"THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU", and JACK RENTON From "The Tapu Of Banderah and Other Stories" By Louis Becke C. Arthur Pearson Ltd. 1901 "THE GALLANT, GOOD RIOU" This is a true story of one of Nelson's captains, he of whom Nelsonwrote as "the gallant and good Riou"--high meed of praise gloriously wonat Copenhagen--but Riou, eleven years before that day, performed a deed, now almost forgotten, which, for unselfish heroism, ranks among thebrightest in our brilliant naval annals, and in the sea story ofAustralia in particular. In September, 1789, the _Guardian_, a forty-gun ship, under the commandof Riou, then a lieutenant, left England for the one-year-old penalsettlement in New South Wales. The little colony was in sore need offood--almost starving, in fact--and Riou's orders were to make all hasteto his destination, calling at the Cape on the way to embark live stockand other supplies. All the ship's guns had been removed to make roomfor the stores, which included a "plant cabin"--a temporary compartmentbuilt on deck for the purpose of conveying to Sydney, in pots of earth, trees and plants selected by Sir Joseph Banks as likely to be useful tothe young colony--making her deck "a complete garden, " says a newspaperof the time. Friends of the officers stationed in New South Wales senton board the Guardian great quantities of private goods, and these werestored in the gun-room, which it was thought would be a safer place thanthe hold, but, as the event proved, it was the most insecure. The ship arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in November, and there filledher decks with cattle and provisions, then sailed again, her cargo beingequal in value to about £70, 000. On December 23rd--twelve days afterleaving the Cape--what is described as "an island of ice" was seen. Riougave orders to stand towards it in order to renew, by collecting lumpsof ice, the supply of water, the stock of fresh water having run verylow in consequence of the quantity consumed by the cattle. The Public Advertiser of April 30, 1790, describes what now happened. Asthe ship approached the island, the boats were hoisted out and manned, and several lumps collected. During this time the ship lay to, and onthe ice being brought on board she attempted to stand away. Very littleapprehension was at this time entertained of her safety, although theenormous bulk of the island occasioned an unfavourable current, and insome measure gave a partial direction to the wind. On a sudden, thebase of the island, which projected under water considerably beyond thelimits of the visible parts, struck the bow of the ship; she instantlyswung round, and her head cleared, but her stern, coming on the shoal, struck repeatedly, and the sea being very heavy, her rudder brokeaway, and all her works abaft were shivered. The ship in this situationbecame, in a degree, embayed under the terrific bulk of ice, for itsheight was twice that of the mainmast of a ship of the line, and theprominent head of the berg was every moment expected to break away andoverwhelm the ship. At length, after every practicable exertion, she wasgot off the shoal, and the ice floated past her. It was soon perceivedthat the _Guardian_ had six feet of water in her hold, and it wasincreasing very fast The hands were set to the pumps, others to findout the leaks, and they occasionally relieved each other. Thus theycontinued labouring unceasingly on the 24th, although on the 23rd notone of them had had the least rest The ship was at one period so muchrelieved that she had only two feet of water in the hold; but at thistime, when their distress wore the best aspect, the water "increased ina moment to ten feet. " Then the ship was discovered to be strained inall her works, and the sea running high, every endeavour to check theprogress of a particular leak proved ineffectual. To lighten the ship, the cows, horses, sheep, and all the other live stock for the colonywere, with their fodder, committed to the deep to perish. John Williams, boatswain of the _Guardian_, wrote to his parents inLondon, and told them about the disaster, and although we have no doubthe was handier with the marline-spike than with his pen, some of hisbadly spelled letter reads well:-- "This axident happened on the 23rd of December, and on the 25th theboats left us with moast of the officers and a great part of the seamen. The master-gunner, purser, one master's mate, one midshipman, and aparson, with nine seamen, was got into the longboat and cleared theship. The doctor and four or five men got into a cutter and was upsetclose to the ship, and all of them was drowned. As for the rest of theboats, I believe they must be lost and all in them perished, for wee wasabout six hundred leagues from any land. There was about fifty-six menmissing; a number drowned jumping into the boats; the sea ran sohigh that the boats could scarce live. The commander had a strongresulution, for he said he would sooner go down in the ship than hewold quid her. All the officers left in the ship was the commander, thecarpenter, one midshipman, and myself. After the boats left us we hadtwo chances--either to jump or sink. We cold just get into the sailroomand got up a new forecourse and stuck it full of oakum and rags, and