Arizona republican., 1892-12-02
GUNeOAT JUSTICE.
Teaching South Sea Natives That It Is Costly to Kin and Eat White Men.

Teaching south Sea Natives That It Is
 Costly to Kin and Eat White Men.
 The Solomon islanders, who inhabit a
 beautiful archipelago stretching for 800
 miles parallel with the northeast coast of
 New Guinea, have earned the reputation
 of being among the widest and most
 untamable of savages. It is only within a few years that the missionaries have attempted to work among them. Before | the natives grew accustomed to the i light of trading vessels 1t was as much fs mans life was worth to venture on shore, and the islanders were left pretty
 much 10 themselves until six or seven years ago, when England and Germany divided the islands between them, and then looked around to see if they were really worth dividing. Since then number of traders and missionaries have built stations on the islands and consistently wooed the natives to barter and prayer. The coy and suspicious creatures, however, have distrusted the good intentions of the strangers, and as they are confirmed head hunters they have lost no opportunity to lop off the head of a white man whenever they caught him alone.
 The British Government decided to keep war vessel in the neighborhood and teach the natives better than to eat missionaries and to adorn tabu houses with the skulls of traders. So her ma jesty's ship Rapid has done lively busi- ness intiicting gunboat justice upon vil- lages indulging in cannibal feasts, with white men as the most tempting delicacy on the bill of fare.
 When the captain of the Rapid made his last report he had just executed a native for the murder of Mir Duval, a white trader. The crime occurred in Mott bay among the southern islands of the group. One day, soon after the murder, the Rapid anchored in the bay and sent word to the chief that unless the murderer of Mir. Duval was deliv- cred within two hours the village would be shelled. The Solomon islanders have had considerable experience of this sort, and the chief knew just what to expect. The chief and one of his men promptly set off in a canoe for the warship, having in charge a native, whom they delivered up as the murderer of MT. Duval
 The accused man made full confes- sion of his crime. The captain of the Rapid made careful investigation, con vinced himself that the prisoner was the culprit he was after, and sentenced him to be shot at o'clock next morning at the village where the murder had oc- cured.
 At daybreak next morning a solemn procession of boats went ashore carry | ing the prisoner. It was thought that the treacherous nati7 7es might be il man. | nered enough to attempt to interfere 1 with the programme. A line of seamen was therefore extended around the part | of the village facing the woods to guard | against surprise. The prisoner was led 1 ashore and tied to tree. He was very | calm, observed all the preparations with out tremor and did not utter word | even when he was blindfolded. Several hundred natives grouped themselves around the place of execution, looking ! on in awed silence.
 A firing party of ten marines was told of, marched up in front of the con demned savage and loaded their rifles. The color sergeant gave the command, "PresentW and then, after a moments silence, came the word, "Fire" and then the ten rifles blazed away. The murder of the white man had been avenged. The doctor pronounced the victim dead, and the ten marines marched back to their boat, leaving the body for the na- tives to bury. Such lessons as this will impress the natives, if anything will, that it is better all around to let white men live than to kill and eat them.