MASSACRES AT THE SANDAL WOOD ISLANDS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 483, 20 March 1850, Page 3

MASSACRES AT THE SANDAL WOOD ISLANDS.

, In the Sydney Herald of the 12th' iust., an account was given of the, voyage of the Elizabeth, schooner, to new Caledonia, and the accouuts brought by that vessel led to the supposition that not only had the party at Mr. Fitzgerald's beche-le-mer fishing establishment at the north end of the island, been driven away or massacred, but that the French Mission establishment at Yengin, or Balade had shared the same fate. The Mary Anne, schooner which arrived yesterday, has brought further accounts, which we regret to state are of a most melancholy character. The Superintendent of Mr. Fitzgerald's establishment, Mr. David W. Miller, arrived by the Mary Anne, and from him we have learned the following particulars. Feejee Islands, 1849. On ths 10th July we sailed from Cantate Harbour in jihe^Mari, 1 , cutter, for Balade. Harfiour, New Caledonia, in company with ttfe Minerva, and the Sir John Franklin. We arrived there after a passage of twenty-one days. On the 12th September, the Mary returned to .Balade to look for the Sir John Franklin, which vessel she expected to find ha^d returned there from Sydney. On arriving, there, Captain Robey, of the Mary, sent a boat with Robert Hall, an American,, and a native of Rotumah, to procure water. On getting up the river they were attacked by natives and killed. After this, two natives came on board the Mary, under pretence of selling fish, the cook went down in the hold to bring up some yams to exchange for the fisb ; the captain's attention having been drawn to the fish in the canoe belonging to the natives, they split his head with a tomahawk ; they then killed the cook as he was coming oat of the hold. ' The only man now left alive on board the Mary was a Rotumah man, whom the natives would not eat, because of a 4&3Mwe in-Jiis eyes which rendered hinralmostbiScir They cooked the bodies of the captain and crew ashore', and ate them ; after which they burned the vessel to the water's edge. This is the statement of the Rotumah man, who managed to make his escape from the cannibals to Yengin, and who related the facts to Mr, Miller, who now takes up the narrative in person, and writes from Mr. Fitzgerald's establishment. "On the Bth September, we not having heard of the loss of the Mary, Mr. Fitzgerald sailed for Sydney, I being left in charge of the beche-le-mer expedition — the party consisting of John Blake (an American), nineteen Feejee men, one Rotuinah man, and Abraham Silver (an East Indian). , On the morning of the 20th September, the natives brought me grass for thatching, and appealed on very friendly terms. About noon about from 300 to 400 of them assembled, and rushed upon us with spears and clubs. We took to our arms, with -which we were enabled to keep them off till about 4 p.m., and two being killed, ' and a numhfir of them wounded, they retired — John Blake, the American, refusing to fight, and holding a correspondence with the natives, I took his gun from him and gave it to one of the Feejee men. The natives continued quist Until the. 11th October, when a large body of 800 or 900 natives assembled, tnd commenced an attack on our settlement, which: they maintained with great determination from eleven in the morning till sunset. One of the Feejee men was wounded with a spear, jtind I had several narrow escapes. Tht natives had surrounded our hut, and

were calling out to John Blake to set fire to it. Several of the natives being killed and a number wounded, we made a ruth at them and shot their principal chief, on which, they all ran away. On the following day, finding that our Feejee natives had lost heart and were constantly crying, we thought it best to prepare to leave, as we could not have stood another encounter with the natives, onr ammonition being nearly expended, and on the 14th we took the boats and started for Yengin. Having yams and water we pulled up the coast, followed by about 200 natives, until we arrived at Balade. We then landed on a sand bank to recruit, where the natives attacked and obliged us to retake to the boats, one of which being very leafy, we left it behind. "We then pulled to the south-east; the wind being contrary and blowing strong ; during the night I missed one of the boats, and ran to the lee of a small island where there were no natives. We were obliged to remain here for four days, it blowing and raining very hard. The weather having moderated, we pursued our course to Yengin, and during the passage picked up, two natives from the missing boat, the others having most likely been cast ashore and taken to ihe bush. "On the 25th October we arrived at Yengin, after being eleven days in the boats, and were kindly received by the French Missionaries, and remained with them until the arrival of the schooner Mary Anne, when the Bishop granted us a passage to Anatam, from which pldce CapfaTn Paddeif was kind enougji to give me a passage to Sydney. I do not thiuk the natives would have attacked us had they not been encouraged to do so by the man Blake, who stole a boat and deserted] from the schooner Vanguard a short tfmjß, previously, and hud been living with' the. natives since." — Sydney Morning Herald, January 22. * , ,

