Pittsburg dispatch. (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, February 15, 1891, THIRD PART, Page 17, Image 17

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THE PITTSBURG DISPATCH
PAGES 17 TO 20.
THIRD PART.
M9B9
STORIES FROM THE SOUTH SEAS
A Smitten Polynesian Bean Who Tattooed Himself
to Please His Lady Love.
THE LIBERTIES PERMITTED TO PRISONERS.
Male Convicts Spend the Day in the Chase and the flight Taking in the Town The
Females Go Ont to Make Calls Thefts Caused by Oplnm The System of Tor
ture i Chat With Qaeen Taekehn Effect ot the Drum Beat Chief Stanislao
and the Work of Father Dordlllon Married and Unmarried Missionaries Speci
men of Marquesan Literary Attainments.
WRITTEN FOE
Letter So. 3.
The port tke mart, the civil and religi
ous capital of these rude islands lies strung
along the beach of a precipitous green bay.
It was midwinter when we came to Tai-c-hae,
and the weather was sultry, boisterous and
inconstant. Now the wind blew squally
from the land down gaps of splintered preci
pice; now, between the sentinel islets of the
entry, it came in gusts from seaward.
Heavy and dark clouds impended on the
summits; the rain roared and ceased; the
scuppers of the mountain gushed, and the
next day we would tee the sides of the am
phitheater boarded with white falls. Along
the beach the town shows a thin file of
houses, mostly white, and all are ecsconsced
in the foliage of an avenue ot green bruaos;
a pier gives access from the sea across the
belt of heathers; to the eastward there
stands, on a projecting bushy hill, the old
fort which is now the calaboose or prison;
eastward still, alone in a garden, the resi
dency flies the colors of France. Just off
Calaboose Hill, the tiny Government
Xativs Belle
schooner rides almost permanently at anchor.
mates eight hells in the morning (there or
thereabouts) with the unfurling of her flag,
anil salutes the setting sun with the report
of a musket.
Here dwell together and share the comforts
.f a club (which may be enumerated as a
billiard board, absinthe, a map of the world
on Mercator's projection, and one of the
most agreeable verandas in the tropics), a
handful of whites of varying nationality,
mostly French officials, German and Scotch
merchant clerks, and the agents of the
opium monopoly. There arc besides three
tavern keepers, the shievtd Scot who run3
the cotton-gin mill, two white ladies, and a
sprinklingof people "on thebeach" a South
Sea expression for which there is no exact
equivalent. It is a pleasant society, and a
hospitable.
Tatoocd Hiincir for, X.OTO.
Cut one man, who was often to be seen
seated on the logs at the pier head, merits a
word for the singularity of his history and
appearance. Long ago, it seams, he fell in
love with a native lady, a high cbieftess in
Uapu. She, on being approached, declared
she could never marry a man who was un
latooed; it looked so naked; whereupon,
with some greatness of soul, our hero put
himself in the hands oft'icTahnkus, and with
still greater, persevered until me process
wjs complete. lie had certainly to bear a
great expense, for the Tahuku will not
work without reward; and certainly exquis
ite pain. Kooamna, high chief as he was,
and one of the old school, was only part
tattooed; he could not, he told us with lively
pantomime, endure the torture to an end.
Our enamored countryman was more re
solved; he was tattooed from head to foot in
the most approved methods of the art; and
at last presented himself before his mistress
a new man. The fickle fair one could never
behold him from that dav except with
laughter. For my part, I could never see
the man without .i kind of admiration; of
him it might be said, if ever of any, that lie
had loved not wisely, but too well.
The rebidciicv stands by itelf. Calaboose
Hill screei.iug it trom the fringe of town
along the further bay. The house is com
modious, with wide varandas; all day it
stands open back and front, and the trade
Modi of Punishment.
blows copiously over its bare floors. Of a
week day, the garden offers a.scene of most
umropical animation, half a dozen convicts
toiling there cheerfully with spade arid bar
row, touching hats and smiling to the visitor
like old attached family servants. On Sun
day these are gone, and nothing to be seen
but dogs of all rinks and sizes peacefully
blnmbering in the shady grounds; lor the
.logs of Tai-o-hae are vcrv courtl v. minded,
siud make the seat of "Government their
promenade and place of siesta.
rieasant for Prisoners.
On the summit of its promontory hill the
calaboose stands all day with doors and un
der shutters open to the trade. On my first
visit, a dog was the only guardian visible.
He, iudeed, rose with an attitude so menac
ing that I was glad to lay hands on an old
barrel hoop; and.I think the weapon must
have been familiar, for the champion in
stantly retreated, and as I wandered round
the court and tbrontrh the liuildinc, I could
see him, with a couple of companions, hum
ill
A.
A
THE DISPATCH.
bly dodging me about the corners. Tbe
prisoners' dormitory was a spacious, airy
room, devoid of any furniture; its white
washed walls covered with inscriptions in
Marquesan and rude drawings. From this
noontide quietude it must uot be supposed
the prison was untenanted; the calaboose at
Tai-o-hae does a good business. But some
of its occupants were gardening at the
residency, and the rest were probably at
work upon the streets, as free as' our scaven
gers at home, although not so indus
trious. On the approach of evening
they would be called iu like chil
dren from play, and the harbor master
(who is also the jailer) would go through tbe
form of locking them up till 6 the next
morning. Should a prisoner have any call
in town, whether of pleasure or affairs, he
has but to unhook the window shutter; and
if he is back again, and the shutter decently
replaced, by the hour of csll on the morrow,
he may have met the harbor master in the
avenue, and there will be no complaint, far
less, any punishment
But this is not all. The charming French
resilient, 11. Delarnelle, carried me one
day to the calaboose on an official visit. In
the green court, a very ragged gentleman,
his legs deformed with-the island elephant
iasis, saluted us smiling.
