THE NEW BRITAIN MASSACRE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5464, 1 October 1878, Page 3

THE NEW BRITAIN MASSACRE.

(From the Sydney Morning Herald, Sept. 20.) On Monday last we supplied whatever information we could then command in reference to the massacre of Wesleyan mission agents at New Britain, and the aggressive measures with which the .mission party and the traders sought to protect themselves from further onslaught. The intelligence has excited considerable interest, and great diversity of opinion appears to exist in respect to the course adopted by the Eev. George Brown, the originator and head of the mission. We are now able to publish a’more ample account of the transactions. During this week the matter has been deliberated by the Wesleyan Board of Missions in this city, and the following extracts are made from a communication addressed by the Kev. George Hurst, President of the New South Wales and Queensland Conference, and the Eev. B. Chapman, general secretary for missions, to the journal which is the organ of the denomination. We here subjoin the greater and most material portion of the Eev, George Brown s statement:— “Port Hunter, Duke of York Group, “June 26th, ISfS.

“ My dear Mr, Chapman,—My last letters were Bent to you via Hongkong in February last, and X see by tho just to hand, per Adolph, that you have received them in good time. We have had a most trying and anxious time since then, and I have sad news to tell you. Sailasa, our native minister, two teachers, Pern Luvu and Idvai Xaboro, and the young man from Viva (Timote), who came with Sailasa to build the canoe here, were all murdered by the New Britain natives in April last. Then I have to tell you that this sad affair brought us into collision with the natives, and though that has resulted in good, X would rather not have had the tale to tell. Then wo have had a dreadfully sickly season ; almost everyone has been struck down with fever, and death has claimed several of our smallparty. Almostovery teacher and every white man here has been ill, some of them very near indeed to death, and others are not yet recovered. I have been almost worn out with anxiety and sorrow, the caro of tho sick, and tho great responsibility restjng upon mo. But the cloud seems to be rolling away now, and everything looks a little brighter. Most of our sick are recovering; while that sod affair on tho bills of Blanche Bay will, I believe, result in great good, and our hearts are cheered this week by news from home at last. ... “ We had some cases of fever before I wrote you last via Hongkong, hut after that we suffered very much, and as I told you before, scarcely.anyono escaped. In tho beginning of April 1 thought that a change of air might do all good, and So prepared to visit Jiow Britain,

taking all our family on there to spend a week or two on the island. On April Bwe were all ready to start, when, as I was sitting in the study at night a native came to the window and said, ‘ I have just heard that the New Britain natives have murdered Sailasa and some teachers.’ We have heard hundreds of tales like these before, and have paid but little attention to them ; but this time I felt a great sinking of heart ns soon as I heard it, and I felt assured that there was some truth in it, knowing as I did that Sailasa and some of the teachers had planned a journey inland. When we held our quarterly meeting some few weeks ago Sailasa told me that he had been up inland, and was very kindly received by the natives, and that they all wished him to go again. Ho said that the great bulk of the people lived a short distance inland on a fine level plain, and that they wore accessible from both sides of the large promontory between Blanche Bay and Port Weber. He asked me for a few beads, &c., to give the chiefs, and I gave them to him, telling him that I was going over soon to New Britain, and would also go inland further up the coast, and hoped to get some fine openings for the lotu also. On April 8 (next day), Ratu Livai arrived from Nodup, bringing the confirmation of (die report we had heard. I started next day, and reached Kabakadai on the following one, April 11. We soon made our way to Sailasa’s house. It was very, very sad indeed to meet with the poor widows, and to hear their piteous cries. ’Twas little use then trying to speak any trite words of comfort, and we could only sit silent with them, sharers of their sorrow. Wo soon heard the many horrible accounts of their death, whichmade our blood boil as we heard them, and I could see by the compressed lips of the teachers, and their significant, sullen silence, that their feelings were so deeply moved that they were no longer masters of their passions. We were told also that Talili, the reputed murderer had actually come from his own village on the previous night, and proposed to Toromu, the chief of Kabakadai, to murder the widows and children of the native minister and teachers, and to burn, the house. This story we knew to be true, as two of the teachers saw him just outside the fence. I soon found out that the Samoan and Eiji teachers had consulted together, and that they were planning an expedition inland that night, and were determined to go without telling me, for fear I should prevent them.. Mr. Turner and Mr. McGrath, who were with me in the boat, had also agreed to go with them. Such an expedition, I felt assured, would bo a failure, and would probably cause a loss of life, and so I begged the teachers to trust the matter with me. I had now, however, to decide what course to pursue. Let me try to explain to you the position in which I was placed, and the reasons which influenced my decision.

