FROM THE SOCIETY TO THE SAMOAN ISLANDS.--BEFORE THE TRADE-WINDS.--NOTES
ABOUT THE MISSIONARIES.--OPPOSITION OF TRADERS TO MISSIONARIES.--HOW
POLYNESIA WAS CHRISTIANIZED.--THE WORK OF THE MISSIONS.--REV. JOHN
WILLIAMS.--ROMANTIC STORY OF THE HERVEY GROUP.--THE LONDON MISSIONARY
SOCIETY.--THE WESLEYAN AND OTHER MISSIONS.--DEATH OF MR.
WILLIAMS.--SANDAL-WOOD TRADERS.--POLYNESIAN SLAVERY.--LABOR-VESSELS AND
THE LABOR-TRADE.--HOW NATIVES WERE KIDNAPPED.--"THE MISSIONARY
TRICK."--THE MUTINY ON THE _CARL_.--CAPTURE OF THE _DAPHNE_.--HOW LABOR
IS OBTAINED AT PRESENT.
[Illustration: RUNNING BEFORE THE TRADE-WINDS.]
The Society Islands are between latitude 16° and 18° south, and
longitude 148° and 155° west; the Samoan Islands, the next destination
of the _Pera_, lie in latitude 13° to 15° south, and longitude 169° to
173° west. Consequently the course of the yacht was a little north of
west, and gave the party a pleasant run before the north-east
trade-wind, the crew having hardly anything to do from the time the
last peak of the Society Islands disappeared until the mountains of
Samoa came into view. All the world over, there is no more delightful
sailing than in the trade-winds. A ship bowls along for ten, twenty, or
perhaps thirty days, without squaring a yard or changing a brace, and
all the time she carries every stitch of her canvas, and the water
beneath her bows is a bank of foam.
[Illustration: DR. COAN, MISSIONARY TO HAWAII.]
During the voyage our young friends busied themselves as usual in
learning something about the regions whither they were bound, as well as
perfecting their information about what they were leaving behind. The
conversation turned one day upon the work of the missionaries in the
South Pacific in redeeming the inhabitants of the islands from their
former condition of barbarism.
"The missionaries have not received half the credit they deserve," said
Doctor Bronson, in reply to a question which Fred propounded. "It is the
fashion among certain men who have had commercial relations with these
islands to deride the missionaries and throw ridicule on their work, and
sometimes travellers fall into the same way of talking. There are idlers
and useless men and women among the missionaries, just as there are in
every occupation in life, but this circumstance does not justify the
denunciation that has been heaped upon the entire body."
Frank asked why it was that so many men engaged in commerce were opposed
to the missionaries.
"Principally for the reason," was the reply, "that the missionaries
defend the natives against the dishonesty of certain classes of traders,
and thus reduce their profits. There are honest men and dishonest ones
engaged in commerce in Polynesia, just as there are elsewhere. When you
hear a Polynesian merchant denouncing the missionaries in vehement
terms, you may fairly conclude that the missionaries have stood in his
way when he was endeavoring to defraud the natives. He is a man not to
be trusted, at least that is a fair inference, though in this as in
everything else he may be an exception.
[Illustration: NO RESPECT FOR MISSIONARIES.]
"Let me give you an illustration of this," continued the Doctor. "Some
years ago I heard a retired sea-captain in New York denouncing the
missionaries, and declaring that they had ruined the trade of the South
Pacific. It was at a dinner-party, and before the end of the evening the
old captain became quite communicative about the ways of commerce with
Polynesia and the Malay Archipelago. Among other things he told how they
traded with the natives in his younger days. 'We used,' said he, 'to
take our old-fashioned balance scales on shore with our fifty-six pound
and smaller weights with handles to them. We set up the scales, and then
the natives brought forward some bags whose exact weight they knew.
These bags were used for testing our weights, to see that they were
correct. Of course they were all right; the testing and setting up the
scales took the best part of the afternoon, and then we knocked off for
the day.
