A STIFF YARN FOR AUSTRALIAN MARINES.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 4, Issue 168, 16 October 1880, Page 3

A STIFF YARN FOR AUSTRALIAN MARINES.

Orated, by the attractive title, '-An Jslattd aj Precious Metals,'' tho San PrafKiscCf Sews Letter publishes the following rttraotdinary account of the adventure of a ship's crew. We fear, although we afford it space, that the Btorv is one of those which must be placid on the shelf u&ually devoted to fiction: — Bv tho last English mail we are in receipt of private advices which contain, probably, the most startling news, as affecting the interests' of our own country, which we have ever yet hnd to record. It is nothing more nor less than the discover} - , almost in our own neighbour* hood, of perhaps one of the richest and most valuable islands on tl\e face of the globe, and the'.probable RUitUre and occupation of it,- b\* this time, bv the always wide-awake and rapacious British Govs crnnicttt. It remains only to be seen whether or not our own Government will Tamely submit to be over-reached. It appears that the English bnrque Joseph R Owens, Captain Whitaker sailed from Liverpool for this port with a general vargo nliout January, ISTtf: So far as the weather was concerned, her voyage was au.unfortunate one from beginning to end, as she experienced nothing but. alternate storms and calms front the first week of her sailing. She occupied some three months in rounding Cape Horn. On the sth of July she was again struck by a violent gale of wind, which shifted from point to point of the compass, and finally settled down to a strong northeasterly gale. Captain Whitaker calculated that by this lime he must ho near to the .Marquesas Islands, if not a littlo j to the north. Not having, however, been able to obtain a sight of the. snn for several days, his calculations simply amounted to ! guess-work; and when on the morning of ! the Bth day of July, land was sighted to the westward, he decided to make for it for shelter, and a fresh supply of water and piovisions, if possible. On noaring tho island a strong current carried the. vessel almost due south, and she would have been driven past the narrow entrance, to a bay which, by this, time, was clearly seen beyond, but with a stiff breeze from - the north-east still blowing Captain Whitaker decided to take his chances, and sail boldly in, which he with difficulty succeeded in doing, Feeling the vesnel grate on the sand as he passed in. H* d.ojiped anchor and found himself at rest in, as he described it, one of the most per fatly lam!-locked and picturesque hays that.' it ever had been his fortune to see. He was now able to take liis reckonings, and he found himself Rot to he at the Marquesas, as .'h- leal suspected, but in latitude. Meg. ,\'. and longitude 137dcg. W. On looking to his chart he could find no island marked on tiiis spot, and, therefore, uott(pl'uded that he hud made a new discovery. A remarkable thing, which at onco at traded his attention, was tho strange clearness of the Mater under thu vessel, mid on tasting it. and looking at the vessel's draught, of "Water, he found it to bo quite fresh but exceedingly acid. On examining his surroundings with the 4tid of his boat's crew, hu judged the island to bo of volcanic origin, huge masses i>r black basaltic rocks being visible; mountain ridges rising V.i an elevation of -J-000 to •IOOUft., with lovely valleys opening nu*towiird the bey. The bay. lie judged, would measure some oO square miles. He saw no signs of human habitation. ; The. next morning Captain Whitaker sent bis first nflicor ashore with a boat's crew, and empty water-casks to lie refilled. ilr. Edwards, the first officer, an old Australian and C'alifornian miner, returned to ihe ship in some four or five hours, and the remit of his report to thr captain was sufficient to justify a further delay of the vessel for another •day of exploration. The following morning | Captain Whitaker. having the second officer in charge of the vessel, accompanied the mate alone on shore, and nothing was seen/if them until late in the afternoon, when they were observed from the vessel's j deck making a busty return to the ship, while a number of naked savages wore I visible on the bankß, brandishing tlieir | spears, and discharging volleys of arrows I after thu retreating boat, and numbers of I -other savages were plainly visible pushing W >th«tir canoes from under the close growth I . of undcrlursli which extended here and ! 'fUidre quite to tl|p water's edge. The' at once.on reaching deck, ordered up. and, with a slight breeze hnnt ilioland, endeavoured to make into tho open s«a licfnrc tho canoes came up. Th<> •baique was steered for the mouth of the ■bay, but struck on the snnd-bur which directly crossed the entrance over which he Iratl pa«<ed during th» s tor lit, and conwpinnt heavy f>tmlt, which hud now abated. The«ava'gca H woT* rapidly Hearing | ' the vessol in a svarnt of rtinofs.und there was nothing 'rff for tfcr captain codo but b to lighten hi,, vessel and endeavour toeross j thclutr. Tire clear line between tho fresh I anri the salt water wait plainly .visiblo, | the bows of tho vessel being in thu tatter, I while her stent was still in tho former. I The nitiin hatches were ordered off, and § all bunds set to work passing up thr :| handiest of the cargo from the 'twoon ■ decks, first and foremost being tome 401) ■ kegs of bicarbonate of soda, which was Ik speedily on deck ; but by this tinio tho I yelling'savages were on either side of tho I vessel, and npparonthy urging cneh other k on to hoard her. Myriads of arrows 'k found their way through tho rigging and H sails, some faliing on (ho deck, but no m casualties had happened to thn crew, ' ¥ The fow fire-arms on board were broughtj ■ service, and as the canoes lay along.

