"And if they don't take possession of all Oceanica," said I, "it is only because it is not worth their while, or as we Yankees would say, 'it wont pay.'"
"Just so," assented the mate. "And if, as some think, England will protest against this occupation by the French, it will not be because of any injustice done to the natives but because it might be thought dangerous to her interests to permit France to have these naval stations in the Pacific."
"It is a delicate matter, any way," he resumed, "to do justice in dealing with these savages. We must secure the safety of our own lives, if possible, and of our property, too. Of course I am speaking, now, of the case of isolated ships, like our own. It seems cruel to kill or wound a savage for pilfering, especially when we remember that a plug of tobacco or a knife may appear as great a treasure to his simple mind, as a mine of gold or a fertile province to our more enlightened capacities. And yet how else are we to prevent the annoyance, and secure our property? We cannot reason with them, nor can we punish them according to any civilized form of law. And if we kill or maltreat them, it's ten to one they will retaliate upon some other white men who may be thrown in their way at a future time. It's a difficult subject, to make the best of it," said the mate, dismissing the matter in an unsatisfied way, as hundreds of others have done; and taking up another.
"There is evidence to prove," said he, "that the Caroline Islands were once inhabited by a race of people far superior to those now found here. The ruins of a large stone building, apparently a religious temple of some sort, still stand on the island of Ascension, away up in the interior, showing beyond all question that those who reared it possessed a knowledge of arts and of mechanical powers far beyond the capacity of the present owners of the soil. I am told that similar evidences are to be found at Strong's Island, in the form of stone walls, running in various directions about the island, which never could have been built by the present inhabitants."
"What account do they give of them?" I asked.
"So far as I can learn, it is as great a mystery to the present generation of them as it is to us; and I have never heard that they have even any traditions to account for them. But there they are," said he, dismissing this subject, like the other, unsatisfied.
"But it is time to set these faithful pumps going again; that's a practical matter, with not much of interesting speculation about it. Pump ship!"
We made Strong's Island the next day, as expected, and running down for it, saw two ships lying at anchor in a bay on the weather side of it, making in from the south-east. The old man lowered his boat and went in, leaving us to lie off and on for his return. Soon afterwards a canoe was seen coming out with three men. They paddled alongside very quietly, in marked contrast with the jabbering barbarians whom I had been accustomed to hear at the other group, or even to the Portuguese boatmen at the Azores. I was looking at them over the rail in the waist, and wondering how the first words of their language would sound in my ears, when the man in the head of the canoe spoke up, in clear and distinct English, "Give us a rope, if you please." The crew of the Topez could hardly have been more surprised when they discovered Pitcairn's Island, and were addressed in their own language by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers, than were we at hearing this polite request.
The men came on board, and it appeared that they all spoke a good smattering of English, though the first speaker took the lead, he having made a short cruise in a whaler. He told us one of the ships in the bay was American and the other English. The mate asked him if he knew the name of either of the ships, thinking at most, that he might get some clew to guess from; but, to our further astonishment, he replied, "Ship Leonidas, of New Bedford, Captain Taber, and Ship Seringapatam, of London, Captain Courtenay," pronouncing all the names with the greatest care and distinctness. He already knew the name of our ship and captain, having spoken the boat going into the bay.
"Well," said Mr. Grafton, "they ought to establish a newspaper here, and secure this man as marine news reporter. It's not one white man in twenty could have given us these particulars, and done it in as good shape;" for we had learned how much oil these ships has taken, where they were bound, and many other things of interest concerning them.