putitt under the ship's bottom; this is called fothering the ship. We foundsome benefit by itt for pumping and bailing we gained on hur; that gaveus a little hope of saving our lives. We was in this terable situationfor nine weeks before we got to the Cape of Good Hope. Sometimes ourupper-deck scuppers was under water outside, and the ship leying likea log on the water, and the sea breaking over her as if she was a rock. Sixteen foot of water was the common run for the nine weeks in the hold. I am not certain what we are to doo with the ship as yet. We have gotmoast of our cargo out; it is all dammaged but the beef and pork, whichis in good order. I have lost a great dele of my cloaths, and I amthinking of drawing of about six pound, wich I think I can make shiftwith. If this axident had not hapned I shold not have had aney call foraney. As for my stores, there is a great part of them thrown overboard;likewise all the officers stores in the ship is gone the same way, forevry thing that came to hand was thrown ovarboard to lighten the ship. I think that we must wait till ordars comes from England to know what weare to do with the ship. " The chronicles of the time also relate how at daylight on Christmasmorning, when the water was reported as being up to the orlop deckand gaining two feet an hour, many of the people desponded and gavethemselves up for lost. A part of those who had any strength left, seeing that their utmost efforts to save the ship were likely to be invain, applied to the officers for the boats, which were promised to bein readiness for them, and the boatswain was directly ordered to put themasts, sails, and compasses in each. The cooper was also set to work tofill a few quarter-casks of water out of some of the butts on deck, andprovisions and other necessaries were got up from the hold. Many hours previous to this, Lieutenant Riou had privately declared tohis officers that he saw the final loss of the ship was inevitable, andhe could not help regretting the loss of so many brave fellows. "Asfor me, " said he, "I have determined to remain in the ship, and shallendeavour to make my presence useful as long as there is any occasionfor it. " He was entreated, and even supplicated, to give up this fatalresolution, and try for safety in the boats. It was even hinted to himhow highly criminal it was to persevere in such a determination; buthe was not to be moved by any entreaties. He was, notwithstanding, asactive in providing for the safety of the boats as if he intended totake the opportunity of securing his own escape. He was throughout ascalm and collected as in the happier moments of his life. At seven o'clock the _Guardian_ had settled considerably abaft, and thewater was coming in at the rudder-case in great quantities. At half-pastseven the water in the hold obliged the people below to come upon deck;the ship appeared to be in a sinking state, and settling bodily down; itwas, therefore, almost immediately agreed to have recourse to the boats. While engaged in consultation on this melancholy business, Riou wrote aletter to the Admiralty, which he delivered to Mr. Clements, the master. It was as follows:-- "H. M. S. Guardian, Dec. 25, 1789. "If any part of the officers or crew of the _Guardian_ should ever survive to get home, I have only to say their conduct, after the fatal stroke against an island of ice, was admirable and wonderful in everything that relates to their duty, considered either as private men, or in His Majesty's service. As there seems to be no possibility of my remaining many hours in this world, I beg leave to recommend to the considération of the Admiralty a sister, who, if my conduct or service should be found deserving any memory, their favour might be shown to, together with a widowed mother. "I am, &c, "Phil. Stephens, Esq. " "E. RIOU. With the utmost difficulty the boats were launched. After they were gotafloat and had cleared the ship, with the exception of the launch theywere never afterwards heard of; the launch with nine survivors waspicked up by a passing vessel ten days after she left the wreck, herpeople reduced to the last extremity for want of food and water. Among the survivors was the parson mentioned by the boatswain. This wasthe Rev. Mr. Crowther, who was on his way as a missionary to the penalsettlement. The Rev. John Newton, of Olney (poet Cowper's Newton), hadgot Crowther the appointment, at "eight shillings per diem, of assistantchaplain of the settlement, " and Newton, writing to the Rev. R. Johnson, chaplain of Sydney, tells how he heard of the loss of the Guardian, "andthe very next morning Mr. Crowther knocked at my door himself. " Then Mr. Newton writes a letter which shows that Mr. Crowther had had enough ofthe sea. "It is not a service for mere flesh and blood to undertake. Aman without that apostolic spirit and peculiar call which the Lord alonecan give would hardly be able to maintain his ground. Mr. Crowther, though a sincere, humble, good man, seems not to have had thosequalifications, and therefore he has been partly intimidated by what hemet with abroad, and partly influenced by nearer personal considerationsat home, to stay with us and sleep in a whole skin. " But after hisexperience it was not to be wondered at that he preferred to stay