KIDNAPPING IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.

Otago Witness, Issue 851, 21 March 1868, Page 2

KIDNAPPING IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.

! (From tse Vhritthm Herald. ) The accompanying petition, a copy of which has been sent to the Governors of several of the Australian Colonies, and the statement of the Missionaries, shew what inhuman practices are being carried on by British and other vessels in the ISTew Hebrides. It is very trying to Missionaries to have their work thus frustrated, and their position imperilled, by the conduct of white men. We trust public attention will be aroused to protest against this piracy. A few years ago, when Peruvian vessels attempted the same removal of the natives of the South Sea Islands, a large public meeting was held in Sydney, and the Governor was" addressed on the subject. The British Government was appealed to by His Excellency, and also by the Representatives of Missionary Societies at Home, with such effect as to put a stop to the traffic. But many of the unhappy natives were never restored to their homes.

Unless speedy efforts are made, a great misery will rasult from the present deportation. The statement will speak for itself.

STATEMENTS

By the New Hebrides Mission .regarding the traffic in natives as at present conducted

among the islands of that group.

For some time back, and more especially within the last few years, this mission has had its attention directed to the fact that a large number of the natives of this group are being carried away in vessels, ostensibly as hired laborers, to Queensland, Fiji, New Caledonia. Tahiti, Torres Straits, and other parts. With reference to the full extent to ■which this system is carried on, this mission is not at present in a position to furnish accurate statistics ; but j we are fully aware that a large number of vessels are engaged in it. Within the course of the last eighteen months, vessels directly and avowedly engaged in this traffic, have called at the one island Fate no fewer than 18 times ; and we are aware that as many as 250 natives at least out of seven villages of that island are at present absent from their homes engaged in the service of white men. We are further credibly informed that several of the smaller islands in the northern part of this group have been almost entirely stripped of their male population. The vessels engaged in this traffic — so far as known to us— sail under one or other of the three flags — the British, the American, and the French. They vary in size from ships of 700 or "800 tons, down to small schooners of eight or ten tons.

There are various circumstances connected with this system, as at present conducted among the islands of this group, to which we deem it our duty to direct public attention. Ist. Many of these natives are taken away fraudulently and by force from their

native lands.

I Instance :— Towards the close of last year, a vessel sailing under the British flaw, bound for the Fijis, having ©n board one hundred I and ten natives from northern islands of this group, lay to off Fil harbor, Fate. Some of the natives of Pango put off to her in a canoe. They were able to converse with the natives on board, as some of them had resided on ■*he islands whence they came. As they neared th*» vessel, some of the natives on board warned them not to leave th^ir canoe, adding, " We came off to her in our Cannes to trade as she lay to off our shores. While we were thus engaged, she bore away ; and when we attempted to leave, the crew prevented us, and cut our canoes adrift. Thus they stole us from our land, and if you board her, you will share the same fate. Nor does she come to anchor anywhere, lest we escape by swimming ashore.'' Other instances of the [same kind can be given. 2nd. Many of these natives suffer great

hardship and privation on the voyage

Instance :—ln: — In the beginning of this year (1867), a small schooner, bound for the Fijis, having on board thirty five natives from different islands of this jyoup, came to anchor in the harbor of Mucityum. She then started on her voyage, and after having been out a fortnight returned, reporting that she had met with unfavorable weather, aud that her provisions were exhausted. In fact, the captain acknowledged that a number of the natives were so reduced by famine that they could not come out of the hold ; and his statement was fully borne out by their wrenched appearance. Other instances of the same kind can be given. 3rd. Some of these natives suffer severe bodily injury and even death at the hands of those who carry them away, without any redress, or any inquiry being made after their blood. This naturally leads to their cherishing feelings of revenge, and taking opportunities of retaliation against white

men generally. Instance : Towards the close of Imt year the people of Emel, Fate, pirated a small vessel and murdered the crew, consisting of three white men. When visited this year by M.M.S. Falcon for the purpose of investigating this outrage, they stated in self defence, that no fewer than four of their men had l>een barbarously murdered by persons, who had carried them away from their native island — giving names, dates, and circumitance?.

Other instance* of » similar kind- can be given. ' »• ,] '•'<-, 4th. In the case of those who go of their own accord, the .nituro of the agWcj . ments entered into with them, is veiy P imperfectly, andnn'most caaW. not- at | all, understood by them ; ancjjhere £■ i no real security that we know of/ I*at r these agreements shall be faithfcUy I fullfilled by those w^o carry them, > away. > > This has been acknowledged by those who I carry them away, and has been stated to us ' by persons in the B'ijia who have access to ! natives imported there. It ought to be borne ' in mind that almost every island in Western Polynesia has a distinct language of its own The only medium of commuuicati n between 1 the natives aud the traders is the English 1 language, and this is understood only by a [ few, and -by them very imperfectly. On ■ most islands it is not understood at all. sth. Most of these natives, as i 3 well known to us, are kept away from their native islands for longer periods than they were engaged f -r. This statement is fully borne out by individual instances which have come uader our own observation, and by the fact that it is the universal complaint of the natives, wherever we come in contact with them One case out of many we mention. In August, 1866, a small schooner of about ' ten tons ourthen, took twenty-sis natives from the islands of Emou and Fate to Fiji, for a term of six months. Up to this date ' (August, 18G7), not one of those taken from ; Fate*, at least, has been returned. i

