 
across  to  the  ledge.  My  feet  alighted 
thereon  all  right,  but  just  as  my  body  was 
swinging  forward  to  the  cliff  face,  and, 
perhaps,  at  an  angle  of  fifteen  degrees  from 
it — perhaps  the  sudden  swing,  acting  on 
my  shaken  nerves,  caused  vertigo  —  it 
seemed  as  though  a  hand  fell  heavily  on 
my  shoulder  and  a  sudden  darkness  obscured 
my  vision.  It  was  only  for  the  briefest  moment, 
for  when  the  darkness  passed  I  was  still  in  the 
same  position,  hovering-  over  the  abyss,  as  it 
were,  suspended  by  some  unseen  force.  By 
stretching  out  my  hand  I  could  almost  have 
touched  the  rock,  but  no  effort  was  possible  to 
me ;  I  had  no  point  of  resistance  and  my 
momentum  was  spent.  A  slight  pull  from  a 
friendly  rope  would  have  saved  me,  but  it  was, 
of  course,  not  there,  and  with  a  pang  I  realized 
my  doom  :  I  was  going  to  fall  !  It  seemed 
scarcely  possible.  I  could  hardly  believe  it ; 
but  in  my  heart  I  felt  nothing  could  save  me— 
fall  I  must.  I  uttered  no  cry  ;  my  eyes  closed, 
my  arms  fell  limply  to  my  sides,  and  with  a  dull 
feeling  of  utter  helplessness,  blent  with  self-pity, 
a  vague  wonder  if  this  could  really  be  the  end 
of  all,  I  dr  pped  quietly  off  the  ledge — where  I 
seemed  to  have  hung  quite  a  long  while — and 
passed  swiftly  below  it.     As  my  eyes  closed  I 


I    REALIZED    MY   DOOM  i 
GOING   TO    FALL  1  " 


dimly  saw  against  the  sunlit  rock  a  small  tuft  of 
grass  as  it  followed  in  my  wake,  torn  from  the 
ledge  by  my  boot-nails. 

As  I  fell  downwards,  rapidly  gaining  force 
and  speed,  I  found  myself  wondering  whether  I 
would  be  unconscious  when  I  reached  the 
bottom.  I  doubted  if  the  distance  would  be 
sufficient,  but  I  hoped  it  might ;  for  I  felt  sure 
I  should  be  smashed  to  pieces,  and  in  imagina- 
tion I  seemed  to  see  my  disfigured  corpse  lying 
on  the  "scree."  Then  I  wondered  if  all  the 
scenes  of  my  past  life  would  ri  e  up  be  ore  me, 
an  experience  said  to  be  common  to  drowning 
persons ;  but  falling  may  be  different  in  its 
mental  phenomenon — or  perhaps  temperament 
counts — fori  saw  none.  I  only  seemed  to  be 
looking  down  a  long  avenue  of  trees,  which 
dwindled  away  in  perspective,  until  in  the  far 
distance  the  trees  and  the  intervening  drab  road 
merged  in  one  dark  spot.  No  form  journeyed 
along   that    road,    no   house   of   rest   or    shelter 


:om 


nil      WIDE     WOKLIJ     MAGAZINE. 


.red  it  ;  but  I  knew  it  symbolized  the  road 

o\  life  which  1  had  traversed  since  infancy     the 

_  shrouded  in  the  shadows  of  the  past  ; 

end  invisible  in  th  ■  mists  of  the  future. 

1  falling,  falling,  and  almost   begin 

g  to  think  it  might    be  all  a  dream,  for  I  had 

similar  physical   sensations   in   nightmares. 


But  it  might  not  be,  for  that  instant  my  knees 
touched  my  chin  and  I  fell  backwards,  and,  to 
my  horror,  flew  on,  head  downwards.  It  seemed 
dreadful  to  have  to  fall  on  my  head  on  the  rocks 
below,  worse  than  on  my  feet  ;  but  there  was 
no  help  for  it.  And  still  I  was  falling,  falling, 
and  1  wished    I    might  fall  for  ever  thus  through 


mi.  ii>  imiw: 


rtainly  hoped   it   might   he  so,    though   the 

impression   of  seeing  the   sunlight   recently  was 

r  to  allow  me   to   be  very  sure,  and  in 

there   is  generally  a  lurking  conviction 

of  th  ir  ter. 

-  iddenly   I    was  brought  back  to  the   actual, 
with  a  sud<;  rt,  by  my  feet  crashing  heavily 

the  very  one    I   had  rested 

I  ■  imb(  '1  up,  for  it  was  in  my  line  of  fall. 

not  a   dream,  then.      It  ran  hardly 

I  tfully  thought. 

thought   n  ind   hip-joints 

".  diver*  me  of  tl  e  of  the  blow, 

and  though  my  feet  and  ankli  tunned,  I 

felt    sure    no    bones    were    broken.       My    eyes 

opened  and   I   saw  the  rock   only  a  few  inches 

before   me,  and   for  a   brief  moment  wondered 

f   I  •    •  •  ■        tch  hold  of  it  and   ; 


space  and  never  reach  bottom,  for  the  merely 
physical  sensation  of  falling  is  passing  pleasant. 
But  agonizing  thoughts  are  ever  present,  domi- 
nating everything.  "What  will  the  smash  be 
like?  Will  it  kill  me,  or  shall  I  be  lamed  for 
life?  Will  it  hurt  much?"  Questions  like 
these  chased  through  my  brain,  along  with  regret 
for  my  temerity  and  grief  at  its  result,  and  still 
I  was  falling.  I  wondered  when  I  should  stop, 
it  seemed  such  a  longtime  ;  I  wished  it  was  over 
and  done  with.  I  had  thought  things  fell  more 
quickly  ...  It  seemed  strange  I  was  not  yet 
unconscious. 

Again  I  struck  against  the  cliff,  with  my  left 

shoulder  this  time,  and  with  such  violence  that 

for    a   moment    I    thought    it    was  knocked   in 

My    eyes  opened  and   shut   several   times,   and 

•  eth    gnashed    with    the    concussion,   and 


MY     LAST    CLIMB. 


367 


then  off  I  bounced  again  all  of  a  heap — legs 
and  arms  wildly  beating  the  air.  Headlong 
down  I  went,  only  to  crash  into  the  rock  again, 
even  more  heavily  than  before,  this  time  with 
my  right  shoulder.  I  began  to  wonder  how 
many  more  smashes  I  was  to  experience  before 
I  reached  the  bottom. 

But  this  was  really  the  last.  I  was  flung 
away  out  from  the  crag,  clear  over  the  terrace, 
to  fall  with  a  sickening  thud  on  my  head  far 
down   the  "  scree."     A  confused   mass   of  stars 


I  wished  I  could  faint  and  thus  cease  to  feel  the 
intolerable  pain  which  gnawed  unceasingly  in 
every   limb,    and    with  the    thoughl  uliar 

feeling  passed  from  my  toes  swiftly  up  my  body 
till   it    reached  my  neck,  when:  it'  stopped  :  an 
indescribably  sweet   sense  of  painlessn< 
rest   succeeded,  and    I   almost   glided   off  into 
peaceful  sleeep.     Just,  however,  as   I  was  yield 
ing  to  the  grateful  influence  it  occurred   to   mi 
that  I   might,  perchance,   never  wake  again.      I 
felt  sure  1  was  going  to  die,  but  life  yet  remained; 


I    was    illm;   away    OUT    FROM    THE   CRAG. 


danced  before  my  eyes,  a  sudden  pain  shot 
through  my  neck,  I  heard  an  unpleasant  scrunch 
in  it  as  though  a  bone  had  cracked,  and  I  col- 
lapsed face  downwards  on  the  stones — inert, 
almost  lifeless,  but  still  conscious. 

For  a  little  while  I  felt  almost  afraid  to  think, 
for  fear  I  might  find  1  was  dead,  but  soon  I 
knew  I  was  alive  by  the  frightful  pain  which 
pervaded  my  whole  body.  I  felt  as  though  I 
were  one  big  bruise.  I  feebly  wondered  what 
the  extent  of  my  injuries  might  be.  I  knew  they 
must  be  serious,  for  when  I  tried  to  move  nothing 
stirred  ;  I  only  felt  a  sickening  feeling.  I  could 
see  my  feet,  but  they  had  a  strange  look  as 
though  they  didn't  belong  to  me  now,  and  for 
the  first  time  they  refused  to  obey  my  will. 
It  occurred  to  me  presently  that  my  neck  was 
broken,  and  that  consequently  I  was  paralyzed. 


I  would  make  an  effort  to  light  the  numbing 
influence  and  keep  awake. 

In  some  way  my  left  arm  was  stretched  across 
my  nose  and  mouth,  and  I  found  I  was  likely  to 
be  suffocated  if  I  didn't  change  my  position 
soon.  I  made  another  strenuous  effort  to  move, 
and  was  pleased  to  feel  my  left  forearm,  which 
projected  from  under  my  lace,  stir  slightly. 

"Ah,"  I  thought,  "  it  won't  take  much  to  turn 
me  over  on  this  slope."  I  moved  my  arm 
again,  then  oscillated  a  little,  and  locked  more 
violently  :  a  third  time,  and  the  effect  was 
startling.  Over  I  rolled  on  my  back,  but  didn't 
stop;  I  was  off  rolling  down  the  "scree,"  my 
arms  flying  about  in  all  directions,  and  the  back 
of  my  head  and  my  face  alternately  crashing  into 
the  rocks  at  each  revolution.  I  began  to  think 
this  would  finish  me  altogether,  and  to  regret   I 


l'Ml      WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


hadn't  where     I    was.    when,    with    an 

a    stop,    luckily  face 

rocks  which  stood 

ve  the  others.     1  was  tightly  jammed  in, 

ead  hai  >v<  r  the   edge  o(  the 

\.  l   .,\  w  whether  my  injuries  would 


I    WAS   TIGHTLY    JAMMED    IN 


much  aggravated  by  this  fresh   misfortune,   I 
rani  shouting  and  the  barking  of  dogs 

I  i      lus.      In  the  bewildered  state  of  my 
brain  I  imagined  my  friends  were  out  searching 
me  with  dogs,  and  I   thought  with  pleasure 
ton    find    me,   not  realizing   how 
•he  time  actually  was  since  I  left  them  and 
unlikely  it   was  they  could  know  anything 
ng.      A  itter   of  fact,  at  that  very 

moment  my  friends  were  looking  from  their  hay- 
I  at  a  man  on  Herdus     probably  some  shep- 
ng  his  sheep     and  surmising  it  was 
I.     Thi  ght  I  had  safely  surmounted  the 

-    and   t  'lie  up  then 

■  bile  all  the  time  I  was  lying  compara- 
tive', them  hopefully  awaiting  their  arrival 
and  the  help  they  would  so  gladly  have  rendered 
had  they  only  known. 

I  listened  to  the  barking  as  it  rose  and  fell 
with  tie  movements  of  the  dogs,  till  finally  to  my 
dismay  it  died  away  altogether.  Then  I  thought 
of  the  party  who  passed  when  I  was  climbing 
and  I  watched  for  their  return,  for  the  position 


of  my  head  gave  me  the  chance  of  seeing  the 
road.     Soon   they  appeared  crossing  the  field. 

I  tried  to  call  for  help,  but  no  sound  issued  from 
my  parched  lips  ;  my  throat  seemed  choked  up, 
and  my  chest  felt  as  though  it  were  crushed.  I 
tried  again  and  again,  and  at  length  produced  a 
faint  kind  of  screech,  which  sounded  so  strangely 
in  my  ears  that  at  first  I  didn't  recognise  it  as 
my  own   voice.      Still    I    persevered.     "Help! 

I I  rip  !  Help  !  "  each  time  rather  stronger,  when 
suddenly,  just  as  I   began  to  think  one  of  them 

might  hear  me,  they  all 
took  to  their  heels  and 
ran  out  of  sight.  This 
was  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  me,  but  I  hadn't 
strength  to  shout  on  the 
chance  of  someone  un- 
seen hearing  me ;  so  I 
closed  my  eyes  to  listen 
for  another  passer-by. 

It  seems  strange  that 
whereas  shortly  before  I 
could  debate  the  pros 
and  cons  of  dying  with- 
out an  effort  to  save 
myself,  now  that  I  had 
really  chosen  to  make  a 
fight  for  it  I  felt  an 
overwhelming  desire  —  a 
positive  craving  —  to  be 
succoured.  I  wanted  to 
die  in  a  bed.  I  felt  sure 
my  neck  was  broken,  that 
my  life  was  forfeit,  but  I 
wished  to  die  with  my 
friends  around  me — not  alone,  unheeded,  and 
unwept  on  those  cold,  insensate  stones.  More- 
over, I  knew  that  were  I  found  dead  my  parents 
would  grieve  the  more  over  my  untimely  fate, 
wondering  how  long  I  had  lain  and  what  I  had 
suffered. 

I  was  by  this  time  very  thirsty,  and  I  thank- 
fully felt  rain  beginning  to  fall  on  my  face,  for 
the  day  had  changed.  It  cooled  my  heated 
brow,  and,  opening  my  mouth,  I  collected  a 
little  ti)  refresh  my  parched  tongue  and  throat. 
At  length  the  sound  of  wheels  came  up  to  me, 
and  looking  down  I  saw  two  conveyances  con- 
taining, as  I  afterwards  learnt,  the  choir  of 
Arlecdon  Church,  who  were  on  their  way  to  their 
annual  picnic  at  Gillerthwaite.  I  shouted  as 
loudly  as  I  possibly  could,  but  the  wheels  drowned 
my  feeble  cries,  and  soon  the  traps  passed 
round  the  corner  and  out  of  sight.  My  second 
chance  had  gone,  and  again  I  was  left  to  my 
fate.  From  this  time  onwards  I  retained  only 
a  confused  recollection  of  what  passed.  When 
I  looked  up  I  saw  the  sky,  when  I  looked  down 


MY    LAST    CLIMB. 


369 


the  lake  met  my  gaze,  and  at  length,  both 
appearing  equally  blue,  I  ceased  to  distinguish 
the  one  from  the  other. 

I  began  to  despair  of  being  found  alive,  and 
to  wonder  how  long  it  would  be  before  my 
endurance  failed.  I  wished  it  might  be  soon— 
that  I  could  die,  were  dead,  had  never  been 
born.  I  hardly  knew  where  I  was,  only 
that  I  was  very  miserable  and  seemed  to 
have  been  there  an  incalculably  long  time.  I 
may  have  slept  at 
times  or  swooned, 
I  cannot  say,  but 
I  was  not  aware  of 
any  such  mitiga- 
tion or  respite.  I 
was  only  conscious 
of  an  ever-present 
horrible  nightmare 
of  pain,  grief,  and 
anxiety,  which 
seemed  to  have 
held  me  in  its 
horrid  clutch  for 
ever.  Suddenly  I 
heard  the  sound 
of  wheels  ;  they 
stopped,  and  I 
heard  voices.  My 
failing  conscious- 
ness revived,  my 
desire  for  life  re- 
turned, and  with 
the  energy  of 
despair — for  I  felt 
it  was  my  last 
chance  —  I 
screamed  for  help. 
The  talking  con- 
tinued ;  I  fancied 
they  were  speak- 
ing of  me,  and 
hope  sprang  afresh 
in  my  breast. 
They  had  heard 
me;  soon  they 
must  find  me  and  get  me  to  Croasdale. 
Ah  !  the  talking  has  ceased ;  they  are  coming 
now  !  What  ?  Is  that  the  wheels  again  ?  It  is  ; 
they  are  going  !  It  can't  be.  Yes,  it  is  !  Oh, 
heavens  !  they  are  leaving  me ;  they  haven't 
heard — my  last  chance  is  gone  !  But,  no,  I 
wouldn't  give  in  yet ;  I  would  die  fighting;. 
1  gatnered  myself  together  for  a  final  effort, 
"  Help  !  Help  !  Help  !  "  I  screeched  rather 
than  called,  and  this  time  they  h  ard  me.  Yes, 
thank  Heaven !  they  heard  me  at  last,  for  a  voice 
said  with  decision,  "There  is  someone  calling." 

I  felt  rather  than  saw  that  someone  jumped  the 
Vol.  xii.— 47. 


A   YOUNG   MAN   STOOD   OVER    ME    UTTERING   WORDS    OF    1'ITV   AND    INQUIRY. 


wall  and  disappeared  under  the  trees.      His  feet 
were    crushing     the     d^dd     branches  ;    he 
coming  !     Still  I  shouted  on.     A    voice  called, 
"All    right,    I'm    coming,"    but    I     dared    not 
stop.     Feet  scrambled  up  thi  n  e,"  yet  still 

I  sen  amed  ;  I  dared  not  take  any  chances.  A 
dark  shadow  came  between  my  eyes  and  the 
sky,  and  I  gratefully  closed  them,  for  a  young 
man  stood  over  me  uttering  words  of  pity 
and   inquiry.       I    was   saved   at   last,    and   my 

vigil  on  Bow  1 
Knott  was  ended. 
Tin-  first  thing 
to  do  was  to  place 
me  with  my  head 
up  the  bank,  and 
this  my  finder  did 
at  once,  with  diffi- 
culty extricating 
me  from  my  rocky 
bed,  I  was  so 
tightly  jammed. 
He  then  sent  a 
boy  who  had 
accompanied  him 
after  the  trap,  now 
vanishing  in  the 
distance,  and, 
putting  his  hands 
to  his  mouth, 
gave  vent  to  a 
succession  of 
"  Coo  -  00  - ees " 
whose  strength 
and  clearness,  as 
they  rang  out  over 
the  fields  and 
roused  the  echo*  s 
of  the  hills,  showed 
me  very  forcibly 
how  little  chance 
my  feeble  shouts 
had  of  reaching 
far.  Soon  several 
men  could  be 
seen  running  from 
Mireside  and  Ronten,  and  while  awaiting  their 
arrival  I  briefly  told  my  deliverer  who  I  was  and 
how  I  came  to  be  there. 

My  rescuer,  as  I  afterwards  learnt,  was  Mr. 
John  Sewell,  of  Lamplugh,  a  writer  of  tales  in  the 
Cumbrian  dialect  and  a  poet  of  no  inconsider- 
able merit.  As  several  men  had  now  arrived, 
Mr.  Sewell  dispatched  one  to  Croasdale  with 
directions  to  summon  the  nearest  doctor  and 
wire  to  my  parents.  I  objected  to  this  latter 
course,  for  I  knew  it  would  upset  them  ;  but, 
when  'I  reflected  that  I  was  to  have  returned 
home    the    following     morning,    I    acquiesced 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     M.W.A/.INE. 


in  iuld    not    be   hid, 

1    now  realizi  the   first   time   that  it 

wner  of 

the  trap  now  came  up  wit:  They  spread 

ut,  laid  me  upon  it,  and  lour  of  them,  taking 

irted    to  carry  me  down  the 

uncertain 

thold    and  sional  stumble, 

it     care     the     bearers 

ral    upset,   and    soon    laid     me 

the  bottom.      When  we  reached 

the  road  th  -  waiting,  into  which  I  was 

and  laid  in  the  bottom  ;  then   it  rolled 

supporting    my   feet— which   pro- 

trud  rably  past  the  end — and    others 

sing  the  trap  at  the  sides  when 
it  jolted  over  stones  and  inequali- 
As  we  passed  along  the 
road  our  following  was  continually 
augmented,  and  by  the  time  the 
farm  v  I  quite  a  corteg 

surrounded  me.  They  carried  me 
into  the  parlour  and  laid  me  on 
the  floor  to  wait  till  they  got  a 
bed  set  up  there.  It  was  then 
about  five  hours  after  my  setting 
out  in  the  afternoon.  By  the 
time  the  bed  was  ready  the  doctor 
arrived  and  at  once  ordered  them 
to  get  me  into  bed,  where  I  was 
surrounded  with  hot  bottles  and 
given  hot  drinks,  for  with  the 
shock  and  lying  so  long  in  the 
rain    I  rely    chilled.     It 

seemed  that  when  our  messenger 
hed  the  farm  one  of  the  young 
men  had  just  arrived  with  a  cart 
of  hay,  and  he  at  once  took  the 
horse  out  of  the  shafts  and 
galloped  off,  astonishing  the 
villagers  of  Kirkland  as  he  dashed 
through,  with  the  sparks  flying 
from  his  horse's  hoofs.  His  haste 
fortunate,  for  the  doctor  was 
seated  in  his  trap,  on  the  point 
of  setting  off  to  visit  one  of  his 
patients.  He  very  kindly,  however,  came  to 
see  me  first.  He  told  me  that  apparently 
no  bones  were  broken;  and  I  was  so  rejoiced 
think  my  neck  wasn't  fractured  that  I 
exp  I  should  be  well  again  in  a  few  days, 

dreamt  of  my  spinal  cord  being  injured, 
I  put  down  my  paralysis   to  shock,   which   I 
hop  >n  pass  off.     The  doctor  did 

not  undeceive  me,  and  wisely  so,  for  the  dis- 
appointment might  have  entirely  quenched  the 
tiny  spark  of  life  which  faintly  glowed  within 
me,  and  which  hope  renewed  was  beginning  to 
fan  into  a  flame.     About  ten  o'clock  my  parents 


arrived  in  a  carriage  in  which  they  had  intended 
10  take  me  home,  but  one  glance  at  my  face 
told  them  that  it  could  not  be.  They  had  no 
idea  of  the  extent  of  my  injuries,  and  were 
greatly  relieved  on  reaching  the  farm  to  hear 
that  I  had  gone  to  meet  them.  They  thought 
I  had  missed  them,  but  soon  found  that 
their  informant  referred  to  one  of  the  young 
men,  and  their  grief  was  all  the  greater  when 
they  entered  my  room  and  I  held  up  my 
left  forearm  and  said,  quite  proudly,  "  See,  I 
can  move  '  my  arm,"  little  thinking  how 
eloquently  such  an  act  spoke  of  my  altered 
state.  The  recollection,  too,  that  they  had 
often    warned   me   not  to    go   into    dangerous 


I    SAID,    QUITE    PROUDLY,       SEE,    I   CAN    MOVE   MY   ARM. 

places  made  the  meeting  more  painful.  I  spent 
a  dreadful  night,  for  I  was  in  a  high  fever.  No 
amount  of  liquid  could  cool  my  burning  throat, 
and  every  few  minutes  I  called  for  help,  for 
the  instant  I  closed  my  eyes  I  imagined  I  was 
still  lying  on  the  "  scree,"  and  indeed  this 
illusion  was  not  entirely  dispelled  till  long 
afterwards. 

Next  day  my  father  brought  a  trained  nurse, 
and  she  and  my  mother  nursed  me.  Every 
morning  our  own  doctor  drove  over  from  White- 
haven and  each  evening  the  local  doctor  visited 
me  ;  for  my  life  was  trembling  in  the  balance, 


MY     LAST    CLIMB. 


37i 


and  only  the  closest  attention  and  unremitting 
care  could  save  it. 

My  nerves  were  completely  shattered.  If  I 
closed  my  eyes  I  called  for  help  ;  if  I  opened 
them  and  saw  someone  who  had  stolen  in 
unnoticed,  or  missed  another  who  had  slipped 
out  unheeded,  I  would  weep  like  a  child, 
though  the  severest  pain  left  me  dry-eyed. 
The  slightest  expression 
of  pity  or  sympathy 
had  a  similar  effect.  I 
don't  know  how  I  lived 
through  it  all,  but  my 
heart  was  strong,  and 
though  it  beat  very 
faintly  sometimes,  yet 
it  still  held  out,  and 
the  hope  of  getting  well 
again  next  day  or  the 
next — or  next  week  at 
the  latest — always  en- 
couraged me  to  perse- 
vere and,  I  believe, 
tided  me  over  the 
worst  and  kept  me 
alive  till  I  was  strong 
enough  to  hear  how 
seriously  injured  I 
really  was. 

Sixteen  days  after 
my  accident  my  tem- 
perature became  nor- 
mal, and  I  was  taken 
home  in  the  ambu- 
lance. A  few  weeks 
more  and  our  medical 
advisers  summoned  a 
celebrated  Edinburgh 
physician  for  consulta- 
tion, and  it  was  deemed 
advisable  to  tell  me 
that  I  should  not  be 
well  again  for  months, 

perhaps  not  for  years.  It  could  not  safely  have 
been  hid  from  me  much  longer,  for  I  was 
beginning  to  worry  seriously  about  the  shock 
being  so  long  in  passing  off.  It  seemed  that, 
apart  from  my  miraculous  escape  from  being 
smashed  to  pieces  when  I  fell,  few  persons 
would  have  survived  my  actual  injuries,  but 
I   cannot  say  this   thought  softened   the    blow 


A    PRESENT-DAY    PORTRAIT   OK    THE   AUTHOR,    WHO    HAS 

From  a]      able  to  walk  since  his  terrible  CALL. 


greatly,  though  in  my  heart  I  felt  grateful  to 
those  who  had  kept  from  me,  until  1  was  able  to 
bear  it,  the  ill  news  which  might  have  crushed  me. 
It  was  a  terrible  blow  to  me,  but  there  was  no 
help  for  it,  and  I  braced  myself  to  meet  the 
inevitable.  I  had  always  strength  given  me  to 
live  each  day  as  it  came,  and  the  days  merged 
into  weeks,  months,  and  years,  and  still  1  lived 

and  gradually  pro- 
gressed, from  bed  to 
couch,  and  from  couch 
to  arm-chair  and  bath 
chair,  till  now  I  can 
stand  with  help  and 
look  forward  with 
steady  assurance  to  the 
time --now,  perhaps, 
not  so  very  far  distant 
— when  my  restoration 
may  be  complete. 

When  1  look  in  the 
glass  I  see  little  traces 
of  the  features  of  him 
I  used  to  be.  Some- 
times I  almost  doubt 
whether  I  am  the  same 
fellow  who  walked 
from  Croasdale  on  that 
summer  day  in  the 
long  ago.  He  seems 
to  be  a  most  intimate 
friend,  about  whom  I 
know  everything,  but 
who  has  long  been 
dead.  I  hear  him 
laugh,  and  see  him 
dance  about  in  the 
hazy  past,  but  I  have 
forgotten  what  it  fee's 
like  to  walk,  and  our 
habits  of  thought  are 
dissimilar.  I  half 
wonder  sometimes 
whether  I  did  not  really  die  on  Bowness  Knott 
and  some  wandering  homeless  spirit  did  not 
appropriate  my  body. 

But  enough  of  this  ;  there  is  the  law  of  com- 
pensation, and  in  my  helplessness  and  suffering 
the  kindness  and  devotion  of  those  about  me 
and  the  sympathy  and  prayers  of  those  outside 
have  atoned  for  much. 


ot    bi:e> 
[Photo. 


J\  Sonety  Jrans- African    Jromp. 

I'.\     Major    1'.     H.     Powell  -  Cotton    (late    5TH    Northumberland    Fusiliers). 

•  The    Wide    World  "   is    the  first    English    magazine    to    publish    an    account — written    by   the   explorer 

II       of    Major    Powell-Cotton's   great    twenty-one    months'  journey  across    Central    Africa    from 

Khartoum.      The  expedition  may  be  described    as  one  of   the    most    noteworthy  of   recent 

times,  among  its  results  being  the  mapping  of  a    great  extent  "of  hitherto    unknown    country   and    the 

discovery    of     six     new    tribes.       For    over    sixteen     months     the     intrepid     explorer    was    absolutely 

alone    amid    the    savage   tribes  of   Equatorial    Africa. 

I. -FROM  I  HI-  HAST  COAST  TO  LAKE  BARINGO. 


N    my  return   from  garrison   duty  at 

Malta,  to  which  place  I  was  ordered 

directly    I    got    back   from   my    trip 

through     Abyssinia,    it    was     nearly 

•it  months  before  the  old  craving 

for  wandering  in    remote    lands  again    became 

stible.       This    time    I    decided    to    explore 

some   of  the   unknown    parts   of   British    East 

Africa  and  Uganda,  and  to  return  either  by  the 

Congo  or  down   the   Nile.     Some   two  months 

were  taken    up   in    making   my  preparations,  for 

when    one    has    to    depend    on     men     only    as 

transport  every  pound  weight  must  be  carefully 

considered,    and,    while    nothing    necessary    is 

omitted,  no  useless  things  can    be  carried.      At 

all  was    shipped:    rifles    and    ammunition, 

tents  and  camp-kit,  cameras   and   plates,  drugs 

and   provisions,    waterproof  sacks    for    carrying 

.    maps  and   field-glasses,  and  the  endless 

small  things  that  experience  has  taught  me  not 

without,  and  on  which  success  or  failure 

often  d' 

January 
23rd,  1902,  Mr. 
I         1  and 
myself 

er  and,  after 
an  uneventful 
journey 
seilles,  arr 
at  Aden  on 
2nd. 
when  our- 

of  the  offi- 
cial- 1  me 
tod: 

arms 

m  y 
escort. 

the     I;  r  i  ti  sh 
India      steamer 


Irom  a] 


A   GAILY-ATTIRED   CROWD   AT    AN    UP-COUNTRY   STATION. 


Patiala  left  for  Mombasa.  A  nasty  run  down 
the  East  Coast  of  Africa*  landed  us  at  that 
port  a  week  later.  Here  I  found  so  many 
difficulties  put  in  my  way  that  before  I  could 
begin  to  collect  my  caravan  I  had  to  make  a 
twenty -eight  hours'  journey  by  the  Uganda 
Railway  to  Nairobi,  in  order  to  see  the  Commis- 
sioner. There,  worse  luck,  an  attack  of  malarial 
fever  made  my  visit  anything  but  a  pleasant 
one,  in  spite  of  the  hospitality  of  the  officers  of 
the  King's  African  Rifles.  On  my  return  to  the 
coast  with  the  necessary  permits  we  lost  no  time 
in  enlisting  seventy-seven  Swahilis  as  gun- 
bearers,  personal  servants,  escort,  and  porters, 
and  in  buying  clothing,  tents,  and  food  for 
them  ;  rolls  of  cotton  cloth,  bundles  of  beads, 
and  coils  of  brass  wire  as  trade  goods  for  the 
natives,  besides  all  such  tools  as  we  had  left  to 
get  locally. 

On  the  22nd  of  February  we  left  Mombasa, 
the  bulk  of  the  men  going  to  Stony  Athi  Station, 

three  hundred 
miles  in  the  in- 
terior, while  we, 
with  only  a  few 
followers,  spent 
four  or  five 
days  shooting 
on  the  way  and 
then  rejoined 
them.  My  first 
photo,  is  a  snap- 
shot  of  the 
gaudy  crowd 
which  is  to  be 
seen  on  the  up- 
country  plat- 
forms, and  in 
which  the  Masai 
milk  -  seller  is 
a  prominent 
feature. 


{Photo. 


A    LONELY    TRANS-AFRICAN    TRAMP. 


373 


Strengthened  by  twenty  more  porters  from 
Nairobi  and  two  riding  mules,  we  left  the  rail- 
way and  made  a  start  in  a  northerly  direction 
across  the  Athi  Plains,  but  did  not  see  very  much 
game  till  we  approached  Mount  Dony  Sabuk, 
about  forty  miles  distant.  Here  we  found  the 
first  rhinos  of  the  trip,  and  Mr.  Cobb  had  an 
exciting  experience  with  one  before  he  killed  it. 
My  narrowest  escape  from  a  charge  by  one  of 
these  huge  animals  occurred  at  Baringo  (where 
they  seem  to  be  particularly  pugnacious,  as 
another  sportsman  was  badly  mauled  by  one 
some  months  after  my  visit).*  One  afternoon 
we  were  returning  from  an  unsuccessful  search 
for  five-horn  giraffe  when,  in  passing  some  thin 
scrub,  we  came  upon  two  rhinos,  who,  on  catch- 
ing  sight  of  us,  began   shifting  about  uneasily. 


three  yards  distance.  This  made  it  swerve,  and 
as  the  infuriated  animal  dashed  past  me  it 
caught  sight  of  my  gun-bearer  (who  had  not 
fled  so  far  as  the  others)  and  deliberately 
chased  him,  as  he  dodged  among  some  thorn 
trees.  I  ran  after  the  beast,  but  could  not  fire 
for  fear  of  hitting  the  man,  whom  I  saw  suddenly 
fall  down,  while  the  rhino  continued  its  course 
over  his  prostrate  body.  We  ran  forward  and 
picked  up  the  gun-bearer,  who  proved  unhurt, 
except  that  his  right  wrist  was  badly  bruised  by 
the  beast  stepping  on  it.  When  we  had  recover*  <  I 
ourselves  a  little  we  found  the  rhino  lying  close- 
by  quite  dead,  and  I  look  a  photo,  of  the 
injured  man  sitting  on  its  back,  while  my  other 
followers  collected  the  things  they  had  thrown 
away    in     their    headlong     flight.       The    only 


From  a 


Accordingly,  I  had  to  take  rather  an  awkward 
shot  at  the  larger  beast's  shoulder.  A  moment 
later  both  animals  were  charging  down  on  us, 
while  my  men  were  flying  in  all  directions. 
The  brute  I  had  fired  at  was  evidently  hit  in  the 
lungs,  for  blood  and  foam  were  dripping  from 
its  mouth  and  being  blown  into  the  air  from  its 
widely-distended  nostrils.  It  evidently  recog- 
nised me  as  its  enemy,  and  galloped  at  me  in 
a  bee-line.  I  hit  it  hard  again  with  the  left 
barrel,  but,  as  I  failed  to  stop  it,  I  turned 
to  run  like  the  rest,  reloading  as  I  went. 
Hardly  had  I  done  so  when  I  felt  the 
ground  shaking  and  could  hear  the  angry 
snort  of  the  brute  almost  on  me.  Jumping 
to  one  side  and  swinging  round  as  1  did  so, 
I    fired   both    barrels    at    its    shoulder  at   some 


*  The  author  evidently  refers  to  Mr.  B.  Eastwcod,  whose  account 
of  his  unique  experience  appeared  in  Thk  Wide  World  Mai.azi.si-: 
for  August,  1903,  under  the  title  "A  Battle  With  a  Rhino."— Ed. 


member  of  the  party  that  seemed  quite  un- 
disturbed was  my  shooting  mule,  which  had 
stood  stolidly  gazing  at  the  proceedings  as  if 
wondering  what  all  the  commotion  was  about. 

After  leaving  Dony  Sabuk  we  crossed  the 
Athi  River  and  got  into  a  fine  lion  country,  the 
first  we  shot  being  an  old  lioness,  who,  after  a 
fruitless  night's  hunting,  was  still  on  the  prowl 
at  midday — a  most  unusual  time.  I  had  just 
shot  an  antelope  and  was  packing  it  off  to 
camp  when  our  paths  met.  With  an  angry 
growl  she  quickened  her  pace,  while  I  jumped 
off  my  mule,  seized  my  -400  cordite  rifle, 
and  fired  a  hurried  shot  which  broke  her  hind 
leg.  Instead  of  coming  for  us  as  I  expected 
she  broke  into  a  lumbering  gallop,  but  my 
remaining  barrel  was  better  aimed,  and,  catching 
her  behind  the  shoulder,  knocked  her  over  dead. 
The  country  through  which  we  were  now  pass- 
ing was  well  watered  and  herds  of  different  kinds 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


. 


THE  AUTHORS  HOME  ON  THE  MARCH 


of  antelopes,   besides    many   zebras,  abounded, 
morning  I   had  a  good  experience  of  the 
»f  the  nativi  of  distance.     The 

caravan  was  to  do  what  they  called  quite  a  short 
march,  while  we  were  to  make  a  wide  circuit  on 
cither  side  in  the  hope  of  running  across  some 
lions  which  had  roared  in  the  night,  but  we  had 
no  such  luck.     On  regaining  the  path  I  expected 


Hastily  getting  into  my 
boots  again  we  started  at 
a  jog-trot  under  a  grilling 
sun — for  the  early  after- 
noon is  always  the  hottest 
part  of  the  day — through 
long  grass  for  the  place 
indicated.  On  arrival  my 
men  said  that  the  lions  had 
moved  off,  and  we  had  to 
slacken  our  pace  as  we  took 
up  the  trail.  One  of  the 
Swahilis  climbed  a  tree,  and 
pointing  in  front  of  us  I 
understood  him  to  say  that 
our  prey  had  gone  in  that 
direction.  Naturally  ex- 
pecting them  to  be  some 
distance  ahead,  I  was  not 
a  little  surprised  when  a 
few  paces  farther  on  three 
lions  suddenly  jumped  from 
the  bush  where  they  had 
been  lying  concealed,  and 
confronted  me  at  less  than 
thirty  paces.  On  seeing  us  the  one  to  our  right 
bounded  off  at  once,  the  one  to  the  left  turned 
slowly  with  an  ugly  snarl,  while  the  centre  one, 
which  had  the  best  mane  of  the  three,  after 
standing  for  a  second  with  his  body  partly 
turned  away  from  us  looking  back  over  his 
shoulder,  was  on  the  point  of  moving  just  as  my 
bullet    struck    him,    and    piercing    his     heart 


{Photo. 


From  a 


I  OWEI.l.-COTTON  S    FINEST   LIONS. 


[I'hoto. 


to  reach  the  carnp  almost  at  once,  but  it  was 
only  after  a  long  and  weary  march  that  we 
reached  it  in  the  afternoon.  I  had  just  sat 
down  to  some  food  when  news  came  in  that 
our   wood-cutters   had   seen    a    troop    of  lions. 


dropped  him  dead  in  his  tracks.  As  I  fired  I 
saw  the  one  on  the  left  spin  round  as  though  to 
charge  us,  but  the  fall  of  his  companion  seemed 
to  upset  his  nerve  and  he  turned  to  bolt,  but  I 
was  too  quick  for  him,  and  a  solid  ball  from  the 


A    LONELY    TRANS-AFRICAN    TRAMP. 


375 


left  barrel  of  my  Jeffery  -400  cordite  raked  him 
through.  He,  however,  disappeared  from  sight 
in  the  long  grass,  and  we  spent  some  time  in  a 
careful  approach,  only  to  find  that  our  caution 
was  unnecessary,  as  he  was  lying  stone  dead. 

A  few  days  after 
we  reached  Fort 
Hall,  the  farthest 
Government 
station  in  that 
direction.  Here  we 
weeded  out  the 
sick  men  and  sent 
them  back  with  the 
Nairobi  porters,  re- 
placing them  with 
a  band  of  Waki- 
kuyu,  wild-looking 
fellows,  with  bits 
of  stick  fastened 
through  their  ears 
and  wearing 
numerous  necklets 
of  fine  iron  chain, 

and  coils  of  brass  and  iron  wire  on  their  arms. 
Their  country  is  one  of  the  richest  in  East  Africa, 
and  we  were  able  to  barter  large  quantities  of 
flour  and  beans  for  beads  and  cotton  cloth.  At 
one  of  our  camps  we  had  a  series  of  dances,  each 


From  a 


BARTERING   WITH   THE   NATIVES. 


to  their  right  legs,  and  a  wild-cat  skin  hung  on 
their  backs,  they  were  a  curious  sight  as  they 
jumped  about  with  the  aid  of  their  long  staffs 
covered  with  monkey  hair.  At  the  conclusion 
of  each  dance  the  performers  separately  hopped 

up  to  us  like  a  frog 
and  then  retired  in 
the  same  fashion. 
While  this  was 
going  on  a  neigh- 
bouring chief  paid 
us  a  visit,  with  a 
crowd  of  his  fol- 
lowers, bringing 
presents  of  sugar- 
cane, flour,  and 
honey.  They  made 
such  a  picturesque 
group  as  they  sat 
at  my  tent  door 
that  I  photo- 
graphed them. 

Having  traded 
enough  food  for  our 
men  we  now  set  out  for  snow-clad  Mount  Kenia, 
said  to  be  the  third  highest  peak  in  Africa. 
During  this  part  of  the  journey  we  had  to  be 
careful  that  none  of  our  men  straggled  or  moved 
far  from    camp  without   being   armed,  for  the 


\Fkbto. 


From  a\ 


A    KIKUYU    DANCE— THE    PERFORMERS   ARE   SMEARED   OVER   WITH    CLAY   IN    DIFFERENT    PATTERNS.  \PhotO. 


performed  by  bands  of  from  three  to  six 
natives— men  daubed  over  with  white  clay 
smeared  into  different  patterns.  Their  heads 
decorated  with  feathers,  a  curious  little  shield 
fastened  to  their  left  arms,   iron  rattles  strapped 


natives   are  a  treacherous   lot   and   had   lately 
been  giving  trouble. 

It  was  in  a  dense  bamboo  brake  on  the  slopes 
of  Mount  Kenia  that  I  had  one  of  my  most 
exciting  experiences  with  elephants  during  the 


nii:   wini:   world   maoa/.ine. 


i  SIDE     I  III      KM 


trip.  One  day,  after  a  fruitless  search  on  the 
higher  slopes  of  the  mountain,  I  was  hurrying 
down  towards  camp,  for  it  was  getting  late,  when 
we  heard  elephants  feeding  close  to  us.  The 
first  gioup  I  approached  proved  to  be  cows,  but 
I  succeeded  in  drawing  back  without  attracting 
their  attention.      I   then   made  my   way,    by  an 

track,  towards  where  another  was  feeding,  in 
the  hope  that  it  might   be  a 
bull,  the  path  being  so  inter- 
laced with  fallen  bamboos  and 
strewn  with  leaves  that  it  was 
not    easy   to    pick  one's    way 
along  without  making  a  noi-c. 
:  .idenly  the  beast  stopped 
ling,  and  after  a  moment's 
heard    it    coming 

iming  towards  us.  The 
path  was  far  too  obstru<  ted  to 
run  along,  even  if  we  had 
known  at  what  point  the 
animal  was  going  to  break  into 

t,  so  there  was  no  other 
course   but  to  stand  where  I 

with  my   600  cordite  rifle 
at    the   shoulder.     The   I 
did  not  keep  me  waiting  1< 
for     suddenly    the     bamh 
parted  and,  with  trunk  raised 
and  ears  sticking  straight  out, 
it  burst  into  sight.    Aiming 
well  as  I  could   for  the  spot 
midway  between    the  eyes,    I 


pressed  both  triggers  al- 
most simultaneously  and 
turned  to  fly.  As  I  did 
so  my  feet  caught  a  fallen 
bamboo  and  I  pitched 
forward  on  the  ground, 
and  a  mighty  crash  told 
me  that  the  elephant  was 
down.  My  second  gun- 
bearer — he  was  the  only 
man  I  had  with  me— 
pulled  me  to  my  feet,  tell- 
ing me  the  beast  was  dead. 
I  found  its  forehead  was 
only  seven  paces  from 
where  I  had  stood,  and 
that  it  was  •  barely  three 
paces  farther  to  where  it 
first  came  in  sight  —  a 
quick  shot  and  a  luckyone. 
The  sun  was  now  rapidly 
sinking,  so  after  taking  a 
few  measurements  of  the 
animal  I  hurried  off  to 
camp.  Although  we  tried 
hard  we  found  no  other 
elephants  on  Mount  Kenia,  so  started  on  our 
journey  across  the  uninhabited  plains  of  Likipia, 
where  we  had  some  fine  sport  with  the  different 
kindsof  antelope,  among  them  bagging  afine  oryx. 
Night  marching  was  getting  just  a  little 
too  lively,  so  we  returned  to  the  forest,  lit 
a  fire,  and,  making  a  bed  of  leaves,  alter- 
nately kept  watch  till  dawn. 


1  /  now. 


ORYX  SHOl  ON  THE  PLAINS  OF  LIKII'IA. 


[Photo. 


A    LONELY    TRANS-AFRICAN    TRAMP. 


377 


Continuing  our  journey  next  morning,  we 
caught  our  first  glimpse  of  Lake  Baringo  lying 
far  below  us,  and  soon  afterwards  I  was  met  by 
a  search-party  from  camp.  Next  day,  as  we 
reached  the  bottom  of  the  escarpment,  a 
party  of  Suk  and 
Wanderobo  hunt- 
ers, who  had  seen 


our  tents  in  the 
distance,  met  us, 
carrying  green 
boughs  as  a  sign  of 
friendship.  They 
were  fine,  tall  men, 
mostly  naked,  the 
Suk  with  their  hair 
worn  in  a  curious 
bag  -  shaped  chig- 
non  that  hung 
down  almost  to 
their  waists,  carry- 
ing their  long, 
slender  spears, 
while  the  Wander- 
obo    Were      armed  From  a  Photo. 

with     both    spears 

and  poisoned  arrows.  They  brought  us  a 
present  of  a  sheep  and  guided  us  to  the 
Government  station,  which  we  reached  two 
days   later.       Here    the    Collector,    Mr.    Hyde 


SUK    HUNTERS — THEY    WE 


trophies  for  him  to  take  home.  After  his 
departure  I  spent  some  two  months  enjoying 
the  hospitality  of  Mr.  Hyde  Baker  and  in  mak- 
ing short  shooting  excursions  in  the  district,  dur- 
ing which  I  had  several  interesting  experiences, 

besides  that  al- 
ready recounted 
with,  the  rhinos. 
The  lake  was  full 
of  hippos  and 
crocodiles.  I  he 
former  we  would 
try  to  approach  in 
a  small  Berthon 
boat,  a  relic  of 
Lord  Delamere's 
expedition,  so  as 
to  get  a  shot  at 
the  brain  when 
they  rose  to 
breathe.  There 
was  only  just  room 
in  the  little  craft 
for  the  two  of  us, 
and  even  then  it 
required  great  care 


not  to  upset.  Even  on  the  smoothest  day  there 
was  such  a  ripple  on  the  water  that  I  found  shoot- 
ing most  difficult  ;  however,  after  many  failures, 
I    one  day  wounded  a   beast.      It   sank,  and  a 


From  a] 


MR.    COBB   AMD    A   CROCODILE    HE   SHOT   AT    LAKE    BARINGO. 


[P/lOtO. 


Baker,  gave  us  a  hearty  welcome,  and  after 
a  few  days'  shooting  in  the  neighbourhood 
the  date  for  Mr.  Cobb  to  leave  me  drew 
near,    and  we   had    a    busy   time   packing   the 

Vol.  xii.— 48. 


minute  later  I  was  nearly  thrown  out  of  the  boat. 
Swinging  myself  round  as  far  as  possible,  I  saw 
the  beast's  great  head  rise  within  a  foot  of  the 
after  part  of  the   boat,  and  fired  into  it,  while 


[yde    Baker 

>r  all 

It 

inches  nearer 

we    must    have 

.   which, 

far  out 

in    the   lake,   would 

meant  the  loss 

rr  rifles,  even  if 

we    had 

in     reaching     shore 
ourselves    without 
ttacked    by 
hippo.       While 
baling  out  the  water 
we    had    shipped,   a 
m  motion 
in    the  distance   at- 
tracted our  attention 
of    foaming    water, 


THE    WIDE    \VORLt>    MAGAZINE. 


i        CARRYING   AWAY    HIPPOPOTAMUS   MEAT    FOR    FOOD. 
From  a  Photo. 


Surrounded   by  a  circle 

nearly     hidden     at     times 

louds  of  spray,    we    could    see    two    huge 

hippos     in    a     desperate    encounter,     throwing 

themselves     half    out    of    the    water    as     they 

attempted     to     gash     each     other    with     their 

idable  tusks.     After  a  fight   lasting  nearly 

an  hour  one  appeared  to  have  got  the  worst 

'  and  tied,  plunging  through  the  water,  some- 

imes   below  it  and  at  others  throwing  himself 

well  above  the  surface  in  his  mad  endeavours  to 

from  his 
an:  .    who 

closely  pursued 
him.  It  was  a 
it,  and 
I  only  wished 
ild  have 
approached 

but     tWO 

ged     hippos 
are 

wide  a  berth 

hours 
I         .   fired 


at  the  beast  that 
so  nearly  upset  us 
its  body  floated  and 
was  towed  to  shore. 
The  skinning — a 
long  process  from 
its  immense  thick- 
ness— had  to  be  left 
till  next  morning, 
when  a  long  proces- 
sion  of  Njemps 
Masai  women  car- 
ried the  meat  to  the 
boma  to  be  distri- 
buted. Meanwhile 
some  of  the  Nubie 
police  were  busy 
skinning  and  clean- 
ing the  skull  to  be 
preserved. 
Among  the  most  interesting  visitors  to  the 
station  were  the  Suk.  This  warlike  tribe  inhabits 
the  country  round  the  southern  end  of  Lake 
Rudolf,  and  it  is  only  quite  lately  that  some 
sections  of  their  tribe  have  been  induced  by 
the  Collector  of  Baringo  to  enter  into  friendly 
relations  with  the  Government  and  move  down 
to  the  western  shores  of  Lake  Baringo.  Every 
few  days  some  of  them  would  come  into  the 
boma  on  some  business  or  other,  where  one  of 
the  chief  objects  of  interest  to  them  was  a  fine 

black  cat,  which 
they  never  seem- 
ed to  be  tired  of 
admiring.  They 
wondered  at  its 
allowing  us  to 
stroke  it,  for 
these  people 
have  nodomestic 
cats,  and  judged 
our  poor  pussy's 
nature  to  be  the 
same  as  that  em- 
bodiment of  de- 
vilry, the  wild  cat 


IATIVE  <i   CLKAN'IN'G   A    HII'PU    HEAD    FOR   PRESERVING. 

From  a  I 'ho  to. 


(To  be  continued.) 


/Mil  ^j. 
Supercargo. 


Bv  Louis  Becee. 

For    some    time   Mr.    Becke   was    supercargo    to    the    notorious    Captain  "  Bully "    Hayes,    the  "  Pirate 

of    the    South    Seas."      In   this  article  Mr.   Becke  describes  his  experiences  on  Strong's  Island,  in  the 

North    Pacific,  after   Hayes's  ship,  the  "  Leonora,"  was  wrecked   there  in  1873. 


USAIE — or,  as  it  is  called  on  the 
chart,  Strong's  Island — is  one  of  the 
most  fertile  and  beautiful  spots  in 
the  North  Pacific.  It  is  the  most 
easterly  of  the  great  Caroline  Archi- 
pelago, is  about  forty  miles  in  circumference, 
traversed  by  a  range  of  forest-clad  mountains 
three  thousand  feet  high,  and  is  marvellously 
watered  by  hundreds  of  streams  debouching  into 
the  sea  all  round  the  coast.  Tropical  and  semi- 
tropical  fruits  abound,  and  on  the  west  or  lee 
side  of  the  island  there  are  miles  and  miles  of 
pineapple  plants  and  mountain  bananas,  growing 
wild  and  furnishing  food  for  the  droves  of  pigs 
which  haunt  the  solitudes  of  the  ranges. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  cast  away  on 
Strong's  Island  on  March  17th,  1873,  ar>d  spend 
nearly  thirteen  of  the  happiest  months  of  my 
existence  there.  The  vessel  in  which  I  was 
wrecked,  and  of  which  I  was  supercargo,  was  the 
brig  Leonora  of  Shanghai,  and  her  commander 
was  the  notorious  Captain  "  Bully  "  Hayes,  about 
whom  so  much  has  been  written.  A  little  over 
a  year  later  H.M.S.  Rosario,  then  searching  for 
Hayes  on  a  charge  of  piracy,  suddenly  appeared 
at  the  island.  To  make  a  long  story  short, 
Hayes  escaped  with  one  companion  in  a  small 
boat,  and  actually  succeeded  in  reaching  Guam, 
over  a  thousand  miles  to  the  northward,  while 
the  writer  was  given  a  passage  in  the  Rosario 
to  Sydney. 

My  connection  with  the  "  Pirate  of  the  South 
Seas,"  as  he  was  called,  arose  in  a  very  simple 
manner.     Two  years  previous  to  the  wreck  of 


the  Leonora  I  was  a  recruiter  in  the  Kanaka 
labour  trade  between  Samoa  and  the  Gilbert 
Islands,  and  was  one  day  asked  by  a  firm  of 
English  merchants  in  Apia  if  I  would  take  a 
small  vessel  of  theirs  to  the  Marshall  Islands 
and  hand  her  over  to  Captain  Hayes,  who  was 
to  sell  her  to  the  King  of  Ahrnu,  one  of  the 
Marshall  Archipelago.  I  consented,  and  after  a 
voyage  of  forty-four  days  reached  Milli  Lagoon, 
where  I  found  Hayes  awaiting  me.  The  voyage 
from  Samoa  had  been  a  disastrous  one,  but  I 
need  not  here  say  more  than  that,  as  a  result, 
the  vessel  was  in  such  a  condition  that  Hayes 
refused  at  first  to  take  delivery.  Later  on, 
however,  we  came  to  an  amicable  arrangement ; 
the  alleged  "  pirate  "  set  his  carpenters  to  work, 
and  the  schooner  was  patched  up  and  sent  to 
Ahrnu  under  the  command  of  a  German 
skipper,  and  my  connection  with  the  matter 
came  to  an  end  —for  which  I  was  devoutly 
thankful. 

I  took  up  my  quarters  on  shore  to  await  the 
arrival  of  either  a  trading  vessel  or  a  whaleship, 
by  which  I  could  return  to  Samoa.  Hayes, 
whom  I  had  previously  met  in  Samoa,  where  his 
wife  and  children  were  living,  told  me  that  I 
might  have  to  wait  six  months  on  Milli  for  a 
ship,  and  urged  me  to  come  with  him  as  super- 
cargo. I  had  always  liked  the  man,  so  accepted 
his  offer  promptly,  and  on  the  following  morning 
we  sailed  on  a  six  months'  cruise  through  the 
Carolines,  Pellews,  and  Marianas.  I  remained 
with  him  on  the  Leonora  till  the  brig  was  lost 
on  Strong's  Island,  and  lived  with  him  on  shore 


rill.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


iiree  months  longer,  when  serious  differences 
■en  us  and  we  parted.     A  reconcilia- 
tion iter,  and  he  urged  me 
to  return,  but  I  declined,  and  from  then  until   I 
..ind    in    the    Rosario    1    lived    in    a 
ten   miles  away   from   where    Hayes  and 
his  ship's  company  had  settled.      It  was  called 
.  and  was  situated   in  Coquille  Harbour. 
side   -one  of   the  most   beautiful 
places  I   have                     during  my  twenty-eight 
rience  in  the  South  Se.ix      The  head- 
man  of  the  village   was   named    Kusis.   and  he 
and  I  became  firm  friends.     "One  ol   Nature's 
noblemen"  is  a  very  stereotyped  phrase,  but  it 
iveys    my    meaning    clearly.       Kusis    was    a 
tleman —courteous,     dignified,     brave,     and 
truthful.      il>    household 
•  his  wife  Tulpe, 
a  handsome,  olive  skinned 
nan    of    about    thirty, 
and    a    daughter      by    a 
mer      marriage  —  a 
merry,  mischievous  elf  of 
ten   years  of   age    named 
Kinie.      When    I   went  to 
live  with  them  an  annexe 
-    made   to  their  dwel- 
ling, and   every  family  in 
the     village    contributed 
iething  for  my  comfort 
and   benefit.      One  sent  a 
sleeping-mat,     another 
a  native  pillow,  another  a 
mosquito  net,  and  soforth, 
and    the   young   men   be- 
n  them  presented  me 
with   a  new  canoe,  a 
of  bonito  rods  and  pearl 
:s,  and  a  basket- 
fulof  beautiful,  hand-made 
dee'            shing  lines. 
With    these    kindly 
ile    the    days     never  the  author, 
_ed     with     me,     and                    Fr°»!  «■  Photo. 
whilst  at    1 1              village 

— he   actually   built   a    new    village— treachery, 

auchery  and  murder,  and  all  that  was  evil 

ran  riot  amon.  rs,   here   at    Leasse" 

one  peaceful  d  led  another,   and   only 

disturbed  by  a  visit  from  some  of 

•  people,  thirty  or  forty  savage   natives  of 

Pleasant  Island,   who,   however,   behaved  them- 

•is   fairly   well   after   compelling   the    Leasse 

people  to   give  them   a   "present"    of  ten   fat 

>ant  Islanders.  I  must  mention, 

:    ■     Leonora   when   she  was 

wrecked,  and  formed  the  retinue  of  four  white 

traders  whom  ■•  conveying  from   Pleasant 

Island    to    Arrecifos     Lagoon—  a    large,    unin- 


habited atoll  in  the  North  Pacific,  densely 
covered  with  coconut  trees.  Hayes  had  taken 
possession  of  it,  and  these  white  men,  their 
wives  and  families,  and  their  savage  followers 
had  been  hired  by  him  to  go  there  and 
engage  in  making  coconut  oil  for  him  for  five 
years.  The  natives  of  Pleasant  Island  are  noted 
for  their  tine  physique,  warlike  disposition,  and 
haughty,  independent  manner.  With  those  on 
board  the  Leonora  I  was  fortunate  enough  to 
be  a  persona  grata,  and  once  when  a  mutiny — 
the  leaders  of  which  were  the  four  white  traders- 
broke  out,  and  Haves  nearly  lost  his  life,  three  or 

J  J 

tour  of  them  entered  my  house  at  dead  of  night 
and,  begging  me  to  keep  silent,  compelled  me 
to  go  with  them  to  a  fishing  hut  situated  a  mile 

away.  Two  of  them  re- 
mained with  me,  one 
holding  me  tightly  by  the 
wrist  for  over  an  hour,  and 
imploring  me  not  to  at- 
tempt to  escape,  or  I 
should  be  killed.  The 
manner  in  which  "Bully" 
quelled  the  mutiny  is  a 
story  in  itself;  he  not  only 
disarmed  the  fractious 
traders,  but  so  placated  the 
fierce  Pleasant  Islanders, 
that  from  that  night  forth 
they  cherished  the  most 
devoted  admiration  for 
him.  My  abductors  stead- 
fastly refused  to  tell  me 
what  was  occurring  in  the 
village,  and  to  the  volleys 
of  abuse  I  poured  out 
upon  them  made  no  re- 
tort— they  merely  gazed 
stolidly  into  the  glowing 
embers  of  a  small  fire 
they  had  lit.  Both  of  them 
were  armed  with  Snider 
carbines,  and.  knowing 
that  they  had  saved  very 
few  cartridges  from  the  wreck,  I  tried  to  bribe 
them  with  a  promise  of  giving  them  fifty  if  they 
would  let  me  go.  They  shook  their  heads 
reproachfully,  and  I  desisted.  About  one  in 
the  morning  a  Pleasant  Island  girl  rushed  into 
the  hut,  and  cried  out :  "It  is  all  over  ;  the  cap- 
tain is  not  hurt.  Tiki  (one  of  the  white  men 
named  Dick)  fired  at  him  twice ;  then  the 
captain  bent  him  and  Pita  (Peter,  another  white 
man)  with  his  fists  until  they  fell  as  dead  men." 
We  at  once  returned  to  the  village,  where  I 
found  Hayes  had  assembled  all  his  people  in 
his  big  house — those  who  were  loyal  to  him  and 
those  who  had  mutinied.     One  by  one,  white 


MR.    IOLTS    I.ECKE. 

I>y   Elliott   <S->   Fry. 


"BULLY'     HAYES'S    SUPERCARGO. 


38i 


and  native,  they  all  gave  him  a  solemn  pledge 
of  obedience,  and  the  whole  thing  ended  with  a 
dance  and  the  consumption  of  much  arrack. 
Hayes  asked  me  to  see  to  the  two  white  men, 
as  he  ''thought  he  had  hurt  them  a  little."  1 
went  to  their  respective  dwellings  and  found 
that  one  had  a  broken  jaw  and  the  other  two 
broken  ribs!  They  were  both  noted  "toughs.' 
and  I  was  not  sorry  for  them.  However,  I 
returned  to  Hayes,  who  came  back  with  me 
and  personally  attended  to  their  injuries. 

In  the  mountain  forest  at  the  back  of 
Coquille  Harbour  wild  pigs  were  very  plenti- 
ful, and  I  was  much  upset  at  not  being  able 
for  many  weeks  after  my  arrival  at  Leasse  to 
accompany  the  native  hunters  who  sallied  forth 
after  them  almost  daily;  for  when  the  brig  was 
lost  I  had  re- 
ceived some 
severe  injuries 
which  practically 
crippled  me  for 
nearly  four 
months.  But  as 
soon  as  I  re- 
covered I  had 
some  glorious 
sport  in  company 
with  my  host 
Kusis  and  a  man 
named  Nana  — 
both  good  sports- 
men. I  fortu- 
nately possessed 
a  Winchester  rifle 
and  a  Snider  car- 
bine, with  plenty 
of  ammunition 
for  both  weapons. 
When  the  Leon- 
ora foundered 
after  striking  on  the 
reef,  she  sank  in  four- 
teen fathoms  of  water, 
and  although  we  had 
time  to  save  all  the 
small  -  arms  and  am- 
munition in  the  main  cabin,  a  number  of 
cases  of  ammunition  for  breech  -  loading  rifles 
and  muzzle-loading  carbines  which  were  in  my 
trade-room  went  down  with  the  brig,  and  we 
never  expected  to  recover  them  again.  But  a 
few  days  after  that  on  which  the  vessel  was  lost 
it  blew  a  fierce  gale  from  the  south,  and  a 
tremendous  surf  resulted  in  our  recovering 
many  treasures  from  the  poor  battered  hull  of 
the  once  beautiful  Leonora — bolts  of  canvas. 
cases  of  axes,  knives,  casks  of  rum,  etc.,  and 
countless    small    articles — all    of    which     were 


either  washed  ashore  among  the  mangrove 
swamps  or  into  shallower  water,  where  they 
were  recovered  by  the  Pleasant  Islanders  diving 
for  them.  One  day — just  after  I  had  quarrelled 
with  Hayes  and  had  decided  to  leave  him 
— a  young  half-caste  Sainoan-American  negro 
named  John  Tilton,  whom  I  had  brought 
with  me  from  Samoa,  told  me  that  he  had 
found  a  case  of  Winchester  cartridges  and 
two  cases  of  Snider  cartridges,  together  with  a 
lot  of  other  things,  in  five  fathoms  of  water,  and, 
with  the  assistance  of  another  man,  had  got 
them  up  on  to  the  reef  and,  unobserved,  carrit  d 
them  on  shore,  where  they  had  hidden  them  in 
a  pandanus-grove.  His  reason  for  his  secrecy 
was  that  as  Hayes  and  I  had  had  a  misa 
(quarrel),  he  thought  that  I  should  at  least  have 
all  the  cartridges  I  wanted 
for  my  Winchester  and  Snider, 
especially  as  "there  was 
trouble  coming  between  Haves 
and  the  white  men." 

He  took  me  to 
the  place  and  we 
opened  the  outer 
cases  —  which 
were  double  tin- 
lined — andfound 
them  perfectly 
uninjured.  Then 
I  had  them  car- 
ried up  into  the 
forest  and  plan- 
ted in  an  old 
native  cemetery. 
From  there  they 
were  taken  by  my 
friends  Kusis, 
Nana,  and  several 
other  Strong's 
Islanders,  and 
brought  over  the 
mountains  to 
Leasse.  I  salved 
my  conscience 
later  on  by  send- 
ing Haves  two 
thousand  five  hundred  each  of  Winchester  and 
Snider  cartridges,  and  wrote  to  him  saying  that 
as  five  of  the  Winchester  rifles  in  his  possession 
were  my  property— I  had  brought  them  from 
Samoa  as  a  private  "  spec  "  -I  thought  we  could 
cry  quits.  He  wrote  me  a  humorous  letter  in 
reply,  and  said  it  was  a  fair  deal  — as  it  was, 
indeed,  for  in  1873  these  weapons  were  selling  at 
a  hundred  and  twenty  five  dollars  each  anywhere 
in  the  South  Seas.  Nowadays  the  latest  model 
(1902)  can  be  bought  for  twenty-five  dollars. 
After   I    had    recovered    from    my   injuries   I 


WE   OPENED    THE   OUTER   CASES    AND    FOUND    THEM    UNINJURED 


1111      WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


njoy  life  as   I   had   never  enjoyed  it 
Idition  to  wild-pig  hunting  there 
And  such  pigeons,  too  ! — 
-  that  haunted  the  mountain  forest, 
the  berries  of  the  white  cedar  trees. 
Two  or  three  days  every  week,  accompanied 
my  native  friends,  1  spent  in  deep-sea  fishing 
alKiut    a    mile   from    the    banier  reef    outside 
uille  Harbour,  where,  at  a  depth  of  seventy 
igbty  fathoms,   dure  was  a  patch  of  about 
ten  .  n  extent  almost   free  of   coral,  and 

rj    by  an  extraordinary  variety  of  fish, 
many  o\  which  were  of  great  size.     There  was 
-  of  trevally— a  fish  much  prized  by 
nal  r   its   flavour — which    grew  to    a 

and  weighed  up  to  one  hundred  and 
•pounds.     Three   of  these  "la'heu,"  as  they 
were   called,  were  as  many  as  our  canoe  would 
hold,  and  we  had  to  stow  them  upright,  for  their 
width-   they  were  bream-shaped — prevented  our 
itig  them  on  their  sides  in  such   a   narrow 
i      ice  suggested  to  Kusis  that  we  should 
iple  of  these  great  fish  on  the  cane- 
work  platform  of  the  outrigger,  where  we  usually 
ried  our  fishing-tackle,  food,  etc. 
1  he    Quarks    would    tear    the    platform    to 
s,    and    eat    us,    as   well    as   the    fish,"  he 
replied,   and   I   quite  believed  him,  for  I   had 
one  day.  when    fishing    off  Cap    Vauvillier  in 
company  with  a  fleet  of  canoes,  seen    a    blue 
shark  of  the  girth  of  a  two-year  old  steer  make 
a  dash  at  the  outrigger  of  a  canoe,  on  the  plat- 
form of  which  were  seated  two  little  girls,  and 
wjth  one  vicious  snap  of  its  huge  jaws  break  the 
outrigger    in     halves     and    capsize    the    canoe. 
Fortunately,  thedather  of  the  children  was  a  man 
of  nerve,  and  as 
the  shark  closed 
his  teeth  on  the 
soft  wood  of  the 
outrigger  pole,  he 
leapt   overboard, 
and     with      one 
stroke    of     his 
heavy    fishing 
knife   disembow- 
elled    the    crea- 
ture.    There  was 
no   great     fu 
made    over     the 
matter,  and    the 
children    were 
heartily     abused 
for  screamii,  _ 
irk     was 
quickly  har- 
1  by  a  man 
oe, 
and     its    huge 


liver  then  secured  to  be  "  tried-out "  on  shore 
for  its  oil. 

In  some  of  the  streams  debouching  into 
Coquille  Harbour  there  were  great  numbers  of 
fish  exactly  like  grayling.  Some  were  quite  a 
foot  in  length,  and  they  afforded  fine  sport  with 
a  bamboo  rod.  The  bait  used  was  a  small  piece 
of  the  tender  flesh  of  a  young  coconut.  Years 
afterwards  I  came  across  the  same  beautiful  fish  in 
the  Island  of  Fotuna,  west  of  Samoa,  and  Father 
Serge,  the  French  missionary  there,  told  me  that 
they  would  take  a  bait  of  either  young  coconut 
or  a  bit  of  ripe  mango  in  preference  to  a  natural 
fly,  or  even  a  fresh-water  shrimp.  In  Jamaica, 
as  many  of  my  readers  may  know,  a  bit  of 
the  Avocado  pear  is  the  bait  for  the  delicious 
mountain  mullet  and  other  freshwater  fish 
which  inhabit  the  rivers  of  the  "  Pearl  of  the 
Antilles." 

The  turtle,  which  were  very  numerous  on  the 
southern  and  western  side  of  Kusaie,  were 
nearly  all  "  hawkbills  " — the  shell  of  which  is 
so  valuable — and  the  natives'  system  of  catching 
them  deserves  an  article  to  itself.  The  ordinary 
green  turtle,  so  common  to  the  low-lying  atolls 
of  the  Caroline  Islands,  were  not  often  seen. 
During  my  stay  on  the  island  I  managed,  through 
my  own  efforts  and  those  of  Kusis  and  Nana,  to 
accumulate  two  hundred  pounds  of  splendid, 
thick  hawkbill  shell,  which  I  afterwards  sold  in 
Sydney  to  a  Chinese  firm  for  twenty  shillings 
and  sixpence  per  pound. 

Half  a  mile  away  from  the  house  in  which  I 
lived  was  an  object  which  aroused  in  me  the 
auri  sacra  fames.  It  was  the  hulk  of  a  small 
vessel    which    had    been    buried    for  perhaps  a 


THE   SHARK    CLOSED   HIS  TEETH    ON   THE   SOFT   WOOD   OF    THE   OUTRIGGER    POLE. 


BULLY"  HAYKSS  SUPERCARGO. 


383 


century  in  the  mud  and  sand  of  a  bank  near 
the  mouth  of  a  creek  flowing  into  Coquille 
Harbour.  About  six  months  after  I  came  to 
Leasse  there  were  heavy  floods,  and  an  enor- 
mous body  of  water  came  down  from  the 
mountains,  carrying  upon  it  huge  forest  trees 
that  had  until  then  withstood  the  most  violent 
storms.  After  the  weather  broke  and  the  creek 
was  at  its  normal  height  it  was  found  that  it 
had  made  a  new  channel  by  sweeping  through 
a  thick  belt  of  mangroves,  and  it  was  whilst 
some  children  and  I  were  exploring  this  channel 
that  we  found  the  hulk,  which  was  buried  up  to 
within  a  few  inches  of  the  deck.  From  the 
deck  itself  nearly  everything  had  disappeared, 
except  a  few  of  the  for'ard  stanchions.  The; 
planking  was  covered  with 
soft  mud,  but  it  was  easy 
to  see  the  coamings  of  the 
fore  and  main  hatches,  the 
outlines  of  the  fore-scuttle, 
and  the  companion  en- 
trance. There  was  a  short 
raised  quarter-deck  about 
two  feet  high,  and  I 
judged  her  to  have  been 
a  vessel  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  tons.  She 
had  been  barque-rigged, 
for  the  stumps  of  her  three 
masts  were  showing  ;  that 
of  the  mizzen  had  for  some 
reason  been  sawn  across, 
for  the  top  of  it  was  quite 
flat.  We  took  our  fish 
spears  and  felt  down  the 
main  hold  and  cabin,  the 
mud  yielding  easily. 

Presently  we  were  joined 
by  a  number  of  men,  who 
were  astonished  at  the  dis- 
covery, and  said  they  were 
sure  that  there  was  no  one 

living  on  the  island  who  could  tell  anything 
whatever  about  the  ship.  I  nodded,  but  said 
nothing,  for  even  as  late  as  1830  the  Strong's 
Islanders  were  notorious  for  their  cutting-off 
propensities,  and  many  a  whale-ship  or  trading 
vessel  had  been  captured  by  them  and  their 
crews  ruthlessly  slaughtered. 

Aided  by  the  village  children,  I  devoted  a 
week  to  clearing  the  cabin  of  mud,  by  throwing 
it  out  of  the  two  stern  ports  into  big  pits  we 
dug  under  the  counters,  but  discovered  nothing 
but  the  ordinary  cabin  fixtures.  Even  the  doors 
had  been  removed,  and  all  the  brass  hinges,  etc., 
were   missing.      This   convinced    me    that    the 


vessel  had  been  looted  by  the  natives,  and  I 
heard  long  after  I  left  the  island  that  the  < 
of  H.M.S.  /.tune  in  1863  found  two  brass 
cafnons,  some  muskets,  etc.,  secreted  in  s< 
caves  near  Coquille  Harbour.  I  got  a  couple 
of  lads  to  make  a  hole  in  the  mud  in  the  main 
hold  big  enough  for  one  of  them  to  reach  the 
bottom,  and  a  thrill  of  excitement  went  through 
me  when  he  called  out  that  he  was  standing  on 
"  small  square  things  as  heavy  as  iron  !  "  He 
prised  one  loose  after  some  difficulty,  and  sent 
it  up  to  me  in  a  basket.  I  turned  it  out  on  the 
deck,  scratched  the  black  mud  off  it  with  my 
knife,  and  found  it  was  — a  paving-sto  There 

were  doubtless  many  hundreds  of  them   in  the 
lower  hold,  where  they  were  perhaps  carried  as 


"l    SCRATCHED    THE    BLACK    MUD   OFF    IT    WITH 
MY    KNIFE." 

ballast,  unless,  as  I  could  imagine  from  their 
smoothness  and  hardness,  they  had  been  in- 
tended as  fire-bricks. 

After  this  disappointment  I  did  not  continue 
my  researches.  I  may  add  in  conclusion  that 
the  vessel  was  teak-built,  and  her  decks  and 
timbers  were  quite  sound.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  months,  during  a  westerly  gale,  she  was 
again  completely  covered  up. 

I  left  Kusaie  with  a  sincere  feeling  of  regret, 
and  was  intensely  pleased  to  visit  it  again 
in  1880. 


c-e. 


iAPEXOR 


1 


tu  Haul  a  Millionaire  became 
*:fR  '  aMoi)Brcl} 


Viscount  definisgajng. 


It  seems  all    but   incredible   that  the  events  herein  described  could 

happen  in  the  twentieth  century.      M.   Jacques  Lebaudy,  a  young 

French   millionaire,  after  fitting  out  an   armed  yacht,  sailed  to  the 

West  Coast  of  Africa  and    there   proclaimed  himself  "  Emperor  of 

He  set    to  work  to  "  occupy "   the    country  and  select  sites    for   towns,  but  speedily  got 

into    trouble    not    only  with    the     natives    but    with  various  European  Powers.      The  full   story  of  his 

extraordinary  project  and  the  adventures  of  the  "  Emperor"  and  his  men  are  here  set  forth. 


HOSE  who  complain  of  the  deadly 
monotony  of  modern  civilization  will 
find  in  the  following  narrative  proof 
that  even  in  this  prosaic  twentieth 
century  there  are  romantic  oppor- 
tunities for  the  man  of  action. 

M.  Jacques  Lebaudy,  the  young  French 
millionaire,  whose  father  made  an  enormous 
fortune  out  of  sugar-refining,  is  already  pretty 
well  known  to  readers  of  the  newspapers  in  con- 
nection with  his  project  for  establishing  an 
independent  State  in  the  Soudan,  with  himself  as 
its  Emperor.  I  now  propose  to  relate  in  full  the 
rxtraordinary  history  of  his  first  attempt  to  found 
-  Empire,  and  the  sti  raise  of  his  armed 

cht,   Frasquita,   which  flies  the  "Emperor's" 
private  flag. 

■    May    ioth    of   last    year    M.    Clerc,    the 
director    of    the    Yachting    Society     in     Paris, 


received  the  following  telegram  from  the  young 
millionaire : — 

"  Please  recruit  and  send  to  Madeira  twenty- 
stout  sailors. — Jacques  Lebaudy." 

A  few  days  later  he  received  a  draft  for  six 
thousand  francs  (two  hundred  and  forty  pounds) 
and  directions  how  to  use  the  money,  as  well  as 
the  draft  of  an  agreement  to  be  signed  by  the 
sailors.  Having  read  this  missive  M.  Clerc 
took  it  to  M.  Tordo,  a  well-known  Parisian 
yachtsman,  from  whom  M.  Lebaudy  had  pur- 
chased his  yacht  Frasquita,  and  asked  him 
whether  he  would  recruit  the  men  for  the  young 
millionaire. 

A  few  hours  later  the  train  was  whirling 
M.  Tordo  to  Havre,  where  there  are  always 
plenty  of  sailors  waiting  to  be  engaged.  Instead 
of  going  to  an  hotel  he  proposed  to  go  on  board 
the  yacht  Aig/e,  owned  by  the  Prince  de  Nissole, 


"THE    EMPEROR    OF    THE    SAHARA." 


who  had  told  him 
that  during  his 
absence  he  could 
use  the  yacht  at  any 
time  he  was  in 
Havre. 

Captain  Ohier, 
the  skipper  of  the 
yacht,  welcomed  M. 
Tordo  cordially.  M. 
Tordo  told  him  that 
he  had  come  to 
Havre  to  hire  twenty 
good  sailors  for 
M.  Lebaudy,  to  be 
sent  to  Las  Palmas, 
and  that  he  hoped 
the  captain  would 
help  him  to  find  the 
men. 

"  The  dickens  you 
have ! "  cried  the 
skipper.  "  As  sure 
as  my  name  is  Ohier, 
thev  11  have  good 
pay." 

"  Of  course  ;  you 
know  our  friend 
Lebaudy." 

"  Very  well,  then," 
said  Ohier,  "I'll  go 
into  the  town  and 
get  them  for  you." 

In  the  course  of 
three  hours  the 
twenty     men     were 

brought  to  the  yacht,  where  M.  Tordo  inter- 
viewed them  and  told  them  all  he  knew 
concerning  their  engagement— that  they  were 
to  proceed  to  Las  Palmas  and  there  join  M. 
Lebaudy's  yacht  Frasquita. 

"  The  information  is  vague,  m'sieur,"  said  one 
of  the  recruits,  "but  one  hun- 
dred and  ninety  francs  a 
month  and  three  hundred 
francs  on  account  is  good  pay. 
What  have  we  got  to  do  to 
get  it  ?  " 

"Simply  to  go  to  Las  Palmas 
and  join  the  yacht  Frasqutta, 
one  hundred  and  seventy-six 
tons,  and  put  yourselves  under 
the  orders  of  M.  Jacques  Le- 
baudy," repeated  M.  Tordo. 
"  That's  all  I  can  tell  you." 

The  men  drew  to  one  side, 
consulting  among  themselves, 
and  then  their  spokesman 
said  : — 

Vol.  xii.-49. 


M.    JACQUES   LEBAUDY— "  THE   EMPEROR   OF    THE   SAHARA. 
Prom  a  Photo,  by  V.   Gribayedoff,  Paris. 


M.    LEBAUDY  S    PRIVATE    FLAGS 


"  We  will  go,  but 

we  shall  require  the 

hundred  fram  s 

apiece  down.'' 

"I  thought  • 
said  M.  Tordo,  as 
he  dated  the  agree- 
ment May  17th, 
1 1^03.  "  Now  sign 
your  names  to  this." 
One  by  one  they 
signed  the  paper, 
pocketed  the  ad- 
vance money,  and 
then  hurried  ashore 
to  spend  some  of  it. 
On  the  20th  they  re- 
assembled and  were 
sent  on  board  the 
steamer  Pampo,  of 
t  h e  C hargeurs 
Keunis,  their  \> 
sages  being  paid  by 
M.  Tordo  on  behalf 
of  M.  Lebaudy. 

They  landed  at 
Las  Palmas  on  the 
1  st  of  June.  A  man 
was  waiting  for  them 
at  the  quay  and 
promptly  took  them 
to  M.  Lebaudy,  who, 
having  reviewed 
them,  orde/ed  new 
uniforms  to  be 
served  out  to  them. 
They  were  then  quartered  at  a  small  hotel  until 
the  preparations  on  board  the  Frasqutta  were 
finished.  These  preparations  were  decidedly 
curious,  and  gave  promise  of  an  exciting  cruise. 
Four  guns,  such  as  are  used  by  mountain 
batteries,  were  mounted  on  board,  and  a  large 
store  of  rifles  and  ammunition 
was  laid  in.  Then,  on  the  19th 
of  June,  the  Frasqutta  put  to 
sea,  flying  a  blue  flag  with  three 
gold  stars  on  it.  This  was  M. 
Lebaudy's  private  flag. 

The  wind  was  fair,  and  the 
yacht  soon  reached  Cape  Juby, 
south-west  of  Morocco, 
opposite  the  Canary  Islands. 
The  maps  do  not  show  any 
exact  frontiers  in  the  interior 
of  this  country,  which  is  ap- 
parently under  the  "influence" 
of  the  Spanish  colony  of 
Rio  de  Ouro.  The  most 
important    towns    are    Kedda, 


tS 


THE    WIDE     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


near   Capo    Bojador,    and    Tarfaia,    near   Cape 
Juby. 

As    soon  as  th<    yacht  came  in  sight  of  the 

st,  fringed  with  undulating  du 

M.    Lei  had  all  the  men  piped  up  and 

red  champagne  to  be  served  out  to  them. 

Then    he     read     to     them     an    extraordinary 

"  manifesto,"    printed    copies    of   which   were 


absolute  power  over  all  things  ;  hut  over  his 
people  this  absolute  power  is  tempered  by  a 
most  liberal  legislation,  founded  on  this 
principle:  absolute  liberty  of  people,  respect 
of  individual  rights  —  American  and  English 
syst(  m." 

\\  hat  the  crew  thought  of  M.  Lebaudy's  pero- 
ration  I  do  not  know,  but  the  champagne  had 


From  a] 


THE  '  FRASQUITA,   M.  LEBAUDYS  ARMED  YACHT. 


{Photo. 


The 


ATLANTIC 
OCEA  N 


MADE.'RA 


C  CANTIN 


afterwards  distributed  to  the  whole  crew, 
"manifesto"   read  as  follows:  — 

■■  Notes  i  in   i  hi    Saharan   Empire. 

••  Pi  'ii  i  ical  Organization. 

l'he,  Sahara  has  been  explored   for   the  first 
time   and    opened    to    civilization    in    the    year 
1903,  by  Jacques  Lebaudy,  who  has  taken  the 
title     of     Emperor, 
under   the    name  of 
Jacques      I.         This 
sovereignty  is  essen- 
tially territorial.       It 
is     based    on     this 
principle — that  from 
the    land   comes   all 
-ity.       It     is 
the  system  of  feudal 

it,  still  in  use  in 
the  European  coun- 
tries—  for  in  star 
in  England,  the 
rights  of  whose  no- 
bility have  not 
changed  since  the 
Norman  conquest. 
In  consequence,  this  sovereignty  is  essentially 
different  from  the  ideas  prevailing  in  France 
since  the  Revolution,  where  all  sovereignty 
from  tl  ile. 

'The  Emperor  of  the  Sahara  exercises   an 


TAN&IERS 


CANARY  n 
V  Q    C.JVBYt 

.  MS  PALMA& 


A  A  A  r. 

ROJA 


c  agjAoog 


MAP    SHOWING    THE    POSITION    OF    TROJA,  M.   LEBAUDYS  PROPOSED  CAPITAL, 
AND    THE    OTHER    LOCAL1TII  1  IN    THIS   ARTICLE. 


put  them  in  a  good  humour.  They  were  not 
disposed  to  quarrel  with  a  liberal  employer, 
and  dispersed  to  their  quarters  quietly. 

As  the  schooner  drew  nearer  to  the  coast  a 
boat  was  lowered  and  the  millionaire  and  a 
party  of  men  went  ashore.  I  hey  landed  some 
twenty  miles  from  Cape  Juby,  and  a  short 
distance    from    the    Arab   village   of    Tafaran. 

M.  Lebaudy  then 
ordered  the  men  to 
look  for  water,  and 
as  there  were  no 
streams  or  wells  to 
be  found  they  dug 
down  through  th^ 
sand,  but  the  water 
which  collected  in 
the  hole  was  too 
brackish  to  drink. 
Accordingly  they 
made  their  way  to 
the  village,  where 
they  were  well  re- 
ceived and  supplied 
with  water.  Their 
wants  attended  to, 
the  little  party  returned  to  the  yacht,  which  then 
sailed  farther  southwards  and  anchored  in  a 
small  bay,  which  M.  Lebaudy  named  "Bay  of 
Free  Exchange."  Here,  he  announced,  he 
intended    to   build    his   capital,    "Troja."      He 


MOROCCO 


THE    EMPEROR    OE    THE    SAHARA. 


left  a  "  post  "  of  five  men  on  the  shore,  with  a 
tent,  two  Winchesters,  two  revolvers,  and  one 
hundred  cartridges  each,  eight  days'  provisions, 
and  a  boat,  with  instructions  to  occupy  the 
country  in  his  name — rather  a  large  order  for 
five  men  !  Before  leaving,  the  would-be  Emperor 
read  the  following  order  to  the  little  "  army  of 
occupation,"  also  giving  them  copies  in  print. 
Evidently  M.  Eebaudy  is  a  good  friend  to  the 
printer. 

"  Expedition  Occidentale,   Sahara, 

"  June,  1903. 
"To-day   we    have    landed    on    the    coast    of 


will  allow  them  to  have  the  firsl   shot,     [f  they 
attack  with  cold  steel,  warn  them  with  your  \ 
or  with  a  movement,  such  as  aimi  .    If 

they  do  not  stop,  then  lire  at  th<  1 

"Each  time  that  it  is  possible  prisoners  must 
be    made   and  bound   tightly.      Every    prisi 
brought   will  be   paid  for  at   the   rati-  of  tu 
francs  to  those  who  have  captured  him." 

Then,  leaving  the  five  behind,  the  "  Emperor," 
with  the  remainder  of  the  men,  returned  to  the 
vessel.  The  schooner  then  set  sail,  and  proceeded 
to  a  bay,  which  he  christened  "  Bay  of  Justice," 
in    27deg.    20mm.   of  north    latitude       Here    he 


J^fZ*^. 


LEAVING    FIVE    MEN'    BEHIND,    THE    SCHOONKK    SET   SAIL. 


Africa.  The  following  rules  will  be  observed 
with  regard  to  the  natives  : — 

"  As  long  as  commercial  relations  have  not 
been  begun  with  them,  they  must  not  be  allowed 
to  approach,  even  if  they  do  not  look  armed,  as 
they  may  have  weapons  hidden  about  them. 

"  It  is  absolutely  forbidden  to  commit  the 
least  injustice  towards  the  natives.  We  have 
come  to  open  to  civilization  a  country  which  is 
actually  unknown  and  unexplored,  and,  although 
the  inhabitants  of  the  country  are  barbarians. 
we  must  treat  them  justly  and  even  with  kind- 
ness. If  we  are  attacked  we  will  defend  our- 
selves;  self-defence  is  not  only  a  right,  but  also 
a  duty.     If  we  are  attacked  from  a  distance  we 


intends  to  build  the  largest  town  of  his  empire 
to  be  called  "  Polis."     Five  ports  are  also  to  be 
built  at  different  places  along  the  coast,  and  for 
this   purpose  M.  Lebaudy  has  ordered  a   large 
number  of  portable  houses  in  Paris. 

While  the  yacht  lay  in  the  "  Pay  of  Justice," 
the  crew,  gazing  landwards,  caught  sight  of  a 
caravan,  and  soon  a  whole  train  of  camels, 
horsemen,  and  pack-mules,  bristling  with  spears, 
came  towards  the  bay. 

M.  Eebaudy  promptly  ordered  a  boat  to  be 
manned  and  was  rowed  ashore. 

"Now,"  he  ordered  his  men,  when  they  got 
ashore,"when  these  Arabscome  up  you  are  tobow 
down  to  me  and  pay  me  the  greatest  homage." 


mi.    WIDE    WOkLP    MAGAZINE. 


Presently  the  Arabs  reached  the  group,  and, 

sai  ors     bowing    with     reverential 

;  to  M.   Lebaudy,   they  began  to  think 

I  ing  wrong  in  standing  stiff  in  the 

-■.Linger,  who  was  evidently  a 
persona^         vast  importance. 

am  alikoun!"    they  said,  bowing,  and 
then  jabbered  away  vociferously. 

M.    Lebaudy   looked   satisfied  and   promptly 
walked    into   the   midst    o\    them,    gesticulating 


nothing  but  the  sand  and  no  signs  of  the  men  ! 
What  could  have  happened  to  them? 

They  were  not  kept  long  in  ignorance  of  the 
fate  of  the  luckless  "post,"  for  presently  a  native 
appealed  bringing  a  note  written  by  Pieard,  the 
leader  of  the  the.  He  stated  that  he  and  his 
comrades  had  been  surprised  and  taken  prisoners 
during  the  night  by  a  tribe  of  Arab  robbers, 
and  that  the  chief  who  had  them  wanted  as 
ransom  a  thousand  francs   per   man. 


STRANGE.'  I      IDENTLY    A    PERSONAGE    OF    VAST    IMPORTANCE. 


and  talking,  although  the  Arabs  could  not 
understand  a  word  of  his  French.  Knowing 
that  "  money  talks,"  however,  he  took  a  bag 
of  five-franc  pieces  out  of  his  pocket  and  dis- 
tributed them  among  the  natives,  who  took  them 
with    the   liveli  tisfaction.       After   a    little 

more  parleying  M.  Lebaudy  took  leave  of  the 
Arabs  and  went  toward  the  shore,  where  he 
embarked  and  was  rowed  out  to  the  yacht,  the 
Arabs  still  bowing  profusely,  for  it  is  not  every 
day  that  white  strangers  land  on  the  shore  and 
present  people  with  five-franc  pi( 

Next  day  it  occurn-d  to  the  soi-disani 
Emperor  to  find  out  how  his  "  army  of  occupa- 
tion "  was  faring.  He  therefore  went  ashore, 
accompanied  by  an  armed  party  of  his  men, 
commanded  by  the  lieutenant,  M.  Yian  Daussy. 
To  their  surprise  and  consternation  they  found 


This  was  somewhat  of  a  set-back  for  the 
"  Emperor,"  but  he  bore  it  well.  With  some 
difficulty  he  managed  to  get  into  communication 
with  the  chief  of  the  robbers,  and  told  him  that 
he  had  no  money  with  him,  but  that  he  would 
bring  it  the  next  day  from  his  yacht.  The  party 
accordingly  returned  to  the  Frasquita,  and 
M.  Lebaudy  sent  a  trusty  sailor  ashore  with  the 
ransom,  accompanied  by  an  armed  escort.  The 
Moors,  however,  pretended  that  the  prisoners 
were  in  the  interior,  and  that  it  would  take 
time  for  them  to  reach  the  coast.  Ulti- 
mately, however,  they  produced  the  boat- 
swain, Pieard,  who  was  brought  down  to 
the  beach  surrounded  by  about  two  hundred 
armed   Moors. 

"  Well,  chuckle-head,"  said  M.  Lebaudy's 
messenger,  "  you're  in  a  fine  mess  !     You  had 


"THE    EMPEROR    OF    THE    SAHARA." 


3«9 


four  men  put  under  your  command  and  you've 
allowed  them  to  be  caught." 

"  It's  all  very  fine  talking,  my  friend,"  replied 
the  boatswain,  "  but  they  crept  on  us  while  we 
were  sleeping.  Gueguen  killed  one  of  them  with 
his  revolver  and  I  stabbed  another  with  my 
knife,  but   they  overpowered   us   and   took   us 


resounded  through  the  quiet  air.     Armed  hi  i 
men  trampled  down  the  tents  and  dr;  their 

occupants  out,  and  the  wildest  confusion  reigned. 
A  boat  was  immediately  manned,  and  ten  well- 
armed  men  rowed  ashore  to  find  out  what  was 
amiss.  When  they  arrived,  however,  the  fight 
was  over.     The  Moors  told  the  Frenchmen  that 


"'well,'  said  m.  lebaudys  messenger,     vol  re  in  a  fine  mess. 


into  the  interior.  Considering  that  we  killed 
two  of  them  they  treated  us  well.  But  the  food 
is  bad,  or  at  least  we  can't  get  used  to  it." 

"  How  is  it  they  came  here  again  ?  " 

"  I  told  them  that  you  would  be  coming  back 
and  would  pay  a  ransom." 

"Then  ask  the  chief  if  he'll  let  you  go  for 
the  sum  agreed." 

Picard  asked  the  brigand  leader,  and  then 
said,  "  He  says  '  All  right  ! '  Tha  is  a  blessing, 
but  you  must  wait  until  to-morrow,  when  they 
will  fetch  the  others." 

After  a  brief  stay  with  his  compatriot,  Picard 
was  led  away  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  other 
prisoners,  and  the  "  Emperor's  "  messenger  went 
back  to  the  yacht  with  his  escort. 

During  the  night  the  people  on  board  the 
Frasquita  were  awakened  by  an  awful  din  on 
the  shore  where  the  Moorish  camp  was.  Pistols 
and  rifles  were  discharged  on  all  sides,  and 
wild   yells   and   the   gritting    of  steel  on   steel 


a  rival  tribe  had  made  a  surprise  attack  upon 
them  and  carried  off  the  five  white  prisoners 
into  the  interior.  The  sailors  accordingly 
returned  and  told  M.  Lebaudy  the  bad  news. 
"  I  see  I  must  leave  another  post  here,"  he  said, 
"  to  occupy  the  territory  in  my  name,  and  to 
get  even  with  these  rascals  if  they  come  again. 
Which  five  are  going?" 

"Good  heavens!"  cried  the  sailors.  "Do 
you  think  us  mad,  great  Emperor?  We're  not 
going  to  get  captured  like  our  poor  comrades  ! 
We  didn't  come  out  here  to  be  captured  and 
killed  by  savages  '. 

M.  Lebaudy  surveyed  the  men  steadily. 

"  Five  of  you  will  go  ashore  to  form  a  post," 
he  said,  firmly. 

"  Well,  find  the  five,"  answered  Paranthven, 
the.  coxswain  of  the  boat.  "I  won't  be 
one  of  them  !  The  Arabs  will  come  back, 
and  we  should  get  caught  like  our  poo/ 
comrades." 


IHF.     WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


"You   are   forgetting   your  duty,   my   men," 

the  "  I  ;n:>  :         sternly. 
"  Duty  :     Getting   killed  is  not  duty!     Our 
duty  is  to  our  wives  and  children,"  answi 

another  man.  and  a  murmur  of  approval  came 
from  th 

"i  said  M.  1    baudy,  "according  to  our 

iu  down  here  on  the  si 
- 
"  ['hat's  I       agreement  with   your  Majesl   . 
said    th  swain,    insolentl)  :    "but    it's    im- 

maroon  a  whole  crew  ;  you  would 
and    let    the    yacht   rot    or    get 
pillaged      b  v 
bri_ 

14  O  ■  n  I  c»  u  n  d 
this    wretch  e  d 
wa  r  d  i c  e ! " 
.   the  "•  Em- 
peror   of     the 
.ra."      losing 
his      temper      in 
the    face  of   this 
un looked  for  op- 
position.   •'  Wry  " 
well,  then,   leave 
your      comrades 
in  the  hands 
the  natives.  Now 
sail  for  Las 
"  Pal  mas  ! 

The  men.  al- 
ready heartily- 
sick  of  this  ill- 
fated  cruise,  did 
not  wait  for  a 
second  bidding, 
and  the  yacht 
was  soon  on  her 
way  under  full 
sail,  leaving  the 
Sahara  and 
M.  Lebaudy 
luckless     "  army 

ipation  "    far    behind. 

rectlv  the  Fras</i/ita  arrived  at   las  Palmas 

the  captain  of  the  port  came  out  to  her,  for  the 

Spanish   authorities,    disquieted   by   the   yachts 

terious  doings,  had  sent  him  to  ask  for  an 

explanation. 

At  first  M.  Lebaudy  absolutely  refused  to  see 
the  official,  but  afterwards  came  on  deck. 

'  Where   do   you    come    from  ? "   asked    the 
ial. 
'  Wl  -  d    the    "  Emperor,"  with 

dignity.  "  I  come  from  my  lands  !  I  am  not 
obliged  to  render  an  account  of  my  doings  to 
anyone,  for  I  acknowledge  no  flag  but  the 
pennant    'hat   flutters   at   my  masthead."      lb 


WHENCE.'      KKII.IF.D   THE  '  EM  I'EROI;,'  WITH    DIGNITY 


pointed    significantly    at    his    private    flag,    and 
the  poit  captain  withdrew  unsatisfied. 

As  soon  as  he  landed,  M.  Lebaudy  tried  to 
gather  a  strong  force  together  and  ordered  an 
additional  two  score  men,  whom  he  had  hired 
and  left  in  Las  Palmas,  to  get  ready  for  service. 
But  those  who  had  gone  with  him  on  the  first 
voyage  told  the  new  men  that  five  of  their  com- 
rades  had  been  taken  prisoners  by  the  Arabs 
and  left  to  their  fate,  and  this  so  alarmed  the 
new  coiners  that  they  refused  to  goon  board  the 
yacht. 

The   old   crew,   too,   demanded  their  wages, 

although  these 
were  not  yet 
due  to  them, 
each  man  having 
received  three 
hundred  francs 
in  advance.  The 
payment  being 
refused,  the 
sailors  went  in  a 
body  to  the 
French  Consul, 
who  acted  so 
diplomatically 
that  the  "  Em- 
peror" finally 
agreed  to  pay 
for  the  passage 
home  of  his  re- 
bellious sailors 
on  the  steamer 
Montrose,  bound 
for  Havre. 

In  the  mean- 
while he  sent  a 
package  marked 
"Emperor  of 
the  Sahara "  to 
M.  Cadiou,  a 
marine  official  at 
Morlaix.  This 
package  contained  an  addressed  envelope,  bearing 
the  inscription  :  "To  His  Majesty  the  Emperor 
of  the  Sahara,  at  Troja,  via  Las  Palmas.  Canary 
Islands  (postal  service  gratis  from  Las  Palmas  to 
Troja  by  the  Imperial  Saharan  mail).''  In  the 
letter  M.  Lebaudy's  lieutenant  informed  M. 
liou  that,  as  some  French  sailors  in  the 
service  of  the  "Emperor  of  the  Sahara"  had 
been  taken  prisoners  by  a  tribe  of  Arab  robbers, 
"His  Majesty"  was  making  preparations  for 
their  rescue.  In  the  meantime  he  thoughtfully 
enclosed  five  thousand  francs  to  be  distributed 
among  the  families  of  the  prisoners. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  M.  Lebaudy  actually 
bought  a  schooner  and  manned  and  equipped 


COME    FROM     MY  LANDS. 


"THE    EMPEROR    OF     THE    SAHARA.' 


391 


her  in  readiness  for  an  armed  expedition  —  pre- 
sumably against  the  captors  of  his  men — but 
just  as  the  vessel  was  ready  to  sail  a  Spanish 
cruiser  arrived  at  Las  Palmas  and  informed  the 
"Emperor  "  that  his  presence  there  with  an  armed 
vessel  was  objected  to.  Each  time  M.  Lebaudy 
left  the  port  of  La  Luz  (Great  Canary)  the  war  vessel 
accompanied  him  to  watch  his  movements,  and 
when,  not  relishing  this  espionage,  M.  Lebaudy 
returned,  the  Spaniard  came  back  with  him  and 
anchored  alongside  his  yacht  in  the  harbour. 
His  every  movement  afloat  and  ashore  was 
keenly  watched.  It  was  understood  at  Great 
Canary  that,  had  M.  Lebaudy  insisted  on  pro- 
ceeding with  his  expedition  after  being  warned 
by  the  Spanish  authorities,  his  vessel  would  have 
been  promptly  seized. 

The  next  party  to  intervene  in  this  curious 
affair  was  the  French  Government,  who,  through 
its  Minister  at  Tangier,  gave  the  Moroccan 
authorities  to  understand  that  they  must  open 
negotiations  at  once  with  the  tribe  in  whose 
clutches  the  five  sailors  were,  M.  Lebaudy  being 
ready  to  pay  the  ransom. 

The  cruiser  Galilee  was  also  sent  from  Toulon 
to  the  Moroccan  coast  to  look  for  the  crew  of 
the  yacht  Frasquita,  with  instructions  to  use 
force  if  necessary. 


The  cruiser  arrived  off  Tarfaia,  Cape  Juby, 
when-  the  prisoners  were  believed  to  be,  on 
August  21st.  Here  an  interpreter  was  sent 
ashore  to  treat  for  the  release  of  the  hapless 
sailors,  but  all  his  offers  were  refused. 

Despairing  of  releasing  the  captives  by  ordi- 
nary rheans  the  captain  of  the  Galilee  tried 
strategy.  He  managed  to  get  a  letter  through 
to  the  sailors  inviting  them  to  hold  themselves 
in  readiness  to  make  a  dash  for  liberty,  and  to 
wear  their  white  uniform  trousers  in  order  that 
they  might  be  recognised  easily. 

On  the  day  selected  for  the  attempt  the  five 
men  strolled  down  to  the  beach,  as  was  their 
wont,  and  pretended  to  fish.  The  Moors,  how- 
ever, kept  a  sharp  watch  on  them  from  a  little 
distance.  After  a  time  several  boats  put  off 
from  the  Galilee,  anchored  some  distance  out, 
and  began  fishing.  At  first  the  Moors  were  a 
little  suspicious  of  these  boats,  but  as  the  after- 
noon wore  on  and  they  made  no  sign  their  fears 
of  a  surprise  diminished.  Then,  suddenly,  a 
signal  was  given  and  the  five  sailors  dashed  into 
the  water  and  started  swimming  towards  the 
boats,  while  a  perfect  fusillade  of  shells,  fired 
from  the  cruiser  and  her  boats,  fell  between  the 
fugitives  and  their  astonished  captors.  Pursuit 
was  impossible,  and  before  the  terrified  natives 


"WILLING    AKMS    HOISTKD    THEM    ON    BOAKD. 


Tin;    w  uu;    world  macazine. 


could  form  any  plan  of  action  the  sailors  had 
reached  the  boats.  Willing  arms  hoisted,  them 
on  I  and  in  a  few  minutes  they  were  safe 

on    board  the   l  .  where 

they   received    a    hearty   wcl- 
September   6th 
they  reached  Toulon,  and  no 
their  adventures  ended. 

Interviewed    in    Paris — he 
onl\  ive  the 

journalist  on  being  ad 

Si  re  "  a  nd  *'  Your 
\i.  1  ebaudy  said 
that  he  was  very  pleased  with 
the  way  things  had  gone 
maintaining  that  he  had  a 
per  Jit    to    found    an 

Empire  in  the  Sahara,  which 
he  looked  upon  as  a  No 
Mai  nd.      He    argued 

that  he  only  proposed  to 
do  what  Cecil  Rhodes  had 
done  ;  but  Cecil  Rhodes  had 
the    support    of    the    British 

vernment,  the  British 

nd  the  British  people, 

whereas   he,  in    France,   had 

vernment.   Press,   and 
people  all  against  him.      But 
he  would  persevere,  he  said, 
and  would  found   his    Empire    in    spite  of  all 
opposition.     "The  question  is  now  before  the 
whole  world,"  he  declared,  "and  the  Empire  of 
the  Sahara,  whether   the  world  likes  it  or  not, 


PICARD,     THE     BOATSWAIN 
HE    DIED   SHORTLY  AFTER 

Frojn  a  Photo,  by  V. 


is  founded.  The  capture  of  my  men  was 
a  veritable  act  of  war,  and  the  principle  of 
my  conquest    is   consecrated." 

The  journalist  suggested 
that  it  seemed  to  him  that 
M.  Lebaudy  had  accompli- 
shed a  sort  of  Jameson  Raid. 
This  "His  Majesty"  warmly 
denied. 

"  Jameson's  act."  said  the 
"Emperor,"  "was  directed 
against  a  civilized  State  and 
the  friend  of  England,  where- 
as the  Lebaudy  Raid  had  in 
view  territories  without 
social  or  legal  organization, 
without  proprietors,  without 
recognised  masters.  Be- 
sides, Jameson  was  con- 
demned by  the  Transvaal 
and  not  by  England.*  Tak- 
ing that  as  a  precedent, 
France  has  no  right  to  in- 
terfere or  trouble  herself 
with  my  affairs." 

The  further  developments 
of  M.  Lebaudy's  schemes— 
not  to  mention  the  various 
actions  which  it  is  said  are 
to  be  brought  against  him 
in  connection  with  his  Empire  -  making 
adventures — will  be  watched  with  interest. 

*  M.  Lebaudy  is  in  error  here.     Dr.  Jameson  was  condemned — 
and  punished — by  England,  and  not  by  the  Transvaal. 


OF    THE    "  FRASQUITA. 
HIS    RETURN  TO  FRANCE. 

Gribayedoff,  Paris. 


,     THE    MOORS    ARRIVING    IN    PARIS   AFTER    THEIR    RESCUE. 

From  a  Photo,  by  V.  Gribayedoff,  Pans. 


£¥  FflNNYjBuLLOCKV$OflKM£N*  f.r.s.g.s.,  m.r.as. 


The  well-known  lady  mountaineer  describes  the  experiences  of  her  party  in  making  the  first  ascent 
of  the  great  Chogo  Loongma  Glacier,  in  the  wilds  of  Baltistan.  Until  their  visit  the  glacier  was  an 
absolute   terra   incognita,    untouched    by   human    foot.     The  photographs  enable  one  to  realize  the 

hardships  and  difficulties  of  the  expedition. 


N  the  summer  of  1902  Dr.  William 
Hunter  Workman  and  myself,  ac- 
companied by  Mattias  Zurbriggen, 
the  famous  guide,  an  Italian 
porter,  and  a  German  topographer, 
made  an  expedition  to  the  North-West  Hima- 
layas, in  Baltistan  or  Little  Tibet.  Our  chief 
object  was,  if  possible,  to  make  the  first  ascent 
and  exploration  of  the  great  Chogo  Loongma 
Glacier,  which  runs  its  icy  course  north-west 
from  the  village  of  Arondu,  in  the  Basha  Valley, 
for  thirty  miles  to  where  it  finds  its  source 
among  some  very  high  peaks  of  the  Mustagh 
range. 

The  upper  two-thirds  of  this  glacier  and  its 
large  branches  were  to  the  time  of  our  visit  an 
absolute  terra  incognita,  untouched  by  human 
foot.  Even  sportsmen  are  seldom  seen  in  the 
nullahs  about  Arondu,  for  coolies  are  scarce  and 
timid,  and  the  few  inhabitants  of  the  place  have 
no  penchant  for  rough  climbing.    From  Srinagar, 

Vol.  xii.— 60. 


the  capital  of  Kashmir,  it  is  twenty-three  marches 
to  Arondu,  the  base  of  our  expedition.  The 
journey  thither,  although  not  to  be  spoken  of 
here  in  detail,  was  not  without  interest,  for, 
being  armed  with  parwanahs  and  letters  from 
the  British  authorities  and  the  Maharajah  of 
Kashmir,  giving  orders  that  we  be  well  served 
with  transport  and  supplies  by  the  smaller 
rajahs  and  village  chiefs,  we  often  had  picturesque 
receptions  in  the  larger  places,  being  escorted  to 
the  camping-grounds  by  native  musicians  and 
surfeited  with  gifts  of  fruit  and  flowers  from  the 
rajahs,  while  in  the  smaller  places  nuts,  dried 
apricots,  and  immense  baskets  of  mulberries 
were  heaped  upon  us. 

Before  going  to  Arondu  we  did  a  good  deal 
of  high  climbing  in  the  Basha  Valley,  having 
thus  a  chance  to  study  the  Basha  men,  who. 
when  obliged  to  cany  our  kit  to  snow  camps, 
bolted  with  promptitude,  regardless  of  the  minor 
fact    that    we    remained  in    those  icy  solitudes 


394 


HIE     WIPE     WORLD     MAI '.AX  INK. 


without  means  of  transport  Returning  to  the 
valley,  we  marched  to  Arondu,  which  lies  nine 
thousand  eight  hundred  feet  high,  just  below 
the  great  black  snout  of  the  Chogo  Loongma 
Glacier  its 

We  headed  a   long,  if  not   merry,  caravan   of 

a    .\n(\    chiefs  as    we  passed    through  the 

\illa_  Arondu    in    a   driving   rain   and    pro 

i  a  sloping,  soaked  grass  plot 

on  one  side  vi  the   small    hamlet.      It  was  sug- 

d   that   the  memsahib  (myself)  should   take 

a   native  hut  overnight  while  the 

rain   lasted.     Such    hospitable   offers  in   Asiatic 

_    S,    however.    I    politely   decline,  preferring 

itch    my    tent 

on  wet  soil  to  risk- 

-    my   repose    in 

the    four    walls   of 

a   native  dwelling. 

rnment     cha- 

and     the 

chief  of  the  Arondu 

district    had    been 

2     together 

men   pending    our 

arrival,    and    we 

5ed  the 
the  day  in 

''led 

and    bravest -look- 

_    specimen- 
coolies    for     the 
glacier  ascent. 

The  lambardar, 
or     headman,      of 
ldu,    who    ac- 
companied  us    far 
up  the  glacier,  re- 
mained   as   coolie 
rdian      for 
ks    at    a    ':    s 
base    camp.       lb- 
had     charge     of 
collecting    wood 
and   meal    for   the 
coolies,  and  the 
power  of  discharg- 

.    bad  men  and 
sending  for  others, 

but  he  proved  a  doubtful  chief,  and  on  many 
occa  ve  were  obliged    to   deprive    him  of 

authority  and  take  matters  into  our  own  hands. 

The  weather  having  righted  itself,  the  follow- 

we  crossed  the  long,  dirty  snout  of  the 

glaciV  r  to  the  left   bank  and  ascended  along  the 

moraine  edge.      After  six  hours  a   sudden   bend 

occurs,  and   for  the   first   time  the    long,   white 

^een  running  north  toward  towering 

-peaks.       For    twelve    miles     it     ascends 


Prom  a] 


moderately,  growing  steadily  more  Alpine  as  it 
climbs  upward  between  sharp  peaks.  The 
limit  of  wood  is  rather  low  on  the  Chogo 
Loongma,  and  on  the  second  night  we  reached, 
at  twelve  thousand  two  hundred  feet,  a  spot 
which  we  called  "  Last  Wood  Camp."  From 
the  mountain  flanks  behind  this  all  the  fuel  for 
the  higher  camps  had  to  be  cut.  Every  two  or 
three  days  during  August  a  band  of  coolies 
might  have  been  seen  straggling  down  the 
In  ok  en  glacier  for  their  burden  of  sticks,  sorely 
needed  to  make  life  endurable  in  the  icy 
bivouacs  beyond. 

Above  "Last  Wood  Camp"  the  coolies  had 

to  plod  their  way 
in  squads  over  the 
undulating  cre- 
vassed  surface. 
The  business  was 
not  so  simple  as 
it  looks,  and  the 
men  stopped  often 
to  rest  with  their 
burdens  of  tents, 
bags,  and  boxes. 
Sometimes  a  wide 
crevasse,  stretch- 
ing yawningly  half 
a  mile  across,  and 
u nspanned by 
even  a  snow-bridge, 
barred  our  pro- 
gress, and  around 
this  a  way  had  to 
be  found. 

Of  a  sudden  we 
stood  before  a 
deep  blue  ice- 
chasm,  at  the 
bottom  of  which, 
judging  from  the 
roar,  a  hundred 
ice-blocked 
streams  were 
meeting  in  anger. 
This  phase  of 
glacial  life  and 
energy  is  graphi- 
cally described  by 
the  French  word  "  moulin."  It  is  not  the  mill 
of  enterprise,  grinding  away  for  human  progress, 
but  the  mill  of  Nature,  sounding  tirelessly  by 
day  and  night,  to  bring  about  the  manifold 
changes  of  advance  or  recession,  turning  into 
crevasses  or  splitting  into  seracs  the  apparently 
inert,  but  really  swiftly  changing,  mass  of  the 
glacier. 

farther  on  we  crossed  the  glacier,  here  three 
to  four  miles  wide,  winding  our  way   toward  a 


RIFFEI-ii  ><    NAMED   ON    ACCOUNT   OF    ITS   STRIKING 

RI-^EMULANCE    TO    THE    ZERMATT    I'EAK.  [PhotO. 


THE    FIRST    ASCENT    OF    THE    CHOGO    LOONGMA. 


395 


mountain  promontory  of  mighty  serrated  peaks, 
piled  one  over  another  in  chaotic  grandeur. 
Somewhere  at  their  base  we  wished  to  camp,  but 
this  was  more  easily  planned  than  accomplished, 
and  a  difficult  stretch  of  semes  (ice  pinnacles) 
occupied  the  guides  for  two  hours  with  step- 
cutting  to  enable  the  coolies  and  the  flock  of 
sheep  and  goats  to  clamber  through. 

Tents  were  pitched  on  the  lower  slope  of 
a  mountain  which  bore  such  a  striking  re- 
semblance to  the  Zermatt  peak  that  we  named 
it  at  once  the  "Asiatic  Riffelhorn."  We  made 
this  "Riffelhorn"  camp  (thirteen  thousand  five 
hundred  feet)  a  general  base  camp  for  thirty 
days.  Our  sheep  and  goats,  guarded  by  an 
attendant,  roamed  at  will  over  a  small  grass 
slope  under  the 
precipitous  base 
of  the  "Riffel- 
horn." The 
coolies  soon 
learned  to  find 
their  way  through 
the  difficult  serac 
approach,  and 
here  wood  was 
brought  and 
stored,  and  dak- 
carriers  descended 
to  Arondu  for 
mail  and  supplies. 
Here,  also,  we  left 
extra  boxes  when 
on  higher  explora- 
tion. 

With  the  guides 
and  a  coolie  for 
carrying  instruments  we  ascended  the  "  Riffel- 
horn," and  a  fine  rock  climb  it  was,  with  enough 
couloirs  and  bad  places  to  give  zest  to  the  ascent. 
Although  six  thousand  feet  higher,  the  Hima- 
layan peak  is  strikingly  like  the  Swiss  peak, 
both  in  shape  and  in  the  way  it  rises  from  the 
glacier.  Its  position  is  unique,  standing  as  it 
does  at  the  junction  of  the  Chogo  Loongma 
with  one  of  its  upper  branches,  a  glacier  which 
we  later  ascended  to  its  source,  twelve  miles 
distant,  under  the  giant  cone  of  Mount  Hara- 
mosh,  twenty-four  thousand  two  hundred  and 
forty  feet  high.  North  of  our  peak  the  Chogo 
Loongma  stretches  away  for  twelve  miles  in 
pristi  >e  untrodden  beauty.  From  the  top  of 
the  mountain  there  lay  revealed  the  trackless 
glacier  and  the  peerless  summits  which  guard 
it.  Among  these  we  were  to  live  and  sleep  for 
weeks  to  come.  We  had  a  solid  stone  man 
built  on  the  small  top  of  the  peak,  which  can 
be  seen  for  miles  up  and  down  the  glacier. 

The  guide  found  that   before  snow  bivouacs 


A    WEIRD   AND    BEAUTIFUL   ICE    LAKE,  LY 

From  a]  heart  of  the 


began  there  was  one  more  chance  for  a 
higher  camp  to  which  servants  could  go  and 
wood  be  carried,  so  we  started  for  it.  Just 
above  the  "  Riffelhorn  "  camp  we  discovered  a 
weird  and  beautiful  ice  lake,  lying  like  a  great 
crystal  in  the  heart  of  the  glacier,  with  exquisite 
reflections  of  mountains  and  clouds  in  its  mirror- 
like surface. 

In  crossing  the  glacier  higher  up  we  came  across 
a  long  stretch  of  semes,  through  which  it  was  most 
difficult  to  cut  our  way.  We  went  ahead  roped, 
the  coolies  following  well  enough  behind,  until 
finally  a  place  was  reached  where  the  guide  was 
obliged  to  unrope  and  seek  a  passage,  for 
tremendous  crevasses,  which  could  not  be 
traversed,  barred  our  farther  progress. 

As  often  hap- 
pens, he  was  some 
time  finding  an 
outlet,  thus  giving 
the  coolies  time 
to  reflect— and  it 
is  fatal  to  let  a 
coolie  think  when 
he  is  in  what  he 
considers  a  bad 
plase.  Next  they 
talked,  then 
chattered,  and  at 
the  end  of  ten 
minutes  some 
were  whining  and 
weeping,  while 
others  fairly 
howled.  By  the 
time  Zurbriggen 
returned  with  the 
news  that  he  had  found  an  outlet  they  were 
panic  -  stricken,  not  one  man  being  open 
to  reason.  Had  the  moment  not  been  a 
critical  one — for  if  we  had  given  in  then  there 
would  have  been  an  end  to  glacial  inves- 
tigation— the  scene  would  have  been  most 
amusing.  The  howling  mass  of  humanity, 
some  with  loads,  some  without,  jumping 
about,  gesticulating,  and  pointing  to  their 
shoes,  were  assembled  on  a  broad  ice  seme 
thirty  feet  above  where  we  were  imprisoned 
in  the  ice,  whilst  the  cook  and  village  chief  were 
engaged  in  beating  the  worst  offenders  with 
sticks. 

As  a  last  resort  the  coolies  called  to  the 
memsahib,  begging  her  to  return.  They  had  no 
suspicion  that  the  most  obdurate  person  in  the 
party  was  myself.  Finally,  through  the  united 
efforts  of  sahib,  guide,  and  men  in  charge,  a 
certain  amount  of  order  was  restored,  and  they 
reloaded  and  slowly  followed  the  guide,  who  led 
them    past   us    between    two   narrow   ice  walls 


ING    LIKE   A    GREAT   CRYSTAL   IN    THE 
GLACIER."  [Photo. 


39* 


THE     WIPE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


from  a 

where     he    had    discovered 
coolies  may  1<  in   the 

resting  among  the  seracs.     It 
that  they  most  liked 
to  go  through  life. 

In  the  afternoon 
we  left  the  seracs  and 
climbed  up  a  moun- 
tain flank  to  a  place 
which  was  to  be  our 
camp  for  ten  days. 
It  could  not  be 
called  an  ideal 
camping-ground. 
being  so  steep  that 
it  was  necessary  to 
prop  up  bags  and 
with  stones 
when  placed  on  the 
ground,  to  pn 
their  falling  down 
the  mountain  side. 
It  took  three  hours 
for  the  men  to  dig 
away  soil  and  build 
artificial  terraces  for 
the  tents  to  stand 
on.  The  situation 
was  uncomfortable, 
but     magnificent. 


tlic  exit.  These  Above  our  camp  rock  precipices  and  snow-slopes 
above  photograph  shot  up  towards  the  sky,  the  glacier,  broken  into 
was  in  this  posture        a  thousand  jagged  pinnacles,  lay  at  our  feet,  and 

on  the  opposite  side 
immense  snow-peaks 
arose  like  ghostly 
sentinels.  We  called 
this  spot,  which  was 
at  fifteen  thousand 
feet,  "Serac  Camp." 
A  few  hundred  feet 
above  we  built  a 
stone  cairn  in  which 
we  placed  a  record 
of  the  many  interest- 
ing trips  made  from 
this  camp. 

Our  first  move 
after  settling  down 
at  "  Serac  Camp " 
was  to  climb  a 
mountain  rising  just 
beyond  us.  There 
was  more  hard, 
grinding,  work  on 
that  mountain  than 
on  any  I  ever 
climbed  of  similar 
height.  It  was  not 
an    interesting    rock 


I  UK   CAJKN    ABOVE    SEKAC   CAMP. 


[Photo. 


THE    FIRST    ASCENT    OF    THE    CHOGO    LOONGMA. 


397 


TWO   OF   THE    PARTY   AT   THE    TOP    OF     AN    l8,OOOIT.    MOUNTAIN— IN     1HE    BACKGROUND    IS    "  PYRAMID 

From  a]     peak,"  24,50oft.,  which  they  were  the  first  to  discover  and  photograph.      [Photo. 

face,  but  a  succession  of  rotten  shale  and  scree- 
covered  slants,  rising  at  an  angle  of  fifty  degrees 
most  of  the  time. 

After  three  hours'  plodding  over  this  surface 
we  arrived  at  the  base  of  a  nearly  perpendicular 
snow  wall,  which  happily  was  still  in  condition  at 
ii  a.m.  for  step-cutting.     Overtopping   this  we 
could  see  a  wide,  projecting,  dangerous- 
looking    cornice.       Secretly  wondering 
how    this    was     to    be    overcome,    we 
attacked  the  wall  after  leaving  behind 
all    superfluous   kit,    together   with  the 
coolie  whom  Zurbriggen  banished  from 
the  rope.  Fearing  to  start  an  avalanche, 
we  took  the  wall  straight,  and  presently 
arrived  under  the  cornice.  # 

Letting  out  a  good  length  of  rope, 
Zurbriggen  proceeded  to  make  friends 
with  the  cornice,  breaching  it  and 
treading  it  out  as  only  an  expert  could, 
although  I  must  say  that  every  moment 
I  expected  to  see  the  whole  affair  give 
way,  bringing  him  with  it.  Presently, 
however,  we  saw  him  standing  far 
above  in  an  apparently  safe  position, 
calling  to  me  to  follow  through  the 
great  snow  couloir  he  had  somehow 
hewn  out.  This  I  did,  and,  after  an 
arduous  tussle  with  the  snow  chimney, 
a  big  leap,  accompanied  by  a  sharp 
pull  of  the  rope,  brought  me  over  an 
icy  edge  to  a  snow  plateau.  The 
others  followed,  and  the  remaining 
snow-fields  to  the  top  were  quickly 
covered. 

In  the  preceding  snap-shot  two 
of  the  party  are   seen  on   the  top  of       From  a] 


this  mountain,  which 
was    about    eigh 

thousand  feet  high. 
It  is  backed  by  a 
glorious  snow  - 
of  twenty-four  thou- 
sand five  hundn  d 
feet,  which  we  were 
the  first  to  see  and 
photograph.  Among 
the  splendid  Chogo 
Loongma  giants 
which  we  saw  was  a 
queenly  peak  of 
twenty- four  thousand 
feet,  which  presented 
wonderful  surfaces  of 
sheer  snow  and  wall 
precipices.  We  called 
it  the  "  Furrowed 
Peak,"  because  of 
the  peculiar  appear- 
ance the  snow  assumed  on  its  almost  perpen- 
dicular slants.  A  telephotograph  of  one  great 
channelled  slant  at 
taken. 

We  passed  through  the  crestfallen  cornice 
less  tempestuously  on  the  descent,  as  the  snowy 
upper  world  under  the  heat  of  the   noonday  sun 


four    magnifications    was 


A   VIEW   OF    THE   CURIOUS        FURROWED   PEAK 


[FAoto. 


398 


riu:   wmi;   world   magazine. 


was  in  its  most  tender  and  liquid  mood,  and 
safelj  sizzling  avalanches  were  already  breaking 
the  coating  oi  the  wall  beneath.  Hie  great 
shall  o,  wore  treated  mure  summarily 

than  in  coming  up.  Simply  digging  in  our  heels 
we   glissadi  _       issages   until  some 

ridge  of  rocks  barred  our  flight. 

I  he  final  ascent  o\  the  Chogo  Loongma  had 
be  accomplished,  and  it  was  decided  to 
make    immediate     use    of    the     apparently    line 
ther.     From   the  peak  we  had  studied  the 
.ml    trend   of  the    glacier,  and    we  realized 
how  steep  it  was,  and  that,  with  only  a  tew  men 
and   high  camping-kit,    two   snow-camps   would 
probably     be     necessary.        Preparations     were 
_  .  made  ami  fourteen  of  the  strongest 
men  .1.     No  wood  could  be  used,  so  we 

carried  none.  The  first  day  we  succeeded  in 
bringing  the  coolies  to  a  height  of  seventeen 
thousand  one  hundred  feet  by  four  in  the  after- 
noon, when  they  sank  down  exhausted. 

