FIJI THE CAMBRIA MURDERS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1151, 6 April 1872, Page 2

FIJI THE CAMBRIA MURDERS.

A long report of the trial of Daniel Sin* clair appears . in. the took place on the i6ih l February. Thepnsjcraer was charged? .with haying; unlawfully assaulted, -.beaten; and" wonndecf "' one Massee, a, M&lacbla native. It will be remembered that two young men, Palford and Thorpe wore murdered on board the cutter Cambria.; the deed has been attributed to the brutal ill usage jof gtwo Malacola natives^ Isoa andi -Maasee, Jvho were chained together by Sinclair on the deck-of the Cambria ttt such away that it was thought impossible they could fiee themselves. , By. some mgana^ however, not yet^aiscertaih4d','the two islanders got free.x)f,tMir^.ahaj^ea^a^4Me^jujggoged to have caused .ther Jailing oTthe two men who was placed as guard over them. Sinclair refused to plead, ons^e\grogmijriiat the Court had no jurisdiction* JiAJpty of seven persons was empannelledviandi the Acting Chief Justice (Mr* Worword.% determined to proceed <^yxth the case^Mr D'Arcy Murray prosecuting on 'behalf of the Government. The offence was detailed XL Jfifcohard, Clerk of the Peace^wMch was as follows: — " On the 13th November I heard cries of distress . and for help from the prisoner's premises, which attracted; my" attejfeon j Messrs Whiteside and Walters proceeded to the kitchen with two- Fljians, where the two Malacolas and the prisoner, Mrs Sinclair, ; and six iotheri Wgrfeif tbink Miss. Sinclair was~there; I saw the thin Malabofo man with his heaWne&r the fire, held dbw'bV a Fljian ; *nVl struggling; Captain. Sinclair' waif s'truggfing with,, tn© other man j l 'Mrs Sinc^rißenta'mesaengei! to Bentley*sfbr ijffq'' pairs j$ hWdciifiß ; the prisoner seemefl to^ej^e^pWered by the : .other .^JJalacola, n^a% jyMLi Spupee > before the handcufe were procuyred", Mrs Sinclair, in presence -of pcmnfr^tggk up a billet of wood,' and, in trying to release her husband, hit the stoatlman several times over the head; -w^Jthei secured the men until the handcuff arrived ; it was by oMrJctioni of ij^W/''the men were fiecure'd ; '.we? tßougKif J Gtft'-they were ' attempting. W py.e™wer SraioneV $t the ■'jfimp jh a^fhajk fM^^ofie? ) 6^6T'^ot' ! |»m-----plain of them naVxiMr. .committed any prime, but,afterwapda c s^^i§ev been running away ;• he merely j jjp^i)Mv ; had absconded from the p^mja^aajyi: Mrs Sinclair l found thematThimpßon!« j t |rhen the handcuffs arrived they weWugmton the -men :••'^Ccordiflg^ toKfii»B' directions, and he .assisted: in putting them onihey 1 r&sitftedj 1 n greaTfe> time! arid bit L ' Mr --SincMri^^^le at^ tempting to put the handoufla on j when

the handcuffs were being put on Massee they were too large, so Mr Whiteside bound canvas round them until they were made small enough for him, which, when done, it was difficult to fasten them — the object being to fasten the natives ; I cannot say whether it stopped the circulation of the blood ; Mr Sinclair tied them up with their heads in front to the studs of a Fiji house, in a standing position, the ropes fastening them so that their hands could not be moved, and so that they could not move their bodies ; I fancy they were lashed to separate studs ; if I were lashed in the same way it would give me pain ; there was blood on the prisoner, with one of his teeth knocked out, his mouth bleeding, and his arm, from having been, bitten, was bleeding ; he was excit&L Mr Sinclair then swore at the natives. "You niggers, how dare you strike a white man ?" This was after they wpe tied up ; the prisoner then struck Massee in the face ; the stout man's head was very much battered about, but the thin one not so much ; I can't say which it was he struck ; some said, "That will do;" I then left the place; when I left the prisoner was still there ; I remember having' Been him in the evening after he returned from the Cambria. Sinclair, being called on for his defence, claimed exemption from jurisdiction of the Court, on the ground that he was a British subject. The Acting Chief Justice, in summing up, dealt with the plea and protest of the prisoner in the following terms :— " Persons (he said) coming to Fiji must obey and be bound by the local laws, and were hot to be allowed to escape merely because they denied the Court's authority. If he were to permit this, every person, no matter how heinous his offence, had only to deny their right to try him to escape justice, for it was absurd to suppose that a man-of-war, 1 which might remain in harbor a few days only, would remedy this, as on her appearance off the reef, a delinquent had only to get oat of sight, and so avoid altogether being made to answer for his crimes. The Court sat by the authority of the Native King, and under a T Constitution which had been assented to by all the ruling chiefs of the group and by the white residents generally, flrSt through s their own delegates, and afterwards by an elected Parliament of whites and a native council of chiefs, and its authority was unassailable. He (the Judge) had not accepted: his, .office until he nad convinced himself of this; and after twenty-eight years of training, much of that period in. London, he might claim to know something of English law and the views of the great men who ditepiedtits administration, fie was therefore determined to carry out his sworn duiyjjasj&irjasithef resources fit; the authorities here would permit^ whatever might* be the result, r and the prisoner, or any other person 'brought before him, must not think to escape by any side-wind. The merits of his case' must alone be his protection." The jury found the prisoner guilty of the assault, and he received a sentence of three months' imprisonment, with a fine of 150dol for each assault, and in default of payment to be further imprisoned till the fines be paid, the whole term, however, not to exceed twelve months. The question of jurisdiction was to be argued, and until such time the prisoner was admitted to bail, himself in L2QO and two sureties in LIOO each. ,