The Nukapu expedition was a British

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

from October 1871 until February 1872, in response to the murder of missionary

John Coleridge Patteson John Coleridge Patteson (1 April 1827 – 20 September 1871) was an English Anglican bishop, missionary to the South Sea Islands, and an accomplished linguist, learning 23 of the islands' more than 1,000 languages. In 1861, Patteson was s ...

by natives of Nukapu, one of the easternmost islands of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

in the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. A

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

warship was sent to the island, sinking a group of hostile war-canoes and landing men to attack a fortified village.

Expedition

In October 1871, the screw sloop-of-war was operating against blackbirders in the

South Sea Islands Polynesia () "many" and νῆσος () "island"), to, Polinisia; mi, Porinihia; haw, Polenekia; fj, Polinisia; sm, Polenisia; rar, Porinetia; ty, Pōrīnetia; tvl, Polenisia; tkl, Polenihia (, ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of ...

when her captain, Commander

Albert Hastings Markham Admiral Sir Albert Hastings Markham (11 November 1841 – 28 October 1918) was a British explorer, author, and officer in the Royal Navy. In 1903 he was invested as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath. He is also remembered for desig ...

, received orders to sail for Nukapu in the

. The measures taken by ''Rosario'' became the subject of questions in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

, and Markham's book on the subject may well have been prompted by them. The book itself makes clear that Markham clearly understood the cycle of violence and deplored both the murderous activities of the blackbirders, and the apparent need for further violence in restoring order.

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Battles involving canoes Battles involving the United Kingdom Conflicts in 1871 Conflicts in 1872 History of the Solomon Islands Punitive expeditions of the United Kingdom Violence against indigenous peoples