The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-10-09

time they wanted. Before | could get
10 10 my ~ rect H., and pull the old man Into
npa,dn 1nn hoat ,ley @ were on us. Joe was
spear from his thigh and met the rush
with terrible counter attack ! emptied
onth o,L REVIEWERS with good effect and then
cluooed my rifle. and he and stood side
BY side with our backs to the dngy
Fighting the fight OF our lives.
There were not less than sixteen men
With spears and clubs opposed to us,
put they could not surround us and were
too near to each other to fight well
had not imagined that Joe had retained
weapons, but. hard pressed az was. /
could not help admlring his spear play
| never knew so many things In the way
OF fencing could be done with a spear
Since that time l have seen Maoris and
Papauns give some wonderful exhibitions.
Death Of Joe.
He was weakening from the loss OF
blood and | cried TO him 10 get Into the
boat and / would try TO cover our re-
treat He made the effort, backing away
into the edge OF the water but one OF
the islanders. running few PAGES down
me beach. dropped on his knee and sent
Ing. at the small OF my back and his sec
ond shot caught poor old Joe Ngaharu
fairly In the temple and he fell dead
against me.
snatched his second pistol from his
belt before let the body slip down to
the sand The belches Of It's muzzle
drove the mass OF islanders back a little.
Tossing his body into the dIngy, L
showed away. They paused to draw bows
and that gave me chance TO jam some
cartridges into my, rife. Lying in the
on. while arrows hurtled over my back
or stuck in the planks of the dIngy.
mad no chance to attempt TO paddle
or row, but the wind was strong off
shore and In ten minutcs l was approach
ing the first reef Now I was compelled
To expose myself and take TO the oars,
but was fortunate or their Workmanship
was bad very few minutes more and
was ] over the death Of the faithful old
man that. though ] was now out OF dan
ger l took up my rife once more and
dropped into the bow, bowling over two
more OF the savaees before they broke
and ran for cover.
am ashamed 20 say II, but among the
eight or nine men stretched out on the
beach was one shot through the middle
huts. when l put him down for good. /
repeat that j often think Of that act with
shame. and I relate IL only as a COM
mentary on what man will do with the
blood fever on him.
A large canoe was now approaching
from the west. and l pulled hurriedly for
the schooner: Waira had seen the entire
fight from the deck and was wild with
rage over his fathers death. With Ave
more men In his frame Of mind I believe
we could have gone ashore and wiped off
tne party. even Win inc new comerS.
After studying them through the glasses
IL was plain TO me that we had run afoul
Of party Of raiders who had come 10
the island from the Islands TO the south
They had killed all OF the few inhabitants
and were leisurely preparing the heads.
using the Island as a base for raids to
the west,
Bent on making an issue OF the matter
and preparing myself properly to recover
the treasure in the crevice, I set sail for
the Gilbert islands, where Waira was sure
I would find 4 British war vessel But
In this / was disappointed. and only sue
ceeded in driving q jagged hole In my
schooner on a coral reef.
! shipped 10 Sydney with trader. TAX
ing Waira with mo, and when / opened
cable communications with my friends I
found there were urgent private reasons
for returning to Peru at once Though
went back the next year to the Caro-
lines. I have never yet carried out my
plans to recover the treasure on the So
called Uvavu.