Cook's Bay, Erromango. — Extract from the log of the Rover's Bride, dated December 11, 1849: — "Light breezer-'Schooner Rosetta in company. At seven, a. no., lowered the boat, and sent the first and second mates to trade for sandal- wood at Mallaby and Bunkett, the vessel cruising between those places. At two, p.m. Mr. Banner, first mate of the Rosetta, came on board, and stated that he bad some suspicions that one of my boats was taken by the natives — he having been, trading to Effoo, a place about tw» miles distant from Bunkett — and that about noon the natives of that place gave over trading, and informed him that tht Bunkett tribe had taken a boat and killed the crew of. five men. The Effbo natives then went in the direction of Bunkett, "taking with them their tomahawks and other weapons. On which Mr. Banner returned to the Rosetta and informed Captain Edwards. In the meantime Mr. Dill, who had been trading at Bunkett, and had seen the Rover's Bride there trading wkh the natives on very friendly terras, went back to the Rosetta for more trade, and on his return to Bunkett, found no natives but two, who brandished their spears, and said, "No wood to-day." The Rover's Bride's boat was gone, and Mr. Dill having returned to the Rosetta and informed Captain Edwards of bis trip, that gentleman immediately sent Mr. Banner to inform Captain Bell of the Rover's Bride. Captain R. immediately made a signal to his other boat at Mallaby to return to the ship, and on her ar--rival tJe'dtsp'aYdhetl her with twcT extra hands in, with the Rosetta' s boat, to ascertain the facts. On their return at 7, p.m., they made the following statement : — " When the boats arrived at Bunkett, the crews landed, leaving one man jn charge of each. On examining the beach they found it strewed with portions of hair and patches of blood ; they then. proceeded up the river as far as possible in the boat, and on landing discovered one ton of sandal-wood besmeared with blood, near which was the stump of a tree literally covered with blood, portions of flesh, hair, &c, and which from its appearance seemed to have served the purpose of a block for this human butchery. Near the stump was found a pistol, belt, and canvas pistol bag ; no natives were seen and not a vestige of the boat save the anchor buoy." Finding that nothing further could be ascertained, they took the sandal wood and returned to the vessel. Captain Bell then consulted with Captain Edward*, and it was deemed best for the Rover's Bride to proceed to , Anatam, and the Rosetta, to , continue cruising' about Cook's Bay for fivedays, in case anything further should transpire. On the Sunday prior to the massacre the chief of the Bunkett tribe was on board the Mover's Bride, received some presents, and appeared on the most friendly terms. Bunkett is a small boat hatbour and creek, , on the south entrance of Cook's Bay,. Eramango. The following is a list of names of the men killed : — Mr. William Jordan, first mate, of Berwick on Tweed ; John Allen, of Liverpool,; .Fred- -'. crick Gardner, of London j Jobnßurrpwt, oort r Glasgow ; and Edward Ward, of Briitol, it** mtn. — Sydney Mornititj Htrald.

(',( ', itoMAN Catholic Church. — The Roman tJtt^olfc mission in N,ew Zealand has been %~i;med into a regular establishment. The Sight Rev.' Dr. Pomptllier, who formerly, hem the office of Vicar Apostolic, with jurisdiction over the whole of the Inland's of New ; Zealand, has received a papal bull appointing him Bishop of Auckland, and the Right Rev. Dr. Tiard, who is at present at the head of the Roman Catholic mission there has received a similar ball, conferring upon him the dignity of Bishop of Wellington. Neither of those' Bishops, we believe, is to have any jurisdiction over the other* but both are to be regarded as, suffragans, and it is therefore probable that the two sees will ere long be included within the arcbiepiscopal province of the Most Rev. Dr. Folding. Bishop Pompallier has brought a number of priests with him from' Europe, but no final arrangement has yet been made as to where these gentlemen are to be stationed. He is likewise accompanied by several Sisters of Mercy, who are to form the nucleus of an establishment for the education of the poor, and th« dissemination of charity throughout the islands. — Sydney, Morning Herald, Feb. 15. H.M. S. " Meander."— The Meander is airigate of 44 guns. She left Singapore on the '24th September for Batavia, touching at Anger, and arrived at the former place October 6th ; from this she proceeded to Port Essingtpn, passing to the eastward, of Java, and through the Straits of Timor, having variable'winds, bnt she reached her destination 'on the ljSth November, and then embarked the .detachment of marines and other persons who 1 comprised the settlement, leaving behind merely ,a Tew inferior houses, and a small quantity of live stock ; whilst there, her surgeon', Dr. Clarke, died after a few days' illness. ', From this-she sailed on the Ist December for-Barida Islands; where she arrived on the Bth, and was very hospitably received by the Dutch authorities. Having watered, she steered for Pitts Passage, and going to the northward of New Guinea, touched at Port Hunfer, and -afterwards at Carteret's Harbour, in New Ireland, from which she took bier departure on the 12th January After undergoing the requisite repairs, it is expected she will proceed to Auckland, and from thence to Valparaiso. The military station at Port Essington is now entirely abandoned. — Ib. The Ariemesia which arrived 'yesterday from Newcastle, has been taken up to pro r ceed to the Auckland Islands. — B. M. Herald