All Ont Enjoying Themselves.
'One of our political prisoners an in
surgent from Kaiatoa," said the resident;
and then to the jailer: "I thought I had or
dered him a new pair of trousers." Mean
while, no other convict was to be seen "Eh
bien," said the resident, "ou sbnt vospris
onniers?" "Monsieur le Resident." replied
the jailer, with soldierly lormality, "comme
e'est jour de fete,je let ai laisss'aller a la
chasse." They were all upon the moun
tains banting goats! Presently we came to
tbe quarter of the women, likewise deserted.
"Ou sontvos tonnes femmes?" asked the
resident, aud the jailer cheerfully respond
ed: "Je crois. Monsieur le resident, qu!elles
sont allces quelqepartaire unevisite."
It had been the 'design of H. Delarnelle,
who was much in love with the whimsical
ities of his small realm, to elicit something
. ' i
SIGHTING AN ISLAND AT SUNSET.
comical; but not even be expected anything
so perfect as the last
To complete the picture of convict li(e m
Tai-o-hae, it remains to be added that these
criminals draw a salary as regularly as tbe
President of the .Republic. Ten sons a day
is their hire. Thus they have money, food,
shelter, clothing, and, I was about tb write,
their liberty. The French are certainly a
good-natured people, and make easy masters.
They are besides inclined to view the Mar
quesans with an eye of humorous in
dulgence. "They are dying, poor devils," said M.
Delarnelle; "the main thing is to let them
die In peace."
Theft the Popular Crime.
Then is practically the sole crime. Origi
nally petty pilferers, the men of Tai-o-hae
now begin to force locks and attack strong
boxes. Hundreds of dollars have been
taken at a time; though with that redeem
ing moderation so common in Polynesian
theft, the Marquesan burglar will aiways
take a part and leave a part, sharing (so to
speak) with the proprietor. If it be Chilean
coin the island currency he will escape;
if the sum is in gold, French silver, or bank
notes, the police wait until the money be
gins to come in circulation, and then easily
pick ont their man. And now comes the
shameful part. In plain English, the pris
oner is tortured until he confesses and (if
that be possible) restores tbe money. To
keep him alone, day and night in the black
hole, is to inflict on the Marquesan torture
inexpressible. Even his robberies are car
ried on in the plain daylight, under the
open sky, with the stimulus of enterprise,
and the countenance ot an accomplice; his
terror of the dark is still Insurmountable;
conceive, then, what he endures in his soli
tary dungeon; conceive how he longs to con
fess, become a full-fledged convict, and be
allowed to sleep beside his comrades.
While we were in Tai-o-hae a thief was
under prevention. He had entered a house
about 8 in the morning, forced a trunk, and
stolen 1,100 francs; and now, under the
horrors of darkness, solitude, and a be
devilled cannibal imagipation, he wasTe
luctantly confessing and giving up his spoil.
From- one cache, which he had already
pointed out 300 francs had been recovered,
and it was expected tbat he would presently
disgorge tbe rest. This would be ugly
enough it it were all, but I am bound to say,
because it is a matter the French should set
at rest, tbat worse is continually hinted. I
heard that one man was kept six days with
his arms bound backward round a'barrel;
and it is the universal report tbat every
gendarme iu tbe South Seas is equipped
with 'something in the nature of a thumb
screw. Torture the Culprit's Relatives.
Perhaps worse still, not only the accused,
but sometimes his wife, his mistress, or his
friend is subjected to the same hardships. I
was admiring, in the tapu system, the inge
nuity ol native methods of detection; there
is not much to admirein those ot the French,
and to lock up a timid child in a darkroom,
and if he Drove obstinate lock up bis sister
in the next, is neither novel nor humane.
The main occasion of these thefts is the
new vice of opium eating. The successful
thief will give a handful of money to each
of his friends, a dress to a woman, passim
evening in one of the taverns of Tal-o-hae,
during which he treats all comers, .produce I
a big lump of opium, and retire to the bush
to eat and sleep itoff. The man under pre
vention during mystay at Tai-o-hae lost pa
tience while tbe Chinese opium seller was
being examined in his presence.
"Of course, he sold me opiuml" he broke
out;C'all the Chinese here sell opium. It
was only to buy -opium that I stole; it is only
to buy opium that anybody steals. And
what you ought to do is to let no opium
come here, and no. Chinamen.''
This is precisely what is done in Samoa by
a native Government; but tbe French have
bound their own hands, and for 40,000 francs
sold native subjects to crime and aeath.
Of course, the patentee is supposed to sell
to Chinamen alone; equally, of course, no
one could afford to pay 40,000 francs for the
privilege of supplying a scattered handful
of Chinese; and every one knows the truth,
and all are ashamed of it.
A Wonderful Native Qneen.
The history of the Marquesas is, of late
years, much confused by the coming and
going of the French. At least twice they
XX ETTEEESTIKG GEOOT? -WITH
have seized the archipelago, at least once
deserted it; and in the meanwhile the
natives pursued almost without interruption
their desultory cannibal wars. Through
these events and changing dynasties a sin
gle considerable figure may be seen to move
that of the high chief, a kingy Temoana.
Odds and ends of his history came to my
ears how he was at first a convert of the
Protestant mission; how he was kidnaped
or exiled from his native land, served as
cook aboard a whaler, aud was shown, for
small charge, iu English seaports; how he
returned at last to the Marquesas, fell under
the strong and benign influence of the late
Bishop, extended his influence in the group,
was for awhile joint ruler with the prelate,
and died at last the chief supporter of
Catholicism and the French. His widow
remains in receipt of 2 a month from the
French Government Queen, she is usually
called, but in the official almanac she figures
as "Madame Yaekehu, Grande Cbefcsse."
