Having got the wood we sailed away to another place. These savages are content with curious articles in exchange for their wood. Instead of money the brig had on board a quantity of small white shells, the teeth of sharks and other animals, as also pigs, cats, and goats. So eager are they to possess these animals that they would sometimes give a ton of sandal-wood for a goat or cat. One day a native came on board with a small quantity of sandal-wood when our shells had run short. The mate offered him some tobacco, which he did not want. He got angry and said he must have a shell, when the mate without more ado pulled out his revolver: it went off, and the native was shot dead. The body was thrown overboard, and the sandal-wood remained with us, though the mans friends wanted payment for it. The captain told the mate he should not have been so careless as to shoot the man, and then thought no more about the matter.
Our object, however, being to get sandal-wood, the captain cared little as to the means. The lazy islanders in some places, where it grew abundantly, would not take the trouble of cutting it, so the captain devised a plan for
obtaining what he wanted. We visited for this purpose an island where the natives were friendly with the white men, and enticed a number on board. When we had got them the captain told them that he would give them their liberty if they would go on shore at a place to which he would take them, and cut as much sandal-wood as he wanted. Back we sailed to the island where the sandal-wood grew. We then took them on shore, and landing with a strong party of armed men, guarded them while they cut the wood, which the inhabitants seemed to object to their doing. They worked well, for they were anxious to go back to their own island. We had to shoot a few of the inhabitants who came too close to us with their spears and clubs, but they were savage black fellows, and terrible cannibals, and so to my mind there was no great harm in shooting them.
The wood was cut and carried down by our natives to the boats. We had now got pretty well as much as the brig would carry, but the captain told them to go back and cut more. They said they were afraid, lest the black fellows should kill them. The captain answered that that was their look out, and that if they wanted their liberty the wood must be cut. When we had got it into the boats we returned to the brig; the captain then ordered the anchor to be hove up, saying that he could not spare time to go back to the island from which the natives had come, and that he had fulfilled his contract by giving them their liberty and leaving them on shore.
As we sailed out of the harbour, we saw some of them running down to the beach, and waving their hands to us, with the black fellows at their heels. They were soon overtaken, and one after the other were knocked over by the clubs of the savages, who, to my belief, ate the whole of them; for the inhabitants of that island were well known, as I have said, to be fearful cannibals.
Now, perhaps some people may think that the captain of the Tickler didnt behave quite straightforward in the matter; but thats no business of mine. What he had to do was to get a shipload of sandal-wood as cheaply as he could, and he did his best to save expense. To be sure, others who came after us might have suffered, because the savages were not very likely to trust them. We ourselves were nearly cut off on one occasion, when visiting a large island called New Caledonia. Though we had seen a number of natives gathering on the coast, we pulled in without fear, supposing that their clubs and spears could not reach us, and a volley of small arms would soon put them to flight. As we pulled on we heard them shouting to us, and shrieking loudly. They were a jet-black, fine race of fellows. We could see that some of them had long spears in their hands, but others seemed to be unarmed. Suddenly, however, down there came upon us a thick shower of stones, wounding two or three of our number, which was immediately followed by a whole flight of spears, when more of us were wounded, while several stuck in the boat. The order was given to pull round; and glad enough we were to get out of their reach.
I afterwards heard that the natives of these islands use a sling, not only for throwing stones, which they can send to a great distance, but for casting their spears, which, as we found, far as they were off, came rattling down upon us in a very unpleasant manner.
One of our men was killed. When at a safe distance we fired two or three volleys in return, and probably killed some of them; but they quickly got under cover. We then once more pulled in, thinking that they had taken to flight; but they were up again in an instant, and the whole shore appeared lined with warriors. We therefore came to the conclusion, that instead of carrying them off as labourers, they were more likely to kill and eat us, should we land on their island. We pulled away and steered for another place, where we expected to find the natives more peaceably disposed or more easily captured.