"We left the scales on shore where they had been set up, but took the
weights back to the ship "for safety." They were hollow, and the handles
were screwed in; during the night we unscrewed the handles, filled the
hollow space with lead, and then screwed the handles back again so
neatly that nobody would ever discover anything. In this way we managed
to get the cargo to average 160 to 170 pounds a picul (133 pounds); and
in those days a supercargo or captain who couldn't make a cargo come up
to at least 150 pounds a picul wasn't wanted another voyage by the
owners. Trade went on that way until the missionaries found out all
about this and other tricks, and told the natives. They never would have
suspected anything if it hadn't been for the missionaries.'
"This man," continued the Doctor, "was no worse than many others in the
same line of business; and if all stories are true, he was no worse than
many of our forefathers, who made money by their dealings with the
savages in the early days of American colonization. The belief that it
is no sin to cheat the infidel and heathen is not by any means confined
to the followers of Mohammed. It is easy to understand why he was
opposed to the missionary labors in the South Seas, as they certainly
tended, in his estimation, to the ruin of commerce."
One of the youths asked if this opposition to the Christianizing of the
heathen was prevalent among the large mercantile houses, as well as
among the small and independent traders.
"It is impossible to answer this question with plain yes or no," was the
reply; "but it is safe to say that a very large section of the
commercial community of every nation is unfavorable or, at all events,
indifferent to missionary enterprises. Even national power is sometimes
invoked in the interest of commerce, without regard to the effect upon
the heathen. British artillery forced the Chinese to open their markets
to the opium of India, and the power of British, French, German, and
other arms on the coast of Africa, for purposes of trade, is well known.
Even America is not without sin in this respect; American diplomacy,
backed by American ships of war, opened the ports of Japan, and the
history of our dealings with our own Indians reveals many instances of
bloodshed or oppression in the interests of post-traders and other
speculators.
[Illustration: TRADING STATION IN THE PACIFIC.]
"Until its failure a few years ago, the German house of Godefroy & Sons
was by far the largest firm or association doing business in the
Pacific. It had large fleets of ships, it had branch houses in many
parts of the world; in numerous islands of the Pacific its agents were
established, and it owned lands and buildings of immense value. In the
harbor of Apia, Samoa, they had a ship-yard, where they not only
repaired old ships but built new ones, and they owned several excellent
harbors in other parts of Polynesia. There was not a single group of
islands of any consequence where they were not established, and they had
a great influence with the German Government.
"Now, do you suppose this great house was friendly to the
missionaries--the men who came here and opened the way for commerce? Not
a bit of it. Here is an extract from their general orders to their
agents everywhere:
"'Never assist missionaries by word or deed, but, wheresoever you
may find them, use your best influence to obstruct and exclude
them.'[3]
[3] New Zealand Blue-book, 1874, evidence of Mr. Sterndale, late employé
of Godefroy & Sons.
"The effect of these instructions is illustrated in the experience of
the American missionary ship _Morning Star_, several years ago, in a
visit to the Kingsmill group of islands, near the equator. A pilot came
out to meet the ship, and made her anchor three miles from shore to wait
the permission of the King before any one could land. When the King
learned that it was a missionary ship, he sent word that he would supply
any needed provisions, but on no account could any one come on shore.
The traders had told him that if any missionaries were allowed to land
they would bewitch him and his people, and he had determined to protect
himself from harm.
"Numerous instances of the demoralizing effects of commerce, when
controlled by bad men, can be given. The missionaries were the first to
occupy Polynesia, when traders could not venture there; some of these
good men lost their lives, but the work of taming the savages went on
until commerce could follow in their footsteps. You might naturally
expect that commerce would be grateful, but such is far from being the
case."
