Beadle's Half Dime Library Vol. XL, No. 1020 — page 9: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

—_ Bar Pe a sir, and, by the rules of the arena, was out of ‘and we were kept hard at work, as a conse- the fight, onaccount of his having lett his proper | quence. position at the edge of the ring. There were now, literally, as the only remaining fighters, two matadores or swordsmen. at the sign from the master of Ceremonies —wuich was now very hastily given—rushed in to the attack. But his blow was a bad one. The | old matadore—the one who had finished up the the first bull so nicely, was now the only one left, and he, without losing a particle of his composure, went ia with a confident air. But he made a mistake, just as he reached the animal's side, and had his arm paralyzed by | hitting a horn with his crazy-bone, and away flew his sword out of his hand. The next in- stant, he was tossed szy-high and Mr. Bull had it all hisown way. A murmur of horror ran through the audi- ence, for it seemed that now, as every one of the fighters was either prostrate or weapouless, there would be a great carnage. Even tha hitherto imperturbable major-domo lost his presence of mind and turned as pale as death, At this momentous jancture, clu Biuetish, to our unmitigated astonishment, started up with a wild whoop. ‘Pil spike him! I'll spike him! top-lights, if I don’t spike bim!’’ he shout d, And, before we could guess his intention, he had leaped the railing, and was in the ring. Snatching up the sword of one of the fallen matadores, he made at the bull. ‘Tae tutier charged him, with a roar that shouk the pa“1lion toits center. But the sturdy old sailor leaped on one side, got in his blow, and drove it in he- hind the shoulder, the weapon rapping up against the skin, close to the hilt. The magnificent beast tottered forward an instant, and then dropped to the earth, stone-dead. Cheer after cheer greeted the brave deed of the Yankee tar. : ‘‘Bravo! bravo! Americano! Americano!” echoed from the crowd of Brazilians. ‘*{ told yer I'd spike him!” was the simple and only self-comment of Bluefish, as he re- turned to our midst. \Ve were proud enough of him, you may be sure. But we were prouder still, when, as we were going out with th3 throng, the band struck up *' Hail Columbia.” The master of ceremonies hud ordered it as a compliment to us, ’ CHAPTER VIII, ROUND THE HORN—THE PATAGONIANS. A WEEK after our experienceat the bull-fight, we were ready torsea. It was an easier mat- ter, however, to be ready for sea, than to be able to get to sea.. For several of Jobn Bull’s cruis- ers were watching for us just outside the har- bor, determined, if possible, to put a stop to furtzer depredations on British commerce as far as we were concerned. but,on a stormy night in the early partof August, Captain Joker determined to makeanattempt to run the block- ade, All the men were quietly posted at quar- ters, and we started, cautiously hugging the land on the south side of tue bay. We got along capitally till we reached the mouth of the har- bor. E The night was so dark that vou couldm’t see your hand before your face, Wo just saw her lantern in tin eto bring our helm hard-a-port. Asit was, we grazed her stern with our bow- sprit, ‘* What ship is that?” was immediately bawled from the man-o’-war. ** British sloop-of-war Achilles,” sung out Cap- tain Joker. What ship is that?” ‘+ The Hercules.” * All right!” We passed on, holding our breaths, and were soon out of reach. But we were scarcely two miles out to sea, wb+n the signal lantern of another of our block- aders appeared, and a shot was fired across our bows. But we kept straight on our way without paying the least attenticn toit. Another shot fo lowed us as harmlessly as its predecessor, but a third struck the taffrail of our stern, sending up a shower of splinters. **Blast’eu ! blaze away with the Long Tom!” eried our little captain, getting ia considerable of a tantrum for such a good natured fellow. Bang! went the long brass swivel, and a flash from ths eremy’s guns, immediately afterward, let. us see our ball strike her fair and broad in the starboard bow. We gave her one more compliment of a similar character, and then kept on our way, without further molestation, for we could easily outsail anything the enemy could bring against us, [t wastbe beginning of a tempest which raged with but little intermission, for several! days; One of these, | Smash my | Here we almost ran into a man-o’-war, j a It let up, however, when