His son (natural or adoptive, I know not
which), Stanislao Moanatini, chief of
Akaui, serves in Tai-o-hao as a kind of
Minister of Public "Works; and the daughter
of Stanislao is High Chieftess of the south
ern island of Tauata. Tiiese, then, are the
greatest folk of the archipelago; we thought
them also the most estimable. This is the
rule in Polynesia, with few exceptions; the
higher the family, the better the man better
in cense, better in manners, and usually
taller aud stronger in body. A stranger
advances blindfolded. He scrapes acquaint
ance as be can. Save the tattoo in the
Marquesas, nothing indicates the difference
of rank; and yet, almost invariably, we
found, after we had made them, tbat our
friends were persons of station.
Great In Mind and Body.
' I have said "usually taller and stronger.'
I might have been more .absolute over all
Polynesia, and part of Micunesia, the rule
holds good; the great ones of the isle, and
even of the village, are greater of bone and
muscle, and often heavier ot flesh, than any
commoner. The usual explanation tbat
tbe high-born child is more industriously
shampooed, is probably the true one. Iu
New Caledonia, at least, where the differ
ence does not exist or has never been re
marked, the practice of shampooing seems
to be itself unknown. Doctors would be
well employed in a study of the point
Yaekehu lives at the other end of the town
from the residency, beyond the buildings of
tbe mission. Her house is on tbe European
plan, a table in the midst of the chief room;
photographs and religious pictures on the
wall. Here, in the strong thorough dralt,
her Majesty received us in a simple gown of
print, and with uo mark of royalty but the
exquisite finish of her tattooed mittens, the
elaboration of her manners, and the gentle
falsetto in which all the highly refined
among Marquesan ladies (and Vaekehu
above all others) delight to siug their lan
guage. An adopted daughter interpreter?,
while we gave the news, and rehearsed bv
name our friends ot Anaho. As we talked
we could see, through the landward door,
another lady of the household at her toilet
Ender the green trees; who presently, when
er hair was arranged, and her hat wreathed
with flowers, appeared upon the back
veranda with gracious salutations.
The Queen's Exquisito Refinement
Slaekchu'is very deal; "merci" is her only
word of French; and I do not know tbat
she seemed clever. An exquisite, kind re
finement, with a shade of quietism gathered
perhaps from the nuns, was what chiefly
struck us. Or rather, upon tbat first occa
sion, we were conscious of a sense as of dis
trict visiting on our part, and reduced
evangelical gentility on the part of our
hostess. The other impression followed
after she was more at ease, and came with
Stanislao aud his little girl to dine on board
the Uasco. She had dressed for tbe occasion
wore white, which very well became her
strong brown face; and sat among us, eating
or smoking her cigarette, quite cut off from
all society, or only now and then included
through the intermediary of her son. It
was a positionthat might have been ridicu
lous, and She made it ornamental; making
believe to hear and to be entertained; bei
face, whenever she met our eyes, lighting
with the smile of trood socielv: her eontri.
butions to the talk, when she made any, and J
iuai wasseiooni, always complimentary and
pleasing.
No attention was paid to tbe child, for in
stance, but what she remarked and thanked
us for. Her parting with each, when she
came to leave, was gracious ana pretty, as
had been every step of her behavior. When
Mrs. Stevenson held out her hand to say
good-by, Vaekehu took it, held it, and a
moment smiled upon her; dropped it, and
then, as upon i kindly afterthought, and
witbji sort of warmth nf rmtrlefirpniifnn. hplri
out both hands aud kissed mywifS' upon
EETTSBTJBG, SUNDAY,
both cheeks. Given the same relation of
years and of rank, the thing would have
been so dona ou the boards of the Comedte
Francaise;-just so might Mme. Brohanhave
warmed and condescended to Mme. Briosat
in the "Marquis de Villemer."
Thankful for a Kiss.
It was my part to accompany our guests
ashore; when I kissed the little girl .goodbv
at tbe pier steps, "Vaekehu gave a cry of
gratification, reached down her hand into
the boat, took mine, and pressed it with that
flattering softness which seems the coquetry
of the old lady in every quarter of the earth.
The next moment she had taken Stanislao's
arm, and they moved off along the pier in
the moonlight, leaving me bewildered. This
was a queen of cannibals; she was tattooed,
from hand to loot, and, perhaps, tbe greatest
masterpiece of that art now extant, so that
a while ago, before she was grown prim, her
leg was one of the sights ot Tai-o-hae; she
had been fought for and taken in war; per
haps, being so great a lady, she had sat on
tbe high place, and throned it there, alone
STEVENSON ON THE EIGHT.
of her sex, while the drums were going 20
strong, and tbe priests carried up the blood
stained baskets of "long pig."
And now behold her, out of that past oj
violence and sickening feasts, step forth, in
her age, a quiet, smooth, elaborate old lady,
such as you might find at home (mittened
also, but not often so well mannered) in a
score of country houses. Onlv Vaekehu's
mittens were of dye, not of silk; and they
had been paid for", not in money, but the
cooked flesh of men. It came in "my mind
with a clap, what she could think of'it her
self, and whether at heart, perhaps, she
might not regret and aspire after the bar
barous and stirring past But when I asked
Stanislao "Ahl" said he, "she is content;
she is rsligious, she passes all her days with
the sisters."
