Widnes Examiner. — 1893-12-30 (Widnes, Cheshire, England)

CARRUTHERS & CO., LANCASTER.  CANNIBALISM IN THE PACIFIC. -LANDING OF BRITISH AND FRENCH BLUE JACKETS. _ _ .  _ , A non-commissioned officer on board Her Majesty's ship Boomerang, torpedo gunboat, one of the seven vessels forming the Colonial Defence Squadron, writing Sydney on November 8, gives a graphic account of froth several exciting incidents in the Boomerang's recent cruise among the islands of the Wester's Pacific. At Noumea reports reached the Boomerang of a case of cannibalism and two of plunder by natives. . At Villa, in the Sandwich Islands, they heard of the massacre of a boat's crew of the American schooner Don Henri at Pentecost Island. Captain Bruce, of the American vessel, stated that early in September, calling at Pentecost Island to engage natives for work in the plantations, he sent off a , boat containing Id. Litton. a French trader, and three natives. When they reached the shore they were attacked by savages armed with tomahawks, and M. Litton and two of his boat's crew were murdered. They subsequently found the bodies of N. Litton and one native lying on the beach terribly mutilated. Before the Boomerang had time to investigate this murder, another report came to hand of the massacre of a boat's crew of a French trading _schooner, ,the Neptune, at Aurora Island. The Boomerang immediately left for Aurora Island, where she fell in with the French warstip Scorff. She, too, had heard of the murders. Th2re exists a convention between Great Britain and France with regard to these islands for the protection of life and property and the suppression of the kidnapping trade. The warships determined to punish the Pentecost Islanders for the assassination of the beat's crew of the:American steamer, and proceeded thither. On their arrival the Boomerang and Scorff each landed 48 armed blue-jackets at different points, the French being more to the north, with instructions to converge on a particular village where the murderers were known to reside. Ten natives of the Loyalty Island and four Pentecost Islanders accompanied each party as guides. On reaching—the village the British force was to await a. slgnal from the French on which both parties spread out arid several of the murderers Were captured. The French force' wandered astray and did not get up in time to co-operate except to assist in burning the village. The Boomerang and See& then sailed tei Aurora Islaud, where parties were landed and similar tactics followed. The French party shot one of the murderers who was trying to escape, and another was captured. Two villages were destroyed and fines inflicted on others. The captives from Pentecost and Aurora Islands were tried, found guilty of murder, and sentenced to imprieonment for life at the French conVict settlement at Noumea. Whsn the Pentecost native was made ac(painted with his sentence, he died almost immediately. At Pentecost Island upwards of twenty white men have been massacred and robbed; but never before have ' strong measures been taken against the natives. At , several of the islands the natives are cannibals. At Pentecost, for instance, large quantities of human bones were found, probably belonging to the crew of the Don Henri, a ease of cannibalism was also reported at Malo Island.