(ireat  crevasses  concealed  by  a  heavy  snow 
coating  and  difficult  to  avoid  were  the  chief 
obstacles,  but  the  march  was  a  trying  one,  as 
from  noon  onward  the  surface   was  rendered  so 

soft    by    the    intense      

heat  that  at  each 
step  one  was  plunged 
in  snow  to  the  knees, 
which  tried  the 
coolies  severely. 

After  camping  in 
the  centre  of  the 
glacier  and  taking 
our  observations, 
attention  was  turned 
to  melting  snow  for 
tea.  Considering 
that  it  takes  at  1. 
eight  times  as  long 
to  boil  snow  as  it 
does  water,  the  pro- 
cess of  getting  a  hot 
drink  for  ourseh 
and  guides  was  a 
lengthy  one.  Our 
food  all  came  from 
tins,  and  aft 
dinner,  it  having 
vn  bitterly  cold, 
crawled  into 
our  eiderdown  sleeping  -  bags  as  quickly  as 
jle. 

The  next  day  we  left  the  camp  and  the 
grumbling  coolies  behind  and  climbed  to  the 
head  of  the  glacier  to  see  if  there  was  a  chance 
of  passing  a  night  there,  which  it  was  important 
to  do  for  the  sake  of  observations.  Large 
avalanches  were  falling   on  all  sides  ;    I  don't 


think  I  ever  heard  such  a  constant  roar  from 
them  as  on  that  ascent.  We  ventured  to  cross 
the  beds  of  some  that  had  come  down  the 
previous  day. 

.\t  the  top  (e  ghreen  thousand  six  hundred 
feet)  we  found  a  small  snow  area,  apparently 
safe  from  avalanches,  where  tents  could  be 
placed.  By  n  a.m.  the  sun  thermometer 
Kuistered  one  hundred  and  eighty  degrees  in 
the  -mi  at  that  great  height,  and  the  glare  and 
reflected  heat  were  most  oppressive,  in  spite  of 
veils  and- snow-glasses. 

On  our  return  to  camp  we  found  the  coolies 
in  a  state  of  depression.  The  weather  looked 
doubtful,  and  without  wood  or  water  they 
refused  to  stay.  Notwithstanding  our  re- 
monstrances, they  quickly  departed,  leaving  us 
quite  helpless  in  the  event  of  a  storm  rising. 

After  dispatching  the  Italian  porter  to  "  Serac 
( 'amp  "  for  more  men  we  prepared  to  pass  another 
cheerless  night  in  the  snow.  About  nine  o'clock 
the  next  morning  the  porter  returned  with 
fourteen  new  men,  and,  not  allowing  them  time 
to  ronsider  the  matter,  we  packed  and  were  off 
to  the  top.     Our  little  band  may  be  seen  in  this 


From  a] 


THE    PARTY   ON    THK1R    WAV   TO   THE   TOP   OF   THE   GLACIEK 


[Photo. 


photograph  struggling  toward  the  culminating 
point  of  the  glacier.  In  the  foreground  is  our 
high  camp  treasure,  without  which  life  would 
not  be  worth  living — the  tea-kettle.   . 

The  difficulties  we  met  with  in  reaching  the 
source  of  the  Chogo  Loongma  will  long  be 
remembered.  Starting  late,  as  we  were  forced 
to  do,  the  snow  grew  softer  hour  by  hour,  and 


THE    FIRST    ASCENT    OF    THE    CHOGO    LOONGMA. 


399 


the  coolies  stopped  every  three  m'nutes  for  long 
rests.  We  had  to  make  long  detours  to  avoid 
avalanches  that  were  constantly  tearing  down  the 
mountain  sides  toward  our  cul  de  sac,  and  the 
heat  was  prostrating. 

Once  we  were  obliged  to  cross  near  a  spot 
where  an  avalanche  had  passed  just  before,  and 
exactly  fifteen  minutes  after  the  coolies  had 
dragged  themselves  over  the  place  another 
terrific  thunderbolt  of  snow  came  rushing  over 
the  route  we  had  traversed,  followed  by  a  trail 
of  snow-dust  which  rose  in  a  cloud  such  as  fifty 
locomotives  might  produce  if  steaming  abreast 
through  the  plain.  Usually  we  marched  some 
distance  in  front  of  the  caravan,  but  on  this 
day  we  remained  with  the  coolies,  urging  and 
threatening 
every  minute  of 
the  way.  Hurry 
they  would  not, 
for,  like  most 
Orientals,  they 
did  not  appre- 
c  i  a  t  e  real 
danger. 

Far  up  near 
the  top  a  curi- 
o  u  s  sight 
greeted  us.  On 
a  small  snow 
hummock  in 
the  centre  of 
the  glacier  a 
solitary  black 
bird,  resembling 
a  raven,  was 
perched.  As 
we  drew  near  it 
flew  off  com- 
posedly toward 
a  snow-peak,  as 
it  might  have  done  to  a  tree  containing  its  nest. 
This  was  at  over  eighteen  thousand  feet,  and 
for  many  miles  on  every  side  lay  only  peaks 
and  glaciers.  What  could  the  bird  live  upon 
in  that  snow  world  ?  We  had  never  seen  one 
before  and  did  not  again  in  such  a  place. 
Later,  in  the  museum  at  Srinagar,  I  saw  a 
stuffed  bird  of  similar  form  with  a  red  beak, 
labelled  the  "chough,"  with  a  remark  that  it 
lived  only  at  great  elevations,  seldom,  even 
in  winter,  descending  to  seven  thousand 
feet.  The  "  chough,"  then,  was  probably  the 
strange  visitor  we  encountered  on  the  Chogo 
Loongma. 

Everyone  was  glad  when  the  top  of  the 
glacier  was  reached.  A  few  coolies  assisted  in 
putting  up  tents,  but  the  majority  lay  flat  on  the 
snow,  groaning  and  complaining  of  feeling  ill. 


■  - 

i 

"  PERTAB  SINGH  CAMP,"  I9,OOOFT.  ABOV 

From  a]  continually 


It  was  not  surprising  they  should   be  affe< 
with  mountain  lassitude. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  At* 
camp  .than   this,    at    nearly    nineteen    thousand 
lid,  backed  against  the  most  ch<  i   snow- 

walls,  that  rained  down  avalanches  at  all  hours 
of  day  and  night.  This  camp,  seen  in  my  photo 
graph,  was  called  the  "  Pertab  Singh  Camp," 
in  honour  of  the  Maharajah  of  Kashmir. 
Zurbriggen  considered  our  tents  just  within  the 
bounds  of  safety,  and  although  I  tried  hard  to 
believe  it,  what  with  the  constant  boom  of 
avalanches  and  the  music  of  a  sleet-storm  on 
the  tent,  I  cannot  say  I  passed  an  agreeable 
night  at  this  our  highest  camp.  Still,  the  first 
ascent  of  the  great  Chogo  Loongma  was  a  fait 

accompli,  and  we 
were  lucky  to 
have  done  it  as 
we  did.  The 
weather  turned 
bad  in  the 
night,  and  we 
had  to  pack  up 
the  ice  -  coated 
tents  and  frozen 
ground  -  sheets 
and  start  down 
in  a  hurry,  for 
it  was  a  spot 
where  snow 
accumul  a  ted 
fast,  and  had 
we  remained  a 
few  hours 
longer  the  small 
camp  would 
have  quite  dis- 
appeared in 
the  new  snow 
which  fell 
heavily  during  the  storm  that  followed. 

We  pushed  on  two  marches  downward  for 
"  Serac  Camp,"  and  by  the  time  it  was  reached  a 
great  storm  which  lasted  sixty  hours  was  raging. 
Those  not  used  to  camping  on  snow  can  scarcely 
realize  what  it  means  to  be  imprisoned  in  a 
small  tent  during  a  storm  of  such  severity  and 
duration,  when  the  depth  of  snow  outside 
increases  foot  by  foot  in  spite  of  the  efforts  of 
the  coolies  to  remove  it,  and  the  tent,  unless 
cleared  often  of  the  load  accumulating  upon  it, 
threatens  to  collapse  upon  you  as  you  sit  within. 
By  way  of  variety  the  temperature  is  raised  for 
an  hour  or  two  to  forty  degrees  while  a  small 
Primus  stove  is  burned,  and  as  quickly  relapses 
to  freezing  when  the  flame  is  extinguished. 
Imagine  the  cook  arriving  with  a  shiver  to  serve 
a  hot  soup,  and  as  he  opens  the  tent  ever  so 


E  SEA-LEVEL — WHERE  AVALANCHES  ROAU 
DAY   AND    NIGHT.  [Photo. 


400 


nu    wim:   world    maga/.ixk. 


little  to  enter,  a  swirl  of  snow  sweeps  in,  covering 

e,  chairs,  and  blankets.     Our  table-cloth  is 

snow,   .md  with  feet   encased    in    high    felt 

ur  heads  in  thick  Jaeger  raps,  and  with 

hands  stiff   with  cold,  although   fur  gloved,   we 

_■   sp  the  cup  of  soup  or  tea  thankfully. 


and  the  mist  rose  a  little  over  our  frigid  bivouac 
we  found  ourselves  alone  with  guides  and  chat- 
tering servants.  Tramping  down  the  snow  we 
went  out  and  took  the  photograph  here  shown 
of  "Serac  Camp"  after  the  storm,  and  Zurbriggen, 
who  had  just  lighted  his  pipe  of  comfort. 


From  a] 


.    camp"  after  a  sixty  hours'  snowstorm. 


[Photo. 


Toward  evening  the  wind  rises,  and  by  mid- 
night has  reached  the  force  of  an  American 
blizzard.  You  lie  in  your  sleeping-bag  as  the 
canvas  walls  shake  and  the  tent-cords  creak, 
wondering  whether  the  next  gust  will  wreck  the 
le  frail  structure.  Another  day  and  night 
of  this  sort  of  thing,  with  no  respite,  and  you 
begin  to  doubt  whether  your  mental  and  phy- 
sical power  will  long  continue. 

1  >uring  a  short  break  on  the  second  day  our 
fifty-five  coolies  left  en  masse,  little  knowing 
whither  they  were  going  in  the  icy  wilderness. 
And   when  at  last  it  ceased  to  blow  and  snow 


Two  days  later,  as  the  last  stick  of  wood  was 
being  used  for  breakfast,  a  fresh  relay  of  coolies 
arrived,  ordered  to  our  rescue  by  the  Govern- 
ment. Then,  striking  our  tents,  we  marched 
downward,  soon  forgetting,  in  a  blazing  sunshine, 
the  dark  days  of  hardship  and  privation  on  the 
great  glacier. 

The  severest  winter  storm  of  England  or  the 
Continent  is  but  a  bagatelle  compared  to  the 
real  thing  in  the  Himalayan  ice-world,  and 
the  grandest  view  in  Switzerland  on  a  fair  day  is 
a  mere  nothing  to  a  radiant  sunlit  scene  on  the 
upper  stretches  of  the  great  Chogo  Loongma. 


Cast    Away   in    the    Arctic. 

THE   LOSS   OF    THE    WHALER    "  VEGA." 
By  R.  D.  Mackay,  of  Dundee. 

The  whaler   "  Vega,"    of  Dundee,  was  caught    in  the    Arctic    ice    and    sank    in  Melville  Bay.     Her 

crew   of  forty-five,  ill-clad    and    with    but   little   food,  set    out   to    make    their   way    to   the  nearest 

settlement,  three  hundred  miles  away.     The  story  of  that  awful  journey  is  one  of  the  most  thrilling 

that  the  Frozen  North  has  given  the  world  for  many  years. 


ESCUED  from  the  perils  of  the 
cold  Arctic  Seas,  mercifully  snatched 
from  an  ice-bound  tomb,  there  re- 
turned not  long  ago  to  the  busy 
seaport    town    of    Dundee    several 

members  of  the  crew  of  the  whaler  Vega,  which 

but  a  few  months  previously  had  steamed  down 

the  Firth  of  Tay,   with    gay   bunting   fluttering 

from  her  yards,  bound 

for   the    Greenland 

whaling  grounds.   The 

story    of    their    awful 

sufferings  and  the  loss 

of  the  good  ship  Vega 

in  the   dread  grip   of 

the   Arctic   ice   forms 

one  of  the  most  thrill- 
ing narratives  that  the 

Frozen  North  has  given 

to  the  world  for  many 

years.  There  are  those 

of  the  crew  who  bear 

the  marks  of  suffering 

upon  their  faces  — 

men    who    will    never 

fire  a   harpoon   again 

—  and    not    one   will 

forget,  while  life  lasts, 

the    terrible   agony  of 

the  almost   incredible 

journey     they     made 

over   rugged    ice   and 

treacherous  waters    to 

a    haven     of    shelter 

after  their  vessel  had 

sunk. 
Time  was  when  from 

out  of   Dundee  there 

sailed  a  gallant  fleet  of 

stout-timbered  craft  to 

penetrate  the  icy  Arctic  Seas  in  quest  of  whales 

and  seals.     As  year  by  year  added  some  fresh 

calamity,     however,    the    fleet    became     sadly 

attenuated,  until  it  is  now  but  a  shadow  of  its 

former  self.     Vessels  like  the  Chieftain,  claimed 

Vol.  xii.—  51. 


CAPTAIN   COONF.Y,  WHO    WAS    IN    COMMAND   OF    THE    ILL-FATED 
WHALER    "VEGA"    WHEN    SHE   SANK    IN    MELVILLE    RAY. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Valentine,  Dundee. 


by  the  merciless  Northern  Sea,  were  never 
replaced,  and  the  glamour  has  vanished  from 
the  industry  to  an  extraordinary  extent.  Never- 
theless, there  are  still  several  survivors  of  the 
old  fleet,  and  last  year  a  new  vessel  was  added 
— the  Vega,  a  stout  craft  which  was  navigated  by 
the  celebrated  explorer,  Nordenskjold,  in  1878, 
in  his  memorable  north-east  passage  through  the 

Arctic  Sea. 

On  the  1  1  th  of 
April  last  the  Vega  set 
out  upon  her  maiden 
whaling  voyage,  with 
a  crew  of  forty-five  all 
told,  tried  and  hardy 
whalers  who  had 
cruised  the  treacherous 
seas  year  in,  year  out, 
until  they  had  become 
inured  to  danger  and 
hardship.  Captain 
Cooney,  the  com- 
mander, was  an  ex- 
perienced whaler,  and 
had  the  confidence  of 
his  crew.  With  a 
favouring  breeze  the 
Vega  sped  on  until 
Cape  Farewell  was 
sighted.  Then  all 
was  bustle  on  board, 
for  in  a  few  days  the 
fishing -ground  would 
be  reached.  Ropes 
were  coiled,  whale- 
boats  seen  to,  and  the 
deadly  harpoons  given 
a  final  sharpening.  But 
there  was  disappoint- 
ment in  store  for  the 
whalers  when  at  length  the  grounds  were  entered. 
There  were  no  whales  to  be  seen — only  a  waste 
of  water,  dotted  here  and  there  with  gigantic 
icebergs  and  mammoth  floes,  which  grated 
against  each  other  continually. 


402 


THE    W1PK     WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


Captain  Cooney  saw  at  once  that  he  was  in  a 
dangerous  position,  for  every  moment  the  Hoes 
were  being  driven  nearer,  ever  nearer  to  his  ship, 
and  once  in  their  tight  embrace  it  would  require 
re  than  the  tough  timbers  of  the  Vega  to  with- 
stand the  shock.  The  great  sheets  o\  jagged  ice 
were  crawling  in  upon  the  vessel  like  a  snake 
winding  its  sinuous  coil  round  a  victim,  while 
huge  bergs  towered  overhead  great,  glistening 
mountains  which  rocked  and  swayed  dangerously 
in  the  trough  o[~  the  S 

Cietting    under    way    again.    Captain    Cooney 
navigated  his  vessel  through  the  narrow  channel 

open   wal 
until    Melville 

was  reach 
but  here  the  pn  - 
sure  of  the  rl> 
ust  as  bad. 
A  n     A  r  c  t  i  c 
whaling      master 
knows     full    well 
that  it  is  certain 
destruction    if   a 
sel  is  allowed 
to     become     en- 
tangled    in     the 
circle  of  ice.    He 
has    to    dod_ 
about,     baulking 
the    great    flo 
worming    a    pas- 
sage    to    open 
water,    and    ever 
on    the    outlook 
for  a  chance  to 
escape  from  the 
deadly    ice  -  trap. 
It  was  an  anxious 
time      Captain 
Cooney    had    in 

■  ille  Bay,  and  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts  he 
at  last  found  himself  completely  surrounded  by 

•  fieids  of  ice  ! 
The    Vega    was    trapped — shut    in   amidst  a 

ate  expanse  of  glistening  ice  which  glittered 

itlv  in  the  fitful  rays  of  the  Arctic  sun,  but 
took  on  a  cruel  and  gloomy  aspect  when  the 
dark  shadows  of  night  crept  over  the  scene. 

All  day  long  the  crew  of  the  Vega  toiled  hard 
to  keep  an  open  space  for  the  ship  between  the 
two  floes  which  thr  d  to  crush  her.     They 

:  fighting  for  their  lives,  as  everyone  knew, 
and  not  a  man  shirked  his  duty.  Then,  when 
the   night    i  »n    in    all    its    sombre   Arctic 

blackness,  the  anxious  whalers   listened   to  the 

-less  grating  and  rumbling  of  the  ice  as  it 

hurled  hither  and  thither  by  the  turbulent 
The     Vega   had    several    narrow    escapes 


from  being  smashed  by  icebergs,  which  towered 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  ship  like  giant  sentinels 
guarding  the  lonely  scene.  These  bergs  fre- 
quentlv  toppled  over  with  an  appalling  crash, 
and  after  the  fall  of  these  mountains  of  ice  the 
crew  had  to  be  active  in  staving  off  the  great 
Mocks  which  had  become  dislodged. 

Towards  the  end  of  May  the  Vega  lay  in  a 
small  circle  of  water,  which  narrowed  and 
narrowed  as  the  hours  sped  by.  On  May  30th 
the  pack  was  scarcely  a  dozen  yards  from  the 
ship..  The:  succeeding  day,  the  last  Sabbath  in 
the  month,  found  the  state  of  affairs  even  worse. 

The  ice  was  now 
-rating  against 
the  ship's  sides, 
rasping  and  tear- 
ing her  timbers. 
Shortly  before 
eight  o'clock  that 
night  the  cry 
went  up,  "  The 
sides    are    giving 


way 


It    was 


THE    WHALER 
From  a  ] 


VEGA, 


AS    SHE    APPEARED    WHEN    LEAVING    DUNDEE    ON 
HER    LAST    VOYAGE.  [/'/Wo. 


all  too  true,  for 
the  Vega  was  at 
last  in  a  tight 
embrace. 

"  We  will  try  a 
blast,  lads,"  said 
Captain  Cooney, 
as  he  surveyed 
the  desolate 
scene.  "  If  that 
fails,  Heaven  help 
us  !  for  it  will 
be  a  struggle  be- 
tween the  Vega 
and  the  ice." 
The  charge  was 
speedily  laid,  and 
the  whalers  scurried  back  to  the  ship  to  watch 
the  effect  of  the  explosion. 

"  Boom  !  Crash  !  "  —and  the  echo  of  the 
discharge  reverberated  over  the  wide  expanse. 
Huge  blocks  of  ice  hurtled  through  the  air  and 
then  crashed  back  into  the  sea.  Then  all  was 
still,  save  for  the  everlasting  rasp  of  the  cruel  ice. 
"  I  believe  that  will  give  us  a  little  relief," 
remarked  the  captain  to  one  of  his  officers,  as 
he  noted  the  gap  that  had  been  made. 

"  Good  heavens,  sir  !  "  gasped  one  of  the 
crew,  as  he  rushed  to  his  officer's  side.  "  There's 
a  hole  in  the  ship's  side,  and  I  think  she's 
settling  down  ! " 

Hurriedly  the  captain  rushed  to  the  side,  and 
found  that  the  man  had  spoken  truly.  A  large 
jagged  block  of  ice  dislodged  by  the  blasting 
had  penetrated  the  vessel's  timbers,  cleaving  a 


CAST    AWAY    IN    THE    ARCTIC 


403 


passage  through  the  stout  wood  as  if  it  had 
been  matchwood.  The  hole  was  close  to  the 
water-line,  and  the  sea  was  already  pouring  in 
in  great  volume. 

"  Launch  the  boats,"  yelled  the  captain,  and 
soon  the  seven  whale-boats  were  lowered.  Men 
who  had. been  in  their  bunks  below  rushed  on 
deck  to  find  that  the  Vega  was  fast  sinking  into 
her  Arctic  tomb.  Scantily  clad,  they  had  to 
dash  for  the  boats,  which  had  been  hastily 
provisioned. 

Calmly  Captain  Cooney  stood  upon  the  deck, 
loth  to  leave  his  ship.  Alexander  Stewart,  one 
of  the  crew,  approached  him,  and,  tugging  his 
arm,  entreated  him  to  get  to  the  boats.  "  Come 
on,  captain,  or  you'll  be  sucked  down,"  he  said 

"  I  think  I'd  better  go  down  with  her,  Sandy," 
said  the  captain,  mournfully. 


The  hardened  whalers  looked  at  each  other 
in  silence.  They  shuddered  as  they  gazed  at 
the  gloomy  waters  and  the  still  gloomier  ice,  and 
thought  of  their  awful  position  homeless  on 
the  Arctic  Sea  ! 

Fortunately    every     member    of     the     1  1 
answered     the     roll-call,    but    they    were     in     a 
pitiable    state.     Some    were   barefooted,    others 
were  coatless,  and  all  ill-prepared  for  the  terrible 
suffering  which  they  knew  to  be  inevitable. 

The  gap  of  water  in  which  the  Vega  wenl 
down  was  now  dotted  with  wreckage.  In  tin 
biting  blast,  with  the  snow  swirling  in  their  fac<  s, 
the  unfortunate  men  set  about  collecting  articles 
which  might  be  of  use  to  them  on  their  journey. 
They  hoped  to  find  some  cases  of  food  or 
articles  of  clothing,  but  disappointment  was  their 
lot,  and  at  length  the  order  was  given   to  man 


'COME   ON,    CAPTAIN,    OR    YOU  Lh    BE   SUCKKD    DOWN,      HE    s  \  1 1  >. 


"  Nonsense,  sir,"  replied  the  man,  "  you  and 
I  will  live  to  voyage  together  again  yet."  And 
Stewart,  who  had  made  up  his  mind  to  stand  by 
his  captain,  at  last  succeeded  in  getting  him  to 
the  boats.  They  were  not  a  moment  too  soon, 
for  the  Vega  was  by  this  time  full  of  water.  The 
crew,  standing  dejectedly  in  the  boats  or  on  the 
ice,  silently  watched  their  ship  disappearing. 
There  was  an  ominous  creaking  of  the  timbers, 
then  a  slight  heel  over,  and  swiftly  the  good  ship 
sank  to  her  ocean  tomb.  There  was  the  heavy 
lash  of  displaced  water — then  all  was  still,  save 
for  the  crashing  of  the  ice,  which  had  claimed 
its  prey. 


the  boats  for  the  journey  to  the  mainland. 
The  crew  were  distributed  between  the  s< 
boats,  and  the  rations— salt  beef  and  biscuits - 
equally  divided.  The  only  hope  for  the  ship- 
wrecked mariners  was  that  the  weather  might 
moderate  and  that  a  settlement  might  be  reached 
before  the  dread  frost-bite  killed  them  off.  "  It 
was  the  coldest  weather  1  have  ever  experienced 
in  the  Arctic,"  said  one  of  the  survivors,  who 
has  had  a  long  whaling  career.  "I  had  no 
boots  and  no  jacket,  so  the  cold  wind  pierced 
me  like  a  knife  and  the  snow  saturated  me 
through  and  through." 

Keeping  to  the  water  as  long  as  possible  the 


4°4 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAi  iA/INK. 


procession  of   boats   moved    slowly  away  from 

rhumb  — the  place  where  the  Vega  lies. 

The  rowers  bent  to  the  oars  and  pulled  for  their 

The   ice   frequently  crashed  against   the 

frail  s,  -harp  look-out  had  to  be  kept 

Bravely  each  man  encouraged 

his  neighbour  with  cheering  assurances  that  all 

would  be  right  in  a  short  time.     The  experienced 

.ers    shook    their    heads,    however,    for    well 

that  men  could  not  live  in  the  Arctic 

time  in  open  boats  with   no 

At  last  the  boats  had  to  be  hauled  up  on  the 


feeling  below  the  knee-joints.  I  kept  rubbing 
them  down  with  snow,  but  1  dared  not  take 
long  for  that,  lest  I  should  fall  behind  the  others 
and  lose  the  boats.  My  hands  were  benumbed, 
too,  and  after  a  few  hours'  tramping  I  really  did 
not  care  whether  I  perished  or  not.  There 
■  others  just  as  bad  as  myself  who  would 
fain  have  lain  down  in  a  snowdrift  and  gone  to 
sleep.  But  life  is  sweet  to  all,  and,  encouraged 
by  kindnesses  from  our  comrades,  we  held  on." 
After,  a  time  open  water  was  again  reached 
and  the  second  night  found  the  boats  making 
fairly  good  progress.     Several  of  them,  however, 


THE  BOATS  HAD  TO  BE  HAULED  UP  ON  THE  ICE. 


ind  it  was  the  toilsome  march  that  followed 
over  the  jagged  ice-masses  that  told  so  severely 
upon  the  men.  It  was  not  so  bad  for  those  who 
had  boots,  but,  sitting  in  your  cosy  arm-chair, 
you  can.  perha:  ire  the  sufferings  of  those 

who  trudged  along  with  no  covering  save  woollen 
kings. 
"  In  the  hurry  of  leaving  the  ship  I  had  not 
even   time  to  go  below  for  my  boots,  so  I  was 
one  of  the  unfortunates  who  came  in  for  the 
st  of  it,"  was  the  pathetic  story  told  by  a 
young  whaler  who  is  now  confined  to  bed  with 
frost-bitten  feet.     "  When  we  took  to  the  ice  I 
wrapped  sailcloth  round  my  feet,  but  they  were 
soon  dripping  wet.      In  half  an  hour  I  did  not 
know  if  I  had  any  feet  at  all.     I  seemed  to  be 
crawling  along  on  my  knees,  for  there  was  no 


were  leaky  and  the  water  which  gathered  made 
things  still  more  miserable  and  dangerous  for 
their  wretched  occupants.  A  few  fish  were 
caught,  and  this  was  the  only  variation  from 
the  beef  and  biscuits  saved  from  the  ship — a 
slender  stock  which  was  rapidly  becoming 
exhausted. 

Hour  after  hour  passed  in  a  ceaseless  struggle 
for  life.  The  boats  began  to  separate  from  each 
other,  the  crews  endeavouring  to  find  the  easiest 
route  through  the  winding  water-channels.  On 
the  third  day  snow  again  commenced  to  fall 
and  progress  was  delayed.  The  greatest  suf- 
ferers  at  this  time  were  the  engineers  and 
stokers,  who  had  been  accustomed,  day  after 
day,  to  the  heat  of  the  engine-room  and 
stokehole.     These  poor  fellows,  in  the  agonies 


CAST    AWAY    IN    THE    ARCTIC. 


405 


of  frost-bite,  crouched  in  the  boats  unable 
to  move  until  compelled  to  get  on  to 
the  ice  and  drag  the  boat  to  a  waterway. 
Sleep  was  next  to  impossible  —  an  hour  at  a 
time,  perhaps,  but  no  more,  for  in  that  intense 
cold  the  poor  sufferers  might  pass  into  the  last 
restful  sleep  of  all.  The  fourth  day  out  was 
the  severest  yet  experienced,  and  the  brave  men 
looked  at  each  other  as  if  to  ask  the  question  : 
"  Can  we  live  another  day  like  this  ?  "  The  snow 
came  down  pitilessly,  drifting  into  the  boats 
and  covering  the  ice  with  a  thick  mantle  of 
white.  Stockings  for  the  feet  and  mitts  for  the 
hands  were  exchanged  to  afford  slight  warmth 
for  a  time  until  the  cries  of  some  agonized 
sufferer  compelled  the  wearer  to  hand  them  over. 
The  boats  were  by  this  time  wider  apart,  Captain 


our  benumbed  bodies.  It  was  awful  when  we 
had  to  take  to  the  ice,  for  not  only  had  w< 
drag  the  boat  along  but  we  had  to  toil  on  our- 
selves, now  sinking  in  snowdrifts,  now  cutting 
our  feet  on  the  sharp,  jagged  points  of  ice,  and 
frequently  falling  on  our  hands  and  knees.  (>n<- 
of  our  crew,  a  young  fellow  who  had  not  had 
much  experience  of  whaling,  was  fairly  done  up. 
In  the  boat  he  had  been  moaning  and  groaning 
in  excruciating  agony ;  but  when  the  ice  was 
reached  I  saw  him  set  his  teeth  and  bravely 
step  forward.  I  could  see  that  it  was  a  last 
despairing  effort,  so,  stepping  alongside,  I  gave 
him  my  arm.  'Thanks,  mate,'  he  said,  'I'm 
done  for,  and  I'll  be  the  first  to  go.' 

"  'Cheer  up,  man,  we  can't  be  far  from  land,' 
I  said,  'and  once  we  get  afloat  you'll  be  all  right.' 


THANKS,    MATE,'    HE    SAID,    '  l'.M     DONE    FOR.'" 


Cooney  having  thought  it  advisable  that  each 
boat  should  depend  on  its  own  crew,  thus  afford- 
ing a  better  chance  for  some  of  them  reaching 
the  mainland  to  give  intelligence  of  the  wreck 
and  the  plight  of  the  crew. 

"As  we  watched  the  other  boats  disappear 
we  made  up  our  minds  that  we  should  never 
meet  again,"  remarked  one  of  my  informants. 
"  And  when  we  were  left  alone— seven  stricken 
mortals— in  a  frail  and  leaky  boat,  I  think  I 
prayed  as  I  never  prayed  before.  Desperately 
we  pulled  at  the  oars,  relieving  each  other  every 
half  hour  or  so,  to  keep  the  blood  circulating  in 


"  He  mumbled  something  unintelligible,  stum- 
bled on  a  few  steps,  and  then  collapsed. 

"'Leave    me    here,    mate,    I    want  to  sleep,' 
he  muttered. 

"  I  could  not  leave  him,  for  he  would  die  if  he 
slept  half  an  hour  on  the  ice,  so  with  the  assist 
ance  of  another  man  I  dragged  him  over  the  ice 
to  the  water  and  laid  him  in  the  boat.  He  was 
more  dead  than  alive,  but  after  a  few  of  us  had 
given  him  a  thorough  rubbing  he  revived,  and 
although  his  legs  and  arms  were  frost-bitten  he 
kept  up  heart.  It's  strange  what  a  craving 
comes  over  a  man,  when  he  is  thoroughly  done 


406 


THE     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


anywhere.     In  my  Arctic  experience 
rong  men  praying  to  be  allowei 
on  the  ice,  although  they  knew  quite 
well  that  it  meant  certain  death." 

We  will  follow  the  fortunes  oi  the  boat  under 

the  charge   o\    Alexandei  rt,   the  first  to 

h  the  mainland.      1:''  boat,  Stewart  declares, 

•.he  worst  manned  of  the   little   tleet.      They 

picked  up  William  Milne,  second  engineer,  hut 


odd  miles  dash  for  the  mainland."  The  men 
simply  threw  themselves  ashore  and  were  glad  to 
lie  down  anywhere.  No  medical  appliances  were 
at  hand,"  and  they  had  to  use  roasted  salt  to  dress 
'heir  injuries.  The  other  hoats  came  straggling 
i.i  two  days  later,  and  every  man  had  the  same 
terrible  story  to  tell  of  the  horrors  they  had 
passed  through.  The  shipwrecked  whalers,  with 
hands  and  feet  paralyzed,  lay  at  the  tiny  Danish 


'•nil.    OTHER    BOATS   CAME    STRAGGLING    IN    TWO    DAYS    LATER. 


still  the  crew  were  weak.  They  were  strong  in 
spirit,  and,  working  well  together,  from  Stewart  to 
the  hoy,  they  made  good  progress.  The  captain  of 
the  boat  told  the  men  to  sleep  as  little  as  possible 
and  *heir    feet    as    long    as    they    could. 

'caching  Little  Duck  Island,  lit-  requested  an 

ange  of  two  men  from  another  boat,  but  was 
told  this  could  not  be  done.  Stewart  looked 
after  the  steering,  and  as  the  boat  leaked  badly  it 

an  adventurous  journey.  On  the  fourth  day 
the  ag  .ecame  intense.     Men 

lay   in    the    bottom   of  the  boat   raving  in   their 

tent,  but  nothing  could  be  done  for  them. 
"  We  had  just  to  grin  and  bear  it,"  laconically 
rem,  i  5l  it  still  we  held  out,  and  at 

10.15  on  tne  evening  of  the  5th  June — the  fifth 
day  of  our  journey — our  little  boat  reached 
Upernavik,  in  Greenland.    I  hi  n  at  sea,  off 

and  on,  since  1866,  but  I  1  nt  through  any- 

thing like  the  tortures  of  that  three  hundred  and 


settlement  for  a  month,  and  they  all  speak  warmly 
of  the  kindness  shown  them  by  the  natives. 

Then,  fortunately  for  the  castaways,  the  Good 
Hope,  an  exploring  vessel,  with  the  Danish 
Governor  (or  "  King  of  Greenland,"  as  he  is 
called)  on  board,  arrived  and  took  them  off. 
The  whole  of  the  crew  could  not  be  taken,  as 
several  men  were  too  ill  to  be  moved.  Married 
men  had  the  preference,  and  the  other  places 
were  balloted  for.  Weak  and  shattered,  the 
whalers  returned  to  their  own  country  literally 
out  of  the  very  jaws  of  death.  Many  of  the 
brave  fellows  are  disfigured  for  life,  but  it  is  a 
miracle  that  any  of  them  should  have  escaped 
to  tell  the  tale  of  that  awful  expedition.  For 
bravery  and  endurance,  that  journey  of  the  forty- 
five  whalers  of  the  Vega,  over  three  hundred 
miles  of  ice  and  water,  without  proper  clothing 
or  provisions,  will  be  remembered  for  many  a 
day  in  many  a  home  and  many  a  heart. 


How  two  impecu- 
nious youths  estab- 
lished a  "  corner  " 
in  rotten  eggs,  and 
then  made  money 
out  of  them  in  a 
most  extraordinary 
manner. 


lp>|p 


WICE  during  the  course  of  a  some- 
what varied  career  I  have  found 
myself  perilously  near  the  state  of 
being  what  is  known  in  American 
parlance  as  "  broke  "  —  once  in 
Queensland,  where  I  had  nothing  but  fourpence 
halfpenny,  a  good  constitution,  and  a  kindly 
father  thirteen  thousand  miles  away  between 
myself  and  impecuniosity,  and  again  in  San 
Francisco,  where  my  immediately  available 
worldly  wealth  had  dwindled  to  forty  cents — ■ 
— mostly  in  nickels — of  good  and  lawful  money 
of  Uncle  Sam.  However,  I  succeeded  on  each 
occasion  in  re- 
habilitating myself 
satisfactorily  with- 
out recourse  to 
any  such  extra- 
ordinary expedi- 
ent as  is  here- 
under recorded. 
I  presume  the 
method  adopted 
by  two  youths  in 
British  Columbia 
of  restoring  their 
fallen  fortunes  will 
be  considered  at 
least  novel ;  at  any 
rate  it  was  emi- 
nently successful. 
With    this    pre- 


amble I  must  explain  that  at  the  time  of  which 
I  speak  I  was  colonial  manager  of  a  mining  and 
mercantile  corporation  with  its  head  orifice  in 
London  and  branches  in  the  Rossland  district  of 
British  Columbia.  The  incident  I  am  now  going 
to  describe  occurred  at  Cascade,  a  new  town 
just  north  of  the  international  boundary  line. 

Our  stores  professed  to  "go  one  better  "  than 
Whiteley's,  and  supply  everything,  from  tacks  to 
tambourines,  peanuts  to  pianos,  mouse-traps  to 
mineral  claims,  or  dolls  to  dynamite.  But  I  was 
certainly  taken  aback  when  one  day  one  of  a 
pair  of  harassed  looking  youths,  after  asking  for 


From  ,i 


■line  author's  store  at  cascade,  British  Columbia. 


\lkoto. 


40S 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


anager,  walked  up  to  the  office  and  deliber- 
ately said  :   "  Say,  mister,   have  you   any   rotten 
e away  ? " 
N   w        i  against  the  established  principles  of 
all  store  «'iit  West  "  to  make  gratuities  of 

any  description.     It  generally  pc-ys  much  better 

I  ice  become  known  as  an 
juy  "  and  you  may  as  well  take  down  your 
and  substitute  another  a  size  or  two 
r  with  "  Ichabod  "  writ  large  across  it.     So 
rleyed. 
In   point   of  fact,  however,  rotten   eggs,  flat, 
.  and  unprofitable  as  they  had  proven,  had 
I  a  source  of  constantly  recurring  annoyance 
for  s    me  time.      The  store  was  thirty  miles 
from  a  railway,  and  a  four-horse  team,  drawing  a 
ggon  loaded  with  one  hundred  and  forty  cases 
containing  rather  over  fifty  thousand  eggs,  had 
met    with    an    accident    three    or    four    months 
before      The  waggon  had,  in  short,  upset  down 
an  embankment,  and  many  of  those  eggs  had  a 
it    fall.      Indeed,    there   was    not    one    box 
without   damaged   occupants.     Hundreds   were 
smashed    and    hundreds    more    badly    shaken. 
Five    or    six     of     the     worst 
damaged    cases    were    carted 
away   and   dumped    on    some 
waste  ground  near  the  powder- 
magazine  nearly  a  mile  distant. 
We  did  "the  best  we  could" 
with  the  rest — and  the 
best     was     very,     very 
unsatisfactory.     There- 
fore,   when    one    of 
these    youths    men- 
tioned   eggs     in     one 
breath    and    gratuities 
in    the    next    he    had 
chosen   a   subject 
likely     to     lead 
to  any  genial  re- 
joinder on    my 
part 

"Young 
man,"  I  an 
-ed,  shortly, 
"  this  establish- 
ment  neither 
practises  philan- 
thropy nor  pur- 
veys putres- 
cence." 

-  W  o  t     v  e  r 
givin'  us?7'   he  responded,  doubtfully. 

I  replied,  and  turned  away. 

The  other  youth  then  came  to  the  rescue  of 

his  companion.     "  Look  here,  sir,"  he  said,  "  I'm 

an  Englishman,  like  yourself,  and  I'm  hungry. 

We  heard  you  had  had  an  accident  and  some 


eggs  were  damaged,  and  you  threw  them  out. 
Will  you  tell  us  where  they  are  ?  " 

"  Sure,"  I  said,  "  they're  out  down  there  with 
the  other  explosives,  near  the  powder-magazine. 
They've  been  there  nearly  four  months  in  the 
blazing  sun.  You  will  find  them  pretty  ripe,  I 
guess  ;  even  the  coyotes  pass  by  on  the  other 
side  when  they  get  near.  You're  not  intending 
to  eat  any,  I  hope?" 

"  No,"  he  answered ;  "  we're  going  to  sell 
them  at  five  cents  each,  '  two  bits '  the  half- 
dozen.  I  wonder  how  your  grandmother  and 
mine,  who  were  supposed  to  be  authorities  on 
eggs,  would  like  the  job — at  half  a  crown  a 
dozen." 

He  went  away  whistling.  That  young  man 
had  certainly  cheek  enough  to  succeed  in  life, 
for  I  could  not  get  the  price  he  spoke  of  for 
fresh  eggs  ;  and  as  I  went  on  with  my  work  I 
wondered  how  on  earth  he  was  going  to  dispose 
of  them. 

A  little  while  later  a  boy  came  up  grinning  all 
over  his  face.  "  Say,"  he  said,  "  them'uns  wants  to 
know  if  you've  got  any  more  of  them  rotten  eggs." 


IK    AWAY    TWO   CASES." 


No,"  I  answered. 
"  What's  your  price  for  the 
cheapest  you  have  got  ?  " 
"  Ten  dollars  a  case." 
"All   right,"  he   said;    "I 
guess  they'll  take  'em.  They've 
used  up  pretty  near  all  they 
had." 
"  What  are  they  doing  with  them  ?"  I  asked. 
"  Come  down  and  see,"  said  the  boy,   and 
burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter.      "  You'd  almost 
die  laughing.     Half  the  town's  there." 

Presently  he  returned  with  a  wheelbarrow  and 
twenty  dollars  and  took  away  two   cases  pur- 


A    DEAL    IN    EGGS. 


409 


porting  to  contain  eggs— sixty  dozen  eggs,  to  be 
precise.  As  to  whether  they  were  bad,  worse, 
or  truly  awful,  however,  I  gave  no  guarantee, 
but  would  willingly  have  vouchsafed  a  high  per- 
centage of  sulphuretted  hydrogen  if  called  upon 
to  do  so. 

Half  an  hour  later  curiosity  took  me  down 
town,  and  it  will  be  some  time  before  I  forget 
the  sight  which  greeted  me.  At  the  corner  of 
Main  Street  and  Second  Avenue  stands  the 
Commercial  Hotel,  a  typical  Western  hostelry 
in  all  but  name.  On  the  American  side  of  the 
line  saloons  are  allowed  to  exist  per  se,  but  in 
certain  districts  of  British  Columbia  every 
licensed  building  must  have  a  dining-room  and 
a  certain  number  of  furnished  bedrooms 
attached.  The  consequence  is  that  the  bed- 
rooms, being  looked  upon  as  a  legal  infliction, 
are    seldom    furnished    over-sumptuously,    and 


sheet  a  rope  was  stretched,  and  jammed  up 
against  that  rope  was  a  motley  group  of  mil 
railroaders,  speculators,  boomers,  and  other 
specimens  of  the  genus  homo  and  the  genus  hobo 
eagerly  buying,  at  five  cents  each,  what  app< 
to  be  eggs — to  throw  at  the  bobbing  black  h 
projecting  from  the  stretched-out  sheet  !  It  is 
said  that  beans  killed  more  men  than  bullets  in 
the  American  Civil  War,  and  that,  in  spite  of 
the  general  high  standard  of  marksmanship  in 
the  now  United  States,  about  ten  thousand 
bullets  were  fired  for  every  man  who  was  hit. 
But  making  due  allowance  for  human  fallibility 
in  aiming  at  things,  it  was  truly  surprising  how 
many  eggs  were  thrown  at  those  two  youths 
without  any  success  whatever  from  the  marks- 
man's point  of  view.  Many  a  man — many 
dozens  of  men  indeed — spent  dollar  alter 
dollar   buying  eggs,    hoping  to   crack   them   on 


mp/  1 


HARDLY   ONE   SHOT    IN    FIVE    HUNDRED    TOOK    EFFECT. 

rarely  in  larger  number  than  the  law  demands. 
The  result  is  that  the  country-town  hotels  are 
pretty  much  all  alike  in  architecture  and  general 
equipment. 

There  was  a  boom  in  the  town  at  the  .time  I 
write  of,  the  hotel  was  crowded,  and  the  side- 
walks thronged  with  people.  A  large  assemblage 
had  gathered  opposite  the  hotel-yard.  Half- 
way down,  towards  the  back  of  the  lot,  an  erst- 
while white  sheet  had  been  stretched  perpen- 
dicularly between  two  poles,  and  through  holes 
in  that  sheet  were  to  be  discerned  the  scarcely 
recognisable  blackened  faces  of  my  two  egg 
customers.     Thirty  feet  or  less  in   front  of  the 

Vol.  xii.— 62. 


those    dodging    black    pates— 
and  yet  without  raising  a  hair. 
Some,  indeed,  in  their  anxiety, 
grasped      their      missiles      too 
firmly  and  exploded  them  over 
themselves  and  the  bystanders. 
Perhaps    hardly    one    shot    in 
five  hundred    took    effect,   and 
the  only  man  who  achieved  any 
pitching  average  to  brag  of  was   one  who  had 
apparently  gained  his  experience  bowling  under- 
hand on  an  English  cricket  field.     Time  after 
time  he  landed  his  egg  just  about  a  foot  over  the 
head  of  the'  poor  wretch  he   had   selected  as  a 
target,  with  the   result  that  it   exploded  down- 
wards, or  trickled  around  the  lad's  neck. 

I  have  no  remarks  to  make  as  to  the  propriety 
of  the  occurrence.  Everything  was  supposed  to 
be  running  "wide  open."  If  the  youths  were 
coining  money  and  the  crowd  making  fun  for 
themselves,    what    business    was    it    of    anyone 

else  ? 

The  hotel-keeper   had   one   good   cause   for 


416 

com  plaint,  for 
the  place  looked 
like  a  gamb  . 
coloured  sham- 
bles and  smelt  — 
but  words  can- 
lescribe  that 
smell  !  On  the 
other  hand,  how- 
■• ,  h  e  w  a  s 
doing  all  t  h  e 
liquor  bus 
in  town,  and  in 
a  new  commu- 
nity dollars 
count  for  more 
than  perfume. 

All  told,  about 
thirty -five  hun- 
dred were 
thrown  at  those 
black-faced,    be- 

•tered  indi- 
viduals, and  I 
doubt  if  many  over 
thirty  actually  hit 
them.  But  each  of 
successful  shots 
raised  a  roar  that 
made  the  welkin 
ring.  I  calculated 
that  after  allowing 
for  certain  expenses, 
including      cost     of 

siles  and  hire  of 
assistants,     the    two 

iths  "cleaned  up" 
about   one   hundred 

liars  net  inside 
three  hours  !  Had 
there  been  more 
time  and  more  <  _ 
their  profits  would 
have  been  still 
grer 

I  treasure  to  this 
day  a  note  that  one 
of  them  sent  me 
after  it  was  ali 
It  was  addressed  to 
"  the  manager  of  the 
B.C.  store,"  and  r 
as  follows  :  — 


Tin;    wild:   WORLD    maga/im'. 


MR.    STANLEY    MAVAI.I.    THE    AUTHOR   (IF    THIS   STORV. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Carpenter  &*  Co. 


•X       /Wv 


t-V  ' 


'■^    fjiAyLur  "  urvwv    ?ih/    Ho  tlttuo  ■ 

* 

■   law    ~/f-w      I  u/t? 

0    —  I 


_A>V_A^ 


-   Ifitivt^  /kdo^d  iiMbeL 


iyjsr 


i  *  f 


"  Dere    sir, — ■ 
ime    threw   with 
mi  ole   cloas  an 
havent   got   any 
uthers  i  enclose 
25    dollars    by 
bearer   i   want 
you  to  send  me 
one  Sute  dark  38 
coat  an    36    by 
32     pants     blue 
striped   shirt  an 
coller     (an     ty) 
fifteen  &  a  half 
lace  boots  an  sox 
size  6  the  boots 
i  mene  an  sox  to 
match  an  seven 
I    Ate    hat,     yu 
bet  mi  Hed  aint 
swelled    enny    i 
Hoap    yore    dry 
goods   is    better 
quallety    then 
yoar  eggs  Jim  he  got 
plenty  cloas  but  ther 
aint    enny    bath    in 
town  an  he  ses  hes 
fered  weal  stink  fur 
tvvinty    yers    wich    i 
Hoap  it  will  cum  off 
suner   send    them 
goods  rite  away 
"  yrs  Truley 
"  b  Carsen." 
Across   the  back  of 
the  note  the  English 
boy  had  written  in  a 
clear,    intelligent 
hand,  "  I  would  that 
my     tongue      could 
utter    the    thoughts 
that  arise  in  me." 

I  have  not  seen 
either  of  the  pair 
since,  but  it  is  evi- 
dent that  they  possess 
between  them  suffi- 
cient pluck,  wit,  and 
adaptiveness  to  cir- 
cumstances to  assure 
tluir  getting  on  in 
the  world. 


■■>!■     1  III-.    1  I;  I   IKK    KKCEIVKI)    ItV 


"  After  Many  Years  " — An  Interesting  Letter— A  Tiger  in  a  Snap-Trap,  etc. 


tional  details,  or  ask- 
ing to  be  placed  in 
communication  with  a 
contributor  in  whom, 
perhaps,  the  corre- 
spondent recognises  a 
long -lost  companion 
or  relation.  Fre- 
quently readers  write 
in  to  corroborate 
narratives  or  to  add 
sequels  to  them  — 
sequels  often  more 
strange  and  startling 
than  the  most  imagi- 
native fiction.  Here 
are  two  typical  com- 
munications to  hand 
just  as  we  go  to 
press.  The  first  con- 
cerns a  story  which 
appeared  in  our  July, 
1903,  issue,  entitled 
'The  Wandering 
Jew,"  and  describing 
the  terrible  experi- 
ences of  a  Hebrew 
pedlar  who  got  hope- 
lessly lost  on  the 
Canadian  prairie.  A 
correspondent  writing 


ARDLY  a  day  passes  but  The  Wide 
World  Magazine  receives  letters 
from  people  in  all  parts  of  the 
world,  substantiating  stories  pub- 
lished in  its  columns,  adding  addi- 


Accident 

or  Crime? 


A  member  of  a  government  survey 
party  working  in  Northern  Alberta, 
sends  The  Herald  the  following  He 
writes  from  his  camp  in  township  41. 
range  11.  west  of  the  4tb  meridian., 
under  date  of  August  12th: 

I  am  a*  present  subdividing'  the 
above  township,  and  yesterday  while 
running  .west  on  the  second,  interior 
cord,  on  the  north  boundary  of  sec- 
tion 19  and  about  three-quarters  of  a 
mile  east  of  the  west  boundary  of  this 
township,  we  happened  upon  a  saddle 
lying  iu  the  long  grass,  close  to  the 
edge  of  a  bunch  of  willows  and  small 
poplars!  It  is  what  is  commonly 
called  a  cowboy  saddle.  [  believe,  with 
steel  horn  and  was  in  a  position,  as 
if  just  taken  off  a  horse  and  dumped 
there  temporarily.  From  its  state  of 
preservation,  or  rather  want  of  pre- 
servation.' I  concinde  it  has  been  ly- 
ing there  for  some  years. 

A  few  paces  west  and  amongst  the 
willows,  the  line  passing  directly  over 
them,  were  found  about  a  dozen  bot- 
tles, at  one  time  done  up  in  straw- 
envelopes  About  half  *ere  empty 
or  broken,  apparently  having  contain- 
ed beer,  one  still  having  the  lafcel  of 
the  Calgary  Brewing  company;  the 
others  (five)  however,  were  fulF  and 
contained  whisky,  one  of  the  bottles 
was  broken  in  trying  to  ascertain  Its 
contents. 

Close  to  these  a  box  lay  npslde 
down  wbicb  at  first  sight,  lodging  by 
the  bottom,  appeared  only  an  ordinary 


"AFTER    MANY   YRARs" — THIS 
CURIOUS   SEQUEL    TO    A 


from  Calgary,  N.W.T.,  sends  us  the  clipping 
from  the  Calgary  Daily  He?-ald  which  is  here 
reproduced  in  facsimile.  He  says  :  "  No  doubt 
this  is  the  abandoned  kit  of  the  'Wandering 
Jew  '  whose  adventures  were  described  in  your 

magazine-  Not 
knowing,  or  perhaps 
having  forgotten,  the 
pedlar's  story,  the 
finder  of  the  pack 
evidently  looks  upon 
the  affair  as  a  mys 
tery.  It  is  strange 
that  the  poor 
Hebrew's  belongings 
should  have  been 
found  after  lying  for 
five  years  on  the 
prairie."  We  do  not 
think  that  anyone 
who  has  read  the 
story  will  come  to 
any  other  conclusion 
than  that  the  saddle 
and  case  described 
in  the  newspaper 
cutting  belonged  to 
the  ill  -  fated  young 
pedlar.  It  is,  indeed, 
passing  strange,  as 
our  correspondent 
points  out,  that  the 
articles  should 
have  come  to  light 
after  such  a  lapse 
of  time. 


box.  but  on  righting  it  it  appeared 
to  be  a  leather  covered  dressing  case 
On  opening  it.  however,  we  found  it 
ta  contain  a  lot  of  cheap  Jewelry 
such  as  might  have  been  carried  by  a 
pedlar.  There  were  about  half  a  dozen 
rings,  one  marked  14k.  two  plated 
shaving  cups,  womens'  side  combs. 
tobacco  pouches,  purses  (empty),  lace, 
pencils,  mouth  organs  (2)  fancy 
cloths  (very  much  decayed),  eh.iring 
brushes,  one  razor  and  a  few  other 
trifles  The  box  had  an  interior  lin- 
ing, such  a3  dres3ins  cases  generally 
have,  of  course,  having  been  lying  in 
a  few  inches  of  water,  very  much  de- 
cayed. 

It  appears  to  be  that  these  articles 
were  deposited  there  quite  a  number 
of  years  ago.  But. what  would  a  ped- 
lar do  in  this  "  neighborhood  when 
there  were  no  settlers? 

Schneider  &  Schultz's  ranche  is 
about  the  nearest  habitation  to  the 
spot  tbe  distance  being  about  five 
miles.  Their  trail  to  Wetaskiwln,  via 
Heather  Brae,  runs  within  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  of  this  spot.  They 
however,  located  here  a  'ittje  more 
than   a  year  ago. 

A  Mr  McDonald's  ranche  lies  to  the 
north  east  about  seven  or  eight  mjics 
He  (Mr.  McDonald*  I  am  informed, 
has  been  located  in  this  district  some- 
what longer.  There  are  no  Indiane 
here  and  nothing  to  bring'  them  into 
this  neighborhood  since  the  buffalo 
Teft  more  than  20  years  ago.  though 
an  Indian  did  hunt  here  in  the  Flag:- 
staff  hills  last  fall  and  killed  It  deer 
so  1  am  informed  by  a  rancher     _ 

There  is  no  use  theorizing  I  «m 
merely  stating  facts  which  may 
simply  resolve  themselves  into  «om»*- 
one  having  lost  his  horse,  his  camp, 
or  bis  cache  and  was  not  able  to  find 
It   again  C    F    M 


NEWSPAPER    CUTTING   SUPPLIES   A 
"  WIDE    WORLD  "    STORY. 


4I2 


mi.   wim;   world   magazine. 


id  communica- 
tion is.  perhaps,  even  more 
interesting.      The    writer    is 

mmander    R.   G.    Mel 
R.N.R.,  who  for  mam  years 
been    connected    with 
the    Anchor    Line,    and     his 
lett<  rns     the     story 

••  I'iie    Last    \  of   the 

.    in  our  October 
number.  Mr.     Rignold's 

yam  interested  me  at  on- 
lie  nd    1   should  like 

supplement    it    for    j 
lefit     It  is  now  twent)  six 
i     one   winter 
I  i tiding  on   the 

bridge  of  the  good  steamship 
of  the  Anchor 
Line,  of  which  I  was  chief 
officer.  1  >uring  the  forenoon 
watch     I  something 

like   a    derelict   on  our  star- 
board    bow,    and    we    bore 
n  upon  it.     We  found  it 
to   be    a   vessel    in    a   very 
pitiable  state  indeed.      I 
irded    her  in   one  of  our 
life  -  boats   and   had   a   con- 
versation   with     her    master. 
The  schooner  was  the  Is/and 
Belle,  from  St.  John's  to  Boston.     She  had  lost 
all   her   sails  and   part    of   her    spars    and    was 
drifting    helplessly.      The    mate    had    died   and 
another    hand,    it    was    thought,    had    jumped 
:  board.     We  took  off  the  captain's  wife  and 
child,   as    the   lady   was   in    a   very  feeble    con- 
dition,    and     put 
provisions,  etc.,  on 
le  cap- 
tain  would    not 
leave    the    vessel, 
although    I     tried 
my    best     to 
him    to    abandon 
her,  as  she  was  on 
eastern    ei 
•he    Banks    of 
vfoundland, 
and    unless    a 
favouring     gale 
-      I  p    he 
:d    always     be 
driving    farther 
•     from     land. 
When    I    left   him 
he  said,  'See  that 
my  wife  and  child 
are    sent     on     to 


COMMANDER  R.  (,.   Mc  FEE,    K.N.R.,  WHO    ADDS  SOME 

INTERESTING    DETAILS   TO   THE   STOKY   OK    THE 

"  ISLAND    BELLE  "    IN   OUR    OCTOBER    ISSUE. 

From  a  Photo. 


A    Rh.MAKKABLE   AQUATIC    POST    OFFICE    IN    LAKE    WABIGOON,    ONTARIO. 

From  a  Photo. 


Boston.'  So  we  pulled  away, 
and  left  what  I  considered 
•  me  of  the  most  obstinate 
men  I  ever  met,  standing  on 
a  crazy  platform  of  bottled- 
up  cod-fish,  with  not  the 
slightest  chance  of  reachim/ 
land.  He  was  thirty -four 
days  out  when  we  fell  in 
with  him.  On  arrival  at 
New  York  our  purser  took 
the  lady  and  child  in  charge 
and  saw  them  off  for  Boston. 
I  learned  the  following  voyage 
that  the  Germanic  had  taken 
off  the  crew  of  the  schooner 
a  few  days  after  we  commu- 
nicated with  her.  It  was  a 
pity  I  did  not  see  the  advertise- 
ments in  the  New  York  papers, 
as,  if  I  had,  the  money  re- 
ferred to  would  have  been  for- 
warded to  the  schooner's  cap- 
tain, or  at  any  rate  to  his  wife, 
as  our  purser  then  knew  where 
he  had  booked  her  for.  The 
story  is  well  told,  and,  what  is 
more,  it  is  true  ;  and  you  can 
understand  that  I  was  keenly 
interested  to  come  across  it 
after  so  many  years." 
A  remarkable  postal  curiosity  is  next  repro- 
duced. In  Lake  Wabigoon,  Ontario,  Canada, 
at  a  point  where  the  water  is  not  very  deep,  a 
strong  wooden  stake  has  been  driven  into  the 
ground.  On  the  top  a  box  has  been  securely 
fastened,    as    shown    in    our    photograph,    and 

there  you  have 
the  Lake  Wabi- 
goon Post  Office. 
The  little  steamer 
from  Rat  Portage 
drops  the  mail 
here  on  her  out- 
ward voyage,  and 
a  canoe  goes  out 
from  the  shore  and 
collects  it,  deposit- 
ing the  outgoing 
mail  at  the  same 
time,  which  is 
picked  up  by  the 
steamer  on  her  re- 
turn trip  to  Rat 
Portage  next  day. 
This  quaint  aqua- 
tie  post-office  must 
surely  be  unique 
of  its  kind. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


413 


'CAUGHT!    — THIS    UNIQUE   SNAP-SHOT   SHOWS   A    MAGNIFICENT    FULL-GROWN    TIGER   CAUGHT   IN   A   SUMATRAN    "  SNAP-TRAP." 


A  correspondent  living  in  the  Straits  Settle- 
ments sends  us  the  extraordinary  photograph 
here  reproduced,  which  shows  a  magnificent 
tiger  caught  in  a  Sumatran  snap-trap.  Con- 
cerning this  picture  he  writes  as  follows  : — 

"Tigers  may  be  found  all  through  Asia,  from 
India  to  Korea,  but  in  no  part  of  the  continent 
are  they  so  indifferent  to  the  dangers  of  the 
environment  of  the  white  man  as  they  are  in 
the  Malay  Peninsula  and  the  Dutch  Indies.  It 
is  scarcely  a  year  since  an  elderly  tiger  that 
ought  to  have  known  better  was  shot  under  the 
billiard-room  of  Raffle's  Hotel  in  Singapore. 
In  Johore,  just  fifteen  miles  from  the  heart  of 
Singapore,  the  reigning  Sultan  kills  any  number 
of  tigers  every  year  off  his  own  gun,  and  he 
generally  stalks  them  afoot.  lie  also  exports  a 
number  of  live  tigers  to  dealers  in  Europe  and 
America.  These  animals  are  purchased  on  the 
spot  from  him  by  agents  in  Singapore.  The 
Johore  tigers  are  captured  in  the  orthodox  way, 
in  trap-cages  with  falling  gates,  and  such  traps 
prove  the  popular  mediums  with  tiger-catchers 
nearly  everywhere  throughout  the  East. 

"  Neither  the  trap  -  cage  nor  the  erstwhile 
popular  pit-fall  is,  however,  the  only  system  of 
capture  that  obtains  in  Malaya.  In  Sumatra, 
and  throughout  the  Dutch  Indies  generally, 
the  white  men  on  the  plantations  are  generally 


too  busy  to  be  able  to  go  on  tiger-hunting 
expeditions,  while  the  indigenous  Malays  and 
Battacks  consider  the  pastime  too  risky.  The 
imported  Indian,  Chinese,  or  Javanese  coolie 
would  no  more  dream  of  hunting  '  stripes ' 
than  of  climbing  rainbows.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  the  tiger  that  generally  hunts 
the  coolie.  Now,  coolies  are,  comparatively 
speaking,  expensive  things.  The  planter  has  to 
import  them,  and  pay  them,  and  doctor  them, 
and  feed  them— all  at  great  expense — and  he 
cannot  afford  to  permit  them  to  become  food 
for  tigers.  He  is,  as  stated,  too  busy  with  his 
tobacco-growing  to  go  forth  '  shikarring,'  and, 
moreover,  he  cannot  secure  beaters  without 
taking  away  the  hands  from  the  fields,  and  that 
is  out  of  the  question.  To  build  a  jungle  c 
trap  takes  time  and  caution  and  skilled  natives ; 
while  the  old-fashioned  spring-gun  is  not  always 
reliable  and  sometimes  kills  a  man  instead  of 
a  tiger.  Therefore  the  planters  import — from 
Germany,  as  a  rule — immense  snap-traps,  almost 
identical  with  the  spring  rat-traps  one  buys  for 
a  shilling  apiece  at  home,  only  ever  so  much 
larger  and  stronger.  These  are  really  the  bear- 
traps  so  common  in  parts  of  Europe  and  the 
United  States,  but  the  very  largest  size  is 
required  for  tiger-catching. 

"  To  set  the  trap,  the  first  process  is  to  build  a 


4'4 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


small,  stout  enclosure  o(  bamboo,  as  shown  in 
the  photograph,  and  inside  o\  it  is  tethered  a 
In  trout  the  trap  is  so  placed  that,  in 
get  within  striking  distance  of  the  goat, 
tlie  tiger  has  to  sti  p  on  the  nigger.  The  trap 
is  then  loosely  covered  with  jungle  leaves,  etc., 
and  is  anchored  by  a  stout  chain  to  some 
adjacent  ti 

■  I  rest  of  the  process  is  simple  enough. 
\  tch  has  to  be  kept.  Nobody  has  to  stay 
by  the  trap  and  mind  it.  The  tiger  going  forth 
ge  hears  the  goat  bleating.  He  there- 
upon turns  swiftly  and  noiselessly  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  sound.  When  he  reaches  the 
bamboo  enclosure,   seemingly  erected  for   the 

tection  oi  the  bait,  he  halts  and  sniffs  and 
•pr>  about '  generally.    The  tiger,  it  may 

explained,  though  immensely  powerful,  is 
naturally  nervous  and  suspicious  of  things 
that  savour  of  man's  handiwork.  When  the 
_  ;  detects  the  approach  of  her  enemy  she 
redoubles  her  bleating,  and  thereby  whets  the 
appetite  of  her  natural  destroyer  and  simul- 
taneously emboldens   him.     Once  or  twice  he 

les  the  trap  cautiously,  drawing  nearer  at 
each  turn.  He  sees  one  side  of  the  pen 
almost  entirely  open.  A  few  bamboo  cross- 
-  -tretch  across  it,  lashed  with  withes  of 
rattan.  One  blow  of  his  great  paw,  he  knows 
right  well,  will  shatter  them.  Accordingly  he 
•icing,  crouching  low  and  purring  the 
while.  As  he  does  so  the  sweeping  tail  switches 
nervously  from  side  to  side  in  little  twitches  of 
pleasurable  anticipation. 

S     wly,  slowly,  step  by  step,  he  crawls  nearer 
and  nearer  the  pen.      His 

•-able      victim      bleats 
loudly  in  the  ecstasy  of  her 

terror.      A  step  closer 

"Snap! 

"In  a  flash  the  great, 
cruel  steel  jaws  of  the  trap 
have  crunched  together  on 
the  mighty  forearms  of  the 
tiger.  A  frightful  roar 
breaks  through  the  silent 
darkness  of  the  foi 
The  dumb  -  stricken  goat 
sees  a  frantic  mass  of  black 
and  white  and  yellow 
squirming  madly  in  the 
darkness.  The  great  brute 
shrieks  in  despair  and 
agony  and  tugs  at  the  st 
trap  in  helpless,  hopeless 
fury.  Away  in  the  sheds 
where  the  coolies  sleep 
the  Chinese  and  Javanese 
labourers   start  up  at  the 


noise  of  his  bellowing.  They  know  that  the 
tiger  is  caught,  and  feel  relieved  and  happy.  At 
dawn,  the  estate  manager,  and  probably  some  of 
his  European  assistants,  march  off  to  the  trap 
with  their  rifles,  and  put  the  captured  beast  out 
of  his  misery.  Occasionally,  but  rarely,  the 
doomed  king  of  the  jungle  is  photographed 
before  he  is  killed.  What  he  thinks  of  the 
operation  may  be  inferred  from  his  expression 
in  the  unique  photograph  sent  herewith. 
The  tiger  •  shown  was  taken  on  one  of  the 
estates  of  the  famous  Deli  Maatschappij,  only 
a  few  miles  from  the  town  of  Medan,  which 
is  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Deli,  in 
North-Eastern  Sumatra.  The  illustration  shows 
the  method  of  his  capture  and  demonstrates 
the  details  thereof  better  than  any  verbal 
explanation." 

Those  who  are  continually  grumbling  about 
the  condition  of  the  streets  and  promenades 
of  their  town,  agitating  for  immediate  im- 
provements, would  do  well  to  examine 
the  accompanying  photograph.  The  picture 
represents  a  street  scene  in  Fort  Wrangel, 
Alaska,  in  1899,  and  gives  one  a  good  idea 
of  what  an  American  "  mushroom  "  town 
looks  like.  They  grow  up  so  rapidly  that 
such  minor  items  as  the  making  of  streets  are 
not  considered  until  "  things  have  got  into 
shape  a  bit,"  when,  perchance,  the  short- 
lived "  boom  "  is  over  and  the  town  is  already 
in  a  state  of  decadence.  The  discarded  canvas 
store-sign  in  the  foreground  of  the  photograph 
speaks  volumes  for  the  architectural  stability  of 
the  place  generally. 


LRIQAN 


[Photo. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


From  a  Photo,  by 


BEAUTIFUL   CAVE    RECENTLY    DISCOVERED    IN    THE    ROCK    OF   GIBRALTAR. 


[Campbell  Sinclair. 


The  mighty  rock  of  Gibraltar  is  simply 
honeycombed  with  galleries  and  chambers, 
some  artificial  and  some  natural,  which  add 
greatly  to  its  defensive  strength,  while  the  large 
caverns  come  in  extremely  useful  as  store- 
houses for  provisions  and  munitions  of  war. 
During  blasting  opera- 
tions recently  at  the  r — 
quarry  beneath  the  Mon- 
key's Alameda  a  new 
cavern  of  surprising 
beauty  and  extent  was 
discovered.  The  cham- 
ber is  approximately 
three  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long  and  seventy 
feet  high,  with  a  width 
of  about  forty  feet.  The 
stalactites  and  stalag- 
mites in  the  cave,  as 
will  be  seen  from  the 
flashlight  photograph 
given  above,  are  of  extra- 
ordinary  length  and 
delicacy,  some  of  the 
former  resembling  hang- 
ing cords.  The  entrance 
to  the  new  cave  is  near 
the  Eastern  exit  of  the 
Rock  tunnel. 


The  photograph  shown  below  was  taken  at 
Singapore,  and  shows  the  curious  "  Procession 
of  the  Dragon  "  which  takes  place  towards  the 
close  of  the  Chinese  year.  The  idea  of  the 
festival  is  to  scare  away  the  evil  spirits  of  the 
Old  Year,  who  are  supposed  to   linger  about  in 


E   STRANGE    DRAGON    PROCESSION    AT    SINGAPORE. 


4i6 


1111      WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


the   hop        :  ng    a    little 

more    mischief    before    they 
depart.     Tom-toms  an. 
are   beaten    and    fire-crack 

scare  th<  ils," 

whil  I  the  kind 

n  in  the  snap-shot  per- 
ambulate the  town,  presum- 
ably seeking  tor  the  wicked 
dem 

A  dent  sends  us 

the  next  photograph,  con- 
cerning which  he  writes  as 
follows  :  "On  the  (.state  of 
5l  nby,  on  Adelso,  an 
island  in  Lake  Mala".  Sweden, 
there  stands  an  old  fir-tree 
stump  which  is  considered  by 
the  natives  to  be  a  spirit  tree. 
Small  coins  and  trinkets  are 
always  to  be  found  in  the 
hole  shown  in  the  photo.,  and 
for  years  no  one  has  been  known  to  find  the 
hole  empty.  The  present  writer  has  been  there 
three  times,  and  has  found  a  few  coins  each 
time.  The  tree  stands  far  from  any  dwelling, 
and  there  is  no  village  on  the  island.     Snow  lies 


/■'yon:  a] 


A    SWEDISH        si  iki  r      1  REE. 


[Photo. 


deep  round  the  tree  all  winter  and  no  foot- 
marks are  to  be  seen  in  it,  and  yet  one  finds 
the  coins  there,  apparently  without  human 
agency.  No  one  on  the  island  can  offer  any 
explanation  of  the  mystery." 


Deal  in  Egcs 


Cast  Away  in 
the  Arctic 


Mv  Last  Climb 


Fighting  Snow 
in  Rockies-*- 


)  V   Lost  in  a 

\  >        Mine 


White 
Avengers 


T 
Paradise  of  Biros 


NewYea^Paivxde 


Alone  intheWimmei^a 


.-- 


THE   NOVEL   MAP-CONTENTS   OP    "  THE   WIDE   WORLD    MAGAZINE,"    WHICH    SHOWS   AT    A   GLANCE   THE    LOCALITY   OF    EACH    ARTICLE 

AND    NARRATIVE   OP    ADVENTURE    IN    THIS   NUMBER. 


"A   LURID    FLAME    OF    FIRE." 
(see  page  426.) 


The  Wide  World  Magazine. 


Vol    XII. 


MARCH     1904. 


No.  71. 


The    "White    Avengers." 

By  J.  Walter  Reed,  of  Pennsylvania. 
III. 

The  conclusion  of  this  exciting  narrative  of  life  in  the  Southern  States  of  America  in  the  troubled 
days  after  the  war,  when  secret  societies  such  as  the  "White  Avengers"  terrorized  whole  districts. 
In  this  instalment  Mr.  Reed*  narrates  the  experiences  of  the  young  Northern  schoolmaster  after 
opening  his  negro  school,  and  the  thrilling  series  of  adventures  which  finally  induced  him  to 
abandon  his  enterprise    and    return    to  the    North    and    safety. 


IVE  weeks  had  gone  by  since  the 
escape  of  the  Yankee  schoolmaster 
from  the  plantation  on  the  back  of 
the  thoroughbred  horse,  when  one 
night,  for  the  first  time  in  his  life, 
the  young  Southerner  who  had  been  with  him 
in  his  flight  from  the  burning  swamp  became 
so  interested  in  a  book  he  was  reading,  that  he 
sat  up  until  dawn  was  breaking  in  the  east  in 
an  attempt  to  finish  it. 

The  young  planter  had  heard  frequently  from 
his  friend  of  one  night  during  the  time,  a  fairly 
regular  correspondence  having  been  kept  up 
between  the  two  young  men ;  besides  which, 
word  had  come  frequently  to  the  plantation  of 
the  school-teacher's  unhappy  life  as  a  "  nigger 
teacher"  through  the  medium  of  itinerant 
darkies  from  the  down-river  district.  From  all 
the  Southerner  could  learn  through  these  sources 
he  decided  that  Horace  Johnson  must  have  had 
frequent  cause  to  regret  his  temerity  in  coming 
South  to  teach  the  blacks. 

Of  a  sudden,  just  as  the  morning  sun  began 
to  throw  its  first  rays  of  light  over  the  landscape, 
and  when 'the  tired  reader  was  beginning  to 
think  seriously  of  seeking  his  couch,  he  was 
startled  by  hearing  the  pounding  hoofs  of  a 
horse  in  the  distance,  judged  by  the  sound, 
the  animal  was  being  urged  ahead  at  a  furious 
pace  toward  the  mansion  itself. 

Not  only  were  callers  extremely  rare  at  the 
plantation  at  this  unseasonable  hour  ;  the  mere 
fact  of  a  Southern  man,  black  or  white,  showing 
such  unmistakable  evidence  of  haste  presaged 
of  itself  some  unusual  occurrence. 

The  young  planter's  first  decision  was  that 
illness  had  suddenly  overtaken  a  member  of 
some  neighbour's  family,  and  that  a  messenger 

Vol.  xii.— 53. 


had  been   dispatched    to   the   "big  house"   for 
assistance. 

Without  the  least  decrease  in  speed,  the  rider 
turned  his  horse  in  at  the  open  gateway  before 
the  house  and  galloped  furiously  across  the 
broad  lawn.  At  the  main  entrance  he  sprang 
from  the  animal's  back  to  the  porch,  at  the 
same  time  giving  the  horse  a  sharp  cut  across 
ihe  flanks  which  sent  him  dashing  off  again. 

Hurrying  forward  to  admit  the  visitor, 
naturally  anxious  to  learn  the  occasion  of  die 
unusual  haste,  what  was  the  amazement  of  the 
young  planter  when  a  ragged  negro  burst  in  at 
the  door  and,  without  uttering  a  word,  began 
frantically  to  re-shoot  the  bolts  ! 

Suspecting  that  he  had  an  insane  man  to  deal 
with,  the  planter  sprang  toward  the  stranger  and 
seized  him.     The  result  of  this  action   was  so 
unexpected   to   the  youth   himself  that   it   l 
him  a  decided  shock. 

A  low  laugh,   suspiciously  free  from  the  rasp 
ing  intonation   which    distinguishes    the   guffaw 
of   the    black    man,    burst    from    the  throat    of 
the  visitor,   and   he    looked   quizzically   into  the 
planter's  face.* 

"Don't  be  frightened,''  he  said,  "it's  only  the 
Yankee  school-teacher  rigged  out  as  a  black  man 
once  more,  and  trying  desperately  to  get  away 
from  another  bloodthirsty  band  of  'Avengers." 

Then  the  two  friends  greeted  one  another 
heartily.  Without  pausing  to  answer  the  ea 
questions  which  burst  from  the  lips  of  his  host, 
the  ragged  fugitive,  seeming  suddenly  to  recall 
the  dangers  he  was  fleeing  from,  sprang  to  the 
tall  reading-lamp,  which  cast  a  bright  glare 
through  the  room,  and,  having  lowered  its 
flame,  followed  the  action  by  drawing  down  the 
heavy  window-blinds. 


11 1L     WIPF.     WORLD     MAC.  A/ INK. 


k 


* 

■     I)    rHE    STRANGER    AND   SEIZE 


"  It  I  seem  to  be  running  things  too  much  to 

suit  myself,"  he  exclaimed,   "you  must  pardon 

It  may.   however,   prove  wise  to  give  the 

house  a  deserted  look,  in  case  a  little  ruse  I've 

tried  to  play  on  the  rascals  fails  to  work." 

At  this  juncture  in  my  narration  it  becomes 
necessary,  in  order  that  the  reader  may  have  a 
proper  conception  of  the  events  winch  had  led 
up  to  the  Yankee  school-teacher's  reappearance 
upon  the  scene,  to  hark  back  somewhat  and 
detail  the  young  Northerner's  adventures  after 
starting  his  school  for  the  coloured  folk. 

The  sequestered  locality  near  the  river  landing 
to  which  the  school-teacher  had  fled  upon  the 
occasion  of  his  daring  escape  from  the  old 
Southern  plantation  chanced  to  be  in  the  very 
heart  of  the  famous  "  Black  Belt."  There  the 
black  inhabitants  outnumbered  the  white  resi- 
dents as  ten  to  one.  It  was  a  locality — fortu- 
nately for  the  young  Yankee — where  the  negroes 
were  in  full  control  of  the  situation,  and  where 
the  white  residents  really  feared  their  superior 
strength.  While  the  ex-slaves  had  thus  far  taken 
no  unfair  advantage  of  this  fact,  yet  they  were 
t  molested,  nor  given  reason  to  precipitate 
race  riots — affairs  which  came  frequently  enough 
in  some  sections  later. 

This  strength  of  numbers  among  the  black 
people  served  the  school-teacher  and  his  negro 
companion  well  at  the  time  of  their  escape,  for 
the  "  Secret  Avengers  "  did  not  dare  to  follow 
them  into  so  dangerous  a  neighbourhood  :  and 
the    members    of    I 'ink    Botsford's 


band  of  roughs,  and  their 
equally  bloodthirsty 
sympathizers  who  were 
scattered  throughout  the 
country  near  the  Yankee 
boy's  school,  were  forced 
to  bide  their  time  to 
square  their  reckoning 
with  him. 

It  was  a  motley  assem- 
blage which  greeted  the 
young  Northerner  on 
the  day  when  the  school 
which  he  had  come 
South  to  teach  opened 
lor  the  first  time. 

Seated,  curled  up,  and 
sprawled  out  upon  the 
rough  benches  and  about 
the  floor  of  the  school- 
room were  black 
"scholars"  of  all  ages, 
colours,  and  grotesque- 
ness  of  attire. 

For  some  time  after 
the  opening  of  the  school 
the  rough  white  element  about  the  neighbour- 
hood resorted  to  petty  persecution.  Then  one 
day  in  broad  light  the  school-building  was  sur- 
reptitiously fired  and  burned  about  the  ears  of 
the  school-teacher  and  his  dusky  students. 
Originally  this  building,  a  rough  structure  of 
logs,  had  been  a  slave-pen,  or  "  barracoon," 
which  the  teacher  transformed  into  an  "  Insti- 
tution of  Learning."  Upon  its  destruction  the 
darkies  turned  to  with  a  will,  gave  their  labour 
to  hew  out  logs,  and  organized  an  elaborate 
church  "  suppah  "  to  provide  the  other 
material  and  the  school  furniture.  As  a 
result  a  new  school  -  house,  vastly  superior 
in  every  way  to  the  old  slave-pen,  soon  arose 
on  its  ashes. 

Exactly  five  days  from  its  completion  this 
structure  also  went  up  in  flames,  the  school- 
teacher's white  enemies  having  fired  it  by  throw- 
ing large  bundles  of  dry  tree-moss  on  the  roof, 
late  at  night,  igniting  the  inflammable  stuff 
by  hurling  lighted  fagots  of  "  fat  "  pine 
into  it. 

Even  this  misfortune,  however,  did  not  dis- 
courage young  Johnson  and  his  black  cohorts. 
A  third  school  -  house  was  built,  the  classes 
during  its  construction  being  taught  in  the  open 
pine-woods  which  surrounded  the  site.  This 
third  building  was  the  most  pretentious  structure 
of  all.  It  was  clap-boarded  and  painted  red, 
lathed  and  plastered,  and  furnished  with  real 
desks  with  adjustable  seats  —  a  finer  school- 
-    building  than  even  the  "  quality  folks"  (the  rich 


THE    "WHITE    AVENC.KkS. 


421 


white  planters)  had  themselves.  Financial  aid 
was  asked  and  secured  for  this  rather  ambitious 
venture  from  a  Northern  "  freedmen's  bureau." 

Then  word  reached  the  ears  of  the  enemies  of 
the  "  Yankee  interloper  "  that  he  had  armed  his 
black  scholars  with  shot-guns  and  clubs,  and 
that  the  "  niggers  were  going  to  guard  their 
school-house  day  and  night." 

From  this  time  forth  the  rough  element, 
individually  and  collectively,  devoted  their 
attention  wholly  to  the  teacher  ;  appreciating 
how  dangerous  a  proposition  it  would  be  to 
come  within  range  of  the  black  lads'  muskets 
and  clubs. 

Within  three  days  the  young  Northerner  was 
shot  at  four  times  by  men  lurking  in  the  tall 
weeds  which  skirted  the  path  to  his  boarding- 
house,  but  each  time  the  bullets  went  wild. 
He  lived  with  a  prosperous  coloured  family 
half  a  mile  from  his  school,  to  reach  which  he 
had  to  pass  along  the  high  river-bank  almost 
the  entire  half  mile  through  the  thick  pine- 
forest,  coming  out  from  it  on  the  edge  of  a 
plantation,  where  the  weeds  grew,  as  they  often 
do  in  the  sub-tropics,  to  a  height  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet. 

After  this,  thinking  they  might  be  more  success- 
ful at  short  range,  the  white  bullies  attempted 
upon  two  or  three  occasions  to  pick  quarrels 
with  the  teacher  by  jostling  him  roughly  from 
their  path  when  they  met  him  on  the  country 
roads,  and  by  making  insulting  remarks  to  him. 
Their  fear  of  his  black  friends'  vengeance,  since 
the  roughs  had  no  organized  band  behind 
them  there  to  back  them  up,  alone  prevented 
them  from  murdering  the  hated  school-teacher 
in  cold  blood.  They  were  careful  upon  these 
occasions  to  keep  their  hands  on  the  handles 
^f  '.heir  pistols,  expecting  to  so  tantalize  the 
teacher  by  their  rough  treatment  that  he  would 
try  to  "  draw "  on  them,  when  they  counted 
upon  getting  first  "  drop "  themselves.  The 
ensuing  killing  of  the  Northern  youth  under 
such  circumstances  would  have  an  appearance 
of  justifiable  self-defence. 

Each  of  these  cowardly  attacks,  however, 
resulted  in  surprises  to  the  roughs,  and  promptly 
worked  their  discontinuance.  Each  time  the 
Yankee  boy's  fist  shot  out  like  a  flash  of  lightning 
and  landed  heavily  between  his  assailant's  eyes. 
At  one  time  there  were  said  to  be  no  fewer 
than  eight  of  the  lank  natives  of  this  locality 
wearing  raw  beef-steaks  and  other  poultices  over 
their  orbs,  ail  of  them  testifying  to  the  force  and 
accuracy  of  the  belligerent  school-teacher's  fist. 

Matters  ran  along  in  this  style  for  many  days. 
The  Northern  boy  had  as  many  as  six  of  the 
lugubrious  "  death  warnings  "  of  the  "Avengers  " 
— the  skulls  and  crossbones,  scrawled  in  blood 


upon  white  paper  I  upon  him  in  as  many 

days,  and  found  mysteriously  pin 
in  the  school-room,  despite  the  vigilance  of  the 
guard  which  was  kept  there  at  night.  Occasional 
shots,  too,  were  fired  at  the  windows  of  the 
school-building  from  the  thick  cover  of  the  pine- 
woods,  the  rascals  who  did  the  shooting  manag- 
ing  to  make  good  their  escape  before  the  black 
boys,  who  rushed  forth  armed  with  muskets, 
could  come  up  with  them. 

Naturally  the  rough  element  chafed  under  their 
continuous  failures  to  remove  the  teacher ;  and 
they  finally  decided  upon  a  bold  move,  which 
was  to  effectively  rid  themselves  and  their  fair 
land  of  the  pestiferous  Yankee. 

One  afternoon,  when   the  school  had   pas 
into  the  second  month  of  its  very  tempestuous 
existence,    the   teacher   and   his   scholars    were 
suddenly    startled  by  the  abrupt   entrance   of  a 
little  black  girl — a  pupil. 

With  eyes  fairly  protruding  from  her  head, 
she  announced,  stutteringly  and  gaspingly — the 
words  tripping  one  another  up  in  the  girl's 
effort  to  tell  all  the  alarming  facts  of  her  dis- 
covery at  once — that  a  "  hull  rej'ment  ob  1 
up-ribbah  '  Klukkah '  debbils "  were  on  their 
way  to  the  school-house,  where  they  intended 
not  only  to  burn  the  building,  but  to  capture  the 
school-teacher  and  to  straightway  hurl  him, 
bound  and  gagged,  to  the  alligators  in  the 
river  !  Loud  wails  arose  through  the  school- 
room from  the  younger  pupils  as  the  appalling 
recital  proceeded. 

The  little  black  girl,  it  appeared,  had  gone 
home  to  midday  lunch.  In  the  interval,  alter 
her  frugal  repast  of  fat  bacon  and  corn  pone 
was  disposed  of,  she  had  wandered  into  a 
near-by  field,  through  the  centre  of  which  ran 
a  stream  of  water— a  "  branch  "  -where  the 
festive  yellow  moccasins  (deadly  water-snakes), 
which  the  child  loved  to  watch,  were  wont  to 
disport  themselves. 

Now  this  stream  of  water,  as  it  chanced,  was 
skirted  with  red  willowbrush.  The  little  black 
girl  stood  concealed  by  a  high  hedge  of  the 
willows,  watching  a  snake,  when  she  suddenly 
heard  voices  on  the  other  side  of  the  hedge, 
across  the  "  branch."  Peering  through  the 
thick  brush,  she  saw  two  rough-looking  white 
men,  one  of  them  being  known  to  her  as 
'"Lije"  Taylor,  an  ex-guerilla  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  a  desperado  of  the  worst  type  ;  while  the 
other  man  was  a  stranger,  though  he  looked, 
if  possible,   even    more  villainous   than  '"Lije" 

himself. 

The  girl's  first  thought  was  flight.  She  was 
not  exactly  frightened  of  the  two  men,  yet  she 
had  a  large  bump  of  cautiousness  developed  in 
her  thick  skull. 


422 


11  IK     WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


SHE    HliAKI)   THK    PRELIMINARY    DETAILS    OF    A    VILE    PLOT    BEING    DISCUSSED. 


Then  certain  words  which  fell  from  the  lips 
of  the  strange  man  caught  her  ear  and,  as  she 
later  bore  testimony,  "  turned  her  hot  and  cold," 
and  rooted  her  to  the  ground. 

3  le  heard  the  preliminary  details  of  a  vile 
plot  being  discussed — a  plot  which  was  to  result 
in  the  capture  and  subsequent  death  of  the 
Yankee  school-teacher,  and  the  destruction  of 
the  new  school-buildii 

er    a    hundred    armed    and    bloodthirsty 
"Av<  were  already  on   their  way  toward 

the   spot,  their  plan    of   procedure,  as   the  girl 
heard   this    ad-.  >enger   from    the   gang 

outline  it,  being  to  surround  the  building 
:.rds  early  dusk,  when  the  white  teacher 
would  be  nearly  ready  to  leave  it  for  the  night. 
Then  they  were  to  set  fire  to  the  structure,  and 
catch  the  young  pedagogue  when  the  flames 
drove  him  forth.  The  teacher  would  at  that 
hour  be  comparatively  unprotected,  and  the 
mol  ted  to  have  satisfactorily  disposed  of 

him  before  the  flames  from  the  burning  building 
brought  assistance  from  his  black  friends. 

The  terrified  girl  crouched  down  into  a  little 
black  heap,  hugging  close  in  under  the  hedge, 
hearing  of  the  disposition  it  was  proposed  to 
make  of  the  teacher — a  feature  she  had  very 
likely  enlarged  upon  in  relating  her  story — and, 
having  remained  concealed  until  the  two  white 
men  had  at  length  struck  off  toward  the  pine- 


woods,  she  crept  upon  her  hands  and  knees  to 
the  edge  of  the  field,  and  then  sprang  to  her 
feet  and  made  a  little  black  streak  in  the 
direction  of  the  red  school-house. 

It  was  instantly  apparent  to  the  teacher,  when 
the  brave  little  girl  had  completed  her  disclosure 
of  the  infamous  plot  she  had  been  so  fortunate 
as  to  overhear,  that  his  enemies  had  been 
watching  his  daily  goings  and  comings,  and  his 
manner  of  passing  his  unemployed  tirr°  f/> 
some  purpose. 

Ostracized  by  his  vocation  from  all  congenial 
white  society,  the  Yankee  school-teacher  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  remaining  at  the  school- 
house  after  school-hours  every  day  until  nearly 
nightfall,  employing  his  time  in  reading  or, 
occasionally,  in  looking  over  and  correcting  the 
written  exercises  of  his  pupils. 

The  "  Avengers "  were  seemingly  no  more 
anxious  now  to  try  conclusions  with  the  main 
army  of  blacks  in  the  school  district  than  they 
had  formerly  been.  They  had  shrewdly  selected 
descent  upon  the  isolated 
when,  as  a  rule,  the  young 
there  practically  alone,  no 
doubt  figuring  that  they  could  capture  the  lad 
and  be  off  down  the  river  with  him  before  his 
black  friends  in  the  outlying  cabins  and  cotton- 
fields,  who  would  be  warned  by  the  flames  from 
the  burning  building  that  something  was  wrong, 


an  hour    for    their 

little   school-house 
teacher   would    be 


THE    "WHITE    AVENGERS." 


423 


would  have  time  to  reach  the  spot  and  endeavour 
to  rescue  him. 

I  will  draw  a  veil  over  the  scene  of  wild 
excitement  among  the  pupils  which  followed 
the  little  black  girl's  alarming  announcement. 
Routine  work  was  suspended,  but,  as  the  teacher 
thought  it  wise  not  to  arouse  the  suspicions  of 
possible  spies  who  might  be  lurking  in  the  pine- 
woods,  non-combatant  younger  pupils  and  girls 
were  not  dismissed  to  their  little  homes  until 
the  usual  hour.  It  is  almost  needless  to  remark 
that  when  this  time  finally  came  the  frightened 
children  did  not  need  the  strict  injunctions  of 
the  school-teacher  not  to  loiter  by  the  way. 

Thoughts  of  flight,  for  which  the  faithful  little 
messenger's  timely  warning  gave  the  teacher 
ample  chance,  never  once  entered  his  head. 
He  was  startled  by  the  great  peril  which 
menaced  him,  but  not  afraid. 

As  a  means  of  defence  against  over  a  hundred 
well-armed  men  there  were  a  dozen  old- 
fashioned  muskets  (which  had  always  shown  a 
disconcerting  fondness,  when  fired,  for  explod- 
ing at  the  wrong  end)  with  which  to  arm  the 
forty  and  odd  older  black  boys  who  constituted 
the  school's  regular  defenders.  Unless  he  could 
manage  in  some  way  to  get  word  to  the  dusky 
field-hands,  who  were  scattered  for  miles  through 
the  neighbouring  plantations,  in  time  for  them 
to  reach  the  school-house  in  advance  of  the 
"  Avenger  "  gang,  the  outlook  for  the  little  red 
school-house  and  its  master  seemed  a  gloomy 
one 

Yet  the  brave  young  Northerner  was  not  terri- 
fied by  the  apparent  hopelessness  of  the  situa- 
tion ;  nor  did  he  intend  to  sit  tamely  down  and 
wait  to  be  thrown  to  the  alligators.  He  had  long 
since  grown  weary  of  being  made  a  target  for  the 
bullets  of  the  local  roughs  ;  and,  after  pondering 
the  situation,  he  finally  determined  to  make  a 
stand  with  the  small  force  of  black  boys  at  his 
command. 

Then,  suddemy,  a  scheme  for  defence  occurred 
to  his  mind,  which  instantly  and  materially 
brightened  the  prospects  of  success.  The  plan 
he  had  now  thought  of  was  to  dispatch  messen- 
gers among  the  field-hands — cautiously,  one  at  a 
time — during  the  afternoon,  so  as  not  to  warn 
the  lurking  spies  of  what  was  afoot  and  preci- 
pitate an  attack  before  the  promised  hour. 
These  messengers  were  to  spread  the  alarm, 
and  to  admonish  the  older  darkies  to  first 
look  well  to  their  weapons,  and  then  to  congre- 
gate as  secretly,  yet  as  rapidly,  as  possible  at 
certain  dark  recesses  of  the  pine -forest,  where 
they  would  be  least  apt  to  encounter  stragglers 
from  the  enemy's  ranks.  There  they  were  to 
await  the  warning  clang  from  the  school-bell 
which  should  tell  them  that  the  expected  fracas 


had  commenced   and   that  th 
needed. 

The  sudden  rushing  horts  fr< 

the  woods  upon  all   sides,  while   the  attai  kin- 
party   was    attempting  desperately   to    com. 
those    in    the    school-hou  .Id   cause    such 

consternation  in  the  "Avengers'"  ranks,  the 
Northerner  hoped,  that  they  would  be  instantly 
routed. 

Moreover,  if  the  black  forces  won  this  one  til 
the  event  should   not  alone  for  ever  tli 
put  an  end   to  the   persecution   of  the   teacher, 
but  should   establish   the  fact  once  for  all   that 
the  coloured  school  was  a  fixed  feature  in  the 
locality. 

In  order  that  the  very  thrilling  events  which 
took  place  about  the  school-building  soon  after 
may  be  properly  understood,  it  becomes  neces- 
sary to  give  some  description  of  this  structure. 

It  consisted  of  a  single  long  room,  whose 
length  doubled  its  width,  having  a  small  recess 
at  one  side  where  the  scholars  stored  their 
lunch-baskets. 

The  entire  structure  was  lifted  several  feet  off 
the  ground,  being  supported  upon  stout  wooden 
posts  ;  the  space  beneath  was  tightly  boarded 
to  keep  out  stray  domestic  animals.  There 
were  eleven  windows,  all  told,  to  the  school- 
house,  and  two  doors— the  former  protected 
with  heavy  board  shutters  which  could  be 
pulled  to  and  secured  from  within.  Near  the 
centre  of  the  roof,  which  was  almost  flat  and 
reached  by  a  ladder  from  the  floor,  there  was 
a  belfry,  the  bell  in  which  had  once  done 
service  to  call  the  darkies  in  from  the  cotton- 
fields  to  "  quarters "  on  a  near-by  plantation. 

The  last  of  the  eight  messengers  having  been 
dispatched  by  five  o'clock  to  warn  the  older 
darkies,  and  as  at  any  moment  during  the  next 
hour  some  sign  of  the  enemy  might  be  expected 
about  the  building,  the  black  boys  who  had 
remained  with  the  teacher,  well  concealed 
inside  the  schoolroom,  became  so  impatient 
for  the  coming  "unpleasantness"  to  begin 
that  they  started  to  barricade  the  windows 
and  doors.  Two  of  their  number  were  sent 
to  the  bell-tower  to  sweep  with  their  eyes  the 
open  fields  between  the  fringe  of  woods  and 
the  school-house,  to  report  the  first  signs  of 
the  ghostly  forms  of  their  enemies  leaving  the 
cover.  The  room  below,  of  course,  was  now 
buried  in  deep  gloom.  At  the  lower  end  of 
each  of  the  heavy  wooden  window  shutters  small 
port-holes  had  been  cut,  and  a  stalwart  lad, 
armed  with  a  musket,  was  now  stationed  before 
each  of  these  apertures. 

In  the  teacher's  scheme  he  depended  greatly 
upon  the  "  Avengers  "  stealthily  approach- 
ing the  building  to  set  fire  to  it,  after  the  same 


424 


H1K    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


fashion  employed  by  their  predecessors,  when 

bent  upon  similar  errands. 

1:  was  the  simple  fact  that  the  present  .uaiiL; 
did  not  pursue  the  tactics  of  those  who  had 
come  before  them,  however,  which  tended  more 
than  anything  to  disarrange  die  school-teacher's 
intended  defence. 

From  five  until  nearly  six  the  time  dragged, 
and  still  th<  m  of  the   "Avengers." 

:i.  suddenly,  without  the  least  unusual 
id  having  been  heard  by  the  occupants  o\ 
the  dark  schoolroom,  or  any  alarm  from  the 
watchers  on  the  roof,  two  of  the  heavy  shutters 
on  the  north  side  of  the  school-house  were 
throwi  k  on  their  hinges,  and  in 


HESE   GAUNT   SPECTRES  COULD   BARELY  TIP-TOE   HIGK   E:       . 
INTO   THE   ROOM," 


the  openings  the  startled  teacher  and  the  little 
band  oi  defenders  beheld  the  peaked  head-gear 
and  the  upper  parts  of  the  ghostly  masked  faces 
oi  at  least  a  dozen  of  the  "  White  Avengers  "  ! 

How  they  had  managed  to  reach  the  building 
without  detection  ;  or  where,  indeed,  they  had 
come  from,  unless  they  had  sprung  out  of  the 
earth,  was  a  mystery  to  the  surprised  occupants 
of  the  room,  and  one  which,  to  this  day,  remains 
unsolved,  together  with  the  problem  as  to 
whether  the  shutter  fastenings  had  been  previ- 
ously tampered  with. 

The  window-sills  were  so  high  from  the 
ground  that  even  these  gaunt  spectres  could 
barely  tip-toe  high  enough  to  peer  into  the 
room  ;  and  it  was  evident  from 
the  craning  of  necks  which  im- 
mediately took  place  among  the 
rascals,  and  the  frantic  efforts  they 
began  making  to  lift  themselves 
hi-iher  up,  that  they  were  fearful 
that  their  intended  victim  had 
escaped  them  and  that  the  pitch- 
black  room  was  unoccupied. 

So  uncanny  and  mysterious 
had  been  the  sudden  opening  of 
the  shutters,  and  so  unexpected 
the  appearance  at  the  windows 
of  what  was  visible  of  the  ex- 
pressionless white  countenances, 
that  for  several  moments  the 
dusky  garrison  inside  the  room 
could  do  nothing  but  stare.  It 
was  so  sudden  a  call  upon  the 
amateur  warriors  for  a  strategic 
manoeuvre  that,  with  a  single 
exception,  it  paralyzed  their 
movements. 

The  exception  was  one  of  the 
black  boys  who  had  been  on 
duty  at  the  port-hole  of  one  of 
the  windows.  This  lad,  rendered 
frantic  as  he  saw  a  lank  "Aven- 
ger "  apparently  trying  to  scramble 
into  the  room — the  rascal  having 
caught  the  two  sides  of  the 
window -frame  with  his  hands, 
after  a  short  run  and  leap  — 
brought  matters  to  a  sudden 
crisis  by  swinging  his  musket 
quickly  over  his  head  through 
the  air,  and  bringing  the  heavy 
metal  barrel  down  with  his  entire 
strength  across  the  unwelcome 
caller's  wrists. 

A  somewhat  curious  result  fol- 
lowed. The  man,  with  a  snarl 
of  surprise  and  rage,  let  go  his 
hold  on   the   window-frame  and 


THE    "WHITE    AVE.>lLiliRS." 


fell  back  to  the  ground,  whereupon  the  two 
heavy  shutters,  as  noiselessly  and  mysteriously 
as  they  had  been  opened,  swung  instantly 
closed.  Not  a  sound  followed,  not  even  the 
unnerving  clucking  noises  which  sudden  sur- 
prises generally  produced  from  the  shrouded 
throats  of  the  "  Avengers,"  and  the  stillness  of 
death  once  more  prevailed  outside  the  school- 
building. 

This  episode  left  the  occupants  of  the  dark 
room  more  nonplussed  than  ever  how  to  act — 
nothing,  thus  far,  in  the  moves  of  the  attacking 
party  demanding  a  display  of  the  little  garrison's 
tactics.  The  brave  lads,  having  recovered  from 
their  first  surprise,  were  now  ready  and  even 
anxious  for  the  scrimmage  they  had  planned  for. 


—  interested  observers  of  what  was   transpiring 
in  the  room  beneath  them. 

All   of  a  sudden  they   both   came   tumbling, 
almost  literally  head  foremost,  down   thi 
ladder  which  led  from  the  roof,  callii  1   to 

their  amazed  companions  to  flee  for  their  lr 
They  announced,  in  voices  hoarse  and  tremu 
from  fright,  that  a  large  gang  of  their  enei 
had    placed    ladders   against    the    eaves   of  the 
building  and  were  swarming  to  the  roof  bearing 
two  large    kegs    of   powder    with    lighted    fuses 
attached,  intending  with  this  powerful  explosi\e 
to    blow   the    building    and    its    occupants  into 
atoms  ! 

No    possible    fate    which     could    await    them 
outside    could    compare    in    horror    with    what 


"a  gang  of  their  enemies  were  swarming  to  the  koof  bearing  two  large  kegs  of  powder. 


Fifteen  interminable  minutes  dragged  by, 
still  with  no  sign  of  life  from  outside,  and  the 
school's  defenders  began  to  hope  that  the  enemy 
had  withdrawn  from  the  building  altogether, 
probably  thinking  that  they  had  suddenly 
run  into  an  ambush  of  the  entire  negro 
population. 

It  was  at  this  juncture,  however,  that  the  two 
lads  in  the  bell-tower  came  unexpectedly  into 
the  game,  and  created  the  most  appalling  dis- 
may. The  two  scouts  had  been  shortly  before 
this  cautiously  protruding  their  woolly  heads  as 
far  as  was  safe  through  the  hole  in  the  ceiling 

Vol.  xii.— 54. 


awaited    them    if    they    remained    where    they 
were ;    and,   without   standing    upon    the    order 
in  which  they  got  out  of  the  imperilled  build- 
ing, an  instantaneous  wild  scramble  was  m 
by  the  little  garrison  for  the  open  air. 

In  this  emergency  the  school-teacher  acted 
with  what  might  be  considered,  at  first  thought, 
as  commendable  bravery  and  presence  of  mind 
when  the  dangerous  surroundings  are  taken  into 
account.  He  offered  no  objection  to  the 
frightened  black  boys  making  their  escape,  even 
urging  them  with  his  voice  to  smash  down  the 
barricaded   windows   and   doors.     Yet   he  was 


426 


THE    WIDE    WORM)    MAGAZINE. 


mally    somewhat    sceptical    as    to  the    two 
-  having  actual  1)  seen  the  awful  sight  which 
they  claimed  to  have  witness* 

His  scepticism  soon,  however,  came  within  a 
very  dangerous  margin  of  costing  him  his  life. 
He  tarried,  intending  to  verify  the  reported 
peril,  or  to  disprove  it.  before  it  should  be  too 
for  his  black  pupils  to  regain  their  little 
fortress,  and  in  the  brief  spell  he  remained 
behind  he  saw  that  which  instantly  proved  that 
the  two  look-outs  were  speaking  the  truth. 

In  the  dim  light  which  came  through  the 
square  hole  in  the  ceiling  his  horrified  eyes 
suddenly  beheld  a  dark,  cylindrical  object 
which  might  easily  be  a  powder-keg,  since  that 
had  been  mentioned — being  let  slowly  down 
into  the  room  at  the  end  o(  a  rope.  Sputtering 
viciously  from  the  lower  end  of  the  object  was  a 
dangerously  short  piece  of  lighted  fuse. 

lust  how  close  to  the  powder  itself  this  fuse 
the  -chool-teacher  did  not  wait  to  find  out. 
Considering  now  that  discretion  was  the  "  whole 
thing,''  and  casting  valour  to  the  winds,  he 
started  to  flee.  He  intended,  of  course,  to  run 
out  of  the  building  ;  but  in  the  pitch  darkness, 
and  in  his  sudden  alarm  and  excitement,  he 
somehow  missed  the  doorway  and  landed,  at 
his  third  strenuous  bound,  in  the  small  side- 
room  where  the  pupils  stored  their  lunch- 
ets. 

Now  there  chanced  to  be  a  trap-door  in  the 
floor  of  this  little  room  which,  for  some  un- 
known reason,  happened  at  that  moment  to 
stand  wide  open,  the  natural  result  of  this  being 
that  the  unfortunate  school-teacher  plunged 
headlong  down  through  it. 

He  felt  himself  falling,  falling— altogether  too 
<reat  a  distance,  as  he  realized  even  in  his 
excited  condition,  to  be  merely  the  short  air- 
space between  the  trap-door  and  the  ground 
underneath  it. 

He  brought  up  finally,  somewhat  abruptly, 
at  what  seemed  to  the  astonished  lad  to  be  the 
bottom  of  an  old  well. 

Then  all  at  once  he  vaguely  remembered 
havi  i  under  the  school  an  open  hole  in 

the  ground— apparently  a  long-disused  shaft  of 
some  sort,  the  bottom  of  which  was  lined  deep 
with  pine  needles  and  dry  leaves — upon  the  two 
occasions  when  the  new  school-buildings  were 
being  constructed.  He  had  wondered,  he 
recollected,  why  it  was  not  filled  up. 

Leaving  the  schoolmaster  for  the  present  in 
this  uncomfortable  situation  we  will  return  to 
the  other  actors  in  our  narrative. 

It  seems  that  in  fastening  the  keg  of  powder 

-which    is    what    the    dark    cylindrical    object 

really  was — by  the  rope  to  one  of  the  stanchions 

■  hich  the  bell  was  supported,  the  scamps  on 


the  roof,  hurrying  to  complete  their  risky  task, 
by  accident  caused  the  bell  to  give  three  or  four 
sharp,  loud  strokes.  Hearing  the  bell  the  con- 
gregated field-hands  in  the  neighbouring  pine- 
forest,  who  had  been  impatiently  awaiting  the 
signal  which  was  to  call  them  to  the  rescue  of 
the  beleaguered  schoolmaster  and  his  pupils, 
naturally  supposed  it  to  be  intended  as  their 
cue  ;  and  witli  loud  shouts  the  dense  crowd  of 
black  men  burst  instantly  out  of  the  heavy 
fringe  of  trees  and  rushed  pell-mell  toward  the 
school-house. 

As  they  drew  close  to  the  building  they  were 
dumfounded  to  see  the  gaunt,  shrouded  forms 
of  the  besiegers  (who  were  hastening  from  the 
scene  of  the  coming  explosion)  running  franti- 
cally to  the  north.  At  the  same  instant  they 
beheld  the  school's  brave  young  defenders 
rushing  quite  as  madly  in  the  opposite  direction 
toward  the  south. 

Being  in  doubt  as  to  the  cause  of  this  strange 
behaviour — utterly  unable  even  to  guess  at  its 
meaning — the  approaching  black  men  paused, 
hesitated,  and  then,  infected  by  a  strange 
terror,  turned  about  and  fled  precipitately 
toward  the  west. 

On  and  on  the  frightened  and  wondering 
darkies  ran  ;  plunging  haphazard  back  again 
into  the  dark  forest,  and  not  pausing  in  their 
mad  flight  until,  hearing  the  sudden  dull  and 
heavy  sound  of  an  explosion  somewhere  behind 
them,  they  stopped  long  enough  to  see  a  lurid 
flame  of  fire  shoot  high  into  the  blackness 
above  the  trees.  Then  they  renewed  their  wild 
race  through  the  gloomy  forest. 

It  so  chanced  that  when  these  black  men — 
fleeing  from  they  knew  not  what — reached  the 
far  side  of  the  pine-woods  and  emerged  into 
the  open  fields,  the  band  of  pupils  who  had 
started  to  run  in  a  southerly  direction  (and  who 
had  later  swerved  around  toward  the  river  at 
the  western  end  of  the  forest,  which  was  the 
direction  in  which  their  homes  lay)  came  running 
breathlessly  out  of  the  forest  a  few  yards  below 
them. 

The  two  parties  hastily  compared  notes,  and 
then,  for  the  first  time,  it  was  discovered  that 
their  beloved  white  school-teacher  was  with 
neither  party  ! 

To  the  credit  of  these  faithful  negroes,  let  it 
be  recorded  that  instantly,  wholly  unmindful  of 
the  various  dangers  that  lay  that  way,  almost,  if 
not  quite,  the  entire  body  of  blacks  broke  up 
into  small  search  parties  and  started  back  toward 
the  school  -  building  to  locate  the  missing 
teacher. 

The  unfortunate  Northerner  himself  was 
meanwhile  having  some  thrilling  experiences. 
He  had  struck  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  upon  hie 


THE    "WHITE    AVENGERS." 


427 


extended  palms,  the  debris 
breaking  the  force  of  his  fall, 
so  that  apart  from  a  severe 
jarring  and  a  slight  wrenching 
of  his  right  wrist  he  sus- 
tained no  harm.  He  soon 
worked  his  way  to  a  standing 
position,  and  had  begun  to 
feel  around  the  sides  of  his 
prison  in  a  somewhat  con- 
fused effort  to  "  size  up  "  his 
surroundings,  when  he  heard 
the  detonation  of  the  ex- 
plosion overhead. 

Then  there  came  a  sudden 
heavy  rush  of  air  down  the 
shaft,  a  dull,  yellow  glow 
lighted  the  black  hole  briefly, 
and  then  his  feet  shot  out 
from  under  him  like  a  flash 
and  he  felt  himself  sliding 
down  some  kind  of  an  in- 
clined plane  which  in  a 
moment  brought  him  up 
abruptly,  erect  upon  his  feet, 
in  what  he  discovered  soon 
after  was  an  underground 
tunnel.  He  had  suddenly 
broken  through  the  thin  walls 
of  the  shaft,  or  through  a 
clogged  opening  near  its 
bottom,  and  was  now  in  a 
subterraneous  passage-way 
which  seemed  to  lead  in  the 
direction  of  the  river-bank, 
which  lay  about  a  hundred 
yards  due  west  from  the 
school-house.  I  may  as  well 
explain  here  that  the  subter- 
ranean passage-way  so 
strangely  discovered  by  the 
young  schoolmaster  was  a  relic  of  slavery 
days ;  having  been  dug  riverward  from  the 
side  and  bottom  of  an  unused  well  beneath 
the  old  slave-pen — which,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, formed  the  site  of  the  school  —  by 
escaping  slaves,  after  over  a  year  of  secret  and 
frequently  interrupted  labour.  Through  it  a 
number  of  the  unfortunate  men,  and  even  women 
and  children,  had  gained  the  river,  dropping 
down  which  in  "dug-out"  boats  they  had 
eventually  reached  the  open  gulf.  Some  found 
freedom — many  others  found  death. 

Deciding  quickly  that  he  would  prefer  to  risk 
the  unknown  perils  which  the  tunnel  might  hold 
in  store  for  him  to  the  known  perils  in  his  rear, 
young  Johnson  crept  cautiously  ahead.  He 
was  obliged  frequently  to  drop  to  his  knees  and 
crawl,  where  the  irregular  roof  of  the  mysterious 


IT    WAS    A    LIGHTED   TORCH    BORNE    ALOFT    OVER    THE    BENT    FORM    OK    A    BLACK    MAN. 


passage-way  was  low,  or  the  path  was  obstructed 
by  fallen  earth  ;  and  he  came  into  frequent 
collision  with  the  crooked  walls  on  both  sides  of 
him.  In  this  manner  he  had  moved  in  the 
direction  of  the  river  about  twenty  yards— to 
his  distracted  imagination  it  had  seemed  quite  a 
mile — when,  all  at  once,  away  in  the  distance, 
the  dazed  and  weary  lad  beheld  a  faint  speck 
of  light  glimmering.  This  light  grew  gradually 
larger,  and  took  on  a  dancing  motion,  which  the 
school-teacher  shortly  discovered  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  it  was  a  lighted  torch  borne  aloft  over 
the  bent  form  of  a  black  man,  who,  at  the  head 
of  an  undeterminable  number  of  dusky  com- 
panions, was  leading  the  way  slowly  up  the 
gloomy  tunnel. 

The   school-teacher's   delight  may  be   easily 
imagined  when  this    black  torch-bearer  turned 


428 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


out  to  be  the  negro  guide  who  had  shared  so 
many  o\~  his  earlier  adventures  in  the  swamp, 
and  who  was  now  one  of  his  pupils  at  the 
school.  A  member  of  one  of  the  search-parties 
of  blacks  happened  to  recall  the  existence  of  the 
old,  half-choked  -up  passage,  and.  when  no  trace 
of  the  teacher  could  be  found  around  the  burn- 
ing building,  the  negroes  decided  that  the  un- 
fortunate man  had  either  been  killed  by  the 
explosion,  or  that  he  had  discovered  the 
"  underground  "  and  escaped  into  it.  So  they 
resolved,  as  a  last  chance,  to  search  it. 

It  was  about  an  hour  after  the  explosion  had 
occurred  that  this  little  band  saw  the  missing 
teacher  coming  toward  them  down  the  tunnel, 
and  heard  the  delighted  cry  which  broke  from 
his  lips  when  he  recognised  his  rescuers. 

One  single  exciting  ordeal   still  awaited   the 


teacher  ever  accomplishing  anything  seemed  so 
remote,  in  the  midst  of  constant  warfare,  that 
the  negroes — although  in  their  own  way  they 
almost  worshipped  the  Northern  lad — made  up 
their  minds  once  for  all,  if  he  should  prove  to 
be  still  alive,  to  urge  him  to  give  up  the  unequal 
fight  and  make  his  escape. 

What  arguments  they  employed  with  the 
teacher,  or  whether  it  was  that  Johnson  realized 
he  was  devoting  too  much  of  his  time  to 
defending  his  life  to  ever  realize  his  desire  to 
improve  the  condition  of  the  blacks,  I  do 
not  know ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  he 
agreed,  though  reluctantly,  to  give  up  his 
project  and  try  to  get  out  of  the  country. 

Anticipating  his  agreement  with  their  view 
of  the  matter,  the  dusky  searchers,  feeling 
intuitively    that    the    school-teacher   would     be 


WARRIOR    RIVER — THE   CROSS    MARKS   THE   EXIT   OF   THE    "  UNDERGROUND 

From  a]  school-teacher  escaped. 


THROUGH    WHICH   THE 

[Photo. 


young  Northern   boy,  a  brief  outline  of  which 
ends  this  account  of  his  experiences. 

1  >uring  the  stirring  events  of  the  night  it  had 
come  to  the  minds  of  the  black  men,  and  pro- 
voked earnest  discussion  among  them,  that  the 
attempt  to  conduct  a  school  under  such  persist- 
ently disastrous  conditions  was,  to  say  the  least, 
decidedly  unpromising.  Three  school-houses 
had  already  gone  up  in  smoke ;  their  own,  their 
children's,  and  their  teacher's  lives  were  being 
placed  in  constant  jeopardy ;  and  the  worst 
feature  of  the  matter  was  that  the  future  held 
out  no  brighter  outlook,  no  promise  of  different 
treatment  from  the  white  folks.  Even  the 
better  class  of  white  planters  were  passively 
hostile  to  the  negroes  being  educated — 
the  time  was  not  ripe,  in  their  opinion,  for 
the  ex-slaves'  educational  advancement.  All  in 
all,  therefore,  the  prospect  of  the  white  school- 


found  in  the  "underground"  or  not  at  all, 
had  taken  the  wise  precaution  before  entering 
it  of  concealing  a  horse  in  the  brush  out- 
side, at  a  spot  where  the  river-bank  formed 
a  high  wall,  along  the  face  of  which  a  narrow 
path,  just  wide  enough  for  one  horseman  at 
a  time,  led  upward  from  the  stream  to  the 
thick  pine-woods. 

In  the  descent  to  the  river  one  of  the  negroes 
rode  on  the  horse's  back,  his  companions  trail- 
ing leisurely  behind.  Should  any  of  their 
enemies  happen  to  catch  sight  of  the  little  band 
they  would  see  nothing  unusual  in  its  appear- 
ance, as  they  would  naturally  think  that  the 
horseman  was  simply  on  his  way  to  water  the 
animal,  and  that  the  others  were  chance  friends 
he  had  met.  Nor  would  any  of  these  possible 
spies,  who  might  note  the  party's  return,  some 
twenty   or    thirty    minutes    later,    be   likely   to 


THE    "WHITE    AVENGERS. 


observe  the  fact  that  one  more  black  had  been 
added  to  their  number. 

The  party  believed  they  had  cleverly  eluded 
the  watchful  "Avengers" — still  busy  scouring  the 
woods  in  search  of  the  hated  Yankee — in  their 
descent  to  the  tunnel,  concerning  the  existence 
of  which  the  white  men  knew  nothing. 

Once   found,    the    school-teacher    was    soon 


momentarily    hidden    from 
a   bend    in    the   road,    and 
concealment     while      the 
clashed    past    him.     After 
lost  to  sight   in   the  distance,    young   Join 
took  to  a  side  road  leading  to  the  big  mansion- 
house  of  his  young   planter  friend— the  ro<> 
which  building  was  already  in  sight — and  ev 


429 

their    view    around 

lined    in    snug 

unconscious     band 

his    pursuers    were 


THE    UN'CONSCIOUS    BAND    DASHED    PAST   HIM. 


roughly,  but  none  the  less  effectively,  disguised. 
Corks  charred  in  the  torch-flames  were  rubbed 
over  his  face,  and  an  assortment  of  garments 
turned  him  into  a  presentable  darky.  Then  he 
made  his  way  to  the  mouth  of  the  passage, 
mounted  the  horse  in  waiting,  and  set  off  for  a 
turnpike  leading  to  the  north. 

The  school-teacher  was  fully  live  miles  away 
from  his  starting-place  when  he  heard  the 
"Avenger"  band  in  hot  pursuit  in  the  distance,  a 
number  of  them  having  at  once  secured  horses 
when  they  observed  the  suspicious  haste  of  the 
mounted  negro. 

But  they  never  got  him.  He  kept  well 
ahead  of  his  pursuers,  with  the  fair  start  he  had 
secured,  until  near  dawn  ;  when,  noticing  that 
they  were  then  gaining  and  would  soon  over- 
take him,  he  suddenly  guided  his  tired  beast 
into  a  wayside  clump  of  brush,   while  he  was 


that  he  twice  thought  that  he  heard  the  gang 
after  him  again,  which  accounts  for  his  rather 
unceremonious  arrival  at  the  farm-house 
has  already  been  related),  lie  had  no  further 
adventure.  A  week's  seclusion  at  the  planta- 
tion with  his  Southern  friend  thoroughly 
rested  him.  He  then  watched  for  a  favour- 
able opportunity,  and,  with  his  friend's  help, 
reached  Selma  one  night  without  being  si 
by  any  of  his  vindictive  foes.  Here,  after 
bidding  the  planter  a  cordial  good-bye,  he  took 
the  first  train  for  the  North. 

There  he  remained,  not  returning  to  Dixie 
Land  for  many  years,  when  he  found  everything 
different.  Among  other  changed  conditions  he 
found  that  all  classes  of  white  Southerners  were 
enthusiastic  supporters  of  coloured  schools, 
though  they  still  claim  that  the  negro  has  his 
educational  limitations. 


The  End. 


3   GERM3N    VENICE. 

I'>\    Mrs.   Herbert  Vivian. 

Amid  the  swamps  of  the  Spreewald,  in  Germany,  there  exists  a  curious  little  community  which  has 
preserved  its  own  language,  manners  and  customs,  and  quaint  costumes  almost  unchanged  for  many 
hundreds   of    years.     The    photographs    reproduced    show    how    remarkably    the    inhabitants    of    this 

German  Venice  differ  from   those   of  the  outside  world. 


T  is  always  interesting  to  encounter 
strange   survivals  of   old  times  and 
old  races,  though  usually  you  must 
go  far  away  from  the  beaten  track  to 
unearth  them.     Vet  close  to  Berlin, 
that  most  go-ahead  and  modern  of  European 
cities,   there   exists  a  wonderfully  curious    little 
alien   colony   which  has   kept  its  manners,  lan- 
3  .  customs,  and  quaint  costume  almost  un- 
changed for  many  hundreds  of  years.     Strangers 
in    Berlin   always    notice    the   gorgeous,  almost 
barbaric,    dresses    of     the    nurses    who     strut 
at  the  Thiergarten  in  charge  of  the  gilded 
infancy    of    Prussia.       They    wear    very    short 
let  petticoats,  so  enormously  full  that  they 
id    out   all   round   as  though  set  off   by  a 
crinoline,     black     velvet     bodices,     white   lace- 
trimmed  aprons,  gay  fichus    embroidered    with 
birds   and  flowers,  and   huge  mediaeval-looking 
fringed    head-dresses,    such    as   were   worn    by 
>el  of  Bavaria  or  Henry  V.'s  Queen.     These 
are   the  Spreewdlderinnen,  and  no  fashionable 
Berlin  mother  would  dream  of  having  any  other 
nurse    for  her    baby   than    one    of    the  sturdy, 
picturesque    Wendish     girls    from 
byleguhre  or  Burg  Colonic. 

The  Spreewald  is  a  perfectly  flat 
and  very  woody  tract  of  country, 
about  one  and  a  half  hours' 
journey  from  Berlin.  Here  the 
Rivi        -  branches     off     into 

hundreds  of  little    streams,  which 
intersect  the  country  and  cut  it  up 
into  countless  islands, 
very    flat,    the    entire     district 


Even  up  to  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  whole  country  was  an  almost 
impenetrable  swamp,  covered  with  the  thickest 
undergrowth  and  dense  woods.  Here,  as  early 
as  the  fourth  century,  the  Wends  and  some  other 
Slavs  of  Servian  extraction  withdrew  from 
oppression  and  persecution,  and  so  wild  and 
dense  was  the  region  that  they  were  completely 
hidden  and  became  almost  lost  to  the  outside 
world,  although  they  were  in  the  heart  of  a 
C.erman  country.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the 
country  was  seized  by  Bohemia,  and,  unhappily, 
did  not  entirely  escape  the  miseries  of  the 
Thirty  Years'  War.  Although  it  was  captured 
later  on  by  the  Prince  of  Brandenburg,  it  has 
always  remained  entirely  Slav  in  character, 
and  Germans  who  have  gone  to  live  in  that 
little  tract  of  country  have  adopted  the 
language  and  habits  of  the  Wends,  and  by 
intermarriage  have  even  become  like  them 
in  appearance. 

Sunday  is  the  most  interesting  day  of  the  week 
in  the  Spreewald.  Then  all  the  women  and 
girls  put  on  their  best  clothes  to  go  to  church. 


Bein_ 


is 


flooded  all  through  the  late 
autumn  and  winter,  and  nearly  all 
the  gardens  and  fields  di 
from  sight  until  the  spring  comes 
round  again.  Though  this  is  un- 
pleasant in  many  ways,  it  renders 
the  land  marvellously  fertile  and 
turns  it  into  a  sort  of  Nile  valley, 
where,  in  spring  and  summer, 
>f  all  sorts  (especially  a 
famous  kind  of  gherkin)  flourish 
in  extraordinary  abundance. 


THE    WOMEN 


GIRLS    PUT   ON    THEIR    BEST   CLOTHES   TO   GO   TO   CHURCH. 
Front  a  Plwto. 


A    C.KRMAN    VENH  !.. 


43i 


A   NEWLY-MARRIED    BRIDE    BEING    LOT   READY    FOR    HER    PHOTOGRAPH. 

From  a  Photo. 


