"DEAR SIR:—Having been informed, through the governor of the protectorate, that you are a state prisoner in Papeete, charged with the crime of rebellion and attempting to subvert the laws of the protectorate established on the island of Anaa, I am bound to furnish the honorable secretary of state of the United States with all charges and punishments to which the citizens of the United States may render themselves amenable, under the laws of the countries in which they may reside.
"You will therefore oblige me by furnishing me with an unbiased and clear statement of the facts connected with your arrest and imprisonment. I do not wish to know what has been told to you, or of what you have heard from others, but simply the truth of the whole transaction.
"This letter will be forwarded to his excellency, Governor Bonard, who will, through the proper channel, have it forwarded to you.
"I remain, sir, your obedient servant,
"W. H. KELLY,
"United States Consul."
Elder B. F. Grouard kindly came down and wrote my reply to Mr. Kelly. This was on November 15th. The same day I was called out into the yard, when a sergeant and two soldiers took me in charge and marched me along a back alley to the rear of the consul's office. Then the sergeant stepped forward and notified Mr. Kelly that they had brought their prisoner to him, and without further ceremony the officers disappeared by the same alley by which they came.
Mr. Kelly welcomed me to his office, and congratulated me on regaining my liberty. Then he told me of his visit to Governor Bonard, the conversation they had had, and about his signing the bonds for my release. He said, "Mr. Brown, the French authorities are afraid of you. They say that you are a highly educated man, and that you are capable of doing much mischief in the country. Now you have your liberty in and about my office, but you must not go off alone in any by-place, for the French are a very excitable people, and they will watch every move that you make, and would shoot you if they could find you alone in the brush or where they could do it without being detected. Now, I have got horses, and will accompany you to any place you may wish to go, to visit your friends or to settle up what business you may have to do. But you must not be caught alone, for the French fear that you could raise an army and cause much trouble. As your friends are in town, you and they had better have a consultation here in my office, and see what you can do."
Accordingly, the Elders came into the consul's office, and together with him said the best thing they thought could be done was that I should go on board the little schooner Ravai, and that they get it ready for sea as quickly as possible, so as to leave port before any other vessel did, for if I did not go the fifty thousand francs would be forfeited. The schooner was the vessel owned by the Saints of Tubuoi, and commanded by Captain B. F. Grouard; it was bound for a cruise among the Tuamotu group of islands before going to the island of Raivavai, four hundred miles southeast of Tahiti, and outside of the protectorate. It was thought that we could make the cruise intended, and then go on to Raivavai without any danger of forfeiting the pledge. Conformably with this conclusion, the vessel was got ready, and on the 17th we sailed from Papeete.