Voyages in the Northern Pacific/Chapter XI
CHAPTER XI.
About the middle of May, the Columbia took a cargo to Owhyhee. Captain Jennings went in her to give her up to the King, leaving me to take care of the wood while he was Owhyhee. Several American ships called here from the coast of Chili, bound to Canton, in which most of our crew got off; at this time a a canoe arrived from Owhyhee, with an account of a large fighting ship having come to Owhyhee full of men, but of what country they could not tell. A few days after May 20th, 1818, one of the King's vessels made her appearance from that island, and informed us that a patriot ship, called the Santa Rosa, had arrived from the coast of Peru, under the command of Captain Turner, from whom Tameameah had purchased the ship and cargo, for 6000 piculs of sandal wood. It struck me very forcibly, that she must be some ship with which the crew had run away, or they could not afford to sell her for 6000 piculs, as she had a very valuable cargo of dry goods on board, and a great deal of money, which was, however, shared among the crew. The people were on shore after they had made their bargain, and three of them came down to Woahoo in the King's vessel. I got into conversation with one of them, who was half intoxicated, and after inquiring into the particulars of their cruise, I asked him what they had done with their former Captain? By this question he was thrown off his guard, and answered, that he had been sent on shore with thirteen others, at Valparaiso. When I learned this, I went to the chief, named Bokee, and made him acquainted with the circumstance; he had them immediately brought to the fort, where an examination took place, in the course of which it came out, that the ship, Santa Rosa, alias Checka Boca, alias Liberty, had been fitted out at the River Plate, under the command of Captain Turner, and had sailed round Cape Horn, to cruise against the Spaniards in the North and South Pacific; on going round the Horn there were some symptons of mutiny: the men would not allow punishment to be inflicted, and Captain Turner threatened hard that he would punish them severely, when the ship arrived at Valparaiso. When they had fine weather they were in the habit of exercising the guns, and on Sunday, the 27th of July, 1817, having thus secured them, the man at the mast-head, called out 'A sail, ho!' the people ran to their quarters, and one of the officers went aloft with the glass to look for the vessel; when the crew loaded the guns, and turned them aft, at the same time seizing the captain and officers, and crying out Liberty! Captain Turner was standing on the companion with a spy glass in his hand, when a man of the name of Griffiths, took him by the legs and threw him off. The first lieutenant, Mr. Goran, was in the cabin getting his pistols, when he heard the noise on deck, and found the ship in possession of the mutineers; he fired his pistols up the companion by which one man was wounded. The captain called out to him to blow the ship up; to prevent which, the sailors broke the sky-light, and got down and secured him. All the officers were then confined in irons in the forecastle, and a master's mate, named McDonald, took command of the vessel. When they got off Valparaiso, they sent the captain and officers on shore, (excepting Mr. Prockley, the master, whom they kept to navigate the ship). They then ran to the island of Juan Fernandes to water, and stood along the coast, where they captured and destroyed many Spanish vessels. Their next run was to the Galipagos Islands to refit, where a second mutiny was sent on foot, but discovered. They sent the principals on shore, one of whom was drowned in landing. Here Mr. Prockley, the master, left them, and went off in an English whale ship. Mr. McDonald then assumed the name of Turner, took the command, and appointed officers.
When the ship was fitted and watered, they again ran in for the shore, where they took towns, destroyed vessels, robbed and burnt churches; in short, they became the terror of the coast. They sent a party of forty men, under the command of Griffiths, who was the first lieutenant, to go into a port, and cut out some vessels, of which they had information; but, when this party were out of sight of the ship, it was agreed by those who remained on board, to steer her to the Sandwich Islands and sell her which they accordingly did. Upon our obtaining this information of the Santa Rosa, we sent an account of it to Tameameah, who gave orders for the men to be distributed among the chiefs, each to have a certain number under his charge to be answerable for; shortly after this, the party who had been away under the command of Mr. Griffiths, arrived at Owhyhee in a small brig, which they had captured. They were outrageous at finding the ship in possession of the king, and wanted him to give her up, offering him the brig and all her cargo in exchange; but he refused to do so, saying, they were robbers, and he would hold the ship for the owners. He had her accordingly hauled close in shore, and a number of white men and natives continually on board, and the guns double shotted. Mr. McDonald made his escape on board the brig; they touched at Woahoo; I went on board, and they gave me letters for England, which I since delivered. Hence they ran to Atooai and back to Woahoo, hovering about the islands for some time in hopes of regaining their ship. In the middle of June, Captain Jennings returned from Owhyhee, leaving the King in a poor state of health; and we now only awaited the arrival of American N. W. ships (which generally call here in their passage to China), to freight our wood to Canton.