THE FIJI MASSACRE.

Southland Times, Issue 1726, 11 April 1873, Page 3

THE FIJI MASSACRE.

.«» (From the Fiji Times, 15th February.) About half-past 7 on Tuesday morning, 4th February" some of the imported labor from Mr Burns's plantation arrived at Earawai, stating that the mountaineers had killed Mr Burns and his wife. Mr Macintoshimmediately despatched Messrs Stirling and M'Grath with about forty imported labor to render assistance. In about half-an-hour they got in sight of the wretches, and saw them coming out of the house as thick as bees. When they saw the two white men coming they quietly walked away. Stirling and M'Grath followed them up the plantation until they crossed the river, where they managed to fetch down one at a long distance. In looking about the plantation they found the bodies of Mr and Mrs Burns, some distance from the house, both quite naked and mutilated. In a short time after, nearly all the settlers on the river were on tbe place. At the examination of the bodies, I saw that Mr Burns had been clubbed and tomahawked. His brains were beaten out, bottom jaw broken, two deep cuts on left breast, and one Oil the breast-bone. He was found in the middle of the plantation, the place where he was murdered. One of tbe Tanna men ran to his assistance, and took a tomahawk which Mr Burns had hold of with his left hand from a mountaineer. Mr Burns shot the Kai Colo through the head with his revolver. At the same time a great number more came up and surrounded him. He only managed to shoot two of them before they managed to give him his death blow. The Tanna man ran to the river and got away. Mrs Burns, poor lady, must have suffered agony by the look of her. She must have received two cuts with an axe or tomahawk on the top of her left shoulder on the first attack ; her left hand was raised to the wounds, and still remains in the same position, now in her grave. She had a cut under her left jaw, part of her teeth down her throat. Two holes, one in each side, just above the hips, evidently made with a spear, which bad passed through her body before she fell. I had a spear in my hand, no doubt the same that had been through her. It was about 9 feet long, and deeply stained with blood 3 feet up. I believe her death was caused by a dub. The back of her head was beaten in, and a small portion of her brains out. She must have been killed at one corner of the house under the verandah, for I saw a large pool of blood, some long hairs, and her back comb broken in pieces, all together on the floor. Sbe was then stripped naked, part of her dress torn into shreds, which I picked up, saturated with blood. They then dragged her by the hair of the head, the trail of her body on the ground being plainly to be seen, up to the place where she was found, some distance up the plantation, face downward, with nothing on her but her wedding-ring, which is now in the possession of Mr Kennedy, and which will soon be in the hands of her brother. The mountaineers, no doubt, were taking her away with the intention of eating her, but were too closely pursued by Stirling and M'Grath, and compelled to leave her. When the unfortunate lady saw her husband being mur dered she sat down to write a note, supposed to be to some of us for help, but evidently bad no time. Their cook, a Tanese, said to her, " Come to the boat." " They are gone except the large one," she replied, " and it is too far in the river." Not beiug able to swim and leave her babes behind in the hands of those bloodthirsty villains, she could not make an attempt at the water. The above statement was made to me by the Tanna man himself, who took to the water and got away. The little boy was found outside the house with a deep cut on the right side of his head and three deep cuts in his right groin, and his little head clubbed to a pulp. The little girl, an infant, was a shocking sight. It would appear they had taken her by the legs, and dashed her brains out against the post ofthe bedroom door, and then dropped the child amongst its scattered brains. The four bodies were brought and laid out under the verandah side by side. As far as I can ascertain at pre. sent, there are ten Erromanga men, five Tanna men, and one Solomon woman killed. Two Tanna meu found with their legs cut off, and carried away by the mountaineers ; also several other bodies, no doubt for a cannibal feast. A number of clubs, spears, &c, were picked up in and about the house, which, by their appearance, have done a great deal of work in murder and destruction of property; After ransacking everything, they commenced to destroy all they possibly could. Some money, a cheque, and other valuable papers, letters, a clock, jewellery, and a gold watch were found all over the floor amongst the wreck. Papers, etc., recovered in good preservation. Everything in the bedroom, with the exception of one large mirror and medicine chest, unbroken, was taken away. A bundle of clothes was picked up by some of the imported labor far up the plantation. Another small bundle was also picked up with a lot of cartridges, some baby's shoes and clothing, aud a piece of Mrs Burns's hair, no deubt pulled out of her head for the purpose of making threads for small beads, with which to ornament their clubs and other murderous weapons. In the kitchen they had thrown everything all over the floor, which was covered with beana, rice, flour, tea, etc. They were very successful in taking away a number of guns, I think not less than twenty, but they did not get much ammunition. In the afternoon it was decided that the bodies of Mr and Mrs Burns and the two children sheuld be taken to Earawai, and be buried beside the murdered bodies of Messrs Macintosh and Spiers. Four white men, and some of Macintosh's laborers, volunteered to stop and take charge of the place that night. We arrived with the bodies at Earawai about 3 o'clock. With the