There    is    a 
and    it     is    delightful    to    go     to    the    quaint 


huge    church    at    Burg    Colonic, 

the 


Weiidish  service  and  watch  the  two  thousand 
wondrously-dressed  worshippers  who  on  great 
occasions  throng  the  building.  One  of  their 
strange  customs  is  that  on  Communion  Sunday 
those  who  wish  to  communicate  must  don 
black  mourning  garments,  with  great  white 
cloths  over  their  heads.  The  photograph  on 
the  preceding  page  shows  a  group  of  women 
just  coming  out 
of  Burg  Church. 
A  Lost  of  them  are 
wearing  big 
white  aprons, 
which  protect 
and-  modify  the 
splendour  of  the 
gaily-bordered 
skirt'.  The  old 
women  dress 
more  simply  than 
the  younger  ones, 
but  they  give  a 
touch  of  pictur- 
esqueness  to 
their  toilettes  by 
carrying  im- 
mense umbrellas 
the  size  of  tents, 
which  look  de- 
lightful unfurled, 
with  a  tiny  owner 
crouching  be- 
neath.    Some- 


times     after    church      the     \ 
ilderin,  in   her  very  best  clo; 
will  go  to  be  photographed  ;  and  in 
the   accompanying    illustration    the 
newly-married  wife  of   a   rich  fan 
is   being  immortalized  in   the   local 
photographer's    out-of-door    stu 
She     was    coy    about    having    her 
photograph  taken  by  amateur  tab 
but  her  mother-in-law  insisted,  a 
busied  herself  arranging  the  lady's 
headdress  and  pulling  out  and  pat- 
ting down  frills  and  tuckers. 

Sunday,  of  course,  is  the  favourite 
day  for  weddings,  and  the  long,  flat- 
bottomed  boat  called  the  Grobla 
then  becomes  the  bridal  coach. 
These  boats,  the  gondolas  of  the 
Spreewald,  play  an  immense-  role  in 
the  life  of  the  land.  They  act  as 
carnage,  ferry,  farm- waggon,  omni- 
bus, market -carl,  and  finally  as 
hearse.  The  postman  goes  his 
rounds  in  his  boat,  children  go 
to  school,  the  pastor  visits  his  flock,  and 
the  farmer,  instead  of  driving  his  cattle  and 
sheep  before  him,  brings  them  to  market  by 
boat.  Very  often,  as  in  tli  -  of  the  present 
group,  the  bridegroom  is  very  youthful  and  the 
bride  well  on  in  years,  more  remarkable  for 
the  size  of  her  dowry  or  the  sum  of  her 
savings  than  for  the  beauty  of  her  person. 
However,  the  practical  Wend  infinitely  prefers 
a  well-furnished  home  and  butter  on  his  bri 


DING    PARTY   ON    THE   WAY   TO   CHURCH-IN   THE    SPREEWALD    BOATS   TAKE    ™^PtACB 

OF   THE   CONVENTION  m     CARRIAGE  \t I ttnricll  SttJJtn. 


From  a  Photo,  by] 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


the  face,  and  forming  a  frame,  is  an  enor- 
mous white  ruff,  larger  even  than  anything 
Queen  Elizabeth  affected.  No  doubt  it  is 
a  survival  of  mediaeval  times,  and  the  linen 
and  lace  are  as  stiff  and  unbending  as  starch 
can  make  them.  Under  the  chin  is  a  big  bow 
with  long  ends,  and  on  the  head  a  crown  of 
myrtle  encircles  a  little  white  skull  cap.  The 
bridegrooms  nowadays  have  discarded  the 
old-fashioned  Wendish  dress,  and  wear  only 
as  a  distinguishing  feature  a  big  bunch  of 
white  flowers  with  long  white  ribbon  streamers 
hanging  from  it.  A  bevy  of  bridesmaids  in 
brightly-coloured  skirts  and  white  bodices 
accompany  the  bride.  Over  their  chemi- 
settes they  wear  silken  scarves,  beautifully 
embroidered  with  flowers  and  birds,  and 
their  big  white  ruffs  are  like  the  bride's. 
But  luckily  for  them  the  tricorne  kind  of 
arrangement  of  brocade  that  they  wear  is  far 
more  becoming  than  her  head-dress. 

Before  the  wedding  the  bride  has  to  take 
solemn  leave  of  her  parents,  and  she  receives 
a  lecture  upon  the  duties  of  a  housewife  and 
all  the  virtues  that  are  expected  of  her. 
After  the  ceremony  the  newly-married  couple 
go  back  to  the  wedding  breakfast,  and  the 
bride  amuses  herself  and  the  guests  by  trying 
to  substitute   one   of    her   slippers    for   her 


THE  BRIDE  AND  BRIDE- 
GROOM— THE  PRACTI- 
CAL WEND  PREFERS  A 
SUBSTANTIAL  DOWRY 
TO   A    PRETTY    FACE. 

From  a  Photo,  by 
Heinrich   Steffen. 


to  a  beautiful 
bride  without  a 
dot. 

The  bride's 
costume  is  curi- 
ous and  almost 
barbaric,  but  it 
must  be  con- 
fessed not  par- 
ticularly becom- 

-  xcept  to  the 
most  radiant 
beauty,  whose 
charms  would 
enable  her  to 
carry  off  any- 
thing. The  dress 
is  usually  black, 
and  a  white 
apron  of  fine 
linen  frilled  with 
lace  covers  the 
front.      Round 


"WHO    HAS  GOT   THE   KEY?" — A    FAVOURITE   GAME   WITH   THE   SPREEWALD   GIRLS. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Heinrich  Steffen. 


A    GERMAN     VENICE. 


433 


husband's  plate.  There  is  an  old  saying  in 
Germany  about  the  wife  "swinging  the  slipper," 
which  means  ruling  the  roast.  So  if  the  young 
lady  succeeds  in  smuggling  the  plate  away  and 
the  slipper  appears  in  its  stead  she  is  supposed 
to  stand  a  very  fair  chance  of  getting  her  own 
way  after  marriage. 

The  Spreewald  children  are  odd  little,  old- 
fashioned  creatures,  very  solemn  and  almost 
hard-featured  already,  with  hair  dragged  tightly 
back  from  their  faces  and  hidden  away  under 
the  immense  winged  caps.  I  photographed  two, 
but  the  process,  which  usually  delights,  or  at  all 


On  Christmas  Eve  and  other  festivals  then 
dances,  suppers,  and  all  sorts  of  merrymak 
for  winter  is  so  long  and  dreary  in  the  S] 
wald  that  they  take  advantage  of  such  occasions 
to  meet  and  enjoy  th.  mselves  as  much 
sible.     On  All  Hallows'  E'en  and  St.  ] 
the  girls  consult  the  oracle   and  there  are  many 
devices  for  finding  out  about    the    future,   and 
particularly  about  husbands. 

In    the    winter    the    long    frozen    canals   : 
peopled  with   delightful    old  -  world    figures    on 
skates,  or  in  the  dearest  little  go-carts.   Chivalrous 
husbands  and  brothers  push  their  female  relat 


From  a] 


IN    THE   WINTER   THE   CANALS    ARE    PEOPLED    WITH    DELIGHTFUL    "I  D-WORLD    FN 


events  mildly  excites,  a  small  child,  did  not 
awake  the  faintest  interest  or  even  curiosity  in 
their  stolid  faces.  They  merely  chewed  their 
thumbs  rather  more  voraciously  than  usual  and 
stared  at  me  with  great,  unblinking  ox  eyes. 
They  play  all  sorts  of  quaint  old  games  until 
they  are  almost  women,  but  always  in  a  very 
sedate  and  staid  way.  "Who  Has  Got  the 
Key?"  is  a  favourite  game,  and  answers 
somewhat  to  our  "  Hunt  the  Slipper."  Another 
one  is  "  Who  Speaks  First  ?  "  Here  one  of  the 
group  has  to  try  and  extract  a  remark,  by  all 
sorts  of  devices,  from  the  others  who  sit  round. 

Vol.  xii.— 66. 


to  church  or  to  market  in  quaint  wheelbarrow- 
like sleighs,  whose  runners  glide  over  the 
ice  at  the  slightest  push.  I  cannot  imagine  a 
more  delightful  week  than  one  spent  in  explor- 
ing these  endless,  glittering,  frozen  highways 
and  byways,  bordered  by  avenues  of  poplar 
trees,  where  at  every  turn  one  meets  figures 
that  might  have  come  straight  out  of  Hans 
Andersen's  fairy  tales.  When  the  wind  is  in  the 
east  you  may  start  from  Byleguhre  and  steer 
towards  Liibbenau  and  Liibben.  The  wind 
will  carry  you  over  the  ice,  so  that  you  have  no 
exertion  whatever,  only  a  delightful  feeling  of 


434 


THE   WIDE    WORLD  MAGAZINE. 


tiving  through  the  air.  When  the  west  wind 
blows  you  start  from  Liibben  and  turn  your 
steps  toward  Straupitz.  The  little  sleighs  may 
v  be  hired,  and  are  very  useful  if  there  are 
ladies  in  the  party,  as  ankles  so  easily  get  tired, 
and  inns  are  sometimes  far  apart. 

E\         -   reewalder  ska:  easily    as    he 

walk  he  rows,  for  without  skates  or  boat 

he   would    not    get    very    far.      About    March 

the     fields    emerge    from     the    water,    and     the 

ms.  turnips,    gherkins,    and   other 


get  a 

b  1  e  s 

gins. 

The 

land 

extra- 

ordinarily 

fertile 

from  its  frequent 

soak: 

The 

C  0  n  - 

sidered  the  very 

.  and  cattle 
thrive  and  g 
fat  on  it.  The 
rop  is  enor- 
mous and  n< 
failing,  and  t he- 
stacks  are  built 
up  in  cone  shape 
on  a  kind  of 
raised  founda- 
tion to  keep 
them  out  of  the 
way  of  t  h  e 
floods.  In 
Macedonia     the 

ints  ha-, 
still  simpler 
mode  of  pre- 
ng  their  hay 
from  inunda- 
5,  for  they 
liuild  thi 
in  the  branches 
of  trees,  cutting 
away  the  middle 
boughs  anil 
leaving  the 
outer  ones  only, 
till  the  whole 
thing  1  o  o  k 
like   an    immense  overgrown   bird's- nest. 

The  best  time  of  year  to  visit  the  Spreewald 
in  May,  when   the  meadows,  which   have  not 
very  long    ago    emerged    from    the   winter's 
_.  are  the  most  beautiful  green  colour  and 
right    with    flowers.       Eater    on,    in    hot    mid- 
summer   weather,    the    flies  and   gnats    on    the 
rrible  trial   to  one's  temper  and 
mplexion.     In  summer  it   is   possible   to  get 
about   a   good    deal    on    foot,    thanks    to    the 


CHARMING    TRIPS    MAY    HE    MADE 

From  a  Photo. 


Bdnken,  graceful,  primitive  wooden  bridges, 
very  light  and  narrow,  which  cross  the  stream 
high  up  in  the  air.  This  is  to  allow  the 
boats,'  which  are  often  loaded  with  tall  mer- 
chandise, to  pass  easily  under  them.  In  the 
outlying  districts  it  is  even  possible  to  drive, 
but  in  the  heart  of  the  country,  in  places  such  as 
Leipe  and  Eehde,  every  house  is  built  on  its 
own  little  island,  and  the  Grobla\%  indispensable. 
After  all,  it  is  a  much  more  pleasant  way  of 
getting  about   than   walking    on    dry    land,    the 

boats  glide  along 
so  easily,  and 
are  fitted  up 
with  delightfully 
com  for  table 
benches.  One 
may  idle  away  a 
hot  afternoon  in 
a  perfectly  ideal 
way  in  the  shady 
backwaters  of 
the  Milanka, 
which,  above  all 
at  night  time, 
becomes  a  per- 
fect fairyland 
with  dark,',,  in w 
terious  recesses, 
and  hundreds  of 
h  igh  tin  gales 
singing  over- 
head in  bewil- 
dering melody. 
For  mijgs  you 
may  float  "along 
silently,  the 
boatman  stand- 
ing like  a  gon- 
dolier behind 
you  wielding  his 
pole.  Some- 
times you  pass 
through  mea- 
dows raised  only 
a  few  inches 
above  the  sur- 
face of  the 
water,  t  h  e  n 
again  through  thick  woods  where  the  trees  seem 
only  a  few  inches  apart  and  often  push  each 
other  right  into  the  water.  Now  and  again  you 
come  to  a  mill  where  the  timber  is  sawn  up  and 
made  into  rafts.  Thence  it  finds  its  way,  by 
the  canals  and  by  the  River  Spree,  to  Berlin. 

Every  here  and  there  you  find  an  inn  by  the 
waterside  where  you  may  stop  and  have  lunch 
or  coffee  at  little  tables  beneath  the  trees,  whilst 
W'endish  girls    in    national   costume  wait   upon 


W   THE  MANY   SHADY    BACKWATERS. 

by  Heinrich  Stiffen. 


A    GERMAN    VENICE. 


From  a] 


THE        INN    OF    THE    CHEERFUL    I'IKE    — ONE    OF    THE    MANY    QUAIN1     H0STELR1ES    IN    TH1      D 


[Photo. 


you  At  the  inn 
of  the  "Cheer- 
ful Pike"  at 
Lehde,  of  which 
we  give  a  photo- 
graph, you  will 
get  excellent  fish 
straight  out  of 
the  water,  with 
the  celebrated 
S  p  r  e  e  w  a  1  d 
sauce,  in  which 
beer  and  vari- 
ous spices  play 
a  conspicuous 
part.  Lehde  is 
the  Venice  of 
the  Spreewald 
and  the  beauty- 
spot  of  the 
country.  It  is 
certainly  a 
charming  place, 
with  endless 
little  winding 
streams  running 
at  each  few 
yards  out  of  the 
main  canal  and 


From  a] 


A    FAIR    FERRVWOMAN    OF   THE   SPREEWALD. 


[Phvto. 


crossing  and  re- 
crossing  each 
other.  The  \il 
is  almost 
hidden  in  a 
wood  of  tall  elm 
trees,  which 
overshadow  the 
little  "block- 
houses," as  the 
cottages  are 
called.  Most  of 
the  houses  are 
at  least  three 
hundred  years 
old  and  are  very 
picturesque, 
w  i  t  h  their 
thatched  r< 
patched  with 
soft  green  n 
.Many  painters 
come  to  Lehde, 
where  they  find 
subjects  f o  r 
their  brush  and 
palette  at  every 
turn  of  the 
stream. 


,.v 


HIE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


Summer  and  mid-winter  are  pleasant  times  in 
the    Spreewald,   but    in    early    spring  and   late 

autumn  the  peasants  there  have  a  weary  time  of 
it.  Sometimes  tor  weeks  together  it  is  positively 
dangerous  to  venture  out  of  doors,  for  the  canals 
are  too  hard  ho/en  to  allow  the  boat  to  move, 
and  yet  the  iee  is  not  strong  enough  to  bear. 
So  they  are  often  out  oft"  from  the  world  entirely 
ami  from  each  other,  since  many  blockhouses 
are  scattered  about  far  apart.  Often  they 
need  the  doctor  and  cannot  reach  him  or 
he  them,  and  sometimes  they  even  run  short 
of  provisions.  The  houses  are  all  built  on 
raised  foundations  of  solid  stone  to  pre- 
serve them  from  the  invading  canals.  They 
are  quaint  and  old-fashioned,  generally  of 
wood,  with  straw  or  thatched  roofs  and 
crossed  with  heavy  beams,  which  have  often 
strange  figures  of  animals  carved  upon  them. 
The  rooms  are  few,  but 
large,  furnished  with  an 
immense  tiled  stove, 
and  sometimes  with 
really  beautiful  antique 
carved  cupboards,  chests, 
and  chairs ;  but,  alas  ! 
these  are  being  sold  now 
and  cheap  modern  furni- 
ture takes  their  place. 
Everything  is  very  clean, 
and  the  linen  is  nearly 
always  home  spun  and 
woven.  Most  of  the 
women  spin  and  weave 
all  the  linen  for  their 
clothes    and     their 


families,   and   some   even  the    cloth    for   coats 
and  dresses. 

One  of  the  most  curious  survivals  of  this 
strange  region  is  what  they  call  the  mourning 
sheet.  When  anyone  dies  all  the  female 
relatives  envelop  themselves  in  huge  white 
sheets,  which  only  leave  the  face  and  hands  free, 
and  sit  wrapped  in  them,  lamenting  the  deceased. 
The  window  is  immediately  thrown  open  so 
that  the  soul  may  fly  out,  and  if  it  is  the  master 
of  the  house  someone  goes  out  to  tell  the  bees 
and  the  oxen  that  they  must  obey  their  new 
master.  The  stool  on  which  the  coffin  has  been 
placed  is  destroyed  directly  after  the  funeral,  so 
that  no  one  shall  sit  on  it  again,  for  there  is  a 
superstition  that  if  anyone  does  so  they  too  will 
soon  follow  the  dead  person.  The  night  before 
the  funeral  girls  place  round  the  open  coffin  as 
many  candles  as  correspond   to  the  years  of  the 

dead  man's  age,  and  sing 
^^^^^^^^m^M-  psalms    and    hymns   late 

into  the  night. 

How  few  English 
people  visit  this  unique 
land  ;  how  few  have  even 
heard  of  its  existence ! 
Yet  its  outskirts  can  be 
reached  in  little  over  an 
hour  by  train  from 
Berlin.  I  strongly  advise 
any  of  my  readers  who 
visit  that  city  not  to  miss 
their  opportunity,  for  I 
am  sure  they  will  always 
remember  their  visit  to 
the  Venice  of  Prussia. 


IOUS        .".!''!   I   MM,    -HI   I    I         WOI         B\    THE   \V( 
ON  THE  DEA  IH  OF  A  RE1.AI  HE. 

From  a  Photo  by  Heinrich  Steffen. 


seas 


By  Missak  Melobian,  of  Van, 
Turkish  Armenia. 

This  story,  related  by  an  Armenian  gentleman  now  in 
England,  gives  one  a  more  vivid  idea  of  the  insecurity  of 
life  and  property  under  Turkish  rule  than  scores  of  news- 
paper articles.  The  author  describes  how  his  Kurdish 
servant  conspired  with  some  brigands  to  kill  and  rob  him, 
but  fell  a  victim  to  his  own  treachery. 


HE  pleasures  of  stamp -collecting 
had  reached  the  distant  city  of  Van, 
on  the  shore  of  Lake  Van,  in 
Turkish  Armenia,  and  I  had  fallen 
a  victim  to  the  craze.  What  at  first 
was  a  hobby  became  later  a  business,  and  to  it 
I  owe  freedom  and  safety.  Its  money-making 
possibilities  were  revealed  when  by  chance  an 
old  American  catalogue  came  into  my  posses- 
sion. In  a  parcel  of  mixed  stamps — speaking 
from  memory  I  think  they  cost  me  ten  piastres 
(about  two  shillings) — I  found,  after  a  study  of 
the  catalogue,  that  I  had  among  them  an 
American  proprietary  stamp  catalogued  at  three 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  also  two  Russian 
stamps  worth  five  pounds  and  seven  pounds 
respectively.  How  these  stamps  found  their  way 
to  Armenia  passes  my  comprehension. 

The  period  of  which  I  write  was  just  after 
the  awful  massacres  in  Armenia.  The  country 
had  sunk  into  a  state  of  apathy;  the  fear  in 
men's  eyes  asked  how  long  the  calm  was  to  last. 
No  town  had  suffered  more  than  the  beautiful 
city  that  was  my  birthplace  ;  probably  no  city 
offered  such  a  stem  resistance  to  the  Turks  and 
Kurds.  The  part  I  took  in  that  great  struggle 
must  for  ever  remain  unwritten.  Obviously  it 
is  not  a  subject  on  which  I  can  speak  freely, 


because  a  time  may  come  when  I  shall  return 
to  my  native  land,  and  all  men  know  that  the 
Turk  holds  life  very  cheap — even  his  own  when 
he  is  .fighting  against  the  unbeliever — while  to 
me  the  lives  of  my  family  are  very  dear. 

Filled  with  anger  and  pity  for  my  people,  I 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  my  father's  wishes  that  I 
should  become  a  merchant  like  himself.  To  do 
this  would  be  to  bind  myself  to  a  country  totter- 
ing under  the  yoke  of  tyranny  and  fear  ;  a  land 
for  which  there  is  no  pity  and  no  hope.  Many 
of  the  bolder  and  more  restless  spirits  I 
had  known  had  migrated  to  distant  lands, 
whence,  once  they  had  settled  down,  several 
had  written  to  me  for  stamps,  thus  heightening 
to  an  unwarranted  degree  my  ideas  of  the 
universal  value  of  old  stamps.  The  range  of 
stamps  that  I  could  command  was  practically 
confined  to  Persian,  Turkish,  and  a  few  Russian, 
but  the  supply  of  these  was  almost  inexhaust- 
ible ;  the  province,  so  far  as  I  know,  not  having 
been  exploited  by  collectors.  Of  course,  I  had 
the  prejudices  of  the  natives  to  contend  against. 
Stolid  Turkish  merchants  not  only  thought  I 
was  a  fool,  but  gave  currency  to  their  thought. 
Seeing  later  there  was  money  to  be  gained  by 
assisting  in  my  folly,  they,  like  wise  men,  hid 
their  laughter  behind  their  beards  and  looked 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


through  accumulated  piles  of  letters.  Where  a 
merchant  was  too  apathetic,  a  judicious  bribe, 
backed  up  with  a  hint  that  he  was  enabling 
me  to  till  the  role  of  spoliator  of  the  "  Kaffirs," 
generally  resulted  in  the  apprentice  or  clerk 
being  instructed  to  search.  Eastern  merchants 
always  retain  the  envelope  as  well  as  the  letter. 
When  a  letter  is  dealt  with  it  is  returned  to 
its  envelope,  the  latter  being  docketed  and  can' 
fully  put  away  in  a  box  or  hag.  Owing  to  this 
practice  merchants  of  long  standing  can  make 
up  an  almost  complete  range  of  stamps. 

When  I  had  judiciously  worked  this  source  of 
supply  I  turned  my  attention  to  another  fruitful 
source.  I  refer  to  the  minor  postal  officials  : 
needy  individuals  who,  their  pay  being  more  often 
than  not  in  a  chronic  state  of  arrears,  are  only 
too  ready  to  turn  an  honest,  or  sometimes  a 
dishonest,  piastre.  Here  a  few  words  as  to  the 
postal  system  are  necessary.  When  a  mail 
comes  in  the  town- 
people  flock  to  the 
post  -  office  and  wait 
patiently  till  the  post 
master  condescends  t<> 
put  in  an  appearance. 
He  then  proceed- 
read  out  the  name  on 
the  envelope  :  beyond 
this  there  is  only  the 
n a m e  of  the 
town.  Thus  an 
address  gene- 
rally runs  :  "To 
the  Honourable 
and  Esteemed 
Merchant,  Hadji 
(ihafur  Agha,  in 
Van.  May  this 
letter  rea  ch 
safely." 

When  the  ad- 
dressee is  present 
he  calls  out 
"  Present  "      or 


"  Here,"or  raises 
his  hand,  where- 
upon   the    letter 

is  thrown  over  to  him.  Letters  not  claimed  in 
this  way  are  tossed  back  into  the  bag  and  left  in 
a  corner  till  claimed.  Whether  in  the  course  ol 
time  they  reach  their  destination,  Allah  alone 
can  tell.  All  I  know  is  that  the  officials  are 
always  able  to  meet  any  demand  for  stamps,  and, 
I  suppose,  will  always  be  able  to  do  so  so  long 
as  people  persist  in  sending  letters. 

'  /oing  through  the  bazaar  one  day  a  Kurdish 
butcher  saluted  me,  saying,  "Salutations  be  on 
thee,  on  thy  father,  thy  mother,  thy  brother,  and 


thy  sister."  Divining  his  desire  to  speak  to  me 
alone,  I  waited  till  a  long-eared,  inquisitive 
Zaptieh  (policeman)  had  moved  out  of  earshot, 
when  die  butcher  startled  me  with  the  whispered 
warning,  "  If  you  wish  to  escape  having  your 
throat  cut  you  will  collect  the  little  pieces  of 
paper  in  another  town  !  " 

That  night,  without  a  word  of  farewell  to  my 
father  or  mother,  lest  they  should  be  anxious 
concerning  my  safety,  I  rode  out  of  the  city, 
well  mounted  and  armed,  in  the  disguise  of  a 
Kurd.  Though  my  flight  was  hurried,  it  was  not 
ill-considered.  If  I  must  go,  then  it  should  be 
by  that  route  that  would  serve  my  purpose  best 
for  the  collection  of  stamps — the  route  that  leads 
by  the  cities  of  Bitlis,  Mush,  and  Erzinghan. 
Ultimately  I  would  escape  from  some  port  on 
the  Black  Sea. 

I  could  not  have  chosen  a  more  difficult 
route.     The    greater    part    of   it    traversed    the 


THE   CITY,    WELL    MOUNTED    AND    ARMED. 


wildest  parts  of  Kurdistan,  a  country  swarming 
with    men   who,   although   nominally   soldiers— 
"  Hamidieh  "    they    are    called — are    in    reality 
nothing  more  or  less  than  licensed  robbers  and 
murderers. 

The  rising  sun  had  leaped  the  mountain  tops, 
the  sting  had  gone  out  of  the  keen  morning  air, 
and  the  city  was  far  behind  me  before  I 
slackened  speed.  Not  fearing  immediate  pursuit 
I  could  the  more  calmly  survey  my  posidon 
That  it  was  desperate  there  was  no  gainsaying. 


HASSOO    THE    TRAITOR. 


439 


Bitlis  was  reached  without  incident  worthy  of 
record.  Here  I  had  a  cousin  in  high  favour 
with  the  Wali  and  the  chief  officials  at  Istam- 
boul,  his  rank  being  equal  to  that  of  a  Pasha. 
Prudence  dictated  the  advisability  of  keeping 
out  of  his  way — there  are  times  to  seek  friends 
and  times  to  avoid  them — so  I  hastened  to  find 
quarters  at  one  of  the  better  "  khans,"  a  place 
much  frequented  by  Armenian  merchants.  I 
must  needs  stay  awhile,  risk  or  no  risk.  I  had 
money,  the  proceeds  of  stamps  sold  to  collectors 
in  Trebizonde,  but  not  sufficient  for  my  pur- 
pose. This  khan,  in  addition  to  bolts  and 
bars,  was  guarded  by  a  big  mountain  dog, 
belonging  to  a  Kurd  named  Hassoo.  Hassoo 
did  odd  jobs  about  the  place  and  soon  proved 
useful  to  me.  He  swept  out  my  room,  made 
my  coffee,  fetched  my  meals  from  the  bazaar, 
looked  after  my  horse,  and  in  his  rough,  boorish 
manner  affected  to  have  a  great  liking  for 
me.  To  the  outward  observer  he  was  a 
blundering,  ignorant,  dull-witted  peasant,  seem- 
ingly less  intelligent  than  his  dog  ;  but  quite 
early  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  not 
such  a  fool  as  he  looked.  Like  all  Kurds, 
he  was  very  avaricious.  One  could  see  it  in  the 
wicked  gleam  lighting  his  dull  eyes  at  the  sight 
of  money ;  one  experienced  it  in  the  extreme 
difficulty  of  recovering  change  from  him.  To 
better  his  position  by  only  a  piastre  (two- 
pence halfpenny)  a  week  he  had  left  the  village 
for  the  city.  For  anything  above  a  piastre  he 
would  retrace  his  steps ;  for  very  little  above 
that  amount  he  would  cut  a  man's  throat.  His 
dog  was,  as  I  have  said,  big  ;  it  was  also  exceed- 
ingly fierce.  From  the  way  it  constituted  itself 
custodian  of  the  khan,  and  from  the  prompt  and 
business-like  manner  in  which  it  ejected  stray 
cows  and  donkeys  from  the  place,  I  saw  it  had 
been  trained  by  muleteers.  On  inquiring  of 
Hassoo  I  learned  that  he  had  at  one  time 
followed  the  calling  of  a  camel-driver.  "  The 
very  man,''  I  thought,  "  to  guide  me  through 
the  perilous  network  of  villages  between  Bitlis 
and  the  sea." 

Pleased  with  the  idea  that  the  authorities 
were  not  troubling  themselves  about  me,  and 
also  at  not  having  met  my  cousin,  the  official,  I 
became,  perhaps,  somewhat  careless  in  adopting 
the  costume  of  a  Turk.  Then  I  received- a  rude 
shock.  I  had  the  misfortune  to  run  against  my 
cousin,  in  such  a  way  that  recognition  followed 
as  a  matter  of  course.  He  stopped  suddenly 
and  snarled.  "  You  here  !  Is  not  Van  large 
enough  for  you  to  work  mischief  in  ?  Do  you 
wish  your  relatives  to  eat  dirt  ? "  I  bit  my  lips 
with  vexation,  too  surprised  and  angry  to  reply. 
Then  I  said,  sarcastically,  "  I  came  here  for  a 
change.     Van.  is  too  hot  for  my  health." 


"  The  Turks,  who  are  our  best  frii 
quick  way  of  dealing  with  revolution 
his  reply. 

"Thy  friends  are  not  my  friends.'    I 
hotly,  "nor  as  enemies  do   I    fear  them.     I 
stone  is  sufficient  to  frighten   a  crowd   like  you." 

Turning   to    Hassoo,    who   happened    ti 
with  me,  I   said,  thoughtlessly,  "I 
here  is  money;  buy  both  a  horse  and  provisio 
for  to-night  we   leave  on   a  journey  which  shall 
bring  you  much  profit.'' 

This  cousin  of  mine  was  a  despical 
character,  and  I  had  always  disliked  him.  At 
the  time  of  the  great  killing,  when  the  Wali  had 
sent  him  a  friendly  warning  to  leave  his  shop 
without  delay  and  go  to  his  house,  in  order 
not  to  jeopardize  his  own  safety  he  spoke 
no  word  of  warning  to  his  poor  workmen,  but 
let  them  go  into  the  streets  to  their  death 
without  pity. 

Taking  this  untoward  meeting  with  my 
cousin  to  heart,  I  decided  to  let  my  stay  in  the 
towns  en  route  be  so  brief  that  before  suspicion 
could  be  aroused  I  should  be  on  the  march 
again.  Hassoo,  if  not  a  model  servant,  was  at 
least  an  excellent  guide,  and.  being  a  Kurd.  I 
felt  I  could  depend  upon  him  in  the  hour  of 
need,  not  from  any  feelings  of  loyalty,  but  from 
self-interest. 

Mush  was  reached  and  the  Murad-Su  crossed, 
and  all  had  gone  well.  Doubt  and  fear  vanished. 
I  found  myself  questioning  the  wisdom  of  my 
flight  and  the  guilt  it  implied,  just  because  some 
fool  of  a  Kurd  had  warned  me.  I  had  fled  as 
though  the  reputation  of  my  family  was  not 
sufficient  to  ensure  my  safety.  But  now  that  I 
had  started  I  would  not  turn  back  ;  my  own 
father  would  denounce  me  as  a  coward. 

For  several  days  we  travelled  in  the  high- 
lands, the  way  rough  and  difficult,  in  striking 
contrast  to  the  great  Persian  plains.  It  was  a 
relief  to  come  down  through  a  grey,  raw  mist 
on  to  the  level.  The  well-defined  track  threa 
its  irregular  way  to  the  base  of  the  far-distant 
hills,  across  a  plain  checkered  with  green 
patches  of  irrigated  fields,  dotted  here  and 
there  with  the  squalid  villages  of  the  Kurds, 
their  positions  marked    by  thin   i  if  trees. 

Behind  us  the  mountain  peaks  towered  in  sullen 
grandeur.     All  that  day  1  made  th<  hot  : 

Hassoo  followed  with  unconcealed  annoyance 
at  my  haste,  which  did  not  permit  of  quiet 
intervals  for  smoking  his  chibooque.  Late  in 
the  afternoon  I  came  across  an  ox  lying  in  the 
roadway,  doubtless  strayed  from  some  adjacent 
village. 

"  Remain  here  for  a  time,"  I  said  to  Hassoo, 
"  in  case  the  owner  turns  up.  I  go  to  the 
village   which   is  ahead.     Should    it    belong  to 


44° 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


that  village  I  will  send  the  owner.  But  on  no 
a  i  ount  remain  after  dusk." 

A  few  minutes  later  1  spied  several  villagers 
heating  over  the  ground  in  extended  order,  as 
though  searching  lor  something.  Directly  they 
were  close  I  saluted  them,  adding.  "  What  are 
you  doing  ? " 

■•  Effendi,  we  are  come  in  the  track  of  an  ox 
that    has   strayed."    they    replied.      "  Has    the 

Fendi  seen  anything  oi  it?" 

"Yes,  it  lies  in  the  way  yonder,  and  my 
servant  guards  it.-' 

•  Mav  your  head  be  safe.  May  Allah 
lengthen  your  days."  replied  the  villagers. 

By  this  time  they  were  alongside  me.  As  if 
of  one  mind,  they  stood  still,  eyeing  me  nar- 
rowly :  then  exchanged  meaning  looks,  which  I 
saw  boded  me  no  good.  Finally  one  of  them 
said,  insolently,  "  Do  you  not  see  we  cannot 
smoke  because  we  have  no  matches  ?  Dis- 
mount and  light  this  poor  man's  pipe." 

This  meant  trouble,  so  without  further  parley, 
and  before  the  quickest  could  raise  his  gun — for 
they  were  all  armed  —  I  covered  the  leader  with 
my  revolver  and  fiercely  bade  them  place  their 


'  1    COVERED   THE   LEADER    WITH    MY   REVOLVER 


guns  on  the  ground  and  retire  to  a  convenient 
distance.  Sullenly  the  would-be  bandits  com- 
plied. Then,  beckoning  Hassoo  to  follow  me, 
I  galloped  off  in  the  direction  the  villagers  had 
come.  As  I  reached  the  village  a  pack  of 
fierce,  gaunt  sheep-dogs  poured  out  like  a 
whirlwind,  assailing  my  horse  and  causing  it  to 
plunge  furiously  till  they  were  called  off  by  a 
stolid-looking  peasant.  This  man  took  me  to 
the  chiefs  house,  a  mud-built   hovel,   consisting 


of  one  large  room  divided  into  two  parts — a 
raised  part  for  the  inmates,  the  other  used  as  a 
stable.'  At  the  back  of  the  stable  was  a  small 
recess  separated  from  the  animals  by  a  curtain. 
This  formed  the  quarters  of  the  women  and 
children  and  was  also  used  for  storing  fodder. 
On  a  raised  mud  platform  reached  by  two  or 
three  steps  sat  a  group  of  men,  chatting  and 
smoking.  Handing  my  horse  to  the  peasant 
who  had  guided  me  to  the  house,  I  was 
cordially  invited  by  its  master  to  sit  by  his  side 
on  a  piece  of  sacking  which  did  duty  as  a 
carpet.  Scarcely  had  I  bent  my  legs  under  me 
when  I  was  subjected  to  a  searching  cross- 
examination  as  to  who  I  was,  what  was  my 
business,  whence  I  had  come,  and  where  I 
was  going.  All  these  questions  I  answered  with 
such  commendable  promptitude  that  the  com- 
pany seemed  very  well  satisfied  there  was  no 
mystery  about  me.  Whenever  a  leading  ques- 
tion was  put  to  me  I  good-naturedly  fell  in 
with  the  questioner's  evident  bias,  enabling  the 
worthy  in  question  to  arrogate  to  himself 
wonderful  cuteness  and  intuition. 

Supper   came,    but   no    Hassoo.     What  had 
become  of  him  ?     A  big  bowl  of 
sour  milk   in    which  whole    meal 
had   been    boiled  was  put   down 
in    the    middle 


of  the  group; 
around  it  were 
piled  flaps  of 
bread.  Each  man 
grabbed  a  piece 
of  bread,  looking 
anxiously  round 
for  the  solitary 
wooden  spoon. 
The  host  yelled 
for  the  spoon  till 
he  was  purple  in 
the  face,  and 
there  was  much 
hurrying  and 
scurrying  among 
the  women  folk. 
The  master 
fumed  ;  he  dared 
not  leave  the 
platform  for  however  brief  a  space  of  time,  or 
the  whole  of  the  supper  would  have  been 
gobbled  up  by  his  hungry  and  self-invited 
guests.  A  dog  yelped ;  one  of  the  searchers 
had  found  it  diligently  licking  the  spoon. 
Taking  the  spoon,  the  host  wiped  it  on  his 
garments  ;  then  he  dipped  it  in  the  soup,  and 
politely,  and  as  a  mark  of  favour,  handed  it 
first  to  me.  From  hand  to  hand  the  spoon 
travelled    round    the    circle    till    the    bowl   was 


HASSOO    THE    TRAITOR. 


empty.  The  pieces  of  bread  were  rubbed  round 
the  sides  of  the  dish  until  it  fairly  shone.  To 
make  assurance  doubly  sure  one  of  the  guests 
lifted  the  bowl  and,  putting  his  head  in  it, 
licked  it  as  he  dexterously  spun   it  round. 

Several  of  the  men  opposite  to  me  looked 
beyond  us  to  the  stable.  Following  their  gaze 
I  turned  and,  to  my  mingled  alarm  and  satis- 
faction, espied  Hassoo  peering  up  at  the  plat- 
form, and  with  him  three  of  the  very  men  who 
would  have  robbed  me  by  the  roadside. 

Trying  to  look  unconcerned,  I  said  to 
Hassoo,  "  Have  you  eaten  bread  ?  " 

"  Yes,  Mir-i-man  (my  lord).  In  the  house 
of  these  worth)-  men  I  have  eaten  bread.  Now, 
being  tired,  I  go  to  sleep  in  the  stable  nigh  to 
the  horses." 

Soon  after,  lulled  by  the  incessant  chatter,  I 
dropped  off  to  sleep.  I  cannot  say  how  long  I 
slept  or  what  was  the  cause  of  my  awakening. 
Perhaps  a  cessation  in  the  hum  of  conversation  ; 
perhaps  the  movement  of  the  horses  in  the 
stable.  The  lamp  had  burnt  low  ;  the  room, 
always  stuffy,  was  filled  with  its  noxious  fumes. 
The  platform  was  deserted  ;  probably  the 
villagers,  with  hungers  still  unappeased,  had 
gone  off  to  seek  some  other  hospitable  host 
whose  supper  was  still  unfinished.  Before 
settling  to  sleep  again  I  thought  I  would 
have  a  look  at  the  horses.  Everything  here 
seemed  all  right.  Hassoo  was  snoring  loudly  ; 
by  his  side  lay  his  dog,  who  gave  a  low  growl, 
but,  recognising  me,  dropped  his  head  again  on 

Vol.  xii.-56. 


his  fore  paws.  Turning  to  leave  the  stable,  I 
heard  voices.  "Strange  that  people  should  be 
talking  outside  at  this  time  of  the  night,"  I 
thought.  Forthwith  I  made  my  way  carefully 
to  that  part  of  the  building  nearest  to  the  voices. 
It  needed  no  straining  of  the  hearing  to  over- 
hear them,  for,  after  the  manner  of  the  Kurds,  the 
speakers  were  all  talking  at  the  top  of  their  voices. 
One  strident  voice  dominated  the  others. 

"  Brothers,  what  do  you  fear  ?  He  is  an 
Armenian— a  Giaour.  If  we  kill  him,  what  will 
happen?  Nothing.  Does  the  Padisha  kill  his 
Hamidieh  because  of  the  death  of  an  Armenian?" 

"But  how  dost  thou  know  that  he  is  an 
Armenian  ?  " 

"  Hassoo  told  me.  Hassoo  is  a  Kurd  ;  one 
of  ourselves.  Hassoo  says  positively  he  is  a 
revolutionary.  If  not,  why  did  he  creep  out  of 
Bitlis  by  stealth  at  night  ?  He  has  many  little 
bits  of  paper  on  which  are  men's  heads  ;  beyond 
all  doubt  the  chiefs  of  his  party.  Think, 
brothers,  of  his  arms  ;  think  of  the  English 
rifle  ;  the  six  fire  pistol  ;  the  fine  Arab  horse  ; 
the  belt  filled  with  kizils ''  (i.e.,  red  pieces  of 
gold).  The  assurance  in  the  voice  merged  into 
entreaty.     The  waverer  broke  in  again. 

"  If  he  is  an  Armenian,  well  and  good.  But 
if  that  villain  Hassoo  has  made  a  mistake  or 
would  involve  us  in  trouble,  who  will  pay  the 
blood-money  ?  " 

"  Rubbish  !  "  roared  the  strident  voice  of  the 
other.  "  He  who  fears  the  birds  does  nut  plant 
millet.  Once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  I  tell 
you  he  is  an  Armenian  ;  nay,  more,  a  revo- 
lutionary. He  drew  a  pistol  on  us  yesterday  ! 
When  did  his  accursed  race  show  fight  unless 
they  were  against  the  Government  ?  " 

"  Where  is  Hassoo  ?  "  asked  a  third.  "  Why 
is  he  not  here  to  speak  for  himself?  " 


4A- 


II 11.    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE 


WHERE    IS    HASSOO  ! 


THIRD 


"  He  sleeps  by  the  horses.  He  knows  the 
part  he  is  to  play,  and  he  will  play  it  like  a  man. 
At  daybreak  he  will  lead  him  to  the  Ak  Derreh 
Pass,  where  we  shall  be  in  hiding.  What 
difficulty  is  there  in  this  ?  " 

"  There  is  no  difficulty,"  said  the  doubtful 
one,  "  if  there  is  no  mistake.  It  is  not  difficult 
to  see  one  has  made  a  mistake  when  in  the 
prison  and  bowed  down  with  chains.  Nor  is  it 
difficult  to  call  to  min  1  those  of  our  comrades 
who  rot  in  prison  because  they  shot  the  Frank* 
who  rode  the  '  devil's  cart '  "  (a  bicycle). 

••  X'i.  do,"  was  the  furious  reply.  "Nothing 
do  I  remember  except  that  it  will  be  convenient 
for  me  to  get  a  horse.  For  two  years  I  have 
wanted  a  good  horse,  but  can  neither  produce 
the  money  nor  steal  one." 

"  Aruj,  what  sayest  thou?     Shall  we  go?" 

"  Speak  no  more  words,"  said  another  voice. 
"•  We  will  all  go,  except,  it  may  be,  three  or  four 
among  you  who  must  watch  the  house  lest  he 
change  his  mind.  Come,  that  everything  may 
be  ready  at  the  appointed  time."  And  the 
voices  died  away. 

I  returned  to  my  place  on  the  platform, 
greatly  perplexed  as  to  the  course  it  was  best  to 
pursue,  for  I  knew  I  was  the  "Giaour" 
referred  to.  My  mind  was  quickly  made  up. 
Allowing  the  Kurds  time  enough  to  get  clear  of 
the  village,  I  went  down  and  shook  Hassoo. 
He  rose  trembling  and  excited. 

'•What  is  the  matter,  Agha  ?  " 


Probably  referring  t     Mr. 

Kurds. 


ivas  killed  by  the 


"  Nothing,  but  the  way- 
to-morrow  is  long,  and  1 
would  start  early." 

"  Yes,  1  am  ready,  but 
can  one  see  in  the  dark  ? 
The  way  is  dangerous. 
What  need  to  start  till 
the  dawn  comes  ?  " 

Without  further  parley 
I  took  the  lamp  and 
began  saddling  my  horse. 
Hassoo,  seeing  me  deter- 
mined, followed  suit, 
growling.  By  its  flicker- 
ing light  we  stumbled  out 
of  the  stable  and  down 
the  narrow  street.  An 
owl  began  its  monotonous 
loot,  so  sudden  and  so  close 
that  it  startled  me.  The  cry 
was  answered  in  the  distance 
by  another,  and  I  thought  I 
could  catch  the  faint  sound  in 
the  far  distance  of  another. 
The  Kurds  were  on  the  alert  ! 
Hassoo  must  have  understood  the  signal,  for  once 
on  the  plain  he  burst  into  a  Kurdish  love-song, 
his  unmelodious  voice  calling  forth  the  scarcely 
more  discordant  cries  of  the  jackals. 

My  mind  was  a  tangled  mass  of  thought,  a 
jumble  of  disconnected  and  incomplete  plans, 
till  all  became  confused.  First  I  would  shoot 
my  traitor  servant  down  ;  then  I  would  spare 
him  till  the  prearranged  plan  of  the  Kurds  was 
revealed.  I  asked  myself,  "  How  are  they  going 
to  distinguish  between  victim  and  guide?" 
Which  was  to  be  taken  and  which  was  to  be 
left?  As  usual,  Hassoo  was  leading.  When- 
ever I  tried  to  pass  him  and  take  the  lead—as  a 
test  I  made  several  attempts— each  time  he 
carefully  thwarted  me.  Without  doubt  this  was 
the  order  in  which  we  were  to  traverse  the  pass. 
"  How  far  is  it  now  to  the  Ak  Derreh  Pass  ?  " 
I  asked  him  presently. 

"  One  hour,  Agha.  Listen  to  the  sound  of 
the  water  rushing  down  the  gorge." 

If  I  was  to  take  the  lead  it  must  be  now  or 
never.  Lagging  behind,  I  dropped  my  dagger  : 
the  noise  of  its  falling  on  the  stones  reached  the 
ears  of  Hassoo,  for  he  stopped.  I  hailed  him 
to  come  back  and  help  look  for  it. 

"  Let  me  take  your  gun  while  you  strike  a 
match,"  I  said,  and  Hassoo,  handing  me  up  his 
gun,  fell  into  the  trap  I  had  laid  for  him. 
"  Listen,  Hassoo  !  "  I  shouted,  as  he  struck  the 
match.  "  Last  night  I  dreamed  that  Azrael,  the 
angel  of  death,  came  to  me  and  said,  '  Of  the 
two  of  you  one  shall  be  touched  in  the  pass.' 
But  he  did  not  say  which  one.     Surely  it  must 


HASSOO    THE    TRAITOR. 


443 


be  the  traitor  who,  after  eating  of  my  salt,  would 
give  me  into  the  hands  of  the  Kurds.  No 
man  knows  his  destiny,  but  this  I  know  :  the 
first  to  fall  in  the  pass  will  be  Hassoo  the 
traitor." 

The  head  of  the  burnt  match  glowed  in  his 
hand.  Before  1  could  lift  a  hand  he  was  in  the 
saddle,  crying  fiercely,  "/shall  not  fall  in  the 
pass,  but  you,  the  son  of  an  accursed  Armenian." 
Then  he  disappeared  in  the  semi-darkness, 
riding  for  his  life,  careless  of  rut,  rock,  or  broken 
ground.  From  the  stillness  the  echo  ol  his 
horse's  hoofs  beat  in  my  ears. 

The  false  dawn  had  now  come, 
when    a    man,    however     keen 
his  sight,  cannot  distinguish  a 
black  cow  from   a  white  one. 
The  sound  of  the  horse's  hoofs 
mocked   me.       "Now   for  my 
turn,"  I  said,  savagely.    Hark  ! 
A   shot    rang    out,  followed  a 
few  seconds   later  by  another 
and  yet   another.      What    did 
it    mean  ?       Had    the    Kurds 
brought     the    fugitive     down, 
mistaking    him     for 
Grimly    I   remembered 
one  of  our   proverbs — 
"  The    well  -  digger    is 
always  at  the  bottom  of 
the  well."    Digging  a  pit 
for    me,    the  traitorous 
Hassoo  had   fallen  into 
it  himself,  for  the  Kurds 
never  miss  their  man. 

Before  me  in  the  dim 
light    lay   the    pass.     I 
went  forward  slowly,  not 
being    anxious    for 
death.     This  was  not  fighting  when 
the   blood   is    hot,   but  sheer   cold- 
blooded  killing.       Death    is   not    a 
bride  that  we  should  run  to  embrace 
it.    Then  it  occurred  to  me,  "  What 
message  would  the  rifle-shots  carry 
to    the   ears  of   the  lurking    Kurds 
who   were    not    actually   engaged    in 
bush?"       They    would,     of    course, 


as  the  nearest  one  to  me  was  in  the  act  of 
leaping  over  a  rock  I  covered  him  with  my  rifle 
and  fired.     With  a  quick,  gasping  cry  the  ruffian 

threw   up   his  arms;    his   rifle  ered   on    the 

rocks  below  at   his   comrade  ;t   at 

the  same  time  he  followed  and   lav  in  a  hudd 
heap. 

There  was  no  need  for  another  sho\  Shouting 
frantically  to  each  other  the  discomfited  brigands 
fled  like  rabbits,  and  I  saw  them  no  more." 

My  story  is  soon  ended.      I  traversed  the  pi 
with   all    speed,   and    wit   out    further  adventure 


THE    RUFFIAN-    THREW    ll 
ARMS.-" 


the    am- 
interpret 


them  as  being  directed  against  me,  and  would 
accordingly  come  from  their  hiding-places  with- 
out hesitation.  Their  comrades  —  men  who 
could  smash  an  egg  held  in  the  hand  at  a 
hundred  paces— were  not  likely  to  miss  a  man 
even  though  on  horseback  and  in  full  flight.  So 
I  turned  in  behind  a  rock  and  waited. 

One  by  one  the  Kurds  came  tripping  lightly 
down  the  rocks  toward  the  track,  their  shoes 
of  untanned  buffalo-hide  making  no  noise.     Just 


reached  the  little  port  of  Trebole,  on  the  black 
Sea,  where  I  lay  in  hiding  till  an  opportunity 
came  of  embarking  on  a  tramp-steamer,  which 
carried  me  to  Marseilles  and  t  ence  to  England, 
where  I  now  am,  and  where  1  would  rather 
starve  than  return  to  my  own  country.  England 
is  a  free  but  a  sunless  land,  for  many  days  pass 
and  I  do  not  se  ■  the  sun.  Why  i>  it  that  the 
Turks  and  Kurds  inhabit  the  most  beautiful 
pans  of  the  earth  ?  Is  it,  as  die  Turks  them- 
selves say,  that  "  the  best  fruits  are  eaten  by  the 
.  ears  "  ?' 


A  vivid  account  of  a  record  journey  through  the  newly  -  discovered  Yoho  Valley,  in  British 
Columbia,  a  veritable  fairyland  of  magnificent  waterfalls  and  lakes  of  exquisite  beauty, 
surrounded    by    the    mighty    peaks    of  the    Canadian    Rockies.      The   authoress   illustrates    her 

article  with  some  most  impressive  photographs. 


LONG,  straight  road,  a  mere  slit  in 
|   the    primeval    forest  ;    tall,    sombre 


pine  trees 
towering  up 
on  either 
side.  Mount  Yaux  glow- 
ing in  the  ruddy  glory  of 
the  setting  sun  behind 
us,  and  in  front  the 
Emeralci  Peak,  a  scin- 
tillating, snowy  spike 
driven  straight  into  the 
clouds  —  we  ourselves 
travelling  along  on 
sturdy  Indian  ponies, 
bound  for  the  wonderful 
Yoho  Valley. 

It  was  a  warm  August 
afternoon  :  only  an  hour 
ire  we  had  left  Field, 
that  charming  summer 
resort  nestling  at  the 
foot  of  the  terraced  lime- 
stone crags  of  Mount 
Step  h  e  n  .  m  ightiest 
monarch  of  the  Cana- 
dian Rockies.  Preceded 
by  a  couple  of  pack- 
ponies,  we  had  started 
for  our  first  camping- 
ground  on  the  sh 
Emerald  Lake.  In  front 
rode  our  guide,  the  best 


\L'THORESS,    MRS. 
From  a 


hunter  in  the    country,  and  a  man   who  could 
make  camp  and  cook  a  "  bannock  "  in  a  manner 

that  defied  all  competi- 
tion. My  companion 
and  I  followed  after, 
going  easily  in  order  to 
save  our  animals  for  the 
morrow's  work,  which 
threatened  to  tax  even 
their  iron  physique,  and 
as  we  leisurely  covered 
the  seven  miles  between 
Field  and  Emerald  Lake, 
along  an  excellent  moun- 
tain road,  we  enjoyed  to 
the  full  the  dim,  sweet- 
scented  silence  of  the 
forest,  broken  here  and 
there  by  big,  sweeping 
banks  of  shale,  whence 
the  vista  of  snow-mantled 
peaks  seemed  limitless, 
while  at  our  left  the 
ground  fell  away  a  thou- 
sand feet  in  steep  de- 
clivities down  to  the 
shining  waters  of  the 
Kicking  Horse  River. 

Presently  a  sharp  turn 
of  the  road   brought  the 
lakr    into    full   view  —  a 
beautiful    sheet   of  vivid 
Photo.  green  water,  about  whose 


A    RECORD     TRIP    IN    THE     YOHO    VALLEY 


445 


margin  the  mountains  stand  circlewise  in  solemn 
splendour,  the  castellated  ramparts  of  Mount 
Wapta  and  the  escarped  peaks  of  Mount  Burgess 
rising  shoulder  to  shoulder  next  to  the  glittering 
glaciers  that  crown  the  Emerald  Group.  Here 
a  couple  of  log  shacks  had  been  erected,  rough- 
hewn  but  weather-tight,  and  well  supplied  with 
beds  of  balsam  boughs— a  resting-place  fit  for  a 
king.  To-day  a  charming  chalet,  where  travellers 
may  sojourn  in  luxury,  stands  on  a  knoll  over- 
looking the  lake,  but  when  we  made  our  record 
trip  into  the  newly-discovered   Yoho  Valley  the 


Brilliant  sunlight  and  tl  ep,   pr<  <  p 

an  inquisitive  Whisky  Ja<  i  and 

prince  of   camp-robbers     roused  us  our 

watches  pointed  to  live,  and  having  dressed  and 
eaten  with  relish  the  capital  breakfast  cooked  for 
us  by  the  guide,   we  were  soon  equipped 
mounted. 

It   was     our    firm    determination    to    m 
record  trip  through  the  famous  Yoho  \  all  v.  and 
to   accomplish  in  eighteen   hours  what   the  few 
travellers    who     had     preceded    us     had     taken 
several  days    to    do.     Our  time  in  thi 


J&iPXF&gr* 


from  a] 


MAJESTIC    MOUNT   STEPHEN,    WITH    ITS   CURIOUS   CLOUD-COLLAR. 


Photo. 


little  log  shanties  were  all  we  either  found   or 
desired  in  the  shape  of  accommodation. 

It  took  the  guide  but  a  short  time  to  unload 
the  pack-ponies,  turn  them  loose  to  graze,  and 
prepare  our  supper,  for  the  morrow's  travel 
necessitated  that  we  should  be  "  early  to  bed  and 
early  to  rise  "  and  into  the  saddle  by  six  o'clock. 
As  the  purple  shadows  crept  up  the  hillsides  a 
tawny  mist  blotted  out  the  fading  rose  of  the 
sunset  flame  in  the  west,  and  the  spirit  of  the 
dusk  dropped  tears  that  left  the  fern-banks  cool 
and  wet.  Presently  the  stars  came  out  like 
golden  rain  and  the  long  summer  day  was  over. 


was  necessarily  linv'ted  that  season,  but  being 
used  to  small  hardships  and  rough  travel  the 
expedition  held  no  terrors  for  me,  and  as 
as  I  made  no  complaint  my  companion  was 
effectually  prevented  from  doing  so.  It  is  true 
that  we  succeeded  in  carrying  out  our  plan  and 
enjoyed  to  the  utmost  the  marvellous  beauties 
of  the  valley,  but  I  do  not  advise  travellers 
who  come  after  us  to  attempt  the  trip  so  I 
Three,  days,  or,  better  still,  a  week,  may  be 
well  spent  amongst  the  wonders  of  the  Yoho, 
its  flora  and  fauna  and  its  matchless  scenery. 
There    the    artist    and    the    photographer  find 


44<> 


1HI.     WIDE     WOK  1.1)    MAGAZINE. 


EMERALD  LAKE —  'A  BEAUTIFUL  SHEET  OK    VIVID  GREEN  WATER,  ABOUT  WHOSE  MARGIN"  THE  MOUNTAINS  STAND  IN  SOLEMN  Sl'LENDOUR. 

From  a  Photo. 


inspiration,  the  scientist  unending  interests, 
and  the  lover  of  Nature  a  veritable  paradise 
on  earth.  It  is  noteworthy  in  this  connection 
that  only  a  very  short  time  before  we  exp  ored 
the  locality  the  discoverer  of  the  Yoho,  Herr 
Jean  Habel,  of  Berlin,  took  seventeen  days  to 
go  from  Field  to  the  head  of  the  valley  and 
back  again  !  But  then,  of  course,  he  was  the 
man  who  blazed  the  trail,  which  is  now  quite 
practicable  for  pony  travel. 

About  six  o'clock  we  left  camp,  each  of  us 
having  a  packet  of  sandwiches,  some  hard  tack 
(a  sort  of  ship's  biscuit),  some  apples,  and  a 
warm  coat  strapped  behind  the  saddle  ;  my 
precious  camera,  safely  encased  from  dust, 
being  slung  upon  my  companion's  back — a 
tangible  proof  of  my  confidence  in  his  dis- 
cretion. Thus  we  rode  light,  carrying  no  fire- 
arms save  the  revolver  in  our  guide's  belt. 
Each  of  us  was  arrayed  in  strong  hob-nailed 
boots,  a  big  hat,  and  thin  flannel  garments. 
The  pack -ponies  were  "belled"  and  turned 
out  to  browse  contentedly  until  our  return  at 
nightfall. 

Round  the  shores  of  Emerald  Lake  we 
wended  our  way  single  file,  as  one  ever  must 
on  mountain  ways,  the  soft  pine-needles  crunch- 


ing under  foot,  while  an  early  breeze  stirred 
lazily  among  the  tree-tops.  Leaving  the  water's 
edge  we  crossed  a  large  moraine,  forded  several 
streams,  and  ascended  by  sharp  zigzags  to  the 
summit  of  the  Yoho  Pass,  which  lies  at  an 
altitude  of  six  thousand  feet  between  Mount 
Wapta  and  the  Parson's  Peak. 

What  a  view  broke  upon  our  entranced  vision 
at  this  point  !  Down  the  green  slopes,  three 
thousand  feet  below,  shimmered  blue  mountain 
waters,  in  front  rose  Stephen,  proud  and 
majestic,  and  beyond  the  ruined  spires  of 
Cathedral  Mountain  lay  the  Great  Divide,  the 
watershed  of  Canada,  whence  the  rivers  flow 
eastward  to  the  Atlantic  and  westward  to  the 
Pacific.  So  stupendous  is  the  Rocky  Mountain 
scenery  that  words  fail  to  adequately  describe 
its  sublime  impressiveness.  So  vast  are  the 
distances,  so  huge  the  mountains,  so  green  the 
forests,  so  brilliant  the  snow-fields,  that  the 
panorama  of  Nature  overawes  human  speech 
and  sets  the  mind  of  man  in  an  attitude  of 
reverence  before  the  grandest  works  of  God. 

We  reached  the  summit  at  eight  o'clock,  just 
two  hours  after  leaving  camp,  and  there  halted 
for  a  few  minutes  to  rest  the  ponies  and  take  a 
drink  out  of  the    little    lake,   a    warm,    wavcless 


A    RECORD     TRIP    IN    THE    YOHO    VALLEY. 


447 


pool,  clear  as  crystal  to  the  bottom,  though 
quite  thirty  feet  deep,  and  about  whose  ed 
the  rushes  whispered  in  their  husky  throats 
Here,  encamped  on  the  sunny  meadowlands,  we 
found  a  party  of  tourists,  who  evidently  proposed 
to  make  the  trip  through  the  Yoho  in  leisurely 
style,  for  they  carried  with  them  two  tents,  a 
guide,  a  pony-boy,  and  a  regular  train  of  pack 
animals  !  Later  we  learned  that  it  was  their 
intention  to  spend  ten  days  in  the  valley. 
How  I  envied  them  ! 

If  you  have  never  visited  the  Canadian 
Rockies  you  cannot  know  the  wonderful  charm 
of  the  fields  of  rest  that  crown  those  dark,  for- 


you  come  suddenly  upon  iu,  sun 

steeped,  flower-decked,  aii'  tiful.     Such  an 

oasis  lies  at  the  summit  of  the  Yoho  I 
There  you  hear  laughter  in  the  ripple  of  the 
heather  and  weeping  in  the  shadow,  where  the 
scent  of  wild  heliotrope  recalls  a  memory  of 
home.  There  purple  asters,  scarlet  columbines, 
blue  vetches,  and  pink  garlic  luxuriate  in  pro- 
fusion in  company  with  a  hundred  other  radiant 
blossoms,  larkspurs,  orange-lilies,  rhododendrons, 
and  gentians.  These  gorgeous,  natural  flowei 
gardens  form  a  very  fascinating  feature  of  the 
Yoho  region. 

As  I  strolled  about  for  a  few  minutes  to  relax 


From  a]        the  magnificent  takakkaw 


FALLS,    THE    HIGHEST   CATARACT   ON   THE    AMERICAN    CONTINENT. 


[Photo. 


bidding  bluffs  of  barren  rock  standing  under  the 
endless  skies  of  blue.  Up  the  sheer  face  of  the 
cliffs  you  climb  by  devious  paths,  until,  rising 
above   the    edge    of  some   frowning  precipice, 


my  muscles  after  the  strain  of  the  steep  ascent 
I  came  across  one  of  the  tourists,  a  most 
deplorable  object  in  soaking  garments  and 
dripping  hair,  sitting  disconsolately  upon  a  rock 


448 


II 1 1:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


waiting  for  his  clothes  to  dry.  In  response  to 
my  surprised  look  he  pointed  to  the  lake  and 
volunteered  :  — 

••  I'm  wet." 

It  was  an  obvious  fact. 

"  How  did  you  come  to  fall  in?"  I  queried, 
sympathetically. 

"  I  didn't  come  to  fall  in  ;  I  came  to  see  the 
Yoho  Valley,"  he  rejoined,  snappishly. 

Naturally  conversation  came  to  an  abrupt 
end.  He  was  a  type  of  tourist  I  had  met 
before. 

Three-quarters  of  an  hour  along  a  wooded 
trail  brought  us  to  the  Lookout,  an  eminence 
whence  we  obtained  our  first  sight  of  the  falls 
so  truly  named  "  Takakkaw,"  from  the  Cree 
Indian  word  meaning  "  It  is  wonderful."  Stand- 
ing there,  more  than  a  mile  in  an  air-line  from 
the  far  side  of  the  Yoho  Valley,  the  thunderous 
noise  of  this  magnificent  cascade  reverberating 
in  our  ears,  we  looked  across  at  the  great  neve 
situated  between  Mount  Balfour  and  Mount 
Miles,  and  at  the  long,  crevassed  glacier  tongue 
that  stretches  out  to  the  edge  of  the  cliff,  where 
the  Takakkaw  Fall  bursts  forth  from  under  the 
ice  and  with  one  gigantic  leap  goes  foaming  and 
roaring  down  into  the  rock-walled  canyon  below, 
sending  its  waters  swirling  along  to  join  the 
VVapta  River. 

The  picture  is  superb.  Set  against  the  back- 
ground of  the  lovely  valley,  with  its  pine-clad 
slopes  and  richly  verdant  flats,  sharp  scythe-cut 
by  the  sweep  of  the  Yoho  River,  sentinelled  by 
the  peaks  of  Kiwetinok,  Habel,  and  Trolltinder, 
and  surrounded  by  the  far-reaching  glaciers,  the 
Takakkaw  Falls  are  of  matchless  beauty — a  sight 
never  to  be  forgotten  as  long  as  memory  lasts. 
Between  the  place  where  the  fall  first  takes  its 
spring  into  the  air,  to  the  point  where  it  joins  the 
river,  the  difference  of  level  is  one  thousand 
three  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet.  Well  may 
British  Columbians  be  proud  of  possessing  the 
highest  cataract  on  the  continent  ! 

Having  drunk  in  all  the  beauties  of  this  bird's- 
eye  view  of  the  valley,  we  commenced  the 
descent  into  its  depths  down  twenty-five  zigzags 
cut  out  of  the  side  of  the  mountain,  where 
between  the  sparse  timber  we  ever  and  anon 
caught  exquisite  glimpses  of  the  Takakkaw  Fall. 
Soon  its  foot  was  reached,  and  spellbound  we 
gazed  upon  the  glistening  torrent  pouring  down 
from  above  in  ceaseless  iteration.  The  hour 
was  half-past  nine,  and  presently  hunger  told 
us  that  a  second  breakfast  would  be  very 
acceptable.  Assuredly  those  sandwiches  and 
a  little  biscuit,  washed  down  by  a  drink  of 
sparkling  water,  tasted  like  heavenly  manna  in 
that  wilderness  of  the  woods  ! 

While  the  guide  watered  the  horses  we  took 


some  photographs,  and  then,  without  unneces 
sary  delay,  mounted  again  and  set  out  for  the 
Twin  Falls. 

Crossing  the  sunny  meadows  we  turned  off 
the  main  trail  to  see  Duchesnay  Lake,  a  pellucid 
pool  with  shell-strewn  shores,  and  in  about  an 
hour  reached  the  Laughing  Fall,  as  merry  a 
little  cascade  as  ever  leaped  over  the  cliffs  and 
flung  its  petticoats  of  spray  high  up  into  the 
balmy  air. 

Our  next' destination  was  the  Twin  Falls — 
less  grand,  perhaps,  but  infinitely  more  pic- 
turesque than  the  Takakkaw.  It  was  nearly 
noon,  and  I  began  to  feel  the  heat  of  the  August 
sun  ;  a  hard  saddle  on  a  rough  Indian  pony  for 
six  hours  at  a  stretch  also  proving  no  small  tax 
upon  even  my  enthusiastic  temperament.  The 
forest  trail  beside  the  canyon  was  full  of  grateful 
shade  and  entailed  no  exertion,  so,  repressing 
any  disposition  to  complain  of  fatigue,  I  sank 
into  a  dreamy  state  of  somnolence.,  which  was 
wonderfully  restful,  and  left  my  "  cayuse "  to 
pick  his  own  steps  among  the  stones  and  roots, 
which  that  cautious  little  beast  knew  perfectly 
well  how  best  to  do,  to  the  saving  of  his  own 
feet  and  of  my  aching  bones. 

By  the  time  we  reached  the  Twin  Falls  all 
fatigue  was  forgotten,  all  feelings  banished  save 
those  of  rapture  at  the  fairy  scene  before  us. 

Imagine  two  limpid  columns  of  ice-blue 
water,  falling  in  glittering  masses  through 
grooves  cut'  deep  into  the  solid  face  of  the 
rock  five  hundred  feet  above,  and  flinging  up 
clouds  of  snowy  spume  to  catch  the  rich 
prismatic  hues  from  the  brilliant*sunshine.  No 
camera  can  do  justice  to  a  piece  of  Nature  so 
exquisite  that  only  the  brush  of  a  Turner  might 
fitly  commit  its  wondrous  loveliness  to  paper. 

Does  a  Canadian  "  Kuhleborn "  rule  here 
over  this  kingdom  of  cascades  and  cataracts  ? 
Does  some  dark-haired  Indian  "  Undine  "  rise 
at  eventide  out  of  the  rainbow-tinted  spray,  and 
lament  in  pearly  tears  the  faithlessness  of  her 
chosen  "  brave  "  ?  Who  knows  ?  The  very  air 
is  full  of  witchery,  a  glamour  lies  upon  the  face 
of  the  waters,  and  tender  sentiments  surround 
us. 

How  we  longed  to  camp  there  close  beside 
that  glorious  Twin  cascade,  and  spend  a  week 
in  the  very  heart  of  this  fascinating  valley, 
botanizing  over  the  profusion  of  flowers  that 
bloomed  on  every  side,  photographing  Nature's 
wonders,  exploring  the  canyons,  and  climbing  to 
the  heights  above  to  obtain  fresh  views  of  the 
mountain  brotherhood  ! 

There  is  little  animal  life  in  the  region. 
Sometimes  a  glimpse  of  distant  wild  goat  will 
excite  your  keenest  interest,  and  bears  are  not 
uncommon,  while,  if  you  do  but  step  noiselessly, 


A    RECORD    TRIP    IN    THE    YOHO    \.\l  II  \ 


From  a] 


THE    PICTURESQUE    TWIN     FALLS,    FIVE    HUNDRED    FEET    HKjH. 


\  Photo. 


squirrels  and  porcupines,  grouse  and  marmots, 
will  occasionally  show  you  a  faint  courtesy. 
Small  birds,  too,  fill  the  air  at  intervals  with  a 
cheerful  sound,  grasshoppers  chirrup,  and  bees 
hum,  but  more  frequently  the  silence  is  oppres- 
sive and  unbroken,  a  common  characteristic  of 
the  Canadian  Rockies. 

Choosing  a  new  path,  as  yet  only  roughly 
slashed  beside  the  turbulent  brook  that  carries 
away  the  waters  of  the  Twin  Falls  in  con- 
stantly recurring  cascades  and  long  rippling 
shallows,  we  journeyed  on  to  the  great  glacier 
that  shuts  in  the  head  of  the  valley.  High 
wooded  hollows  edged  the  green  uplands  that, 
dimpled  by  the  soft  western  wind,  lay  snug 
in  the  curved  arms  of  the  hills.  Ah  !  This 
wonderful  land  of  the  Yoho  !  It  lies  far 
from  the  bustle  of  the  outer  world,  a  garden  of 
springing  leaves  and  odorous  flowers  with  opal 
hearts  wide-blown. 

Vol.  xii.— 57. 


Suddenly,  at  the  bend  of  the  trail,  the  glory 
of  the  glittering  glacier  burst  full  upon  us,  and 
involuntarily  1  pulled  up  my  pony  to  watch  for 
a  moment  in  silent  rapture  the  quickly-changing 
lights  upon  the  greenish  ice-tongue  that  licked 
its  way  down  into  the  warm  verdure  of  the 
valley.  This  tongue  is  part  of  the  great  ice- 
field of  the  Wapta  and  the  Waputtehk,  vast 
Arctic  masses  that  stretch  back  for  over  thirty 
miles. 

In  the  grateful  coolness  of  this  ice  region  we 
unsaddled  for  a  couple  of  hours  and  took  the 
rest  that  both  man  and  beast  so  sorely  needed, 
for  though  we  had  travelled  the  whole  distance 
at  a  slow  foot's  pace,  and  with  frequent  short 
halts  to  photograph  some  of  the  finest  views, 
still  it. was  over  seven  hours  since  we  had  left 
camp  in  the  early  morning.  Another  meal  of 
sandwiches  and  "  hard  tack,"  another  long,  long 
draught    of    cold   water,  and — oh  1    joy  ! — an 


45° 


THE    WIDK    WORLD    MAGAZINE 


orange  apiece  produced  from  the  depths  of  the 
guide's   capacious  pocket  ;    and    then   we  lay 

down   on   the  stones  and  slept  as  soundly  as 
surely  not  even  Jacob  slept  at  Bethel. 

A  short  trip  up  on  to  the  ice  and  a  peep  into 
some  of  the  gleaming  blue  crevasses,  an  inspec- 
tion oi  the  seracs,  and  the  lucky  ••find"  of  a 
glacier  table  |  a  large  block  of  ice,  the  underside 
of  which  has  all  been  melted  away,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  small  pedestal  in  the  middle  that 


extended  excursions  in  twenty  different  direc- 
tions, anil  wander  each  day  along  untrodden 
ways  among  the  treasures  of  this  wonderland  of 
flowers,  forests,  waterfalls,  glaciers,  canyons, 
rivers,  mountains,  and  lakes. 

It  was  evening  when  we  reached  the  Lookout 
and  took  our  last  farewell  of  the  Takakkaw 
balls.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  beauty  of  that 
scene  !  There  we  stood,  eastward  of  the  sunset 
ami  westward    of    the    moonrise,   in    the    wet, 


From  a] 


THE  GREAT  GLACIER  AT  THE  HEAD  OF  THE  VOHO  VALLEY 


[Photo. 


supports  its  weight)  completed  the  pleasures  of 
the  afternoon,  and  very  unwillingly,  very  slowly, 
I  turned  my  steps  towaids  Field,  leaving  my 
pony  to  follow,  for  the  way  led  downhill,  and  I 
was  anxious  to  save  his  strength  to  the  end  of 
the  day.  So  we  travelled  back  without  making 
any  detours,  as  on  the  outward  trip,  but  plodded 
steadily  along  over  the  main  trail,  alternately 
walking  and  riding,  and  wishing  in  our  heart  of 
hearts  that  we  were  going  to  sojourn  for  a  month 
n  the  Yoho  Valiey. 
The  lucky  traveller  who  does  so   can    take 


fragrant  woods  ;  and  far  ever  across  the  Yoho 
Valley,  in  a  haze  of  rose  and  amethyst  light,  the 
silver  stream  of  water  fell  from  the  hill-crest  into 
the  canyon,  dyed  in  purple  glory.  The  night 
wind  drew  softly  down  the  cleft  trails,  and  blue 
shadows  smote  the  sides  of  Mount  W'apta,  as  a 
little  curled  feather  of  a  moon  rimmed  the 
fleecy  clouds  with  radiance. 

Tired,  hungry,  stiff,  but  very  happy,  we 
reached  the  camp  at  fhnerald  Lake  shortly 
before  midnight,  and  there  fell  asleep  to  dream 
of  the  splendours  of  the  Yoho  Valley. 


The  Raiding  of  Robben  Island. 

Py  J.  Gordon  Smith,  of  Vancouver,  B.C. 

t,ast  August  we  published  a  story  entitled  "  The  Flying  Dutchman,"  by  Mr.  Roger  Pocock,  in  which  he 
described  his  exciting  cruise  in  the  "Adele,"  a  notorious  seal-pirate  schooner,  commanded  by  an  elusive 
Norwegian  nicknamed  the  "  Flying  Dutchman."  Here  is  another  story  of  the  "  Adele  "  and  her  skipper, 
detailing  her  raid  upon  a  Russian  seal  rookery  and  the  clever  way  in  which  she  scared  off  a  rival  schooner. 


APTAIN  HANSEN  — GUSTAVE 
HANSEN,  native  of  Cosmopolis, 
and  sometimes  known  as  the 
"  Flying  Dutchman,"  would  not  like 
me  to  tell  this  tale  were  he  living.' 
But  he  now  lies  in  the  shadow  of  an  ugly- 
looking  totem  at  the  Indian  village  of  Kyuquot, 
on  the  Vancouver  Island  coast,  where  his 
adventurous  life  came  to  an  end  when  he 
attempted  to  save  a  drowning  Indian,  only  to 
fall  a  victim  himself.  Hansen  objected  to 
publicity,  and  he  had  cause.  It  is  well,  how- 
ever, that  the  tale  should  be  told,  for  it  will 
explain  several  things  to  some  seal-hunters  of 
Hakodate. 

We  were  sitting 
under  the  lanterns, 
all  aglow  on  that  cool 
night,  watching  the 
ghost-like  cherry 
trees,  and  listening 
to  the  faint  tinkling 
of  the  samisens  of 
the  geisha  —  you 
could  always  hear 
them  from  "  Blood- 
house  Joe's  "  place 
— when  we  pi  n  led 
this  affair  in  1894. 
It  netted  us  thirty- 
six  hundred  pjlts  — 
all  good  skins  and 
proper  fur — and  they 
brought  enough  to 
give  each  of  that  ad- 
venturous company 
a  nest -egg.  But  it 
was  the  old  story. 
Come  easy,  go  easy. 
Since  then  the  boys 

have  drifted  about.  Pike  got  caught  running 
"dope"  (opium)  to  Honolulu,  and  he's  there 
yet;  Johnson  got  into  Forty  Mile  in  1896, 
and  was  in  the  rush  from  there  to  the  Klon- 
dike, but  he  drew  a  blank  and  is  still  prospect- 
ing ;  Haan's  married,  and  quit  doing  things 
—working  in  a  saw- mill,  they  say;  Lee  is 
steamboating  on  the  China  coast  ;  and  some 
of  the  crew  which  sailed  from  Hakodate  on 
that  memorable  June  morning  are  still  seal- 
ing.     But  it's  different  now.     The  industry's  got 


\ 


Prom  a] 


THE    NOTORIOUS 


all  the  romance  knocked   out  of  it,  and  there 
isn't  an  owner  who  will  let  you  do  any  raiding. 

Different  then  ?  I  should  say  it  was  !  \Ve 
got  a  funny  little  Japanese  launch  to  tow  us 
out  from  among  the  sampans,  and  we'd  hardly 
got  the  big  sheet  set  after  she  let  go  when 
Hansen  called  us  aft.  I  remember  it  well.  It 
was  one  of  those  stuffy,  sultry  nights,  with  a 
warm  breeze  sweeping  out  from  the  salt-laden 
Kuriles,  one  of  those  nights  when  you'd  rather 
sleep  on  deck  than  go  below. 

Hansen  had  a  bottle  with  less  than  three 
fingers  in  it  at  his  elbow,  and  there  were  some 
cards  scattered  on   the   little  cabin  table.      He 

and  Jack  Haan  had 
been  playing 
"  pedro,"  which  was 
our  sole  industry 
between  watches 
after  the  shore-talk 
gave  out. 

"Boys,"  said 
Hansen,  as  we  sat 
around,  "  I  ged  a 
tip.  There's  no  von 
on  Robben*.  Der 
Rooshians  have  lef 
that  rookery,  and 
Kearney's  a-goin' 
afder  der  skins  dere 
in  der  Antic.'' 

"That's  right," 
said  big  lark  Haan. 
We  could  see  he 
and.  the  "  old  man  " 
had  got  it  all  fixed. 
"All  we've  got  to  do 
is  to  beat  the  Arctic 
there,  and  we'll 
club  our  share  and 
get  back  to  Hakodate.  'Course,  there's  the 
Zabiaka  and  the  Yakut  and  maybe  the  Aleut] 
cruising  about  lookin'  for  such  as  we  — but  this 
here's  a  good  chance,  and  I  guess  we'll  take  it." 
"  I  thought  we  was  a-gom'  to  cruise  off  the 
Copper  Islands  and  then  go  to  the  Behring 
Sea,"  said  I.  "  I've  been  to  Petropaulohki 
Gaol  once,  and  I  don't  like  the  black  bread." 

*A   remote   island    in    the    North    Pacific,    S.E.    of  the    Copper 
Islands.     The  seal  rookeries  are  owned  by  Russia. 

\  Russian  gunboat-  engaged  in  the  protection  of  the  rookeries. 


SF  AI.-VIK'A  I  K    SCHOONER 


[Photo. 


45- 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


BEHRING   SEA    BE   BOTHERED,     MUTTERED  THE  OLD   MAN. 


"  Behring  Sea  be  bothered,"  muttered  the  old 
man,  and  he  was  swearing  half  audibly.  He  was 
also  excited,  for  when  he  got  warm  that  way  he 
got  into  the  broken  English.  "  We  might  sail 
Behring  Sea,"  he  said,  "  as  long  as  old  Vander- 
decken  did  aboud  der  Horn  and  never  ged  a 
seal." 

"  Well,"  broke  in  Thompson,  who  was  dang- 
ling his  feet  from  the  side  of  a  bunk,  "  it  would 
have  been  salt  mines  for  us  when  the  Zabiaka 
seized  the  Carmelite  and  took  her  into  Petro- 
paulofski,  if  it  hadn't  been  for  the  Yankee  consul 
—and  I  don't  fancy  salt  mines.  What  I've  heard 
of  Saghalien  is  enough  to  make  anyone  leave 
those  Russian  seals  alone.  Let's  go  and  get 
some  Uncle  Sam  pelts." 

"  Veil,  I  t'ought  L  vas  shihbing  some  fellers 
mid  grit,"  said  the  "  Flying  Dutchman,"  and  he 
worked  his  rust-coloured  moustache  in  his  excite- 
ment and  his  eyes  had  a  glint  which  told  of  his 
wrath.  "  If  you're  scared — veil,  ve  von't  go.  Ve 
vill  go  to  der  Behring  Sea  and  get  perhabs  two 
or  tree  hunderd,  when  dere's  a  schooner  load 
waiting  for  us.  Ve  have  yust  got  to  take  dem 
avay.      Yust  waiting  for  us  !  " 

But  why  tell  it  all  ?  It  would  fill  columns 
what  we  said  that  night  as  we  passed  the  bottle 
around.  Finally,  though,  we  headed  for  Robben 
Island. 

We  had  run  past  Cape  Lopatka  under  double- 
reefed  sails,  for  a  strong  wind  was  heaving  quite 
a  sea.     My  hands  were  blistered  at  the  wheel, 


for  it  kicked,  and 
several  times  the 
schooner  threat- 
ened to  poop  seas 
over  her  stern, 
which  \yould  have 
meant  a  finish  to 
the  cruise  and  to 
us.  But  all  things 
have  an  end,  and 
after  we  had  run 
before  the  storm 
for  a  few  days 
there  was  a  dull 
grey  hill  in  the 
distant  mist-laden 
sky. 

"  That's  it- 
that's  Robben," 
said  Hansen,  who 
had  been  peering 
intently  at  the 
horizon  on  all 
sides  with  his 
glasses.  They 
were  as  good 
glasses  as  money 
could  buy,  for  a  sealer  who  gets  in  past  the 
proscribed  limits  which  Governments  draw 
around  seal  rookeries  needs  good  glasses.  They 
may  save  his  schooner  from  confiscation  and 
himself  from  prison. 

There  was  little  more  than  a  ripple  on  the 
sea  now,  and  if  the  mist  had  not  curtained  the 
sun  there  would  have  been  sunbeams  dancing 
on  the  ripples.  A  nice  little  five  or  six  knot 
breeze  was  taking  us  closer  and  closer  to  the 
island,  which  grew  more  solid-looking  in  the 
mist  with  every  mile  the  schooner  logged. 

And  then — as  we  came  in  sight  of  that  island 
— my  back  felt  as  though  someone  had  poured 
quarts  of  ice-water  down  my  spinal  column. 
How  I  chilled,  for  there,  floating  in  the  breeze 
over  the  logs  of  an  unmistakable  fort  -  like 
palisading,  was  a  flag — the  flag  of  Russia  ! 

Hansen  was  sitting  on  the  hatch  near  the 
cabin-gangway,  and  he  swore  most  artistically. 
His  swearing  in  broken  English  would  have 
caused  a  mule-driver  to  take  off  his  hat  to  him. 
One  by  one  the  others  gathered  around  him— 
all  staring  at  that  flag.  How  well  I  remember 
it,  waving  there  in  the  mist  indistinctly,  but 
sufficiently  marked  for  our  excited  company  to 
draw  many  little  pictures  in  our  minds  as  we 
stood  there  on  the  deck  of  the  Adele  and  stared 
at  that  dark  blue  cross  !  And  there  over  the 
battlements — what  was  that?  Yes —as  Pike 
said — it  was  a  gun,  and  it  looked  like  a  six-inch ! 
It  certainly  was  a  gun  ;  I  could  see  it  plainly. 


THE    RAIDING    OF    ROBBEN    ISLAND. 


453 


THATS   IT — THATS    ROBBEN,     SAID    HANSEN. 

It  was  swinging  backward  and  forward. 
Heavens  !  how  the  ice  trickled  down  my  spine, 
for  it's  no  fun  to  stand  waiting  for  a  big  bunch 
of  lead  to  hit  a  little  sixty-four-ton  schooner  and 
sink  her  like  a  match-box  in  a  bath-tub.  I 
began  to  wish  I  was  a  youngster  again. 

"She's  trainin'  a  gun  on  us,"  said  Murray, 
"  that's  what.  It's  a  six-inch  gun,  and  there's 
goin'  to  be  somethin'  doin'  soon." 

I  was  standing  staring  at  that  flag  when 
Hansen  suddenly  wrenched  the  wheel  away, 
and  in  a  minute  he  had  it  thrown  hard  over 
and  the  old  Adcle  was  heeling  around.  She 
was  right  over,  with  her  starboard  side  almosr 
awash — for  Hansen  was  closer  to  that  island 
than  he  wished  to  be. 

And  all  the  while  we  could  hear  the  seals 
barking  on  the  rookeries.  There  were  thou- 
sands of  them.  Why,  confound  those  Cossacks, 
if  they  had  only  been  away,  as  we  were  told  they 
were,  we  would  have  made  a  few  thousand 
dollars  each. 

We  were  running  under  full  canvas  away 
from  the  island  and  waiting  to  hear  the  boom 
of  the  gun,  but  there  was  not  a  sound.  "  Why 
don't  they  fire,  I  wonder?"  said  Johnson,  who 
stood  beside  me,  staring  at  the  fort.  "They've 
worked  that  old  gun  about  enough  to  get  it 
trained." 

Well,  anyhow,  they  didn't  fi  e,  and  it  was  two 
days  afterward  before  we  learned  why.  We 
talked  the  thing  over  good  and  plenty,  and  after 
we  had  chattered  half  the  night  Jack  Haan 
finally  got  us  to  take  a  chance  You  see,  a 
fellow  doesn't  like  to  be  so  close  to  a  small 


fortune  and  then  leave  it 
without  taking  a  chance. 

I  low  we  did  it  was  like 
this.  We  drew  straws  to 
get  up  a  small  party  to 
make  the  venture — just 
three  of  us.  It  would  have 
made  it  bad  for  us  all  to 
take  too  many.  Jack 
Haan,  Johnson,  and  I  got 
the  little  straws,  and  that 
night,  when  they  had  got 
the  old  Adkle  in  pretty 
close  and  anchored  her  in 
eleven  fathoms,  we  rowed 
ashore  to  reconnoitre,  as 
the  soldiers  say. 

How  scared  I  was  !  A 
thousand  little  imps  were 
working  their  ice  -  cold 
hammers  on  my  spine.  If 
Jack  had  said  the  word 
I'd  have  quit  in  a  minute. 
Robben  is  a  bad  island  to 
walk  about  on  after  dark  without  making  a  row. 
It's  one  of  those  rock-filled  little  places  with  big 
boulders  most  of  the  way  down  to  the  water— 
and  how  those  wretched  pebbles  crunched 
under  our  feet  !  I  don't  know  how  sound 
Russians  sleep,  but  the  noise  of  the  shingle 
when  we  walked  might  have  awakened  anybody. 
I  expected  every  minute  to  hear  someone 
shout  and  hear  a  bullet  go  pinging  past  my 
head,  but  nothing  happened.  Jack  got  it 
worse  than  I  did.  He  wasn't  scared.  He 
was  one  of  those  fellows  who  don't  scare,  but 
he  came  as  near  getting  scared  thai  night  as 
anyone  would  want  to.  He  was  scrambling 
along  over  the  rocks  when  up  sprang  the  whole 
works  in  front  of  him. 

"Here,  I  surrender,"  says  he.  "I  quitovitch." 
But  instead  of  any  answer  the  thing  jumped  up 
and  flapped  down  toward  him,  and  if  it  hadn't 
been  for  a  big  boulder  having  sheltered  him  he 
must  have  been  crushed.  It  wasn't  a  Russian, 
but  a  great  big  matka — a  bull  seal  weighing 
three  hundred  pounds  if  it  weighed  an  ounce. 

It  scared  us,  though,  and  we  sut  down  and 
put  a  few  stiff  drinks  into  us  before  we  started 
again.  Presently  we  were  right  in  amongst  the 
herd,  and  it  was  a  wpnder  we  didn't  get  crushed. 
I  got  knocked  down  once  in  a  fight  when  a 
couple  of  bulls  went  at  each  other— the) 'ie 
always  fighting-over  the. cows. 

We  had  scares  enough  fix  all  of  us  before  we 
crawled  up  near  the  log  walls,  and  then  we  saw 
that  flag  still  flying  from  the  flagpole.  Johnson, 
who  had  been  to  Petropaulofski  when  his 
schooner    got   seized   by   the   Zabiaka,  said    he 


454 


"CHE    WIDE    WORLD     M.UIA/JXF 


knew  that  the  Russians  always  take  down  their 
flags  at  night.  They're  the  same  as  we  are  in 
that  respect.  So  he  climbed  over  into  the  fort. 
We  sat  waiting  for  him  for,  maybe,  ten  minutes  : 
but  it  seemed  like  weeks  to  me.  Then  he 
whistled.  We  were 
right,  after  all.  The 
fort  ivas  empty .' 

When  all  hands 
got  in  amongst  the 
herds  next  morning 
with  the  cluhs  we 
knocked  them  over 
till  we  were  sick  of 
killing.  The  beaches 
and  the  hauling- 
grounds,  where  they 
pulled  themselves  up 
from  the  sea,  were 
covered  with  car- 
casses. By  noon  we 
had  over  three  thou- 
sand pelts  lying  on 
the  beach.  Then 
the  thing  happened. 

H  a n  sen  s  a  w  i  t 
first.  Far  out  on  the 
horizon  there  was  a 
little  speck  of  smoke. 
He  had  his  field- 
glasses  dangling 
from  his  shoulder — ■ 
he  was  never  with- 
out them  —  and  it 
didn't  take  long 
before  he  saw  that 
some  ship  was 
attached    to    that 

smoke.  It  was  just  like  our  luck.  There  we 
had  over  three  thousand  skins— forty  thousand 
dollars,  perhaps  —  lying  on  the  beach,  and  now 
the  Russians  were  coming  back. 

Well,  anyhow,  we  were  no  better  off  than 
when  we  landed  there.  That  was  how  Hansen 
put  it,  and  he  was  a  philosopher.  "  Ach 
Himmel  !  "  he  said,  ''  I  tink  it's  bedder  we  ged 
oud.  If  id's  Rooshians  you  fellers  'd  bedder  ged 
starded,  or  id's  salt  mines  for  all." 

But  we  didn't  need  any  telling  to  get  back  on 
board.  We  pulled  back  to  that  schooner  as 
though  we  were  pulling  off  a  cup  race,  and  we 
got  the  Adele's  mud-hook  up  as  fast  as  we  knew 
how.  We'd  have  cut  it  if  it  hadn't  come  up 
quickly. 

Fortunately,  it  was  misty.  There's  always 
more  or  less  of  a  mist  on  those  waters.  We 
got  all  the  sail  on  her  we  could  and  went  around 
those   islands  like  a  yacht   in  a  stiff  breeze,  for 


the  Adele  was  no  slouch  of  a  sailer.  It  wasn't 
any  too  quick  for  us,  though,  for  we  could  see 
that  little  black  hull,  hazy  and  indistinct,  on  the 
horizon,  and  there  was  a  breath  of  smoke.  She 
couldn't  have  been  steaming  h  ird,  though,  for 

tl  ere    wasn't    much 
of  it. 

We  got  around  to 
a  cove  —  a  handy 
little  place,  and  hid 
the  old  Adele  as  best 
we  could,  but  she 
wasn't  a  needle  in  a 
haystack  for  all  that. 
Then  five  or  six  of 
us  got  the  stern  boat 
—  it  was  our  best — 
down  to  the  east 
end  of  the  island 
and  watched  the 
strange  craft.  You 
see,  we  had  lots  of 
chance  to  run  when 
they  were  landing  on 
the  leeward  side  of 
the  island,  so  we 
watched  her  coming. 
I  kind  of  sus- 
picioned  her  from 
the  start,  for  she 
was  carrying  too 
much  canvas  for  a 
Russian,  and  there 
was  such  a  small 
smoke  from  her.  It 
looked  more  like 
galley's  smoke  than 
that  from  furnaces. 
I  was  right,  too, 
for  suddenly  Hansen  chuckled,  and  he  handed 
his  glasses  to  Johnson.  "  Fred,"  he  said,  "  id 
ain'd  no  Rooshian  ;  id's  Kearney,  sure's  I'm 
Dutch." 

It  was  the  old  Arctic .'  There  was  her  double 
topmast,  and  there  were  a  hundred  and  one 
things  that  made  her  unmistakable.  It  was  old 
Kearney  coming  for  our  skins,  and  if  we  didn't 
get  them  aboard  we  might  have  to  fight  for 
them.  It  was  not  as  though  we  couldn't  have 
beaten  them,  for  Kearney  had  more  than  hall 
Japs  aboard  —  but  it  was  better  to  get  the 
pelts  on  board  peacefully.  So  we  tumbled 
back  to  the  schooner  and  all  hands  went 
ashore,  leaving  the  schooner  back  in  the  cove, 
where  she  was  hidden  quite  well  enough  for 
our  purpose. 

Peering  through  the  loop-holes  of  the  deserted 
fort  we  saw  that  they  were  as  badly  scared  on 
the  Arctic  as  we  had  been.     They  hove  her  up 


THE    RAIDING    OF     ROBBEN     ISLAM. 


455 


when  they  saw  the  flag — and  Hansen  pulled  it 
up  and  down  to  make  it  look  more  effective. 

"  Thad's  a  salude  for  Kearney,"  says  he  ;  and 
he  was  laughing  like  anything.  I  laughed,  too, 
when  I  saw  Murray  coming  out  from  the  inner 
rooms  with  a  bunch  of  dirty  old  grey  Russian 
uniforms,  peaked  caps,  overcoats,  belts,  and  all, 
in  his  arms. 

"  Put  'em  on/'  he  said,  grinning.  So  we  put 
on  the  Cossack  suits,  and  we  were  the  queerest 
bunch  of  Russians  you  ever  saw. 

Hansen  was  working  the  "gun  "  by  this  time, 
and  I  thought  I 
should  die  of 
laughing  when  I 
s  iw  it,  for  it  was 
nothin.g  more 
than  a  piece  of 
stove-pipe  that 
had  toppled  over 
the  wall.  But  it 
had  looked  like  a 
gun  to  us,  and  so 
the  "  old  man  " 
thought  it  would 
look  like  a  gun  to 
Kearney's  gang, 
so  kept  on  "  train- 
ing"  it,  as  he 
called  it. 

I  got  another 
length  of  the  pip- 
ing, and  poked  it 
over  at  the  far  end 
of  the  wall.  Six 
feet  of  rusty  stove- 
pipe it  was,  but 
I'll  uet  five  dollars 
in    good    United 

States  money  it  looked  like  a  big  gun   in  the 
mist  out  there  on  the  Arctic. 

Then  Haan  got  a  funny  idea.  What 
think  he  did  ?  Why,  he  got  an  old 
overalls,  and  he  criss-crossed  them  on  a 
of  dirty  sail-cloth.  When  he  had  finished  with 
them  he  had  a  Russian  flag  that  was  good 
enough  for  comic  opera  scenery,  let  alone  for 
the  people  on  the  Arctic.  He  nailed  it  on  a 
seal  club.     Then,  "  Let's  march  out,"  says  he. 

It  was  funny  and  no  mistake  !  He  got  six  of 
us  in  line,  with  our  shot-guns  shouldered  like 
soldiers,  though  we  were  the  raggedest  army 
you've  ever  seen.  But  we  were  the  real  thing, 
for  those  long  Russian  coats  covered  us  up,  and 
we'd  have  passed  muster  in  St.  Petersburg,  much 
less  on  Robben  Island  in  a  fog. 

Murray  wanted  to  play  his  mouth-organ  as  we 
marched  down  to  the  beach,  but  we  grabbed  it 
and  wouldn't  let  him.       He   might   have  played 


"There'll  be  a  hot  time,"  or  some  other  tune 
that  wasn't  exactly  Russian,  and  spoiled  the 
whole  thing. 

Anyhow,  we  marched  out,  and  wh  n  we  got 
to  the  knoll  we  saw  that  the  Arctic  had  put 
about  and  was  sailing  for  Japan  like  a  runaway 
torpedo-boat.  She  had  crowded  on  all  the 
she  could  carry,  and  with  a  rattling  seven  or 
eight  knot  breeze  behind  h  r  she  was  making 
time.  I'll  wager  they  never  stopped  until  they 
saw  Hakodate's  lights  and  were  in  among  the 
sampans  once  again. 


do  you 
pair  of 
piece 


"  WE   MARCHED   OUT, 


We  didn't  stop  on  the  island  long,  you  may 
be  sure.  Hansen  wanted  to  have  a  parade,  but 
we  wouldn't  stand  for  it.  He  always  wanted  to 
overdo  things,  and  no  one  knew  when  the 
owners  of  those  uniforms  might  come  back  and 
kick  up  a  jolly  row  about  us  wearing  them,  not 
to  mention  other  things.  We  had  the  skins 
and  that  was  all  we  wanted.  It  didn't  take  long 
to  get  them  on  board,  and  it  wasn't  dark  before 
we  weighed  anchor  and  started  to  follow  the 
Arctic  to  the  port  in  Hokkaido  where  we  sailed 
from  in  those  days.  But  before  we  started  we 
put  the  Russian  flag  in  its  place  and  laid  the 
uniforms  aside. 

We  were  loping  along  over  a  choppy  sea, 
maybe  two  weeks  afterward— I  hadn't  watched 
the  calendar— when  we  spoke  the  Arctic.  <  )ld 
Kearney  came  over  with  a  couple  of  hunters  to 
swap  drinks. 


45fl 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


"How  many  have  ye  got?"  said  he  to 
Hansen,  as  we  made  his  painter  fast. 

"Dree  hundred,"  said  Hansen:  he  always 
lied  easily,  did  the  1  hitehv.  "  Got  'em  over  at 
Commanderofski,  and  skins  are  scarce  dis 
season.      How  many  hat"  yon  got?" 

"Confound  it!"  says  Kearney,  "  I  ain't  got 
none  :  ami,  what's  more.  I'm  jolly  lucky  I  ain't 
got   my   schooner  seized." 

"The  diggens !  says  the  old  man  ;  and  he 
was  as  serious  as  he  could  he,  while  we  were 
nigh  to  bursting  with  laughing.  "  How's  dat  ?  " 
•  Well,  it  was  this  way.''  said  Kearney,  and 
lie  climbed  over  the  rail  with  long  Pete  McLean 
a  n  d  K  o  d  d  y 
White  — I  knew 
'em  both  when 
we  were  hunting 
in  Behring.  "  1 
went  over  think- 
i  n  g  to  r  a  i  d 
R  o  b  b  e  n ,  and 
got  fired  on." 

■•  Fired  on  ?  " 
said  Hansen. 
surprised  like. 

"  Yes,  fired 
on,"  went  on 
Kearney  :  "  the 
Russians  there 
have  got  a  big- 
ger garrison 
than  ever,  for  I 
counted  a  bunch 
of  'em  patrolling 
the  rookery  in 
uniform,  and  we 
saw  more  in  the  fort.  They  fired  on  us.  They 
trained  a  six-inch  gun  on  us  and  fired  a  few 
shots.  Then  they  ran  out  another  and  handed 
us  a  few  more  shots 
through  our  mainsail." 

"  Sd       _  s  Gus,  after    he  had   looked 

over  at  the  Antic  with  the  glasses  and  winked 
slvly  at  us.  "  Sdrange  !  I  don'd  see  no  shot- 
hole." 

;i  Max  be  not,"  said  Kearney,  and  he  seemed 
annoyed  that  we  didn't  sympathize  much  ; 
"maybe  not— but  that  don't  alter  the  fact  that 
they  would  have  sunk  us  if  I  hadn't  cut  and  run 
for  it.  And  I'd  four  or  five  thousand  skins  on 
the  beach,  too,  at  that." 

It  was  two  months  afterward  before  we  saw 
Kearney  again.  He  and  Hansen  were  never 
on  speaking  terms  again  from  two  days  after  we 
arrived — and  this  was  why. 


From  a] 


WE   SPOKE   THE      ARCTIC. 


Kearney  was  down  at  "  Portuguese  Joe's " 
place  in  Hakodate,  telling  them  how  he  had 
escaped  from  the  Russians.  He  was  telling  of 
lead  flying  over  the  Arctic  like  the  Battle  of  the 
Yalu,  when  Hansen  came  into  the  bar. 

"  It  musd  have  been  a  gread  fight,"  said 
Hansen,  kind  of  sarcastic.  (Fred  Johnson  told 
me  about  it  afterwards.) 

"  And  what  the  deuce  do  you  know  about 
it  ?  "says  Kearney. 

"Nod  much,"  says  Hansen;  "dat  is,  nod 
much  about  der  big  fight.  But,  boys,  Kearney 
don'd  tell  id  right.  Der  Gossacks  had  lowered 
deir  flag   several    dimes    and   were  waggin'  der 

big  six-inch  gun 
aboud.  Den 
dey  marched 
oud  and  saw  der 
Arctic  dipping 
her  lee  rail 
an'  dryin'  to 
sneak  off  into 
der  smother." 

"What  do 
you  know  about 
it?"  asked 
Kearney,  sav- 
agely. "  Were 
you  there  ?  " 

Hansen    took 

no     notice    of 

him.   "  Den,"  he 

der 


went  on, 
Gossack  s  took 
off  deir  old, 
worn  -  out  uni- 
forms    dat    der 


{Photo. 


One   of  'em  cut  right 


garrison  had  left  behind  dem  and  pulled  in 
der  stove-pipe,  dat  looked  like  a  gun  from  a 
distance,  'specially  when  you  look  from  a 
schooner  in  a  fog.  Dey  put  deir  flag  on 
a  seal-club,  and  den " 

"Yes,  and  then  ?"  says  Kearney,  and  he  was 
mad  with  rage. 

"And  den,"  savs  Hansen  —  and  he  didn't 
seem  to  notice  Kearney  at  all — "and  den  we 
went  oud  and  put  thirdy-six  hundred  skins  on 
board  der  old  Ade/e,  which  was  a-lying  in  a  cove 
at  der  other  side  der  island  all  der  while." 

Then  Kearney  said  something  —  something 
lurid — and  rushed  out. 

He  could  hear  the  laughter  which  followed 
him  for  quite  a  distance.  That  was  years  ago, 
and  until  he  left  Hakodate  it  was  funny  how 
every  man  in  Japan  who  spoke  English  had  a 
droll  habit  of  recalling  the  incident. 


J{  JCorrsty  Srans  -  (African    Jramp. 

By    Major    P.    H.    Powell  -  Cotton    (late    5TH    Northumberland    Fusiliei 
II.— AROUND    BARINGO   AND    MOUNT    ELGON. 

The  "Wide  World"  is  the  first  English  magazine  to  publi  =  h  an  account— written  by  the  explorer 
himself— of  Major  Powell-Cotton's  great  twenty-one  months'  journey  across  Central  Africa  from 
Mombasa  to  Khartoum.  The  expedition  may  be  described  as  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  of  recent 
times,  among  its  results  being  the  mapping  of  a  great  extent  of  hitherto  unknown  country  and  the 
discovery  of  six   new   tribes.       For   over   sixteen    months    the   intrepid   explorer   was    absolutely    alone 

amid  the  savage  tribes  of  Equatorial  Africa. 


wondering  which 


URING  one  of  my  shooting  excur- 
sions from  Lake  Baringo  I  picked 
up  the  tracks  of  a  lion,  which  we 
followed  for  some  hours,  only  to 
lose  it  in  the  hills.  As  we  sat 
way  it  had  gone  a  little  herd 
of  zebras  trotted  up,  and  I  brought  down  the 
leader — a  fine  specimen.  Leaving  the  men  to 
take  off  the  skin  and  cut  up  the  meat — for  the 
Swahilis  rank  it  amongst  the  choicest — I  set  out 
by  myself  in  the  hope  that  I  might  come  on 
the  lion's  sleeping-place,  or  at  least  pick  up  his 
tracks. 

After  wandering  about  for  some  time  I  spotted, 
with  the  glasses,  a  splendid  koodoo  bull  grazing 
on  a  hillside  two  ridges  away,  and  signalled  for 
my  gun-bearer  to  join  me,  but  he  came  without 
the  water-bottle,  so  while  he  returned  for  it  I 
started  to  cross  the  first  valley.  The  hillside 
was  very  steep,  and  in  my  descent  I  disturbed 
some  stones,  which  rolled 
down  into  some  thick 
scrub  at  the  bottom. 
Suadenly  the  sight  of  a 
great  yellow  beast,  quickly 
slinking  up  the  opposite 
side  and  taking  advan- 
tage of  every  bush,  caught 
my  eye,  and  it  flashed  on 
me  that  I  had  put  up  the 
lion  whose  track  we  had 
lost. 

Sitting  down  and  avail- 
ing myself  of  the  first 
opportunity  he  gave,  I 
fired,  for  I  knew  when 
once  the  lion  reached  the 
top  all  chance  would  be 
gone.  He  was  now  nearly 
three  hundred  yards  from 
where  I  sat,  moving  at  a 
quick  pace  and  nearly 
hidden  by  bushes  and 
thorn  trees,  so  that  when 
he  stopped  at  my  first  shot 


I  felt  pleased  with  my  shooting.  Again  I  fired  ; 
the  next  bullet  made  him  spin  round,  while  as  the 
third  struck  him  he  faced  me,  growling  savagely. 
He  had  evidently  realized  that  the  place  was 
too  hot  for  him,  and  he  attempted  to  resume 
his  journey,  only  to  fall  dead  to  my  fifth 
cartridge.  He  proved  a  big  beast  with  a  very 
fair  mane  for  that  part  of  the  country. 
While  the  men  were  skinning  him  I  went  to  the 
top  of  the  ridge  and  sat  down,  contrary  to  my 
usual  custom,  without  taking  my  rifle  with  me. 
Hardly  had  I  done  so  when  there  was  a  rattle 
of  stones,  and  a  bull  koodoo,  with  splendid  long, 
spiral  horns,  showed  close  to  me.  He  saw  me, 
but  without  seeming  to  recognise  his  enemy, 
man,  for  he  trotted  off  some  two  hundred  yards 
and  stood  at  gaze  for  some  seconds  before 
bjlting  out  of  sight  down  the  hillside.  How  I 
cursed  my  folly  for  breaking  my  rule  never  to 
be  without  a  rifle  ! 


Vol.  xii. — 58. 


from  a] 


THE   "PLACE   OF   HOT  SPRINGS"   ON    BARINGO   ISLAND. 


[Photo. 


458 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


Before  I  left  Baringo  I  visited  the  hilly  island 
which  lies  near  the  centre  of  the  lake,  to  try  and 
bag  one  of  the  huge  baboons  for  which  it  is 
noted  and  to  see  "  the  Place  of  Hot  Springs  " 
discovered  by  Mr.  Hyde  Baker.  1  paddled 
over  in  one  of  the  curious  native  boats  which 
are  peculiar  to  this  lake.  They  are  only  seven 
feet  long,  but  so  buoyant  is  the  "  ambatch " 
wood  of  which  they  are  built  that  they  can 
carry  three  men  in  safety.  The  springs  number 
nearly  fifty,  the  water  of  the'  largest  being  so 
beautifully  clear  that,  although  over  twenty  feet 
in  depth,  you  can  see  the  bubbles  rising  from 
the  bottom.  Some  of  the  smaller  ones  throw  out 
a  jet  oi  steaming  water  at  intervals,  while  others 
are  continuously  on  the  boil  :  but  the  most 
interesting  feature  of  all  is  the  steam  blow- 
hole, which  hisses  and  booms  among  a  mass 
of  tumbled  rocks  on  the  hillside  behind  the 
springs. 

After  examin- 
ing the  place  I 
spent  the  rest  of 
the  afternoon 
scaling  the  jag- 
ged lava  cliffs  in 
quest  of  the 
baboons,  which 
proved  exceed- 
ingly warv,  and 
it  was  only  after 
some  hours'  toil 
that  I  succeeded 
in  shooting  a 
specimen.  On 
my  return  to  the 
springs  I  ate  my 
dinner,  which 
had  been  cooked 
in  one  of  the 
pools,  and  lay 
down  on  a  bed 
of  dry  grass.  A 
full  moon  lit  up 
a  strange  scene : 
close  to  the 
shore    a    school 

of  hippos  broke  the  silvery  surface  of  the 
lake  as  *.hey  gambolled  in  the  warm  water, 
while  a  pair  of  the  goat-sucker  birds  skimmed 
low  over  the  hot  springs  to  feed  on  the  buzzing 
mosquitoes.  Every  now  and  then  a  fountain  of 
water  would  rise  from  one  of  the  little  pools, 
to  fall  back  glistening  in  the  moonlight.  And 
when  at  last  I  dropped  off  to  sleep,  an  extra 
loud  report  of  the  escaping  steam  would  make 
me  start  and  wonder  if  the  whole  place  was 
going  to  be  rent  asunder. 

From    Baiingo    I     marched    to    the    Ravine 


COOKING   FISH    FOR  THE   AUTHOR' 
1-foiu  a 


Government  Station,  whence  I  dispatched  my 
trophies,  by  porters  and  bullock-cart,  to  the 
railway,  and  then  moved  into  the  heart  of  the 
Man  Forest  to  search  for  the  great  red  wild 
boars  which  I  had  heard  existed  there.  Heavy 
rain  fell  every  day,  and  it  was  wet  work  forcing 
a  way  through  the  dense  undergrowth ;  but  in 
spit  •  of  the  desertion  of  our  guides,  who 
regarded  the  dark  forest  with  superstitious 
dread, -I  at  length  succeeded  in  bagging  one  of 
these  beasts.  After  passing  through  the  forest 
I  emerged  on  great  rolling  plains  of  high  grass, 
where  it  was  impossible  to  do  any  .-hooting, 
unt  1  we  reached  the  meadow-like  land  that 
surrounds  Mount  Sirgoi. 

Here  a  wonderful  sight  met  our  eyes.  Great 
herds  of  zebra,  hartebe  st,  and  eland,  inter- 
mingled with  little  groups  of  ostrich,  oribi,  reed- 
buck,  and  wart-hog,  covered  the  ground  as  far 

as  we  could  see. 
It  was  a  natural 
zoological  gar- 
dens. Many  of 
the  herds  as  they 
caught  sight  of 
the  intruders 
would  trot  up 
and  stand  at 
gaze  —  for  the 
wind  was  to  us 
—  then  wheel 
round  and  gallop 
past  our  front. 
At  one  time 
some  seven  hun- 
dred of  these 
animals  thun- 
dered  past  in  one 
column,  making; 
as  fine  a  sight  as 
one  could  wish. 
It  was  while 
shooting  over 
this  ground  that 
we  had  a  curious 
adventure  with 
lions.  Early  one 
morning  we  came  on  a  zebra  which  had  just 
been  killed  and  partly  eaten  by  lions.  I  felt 
sure  that  the  lions  had  not  gone  far,  and  soon 
discovered  them  lying  on  a  hillside. 

Leaving  my  men  and  mule,  I  set  off  with  one 
gun-bearer,  making  a  wide  detour  in  order  to 
approach  them  along  the  densely-reeded  bed  of 
a  stream.  When  I  reached  the  place  they  had 
gone,  and  when  I  next  caught  sight  of  them 
they  were  climbing  the  hill  and  stalking  my  men. 
I  opened  fire,  but  the  distance  was  too  great, 
and  beyond  growling  as  the  bullets  struck  the 


S   SUI'PER    IN    THE    HOT   SPRINGS. 

Photo. 


A    LONELY    TRANS -AFRICAN    TRAMP. 


459 


From  a] 


'A    [.AND   OF    DENSE   JUNGLI?    AND    SWOLLEN    K1VERS. 


\Photo. 


ground  near 
them  they  took 
no  notice,  but 
instead  com- 
menced to  close 
in  on  my  mule 
from  three  differ- 
ent sides.  My 
men,  who  had 
been  lying  con- 
cealed, now- 
showed  them- 
selves, where- 
upon the  lions 
stopped,  growl- 
ing savagely  and 
twitching  their 
tails.  It  was  a 
most   tantalizing 


having   their   midday    drink 
bath    in    some    muddy   pools.      1 
managed  to  single  out  and  si 
one  of  the  largest  bulls,  and  my 
men  had  a  busy  time  cutting  out 
the  fat  and  preserving  n 
skin,    and  feet.       I    revisited  the 
carcass  the  day  after,  and,  fin- 
a  large  lion  had  been   feeding  on 
the  meat  in  the  night,  determined 
to  sit  up  for  hini.  and   had   a  plat- 
form  built  in  a   tree   overlooking 
it,  to  which   I   retired  as  evening 
came  on.      Some  two  hours  after 
dark    1    could    hear   some    beast 
tearing  at  the  flesh  of  the  cart 
but  as  it  was   on    I  he   farther  side 
and  out  of  sight   I  could  not  tell 
what  the    animal   was.       A    little 
later    the    noi 
ceased, and  I  saw 
a  big,   heavily 
maned  lion  walk 
away,  but  in  the 
darkness  I  could 
not  get  a  shot. 

Every  moment 
I  expected  the 
beast  to  return, 
and  held  my  rifle 
in  readiness, 
w  h en  to  m y 
horror  I  found 
that  the  tree  was 
slowly  turning 
round  and  bend- 
ing ov(  r.  What 
was  I  to  do  ? 
The  I  least,  for 
all  I  knew,  might 


From  a] 


position  for  me, 
for  every  moment 

I  expected  to  see  them  attack  the  mule, 
while  I  was  powerless  to  interfere.  At 
last  one  of  my  men  fired  on  them,  and 
after  a  chorus  of  louder  growls  they 
slowly  moved  awav.  I  tried  first  to  cut 
them  off  and  then  to  track  them,  but 
was  unsuccessful. 

We  were  now  in  a  land  of  dense 
jungle  and  swollen  rivers.  When  cross- 
ing these  I  would  first  send  some  of 
the  best  men  over  with  a  stout  rope. 
This  would  be  stretched  across,  and 
by  its  aid  the  loaded  porters,  with  the 
help  of  the  others,  would  slowly  gain 
the  opposite  bank. 

As  we  continued  our  journey  to  the 
east  we  came  on  a  large  herd  of  elephants 


From  a] 


nRViN<;   an   ELEfHAtq 


\Fhoto. 


460 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


be  lying  in  the  long  grass  close  to  me,  ready  to 
spring  out  without  a  moment's  warning.  Tying 
my  spare  rifle,  water-bottle,  etc.,  to  the  branches, 
I  determined  to  stick  to  the  tree  as  long  as 
possible.  Gradually  the  tree  bent  over,  till  I 
found  it  difficult  to  prevent  myself  being  shot 
out  of  it.  At  midnight,  just  as  the  moon  sank, 
it  fell  over  with  a  loud  snap,  and  I  scrambled 
out  and  made  for  the  nearest  available  tree, 
which  proved  to  be  only  a  short  one.  A  rust- 
ling in  the  grass  below  made  me  climb  as  high 
could,  and  I  was  glad  I  did  so,  for  soon 
afterwards  the  lion  again  growled.  For  over  an 
hour  the  beast 
circled  about 
below  grunting 
his  displeasure, 
while  I  clung  to 
the  branches,  for 
it  was  now  I 
dark  to  make  out 
any  t  hi  rig,  much 
less  to  shoot  : 
en  when  all 
sound  ceased  1 
had     an     une 

ling  that  1 1 e 
was  lying  waiting 
near  by.  As  soon 
after  dawn  as  I 
could  see  my  rifle- 
sights  I  climbed 
down,  und  after 
stretching  m  y 
cramped  limbs 


searched  about  for  the  lion, 
but,  though  his  pugs  were 
to  be  seen  everywhere,  he 
had  gone. 

The  first  village  we  struck 
after  leaving  the  ravine  was 
one  belonging  to  the  Kabras 
tribe.  The  people  proved 
very  friendly,  bringing  us 
lots  of  flour  and  sweet  pota- 
toes to  barter  for  brass  wire 
and  beads.  They  are  quite 
indifferent  as  to  clothing  ; 
all  the  girls  and  most  of  the 
women  wear  none,  while, 
contrary  to  the  usual 
custom,  a  man  is  seldom 
seen  who  is  not  at  least 
partly  covered. 

Seven  months  after  leav- 
ing the  coast  I  reached  the 
Government  post  at  Mu- 
mias,  where  I  spent  some 
weeks  reorganizing  my 
caravan  before  starting  northwards.  This  is  an 
important  station  and  there  was  always  something 
of  interest  going  on.  Now  a  chief  would  come  in 
accompanied  by  his  native  band,  with  curious- 
shaped  trumpets  made  from  different  animals' 
horns  fastened  together  ;  anon  a  party  of  Askaris 
(native  soldiers)  would  return  with  some  cattle- 
raiders  they  had  captured.  Or,  failing  these 
attractions,  there  was  always  the  market-place, 
with  its  groups  of  shaven-headed,  lightly-clad 
Kayirondo  women,  contrasting  with  the  tightly- 
plaited  locks  weighted  with  fat  and  the  closely- 
draped    figures   of  the    Nubian    wives    of    the 


A    HATCH    OF   CATTLE-RAIDERS    BEING    BROl'GHT    INTO   THE   GOVERNMENT    1'OST. 


\Photo, 


A    LONELY    TRANS  -  AFRICAN     f/RAMP. 


46 1 


soldiers.  All  of  these  equally  regarded  the 
camera  with  suspicion,  and  as  soon  as  they 
realized  that  they  were  being  exposed  to  its  evil 
eye  would  seize  their  market  baskets  and  fly. 

At  last,  in 
despair  of  col- 
lecting enough 
donkeys  to  carry 
my  men's  flour, 
I  broke  in  oxen 
for  transport  and 
started  on  my 
journey  along 
the  eastern  side 
of  Mount  Elgon. 
Thunderstorms 
continually  cir- 
cled round  us, 
while  rain  des- 
cended in  tor- 
rents, turning 
the  path  into  a 
marsh  and  swell- 
ing the  streams 
to  torrents.  Soon 
the  donkeys  be- 
gan to  break 
down,  and  before 
I   hoped   to    find 


From  a] 


THE    MARKET   AT   MUM1AS. 


I  reached  the  country  where 
the   cave-dwellers   they   were 
dying  by  twos  and  threes  at  every  camp. 

Before  I  left  England  I  had  determined  to 


said  they  were  merely  natural  which 

ile  had  resorted  to  in  timi 
that    they  wire  vast   ev 
historic  race  in   the   solid  rock,  and  had  h 

occupied  I 
by  whole  vill 
and     h( 
cattle.      but    all 

ned  to  ; 
on  one  point — 
that  nearly  all 
were  now  de 
'1,  and  in  a 
short  time  the 
cave  dwellers,  as 
such,  w  o u 1 d 
e  to  exist. 
My  guides 
seemed  \  ry  un- 
<  1  1  lam  where  to 
look  lor  these 
curious  people, 
saying  that  since 
an  expedition 
had  been  sent, 
four  years  ago,  to 
punish  them  for 
robbing  passing  caravans,  nearly  all  of  them  had 
moved  down  into  the  plains,  while  the  remainder 
hid  themselves  in  the  remoter  caves.  However, 
from  my  camp  of    December  2nd  I  discovered 


From  a] 


A    DISTANT   VIEW   OF    MOUNT    ELGON. 


visit  the  caves  of  Mount  Elgon,  if  possible,  and 
since  my  arrival  in  East  Africa  the  descriptions 
which  I  heard  of  these  remarkable  places  and 
their  inhabitants  were  so  contradictory  that  my 
curiosity  was  greatly  whetted.      Some  accounts 


the  mouth  of  a  caveat  the  foot  of  a  cliff;  so 
early  next  morning  set  out  with  three  men,  and 
making  our  way  through  thick  jungle,  for  we 
could  discover  no  path,  at  length  reached  the 
ledge  of  rock  in  front  of  the  caves. 


4"- 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


THE    ENTRANCE    TO    ONE    OK    THE    CAVE    DWELLINGS. 

From  a  Photo. 

Here  we  found  some  women  pounding  corn, 
but  although  my  men  tried  four  or  five  languages 
they  could  understand  none  of  them.  Pre- 
senting a  string  of  beads  I  explained,  by  signs, 
that  I  wished  to  see  inside  the  caves,  a  proposal 
t  o  w  h  i  c  h  the  y 
offered  no  oppo- 
sition. No  men 
were  about,  and,  as 
I  was  a  little  sus- 
picious whether 
they  might  not  be 
lurking  in  the  inner 
recesses  of  the 
cave,  I  left  two 
armed  men  outside 
the  low  entrance  in 
the  stockade  while 
I  entered  with  my 
gun  -  bearer,  lit  a 
candle,  and 
thoroughly  ex- 
plored it. 

What  first  struck 
me  was  the  cleanli- 
ness   and    order 

that  prevailed,  a  condition  of  affairs  very 
different  from  what  I  had  been  led  to  expect 
from  Sir  Harry  Johnston's  lecture  before  the 
Geographical  Society,  where  he  described  the 
caves  as  swarming  with  fleas  and  very  filthy. 
On  one  side  I  noticed  that  a  roughly-hollowed 
stone   basin    was    filled   by    the    water    which 


A    Wi/NGAI'.UMI 


OK   CAVE-DWELLER,    WITH    FULL   EQUIPMENT. 

From  it  Photo. 


THE  CAVE-DWELLERS   OF    MOUNT 
From 


dripped  from  the  roof,  while  the  overflow  fed  a 
little  pool  from  which  the  goats  drank.  Every- 
where else  the  cave  was  dry,  and  seemed  to  me 
a  far  more  desirable  abode  than  most  native 
villages.     The    branches   of   the  cave  and  the 

parts  where  it 
widened  out  were 
shut  off  by  wattle 
and  daub  partitions 
to  form  separate 
dwellings.  In  each 
of  these  was  the 
usual  native  hearth 
composed  of  three 
stones,  while  crocks 
and  pots,  spears 
and  shields,  to- 
gether with  primi- 
tive implements  of 
husbandry,  lay 
about  or  hung  on 
the  walls.  I 
wanted  to  take 
pictures  of  the 
women,  but  the 
camera  was  too 
much  for  them  and  they  disappeared  into  the 
jungle.  A  few  days  later  I  was  more  fortunate, 
and  having  made  friends  with  the  chief  of 
another  settlement  of  these  W7ongabumi,  as  the 
Swahilis  call  them,  was  able  to  see  something 
of  their  family  life  and  to  secure  characteristic 
pictures  of  them. 


ELGON— SENTINELS   ON    THE    ROCKS. 
a  J 'ho  to. 


(2*0  be  continued.} 


An  amusing  story  concerning  a  young  Anglo-Indian  official  and  the  ruse  by  which  he  circumvented  an 

avaricious  native  money-lender.     The  author  writes  :  "  I  can  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  narrative,  but 

on  reading  it  you  will  understand  that  it  has  been  necessary  to  alter  the  names  of  the  characters." 


CAN'T  see  what's  to  be  done, 
old  chap  !  It's  no  good — I  owe 
that  importunate  villain  more 
money  than  I  can  possibly  scrape 
together  in  the  time,  and  you 
know  they  won't  keep  the  appointment  open 
for  me  after  the  16th.  That  'shroff'  is  such  a 
tenacious  thief  I  may  talk  myself  as  black  in  the 
face  as  he  is,  promising  future  payments,  but  it 
will  have  no  effect.  He  will  never  let  me  quit 
the  country.  I  shall  be  arrested  for  debt,  and 
once  that  happens  I  am  done  for,  and  may  as 
well  throw  up  the  whole  concern,  ^'hat  an  ass 
I  was  to  ruin  my  prospects  in  this  way,  and  just 
now,  too,  when  the  best  girl  in  the  world  has 
promised  to  marry  me  as  soon  as  ever  I  can  afford 
to  keep  a  wife.  If  only  I  had  foreseen  this  I 
might  have  pulled  myself  up  in  time.     But  how 


could  I  know  I  was  going  to  fall  in  love  ?     Oh  ! 
It's  just  like  my  luck." 

