Blackbirding On The Rona
In May 1866 Hayes acquired the brig Rona and operated in the Pacific with bases in Apia, Samoa, and in Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Hayes became notorious in the Pacific because of his activities as a Blackbirder; engaged in recruiting Pacific islanders to provide labour for the plantations of Tahiti, Fiji, Samoa and Australia. While there was some voluntary recruitment of Pacific islanders, the activities of blackbirders predominantly involved kidnapping, coercion and tricks to entice islanders onto Blackbirding ships, on which they were held prisoner until delivered to their destination.
Hayes made money blackbirding and purchased the brigantine Samoa. By coincidence Hayes lost both ships off Manihiki, Cook Islands in March 1869. Hayes then purchased the schooner Atlantic, although soon after he was arrested in February 1870 by the Consul Williams in Apia on charges related to his blackbirding activities. Hayes escaped from Samoa on 1 April 1870 on the ship of Ben Pease, the American Blackbirder.
The account of adventures of Hayes and Pease provided by James A. Michener & A. Grove Day Hayes is different in detail to that provided by Alfred Restieaux, an island trader who had dealings with both Hayes and Pease. What is consistent between the accounts is that Hayes and Pease proceeded on a trading cruise in the Caroline Islands and the Marshall Islands in the 250-ton brig Pioneer. According to Alfred Restieaux, Hayes and Pease argued over the ownership of the cargo; Hayes claimed the cargo was his and that Pease was merely carrying it as freight, while Pease claimed a half share in the cargo. Restieaux's account is that Hayes sold the cargo in Shanghai; with Restieaux recounting two stories that he had been told about Pease's death: the first was that he drowned after jumping overboard from a Spanish Man-of-War, the second was that he was killed in a fight in the Bonin Islands. What happened to Hayes is uncertain. In any event when the Pioneer arrived back in Apia Hayes was in sole command with his explanation for this change in command being that Ben Pease had sold the ship to Hayes and had retired to China – an explanation that many doubted but would not or could not challenge. On his return to Apia, Hayes appears to have bribed his way out of the charges he faced.
Hayes renamed the ship the Leonora, (the name of his favourite daughter), painting her white in an effort to change her reputation from being the ‘black’ ship of the blackbirding trade. Hayes continued to trade in coconut oil, copra and in the lucrative blackbirding trade. Hayes is eventually arrested by Captain Richard Meade of the USS Narragansett on 19 February 1872 but was released as Captain Richard Meade did not find witnesses or proof that warranted the continued arrest of Hayes. Hayes’s reputation meant that no crew members would give evidence against him.
Read more about this topic: Bully Hayes