Then the conversation turned upon the history of missionary efforts in
the South Pacific from the opening enterprise of the London Mission near
the end of the last century. Frank and Fred made copious notes on the
subject from the books within their reach, and the information supplied
by the Doctor, and from these notes they subsequently condensed the
following interesting story:
[Illustration: JOHN WESLEY, THE FOUNDER OF METHODISM.]
The London Missionary Society was formed in 1795 by zealous men of
different denominations; the call for the first meeting was signed by
eighteen Independent clergymen, seven Presbyterian, three Wesleyan
(Methodist), and three Episcopal, and the assemblage was held September
22d of that year. The islands of the Pacific were then attracting
attention in consequence of the mutiny of the _Bounty_ and the death of
Captain Cook, and they were selected as the first field of operations.
Many young men offered themselves as missionaries, and of all the number
of applicants twenty-nine were selected. The first delegation landed on
Tahiti March 4, 1797, and formed the first mission of the Society. From
that beginning the South Seas have been gradually covered with missions,
and the Society has pushed its work into other fields which we need not
consider here. It still adheres to its original plan of avoiding
denominational differences of doctrine and Church government, and
zealously pursues its work. Nearly all the denominations of Protestants
have since organized separate missions of their own, both in Great
Britain and America, for spreading the Gospel in the South Seas. In our
account of the Sandwich and Society islands the work of the missionaries
has been described; we have seen how whole populations have renounced
heathenism and its practices, have been provided with written languages,
and with schools and churches, and have been changed from savages to
civilized men and women. And all this is due to the work of the
missionary, who labored for the good of his fellow-man.
[Illustration: MISSION CHURCH AND STATION.]
More than three hundred islands of the Pacific have abandoned their
heathenism, and nearly half a million of Polynesian savages have been
virtually Christianized. Their communicants who have been gathered into
the churches number fully sixty thousand, not including the inhabitants
of the Sandwich Islands, who are now supporting missions of their own.
One reason of the success of the mission work is the common-sense that
prevailed at the outset in dividing the field among the different
denominations, so that the minds of the natives should not be confused
as to the character of the teachings they were receiving.
This was done through a friendly agreement between the London Missionary
Society and the Wesleyan Mission, the former having exclusive charge of
the work in the Samoan Islands, and the Wesleyans taking possession of
the Feejee and Tonga groups. Other groups were disposed of in the same
way as time went on, and the arrangement was found entirely
satisfactory. Catholic missions have been established in some of the
islands where the Protestant missions were already settled; they have
made poor progress, as the natives showed an unwillingness to abandon
the faith they had adopted for another.
[Illustration: MISSION PARK MONUMENT.]
The American Board of Foreign Missions was organized in Mission Park,
Williamstown, Massachusetts, in the early part of this century, and the
organization is commemorated by an appropriate monument. It has
evangelized the Hawaiian Islands, and carried on work in the Marquesas,
Gilbert, Marshall, and Caroline islands. Since 1873 most of the active
labor has been performed by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association, which
owns a mission vessel, the _Morning Star_.
[Illustration: MISSION SHIP ON HER VOYAGE.]
The London Missionary Society has missions in the Society, Tuamotu,
Hervey or Cook, Austral, Samoa, Tokelau, Ellice, Gilbert, and Loyalty
groups, on Niue and several other isolated islands, and in New Guinea.
It owns two vessels, the _John Williams_ and the _Ellengowan_.
The Australian Wesleyan Conference supports missions in Tonga, Feejee,
Samoa, Rotumah, and New Britain; the Presbyterian churches of Australia
have a mission in the New Hebrides, and possess a mission vessel, called
the _Dayspring_.
The Melanesian Episcopal Mission is maintained in the Banks', Santa
Cruz, and Solomon islands, and has a mission vessel, called the
_Southern Cross_. The Catholics have missions on all the islands
controlled by the French, and on most of the others, but they did not
make their appearance until long after the work had been well under way
in the hands of the Protestant organizations.
