III

“My husband invested his savings in a small schooner, which he named the

_Taunton_ and within a month of our marriage we were at sea, bound on

a trading voyage to Tahiti and the Paumotus. This first venture proved

very successful, so did the two following voyages; and then, as he

determined to found a business of his own in the South Seas, he bought a

large piece of land on this island from the natives, with whom he was

on very friendly terms. His reasons for choosing this particular island

were, firstly, because of its excellent situation--midway between Port

Jackson and the Spanish settlements on the South American coast, which

were good markets; secondly, because great numbers of the American

whaling ships would make it a place of call to refresh if there was

a reputable white man living on the island; and thirdly, because he

intended to go into sperm whaling himself, for it was an immensely

profitable business, and he could, if he wished, sell the oil to the

American ships instead of taking it to Port Jackson. The natives here in

those days were a very wild set, but they really had a great friendship

and respect for my husband; and when they learnt that he intended to

settle among them permanently they were delighted beyond measure. They

at once set to work and built us a house, and the chief and my husband

exchanged names in the usual manner.

“My first child was born on the island whilst my husband was away on a

voyage to Port Jackson, and, indeed, of my four children three were born

here. When Robert returned in the _Taunton_ he brought with him a cargo

of European stores and comforts for our new home, and in a few months

we were fairly settled down. From the first American whaleships that

visited us he bought two fine whaleboats and all the necessary gear,

and then later on engaged one of the best whalemen in the South Seas to

superintend the business. In the first season we killed no less than six

sperm whales, and could have taken more, but were short of barrels. The

whaling station was at the end of the south point of the harbour, and

when a whale was towed in to be cut in and tried out the place presented

a scene of great activity and bustle, for we had quite two hundred

natives to help. Alas, there is scarcely a trace of it left now! The

great iron try-pots, built up in furnaces of coral lime, were overgrown

by the green jungle thirty years ago, and it would be difficult even to

find them now.

“The natives, as I have said, were very wild, savage, and warlike; but

as time went on their friendship for my husband and myself and children

deepened, and so when Robert made a voyage to Port Jackson or to any of

the surrounding islands I never felt in the least alarmed. I must tell

you that we--my husband and myself--were actually the first white people

that had landed to live on the island since the time of the _Bounty_

mutiny, when Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers tried to settle

here. They brought the _Bounty_ in, and anchored her just where your own

schooner is now lying--opposite Randle's house. But the natives attacked

Christian and his men so fiercely, and so repeatedly, though with

terrible loss to themselves, that at last Christian and Edward Young

abandoned the attempt to found a settlement, and the _Bounty_ went

back to Tahiti, and finally to Afitâ, as the people here call Pitcairn

Islands.

“Four years passed by. My husband was making money fast, not only as

a trader among the Paumotus and the Society Islands, where he had two

small vessels constantly employed, but from his whale fishery. Then came

a time of sorrow and misfortune. A South Seaman, named the _Stirling

Castle_, touched here for provisions, and introduced small-pox, and

every one of my poor children contracted the disease and died; many

hundreds of the natives perished as well. My husband at this time was

away in one of his vessels at Fakarava Lagoon in the Paumotu Group,

and I spent a very lonely and unhappy seven months before he returned.

Almost every morning, accompanied by one or two of my native women

servants, I would ascend that rugged peak about two miles from here,

from where we had a complete view of the horizon all round the island,

and watch for a sail. Twice my heart gladdened, only to be disappointed

again, for the ships on both occasions were Nantucket whalers. And then,

as the months went by, I began to imagine that something dreadful

had happened to my husband and his ship among the wild people of the

Paumotus, for when he sailed he did not expect to be away more than

three months.

“At last, however, when I was quite worn out and ill with anxiety, he

returned. I was asleep when he arrived, for it was late at night, and

his vessel had not entered the harbour, though he had come ashore in a

boat. He awakened me very gently, and then, before I could speak to him

and tell him of our loss, he said--

“'Don't tell me, Molly. I have heard it all just now. But, there, I'm

home again, dear; and I shall never stay away so long again, now that

our children have been taken and you and I are alone.'

