by Louis Becke
MAURICE KINANE
Eastward, from the coast of New Guinea, there lies a large islandcalled, on the maps, New Britain, the native name of which is Berara. Itis nearly three hundred miles in length and, in parts, almost sixty inwidth, and excepting the north-eastern portion, now settled byGerman colonists, is inhabited by a race of dangerous and treacherouscannibals, who are continually at war among themselves, for there aremany hundred tribes living on the coast as well as in the interior.Although there have been white people living on the north-east coastfor over thirty years--for there were adventurous American and Englishtraders living in this wild island long before the natives ever saw aGerman--not one of them knew then, or knows now, much of the strangeblack tribes who dwell in the interior of the centre and western part ofthe island, save that they were then, as they are in this present year,always at enmity with the coast tribes, and are, like them, more or lessaddicted to cannibalism.
Sixty miles from the western end of the island is the mountainous landof German New Guinea; and sometimes, when the air is clear and thesouth-east trade wind blows, the savages on Berara can see across thedeep, wide strait the grey loom of the great range that fringes thenorth-eastern coast of New Guinea for many hundred miles. Once, indeed,when the writer of this true story lived in New Britain, he saw thissight for a whole week, for there, in those beautiful islands, the airis very clear at certain seasons of the year.
From Matupi, where the principal settlement in New Britain is situated,to the deep bay at Kabaira, fifty miles away, the coast is verybeautiful. And, indeed, no one who looks at the lovely grassy downs thathere and there show through the groves of waving palm trees stretchingfrom the beach away up to the rising land of the interior could thinkthat such a fair country was the home of a deadly fever; and that inthe waters of the bright limpid streams that ran gently down from theforest-clad hills to meet the blue waters of the Pacific there lurkeddisease and death to him who drank thereof.
At the time of my story (except for the adventurous American whalemenfrom Nantucket and New Bedford, and the sandal-wood cutters from NewSouth Wales, who sometimes touched there) white men were unknown tothe people of New Britain. Sometimes when the sperm-whaling fleet wascruising northwards and westward to the Moluccas, a ship would sailalong the coast in the daytime, but always anchored at night, for itwas dreaded for the many dangerous reefs that surround it. And once theanchor was down a strict watch was kept on board, for the natives wereknown to be fierce and treacherous.
Between where is now the German settlement and the great native town atKabaira Bay there is an island called Mano, which stands five milesoff from the mainland. Early one morning, when the wild people of thevillages among the palm-groves which lined the long winding beach cameout of their thatched huts for their morning bathe they gave a greatcry, for a large full-rigged ship was standing in close under the lee ofMano, and clewing up her sails before she came to an anchor.
Now the natives who lived on the mainland of New Britain were thehereditary enemies of those who dwelt on Mano Island, and it was hatefulfor them to see a ship anchor there, for then the Mano Islanders wouldget axes and muskets and hoop-iron.
So, with Baringa, the chief, at their head, they all ran to the summitof a high, grassy hill (known, by reason of a terrible deed once donethere in the olden times, as the Hill of Old Men's Groans), and sat downto watch if the ship would send her boats ashore.
'Look!' said Baringa, fiercely, striking the ground with his heavyjade-headed club, 'look, I see a boat putting out from the side. Whoamong ye will come with me to the ship, so that I may sell my turtleshell and pearl shell to the captain for muskets and powder and bullets?Are these dogs of Mano to get such things from the ship, and then comeover here at night and slay and then cook us in their ovens? Hungry am Ifor revenge; for 'tis now twelve moons since they stole my son from me,and not one life have I had in return for his.'
But no one answered. Of what use was it, they thought, for Baringa tothink of his little son? He was but a boy after all, and had long sincegone down the throats of the men of Mano. Besides, the Mano people werevery strong and already had many guns.
So for an hour Baringa sat and chafed and watched; and then suddenlyhe and those with him sprang up, for a sound like thunder came over tothem, and a cloud of white smoke curled up from the ship's side; she hadfired one of her big guns. Presently Baringa and his people saw that theboat which had gone ashore was pulling back fast, and that some of thecrew who were sitting in the stern were firing their muskets at the Manopeople, who were pursuing the boat in six canoes. Twice again the shipfired a big gun, and then the boat was safe, for the two twenty-fourpounders, loaded with grape-shot, smashed two of them to pieces whenthey were less than a hundred yards from the ship.
Baringa shouted with savage joy. 'Come,' he cried, 'let us hasten to thebeach, and get quickly to the ship in our canoes; for now that the whitemen have fought with these Mano dogs, the ship will come here to us andanchor; for I, Baringa, am known to many white men.'