athome and sleep in a whole skin. Meanwhile Riou, in spite of a ship without a rudder, and with the waterin her up to the orlop deck, succeeded, as the boatswain's letter shows, after a voyage of nine weeks, in bringing his command to the Cape. Aletter from Capetown, written on March 1, 1790, tells us she arrivedthere "eight days ago in a situation not to be credited without ocularproofs. She had, I think, nine feet of water in her when she anchored. The lower gun-deck served as a second bottom; it was stowed with a verygreat weight equally fore and aft. To this, and to the uncommon strengthof it, Captain Riou ascribes his safety. Seeing an English ship with asignal of distress, four of us went on board, scarcely hoping but withbusy fancy still pointing her out to be the _Guardian_, and, to ourinexpressible joy, we found it was her. We stood in silent admirationof her heroic commander (whose supposed fate had drawn tears from usbefore), shining through the rags of the meanest sailor. The fortitudeof this man is a glorious example for British officers to emulate. Sincethat time we have gone on board again to see him. He is affable inhis manners, and of most commanding presence. .. . Perhaps we, under theinfluence of that attraction which great sufferings always produce, may, in the enthusiasm of our commendation, be too lavish in his praise; wereit not for this fear I would at once pronounce him the most God-likemortal I ever viewed. They were two months from the time the accidenthappened until they reached this place. Every man shared alike in thelabour; and not having at all attended to their persons during thewhole of that dismal period they looked like men of another world--longbeards, dirt, and rags covered them. Mr. Riou got one of his handscrushed and one of his legs hurt, but all are getting well. None of hispeople died during their fatigues. He says his principal attentionwas to keep up their spirits and to watch over their health. He neverallowed himself to hope until the day before he got in here, whenhe made the land. Destitute of that support, how superior must hisfortitude be! He has this morning, for the first time, come on shore, having been employed getting stores, &c. , out to lighten the ship. Hewavers what to do with her--whether to put Government to the expenseof repairing her here (which would almost equal her first cost, perhapsexceed it) or burn her. Most likely the last will be resolved on. " The ship was in such a state that she was condemned by the experts atthe Cape, but Riou, bearing in mind the distressed state of the colonyof New South Wales, did not rest until he had sent on in other vesselsall the stores he could collect. Neither did he forget the behaviour of certain convicts. In a letterto the Admiralty he wrote: "Permit me, sir, to address you on a subjectwhich I hope their Lordships will not consider to be unworthy theirnotice. It is to recommend as much as is in my power to their Lordships'favour and interest the case of the twenty convicts which my dutycompelled me to send to Port Jackson. But the recollection of pastsufferings reminds me of that time when I found it necessary to make useof every possible method to encourage the minds of the people under mycommand, and at such time, considering how great the difference mightbe between a free man struggling for life and him who perhaps mightconsider death as not much superior to a life of ignominy and disgraceI publicly declared that not one of them, so far as depended on myself, should ever be convicts. And I may with undeniable truth say that, hadit not been for their assistance and support, the _Guardian_ would neverhave arrived to where she is. Their conduct prior to the melancholyaccident that happened on December 23rd last was always such as may becommended, and from their first entrance into the ship at Spithead theyever assisted and did their duty in like manner as the crew. I havetaken the liberty to recommend them to the notice of Governor Phillip;but I humbly hope, sir, their Lordships will consider the service doneby these men as meriting their Lordships' favour and protection, and Imake no doubt that should I have been so fortunate as to representthis in proper colours, that they will experience the benefit of theirLordships' interest. " The prisoners were pardoned, and the Secretary of the Admiralty wrote toRiou-- "I have their Lordships' commands to acquaint you that their concernon the receipt of the melancholy contents of the first-mentioned lettercould only be exceeded by the satisfaction they received from theaccount of your miraculous escape, which they attribute to your skilfuland judicious exertions under the favour of Divine Providence. .. . Their Lordships have communicated to Mr. Secretary Grenville, for hisMajesty's information, your recommendation of the surviving convictswhose conduct, as it has so deservedly met with your approbation, will, there is every reason to hope, entitle them to his Majesty's clemency. " [This story of the gallant behaviour of these twenty prisoners does notstand alone in the convict annals of Australia. There were many otherinstances in which convicts behaved with the greatest heroism. Many ofthe earlier explorers, such as Sturt, received most valuable aid fromprisoners