Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-14

Tom ran up and got hold of Tangiroa' {
hand and snapped his pistol at him
1t missed fire and he recapped it, TAX
| ing the fresh cap from little chamber
in the butt of the weapon. AS he aim
| ed a second time savage named
Maori caught him by the hand, where
upon Tom knocked him down by blow
| in the eye. But as he fell Maori
caught Tom by the feet and threw him
| with the assistance of Tangiroa and
| these two then disarmed him and tied
his hands and feet. Meanwhile a saw
agynamed Rapahua seized Joe Bird
and threw him down, and with the help
of Tangtoro dashed his hands
Farani had no firearms, but he came
on a run with his sword a. Matahu
The latter, with the aid of Popokia and
Natoto, tied the Frenchman up like his
mates The three beachcomberS were
then thrown into their boats and word
was sent to four other Penrhyns who
were fishing on the other side to come
and row the boat.
Toms wife. Sumaria, came running
to Here's house shouting, 30 nga ropa
O nga ropa. good people, they are kill
ing the white men for they are taking
them away in the boat" Toms wife,
kokorariki, and kaitai's Wife, all hast
ened to the boat. Here Sumaria and
KaitaIs wife had already cast off the
lashings from Toms wrists and ankles,
when Rapahua aimed a gun at the
women and forced them to desst.
Tom, apparently thinking that they
were to be set on one Of the isIets
If In, he, -g;t -,
wife to call the Manahikians to launch
his boat. This the Penrhyns prevented
with guns and swords, and, the four
roWers by this time having come
across. they pulled the boat out into
the lagoon. Tom was seated on the
gunWale and the other two were lying
under the thwarts. Joe Bird begged
his captors for mercy and offered all
he had if only his life might be spared.
But Tom bade him not to be child,
for it was now too late, and he himself
had brought this fate upon himself
and his companions. At the deepest
part of the lagoon the Penrhyns hove
Joe Bird overheard first. and he sank
right to the bottom. Tom was the next
to go, and he, too, went down like
stone. But the Frenchman rose along
side the boat, and PoWhatu cut his
head open with a sword. Then the
Frenchman sank To join his mates in
the quiet depths Of the lagoon.
Now that the deed was done the
shrewdness and facic invention Of the
Paufnotu woman. kokorarik, stood
the party in good stead. Left to their
own simple devices they would have
shared out the goods of the murdered
white men. and their detection would
have been certain. She it was who
set the scene and Concocted the story
so we'll as to deceive Capt. Sustenance
She had the boat burned and the
metal work sunk in the lagoon. and the
property of the white men was in like
manner destroyed, all but the single
bolt Of cheap cloth distributed to the
divers. That was a stroke of genuine
art. II would he such a natural thing
for Joe Bird to do if he We're sailing
away that it carried proof in itself.
The money was almost all in her pos
session, but she had a long series of
unWrtten accounts by which it was
made to seem the wages of the Penrhyn
Islanders acquired by her in the way
Of trade.
With these confessions set out in full
the original document ends. A careful
search Of the records shows no indica-
ton that any attempt was made to
punish the murdererS. Three men had
died in the early morning in the lagoon
of little visited atoN in the wild
South Seas. but they We're only beach
combers. and their loss was not griev-
ously felt by the world of civilization
they had voluntarily cast off in order
to plunge into the heart of savagery.
wild, sudden, cruel heart
How such a murder was regarded nv
man who was living the same life
ana was exposed to the same chances
il naively shown in the concluding
words Of the deposition of Capt. Sus-
tenance: There did not appear TO
have been any serious quarrel. neither
should l judge the natives to have
been much excited. | should infer
that it must have been talked of long
before and probably accelerated by the
gun unhappily discharged over instead
into the head of Tangiroa."