The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1889-01-26
A PLOT THAT FAILTO.

'et left Honolulu for trading trip
Dong the islands to the South. but
1ng more particularly bound for
snmotu Islands, which lie to the
pplheast, on the Tropic of Capricorn.
aere are fifteen or twenty groups of
sNnds in the South Pacific, and
Pie the residents of some are civ.
'''zsd and living like white folks,
'efe are others inhabited by scoun-
#'e'ly gangs. There are about thirty
'alds. large and small, in the Bau-
'z''n group, and in 1861 there wasn't
'stive among them. who was not a
"a and a liar when dealing with
lte men. l think there was two
9 &hree English missionaries on the
~ er island at the date / mention.
Z. 5s.eIr influence was limited. The
iiRtsSSs were sneaking lot, always
playing for some point of advantage,
and wee rather held in contempt by
the thders. They would cheat, steal
and e. but no one supposed them
bravenough to attack vessel.
Ourraft was fine. new schooner.
built Q the model of fruiter, and
one of he fastest crafts ever propell.
ed by kind power. She was also
easy tohandle. and carried a dry
decK thfugh seas which would haye
wet frlhte fore anG aft. She was
commando by Captain Walters, a
very cometent man. while l had the
berth OF hst mate. Our second was
a Mr.. Shepard, and we had six men
before th mast. We were loaded
with artichs of traffic, and our arma-
ment consisted of one six.pounder on
a carrlag@nd dozen swords and
muskets. The Captain had made two
previous wages to the islands. and
he had very poor opinion of the
courage of tie natives.
We had Al uneventful voyage to
within one hundred miles of the
islands. whm we encountered the
brig Frisco, which had also been on
a trading voyage. She showed a
signal of distress, and 1 was ordered
togo aboard in response. Her origi-
nal crew of ten men had been re-
duced one half. and the Captain was
in need of the services of a surgeon,
having bad scalp wound ana two
cuts on the shoulder. Three days be.
fore, as the brig had completed her
cargo, the natives had made deter
'ts.'sd effort to capture her. Three
OF her srew had been killed, one
drowned, and a fifth carried off a
prisoner, and only one man of the
five remaining had escaped being
wounded. In repelling the natives
thirty or forty Of them had been
slaughtered, and the Captains advice
to US was to seek some other port.
We could not spare the brig any
hands, but we fixed up the wounded
as we'll as we could, our Captain went
aboard to hear the particulars of the
fight. and when the vessels separated
we held to our original course.
II am not to be scared out by his
yarn. Mr.. Winters" he said to me.
II know those natives, and L know
that they haven't the courage OF
sheep. l suspect that the crew of the
brig and the natives went on a big
drunk together. and that whiskey
brought about quarrel, in which
sailors knitted each other"
"But it won't be much Irouble to
take proper precautions" Z replied,
"Oh. no. You will have full charge
when we get on trading grounds, as
I will have to look after the barter.
Take such precautions as you like,
though l think it will be trouble fol
nothing"
My bump of caution is decidedly
prominent. AS a sailor always pre-.
ferred to snug down and store away
before the storm broke. l got up the
cutlasses and found them about as
sharp as spades. The muskets were
nssty and out of repair, and the caps
and bullets slowed away where 1 had
long hunt to find them. We were
in sight of the islands before / had
the arms in good shape, and the Cap
tain had INDUCED in more than one
chuckle over my efforts. There were
three or four rulers distributed about
the groups. but the head man recog
nized by the traders was known BY
the title of "OId Lop." His left
shoulder was badly down and he was
old and skinny. Instead of being
called lop.shouldered, the sailors gave
him the briefer and more expressive
nickname of "Old Lop." He lived
on an island known to US in those
days as the Horseshoe, and this was
about the centre of the group. There
were safe channels among the isles
and craft lying off the Horseshoe