Poor  Baynes  !  No  wonder  things  looked 
blue.  The  powers  that  be  had  just  given  him 
a  really  good  appointment  at  Aden,  an  appoint- 
ment that  meant  a  big  rise  in  salary,  and  would 
surely  lead  to  better  thin 

Since  falling  in  love  his  one  aim  and  ambition 
had  been  to  obtain  promotion,  and  with  it  an 
increase  of  salary  which  would  enable  him  to 
marry. 

Previous  to  this  he  had  been  a  thriftless, 
extravagant  youth,  sparing  no  expense,  plung- 
ing heavily  at  race  meetings  ;  and  he  had  fallen 
into  the  clutches  of  a  "shroff,"  or  nati\e  money- 
lender— one  of  those  dark-skinned  sharks  who 
lurk  everywhere  in  the  Far  East,  seeking  whom 
they  may  devour.     The  result  \vas  that  Baynes 


464 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


now  head  over   heels   hi  debt  and  did  not 

know  where  to  turn  for  aid.      His  appointment 

etted    in     the    papers,    and    the    usurer 

meant  to   have   his   pound   of   flesh   before  his 

victim  left  the  country. 

The  "shroff,"  who  had  so  cringingly  implored 
his  honour's  patronage  a  few  months  ago,  was 
now  the  arrogant  possessor  of  his  honour's 
I  O  U's  for  sewral  thousands  of  rupees.  Every 
morning  brought  Baynes  an  insolent  dun, 
threatening  him  with  arrest  if  he  attempted  to 
leave  Bombay  without  discharging  his  debt  in 
full. 

What  was  he  to  do  ?  Once  in  Aden  all 
would  be  well  :  he  would  be  able  to  economize, 
and  out  of  his  increased  salary  could  save 
enough  to  pay  the  debt.  But  how  was  he  to 
get  there  ?  That  was  the  problem  to  be  solved. 
He  was  ordered  to  report  himself  at  Aden  within 
seven  days.  If  he  failed  to  do  so  he  would 
lose  his  appointment;  Government  makes  no 
allowances  in  a  matter  of  this  kind. 

Baynes  knew  well  enough — it  had  happened 
to  others— that  if  he,  the  "shroff's"  debtor, 
attempted  to  embark  on  a  ship  bound  for  Aden 
he  would  be  arrested  on  the  quay,  or  even  on 
board  ship,  and  the  whole  mischief  would  be 
out.  Government  would  hear  of  it,  his  appoint- 
ment would  be  cancelled,  and  he  would  be  sent 
slinking  off  to  some  out-of-the-way  up-country 
station,  there  to  meditate  upon  the  sins  and 
follies  of  extravagance. 

Baynes  was  sorrowfully  bemoaning  his  sad 
plight  to  his  friend  and  mentor,  a  clever  but 
indolent  and  therefore  briefless  barrister.  The 
only  consolation  his  friend  could  offer  was  a 
promise  to  defend  the  prisoner  to  the  best  of 
his  ability  when  the  case  came  into  court.  He 
would  gladly  have  given  his  little  all  to  help 
clear  his  chum — but  it  was  such  a  very  little 
all,  merely  a  drop  in  the  ocean.  His  sympathy 
was  great,  but  this  was  all  he  had  to  give,  and 
when  he  added  to  this  generous  donation 
Punch's  advice  to  people  about  to  marry, 
Baynes  was  somewhat  ill-pleased. 

all  very  well,  Ryder;  you  aren't  in  love  ! 
I  am  ;  and  it's  for  the  first  and  last  time  in  my 
life,  too.  If  I  don't  take  up  this  appointment 
I  shall  get  a  black  mark  placed  against  my 
name,  and  it  will  probably  ruin  all  my  future 
career.  I  shall  never  be  rich  enough  to  marry. 
Think  of  being  forced  to  live  and  die  a  poor 
old  bachelor."  And  Baynes  became  quite  moved 
with  self-pity  as  he  pictured  to  himself  the 
tortures  of  a  lonely  existence. 

"Can't   you   think    of  any   plan    instead    of 
whistling  in    that    inane  fashion?"  he  cried  at 
desperately,    stamping    up    and  down   the 
room  in  a  fever  of  impatience. 


The  indolent  Ryder  sat  up  suddenly  and 
announced  the  fact  that  he  had  at  last  hatched 
an  idea'. 

"  If  you  go  at  all  you  must  go  by  the  P.  and  O. 
Argo"  he  said.  "She  sails,  I  believe,  at  8.30 
on  Thursday  morning,  and " 

"  Yes,  that's  all  very  fine ;  but  how  am  I  to 
manage  it  ?  You  know  as  well  as  1  do  that 
that  brute  of  a  '  shroff '  will  be  down  there  on  the 
Apollo  Bunder  Quay,  and  have  someone  else 
on  board  the  steamer  waiting  and  watching  for 
me,  and  I  can't  see  how  I  am  to  evade  him  or 
the  bailiff  in  his  employ." 

"  May  I  finish  what  I  was  going  to  say  ? " 
replied  the  barrister.  "  Thanks  !  This  is  my 
plan.  Captain  Martin  commands  the  Argo. 
You  know  him  fairly  well.  Why  not  ask  him  to 
ship  your  luggage  overnight  ?  Then  you  and  I 
will  go  out  fishing  in  the  harbour  early  next 
morning,  and  we'll  ask  him  to  stop  and  pick 
you  up  when  the  vessel  gets  out  of  the  harbour. 
The  'shroff'  is  sure  to  be  on  the  bunder  watch- 
ing the  departing  vessel,  and,  knowing  nothing 
of  your  plans,  will  be  confident  that  you  have 
not  slipped  through  his  clutches.  On  my  return 
I  will  break  the  sad  news  to  him,  and  stop  his 
greedy  maw  with  a  few  rupees  on  account  and 
many  promises,  just  to  keep  him  quiet.  As 
soon  as  you  arrive  in  Aden  you  must  write 
kindly  and  courteously  to  our  friend,  promising 
many  happy  returns  of  his  loans  and  sending 
a  small  instalment  in  token  of  good  faith." 

Baynes  had  a  mercurial  temperament.  He 
was  as  hopeful  now  there  was  a  chance  of 
escape  as  he  had  been  despondent  before. 

Ryder's  scheme  for  evading  the  enemy  really 
seemed  to  be  feasible.  The  next  move  was 
speedily  determined  on.  The  captain  of  the 
Argo  must  be  interviewed  and  prevailed  upon 
to  lend  his  services.  Once  win  him  over  and 
there  would  be  no  further  difficulty  in  baulking 
the  greedy  "shroff"  of  his  prey. 

Off  went  Ryder  and  Baynes  then,  and  there 
to  see  Captain  Martin.  He  was  a  bluff,  out- 
spoken old  seaman,  and,  after  all  their  plotting 
and  planning,  proved  too  hard  a  nut  to  crack. 
Baynes  pleaded  his  cause  with  pathos,  Ryder 
argued  eloquently,  but  the  only  reply  vouchsafed 
by  Captain  Martin  was  this  : — 

"  It  can't  be  done ;  it  is  against  the  rules.  I 
can't  possibly  stop  the  mail  steamer  simply  to 
take  up  a  foolish  young  man  who  has  run  into 
debt.     I  can  show  you  the  regulations." 

And  he  produced  a  Blue-book  wherein 
Rule  15  stood  out  distinctly  in  big  black  letters 
to  frustrate  their  plan  : — 

"  Once  having  weighed  anchor  in  Bombay 
Harbour,  the  vessel  must  not  on  any  account  be 
stopped  until  she  reaches  the  first  port  of  desti- 


A    BOLT    FROM    THE    BLUE. 


nation,  except  in  the  case  of  danger  to  life,  when 
the  captain  must  use  his  own  discretion." 

In  vain  Baynes  argued  that  if  he  missed  this 
opportunity  the  consequences  might  cause  mental 
derangement  and  terminate  in  suicide.  Was  it 
not  a  real  case  of  danger  to  life  if  you  looked  at 
it  in  that  light  ? 

But  it  was  ail  of  no  use  ;  the  captain  was 
obdurate.     His  stern  sense  of  rectitude  would 


to  their  little  pale  faced  char. 

England  in  quest  of  rosy  chi 

The  usual  percentage  of  idlers  loal 

leaning  against  walls,  exchanging   complirm 

of  a  doubtful    type,    and    chewii  |  nut  - 

always  on  the  alert  for  a  job,  but  far  too  lazy 

to  hunt  up  work. 

At  intervals  a  hired  victoria  or  "  iarri  " 

would    come    rattling    on     overbun  with 


IN    VAIN    BAYNES    AKGUED. 


permit  of  no  laxity  where  duty  was  in  question. 
The  defeated  petitioners  went  back  to  their 
bungalow  crestfallen,  Baynes  sadly  dejected. 
His  case  seemed  hopeless,  and  he  gloomily 
foretold  his  own  early  demise,  caused  by  a 
broken  heart. 

Thursday  morning  dawned — the  usual  Eastern 
morning.  The  brightest  of  cloudless  blue  skies 
formed  a  canopy  overhead,  and  the  sun  blazed 
away  in  all  its  glory.  The  Apollo  Bunder  Quay 
was  a  seething  mass  of  busy  humanity,  for  was 
not  the  big  steamship  Argo  to  start  upon  her 
•homeward  journey  within  a  couple  of  hours' 
time  ? 

Lascars  hurried  to  and  fro  ;  lightly-clad  coolies 

suffered   no  grass  to  grow  under  their  bare  feet 

as  they  went  their  way  laden  with  baggage  to  be 

shipped.     Weeping  ayahs  bade  a  long  farewell 
Vol.  xii.— 59. 


passengers  and  their  belongings.  Altogether 
there  was  a  perfect  pandemonium  of  bustle  and 
excitement,  everyone  intent  on  his  own  affairs, 
as  is  the  way  of  the  world. 

As    Baynes    had    predicted,     the    ubiquiti 
"shroff"   was  there,   ready    to     lav   hands   upon 
his  victim    should    he    be    meditating  a  vo 
to  Aden  in  this  boat. 

Each  passenger's  face  wa  rly  scanned  by 

the  crafty  money-lender.      He  knew  will  enough 
that  evasion  by  means  of  disguise  was  greatl 
be  feared,  and  consequently  all  |  irre- 

spective of  colour  or  sex,  were  submitted  to  a 
severe  scrutiny. 

This  fair  young   English  sahib  might  so  easih 
transform    himself    into   a   yellow-haired    mi 
baba,  or. even  don  the  garb  of  a  Parsee.     I 
stout    old     lady,     wearing    a    lat.  scuttle 

bonnet  which   completely  hid   her  charms  from 


466 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


all  side  glances,  was  highly  incensed  at  being 
stopped  and  having  the  hidden  mysteries  of 
her  bonnet  explored  by  piercing  eyes. 

As    time    went  on    the    "shroffs"  eagerness 
abited.     He    was   pretty   well    convinced    that 


Presently  the  ship  weighed  anchor.  Final 
good-byes  were  waved  to  those  left  behind,  the 
weepers  wept  more  copiously,  and  slowly,  with 
throbbing  engines,  the  vessel  started  forth  upon 
her  homeward  journey. 


"ONE   STOUT   OLD    LADV    WAS    HIGHLY    INCENSED    AT    BEING    STOrPED.' 


Baynes  would  not  attempt  to  escape  by  this 
boat,  though  it  was  his  only  chance. 

Presently  Ryder  strolled  down  to  the  bunder, 
and  as  soon  as  the  "shroff"  saw  him  he  came 
cringing  up  to  inquire  whether  Baynes  Sahib 
intended  leaving  Bombay.  Then  the  indignant 
Ryder  fairly  went  for  him.  "You  rapacious 
old  vampire  !  "  he  said.  "  Don't  you  know  that 
Baynes  Sahib  is  a  man  of  honour,  and  will 
surely  pay  his  debts  in  good  time  ?  Meanwhile, 
just  be  careful.  I  am  a  lawyer" — with  a 
grandiloquent  air — "and  I  will  soon  find  some 
cause  to  prosecute  you  in  the  King's  name,  if 
you  aren't  jolly  careful  to  keep  a  civil  tongue  in 
your  head  and  stop  pestering." 

The  name  of  the  law  carried  terror  into  the 
heart  of  this  sinful  black  usurer.  He  placed  his 
hands  together  in  token  of  abject  humility,  and 
with  a  sickly  attempt  at  a  smile  said  something 
about  "  Master  always  making  fun,"  and  that 
his  honour's  gracious  commands  should  be 
obeyed. 


There  was  not  a  ripple  upon  the  face  of  the 
waters,  and  the  majority  of  passengers  remained 
on  deck  to  see  the  last  of  the  dear,  dirty  old 
town  of  Bombay. 

Half  an  hour  had  gone  by,  the  vessel  had  got 
clear  of  the  harbour,  and  the  pilot  had  been 
dropped,  when  suddenly  the  man  on  the  look- 
out sang  out  that  a  small  boat  lying  some 
distance  to  starboard  ahead  appeared  to  be  in 
difficulties. 

Captain  Martin  looked  through  his  telescope, 
and  saw  a  small  dinghy  containing  one  man, 
who  was  apparently  in  great  distress,  for  he  was 
waving  a  handkerchief  frantically  to  the  on- 
coming vessel  as  a  signal  for  help. 

Even  as  he  looked  the  little  boat  filled  with 
water  and,  before  they  reached  her,  sank,  leaving 
the  unfortunate  occupant  swimming  for  his  life. 

Captain  Martin  saw  that  it  was  clearly  his 
duty  to  heave  to  and  rescue  the  swimmer ; 
accordingly  he  gave  the  order,  which  was 
promptly  obeyed. 


A    BOLT    FROM    THE    BLUE. 


467 


A  boat  was  lowered  and  sent  on  its  errand  of 
mercy.  The  poor  fellow  clambered  in,  dripping 
and  shivering,  and  explained  somewhat  inco- 
herently that  he  had  gone  out  fishing  early  that 
morning,  that  his  boat  had  been  carried  out  of 
the  harbour  by  the  tide,  that  it  had  suddenly 
sprung  a  bad  leak,  and  that  he  would  have  had 
a  poor  chance  of  saving  his  life  if  the  Argo 
had  not  happened  to  come  along  just  in  the 
nick  of  time.  He  thanked  the  captain  pro- 
fusely for  picking  him  up. 

Captain  Martin  was  a  man  of  discretion  and 
tact.  His  keen  blue  eyes  twinkled  with  recog- 
nition of  the  castaway,  but  he  said  nothing.  He 
showed  the  unlucky  man  every  kindness,  and 
said  he  would  carry  him  on  to  Aden,  there  to 
await  the  passing 
of  an  outward- 
bound  vessel.  He 
had  been  young 
himself  once,  and 
this  novel  manner 
of  escaping  from 
one's  creditors 
quite  tickled  his 
fancy. 

For,  of  course, 
the  bit  of  flotsam 
they  had  picked  up 
was  the  ingenious 
Baynes  —  Baynes, 
who,  as  a  last  re- 
source, had  adopted 
this  wild  and  risky 
scheme  of  getting 
away. 


lie  had  k-ft  Bombay  in  his  dinghy  very 
early  in  the  morning,  and  worked  well  out  ol 
the  harbour  along  the  track  of  the  mail  steamer. 
Then,  when  he  saw  the  Argo  come  in  sight,  he 
scuttled  his  boat,  commended  himself  to 
Providence,  and  awaited  the  course  of  events. 
It  was  a  desperate  move,  but  it  proved  most 
successful,  and  no  one  but  Baynes  and  Rj 
ever  quite  understood  how  he  managed  to  get 
to  Aden. 

To  this  day  the  "shroff"  cannot  tell  whether 
Baynes  swam  there  or  went  in  an  air-ship.  I1-- 
knows  he  did  not  go  by  the  mail  steamer,  for 
surely  he  could  trust  the  evidence  of  his  own 
eyes  and  those  of  his  faithful  bailiff. 

Captain  Martin  preserved  a  stolid  silence  on 

the  subject.  Suit!'  1 
it  to  say  that  this 
matter  of  picking 
up  a  distressed 
voyager,  though 
duly  entered  in  the 
vessel's  log,  never 
got  into  the  papers. 
The  "shroff" 
was  paid  off  in 
full  within  a  few 
months  after  the 
miraculous  dis- 
appearance of  his 
quarry,  and  in  due 
course,  not  so 
very  long  ago, 
Baynes  married 
the  lady  of  his 
choice. 


,:   HE   WAS    WAVING    A    HANDKERCHIEF    FRANTICALLY. 


J   o  ooeo£qu      ^ 


Ag:ros>$  lumsi^ii  ii  JHumttUi 


* 


'i<#^ 


^ 


By  Day  Allen  Willey. 

Ever  since  motor-cars  came  into  general  use  in  the  United  States  enthusiastic  chauffeurs  have  attempted 
to  drive  their  cars  across  the  continent  from  ocean  to  ocean,  but  the  precipitous  peaks  of  the  Rockies 
and  the  shifting  sands  of  the  "Great  American  desert "  have  hitherto  defied  all  attempts  to  cross  them. 
At  last,  however,  the  unique  feat  has  been  accomplished,  in  the  face  of  countless  hardships  and  dangers. 


IF  feat  of  travelling  from  ocean  to 
ocean  in  an  automobile  has  at  last 
been  accomplished  by  American 
chauffeurs.  Until  last  year  the 
peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
sands  of  the  Great  American  desert  had 
defied  all  attempts  to  cross  them  with  the  most 
powerful  motor-cars,  although  since  this  form  of 
traction  came  into  use  in  the  United  States 
many  of  the  most  expert  handlers  of  the  wheel 
and  lever  have  made  the  trial,  only  to  become 
helplessly  "stalled"  in  the  sand,  or  perhaps 
wrecked  on  a  mountain  side.  For  in  the 
_  m  traversed  by  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
even  the  Sierras  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  highways 
are  almost  unknown,  and  he  who  ventures  there 
has  to  literally  pass  through  a  wilderness. 

These  are  some  of  the  reasons  why  a  touring- 
car  which  recently  entered  the  little  town  of 
Peekskill,  in  New  York,  was  decorated  with 
flags,  and  why  the  two  men — and  a  dog — who 
occupied  it  were  given  an  ovation  by  the  towns- 
folk. Covered  with  mud,  and  showing  signs 
everywhere  of  its  two  months'  encounter  with 
Nature,  the  vehicle  was  the  first  automobile  to 


draw  a  line  across  the  continent.  When  the 
city  of  New  York  was  reached  on  the  morning 
of  July  26th  the  travellers  terminated  a  journey 
that  had  begun  on  May  23rd  in  San  Francisco, 
every  foot  of  the  six  thousand  miles  traversed 
being  covered  by  the  motor-car  on  its  own 
wheels. 

On  a  certain  afternoon,  in  May  a  group  of 
gentlemen  sat  in  a  room  of  the  University  Club 
in  San  Francisco.  As  the  smoke  of  their  cigars 
slowly  curled  upward  the  conversation  turned 
to  the  topic  of  journeys  with  the  motor-car  and 
the  many  failures  which  had  been  made  in 
essaying  trans-continental  tours.  "  I  don't  believe 
the  machine  is  made  that  can  successfully  go 
from  here  to  the  Mississippi  River,"  said  one  of 
the  group. 

"  I  think  it  can  be  done,"  said  a  decided 
voice  ;  "  and  to  show  you  I  believe  it  I  am 
willing  to  make  a  bet  that  I  can  go  to  New 
York,  and  to  start  on  three  days'  notice  !  " 

The  speaker  was  Dr.  H.  Nelson  Jackson,  a 
physician  of  the  city  of  Burlington,  Vt,  who 
had  been  spending  the  winter  in  California  with 
his  wife.       His  challenge  caused  a    sensation, 


ACROSS    AMERICA    ON    AN    AUTOMOBILE. 


l'«> 


but  was  accepted  by  several  of  the  others,  and 
he  immediately  began  to  prepare  for  this 
unparalleled  "  endurance  "  contest.  So  it 
happened  that  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
mentioned  a  Winton  touring-car,  with  two 
occupants,  wended  its  way  down  the  principal 
business  street  of  San  Francisco.  There  was 
nothing  remarkable  in  its  appearance,  save  that 
the  space  usually  occupied  by  the  tonneau  was 
well  loaded  with  boxes,  bags,  and  other  articles. 
It  puffed  aboard  the  ferry-boat  and  crossed  San 
Francisco  Bay  to  Oakland,  where  the  real 
journey  began. 

Dr.  Jackson  was  not  unaware  of  the  obstacles 
he  was  to  encounter  or  the  hardships  to  be 
endured.  He  had  as  a  travelling  companion 
Mr.  William  Croker,  also  an  automobile  expert, 
and,  better  still, 
familiar  with  this 
western  country, 
where  he  had  always 
resided.  At  Mr. 
Croker's  suggestion 
some  strange  things 
were  included  in  the 
outfit  :  a  shot  gun, 
a  rifle  for  protection 
against  outlaws  and 
to  kill  game  for  food 
where  there  was  no 
human  habitation, 
fishing  tackle  for 
use  in  the  streams, 
canvas-bags  in  which 
to  sleep  in  the  forest 
and  on  the  desert 
when  no  shelter 
could  be  obtained, 
an  axe  and  shovel, 
a  pair  of  jack  screws, 
a  set  of  machinist's 
tools,  two  small 
leather  bags  contain- 
ing all  the  clothing 
except  what  was 
worn,  a  twelve-gallon 
tank  for  gasoline, 
and  a  five  -  gallon 
tank  of  lubricating 
oil,   with    a   coil    of 

rope  and  a  set  of  pulleys.  This  completed 
the  equipment,  but  before  the  journey  ended 
the  doctor  thanked  his  lucky  stars  that  all 
this  had  been  provided,  for  every  bit  came  in 
useful.  The  adventurers  provided  themselves 
with  rough  and  ready  attire— heavy  suits  of 
canvas,  blue  sweaters,  the  regulation  auto-caps, 
and,  of  course,  spectacles  to  protect  their  eyes 
from  the  wind,  and  sun,  and  sand  storms  of  the 


THE    MOTOR-CAR   ON   A    MOUNTAIN 

From  a]    "  uench-wav."    [Photo, 


desert.  A  large  umbrella  also  proved  very 
welcome  in  keeping  off  the  burning  rays  of  the 
sun  on  the  plains. 

At   the   outset  the   travellers    mel     with     dis- 
couraging news.     The  canyons   through  which 
they  had  hoped  to  pierce  the  mountain  bani 
were    said    to    be    still     rilled     with     sn 
account    of    the    late    season.      Hunters    and 
guides  whom  they  met  said   they  would  run  into 
drifts  which  would  bury  them,  and  thai  heavy 
snow-storms  were  still   prevailing  on  the  higher 
plateaus  and  valleys,  despite  the  fad  thai  it  was 
nearly    the    beginning    of    summer.      So    t; 
course  was  altered    and   they  took    a    northern 
route,    following   the   west   side   of    the    Rocky 
Mountains  into  Oregon  before  they  turned  their 
faces  to  the  east.      From  Oregon  they  crossed 
into  Idaho,  but  soon  after  leaving  Sacramento 
— California's    ancient    capital  —  their   troub 

began  to  come  thick 
and  fast.     Where 
there  was  a  waggon- 
road  it  was   usually 
but  wide  enough  to 
allow  a  single  vehi- 
cle to  pass  along  it. 
When   they  were  so 
unfortunate    as     to 
chance    upon  a 
waggon     it    was 
often  a  case  of 
"  b  a  c  k  i  n  g  " 
several  miles  or 
so    until    space 
could  be  found 
for    one     to 
squeeze  past  the 
other,    for    most 
of  the  thorough 
fares  hereabouts 
are    called 
"  bench    ways,"  a 
mere    ledge    cut    in 
the    mountain    side. 
over     which      one 
might    fall    a    thou- 
sand feet  and  n 
1!  r  1  ■  ire  un- 

it n  o  w  n  ,   and    the 
tourists    were    com 
pelled   to  ford   rivers   like   other   travellers,  with 
the  difference    that  a   motor  cannot    swim 
a  horse  with  a  man  on  his  back.     It  was  a  i 
of  going    through,    not    on.    the    water.      When 
a  stream  of  considerable  size  was  reached  one 
of  the  party  waded   in  to   "sound"  its  \ 
depth,  and  to  test  the  firmness  of  the  bott 
If  he  thought    the    machine   could    be   dir 
through  it  was  "  hacked  "  far  enough  away  from 


vf/jfegw 


470 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


the  bank  to  get  a  good  start, 
the  "  full  speed  "  lever  moved, 
and  a  dash  made  for  the  other 
shore.    With  the  smaller  creeks 
this   plan   was   successful,   but 
several  times  the  wheels  stuck 
in  the  soft  mud  of 
the    bo  ttom  or 
lodged    against    a 
rock.       Then     the 
rescuing    outfit 
came  into  service. 
As  already  stated, 
a  coil  of  rope  and 
several     wooden 
pulleys  had    been 
taken  along,  form- 
ing    what     sailors 
call  a  "  block  and 
tackle." 

When  the  auto 
could  go  no  farther 
by  its  own  power  one  end  of 
the  rope  was  connected  with 
the  running  gear,  the  blocks 
attached  to  a  neigh  bourin 
tree,  and  a  post  driven  into 
the  ground.  Then  the  engine 
was  started,  and  the  car  pulled 
itself  out  of  the  stream.  There 
were  fords  to  cross  before 
Oregon  was  reached  where  the  water  rose  nearly 
to  the  wheel  tops,  but  all  were  successfully 
"  navigated,"  as  the  doctor  says,  with  the  aid  of 
the  tackle.  During  this  stage  of  the  journey 
one  of  the  most  serious 
troubles  was  with  the 
tyres.  Unfortunately, 
they  had  been  unable 
to  procure  an  extra  tyre 
to  replace  any  which 
might  give  out.  The 
rear  ones  became  badly 
worn  after  going  a  few 
hundred  miles,  and  at 
last  it  was  found  im- 
possible to  go  farther 
with  them,  so  bad  was 
their  condition,  and  the 
tourists  stopped  in 
Alturas,  a  little  moun- 
tain settlement.  Here 
they  literally  made  a 
new  cover  for  the  tyres 
by  winding  them  around 
with  rope,  thus  keeping 
them  serviceable  until  a 
new  pair  could  be  pro 
cured. 


USING  THE  m.OCK-AND-TACK'I.E  OUTFIT  TO 
DRAG  THE  CAR  OUT  OF  A  CREEK. 

From  a  Photo, 


If  Dr.  Jackson  had  been 
superstitious  he  might  have 
thought  someone  was  attempt- 
ing to  cast  a  spell  of  ill-luck 
on  him,  for  journeying  across 
the  Oregon  border  into  the 
State  of  Idaho  he 
encountered  rains 
which  made  the 
way  impassable. 
Here  again  the 
block  and  tackle 
proved  a  friend  in 
need,  several  times 
saving  the  plucky 
pair  from  being 
hopelessly  stuck 
in  the  mud,  in 
which  the  wheels 
would  sink  above 
the  hubs.  At 
Caldwell,  Idaho, 
however,  a  mascot  came  to 
them  in  the  shape  of  a  stray 
bulldog.  While  they  were 
examining  the  gearing  on  arriv- 
ing in  the  town  the  dog  trotted 
up  to  the  car,  and,  by  wagging 
his  tail  and  making  other  ad- 
vances, struck  up  a  friendship 
with  the  doctor.  He  was  a 
wanderer  like  themselves,  and,  after  a  council 
of  war,  it  was  decided  to  add  Bud,  as  the 
doctor  called  him,  to  the  party.  From  this 
time  on    Bud  shared    their  food,    slept    beside 


From  a] 


BUD,      THE   STRAY    BUI. t. DOG    WHO   WAS   APOI'TED    BY   THE   TRAVELERS, 


\  Photo. 


ACROSS    AMERICA    ON    AN    AUTOMOBII.K. 


47* 


\ 


i 


IN     PARTS    OF     IDAHO    THE 

MOTOR  HAD  TO  BE  DRIVEN 

ALONG    THE    DRY    BEDS   OF 

MOUNTAIN    TORRENTS. 


been  seen,  and  at  the  little  settlements  amid 
the  cattle  ranches  and  sheep  farms  everyone 
turned  out  to  greet   the  party.       The   news 
that  a  "  devil  waggon,"  as  some  of  the  pe< 
call  them,  was  going  through  to  the  Mi 
sippi    River  was  heralded  far  and   wii 
many  of  the  cowboys  actually  ro<  nty- 

five    miles    from    their    ranches    to    see    it. 
Nearly  all,  however,  gave  the  dot  tor  and   his 
companions  a  cordial  welcome,  and  dui 
the   entire    trip   they   were    never    refused 
food  or  a  bed  when   they  applied  for  it, 
even  at  the  humblest  "dug-out.''      It  was 
a   common    occurrence   in   going    through 
the  cattle   country   to   have  two   or  ihi 
cowboys  riding  alongside,  challenging  th<  m 
to   a   race,    but    speed  was  usually  out  ol 
the  question,  and  no  attempt  was  made  at 
record-breaking,  the  motto  of  the  tortois.  . 
"slow,  but  sure,"  being  adopted.      It    was 
well    they   were    cautious,    especially    in 
Idaho,    for   there    were    stretches    in   this 
country  where   the  car  had  to  be  driven 
along    the    dry    beds   of  mountain   torrents, 
strewn  with  stones  and  boulders,  not  a  tew  ol 
which  were  over  a  foot  in  diameter  by  actual 
measurement.    Yet  the  wheels  wen-  somehow 
forced  over  this  appalling   "road-bed."     In 
the  vicinity  of  a  place  called  Orchard  it  was 


them,  and  lay  at 
their  feet  when  on 
the  road.  He  proved 
to  be  a  valuable  addi- 
tion to  the  party, 
remaining  with  the 
car  when  the  tourists 
left  it  in  quest  of 
food  or  other  sup- 
plies, and  more  than 
once  his  growl  of 
warning  and  the 
sight    of    his    strong 

white     teeth     drove 

away   intruders    who 

wished     to     tamper 

with  the  machinery. 

Before  Bud  had  gone 

many  miles  his  eyes 

became   affected    by 

the  wind    and   dust, 

and    he    also    was 

equipped    with    gog- 
gles   like    the    other 

tourists,   which 

gave    him  a   most  remarkable  appearance. 
Nearly  the  whole  of  the  route  through  Idaho 

was  in  a  region  where  an  automobile  had  never 


I  UK    t\OK.H1     Ml  D-HOI  E  Ol      I  'II 

From  a  Photo. 

necessary  to  pass  over  vast   bed 
lava  which  had  been  deposited  by  an 

extinct  volcano.      Here  there  was  not 
even  a  trail   in   places,  and  they  were  obi 
resort    to    seamanship   and    steer    by    compass. 
Sometimes  the  lava  would   present  a  smooth, 


47- 


II  IK    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


^,^xfr^x(^x©\\< 


hard     surface,     over 
which  they  would 
"  humming  "    along. 
Then   the  formation 

w  o  u  Id    b  e  c  o  m  e 

med  and  cracked, 
presenting  such  sharp 
edges  that  it  seemed 
a  miracle  the  tyres 
w  e  r  e  not  cut  to 
puces.  Near  the 
town  of  Mountain 
Home,  Idaho,  the 
worst  mud  -  hole  of 
the  trip  was  encoun- 
tered Undertaking 
to  ford  a  stream, 
they  unfortunately 
struck  a  bed  of  what 
appeared  to  be  (puck- 
sand  and  mud  com- 
bined. In  went  the 
car  until  the  water 
had  risen  above  the 
running  gear.  Every- 
thing which  could  be  removed  to  lighten  it  was 
carried  to  the  shore,  and  even  Bud  was  put 
overboard  and  forced  to  swim  to  land.  It  was 
a  nasty  place,  for  there  was  no  tree  near  by  to 
attach  the  block  and  tackle  to.  After  searching 
around,   however,   a   stout    branch    was   found. 


From  a  ] 


THE    DESERT    TRAVERSED    BY   THE   AUTOMOBILISTS. 


{Photo. 


ipr^ai) 


Till      1.1  SE  I    I    -THE    TRAVEI  I  I 
SPEN1     THIRTY-SIX*  HOURS    HERE 

From  a\     withoi  i    food.     {Photo. 


With  shovel  and  axe  a  hole  was  dug  in  the 
bank,  and  the  branch  planted  as  deep  as  it 
could  be  driven.  Then  the  pulleys  were  fastened 
to  it,  and  Mr.  Croker  started  the  engine,  while 
the  doctor,  up  to  his  waist  in  the  stream,  went 
behind  and  tried  to  push,  but  not  an  inch  would 

it  budge. 

To  make  a  long  story 
short,  they  worked  at 
the  submerged  car  for 
four  hours  on  end. 
Fortunately,  they  were 
in  a  country  which  had 
a  few  inhabitants,  and 
finally  secured  the  ser- 
vices of  a  man  with  a 
four-horse  team.  Then 
steam  and  animal 
power  made  a  pull 
together,  and  the  motor 
was  dragged  out  on  dry 
land.  This  place  the 
travellers  christened 
their  "  twenty  -  four 
horse-power  mud-hole." 
After  crossing  into 
the  State  of  Wyoming 
the  tourists  had  the 
misfortune  to  lose  their 
cooking  outfit  and  the 
supply  of  food  which 
hail  been  secured  at  the  last  settlement. 
The  discovery  was  made  too  late  to 
return,  and  to  search  for  it  would  have 


ACROSS    AMERICA    ON    AN    AUTOMOBILE. 


[73 


A    NEBRASKA 


[Photo. 


been  useless,  for 
they  were  jour- 
neying across 
country  here,  for 
thesimplereason 
that  they  had 
entered  a  region 
entirely  without 
paths,  save  those 
made  by  wild 
animals  or  wilder 
people.  It  was 
decided  to  for^e 
ahead  as  rapidly 
as  possible  to 
the  Green  River, 
which  the  map 
showed  was 
somewhere  in  the 
vicinity,  but  soon 
they  came  upon 
a  waste  of  sand 
and  sage  -  brush. 
The  going  be- 
came worse  and 
worse.  Out  came 
the  ropes  to  be 
wound  about  the 
tyres ;  but  even 
this  did  not  pre- 
vent the  wheels 
from    slipping 

Vol.  xii.— 60. 


helplessly  around    ill    the   loose 
when  the  twenty-horse   powi 
working   to   its  greatest  I 

was  no  help  for  it  but  to  mal 
so  with  axe   and  knives   bundles   of 
brush  were  cut  and   laid  upon  the  sand 
stretches  of  fifty  and  a  hundred  I  l  l 

this   the   car   was    driven,   th  brush 

taken  up  and  laid  down    ah< 
another  hundred   feet  covered.      It    wa 
forlorn  hope,  but  they  were  in  despi 
straits— not  an  ounce  of  food,  and  nothing 
in  the  way  of  game  in  sight.     They  ra 
either  go  ahead  with  or  without  the  car,  or 
perish  with  hunger  and  thirst.     Then 
other    places    where    they  were  forced    to 
build  roads  of  brush  and  grass,  but  it  was 
not  a  case  of   life  and  death  as  in  this 
instance.     Fortunately,   the   compass   and 
map   had   not   deceived   them,    and   th 
finally  reached  the  river,  but  were  obli:_ 
*o  travel  along  its  bank  for  nearly  the  whi 
of  one  day  before  they  came  to  any  human 
habitation.    This  was  the  shanty  of  a  sheep 
herder,    and   was    not    reached    any   too 
soon,  for  neither  men  nor  dog  had  had  a 
mouthful  to  eat  for  thirty-six  hours. 


■ 


From  a  Photo.  by\ 


TKE    CAN    ENTERING   CLEVELAND,    OHIO 


474 


THE     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


2 


/ 

ENTHUSIASTIC    AUTO.MOBILISTS   CAME   OUT  TO   WELCOME  THE 
TRAVELLERS.    AT    EVERY    LARGE   TOWN. 

Front   a   Fhoto.    by   L.   I'anoeyen.  Cleveland,  O. 

"  i  hat  place  was  as  welcome  to  us  as  the 
finest  hotel  in  the  world,"  said  Dr.  Jackson,  in 
telling  of  his  experience  afterwards.      "  When 
the  man  heard  our  '  hard  luck  '  story  he  made 
us  a  mutton  stew,  with  plenty  of  mutton  in  it, 
and  cooked  a  can  of  com.     I  tell  you  that 
was   a   feast.      I    have   never   tasted   anything 
before   or   since   that   was    as   good ;    but   the 
worst  of  it  was  that  he   wouldn't  take   a  cent, 
though    I    would    have    given    him    a    hundred 
dollars  if  he  had  asked  it.     After  we  had  eaten 
and  rested  he  showed  us  the  best  direction  to  • 
take   to   reach   the   town    of   Green    River.     I 
noticed  he  was  interested  in  the  rifle  we  had, 
and  finally  induced  him  to  take  it  as  a  gift,  for 
he  deserved  it." 

W  hen  Dr.  Jackson  and  his  companions 
reached  the  city  of  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  on 
July  ist,  they  thought  the  worst  of  their  troubles 
were  over.  During  the  entire  distance  between 
Sacramento  and  Cheyenne  the  few  highways  on 
the  route  had  been  either  cut  in  the  mountain 
side,  merely  macadamized  by  Nature  with 
stones  and  boulders,  or  lanes  of  mud  or  sand 
in  the  gorges  and  valleys,  some  so  bad  that,  as 
already  stated,  the  beds  of  streams  made 
better  highways.  Cheyenne,  however,  is 
on  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  mountain 
country,  and  it  was  thought  that  the  rolling 
prairie-land  to  the  east  would  be  covered  with 
little  difficulty,  but  they  had  not  reckoned  on 
the    heavy  rains   which  had   fallen    before  they 


reached  this  region.  The  clay  road  had  been 
turned  into  a  mud-paste,  in  which  nothing  on 
wheels  could  move  until  the  sun's  rays  dried  out 
the  water,  so  they  again  went  out  of  their  course, 
going  north  into  the  foothills,  but  here  only  the 
block  and  tackle  enabled  them  to  force  the  car 
along.  During  one  memorable  day  it  was  used 
no  fewer  than  seventeen  times,  by  actual  count, 
in  extricating  the  machine  from  the  "  buffalo 
wallows,"  as  the  Nebraska  people  call  mud-holes. 
There  were  no  trees  here  to  use  as  a  purchase 
for  the  tackle,  so  a  stout  post  was  added  to  the 
"  luggage,"  and  whenever  they  came  to  a  spot 
which  wras  too  much  for  the  engine  unaided  the 
post  was  planted,  the  blocks  attached,  and  the 
difficulty  was  thus  overcome.  When  the  Mis- 
sissippi River  came  in  sight,  howrever,  the 
tourists  shouted  in  triumph  and  Bud  gave  a 
joyous  bark,  for  even  he  seemed  to  know  that 
they  had  at  last  found  a  path  across  the  great 
West,  and  had  vanquished  Nature  by  over- 
coming the  obstacles  she  had  placed  in  their 
way.  From  this  point  onwards  the  trip  was  un- 
eventful, partaking  of  the  nature  of  a  triumphal 
progress. 


How  I  Became  a  Lion=Tamer. 

By  Miss  Ella. 

The  well-known  lady  lion-tamer  here  tells  the  exciting  story  of  her  first  encounter  with  a  lion     a 
terrifying  experience  which  was  destined  to  shape  her  future  career. 


ANY  have  been  the  speculations  as 
to  what  influence  is  brought  to  bear 
upon  wild  animals  by  their  trainers 
in  order  to  render  them  obedient 
and  tractable  and  to  induce  them 
to  perform  tasks  foreign  to  their  natures,  and 
probably  repugnant  to  their  inclinations.  It  is 
likewise  somewhat  of  a  mystery  to  the  general 
public  how  the  trainers  are  enabled  to  move 
among  their  savage  subjects  wich  impunity 
while  another  person  dare  not  venture  within 
paw's  reach  of  them.  Many  explanations  of 
this  phenomenon  have 
been  offered,  including 
the  time-honoured  one  of 
the  "power  of  the  human 
eye."  Other  explanations 
have  been  hypnotic  influ- 
ence and  drugging.  For 
myself  I  can  plead  "  Not 
Guilty "  to  any  one  of 
these  methods.  I  cannot 
explain  how  it  is  I  am 
able  to  handle  my  lions  ; 
the  influence  is  intangible 
and  undefinable.  I  think, 
however,  that  it  must  be 
due  to  some  personal  attri- 
bute or  peculiarity  of 
manner  which  appeals  to 
the  animals  —  to  their 
affection  or  their  sense  of 
fear. 

And  now  to   my  narra- 
tive, which  deals  with  my  very  first  encounter 
with  a    wild  animal — an    encounter  which  was 
destined  to  be  the  making  of  my  career. 

My  father,  Julius  Falk,  was  a  German,  but  I 
was  born  at  Copenhagen.  Denmark.  When 
I  was  a  small  child  of  about  seven  or  eight  my 
father  was  serving  in  the  German  army.  He 
was  ordered  out  to  German  South  Africa,  my 
mother  and  myself  accompanying  him.  We 
were  housed  in  a  kind  of  bungalow,  in  a  very 
desolate  and  unhealthy  locality  —  a  malarial 
district  on  the  confines  of  a  dense  jungle.  Once 
comfortably  established  here,  my  father  was 
called  away  to  do*  duty  about  twenty  miles  up 
country,  leaving  my  mother  and  myself  in  sole 
possession  of  the  dreary  bungalow.  There  are 
certain  incidents  of  one's  early  life  which 
impress  themselves  upon  the  mind  to  the 
exclusion  of  much  else  that  happens.     It  was  so 


in    this 


ELLA,    THE    WELL-KNOWN    LADY    LION-TAMER 
From  a  Photo. 


in  the  case  of  my  existence 
homestead  of  ours  and  the 
which  passed  therein. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  South  Africa 
in  the  days  of  which  I  write  was  very  diffi  i 
from  the  South  Africa  of  to-day.  Wild  animals 
were  more  often  seen,  and,  from  ignorano  ol 
the  white  man  and  his  weapons,  they  were  much 
bolder,  so  that  alarms  of  one  kind  or  another 
came  almost  daily. 

To  make  matters  worse,  my  mother  was 
stricken  down  with  malarial  fever  and  for  some 

time  lay  quite  help] 
her  only  nurse  being  my 
own  small  self.  In  fact, 
I  might  be  said  then  to 
have  been  in  sole  charge 
of  the  bungalow.  It  was  a 
situation  that  might  well 
have  carried  dismay  to  the 
heart  of  one  of  such  tender 
years  as  I  then  was— alone 
with  an  invalid  in  a  lonely 
bungalow  on  the  edge  ot 
a  vast  jungle,  full  of  savage 
beasts,  who  frequently 
prowled  round  our  cottage. 
But,  perhaps  fortunately 
for  myself,  I  did  not  s< 
to  realize  the  responsibility 
then  as  it  strikes  me  to- 
day. I  am  told  that  I  was 
always  regarded  as  a  child 
of  more  than  ordinary 
physical  strength  and  stability  of  nerve,  and 
certainly  I  did  not  experience  fear  to  any  con- 
siderable extent  when  left  alone  and  with  my 
mother  to  look  after.  In  view  of  what  happi 
subsequently  this  was  probably  the  saving  ol 
both  of  us.  It  also  had  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
my  after-career  as  a  lion-tamer. 

By  means  of  assiduous  nursing,  and  probably 
a  naturally  strong  constitution,  my  mother 
eventually  reached  the  convalescenl  but 

still   lay   helpless   upon  a  rude   sofa.      - 
reclining   thus,   pale   and  hot 

night,  I  seated  beside  her,  re.v  m  a 

book,   as   was   my   custom.     The   monotony  of 
our  lives  was  such   that  we  v.  id  even  of 

the  sound  of  our  own  voices  in  order  to  disturb 
the   oppressive   stillness    of    our    surroundi 
particularly    on    such    a    night    as    that    I  hi 
described. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


Although  the  weather,  as  I  have  said,  was 
extremely  close,  we  always  kept  the  doors 
closed  at  night  in  order  to  impress  us  with  a 
sense  of  security,  for,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no 
one,  eitlur  European  or  native,  lived  anywhere 
near  us.  The  doors  were  closed  on  the  night 
in  question. 

In  the  middle  of  my  reading  I  was  surprised 
to  hear  a  gentle  tapping  on  the  door  at  the 
front  of  the  house.     At  first  my  mother  did  not 


from  father  or  a  wandering  native,  I  went  to 
the  door  and  opened  it.  Immediately  I  did  so, 
to  my  intense  amazement  in  bounded  a  huge 
lioness,  followed  by  four  cubs  ! 

My  mother  was  horror-struck  at  the  awful 
sight,  and  lay  in  speechless  fright,  with  staring 
eyes  fixed  on  the  great  brute.  As  for  myself, 
with  a  manner  which  was  said  to  be  charac- 
teristic of  me  I  stood  stock  still,  not  betraying 
the  slightest  fear— fear  of  an  active  kind,  that 


"IN    BOUNDED    A    HUGH;    LIONESS,    FOLLOWED    l:V    H'OUR    CUBS. 


hear  it,  but  noticing  that  I  suddenly  stopped 
reading,  and  the  look  of  inquiry  which  I  cast 
towards  the  door  in  question,  she  asked  me 
what  was  the  matter.  I  replied  that  there  was 
a  knocking  at  the  door,  and,  in  a  half-frightened 
manner,  she  said  she  could  not  think  what  it 
could  be.  While  in  this  condition  of  hesitation 
and  suspense  we  were  somewhat  startled  to 
hear  the  knocking  repeated,  this  time  louder. 
Remarking   that,    perhaps,   it   was   a   messenger 


is.  My  one  concern — my  only  concern,  in  fact, 
for  the  moment — was  for  my  mother.  Strange 
to  say,  and  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  both  of 
us,  the  lioness  did  not,  as  most  people  would 
suppose,  at  once  proceed  to  make  a  meal  of  one 
of  us,  keeping  the  other  for  the  cubs.  She 
simply  gambolled  about  the  apartment  with  her 
young,  for  all  the  world  like  a'  cat  with  her 
kittens,  taking  little  or  no  notice  of  the  human 
occupants  of  the  apartment.     And  herein  lies  a 


HOW    I    BECAME    A    LION-TAMER. 


•177 


little-credited  fact,  for  which  from  long  experience 
I  am  able  to  vouch.  ^  Wild  animals  rarely  attack 
people  unless  it  is  from  sheer  hunger,  or  in  self- 
defence  when  attacked,  or  expecting  attack. 

The  situation,  however,  was  a  painful  one  to 
maintain,  and  I  rapidly  cast  about  me  for  a 
means  of  release  from  the  terrible  suspense. 
Suddenly  I  remembered  that  in  the  next  room 
there  was  a  large  portion  of  veldt  reindeer. 
Like  a  flash  I  darted  into  this  room  and  brought 
the  venison  back  with  me.  Then,  taking  care 
that  the  lioness  should  see  it,  I  threw  it  outside. 


turned  my  attention  to  my  mother.    The  int. 
mental  strain  being  removed,  the   reaction  had 
set  in,  and  she  had   sunk   bark   exhausl 
beads  of  perspiration  standing  out  on  her  fi 
head.      "Thank   God   we  Ella! 

exclaimed,  and  clasped  me  to  h<  r. 
strangest  part  of  it  was  that  1  do  nol 
being  particularly  alarmed  myself.      I 
pass  through  the  ordeal  quite  mei  lly. 

Later,  looking  through  a  window,  I  was 
surprised  to  find  that  the  lioness  and  her  cubs, 
having    demolished    the    venison,    I  irled 


I    BROUGHT   THE    VENISON    BACK    WITH    ME. 


The  great  brute  quickly  followed  it,  the  cubs 
bringing  up  the  rear.  Quickly  I  closed  and 
fastened  the  door  behind  them,  and  for  the  time 
we  were  safe.  I  say  for  the  time,  for  I  knew 
not  how  soon  or  in  what  manner  we  might 
receive  another  visit  from  one  of  our  wild  neigh- 
bours, and  one  less  good-tempered  than  that 
just  got  rid  of.  Our  faith  in  our  security— 
always  somewhat  fragile  —  was  still  further 
shaken  after  this  disconcerting  incident. 

When  the  lioness  had  quitted  the  room  and 
the  door  was   securely  fastened  once  more,   I 


themselves  up  peacefully  and  gone  t<  out- 

side the  house,  quite  close  to  the  1  But 

upon  looking   out   again  at    daybreak   I    found 
that  our  strange  guests  had  disappeared. 

The  news  of  this  disturbing  element  imported 
into  our  lives  at  the  lonely  bungalow  was  con- 
veyed with  all  speed  to  my  father  at  his  distant 
post.  In  response  a  detachment  of  about  a 
dozen  soldiers  was  dispatched  to  the  locality, 
to  welcome  the  lioness  in  a  warm  manner 
should  she  put  in  another  appearance,  as  was 
generally  supposed  she  would.    Posted  in  various 


478 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


parts,  the  men  waited  a  week,  constantly  on  the 
alert,  but  no  lioness  appeared.  At  length,  con- 
cluding that  she  and  her  children  of  the  jungle 
had  sought  fresh  woods  ami  pastures  new,  the 
watch  was  ended  and  the  nun  were  withdrawn. 
But  now  comes  a  remarkable  point.  On  the  very 
morrow  o(  their  departure  my  four-footed  friend 
and  her  offspring  paid  another  visit  to  our 
bungalow  !  They  did  not,  how  ever,  get  into  the 
house,  and  I  contrived  to  keep  the  fact  of  their 
close  proximity  from  the  knowledge  of  my 
mother. 

Again  I  experienced  no  fear  at  their  presence, 
and  the  lioness  seemed  to  exhibit  the  most 
friendly  disposition  towards  me  when  I  showed 
myself  at  a  window.  They  hung  about  the 
house  for  hours,  but  again,  at  the  appearance  of 


"  UK    BECAME    THE   CLObEh.1     I 


daylight,  returned  to  their  forest  haunts.  These 
visits  continued  at  frequent  intervals,  until  any 
fear  I  may  have  had  of  the  animals  had  com- 
pletely disappeared.  I  let  them  approach  me 
quite  near,  and  in  time  we  became  the  closest 
possible  friends.  Quarters  were  fitted  up  for 
them  adjoining  the  house,  and  I  made  regular 
pets  of  them — a  strange  proceeding,  surely,  for 


a  young  lady  not  yet  'in  her  teens  !  Even  my 
mother  overcame  her  natural  repugnance  and 
timidity,  and  took  considerable  interest  in  the 
influence  which  her  young  daughter  seemed  to 
exercise  over  the  brutes  whose  sudden  appear- 
ance in  her  house  had  so  terrified  her.  My 
father  also  was  much  struck  by  this  remarkable 
friendship,  and  it  was  instrumental  in  turning 
his  attention  to  the  menagerie  and  wild  animal 
show  business,  in  which  he  afterwards  embarked 
with  considerable  success. 

It  seemed  that  my  pet  animals  would  do 
almost  anything  that  I  desired  them  to,  so 
devoted  were  they  to  me,  and  after  a  time  I 
decided  to  try  and  teach  them  to  perform  tricks. 
In  this  I  was  successful  —  so  successful,  in 
fact,  that  it  was  not  long  before  I  blossomed 

forth  upon  the 
public  as  a 
young  but  full- 
blown 1  i  o  n  - 
tamer. 

E  v  e  n  t  u  a  1 1  y, 
when  my  father's 
duties  recalled 
him  to  the 
Fatherland  and 
we  left  South 
Africa,  I  took 
w  i  t  h  m  e  m  y 
curious  pets  — 
by  this  time 
most  accom- 
plished animals. 
The  story  of 
their  sudden 
i  n  tr  oduction 
into  our  family 
and  their  sub- 
sequent training 
at  my  hands 
reached  the 
knowledge  of 
the  Emperor, 
with  the  result 
that  a  special 
"command  per- 
formance "  took 
place  before  His 
Majesty,  who 
was  highly  de- 
lighted with  my  exhibition.  In  recognition  of 
his  appreciation  he  presented  me  with  a 
Diploma  of  Honour,  which  is  now  one  of  my 
most  treasured  possessions,  and  a  gratuity  of 
five  thousand  marks.  Since  then,  of  course,  I 
have  devoted  myself  entirely  to  the  work  which 
I  began  in  such  a  curious  fashion  and  at  such  a 
tender  age  in  that  lonely  bungalow  in  the  jungle. 


By  Edouard  Charles. 


There   is    a   well-known    Parisian    character  who  frequents  the  gardens  of  the  Tuileries  and    feeds  the 

sparrows  there.      They  come  at   his  call,  eat  out  of  his  hand,  and  perform  all  sorts  of  curious  tricks. 

How  he    manages   to    inspire   confidence  in    the  birds   is    a  mystery,   but  his  impromptu  performances 

with  his    feathered  pets   are  among  the  sights  of  Paris.     Photos,  by  Clarke  and  Hyde. 


VERY  Parisian  knows  Henri  Pol ; 
few  visitors  to  the  world's  gayest 
capital  miss  seeing  him  ;  and  although 
his  name  may  not  be  known  to  the 
latter,  his  personality  is  a  souvenir, 
a  charming  remembrance  of  the  visit.  He  is  as 
much  one  of  the  "  sights "  of  Paris  as  the 
Louvre,  and  is  remembered  by  the  tourist  when 
other  things  have  been  forgotten,  especially  by 
the  ladies.  Stolid  German  frduleins  have  men- 
tioned him  to  me  in  Berlin ;  the  assertive 
American  miss,  just  returned  from  Europe,  has 
recalled  his  memory  to  me  in  New  York  ;  even 
in  Buenos  Ayres  one  day  his  name,  or,  to  be 
quite  correct,  his  individuality,  cropped  up  in  the 
course  of  conversation. 

So  I  doubt  not  many  readers  of  this  article 
will  have  seen  and  will  recognise  him  ;  those 
who  have  not  may  do  so  on  some  future 
occasion,  and  consequently  for  both  he  may  be 
expected  to  have  an  increased  interest  —  this 
tall,  elderly  man,  grave  of  face,  with  kindly 
eyes,  who  daily  spends  his  time,  and  so  has 
spent  it  for  fourteen  years  past,  feeding  the 
sparrows  in  the  Jardin  des  Tuileries.  In  a  city 
that  reveals  "characters"  at  well-nigh  every 
turning  there  is  none  better  known,  none  more 
popular,  than  the  bird-charmer  of  the  Tuileries  ; 
and  as  he  slowly  wends  his  way  down  the 
Avenue  de  FOpera,  dressed  in  a  russet-brown 
coat,  with  his  serviette  tucked  under  his  arm, 
a  dozen  heads  nod  him  recognition,  and  one 
catches  the  information  as  it  is  dropped  from  a 
guide  into  a  client's  ear :  "  That's  Pol,  the 
man  who  feeds  the  sparrows  in  the  Tuileries." 

It  is  in  the  Rue  des  Tuileries,  within  a  stone's 
throw  of  the  little  Arc  de  Triomphe,  that  Henri 
Pol  will  daily  be  found,  always  surrounded  by 
a  ring  of  interested  and  amused  spectators,  witli 
half  a  hundred  sparrows  hopping  about  his 
feet,  fluttering  in  his  face,  perching  on, his  hands 
and  head.  He  is  there  in  the  morning  ere  he 
goes  to  his  office  ;  the  hour  of  dejeuner  sees 
him,  having  made  a  hasty  lunch  himself,  there 


again ;  and  if  the  winter  is  not  too  late  nor  the 
spring  too  early  for  him  tc  return  m  the  evening 
ere  darkness  falls,  there  again  he  will   be 
till  the  shadows,  lengthening  eastwards  with  the 
setting  sun,  fade  in  the  twilight  that  brings  bed 
time  for  the  birds. 

Such  has  been  his  daily  routine  for  fourteen 
years,  with  the  exception  of  high  days  and 
holidays,  which  he  devotes  in  their  entirety  to 
his  feathered  pets,  taking  more  often  than  not 
on  such  occasions  his  own  lunch  with  them. 
And  so  he  will  continue,  he  told  me  recently, 
until  the  Reaper  gathers  him  in,  for  it  has 
become  as  much  an  essential  part  of  his 
existence  as  sleeping  and  eating. 

Standing  among  the  crowd,  one  hears  always 
the  inevitable  question  in  all  languages  under 
the  sun,  from  Parisian  argot  to  strid<  nl  <  'ocknev: 
"  How  is  it  done?  "  And  most  persons  depart 
with  the  idea  that  there  is  some  trickery  in  his 
charming  of  the  sparrows — that  the  crumbs  he 
feeds  them  on  are  flavoured  with  something  of 
which  sparrows  are  particularly  fond.  And 
this  conclusion  seems  corroborated  because  the 
imitators  of  M.  Pol — one  can  count  a  do/en 
men  any  day  trying  with  more  or  less  success 
to  coax  the  birds  to  their  hands — meet  with 
practically  no  response  from  the  timid  sparrow, 
though  the  more  confident  pigeon  is  not  above 
securing  a  meal  easily. 

As  •  a    matter   of    fact,    his    power    over    the 
sparrows    is   purely   one     of   confidence   an 
from  years  of  familiarity,  and  has  nothing  what- 
ever to   do  with  doctored  bread.      I  have  tried 
myself,    without    success,    with   the  same    bn 
that  he  uses,  on   more  than  o  '1 

can  claim   to   speak   from   practical  experiei 
On  the  stage  I  have  seen  many  clever  "  numb 
consisting   of   educated    or    trained    birds,    but 
never ,  anything    to    equal    the    al   fresco  \ 
formaiice  which  the  sparrow-charmer  gives  daily 
free   of  charge  ;  and  if  he  could  transport  his 
show   behind  the   footlights  it  would   certainly 
provide  a  new  and  novel  turn. 


4S0 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


From  a]    . 


LIKE   Si)    .MANY    CHILDREN   THE    BIRDS    HOP    AROUND. 


For  it  is  not  only  that  the  sparrows  feed  from 
his  hand  ;  he  has  taught  them  to  do  a  number 
of  tricks  one  would  scarcely  expect  a  sparrow 
capable  of  comprehending,  and  amongst  the 
flock  are  some  very  talented  members  that  per- 
form individually.  More  than  this,  some  fifty 
of  them  know  the  names  M.  Pol  has  bestowed 
upon  them,  and  when  called  by  him  answer 
lily  enough.  There  will  be  a  score  or  so  on 
the  ground,  as  shown 
in  our  first  illustration, 
and  he  will  hold  out  his 
hand  with  some  crumbs 
ween  his  finger  and 
thumb.  Like  so  many 
children  the  birds  will 
hop  around,  looking  up 
into  his  face,  jerking  their 
tiny  heads  in  perky,  in- 
quisitive fashion  from 
side  to  side,  plainly 
waiting  for  his  lips  to 
open,  on  the  alert  to 
catch  their  name. 

-  <  labrielle  !  "  he  calls, 
and  that  particular 
sparrow  flies  up  on  to  his 
fingers.  Not  another 
attempts  to  ascend. 
'•Who  next?"  he  asks. 
"Ah!  that  one  th< 
indicating  one  of  them. 
"To  to!  Viens,  mon 
ckeri"  and  up  goes  Toto 
beside     his     companion. 


Both  perch  there 
contentedly, 
without  the  least 
sign  of  fear, 
pecking  the 
crumbs  from  his 
fingers. 

"Al/ez!"  and 
they  flutter  down, 
making  way  for 
Mme.  Longbec. 
"  Ah  !  madame, 
there,  is  very 
clever,"  the 
charmer  assures 
his  audience.  In 
truth  she  is,  for 
while  fluttering 
on  the  wing  she 
catches  morsels 
of  bread  thrown 
to  her  as  they 
fall  through  the 
air,  with  the 
certainty  of  a  sea-gull.  It  was  whilst  Biribi, 
whose  peculiarity  is  that  he  lacks  a  tail,  was 
alighting  to  partake  of  a  repast  that  Mme. 
Longbec  was  caught  on  the  wing  by  the  camera, 
as  shown  in  the  second  photograph. 

Most  fearless  amongst  them  all  is  Quat'sous, 
an  old  friend  of  whom  the  charmer  is  especially 
fond.  Quat'sous  hops  from  the  flock  when  his 
name  is  called  and  the  others  retire,  for  they 


[Photo. 


<  IF     THE    BIRDS     HAVE 

From  a]         for  a  crumb 


NAMES    AND    ANSWER    TO    THEM — "MME.    LONGBEC        IS    SEEN    DIVING 
WHILE    "BIRIBl"    PERCHES    ON     THE   CHARMER'S    HAND.  [/'/toto. 


THE    BIRD-CHARMER    OF    PARIS. 


481 


know  well  M.  Pol  wishes  to  put  their  companion 
through  his  paces.  He  is  seen  in  the  third 
photograph,  crouching  on  the  ground,  as  though 
taking  a  dust  bath,  while  M.  Pol  bends  over 
him  with    his  arm   drawn   back,  in   the  act   of 


take  flight  in  fear,  but  when  their  mi 
makes  a  few  steps  towards  them,  or  indu 
in  a  short  waltz,  the  birds  do  likewise.      1 

actually    seem     to    pair    off    into  couples    and 
spin   around  like  partners  in   a  ball  room  ;  and 


Front  a] 


:quat'sous"  waiting  to  receive  a  playful  box  on  the  ears. 


[P/wto. 


giving  the  bird  a  coup  de  poing,  or,  if  you  will,  a 
box  on  the  ears. 

But  Quat'sous  never  flinches,  and  is  not 
afraid,  though  he  receives  a  smart  slap  from  a 
distance  of  a  couple  of  inches.  It  would  roll 
him  off  his  legs  if 
he  stood  upright ;  he 
knows  it,  so  he 
crouches  down.  That 
the  others  plainly 
understand  there  is 
no  danger  in  the 
charmer's  threatening 
attitude,  that  the 
blows  are  light  and 
only  in  play,  is  self- 
evident  from  the  fact 
that  two  or  three  of 
them  are  always  ready 
to  take  the  place  of 
Quat'sous. 

The  onlookers  are 
always  amused,  but 
their  hilarity  is  most 
aroused  when  M. 
Pol  makes  the  birds 
dance.  If  anyone 
else  even  shuffled  his 
feet  the  birds  would 

Vol.  xiL— 61. 


they  are  seen  very  plainly  doing  this  in  our  next 
illustration. 

Jambe    de    bois     is     another     clever     bird. 
Coming  forward  when  called,  M.  "  Wooden 
fastens  his  gaze  on  the  charmer's  index  finger 


"theyact^aIly  seem  to  pair  off  into  coupler  and  spin  abound  like  part 

Prom  a?  IN  a  ball-room. 


482 


THE     WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


and  follows  it  as  it  describes  a  circle  or  any 
geometrical  figure  on  the  ground.  Ferdinand 
also  follows  that  linger  anywhere,  waltzing  as 
it  describes  a  quick  turn  ;  then,  being  invited 
to  perch  on  M.  Pol*s  nose  and  eat  crumbs, 
he  does  so. 

In  the  fifth  photograph  M.  Pol  is  seen  with  a 
sparrow  perched  on  each  uplifted  hand.     These 


numerous   pets    by   some  peculiarity  particular 
to  it.   * 

"  Of  course,  I  never  trained  them  as  birds 
and  animals  are  usually  trained,"  M.  Pol  told 
me  during  one  of  my  many  chats  with  him.  "  I 
never  had  the  opportunity,  for  they  were  never 
caged.  I  just  came  here  with  some  bread,  fed 
them,  and  talked  to  them.     I  came  every  day  as 


MARGUERITE       AND        ROBINETTE 


FLYING    FROM    HAND   TO    HAND    AT   THE   WORD   OF    COMMAND. 

From  a  Photo. 


two  are  Marguerite  and  one  of  her  family  — 
Robinette.  It  is  very  droll  to  see  this  pair 
at  the  word  of  command  fly  past  each  other, 
changing  places,  and  continue  doing  so  as 
long  as  the  charmer  pleases. 

Interesting  as  it  is  to  watch  M.  Pol  and 
the  sparrows  for  half  an  hour,  admiring  the 
remarkable  intelligence  displayed  by  the  flock 
both  collectively  and  individually,  more  in- 
teresting still  is  it  to  chat  with  the  man  for 
ten  minutes  on  the  subject  of  his  feathered 
family.  For  him  the  business  is  both  an 
enjoyable  recreation  and  an  educating  study; 
and  he  has  not  a  little  that  is  wonderful  to  tell 
regarding  the  intelligence  of  the  birds  which  it 
is  impossible  to  display  to  the  crowd. 

A  casual  observer  of  the  performance  can- 
not fail,  however,  to  notice  two  remarkable  facts, 
and  be  convinced,  since  in  this  case  "seeing  is 
believing,"  of  what  he  would  not  have  credited 
from  hearsay.  There  is  no  doubt  that  each 
individual  bird  recognises  the  name  by  which  it 
is  called  ;  and  although  sparrows  to  the  average 
man  are  so  much  alike  that  you  cannot  tell  one 
from  another,    M.    Pol   recognises   each   of    his 


I  do  now,  and  by  degrees  the  sparrows  lost  fear 
and  gained  confidence.  Their  numbers  swelled  ; 
from  constantly  seeing  them  I  soon  became  able 
to  recognise  them,  and  so  I  gave  them  names. 
Naturally  my  entire  family  as  it  stands  to-day 
includes  none  of  those  originally  composing  it. 
I  suppose  they  have  died ;  anyway  they  have 
disappeared,  and  their  places  have  been  filled 
by  others ;  and  such  changes  frequently  take 
place. 

"  Sometimes  one  will  vanish  and  return  only 
after  days  or  weeks.  The  most  remarkable  case 
in  point  is  Blanchette.  She  was  with  the  flock 
one  evening  when  I  left,  but  I  failed  to  see 
her  next  morning.  As  weeks  grew  into  months 
I  naturally  thought  she  had  died,  so  you  can 
judge  of  my  surprise  when  she  reappeared  one 
fine  morning  after  an  absence  of  seven  months. 
Forgotten  me  ?  Not  at  all ;  nor  her  name.  She 
flew  up  to  my  hand  immediately  I  called  her, 
and  quite  appreciated  the  pleasure  I  manifested 
at  her  return,  for  she  perched  on  my  shoulder 
throughout  the  day. 

"  Some  months  ago  I  missed  another — Mar- 
guerite— for  some  time.     Then  she  came  back, 


THE    BIRD-CHARMER    OF    PARIS. 


433 


but  instead  of  eating  the  crumbs  that  fell  to  her 
share  she  flew  away  with  them.  I  was  puzzled 
to  know  what  she  was  up  to.  I  thought  " — with 
a  laugh — "she  was  laying  up  a  store  for  the 
winter ;  but  the  winter  was  a  long  way  off.  But 
she  solved  the  mystery  by  appearing  one  morn- 
ing with  three  other  small  sparrows  in  train.  She 
had  brought  her  family  to  be  introduced." 

He  had  a  still  more  remarkable  experience 
with  Nicholas,  which  is  best  related  in  his  own 
words  : — 

"I  was  coming  along  the  Rue  de  Rivoli  one 
evening  in  early  spring.  I  had  no  intention  of 
going  to  the  gardens,  for  dusk  had  fallen  and  I 
was  making  for  home  and  dinner.  Just  as  I 
reached  the  statue  of  Joan  of  Arc,  at  the  bottom 
of  the  Rue  des  Pyramides,  I  noticed  a  bird 
circling  just  above  my  head.  I  stopped  and 
held  up  my  hand,  more  from  habit  than  any- 
thing else.  Immediately  the  bird  dropped  on 
to  my  fingers,  and  I  recognised  Nicholas.  Now 
I  can  always  bet  on  find- 
ing Nicholas  at  this  spot 
every  morning;  he 
comes  to  meet  me  and, 
perching  on  my  hand, 
we  go  off  to  the  gardens 
together." 

Had  I  not  known  that 
M.  Pol  had  no  object  in 
spinning  fairy-tales  1 
should  have  been  in- 
clined to  smile,  as  may- 
be some  will,  though  I 
can  assure  doubters  of 
the  truth  and  sincerity  of 
the  sparrow-charmer. 

On  his  general  obser- 
vations during  his  four- 
teen years'  experience 
M.  Pol  recently  contri- 
buted a  lengthy  paper  to 
the  Institute  of  Zoologi- 
cal Psychology,  a  society 
founded  by  a  well-known 
French  scientist  and 
litterateur — M.  Hachet- 
Souplet — for  the  express 

purpose  of  the  study  of  animal  intelligence. 
From  it  it  is  interesting  to  quote  the  following  : 
"  In  short,  I  find  the  sparrows  possessed  of 
the  spirit  of  observation,  reasoning,  judgment, 
memory,  and  attachment,  and  while  they  are 
cautious    they    also    display  the  greatest  confi- 


THE   CHARMER    BIDDING   GOOD-NIGHT  TO   THE   FAITHFUL 
From  a]  "  PERE  FRANCOIS.''  [Photo. 


familiar  and  whom  they  learn  to  trust.      Finally, 
what   I  regard  as  mosl  remarkable  is  the  readi 
ness  with  which  each  bird   responds  to  il 
the  moment  I  call  it,  either  rising  to   my  hand 
to  take  a  crumb  or  flying   after   the   crumb  il 
I  throw  it  on  the  ground." 

We    had    been    talking,    seated 
chairs,  some  distance  away  from  the  spot  wh 
M.  Pol  is  usually  to  be  found. 

"  Look,"   he    said ;    "  you    do   not  see   any 
sparrows  in  sight  ?  " 
I  did  not. 

"  But  they  are  watching,"  he  went  on.     "  Get 
up,  walk  away,  and  watch  me  from  a  distance." 

I  followed  his  instructions.  He  rose  him 
from  the  seat  and  gathered  his  serviette  beneath 
his  arm.  In  a  moment  there  were  a  do/en 
sparrows  at  his  feet,  though  he  had  uttered  no 
sound,  and  every  second  others  arrived.  It  is 
always  thus,  he  told  me  later.  If  the  birds 
him   occupied,    talking   to   someone  or  reading 

a  paper,  they  never  ap- 
proach until  he  is  alone, 
or  until  he  folds  the  paper 
to  place  it  in  his  pocket. 
We  were  preparing  to 
leave  the  garden  together 
as  the  shadows  were 
gathering. 

"  Pere  Francois  is  fol- 
lowing," M.  Pol  said,  and 
looking  round  there  was 
a  sparrow  hopping  al< 
five  feet  in  the  rear.  He 
stopped  whilst  I  walked 
on  a  distance.  He 
stooped  and  picked  the 
bird  up  in  his  hand, 
talking  to  it  for  a 
minute,  as  he  is  seen  in 
the  last  photograph. 
Then  he  placed  Pere 
Francois  on  the  ground, 
with  strict  injunctions 
go  off  to  its  nest.  Hut 
only  after  he  had  again 
picked  it  up,  smoothed 
its  feathers,  and  given  it 
a  few  crumbs  did  the  sparrow  obey,  and  then 
only  with  reluctance,  for  it  alighted  on  a  1, 
statue  and  watched  our  departure. 

"Only  birds,"  remarked  M.  Pol,  -only  bin 
but  to  me— well,  they  are  my  family     little  ones, 
with    brains    that    understand,    and    so— I    1 


dence    in    anyone   with    whom    they    become        them." 


/  -> 


Rv  Emerson   Wakefield, 
of  Butte,  Montana. 

John    Evans  was  a  prospector,  and  had  just  made  a   "lucky  strike"  when  the  terrible    experience 
here   related   befell   him.     Whether   he  was  the  victim  of  a  dastardly  crime  or  of  a  sheer  accident 

is  as  yet  a  mystery,  and  is  likely  to  remain  so. 


XE  night  during  the  month  of  April, 
1903,  about   ii    p.m.,   a  prospector 


who  lived  by  himself  in 
cabin  near  the 
"Gate  of  the 
Mountains,"  in  Montana 
— as  lonely  a  spot  by  night 
and  as  picturesque  by  day 
as  the  beautiful  Rocky  Moun- 
tain country  possesses  —  was 
startled  by  a  weak  tap  at  his 
narrow  window  -  pane.  The 
late  hour,  the  general  lone- 
someness,  and  the  fact  that 
this  weak  tap  was  not  one  of 
the  few  familiar  gulch  sounds 
which  a  solitary  life  had  forced 
into  the  man's  mental  inven- 
tory caused  it  to  take  on 
almost  noisy  emphasis.  It 
lacked  the  soft  brush  which 
accompanied  the  tap  on  the 
glass  made  by  the  boughs  of 
the  cabin's  one  sheltering 
on-wood  tree,  nor  could 
it  be  accomplished  by  his 
friend  the  chipmunk  scamper- 
ing  belated    into   its    nest   in 


lonely 


PROSPECTOR    E.    W.    ROGERS. 

Photo,  by  ].  O.  Stephens,  Ogden,  Utah. 


the  tree.  It  was  a  distinctly  unaccountable 
sound,  and  the  glances  which  the  lone  occupant 
of  the  cabin  cast  toward  the  dark  pane  were 
uneasy.  He  saw  nothing  save 
blackness  without,  however, 
and  decided  that  his  imagina- 
tion had  played  him  a  trick. 

Rut  a  final  glance  at  the 
window  showed  him  a  sight 
which  would  tend  to  strike 
terror  to  the  soul  of  a  person 
in  such  circumstances  —  the 
pale  face  of  a  man  pressed 
close  to  the  glass  from  the 
outer  side.  It  was  a  fortunate 
fact  that  this  lone  prospector 
— E.  W.  Rogers  by  name- 
was  a  brave,  practical  man, 
not  given  to  superstitious 
imaginings.  Had  he  been 
nervous,  and  consequently 
permitted  this  spectre  at  the 
window  to  terrify  him,  visitors 
to  the  little  cabin  in  "  Gate  of 
the  Mountains "  gulch  next 
morning  would  have  discovered 
a  human  being  lying  dead  on 
the  ground  outside  the  shack. 


THE  STRANGE  STORY  OF  JOHN  EVANS. 


4*5 


When  he  recovered  from  the  shock  the  un- 
expected vision  had  given  him,  Rogers  caught  a 
second  glimpse  of  the  pale  face  at  his  window. 
He  saw  in  it  this  second  time  only  the  counte- 
nance of  a  starving  fellow-miner  or  one  in  great 
vicissitude. 

Then  the 
strange  night- 
caller  essayed 
anotherfeeble  tap 
on  the  window- 
glass,  but  the  arm 
dropped  nerve- 
less. The  visitor 
was  apparently 
too  weak  even  to 
reach  the  window- 
pane  with  his 
fin<  ers.  It  was 
the  work  of  an  in- 
stant for  Rogers 
to  open  the  door 
and  reach  the 
suffering  stran- 
ger's side.  He 
was  barely  in 
time,  however,  to 
catch  the  totter- 
ing form  as  it 
reeled  and  fell. 


What    followed    were   the  i  om 
monplace  ministrationsofhumai 
in  an  attempt       and  a   sua  essful 

one  - 

dj 

a   certain  oi    wl 

verbially  hum; 

the  matter  in  hand. 

Restoratives  and  rough   thoi 

skilful   nursing    soon    brought 
unconscious  stranger  luck  to  life, 
and  gradually    Prospect 
drew    from    him,    during   tin 
days    for   which    tin-    unfortui 
man  continued  to  share   tin;    i 
pitality  of  the  cabin  and  l< 
the  prospector's    kindly    care,    tin- 
story  of  his  recent  thrilling  expi 
ences. 

He,  too,  was  a  prospector.    John 
Evans  was  his  name,  it  ap] 
"  John  Evans,  back  last  fall  from 
the   Nome  country,  and  since  tl 
living  in  Helena  and  Butte."    Si 
the  first  warm  days  in  March  ma 
the  venture  in  any  w:  he  had 

been  out  in  the  hills.  "  Th» 
hills  over  that  way,"  said  die  sick 
man,  pointing  a  wavering  finger  indiscriminately 
in  all  directions,  his  arm  describing  a  weak  circle- 
in  the  air  as  he  attempted  to  indicate  some 
particular  locality  :  an  unsatisfactory  bit  of  geo- 
graphical information,  from   the  fact  that  rai 


'  v. 


Ill 


fcaak 


THE    LC 

From  a] 


irly  cabi;> 


TOOK    REKUGE   APTER    HIS 

FROM   THE   Ml 


4S0 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


upon    range   of  lotty  mountains  surrounds  the 
•'  Gate  of  the  Mountains  "  gulch  on  all  sides. 

He  had  been  "out  in  the  hills"  somewhere 
for  the  past  month,  with  his  blankets  and  tools 
and  such  food  as  was  easily  portable.      He  had 


met    in    his    ramblings    main    other 


wandering 


prospectors,  all  imbued  with  that  same  species 
of  mild  madness  the  search  for  yellow  gold  ; 
each  man  confident  that  some  day,  "  pretty 
soon  now,'  he  would  win  his  reward  and  "strike 
it  rich." 

■  the  fust  fortnight 
neither  himself  nor  any 
of  those  whom  he  met 
had  found  even  a 
ji  "  —  barring  the 
ordinary  outcroppings 
of  ledges,  the  chance 
fragmentary  "float" 
which  abounds  every- 
where throughout  these 
mountains. 

Then  came  a  day 
when  Evans  had  kicked 
a  loose  piece 
of  "  float  "  ab- 
sent-mindedly 
out  of  his 
path,  as  he 
was  roaming 
discouraged  ly 
over  the  rough 
hills,  and  had 
by  that  act 
uncovered  the 
peak  of  a  wall 
of  quartz  which 
was  noduled 
with  pure  gold. 

The  aston- 
is  hed  and 
doubting  man 
sank  down 
upon  his  knees 
to  make  sure 
that  what  his 
eyes  rested 
upon  w  a  s 
actually  native 
metal  and  not 
mere  "  fool's 
gold"— the 
iron  pyrites  which  deceive  the  over -jubilant 
"tenderfoot."  Presently,  however,  he  rose  to 
his  feet  and  threw  up  his  hat.  Being  an  im- 
pulsive individual,  his  deep  joy  expressed  itself 
in  a  kind  of  jubilant  dance. 

It    so    chanced    that    two   other    prospectors, 
two  "old-timers,"  a    grim-visaged    couple,    who 


HE    ROSE   TO    HIS    FEET    AND   THREW    UP    HIS    HAT. 


for  weeks  had  been  unearthing  nothing  but 
disappointments  with  their  pickaxes,  were  with- 
in sight,  and  Evans's  actions  told  them  quickly 
that  the  hat-throwing  and  dancing  party  up  near 
the  ridge  above  them  had  "  struck  "  the  par- 
ticular thing  which  they  themselves  were  in 
search  of. 

They  straightway  hurried  up  the  slope,  leav- 
ing their  packs  behind.  Then  they  beheld  the 
"  strike."      As  a  simple   "  feeler,"   to  discover 

whether  this  lucky 
fellow  was  an  "  easy 
mark  "  or  the  reverse, 
they  instantly  claimed 
"  partners'  shares  "  in 
the  find.  It  is  that 
same  law  which  as  boys 
we  were  wont  to  bring 
into  service  when  a 
stray  coin  was  picked 
up.  In  a  case  of  this 
kind  the  discoverer,  as 
I  recollect  it,  generally 
either  shared  his  find 
with  the  later  arrivals 
or  got  his  head  punched 
for  his  selfishness.  But 
Evans  had  travelled 
much.  Until  mis- 
adventure overtook  him 
he  would  never  be  long 
mistaken  for  an  "  easy 
mark." 

"  Finding's  keepings," 
or  words  of  the  same 
import,  was  the  burden 
of  his  curt  response  to 
the  two  men. 

The  pair  eyed  Evans 
meditatively  for  a  few 
minutes,  just  the  sus- 
picion of  an  ugly  gleam 
betraying  itself  in  their 
covetous  orbs.  Then 
some  rapid  interchange 
of  thought  seemed  to 
pass  between  the  two 
men  in  a  swift  glance, 
understandable  to 
themselves  alone  ;  and, 
mumbling  some  un- 
complimentary words 
of  adieu  to  the  discoverer,  who  paid  but  scant 
attention  to  them,  they  slowly  moved  off  down 
the  mountain. 

Evans  speedily  got  to  work  at  setting  his 
"stakes"  and  in  preparing  to  comply  with 
the  other  legal  formulas  necessary  to  make  his 
discovery  his  own  property,  wondering  vaguely 


THE  STRANGE  STORY  OF  JOHN  EVANS. 


meanwhile  why  the  strangers  had  not  con- 
tented themselves  with  marking  off  adjoining 
claims  in  the  direction  in  which  the  ridge  he 
had  uncovered  seemed  to  trend.  Busy  at 
his  occupation,  it  was  well  along  toward  dusk 
before  Evans  finally  desisted  and  began  to 
gather  up  his  belongings  preparatory  to  a  trip 
to  town.  He  proposed  to  record  everything 
properly  and  go  to  work  with  no  fears  of 
future  legal  quibblings. 

Suddenly  a  gruff  voice  fell  upon  his  ears  from 
somewhere  close  in  his  rear. 

"  You're  a  lucky  beggar,  an'  no  mistake,"  said 
this  voice,  and,  turning  sharply,  Evans  was 
somewhat  disconcerted  to  behold  his  two  dis- 
appointed would-be  partners  back  again. 


down  the  hillside  a  short  ways  and   lookin'  at 
a  bit  of  rock  we've  run  into  which  we  fancy — 
'spite   of  our   general   luck — may   be   the 
stuff?" 

Evans  had  nothing   to   gain    by   demurrii 
His  claim  was  as  secure  with   him  a  few  i 
away  as  it  would  be  by  his  staying  close  to  it. 
He  didn't  quite  like  the  look  of  his  two  visit 
yet   it  seemed  a  case  where   lie  might  as  well 
oblige.     So,  gathering  up  his  pack  and  holding 
it  in  his   left  hand   by   the   stout   strap    which 
would    later    fasten    it    across    his    back,    the 
prospector  prepared  to  follow  the  men,  disavow 
ing,   however,   anything  more  than  a  common 
miner's  knowledge  of  ore  values. 

Two-thirds    down   the   incline    the  party,    in 


THE   "GATE   OF   THE   MOUNTAINS"    IN    MONTANA.      MK.    E.    VV.    ROGERS  S    CABIN    IS    SITUATE 

From  a  Photo. 


NEAR    HERE. 


"  We  two  have  been  lookin'  fer  a  find  such  as 
that  'ere  fer  nigh  on  to  six  weeks,  but  we  hain't 
no  luck,"  continued  the  speaker.  Then,  with  a 
villainous  contortion  of  his  features  intended  for 
a  propitiative  smile,  he  went  on  :  "  Howsomever, 
we  ain't  so  sure  even  about  that.  Mayhap, 
mister,"  he  interjected,  abruptly,  with  a  sharp 
glance  at  the  garb  of  the  prospector,  who  had 
gone  out  clad  in  "store  clothes "—"  Mayhap 
you're  one  of  them  'ere  mining  sharps— experts, 
like  ?  If  luckily  you  are,"  he  went  on,  instantly, 
without  pausing  for  a  reply  to  his  query,  "  p'r'aps 
you'd  do  us  unlucky  chaps  a  favour  by  steppin' 


rounding   a  large  boulder,  came  unexpectedly 
upon  an  old  shaft,  long  since  abandoned 
covered  over.     The  three  nun  were  in  tl 
town    country,   a  district   which    for  ye 
been  a  landscape  of   deserted  mine- working 
and  dismantled  shafts,  but  which  was  now  1 
ransacked  again  owing  to  a  few  "lucky  stri 
in  the  locality.     The  old   shaft   lay  directly  in 
the  prospectors'  path,  and  the  three  men  hap- 
pened to  be  so  disposed  that  one  of  the  strangers 
walked  oh  either  side  of  Evans. 

Seeing  that  the  planking  across  the  top  of  the 
shaft  showed  signs  of  great  age,  and  there  being 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


a  general  appearance  of  instability  about  the 
cover,  Evans  naturally  made  a  movement  tc 
step  to  one  side  and  follow  one  oi  the  other 
men  around  the  edge  d  it.  No  sootier  did  he 
do  this,  however,  than  as  if  by  a  prearranged 
il  each  o(  his  companions  seized  him  firmly 
n  arm,  with  the  apparent  intention  of  sup 
porting  him  across  the  insecure  footway  from 
their  own  safer  positions  at  the  side. 

V      ''.her  human   being  was   in   sight.     The 
sun  was  already  below  the  ridge  ol  mountains  to 
the  west.     1  >arlcness  was  fast  settling  down  and 
adding  gloom   to  a  landscape  which   man   had 
been  working  for  half  a  century  to  render  deso 
late.      Evans  had  taken  but  two  short  steps  on 
the  unstable  shaft  cover  when  he  felt  it 
ng  way.      He  made  a  frantic  effort 
to  save  himself,  but  without  avail. 


unconscious,  I  suppose,  with  a  faint  sense  of 
striking  a  pool  of  ice-cold  water  at  the  bottom, 
and  of  a  shower  of  earth  and  loose  rocks  falling 
around  my  shoulders  on  the  'sump.' 

"  How  long  I  lay  unconscious  I  don't  know. 
I  awoke,  whenever  I  did  awake,  to  see  the  stars 
shining  through  the  little  round  hole  away  up  at 
the  top  of  the  dark  shaft,  and  to  find  the  whole 
ol  my  body  below  the  shoulders  under  a  shallow 
pool  of  'sump'  water.  My  pack  had  either 
followed  me  down,  or  else  I  had  instinctively  hung 
on  to  it,  and  I  now  found  my  head  resting  upon 
the  corner  of  it.  This  in  all  probability  saved 
me  from  drowning,  while  the  pool  of  water  effec- 
tually broke  my  fall,  though  I  felt  sore  all  over. 


"    HK    MADE    A    FKANT1C    EFFORT    TO    SAVE    HIMSELF.' 


We  may  as  well  continue  the  narrative  in  his 
own  words,  as  he  first  vaguely  outlined  it  and 
subsequently,  in  response  to  many  questions, 
filled  in  the  details  during  the  two  days  he 
stayed  with  Prospector  Rogers. 

"  Then  I  felt  myself  falling.  I  just  partly 
realized  that  I  was  dropping  to  my  death,  but  I 
can't  properly  describe  my  sensations.  You'll 
have  to  fall  down  a  shaft  yourself  to  get  those. 
I  do  know,  however,  that  it  is  a  terrible  feeling 
— one  I  don't  wish  to  repeat.  It  seemed  to  me 
that    I    fell    a    mile.     Then     I     went    suddenly 


"  For  a  while  I  was  too  confused  and  shaken 
up  to  even  make  an  effort  to  stir.  I  just  lay 
there  and  gazed  up  at  the  stars.  Then  I  realized 
where  I  was — down  on  the  'sump'  of  an  old, 
dismantled  mine,  nearly  -a.  hundred  feet  below 
the  surface,  with  about  as  much  prospect  of 
reaching  that  surface  as  of  reaching  the  stars  ! 

"  The  dangers  of  the  lay-out  helped  to  clear 
my  brain.  I  knew  the  case  called  for  quick 
action,  if  only  to  prevent  my  freezing  to 
death  The  water  about  me  was  icy  cold,  and 
the  air  in  the  shaft  was  so  black  that  it 
felt  heavy.     Groping  about  I  caught  hold  of  an 


THE    STRANGE    STORY    OF    JOHN    EVANS. 


489 


old  pick-handle,  as  I  took  it  to  be,  sticking  up 
firmly  from  a  corner  of  the  shaft-bottom,  and 
by  its  aid  I  drew  myself  slowly  to  my  feet.  I 
began  feeling  about  thj  soft  earthen  walls  with 
a  vague  hope  of  discovering  something  to  climb 


up   by. 


Of  course,   I  wasn't    looking   for  any 


stairway,  for  I  am  pretty  well  posted  about 
mining  shafts.  But  I  thought  there  might 
possibly  be  crevices  and  sunk-in  spots,  or  maybe 
rocks  jutting  out  that  I  could  get  my  feet  on 
to.  But  there  was  nothing — nothing  but  soft, 
crumbling  earth, 
utterly  unclimbable! 
It  made  me  swallow 
hard  for  just  a 
minute. 

"Eve  got  a  lad 
back  there  in  the 
States  who  thinks  a 
heap  of  me,  and, 
anyway,  I  wasn't 
going  to  die  like  a 
drowned  rat  in  a 
hole  if  I  could  help 
it.  The  thought  of 
the  boy  at  that 
moment  made  me 
desperate.  I  went 
frantically  around 
those  shaft  walls 
again,  patting  them 
all  over  with  the 
palms  of  my  hands. 
And  this  time,  right 
at  my  very  elbow, 
where  Ed  overlooked 
it,  I  struck  my  hand 
against  a  sharp  ledge 
of  rock. 

"  The  rock  cut  my 
hands,  but  I  never 
cared.  It  was  one 
step  toward  freedom. 
I  jumped  up  on  it 
quick.  A  few  feet 
above  this  ledge  was 
a  second  one.  I 
climbed  that.  Above 
this  was  a  third  ledge 

which  I  could  just  touch  with  my  finger-tips.  I 
must  have  been  quite  an  hour  in  reaching  this 
third  ledge.  Twice  I  fell  sprawling  and  splash- 
ing back  into  the  'sump'  water.  My  failures 
were  enough  to  have  discouraged  me  with  less 
at  stake,  but  I  thought  of  the  lad  and,  by  an 
extra  effort,  caught  the  rock. 

"Then  I  could  find  no  more  ledges,  though 
I  leaned  out  as  far  as  I  dared  on  both  sides  of 
me.    However,  the  shaft  had  been  caving  some- 

Vol.  xii.-62. 


*  « 


I    RETURNED    TO    THE    'SUMP'    AT   A   SLOW,    EASY    SI 


what  above  this  third  ledge,  and  it  left  a  st 
incline.     I  gained   ten  feci     or  ten   steps  -up 
toward   the    surface    by  \r.  die    wall    and 

plunging  my  fingers  deep  into  the  dirt.     Th 
suddenly,  my  grabs  for  a  hold 
and  both  hands  came  away  at  rth, 

and  I   returned  to  die  'sump'  at   a  slow,  1 
slide. 

"This  was  merely  the  beginning  of  lon_  ■ 
of   imprisonment.       1    don't    know    I 
days;  I'll  figure  that  out  when   I   feel  stron 

(  'all  it  thne  or  four 
days  if  you  like  -to 
me  it  was  years. 
but  three  or  four 
days  is  all  a  man 
could  stand  of  it,  I 
think.  You  may 
not  believe  it,  but  I 
tried  that 
climb  up  the  side  of 
the  shaft  thirty-five 
times  !  I  rani)-  g 
farther  than  the 
tenth  step  above  the 
third  ledgi  Then 
both  my  hand-holds 
would  give  way  and 
I  would  fall  to  the 
'sump.'  That's  what 
most  of  my  brui 
came  from.  If  Ed 
kept  at  it,  it  seems 
I  might  have  filled 
the  shaft  up  in  time. 
I  believe  that  was » 
of  the  foolish  th; 
I  did  try  when  I  be- 
gan to  get  delirii  ■ 

"  Then,  somehow, 
on.  da)  1  bethought 
myself  of  that  pick- 
axe handle  in  the 
'sump.'  I  went 
down  my  toboggan 
into  the  foot  of 
water  below, 
around,  and  found 
the    banc!  With 

some  difficulty  I  finally  wrenched  it  loose,  and 
discovered  that  it  had  one  solid,   though  n: 
iron  pick  at  the  end.       This  old  ti 
dropped    from   the  surface  \<  by   some 

careless  miner,  long  since  dead,  or  ma 
stuck  in  the  ground  by  him  before  his  last  trip 
up  saved  my  life,  though  it  was  in  a  round- 
about-way. By  using  it  to  stick  into  the  walls 
above  where  I  could  climb  I  made  my  way, 
after  a  score  of  failures,  over  a  bulging-out  place 


49° 


THE     WIDE    WORLD     MAC.  A/INK. 


about  half-way  to  the  top  ;  and  when  I  lifted 
myseli  over  this  I  crept  on  my  hands  and  knees 
into  a  four-foot  cross-cut— that  is,  an  inclined 
lateral  tunnel  on  the  top  of  what  in  the  active 
s  of  the  mine  had  been  mistaken  for  the  true 
vein.  This  led  up  to  within  a  few  feet  of  the 
surface  and  then  stopped.  From  here  I  dug 
my  way  out  with  the  pick. 

'•  Don't  think  I  did  it  all  at  once.  It  took 
a  long,  long  time.  .Many  times  I  stopped  to 
sleep.  Towards  the  last  I  kept  falling  into 
stupors,  due  to  starvation  and  exhaustion.  Once 
I  awoke  to  find  mountain  rats  —  or  gophers, 
maybe  —  running  over  my  body,  and  another 
time  I  loosened  a  big  rock,  which  missed  my 
head  by  less  than  three  inches.  The  air  in  the 
cross-cut  was  remarkably  fresh,  and  there  must 
inly  have  been  some  other  way  out  of  the 
tunnel,  or  a  big  earth  crevice,  though  I  could 
find  neither." 

It  must  not  be  thought  that  the  invalid  told 
his  experiences  as  connectedly  and  rapidly  as 
they  are  here  set  down.  He  occupied  his 
waking  hours  for  two  full  days  and  nights  in 
telling  his  story  in  disjointed  sentences,  pausing 
frequently  for  breath  and  many  times  falling 
into  a  semi-stupor.  Even  then  Prospector 
Rogers  was  obliged  to  fill  in  as  best  he  could 
gaps  where  his  patient  merely  indicated  his 
meaning  in  incoherent  gasps. 

Poor  Evans  could  tell  absolutely  nothing  as  to 
how  he  had  made  his  way,  after  his  escape  from 
his  underground  prison,  to  this  distant  gulch, 
though  after  completing  his  story  he  kept  adding 
shadowy  memories  of  his  subsequent  experiences 
—a  long  ride  in  a  range  waggon,  curled  up  in 
the  bottom  of  the  waggon-bed,  and  an  escape 
therefrom  in  a  delirious  condition  under  the 
impression  that  he  was  in  the  hands  of  enemies. 
He  remembered  crossing  a  bridge  on  foot  the 
day  before  he  reached  Rogers's  cabin,  which  was 
probably  the  Missouri  River  bridge  at  Canyon 
Ferry. 

From  his  own  rambling  talk  and  the  testi- 
mony of  different  witnesses  who  claim  to  have 
met  a  person  answering  the  general  description 
at  various  places  miles  apart,  an  imaginary  path 
of  his  wanderings  has  been  drawn  out,  which,  if 
true,  shows  that  the  half-crazed  man  made  his 
way,  during  little   more   than  a   week  after  his 


escape  from  the  shaft,  a  distance  of  nearly  two 
hundred  miles  !  Allowing  for  "  lifts  "  in  passing 
waggons,  he  must  still  have  travelled  night  and 
day  without  rest  to  have  reached  the  mountain 
cabin  by  the  roundabout  course  he  is  believed 
to  have  taken.  It  is  also  possible,  by  com- 
paring a  quantity  of  testimony,  to  fix  approxi- 
mately the  period  Evans  spent  in  the  shaft — no 

-  than  a  whole  week ! 

One  other  matter  I  must  touch  upon.  Black 
as  the  case  against  the  two  strangers  looks,  it  is 
not  impossible  that  poor  Evans's  fall  down  the 
shaft,  prearranged  though  it  appears  to  be,  was 
accidental.  Two  remarkable  and  apparently 
conflicting  facts  in  connection  with  the  matter 
render  it  difficult  to  state  anything  positively 
one  way  or  the  other.  No  attempt,  so  far 
as  is  known,  was  made  by  his  companions, 
either  at  the  time  or  later,  to  rescue  him  from 
his  awful  position,  nor  was  anyone  apprised  of 
his  situation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  "  lucky 
strike "  which  he  had  discovered  by  chance — 
surely  the  main  motive  of  the  crime,  if  crime  it 
be — was  not  "jumped"  by  his  whilom  com- 
panions. Whether  the  two  strangers  thought 
Evans  was  killed  outright  by  his  fall  down  the 
shaft  and  feared  being  implicated  in  his  death, 
or  whether,  if  guilty,  they  were  too  scared  by 
the  heinousness  of  their  crime  to  seize  the 
claim,  are  mysteries  of  which  I  can  offer  no 
solution. 

Possibly,  if  they  did  lead  Evans  to  his  death, 
they  met  some  compensating  evil  fate  them- 
selves which  prevented  their  reaping  the  fruits 
of  their  dastardly  crime.  The  whole  matter,  in 
great  part,  however,  must  be  left  as  one  more 
of  the  many  unsolved  mysteries  of  this  wild 
mountain  country. 

There  is  but  little  more  to  add.  On  the 
third  day  after  the  unfortunate  prospector's 
arrival  at  the  shack  in  the  gulch,  Mr.  Rogers 
secured  a  conveyance  and  had  him  removed  to 
more  commodious  quarters  at  the  ranch-house 
of  a  Mr.  Linkest.  Here,  after  the  delirium  of 
a  raging  brain  fever  which  set  in,  the  unfortunate 
miner  soon  sank  into  a  heavy  stupor.  From  this 
he  never  wholly  recovered,  and  death  supervened 
after  three  days  of  almost  total  unconsciousness 
Poor  Evans  reached  the  end  of  his  life's  journey 
over  an  exceedingly  rough  trail,  but  he  had 
found  rest  at  last. 


I. 

Being  an  account  ot  the  journeyings  01  an  English  gold-miner  who,  at  the  head  of  a  small  party, 
tramped  over  four  thousand  miles  in  the  most  remote  recesses  of  the  Himalayas  prospecting 
for  precious  stones  and  metals.  Some  of  the  ground  Mr.  Simmonds  covered  had  never  before 
been    trodden   by  human   foot,  and   he   saw  many   strange    and    curious   sights,    eventually    succeeding 

in  penetrating  for  some  distance  into  mysterious  Thibet. 


LEFT  Simla  at  the  end  of  May 
with  four  heavily  laden  mules,  one 
hillman  as  chuprassie  to  look  after 
transport,  coolies,  etc.,  and  my  two 
body  servants.  We  arrived  the  first 
night  at  Phagu  Dak  Bungalow,  having  covered 
so  far  only  twelve  miles.  I  believe  in  starting 
with  a  short  journey  in  order  to  allow  things  to 
shake  down. 

I  do  not  propose,  for  the  purpose  of  the 
present  articles,  to  give  a  fully  detailed  account 
of  my  journey — indeed,  such  a  course  would  be 
impossible — but  to  touch  only  on  what  I  con- 
sider the  most  striking  and  interesting  incidents. 
We  will  therefore  go  right  on  to  Kulu,  and  I 
will  begin  by  describing  a  long  day's  walk  I  had 
to  Sheregunga  hot  springs,  mostly  through  dense 
forest,  and  part  of  it  over  an  execrable  bit  of 
road.  The  forest,  which  at  first  consisted  of 
creeping  juniper,  changed  successively  to  dwarf 


rhododendrons,   birch  and  yew,  and  pines  and 
maples.       I     measured    some    forget  me  nots 
which  reached   a  height  of   five   feet  !     Th 
were  also  some  uncommonly  tine  strawberries. 
I    encountered     many     moraines     line,     from 
fifty  to  three    hundred    feet    in   height,    resting 
on  the  top  of  glaciers,   from  under  which 
mountain  streams  issue  close  to  the  main  ri 
One  day  I  sent  one  of  my  coolies  si>me  dista 
for   fuel,    but  he  never   returned,   and   was 
seen  again,  all  my  inquiries  failing  t<>  elicit  any 
clue  as  to  his  whereabouts  or  fate. 

Arrived  at  Phulga,  our  way  took   us  down   a 
very    steep    descent    and    round    a    dan 
shelving  piece  of  rock ;  by  the  aid  of  two   men 
I  safely  accomplished  it.     Then  we  had  to  ( i 
a  bridge  which  to  an  ordinary-nerved  man 
well  -  high    appalling    to    contemplate.      During 
my  journey   I   had  to   negotiate  many   strange 
bridges,  but  this  was  one  of  the  least  inviting. 


402 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


Let  me  describe  it.  It  spanned  the  Parbatti, 
was  two  and  a  half  feet  wide  ami  forty  feet 
long,  without  side  rails  of  any  kind,  and  it 
hung  sixty  feet  above  a  raging  torrent!  The 
sides  oi  the  ravine  were  precipitous  and  crowned 
with  a  tangle  {■>(  wild  foliage.  The  bridge  was 
formed  of  two  saplings,  with  small  slabs  of  wood 
laid  -    them,    fastened   with    jungle   grass. 

The  torrent  below  sped  along  with  almost  light- 
ning velocity,  and  altogether  the  passage  was  a 
somewhat   "  dizzy  "  experience.       However,   we 
safely  crossed,   so 
all  was  well. 

farther  on,  at 
mall  villi 
called  Naktharn, 
I  noticed  that  all 
the  people  kept 
5.  There  were 
numerous  hi\ 
made  out  of  hol- 
low logs,  with  a 
one-inch  hole  in 
front  for  the  en- 
trance of  the  bees, 
and  a  little  trap- 
door at  the  back 
for  taking  out  the 
honey.  The  hives 
were  three  to  five 
feet  in  length  and 
about  one  and  a 
half  feet  in  dia- 
meter. They  stood 
upright  in  rows, 
resting  on  the 
balconies.  Some 
of  them  were  in- 
side the  houses, 
and  the  one-inch 
hole  went  clean 
through  the  side 
of  the  house  from 
the  outside. 

One  night  I 
was  awakened 
from  my  sleep  by 

my  servants,  who  said  that  there  was  a  queer, 
shining  light  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream, 
which  they  thought  must  be  diamonds  !  There 
certainly  wras  a  shining  light,  but,  so  far  as  I 
could  see,  it  was  caused  by  the  moon  glistening 
on  a  flake  of  mica,  which  reflected  the  light  like 
a  heliograph.  Another  night  I  was  aroused  to 
look  at  a  light  shining  on  the  top  of  a  mountain 
tipped  with  snow.  It  proved  to  be  a  star  just 
rising  over  the  top  of  the  mountain  !  The  men 
said  it  must  be  either  sapphires  or  diamonds. 
Thus  are  mines  created  in  this  region  ! 


THE    AUTHOR,    MR. 

From 


At  Bazara  Dak  Bungalow — please  to  remem- 
ber that  metaphorically  we  are  territorially 
jumping  miles  -  -  I  heard  of  a  very  serious 
tragedy  that  had  happened  there.  Exactly 
a  year  before  my  arrival,  to  the  very  day, 
the  mountain  stream  running  alongside  the 
bungalow  quite  suddenly  came  down  a  "  banker" 
in  the  night,  after  some  very  heavy  rain,  and 
village,  shops,  mules,  and  sheep  were  carried 
away  in  the  mad  rush  of  the  water.  About 
forty  human  beings  and  two  or  three  hundred 

animals  were 
drowned,  the 
water  coming  up 
to  the  veranda  of 
the  bungalow. 
When  I  arrived, 
however,  the 
stream  was  run- 
ning placidly 
along,  about  six 
inches  deep,  and 
twenty  feet  below 
the  veranda. 

Eventually  we 
arrived  at  Gush- 
aini,  a  lovely 
valley,  like  an 
English  meadow, 
carpeted  with 
flowers.  The  track 
was  rather  rough, 
but  as  it  ran 
principally 
through  forests  it 
was  fairly  cool. 
Most  of  the  way 
there  was  a  dense 
undergrowth, 
which  did  not, 
however,  rise 
more  than  three 
or  four  feet  from 
the  ground,  com- 
posed of  various 
flowers,  weeds, 
ferns,  wild  indigo, 
and  iris  plants.  Notwithstanding  the  presence 
of  pines,  oaks,  and  yews,  some  of  the  forest  was 
not  unlike  parts  of  jungle  in  the  Malay  Penin- 
sula, partly  owing  to  the  extreme  damp,  I  fancy. 
We  crossed  a  belt  of  granite  country  that  looked 
very  likely  for  tin,  but  could  find  no  trace  of 
that  metal. 

In  the  evening  I  walked  up  the  mountain  in 
the  forest,  and  had  a  look  at  some  old  workings 
for  iron,  which  I  found  all  fallen  in.  The 
villagers  stated  that  since  the  Government  had 
taken    over    the    forest    they    had    not    been 


CHAS.    E.    SIMMONDS. 
a  Photo. 


ON    FOOT    TO    THIBET. 


493 


allowed  to  make  charcoal  to  smelt  the  ore, 
without  paying  for  it,  and  thus  the  mines  had 
been  abandoned.  The  headman  of  the  village, 
I  found,  had  never  even  been  into  Simla,  and 
wanted  particularly  to  know  if  what  he  had 
heard  about  railways  and  ships  and  their  speed 
was  true.  Also,  what  was  the  distance  to 
England,  and  its  direction  from  where  we  stood? 
All  this  I  tried  to  explain,  but  I  am  afraid  he  did 
not  take  it  all  in. 

The  crickets,  or  cicadas,  on  the  trees  in  this 
district  make  an  awful  row.  I  also  came  across  a 
barking  deer,  or  "  kukku,"  this  being  the  second 
I  had  heard,  the  other  being  near  Chusani. 
There  was  a  great  quantity  of  mistletoe  on  the 
trees  along  the  village  tracks,  and  some  huge 


walked  away  a  short  distance,    and    sat    down 
with   their   backs  to  me,  drawing  their  clol 
over  their  heads  and  appearing  very  bashful. 

I  found  fever  very   prevalent    here,    1 
inhabitants  being  down  with  it,  and   finally  my 
chuprassie  succumbed.     I  gave  him  I 
pills  one  night  and  a  big   dose   of  quinine   in 
the  morning,  and  by  the  evening  he  was  quite 
chirpy. 

At  Rampur,   on  the  banks  of  the  Sutlej,  to 
where   I   had   a   hard   walk    from    I  ..    a 

distance  of  twenty-three  miles,  the  heat  was 
intense.  It  took  me  two  hours  to  satisfy  my 
thirst  !  I  camped  in  a  mountainous  defile, 
seeking  as  much  shelter  as  was  obtainable. 

I  next   journeyed  on   to  Sarhan,    first   by   a 


From  a] 


THE  AUTHOK S  CAMP  AT  RAMPUR. 


slugs  were  to  be  seen.  By  all  accounts  the  place 
was  full  of  bears.  One  of  the  coolies  I  took 
from  the  place  was  minus  his  left  eye  and  part 
of  his  nose  from  an  embrace  with  a  bear  a  year 
or  two  before.  It  appeared  that  he  had  lost  a 
sheep  and  went  to  look  for  it.  He  found  it 
being  devoured  by  a  bear,  which  promptly 
tackled  him,  with  the  disastrous  results  described. 
I  next  come,  in  the  order  of  my  present 
narrative,  to  the  village  called  Gatole,  distant 
many  miles  from  Gushaini.  In  prospecting  I 
came  across  two  women  washing  for  gold — 
washing  the  soil,  not  themselves  !  The  two 
lady  diggers,  when  they  saw  me,  left  their  work, 


descent,  and  then  a  stiff  ascent  of  about  two 
thousand  feet,  the  road  running  round  a 
precipice,   blasted   out   of    the    solid  and 

guarded  in  places  by  a  hand-rail.  Common  ivy 
Was  growing  round  the  trees,  and  capital  water- 
cress in  almost  all  the  streams. 

After  this  our  road  led  round  some  terrific 
precipices,  in  which  baulks  of  wood  had  I 
driven  to  support  the  road,  and  riding  over 
which,  some  years  ago,  a  man  named  Lawrence 
lost  his  life,  in  consequence  of  the  crazy  1 
way  giving  way  and  precipitating  him  and  his 
horse  down  into  the  valley  below. 

We  went  down  and  camped  on  the  banks  of 


404 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


A    NERVE-SHAKING    NATIVE    BRIDGE- 


WOBBLED    TERRIBLE 
Fro)n  a  Photo. 


AND   HAD   A    SLIGHT 


STARBOARD. 


the  Sutlej,  by  the  side  of  an  old  cantilever 
bridge.  Another  of  those  wonderful  bridges  ! 
As  we  were  warily  crossing  the  bridge  some 
loose  planks  in  it  turned  over.  There  was  no 
rail,  and  the  bridge 
wobbled  terribly. 
When  I  again 
crossed  in  the 
evening,  wet 
through,  the  rotten 
boards  were  so 
slippery  from  the 
rain  that  I  did  not 
care  to  venture 
upon  them  until  I 
had  had  a  little 
grass  laid  down 
over  the  middle 
part,  as  the  struc- 
ture, among  its 
other  peculiarities, 
had  a  slight  list  to 
starboard,  and  a 
glissade  off  the 
boards  meant  cer- 
tain death.  This 
bridge  is  shown  in 
the  above  photo- 
graph. 

Every  village 
about  these  parts 
— Kunowar,  Kulu, 


Mandi,  etc. — has  a  house 
for  its  own  god.     A  typical 
in    the    snap-shot    below, 
decorated  on  the  outside  wi 


A   TYPICAL   VILLAGE   GOD-HOUSE. 


[Photo. 


especially  set  apart 
god-house  is  seen 
These  houses  are 
th  goats'  and  rams' 
horns,  and  occa- 
sionally burrels'. 
Sometimes  a  god 
(of  course,  through 
its  priests)  makes 
a  claim  on  the 
deity  of  another 
village  for  money, 
meal,  or  land  ;  this 
being  denied,  the 
dispute  is  referred 
to  the  rajah's  god, 
and  so  on,  to  the 
ultimate  benefit  of 
all  concerned,  with 
the  exception  of  the 
wretched  peasants, 
who  alone  have  to 
bear  the  brunt  of 
the  consequent  liti- 
gations. The  gods 
are  m  a  d  e  f  r  o  m 
cloth,  silver  paper, 
etc.,  and  some- 
times, at  a  very  big 
mela  or  holy  fair, 
forty  or  fifty  of  them 
are  assembled,  each 


ON    FOOT    TO    THIBET. 


From  a] 


THE   EXPEDITION    CROSSING   THE    KUT   PASS. 


*■• 


m 


from  a  different  hamlet,  escorted  in  great  state 

by  the  villagers  to    the  sound  of   weird  music 

from    all    manner  of    instruments    and    to  the 

accompaniment 

of     much    grotesque      £H| 

dancing. 

I  experienced  at 
this  stage  of  my 
journey  much  disap- 
pointment in  not 
being  able  to  use  my 
camera  to  my  satis- 
faction. By  the  time 
the  sun  topped  the 
high  mountains  by 
which  the  valley  was 
enclosed  clouds 
gathered,  and  it  often 
started  to  drizzle. 
As  one  of  the  vil- 
lagers stated,  "  The 
weather  is  a  scoun- 
drel in  this  village  : 
it  never  goes  a  week 
without  rain.'' 

We  had  a  stiff 
walk  back  over  Kut 
Pass,  two  stages,  to 
below  Churo  village, 
on     the     Sutlej,    our 

,    ,  r,J  ■  THE    MAIl 

old   camp.      Starting        From  a] 


a.m.,    \\c    did 

five     minutes     until 
4     p.m.       Tl, 

very     dreary,      I 
g r ou  n  d      b 

1    with 
We  journi 
Sholto,  on   the  right 

bank  "of  the  ri\ 
We  had  to  pass  o 
a  gallery  built  al 
the  edge  of  the  i 
over  the  river,  and 
constructed  of  thick 
planks  and  baulks 
of  timber  fastened 
■ther  with  iron 
bolts.  As  will  be 
seen  from  the  an- 
nexed photograph, 
the  path  is  suspended 
at  a  giddy  height, 
the  rugged  cliff  being 
almost  perpendicu- 
lar, rising  abruptly 
from  a  wild  and 
desolate  gorge  through  which  a  torrent 
thunders  tumultously.  This  aerial  highway 
is  called  the  main  Hindustan-Thibet  road. 


Who  to. 


m 


•CDUSTAN-THIBET   ROAD-THE    PATH    IS    SUSPENDED   AT    A  GIDDY    HE1GHI 
A    PRECIPITOUS   CLIFF   OVERHANGING  A   TUMULTUO  \fHOtO. 


496 


THF.    WIPE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


I  prospected  up  this  gorge,  although  I  could 
only  go  about  a  mile,  as  it  narrowed  down 
with  sheer  cliffs  on  each  side,  and  the  narrow 
road  gallerv  along  their  lace  had  broken  down. 
I  met  a  forest  guard  here  with  a  most  fearfully- 
disfigured  face,  caused  by  a  bear  meeting  him 
on  the  narrow  track  late  one  evening  and  going 
for  him.  As  a  rule,  bears  will  not  attack  one 
unless  they  have  their  cubs  with  them;  but 
when  suddenly  met  on  a  lonely  path  they  show 
fight  as   much  out   of   fear  as   from  any   other 


cause 


( )ur  (Kith  next  led  along  the  left  bank  of  the 
Sutlej  to  its  junction  with  the  Baspa  River,  a 
large  tributary,  up  the  left  bank  of  which  it 
continued.  Part  of  it,  where  level,  went  through 
a  few  barley-fields,  occasionally  irrigated,  and 
the  crop  looked  fairly  well.  Farther  on,  how- 
ever, on  the  uplands,  the  barley  crop  was  poor, 
owing    to   the  large  amount   of  snow   that  fell. 


forest  on  the  alluvial  flat,  which  was  evidently 
the  old  bed  of  the  Baspa.  On  the  way  we  met 
a  funeral  procession.  In  front  of  the  corpse 
was  a  band  composed  of  drums,  hill  pipes,  etc., 
while  behind,  in  single  file,  walked  men  with 
lin  wood  on  their  backs  for  burning  the  corpse 
on  the  banks  of  the  Baspa.  No  women  attend 
funerals  here.  The  deceased  man  had  come  by 
his  death  while  herding  cattle  on  the  steep  cliffs 
below  Kailas,  one  of  the  beasts  dislodging  a 
boulder  from  above,  which  fell  on  him  and 
killed  him. 

The  fields  above  Sungla,  on  the  south  lower 
slopes  of  Mount  Kailas,  are  frequently  spoiled  by 
a  sudden  rush  of  water  and  boulders  from  that 
mountain,  and  it  was  above  them  that  the  man 
whose  funeral  I  have  just  described  was  killed 
by  a  falling  boulder. 

Mount  Kailas  itself  is  a  rugged,  snow-capped 
height,   and  I    succeeded   in    obtaining  a  very 


r 

I 
I 

I 


From  a] 


Barley  is  the  principal,  and  almost  only,  crop 
hereabouts  in  the  few  scattered  villages.  It  is 
sown  in  October,  and  consequently,  like  the 
autumn  crops  at  home,  has  to  remain  in  the  soil 
all  the  winter. 

The  path  along  the  Baspa  River  was  in  one 
place  carried  over  the  slanting  cliffs  on  timber, 
planks,  etc.,  two  feet  wide,  and  there  was  rather 
a  nasty  place  over  a  landslip  of  slippery  shale, 
where  there  was  no  path  at  all,  save  the  mark  of 
the  feet  of  the  coolies  going  in  front. 

Having  reached  the  junction  of  the  Rukti 
and   Baspa    Rivers,    we    camped   in    a   deodar 


good  photographic  view  of  it,  which  forms  the 
heading  of  this  article.  I  likewise  obtained  a 
good  view  of  the  mountains  to  the  east  of  Mount 
Kailas.  Words  are  scarcely  adequate  to  describe 
these  magnificent  eminences,  the  view  from  the 
tops  of  which  is  simply  enthralling,  so  vast  is  the 
outlook. 

During  several  nights  bitterly  cold  rain  fell 
without  intermission;  this  did  not,  however, 
stop  the  women  from  going  to  the  "dogris" 
above  to  work.  One  woman,  who  always  passed 
my  camp  everv  morning  with  a  baby  slung  on 
her   back,    with   only   its   little  head  appearing, 


ON    FOOT    TO    THIBET. 


497 


went  out  to  work  as  usual,  with  the  baby,  but 
its  head  was  covered.  The  Kunowaris,  with 
their  puttoo  clothes,  seemed  to  absolutely  dis- 
regard the  rain,  and  their  youngsters  are  inured 
to  it  from  the  start. 

I  am  bound  to  confess  that  I  found  being 
alone  all  day  in  a  small  tent,  with  the  thermo- 
meter just  over  forty  degrees  and  an  incessant 
sleety  rain  falling,  not  at  all  pleasant. 

The  village  god,  with  much  singing  and 
music  on  hill  musical  instruments,  was  taken  in 
the  pouring  rain  up  to  one  of  the  "  dogris  "  and 
back,  as  I  could  hear  from  my  tent.  Rather 
rough  luck  on  him  !  So  far  as  I  could  under- 
stand, each  village  god  is  possessed  of  earthly 


peculiar.     They  an  ed,  one  abow  another, 

at  the  foot  and  on  the  sides  ol  the  hill    . 

distance  they  look  like  housi  will 

be  seen  from  the  photo,  below. 

some  are  flat  and   covered   with  per-like 

birch-bark,  on  the  top  of  whii 

and  beaten  down  with  a  huge  mallet  aft( 

showers   of  rain.      These  flat,  sat 

fine  playgrounds  for  the  children. 

The    people    in    these    parts    are     not    finite 
Buddhists  and  not  quite   Hindus,  but   comb 
a  little  of  both.     One  morning  I  went   up 
Oorbat  khud  to  see  a  supposed  silver-mine,  but 
found  nothing  except  a  little  titaniferous  iron  in 
the  soil.     We  had  to  cross  the  khud  high  up  on 


Wr  mi- 


*FW 


Frolic  a] 


AT   A    DISTANCE   THE    VILLAGE 


ik"    LIKE    HOUSES   OF    C 


wealth  in  the  form  of  rupees,  gold  and  silver 
ornaments,  gram,  etc.,  given  to  it  at  various 
times  and  allowed  to  accumulate.  This  wealth 
is  looked  after  by  a  council  of  twelve  men — 
to  see  that  no  one  steals  it,  probably — and  is 
checked  once  a  year  by  them  and  their  accounts 
audited. 

All  the  men  and  women  of  the  place  wear 
sashes  of  either  puttoo,  goat's -hair  rope,  or 
cloth,  bound  tightly  round  the  waist.  The  sash 
is  useful,  as  upon  it  rests  the  bottom  of  the 
burdens  which  they  carry  on  their  backs.  The 
babies,  also,  who  are  carried  on  the  women's 
backs,  dig  their  toes  into  it  for  a  support. 

The  formation  of  the  village  houses  is  most 

Vol.  xii.—  63. 


a  snow-bridge,  and  then  go  up  a  very  steep  snow- 
field,  in  which  we  had  to  cut  steps  ;  it  was 
so  bad  going  up,  but  coining  back  was  rather 
uncertain  work,  and  a  promiscuous  shower  of 
boulders  from  above  did  not  heighten  th< 
ment.  It  is  extremely  dangerous  work,  by  the 
way,  prospecting  under  steep  mountains  as  the 
sun's  rays  are  constantly  loosening  the  rocks 
split  by  the  winter  ice,  and  boulders  of  all  sizes 
fall  periodically. 

And  now  let  me  tell  of  an   adventure  which 
we  had  here,  and  which   fortunately   ended 
seriously  than  I  at   first  expected.      It  occurred 
during  my  trip  up  the  Oorbat  khud,  in 
of     the     silver  -  mine.       About     three     miles 


1111      WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


re  reaching  our  destination,  whilst  I  was 
walking  with  three  or  four  coolies,  the  rest  being 
a  little  way  in  front,  a  huge  boulder  came  whiz- 
wn  between  us  :  it  was  so  close  to  one  of 
-  that,  either  through  tear  or  the  impact 
of  the  air  caused  by  the  boulder's  velocity,  the 
man.  who  carried  one  of  my  boxes,  went  clean 
over  the  side  o\  the 
and  rolled 
for  forty  feet,  box 
and  all,  down  the 
steep  declivity, 
fortunately  pulling 
up  just  in  time  on 
the  top  of  a  pi 
pice.  I  made  sure 
lie  was  killed,  until 
lie  commenced  to 
howl.  On  going 
to  his  rescue  (keep- 
ing a  weather  eye 
lifting  for  more 
boulders)  I  could 
find  no  damage, 
except  a  bump  on 
the  top  of  his  head 
as  big  as  a  tea- 
cup and  a  con- 
tused rib. 

We     next    pro- 
led     through 
Kilba     to     Tikru. 
The    flies    here 
were      almost      as 
bad   as    I     have 
:i    them   in   the 
■■  Never   Never" 
n  try  of  Queens- 
land or  in  the  Sou- 


froni  a] 


.OW-BKIUGE    OV 


dan,  and  they  v. 
fearfully  persistent !  Whilst  mining  here  I  dug 
out,  near  the  surface,  a  sluggish  spotted  lizard, 
which  had  much  the  appearance  of  what  the 
landers  call  the  "  death  "  or  "deaf"  udder. 
The  coolies  assured  me  its  bite  was  certain  death 
to  either  man  or  beast,  so  I  didn't  hug  it  ! 

The  hillmen  hereabouts  have  a  most  curious 
way  of  smoking.  Their  tobacco  is  very  slightly 
prepared  and  cured,  and  is,  therefore,  almost 
green.  To  smoke  it  they  make  a  vertical  hole 
on  a  slope  in  the  ground  about  three-quarters  of 
an  inch  wide  and  three  or  four  inches  deep. 
it  four  inches  down  the  slope  another  hole 
lade  horizontally  to  connect  with  the  bottom 
of  the  vertical  one.  On  the  top  opening  of  the 
vertical  hole  they  place  a  little  roll  of  grass,  and 
then  the  tobacco,  covered  with  a  live  coal ; 
then,  filling  the  palms  of  their  hands  with  grass 

(To  be 


or  leaves  to  prevent  any  earth  being  drawn  into 
their  .mouths,  they  inhale  the  smoke  by  bending 
down  and  putting  their  lips  close  to  the  lower 
opening.  Each  man  takes  about  twenty  quick 
inhalations,  filling  his  lungs  with  smoke,  and 
then  gives  place  to  the  next  man,  so  that  half-a- 
dozen    men    have    finished    their  smoke    in    less 

than  five  minutes. 
This  is  the  cheap- 
est form  of  pipe  I 
have  yet  seen  in 
all  my  travels. 

