SOME OF MY EARLY ADVENTURES.

Waikato Times, Volume III, Issue 141, 3 April 1873, Page 2

SOME OF MY EARLY ADVENTURES.

Whxxl was stopping with my uncle Hoat^ Jainej Tra.ll Withering** the sou of a fcnner fr»nj oftf»oU desperate love to j^™"^ Tloathcotc, and she appeared to thought so I naturally l.kcd him none the be tte jV^ He regarded me as rather a formidable rival, but °w£££ not been so, the result was inevitable ; we ™ nrST l£- ' Irate one another, and we di.l so to our hearts content..lie- « certainly wealthy, but [never could make my e Jf bebeve m the Government appointment in Africa. Slw«-dcaJer si-emed more Likely, but I said nothing of my »«"P^J which, it must be admitted, w ere more founded on piojuOijß than on. any reasonable grounds. ' , Tiling wont on lor some time very unsatisfactoi Uj , ana I resolved to obtain some expression of opinion from my cousin ; and so i« happened that in a. long conversation with Kitlv about our Spanish-looking friend, she pronounced his sentence, and gave me my dismissal as well, m those ineinorab« O <si° r mv~doar coz, I haven't the slightest intention of "ftft., Se^ ™ ttC singing and laug* nAily as if the world had no caress, no sorrow, no bitter £ng°X -t there alone, staring at the chair that shehad hist left, I cannot tell. This was the first great sorrow, and I bore it badly. Why did fate send that man across my path just at this moment ? , In he camo with his insolent sneer and swagger, and contrived to turn his conversation upon his f f ?™£ A^fe the incompetence of the Royal ftavy and its officers. He never lost an occasion of abusing the service but on this occasion his remarks wore more than, usually It was evident that he was bent upon a quarrel, and he iound in me, for the first time, a reciprocity 0 /* c " n^ n X became more and more insulting, aud evidently I°™™s offensive. lie wished to provoke me to strike him. lie succeeded in Ins ob )e ct ; I struck him in the lace. As I canceled, the blow was not returned. A few nurned words about seconds, pistols, the coppice at sunset, and he was K one. So far ho had achieved his purpose ; for the rest, he was a dcid shot, which was the only clever thing I knew ° Seconds were found in two young fellows in the neighbourhood, and were soon instructed in their duties. That evening we met in the place appointed. With a few preliminaries we took up onr positions, his black, snake-like eyes gleaming with a more sinister expressionthan ever, and, at the given signal fired-or rather, he fired it is said, before the time, and I fell, the pistol dropping from my grasp undischarged. The bullet Lad pierced my right sidcT and thinking, from the blood that founted out at my mouth, that the wound was mortal, my adversary fled. Carried back to the house, for some weeks I between life and death, during which time Kitty Heathcote nursed and tended mo with a mother's care. At length the doctor reported that the patient was out of danger, and my stern old uncle, who throughout had refused to see me, sent n message to the effect that I was to -leave his houie as soon as I wus able to travel. . . The edict of the old man's was received with great regret, not only by me, butr by another ac well. Yes, the flckleheartcd Kate had given up her flirtations, and- was fickle no* longer. That " pity,' 'which is so justly said. to be akin to love, had worked the spell, and now B he,.in her turn, loved with afar greater affection than she had before so cleverly simulated. Ay, lovcd-Kitty loved ; and lit was that she loved! What a heaven there wai ui- the thought! My inexorable uncle had no more terrors for me* my wound no more pain. The only worthy thing in life was to endeavour to deserve her. But that was not to bo done in trying to induce her to desert her grey-haired od father m- bis lait days, for the man whom lie was about to drive from his doors. I scorned the thought that could suggest such a course. No j there was nothing for it but to go afloat again, and abide the chances and changes of ft few years. Under the circumstances, a request to be appointed to a vessel serving on that fatal station, the West Coast of Africa, was readdy granted by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. The coast is the well-knovm refuga of the hopeless ; there 'they commit suicide honourably. But there was a strong, ungovernable motive that impelled me thither. US this none knew. . „ -, After the duel, James Trail Witherington disappeared. A bundle of papers was found in his trunks. AH scrupJes at opening them wera removed by the suspicion of unfairness, of the duel. An examination proved conclusively that lie had been sailing under false colours, and' was indeod a slave dealer, the Government appointment being altogether a m if I could butiust put a *top to his slave dealing, it would prove to him conclusively the fallacy of his ideas concerning the incompetency of Her Britannic Majesty 8 naval service. At, the same time it would be possible to obtain that satisfaction to which he invited me, aud'of which he, m so cowardly a manner, defrauded me. There was my motive. After a most painful parting from Kitty, the father stiU unrelenting and three months having passed away, I found myself in command of a fine despatch gun vessel in the Bight of Benin. No time was