Sandal-Wood and its Commercial Importance. 81 



the good ship " ©aniden," with the missionaries Williams and 

 Harris on board, hove in sight at Dillon Bay. The Eromangans, 

 unable to guess the glad tidings about to be made known to 

 them, thought it was that sandal-wood party returning to 

 repeat the offences. That very day there was to have been a 

 great festival on shore, and near the beach heaps of yams and 

 taro had been piled up for that occasion . Fearing that portions 

 of them might be carried off, the natives tried to prevent the 

 landing of the strangers; but finding their signs misunderstood, 

 and no heed taken of the absence of women and children, a 

 party, headed by chief Kauiau, commenced the attack. Poor 

 Harris was the first struck down ; Williams ran into the sea, 

 but before able to reach the boat he too was a dead man, and 

 his body, like that of his unfortunate companion, cooked and 

 eaten. In 1859, the missionary Turner visited the scene of the 

 massacre. The chief who headed the attack was still alive and 

 was even induced to go on board the " John Williams," when 

 long and silently he gazed upon the portrait of the man whom 

 his murderous hand had made the martyr of Eromanga. 

 During an interval of twenty years the sandal-traders had 

 obtained a firm footing on this notorious island, the wood being 

 still so plentiful that one firm employed about sixty men to cut 

 it in the bush. But they found the Eromangans reluctant to 

 work, and had to import labour from Lifu, Vate, and other 

 islands. This reluctance may be explained by bearing in mind 

 that all Polynesians work more willingly and better abroad 

 than at home, and also because a belief had taken hold of the 

 mind of the Eromangans that a dysentery, which in 1842 

 carried off a third of their number, was owing to some hatchets 

 obtained from a sandal vessel, inducing them to throw the 

 implements away. Another incident may have prompted them 

 to keep aloof from contact with sandal- wood traders. In 1843, 

 two vessels under British colours, the " Sophia " and the " Sul- 

 tana," and a third, said to have carried the flag of Tahiti, 

 manned by sixty Tongans, commanded by chief Maafu, and 

 under the supreme leadership of a Mr. Henry, an Englishman, 

 arrived at Eromanga for the purpose of forcibly cutting sandal 

 trees. The party, armed with muskets, landed, and cut and 

 embarked a quantity of the wood. For the first few days the 

 Eromangans were friendly, but at the end of that time some of 

 their number, having stolen three axes, a disturbance took 

 place, when one of the supposed thieves was shot by a Tongan. 

 The fire was returned by arrows, and mortally wounded a 

 Tonguese. In consequence of this affray, Henry and his 

 party left Eromanga, and proceeded to Vate, where the men 

 were again landed, armed as before, and directed to cut 

 sandal-wood, the whites prudently remaining on board. This 