The  hill  people 
are  most  particu- 
lar, when  they 
meet  you,  always 
to  shift  to  the 
lower  or  khud  side 
of  the  track,  even 
if  you  are  on  that 
side  and  have  to 
move  for  them. 
This  is  a  mark  of 
respect,  inferior 
folk  always  having 
to  pass  below  their 
betters. 

Our  next  journey 
was  toW'angtu.  On 
the  way  there  we 
met  a  sick  youth 
being  held  on  a 
pony  by  his  brother; 
he  looked  dropsi- 
cal and  very  ill. 
His  brother  said 
he  had  taken  him 
down  to  a  native 
doctor  at  Ram- 
pore,  who  had  pro- 
nounced him  incurable,  and  he  was  now  taking 
him  back  to  his  village  to  die,  which  information 
did  not  appear  to  cheer  the  poor  chap  up  at  all. 
I  advised  the  brother  to  take  him  on  to  the 
German  missionary  doctor  at  Poo,  which  he  pro- 
mised to  do,  but  I  doubt  whether  he  intended  to 
fulfil  his  promise,  as  they  are  a  callous  lot.  We 
also  met  thousands  of  laden  goats  going  up  to 
Khanum  with  maize.  Khanum  is  a  great  mart, 
where  Thibetans  and  Kunowaris  meet,  the  former 
selling  wool  and  salt,  and  exchanging  these  pro- 
ducts for  maize  and  other  corn.  Many  of  the 
women  one  sees  at  work  in  the  mines  here  have 
their  hair  cut  quite  short,  on  account  of  their 
parents  having  dedicated  them  as  nuns.  This  sort 
of  thing  is  very  common  as  one  gets  nearer  Thibet. 
From  here  we  journeyed  on  to  Natpa,  through 
Kanduru,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Sutlej. 
continued.) 


\Plioto. 


In  the  Stronghold  of  the  Snakes. 


By  Ker  Campbell. 

The     appalling     experience,    which     befell     Nathan     Fisher,    of     Seal     Island,    King     George     Sound. 
Western     Australia,     as    related    by    him    to  the  author.     Mr.   Campbell  knows  the  locality  intimately, 

and  vouches  for  the   absolute  authenticity  of  the  narrative. 


I 


saw  Seal  Island,  King 


HEN    I   first 

George  Sound,  Western  Australia, 
there  was  a  yellow  flag  fluttering 
over  it,  and  it  was  temporarily  re- 
named "Quarantine  Island."  Nathan 
Fisher  stood  by  the  flagstaff.  When  I  left  the 
ill-omened  flag  was  gone,  the  island  solitary  — 
the  hot,  cloudless  splendour  of  noontide  accented 
its  loneliness. 

"There  doesn't  seem  so  much  as  a  snake 
upon  it,"  someone  remarked,  and  that  recalled 
to  my  mind  a  terrible  experience  related  to  me 
by  Fisher  himself,  and  which  I  now  give  as 
nearly  as  possible  in  his  own  words. 

I  came  here  with   the  crew  of  a  small  whaler. 


of  the  season  a  gentleman       like  it   might   be 
yourself,  only  he  belonged  to  some  geographical 
society— came  and  asked  me  if  I  would  be  his 
guide  over  the  country  round  about.    I  le  off 
good  pay,  and,  of  course,  I  said  "  Yi  I  ■ 

only  too  glad,  for  sawing  jarrah  hardwood  is 
calculated  to  make  you  keen  on  a  soft  job  if  it 
offers,  and  I'm  as  fond  of  rambling  about  the 
country  as  a  black  fellow. 

He  was  compiling  material  for  a  new  book 
on  physical  geography,  he  said.  All  he  wai 
was  to  learn  at  first  hand  about  the  countrv 
between  Albany  and  Fremantle.  I  was  only 
too  glad  to  accompany  him  ;  it  kept  us  on  the 
coast,  which  is  cooler  in  die  summer  than  the 
forests.      So  down  went   my  end  of  the  saw,  and 


SKAL   ISLAND,    IN    KING   GEORGE    SOUND — THE    QUICKSAND    MENTIONED    IN    THE   STORV    IS    ON    THE    SHOKE    OK    TH] 

THE   POINT    INDICATED    BY   THE    CI 


We  had  not  had  much  luck,  and  hoped  that  by 
some  chance  we  might  get  a  few  seals,  but  it 
was  hoping  against  hope.  Anyway,  we  thought 
we'd  chance  it,  and  when  the  rest  went  off  in 
disgust  I  stayed  on.  I  had  met  a  girl  I  liked, 
and  not  long  afterwards  I  married  her. 

Albany  is  not  much  of  a  place.  A  few- 
people  get  on  all  right  and  do  all  the  trade 
there,  dealing  in  furs,  sandal-wood,  and  general 
stores,  owning  most  of  the  land,  and  running 
the  show  generally.  I  took  up  with  fishing, 
which  the  bigwigs  don't  object  to.  They  even 
got  me  leave  to  live  on  Seal  Island  ;  but  I  shall 
soon  go  back  to  the  mainland  for  company,  as 
my  wife  doesn't  like  to  be  too  solitary. 

You  must  know  that  for  some  years  I  had 
worked  off  and  on  at  a  saw-pit  in  the  jarrah 
forests,  for  fishing  is  a  poorish  trade  here.  The 
forests  lie  island  from  Albany  ;  but  in  the  midst 


I   donned   my  reefer  jacket   to   accompany  tin- 
pleasant  stranger  in  short  trips  anil  give  him   the 
best  accounts   I    knew   of  the    countrv  and   its 
flora  and  fauna,  as  he  called  the  bush  flowers  and 
kangaroos  and  'possums  and  that.     - 
seemed  to  me  that  he  did  not  listen    much  to 
what  I  told  him.      The  only  thing  that  ever  put 
him  out  was  nearly  treading  on  a   black  snake. 
Then  he  would  curse  right  heartily,  and  on  tl 
occasions   only  could   one  detect  a  verj 
though  musical  Irish  accent  :  at  all  other  tii 
his  calm  was  measureless— that  of   the  Indian 
Ocean  itself. 

We  grew  to  be  great  friends,  for  I,  too,  hated 
and  dreaded  the  black  snakes.     Th  not 

like    our  rattlers,   that  give  one  a  warning,  but 
orange  and   black   brutes,  as  fierce    and    sly  as 


tigers. 


My  employer  paid  me  liberally  enough   for 


5oo 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAOAZINE. 


what  I  did,  so  I  was  a  bit  surprised,  when  the 
came  to  an  end,  at  his  saying: — 

be  married  ?  " 
•■  \ 

••  And  _  to  your  sawmills  ? " 

'•Sometimes;    but    I   am   a   fisher,   or  rather 
sealer,   by  choi< 

"Well,    Fisher."  said   he.  '*  I    wish  you  well. 

We've  had    -  pleasant  trips,   and    here" — 

sing  me  a  couple  of  five-pound  notes — "is  a 

little  acknowledgment,  for  you've  been  a  handy 

man  and   helped   me  intelligently.     So 

i  you." 

"Good-bye,    sir,"   said  I,   "and    good   luck. 

Many  thanks  for  your  kindness  :   'twill  help  on 

the  weddii  And  so  rejoiced  was  I   that  I 

'.ved  to  go  for  a  day's  pleasure  fishing  in  the 

5    ind. 

I  seem  to  see 
him  now  with  his 
pleasant,  friendly 
standing 
amid  the  scented 
bush  of  the  Sound, 
with  the  blue  s 
lapping  on  its 
silver  sand  and 
the  lovely  sunlit 
sky  shining  over 
all.  I  wished  him 
well  with  all  my 
heart  and  felt  as 
though  parting 
from  a  friend. 
Then  I  sat  down 
and  sewed  up  my 
-  in  a  bit  of 
oilskin,  and  put 
that  inside  one  of 
the  shoulders  of 
canvas  shirt. 
Then  I  went  off 
into  quiet  little 
Albany,  where  I 
bought  something 
to  eat  at  Has- 
sell's      Stores, 

and  also   some   fishing   tackle.      Then,  after  a 

i   meal,  I  started  off,  with   more  food    in  a 

bundle,  and  a  tin  cup,  for  there's  water  in  plenty 

at  the  head  of  the  Sound — brown. rills  as  spark- 

herry,  and  as  nice. 

There's  no  doubt  the  Sound  is  a  place  to  live 

ind  die  in   if  you   only  get   to   know  it,  and  I 

thought  it  lucky  there  was  abundance  of  water, 

for  it  was    awful  hot  going  round    the   Sound. 

n   the    king    parrots    swung    lazily    on     the 

shrubs   like   gorgeous   bunches   of  flowers,  and 

slept  regardless  of  my  approach. 


1    had 


gained 


Sound,   which 


WELL,    FISHER,     SAID   HE,       I    WISH    YOU    WELL. 


the  farthest  extremity  of  the 
is  like  a  miniature  inland  sea. 
For  some  distance  the  shrubs  had  been 
dwindling  in  size,  the  herbage  growing  more 
scantily,  the  sand  patches  and  coarse  green 
tufts  making  wilder  country  of  it.  Near  by  was 
a  dreary  quicksand,  desolate  as  death  itself,  of 
which  I  had  been  warned. 

My  high  spirits  were  suddenly  checked  as  I 
came  near  to  this  evil  looking  stretch  of  semi- 
desert  after  the  beauty  and  sweetness  of  the 
region  I  had  passed  through.  The  silence  was 
awe-inspiring.  No  bird  flew  over  the  dread  dead 
expanse  of  the  quicksand,  which,  enclosed  in  a 
low,  rocky  basin  of  immense  extent,  looked  livid 
and  sinister  in  the  slanting  sunrays  of  late  after- 
noon.   The  tops  of  the  two  masts  of  a  small  ship 

which  had  some- 
how managed  to 
get  floated  in  from 
the  Sound  were  to 
be  seen  protruding 
from  the  sand,  still 
slowly  sinking.  It 
seemed  as  if  death 
was  in  the  air  and 
brooded  over  the 
desolate  scene. 

A  sudden  fool- 
hardy idea  seized 
me.  Almost 
against  my  own 
will  I  found  my- 
self steadily  tramp- 
ing off  the  solid 
ground  of  the  fore- 
shore, over  the 
rocky  boundary, 
and  on  to  the 
quicksand!  "Just 
to  try  what  it  is 
like,"  I  assured 
myself,  with  a  fool- 
ish laugh — a  laugh 
that  had  no  real 
merriment. 

A   fatal   fascina- 

onwards.      I    began 

in    the    loose,    dry 


to  draw    me 
feet    sinking 


tion  seemed 

to    feel    my 

sand,    so    fine    and    shifting    and    dry.     Yet    I 

stubbornly  went  on.      I  would  just    touch   the 

sinking   ship's   masts,    I   told   myself,   and   then 

return    to    say  that    once   I    had    been   on   the 

quicksand. 

Return  !  I  might  never  have  returned  ! 
Slowly  but  surely  at  each  forward  step  I  sank 
deeper  and  grew  more  terrified,  yet  more 
obstinate.  "  Only  just  touch  the  mast,  only 
just  touch  the  mast,"  something  seemed  to  say. 


IN    THE    STRONGHOLD    OF    THE    SNAKES. 


501 


Suddenly  a  shriek  which  seemed  to  thrill 
along  the  shores  and  far  over  the  sea  startled 
me.  It  was  only  the  evening  cry  of  a 
king  parrot,  but  it  enabled  me  to  throw 
off  the  inexplicable  spell  which  had  fallen 
upon  me,  of  attempting  an  impossibility.  I 
turned  and  hast- 
ened back  for  all 
I  w as  worth. 
Haste  was  ne  es- 
sary,  too,  for, 
although  I  had 
not  taken  much 
notice  of  it  at 
first,  the  tide  was 
flowing  in  and 
had  nearly 
reached  the  nar- 
row strip  of  white 
sand  that  shut  off 
the  firm  coast 
from  the  quick- 
sand. And  to  my 
horror  I  saw  what 
had  previously 
been  powdery 
and  shifting  sand 
beginning  to  gain 
a  damp  and 
deadly  cohesion 
that  in  a  few 
minutes  might 
change  to  soft 
wet  waves  afford- 
ing neither  foot- 
hold nor  yet  a 
chance  for  the 
most  powerful 
swimmer.  There, 
like  a  fly  in 
treacle,  I  should 
expiate  at  once 
my  cowardice 
and  my  folly. 

At  last,  however,  after  a  desperate  and  almost 
despairing  struggle,  I  stood  once  more  on  the 
firm,  sandy  shore  of  the  Sound,  over  which 
lapping  wavelets  were  flowing.  As  I  glanced 
back  I  saw  with  a  tremor  of  deadly  fear  that  the 
whole  surface  of  the  quicksand  was  wet.  and 
glistening.  In  another  moment  I  should  have 
been  hopelessly  engulfed. 

I  went  on  my  knees  in  the  lapping  water  of 
the  Sound  and  said  a  heartfelt  prayer,  for  vain 
indeed  would  have  been  any  human  help. 
Then  I  stood  awhile,  my  heart  beating, 
just  to  look  back  on  that  scene  of  death 
and  desolation.  It  was  difficult,  indeed,  to 
believe   that    beautiful   Albany   was   but   three 


BEGAN    TO    FEEL    MY    FEET    SINKING    IN   THE    LOOSE,    DRY   SAND. 


miles  off,   with  its  scattered  rriendly  folks  and 
cheerful  dwellings. 

I    felt  so  weak  and  shaken   aft 
from   the  quicksand   that    1    took   a 
inland,  stumbling  over  tu 
and  grey,  withered  salt  hush,  to  fin. 

place    where     I 

might 

trength 

for  the  long  walk 
home,  lor  1  hit 
in  no  mood  for 
fishing  now.  I'.ut 
it  was  all  weird, 
dreary,  and  1 
quieting— a  bit  of 
desert  formic, 
fitting  ante  chain 
1  ler  to  that  awful 
death-trap.  Rough 
grass  in  patches, 
sand  heaps  blown 
hither  by  hurri- 
canes, thin,  st 
g  1  i  n  g  bushes, 
clumps  of  "  black- 
boy  "  grass  —  so 
called  from  its 
black  stems  and 
thick,  tufted 
heads  of  wiry 
grass  — were  dot- 
ted over  its  barren 
expanse. 

It    was    not 
tempting,    and    I 
turned  to  retrace 
my    steps.       By 
this  time  the  sun 
was   rapidly  sink- 
ing,     and     long, 
level    red     beams 
came   over    the 
fast-flowing 
waters,   resting   on    the   dismal    scene.       As     I 
turned  I   met  one  or  two  black  snakes   gliding 
inland,  and  stepped  aside  to  svoid  them. 

Presently  I  noticed  a  peculiar  sibilant  sound, 
which  seemed  to  fill  the  sea  and  air.  What 
was  it  ?  I  stopped  and  listened.  It  could  not 
be  the  sighing  of  the  evening  breeze  or  the 
swirl  of  swiftly-running  waters.  It  was  some- 
thing different.  What  was  that  black  sha<i 
rapidly  spreading  over  the  grey  ground  in  front 
of  me?      Not  the  shade  of   night?1  :    it 

moved.     The  sound  now  became  terrible  and 
defined,"  and   it   seemed   to   emanate   from   that 
moving  shadow  in  front.     Good  heavens  ! 
Like   a   flash    I    realized    what   that   moving 


5o: 


nil".    WIDE    WOKLO    MAGAZINE. 


darkiu^  was.  It  was  the  vanguard  of  a  verit- 
able army  ol  snakes,  and  the  mysterious  sound 
I  had  heard  was  their  angry  hissing  !  I  was 
on  the  breeding  -ground  o(  the  black  snakes, 
s  of  Western  Australia  whose 
bite  is  death  !  I  had  heard  tales  of  the  place, 
but  had  never  attached  much  credence  to 
them. 

And  now.  it  seemed  by  thousands,  the 
horrible  reptiles  were  swarming  over  the  ground, 
all  apparently  coming  in  my  direction  ! 

With  a  shriek  ol  terror  I  turned  and  fled, 
is  that  my  life  depended  upon  my  speed 
behind  me  there  came  in  hot  pursuit  that  awful 
■.  led  by  great  brutes  at  least  twelve  feet  long, 
whose  orange  colouring  flashed  over  the  ground 
like  waves.  They  evidently  intended  to  wreak 
vengeance  on  the  invader  of  their  cherished 
solitude.  How  could  I  have  mistaken  that 
sound?  The  hissing  of  the  enraged  reptiles, 
always  ferocious, 
now  filled  my 
ears  with  a 
deadly  menace. 

Making  a  wide 
sweep,  I  fled  on 
to  the  shore  and 
flew  rather  than 
ran,  glancing 
back  only  once 
more  to  see  the 
snakes  still  in 
pursuit,  writhing 
along,  no  w 
orange,  no  w 
black,  as  they 
looped  their  bril- 
liant bodies  in 
ligh  t  n  i  ng-like 
move  m  ents, 
covering  the 
ground  at  an 
amazing  rate. 

I  shrieked  as 
I    ran,    for     my 


nerves    had    got   entirely   beyond   my   control, 

and    the    sight    and     thought    of     my    terrible 
pursuers  maddened  me  with  terror. 

It  was  lucky  I  shouted,  for  as  I  turned  a 
point  of  the  shore  my  wild  cries  attracted  the 
notice  of  two  natives  wading  far  out  in  the 
waves  spearing  fish.  Seeing  my  peril  at  once 
they  dashed  inshore  and,  seizing  each  an  arm, 
tore  with  me  through  the  shallows  to  deep 
water,  where,  limp  and  almost  collapsed,  I  was 
supported  by  them  as  they  leisurely  swam  across 
to  a  distant  headland  ;  the  baffled  snakes, 
unwilling  to  enter  the  water,  slowly  returning  to 
their  haunts. 

"  You  very  much  big  fool  !"  said  one  of  my 
helpers,  as  they  drew  me  ashore  like  a  tangle  of 
seaweed,  helpless  and  dripping. 

"  liully  big  fool,"  put  in  the  other,  calmly. 
"  Black  fellow  no  go  when  snake  at  home  : 
catch  him  by  himself.     Snake  for  supper  want." 

I  filing  myself 
o  w  n  a  n  d 
at  the 
memory  of  that 
awful  experience. 
The  natives 
stared  awhile  at 
me,  and  then, 
wading  out  once 
more,  calmly  re- 
sumed their  in- 
terrupted fishing. 
I  love  the  blacks 
of  Western 
Australia;  they 
are  the  best  fel- 
lows going,  and 
I  often  wonder 
with  a  shudder 
what  would  have 
been  my  fate  it 
they  had  not 
come  to  my  aid 
in  the  nick  ol 
time. 


groaned 


"  1    SHKIEKKIJ    AS    I    KAN," 


MY    SPANISH    SERVANTS. 

By  Mrs.  Dorothy  Cole. 

Some  humorous  sidelights  on  the  eternal  servant   question  as  it  exists  in  sunny  Spain.     Mrs. 

Cole  has  lived  in  that  country  for  thirteen  years,  during  most  of  which  time  she  has  managed 

her   own    household,    hence    she    is    able    to  speak  with  authority.      Some  of  her  experiences 

with  the  Spanish  "  Mary  Jane  "   are  distinctly  comical. 


Jj£^=H 


HE  servant  question  in  Spain,  as  in 
most  other  countries,  is  one  which 
demands  much  attention  from  the 
housekeeper.  During  the  many 
years  I  have  lived  in  Spain  I  have 
had  occasion  to  employ  a  large  number  of 
servants,  and  in  doing  so  I  have  had  some 
very  odd  experiences. 

Some  of  these  may  be  of  interest  to  ladies  in 
other  lands,  where  the  domestics  are,  perhaps,  of 
more  real  trouble,  and  yet  less  stupid  and  simple 
when  confronted  with  unfamiliar  duties  or  faced 
by  a  dilemma. 

The  first  time  I  encountered  the  utter  help- 


scullery,    and    when    the    bath     bui 
deluged,  but  not  hurt  in  the  least. 

The  very  instant  the  water  began  to  come 
through  the  ceiling  and  drop  upon  her  she 
incontinently  fled.  Most  people,  if  they  had 
not  instantly  divined  the  cause,  would  have 
least  made  an  effort  to  discover  it,  but  not  she. 
She  ran  out  of  the  front  door  into  the  street, 
threw  her  apron  over  her  head,  rocked  herself 
wildly  on  her  feet,  and  cried  "  Murder !  '  at  the 
top  of  her  lungs.  Of  course,  she  attracted  a 
crowd,  and  also  brought  the  police  running.  1 
ran  out  of  the  house  and  tried  to  get  her  to 
come  in  and  stop  her  foolishness,  but,  as  my 


"SHE  THREW  HER  AI'RON  over   her  head  and  cried   '  mukder!'" 


lessness  which  so  frequently  takes  hold  of  a 
Spanish  girl  when  she  is  frightened  was  upon 
the  occasion  of  a  bursted  bath.  I  was  bathing 
the  baby  at  the  time  of  the  occurrence.  The 
bathroom  was  on  the  first  floor,  directly  over 
the  scullery.  When  the  bath  burst  it  was  about 
two-thirds  full  of  warm  water.  The  cook's 
assistant,  a  girl  of  about  twenty-three  years,  was 
a   new  acquisition.      She  was  working   in   the 


Spanish  was  at  that  time  very  amateur  indeed, 
my  advent  only  added  to  the  general  confusion. 
A  neighbour  who  spoke  English  finally  un- 
tangled the  mess. 

That  same  girl  figured  in  two  other  incidents 
later  on,  neither  of  which  spoke  much  for  her 
intelligence.  Yet  she  was  as  smart  as  the 
average  servant  in  Spain,  and  in  many  ways 
much  superior  to  the  majority  of  her  class. 


5°4 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


S  me  two  years  after  the  bath-tub  incident 
Julia  — that  was  her  name — did  a  very  funny 
thing,  which  might  have  resulted  most  seriously 

but  for  good  luck.  One  evening  just  after  tea 
I  stepped  into  the  drawing-room,  and  was 
horrified  to  see  smoke  coming  from  the  bottom 
of  some  heavy  window  curtains.  As  1  entered 
a  tiny  curling  tongue  of  flame  shot  up  as  if  to 
warn  me  that  if  I  was  to  act  at  all   it  must  be 

tan  try. 

I  jumped  for  the  door  of  the  dining-room 
near  by  and  screamed  out  for  Julia.  She  came 
at   once. 

••Julia,  run  to  the  kitchen  and  bring  some 
water,  or  we  shall  have  the  whole  house  in 
flame-.     1  -.lid.  agitatedly. 

The  girl  made  a  hurried  exit  in  the  direction 
of  the  kitchen,  and  I  dodged  into  my  bedroom 
to  get  a  ewer.  By  good  chance  my  husband  was 
in  the  room,  and  twenty  seconds  later  the  fire 
extinguished  with  the  aid  of  two  jugs  of 
water,  and  my  husband  was  receiving  a  sound 
curtain  lecture  on  the  necessity  of  careful  habits 


"  Please,  sehora,"  the  girl  replied,  "  I  was 
waiting  till  it  boiled  !  It  will  be  ready  in  a 
minute."  And  she  pointed  triumphantly  to  a 
couple  of  kettles  that  were  just  beginning  to 
sing  ! 

The  crowning  bit  of  folly  of  which  Julia  was 
guilty,  however,  she  shared  with  the  cook.  That 
cook  was  a  Caution.  She  had  had  her  little 
fire  experience  as  well  as  Julia.  Although  it 
did  not  result  so  disastrously  as  the  incident  in 
which  Julia  figured,  it  was  quite  as  typical  of 
the  lack  of  thinking  power  of  the  Spanish 
domestic. 

The  cook's  name  was  Maria.  She  was 
scrupulously  clean  personally,  and  equally  so 
with  regard  to  her  kitchen.  I  decided  to  have 
the  oilcloth  on  the  kitchen  floor  polished  nicely 
so  as  to  be  in  keeping  with  Julia's  bright 
tins  and  brasses,  ever  spotless  under  Maria's 
watchful  eye.  Further,  I  had  been  advised  by 
an  old  friend  that  beeswax  and  turpentine 
would  not  only  polish  oilcloth,  but  was  very 
efficient  as  a  preservative. 


THE    FIRE    WAS    EXTINGUISHED    WITH    THE    All)   OF    TWO   JUGS   OF    WATER. 


in  regard  to  the  disposal  of  cigarette  and  cigar 
ends,  lighted  matches,  and  the  like. 

At  that  moment  it  occurred  to  me  that  Julia 
had  not  returned  from  the  kitchen.  I  went  to 
find  her.  She  was  in  the  kitchen,  right  enough, 
when  I  discovered  her  whereabouts,  and  seemed 
vastly  interested  in  jamming  into  the  range  all 
the  fuel  it  would  hold. 

"  What  on  earth  are  you  doing  here,  Julia  ?  " 
I  asked,  in  surprise.  "Why  didn't  you  bring 
me  some  water  to  put  out  the  fire  among  the 
drawing-room  curtains  ?  " 


Accordingly  I  procured  some  beeswax  and 
turpentine,  took  it  to  the  kitchen,  and  ex- 
plained to  Maria  that  the  beeswax  must  be 
melted  in  the  oven,  the  turpentine  added,  and 
then  the  mixture  used  as  a  polish.  Julia  was 
out  shopping.  I  was  about  to  place  the  bees- 
wax in  the  oven  when  I  was  called  to  the  front 
of  the  house. 

A  few  moments  later  I  returned.  As  I  neared 
the  kitchen  door  I  smelled  a  peculiar  odour. 
I  saw  as  I  entered  that  the  beeswax  was  not 
on  the  table  where  I  had  left  it.     A  glance  at 


MY    SPANISH    SERVANTS. 


5°5 


the  stove  showed  that  there  was  something  else 
beside  smell  wrong  with  the  stove. 

"  Open  that  oven  door,  Maria,"  I  said,  as 
calmly  as  I  could  under  the  circumstances. 

Maria  complied  reluctantly.  As  she  opened 
the  stove  a  sheet  of  flame  and  smoke  leapt 
forth. 

It  was  as  I  had  feared.  The  zealous  Maria 
had  mixed  the  beeswax  and  the  turpentine  and 
then  placed  the  inflammable  mixture  in  the 
oven. 

Maria  let  out  a  screech  and  started  for  the 
door,  but  I  was  there  first. 

"  Go  back  and  shut  that  oven  door,"  I  com- 


MARIA    LET   OUT    A    SCREECH    AND   STARTED   FOR   THE   DOOR. 


manded,  and  back  she  went  and  shut  it,  thereby 
avoiding  a  conflagration. 

The  incident  to  which  I  have  referred  as 
Julia's  crowning  act  cf  folly  was  due  more  to 
the  cook's  mother  than  anyone  else,  though  her 
influence  upon  the  case  was  certainly  indirect. 

Much  cock-fighting  is  indulged  in  in  Spain, 
and  frequently  the  most  prized  possession  of  a 
peasant  family  is  a  fine  cock.  Upon  invitation 
from  her  dutiful  daughter,  Maria's  mother  came 
in  from  the  provinces  to  "  visit "  a  week  or  so  in 
town. 

Now,  the  cook  was  a  great  admirer  of  my 
husband's  kind  manner  with  all  the  servants, 
and  had  no  doubt  said  as  much  to  her  mother. 
What  was  more  natural,  then,  that  when  Maria's 
mother  came  to  town  she  should  bring  with 
her  a  fine  young  cock  as  a  present  to  my 
husband  ? 

He  was  not  at  home  the  evening  the  good 
lady  arrived  with  the  handsome  black  bird.  In 
fact,  he  was  dining  at  some  club  or  other,  and 

Vol.  xii. — 64. 


did  not  get  home  till  long  after  I  was  abed  and 
asleep. 

What  happened  during  die  night   I   did  not 
discover   till  morning,  as    1    was    sleeping    I 
sleep  of  the  just   and  was   not   disturbed.     It 
seems  that  the  cock  awoke  about  half-pa 
o'clock  and  greeted  the  three  o'clock   i 
with     a     jubilant    crow.       This     he     rep< 
joyously  more   than   once.      My  husband 
just  falling  off  to  sleep.     He  endured  the  cr< 
ing  for  a  few  minutes  and  then  went  out  to 
whence  it  came. 

It  took  but  an  instant  to  find  the  offender, 
and  but  another  to  cover  him  with  a  tin  foot- 
bath  standing  near  by. 
Fifteen  minutes  passed  in 
silence.  Suddenly  a  clarion 
"  Cock-a-doodle-do  "  cam- , 
loud  and  clear,  from  the 
kitchen.  It  was  plain  that 
the  rascal  had  escaped  from 
his  pseudo  prison.  As  my 
husband,  half  asleep,  lay 
wondering  how  on  earth  the 
cock  had  got  from  under 
the  bath,  the  penetrating 
crow  echoed  through  th<- 
house  again. 

This  was  too  much  for 
my  husband's  enduran< 
Muttering  dire  threats  of 
vengeance,  he  pattered  out 
to  the  kitchen  again.  There 
was  a  sound  of  fluttering 
for  a  few  moments,  a  feeble 
squawk  or  two,  and  my 
husband  pattered  back  U> 
fell     asleep     amid      peri 


again 


and 


bed 
silence. 

Early  morning  saw  Julia  and  Maria  emerge 
from  their  room  together.  They  proceeded 
toward  the  kitchen,  Julia  leading.  As  they 
reached  the  kitchen  door— in  fact,  as  Julias 
hand  was  on. the  knob— she  gasped.  Her  eyes 
were  riveted  on  a  little  red  pool  which  had 
evidently  come  from  the  kitchen,  running  under 
the  door.  She  stooped  and  investigated.  Her 
worst  fears  were  realized.     It  was  blood  ! 

At  this  juncture  Julia  ceased  to  take  an  active 
part  in  what  happened,  beyond  the  fact  that  she 
stood  behind  Maria  and  did  as  Maria  did. 

Slowly  and  cautiously  Maria  shoved  open  the 
door.  Something  rested  behind  it  and  slightly 
impeded  its  progress.  Maria  did  not  even  dare 
to  imagine  what  that  something  might  be,  to 
say  naught  of  looking  at  it.  Finally  the  door 
was  opened  sufficiently  to  allow  a  view  of  the 
kitchen  interior.  A  first  glance  almost  reassured 
the  frightened  ones  ;  but,  there,  what  was  that? 


506 


THE     WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


A  chair  was  overturned  and  lying  in  the  centre 
of  the  room. 

Then,  as  their  eyes  grew  accustomed  to  the 
light,  everything  turned  blood-red.  Yes,  there 
was  blood  on  the  overturned  chair,  blood  here 
and  there  on  the  floor  in  odd  patches— and  there 
was  Something  behind  the  door.  As  the 
memory  of  this  awful  fact  came  back  to  Maria 
and  Julia,  they  stood  not  on  the  order  of  their 
going,  but  departed,  nor  did  they  pause  in  their 
flight  until  they  were  sate  in  the  office  of  the 
" guardia  civil "  and  their  breathless  statements 
were  being  taken  down  by  the  police  "  capitan  " 
of  the  district. 

A  little  later  we  were  awakened  by  a  vigorous 
pull  at  the  bell.  My  husband's  muclacho  (valet) 
informed  us  a  few  moments  later  that  seven 
policemen,  in  charge  of  a  sergeant,  were  at  the 
door  and  demanded  to  see  him.  Of  course, 
I  was  scared  almost  out  of  my  life.  My  husband 
hastily  dressed  and  went  out. 

"Sehor,"  said  the  sergeant,  in  an  awestruck 
whisper,  "a  sanguinary  crime  has  been  com- 
mitted in  your  house  during  the  night." 

That  was  the  beginning.  The  ending  was 
not  until  evening,  when  we  dined  on  fricasseed 
chicken,  none  too  tender,  but  not  half  bad. 
My  husband  vowed  that  never  again  would  he 
wring  the  neck  of  another  chicken,  but  Maria's 
mother  went  back  to  the  provinces  uncomforted. 

But,  as  every  housekeeper  well  knows,  one 
can  stand  a  great  deal  from  a  cook  if  she  only 
cooks  well.  Maria  did  some  very  foolish  things 
during  her  years  of  service  with  me,  but  she 
was  hard  to  beat  as  far  as  cooking  went.  Of 
course,  my  husband  was  angry  more  than  once 
because  Maria  would  insist  upon  adding  a 
generous  portion  of  water  to  the  various  kinds 
of  tinned  soup  which  were  now  and  again 
placed  in  her  hands  for  preparation.  But  that 
was  only  a  detail. 

One  cook  we  had  while  we  were  living  in  the 
South  of  Spain  fairly  astounded  us  by  the 
wonderful  tales  she  told.  My  first  introduction 
to  her  harmless  vagaries  was  a  yarn  she  told  me 
about  whitebait.  While  she  was  preparing  a 
dish  of  whitebait  in  the  kitchen  one  day  I 
happened  to  go  in.  Eor  no  other  reason 
than  the  joy  of  telling  somebody  something 
extraordinary  she  began  to  enlighten  me  as  to 
how  she  had  to  cook  whitebait  where  she  had 
worked  before.  After  listening  till  she  came  to 
a  description  of  how  the  fish  were  skewered  I 
realized  that  I  was  wasting  my  time,  and  left 
with  the  story  unfinished. 

That  cook  had  a  young  brother,  Jose  by 
name,  who  was  taken  in  our  service  to  wait  on 
the  table  and  make  himself  generally  useful 
when  called  upon.     I  think   Jose  was  the  most 


stupid  human  being  that  ever  lived.  All  he 
ever  learned  to  do  was  done  in  a  purely 
mechanical  way,  and  to  break  into  the  routine 
of  his  regular  work  was  to  thoroughly  disable 
what  few  capabilities  he  possessed. 

1  suppose  that  Jose  gained  in  one  way  by 
means  of  his  thickheadedness.  We  learned 
that  it  was  practically  useless  to  send  him  for 
anything  if  we  could  get  it  ourselves.  I  once 
sent  him  for  a  shawl  and  he  brought  me  a  news- 
paper. Again,  I  asked  him  to  go  and  get  an 
umbrella  for  me,  and  he  procured  a  small 
British  flag  lying  over  the  back  of  a  chair  in  my 
bedroom.  It  was  the  same  way  with  out-of- 
door  errands.  On  one  occasion  he  was  sent 
after  fruit  and  came  back  with  some  bread  ! 

It  was  as  inexplicable  as  it  was  annoying. 
My  husband  said  Jose  had  absolutely  no 
memory,  and  I  believe  he  was  right.  Jose 
seriously  endangered  the  course  of  my  husband's 
business  once.  The  boy  used  to  post  letters 
now  and  again.  Once  he  was  seen  to  go  out  of 
the  door  with  a  letter  and  return  about  thirty 
seconds  later  without  it.  This  aroused  the 
curiosity  of  my  husband,  who  at  once  asked 
Jose  to  show  him  where  the  letter  had  been 
placed,  as  the  nearest  post-box  was  at  least  two 
minutes'  walk  from  our  door. 

Jose  complied  willingly.  With  a  trustful  smile 
he  led  the  way  out  of  the  front  door,  and  after 
walking  about  twenty  yards  pointed  with  naive 
simplicity  to  the  open  mouth  of  a  bronze  lion's 
head  which  ornamented  one  side  of  the  entrance 
to  the  next  house.  At  no  little  trouble  and  some 
expense  half-a-dozen  letters  were  rescued  from 
their  bronze  prison  that  morning,  but  luckily  no 
serious  damage  resulted  from  the  few  days'  delay 
to  which  they  had  been  subjected.  But  Jose 
posted  no  more  letters. 

My  husband  frequently  tells  two  stories  about 
Jose,  one  of  which  I  can  vouch  for  as  having 
been  a  witness  to.  That  was  when  we  took  Jose 
to  Lisbon  with  us.  As  we  were  leaving  our  room 
on  the  night  of  our  arrival  my  husband  called 
out  to  him,  "  Be  sure  and  put  out  the  light  when 
you  have  finished  unpacking."  Ten  minutes 
later  I  was  summoned  mysteriously  from  the 
dining-room  by  my  husband,  who  had  returned 
to  our  room  for  something  he  had  forgotten. 
When  we  arrived  at  the  room  I  was  enlightened. 
Jose  was  trying  to  put  out  the  electric  light  ! 
Only  it  was  a  sight  for  which  one  would  gladly 
allow  one's  soup  to  grow  cold.  He  blew  and 
blew  and  blew— all  to  no  purpose.  Then  he 
turned  the  incandescent  globe  up  and  down 
and  in  every  direction  of  the  compass.  He 
was  standing  on  a  chair  and  was  so  engrossed 
with  his  effort  that  he  was  not  aware  of  our 
presence   at    the    open    door,   until    we  could 


MY    SPANISH    SERVANTS 


507 


HE    I'OINTED   TO   THE    OPEN    MOUTH    OK    A    BRONZE    I. Ton's    HEAD." 


contain    ourselves    no    longer    and    hurst    into 
hearty  laughter. 

The  other  story  about  Jose  is  purely  my 
husband's.  He  says  he  sent  Jose  to  the 
tobacconist's  one  day,  giving  him  the  following 
instructions  : — 

"Jose,  here  is  a  peseta.  With  this  peseta 
buy  me  some  Havana  cigarettes.  Here  is 
another  peseta.  With  this  other  peseta  buy  me 
some  wax  matches." 

Thus  adjured  Jose  departed.  An  hour  passed 
and  he  did  not  return.  Deciding  to  wait  no 
longer  for  his  smoke,  my  husband  hied  himself 
to  the  tobacco  shop  and  there  found  Jose.  The 
poor  boy  was  evidently  in  the  deepest  despair. 
Questioned  as  to  his  trouble  he  explained,  my 
husband  says,  that  upon  reaching  the  shop  he 
found  he  had  got  the  two  pesetas  mixed  and. was 
unable  to  tell  which  was  the  peseta  for  the 
cigarettes  and  which  one  for  the  matches  ! 

Such  stupidity  seems  impossible,  but  was 
equalled  by  that  of  a  maid  I  once  had  in 
Madrid.  I  got  her  fresh  from  the  country 
village  in  which  she  had  been  born  and  raised. 
The  second  day  she  was  with  me  I  sent  her  out 
to  call  a  carriage.  An  hour  passed,  and  another, 
and  almost  another  ere  she  returned.-  I  had 
been    afraid    to    go    out    for   fear    of  finding   a 


carriage  before  my  door  upon  my  return  and  an 
afternoon's  hire  due.  Finally  she  returned, 
carriageless. 

"  Wherever  have  you  been  so  long,  Theresa 
I  asked. 

"At  the  corner  of  the  Recollectos,  sehora,'' 
she  answered,  "but  I  couldn't  get  a  single 
carriage  to  come  around  here.  Some  of  them 
stopped,  but  I  could  not  get  them  to  come  round 
to  this  street." 

"  What  sort  of  carriages  did  you  hail  ? "  I 
queried,  thinking  the  girl  might  have  been  trying 
to  hire  some  private  equipages. 

"Why,  senora,"  was  the  ready  answer,  "tin- 
big  ones  with  lots  of  windows — the  yellow 
ones." 

Then  it  dawned  upon  me  that  the  poor 
country  girl  didn't  know  a  tramcar  when  she 
saw  one,  and  had  been  endeavouring  to  coax 
the  electric  cars  out  of  their  iron-bound  course  ! 

Lack  of  memory  is  not  always  so  bad  as  very 
poor  judgment  in  a  servant.  I  can  think  much 
more  calmly  of  the  cook  who  religiously  forgot 
the  sherry  for  the  trifle  than  I  can  of  the  cook 
who  bought  spoiled  game  because  she  could 
get  it  at  half  price.  The  sum  total  of  it  all, 
however,  is  the  same  in  Spain  as  it  is  e\ 
where  else — servants  are  an  awful  worry. 


The  Mystery  of  the  Cross=Marked  Trail. 

l'.\    I>]  MS  DONOHOK,  JlTN.,  OF    S.W    FRANCISCO. 

A  remarkable  story  from  California.     The  author  writes  :  "  During  a  shooting  trip  into  the  great  redwood 

forests  that  fringe  the  northern  coast  of  this  State  I  first  saw  the  carved  cross  referred  to  in  the  narrative. 

Impelled    by  curiosity   I    hunted    about    until    I    discovered    the   mysterious    cross-marked   trail,    which 

I  followed,  continuing  my  investigations  until  I   succeeded    in  unravelling  the  mystery." 


IE   who  essays  the  rugged  stage-road 

which   runs   from    the  little  town   of 

Cloverdale,  California,  nestling  amid 

its   vines   and    orchards   at    the  very 

threshold  of  Mendocino's    redwood 

forest,   into  its    rest-exhaling   shades,   over   sun- 

d  peaks  and  down  through  the  somnolent, 

mist-wreathed  depths 


of  riven  mountains 
to  Point  Arena's 
sands,  lapped  by  the 
broad  Pacific,  can- 
not have  failed  to 
notice  a  gigantic 
Latin  cross  "  blazed  " 
deep  into  the  heart 
of  a  Valparaiso 
oak. 

"  Timber -cruiser," 
railroad  surveyor, 
lone  hunter,  tourist, 
bagman,  they  all 
know  the  tree  well, 
and  for  many  years 
its  strange  blazon 
has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  endless  con- 
jecture and  fruit- 
less inquiry.  The 
sparsely  scattered 
inhabitants  of  this 
trackless  wilderness 
can  but  shake  their 
heads  when  asked 
about  it  and  answer 
in  dulcet  Missou- 
rian :  "It  war  thar 
when  we  k  u  m 
hyar ! " 

Old  Hankinson, 
the  bear -hunter,  who  with  his  hounds  has 
pursued  his  chosen  quarry  the  last  decade 
or  more  through  the  remotest  canyons  and 
most  sequestered  glens  of  the  great  redwood 
forest,  claimed  to  have  seen  other  similar 
crosses  during  his  wanderings,  but  could  shed  no 
light  upon  their  why  and  wherefore.  Thus  the 
cruciform   "  blaze "  remained   a  cryptic  mystery 


THE     AUTHOR,    MR.      DENNIS     DONOHOE,     JUN.,     AS     HE     AITF.ARF.I)    WHEN 
FOLLOWING    THE    CROSS-M  A  BKEU   TRAIL. 

From  a  Photo. 


until  last  summer,  when  its  raison  d'etre  was 
finally  discovered.  A  knowledge  of  woodcraft 
aided  me  in  my  investigation  ;  much  patient 
research  and  a  sure  footed,  tireless  mountain 
broncho  did  the  rest. 

The  great  oak  which  bears  the  carved  cross 
crowns    the  apex    of    a    horse-shoe   bend  three 

miles  from  Boone- 
ville,  and  the  cross, 
which  is  ten  feet 
long,  may  be  clearly 
seen  from  every 
point  thereon.  To 
the  right  of  it  a 
close  observer  may 
discern  some  faint 
indication  of  a 
bygone  trail  leading 
up  the  mountain 
due  north.  With 
perseverance  he  may 
follow  it  for  sixty 
miles  through  the 
primeval  forest,  now 
swinging  up  over 
fog  -  crowned  moun- 
tain summits,  now 
diving  down  into  the 
cool  depths  of  some 
mighty  canyon.  It 
will  lead  him  across 
brawling  torrents, 
skirting  precipitous 
heights,  but  never 
once  in  all  that  weary 
ride  will  he  catch  a 
glimpse  of  a  human 
habitation  or  gaze 
upon  the  face  of  man. 
As  he  progresses  in 
his  journey  toward  an  unknown  destination  the 
"  blazed  "  trail  becomes  clearer  and  the  ex- 
plorer's wonder  grows,  for  at  every  fork  or  turn 
of  the  bridle-path,  from  oak  or  madrone,  but 
never  from  any  other  tree,  stands  forth  the  myste- 
rious cruciform  "  blaze  "  forty  -three  crosses 
in  all  in  the  two  days'  ride  !  Some  are  larger 
than   the  cross  on  the  Booneville  road,  others 


THE    MYSTERY    01    THE    CROSS-MARKED    TRAIL 


5°9 


PORTION    OF    CALIFORNIA,    SHOWING     THE    LOCALITIES    MENTIONED — PITNEY' 
TRAILS    ARE    INDICATED    BY    THE    LINES    OF    CROSSES. 


are  smaller;  but  the  smallest  of  them  all  would 
take  an  expert  woodsman  half  a  day's  patient 
toil  to  carve.  This  bridle  -  path  follows  the 
main  ridge  of  Long  Mountain,  crossing  the 
Ukiah-Booneville  stage  road  about  two  miles 
east  of  Soda  Springs  ;  thence  it  runs  along  Pine 
Ridge,  passing  to  the  right  of  Orr's  Hot  Springs  ; 
along  Two  Rock  Mountain,  crossing  the  road 
from  Willits  at  the  intersection  of  Three  Chop 
Ridge ;  down  Three  Chop  and  into  the  valley 
of  the  head  waters  of  the  many-forked  Nayo  : 
up  and  over  the  Bald  Hills,  skirting  Sherwood 
Mountain  and  the  sources  of  Ten  Mile,  to 
end  at  length  at  a  lone  house  on  the  summit 
of  the  Boshae  Ridge — the  most  inaccessible 
spot  in  all  the  vast  Mendocino  wilderness. 

It  is  a  weird  study  of  utter  desolation,  this 
deserted  rookery,  standing  on  the  apex  of  the 
ridge,  overlooking,  towards  three  points  of  the 


con 

St. 

from  whirh    th 
has  long  since  d 
faces    tli. 

dozen    apple    trees    st 
fiercely  for  exi 

the  ever-encroaching  tangle 
of  wildwood.  The  fern 
which  once  encompas 
the  orchard  •  have  been 
swallowed  up  in  a  thicket 
of  blackberry  vines  and 
wild  grape.  High  up  in  the 
east  wall  of  the  buildi 
a  small  loophole  or  window 
about  two  feel  [uare  fa< 
the  east  and  commands  the 
main  trail  along  the  ridge. 
below  it  and  more  to  the 
left  is  a  second  window, 
boarded  one  half  its  height 
with  hand  hewn  planks  of 
great  thickness,  and  the 
uppermost  of  these  contains 
two  suggestive  notches,  just 
the  proper  height  to  rest 
a  rifle  in.  The  western  trail 
along  the*  ridge  is  com- 
manded by  a  similar 
window  and  look-out. 

A  few  yards    behind    the 
house  stands  a  huge  tan  oak 
with   cross-pieces    nailed    to 
the    trunk,    and    forty    feet 
aloft   may   lie  discerned   the 
remains  of  a  crow's-nest  or 
platform,  now  fast  dropping 
to    decay.       Strange    acces- 
sories   these    for    a.   humble 
ranch-house!      Let  us   peep  within.     The  1 
door     leads     into     a     large     rectangular     room 
neatly  cased    with    unplaned    lumber.     A  capa- 
cious   fireplace    occupies    the    whole    east    side 
of  this  chamber,  and   near  it  is  a  ladder  leading 
to  the  little  look-out  beneath  the  <  hind 

this  room  is  another  or  second  apartment,  in 
the  corner  of  which  a  trap-door  gives  access  to 
a  soit  of  cellar  containing  the  remains  of  two 
bunks  and  some  shelving.  The  spring  freshets 
have  played  havoc  with  the  cellar's  casing,  but 
the  remains  of  what  seems  to  have  been  a  sub- 
terranean tunnel  leading  from  the  cellar  in  the 
direction  of  the  stable  can  still  be  discerned. 
On  the  plank  wall  near  the  adit  appears  the 
following  inscription  in  lead  pencil  :  "  Yreka 
Jim.'  Here  Oct.  14,  1883;  left  Dec.  10, 
1883";  and  further  research  reveals  two  bits 
of    haltincr    verse    written  in    ink    in    different 


10 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


handwritings       These   give   the   secret  of  the 

..zed  trail.  The  first  is  written  just 
above  the  look-out  beneath  the  oaves,  and  it 
runs  as  follows  :  — 


DAN      PITNEV,    WHO    LIVED    IN 
RIDGE   AND   WHO    "  BLAZED " 

From  a 


The  i       u'll   see 

On  white  oak  tree  : 
right  arm   points 
The  trail   to  me. 

— Dan  1'it.n  i  } . 

The  second,  a  more 
pretentious  effusion,  re- 
calls by  its  imperfect 
rhyme  the  poetic  efforts 
o\'  "  Black  Bart,"  the 
most  famous  of  Cali- 
fornian  highwaymen  :  — 

When   in   danger    set    your 

sail 
S  raightway    lor    the   cross 

marked  trail  ; 
Face  the  cross  both  fair  and 

true. 
The    right-hand    trail     will 

take  you  through. 

So  much  f o r  t  h e 
strange,  deserted  house 
on  the  Boshae  Ridge  as 
it  appeared,  warmed  by 
the  summer  sun,  in  the 
\ear  1902. 

The  solution  of  the 
remaining       problem  : 

••  Who  and  what  was  Dan  Pitney,  and  why  did 
he  'blaze5  that  cross-marked  trail  through  the 
wilderness  ? "  led  me  a  long  chase  throughout 
Mendocino  and  the  neighbouring  counties, 
bringing  me  at  last  to  the  warden's  office  of  the 
California  State  Prison  at  San  Quentin. 

Thus  runs  the  strange,  uncanny  tale  of  Dan 
Pitney  and  the  cross-marked  trail : — 

The  month  was  April,  the  year  1881.  Sher- 
wood Valley,  hemmed  in  between  the  rugged 
mountain  crest  and  the  trackless  virgin  forest, 
was  bathed  in  the  mellow  glow  of  dawning 
spring.  Chamberlain  Creek,  lashed  into  tawny 
foam  by  the  ceaseless  beating  of  winter  rains, 
had  for  days  been  an  impassable  barrier  for  man 
and  horse,  but  was  now  sulkily  returning  to  its 
wonted  bed.  The  Laughead  family,  whose 
modest  hostelry  was  the  sole  outpost  of  civiliza- 
tion in  all  those  miles  of  wilderness,  observing 
that  the  waters  were  subsiding,  began  to  make 
preparation  for  the  infrequent  guest.  Just  as 
Mrs.  Laughead  had  ordered  her  third  son, 
Hiram,  for  the  fifteenth  time  to  run  down  to 
the  creek  and  see  how  the  freshet  was,  a  knock 
came  at  the  door  and  a  visitor  entered, 
uninvited.  He  was  a  stalwart  man  of  middle 
age,  clean-shaven  and  wearing  his  prematurely 
grey  hair  long  and  brushed  well  back  from  the 
temples.      In   manner   he   was  quiet  and  self- 


possessed,  and  his  speech  betokened  that  he 
was  a  man  of  some  education.  From  his 
appearance,  perhaps,  more  than  from  any  direct 

statement  of  his,  the 
Laughead  family  con- 
jectured that  he  was  an 
itinerant  minister  of  the 
Gospel,  and  with  the  true 
Western  love  of  titles  they 
dubbed  him  "  Preacher  " 
accordingly. 

The  stranger  said  that 
his  name  was  Daniel  H. 
Pitney,  that  he  was  an 
invalid,  and  that  he  had 
determined  to  settle  on 
the  Boshae  Ridge.  He 
added  that  his  mule- 
train,  in  charge  of  an 
employe,  was  then  on 
the  road  from  the  ford. 
Could  they  find  him  a 
guide  into  the  Boshae 
country  ?  The  Laug- 
heads  could,  and  finally 
did ;  but  first  they  ex- 
hausted the  combined 
eloquence  of  the  family 
in  endeavouring  to 
induce  Mr.  Pitney  to 
They  dwelt  upon  the 
the  spot  ;  on  the  fact 
to   it  ;    that    he  would    be 


THE     HUT    ON    THE     BOSHAE 
THE   CROSS-MAKKKL)    TRAIL. 

Photo. 


settle  elsewhere, 
inaccessibility  of 
that  no  roads  led 
the  only  settler  there  ;  that  his  nearest  neigh- 
bour would  be  twenty-five  miles  away.  Mr. 
Pitney  surveyed  them  all  and  severally  through 
his  unfathomably  introspective  eye,  smiled  a 
sad,  saponaceous  smile,  and  gently  asseverated 
that  health  was  of  far  more  importance  to 
him  than  society  or  creature  comforts.  Two 
days  later  saw  Pitney  and  his  caravan — for  he 
had  six  laden  pack-mules,  a  couple  of  good 
riding  horses,  and  an  attendant — safely  en- 
camped on  the  summit  of  the  Boshae  Ridge. 
Sherwood  Valley  heard  no  more  of  him  for 
several  months. 

It  was  during  the  latter  part  of  July,  1881, 
that  Captain  Joshua  Sherwood  was  enjoying  his 
annual  altercation  with  his  swine.  The  imme- 
diate occasion  of  this  porcine  disturbance  was 
branding  time.  Hogs  that  are  undisputed 
monarchs  of  some  hundreds  ol  thousands  of 
unfenced  acres  object  to  being  branded.  Inci- 
dentally, they  also  object  to  being  harried  by  a 
pack  of  mongrel  curs,  and  they  will  travel  fast 
and  far  to  escape  them.  The  captain  had  been 
early  afield  that  day,  and  he  was  hot  and  very  tired 
when  he  suddenly  came  upon  Pitney,  laboriously 
carving  a  huge  cross  on  a  mighty  madrone. 


THE    MYSTERY    OF    THE    CROSS-MARKED    TRAIL. 


5» 


"  What  in  Noah's  ark  air  ye  doin'  that  fur  ?  " 
the  captain  gasped.  Pitney  told  him  in  that 
cool,  subdued  way  of  his,  with  his  eyes  looking 
forth  into  vacancy,  that  an  angel,  enveloped  in  a 
golden  cloud,  had  floated  in  through  the  door- 
way of  his  new  home  and  had  admonished  him, 


companion  had  departed,  taking  the  mules  with 
him,  and  new  trails  began  igthen  in  m; 

directions,  and  the  mysterious  rm  "blaz 

began  to  grow  in  number.      The   first   trail  i 
pleted  was  the  Booneville  road  one  ;  the 
a  bridle-path  running  along  the    Bo  the 


HE   CAME    UPON    PITNEY   LABORIOUSLY   CARVING    A    HUGE    CROSS 


if  he  ever  hoped  to  recover  his  lost  health,  to 
scatter  crosses  promiscuously,  so  to  speak,  over 
the  adjacent  landscape. 

"  Mad  as  he  can  be  ! "  muttered  the  worthy 
captain,  sotto  voce,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
summer  it  became  noised  around  through  the 
little  pent-in  valleys  which  lie  between  Blue 
Rock  and  Willits  that  a  crazy  preacher  had 
settled  on  the  Boshae  Ridge. 

Meanwhile  Pitney  was  not  idle.  His  house, 
barn,    and    well-house    were    completed.     His 


1'  icific  *  >cean,  terminating 

abruptly  on  the  bluff  three 
miles  north  of  Inglenook; 
lastly  a  trail  running  north- 
east   into    Trinity   County, 
skirting  the  western  border 
of  the   Indian    reservation 
and  crossing  the  middle  and  north  forks  of  Eel 
River.      It    terminates   at  a   steep  pass    to   the 
north  of   the    reservation,  appropriately  known 
as     "The      Devil's     Jump  -  off."      Thus  ..from 
the   east,    from    the   west,  and  from   the  south 
these  cross-marked  bridle-paths  meandered  over 
mountains  and  gulches,  to  end  at  .length  at  Mr. 
Pitney's  front  door.     All  the  trails  followed  the 
ridges,  whereas  the  settlements  and   the  stage 
and  waggon  roads  are  in  the  valleys. 

Month  succeeded  month,  and  strange  stories 


THE     WIDE     WORLD     MAOAZ1NE. 


g  in  to  be  whispered  through  the  interior 
valleys  about  the  lone  house  on  the  Boshae 
Ridge  and  its  occupant  A  member  of  a  party 
of  Pomo  Indians,  returning  from  the  coast, 
reached  the  trail  at  the  summit  of  the  ridge 
just  before  sundown.  He  heard  the  quick 
patter  of  hoofs  and  stepped  to  one  side,  as  the 
path  was  narrow.  Down  the  trail  from  the  east 
rode  at  a  gallop  a  swarthy  man  on  a  big  black 
horse,  lathered  with  foam  and  caked  with  dust. 
On  perceiving  the  trembling  Pomo,  half  hidden 
in  the  shadow,  he  threw  his  horse  backward  on 
to  its  haunches  and,  whipping  out  a  big  navy 
revolver,  covered  him.  Then  he  laughed  an 
unpleasant  laugh.  "  Pshaw  !  it's  nothin'  but 
an  Injun.  -  >ot, 
c  o  n  f  o  u  n  d  you!'' 
which  the  Pomo 
lost  no  time  in 
doing.  The  other 
Indians,  who  were 
only  a  mile  or  so 
behind,  saw  the 
man  on  the  black 
horse  dismount  at 
Pitney's  door. 

It  was  only  after 
Pitney's  arrest, 
some  years  later, 
that  the  simple- 
minded  settlers  in 
Sherwood  Valley 
connected  this  com- 
paratively trivial 
occurrence  with  a 
hold  -  up  of  the 
Weaverville  stage  in 
Trinity  County, 
sixty  miles  away, 
and  the  murder  of 
its  driver  by  a  high- 
wayman mounted 
on  a  black  horse. 

A  little  while  after 
this  the  general 
supply  store  of  a 
lumber  company 
near  Fort  Bragg 
was  broken  into 
and  a  tremendous 
amount  of  plunder 
carried  away.  So  clean  a  sweep  of  valuable 
merchandise  was  made  by  the  burglars  that 
the  company  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
goods  must  have  been  shipped  off  by  water. 
Accordingly,  the  San  Francisco  detectives  at 
work  on  the  case  confined  their  investigations  to 
the  coast  towns  and  the  shipping.  A  couple  of 
weeks  later  Daniel  Clark,  who  owns  an  extensive 


PSHAW  !    IT  S    NOTHIN'    BUT   AN    INJUN 


cattle  ranch  to  the  north  of  the  ridge,  was  tracking 
some  straying  steers,  aided  by  a  vaquero.  As  he 
approached  the  Pitney  house  along  the  trail  he 
became  conscious  of  two  pairs  of  eyes  gazing  at 
him  and  two  bearded  faces  peering  out  of  the  little 
window  beneath  the  eaves.  Clark dismountedand 
entered  the  house.  Pitney  was  sitting  alone  in 
front  of  the  great  fireplace  reading  his  Bible. 
Clark  asked  him  if  he  had  seen  the  missing 
cattle,  describing  them.     Pitney  said  "  No." 

"  Perhaps  your  friends  have  seen  them  ? " 
suggested  Clark. 

"  What  friends  ?  "  inquired  Pitney,  with  a  far- 
away look  in  his  eyes. 

"Why,    die    people    in    the    back    room,    of 

course." 

"Mr.  Clark," 
said  Pitney,  speak- 
ing very  slowly,  as 
was  his  wont,  "  I 
assure  you  that 
there  is  not  a  living 
soul  in  this  house 
at  this  moment 
except  our  two 
selves,"  and  with 
that  he  arose,  threw 
open  the  door  of 
the  rear  apartment, 
and  motioned 
Clark  to  enter. 
The  room  was 
empty. 

"  It  struck  me 
all  in  a  heap,"  said 
Clark,  in  telling  the 
story  afterwards. 
"  However,  after  I 
had  ridden  away 
some  distance,  I 
sent  my  vaquero 
back  on  foot  to 
peep  into  the  stable, 
and  he  reported  to 
me  that,  in  addition 
to  Pitney's  own 
horses,  there  were  two  extra  ones 
:n  the  stable,  saddled,  bridled,  and 
ready  for  the  road,  also  eight  mules. 
As,  however,  I  found  my  cattle  within 
another  half  hour  grazing  in  the  Big 
Meadows,  and  as  I  knew  that  Pitney  was 
reported  to  be  insane,  I  attached  little  im- 
portance to  the  incident  and  dismissed  it 
from   my  mind." 

Next  Alex  Sherwood,  who  then  lived  in  a 
homestead  on  the  south  side  of  the  Bald 
Hills,  sallied  out  after  bear,  and  the  chase 
led  him  to  the   Boshae   country.     Just   as   he 


THE    MYSTERY    OF    THE    CROSS-MARKED    TRAIL. 


5'3 


reached  the  clearing  with  its  dozen  apple- 
trees,  he  saw  Pitney  in  close  conversation  with 
a  short,  thick-set  man  with  a  light  moustache. 
Sherwood,  rifle  in  crook  of  arm,  hailed  in 
accordance  with  backwoods  etiquette,  and  the 
stranger  shot  one  glance  at  him  and  then 
bolted  into  the  house. 

"What  in    thunder  is  the  matter  with  that 
fellow?"    Sher- 
wood asked,  on 
reaching    the 
porch. 

"  He  is  going 
to  have  a  fit," 
replied  Pitney. 
"  He  was  telling 
me  just  as  you 
called  out  that 
he  felt  it  com- 
ing on.  He  is 
my  dead  sister's 
son  from  Ore- 
gon, Mr.  Sher- 
wood. I  thought 
that  our  dry, 
bracing  climate 
might  do  him 
good ;  but,  poor 
fellow,  an  angel 
told  me  last 
night  that  he 
would  not 
tarry  long  on 
earth." 

Notwithstand- 
ing this  ghostly 
pronu  ncia- 
mento,  Alex 
S herwood 
thought     the 


stranger    a 

robust-looking  sort  of  invalid,  and  said  as  much. 

The  incident  would  have  made  a  deeper 
impression  on  his  mind  had  he  known  that  a 
safe  in  a  San  Francisco  jewellery  store  had  been 
broken  open  four  nights  before  and  upwards  of 
fifty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  jewels  stolen, 
and  that  the  detectives  had  tracked  one  of  the 
burglars  as  far  as  Santa  Rosa,  just  thirty-five 
miles  south  of  the  Booneville  road  cross,'  and 
had  there  lost  their  clue. 

So  the  tales  multiplied.  Tales  of  mysterious 
goings  and  comings ;  of  hard  riding  along 
obscure  trails  ;  of  unknown  men  with  weighty 
saddle-bags ;  of  scowling  faces  at  the  little 
windows,  and  strange  horses  tethered  in  the 
Pitney  yard. 

Thus  1 88 1,  1882,  and  1883  glided  away,  and 
it  was  the  summer  of  1884.     "Doc"  Stanley, 

Vol.  xii.— 66. 


THE    STRANGER    BOLTED   INTO    THE    HOUSE. 


the   captor   of    the    Mend 10    -Mil,,/. 

sheriff.      A  very  valuab 

in    Lake  County,  and 

paint  and  took  the  trail. 

mare  answering   the 

animal    near   Pieta.      "  1  I 

this    clue,    lost    it,    and    picked    it'  up 

near    Soda    Springs.       Then     he     lost     i; 

■I  and  all; 
but  he  fir^t 
succeeded  in 
demonstrating 
two  imporl 
points —  that 
the  horse  had 
neither  L 
taken  to  the 
coast  nor  to  any 
of  the  valley 
towns.  Hem  e 
it  followed  that 
the  animal  w; 
somewhere  in 
the  redwoods. 
Hunting  a 
stolen  horse  in 
this  great  track- 
less  forest 
seemed  a  well- 
nigh  hopeless 
quest,  but  the 
sheriff  tackled 
it  con  amore. 
His  two  moun- 
ted deputies 
scoured  the 
canyons,  while 
Stanley  fol- 
lowed the  main 
ridges.  Thus 
they  worked 
slowly  northward  till  they  reached  the  Paid 
Hills,  and  there  they  first  began  to  hear  of 
Pitney  and  the  strange  doings  on  the  Boshae 
Ridge.  They  had  encountered  several  of  his 
crosses  during  their  wanderings,  but  attached 
no  importance  to  them. 

In  the  early  morning  of  a  July  day  in  18S4 
Stanley  and  his  two  men  stood  on  the  bank 
Ten   Mile  River.     Pitney's  house,  perched 
the    precipitous    bluff   two    miles   above    th 
overlooked  the  canyon.      "A  bear  must   ! 
crossed    here,"  remarked  one  of  the  deput 
pointing    to    certain  ungainly  footprints   in  the 
shingle.     The  sheriff  went  down  on  his  hands 
and  knees  and  studied  them  intently.     Then  in 
the  same  fashion  he  examined  every  inch  of  the 
north  bank  above   the  shingle  for   twenty  feet. 
"  Boys,  we've  got  him  !  "  he  cried  ;  "  this  is  no 


SM 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


tV   COURTEOUSLY    RAISED    THE    CAN    WITH 
BOTH    HANDS." 


bear,  but  a  horse  with  gunny-sacks 
on  his  feet  !  See  these  ravellings  ? 
It  was  led,  down  to  water,  pro- 
bably, by  a  man  wearing  mocca- 
sins, here,  where  his  foot 
slipped  !  The  track  is  not  a  day  old  !" 

<  m  a  little  flat  in  the  redwoods 
a  few  hundred  yards  above  the  river 
they  found  the  stolen  mare  in  a 
hastily  constructed  corral.  "  Doc  " 
Stanley  climbed  the  steep  hill  alone; 
he  desired  a  brief  interview  with  Mr. 
Pitney.  Pitney,  wearing  moccasins, 
was  approaching  his  house  with  a 
five-gallon  can  of  water  from  the 
well  when  the  sheriff  accosted  him. 

•■Mr.  Pitney.  I  believ(  - 

■s,  sir,"  said  Pitney,  stopping 
to  deposit  the  can. 

"Don't  put  it  down,  I  want  a 
drink,'''  said  Stanley ;  and  as  the 
man  of  mystery  courteously  raised 
the  can  with  both  hands  to  the  level 
of  "  Doc "  Stanley's  face,  his  eyes 
looked  into  the  muzzle  of  a  revolver. 


"  Steady !       That    will     do.       Thank 
•  you  ! "  and   the   steel   handcuffs   clicked 
upon  Pitney 's  outstretched  wrists. 

Beneath  the  trap-door  in  the  secret 
underground  hiding-place  Sheriff  Stanley 
unearthed  over  two  hundred  and  fifty 
packages  of  miscellaneous  articles.  There 
were  bales  of  cloth,  silk  dress  patterns, 
watches,  diamond  rings,  boxes  of  shoes, 
lire-arms  and  ammunition,  groceries — in 
short,  merchandise  sufficient  to  equip  a 
large  general  country  store.  Probably 
for  this  reason  Pitney  made  no  very 
strenuous  defence  at  his  trial.  He  was 
sentenced. to  eighteen  years'  imprison- 
ment, and  upon  his  arrival  at  San  Quentin 
Prison  on  October  21st,  1884,  was  imme- 
diately recognised  as  an  old  offender  who 
had  been  pardoned  on  June  21st,  1880. 
With  a  refined  sense  of  humour  he 
described  himself  in  the  prison  record- 
book  as  a  "farmer."  He  persistently 
declined  to  answer  any  questions  as  to 
his  nativity  and  parentage,  and  proved 
to  be  a  most  exemplary,  as  well  as  a  most 
reticent,  prisoner.  He  was  discharged,  with 
the  usual  allowance  for  good  conduct,  on 
December  zist,  1895.  He  has  never  returned 
to  the  Boshae  Ridge.  The  wood-rats  nest  in 
his  deserted'-and  crumbling  stronghold,  the  deer 
champ  the||ioughs  in  his  fast-vanishing  orchard, 
and  soon  tj|e  cross-marked  trees  will  be  his  only 
memorial. 


I- ynm  a  Photo,  by]      "  DOC  "   STANLEY,  WHO   ARRESTED   PITNEY. 


[Carpenter. 


A  Millionaire  Fire  Brigade — "Human  Pumps" — A  Runaway  Train,  etc.,  etc. 


ARCH  MONT,  a  fashionable  suburb 
of  New  York  City,  has  the  distinc- 
tion of  possessing  a  volunteer  fire 
brigade  unique  in  the  fact  that 
several  of  its  members  are  million- 
aires, while  many  others  have  incomes  of  over 
^100000  each.  The  Larchmont  brigade  is 
no  ornamental  organization,  however,  but  a 
very  efficient  fire-fighting  force,  and  one  of  the 
most  effective  volunteer  fire  organizations  in 
America.  Membership  is  not  confined  to  men 
of  means,  but  is  open  to  any  man  who  is  ready 
and  willing  to  submit  to  the  rigid  discipline 
enforced.  In  the  Larchmont  fire  brigade 
the  "  trust "  magnate  vies  with  his  clerk,  the 
landed  proprietor  with  his  labourer.  The 
chief  officer  of  the  brigade,  which  numbers 
over  two  hundred  members,  is  Mayhew  VV. 
Bronson,  a  multi-millionaire,  who  has  ample 
leisure  to   carry  on   his   hobby  of   fire-fighting. 


Four  years  ago  he  joined  the  fire  brigade,  and, 
being  speedily  convinced  that  the  proper  way 
to  learn  the  ropes  was  to  be  among  men  who 
had  made  a  life-study  of  the  work,  he  gained 
the  privilege  of  a  probationary  course  in  the 
New  York  Fire  Department.  No  favouritism  is 
shown  to  the  wealthy  members,  and  they  take 
their  full  share  of  hard  work.  The  men  being 
trained  in  small  squads,  it  is  no  unusual  sight 
to  see  a  millionaire  carrying  his  coachman 
down  the  ladders,  or  vice  versa,  since  each 
member  is  required  to  be  able  to  perform  the 
same  duties.  When  an  alarm  comes  in  on 
one  of  the  cool  September  evenings,  while  the 
majority  of  the  members  are  smoking  their 
after-dinner  cigars,  they  may  often  be  seen 
tearing  along  to  their  respective  stations  in 
evening  dress.  In  fact,  as  a  visitor  said 
recently,  "  They  look  like  a  set  of  dukes 
raiding  a  livery-stable  ! " 


From  a] 


A   MILLIONAIRE    FIRE    BRIGADE. 


Si6 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


placed  on  the  same  bar,  each 
having  a  bamboo  upright  to 
hold  on  by,  and  they  sing  a  not 
unmusical  chant  as  they  step 
up  and  down  in  order  that  all 
may  work  in  unison.  This 
method  of  raising  water  is  only 
to  be  seen  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Madras,  and  is  surely 
one  of  the  most  monotonous 
and  mechanical  employments 
conceivable  —  using  a  man  as 
a  mere  balance-weight  to  lift  a 
bucket  of  water  ! 

From  Ermelo,  in  the  Trans- 
vaal, a  Repatriation  superinten- 
dent forwards  the  impressive 
snap-shot  here  shown.  "The 
picture  illustrates,"  he  says, 
"•  what  lightning  does  for  us  out 


seven     dead 
span   of    ten 


•  HUMAN     PUMPS    — 
From  a] 


ONE    OF     THE      MOST     MONOTONOUS 
CONCEIVABLE." 


MECHANICAL    OCCUPATION 
{Photo. 


A  great  deal  of  salt  is  made  along  the  coast 
Madras,  and  acres  and  acres   of  glistening 
white    are    to    be    seen.     At   certain    seasons 
numerous  backwaters  are  made  by  the  sea,  the 
bar  across  their  mouths  forming  again  with  the 
change  of  wind  and  monsoon  rains.     The  sea- 
water  from   these  lakes  is   raised  into   the  salt- 
pans in  the  curious  way  shown  in  the  picture — 
by    means   of    what    may    be   called    "  human 
pumps."     By    taking    a    step    backwards    and 
forwards,  the  men  seen   perched  on  the  cross- 
bars up  aloft  can  raise  and  Lower  them  some- 
what  after  the  manner  of  a 
see-saw.     To  these  cross-bars 
is  attached  a  bamboo  fastened 
to  an    iron    bucket.      When 
raised    to   the    level    of    the 
trough  the  bucket  is  tipped 
by   a   man    below   and    the 
water    it    has     brought     up 
from    the  channel  is    spread 
out   into   the   shallow  pan  to 
the    depth    of    about    three 
inches.     The  water    is    then 
evaporated    by  the  sun   until 
only  the  glistening    Salt- 
er} stals      remain.        In      the 
picture  there  is  only  one  man 
on  each  cross-bar,  but  when 
the  bucket   used   is   a   large 
one    three    men     are    often 


here.  It  shows 
mules  out  of  a 
which  were  struck ;  the  other 
three,  although  knocked  down, 
eventually  recovered.  The  two 
'  boys '  in  charge  of  the  team 
fortunately  happened  to  be  a 
few  yards  away,  filling  nose- 
bags, and  so  escaped,  but  several  other  natives 
in  the  vicinity  were  thrown  down.  The  waggon 
— which  was  loaded  with  furniture — -was  set  on 
fire  by  the  lightning,  and  some  of  the  articles 
will  be  seen  strewn  about  the  veldt." 

A  correspondent  in  Hong-Kong  sends  the 
extraordinary  snap-shot  we  give  on  the  next 
page.  It  shows  the  front  room  on  the  first  floor 
of  his  house  at  Hong-Kong  taken  immediately 
after  the  roof  had  collapsed.  The  cause  of  the 
accident  was  white  ants !  These  fearful  pests 
had  entirely  eaten  away  and  destroyed  the  end 


I 


WHAT    LIGHTNING   CAN    DO   IN    THE   TRANSVAAL. 


\tH0tO. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


5'7 


of  tons,   struck    this 
rid  splii 

of    the    unfi 
tramps 

r     under     the 
dkbn  i  leaving 

the  end  of  ti 
theflyinu,  train  leapi  d 
across  Division 
Street  with  a  bound, 
striking  a  ledge  i  i 
solid  rock,  through 
which  it  ploughed  a 
trench  some  three 
feet  in  depth  for 
quite  a  distance. 
Even  this  did  not 
stop  the  awful  rush 
of  the  runaway. 
About  one  hundred 
feet  farther  and  in 
line  with  the  end  of 
the  track  stood  a 
small  r  e  s  i  d  e  n 
occupied  by  a 
family  consisting  of  two  adults  and  seven 
children,  all  being  asleep  at  the  time.  This 
house  was  simply  ground  to  splinters  with 
the  wreckage  of  the  cars,  which  completely 
covered  it.  Strange  to  relate,  however,  only  one 
child  of  nine  was  killed,  the  rest  being  taken 
out  of  the  wreck  with  only  slight  injuries. 
By  this  time  the  terrific  momentum  of  the  train 
was  somewhat  abated,  but  before  it  finally 
stopped  it  struck  a  large  building,  used  as  a 
laundry,  and  moved  it  six  or  seven  feet  from  its 
foundation.  The  photograph  here  reproduced 
was  taken  a  short  time  after  the  wreck,  and  will 


WHITE   ANTS    ARE   A    TERRIBLE     PEST     IN    THE     EAST — THIS     IMPRESSIVE    PHOTOGRAPH    SHOWS   WHAT   THEY 

DID    TO   A    HONG-KONG    BUNGALOW. 


of  the  main  joist  of  the  roof,  which  rested  on 
the  wall.  Our  correspondent's  wife  was  sitting 
in  the  room  when  the  collapse  commenced, 
but  fortunately  managed  to  escape  in  time. 
The  seeming  lath-and-plaster  partition  in  the 
background  is  the  fallen  ceiling,  resting  per- 
pendicularly against  the  wall.  This  remarkable 
accident  will  give  our  readers  some  idea  of  the 
fearful  havoc  wrought  by  the  amiable  white  ant 
in  countries  where  it  makes  its  home. 

About  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  June 
22nd,  1903,  a  train  of  eighty-one  cars,  loaded 
principally  with  coal,  was  standing  on  the  old 
Spokane  Falls  and  Northern 
Railway  track  about  four 
miles  from  the  City  of 
Spokane,  State  of  Washing- 
ton. From  some  unknown 
cause  these  cars  were 
started  toward  the  city, 
gathering  speed  at  every 
revolution  of  the  wheels 
until  they  gained  an  esti- 
mated velocity  of  between 
eighty  and  ninety  miles  per 
hour.  At  the  site  of  the 
former  depot,  and  where 
the  track  abruptly  ends, 
stood  an  empty  box-car  in 
which  two  tramps  were 
asleep.  The  mighty  ava- 
lanche    of     loaded     cars,        /><?;««] 


*y§ 


THE   WRECK   OF   A   RUNAWAY   TRAIN. 


5i8 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE, 


CLKMUS   SANU-1'ILLAKS   CAUSED    BY   TROl'IC 


[Photo. 


give  some  idea  of  the  force  the  cars  gained  in 
their  wild  flight  and  the  completeness  of  the 
wreck  when  they  finally  came  to  rest. 

The  reader  who  sends  the  above  photograph 
writes   as   follows  :    "  Whilst   wandering    in    the 
neighbourhood  of  Manaos,  which  lies  near  the 
junction  of  the   Rio   Negro  with  the  Amazon,  I 
came  across  this  little  group  of  sand  pillars,  set 
up  my  camera,  and  promptly  took  the  enclosed 
photo.      I   do   not  know  whether  anyone  would 
guess   how  they  were   formed,   but   it  is   in   this 
wise  :    Tropical  rain  (Manaos 
is  almost  exactly  on  the  Equa- 
tor)  is  very  heavy,  and  when 
it  does  come  down  it  washes 
the  soft  sand  away,  but  as  it 
comes  down  vertically  it  leaves 
a    little    pillar  of   sand    under 
any  stick  or   stone  which  hap- 
pens to  be    lying   about.       I 
understand    such    pillars    are 
also    found     occasionally     in 
Switzerland,  but  they  must  be 
very  rare." 

The  camel  is  not  a  very 
contented-looking  beast  at  the 
best  of  times,  even  when  he 
is  being  fed,  but  when  he  is 
used  as  a  sort  of  weighbridge, 
like  the  poor  brute  seen 
our  photograph,  he  has  legi- 
timate cause  for  complaint. 
The  ordinary  load  for  a  camel 
is    supposed      to     be     about     A  ^j**"  tha 


a  quarter  of  a  ton,  and  therefore  a  camel- 
load  is  made  the  regular  measure  in  Egypt 
for  all  such  things  as  hay  and  straw.  A 
camel  is  made  to  lie  down,  and  the  hay  is 
then  heaped  on  his  back  until  he  is  only 
just  able  to  rise,  when  the  buyer  is  supposed 
to  have  a  good  quarter  of  a  ton.  For  this 
rough  treatment,  of  course,  the  camel  deserves 
pity;  but  who  pities  an  animal  that  is  for 
ever  complaining,  snarling  even  at  the  hand 
that  feeds  it  ? 


REGULAR    MEASURE     IN     EGYPT — WHEN    THE   POOR   BEAST   IS   SO   LOADED 

T    HE   CAN    SCARCELY    RISK    THE   CUSTOMER   IS   SATISFIED.  \PlultO. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


5i9 


*-'■."      ■  ■•*■ —  ■  -  -  ■ 


^.■graB 


■ 


Froii  a) 


A   HOUSE    BUILT   OF    BEER-BOTTLES. 


The  newest  centre  of  gold-mining  on  the 
Western  Coast  of  the  United  States  is  at 
Tonopah  (pronounced  Tonnopah),  in  the  State 
of  Nevada.  As  Tonopah  is  situated  in  an  arid, 
rocky  region,  without  a  tree  within  fifty  or  sixty 
miles,  timber  for  building  purposes  is  naturally 
very  expensive.  Materials  of  many  sorts  are 
pressed  into  the  service  of  the  constructor. 
There  are  houses  made  of  the  wood  obtained 
from  boxes  in  which  groceries  and  dry  goods 
have  been  packed  ;  houses  of  mud,  of  stones,  of 
old  sacking  or  straw.  But  the  most  remarkable 
and  one  of  the  most  comfortable  of  the  houses  is 
built  of  old  beer-bottles.  It  was  constructed  by 
William  F.  Peck,  an  employe  of  the  Tonopah 
Mining  Company,  and  is  sixteen  feet  by  twenty 
feet  in  the  clear,  with  ceilings  eight  feet  high.  It 
contains  two  rooms.  There  are  about  ten  thou- 
sand bottles  in  the  house,  the  north  and  west 
sides  being  built  of  bottles  of  a  light  green 
glass  and  the  south  and  east  sides  of  bottles 
nearly  black  in  colour.  The  bottoms  of  the 
bottles  face  outwards,  and  on  the  inside. the 
necks  are  covered  with  plaster  to  a  depth  of 
an  inch  or  so,  thus  making  a  smooth  interior 
surface.  The  chief  expense  in  the  construction 
of  the  house  was  the  water,  which  was  necessary 
to  make  the  mud  in  which  the  bottles  are 
embedded.  Water  was  selling  at  the  time 
the  house  was  built  at  six  shillings  a  barrel. 
During  last  winter  Mr.  Peck  lived  with  his 
wife  and  two  children  in  this  glass  house,  and 


found      it 
com 

equal  jIu     in      I 

ither 

frequently  fi 
this  did   not    hap- 
pen   in    the    gl 
house. 

The  pool  seen 
in  the  following 
photograph 
situated  near  Kur- 
rachee,  in  India, 
and  simply  swarms 
with  sacred  alliga- 
tors. Some  of 
these  hideous 
brutes  may  be 
:n  basking  in 
the  foreground. 
The  alligators  are 
held  in  great  re- 
verence by  the 
natives,  and  are 
worshipped  at  the 
temple  seen  at  the  rear.  They  are  fed 
each  day  with  goats,  the  proceeding  being 
carried  out  with  all  the  solemnity  of  a 
religious  rite — which,  indeed,   it  is. 


\Photo. 


THE    POOL   OF    THE   SACRED   CROCODILES    AT   KURRACHEE,    INDIA. 
prQin  a-  PltOtQ, 


5-° 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


From  a] 


A    ROCK    THAT   WRECKED   A    VILLAGE. 


At  the  foot  of  the  eastern  side  of  the  Rock 
of  Gibraltar  lies  the  tiny  fishing  village  of 
Catalan  Bay.     The  photograph  shown  herewith 


illustrates  a  curious  accident 
which  happened  at  this  ham- 
let early  on  the  morning  of 
May  31st  last.  While  men 
were  at  work  at  the  quarries 
above  the  village,  excavating 
stone  for  the  new  dockyard, 
an  enormous  mass  of  rock, 
a  hundred  and  forty  tons  in 
weight,  suddenly  rolled  down 
into  the  village.  A  number 
of  buildings  were  wrecked- 
swept  clean  away — and  six 
cows,  a  horse,  and  a  number 
of  goats  were  killed.  Curi- 
ously enough,  although  there 
were  a  number  of  people 
about  when  the  boulder 
crashed  down,  no  one  was 
killed,  and  a  man  and 
woman  who  could  not  get 
out  of  the  way  in  time  were 
found  uninjured  in  the 
debris.  Our  photograph  shows  some  of  the 
wrecked  buildings  and  the  mass  of  rock  that 
did  the  mischief  half-buried  to  the  left. 


[Plwto. 


Raiding  cf 

Jy?BBEK  UkAND 


l      £>  -^TR  AN  &  E  $TORY  OF 

h<   X--*Tohn  Evans  * 


ACerman  Venice 

Spanish 
Servants     {fr\JQ 

F/reBr/gade 


On  Foot 

*&<£  Vto Thibet 

1, 


a*  Wrecked 
Village 


Lonely'Trans 
AfrjcanTr,amp 


How  I  Became  a 
Lion  Tame  1^ 


In  Stronghold  of  SNAKES 


u£^ 


THF  TS   OF    "THE   WIDE   WORLD   MAGAZINE,"   WHICH    SHOWS   AT   A   GLANCE   THE    LOCALITY   OF    EACH    ARTICLE 

AND   NARRATIVE   OF    ADVENTURE    IN   THIS   NUMBER. 


"IT    JUMPED     CLEAR     ACROSS     THE     DORY. 
(see  page  525.) 


The  Wide  World  Magazine. 


Vol.  XII. 


MARCH.    1904. 


No.  72. 


>W0RE) 


c& 


By  W.  H.  Chamberlain. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  describes  a  remarkable  and  perilous  industry  which  is  carried  on  within  a 
day's  sail  of  the  sky-scrapers  of  New  York— the  pursuit  and  capture  of  the  sword-fish.  When 
roused  this  finny  monster  can  use  his  formidable  sword  with  terrible  effect,  and  the  fisherman's 

occupation  is  as  exciting  as  it  is  interesting. 


A 


X  the  Block  Island  fisherman's  life 
sport  mixes  with  the  daily  business. 
His  quarry  is  a  finny  giant  armed 
with  a  sword  of  sufficient  power  to 
penetrate  the  bottom  of  a  boat  and 
hold  the  man  within  gored  and  helpless,  as 
though  impaled  on  a  skewer. 

Against  this  formidable  creature  the  islander 
matches  his  skill  with  a  barbed  dart,  driven  by 
the  weight  of  a  fifteen-foot  pole.  This  dart  he 
hurls  from  the  bowsprit  of  his  schooner  as  he 
stands  at  the  extreme  end  in  an  iron  framework 
called  in  technical  phrase  a  "pulpit.'  Once 
fairly  struck  the  fish  makes  off,  towing  several 
fathoms  of  line,  at  the  other  end  of  which  is 
fastened  a  painted  keg,  that  indicates  his  move- 
ments to  the  man  pursuing  him  in  the  dory. 

Vol.  xii.—  66. 


It  is  something  of  a  revelation  to  the  average 
American  citizen  when  he  learns  that  this 
perilous  industry  is  carried  on  within  a  day's 
sail  of  the  sky-scrapers  of  New  York  and  in 
sight  of  the  gay  summer  colony  of  Newport  A 
curious  fact  in  connection  with  it  is  that,  despite 
this  proximity,  the  fish  are  never  sent  to  the 
markets  of  the  city.  Boston  and  Providence 
and  the  smaller  New  England  towns  take  the 
whole  supply  and  prize  it  as  a  great  delicacy. 

In  its  gastronomic  quality,  the  sword-fish  is 
suggestive  of  salmon,  but  more  delicate,  and 
altogether  free  from  oiliness  of  flavour.  Time 
and  again  the  natives  have  discussed  the 
possibility  of  opening  a  market  in  New  York, 
but  it  has  never  been  done,  because  they  say  the 
dealers  fear  to  spoil  the  demand  for  halibut. 


5-4 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


Block  Island,  a  great  sand-dune  clothed  with 
thin  green  turf,  rises  in  steep  bluffs  from  the 
ntic  eighteen  miles  north  cast  of  Montauk 
Point  It  is  inhabited  by  a  quaint  community 
descended  from  the  seventeen  original  proprietors 
who  drove  out  the  Indians  and  took  possession 
of  their  farms  under  a  venerable  colonial  charter 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 

Toward  mid-June  the  first  sword-fish  begin 
to  make  their  appearance  in  the  neighbouring 
waters.  The  fishermen  themselves  have  no 
definite  theory  concerning  their  migrations. 
The  more  intelligent  seem  to  think  that  they 
follow  the  course  of  the  Gulf  Stream  up  from 
the  warm  waters  of  the  south  and  strike  in 
toward  the  New  England  coast  at  this  point, 
seeking  the  small  fish  and  baby  squid  on  which 
they  feed.  As  summer  advances  they  move 
slowly  northward  till,  late  in  September,  they 
appear  off  the  Maine 
shore.  Then  they 
vanish  altogether  from 
the  neighbourhood  for 
another  winter. 

S  >me  half -century 
ago  the  Block 
iders  made  their 
first  efforts  to  obtain 
sword  -fish  for  the 
markets.  They  used 
the  boats  that  are 
named  after  the 
locality  —  foreign- 
looking,  old  double - 
enders,  broad  of  beam 
and  deep  of  draught, 
carrying  two  stumpy 
masts  rigged  with  leg-o'-mutton  sails.  On  the 
end  of  the  short  bowsprit  they  built  the  "  pulpit  " 
of  iron,  that  reaches  to  the  height  of  a  man's 
waist  and  steadies  him  as  he  wields  the  heavy 
pole  with  which  the  harpooning  is  done. 

Of  late  years  the  schooner  type  has  replaced 
the  Block  Island  boat  to  a  great  extent,  and 
ever)-  year  the  fleet  boasts  some  improvement 
in  the  matter  of  size  and  sail  capacity.  The 
most  up-to-date  of  the  craft  now  reach  a  length 
of  about  seventy  feet.  They  are  graceful  in 
appearance,  built  like  yachts  for  speed  and  ease 
of  handling.  Their  crews  take  a  becoming 
pride  in  them,  keeping  the  paint  fresh  and  the 
decks  white  at  all  times. 

These  fishermen  do  not  approve  of  strangers 
from  the  city,  as  a  rule.  Their  tight  little  island 
and  its  interests  are  to  them  all-sufficient,  and 
"  city  folks  "  are  apt  to  intrude  with  patronizing 
manners  and  exasperating  questions.  You  must 
have  a  proper  introduction  and  a  special  invita- 
tion before  they  will  consent  to  take  you  out  and 


ONE   OF    THE    FLEET   OF 

From 


initiate  you  into  the  mysteries  of  sword-fishing. 
But  .when  these  formalities  are  complied  with 
satisfactorily  there  will  be  no  lack  of  hospitality. 
1  laving  been  presented  to  each  of  the  crew  of 
some  hospitable  craft  and  received  their  invita- 
tion to  go  out  with  them  the  next  day,  it  remains 
only  to  rise  before  daylight  and  grope  your  way 
along  the  sandy  paths  that  lead  to  the  old 
harbour,  where  the  fleet  lies  waiting  the  first 
streaks  of  dawn. 

There  is  a  jumble  of  shipping  inside  the 
breakwater.  Pleasure  craft  rub  sides  with 
lobster-boats  and  fishing-schooners,  all  wedged 
in  together  close  to  the  shipping  market  on  the 
dock.  As  a  consequence  of  the  close  quarters 
anchors  are  fouled  and  lines  crossed  in  what 
might  appear  hopeless  confusion.  But  the 
business-like  serenity  of  the  fishermen  does  not 
suffer  itself  to  be  disturbed  by  these  little  com- 
plications. 

There  is,  indeed,  a 
rare  democratic  spirit 
and  good  -  fellowship 
among  the  crews.  It 
is  explained,  doubt- 
less, by  the  fact  that 
each  man  has  an 
interest  in  the  craft  he 
sails  with  and  realizes 
the  advantages  of  co- 
operation. On  each 
boat  there  is  a  man 
who  is  called  "  cap- 
tain," and  whose  prin- 
cipal duty  it  is  to 
mind  the  wheel  ;  but 
his  title  is  one  of 
courtesy  only,  and  when  necessary  he  must  take 
a  hand  at  "  tending  "  the  fish  or  give  the  cook 
the  benefit  of  his  services  in  the  galley,  like  any 
other  member  of  the  crew.  This  community 
of  interest  explains  also  the  alacrity  and  cheer- 
fulness with  which  the  work  is  done. 

As  our  little  schooner  rounds  the  outer 
breakwater  the  breeze  commences  to  make 
itself  felt  in  puffs  and  stronger  gusts  that  carry 
us  under  the  South  Light  and  out  of  the  lee  of 
the  island  in  racing  time.  Then  it  freshens  still 
more  and  blows  steadily  from  the  westward  as 
we  head  out  to  meet  the  Atlantic  swell,  which 
sends  the  schooner  staggering  and  at  times 
buries  her  nose  in  spray.  Breakfast  in  the 
fo'c's'le  is  hurried  through  without  much  cere- 
mony, the  conversation  turning  on  the  hard 
luck  of  one  Ghristopher  Norwaugh,  who  was 
recently  torn  and  gashed  in  a  fierce  battle  with 
a  sword-fish.  From  fragments  of  narrative  that 
illuminate  the  discussion  it  appears  that  this 
Norwaugh   was   one   of  the    most   experienced 


SWOKD-FISHING    SCHOONERS 

a   Photo. 


SWORD    FISHING. 


fishermen  on  the  island,  and  so  skilful  that  the 
crew  of  his  schooner,  the  Lindsay,  always 
entrusted  him  with  the  most  difficult  and 
dangerous  tasks.  On  this  particular  July  morn- 
ing they  were  about  six  miles  from  land  when 
a  fish  was  seen  to  leap  out  of  the  water  very 
close  to  the  bow.  It  was  a  big  fellow  and  un- 
usually powerful— a  five-hundred-pounder,  as 
they  found  out  afterward.  Its  leap  carried  it 
clear  of  the  white-crested  waves,  so  that  from 
the  boat  they  could  see  every  part  of  the  great 
shining  body,  and  note  with  some  vague  appre- 
hension the  long,  broad  sword  gemmed  with 
sunlit  drops  of  spray. 

There  was  a  strong,  fitful  breeze  at  the  time, 
and  the  seas  were  "  feathering "  under  the 
impulse  of  the  gusts.  At  short  intervals  the  big 
fish  repeated  its  leaps,  while  the  Lindsay's  crew 
trimmed  sail  and  prepared  for  the  attack. 
They  came  up  with  it 
after  a  few  minutes, 
and  the  man  in  the 
"  pulpit,"  pole  in  hand, 
watched  it  swimming 
along  so  deep  down 
under  the  surface  that 
to  unpractised  eyes  its 
outline  might  have 
seemed  no  more  than 
a  long,  black  shadow. 
But  it  was  enough  to 
serve  as  target  for  the 
well-driven  barb. 

Down  w  ent  the 
point,  straight  through 
the  green  water  into 
the    fish's    head.       It 

must  have  penetrated  that  particular  part  of  the 
brain  which,  being  pierced,  brings  on  an  insane 
fury  in  the  creature,  for  instantly  the  long  body 
rose  up  half  out  of  the  sea  and  threshed  about 
in  short  circles,  dashing  the  foam  in  clouds  from 
side  to  side.  But  the  line  held  fast  and  the 
crew  tossed  the  white  keg  overboard  while 
Norwaugh  was  unshipping  his  oars  in  the  dory. 
He  realized  that  there  would  be  a  tough  tussle, 
and  his  three  shipmates  felt  the  same,  as  they 
stood  near  the  wheel  watching  his  movements. 

The  fish  was  whipping  furiously  about,  now 
in  the  air  and  now  under  water.  In  and  out 
ran  the  line,  cutting  grooves  in  the  wood  where 
it  passed  over  the  gunwale.  This  continued  for 
some  twenty  minutes,  when  suddenly  it  began  to 
slacken.  The  men  all  felt  relieved  and  began 
to  congratulate  one  another  on  their  big  catch, 
guessing  at  its  exact  weight,  and  counting  the 
money  it  would  bring.  Then  they  saw 
Norwaugh  drop  down  quickly  on  the  seat  and 
brace  himself  for  a  final  tug-of-war. 


THE    WATCHERS    AT 

From  a 


Round  iund  the  little  I  the 

struggling    fish,   its    sharp    tin    cutti 
through   the  surface  of    I 

narrowing  cin  n    it    i  ind 

jumped  clear  across  th 

head  with  its  broad  forked  tail.     Turning  as  it 
struck  the  water  it  doubled  bark,  and  aln 
the  instant  charged  at  the  boal 
the   seat  where  the   man  crouched  low,  holding 
for  dear  life  to  the  line.      The  plankin 
under  the  tremendous  force  of  the  blow,  and  a 
cry  of  pain  told  the  watchers  on  the  raft 

of  Norwaugh's  plight.  He  was  gashed  and 
torn  by  the  sword  from  ankle  to  thigh  of  his  left 
leg.  When  they  reached  him  he  spoke 
weakened  by  loss  of  blood,  but  pluckily  ui_ 
them  to  capture  the  fish  before  attending  to  his 
hurts.  It  was  this  spirit  of  resolution,  and  the 
overmastering    determination    to    get    the    fish 

at  all  costs,  that  made 
the  c a  s  e  o  f  the 
wounded  man  a  sub- 
ject of  particular  in- 
terest to  his  fellows  in 
the  tleet.  They  talked 
of  him  this  morning 
on  the  Clara  E.  with 
unabated  admiration, 
though  the  details  of 
the  battle  were  by  no 
means  new  t  >  them, 
happening  in  varying 
form  at  least  one 
twice  during  every 
3  >n. 

To  wa  rd  s  e  v  e  n 
i)  clock,  after  we  have 
been  out  some  three  hours  and  the  land  has 
diminished  and  turned  into  a  faint  blue  cloud 
on  the  horizon,  the  four  watchers  climb  aloft  and 
settle  themselves  for  a  day  of  vigilance  at  the 
mast-head.  Two  sit  in  the  cross-trees  and  scan 
the  surface  on  either  side  for  a  i:  tin."  onegoi 
the  highest  point  of  the  mainmast,  scrambling 
into  a  "  bo'sun's  chair,"  while  the  fourth  takes 
his  post  in  a  little  perch  swung  between.  There 
they  sit,  in  silence  for  the  most  part,  though 
occasionally  one  gifted  with  an  ear  for  music 
breaks  into  a  song  that  comes  down  in  softened 
and  melodious  snatches  to  those  on  deck. 

All  around  us  the  waters  sparkle  like  diamonds 
in  the  bright  summer  sunlight  :  there  are  no 
clouds,  but  a  faint  wind-haze  off  on  the  western 
horizon  promises  to  develop  toward  evening 
into  a  squall.  It  is  sleepy  work  scanning  that 
dancing,  luminous,  almost  unbroken  surface. 
Every  now  and  then  something  reflects  the  light 
in  a  black  lustrous  streak,  and  the  thing  that  all 
are  seeking  seems  to  have  been  found  at  last. 


THE    MAST-HEAD. 

Photo. 


m;   will   world   magazine. 


••  I  uffher  a  little.  Luff!  What's  that  over  to 
windward?'1  comes  a  cry  from  the  topmost  look- 
out, and  all  crane  their  n  i  the  direction 
indicated. 

And  then,  alter  a  few  moments  of  strained 
attention,  come-  the  disgusted  order,  "  Let  her 
off — it  s  only  a  shark." 

1  or  the  long,  sharp  fin  of  this  dreaded  sea 

scavenger  is   much  like  that  of  the  sword-fLh, 

until    on    nearer    view    one    may   distinguish    a 

:id  smaller  fin  which  the  shark  has  and  the 

other  has  not. 

'•  When  the  water's  all  silvery  like  this." 
remarks  the  man  at  the  wheel,  "it's  hard  to  pick 
out  a  fish  any  distance  off.     On  a  good  day  the 


fin  will  show  up  as  far  away  as  three  hundred 
yards.  Sometimes  a  man'll  pick  a  fish  a  way  off 
under  water  by  the  shadow. 

"No,  they  ain't  apt  to  go  under  when  the  boat 
gets  near  'em  Noise  don't  appear  to  affect  'em 
at  all.  They're  a  fool  kind  of  a  fish,  anyway. 
They'll  lay  right  there  plumb  on  top  of  the 
water,  while  the  schooner  gets  right  up  to  'em, 
and  then,  if  you  don't  happen  to  hit  'em,  they'll 
just  sort  of  cock  up  one  eye  slow  and  easy  and 
drop  under  a  little  way  for  a  minute  or  two. 

"  Hit  one  of  'em  so  the  barb  goes  into  the 
back  part  of  the  brain  and  it  sets  'em  crazy. 
One  hit  that  way  is  apt  to  do  almost  anything. 
He'll  tackle  anything  in  sight.     That's  the  time 

you  want  to  look  out  and 
watch  your  oars  pretty 
careful  if  you  happen  to 
be  out  tending  him  in  the 
dory. 

"  It's  a  queer  thing  to 
watch  one  like  that.  He'll 
start  off  down  to  the 
bottom  all  of  a  sudden, 
and  the  line  goes  twisting 
and  whizzing  after  him. 
Then  he  turns  short  and 
comes  to  the  top,  looking 
for  trouble.  He'll  drive 
his  sword  clean  through 
the  dory  and  smash  it  in 
if  you  give  him  half  a 
chance,  just  like  that  one 
of  Norwaugh's. 

"  There  was  a  man  that 
didn't  know  much  about 
the  business  tending  a  fish 
when  we  were  cruising 
down  off  No  Man's  Land 
last  fall.  The  schooner  he- 
was  on  went  off  and  left 
him  for  a  little  while, 
and  when  they  came  back 
they  found  the  dory  up- 
set and  the  fish  towing  it 
out  to  windward  at  a  fast 
clip. 

"  After  they  got  hold  of 
the  end  of  the  line  they 
hauled  the  man  up,  and 
he  was  pretty  near  gone. 
It  seems  he  hadn't  coiled 
his  line  when  he  was  haul- 
ing it  and  it  got  tangled 
around  his  right  leg.  The 
fish  made  a  quick  start 
and  pulled  him  clean 
overboard.  Those  things 
happen    every    now    and 


SWORD -FISHING. 


then  and  you   have  to  look  out,  for  it's  all  in 

the  day's  work." 

The  day  draws  on  toward  noon,  and  as   the 

sun's  rays  begin  to  fall  vertically  upon  the  deck 

the  breeze  dies  out   in  puffs.     A  rough,  uneasy 

pitching    takes    the  place   of  the   up-and-down 

swing  which  marked  the  little  vessel's  forward 

progress    until     now.       From    over    the    port 

quarter  we  can  see  two 

other     schooners     lazily 

making  their  way  in  our 

direction. 

But  though  Nature  has 

begun  to   relax   for   her 

nooning,   there   is  no 

abating  of  the  vigilance 

up    aloft.      Those    four 

pairs  of  keen    eyes   are 

still    regularly    scanning 

the  silvery   waters   for  a 

glimpse   of   the   hooked 

black  fin  that  means  daily 

bread  and  success  to 

them. 

At  last  an  excited  yell 

breaks   the    monotonous 

stillness. 

"There  he  fins!" 

comes  from  the 

man  at  the  very 

highest   perch. 

And  everyone 

begins  to  stir  in 

response.  The 
watchers  on  the 
cross-trees  jump 
to  their  feet, 
shouting  direc- 
tions to  the  men 
on  deck. 

"  Let  go  that 
jigger  sheet," 
"  Make  fast  the 
jumbo,"  "Haul 
in  a  little  on  the 
jib  !  "  and  they 
all  dance  about 
in  a  sudden  frenzy  while  emphasizing  their 
directions  with  large  gestures  and  violent  im- 
precations. But  the  loudest  shouts  come  from 
the  top  perch,  where  the  finder  of  the  fish  is 
giving  directions  to  the  helmsman  how  to 
approach  the  quarry. 

There  is  a  shining  black,  knife-like  object 
cutting  through  the  water  a  hundred  yards  to 
windward.  As  we  draw  nearer  it  seems  to  rise 
a  bit  higher  and  takes  the  shape  of  a  bird's  wing, 
upright  and  curved  backward.  You  may  know 
this  time  that  it  is  not  a  fin  of  a  shark,  thou«h  it 


r.UKF  THERE,   LUFF,  YOU  SON    OF   A  GUN 


and  shimm  e  one,  fi 

second   fin   near  it.     Only   ti 
pointed  tail  ripples  along  a  few  feet  behin 

Every  minute  as  you  watch  you  ex 
it   scuttle   under   and    disappear 
surface.     But   the    crew    apparently    ha 
thought  of  that  possibility.     They  shout 
and    rush    pounding    up    and    down    th 
__^^_____^__  regardless    of    noi 

Either  the  sword-fish 
no  ears  or  else  his  < 
fidence    in    the    bony 
weapon   that   he  carries 
always  unsheathed  ma] 
him  fearless  of  anything 
in  the  deep    or   on    top 
of  it. 

The  schooner  draws 
well  into  the  wind,  her 
sails  shivering  a  little  as 
she  heads  for  the  slow- 
moving  creature  sunning 
himself  so  indolently 
there.  The  man  in  the 
"  pulpit  "  has  his  pole 
already  unleashed  and  is 
poising  it  aloft  to 
that  the  line  is  clear  and 
the  barb  fast  enough  to 
hold  momentarily  on  the 
pole,  but  not  tight  enough 
to  stick  there  when  the 
thrust  is  made. 

"  Luff  there,  luff,  you 
sun  of  a  gun  '.  "  in  a 
frantic  yell  from  the  mast- 
head. "S  Hold 
her  there  now  ;  hold  her 
there,"  he  adds. 

And  then  the  man  m 
the    "pulpit"    leans    over,   his    eyes    fixed 
intently  upon  the  clearly  outlined,  iridescent 
black  body  in  the  sunlit  water.     The  great 
blue -black  eyes  of   the    monster   seem   at 
last  to  be  taking  account  of  some  impend- 
ing  danger.      They    twist    upward   as    far 
as  their  bony  sockets  will  let  them,  and  a 
little  flurry  of  apprehension  causes  the  big  fins 
to  wave  and  quiver  in    preparation   for  uettin;^ 
under  way.      Now  is  the  critical  instant.      The 
schooner  is  losing  headway  and  diifts  idly  along 
with  just  motion  enough  to  give  response  to 
rudder. 

The  long  pole  is  raised  up  and  hurled  down 
with  all  the  force  in  the  man's  body.  It  strikes 
home  with  a  shock  that  sends  the  big  fish  over 
till  his  grey  belly  almost  shows  on  the  surface. 
There  is  a  shout  of  relief  and  satisfaction  from 
the  watching  crew  as  the  pole  is  drawn  swiftly 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


up  and  the  line  attached   to  the  painted   keg 
S  overboard. 

"Caught  him  just   back  o(  the  fin,"  says  the 
man  in  the  "pulpit''  with  a  note  of  satisfaction 
as  he  steps  on  deck  to 
fit  on  another  barb. 

"  You  hit  him  hard," 
says  the  captain  by  way 
of  compliment. 
■■  It  ain't  likely 
he'll  pull  that 
line  out.  I'll 
bet  he  weighs 
over  the  four 
hundred.  He's 
a  long,  slim 
feller ;  I  got  a 
good  look  at  him 
when  he  turned 
over  there." 

The   dory, 
which  has  been 
towing    idly 
astern,     is 
brought    up    to 
the  quarter,  and 
oneof  the  hands 
from  aloft  jumps 
in  with  the  lance 
— a  broad-bladed  steel 
knife  lashed  to  a  four- 
foot  pole.   He  unships 
his  oars  and,  with   a 
cheerful  "good  luck" 
shout  from   his  com- 
panions     on     board, 
pulls  off  alone  in  the 
direction  of  the  white 
keg,    which    is    skim- 
ming along  over  the 
bright    ripples    in    an 
aimless  fashion,  mark- 
ing the  course  of  the 
big  fish  below. 

For  almost  an  hour  this  man  in  the  dory  does 
little  except  keep  his  oars  out  and  resist  as  much 
as  possible  the  motions  of  the  fish.  It  is  his 
business  to  tire  out  his  prey.  But  a  foui- 
hundred-pound  sword-fish  is  not  easily  exhausted, 
even  when  it  has  a  good-sized  boat  in  tow.  At 
last  the  line  begins  to  slacken  perceptibly  and 
the  strain  comes  only  by  fits  and  starts.  Now 
the  man  grasps  it  and  hauls  in  as  much  of  the 
slack  as  he  can  manage,  coiling  it  down  neatly 
at  his  feet  in  fear  of  a  sudden  outrush.  It  is  a 
tedious  business,  for  he  must  haul  in  the  same 
little  fathom  or  so  of  rope  again  and  again  while 
the  ebbing  strength  of  the  big  creature  beneath 
him  comes  and  goes. 


But  toward  the  end  of  the  second  hour  the 
line- has  relaxed  so  that  most  of  it  is  coiled 
away  on  the  bottom,  and  the  long  spurts  that 
formerly  carried  it  fiercely  overboard  have 
ceased.  Now  is  the  time  to  wield  the  lance 
and  make  sure  of  the  catch. 

The  man  rises  up  from 
the  thwart  on  which  he 
has  been  sitting,  braces 
his  feet  wide  apart,  and 
hauls  in  valiantly  the  last 
few  feet  of  line  that  sepa- 
rate him  from  the  fish.  It 
is  useless  now  for  those 
powerful,  curved,  black 
fins  to  swing  to  and  fro. 
There  is  scarcely  enough 
strength  left  in  the  great 
forked  tail  to  splash  a 
little  salt  water  over  the 
boat's  side.  Even  when 
the  sharp  lance  goes 
plunging  down  into  the 
soft  flesh  of  the  neck  the 
struggle  that  follows  is 
but  feeble  in  com- 
parison with  the  first 
dash  of  the  gored  giant. 
From  the 
cross-trees  of 
the  schooner 
they  have 
been  eagerly 
watching  this 
final  stroke, 
and  now  they 
lose  no  time 
in  heading 
round  to  pick 
up  the  dory. 
One  other  big 
fellow  has 
been  sighted 
and  har- 
pooned in  the  interval,  and  a  second  dory  is  out 
"  tending  "  the  catch  about  a  mile  to  windward. 
The  little  boat  is  brought  up  to  leeward  and 
a  rope  made  fast  to  the  tail  of  the  dead  fish. 
With  block  and  tackle  they  haul  on  board  the 
four  hundred  pounds  of  shining  black  body 
that  will  bring  them  in  at  least  sixty  dollars,  with 
the  market  at  its  present  high  rate. 

"  A  fish  is  never  caught  till  he's  on  board  " 
is  a  saying  in  the  fleet,  and  the  sigh  of  satis- 
faction that  greets  this  one  as  he  is  plumped 
down  in  a  quivering  mass  alongside  the  lee 
bulwarks  attests  the  common  faith  in  the  maxim. 
Meanwhile  the  two  watchers  aloft,  whose  ser- 
vices have  not  been  required  in  the  operations 


THE    LONG    POLE    IS    RAISED    AND    HURLED    DOWN    WITH    ALL    THE    rORCE 
THE   MAN'S    BODY." 


SWORD    FISHING 


From  a] 


STRIKING   A    SWORD-KISH. 


\  Photo. 


From  a\ 


on  deck,  have  been  keeping  an  eye  on  the  other 
dory.  It  is  evident  that  that  fish,  too,  is  about 
to  give  in. 

"There,  he's  standing  up  —  he's  lanein'  of 
him,"  cries  one,  and  adds,  "He's  fixed  him  all 
right !  Go  far  enough 
on  this  tack  so's  to 
let  him  come  round 
astern  when  we  pick 
him  up." 

They  get  this 
second  fish  on  board 
and  note  with  uncon- 
cealed satisfaction 
the  extra  "thick- 
ness "  that  indicates 
its  superior  weight. 

There  is  a  general 
feeling  of  good- 
humour  and  satisfac 
tion  among  the  crew 
as  the  schooner's 
head  is  put  about  and 
pointed  for  home.  It  has  been  a  late  season, 
and  the  catch  of  the  whole  fleet  hitherto  has  not 
amounted  to  more  than  two  dozen — pretty  dis- 
couraging work  when  you  consider  that  some 
fifteen  good-sized  craft,  each  manned  by  five  or 
six  men,  have  been  cruising  about  for  nearly 
a  fortnight.  Even  the  thought  that  this 
lessened  supply  has  necessarily  increased  the 
price  to  twenty  cents  a  pound  on  the  dock 
fails  to  dispel  the  general  sense  of  depression. 

"  I  like  to  see  it  when  there's  three  or  four 
kegs  overboard  at  once  and  the  dories  all 
busy  —  that's  the  time  we  have  to  hustle. 
There's  been  times  when  we  could  sail  right 
round  in  one  spot  and  pick  out  the  biggest 
from  a  dozen  fish,  with  plenty  of  chance  to 
look  'em  over  and  size  'em  up." 

This  sentiment  of  the  harpooner's  is 
characteristic  of  the  spirit  of  all  the  fleet. 
They  are  keen  for  the  sport  quite  as  much 
as  for  the  mere  day's  pay  that  goes  with  it. 

Vol.  xii.— 67. 


I  )v<  n    familiarity    ha  i    nol    dulled    th 
excitement  that  marks  tins  si 

No  one  really  expects  to  sight  another  fin 
to-day,  but  the   watcher 

matter  of  form,  and  scan  the  waters  on  which 
the  rays  of  the  afternoon  sun  are   beginnin 
slant  with  a  diminishing  intensity, 
has    freshened,   and  a   staysail   has    I  t   to 

help  her  on  her  homeward  course  ahead  oi   the 
other  craft.     It  is  a  race  to  get  fust  to  the  di 
the    incentive    being    choice    of   the    snugi 
place  to  tie  up  and  unload  the  fish. 

White-caps  are  dashing  their  spray  upward  in 
defiant  mood,  and  the  lee  rail  is  awash  as  the 
schooner  finally  rounds  the  point  and  shows 
herself  to  the  interested  crowd  on  the  dock 
that  every  evening  awaits  the  return  of  the 
boats,  just  as  in  rural  towns  they  wait  "  to 
see  the  train  come  in."  Only  five  fish  have 
rewarded    the    collective    efforts    of    the    dozen 

boats  that  now  return 
in  close  procession, 
and  the  congratula- 
tions all  fall  to  the 
men  of  the  Clara  1 


with 


her 


LANDING  A  MONSTER  ON  DECK. 


two  I 
fellows.  On  the 
scale  at  the  shipping 
market  one  is  found 
to  weigh  four  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five 
pounds,  while  the 
second  tips  the  beam 
at  more  than  three 
hundred  and  seventy 
five  pounds.  The  l>i,u 
gesl  fish  e\  er  brought 
in  by  an  island  boat 
weighed  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  pounds. 
All  things  considered  there  is  no  reason  win 
the  Clara's  crew  should  complain  of  this  daj  's 
catch,  though  in  a  season  of  plenty  a  schooner 
is  expected  to  land  six  or  seven  at  least. 


[Photo. 


Prom  a]       A   FOUR-HUNDRED-POUND   FISH    SAFELY   LANDED.        [Photo. 


;" 


'  WJkM&?& 


Frances  Dobson,  a  young 
girl  of  Hornsea,  York- 
shire, wandered  on  to 
the  beach  alone.  There 
she  met  with  an  experi- 
ence that  for  sheer  horror 
it  would  be  all  but  im- 
possible to 
surpass.  On 
behalf  ot  this 
magazine  a 
Special  Corn- 
mi  ssione  r 
visited  the 
locality,  se= 
curing  the  full 
story  of  the 
unfortunate  girl's  adventure  and  a  complete  set  of 
photographs  of  the  persons  and  places  concerned. 

lISTANT  from  London  a  few  miles 
over  two  hundred  is  an  old-world, 
unpretentious,  and  sleepy  little 
village  called  Withernsea,  situated 
on  the  Yorkshire  coast,  in  the  East 
Riding  of  that  county.  It  is  just  a  street  and 
that  is  all.  It  has  for  a  near  neighbour  another 
slumberous  little  seaside  place  called  Hornsea. 
It  is  necessary,  for  the  proper  understanding  of 
what  follows,  that  the  exact  geographical  situa- 
tion of  these  two  places  should  be  made  clear. 
By  road,  or  by  the  path  along  the  cliff,  they  are 
about  twenty  miles  apart.  By  rail,  however, 
they  are  distant  one  from  the  other  between 
thirty  and  forty  miles.  The  difference  is  caused 
by  the  railway  line  forking  at  Hull,  whence  it 
goes  right  and  left  down   to  the  coast,  so  that 


in  order    to   travel    by  train    from    Hornsea  to 
Withernsea  you  have  to  go  to  Hull  first. 

It  was  at  Withernsea  that  little  Frances 
Dobson,  a  native  of  Hornsea,  nearly  lost  her 
life  in  a  most  tragic  and  sensational  manner. 
But  let  those  most  nearly  concerned — with  the 
exception  of  the  girl  herself,  who,  poor  child, 
has  through  the  shock  completely  lost  her 
memory — tell  the  story  in  their  own  way,  or  so 
much  of  it  as  they  individually  were  actively 
engaged  in.  For  this  purpose,  then,  we  will 
first  go  to  Hornsea  and  see  the  Dobsons.  They 
are  well  known  in  the  place,  the  young  daughter 
Frances  being  a  familiar  figure  in  the  quiet 
streets.  Little  Frances  is  a  child  of  about 
fifteen  or  sixteen  years  of  age,  with  dark  hair 
and  a  somewhat  pale  face.  Never  of  a  very 
volatile  nature,  she  has,  since  her  terrible  ex- 
perience, been  painfully  reticent  and  self- 
absorbed.  Mrs.  Dobson  gives  the  following 
version  of  her  part  in  the  strange  affair  : — 

My  daughter  Frances  has  always  been  of  a 
roving  disposition,  and  has  many  times  been 
away  the  whole  day,  wandering  about  the 
surrounding  country  all  by  herself.  At  one 
time  we  used  to  be  alarmed  at  her  long  absences 
and  would  go  out  in  search  of  her,  but  usually 
found  her  safe  and  quite  unconcerned.  After  a 
time,  therefore,  we  ceased  to  be  alarmed,  and 
would  simply  wait  for  her  to  return,  which  she 
always  did  none  the  worse  —  perhaps  all  the 
better— for  her  ramble. 


CAUGHT    1\     A    DEATH    TRAP. 


< 


On  the  day  of  the  mishap  we — myself,  my 
married  daughter,  Mrs.  Thompson,  and  Frances 
— were  going  out  together  into  the  town  to  do 
some  shopping.  It  was  in  the  morning  and 
Frances  left  the  house  first,  with  the  idea,  as  I 
supposed,  of  waiting  for  us  a  few  yards  away. 
In  fact,  as  she  went  out  I  called  to  her  that  we 
should  only  be  a  minute  or  two.  She  simply 
replied,  "All  right,  mother,"  and  disappeared. 
It  was  certainly 
not  more  than  two 
or  three  minutes 
before  I  and  my 
daughter  followed 
out  after  her  and 
were  rather  sur- 
prised to  find  that 
Frances  had  dis- 
appeared. We 
asked  a  neighbour 
if  she  had  noticed 
which  way  she  had 
gone,  and  she  said, 
"Yes,  towards  the 
town."  We  then 
concluded  that  she 
had  simply  strolled 
on  ahead,  and  that 
we  should  come 
up  with  her  pre- 
sently, and  did  not 
worry  further  in 
the  matter. 

We  walked 
along  chatting  and 
made  one  or  two 
purchases,  but 
saw  nothing  of 
Frances.  Then 
we  began  to  think 
it  strange,  and 
made  one  or  two 
inquiries  in  the 
town,  at  shops, 
but  nobody  had 
seen  her.  Bearing 
in  mind  her  habit 
of  wandering,  we 
did  not  worry  so 
much  about  her  being  lost,  and  thought  that 
most  likely  she  would  return  during  the  day, 
as  was  her  custom.  So  we  went  on  with 
our  shopping,  and  eventually  turned  back 
home.  Frances  was  not  there,  nor  had  she 
been  seen  since  she  left  the  house.  As  the 
day  wore  on,  however,  and  she  was  still  absent, 
we  became  rather  uneasy,  and  Mrs.  Thompson 
said  she  was  afraid  some  harm  had  come  to 
her,  as  it  was  getting  late  and  she  had  never 


FRANCES    DOBSON,    TO   WHOM    THE    TERRIBLE   ADVENTURE   HERE   RELATED 

HAPPENED — SINCE   THE   OCCURRENCE   SHE  HAS  ENTIRELY  LOST  1IEK  MEMORY. 

From  a  Photo,  by  R.  Wilkinson,  Hornsea. 


been  away  so  long 

begin  searching. 

We  went  out   together,    but   at   first  hardly 

knew    which    road    to    take.     Wi  m 

inquiries,   but  nobody  appeal  have 

the  child.      Of  course,  news  in    II 

fast,   and    everybody    knew  by    this    time    that 

my    daughter   was    missing.       People    v. 

the  look-out  for  her,  but  nobody  could  assist  us. 

It  was  getting 
dark,  and  our 
anxiety  wa 
coming  almost  un- 
tie. W  e 
simply  scoured 
the  place,  making 
inquiries  all  the 
time,  hut  nobody 
could  tell  anything 
that  would  be 
any  assistance  to 
us.  Having  tho- 
roughly searched 
the  town,  we  made 
our  way  towards 
the  beach,  not 
without  consider 
able  misgiving. 
Somehow,  we  had 
left  this  to  the 
last ;  we  had  done 
so  instinctively,  for 
we  did  not  want 
to  think  that  she 
had  gone  where  so 
much  danger  lay. 
But  we  had  to  face 
the  dreadful  possi 
bility,  and  ner- 
vously turned  our 
steps  towards  the 
sea.  We  walked 
along  in  silence, 
both  too  much 
occupied  with  un- 
easy thoughts  to 
talk.  For  myself. 
my  heart  was   I  e 


to     ache 

sadly,  and  my  daughter  was  looking  very  upset. 

Arrived  at  the  beach,  we  began  to  li 
about  on  the  sand  for  some  sign  or  indication 
of  Frances  having  been  in  this  direction  The 
night  was  cold  but  fine,  the  moon  shining 
brightly.  Not  a  word  was  uttered  between  us 
as  we  walked  along  the  lonely  beach,  looking 
intently  about  us.  It  was  almost  as  light  as 
day,  and  the  smallest  object  could  be  plainly 
seen    on    the    beach    for    yards    distant.      At 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


with    con- 
my   daughter 


this  time  o{  the  year  the  visitors  to  Hornsea 
have  long  since  departed  and  the  beach  is 
hi  d,  so  that  when  we  observed  the  marks  of 
small,  recently-made  footprints  running  along  the 
sand  towards  Withernsea  we  at  mice  associated 

m  with  my  missing  daughter.  We  stood 
breathless  for  a  moment,  looki 
sternation  at  one  another;  then 
turned  away  and  followed  the  footmarks  for 
some  yards.  I  walked  behind.  Presently  I 
heard  a  stilled  scream  from  Mrs.  Thompson,  and 
as  I  hurried  up  to 
her  she  pointed 
down  at  the  sand 
and  exclaimed, 
"Look!"  Follow- 
ing the  direction  of 
her  finger,  I  saw 
upon  the  sand  the 
hat  which  Frances 
was  wearing  when 
she  left  home.  I 
knew  it  only  too 
well  —a  little  sailor 
hat,  with  pink 
ribbon  and  a  bow 
at  the  side. 

This  seemed  to 
confirm  our  worst 
fears,  and  taking  it 
up  my  daughter 
sobbed,  "She  is 
lost— she  is  lost  !" 
All  at  once  it 
occurred  to  both  of 
us  that  she  might 
yet  be  found  some- 
where near  this 
spot  and  be  saved 
from  a  cruel  end. 
frantically  we  ran 
along  the  beach, 
following  the  track 
of  the  footmarks, 
which  went  on  and 
on,  carrying  us  far 

away  from  our  starting  -  place.  Yet  we  saw 
nothing  of  Frances.  The  footsteps  became 
lost  in  a  patch  of  seaweed,  emerging  again  in 
the  sand  on  the  other  side.  But  it  suddenly 
dawned  upon  me  that  we  must  not  go  much 
farther,  for  the  tide  was  rapidly  flowing  in, 
and  we  were  running  the  risk  of  being  cut  off 
and  drowned.  I  explained  this  to  my  daughter, 
but  she  appeared  to  have  quite  lost  her  head, 
being  almost  frantic,  and  had  she  been 
by  herself  I  am  sure  she  would  have  ignored 
the  danger  and  gone  on.  But  I  felt  that 
no    good     purpose     would     thus     be    served, 


JOHN    WILKINSON,    WHO   RESCUED   FRANCES    DOBSON 

From  a   Photo,   by  R.   Wilkinson,  Hornsea. 


ami  so  1    prevailed    upon   my  daughter  to  turn 
hack  while  there  was  yet  lime. 

