You will observe that the commerce of the islands is but nominal; that
American whalers more frequently enter Port Lloyd than the vessels of any
other nationality, and that the entire population is but sixty-nine, of whom
but four are classed as white persons. According to the report it appears
that probably the first resident of those islands was an American citizen, a
native of Massachusetts, named Nathaniel Savory, who settled at Port Lloyd
in 1830, and who died last year at that place, leaving a widow and six
children. Before the dwelling of this family Mr. Robertson, on the day of
his arrival, found the American flag floating from a staff, and states that,
upon inquiry made by him whether the flag was intended to signify that the
family considered themselves under American protection, he was answered in
the negative, and that it was displayed on the arrival of vessels, &c.,
in compliance with the request made by Mr. Savory at the time of his
death.
From the report it appears that Benjamin Pease, hitherto considered an
American citizen, is dead, probably murdered; that his property is not of
great value, and that his nationality is now questioned.
Upon the information furnished I consider that it is not needful at present
to inquire further for American citizens or American interests in the Bonin
Islands.
[Inclosure in inclosure in No.
312.]
Dispatch from Mr. Robertson to Sir Marry S. Parkes
concerning the Bonin Islands.
British
Consulate,
Kanagawa
,
December 23,
1875.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge receipt of
dispatch No. 66, of the 15th ultimo, addressed to me by Mr. Plunkett in
your absence, covering copy of a communication from the United States
minister, requesting that my visit to the Bonin Islands might be availed
of to obtain information on certain points set forth in the
communication above referred to, and I have now the honor to submit, for
the information of the United States minister, the following
particulars:
First, in respect to the rumored death of Benjamin Pease, an American
citizen:
Pease was last seen alive on the morning of the 9th of October, 1874,
when he left his dwelling alone at 3 a.m. in a canoe to go around to
visit Webb, an Englishman, whose holding is about 2½ miles distant by
water from Pease’s dwelling. Pease never reached Webb’s house, and two
days afterward his canoe was found close to the rocks, bottom up, and
much damaged. Suspicion points somewhat strongly to a man named Spenser
as either the actual murderer or instigator of the deed. I am assuming,
of course, that Pease has been murdered; that he is dead there seems to
be but little doubt among the settlers at the Bonins. The man Spenser (a
negro) was brought to Port Lloyd (Bonins) by Pease in 1873, on returning
from a visit to the island of Ascension, better known, perhaps, as
Panape, situated in latitude 7° north, longitude 158° 15ʹ east. Spenser
took up his residence with Pease and Mrs. Pease, (so called.) Mrs.
Pease, I may here mention, is the daughter of an Englishman, George
Robinson, by a woman a native of Guam. Her sister is married to Webb,
and both women still reside at Port Lloyd. From all I could learn Pease
suspected Spenser of a liason with his wife; this suspicion led to an
open quarrel, and Spenser left Pease’s house. This occurred in
September, 1874. On the 27th of September Webb remembers Pease coming to
his house with a loaded rifle, saying he was “after that d–—d ruffian,”
meaning Spenser, who was supposed then to have sought shelter with Webb.
I am here led to remark that Webb himself, from his own showing, was by
no means on good terms with Pease. The latter had, in the year 1869,
induced him to leave Port Lloyd for Ascension, where promises of
lucrative employment had been held out by Pease. These promises were
never fulfilled, and Webb eventually returned to Port Lloyd to find
himself dispossessed of his holding and reduced to great straits, the
results, as he alleges, of Pease’s delusive promises.
On the 11th of June of this year, 1875, Spenser, strange to say, also
disappeared under circumstances as inexplicable as those in connection
with Pease. He started from Webb’s place in his canoe, on the
above-mentioned date, to look for turtle, and was never seen again. The
canoe was found two days afterward splashed with blood, and in the canoe
was the coat Spenser had been wearing, torn across the back, apparently
with a turtle-hook, and stained here and there with blood. Some faint
light is thrown on this man’s disappearance by the statement of a man
named Robert Myres, a native of Bermuda, and now residing at Port Lloyd.
He informed me that the canoe used by Spenser belonged to him, Myres,
and was only loaned to Spenser, and that some months ago when one of the
settlers was using it the canoe was chased by another canoe, having on
board two or three of a family of Kingsmill Islanders, the Tewcrabs by
name, also residents at Port Lloyd. The occupant of Myres’s canoe shot
his boat up a creek and behind some rocks, the other canoe passed by,
and one of the men in her was heard to say, “We came d–—d near catching
him then.” Myres, in explanation of this, said that his life had been
threatened more than once by a young fellow named Savory, born on the
islands, the son of an American, Savory by name, one of the earliest
settlers, by a woman a native of Guam now living at Port Lloyd. Young
Savory and Myres had cast their eyes on the same woman, a Japanese, who
elected to live with Myres, and hence the cause of offense to Savory.
Myres thinks that on the occasion just quoted some of the Tewcrabs,
instigated by Savory, pursued his canoe under the impression that he was
in it, and that he was the man meant as to whom it was said they came so
near catching. At a later date Spenser is using Myres’ canoe, and
disappears under the horribly mysterious circumstances as above
stated.
I met and conversed with young Savory (Horace Savory) several times
during the Curlew’s stay at Port Lloyd, and sounded him as to any cause
of quarrel with Myres. He denied that there was any grounds of quarrel,
and said that Myres was apprehensive of danger where no danger really
existed. Savory, a youth of about 22, is not of prepossessing
appearance, but, apart from that, I found him exceedingly civil and
obliging. He acted as guide on the islands to Captain Church and myself
on more than one occasion, and his home, where he lives with his mother
and five brothers and sisters, is a pattern of cleanliness and decency.
I questioned Pease’s widow in respect to his disappearance, but all my
questions were answered by monosyllables, accompanied by a silly laugh.
