The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 30, 1898, Page 25

8. S. McClure & Co.) (Copyright 1898 by month Gulf in comparatively ing chief repiled to heated altercation a crescendc nutes. Th er couple of forward to ategy or ta every man fighting single rn to the battie I few minutes’ own imp. 2 HORR OR. But, pe w the enor- | crash, and looking o’ 8 towering it ments upon t fifteen feet to | twenty feet abo agitated waters. | Oddly enough the fore part of the boat ed fixed to the rope of tue harpoon I first thouglit, even at so 1t and in so serious a sl(-‘ of bitter regret for the | I considered the only means | o civilization. Like a flash it | came back to me how many weary | months of tofl and hope and expectancy | had spent over that darling craft; and I remembered, tog, delirfous oy of hing 1 Tt thoughts p;n‘swll gh my m % | A TED 3 | At this time we had a swim of some ten | miles before us, and yet in the far dis- r a large catamaran with one | on board came up with us, | ly grateful for Yamba's | v, 1 was still greatly | s of my boat | harpoon had evidently inflicted a | 1 wound on the w | » as we looked we saw | ted on the sur a being gradually swept nearer and ne | the shore by the swift flowing tide. { mother refused to leave the little | however, and still continued to wheel round it continuously, even when her off- | spring had reached dangerously: shallow | water. The result was that when the tide | turned both the mother and her calf were left stranded high and dry on the beach, | to the unbounded delight and amazement | of the natives, who swarmed round the leviathans_and set up such a terrific up- roar that I verily believe they frightened the mother to death. Furio moke sig- nals were at once sent up to summon all the tribes in the surrounding country— enemies as well as friends. To cut a long_ story short, the natives bout this horrible ter. With a ye | eaped into each trench spears | through the big “joint.”” And the mo- | ment the roasted ca S were taken | out of the trenches the whole tribe lit-| erally fell upon them and tore them limb | from limb. I saw mothers with a leg or an arm surrounded by plaintive children, who were crying for their portion of the toothsome ¢ Y THE FIRST CANNIBAL FEAST. Oth who were cansidered to have | taken than their share, were like- | wise oint” sub- upon and their hacked to pleces with knives ling, more ghastly or more v sickening spectacle it is impossible the mind of man to conceive. corroboree was held after the feast, crept to my own humpy and tried it from my mind the shocking had just been compelled to wit- I now come to an event of very great Impor life. Elsewhere.I have ant for dugong hunt- this sport effectually / prospects of reach- ing civilization across the sea. I went forth one morning, accompanied by my ever faithful Yamba and the usual ad- miring crowd of blacks. 1In a few min- utes we two were speeding over the sun- lit waters, my only weapon being the steel harpoon I had brought with me from the island, and about forty or fifty feet of manila’ rope. When we were some’ miles from land I noticed a dark- looking object on the surface of the water a little way ahead. Fecling cer- tain it was a dugong feeding on the well. known grass, I rose and hurled my- har- poon at it with all the force I could mus- ter. Next moment, to my -amazement, the head of a calf whale was thrust K and not until alize' what manner of crea- I had struck. This baby ; about fifteen feet long and it sounded” immediately on receiving my barpoon. As I had enough rope, or what I considered enough, I did not cut him adrift. He came up again presently, lashing the water with his tafl, and cre- ated a tremendous uproar, considering his size. He then darted off madly, dash- Ing through the water like an arrow and dragging our boat at such a tremendous pace as almost to swamp us in the foam- ing wash. Up to this time I had no thought of dan- baby whale halted I [ but just as the ooked around and saw to my horror that agonizingly into the alr, then did I re tu y it his_colossal moth i oke. spring and was e;'w{‘:,?n g 5;’0‘}":5 g_{,‘g ooy plans she told me she was ready to round it like lignining, apparently greatl Mcemgany me wherever I went—to disturbed by its asufferinge. Before I |lave her Yeop‘e nd be forever by my could oven cut the line or atfempt to get | Sde. Signt well | AT BT o e Wi ngly . ut o ay the enormous creature | Unhesitating e never waversd, and caught sight of our little down upon it like a fair-siz tag through the sea. 1 sh and we bot rew ourselves ov. Inito the nOW . Taging . waters ani cosid® menced to Swim away