We  did  so,  and  a  very  melancholy,  distracted 
couple  of  women  we  were  as  we  went  home- 
wards. I  could  not  dismiss  from  my  mind, 
however  much  I  tried,  the  conviction  that  we 
should  never  see  poor  Frances  again  alive. 

We  reached  safety  only  just  in  time,  for  the 
sea  was  lapping  our  feet  as  we  turned  off  the 
beach  and  made  our  way  back  to  the  house. 
We  had  just  a  feeble   hope  remaining  that  we 

should  hear  some 
good  news  of 
Frances,  and  we 
were  not  altogether 
disappointed,  for 
when  we  arrived  we 
found  a  telegram 
waiting  for  us.  It 
was  from  Withern- 
sea, and  had  been 
sent  by  a  neighbour 
of  ours  who  hap- 
pened to  be  there. 
It  ran  as  follows  : 
"  Your  daughter  at 
Waxholme  Farm. 
111.  Come  at  once." 
It  was  a  tremen- 
dous relief,  as  you 
may  well  imagine, 
for  us  to  receive 
this  message,  al- 
though we  could 
not  understand 
'what  was  the  nature 
of  the  illness  re- 
ferred to  or  whether 
it  was  serious  or 
not.  By  the  first 
train,  then,  my 
daughter,  Mrs. 
Thompson,  went 
over  to  Withernsea 
to  Waxholme  Farm, 
which  is  situated 
on  the  cliffs  a  little  way  out  of  the  town. 
There  she  found  Frances,  but  not  the  same 
child  she  had  known  the  previous  morning.  She 
had  undergone  a  fearful  shock — had  been 
within  an  inch  of  a  terrible  death,  with  which 
she  was  struggling  at  the  very  moment  when  we 
were  searching  and  sorrowing  for  her  on  the 
beach  at  Hornsea. 

We  will  now  turn  to  sturdy  John  Wilkinson, 
to  continue  the  narrative  of  poor  little  Frances 
Dobson's  adventure.  He  is  a  typical  Yorkshire- 
man,  full  of  muscle  and  grit,  whose  grey  hairs 


CAUGHT    IN    A     DEATH-TRAP 


TOMLINSON,    WHO    ASSISTED    WILKINSON    IN    THE    WORK    OF    RESCUE. 

From  a  Photo,  by  R.  Wilkinson,  Hornsea. 

seem  out  of  place  and  whose  years  sit  lightly 
on  him,  despite  his  occasional  asseveration  that 
he  "can't  do  what  he  used  to  do."  He  is  a 
master  builder 
of  Withernsea, 
and  it  was  at 
his  own  house 
there  that  I  first 
encountered 
him.  Subse- 
quently we 
went  together 
along  the  cliff 
to  the  spot 
where  Frances 
D  o  b  s  o  n  met 
with  the  terri- 
ble experience 
which  is  out 
lined  in  her 
rescuer's  story. 
Along  this 
part  of  the 
Yorkshire  coast 
the  sea  is  con- 
s  t  a  n  1 1  y    e  n  - 


'  '  upon  the  for  ult 

bring  that  every  y<  ai    th<    farm*  i  i  in 
neighbourhood  l< 
which  are  washed  a 
advance  of  the  ocean.  '  Thi 
of   a    reddish    clay,    and    the    land 
now  forms    the    coast -line  irmerly 

miles  from   the  sea.     This  is  mad 
by  the  fact  that  hedges  run  down  to  I 
verge  of  the  cliff,  with  rude  wood,  n  51 
in  places  projecting  over  th 
precipice.      The  public  road   to   the   north 
of   the    town    has    been    entirely    washed 
away,  and  in  order  to  enter  it  from   that 
direction  one  must   pass  through  a  private 
farm  and   pay  a  toll  for  the  privilege  to 
the  farmer.     The  clayey  soil  of  the  cliffs 
is   constantly  falling   on    to    the    beach  in 
great  masses   and    being  washed  away  by 
the   sea.     All   along  the    beach    you    may 
perceive  the  reddish  liquid  flowing  down 
over  the  grey  sand  and  being  carried  away 
by   the   waves.      This    demolition    of   the 
cliffs  has  been  materially  assisted  by  the 
heavy  rains  of  the  past  year. 

And  now  for  Wilkinson's  story,  told  as 
nearly  as  possible  in  his  own  words  :— 

My  mate  Tomlinson  and    1    had   been 

doing    some    work    at    Waxholme    farm, 

on    the    cliff,    which     is    kept    by    a    Mr. 

Atkinson  and  his   niece.      We    had    been 

there  all  day,  and  as  it  was  getting  dark 

we  knocked  off  till   the   morning,   and  set    off 

back   home    to   Withernsea.      There    are    two 

ways  of  returning— one  by  means  of  the  cliff 


THE   CLIFF-PATH    LF.ADING    FROM   WAXHOLME    FARM    TO   WITHERNSEA— WILKINSON    AND    HIS   COMPANION 

From  a  Photo.  by]        were  following  this  when  they  fihst  saw   the  girl.     [A'.  //  ilkinson,  Hornsea. 


534 


THK    WIDK    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


and  the  other  along  the  road.  The  first  is  the 
shorter  route,  but  on  account  of  the  heavy  rains 
it  was  very  muddy  and  difficult  ;  the  other 
offered  the  advantage  of  being  cleaner.  We 
had  gone  a  few  yards  along  the  cliff  when 
Tomlinson  pulled  up  and  said  we  had  better 
go  by  way  of  the  road.  I  replied  that  as  we 
had  gone  so  far  we  might  as  well  continue.  He 
d  and  we  pushed  on.  . 
It  was  late  in  the  afternoon,  as  I  have  said. 
and  it  was  getting  dark.  There  was  a  fine  sea 
on,  very  clear  and  smooth,  except,  of  course, 
at  the  foot  of  the  cliff,  where --it  being 
flood  tide — the  waves  were  washing  up  to 
within  a  few  feet.  It  was  very  clear  above, 
and  the  moon  was  shining  brilliantly  on  the 
water  :    given   dry  ground   it    would  have   been 


had  got  stranded.  We  both  looked  closer  at  it 
and  watched  the  movements  for  some  seconds. 
Presently  my  mate  said  :— 

"  Why,  that  looks  like  hair  floating  about,  and 
— why,  yes,  its  a  woman!" 

Then  for  the  first  time  I  made  out  what  the 
movement  was — the  arms  of  a  woman  waving 
about  frantically  ! 

"  Good  heavens,  lad  !  "  I  exclaimed  ;  "  down 
the  cliff  at  once,  or  she'll  be  lost." 

The  unfortunate  creature  was  sunk  breast 
high  in  the  liquid  clay,  and  was  apparently  still 
sinking.  In  addition  to  this  the  sea  was 
breaking  over  her  in  great  waves,  and  it  was 
certain  she  could  last  only  a  few  minutes 
longer.  She  stood  to  be  choked  by  the  clay  or 
drowned  by  the  sea,  whichever  did  its  work  the 


THE   W1THRRNSEA    CLIFFS   AT    LOW   TIDE — THE    WHITE   STONE   TO   THE    LEFT    IS   JUST   OVER   THE 
From  a  Photo.  by\  FRANCES   DOBSON    MET   WITH    SUCH    A    FEARFUL    EXPERIENCE. 


DEATH-TRAP        WHERE   POOR 

[A'.  Wilkinson,  Hornsea. 


a  fine  night  for  a  walk  along  the  cliffs.  I  had 
just  called  my  mate's  attention  to  the  beauty  of 
the  sea,  and  was  looking  down  at  the  beach  at 
a  place  where  about  twenty  tons  of  clay  had 
recently  fallen  from  the  cliff,  and  had  been  con- 
verted into  a  semi-liquid  mass  by  the  waves. 
As  I  looked  I  noticed  a  peculiar  movement  of 
the  clay  at  one  spot,  a  kind  of  a  waving  move- 
ment. I  pointed  it  out  to  Tomlinson,  and 
inquired : — 

"  What's  yon  ?  " 

Personally  I  thought  it  might  be  some  sort 
of  fish — a  seal  or  porpoise,  or  something — which 


quicker.  No  sound  came  from  her  —  a  pretty 
sure  sign  that  she  was  very  far  gone — but  she 
kept  up  her  frantic  struggles,  which  only  seemed 
to  land  her  deeper  in  the  mire.  At  this  part  the 
cliff  is  about  fifty  feet  high,  and  being  of  wet 
clay  it  is  most  difficult  to  climb.  There  is  first 
a  sheer  drop  of  twenty  feet,  then  a  shelving 
ledge,  then  another  sheer  drop  to  the  beach. 
The  task  before  us  was  one  not  to  be  undertaken 
recklessly,  for  we  stood  a  very  good  chance  of 
getting  into  the  slough  ourselves  or  being  carried 
away  by  the  incoming  sea.  It  was  impossible, 
or  at  least  useless,  to  go  down  the  cliff  as  we 


CAT  GH  I     IN    A     DEATH     I  k.\l\ 


WAXHOLME    FARM,    WITHERNSEA,    TO    WHICH    FRANCES    DOBSON  WAS    CONVEYED    AFTER    HER    RESCUE. 

From  a  Photo,  by  R.   Wilkinson,  Hornsea. 


were,  so  I  directed  Tomlinson  to  run  back  to  the 
farm  as  fast  as  he  could  for  a  length  of  rope.  In 
the  meantime  I  shouted  down  to  the  woman  to 
keep  her  head  towards  me — away  from  the  sea. 
I  got  no  response,  but  her  struggles  continued 
in  a  kind  of  automatic  manner. 

Tomlinson  was  soon  back  with  a  length  of 
pretty  stout  rope,  at  the  end  of  which  I  made  a 
noose.  I  had  already  fixed  up  in  my  mind  the 
way  in  which  we  must  try  to  rescue  her. 

Now  came  the  task  of  getting  down  the  cliff. 
I  went  first,  holding  the  looped  end  of  the  rope 
in  my  hand,  while  Tomlinson  followed  with  the 
other  end  of  the  line  in  his  grip.  We  made  very 
slow  progress  over  the  slippery  clay,  or  it  seemed 
very  slow  progress,  taking  every  advantage  of 
whatever  foothold  and  hand  purchase  we  could 
secure.  Having  arrived  at  the  ledge,  I  told 
Tomlinson  to  remain  there  and  get  a  good  hold 
on  the  rope  while  I  went  down  to  the  foot  of 
the  cliff.  This  I  managed  to  reach  safely. 
Then  I  threw  the  looped  end  of  the  rope  over 
the  shoulders  of  the  woman — lassoed  her,  in 
fact — for  it  was  impossible  to  cross  the  awful 
clay  -  pool  in  which  she  was  engulfed.  By 
degrees  we  managed  to  work  the  rope  under  her 
armpits  and  slip  the  noose  tight.  Although  I 
was  now  at  close  quarters  with  the  woman  I 
failed  to  make  out  any  trace  of  a  human  form, 
beyond  just  the  outline  of  the  loose  hair  and 
the  two  waving  arms.  I  could  not  see  a  particle 
of  flesh,  only  a  moving  mass  of  clay. 

I  signalled  to  Tomlinson  to  draw  the  rope  taut 
and  hold  on  till  I  returned  to  the  ledge,  where  I 
presently  joined  him.  Then  we  both  pulled 
together,  as    hard    as    we  could,    but   couldn't 


move  the  woman  an  inch.  It  was  like  trying  to 
uproot  a  tree.  If  anything,  she  had  gone 
farther  in,  and  the  sea  was  breaking  relentlessly 
all  round  her.  It  looked  a  pretty  hopeless  job. 
But  we  tried  another  way.  Telling  Tomlinson 
to  keep  hold  where  he  was,  I  climbed  down 
again  to  the  bottom  and  pulled  from  there  at 
the  same  time  that  Tomlinson  pulled  from 
above.  But  it  was  no  good  :  she  wouldn't 
budge  an  inch. 

By  this  time  two  other  fellows  had  come  from 
the  farm  and  stood  at  the  top  of  the  cliff,  look- 
ing on.  I  shouted  to  Tomlinson  to  throw  his 
end  of  the  rope  up  to  the  top  of  the  cliff  to  the 
two  men  for  them  to  get  a  hold.  This  was 
done,  and  then  we  all  four  pulled  together.  At 
last  she  moved,  very  slowly,  but  still  there  was  a 
movement.  After  that  things  went  a  bit  easier, 
and  gradually  she  rose  out  of  the  "slither  "  and 
moved  towards  the  foot  of  the  cliff.  The  sea 
seemed  loth  to  lose  her,  and  came  at  her  in  a 
huge  wave  just  as  we  dragged  her  out  of  the 
clay,  buffeting  her  severely  against  the  face  of 
the  cliff.  It  was  fortunate  in  this  instance  that 
it  was  clay  and  not  chalk,  or  she  might  have 
been  badly  injured.  The  sea  couldn't  snatch 
her  from  our  grasp  now,  however  :  we  had  her 
too  firmly.  But  it  was  a  pretty  near  touch,  and 
at  the  beginning  it  was  long  odds  on  the  sea  and 
the  clay. 

The  next  thing  we  had  to  do  was  to  get  her 
up  to  the  top  of  the  cliff,  and  this  was  no  i 
task,  for,  weighted  as  she  was  with  the  mud,  she 
was  a  pretty  heavy  burden.  She  simply  hung 
like  a  sack  of  coals,  and  we  had  very  little 
leverage  to   help  us.     We  had   to  pull  a  dead 


Illi;    WIDE    WORM)     MACA/IM.. 


i  over  .1  slipper)  surface,  with  a  slippery 
foothold.    However,  by  easj  stages,  we  managed 

t  her  on  to  the  ledge,  and  then  had  a 
••breather.''  We  also  here  took  the  first  oppor- 
tunity of  having  1  look  at  her.  I  never  saw 
such  a  sight  in  my  life  '.  She  lav  in  a  heap  on 
the  ground,  one  mass  of  clay.  1  could  only  just 
make  out  the  mere  outline  of  her  features.  At 
the  time  I  thought  her  hair  was  red.  but  I  found 
out  afterwards,  when  1  saw  her  the  next  day, 
that  it  was  black  !  I  asked  her  if  she  belonged 
to  Withernsea,  and  she  replied  very  faintly,  with 
a  groan.  "  Hornsea."  Then  she  collapsed,  and 
never  spoke  again  that  night. 

tickly  then  we  hauled  her  up  on  to  the 
top  and  took  her  straight  to  Waxholme  Farm, 
giving  her  into  the  charge  of  Mr.  Atkinson's 
niece.  She  was  placed  in  a  bath  and  cleansed, 
some  of  her  things  having  to  be  cut  off  her. 
When  it  was  possible  to  see  her  features 
properlv,  a  man  from  Hornsea,  who  happened 
to  be  m  ^'ithernsea,  recognised  her  as  a 
girl  named  Frances  Dobson,  and  at  once  tele- 
graphed to  her  people.  She  was  fetched  away 
the  next  day. 

Although,  in  spite  of  any  amount  of  question- 
ing as  to  how  she  got  into  the  clay  or  at  the 
place  where  she  was  found,  no  information 
could  be  obtained  from  her — I  believe  her  mind 
has  been  rendered  blank  by  the  shock — it  is 
pretty  clear  to  me  what  happened.  The  girl 
must  have  wandered  aimlessly  along  the  beach 
without  taking  much  notice  as  to  where  she 
was  or  how  she  would  reach  the  cliff-top  again. 
Young  girls  often  foolishly  do  this  at  the  sea- 
side— sometimes  with  serious  results.  Just  as 
it  was  becoming  dark  she  thought  of  returning 
home,  and  must  have  suddenly  discovered 
that  she  was  cut  off  by  the  sea,  the  tide  being 
then  running  in  rapidly.  Frightened,  she  turned 
her  steps  towards  the  cliff,  with  a  view  of  finding 
an  opening  and  climbing  to  the  top.  It  so 
happened  that  at  the  particular  spot  she  selected 
there  had  been  recently  a  big  fall  of  cliff, 
which  I  have  already  referred  to;  but  in 
the    failing   light    she    omitted    to    observe  this 


or  the  treacherous  character  of  it.  So  she 
boldly  walked  into  the  liquid  clay  and 
immediately  sank  into  it.  No  doubt  she 
struggled  frantically,  but  her  struggles  only  landed 
her  deeper  and  still  deeper  in  the  treacherous 
slime.  The  spot  is  lonely  and  rather  wild,  and 
her  cries  for  help  at  the  start  would,  in  the 
ordinary  course  of  things,  fail  to  reach  human 
ears.  Realizing  the  hopelessness  of  her  position, 
she  must  have  become  paralyzed  with  fright, 
only  continuing  automatically  to  struggle  against 
what  appeared  inevitable  death  in  a  horrible 
form.  When  we  found  her  she  was  past  all 
calling  for  help.  It  was  the  merest  chance 
that  we  returned  home  by  way  of  the  cliff.  If 
we  had  gone  by  way  of  the  road ■! 

This  is  John  Wilkinson's  story.  In  connec- 
tion with  it,  it  remains  for  me  to  say  that  the 
affair  was  taken  up  by  the  Royal  Humane 
Society,  mainly  through  the  instrumentality  of 
Mr.  Shepperton  Brown,  chairman  of  the  local 
Urban  Council  and  chief  townsman  of 
^Yithernsea ;  and  John  Wilkinson  is  now  the 
proud  possessor  of  a  certificate. 

The  day  after  her  rescue  Frances  returned 
home  with  Mrs.  Thompson,  her  married  sister. 
The  change  in  her  appearance  is  most  marked, 
traces  of  the  dreadful  suffering  she  went  through 
being  clearly  shown  on  her  face.  She  has  been 
questioned  in  every  possible  way,  but  cannot 
even  remember  ever  having  been  at  Withernsea. 
She  was  shown  the  hat  which  was  found  on  the 
beach,  but  only  shook  her  head,  making  no 
sign  whatever  of  recognition.  Evidently  her 
mind  is  a  blank — and  perhaps  it  is  as  well  that 
it  should  be  so— concerning  her  dreadful  experi- 
ence at  the  foot  of  the  Withernsea  cliffs. 
Perhaps  the  most  painful  feature  of  her  con- 
dition is  that,  although  during  her  wakeful 
moments  she  remembers  nothing  of  the  occur- 
rence, at  night,  when  she  is  asleep,  she  struggles 
violently  and  utters  faint  and.  stifled  cries  for 
help.  Whether  the  poor  child's  memory  will 
ever  be  restored  to  her  it  is  impossible  at 
present  to  say. 


The  Haunted  House  by  the  Creek. 

By  G.  R.  O'Reilly,   of  Fulton,    Duval   County,    Florida. 

Mr.  O'Reilly  writes:  "For  more  than  twenty-eight  years  I  have  been  engaged  in  a  very  peculiar 
pursuit — the  study  of  the  life-history  of  serpents.  As  I  always  keep  a  large  collection  of  live  snakes 
for  the  purposes  of  observation,  and  as  I  catch  my  specimens  myself,  I  have  necessarily  had  a  most 
adventurous  life.  In  search  of  snakes  I  have  travelled  in  wild  and  remote  places  in  Europe, 
South  Africa,  the  West  Indies,  and  South,  Central,  and  North  America."  In  this  story  Mr.  O'Reilly 
relates    the  uncanny  experiences  which  befell  him  at  a  lonely  bungalow   in  Florida,  which  he  used   as 

his   head-quarters  during   a  snake-hunting  expedition. 


T  was  far  from  the  town,  deep  in  the 
woods  in  fact,  and  one  had  a  long 
and  lonesome  ride  to  get  there — a 
rambling,  old,  one-story  house  of 
many    rooms,    with    wide   verandas 

round  about  it,  and  bearing  all  the  marks  of  age 

and  neglect,  and  of  long  disuse.     It  was  in  a 

most    lonely    situation,   two   miles  through    the 

woods  to  the  nearest  neighbours.     It  stood  on 

the    bank    of    Trout 

Creek,   a    mile  -  wide 

inlet     from     the    St. 

John's  River.    Round 

about  it  were   a  few 

fields,  long  since  out 

of     cultivation,     and 

now  partly  grown  up 

in  bushes. 

Rabbits  sported 

there  and  nibbled  at 

the     grass     within 

twenty    feet    of     me 

while    I    sat   reading 

on  the  steps.      Squir- 
rels    used     to    come 

down    on     the    very 

lowest     branches     of 

the  magnolia  tree  at 

the  door   to  look   at 

and    examine    me, 

often    coming    within 

eight  feet  of  my  nose. 

Mocking  -  birds     and 

red-birds  built  in  the 

bushes,     and     before 

my  very  eyes  a  long, 

slim,     coach-whip 

snake     plundered     a 

mocking  -  bird's    nest 

of     its    young    ones, 

while     a    diamond 

rattlesnake,  lying  coiled 

up    and     envied     him. 

patrolled   the   copses   at 

their   mates   across   the 

Vol.  xii.-68. 


THE    AUTHOR 

From  a] 


O  REILLY,    WHO 
HOUSE. 


in   the  shade,   looked 

Foxes     and     lynxes 

night    and   called    to 

water.      Racoons   and 


opossums  roved  about  on  the  old,  disused  bush- 
roads,  quite  at  their  leisure ;  for  no  one  wa  - 
there  to  disturb  them.  Rats  lived  in  the  garret, 
and  wrens  built  under  the  eaves. 

It  was  a  delightful  place  for  wild  creatures  of  all 
kinds — especially  for  snakes  ;  and,  for  that  very 
reason,  I  went  out  there  to  reside  alone,  so  that, 
dwelling  in  the  midst  of  my  animal  neighbours, 
I  might  gain  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  their 

habits  and  ways  of 
living.  Owls  and 
whip-poor-wills  visited 
me"  every  night  ; 
while  in  the  daytime 
ospreys,  bald  eagles, 
and  vultures  sailed 
over  the  house,  or 
alighted  on  the  near- 
by trees  to  observe 
me.  Scarcely  a  das- 
passed  that  some  of 
them  did  not  come- 
there. 

I  never  fired  a  gun 
all  the  time  I  1 
there,  and  conse- 
quently all  these 
creatures  became 
wondrous  tame  —  so 
tame  and  bold  that 
large  white  cranes 
would  stand  at  the 
creek  edge  and  fish 
unfearing,  while  I 
sat  on  the  bank  and 
watched  them.  Fly- 
ing -  squirrels  would 
come  through  the 
windows  into  the 
house  at  night  and 
carry  off  my  fruits 
much  noise  in  their 
me   from    my   soundest 


TED 

[Photo. 


SO 


and    nuts, 

thieving   as    to    wake 


making 


sleep 


Now,  I  have  said  that  I  lived  alone  in  this  old 


3d 


5 


I'HE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


house  ;  nevertheless,  1  was  not  quite  alone,  for  I 
had  many  pets  that  were  captives,  and  many 
captives  that  were  not  pets.  Hie  rooms  were 
apportioned  out  between  myself  and  my  animal 
fellow-lodgers.  First  'lure  was  the  kitchen, 
used  also  as  store-room.  Then  came  my  bed- 
room, with  a  door  leading  from  it  into  the 
siiake-room.  Here  some  fifty  glass  -  fronted 
3  stretched  in  a  semi  -  circle  around  the 
walls,  and  every  cage  had  a  snake  in  it — snakes 
of  every  species  in  Florida.  Next  to  the  snake- 
room  was  the  fox's  room  ;  and  then,  across  the 
.  was  the  skunk's  room.  Beyond  that 
again  were  the  dining-room  and  opossum-room. 
Now  all  these  rooms  were  ceiled,  or,  rather, 
boarded  over,  with  planks  of  pine,  broad  and 
heavy,  and  black  with  age  ami  smoke.  Above 
this  rouiih  ceiling  was  an  ample  garret,  with  no 
apparent  means  of  entrance  except  holes  for 
colony  of  rats   that   dwelt   there.      1   myself 


I  beheld  a  ghost."  And  I  really  meant  every 
word  of  it. 

I  moved  into  this  old  place  in  the  spring- 
time, and  as  the  weather  was  warm  I  took  out 
all  the  windows  and  nailed  wide-meshed  wire 
netting  over  the  openings,  so  as  to  let  in  the 
air  and  to  keep  out  the  foxes  and  wild  cats,  as 
well  as  to  prevent  the  hawks  by  day  and  the 
owls  by  night  from  dashing  in  through  the 
glass-fronted  cages  to  seize  the  rats  and  mice 
which  I  used  to  put  into  them  for  the  snakes 
to  dine  upon. 

In  the  snake-room  the  only  furniture  besides 
the  cages  were  a  table,  a  rocking-chair,  and  a 
hammock.  In  this  hammock  I  used  frequently 
to  sleep — oftener  there,  in  fact,  than  in  my  bed- 
room, for  I  always  like  to  watch  my  snakes  at 
night,  as  many  of  them  are  nocturnal  in  their 
habits. 

The    first    night    in    the   old    house  passed 


From  a] 


THE   SNAKE-KOOM,    WHERE    MR.    O  REII.LV    FIRST    HEARD   THE        GHOSTS. 


[IVloto. 


never  tried  to  get  up  into  this  old  garret  till  a 
week  before  the  old  place  burned  down.  Truly, 
if  I  had  known  what  was  up  there  I  should  not 
have  been  surprised  that  it  would  be  a  haunted 
house. 

The  dwelling  was  very  old,  as  I  have  already 
stated,  and  many  people  had  died  in  it ;  and 
more  than  one  deed  of  violence  was  spoken  of 
by  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  down  by  the 
river.  No  negro  would  go  near  it  after  dark, 
for  they  said  that  lights  were  seen  there,  and 
strange  sounds  fell  upon  the  ears  of  fishermen 
passing  in  their  boats  upon  the  creek  at 
night. 

Nevertheless,  I  went  there  to  live,  and  to  live 
alone  at  that.  To  those  who  warned  me  not 
to  go  I  replied,  "  If  there  be  ghosts  there,  I 
do  not  fear  them.  On  the  contrary,  I  should 
very  much  like  to  see  them,  for  never  yet  have 


uneventfully.  Two  friends — Mr.  Claude  Nolan 
son  of  Judge  Nolan,  now  Mayor  of  Jacksonville, 
and  Mr.  Frank  Bowden,  son  of  a  former  mayor 
of  the  same  city — were  with  me,  but  we  neither 
saw  nor  heard  anything  unusual. 

They  strongly  tried  to  dissuade  me  from  my 
project  of  staying  there. 

"  It  is  a  dismal  place,"  they  said.  "  It  has  a 
weird  and  uncanny  look.  It  will  certainly  have 
an  evil  effect  upon  you  ;  and,  if  you  are  wise, 
you  will  seek  some  less  secluded  spot,  where  you 
will  at  least  have  human  neighbours  within  call. 
You  will  assuredly  find  out  that  it  is  not  good 
for  a  man  to  live  so  far  off  by  himself." 

Next  day  my  visitors  went  home,  and  after 
seeing  them  off  I  returned  to  the  old  house, 
truly  delighted  with  my  solitude.  As  night  fell 
I  sat  upon  the  steps  leading  up  to  the  veranda, 
listening  to   the   melancholy   cries  of  the  whip- 


THE    HAUNTED    HOUSE     BY    THE    CREEK. 


poor-wills,  and  watching  them  on  the  wing  in 
the  bright  moonlight  as  they  disputed  with  the 
bats  for  possession  of  the  fat-bodied  moths  that 
flitted  about  the  neighbouring  tree-tops.  No 
sound  of  man's  existence  fell  upon  my  ears. 
There  was  not  even  the  distant  barking  of  dogs 
to  remind  me  of  human  neighbours.  The 
whoop  of  a  crane  came  from  the  creek,  the 
whoo-whoo  of  an  owl  from  a  dead  tree  near  at 
hand.  These  were  the  only  voices  that  cheered 
me.  So  I  went  in  and  lay  in  my  hammock  in 
the  snake-room,  to  read  and  think  and  grow 
sleepy. 

It  must  have  been  about  half  -  past  nine 
o'clock  when  I  was  startled  from  my  quietude 
by  hearing  someone  walking  on  the  veranda. 

"  Who   on    earth    can   it  be  at  this  time  of 
night  ?  "  thought 
E 

"Halloa, 
there  ! "  I  cried 
out.  Who  is 
that?    Come  in." 

The  moment 
I  spoke  the  walk- 
ing ceased.  I 
got  up  and  went 
to  the  door. 
There  was  no 
one  there.  The 
full  moon  bright- 
ened  up  the 
whole  neighbour- 
hood. I  ran 
round  the 
house.  No, 
there  was  posi- 
tively not  a  living 
soul  in  sight. 

Next  morning 
I  looked  for 
tracks,  but  could 
not  find  any  ;  or 
at  least,  if  there 
were  any,  I  could 
not  recognise 
them  among  my 
own,  which  were 
plentiful  in  the 
soft  sand. 

I    debated  with    myself 


I    RAN    HOUND   THE    HOUSE. 


as  to  who  or  what 
could  have  disturbed  me.  It  was  certainly  no 
freak  of  my  imagination— it  was  a  sober  reality  ; 
for  not  only  did  I  hear  the  footsteps,  but  also  a 
noise  among  some  sticks  lying  by  the  kitchen 
door.  The  sticks  rattled  quite  loudly.  Was  it  a 
thief?  No j  a  thief  would  have  seen  the  light  of 
my  lamp,  and,  besides,  thieves  take  care  to  make 
no  noise.  Was  it  a  visitor?     Not  likely  ;  else  why 


did  he  come  there  without  calling  or  rap] 
the  door,   or  why  did   he   not   come    in    -. 
invited  him?     Could  it  be  a  ghost  'J     "  A 
thought    I.       "When    a    man     lives     thirty! 
years   without  having  seen  a  ghost,  i, 
likely  to  see  one."      Moreover,  I  could  not  qu 
believe  in  ghosts  ;  I   had   heard   so  many   silly 
stones  that  I  gave  them  but  little  credit. 

For  several  nights  following  nothing  unusual 
came  to  pass,  and  I  had  almost  ceased  to  think 
of  the  mysterious  walking  on  the  veranda.  '1  In- 
first  manifestation,  as  I  have  stated,  occurred 
during  the  full  moon.  When  it  happened  tin- 
second  time  the  moon  was  dark. 

1     was     sitting 
in    the    rocki: 
chair    in     the 
snake-room   writ- 
ing    an     article. 
Tie  la mjj  stood 
on   the  table   by 
my     elbow,     si) 
that   if  the    door 
leading    to     the 
outside     Wi 
open  e  d     t  h e 
whole  veranda 
would  be  flooded 
with   light.      I 
had  especially 
planned     this 
place   for  the 
lamp    so    that    I 
should  catch  the 
"  ghost  "    if    he- 
should  ever  again 
come      tramping 
about     my    pre- 
misi 

It  was  about 
ten  o'clock  when 
I  heard  a  slight 
noise  as  if  some 
small  object  had 
been  let  fall 
upon  the  floor, 
being  quite  ab-_ 
sorbed    in    my 

writing  at  l'lL' 
time  it  took  me 
by  surprise,  so  that  I  could  not  tell  in  what 
part  of  the  house  the  noise  was  made.  For 
some  seconds  I  waited  and  listened ;  but,  hear- 
ing no  other  sound,  I  concluded  that  it  was 
Lobo,  the  fox,  in  the  next  room  tossing  a  bone 
out  of  her  bed  with  her  nose. 

Hark- !  No  ;  it  was  not  the  fox,  for  now  there 
was  the  sound  of  footsteps  on  the  veranda. 
From  the  soft  tread  I  judged  that  it  was  a  bare- 


540 


THE    WIDK    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


footed  man.  For  a  moment  I  paused  to  make 
sare,  bracing  myself  in  the  chair,  ready  to  spring 
to  the  door.  Presently  the  chair  creaked  and 
the  sounds  outside  ceased  instantly.  Neverthe- 
less, 1  sprang  to  the  door  and  dashed  it  open. 
There  was  nothing  there,  and  the  night  was  so 
dark  that  it  would  have  been  useless  to  go  out. 
Still,  1  didn't 
believe  it  was  a 
shost. 

Next  morning  I 
again  looked  for 
tracks  upon  the 
ground  outside, 
but,  just  as  on  the 
first  occasion,  I 
could  not  succeed 
in  finding  any  ;  for 
over  the  sand  there 
was  only  a  con- 
fused jumble  of  my 
own  footprints, 
among  which  it 
would  have  been 
impossible  to  re- 
ise  any  others 
with  certainty. 

However,  a  wel- 
come thought 
struck  me.  Who- 
ever or  whatever  it 
that  made  the 
sounds  of  walking 
must  also  leave 
the  tracks  of  walk- 
ing. For  the  future. 
the  last  thing  I 
would  do  every 
evening  would  be 
to      obliterate      all 

traces  of  my  own  footsteps  around  the  house. 
ordingly,  I  cut  some  young  pine-branches 
and,  dragging  them  behind  me,  brushed  over  a 
broad  space  around  the  whole  building  each 
evening,  making  the  sand  so  smooth  that  any 
track  imprinted  there  during  the  night  would 
.  be  plainly  visible  in  the  morning. 

Night  after  night  now  I  waited  for  the  "ghost" 
to  come  again.  Weeks  passed  by,  and  yet  it 
never  manifested  itself  either  to  sight  or  hearing. 
Indeed,  I  had  almost  ceased  to  think  of  it,  for 
the  idea  that  there  was  anything  supernatural 
about  the  affair  had  never  impressed  me  very 
strongly.  What,  then,  was  my  astonishment  at 
the  next  strange  occurrence — one  of  a  still  more 
startling  nature. 

It  was  twelve  o'clock  at  night.  I  was  sitting 
in  the  rocking-chair,  close  up  to  the  cage  of  the 
king-snake,  who  was  killing  a  young  rattlesnake 


was  ticking  in  the  room, 
sound    whatever. 


FOR   A    MOMENT    I    PAUSED   TO    MAKE    SI  KE— BRACING 
MYSELF    IN    THE   CHAIK." 


preparatory  to  devouring  him.  My  attention  was 
concentrated  most  profoundly  upon  the  tragedy 
going  on  in  the  cage.  The  night  was  serenely 
calm  and  noiseless,  except  for  the  voices  of 
crickets    and    other    noisy   insects.     The    clock 

There  was  no  other 
Suddenly  the  stillness  was 
broken  by  a  rap- 
ping at  the  door. 
I  was  so  astoni- 
shed and  startled 
that  I  neither 
spoke  nor  moved, 
except  to  look 
around.  What 
gave  me  a  sort  of 
creepy  feeling  was 
that  the  knocking 
was  done  without 
any  sound  of  ap- 
proaching foot- 
steps. Why  did  I 
not  hear  the  foot- 
steps on  the  ver- 
anda previous  to 
the  summons  at 
the  door?  This 
puzzled  me ;  so  I 
said  nothing,  but 
just  sat  still  where 
I  was,  with  my  eyes 
fixed  intently  upon  the  door. 
I  listened  so  eagerly  that  I 
could  hear  my  own  heart 
thumping  against  my  ribs. 

Then     came    the 
again — rap-rap  -  rap  -  rap-rap— 
just  as  someone  would  do  with 
his  knuckles. 

"  Come  in,"  said  I ;  but 
no  one  came  in.  I  got  up  and  went  to  the  door. 
Not  a  soul  was  there  ! 

Then  I  thought  that  it  must  have  been  a  rat- 
animals  sometimes  make  such  sounds.  I  have 
heard  woodpeckers  do  it  ;  but  woodpeckers 
don't  work  at  night. 

Perplexed  and  somewhat  annoyed  at  these 
inexplicable  sounds  of  footsteps  on  the  veranda 
and  mysterious  knockings  at  the  door  by  invisible 
callers  at  midnight,  I  went  back  to  my  chair 
and  watched  the  king-snake  swallowing  his 
rattlesnake. 

It  was  one  o'clock  before  he  finished  him  to 
the  tail.  Then  I  wound  up  the  clock,  fastened 
the  door  leading  from  the  snake-room  into  the 
veranda,  took  the  lamp  with  me,  and  went  into 
my  bedroom  to  sleep.  But,  what  with  thoughts 
of  the  king-snake,  the  rattlesnake,  and  the  ghost, 
I  lay  awake  for  a  considerable  time. 


knocking 


THE    HAUNTED    HOUSE     BY    THE    CREEK. 


Now,  the  bedroom  had  a  door  into  the  snake- 
room  and  another  door  leading  on  to  the 
veranda  at  the  back  of  the  house.  I  was  just 
dropping  off  to  sleep  when — rap-rap-rap  came 
the  knocking  once  more  !  I  sat  up  in  bed  to 
listen  the  better.  Where  was  the  rapping  this 
time  ?  Rap-rap-rap.  It  was  at  the  very  bed- 
room door — the  door  opening  into  the  snake- 
room  !  I  could  hardly  believe  it  possible,  for  I 
had  only  just  a  few  minutes  ago  securely 
fastened  the  outer  doors. 

I  got  up  and  searched  the  snake-room. 
There  was  not  even  a  rat  there.  I  went  into 
the  fox's  room.  The  fox  was  curled  up  com- 
fortably m  her  bed,  fast  asleep.  I  then 
examined  every  room  in  the  house,  finding  the 
doors  all  securely  shut,  and  no  sign  whatever  of 
any  object  anywhere  disturbed. 

What  could  it  be  ?  The  thought  that  it  might 
be  the  rats  I  gave  up.  The  rapping  was  too 
deliberate,  and  was  not  accidental.  It  was  done 
with  evident  intention  —and  it  was  repeated 
thereafter  every  night  for  three  tiresome  and 
anxious  weeks  !  In 
the  morning  there 
were  never  any 
tracks  on  the 
smoothed-off  space 
around  the  house ; 
and  I  always  looked 
most  carefully.  This 
only  served  to  in- 
crease the  mystery. 
Could  it  be  that  the 
old  house  was  in- 
deed haunted  ? 

The  rapping 
usually  began  about 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes 
after  I  had  lain 
down  in  bed,  except 
on  that  first  occa- 
sion, when  I  was 
sitting  up  watching 
the  king  -  snake 
s  w  a  1 1  o  w  i  n  g  the 
rattler.  Now,  this 
knocking  or  rapping 
did  not  always  take 
place  at  the  doors, 
for  sometimes  it 
would  be  done  out- 
side the  window  of  my  bedroom,  sometimes 
it  would  be  under  the  floor,  and  again  in 
the  garret  over  my  head  or  on  the  walls. 
But  all  my  efforts  to  see  the  "  rapper "  were 
in  vain. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  third  week  I  had  got 
somewhat  used  to  this  rapping  every  night,  and 


at  last  slept  regardless  of  it,   for   th  my 

feeling   it   gave   m<  ff  with 

time.      Even  then   I  did  not   quit 
it  could   be  a  ghost.      But   tli 
yet  to  come. 

There  is  a  certain  book  which  I  love  so  mu< 
that    I    have   read    it    seven    times      U 
"Old   Curiosity    Shop."       It    was    while    1 
reading  it  for  the  seventh  time  that  I  had  the 
very  worst  ghost  fright  of  my  life.     I  shall  m 
forget  it  as  long  as  I  live. 

It  was  past  midnight.  I  was  wide  awake, 
lying,  book  in  hand,  in  my  hammock  in 
snake-room.  The  lamp  was  burning  brightly. 
The  deep  stillness  of  night,  was  all  about  me 
when  I  heard,  not  the  sounds  of  footsteps 
the  veranda,  not  mysterious  rappings  at  the 
doors  or  windows,  but  somebody  actually  snoring 
loudly  and  breathing  heavily  right  in  the  room 
along  with  me  .' 

I   could   scarcely  believe   my  cars  :  but  tin 
was  no  doubt  about  it.      I   lay  there  perfectly 
still  in  the  hammock  listening  to  that  horrible 


I  -.-:-•:  ^.-^J^t-iX*" 


■ 


:I    LAY   THERE    PERFECTLY   STILL    I.N    THE    HAMMOCK. 

snore  and  the  heavy  breathing  that  accompa 
it.     Yes  ;  it  undoubtedly  was  in  the  room  al 
with  me. 

\Ykhout   rising   from   where    I    la}-    I   lool 
about  me  and  underneath  the  hammock, 
thing  whatever  could  I  discover.     Then  I  cast 
my  eyes  on  the  snake-cages.     Snake  after  snake 


542 


THE     WIDE     WORLD     MAC.AZINH. 


I  noted.  No,  it  was  no  snake  :  they  were  all 
silent  and  motionless  as  death  in  their  cages. 
Anyhow,  snakes  never  snore. 

I  Felt  well,  I  cannot  describe  the  feeling. 
It  was  not  exactly  fear,  but  I  do  believe  that  my 
hair  stood  on  end  while  that  snoring  lasted,  and 
it  lasted  till  1  jumped  from  the  hammock.  The 
very  instant  that  my  feet  struck  the  floor  the 
sound  ceased.  1  heard  it  no  more  that  night  ; 
neither  did  I  sleep.  I  could  not  sleep.  I  was 
too  nervous  or  excited.  I  sat  up  till  morning 
dawned  :  then  I  lay  down  and  slept  undisturbed 
till  noon. 

Next  night  I  lay  in  the  hammock  again,  with 
the  self-same  book  in  my  hand.  I  tried  to  read, 
but  I  could  not  give  sufficient  attention  on 
account  of  disturbing  thoughts  of  that  ghostly 
walking,  rapping,  and  snoring.  I  simply  lay 
there  in  the  hammock  thinking,  and  expecting 
every  moment  to  get  some  new  surprise.  The 
clock  worked  on  to  ten,  to  eleven,  to  twelve, 
and  nothing  happened.  I  grew  drowsy  and  fell 
asleep ;  but  it  was  a  bird's  sleep — easily  disturbed. 
I  awoke.  The  lamp  was  still  burning  and  the 
dreadful  snoring  was  going  on.  I  jumped  out 
of  the  hammock,  and  instantly  the  snoring 
ceased.  Not  feeling  at  ease  now  in  this  room  I 
retired  to  my  bedroom,  but  kept  the  lamp 
burning.  I  heard  nothing  more  that  night.  I 
wonder  why  it  is  that  those  uncanny  things  are 
neither  heard  nor  seen  in  the  daytime? 

During  the  afternoon  of  the  third  day  a  man 
from  down  the  river  came  in  his  boat  to  see  me. 
I  told  him  the  whole  horrible  tale  —of  the  foot- 
steps on  the  veranda,  of  the  rapping  every  night 
for  weeks,  and,  last  and  worst  of  all,  of  an  unseen 
sleeper  snoring  in  the  very  room  along  with  me, 
while  I  lay  there  wide  awake  with  the  lamp 
burning  brightly.  I  begged  him  to  stay  that 
night  with  me. 

"  No,  no,"  said  he,  hastily;  "you  knew  the 
house  was  haunted  when  you  came  here,  but  you 
smiled  when  everyone  told  you  so.  You  can 
sleep  here  if  you  like,  with  your  ghosts  and 
your  snakes,  but  I'll  take  good  care  to  be  home 
before  dark." 

Night  came,  and  I  was  again  alone.  Would 
there  be  snoring  this  third  night  ?  I  cooked  a 
late  dinner  and  ate  heartily  till  I  came  to  the 
dessert.  It  was  nuts  I  had  for  dessert,  but  when 
I  went  to  get  them  I  found  only  six  or  seven 
remaining — the  flying-squirrels  had  stolen  all  the 
rest,  and  what  they  had  left  were  every  one 
worthless.  The  little  rascals  knew  good  nuts 
from  bad  ones. 

I  was  so  annoyed  at  their  frequent  thieving 
that  I  set  to  work  there  and  then  and  out  of  a 
large  box  made  a  kind  of  trap  that  would  surely 
catch  whatever  might  enter  it.      I   set  it  in  the 


snake-room  between  the  windows,  for  it  was 
there  where  they  used  to  come  in  to  do  their 
stealing.  After  fixing  this  improvised  trap  I 
went  into  the  bedroom,  closed  the  door,  put  out 
the  light,  lay  down  on  my  bed,  and  waited. 

I  had  not  long  to  wait — a  quarter  of  an  hour 
or  thereabouts.  Slam  !  The  door  of  the  trap 
had  closed  !  I  ran  into  the  snake-room.  Ah  ! 
Little  did  I  dream  what  I  had  caught  I 
peeped  in,  expecting  to  see  a  flying  -  squirrel. 
But  what  do  I  see?  Is  it  the  ghost,  or  is  it 
something  else  ?  Evidently  it  is  the  "  rapper," 
at  any  rate  ;  for  he  tried  to  scare  me  when  I 
peeped  in  at  him.  Rap-rap-rap  he  went  several 
times,  on  the  bottom  of  the  big  box.  He  seemed 
quite  real  and  substantial-like,  and  was  in 
appearance,  size,  and  shape  entirely  different 
from  all  my  preconceived  ideas  of  ghosts.  Per- 
haps it  was  the  fact  of  his  rapping  that  made  me 
think  he  had  a  weird  look.  At  any  rate,  his  eyes 
were  astonishingly  large,  black,  and  sparkling. 
He  never  moved  nor  uttered  any  sound,  but 
stayed  absolutely  still,  gazing  at  me  with  pro- 
truding eyeballs,  and  every  moment  repeated 
his  rapping  on  the  floor  of  his  prison.  I  got 
him  out  of  the  trap  and  locked  him  up  in  a 
room  so  securely  that,  unless  he  could  change 
his  shape,  he  could  not  possibly  escape. 

My  discovery  of  the  cause  of  the  mysterious 
rapping  raised  my  spirits  considerably,  and 
between  eleven  o'clock  and  midnight  I  got  into 
the  hammock  to  wait  for  the  snoring  to  begin, 
for  I  couldn't  believe  that  the  "  rapper  "  did  the 
snoring  too.  Silent  and  motionless  I  lay  there 
in  the  hammock.  An  hour,  probably,  passed, 
and  then  the  snoring  commenced. 

"  This  time,"  thought  I,  "  I'll  not  jump  out 
on  the  floor  ;  I'll  just  sit  upright  and  listen  very 
quietly  until  I  locate  exactly  where  that  snoring 
comes  from." 

So  I  turned  my  head  gently  this  way  and  that, 
and  discovered  that  it  seemed  to  come  from  a 
box  in  one  corner.  Now,  I  had  quite  overlooked 
this  box  in  my  previous  searches.  Softly,  in 
stockinged  feet,  I  went  over  to  it,  lifted  the  lid, 
and  there  was  my  pet  skunk  sound  asleep, 
snoring  away  exactly  like  a  human  being.  I 
made  a  sound  on  the  floor  with  my  hand, 
similar  to  the  noise  I  had  made  in  getting 
out  of  the  hammock.  She  jumped  up,  looking 
so  scared  that  every  hair  on  her  tail  stood  out 
at  right  angles. 

"Aha  !  my  beauty,"  said  I,  "is  that  the  way 
we  serve  each  other  ?  You  make  my  hair  stand 
on  end  with  your  snoring,  and  I  make  yours 
stand  on  end  by  waking  you  up." 

For  some  days  she  had  been  discontented  in 
her  own  room,  so  I  had  allowed  her  to  have 
the  run  of  the  snake-room  also  ;  and  this  box, 


THE    HAUNTED     HOUSE     BY    THE    CR] 


all  shut  up  except  a  little  hole  for  an  entrance, 
she  had  chosen  for  a  sleeping-place. 

Next  morning  I  got  into  my  boat  and  went 
down  to  the  village  at  the  river  to  find  my 
visitor  of  the  previous  evening,  who  had  aban- 
doned me,  as  he  said,  "  to  pass  the  night  alone 
with  ghosts  and 
snakes." 

"Well,"  said  he, 
on  seeing  me,  "  how 
did  you  get  on  last 
night  ?  Had  you 
any  supernatural 
troubles  ?  " 

"Oh,  yes,"  said  I, 
"  there  were  both 
rapping  and  snoring 
last  night,  but  the 
'rapper'  I  have  cap- 
tured and  locked 
up.  I  want  you  to 
come  up  there  now 
in  the  boat  along 
with  me  and  look  at 
him." 

"  Oh,  you  are  jok- 
ing," he  cried;  "it 
was  something  else 
you  caught.  How 
could  you  catch  a 
ghost?" 

"Well,"  said  I, 
"I  suppose  that 
depends  upon  what 
form  the  ghost  as- 
sumes." 

"What  does  he 
look  like?"  he 
asked. 


"Oh,"    said    I, 


"  SOFTLY    IN    STOCKINGED    FEET    I    WENT   OVER   TO    IT. 


"Ell    not    tell    you 

what  shape  he  has  to  my  eyes.  You  must  come 
up  there  and  look  at  him  yourself,  and  tell  me 
what  he  seems  like  to  yoi/,  and  then  Ell  tell  you 
what  he  seems  like  to  me." 

"Well,"  said  he,  "as  you  look  so  solemn 
about  it  and  came  down  specially  for  me,  I 
suppose  you  have  really  got  him.  Eve  heard  of 
ghosts  being  seen,  but  never  of  one  being  caught 
before.  But  as  it  is  daylight  I'll  go  and  take  a 
look  at  him  ;  though  if  it  was  night-time  Ed  be 
hanged  if  Ed  go  into  that  old  house  and  look  at 
him  for  a  thousand  dollars." 

"  Now,  see  here,"  I  answered  ;  "all  this  ghost 
business  will  have  an  improper  ending  if  you 
make  me  speak  overmuch  of  it  beforehand.  It 
is  not  good  for  people  to  let  their  minds  dwell 
too  long  on  ghosts." 

"  That's  quite  true,"    he   replied,    "  but  you 


should  have  thought  of  that  when 

that  old  haunted  house  to  lr  |  then    i 

sacked  the  woods  over  for 

with  you  for  fellow-lodgers.     Who 

a  man   so  crazy  as   to  live   with   a   roomful 

snakes    in    an    old    haunted    barrack    full 

ghosts 

"No w ,     t  h  ( 
come  along,-'  said   1. 
"  Will   you  get    into 
the  boat  or  not  ?  " 

"Oh,  Ell  go  right 
enough,"  he  grunted, 
as  he  step  [i 
aboard;  and  then, 
talking  to  himself  as 
he  sat  down  upon 
the  stern-seat- — 
"  Jiminy  crimps  !  1 
never  heard  the  like. 
In  the  dead  of  the 
night,  to  collar  a 
ghost,  lock  it  up  in 
a  room,  and  after- 
wards come  for  me 
to  inspect  it  !  " 

We  sat  in  the 
boat  in  silence  till 
we  reached  the  old 
house.  In  my  com- 
panion's mind  I 
could  see  supersti- 
tion struggling  with 
common  sense  tor 
the  mastery.  He 
had  such  a  very 
puzzled  expression 
on  his  face  that 
I  feared  lest  he 
might  back  out  at 
the  last  moment. 
But  no ;  he  walked  with  me  side  by  side  right 

up  to  the  door,  and  stood  by  while  I  unlocked  it 

and  pushed  it  open. 

"Why,"    said   he,    looking   about    the    room, 

"there's  nothing  at  all  in  here  !  " 

"  That's  strange,"  said  I ;  "  I  can  see  nothing 

either." 

While  I  spoke  the  rapping  began. 

"Gee  whiz!"    he   exclaimed,  excitedly.      "  I 

can't  see  him,  but  I  hear  him  right  enough." 
"  Aha  !  "  said   I.      "  I    see    him   now.      Eook 

over   there  in    that  dark  corner.      He   is  there, 

sitting  on  the  floor." 

"Gracious!"  said  he,  "so  he  is.     I  see  him 

too."     . 

"  In  what  form  does  he  appear  to  you  ?  '  I 

asked,  gravely. 

"Well,"  he  replied,  "  he  appears  to  me  to  be 


544 


IH1-:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


:    •'  that's    exactly  how  he 
He  is  not  ghostly-looking 


a  large  wood-rat  with  very  big  eyes.  How  does 
he  appear  to  you  ?  " 

"lust   so,"  said    I 
appears  to  me  also. 
at  all  now,  is  he  ?  " 

••  But,  tell  me," 
he  asked,  "how 
does  he  do  that' 
rapping?  I  never 
knew  a  rat  that 
could  do  like  that 
before.  Why,  it 
sounds  real  natural, 
just  as  if  someone 
was  rapping  his 
knuckles  on  the 
door  to  get  in.  I 
believe  he  is  super- 
natural, after  all."' 

"  Wait  a  min- 
ute,"  I  replied  ; 
"we'll  put  him 
where  we  can  see 
him  clearly."' 

So  I  caught  the 
great  wood-rat,  put 
him  into  an  empty 
snake  -  cage,  and 
pushed  the  sliding 
glass  door  in  front 
of  it. 

The  poor,  scared 
animal  at  once 
commenced  to  rap 
on  the  floor  of  the 
cage.  He  did  it 
with  what  I  will 
call  the  elbows  oj  his 
hind  legs.  Speaking 
with  os teo logical 
correctness,  how- 
ever, he  rapped 
by  keeping  the 
toes  of  the  hinder 

feet  planted  firmly  down  while  he  hammered 
the  floor  with  his  heels.  The  rats  common  in 
houses  and  ships  never  have  the  "  rapping " 
habit,  which  belongs  to  this  southern  woodland 
species  alone. 

For  some  weeks  I  kept  this  large-eyed  and 
really  pretty  animal  confined  in  a  cage.  He 
was  full  of  interest  for  me,  as  he  was  the  first  of 
his  kind  I  had  seen.  He  always  made  the 
rapping  noise  when  scared.  I  believe  he  did  it 
in  order  to  frighten  off  the  object  of  his  fears. 

This  species  of  sylvan  rat  is  native  in  Florida, 


"  '  AHA  !  '    SAID    1. 


I    SEE    HIM 
DARK 


and  is  common  in  all  the  woods  about  the  old 
"  haunted  house."  They  come  around  human 
dwellings  at  times,  but  do  not  take  up  lodgings 
there.      They  live  in    a    shallow  burrow  most 

often,  usually  under 
a  prostrate  log 
among  dense 
bushes,  and  they 
pile  up  over  the 
entrances  and  exits 
a  great  heap  of 
pieces  of  bark  and 
short  dried  sticks. 
I  have  seen  this 
"  fortification  "  of 
theirs  sometimes 
nearly  three  feet  in 
height.  Dogs  and 
other  predatory 
animals  find  it  al- 
most impossible  to 
break  through. 

I  had  no  w 
cleared  up  the 
mystery  of  the  rap- 
ping and  snoring. 
There  only  re- 
mained the  strange 
footsteps  on  the 
veranda,  and  the 
cause  of  these  I 
discovered  some 
time  afterwards.  I 
found  out  that  it 
was  a  very  large 
and  heavy  opossum 
that  used  to  do  the 
walking  which  had 
so  startled  me.  In 
the  stillness  of  night 
his  feet  sounded  on 
the  boards  just  like 
the  walking  of  a 
barefooted  man.  I 
caught  him  and  assigned  the  opossum-room  for 
him  to  live  in.  In  course  of  time  he  became  charm- 
ingly tame,  and  so  my  last  "ghost"  was  laid. 

After  this  I  was  not  annoyed  by  any  more 
"  ghosts,"  so  that  I  myself,  together  with  the 
opossum,  the  fox,  the  skunk,  and  the  caged 
snakes,  lived  happily  in  the  old  house,  until  one 
day  it  was  accidentally  burned  to  the  ground. 

At  present  only  a  heap  of  weed-grown  ashes 
and  piles  of  broken  and  crumbling  bricks  from  the 
fallen  chimneys  remain  to  mark  the  spot  where 
formerly  stood  the  haunted  house  by  the  creek. 


NOW.   LOOK  OVER  THERE  IN  THAT 
CORNER.'  " 


II. 

Being  an  account  of  the  journeyings  of  an  English  gold-miner  who,  at  the  head  of  a  small  party, 
tramped  over-  four  thousand  miles  in  the  most  remote  recesses  of  the  Himalayas  prospecting 
for  precious  stones  and  metals.  Some  of  the  ground  Mr.  Simmonds  covered  had  never  before 
been    trodden   by  human   foot,  and  he  saw  many   strange   and    curious    sights,   eventually    succeeding 

in  penetrating  for  some  distance  into  mysterious  Thibet. 


HE  road  from  Kanduru  to  Natpa 
is  only  a  narrow  path,  and  there 
would  be  an  awkward  accident  in 
several  parts  of  the  road  if  one 
made  a  mistake.  We  camped  under 
a  walnut  tree  near  the  village,  but  the  plague 
of  flies  was  awful.  Barley-cutting  was  in  full 
swing.  The  people  collect  it  all  in  small 
sheaves,  hanging  them  ears  down  in  their 
small  wooden  granaries  until  they  can  be  threshed 
out  on  broad,  flat  rocks. 

In  the  little-frequented  villages  off  the  main 
tracks,  such  as  Shorang,  Chikba,  and  Burra 
Kumba,  when  one  comes  on  herd-boys  or 
women  cutting  corn,  they  come  up  and  throw 
their  sticks,  reaping-knives,  or  whatever  they 
may  have  in  their  hands,  down  on  the  track  in 
front  of  one.  This  is  a  mark  of  respect  and 
subordination  to  a  superior,  and  also  a  delicate 
hint  for  "  backsheesh." 

One  night,  while  camped  on  the  banks  of  the 

Vol.  xii.^69. 


Shorang  Khud,  I  was  awakened  with  the  news 
that  a  sheep  I  had  just  bought,  and  which  was 
tied  up  to  the  tent-pole  inside  the  servants'  tent, 
had  been  carried  away  by  a  bear  or  Ieopi 
and  the  tent-pole  with  it,  bringing  the  tent 
down  in  a  heap  on  the  sleeping  beauties  inside, 
who  were  horribly  scared.  Instituting  a 
we  found  the  tent-pole  one  hundred  yards  off, 
and,  following  up  the  tracks,  discovered  the 
sheep  alive  and  intact  half  a  mile  away,  and 
much  disgusted  at  being  recaptured.  It  had,  1 
believe,  simply  pulled  down  the  tent  itself  to 
get  back  to  its  mates. 

Having  negotiated  an  ascent  of  two  or  tin 
thousand  feet  over  ranges  to  Shorang  Khud,  we 
travelled  down  the  left  bank  of  the  latter  to 
Burra  Kumba.  The  first  part  of  the  journey 
after  leaving  the  lake-bed  was  over  the  fallen 
boulders  of  a  landslip,  and  as  these  comprised 
solid  blocks  of  rock,  some  of  them  weighing 
hundreds  of   tons,  it  required  a  good  deal  of 


54" 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


y 


mnastic  ability,    combined   with    sure-footed- 

ness,  to  safely  accomplish  the  endless  balancing, 

climbing,   and    sliding    entailed.     It   took   us  a 

I  hour  to  do  two  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  so 

the  nature  of  the  track  may  be  imagined.     The 

impanying  photograph  gives  a  good  idea  of 

the  manifold  difficulties  of  this  awful  maze  of 

boulders.     Seme  travellers  talk  of  the  difficulty 

jetting  pack   ponies  and  mules  over  certain 

paths,    but   no  packed   beast  (unless  perhaps  a 

goat)  could  possibly  negotiate  a  great  many  of 

the  tracks  I  had  to  take  along  this  route. 

A  very  noticeable  feature  of  the  scenery  on 
some  o[  the  steep  cliffs  is  that  large  trees  grow 
out  of  the  sheer,  solid  rock  without  the  slightest 


the  lower  track,  crossing  the  bridge  below 
Nachar.  We  had  a  stiff  walk  up  to  the  latter 
place  in  the  hot  sun  of  the  Sutlej  valley,  not 
arriving   until  6  p.m. 

I  secured  a  comical  little  bear  cub  in  the 
valley,  it  having  been  caught  by  some  women 
in  the  hills.  It  ate  bread  from  my  hand  and 
turned  somersaults  for  its  own  amusement,  but 
reared  up  on  its  hind  legs  and  growled  at  the 
dogs.  This  small  bear  accompanied  me  on 
much  of  my  subsequent  wandering,  and  was 
the  source  of  no  small  amount  of  amusement 
to  our  party.  Having  spent  a  day  in  recruiting 
coolies,  mending  tents,  repairiug  tools,  etc., 
we    next  journeyed   to   Punay,   along  a  narrow 


From  a\ 


a  ::aze  of  boulders 


IT   TOOK    US   A   GOOD    HOUR   TO    DO   TWO    HUNDRED  AND    FIFTY    YARDS. 


\PhfltO. 


sign  of  earth,  or  even  a  fissure  in  the  rock  wall, 
to  be  seen.  Where  the  river  leaves  the  lake- 
bed  it  falls  in  a  succession  of  cascades  and 
waterfalls  for  about  four  hundred  yards.  Owing 
to  the  immense  cliffs  and  other  difficulties  I 
could  get  no  snap-shot  of  these  falls  at  their 
full  length.  At  the  bottom  of  the  lowest  fall 
the  river  had  cut  a  way  for  itself  through  solid 
gneiss,  in  a  channel  two  hundred  feet  deep  by 
not  more  than  thirty  to  forty  feet  wide,  for  two 
or  three  hundred  yards  in  length. 

The  following  day  we  tried  to  get  up  the 
Rakcham  Khud,  but  the  track  was  too  bad, 
both  for  the  coolies  and  myself,  the  former  only 
just  escaping  a  fall  over  the  face  of  the  cliff. 
We  therefore  returned  and  came   down   on  to 


track  in  the  face  of  the  precipitous  cliffs 
that  rise  up  to  the  south  of  the  river.  There 
were  a  great  many  humble-bees  about,  like 
the  home  variety.  We  obtained  a  good  view 
of  Mount  Pundoohwar  on  the  Spiti  side, 
with  its  table-shaped  peak,  which  the  villagers 
here  state  was  made  by  five  mythological  rajahs 
in  past  ages.  In  this  village  last  winter  four 
and  a  half  feet  of  snow  fell  during  twenty  hours, 
and  there  was  a  universal  depth  where  1 
camped  of  twelve  feet.  Whilst  the  heavy  snow 
is  lying  about  the  villagers  all  round  these  parts 
go  out  hunting  the  tahr,  gooral,  burrel,  et  hoc 
germs  omne,  which  then  come  lower  down  after 
food.  Getting  them  between  an  absolutely 
sheer  cliff  and  themselves  they  drive  them  into 


ON    FOOT    TO    THIBET. 


the  soft  new  snow,  where  their  legs  sink  so  that 
they  are  easily  caught  by  the  hunters  on  foot, 
who  are  able  to  move  much  faster. 

In  the  Febiuary  previous  to  my  visit,  the 
village  headman  told  me,  they  came  on  two 
tahrs  (large  wild  goats)  struggling  through  the 
soft  snow  with  a  bear  after  them.  The  latter 
had  just  succeeded  in  catching  the  rearmost 
tahr  when  the  villagers  arrived  on  the  scene, 
and  Master  Bruin  betook  himself  up  the  cliff, 
doubtless  much  disappointed  at  losing  his 
luncheon. 

The  scenery 
about  these 
parts  is  really 
magnificent,  the 
view  of  the 
Sutlej  from  the 
Kailas  Moun- 
tain being 
superb.  I  was 
fortunate  in 
obtaining  a  good 
photograph 
of  this,  which 
is  here  repro- 
duced. 

Our  bear  cub 
w as  not  long 
before  coming 
prominently  into 
evidence.  While 
eating  voraci- 
ously a  few  days 
after  joining  us 
he  got  some 
bread  jammed 
in  his  gullet, 
which  made  him 
terribly  angry. 
He  tore  the  skin 
off  his  neck  try- 
ing to  claw  at 
the  bread  inside, 
and,     not     suc- 

j.  a  A    VIEW   OF    THE   SUTLEJ,    LOOKING 

ceeding,  flew  at  Froma 

the  boy  who  was 

looking  after  him  and  bit  him  on  the  hand.  We 
had  to  catch  the  little  wretch  by  the  scruff  of 
the  neck  and  remove  the  obstruction  with  a 
pointed  stick. 

It  was  extremely  amusing  to  see  the  boy  who 
had  charge  of  our  one  sheep  and  the  cub  taking 
his  pets  along  the  trail  with  the  baggage-coolies. 
The  little  dog  of  my  orderly  ran  in  front  of  him, 
then  came  the  boy  with  the  bear  pickaback,  the 
little  beggar's  paws  being  clasped  tightly  round 
the  boy's  neck.  The  sheep  ran  behind  without 
any   rope   and   wouldn't   leave   the   boy    for   a 


minute,  although   it  was  in    d 

bear— recognising  it  a 

and    did    not    love    the    little    dog,  which  i. 

barking    at   the   bear,  1   upon   th 

shoulders  behind  it. 

We   continued   our  journey  to   Sui 
a    track    where    the    syringa   and    a 
white   lilac   scented  the  air  with  their  d< 
perfume.     At  Sungla  a  little  party  of  Thib 
jugglers   gave    us   a  performance.      First  of   all 
they    brought   out  a  few   dirty    p  loth 

w  i  t  h  i  m  a  j 
i)  a  i  n  1 1 
them,  and,  with 
the  aid  of  our 
tent-poles,  made 
them  into  a  little 
en  or  ban- 
ner. In  front 
of  this,  on  a  box, 
they  arranged  an 
image  of  some 
sort,  pi. icing  in 
front  of  it  i 
m  etal  s,  etc. 
Then  they  asked 
for  some  spirit, 
which,  w  hi  le 
they  danced 
round,  they 
poured  into  one 
of  the  cups  and 
threw  out  on  to 
the  ground,  as  a 
libation  to  the 
image.  Then, 
borrowing  some 
rice,  they  did 
the  same  thing, 
all  the  t  i  m  e 
keeping  up  a 
grotesque  dance 
and  weird  chant- 
ing. Then  the 
was 
performed.  One 
of  the  men, 
lying  on  his  back,  rolled  up  part  of  his  1 
on  to  his  chest;  on  this  was  placed  a  - 
block  of  gneiss  about  four  and  a  half  feet  l< 
one  and  a  half  broad,  and  six  inches  thick,  i 
fully  balanced.  Then  the  principal  pel  former 
came  forward,  dressed  up  with  scraps  of 
coloured  cloth  on  his  head,  a  triangular  knife 
in  his  hand,  and  took  up  a  rounded  boulder  of 
about  six  inches  diameter,  tapped  the  large 
stone  (on  which  a  skeleton  body  had  been 
painted  with  a  bit  of  charcoal)  till  he  got  the 
centre,  and  then,  with  one  blow  of  the  smaller 


DOWN    FROM    KAILAS    MOUNTAIN. 

Photo. 


1111.    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


From  a] 


A    THIBETAN    JUGGLER    AT   WORK. 


stone,  broke  the  large  slab  clean  in  two.  The 
man  below  pretended  to  gasp  a  bit,  but  I  don't 
think  he  was  hurt.  It  was  very  neatly  and 
suddenly  done.  The  leader  of  the  troupe— who 
is  shown  in  the  above  photograph — was  turning 
a  praying-wheel  all  the  time  when  not  engaged 
in  the  performance. 

The  next  day  we  reached  Chitkul.  This  is 
the  farthest  village  up  the  Baspa  in  British 
territory,  and  the 
inhabitants  act  as 
traders  or  middle- 
men, buying  or  ex- 
changing the  mer- 
chandise brought 
from  Thibet  with 
goods  .  from  Ram- 
pore,  Simla,  etc.  It 
is  a  very  quaint,  Thi- 
betan-looking village, 
and  the  inhabitants 
look  wizened  and 
weather-worn.  They 
are  practically  iso- 
lated for  several 
months  in  the  year. 
The  village  is  situa- 
ted on  the  rocky 
boulders  of  an  old 
avalanche,  on  a  flat, 
about  two  hundred 
yards  above  the 
river.  This  flat  is 
fairly  extensive,  and 
is  well  cultivated  dur- 
ing    the    summer 


months  with  a  field  pea,  a  black 
variety  of  hardy  wheat,  potatoes, 
and  millet.  There  are  many  god.-.' 
houses  here,  some  of  them  of  the  old 
type  and  others  of  a  newer  design. 

The  scenery  round  this  place  is 
verv  grand,  the  mountains  which 
hem  the  valley  in  being  close  on 
twenty-two  thousand  feet  in  height. 
While  out  prospecting  I  got  into 
a  nasty  place,  and  had  to  get  a 
small  series  of  steps  cut  before  I 
could  venture  down.  Going  up  a 
cliff  is  all  right,  but  coming  down 
again  is  a  horse  of  quite  another 
colour,  so  to  speak.  Later  I  crossed 
the  Baspa  on  a  rickety  native  can- 
tilever bridge,  with  the  cross-pieces 
loose,  rotten,  and  at  irregular  inter- 
vals ;  and  then  climbed  up  through 
a  very  prickly  jungle  of  wild  rose, 
barberry,  jasmine,  dwarf  rhododen- 
dron, dwarf  birch,  and  creeping 
juniper,  the  ground  covered  with  wild  thyme  and 
rhubarb,  to  some  caves— as  they  appeared  from 
below,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river.  They 
proved  to  be  only  a  natural  formation  of  the 
rocks  from  one  granite  boulder  falling  across 
two  others,  the  darkness  thus  caused  giving  the 
appearance  of,  from  a  distance,  a  cave. 

While  I  was  at  the  village  fifteen  Thibetans 
arrived  with  three  hundred  laden  sheep,  bring- 


[Photo. 


From  a] 


CROSSING   A    ROARING    MOUNTAIN    TORRENT  ON   A    SHAKY    PLANK    IiRIDGE.  [Photo. 


ON     FOOT    TO    THIBEJ 


F?-0)>1    a]      A  REMARKABLE  ROW  OF  ROCK  PILLARS  FORMED  BY  THE  ACTION  OF  WATER.  \_Photo, 

ing  salt  and  wool  from  Thibet,  for  which  they 
would  take  back  rice,  barley,  etc.  They  were 
afraid  to  go  lower  down  the  va  ley,  however,  as 
they  said  the  sheep  there  had  a  contagious 
disease,  and  they  were  unwilling  to  risk  their 
own  animals  amongst  them. 

Near  this  place  we  negotiated  another  re- 
markable bridge,  crossing 
a  roaring  torrent.  It  con-  M 
sisted  of  a  mere  narrow 
plank,  stretching  from 
boulder  to  boulder,  almost 
upon  the  surface  of  the 
water.  It  was  ticklish  work 
crossing ;  however,  there 
were  no  casualties,  the 
whole  party  reaching  the 
other  side  safely. 

While  out  prospecting 
on  the  hills  to  the  north 
I  came  across  a  remark- 
able row  of  pillars,  about 
one  hundred  yards  in 
length  and  twenty  feet  in 
height,  each  of  them  cap- 
ped by  a  boulder  of  from 
five  to  six  feet  in  dia- 
meter. These  pillars  are 
seen  in  the  photograph 
above.  They  extended 
down  the  centre  of  a  land- 
slip, and  were  caused  by 
"denudation,"    the    boul- 


the 

I 

i -cutting    round     the 

landslip 

We  went  1 
tracks   to  Sungla   brii 
travelling  two  and 
stagi  s,    but    as    i- 
whole  of  one  day  the  n 
was    mainly  downhill    we 
did   not    get    particularly 
tired.    The  villagi  s  at 
end  of  cultivation,  whi<  h 
extends  nearly  to  the  limit 
of  trees   in  the  valley,  arc- 
of     most     irregular    and 
grotesque      shapes,      the 
houses    being    mixed     up 
with  huge  boulders  in  a 
most  bewildering  manner, 
sometimes  between  them, 
sometimes  on  top,  and  as 
often  at  the  foot.  A  photo- 
graph    of     Rakcham,    a 
typical  "village   among  the  boulders,"   is   here 
given.     The  houses  are  built  entirely  of   rough 
slabs,  beams  and  planks  of  pine,  plastered  with  a 
clayey  earth.     They  are  frequently  two-storied, 
and  an  unfenced  gallery  runs  round  the  upper 
story,    the    lower  one  being  usually    employed 
either  as  a  granary  or  a  cows'  or  goats'  house. 


'THE   HOUSES   ARE   MIXED   UP   WITH    HUGE    BOULDERS   IX    A   MOST   BEWILDERING   M. 

From  a  Photo. 


Till-:    WIDL     WORLD     MAOAXINE. 


The  several  houses  belonging  to  the  village 
goJ  are  all  roughly  carved  on  the  porches,  and 
decorated  with  burrels',  goats',  or  sheep's  horns 
on  the  outside  walls. 

At  all  these  upper  villages  there  are  "  Manis  " 
at  the  entrance  of  each  village,  with  the 
symbolic  words  "  Om  Mani  padi  horn"  carved 
on  the  upper  stones.  These  ■'  Manis  "  are  of 
various  lengths  and  sizes,  and,  although  one's 
coolies  are  all  supposed  to  be  orthodox  Hindus, 
they  always  "  hedge  "  by  invariably  leaving  the 
••  Mani  "  on  their  right  hand,  for  to  walk  past  a 
"  Mani  "  so  as  to  have  it  on  one's  left  hand  on 
leaving  a  village  is  meant  to  be  a  curse  on  the 
place.  Hence  there  is  a  well  worn  track  on 
each  side  of  a  ''  Mani.'' 

Leaving  Rakchara  village   I  proceeded   along 


river,  grape  vines  were  extensively  cultivated  for 
the  purposes  of  making  native  wine  or  beer, 
which  is  much  drunk  in  this  locality. 

The  apricot  trees  belonging  to  the  villagers 
on  this  side  of  the  river  were  in  full  bearing  and 
absolutely  loaded  with  the  yellow  fruit,  some  of 
which  was  left  rotting  on  the  ground,  while  a 
great  part  was  being  dried  on  the  roofs,  or  large 
flat  rocks,  for  winter  consumption.  They  tasted 
very  nice,  and  the  little  bear  and  my  servants 
and  coolies  were  gorging  themselves  all  day.  A 
portion  of  the  apricot  harvest  will  be  seen  in 
the  following  snap-shot. 

There  were  a  great  many  more  "  Manis  "  up 
here.  One  we  passed  was  seventy  feet  long  by 
ten  broad  and  five  feet  high,  and  had  a  chortern 
at  each  end,  containing  the  Buddhist  symbols. 


From  a] 


A   1-cjUTIOX  of  the  apricot   harvest. 


{Photo. 


the  upper  track,  which  zigzagged  about  among 
huge  boulders  with  little  plank  bridges  between, 
some  of  them  at  an  angle  of  close  on  forty-five 
degrees ;  there  must  have  been  over  a  dozen  of 
these  in  less  than  one  hundred  yards,  and  none 
of  them  over  water,  but  only  over  spaces 
between  boulders.  I  noticed  the  perky  sparrow 
as  ubiquitous  as  ever  in  all  these  villages. 

We  crossed  the  Baspa  just  above  its  junction 
with  the  Sutlej,  and  proceeded  along  to  Ralli, 
under  the  cliffs  on  the  left  bank  of  the  latter 
river.  The  path  in  two  places  was  taken  along  the 
face  of  the  sheer  cliffs  of  the  river,  by  means  of 
narrow  wooden  galleries  bolted  with  iron  into 
the  rock.  On  the  opposite  bank,  wherever  there 
was  sufficient  space  for  cultivation  in  the  few 
places  where  the  cliffs  did  not  fall  sheer  into  the 


We  camped  in  a  grove  of  walnut  and  oak,  the 
former  of  which  had  abundant  fruit.  Evidently 
the  winter  here  was  not  so  severe  as  in  the 
Baspa  valley.  Some  of  the  grape  vines  were 
trained  right  over  the  apricot  trees,  and  the  two 
fruits  could  be  seen  mixed  together,  forty  and 
fifty  feet  from  the  ground ;  the  grapes,  however, 
were  not  yet  ripe. 

We  next  traversed  an  up-and-down  track  to 
Semoling,  rising  about  two  thousand  feet  to  my 
camp  above  the  river.  The  trees  alongside  the 
road  consisted  principally  of  edible  pine.  We 
were  visited  by  a  Scotch  mist  on  the  slopes, 
which  eventually  ended  in  light  rain. 

I  was  much  amused  on  my  way  at  coming 
across  a  shepherd  in  charge  of  some  goat-kids. 
He  was  fast  asleep  under  a  projecting  boulder, 


ON    FOOT    TO    THIBET. 


THE    MEETING-PLACE   OF    THE   GODS 


-ALL    THE    VILLAGE    DEITIES    AKE   TAKEN 


From  a] 


THIS  RENDEZVOUS  ONCE  A  YEAR. 


rolled  up  in  a  blanket,  and  the  kids  were  jump- 
ing on  and  off  his  body  with  great  freedom, 
without  disturbing  him  in  the  slightest — and 
some  of  them  were  pretty  heavy,  too. 

High  up  above  the  village  of  Riba,  entailing  a 
hard  three-mile  climb,  I  came  across  an  open 
grassy  space,  with  a  small  wooden  open  shed  in 
the  centre,  and  on  the 
slopes  at  the  edge  of 
the  green  a  great  num- 
ber of  wooden  and 
mud  huts.  Upon  in- 
quiry I  found  that  a 
great  meeting  of  all 
the  village  gods  was 
held  here  once  a  year, 
and  a  big  festival. 
Asked  why  they  did 
not  have  the  rendez- 
vous closer  to  the  vil- 
lage, the  inhabitants 
stated  that  this  was 
the  customary  place 
and  therefore  could 
not  be  altered,  and 
that  years  before  it 
was  still  farther  up 
the  hill,  on  the  snow 
line.  The  meeting- 
place  of  the  gods  is 
depicted  in  the  photo, 
given  above. 

We  moved  down  to 

T-...  ,  ....  THF    VILLAGE  GOD— 

Riba  through  drizzling        From  a] 


rain. 

luxuriant    \ 

it,    barli 
not 

md  mi 
mixed  up  with  all  kind 
tall  v  villi 

hum 

willow    : 

and  walnuts,  and  i  \ 
yards  ripplii 
counting    for    this    d( 
growth.      The  villages  all 
round    had   flat    roofs    to 
their    houses,    the     slabs 
being  covered  with  an  un 
plastered  coating  of  earth. 
There    was     a     Buddhist 
temple,    which    I    had    no 
time  to  see. 

I  learnt   that  the  system 
of    polyandry    prevail 
good  deal  up  here,  women 
having   several    husbands. 
There  are,  to  counterbalance  this,  nuns  dedicated 
to  the  service  of  the  Lamas'  monasteries.    Th 
are  distinguished  by  having  their  hair  cropped 
short  and  wearing  a  reddish-yellow  robe. 
I  next  shifted  my  camp  to  the  lower  sl< 
Kailas,  and  in  the  afternoon  went  up  as  far  as  I 
could   get  without  a  rope.     There  was  a  very 


TO 

{Photo. 


'A   WEIRD   STRUCTURE  OF   SILVER   CLOTH   AND 
THE    MONTHLY   PROCESSION. 


TRAPPINGS 


-BEING   TAKEN    OUT   FOR 

{Photo. 


5.; 


The  wide  world   maca/im 


cold  wind  blowing,  and  I  saw  two  huge 
avalanches  of  snow  fall,  raising  large,  foamy 
clouds  above  us,  just  before  1  reached  the 
Kailas  peak.  A  very  great  quantity  of  the 
English  broad  bean  is  mown  at  Riba,  down 
below.  On  the  way  up  the  pine  forest  was  full 
•  of  tomtit. 

I  went  fourteen  thousand  feet  up  the  northern 
slopes  of  Kailas,  prospecting,  and  found  the 
distances  at  that  height  arc  very  deceptive. 
You  sec  a  little  ridge  in  front  of  you,  which  you 
think  can  be  climbed  in  a  few  minutes,  but 
after  a  long  climb  and  half-a-dozen  stoppages  to 
breath  you  seem  as  far  off  as  ever. 

Next  ilav  I  returned  to  Purbani.  Going 
down  to  the  blacksmith^  hut  in  the  village,  with 
the  object  of  trying  to  smelt  some  ore  at  his 
primitive  forge,  blown  up  by  a  pair  of  sheepskin 
bellows,  1  saw  the  curious  monthly  procession 
of  the  village  god  round  the  house  in  which  it 
was  installed.  First  of  all  came  the  "  band," 
consisting    of   a    couple    of   drums,    a  pair  of 


keeping  it  on  their  right  hand,  so  as  not  to 
offend  Buddhist  ideas.  As  an  example  of  the 
religious  tolerance  which  prevails  in  these 
remote  regions  I  may  mention  that  I  found  the 
Buddhist  temple  under  the  same  roof  as  the 
Hindu  god,  in  charge  of  a  Lama.  I  could  see 
indistinctly  inside  a  huge  revolving  praying- 
drum,  with  the  eternal  "  Om  Mani  padi  horn  " 
on  it.  It  was  apparently  made  of  copper  and 
brass,  hung  with  drooping  flags,  and  must  have 
been  fully  twelve  feet  high  and  eight  in 
diameter.  It  was  kept  revolving  by  some  action 
I  could  not  see,  as  I  was  not  allowed  in  on 
account  of  trespassing  on  the  sacred  floor  of  the 
Hindu  god ;  but  I  was  told  that  if  I  liked  to 
wait  until  the  god  was  brought  out  I  could 
go  in  and  look  at  the  Buddhist  part  of  the 
building. 

As  soon  as  the  god  had  been  put  back  into 
his  house  a  shepherd  solemnly  presented  every 
woman  and  child  with  a  bunch  of  some  strong- 
smelling    flowers    and    herbs,    which    he    had 


^$b&&k?M 


From  a] 


THE    HOUSE   OF   THE   VILLAGE   GOD. 


{Photo. 


cymbals,  etc.  Then  came  the  god  —  a  weird 
structure  of  silver  cloth  and  various  trappings — 
carried  by  men,  who  jumped  it  about,  and  then 
a  procession  of  women  and  children,  which 
wound  round  the  house  several  times,  always 


brought  down  from  one  of  the  upland  pastures, 
which  they  stuck  in  their  hats  and  hair.  I  was 
told,  however,  that  this  had  nothing  to  do  with 
the  religious  ceremony,  but  was  simply  an  act  of 
kindness  on  the  shepherd's  part. 


(To  be  coficluded.) 


With 


HUitT, 


By   Robert  A.   Pitter,  L.S.A.   Lond.,  late  Surgeon,   British   [ndian 

Steam  Navigation  Company. 

An    exciting   experience    in    the    Indian    Ocean.      A    full  -  grown     lioness,     consigned    to    an    English 

menagerie,  escaped  from  her  cage  and  had  the  ship  at  her  mercy.     Dr.   Pitter  describes  the  curious  way 

in  which  the   animal  was  caught  and  restored  to  her  proper  quarters. 


SAID  from  the  first  that  the 
lioness's  cage  wasn't  strong  enough 
should  we  ship  anything  like  a  sea. 
I  had  said  so  over  and  over  again 
to  the  second  officer,  and  afterwards 
I  had  the  unholy  pleasure  of  remarking,  "  I  told 
you  so." 

However,  let  me  tell  the  story  from  the 
beginning.  The  tramp  steamer  Acapulco  was 
sailing  from  Zanzibar  for  Liverpool  with  a 
general  —  very  general  —  cargo  just  at  the 
psychological  moment  when  I  felt  a  desire  to 
see  England  again.  She  did  not  want  a  doctor, 
of  course,  but  I  managed  to  make  satisfactory 
arrangements  with  the  skipper  for  a  passage 
home. 

I  have  said  that  this  noble  vessel  carried  a 
general  cargo ;  it  was  truly  general.  Among 
other  odds  and  ends  we  shipped  an  able-bodied 
and  rather  irritable  lioness,  destined  to  send 
cold  shivers  down  the  backs  of  the  patrons  of 
somebody's  "  World-famed  Circus  and  Un- 
paralleled Menagerie." 

The  native  shipper  had  fixed  her  up  in  a  large 
box  some  twelve  feet  by  six  by  six,  on  the  front 
of  which  he  had  adjusted  a  row  of  bars  which 
would  have  done  credit   to  a  Bloomsbury  area 

Vol.  xii. —  70. 


paling.  He  beamed  over  these  and  said,  "  Too 
much  safe  !  "  The  bars  were  certainly  calculated 
to  stand  a  good  bit,  and  would  have  done  so 
had  they  been  properly  fastened  to  the  box,  but 
native  ingenuity  was  rather  deficient  in  this 
respect,  and  where  the  bars  pierced  the  rather 
knotty  deal  a  coat  of  paint  hid  several  decidedly 
weak  points. 

I  thought  of  the  axiom  of  my  schooldays  — 
"  The  strength  of  a  chain  is  in  its  weakest  link  " 
— and  therefore  showed  no  peculiar  anxiety  to 
linger  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Leo,  whose  pre- 
carious prison  was  lashed  to  the  rail  on  the  star- 
board side  of  the  main  deck.  The  lashings 
were  good  enough,  but  really  the  cage  looked 
more  adapted  for  a  receptacle  for  rabbits  or 
waxworks  than  for  a  lady  lion  recently  bereaved 
of  her  offspring  and  in  a  less  resigned  mood 
than  Rachel. 

It  was  the  fifth  day  out  when  we  met  the  tail- 
end  of  an  August  monsoon,  and,  although  the 
Acapulco  was  quite  used  to  wallowing  and 
worrying  along  through  all  freaks  of  the  elements 
with  the  stolid  pertinacity  of  a  London  cab 
horse,  I  had  various  misgivings  about  that 
native  carpenter's  work.  I  proved  right,  and 
rather  wished  at  the  time  I  had  not. 


554 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


It  was  early  on  the  sixth  day  out,  when  a 
scurrying  of  the  native  crew  and  a  general 
mixture  of  howls,  oaths,  orders,  and  the  smash- 
ing racket  of  a  heavy  sea  proclaimed  that  the 
cage  had  fallen  to  pieces  like  a  house  of  cards 
before  the  onslaught  of  a  green  water-mountain 
— and  the  lioness  was  free  ' 
Everybody  scooted  some- 
where or  other,  except  a  few 
the  Lascars,  who  were 
fairly  paralyzed  with  fear  and 
remained  where  they  were, 
howling  in  a  blood-curdling 
fashion. 


The  panic-stricken  monster  made  straight  for 
a  big  ventilating  shaft  and,  with  a  mighty  leap, 
disappeared,  head  first.  It  was  but  just  large 
enough  for  her  body  to  pass  down  it.  The 
ventilator  was  about  seven  feet  high  from  the 
main    deck,   at   joining  which  the  lower    shaft 


THE     PANIC-STRICKEN'    MONSTER    DISA  I'lKARKD,     HEAD    FIRST. 


The  lioness  seemed  scared  at  first  at  her  new- 
found freedom.  She  looked  about  a  bit,  lashed 
her  tail,  and  breathed  hard,  great  gusts  of  steam 
coming  from  her  dull  pink  tongue.  She  hardly 
knew  what  to  do,  and  after  a  minute  or  so 
leisurely  made  for  one  of  the  store-rooms  forward 
which  had  been  left  open.  While  we  watched 
with  terror-stricken  eyes  she  entered,  but  scarcely 
had  she  got  inside  when,  with  a  terrible  roar 
and  all  her  bristles  up,  she  rushed  madly  out  and 
down  the  deck  with  the  steward's  plucky  fox- 
terrier  yapping  furiously  at  her  heels.  This 
store-room  was  his  pet  resting  -  place,  and  he 
resented  being  disturbed,  even  though  the 
intruder  was  a  full-grown  lioness. 


passing  down  "  'tween  decks  "  was  of  smaller 
diameter.  So  Mistress  Lion  seemed  to  be 
fairly  in  a  trap.  The  big  ventilator  was  so  tight 
a  fit  that  it  was  impossible  for  her  to  pass  down 
the  smaller  shaft  to  the  hold,  and  it  was  equally 
impossible  for  her  to  climb  out  again.  There 
was  our  valuable  lion,  as  good  as  sealed  up,  tail 
upwards  in  a  tube.  Now,  what  was  to  be  done  ? 
It  seemed  to  me  there  was  an  opportunity 
somewhere  here  for  a  man  of  resource. 

The  hold  was  not  quite  full  and  the  "'tween 
deck  "  was  practically  empty.  Pondering  these 
facts,  a  happy  thought  occurred  to  me.  Said  I 
to  the  puzzled  and  anxious  skipper,  "  It's  no 
use  shooting  the  poor  beast  if  we  can  get  her 


AT    SEA    WITH    A    LIONESS. 


back  unhurt  into  her  cage  and  deliver  her  in 
good  condition  in  Liverpool,  is  it,  sir?"  He 
agreed,  but  saw  no  way  out  of  the  diffi- 
culty till  I  unfolded  my  little  scheme  and 
asked  if  he  was  willing  that  I  should  try  it. 
"  Very  well,  doctor,"  laughed  the  old  man.  "If 
you  can  get  that  confounded  beast  back  into  her 
own  cage  alive  I'll  give  you  a  tenner,  only  don't 
risk  any  of  the  men  more  than  you  can  help,  for 
I'm  a  bit  short-handed  as  it  is." 

I  noticed  he  didn't  mind  my  risk,  but  I  said 
nothing. 

My  first  instructions  were  that  "  John,"  the 
Chinese  carpenter,  should  rig  up  the  cage  again 
strongly  and  put  it  in  a  fit 
state  for  the  victim's  recep- 
tion, and  that  the  boat- 
swain and  two  men  should 
obtain  some  strong  rope 
and  stand  by  for  orders. 

I  went  off  to  my  medi- 
cine-chest and  collected  a 
lot  of  lint  and  some  towels, 
as  well  as  a  bottle  of  chloro- 
form, and  then,  taking  a 
couple  of  fine  canes,  I  pre- 
pared for  action. 

By  removing  a  plank  or 
two  of  the  hatch-cover  I 
easily  got  "  tween  decks  " 
and  crawled  fairly  com- 
fortably down  the  little 
ladder  into  the  hold,  or 
into  that  eighteen  inches  or 
so  of  it  which  was  empty. 

It  was  now  my  task,  and 
a  distinctly  unpleasant  task, 
too,  to  worm  myself  along 
on  my  stomach  to  the  spot 
at  which  the  ventilator 
opened  into  the  hold. 

My   paraphernalia    I 
shoved  in  front  of  me  as 
I  crept  along.     It  was  stifl- 
ing in  that  hold  ;  the  smell 
of  a  hide  cargo  is  bad  at  the  best  of  times,  and 
the    ventilator— the   only  channel  to  the  outer 
air — was    blocked,  as    you    see,    by   the    most 
original  plug  in  the  world — a  live  lioness  ! 

At  last,  however,  I  was  well  under  the  shaft, 
and  could  dimly  see  the  yellow  eyes  above  me 
as  I  craned  my  head,  and  the  crackling  growl  of 
the  unfortunate  obstructionist,  coming  down  the 
tube,  made  my  ears  vibrate  horribly. 

Cramped  and  half  stifled  as  I  was,  I  contrived 
to  get  my  apparatus  handy.  By  now,  I  calcu- 
lated, the  cage  would  be  in  a  fair  way  to  repair, 
for  I  had  taken  my  time  in  coming  along. 

About  an   ounce   of  chloroform  was  quickly 


>rbed   by  my  double-  pad  of  lint,  and  in  .1 
moment  a  good  towel,  sup 

had  elevated  the  anaesthetic  to  within  an  ui'  h  < .  1 
the  damp  nose  far  abo 

At  first  there  was  son  »wl- 

ing,   but   by  degrees  a  grunting   like  th 

ded  ox  ensued,  and  1  knew  that  my  worthy 
CHCL3  was  at  work.  Another  three  min 
went  by  and  stertorous  breathing,  like  a  snor- 
ing churchwarden,  now  came  from  my  friend 
above.  I  ventured  to  pull  down  my  ] 
and  replenish  it,  and,  having  replaced  the 
impromptu  inhaler,  squirmed  myself  back  over 
the  cargo  and  was  soon  on  deck. 


■* 


ABOUT   AN   OUNCE   OF   CHLOROFORM    WAS    QUICKLY   ABSORBED    BY    MY    DOUBLE    PAD  OF    LINT." 

By    this    time    the    reconstructed    cagi 
ready,  and  the  men   stood  by  wondering  what 
was  to  come  next.     By  leaning  down   the  ven 
tikator  a  huge  paw  and  tail  were  to  be  seen, 
did  not  take  me  long  to  explain  the  next  rr 
to  the  men.     A  stout  rope  was  hitched 
thoroughly  sailor-like  fashion  round   th< 
tions  of  the  animal's  anatomy,  the   ta^k   being 
allotted    to    the    slimmest    man    we    had,     who 
worked,  of  course,  head  downwards,  held  by  the 
legs  by  the  stalwart  boatswain.     Then  all  was 
ready  for  the  last  act  of  the  business. 

Down    I    went    again    into    the    hold    to    in- 
vestigate,   and    a     boy    was     posted     at     the 


THE    Wild.    WORLD    MAGAZINE.' 


hatch  to  pass  along  my  signal  for  the  hauling  to 
commence. 

Madame    Leo   was   still   sleeping  peacefully, 

but  I  gave  her  a  little  more  chloroform  to  make 
all  sure,  and  then  gave  the  word  to  haul.  When 
I   emerged  on  deck  there  she  lay  as  limp  as  a 


to  revive  her,  and  presently  my  lady  showed 
signs  of  "coming  to."  After  several  languid 
movements  she  stood  up  rather  unsteadily  and 
looked  round. 

I  will  draw  a  veil  over  the  after-effects  of  the 
anaesthetic.     Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  lady  was 


"  SHE    LAY  AS   LIMP   AS   A    BUNDLE   OF    FURS. 


bundle  of  furs,  and  in  a  few  seconds  she  was  in 
her  cage  once  more.  The  box  was  securely 
fastened  with  a  stout  cable,  and  John  Chinaman 
was  soon  busy  nailing  and  screwing  on  great 
iron  corners  and  hoops. 

A  jet  of  ice-water  was  turned  on   the   lioness 


indisposed     for    a    short     time,    but    speedily 
recovered. 

She  is  now  well  and  strong,  and  it  would  be 
interesting  to  know  if  she  remembers  anything 
about  her  brief  hour  of  freedom  on  board  the 
Acapulco, 


F.IiHor^ai). 


How  three  desperate  bank-robbers,  hotly  pursued,  stole  an 
engine  and  attempted  to  escape  along  a  railway.     A  plucky 
sheriff  requisitioned  a  powerful  locomotive  on  a  converging  line  and 
started   in  pursuit  at  full  speed.     The  race  that  followed  was  a  most 
thrilling  one,  and  it  ended  in  a  tragic  and  unexpected  fashion. 


Late  risers 


EEP  and  widespread  was  the  excite- 
ment at  Livonia  Station,  incorporated 
village — in  the  picturesque  western 
portion  of  New  York  State — upon 
the  early  morning  of  June  7th,  1873. 
were  astounded  upon  reaching  the 


streets  to  learn  that  Constable  Parks,  unassisted, 
had  not  only  "  spotted  "  the  three  Lima  bank- 
robbers,  but  that,  likewise  unassisted,  he  had 
captured  them  ! 

Lima  was  a  neighbouring  village,  where  a 
bank  robbery  had  occurred  two  nights  before. 
A  large  sum  of  money  had  been  stolen,  and  the 
bank's  president,  an  elderly  and  much-esteemed 
citizen,  had  been  shot,  his  life  only  being  saved 
by  the  fact  that  the  bullet  happened  to  pass 
through  the  thick  folds  of  a  legal  document 
which  was  in  his  breast-pocket.  Rewards 
aggregating  one  thousand  doliars  had  been 
promptly  offered  for  the  arrest  and  safe  incar- 
ceration of  the  burglars,  and  now  came  the  news 
that  Constable  Parks  had  caught  all  three. 

The  sight  of  one  robber  would  have  been  an 
event  in  the  somewhat  prosaic  life  of  the  Livonia 
villagers,  and,  therefore,  three  caused  intense 
excitement. 

Constable  Parks  had  read  in  the  newspapers  of 
the  daring  bank  robbery.  He  had  noted  that 
there  were  exactly  three  members  of  the  rascally 
gang.     Then,  upon  this  particular  morning  of 


the  seventh  day  of  June,  his  sharp  eyes  had 
fallen  upon  three  strangers  in  the  streets  of 
Livonia  at  one  and  the  same  time.  The  shrewd 
and  rapid  deduction  which  Parks  made  from 
these  simple  premises  was  almost  worthy  the 
talents  of  a  Sherlock  Holmes. 

In  the  words  of  the  constable  himself,  he 
reached  the  instantaneous  conclusion  that 
"These  yere  was  them  air" — "them  air,"  of 
course,  being  the  bank-robbers. 

Having  arrived  at  this  decision  regarding  the 
strangers,  Constable  Parks  instantly  levelled  a 
one-barrelled  pistol  in  the  faces  of  the  trio. 
Then,  followed  by  an  awe-stricken  procession  of 
the  youth  of  the  village— the  writer,  then  a 
wide-eyed  country  lad,  being  one  of  their 
number — he  marched  the  party  to  the  vill 
lock-up. 

It  was  a  very  commonplace  after-occurrence 
which  alone  prevented  this  triple  arrest  at  the 
hands  of  brave  Constable  Parks  from  redound- 
ing evermore  to  that  officer's  aggrandizement. 
This  was  nothing  less  than  the  almost  imme- 
diate escape  of  the  three  burglars.  One  of  the 
gang  deftly  tripped  the  constable  as  the  latter 
was  in  the  very  act  of  landing  the  party  in  the 
village  calaboose.  The  officer  lost  his  balance 
and  fell,  whereupon  all  three  of  the  criminals 
made  their  escape. 

In  order  that  the  subsequent  very   thrilling 


THE     WIDE     WORLD     MAGAZINE 


"one  of  the  gam;  peftly  tripped  the  constable. 


adventure  may  oe  properly  appreciated  by  my 
readers  it  is  necessary  to  describe  the  locality. 
Avon  Springs  is  not  only  a  junction  for  three 
small  branches  of  the  old  Erie  Railroad,  but  is 
also  a  somewhat  famous  watering-place. 

This  story,  however,  has  to  do  with  the  town 
only  in  its  capacity  of  railroad  junction.  Like 
an  octopus  which  has  lost  half  of  its  tentacles, 
these  branch  railroad  lines  reach  out  from  Avon 
Junction  in  practically  four  legs.  These  are 
formed  by  the  bisecting  of  the  Rochester 
straight  line,  which  runs  through  the  place 
from  north  and  south,  by  two  lateral  branches. 
The  accompanying  diagram  will  enable  my 
readers  to  understand  the  location  of  the 
places  mentioned. 

Livonia  is  eighteen  miles  south  of  Avon,  on 
the  main  line.  Between  Avon  and  Livonia  is  a 
small  place  possessed  of  a  railroad  yard  and 
round-house.  Its  proper  name  is  Hamilton's, 
but  it  is  called  derisively  "Goose  Island,"  be- 
cause of  its  being  situated  in  a  swamp.  On  the 
lateral  branch  from  the  junction  which  parallels 
the  line  to  Livonia  is  an  important  village 
named  Geneseo,  almost  opposite  Goose  Island 
across  country.  From  Geneseo  to  Avon  the  dis- 
tance is  nine  miles;  across  country  from  Geneseo 
to  the  "  island  "  is  roughly  the  same.  For  many 
miles  out  of  Avon  Junction  all  these  branches 
run  through  shallow,  wooded  ravines,  from  which 
they  now  and  then  emerge  upon  embankments. 


After  the  three 
safe-crackers  had 
bolted  as  before 
related,  word  was 
instantly  wired  of 
their  escape  to 
sheriffs  and  town 
marshals  at  all 
the  principal 
places  within  a 
radius  of  twenty- 
five  miles  from 
Livonia.  Accu- 
rate descriptions 
were  given  of  the 
escaped  trio  — 
one  very  large 
man,  heavily 
bearded,  slightly 
lame  of  one  foot; 
and  two  smaller 
individuals,  both 
of  them  stoutly 
built,  and  both, 
curiouslyenough, 
possessing  sandy 
hair  and  fierce, 
red  moustaches. 
At  this  time,  in  all  that  region  round  about, 
one  man  ranked  pre  -  eminent  among  peace- 
officers  as  a  thief-taker.  This  was  Dick  Rudd, 
a  Geneseo  deputy-sheriff.  He  was  an  excep- 
tionally brave  officer  and  a  shrewd  one,  not 
merely  a  human  bulldog,  as  so  many  men  fol- 
lowing his   vocation    are.       The    moment   that 


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DIAGRAM    SHOWING   THE    RAILROAD    LINES    AND   THE    LOCALITY  OF 
TIIK    PLACES    MENTIONED    IN    THIS    STORY, 


A    RAILWAY     RACE    Willi     ROBBERS. 


news  of  the  escape  of  the  bank-robbers  reached 
his  ears  Rudd  saddled  a  fleet  horse  and  started 
overland  for  Goose  Island.  His  shrewd  intellect 
at  once  indicated  to  the  deputy,  upc:i  learning 
that  when  last  seen  the  fugitive  criminals  were 
heading  that  way,  that  they  would  attempt  to 
gain  the  cover  of  the  Goose  Island  swamp,  there 
to  "  hide  up  "  until  nightfall,  when  they  would 
make  a  break  for  the  truck  beams  of  a  passing 
Rochester-bound  freight-train. 

Having  arrived  there  the  sheriff  made  a 
systematic  search  of  the  bogs,  in  which  the 
islanders  enthusiastically  assisted,  but  without 
result.  Rudd  learned  upon  inquiry  that  none 
of  the  denizens  of  Goose 
Island  had  observed 
any  suspicious  characters 
about  the  little  place  during 
the  day,  although  nothing 
would  have  been  a  more 
probable  movement  on  the 
part  of  the  robbers  than  to 
make  a  detour  when  near- 
ing  the  small  settlement, 
and  then  enter  the  swamp 
from  the  rear. 

The  deputy  himself  was 
still  strongly  of  the  opinion 
that  the  fugitives  were 
snugly  hidden  in  some 
dark  corner  of  the  forest 
of  trees  which  grew  out  of 
these  sloughs,  and  he  had 
no  doubt  that  the  rascals 
were  watching  every  move 
made  by  the  searchers. 
Up  to  nightfall,    however, 


sight 


caught    of 


them.       Every  suspicious- 
looking  clump  of  the  dense 
swamp   underbrush   which 
.was  large  enough   to  con 
ceal  a  human   body  was  investigated  ;  even  the 
branches  of  the  trees  were  examined. 

When  at  length  darkness  began  to  settle  over 
tlie  dismal  bogs  the  deputy  started  to  throw  a 
cordon  of  natives  about  the  swamp,  intending 
as  his  own  share  in  the  vigil  to  secrete  himself 
near  the  tracks  to  prevent  the  robbers  from 
sneaking  out  in  the  darkness  and  "jumping  "  a 
train.  Just,  however,  as  these  arrangements  were 
reaching  completion  the  assembled  islanders 
were  suddenly  startled  to  see  a  mounted 
messenger  galloping  in  along  the  Geneseo  road. 
While  still  some  distance  off  he  began  to  shout 
in  a  loud  voice  for  Dick  Rudd. 

The    deputy's    amazement    may    be     better 
imagined  than  described  when  the  messenger- 
one  of  the  turnkeys  at  the  Geneseo  gaol— some- 


DICK    RUDD,    THE  GENESEO   DEPUTY-SHER1FK    WHO  PURSUED 
THE   ROBBERS. 


From  a  Photo,  by  Merrell. 


what  breathlessly  announced  that  the  I 
robbers  had   b 

nly   across   country, 
upon    that    same   afternoon,  the     I 

Brook  glens. 

These  are  a  sen.  tremelj 

banked  ravines  or  narrow  >wn 

into    the    bosom    of   the    earth    by    i 
running  of  a   small    but  very  rapid   si 
located  two  miles  due  south     as  tl 
from  Geneseo.     Their  banks  are  d 
here   and   there,  and  they  furnish   ideal   hid 
places  for  fugitive  criminals. 

That  it  was  the  bank-robbers  themselves  who 
had  been    seen   thi 
not  the  slightest  vi 
doubt.     Two  of  (  Si 
most  representative  citiz 
had  been  driving  down  the 
Glen  road — which  i 
the  ravines  on  a  bridge— 
toward    town,  seated  in  a 
spring-waggon,  and  ace  i 
panied  by  their  wives,  when 
one  of  the  latter  had  es] 
the  suspicious-looking  trio 
ambling  glenward  through 
a  distant  field  of  clover. 

The    entire    party    had 
taken  a  good  look  at  tin- 
three  men,  and  had  noted 
that  one  was  a  very  1. 
man,  seeming  to  be  a  trifle 
lame,  while  his  companions 
were  short  and  stout.      It 
was     not    until    these    re- 
spected   (leneseo   citizi 
had    reached   town,    how- 
ever, and   there   heard  of 
the    escaped   robbers  and 
read  their  descriptions,  that 
they    realized    how    • 
they  had  been  to  the  much-wanted  fugitn 

Deputy  Rudd,  not  being  a  profane  man,  was 
forced,  when  the  messenger  made  his  startling 
announcement,  to  content  himself  with  a  some- 
what strenuous  line  of  thought.     In  the  1; 
of   the   sheriff,    he    mentally   "kicked  hims 
Then   he  mounted  his  horse,  the  animal  ha>. 
by  this  time  become  thoroughly  rested  from 
spurt  of  the  morning.     He  set  a  pace  for  the 
turnkey    and    his    comparatively    jaded    animal 
which  scon  distanced  them  both. 

Riding  hurriedly  toward  town,  Deputy  Rui 
evolved  a  fresh  plan  of  campaign,  which  prom; 
the  thorough  discomfiture  of  the  three  burglars. 
On  their  account  he  had  worse  than  wasted  a 
:   he  would  try  to  even  accounts  now  by 
damming    the   main  glen  at   its  very  restricted 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


But  a  glance  back  soon 


outlet  and   literally  drowning    the   rascals   out 
While    thus    cogitating     the     sheriff's    deputy 

ithin  a  half  mile  of  home.     Then,  all  of 
a  sudden,  he  heard  the  furious  pounding  of  a 
horse's  hoofs  somewhere  behind  him,  apparently 
g     '  breakneck  speed. 

At  first  thought  the  officer  feared  it  was  the 
turnkey's  horse,  which,  having  thrown  its  rider, 
was  running  away, 
discovered  that  the  animal  bore  a 
young  boy  upon  its  back.  Upon 
a  second  and  more  steady  glance 
Rudd  saw  further  that  the  youthful 
horseman  was  the  son  of  the  Goose 
Island  station-agent,  Rafferty.  He 
coining  like  the  wind,  with  his 
head  bent  low  over  the  neck  of 
his  horse.  The  deputy  drew  rein, 
and  the  boy  soon  came  up  with 
him.  The  excited  lad,  almost 
breathless  from  emotion  and  his 
headlong  ride  —  also  somewhat 
elated,  possibly,  with  a  knowledge 
of  the  importance  of  the  news  he 
was  bearing  to  the  famous  thief- 
catcher  —  began  his  story  before 
either  of  them  had  come  fairly  to 
a  stop. 

It  seemed,  from  Tim  Rafferty, 
Junior's,  excited  account,  that 
immediately  after  the  departure 
from  the  island  of  the  sheriffs 
officer  and  the  turnkey  three  much- 
bedraggled  individuals  —  one  a 
large  man,  the  two  others  short, 
stout,  and  red  -  headed  —  had 
emerged  boldly  from  the  swamp 
and  had  straightway  begun  intimi- 
dating the  countrymen  by  brandish- 
ing huge  loaded  revolvers  in  their 
faces. 

This  naturally  had  a  perturbing 
t  upon  the  natives'  spirits  and 
had  caused  them  to  fall  back  in 
disorder,  whereupon  the  three 
criminals  rushed  instantly  to  the 
railway  round-house,  where  they 
set  swiftly  to  work  getting  up 
steam  in  a  light  yard  -  engine, 
which,  with  its  fires  drawn,  had 
gone  to  its  stable  lor  the  night.  It  was 
judged  by  the  frightened  islanders  that  the 
robbers  were  preparing  for  a  hazardous  night 
run  northward  througTi  the  ravine ;  that  they 
intended  trusting  to  luck  on  the  switches  being 
thrown  properly  at  Avon  Junction,  through 
which  station  they  would  rush  at  full  speed ; 
and  that  they  proposed  then  to  simply  "keep 
going"   until    they    reached    the    outskirts    of 


Rochester,  where  the  engine  would  be  aban- 
doned. .  Old  Rafferty,  the  station-agent,  secretly 
delighted  thai  Goose  Island  was,  after  all,  to  be 
the  scene  of  the  adventure  with  the  dangerous 
gang  of  burglars  instead  of  Fall  Brook  (and,  by 
the  way,  no  one  ever  heard  another  word  of 
those  Fall  Brook  suspects),  had  bided  a  favour- 
ing opportunity  and  secretly  dispatched  young 
Tim  flying  after  Rudd. 


THEY    BEGAN    INTIMIDATING   THE   COUNTRYMEN    BY    FLOURISHING    HUGE    LOADED 

REVOLVERS." 


When  the  lad  had  left  the  island — almost  an 
hour  earlier,  as  he  now  informed  the  deputy- 
sheriff — the  burglars  were  still  at  work  about  the 
engine.  Ere  this,  however,  he  presumed,  they 
had  got  started  down  the  line.  Tim  had  passed 
the  turnkey  jogging  leisurely  villageward  five 
miles  back  on  the  road,  but  he  had  not  deigned 
to  stop  when  the  turnkey  had  hailed  him,  nor 
even   to  reply  to  his   inquiry  when   that  official 


A    RAILWAY     RACE    WITH     R0BB1 


had  called  out  for  an  explanation  of  the  lad's 
hurry. 

After  hearing  the  boy's  story  Rudd  set  off 
toward  Geneseo  village  at  once,  disappearing 
rapidly  down  the  road  in  that  direction  without 
waiting  to  hear  the  valuable  suggestions  young 
Tim  was  burning  to  offer. 

Clever  schemes,  skilfully  put  through,  had 
gained  for  Deputy  Rudd  his  reputation  for 
intrepidity.  Never  was  this  more  clearly  exem- 
plified than  upon  the  eventful  day  in  question, 
when  the  "  lay  out "  with  regard  to  the  bank- 
robbers  kept  presenting  such  varying  aspects. 

After  his  abrupt  desertion  of  the  junior 
Rafferty,  Deputy  Rudd  spurred  his  still  willing 
beast  to  the  Geneseo  railway  depot,  where,  leap- 
ing from  its  back,  he  rushed  into  the  telegraph 
office.  Here  he  was  in  the  nick  of  time  to  hear 
the  Geneseo  operator  repeating  from  the  wire 
the  excited  account  of  his  brother  clerk  at 
Goose  Island  of  the  unusual  and  thrilling 
"carryings  on  "  at  that  little  place  by  the  festive 
trio  of  bank-burglars. 

What  instantly  caught 
the  deputy's  ear,  how- 
ever, and  filled  his  breast 
with  renewed  hope,  was 
the  statement  from  the 
Goose  Island  man  that 
the  rascals  had  not  yet 
got  away.  They  were  at 
that  identical  moment,  in 
fact,  in  the  act  of  running 
the  yard  -  engine  around 
the  "Y"  in  the  island 
yard  for  the  purpose  of 
heading  her  north. 

Had  the  sheriff's  man 
waited  a  moment  longer 
he  would  have  heard 
further  how  the  robbers 

had  promptly  shot  one  over-curious  countryman 
in  the  leg,  upon  that  unfortunate  man's  having 
ventured  too  close  to  the  round-house,  where  the 
gang  had  been  mixing  a  redundancy  of  profanity 
with  their  unusual  labours,  for  it  is  no  easy  job 
for  more  or  less  green  hands  to  get  up  steam  in 
a  "dead  "  engine. 

Rudd  would  also  have  heard  how  this  hint 
upon  the  robbers'  part  that  they  were  not  to  be 
disturbed  had  inspired  so  wholesome  a  respect 
for  their  wishes  in  the  breasts  of  the  remaining 
natives  that,  to  a  man,  they  instantly  sought 
cover.  Likewise  he  would  have  heard  the 
admission  from  the  operator  at  the  island  that 
he  had  himself  but  quite  recently  emerged  from 
beneath  his  table,  and  that  he  was  even  then 
working  with  all  lights  out.  However,  Deputy- 
Sheriff  Rudd  did  not  wait  to  hear  this  tale   of 

Vol.  xiL— 71. 


grief  translated  from  tl 
a  fresh  scheme    upon    bi 

k-robbers  were  -nil  delayi 
and  this  scheme  demanded   the   i 
haste.     Another  sine  qua  mm  lor  t 
was  an  engine. 

To  be   brief,   Deputy  Rudd  had  del 
to  put  up  a  little  race  with  the  yard  i 
Avon  Junction.     If  he  was  fortunati 
reach  that  point  first,  he  intended  to  hi 
switches  set  so  as  to  derail  the  yard  engine  and 
so  capture  his  men. 

If  this  plan  failed,  then,  as  an  officer  of  the 
law,  possessed  of  the  facts,  he  would  he  forced 
to  pass  the  capturing  of  the  bank-robbers  on  to 
the  officials  at  Avon  Junction,  the  ensuing  glory 
— to  say  naught  of  the  big  reward — to  be  theirs, 
and  not  his. 

Fortunately  for  the  success  of  his  plan,  several 
things  just  then  "  happened  to  happen."  A 
long  freight-train  had  pulled  in  on  a  siding  just 
as  the  deputy-sheriff  came  from    the  telegraph 


THE   GENESEO    RAILWAY 


DEPOT,    WHERE   SHERIFF    RUDD    REQUISITIONED    HIS    ENGINE. 

From  a  Photo,  by  Walter  Adams. 

office.  Then  came  news  of  a  wreck  down 
the  line  to  the  south  which  stalled  the  train 
on  the  siding  for  some  hours.  Its  engine  was 
one  of  the  big  freight-haulers  known  technically 
among  railroad  men  as  "Moguls"  or  "hi 
Rudd  demanded  the  loan  of  it  in  the  nam. 
the  law,  and  secured  it. 

Perhaps  not  the  least  important  feature  in  the 
remarkable    string  of   happenings,    whii 
shaping  matters   so   fortunately  for   the  deputy 
in  his  attempt  to  outwit  the  escaped  criminals, 
was  the  tact  that  one  Ben  Sutton  was  this  1 
at  the  throttle  of  the  "  Mogul."    Sutton  was  r; 
by  his  employers  at  this  period  as  both  the  most 
skilful  and  the  most   reckless   engine-driver   on 
the  entire  Eric  system.     He  had  quite  lately,  in 
fact,  been  set  back  to  a  freight  run  for  having 
scared  a  party  of  foreign  sightseers,  whom    he 


562 


THE    \VIDK    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


had  been  hauling  over  the  main  line,  out  of 
••  ten  years'  normal  growth,"  as  it  was  said,  by 
setting  a  pace  upon  the  occasion  which  had 
broken  the  road's  speed  record. 

He  was  the  man  of  all  men  whom  the  officer 
would  have  selected  for  the  coming  event,  an 
event  which  he  confidently  intended  should  be 
a  bit  of  swift  running  worth  remembering.  And 
it  was.  Railroad  men  in  Western  New  York 
speak  of  the  race  which  soon  ensued  down  the 
converging  lines  between  the  big  "  Mogul  "  and 
the  little  yard-engine  to  this  very  day  as  a  phe- 
nomenal display  of  nerve  and  speed.  Word 
came  that  the  burglars  were  ''off  a  scant  two 
minutes  before  the  big  freighter  pitted  against 
them  c-a me  gliding  swiftly  down   the  short  spur 


THE  YARD-ENGINE   USED    BY  THE   ROBBEKS— IT    MAS    BEEN 

From  a  Photo. 

off  the  turn-table,  headed  north.  One  wild 
shriek  from  the  whistle  as  the  ponderous 
machine  leaped  into  the  black  wall  of  darkness 
over  the  right  of  way,  then  Sutton  threw  her 
throttle  wide  open,  and  the  race  down  the  dark 
ravines  started. 

The  first  few  miles  out  of  (leneseo  the  line 
runs  through  a  deep  cut.  During  this  part  of 
the  journey  junctionward  the  deputy  found  full 
employment  for  his  time  and  attention  in  just 
endeavouring  to  "hang  on."  Let  me  narrate 
the  story  of  the  race  as  nearly  as  possible  in  his 
own  forceful  language. 

The  way  Ben  took  those  curves  was  something 
scandalous.  I  reckon  I  felt  a  little  bit  like  that 
party  of  Dutchmen  did  when  Ben  hauled  them, 
and  it  made  me  feel  sorry  for  them.  When  1 
wasn't  shooting  sideways  and  making  grabs  at 
the  hot  steam-pipes  to  keep  from  being  thrown 
off  the  engine,  then  my  head  was  banging  hard 


up  against  the  roof  of  the  cab.  The  moon  had 
gone  down  and,  save  for  the  tunnel  of  light  the 
headlight  bored  out  ahead  of  us,  it  was  one  of 
the  blackest  nights  I  ever  saw  in  the  Geneseo 
Valley.  I've  never  travelled  in  airships  or  fallen 
over  precipices,  but  I  believe  a  fellow  has  the 
identical  sensations  doing  those  things  that  I 
had  with  the  big  engine  plunging  ahead  through 
that  black  air.  We  seemed  to  be  up  against  a 
jumping-off  place  at  every  fresh  plunge. 

The  station-agent  had  told  Sutton  he  might 
consider  the  speed  limit  for  the  one  trip  any- 
thing he  could  force  out  of  his  engine,  and  Ben 
was  taking  him  seriously.  He  didn't  even 
whistle  for  the  level  crossings.  Said  he  reckoned 
to  travel  so  rapidly  that  we'd  beat  the  sound  of 

our  own  whistle 
on  to  the  road 
crossings,  and 
'twould  only  be 
wasting  the  steam ! 
The  real  excite- 
ment of  the  chase 
didn't  begin  for 
us,  however,  until 
the  freight-engine 
shot  out  of  the 
"  cut "  on  to  a 
long  two-mile  em- 
bankment. We 
were  then  but  two 
miles  from  the 
Goose  Island 
branch  and  gra- 
dually closing  in 
toward  it  ;  and  it 
was   there   that 


MODERNIZED   AND    IS    SHI. I.    IN    USE. 


we  saw  the  first 
signs  of  the  little  yard-engine  we  were  pursuing. 
It  was  not  the  engine  itself  we  saw,  but  the 
reflections  of  light  on  the  dark  clouds  when  the 
robbers  threw  open  the  door  of  the  furnace  to 
shovel  in  fuel. 

The  yard-engine  was  a  full  mile  ahead  of  us 
and  was  fairly  tearing  over  the  road.  Their 
escape  seemed  inevitable,  and  I  could  have 
danced  with  rage  if  I  hadn't  been  too  busily 
occupied  in  holding  on  to  the  leaping,  swaying 
cab.  From  the  swift  movement  of  the  reflec- 
tions on  the  sky  and  the  rapid  changes  in  the 
sounds  of  the  small  engine's  exhaust — first  full 
and  loud  and  then  muffled — which  sounds  were 
occasionally  wafted  back  to  us  during  lulls  in 
the  hoarse  gale  that  was  shrieking  through  the 
cut,  we  knew  that  the  rascals  were  keeping  two 
of  their  number  employed  steadily  at  stoking 
and  that  they  were  straining  every  nerve  to 
make  time. 

We   saw   then    it   was   going   to  be  a  neck-to- 


A     RAILWAY     RACE    Willi     ROBBERS. 


neck  race  into  Avon,  with  all  the  odds  on  the 
robbers.  They'd  already  got  too  much  head- 
way from  getting  into  the  race  the  two  minutes 
before  we  did;  and  although  the  "Mogul"  was 
grinding  out  a  mile  and  a  half  to  the  little- 
engine's  mile  we  just  failed  to  close  the  gap. 
But  we  came  mighty  close  to  it. 

Word  by  wire  had  meanwhile  got  to  the 
junction  that  we  were  coming — the  burglars  and 
us — down  the  two  different  tracks,  and  the 
whole  town  had  turned  out  on  the  depot  plat- 
form to  see  the  excitement.  The  Avon  folks 
had  intended  to  throw  a  switch  and  derail  the 
yard-engine   if   it  got   in   first ;   but   when   they 


ing  to  the  n  who  was  th< 

what   seemed   I 

monsters  bearing  sir.; 

big  monster  chasii 

sending  back  a  long   tail    o!    smoki 

There  was  one  sharp  clang  ol  m  :tal  a  ther 

as    the    two   racers   hit  th< 

then  a  deep  roar  and  a  rush   of  air  thai 

took  the  folks  off  their  feet,  and  tl. 

plunged  ahead  out  of  sight. 

Naturally,  out-getting  beaten  in  tin-  race  to  the 
junction  knocked  my  plans  to  pieces.  I  don't 
know  why  we  didn't  drop  out  of  the  race  then 
and  there,  or  what  we  expected  we  could  accom- 


THEKE    WAS    A    DEEP    KOAH   AND    A    RUSH    OF    AIR    THAT    NEARLY    TOOK    THE    FOLKS   OFF    THEIR    FEET. 


finally  saw  her,  coming  along  like  the  wind, 
the  big  freight  was  racing  toward  them  so 
terribly  close  that  they  completely  lost  their 
heads,  and  did  nothing  but  give  both  engines  a 
clear  track,  for  ditching  the  yard-engine  then 
would  have  also  ditched  us.  The  man  at  the 
switch  took  big  chances  as  it  was  in  shunting 
us  on  to  the  main  line  off  the  branch  after  the 
other  fellows  had  shot  by. 

I  held  my  breath  till  I  saw  we  were  safe  over 
that  switch,  I  can  tell  you.  All  I  saw  of  Avon 
Junction  as  we  thundered  past  was  a  quick  flash 
of  light  from  the  lamps  and  a  sort  of  dark  blur, 
which  was  the  crowd  on  the  platform.  What 
the  people  there  saw  of  the  two  engines  as  they 
came  rushing  out  of  the  shallow  ravines,  accom- 


plish by  continuing  the  pursuit.  I  wish  we  had 
dropped  out  of  it  as  it  eventuated.  But  we 
didn't.  We  knew  the  rascals  would  be  forced 
to  stop  when  they  reached  the  end  of  the  road  : 
and  that  then  it  would  become  a  mere  matter  of 
which  party  was  handiest  in  getting  a  "  drop  " 
on  the  other  with  the  shooting-irons.  Of  cot: 
I  wanted  to  take  the  robbers  alive  if  I  possibly 
could,  because  the  reward  notice  said  they  had 
to  be  lodged  in  gaol.  And  more  than  that,  I 
had  never  shot  a  human  being — not  to  kill  him, 
anyway — and  I  didn't  care  to  begin. 