Tlio Polynesian Drumbeat
The drumbeat of the Polynesian has a
strange and "gloomy stimulation for the
nerves of all. White persons feel it at
these precipitate sound) their hearts beat
faster; and according to the old residents,
its effect on the natives was extreme. Bishop
Dordillon might entreat,' Temoana himself
command and threaten; at the note of the
driim wild instincts triumphed. And
now it might beat upon these ruins, and
who should assemble? The houses aie down,
the people dead, their lineage extinct, and
the sweepings and fugitives of distant bays
and islands encamp upon their graves. The
decline ot the dance Stanislao especially
laments. "Chaqne pays a ses coutumes,"
said he; but in thereport'of any gendarme,
perhaps corruptly eager to increase the
number of delicts and the instruments of
his own power, custom after custom is
placed on (he expnrgatorial index.
"Tenez, une danse qui n'est pas permise."
said Stanislao; J' je ne sais p.is pourquoi, elle 1
est tres jolie. cilera comme Ca," and. stick-'!
i-JyWg'nis um weiia-unr4go.ti4o--iaj5iaof j,
r sketched the Steps and gestures. All his
criticisms of the present, all bis regrets for
the paststruck me as temperate and sensi
ble. The short term of office of the resident
he thought the chief defect of the adminis
tration, that officer having scarce begun to
be efficient ere be was recalled. I thought
I gathered, too, that lie regarded with some
fear tbe coming change from a naval to a
civil Governor. I am sure at least that I
regard it so myself; for tbe civil servants of
France have never appeared to any foreigner
as at all the flower of their country, while
her naval officers may challenge competition
with the world.
Teaching Stanislao History.
I recall with interest two interviews with
Stanislao. The first was a certain afternoon
of tropic rain, which we passed together iu
tbe veranda of tbe club, talking at times
with heightened voices as the showers re
doubled overhead, passing at times into the
billiard room to consult, in the dim, cloudy
daylight, tbat map of the world which
forms its ehief adornment He was natu
rally ignorant of English history, so that I
had much of news to communicate. He
was intentlo hear; his brown face, strongly
marked with smallpox, kindled and changed
with each vicissitude. His eyes glowed
with the reflected light of battle; his ques
tions were many and intelligent, and it was
chiefly these that sent us so often to the
map.
But it is of our parting that I keep tbe
strongest sense. We were to sail on the
morrow, and the night had fallen, dark,
gusty and rainy, when we stumbled up the
hill to bid farewell toStanisiao. He had
already loaded us with gifts, 'but more were
waiting. We sat about tbe table over cigars
and green cocoanuts; claps of wind blew
through tbe bouse and extinguished the
lamp, which was always instantly relighted
with a single match; and these recurring
intervals of darkness were felt as a reliei.
For there was something painful and em
barrassing in the kindness of tbat separa
tion. "Ali.vous devriez rester ici, mon clier
ami!" cried Stanislao. "Vous etes les gens
A NATIVE
gu' il faut pour les Kanaques; vous etes
doux. vous et vntrefamille; vous seriez obeis
dans toutes les lies."
More Credit Than Was Due.
We had been civil; not always that, ray
conscience told me, and never anything
beyond; and all this to do is a measure, not
of our considerateness,but of the want of it
in others. Tbe rest of the evening, on to
Vaekehu's and back as fir as to the pier,
Stanislao walked with my arm and sheltered
me with his umbrella; and after the boat
had put off. we 'could still distinguish, in
the murky darkness, his gestures of farewell.
His words,1f there were any, were drowned
by the rain and the load surf.
I have mentioned presents, a vexed ques
tion in the South Sea. In many quarters
the Polynesian gives only to recejye.
The shabby Polynesian is' anxious till he
has received tbe return .gift; tbe generous is
uneasy until he has made it Tbe first is
disappofntediif you have not given more
than he; the second is miserable if bethinks
he has given less than you. But generosity
on the one hand, and conspicuous meanness
on the other, are in tbe 'South Seas, as,at
home, the -exception. It, is neither with
any hope of, gain,' nor with any
lively wish to please, tblu the. ordinary
Polynesian, .chooses' JandVwescutsJiFs gills.
K "-! ,-r-"5rv?'"'
FEBRUARY 15, 1891.
A plain social duty rlies before" him, which
he performs correctly bub without the least
enthusiasm. And we shall best understand
his attitude of mind if we examine our own
to the cognate absurdity of marriage pres
ents. Father DordlUon's Career.
1 have had occasion several times to name
tbe late bishop. Father Dordillon, "Mon
seignenr," as he is still almost universally
called, Vicar Apostolic of the Marquesas and
Bishop of Cambysopollsin partibus. Every
where in the islands, among all classes and
races, this fine, old, kindlv, cheerful fellow
is remembered with affection and respect
His influence with the natives was para
mount They reckoned him the highest of
men higher "than an admiral; brought him
their money to keep; took his advice upon
their purchases; nor would they plant trees
upon their own land till they had the ap
proval of the lather of the islands. During
the time of the French exodus, he singly
represented Europe, living in the residency,
and ruling by the hand of Temoana.
The first roads were made under bis auspi
ces and by his persuasion. There seems
some truth at least in the common view,
that this joint reign of Temoana and the
Bishop was the last and brief golden age of
the Marquesas. But the civil power re
turned, the mission was packed out of the
residency at 24 hours' notice, new methods
supervened, and the golden age whatever'
it quite was determined. It is tbe strong
est proof of Father. Dordillon's prestige that
it survived, seemingly without loss, this
hasty deposition.
Methods of the Bishop.
His method with the natives was ex
tremely mild Among these barbarous
children he still played the part of the
smiling father, and he was careful to ob-
serve, in all indifferent matters, the Mar
quesan etiquette. Thus, in the singular -
system of artificial kinship, the Bishop bad
been adopted by Vaekehu as a grandson;
Miss Fisher, ot Hatiheu, as a daughter.
