WRECKED ON THE FEEJEES
_Printed on the Island of Nantucket, from which port
William S. Cary sailed on the "Oeno" in 1824._
Experience of a Nantucket man a Century Ago, Who was Sole
Survivor of Whaleship "Oeno" and Lived for Nine Years Among
Cannibals of South Sea Islands.
One of the true tales left to posterity by the hardy
men of Nantucket who went to the far corners of the
earth in search of whales.
_The Inquirer and Mirror Press
Nantucket, Mass._
1949
CONTENTS
I. The Wreck of the "Oeno"
II. Massacre of the Crew
III. Battle Among the Natives
IV. Life with the Feejee Islanders
V. Trading with "Beche de mer"
VI. Cary Makes Trip to Manila
VII. The Return to Nantucket
FOREWORD
This thrilling tale was compiled from the log-book of William S. Cary,
of Nantucket, the sole survivor of the crew of ship "Oeno", which was
wrecked on Turtle Island, in the Pacific Ocean, on the 5th of April,
1825. It was first published in the Nantucket Journal in 1887, in
installments, Cary's journal of his experiences having been discovered
in one of the fish-houses below 'Sconset bank a few years before.
"The Wreck of the Oeno" is a personal description of the loss of a
Nantucket whaleship, the capture and massacre of all but one of the
crew, and the incidents of the life of the survivor among the cannibals
of the South Sea Islands.
The ship "Oeno" was owned by Aaron Mitchell, of Nantucket, and was
commanded by Capt. Samuel Riddell. She sailed from this island early in
November, 1824, and as was usual in those days on account of the bar
at the mouth of Nantucket harbor, went over to Edgartown to load for
sea. The ship then proceeded, via the Cape of Good Hope, to the Bay of
Islands. That was the last heard of her for nearly six years, and it
was thought she had been lost at sea with all on board.
In 1830, however, the owner at Nantucket received a letter from William
S. Cary, one of the crew, bringing the startling information that the
ship had been lost on Turtle Island and that all of the crew had been
massacred by the natives with the exception of himself, and that he was
then living among the islanders.
The "Oeno's" crew consisted of Samuel Riddell, master; William
Shaw, mate; ---- Drew, second mate; three boatsteerers, a cooper, a
carpenter, a cook, and a dozen foremast hands.
Cary's "log" of his experiences is a most graphic description of life
among the Feejee Islanders. His capture and adoption by the king of the
tribe, the life and customs of the natives, his escape and return home,
are all touched upon in detail, the whole story forming one of the most
thrilling tales of the sea ever printed. And the best part of the story
is that it is true.
HARRY B. TURNER.
Nantucket, Mass., May 1, 1928.
WRECKED ON THE FEEJEES
Chapter I
THE DEPARTURE OF THE "OENO"--WRECKED ON TURTLE
ISLAND--CREW TREATED KINDLY BY THE NATIVES.
The "Oeno" set sail at an early hour on the morning of November 4,
1824. The wind was light but fair and the weather pleasant. At 10
o'clock a. m. we discharged the pilot and got the ship snug for sea.
As we neared the Gulf Stream the wind gradually increased, and on
the afternoon of the 5th blew a gale from the northeast, accompanied
by heavy squalls and rain. The ship was hove to under close-reefed
maintopsail, and our green hands experienced for a season all the
agonies of seasickness. The next day, however, the weather moderated
and we made sail and proceeded with a fair wind.
We crossed the line on the 10th of December, and on the 16th sighted
whales and captured three, which yielded 45 barrels of oil. On the
20th we sighted a large whale about half a mile ahead of the ship,
and immediately lowered and fastened to him. He made 55 barrels. We
proceeded on our course for the Cape of Good Hope, in doubling which
we experienced considerable boisterous weather, and shaped our course
for New Zealand. March 17th, 1825, we raised a school of whales and
succeeded in taking four of them, which stowed down 50 barrels.
On the 20th we arrived at the Bay of Islands, where we found the ship
Ann, of London, and bark Pocklington, of Sydney, N. S. W., the latter
seven months out with 700 barrels of oil, and most of her crew sick
with the scurvy. Nothing of note occurred here except that two of the
crew, Henry Gordon and James Furse, deserted and we shipped two English
sailors in their stead, and a native boy.
