Wednesday May 18th HMS Mohawk Australian Station Solomon Islands Cruise

In the afternoon three of our Boats manned
by Marines & Blue Jackets fully armed and
carrying a 45 Machine Gun in the Bows
of our heaviest Cutter with a plentiful
supply of ammunition, Our Captain an
officer in charge of each boat the Eng-
lish trader Mr Harvest and a missionary
which had come on board during the fore-
noon from a village along the coast,

our purpose was to claim British Protectorate
over the Island and if the natives offered an
opposition we were to force a landing, No
sooner had our boats put off from the ship
when all the natives who were round the
ship in their canoes, hurried off as fast as
they could pelt after us, when we got close
in land we found that all the men had ????
themselves up in a line along the beach to
oppose us landing, but the captain pulled
close in shore with a large palm leaf in
his hand as a sign of friendship & peace
and after a lot of palavering he landed
but the other two boats was close alongside
with their rifles at the ready with magazines
charged ready to fire in case of any ???
at last all landed except a few hands
to look after the boats and have the gun
ready for action in case of treachery or a surprise,
The Head Chief appearing on the scene
he was conducted to a place alongside of the
Captain, our party then formed up in an
half circle formation with our backs to the

boats, the natives were made to form up in
a crowd exactly in front none were allow-
ed to go either to the right or left of us, be-
tween the two parties  a hole was dug, a
bottle containing a copy of the proclamation
was placed in the hole and buried a flag
staff being erected on the same spot for the
purpose of hoisting the Union Jack, on the hole
being filled in a heap of stones was
collected round the foot of the staff, when
all was ready our Captain made a bit of a
speech through the interpreter in which
he told them that by hoisting the flag
he had placed them under the protection
of the Queen Victoria of England and that
all the War Canoes with Big Guns like us
would punish anyone them molested
them, and that he hoped they would
always keep the flag flying, The Union
Jack was then ran up, the Guard of
Honour presenting arms and a salute of
21 Guns from fired from the ship, Santa
Cruz Island was the declared annexed

and under British influence, The Captain then
made a present of a large quantity of colored
Calica & Blue Suge the different chiefs who w
were highly delighted, the natives here as at
other Islands are very much frightened with
the firing of our guns, covering up their heas
and some of them actually jumped overboard
in the water and everytime a Gun was fired
they would bob their heads under the water,
which made everyone that saw them near-
by split their side with laughter, during
the remainder of the day our ship was alive
with the natives, A big bug of a Chief came
on board with a guard of natives they had
come down from the hills, these seemed
even a wilder and more uncouth looking
than those from the coast,I can picture
no more repulsive objects than were
some of these men, let a copper coloured
savage shave his head in parts, let him
gather up such such of his crisp woolly hair
as is not cut into long frizzly tails which
will stand out like a fixed Bayonet, let

him dye some of these White and some scarlet
as his fancy may direct, let him smear his
face with soot, with scarlet and yellow
streaks across it, his body be scaly like a fish
from skin disease and yellow in parts
from the wearing or carrying of Turmeric
cloths put a thin grass mat round his loins
and a large round shell plate upon his breast
squeeze a dozen shell bangles upon the up-
per part of his arm hang a tortoise shell ring
from his nose and twenty in his ears, not
forgetting to smear his big ugly mouth with
the red juice of the Betel Nut, let him car-
ry twenty or more thick arrows highly carved
tipped with poisoned human bone, and pain-
ted red and white, with along Red Bow
and some had a highly ornamented club
and this was the sort of ruffian that
swarmed upon the Quarter Deck of the
Mohawk, there was canoes full of fine
looking young savages which seemed to
belong a to a different class altogether they
took no part in trading , but was gor-

geously arrayed in pearl Armlets and Tortoise
shell earrings and wearing elaborately fretted
Mother of pearl ?lates fastened into their nose
which partly hid the centre of their face,
there was also on board white headed
and loosely cropped old Villains, with countenance
little short demonical in their ugliness
but all seemed in a great state of excitement
I managed to get a few arrows and a white
Bow, there is something about the arrows which
is more terrible than any of our latest firearm
their colour and high ornamentations the
smooth long points of human bone which
is stuped in some deadly juice, so that the
faintest scratch will produce madness &
dath, the horrible stories which was told
about them and the dread of getting a scratch
from them made us very careful about hav-
ing any dealings with them at all but we
found out there was no harm at all,
after 48 hrs as the poison dies and that
they only steep them in the juice just be-
gore going to fight with one another near-