lost in endeavouring to find Witherineton, but no such person was known-. It was, however,, quite possible that he was trading under another name; but during two years nought could be seen, or heard of him, ana so I nearly gave up all hope of meeting him. . Towards the end of our three years' commission -the doctor and I landed with our rifies ono day for the enjoyment ot a little shooting. . a > We wandered a long way down the coast, from the flats of the old Calabar river to where the-usually low coast rises into red sadstonc cliffs of some height. From tho summit of these cliffs the sharks could.be plainly seen risimg and falling with the long ground-swell of the ocean. As they basked m tho sunlight, their sharp black dorsal fins appearing above tho surface, we tried *few shots at them, but with no groat success. .. ««:^4.,«f The sun was getting low, and we were on the pout ot returning, when there appeared a aava-e procession coming from inland toward, the next cliff to the one on which we were. Judging that some Fetish worship or superstitious rites were about to take place, we concealed ourselves behind a rock to watch the proceedings. On came this wild horde of aavages, with much beating ot drums and cymbals, howling and shouting, and other horribly discordant sounds. Their usually ugly faces were rendered ten times more hideous by a profusion of red and yellow paint, which was also daubed freely over their bodies. Thus as they came wildly dancing and leaping along, filling the air with their savage cries, they more resembled a baud of fiends than human beings. Iney were preceded by four men bearing a long wide plank ; this, on reaching the edge of the cliff, they launched out nearly Half its length and left balanced, on the brink. The dreadful truth Hashed across our minds, for this explained everything. They were about to oiler a huxnto sacrifice to their Fetish. We turned sick and faint «we thought of their horrible custom of making the victim walk to the end of the plank, which, over-balancing, precipitates the miserable wretch with a shriek and a plunge into .the sea, to be, whilst yet struggling, devoured swarming sharks. And yet we dared not move to turn a**r {r^^SS^SX^^ Tt with Borne poisonon. decoction of drugs, and at the last inonieut, beingjwmpletely stupified, voluntarily walks the plank It would renderthe sacrifice inefficacious were hands to be lafaUa the victim to push him over. But m this case theirswtaed to be some difficulty. From the struggling on theverw of the precipice it would aeem, ttiat the £»*£***+* had refused to make a saciilice of himself. Perhaps the '^csX^ol^tm goading the unfortuna ? being on to his destruction with the sharppoints of arrows Up to this tune we had been unable to catch sight of the ! victim ; but now the crowd opening a little > on °« "Je, j c ! saw him, and with one voice exclaimed, ""Good Heaven ! " Tiic^mC' savage crowd ho stood bleeding frantic. with the pain of the .tabs fnmi the arrow-heads, 10 ™* mcrcv, his crich drowned in theirs, and doing what he could to resist the fearful death that nwa.toa hxm. On* more mutant and all would have been ever. A steady aim, and with a sharp crack from my rifle a bullet went smgmg through the air, and found its billet m th head of thc'cluef, smashing his Jcull and -t^j^J lifeless on the ground ; the doctor reserved his liro whilst 1 reloaded. For a moment thay seemed to wajor , porhaps toXbo^ildered ; and thenW temftri, oo kj U, their heels, and scampered away with all the speed ot superstitious fear. t their victim whtTvha SlTfo 0 ; ottSn their headlongfiight. Ho was s t ng with his back to« ards us, gesticulating wilcUy and ZESy His- mmd «as evidently gone and he frJed hnllf already in the sea fighting with tho sharks, for ho was raving in a tl»^ unnatural voice. On my approach be turned suddcnl), and I found myself face to face with my long sought adversary. It w ns no other than James, Traill Withenngton. As his straining, bloodshot cjes met mine, they ddated fcariulh— hid whole form "was convulsed with a- frenzy of iu.iui.uml loiTor. He darted back, >lu-ioking— "'Tishc! 'Tiu he ! Save mo fiom him. Oh, bave me. Mercv— mere y— spare me !" As" he b:ihl this, he ran back towards the edge of the ehll. In \am we tried to warn him of his danger. The more we approached him the Uster he ran backwards, screaming—

"Aw ay — away ' Keep him off!" Tkut shriekiug, lie stepped back ovor the precipice and disappeared. A dull, heavy splash told that the sharkinfested waters had received him, and it was all over. It turned out subsequently that Withermglon, alms Miguel Antonio dos Santos, had been carrjing on his nefarious pohur of kidnapping, instead of fairly buying slaves, and in doinf%o had himself fallon into the hands of the natives They we*b not slow to find out what to do with him. Me would make as good a sacrifice to their deitj as one of their ow^tenen. Although we had cheated the Fetish of his victual, we had not robbed Nemesis of hers. On my return to England, I received a most affectionate letter from my uncle, consenting to my marriage with hi} daughter, my pretty cousin, Kitty Heathcote! and now, when my wife Kitty reads this, sho will know the only secret that I ever kept from her— namely, why I went to the West Coast of Africa.