we had reached a latitude far down the coast. We here had the satisfaction of capturing two richly- laden brigs from Valparaiso, which more than compensated us for our privations. It had been decided, at first, to double the Horn, but as the weather bade fair to be more than commenly bad, we entered the Straits of Magellan, intending to gain the Pacific by this avenue. There was more danger attended by this route than by the Hern, es it was quite probable that we should meet somearmed vessel of theenemy. In view of this probability, Cap- tain Joker decided to make no captures while in the straits, however tempting an opportunity might offer, in order to disarm suspicion, if we we should happen to fall in with a man-o’-war, The Straits of Magellan—that broad avenue between the southcin portion of the South American Continent and Terra del Fuego—links the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by a fine chan- nel, deep enough for the largest ship that floats. It isa wild and dreary scene, On both sides of the straits the character cf the shore is emi- nently precipitous and inhospitable. The great cliffs of black granite rise from the water’s edge, in most places, to a great hight, sparsely grown with stunted trees and a description of rank grass. Theclimate is almost always cold and dismal, with something falling all the time— snow or rain. The impression produced upon the mind of the rover, when, for the first time, he views these remote and cheerless scenes, is one that can never be effaced, One of the first queries which one makes to himself is, ‘‘ How can anything— man or beast—live in the region of desolation and zloom?” Yet inhabitants there are, of both species, It was snowing furiously as we entered the straits, and we had not proceeded far, with the Patagonian coast in view, before we saw an im- mense fiock of ostriches on the high table-land, looking down at us in a very curious way. Something, however, occurred to frighten them, and awuy they went, vanishing inland. These South American ostriches are not quite so large as their brothers cf tropical Africa; but they seem to be strorger. Their legs are much thick- er, and their wings are so small as hardly to ap- pear at all, being concealed under the heavy feathers of the side. They run with great speed, outstripping the swiftest racer. They seem to resemble the cassowaries of Southeastern Asia more than the ostriches of the Sahara, and are not nearly so valuable as the latter for their plumage, We also saw some wolves before the day was over. We lay up for the night, under the shel- ter of the bigh cliffs of the Terra del Fuego side of the straits. It blew strovg during the night, and wasso cold that we suffered considerably. The next morning a boat expedition was start- ed, to obtain some wood. I was along, and Tony Trybrace was incommand. We rowed up an inlet which deeply indented the coast, in order to find, if possible, a landing-place, where wood couldbe obtained, The scenery of Terra del Fuego is, if possible, more desolate and cheerless than the opposite side of the straits. It was the very incarnation of gloomy solitude, as we pulled up the narrow inlet, with the high, rocky cliffs on either side; and [ felt a sensation of loneliness and awe creep over me as the ship was shut from our view, The very waters through which we glid- ed appeared black and somber—there was noth- ing of the glad coast greenness, or of the true sea-blue about it. Now and then a lone eagle would rise from some jagged crag, and soar over us with a hungry scream, which only served to render the solitude more impressive and sol- emn. It was up this inlet that we saw human inhab- itants for the first time since entering the straits. The Indians of Terra del Fuego are nothing like so formidable in size as their brethren of Patagonia. In fact,they are rather below than above the medium size of humanity. They are extremely filthy in their habits. ‘As for their customs,” as the midshipman said, ‘‘they are incomprehensible; and as for their manners, they haven’t got any.” They live in wretched habitations, which are semi-subterraneous, and are partially dressed in the skins of wild beasts—mostly of wolves and foxes. As werowed up the estuary, quite a number of these savages appeared upon the rocks to our left, and gi eted us with friendly gestures, As we, soon after, descried a favorable landing- place, we made for the shore, and, as socn as wo ney Blake, the Boy Privateer. aR ts A cae Oa SANE