432 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



[Dec. 27, 1888. 



but 1 cannot conscientiously indorse him in his capacity of 

 laundryman; buttoulesa shirts, ragged wrfetbands, and plen- 

 tiful sprinkling of Btaih from betewml juice, forbid it. 



On the next day 1 had the honor of dining with the royal 

 family, namely, Prince Syd Alls, Priuce Mahommed, Duke 

 Omas'h and Kadi Mahomined HotTinan, father-in-law of 

 Syd Alio. 



As my boat neared the landing 1 observed unusual commo- 

 tion ashore. I was a little ahead of the appointed time, in- 

 tending to stroll a bit before dinner, and in noway con- 

 nected my movement-: wilh the "doings" on the 'beach. 

 Crowds of people w< re assembling, anil among them a 

 number in semi-military uniform, some with guns; while 

 Omash came hurrying ahead to the landing, and begged that 

 I would "forgive the never-tobe-pardoned blonder, through 

 which all was not as yet in readiness to do honor to my Ex- 

 cellency." I waited* 



As the soldiers arrived they fell in in double file, hall' 

 {there were about a hundred) 6n each side of a narrow lane, 

 and when all were pushed and shoved and shaken into posi- 

 tion, I w\as invited to land, which I did. under escort of the 

 Duke, aad was received by Prince Mahommed, the General in 

 command, a succession of blasts of trumpets and present 

 arms of the troops; and then my august sanction having 

 been sought aud obtained, a drill in the manual of arms took 

 place. The whole affair was very ludicrous. Simon Sugg's 

 Georgia Company was not more so. Not over a third of the 

 soldiers .had muskets ; such as did composed, as far as they 

 would go, the front ranks. The arms were old-fashioned 

 flintlocks; nearly all had cross Delta; some had cartridge 

 boxes; many bad uniform caps, none had shoes nor trousers. 

 They got along after a fashion, but the present anus was the 

 funniest, for in addition to the usual maneuvre. every man 

 took off his capaud salaamed, holding his gun at soxc curious 

 angle with one hand. 



Presently the two double files coalesced iu some way in- 

 describable 'not however, until we. had marched through be- 

 tween them) and fell in, in our rear; then with fearful band 

 play, trumpets brayinrr aud drums heating, the procession 

 Started: first, Prince Syd Alle, holding a sun umbrella over 

 me, next. Omash aud M'ahomnicd. next, several other officials, 

 then the troops, then every male human being in Johanna. 



Reaching the walls, we entered through an arched gate, 

 so narrow that but two abreast could do so. The wall was 

 fully ijii feet thick and as many high, the streets a little over 

 a yard wide, and running in one direction not over a hundred 

 yards, when bringing up against the wall of a house, they 

 turned sharp tn right or left and skirted it. coming back to 

 the original direction, somewhat beyond, or short of the con- 

 tinuation of the first part, in about this style: East HID yards, 

 south 100 yards, east lOOyards. north 110 yards, cast 100 yards, 

 thus breaking joints, so lo speak. They were paved with 

 small cobble stone; all ascents aud descents were provided 

 with concrete steps. 



The houses are generally square, of butane stoTy, and that 

 a high one. Tiiey are built of concrete, aud like the Walla 

 of the city, are brilliantly whitewashed. Not a window re- 

 lieves the monotony of their dead surface, nor an aper- 

 ture excepting the 'narrow door, and a few loop-holes for 

 musketry; the walls are about eighteen inches thick, 

 and the doors doubled. The roofs are nearly flat, cov- 

 ered with white tiles, and project as ovei Jiangs about 

 eighteen inches beyond the upright walls, from which they 

 are separated by 'an open space, about two feet deep, in 

 which at intervals there are supports lo the roof. This open 

 space furnishes ventilation and some light. One reason for 

 this peculiar style of architecture and engineering 1 could 

 very well appreciate that hot July day. The' narrow 

 streets were completely shaded by the overhangs, and such 

 little air as was stirring seemed to be concentrated into a 

 breeze. 



I could not understand the reason for the abrupt changes 

 in direction, but at dinner the whole mystery was explained. 

