AUCKLAND.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3698, 1 November 1880, Page 2

AUCKLAND.

This day. Aaothor Horrible Tragedy in the South Seas. An Auckland Vessel attaoke& 1)7 Natives* I Sis of the Crew Murdered. i News from Fiji reports a horrible massacre on board the Auckland brigantine Borealis, owned by D. H. MoKenzie and Captain Anderson. The particular! | of this most horrible affair are as follows: —On Monday, the 13th September, the Borealis was lying outside a small island called Uru, situated in a deep bight formed by the mainland; separated from it by a channel about half a mile broad. About seven o'clock in the morning the boat, with Captain McKenzie, flankin (Government agent), one European, and two Fijians as boat's crew, left the vessel for the purpose of recruiting, leaving on board Daniel Crcmer (first mate), James Najtherwood, William Kershaw (A.B.'s). William McKenzie (captain's son), William Jidward Huntley (apprentice), George Ward (steward), and Johnnie (Fijian). When he left the vessel, the captain states there were but six islanders on board, and be gave strict instructions to the first mate to keep a sharp look but against surprise. After being ashore about three-quarters of an hour, he heard a scream, and immediately returned to the vessel, together with the recruits and the interpreter, and on getting within hail, they found the ship in the possession of the natives, and were saluted with a shower of arrows and spears. They could see none of the vessel's people, and having made everyeffort to retake her until the ammunition ran short, while at the same time canoes were rapidly approaching from the main land, he decided to pull for Sua Bay, above forty-five miles to i leeward, where he hoped to find | some of the other vessels anchored. I He arrived some time after midnight and I found the schooners Flirt, Dauntless, and Stanley there. He ran alongside the Flirt, which quickly communicated with the other vessels, and all made sail for the scene of the disaster. Half a gale of wind was blowing dead ahead at the time, and progress was slow. The Stanley arrived first, on the afternoon of the 16th, and found Ward the steward terribly wounded, but still alive in the captain's cabin. No bodies of the other men were seen, but the decks bore sad evidence of the sanguinary work. A portion of an arm was found in the scuppers of the ship. She was gutted from stem to stern, chopped and hacked about in every direction, everything lying on the deck had been thrown overboard, and the stores and provisions broken open and scattered about the decks. As the Stanley's boats came alongside, the natives were seen attempting to escape from the island, and the crew of the ship at once started in pursuit, and four

natives were captured and made prisoners —-two men, one woman and a boy, who are now on board the Stanley and will be brought to Levuka.

The steward's narrative is as follows: —After the captain hadieft the vessel, all hands were engaged setting up rigging, and putting the ship in order after the bad weather. He was occupied in the galley and saw some people arriving, but paid no attention to them till, while he was stooping, lie heard a signal given and heard a rush on the other men, and saw a native aim a blow at his head with a tomahawk. He partially dodged the' blow, bat received a fearful gash on the side of his head. It staggered him, but before it'could be repeated he reached his revolver and shot the man who wounded him. Then he tried to fire another shot, but found someone had emptied all the other chambers. He then seized a large knife and fought bis way outside, when he found about 80 men on the deck, evidently despatching the crew, as he saw none of them among the .crowd. H» defended himself with his knife until he received a cut from a tomahawk on each arm, which completely disabled him, when he was knocked' down the main hatch, but contrived to creep into a half emptied water tank, where he remained for upwards of three hours, until the natives deserted the vessel. Then he crawled on deck, where he saw the bodies of all the murdered men except the young apprentice and the Fijian, both of whom he supposes were killed in the fore part of the vessel. He managed' to crawl into the Captain's cabin where he bolted himself in, and remained there for three days until relief came by the people from the Stanley. During the interval the natives repeatedly visited the ship evidently in search of him, They broke in the head of the tank which formed his first hiding place, and actually smashed the skylight in the roof of the Captain's cabin, but being a thick deck light it still hung together and prevented their discovering the wounded helpless prisoner. His ultimate escape is nothing short of a miracle since had they attacked the cabin door with their tomahawks nothing could have saved the poor fellow's life. Happily when the door is closed it appears part of the main cabin wall and to this fortunate circumstance doubtless he owes his preservation.: ? v ; No reason whatever beyond thirst for blood and. plunder can be assigned for the attack, as 900 men have been recruited from the same island during the present year, and it has been been looked upon as the safeit of cruising grounds. Toe Dauntless and Flirt arrived soon after the Stanley, and each lent hands to bring the Borealis back to port. Hutchison, the first mate of the Stanley, was transferred from that vessel to the Borealis. The steward, George Ward, whose life was so miraculously preserved is rapidly recovering. . ;