Wiiat Sn\T,r, we Fat? — Wo arc not at all surprised to learn that tea drinking is unwholesome. We have lived long enough to know that ever) thing that enters the mouth of mnn u utterly destructive to his soul and body in the ojes of somebody else. Alcohol has no friends ; from the son of Noah downward even body has had his (ling and joke at that. Then there is tobacco. Can anything be more monstrously profligate than to smoke a cigar ? Why, three drops of nicotine will kill a dog. The vegetarians tell us that nothing can be so unwholesome as beef-steak and that nature intended us to live exclusively upon marmalade, and almonds, and raisins. Then the Bantmgife* lift up their voices against farinaceous food and pronounce :i mealj potatoe the sin for which there is no forgiveness. Peas and beans are indigestible. No man who values his life will eat a carrot. Oatmeal produces skin diseases. Everything that is sour is bad, and the sugar that we use to sweeten it is bad also. No constitution can long stand black coffee, and if you put cream into the coffoo then the beverage becomes bilious. Salmon is the worst thing you can cat, except, indeed, tho cucumber and lobster sauco that accompany it, which, if posable, are even worse. Salt pork is bad — first, because it is »^%\ and secondly, because you eat egg sauce with it, for eggs are extremely unwholesome ; and the pork would have been a great deal worse if it w ere fresh, because then you might be tempted to eat oystor sauco with it, and everybody know* that oysters, when cooked, are even more indigestible than eggs. Cheese is very unwholesome when raw, and utterly ruinous when toasted, and so aro niaccaroni and mustard. In short, if we take the opinions of separate doctors, and put them together, we come to this, that according to the 6Uiu of scientific opinion, we ought never to hare been weaned. Since we were cruelly taken from the earliest nutriment wo have revor tasted anj thing really ■wholesome. With the single exception of milk, which very few of v* like, andjscarccly any of us can get, every article of food which nature lias prouded, or taught the ingenuity of men Ijo prepare, is more or less unwholesome, and for the most part exceedingly deadly. — Echo. Thb Cbown Piunck or Pritssia. — Frederick William, Crown Prince of Prussia, was born in October, 1831. His youth was guided by a watchful, careful mother, now Queen Augusta, under wheni lie received an excellent education. He inherited from bis father strength of mind and will, and from his mother brightness of intellect and a high regard for, and interest in, the arts and sciences. In his youth his opennesa of character, unassuming simplicity, earnest manner, and thirst for knowledge, gained for him while a school-boy at Bonn the loa c and esteem of his professors and fellow-students. He began his military life in the lower grades, sen ing as a captain of infantry with his company. Upon his marriage to Hie Princess Royal of England he at onco gathered about him the most eminent savants of all professions, and although twenty-seven years of age, did not relax his studies, but devoted n portion of each day to books and free social intercourse with the learned men who composed his household. Science, politics, and military studies received at this time full and careful attention, Moltko being his instructor in the latter. His life remained purely domestic and scholarly up to the war with Denmark, when he applied for active service, which was given him in a secondary position, as no one dreamed that he was suited to a high command. In fact, his life had been so entirely domestic as to give him no opportunity to display military aptitude. In this war he won the devotion of tho entirearmy by his humane character and fidelity to duty. Still, a large military command was never thought of for him ; and not until Koniggratz, in 1866, did he attract attention as a military genius. I have reason to know that the movement which at that battle brought his troops to the right spot at the right time was greatly duo to his own suggestions and efforts. From that time his reputation has steadily increased ; and though entirely subordinate to General Moltke, lie is considered a general of the first order of ability. At the beginning of the present war, he was assigned to tho command of the Third Army Corp?, made up of the contingents of the South German States, which has so nobly followed him in nearly all the great engagements. His expressions of sympathy for the suffering, and regret at the btcrn necessities of his duty, have reached the hearts of good people, while his simplicity and courtesy gain the esteem and confidence of all who meet him. His face is of the highest % t\pe of tl'e cultivated European, and speaks of good-breed-m<,', physical health, happiness, and honesty. There is not a trace of the generally accepted German face in it. At his table, the excellent custom of never repeating the wine is followed. What is suitable and ample is on the table when the party sits down, and none is added afterwards. — " Tiro War," by Major-General Haren, U.S.A. Judge Powell and the Ghost. — The judge was a most strenuous (opponent of the superstitious belief in apparitions, although Dv Fowler, the then Bishop of Gloucester, was not only a believer in, but wrote several works in defence of, the existence of ghost upon earth. Judge Powell was a great antagonist of the bishop's, and once attempted, by the following witty device, to convince him of his error. The judge purposely paid the bishop an early morning visit at his palace, when the annexed conversation occurred. "Since