 In olden times the Mozambique Channel and the adjacent 

 seas were infested by pirates, who, landing, would be able 

 from the adjacent hills to command the city with musketry 

 and guns, and to demand tribute from the inhabitants. The 

 thick walls, narrow aud crooked streets, anil windowless 

 • houses were methods of defense against^mch attack--, and a 

 successful assaulting party would meet With a warm recep- 

 tion, split up as it would necessarily be into skirmishers. 

 But the islanders are not warlike, and shut up thus iu their 

 almost impervious retreat they were very safe. It, is prob- 

 able that among these pirates "Captain Ki'dd, "as he sailed," 

 was prominent. In his naval history Cooper says: "Kidd 

 ravaged the east coast of Africa and made Johanna a resort." 

 No one. however, seemed to remember him or bis name, ex- 

 cept, perhaps, Duke Omash, who. when I asked him if be 

 could tell me anything about Kidd, replied, "Can your 

 Excellency doubt it? J have fine ones, and very cheap*' 



Except that the Sultan's palace was larger, it' differed but 

 little from the other houses. The reception and dining- 

 room were in one. an oblong apartment about thirty by 

 twenty fist iu dimensions; it was dimly lighted by tke'ven- 

 tilating space and by oil lamps. There were no evidences 

 of wealth or luxury, the furniture being of the plainest and 

 of various patterns; evidently purchased, as were most of 

 the ornnmtmts, from whale ships. The two long wa! 

 bare wood and bare of ornament; at the lower end of the 

 room the wall was faced with shelves and pigeou holes, on 

 and iu which were placed as ornaments, many articles, which 

 to the Arabs may have Been so considered, but which un- 

 doubtedly had formed part of some whaler's outfit ; such as 

 bowls, cups, pitchers, etc., of common but highly colored 

 china. The dining table, once doing duty in a whaler's 

 cabin, was of walnut, uncovered, and large enough to seat 

 comfortably our party, which consisted of Prince Syd Alle, 

 myself on his right, Priuce Mahomined. Duke Omash and 

 Kadi Mahommed, the Sultan not having been able to return, 

 Ilia health, he wrote (but 1 rather fancied chagrin at my 

 having declined to come for him), preventing. 



The dinner was good, but an odd jumble of native and 

 foreign dishes, learned evidently Irom American whalers' 

 wives. Served in courses, it consisted of soup, fowl, ome- 

 lettes, with sundry messes of kid and turtle flesh, and for 

 a1 waffles and pancakes, with fruit of several varieties. 

 Each of us was attended by a hoy, who fanned us con- 

 stantly. Dinner finished, there ensued a very animated dis- 

 cussiou iu Arabic between Syd Alle and the others, which 

 terminated, all rose, salaamed to me, and except Omash and 

 Syd, left the room. 



The former then informed me that the Prince wished to 

 pay me a great compliment. The Princess, his wife, had 

 expressed a Strong desire that "her ey cm might be gladdened" 

 by seeing my excellency, and although the Mahomuiedan re- 

 ligion ; ,: '::■• - iziug upon the uncovered female face by 

 rnen. yet i uot being of that religion, it had beeu decided 



that no sin would be committed in permitting the young 

 lady to have her own way; the husband (no doubt duly in- 

 structed and persuaded)' having been a strong advocate in 

 her favor. I was informed that" with 'the exception of the 

 busbandand her father, Kadi Mahommed Hoffman, no living- 

 man had. since her earliest infancy, been favored with a 

 sight of her countenance; would ['"condescend to make 

 her a sharer in the happiness which my visit had given to 

 them all?" I was, I confess, rather astonished, but laced 

 the music, and consented to do what I could to "gladden 

 her eyes." 



Then Omash withdrew, and the Prince, parting a red 

 curtain which separated the dining from another room, in- 

 vited me to enter. As I started 1 beard a rush, and "caught 

 through the half open portals glowing," a glimpse of a 

 female figure vanishing through another door. This inter 

 rupted the proceedings, the curtain was dropped, and I 

 judiciously baiting, overheard quite a dispute between Syd 

 Alle and a plaintive, half-crying woman's voice. "Presently 

 this little matrimonial breeze ended, the curtains parted, audi 

 was ushered into the chamber of the Princess, a much smaller 

 room, but much more richly decorated, although very much 

 in the same style as the dining-room. 