From that day Monseigneur never ad
dressed the young lady except as his
mother, and closed his letters with the for
malities of it dutiful son. With Europeans
he could be strict, even to the extent of
harshness. He made no distinctiou against
heretics, with whom he was on friendly
terms, but the rules of his own church be
would see observed, and once at least he
had a man clapped in jail for tbe desecra
tion of a saint's day. But even this rigor,
so intolerable to laymen, so irritating to
Protestants, could not shake his popularity.
His character is best portrayed in the story
of the days of his decline. A time came
when, from the failure of sight, he must de
sist from his literary labors; his Marquesan
hymns; grammars" and dictionaries; his
scientific papers; lives of saints, and devo
tional poetry. He cast about tor a new in
terest; pitched on gardening, and was to be
seen all day with spade and waterpot,.in his
childlike eagerness, actually running be
tween the borders. Another step of decay,
and he must leave his garden also. In
stantly a new occupation was devised, and
he sat in the mission cutting paper flowers
and wreaths. His diocese was not great
enough for his activity; the churches of the
Marquesas were papered with his handi
work, and still be must be making more.
His 3Iemory Held Sacred.
"Ah," said he, smiling, "when I am dead
nhat a fine time you will have clearing out
my trash 1" Ho had been dead about six
mo'n'lhs; but I was pleased to see some of his
trophies still exposed, and looked upon them
with a smile; the tribute (if I have read his
cheerful character aright) which be would
have preferred to any useless tears. Disease
continued progressively to disable 4im; he
who had clamored so stalwartly oyer the
rude rocks of the Marquesas, bringing peace
to warfaring clans"was for some time car
ried in a chair between the mission and the
church, and at last confined fo bed, impo
tent with dropsy, and tormented with bed
sores and Bciatica. Here he lay two months
-without complaint: and on the 11th Janu-
,ary,A687i m thavJPtbjrear.jjf-his life apd
the tfety'-wurlh'-of'hiS'labors in'the .Mar
quesas passed away,
Those who have a taste for hearing mis-'
sions, Protestant or Catholic, decried, must
seek their pleasure elsewhere than in my
pages. Whether Catholic or Protestant,
with all their gross blots, with all their
deficiency of candor, of humor, and of com
mon sense, tbe missionaries are tbe best and
most nsefui whites in the Pacific; This is a
subject which will follow us throughout;
bat there is one part of it that may conve
niently be treated here. Tbe married and
the celibate missionary each has his par
ticular advantage and defect. The married
missionary, taking him at the best, may
offer to the native what he is much in want
of a higher picture of domestic life; but
the woman at' his elbow tends to keep him
in touch with Europe and out of touch with
Polynesia, and to perpetuate, and even to
ingrain parochial decencies, far best for
gotton. Woman's Greatest Weakness.
The mind of the female missionary tends,
for instance, to be continually busied about
dress. She can be taught with extreme
difficulty to tbink any costume decent but
that to which she grew accustomed on Clap
ham Common; and to gratify this prejudice
the native is put to useless expense, his
mind is tainted with the morbidities of Eu
rope, and his health is set in danger. The
celibate missionary, on the other hand, and
whether at best or worst, falls readily into
native ways of life; to which be adds too
commonly what is either a mark of celibate
man at large, or an inheritance from
mediaeval saints I mean slovenly habits
and an unclean person. There are, of
course, degrees in this; and the sister (of
course, and all honor to her) is as fresh as a
lady at a ball.
It might be supposed that native mission
aries would prove more indulgent, bnt the
reverse is found to be the case. The new
broom sweeps clean; and the white mission
ary of to-day is often embarrassed by the
bigotry of his native coadjutor. Wha't else
should we expect?
Tne best specimen of the Christian hero
FBUIT BOAT.
that I ever met was one ol these native mis
sionaries. He had saved two lives at the
risk of his own; like Natlnn, he bad
bearded a tyrant in his-hour of blood; when
a whole white .population fled, he alone
stood to his duty, aud his behavior under
domestic sorrow with which the publje has
no concern filled the beholder with srmna
tby and admiration. A poor little smiling
laborious man he looked; and you would
havelhoueht he had nothing in" him but
that of which indeed he had too much
facilegood nature.
An American Whaler Causht.
It chanced that the only rivals of Mon
seigneur and his mission iu the Marquesas
were certairi"of these brown-skinned evan
gelists, natives from Hjwrtii. 1 know not
what they thought ot Father Dordillon;
they are the only class I did not question:
but I suspect the prelate to have regarded
them askance, for lie was eminently human.
During my stay at Tai-o-hae the time of the
yearly holiday came round at the girls'
school, and a Whole fleet of whale boats
came from Uapu to take the daughters of
that island home. On board of these was
KTauwenloha, one of the, pistors, a fine,
rugged old gentleman of that leonine type so
pniiimon in Huwaii. He paid jne .1 ytR't in
the Casco, aud there .entertained me with 'a
tale of one of his colleagues, Kekela, a mis
sionary in tbe great cannibal isle ef Hivaoa.
It appears tbat shortly after a kidnaping
visit from a Peruvian slaver, the boats of an
American whaler put into a bay upon that
island, were attacked, and made their es
cape with difficulty, leaving their mate; a
Mr. Whalon, in the hands of the natives.
The captain, with his bands tied behind his
back, was cast into a bouse, and tbe chief
announced the capture to Kekela, And
here Ihegin to follow the version of Kau
wealoha; it is a good specimen of Kanaka
English, and the reader is to conceive it de
livered with violent emphasis and speaking
pantomime:
The Pastor's Vivid Kecltal. ,
"I got Melican mate," the chief he say.