Having procured wood, water and vegetables, we set sail on the 7th
of April in company with the ship Ann, bound home with 1800 barrels
of oil. We intended to touch at Wallis' island, then proceed to the
Kingsmill group to cruise for whales. We had strong trade winds, and
on the 13th sighted and passed Pylstaat's island, one of the Friendly
Islands. At sundown we shortened sail, by order of the captain who, on
leaving the deck for the night, gave particular orders to the officers
of the watches to have a good look-out kept and to call him immediately
if anything unusual was seen.
In the middle watch (which was in charge of the second mate) between
2 and 3 o'clock a. m., the man at the helm saw white water and spoke
to the second mate, who was sitting in the quarter boat, but he made
no response. On seeing it again the man, who had at first supposed it
to be a fish breaching, became satisfied that it was breakers, and
sung out lustily to the officer, who sprang to the deck, but before a
general alarm could be sounded, the ship struck on a coral reef. All
hands were immediately called and the topsails clewed down. By this
time the sea was making a clean breach over the vessel, and it was
with the greatest difficulty that we could get about the decks, while
nothing could be done to relieve the ship.
Mr. Drew, the second mate, immediately commenced clearing away his boat
preparatory to leaving the vessel. The captain advised him to wait
until daylight, but he persisted in leaving immediately and got clear
of the ship with the boat's crew without accident, and pulled inside
the reef into smooth water.
By the time daylight appeared every hope of saving the ship was
abandoned. We got the starboard boat ready to lower and, watching a
favorable opportunity, got clear of the vessel, narrowly escaping being
swamped by a breaker which half filled the boat. We bailed her out and
pulled into smooth water. Now two boats, with the captain, second mate
and ten men, were safe, leaving the mate, William Shaw, and balance of
the crew remaining on the ill-fated ship, which lay nearly upon her
beam ends, with the sea continually breaking over her, and with only
the weather boat in which to make their escape.
The boat was got ready, and the mate, stationing two men at the falls,
picked the most favorable time and lowered down. The forward tackle was
unhooked, and the boat's head swung around, but the after-tackle fall
got foul and before it could be cleared, a huge breaker rolled the boat
over, precipitating the crew into the water. At the same time the two
men who had been stationed at the falls jumped overboard and all struck
out towards the boats. We pulled up as near as prudent and rescued them
all, though some were badly bruised, and one lad named Barzilla Swain
had his arm broken by a cask before leaving the ship.
Though we were now all clear of the ship alive, it was with heavy
hearts that we gazed back upon the wreck of what had so lately been our
home. Land was in sight about three leagues off, and we headed towards
it but soon found that a reef, forming a sort of hollow square about
three miles long by two wide, enclosed us. We followed the reef around
until we came to an opening through which we all safely passed. The
water inside this reef was perfectly smooth and appeared deep.
Upon getting clear of the reef, we made the best of our way toward the
land, and as we neared the shore, a man came down to the beach. We lay
on our oars and held a brief consultation, but decided it was better to
land and take our chances with the natives than to starve in our boats.
Seeing us hesitating, the man beckoned to us in a friendly manner to
row along the beach, which we did until we came opposite a landing.
Seeing a number of natives sitting in the grass and apparently making
hostile demonstrations, we again paused for consultation. The captain
objected to landing at all and proposed that we make the best of our
way to Wallis' island, where there was a chance of falling in with some
homeward bound whaler. Mr. Shaw, however, urged that the natives showed
no signs of hostility, that what we had taken to be clubs and spears
were nothing more than sugar cane that they had brought down to treat
us with when we landed, and he argued that we could remain here until
the weather moderated sufficiently to get what we wanted out of the
ship to fit our boats, and then go where we liked.
Seeing our hesitation, the natives sent one of the oldest of their
party out in a small canoe. He paddled off until within a few feet of
us but said nothing. We had the New Zealand boy in our boat and the
captain told him to address the native in his language, which he did,
but our visitor did not understand him and soon returned to the shore.
Supposing he was sent off to invite us to land, we concluded to do so.
