Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-06-04

Jules Tirel, Frenchman, who was
known to the islanders as Jules Farani,
or French Jules. In October of the
same year Sllstenance revisited his
pearling station and found little shell
as yet collected. 1t is likely that he
gave forcible expression to his disap-
pointment, bnt be that as it may, the
main feature is that the three beach
combers were then there with the two
native settlements of Manahikians and
Penrhyn people and that all was well.
In April, 1853, the brig Charlotte
touched Mt Suvarrow aud two of the
Manahiki boys, Otea and Vaimau,
went ON her to Samoa. Neither on
the voyage nor at Apia did they men,
ton any white men rs having been
with them on Suvarrow, and the mas
ter of the Charlotte knew nothing of
the former actions of Sustenance.
That trader again visited Suvarrow
on June Is, ten months after estab-
fishing his diving station and eight
months after his last visit. AS he
stood up for the passage through the
coral reef first one and then second
canoe filed with Penryhn Islanders
boarded the Dart with many express
sions of.p!easure that they once more
saw their friend Uru- Uru, for the three
beachcombers had long ago taken their
boat and sailed away westward to Sam
oa. Knowing the wild rowing fever
which drives the beachcombcr hither
and yon, back and forth through the
South Seas, and their recklessness of
the chances of voyaging, Sustenance
saw nothing unusual in the thought of
three men setting ont in small boat
for all ocean voyage of hundreds of
miles. His two mates suggested the
possibility of foul play, but he pooh
hoohed their suspicious. At any rate
the Penrhyn Islanders told a consis-
tent story.
On landing, Sustenance metthe Pau
motu woman, Kokorariki, wife of the
Manahikian Here. Her story was to
the effect that in February the three
beachcombers had pain ed the boat and
made new sail. They had taken the
small cask filled with drinking water
and a large supply of dried eggs of the
sea fowl which swarm on the islands,
together with variety of food in the
shape of fresh and baked cocoanuts.
The boat had been leaky, but was tight
after the new painting. They had
sailed away to the west and before
sund,wn were out of sight. As they
had left their wives behind, she was
sure that they intended to take ship
in Samoa and go to their own lands
beyond the horizon. They had taken
all their trade goods except one bolt
OF printed goods which they had
divided among the Penrhyn divers.
-.For n savage this woman seems to
have had a genius for lying. The
other people agreed with her account,
aud the island, when carefully
searched, yielded no indication in the
way of goods or stores that the woman
had told other than the truth. For
the following fortnight the Manahi-
kians and the Penrhyns were on the
Dart on the homeward voyage back to
Penrhyn, and not word or sign
gave reason to suspect that the story
was false.
Some weeks later Sustenance
touched in the course of trade at Rak-
ahanga, and there again encountered
the woman Kokorariki She asked at
once ifhe had heard of Joe and Tamu.
Apparently much concerned when she
heard that they had not reached
Samoa, she askeds in what direction
PulApuka bore, and when the ship
master pointed down to the west, she
seemed much relieved, and suggested
that the beachcombers had probably
reached that island.
Yet in her original story and in this
renewed interest in the voyage of the
beachcombers Kokorariki was but
playing II leading part in tissue
of fabrication which was sufficiently
good to deceive Sustenance, and it
may be said that it is by no means
easy to pull the wool over the eyes of
u South Sea trader.
The three beachcombers had been
murdered on Suvarrow in the presence
of this woman and every other person
on the island, and Kokorariki herself
had planned the consistent story
which had cleared them all from sus-
picion. The story came ont by the
confession of the wife of Tamu, that
ia, Tom Charlton, the American, which
she made to Tairi, the native mission
airy teacher on Rakahanga.
For some time after the last visit
which Snstenance made at Suvarrow
the people busiel themselves about
their several occupations. Tamu and
his Manuhikians 1ished and cured the
beche -de-mer, Joe and the Penrhyn
Islanders worked at the beds of pearl
shell, and Jules seems to have diver
silied his chief occupation of doing
nothing by spells of watching the
others Mt work. He was well liked
by the islanders. So was Charlton.
But Joe Bird acted as the superior be-
ing is so apt to do when living among
the islanders. A common threat when
any of his divers proved refractory
was that he would cnt them in two
and would eat their livers, and when
one is II cannibal such threat does
not seem as improbable as it might ap-
pear in other conditions of life. Often
he deprived his divers of their rations
and water when their take of shell
was not up to the amount he fixed for
a days task. The divers plotted to
take their revenge upon him, and saw
clearly that they must make away
with the other white men at the same
time.
The opportunity came early one
morning. Joe Bird missed some CO.
coanuts from his pit. He went first
to Tom Cartons and questioned the
Manahikians as to the theft This
was no more than matter of form,
for no one would ever suspect q
Manahikian of theft. Receiving their
denial in good part Joe took his gun
and sword and strolled over to the
unarters of his divers. The various