A considerable proportion of the early missionaries were murdered by the
natives, whose good they sought, and others died of disease, privation,
and the effects of the climate. But the ranks were steadily filled up,
and the work went on; the native converts and teachers were fully as
zealous as the white men who had taught them the new religion, and much
of the work of instruction was performed by them. Whenever native
teachers were murdered by the savages among whom they had taken their
residences, others volunteered to fill their places. The following
incident is recorded in the history of mission work in Polynesia:
In 1822 the mission ship of the Rev. John Williams anchored off an
island which proved to be Mangaia of the Hervey group. Three Tahitian
teachers, two of them accompanied by their wives, volunteered to land
and establish a mission. No sooner were they on shore than they were
attacked and plundered of everything they possessed, and they only
escaped with their lives by swimming back through the surf to the ship.
A few months later the mission ship went there again, and two unmarried
teachers, Davida and Tiere, sprang into the sea and swam to the shore,
carrying nothing but the clothing they wore and a portion of the New
Testament in Tahitian, which was wrapped in cloth and tied on their
heads. A great crowd assembled at the landing, and as they stepped on
shore several warriors levelled spears at them. The King took the
swimmers under his protection, treated them kindly, took them to the
temple, and pronounced them tabu, or sacred, so that the natives should
not harm them.
Within two years Tiere died, but the work of conversion went on so well
that one day the King and his chiefs determined to give up idolatry.
They carried the thirteen idols which they had hitherto worshipped to
the house of Davida, and announced that for the future they would
worship the God of the white man. These thirteen idols are now preserved
in the museum of the London Missionary Society.
[Illustration: LANDING ON AN ATOLL OF THE HERVEY GROUP.]
In 1821 Mr. Williams decided to send a mission from Raiatea to the
Hervey Isles, of which very little was known beyond the bare existence
of such a group, and that it was inhabited by fierce cannibals. Several
native converts from Raiatea were landed on the island of Aitutaki; they
were well received by the chief and his people, but Mr. Williams had
great fears for their safety, owing to the bad character of the cannibal
inhabitants.
In the following year, when the mission ship went there again, great was
the joy of Mr. Williams to learn that all the inhabitants had abandoned
idolatry, burned their temples, and decided to be Christians; they had
built a large church, kept the Sabbath religiously, and on the day
following the arrival of the mission ship two thousand of them assembled
on the beach in solemn prayer, which was led by the delighted
missionary. After the service they brought their idols and carried them
on board the mission ship, so that the people of the other islands might
see for themselves that they had discarded altogether the worship of the
worthless images.
The story of the conversion of the inhabitants of the island of
Raratonga, of the Hervey group, sounds like romance. So little was known
of this island that Mr. Williams had great trouble in finding it, as its
latitude and longitude had not been established. Among the converts on
another island were six natives of Raratonga; one of these men told Mr.
Williams that if he would sail to a given point on the island of
Aitutaki, he could take bearings that would carry him where he wished
to go. So, taking the six Raratongans on board, he steered for the point
indicated, and by following the directions of the man the island they
sought was reached.
The young King came on board, and agreed to take the six natives ashore,
and also a Tahitian teacher, who had volunteered to remain. The King,
Matea, a handsome fellow six feet high, and with every inch of his skin
elaborately tattooed, was one of the first converts. Within a year the
whole population had become Christian, and there was not a house on the
island where the family did not assemble morning and evening for divine
worship. Mr. Williams and another missionary went there with their
families in 1827, and were met at the shore by several thousands of
natives, who shook hands with them so vigorously that their arms ached
for hours afterwards. A few days after their arrival the people came in
procession, bringing fourteen enormous idols, for which they had no
further use, the smallest of them being fifteen feet high.
A new church was erected capable of containing three thousand people;
some of the idols were used as pillars of this building, and the rest
were burned. The railing of the pulpit stairs of this church was made of
spears which the chiefs contributed, and all the heathen temples, and
even their foundations, were completely broken up.