* * * * *
The name of the ship was the _Boadicea_. She was of about seven hundredtons, and was bound to China from Port Jackson, but for four months hadremained among the islands of the New Hebrides group, where the crew hadbeen cutting sandal-wood, which in those days was very plentiful there.Her captain, who was a very skilful navigator, instead of going throughTorres Straits, had sailed between New Ireland and New Britain, so thathe might learn the truth of some tales he had heard about the richnessof those islands in sandal-wood and pearl shell. So he had cruisedslowly along till he sighted Mano Island, and here he decided to waterthe ship; for from the deck was visible a fine stream of water, runningfrom the forest-clad mountains down to the white sands of the quietbeach.
As soon as possible a boat was lowered and manned and armed; foralthough he could not see a native anywhere on the beach, nor any signsof human occupation elsewhere on the island, the captain was a verycautious man. A little further back from the beach was a very densegrove of coco-nut trees laden with fruit, and at these the crew of theBoadicea looked with longing eyes.
'We must water the ship first, my lads,' said Captain Williams, 'andthen we'll spend the rest of the day among the coco-nut trees, and fillour boats with them.'
Just then as the bronze-faced captain was ascending to the poop from hiscabin; a small barefooted boy came aft, and, touching his hat, said,--
'Av ye plaze, sor, won't ye let me go in the boat, sor?'
'Why, Maurice, my boy, there's quite enough of us going in her as itis,' said the captain, kindly, for the dirty-faced but bright-eyedMaurice Kinane was a favourite with everyone on board.
'Ah, but shure, sor,' pleaded the boy, 'av yer honour would just let mego, av it was only to pluck a blade av the foine green grass, and laveme face in the swate clane wather I'll be beholden--'
'Well, well, my lad, jump in then,' said Captain Williams, with a smile,and buckling his cutlass belt around his waist he sent the lad down theladder before him and the boat pushed off.
* * * * *
Ten months before, this poor Irish lad, who was but thirteen years ofage, had lost both his parents through the upsetting of a boat in SydneyHarbour. His father was a sergeant in the 77th Regiment, and had onlyarrived in the colony a few months previous to the accident, and theboy was left without a relative in the world. But the captain of hisfather's company and the other officers of the regiment were very kindto him, and the colonel said he would get him enlisted as a drummer.
And so for a time Maurice lived in the barracks under the care ofSergeant MacDougall, a crusty old warrior, who proved a hard master andmade the boy's life anything but a happy one. And Maurice, though hewas proud of the colonel's kind words and of serving with the regiment,fretted greatly at the harsh manner of the old sergeant.
One morning he was reported as missing. Little did those who looked forhim all the next day think that the boy wa
s far out at sea, for he hadstowed away on board the _Boadicea_; and although Captain Williams wasvery angry with him when he was discovered and led aft, the lad's genialtemper and bright, honest face soon won him over, as, indeed, it dideveryone else on board.
For nearly an hour after the boat had landed at the mouth of the littlestream the seamen were busily-engaged in filling the water casks. Not asign of a native could be seen, and then, regardful of the longing looksthat the sailors cast at the grove of coco-nuts, the captain, takingwith him Maurice and four hands, set out along the beach for the purposeof gathering a few score of the young nuts to give to his men to drink.
One of the four seamen was a Kanaka named 'Tommy Sandwich.' He was anative of Sandwich or Vate Island in the New Hebrides. In a very shorttime this man had ascended a lofty palm-tree, and was throwing down thecoco-nuts to the others, who for some minutes were busily engaged tyingthem together to carry them to the boat.
'That will do, Tommy,' cried the captain, presently. 'Come down now andhelp the others to carry.' He did not see that Maurice, boy-likeand adventurous, had managed to ascend a less lofty tree some littledistance away, out of sight of his shipmates, and at that moment wasalready ensconced in the leafy crown, gazing with rapture at the lovelyscene that lay before him.
It took the men but another ten minutes to tie up the coco-nuts intobunches of ten, and then each of them drank copiously of the sweet milkof half a dozen which Tommy had husked for them.
'Come, lads,' said Captain Williams, 'back to the boat now. By-and-by--'
A dreadful chorus of savage yells interrupted him, and he and the menseized their muskets and sprang to their feet. The sounds seemed tocome from where the boat was watering; in a few seconds more four musketshots rang out.
'Run, run for your lives,' cried the captain, drawing his pistol. 'Thesavages are attacking the boat.' And the seamen, throwing down thecoco-nuts, rushed out of the palm grove to rescue their shipmates.
