Rensselaer Republican, Volume 17, Number 43, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 July 1885 — CAPTURED BY CANNIBALS. [ARTICLE]

CAPTURED BY CANNIBALS.

BY THOMAS W. KNOX.

dart i. In many ways the world is rapidly becoming prosaic. The age of.chivalry was gone long ago, if we may believe a celebrated writer; steam lias destroyed the romance of the sea; the mystery of the unexplored regions of Africa exists no longer; the maelstrom is a myth; the sources of the nile have been visited and described, and even the sea-serpent has fallen before the searching gaze of the star-eyed science. The Car of Juggernaut, which once crushed hundreds of victims in its annual precessions, now remains harmless in its temple; the cremation of living widows at the sides of their dead hus bands is rigidly prohibited through the length and breadth of India; and the King of Uganda can to-day receive a distinguished visitor without slaughtering a dozen countries in his honor. The horrible fascination that clings to the cannibal and the storyof his performances is greatly circumscribed, as the labors of missionaries and the spread of commerce have demonstrated that man can be put to better uses than to be served up for provisions. But the cannibal still lingers in some parts of the world, though he is only to be found by those who seek him with great diligence.

Within the memory of those of ns who have not yet passed beyond middle life the inhabitants of the Feejee Islands were noted for their habit of devouring the bodies of their enemies, and also, under certain circumstances, those of their friends; since missionaries and merchants were established there, and the Island became subject to Great Britain, the British prejudices have prevailed, and tbepraetiee is now confined to a few benighted tribes of the interior. When the missionaries began their teachings the natives gave ready approval to the Scriptural injunction,* “love your enemies,” but they were disappointed to learn that it had no reference to the lovo of a gourmet for a can-vas-back d&ek- Tanoa, the old ruler of the Feejees, and father of the laie King Thakomban, had a palate so delicate that he could distinguish between the English sailor or the French one when served at the table, and he could even name the people of the different islands of the Feejees group when a slice of each was placed before him. An acquaintance of mine claims to have had a narrow escape from being the piece de resistance at one of Tanoa’s banquets, and of being taken to and into the royal bosom. He told me the story one day when we were sailing over the Pacific, and wondering if the good old times of the cannibals would ever come again. "I was on a whale ship,” said he, “that was cruising in the South Pacific and had put into the Feejees for water. The ship was old and leaky, the captain was a tyrant, the mate a brute, and every sailor on the ship was ready to desert at the first opportunity. We had a chance to go into one of the groups where there were no cannibals, but the captain knew that if he did there wouldn’t be a man of us left. His only hope of holding on to a crew was by having them choose between the Bhip and the natives who would eat them up. The most frightful stories were told about the practices of the people, and not one of us would venture a yard from the beach where we landed to get water. We kept the natives at distance, and made them understand that while we would leave plenty of trinkets and old hoops on the shore to pay for the water, we wouldn’t go near the liftle creek on the beach unless they staid a good way off from it They had no canoes, and bo they didn’t bother us by trying to get on board. "One afternoon a party of us had gone ashore to fill the last of the casks; the mate was with ns and it was one of his ugliest days, for he kicked ns about as though we had no more feeling than the boat or the ground we stood on. Because I didn’t please him about something he struck me with an oar, and then I struck back with my fist and downed him. Tba rest of the men pulled me off, but they didn’t pull very hard, as they were all right glad to see the fellow pounded at last. When they e 3 apart I saw what I had done and the mate wonld have his revenge on me as soon as we got to sea again. I thought it all over in a second, and in