On the wall fronting our entrance were a number of 

 works of art. evidently once adorning some whaler's cabin, 

 consisting of highly colored lithographs, one 1 remember 

 was a parting scene 'between black-eyed Susan, iu red, white 

 apron, and curls, aud sweet William, attired in his best Sun- 

 day suit ; another was a scene of winding life, "Cutting in." 



Two of the walls were, as in the dining-room, fitted with 

 shelves and pigeon holes, whose contents, however, were 

 much more valuable, consisting of porcelain vases, carved 

 sandal-Wood boxes, inlaid cabinets, and a hoquet of shells. 



These things though 1 noticed later, for naturally my eyes 

 first sought the Princess herself, who sat, her feet tucked 

 up under her. on a sofa, to the left of the entrance. The 

 room was dimly lighted, aud she studiously kept her 

 face turned from inc. All I could make out was a little 

 plump woman, enveloped in robes and shawls of rich cash- 

 mere, on her head a long while veil, which, however, did 

 not cover her face. 



The sofa was placed near a matting-covered platform, 

 raised about two feet from the floor, on which there was a 

 low bedstead, supporting upon a brass frame a mosquito net- 

 ting. The bed. probably of mats, was covered with an em- 

 broidered silk spread, and both bedstead and platform were 

 bordered with scarlet curtains. A little stand, on which 

 were articles of toilette apparatus and a small mirror, stood 

 near the bed. 



Syd introduced me. and as I was not, fully up in Arabic 

 ceremonials, I fell back on American, and extended my band 

 to her; this upon instruction she took, and I had the honor of 

 leaching her to shake, after which I seated myself by her 

 side and began to get acquainted. Our conversation was 

 rather limited, but as it went on, she from time to time stole 

 sidelong glances at me, blushing and bridling like a youn: 

 country " maiden. Once I caught her eye fairly am 

 quick as a flash the veil hid her face, and it was only after 

 urgent remonstrance that she permitted Syd lo again with- 

 draw it. 



After a little she gained courage, aud at last would look at 

 me when asking a question, of which, once started, sht pro 

 pounded many. Nearly all of her inquiries were in regard to 

 American ladies and their customs. She hail seen several of 

 them, and liked them very much. Was I married? And 

 when I answered yes, I must teach her my wife's name, and 

 she taught me her's, Briana Rukea Hoffman; and would I 

 carry to my wife a present from her? and a little slave girl 

 was 'summoned, who, kneeling before me, presented a salver 

 on which, covered by a silk napkin, was the present. 



The girl lifted the napkin, and the Princess took from the 

 salver a necklace of rare and curious workmanship. At first 

 I thought it composed of springs of apple seed?, with occa- 

 sional "lumps of shoemaker's wax. it was not a thing of 

 beauty, although I afterward learned of some value, iu this 

 respect: the seeds, which had a peculiar and agreeable aro- 

 matic odor, arc used only by royalty, aud the wax-like lumps 

 were ambergris. This treasure my wife failed to appreciate, 

 and it now reposes among the other "curios" in the museum 

 of the Naval Lyceum, at the Boston Nivy Yard. In return 

 1 presented her" with a pair of quite pretty steel engravings 

 and an ostricli shell-basket of everlasting rtowera, which I had 

 picked up at the Cape. 



In one important point I fail in this attempt at description. 

 1 can't remember just how she looked, and my note book 

 Says only this: "Princess short, rather stout, and not par- 

 ticularly good-looking, nose rather broad, eyes and month 

 good, complexion octoroon. Altogether rather of the Dudu 

 style." 



After lhad taught her lo say "Good-bye." the visit ter- 

 minated. 