They were only just in time, for the banks of the little stream werecovered with naked savages, who had sprung out of the thick undergrowthupon the watering party, and ere the boat could be pushed off two of thepoor sailors had been savagely slaughtered. Fortunately for the captainand his party, they were nearer to the boat, when they made theirappearance, than were the natives, and, plunging into the water, andholding their muskets over their heads, they reached her in safety, andat once opened fire, whilst the rest of the crew bent to the oars.
But the danger was not yet over, for as soon as the boat was out ofreach of the showers of spears sent at her from the shore, a numberof canoes appeared round a bend of the mountainous coast. They hadevidently been sent to cut off the white men's retreat. And then beganthe race for life to the ship which had been witnessed by Baringa andhis people from the mainland.
Maurice, from his tree, had heard the yells of the savages and thegunshots, and was about to descend and follow the captain and hisshipmates, when he heard a rush of bodies through the palm grove, andsaw beneath him forty or fifty natives, all armed with clubs and spears.They were a horrible-looking lot, for they were quite naked and thelips of all were stained a deep red from the juice of the betel-nut, andtheir dull reddish-brown bodies were daubed over with yellow and whitestripes. This party had perhaps meant to surprise the captain and hismen as they were getting the coco-nuts, for, finding them gone, they atonce rushed out of the grove in pursuit. Fortunately for Maurice theywere too excited to think of looking about them, else his end would havecome very quickly.
For nearly ten minutes the lad remained quiet, listening to thesounds of the fighting, and in fearful doubt as to his best course ofaction--whether to make a bold dash and try to find his way to theboat, or remain in the tree till a rescue party was sent from the ship.Suddenly the thundering report of one of the ship's guns made him peerseaward through the branches of his retreat; and there, to his delight,he caught a brief view of the boat. Again the report of another gunpealed out, and a wild screaming cry from the natives told him that theshot had done some execution.
'I must get out of this,' he thought, 'and make a bolt along the beachin the other direction, till I get into the hills. I can see better fromthere, and perhaps make a signal to the ship.' Maurice got quietly downfrom the tree, and after looking cautiously about him, was about to setoff at a run, when he found himself face to face with a young nativeboy, who, running quickly forward, grasped him by the hands, and beganto talk volubly, at the same time trying to drag him towards the beach.The boy, save for a girdle of ti leaves, was naked, and Maurice, anxiousand alarmed as he was for his own safety, could not but notice that theyoung savage seemed terribly excited.
'Let me go, ye black naygur,' said Maurice, freeing his hands andstriking him in the chest.
In an instant the native boy fell upon his knees, and held up his hands,palms outward, in a supplicating gesture.
Puzzled at this, but still dreading treachery, Maurice turned away andagain sought to make his way to the hills; but again the boy caught hishands, and with gentle force, and eyes filled with tears, tried to pushor lead him to the beach. At last, apparently as if in despair of makingthe white lad understand him by words, he made signs of deadly combat,and ended by pointing over to where the boat had been attacked. Then,touching Maurice on the chest, and then himself, he pointed to the sea,and lying on the ground worked his arms and legs as if swimming.
'Sure, perhaps he's a friend,' thought Maurice, 'an' wants me to swimoff to the ship. But perhaps he's a thraitor and only manes to entice meaway to be murdered. Anyway, it's not much of a choice I've got at all.So come on, blackamoor, I'm wid ye.'
Although not understanding a word that Maurice said, the native boysmiled when he saw that the white lad was willing to come with him atlast. Then, hand-in-hand, they ran quietly along till they reached thebeach; and here the native, motioning Maurice to keep out of view, crepton his hands and knees till he reached a rock, and then slowly raisedhis head above it and peered cautiously ahead.
Whatever it was he saw evidently satisfied him, for he crawled backto Maurice, and again taking his hand broke into a run, but instead ofgoing in the direction of the river, he led the way along the beachin the opposite direction. Feeling confident now that he had found afriend, Maurice's spirits began to rise, and he went along with the boyunhesitatingly.
At last they rounded a sandy point, covered with a dense growth ofcoco-nut trees and pandanus palms; this point formed the southern hornof a small deep bay, in the centre of which stood an island, warded bya snow-white beach, and on the nearmost shore Maurice saw a canoe drawnup.
The island beach was quite three hundred yards away, but Maurice wasa good swimmer, and although he shuddered at the thought of sharks, heplunged in the water after his dark-skinned companion and soon reachedthe islet, which was but a tiny spot, containing some two or three scoreof coco-palms, and three untenanted native huts. It was used by thenatives as a fishing station, and the canoe, which was a very small one,had evidently been in use that day. Close by were the marks in the sandwhere a larger one had been carried down. In one of the huts smoke wasarising from a native ground-oven, which showed that the fishermen hadnot long gone; doubtless they would return when the food was cooked, forthe native boy pointed out the oven to Maurice with a look of alarm.
