Kidnapping in the Pacific; Or, The Adventures of Boas Ringdon / A long four-part Yarn

by William Henry Giles Kingston

“The wood was cut and carried down by our natives to the boats. We had now got pretty well as much as the brig would carry, but the captain told them to go back and cut more. They said they were afraid, lest the black fellows should kill them. The captain answered that that was their look out, and that if they wanted their liberty the wood must be cut. When we had got it into the boats we returned to the brig; the captain then ordered the anchor to be hove up, saying that he could not spare time to go back to the island from which the natives had come, and that he had fulfilled his contract by giving them their liberty and leaving them on shore.

“As we sailed out of the harbour, we saw some of them running down to the beach, and waving their hands to us, with the black fellows at their heels. They were soon overtaken, and one after the other were knocked over by the clubs of the savages, who, to my belief, ate the whole of them; for the inhabitants of that island were well known, as I have said, to be fearful cannibals.

“Now, perhaps some people may think that the captain of the ‘Tickler’ didn’t behave quite straightforward in the matter; but that’s no business of mine. What he had to do was to get a shipload of sandal-wood as cheaply as he could, and he did his best to save expense. To be sure, others who came after us might have suffered, because the savages were not very likely to trust them. We ourselves were nearly cut off on one occasion, when visiting a large island called New Caledonia. Though we had seen a number of natives gathering on the coast, we pulled in without fear, supposing that their clubs and spears could not reach us, and a volley of small arms would soon put them to flight. As we pulled on we heard them shouting to us, and shrieking loudly. They were a jet-black, fine race of fellows. We could see that some of them had long spears in their hands, but others seemed to be unarmed. Suddenly, however, down there came upon us a thick shower of stones, wounding two or three of our number, which was immediately followed by a whole flight of spears, when more of us were wounded, while several stuck in the boat. The order was given to pull round; and glad enough we were to get out of their reach.

“I afterwards heard that the natives of these islands use a sling, not only for throwing stones, which they can send to a great distance, but for casting their spears, which, as we found, far as they were off, came rattling down upon us in a very unpleasant manner.

“One of our men was killed. When at a safe distance we fired two or three volleys in return, and probably killed some of them; but they quickly got under cover. We then once more pulled in, thinking that they had taken to flight; but they were up again in an instant, and the whole shore appeared lined with warriors. We therefore came to the conclusion, that instead of carrying them off as labourers, they were more likely to kill and eat us, should we land on their island. We pulled away and steered for another place, where we expected to find the natives more peaceably disposed or more easily captured.

“I afterwards heard that several vessels went there, some of which had the crews of their boats murdered on going on shore, while in two or three cases the vessels themselves were attacked, and every one on board put to death. All I can say is, that whatever people may think of our doings, we were not worse than others. I heard of several things which will prove this. Among others, a sandal-wood trader had called at the island of Maré, when three young men swam off to her, wishing to trade on their own account. They were bargaining with the captain, who offered to give them less than they wanted for their sandal-wood, which they had piled up on shore, ready to embark. They grew angry, and declared that they would keep their sandal-wood. On this, without more ado, he drew out his revolver and shot two of them dead on the deck; the other leaped overboard, and the captain ordered the crew to fire at him. He had got some distance, when a shot struck him, and he sank. The captain then sent a boat on shore, and brought away the sandal-wood. Another captain was on a sandal-wood cruise, when he put in not far from Erromanga, where he found the people at war with another tribe some distance round the coast. As abundance of sandal-wood grew on the hills in the distance, he tried to persuade them to bring him a supply down to the beach. They replied that they could not do so then, as they were engaged in war, when he told them that if they would supply him with the wood, he would go and conquer their enemies for them. The people thought this a fine thing, and agreed to the proposal. So the vessel went round the coast, to where the opposing tribe resided. If he had began to fire away at once on them, they would have escaped into the woods, and he probably would not have caught a man. He therefore pretended to be very friendly, and managed to entice a number on board. When he had got them, his crew set upon them, and killed some on deck, and shot others who had leaped overboard and were trying to make their escape. One was taken alive, and another desperately wounded. Having thrown the dead bodies overboard, he sailed back with the living prisoner and the other man, who soon died, to his friends. By this time they had the sandal-wood ready, so he made over the living and dead prisoners into their hands, and received the sandal-wood in return. As the people were cannibals, it was easy to guess what they did with their prisoners.

“It cannot be said that we did anything worse than this; but, bless you, I might tell you a hundred other things which either we did or I heard of done by sandal-wood traders in those parts. I was not over particular, so didn’t mind, but I wanted the voyage to be over, that I might get to Sydney, and have a spree on shore.

“We got there at last, and our cargo realised a large profit, as the price was known to be up at the time in the China market, for which it was destined.

“I hadn’t been there long, before I found my pockets pretty well cleaned out of cash, and had to think of what I should do next.