"What you go do Melican mate?" Kekela he
say. "I go make flre, I go kill. I go eat him,"
he say; "you come to-mollow eat piece." "I no
want eat Melican matef Kekela he say; "why
-you want?" "This bad sbippee, this slave
shipnee," the chief he say. "One time ashiopee
he come from Pelu, he take away plenty Kan
aka, he take away my son. Melican mats be
bad man. I go eat him: you eat piece." "1 no
want ear Melican mate!" Kekela he say: and be
cly all night be clyl To-mollow Kekela he get
up, he put on lilackeo coat, hego to see chief;
he see Mlssa Wbela, him hand tie' like this
(pantomine). Kekela be cly. He say chief:
"Chief, yon like things of" mine? You like
whaleboat?" "Yes." he say. "You like iile
a'm?" (firearms). "Yes." he sav. "You like
blackee coat?" "Yes," he say. Kekela he take
Missa Wbela' bv he sbonl'a (shoulder); be take
him light out house; bo give chief he whale
boat: he-nle-a'm, he blackee coat
He take Missa Wbela.' be house, make him
sit down with bis wife and cnlln. Missa
Wbela' ali-tbe-sama pelison (prison): be wire
he chU'en in Amelica; ha cly oh, he cly. Ke
kela be snlly. One day Kekela,' he see ship.
(Pantomime.) He say Jlisa Wbela': "ila'
Whala'?" Missa Wheia' he say: "Yes." Ka
naka they begin to go down beach. Kekela he
cet H Kanaka, pet oa' (oars), get evelything.
He say Missa Wbela': "Now you go quick.''
Theyjump iu wnaleboat. "Now you low!"
Kekela he say: "You low qnlck, quick I"
(Violent pantomime, and a change indicating
tbat the narrator bas left the boat and returned
to the beacb.) All the Kanaka tbey say:
"How I Melican mate he go away T' Jump in
boat; low afta, (Violent pantomime and
change again to boat) Kekela be say: "Low
quick I"
A Specimen for Contrast
Here I think Kauwealoha'spantomine had
confused me; I nave no more of bis ipsissima
verba; and can but add, in my own less
spirited manner, that the ship was reached,
Mr. Whalon taken aboard, and Kekela re
turned to bis charge among the cannibals.
But howuujust itis to repeat the stumblings
of a foreigner in a language only partly
acquired! A thoughtless reader might con
ceive Kauwealoha and his colleague to be
a species of amicable baboon; but I have
here the antidote. In return for his act of
gallant charity Kekela was presented by the
American Government with a sum of money,
and by President Lincoln personally with
a gold watcb. From this letter of thanks,
written in his own tongue, I give the fol
lowing extract I do not envy the man who
can read it without emotion:
When I saw one of your countrymen, a citi
zen of your great nation, ill-treated, and about
to be baked and eaten, as a pig Is eaten, I ran
to savo-him. f nil of pity and grief at the evil
deed of these benighted people. I gave my
boat for the stranger's lite. This boat came
from James Hnnncwell, a gift of friendship.
It became tbe ransom of this countryman of
yonrs, that he might not be eaten by the sav
aceS, who knew not Jebovab. This was Mr.
Whalon, and the date, January 11, 1SW.
Taught hytho Missionaries.
As to this 'friendly deed of mine' in sating
Mr. Whalon, Its seed came from your great
land, and was brongbt by certain of your coun
trymen, who had received tbe love of God. It
was planted in Hawaii, and I brought it to
plantin this land and in these dark regions,
tbat they might receive tbe root of all that is
good and trne, which is lave.
1. .Love to Jehovah.
2. Iiovatoself.
3. Lovo to onr neighbor.
If k man have a sufficiency of these three, 'he
is good and boly, like bis God, Jehovah, in His
triune character (Father. Son and Holy
Ghost), one-three, three-one. If hahava-two
and wants oneit is not well; and if 4 bo have
onj.andji3nJsi8cisiaee'fs--1fotrweUi
but it no cherHbes all three, tbfen",Bd"Is fioly,
indeed, after the manner of the Bible.
This is a great thjng for your great nation to
boast of before all the nations of the earth.
From your great land a most precious seed was
brought to the land of darkness. It was
planted here, not by means of guns and men-of-war
and threatenings. It was planted by
means of the ignorant, tbe neglected, tbe de
spised. Such was tbe introduction of tbe
word of the Almighty God into the group of
r-unbiwa. Great is my debt to Americans,
wbo have taught me all things pertaining to
this life and to that which is to come.
How shall I repay your great kindness to me?
Thus David asked of Jebovab, and thus 1 ask
of you, the President of the United States.
This is my only payment that which I have re
ceived of tbe Lord, love (aloha).
Robert Louis Stevenson.
GAMBLING AT WASHINGTON.
There Is ns Much of It as Ever, bat It's on
tho Quiet Now.
rwniTTEff ron raz dispatch.!
A great deal of gambling is done in
Washington by prominent men on the sly,
and there are numerous quiet little clubs
whose members never sit down to a game of
cards without the chips on tbe table. Tbe
days of faro and roulette have passed, and
it is now only poker, euchre, whist and
other modest games which can be played
with nothing but a deck of cards. Pendle
ton's used to be the great gambling clnb of
the capital, and in the days of Henry Clay
prominent men. of both parties won and lost
in it. It was an elegant place, the dinners
of which were free, and where one was not
asked to play unless be wished.
It is recorded that one Minister to China
lost his whole allowance for outfit and
traveling expenses here one night and it is
said that Clay was one of the best poker
players who ever came' to Washington. It
used to be that there was a great deal of
gambling done at the Capitol, but card
playing there is falling into an innocuous
desuetude, though during a long night ses
sion it is apt to break, out again, and tbe
members seek the seclusion that the com
mittee room grant r
When the late Mr. Widtcrsmith, of Texas,
was chosen as Doorkeeper of the House, be
received a proposition from a noted gambler
of his own State to establish a brace game
at the Capitol. "We can call it a club"
wrote be, "and have our-rooms in the base
ment. You can catch the slickers and bring
them in, and I will bleed them and we'll
divide the profits." It is needless to say
tbat Doorkeeper Wintersmith did not fall
in with the offer.