permission of Mr Macintosh, I got some of his boards, made a. shell, and put the four bodies into it ; and, witli the assistance of some laborers, I lowered them into the grave that night, as we found they would not keep until next day. AVednesday, Sth. — All tlie settler* on the river, and some from the c>a*t, assembled at Rarawai at 12 o'clock to see the last of the unfortunate victims of those wretches in the mountains. Burial service was read, and the graves filled up. Most of the settlers went up to the plantation of Mr Burns. The mountaineers are plainly to be seen to-day, with a large amount of their plunder spread out upon the rocks to dry. A good deal of tobacco and a number of knives recovered to-day, found on the track of the mountaineers. lam sorry to say the Tanna men did but little or nothing in defence of their murdered master and mistress and their fellow, laborers. On Christmas Day a great number of mountaineers were about the plantation. Mrs Burns requested the laborers to take their guns and drive them away ; but they answered, " No — me shoot TKai Cole, white men come in steamer hang me." They well remembered the threat that Ol&rkson made them, that if they shot at any more Kai Colos (suiting the action to the word, and ,piacing a rope round tbe neck of one of the men), "I will hang you." Up to the present time the planters have been able to hold possession of the place, and hope to do so until further assistance is given us. The mountaineers sent us word to-day that they do not intend J stopping at this, as they have had a complete success, murdered twenty in all, carried a great deal of property away, and destroyed very much more. We are informed that Tavua, Mr Berry's plantation, is to be the next. We have received a letter from Mr Berry, to-day, stating that he is expecting an attack hourly, there being a number of mountaineers about the place, no doubt watching every movement. It is not certain whether it will be there or here first, for there are numbers of them seen just out of range from Burns's plantation. THE VERDICT OE THE JUBY. At the inquest tbe following verdict was returned : — " We beg to return the verdict of wilful murder against the mountaineers, on the bodies of William Burns, Jane Burns, and two children, and some twenty imported labor, murdered on the same day. After carefully considering the evidence, it is our opinion that those murders would not have taken place had it not been for the unwise and unjust interference of the G-overnment on the 22nd of November last. It appears from evidence that a party ofthe Government officials, viz., Dr Clarkson, Mr Henry Thurston, Mr Pritchard, together with a party of niggers, called soldiers, paid a visit to several stations, uninvited ; amongst others to Vuni Samola, property of the deceased. In the absence of deceased Mr Burns, the aforesaid Dr Clarkson, Minister of Finance, took the authority on himself, against the expressed objection of deceased, Mrs Burns, to convene a gathering of the labor on the place, cautioning them in strong language that if they attempted to shoot a mountaineer they would be hung ; and in the way of illustration placed a small rope round the neck of one of the imported laborers, showing how conveniently the Government could punish such an ' offence.' The laborers since that have been unwilling to take up arms in defence of their employer when ordered, and on this occasion abandoned tbe field, leaving their employer and his family to the merciless attack of the mountaineers."