who were members of their expeditions; and in the firstdays of the colony both Phillip and Hunter were quick to recogniseand personally reward or recommend for pardon to the Home Governmentconvicts who had distinguished themselves by acts of bravery. ] When Riou returned to England he was promoted to post-captain's rank, and at Copenhagen, in 1801, he commanded the _Amazon_. Perhaps we maybe forgiven for reprinting from Southey's "Nelson" an account of what hedid there. "The signal" (that famous one which Nelson looked at with hisblind eye), "the signal, however, saved Riou's little squadron, butdid not save its heroic leader. The squadron, which was nearest thecommander-in-chief, obeyed and hauled off. It had suffered severely inits most unequal contest. For a long time the _Amazon_ had been firingenveloped in smoke, when Riou desired his men to stand fast, and letthe smoke clear off, that they might see what they were about. A fatalorder, for the Danes then got clear sight of her from the batteries, and pointed their guns with such tremendous effect that nothing butthe signal for retreat saved this frigate from destruction. 'What willNelson think of us!' was Riou's mournful exclamation when he unwillinglydrew off. He had been wounded in the head by a splinter, and was sittingon a gun, encouraging his men, when, just as the _Amazon_ showed herstern to the Trekroner Battery, his clerk was killed by his side, and another shot swept away several marines who were hauling inthe main-brace. 'Come, then, my boys!' cried Riou, 'let us die alltogether!' The words had scarcely been uttered before a raking shot cuthim in two. Except it had been Nelson himself, the British Navy couldnot have suffered a severer loss. " JACK RENTON Some yarns of an exceedingly tough and Munchausen-like character havebeen spun and printed by men of their adventures in Australian watersor the South Seas, but an examination of such stories by any one withpersonal knowledge of the Pacific and Australasia has soon, and verydeservedly so, knocked the bottom out of a considerable number of them. Yet there are stories of South Sea adventure well authenticated, whichI are not a whit less wonderful than the most marvellous falsehoods thatany man has yet told, and the story of what befell John Renton is oneof these. A file of the _Queenslander_ (the leading Queensland weeklynewspaper) for 1875 will corroborate his story; for that paper gave thebest account of his adventures in one of their November (1875) numbers, and the story was copied into nearly every paper in Australasia. Like Harry Bluff, John Renton "when a boy left his friends and his home, o'er the wild ocean waves all his life for to roam. " Renton's home wasin Stromness, in the Orkneys, and he shipped on board a vessel bound toSydney, in 1867, as an ordinary seaman, he then being a lad of eighteen. When in Sydney he got about among the boarding-houses, in sailor-town, and one morning woke up on the forecastle of the _Reynard_ of Boston, bound on a cruise for guano among the South Pacific Islands. Renton had been crimped, and finding himself where he was, bothered nomore about it, but went cheerfully to work, not altogether displeased atthe prospect of new adventures, which would enable him to by and by goback to the old folks with plenty of dollars, and a stock of startlingyarns to reel off. He was a steady, straightforward lad, though somewhatthoughtless at times, and resolved to be a steady, straightforward man. The vessel first called into the Sandwich Islands, and there shipped agang of Hawaiian natives to help load the guano, then she sailed awayto the southward for McKean's Island, one of the Phoenix Group, situatedabout lat. 3? 35' S. And long. 174? 20' W. On board the _Reynard_ was an old salt known to all hands as "BostonNed. " He had been a whaler in his time, had deserted, and spent someyears beachcombing among the islands of the South Seas, and very soon, through his specious tongue, he had all hands wishing themselves clearof the "old hooker" and enjoying life in the islands instead ofcruising about, hazed here and there and everywhere by the mates of the_Reynard_, whose main purpose in life was to knock a man down in orderto make him "sit up. " Presently three or four of the hands becameinfatuated with the idea of settling on an island, and old Ned, nothingloth, undertook to take charge of the party if they would make anattempt to clear from the ship. The old man had taken a fancy to youngRenton, and the youngster, when the idea was imparted to him, fell inwith it enthusiastically; for he was exasperated with the treatment hehad received on board the guanoman--the afterguard of an American guanoship are usually a rough lot The ship was lying on and off the land, there being no anchorage, and before the plan had been discussed morethan a few hours, the men, five in all, determined to put it intoexecution. A small whaleboat was towing astern of the vessel in case the windshould fall light and the ship drift in too close to the shore. It wasa fine night, with a light breeze, and there was, they thought, a goodchance of getting to the southward, to one of the Samoan group, wherethey could settle, or by shipping on board a trading schooner they mightlater on strike some other island