CITJBS OF WASHINGTON.
Organizations Whose Famo Has Extended
From Ocean to Ocean.
IWBITTEJI Ton TUB DI8FATCH.1
Washington is becoming a club city more
and more every day. The swellest of all is
the Metropolitan Club, to which all the
diplomats and tbe men about town belong
and the- happenings of which seldom get
into the newspapers. The Cosmos Club is a
scientific club and its clurrooms are in the
house which Dolly Madison occupied after
her husband's death. The members of the
Smithsonian Institution, artists and others
belong to it, and it pretends to have a con
tinuous feast of reason and flow of soul.
The Grid Iron Club is made up of news
paper men. It is the daughter ot the Clover
Club of Philadelphia, and is quite as fam
ous as its mother. It gives elegant spreads
once a month aud there is hardly a noted
man in the country ho has not been dined
at iu President Harriso'n was one of the
invited gueati this winter, but Secretary
AVindom' death prevented his attendance.
The Six O'clock Clnb i another dining clnb
whoso motto is said to be "Grub and Gjb,"
and whose dinners cost St a plate. The
Gridiron dinners cost all the way from $6
upwards a plate, and though there is plenty
of good wine, there is no drunkenness. The
Navy has its club and tbe United States
Service Club is one of ,the features of tbe
capital.
Sinr- at the Holicnd.en. in Cleveland.
American and European plans. au
M&WiEC
A FANTASTIC TALE, INTRODUCING HYPNOTIC THEORIES.
WBITTEK FOR THE DISPATCH
BY P. MARION CRAWFORD,
Author of "Mr. Isaacs," "Dr. Claudius," "A Boman Singer," and
Many Other Stories That Have Taken Hank as
Standard Literature.
SYNOPSIS OF PREVIOUS CHAPTERS.
The entire action occurs In a little over four weeks, aud In the city of PrTue, Bohemia. Th
story opens in the Teyn Chnrcb. crowded with people. The hero, the Wanderer, is there, search
in" lor bis lore, Beatrice. Seven years before they had fallen iu love, but her father forbade a
marriage and took his daughter away on endless travels to cure her of her affection. For seven
long years the Wanderer bas searched for her. Ou this day lie sees her in a distant part or th
church. He attempts to reach ber, but the crowd is too great. Finally. In tbe darkness, he fol
lowed a fignre be thinks is that of Beatrice to tbe home of Unorna, the Witch of Eragae. Th
latter calls the girl he has followed and convinces him of bis mistake. Unorna f aUs in love with
the Wanderer and finds she can hypnotize him. He tells her his story and she offers to help him
find Beatrice. Feartnl ot her hypnotic powers, the Wanderer concludes to search Prague him
self first, and, failing, then to seek the Witch's aid. He searches and fails. Aboutto return to
the Witch, be meets Keyork Arabian, an old friend, to whom he tells the story. The latter ad
vises the Wanderer to go to tbo Witcb. Meantime. Israel Kafka visits tbe WItcb. They bad
been lovers, but now the Witch finds bcrself madly in love with the Wanderer. She tries in vala
1 giant
CHAPTEE IX.
The principal room of Keyork Arabian's
dwelling was in every way characteristic of
the man. In tbe extraordinary confusion
which at first disturbed a visitor's judgment,
some time was needed to discover tbe archi
tectural bounds of the place. The vaulted
roof was indeed apparent, as well as small
portions of the wooden flooring. Several
windows, which might have been large, had
they filled the arched embrasures in which J
KEYOEK IX
they were set, admitted the daylight when
there was enough of it in Prague to serve
the purpose otillumination. So far as could
be seen from the street, tbey were common
place windows without shutters and with
double casement against the cold, but from
within it was apparent that tbe tall arches
in the thick walls had been filled in with
a thinner masonry in which the modern
frames were set
Tho room received its distinctive char
acter, however, neither from its vaulted
roof nor from the deep embrasures ot its
windows, nor from its scanty furniture, but
from the peculiar nature of the many curi
ous objects, large and small, which hid the
walls and filled almost all the available
space on the floor. It was clear that every
one of tbe specimens illustrated some point
iu the great question of life and death which
formed the chief study of Keyork Arabian's
latter years; for by far the greater1 number
of the preparations were dead bodies, of
men, ot women, of children, of animals, to
all of which the old man had endeavored to
impart tbe appearance of life, and in treat
ing some of which he had attained results
of a startling nature. The osteology of man
and beast was indeed represented, for a hnge
case, covering one whole wall, was filled to
the top with a collection of many hundred
skulls ot'all races of mankind, and where
real specimens were missing, their place
was supplied by admirable casts of
craniurns;' but this reredos, so to call
it, of bony heads, formed but a vast, grin
ning background fcr the bodies which stood
and sat and lay in half-raised coffins and
sarcophagi before them, in every condition
produced by various known and lost methods
of embalming. There were, it is true, a
number of skeletons, disposed here and
there in fantastic attitudes, gleaming white
and ghostly in their mechanical nakedness,
tbe bones of human beings, the bones of giant
orang-outangs, of creatures large and small,
down to the flimsy little framework of a
common bullfrog strung on wires as fine as
hairs, which squatted comfortably upon an
old book near the edge of a table, as though
it had just skipped to that point in pursuit
of a ghostly fly and was pausing to meditate
a farther spring. But tbe eye did not dis
cover these things at the first glance. Sol
elm, silent, strangely expressive, lay three
slim Egyptians, raised at an angle as though
to give them a chance of surveying their
fellow dead, the linen bandages unwrapped
from their heads and arms and shoulders,
tbeir jet black hair combed and arranged
and dressed by Keyorfc's hand, their
faces softened almost to the expression of
life by one or his secret processes, their stiff
ened joints so limbered by his art that their
arms bad taken natural positions again,
lylug over the, edges of the sarcophagi in
which'they had rested motionless and im
movable through 30 centuries.