“1, There was first - the fact that the teachers themselves were actually preparing to go, that they all said that life was no longer safe in any of the towns, nor was the mission work practicable if these murderers were not punished.

“ 2. The few whites here also assured me that unless something was done their lives also were no longer safe. They volunteered their help, and urged immediate action. Talili, who is said to have ordered the massacre, had previously attempted the life of Mr. Hicks, a trader at Matupit; the cook of the barque John Ciesar also had a very narrow escape from'him ; and very recently he attempted to capture the Franziska schooner. Since the murder also he had sent some very insulting messages to the whites. “3, My own convictions also were that unless- these murderers were punished they would soon be followed by others. I felt that punishment was necessary, not so much to avenge the death of the native minister and teachers as to protect the lives of those who remained, and to prevent any recurrence of such an affair in the future. But you may say, ‘ Why not wait for a ship of war, and let them take the matter up?’ This I did not think advisable, because, firstly, I did not think the captain would interfere in the matter unless he had direct orders to that effect; and secondly, I did not think that a man-of-war could do it as well, or with as much effect, as we could do it ourselves. This may appear to you a very conceited opinion, but I was satisfied then that it was a correct one, and the results have proved it to be so. When a man-of-war is seen after any such crimes have been committed the perpetrators are at once on their guard, and take to the bush, where it is almost impossible to follow them. A few shells are fired and some houses burnt, and this, in the majority of instances, is all that the most determined captain can accomplish, even if his instructions allow him to do so much.

“ On carefully considering the matter, I felt that any such single-handed attack on our part as that proposed by tho teachers and others would probably fail, or, if partially successful, would be ill-advised, as it would place us few foreigners in seeming opposition to all the natives. I therefore determined to enlist the sympathies and help of all the welldisposed natives on our side, rather than io array them against us, and to let the punishment of the murderers come from the natives as much as from us. The murder of Sailasa and the teachers was not in any way connected with their position as Christian teachers, nor was it caused by any feelings of enmity against the lotu. They .were, killed simply because they were foreigners, and the natives wanted to eat them, and to get the little property they had with them. The towns, however, where they were stationed spoke of the murder as an insult and an injury to them, and were quite prepared to resent it if we would help them ; and so we decided to cooperate with them on that side of the island, and with our friendly towns in Blanche Bay and Nodup on the other side. “ To tell you that I felt deeply the responsibility of my position is to say but little. During these past few months, whilst nearly every one around us has been struck down with fever, I have felt much our solitary position, but it never came upon me with such force as it did then. I felt that I alone was accountable for the action we were about to take, and that if we failed, or if any more of the teachers were killed, on me would rest the blame. I knew that I had no precedent to guide me, and that many good people whose opinions I respect and whose esteem X value would probably condemn our action as judged from their stand-point. These, and many other points, were carefully considered; and the conviction was fprced upon me that the opinions of the few foreigners here and the teachers were correct, and that we must endeavor to punish these murderers, even if only for the protection of our own lives. After arriving at this decision, we determined to do it as speedily and as effectually as possible, always bearing in mind that we must so act that our conduct would bear any judicial investigation at any future time. We determined, with the help of the natives, to start from both sides of the promontory whilst the event was quite recent, and before the natives expected us to take any action. They thought only of punishment when a big ship came; but we determined to start as soon as we could get ready, and leaving all the coast towns in ignorance, to push on at once and surprise them in the very towns where the teachers were murdered, and where they never dreamt that a white man or a foreigner would dare to go again. “ X determined, in the first place, to remove all the women and children, and gave orders to them to prepare and return with us at once to Duke of York. I then went up to see Bulilalai, a noted chief in this part of the island. He is very shy indeed of any white man going near him, as he is accused of causing the murder of Jamison last year. _ I sent word, however, that I would go alone with one of the teachers, but with no other white man, I wished to secure his help if possible, but if not, at least to be certain that he would not oppose us. Wo went some distanop inland, and, after many precautions had been taken by the natives, I was taken to the small house in tho bush where the old chief was, I sat down by him, told him what I had come about, and reminded him that Beni (one of the mat, dered teachers) was his teacher, and under his protection. He told meat once that he loved Beni, that all his people were son-owing for him, and finished by telling me that he fully intendedto eat Talili, tho chief who killed him. I told him that we could not allow any cannibalism,_ as it was not our custom to eat men, and that it was very wrong to do so. He looked at me m a way which seemed at once to express surprise at our conduct and pity for our folly, but declared himself quite ready to help us. I slept at Mr.' Southwell's at night.

