WHOLESALE KIDNAPPING AND MURDERS IN THE PACIFIC.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1278, 3 September 1872, Page 3

WHOLESALE KIDNAPPING AND MURDERS IN THE PACIFIC.

[sydne? morning: herald.]

< At the Water Police Court, Sydney, on Friday, August 16, Joseph Armstrong was charged with having wiUV'y, feloniously, and of his malic j aforethought, killed and murdered a man whose name is unknown.

Dr James Patrick Murray deposed : I hare lately come from Sandhurst, Victoria. 1 arrived in the City of Adelaide this morning. In 1871 I was the owner of the brig Carl. She saUed from Melbourne iv the early part of 1871, a voyage to the South Seas. Captain Fljnn was then the master. Prisoner Armstrong was mate of the vessel. We proceeded with passengers to Levuka, Fiji. We arrived there in about three weeks from the time we started from Melbourne. When we got to levuka the passengers were discharged, and Captain Flynn was discharged. Prisoner Armstrong % then became master or the vessel. She was chartered for the labor trade by authority of the consul. The labor was to be collected on my account. I proceeded in the vessel. I remained in Levuka upwards of a week. The brig then sailed for -the New Hebrides, the prisoner being the master. .We anchored outside a r £qjjftain piaceV The boat was sent to look for better anchorage, I was in the boat. Whilst looking for better anchorage the boat was fired upon with arrows. At this time a number of canoes were trading round the vessel. We saw these canoes round the vessel when we returned to the ship. Partly in retaliation for the firing, we made an attack upon these canoes. We fired at them. Most of the natives j jumped out of the canoes. One remained in one of the canoes fighting ; another was wounded J The second boat of the ship was then lowered, and the natives were picked up out of the water by either one or other of the ship's boats. Our boat picked up 12 or] 3 natives. They were taken on board the ship, and put in the hold. They were pulled up the ship roughly by the crew of the brig. When $aey were got on board they were placed in the hold. Those men did not resist. We sailed away directly we got the men in the hold, and went to the Solomon Group. The ship was anchored not more than two or three cable lengths from the island of Malakolo. The natives who were not picked up escaped to the shore. Some were wounded, Prisoner was assisting in the general effort to take the natives. We sailed for the Solomon Group. The voyage thither took eight or nine days, or perhaps less. We sailed to the island of Santa Anna, the southernmost island of the group. We had been in the channel about an hour, perhaps, when canoes came to us from Santa Anna, with natives on board. The vessel was under sail at the time. They exchanged cocoanute? tortoise-shell, and such things. Two of the natives came on board. The majority remained in the canoes. The canoes came close alongside. Heavy pieces of iron were thrown into the canoes by the crew and captaiu. Some of the canoes were by this means upset. The boats were lowered, and the natives were picked. «p by the crew of the vessel, About 12 or 13 were picked up in this way. The natives were pulled out of the water into the boats, and from the boats they were lifted into the ship. The ship might have been about a quarter or half a mile from land at this time. The canoes and natives that were not taken went to the shore. When the natives were got on board they were put in the hold. The natives who had previously been placed in the hold were allowed on deck. They were usually kept in the hold a couple of days. After the men were got on board, the brig sailed away to an island north of Santa Anna, but still in the same group. There were no natives taken there. We went from there to the island of Isabella, another of the same group. The canoes came out as before, and commenced to trade. Whilst trading, they were upset in the same manner as the others were upset, by the captain and crew of the brig Carl throwing iron into them; 1 Directly the canoes were upset, the ship's boats were lowered and manned by a crew from the vessel, and all the natives that could be picked up were so picked up. About 10 of them were picked up. The canoes were, generally speaking, .Bjmall ones, having three or four men each. The ship was under sail all this time. The natives came on board from the boats almo3t voluntarily. They were put in the hold, and kept there for a day or two. They were liberated in a day or two if they did not exhibit any inclination to fight. We sailed away to Bougainville, the northernmost island of the group. The voyage took us a few days, The island of Bougainville ia densely inhabited by warlike natives. The natives of the other islands were not so warlike. We Bailed alom* the east coaßb of the island, J omitted to say that before going to Bougainville we called at the Florida group. We obtained a few men there j not more than four or five. We got them in the same way as the others were got, by the upsetting of the canoes by dropping pig iron into them. In throwing the iron, care was taken that none 6f the natives were hurt. I saw the pig iron taken from the Bide of the vessel and

(Fw continuation of News, see 4Ah page.)