with long strokes, in order to get as far as possibie from the boat before the catastrophe came, which craft and bore d island rush- outed to Yamba, fully believed that I had killed singl handed and brought ashore both whales. And in the corroborees tnat ensued the poets almost went delirious in trying to | ind suitable eulogiums to bestow upon the mighty white hunter. Never can I forget the scene that fol- | lowed, when the blacks from the sur- rounding country had responded to the smoke signals announcing the capture of the “great fish.” Erom hundreds of miles south came the natives, literally in their thousands—eyery man provided with his | stone tomahawk and whole armory of shell knives. They simply swarmed over the carcass like vermin, and I saw many of them staggering away under solid lumps of flesh weighing between thirty and forty pounds. For about a fortnight this catting up and gorging went on. The spectacle wit- nessed on the beach would have been in- tnnsel( comical were it not so revoit- ing. Many of the men and women had s to such an extent as ble to walk, and they It may amuse you to ound in agony. now that smoke signals were at once sent up for all the doctors in the coun- try, and these ministering angels could presently be seen with their massage shells rubbing the distended stomachs of the sufferers as they lay on the beach. I saw some men falrly howling with agony, but still_devouring enormous quantities of oil and blubber. The orgy, however, had its uses from | because 1 took advan- tage of the arrival of so many strange tribes to make myself acquainted with thelr chiefs, thelr languages and thelr manners and customs, in the hope that these tribes might be useful to me some day when I commenced my journey over- land to clvilization. For, of course, all hope of escape by sea had now to be abandoned, since my boat was destroyed. So far 1 had won laurels enough with my mysterious arrows or ‘“flying epears,” as the natives considered them, 2nd my prowess with the harpoon and (Omahawf{ was sung in many tribes. And not the least awkward thing about my position was that I dared not even attempt a little quiet practice in spear fhrowing for fear the blacks should come upon me_ suddenly, when I would most certainly lose caste. The months passed slowly away, and I was still living the same monotonous life among my blacks—accompanying them upon their hunting expeditions, | joining in their sports and making peri- | ddieal trips inland with Yamba, in prep- | aration for the great journey I' proposed to make overland to Cape York. When I to my devoted companion about -iike fidelft; ?Okzngweshe wctyu d have lald down her life for me at any time. DOG-LIKE FIDELITY, Of I told her of my own home be- ynnduntha seas, and when I asked her Whether she would come with me she we knew was af ° not got many yards before I heard a terrific would reply: “Your poeplg are my _peo= le, and your friends my friends, I wil :oe wit] s'ym ‘wherever 73’\1 will take m“ | my | nor could any solitary white man. | this time, innumer- | | selt up for lost. | tng to relate, THH SAN FRANCIBEO0 CALL, S8UNDAY, OOTOBER 30, 1898 M ing were some of his experiences almost impossible to believe them if his story had not been investigated and corroborated by famous experts—Dr. Scott Keltie, secretary of Geographical Society, Robert Mill, librarian of the Royal Geographical Soctety, and scientists of equal note in other fields, whose opinions are those of experts. The account of Louis de Rougemont is without doubt the most thrilling true story ever offered for His actual experiences sur- pass even the imaginative adventures of “Robinson Crusoe” or “The Swiss Family Robinson.” De Rougemont’s story is that in 1863 he joined a pearling expedition to the Guinea coast where a large fortune in pearls was soon amassed. One day geographical the Royal newspaper publication. At length everything was ready, and I paid a final farewell, as 1 thought, to bl friends in Cambridge Gulf. They knew 1 was venturing on a_long journey overland to another part of the | country many miles distant, in the hope of being able to get into touch once more with own people, and though they i they should never see me a thought _my departure a v 1 thing. We had a very af- fe > leave-taking, and a body of the natives escorted u miles or so of our trip. ever, Yamba, myself and the faithful dog ‘were left to continue our wanderings alone. The reliance 1 placed upon this woman, by the way, was absolute and unquestioning. 