Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present dayLanaghan, Mrs.
History
Antigua and the Antiguans, Volume 1 (of 2): A full account of the colony and its inhabitants from the time of the Caribs to the present day
Lanaghan, Mrs.
Antigua -- Description and travel; Antigua -- History
It certainly appears rather extraordinary that Colonel Warner
should have stood his trial for this massacre of the Indians,
when we find, that for more than fifty years after this
occurrence, the Caribs were still hunted and destroyed as so many
reptiles; but Indian Warner was one who ranked rather high in the
opinion of Lord William Willoughby, and probably that nobleman
felt incensed at his death. Many are the opinions of writers upon
this subject. While some look upon Colonel Warner as the
unjustified murderer of his half-brother; others are led to
palliate the circumstances on the plea of Indian Warner being the
chief actor in those cruel Carib attacks, which were generally
made upon unarmed Englishmen, or their defenceless wives and
children.
Dampier, one of the greatest navigators among the Buccaneers,
(before that name had acquired a dread from the lawless and
bloody deeds its chieftains committed,) visited Antigua about the
period of Indian Warner’s death; and in his history of his
voyages he has the following passage:—“About this time (1674) the
Caribbees had done some spoil on our English plantations at
Antego, and therefore Governor Warner’s son by his wife took a
party of men, and went to suppress these Indians, and came to the
place where his brother _Indian_ Warner lived. Great seeming joy
there was at their meeting, but how far real the event shewed;
for the _English_ Warner, providing plenty of liquor, and
inviting his half-brother to be merry with him, in the midst of
his entertainment, ordered his men, upon a signal given, to
murder him and all his Indians, which was accordingly performed.
The reason of this inhuman action is diversely reported. Some say
that this Indian Warner committed all the spoil that was done to
the English, and for that reason his brother killed him and his
men. Others, that he was a great friend to the English, and would
not suffer his men to hurt them, but did all that lay in his
power to draw them to an amicable commerce; and that his brother
killed him because he was ashamed to be related to an Indian.
But, be it how it may, he was called in question for the murder,
and forced to come home, and take his trial in England. Such
perfidious doings as these, besides the baseness of them, are
great hindrances of our gaining interest among the Indians.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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