Tragedy Of The "Moaroa"

Fierce Fight Aboard Labour Vessel in 1869

By W. W. BOLTON, of Papeete.

THE Moaroa, owned by a Mr. Stewart, 13ft Atimaono, Tahitf, carrying a cargo of cotton to Auckland, New Zea land, and was ordered on its return to collect and bring back native labourers from the Line Islands, under wages, for the large and then prosperous plantation.

It was during the second portion of his orders that Captain Blackett and a num ber of his crew met a terrible death, and the ship was saved only by the gal lantry of its second mate, a Dane.

Herewith, lately come across, is given the report to the owner by the man who brought her home. ♦ ♦ * Three-masted barque of Tahiti Moaroa , in the Pacific Ocean, July 24, 1869.

Latitude; 7 degrees 32 minutes South; longitude: 175 degrees 45 minutes 45 seconds East.

Sir.—In hope of meeting before my arrival at Atimaono a ship en route for

the Society Islands, I have the honour to transmit to you the following report.

I will commence with a portion of the log since the day when we arrived in sight of the Gilbert Islands up to to-day, and I will then continue it up to the day when I shall encounter a ship or arrive in port.

Wednesday, June 16, 1869: At 11 in the morning we had seen Hope Island, or Arurai. We were approaching the island in the afternoon. Many canoes and a large ship’s boat reached us offering mats, coconuts, and other produce of the island in exchange for tobacco and red materials. We remained near this island till June 20, till 2 p.m. when we left for Byron Island, or Nukunau.

Monday, June 28: At six in the evening we were near Byron Island, and before nightfall 300 to 400 natives came aboard.

Some remained throughout the night.

June 29 and 30, and July 1 and 2: We remained off Byron Island, buying coco nuts, etc. On the 2nd the captain went ashore in an effort to persuade natives to embark with him.

July 3; We arrived off the island of Peru (Nonuiti); but as a white man of Byron Island had sent three men to warn the natives that we had need of men, none came aboard. The next morning, we met the three-masted barque Annie, of Me l bourne, which had 159 natives, but no water. The captain made arrangements to embark these natives for Tahiti, but as I am ignorant as to the conditions, it is impossible for me to note them here.

Mr. J. B. Lattin came aboard, at the same time, as a passenger to Tahiti and, besides, we had engaged as interpreter, for 20 piastres a month, a native who had resided a long while in the Fijian Islands. This man, having left the Annie. with his woman, came on board.

Having embarked the natives, and re ceived a quantity of powder provided by the Annie, we headed towards Hope Is land where we arrived July 12, at 5 p.m.

Two large ship’s boats came alongside w'th 37 natives all of whom remained on board' with the exception of two. On the 13th 19 natives came on board and on the 14th, six women arrived to join their mates. At 4 p.m. we headed for Byron Island where we arrived on Fri day, July 16. Passing the island we took aboard 68 natives and then set our course for Tahiti. Herewith further extract from the log.

July 17, 1869: Commenced with a calm, Byron Island to N.N.E., six miles off. At 5 a.m. the captain had given permission for all the natives (287) to come on deck, and there he distributed to them shirts and tobacco. All appeared to be tranquil, but the upper deck was crowded, near to 300 men were there en masse.

The men of the watch were behind the deck house, employed in preparing some

boards to construct a partition between the square and the orlop deck, when sud denly and without any warning (I had, however, seen a boy steal the knife of one of our men, and had thereupon beg ged the captain and Mr. Lattin to pass to the stern) suddenly, I say, the natives launched themselves upon the stern and attacked my watch.

I was then standing near the door of the deck cabin, where I saw a native kill Mr. Lattin with a hatchet. The latter was then near the rigging of the main mast. I seized a carbine and ran to the aid of the captain, but it was too late — he had received a knife thrust in the back, and another in the face, and had fallen dead near the door of the deck cabin. I sent one man below, who had received a very dangerous wound in the back (a knife thrust). Besides the knife thrust, the captain had received a ter rible blow from a hatchet in the face.

This hatchet had been stolen by one of the natives from the box containing tools, which he found on the deck.

At 6 o’clock, I retired to the mess room with one man, the only one who remained by me of my watch, and there I met the lieutenant (first mate) and the steward with a gun. In trying to aid the captain, the steward had been wounded in the right shoulder, but I did not know it then for he had not told me of this for fear of discouraging the rest.

We defended the mess room against all the natives and I have the conviction that we should have been successful in

retaking the deck house immediately if we had had good guns. Once safe in the mess, the natives blockaded us there com pletely, hurling at it firebricks secured from the kitchen, and covering the sky light and the hatches with anything they could find on deck; they even raised the staysail to put it over the skylight, but we prevented them from doing so with our carbines.

At 7 a.m. the men of the starboard watch were attacked in the bows but, having four old swords that I had put there the day before, they defended them selves, and the space was so narrow, leav ing room for only one man at a time, that the natives ceased to attack them.

At 9 a.m. two of these men had suc ceeded in joining us by detaching some boards of the partition, and as I held open the door of the mess leading to the storeroom, we saw them arrive. They told me that the three others would not be long in coming also, which in truth took place. I had then five men in all, but few arms, our long cavalry swords being well nigh useless in a hand-to-hand struggle.

Towards 11 a.m. the lieutenant insisted, despite me, to call in the interpreter, who was then lying bound by the natives in his cabin under deck. I forewarned him many times that the natives had seized the double-barreled gun of the interpreter and that it was loaded. But he paid not the least attention and was killed by a native wdth that gun. He fell dead. The ball entered his right shoulder after hav

ing smashed the frame which carried the skylight, and passed out about four inches from his heart.