The Hervey Islands are now a centre of missionary work in the South
Pacific. The islanders have a theological college, which has sent out
nearly two hundred trained teachers and preachers of their own, and
about half this number are scattered among the isles of the Pacific
where the inhabitants have not yet renounced heathenism or their
cannibal practices. In 1881 four of these missionaries, with their wives
and children, twelve persons in all, were murdered by the natives of New
Guinea, and several others narrowly escaped with their lives.
Shortly after settling in the Hervey Islands Mr. Williams determined to
carry the Gospel to the Navigator's, or Samoan group. Having no ship, he
built a boat, sixty feet long and eighteen feet wide, with the aid of
the Raratonga natives. He wanted a blacksmith's bellows to shape the
iron-work, and in order to make it he killed three of his four goats to
obtain their skins. In a single night his bellows was devoured by the
rats, the only quadrupeds indigenous to the islands, and he then
invented a pump by which air could be forced.
His boat took fifteen weeks for its construction. Its sails were of
native matting, the cordage was of the bark of the hibiscus, the oakum
for calking the seams was made from banana stumps and cocoanut husks,
and the sheaves were of iron-wood. To obtain planks, trees were split
with wedges, and then cut up with hatchets. One anchor was of stone, and
another of iron-wood, and the provisions consisted of pigs, cocoanuts,
bananas, and other tropical products. In this vessel he sailed during
the next four years to many islands of the Pacific, distributing
teachers among them, and doing everything in his power for the good of
the people. In 1834 he visited England, and returned in the missionary
ship _Camden_, which had been purchased by the London Missionary
Society.
[Illustration: COCOA PALMS IN THE HERVEY ISLANDS.]
Mr. Williams continued his work until 1839, when he, with a companion
missionary, James Harris, was murdered by the natives of the New
Hebrides Islands, whither he had gone to plant a mission. The stories of
the conversion of the people of the Tonga, Samoan, and Feejee groups is
only scarcely less romantic than what has just been narrated of the
Hervey Isles. In all these islands, as well as in the Sandwich and
Society groups, it is probable that the proportion of the inhabitants
who observe the Sabbath, attend divine service, and gather in their
families for morning and evening worship, is greater than among the
people of Great Britain or the United States.
In their inter-tribal wars, which sometimes occur in these days, though
far less frequently than before the advent of the missionaries, all
parties abstain from fighting on Sunday, and men may safely circulate
from one hostile camp to another.
And all this has been accomplished through the self-abnegation of the
men who obeyed the divine injunction, "Go ye into all the world and
preach the Gospel to every creature." Volumes could be written, as
volumes have been written, but even then the whole story of the work and
sufferings of the missionaries in the South Seas would remain untold.
Referring to the opposition of the traders to the missionaries, Doctor
Bronson said that the death of Mr. Williams was due to the conduct of
the seamen, though it was not directly instigated by them.
"One of the products of the Pacific Islands," said the Doctor, "is
sandal-wood, which brings a high price in the Chinese market, and so
much has it been sought in the last fifty or sixty years that on many of
the islands it has entirely disappeared. The sandal-wood traders
committed many outrages on the islands that they visited, and these
outrages naturally led to reprisals.
"When Mr. Williams and his friend landed on Erromanga, in the New
Hebrides, a party of warriors rushed upon them from a thicket where they
had been lying concealed. In an instant the missionaries were clubbed,
and their bodies were afterwards roasted and eaten by the savages whom
the devoted men sought to reclaim. Investigation showed that a
sandal-wood ship had visited the island a few weeks before, and her crew
had killed several of the natives who opposed the plunder of their
plantations and the destruction of their trees. Of course the natives
were ready to revenge themselves on the first foreign ship that came
there, and this happened to be the one carrying the missionaries.