ne aS a SE NE Oe nS Re nee Se ee ey 9 were on it, were surrounded by upward of fifty Indians. We took good care to keep together, with an eye always on our arms, for we did not know what treachery might be preparing for us. But we wronged these savages in our suspicions, They were of an exceeding!ty mild disposition, and manifested no other feeling for us than friendship, though the curiosity with which they examined our clothes and arms was rather annoying. They had evidently seen but few white men, as the Straits of Magellan were not frequently visited by vessels in those days. ne of the young lady Terra del Fu- egans, who appeared to be quite a ‘‘ belle” among her companions, took quite a fancy to me, She examined my hards with wonder, but, upon pushing up my sleeve and viewing the whiteness of my arm, she was much struck at my appearance, and greeted me with a tor- rent of questions in her native lingo, which must surpass the Chinese in incomprehensibil- ity, [think. These people are not devoid of a certain frankness of expression, which com- mends them to the notice of the stranger. They have a mild, placid look, but, when angry, give tokens of the most furious tempers. They are armed with bows and arrows and rude spears, and live to a large extent upon fish and shell- fish. The latter are procurable in large num- bers, and the former are generally captured by means of the spear, after the manner of the Northern tribes of North American Indians. The mal2s and females dress preciseiy alike— the garment generally consisting of a loose robe of skins, reaching from the neck to the feet— and this, together with a very slight dissimilar- ity of facial characteristics, renders it difficult to distinguish the two sexes apart. One very praiseworthy quality in these Indians — in strong contradistinction to the savages of North America—is displayed in their almost universal contempt for trinkets, They do not seem to care a button for any ornament—unless it comes in the shape of a piece of useful clothing—while any gift which they can put to immediate use is received with exuberant tokens of delight and satisfaction. One of our men offered to one of the chiefs a large, bright naval button, when it wasdiscard- ed with contempt, with the single comment of ‘“waywoo nexel,” which, by a free translation, may be rendered into ‘* What is it good for?” ‘Tt is pretty, but worthless.” Whereas, a large nail which was offered by another of the men, was delightedly accepted, with a profusion of thanks. There was some utility in this. It might be fashioned iato a spear or arrow-bead, or crook- ed for a hook to hang dried fish on. And it was, therefore, far more valuable to the simple natives than the brightest ornament of gold or precious stones. We gathered our boat full of wood—such as it was—which we cut and collected from the dwarf forests in the vicinity, and in a few hours were ready to take our departure. Ido not know whether they had ever seen a ship, but, by some intuitive faculty, they seemed to conjecture that we hacn’t come all the way from the other side of the world in the long boat-—-that there must be a vessel of larger pro- portions somewhere in our vicinity, and they ail wanted to accompany us on board the ship. Strange to say, these natives are very poor boatmen. They are almost devoid cf any water conveyance, We could not accommodate ail of them. so they deputed one of their number—quite a lad —to accompany us. He got in at the bow, we followed, and pushed off, with our load of fuel, having a much better opinion of the natives than before. It was worth a long journey to witness the wonder and awe of our little passenger upon | first beholding the Queer Fish, as she lay at anchor in thestraits. At first the solemnity of the thing kept him silent, His feelings of awe, however, gradually wore off, and he began to clap his hands and utter wild exclamations at everything he saw. When on board of the ship, he danced aboutin perfect ecstasy. We had a great deal of fun with him, and the cap- tain offered him a glass of greg, ‘‘ just to see,” to use the skipper’s own language, *‘ how civil- ized the youngster was.”’ Upon the latter’s re- jecting the liquor in unutterable disgust, Joker unhesitatingly declared him to be in the lowest depths of primitive barbarism. The next day, after putting our guest ashore —much to his dissatisfaction—we proceeded westward through the straits. In two dsys we arrived at the western extremity, withcut en- “es COMICHOOKSJCOM