130 The Story of the New England Whalers 



days later another clan of the islanders, on coming 

 to where the sailors were living, were filled with 

 greed for the strange garments worn by the white 

 men; and seeing that no arms were carried by 

 the sailors, massacred all of them but one, who 

 managed to hide in the brush until the murderous 

 clan had gone home. 



The story of the Awasbonks, Captain Prince 

 Coffin, of Falmouth, Massachusetts, is of similar 

 interest. On October 5, 1835, this ship touched 

 at Namorik Island, one of the Marshall group, 

 for refreshments. The natives came off in un- 

 usually large numbers; but because they were 

 entirely friendly in their actions, no thought was 

 given to this fact. After some time spent in the 

 usual inspection of the ship, the natives suddenly 

 gathered into a compact body, seized such weapons 

 as were within reach, especially the "spades" 

 used when cutting in blubber, and attacked 

 the crew. Captain Coffin was beheaded by a 

 single stroke of a spade. The man at the wheel 

 and the second mate were quickly killed. The 

 third mate, Silas Jones, wrenched a spade from 

 one of the natives, but before he could use it two 



