Kidnapping in the Pacific: or, The Adventures of Boas Ringdon

“We touched at several other islands in the neighbourhood, from which canoes full of natives came off towards us to learn who we were, and what we wanted. One canoe came alongside with an old chief, who inquired eagerly whether we had a missionary on board, as he was anxiously looking out for one who had promised to come and teach him and his people to be Christians. The captain wanted the supercargo to pass as the expected missionary, but he declined, saying he could not bring his conscience to do it. The captain replied that the missionary was sick below, but that if the chief and his followers would come up the side, they should see him in the cabin.

“The savages looked very much surprised when they came on deck, to find themselves pinioned and handed down below. Two of them before they were secured, attempted to leap overboard. One was caught and the other was shot, their canoe being sunk alongside that she might not drift on shore and tell tales. The people in some of the other canoes which came off further on were more wary, and we had to use a great deal of persuasion to induce them to trust us. At last, we got one canoe full of natives to come near us. As she approached on the port side, we had two of our boats lowered and manned ready on the starboard side. When, after having 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. There was a fierce struggle, two or three men were knocked overboard, but we captured the rest and quickly had them below hatches, while their canoes, as usual, were sent to the bottom.

“We were not always so successful. Three canoes, one day, were coming off to us, and were nearly up to the schooner, when they took alarm. As the 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 and picked up most of the people, excepting two or three who had been killed by the shot. The third canoe escaped, and we knew after this, there was not much chance of getting any more canoes to come off to us from that island.

“From this place we sailed away for several days, till we sighted a large coral island, with a lagoon in the centre, and numerous cocoa-nut trees growing along the shore. We judged from this that it was inhabited. We stood close in on the lee side, till we could distinguish some low huts scattered about under the trees, and a considerable number of natives scampering along the shore. They were a savage-looking people, without a stitch of clothing, except belts round their waists, and bracelets and shells on their arms and legs, their hair, as they ran, streaming in the wind, while they shook their long thin lances at us. As they had no canoes, we could not get them to come off to the vessel. It was therefore necessary for us to land and try and catch some of them. They looked so fierce and determined that we expected they would give us more trouble than the inhabitants of Easter Island had done. Two boats well armed were, however, sent on shore to make the attempt. We were to proceed by fair means and to offer them trinkets, knives, and glasses, and handkerchiefs. If they would not be induced to trust us, we were to surround their village, and catch as many alive as we could.

“As we pulled in for the shore, a party of the savages, led by an old chief, came leaping, shouting, and shrieking, and brandishing their spears towards us. The chief was a terrible-looking old fellow, taller than any of the rest, with high cheek bones, his hair and beard of long grey hair plaited and twisted together, hanging from his head and around his mouth like so many rats’ tails. His companions imitated his example, and there seemed but little chance of our being able to get hold of any of them by peaceable means. We had our muskets ready to bring them down should they come too near us. We held up the trinkets, and handkerchiefs, and looking-glasses to try to make them understand that we wished to be friendly, but it was of no use; they only shrieked the louder and leapt the higher, and told us to be off, as they did not want us or our goods. However, we remained steady, and they did not venture nearer.

“As our object was to catch them alive, dead savages being of no use to us, 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 the younger men approach and take the things up. They seemed well pleased with them, and showed them to the rest. On this, we put some more on the ground and again retired, then three of our men putting their muskets on the ground advanced towards the savages, being well covered by the rest of us, and putting out their hands, we presented at the same time several more articles. By these means we began to gain their confidence. We then made them understand that all we wanted was a few cocoa-nuts, and that every man who brought one should be amply paid. In this way after we had waited quietly on the beach, twenty young fellows were persuaded to put themselves within our reach, and to sit down in a circle near the boats. The old chief all the time kept shouting to them, but they did not appear to heed him. While one party with loaded muskets advanced towards the rest of the natives, we suddenly set upon the lads who had brought us the cocoa-nuts, knocked them over, had their arms pinioned, and they were carried to the boats before even their astonished countrymen could attempt to come to the rescue. At last, led by the old chief, the former made a dash at our men who remained, when several were of necessity shot down, the rest taking to flight, and we shoved off well content with having captured twenty stout young fellows, who were likely to prove serviceable labourers at the mines.

“Having at length got a full cargo, we returned to Easter Island, where we landed our captives. There they were to remain under a strong guard till carried away by smaller vessels and landed on different parts of the coast of Peru. We meantime sailed for the westward.