"In 1871," continued the Doctor, "the death of Bishop Patteson occurred
on the island of Nukapu in much the same way. The bishop was widely
known and esteemed for his devotion to missionary work in Polynesia, and
was greatly beloved by the natives on all the islands he had visited.
Shortly before his visit to Nukapu a labor-vessel had been there, and
carried off many of the natives against their will. While the natives
were thirsting for revenge the bishop arrived, and, not knowing him,
they put him to death, as the natives of Erromanga had killed Mr.
Williams more than thirty years before."
"Please tell us something about the labor-vessels and the labor-trade,"
said Frank. "I have read about them, and we heard them mentioned in
Tahiti and Honolulu, and would like to know more about them."
"It is quite a long story," was the reply, "but I'll try to give it to
you briefly. You remember that in the Hawaiian and Society islands it
was necessary to import foreign labor for the plantations, the natives
being too indolent, or not sufficiently numerous, for the wants of the
planters. Well, the same state of affairs prevailed, and still prevails,
in the Samoa, Feejee, Tonga, and other groups, where cotton and sugar
plantations have been established, and also in Queensland, in Australia.
[Illustration: NATIVE HOUSES AND CANOE.]
"Well, the demand naturally led to an effort to supply the want.
Labor-vessels went among the islands and groups farther to the west,
especially among the Solomon and New Hebrides islands, to hire men to
work on the plantations where they were needed.
"Nearly all of these vessels were English, either from the ports of
Australia or hailing from Feejee, Samoa, or Tahiti. Occasionally an
American captain went into the labor traffic, and there was now and then
a French or German vessel engaged in it.
"The theory of the business was that men were hired on regular contracts
to work for a period of years (from three to five years) on designated
plantations, for certain stipulated wages, and at the end of the
contract they were to be returned to their homes free of expense to
themselves. Every man was to understand perfectly what was required of
him, and nobody was to be taken except of his own free-will.
"This was the theory and the practice at the outset, but very soon the
practice became far otherwise. Some men were hired on the above plan,
more were hired from their chiefs without being consulted as to their
own willingness in the matter, and a still greater number were kidnapped
and sold into slavery."
"Sold into slavery?"
"Yes, exactly that. They were decoyed on board the labor-ships, and when
a sufficient number were there they were bound hand and foot, flung into
the hold, and the ship sailed away with them. They were delivered over
to the planters at so much a head, and very few of them ever found their
way back again to their homes."
"Why, that's just like what we used to read about the African
slave-trade," said Fred, who had been listening with open-eyed
astonishment.
"Quite so," the Doctor answered. "It was the revival of the African
slave-trade, and was carried on under the British flag. And many of the
men were taken into slavery on British soil as they were turned over to
the planters of Queensland, a British colony.
"The matter became so notorious that the attention of the British
Government was called to it, and measures were taken to put an end to
the outrages. Ships of war were sent to the South Pacific to suppress
the illegal trade, and stringent laws were passed to prevent further
outrages. At present every labor-vessel must be licensed for her
business, and carry an official who superintends the making of
contracts, and makes sure that every laborer signs the agreement with
his own free-will, and with a full understanding of the terms of the
document. Care is taken with regard to the food and treatment of the men
while on shipboard, and also when at work on the plantations."
Frank asked what were the means resorted to to obtain men before the
Government took these precautions.
[Illustration: MISSIONARY STATION ON ANEITYUM ISLAND.]
"As to that," was the reply, "the tricks and devices were various. The
usual plan was for a ship to anchor near an island, and of course she
was soon surrounded by the natives in their canoes, ready to barter
cocoanuts and other produce for what the white men had to sell. The
men were enticed on board, and when a sufficient number was on the deck
a signal was given by the captain, and the sailors would knock the
victims down as rapidly as possible. Some escaped by jumping overboard,
but the rest were secured, and the ship then proceeded to another island
to repeat the process until her cargo was complete. Then, with her hold
packed like that of an African slave-ship fifty years ago, she steered
for Feejee or for Queensland, and the captain and crew made a handsome
profit for their work.