1 knew that alone I could not live a day in the awful wil- derness through which we were to pass, y however, I had_had able demonstrations of Yamba's almost miraculous powers In the way of provid- ing food and water when, to the ordin- ary eye, neither were forthcoming. 7 ok 1it to mention that before leaving my black people I had provided myself with what I may term a native pass- port—a kind of Masonic mystic stick, inscribed_ with certain cabalistic char- acters. Every chief carried one of these sticks stuck through his nose; I, how- ever, invariably carried the passport In my long, luxuriant hair, which I wore “bun’ fashion, held in a net of opossum hair. This passport stick proved invalua- ble as a_means of putting me on good terms with the different tribes we encoun- tered. The chiefs of the blacks never ven- tured out of their own country without one of these mysterious sticks, and I am sure 1 should not have been able to travel far without mine. Whenever I encountered a strange tribe along the line of march I always asked to be taken before the chief, and when in his presence I presented my little stick. He would at once manifest the greatest friendliness, and would offer us food and drink. "Then, before I took my departure he also would inscribe his sign upon it, handing it back to me, and probably sending me on to another tribe with an escort. It often happened, how- ever, that I was personally introduced to another tribe whose “‘frontier” joined that of my late hosts, and in such cases my passport was unnecessary. At first the country through which our wanderings led us was hilly and well wooded, the trees bein particularly fine, many of them towering to a height of 150 or 200 feet. Our principal food con- sisted of roots, rats, snakes, opossum and kangaroo. Gradually we left the hilly country be- hind us and at length got into an extra- ordinary desert of red sand, which gave oft a dust from our very tracks that near- ly suffocated us. KEach water hole we came across now began to contain less and less of the precious liquid, and our daily menu grew more and more scanty, until at longth we were compelled to live on practically nothing but a few roots and stray rats. Still we plodded on and on, finally striking a terrible spinifex country, which was inconceivably worse than anything we had hitherto encoun- tered. Not only was water all but unob- tainaktle here, but our skin was torn with thorns-at almost every step. Yamba was terribly troubled when she found she could no longer provide for my wants. Fortunately the dew fell heavily at night and a sufficient quantity would collect on the follage, and more particlarly on the steel blade of my tomahawk, to refresh me somewhat in the morning. How eager- ly would I lick the precious drops from t‘le shining blade of that American ax! Curiously enough. Yamba herself up to this time did not seem distressed from lack of water; but nothing about this marvelous woman surprised me. By this time I began to feel delirious, and I fear 1 was like a baby in Yamba’s fhnds. She knew that all I wanted was Water, and she became almost distracted when she could not find any for me. Of herself she never thought. And yet she was full of strange resources and devices, When 1 screamed aloud in an "'i""fi of thirst, she would glve me some kind of grass to chew, an although this pos- Sessed no real moisture, yet it promoted the flow of saliva, and thus materially ted me. bm’nflflngeg rew worse and worse, however, and the delirium increased. our after hour through the endless nights would that devoted creature sit by side, Ioistening my lips with the dew that col- jected on the grass and on the blade of my mahawk. On the fifth day without water I suftere(li the most :{I:Clklng agon- my lucid mome: gave my- jes, and in my 2 cti(uld noh‘ggnndlz;r or could I speak or swallow. Yy T e io Be” atmost. closed up. and when I opened my éyes everything seemed to be going round and round in fheTmost dizzy and sickening manner. My heart beat with choklnf and my bead ached so that I t was going mad. A GHASTLY DRINK. ually I grew weaker and weaker, arfirt’t luyt, feeling the end was near, I crawled under a tree and prepared to meet the death I was now fervently pray- ing for. Had Yamba given up these lines would never have been written. Amaz- she kept marvelously well Vviolence, hought I DE ROUGEMONT has returned to Europe after more than thirty years spent among ' the cannibal blacks of Australia. So astound- [N AUSTRALIA. his dog (the oth that it would be small party of was blown upon and Dr. Hugh After several and eventually blacks M. de Ro of life. rible details, 1 and active, though without water; and in | my most violent paroxysm she would | | pounce upon a lizard or & rat, and