“During the trip we occasionally fell in with our former consorts, engaged in the same business, and we found that they had succeeded in capturing a number of natives from different islands much in the same way that we had done. Some were enticed on board by stratagem, others taken by force. No one engaged in the business was particular as to what means were employed, provided they could succeed in the enterprise. One vessel had taken a whole cargo off one single island, known as High Island, the crew having landed and surrounded the villages one after another, shooting down all who resisted.

“The wealthy merchant who had fitted out the vessel must have been highly satisfied, as must also the English shareholders who advanced him the money. Possibly they may or may not have been fully aware of the means employed to ensure success.

“Whether these people, accustomed to an easy and luxurious life on their sunny islands, would ultimately prove useful labourers in the dark mines, and be able to carry loads of ore down the steep, rocky sides of the mountains, I am not prepared to say. Our business was to catch them – that of the merchant to sell them; while the overseers of the mines had to see to the rest. If they died from hard work that was their look out.

“At length we arrived off Niue, or Savage Island, to which Captain Cook gave that name because the inhabitants were then and for many years afterwards fierce and barbarous in the extreme. Missionaries, both native and English, I had heard say, had gone among them, and the people had all become Christians and civilised. We could see that a well-made road ran round the island, and at intervals there were white-washed cottages, with gardens full of flowers, and neat churches peeping out among the trees.

”‘These people,’ the captain observed, ‘if we could get hold of them, were likely to prove mild and submissive, and of far more value than the savages we had taken from some of the other islands.’ It was necessary, however, to be cautious, or they might have suspected our intentions.

“We hove-to off the island, and the supercargo going on shore inquired for the English missionary. We found that his residence was on the other side, and we therefore judged that this would be a good place to carry on our operations. The supercargo, pretending that he was a friend of the missionary, invited as many as were inclined to come off to the vessel, saying that he had a present for the missionary and a few trifles for the chiefs, and that he should also be glad to trade with them for any articles they might produce.

“Meantime the other boats were in readiness with arms stowed away out of sight. A large number of canoes at once paddled off to us, some containing ten, others four or five natives each. The people came on board without hesitation, and while the captain kept them amused, showing some cases which he said contained the presents for the missionary and chiefs, bargaining for the few articles they had brought with them, the boats pushed away rapidly for the shore. A large number of people were collected on the beach, but even when they saw the boats coming, not observing any arms in the hands of the men, they were in no way alarmed. Their suspicions did not appear to be aroused, even when our men formed on the shore.

“Keeping our weapons as much as possible concealed, we marched a little way inland, then suddenly wheeling, with a loud shout rushed down upon the natives. They seemed utterly paralysed, and though some few fled, the greater number stared at us as if wondering what we were next going to do. We did not leave them long in doubt, but pressing round them, tripped them over, bound their arms, and in a short time made sixty or more prisoners. They offered little or no resistance, and we soon had all we had caught safely in the boat. As we pulled towards the vessel we saw several canoes making for the shore, but with only two or three people in each, while her guns were playing on a few others which were attempting to escape. We picked up several men who had jumped overboard, and when we got alongside we found that fully a hundred had been secured. Altogether we got a hundred and sixty people from that island alone; some were old men, but most of them were young and active. They were all neatly dressed in shirts and trousers, and looked very intelligent indeed; there was not one among them who could not read in his native tongue, and they all said that they were Christians. Our supercargo told them that so were we, but that we were real ones, while they, having only learned from the missionaries, were heretics.

“As they might have proved troublesome, we clapped them all down below, and kept the hatches on them.

“Wishing to capture more people from the same island, we immediately made sail, and stood along the coast, hoping to entice others on board before the news of what had occurred had spread. We heard our prisoners talking together, and soon they began knocking at the hatches, and under the deck, and on the sides, shrieking to be let out, and entreating us to put them again on shore. Two of our men were stationed at the hatchway ready to shoot any who might break out. Still the people below continued to make so much noise that the captain and mate became enraged, and, with two other men, went below armed with boats’ stretchers, and began to lay about them right and left, to bring the people to order. At last they were quiet, and we hoped that they had learned a lesson they would not forget. In the evening we heard them, instead of shouting and shrieking to be let out, singing hymns and praying. Looking down into the hold, there we saw them all kneeling together as if in prayer; then an old man among them got up, and while they sat round him he began to speak to them, and the supercargo, who understood their language, said he was preaching; and when he had finished he stretched out his hands, and prayed to God to bless them. After that they were quiet enough, and during the night gave us no further trouble.

“The next morning at daylight we stood in to another part of the coast. We saw several canoes quietly engaged in fishing, and so we guessed that the alarm had not spread thus far. We accordingly stood close in, when several canoes came off to us. The captain, as usual, invited the people on board. Some of them spoke English, which the captain did not understand, and I was not inclined to answer them. As they might have been alarmed had they seen armed men at the hatchway, those who had been stationed there were withdrawn. The new arrivals spoke rather loudly to each other; their voices were heard by their countrymen below, who, making a sudden rush at the fore hatch, forced it off and sprang upon deck.

