The Cannibal Chief

# The Cannibal Chief; or, The Mountain Guide

By Paul J. Prescott (Beadle and Adams, 1878), this adventure serial interweaves two parallel narratives. The first follows Mr. Harris, young Vernon Boyd, and their servant Cudjo, trapped in Death Valley, California—a barren, waterless expanse scattered with skeletal remains from an 1850 party that perished there. After four days without provisions and facing certain death, they encounter a mysterious mountain guide who appears on the hillside. The second narrative follows Mabel Harris and her brother Charles aboard the ship Marguerite bound for San Francisco, where Mabel expects to reunite with her betrothed, Vernon Boyd. Mabel travels with her cousin Kitty and two servants, Dennis and Nancy, who express concerns about Pacific Islander "savages" and cannibals during the voyage.