Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-11-29
A BLACKBIRDER'S CRUISE
Blood Curdling Adventures of a Des-
peradO in the Pacific.
Kidnapping South Sea Island ers to
Sell as LabOrers in the Silver
Mines-Murder and Wan
ton Slaughter.

Mr.. w. B. Churchward has just issued,
through Messrs. Swan, Sonnenscheip d
Co, an entertaining volume entitled
ssBlackbirding in the South Pacific, or
The First Wbiteman on the Beach," The
book is really the autobiography of a
certain Mr.. John King Bruce. The ad
ventures OF this mana negro born at
Liverpool more team ninety years ago
are set down pretty much In his own
words.
Bruce was born shortly before the be-
ginning of the century, and while still a
mere youth he WAS Kidnapped at Liver
pool and handed over with number of
Others in the same plight to the United
States corvette Rappahannock, "papers
and all correctly made out just as If We
we're properly enlisted men-of-war men,"
Here he was horribly i'll treated, and at
Caliao he deserted. Shortly after he was
sshocussed" and kidnapped for service"
In the south Pacific. The vessel was
Peruvian kidnapper, "whose trade was to
steal poor devils from the islands and
sell them for labor in the silver mines"
This trade is called blackb1rding.
seWeIl, SIR" said Bruce, "at last we left
the hell upon earth, Caliao, but [ soon
found that had only changed it for an
other sort of one, for if ever there was a
floating hell it was my new craft. didn't
mind it, though, for we got plenty of
grog, and we drank and fought just as
much as ever we liked. 1t was all round
word and blow, and there was scarsely
ever day that someone didn't get it.
ALI the pistols the skipper and mates
nu o. thara xunuId baua
been more murder than there was. This
trip was the man that everybody feared
and no one liked to annoy me after the
first week afoat, for all who had tackled
me had come to grief; and oh, how we'll
thought the devil did fight for me! One
day L quarreled purposely with and kill
ed the biggest bully in the ship in fair
fight before the whole crew. In that row
the skipper backed me for fifty dollars
with the first mate, who didn't like losing
the money. He hated me like poison for
this, and bullied me like fun every time
he could, and he could pretty nearly any
time. He make my mad blood boil plenty
of times and itch TO get at him only once;
but it was no use fighting the officers, for
they gave their orders with pistol ready,
and the crew had only their knives, SO we
were obliged to knock under. However,
waited my time and watched that mate
like cat. One very dark night when,
unsteaoied by the slightest breath of wind,
the vessel heaved and surged on the
black greasy swells, which shook and
twirled her round and round Just as they
pleased, to the tunesof the masts creaking
and the Tapping of the useless sails.
MY OPPORTUNITY ARRIVED.
Every one was asleep, the watch above
and below, the man at the.whesl, the skip
per, the mates, every one but me. And
up l jumped, quietly orept aft, lodging
from gun to gun, keeping close 20 the
bulaarks-for 1 knew that sometimes
the skipper prowled about at night-till
got to the hammock of the mate, slung
under the break of the poop, as his cabin
was too hot He didn't think then that
he was so near to going off to much hot
ter place; but l did, as cut his throat to
She very bone. He made no noise; 1 was
too quick and the knife too sharp. He
was dead in an instant. | ran back, but
left the knife there. You think / was
fool to do SO? Oh, no! Il was another
mans / did so with, and as the owner
slept in the fo'c'sle alongside me, / put
some of the bright red blood on his hands.
No! No, was too sly to take my own
knife. felt mad again-the sight of the
blood made me so-and I laughed myself
to sleep over the shindy 1 knew there
would be in the 1horning, and to think
how the wrong man would get in for it..
Just as / thought, the row began the first
thing in the morning. At daybreak was
reused up by the mates rushing in and
seizing the man the knife belonged to-.
tumbled ont and helped them to put him
in irons; and how all the time did laugh
to myself! There was the blood on his
hands, and there was the knife found in
his mates throat, so he must have done
I'll Besides which l told the skipper that
L woke up in the night and saw the chaps
hammock empty, The skipper thought
little and then, turning around to US
said: what do you say, boysr sung
out: He must have done it!' and with
chat he took up pistol and shot,the fellow
through the neck. He fell screeching in
to the water with big splash, when, in a
moment, three sharks, which had been
following US for days, seized him and be-
gan to tear him up. We then threw the
mate over, just as he was, hammock, knife
end all, as no one would have anything to
do with an uniucky weapon; and few
buckets of water put things all right
again"
The crew of this precious craft landed
on one of the Pacific islands and made
great haul of BLACKS" "We searched
through house after house, whi,h were all
an a line down the beach, beginning with
the end ones,
TYING UP ALL TEE BLAokBIRDs
we found, until We came to two big
places right in the middle CT the village,
These, the chaps at the door told us were
shock full of game Come along with
me- sung out the skipper. Ten of you
put down your guns and come along with
me; but all bring lasnings. Then he
had few others rushed into the house,
but very soon they came out again, the
boss with the blood running all over his
ugly face from cut he had got in the
dark, over him tumbled a man with a
spear right through him, the point stick
ing long way out from his back; and
two others never came back at all, for,
although the natives hadn't much time to
talk, they somehow or other persuaded
them to stop. All the rest of the men at
this got an awful rage, but the skipper
kept very cool, and looked more devilish
than / ever saw him before. As he tied
4 y hao -