to their fancy. By stealth they managed to stow in the boat a couple of small breakersof water, holding together sixteen gallons, and the forecastle breadbarge with biscuits enough for three meals a day per man for ten days. They managed also to steal four hams, and each man brought pipes, tobacco, and matches. A harpoon with some line, an old galleyfrying-pan, mast, sail and oars, and some blankets completed theequipment For they took no compass, though they made several attempts toget at one slung in the cabin, and tried at first to take one out of thepoop binnacle; but the officer of the watch on deck was too wide awakefor them to risk that, and the cabin compass was screwed to the roofclose to the skipper's berth; and so the old man who was their leader, old sailor and whaler as he was, actually gave up the idea of taking acompass, and these people without more ado, one night slipped over theside into the whaleboat, cut the painter, and by daylight the boat wasout of sight of land and of the ship. They were afloat upon the Pacific, running six or seven miles before a north-east breeze and expectingto sight land in less than a week, and were already anticipating thefreedom and luxury of island life in store for them. Three days later it fell calm, and they had to take to the oars. The sunwas intensely hot, the water a sheet of glass reflecting back upon themthe ball of fire overhead. Now and again a cats-paw would ripple acrossthe plain of water, but there were no clouds, there was no sight ofland. They kept on pulling. For three, for four days--a week--for tendays--they tugged at the oars, except when a favouring breeze came. Thewater was reduced to a few pints, the food to a few days' half-rations. Their limbs were cramped so that they could not move from their placesin the boat, their bodies were becoming covered with sores; and the windhad now died away entirely, the sea was without a ripple, and for evershone above them the fierce, relentless sun. Gradually it had dawned upon them that they were lost--that perhaps theyhad run past Samoa. The first eagerness of their adventure gave placeto despair, and by degrees their despair grew to madness of a more awfulkind. On the fifteenth day there appeared to the south and east a low, dark-grey cloud. "Land at last!" was the unspoken thought in each man'sheart as he looked at his comrade, but feared to voice his hope. Andpresently the cloud grew darker and more clearly defined, and one of themen--the next oldest to the author of all their miseries--fell uponhis weak and trembling knees, and raised his hands in thankfulnessand prayer to the Almighty. Alas! it was not land, but the ominousforerunner of the fierce and sweeping mid-equatorial gale which layveiled behind. In less than half an hour it came upon and smote themwith savage fury, and the little boat was running before a howling galeand a maddened, foam-whipped sea. And then it happened that, ill and suffering as he was from the agoniesof hunger and thirst, the heroic nature of old "Boston Ned" cameout, and his bold sailor's heart cheered and encouraged his wretched, despairing companions. All that night, and for the greater part ofthe following day, he stood in the stern-sheets, grasping the bendingsteer-oar as the boat swayed and surged along before the gale, andconstantly watching lest she should broach to and smother in theroaring seas; the others lay in the bottom, feebly baling out thewater, encouraged, urged, and driven to that exertion by the gallant oldAmerican seaman. Towards noon the wind moderated, in the afternoon it died awayaltogether, and again the boat lay rising and falling to the longPacific swell, and "Boston Ned" flung his exhausted frame down in thestern-sheets and slept. Again the blood-red sun leapt from a sea of glassy smoothness--for theswell had subsided during the night--and again the wretched men lockedinto each other's dreadful faces and mutely asked what was to be done. How should they head the boat? Without a compass they might as wellsteer one way as another, for none of them knew even approximately thecourse for the nearest land; search the cloudless vault of blue above, or scan the shimmering sea-rim till their aching eyes dropped from outtheir hollowing sockets, there was no clue. Twenty days out the last particle of food and water had been consumed, and though the boat was now steering as near westward as old Ned couldjudge, before a gentle south-east trade, madness and despair were comingquickly upon them, and on the twenty-third day two of the five miserablecreatures began to drink copiously of salt water--the drink of Death. Renton, though he had suffered to the bitter full from the agoniesof body and mind endured by his shipmates, did not yield to thistemptation; and by a merciful providence remained sane enough to turnhis face away from the water. But as he lay crouched in a heap in thebottom of the boat, with a silent prayer in his heart to his Creator toquickly end his sufferings, he heard "Boston Ned" and the only remainingsane man except himself muttering hoarsely together and lookingsometimes at him and sometimes at the two almost dying men who laymoaning beside him. Presently the man who was talking to Ned pulled outof his blanket--which lay in the