A Terrible Tragedy.

Feilding Star, Volume XVII, Issue 182, 5 February 1896, Page 2

A Terrible Tragedy.

MUTINY AND MURDER ON THE HIGH SEAS. (Per Press Association) Sydney, February 4. Particulars have been received of a terrible tragedy in the Eastern seas. The schooner Maria II left Singapore for the Caroline Islands. The crew consisted of Captaiu Brown, who bad his wife and a little son with him, a German mate (Hohlmann), and a number of Chinese from Pellew Island as seamen, and a negro passenger. The crew, under the leadership of the boatswain, mutinied. The boatswain stole into the captain's cabin while he was asleep, and severed the head from the shoulders with an axe. The wife called for assistance, and Hohlmann, who came to the rescue, was cut down. The negro was also attacked and wounded, and, in a frenzy of fear, jumped into the water, where he was shot. The bodies of the captain and mate were tied to the anchor and thrown overboard. The captain's wife and son were kept prisoners in the cabiu. The mutineers sailed the schooner to the Island of Aune, intending to sell the cargo and burn the vessel ; but the native king, suspecting something was wrong, refused to allow them to land. They then began to quarrel among themselves, and three of the Pellew Islanders were killed. The remainder shaped a course for Peliews, where a Spanish cruiser seized the schooner and seat the murderers to Manilla for trial.