| Show terrible process of Al maroon aroon to put ashore on a desert isle as a sailor under pretence predence pre tence of having committed somo some great crime thus our good noah webster gives us the dry ionas the anatomy upon which the imagination agi nation may construct a specimen to suit itself it is thence that the maroo ners took their name for marooning ma mat was one of their most effective instruments of punishment or revenge if a pirate broke one of tho the many rules which governed the particular barti cular band to which he belonged ho he was marooned did a captain defend liis his ship to such a degree as to bo be unpleasant to the pirates attacking it he was marooned even the pirate captain himself if he displeased his hia followers by the severity of lus his rule i was in danger of having the same ashment visited upon lipon him which ho he had perhaps more than once visited upon another tile the process of marooning ma 0 was as sim pie as terrible A suitable place ilai was chosen generally como boino desert isle as far removed as possible from the pathway of commerce arid and tile condemned man was rowed from the ship to the beach out he was bundled upon tho the sand spit a gun a half dozen bullets a few pinches rias oi of powder and a bottle of water was chucked ashore after him and away rowed the boats crew back to the ship leaving tile tho poor wretch alono alone to rave away his lifo life in madness or to sit sunken in his gloomy despair till death mercifully released him from torment it rarely if ever happened that anything was known of lim hini af after ter having been nia marooned A boats crew from some vessel sailing by chance chalice that way might perhaps find a few chalky bones bleaching upon the white sand in the garish glare of tle the sunlight but that was all and such were maroo ners howard pyle in harpers magazine |
