BS6 CASE OF THE VENILIA. NoV- 



the law, and said that he would not regard the law. We then 

 became more resolute : the governor said to the chiefs, ' Friends, 

 chiefs of the land, we must have a meeting.' The chiefs assem- 

 bled on the twenty-second day of December 1831. The go- 

 vernor ordered a man to go for the captain of the ship. When 

 he had arrived on shore, the governor appointed a man to be 

 speaker for him. The speaker said to the captain of the ship, 

 ' Friend, here are your men, take them, and put them on board 

 of your ship ; it is not agreeable to us that they should remain 

 upon our land.** The captain said, ' I will not by any means 

 receive them again : no, not on any account whatever T The 

 governor again told his speaker to say, ' Take your men, and 

 put them on board your ship, we shall enforce our laws.' The 

 captain strongly objected to this, saying, ' I will not, on any 

 account, again receive these bad men, these mutineers.' We 

 then said, ' It is by no means agreeable to us for these men to 

 live on shore : if they are disturbers of the peace on board the 

 ship, they will disturb the peace on shore.' Captain Hill, who 

 has long been a captain belonging to Britain, spoke to the cap- 

 tain of the ship : this is what he said to him : * It is not at all 

 agreeable to the laws of Britain that you should discharge, or 

 in any manner turn away your men in a foreign land.' This 

 is another thing Captain Hill said, ' you should write a docu- 

 ment, stating clearly the crime for which these men have been 

 turned on shore ; that the governor and chiefs may know how 

 to act towards them, and that they may render you any assist- 

 ance.' But this was not agreeable to the captain ; he would 

 not write a document. The governor then said to the captain, 

 ' If you will not take your men on board again, give us the 

 money, as expressed in the law.' The captain said, ' I will 

 not give the money, neither will I again take the men : no, 

 not on any terms whatever ; and if you attempt to put them 

 on board the ship, I will resist, even unto death.' The governor 

 then said, ' We shall continue to be firm ; if you will not give 

 the money, according to the law, we shall put your men on 

 board the ship, and should you die, your death will be de- 

 served.' When the captain perceived that we were determined 



