The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-03-04
CHAPTER XXIW

CHAPTER XIV.
Six hours later the Meg Merrilees"
left Levuka, and when the lofty ir-
regular peaks of Ovalau island were
low down on the horizon astern, Ross
came to Grace
'Boudese bay, Admiralty island, is
the place, Captain Grace.
The master of the barque took down
his roll of charts, and spread out sheet
No. L.
There it is,'' and the American in
Dictated a small inlet on the north side
of the island.
All right. North about round New
Ireland viii be our best course, sup
poser"
Eyes, best and easiest. Well run
into the twO-knot westerly current just
off the Santa Cruz group, and carry it
right along up to Admiralty island"
Steering a northwesterly course, the
barque was soon clear of the Fiji group,
and under every stitch of canvas she
could set was flying before the strong
southeast trade. At supper that night,
as there was now no further need of
cOncealment, Ross told Denison and
Grace his story.
You saw my little cutter in Levuka.
I built her myself three years ago at
Nuku-Hiva in the Marquesas, where 1
was trading, and where I married. My
had knocked about the South seas for
forty years. He died a year ago from
sheer old age.
Zone day, he and / were talking
about our experiences, and he told me
that when he was cooper of a Marble
head whaleT, the ship put into Callie
harbOr on Admiralty island to wood
and water-Callie harbOr is about four
miles to leeward of Boudeuse bay-and
hn M vxv1n "a mn
brought with them for barter lots of
! big golden-edged pearl shells and pearls
as well, and told him that there was
any amount of shell at several places
| on the north side of the island.
Il was not doing well at trading on
| Nuku-H iva, and after the old man
died, Sina and made up our minds to
try the Admiralty group, and see if We
could hit upon the pearl beds of which
we had been told We left Nuku-Hiva
/ in June, with a crew of four, all Nuku-
/ Hiva men, and all good divers, and got
( to a place near Boudeuse bay in the
middle of July. I anchored for the
night off a village of about fifty houses,
and at daylight we were boarded by a
/ lot Of natives, and in a few minutes l
/ was satisfied that we had come to the
right place, for one of them brought
I off a small basket with ten of the big
/ gest pearl shells I have ever seem In
/ the course of the day I was shown one
place where, in six fathOms, I could see
/ big shell quite plainly without a water
/ glass.
/ Z arranged with the chief Of this
particular village to build me a small
dwelling house on a tiny island of less
than. three acres in extent, and situated
/ a mile from the mainland. Here, | felt,
we would be safer from attack than
were we living in or near the native
| cutter until after she had been beached
and repaired; for she was leaking bad
/ Iy; so we put her ashore on the lee side
/ of the islet, and set to work. The ma
! tives from the village, with their chief
/ NorOk. visited US several times, bring
/ ing provisions. and giving me assist
anCe with the cutter in very friendly
/ manner
"AH went we'll for about ten days.
/ The cutter was finished and was afloat
/ again, and at anchor a cable length
from the beach, ready to start on a
/ trip along the coast in the morning
with the NorOk as pilot. NOrOk him
/ self slept on the island that night with
/ some Of his young men-about twenty.
My wife, most fortunately, decided
1 to stay on shore with me, and slept in
/ the little house; Norok, one of my
[ MarqueSans. and I spread our mats
/ Oueside under the trees, and remained
up smoking and talking well past mid
night The chief is a very intelligent
man-you'H see him when we get TO
/ Boudeuse-and had given me much
useful information about the great isl
( and and it's people, who are divided
! into several clans, and always at war
/ with each other. Thirty miles away
from his own village, he told me, was a
big village under a chief named Vo-
ragi, who had living with him white
man called 'Timi' by the natives. No
/ rok had never seen him, for VOragi and
he CNorok) were enemies, their respec-
tive clans having been at enmity for
over fifty years.
The white man. said Norok, came
| here ten years ago, and VOragt, who is
] q kai-kanak (man-eater), made much
Of him, and gave him land, a house and
many wives He has red hair, and his
nose is broken in the middle, and is
turned on one side. Five years ago a
! sandalwOOd brig anchored off VOTagis
village. and he and Timi enticed the
! captain and three other white men on
! shore to sleep. and murdered them as
/ they slept: then, at dawn, as the rest
of the white men on board the brig
| were asleep, Noragfs young men, LED
/ by the white man, swan OF TO her anO
/ killed all of them. They plundered the
( shin. and then burnt it; and after they
! had eaten the bodies Of the white men
they dried and smoked their heads, and
/ put them in the CANAL house.
/ 81 had told the three MarqueSans
who were sleeping on board, that they
need not keep watch; they had been
working hard all day, were tired out
and wanted rest, and, besides that
Norok's men were lying on their mats
/ on the beach, close to their canoes, and
if anything did occur in the night, such
as sudden squalls coming down from
the mountains and causing the cutter
/ TO drag. we could have gone to the
crews assistance in less than five min
| utes.
THE night was calm and quiet, and
only the dulIed sound of the surf or
the reef. and the swish of the cocoanut
branches as they swayed to the land
/ breeze was heard by those Of NOTOk's
men who were not asleep. Then, just
/ as dawn broke, I was aroused by Wild
/ cries. and NOrOk cried out that the cut
/ ter was being attacked by four strange
canoes. which had laid alongside of heI
unseen by any of our people from the
shore.
1--WE all made a rush for our canoes
on the beach. and in a few minutes
were on board, fighting hand to hand