CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|
| I | We Leave Ambon | [3] |
| II | The Paradise-Hunter | [13] |
| III | The Kampong | [32] |
| IV | The Assistant and the Nautilus | [45] |
| V | We’re Off! | [53] |
| VI | Shipwrecked Among Cannibals | [67] |
| VII | We Establish Diplomatic Relations | [85] |
| VIII | We Take Up Quarters in the Kampong | [97] |
| IX | The Story of the Swiss Scientist | [116] |
| X | Our Consolation Prize | [129] |
| XI | The Feast | [140] |
| XII | The Head Dance | [148] |
| XIII | A Kangaroo Hunt | [160] |
| XIV | The Bird of Paradise | [167] |
| XV | The Coming of the Burong Mas | [173] |
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| “Uhumen.” From their manner it is evident that we are de trop | [Frontispiece] |
| FACING PAGE | |
|---|---|
| Malays bringing on board their varied possessions | [16] |
| As the last of the praus was cleared of baggage they clustered on the gangway, shouting adieus | [16] |
| The prison-yard in Merauke, New Guinea | [24] |
| Each of the men has perforated the septum of his nose to permit inserting a pair of boar-tusks | [33] |
| A pair of alligator-teeth make a wonderful nose-ornament | [33] |
| Enormous nose-tubes of bamboo which entirely close the nostrils, making breathing possible only through the mouth | [36] |
| The women wear in many cases a tiny breech-clout but no other covering | [36] |
| A long platform which entirely encircles the kampong | [45] |
| During the day the men occupy the sleeping-benches, while the women sit upon the sandy floor of the shacks | [45] |
| Seated at a discreet distance, watching our camp-making intently | [80] |
| There had been a disagreement in the village | [80] |
| Those who failed to get a package come to the dead-line and asked for one | [85] |
| They may be friendly at one moment and turn upon one the very next | [85] |
| We made presents of tin jewelry to the natives, but what they wanted was tobacco | [92] |
| Feathered head-dresses moving through the tall grass told us of the natives watching our progress toward the kampong | [92] |
| Twice we encounter stalwart warriors standing like sentinels, as though disdainful of concealment | [97] |
| The body is placed in a sitting position after being gaily decorated for the funeral | [97] |
| The native climbs a cocoanut-palm in a series of humps and stretches, like a giant inch-worm | [100] |
| Making fire. A piece of hard wood is rotated by hand while in contact with a softer piece | [100] |
| One little fellow takes great delight in hearing his mother describe the battles in which his father collected his trophies | [109] |
| After the heat of midday the men gather in the shade to discuss the latest scandal or politics | [109] |
| Eating mud! That’s it, just plain dried mud | [112] |
| “Little Playmate” readjusts his nose-tubes | [112] |
| The hairdresser plaits long strands of raffia into the kinky wool of the Kia Kias | [116] |
| The shiny inner surface of a Malay tobacco-box serves them as a mirror | [116] |
| The deserted Jesuit mission which formerly was the pride and hope of its unfortunate builder | [125] |
| In the early evening the women sit around on the copra-drying-platforms and watch the sunset | [125] |
| They are very proud of the scar-patterns | [129] |
| The weals caused by the infection of the cuts sometimes stand out nearly an inch from the surrounding flesh | [129] |
| The men occupy their time with revision of their toilets, rather than in doing the chores | [133] |
| Sarah | [133] |
| The kapala kampong presents us with human skulls, the highest token of their esteem | [136] |
| A young and very fearsome Kia Kia spends a great deal of his time with her | [136] |
| The circle breaks up and a dance takes place for our entertainment | [140] |
| They sang for us at the top of their leather lungs | [140] |
| Long into the night the mad festival continues. To exert themselves in any productive occupation to a like extent would kill them | [144] |
| The drums are tuned in a peculiar manner. Having no strings fastened to the heads with which to tighten them, they place small lumps of resin mixed with clay on the heads to produce the desired sound | [144] |
| The Head Dance. Two girls begin it by slowly walking up and down in the center of the circle of onlookers | [148] |
| The Dutch officials punish them severely for indulging in these practices | [148] |
| Under the influence of the wady, exhilarated by the wild dance, the men finally take part | [157] |
| They again threaten the men with total exclusion from all intercourse with their families | [157] |
| This man confessed to having eaten many human beings. To accurately estimate the number was beyond his power of reckoning | [161] |
| The sharp-edged stone war-club in the hands of such men as these makes quick work of a victim | [161] |
| The skipper is a jolly fellow with a countenance that beams good nature, mixed with a shrewdness that speaks of business ability | [176] |
| He beats a gong briskly and chants a prayer in Malay, while the rest of the crew add their prayers to his petitions | [176] |
THE ISLE OF VANISHING MEN
CHAPTER I
We Leave Ambon
Two bells tinkles within the master’s cabin, and the quartermaster on the bridge repeats the announcement of nine o’clock with two strokes upon the bronze bell near his station at the wheel. It is sailing-time. The townspeople have turned out en masse to bid us farewell, and the open spaces on the new concrete wharf are ablaze with color. The chatter of a thousand voices comes to us as we stand upon the deck looking down on the scene. Every one seems happy. The great whistle on the ship’s funnel, after a preliminary gargling of its throat, shatters the tranquil air with a peremptory warning. The screw churns up a maëlstrom beneath the overhanging stern, and we swing out into the channel amid a storm of adieus spoken in a dozen tongues. We are off for the land of the cannibal Kia Kias,—the Isle of Vanishing Men.
As the ship gathers way, Amboina, spice-scented “Ambon,” drops into the mists of the morning and we look around the deck for company. We are alone. Then we remember the information given us by the First Officer yesterday. We are the only first-cabin passengers on board, this trip. Few people find their way to the Isle of Vanishing Men. It offers little to the business man. The commercial traveler never goes there. Merauke, our destination, has but five white inhabitants, and their wants are few. One steamer a month carries to them the things they need and the mail from home.
We shall spend our time for the next few days in lazy languor, playing an occasional game of chess with the chief engineer, chatting now and then with the very amiable captain, or, as one learns to do in the Indies, just draping ourselves over most comfortable steamer chairs and daydreaming for hours on end. The air is like silk. The piping falsetto of the deck-hands as they sing at their work lulls one into reverie, and life glides by with a smoothness that takes no count of time.