The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — 1844-04-23 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

DESTRUCTION OF A SOUTH-SEA WHALER. AND MURDER OF THE CREW.—By the arrival of the Sussex whaler, Hanmer, from the South Seas, we learn the fact of the loss of the Harriette, Banker, of London, a South Sea whaler, (the property of Messrs. Boulcot, of St. Paul's Wharf, London,) which sailed from the Thames, in June, 1839, and of which no tidings had been heard for about two years. It appears that while she was at the small island called Strong's Island, in N. lat. 6, E. long. 163, she was seized by the natives, that the captain and the whole of the crew were murdered, and that the vessel was plundered and burnt to the water's edge. The following are such stray particulars as could be collected from a few of the natives and others, by Captain Rounds, of the Pacific, from New Brunswick, who, with other navigators, visited the island on the 30th of April last:—The Harriet had put into the island for wood and water, and the intercourse between her crew and the natives was apparently carried on in the usual friendly manner. A deep plot, however, seems to have been laid by the natives, which was at the same time wholly unsuspected by Captain Bunker. One day, shortly after their arrival, the captain and the surgeon went ashore shooting—two boats' crews being engaged in collecting wood, and one in taking in water. Out of a crew of 27 to 30 persons, only five remained on board the ship, and this fact doubtless being observed by the natives, who were anxiously watching an opportunity, they simultaneously attacked the different parties, killing each almost instantaneously. Resistance would appear to have been hopeless, for, although the island is not more than 27 miles in circumference, it is very thickly populated, and from 300 to 400 natives were frequently seen on the shore at one time by Captain Rounds. The five persons who were on board ship at the time observed the attack on their comrades, and seeing a number of canoes putting off towards the vessel, they hastily embarked in a boat and have not since been beard of, the probability being that, as Strong's Island is situated at a long distance from any other, they also must have perished in the course of the few following days. In the course of Captain Rounds' investigations on the island he fortunately discovered four or five leaves of the Harriet's log, from which it appeared that the ship had recently been to Port Jackson for the purpose of undergoing some repairs, and the captain had made an entry to the effect that he had had some trouble with his crew. Finding all their endeavours fail to procure more information the several ships above alluded to bore up and stood away from the island together—parting company some days subsequently. The owners of the Harriet had recently effected an additional insurance of £1,500, making a total £7,500. Many of her crew left her at Sydney, whose places were supplied by others; it is therefore impossible to give the names of those lost correctly. It is generally believed that three other vessels have been destroyed in a similar manner at the same island, information to that effect having-6.er. vessels are supposed to have belonged to some of the Sand= wich islands—ships from that locality visiting Strong's Island for the purpose of collecting the beach le mar, a species of worm, in which a considerable trade is carried on with China. Captain Hanmer states it as his opinion, that although there may be no Englishmen resident on the island at present, there must have been at some previous time, as the natives are so well versed in the English language. He adds that the natives appeared extremely desirous to prevent his becoming acquainted with any of the circumstances of the affair, affecting a degree of indifference with regard to the American captains. On entering the harbour it was suggested to him that it might be advisable to hoist the American standard at the mast head, instead of the union jack. This however he declined to do. The Sussex brings home a cargo of 1,500 barrels.