Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1941-03-16
Continued from Double Page)

(COntintie0 from DOuDte fhscI
and then they take ii out on the
false gods.
Bully Hayes was god in
some islands, but he took damn
good care not to go back to
places where he'd forgot him
self. for he knew he'd get him
self quite rightly killed. Other
whites took their toll Of the
islands, and then when peaceful
men came the natives saw only
another band OF swine come to
bring them misery, so they de-
Tended themselves like any
honest man would II a stranger
came along with gun and
started breaking up his home.
There's thousands of men. and
women too. doing just that very
thing right now, because a man
who thinks he is a god amt be-
having the way god should,
and you'll see what happens to
him.
When Bully Hayes went black
birding he chose small out-of-the-
way islands where no one had
ever been before, yet for all his
rascality he never did them
much harm.
DUT In the early fifties and
y sixties there was a blackbird-
ing trade that'd blacken the
pages of sea history for all times.
Around the Carolines and Mar
quesas came tall dark-sailed
ships skulking through the atolls
like foxes waiting for a chance
to dart in on a flock of poultry.
Those ships came from the west
coast of South America. Peru
and Chile. And the things they
did to those happy islanders
ought to make a white man
ashamed.
There was a lonely little island
OF Matamia; prettiest spot you
ever saw. Like a jewel on the
bosom of the sea. 1t was. and in
the morning, coming on it from
the eastward it'd loom like
purple cloud out of the dying
night. Then you'd see the rug
ged outline of its mountain and
presently trees would show like
lace along the edges. When the
sun came up. the top of the noun
tain would suddenly give off
color. green and yellow and rich,
red brown.
Soon the surf would shine like
diamonds along the coast and
little palms waving graceful as
dancing girls. would be shading
the golden-thatched huts of the
villages. From outside the reef
you'd see scarlet hibiscus amid
the green, and brown-skinned
natives would be running down
to their outrigger canoes waving
their pareuhs. bright printed
cloths. as they called to each
other
There'd be the moan of
conch shell and the tap of drums
telling the inland villages that a
papalangi ship was coming.
Little canoes would souse out
through the green rollers and as
YOU anchored laughing men and
girls would cluster around you
all shouting. waving flowers and
holding up fresh fish that shone
like gold and silver. There'd
be sweet fruit and green cocoa
nuts and long. crisp sugar canes.
Oh. mighty nice people, those
islanders. That is til the Slave
ships of Callao got at them.
They used TO take them for the
guano grounds and plantations
thousands of miles away in South
America, and mighty few of
them ever returned.
This is how they did it,
one fine morning the islanders
sighted a tall ship making for
the reef entrance Taking in
her royals she opened the chan
mel under the trade wind, en-
tered the lagoon. rounded to and
anchored Ry the time she was
made fast all the canoes in the
village we're making for her.
laden with fruit. vegetables and
fish. They saw two whaleboats
make for the shore, each filled
with men. But they climbed
aboard and halted. surprised to
find the ship packed with dark
faced. bright-eyed men with re-
volvers strapped to their waists
and cutlasses in their belts.
There was a half-caste who
spoke a dialect the natives could
understand. and they received
small presents. tobacco. cheap