give me | { 1ts warm blood to drink while yet it | | lived. She must have scen that I was | | slowly sinking, for at last she stooped down and whispered earnestly In my ear | | that she would leave me for a little while | and go off in search of water. Like a| dream it comes back to me how she ex- | | plained that she had seen some birds | | pasging overhead, and that if she followed n the same direction she was almost cer- | tain to come up with water sooner or | later, | 7T could not speak, I could not answer, 3 as a truly hopeless enter- | but I felt it wa hopeless enter | orise on her part, and as ot leave ‘me, 1 remember I held out ( | my tomahawk fecoly toward her and | Signed to her to come and strike me on | the head with it, and put an.end to my agonies, The herolc creature .d sadly and shook her head em-| tically. = She took the proffered apon, %owe\‘er. and after putting some | inguishing marks on my tree with it, she hurled it some distance away from | me. She then stoo and propped me | agatnst the trunk of the tree, and leaving | my poor, suftering dog _to keep me com- | | pany, she out on her lonely search | with long, loping strides of amazing vigor. | | It was late in the afternoon when, she | | took her departure, and I lay there hour | after hour, sometimes frantically deliri- ous, and at others in a state of semi-con- | scious ancying she was by my side, ith shells brimming over with the pre clous fluld. I would rouse myself with | a start from time to time, but, alas!| Yamba was not near me. | and deathly stiliness of the night the dew | come down heavily, and as it enveloped | my bed I fell into a sound sleep, from | which I was awakened some hours later | by the same clear and ringing voice that | had addressed me on that still night on | sland sandspit. Out upon the fmpre: sive stillness of the air rang the euarr words, “Coupe l'arbre! Coupe l'arbre! was quite conscious and much re- freshed by my sleep, but the message puz- zled me a great deal. At first I thought it must have -been Yamba's voice, but I | remembered that she did not know a word | of French, and as I looked around there { s no one to be seen. The mysterious | message still rang in my ears, but I was far too weak to attempt to cut the tree myself, so I lay there in a sort of inert drowsiness, until, rousing myself, I heard the familiar footsteps of Yamba approach- ing the spot where I lay. Her face ex- pressed anxiety, earnestness and joy. MY MINISTERING ANGEL. In her trembling hands she bore a big | Jeaf containing two or three ounces of | life-giving water. This I drank with ga¥ ing eagerness, as you may suppose. My delirium now entirely left me, al- though I was still unable to speak. I signed to her to cut the tree, as the voice in my dream had directed me. Without a word of question Yamba picked up the tomabhawk from where shé had hurled it and then cut vigorously into the tree, making 2 hole three or four inches deep. It may seem astonishing to you, but it surprised me in no wise, when out from the hole there trickled a clear uncertain stream of water, under which Yamba promptly held my fevered head. This had a wonderfully refreshing effect upon me, and in a short time I was able to_speak feebly but rationally, greatly to the de- light of my faithful companion. As, how- ever, I was still too. weak to move, I in- dulged in another and far sounder sleep. All through that terrible night whiFe Yamba was far away searching for water, Bruno had never left my side, looking into my face wistfully, and occa~ sionally licking my body sympathetically with his poor, parched tongue. ‘While was asleep the second time Yamba had gone off with the dog in search of food, and had returned with an opossum, which was soon frizzling in an appetizing way on_a tripod of sticks over a blazing fire. I was able to eat a little of the flesh, and we obtained all the water we wanted from our won- derful tree. I have since learned that my life was saved by the well-known Aus- tralian “bottle-tree,” so called from the shape of the trunk. I was often amazed at the marvelous way in which Yamba would track ga.m‘fa. 8hé would glance at a tree casually and discern on the bark certain minute scratches, which were quite invisible to me even when Eolmed out. She wowd then climb up like a monkey, and would return to the earth with a' good-sized opossum, which would be roasted In its skin and accompanied with many different varieties of delicious roots. When I had recovered, Yamba told me she had walked many miles during the night, and had finally discovered a full waterhole in a new country, for which she said we must