THE MURDER.
About five years ago (I think he said it was in 1844), a murder was
committed on the island by the father of one of the present Chilian
residents. Pearce was then in Valparaiso, and had a statement of the
circumstances from some of the parties concerned in it.
[Illustration: TRAGIC FATE OF THE SCOTCHMAN.]
A Scotch sailor, it appeared, deserted from a vessel that touched at the
island for wood and water. For a time he concealed himself in a cave
among the cliffs near the bay. When the vessel sailed, he came down into
the valley and built himself a hut out of straw, in which he resided
several months alone. By fishing, and catching wild goats in traps, he
supported himself comfortably, and was becoming reconciled to his
isolated life, when a family of Chilians, consisting of five or six men
and women, under the control of an old Spaniard, father-in-law of one of
the younger men, came over about this period in a small trading vessel
from Massafuero. They had been living there for some time, but thought
they could do better in Juan Fernandez. There were no huts standing
there then except that belonging to the sailor. The Chilians prevailed
upon him to let them occupy a part of his house, promising to build
themselves one as soon as they could cut straw and wood enough. Every
day they went out on the hill-sides to cut the straw, and they seemed to
be making good progress with their hut. One night the sailor, as he lay
in bed, overheard one of the Chilians say to the others, "We are
working hard every day, but it will be a long time before we can get a
house built. Neither will it be big enough for us all when we finish it.
This man is nothing but a heretic, therefore it would be no sin to take
his life. Let us kill him, and then we can have his house, which has
other buildings to it, without the trouble of doing any more work." The
others agreed to this, all except one woman, who said God would never
suffer them to prosper if they committed such a deed. However, they
silenced her by threats, and then talked further upon the best means of
murdering the Scotchman. Having been a beach-comber for many years in
Spanish countries, he understood the language, and it so happened that
he overheard nearly every word. Being a powerful man, of great courage
and fierce temper, he sprang from his bed, and swore they must leave the
house at that very instant, or he would cut their throats. The woman he
would have spared this treatment, but he knew she would only fare the
worse for his protection. Finding him resolute, they took their things
and left the house; but after they were out in the dark, it being a
stormy night, they begged so hard for shelter that he told them they
might go into a shed, which he had built some distance off to keep goats
in. Here they remained, without daring to molest him, until their own
house was completed. In the mean time, the suspicions of the sailor were
lulled by their friendly behavior, and he often spent a part of his time
in social talk with them, which was the more agreeable inasmuch as the
old man's daughter, who had taken his part at first, fell in love with
him, and, although jealously watched by her husband, found frequent
chances of meeting him alone. He became much attached to her, as well on
account of her attempt to save his life as the charms of her person,
which were well calculated to excite admiration and kindle the amorous
flame. She was a very beautiful woman, a Chilian by birth, and was
married against her inclination; and coming from a country where the
marriage tie is not considered so sacred as it is in more northern
climes, she had but little scruple in yielding to her guilty love. His
manly person and bold bearing had attracted her in the first place, and
these stolen interviews only served to strengthen the passion that grew
up between them. At this period they were joined by an English sailor,
another deserter, who took up his quarters with the Chilians in their
new abode, and became a member of their gang. The Scotchman had refused,
from some dislike that he formed to this man on first sight, to take him
into his cabin. This led to a mutual hatred, which was soon increased by
other causes. The Englishman, struck by the beauty of the young woman,
whose affections the other had won, now made love to her on all
occasions, but she gave him no encouragement. He attributed his failure
to the Scotchman, whom he secretly watched. Fired with jealousy and
deadly hatred toward his rival, he resolved upon putting him to death by
stratagem, for he was too cowardly to undertake it openly. Having
learned the difficulty that had previously occurred, he took occasion to
tell the Chilians that the Scotchman was their mortal enemy, and only
awaited an opportunity to murder them all, so as to get entire
possession of the young woman, with whom he had already formed a guilty
connection. At this period three Americans deserted from a whale-ship
and joined the Scotchman. Through some accident, or most likely by foul
means, his hut took fire soon after, and was burnt to the ground. He and
his companions were obliged to move to a cave near by, where they
designed living till they could build another. Knowing nothing of the
schemes of the English sailor, who took care that it should not be found
out through the woman, they were ignorant of the hostile intention of
the Chilians, till one day, as they were scattered over the valley,
cutting wild oats for their cabin, the Englishman told the old man, who
was the leader of the Chilians, that he had overheard the other party
say they were going to murder them all that night; and prevailed upon
him to muster his men together secretly, and settle the matter at once.
They all went first to the cave, and took possession of the arms left
there by the Americans and their leader. The old man, followed at a
distance by his comrades, thereupon proceeded to the valley with a
loaded gun; and seeing the Scotchman at a distance from the others, he
stole upon him and shot him through the body with slugs. Badly wounded,
but not mortally, the Scotchman shouted to his friends that he was shot;
that they must follow him and fight for their lives, upon which he ran,
covered with blood, toward the cave, followed by the Americans. On
arriving there they found all their fire-arms gone: they fought for some
time with their knives, but were finally overpowered by the Chilian
party and bound hand and foot.
[Illustration: THE LOVERS.]
Next day it so happened that a whale-ship came into the harbor for wood
and water. The Americans were carried back some distance and hid among
the cliffs, with an armed guard over them, so that they might be out of
the way when the people from the ship came ashore; and the wounded man
was concealed in a cave. The Englishman then went on board with the old
Chilian, and told the captain that a deserter from a whale-ship, who had
been on the island some time, had undertaken to murder them, and they
had shot him in self-defense. Their story was plausibly told, and was
believed. They said the man was not dead, and they asked the captain to
take him away, as they wanted to get rid of him. The captain refused to
do this, saying he would have nothing to do with a deserter; if the man
got into trouble by his misconduct, he might get out of it the best way
he could. When the vessel sailed, which was the next day, the Chilians,
in compliance with the advice of the Englishman, took their wounded
prisoner out into an open space, and shot him through the heart. He fell
dead upon the spot. They then dug a hole in the ground and buried him;
and, in order to keep his spirit from rising upon them at night, they
erected a cross over the grave. The woman, upon hearing that her lover
was murdered, fell into a state of melancholy, and refused to taste any
food for many days. Such was her distress, that she wandered about the
cliffs like one bereft of her senses, and was often found at night
weeping upon his grave. Indeed, she never fully recovered, but was
always from that time weakly and unsettled in her mind.
[Illustration: GRAVE OF THE MURDERED MAN.]
Another vessel came into port in the course of a few months, and the
affair became known through the three Americans, who made their escape
and got on board. News of the murder was carried to Talcahuana by this
vessel; and as soon as it reached Valparaiso, a small Chilian cutter,
then lying in the harbor, was dispatched to the island of Juan Fernandez
to capture and bring home the murderers. On their arrival in Valparaiso
they were taken in irons to Santiago, the seat of government, where they
were tried and sentenced to be shot in the public plaza. Some of the
circumstances, considered palliating, became known before the execution
was carried into effect, and their punishment was commuted to five
years' banishment on the island of St. Felix.
The Chilian government still holds a penal settlement on that island.
All criminals of a desperate character are sent there and subjected to
hard labor. The term for which these murderers had been banished had
just expired (in 1849), and it was supposed by the present Chilian
residents that they would return by the first opportunity to Juan
Fernandez.