The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-12-05

MN. Nr. Brown appealed T. tile pee-
pie, am lorOgOOd offered to bury the
mau II he We're paid war wages Mr..
Brow determined TO see the affair out
tut IN a little while Iosogood promIs i
that out Of resp CT to The .ofI he would
have the man buried Mr.. Brown
started for the other ylllag-. but a. he
approached II perceived the smell OF
the lther five bodies which the paoplr
had already nearly cooked. Thinking
he bad accomplished all that it wA>
safe - attempt a. tile time. lie uil not
follow the matter up further.
Some tlm aftertiIese events Saiiasa.
one OF the native ministers told Mr..
brown. that he had been up inland In
New Britain, and had been kindly re-
ceIved 10y the nat YES. and that tn
had all wished hmm 10 20 again IL
asked for some beads. &c.. 10 give To
the chiefs a. presents. and Mr.. Brown
gave I'll III 10 INN, telling him that he,
too, was going ove soon to New
Britain, and would also 20 inland
further up the coast, and hoped to yet
some fine openings tor the l1tu At
n beginning of April Mr.. Brown
prepared TO take his family for a
Change Of ar to spend a week on the
- 49, - I'll 9 ~
start, a native came To the window Of
his stuiy. where he was sitting at
night, and told him that he had Just
heard that the New Britain natives
hid murdered Sailasa and some teach
erS. Ile report was conf. med on the
next day. An inquiry into the cir
cumStances OF the murder showed that
Sallasa and the traders had agreed Il
20 INLAND n separate parties Of our
each. one unde the charge of Sailasa
aud the other under Ratu Livai, ano-
tAer trader. The party under Ratu
LlvaI, returned the next day, having
been In some little danger. The other
party (Sallasa'S) slept at one of the
villages on the first range. Ialili. "a
chief nom the north coast, sen up
after them, telling the bushmen 10
kill them. The natives from the town
where they slept followed them on the
road and continued calling, as they
went along the road, to other natives
who We're working on their plantations
to join them, until they got a large
number collected, when they were
able 10 attack them and overpower
them at once. The teachers do not
seem tO nave had any suspicious and
We're taken quite unawares. The eat
ing of all the murdered men vas not
denied, but was confessed to by several
persons, and the places We're found
where the feasts took place. The
bones of some Of the victims We're re
covered, broken and charred.
STEPS TO PUNISH THE CANNIBALS.
After receiving the news Mr.. Brown
visited Sailasa's house, where he met
the widows of the murdered men and
heard horrible accounts of ther dea'h
which made the blood boil He was
told also that Talili, he reputed mur
derer, had come from his own village
aud proposed to a chief in he neigh
| borhood to murder the widows aud
children and burn the house. He also
discovered that the Samoan and Ftiian
teachers had consulted together aud
were planning an expedition inland
that night. and were determined 10 go
without telling him for fear thai he
would prevent them. Two white
men, who were with him in the boat,
had also agreed to go with them.
Fearing that such an expedi ion would
be a failure, and would probably cause
a loss of life, he begged the teachers
to trust the matter with him. He was
now placed in a critical position, and
gives the following as h reasons
which influenced this decision =
First There was first the fact hat
the teachers themselves were actually
preparing to 20 that they all said
that life was no longer safe in any of
the towns. nor WAS The mission work
practical If these murdererS were lot
punished.
Second-The few whites here also
assured me that unless something was
done their lives also were no longer
safe. They volunteered their help and
urged immediate action. Talili, who
is said to have ordered the massacre,
had previously attempted the life OF
Mr.. Hicks, a trader at Matupit. The
cook of the bark Johan Caesar also had
a very narrow escape from HIM, and
very recently he attempted to capture
the schooner Franziska. Since the
murder also he had sent some very in
sulJing messages to the whites.
Third-My own convictions also
were that unless these murders were
punished they would soon be followed
by others.
Being satisfied that the murder
were not in n way connected witt
the position of the victims as Christian
teachers or prompted by enmity &c
the l0tu, but were committed because
the natives wished to eat some for
eigners aud get their property, he de-
cided to enlist the well-disposed na,
tives with him. He was successful
and secured a considerable party. who
it was arranged, should go as oon a
possible and attack the offenders from
the two sides. Having prepared t.
send the women and children back t.
the Duke of York Islands, he went VI
to see Bulilalai, a noted chief Of tn
part of the island where he was. Thi
chief was shy of white men, having
conscience not quite void of offence
but Mr.. Brown sent word that h