TWO SEA INCIDENTS 



I more than half suspected that these wretched labourers 

 might have been dumped on an island inhabited by 

 a tribe with a perpetual feud against theirs. What 

 would happen ? Well, we need not try to imagine ; 

 maybe they would rub noses with their life-long 

 enemies, or be assimilated in the interiors of the 

 natives; in those days cannibalism had not wholly 

 died out. Incidentally, there was one huge fellow on 

 a certain island who, I was told, used to put the eye 

 of a gourmand on me. I certainly didn't like his look. 

 He was fat enough to induce me to believe the stories 



told about him that he had been known to devour 



but it isn't a pleasant recollection. That spear of his 

 always looked too handy for me. 



I should mention perhaps that the " trade boat " 

 used to go in — followed by the covering boat, in which 

 were armed men — and explain to the chiefs the 

 mission. Presents of cheap rubbish would be lavished 

 on them ; and they would either give their permission 

 or refuse it for men of their tribes to be recruited. 

 The natives heard rose-coloured stories about the 

 " engagements " ; the enlightenment came later. They 

 were pretty well treated, however, when once they had 

 made a compact in the presence of the Government 

 agent. Kidnapping, real " blackbirding," was done, 

 but I can never recollect it in our schooner. I re- 

 member one man, the mate — a very powerful north 

 of England man — had been casting longing eyes on 

 a Winchester repeater possessed by a nigger on an 

 island on which we had been spending two days. All 

 offers of tobacco, clasp knives and money had proved 

 useless. As the difficulty of possessing that Winchester 

 increased, so did the mate's longing grow keener. 



" I am going to have another go at him to-night," 

 he said. " I have arranged that he shall bring a 



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