“After another year had passed, and when I was well and strong again,

the whaleship _Chalice_ of Sag Harbour, Captain Freeman, touched

here, and the master came on shore. He was an old acquaintance of my

husband's, and told us that he had come ashore purposely to warn us of

a piratical vessel which had made her appearance in these seas a few

months before, and had seized two or three English and American ships,

and murdered every living soul of their crews. She hailed from Coquimbo,

and her captain was said to be a Frenchman, whilst her crew was composed

of the worst ruffians to be found on the coast of South America--men

whose presence on shore would not be tolerated even by the authorities

at any of the Spanish settlements from Panama to Valdivia. Sailing

under French colours, and professing to be a privateer, she had actually

attacked a French merchant brig within fifty miles of Coquimbo Roads,

the captain and the crew of which were slaughtered and the vessel

plundered and then burnt. Since then she had been seen by several

vessels in the Paumoto archipelago, where her crew had been guilty of

the most fearful crimes, perpetrated on the natives.

“My husband thanked Freeman for his information; but said that if the

pirate vessel came into Tubuai Lagoon she would never get out again,

except under British colours. This was no idle boast, for not only

were my husband's two vessels--which were then both at anchor in the

lagoon--well armed, but they were manned by English or English-blooded

half-caste seamen, who would have only been too delighted to fight a

Frenchman, or a Spaniard, or a Dutchman.

“Ah, 'tis so long ago, but what brave, rough fellows they were! Some

of them, we well knew, had been transported as convicts, and were, when

opportunity offered, drunken and dissolute, but to my husband and myself

they were good and loyal men. Two of them had seen Trafalgar day in the

_Royal Sovereign_ under Collingwood when that ship had closed with the

_Santa Anna_ and made her strike. Their names--as given to us--were

James Watts and Thomas Godwin. After the fleet returned to England

they got into mischief, and were transported for being concerned in a

smuggling transaction at Deal, in Kent, in which a preventive officer

was either killed or seriously wounded--I forget which. Their exemplary

conduct, however, had gained them a remission of their sentences, and

the Governor of New South Wales, who was most anxious to open up the

South Sea Island trade, had recommended them to my husband as good men,

Godwin having been brought up to the boatbuilding trade at Lowestoft in

England, and Watts as a gunsmith.

“About ten days after the visit of the _Chalice_ my husband left in one

of his vessels for Vavitao--only a day's sail from here. He wanted me

to go with him, but I was too much interested in a large box of English

seeds, and some young fruit trees which the Governor of New South Wales

had sent to us, and so I said I would stay and watch our garden, in

which I took a great pride. He laughed and said that I must not forget

to look out for 'Freeman's pirate' as well as for my garden. He never

for one moment imagined that the French vessel would turn up at Tubuai.

“He took with him Thomas Godwin and William Myson, leaving Watts, who

was master of the other vessel, with me, to attend to the whaling.

“A week after he had sailed I set out to walk to the north end of the

island, where my children were buried. I had with me an active native

boy named Tati--who was carrying some plants and seeds which I intended

planting on and about the children's graves--and two young women. We

started early in the morning, for I intended staying at the north end

till late in the afternoon, whilst the two girls went crayfishing on the

reef.

“About noon I had finished my labours, and then, as it was a beautifully

bright day, I climbed a hill near by, called 'The White Man's Lookout,'

which commanded a clear view of the sea all round the island. It had

been given this name by the natives, who said that Fletcher Christian

and his fellow-mutineer, Edward Young, had often ascended the hill and

gazed out upon the ocean, for they were fearful that at any moment a

King's ship might appear in pursuit of their comrades and themselves.

“I was again feeling somewhat anxious on account of my husband. He

should have returned a week before, for there had been no bad weather,

and I knew that his business at Vavitao should have kept him there only

a day at the most. But the moment I gained the summit of the hill my

heart leapt with joy, for there were two vessels in sight, one of which

I at once recognised as my husband's. They were about a mile distant,

and were running before the wind for the harbour. The strange

vessel, which was a brigantine, was following close astern of our own

schooner--evidently, I thought, my husband is showing her the way into

the lagoon.

“Just as I was preparing to descend the hill my little companion, the

native boy, Tati, drew my attention to four canoes which, in company

with a boat from Captain Watts' schooner, were approaching the vessels.

“'Ah,' I thought, 'Watts has seen the vessels from the whaling station,

and is going out to meet them.'

