The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1884-06-05
A Duel at the Chinchas.

| the Chinchas are three small islands
neither OF them more than a mile acros
and about the same distance apart. lyin,
in line north and south, fourteen mile
distant from the main land, and abou
ninety miles from Callao They c0nsis
OF volcanic rock. uphcaVed from the sea
and. with the exception of a few marrow
strips of beach. their sides are naket
precipiceS. indentcd with caves. All 0
them are covered With nothing but guano
which lies upon The rock just as if it ha(
been sitted upon it till it had formed
rounded hills.
The rocks are from fifty to two ant
three hundred feet high along the shore
and the guano is heaped upon then
highest in the middle, where it is, per
haps, two hundred feet deep. At tn,
time OF my first visit to the islands, il
1888, the guano had only been dug from
the north and middle islands, the soutl
one being untouched.
The guano was dug from the hills, anC
was conveyed to depots, or Da1lgUey0s
as the Peruvians called them. on the
edge OF the cliffs in harroWs. These
places were large enclosures of cane
supported on the sloping face of the
rocks 10y chain cables, and reaching tc
the extreme verge Of the cliff, At the
lower end Of these were openings, con
meeting With canvas pipes, or "shutes,
through which the guano was empticG
INTO launches, or directly into vessels
lying at the basis of the cliffs below.
Overseers We're stationed at the top tc
see how much Went into the launches
whose turn it was to load, etc. When a
ship was loading she was in a complete
smother, as if ashes were poured into
her from a hundred feet overhead With
their yards cock billed, and rolling their
royal maSts almost against the face OF
the rock, it was difficult to recognize in
ships covered with yellow dust, the fine
clippers that had been praised by the
Boston and New York papers. But the
dust was easily washed off when the
vessels were ready to take their home
ward flight.
At the time of which | write. | was
second mate of the ship, RciHdeer; an
old craft that had for many years been a
Whaler. and was owned hv parties in
Provincetown, Mass. We We're anchored
between the north and middle islands,
and were loading from launches. Around
us were more than fifty other ships and
barks, and there was a still larger num-
Der on the north side of the north island
Onthe middle island was the residence
OF the Overseer. He was a Hungarian.
and called himself kossuth pretending
to be near relative of the distinguished
exile. He had good salary, and it was
limited that among the many ships which
were waiting out the lay days of their
charter parties tor their cargoes, there
were some which managed to secure his
preference. BE this as it may, the Over
seer was generally recognized as a smart
scamp, cruel enough for his place, and a
good manager.
The guano was dug 10y Chinese coolies,
or laborers, who were brought by Eng
lish ships from the free ports of their
native shores. The poor fellows We're
made to believe that they were going to
do we'll by engaging to work for five
years at real (lork shilling) day,
and scanty allowance of rice On their
arrival, the coolies We're assigned to the
Peruvian government and were placed
on the islands avowedly under their
original contract, to labor for five years.
But who could know how far this con-
tract,-if such it could be called, was
adhered to? The truth is. the poor
Cinnamon were sold into absolute slav-
cry, the most cruel, perhaps, in the
world.
There were about eight hundred of the
Dtnrtlln1tn .it rl- bo i
land, and as fast as death thinned them
out, the number was increased by fresh
lmportatlons. The labor was severe
much more so than that of tine negroes
on the American plantations in the
Southern States. BY direction of the
Overseer, the coolies on the middle is
land We're 'stinted," each one, strong and
weak alike, to dig from the hill and
wheel to the Wai1glteras five tons of qua
no each, per day. The guano was as
compact as the hard clay-loam Of Rich
mond, and when dug, it was as dusty
as ashes. The coolies worked almost
naked under tropical sun, and in a
climate where it never raned. They en-
joyed no day Of rest. The smoke of their
torment went up on Sundays as well as
on week days, and blew away in a yel-
low cloud, miles to the leward | never
saw it without thinking what a hell upon
earth those islands must be.
That do not eXaggerate IN this ac-
count, any one who has been there will
readily bear witness. The fact that
some of the Chinese committed suicide
almost every week to escape their fate,
showed the true state of their case
Shortly before our arrival, sixty coolies
had joined hands on the brow of one of
the highest cliffs, and had thrown them
selves into the sea. | saw one who had
been drowned-it was not known wheth-
er accidentally ornot-lying on the guano,
the first time | went ashore. All the
morning his dead body lay in the sun. In
the afternoon they had covered it a few
inches, and there it rested, with many
similar heaps. within a few yards of
where the laborers were digging.
AS was natural, under the circumstan-
ces, the brutal treatment Of these poor
creatures gave rise to much comment
among the more intelligent ship masters.
On one occasion, discussion of the sub
ject resulted in a duel, which, with the
readers permission, will attempt to de-
scribe.
have said that our ship, the Reindeer,
was surrounded by more than fifty other
vessels, all engaged in loading or awaiting
their turn. The craft nearest our ship
was trim little bark called the OriOle.
She was commanded and owned by a
South Carolinian named Hunter. Unlike
many Southerners whom have met with,
Captain Hunter possessed very even
disposition, was Slow to take offence, and
would be one of the last men in the
world to quarrel, if he could possibly
avoid it.
Anchored just beyond his vessel was
the Mogul, an English ship, and one of
the largest ships at the islands. Her cap
tain was thoroughbred Briton, and was
generally regarded as tough customer ;
an opinion which he was at no pains to
disprove.
1t was the custom in those days, as it
probably is at the present time, for the
captains of different ships to visit each
other and pass an evening in pleasant