NEW GUINEA:

Timaru Herald, Volume XV, Issue 660, 23 September 1871, Page 2

NEW GUINEA :

A Field for Exploration. [From the Australasian.] Whilst urging the scientific and commercial importance of an exploration of New Guinea and the adjacent islands, we have been careful to note the dangers which would arise from any ill-equipped or badly conducted expedition. Our space does not permit us to do more than refer to the subject, but those who are acquainted with the growth of the trade through Torres Strait since "Bounty Bligh" made his wonderful voyage through it m his launch, will readily call to mind the awful sufferings of the survivors of the Stirling Castle, the Charles Eaton, the Lady Nelson, and others. Some day an Australian author will write a book for Australian boys on this special subject, which will have the fascination such stories always had, and not the least interesting ' chapter would be that which tells of the St Paul on Rosael Island, and of the brig Steadcombe on Timor-laut. We have already referred to the first case, m which the only survivor (a Chinaman) was rescued and brought to Sydney. Such a pitiful, story has rarely been told. It appears that the ship went ashore during the night. When daylight broke, the whole of the 326 Chinese passengers, together with Captain Pennard

and his jcrew, landed on the island by means of the boats, where they were sorely distressed for want of water. A few days after, the captain and eight of his men left m one of the boats to obtain assistance. They were picked up 10 days afterwards by a schooner inside the Sir Everard Home group, and carried to New Caledonia, from whence a French steamer was despatched to the rescue. The wretched Burvivor, whom they found concealed among the rocks, had an awful tale to tell. For a month after the captain had left they had not been disturbed by the natives, but one day the savage hordes came over from the mainland, distant about three-quarters of a mile, and made an attack on them. Some of the crew had double-barrelled guns, but got frightened and threw them away. The only white man left among them was a Greek, who, armed with a cutlass, fought desperately, and killed a great many of the natives before he was overpowered. They then took all their clothing, &c, which they partly destroyed. Any valuables that they found, such as coins, rings, &c, they placed m a net bag which each carried round his neck. A watch particularly excited their attention, as they were continually opening it to observe the reflection of their faces m the glass. At night the poor wretched Chinese were huddled together m the centre of a clear piece of ground, and fires lit m several places, the natives keeping a regular watch over them, and during the day they would select four or five Chinese, and after killing them, roast the flesh and eat it, those portions not consumed at these horrid feasts being deposited m their nets ! On one occasion some of the Chinese took a boat which belonged to the ship and went over to the mainland to get some water, but never returned. " When I left," says the narrator, " there were only four Chinese of the 327 and the Greek alive, all the rest having been killed. I saw these five the day the steamer came m sight, but when the natives saw the boats coming ashore, they took them up the mountains. I was sick and lame, and they would not carry me, bo I watched my opportunity, and contrived to conceal myself among the rocks until the boat came on shore." It is said that the fountain of laughter has its source very near to the fountain of tears, and even to this terrible tale there is a comic aspect. That very "Heathen Chinee " lived to make his way to Victoria, to become possessed of considerable property, and to be prosecuted by & well-known Government officer (Mr Gosset) m an up-country town for sly-grog selling. He was duly convicted and duly sent to gaol, but his wonderful story coming to the knowledge of Mr Gosaet, that gentleman interested himself m obtaining a mitigation of the sentence, and " New Guinea John" got ofi with twelve hours' imprisonment. His future is not known to us. But we have now m the colony another celebrity, who has had some 17 years of unpleasant memories connected with New Guinea. This is "Timor Joe," whose story we promised m our last. The exigencies of space compel us, much against our inclination, to give it very briefly. Joe is a cheery old tar, about 59 years of age, and standing (as well as spear wounds m. his leg will permit him) about sft. 4in. m bis boots. He has been some 17 years m the colony, has always borne a good character, has been m positions of trust, and is known to the old hands m Hobson's Bay as a good mate and marvellously successful fisherman. There is besides an added lustre about him, "Because, for why, d'ye see, sir, Queen Victoria herself (God bless her) has handed him a glass of white wine, and has, at this present moment of speaking, a lock of his hair." Of this hair more anon. Joe is not averse to " a half-pint," but never had " a key turned on him." He can talk to you m half-a-dozen different dialects, which he has picked up m his strange career, and which he does with a curious emphasis and disregard of other philologists, as though was the sole proprietor. He can sing you a Malay song, or perform a native dance. His memory is singularly good. In short, after you have spent an evening with Joe, m : which he has done all this, and has finally trolled forth m a high treble voice a regular " fore bitter " of some ten versus, showing how : — "(Our boats-wain cried, my stout men all. Come Hsten-unto-me whilst a p-i-p-e I do call. It's launch your bo-o-uts, yer lives for to save, Or the sea this night will be-e-e your gra-a-ve," you come to the conclusion that Joe F — tells the truth, and feel sory that Queen "Victoria cannot be made aware that all that the worthy old soul wants to make him happy is money enough to buy a fishing-boat. His story is briefly this : — He was born m the Highlands, but brought up m London. His father was a sergeant-major m the Scots Guards, and died from a wound received at Waterloo. When Joe was a boy at school, - his young fancy was inflamed towards a seafaring life by the sight of Bennett's South Sea men rolling about Rotherhithe with broad yellow pieces tied up m the knots of their belcher handkerchiefs.: At' this time his brother William, who had served m the old Superb at Algiers, was mate of a brig belonging to London, of about 200 tons, called the Steadcombe which vessel had been bought by Lord Palmerston from Alderman Pirie, and was' bound on a three years' trading voyage to the East Indies. The year was 1824, and Joe was about 12 years old. Going down to Grayesend to see his brother off, and conceiving a violent disgust at the line of life intended for him by his parents, that of Thames waterman and lighterman, he besought Captain Bastain to take him m the brig. After some demur on the part of his brother thiß was agreed to, and Joe was bound apprentice. After touching at various places they arrived at Melville Island, the British settlement established on the north coast of Australia, m the same year, and which was abandoned m 1849. They 'landed toe bullocks which they had brought from Koepang, and stayed six months planting cocoanuts, and otherwise , employing, themselves. Joe and his fellow-apprentice John Edwards, who was the-son of a naval surgeon, were constantly .on shore herding the buffalo, and once had a narrow squeak for their lives from the natives, who were dispersed by the young sailor firing his musket. The blacks carried Edwards off with them, bnt he returned to the settlement m three or four days, stark naked. Captain Bastain had by this time made up his mind to settle on shore, and the brig was sent, under the command of Joe's brother, to Timor-laut, aft island off the south coast of New Guinea, for more buffalo. Five days after they made the north-east coast of that island, and anchored. The natives immediately came off m their, canoes, and expressed a ready desire to trade. The following morning they came off again, bringing, coooanute, par-, rota, cockatoos, &c - , and at their invitation the indiscreet captain manned his boat with ten of his seamen, leaving only Joe, hip fellow-apprentice Edwards, a Portuguese cook, and a sick man, who was m his hammock}" on aboard. Joe, curiously looking through the ship's spy-, glass, presently saw them all running