make as soon as I was sufficiently strong. Fortunately, this did not take very long, and on reachthg the brink of the water- hole we camped beside it for several days, in order to recuperate. I must say that the liquid we found here did not look ver inviting—it was, In fact, very slimy ani green In color; but by the time we took our departure there was not a drop left. Yamba had a method of filtration which excited my admiration. She dug another hole alongside the one containing the water, leaving a _few Inches of earth be- tween them, and then forced a stick: thraufh the partition. When we wished to drink, this stick was withdrawn. A stream of comguaflvely clear water then spirted through the opening. She would so filter the water by letting it drain g-mn the waterhole into another hole dus at the side. At other times, when no ordinary human being could detect the presence of water, she would Y‘oint out to me a little knob of clay on the ground. This, she told me, Qenoted the presence of a frog, and she would at once thrust down a reed about eighteen Inches long and invite me to suck the upper end, with the remalt that I im- bibed coplous draughts of delicious cold water. el 12 swept the schooner to sea. tiny sand-spit, where he lived for two and a half years entirely alone. During the long | § ‘forty feet. As Told by Himself. when De Rougemont was aboard ship alone with ers being out after pearls) a storm He was finally cast on a At the end of that time a blacks from the Australian coast the sandbar. After waiting months for a favorable wind De Rougemont returned with them to the Australian mainland, where his appear- ance excited the greatest wonder among the natives, who had never before seen a white man. unsuccessful efforts to regain civili- zation M. de Rougemont finally took up his resi- dence with one of the tribes, married a native wife became ruler over a considerable portion of the country. During his long residence among the cannibal ugemont of course could not fail to become acquainted with their customs and modes He participated in their battles and cb- served the practice of cannibalism in all its hor- One day I saw a number of small snakes swarming around the foot of a| tree, and was just about to knock some t them over with my stick when Yam- a called out to me excitedly not to mo- lest them. They then and she exp 1y indicat son. I dfd snakes,” she said, see if they would take refuge trees from the coming floods.” Up to this time, however, there had not been the slightest indication of any great change in the weather. Many month: must have elapsed since rain had fallen in these regions, for the river was extremely low between its extraordi- narily high banks,» and the country all around was dry and parched; but even as we worked a remarkable phenomenon began to climb the tree, ained to me that this clear- the advent of the wet sea~ sh you to kill the because I wanted to in the occurred which told of impending changes. 1 was oppressed with a sense of coming evil. I listened intently when amba drew my attention, but at first all 1 could hear was a curious rumbling sound, far away in the distance. This nolse gradually increased in volume, and came nearer and nearer, but -still I was utterly unable to acount for it. I also noticed That the river was becom- ing strangely agitated, and swirl- ing along at ever increasing speed. Sud- denly an immense mass of water came rushing down with a_frightful roar, in one solld wave, and then it dawned upon me that it must have already com- menced raining among the hills, and that the tributaries of the river were now sending down their floods into the main stream, which was rising with astonish- ing rapidity. ious, and she approached me with a sug- gestion that we had better build a hut on some high ground and remain secure in that locality without attempting to continue our march while the rains last- ed, and it was evident that they were noWw upon us. ‘We therefore set to work to construct comfortable little shelter of bark, fastened to a framework of. poles by means of creepers and climbing plants. Thus, by the time the deluge was fairly upon us, we were snugly ensconced in our little hut. We did not, however, re- main indoors throughout the whole of the day, but went in and out, hunting for food and catching game just as usual, the torrential rain which beat down upon our naked bodies being rather pleasant than otherwise. We also collected a stock of a P opossum, of cours: honey, cabbage pal ous_kinds. These preparations occupied us for several days, and by the time we had arranged everything for our journey the weather had