Kidnapping in the Pacific; Or, The Adventures of Boas Ringdon
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fashion, as they fancy; orat all events, cover their bodies with robes of their native cloth.
"I found a number of English and Frenchmen, and people of all countriessettled on the islands, and there are a good lot of grog shops, so thatthey may be said to have made some progress in imitating civilisedpeople. In some of the wilder parts of the country, however, thenatives are still cannibals, and do not scruple to kill and eat anystrangers they can catch. Not long ago they were addicted to thatunpleasant custom, so that any strangers wrecked on their coasts weresure to be eaten. When they could not get strangers they ate eachother; sometimes a dozen, and sometimes even twenty slaves, were killedfor one great feast. Altogether from what I heard of the people, I hadno fancy to stop and live among them.
"I must say this much for the missionaries, that they have cured them oftheir worst habit. At some of the villages I visited, where themissionaries have been long established, the people were as quiet anddecent, and well-behaved as any I have been amongst; too much, as I mustown, to my taste.
"They are capital swimmers, and seem as much at home in the water as onland. The women swim as well as the men. At one village I stopped at,where, though they had given up eating human flesh, they did not pretendto be Christians, I saw a curious sort of game played by the girls. Astout post was stuck in the water some way from the shore. On the topof it was laid the trunk of a large cocoa-nut tree, the base restingnear the shore, and the tip projecting beyond the post over deep water.The fun was for the girls to run up the inclined tree at full speed, andthen to leap off from the point and swim back to shore one after theother, as fast as they could go. Twenty or thirty girls could play atthe game together, and such shouting, and shrieking, and laughing Inever heard.
"However, as the vessel I had come in, the `Thisby,' was returning toAustralia, I went in her.
"We got a few natives from the Kingsmill Islands, the New Hebrides, andother places, and carried them to Brisbane.
"Our skipper having landed them in good condition without difficulty,got another licence to bring back a further cargo of fifty natives--forthe Government officer didn't think the vessel had room enough to carrymore. Our captain and supercargo, however, had a different notion onthe subject.
"We managed to pick them up much as we had done others. Of course itwas the same to the natives whether they went to Queensland or Fiji.Instead of fifty, by the clever management of our supercargo andinterpreter, we got altogether a hundred. The captain said it wouldnever do to return with so many to Brisbane, and hearing that there wasstill a great demand for labour at the Fijis, we shaped a course forthose islands. The accommodation for our passengers was not altogethersuch as civilised people would have liked. We had run up a number ofshelves round the hold on which they stowed themselves at night. Theywere all stark naked, and they had no mats to lie on, but we could notof course expect these savages to be over particular.
"We had a dead beat to windward for the best part of a month, and bythat time our cargo, as may be supposed, hadn't much improved inappearance.
"As ill luck would have it, when we arrived off the port we were boundfor, what should we see but a man-of-war at anchor. As we were short ofprovisions and water, we were compelled to run in and make the best ofit. Before long the captain of the man-of-war came on board, and notonly rated our skipper and supercargo for the condition the blacks werein, but declaring that our papers were irregular, which it must beconfessed they were, landed the blacks and took possession of the craft.I and the rest of the crew lost our wages, and had to go on shore againand look out for ourselves.
"I hadn't been there long before a fine brig came in with only a dozennatives. The owner was on board, and he and the captain had had aquarrel because the latter had refused to receive any passengers who didnot come of their own free will, and sign the agreement with a fullunderstanding of the meaning. The captain, who was, I thought, a foolfor his pains, had to give up the command, and two or three of the menwho were of his opinion, were landed with him. I having no suchscruples was glad enough to join her as second mate. Most of her crewwere either Sandwich Islanders or Tahitians. The owner having gotanother master who was accustomed to the trade, we sailed to thenorthward to visit a number of islands lying on either side of the line,intending also to cruise about the New Hebrides and Solomon Islands,where we hoped before long to get a full cargo.
