A NARROW ESCAPE 5 



draw near the line which in our country is 

 known as the "frontier." Here the hunter was 

 warned of treacherous people ahead, but, as the 

 natives are naturally alarmists and live in con- 

 stant fear of attacks from each other, he placed 

 little credence in the report. S. always carried 

 a supply of trade goods, and believed that he 

 would have no trouble after he had presented 

 the various chiefs with presents and they found 

 that he had come to barter with them. 



Each day's travel brought the party in con- 

 tact with strange tribes, who spoke unknown 

 tongues and from their actions showed that they 

 had never before seen a white man. As the 

 caravan drew near a village the people fled in 

 terror and stood off at a distance watching 

 and jabbering in their peculiar language. The 

 women and children were particularly timid and 

 refused to enter the camp until the confidence 

 of the men had been won. 



With trifling gifts they were finally coaxed 

 near, and soon they lost their fear and became 

 sociable. They always carried their long, dan- 

 gerous-looking spears, however, which looked 

 Auspicious. Never, after winning the confidence 

 of a tribe of savages, had S. known them to re- 