The woman had a baby at her breast, born but a few weeks [Page 356] prior to our visit, and of which, judged
by the date of Pease’s disappearance, he cannot have been the father. It
is currently reported on the island that Spenser was the father of the
child.
To all my inquiries about Pease’s general conduct and character, I
received but one reply. He appears to have made himself very obnoxious
to the settlers, threatening to dispossess them, and generally assuming
a tone of authority over them. No one seems to regret his loss, nor does
one hear a single compassionate remark about him.
I think it right to state that doubt is thrown on Pease’s claim to have
been considered as an American citizen, and that if the proofs could be
got at it would, probably, be found that he was a British subject. As
regards any property left by him, there is the dwelling-house and
garden, situated on a location known as Aki, at Port Lloyd. This
property was purchased by Pease from a Frenchman named Leseur, now on
the island, for the sum of $80, and nobody at Port Lloyd would dispute a
claim to this put forward on behalf of Pease’s estate. The Japanese
government, however, assuming that they assert and make good their claim
to the Bonins, may have something to say on the subject of Leseur’s
right to sell the property. There are also on the premises nineteen head
of cattle, in excellent condition. Nobody asserts a claim to these as
against Pease, but it is generally believed that they are, or were,
really the property of a company in Shanghai, known as the Pacific
Trading Company, and which, probably, does not now exist. The cattle
were brought originally to Port Lloyd by Pease, or by a man named Hayes,
much associated with him, in 1871, in a brig, the Pioneer, from String’s
Island, one of the Carolina group, and rumor has it that the cattle were
stolen by either Pease or Hayes.
This is all I have to note on Pease’s disappearance and of his estate. I
pass to the next subject on which information is requested.
The trade of the islands may be summed up in this: Each settler
cultivates a small garden-patch in which he raises taro, sweet potatoes,
pumpkins, and other garden-vegetables; he occupies himself, also, in
turtling and fishing.
The harbor of Port Lloyd may be said to be visited only by whalers; a
year, perhaps, passing with only one whaler touching at the port. The
settlers trade off their garden produce, turtle-shell, turtle-oil, and
domestic poultry, which last mentioned thrive on the island, to the
crews of the whalers against anything they can get, such as cutlery,
hardware, drills or clothing material of any kind, tobacco, and ships’
stores generally.
The settlers prefer a system of barter, but are willing to accept Mexican
dollars, in which case the rates for produce are notably as follows:
turtle, each $2; turtle-shell, 50 cents per pound; lemons, (largely
grown,) $2 per hundred; turtle-oil, $10, $15, and $20 per barrel.
Garden-produce is almost invariably bartered. Timber is also sold; the
best kinds cut and delivered on board at 25 cents per foot.
The whalers visiting the port carry either American, Hawaiian, or French
colors, and in rare instances English; but for the most part the whalers
are American. I make the total population to be sixty-nine, namely:
sixty-six at Port Lloyd, and three on Hillsboro’ Island, one of the
Bailey or Coffin group. Of the population there are only four pure
whites now residing there, viz, Thomas Webb, a British subject, who
arrived in 1849; Lewis Leseur, a French citizen, who made his first
appearance at Port Lloyd in 1852, but did not settle there till some
years later; William Allen, a German subject, who arrived in 1852; and
Rose, of whom it is doubtful whether he is of Dutch or German
nationality, who is settled on Hillsboro’ Island, Bailey group; the date
of his arrival is uncertain, but it must have been subsequent to 1861.
There is also at Port Lloyd a Portuguese (so called) named Gonzalves,
but who goes by the name of Bravo. I can scarcely class him among the
pure whites, for his appearance indicates that he has negro blood in his
veins. He arrived on the island as far back as 1831.
One of the oldest, if not indeed the oldest, residents died at Port Lloyd
last year. This was Nathaniel Savory, born in Massachusetts, United
States, who settled at Port Lloyd in 1830. He has left a family of six
children, who, with their mother, reside at Port Lloyd, on a clearing at
the head of the harbor. The eldest son is a young fellow of some 22 or
23 years of age. Close to the dwelling is an outhouse immediately facing
the anchorage, and in front of this the American flag was displayed from
a staff on the day of our arrival in the Curlew. On visiting the
dwelling, I asked Mrs. Savory if the hoisting of the flag was intended
to convey that the family considered themselves under American
protection. She answered in the negative, merely saying that it had been
the dying wish of the late Mr. Savory that the flag should be flown on
the arrival of a vessel or on any gala day. I invited her confidence and
that of her family as to any wishes she might have on the subject of
nationality or protection by reason of her alliance with Savory, but she
said that, in common with her children and the settlers generally, they
had no other wish than to be regarded as Bonin Islanders, and to be
protected in their rights of property on the island. It is but right I
should mention that Mrs. Savory had lived as the companion of two other
men, at different times, prior to her becoming the companion of Savory.
It is questionable, therefore, how far this family, even if they so
desired, may be entitled to American protection, and [Page 357] any other claims to American citizenship
by the settlers would be of the same shadowy nature.
In respect to Japanese, there are at present only two on the islands,
both residing at Port Lloyd, one as a companion to a Manila man named
Sino, the other as companion to a British subject, a native of Bermuda,
Myres by name. These women went down from this some two years ago to the
Bonins in a small schooner, called the Fori, flying American colors, and
elected to remain at Port Lloyd; three or four other Japanese women, in
addition, also went on the Fori, but returned to Yokohama.
The circumstances under which Japanese commissioners established a small
colony at Port Lloyd, at the latter end of 1861, to be withdrawn early
in 1863, are probably known to the United States minister.
I think the above furnishes replies to the different points on which
information was requested.
I have, &c.,
Sir Harry S. Parkes, K. C. B., &c.
