The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-04-10

"a
kearsarge on tho arm Of Thakonbau's
3 son Joseph He was a beautiful lad
the soft brown color of a hfgh-cIass
HindOO I have often wondered
whether the sailor who did that. and
+ who was taken away by a New Bed
Iord whaler, was once seaman on the
/ Kearsarge.
Wei, after luncheon with the mis-
sionaries we went back to the cocOanut
palace TO persuade Thakonbau to
/ come aboard our launch. 1t seems that
/ he had sent members Of his council
down to inspect the craft, and that
! they had cautioned him TO keep away
from the fire craft which could be
nothing but an emissary Of the devil
} Through the missionaries we made it
/ understood that Thakonbau's presence
was desired by our commander, and
that if he did not come willingly we
should be compelled to Essort to other
measures.
The old king walked all over his
little island almost. taking counsel here
I and there, while we sat in the shade Of
his cocoanut palace and waited Final
/ ~ he agreed 10 come with us If his
{ sons, Joseph and Timothy, with one Of
/ the British missionaries, might be per-
mitted to accompany him. II was over
/ crowding our launch a little. but we
I agreed. The missionaries explained to
/ US that since his conversion ThakOn-
baU had rechristened all his sons after
Biblical characters. Joseph and Tim
/ Othy were his favorites.
After the whole thing was over the
/ missionary who accompanied US told US
/ what Thakonbau had said to his ED
! ers, and they to him, before he con-
/ sented to go with Us. They told him
( that it required a brave man to go
aboard the firebOat. and that he was
, the embodiment of bravery. If il was
! the intention of the men on the fire
I boat to carry him away among strange
/ peoples. perchance to kill him, what
matter? He could come back to them,
whether in the flesh or the spirit.
'Thakonbau came back to the tent
I shook hands very solemnly with his
wife, took from her a huge pair Of
/ speCtaCles, which had been given to
him by one Of the missionaries, a ban
danna handkerchief and a Bible Then
he signified to US that he was ready to
follow. noticed that while we were
with him. for a week or more. he chung
most tenaciOusly to the Bible. He
/ never dropped it for a moment al
though he could not read a word of it.
Just as the king was leaving his pal
ace a servant brought him a drink in
] a COCOanut shell. He pTOneTed it TO US.
but at d signal from one of the mis-
/ sionaries we declined. 7 learned after
/ ward that it was a stimulant made
from the root of the wava tree. and
was more powerful than any intoxi-
cant known to civilization. It was the
champion nerve tonic. and no mistake.
The maidens Of the kings household
prepared IL by chewing the root. This
was skinned, boiled and served to the
king as a bracer whenever he required
It.
once the start was effected Thakon-
bsU made up his mind to 90 the limit.
His conduct was savage dignity per-
sOnified. The way he threw the end of
that tapa garment around his shout
der in imitation Of NapOleOn's cloak,
was e caution. He was baTefOoted and
I baTeheaded. We gave him the place
Of honor in the boat-the stern seat.
The British missionary sat on his right
and his two sons on his left.
we pushed the launch well away
from the cOcoanut pier before the en-
gineer was told to put on steam. Fol-
lowing the naval regulations he tested
his escape valve. The siss-ss-ss of
steam made the old king jump from
his seat. He would have leaped over
board to swim ashore but for the re-
straining hand of the missionary. He
put his Bible between his knees and
clasped the seat with both hands
Nothing was said as he steamed away
over the smooth surface Of the bay.
We youngsters were glad at the sue
cess Of our mission.
The boiler door opened right into the
Z stern pit. where we were sitting. The
fireman, never thinking of his royal
highness, opened the boiler door to put
on more coal. The sight Of the glowing
FIRE was another shock to the king. He
said something in an undertone to the
missionary. I learned afteTward what
II was. He said,
90 You white men-I might think you
were gods. but you die.
When we Seme in sight Of the ship
70 was apparent 10 those on board that
we had the king with US, so they de-
cided to give him a salute. The pun
Of smoke from the little brass cannon
and the reverberations Of the shot over
the bay simply stupefied the king. He
looked at the missionary and gravely
I shook his head After that, what could
he expect2
Wen. it took some time to find GU
about the case Of Mr.. Burt OF Mead
vile, and decide upon the amount o.
damages, which were afterward paid
But the king insisted on going ashore
every night Re refused TO sleep OF
the ship. He took occasional meals
with US. but only after ne had seen u.
partake Of the food. IL there was any
poison going he wanted it tried on U,
first. The only luxury of civilization
he really enjoyed was a cigar III
would smoke half Of one. hide the re.
mainder IN the pocket Of his taps
shrOud for future use and then come
for another
Aboard ship we had more troubl,
with the sons than we did with the Ok
king. Joseph went up to Timothy and
said
I want 20 go ashore
Do you answered Timothy. Wen
suppose you swim.
Sharks observed Joseph.
Well. don't swim. was Timothy.
/ advice.
The kings dignity did not dessr
( MIN during the trial Il appeared tina
Mr.. Burt had selected a certain portion
OF the Fiji islands as a good place T.
raise cotton. The civil war. in thi
country. had raised the price 81
pound in Liverpool. Cotton was al
most worth its weight iB gold, ant
there was a place he could raise It al
the year around. He bought a gin an,
other machinery and took It 10 the FIJI
islands.
T 1T appeared from the testimony tina
there were two classes Of subjects il
the realms Of King Thakonbau Thos
near the coast. who were under the iu
fuenEe Of the missionaries rsrdere,
! him due allegiance and Obeyed his or
dsrs. Those in the mountains who ad
hered TO their savage customs wer
b called devils and the king declined q
J be responsible for them