Somehow,  after  passing  the  junction,  though 
the  big  "  Mogul  "  was  rocking  and  swaying  fright- 
fully from  her  headlong  pace,  we  didn't  seem  to 
gain  another  rod  on  the  little  engine  ahead,  and 


564 


Till.     WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


THE   CONVERGING    Tl 

From  a] 


AND  THE  GENESEO  ON  THE  LEFT. 


I  could  see  by  Sutton's  face  that  be  was  getting 
mad.  It  burt  his  pride  to  see  how  easy  we  were 
being  done  by  these  rank  outsiders. 

I  had  got  finally  so  that  I  could  keep  my  feet, 
and  I  was  helping  the  fireman  to  pass  coal ;  and 
we  were  certainly  getting  over  the  road  in  fine 
style.  But  so  were  the  other  fellows.  Once, 
in  going  around  opposite  sides  of  a  long  bend, 
we  could  see  right  squarely  into  the  yard-engine's 
cab.  And  how  those  rascals  were  working  !  I'll 
wager  it  was  the  nearest  approach  to  honest 
labour  they'd  any  of  them  ever  been  guilty  of. 
One  of  the  little  fat  robbers  stood  back  in  the 
coal  tender  passing  the  loaded  scoops  to  his 
mate,  who  was  feeding  the  fuel  into  the  furnace, 
while  the  tall  bur- 
glar, the  lame 
one,  was  running 
the  engine.  Well, 
that  proved  to  be 
the  last  we  were 
ever  to  see  of  the 
whole  bunch  of 
bank-robbers 
together. 

It  wasn't  far 
past  that  long 
bend  that  the 
yard  engine,  still 
the  same  dis- 
tance ahead  of 
us,  shot  round  an- 
other curve — the 
sharp  V  -  shaped 
one  near  the  Red 
Creek  bridge. 
We  were  now  out 


of  J ,i\  i ngston 
County  and  into 
Monroe,  where, 
as  a  matter  of 
law,  my  authority 
was  gone.  But  I 
wasn't  letting  the 
fact  worry  me. 

Ben  had  been 
leaning  out  of  the 
cab  window  on 
his  side,  watching 
for  the  big  engine 
to  take  the  sharp 
turn  in  the  road. 
We  were  going  to 
round  it  at  full 
tilt.  Then  all  at 
once  he  jumped 
back  into  the  cab, 
as  excited  as  I 
think  I'd  ever 
known  him  to  be,  and  began  to  throw  the 
lever  to  the  reverse  and  to  shut  off  the 
power.  At  the  same  time  the  fireman,  who  had 
been  peering  ahead  out  of  the  other  window, 
made  a  spring  for  the  side  of  the  cab  to  jump 
off.  As  for  me,  I  was  back  in  the  coal,  and 
couldn't  see  at  first  what  had  scared  the  two 
men.  Then,  just  as  the  "Mogul"  was  all  ready  to 
stop,  I  felt  a  heavy  jar,  and  saw  the  front  of  the 
engine  lift  up  in  the  air.  Rushing  to  her  side, 
what  did  I  see  but  the  back  end  of  the  yard- 
engine's  tender  jammed  in  tight  against  the  head 
of  the  big  "  Mogul's  "  boiler!  I  didn't  notice  at 
the  time  that  the  yard-engine  was  minus  her  cab. 
Seeing   her    where    she    was,   I  supposed  the 


LINE   IS  ON   THE   RIGHT   HAND 

[Photo. 


AVON  JUNCTION, 


[P/wto. 


A    RAILWAY     RACE    Willi     ROBBERS. 


robbers  bad  played  a  trick  on  us.  I  thought 
they  had  jumped  off  their  engine  after  they  had 
rounded  the  curve,  first  having  started  her  back- 
ward toward  us.  That's  what  Sutton  and  the 
fireman  thought  also  at  first,  till  they  happened 
to  notice  that  the  little  engine's  cab  had  been 
"stripped"  clean  off;  besides  which,  Sutton 
claimed  to  have  heard  sounds  when  he  saw  the 
engine  coming  backward  that  had  made  him 
suspicious  as  to  what  was  the  real  trouble. 

We  all  jumped  to  the  ground  and  ran  to  the 
front  of  the  engine.  The  yard-engine  had  just 
cleared  the  bend  of  the  curve  when  she  struck 
us.  Then  we  made  a  discovery.  We  found  we 
had  after  all  captured  one  of  the  bank-robbers. 
It  was  the  tall  man,  the  one  with  the  lame  foot. 
We  had  got  him    for  sure — but    there  was  no 


into  the  light  framework  ol  b  with  tl 

of  a  batl  in.     ( »ne  ol  tl 

had  struck  the  lever  and  i    . 
engine,    alter    its    m 
moving  backward  towards  us  !   Yi 
thumps  from  the  heavy  rods  h 
into  both  steam  chests,  which 
easy  stop    of   the    yard-engin  ran 

against  us.     All  this  was  explained  in 

terse,  jerky  sentences  by  Sutton  and  his  fireman. 
That  ends  the  story  of  the  race.      We  caught 
one  robber;    but,   under  the   circumstano    .    I 
didn't  expect  to  get  any  of  the  reward. 

As  to  the  after-fate  of  the  two  other  robbi 
they  were  caught  two  days  later  attemptin 
stow  away  in  a  lake  packet  at   the  harbour  of 


"  WE  KAN  TO  THE  FRONT  OF  THE  ENGINE. 


need  to  arrest  him.  He  was  hanging  head  fore- 
most out  of  what  was  left  of  the  right  side  of  the 
cab — stone-dead.* 

The  other  two  robbers  had  once  more  "  made 
their  lucky,"  not  happening  to  get  caught,  as 
their  unlucky  mate  had  been,  when  the  driving- 
rods  broke.  It  was  this  that  had  put  a  sudden  end 
to  the  race.  The  broken  ends  of  the  heavy  steel 
rods,  whirring  about  at  the  same  furious  speed 
the  driving-wheels  were  turning  at,  had  crashed 


'  I  have  witnessed  a  very  similar  accident  on  the   Montana   1 
Road,  a  driver  being  crushed  out  of  all  semblance  of  humanity  and 
his  cab  stripped  by  a  broken  driving-rod. —Author. 


Charlotte,  below  Rochester.  They  had  hoped 
to  get  over  into  Canada,  whose  extradition  laws 
were  more  favourable  to  fugitive  criminals  in 
those  days  than  they  are  now.  Instead  of  1. 
ing  in  Canada,  however,  I  am  glad  to  be  ah: 
say  that  they  landed  in  the  Monroe  County 
Penitentiary— the  "  M.C.P."—  where  they  were 
each  booked  for  twenty-year  senteno 

Brav£  Constable  Parks  has  long  since  gone 
to  his  reward.  Dick  Rudd,  now  known  as 
Richard  Rudd,  Esq.,  J. P..  is  a  justice  of  the 
peace  in  the  village  of  Genesee  and  a  much- 
respected  local  magnate. 


Through  the  Copland  Pass. 

WHERE    NO   WOMAN    EVER    WENT    BEFORE. 
l'»\   Constance  A.   Barnicoat. 

Being  an  account  of  a  remarkable  journey  from  Mount    Cook   to  the  West   Coast  glaciers  of  New 

Zealand     a  region  of  trackless  moraines,  unsealed  mountains,  and  virgin  bush—where  only  a  dozen 

men,  and  no  woman,  had  ever  been  prior  to  Miss  Barnicoat's  visit. 


HERE  is  still  a    great   field   for   ex- 
plorers   in    New    Zealand.      Hardly 
any  of  it,  happily,  has  been  exploited 
after  the  fashion  of  a  European  tourist 
resort,  while  many  parts,  especially  in 
South  Island,  still  remain  more  in  need  of 
the   explorer   with   some    knowledge  of  botany 
and  sreologv  than  of  the  average  tourist.       Most 
particularly  is  this  true  of  all  the  district  around 


Fox  glaciers,  hardly  known  except  to  the  New 
Zealanders,  and  only  to  a  small  minority  of 
them. 

It  was  in  this  little-known  district  of  Mount 
Cook,  among  the  trackless  moraines,  glaciers, 
and  bush— thick  as  only  virgin  bush  can  be — 
that  last  April  I,  with  two  other  ladies,  two 
guides,  and  an  English  tourist  — a  practised 
mountaineer— took  a  tramp  which  is   at   least 


UNSCALED    PEAKS    IN    THE   WEST   COAST    SIERRAS. 

From  a  Photo,  by  the  New  Zealand  Government  Tourist  Department. 


Mount  Cook,  on  the  Canterbury  as  well  as  on 
the  West  Coast  side.  Much  of  it  is  either  not 
explored  at  all  or  only  half  explored  ;  most  of 
the  mountains  have  never  been  climbed,  and  of 
those  that  have,  as  a  rule  only  one  ascent  has 
been  made.  Moreover,  though  a  great  deal 
has  been  written  by  scientists  about  the  won- 
derful glaciers,  a  great  deal  more  remains  to  be 
discovered,  notably  about  the  Franz  Joseph  and 


remarkable  because,  for  at  any  rate  three  out 
of  the  three  and  a  half  days  occupied,  we  were 
on  ground  never  before  trodden  by  any  woman's 
foot,  and  never  trodden  at  all  except  by  a  dozen 
other  people,  including  surveyors  and  the  two 
guides  of  our  own  party.  The  camera  which  we 
took  was,  I  believe,  only  the  second  which  any- 
one had  had  courage  to  haul  over  the  ground, 
the   first   having  belonged   to   the    Government 


[THROUGH    THE    COPLAND    PASS. 


photographer,  whose  photographs  accompany 
this  article,  and  who  thought  the  roughness  of 
the  track,  or,  rather,  absence  of  track,  quite 
unspeakable. 

The    walk    was    one  ,of   such    difficulty,    the 
season  so  late,  and  the  snow  on  the  pass  to  be 
crossed   in   such   a   condition   that   it   was   very 
doubtful  whether  we  would  get  through.    Indeed, 
the  director  of  the  Government  Tourist  Depart- 
ment told  me  frankly  that  when  he  received  the 
telegram  announc- 
ing our  safe  arrival 
on  the  West  Coast 
side  of  the  ranges 
he  was  much  sur- 
prised, as,  judging 
by  the  experience 
of  others,  he  had 
not     thought     we 
should  manage  it. 
I   will   now  relate 
the  story   of   how 
the  Copland  Pass 
(or      FitzGerald's 
Pass,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  after 
Mr.       FitzGerald, 
the     well  -  known 
mountaineer    and 
author)    was    first 
crossed  by  ladies. 
The    start    was 
made  from  The 
Hermitage,  the 
Government    and 
the    only    hotel 
near  Mount  Cook, 
and    right    under 
Sefton,  that  colos- 

sally  superb  mass  of  snow  and  ice,  which 
seems  almost  on  top  of  it.  It  is  the  only 
human  habitation  for  about  five  miles  around, 
at  the  head  of  a  moraine  -  strewn,  tussocky 
plain,  ninety  miles  by  coach  from  "  anywhere  " 
— that  is,  from  a  railway  station  or  anything 
in  the  least  like  a  township.  It  is  in  a  most 
isolated  situation,  three  days  from  Christ- 
church  (South  Island)  :  coaches  run  twice  a 
week  in  the  season,  and  it  is  only  by  coach  that 
there  is  any  communication  whatever  with  the 
rest  of  the  world.  Letters  come  and  go  twice 
a  week,  telegrams  go  by  coach,  and  so  cut  off 
are  you  down  there  that,  supposing  you  receive  a 
letter  on  Saturday  night  for  instance — a  letter 
demanding  an  immediate  answer — you  cannot, 
even  by  telegram,  send  that  answer  till  the 
following  Tuesday  morning,  and  it  will  not 
reach  anyone  until  Wednesday.  But  the  whole 
district  round  Mount  Cook  has  a  charm  not  to 


mountains  still   remain    to 
itself    (twelve    thousand 
with   its   four  | 

four  people,  on  ,vhom   is  t! 

guide,  Clarke,  who  condu 
land  Pass,  whil  m  has  n 

fully  attempted  except  by  Zurbriggen,  th 
brated  Swiss  mountaineer,  and  Mi.  I 
Of   course,    before    attempt ii 


.-«»v. 


<* 


THE    HERMITAGE,    THE   GOVERNMENT 


HOTEL,    "NINETY   MILES    FROM    ANYWHERE,       FROM    WHICH    THE 
START   WAS    MADE. 


From  a  Photo,  by  the  New  Zealand  Government  Tourist  Department. 

pedition    as   ours,    of    the-    extreme    roughi 
of  which  it  is  very  difficult,  almost  imp 
to  give  an    idea  to   anyone   unacquainted    with 
trackless   virgin    country,    I    had    to   satisfy  the 
guide  that  I   was  fit  for  the    undertaking.     At 
first  he  shook  his  head.     "  Very  well."  I  thou 
"  you  shall  shake  your  head  another  wa\ 
I  have  done  with  you/'  which  he  did.      I  s] 
over  a  fortnight  at  The  Hermitage,  training  as  hard 
as  I  could  train  about  the  mountains  and  moraines 
and    up    the    great    eighteen-mile-loi 
glacier.     Skirts,  even  the  shortest,  are  almost  im- 
practicable in  such  places,  the  mountains 
vcrv steep  and  always  pathless,  while  the  moraines 
on  the  Mount  Cook  side  are  some  of  the  worst 
imaginable.     Two   young     Englishmen    staying 
at  The   Hermitage,  both  trained  mountain- 
said    that    they    had    never  known   a    place  so 
destructive   to   boots   and  clothes,  that  Switzer- 
land was  nothing  to   it.     Whatever   boots   you 


568 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAOAZ1NE. 


have  seem  to  be  run  through  very  quickly, 
while  on  those  moraines  you  can  never  keep 
nails  in  very  long.  I  promptly  sent  for  proper 
boy's  boots,  the  heaviest  procurable,  with  very 
thick  soles,  which  1  had  well  nailed,  and 
generally  rigged  myself  out  as  much  like  a 
as  possible,  with  a  white  wool  "sweater,'' 
knickers,  and  putties  to 
my  knees.  Except  in 
some  such  dress  the 
guide  flatly  refused  the 
risk  of  taking  ladies;  and 
he  was  perfectly  justified. 

I  wonder  if  anyone 
realizes,  until  they  try  it, 
the  freedom  of  being 
without  the  tempestuous 
petticoat?  Whatever 
arguments  may  be  urged 
against  a  boy's  dress  for 
a  woman  anywhere  within 
range  of  civilization,  those 
arguments  do  not  hold 
good  in  wilds  such  as 
we  went  through,  where 
absolutely  not  a  soul  was 
to  be  met  for  days, 
except  our  own  party. 
A  real  boy's  dress  is,  in 
my  view,  far  preferable 
in  every  way  to  a  com- 
promise such  as  a  so- 
called  "  reformed  "  cos- 
tume. 

It  cannot  be  said  that 
we  made  a  very  aus- 
picious start.  For  the 
first  day  and  pait  of  the 
second  we  had,  besides 
the  six  persons  already 
mentioned,  a  Swiss 
porter,  our  carrying  being 
extremely  heavy.  In 
New  Zealand,  where 
porters  hardly  exist  and  labour  is  very  dear, 
everyone  must  do  his  share  of  carrying,  and 
every  woman  ought  at  least  to  try  to  carry  a 
light  rucksack.  We  had  to  take  the  very  fewest 
things  possible — distinctly  a  nuisance,  since 
there  was  no  obtaining  any  luggage  (sent  over- 
land beforehand)  for  at  least  five  clays  after  getting 
to  the  end  of  our  walk  on  the  West  Coast. 
The  West  Coast  in  New  Zealand,  it  may  be 
explained,  always  means  the  west  coast  of  the 
South  Island,  to  this  day  the  roughest  and  most 
primitive  district  of  the  colony,  yet  with  a 
character  of  its  own.  It  is  far  less  known  than 
any  other  part,  being  somewhat  inaccessible 
except   by   costly  coach  journeys  or  very   small 


THE   AUTHORESS    IN    THE  COSTUME    IN    WHICH  SHE    MADE    THE 

TRIP.      "EXCEPT   in     SO  11       i'  H     dress     i  hi     GUIDE    FLATLY 

Rl  i  li   THE   RISK    OF   TAKING    LADIES.*' 

From  a  Photo,  by  II.  Bousewitz,  Nelson,  Nevt  Zealand. 


steamers  running  on  a  proverbially  stormy  coast, 
lor  all  that,  however,  it  is  undoubtedly  one  of 
tin-  most  wonderfully  beautiful  parts  of  a  very 
beautiful  colony,  repaying  a  visit  far  better 
than  some  much  more  known  and  more  adver- 
tised places.  But,  as  will  abundantly  appear 
hereafter,    it    is    not   to   be   recommended   to 

the  cotton-wool  tourist. 

It  was  impossible  for 
us  to  start  unless  the 
snow  on  the  Copland 
Pass  was  in  condition, 
and  the  first  time,  when 
everything  was  ready, 
snow  fell  over  all  the 
mountains  and  right 
down  about  The  Hermi- 
tage itself,  so  that  we 
had  to  wait  several  days. 
Finally,  on  the  afternoon 
of  Friday,  April  3rd  last, 
the  party  of  seven  started, 
on  a  showery  day,  when 
the  snow  could  certainly 
not  be  in  good  condition. 
We  took  with  us  a  tent — 
we  should  see  no  sign  of 
even  a  hut  for  at  least 
four  days — four  sleeping- 
bags,  weighing  in  all 
thirty -six  pounds,  and 
provisions  for  the  whole 
party  for  three  and  a  half 
days,  and  for  the  two 
guides  coming  back  - 
chiefly  tinned  things  and 
bread  ;  but  we  also  took 
bacon,  which  we  fried  in 
style  for  breakfast,  and, 
of  course,  the  usual 
camping-out  equipment, 
including  a  billy — no  one 
ever  goes  into  the  bush 
in  New  Zealand  without 
a  billy  (a  tin  can  with  a  lid  for  boiling  water). 
The  loads  at  first  for  the  guides  were  cruelly 
heavy,  some  seventy  or  eighty  pounds.  But  in 
New  Zealand  you  must  get  used  to  that. 

The  first  day's  walk  was  not  severe — at  least, 
not  as  walking  in  that  region  goes.  We  crossed 
the  suspension  biidge  over  the  foaming  Hooker 
River  and  went  up  a  valley,  with  the  Cook 
range  on  one  side,  and  across  the  Hooker 
moraine,  which,  though  extremely  rough  walking, 
is  mild  compared  with  some  of  the  other 
moraines  there.  Along  this  valley  there  is  a 
narrow  path,  although  on  the  whole  our  walk 
was  through  country  trackless  and  likely  long  to 
i    main  so.     Sub-Alpine  scrub  partly  clothed  the 


THROUGH    THE    COPLAND    PASS. 


mountains,  still  very  white  from  the  recent  fall 
of  snow.  It  is  a  terrible  place  for  prickles  all 
about  Mount  Cook,  and  putties  are  really 
almost  indispensable.  There  are  not  only  a 
variety  of  prickly  shrubs,  notably  the  "  wild 
Irishman,"  but  there  is  everywhere  the  mur- 
derous "sword  plant"  (wild  Spaniard),  with 
long,  dagger-like  spikes  that  go  through  every- 
thing—  even  boots,  unless  exceedingly  thick. 
April  is  too  late  for  most  of  the  Alpine 
flowers,  of  which,  however,  in  the  season  there 
are  a  number,  almost  without  a  single  exception 
white.  Mount  Cook,  also,  is  the  district  in  New 
Zealand  where  the  "kea," 
or  sheep-eating  parrot,  is 
found  in  plenty. 

Our  first  camp  was  up 
a  steep  slope  on  a  small 
plateau,  where  a  tent  was 
pitched  for  the  ladies  of 
the  party,  while  the  rest 
slept  under  a  huge 
hollowed  -  out  boulder. 
Crawling  under  the  aper- 
ture on  hands  and  knees, 
you  found  yourself  in  a 
kind  of  cave,  large  enough 
for  four  or  five  people  to 
sleep  in.  It  was  a  very 
damp,  raw,  drizzling  even- 
ing, a  veritable  Scotch 
mist  which  made  every- 
thing soaking  wet.  It  was 
not  encouraging  to  find 
that  our  chief  guide  had 
been  so  heavily  laden  that 
he  could  not  keep  up 
and  was  benighted  on  the 
moraine,  and  we  had  rather  an  anxious  time  till 
he  turned  up,  after  nine  o'clock.  Indeed,  though 
we  ended  well,  the  same  cannot  be  said  of  our 
beginning. 

Next  morning  everyone  got  up  and  had 
breakfast  in  the  dark.  No  matter  how  or  when, 
you  can  always  eat  anywhere  near  Mount  Cook  ; 
the  absolutely  pure,  keen  air  makes  everyone 
positively  ravenous.  We  were  off  soon  after 
daybreak,  about  6.30,  and  a  more  cheerless, 
drizzling  morning  could  hardly  be  imagined. 
The  very  lichen  was  sodden,  and  the  edelweiss 
(smaller  than  the  Swiss  variety)  drooped  its 
dripping  blossoms  dismally.  Worst  of  all,  the 
mountains  were  all  shrouded  in  thick  mist, 
which  would  not  lift,  so  that  we  quite  missed 
the  magnificent  view  from  the  pass;  indeed,  we 
could  hardly  see  the  spur  nearest  to  the  one  we 
were  climbing.  There  was,  of  course,  no  kind 
of  path  ;  there  is  not  likely  to  be  where  only  a 
dozen  pairs  of  feet  have  ever  passed. 

Vol.  xii.— 72. 


The  way  at  first  was  up 
of    steep    rocks,    dripping    wet,    bin 
rocks  to  dim b,  steep,  but  quit    I       ble  with 
a  rope.      Only  one   or  two  places   meant   hai 
and  knees  work.     We  halted  once  in   I 
for  lunch,   and  about  eleven    the  mm  .v. 
Copland  Pass  was  reached.     I  an  hour 

we    were    roped    together,   three  and  'four, 
guide  cutting   steps   in    the    ice   and    tr\ 
snow  with  the  axe  to  test  its  safety.      1 
was  the  bleak  st  and  most  desolate  conceivable 
—nothing   but   snow,  mist,  and  ,  all 

around,  the  snow  often  knee-deep,  the  wind  icy 


THE 

From  a  Photo. 


ladies'  quarters  at  the  first  bivouac. 

by  the  N&w  Zealand  Government  Tourist  Department. 

cold,  and  everything  soaking  and  wringing 
wet.  Yet,  in  spite  of  wet  and  cold,  the  reai 
of  The  Wide  World  will  understand  that 
it  was  an  absolutely  fascinating  experience, 
that  I  have  longed  ever  since  to  repeat. 
No  mishaps  occurred  ;  no  one  rolled  down 
the  ice  -  slope ;  and  about  midday  the  Cop- 
land Pass  (seven  thousand  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet)  had  been  for  the  first  time  crossed 
by  women,  in  honour  of  which  we  shook 
hands  all  round  with  our  guide,  and  everyone 
drank  everyone  else's  health,  all  amongst  the 
snow  and  ice,  in  the  thick  drizzle  and  biting 
wind. 

We  took  the  Swiss  porter  no  farther  than  the 
top  of  the  pass,  when  he  returned  to  The 
Hermitage,  losing  his  way  in  the  mist,  as  I 
afterwards  heard.  He  sent  his  swag,  which  was 
tremendously  heavy,  rolling  down  the  other  side, 
where  we  eventually  picked  it  up,  unhurt  except 
that  the  oatmeal  bag  had  burst  all  over  the  few 


57o 


THE    WIDE     WO  RED    MACA/.INE. 


toilet  articles  I  had  been  able  to  take  and  more 
or  less  over  everything  else. 

It  was  too  bitter  to  stand  more  than  a  few 
minutes  at  the  top  of  the  pass,  and  we  at  once 
n  the  descent,  still  roped  together,  for  there 
was  a  uivat  deal  of  rock  and  snow  work  on  th  _■ 
West  <  loast  side  of  the  Southern  Alps,  which  was 
now  spread  out  before  us.  Part  of  the  way 
down  it  was  fit  to  glissade,  a  luxury  for  which 
we  paid  by  getting  soaked  nearly  to  our  waists, 
one  o(  the  party,  unused  to  snow,  rolling  incon- 
tinently over  and  over. 

Directly  we  were  over  the  pass,  looking  down 

among  the  thickly-wooded  mountains  and  valleys 

—with  a  sub-tropical  luxuriance  of  tree  and  fern 


New  Zealand,  never  very  warm  nor  very  cold  in 
these  mountain  valleys,  and  with  a  rainfall  that 
is  prodigious  (one  hundred  and  twenty  inches  a 
year  at  Hokitika). 

Early  that  afternoon,  after  a  rest  and  lunch 
and  descending  a  long  hill  thick  with  mountain 
daisies  and  snow-grass,  somewhere  about  half- 
past  two  the  guides  cheered  us  by  announcing 
that  we  were  only  two  miles  off  the  camp, 
down  the  Copland  Valley.  But  those  two  miles 
took  us,  trained  walkers  and  used  to  New 
Zealand  walking  as  we  were,  till  nearly  seven 
o'clock,  and  we  certainly  wasted  no  time.  As 
with  all  West  Coast  distances,  a  "  bittock " 
must  probably  be  added  on  to  them  ;  but  they 


THE   HEAD    OF    THE   COPLAND   VALLEY. 

From  a  Photo,  by  the  New  Zealand  Government   Tourist  Department. 


—into  Westland  (Mr.  Seddon's  electorate),  the 
mist  had  vanished,  the  sky  was  blue,  and  golden 
sunshine  lit  up  the  wonderfully  wild  and  beautiful 
scenery.  The  lovely  mountain  lilies,  snow- 
white  with  yellow  centres,  were  still  in  flower  in 
sheltered  corners  ;  great  white  mountain  daisies 
were  plentiful  ;  and  I  found  numbers  of  little 
Alpine  blossoms,  probably  still  unclassified  by 
the  botanist,  hidden  away  among  the  rocks. 
Barrenness  and  moraine  give  place  first  to  sub- 
Alpine  scrub,  and  later  on  to  bush,  the  un- 
approachable West  Coast  bush,  full  of  the  most 
beautiful  ferns.  But,  as  everyone  knows,  beauti- 
ful ferns  grow  only  in  the  dampest  climates,  and 
the  climate  of  the  West  Coast  is  the  dampest  in 


certainly  were  the  very  worst  conceivable  two 
miles — along  a  river,  its  bed  full  of  boulders 
huge  as  only  West  Coast  boulders  ever  are, 
through  the  thickest  and  most  scratchy  scrub, 
and  no  track  whatever. 

No  stay-at-home  has  any  idea  of  the  rough- 
ness of  such  walking.  We  had  to  be  constantly 
getting  down  on  to  the  river-bed,  which,  even 
with  its  rapid  current  and  huge  boulders  to  be 
scrambled  over  somehow,  was  preferable,  when 
feasible  at  all,  to  the  sub-Alpine  scrub  ;  then  a 
deep  creek  would  have  to  be  crossed,  then  more 
scrub  wrestled  through,  then  more  river-bed 
and  boulders,  and  then  scrub  again,  the  whole 
afternoon.    You  cannot  see  in  the  least  where 


Through  the  Copland  i- a 


A    VIEW    IN   THE   COPLAND    VALLEV. 

From  a  Photo,  by  the  New  Zealand  Government  Tourist  Department, 


you  are  putting  your  foot  in  this  tangle  of 
prickly  bushes,  flax,  mountain  daisies,  and 
Mount  Cook  lilies,  sometimes  up  to  your  neck, 
sometimes  over.  You  may  be  putting  it  on  a 
stone,  or  on  a  branch  of  a  tree,  or  down  a  great 
hole,  in  which  case  you  fall  into  the  prickles. 
The  one  good  point  about  this  scrub  is  that  it  is 
elastic ;  it  bends  but  does  not  break,  not  even  if 
you  hang  all  your  weight 
on  to  it  and  walk  over 
the  top  of  it,  as  sometimes 
you  literally  must  do.  It 
tears  your  hands  and 
clothes,  rubs  off  putties, 
and  is  generally  difficult 
to  the  verge  of  impossi- 
bility. In  scrub,  as  in 
bush,  you  are  apt  to  lose 
sight  of  people  only  a  few 
yards  away  from  you  ;  the 
bushes  close  up  again  the 
moment  one  goes  through 
them,  leaving  hardly  a 
trace  of  the  passage. 

Our  second  camp, 
reached  about  seven 
o'clock,  was  in  thick  bush, 
but  there  was  a  "  sort  of  " 
a  track  to  it — very  much 
a  "sort,"  too — but  it  is  a 
very  good  camp,  under  a 


colossal     bouh 
tall  as  a  01 
hou 

underneath 
projectin 

We  all  i  .mi] 
under  this  I. 
bouldei  thai  ni 
rigging  up  the  I 

ikwind 
and  lighting  a  good 
fire.      It  had    I 
a  most  tirii 
for  evei   01 

Next  day  was 
Sunday,  a  i 
sort  of  Sunday, 
only  a  day  ol  rest 
in  so  far  as 
had  a  nun  h  lighter 
walk  than  the  day 
before,  n<  arly  all 
the  time  through 
a  "  blazed  track  " 
in  the  \  irgin  bush, 
which  became 
thicker  and  thicker  with  ferns,  more  and  m 
lovely  the  farther  we  went.  Several  timi  -  the 
track  was  so  faint  that  one  guide  had  to  go  one 
way  and  the  other  another  to  see  where  the  track 
lay  ;  and  always  we  had  to  be  most  careful  not 
to  get  separated,  for  once  lost  in  such  bush  it 
is  almost  impossible  to  find  anyone  again. 

Only  a  practised  bushman  with  a  strong  bump 


From  a] 


[•HE   SECOND   CAMP,    UNDER    A   CO 


THE    WID1-:    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


of  locality  and  accustomed  to  steering  his  way 
with  such  slight  guidance  could  possibly  follow 
a  "  blazed  track."  A  branch  is  occasionally  cut 
off  from  the  trees,  a  notch  made  in  a  tree-trunk, 
a  tree-fern  leaf  broken  here  and  tlu  re,  a  specially 
luxuriant  fern  crushed  hack,  ami  by  these  signs 
you  must  steer  yourself  through  miles  of  track- 
bush,  too  thick  for  any  but  glints  of  sunshine 
to  penetrate. 

As  we  progressed  the  ferns  and  mosses  grew 
more  varied  and  delicate,  it  seemed  to  me, 
almost  every  moment.  Anyone  who  has  been 
that  trip  has  certainly  seen  the  perfection  of 
bush.  The  day  was  cloudless.  Patches  of 
crimson  among  the  bush  on  the  mountain  sides, 
and   the  ground   mosses   sometimes   thick  with 


river  and  this  swamp,  we  were  in  a  pretty 
uncomfortable  state,  and  I  think  everyone  had  a 
wondering  feeling  as  to  whether  they  ever  would 
really  be  clean  again. 

The  temperature  of  this  thermal  spring  is 
about  ninety  degrees,  1  think — at  any  rate,  what 
most  people  would  consider  delightful  for 
bathing  :  but  it  is  most  inaccessible,  and  after 
you  have  ploughed  to  it  through  the  "  lawyer  "- 
ridden*  bush  and  deep  swamp,  it  is  only  to  find 
that  it  is  surrounded  with  soft,  warm  mud,  into 
which  you  promptly  sink  up  to  your  knees. 
Now,  having  been  in  the  volcanic  district  of  the 
North  Island,  I  have  a  well-founded  horror  of 
warm  mud,  which  is  apt  to  be  boiling  a  little 
lower  down,  and  boiling  mud  gives  the  worst  of 


"  ALMOST   THE   ONLY    HOT   SPRING   IN    THE   SOUTH    ISLAND." 

From  a  Photo,  by  the  New  y.eala)i<i  Government   Tourist  Department. 


red  stamens,  showed  that  the  rata  tree  was  still 
in  flower — that  tree  about  which  so  many  Maori 
legends  cling.  On  such  a  day,  indeed,  the  bush 
has  a  fascination  not  to  be  understood  except  by 
such  as  have  penetrated  it. 

Being  roped  together  to  ford  the  Copland 
River  ended  that  busy  day.  The  water  was  well 
over  our  knees  and  the  current  fairly  strong,  but, 
steadying  ourselves  with  our  axes,  we  all  kept 
our  footing.  Our  camp  was  again  in  the  bush, 
near  almost  the  only  hot  spring  in  the  South 
Island.  Why  it  should  be  there  no  one  knows. 
It  is  reached  by  ploughing  through  a  dense 
flax-swamp,  with  rich,  warm  mud  oozing  well 
over  your  boot-tops,  and,  what  with  fording  the 


scalds.  Altogether,  what  with  swamps,  prickles, 
warm  mud,  and  legions  of  sand-flies,  a  bathe  in 
the  spring  is  a  most  doubtful  joy  ;  although,  if 
some  wooden  steps  were  made  or  a  plank  or  two 
laid  down,  so  that  one  could  step  off  them  into 
the  soft,  warm  water,  it  might  be  charming.  But 
this  will  hardly  be  done  till  there  are  more 
hundreds  of  tourists  than  there  are  now  units. 
And  as  far  as  it  can  be  at  present  seen,  the 
country  is  much  too  rough  for  any  but  a  small, 
tough  minority  to  undertake  to  go  over  it  for  a 
very  long  time  to  come. 


"  Lawyers  "  are  a  trailing  creeper,  very  common  in  New  Zealand, 
thick  with  tiny  thorns  all  over.  Once  well  clutched  by  a  "  lawyer" 
bush  it  is  difficult  to  get  away  again. 


THROUGH    THE    COPLAND    r.. 


On  Monday,  our  last  day,  we  had  to  be  up 
once  more  in  the  dark  and  off  at  daybreak,  again 
through  a  "  blazed  track  "  in  the  bush.  The 
weather  had  changed  in  the  night,  and  by  nine 
o'clock  the  rain  came  down  and  the  bush,  already 
dripping  with  the  heavy  dew  (an  autumn  West 
Coast  dew  is  as  if  it  had  poured  with  rain  the 
night  before),  was  soon  soaking  as  surely  only 
West  Coast  bush  can  soak.  The  soppingness  of 
bush  seems  in  exact  ratio  to  its  beauty,  and  this 
bush  was,  if  possible,  even  more  exquisite  than 
that  of  the  day  before.  Thick  mosses  grew  over 
every  stone  and  boulder,  carpeting  the  ground 
and  covering  the  tree-trunks  to  the  very  top ; 
and  out  of  the  mosses,  all  up  the  trees,  from 
every  branch  and  twig  hung  delicate,  filmy 
ferns.  Ferns  were  everywhere,  from  the  forty- 
feet  high  tree-fern  and  the  feathery  Todea 
superba  to  varieties  almost  too  fragile  to  touch. 

But  it  was  an  exhausting  day  going  through 
the  soaking  bush  in  the  pouring  rain  on  the 
very  rough  and  often  very  steep  semblance  of 
a  track,  which  wound  about  over  rocks  and 
through  creeks  and  along  the  side  of  hills,  while, 
to  make  matters  worse,  all  the  tree  stumps, 
roots,  and  branches — our  only  handholds  or 
footholds — were  doubly  slippery  with  the  wet, 
while  the  thick  moss  of  the  rocks  down  which 
we  had  constantly  to  be  sliding  soaked  up  the 
water  like  a  sponge,  and  the  tall  ferns  held  every 
drop  of  moisture.  Soon,  however,  we  were  so 
wet  that  it  did  not 
matter  what  the 
weather  was  ;  we 
could  get  no 
wetter.  Tired  as 
we  were,  we  had 
to  go  for  all  we 
were  worth,  for 
what  is  known  as 
"Architect's 
Creek  "  had  to  be 
crossed,  a  notori- 
ously troublesome 
creek  which  will 
sometimes  rise 
four  or  five  feet  in 
two  hours  :  and 
the  guides  hurried 
us  along  as  fast  as 
possible  to  get 
over  this  before 
the  pouring  rain 
made  it  impass- 
able. We  had  only 
food  enough  for 
one  meal,  and  a 
night  in  our 
drenched    clothes 


■ 

1  jfe  ■ 

rvHPjffi^a 

in    the    soaking    bush    was    to    ( 
any  i 

Once  over  th  .,  which  fortun 

not   yet    begun  rising,  the  guides  m 
the  aid  of  the  remains  of  an  old  camp, 
a   fire   on   the  sopping  ground    in    t 
rain,  part    of    the    old   roof  of  th 
turned    into    an     umbrella,   and    the    billy 
boiled-    really  a  feat  in  such  circumstano    .      Ii 
you  sat  under  the  dripping  trees  you  got  wi 
than  if  you  stayed  out  in  the  full  brunt 
rain;  so  we  all  stood  round  the  fir.  ling 

ourselves  in  our  wet  clothes,  and   learnt  d  w 
excellent   food   thoroughly   sodden    stale    bi 
is — if  you    are    only    hungry  ;    for    thou 
bread  had    been   cut  up  under  a   rock, 
kept  dry,  it  got  sodden  in  half  a  minute  in  that 
deluge.     The    water    had    soaked    through    our 
hats  and   was  running  into  our  i  i  that  it 

was  hard  to  see ;  and  everyone's  hai  iked 

like  an  old  washerwoman's  at  the  end  of  a  hard 
day's  work.  It  was  very  tiring,  too,  walking  all 
day  in  wet  clothes. 

The    afternoon   went    in    scrambling  thn 
more    wet    bush,    over    more    mossy    bould 
slippery  wet  stones,  and  a  good  deal  of  ri 
bed.     We    crashed    through    creeks,  and 

everything,  for  a  little  more  or  less  dirt  n 
no  difference,  and  we  had  still  a  trackless,  i 
changing  river-bed  to  steer  our  way  a<  i 
which  no  one  could  do  in  the  dark.     At  last  we 


J* 

-"  A   N 

From  a  Photo,  by  the  New  Zealand  Government  Tourist  Department. 


"architect's  creek"— "a  notoriously  troublesome  creek 

five  feet  in  two  hours. 


FOUR   OR 


5  74 


Till:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


reached  a  track,  a  horse  track,  through  some 
bush,  and  this  track  was  the  very  last  straw,  as 
it  was  nearly  all  one  continuous  bog,  heavy  mud 
half-way  to  our  knees,  which  had  to  he  ploughed 
through. 

About  six  o'clock  we  had  got  over  the  river- 
.  and  Scott's  Accommodation  House  was  in 
sight,  where  everyone  coming  this  way  must  stay 
at  least  one  night.  It  is  the  first  habitation  of 
any  kind  that  you  come  to  on  the  West  Coast 
side  of  the  Mount  Cook  range  -a  very  good 
.  country  homestead,  with  the  usual  contin- 
gent o\  barking  dogs  and  infants,  perhaps  rather 
more  than  the  usual  quota  of  the  latter. 


SCOTT  S   ACCOMMODATION    HOUSE,    THE    FIRST    HABITATION    REACHED   AFTER    THE   JOURNEY. 

From  a  Photo. 


We  landed  down  upon  Mr.  Scott  and  his 
family  (fifteen  in  an  eight-roomed  house,  a 
palace  in  those  parts)  quite  without  warning,  the 
letter  announcing  our  probable  arrival  not 
having  got  there  till  we  did,  for  mails  are  delight- 
fully casual  like  everything  else  down  the  West 
Coast.  They  appeared,  however,  nothing  less 
than  delighted  to  have  six  drenched  and  dis- 
reputable-looking people  suddenly  thrust  upon 
them,  filling  up  the  house  with  soaking  garments 
and  muddy  boots  and  putties. 

Our  walk  was  now  ended,  although  we  were 
still  far  from  civilization  in  the  shape  of 
telegraphs,  telephones,  and,  worse  still,  luggage. 
'•  Xo  one  should  ever  come  down  here  if  they're 
tied  to  time  for  a  week  or  so,"  Mr.  Scott  told 
me — a  profoundly  true  remark,  since  you  are 
hedged  on  every  side  by  unbridged  and  most 
dangerous  rivers  full  of  quicksands,  and  you  may 
have   to   wait   three  or   four    days,   or,    in   case 


of  an  "  Old  Man  Flood,"  now  happily  rare,  a 
week  or  more,  till  they  go  down  enough  for  a 
practised  horse  to  ford  them.  If  you  want  letters 
and  telegrams  oftener  than  once  a  fortnight, 
rivers  and  mailman's  convenience  permitting, 
you  must  cure  yourself  of  being  such  an  un- 
reasonable bustler.  Time  does  not  matter  down 
here — to-day  or  to-morrow,  this  week  or  perhaps 
next — it  is  all  the  same. 

The  journey  up  the  coast  to  Hokitika  is, 
therefore,  a  somewhat  slow  affair,  but  it  is 
through  country  so  little  known  and  with  so 
much  interest  that  I  cannot  forbear  to  say  some- 
thing about  it.  I  managed  it  in  five  days  by 
pushing  ahead  at  full  speed, 
mostly  by  riding,  generally 
on  a  man's  saddle,  this  being 
the  only  way  of  getting  about 
that  part  of  the  country, 
because  of  the  perpetual  un- 
bridired  rivers.     Some  of  the 

O 

way  I  rode  a  high -geared 
man's  bicycle  that  by  great 
good  fortune  I  hired  from 
one  of  the  scattered  settlers' 
houses;  only  one  woman  had 
ever  bicycled  over  the  same 
ground  before,  and  I  do  not 
think  many  will  do  so  again. 
It  is  beyond  everything  rough, 
and,  somehow  or  other,  your 
bicycle  has  to  be  got  over  the 
briclgeless  rivers,  or,  worse 
still,  the  rickety  suspension 
bridges.  The  population  for 
some  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  from  Scott's  is  so  thin 
that  the  settlers'  houses  or 
huts  (for  they  are  often  only 
two  -  roomed  wooden  shanties)  are  generally 
at  least  ten  miles  apart,  often  sixteen  and 
eighteen,  though  they  seem  less  isolated  now 
that  the  Government  has  attached  the  tele- 
phone to  many  of  them.  Almost  any  of  them 
will  take  you  in  or  provide  you  with  an  excellent 
meal.  Generally  in  these  regions  you  must  be 
prepared  for  two  things — to  rough  it  as  in  all 
probability  you  never  did  before,  and  to  receive 
more  unfailing  and  universal  kindness  than  in 
all  certainty  you  ever  did  before  or  ever  will 
again. 

The  toils  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  to  Ross  (the  first  township,  twenty  miles 
south  of  Hokitika)  are,  however,  well  compen- 
sated for  by  the  exquisite  bush  roads  skirting 
the  lakes  (Mapourika  and  Ianthe)  and  by  the 
possibility,  if  you  make  half  a  day's  digression, 
of  visiting  the  Fox  and  Franz  Joseph  glaciers.  So 
inaccessible  are  these  glaciers  that  hardly  anyone, 


THROUGH    THE    COPLAND     IV 


even     in     New    Zealand, 

knows     anything     about 

them.     There  they  are  in 

snowy,  solitary  splendour, 

like    great    rivers    of    ice 

flowing     in     a    valley 

between     thickly -wooded 

hills,  the  bush  and  ferns 

growing  almost  on  to  the 

clear    ice.      No   other 

glaciers     in      the     world 

descend   so   near   to   the 

sea-level  —  within   a  few 

hundred  feet  only.     They 

are    entirely   unlike,    and 

in    some    ways    far    more 

beautiful  than,   the   great 

Tasman    glacier  and   the 

others     on     the     Mount 

Cook  side.    Also  the  Fox 

glacier      has       so      little 

moraine  that  half  an  hour 

is  enough  to  get  actually 

on  to  the  clear  ice  from 

the  Government  Tourist  Department's  hut  near 

it,   while  the  Franz  Joseph    has    practically   no 

moraine  at  all. 

Here,  indeed,  is  a  field  for  exploring  travellers. 
Only  a  few,  a  very  few,  have  ever  gone  to  the 
end  of  these  glaciers.      In  time,  possibly,  some 


F  ram  a] 


ON   THE    FOX   GLACIER 


HT   OF   THE   ICE-FALL. 


English  mountaineers  will  visit  them  by  the 
Copland  Pass  route,  as  I  did.  May  they  1 
back  on  theit  experience  with  even  half  the 
lingering  regret  that  I  feel  when  I  think  that  I 
cannot  start  off  now  and  do  the  same  thing  all 
over  again. 


THE   BEAUTIFUL   FRANZ  JOSEPH   GLACIER— A   FIELD   FOR    EXPLORING   TRAVELLERS. 

From  a  Photo,  by  the  New  Zealand  Government  Tourist  Department. 


The   Tale  of  the   Tiger-People. 

By   ihi.  Baroness  Rosenberg,  of  Devicolum,  Madras  Presidency,  India. 

This  strange   story  was  told  to  the  authoress  by  Chirringan,  chief  of  a  hill  village  in  Travancore, 

Southern  India.     The   Baroness   secured  the   chief's  portrait  and  also   a  photograph   of  the   region 

which  the  strange  "  tiger-people,"  who  captured  the  chief,  are  supposed  to  inhabit. 


&m 


III",  highest  group  of  hills  along  the 
mountainous  Malabar  coast  of 
Southern  India  —the  so-called  High 
Range  of  Travancore  ■ —  is  well 
known  for  its  beautiful  scenery  and 
and  bracing  climate.  Now  a  populous 
planting  district,  it  was  practically  unknown 
forty  years  ago,  and  quite  uninhabited  save  for 
two  small  hill  tribes  and,  it  is  said,  a  strange 
race  of  dwarfs,  who  were  believed  to  be 
cannibals.  Some  few  of  these  dwarfs  are  still 
supposed  to  live  in 


the  depths  of  the 
jungle.  Game,  of 
course,  abounded 
and  still  abounds, 
ranging  from  ele- 
phant, bison,  tiger, 
etc.,  down  to  spur- 
lowl  and  quail. 

The  hill  tribes 
lived  on  the  game 
they  caught  in 
traps  and  snares, 
on  the  wild  honey, 
and  sometimes  on 
a  kind  of  wild 
millet  —  if  they 
took  the  trouble 
to  scratch  up  the 
rich  soil  and 
sow  it. 

Chirringan*  (or  Seeringham)  was  the  chief  of 
the  principal  hill  tribe.  He  was  a  courteous, 
truthful  man,  very  keen  on  shikar  and  very  fond 
of  going  on  a  few  days'  shooting  expedition 
with  a  European,  provided  he  knew  the  white 
sahib  to  be  a  straight  shot  and  a  good  climber. 
Then,  when  resting  after  a  long  stalk,  or  a  stiff 
climb  after  the  wily  ibex  that  frequent  the  higher 

account  of  how  this  chief  succoured  a  young  English  lady, 
Miss  J..  Jar-,  is,  when  in  distress,  appeared  in  our  issue  for  Sep 
ber,  1902. — Ed. 


CHIRRINGAN' 

From  a\ 


I^HIHI 
THE   CHIEF    WHO    RELATED    HIS    ADVENTURE    WITH    THE 


PEOl'I.E        ID    BARONESS   ROSENBERG. 


precipices,  you  might  get  old  Chirringan  to 
accept  a  pull  at  the  flask  and  a  cigar.  This 
he  would  cut  up  into  hunks  and  chew.  At 
such  times,  if  you  were  lucky,  you  could  make 
him  talk.  His  stories  of  adventure  with  wild 
animals  were  many  and  interesting. 

One  of  his  most  enthralling  narratives,  how- 
ever, was  his  account  of  how  he  was  captured 
by  the  "  tiger-people  "  of  the  Travancore  jungle, 
and  this,  as  told  by  Chirringan,  I  have  translated 
into  English,  and  will  now  proceed  to  set  forth. 


I  am  now  quite 
an  old  man  ;  my 
hair  is  white,  and 
my  eye  is  no  longer 
the  keenest  of  the 
tribe  to  locate 
game  on  distant 
slopes.  Yet  I  am 
still  chief  of  my 
village,  and  I  will 
now  tell  you  how 
I  became  chief. 
Eong  ago,  when  I 
was  a  young  lad 
counting  perhaps 
fifteen  monsoons, 
and  barely  top- 
ping my  father's 
shoulder  in  height, 
I  was  for  the  first 


TIGEK- 

[Pkoto. 


time  allowed  to  leave  my  village  and  accompany 
him  on  a  hunting  expedition.  He  and  another 
man  proposed  climbing  over  a  high  ridge  to 
the  south  of  the  hamlet  and  dropping  into  the 
lower  valleys  beyond.  There  a  rough  camp  was 
to  be  made,  and  they  would  set  traps  and  prowl 
after  game,  whilst  myself  and  another  youngster 
cooked  the  food  and  collected  wild  honey. 

We  set  off  at  dawn  and  climbed  the  great 
ridge  by  noon.  All  the  rest  of  the  day  we 
spent  up  there,  watching  large  flocks  of  ibex, 


THE    TALK    OF    THE    TIGER- PEOPLE, 


and    catching    one    in   a    snare    for    our   food. 

That  night  we  camped  in  a  cave,  and  descended 

next    day    into   the   lower   ranges    (now  called 

Cardamom    Hills)    beyond.     Here    my    father 

and  his  companion  soon  selected  a  large  rock, 

on  which  we  rigged  up  a  rough  hut  of  jungle 

sticks,  branches,  and  coarse  reeds  gathered  in  a 

swamp  below.     We  chose  this  situation  so  as  to 

be  safe  from  the  wild  elephants  which  abounded 

all  round.     A  few  days  were  now  spent  by  me 

in  delightful  excitement,  following  my  father  as 

he   crept  noiselessly  along  through  a   herd  of 

grazing  elephants,  who  were  quite  unconscious 

of    our    presence, 

or  lying  flat  on  a 

rock    watching    a 

tiger   stalk  and 

kill  his  prey.     He 

pointed  out  to  me 

the  kind  of  trees 

likely   to    contain 

the    best  wild 

honey  (that  made 

by     small     bees), 

and  taught  me  to 

climb  and  extract 

the  honeycomb 

without    taking 

hurt    from     the 

swarm. 

Then  one  day 
the  two  men  went 
off  by  themselves 
and  we  boys  were 
left  to  go  in  search 
of  honey  alone,  as 
we  now  knew 
something  of  the 
lay  of  the  land 
around  us. 

We  set  out  gaily, 
and  quickly  found 
two  honeycombs, 
which  we  ate  up 
entirely.  We  then 
searched  for  two 
more  to  take  back 
to  camp.  It  must 
have  been  a  couple 
of    hours    after 

noon  when  we  discovered  what  looked  like 
a  large  comb  of  honey  a  good  way  up  a  tree. 
My  companion  climbed  up  it  and  remained 
there  some  time  while  I  stood  below  watching 
him. 

Suddenly  I  felt  my  arm  grasped  tightly  from 
behind,  and  as  I  swung  round  in  alarm  I  found 
myself  firmly  held  by  what  I  at  first  took  to  be 
two  large  monkeys,  so  unlike  human  beings  did 

Vol.  xii— 73. 


I    FOUND   MYSELF    FIRMLY    HELD    BY    WHAT    I    AT    FIRST   TOOK    ] 
TWO    LARGE    MONKEYS." 


they  appear.       I 

m 

was  quit' 

vice-like  grip.      1  shoul 

however,  and    this    atl 

attention    to    what    was   going    on   I, 

cried  out  in  alarm  : — 

"It  is  the  dreaded  pillai-mansen  (ti 

They  are  taking  you  away  to  eat  you  !    Ah, 

is  me ! " 

This  terrifying  intelligence  was  the  last  1  heard 

of  my  companion  as  I  was  hurried  away  by  my 

fearsome-looking  captors  into  the  depths  of  the 

forest.  1  remem 
b  e  r  e  d  all 
father  had  told 
me  about  tl 
horrible  hairy 
dwarfs  who  dwelt 
in  nests  up  in  the 
branches  of  tall 
trees,  who  v. 
no  clothing,  and 
who  seemed  to 
converse  only  by 
signs.  If  e\  er 
they  caught  a 
Mudevar  (hill- 
man)  they  killed 
and  ate  him,  and 
they  were  in  turn 
killed  by  us 
Mudevars  when- 
ever there  was  a 
chance. 

I  tried  to  keep 
up    my    heart    by 
the    thought    that 
my  father  and  his 
friend     would 
surely   rescue   me 
and  slay  my  i 
tors,   but  the  pic 
bability     of     this 
became  more  and 
more  doubtfu' 
we  got  and 

deeper    into     the 
i  m  p  diet  r  a  b  1  e 

JUH. 

For  a  couple  of  hours  I  must  h 
partly  dragged,  partly  carrii  hen  a 

a  halt  was  cried  below  a  group  of  tall,  straij 
trees.     Here  the  dwarfs  got  some  tv. 
and  tied  my  two  hands  firmly  together  behind 
my  back  and  fastened  me  thus  to  a  tree.      1  hen 
they  proceeded   to   climb   up   this   san 
Above  my  head  I  espied  large  clusters  of  thatch, 
like  huge  birds'  nests,  one  or  two  on  each  of  the 


578 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


surrounding  trees,  wedged  in  between  some  of 
the  stoutest  branches  and  the  trunk.  There 
were  the  same  bundles  of  thatch  on  about  half- 
a-dozen   of  the   nearest    trees.     Evidently   this 

the  aerial  village  of  the  tiger-people,  for 
after  a  while  I  saw  some  rough,  hairy  faces 
peering  down  at  me.  They  were  relishing.,  I 
suppose,  the  thought  of  a  human  repast.  Pre- 
sently   my    two   captors,    descending    the    tree 

.    gave   a   curious    bird-like    call:    and    at 


and  could   utter   no  sound,   making  sure  each 
moment  would  be  my  last.* 

Just  then,  however,  a  new  group  of  four  or 
five  tiger  men  arrived,  dragging  along  a  slain 
jungle  sheep  (a  species  of  roe-deer).  At  sight 
iA  this  the  twelve  or  fifteen  people  surrounding 
me  made  a  wild  rush  at  the  kill  and  began 
tearing  it  to  pieces  and  devouring  it  raw,  while 
the  men  who  had  brought  it  came  and  examined 
me  with  grimaces  of  joy  and   pleasure.      One 


"ANOTHER    SUDDENLY    SWUNG   A   STRANGE   WEAPON    ROUND   AM)    ROUND    HIS    HEAD." 


once,  from  all  the  nests  I  had  noticed,  dark 
forms  began  to  descend.  Soon  I  was  sur- 
rounded by  a  curious  group  of  men  and  women, 
all  hairy  and  repulsive,  all  short,  wiry,  and 
monkey -like,  peering  at  me  with  hungry, 
gleaming  eyes  through  shaggy,  overhanging 
hair  matted  with  mud.  I  was  almost  terrified 
out  of  my  wits  at  the  sight  of  these  weird  beings. 


prodded  me  in  the  ribs  with  a  twig,  while 
another  suddenly  swung  a  strange  weapon  round 
and  round  his  head.  It  was  formed  by  a  large 
stone  fastened  by  long  strips  of  twisted  hide  to 
a  stout  stick.     This  weapon,  I  understood  in  a 

"  There  is  only  one  instance  on  record  of  a  European  seeing  any 
of  these  extraordinary  "  tiger-people."  This  occurred  about  seven- 
teen years  ago,  and  the  traveller's  description  of  them  tallies  in 
every  particular  with  that  given  by  the  Mudevar  chief. 


THE    TALK    01      UN.     I  [GER    PEOPLE. 


flash,  was   to   slay   me,  and    with   closed  eyi      I 
shrank   back  as   close  as  I  could  to  the  tr& 
which  I  was  tied,  awaiting  my  doom. 

Suddenly    a    queer  barking  sound    <  lose    by, 
repeated  in  quick  succession,  arrested  the  atten- 
tion of  those  around  me,  and  in  a  moment  the 
dwarfs,    seemingly    much     terrified,    were     all 
scurrying    up    their    trees    like   a    lot    of    hairy 
spiders.     Then  two  most  wonderful  dogs  rushed 
out   of    the    forest,    barked   at   the   trees,    and 
finally,  seeing  me, 
came  and  yapped 
round  me.     They 
were  not  like  the 
one  or  two  dogs 
of  our   village, 
which  have  sharp, 
upstanding      ears 
and     pointed 
noses.     These 
dogs   had    broad, 
thick   heads    and 
loose,     flapping 
ears,     and     their 
strong,     square 
build  and  strange 
shape    filled    me 
with    fear    and 
amazement,     and 
I  expected  to  be 
attacked  by  them 
each     moment. 
Alas !     I   seemed 
to  be  falling   out 
of  one  peril  into 
another  ! 

I  was  so  lost  in 
fear  and  appre- 
hension at  the 
sight  of  these 
strange  animals 
that  I  did  not 
notice  the  ap- 
proach of  a  still 
more  startling 
wonder.  But  a 
shrill  whistle  and 

a    few   short  words  "PRESENTLY  ONE  OF  THEM  CAREFULLY  LAID  DOWN  HIS  RIFLEA 

of  command  sud- 
denly called  away  my  new  enemies,  and  I  saw 
before  me  two  beings  such  as  I  had  never 
dreamt  of.  They  were  clothed  in  all  sorts  of 
strange  garments,  and  even  their  feet  were 
clothed  and  shod — and  their  faces  and  hands 
were  white  I  One  of  them  had  keen,  piercing 
eyes  the  colour  of  the  sky  and  hair  the  colour 
of  flame.  Was  I  already  dead,  and  were  these 
spirits,  or  how  came  these  great,  strong,  pale- 
faced  people  to  stand  before  me?     Not    long 


and  looked  . 
tew  remarks,  and  ■ 
looked  up 

our  heads.     Then    1    u 
were  men.     Present!) 
down  what  I  now  know  to  have  been   I 
and  came  and  set  me  free.     Followin 
impulse    1   fell  at  his  feet,    hut 
kindly  on   my  shoulder,  and   the   touch 
hand    was   warm,   and    I   saw   that    both    tl 

men  were  friendly 
and  good.      I 
spent   some  time 
at  this  spot  pi 
ing    up    at    t 
queer    huts    high 
above  us,  but  not 
a  sign  of  life  was 
to  be  seen  thei 
the    frightened 
tiger-people    kept 
close  inside  their 
nests. 

When    the   sun 

began   to  set  the 

white  men  left  in 

the  direction  they 

h  ad      a  p  ] ' 

from,   and     I.   of 

course,     follow 

close    on    their 

heels.      Before  it 

was  quite  dark  we 

arrived     at     their 

camp    -  a   cave 

before     which     a 

Madrassi    servant 

was   cooking    the 

evening     meal. 

He,    too,    was    a 

new  sight  to  me, 

but   he    was   able 

to    understand 

most   of    what    I 

said,  and  I  could 

u  n  d  e  r  s  t  a  n  d  a 

at  deal  of  his 

Iter 

they  had  partaken 

of  food  and  I  had  been  given  some  ri« 

a  long  explanation  round  the  camp  fire.     I  told 

them  how  I  had  got  into  the  predicament  in  which 

they  had   found  me,  and  declared  that  I  should 

most  certainly  have  been  killed   and  eaten  but 

for  their  sudden  appearance.     I  also  told  them 

that   we   in   return   always  killed  and   buried  a 

tiger-man  when  we  got  the  chance,  and  asked 

them  why  they  had  not  done  so  too.     But  they 

only  laughed. 


5So 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


1  then  learned  that  these  pale-faced  men 
belonged  to  the  white  race  that  ruled  all  the  low 
country  around  our  hills.  In  \  had  come  on  a 
shooting  lition   horn   the  south,  and    had 

intended  to  work  their  way  northwards  across 
these  great  hills,  but  after  a  week's  camping  in 
the  jungle  their  load  coolies  had  all  bolted, 
leaving  only  their  shikaree  and  servant.  This  had 
happened  two  days  ago,  and  they  were  quite  at 
a  loss  how  to  remove  their  things,  or  to  decide 
which  would  be  the  quickest  way  to  reach  the 
low  country  again. 

It  was  settled  that  I  should  guide  them 
towards  my  father's  camp,  and  this  I  did  the 
next  day.  We  met  my  father  and  his  com- 
panion two  miles  from  his  camp,  and  great  was 
his  astonishment  to  see  me  alive,  in  the  com- 
pany of  two  large  white  men,  hatted,  clothed, 
and  booted,  and  withal  kind  and  friendly. 
Nor  was  he  less  surprised — and  greatly  alarmed 
—  at  the  wonderful 
dogs. 

We  four  Mudevars 
then  returned  to  the 
white  men's  camp  and 
the  next  day  helped 
them  to  transport 
their  things  to  our 
village,  from  where 
my  father  undertook 
to  guide  them  to  the 
plains  by  the  best 
tracks  On  the  way 
we  were  all  amazed 
to  see  one  of  the 
strangers  suddenly 
let  off  fire  and  flame 
in  a  short  explosion 
and  kill  a  sambur 
some  distance  off  in 
a  ravine  below  !  That 
was  the  first  time  I 
had  seen  fire  -  arms 
used. 

Great  was  the  excite- 
ment when  we  reached 


the  Tillage  and  halted  outside.  .  At  the  sight 
of  the  white  men  all  the  women  and  children 
lied  into  the  jungle  and  could  not  be  induced 
to  return  that  night.  My  great-uncle,  the  chief, 
however,  advanced  and  gazed  on  the  white 
men,  on  the  dogs — now  in  leash— and  on  me. 
Then  he  began  to  chant  the  sacred  legend  of 
the  white-faced  men  that  had  once  before* — 
long  ages  ago — appeared  in  these  mountains 
and  had  been  courteously  treated  and  guided 
by  our  ancestors.  It  was  prophesied  that  when 
they  appeared  a  second  time  they  would  create 
a  settlement  up  here  and  that  the  Mudevar  who 
first  found  them  should  be  chief.  I  had  brought 
them,  said  my  great-uncle,  therefore  I  should  in 
time  be  made  the  chief  of  the  village,  to  see  that 
the  white  men's  dealings  with  us  were  always 
friendly  and  to  guard  our  tribe  from  arousing 
their  anger,  so  that  we  might  continue  to  live  as 
heretofore,  free  to  come  and  go  in  these  great 

jungles,  and  free  to 
take  the  wild  beasts 
thereof  for  our  use. 

That  is  how  I 
became  chief.  You 
also  know  now  why 
I  have  always  shown 
all  respect  and  obe- 
dience to  the  white 
men,  for  I  do  not 
forget  the  first  ones  I 
ever  saw  and  how 
they  rescued  me  from 
death  at  the  hands  of 
the  terrible  "  tiger- 
people  "  of  the  jungle. 


*  Tavernier  in  his  Travels 
speaks  of  the  adventures  of 
two  Europeans  who  escaped 
from  captivity  somewhere  on 
the  western  coast  of  India, 
and  who  worked  their  way 
across  big  mountains  covered 
with  impenetrable  jungle,  in- 
fested by  leeches  and  all  kinds 
of  noxious  animals,  until  they 
got  down  to  the  plains  and 
eventually  reached  Madras  half 
dead  from  their  privations. 
This  happened  in  the  seven- 
teenth century. 


THE   COUNTRY   TO   THE   SOUTH    OF    CHIRRINGAN  S    VILLAGE — THE 
"TIGER-PEOPLE"   ARE   SUPPOSED   TO    INHABIT   THIS   REGION. 

From  a  Photo. 


£2k 


OF  THE 


BY 

Ja/nes  'Short 


Mr.  Short  is  the  chief  engineer  of  a  British  steamship  which  recently  visited  the  port  of  Bourgas, 

Turkey.     Here  lay  the  steamer  "Vaskapu,"  which  had  just  arrived  after  a  most  appalling  voyage. 

Mr.  Short  boarded  the  vessel  and  gleaned  the  whole   tragic  story  from    members  of  her  crew,  and 

he  also  took  a  number  of  photographs  which,  as  he  says,  "  speak   for  themselves." 


PM^ 


OWARDS  the  end  of  September 
last  the  Austrian  steamer  Vaskapu 
lay  at  Varna,  taking  on  board  pas- 
sengers and  a  general  cargo  for 
Bourgas.  Her  loading  was  all  but 
complete,  her  twenty-eight  passengers  were  on 
board,  and  the  vessel  was  on  the  point  of 
sailing  when  a  gentleman  dressed  in  black  came 
hurrying  up  the  gangway  carrying  two  heavy 
portmanteaus,  which  he  set  down  on  the  deck 
as  though  glad  to  be  rid  of  his  load. 

The  smart  little  cabin-boy — no  doubt  on  the 
look-out  for  a  gratuity — ran  up  and  attempted 
to  assist  the  newcomer  with  the  bags,  but  to  his 
astonishment  found  them  too  heavy  for  him. 
Noticing  his  efforts,  the  stranger  told  him  not  to 
bother  about  the  luggage,  as  he  would  take  it  to 
his  berth  himself. 

The  Vaskapu  left  Varna  about  eight  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  and  as  her  destination  was  only 
some  sixty  or  seventy  miles  away  she  went  at 
half-speed,  so  as  to  arrive  at  Bourgas  next 
morning  in  daylight.  All  went  well  on  board 
the  steamer  until  about  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  when,  without  the  least  warning,  there 
came  a  fearful  explosion.  It  occurred,  appar- 
ently, in  the  saloon,  which  was  situated  amid- 
ships. 

Unfortunately,  both  mates  were  on  the  bridge 
at  the  time,  relieving  watch,  and  they  were 
blown  to  pieces,  together  with  the  bridge  they 


stood  on.  At  the  same  time,  as  was  ascertained 
afterwards,  perished  the  captain,  who  was 
asleep  in  his  bunk,  and  many  of  the 
passengers. 

The  panic  that  succeeded  the  explosion  is 
indescribable.  Passengers  and  crew  made  a  rush 
for  the  boats,  and  while  they  were  being  got 
ready  a  second  explosion  occurred,  this  time  in 
the  fore-part  of  the  ship.  Eleven  of  the  i 
were  killed  outright,  and  it  was  then  discovered 
that  the  explosion  had  set  fire  to  the  inflammable 
cargo,  which  began  to  blaze  furiously.  This 
second  catastrophe  reduced  the  survivors  to  a 
state  of  absolute,  unreasoning  terror. 

As  soon  as  the  first  boat,  containing  several 
passengers  and  seamen,  touched  the  water  it 
immediately  turned  over,  the  tackles  having 
fouled,  and  as  the  engines  were  still  driving  the 
ship  ahead  the  boat  was  dragged  through  the 
water  bottom  upwards  and  all  her  occupants 
hurled  into  the  sea.  Every  man  in  the  boat 
was  drowned  with  the  exception  of  the  cabin- 
boy,  who  hung  on  to  the  falls  and  climbed  on 
board  again. 

It  was  soon  discovered  that  the  explosion,  in 
blowing  away  the  bridge,  had  taken  the  steam- 
steering,  gear  with  it,  and  the  ship  was  now 
running  in  a  wide  circle,  while  the  flames 
leaped  high  above  her  fore-deck. 

Seeing  how  matters  stood,  and  that  there 
were   no   navigating  officers  left  to  give  orders 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAC.A/.IXK. 


From  a] 

and  restore  confidence,  the  chief  engineer  at 
once  took  command  and  ordered  the  steering  to 
be  done  with  the  hand-wheel  aft.  This,  how- 
ever, was  no  easy  matter,  as  the  wheel  had  been 
out  of  use  for  some  time  and  needed  overhaul- 
ing. So  the  engines  were  stopped,  and  for 
two  hours  the  burning  ship  drifted  idly  about, 
while  the  engineers  worked  heroically  in  the 
terrific  heat  to  repair  the  wheel,  half- blinded 
by  showers  of  flying  sparks  and  expecting 
another  explosion  every  moment,  while  the  roar 
of  the  flames  up  forward  grew  fiercer  and  fiercer. 
Anxious  eyes  scanned  the  horizon  for  signs  of  a 
ship,  but  none  were  visible,  and  it  was  evident 
that  they  could  expect  no  succour  from  outside. 
The  situation  was  a  dreadful  one.  All  the 
upper  works  of  the  ship  had  been  wrecked  by 
the  explosion  :  eleven  of  the  crew,  including  the 
captain  and  mates,  and  nine- 
teen of  the  passengers  were 
killed  or  missing,  and  the  ship 
was  in  the  grip  of  a  raging 
fire,  which  increased  in  fury, 
in  spite  of  all  their  efforts, 
till  the  stout  plates  and  stan- 
chions grew  red-hot  in  the 
fearful  heat  and  bent  and 
buckled  ominously.  To 
crown  their  misfortunes  they 
had  now  no  means  of  leav- 
ing  the  apparently    doomed 

el,  as  the  three  remaining 
boats  had  either  been  hope- 
lessly smashed  by  the  ex- 
plosions or  destroyed  by  the 
leaping  flames. 

A  hurried  consultation  was 

I,  as  a  result  of  which  it 
was  decided  to  try  and  run 


the  ship  ashore  on  the 
nearest  land.  Two 
heroes  --  one  can  call 
them  nothing  else  — the 
third  engineer  and  a  fire- 
man, accordingly  went 
down  to  the  engine- 
room,  by  this  time  a 
veritable  inferno  of  heat 
and  smoke.  The  engines 
were  started  at  full-speed 
ahead,  and  the  hand- 
wheel  having  been  put 
to  rights  the  unfortunate 
/  askapu  dashed  off  on 
her  desperate  race  for 
the  land,  while  the  fire 
gnawed  deep  into  her 
vitals,  until  the  smoke- 
blackened,  fire-scorched 
people  on  board  wondered  how  much  longer 
she  could  keep  afloat.  Her  steel  foremast,  its 
base  red-hot,  had  long  since  fallen  over,  and 
now  lay  in  a  perilous  position,  threatening  every 
moment  to  tear  the  side  out  of  the  ship. 

So  the  burning  ship  ran  on  until,  to  the 
heartfelt  joy  of  all  on  board,  she  grounded 
gently  on  a  lonely  beach  some  fifteen  miles 
from  Bourgas.  For  two  days  and  nights 
—there  being  now  no  danger  of  the  ship  sink- 
ing— the  engineers  worked  with  their  steam 
hose,  fighting  the  flames.  It  was  a  terrible 
and  well-nigh  hopeless  task,  but  at  last  they 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  conflagration 
burn  itself  out,  leaving  the  fore-part  of  the  ship 


[Photo. 


IE   MEMBERS  OF 
From  a] 


THE    CREW    WHO    LABOURED    HEROICALLY   TO    BRING   THE   SHU'   AND 

HEU    PASSENGERS   SAFE   TO   PORT.  [Photo. 


THE    VOYAGE    OI      l  ill.    "VASKAPU." 


From  a] 


A   VIEW    IN    THE   BURNT-OUT    HOLD. 


a  mere  shell.  Then,  by  working  the  engines 
astern,  the  Vaskapu  was  brought  off  the  beach 
into  deep  water  and,  with  the  chief  engineer  in 
charge,  headed  for  Bourgas,  where  she  arrived 
safely,  her  distorted  sides  and  battered  appear- 
ance speaking  eloquently  of  the  fiery  ordeal 
through  which  she  had  passed. 

So  ended  the  voy- 
age of  the  Vaskapu, 
surely  as  tragic  and 
terrible  in  its  way  as 
any  recorded  in  the 
varied  annals  of  the 
sea. 

After  an  examina- 
tion of  the  vessel  the 
experts  came  to  the 
conclusion  that 
the  explosions  were 
caused  by  dynamite, 
the  perforated  plates 
and  riven  decks  show- 
ing the  fearful  power 
of  the  agent  used.  It 
is  also  believed  that 
the  stranger  who 
came  on  board  at 
Varna  with  the  heavy 
portmanteaus  was  the 
bearer  of  the  bombs. 
The  ship  was  due  to 
arrive  at  Constanti- 
nople on  the  Sultan's 


birthday,    and 
used  with  d 

mysterii 

victim  to  his  own 
destruction,    or    in    \vl. 
the  bon 
will  probably  n 
At  the  momi 
the    Vaskapu   still    lies 
Bourgas    awaiting    an 
inquiry,    and    I    obtained    the 
narrative    here    set    forth     by 
interviewing     a      numl 
members  of  her  crew  ;    while 
the  photographs  were  taken  by 
myself  on  board  the 
vessel.      Her   iron    framework 
is  twisted  and  bent  into  i. 
fantastic  shapes,    and    it    i 
miracle    how    she    was     kept 
afloat. 

Every  credit  is  due  to  the  men  who  strove  so 
heroically,  under  such  appalling  circumstai. 
to    save    the    vessel    and    bring    her    and 
passengers  to  port.     The  whole  tragic  affai: 
course,     is    only    another    illustration — if    such 
were    needed — of    the    insecurity    of    life    and 
property  in  this  part  of  the  world. 


[Photo. 


From  a] 


THE  STEAMER  S    DECK,    LOOKIN 


Two  Remarkable  Walking  Competitions. 

The  •■  walking  craze  "  inaugurated  by  the  London  Stock  Exchange  was  not  long  in  spreading  to  the 
Colonies,  and  we  here  present  our  readers  with  accounts  of  two  uncommon  competitions  which  took  place 
in  Barbados  and  Tasmania  respectively.  The  first  was  a  very  amusing  affair,  and  caused  the  wildest 
excitement  among  the  negroes  ;  but  the  Antipodean  contest — nothing  less  than  a  race  up  a  snow-covered 
mountain  — ended  in  a  most  tragic  fashion,  and  will  probably  be  the  last  of  its  kind  held  in  Tasmania. 

I.— THE    FIRST  WALKING    COMPETITION    IN    BARBADOS. 

By  E.  Clarence  Jagkman,  of  Barbados. 


ARBADOS,  a  little  island  in  the 
Caribbean  Sea,  has  belonged  to 
England  ever  since  1605.  It  prides 
itself  on  the  fact  that  from  its  first 
settlement  in  that  year  no  other  flag 
has  ever  floated  over  its  small  but  fertile  circum- 
ference. This  fact  differentiates  it  from  its 
neighbours,  and  causes  it  to  retain  and  cherish 
glish  ideas,  customs,  and  prejudices  to  an 
unusual  extent.  It  not  only  follows  the  "  Old 
Country  "  in  its  laws  and — as  far  as  it  can — in 
its  constitution,  but  also  in  its  sports  and 
pastimes.  One  might  have  guessed,  therefore, 
that  the  "walking 
craze"  inaugurated 
in  England  by  the 
Stock  Exchange 
would  have  been 
imitated  in  Bar- 
bados, notwith- 
standing the  very 
different  climatic 
conditions.  Sep- 
tember is  one  of 
the  hottest  months 
in  the  year  in  the 
West  Indies,  and 
yet  on  the  22nd 
and  23rd  of  Sep- 
tember,  1903, 
Barbados  held 
her  first  walking 
competition. 

(ireat  excite- 
ment heralded  the 
contests.  Nothing 
else  was  talked  of 
for  a  couple  of 
weeks  before. 
Along  the  dusty 
coral  roads  at 
nightfall  you 
would  see  the 
racing  negroes 
practising   for   the 


X 


Q 


THE   COSTUMES   OF   THE   COMPETITORS   WERE   VARIOUS  AND 

From  a  Photo. 


events.     Heat  failed  to  stop  them,  and  the  jeers 
of  their  rivals  were  also  futile. 

At  last  the  appointed  afternoon  arrived,  and 
thousands  of  negroes  from  all  over  the  island 
flooded  the  town.  The  route  was  black  with 
them,  while  the  galleries  of  houses  which  com- 
manded a  view  of  the  course  were  crammed 
with  white  spectators.  From  the  start  in  Lower 
Broad  Street  to  Maxwell's  sugar  estate  (the 
turning-point  for  the  longest  race)  the  walkers 
had  great  difficulty  in  forcing  their  way  through 
the  yelling  thousands.  In  fact,  the  races  would 
have   come  to  a   standstill   had    not    mounted 

police  preceded 
the  athletes,  and 
cleared  a  narrow 
path  through  the 
multitudes.  The 
vast  crowds  were 
in  a  state  of  high 
excitement,  but 
their  behaviour 
was  excellent. 

The  distance  to 
be  walked  varied 
from  two  and  a 
quarter  miles  for 
the  veterans  and 
schoolboys  to 
eleven  miles  for 
all-comers.  These 
distances  appear 
very  insignificant 
compared  with  the 
London  Stock  Ex- 
change walk  of 
over  fifty  miles, 
but  it  must  be  re- 
membered that  it 
was  September  in 
the  tropics,  and 
that  the  thermo- 
meter indicated 
over  one  hundred 
degrees  in  the  sun ! 


X 


•ECUI.IAR. 


TWO    REMARKABLE    W 


ALKING    COMPET1TH 


the  winnin 

rn(.       \ 
than     usual, 
would  i  ome  runnii 
of  the  wild 
arm-in-arm,    brandishing    th< 
and  all  talking  or  yelling  at  th( 
their  voices.     Then  out  of  the  turn 
you    would    descry   a    figure    pi 
along  the  dusty  road  with  coui 
persistency.     The  perspiration  was  run- 
ning from  him  in  big  drops,  his  f. 
was  glistening,  and  his  clothes  stu<  k 
him   as   though    he   had   jusl 
from    bathing;    his   shirt  had  drop; 
down  and    his   black,    naked   shouli 
soaking  wet,  was  exposed  to  view,      but 
he  cared   nothing  for  these  unessential 
details — he  was  first  in   the  all-cone 
race  and  meant  to  stop  there.     But  all 
the  men  had  not   got  his  stamina.      I 
saw  one  fellow  jump  on  to  a  low  wall, 
tear  off  his  badge,  and  quietly  join  the 
ranks   of   the  spectators.     But  he  1 
been   observed,  and  will   probably 
member   for   a   long    time    the    rough 
chaffing  he  got. 

The  race  between  women  hucksters 


THE    RACE    FOR    FEMALE   HUCKSTERS   CAUSED   GREAT 

From  a]  excitement.  [P/iofo. 


As  each  lot  of  competitors  was  dis- 
patched down  the  narrow  lane  kept 
open  for  them,  a  mob  of  yelling 
negroes,  waving  sticks  and  flags,  ran 
behind,  encouraging  their  walking 
friends.  When  they  could  get  near 
enough  they  would  use  their  hats  and 
handkerchiefs  as  fans,  all  the  time 
shouting  encouragement  to  their 
favourites. 

For  a  stranger  it  was  a  remarkable 
and  interesting  scene.  The  costumes 
were,  of  course,  various.  One  negro 
would  have  on  a  full  assortment  of 
clothes — evidently  his  Sunday  best — 
boots,  trousers,  vest,  jacket,  and  hat ; 
and  alongside  of  him  would  be  a.  bare- 
footed fellow  with  a  pair  of  dirty  duck 
pants  and  a  ragged  shirt.  Another 
would  go  in  for  the  picturesque — a 
tall  hat  with  feathers,  a  scarlet  jacket, 
and  pants  made  of  an  old  chintz  sofa- 
cover. 

Over  one  hundred  pounds  was 
given  in  prizes,  so  that  incentive  was 
not  wanting.  The  start  was  beautiful 
— all  the  men  together,  and  each 
footing  his  best.     But   the  return  to 

Vol.'  xii.— 74. 


SOME  OF  THE   COM  I'ETITORS    IN-   THE   FANCY-DRESS   RACE. 

From  a  Photo. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


on  the  afternoon  oi  the  second  day  attracted 
attention.  The  distance  was  three  times 
round  the  savannah  about  three  miles — and 
when  the  race 
ted  there  must 
have  been  forty 
thousand  people 
■nt.  Three 
miles  is  nothing 
for  these  stalwart 
women,  who  bring 
into  town  from  all 
parts  of  the  island 
heavy  loads  of 
fruit  and  veget- 
ables balanced  in 
trays  carried  on 
their  heads.  With 
a  tray  weighing 
seventy  pounds 
and  upwards  they 
will  walk  into 
Bridgetown,  a  dis- 
tance of  eight  or 
ten  miles,  and 
trudge  homewards 
again  at  night. 
They  are  a  very 
hardy,  sinewy  lot, 
and  had  they  been 
eligible  for  the 
other  races  they 
would  probably 
have      beaten      a 


good  many  of  the  men  wh 
lainy-dress  race  created  no 
One  competitor  got  up  as 


o  won  prizes.  The 
end  of  merriment. 
a  well-known  brand 
of  whisky,  and  an- 
other as  an  up-to- 
date  black  belle 
(in  a  paper  drt>s) 
met  with  great 
applause.  The 
crowds  round  the 
big  savannah  were 
larger  than  are  at- 
tracted by  horse 
races,  and  tho- 
oughly  enjoyed 
themselves.  They 
yelled  themselves 
hoarse,  cheering 
until  they  could 
cheer  no  more. 
Long  after  sunset 
the  roads  were 
thronged  by  thou- 
sands making  their 
way  homeward 
and  eagerly  dis- 
cussing the  events 
of  the  afternoon. 
The  successful 
meeting  was  over, 
and  Barbados 
had  held  her 
first  walking  com- 
petition. 


AX    UP-TO-DATE 
From  a] 


BLACK    BELLE    — A    PRIZE-WINNER    IN    THE    FANCY-DRESS 

SECTION.  [Photo. 


II.— A    DISASTROUS    MOUNTAIN-RACE    IX    TASMANIA. 
By  A.   Propsting,  of  Hobart,  Tasmania. 


The  walking  craze  which  originated  with  the 
stockbrokers  of  London  did  not  take  long  to 
reach  Tasmania,  and  numerous  matches  have 
been  arranged  for  Saturdays  and  every  available 
holiday.  The  first  one  of  note  in  Hobart  was 
arranged  by  a  firm  of  tea-dealers,  who  supplied 
entry  coupons  with  their  packets  of  tea.  After 
many  others,  there  came  something  of  a  novelty. 
It  was  announced  that  a  Hobart  firm,  acting  as 
agents  for  a  certain  brand  of  whisky,  had 
organized  a  "  go-as-you-please "  race  to  the 
summit  of  Mount  Wellington  and  back,  the  first 
prize  to  be  a  valuable  breech-loading  gun. 

This  race,  being  something  out  of  the  com- 
mon, naturally  attracted  a  lot  of  interest,  and  as 
the  day  on  which  the  event  was  to  take  place 
drew  near  it  was  announced  that  over  seventy 
entries  had  been  received.  By  many  the  race 
was  thought  to  be  a  mad  undertaking,  likely  to 


seriously  overtax  the  strength  of  the  competitors, 
who  were  not  professional  athletes.  No  one, 
however,  I  think,  expected  it  to  end  in  a  grim 
and  terrible  tragedy  by  which  young  lives  full  of 
vigour  and  promise  would  be  thrown  away  in  an 
attempt  to  advertise  the  merits  of  somebody's 
wares,  but  so  it  proved. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  give  a  short 
description  of  Mount  Wellington,  to  scale  whose 
towering  heights  these  men  had  undertaken. 
Mount  Wellington  occupies  a  very  commanding 
position  overlooking  Hobart,  the  capital  of 
Tasmania.  The  mountain  is  four  thousand  one 
hundred  and  sixty-six  feet  in  height,  and 
presents  a  very  noble  appearance  from  the 
harbour.  The  lower  slopes  are  intersected  by 
numerous  gullies  heavily  clothed  with  large 
timber  and  thick  undergrowth  ;  the  upper 
portions  are  composed   mostly  of  boulders  in- 


TWO    REMARKABLE    WALKING    COMPETITIO 


discriminately    strewn 
in      every    direc- 
tion,  the   only 
vegetation 
being    of    a 
stunted    de- 
scription. 

The  summit 
is   approached 
in    the    first 
place    by   five 
miles   of  as- 
cending coach 
road,    which 
skirts  the  base 
of   the   moun- 
tain. When  this 
road  reaches 
the   Fern 
Tree    Hotel 
a  track  bran- 
ches off  and   strikes   at 
once  into  the  thick  bush 
towards     the      summit. 
Half-way    up    from    the 
road  the  Springs  are  reached 
Here  is  situated  a 
cottage  and  shelter- 
shed,  where  a  man 
and  his  family  are 
permanently  loca- 
ted to  keep  tracks 
clear  and   gener 
ally  assist   visitors 
and  tourists. 

The      particular 
track    chosen    for 
the    race     is     the 
shortest  way  to  the 
top,    but    it     also 
necessitates  a  very 
stiff  climb  near  the 
end.     Leaving  the 
Springs    it    strikes 
to  the  right  across 
the    face    of    the 
mountain    towards 
the  cliffs  known  as 
the  "Organ  Pipes 
(about  six  hundred 
feet  high),  the  end 
of  which   it  skirts 
leading      by     a 
boulder  -  strewn 
shoulder  to  the 
"  Pinnacle,"  which 
is  the  highest   point   on   the 
mountain. 

In     the    early    days    of 


A    DISTANT    VIEW    OIr    MOUNT    WELI.ING1 

From  a  Pilots,  by  A.  Profiting. 


A    VIEW    OF    THE    "ORGAN    PIPES       IN    WIl 

From  a  Photo,  by  A.  Profiting. 


in 

the   summit, 
and   the  pi; 
is  now  mart 
by  ;  i    m  o  n  u  - 

mint      Id 
unfor  tun 
man>  m 
In   winter   the 
snow  often 
thickly  on  the 
mountain 
f  o  r    w  i 

it   will    be 

understood 
that  it  is  not  exactly  an 
ideal  place  to  fix  on  for 
a  race  in  early  spring. 
Vo  return  to  the  race.     When 
Saturday,   Septem- 
ber   19th,   daw 
stormy,  with  a  high 
wind   and  a  fresh 
covering  of  snow 
on    the    great 
mountain       from 
summit  to  base,  it 
was    thought     the 
race  would  be  post- 
poned.     But,  no  ! 
The  morning  paper 
announced  that  the 
promoters      had 
decided  to  hold  the 
race,   wet   or    fine, 
eemed  a  cruel 
thing  to  send  men, 
thinly  clad  as  if 
an    ordinary    race, 
to   face     tli 
wind  and   blind 
snow  on   that   1 
ged  mountain. 
course,   the  major- 
ity would  not  shirk 
it,  as  it  mij 
thought  coward- 
ice on  their  part. 
But  the  excuse  was 
that  men   had  come  in  from 
the  country  districts   to  take 
part  in  the  competition,  and 


588 


I  III-:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


they    must    not     be 
ppointed.   So 
just  i  30  p.m. 

a  larg<  •  rowd 

to  assemble    in    the 

vicinity  of  the  busi- 

premises  of  the 

whisky    agents,    and 
soon  after  twoo'clock 
thirty-nine   competi- 
tors trotted  round  the 
corner    into    Davey 
t.     making    for 
the    Huon    Road, 
h    competitor 
wore  over  his  shoul- 
der   a    yellow 
with   the  name  of 
the  firm  and  their 
whisky  printed  on 
it    in    large    blue 
Let te rs .      As   they 
started  off  one    felt 
sorry    for    the    poor 
fellows,     and     won- 
d  red  how  many  of  them  would  finish  the  race. 

After  the  start  the  crowd  melted  away  to 
while  away  the  time  till  the  eighteen  long  and 
difficult  miles  of  the  course  should  be  traversed 
and  the  race  finished.  It  had  been  intended 
to  have  photographers  stationed  at  various 
points  on  the  route  to  obtain  snap-shots  of  the 
novel  event,  and  the  writer  had   been  engaged 


Iron:  a  Photo.  l<y\      TllK    LAST   STEEP   CLIMB    IMMEDIATELY   BELOW   THE    "  PINNACLE."  [A.  PrOpsting. 

to  proceed  to  the  turning-point  at  the  "Pinnacle  " 
with  his  camera,  but  the  thick  clouds  and 
occasional  snow-showers  caused  that  part  of 
the  programme  to  be  abandoned. 

On  returning  to  see  the  finish  at  about  five 
o'clock  the  writer  was  surprised  to  learn   that 
four  men  had  already  come  in,  a  young  man 
named   Cockshutt    winning  in  the   remarkably 
short  time  of  two  hours  forty-four  min- 
utes.    A  man  named  Beard  was  leading 
by  about  half  a  mile  until 
town    was    reached,    but 
fainted   from  exhaustion, 
and  while  he  was  being 
brought  to  consciousness 
three   other  men   passed 
him,    and    he   eventually 
finished  fourth.   Fully  half 
an    hour  elapsed    before 
any    more    men   arrived, 
and  then  theycommenced 
to  come  in  in   twos  and 
threes,  all  looking  more  or 
less  exhausted,  some  run- 
ning   and  walking    alter- 
nately. It  was  not  learned 
until  later  that  one  man 
on  reaching  the  sum- 
mit of  the    mountain 
collapsed  entirely  and 
died  before  they  could 
get  him  down  from  the 
mountain.        Another 
[A.  Propsting.     man  lost  his  way  and 


a  Photo.  by\         A  long,  snow-COVI     I  i:ak  the  "pinnacle. 


TWO    REMARKABLE    WALKING    COMPETITIO 


was  missing,  being  eventually  found  next  morn- 
ing lying  dead  on  a  track  he  had  taken  in 
mistake  on  his  way  down  the  mountain.  He 
had  apparently  tried  to  step  over  a  fallen  tree 
but  tripped 


Falling  on  his  back  he  had  never 


of    the  ■  - 
as  they   pai 
down  i: 

There     are     already 
revulsion  of  public  feeling,  and 
are  bl 

the    race    in     fa 
■.:/^TSi^^        sudden      change      in 


'&r 


From  a  Photo.  by~\ 


THE   COMPETITORS    LINED   UP   FOR   THE  START. 


[Wkerett. 


risen     again.       He    left    a 
widowed  mother  to  mourn 

over  the  loss  of  her  only  son.     A  good  many 

competitors  gave  in  and  were  cared  for  and  put 

to  bed  at  the  Fern  Tree 

Hotel,   where    they 

mained     till    next    day. 

All  the  latter  are 

now  reported  to 

be  doing  well. 

An    eye-wit- 
ness,     using      a 

telescope  from 

the  Springs,   de- 
scribes   the    last 

climb  as  being  a 

mere     scramble 

on     hands    and 

knees,  the   men 

occasionally  slip- 
ping back  yards 

at  a  time  in  the 

soft   snow,    only 

to  make  further 

efforts.      At  the 

"  Pinnacle"  were 

stationed  judges 

andotherofficials 


weather.  In  all  probability,  however,  if 
competitors  had  been  appealed  to  they  would 
themselves  have  elected  to  go  through  with 
it.  The  firm  of  merchants  mentioned  have 
already  given  a  substantial  dona- 
to  a  public  subscription  in 
of    poor    Richards's 


lv. 


£> 


'+  ..?v 


*\  *  ■>** 


IIS     PHOTOGRAPH     GIVES     SOME  TI1E 

DIFFICULTIES   OK   THE   TRACK. 

lasting. 


was  once 


ing 


Told  by  Himself,  and  put  into  English  by  Rook  Carnegie,  of  Braila,  Roumania. 

The  plain  tale  of  a  poor,  half-civilized  Roumanian  boatman  as  told  to  Mr.  Carnegie  on  a  fishing  excursion. 
Vasili's  tragic  life-story  proves  once  more  that  love  and  romance  exist  in  the  cottage  as  well  as  in  the  castle. 

Those  were  happy  days,  sir  !  All  day  long 
we  played  among  the  drying-nets  or  fished 
for  small  perch,  and  how  Mitza  would  shout 
and  clap  her  little  hands  when  I  pulled  one 
out  very  angry  and  with  all  his  fins  set  up  ! 
But  what  we  liked  best  was  when  my  mother, 
undressing,  would  put  us  astride  one  of  the 
bundles  of  reeds  used  to  fasten  the  sturgeon- 
lines  to,  and  swimming  out  into  the  girla  (marsh 
stream)  would  push  it,  with  us  on  it,  kicking, 
laughing,  and  splashing,  before  her  as  she  swam 
along.  In  time  we  learnt  to  swim  ourselves, 
and  then  in  we  would  all  go  together ;  but  the 
best  of  all  was  sometimes  when  my  father  and 
his  partner  came  in  too,  for  they  would  swim  on 
ahead,  with  us  behind  trying  to  catch  them  up. 
Then  they  would  dive  for  mussels,  which  in  the 
evening  we  would  cook  with  the  mamaliga. 

When  tired  we  lay  on  the  soft  nets  till  we 
dried,  watching  the  great  carp  trying  to  jump 
over  the  stockades  and  falling  back  "plack" 
into  the  water  again,  or  perhaps  a  stork  would 
come  down  and,  catching  a  fish,  carry  it  up 
the  bank  and  beat  it  on  the  hard  ground  until 
it  killed  it. 

What  fun  we  had,  too,  when  my  father  and 
his  companion  came  back  from  a  good 
morning's  fishing,  with  their  lodkas  (native 
canoes)  loaded  down  to  the  edge  with  shining 
fish,   which   would   be  picked  over,  those  alive 


OU  would  hardly  think,  dommilui 
(sir),  that  poor  old  Vasili,  whom  all 
the  other  boatmen  tease  and  call  a 
bear,  asking  if  he  would  not  like 
salt  in  his  mamaliga  (maize-meal), 
big,  strong,  tall,  aye,  and  good-look 
too,  without  fear  of  man  or  beast,  and  one 
who  would,  if  necessary,  have  faced  a  wolf  or 
bear  single-handed.  Vet  so  I  once  was.  If 
you  will  let  me  pull  under  the  willows  we'll  tie 
up  till  the  sun  drops  and  the  perch  come  on 
the  feed  again.  I  will  tell  you  my  history,  and 
a  strange  and  sad  tale  you  will  surely  call  it. 

I  was  born  far  away  over  in  the  balta*  beyond 
Filipoi,  my  parents  being  fisher-folk,  of  those 
people  who,  father  and  son,  have  been  for  gene- 
rations in  the  balta,  and  in  whose  blood  is  a 
strong  love  of  its  wild,  s\andering  life. 

We  must  have  the  reeds  and  the  smell  of  the 
balta  or  we  should  go  mad,  and  it  is  this  love 
of  the  marshes  which  has  worked  all  my  mis- 
fortune and  misery,  as  you  shall  hear. 

I  fir>t  remember  myself  as  a  small  lad  play- 
ing about  with  my  little  cousin  Mitza  among  the 
nets  and  dogs  before  the  reed  hut  which  was 
then  our  home.  Her  parents  were  drowned 
one  night  crossing  the  Danube,  and  my  mother 
took  her  ond  kept  her  as  a  companion  for  me. 

*  The  gr-at  marsh  land-,  stretching  far  up  and  down  the   Lower 
Danube. 


THE    STORY    OF    VASIL1     III!.     FISHERMAN. 


being    put  in   the  stockade  and  the  rest  I 
off'  to  the  town  to  sell  to  the  dealers. 

Then  when  they  got  back  the  fire  was  lighted, 
the  mamaliga  and  fish  cooked  ;  after  which  we 
all  lay  round  the  fire  while  my  father  played  us 
some  of  the  sweet  Roumanian  airs. 

As  I  grew  older  I  used  to  go  with  the  men 
fishing,  and  could  soon  handle  a  canoe  as  well 
as  any,  or  set  and  empty  nets,  or  lay  the  lines 
for  the  chiega  (a  small  sort  of  sturgeon,  the 
French  sterlet,  erroneously  supposed  to  be 
found  only  in  the  Volga).  Then  I  would  go  to 
town  to  sell  the  fish,  and  how  well  I  remember 
the  first  time  !  I  felt  awed  and 
afraid.  The  crowd  of  shipping, 
the  great  steamers  with  their 
hoarse  whistles,  the  jabber  of 
tongues  at  the  landing-place,  and 
the  numberless  rows  of  ware- 
houses and  houses,  one  above 
the  other  up  the  hillside,  all 
seemed  to  be  "  against "  me 
somehow.  How  well  I  remember, 
too,  that  a  sentry  came  along  in 
his  blue  uniform  and  looked 
down  at  our  boat,  bobbing  about 
with  a  hundred  others,  as  the 
dealers  bargained  with  us  for  our 
loads  of  fish! 

"  You'll  be  a  soldier  like  that 
one  day  !  "  said  my  father's  com- 
panion to  me. 

"  Never!  I  am  of  the  balta,  and 
should  die  in  the  town  !  "  I  ex- 
claimed, fiercely,  for  only  the 
night  before  little  Mitza,  now 
eight  years  old,  had  made  me 
promise  never  to  leave  her.  I 
was  only  a  boy  of  twelve,  but 
I  was  serious  enough  in  my 
own  small  way,  and  I  glared 
round  angrily  when  my  proud 
speech  set  everyone   about    me 

So  we  lived  till  I  was  twenty-two  and  Mitza, 
whom  I  had  taken  for  my  wife,  eighteen.  There 
was  not  a  prettier  girl  in  all  the  balta,  and  she 
was  known  as  "  Mitza  frumoasa  :'  ("  Mitza  the 
Pretty *")  in  the  marshes. 

In  summer  we  led  a  happy  life  in  the  open 
air  ;  in  winter  we  lived  snugly  in  a  house  of 
reeds,  with  a  fire  burning  in  the  middle  of  the 
earth  floor  and  nothing  to  do  but  cut  wood,  mend 
our  nets  and  canoes,  or  fish  through  holes  in  the 
ice  where  currents  kept  it  thin,  for  in  the 
ordinary  way  it  was  frozen  to  ten  and  twelve 
feet  thick  for  three  months  on  end. 

Mitza  even  went  with  me  in  my  wood-cutting 
and  fishing  expeditions,  for  she  was  of  the  balta 
breed,  and   the   cold   never  troubled  her.     She 


VASILI    THE      FISHERMAN'     AS    HE    IS    AT 
THE    PRESENT   TIME. 

From  a  Photo. 


laughing. 


would  sit  and  sing  as    1 
or  the  i. 

the  sturgeon  lii 
■'  I  suppose  no  one  in  tl 
as  we  t\  lid  to  her  one   m 

little  did  1  think  what  1  w; 

Next  day  my  father,  who  had 
ice  to  Braila  to  buy  hooks,  came  in  and  told 
with  a  sharp  look  at  me,  that  there  was  talk 
the  balta  being  hunted  through  to  get  the  . 
fellows  who  had  not  done  their  army 
Now,  if  there  was  one  thing  more  frightful  tl 
another  to   the  marsh   folk    it  was  tl 

doing    military    service,    with 
cramped,   regular    life,   its   rig 
and  discipline,  after  th 
freedom  of  the  balta,  and  accord- 
ingly   the     men     did    every  th 
-ible  to  evade  servi 
The    authorities    were     taking 
advantage  of  the  ice  to  send  | 
ties  of  two  or  three  soldiers  uni 
a   sergeant  or  corporal   into  the 
marshes    to    look    for    the    con- 
scripts,  giving    a   money    reward 
for  every  recruit  brought  in. 

Xow,  our  hut  was  in  a  clump 
of  willows  with  reeds  all  round, 
except  at  the  front,  and,  being 
built  of  reeds  itself,  was  not 
easily  distinguishable. 

I     kept   very    close,   howev 
Once  or  twice  parties  of  soldi 
tramped  up  the  side  of  th 
behind  the  hut,  but  did  not 
although  you  may  be  sure  we  u 
watching  them  keenly  enough. 

But   one   afternoon — oh, 
day  for  me  ! — it  had  grown  quite 
dark,  and  we  thought  the  military 
were  out  of  the  balta  for  that  day, 
so  we  had   lit  our  fire.      It 
barely  begun  to  crackle  and  the  smoke  to  mount 
up  through  the  hole  left  for  it,  when  all  of  a  • 
den  we  heard  voices  without,  the  sound  ol 
one  forcingaway  through  the  low  willow  bi 
and  then  the  clatter  of  rifle-stocks  on 

"  Quick  j  under  here,"  whispered   >  nd 

began  to  drag  at  a  heap  of  nets  at  the  I 
the  hut.      I    crept    beneath  and   kept   perk 
still. 

"Open    the   door!"  called  sharply 

outside.     For  a  moment  all  remained  still  :  tl 
my  father  went  to  the  door.     Before  it  stood  a 
sergeant  and  three  soldiers. 

The    .sergeant    bent    down,    shading  his 
from  the  smoke,  to  look  round  the  hut. 
you   the  only   man   here?"   he  asked;  but 
gaze  seemed  more  centred  on  pretty  Mitza,  who 


592 


llli:     WILL     WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


sergeant 


did    not    seem   quite   to 


sat.  together  with  my  mother,  trying  to  look  un- 
From  my  hiding-place  among  the 
nets  I  felt  I  could  have  sprung  out  and  throttled 
him  as  he  kept  his  impudent  eyes  on  Mitza  and 
said,  "  You  look  very  well  here,"  trying  to  pay 
Mitza  a  veiled  compliment. 

••  We  are    the   only    ones   here.'    my   father 
growled  sullenly,  but,  for  all  the  show  of  indif- 
ference,   the 
believe    the    assur- 
ances   of    my  rela- 
tions. 

I  learnt  after  he 
was  always  em- 
ployed on  such 
work  for  his  aptness 
in  smelling  out 
recruits. 

"What  is  that  in 

the     corner  ? "    he 

asked,   turning   his 

-  upon  the  nets 

where  I  lay  hid. 

"There?  Oh, 
just  nets,"  replied 
my  father  ;  but,  al- 
though he  tried 
hard  to  appear  cool, 
his  face  must  have 
betrayed  him,  and 
me  also. 

"  Ha,  ha  !  Gitza, 
give  me  your  gun," 
cried  the  sergeant. 
He  took  the  mus- 
ket, with  the  bayo- 
net attached,  from 
a  soldier,  who  came 
into  the  hut  at  his 
bidding.  "Let's 
see  if  there  is  not 

a  fish  left  in  them."  And  he  raised  the  gun 
as  though  he  would  drive  the  bayonet  through 
the  nets.  A  cry  escaped  from  Mitza  and  all 
jumped  forward,  as  though  they  would  prevent 
him  from  carrying  out  his  purpose.  The 
sergeant  dropped  the  gun  down. 

"  Ho,  ho  !  We'll  have  fish  to  our  mamaliga" 
he  laughed.  "  Boys,  see  who  is  hidden  under 
those  nets." 

before  I  could  move  the  nets  were  off  me  and 
I  was  in  the  hands  of  two  brawny  militiamen, 
whilst  the  sergeant  and  the  third  soldier  watched 
my  relations  in  case  of  an  attempt  at  rescue. 

Ah,   you'll   make  a  fine  prishcash   (militia- 
man)," said   the  sergeant,   looking   me  up    and 
down.      "Come,  brother,  let  that  girl  with  the 
tty  eyes  get  you  what  clothes  you  want,  so 
that    you    may    not    forget   her.      But    quickly, 


WHAT    IS   THAT    IN    THE    CORNER.'      HE    ASKED. 


drdga  (darling V  turning  to  Mitza,  "as  it  is 
getting  late,  and  he  won't  want  much  where  he 
is  going.  We  look  after  our  boys  so  well."  And 
he  burst  into  a  great  laugh  at  his  own  wit,  in 
which  the  soldiers  dutifully  joined;  but  I  did 
not  feel  like  laughing,  I  can  tell  you,  dommilui, 
and  poor  Mitza  and  my  mother  were  crying, 
whilst  my  father  looked  hopelessly  on.  And 
so  I  was  marched  away  through  the  reeds,  with 

my  thumbs  tied  so  tightly 
together  with  string  that  the 
blood  was  almost  forced 
out  of  them. 

It  was  my  hard  luck  at 
the  barracks  to  come  into 
the  hands  of  the  very  ser- 
geant who  had  hunted  me 
out ;  and  a  fiend  he  was.  I 
think  now  that  I  see  his 
wicked  face,  leer- 
ing at  me  through 
all  those  months  of 
torture.  For  to  me, 
used  to  the  freedom 
of  the  marshes, 
where  no  one  owns 
to  a  master  except 
his  own  free  will,  it 
was  torture  indeed 
the  learning  to 
march  in  regular 
paces,  to  get  up  at 
the  same  hour,  to 
do  just  what  I  was 
told  and  nothing 
else,  and  to  have  to 
keep  my  arms  and 
accoutrem  en  ts 
clean.  Somehow— 
although  I  some- 
times really  tried  to 
please  them — I  was  always  getting  into  the 
black  books  of  the  sergeants  and  corporals,  and 
the  sergeant  especially  seemed  to  take  delight  in 
inventing  fresh  annoyances  and  pitfalls  to  catch 
me  tripping.  Then,  if  he  only  had  the  excuse, 
he  would  have  me  beaten  by  some  of  the  other 
soldiers,  who  were  only  too  glad  to  earn  his 
good  graces  by  obeying  his  behests,  and  I  feel 
the  sting  of  the  ramrod  on  my  back  again 
when  I  think  of  it. 

It  was  in  March  that  I  was  passed  as  fit  in  my 
drill,  and  that  I  did  my  first  and  only  turn  at 
sentry-go.  The  weather  was  bitter,  but  more 
from  the  sharp  wind  than  the  frost,  and  news 
had  come  that  the  ice  had  broken  farther  up  the 
river.  I  was  marched  at  nine  o'clock  one  night 
down  to  the  quay  with  the  other  reliefs.  I  was 
the  second  changed,  I  remember. 


THE    STORY    OF    VASIL1    THE     FISHERM 


MY   EAR   CAUGHT    THE    DUl.I.,    ROOMING    SOUND 


I  took  over  the  orders  and  the  big  sheepskin 
coat  from  the  sentry  whom  I  replaced,  and  the 
party  tramped  away,  leaving  me  to  my  thoughts. 
There  before  me  across  the  river  was  my  beloved 
balta,  although  in  the  dark  I  could  see  only 
a  few  yards  away  from  the  edge  of  the  quay. 
As  I  stood  there,  with  my  thoughts  far  away 
over  there  in  the  marshes  with  my  Mitza,  my 
ear  caught  the  dull,  booming  sound  which  I 
knew  only  too  well  was  the  ice  beginning  to 
crack  from  underneath  as  the  rising  water  forced 
it  upward.  Then  there  came  sharp  cracks  like 
rifle-shots,  and  on  a  vessel  tied  to  the  bank 
below  I  could  hear  the  crew  shouting  to  one 
another  in  Greek  as  they  fastened  her  more 
securely. 

I  went  down  to  the  edge  of  the  water.  Yes, 
the  ice  was  beginning  to  move.  Then,  when  it 
seemed  too  late,  the  thought  flashed  into  my 
mind— why  did  I  not  profit  by  my  spell  of 
liberty  to  escape  from  the  soldier  life  and  go 
back  to  my  Mitza  and  the  balta  ?  Would  they 
follow  me  ?  No  doubt ;  but  could  I  not  defy 
them,  once  well  away  into  the  marshes?  But 
now,  with  the  ice  moving,  it  was  madness  to  try 
and  cross.  Why  not  wait  till  some  future 
occasion,  when  the  river  was  clear?  But 
when  ?  Perhaps  I  would  not  be  put  on  the 
river  guard  again   for   months.       My  back  was 

Vol.' xii.     75. 


only  tli 

still  to  heai  ih 

behind  me.    'I  he  v<  ry  tl 

dened  me  and 

off  the  sheepsk 

my  gun,  belt,  and  tunii  ith  a 

cry  of  joy  leapt  out 

I  ran  for  some  yards,  i 
giving   me  a  good   foothold   foi 
short   distance.      Then    thei 
black,  surging  water  before  me  and 
all  round  a  medley  of  hissing,     ■ 
ing,  cracking  sounds  as  the  ice  br<  i 
up  quicker  and  yet  quicker.     I  a 
sidered   myself   lost,    but,   giving  a 
jump,  landed  on  the  edge  of  a  block 
that  tilted  up  and  sent  me  over  my 
head   into  the   rushing  water.      My 
feet  touched  a  block  below,  and   1 
fought  madly  to  regain  the  surf.: 
now  under  water,    now  clamber: 
frantically  over  a  floating  slab  of  ice. 
I  cannot  remember  exactly  how  1 
accomplished   that  awful  crossii 
but  at  last — after  how  long  I  do  not 
know  —  I   found   myself,  with    my 
clothing    in    tatters,    lying   on    I 
opposite  bank,  utterly  exhausted  and 
bleeding  from  a  score  of  woun 
But  I  was  soon   myself  again.      Xow  I  began 
to  feel  the  cold  wind  blowing  freezingly  on  my 
bare    body,    and    my    flapping    rags    began     to 
stiffen.     Worn  out  though   I  was,   I  sprang  up, 
knowing  that  only  in  keeping  my  blood  moving 
by  exertion  could  I  escape  a  second  death  from 
cold  after   nearly   suffering   a    first   one   in   the 
Danube. 

In  the  balta,  fortunately,  the  ice  was  firm  and 
thick  still,  being  frozen  to  the  ground,  with  no 
water  to  force  it.     I  ran  on  in  the  dark  along  a 
girla,  continuing  on   my  way  until,  just 
began  to  dawn,  I  dropped  half  dead  at  the  door 
of   our   hut.      When    I   came  to   I  was   lying, 
wrapped   in  a  sheepskin  cloak,  with   my  1. 
in  Mitza's  lap.      From  her  and  my  mothei    I 
only  tears  of  pity  and  sympathy,  but  my  father 
merely  scowled  at  me. 

"A  nice  mess   you  have  got  us  into,"  he  ex- 
claimed,  "by   your   cowardly  wa; 
never  been  caught,  and  did  not  km  hat 

he  talked.     "  Here  you  cannot  stay.     If  ; 
found  here  it  is  prison  for  all.     Take   what  you 
want,  but  go.     As  soon  as  a  boat  can  cross  the 
Danube  the  soldiers  will  be  hunting  all  over  the 
balta  for  you." 

And  so  I  had  to  go,  but  my  darling  Mitza 
came  with  me,  in  spite  of  the  objections  of  my 
father. 


594 


THE    WIDh    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


••  After  what  he  has  risked  for  me  I  will  go 
wiih  him,"  she  said,  proudly,  and  those  words 
repaid  me  for  all  my  sufferings. 

A  day's  tramp  off,  in  a  thick  bed  of  reeds,  I 
built  a  hut,  and  there  1  lay  secure,  my  brave 
Mi;,  a  .  g  to  fetch  food  every  few  days.  I  only 
lit  a  fire  once  and  kept  it  continually  going  so 
as  to  make  but  little  smoke,  which  dispersed 
re  it  reached  the  top  of  the  reeds.  For  a 
month  we  lived  so.  wry  happy,  forgetting  all  the 
troubles  and  dangers  hanging  over  us.  Then 
came  the  end. 

T  h  e  r  e  w  a  s  a 
gipsy  corporal  who 
watched  the  balta 
for  days  till  he  saw 
Mitza  coming  with 
food,  and  so  my 
hiding  -  place  was 
discovered. 

It  would  be  just 
about  twelve  o'clock 
one  day  that  we 
were  preparing  some 
fish  for  our  dinner, 
when  there  sud- 
denly dashed  round 
the  corner  of  a  bed 
of  reeds  the  brutal 

geant  who  had 
driven  me  to  desert, 
followe  1  by  four 
Kurkanu.* 

•"  At      last     we've 

you,    have    w  . 

my  pike?"  he  cried, 

exultingly.       "  Now 

you    shall   really 

know  what  beating  is.  Oh,  you  shall  be  looked 
after  properly  ;  I'll  keep  you  warm  !  You  shall 
have  such  nice  hot  eggs  under  your  arms  ! 
Won't  you  dance  nicely?  You  shall  go  back 
and  I'll  come  and  talk  to  your  pretty  wife." 

Without  answering  him  I  took  up  an  axe  and 
stood  there  so  threateningly  that  the  men 
stopped  at  some  paces  distant. 

"Get  on,  dogs,  and  bind  him!"  cried  the 
sergeant.  "  Are  you  afraid  of  his  razor  ?  "  But 
still  the  soldiers  hesitated,  although  he  savagely 
thrust  the  butt  of  his  musket  into  their  backs. 
They  had  no  heart  in  the  job  ;  and,  besides,  I 
called  out  that  the  first  that  came  would  get  the 
axe  in  his  head. 

'•What:  won't  you  catch  a  fish?"  yelled  the 

"  Turkeys,"  the  nickname  for  the  infantry  of  the  Roumanian 
army,  who  wear  turkey  feathers  in  their  astrachan  caps. 


ruffian,  beside  himself  with  rage.  "Then  I  will 
show  you  how.  Come  on,  dogs  !  Kill  him  if 
you  won't  catch  him  !  " 

The  sergeant  charged  straight  at  me  with  his 
bayonet  pointed  at  my  breast.  But  I  dodged 
suddenly  down,  caught  the  gun  as  it  passed 
over  me,  and  simultaneously  struck  the  villain 
down  with  my  axe.  Seeing  the  fate  of  their 
sergeant  the  soldiers  pointed  their  rifles  at  me. 
But  now  I  cared  no  more  and  stood  upright, 
shouting  "  hire  ! "     As  I  did  so,  however,  Mitza, 


I    CAUGHT   THE    GUN    AS    IT    PASSED    OVER    ME. 


who  up  to  now  had  stood  trembling  behind  me, 
sprang  forward  with  a  shriek.  The  rifles  rang 
out,  and  my  love  took  the  bullets  meant  for  me 
in  her  loving  heart  !  I  caught  her  as  she  fell. 
She  smiled  and  seemed  to  say  "  Darling  ! " 
Then  a  musket  butt  struck  me  across  the  head 
and  I  knew  no  more. 

I  got  twenty  years  in  the  salt  mines  at  Telga, 
and  survived  it.  I,  Vasili,  who  wished  to  die, 
lived  through  that  living  death  for  twenty  years 
where  others  succumbed  at  ten.  I  came  out  an 
old  man,  to  find  my  parents  dead,  I  suppose, 
for  I  have  never  heard  of  them,  nor  do  I  even 
know  where  my  darling  Mitza  is  buried.  Some- 
times I  think  of  ending  my  miserable  life,  and 
then  it  strikes  me  that  God  does  not  mean  me 
to  die,  seeing  that  He  has  so  often  saved  me,  so 
that  I  dare  not  try,  lest  I  fail. 


"UP    A    TREE." 

By   Dr.   Withers  ( '.  Watj 

The   story  of  a  hunting   adventure  in    Colorado,  showing   how  the   author  and    his   cousin    went   out 
to    shoot    wild    cattle,     how    a   savage   bull   landed   them    in    an    awkward    predicament,    and    how    the 

bull  finally  found  his  master  whde  the  author  found  a  wife. 


HIS  little  adventure  happened  when 
I  was  twenty  -  two.  I  had  been 
grinding  hard  for  over  two  years, 
being  desirous  to  pass  my  examina- 
tion as  early  as  permissible.  I  had 
had  no  vacation  to  speak  of  for  over  a  year,  so  that 
when  I  received  a  letter  from  my  cousin,  Walter 
Johnson,  in  which  he  pressed  me  to  ccme  and 
spend  a  month  on  his  ranch 
in  the  backwoods  of  the  State 
of  Colorado,  and  gave  glowing 
accounts  of  the  hunting,  I 
did  not  feel  much  compunc- 
tion in  applying  for  the  neces- 
sary leave  of  absence.  I  had 
remembrances,  too,  of  a  very 
pretty  girl  cousin,  which  per- 
haps acted  as  an  additional 
attraction.  My  request  was 
granted.  I  overhauled  my 
guns  and  hunting  outfit,  bade 
farewell  to  my  bachelor  cham- 
bers and  dry-as-dust  books, 
and  one  fine  morning  in  June 
set  out  on  the  way  to  my 
cousin's  ranch. 

The  journey  occupied  a 
day  and  a  half,  and  by  the 
end  of  that  time  I  felt  all  the 
ardour  of  my  earlier  hunting 
days  return.  No  doubt  the 
occasional  glimpses  of  deer 
which  I  caught  through  the 
car  windows  helped  to  stir 
my  blood. 

Four  o'clock  the  following 
afternoon  landed  me  at  a 
small  wayside  station  four- 
teen miles  from  Walter  John- 
son's ranch.  When  I  alighted 
there  was  no  one  about,  the 
station  being  what  is  called  a 
"flag  station,"  at  which  trains 
stopped  only  when  necessary.  I  got  my  small  kit 
of  luggage  together  and  wondered  what  I  should 
do.  I  had  wired  to  my  cousin  the  train  to 
expect  me  by,  and  was  just  speculating  as  to 
whether  he  had  received  my  telegram,  and  what 
I  should  do  in  the  event  of  no  one  coming  for 
me,  when  far  down  the  country  road  I  saw  a 
cloud  of  dust,  and  in  a  few  minutes  a  buggy 
and  pair  of  horses  drew  up.  The  driver,  a  young 
lady,  quickly  motioned  me  to  approach. 


THE   AUTHOR,    DR.    WITHERS   C 

From  a  Photo. 


"  I  am  sure  you  cannot  havi 
cousin    Laura,"  she  said,  "  although    it    . 
four  years  since  we  met.    I  should  have  kno 
you  anywhere,  even  if  I  had  not  seen  the  nanv 
on  your  gun-case — the  same  old  case.     Wa 
was    not   feeling  well — he    has    got   one  <.l    his 
periodical  headaches— so  I  volunteered  to  fetch 
you.      Of  course,  I  know  you  would  have   much 
preferred    him.      No, 
nred    not    pay    any    compli- 
ments,   for    I   won't 
you  !     Just   put  your  lugL 
into   the    back   of    the   DU 
and  jump  up  in  front, 
horses  are  fresh  and  will  not 
stand ;    besides,    there    is    a 
freight  train  due,  and  the  bay 
mare  is  scared  to  death  at  a 
locomotive." 

I  quickly  did  her  bidding, 
and  in  a  few  moments 
were  whirling  along  the  road 
in  the  direction  she  had  just 
come  from.  My  cousin  Laura 
had  wonderfully  improved 
since  I  last  saw  her.  She  was 
then  a  slight  girl  of  s i x t ■ 
rather  pretty,  whereas  now 
she  had  blossomed  out  into 
a  very  handsome  young  lady, 
with  clear,  fresh  complexion, 
brown  eyes,  and  a  profusion 
of  soft,  wavy,  dark-brown  hair, 
which  the  breeze  and 
drive  had  taken  considerable 
liberties  with  —  but  she  looked 
all  the  better  for  her  dishevel- 
ment.  For  the  rest  of  her,  1 
could  see  she  had  a  lithe, 
well-formed  figure,  and  a  pair 
of  arms  which,  although  they 
quivered  with  holding  the 
mettlesome  pair  of  ho 
showed  both  strength  and  a  perfect  contour. 

Her  genial   manner  soon   made    me    I 
home,    and    we   were    presently   chatting 
as    though    we    had    only    been    parted    a 
hours    instead   of   four  years,    when    she   wai 
schoolgirl  and  I  an  unfledged  youth  of  eighteen. 
All  too  soon  we  reached   our  destination.      I 
was  really  enjoying  every  minute  of  the  drive - 
and  who  would  not,  under  such  circums: 
A  bright,  fine  day,  lovely  scenery,  a  comfortable 


596 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


carriage  speeding  rapidly  over  a  smooth  road, 
and  the  companionship  of  a  very  pretty  cousin, 
highly  intelligent  and  thoroughly  disposed  to 
make  hersell  as  agreeable  as  possible. 

My  cousin  Walter  and  his  wife  came  out  to 
the  gates  of  the  enclosure  to  meet  us,  and  I 
ived  a  hearty  welcome.  Walter  introduced 
me  to  his  wife,  a  bright,  lively  young  lady,  who 
was  evidently  pleased  at  the  change  my  advent 
afforded. 

"  I  was  half  afraid,  even  after  I  got  your  wire, 
th.it  you  would  hack  out  and  not  come,"  said 
Walter:  "you  have  promised  to  come  so  often 
that  I  began  to  think  you  had  grown  so  devoted 
to  your  profession  and  wrapped  up  in  it  that 
you  had  entirely  forgotten  your  cousins  and  the 
jolly  old  hunting  times  we  used  to  have. 
However,  here  you  really  are,  and  we  are  going 
to  have  no  end  of  a  good  time." 

Well,  we  did  have  a  good  time,  in  truth.  We 
had  several  very  successful  hunting  expeditions, 
in  which  I  found  I  had  not  altogether  lost  my 
old  skill  as  a  marksman. 

Walter  and  his  wife  were  an  ideal  host  and 
hostess,  my  cousin  Laura  ably  seconded  their 
efforts,  and  what  with  our  rides,  drives,  hunts, 
and  the  evenings  spent  in  their  pretty  sitting- 
room,  listening  to  some  of  Laura's  exceptionally 
good  singing,  I  was  beginning  to  dread  the  time 
when  my  visit  would  have  to  terminate  and  I 
return  to  my  dreary  bachelor  home  and  books. 
Walter  had  pressed  me  to  extend  my  visit  a 
couple  of  weeks,  but  I 
could  not  afford  the  time, 
so  had  to  make  the  most 
of  my  remaining  five 
days  of  liberty  and  plea- 
sure. Perchance  the  fact 
that  I  had  conceived  a 
great  liking  for  my  cousin 
Laura — who,  I  also  fan- 
cied, had  more  than  a 
cousinly  friendship  for 
me — had  a  bit  to  do  with 
my  unwillingness  to 
return. 

One  day  arrangements 
were  made  for  the  four  of 
us — Walter  and  his  wife 
and  Laura  and  I — to  go 
on  a  big  hunt.  The 
ladies  were  fairly  good 
shots  and  often  accom- 
panied us.  There  were 
a  lot  of  wild  cattle  about 
two  hours'  ride  from  the 
ranch,  and  we  intended 
to  hunt  them;  their  hides 
were  valuable,  and  some 


of  them  made  good  beef,  but  we  were  after  sport 
more  than  anything  else.  We  rode  on  horse- 
back, of  course,  and  after  a  little  over  two 
hours'  riding  we  came  to  the  part  where  we 
expected  to  come  across  some  of  the  animals. 

After  a  short  rest  and  a  council  of  war,  it 
vVas  agreed  that  Walter  and  his  wife  were  to 
ride  one  way  whilst  Laura  and  I  went  another, 
to  meet  at  a  certain  place  later  on  and  report 
progress.  Laura  knew  the  country  almost  as 
well  as  Walter.  We  separated  because  it  was 
thought  that  one  party  might  start  the  game 
and  perhaps  run  it  against  the  other.  So  we 
departed,  riding  slowly  along  and  keeping  a 
good  look-out.  We  had  no  dogs.  I  carried  a 
Winchester  repeating  rifle,  and  so  did  my 
cousin,  only  hers  was  of  a  lighter  make, 
specially  got  up  for  a  lady.  We  rode  for  some 
little  distance  without  seeing  anything,  but  at 
last  came  across  fresh  signs,  and  Laura  said 
that  by  riding  across  a  certain  gully  we  would 
reach  a  clean  knoll  where  we  could  see  for  a 
good  way  round. 