become settled once more. Yamba remarked to me that if we simply drifted down the Roper River we 'should be carried to the open sea, nor would the time necessary be very long, since the swolien current was now run- ning like a mill race. Our catamaran, of course, afforded no shelter of any kind, but we carried some sheets of bark to form seats for ourselves and the dog. At length we pushed on on our event- ful voyage, and no sooner had we got fairly into the current than we were car- ried along wtih grodlgious rapidity, and Without the least exertion on our part, except In the matter of steering, which was conducted by means of paddies from the side of the craft. We made such rapid progress that I felt inclined to go on all night, but shortly after dusk Yamba persuaded me to pull inshore and camp on the bank until morning. ‘We passed any number of submerged trees, and on several of these we found snakes coiled among the branches. Some of these reptiles we caught and ate. About the middle of the second day we heard a tremendous roar ahead, as though there were rapids in the bed of the river. It was now impossible to pull the cata- maran out of its course, no matter how hard we might have striven, the current being B.bsolutelfi irresistible. The banks narrowed as the rapids were reached, with the result that the water In the middle actually became convex, so tre- mendous was the rush in that narrow paseage. Yamba cried out to me to lie flat on the catamaran and hold on_as tightly as I could untll we reached smooth water again. This she did her- self, seizing hold of the dog also. Nearer and nearer we were swept to the at seething caldron of boiling and foaming waters; and at last, with a tremendous splash, we entered the ter- rifying commotion. We went right un- der, and so great was the force of the water that had I not been clinging te- naciously to the catamaran I must in- fallibly have heen swept away to certain death. Presently, however, we shot into less troubled waters and then continued our course, very little the worse for having braved these terrible rapids. Agf,ln we camped on shore that night, and were oft at an early hour next morn- m% t ‘he last time we Ianded Yamba had stocked_an additional quanutg of edible roots and smoked meats, and although we lost a considerable portion of these in shooting_the rapids, there still remained enough for a few dayg' supply. dprincflpxlll y roots of vari- In consequence of the ever-increasing | In the course of a couple | | of hours it had risen between thirty and Yamba seemed a little anx- | yAHhA GIVES ME THE BISSRSTAEAIISe s ALLASY, THE, -3 IRST width of the river, T found it a difficult matter to keep in the channel where the current was, so I gaye up the steering paddle to Yamba, who seemed Instinc- tively to know what course to take. ile e Some distance from the mouth of the river De Rougemont and his wife landed on a large island inhabited by a number of natives, who gave him a dug-out canoe to take the place of his raft. Thence he proceeded along the coast in the direc- lt‘lon in which he believed Cape York to e. At length they fell in with a mall vessel carrying a Malay beche de mer expedi- tion. The fishermen recelived them hos- pitably and offered to carry them back to Kopang_in the Dutch Islands. At this point, however, De Rougemont's black wife fefused to accompany the party through fear of the Malays, and rather than desert her De Rougemont gave up this opportunity of rescue. This was about the year 186S. ¥ Captain Davis, the commander of the Malay vessel, informed De Rougemont that he would be likely to find white men at Port Darwin, between 300 and 400 miles away. De Rougemont accordingly set out in his canoe to reach Port Darwin. After traveling forward for two weeks, and when he believed that he must be close to Port Darwin, a terrific storm arose which swept the canoe out of sight of land and nearly cost the lives of its oc- cupants. In the course of the storm they were evidently swept past Port Darwin, for after sailing on for many days more they came in sight of familiar land and found themselves once more on the shores of Cambridge Gulf, the identical point from" which they had started. The natives welcomed them back with every sign of delight, and De Rouge- mont was careful not to explain to _them that his return was involuntary. For a long time after this bitter disappointment he remained among his Cambridge Gulf friends, always keeping a sharp lookout for visiting ships and making several short exploring expeditions along the coast, but not attempting another trip across the continent. Some months afterward