thi o .vn over. It was placed on deck for the purpose of throwing into and sinking the canoe 3. One of the crew would take up the iron and stand on the ta ft rail o c • the ship and throw it into a canoe. I did not actually see the iron strike a canoe. I did not look over the side of the vessel, but I heard the smashing occasioned by the throwing of the iron. The iron was used for ballast. Having got to Bougainville canoes came out very plentifully. We went very near the land when coasting along the island. We were about a week or 10 (days t.ff and on at Bougainville. We were getting natives for four or five days. We got about 80 natives from this island. They were obtained by their canoes being upset by the crew of the brig throwing iron into them. When the canoes were upset, the crew of the brig manned the boats and got the natives on board in the same way as the others had been. When they were got on deck they were placed in the hold. These Bougainville men resisted very much, but the crew and some oilier white men on board assisted to get the natives into the hold. They resisted the capture altogether. At night time the natives were all put into the same hold ; but the natives from tho different islands did not mi?, with each other. We had not the men on board more than 48 hours, when an alarm was given by the evening watch. The day before there was some talk of a disturbance ; but it wa3 not noticed. But on this evening, about seven or eight o'clock, an alarm was given that tho natives in the hold were rising. The alarm was given by the man on the watch. The brig was under, full sail at the time. After the alarm had been given, 1 could hear the natives battering at the main hatch with poles, and lighting with the other natives at either end of the vessel. The bunks of the natives were made of green saplings and poles. These the natives had torn down and armed themselves with. They made javelins of some of the saplings, and threw them up the hatchway. The hatchway was covered with open beams, but not sufficiently wide apart to admit' of a man getting through. The openings were, perhaps, six inches square. The openings were for the purpose of ventilation. Every effort was made to pacify the natives. No white man on board knew their languages. None of the natives from the other islands could converse with those from Bougainville. r The Bougainville natives and the others kept aloof from each other. On this particular night they fought with each other. We shouted to them, and endeavored to intimidate them by firing pistols over their heads. We did our best to quell the disturbance. The disturbance lasted for pbout a quarter of an hour. The Bougainville natives endeavored to set. fire to the ship by rubbing cocoanut shells together. 1 believe that caused the natives to fight. The other natives endeavored to extinguish the fire. After the expiration of about a quarter of an hour, the natives were fired upon. The fire was directed to the natives under the main hatchway. Guns and revolvers were used. Everybody fired. lam not sure whether Captain -Armstrong fired. I think he was at the wheel. Ido not think he fired. The tiring and fighting lasted all night. When the natives stopped in the least, every effort was made to pacify them. The v natives succeeded in loosening some of the bars of the hatchway. The fighting was kept up at intervals all night. The firing could not be said to have ceased until the morning. The firing was carried on voluntarily by the white men. No positive orders were given by anyone. The general alarm being given, every one took their firearms and proceeded towards the main hatch. Some ••f us carried arms, with us, but most of the arms were kept in the cabin. X think each man took his own weapon out of "the cabin. I think some of the arms were ' loaded. In the morning, after the fifing had ceased, a man named Scott attempted to go into the hold to endeavor to pacify,, the natives. He had only gone down two or three steps, when he received a thrust in the stomach from a pole. The white men who were on board besides the crew were interested in the cruise, but not in the labor trade. A party of five youn" men in Melbourne had associated together for the purchase oi land' at Apia. Dunn* the night the friendly natives had been admitted on deck through the fore and aft hatches. Some few of them that could aotbe got up remained below. Nearly all of them were got on deck. In the morning the hatches were taken off, and the killed and wounded were taken out of the hold and put on deck. I think some of the crew went. down to bring theai up. The captain was giving directions. About 70 dead and wounded natives were brought on deck. All the Bougainville natives, with the exception of 10 or 12, were either killed or wounded. The dead natives were thrown overboard. I could not say definitely who gave the directions. The wounded natives were also thrown overboard. I never could ascertain Whether positive orders were given for them to be thrown overboard. I think ifc waa done with the general will of the whites. I endeavored to get their Jives spared, and suggested that they should be put on an island, but the general feeling was against d»B»g that. There were about 50 killed and about 20 wounded ; they were ihrown overboard whilst they were still alive. I was desirous of saving the lives of the wounded natives. I appealed to the mass, not to Armstrong especially as master. The mass, of which the captain was one, all appeared to be encased in one common object. The wounded were first of all put on the deck: The deid were thrown overboard as they were brought out of the hold. I did i,ot loojc at the- wounded as a medical man, but 1 looked casually at some of them. jj took me a few moments. They tsmt have been on deck a quarter of an fcour or twenty minutes before they weT e thrown overboard. There was v£ discus sion as to whether tho woundsdi should be thrown overboard. It was a spon- ' taneous movement. I heard the wounded ' were to be thrown overboard, and I went ! forward that I might not see it done It I was the general feeling that that was the ■' best way to dispose of them. There was | bo?r7 Th 7 f ° r them , to be «"own overboard. The crew and the other white men were assembled round the a hL h\ i at the time The whole ofSwht m f including the captain, were together Tin. friendly uativea were all forvard. I saw ' so/»e oi the wounded thrown overboard They made no resistance. Some of them were tied. They were tied when they were brought up. Their legs were tied together. Some of the Bogainvilfe natives, who were neither jkiiled nor wounded, were not found. They were

hiding. Some of them were treated like the other natives, as they had ceased resistance. Ido not think the passengers took any part in throwing the wounded overboard. The hold was cleaned and got ; i order. Tt wa^ whitewashed, and efforts were made to obliterate the powder and shot ma^-ks. I recollect the brig being boarded by men from H.M:S. Roaailo. I made no complaint to the captain of the Rosario respecting prisoner. The brig is a Bri' : sh vessel, and flies the British flag. I think she belongs to the port of Melbourne. The trial w.-.« postponed till the 23rd August.