The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-04-02
AWFUL MASSACRE OF THE CREW OF THE
AMERICAN WHALING SHIP SUPERIOR,
BY THE NATIVES OF TREASURY ISLAND

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From the Sydney Herald, Jan. 81
The following letter, addressed to the editor of
the Herald, by Captain Hugh Mair, of the schooner
Ariel, has been handed to us by Captain Devlin, of
the Rebecca. now lying at this port:
beg to inform you that anchored at Rubiana
(Solomon lsands) on the 10th of November and on
the following day the schooner Ariel, Slater, mas
ter, arrived at the same place, having touched
at Treasury Island, three days previously The
mate OF the Ariel told me that he had reason to be-
lieve that the American whaling ship Superior of
New Bedford, Woods, master had been taken at
the last named place. | thereupon Immediately
got under weigh and proceeded to Treasury Island,
where the natives, as usual came on board in con.
siderable numbers, and during the whole day were
coming and going, but did not offer ANYTHING for
sale. Tais gave rise to iHareased suspicion and
finding but too much grounds for my misgivings,
| called one of the chiefs into the cabin and told
him that knew of their having taken the ship and
murdered the crew. and that it of use for him
to deny the fact. The man then confessed that it
was the case, but said that he had had no hand in
| it, which afterwards found out to be partly true
The next day the natives brought part of the ships
sails Gall cut up) and several more articles which
they wanted to sell amongst the rest was the ships
log book. That day found out that six other crew
were prisoners upon the island and l at once set
about trying to get possession of them.
| For three days more cruised off the island
having the natives backwards and forward during
that time. went to the beach occasionally, and
could see the men, but every occasion they were
strongly guarded. None of the principal natyes
coming on board, as last resource had to Sc cure
a native who was related to of the head Chiefs
put him in irons, and next morning l took him
ashore, and again offered the natives to pay them
for the men. They agreed at last to let me have
one, who, on coming to my boat, gave me the
dreadful intelligence that the whole of the crew of
the Superior, with the exception of himself and
five others, had been murdered and the ship burnt
| 1t seems there are two chiefs implcated-Copan.
| the head man, and America, the next NV prisoner
being relative to America, resolved to keep him
| until got the two other men that chief had (for
| each of the two chiefs had, it seems, two men ,
| and was finally successful after great deal Of
| trouble. The three men, however, whom Copan
had possession of, could not get either bv persua-
sion or threats. At night proceeded to the an
! cborage, where the ship had been taken. and re-
mained there two days. | saw no natives but
found the ships jibboom on the beach, together
with pieces of burnt timber, slaves, &c.
The bark Superior, R. d. Woods master. Woods.
owner,) of New Bedford, sailed from that port on
the oath June, 1857, made Treasury Island on the
18th OF September, 1860, and came to anchor there
| on the same day. On the 18th, 14th and 18th of
that month the crew were employed in wooding
and watering, and, from the mems statement were
| visited by great number of natives armed On
Sunday, the 18th, nine of the crew went ashore
The carpenter and two men went to the settlement
and were murdered in one of the native huts. The
| natives then proceeded in canoes and overland to
| the ship, and those who came by land fell in with
the remaining six close to the beach, and murdered
| them. About $50 natives got on board the vessel
anu naue a rusn On the crew, who were all on deck
except four, who were in bed. Those on deck were
| Immediately tomahawked, only two escaping by
jumping down the main hatchway, and Joining the
four below in the forecastle One of the crew. whom
| | recovered, saw the captain and second mate mur-
dered by native called "Billy," who has been to
Sydney, and speaks English well. The chief Copan
was the principal in this dreadful massacre. The
| six men below, being armed with lances, kept the
natives from coming down the forecastle, until at
last Billy told my informant that if they came up
they should not be hurt AT length, therefore,
they did so, and were at once surrounded, and by
| the chief Copan ordered to be put to death. The
chief America offered to buy three of the men, and
he persuaded Copan to keep the other three to till
the ground. These three, as have already init
mated, l could no. recover.
The three men on board my vessel saw thev were
well treated by the chief America, and they tell
me that the native "Bily" was at the taking o!
the schooner Pearl, where am now at anchor
about eighteen months before this happened Ii
is said that he went to Treasury Island in the
Superior, and bad an opportunity of seeing that
there were no arms kept; there being only seven
old flint guns, and none of them loaded when the
ship was taken. Twentv-six men were butchered
In cold blood, amongst whom was poor lad ten
years OF age-the crew consisting of thirty-two
souls when she anchored. The natives took five
boats with quantity of cordage and sails which
were all cut up, and everyth thing else was DESTROYED
by setting the ship on fire. The Superior had on
board l50 barrels of sperm and $50 barrels of right
| whale oil. In November last she was in Honolulu
and shipped in the Midas, for the United States
| 1883 lbs of bone, $40 barrels of sperm and 23C
barrels of whale oil, as shown by her log in my
| possession. HUGH MAIR.
RUBIANA, Solomon Islands, November 80.