One day, early in the year 1814, the look-out man at the South Head of
Port Jackson saw a very strange-looking craft approaching the land from
the eastward. She was a brigantine, and appeared to be in ballast;
and as she drew nearer it was noticed from the shore that she seemed
short-handed, for when within half a mile of the Heads the wind died
away, the vessel fell broadside on to the sea and rolled about terribly;
and in this situation her decks were clearly visible to the lightkeeper
and his men, who could see but three persons on board. In an hour after
the north-easter had died away, a fresh southerly breeze came up, and
then those who were watching the stranger saw that her sails, instead of
being made of canvas, were composed of mats stitched together, similar
to those used by South Sea Island sailing canoes. Awkward and clumsy as
these looked, they yet held the wind well, and soon the brigantine came
sweeping in through the Heads at a great rate of speed.
Running close in under the lee of the land on the southern shore of the
harbour the stranger dropped anchor, and shortly after was boarded by
a boat from the shore, and to the surprise of those who manned her the
vessel was at once recognised as the _Queen Charlotte_, which had sailed
out of Port Jackson in the May of the preceding year.
The naval officer in charge of the boat at once jumped on board, and,
greeting the master, a tall, bronzed-faced man of thirty, whose name was
Shelley, asked him what was wrong, and where the rest of his crew were.
“Dead! Lieutenant Carlisle,” answered the master of the brigantine
sadly. “We three--myself, one white seaman, and a native chief--are all
that are left.”
*****
Even as far back as 1810 the port of Sydney sent out a great number of
vessels all over the South Seas. The majority of these were engaged
in the whale fishery, and, as a rule, were highly successful; others,
principally smaller craft, made long but very remunerative cruises among
the islands of Polynesia, Melanesia, and Micronesia, trading for coconut
oil, sandal-wood, and pearl shell. A year or two before, an adventurous
trading captain had made a discovery that a vast group of islands named
by Cook the Dangerous Archipelago, and lying to the eastward of Tahiti,
was rich in pearl shell. The inhabitants were a race of brave and
determined savages, extremely suspicious of, and averse to, the presence
of strangers; but yet, once this feeling was overcome by just treatment,
they were safe enough to venture among, provided a good look-out was
kept, and the vessel well armed to resist an attempt at cutting-off.
The news of the wealth that lay hidden in the unknown lagoons of the
Dangerous Archipelago (now called the Paumotu Group) was soon spread
from one end of the Pacific to the other, and before two years had
passed no less than seven vessels had appeared among the islands, and
secured very valuable cargoes for a very trifling outlay. Among those
who were tempted to hazard their lives in making a fortune quickly was
Herbert Shelley, the master and owner of the _Queen Charlotte_.
*****
Leaving Sydney on May 14, with a crew of nine men all told, the
brigantine arrived, thirty-one days later, at Matavai Bay in Tahiti.
Here she remained some days, while the master negotiated with the chiefs
of the district for the services of some of their men as divers. Six
were secured at Tahiti; and then, after wooding and watering, and taking
on board a number of hogs, fowls, and turtle, presented to Captain
Shelley and his officers by the chief Pomare, the vessel stood away
north-west to the island of Raiatea, with a similar purpose in view.
Here the master succeeded in obtaining three fine, stalwart men, who
were noted not only for their skill in diving but for their courage and
fidelity as well.
Among those natives secured at Tahiti was a chief named Upaparu, a
relative of Pomare, and hereditary ruler of the district of Taiarapu.
He was a man of herculean proportions, and during the stay of Captain
Bligh, of the _Bounty_, at Tahiti, was a constant visitor to the white
men, with whom he delighted to engage in friendly wrestling matches
and other feats of strength and endurance. Fletcher Christian, the
unfortunate leader of the mutiny that subsequently occurred, was the
only one of all the ship's company who was a match for Upaparu in these
athletic encounters, and until thirty years ago there remained a song
that recounted how the unfortunate and wronged master's mate of the
_Bounty_ and the young chief of Taiarapu once wrestled for half an hour
without either yielding an inch, though “the ground shook and quivered
beneath the stamping and the pressing of their feet.” And although
twenty-three years had passed since Upaparu had seen the barque sail
away from Tahiti for the last time, when Christian and his fated
comrades bade the people farewell for ever, the native chief was still,
despite his fifty years, a man of amazing strength, iron resolution, and
dauntless courage.
The voyage from the fertile and beautiful Society Islands to the low,
sandy atolls of the Dangerous Archipelago was a pleasant one; for not
only was the weather delightfully fine, but there prevailed on board a
spirit of harmony and comradeship among Captain Shelley, his officers,
and crew, that was not often seen. A brave and humane man himself, the
master of the _Queen Charlotte_ was particularly fortunate in having
for his first and second officers two young men of similar dispositions.
