Men from Under the Sky. Stanley Brown

bring with him a musket and ammunition. Two other lacks, dear to the heart of a roistering sailor, were the old forecastle standbys-liquor and tobacco.

      After five years of guerrilla-type warfare, Savage's men had probably expended less ammunition than the forces in Lockerby's time had used to demolish the fort at Tacilevu. Still, their supplies ran short. It was to replenish these stocks that Savage finally led a party of his adherents to the sandalwood coast to earn from a visiting ship the money to get new supplies.

      Sandalwood had by now become scarce, and the ship's boats had to range the whole length of the Macuata coast to obtain supplies. Men who could both fight and act as interpreters were much in demand to assist in obtaining cargoes.

      Hearing that the ship Hunter was at Bua, Savage suggested that he and his band of sailors should seek work and take their pay in the supplies needed for further war and their own relaxation. After some argument, the Bau chiefs agreed.

      Savage's daughter Maria, who was only four when he left on his journey to Bua, recalled that he took from his seaman's chest several articles, among which was a chain of "something that flashed"-probably a string of those much-sought-after dollars from the Eliza.

      The offer of assistance was accepted immediately by Captain James Robson of the ship Hunter, and all of Savage's ragged men were engaged in working boats of the ship in the search for that now rare commodity-sandalwood. It appeared that the best opportunity to obtain a cargo would be from the people of Wailea, as there were no remaining trees on the shores of Sandal-wood Bay itself.

      But the Waileans were at war with their neighbours and were unable to cut wood. It was usual to send shore working parties from the ship in case they were attacked by the enemies of Wail ea. The chief suggested that if Captain Robson would assist him in defeating his enemies he would guarantee to fill the ship's hold within two months. This new activity appealed not only to Charlie Savage, who was not enamoured of the mundane work of cutting sandalwood and pulling an oar, but to the ship's second mate, an Irishman named Peter Dillon.

      The alliance was accordingly made, and the combined forces of Hunter's seamen, Savage's foreign legion, and Wailea's warriors laid siege to the fortress of Nabakavu. The fortress soon fell under this combined attack. The defenders were driven from the area, both fort and village being razed by fire.

      The captain of the Hunter had kept his part of the bargain, but after four further months of effort the ship still lacked a full cargo. What the sailors did not realize was that the depredations over the last few years had all but exhausted the supplies of sandalwood. The goose that for so long had laid the golden egg had now lost most of its feathers and would soon expire. The Fijians could not appreciate the fact that this wood, so much desired by the sailors, and for which they had acquired so many desirable trade items, now no longer existed in their forests.

      Only a year later, when a ship failed completely to get a load of sandalwood, did the realization come that commercially, as an exporter of sandalwood, Fiji was dead. But this was not comprehended by Robson, who thought that his allies were going back on their bargain, and he decided to punish them for their perfidy.

      The Wailea people, after ten years' experience of the trade, had no illusions about the intentions of sandal-wood ship crews, and would not come near the ship because of the danger of being seized and held as hostages. However, they kept a sharp lookout, and when Robson's punitive expedition prepared to land the fact was soon known along the coast.

      Just before the men from the Hunter left the ship a fleet of canoes arrived from Bau. They had come at the behest of Ratu Naulivou to escort back the white gunners who had been absent from Bau for the greater part of the year. The Bau warriors were soon induced to take part in the forthcoming fight and a hundred of them landed with the crew of the Hunter and Savage's musketeers.

      There was no opposition to the landing and only a few men appeared in the distance as the war party neared the first village. Thinking that they had gained an easy victory and that the defenders had fled into the hills, the warriors fired the first village. The next moment they were all startled by a vakacaucau, the war cry of the Wailea folk, indicating that they had killed an enemy. The cry came from behind the attackers and between their present position and the boats. They were cut off from their boats and out of range of the ship's guns.

      The vakacaucau launched an attack on all sides, and confused fighting broke out. Dillon saw the mate Norman, in charge of the expedition, speared through the chest and one of Savage's men, Graham, killed. He then took command and tried to fight his way out of the trap. He succeeded in getting into open ground but at a terrible cost, most of his men being cut down. With only five other survivors, one of whom was Savage, he gained the top of a rock pinnacle that gave an all-round field of fire. There the six men held the Waileans at bay.

      At the base of the rock the Wailea warriors were yelling and milling around, while a little further away, but still in full view of Dillon and Savage, the bodies of their friends were being prepared for the ovens.

      After the excitement had died down the Fijians realized that the men on the rock could not escape. Savage began talking to the enraged warriors below, reminding them that eight prisoners had been taken by the ship in earlier fighting and were still held on board, among them a brother of the bete, ot priest. Savage warned that if they were killed the prisoners would immediately be put to death. The warriors shouted back their derison at this, but the bete pushed his way forward, obviously anxious about the fate of his brother. An offer was made to exchange one man at a time and all turned to the seaman named Dafny to suggest that he should be the one to test the verity of the Fijians' offer. He was injured and unarmed, having lost his musket in the scramble up the rock.

      Dafny, after some understandable argument on his part, made his way down the rock and, closely escorted by the bete, who had to push aside several of the yelling and threatening warriors, stumbled to the shore. From their position high on the rock the others were able to see his head moving among the densely packed crowd below. Then Dafny himself was visible as he came to the beach and was helped into a canoe. They also saw the canoe reach the side of the ship swinging at anchor a mile offshore, and watched the injured seaman being helped over the rail.