my frenzy concluded I might as well be eaten by tbe savages as beaten to death by the mate and thrown over for the sharks before we made another ' plort. “I turned and went straight to the bushes where 1 know the natives were watching ns. I just' said ‘Good by, to mv shipmates and nothing more. They yelled lor me to come back, but I didn’t turn nor stop. The mate started after me, hut he thought better of it and wheeled around before going twenty yards. "In five or ten minutes I was in the middle of a group of natives who were armed with spears and clubs, and had their bodies streaked and painted in a hideous way. They wore no , clothing except a strip around the waist, and more than half of them could not boast as much as that. They tore off my clothes, and then examined my limbs exactly as a butcher examines an ox to ascertain his condition. One old fellow who seemed to have some sort of authority over the rest pinched my arm till I almost screamed with pain. The fact that I didn’t sCreem seemed to impress him favorably, and at a word from him X was less rudely treated after that, I wasn’t a particularly good prize, as the hard fare on the ship had made me pretty thin, and my ribs fairly stuck out so you might count ’em. I saw they disapproved of me, but probably they reasoned that half a loaf was better than no bread, and so they took me along. “Three of the natives escorted me through the tropical forest while the rest remained, probably with a view to making more captures if opportunity offered, on to gather up whatever the ships crew should leave behind in payment for the privilege of taking water. We did not stop till we had gone a couple of miles back from the shore and ascended a hill. Through a rift in the trees I saw the boat Tretiirn to the ship with the water casks, and in a little while the anchor was raised andthe old craft sailed out of the bay and stood away to sea. I was alone with the cannibals. “We waited for the men who had staid behind and as soon as they joined us the march was resumed. A little before sunset we came to a village of thatched huts, perhaps twenty or thirty in all, in a sort of irregular circle surrounding an open space; in tlie center of this space was a raised platform over which was a thatched roof elevated on posts about ten feet high. This wa3 the council hall where all public business was transacted; it served as a lounging place by day and also as an hotel where strangers could be lodged at night. The sides of the structure were entirely open when we arrived, but in less than a quarter o frn hour the building was completely inclosed by strips of wide matting stretched between the posts. I-was made to understand that I must remain in the council "hall, and to make sure that I did not run away two of the natives were constantly at my side, or, rather, one was constantly at each side of me. They brought me some roasted bread fruit and roasted cocoanuts, gave me a mat to lie on and another for covering, and while never relaxing their vigilance toward me they treated me with kindness and respect.

' PART 11. “I didn’t sleep well, you may he sure, and what sleep I had was disturbed by unpleasant dreams which seemed to foreshadow my fate. But when waking I consoled myself with the reflection that I should have been no better off bad I staid on the whale ship and been subjected to the mate’s crualties. In the morning they fed me again with bread-fruit and cocoanut, to which was added a fish which had been roasted over the coals and was really very good. The whole population, men, women, and children, camo to look at me, and after a good deal of jabbering, of which I could not understand a word, but which evidently referred to me, two of the men started through the forest in a direction opposite to the one whence we came. Then the conference broke up, but for the rest of the day 1 was an object of curiosity, “For three days I was kept a close prisoner and on the morning of the fourth was taken through the woods by a winding path, perhaps twenty miles, to a large village, where hundreds of natives were assembled as if for a grand festival. The village surrounded an open space of at least an acre in extent. At one end of this space was a mound or platform, perhaps eight feet high, ana in front of the platform was a stone that looked like a large gateDost. Obi Tonoa and his principal officers were sitting on the mound just behind the stene; the natives, armed with their clubs and spears, were scattered over the level ground and waiting for the terrible ceremonies to begin.

"I was led to the foot of the mound, .vhere half a. dozen other prisoners, their hands and feet securely tied with cords, were lying on the ground and at a word from the King I was similarly bound and placed by their side. The crowd opened so as to make a lane from the stone to the other end of the pljkza, and that began the terrible ceremonies which preceded the cannibal feast. “Fires were burning at the rear of the mound, and I could see the smoke raising in feathery curls from at least a dozen places. Tanoii waved his hand as a signal that all was ready, and immediately several athletic fellows stepped from the crowd, two of them seized each prisoner and carried him about fifty yards away from the front of the mound and then placed him on the ground again. All my fellow victims were natives, and, as I afterward learned, were captured in a foray upon a neighboring island. “It was the custom among the Feejeeans in cannibal days to devour their prisoners of war and those killed in battle. Trib s often went on the wagv path solely for the purpose of ing victims to be Berved up as food, very mnch as in other lands expeditions are organized for hunting deer or other wild animals whose flesh is edible. The crews of wrecked ships or boats were always killed and eaten; they were regarded as the gifts of Providence, and the people often besought their gods to send them a wreck that they might be provided with

food. ' This superstition regarding j those who were unfortunate enough to be cast on their shores was more firmly fixed in the mindß of the cannibals than any other, and they clung to it after relinguishing their claim to make war in order to eat those whom they captured. “A conch shell was blown as a signal for beginning the slaughter. One of j the prisoners was seized by his two-! custodians, who each grasped an arm and a leg and then ran rapidly along] the line till they dashed their victim’s head against the great stone I have de : scribed. Then another and another was disposed of in the same way, and carried off to the! rear of the mound, and my turn had arrived! Horrible as was this mode of death, it was, after all, a merciful one, as it was pnaccompanied .Jay torture. A single blow against the stone and all was over.

