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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 béche-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. 