“The alarm was given immediately; those who had last come, as well as our captives, began to leap overboard. We all rushed upon them, knocked those we could catch down, and shut close the hatchway. The captain then ordered us to fire on the people in the water swimming for the shore, while the boats were manned and sent in pursuit of the fugitives. Two or three were hit, some sank, and only a few succeeded in gaining one of the canoes; the rest were all retaken. In the canoe which escaped was one young man who was shot just as he got into it: his companions, however, managed to paddle off. Those who had been retaken were well beaten, and forced down below.

“As there was no use remaining longer at Savage Island, we sailed for Samoa.

“We avoided the principal harbours, and kept cruising along the coast, picking up several canoes which came off to us. Occasionally we went on shore to obtain water and vegetables, always being on our guard lest our business might be suspected, and we ourselves entrapped. At one place where we landed for this purpose, we found the natives under an old warrior chief preparing to attack a neighbouring tribe. ‘This is just the opportunity for us,’ observed our supercargo; ‘if we help the old chief, we may bargain that we are to have all the prisoners.’ The supercargo on this began to talk to the chief about the arms and men we possessed, and to hint that we might possibly be persuaded to assist him in conquering his enemies. The old chief at once took the bait, and promised us anything we might ask if we would assist him. The supercargo replied that our captain would be very moderate in his demands, and that we should be content if we might have all the prisoners. We agreed to come on shore with ten men to help him. The captain, however, had arranged to send all the boats, which were to keep in the rear of the enemy, and, as soon as the battle began, the crews were to land, and carry off as many warriors as they could lay hands on.

“Early the next morning we landed with our muskets, and found the army drawn up for battle. The warriors were armed with spears and short clubs, and their hair dressed up in the strangest fashion, and stuck full of feathers. They were almost naked, with the exception of kilts round their waists. We kept in the rear, ready to advance when called upon to act, and the warriors marched forward, singing songs and shouting their war-cries. In a short time they came in front of the enemy, who were seen drawn up in a wood. Both parties halted and began abusing each other, our friends telling their enemies that they were women, and would soon run away; and warning them that they only came to be killed, if they dared to advance further. After this style of compliment had been exchanged for some time, they rushed towards each other grinning and making faces, when they once more halted, and began throwing their spears. We on this advanced, and fired a volley, which threw them into the greatest confusion. It was evidently totally unexpected, and, before they could recover, our friends rushed in on them, speared some and made others prisoners. We, meantime, were loading, and, having done so, advanced and fired a second volley. The enemy, though brave fellows, began to fly, when our friends dashed in among them, and, with our assistance, a large number were captured. Many of those who escaped were seized by the crews of the boats, and at once dragged off. The victory was complete, and the old chief at once handed over to us all the prisoners he had taken. This was an advantage to them, for they would otherwise have been killed.

“By this means we collected about forty men, whom we carried at once on board.

”‘We may as well have some of our friends,’ observed the supercargo, and he accordingly returned on shore to invite the old chief, and as many people as he chose to bring off to visit the ship, and receive some presents which he was told we had prepared for him. The chief looked highly pleased, and much to the satisfaction of the supercargo, accepted his polite invitation.

“Next morning the chief and several people came alongside. The chief said he desired to thank us for the service we had rendered him, and to present us with some cocoa-nut oil and rolls of cloth which would be prepared in a day or two if we would wait for them.

“The captain assured him of his friendship, and begged him to accept some presents in return for those he intended to make, and invited him and several of his principal attendants into the cabin to receive them, while his people were asked by the crew to go down forward. No sooner were our guests below than they were seized and lashed hand and foot before they could give the alarm to those who remained on deck. All hands then rushed on deck, and quickly knocked down the greater number of those who were collected there; a few uttering loud cries of terror leapt overboard, while those in the canoes, suspecting that something was wrong, shoved off, and began to paddle away towards the shore. Our shot sent after them caused such alarm that several of the canoes returned, others escaped, two or three were knocked to pieces, and some of the people in them drowned.

“We considered this a good haul, but we had some difficulty in keeping order between the new comers and their enemies whom we had before captured; by going among them, however, with our clubs, and showing them that we would stand no nonsense, we brought them into order. Again making sail, we continued our course along the coast, here and there capturing canoes, and occasionally landing and carrying off a few people, though we were not again so successful as in the case I have described.

“In one small canoe we found a Portuguese with two Samoaians; the latter we put below hatches, but the captain was afraid of detaining the white man, who declined joining us, and allowed him to make the best of his way to shore.

“We found two of our consorts cruising off this coast, but in a short time the suspicions of the people on shore were aroused, and we therefore left it and proceeded on to visit certain groups of islands lying 8 or 10 degrees south of the equator. From one of these islands we got nearly a hundred people, and another vessel which followed us captured several more, though most of the natives as soon as a sail hove in sight ran off from the coast.

“By various means, from one island or another, we captured fifty or sixty more, till at length with a full cargo we steered eastward to put them on shore, as before, on Easter Island.

“Some disagreeable news met us here. We heard that the French authorities at Tahiti were very indignant at our having carried off the natives of islands under their protection, and that they had sent out several cruisers to intercept us. One of our vessels, the ‘Mercedes,’ had been seized with a hundred and fifty natives on board. The vessel had been condemned and sold, the captain sentenced to five years’ penal servitude, and the supercargo to ten. Besides her four or five other vessels had been captured and carried into Tahiti, where they were detained. One, having been taken without any natives, was allowed to return to Callao after she had been compelled to dispose of all her rice and other provisions, so as to make it impossible for her to proceed on her voyage. Besides this, the French Governor of Tahiti had sent to the Peruvian Government demanding that every native who had been taken from islands under French protection should be delivered up, and heavy damages paid for any who might be missing. However, as these formed but a very small number of the natives captured, the matter in itself was not of much consequence. The fear was that not only the French but the English might send out cruisers and interfere in all directions with our proceedings. The profit, however, and the demand for labour was so great, that in spite of the difficulties to be encountered, the merchant I spoke of resolved to persevere in the undertaking, although it would be necessary to use even greater precautions than before.

“This first voyage will give you an idea of two or three others which I made shortly afterwards, when we collected our passengers much in the same way as before, though we took care only to visit islands the least frequented by European vessels, so that our proceedings might be kept as secret as possible.

“Ill luck, however, at length set against us. Some of our vessels were wrecked, the natives rose and murdered the crew of one, the French captured several more, and the Peruvian government, compelled to listen to the complaints which were made, interfered, and considerable difficulties were thrown in the way of landing the islanders. The ‘Andorinha,’ after her long career of success, was driven on a coral reef, when the captain and supercargo and most of the crew perished. I was washed on shore, more dead than alive. Fortunately for me, it was near a village of Christian natives, one of whom found me on the beach, and carried me to his hut, and fed and clothed me, and took care of me till I recovered. He knew the character of the vessel, for we had some time before carried off several natives from that very island, but I told him that I was an Englishman, and compelled by the Spaniards to remain on board. He replied that it mattered not who I was or what I had been about, that I was suffering and in distress, and that his religion taught him to feed and clothe the hungry and naked, and to do good to his enemies – that as long as I chose I might remain, and that if I wished to go I might depart in peace. I was sure he did not believe the account I gave of myself, and I own I did not feel as comfortable as I should have liked. He and his family had prayers and sang hymns morning and evening; and on Sunday, as well as on other days in the week, they attended a large chapel, where a native missionary preached. The other people in the village did the same. All this did not suit me, and I determined to get away as soon as I had the chance. No vessel appearing, however, I told my host that I should like to see other parts of his island, and that I would make a trip through it. He replied that I might do as I wished, but that as some of the natives were heathens or ‘devil’s men,’ as he called them, they might not treat me well. I answered that I would run the risk of that, and as to their being heathens, that was all the same to me. It only, indeed, made me the more eager to be among them, as I thought I should have greater liberty than with my psalm-singing friends. I accordingly walked away with a stick in my hand, for I had no clothes except those on my back. Wherever I went the natives received me kindly, and gave me such food as I wanted.

“After travelling some days, I found myself in a village where there was no church and no school, and the people did not trouble themselves much about clothing. I guessed by this that they were heathens. The chief, a young man, invited me to stop with him, and assist him in his battles. I soon showed him that I was a good hand with a musket, and he remarked that before long the time might come when I could use it. He was just then, however, with some of his friends, going to catch pigeons in the woods. We had first a grand kava feast, the drink they make from certain roots, which they first chew in their mouths. Each of the young men had several trained pigeons, which are taught to fly round and round in the air at the end of a long string, and to come back to their masters when called. Each man had, besides, a small net fixed to the end of a bamboo forty feet in length. On arriving at the wood a large circle was cleared of bush, and a wall of stones built round it. Each sportsman had also a small arbour of boughs erected, in which he could sit hidden just outside the wall. In front of him sat his pigeon on a perch stuck in the ground, while by his side rested his net, ready to be raised in a moment.