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The Truth About Bully Hayes
A SWINDLING, swashbuckling sort of pirate was the notorious Bully
Hayes. 'Hayes was a thorough-going scoundrel. Yet he was no
common villain — he was no hazing, heavy-fisled knuckle-dusting bucko of
the Down-Easl and Blue-Nose tvpe,' says Basil Lubbock in his new book,
'Bully Hayes, South Sea Pirate'.'
His companions were real old sea
dogs, the type of man who had wan-
dered into every nook and cranny of the
great Pacific risking everything they
had. — including life and limb, in search
of copra, pearls—and, it was whis-
pered, 'black ivory.'
The romance that shone like a halo
round the heads of these men fasci-
nated Lubbock. Tactfully he got them
talking, and all unconscious, they
painted for him a colorful picture of
the Pacific and the South Seas as it
was in the days before the heavy Great
Powers was laid upon it and forced a
semblance of law and order on its
turbulent inhabitants.
Listening to his companions, and they
swapped experiences and said their
'D' you remembers.' Lubbock found
that R. L. S. spoke truly when he said
that 'Talk in the South Seas is all in
one pattern. You shall never talk long
and not hear the name of Bully Hayes.'
'Jee-msalem,' shouted Capt. Silas, of
the Tropic- Bird. 'Jee-rusaleml What a
crony foe Sir Francis Drake would Hayes
have made. I reckon no Elizabethan
corsair could have given him points in
the game.'
Hayes was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in
1829. His parents called him William
Henry. The Hayes family kept a grog
shon on the shores of Late Erie. Hayes'
young days are a closed book — he did
Dot talk of them — but it is known that
he came in contact with the police at an
early age.
'Vor vet wns lie lazy, ein sodden, fom
none Help
AN ISLAND SCHOONER
AN ISLAND SCHOONER
'mouthed character of the islands. His
'character had many facets and not all
-of them glittered with an evil light,'
continues the author.
.['At the same time, Hayes was not a
?'llobin Hood of the seas. All was fish
that came to his net. He did many a
'good turn to people in difficulties. His
1 tras a hearty, ioviaj manner. Care
fess always, and reckless of himself
'. ?when his generosity was aroused, Hayes
rarely allowed his heart to. dictate to
his very hard head.
And certainly the South Sea pirate
never succumbed to any sloppy senti
mentality. There was none of the 'My
man, your bravery has won your free
dom' of toe old pirate tale about him.
Lubbock has filled in the nap of Hayes'
history with a personal portrait of the
man which has hitherto been lacking, as
the complement to many interesting ac
counts of the vivid and picturesque
blackbirdcr. His information on Hayes
came from an interesting source.
Lubbock was the youngest passenger
on the schooner Tropic Bird — romantic
setting — five days out from San Fran
cisco tor Papeete, and almost becalmed
Time bung heavily on the hands of the
few passengers on the dainty vessel roll
ing along on a gentle Pacific swell be
neath a pale blue midsummer sky.
It was in the early 'nineties, and
Lubbook studied the five passengers on
the mildly rocking deck.
But he was a leading figure among
the wild and woolly element of San
Francisuo soon alter the California u
gold discoveries. It was here that he
loet his ear. Mr. Lubbock describes the
incident with exciting detail.
Hayes was a, self-conndent fellow, and
he attempted to stack the cards against
some Westerners of the ''Hopalone Cas-
sidy' type in a poker game. He had
dealt himself a royal flush in a game
where 'the sky was the limit.' Then
somebody discovered that the cards
(Hayes' own pack) were marked.
Pandemonium reiened, and in the
melee Hayes' right ear was neatly
sliced away. He owed his life only to
his tremendous strength and brute cun-
ning, according to Mr. Lubbock.
Brute cunuiug was an outstanding
point of Bully's character. It got more
for him than ever did force of arms.
He was known from 'Frisco to Sydney,
Calcutta to Shanghai, and from Singa-
pore to Wellington as a pirate, bucca-
neer, and blackbirder, but rather did
he attain his objects by a suave guile,
or a certain bluff heartiness that
inspired confidence in his dupes. He
hoodwjnked many more than he
pirated. The judge of the High Court,
the South Sea Island chief, the captain
of a man-of-war, and the Customs officer
of Melbourne, Sydney, or Brisbane all
fell for his wiles at one time or another.
He was in truth an adept at the art
of getting something for nothing.
Sometimes it was a pretty fresh
cheeked beauty of the colonies, the
daughter of a fellow-captain, and more
often than not some passionate flower
of the islands.
Or else it was a ship — an ill-found
trading barque from the Indies, or per-
haps a heavily mortgaged brig, or an
overmasted kanaka-manned Island
schooner. He conjured coin from the
pockets of hard-headed American colo-
nials. and even Chinese business men.
He would land, penniless and with a
none Help
BULLY HAYES might have done some of his blackbirding from here — typi-
cal South Seas beach.
BULLY HAYES might have done some of his blackbirding from here — typi-
cal South Seas beach.
host of warrants out for his arrest, at
any old port and with consummate
nerve and supreme effort at once seek
out a new victim. Using whichever of
his guise of heartiness or suavity that
met the case, he would borrow enough
money not only to provide himself with
a new vessel, but with sea stock for
that vessel and sometimes he gulled his
victim into providing a valuable cargo.
In 1857 Hayes lived in Adelaide for
a time. He married a widow named
Amelia Littleton on August 25. Hayes
always declared that this was his only
legal wife, although gossip spread it far
and wide that this was the third lady
led to the altar by the pirate.
Old Capt. Silas and the mate of the
schooner Tropic Bird sang her praises
loudly. She was — according to them—
not only a very beautiful woman, but
a very talented one. She had an honor
able and sweet disposition, and was
greatly beloved by everyone. She was
devoted to Bully and lived at Apia, in
Samoa.
But no one woman could hold Bully
Hayes. Wherever he sailed he was ac-
companied by a harem of dusky beauty.
This was changed as often as his fickle
taste directed. In pursuit of wealth and
women he stopped at nothing, and for
20 years the name of Bully Hayes in
the South Seas, was a byword for every
kind of dirty dealing and chicanery.
And he died at he had lived. On
board his last schooner, the Lotus. was
a cook called Dutch Pete, whom Hayes
hazed unmercifully. But he over
stepped the mark one day, and the en-
raged cook brained the pirate with an
iron bar.
Nothing was done by the cook's com-
paniions to revenge the death of the cap-
tain — so it may be seen that he lived
precariously.
Mr. Lubbock's account of Hayes' life
enlivened with many a vivid narrative,
and the book is as entertaining as any
novel. There is more than a gallery
of rogues in the book, too; there are re-
ferences to the dauntless missionaries
and honest traders of the South Seas.
Mr. Lubbock has given a delightful
combination of history and romance.
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