CASE OF BOARD, A SEAMAN, AT LEW CHEW. 493 



examination and hearing witnesses, reported as their opinion that the man came to his death 

 from blows inflicted on his head by some person or persons unknown to them, and by subsequent 

 immersion in the water for a considerable time while insensible from the blows he had received. 

 They further, added, that the testimony of the Lew Chew witnesses was very equivocal and 

 unsatisfactory. Soon after this the Commodore arrived, when Lieutenant Glasson immediately 

 reported to him all the facts and documents in his possession connected with the case ; and, 

 among the rest, that he had demanded a full and fair investigation by the local authorities of 

 Lew Cliew, to which demand he had received no satisfactory answer. 



The Commodore, upon enquiry, soon became convinced that the man's death, though 

 unlawfully produced, was probably the result of his own most gross outrage on a female, and, 

 in such case, not undeserved ; still he felt that, for the security of others, both Europeans and 

 Americans, who might subsequently visit the island, it was important to impress upon the 

 authorities the necessity for the full investigation and proper punishment, by the local 

 authorities, of acts of violence committed upon strangers who might visit them. He therefore 

 made a peremj)tory demand upon the regent or superintendent of affairs to cause a judicial trial 

 to be instituted, conformably to the laws of Lew Chew. 



This demand was at once complied with, the court consisting of six superior judges, and the 

 regent and first treasurer giving their constant personal attendance during the entire pro- 

 ceedings. 



The facts, as well as they could be ascertained, appeared to be these. On the 12th of June 

 three American sailors, one of whom was named Board, passing through the streets of Napha, 

 forcibly entered the house of one of the inhabitants, and taking therefrom some saki soon 

 became intoxicated. Two of them found a sleeping place in the gutter, but Board, clambering 

 over a wall, entered a private house, where he found a woman, named Mitu, and her niece^ a 

 young girl. He brandished his knife, threatened the woman, and attempted the foulest 

 outrage ; she cried out until she fainted and became insensible. Her cries brought some Lew 

 Chew men to the spot, and the circumstances clearly showed the purpose of Board. Some of 

 the Lew Chewans seized him and threw him to the ground. More than half drunk, he rose 

 and fled towards the shore, seeking to escape. Many persons had by this time assembled, and 

 piu'sued Board, throwing stones at him, some of which struck him, and, according to the 

 statements of the native witnesses, in his drunkenness he fell into the water and was drowned. 

 Whether this latter particular was precisely in accordance with the fact was somewhat doubtful. 



At any rate, the Lew Chew authorities, declaring that it was "altogether illegal to throw 

 stones and wound persons^ causing them thereby to fall into the water and be drowned," 

 convicted six persons, one as principal and the others as accessories. After the ' conviction the 

 regent and first treasurer appeared on board the Mississippi with the ringleader bound, and 

 desired to deliver him to the Commodore to be dealt with according to the laws of the United 

 States. The Commodore, of course, declined to receive him, and explained to the Lew Chewans 

 that it was not his wish or purpose to interfere in any mode with the administration or execution 

 of the Lew Chew laws ; that he only wished them to enforce them on proper occasions, when 

 wrong or injury was done to any foreigners who might chance to visit the island. He 

 accordingly remanded the prisoner to the regent, who expressed many thanks to the Commodore 

 for the act. The end of the matter was that the accessories were banished to a neighboring 

 island for a time, and the principal was banished for life. It seems doubtful, however, whether 



