HISTORICAL REMARKS. 405 



Towards the close of the eighteenth and the begin- 

 ning of the present century, Viti began to be visited by 

 vessels from the East Indies in search of sandalwood 

 and beche-de-mer, or Trepang, for the Chinese market. 

 At that time the aborigines were regarded as ferocious 

 savages, and great caution was exercised by the traders 

 in dealing with them. The vessels were well armed, and 

 none of the crew ventured on shore until chiefs of high 

 rank had been sent on board as hostages, only to be given 

 up after all business transactions had been concluded, 

 and the loaded vessels were far enough at sea to be safe 

 from surprise or any sudden attack. Some of these vessels 

 were wrecked, on board of others mutinies occurred, and 

 the crew took up its residence on shore ; again, between 

 some of the traders differences arose, which induced the 

 natives to attack the foreign vessels, and kill the whole 

 or portion of their crew. These were the materials 

 which probably formed the first white immigration. In 

 1860, there was at Cakaudrove an old Manila man, 

 named Jetro, who had been a boy on board a sandal- 

 wood ship, and who gave me a detailed account of the 

 murder of the captain by the crew, the goods being 

 given up to the king of Bau because no one was able 

 to navigate the ship, which had to be abandoned, and 

 it being thought best to purchase the goodwill of a 

 powerful chief in order that the mutineers might have a 

 protector. Jetro could give no clue to the date of this 

 event, except that it took place shortly after Charles 

 Savage had died, which would make it about the year 

 1814. 



Charles Savage is said to have been a Swede by birth. 



