THE KINGSMILL CANNIBALS 

 TO HIS MOTHER 



Exposure to the Cannibals of the Kingsmill Islands 



"June 7, 1841. 



" Three times we have made islands at night, and de- 

 scried them through the darkness just in time to avoid 

 striking. The islands were thickly scattered through the 

 sea, all of them low, and some, naked reefs, which only 

 give notice at night of their frightful nearness by the dull 

 roar of the surf. Moreover, strong currents, varying 

 often in direction, set us at times far from our reckoning 

 and increased our dangers. Once we got aground. It 

 was an hour before daylight. During the night we had 

 drifted twenty miles, from the vicinity of one of the 

 Kingsmill Islands to the shores of another; and the first 

 notice we had of our perilous situation was the heavy 

 grinding of the ship's bottom on the coral sand. Provi- 

 dentially the ship had been laid to (her headway stopped) 

 a few minutes before, and we touched but gently, and 

 shortly afterwards we were again free, though still un- 

 certain in which direction safety was to be found, as we 

 knew not where we were. We were, however, guided 

 out, and escaped without further injury. Had we been 

 under way, we should undoubtedly have stuck hard and 

 fast, and might have had a long residence with the can- 

 nibals of the Kingsmill Islands. 



" On the previous evening our schooner was left 

 aground in the lagoon that forms the centre of the island. 

 She was compelled to wait during the fall and rise of the 

 tide before she could get off, and she succeeded in rescuing 

 herself at the same hour with ourselves. A few canoes 

 came off during the night; their good intentions were 

 suspected, and a few shots fired to scare them. The war- 

 conches were heard during the night from every part of 

 the island, and in the morning they saw evidence that a 

 strong attack upon them was meditated by the natives; 

 but by their early escape from the lagoon they avoided 

 the necessity of fighting and firing in good earnest for 

 self-defense." 



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