I saw you," said the judge, "I have had ocular demonstration of the existence of nocturnal apparitions." Bishop — "I am glad you are become a convert to the truth ; but do you say actual ocular demonstration ? Let me know the particulars of the story.' Judge — "My lord, I will. It was — let me see — last Thursday night, between the hours of 11 and 12 o'clock, but narer the latter than the former, as I lay sleeping in my bed, I was suddenly awakened by an uncommon noise, and heard something coming up-stairs and stalking directly towards my roam. The door flying open, I drew back my bed-curtain, and saw a faint glimmering light enter my bed-chamber." Bishop—" Of a faint colour, no doubt ? " " The light was of a pale blue, my lord bishop ; and then followed a tall meagre personage, his locks hoary with age, and clothed with a Font; loose gown, a leathern girdle about his loins, his beard thick and grizzly, a large fur cap upon bin head, aud a long staff in his haud. Struck with Mtoniahment, I remained some time quite motionless and ailent. The figure advanced, staring me full iv the face. I then said, 'Whence and what art thou?" Bishop — " What was the answer — tell me, what was the answer? " Judge — "The following was the answer I redeived :—'l: — 'I am a watchman of the night, ant please your honor, and make bold to come up stairs to inform the family of their street door being open, and that, if it were not soon shut, they would probably be robbed before morning.' " The Necessity of Mancking.— The Rural Press says : " We frequently see in agricultural journals long dissertations on the subject of deep and shallow ploughing, and in most cases the attempt is made to show that the general deterioration so common to most of the soils of long cultivated parts of the countiy is owing to a persistent course of shallow ploughing. It is a mistake to imagine that this alono has produced the unwelcome result, rendering large districts of country unfit for tho culture of wheat, which fifty years ago gave au average of from fifteen to twenty bushels to the acre. If shallow ploughing has had the effect to lessen tho annual yield from fields devoted to constant tillage, without tho return of some fertiliser — •which we will not dispute — it might be inferred that we believe had the field been deeply ploughed there would havo been no detci loration. Wo believe no such thing ; because experience has shown that though deep ploughing serves almost invaiiably to increase the product, it is equally at the expense of the soil ; the only difference is, the one, by shallow ploughing and half a crop, has exhausted the soil to her depth that another hVld is by a system of deeper tillage. So that without some renovating process or the application of fertilisers, or something besides simply deep ploughing, though large crops may be produced for the time being, it is only at tho expense of the deeper exhaustion of the soil. It is idle then to harp upon tljfce favourite theory of many that shallow ploughing alone lias caused the sterility too often met with in the older sections of the Union. It is an injudicious cultivation quite apart from either shallow or deep ploughing that produces barrenness. No soil, however deeplF ploughed, can for e\cr maintain its pristine fertility, under constant cropping, without a return in somo mcasuro of tho element that the crop produced extracts therefrom. Upon this important point in good husbandry too littlo attention is paid. Shallow ploughing and constant cropping without manuring have Tory aptlv been called tho 'skinning' process ; but deep ploughing in like circumstances takes not skin, but tho very tallow from tho soil. Strange Conjunction. — A circumstance of a peculiar nature has been brought under the notice of tho Wagga Wagrja Express, in connection with the Kyaniba tragedy :—: — "We hear that in disposing of the bodies of Sarah West, the murderess, and Florence Cowell, her victim, the two coffins wero buried in one grave. There is, to our mind, something excessively revolting in tin's union of the poor girl and her inhuman rcl.itive. If it wero done out of some bcntimental idea of mutual forgiveness, the sentiment, wo think, was e ad ly misplaced ; but if the object was to save the labour and trouble of digging separate graves, wo can onlj characterise tho proceeding as unfeeling and disgraceful." A school boy bays it is letter to pursjie pleasuie than to " catch it."

Stop My P\rra!- A good story 19 told by tho Philadelphia Post of Mr Snain, tho former proprietor of the Daily Ledger. By his course on some public questions, on which different persons, had different opinions, Mr Swain had offended .1 number of readers, ono ol whom had met him on Chestnut street, mid thus accosted him: — "Mr Swain, I've stopped the Ledger?" " What is that, sir?" " I've stopped the Ledger," was the Btern reply. "Is it possible ?" haul Mr Swam. "My dear sir, what do you mean? Come with me to my office." And taking the man with him, he entered the office, at Third and Chestnut streets. Theic they found the clerks busy at their desks; then they ascended to the editorial rooms and comj ojing rooms, where everything was going on as usual ; finally they descended to tho press room, where the engines were at work. " I thought you had told me that you had Btopped the Ledger," said Mr Swain. "So I have," said the offended subscriber. "I don't sec the stoppage. The Ledger seems to be going on." " Oli.^l mean to say— that is, that I— ah— had stopped taking it." "Is that 'all!" exclaimed Mr Swain, "Why, iuv dear sir, you don't know how you have alarmed me."