This was their second voyage among the islands of the Society and
Dangerous Archipelago Islands; and their kindness to the natives with
whom they had come into contact, their freedom from the degrading
licentiousness that, as a rule, marked the conduct of seamen associating
with the natives, and the almost brotherly regard that they evinced for
each other made them not only respected, but loved and admired by whites
and natives alike. Both were men of fine stature and great strength;
and, indeed, Upaparu one day jestingly remarked that he and Captain
Shelley's two officers were a match for three times their number.
For some eight or nine days the _Queen Charlotte_ beat steadily to the
eastward against the gentle southeast trades, which, at that time of the
year, blew so softly as to raise scarce more than tiny ripples upon the
bosom of the ocean. Then, one day, there appeared against the horizon
the faint outline of a line of coco-trees springing from the ocean,
and by and by a white gleam of beach showed at their base as the vessel
lifted to the long ocean swell, and then sank again from view; but up
aloft on the brigantine's foreyard, the native pearl-divers, with their
big, luminous eyes shining with excitement, gazed over and beyond the
tops of the palm-trees, and saw the light-green waters of a noble lagoon
that stretched northwest and south-east for fifty miles, and twenty from
east to west.
Aft, on the skylight, Captain Shelley and his mate, with Upaparu, the
chief, leaning over their shoulders, peered over a rough chart of the
Dangerous Archipelago which showed a fairly correct outline of the
island before them. Twelve months before, the master of the brigantine
had heard from the captain of a South Seaman--as whaleships were called
in these days--that this island of Fakarava abounded in pearl shell, and
had determined to ascertain the truth of the statement. As he carefully
studied the chart given him by the captain of the whaler, and read aloud
the names of the villages that appeared here and there, the Tahitian
chief nodded assent and confirmation.
“That is true,” he said to the white man, “I have heard these names
before; for long before Tuti the Wise{*} came to Tahiti, we had heard
of these people of Fakarava and their great lagoon, so wide that even if
one climbs the tallest coconut-tree on one side he cannot see across to
the other. And once, when I was a boy, I saw bonito hooks of thick pearl
shell, that were brought to Taiarapu from this place by the Paniola.{**}
* Captain Cook.
* The Spaniards--two Spanish ships fitted out by the
Viceroy of Peru had visited these islands before Cook.
“But then,” he went on to say, “O friends of my heart, we must be
careful, for these men of Fakarava are all _aitos_ (fighting men), and
no ship hath ever yet been inside the great lagoon, for the people swarm
off in their canoes, club and spear in hand, and, stripped to the loins,
are ready to fight to the death the stranger that sets foot on their
land.”
Somewhat disquieted at this intelligence, the master of the _Queen
Charlotte_ was at first in doubt whether to venture inside or not; but,
looking round him and noting the eager, excited faces of his white crew
and their native messmates, he decided at least to attempt to see for
himself whether there was or was not pearl shell in the lagoon.
By this time the brigantine was within a mile or so of the entrance,
which, on a nearer inspection, presented no difficulties whatever. As
the vessel passed between the roaring lines of surf that thundered and
crashed with astounding violence on the coral barriers enclosing the
placid lagoon, a canoe shot out from the beach a quarter of a mile away,
and approached the ship. But four natives were in the tiny craft, and
when within a cable-length of the brigantine they ceased paddling, and
conversed volubly with one another, as if debating whether they should
venture on board the strange ship or not. Paddles in hand, they regarded
her with the most intense curiosity as a being from another world; and
when, the ship bringing up to the wind, the anchor was let go, a loud
cry of astonishment burst forth from them, and with a swift backward
sweep of their paddles the canoe shot shorewards like an arrow from a
bow full fifty feet astern.
Clambering out on the end of the jib-boom, Upaparu seized hold of a
stay and hailed them in a semi-Tahitian dialect, the _lingua franca_ of
Eastern Polynesia--
“_Ia ora na kotore teie nei aho!_” (“May you have peace this day!”), and
then, bidding them await him, he sprang overboard and swam to them. In
a few minutes he was alongside the canoe, holding on the gunwale and
holding an animated conversation with its crew, one of whom, evidently
the leader, at last bent down and rubbed noses with the Tahitian in
token of amity. Then they paddled alongside, and after some hesitation
clambered up on deck.
Tall and finely made, with light copper-coloured skins deeply tattooed
from their necks to their heels, and holding in their hands wooden
daggers set on both edges with huge sharks'-teeth as keen as razors,
they surveyed the vessel and her crew with looks of astonishment. Except
for a narrow girdle of curiously-stained pandanus leaves, each man was
nude, and their stiff, scanty, and wiry-looking beards seemed to quiver
with excitement as they looked with lightning-like rapidity from one
object to another.
Advancing to them with his hand outstretched, the master of the
brigantine took the leader's hand in his, and pointed to the poop, and
Upaparu told them that the white chief desired them to sit and talk with
him. Still grasping their daggers they acceded, and followed Shelley and
the Tahitian chief to the poop, seated themselves on the deck, while the
crew of the brigantine, in order not to embarrass or alarm them, went
about their work as if no strangers were present.