De Rougemont determined to make another strike for civilization and -set off due south, not knowing that this direction would take him directly into the unexplored heart of the continent. On this trip many won- ders were encountered, including a rain- storm which brought down live fish, a countless horde of rats, which devastated all the country it passed over, and a cave full of immense snakes. There were also many narrow escapes from death at the hands of hostile natives. On one occasion, believing that a native chief meditated treachery, De Rouge- mont and his wife left the camp which they had constructed and slept in the push. In the morning they found a num- ber of spears sticking through the bark sides of the camp in the place where they would have slept ordinarily. Month after month the journey was continued in a southerly direction. It was fmpossible to travel due south, but they followed a zigzag course from water hole to water hole after the manner of the na- tives.. When he was some seven months out and while traveling in company with a small party of blacks De Rougemont came suddenly upon four white men. At this time he was naked like the savages, and so tanned and browned by exposure to the weather that in appearance he was much like them. Forgetting this, in his excitement, however, he rushed toward the white men, who prompt|§ fired_upon his party and then Tetreated. For this affair Do Rougemont assumes the entire blame, saving that he would doubtless have done the same thing under like cir- cumstances. ’F:w; or three weeks after this encounter De Rougemont and his wife came across another white man, who had lost his rea- son and was wandering almlessly about in the desert. This man lived with them for fome two vears, recovering his mind fin- ally, just before his death, sufficiently to inform De Rougemont that his name was Gibson and that c{fix had been a member he Giles expedition. OtA‘fter the death of Gibson, finding that there was apparently no hope of reachin civilization by foliowing an _overl route, De Rougemont determined to settle down among the friendly blacks, and if necessary end his days there. To this decision, he says he was moved largely by the pleadings of his native wife, for whom he had come to entertain a most sincere affection. He therefore settled down in the mountainous region near the center of the continent and ultimately be- came king or ruler over a number of large tribes. In this manner he lived out the next twenty years of his life, a%d wouid probably have ended his days there had not an epidemic of influenza swept over the continent and carried away his wife nd children. ABel thus left alm‘t; De Rougemont decis to make one more attempt to reach civilization and leaving his moun- tain home set out toward the southwest. In this, as in previous journeys, he was unable to follow a direct line, but had to hither and thither with the tribes that he met in his journey. After a time he came across a tree marked “For- rest,” evidently the name of an explorer raee B THE ENOR THE GREAT WHALE TOW ERED HIGH OUT OF THE WATER who " had passed that way. Turning south from this point he at length, seve- ral days’ journey north of Mount Marga, learned that a party of white prospectors were near by. Taught by his previous experience he decided to get some of the natives to procure clothes for him before he presented himself to the white men. ‘When he éoined the prospecting party and informed them that he had peen jour- neying from the interfor for nine or ten months they looked upon him as a per- son of weak Intellect, and when he asked the question, “What year is this?”’ they were convinced that he was crazy. How- ever, they permitted him to accompany them back to Mount Marga, which was the nearest camp. Thence by slow stages he worked his way to Melbourne, reach- '"f there early in 189%. ‘or over two years he supported him: self by various more or less menial o cupations, gradually becoming accus- tomed to civillzation and learning of the events that h: taken place during the time when he was lost to the world. Early in the present year he worked his passage to London onp a trading vessel and soon afterward all the world heard of him under the title of “the new Rob. inson Crusoe. e A S The De Rougemont Controversy. ONDON, Oct. 24.