Saturday press. [volume] (Honolulu, H.I.) 1880-1885, 1880-12-25

WE give elsewhere the details oil n most
atrocious massacre of the Lieut.. Commander
and boats crew of H. B. NJ. S. !Sandfy on
one of the Solomon Islands. The Sdndfy
is one of four schooners, ofiicered and manned
purposes of watching the doings of traders
and labor vessels, and of surveying in the
South Pacific. The officer in command of the
Sandfy was Lieut. Bower, recently appointed,
aud who went from Auckland to Sydney by
the Zealandia on her last trip, to take up his
command, in high spirits at having reached
the position of chief of survey and Captain
of ship. 1t seems that the days work was
done, the boat beached, fire lit and water
boiling for tea, two men permitted to bathe,
one stationed in the boat, Lieut.. Bower and
one of the men going off little distance to
back to the boat with message from Lieut.
Bower, when these blood-thirsty savages
rushed forth from long-arranged, carefully
designed ambush, and slaughtered the bathers,
the messenger, and the boat keeper; this lat
Ter, however, snatched up II stretcher and
fought furiousy for his life, but to no purpose.
His body was found afterwards horribly mu-
tilated and hanging from sort of scaffoh near
the scene of massacre. The other two. Lieut..
Bower and man named Savage, escaped into
the bush, and the latter alter har-breadth es-
capcs, including u seven or eight miles swim at
one time chased by canoes, at another surround
cd by sharks, was taken prisoner and finally al
lowed to return with his ghastly story to the
schooner. The unhappy commander took
refuge in q tree, and eluded the fcnds in search
Scl H. e. Al, .,, q, ~
resumed the hunt and discovered their prey.
He was Immediately shot, and his body was
found at the foot of the tree, without head or
right arm and horribly hacked about A Young
sut-lieutenant left in command of the iSdndfy
growing anxious at the prolonged absence of
his senior, sent another boat to search in one
direction, while he worked the schooner IN the
opposite direction SO as to make the circuit of
the Island tho natives endeavored to entrup
this second boat, but the officer in charge of
her, the boatswain, was to wary for them, and
avoided the snare. At last the Sano!dy reached
the neighborhood of the murders, and sent off
another armed searching party. Tlis was fired
on from the bush, but they persevered and so
far drove of the natives that they we're able
to land, and they discovered the remains of
their commander and two men and buried
thcm they burnt the nearest village, and re-
turned with their sickcning story TO tho Sand
fy. The man Savage was taken on board and
the schooner made sail for Sydney. Such is
the outline of one of the most horrible atroci-
ties on record even in the South Seas. In
many respects it stands without parallel here
were no trading, no squabbling. no knowledge
indeed, on the part of the victims, that they
were in an untrendly island and were being
"stalked" as they went along. On the other
hand, it appears that the savagcs, through an
interpreter, had learnt that the party had en-
camped on the shore before, for night, and
concluded at once that they were detached
from their ship and must fall AN easy prey,
and they laid their plans accordingly. The
Sydney Herald states that these savagos, like
some of the Dyaks Of Borneo are "he,ui-
hunteys' and he is held in the highest esteem
who possesses the greatest number of herbs.
Nor only ths,-the state Of the remains of the
boat keeper, who fought SO stoutly, showed the
hiieous savagery Of these Islanders. Not only
was the head taken for trophy. but the
biceps, muscles, and the wrists OF tho stout
arms which had welded that stretcher, ,rere
em through, probably while the man was yet
alive Yet these barbarians could, and did,
says the solitary survivor, use dynaDite for The
destruction Of fish, and were possessed OF rifles
and steel tomahawks. What can be done
with such iaosrrigible wretches. Sir A. Cor
don late Governor of Fiji is now the Governor
of New Zealand, but Is still High Commits
sioner for the South Pacific. 1t will rest with
him and with Commodore Wilson to determine
the most enectual means Of preclnding the
possibility of any recurrence OF such hor-
riblc, objectless slaughter.