STRANGE FREAK OF NATURE.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2013, 27 February 1890, Page 2

STRANGE FREAK OF NATURE.

Mr Alexander McPhee has just arrived in Melbourne from Perth, W.A., bringing with him a West Australian aboriginal bearing tUa*-”' cognomen of Jungun, who is described by a local paper m a most remarkable individual. He is of black parentage, though he has more the appearance of a white man browned by exposure to the fierce heat of a tropical sun. He is apparently about 27 years of age, and about the average height, sffc 7m’ but strongly built- He has long wavy golden hair, such as maay of our Melbourne belles would give something to be possessed of, and the skin of the head is almost perfectly white. He has a full sandy beard, and Mr McPhee thinks that had Jungun been sheltered from the weather during childhood, as in the case of civilised people, he would probably have been at the present time as white as most Europeans. His body is covered with hair about a quarter of an inch long, perfectly white, and the eyes have the peculiar appearance so well known in albinos. Jungun is very docile, and obeys every word and gesture of Mr McPhee yet he has seen some very rough times, for the top of his head is a mass of old wounds. There is not a square inch of surface without more than one large gash, and he is credited himself with having killed two men in battle. Jungun was terribly frightened of the sea when he first saw it, and also of the horses and swans, having scarcely ever in/ his part of the country, which is J mostly desert, seen a bird of any '* kind. Two coastal West Australian natives have been brought along with him for company, and the contrast between them is very marked. McPhee secured Jungun only after a great deal of trouble, and a lengthy search into the interior, covering nearly 300 miles of country. At last he discovered the individual he was in quest of, and on first seeing him thought he was indeed a white man. Subsequent observations, however, showed that the man was without doubt an aboriginal albino, for he possessed all the characteristics about the eyes, etc., of an albino. He agreed to go with Mr McPhee to the settlemeuis, but the latter, wishing to see his parents, arranged to meet at a certain waterhole later on. A fortnight afterwards Mr McPhee went out again along the same track, and found Juugau with his father, mother, and two sisters, all of whom were jet black, like any other aboriginals. In eight days afterwards Mr McPhee, the two coastal blacks, and the albino were back at Lagrange Bay, Jungun having agreed quite willingly to leave hia relations for the tinm being. Mr McPhee exhibited him in Perth, where nearly a thousand persons saw him. Jungun is now being shown in Melbourne, and probably Mr McPhee will add Jungun’s relatives to the party, and exhibit the whole in London.