[Illustration: TANNA ISLANDER ON A QUEENSLAND PLANTATION.]
"After a time the natives became too wary to be enticed on board in the
ordinary way, and then other plans were tried. The _Southern Cross_, the
mission ship used by Bishop Patteson, was painted white, and the natives
were familiar with its appearance. Accordingly the slavers adopted the
following plan to obtain their living cargoes:
"About the time the bishop was making his rounds a white vessel appeared
and anchored near an island. A boat put off for the shore, and in its
stern sat a black-coated individual with a white neck-tie, green
glasses, a book under his arm which would readily pass for a Bible, and
an umbrella over his head. The cry went around that the bishop had come,
and the natives flocked to the beach to welcome him.
"Instead of the bishop it was a strange missionary, who spoke enough of
the language to make himself understood. He told them that the bishop
had had a fall the day before and broke his leg, and therefore could not
come on shore. He must hurry away to Sydney to see a doctor, and could
only stay a little while at the island, but he wanted to see his friends
on board, and would like some yams and fruit.
"In the course of an hour or so fifty or more canoes are flying over the
water laden with presents for the good bishop. The fruit is passed on
board, the men follow and are admitted two or three at a time, to
descend into the bishop's cabin.
[Illustration: GROUP OF ISLANDERS ON A FEEJEEAN PLANTATION.]
"At the foot of the cabin-stairs they are met by half a dozen sailors,
who put pistols to their heads, threaten to kill them if they make the
least outcry, tie their hands, and pass them along into the hold
through a hole which has been cut from the cabin for that purpose.
When a batch has been thus disposed of another is allowed to descend,
and in a little while the hold is full; fifty or more natives have been
made prisoners, and meantime the strange missionary has returned from
shore, the canoes are cut adrift or sunk by dropping pieces of iron into
them, and the pretended missionary ship sails away with a cargo of
slaves for the Queensland or Feejee market."
"And was this really done by Englishmen?" one of the youths asked.
"Yes, not only once, but several times," the Doctor answered; "and of
the men thus stolen from their homes very few ever found their way back
again. If you wish more information on this point, read 'Kidnapping in
the South Seas,' by Captain Palmer, and 'The Cruise of the _Rosario_,'
by Captain Markham, both of the Royal Navy. These gentlemen were sent to
cruise in Polynesian waters to suppress the slave-trade; and though they
made several captures, they did not find themselves supported by the
colonial courts. 'In two glaring instances,' says Captain Markham, 'when
slavers were seized and sent to Sydney for adjudication they were
acquitted, and their captors were themselves condemned in heavy damages
for detention and injury done to those vessels.'
[Illustration: FIRING DOWN THE HATCHWAY.]
"A notorious case," continued the Doctor, "was that of the slaver
_Carl_, which has figured prominently in the newspapers and official
documents. This vessel left Melbourne in June, 1871, for a cruise among
the South Sea Islands, with the object of procuring laborers. Dr. James
Patrick Murray was on board as a passenger and part owner of the vessel,
which was commanded by Joseph Armstrong. They tried to obtain laborers
at the New Hebrides Islands by legitimate methods but failed, and then
they resorted unsuccessfully to the 'missionary trick.'
"After this the party captured the natives by upsetting or destroying
their canoes. According to Dr. Murray's account, given on the trial of
Armstrong and one of the crew, the captain and crew used to smash the
canoes by dropping pig-iron or stones into them, and the passengers in
their own boat picked the natives out of the water, sometimes stunning
them with clubs or slung-shot if they were troublesome.
[Illustration: THE "ROSARIO" CHASING A MAN-STEALING SCHOONER.]
"In this way they collected about eighty natives, keeping them in the
hold at night, and allowing them to come on deck during the day. One
night there was a disturbance in the hold, and the natives tore down the
bunks, or sleeping-places, and with the materials thus obtained they
attacked the main hatchway.