When the natives saw him fall they indulged in a diabolical yelling on the upper deck, I then ceased to fire with my gun, thinking that by doing so the nat ives would take confidence and I should then be able to take them by surprise.

They all massed upon the upper deck, continuing to laugh and yell, without doubt thinking of the great quantities of tobacco and materials that the captain had shown to them and which they counted upon to seize in a short time. I had resolved to retake the ship, but it was not so easy with two guns and a revolver which did not work.

Then I decided to take a desperate measure which was to blow up the upper deck in the mid part of the ship and, during the disorder resulting, to throw myself across the smoke and retake the deck house.

We had received from the three-masted barque, the Annie, 45 boxes (in tin plate) each containing a half-pound of gun powder. Of these I emptied 34 into a small wide barrel; and. after having placed mats and sail cloth under the barrel to protect the ’tween decks with six other of the boxes I laid a train from the barrel to a large panel on the orlop deck.

I then gave orders that everyone should go below, even the steward, to the safest possible spot in the stern, so that they could all mount upon the upper deck

immediately after the explosion, and not to attend me, because they were more numerous than I alone, and less near to the explosion, and I could not say what might happen to me being so close. But I had confidence and I have never been calmer in my life.

After having seen the men in safety, and having made a short prayer for the protection of my wife and children, I set fire to the train, at the same moment hurling myself below. The explosion was immediate and I was nearly choked by the smoke. I regained the upper deck where I found the men, who had arrived before me, also the interpreter, who had been set free by his woman.

I cou’d not see a single native: but the sea was completely covered with black heads making for land.

My first care was to send two men below to extinguish the fire, and with the others I took all necessary measures against the natives seeking to return on board with their knives and other arms.

Thank God, the ship was completely ours and nothing had taken fire with the ex ception of the sail cloth which had been placed under the barrel, and which was completely extinguished by two buckets of water.

I examined the pumps immediately afterwards and, as they had not been worked since 4 a.m. and there was only two feet of water in the hold, not more than we habitually had in the same period. I felt sure that the vessel had not been materially damaged by the explo

sion, though it had trembled like an earthquake.

I went below later_ to see the state of affairs. The partition of the crew’s sleep ing quarters was in part demolished but it had not suffered as had the cabin in the stern. All the damage had there been done by the oars with which the natives had attacked us through the skylight.

The chronometer appeared to be working well. The clock was broken and entirely out of action; the thermometer was broken and the aneroid barometer had its glass broken. I noticed other damage which it is needless to mention. At noon we struck the time and hoisted the flag at the mainmast head.

I believe that all the natives arrived at Byron Island except two women, who had remained on board to go to Tahiti.

I have omitted to say that all our stern cargo had been lifted by the natives dur ing their blockade of the mess room.

Sunday, July 18: Commenced calm and finished with a light breeze. At 1 o’clock pumped the ship and commenced the repair of the deck which was as follows: under pools of water, planks and other things used by the natives to barricade the skylight, and on the port side near the door of his cabin was the captain whose head alone could be seen. It took me much time to disengage everything, having only five men capable of work.

The captain was literally covered with wounds, the left side of his face almost wholly gone. We laid him upon a mat and after having cleared the deck, re

paired the rigging, and whilst I was tending the wounded I had the men wrap the captain and the lieutenant each in anew mat and. having attached 50 fire bricks to each, and wrapped them in flags, at sunset after I had read a prayer for the dead, all being present and weep ing like children, we launched them into the deep.

After having fulfilled our duties to wards the dead, I bethought me of the survivors and the safety of the ship. I found that the deck between the bows and the final panel at the stern had been lifted nearly nine inches, and in the middle two planks had been completely torn up and hurled to the starboard side; the supports were demolished and seven of the beams of the deck either broken or more or less damaged; not sufficiently however to prevent the voyage to Tahiti under light sail. Having on board an old mainsail I had it cut in pieces and nailed over the open parts of the deck after having tarred it to prevent water pene trating, so far as possible. All the stan chions had fallen; we replaced them, and I hope with the reparations we have been able to make I shall be able to conduct the ship to Atimaono.

Having thus placed on record as the circumstances as well as I have been able to do, I beg you to excuse the faults of orthograph: lam not English but a Dane.

I trust that you may receive this re port before my arrival at Tahiti, shortly.

Signed: Charles Steenalt (Second of

the Moaroa).

List of Killed and Wounded: Dead: D. Blackett, captain; J. Crisp, lieuten ant; J. B. Lattin, passenger; Tiopa, sailor; Tia rei, sailor; Poti, sailor; Ava, sailor; Avai, sailor.

Wounded: Victor Watelier, right shoulder (slight) ; Amo, sailor, stomach (slight) ; Jack, sailor, right side (severe, grave) ; Sunday, inter preter, bullet in right thigh (grave).

Remaining crew: Charles M. Steenalt, second : Pupia, sailor; Rima, sailor; Auhiti, sailor; Hen ara, sailor; Oripoto, sailor.

It would appear that the Moaroa reached port in the last week of Sep

tember, 1869.

EDITORIAL NOTE: Other old records relating to Atimaono, of a later date, which have come to light recently, suggest that the greater portion of the foregoing report was a clever “fake.” It is indicated that actually the natives were kid napped ; that they fought desperately for freedom ; that a great many of them were killed ; and that the remainder were cowed by gunpowder ex plosions and eventually taken to Tahiti.