about holding their handVtb tEeir heads, and one 1 after" another '"cruelly struck down byTTowda of natives. The Portuguese cook seemed to be helpless; the: boor fellow m his hammock could no* crawl on , deck,, but the two boys showed the stuff of which'tney were made. They got up a double and a single barrelled gun. , broke into the' lasarette and obtained some powder and shot (of which there were some two or three hundred kegs on board with plenty of arms for trade). At one time they proposed to shoot the cook, of whom they had suspicions, but eventually determined to try and slip the cable and get under weigh. From the carpenter's tool-chest ijhey obtained a punch and a maul, and actually succeeded m knocking out the forelock of Hie shackle and Betting the brig adrift ! But it was too late. There was only a very light air, and the praus came sweeping up alongside crowded with blood-thirsty savages. The rascally Portuguese cook threw them ropes to make fast, and was rewarded by having his brains knocked out with a brass be-laying-pin, taken from the fife-vail, for they appeared to have no arms but their "krisses." The' two boys took the rigging, from whence the poor trembling lads saw Wm. Bullock, the sick man, dragged up on deck by the heels, and his head chopped off on the brig's bulwarks. Then such a scene of plunder occurred as can hardly be described. While some began hauling the ' brig towards the shore, others burst open and flung about the contents of casks, boxes, and lockers ; others performed a wild game of ball with the small round Dutch cheeses they had come across. The Steadcombe was ■speedily high and dry on the beach, plundered of everything, and then burnt. Her chain cable was carried up into the village, and for many a year remained a Bort of council seat for the deliberation of the head men. The two lads were coaxed down from aloft, and carried ashore m a prau, whence they were made to step over the headless bodies of their murdered shipmates, which were all ranged m a row. When Joe, aged 59, comes to this part of the story of his life at the age of 13, and especially to the details of his brother's murder, his face altogether changes. He is no longer an old sailor " spinning a yarn," but there is a real savage gleam comes into his eyes, the effect of which is strongly heightened by the alita m his ears, through which he could once pass his hand. His knotted fingers twitch nervously, and short, sharp Malay words escape his thin lips. It is just probable that you will get no more out of Joe that night, or he may after a long pause, and after re-lighting his pipe for about the fifteenth time, add, "Aye ! master, but I had it m for him;" words which appear to give him the greatest comfort, and have a distant reference to the man who speared his brother. For 17 long years did Joe remain among these people, and it would take a volume to tell the story. The natives were not altogether unkind to the boys, but poor Edwards pined away, and died four months after the capture. Joe was made of sterner stuff. He resisted their desire to tatoo and make a chief of him ; but m no long time he became as expert a fisherman and bowman as themselves, as learned m the poisonous herbs m which they dipped their arrows (and he gives you a grim assurance that he turned that knowledge to account), and as a sailor, he was soon as able as any to navigate the native praus. But numerous as were his voyages to the coasts of New Guinea and the neighbouring islands, no sooner did any Bughis trader from the westward come m sight than he was stowed under hatches. Once he swam off to such a vessel, bnt they declined to take him, for -fear of interfering with the trade. So the years passed, and Joe lost his language, and let bis hair grow, until he was a man of near 30, when one day the schooner Essington, Captain Watson appeared off the coast. Captain Watson seems to have known what he was about. Having got the principal chief on board he had him seized, and quietly rove a line through a block at the yard arm, the end of which was placed round the chiefs neck m full view of the natives. The crew then bowsed away on the fall, and plainly intimated that unless the white man whom they knew to be on shore was delivered up, it would go hard with the old chief. This energetic conduct had the desired effect. Joe was brought off m the morning, and his first act on stepping on deck was to make a spring at the chief with his uplifted kriss. But he was wisely prevented by Captain Watson, who also turned a deaf ear to the passionate request that the guns might be turned on the praus alongside. He could not speak a word of English at this time, and his iair, when let down, absolutely trailed on the deck. The schooner proceeded to Sydney, where Joe's story created a great sensation. After a stay of 14 months m Sydney he went to London, and there was sent for by Lord Palmerston, who had his depositions taken as to the loss of the Steadcombe, by which the insurance was recovered. By his lordship's favor Joe also had the honor of an interview with the Queen. He was made much of, and a large sum of money was subscribed for him. Finally, m 1864, he .came to Australia without any, and he has not picked up much since. But he is cheerful and content, and only wants a fishing-boat to be perfectly happy. We hope he may soon have his wish gratified.