"The owner said his vessel would carry three hundred at least, and thatnumber he was determined to obtain.
"I have told you before how the vessels engaged in this trade areaccustomed to pick up their cargo. Our owner was a man for dodges ofall sorts, and there was not a device he left untried to obtain men. Atone place he pretended that the brig was a sandal-wood trader, andoffered to give double the price which had ever been given before,provided it could be brought on board the next day. His hope was that anumber of natives would go and cut it, and that each man would come backwith the result of his labour. He was not disappointed. The nextmorning we had a score of canoes alongside. He would only let one manat a time come on deck, and as soon as he appeared he was invited belowto receive payment. The first two or three who came received evendouble what the owner had promised, and were allowed to return to theircanoes. This made all the rest eager to come up, and as soon as theyhad gone below they were gagged and pinioned, and passed into the hold.By this means we got sixty men, even the very last not suspecting thetrick that had been played. The first three were also enticed on board,supposing that their companions were receiving even more than they had.We towed the canoes out to sea, where we sank them, and continued ourvoyage.
"When we approached a place where Christian natives were to be found, wehoisted a missionary flag, and the interpreter going on shore told thepeople that one of their dear missionaries was on board, when a numbereagerly came off to visit him, and were somewhat surprised when theyfound themselves handed down into the hold.
"This dodge answered so well that we tried it several times, generallywith the same success. The owner having heard that a bishop, or a manof that sort, who wears a long gown and preaches, was in the habit ofvisiting many of the islands, determined to find out where he had mostfriends, hoping, by a dodge he had thought of, to make a grand haul. Hehad had a coat and hat made which he said was just like the bishop's,and another for the interpreter. Rigged in these they went one day onshore, and began preaching to the natives who collected round in greatnumbers. What they said I don't know, it must have been somethingcurious, I fancy; but the savages who had never had a visit from thebishop before, though they had heard of him it seemed, were mightilypleased. Some wanted to come off at once, but the owner replied that heshould be happy to see as many as chose to visit him next morning, andthat he had a number of things he should like to give them.
"Pretty nearly a hundred came alongside the next morning in theircanoes; the difficulty, however, was to secure them. At last theinterpreter thought of a plan. He told them that the bishop was sick inhis cabin and that he could only see three or four at a time; but thatthere were praying men in another part of the vessel who would be happyafterwards to talk to them. By this means, a few at a time being gotbelow, the greater number were secured. At last the remainder began togrow suspicious, and one of those below shouting out, they made a rushto the side, and leaped overboard. A few were secured, but several madetheir escape, when the owner ordered us to fire on them. Several werehit and sank, but the rest reached the shore, thinking, I have no doubt,that it was an odd way for a bishop to treat them, and vowing that thenext time they caught sight of him they would make him sorry for what hehad done.
"We played a trick like this at several other places, but, as the bishopwas known, the interpreter, rigged as a parson, going on shore, told thepeople that the bishop was ill on board, but would still be very glad tosee them if they would come off and pay him a visit.
"By this and all sorts of other means we at last got a full cargo ofbetween two and three hundred peo
ple.
"It seemed to me that we had a pretty large cargo already, but fallingin with another vessel belonging to our owner, he took out of her sixtyor seventy natives, and sent her to collect more, while we continued ourvoyage.
"Among the natives we had received on board were three young fellowsfrom the island of Anietium, the most northern of the New Hebrides,which I once before had visited to get a cargo of sandal-wood. Iremembered making friends with one of the natives, a lad, and havinggiven him several articles, of no great value to myself I must own,though they pleased him mightily. Of the three we had now caught, twowere perfect young savages, with their hair frizzled out, and stickingup at the top of their heads in a curious fashion, and big ear-rings intheir ears, though with no clothing on, except round their waists. Theother was clad in shirt and trousers. I saw him looking at me, andpresently he put out his hand, and,