STRANGE ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume VI, Issue 140, 4 May 1854, Page 3

STRANGE ADVENTURES IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC.

In our advices by the steamer Solent, from Valparaiso, we are furnished with accounts of the arrival there of tha British brig Caroline Hort, bringing the captain and doctor of the brig Chatham, which vessel w.>s wrecked in the South Seas, on mi unknown group of Island!, inhabited by savages, and hitherto undiscovered. The following is the statement ol Captain Snow, the uiavter of the Chatham : - The brig Chatham, of San Francisco, George P. Snow, muster, sailed fiom San Francisco oil

{he (hli of September, ]Bi>2, on a trading voykge to the islands ot' the South Pacific Ocean. After having visited the Mmqneas, Society "nd (Harvey groups, we left Whylootacke on the BBlh of December lor San I'rancisco, with a Full cargo of the pioJucc of the island). We (tood to the norlhwardunlil morning of the deScribed close under the bows, and before the irig could be wore she struck on the reef on the west side of a low sand island, not laid down un any chait or in any book in my possession I used every means to get the vessel off ihe reef but she soon bilged. The natives by this time Hocked to the I.each, and seemed to show every nark of. a savage and hostile people, much to the consternation of us all o«i,board ; a consultation was held among us as to \he best means to pursue; some were';f»r lighting and some for trying to n.ake friends Willi the natives •, they dared uot to come on board, nor did we tlaro go on shi.re. So I prop wed to mate every preparation to light, and that I would go on shore and find out, ljie. # tb'sjinsitron of the-na-: j lives, which course .wis.adopted.': EYpry-thing' ready, I left the vessel for tlie shore actoss the reef, telling those on .board, .if they.-.saw•.«»« mossacreed, th'e-y' sej'\ .WjojJiT Jcniiw .nil&t.ftiji »waiud them. Oh *ifiy'reaching' the shore the natives laid aside their spears- and received me very kindly, kissed and caressed me, and as 1 afterwards learnt, they thought me a curious specimen of the, human being, for they had never seen a white man befure. By this time the natives perceived there were many things in and about the vessel they very much needed and they 'made a rush lor the vessel And striped her of a\] moveables they could lay hands ion,' nor" did (.hey stopMr re, but robbed U3 of 'everything we altempte'd to suve. They would I not perjfnit us any thing at all. They i even seaVphed .our clothes', and in some instances I tore off'tliepucktts in their eagerness ftr the contents of them. After they had stripped the • vessel, we were ui.stributed among the people I of the island, wlicie we spent a most wretched . night, expecting to be speared evry moment 1 The weather was stormy, the houses very- poor and the natives yelling passing and repassing,, ' armed with spears, kepl-sleep from our eyes. ; The next morning commenced our naturaliza- } lization. ■ We were all drawn altogether and ; armed with spears and marched off to the north I end of the' island, as we supposed to be sactir ficed to their gods, for they have many ; but \ the training ended well and we vicre each taken ' loom respective houses again. For several days . this training was carried on, diffeiing only as ' their modes of worship differ, according to the gods they worship. We found, out that we were considered supreme beings, and th t we had nothing to fear as long as tl ey thought so. All we had to subsist on was the cocoa-nut, and occasionally a bit of fish. The island produces, nothing hut coca-nut, and the natives are both indolent and ignoraut. I saw no marks of industry, except in their canoes, which are built for the purpose of warfare; they are from 50 to ~'6 feet in length, and will carry fiom 100 200 persons. I found the island to be a lagoon island, composed of 18 islands, and the inhabitants, to amount to about 2,500. They, are all overrun with rais and land crabs, 50 that it would be in.possible to grow tion.if planted. The natives worship i oh, defarteu spirits of their own race, and have god-men, or a species of Pagan priest among themselves whom they worship, on particular occasions. Their mode of worship would be" difficult to describe ; it begins with a sort of spear exercise, then a dant'o, then singing,crying, and cutting shemselves in a sclu.eking manner nccross ihe binast, arms, and face «iih hard slu-11 , until they are a perfect gore of blood, aud frightful to beh'uld. As soon as the vtenther and ihe natirrs would permit, I*ct about building :i boat of the yatil and fragments of Ihe wreck, which ti.ok nearly six weeks to complete, and during this time 1 suffered in the extreme fiom the heat of the sun, and hunger ar.d thirst. The crew, roaming about fared very well from the d.ffcrent tents. The boiit complete, I started with my mate, one seaman, and a passenger, the boat's conipmy being four, to tiy to get suiuewhere to bring relief, to the suffering crew, for by tins inte the natives began to think us a burden to them ; but the boat proved leaky, and on the second day ive were forced to rettun. We niw waited for the rainy season to pass, and on the 24th of March started for the Navigators' Islands, if no relief could be gotnearer. Knowing theie was a pe;irl tisheiy at rliimphery's Island, I made for it, and oil the 2(ith, at 3 p.m. reached the island. As soon us the boat was onshore, the mate and passenger refused to go further in it, consequently I was obliged to remain until the 10th of August, when the English brig Coroline Hort touched at the island and took me to this port, where 1 arrived yesterday. The Chatham and cargo were a total loss but all persons were saved, and were in good health when I left the island, though the natives began to use them quite ill,and they pro-' bably now are, if alive, in great suffering, fur by this time they can have no clothing at all, tnd cocoa-nuts are scarce.