Saltus Grammar School - Yearbook (Hamilton, Bermuda)

Page 17 text:

15 attacked. I was put in the storage hole for protection. It was then that I began to think. Why had I taken to those heads so much in the first place? They were of no value to me at all. I guessed that I must have had too many of those Tom Collin ' s that a friend can concoct so masterfully. If I ever got out of my present predicament I would turn the heads over to a museum and wash my hands of the whole matter. The fight was soon over, in favour of the Clamati who were fine fighters. Already the natives were beginning to augment their fine collection of . . . I got out as fast as I could with an even faster goodbye. On arriving in Belem, I was arrested for entering the jungle without a permit. I faced a $10,000 fine or five years as a guest of the government. Those heads were the best example I had seen of bad luck. I paid the fine. On arriving in New York I disposed of my hard won collection and called Bruce York who was then in Bermuda. I got my job back. Thank goodness, I said to myself as I boarded the Pan American Clipper. When I arrived in Bermuda I was interviewed by a reporter from the Mid-Ocean News. What exactly do you want to know? I asked him. Oh, nothing in particular, he said, glancing about my room, but you have to fill up space. You actors have strange stories sometimes. Come, let ' s have a drink, I said to him. How about a Tom Collins? he said as we left the room. B. E. WHEELWRIGHT, Form 6B. A Famous Victory The town of Kaloe was a quiet town in Asia. The people of Kaloe had never heard of war and so were very peaceful. Kaloe was surrounded by a very high wall with one gate, which could be opened only from the inside. Inside the city there was a gold mine. The people of Kaloe did not know the high value of gold and made bracelets, rings, other jewellery and utensils that they might want for their own use. Although there was gold inside this city, there were no Vv ells nor springs. Therefore three times a day men would be sent to the nearby wells for water.

Page 16 text:

14 I must have been crazy, but the more I studied them, the more enthralled I became. In my spare time I would line them up on the mantlepiece and admire them as though [ was a very part of them. In November my grandfather died, leaving me a fortune of $10,000,000. After the usual taxes had been deducted I had $3,500,000 left. The following year I left for South America with my heads. I wanted to improve my collection and at the same time learn about it. My plane landed at Belem and, after a short stay at the President San Slavos Hotel, I left with my intimates, my heads, for the mouth of the Amazon. We sailed up the Amazon for twenty days, then up one of its tributaries, The Xingu. Now we were in the heart of the jungle. However, my guides were good men who knew their jungle well. I spoke to the chief about my heads. At first I thought he would have me boiled for supper or send me away, but my mind was changed when he smiled, and held up two very handsome heads. After conversing with the chief, who by some miracle knew English, I decided to equip an expedition to a tribe known as the Clamati, who are still headhunters. For ten days we were literally ploughing through a jungle of vines, snakes, tikers and monkeys. We were met by the big chief himself, a fat, toothless, ugly man. There was a stench of heads around the village, and in the huts new heads and old ones were displayed on shelves of clay. Enthusiastic collectors would have given their eye teeth to have seen them. The process of shrinking heads takes five to ten years for the best results. The head is separated from the body, then the skull and grey matter is removed. Sand or clay is put into the head. The whole thing is then put into an acid that cannot be described, but I may say that I would like to keep out of it. The heads, after they have been seeped in the acid for ten weeks, are removed and put into storage in a hole fifty feet in width. The chief presented me with fifty of the best heads I have ever seen. They were most realistic in appearance. I stayed in the village for two days studying the heads. As I was bidding farewell to the chief and presenting dimes to the natives, there was a whoop, and a mass attack, launched from the bush, began. Rather obviously the tribe was an unfriendly one, and taking advantage of the festivities, they

Page 18 text:

16 Little did these people know that many miles away there was a band of robbers who were thinking of Kaloe at that moment. The band ' s chief, named Re-Nao, heard of the wealth of Kaloe and decided to rob the city of its gold. He decided to surround the city and starve the people inside who would have no water. He would then rob the city of its treasures. Two weeks later, at sunset, the sixty-eight robbers and Re-Nao arrived silently at Kaloe, revising their plans for the capture of Kaloe. After this they quickly and quietly sur- rounded the wall, without the inhabitants ' knowing. Re-Nao shouted out to the people, Men and women of Kaloe. I, the great Re-Nao, am here to destroy your city. Oh you weak ones, you have no chance against my mighty powers. From now on you will never leave your city, thus you shall starve to death! After this R-Nao and his crew laughed until their sides were ready to burst. The people of Kaloe were now very frightened and could not think of any means of escape. They decided to await death bravely. At the end of two dry days three or four of the children were dead and the adults were weakening. Everyone seemed doomed to die. That night one of the men thought of a possible way of escape. His suggestion was to dig a tunnel from their city to a place nearby the well. Although the men were weak they decided to try it. The soil, being quite soft, helped them considerably. It was not very long, to their surprise, before one man said that they had reached the well. They immediately took water into the city for the thirsty people who drank it joy- fully. They had now to think of a way to get rid of the enemy. One man suggested that they get the rifles which they used for hunting. After they had fetched them, they found the enemy ' s ammunition box and twenty of their guns. They then stationed themselves at different places and got ready what little ammunition they had. At a signal from their leader they fired. They shot down many at first who were taken by surprise. The robbers soon gained their senses and began shooting. The fighting was now on: