Two Years Among the Savages of New Guinea Part 7

We soon left them far behind, and pa.s.sed close to the small island "Digaragara." This last is memorable on account of the terrible tragedy that took place there a few years previously.

A young man, Fred Miller, who was engaged in the Beche-de-mer fishery, had a smoke house on this island, and employed several of the savages.

His boat was on the beach, and he was superintending the curing of the fish, when the natives, without any warning, suddenly made a dash at him. Some held him while the others put an end to him with their "tomahawks." Miller had always treated the natives well, and had never interfered with or molested them in any way. It was simply their l.u.s.t of plunder, added to the distinction gained by obtaining a human head.

Were these diabolical savages punished for this outrage?

I regret to say no. Nothing was done to them. It was only another white man added to their list of victims. His murderers are to this day enjoying their full liberty, and doubtless, when seated around the camp fires, recount to their friends, with careless glee, the history of their terrible deeds.

Everyone who had known Miller, and he had many friends, was furious when he heard the details of the ma.s.sacre.

The natives of Normanby have always been of a stubborn and hostile disposition, refusing to have anything to do with the white man, or to have any trading relations with him. Maybe this is partly owing to the terrible scenes enacted by those on board the _Hopeful_ seven years ago. The _Hopeful_ was a schooner engaged in the labour trade.

She was accustomed to make voyages to the South Seas for the purpose of obtaining Kanaka labourers for the sugar plantations in Queensland. The term of their indentures was three years, when they had to be restored to their homes.

About the year 1883, finding the business in the South Seas rather overdone, she turned her attention to New Guinea.

A man of the name of Williams was the captain in command of her, and McNeil acted as Government agent. They proceeded to Normanby Island for recruiting purposes.

Instead of obtaining recruits in a legitimate way, they behaved in the most brutal manner. Armed to the teeth, they landed in one of their boats and kidnapped the natives against their will. If any struggled they shot them down without mercy, and even shot them in the water as they were swimming from their canoes to the sh.o.r.e.

After killing many, and imprisoning as many as they could on board, they sailed to Queensland, where they landed their living freight.

They say "murder will out," and so it did in this instance. The Government, immediately upon hearing of their outrageous conduct, arrested McNeil and Williams, and at the same time caused the unwilling immigrants to be returned to their island homes. In due course the two culprits were tried, found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged. As is fas.h.i.+onable in such cases, a monster pet.i.tion was got up by the people of Queensland to reprieve these murderers, and laid before the Executive Council. After long deliberation the Council commuted the sentence to penal servitude for life, the _first five years in irons_.

One of the prisoners (McNeil) died in his irons. The Queensland Government also strictly forbade any more recruiting in New Guinea, so _that_ was the last time natives in New Guinea were torn from their homes. Recruiting is still permitted in the South Seas, but the regulations in force are most strict.

At the time of my leaving Queensland for this country, namely, November, 1889, the Government were seriously considering the advisability of prohibiting further importation of Kanaka labour.

To this, of course, the planters seriously objected, as they maintain they cannot afford to work their plantations with white labour.

The _Hopeful_ ma.s.sacres have undoubtedly caused reprisals on the part of the Normanby Islanders, and not without excuse.

Unfortunately the innocent have to suffer for the sins of the guilty.

We now laid our course for the "Woodlark Islands," 70 miles to the north-east. We hugged the coast of Normanby as far as Cape Pearson, when we stood out to sea. The coast up to this point is very bold and rugged.

A square block of frowning mountains runs from Cape Ventenat to Cape Pearson.

Loud claps of thunder reverberated through the hills; black clouds were sailing along with threatening aspect. Strong gusts of wind burst with fury against our little craft as she tore through the seething foam.

We were travelling eight knots an hour--a great speed for a boat of 12 tons. Luckily, the wind was pretty favourable, otherwise we should have had a bad time of it. As it was, we deemed it prudent to close reef the mainsail and jib. Evidently we were in for a dirty night, as the wind hourly increased in strength. Our boat, however, was staunch and true, and laughed at wind and storm.

Darkness suddenly fell on us, as, in tropical countries, no sooner has the sun set than night spreads her black mantle over land and sea.

After careering for some hours at a breakneck speed, we began to think it was high time to "heave to." We roughly estimated the distance we had travelled and our proximity to a large island. Knowing that a reef extended from this island, we were most anxious to keep it at a respectful distance, as to run on to it at the rate of eight knots an hour meant certain destruction, as a heavy sea was breaking on it.

I suggested "heaving to," at 10.00 p.m., but my two comrades considered 9.30 to be safer, so, being in the minority, I gave in. Fortunate for us that we did so.

"Heaving to" with half a gale blowing, and a heavy sea running is rather a delicate matter. We took up our respective stations, and watching a good opportunity, sung out "ready" when, with the exception of s.h.i.+pping half-a-dozen buckets of water, the manoeuvre was successfully carried out.

Everything was made as snug as possible, but we prepared ourselves to spend an anxious and restless night.

The wind still held sway. How our little craft did "job" about! There was no sleep for any of us that night. The whole of our attention was concentrated on the boat, as the slightest carelessness or neglect, in such a sea, on our part, would almost certainly have fatal consequences.

As the first streaks of dawn lined the horizon our position was made known to us.

To our great surprise, there, right in front of us, not 200 yards away, stood the island, with the coral reef merely a few boats' lengths ahead. We realized that we had had a narrow escape. Where should we have been had we "stood on" for a few seconds longer the previous night? Dashed to pieces amongst the coral rocks, and food for the sharks. In less than two minutes we had slackened the sheets and away we tore, our lee gunwale under water most of the time, beating our way to "Egum" (Little Woodlarks), 10 miles to the eastward, which we were glad to reach at 5 o'clock that evening.

Directly the sails were furled and everything made fast, we were honoured by a succession of visitors, both men and women. It is very unusual for the latter to come spontaneously on board. The chief's wife welcomed us to the island, and stated that a dish of yams was being prepared for our delectation. We sent on sh.o.r.e a billy-can and some tea, thus saving us the trouble of boiling it on board. We felt rather tired with our tempestuous voyage, and were glad of a rest.

Our most distinguished visitor was "Tokaiakus," the Dwarf.

Not having met him before, I was introduced with due ceremony. In all my travels I had never beheld such a curiosity. Let me endeavour to describe him. Imagine a man 3 feet 6 inches in height, of a chocolate colour, 35 years of age, having a Herculean chest, with arms the length of a child's. An immense head covered with a shock of hair falling on his neck in ringlets, a flat nose, and a mouth stretching from ear to ear. Add to all a light summer suit consisting of a palm leaf round his loins, and the picture is complete. He was, without exception, the most monstrous specimen of Papuan humanity in the whole of New Guinea. As both he and I understood the language spoken on the southeast coast, we soon became on friendly terms.

The chief of "Egum" was absent, having gone on a cruise to the "Trobriand Islands," and was not expected back for a month. The houses on "Egum" were different from those we had been accustomed to. Instead of being built on blocks they were level with the ground. The anchorage here is quite sheltered, being close in to a small reef.

The difficulty is in reaching it; once there you are in still water and can remain at anchor without fear of dragging. In navigating these parts you have to trust mainly to your eyesight as it is practically unsurveyed. A chart would only lead to confusion and maybe into peril.

"Egum" is connected with another small island by a coral reef on which the surf breaks with some violence. This reef lies to the E.N.E.

About sundown the natives came off with the yams and tea prepared for us.

They had boiled the yams in coco-nut milk, which is far preferable to water. We fell to with a will, the sea air having given us a good appet.i.te. We showed our visitors over the vessel, when they expressed their admiration at everything they saw. They had never seen a vessel of such large dimensions, viz. 12 tons.

They were particularly interested in a cabinet photograph of a young lady, which adorned our cabin. We explained to them that it was a "Sina Dim-dim," _i.e._ a White Lady, in fact was the wife of one of us. In answer to our queries they considered her "_very good_."

After supper two of us took the dinghy and rowed on sh.o.r.e, leaving our mate in charge of the cutter.

The island contains about 30 inhabitants. We were quickly surrounded by the entire population. They were very anxious to know how long we intended to stay and whither we were bound? We informed them we were going a long way over the sea to a strange land, and could not possibly return for at least a month, but that we would not fail to give them a call on our way back.

The next morning we went to the adjoining island, where we bagged three or four pigeons. We also obtained some Beche-de-mer from the natives, for which we paid them in tobacco.

I had hoped to meet a native princess, the daughter of the chief of the Woodlarks, but was doomed to disappointment. I had received a glowing description of her beauty, and my curiosity was excited. However, I had the pleasure of seeing her on my return visit.

A small cutter belonging to us, named the "_A----s_" had left "Egum"

for the Trobriand Group a few days previous, so, as we wished to fall in with her, we decided to sail on the following day. We invited the dwarf and a boy of the name of Sindiwaia to accompany us, promising to bring them safely home in one "moon."

To our astonishment they both accepted our kind offer, notwithstanding we were bound for New Britain, a country they had never heard of. After taking an affectionate farewell of their friends they came on board with their luggage. Their luggage consisted of two bau-bau pipes, a few betel nuts and two or three native mats. Whatever wardrobe they possessed was left on sh.o.r.e. We conducted them to the "hold," which was to be their sleeping quarters during the trip. They stowed their worldly possessions down below and prepared to enjoy themselves. It showed great pluck in them, trusting themselves so far away from home and for so long a period.

Our number was now increased to five, quite enough for so small a craft. Having finished our business, we left for the Trobriands, hoping to overtake the cutter "_A----s_," although we were ignorant of where we should meet her.

When leaving "Egum" you have to go through a barrier reef. The openings are very narrow, therefore it behoves you to be well on the alert. Also in this district it always appears to be blowing half a gale. It is absolutely necessary for one man to stand in the bows and give warning to the helmsman of any reefs or shoals. You can always recognise them by the discoloured water. We often had to sail a distance of five miles with but a couple of feet of water under our keel and on the constant look out for "gibbers" or rocks. It is said "Without danger or chance of mishap, travel is never worth a rap."

Nevertheless we should have been quite satisfied to dispense with coral reefs and sunken rocks. It will be years before these parts of New Guinea are surveyed. With one or two narrow escapes we managed to keep clear of the hidden dangers and at about four o'clock in the afternoon were in sight of the Trobriands. Knowing that our cutter "_A----s_" was sure to have called at Lagrandiere, one of the islands of the group, we determined to visit it, hoping by good luck either to meet her there or learn her whereabouts.

The evening was a beautiful one. A steady breeze was blowing from the south-east and a few miles to the north-east lay the island to which we bound. The lurid sun was just about to set, and the sea was calm save a gentle ripple. All nature smiled, as if conscious of her beauty. It was the most enchanting hour of day--Sunset--whose delights are made more precious by their brevity. Alas, the varied colours are soon blotted out and trans.m.u.ted into a sombre black, but as we gazed on that scene of sea and sky, the sin and sorrow of the world seemed to fade from our memory.

Half-an-hour later we dropped anchor within 20 yards of the sh.o.r.e, and to our delight found the cutter "_A----s_" already there, completely surrounded by canoes full of wild and dusky savages. To tell the truth, they were more glad to see us than we to see them, as there being but two of them, and their boat a small one, it was as much as they could manage to keep the savages in check. They had been obliged to draw their revolvers and for some time had been in considerable danger of their lives. We anch.o.r.ed close alongside of them, when there was much rejoicing and shaking of hands.