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south sea tales(南海传说)-第12部分

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year of toil。 



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     Port Adams was now three years and a half away; so he stole a canoe 

one night; hid on the islets in Manning Straits; passed through the Straits; 

and began working along the eastern coast of Ysabel; only to be captured; 

two…thirds of the way along; by the white men on Meringe Lagoon。 After a 

week;   he   escaped   from  them   and   took   to   the   bush。 There   were   no   bush 

natives on Ysabel; only salt…water men; who were all Christians。 The white 

men   put   up   a   reward   of   five…hundred   sticks   of   tobacco;   and   every   time 

Mauki ventured down to the sea to steal a canoe he was chased by the salt… 

water   men。   Four   months   of   this   passed;   when;   the   reward   having   been 

raised to a thousand sticks; he was caught and sent back to New Georgia 

and the road…building gang。 Now a thousand sticks are worth fifty dollars; 

and Mauki had to pay the reward himself; which required a year and eight 

months' labor。 So Port Adams was now five years away。 

     His homesickness was greater than ever; and it did not appeal to him to 

settle down and be good; work out his four years; and go home。 The next 

time; he was caught in the very act of running away。 His case was brought 

before Mr。 Haveby; the island manager of the Moongleam Soap Company; 

who adjudged him an incorrigible。             The Company had plantations on the 

Santa Cruz Islands; hundreds of miles across the sea; and there it sent its 

Solomon       Islands'   incorrigibles。    And    there  Mauki     was    sent;  though    he 

never arrived。 The schooner stopped at Santa Anna; and in the night Mauki 

swam   ashore;   where   he   stole   two   rifles   and   a   case   of   tobacco   from   the 

trader and got away in a canoe to Cristoval。 Malaita was now to the north; 

fifty   or   sixty   miles   away。   But   when   he   attempted   the   passage;   he   was 

caught   by   a   light   gale   and   driven   back   to   Santa Anna;   where   the   trader 

clapped him in irons and held him against the return of the schooner from 

Santa Cruz。       The two rifles the trader recovered; but the case of tobacco 

was charged up to Mauki at the rate of another year。 The sum of years he 

now owed the Company was six。 

     On   the   way   back   to   New   Georgia;   the   schooner   dropped   anchor   in 

Marau   Sound;   which   lies   at   the   southeastern   extremity   of   Guadalcanar。 

Mauki swam ashore with handcuffs on his wrists and got away to the bush。 

The     schooner     went    on;  but   the   Moongleam        trader   ashore    offered    a 

thousand   sticks;   and   to   him   Mauki   was   brought   by   the   bushmen   with   a 



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year   and   eight   months   tacked   on   to   his   account。 Again;   and   before   the 

schooner called in; he got away; this time in a whale boat accompanied by 

a case of the trader's tobacco。 But a northwest gale wrecked him upon Ugi; 

where the Christian natives stole his tobacco and turned him over to the 

Moongleam trader who resided there。 The tobacco the natives stole meant 

another year for him; and the tale was now eight years and a half。 

     〃We'll send him  to Lord Howe;〃   said Mr。 Haveby。  〃Bunster is   there; 

and we'll let them settle it between them。 It will be a case; I imagine; of 

Mauki   getting   Bunster;   or   Bunster   getting   Mauki;   and   good   riddance   in 

either event。〃 

     If   one   leaves   Meringe   Lagoon;   on   Ysabel;   and   steers   a   course   due 

north; magnetic; at the end of one hundred and fifty miles he will lift the 

pounded coral beaches of Lord Howe above the sea。                    Lord Howe is a ring 

of    land   some    one   hundred     and    fifty  miles   in   circumference;      several 

hundred yards wide at its widest; and towering in places to a height of ten 

feet above sea level。        Inside this ring of sand is a mighty lagoon studded 

with     coral    patches。    Lord    Howe      belongs     to   the   Solomons       neither 

geographically  nor   ethnologically。   It   is   an   atoll;   while   the   Solomons   are 

