Smoke and Mirrors

As the steamship approached the island the native canoes came and surrounded the steamship. Calico, mirrors, beads and knives were presented to the Goaribarians. Administrator Robinson invited them aboard to touch these white man’s gifts. He cleverly allayed the native’s fears, as they so wanted what white man had to offer, especially the knives. The moment the cannibals boarded the steamship, the informant fingered Chalmers’ and Tomkins’ killers. The score was about to be settled – all hell broke loose.

Realising they had been tricked the cannibals in the canoes loaded their arrows and fired on the boat. Administrator Robinson and his police fired volley after volley on the tribe. That day eight more cannibals were slaughtered. Egged on by Robinson, the native police felt riastarte! Wholesale slaughter ensued, that one European witness described to the later tribunal in Brisbane as, “Naked, cold-blooded and cowardly work,” from Robinson and his men.

As for Robinson, he had penned in his diary of the Goaribarians that, “It is custom among them for the mothers to devour their young children when they die. For such inhuman creatures one cannot but have a feeling of intense loathing and it would seem hopeless to expect much good from people so abandoned.”

Eight islanders were killed that day with no casualties on board the Merrie England.

Image via Wikipedia

The Last Straw

Word of the massacre spread quickly. The Queensland Governor blew his top when he heard of it. Le Hunte’s arrogance had irked the betters in Australia but the second foray caused public outrage in Australia. Justice Robinson was dismissed and summoned to Brisbane for cross-examination. He was never to arrive.

Acting Administrator and Chief Judicial Officer Christopher Robinson walked out into the verdant gardens of Government House in Port Moresby in the wee small hours of June 20th, 1904, put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger under the Union Jack and the Australian flags. He was 32 years old.

Christopher Robinson Memorial – Samarai Island – Milne Bay Province, PNG.

All that remains of the memory of the young Robinson stands as a two meter high obelisk memorial on the tiny island of Samarai, on the very Eastern tip of Papua New Guinea’s Milne Bay Province. Raised by Europeans, shortly after the death of this young administrator, the plinth has survived two world wars and post colonial decay. Inscribed upon it is a memoriam with a poem. This masks the sad story and is a paradoxical reminder to European involvement in this turbulent land.

The Christopher Robinson Memorial (Sketch Author)

It reads (as numbered on the above illustration)

1. “He was an able governor, upright man and honest judge. His aim was to make New Guinea a good place for white men. He was as well meaning as he was unfortunate and as kindly as he was courageous.”

2. At the bottom of the plinth a poem is chiseled: -

“Life’s mostly froth and bubble,

Two things stand like stone,

Comfort in another’s trouble,

Courage in your own.”

Administrator Le Hunte has an avenue named after him in Port Moresby, Le Hunte Rd.

Sources:

Souter, G. (1965). New Guinea: The Last Unknown. Angus and  Robertson, Sydney p. 90.

Lipscomb, A., McKinnon, R. & Murray, J (eds). (1998). Lonely Planet. Papua New Guinea. Lonely Planet Pub. Pty Ltd. Melbourne p. 159 

Another Niugini Tale from this author

http://socyberty.com/history/the-most-ravishing-women-of-all-time-six-queen-emma-of-the-south-seas/