The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-10-17
TIE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER Il.
NOTES OF THE WEEK.


the following account of a tragedy at sea. About
the end Of january, or first Of February, 1865, the
Prussian bark CayaItil, sailing under American
colors, left Callao, the principal port Of Peru, for
Arequipa, distant about two days sail. with a cargo
of fifty coolies, which had been just imported from
China, in the French ship Prorefen-G, now in this
port The owner Of the coolies, who was also owner
of the vessel and of a sugar estate in Peru, was on
board also. His bark was named after his plantation.
He had Just purchased these laborers for his planta-
ton, and had on board a supply Of rice and stores
twenty thousand dollars in coin with other valuables.
The next morning after leaving Callao, the coolies
rose upon the unsuspecting crew, captured them,
and killed the man at the wheel and second mate.
The Captain and first officer were in their berths
asleep, but were soon aroused by the noise. On
seeing the vessel in possession of the coolies, they
threw some benches out the cabin window, and then
jumped out, intending to save themselves by swimming
ashore. The pirates then lowered a boat, pulled for
the Captain and mate, and killed them both while in
the water. They then returned to the ship, took the
crew, nine in number, consisting of Americans, Por-
tuguese and Spaniards, tied them each hand and
foot, and lashed them all TO n hawser. They then
fastened an anchor TO the hawser, and threw the
whole overheard. OF course the anchor sank, carry
ing the men with it to the bottom, and they were
drowned.
The owner, Mr.. Baracondegui, who is well con-
nected in Lima, was left in the cabin with his servant,
n faithful ChinamGn, who had been with him many
years. He was armed with reyolyerS, and seeing his
weapons. the pirates feared to modest him. The
servant boy then interceded with them to spare his
own and his masters lives, which they agreed to ON
condition that lac would deliver up hs weapons TO
them. This he did after some delay, evidently hay
ing m~isgiving about their honesty. They then put
the vessel about, and run off before the southeast
trades, in a northwesterly course for China. There
were four or five ringleaders in the gang, but no one
appears to have understood navigation. They knew
that China was of to the northwest, and that was
about all. The voyage across the Pacific, more than
ten thousand miles, appears to have been made with
out seeing land or vessels.
On the first of April, they passed through the
Kurile Islands into the Ochotsk Sea, where the bark
ran into the ice and lay for six days, the pirates i'm
proving the opportunity to I'LL their water casks.
They got into clear water on the 23d of April, and
came to anchor off the g Sand Spit in the North
East Gulf, on the west shore of the Kamskatka PEN
insula. Here they took the owner and his servant
ashore, and allowed them to escape. and after travelling
along the coast for about thirty miles, they came to
a small settlement. where they found provisions and
remand till n whaler came in sight. Mr.. BaracOn-
degui was kindly offered a passage to Honolulu by !
Captain Hamilton of the Sea Bree=e, and his servant
was taken ON board the Hercules, both which vessels
will be here in n few days.
Soon after the above two persons were set ashore.
the piratical craft weighed anchor. and put to sea,
standing of to westward with a stiff east wind. She
has not been heard from since, and is supposed to
have been wrecked in some part of the Ochotsk Sea.
The five ringleaders divided half their prize money
(S2O,OOO) among themselves, $4,000 to each, and
,Io Iaf...a x-,g Is,,lnl o,rn,,,, tlo rnt A. - r,,,
Der, SOD to each. Whether it was of any use to
them or not, may never he known, as the bark and
the coolies may have been lost in the Ochotsk.
Captain Martin, of the ship Proreden.a, informs
us that on the voyage from China to Callao, these
coolies showed no disposition to be refractory, and he
had no trouble whatever with them. This tragedy
serves to illustrate what reckless characters these
coolies are, and We may well wonder that similar
scenes have not been enacted here, where gangs of
twenty to thirty coolies have been shipped in small
schooners, without the first thought of any provision
against revolt or piracy.
The method of ~disposing of the crew of the bark,
which the pirates resorted to, is one of the most hor-
rible and revolving imaginable. They We're lashed
hand and foot, then tel to a hawser and sunk by an
anchor in deep water. Can anything more revolving
be imagined? And yet this is only n fair illustration
of the character of the class dealt in and known as
coolies Since the bark CdyGifi left Callao, probably
nothing has been heard of her in Peru, and the sup
position doubtless is that she was captured by the
coolies, or sprung aleak and foundered. Had the
captain and first officer been properly armed, and
remained on board, they, together with the owner
and his servant, could undoubtedly have recovered
possession Of the vessel, as coolies are terribly afraid
of firearms, and three or four revolvers would have
them. -
( OyE OF THE PIoSEERs-The Kate Lee yesterday
took~on board an enormous turtle, which has been
presented to Capt. Makee by Mr.. C.. n. Spencer.
This animal, though he does not sport much of a
tail, has Notwithstanding n tale worth making a note
Of He is supposed to have been taken to Kan by
one Of the Spanish galleons that visited these islands
long before Capt. Cook was born, and was probably
brought from the Galapagos. An old native now
living at Kau says that his father told him that this
turtle was brought there long before his grandfather
was born. 1t is supposed to be one hundred and fifty
years old, and is Justly entitled to be called the old
est inhabitant. When brought to Kau, it was small,
but has grown with years till now it weighs over four
hundred pounds. On the Galapagos, the heaviest
often attain n weight of over one thousand
pounds. The earthquakes Of Kau have of late dis
turbed this old pioneers rest, and he has been trans
TO the more quiet and pleasant shades Of Ulu-
where he will be allowed to spend his old
age, feasting ON the fat Of the Land.
Bo,RDrxc- ScuooL-we understand that the
Board Of Education have decided TO take the premises
1t Makawao. belonging to Rev. C. Il. Andrews, now
by Mr.. John Miller, and open a boys
school. The institution will be placed in
,harge Of Mr.. Robert W. Andrews, assisted by his
Mrs. Sarah A. Thurston. The project is one
Shich will meet general approval, and it is believ
hat the selection of teachers will prove to be a most
udicious one. We need more Of such schools on each
the islands, and the opening of every new one will
&c greeted with delight by all who seek for the i'm
T. Of the Hawaiian race.
EARTHQUAKE N AUsTR LIA-The extent Of the
Tiolent volcanic disturbance, which has been going on