A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board the Ship Globe, of Nantucket, in the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 1824: And the journal of a residence of two years on the Mulgrave; Islands; with observations on the manners and customs of; the inhabitantsLay, William
History
A Narrative of the Mutiny, on Board the Ship Globe, of Nantucket, in the Pacific Ocean, Jan. 1824: And the journal of a residence of two years on the Mulgrave; Islands; with observations on the manners and customs of; the inhabitants
Lay, William
Globe Mutiny, 1824; Mili Atoll (Marshall Islands)
About six months after the massacre of my shipmates, the brother of
the native in whose possession I was, came to the Island, and informed
us that a ship had been seen to pass a day or two before, and that it
caused great disturbance among the chiefs--that they thought it was
the ship that left the Islands, (the Globe,) and that she was in
search of us. My old master immediately prepared his canoe to visit
the chiefs, and he wanted also to inquire of me what I thought
respecting the ship. We loaded our canoe and made sail for Milly,
where the chiefs were. We arrived at night, and found a great number
of natives collected on the beach, to see if we had any fish. We
hauled up our canoe for the night, and the natives began to question
me about the ship.--I told them I did not know, concluding it would be
good policy to say but little on the subject. The natives crowded
round me in great numbers; and I did not see Lay till he came to me. I
inquired of him what he had seen, and he informed me that there had
been a ship in sight about half an hour before sun set, and that she
was near enough for him to see them take in their fore and mizen top
gallant sails, but could give no definite account of her, as she was
soon out of sight. We were not allowed to be together long; and I went
to rest as usual, but could not sleep.--"Hope springs eternal in the
human breast"--and hope that the ship which had been seen had come to
deliver us from savages and transport us to our native country and
dear friends, had an influence on my feelings more powerful than
sleep, and imagination was busy through the night in picturing scenes
of future happiness.
But the prospect of our being released from our unpleasant situation
was not very flattering. Early next morning I asked and obtained
permission from my master, to pay a visit to Lay, before passing round
to the opposite side of the Island. Accompanied by my master's son and
several others, I went to the hut where Lay lived, and we had the
pleasure of another interview; but it was of short duration, for we
were not allowed to be together more than a quarter of an hour. I
returned to my master's canoe, and there continued till the middle of
the day; we then launched and set sail for _Tabanawort_, where we
arrived the fore part of the night.--Early next morning we prepared
for a fishing cruise, had pretty good success, and returned just
before night, made a fire, cooked some fish, and ate a delicious
supper.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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