De Rougemont Yarns.

Manawatu Herald, 29 November 1898, Page 2

De Rougemont Yarns.

HOPES AND PLANS FOR RESCUE. After passing seven months on the island he saw a sail on the horizon, but was unable to attract the attention of those on board. Altogether he saw five ships pass during his sojourne on the island, one of them being a man-of-war, flying the British ensign. "The powerful winged birds that abounded on the island one day gave me an idea. Why not hang a message around their necks and send them forth into the unknown? Possibly they might bring help — who knows ? And with me to conceive was to act. I got a number of empty condensed milk tins, and, by means of flre, separted from the cylinder the tin disc that formed the bottom. On this disc I then scratched a message with a sharp nail. In a few words I conveyed information about the wreck and my deplorable condition. I also gave the approximate bearings. "These dies — I prepared several in Euglish, French, bad Dutch, German, and Italian — I then fastened round the necks of the pelicans, by means of fishgut and shark-hide strips, and away across the ocean sped the affrighted birds, so scared by the mysterious encumbrance that they never returned to the island. "I may say here that over twenty years later, when I returned to civilisation, I chanced to mention the story about my messenger birds to some old

inhabitants at Fremantle, Western Australia, when, to my amazement they replied that a pelican carrying a tin disc round its n*eck, bearing a message in French from a castaway, had been found many yearb" previously by an old boatman on the b«.^ en near tne mouth of the Swan River." " Two interminable years b^j^SEP away, when one day the *' e atner suddenly changed, and a terrible .Sft*? commenced to blow, which threatenv 5 "-' almost to wreck my little hut. Ona morning a few days- later, when the storm had abated somewhat, I heard Bruno barking wildly on the beach. A few seconds afterwards he came rush' ing into the hut, and would not rest until I prepared to follow him outside. Before doing so, however, I picked up an oar — I knew not why, I then followed my dog down to the b&mr? wondering what could possibly have caused him to make such a "fuss. The sea was somewhat agitated, and as it was not yet very light. I could not clearly distinguish things in the distance. "On peering seawards for the third or fourth time, however, I fanced I could make out a long, black object, whic!i I concluded must be some kind of a boat, tcssing up and down on t&' billows. " Then I must confess I begap to sh-ira Bruno's excitement, particularly when a few minutes later I discerned a well-made . catamaran, with several human figures lying prostrate upon it !" In the September number of the ' " Wide World Magazine " the narrator,, in continuance of his story, describes the arrival of the catamaran, with four blacks — a man, a woman, and two boys— upon it. They had been carried away, as he found afterwards, from their home on the Australian mainland. De Rougemont revived them by rubbing them and giving them doses of rum. He proceeds as follows : — . "The. woman was the first to get over the fear of me, and she soon grew to trust me v implicitly ; whereas her husband never ceased to view me with inexplicable suspicion r until he regained his own county. He was a big repulsive-looking savage, with a morose and sullen temper, and although he never showed signs of openantagonism, yet I never trusted him for a moment during the six long months he was my 'guest' on the little sand-bank ! It seems I unwittingly offended him, and infringed the courtesy common among his people. by declining to take advantage of a certain embarrassing offer which he made to me soon after his recovery. It may not be anticipating too much to say here that the woman was destined to play a vifa% important part in the whole of my life, and with her I went through adventures and saw sights more weird and wonderful than anything I had ever read of, even in the wildest extravagances of sensational fiction." The blacks were much astonished at his clothes, but his gymnastics delighted them mightily. , This is what he says upon the subject : — • " I thin!: fie only thing that roused the father .>f the family from his sullen moods was my extraordinary acrobatic performances, which also threw the two little ni;^er boys into hysterics of delight. Father, mother, and children^ tried to imitate my somersaults, " wheelr," and contortions, but came to grief s:> desperately (once the morose man nearly broke his neck) that they soon gave it up. The man wouU sit and watch our gambols for hours without onving a muscle. I was nr/or actually afraid of him, but I took gio.l care not to let him get . possession of any of my weapons, and as I had also taken the precaution to break up and throw into the sea spears her lmd brought with him on his catamaran, I felt pretty sure he could not do much mischief even if he were si disposed. I repeatedly told him that with my boat I might perhaps soaie day help him to get back to his own country, and I must say that this sasg^tion roused him somewhat from His "lethargy, and he appeared profoundly -grateful. Gradually I acquired a slight acquaintance with the extraordinary language of the blacks, and had many a chat with the woman, who also picked up a few words of comical English from me. She was a woman of average height, lithe and supple, with an intelligent face and sparkling eyes. She was a very interesting companion, and I grew more proficient in her queer language of signs, and slaps, and clicks I learnt from her many wonderful things about the habits and customs of the Australian aborigines, which proved extremely useful' to me in -after years. Yamba, for that was her name, told me that when I rescued them they had been blown miles and miles out of their course and away from their own country by the terrible £ale that had been raging about -^ fortnight previously."