"An attempt was made to pacify them but it failed, and then the crew
began firing down the hatchway. The firing lasted about eight hours,
being kept up during the night, one of the men occasionally throwing
lights into the hold in order to enable the others to direct their aim.
At daylight all appeared to be quiet, and so the hatches were opened and
those who were alive were invited to come up. About five came up without
help; there were eight or nine seriously wounded, sixteen badly wounded,
and about fifty dead. The dead and the sixteen badly wounded were
immediately thrown overboard; the ship was out of sight of land at the
time, and therefore it was impossible that any of the wounded could have
reached the shore.
"The blood was removed from the hold, all traces of the affair were
effaced, and when the _Carl_ was overhauled by the _Rosario_ shortly
afterwards there was nothing suspicious in her appearance, and she was
allowed to proceed on her voyage.
[Illustration: A WITNESS FOR THE DEFENCE.]
"The captain and one of the crew were condemned to death, but the
sentence was afterwards commuted to imprisonment. Murray was allowed to
be one of the witnesses for the prosecution, and so escaped punishment.
Others of the party on board said Murray was the ringleader in the whole
business, and that he sang 'Marching through Georgia' while firing at
the poor natives in the hold. They further said that he selected those
who were the least wounded when the remainder were thrown overboard, and
he used to read prayers to the crew and then give the order to go and
smash the canoes of the natives."[4]
[4] This account is abridged from "The Cruise of the _Rosario_," by
Captain A. H. Markham, R.N.
"And all this happened in 1871," said Frank, "and was done by Englishmen
and under the English flag!"
"Yes," replied the Doctor; "and until the outrages became so notorious
that the attention of the civilized world was drawn towards them, many
official Englishmen in the British colonies were very lukewarm on the
subject, and evidently did not wish to impede the progress of the cotton
and sugar industries by interfering with the business of procuring
laborers. Let me give an instance of this:
"Captain Palmer, the predecessor of Captain Markham in command of the
_Rosario_, seized the schooner _Daphne_, of forty-eight tons burden,
fitted up exactly like an African slaver, and with one hundred natives
on board. They were entirely naked, had not even mats to sleep on, and
the hold of the schooner resembled a pigpen more than anything else.
"The _Daphne_ had a license to carry fifty native 'passengers,' but it
made no mention of Feejee, where she was seized, and whither she had
taken her cargo for sale. The natives were landed at Levuka, Feejee, and
placed under the care of the British consul, and the _Daphne_ was sent
to Sydney for adjudication. The Chief-justice of New South Wales, Sir
Alfred Stephen, decided in the _Daphne_'s favor in the following words,
which I will read from Captain Palmer's Book, 'Kidnapping in the South
Seas:'
"'.... It will not be enough to show that artifice has been used,
or even falsehood told, to induce the natives to enter into the
agreements or contracts mentioned, if they really did enter into
the contracts.
"'The morality of the proceeding cannot be taken into consideration
in determining the question raised here. The captor will have
substantially to prove that the natives were going to be passed
into a state of real slavery by those who had taken them on board
the _Daphne_, or were to be put into a state really amounting to
slavery, and in violation of the agreement and against their will.'
"The _Daphne_ was released, and Captain Palmer was compelled to pay the
expenses of the trial, amounting to nearly $900. This money was
afterwards refunded to him by Her Majesty's Government, which approved
his action in seizing the schooner and placed his name on the list for
promotion."
"How do the colonies obtain their laborers at present?" Fred asked.
[Illustration: INDIAN GIRL HOUSE-SERVANT IN FEEJEE.]
"They get them from the islands in legitimate ways, as I before told
you, and they also import Chinese and Indian coolies. The supply of
Polynesian labor is not equal to the demand, and in the last few years,
especially in Feejee, there has been a large importation of coolies from
India. We will learn something about them when we visit the Feejee
Islands."