The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-11-15
SHANGHA|ED 70 FREEDOM
HOW THE CHINESE SETTLED ON
TAHITI.
Were Shanghaied for South American
Guano Fields But Storm Drove Them
to French Colony.

Romantic as may have been the COM
ing of the haole to the Hawaiian ISL
ands, his advent was but an ordinary
occurrence compared with the tragic,
yet withal humorous landing of the
first Chinese on the island of Tahiti.
The story is told by Lord Alfred Ed
ward Osborne and T. b. Hall who
have been exploring the South Seas and
have secured much romantic and scien-
tific material for a history of those rO-
mantle waters and the Islands and peo-
pie they contain
While none of those Chinese had the
slightest conception of Tahiti or even
knew where they were going when they
left their native shores, it was a god
send to the survivors when they found
themselves in the harbor of Papeete.
Five hundred of them were deliberate
ly bought as slaves and shanghaied by
one of the most notorious old maurau-
ders that ever sailed the Pacific seas.
Mackelley was his name and such was
the reputation of the reckless old skip
per of a Scotchman that the fear of
him was alike in the hearts of the ma
tive races i'm the South Seas as well as
the customs officers of the Pacific
Coast.
Time and time again an attempt had
been made to secure evidence of wrong
doing against the civilized pirate but he
was a sly old dog and was always able
to outwit those on his track. His old
tub of vessel, at one time a trim fine
bark, was known from one end of the
Pacific to the other. Smuggling seemed
to be second nature to him and when
it came to outwitting a custom inspec-
tor the old man seemed to possess a
sixth sense. He was the only rival of
the celebrated Bully Hayes.
Years ago MacKelley found himself
off the shores of China. He went to
one of the mandarins, friend of his,
and inquired if there was a chance for
them to turn an honest penny, the old
man always had to be sarcastic. The
mandarin said that he thought there
was. How? Well there were about 500
coolies who had no happy homes and
were anxious to find work outside of
their own land. The mandarin had not
talked with them but he had UNDER
stood they wanted to go to America
South America, you mean," signiti-
cantly suggested Mac, Down there in
the guano fields. They won't have a
single thing to think about except work
and helping their employer make mo-
ney."
This idea appealed to the mandarin
and he thought if his good friend had
enough money he might let the Chi
nese coolies take the trip Mac gladly
paid over the required amount and the
poor devils OF slaves were packed
aboard the ship. The vessel was driven
off her course though, and several
months later instead OF being Oft the
shores of South America, the shang-
haied cargo was lying in the harbor at
Papeete. Sickness broke out among
the Chinese and soon they commenced
to die as fast as the Africans on the
old slave ships. The idea of going to
the trouble of funerals seemed a huge
joke to the skipper and he dumped
the bodies, overheard as fast as life
left them.
The harbor became a hideouS sight
with the floating remains and at last
the governor became desperate and de-
clared that if Mac did not do some
thing for the Chinese and get out of
there the French government would.
That's all right governor" replied the
undaunted captain, Just give me AS
hours and I'll fix that" Mac went
ashore and cody negotiated the sale of
his human chattels and in the dark of
night landed and drove them off into
the interior to work on some of the
plantations.
Irksome as the slavery might have
been on Tahiti it was a paradise COM
pared with what the poor fellows es-
capped in the guano fields. Instead of
dying off rapidly the Chinese thrved
on the island and sending word home to
their friends induced more prosperous
Chinese to emigrate to island and
settle. Now John Chinaman forms a
large part of the community and is
desirable factor in the islands affairs.