The two boys soon launched the canoe, and each seizing a paddle, at oncestruck out in the direction of the ship. The native lad sat aft, Mauricefor'ard, and clumsy as was the latter with the long and narrow canoepaddle, he yet managed to keep his seat and not capsize the frail littlecraft.
'Hurroo!' cried foolish Maurice, turning to his companion, 'we're allright now, I'm thinkin'. There's the ship!'
There she was sure enough, and there also were four canoes, paddlingalong close in-shore, returning from their chase of the captain'sboat. They heard Maurice's loud shout of triumph, at once altered theircourse, and sped swiftly towards the two boys.
* * * * *
'We'll give them something to remember us by, Hodgson,' said CaptainWilliams, grimly. 'That poor lad! To think I never noticed he was not inthe boat till too late! I expect he's murdered by now; but I shall takea bloody vengeance for the poor boy's death. Serve out some grog to thehands, steward; and some of you fellows stand by with some shot todump into the canoes if we should miss them with the guns and they getalongside.'
But just as he spoke the mate called out, 'The canoes have stoppedpaddling, sir, all except one, which is coming right on.'
'All right, I see it. Let them come and have a look at us. As soon as itgets close enough, I'll sink it.'
For some minutes the canoe, which contained seven men, continuedto advance with great swiftness; then she ceased paddling, and thesteersman stood up and called out something to the ship, just as she waswell covered by two of the guns on the port side. In another minute shewould have been blown out of the water, when Tommy Sandwich ran aft andsaid,--
'I think, cap'n, that fellow he no want fight ship; I think he want talkyou.'
'Perhaps so, Tommy; so we'll let him come a bit closer.'
Again the native paddles sent the canoe inward till she was well withineasy hailing distance of the ship, and the same native again stood upand called out,--
'Hi, cap'n. No you shoot me. Me Baringa. Me like come 'board.'
'All right,' answered Captain Williams, 'come alongside.'
The moment the canoe ranged alongside, Baringa clambered up the side,and advanced fearlessly toward the poop. 'Where cap'n?' he asked,pushing unceremoniously aside those who stood in his way; and mountingthe ladder at the break of the poop he walked up to the master of the_Boadicea_ and held out his hand.
In a very short time, by the aid of Tommy Sandwich, whose language wasallied to that of the natives of New Britain, Captain Williams learnthow matters stood. His visitor was anxious to help him, and volunteeredto join the white man in an attack on the treacherous people of Mano,though he gave but little hope of their finding Maurice alive. They had,he said, stolen his own son twelve months before, and eaten him, and hewanted his revenge. Presently, as a proof of his integrity, he producedfrom a dirty leather cartridge pouch, that was strapped around hiswaist, a soiled piece of paper, and handed it to the captain. It read asfollows:--
'The bearer, Baringa, is the chief of Kabaira Coast. He is a thorough old cannibal, but, as far as I know, may be trusted by white men. He supplied my ship with fresh provisions, and seems a friendly old cut-throat.
'Matthew Wallis, 'Master, ship _Algerine_ of New Bedford. 'October 2 st, 1839.'
'Well, that's satisfactory,' said Captain Williams, turning to Tommy.'Tell him that I am going to land and try and find Maurice, and he canhelp me with his people. Mr Hodgson, man and arm the boats again.'
In a moment all was bustle and excitement, in the midst of which a loud'hurrah' came from aloft from a sailor who was on the fore-yard watchingthe remaining canoes of Baringa's fleet. 'Hurrah! Here's Maurice, sir,coming off in a canoe with a nigger, an' a lot of other niggers in fourcanoes a-chasin' him.'
Springing to the taffrail, Captain Williams saw the canoe, which hadjust rounded the point and was now well in view. The two boys werepaddling for their lives; behind them were the four canoes filled withyelling savages.
'Into the boats, men, for God's sake!' roared the captain. Had agreater distance separated Maurice from his pursuers the master of the_Boadicea_ would have endeavoured to have sunk the four canoes withthe ship's guns; but the risk was too great to attempt it as they were.However, the gunner and carpenter were sent into the fore-top to try andpick off some of the natives by firing over Maurice's canoe.
Five minutes later the ship's three boats were pulling swiftly to therescue, and Baringa, jumping into his own canoe, beckoned to the restof his flotilla to follow him, and six natives urged the light craftfuriously along after the boats.
