I, William H. Hayes, hereby certify that the bearer of this,
Marutahina of Vahitahi, was with me for four or five months,
and I can confidently say that I can recommend her to any
one in need of an active young wife, general help, or to do
chores. She is a very good girl, and the sole support of her
mother--an old thief with a tattooed back who lives on Beka
Beka.
*****
About 1871, the newspapers on the Pacific slope had a good deal to say
of Bully's doings. The _Daily Alta_ of San Francisco used to speak of
him as a venturesome and high-spirited American gentleman, upholding the
honour of his flag in the South Seas by disregarding the hateful tyranny
of petty British Consuls; while the San Francisco _Bulletin_ called him
a vile and brutal miscreant who should be hanged on the same gallows
with _Alabama_ Sommes and _Shenandoah_ Wardell. (Apropos of the latter
gentleman, it is interesting to remember that the Melbourne (Victoria)
Club gave a ball at which the adoring women cut off as souvenirs the
uniform buttons of the gallant pirate and his officers.) The spitfire
_Chronicle_ "claimed" that Captain William Henry Hayes was one of
Nature's gentlemen, and "was certainly not the cause of a terrible
affliction that had befallen the editor of a certain esteemed morning
contemporary." (The wife of the editor referred to had eloped with some
one.)
* * * * *
During a trading cruise in the Gambier Islands, the captain of our ship
saw some young girls whom Hayes had bought from the King of Aana (one
of the Chain Islands). They were very young, very scantily dressed,
and without doubt very beautiful. They were always chaperoned, day and
night, by two old women. One of these ancient dames named Tuna (the Eel)
told our captain that, by and by, the "big captain" would come and take
them. Tuna had quite a fund of anecdotes about Bully, whom she regarded
as immeasurably superior to any white man she had ever seen. When she
was a young and giddy girl of sixteen, she had been much admired, so
she said, by Lord John--and the officers of His Majesty's ship --------.
Bully Hayes, she believed, was Lord John's spirit returned in another
and much stronger body and better shape; and just as she had fallen in
love with the man-of-war captain, so had all the Aana girls with his
latter-day double.
* * * * *
At this time, the only white man on the island was a young American
lad of about nineteen, and Tuna, and her long-haired, dark-eyed
"boarding-school" came to his house, where they sat on an upturned
canoe and drank stone-gin (Tuna took hers neat) while teaching him to
pronounce properly the Paumotu language. Heavens! what eyes those girls
possessed! Like stars they glowed with slumbering liquid fire--the fire
of a quick-blooded and passionate race. Any one of these five island
girls, our chief mate used to say, would have utterly demoralised even
a Trappist monastery, had the holy brothers seen her face peeping
in during their devotions. This island, Nukutavake, had but few
inhabitants, most of whom had been brought there by Hayes, who, they
said, would come again in a year or so, and take them back to Aana and
Maga-Beva. They were all political offenders, and to escape death they
besought Bully to take them to Nukutavake until "the wrath of the chiefs
was dead." Bully, who had an idea that there was a lot of pearl-shell on
Nukutavake, gave them all a passage, and also the two old women and
the girls before mentioned. One of the latter, Talalua, told the young
trader that Kapeni Hesi (Hayes) would have taken her with him but the
ship was too small, and he had no more room, and there were two girls
from Huaheine--"dogs with much gold in their ears "--with him, who
threatened to give her to the sharks if she came aboard. During our stay
at this island a schooner from Tahiti came to an anchor, and we learnt
from the young American that he was to be removed to another island
called Vairaatea. He sailed the following morning, and his departure was
marked by the tearful farewells of Bully's beauties and old Tuna, who
embraced him and rubbed noses, and wept gin-odorous tears of unalloyed
gratitude when he gave her three bottles of liquor. To each of Hayes's
nymphs he also presented a piece of book muslin (twelve yards each) and
a bottle of musk valued at 2 dollars a bottle. Talalua and Marami
each gave him some splendid pieces of hawk-bill shell, and the others
contributed among them a silver ring. Poor girls! they had no more to
give--a grass _titi_ round their shapely loins and a few silver or gold
rings, and ear pendants, being all their worldly wealth and clothing
combined. Our young friend was solemnly cautioned never to let Kapeni
Hesi know about the turtle-shell and other gifts, or his anger would
"eat them up."
On hearing of this farewell testimonial business, the skipper of
the schooner that was taking the young fellow away became greatly
excited--Hayes, he said, would put his own construction on the gifts. To
this, in his youthful innocence, the youth replied that he didn't care,
as it was his business to make a present if he chose; whereupon the
skipper, a jolly old sea-dog named Tom English, told him that that
was all very well, but that he (English) would be looked upon as an
accessory, and Hayes would make him suffer for it when they met again.
"Accessory to what?" said the wondering youth.
"D---- your thick skull, you young ass, why, accessory to makin' love to
his girls."
This amused us immensely, but as the lad saw that English was serious,
and was equally determined not to take the presents back, he wrote
a note as follows and showed it to the old fellow, who said it might
possibly pass with Bully:--
[Illustration: Accounts 296]