410 



MASSACRE ISLANDS. 



[1830 



we suffered ourselves to be deceived by it, we should have deserved to 

 become its victims. 



At eleven, A. M., we consummated a negotiation with Henneen, the 

 chief of the Massacre Island, the late tyrannical master of Shaw, for 

 the purchase of the small island on which we had landed the frame 

 of our house, prepared at Manilla, and brought out upon deck. The 

 contract was well understood by both parties, and the transfer duly 

 made. We paid for this island in cutlery, trinkets, &c, according to 

 the stipulated agreement ; delivering to Henneen the specified number 

 of axes, hatchets, adzes, chisels, plane-irons, gimlets, spoke-shaves, 

 knives, scissors, razors, looking-glasses, and beads of different kinds. 

 Mr. Shaw, having acquired some knowledge of their language during 

 his captivity, acted as interpreter, and explained every thing satis- 

 factorily to both parties. 



At one, P. M., we landed seventy men on our newly-purchased 

 territory, to which we gave the name of Wallace's Island, in honour 

 of that brave and worthy officer, who fell by the hands of the canni- 

 bals in the massacre of May 28th, while animating his men to defend 

 themselves like true sons of Neptune. The timber on this island 

 grows to an extraordinary size ; two trees of which we selected, as 

 conveniently situated for an important but somewhat novel purpose. 

 From these trees we cut away the tops, at the height of forty-five feet 

 from the ground, the trunks being six feet in diameter near the roots. 

 We then extended floor-timbers from the branches of one tree to those 

 of the other, on which we laid a platform, projecting over every way 

 about six feet, being about twenty-eight feet square. On this platform 

 we erected a house, or rather a castle, arrow-proof and water-tight, 

 sufficiently capacious to accommodate fifty men. Here we mounted 

 four brass swivels, and stationed sixteen of our best men, armed with 

 muskets, who were to sleep there every night. They entered this 

 aerial fortress by means of a ladder, which was immediately drawn 

 up after them. 



While the requisite number of men were employed in building this 

 • castle, the remainder of the crew were busily engaged in cutting and 

 clearing away the timber in every direction, within bow-shot of the 

 edifice, and in raising the frame of a house for curing biche-de-mer. 

 The castle overlooked the north end of this building, which was one 

 hundred and fifty feet in length, forty feet wide, and twenty-five feet in 

 height. Eighty-two men after the first day were on shore every day, 

 diligently labouring, until the castle and house were completed. The 

 trees were cleared away for about two hundred yards back from the 

 castle and curing-house ; so that in case of an attack from the natives, 

 we might have an open field and a fair fight for it. These buildings 

 were situated near the shore, about ten yards from high-water mark, 

 directly abreast of the Antarctic. The object of the castle was of 

 course to protect the curing-house and the men at work in and 

 around it. 



September 18th. — We continued our operations without molestation 

 until Saturday, the 18th, when the castle was finished ; and at six, 

 P. M., the swivels were mounted, and the place garrisoned with sixteen 



