Since the death of Mr. Smith, whenever we had been at this island, Canker would never come near the ship. This we thought strange, as the first time we were there he was on board nearly every day. Still, he appeared very kind to any of the ship’s company when they called upon him, making them presents of fruit, etc., as if wishing to reinstate himself in their good graces.
On Thursday, October 16th, the king came off to the ship to dinner. On sitting down at the table, he happened to cast his eye upon a dish of greens, which had been sent to the ship by Canker, and cooked by the steward. He instantly took the dish, and then went upon deck, examined them minutely, and threw them all overboard. He then inquired if there were any more on board, and on being answered that a large quantity had been cooked for the men, he ordered them to be thrown overboard immediately. He then asked, “Who been makey send all the same on board?” On being told “Canker,” his anger scarcely knew bounds. He raved and appeared so excited we feared he would do himself some injury. After a little while he became more calm, and said, “Captain, you look out that Canker; he too much bad man; he no good. I no like speak too much; he my son.” It was evident there was a struggle going on in the heart of the good old king. He loved his son notwithstanding his faults, and to thus have evidence of his bloodthirstiness angered him, and it was some time before he fully recovered himself.
It was, indeed, a diabolical scheme of this Canker’s. Some one of the crew had injudiciously told him, in jest, that “a large man-of-war was on its way to the island to inquire into the death of Mr. Smith, and that, if the captain or any of the crew should tell them he had poisoned Mr. S., the man-of-war would hang him.” This he believed, and, feeling his guilt, he determined to remove all evidence of it by putting the whole ship’s company to death by poison. He knew we were all fond of greens, and he chose a day, also, on which none would be on shore, all hands taking dinner on board that day. But, through the interposition of the Almighty, he was prevented from accomplishing his dark and bloody designs. How much had we to thank our heavenly Father for, and how many times did he preserve our lives from threatened dangers, seen and unseen, during those five eventful years of our life!
One evening during our stay, one of our men, by the name of Wilds, whom we shipped on our first visit to this island, had some little disturbance with her Strong’s Island majesty, the queen. Wilds had always been a great favorite with her, and was privileged to do and say as he pleased about the house. He had lived with the king while on the island. This evening he came in with his mats and pillow rolled up under his arm, and commenced joking and teasing the queen; finally, starting to leave, he asked her if he could leave them there until he returned for them. On being answered in the affirmative, he threw the bundle at her in a playful manner, which happened to hit her rather solid, and knocked her down. She screamed, of course (what woman would not?), and imagined herself nearly killed. Poor Wilds at first knew not what to do or say; finally he undertook to apologize, but she would not listen to a word, and ordered him to leave.
This little incident shows what a trifling circumstance will break the friendship of some of these natives, and turn them to as bitter enemies as they were former friends, as in the case of Mr. S. and Canker. Wilds received orders from the queen not to come to the palace again, as she did not like the idea of allowing her royal person to be a target for a common sailor to fire his bundles at. The king, however, when he heard of it, laughed at it as a good joke, and treated Wilds with as much friendship as formerly.
We were now all ready for sea again—wood and water all on board. Thinking, however, that we must have one more ramble before leaving, on Saturday, October 18th, we started, in company with several of our shipmates, for a stroll among the mountains. During our walk we came to a fine spring running into a large stone basin. The weather being excessively hot, we concluded to lie down in this cool, shady place, and rest. While reclining on these beautiful mossy banks, spinning yarns of homes far away, and of happy days, carrying ourselves, in imagination, to those homes and pleasures, we were very suddenly and unceremoniously aroused from our easy positions by a rushing sound, accompanied by a hoarse roar. It can be imagined that we did not occupy many moments in regaining our feet, and we had scarcely done so ere a large wild boar rushed past with great velocity, deigning not even to bestow a passing glance upon us, the spectators of his race, whose hair stood on end, but kept on his course until he was lost in the thicket.
Some natives, headed by Sekane, the chief soon made their appearance, and stated that they had started the boar from his den by wounding him, and asked us to join in the chase. This we consented to do, as we were anxious to view the sport; but, not exactly understanding the hooks and crooks of wild-boar hunting, took good care to keep well in the rear, and our eyes about us. It was certainly amusing; the slightest noise would cause our company to start for some tree, and on finding that it was merely a false alarm, would look immensely foolish. The natives now wished us to guard a pass that we had arrived at while they went after him. As soon as the natives were all out of sight, we took our stations in small trees, where we were sure that we should be out of reach of the boar’s tushes. After waiting some time, we heard a shouting but a short distance from us. Each now instinctively shouted “he is coming,” and tried to ascend still higher. We were relieved from our fears, however, by seeing the squad of natives approaching, with the wild boar lashed in such a manner that he could not escape. He was carried by means of poles run through the lashings of his feet by four natives. They felt very proud of their booty, and exclaimed, “King have big feast now!” He was captured by means of a lasso thrown over his head by one of the natives. Sekane now wished us to form a grand procession and march to the king’s house, where the boar would be delivered to and received by the king in great style, “all the same ’Meriky fashion,” as they termed it. We accordingly did so; and on our arrival, the natives, who had gathered in great numbers, commenced shouting, until we could hardly “hear ourselves think.” The animal was then presented to the king by Sekane, who made a speech, which was very intelligible to us, as we could not understand a word of it, and replied to by the king in the same manner. We were informed, however, by Cæsar that the king praised highly the natives who had captured him, and that he spoke highly of the bravery and assistance the white men had rendered, as Sekane had given him a glowing description of our assistance. This, of course, restored our confidence in our own courage, which had somewhat fallen.
The animal was immediately slaughtered, and preparations were made for a “big feast,” to which the white men were all invited, and those of us who had so materially assisted in its capture were assigned posts of honor by the side of Sekane, who was the “lion of the day.” We now began to think that we had some courage, and many of the boys expressed themselves as ready to proceed on another “wild boar hunt,” provided—the natives would go ahead. The feast passed off with great eclat, and all hands enjoyed it much, dining this time on veritable “hog,” and not “dog.”
But we were now ready for the “blue waters” again, and we must not loiter too long amid the pleasant scenes of Strong’s Island. On Monday, October 19th, we weighed anchor and proceeded to sea. The king and Captain H. accompanied us outside the passage, when we took leave of them, and, with a fair wind, shaped our course once more for the Group. We had been treated with such uniform kindness by most of the natives the many times that we had visited this island, and by such marked respect by the king and chiefs, that the remembrance of the happy hours we had there spent, and the pleasant and agreeable scenes we had met, as well as the information we had gained, still clings to us, and furnishes many an agreeable moment for reflection and pleasure.