“But presently something occurred which filled me with terror. When the

boat and canoes were quite close to the vessels, they both luffed,

and fired broadsides into them; the boat and two canoes were evidently

destroyed, and the two remaining canoes at once turned round and headed

for the shore, the brigantine firing at them with guns which I knew to

be long twenty-fours by the sharp sound they made. In a moment I knew

what had happened--my husband's ship had been captured by the French

privateer of which Captain Freeman had told us, and the Frenchmen were

now coming to seize our other selves lying anchored in the lagoon.

“Tati looked at me inquiringly.

“'Run,' I said, 'run and tell Uasi (for so the natives called Captain

Watts) that the master and his ship have been captured by an enemy, who

will be upon him very quickly, for the boat and two of the canoes he has

sent out have been destroyed, and every one in them killed. Tell him I

am coming.'

“The boy darted away in a moment, and I followed him as quickly as I

could; but Tati reached the harbour and was on board Watts' schooner

quite half an hour before me, and when I went on board I found the

vessel was prepared to defend the entrance to the harbour. Captain

Watts had swung her broadside on to the entrance, boarding nettings were

already triced up from stem to stern, and on the schooner's decks were

fifty determined natives, in addition to the usual crew of twenty men,

all armed with muskets and cutlasses. The four 6-pounders which she

carried, two on each side, were now all on the port side, loaded with

grape-shot, and in fact every preparation had been made to fight the

ship to the last. Watts met me as soon as I stepped on board, and told

me that before my messenger Tati had arrived to warn him he had heard

the sound of the firing at sea, and at once surmised that something was

wrong.

“'Soon after you left the house, Mrs. Eury, some natives sighted the two

vessels to the north-east and I sent the boatswain and four men off in

one of the whale-boats, little thinking that I was sending them to their

death. Four canoes went with the boat. Just now two of the canoes came

back with half of their number dead or wounded, and the survivors told

me that as soon as they were within musket-shot both the ships opened

fire on them, sunk the boat and two of the canoes with grape-shot, and

then began a heavy musketry fire. I fear, madam, that Captain Eury and

his ship----'

“'Your fears are mine, Watts,' I said, 'but whether my husband is alive

or dead, let us at least try and save this vessel.'

“'Ay, ay, madam. And if we have to give up the ship, we can beat them

off on shore. There are a hundred or more natives lying hidden at the

back of the oil shed, and if the Frenchmen capture this vessel they will

cover our retreat ashore. They are all armed with muskets.'

“We waited anxiously for the two ships to appear; but the wind had

gradually died away until it fell a dead calm. Then a native runner

hailed us from the shore, and said that both vessels had anchored off

the reef, and were manning their boats.

“'All the better for us,* said Watts grimly; 'we'll smash them up quick

enough if they try boarding. If they had sailed in, the Frenchman's long

guns would have sunk us easily, and our wretched guns could not have

done him much harm.' Then he went round the decks, and saw that the crew

and their native allies were all at their proper stations.

“Presently he saw the boats--five of them--come round the point. Two

of them we recognised as belonging to my husband's vessel, though they

were, of course, manned by Frenchmen. They rowed leisurely in through

the entrance till they were within musket-shot, and then the foremost

one ceased rowing, and hoisted a white flag.

“'They want us to surrender without a fight,' said Watts, 'or are

meditating some treachery,' and taking a musket from one of the crew he

levelled it and fired in defiance. The bullet struck the water within

a foot of the boat. The white flag, however, was held up higher by the

officer in the stern. Watts seized a second musket, and this time his

bullet went plump into the crowded boat, and either killed or wounded

some one, for there was a momentary confusion. Then the white flag was

lowered, and with loud cheers the five boats made a dash towards us.

Telling the gunners to reserve their fire of grape until he gave the

word, Watts and the natives now began a heavy musketry fire on the

advancing boats, and although they suffered heavily the Frenchmen came

on most gallantly. Then when the first two boats, which were pulling

abreast, were within fifty yards' distance, Watts and a white seaman

sprang to two of the guns and themselves trained them, just as I heard

a native near me cry out that in the bows of each boat he could see a

man--my husband and his chief mate, who were both bound. Before I could

utter a warning cry to Watts, both of the guns belched out their volleys

of grape, and with awful effect. The boats were literally torn to

pieces, and their mangled occupants sank under the smooth waters of the

lagoon; only two or three seemed to have escaped unwounded, and as

they clung to pieces of wreckage our savage allies, with yells of fury,

picked them off with their muskets; for the same native who had seen my

husband bound in the boat had seen him sink.