“I had been lying on my bsck, with my head turned to oie side during the dispatching of my companions in captivity, and, with my experience as a sailor, had managed to work lapse the knots that bound my hands, bujfc I did not remove the cord. My executioners seized mein the customary manner, and started on their deadly mission. As they did so they doubled my legs under me so that the knot around my ankles touched my hands. Instantly I unfastened the cord, but still held hands and feet as closely "together as though the lashing were secura And now for the grand stroke which would save me!

Suddenly I gave a violent spring with hands and feet that threw my bearers to the ground, as they were totally unprepared for anything of the kind. I went to the ground with them, but wasupin an instant. We were not six feet away from tbo foot of the execution stone, and the head of one of my late bearers touched it. “With the agility of a cat—for I was a great deal younger then than now— I sprang to the top of the mound and right in front of old Tanoa. I flung my arms wildly about and then dropped on tbe ground at his feet. I afterward learned that he thought*! was invoking the vengeance of the heaven on him for the great peril I had passed through, and my prostration was to indicate that he was the greatest of terrestrial sovereigns. I really had no thought further than to ask that he would spare my life, though I had counted upon the dramatic effect of my having released myself from my bonds and stood before him.

“A wild shout went up from the crowd, and the king sat as though he had never been more surprised in his life. If I had been down by the stone I should have been . finished off in a minute, but at the feet of the King I was safe until he ordered otherwise, as it would he highly improper for the warriors to mount the platforpi while his majesty was there. The seconds seemed like hours while I waited for the King’s decision, which he finally gave: “ ‘The dead are dead, and shall be eaten; the white man shall live.’ “The bodies of those who had been killed were cooked and devoured; I was allowed to go about wherever I pleased, but was always accompanied by two warriors. They offered to show me the ovens, but I had no liking for the horrible sight, and indicated my desire to get as far from it as I could. Besides my ineffable disgust, I was fearful that the King might change his mind, or that some of hiß subjects might take upon themselves the task of executioner and dispatch me without the royal leave. But I must do them the justice to say that from that time on they never manifested the least desire to harm me.

“I was sent back to the village where I was first taken after my capture, and became the slaves of the chief, but my slavery was of the lightest sort. I was treated more like a companion than a servant, possibly for the reason that as the Feejeeans can practically live without work there was very little work to do; I learned a good deal of their language, went with them in the forest and in pursuit of fish, and loitered around the council-hall when there was nothing else to do. “I lived there nearly a year, and if I could have been assured that there was no danger of being slaughtered and eaten i should have been perfectly willing to stay among those people the rest of my life. They were unwilling to have me leave them, and twice when ships came in for water they hurried me away from the coast to make sure that I did not escape; whether they desired my society or were actuated by the fear that I should tell about their customs I never knew, but certainly they tried by every means in their power to prevent my leaving them. “In course of time they grew less watchful, and I occasionally went off by myself for a few hours without exciting suspicion. I always went toward the coast, but invariably took a circuitous route; when in sight of the sea I scanned it carefully for a sail, and if none was in sight immediately retraced my steps to the village. Toward the end of the year I did this every day or two, or as often as I thought it safe. I generally returned with a bunch of bananas or a cluster of bread fruit, so that my absence was ostensibly in search of food.

“One day my heart came into my mouth! As I looked through a rift in the trees a shiji was standing into the little hay whhre I had my fight with the mate and threw myself into the arms of the cannibals. Away I went down the path as fast as I could run; luckily I didn’t tneet any one, and went at such a pace that no pursuer could have caught me. Out I came on the beach just as the anchor went down to the sandy bottom; I looked back and thought some of the village people were coming. I didn’t wait to make sure of it, but plunged in and swam off to the ship. “It was a long swim, and I was near drowning, but I got there all right and was hauled on board. The captain heard my story, tjien ordered me to be dressed and set to work, and I went to work with a will. He was a rough, blunt, good-hearted man from'New Bedford; his mate was pretty severe with the men, but a vast improvement on my old one. All’s well that ends well, a*nd I hare nothing particularly to regret in that eventful residence in Feejee. I afterward learned that my

former ship went down with all on board a few Weeks after I deserted her and so my, escape to the man-eaters was my salvation.” —Chicago Inter Ocean. . L ' ? i '