ANOTHER ISLAND MASSACRE.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2387, 10 November 1880, Page 4

ANOTHER ISLAND MASSACRE.

[By Telegraph.] Auckland Nov. 0. Nows via Noumea states that the cutter Idaho had been engaged in recruiting for labor at the island of Sante. On the evening of her arrival at Sante, some natives came aboard and promised to return in the morning with recruits. Two canoes, with about a dozen men in each, came aboard next morning, bartering bananas in a friendly manner. Most of them spoke good broken English. The ship’s boat, in charge of a native crew under the orders of a native named Sam, made a trip ashore. As soon as the boat was gone the canoes left the cutter to get their tomahawks, and returned to the vessel armed, and surrounded her. McMillan, who was at the stern of the vessel cleaning firearms, suddenly had his head split open with a tomahawk. There was no other white man aboard, but there were three natives and seven recruits." These latter were attacked, two being killed and a boy wounded and pitched into the hold where two natives had sought refuge. These two men seized muskets and menaced the attacking natives who cleared out, plunging into the sea. The cutter’s boat’s crew were also attacked, and all on board killed save Sam and Sambo Charlie. As soon as the attack began, Sam plunged into the sea, and made for a distant point of the land, where he concealed himself in sight of the vessel until all was quiet. He then swam off, heaved up the anchor, and sailed the vessel as best as he could aided by two of the crew left and the recruits for several days, when the cutter was sighted by the Lady Belmore, 140 miles from the scene of the outrage.