the cloth, and told the chief that,if he would bring it on board, we would exchange it for all sorts ofarticles. The news of the rich cargo the vessel contained spread amongthe people, and large numbers promised to come off to us the followingmorning.
"Well content with the way we had managed matters, we returned on board.
"The following day we took care to stand in towards the shore in goodtime, when a number of canoes full of people were seen coming off to theship. As they arrived alongside we invited them on board, taking carethat they brought no arms with them. We had a few things spread out inthe hold, and as the people collected on board, the captain asked themto step down below to see them. When there, the pretended supercargokept them engaged bargaining for the goods while others were arriving.Having collected all who could be induced to come on board below, thesupercargo slipped up by the fore hatchway, saying that he wished toconsult the captain about the price of some of the articles. Thevessel, meantime, had been edging off the land. Our guns were loaded,and we had all armed ourselves in case the natives might make anyresistance. All being ready, we suddenly clapped the hatches down uponour visitors, and had them prisoners. The people in some of the canoessuspecting that their friends were in danger, attempted to climb up thesides to their assistance. We had, therefore, to sink the canoes bythrowing cold shot into them. As several other large canoes wereapproaching which might prove troublesome, we fired our guns at them andknocked them to pieces. This done, we made all sail, and stood awayfrom the island. When the natives below found themselves entrapped,they, as may be supposed, created a considerable uproar, shouting andshrieking, and demanding to be set at liberty. The hatches, however,being fast closed down, they could not force their way out, and as theywere without food or water, and the air was pretty close, we knew thatthey must soon come to their senses, and therefore took no heed of theircries, though it was necessary, of course, to keep watch over them, lestby chance they might make their way out.
"When we had run the land out of sight, the fore hatch was partlylifted, and a few at a time were allowed to come on deck. They lookedgreatly astonished when gazing round to find that their native land wasnot to be seen. Our interpreter then told them that, if they behavedthemselves, things would go well with them; but if not, they must expectrough treatment. The first which had come up had their hands lashedbehind them, and were sent aft; and the rest, as they appeared on deck,were treated in the same manner. Two or three, from the hot air and thestruggles they had made, had lost their lives; but that mattered little,considering the number we had secured.
"Having cleaned and fumigated the hold, they were again sent below, andwe stood for another island.
"Of course the people complained of the way they had been treated; somewere weeping, others abusing us, while some refused to take the food weoffered them. They were told, however, that if they would not eat theyshould be flogged, for we were not going to allow them to starvethemselves to death. In time we got them into pretty good order. As itwould not do for them to give way to despair, they were assured that,after working two or three years in the country to which we were takingthem, if they were industrious and behaved themselves, and consented tobecome good Catholics, they would be sent back to their native islandmuch the richer and happier for the trip. I don't know if they believedus; they might possibly have had doubts about the matter. These peoplehad had missionaries among them, and most of them were Christians; butthe French had sent the missionaries away, and they had become somewhatslack in their religion. Now, however, in their trouble they began topray again, and it was curious to hear them singing, and praying, andrepeating parts of the Bible which they had learned by heart. Ourinterpreter said it made him somewhat uncomfortable; but the captainlaughed at him, and told him that he must not let such notions troublehim, and that at best they were only heretics, and would now have thechance of becoming real Christians.
"We touched at several other islands in the neighbourhood, from whichcanoes full of natives came off towards us to learn who we were, andwhat we wanted. One canoe came alongside with an old chief, whoinquired eagerly whether we had a missionary on board, as he wasanxiously looking out for one who had promised to come and teach him andhis people to be Christians. The captain wanted the supercargo to passas the expected missionary, but he declined, saying he could not bringhis conscience to do it. The captain replied that the missionary wassick below, but that if the chief and his followers would come up theside, they should see him in the cabin.
"The savages looked very much surprised when they came on deck, to findthemselves pinioned and handed down below. Two of them before they weresecured, attempted to leap overboard. One was caught and the other wasshot, their canoe being sunk alongside that she might not drift on shoreand tell tales. The people in some of the other canoes which came offfurther on were more wary, and we had to use a great deal of persuasionto induce them to trust us. At last, we got one canoe full of nativesto come near us. As she approached on the port side, we had two of ourboats lowered and manned ready on the starboard side. When, afterhaving in vain tried to get the people on deck, the boats pulled round,and though the savages shoved off, we were too quick for them. Therewas a fierce struggle, two or three men were knocked overboard, but wecaptured the rest and quickly had them below hatches, while theircanoes, as usual, were sent to the bottom.
"We were not always so successful. Three canoes, one day, were comingoff to us, and were nearly up to the schooner, when they took alarm. Asthe captain did not wish to lose them, he ordered the guns to be fired,which sank two of them, when the boats which were ready pulled away andpicked up most of the people, excepting two or three who had been killedby the shot. The third canoe escaped, and we knew after this, there wasnot much chance of getting any more canoes to come off to us from thatisland.
"From this place we sailed away for several days, till we sighted alarge coral island, with a lagoon in the centre, and numerous cocoa-nuttrees growing along the shore. We judged from this that it wasinhabited. We stood close in on the lee side, till we could distinguishsome low huts scattered about under the trees, and a considerable numberof natives scampering along the shore. They were a savage-lookingpeople, without a stitch of clothing, except belts round their waists,and bracelets and shells on their arms and legs, their hair, as theyran, streaming in the wind, while they shook their long thin lances atus. As they had no canoes, we could not get them to come off to thevessel. It was therefore necessary for us to land and try and catchsome of them. They looked so fierce and determined that we expectedthey would give us more trouble than the inhabitants of Easter Islandhad done. Two boats well armed were, however, sent on shore to make theattempt. We were to proceed by fair means and to offer them trinkets,knives, and glasses, and handkerchiefs. If they would not be induced totrust us, we were to surround their village, and catch as many alive aswe could.
"As we pulled in for the shore, a party of the savages, led by an oldchief, came leaping, shouting, and shrieking, and brandishing theirspears towards us. The chief was a terrible-looking old fellow, tallerthan any of the rest, with high cheek bones, his hair and beard of longgrey hair plaited and twisted together, hanging from his head and aroundhis mouth like so many rats' tails. His companions imitated hisexample, and there seemed but little chance of our being able to gethold of any of them by peaceable means. We had our muskets ready tobring them down should they come too near us. We held up the trinkets,and handkerchiefs, and looking-glasses to try to make them understandthat we wished to be friendly, but it was of no use; they only shriekedthe louder and leapt the higher, and told us to be off, as they did notwant us or our goods. However, we remained steady, and they did notventure nearer.
"As our object was to catch them alive, dead savages being of no use tous, we persevered. Having placed several of the articles on the ground,we quietly retired to a distance, and at last we saw two or three of theyounger men approach and take the things up. They seemed
well pleasedwith them, and showed them to the rest. On this, we put some more onthe ground and again retired, then three of our men putting theirmuskets on the ground advanced towards the savages, being well coveredby the rest of us, and putting out their hands, we presented at the sametime several more articles. By these means we began to gain theirconfidence. We then made them understand that all we wanted was a fewcocoa-nuts, and that every man who brought one should be amply paid. Inthis way after we had waited quietly on the beach, twenty young fellowswere persuaded to put themselves within our reach, and to sit down in acircle near the boats. The old chief all the time kept shouting tothem, but they did not appear to heed him. While one party with loadedmuskets advanced towards the rest of the natives, we suddenly set uponthe lads who had brought us the cocoa-nuts, knocked them over, had theirarms pinioned, and they were carried to the boats before even theirastonished
Kidnapping in the Pacific; Or, The Adventures of Boas Ringdon Page 6