The next day was the 4th of July, and we did out best to 

 make it •nc to be remembered in Johanna. A rainbow 

 dn ssittg oE flags arched from pur jlbbdom to spanker boom 

 end-, mi each yard arm a streamer, and from each mast- 

 head a national flag, At one the. Stars and Stripes, at the 

 other the Arabian "crescent. About 11 A. M. the entire 

 royal party came on board to luncheon. "All hands to 

 muster," was followed by a drill iu infantry broadsword, fire 

 quarters, and at noon, we having beat to quarters, a twenty- 

 one gun salute was fired iu honor of the day, the party and 

 the flag. This salute was a little irregular iu more than one 

 way; first, as not carrying sufficient number of guns, the 

 Aroostook was not authorized to salute; and secondly as the 

 guns were carefully aimed before firing, the intervals were 

 irregular; but our guests were not critics, and watched with 

 eagerness, tempered by considerable fear, the flight of the 

 sixty-pounder shells, and howitzer projectiles, with which 

 we completed our target practice for the quarter, aud demol- 

 ished a target. 



All these things interested them, but I believe that the 

 greatest interest was excited by the sight of Dennis, my six 

 'foot six coxswain, aud his trained pig Dennis, Jr., a little 

 red and white fellow, from the Cape, who would at com- 

 mand leap bars, through paper-covered hoops, act as horse 

 for the monkey to ride, and squealingly submit to the ad- 

 ministration of "a dozen with the cat " the dozen, however, 

 being reduced to four, which was as far as Dennis, Jr., 

 could count When ordered to prepare be would set, up an 

 outcry, but reluctantly place his fore feet against a halliard 

 rack and take it, squealing lustily throughout; he bad 

 learned by bitter experience to count up to four, aud never 

 to attempt to get away till the fourth blow was given. Any 

 sort of a pig was lo them unclean, physically and spiritually. 

 but a pig which would do these things, they felt sure had 

 yet iu him a devil, and some of them prayed audibly lo 

 Allah. 



My luncheon was n 

 but fruit and drank « 

 in getting n 



their own pipes and 1 

 Venire and autograph- 

 card on which are the 



i expensive one, they ate nothing 



<-r,-. After luncheon I succeeded 

 . but they were soon given up for 

 ish tobacco. We exchanged sou- 

 d with this letter, I loan you the 

 ihls of theirs, viz. : The" Sultan 



Abdalhib, Princes Mahommed and Syd Alle, Duke Omash, 

 Kadi Mahommed. and the Princess Briana Rukea, all but the 

 first and last, written by their owners, these two by Syd Alle, 

 but 1 think to reproduce them will go beyond ynur re 

 sources. 



In the afternoon a "bull tight" was gotten up in our honor, 

 and quite a number of us including"Captaiu Mary of the 

 whale ship Lancer, who had put in for fresh provisions, at- 

 tended. 



I had witnessed bull-fights in Spain and in Manila, the 

 former were bloody, disgusting butcheries of horses and 

 bulls, the second mere travesties where none but the bull 

 suffered, and he oniy from torture; and I had resolved never 

 again to wituess one", but here I could not refuse; and pre- 

 pared to be again sickened, f went. My apprehensions were 

 groundless. "This is what I saw : 



About a mile from the town, on a plain, a concrete wall 

 about eight feet, high, inclosed a parallelogram of about sixty 

 byfortyfeet. The wall was covered bytbe natives in holiday 

 attire. " At one end a series id' raised seats were provided for 

 the better class of the populace, in the center of which was 

 the royal box, where we were seated in safety, and such 

 comfort as a combination of hard board and a thin mat 

 could give. 



In the middle of the square was a strung post, and to this 

 was attached one end of a long rope, the other being around 

 the neck of a small, hump-backed animal, that stood tran- 

 quilly enjoying Ids cud until the sport began. 



lie was of the species held sacred in India, and is seen In 

 America onlj in menageries and circuses. I remember that 

 Dan Rice had one which be advertised cost $5,000; they are 

 cheaper in Johanna. One that was bought lor the crew cost 

 three cents a pound, live weight, and one was given me by 

 the Sultan, 



As soon as we were seated the music — ami such music- 

 struck up. I verily believe that it was depended on as one 

 resource toward making the bull crazy. To lessen the 

 chances of danger, the horns of the bull "had beeu shortened 

 and tipped with balls. 