6th. Many of these natives are Very poorly paid. Instance : — For five months' service on board a vessel trading in these seas, a native of Fate" received four handkerchiefs, a few pipes, and a few figs of tobacco. Other Instances of a similar kind can be given. 7th. The wive 3of many of those carried away, despairing of their return, enter into relations with, and become the j wives of, other men. This dissolution I of social ties, is a fruitful source of disturbance, of destruction of property, and of war

Instance :- -la July of this year, a native of Pango, on the island of Fate, returned from Queensland. He had been away for about three years. During his absence, the wife he had left behind him had become the wife of another man ; on account of which the village had at the time been brought to the verge of a civil war. Immediately after his arrival, in July last, hostilities began, between the two parts of the village inhabited by the friends of the respective parties. A great deal of angry talk passed between them, threats were made of setting houses «n fire, several plantations were destroyed, and the utmost confusion and alarm prevailed for some days ; when at length the matter was settled by the first husband consenting to give tip his claim to the woman on. condition of receiving twenty pigs as a solatium. But the matter did not end there. A month or so after these occurenqes, the woman whose second marriage had been the occasion o f these disturbances, fled tc the house of her former husband, and waa received by him as his wife. This naturally led to the renewal of host lities between the two ends of ! the village. And there is every reason to believe that, but for the presence of tho Missionary and the intercession of the Christian party, the matter would not have i been settled without bloodshed.

Other instances of a similar kind can be given. Bfch. In almost all ca3e3, the men who are taken away, are the strongest aud most active in the'r villages ; and by the remov.il of such men, a more than ordinary proportion of old and infirm people with women and children remain; which materially interferes with the raising of lood. the procuring of fish, and other woi k necessary to the well being of the natives, 9fch. With reference to those who return, we find that tho3e who have ben oftenest and longest away are generally the worst and most dangerous characters. 10th. The whole system is, so far as we know, under no adequate aupervisinn or control ; so that the natives of these islands are at the mercy of any 1 man who cm induce or cajole orfor^e them to take a passage cm board hi 3 vessel. In the3e circumstances we have no hesitation in dennuncin« the trade- in bunion beings, as at present carried on atuoatj these islands, as in violation of the natural rights of mm ; as calculited to be injurious to th-j social, moral, and spiritual interests of the natives ; as demoralising and degrading to the white men engaged iv it ; as, in i-hort, are ival of the slave trade, without that security for the temporal well being «f tho«e who are the subjects of it, which woula be derive i from ■ the fact of their being the property of a nrnn who had invested a large auin of money in , their purchase. Signed iv behalf of the New Hebrides j Mission, J G. Paton\ Chairman. Jos. CuPEiiAXD, Clerk. Aneityum, New Hebrides, 7th Sept., 1867. To His Excellency the Right Honorable the Earl of Belmore, Governor-in-Chief of New South Wales, and Captain General and Vice Admiral; of the same. May it please your Excellency — The petition of the undersigned humbly ■ sheweth, I That your petitioners are Christian

> Missionaries representing Presbyterian* Churches, laboring on the six Southern Islands of the New' Hebrides Group, viz t -*r Aneityum, Fotuna, Tanna, Aniwaf ■Erromanga, and Fate. , " Thatftn their capacity a3 such, they, of" course, fore! deeply interested in the elevation of the natives of these islands,, physically and socially, as <well as-- ' morally and spiritually; so that while, o» the one hand, any plan which has a tendency to promote so desirable an o'»-iject-hiis not, only their poi-fect acquiescence but their hearty support, on theother, tlioy cannot but regard it as their duty to opposu any system which is found to interfere with the natunil riylits of thenatives, and with the fui-thonuce of thoseends for which Missionaries settle among them. That in fulfilment of their duty and in* the interests of humanity they feel themselves found to lay before your Excellency, certain facts and allegations as. embodied in the accompanying " statement" relating to a system of traffic in? hunian beings as at present carried onamong these islands. That your petitioners humbly and earnestly request your Excellency that an> investigation be made into the working of this traffic, that it be put under such supervision and control as shall prevent the rights of the native 3 from being ruthlessly violated ; and that some one be appointed to care for the interests, and investigate the grievances, of those natives-. of these islands who reside in the Colony of which you are the head. And your petitioners Tyill ever pray. Johx Gkddie, D.D. JoHX InOLIB. Johjt G. Patox. Joseph Copelakd. Doxaid Morrison". J. D. Gordon. James Cosh, M.A. Thomas Neilson.