“'No quarter to any one of them!' roared Watts when he heard this; 'the

cowards lashed Captain Eury and poor Mr. Myson to the bows of the boats,

and our own fire has killed them.'

“He sprang to the third gun, the white seaman to the fourth, and waited

for the other three boats, which, undaunted by the dreadful slaughter,

were dashing on bravely. Again the guns were fired, and again a united

yell of delight broke from our crew when one of the boats was swept

from stern to stern with the deadly grape and filled and sank. The two

others, however, escaped, and in another moment were alongside, and

the officer in command, followed by his men, sprang at the boarding

nettings, and began hacking and slashing at them with their cutlasses,

only to be thrust back, dead or dying, by our valiant crew, and the now

blood-maddened natives. Nine or ten of them did succeed in gaining a

foothold on the deck, by clambering up the bobstay on to the bowsprit,

and led by a mere boy of sixteen, made a determined charge; a native

armed with a club sprang at the youth and dashed out his brains, though

at the same moment a Frenchman thrust him through the body with his

cutlass. But the boarding party were simply overwhelmed by numbers, and

in less than five minutes every one of those who had reached the deck

were slaughtered with but a loss of three men on our side. Those still

remaining in the boats alongside then tried to draw off, but Watts, who

was now more like a mad animal than a human being, calling to some of

the crew to help him, himself cut down the boarding netting, and lifting

one of the 6-pounders, hurled it bodily into one of the boats, smashing

a large hole through it. Then a score of naked natives leapt into the

remaining one, and cut and stabbed the crew till not a living soul

remained. Some indeed had tried to swim to the shore a few minutes

earlier, but these poor wretches were met by canoes, and their brains

beaten out with clubs. The memory of that awful day of carnage will be

with me if I live to be a hundred.

“As soon as possible Watts and the carpenter restored some order among

our native allies, who, according to their custom, were beheading and

otherwise mutilating the bodies of the enemy. We found that we had lost

four killed and had about thirteen wounded. Of those killed two were

white men.

“Then taking with me half a dozen natives, I went off in one of our own

boats to the spot where our grape-shot had sunk the boat in which the

native had said he had seen my husband. The water was only about four

fathoms deep, and we could clearly see numbers of bodies lying on the

white sandy bottom. One by one they were raised to the surface and

examined, and the fifth one raised was that of my poor husband. His arms

were bound behind his back, and his chest and face were shattered by

grape-shot.

“A wild fury took possession of me, but I could not speak. I could only

point to the ship. We went back on board, and my husband's body was laid

on deck for the crew to see.

“I hardly know what I did or said, but I do remember that Watts swore to

me that I should be revenged, and in a few minutes I was seated beside

him in one of our own boats with a pistol in my hand, and we, in company

with thirty or forty canoes, were on our way to the ships anchored

outside.

“What followed I cannot remember, but Watts told me that I was the first

to spring up the side of the French brigantine, and that the captain,

as I fired my pistol at him, struck off my hand with his sword, and

was then himself cut down by the carpenter. There were but nine men on

board, and these were soon disposed of by our men, who gave no quarter.

My husband's vessel was in charge of but three of the enemy, and from

them, when they surrendered, we heard that every one of her crew, except

the mate Myson and my husband, had been cruelly slaughtered at Vavitao

a few days previously. Watts tried to save the lives of these three men,

but in vain; the natives killed them, in spite of all his efforts. They

died bravely enough, poor wretches.

“Watts and the carpenter succeeded in saving my life, and the stump of

my arm healed up very quickly, for I was always a strong and vigorous

woman. When they came to search the cabin of the French brigantine

they found that her captain--the man who had cut off my hand--was Louis

Pellatier, the very same man who, years before, had attempted to shoot

my poor husband at the Galapagos Islands.

“I sailed with Watts to Port Jackson a few months later in the French

brigantine, which was sold as a prize, and remained there for nearly two

years. Then the loneliness of my life began to affect my health, and so

I returned here to live and die. And here on this island have I lived

for nearly fifty years in peace and happiness, for since Randle and his

family came here I have been very happy, and now I only await the last

call of all--that call which will summon me to stand before the throne,

side by side with my dear husband.”