As  we  were  cantering  over  some  rather  rough 
ground  my  horse  set  his  foot  in  a  gopher  hole 
and  turned  right  over,  throwing  me  heavily 
forward,  my  head  striking  against  a  fallen  log 
sufficiently  hard  to  cause  me  to  lose  conscious- 
ness. When  I  slowly  came  to  myself  I  found 
my  head  was  resting  in  Laura's  arms,  and  she 
was  sobbing  violently. 

"  Oh  !  you  are  not  dead  !      Speak  to    me — 


HEAD   WAS   RESTING    IN    LAURA  S   ARMS. 


UP    A    TREE.1 


oh  !    what  shall  I  do  ? "  she  said  ;    and    1   was 
sure  I  felt  her  lips  press  my  cheek. 

I  opened  my  eyes  and  tried  to  raise  myself, 
and  soon  found  I  was  not  hurt — just  a  bit  dazed 
and  giddy,  but  no  bones  broken.  I  was  slightly 
stunned,  too,  from  the  shock  of  the  fall. 

I  know  my  heart  gave  several  great  bounds 
when  I  heard  these  words,  and  felt  sure  from 
the  look  she  gave  me  that  she  cared  for  me  ; 
and  this  knowledge  made  me  think  nothing  of 
my  accident.  But,  womanlike,  when  she  was 
assured  that  I  was  really  unhurt  she  was  con- 
fused and  silent  and  avoided  my  gaze  as  much 
as  possible.  I  made  up  my  mind  not  to  take 
advantage  of  the  position,  however,  but  my 
eyes,  I  think,  gave  me  away.  After  a  drink  of 
water  I  caught  my  horse,  mounted,  and  we 
moved  along  more  carefully.  Both  of  us  were 
silent,  each  busy  with  our  thoughts. 

When  we  reached  the  knoll  we  saw,  to  our 
great  joy,  two  wild  cattle  on  some  rising  ground 
about  half  a  mile  distant.  Fortunately,  they 
were  to  windward  and  so  would  not  scent  us, 
and  if  they  did  not  see  us  we  might  get  them. 

We  dismounted  and  tied  our  horses  in  a 
clump  of  brush.  We  agreed  that,  as  the  ground 
was  too  rough  to  get  near  to  them  on  horseback, 
we  would  stalk  them  on  foot.  Had  Walter  been 
with  us  I  do  not  believe 
he  would  have  sanctioned 
such  a  step,  seeing  a  lady 
was  present.  In  case  of 
anything  going  wrong  we 
had  no  means  of  retreat ; 
but  I  had  not  had  very 
much  experience  in  wild- 
cattle  hunting,  and  did 
not  think  of  danger.  Be- 
sides, I  felt  sure  that  with 
two  guns,  each  carrying 
nine  shots,  we  could 
easily  stop  any  attempt 
at  a  charge.  Laura  was 
all  anxiety  to  go  after 
them,  and  as  she  was  an 
excellent  hand  in  the 
bush  I  saw  no  reason  to 
thwart  her,  and  so  off  we 
went. 

We  took  our  bearings 
well  and  crept  carefully 
along,  taking  advantage 
of  every  bit  of  cover  that 
intervened.  At  last  we 
got  within  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  of  the 
place  where  the  cattle 
were,  but  could  not  then 
see    them.      There    was 


a    lot   of    open    bush    ab 

from    tree    i<>  tree    we   finall 

where   we  i  ould  <  l(  arlj 

One,  a  bull,  was  stand 

young  cow,  was  lying  down  with 

shade    of  a    tn 

behind    the   trunk  of  a  big   tn 

They  did  not  suspect  we 

was    feeding    with    his    head    tow. 

yards  away,  and   the  cow   quietly   chew  i 

cud. 

We  agreed  that  I  was  to  fire  at  the  bull  fi 
and   Laura  to  watch  the  effect  of  my  shot  and 
to  shoot  if  I  missed.     I  should,  of  com 
ready  to  fire  again  if  necessary.     Taking  a  g( 
aim,  covering    the  white  star    in   the  centn 
the  bull's  forehead — a  splendid  target — with  my 
foresight,  I  fired,  and   Mr.  Bull  lurched   heavily 
forward  on   to  his  knees,   then  rolled    over  on 
his  side  and  lay  still.     The   cow   sprang 
feet  at  the  sound  of  the  shot  and  stared  wildly 
around.     She  raised   her  head   high  up  and,  I 
think,  caught  our  scent.     While  si 
backwards  and  forwards  from   the  dead    hull  to 
her  calf,    Laura   took  a  favourable   opportunity, 
when  the  cow's  side  was  exposed,  and  placi 
bullet  just  behind  her  shoulder,  rolling  the  ■ 


clean  over. 


As  we  ran  towards  our  game  1  saw 


;  LAURA    PLACED   A    BULLET   JUST    BEHIND    HER 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAC.AXINE. 


she  was  done  for— in  fact,  both  animals  were 
dead.  The  call  had  raced  away  into  the  hush 
with  his  tail  in  the  air  as  we  approached. 

"We   will   rope  him  presently,"  said    Laura ; 

"  he  will  be  sure  to  return  to  his  mother." 

Suddenly  1  heard  a  deep  roar  or  bellow  close 
at  hand,  and  Laura,  seizing  me  by  the  arm, 
I  to  a  small  clump  of  brush  from  which 
we  had  shot.  There  1  saw  a  large  bull  standing 
by  the  very  tree  we  had  hidden  behind!  lie 
was  pawing  the  earth  and  throwing  great  clods 
over  his  shoulders  preparatory  to  making  a 
char 

In  a  very  unsportsmanlike  manner  I  had  left 
my  title  leaning  against  the  very  tree  where  the 
bull  was.  Laura's,  too,  was  also  alongside  of  it. 
We  had  put 
the  m  t  h e r e 
when  we  saw 
our  game  was 
killed,  little 
dreaming  there 
were  other  ani- 
m  a 1 s  in  the 
vicinity.  So 
there  we  were. 
quite  unarmed 
and  a  wild  bull 
about  to  charge ! 

I  glanced 
around  anxi- 
ously. A  few 
y  a  r  d  s  a  w  a  y 
stood  a  big  oak 
tree  with  limbs 
sufficiently  low- 
down  to  make 
it  possible  to 
climb.  "  Run, 
Laura:''  I 
cried.  "We 
must  climb 
quick  ;  we  have 
no  time  tol' 

We  ran  to 
the  tree,  and 
Laura,  with  an 
agility  I  have 
never  seen 
equalled     in    a 


I   SWUNG   UP   OUT   OF    HIS   REACH. 


swinging 


woman,  sprang  up, 
elf  from  branch  to  branch,  and  I  closely 
followed  her.  In  a  few  moments  we  were 
both  well  up  in  the  branches.  And  only 
just  in  time,  for  the  bull,  with  tail  on  end  and 
head  lowered,  charged  straight  at  us,  roaring 
fearfully.  He  reached  the  tree  just  as  I  swung 
up  out  of  his  reach.  Round  and  round  he 
tore,  throwing  the  lumps  of  dirt  up  ui  the 
air,    digging    one    of   his    horns    into   the    soft 


grassy  earth,  and  ploughing  it  up  into  great 
furrows.  Then  he  stood  still  and  looked  at 
us.  lie  was  a  magnificent  beast,  coal  black 
save  for  a  few  white  spots.  I  should  say  he 
must  have  been  about  eight  years  old. 

Although  we  were  safe  for  the  moment, 
nevertheless  we  were  in  no  end  of  a  fix.  Our 
guns  were  out  of  reach  and  I  had  no  revolver, 
and  the  bull  might  besiege  us  for  hours  if 
Walter  did  not  make  his  appearance. 

The  bull  walked  leisurely  around  the  tree, 
occasionally  looking  up  at  us,  and  his  little  red 
eyes  gleamed  rage  if  ever  an  eye  did.  Then  he 
went  over  to  the  two  dead  animals  and  gave 
such  a  demonstration  as  made  us  profoundly 
thankful  we  were  in   so  secure    a    position.      I 

have  never  be- 
fore or  since 
heard  such  a 
noise  proceed 
from  a  wild  bull. 
He  smelled  at 
the  dead  crea- 
tures, tore  up 
the  earth 
around  them, 
and  roared  hor- 
ribly again  and 
again.  To  add 
to  our  troubles, 
I  saw  in  the  dis 
tance  that  our 
horses,  becom- 
ing frightened 
at  the  awful 
noise,  had 
broken  loose. 
After  prancing 
round  a  bit 
i  r  re  s  o  1  u  t  e  1  y, 
they  went  off 
into  the  bush. 
This  was  an- 
other misfor- 
tune, and  a 
serious  one. 

Here  was  a 
nice  state  of 
affairs  !  I  was 
"  up  a  tree  "  !  Certainly  I  had  a  most  engaging 
young  lady  as  a  companion,  and  the  one  I  loved 
best  in  the  world  -I  had  definitely  decided 
that  but  we  had  no  weapons,  no  food  (save 
flasks  of  water),  and  underneath  was  a  roaring, 
raging  beast  holding  us  at  bay,  and  evidently 
not  intending  to  vacate  his  post  until  he  had 
demolished  us. 

"  I  don't  know  what  we  can  do,"  I  said  ;  "for 
even  if  this   brute   went  away  and  we  were  able 


UP    A    TRE] 


to  slip  off,  we  have  no  horses  and  cannot  walk 
home." 

"  Perhaps  when  Walter  finds  that  we  do  not 
keep  our  appointment  he  will  ride  to  meet  us," 
said  Laura.  "  He  knows  the  way  we  should 
come,  or  he  may  have  heard  our  shots.-' 

The  bull,  after  tearing  round  and  round  for 
a  time,  no  doubt  breathing  vengeance  upon  us 
for  killing  his  companions,  came  right  up  under 
the  tree,  and,  after  looking  at  us  angrily  for  a 
few  moments  and  shaking  his  head  a  bit, 
deliberately  lay  down  at  the  foot  of  the  trunk, 
right  under  the  branch  I  was  perched  upon. 

"  Well,"  I  said,  "  he  evidently  means  to  keep 
us  here  to  suit  his  own  sweet  will.  How  are 
you  fixed,  Laura  ?  Can  I  do  anything  to  make 
you  more  comfortable  ?  " 

"  I  am  all  right,"  she  replied,  "  only  a  little 
cramped.  Do  you  think  you  could  climb  a  bit 
higher  up  the  tree  and  see  if  you  can  see  any- 
thing of  Walter?" 

"I  will  try,"  I  replied,  and  after  some 
scrambling  and  a  good  deal  of  scratching 
from  the  rough  limbs  1  got  up  higher,  where  I 
could  see  to  a  considerable  distance.  Nothing 
was  in  sight,  however,  but  I  saw  that,  luckily 
for  us,  our  horses  were  both  quietly  feeding 
at  no  great  distance.  So  I  returned  to  my 
original  seat. 

When  I  started  to  climb  up 
the  bull  arose  and  glared  at  me, 
watching  every  movement  I 
made,  but  when  I  came  back  be- 
lay down  again. 

"I  am.  afraid,"  I  remarked, 
"  that  this  brute  will  remain  here 
until  night,  or  until  he  gets  thirsty. 
I  don't  know  how  far  the  nearest 
water  is,  but  I  don't  think  we 
should  be  any  too  secure  even  if 
he  did  go  away.  I  think  he  is 
mean  enough  to  hide  and  try 
and  catch  us." 

"If  we  could  only  light  a  fire 
and  drop  it  upon  him  he  might 
be  induced  to  go,"  said  Laura  ; 
"  but  everything  here  is  green, 
so  we  can't  do  that." 

At  the  word  "  fire "  a  bright 
idea  came  to  me.  "  Laura,"  I 
said,  "  I  see  a  way  out  of  our 
troubles  !  I  think  I  can  make  his 
bullship  clear  out,  and  in  a  hurry, 
too.  How  many  cartridges  have 
you  in  your  belt  ?  " 
"  Ten,"  she  replied. 
"  Well,  I  have  a  dozen,"  I  con- 
tinued. "They  are  filled  with 
black  powder,  like  yours.     Now, 


here   is    my    pocket-knife.     Cut  i 

cartridges,  and  collect  thi 
kerchief.  I  will  do  the 
round  the  bullet  it  will  easily 

This  occupied  us  f< 

finished    we    had    quite    a    I 
powder. 

My  travelling-flask   had  a  nickel   cup   a 
bottom,   and  I  poured   the   powder  into  it, 
then  put  a  little  water  on  the  powder,  mixii  . 
with  my  knife  into  a  stiff  paste.     This  don.-.  1 
took    the    mass    in   my   hands   and    thoroughly 
kneaded  it,  like  dough,   until  I  had   forme 
cone-shaped  lump. 

The  bull  was  now  lying  down  quietly,  about 
eight  feet  below  the  limb  I  was  sitting  on. 

I  took  a  fusee  from  my  match-box  and  stuck 
it  in  the  apex  of  the  cone,  which  I  stood  on 
bottom  of  the  inverted  flask-cup.  Then  I  struck 
another  fusee,  and  lit  the  one  which  was  fixed  in 
the  cone-shaped  mass  of  gunpowder  paste.  I  . 
damp  powder  caught  fire  at  once  and  when  fairly 
alight  flared  away  merrily.*  Reaching  down 
as  far  as  I  could  I  quietly  dropped  the  blazing 
mass  on  to  the  bull's  back.  It  alighted  just 
between  his  shoulders   and   stuck   there.      In  a 

*  As  a  boy  I  had  often  made  this  kind  of  firework,  which  we  i 
a  "  miniature  Vesuvius  "  or  "  devil." 


3PKANG   TO   HIS    FEET    AND  TERRIFIC   KOAR. 


6oo 


THK     WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


moment  the  long,  greasy  hair  which  covered 
that  part  like  a  mane  caught  tire  and  blazed  up. 
small,  portable  volcano  meanwhile  burning 
furiously,  throwing  out  a  dense  smoke  and 
showers  of  sparks. 

This  miniature  eruption  was  too  much  for  the 


where  we  were  to  have  met  Walter  and  his  wife. 
In  less  than  half  an  hour  we  met  them  coming 
to  look  for  us,  anxious  at  our  non-arrival. 

I  never  heard  anyone  laugh  so  heartily  as 
Walter  did  when  we  told  him  of  our  adventure. 
Both  our  predicament  and  the  stratagem  we  had 


'I    NEVER   HEARD   ANYONE    LAUGH   SO   HEARTILY   AS    WALTER   DID   WHEN    WE  TOLD    HIM    OF   OUR    ADVENTURE. 


bull's  nerves.  He  sprang  to  his  feet,  gave  a 
terrific  roar,  and  shook  himself  violently  ;  but  the 
fiery  mass  was  s'uck  tightly,  entangled  in  the 
thick  hair,  which,  as  I  have  said,  was  now  fairly 
ablaze.  Wild  with  pain  and  fright,  roaring  and 
bellowing,  the  bull  tore  madly  away  and  in  a 
very  short  time  was  lost  to 
view.  I  hastily  climbed 
higher  up  and  saw  him  still 
racing  furiously  away,  fortu- 
nately in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion to  the  place  where  our 
horses  were  grazing. 

We  very  soon  reached  the 
ground  and  hurried  to  our 
guns  and  then  ran  in  the 
direction  of  our  horses.  Laura 
stopped  presently  and  told 
me  that  the  horses  were 
trained  to  come  to  a  whistle. 
Producing  a  tiny  silver  affair, 
she  blew  a  call,  and  after 
a  few  notes  we  had  the  plea- 
sure of  seeing  both  the 
animals  trot  up.  We  caught 
them,  fixed  up  the  broken 
bridles,  and  then  mounted 
and  cantered  off  to  the  place 


'  LAURA,"  THE  AUTHOR'S   COMPANION   ON  THE  HUNT- 
NG    EXPEDITION,     AND     WHO    AFTFRWARDS     BECAME 

from  a]  HIS  wife.  {Photo. 


resorted  to  in  order  to  escape  tickled  him 
immensely.  He  and  his  wife  had  not  met  any 
cattle,  but  on  their  way  to  look  for  us  had  heard 
a  strange,  bellowing  noise— presumably  made  by 
our  bull,  still  suffering  from  the  effects  of  his 
experience  with  our  miniature  volcano. 

As  it  was  now  getting  late 
we  made  the  best  of  our  way 
home,  sending  some  men 
next  day  to  skin  our  game. 
They  also  roped  the  calf  and, 
after  some  little  trouble, 
brought  it  along  to  the  ranch. 
Walter's  wife  reared  it,  and, 
although  very  wild  at  first,  it 
soon  became  tame. 

Laura  is  now  my  wife, 
and  often  accompanies  me 
on  my  hunting  trips,  but  we 
don't  leave  our  guns  under 
trees  again  when  we  have  shot 
our  game.  We  often  laugh, 
too,  over  the  way  our 
courts!)  ip  began  and  our 
experience  with  that  wild 
bull,  when  we  were,  both 
literally  and  figuratively,  "up 
a  tree." 


J\  £onety  OVans  -  African    Jramp. 

By    Major    P.    H.    G.    Powell  -  Cotton    (late    5111    Northi 

III.— FROM    MOUNT    ELGON   TO    THE    DODINGA    COT  NTRY. 

The  "  Wide  World "  is  the  first  English  magazine  to  publish  an  account— written  by  the  explorer 
himself— of  Major  Powell-Cotton's  great  twenty-one  months'  journey  across  Central  Africa  from 
Mombasa  to  Khartoum.  The  expedition  may  be  described  as  one  of  the  most  noteworthy  of  recent 
times,  among  its  results  being  the  mapping  of  a  great  extent  of  hitherto  unknown  country  and  the 
discovery  of  six    new   tribes.       For   over   sixteen    months   the  intrepid   explorer   was   absolutely    alone 

amid  the  savage  tribes  of  Equatorial  Africa. 


From  a  Photo.  by] 


FTER  spending  some  days  buying 
flour  by  the  "  Hippo  River,"  as  the 
Svvahilis  call  the  stream  to  the 
north  of  Mount  Elgon,  which  never 
runs  dry,  1  determined  to  explore 
the  western  side  of  Mount  Debasien,  a  part 
where  no  white  man  had  ever  been,  and 
investigate  the  existence  of  a  lake  marked  on 
the  map,  but  of  which  the  natives  denied  all 
knowledge.  The  mountain  is  one  of  the  most 
striking  I  have  seen,  towering  masses  of  jagged 
red  rock  contrasting  grandly  with  the  dark 
green  foliage  of  the  well-wooded  valleys  below. 
AH  the  water  in  this  region  was  now  rapidly 
disappearing,  and  in  the  pools  left  in  the  bed  of 
a  stream  my  men  caught  great  quantities  of  fish, 
which  they  feasted  on,  smoking  the  remainder 
over  green  wood  fires  to  serve  as  provision  on 
the  road. 

These  swampy,  half-dry  rivers  were  always  a 
source  of  trouble  to  the  sofari.  The  men  would 
carefully  coast  along  the  edge  of  the  open  water, 
treading  down  the  reeds,  when  suddenly  the 
foothold  would   give  way  and  the  leader  plunge 

Vol.  xii.-76. 


into   water   and    mud    up 
to  his  waist.     The  picture 
is  typical  of  one  of  thi 
places  in   Kikuyu,  wh 
we  had  to  cross  many  of 
i  hem. 

We  marched  along  the 
northern  side  of  the 
mountain,  across  the  pi; 
where  the  lake  should 
have  been,  but  could  find 
no  trace  of  either  its  pre- 
sent or  past  exist*  nee. 
When  we  rejoined  the 
usual  native  caravan  route 
we  turned  and  followed  it 
northward  on  to  the  Kara- 
moja  plateau.  At  Mani 
Manij  which  we  pas 
through,  there  was  a  la 
permanent  camp  of  Swa- 
hili  ivory  trailers,  from 
whom  I  got  much  useful 
information  about  the  country  I  proposed  to 
visit. 

Among  their  cattle  were   some  of  the   ex- 
ordinary  Usoga  cows,  with  wide-spreading  horns 
each  over  three  feet  in  length.     These   are    not 
considered  good  travellers,  and  some  are  rather 


[F.  c.  Cobb. 


THE   EXTRAORDINARY    USOGA  COWS,    EACH    OF    WHOSE    HOH 

From  a]  ihree  kki  !gth.  \I  hoto. 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


inclined  to  be  ill 
t<  m'pered,  whirl) 
makt  s  it  lively  woik 
for  a  would-be  milkt  r 
or  photographer,  as 
1  found  when  1  tried 
to  snap  them.  In 
one  traders'  ramp, 
while  1  was  taking 
some  photos.,  I  no- 
ticed all  the  sheep 
crowding  together, 
and  on  going  nearer 
found  a  new  -  born 
lamb.  Each  sheep 
would  push  in  close 
to  sniff  at  it  and  then 
give  place  to  another. 
In  spite  of  the  hust- 
ling, it  was  curious  to  see  the  care  they  took 
not  to  tread  on  the  helpless  little  creature. 

Continuing  our  journey  we  reached  Bokora, 
where  I  opened  a  market  in  order  to  purchase 
donkeys  and  flour.  Soon  the  camp  was  a  busy 
scene ;  from  early  morn  till  dusk  Karamoja 
warriors  stalked  in,  followed  by  a  line  of  their 
wives  and  children,  each  of  whom  carried  little 
leather  sacks  or  gourds  filled  with  flour.  These 
would  all  be  deposited  at  a  short  distance  from 
where  my  headman  was  sitting  before  piles  of 
different-coloured  beads  and  coils  of  brass  and 
iron  wire.     The  chief  of  the  party  would  then 


From  a] 


SHEEP    INSPECTING    A    NEW-BORN    LAMB. 


approach  with  a  cala 
lush  lull  of  flour  to 
see  what  goods  would 
be  offered  in  ex- 
change. If  he  were 
satisfied  he  would 
come  back  with  an- 
other measureful, 
and  so  on  till  his 
store  was  exhausted. 
If,  on  the  contrary, 
he  was  not  pleased 
with  our  goods  or 
the  quantity  we  gave 
him,  the  whole  party 
would  resume  their 
loads  and  stalk  off, 
only  to  be  at  once 
pursued  by  two  of 
my  men  with  a  small  present  of  tobacco  and 
many  soft  words  to  induce  them  to  return. 
•  As  a  whole  they  were  a  good-natured  crowd, 
and  I  secured  some  excellent  snap-shots  of  them 
as  they  strolled  about  camp,  or  stood  in  little 
groups  discussing  their  bargains  with  us. 

Having  bartered  as  many  donkeys  as  I  wanted 


{Photo. 


From  a] 


KARAMOJA    WO 


[Photo. 


l-'roill  a]     KARAMOJA  CHIEFS  DISCUSSING  A  BARGAIN.        [Photo. 


and  exhausted  the  supply  of  flour  in  the  neigh 
bourhood,  I  set  out  for  Mount  Moroto,  where  I 
heard  the  people  always  had  a  surplus  of  corn. 
As  I  approached  the  mountain  my  curiosity 
was  keenly  excited  by  the  tales  I  heard  of  the 
Tepeth,  as  the  Karamoja  call  the  tribe  who 
inhabit  it.  Leaving  the  camp  in  a  fine  valley  at 
the  foot,  I  climbed  to  one  of  the  little  plateaus 
on   which    the  villages   are    built;   the   present 


A    LONELY    TRANS-AFRICAN    TRAMP 


"THE   MAN   WHO    WEARS   ONE    BOOT" — A    NOTED    KIKUYU   CHIEF. 

From  a  Photo,  by  F.  C.  Cobb. 


one  held  a  collection  of  ten  huts  inside 
a  stockade.  At  sight  of  me  the  people  bolted 
like  so  many  scared  rabbits,  for  they  had 
never  seen  a  white  man  before ;  however, 
a  few  little  presents  to  the  village  chief  and 
one  or  two  of  the  older  men,  who  ventured 
forward,  reassured  them,  and  they  gradually 
came  trooping  back ;  but  the  first  glimpse  of 
the  camera  sent  them  off  again,  and  it  was  not 
until  I  started  catching  the  many-hued  butterflies 
which  flitted  about  the  hillside,  and  thus 
aroused  their  curiosity  as  to  what  I  could  be 
doing,  that  they  forgot  their  fears  and  ventured 
back,  when  I  was  able  to  secure  some 
pictures  of  them. 

It  was  always  interesting  to  see  how 
the  different  tribes  received  the  camera 
— some  with  fear,  others  with  great 
suspicion,  while  many  showed  the  ut- 
most curiosity,  and,  like  little  ones  in 
this  country,  expected  something  to  fly 
out  of  the  lens.  In  Kikuyu  Mr.  Cobb 
secured  a  good  photo,  of  this  latter 
type  of  "sitter" — a  noted  chief,  whom 
we  recognised  at  once  from  his  descrip- 
tion as  "The  man  who  wears  one  boot," 
which,  moreover,  he  does  impartially  on 
either  foot.  In  the  photo,  it  will  be 
seen  he  has  a  right  boot  on  the  left 
foot. 

There  was  one  feature  about  their 
dwellings  which  at  once  caught  my  eye, 


.iiid  tin 

upp 

rough  la 

in  the  thatch.     In 
wanderings  in  Afri 
where  I   musl   hai 

the    habitation-,    ol     . 
one      hundred      diff<  I 
tribes,    I    have  in  ■. 
with  any  others  lik<   I 
A  good  contrast  to  ti 
double  d    dwell: 

were     the     low,    circular, 
haycock-like   huts  of  the 
Nandi,  such  as  the  picture 
shows.      Built  by  sti<  i. 
boughs    into  the  ground 
in  a  circle,  the  tops  b< 
entwined  and    long  g: 
heaped     all     over,      t! 
are    quickly    constru< 
when     a    new    village    i> 
formed,    and    do    well 
till      replaced     later      by 
more   permanent   buildings. 

Another  interesting  fact  about  these  people 
is  that  the  Karamoja  look  upon  the  Tepeth  as 
magicians,  and  are  careful  not  to  offend  them  in 
any  way,  as  they  firmly  believe  the  latter  cai 
withhold  rain  and  bring  a  plague  upon  their 
cattle.  With  the  help  of  little  bundles  of  stick 
I  got  the  chief  to  tell  me  how  many  men  there 
were  in  each  hut,  and  then  the  number  of  their 
villages,  the  result  of  his  laborious  calculation 
giving  only  a  total  of  some  five  hundred  souls, 
of  which  about  half  would  be  fighting  men. 
The   Karamoja  outnumber   them    by  an    01 


A    NANDI    HUT 


[Photo. 


604 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


From  a 


whelming    majority,  and    in  a 

in  of  drought  arc  often 
entirely  without  flour  or  green 
pasturage,  while  these  people, 
living  at  a  higher  altitude,  get 
ram.  and  consequently  are  rich 
in  all  that  the  others  need.  Yet 
the  former  dread  the  Tepeth 
and  leave  them  in  peaceful 
—  :on  of  their  land  —  a 
striking  <.  \ample  of  how.  even 
among  savages,  mind  some 
times  triumphs  over  mere 
brute  force. 

The  Karamoja  warrior,  with 
his  long,  slender  spear,  giraffe 
hide  shield,  curious  knife  or 
hook  finger  rings  for  tearing  an 
enemy's  flesh  at  close  quarters, 
his  different  forms  of  hair- 
dressing,  and  streamers  of 
goat-skin  in  place  of  clothing, 
said  to  be  an  excellent 
lighting  man,  able  to  travel 
long  distances  without  food  or  water, 
spearman,  and  no  mean  judge  of  cattle. 

Marching  to  the  northern  foot  of 
•to,  we  descended  into  a 
whose  waters  flow  to  Lake  Rudolf, 
cliffs,  over  which  two  fine  waterfalls  gush,  form 
the  face  of  the  mountain  in  this  direction  ; 
but  most  interesting  to  me  was  what  ap- 
peared to  be  lines  of  writing  in  huge  cha- 
racters on  the  almost  flat  surface  of  the 
rock.  Even  when  I  used  the  glasses  this 
impression  was  not  dispelled,  and  it  was  not  till 
I  had  marched  for  three  hours  nearer  to  the 
cliffs  that  I  assured  myself  the  indentations 
were  not  the  work  of  man,  but  were  produced 
by  parallel  lines  of  faults  in  the  strata. 

My  next  task  was  to  find  a  road  into  the 
■head  of  the  Tarash  River,  which,  according 
to  the  map,  rises  on  the  eastern  side  of 
Murosokar.  This  proved  no  easy  matter,  for, 
although  I  sent  out  parties  in  all  directions, 
they  returned  without  having  found  water  or  a 
practicable  road.  I  then  set  out  myself  with  a 
few  men  and  two  days'  water  supply,  and, 
after  a  hard  and  fruitless  day's  work  among 
sun-scorched  rocks,  was 
that  my  followers  had 
almost  all  the  water, 
bivouacked  on  a  little 
lying    in     another     small 

when 


GROUP   OF    KARAMOJA    WARRIORS. 


\Photo. 


great 


good 


Mount 

valley, 

Mighty 


Towards   midnight, 

died    out,    a   rustling    in 

crunch    of    gravel,    as    of 

feeding  on  the  hillside,  disturbed  me.     At  first 

I  merely  listened  to  its  progress  in  a  sleepy  sort 


horrified    to    find 

recklessly    finished 

That      night      I 

plateau,     my     men 

clearing     near     by. 

the    fire   had   nearly 

the    jungle   and    the 

some    large    animal 


of  way  ;  but  as  it  drew  nearer  it  suddenly 
flashed  on  me  that  I  had  noticed  the  sandy 
surface  of  the  ground  where  I  lay  was  all  cut 
up  by  rhinos.  This,  then,  was  doubtless  one  of 
those  beasts  coming  to  take  his  nightly  sand 
bath  on  the  very  spot  where  I  had  spread  my 
blankets.  Seizing  my  rifle  I  retreated  to  the 
fire,  and,  while  my  boy  tried  to  create  a  blaze, 
I  endeavoured  to  make  out  the  animal  among 
the  bushes.  Nearer  and  nearer  it  came,  and 
then,  just  as  I  could  discern  the  dim  outline  of  the 
huge  beast,  it  stopped,  as  if  reconnoitring  us. 
We  shouted  and  waved  burning  brands  in  the 
hope  of  scaring  it  away,  but  it  again  advanced. 
My  men  fled,  and  I  was  on  the  point  of  firing 
when  with  a  loud  snort  it  turned  and  dashed 
down  the  hillside,  to  an  accompaniment  of 
rolling  stones  and  crashing  jungle. 

Next  morning  I  sent  back  two  men  to  order 
a  supply  of  water  to  meet  me,  while  I  went  on 
a  little  farther.  Soon  we  struck  a  well-worn 
game  path,  which  we  all  felt  sure  must  lead  to 
a  water-hole.  On  and  on  we  trudged  under  a 
scorching  sun,  that  beat  upon  the  rocks  till  they 
blistered  the  bare  feet  of  my  followers  and  pro- 
duced a  thirst  that  there  was  nothing  to  quench. 
The  men  gradually  fell  out,  until  as  I  entered 
a  deep  bay  in  the  hills  only  two  were  left. 
Searching  the  arid  slopes  with  my  glasses,  I 
espied  what  appeared  to  be  a  fine  waterfall  at 
the  head  of  a  rocky  gorge.  This  sight  put  new 
spirit  into  us,  and,  leaving  the  syce  with  my  mule, 
I  pushed  on  with  my  one  remaining  follower. 
After  an  hour's  scramble  over  very  rough  ground 
I  found  that  what  I  had  taken  for  water  falling 


A    LONELY    TRANS-AFRICAN      I  KAMI' 


over  the  face  of  a  cliff  was  but  the  dry  and  white 
worn  channel  of  its  former  course.  At  this 
discovery  my  Swahili  lost  all  heart  and,  sinking 
on  the  ground,  said  he  could  go  no  farther.  I 
handed  him  my  water-bottle  and  kept  on,  in  the 
hope  that  there  might  be  a  pool  among  the 
rocks  at  the  foot  of  the  fall,  but  in  this  too  I 
was  disappointed.  When  we  regained  the  place 
where  I  had  left  the  mule — for  it  was  slow  work 
getting  my  gun-bearer  along  — night  was  rapidly 
falling,  and  I  felt  that,  unless  we  got  water 
before  another  sun  rose  and  set,  we  should  all 
inevitably  perish.  So  I  took  my  rifle  and  a  few 
cartridges  and  set  out  with  the  syce,  telling  the 
gun-bearer  to  follow  later  on  if  he  felt  able,  but 
on  no  account  to  lose  the  path.  On  the  way  I 
found  my  other  men  ;  one,  even  after  a  double 
allowance  of  water  measured  out  in  the  cap  of 
the  telescope,  was  too  exhausted  to  walk,  but  the 
others  plucked  up  heart  enough  to  try  and  keep 
on  with  me  ;  so,  abandoning  the  loads,  we  set 
out  on  our  weary  march.  I  decided  to  strike 
across  the  valley,  for  I 
doubted  either  my  men  or 
myself  having  strength  to 
follow  the  hilly  path  we 
had  come  by. 

We  would  push  along  for 
perhaps  an  hour,  stumbling 
over  innumerable  stones  in 
the  deceptive  moonlight, 
then  throw  ourselves  on  the 
ground  for  a  few  minutes, 
while  I  doled  out  a  few 
drops  of  water  to  moisten 
our  parched  throats  and 
cracked  lips,  and  then 
struggle  to  our  feet  again. 
Once  we  struck  a  mud-hole, 
and  the  desperate  men  fell 
to  digging  feverishly  with 
their  hands,  but  no  water 
rewarded  their  labour. 
Again  I  urged  them  for- 
ward in  a  hoarse  croak, 
for  my  voice  had  nearly 
gone,  telling  them  that  we 
must  be  near  the  relief  party.  We  made  but 
slow  progress,  as  I  had  to  continually  halt  and 
call  the  men  by  name,  to  make  sure  they  were 
still  following.  This  continued  for  a  long  hour, 
when,  utterly  exhausted,  they  threw  themselves 
down,  saying  they  might  as  well  die  where  they 
were.  I  fired  my  rifle,  hoping  that  the  sound 
might  reach  my  men  from  camp,  but  the  echo, 
rolling  along  the  mountain  gorges,  alone 
answered  the  report.  After  half  an  hour's  rest 
I  served  out  the  few  remaining  drops  of  water 
and  urged  them  to  make  a  last  effort  before  the 


TURK  ANA  CHI]   I     W  1 

From  a 


pitiless  sun  ro 

ining,  and  at  la 
a  faint  light  twin!. 
we  drew  nearer,  tin 
after,  in   reply    I  whistle 

carried      i     saw    the    flicker    of 
party   of    my    nu  n    made    their    \ 
slope,  bearing  great  ol  w.  t<  r  to  out 

How  delicious   it   was   to   sit    sipping   tl, 
water  and    to   have   a    stream    ol    it  poui 
my  burning  head:      Before  dawn  a 
with   water,    food,    and    donkeys    wen     mi    : 
way  to  rescue  the  remainder  of  my  litt 
and   bring  in    the    things    we-    had    abam 
All   got    back    safely    except    on. 
whose  body  was  not  disco\ered  for  two  or  ti 
days.     He  was  found  under  a  tree  at  some  little 
distance  from  the  path,  where  he  had,  no  douht. 
sought  shelter   from    the   burning  sun,   only  to 
perish  of  thirst  before  help  reached  him. 

At  length  we  did  find  a  way  over  the  mountain 
ridge  and  down  into  the  Tarash  valley.     A  few 

days    later,  while   ma 
along  tlu-  hank  of  tl 
river  bed   some  way   ahead 
of    my    caravan,     I     heard 
cattle      lowing,     and,      on 
emerging  from  a    grove   of 
fine  trees,  found  myself  in 
the  midst  of  a  great  crowd 
of     Turkana,     who     were 
watering     their    herds    and 
flocks  from  a  pit  dug  in  the 
river-bed.     Our  apj 
caused    no   visible    excite- 
ment :    they    in.  rely   drew 
each  other's  attention  to  us, 
and  one  tall  old  man  with 
a   huge  chignon  came  for 
ward  and,   shaking    mi 
the  hand,  led  me  to  a  fallen 
trunk    in    the   shade.      The 
Turkana     have  Tin 
warlike  reputation  of  all  the 
tribes    in    that   part   of    the 
country,   and    had 
accounted  for  the  death 
a  number  of  the  Austin  and   Bright 
So  it  required  a  certain  amount  i 
down  quietly  and  try  to  look  as  if  1   had  ni 
care  in  the  world  when  in  reality  my  an\ 
intense.     None  of  the  three  men  with  me  ki 
more  than  a  few  words  of  greeting  in  Turkana. 
My  interpreter  was  far  behind,  and  I  could 
the    women   and   children    were    rapidly  dri\ 
off     the    flocks    and    herds.        This    did 
look     friendly,     and    when,     in     addition,    the 
fighting  men   began    to  gather    in   little   groups 
under     trees    close     by    I    feared    it  with 


lO    RECEIV  ED    lilt 

Photo. 


6o6 


Mil.     WIDE    WORLD     MAC.A/INK. 


the   intention  o\   rushing  in  simultaneously  and 
spearing  us. 

I  was  explaining  to  my  men  what  1  proposed 
doing  if  they  bared  their  spears— a  sure  sign  of 
intended  attack — when,  to  my  relief,  1  saw  first 
one  and  then  another  party  draw  o((  and  follow 
the  herds.  Just  as  the  last  hand  was  disappear- 
ing my  interpreter  arrived,  and  1  sent  him  off 
haste  to  overtake  them.  He  explained 
matters  so  successfully  that  they  soon  returned, 
and,  the  caravan  having  come  up,  I  distributed 
little  presents  of  tobacco  and  iron  wire,  and  so 
greatly  won  their  confidence  in  the  stranger 
with  the  white  face  that  they  sent  for  the  herds 
to  be  brought  back.  Our  camp  was  soon 
thronged  with  men,  women,  and  children,  full 
of  curiosity.  1.  as  the  fust  white  man  they  had 
seen,  was  the  chief  object  of  interest,  the 
amount  of  clothes  I  wore  seeming  to  excite 
almost  as  much  wonder  as  the  colour  of 
my  face  and  hands.  When  I  began  to 
unpack  and  set  up  a  Monarch  gramophone 
there  was  a  momentary  stampede,  but  on 
my  interpreter  explaining  that  it  was  neither 
a  machine-gun  nor  an  instrument  for  the 
wholesale  dealing  out  of  curses  and  spells, 
as  they  seemed  to  imagine — that,  in  fact,  it 
would  only  speak  and  play  to  them — they  re- 
assembled, and  I  soon  had  a  large  and  attentive 
group  sitting  and  standing  about  the  door  of 
my  tent.  Whistling  pieces,  dialogues,  and  banjo 
duets  appealed  to  them  most  ;  the  Farkoa 
laughing  song  proved  a  great  favourite,  and 
as  it  went  on  their  faces  would  get  broader 
and  broader  till  all  were  in  roars  of  merri- 
ment. After  the  gramophone  entertainment  the 
warriors  fell  in  five  abreast  and  danced  round 
the  camp.  It  was  a  picturesque  sight  as  these 
tall,  perfectly  naked  savages  stamped  their  feet 
and  waved  their  spears  and  little  shields  in 
concert,  the  ostrich  feathers  stuck  in  their  hair, 
the  curious  circular  knives  on  their  right  wrists, 
and  the  tassels  of  giraffe  hair  fastened  to  their 
left  elbows,  all  helping  to  make  up  as  quaint 
a  picture  as  I  have  ever  seen.  The  next  day 
we  had  a  heavy  shower  of  rain,  a  most  unusual 
occurrence  at  that  time  of  year.  This  con- 
firmed their  belief  that  I  was  a  great  medicine- 
man, for  not  only  could  I  make  a  box 
talk  and  imitate  animals,  but,  what  was  of 
more  practical  use,  I  could  bring  rain  when 
I   wanted  it. 


Alt.  i  descending  the  Tarash  valley  lor  some 
days  we  struck  out  for  a  range  of  hills  to  the 
north-west,  along  the  foot  of  which  lay  a  number 
of  brackish  pooh.  It  was  here  that,  to  my 
surprise,  I  found  a  great  tract  of  country  dotted 
with  elephant  skeletons.  My  guide  called  it 
"The  place  where  the  elephants  come  to  die," 
and  declared  it  was  no  sudden  plague  that  had 
decimated  a  huge  herd,  as  I  at  first  imagined, 
but  that  the  animals  when  they  felt  sick  would 
deliberately  conn:  long  distances  to  lay  their 
bones  in  this  place.  I  had  previously  heard 
from  Swahili  traders  of  these  "  cemeteries,"  where 
occasionally  they  would  find  more  ivory  than 
they  could  carry,  but  had  always  considered 
them  as  a  myth.  This  one  was  well  known  to 
the  Turkana,  who  regularly  visited  it  to  carry  off 
the  ivory.  However,  my  men  found  several 
tusks,  among  them  a  specially  fine  pair  of  cow 
ivory. 

Our  way  now  lay  through  a  wide  valley  that 
was  simply  teeming  with  elephants.  The  caravan 
was  continually  coming  across  herds,  when  the 
porters  would  throw  down  their  loads  and  an 
indescribable  jumble  of  men,  donkeys,  cattle, 
and  sheep  would  be  flying  before  some  irate 
monster  that  resented  our  intrusion.  The  delays 
caused  by  these  little  incidents,  added  to  the 
great  distances  between  water,  made  the  marches 
through  this  country  very  trying.  One  night  we 
had  to  make  shift  with  the  foulest  water  I  have 
ever  tried  to  drink.  Originally  a  small  brackish 
pool,  it  had  been  fouled  by  so  many  elephants, 
to  say  nothing  of  lesser  beasts,  that  it  resembled 
a  basin  of  thick,  evil-smelling  pea-soup  more 
than  the  purer  element.  My  tent  was  pitched 
barely  two  hundred  yards  from  this  spot,  among 
some  scanty  thorn  trees.  Soon  after  dark  a  herd 
of  elephants  came  to  drink,  and  far  too  close 
their  gambols  sounded  in  the  stillness  of  the 
night,  as  I  sat  at  my  tent  door,  nursing 
my  trusty  Jeffery  -6oo  cordite  rifle,  for  fear 
they  should  take  it  into  their  heads  to  stroll  my 
way.  Many  were  the  carefully-planned  stalks  I 
carried  out  before  I  left  this  valley,  only  to  find 
there  was  no  big  bull  in  the  herd. 

We  were  now  getting  very  short  of  flour,  and, 
as  I  heard  that  bands  of  Abyssinians  were  raid- 
ing Northern  Toposa,  I  determined  to  turn 
farther  west  and  visit  the  Dodinga  country, 
where  the  people  were  said  to  be  friendly  and 
there  was  plenty  of  corn. 


(To   be  continued.) 


"  DEAD     OR     ALIVE." 


By   Miss   Lucy    M.  Willard. 

A  thrilling  adventure  which  befell  an  English  governess  in  Texas.  A  number  of  desperate 
criminals  escaped  from  the  State  Penitentiary,  and  their  leader  and  a  companion,  armed  with 
rifles,  made  their  way  to  the  Lieutenant-Governor's  house  to  wreak  vengeance  on  him  and  his 
family.     The  authoress   and  her  little  charge  were  alone  in  the  house.      What  happened  •■ 

the  convicts  broke  in  is  described  in  the  story. 


ITTLE  did  I  think  when  I  left 
England  that  within  two  years  my 
name  would  be  known  to  ten  thou- 
sand people,  each  and  every  one  of 
whom  contributed  to  a  monster  sub- 
scription-list, amounting  to  four  thousand 
pounds,  which  I  was  asked  to  accept.  But  I 
had  better  begin  my  story  in  the  right  place. 


MISS    LUCY   M.    WILLARD,    THE   AUTHORESS. 

From  a  Photo. 

I   had   been  in -the  family  of   the   Duke  of 

M for  some  time  as  governess  when,  my 

health  getting  very  bad,  his  Grace  advised  my 
taking  a  trip  to  America,  to  the  State  of  Texas, 
where  the  climate  is  very  beneficial  to  the 
ailment  from  which  I  suffered.  Her  Grace  the 
Duchess  gave  me,  among  many  other  pleasant 
tokens,  a  letter  to  Mrs.  Newman,  the  wife  of  the 
then  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Texas. 

I  left  my  native  England  with  a  heavy  heart 
and  many  misgivings,  my  mother  being  well 
advanced  in  years.     I  arrived  in   Dallas,  Texas, 


one  June  morning,  and  after  arranging  for 
suitable  lodgings  called  on  a  well-known 
specialist,  who  prescribed  for  me.  In 
months'  time,  thanks  to  my  good  adviser  and 
the  magnificent  climate,  I  was  thoroughly  well, 
so  I  bethought  myself  of  her  Grace's  letter, 
which  I  presented  in  person  to  the  lady 
addressed.  I  was  most  kindly  received,  and 
was  extremely  fortunate,  for  Mrs.  Newman 
proffered  me  a  situation  as  governess  to  her 
little  daughter.  My  mother  being  quite  well 
and  happy  in  London,  I  accepted  the  place  and 
soon  felt  quite  at  home  in  my  newsurroundii 


miss  wii  i  n.ii  PUP1I 

From  11  P 

My  little  charge.,  a  most  beautiful  child  of  eight 
years,  was  thoroughly  American  and  "  bright  as 

a  dollar."    We  were  soon  great  friends,  and  after 
lessons  spent  many  happy  hours  together. 


THE    Wini;    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


-  tme  lour  months  after  I  had  been  with  the 

family,  which  consisted  ol  Colonel  Newman,  his 

wife,  mother,  and  daughter,  the  southern  part  of 

rexas  was  thrown   into  a   furore  of  excitement 

over  an  extensive  ".gaol  deliver},"  which 
occurred  at  the  State  Penitentiary.  Twenty 
convicts  managed  to  make  good  their  escape, 
amongst  which  number  were  several  murderers 
undergoing  life  sentences,  horse-thieves,  and 
other  desperadoes. 

The  ringleader  of  the  outbreak  was  one  Bill 
Kelly,  known  throus;  lOUt  Texas  as  "  15iu  Bill." 
This  desperado  was  feared  by  everybody,  the 
police  especially,  as  he  took  the  keenest  delight 
in  shooting  down  an  officer  without  the  slightest 
compunction.  He  had  committed  several 
murders,  but  so  great  was  the  awe  in  which  he 
was  held  that  he  always  succeeded  in  making  it 
a  case  of  self-defence  -witnesses  springing  up 
from  nowhere  to  swear  that  he  was  the  aggrieved 
party.  Finally  he  was  convicted  of  "holding- 
up  "  the  •"  Texas  Flyer,"  a  fast  train  on  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  and  was  sentenced  to  twenty 
years'  penal  servitude.  'Then  came  his  escape, 
with  nineteen  other  ruffians. 

The  sheriff  of  Belknap  County,  assisted  by  a 
large  posse  and  a  pack  of  bloodhounds,  was  soon 
on  the  trail  of  the  escaped  convicts,  and 
one  by  one  they  were  recaptured,  not, 
however,  without  some  severe  fighting,  in 
which  several  men  were  killed.  Big  Bill 
and  three  companions  alone  remained  to  be 
caught,  and  they  left  their  cards  at  different 
points,  in  the  shape  of  dead  deputy-sheriffs, 
stolen  horses,  and  other  horrible  crimes. 
They  were  trying  to  cross  the  border  into 
Mexico,  and  every  available  officer 
was  sent  to  one  point  or  another,  in  order 
to  frustrate  their  designs. 

Now  it  happened  that  Kelly  had  on 
several  occasions  while  in  prison  written 
letters  to  the  Governor  of  Texas,  begging 
for  clemency  and  promising  to  turn  over 
a  new  leaf  if  he  were  liberated.  'To  these 
the  Governor  paid  little  or  no  attention  ; 
in  fact,  the  letters  did  not  reach  him  per- 
sonally, his  secretary  knowing  the  futility 
of  troubling  him  with  them.  In  prison 
Kelly  was  out  of  harm's  way,  or  rather  the 
public  was,  and  it  was  judged  best  to  keep 
him  there. 

-  veral  days  after  the  men  broke  gaol  a 
letter  was  delivered  to  the  (Governor.  It  was 
from  Kelly,  and  bore  the  collection  mark 
of  a  post-office  some  sixty  miles  distant. 

"  You  refused  me  the  chance  of  reform- 
ing," it  read.  "  You  laughed  at  me  in  'stir' 
(prison).  Now  I'll  give  you  a  run  for  your 
money,  see  if  I  don't." 


There  were  many  brave  men  in  'Texas,  and 
the  Governor  was  one  of  them,  but  Kelly  was  a 
dead  shot,  and  would  shoot  from  behind  most 
likely,  so  the  Governor  looked  after  his  six- 
shooter  and  smiled.  Our  house,  separated  only 
by  about  fifty  yards  of  garden,  adjoined  that  of 
the  Governor,  both  being  about  half  a  mile 
from  town  and  identical  in  construction — large 
square  "frame"  or  wooden  houses  surrounded 
by  a  piazza  at  the  first  story,  which  made  it 
possible  to  step  from  any  window  on  that  floor 
out  on  to  the  veranda. 

It  was  some  three  weeks  since  the  escape, 
and  public  excitement  had  somewhat  subsided, 
though  every  effort  was  being  made  to  capture 
Kelly  and  his  companions.  A  reward  of  two 
hundred  dollars  had  been  offered  for  the  capture 
of  each  of  the  men  and  five  hundred  for  Kelly, 
"dead  or  alive." 

On  Saturday  morning  the  Governor  went  with 
his  family  to  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas,  for  a  short 
holiday,  and  in  his  absence — as  is  the  custom 
in  America — the  Lieutenant-Governor  had  the 
power  of  the  Chief  Executive  vested  in  him. 
The  next  day,  Sunday,  my  employer  drove  with 
his  wife  and  mother  some  miles  out  into  the 
country  to  his  farm.      Most  of  the  servants  had 


LOCK    DE    DO  H,    MISS   WILLARD,    QUICK;    ROBBERS  !      SHOUTED    SAM. 


DEAD    OR    ALIVE." 


gone,  with  those  of  our  neighbour,  into  town  to 
church,  leaving  me  with  the  little  girl  and  two 
negro  servants,  man  and  wife,  to  look  after  the 
house. 

I    had   taken  a   book   from    the   table  in  the 
sitting-room  and  was  just  stepping  through  the 
window  into  the  veranda  to  join 
Elsie,   my  charge,  when    I   heard 
a  shot    fired  somewhere    behind 
the  house. 

"  Lock  de  do'h,  Miss  Willard, 
quick  ;  robbers  !  "  shouted  Sam 
the  black. 

Another  shot  followed,  then  a 
scream.  I  grasped  the  little  girl 
by  the  arm,  pulled  her  into  the 
house,  and  slammed  the  window 
shut,  hardly  knowing  what  I  was 
doing.  Another  shot  rang  out, 
and  then  Sam  ran  from  behind 
the  house  loading  his  rifle.  He 
shouted  something  to  me  which 
sounded  like  "  Lafone,  Lafone." 
I  could  not  make  out  what  he 
said,  and  in  my  terror  ran  to  the 
next  floor  with  Elsie  and,  locking 
the  door  of  the  library  behind 
me,  shrank  into  the  farthest 
corner.  This  room  was  on  the 
left  of  the  house,  and  from  its 
window  I  could  see  two  men  — 
one  standing,  the  other  kneeling 
— beside  the  fence  nearest  the 
barn.  (It  must  be  remembered 
we  were  virtually  in  the  country, 
and  were  not  occupying  the  town 
house  or  official  residence,  which  is  directly 
opposite  the  Capitol  Buildings.) 

One  of  the  men  was  very  tall  and  thin.  He 
was  without  a  hat,  wore  a  blue  blouse,  and  his 
trousers  were  tucked  into  his  boots.  The 
other,  who  knelt,  was  the  most  hideous-looking 
creature  I  have  ever  seen  —  red-haired,  with 
a  long  scar  across  his  face,  over  his  nose, 
almost  from  ear  to  ear.  His  rifle  lay  on 
the  top  rail  of  the  fence  as  though  aiming, 
while  the  taller  man  was  reloading.  Suddenly 
crack  !  went  Sam's  gun  again,  and  simul- 
taneously the  kneeling  man  fired.  Then  he 
got  up  and  laughed  —  he  had  hit  our  noble 
defender  !  Suddenly  there  was  a  loud  ringing 
downstairs,  which  so  unnerved  me  that  I  fell 
into  a  chair. 

"  The  telephone,  Miss  Willard,'  said  little 
Elsie,  who,  until  now,  had  remained  remarkably 
cool. 

Heavens  !  What  a  fool  I  had  been  !  That  was 
what  Sam  had  been  trying  to  tell  me  to  do — to 
telephone  for  assistance  !    Wrhat  was  I  to  do  ?     1 

Vol.  .sii.  —77. 


COuld     n 

med  braver  tl, 
lay  in  the  telephoi 
on  the  veranda,  and  will, 
knocked  in. 

"  What's  that  n< 


KE    HAD    III1    Ol  I;    NOEL!    Dl  FENDER. 


alarm,  eh  !     Well,  you  can  ring  as  long  as 
like ;  there  ain't  no  one  h 

Evidently  they  thought  the  pla<  and 

that  we  had  all  gone. 

"Why,  it's  the  telephone,"  said  voice  Number 
Two,  with  a  laugh  ;   "  let's  see  who  it  is." 

"Better  not,  old  pal,  they'll  get  tired  o'  ringin' 
and  quit." 

Such    proved   to  be  the  case.     Tl 
ceased,  and    we  could    hear  tin-    men   wall 
about  down   below. 

"Guess  the  goods  is  up  in  the  'loft,'"  again 
spoke  the  first  voice  ;    "  lets  take  the  elevat 

They  came  to  the  stairway,  and  just  as  the 
first  of  the  men  started  to  ascend  i  med 

out  in  terror,  "  Papa,  papa  !  " 

"Eh,  what's  that?"  cried  one  ofthi 
"Why,  there's  someone  hi  it,  Hill  ! 

There  was  a  hurried  movement,  then  a  shot 
was  fired  up  at  the  ceiling.  Turning  suddenly, 
my  eye  caught  sight  of  a  brae-  tols 

hanging  in  their  holsters  over  the  roll-top  de 
I  took  them  down,  as  much  afraid  of  the  things, 


6io 


THE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


perhaps,  as  I  was  of  the  nun   below;  but  they 
seemed  to  give  me  courage.     1   did  not  i 
know  whether  they  wore  loaded,  but  1  no  longer 

felt  my  first  terrible  tlar.  Elsie  was  crouched 
under  the  desk  between  the  two  sides.  1  stood 
in  front  oi  it,  and  was  just  beginning  to  hope 
that  perhaps  the  men  would  not  come  up  after 
all  when  I  heard  the  stairs  creak  and  knew  they 
were  ascending.  The  library  was  the  second 
door  on  the  left  o(  the  staircase,  and  I  heard 
stealthy  footsteps  approaching  from  the  top  of 
the  stairs.  A  moment's  stillness,  then  the  nearest 
door  was  suddenly  pushed  open.  Then  came 
an  ejaculation  : — 

"  Keep  down  there  and  watch  the  back  door." 
Then  those  awful  footsteps  came  nearer.    The 


"Open  the  door.  dy'e  luar?  Oh.  you  won't, 
eh  ?  ' 

There  was  a  mighty  heave,  but  the  door  did 
not'  give.  I  involuntarily  raised  the  pistol  in 
my  right  hand,  which  shook  very  much,  and 
pointed  it  towards  the  door.  Another  heave 
against  the  door,  and  still  it  did  not  give  ;  then 
there  was  a  muttered  curse,  and  with  a  crash 
the  door  flew  open  and  the  tall  man  almost 
fell  in. 

I  thought  of  the  man's  fearful  record  and 
knew  that  he  would  show  us  no  mercy.  Then 
I  pulled  the  trigger  of  the  pistol — once,  twice, 
thrice.  Each  time  it  spoke  and  the  man  fell, 
almost  against  my  extended  arm,  so  close  was  he 
when   I    fired.     I  was   dizzy  with   my  unnatural 


1    FIRED    BOTH    PISTOLS    POINT-BLANK    AT    HIM 


knob  of  my  door  turned,  but  I  had  locked  it. 
Elsie,  poor  child,  moaned  aloud  in  her  terror, 
and  the  man  outside  heard  her. 

'•  Women  folks,  eh  !  Well,  the  main  guy 
ain't  here,  so  we'll  talk  to  you.  Open  the 
door ! " 

I  .tood  almost  frozen  stiff. 


effort  and  grasped  the  desk  for  support,  but  the 
ordeal  was  not  yet  over.  Two  steps  at  a  time 
the  other  ruffian  came  rushing  up  ;  and,  just  as 
his  figure  appeared  in  the  frame  of  the  doorway, 
I  fired  both  pistols  point-blank  at  him.  He  fell 
against  the  wall  on  the  other  side  of  the  hall, 
then  rebounded  and  fell  on  his  face  across  the 


-  DEAD    OR     ALIVE." 


open  doorway.  I  turned  to  look  for  the  child, 
but  my  limbs  would  not  support  me,  and, 
although  I  did  not  faint,  I  sank  to  the  floor. 
Poor  Elsie  !     She  had  fainted. 

I  crawled  to  her  and  tried  to  drag  her  from 
under  the  desk,  but  somehow  I  had  absolutely 
no  strength.  Of  a  sudden  I  heard  shouting  and 
the  galloping  of  horses.  Then  came  quick 
orders,  and  in  another  minute  the  house  was  full 
of  men. 

Now,   I  suppose,   womanlike,   I   should   have 


but    not    fatally.      Wh 

had  given  then  lip,  U,. 

the  :  '  I  Ian" 

had  telephoned  to  our 

Lamly,  a  station  some  distam 

his  call  on  the  telephone  whii  I 

could  not  answer. 

Two  of  my  shots  had  struck    the   first   I 
both  taking  effect  in  the  body.     Only  o 
hit  the  second,   but  it  struck    him  in  the  I 
head.      As  the  pistols  were  .48  calibre  and   the 


THE    HOUSE    OF    THE    LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR     OF     TEXAS,    THE   SCENE   OF    MISS   WILLARDS     TERRIBLE     EXPERIENCE. — THE     CKOSS     ON     THE 
HOUSE   INDICATES   THE   WINDOW    FROM    WHICH    MISS   WILLARD    FIRST   SAW   THE    ROBBERS,    WHO    WERE    BEHIND   THE    FENCE    TO    THE    RIGHT, 

From  a]  at  the  spot  marked.  [/■'/;■ 


fainted,  but  I  did  not ;  I  did  worse,  how- 
ever— I  lost  my  reason,  and  for  six  weeks  was 
quite  delirious.  By  degrees  my  reason  returned, 
and  then  the  whole  thing  recurred  to  me  in  all 
its  terror.  The  poor  child  also  was  very  ill,  and 
will  perhaps  never  entirely  recover,  the  slightest 
noise  sending  her  into  hysterics. 

The  two  robbers  were  "  Big  Bill  "  Kelly  and 
one  of  his  confederates  named  Mollyson.  They 
had  escaped  a  posse,  which  was  close  at  their 
heels,  and  had  evidently  come  to  wreak  their 
vengeance  on  the  Governor  or  his  family,  but 
had  mistaken  the  house.  The  poor  black,  Sam, 
was  killed— shot  through  the  head.  His  wife, 
who  had  first  seen  the  men,  was  also  wounded, 


range  was   so   close   both   men   were   instantly 
killed. 

I  was  brought  before  a  magistrate  according 
to  law  and  was  charged   with    killing    the 
men,  and  acquitted  within  live  minutes  by  the 
clock  ! 

I  received   the  reward    of  one  hundred  and 
forty  pounds,  and  the   citizens  of  three  whole 
counties  subscribed  the  amount   mentioned  at 
the  beginning  of  this  story  as  a  gift  to  me.      I 
decided,  however,  not  to  accept  it,  and 
ingly  the.  jDa//as  Press  was  given  the  mom 
disburse  among    the  sufferers  from  the  terrible 
tornado  which  swept  Texas  and  devastated 
many  homes  some  time  afterward. 


In  Search   of   a  Treasure    Island. 


Bv  S.  S.   Blake,  01  San  Francisco. 

The  story  of  yet  another  hunt  for  the  buried  treasure  of  Gocos  Island.  The  syndicate  whose  eventful 
search  is  here  described  got  hold  of  an  old  mariner  who  asserted  that  he  was  the  sole  survivor  of  an  expe- 
dition which  dug  up  the  hidden  millions  and  reburied  them  at  another  island.  The  romantic  story  of  the 
hunt  for  this  modern  "  Treasure  Island  "  and  its  twelve  million  pounds  of  pirate  plunder  is  here  set  forth. 


WELVE  million  pounds  in  buried 
pirate  treasure  !  That's  a  prize  to 
tempt  an  ordinary  hard-working 
citizen  in  these  prosaic  days,  espe- 
cially if  he  is  tempted  by  the  man 
who  has  not  only  fingered  the  golden  hoard,  but 
has  actually  spent  thousands  of  dollars  of  it  in 
the  joys  of  living,  and  who  says  he  can  sail 
straight  to  it  "  with  his  eyes  shut." 

It  is  an  alluring  tale,  too — a  tale  of  the  loot 
of  Spanish  cities,  of  a  ship-load  of  plunder,  of 
quarrelling  freebooters,  of  scuttled  Australian 
specie-ships,  a  poisoned  crew,  and  a  fight  among 
the  three  surviving  men  till  only  one  was  left. 

Anyhow,  a  round  dozen  of  hard-headed 
American  business  men  listened  to  the  story, 
and  so  impressed  were  they  by  it  that  they  out- 
fitted a  vessel  for  the  narrator,  Captain  Brown, 
to  go  to  the  South  Seas  and  dig  up  the  plunder. 
The  adventurers  have  just  returned  to  San 
Francisco  —  without  the  treasure — but  with  a 
narrative  that  outstrips  anything  of  its  kind 
since  Morgan,  Captain  Kidd,  and  others  of  their 
kidney  ravaged  the  Spanish  Main. 

The  tale  of  the  buried  treasure  on  Cocos 
Island  is  an  old  one,  but  Brown's  version  differs 
in  many  points  from 
others.  For  one  thing, 
he  claims  to  have 
been  present  when  the 
chests  of  gold  were 
dug  up  by  a  successful 
search-party  some  fifty 
years  ago  and  secretly 
transplanted  to  another 
island.  This  part  of 
Brown's  story  was  care- 
fully investigated  by 
the  San  Franciscans, 
and  it  was  found  that 
such  an  expedition  as 
he  described  did 
actually  touch  at  cer- 
tain Central  American 
ports,  leaving  in  search 
of  a  buried  treasure. 
Nothing  more  was  ever 
heard  of  it;  and  Brown, 
the  sole  survivor,  in  an 
uncanny  tale,  tells  the 
reason  why. 


The  whole  of  Brown's  story  was  carefully 
checked  by  the  cautious  business  men  before 
they  advanced  the  money  to  back  up  the 
venture  ;  whenever  the  tale  touched  on  facts,  or 
persons,  or  records  that  could  be  got  at,  they 
carefully  verified  his  statements.  All  their 
inquiry  agents  sent  in  favourable  reports  with 
one  exception  ;  the  report  on  Brown's  character 
stated  that  he  had  led  a  "  tough  life  at  sea." 
Brown's  own  story  frankly  confessed  as  much, 
and  the  inquirers  readily  agreed  that  his  story 
could  not  be  true  unless  he  had  led  that  kind 
of  life. 

There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  of  the  fact 
that  some  ten  million  pounds  in  treasure  was 
buried  on  Cocos  Island.  The  men  who  inves- 
tigated Brown's  story  all  reported  it  a  "  matter 
of  history,"  and  even  the  unimaginative  British 
Government  has  sent  several  expeditions  to 
find  it. 

According  to  one  story,  a  gang  of  pirates  in 
1822  looted  a  number  of  rich  churches  and 
haciendas  in  Peru.  They  loaded  their  plunder 
on  the  schooner  Black  Witch,  Captain  Shmid, 
and  sailed  for  Cocos  Island,  some  four  hundred 
and  eighty  miles  south-west  of  Panama.     Here 


IE    LIVED    LONG    KNOUGH    TO   TELL    HIS   SON    WHERE    THE   TREASURE   WAS    UURIED. 


IN    SEARCH    Of     A    TREAST  RE    ISLAND. 


they  buried  their  loot  and  sailed  away  on 
another  black-flag  expedition.*  A  storm  an 
the  vessel  was  wrecked,  and  only  a  few  of  the 
crew  escaped.  Among  them  was  the  captain. 
He  was  so  battered  by  the  hardships  that  he 
barely  managed  to  reach  his  home  at  New 
Bedford,  where  he  died.  However,  he  lived 
long  enough  to  tell  his  son  where  the  treasure 
was  buried. 

Now  enters  Captain  Brown.  Some  years 
after  the  pirate  captain's  death,  James  Brown, 
then  about  nineteen  years  old,  drifted  into 
Kingston,  Jamaica.  Captain  Shmid,  son  of  the 
ex-pirate,  was  there,  busy  outfitting  a  schooner 
for  a  long  sea  voyage.  Brown  succeeded  in 
getting  a  job  to  help  him.  In  course  of  time 
the  two  young  men  became  close  friends,  and 
at  last  Brown  was  let  into  the  secret  that  the 
object  of  the  voyage  was  to  lift  a  pirate  treasure  ! 
Would  he  go  along  ?  Of  course  he  would  ;  and 
he  signed  on  forthwith  to  sail 
as  mate. 

According  to  Brown  the  ex- 
pedition found  the  ten  million 
pounds  in  plunder  buried  just 
as  old  Captain  Shmid  had 
described.  To  obviate  the  risk 
of  any  other  survivor  of  the 
original  crew  having  disclosed 
the  location  of  the  treasure,  the 
lucky  finders  decided  to  remove 
it  to  another  hiding  -  place. 
Forthwith  they  loaded  the 
plunder  on  their  schooner  and 
sailed  far  away  to  another  island, 
uninhabited  and  desolate,  where 
it  was  again  carefully  buried. 

And  now  comes  a  chapter 
which  smacks  of  those  wild  days 
when  the  bodies  of  villainous 
pirates  hung  from  every  gallows- 
tree  on  the  Dry  Tortugas.  The 
sight  of  the  enormous  treasure 
they  had  just  transplanted  so 
fired  the  greed  and  devilry  of 
those  engaged  that  forthwith 
they  banded  themselves  together 
under  blood-curdling  oaths  to 
embark  in  pirate  raids  them- 
selves. 

At  that  time,    be   it   remem- 
bered,   the    broad    Pacific    was 
dotted  with  Californian  and  Australian  specie- 
ships,  bound  round  the   Horn  with   gold  dust 
from     the     mines.       Brown     tells     how     these 
pirates    of  the    fifties   ventured   forth   in  search 


of  prey,  and  by  t: 

in    capturing  il 

sonic    two    million  Is    in    pluni 

this   spoil    was    carried    t( 

and    cached    \> 

pounds,    so    that    it    w; 

pounds  in  treasure  ! 

place  of  this  fabulous  wealth   was  held 

thirty  cut-throats.      Is  it  any  wonder  tl 

story  thereafter  contains  nothing  but   tn 

crime,  and  bloodshed? 

The   last   prize    captured    yielded    ovei    one 
million  pounds,    and   with   this  enormous  haul 
the    pirates   returned    to    their    island.      In    the 
jubilation     which      followed     rum     ran 
During   the    orgy,    however,   a   number    ol 
freebooters  still   on   the  vessel   collapsed  in  the 
throes    of    death — poispned  !     The    drun! 
half-crazed  ruffians  glared  threatenin 
another,  ready  to  spring  at  each  other's  thr< 


THEY   BANDED 


This  story  of  the  Cocos  Island   treasure  differs  materially  from 
:  generally  accepted.     See    "  In  Search  of  Pirate  Treasure      in 


that  _ 
our  Feb. 


ally  accepted 
1903,  issue. — Ed. 


■HEMSELVES   TOGETHER  BLOOD-CURDLIN! 

IN    PIKATE    RAIDS." 

"  Treachery  !  "     shouted  '  The 

quarter-deck  is  after  our  share,  mat< 

That  gave  direction  to  the  le; 
and  pandemonium   broke  loose,      [n  tl 
of    the    shooting    and    stabbing    a    lamp 
smashed,   and  in  a  trice  the  flan 
up  the  hangings.     Not  a  hand  stopped  in  us 


6i4 


rHE    WIDE    WORLD     MAGAZINE. 


th-dealing  work   to  checT<   them,  and   when 

daylight    cut    through    the    curling    smoke    the 

>ner  lay  a  smouldering  wreck  on  the  beach 

and  only  three  survivors  looked  down  upon  the 
awful  scene  —the  captain.  Brown,and  the  steward. 


of  water,  and  thus  managed  to  prolong  his 
waning  life  and  to  reach  the  Australian  coast. 
There  he  buried  all  but  a  pocketful  of  the  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars  he  had  brought  from 
the  island,  and  made  into  the  interior,  where  he 


THE    SCHOONER    LAY    A    SMOULDERING    WRECK    ON    THE    BEACH. 


There  was  only  one  means  of  escape  for  the 
survivors,  and  that  was  the  long-boat,  which  had 
been  shelved  on  the  beach.  She  was  loaded 
with  what  remained  of  the  provisions  on  shore, 
some  sixty  thousand  pounds  of  the  treasure  was 
dumped  into  her,  and  the  three  adventurers 
pushed  off  for  Australia,  the  nearest  land. 

What  followed  would  form  the  basis  of  one  of 
the  most  thrilling  melodramas  ever  written.  Of 
course,  no  one  knows  what  really  happened  in 
that  little  cockle-shell  dipping  over  the  waters 
of  the  broad  Pacific.  Only  Brown  is  alive  to 
tell  the  tale,  and  he  won't  say  much.  The  few 
sentences  he  grudgingly  yields  have  to  do  with 
lessening  food  and  scant  water,  with  gradually 
increasing  fever  and  beckoning  madness. 

So  naturally  enough  came  the  day,  the  black 
day,  when  two  were  killed  and  only  one  survived. 
Brown  refuses  to  talk  about  it,  but  under  the 
pressing  questions  of  the  members  of  the  syndi- 
cate, who  insisted  on  knowing  the  whole  of  his 
story  before  they  would  embark  in  the  treasure- 
hunt,  he  stated  that  the  captain,  crazed  with 
suffering,  killed  the  steward  and  then  turned  on 
him,  whereupon  Brown  shot  him  in  self-defence. 
He  was  then  alone  in  the  boat,  and  sole  owner 
of  the  twelve  millions  of  treasure. 

Brown  eked  out  the  biscuits  and  few  spoonfuls 


obtained  work  in  a  mine.  Later  on  he  em- 
barked in  sheep-raising.  From  time  to  time  he 
drew  judiciously  on  his  buried  treasure  and  in- 
vested the  money  in  business,  till  finally  he  was 
accounted  a  very  successful  speculator,  with  a 
good  round  sum  at  his  command.  He  took 
advantage  of  this  reputation  to  dig  up  the  rest 
of  his  hoard  and  sail  for  his  home  in  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  where  for  years  he  continued  to 
live  in  good  circumstances. 

The  gale  that  swept  away  the  remnants  of 
Brown's  sixty  thousand  pounds  of  pirate  loot 
came  up  dming  the  prelude  to  the  late  Spanish- 
American  War.  With  his  filibustering  blood 
aflame  at  the  glowing  prospects  offered  at  that 
time  in  the  Antilles,  the  old  sea-rover,  with 
others,  invested  all  his  remaining  money  in  out- 
fitting  two  privateers.  The  U.S.  Government 
did  the  rest  by  confiscating  the  vessels.  The 
members  of  the  treasure  hunt  syndicate  satisfied 
themselves  that  Brown  had  somehow  got  together 
a  round  sum  of  money  in  Australia,  had  lived 
in  comfort  thereafter,  and  that  it  was  on  record 
that  he  invested  in  two  privateers  confiscated  by 
the  Government. 

In  this  financial  distress  Brown  now,  for  the 
first  time,  told  of  his  connection  with  the  buried 
pirate  treasure   and   the  way  he   and    his   fellows 


IN    SEARCH     OF    A    TREASl  RE     ISLAND. 


BROWN    SHOT    HIM    IN    SELF-DEFENCE.' 


had  transplanted  it.  Several  Eastern  men  of 
means  became  interested.  They  investigated 
his  yarn,  and  were  so  favourably  impressed  that 
they  subscribed  the  money  the  old  sea-rover 
required  to  "  lift  "  the  plunder.  Brown  and 
several  others  came  on  to  San  Francisco  to 
push  the  adventure.  He  frankly  told  those 
interested  that  he  didn't  expect  any  "  advance  " 
or  wages,  but  would  be  fully  satisfied  if  they 
gave  him  one-quarter  of  the  treasure  recovered. 
The)  promised  cheerfully. 

In  preparing  for  the  trip  Brown  demanded  a 
certain  kind  of  schooner,  with  special  fittings. 
The  Eastern  men's  representatives  declared  that 
their  specifications  called  for  regulation  fittings, 
and  they  flatly  refused  to  sanction  any  others. 
Brown  declined  to  go  ahead  unless  his  ideas 
were  followed,  and  so  the  re;  resentatives  turned 
their  backs  on  the  scheme  and  went  home. 
G.  W.  Sutton,  a  well-to-do  New  Yorker,  with  a 
home  in  New  Rochelle,  remained  behind.  He 
had  enough  confidence  left  to  wait  awhile  to 
see  if  another  chance  to  lift  the  treasure  would 
not  develop.     He  wanted  to  be  in  it. 

Then  Brown  fell  ill.  He  is  a  big,  raw-boned 
man,  seventy-four  years  old,  "  full  of  tropic 
fevers  "  that  bring  him  to  bed  periodically. 

Living  in  the  same  hotel  where  Brown  was 
ill  with  his  "  fever  spell  "  was  Dr.  George  J. 
Luce,  a  physician  of  reputation  and  means.  It 
transpired  that  both  men  belonged  to  the  same 
big  fraternal  organization,  and  they  very  quickly 
became  acquainted.  During  their  talks  the  old 
sea-rover  told  of  the  business  that  brought   him 


I  .1!' 

nun 
am! 
vestigation  tin  n  i< 

of 

to   go   alter    tl, 

The    new   lisl 
asure    hunters    in- 
cluded  such   well- 
known    San    Francis- 
cans as  Judge  W.  R. 
Daingerfield,     I»r. 
George   J .    L  u  < 
Attorneys     Donzel 
Stoney  and  J  oh  n 
I  Ihetwood,  and  ( )gd(  n 
Hoffman,  a  prominent 
club    man   related  to 
the  late  judge   Hoff- 
man,   of  the    Unit,  d 
States  District  Court. 
Several  merchants  also  subscribed  their  quota, 
with  the  cautious  proviso  that  under  no  circum- 
stances were  their  names  to  be  divulged. 

G.  W.  Sutton,  who  had  been  in  the  original 
company,  also  joined.  Brown  took  a  trip  I 
while  the  others  were  getting  things  in  shape. 
As  before,  he  did  not  ask  for  bonus  or  salary  : 
all  he  asked  was  a  percentage  of  whatever  was 
recovered.  Before  he  left  the  subscribers  inter- 
rogated him  carefully  to  assure  and  reassure 
themselves  that  there  was  no  flaw  in  his  story. 

The    new    Cocos    Island     Treasure-Hunting 
Expedition  did  its  very  best  to  start  on  a  "  sure 
thing"  basis.     Attorney  A.  E.  Warrett,  of  New- 
York,  was  instructed   to   thoroughly  invests 
Brown    and    his    story.      In    order    to    trip  the 
sailor-man,  the  lawyer  primed  himself  with  fads 
gathered  from  newspapers  dated  fifty  years  hack, 
facts  which  Brown   must  have  been  acquaii 
with  had  he  lived  the  life  he  claimed  ;  he 
talked  with  people  familiar  with  the  and 

coasts   Brown    said    he   had  visited.      With    this 
armful  of  data  the  attorney  cross-questioi 
old    sea-rover,    but    Brown    passed     the 
safely,  and  Lawyer  Warrett  sent  hack  his 
accordingly.     But  the  hard-headed  business  im  n 
in  the  company  still  demanded  more  assurai 
So   George   Sutton    was   deputed    to    put     the 
captain  through  the  mill  again   with  a  view  to 
wringing  some  conflicting  statement  from  him. 
Agam    Sutton   catechized    him,   and    again    the 
report  came  back  that  the  story  seemed  straight. 
Then  a  singular  coincidence  happened  which. 
in  a  manner,  clinched  the  whole  business.      In 


6 1 6 


I  Hi:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


looking  about  for   clu       regarding    tin-    buried 

the  investigators  stumbled  on  a  stranger 

just  hack   from    Cocos    rsland.     He  showed   a 

fistful  of  old  Peruvian  coins,  and  his  story  was 
to  the  effect  that  he  had  been  spending  his 
money  and  time  digging  at  Cocos  Island  in 
ch  of  the  treasure.  He  had  dug  over  all 
the  west  portion  of  the  island  and  had  found 
this  fistful  of  Permian  coins  scattered  about. 
The  pieces  were  of  the  period  before  1S20, 
old  and  discoloured  but  still  recognisable, 
and  they  resembled  the  few  coins  that 
Brown  was  still  preserving  as  mementos  of  his 
connection  with  the  reburied  treasure.  The 
stranger  said  that  he  had  come  to  San  Francisco 
to  raise  money  to  continue  his  search  on  the 
side  of  the  island.  He  offered  his  services 
to  the  new  company,  but  they  were  not  accepted. 
They  had  Brown,  and  felt  safe. 


wood  kept  watch  for  the  company  in  general. 
This  v<  ssel,  the  hundred-ton  schooner  Herman^ 
carried  an  up-to-date  treasure  digging  outfit 
warranted  to  "  lift  "  the  biggest  lot  of  loot  ever 
Stowed  away.  In  addition  she  carried  a 
complete  smelting  outfit  "  to  melt  down  the 
plate  for  easy  handling,  so  that  no  Government 
can  claim  it,"  as  Brown  suggested.  Oddly 
enough,  one  of  the  so-called  obstacles  that  the 
adventurers  now  complain  of  was  the  sharp 
way  they  were  watched  by  representatives  of 
the  English  and  French  Governments.  Old 
treasure-hunters  also  kept  dogging  their  course 
with  a  view  to  getting  an  idea  of  the  location  of 
the  new  treasure  island. 

Besides  the  seven  gentlemen  on  board,  the 
vessel  carried  a  cook,  steward,  and  six  strapping 
sailors,  all  carefully  picked  for  the  business  in 
hand.     The  eight  members  of  the  crew  were 


CAPTAT 
Fro7ii  a] 


rHE   TREASURE-HUNTERS   ON    BOARD   THE    SCHOONER 

I  EFT   OF    THE    PICTURE. 


CAPTAIN    BROW: 


IS   ON   THE   EXTREME 

{Photo. 


So  five  thousand  pounds  was  subscribed  for 
the  venture,  and  Captain  Brown  was  given  a 
free  hand  in  the  selection  and  outfitting  of  a 
schooner.  It  was  set  forth  in  a  contract  that 
he  was  to  receive  no  pay  for  his  services,  but 
was  simply  to  get  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  all 
the  treasure  recovered.  This  contract  was  duly 
signed  and  sealed,  and  given  into  the  custody 
of  a  prominent  San  Francisco  bank. 

A  year  ago  last  July  the  expedition  sailed 
through  the  Golden  Gate,  bound  for  the  South 
Seas.  Ogden  Hoffman  was  on  board  as  the 
representative  of  the  vessel's  owners :  Frank 
-itt  looked  after  other  interests  ;  and  Dr. 
Luce,     George     Sutton,    and    Attorney     Chet- 


only  permitted  to  carry  clasp-knives  and  were 
signed  on  to  obey  certain  regulations,  all  perti- 
nent to  a  treasure  hunting  expedition.  The 
captain  and  cabin  passengers  were  fully  armed 
with  weapons  of  the  latest  pattern,  and  their 
quarters  were  stoutly  fortified  against  any 
attempt  to  capture  the  treasure. 

All  these  careful  preparations  showed  with 
what  degree  of  confidence  the  subscribers  viewed 
the  outcome  of  the  expedition,  and  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  prospect  was  certainly  alluring. 

The  voyage  Hawaiiward  over  the  shimmering 
summer  seas  passed  like  a  dream.  Brown  told 
tales  of  buried  treasures  and  of  the  joys  of  life 
down  South.     Everybody  was  in  high  spirits. 


IN    SEARCH    OF    A    TREASI  RE     ISLAND 


The  trouble  began  just  off  Honolulu.  They 
ran  into  bad  weather  near  that  port,  and  Captain 
Brown  decided  to  dock  the  Herman  and 
strengthen  her  against  any  stress  of  weather  she 
might  meet  in  the  variable  winds  farther  south. 

"Go  ahead,"  said  one  of  the  representatives. 
"  Never  mind  the  cost,  for  I've  two  hundred 
pounds  in  this  pocket " — he  tapped  his  coat— 
"  and  an  order  for  as  much  more  on  a  firm  to 
pay  for  any  bills  we  run  up  here." 

On  this  assurance  Brown  beached  the  vessel 
and  everybody  went  ashore  to  have  a  good  time 
while  the  repairs  were  under  way.  When  pay- 
day came,  however,  the  locker  yielded  only 
twelve  pounds  to  defray  the  outstanding  de- 
mands. The  schooner  was  promptly  "libelled." 
Then  the  storm  of  wrath  broke. 

Brown  declared  he  was  placed  in  an  em- 
barrassing position.  Everybody  on  shore  knew 
he  was  the  captain,  and  that  he  was  piloting  the 
expedition  to  lift  an  enormous  treasure,  and  here 
the  whole  outfit  was  held  up  for  a  few  pounds. 
Everybody  he  met  in  the  street  was  laughing  at 
him,  he  said. 

Sutton,  Chetwood,  and  Dr.  Luce  conceded 
that  he  had  been  badly  treated,  admitted  the 
mishap  was  most  unfortunate,  and  insisted  that 
it  was  all  due  to  the  bad  management  of  the 
young  man  who  had  been  deputed  to  handle 
the  company's  funds.  But  Brown,  though 
appeased  by  their  excuses  and  the  promises  of 
an  early  settlement  of  the  trouble,  was  a  changed 
man  from  that  moment.  His  pride  was  badly 
hurt.  All  the  voyagers  agree  on  that  point. 
Thereafter  he  seemed  to  regard  them  with  sus- 
picion. Later,  in  a  burst  of  anger,  he  openly 
declared  that  some  scheme  was  afloat  to  trick 
him  out  of  his  share  of  the  treasure,  and  that 
he  would  fathom  it  yet.  Meanwhile  two  of  the 
party  were  dispatched  back  to  San  Francisco 
for  more  funds.  On  their  return  the  bills  were 
paid  and  the  schooner  bore  away  south. 

She  made  Apia  all  right,  and  here  again  the 
party  got  tangled  up  in  a  mess  which  the 
American  Consul  had  to  straighten  out.  This 
seems  to  have  completely  upset  Brown.  He 
declared  that  the  party  was  haunted,  and  he 
insisted  that  so  much  time  had  been  lost  in 
these  delays  that  the  season  was  gone,  and  the 
only  thing  to  do  was  to  make  for  Sydney  and 
tie  up  until  calm  weather  came  again.  There 
were  bickerings,  charges,  and  counter-charges  on 
all  hands,  and  at  last  the  vessel  was  headed  for 
Sydney. 

Here  Brown,  who  now  seemed  to  have  given 
up  all  ide.i  of  piloting  them  to  his  treasure 
island,  gave  himself  up  entirely  to  enjoyment 
ashore.  By  some  oversight,  according  to 
Chetwood,    the    title    of    the    vessel    had   been 

Vol.  xii.— 78. 


placed    in    Brown 

voyagers  di 

tryii 

of  the  captaincy  and  pi 

so   that   when  the  »ner  put 

Brown  went  along  as  sup 

turers  bore  away  toward  Tahr 

Brown   was  taken  down  with  one  ol   hi 

spells,"  and  for  his  safety  they  had  to  put   ii 

Tongarewa  or  Penrhyn  Island. 

And  now  followed  a  period  whii 
have  completely  shattered  the  exhaus 
of  the  luckless  treasure-hunters.     The  \ 
were  divided   in   opinion,  and  their  temp' 
either  because  of  the  sweltering  tropic  heat,  the 
uncertainty  of  the  venture,  the  eccentrii 
Brown,   or  the  beckoning  visions   of   such    an 
immense  treasure— suffered  proportionately. 

In   the   height  of   fever   Brown    raved   about 
his    old     messmates     and     the     ghost-guai 
treasure-chests.     Plainly  in  his  delirium  he 
the  savage  crew,  with  drawn  cutlasses  and  r< 
carbines,  at  bay  on  the  island,  defying  mortal 
man  to  lift  the  plunder. 

"  There's    a     curse    on    it  ! "    he     shrici 
"  There's  a  curse  on  it !     Haven't    they  killed 
every  man  who  tried  to  get  it?" 

They  quieted  the  fever-racked  man  as 
they  could,  and  when  he  was  better  he  solemnly 
said:  "You're  liable  to  go  crazy,  plumb  crazy, 
when  you  see  such  a  pile  of  treasure.  I  i 
seen  men  go  crazy  at  the  sight  of  it,  and  I 
know.  First  and  last  there's  always  been  a 
curse  on  it,  and  there  always  will  be." 

To  further  heighten  the  nervous  strain  of  the 
situation  one  of  the  voyagers,  in  rummaging 
about,  discovered,  secreted  away,  a  lot  of 
arsenic,  strychnine,  and  rat-poison—  ,ugV 

as  he  put  it,  "to  kill  a  whole  regiment  of 
soldiers."  He  showed  it  to  the  oihers,  but  one 
and  all  denied  bringing  it  on  board.  Suddenly 
there  flashed  across  their  minds  Brown's 
of  the  poisoning  of  the  pirate  crew,  and  he  was 
charged  with  bringing  the  poison  on  board,  but 
stoutly  denied  it. 

Finally,   the  deadly  stuff  was  ip   in 

Dr.  Luce's  medicine-*  N 

few  nights  later  the  medicine-ch< 
open  and  the  poison  absti  Who  took  it, 

and    for  what    purpo 

only  added    to  the  hair -i  king 

situations    which    encomp 
little  vessel. 

And  so  the  voyagers  swung  about,  all  at 
and    sevens,   continually  badgering    Brown 
while  to  give  them  the  location  of  the   island. 
But  he  steadfastly  refused.     Then,  in  despera- 
tion, they  put  into  Apia,  sold  the  schooner  for 
sixteen  hundred  pounds,  and  all  of  them  came 


Mil.     WIDE     WORLD     MAC,  A/INK. 


back   to  San    Francisco  on  one  ol    the   Pacific 

linei         Messrs.   Sutton,  Chetwood,  and    Luce 

were  so  exa  d  that  they  prevailed  upon  the 

tain  of  the  vessel  to  hold   Brown  a  prisoner 

in  his  cabin.  Once  on  land  they  asked  the 
United  States  authorities  to  take  up  the  ease, 
but  there  was  nothing  on  which   Brown  could 

held,  and  several  days  later  the  old  sea  rover 
left  tor  his  home  in  Providence,  R.I. 

After  the  voyage  Sutton,  who  eventually 
eeded  to  whatever  trust  Brown  finally  re- 
posed in  his  fellow-voyagers,  said  :  "  We  started 
on  the  trip  with  every  confidence,  hut  we  ended 
in  the  air.  After  we  left  Honolulu  we  wanted 
Brown  to  take  us  direct  to  the  treasure,  but  he 
always  had  some  excuse,  quarrelling  with  us 
continually.  I  firmly 
believe  the  treasure  is 
out  there  somewhere. 
But  does  Brown  know 
its  location?  That's  the 
uncertain  point.  He  was 
given  every  chance  to 
take  us  to  it  and  failed. 
That  settled  his  claim,  to 
my  mind." 

Chetwood  said: 
••  What  came  over  Brown 
in  the  South  Seas  I  don't 
know.  Before  we  reached 
Honolulu  he  seemed  all 
right,  and  after  that  all 
wrong.  I  kept  studying 
over  the  whole  matter 
while  we  were  in  the 
Doldrums,  and  then  I 
went  to  him  with  the 
two  following  proposi- 
tions : 

•■  1'roposition  i. — Your 
contract  with  us  for  a 
quarter  share  of  the  trea- 
sure is  locked  up  in  a 
San  Francisco  bank,  and  amply  protects  your 
portion  of  all  the  treasure  you  may  unearth. 
Your  claim,  therefore,  that  we  may  cheat  you  is 
baseless,  and  is  useless  as  an  excuse  for  not 
taking  us  to  the  island.  Proposition  2. — You 
say  you  are  afraid  of  the  curse  and  the  ghosts 
hanging  about  the  treasure.  Now,  I  propose 
that  you  give  us  the  location  of  this  island,  its 

-itude  and  latitude,  and  then  remain  here  in 
Tahiti,  where  you  will  be  safe  and  well  cared  for 
at  our  expense.  We  will  sail  to  the  island,  defy 
the  ghosts,  lift  all  the  treasure  we  may  find,  and 
take  it  to  San  Francisco,  where  we  will  land  it 
as  quietly  as  possible  and  then  send  for  you. 

••  Brown  wouldn't  listen  to  these  propositions. 
That  settled  him  with  me." 


From  a] 


Riown,    interviewed  concerning    the    voyage, 

spoke  as  follows:  "This  treasure's  a  big  thing,'' 
he  said,  "and  experience  has  taught  me  that  1  have 
got  to 'protect  myself  in  it.  Since  the  very  first 
day  that  plunder  was  raised  there's  been  nothing 
but  plotting,  fighting,  and  blood  letting  over  it. 
It's  cursed  for  sure.  Every  time  I  have  seen  it, 
or  tried  to  get  at  it,  I've  butted  into  no  end  of 
trouble — and  all  kinds  of  trouble.  That's  why 
I'm  so  dead  sure  that  the  ghosts  of  all  the  people 
who  have  ever  had  a  hand  in  it  are  still  fighting 
over  it  and  ready  to  bring  misfortune  upon 
everybody  that  comes  nigh  it. 

"  Why  shouldn't  I  be  suspicious  of  the  pas- 
sengers on  this  last  trip  after  the  way  taey  acted 
at  Honolulu?      They  chip  in  a  few  thousands 

to  get  millions  and  fall 
down  on  paying  a  few 
small  bills.  They  talk 
about  its  being  a  gamble  ; 
its  a  cinch  "  (certainty). 
"  If  it  wasn't,  do  you 
suppose  I'd  go  in  it  on 
the  lay  of  getting  nothing 
but  a  quarter  share  of 
the  treasure  ?  No,  sir, 
I'd  be  playing  for  fair 
wages,  or  big  expenses  at 
least. 

"  Then  Luce  and  the 
rest  acted  as  if  they  were 
risking  everything  and 
I  nothing.  Wasn't  I, 
though?  Mind,  this 
treasure's  all  I  have  got 
in  sight.  I'm  too  old  to 
follow  the  sea  now ;  I'm 
broke,  and  I'm  getting 
along  in  life.  This  is 
my  last  play  to  get  enough 
plunder  to  keep  me 
going  in  my  old  age. 
If  I'm  tricked  out  of  it 
I'm  done  for  good  and  all— and  that's  why  I'm 
suspicious.  Maybe  it's  my  past  experience. 
Maybe  it's  because  1  was  always  mixed  up  with 
such  rough  hands  in  this  treasure  business. 
Anyway,  I've  got  suspicions — bad — and  I  can't 
shake  'em  off.  I  ain't  going  to  be  tricked  out  of 
my  share  of  the  plunder  when  it's  dug  up  this 
time— not  much  !  On  the  Herman^  this  last 
voyage,  there  were  lawyer  sharks  and  other 
kinds  of  sharks.  They  all  talked  fair  and  above- 
board,  maybe ;  but— well,  a  shark's  a  shark  in 
whatever  water  you  find  him.  No,  sir,  next  time 
I  go  after  that  treasure — and  I  am  going— it'll 
be  with  a  crowd  that  means  business,  and  I'll 
have  a  guarantee  that  everything's  ship -shape 
and  battened  down  last  before  we  make  sail." 


[Photo. 


Odds   and    Ends. 


Irish  "  Straw  Boys  "—A  Snap-shot  of  Cape  Horn— What  an  Avalanche  Did     An  Extraordinary  Tree,  elc. 


E  have  pleasure  in  presenting  our 
readers  with  an  absolutely  unique 
photograph  showing  a  couple  of 
Irish  "Straw  Boys,"  or  "Moon- 
lighters," the  terrible  secret  organiza- 
tion which  terrorized  whole  districts  of  Ireland 
in  the  dark  days  before  the  passing  of  the  Land 
Laws.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  costume 
bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  that  of  the 
"White  Aven- 
gers" of  A 1  a  - 
bama,  an  account 
of  whose  infa- 
mous deeds  has 
recently  appeared 
in  The  Wide 
World  Maga- 
zine. Concern- 
ing the  photo- 
graph, Mr.  J. 
Harris  Stone, 
M.A.,  who  took 
it,  writes  as 
follows  :— 

"The  awful 
outrages  to  man 
and  beast  which 
for  so  many  years 
cast  a  deplorable 
gloom  over  cer- 
tain parts  of  Ire- 
land are,  it  may 
be  confidently 
and  gladly  said, 
gone  for  ever. 
But  it  was  not 
so  many  years 
ago  when  the 
'Straw  Boys,'  or 
'Moonlighters,' 
were  an  unholy 
terror.  The  sud- 
den appearance 
on    a    moonlight 


THIS    UNIQUE   PICTURE   SHOWS   TWO    IRISH 

Copyright  Photo,  by  Mr.  / 


night  of  a  body  of  disguised  men  demanding 
entrance  to  some  lonely  cabin  whose  present 
occupier  had,   perhaps,   taken   the    |  !  an 

evicted  tenant  is  one  of  the  most  dreadful  and 
pathetic  pictures  to  imagine.  No  mercy  was 
shown,  no  compassion  for  the  bread-winner,  and 
we  can  only  hope  that  in  all  cases  — as  we  know 
it  to  have  been  in  many — the  demoniacal  spirit 
to   butcher   would    never   have   overcome    the 

inherently    m 
h u  m a n  e       and 
usual    Irish   f< 
ings  il  >ive 

indul.  in 

alcohol  had  not 
temporarily  obli- 
terated all  sparks 
of  ordinary 
humanity  in  the 
pe  r  pet  rat  o  r  s 
of  the  outrages. 
The  mere  sight 
alone  of  th< 
gruesomely  clad 
and     forbidding 

must  have 
caused  paraly; 
rror.   And  then 

the  awful    s 
tii  m    of    !• 
—  not    know 
who  tl 

re.  Tl 

might     be 
ighbours    : 
An  havt 

distaii' 
The  knowlf 
that  you  would 
never  know  must 
have  completed 
the  feeling  of 
abject  horror  in- 
spired  by  a  visit 


STRAW    HOVS"    OR    "  MOONL1GH 
//arris  Stone,  M.A. 


II  li:    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


from    the    "Straw     Boys,'    or    'Moonlighters.' 

Like  Inquisitors  o(  old  they  silently  came,  in- 
flicted  their  dire  revei  _■  i  ffected  their  dread 
purpose,  and  as  silently  pass<  d  again  into  the 
blackness  of  the  night  and  the  unknown. 

••  Knowing  la-land  somewhat  well,  and 
having  for  years  past  travelled  considerably 
there.  I  have  been  on  the  look-out  for 
these  'Moonlighters,'  or  'Straw  Boys,'  the 
secret  of  whose  organization  and  dress  has 
been  well  kept.     It  is  only  quite  recently  that 

a    fortuitous    concurrence    of   circumstances 
I    have    been    able    at    last   to    lake    a    photo- 
h  of  two   natives    in    the    actual   disguise 
used     in     former     troublous     years.        How     I 
managed    and  where  I   managed    to    take    this 
photograph    I    am    precluded    from   disclosing. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that   I  arranged   my  whole-plate 
camera  to  take  any  persons  who  should  happen 
to  stand  on  a  certain  spot  at  a  certain  time  ;  that 
in  the  daylight,  certainly  very  early,  two  peasants 
in  the  real  costume  of  the  '  Straw  Boys,'  did  stand 
momentarily  on  that  spot,  and  I  obtained  their 
likeness,  or,  rather,  the  likeness  of  the  costume 
they    wore,    for    their   identity    was    absolutely 
hidden  by  the  disguise.     The  rapidity  required 
in    the    proceeding    prevented    such    a    proper 
adjustment  of  the  figures   on  the  ground-glass 
3    I    could  have   wished.      I  had  to   make  the 
of  the  unique  opportunity,  and  I  did.    The 
costume   is   an    absolute   disguise,    and   conse- 
quently  is   an    exceedingly   clever   one.      The 
materials    of   the  '  make-up '  are  obtainable  in 
almost  every  cabin.     The   straw  case   for  con- 
cealing the  entire  head  is  made  of  long  straws 
from  the  fields  tied  loosely 
together,    so   that   sufficient 
sight     in    any    direction    is 
ob  ainable    by    the    wearer 
without     removing    it.       In 
general  appearance  and  con- 
struction   it    resembled    the 
•v  case  used    to    protect 
wine  bottles,  but   this  affair 
is  about  four  feet  high. 

••  The     stature     of     the 

irer,  the  first  point  notice- 
able in  establishing  identity, 
is  therefore  completely 
obscured.  I  had  not  ex- 
pected such  tall  figures, 
hence  I  failed  to  get  into 
my  picture  the  tops  of  the 
masks.  The  mask  is  tied 
firmly  round  the  neck  with 
twine,  so  as  not  to  be  easily 
blown  or  knocked  off. 

"A  plain  white  shirt  is 
worn   outside    the   clothing, 


while  a  woman's  black  skirt  effectually  coil 
ceals  the  legs.  The  figure  or  general  con- 
tour' of  the  wearer  is  therefore  absoluklv 
obliterated,  and  even  the  shape  of  his  legs  and 
the  pattern  of  his  trousers  are  concealed.  They 
wore  a  sash  of  gaudy  ribbon  when  I  took  the 
photograph,  but  I  rather  fancy  the  shirt,  when  in 
action,  would  be  tied  round  the  waist  with 
string  or  a  straw  band. 

"  The  costume  is  so  complete  a  disguise  that 
the  possible  points  for  identification  are  there- 
fore reduced  to  the  hands  and  boots,  neither  of 
which  would  afford  any  practical  clue,  particu- 
larly when  one  considers  the  hurried  nature  of 
the  'Straw  Boys"  visit  and  its  terrible  import. 
The  people  visited  would  be  much  too  alarmed 
to  study  hands  and  boots.  All  things  consi- 
dered, the  costume  is  about  the  most  effective- 
disguise  that  the  brain  of  man  could  evolve. 
Each  article  of  it  is  easily  procured  in  even 
remote  country  districts,  and  after  use  each 
portion  reverts  to  its  usual  position  in  the 
domestic  economy  of  the  cabin,  while  the  head- 
dress can  be  burnt  or  pulled  to  pieces." 

If  there  is  one  place  more  than  another  that 
the  mariners  of  all  nations  dislike,  it  is  Cape 
Horn,  the  extreme  southerly  point  of  the 
American  Continent.  On  account  of  the  con- 
tinual storms  encountered  in  this  inhospitable 
region,  and  the  banks  of  fog  which  obscure  the 
view,  it  is  but  seldom  that  a  view  of  the  Cape 
itself  can  be  obtained,  much  less  a  photograph. 
Here,  however,  we  are  able  to  reproduce  a 
striking  snap-shot  of  the  redoubtable  headland, 
rising  up  clear  and  distinct  in   all  its  grimness 


A    HEADLAND   OF    II.L-REI'UT 
A    PHOTOGRAPH    OF 


E,    CAPE    HORN — IT    IS    BUT    SELDOM    THAT    IT    IS    POSSIBLE   TO    TAKE 
THE  CAPE,   OWING   TO  THE  CONTINUAL   STORMS   AND   MIST. 

From  u  Photo. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


and 

by    its    mi 

illustrate 

curious     bridge      I 

near    Bala,     N.    U 
by  a  landowner, 
bridge    has     in    the 
centre   a    strong    • 

rely     lo<  ked, 
projecting     from 
door    in   all    dii 
—  even      in  th 

are     cleverly  -  arra> 
barbed    wire    entai 
ments.       The 
of     all    this    ingenuity 

prevent     the 
public      from 

the     briiL 
the     key    it 


is  to 
general 
u  s  i  1 1  LJ, 

Without 


From  a] 


A   REMARKABLE   ICE-BRIDGE   CAUSED    BY   AN    AVALANCHE. 


from  a  wonderfully  calm  sea.  It  is  on  but  few 
occasions  that  such  a  picture  as  this  can  be 
taken.  Almost  perpetually  swathed  in  thick 
fog,  surrounded  with  treacherous  currents,  and 
lashed  by  tempestuous  seas,  the  "  Horn  "  is  a 
point  of  ill-repute  among  sailors,  and  captain 
and  crew  alike  breathe  easier  when  their  vessel's 
bow  points  for  more  cheerful  climes. 

Above  is  a  remarkable 
photograph  of  an  ice- 
bridge.  In  the  spring  of 
1899  a  huge  snow-slide 
came  down  Mount  Field, 
in  British  Columbia,  and 
completely  covered  the 
Kicking  Horse  River 
below,  the  pressure  of  the 
enormous  masses  of  snow 
converting  the  slide  into 
solid  ice.  The  impetuous 
river,  however,  was  not  to 
be  restrained,  and  gradu- 
ally ate  its  way  into  the 
barrier  until  a  perfect 
bridge  of  ice  was  formed 
— as  shown  in  our  photo- 
graph —  which  could  be 
safely  crossed.  The  dark 
patches  on  the  surface  of 
the  ice  are  the  remains 
of  the  trees  growing  in  the 
path  of  the  avalanche, 
which    were   carried    down 


would    puzzle  Solomon 
[Photo.         himself     to    cross    the 

structure  without 
damage  to  his  clothing  and  peison,  and  pos- 
sibly a  ducking  in  the  river  below  as  well. 
There  are  two  of  these  quaint  bridges,  and 
they  afford  a  curious  spectacle  to  the 
passer-by. 

The  fortunate  inhabitants  of  troj 
America  need  never  let  a  tough  steak  w< 
them,     for     Nature    has    furnished     them     in 


Hi 


From  11} 


AN    EXTRAORDINARY   WELSH    BRIDGE,    DESIGNED  TO    KEEP   THE   GENERAL 

FROM     rRESPASSING. 


mi:   wide:   world   magazine:. 


supported   bj  an  immense  boulder,  the  top  of  which 
covered    by  about   an    inch  of   water,   so   that  on 

calm   days    the   rock    is    invisible.      The    photograph 

was    taken    at    Piscatorial     Lake,    near   Bras   d'Or, 
Breton.     The  water  round   the  rock  is  about 

fifteen  feet  deep." 

Some  time  ago  we  published  a  photograph  of  a 

building  which  was  said  to  be  the  oldest  in  America. 

Xow   along  comes    another   claimant  fro  .1    the  city 

of    Merida,     in    Yucatan,     Mexico.      It    faces    the 


^.fc-fc.    liiAI     WILL    .MrtKL     IOLliH 

From  a  P/toto. 


MEAT   TENDER. 


profusion  with  a  plant  which  has  the 
wonderful  property  of  making  the 
toughest  meat  tender.  This  is  the 
papaw,  or  Carica  papaya.  All  you  have 
to  do  is  to  wrap  the  meat  in  the  leaves 
of  the  plant  and  let  it  stand  overnight ; 
next  morning  it  will  be  as  tender  as 
a  chicken.  Even  fowls  of  venerable 
antiquity  can  be  rejuvenated   by  hanging 

m  up,  after  plucking,  among  the  leaves  of  the 
papaw.      It  is  a  wonder  that  certain   restaurant 
proprietors    in    this    country  have  not    started 
to    import    the 
papaw.     When       ■ — r — 
they     do     there 
will  probably  be 
fewer   dyspeptics 
about. 

A  correspon- 
dent in  Halifax, 
Nova  Scotia, 
writes  :  "I  send 
you  herewith  a 
curious  snap- 
shot. At  first 
sight  the  man  in 
the  photograph 
appears  to  be 
standing  on  the 
water,  but  in 
reality   he    is  Froma\ 


J± 


WHAT    IS   THIS    MAN    STANDING 


THIS    BUILDING    IS    SAID    TO    BE   THE   OLDEST    IN    AMERICA. 
From  a  Photo. 

public  square  there,  and  is  said  to  be  over 
six  hundred  years  old.  Its  front  is  embel- 
lished     with      many      quaint      and      beautiful 

carvings  and  an 
elaborate  coat  - 
of- arms.  The 
building  is  in  a 
very  good  state 
of  preservation, 
and  bids  fair  to 
stand  for  another 
six  centuries  un- 
less destroyed 
by  some  unto- 
ward accident. 
Are  there  any 
other  places 
which  desire  to 
claim  the  honour 
of  possessing  the 
oldest  building 
in  America  ? 


{Photo. 


ODDS    AND    ENDS. 


From  a] 


A  KOREAN  FORTUNE-TELLER  AT  WORK. 


Our  next  photograph  shows  a  female  Korean 
fortune-teller,  or,  as  she  is  called  in  Korean,  a 
Mu'dang.  This  woman  makes  a  living  by 
chanting  to  the  countless  spirits,  of  whom  the 
natives  stand  in  great  awe.  Her  services  are 
engaged  when  any- 
one wishes  their 
fortune  told,  if  any 
person  is  ill,  and 
in  countless  other 
instances.  There 
are  generally  two 
assistants,  who  are 
also  women,  who 
accompany  their 
principal  and  assist 
in  the  chanting. 
The  photograph 
shows  the  two  assist- 
ants seated  in  front 
of  their  instruments 
and  the  food  'for  a 
"devil,"  who  is 
being  propitiated  in 
order  to  induce  him 
to  leave  a  house. 

The  Chinese 
drama  is  a  weird 
and  wonderful  thing. 
Scenery  is  dispensed 
with,  its  place  being 
taken  by  labels  after 
the  fashion  prevail- 
ing   in    Elizabethan 


we< 

a 

adjoin; 

and  contim 

tin:   in  xl  |     rl 

aip 

thi 

that    it    is  imp 
sible    to    poi 
them  piop 
that  ihey  hav< 

I  it-    labelled    with 
their     names     in 
the   same   wax 
tin-  scenery.    I 
accompan  yi 
snap  shot     sh< 
the  lad  y  a  n  d 
gi  nth.  man      play 
ing  the  parts  of  "  Sun  "  and  "  Moon  "  in  a  drama 
at   the   Chinese    theatre  in  the  famous    I 
district  of  New  York.    Ameri<  an  visitors  from  all 
parts   of  the  States,  "doing  Chinatown,"  !>■ 
among  the  chiei   patrons  of  this  establishm 


[Photo. 


'SUN 


AND    "MOON"    IN    A    CHINESE    DRAMA    IN    NEW  YORK   CITV. 

From  a  Photo,  by  LazarnU  '  >~k. 


nu;   wide   world   Magazine. 


THE   BEAUTY   AND   FASHION    OF    ROME   GOING   TO   THE   RACES    IN   OX-CARTS.         \_PllotO. 


the  actors,  as  a  delicate  compliment,  are  labelled 
in  English,  although  they  speak  their  own 
language. 

(  »ur  last  photograph  shows  how  the  beauty 
and  fashion  of  Rome  have  to  go  to  the  races 
at  Bracciano — a  smart  meeting  in  the  Campagna, 
some  miles  from  the  city  —  when  the  supply  of 
cabs  gives  out.  The  carts  are  of  the  most 
primitive  description,  drawn   by  the  huge,  long- 


homed  Campagna  oxen.  Rough  planks  are 
tied  along  the  sides  to  form  seats,  and  then  the 
queer  conveyance — quite  innocent  of  springs 
jolts  and  rumbles  off.  Rude  and  un- 
comfortable as  these  carts  are,  the 
"  quality  "  are  usually  only  too  glad  to  secure 
a  vehicle  of  any  description,  and  to  the 
stranger  the  novelty  of  the  experience  is 
distinctly  refreshing. 


f 


Railway  Race 
with  r^obbei\s 


vovaoe  of 
the'Vaskapu 


Lone 
African 


Walking 


Irx  ,SEARCtl  OF 

Treasure  Island    2  /    walking 

}  ?     Competition 

a 
m-, o 

Through  the  Copland  Pass  *- 

Cape  Horq 


FISHING     ^CAUGHTjN^DEATtlTl^APx^1  "^  T' 

i       / % ....     K  r-iK       '"Vxi 

Foot  to 


At^ea  with 
a  Lioness 


Walking  Competiton 


*? 


"THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE,"    WHICH    SHOWS    AT   A    GLANCE   THE    LOCALITY   OK    EACH    ARTICLE 
ID    NARRATIVE   OF    ADVENTURE    IN    THIS    NUMBER. 


INDEX. 


ADRIFT   ON    A    LOG      

Illustrations  by  Norman  H.   Hardy  and  from  a  Photograph. 

ALGERIA,    A   MOTOR-CAR   CARAVAN    IN     ... 

Illustrations  by  R.  B.  M.   Paxton  and  from  Photographs. 

ARCTIC,    CAST   AWAY    IN    THE      

Illustrations  by  W.  C.  Symons  and  from  Photographs. 

'   AUTOMOBILE,   ACROSS   AMERICA   ON   AN      

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

BATTLE   OF   THE    BOWL,    THE      

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

BIRD-CHARMER   OF   PARIS,   THE 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

BIRDS,    A   PARADISE   OF       

Illustrations  from   Photographs. 

BLOCKADE-RUNNERS,    THE  

Illustrations  by  A.  C.  Machefert  and  from  Photographs  and  a  Facsimile. 

BOKHARA,    MY    VISIT    TO    THE    AMEER    OF  ... 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

BOLT   FROM   THE   BLUE,    A 

Illustrations  by  W.  S.  Stace_  . 

BOOBIES,    AMONG   THE 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

"BULLY"    HAYES'S   SUPERCARGO  

Illustrations  by  C.  J.  Staniland,  R.I.,  and  from  a  Photograph. 

BURNING   FLUME,    A   VOYAGE   DOWN   A 

Illustrations  by  Norman  H.   Hardy  and  from  Photographs. 

CAUGHT   IN   A   DEATH-TRAP  

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 


//'  J.   Mowfo 

...    The    Viscount  de  1 6 

R.  D.   Mackay.     401 

Day 

Harry  Dillon  Jom  .      1  \\ 
Edouard  Cliai . 
George  End 
Walter  G.    Patto 
...  Lieu, 

R.   /■'. 

Captain   B  -  ',    --7 

I 

Harris  T. 

//./..  Adam.     530 


THE    WIDE    WORLD    MAGAZINE. 


CA\  E-DWELLERS   OF    EZY,     1  HI       

111;.  ph& 

CHOGO   LOONGMA,    illl     FIRST  ASCENT  OF  THE  ... 

11H-.  from   Photographs. 

CHRISTMAS  IN   A  BEAR  Ik  \r        

Illustrations  by  A.  C  Machefert. 

.  [MB,    MY    I. AST  

111.:  \.    Pearse  and  from   I  phs. 

CLOUD-BURST,   A   RAC1    WITH    \ 

Illustrations  by  F.   1'.   Mahony  and  from  Photographs  and  a  Map. 

COPLAND  PASS,    ["HROUGH  THE 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 
RN    IS    KING,    WHERE        

Illustrations  from   Photographs. 


PAGE 

...    John  A".   Raphael.     247 


...  Fanny  Bullock   Workman.  393 

...  T.   C.  Boyd.  233 

M.  Dit  kson  Taggart.  362 

Victor  Pitt-Ketkhy.  211 

Miss  Constance  A.  Bamicoat.  566 

Jeremy  Broome.  141 


"DEAD  OR  ALIVE"       

Illustrations  by  B.   E.   Minns  and  from  Photographs. 

MINICA,  THE  BOILING   LAKE  OF       ... 

[rations  from   P  \iap. 


...      Miss  Lucy  M.    Willard.     607 
Captain   C/ias.   Foulkes,   R.E.     254 


EGGS.   A  DEAL  IX  

Illusti  W.   S.  Stacey  and  from  Photographs  and  a  Facsimile. 


Stanley  Mayall.     407 


GERMAN   VENICE,  A 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

"GLORY-IK  'II  "  G<  m  >SE,  THE 

Illustrations  by  E.  S.   Hodgson. 

G<  tLD-RUSH,    TIIK    "  SIBERIA"      ... 

Illustrations  by  Frank  P.  Mahony. 

GRIQUALAND,    OUR   TREK    INTO 

Illustrations  by  R.   B.  M.  Paxton  and  from  Photograpbs. 

HASS<  10    TIIK    TRAITOR  

Illustrations  by  J.   Finnemore,  K.I. 

HAUNTED    HOUSE    BY   TIIK   CREEK,    TIIK     ... 

Illustrations  by  A.    I  !  from  Photographs. 


Mrs.  Herbert   Vivian.  430 

/»'.    Min to   Wade.  222 

John   Marshall.  1 93 

Mrs.   Fred  Maturin.     135,  269 

Missak  Melobian.     437 
...        G.  K.   OReilly.     537 


"ISLAND    BELLE,"    Till-;    LAST    VOVACK    OK   TIIK 
Illustrations  by  W.  C.  Sym  ins  and  from  Photographs. 


George  Rignold.       83 


JOHN  EVANS,  THE  STRANGE  STORY  OF 

Illustrations  by  A.   Pearse  and  from  Photogi 

JOHN    MERRIWEATHER'S   WAKE 

Illustrations  by  Paul   Hardy. 


. . .  Emerson    IVakeJield.     484 
Co  onel  Julius  G.    Tucker.       95 


LAZARO,    I  l  >R    THE    LOVE    OF       

Illustrations  by  H.  Sandham  and  from  Photographs. 

LIGHTSHIP   "50,"    UN.    DRY-LAND    VOYAGE  OK 

Illustrations  from   Photographs. 

LIONESS,    AT   SEA    W  II  II    A 

Illustrations  by  C.  J.   Staniland,   R.I. 

LION-TAMER,    HOW   I    BECAME   A  

Illustrations  by  R.   B.   M.   Paxton  and  from  a  Photograph. 

^-LOG-ROLLING       

Illustrations  from   Photographs. 

LOST    IN"    A    MINI 

Illustrations  by  Paul   Hardy  and  from  Photographs. 

MAN-EATER   OF    LALPUR-ARANI,    TIIK 

Illustrations  by  Major  E.  A.  P.  Hobday. 


Leslie  Collins.  198 

D.  A.  Willey.  217 

Robert  ./.  /'/Iter,  L.S.A.  553 

Miss  Ella.  475 

Charles  E.  Simtnonds.  349 

...Louis  Lavier.  319 

...      C.  E.  Gouldsbury.  330 


INDEX. 

"MINER,"    HOW   WE   RAN    THE 

Illustrations  by  W.  S.   Stacey. 

MISSISSIPPI    BREAKS    LOOSE,    WHEN    THE 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

"MUGGER,"    A   FIGHT   WITH   A 

Illustrations  by  C.  J.  Staniland,   R.I. 

MYSTERY    OF   THE   CROSS-MARKED   TRAIL,    THE 

Illustrations  by  A.   C.   Machefert  and  from   Photographs  and  a   Map. 

NEW   SOUTH    WALES,    THE   CORROBOREES   OF      ... 
Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

NEW   YEAR    PARADE,    A         

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

NYANGA,    THAT  NIGHT   ON   THE  

Illustrations  by  Lawson  Wood  and  from  Photographs. 


627 

E.  r.  h 

/ohn  S.  Kendall. 

0.  Bartlett.     17^ 

Denis  Donohoe,  fun. 

..    Charles  II.    Kerry.      293 

//.   R.  Jones.     315 

..    Dai' id  Woodhouse.       41 


ODDS   AND    ENDS  

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

PAWNSHOP,   A   NATIONAL    

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

l'EKIN   TO    PARIS    BY   RAIL,    FROM 
Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

"PETER   THE   SCRUBBER" 

Illustrations  by   Frank  P.   Mahony. 


RAIDING    OF   ROBBEN   ISLAND,   'IDE 

Illustrations  by  W.  C.  Symons  and  from  Photographs. 

RAILWAY   IN   CHANCERY,   A  

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

RAILWAY    RACE   WITH    ROBBERS,    A 

Illustrations  by  H.  Sandham  and  from  Photographs  and  a  Diagram. 

RAIN-MAKING    AT   BROKEN   HILL  

Illustrations  from  Photograph-.. 

ROCKIES,    FIGHTING    SNOW   IN    THE 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

"SAHARA,    THE    EMPEROR   OF   THE" 

Illustrations  by  R.  B.  M.  Paxton  and  from  Photographs  and  a  Map. 
ST.    PIERRE,    BURIED    ALIVE    IN 

Illustrations  by  A.  Pearse  and  from  Photographs  and  Facsimiles. 
SAKHALIN,    THE   WILD    TRIBES   OF       

Illustrations  from   Photographs. 

SANICHAR  THE  WOLF-BOY 

Illustrations  by  C.  J.  Staniland,  R.I.,  and  from  a  Photograph. 
"SEA  SERPENT"    OF   THE    "TRESCO,"    THE 

Illustrations  by  E.  S.   Hodgson  and   from  Photographs  and  Facsimiles. 
SNAKES,    IN   THE    STRONGHOLD    OF   THE 

Illustrations  by  Norman  H.   Hardy. 

SOKOTO,    WITH   THE   BRITISH    TO  

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

SOUTH    SEA   CANNIBALS,    AMONG   THE  

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

SPANISH   SERVANTS,    MY      

Illustrations  by  Tom  Browne,  R.I. 

STEAM-SLAVER,  THE  

Illustrations  by  E.   S.  Hodgson. 

STORY   OF   VASILI    THE    FISHERMAN,    THE 

Illustrations  by  W.   S.   Stacey  and  from  a  Photograph.. 

SWORD-FISHING 

Illustrations  by  E.  S.  Hodgson  and  from  Photographs. 


From  all  parts  of  the   World.     99,  203,  309,  41 1,  515,  619 


Herbert   Vivian.  52 

...   Geo.   Lynch.  116 

/>'.  J.   Hyde.  30 

..     J.   Gordon  Smith.  451 

Miss  Mary  C.   Fair.  304 

Waller  G.    Patterson.  557 


Ras  de  S.  Magnussen.     280 


Win.   MacLeod.  Paine,  t,^ 

...  The   Viscount  de  Soissons. 

Littleer  Sy 'ban's.  10/ 

Charles  H.  Hawes,  B.A.     88,  169 

Miss  Cornelia  Sorabji.  3S 

Joseph   Ostens  Grey.  147 

Ker  Campbell.  499 

Captain   Chas.   Foulkes,   R.E.  9 

Captain  II.   Cayley   Webster,   F.Z.S.  70 

Mrs.    Dorothy  Cole.  503 

Captain    Wilton  Fonter.  Co 

Rook  Carnegie.  590 

W.  II.  Chamberlain.  523 


THE    WIDE     WORLD     MAC.AZINE. 


THIBET.    ON    FOOT   TO  

Illr.-  from  Photographs. 

TIGER-PEOPLE,     Till      I  Ml     OF    THE 

Illustrations  by  C.   M.  Sheldon  and  from  Photographs. 

"TOUCH    AND   GO"  

Illustrations  by  W.  (      -     nons. 

TRAM-CAR    HOLD-UP,     \         

Illustrations  by  11.  Sandham  and  from  Photographs  and  Facsimiles. 
TRAMP    IX    SPAIN,    A 

Illustrations  by  W  •    'ble. 

TRANS-AFRICAN    TRAMP,    A    LONELY Major  P.   //.   G.   Powell- Cotton.     372,457,601 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

TREASURE    ESLAND,    IN    SEARCH    OF    .V  S.S.Blake.     612 

Illustrations  by  W.  C.   Symons  and  from   Photographs. 


Charles  E.  Simmonds.     491,  545 

V'hc  Baroness  Rosenberg.  576 

...John  Gaggin.  236 

W.  R.   Pursell.  3 

Bart  Kennedy.  23 


"UP   A   TREE 


Illustrations  by   R.    B.   M.   Paxton  and  from   Photographs 


Dr.  Withers  C.   Watts.     595 


"VASKAPU,"   THE   VOYAGE   OF   THE 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 


. . .  James  Short.     58 1 


WALKING   COMPETITIONS,    TWO    REMARKABLE     •■• 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 

WEDDING    THAT    WENT    WRONG,  THE... 

Illustrations  by  George  Soper  and  from  Photographs. 

WHAT    HAPPENED    AT    BRIDGE    "21"  ... 

Illustrations  by  S.   H.   Yeddar  and  from  Photographs. 
WHITE    A\  ENGERS,    THE       

Illustrations  by   If.   Sandham  and   from    Photographs. 

WHITE    MAN'S    LUCK,    THE 

Illustrations  by  W.  C.  Symons. 

WILDERNESS,    THREE   GIRLS    IN    THE 

Illustrations  by  H.  Sandham  and  from  a  Photograph  and  Facsimile. 

WIMMERA,    ALONE    IN   THE  

Illustrations  by  Norman  H.   Hardy  and  from  Photographs. 

"WIRELESS"    NEWSPAPER,    THE    FIRST 

Illustrations  from  Photographs  and  a  Facsimile. 


...£.    Clarence  Jack/nan  and  A.   Propsting  584 

...  G.    W.  McClintock.  298 

W.    G.   Patterson.  259 

...J.    Walter  Peed.     285,  354,  419 

J.    C.   Sparrow.  179 

Mrs.   Eleanor  Griffin  McNett.  76 

...     Miss  E.  Boucher.  341 

...    E.  Les.'ie  Gilliam s.  276 


YOHO  VALLEY,  A  RECORD  TRIP  IN  THE  .. 

Illustrations  from  Photographs. 


. ..    Mrs.  Julia  W.  Henshaw.     444 


GEORCn    NEWNE5,    LTD.,    SOUTHAMPTON   STRFET   AND   EXETER    STREET,    STRAND,    W.C. 


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