As soon as the boat touched the beach, Capt. Riddell jumped out, walked
up to the natives, and offered them his hand, but they took no notice
of the friendly greeting, and all rose and made for the boats. The
captain told us to let them take whatever there was in the boats, which
was not much, as he had everything thrown overboard that he thought
would be valuable to them for fear they might quarrel for the plunder
and endanger our lives. They assisted us to haul up our boats and gave
us some of their provisions, which consisted of sugar cane, coconuts,
and a sweet root called mussarway and was very pleasant to the taste.
We offered them some of our bread, but they would not eat it.
Some of the women came down to the landing, looked at us, and returned
to the town. Capt. Riddell took out his watch and placed it to the ear
of a native, who started back with fright and astonishment. He then
opened it and explained to them the use of it as well as he could by
signs and finally presented it to one of the chiefs, who appeared to be
highly pleased with it.
After their curiosity was satisfied, the chief said something to one of
the natives, who started for the town, making signs for us to follow,
which we did. After traveling nearly a mile over a rough stony path,
we arrived at the town, which consisted of about twenty houses. Two of
these we found nicely prepared with mats, one for the officers, the
other for the crew.
It appeared that there had been at some previous time more people on
the island, as there were two villages of about twenty houses each,
but only one was now occupied. The houses were built by setting posts
in the ground, leaving them about six feet high and connected with
rafters about twenty feet long. The roofs were thickly thatched with
long grass, while the sides and ends were covered with reeds neatly
bound on with rivets made from coconut husks. We found there were only
about twenty-five inhabitants then on the island--some fifteen men and
boys, the rest females. The men were large and well formed, of a dark
color, some almost black. Their only covering was a strip of matting
made from the bark of a tree twisted and wound several times around
their bodies. The women wore about their waist a similar covering
stained with different colors.
When we took possession of our new quarters it was about one o'clock
p. m. The natives left us soon after and returned in the course of
a couple of hours with baskets of cooked vegetables consisting of
yams, tarrow packarlolo (a sort of pudding made of tarrow and coconut
milk) and a kind of potatoes. They laid the food down at the door and
repeated some words over it, then brought it in and made signs for us
to eat, while they stood by watching us with interest, but not being
very partial to our new diet, we soon finished the meal.
Several of us then started on a stroll about the island with some of
the natives in search of water, which we found only in the hollow
rocks, there being no pond or spring on the island; hence we were
wholly dependent on the clouds for water, but we found coconuts,
bananas, and a few bread fruit trees, also excellent fish in abundance.
We found we were on Turtle island, one of the Feejees, two miles long
by one and a half wide, and surrounded by coral reefs. The island was
broken and rocky but fertile and thickly wooded.
After our return the natives came and spent the evening with us, sung
a song or two and evidently employed all their arts and powers of
pleasing to reconcile us to our condition, and in return only wanted
their curiosity gratified by watching our movements and examining
our clothes and other things which we had brought on shore. When
the natives left us we laid down on the mats and slept at intervals
until daylight, when we mustered all hands to go off to the ship for
clothing, provisions, etc., but we found that some of the natives were
ahead of us.
Capt. Riddell started first in hopes to get firearms, but found the
natives had secured them, and had loaded their canoes with whatever
suited their fancy. They brought their plunder on shore and buried it.
Our boats, which did not return till late in the afternoon, brought
some clothes, bread, salt provisions and liquor, but found only one
chest on board. What the natives did with the others we never knew.
They continued their visits to the ship every day, taking out whatever
suited their fancy. They could get off with canoes when it was not
prudent to go with our boats. Some of us would frequently accompany
them and pick up whatever we thought might be useful to us.
On the 15th, it being moderate, we went off and secured the spare
boat, which was still uninjured. By this time we had nearly all out of
the ship which would be of use to us, and seldom visited her. She had
turned completely round, and begun to break up.
The natives were friendly and endeavored, by every kindness in their
power, to make our situation as pleasant and comfortable as possible,
furnishing us of their provisions in abundance, with which, and our
ship provisions, we lived well. The natives generally spent their
evenings with us and seemed to enjoy our company very much. Thus ten or
eleven days passed without anything occurring to affect our pleasant
relations with them. Capt. Riddell thought that after the full of the
moon we should have moderate winds, and then we calculated to start for
the Friendly Islands in our boats, which we intended to put an extra
streak on, to better fit them for a sea voyage.