Here, a group of South Americans, found
dried in the hollow or an ancient tree, had
been restored almost to tbe likeness of life,
and were, apparently eneaged in -a lively
dispute over the remains of a meal asolil
.is themselves, juid ii huniair. There, tow
urea, the standing body of an Africau, ican-
vision. Now she is overcome with the desire to know if the Wanderer shall be hers. 8he asked
the sleeping giant, is given hope by his answers, but is interrupted by Keyork Arabian, wbo up
braids her for endangering tbeir great experiment. Finally be tells ber if a youne persons
blood could be gotten into the old man's veins tbey might make him young again, JJnonia, at
onco suggests Kafka, who is in a-hypnotic sleep in an adjoining room, to furnish tho blow.
Unorna meets tbe Wanderer, and. while walking with him. leads him to a auiet spot in tbo
She Sat in Deep Thought.
ing upon a Knotted elub, fierce, grinning,
lacking only sight in the sunken eyes to be
terrible. There again, surmounting a lay
figure wrapped in rich stuffs, smiled tbe
calm and gentle face of a Malayan lady
decapitated for her sins, so marvelously pre
served that the soft, dark eyes still looked
out from beneath the heavy, half-drooping
lids, and the full lips, still richly colored,
parted a little to show tbe ivory teeth.
Strange and wild were tbe trials he had
made, many and great the sacrifloes and
blood offerings lavished on his dead in the
HIS VEX.
hope of seeing that one spasm which would'
show tbat death might yet be conquered;
many the engines, the machines, the artifi
cial hearts, the applications ot electricity
tnat he had invented; many of the powerful
reactives be had distilled wherewith to ex
cite the long dead nerves, or those which
but two days had ceased to leeL Tbe hidden
essence was still undiscovered, the meaning
of vitality eluded his profoundest study,
his keenest pursuit The body died, and
yet the nerves could still bo made to act as
though alive for the space of a few hours,
in rare cases for a day. With bis eyes he
had seen a dead man spring half across the
room from the effects of a few drops of musk
on tbe first day; with his eyes he had
seen the dead twist themselves, and move -and
grin under the electric current pro
vided it had not been too late. But that
"too late" had baffled him, and from his
first belief that life might be restored when
once gone, he had descended to what
seemed the simpler proposition of the two,
to the problem of maintaining life indefin
itely.so long as its magic essence lingered in
the flesh and blood. And now be believed
that he was very near tbe truth; how terri
bly near be had yet to learn.
He sat alone. A heavy book lay open on
the table by bis side, and from time to time
be glanced at a phrase which seemed to at
tract him. It was always the same phrase,
and two words alone sufficed to bring him
back to the contemplation of it Those two
words were'"Immortality" End "Soul." He
began to speak aloud to himself, being by
nature fond of speech.
"Yes. The soul is immortal. I am quite
willing to grant that. But it does hot in any
way follow that it is the source of life, orthe
seat of intelligence. The Buddhists distin
guished it even from the individuality. And
yet life holds it, and when life ends It takes
its departure. How soon? I do not know.
Itis not a condition of life, but life is one
of its conditions. Does it leave the body
when life is artificially prolonged in
a state of unconsciousness by hypiiot
ism, for instance? Is it more close
ly bound up with animal life or
with intelligence? If with either, has it a
definite abiding place in the heart, or in the
brain? Since its presence depends directly
on life, so far as I know, itbelougs to the
body rather than to the brain. I once made
a rabbit live an hour without its head.
With a man tbat experiment would need
careful manipulation I would like to try
it Or is it all a question of that phantom,
vitality? Then the presence of tbe soul de
pends upon tbe potential. excitability of the
nerves, aud, as far as we know, it must
leave the body not more than 24 hours alter
death, and it certainly does not leave the
body at tbe moment of dying. But if of
tbe nerves, then what is tbe condition of
tbe soul in the hypnotic state?
Unorna bynotizes our old friend there
and our young one, too. For her, they have
nerves. At her touch they wake, tbey sleep, "
they move, tbey feel, ther speak. But they
have no nerves for me. .1 can cut them with
knives, burn them, turn the life-blood of
tbe one into tbe arteries of the other they
feel nothing. If the soul is of the nerves
or of the vitality, then they have souls for
Unorna, and none for me. That is absurd.
Where is that old man's soul? He has slept
for years. Has not his soul been somewhere
else in the meanwhile? If we could keeD
him asleep for centuries or for scores of cen
turies, like that frog found alive In a rock,
would his soul, able by the hypothesis to -pass
through rocks or universes stay by
him? Could an ingenious sinner escape
damnation for a few thousand vears '
by being hypnotised? Verily tbe soul '
is a very unaccountable thing, and
what is stilt more unaccountable
is that I believe in it. It is quite certain that
life is not "a mere mechanical or chemical
process. 1 have gone too far to believe that
Takfe man at the very moment of death
have everything ready, do what you will
my artificial heart is a very perfect lustra-
meat, mechanically speaking and how Uaz
does it take to start the artificial circulation
through the carotid artery? Not n hundred
eth part so ting a time as drowned people
often lie be ore being brought, baek.
1
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