ride, tho captain ordered the kegs of I bicarbonate (weighing 1121bs. each) to J bo huiled over the sides of tha vessel, i iwtd it' possible into the omit* with the j hope o( BJukiug them. Like lightning thu orler was obeyed, nnd from amid- | ships.and astern keg after keg of soda [was thrown overboard, many of them 'striking the boats below, in*such eases ! their head* Vicing knocked out. The ! effect watf magical no sooner hnd the isoda mingled with the acid water than the natural but unexpected action took place, and for yards around the ship nothing could be seen but a mass of hissing, boiling, steaming Water, like a huge seidlitz powder. The rations-wore seen dancing wildly round on the top of the seething mass; the savages were thrown out violently, the boats upset, and n most iudisci ibable scene of confusion followed. Oopper-colonrsdhumanity hanging on like gum death to the overt tuned and rapid Urevolviugcanoes; others vainly striving to make their wayshurewnrds, Minded by the fumes and spray from the great seidlitz hath. Within lifteen minutes the action of the soda | had expended itself, and nothing was to he seen Imt the wreck of the savage I flotilla.and the blank heads of tho natives making for land. The bavepic was left in peace for the remainder of that day and night. During the night the crew i continued to work at lightening the vessel, ' reserving, however, as much as was left of the soda in case or another attack, and ] by daylight she succeeded in crossing the | bar and standing out to sea. The vessel ultimately arrived at San Francisco, long overdue, but littlo wa3 said of the peculiar circa instances of the vnvago while she remained at this pent. The seamen wore .".imply led to believe that they had called at one of the Marquesas Islands. As Jack is never over-curious, ho thought no more j about it. The crew were discharged here, ! and a fresh crew i* due time shipped, and I the vessel started again on her homeward I voyage, uow in charge of. the first officer. The captain was known tn have expended considerable money in telegraphing to his owners in England, and, after waiting a few mails after his arrival here, he returned with all speed overland to N 'W York, and thence by steamer to Liverpool, but nothing extraordinary leuked out here. Nuw for the sequel, as nearly iis we can glean it. from tiie other side of thu Atlantic. Many of the particulars oozed out in consequence of a lawsuit which is pending with the French underwriters on the cargo, to decide whether the jettison should bo accepted as a general average, or whether the net was an act of barratry of the master's —the French laws being somewhat different from the English laws on this point. The island proves to"bo one not hitherto known, and Captain Whitaker has named it for the Fant'au Island, fr.nn the enormous size of the fan palms which he saw there. It is supposed and currently believed in certain quarters in England, that the island is onn mass of precious metals, arid that the valleys are miniature gardens of Eden. During tho short time that the captain and mate had '•• explore the ground, they succeeded in carrying away with them some of the tines?, specimens 01 ore ever seen in our lime, in some cases chipping off solid pieces of gold and silver. They also carried away with thorn sample, of the water of tho bay, which was found to be supplied by a huge sind rapid stream of | water, emptying itself into the bay with such force as to he powerful enough to resist the action of tho heavier salt water outside the bar. These specimens and samples of water wcro carried by the captain overland, and a propor understanding of socrcsy was arrived at between himself and Mr, Edwards, tho first officer. On bis arrival in England, his owners, a very well-known and wealthy firm, were.consultcil w-ith and they deemed the subject «f sufficient importance to have the specimens assayed and the water analysed. The assays gave returns of inI credible proimsc.nnd the vvnterbyscientists i was judged to have obtained its extraordinary acidity through running over extensive beds ~f rock containing sulphur i in process of decomposition, and under conditions in which the sulphur can he oxydiscd ; the extreme acidity of the water being presumptively of a clear evidence of tho amount of pyrito rock then being decomposed. It is needless to add that wherever pyrites is found in such abundance the existence of the precious metals in large quantities is absolutely certain. The wealthy firm of English shipowners at once used their influence awl brought the subject before! Lord Boucousfield's Government, giving i them full particulars of what their em-1 ployees had discovered and tho results of the assaysnnd analysis,and recommending that the English government should at once take possession of the island, stipulating at the same tinio for such privileges for themselves and the discoveries us they were justly entitled to. It will he remembered that we announced some,time' since as a curious circumstance that a ship of war (the Mornmid) hud left . Plymouth'with sealed orders in. January last. It is now known thue orders were | to seize tho island and to leave a sufficient I force there to hold it. The anmmnrcment mtiv also havebten noticed of nn cxpeilil ion' leaving Englnnd soon after. Said to be in* aid of an expected rebellion in Crete, i This was a Miction. • The expedition simply turns out to be one of two; hundred adventurers, hired by the wealthy English Arm, and under the' command of oue of their junior partners with tho viowof colonising the newly-dis-covered island, and of extracting from itas j much wealth as they onn for themselves before tho gr»at rush cats in from other, parti of the world. At the prrsmt moment' the Hritish Hag will he flying to tho br* 80

ou Fan fan Island, and the red-coated British marines will, no doubt, again have an opportunity of displaying (hj the ignorant nuvage the. immense superiority o{ tlic improved European rifle over the primitive and comparatively harmless him and arrow, although the latter mayeven be tipped with the precious metal,as we under stand CaiifciinWhitnkdrdiscovemla'terappropriating all tho arrows wiiiuh fjll ou his dock during the short and bloodless engagement with his copper-coloured foes.