But the morning we had intended to commence operations, we were much
alarmed by seeing a fleet of about twenty canoes approaching the
island, with warlike demonstrations. Capt. Riddell went down to the
beach and met the party, who were a frightful looking set, being
hideously painted with red and black, and all armed with spears and
clubs. The chief and Capt. Riddell walked up ahead, the rest of the
party, numbering about eighty, following in single file.
They were all large sized men, many of them fully six feet tall.
They wandered about the town a while, getting a good meal which the
islanders had cooked for them. One of the party, apparently a young
chief, sat down beside me and began talking, but finding none of us
could understand him, he left us, seemingly much disappointed. The
visitors showed no signs of hostility nor disposition to meddle with
anything, but contented themselves with looking at us, and finally
retired to their canoes for the night.
The next day they came to our house and seemed so friendly that our
alarm quite wore off. Before leaving for the night, however, they were
particular to ascertain our number. The following day they came up to
town as usual, but there was a marked difference in their conduct. They
began taking many liberties, which they knew would be offensive to us,
and one of them came into our house, took some articles of clothing and
was about making off with them when one of our crew took them away and
helped him out of the house. This treatment he did not at all relish.
He took his club and beat the ground most furiously, and expressed his
displeasure by every possible gesture. One of our boys had on a red
cap, which a native seized and made off with. The boy cried bitterly
for the loss, when the fellow returned and gave it back. It seemed as
though they were trying all ways in their power to provoke us to do
something which would justify them in declaring war upon us. They were
continually stealing everything they could lay their hands on, which
made repeated quarrels with the least consideration of the crew.
Capt. Riddell took every opportunity to advise us not to use force and
let them take everything they wanted, and gave his advice for our own
good as well as his own, as we were without arms and wholly at the
mercy of the savages. Well would it have been for the crew had they
heeded the advice of our worthy captain. The inhabitants of the island
continued to treat us kindly. They at one time brought us some yams.
While we were eating them one of the visitors put his hand in the dish
to take out a piece, when one of our crew rapped his knuckles, telling
him to keep his black paws out of the victuals. This so enraged him
that he went out of the house, got his club and beat the ground, using
many threatening gestures. It is my belief that if the captain's advice
had been strictly followed, and we had let them take whatever they
chose without resistance, they would have left without molesting us.
But through the inconsiderate conduct of such no doubt the lives of
many valuable men were sacrificed.
The next day we made an ineffectual attempt to get to the ship, and
on our return to the town we met a number of the savages who were the
most troublesome, swinging their clubs as though preparing for battle.
In the house where we lived all the spears and clubs belonging to the
islanders were deposited. These they contrived to carry off, as they
thought, unperceived by us. I was sitting in the house alone reading
and observed the manoeuvers, which excited my fears, and I told my
companions that I believed they would attack us that night. Some of
them shared my apprehensions, others only laughed at my fears. The
officers were fully satisfied of their design, but could do nothing to
avoid it. That night I decided not to remain in the house, but went
into the woods and slept in a cave. The night passed, however, with no
hostile demonstration.
The next day Capt. Riddell, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Drew, myself and two or three
of the crew were assembled in a look-out house on top of a rock, when
one of the islanders came in with a most sorrowful countenance, as
though he had something dreadful to communicate, looked at us a few
moments, and then left without saying a word. I have no doubt but he
came to warn us of what was going to be done, but that his heart failed
him. The previous morning one of the islanders brought to our house in
the valley six or seven spears and threw them in. It appeared as though
they wished to aid us all in their power.
Soon after this kind savage left us, we heard a great shout in the
valley below. The captain started to his feet in alarm and hurried
out of the house, the rest of us following him. When we got down off
the rock all but myself took the path that led to the town. I took a
by-path that led across the island, well knowing what was going on in
the town. A Sandwich Island boy followed me a short distance, then
turned back. When I started I left Capt. Riddell standing at the foot
of the rock. Which way he went I never knew. We parted, never to meet
again.