high    islands;    and   its  people    and   language     are   Polynesian;     while    the 

inhabitants of the Solomons are Melanesian。 

     Lord     Howe     has   been   populated     by   the  westward      Polynesian     drift 

which continues to this day; big outrigger canoes being washed upon its 

beaches   by   the   southeast   trade。   That   there   has   been   a   slight   Melanesian 

drift in the period of the northwest monsoon; is also evident。 

     Nobody ever comes to Lord Howe; or Ontong…Java as it is sometimes 

called。 Thomas Cook & Son do not sell tickets to it; and tourists do not 

dream   of   its   existence。   Not   even   a   white   missionary   has   landed   on   its 

shore。 Its five thousand natives are as peaceable as they are primitive。 Yet 

they were not always peaceable。 The Sailing Directions speak of them as 

hostile and treacherous。 But the men who compile the Sailing Directions 

have   never   heard   of   the   change   that   was   worked   in   the   hearts   of   the 

inhabitants;   who;   not   many   years   ago;   cut   off   a   big   bark   and   killed   all 

hands   with   the   exception   of   the   second   mate。   The   survivor   carried   the 

news to his brothers。 The captains of three trading schooners returned with 



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him   to   Lord   Howe。   They   sailed   their   vessels   right   into   the   lagoon   and 

proceeded to preach the white man's gospel that only white men shall kill 

white men and that the lesser breeds must keep hands off。 The schooners 

sailed   up   and   down   the   lagoon;   harrying   and   destroying。   There   was   no 

escape from the narrow sand…circle; no bush to which to flee。                    The men 

were   shot   down   at   sight;   and   there   was   no   avoiding   being   sighted。   The 

villages   were   burned;   the   canoes   smashed;   the   chickens   and   pigs   killed; 

and the precious cocoanut trees chopped down。 For a month this continued; 

when the   schooner sailed away;   but   the fear   of the white   man   had   been 

seared   into   the   souls   of   the   islanders   and   never   again   were   they   rash 

enough to harm one。 

     Max Bunster was the one white man on Lord Howe; trading in the pay 

of the ubiquitous Moongleam Soap Company。 And the Company billeted 

him on Lord Howe; because; next to getting rid of him; it was the most 

out…of…the…way place to be found。 That the Company did not get rid of him 

was due to the difficulty of finding another man to take his place。 He was 

a strapping big German; with something wrong in his brain。 Semi…madness 

would   be   a   charitable   statement   of   his   condition。   He   was   a   bully   and   a 

coward; and a thrice…bigger savage than any savage on the island。 

     Being a coward; his brutality was of the cowardly order。 When he first 

went   into   the   Company's   employ;   he   was   stationed   on   Savo。       When   a 

consumptive colonial was sent to take his place; he beat him up with his 

fists and sent him off a wreck in the schooner that brought him。 

     Mr。 Haveby next selected a young Yorkshire giant to relieve Bunster。 

The Yorkshire man had a reputation as a bruiser and preferred fighting to 

eating。   But   Bunster   wouldn't   fight。   He   was   a   regular   little   lambfor   ten 

days;   at   the   end   of   which   time   the   Yorkshire   man   was   prostrated   by   a 

combined       attack   of  dysentery    and    fever。  Then    Bunster    went    for  him; 

among other things getting him down and jumping on him a score or so of 

times。 Afraid of what would happen when his victim recovered。 Bunster 

fled away in a cutter to Guvutu; where he signalized himself by beating up 

a young Englishman already crippled by a Boer bullet through both hips。 

     Then it was that Mr。 Haveby sent Bunster to Lord Howe; the falling… 

off place。 He celebrated his landing by mopping up half a case of gin and 



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by   thrashing   the   elderly   and   wheezy   mate   of   the   schooner   which   had 

brought him。 When the schooner departed; he called the kanakas down to 

the    beach    and   challenged     them    to  throw    him    in  a  wrestling     bout; 

promising a case of tobacco to the one who succeeded。 Three kanakas he 

th
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