Captain Reid and Mates Foley and Mendoza Charged with Murder.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 142, 19 June 1886, Page 5

Captain Reid and Mates Foley and Mendoza Charged with Murder.

Russell, June 16,

The following is a continuation of the Consular inquiry (from page six) into tho alleged cruelty on board the American whaleship Petrel: —

John Medarios, Portuguese, deposed : The captain struck me in the face for not steering properly, and on another occasion lacked me twice because I slipped my footing. Mr Foley one day put a slip bowline round my neck and hung me up, and on another occasion struck me on the nose, because I did not give satisfaction in steering. Witness, at Mr Foley's orders, scrubbed the cooper with canvas, sand, and brick until blood flowed. Witness felt very sorry for tho cooper, and began to rub a little lighter. Mr Foley got him by the throat, and asked him, " Are you going to rub hard ?" Another time when it was his watch below, he heard tho cooper call out, but did not see him. Witness also saw the captain kick the cooper on the nose. Richard Kannaka deposed to seeing the captain kick the cooper on the nose till blood flowed and smear his face with molasses. He saw Mr Foley get a rope three feet long and strike the cooper. Henry Martin Peter Langeloh deposed that he had been hit whilst at the wheel by Mr Foley. Was also hit by second mate and fourth mate. Saw the captain kick the coopei* on the nose. Saw the first mate' throw the cooper into a butt of water „nd pull his whiskers out. Witness said he himself also got brutally beaten by the first mate with a broom-handle at Norfolk Island. Mr Mendoza also hit him on the nose.

The inquiry was then adjourned till nine this morning.

Serious Aspect ol Aifairs.

In consequence of the serious charges made in connection with the cooper's death, the Consular agent has taken possession of Captain Reid's medicine chest, and samples of the rope with which the cooper was beaten, which will probably be forwarded to the authorities at Washington. On account of the representations made to Superintendent Thomson, the police force here has been increased by the arrival of Sergeant Gamble and Constable Donovan, in the prospect of their services being required. When the inquiry was resumed at nine this morning, the medicine chest was identified by Hutchinson, the steward of the Petrel. A letter complaining of illtreatment, dated-May 31, was identified by the author, Harry Swain.

Maoris Tracking the Deserters.

The Maoris here are said to be splendid trackers and always take in hand anything in tho way of hunting down deserters from whalers, for whom rewards of £5 a head are frequently offered. They scour the hills around in bands of .fifty and seldom fail to run their men to earth by following the traces left on tie country through which the latter pass. When Constables MeGilp and Lamb went after the deserters from tho Petrel they had two Maori guW.es. They lost the trail at one stage and formed two parties. MeGilp and one of the natives discovered the trail again, and a long time before coming on the notable four, Gill, Swain, Kenny, and Banks, the native said to MeGilp, " I've found them, I smell them," and true enough he had discovered the exact whereabouts of the fugitives by the perfumery of whale oil which hung around thoir clothes.

A Constable Attacked,

It is not generally known, but it is a fact, that MeGilp had a very narrow escape from being killed on this occasion. Gill, the "West Indian, tried to stab him with a knife, whilst he was wrestling with Konny, and made several thrusts with it before MeGilp managed to get his revolver out and bring the desperate fellow to bay. He then kept the deserters in check whilst the Maori handcuffed them. The first thing the prisoners asked for was food. They had been tramping all night through bush, over hills, and across gullies, where they knew not, but in hopes of reaching Auckland, which they thought would be about six miles off, such being the extent of their geographical knowledge of New Zealand. McQilp had come out prepared for a three days' hunt, and gave the famishing men all he had aud they devoured it greedily. One of them (Kenny), who is a mere lad, was so ill that MeGilp placed him on his horse and walked all the way into Russell from Manuwaru, over very rough country. Tho men were so feeble through the privations they had undergone that they had to rest several times before the journey was completed, MeGilp, after having gained tho first victory over them, had no further opposition, and his prisoners walked quietly to prison.

Mutiny Contemplated.

During the progress of the inquiry my attention was attracted by several references to ti mutiny which was contemplated on the Petrel during tho voyage, aud I was led to question several of the crew, when I was told the following story :— When the Petrel was in the Indian Ocean, about a week before tho cooper died, four men in the forecastle formed a daring plan by which to have revenge on the captain and some of the officers for the ill-treatment which they complained of having received. The plan was that the crew should rise en masse, kill the captain, the first mate and the second mate, appoint men from amongst the crew to take their places and take the vessel to the coast of Africa. After getting there they proposed to get some provisions ashore, then set fire to the vessel and send her off to sea. In talking the matter over with others of the crew, however, tho promoters of the terrible scheme met with detection, and tho whole affair was knocked on the head. The men assert that after this thoy were punished even worse than before.