MASSACRE OF THREE MEN OF THE SCHOONER ZEPHYR.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1936, 20 October 1874, Page 3

MASSACRE OF THREE MEN OF THE SCHOONER ZEPHYR.

[FROM THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, SEPTEMBER 18.] The following is an account of further proceedings taken to attempt the rescue of the three men belonging to the schooner Zephyr, or to ascertain their fate. The statement of Frederick King, master oE the Leolia, attested by Captain Dawson and D. Rondeyran, is as follows : — "Schooner Zephyr, Apii, July 25, 1874. — At 10 a.m. a boat left the above schooner for the purpose of buying yams, she being manned by the mate, John Howlinj a native of Dublin ; John DawBon, and Miakie, a Tanna man. They proceeded to a village about a mile and a half north of the foreland, being induced to do so by a native styling himself Tom, ■who by his own account had receutly returned from Maryborough. Nothiug wrong was noticed until noon, when Frederick King, master of the cutter Leolia, being on shore, heard from the natives that some white men had just been killed on the beach, a short distance from where he then was — upon which he immediately went on board the Zephyr, and with her boat proceeded along the coast searching for the other boat, and discovered her sunk, close in shore, by the above-named village, but were unable to get near her, for as soon as we attempted to approach her we were fired on with muskets by the natives conctaled in the bushes, making the fate of the boat's crew but too evident. — Frederick King, master of the Leolia." On the boats nearing the shore, the whole of the inhabitants of the town, numbering several hundreds, presented themselves along the shore with the evident intention of preventing a landing, and as the leading boat mistook' the passage, those following got fixed on the reef within a hundred yards of the beach, and were under fire for some considerable time, exposed to the arrows of the natives and also the muskets of the returned laborers. Having at last effected a landing the natives were driven back, and took to the bush, the town, after some sharp firing, being occupied by the boats' crews. A diligent search was made through the whole township for Borne traces of the missing men, and no other evidence as to their fate was apparent other than portions of the boat being discovered, which had been broken up and carried to where it was found. On the night of the 26th the natives belonging to the village of Tickowie returned from the interior and massed on the beach, opposite the anchorage of the above vessels, and throughout the night continued their native cries, and at intervals beating their lallies belonging to their town, about 70 or 100 yards in the bush. From these symptoms it was evident they were holding a cannibal least over the men. Under these circumstances, and after due consultation with Captain Dawson, of the Zephyr, it was determined to take some decided steps to ascertain whether the missing men were alive or not. Accordingly, four boats belonging to the different vessels, fully armed, proceeded early on the morning of the 27th inst. towards the shore, and attempted a landing at the place where the boat had been seized. The natives still continuing to fire undercover of the dense undergrowth that surrounds the town it was determined to destroy it, which was done, as it was too evident now that there was no hope of the men being alive, and that the carousal of the night previous had been the final termination of the tragedy. On returning to the beach we visited the place where the boat had been seized, and further remnants of it were discovered some distance from the water's edge, arid it is on this beach that several boat's crews have been, massacred— that of a Queensland vessel having been taken but a few hundred yards from the place under notice. The action taken by Captain M'Donald, of the Daphne, and Captain King, of the Leolia, was at the solicitation of Captain Dawson,