On, on, came the two poor boys, straining every nerve; but every momenttheir pursuers gained on them; and on, on dashed the heavy, cumbersomeboats. Already the nearest canoe was within fifty feet of Maurice andhis black friend, the savage paddlers undaunted by the fire from themuskets of the gunner and carpenter, when Captain Williams saw a nativerise up and hurl a club at the two boys. Quick as lightning the captainpicked up his musket and fired, and the savage fell forward with abullet through his chest. But quick as he was he was too late, for theclub whizzed through the air and struck the native boy on his right arm.
A savage yell of triumph came from the pursuing canoes as theiroccupants saw the boy go down and the canoe broach-to, and then theleading canoe dashed up alongside that of Maurice and his companion.
'Pull, men, pull, for God's sake!' cried the captain, frantically, ashe saw the Irish lad, paddle in hand, standing up over the body of thefallen boy, and strike wildly at his murderous pursuers.
With heaving bosoms and set teeth the seamen urged the boats along, andthey and the four canoes crashed together in deadly conflict. But asthey met, a huge savage stood up and, poising a spear, darted it atthe prone figure of the native boy; it did not reach him, for Maurice,wounded and bleeding as he was with a spear wound through his thigh,flung himself in front of the weapon to save his friend. It struck himin the shoulder and came out a full foot at his back.
'You dog,' said Williams, raising his pistol, and the native went downwith a crash.
And then ensued a scene of slaughter, as the seamen of the _Boadicea_got to work with their cutlasses. It did not take long to end the fight,and not one of the Mano men escaped, for now Baringa's canoes had comeup, and with their heavy jade clubs dashed out the brains of thoseof their enemies who sought to swim ashore. It was in truth a hideoussight, and even the hardy sailors shuddered when they saw the mercilessmanner in which wounded and dying men were massacred by their nakedallies.
As quickly as possible, the two boys were lifted out of the little canoeand placed in the captain's boat, where their wounds were examined. Thenative boy's arm was broken, and his back badly hurt, but he was quiteconscious. As for Maurice, he was in a bad state, and Captain Williamsdecided not to pull out the spear till the ship was reached.
Just as he had given orders to pull for the ship, Baringa's canoereturned from the slaughter of the remaining fugitives, and drew upalongside the captain's boat, and the moment the chief saw the nativeboy lying in the stern sheets of the boat he sprang out of the canoe andembraced him.
'It is my boy, my Lokolol--he whom I thought was dead.'
Little remains to be told. The two boys were carefully attended to assoon as they reached the ship, and to the joy of everyone the spear,when extracted from Maurice's body, was pronounced by Baringa not tobe a poisoned one. As for Lokolol, the chief's son, his arm was put insplints, but during the time that was occupied in doing this his handwas clasped around that of the brave young sailor lad who had saved hislife, and his big, black eyes never left Maurice's pallid face.
For three days the _Boadicea_ remained at anchor opposite thevillage--she had sailed there the morning after the fight--and the chiefshowed his gratitude by every possible means. On the morning of the dayon which the ship sailed he came on board, attended by thirty canoes,every one of which was laden deep down with pearl shell. It was passedup on deck, and stacked in a heap, and then Baringa asked for thecaptain and the white boy who had saved his son. Beside him stoodLokolol, his arm in a sling, and tears running down his cheeks, for heknew he would see Maurice no more.
Then Captain Williams came on deck and showed the chief the l
ittle cabinboy, lying in a hammock under the poop awning. The burly savage cameover to him, and taking Maurice's hand in his, placed it tenderlyupon his huge, hairy bosom in token of gratitude. Then he spoke to thecaptain through Tommy Sandwich.
'Tell this good captain that I, Baringa, am for ever the white man'sfriend. And tell him, too, that all this pearl shell here is my gift tohim and the boy who helped my son to escape from captivity. Half is forthe good captain; half is for the brave white boy.'
Then, after remaining on board till the ship was many miles away fromthe land, the chief and his son bade the wounded boy farewell and wentback to the shore.
Maurice soon recovered, and when the _Boadicea_ arrived at Hong Kong,and Captain Williams had sold the pearl shell, he said to his cabinboy,--
'Maurice, my lad, I've sold the pearl shell, and what do you think I'vebeen paid for it? Well, just eight thousand dollars--L1600 in Englishmoney. You're quite a rich boy now, Maurice. It's not every lad thatgets four thousand dollars for saving a nigger's life.'
Maurice's bright blue eyes filled with honest tears. 'Shure, sor, hewas a naygur, thrue enough. But thin, yere honour, he had a foine bouldheart to do what he did for Maurice Kinane.'
And, as I have said, this is a true story, and old Maurice Kinane, whois alive now, himself told it to me.