A tighter advanced, salaaming profoundly to our party, 

 shook a red cloth in the bull's face: the bull didn't like it; 

 shook his head and retreated as far as the rope would let 

 him; being followed up. he finally got angry aud made a 

 charge at the cloth, captured, hooked and shook it, the man 

 ■retting nimbly out of his reaali. This was repeated time 

 after time, until the poor teased brute got very wild and 

 plunged fiercely the length of his rope, which occasionally 

 thre-v him. Tins was the climax, and the shouts of the 

 assembled crowd were prodigious. The rest of the fight was 

 but a repetition of that described. 



That evening we wound up our exchange of courtesies. In 

 a little concert given by our sailors, which being conducted 

 on the "nigger minstrel" system, was received with great 

 enthusiasm, and when w T e bade our guests good-bye, it seemed 

 like parting from old friends instead of the acquaintances of 

 bnt three day-. 



The next morning our anchor rose with the sun. and we 

 were soon steaming toward the equator, our decks covered 

 with piles of cordwood. tanks full of fresh water, coops 

 with fowls and ducks, goats and kids bleating in all din-c 

 (Sons, tortoises erawding about, boat davit spans overloaded 

 wiih bananas, and lockers full of all sorts of fruits and_ veg- 

 etables, and long before noon had lost sight forever of this 

 Arcadia, the singular (own in whose limits there ware no 

 do^s, no pigs, no horses, no windows, no chimneys, no wine 

 nor spirits, and, except those of the troops, no weapons. 

 Three weeks later, after a pleasant run through the 1 I 

 Channel, we were anchored in Point tie Galle, Ceylon. 



PlSEOp, 



DOWN THE YUKON ON A RAFT. 



P.Y r.lKt'T. PKEll'K it'DWATKA, tj. s. AKM\. 



Part l.-lntroductorv (Concluded). 



OP course there was the usual confusion and delay in gel- 

 ting away on the 7tu with such a large party; but at 

 nearlv toVcloek the little steam launch Louise, of the Trad- 

 ing Company, with my ( tfecls on its deck and one large boat 

 and nine or feu canoes" iu tow. steamed away from the can- 

 nery, down the Chilkat Inlet, then turned northward up the 

 Chilkoot again until the Mission was reached, which, in a 

 straight line, is only three miles from the cannery. Across 

 this "narrow peninsula a party of us walked to meet the 

 launch at Chilkoot. Everywhere the flowers were in bloom. 

 Dandelions as big as a large aster, cowslips twice the usual 

 size, grass with stalks five feet long, and many other thing:-, 

 in proportion, made it hard to believe that we Were iu 

 Alaska, the United Stales' Arctic colony. The dense swarms 

 of mosquitoes added to the impression that we were in the 

 tropics, until a glance at the mountain tops revealed glaciers 

 ami snowbanks enough to satisfy any Arctic explorer. At 

 Chilkoot four or five canoes were added to our already long 

 string, and we continued up the inlet. 



The route which I had picked out is known as the Chil- 

 koot trail, anil is one of three or four passes leading from 

 the inland passages of this part of the country to the various 

 sources of the Yukon; another trail close by being by the 

 Chilkat, but requiring ten or fifteen days' portage instead of 

 three to five, as would the Chilkoot. The Chilkat trad is 

 now nearly abandoned, but formerly was much used, the 

 Chilkat being the larger band of thetwoand the Chilkoots, 

 then prohibiting all Indians but their own tribe from using 

 Their route. This piece of selfishness has now been given up. 

 The inducement!, for using these trails was the large trade 

 with the interior Tah-Keesh or "Stick" Indians, who were 

 prevented by both tribes from coming to the coast to trade, 

 but even this blockade is now raised. Arriving at Chilkat 1 

 found, as lhad expected from previous reports, that the ir- 

 repressible American mining pioneer, driven from the 

 densely populated districts of Washington Territory and 

 British Columbia with a family to every square township, 

 had found his way into these parts and had crossed the Chil- 

 koot trail looking' for gold, although I could find no one that 

 was ane the wiser for their excursions as fur as the "lay of 

 the country" was concerned, They had as the Indians had 

 before them, reported the country aud its mountain ranges 

 and streams as hard lo traverse, and supplied with a very 

 seanty population 'of detected Indians to help one through. 

 When it became known among the various people, white and 

 native, that I intended to build a raft and try my chances on 



