Unscrupulous recruiters of labour for the plantations had inflicted so much trickery and violence on the natives, and so much success had been gained by the savages in their acts of retaliation in treachery and murder, that in 1874 no less than twelve labour-recruiting vessels returned to Levuka from the New Hebrides with their crews reduced by attacks made by the natives.
3.
Malaria having got a firm hold on Francis Cobbold, he visited the only chemist in Levuka, a Mr Thomas Parker, who advised him to take a long sea voyage during which he should not land at any malaria island.
Messrs Unwin and Nieman were both enterprising men who owned, beside the Albion Hotel, a plantation on the island of Taveuni. It so happened that they were fitting out a 20-ton ketch, the Trent, which they were despatching to the Gilbert Islands - a thousand miles or more north of the Fijis - to engage in trade and to recruit labour for their plantations. An interview with them secured an agreement on terms whereby Cobbold was to sail with Captain Bruce in no particular capacity.
Captain Bruce was a little old Scotchman and one of the finest navigators who ever sailed the Pacific. He plotted his course with unfailing accuracy with the assistance of only a sextant and a chronometer, and throughout the voyage on which Cobbold sailed with him he never proved to be out of his reckoning when drunk or sober. Like so many of his class and time, he was a hard and persistent drinker.
It should be remembered that it was a drinking age, before tea became popular; an age which had begun with the Georges and at this time had not yet ended with Victoria. Proper allowance should be made for the early white Fijians such as Bruce, Bartlett and Wetherall - and many others who Cobbold met during these years. All kinds of spirits were both cheap and plentiful. Life was extremely uncertain and death always lurked round the corner. Malaria and ague were fevers easily contracted and difficult to banish, and the hard spirit drinkers appear to have been better able to withstand these fevers than did those who were more moderate.
The mate of the Trent was of German nationality and as good a sailor as Bruce. He was superior, however, in that he was sober and upright in his dealings. In addition to the Cockney cook, the crew comprised Kanakas - young Melanesian boys. There was one other passenger in addition to Francis - a gentleman named Clark, who was determined to reduce his addition to alcohol by going native on one of the islands at which the Trent would call. Drunk, he was a squalid beast; sober, he was a refined, likeable fellow.
Their first port of call was Wairiki on the Island of Taveuni, where Captain Bruce managed to exchange two casks of beef for two cases of rum. He then proceeded to enjoy himself, with Clark to keep him company, and until the rum was consumed the Mate took the Captain's place while Cobbold acted as Mate. One might have thought that the consumption of two cases of rum at one sitting would be sufficient to ensure the Captain's retirement from this world, but long before the ship reached the southernmost of the Gilbert group he was as chirpy as usual.
Arurai, or Hurd Island, is formed of coral and sand, with no harbours and no anchorage like those to be found at the island further north, and for nine or ten days the Trent lay on and off beating up against the mild trade wind and set of the current. To land was a difficult and dangerous undertaking because of the tremendous surf always beating against the reef.
The natives were particularly skilful at bringing their canoes through the reef surf which, though probably not too dangerous for themselves since they were such expert swimmers, nonetheless could easily have caused the destruction of their craft. Being an old man, they especially favoured Captain Bruce by taking him ashore in a canoe several times, but if any other member of the crew wished to go ashore he had to be content to go as far as the reef in the ship's boat and swim through the surf to the land.
Francis Cobbold tried it - once. He would have fared badly but for the Kanakas with him in the water. The mate, being unable to swim, remained on board the ship but Clark, liking the look of the place, decided that it was his spiritual home. He was landed with his few belongings to work out his destiny - which ultimately proved not to be to his liking.
Sailing north from Hurd Island they passed Rotcher Island away to starboard, and eventually sighted Byron Island - named after a sailor who had either deserted his ship there or who had been marooned for bad conduct. The place had an evil reputation, created no doubt by its overlord, Byron Bill, who came off to meet the Trent in a native-built whale boat manned by eight native paddlers. A man of conspicuous, if wild, appearance, he came to meet the visiting ship as should a gentleman of the South Sea - accompanied by a dozen native canoes each with two to six paddlers. Whale boat and canoes skimmed over the crests of the green water mountains and cut down through the valleys, the paddlers working madly and urged to even greater efforts by Byron Bill standing at the great steering oar, a huge semi-naked man whose unkempt hair and beard were whipped by the breeze. He was a man not easily forgotten.
The island fleet surrounded the Trent with vociferous welcome in what appeared a friendly manner. Captain Bruce, however, would have none of them. He had not been sailing those seas for several years to remain unsophisticated; he had heard reports of Byron Bill and his 'subjects' which, true or not, did not encourage trust. The canoe crews began throwing their grapnels on board, while Byron Bill in his whaleboat metaphorically expressed concern for the Captain's health. Acting on orders, the crew of the Trent severed the grapnel lines with hatchets as soon as they were heaved on board. Despite the apparent welcome, it was more than likely that the intention was to drag the ship on to the reef, where the crew would be murdered and the ship quickly broken up by the sea leaving no trace - after her stores had been transferred to Byron Bill's camp. Byron Bill must have been a picturesque ruffian, and one who was not likely to die peacefully in his bed.
The next call the Trent made was at the island of Beru, re- named Francis Island, where Bruce bartered for a score of flying fish and a quantity of coconuts. Trade was done in the open sea as there is no harbour, and when the island was left astern the Trent bore away on a north-west course for Drummond Island, which differs in formation from those at the southern extremity of the group. Narrow and curved like a horseshoe, its enclosed lagoon is well protected by a reef in which there are only one or two passages large enough to pass a ship into a splendid anchorage.
The week spent at Drummond Island was occupied chiefly in paying and receiving visits to and from the crews of the Yankee whaler and the Sydney trader. Francis Cobbold saw that the Gilbert Islanders were different from those of the Fiji Archipelago. Their black hair was long and straight, whereas that of the Fijian is crinkly and fuzzed into a mop. They were also of lighter build and colour, handsome, well-shaped and well-built fellows.
Many of them were suffering from the unsightly disease known as 'scaley', due to lack of oil in the epidermis, which caused the skin to peel and fall off in minute flakes. The disease was doubtless caused by their diet, for they appeared to subsist only on fish and coconuts, the fish being caught at night when the canoes would go out into the open sea with flares to attract the flying fish.
These Drummond Islanders were a likeable people. Cobbold got on well with the young men, and vied with them in their diving exploits. Naturally they were more expert than he was in the water, but it is worth noting that he could reach greater depths than they could. To establish superiority in one branch at least of aquatic sport, Cobbold would amuse them and himself by going down the anchor chain hand over hand until he could touch it. His white body flashing in the translucent water was keenly watched by his dusky admirers on deck until one day, when half way down, a swift passing shadow sent him quickly to the surface thinking he had seen a shark. The watchers stated that it had not been a shark but an immense swordfish estimated to be at least twenty feet in length.
At Drummond Island, twelve men were