« On Saturday, April 13th, we returned to Port Hunter, and on Tuesday, 16 th, just eight days after hearing of the murder, we started ar/ain for New Britain. Our company consisted of Mr. Powell, of the ketch Star of the East, Mr. Turner, from the Botanical Gardens, Sydney, Mf. McGrath, the teachers, ;and myself. A boat from Messrs. Godeffroy’e station, at Port Wesley, with native crew in charge of J. Knowles, a half-caste trader there, also accompanied us (I and Mr. Blohm, from Messrs. Hernshoim, and his establishment promised to follow us next day, which

he did. At Nodup we met with Mr. Hicks, - from Matupit, and consulted with Tobula and Tolituuu, our chiefs there. We decided to divide our party, and agreed that W. Hides should take the leadership of one party, consisting of Messrs. Powell,Turner, McGrath, J. Knowles, ten Fijian and four Samoan teachers, with the natives from Nodup, Matupit, and Malakuna ; whilst Mr. Blohm, Mr. Young, and myself, with onef Samoan teacher, should go round to the north coast, and take charge of the natives there. We all left at noon for our respective stations. “ Next day, Thursday, April 18, we, on the north coast, left Mr. SouthwaU’s, at Kabakadai, very early. On our way we heard that Bulilalai and the other chiefs who had arranged to help us had been tampered with in the night, as pigs and dlwara (shell money) had been sent them by We had, therefore, to act very cautiously indeed to prevent treachery on their part, as we were only three white men and one Samoan amongst four or five hundred of them ; our native crews being of very little use if we were hard pressed. We pulled to the beach, and found that they did 8 not attempt to burn Talili’s house, or corn! mence to look after him at all. A lot of canoes now came out, and encircled us from seaward, so that our position was this : We were lying off the beach in two boats, Mr. Blohm and Mr. Young in one, and myself and the teacher in the other. On the beach were about 500 natives, professed friendly, but whoso actions were most suspicious, refusing to go into the bush, or to do any damage which might commit them with the other party. Behind us were some forty canoes, which we had several times warned away, but without effect. On the hills we could see by. the smoke that our party from Blanche Bay were successful, and, as we then thought, were working down towards us. Mr. B. repeatedly pointed out the danger from the canoes, and at last we were determined to drive them away, which we did, and in about half an hour there was not a canoe to be seen. Two men only were wounded, and as they were found out afterwards to belong to a friendly town, I paid them, to their satisfaction. This action of ours decided our native friends on the beach to join us, and they started away at once in pursuit of Talili, and killed three of his men that evening. We then went back to Talili’s house, and our crews burnt it and destroyed his canoe. After we laid at our anchors close in shore all day, waiting for the Blanche Bay party to come down, but as we heard nothing from them, we left at night,{slept at Nodup, came back again next day (Friday), and stayed until Saturday, when I received a note from Mr. Powell, telling me that they had returnedi to Matupit, and were awaiting us there. We , started at once, and at night reached the island, and were glad indeed to find them all safe and well after an arduous but successful expedition. They started from Matupit (Henderson Island), soon after midnight on Wednesday night, landed on the mainland, travelled by the moonlight, and before dawn were well up the first range. Here they rested and waited for the dawn. All the natives had very strict orders about cannibalism, or any mutilating of the dead, and also against killing any women or children. There are no large towns here, but every family lives in its own little enclosure. The houses are not large, and in most instances are merely small huts which can be put up in a day or two. All that were seen were burnt, and about twenty of the murderers were killed. Amongst the number of killed were two or three women, who were either killed by the natives or shot because they could not be distinguished as such at the distance. This I was sorry for, but it could not be helped, and I tell it you because I wish to tell you all. The natives themselves, however, have very little compassion on women, and state that they are worse cannibals than the men, and are always the worst in urging on a fight, and in mutilating the dead afterwards. This I also fully believe, from all that I have seen and heard. The sea side of the range is