In a very short time Upaparu had so far gained their confidence that
they began to talk volubly, and answered all the questions he put to
them. “Pearl shell? Yes, there be plenty of it. Even here, beneath the
ship. Let us show thee!” and one of them, springing over the side, in
another minute or two reappeared with a large pearl shell in his hand,
which he placed in the hands of the master of the brigantine.
Convinced that he had done well in venturing inside, Captain Shelley
strove his utmost to establish friendly relations with his visitors,
and so far succeeded, through the instrumentality of the Tahitian chief,
that the leader of the natives, who was a leading chief of the island
named Hamanamana, promised to show them where the thickest patches of
pearl shell lay in the lagoon. Then, after making them each presents
of a sheath-knife and some other articles, the master and his officers
watched them descend into their canoe again, and paddle swiftly back to
their village, which lay within full view of the ship, a quarter of a
mile away.
*****
At a very early hour on the following day, the ship was surrounded by
some fifty or sixty canoes, all filled with natives of both sexes, who
proffered their services as divers, and seemed animated by the kindliest
feelings towards the white men. Lowering the largest boat, the master,
accompanied by Upaparu and the other Tahitians, was soon on his way to
a place in the lagoon, where his guides assured him there was plenty of
pearl shell. For some hours the first and second officers watched
their captain's movements with the liveliest anxiety; for, despite the
apparent friendliness of the natives, they were by no means confident.
But when, four hours later, the master returned with nearly a ton of
pearl shell in the boat, and excitedly told them that their fortunes
were made, the young men could not but feel highly elated, and sought by
every means in their power to increase the good impression that they and
the rest of the ship's company seem to have made upon the islanders.
That night, when the natives had returned to the shore, and the bright
blaze of the fires shot out across the sleeping lagoon, and their voices
were borne across the water to those in the ship, the two young officers
sat and talked together on the poop. A month or two in such a place as
this and they would be made men, for it was evident that no other vessel
had yet been inside the lagoon, which undoubtedly teemed with pearl
shell. And up for'ard the white sailors and their dark-skinned shipmates
grew merry, and talked and sang, for they, too, would share in the
general good luck. Then, as the lights from the houses on shore died
out, and the murmur of voices ceased, the crew of the _Queen Charlotte_,
officers and men, lay down on deck and went to sleep.
*****
One for'ard and one aft, the two sentries paced to and fro, and only the
slight sound of their naked feet broke the silence of the tropic night.
Now and then a fish would leap out of the water and fall back again
with a splash, and the sentries watched the swell and bubble of the
phosphorescent water for a minute or so, and then again resumed their
walk.
But though so silent, the darkness of the night was full of danger to
the unsuspecting ship's company of the _Queen Charlotte_. A hundred yards
away, swimming together in a semicircle, were some two hundred savages,
each with a dagger in his mouth and short ebony club held in the left
hand. Silently, but quickly, they swam towards the dark shadow of the
brigantine, whose lofty spars stood silhouetted against the white line
of beach that lay astern.
Suddenly fifty naked, dripping savages sprang upon the deck, and ere the
sentries could do more than fire their muskets the work of slaughter
had begun. Nearly all the white seamen, and many of the Tahitians, were
lying upon the main hatch, and these were slain almost ere they had time
to awake and realise their dreadful fate. As the loud reports of the
sentries' muskets reverberated across the motionless waters of the
lagoon, the master of the brigantine and his two officers awoke, and,
cutlasses in hand, tried bravely to defend those terrified and unarmed
members of the crew who had not yet been slaughtered. For some ten
minutes or so these three men, with Upaparu beside them, defended the
approaches to the poop, and succeeded in killing no less than fifteen
of their assailants. Swinging a short, heavy axe in his right hand, the
Tahitian chief fought like a hero, till a club was hurled at him with
such force that it broke two of his ribs. As he sank down he saw the
wild rush of naked bodies pass over him, and heard the death-cries
of the first and second officers, who, borne down by numbers, were
ruthlessly butchered. After that he remembered no more, for he was dealt
another blow on the head, which left him stunned.
When he came to his senses in the cold grey of the morning he found the
ship in possession of the people of Fakarava, and of all his shipmates
but two remained alive--Captain Shelley and a seaman named Ray; all the
rest had been slain and thrown overboard.
Apparently satisfied with the dreadful slaughter they had committed, the
natives now began plundering the ship, and Captain Shelley, who seems
to have been spared merely for the same reason that Upaparu was not
killed--because he was a chief, and therefore sacred--had to sit by and
watch them.
After stripping the vessel of everything movable, and even taking all
her canvas except the spanker and topsails, the natives went ashore, and
their leader, addressing Upaparu, told him that the ship was at liberty
to go away.
With the aid of the seaman Ray and the gallant chieftain, Captain
Shelley managed to get under weigh, and sailed for Tahiti, which he
reached safely. Here he stayed for some months, and then, having made
a new suit of sails from native mats, he returned to Port Jackson to
relate the story of his fateful voyage.