stern-sheets--a razor, and turning hisback to Renton began stropping it upon the sole of his boot, and even"Boston Ned" himself looked with awful eyes and blood-baked twitchinglips upon the youngster. The lad saw what was coming, and as quickly as possible made his wayforward and sat there, with his eyes fixed upon the two men aft, waitingfor the struggle which he thought must soon begin. All that day and thenight he sat and watched, determined to make a fight for the little lifewhich remained in him, and Ned and the other man at times still mutteredand eyed him wolfishly. And so, on and on, these seeming outcasts of God's mercy sailed beforethe warm breath of the south-east trade wind, above them the blazingtropic sun, around them the wide, sailless expanse of the blue Pacificunbroken in its dreadful loneliness except for a wandering grey-wingedbooby or flocks of whale-birds floating upon its gentle swell, andwithin their all but deadened hearts naught but grim despair and adulled sense of coming dissolution. As he sat thus, supporting his swollen head upon his skeleton hands, Renton saw something astern, moving slowly after the boat--somethingthat he knew was waiting and following for the awful deed to be done, sothat _it_ too might share in the dreadful feast. Raising his bony arm, he pointed towards the moving fin. To him ashark meant no added horror or danger to their position, but possiblydeliverance. "Boston Ned" and the other man first looked at the comingshark, and then with sunken eyes again turned to Renton. Voices none ofthem had, and the lad's parched tongue could not articulate, but withsigns and lip movements he tried to make the other two men understand. No shark hook had they; nor, if they had had one, had they anythingwith which to bait it. But Renton, crawling aft, picked up the harpoon, placed it in "Boston Ned's" hands, and motioned to him to stand by. Then with eager, trembling hands he stripped from his legs the shredsof trousers which remained on them, and, sitting upon the gunwale of theboat, hung one limb over and let it trail in the water. Three times the shark came up, and thrice Ned prepared to strike, buteach time the grim ranger of the seas turned aside as it caught sightof the waiting figure with weapon poised above. But at last hungerprevailed, and, swimming slowly up till within a few yards of the boat, it made a sudden rush for the human bait, missed it, and the harpoon, deftly darted by the old ex-whaler, clove through its tough skin andburied itself deep into its body between the shoulders. It took the worn-out, exhausted men a long time to haul alongside anddespatch the struggling monster, which, says Renton, was ten feet inlength. Then followed shark's flesh and shark's blood, some of the former, afterthe first raw meal, being cooked on a fire made of the biscuit bargeupon a wet blanket spread in the bottom of the boat. The hot weather, however, soon turned the remaining portion putrid, but two or three dayslater came God's blessed rain, and gave them hope and life again. They managed to save a considerable quantity of water, and, though theshark's flesh was in a horrible condition, they continued to feed uponit _until the thirty-fifth_ day. On this day they saw land, high and well wooded; but now the trade-windfailed them, and for the following two days the unfortunate mencontended with baffling light airs, calms, and strong currents. Atlast they got within a short distance of the shore, and sought for alanding-place through the surrounding surf. Suddenly four or five canoes darted out from the shore. They were filledwith armed savages, whose aspect and demeanour warned old Ned that heand his comrades were among cannibals. Sweeping alongside the boat, thesavages seized the white men, who were all too feeble to resist, or evenmove, put them into their canoes, and conveyed them on shore, fed them, and treated them with much apparent kindness. Crowds of nativesfrom that part of the island--which was Malayta, one of the SolomonGroup--came to look at them, and one man, a chief, took a fancy toRenton, and claimed him as his own especial property. Renton never saw the rest of his companions again, for they were removedto the interior of the Island--probably sold to some of the bush tribes, the "man-a-bush, " as the coastal natives called them. Their fate is notdifficult to guess, for the people of Malayta were then, as they arenow, cannibals. On August 7, 1875, the Queensland labour recruiting schooner _BobtailNag_ was cruising off the island, trading for yams, and her captainheard from some natives who came alongside that there was a white manliving ashore in a village about ten miles distant. The skipper of the_Bobtail Nag_ at once offered to pay a handsome price if the man wasbrought on board, and at the cost of several dozen Birmingham steelaxes and some tobacco poor Renton's release was effected. He told hisrescuers that the people among whom he had lived had taken a great fancyto him, and had treated him with great kindness. If the reader will look at a chart of the South Pacific, he will see, among the Phoenix Group, the position of McKean's Island; two thousandmiles distant, westward and southward, is the island of Malayta, uponwhich Renton and his companions in misery drifted.