A STARTLING STORY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 139, 13 June 1892, Page 2

A STARTLING STORY.

PIRACY AND MURDER. AN EVENTFUL CRUISE.

News arrived ab Sydney lately by th» s.s. Archer, from the South Sea Islands 'of' a remarkable case of alleged piracy Lid murder in connection with an Island trad ing schooner, name unknown. P rom uT ' particulars to hand by the Sydney mail there would seem to be .a retaarkabla similarity between this story and the an count of alleged piracy of a schooner »f Tahiti (Society Islands), which came tn band recently by the s.b. Richmond and which was published in the Star' a schooner yacht called the Niuroahiti be longing to the late King Pomare, of Tahit ' was stated to have been run away, ifitt? from Tahiti by two foreigners, several months ago, and since thab time nobbioir has ever been heard of her. . ■

The account from Sydney is aa fal« lows:—The mosb afcartling incident) met with on the Archer's cruise occurred wL at Peru Island, one of bhe Kingsmill Group Mr Clarke, the supercargo of the steamer there learned that a schooner had called on" the 4th of February last, and reported being from Rarotqnga, or Tahiti, having since called at Penrhyn Island, where her crew was said to have deserted^ taking the schooner's boat, a compass and a -night glass. The only persons on board tha schooner when ab Peru were two men, presumably master and mate, and a man (halfcaste) cook. Ab Peru t natives went off and broughb tho vessel up to an anchor bub subsequently the captain managed to kidnap three of the natiyea, ,'and immediately pub .to sea. The next news the Archer heard was ab bhe island of Ap«. mama. There it was ascertained that the master and mate were two brothers, said to be Belgians, and they were recognised aa having some time before called at Apematua with a cutter believed to be ■' ; STOLEN FROM SAN FRANCISCO. While at the island they obtained sonia copra, bub suddenly left after getting it on: board. Great indignation was expressed afc Apemama ab the conduct of the mania; the vessel; bub when the Archer gob:to Ebon Island, in the Marshall group, further identification of the men with those of'the San Francisco cutter was forthcoming and ib was also known bhab the cutter had since:" been disposed of.

By what) means the schooner had coma into their possession was a mystery. At Strong's Island the craft had called, and':, there it was discovered that the original name on the vessel had been defaced and another (the Poi) substituted. From Strong's Island■ the schooner made for Fonape, in the Caroline Group, and it was there that her. voyage terminated suddenly, and, for the; parties concerned, most unpleasantly;" The visit to Ponape was made •Jfoß the purpose of selling copra, and; ; a German trader was found whs made the purchase. Everything HadV thus far, apparently at least, gone on' swimmingly, but a d6nouement least expected was at hand. The master, mate/i and cook went ashore in company and/ quarrelled, with the result that the coot'g", life was. threatened. He refused to proceed any further in the ship, and as a laat resort appealed to the Governor of Ponape. An audience with that dignitary was granted him, and the story of the schooner was given briefly as follows :—The master,; and mate (the two brothers) came upon the vessel either at Rarofconga, in the Cook's; Group, or in the Society Group, and took forcible possession. A DOUBLE MURDER. The captain, it is alleged, was shot, as rwas .tKb supercargo—a half-caste—and their bodies were thrown overboard. Following ■ this double murder, poison was mixed with the crew's breakfast, and they were in tbafa manner silenced and got rid of. The rest was easy, and the two men, with but the* cook on board, sailed for Peru Island, in the Kingsmills, where, as already stated,; three natives were kidnapped to faelp to work the vessel and pick up cargo. Upon hearing this narrative of the cook as Ponape, the Spanish Governor determined to detain the schooner and arrest the two men. Night was selected as the best time to make the capture, and AN ARMED GUARD proceeded to surprise the vessel and Her crew. Immediately the armed soldiers got on deck the two men, aroused by the noiso of strange feet, rashed for their rifles, buo were overpowered, and at the point of the guards' bayonets surrendered. Upon being brought before the Spanish authorities it is said that they admitted the vessel's «^n>e was a fictitious one, but no particulars as 'to how they came by her, or whab her real name is, could be gob from them. A search on board was made, and $3500 in cash were found, also $500 value in trade, beside? 15 : tons of copra and pearlshell. In the cabin was some clothing pretty worn, but which would not fit anyone then connected with the vessel. A coat such ( ■ as mighb have once belonged to a former master was also found, with a name too indistincb to be made out on the inside of the collar. In the ship's stores were pre> served meats, bearing the brand of,the Auckland (New Zealand) Packing Company, and tins of biscuits from the California Cracker Company. A great part of the trade on board was branded S.C.— supposed to represent the Soeie'be' Com-.;.----merciale of Tahiti. The two prisoners after their arrest were put on board the

' PRISON HULK AT PONAPE, bub were subsequently heavily ironed and taken to a Spanish man-of-war to be m* f veyed *o Manila, in the Philippine Islands, for ferial. ■ . A description of the schooner wasjobtained by the Archer, and it is hoped thab by these means the identification of: tbe vessel will eventually be made either in New Zealand or ab Tahiti. It is as follows t —Fore-and-aft rig, the hull painted black, size about 45 tons register. The jibboonv and bowsprit are in one stick; also tna : mainmast and topmast. She carries a jw: headed mainsail, and the vessel is builb witn an overhanging square stern, fitted wU" davits out aft, bub the boat is missin?. The whole of the circumstances surrounding the mysterious craft, and the remark able story of the manner in which ». waß : ;i> seized by the men Tinder arrest, were given to the supercargo of the steamer Archer oy one of the parties present ab-Ponape when the arresb was made, and who subsequently met Mr Clarke on board bhe Archer wfien bhab vessel was ab Jaluib, in the Marsbau Islands, on the 14th of bhe pasb montn, having arrived there in bhe schooaer Micronesia. . .. There is every probabiliby bhab bhe missps Tahiti schooner and bhis mysterious crait will be found bo be one and the same V6By bhe arrival of bhe s.s. Richmond from Tahibi, we are in receipb of information to- - day which shows bhab the schooner Niuroahibi, late of Tahibi, corresponds in_ every,.:.detail bo bhe above descripbion, with tn» excepbionof her colour, which was «w* when at Tahiti. The captain of bhe, m «ing vessel was a Tahibi native named Ronque,, and the supercargo was W. Gibson, wellknown half-caste resident of iaruu. These two men, it would appear, have been , murdered. They left Tahiti last November on a trading cruise to bhe havmg shipped two foreigners as crew, *™*?% hand. Prince Hinoi, of Tahiti, was owner of the vessel.