—For two months the great controversial question in England has been: *Is the man who calls himself Louis de Rouge= mont, and who ' claims to have lived for something like thirty years among the cannibal blacks of Ause tralla, a great traveler or a great im- postor?” The Daily Chronicle asked this question early in September, and since that time hfls_ kept up a continuous fire of denial, criticlsm and ridicule against the “‘mod- ern Crusce.” But De Rougemont has not been without warm supporters, and the public has seemed disposed to listen with interest to his story and to believe it until it should be proved untrue. The | world at large has watched this paper war with interest, too, for the account of De Rougemont, or at least such part of it as he has related thus far, has been Tepeated in every quarter of the globe, and it certainly has fulfilled the claim of the Frenchman’'s backers as being “the most marvelous story man ever lived to tell.” When Louis de ‘Rougemont, or Louis Grin as his name is now reported to be, applied to the Hon. Hunneker Heaton gome months afiu for an introduction to some London editor it is doubtful if he looked upon himself as in any way a wonderful man. He had recently worked his way from New Zealand to London on a trading vessel and was out of money. He modestly explained that he had been a pearl-fisher, had lived among the Aus- tralian blacks, and had had some ad- ventures which he believed might make an interesting story. TUntil he became stranded in London, he claimed, it may be truthfully, he had had no thought of writing about his experiences. Through Mr. Heaton, who is interested In all affairs Australasian, the traveler was introduced to Mr. W. G. Fitzgerald of Sir George Newnes' Wide World mag- azine. His story must have impressed the managers of that publication, for they shortly announced = that they had discovered a ‘‘new Robinson Crusoe,” whose actual experiences were even more remarkable than those of Defoe's imag- inary hero, and that his own account of his wonderful adventures would begin _publication jn the, August number of their magazine. Publie curfosity, which had been mildly stimulated by the advertisements of the new prodigy, recelived a gen- uine surprise _when the first® in- stallment of De Rougemont's story appeared in print. It is putting it mildly to say that his adventures were the most remarkable ever related under tie guise of truth. The $50,000 cargo of pearls, the glant octopus, the wreck on the lonely sandspit, the turtle-back rides, and the other wonders which formed the inception of De Rougemont's tale, are fa- miliar to the reading public. They proved a large dose to swallow at one gulp, and it is not surprising that they were re- celved with astonishment and incredulity. But Crusoe and his publishers were not abashed. It was announced that the geography of the story had been examined and checked by Dr. Scott Keltie and Dr. Hugh Robert = Mill of the Royal Geo- graphlcal Soclety, and that they belleved it was true. The most incredible incident of the first portion of the story wag that in which the narrator told how hé had begufled the weary hours on the sand- spit by riding on the backs of immense turtles, keegmg them at the surface by leaning far back on the shell and guiding them by ;:ucok.h'lgd his toes in their eyes, But. Admiral Markeley, who had had long experience among the South Pacific islands, came forward and said that he had known of this feat being accome lished by natives there, and-that it was y_no means impossible. Then De Rougemont enjoyed a genuine triumph. He was invited to address the Bristol Congress of the British Associa~ tion for the Advancement of Science, }eia read two {)apers before this dignin body on his geographical and anthropo- logical observations among the Australian natives. More than this, he was the lion f the hour, and his papers were the great geatm-e of thé meeting. The worthy and distlng\ushed gentlemen wilo compose ithe British Association are now eatly pained and scandalized to think of their enthusiasm over the man who, according to _recent revelations, was in service as a footman and courier during a consider- able portion of the time when he was sup- osex to be lording it over a tribe of erce cannibals. “The enemies of De Rougemont acknowl- edge that there may be a considerable Substratum of truth in his storles. It is known that he was at one time en in the pearl industry, and it is believ: that Peter Jensen, who figures in-the narrative as his partner in this enter- prise, is still living in New Guinea. It is acknowledged, too, that he may have lived for some years among the blacks as no record of his doings from about €75 to 1850 has been found. ‘With important modifications it is like- ly_that hlsf uttory will be proved to have basis in fact. ® Xt any rate, in spite of the demaging revelations that have been made regard- Ing his credibility, De Rougemont still l!tfitn to his story.