very steep, and in many places the party had actually to climb. On the top is a fine level plateau of open country, dotted over with clumps of trees and cocoanut palms. The natives were quite unprepared for us, no traps were dug, and with the exception of a stand made by a lot of them at noon, they could make no united resistance. They had felt themselves safe in their inland position, and were surprised and frightened at the rapidity of our movements and the power of our weapons. Some of the stones from their slings came with very great force about the heads of some of our party, but no one was hit, and the return bullets soon convinced them that they stood no chance against a musket, and they soon cleared out. All slept in the bush that night, another proof to the bushmen that they were now dealing with a different people to their own coast people, who would never dream of sleeping inland all night. Next morning (Friday) they were early astir, and after burning some other hamlets farther inland, and more to the eastward, they returned to the beach, and burnt the town of Keravia, as they were clearly proved to bo implicated in the affair. They then returned to Matupit, where we found them, as I have before told you. “ On Sunday, 21st (next day), I sent out and tried to get the bones of the murdered teachers, and succeeded in getting some belonging to Sailasa and Timote, We consulted about what course we ought now to pursue. Many of us thought that quite enough had been done, but ■it was shown clearly that though the natives who had suffered were all implicated in the murder, yet the town where the men were actually killed had as yet escaped, and it was not thought well to let them go free. We decided to visit the place on Tuesday. On Monday two towns sent in some diwara, as a peace-offering for having joined in the cannibalism. I was glad to receive it, and sent back a kindly message. On Tuesday we started at dawn, and landed between Keravia and Diwawon soon after sunrise. Our party were soon on their way up the hill ; Mr. Blohm, Mr. Hicks, Mr. Young, and myself taking charge of the boats and the shore party. We watched our people climbing up the steep sides of the coast range, and afterwards could watch their progress by the smoke of the huts which they fired. Our feelings were yet excited by the sight of the broken and charred bones we had recovered. We knew that our people were now in the very town where the poor fellows were killed. Whilst we were here I received'a. message from Keravia, the coast town burnt on Friday, asking me to go up, as they wished to make friends with me again. We went at once, and I received a present of betel nuts, cocoanuts, bananas, &c., and a roll of about fifty fathoms of diwara (shell money). I sat down amongst them, and told them how sorry we were that this had happened. I assured them that we never wished to fight, reminded them how often they had stolen from us and the teachers, and in many other ways had annoyed us, but we had never resented it, or tried to injure them. I told them that we fought now not merely to avenge the teachers, but because our own lives were in danger. They acknowledged the truth of all this, and said, ‘ ’tis true, 'tis all true j we wore the first, we were the first : we began it, not you.’ I accepted their offering, gave a few little presents in return, and told them that we would make a formal peace according to their own customs in a few days. This pleased them, -and that same evening they actually joined our party when we burnt the next tqwn ef Diwawon, where they had eaten the native minister. Our party in the bush returned in the afternoon, bringing with them three children who had been abandoned by their mothers. lat once claimed these, and gave them in charge of the Keravia chief, paying him well to return them to their mothers, and telling him that I would expect to see them the next time I came, and that I would hold him responsible for them. In the bush town wo recovered several burnt and charred bones, and some little things belonging to the teachers, thus proving that no mistake was made.

“In tho evening we went to Diwawon, where Saiiasa’s body was eaten, and it shared the same fate at Keravia. A woman was brought down a prisoner by Aminio, and she told gs that they had eaten pne whole body, that of Sailasa, the native minister. This confirmed tho opinion we held that tho bones we got from that town had belonged to Sajlasa, Wo reached Matupit again at 8 p.m„ and next day wo returned home. Not a single one of our party was wounded, though Selalete, a Samoan teacher, was once in very great danger.”