by every one them carried a small grass bag
hung round his loins, in which he kept his ki-
ki (food) and small native made curios, which
he bartered with, they wear very eager to buy
if they saw anything in your hand that took
their fancy, half a dozen of them would rush
in great excitement so over come that then
could hardly ever shout there faces being
something awful to look upon, they were
especially keen on our Great Coat Buttons
which they tie in a bunch and hang
them from their ears & nose, the name of
the Head Chief of the Island was Misa,
we had a great deal of trouble in
chasing them out of the ship at sunset, as we had
to do it without giving offence, but eventually
we got them all out, we then scrubbed decks
and they had left had left a rather peculiar
dour behind them.

Diary of a Royal Marine aboard HMS Mohawk Solomon Island & Santa Cruz 1898

Island Cruise

H.M.S. Mohawk

Australia Station
Solomon Islands

&
Santa Cruz Group
South West Pacific Ocean

1898

Diaries of William Cocks - Royal Marines

About HMS Mohawk

Source National Archives (Greenwich) Mohawk Logs
Type: Cruiser 1886 3rd class
Built: Clyde (J. & J. Thomson)
Dimensions: 225' 0"
Beam: 36' 0"

Tonnage: 1,770 tons
Armour: 6-6" : 8-3pdrs : 1 tube (Originally8)?

Complement: 172 men
Speed: 17 knts Horsepower 2,200 N.D, 3500F.d.

1890 Sheerness
1893 N.A. and W.I   Captain E.H.Bagly
1901 chatham
Sold 4.4.1905 Garnham

From newspaper clipping inside cover Daily Mail Special  (unknown date).

PLANTING UNION JACKS

FOURTEEN ISLANDS AND A VOL-
CANO FOR THE EMPIRE

 News by the Australia Mail tells of the arrival
at Sydney of H.M.S. Mohawk, after a wholesale
annexation cruise among the Islands of
Melanesia. so successful was the trip that any
decrease of the empire owing to the ocean's
onslaughts on the Kentish cliffs in the past years

will be simply recouped by our recent aquisitions
in the pacific.

In April last the Mohawk left Sydney under
orders t hoist the flag of England on the Santa
Cruz, the Swallow, the Reef, and other islands.
These group of islands lie 400 or 500 miles east
of the Solomons, the home of savage cannibals.

Altogether in Santa Cruz and the other islands
the Union Jack was run up on fourteen islands,
namely:-On Santa Cruz,Utupua,Tinakula, in
the Santa Cruz group; Matema, Fenuloa, Lom
Lom, Nifiloli, Bangauena, Bamga, Natapa, Pelian.
Nukapu, Nalogo, Nupani,Tocupia, in the Reef
and Swallow Group.

One of the officers of the Mohawk,
in recounting his experiences said, "During
the cruise we burnt a couple of villages
at Vella La Vella to avenge the outrage on Mr
Prat, a British subject. Commander Freeman

went ashore had a "palaver" with the chiefs.
One notable character, Belungi, was charged
with being out head-hunting, and from the evi
dence it appeared that after

CRUISNG ROUND FOR

some time in search of a white head (they prefer
the European) he came up with a canoe laden
with eight young native women, who were out 

for pleasure. He shot six and took with
him. The charge being proved, Belungi was

given until the rising of the court for the pro-

duction of the two missing girls. These he re-

fused to hand over, so was taken prisoner to
new Guinea.

"One of the most interesting features in 

connection with our cruise was the visit to
Tocupia. This island is without a history. Its
people certainly are not kanakas, woolly-haired,
or stunted in stature. The whole island, which seems

to give colour to the Darwinian idea of a sub-

merged continent in so far that the formation is

mountainous with valleys, and has about 800 people

 on it. they are gigantic in stature; one we

measured was 6ft 10in., and the women are

proportionate. The men have long,straight

hair, which they dye a flaxen colour, and

which in thick folds hangs over their copper

tinted shoulders. The women,on the contrary,

have their hair cut short. Strange to say these

natives have no weapons of defence at all  A 

remarkable law among them is that they marry

only once, the superstition being that if a married

manor woman dies, no mater how many children

there may be, the deceased's spirit has gone 

ahead and is waiting for the other half.

"During the cruise we annexed a volcano, on

which at night, though not very active, one could

hear a rumbling noise and see a flame or glare

above it. This was in the Santa Cruz Group.