'*_-
li
BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM
THE NEW HEBRIDES.
BIBLE ILLUSTRATIONS
FROM
THE NEW HEBRIDES
With Notices of the Progress
of the Mission
REV. JOHN INGLIS, D.D., F.R.S.G.S.
AUTHOR OF " IN THE NEW HEBRIDES," ETC.
THOMAS NELSON AND SONS
London, Edinburgh, and New York
1890
PREFACE.
THIS volume is totally distinct from my former
one. Although on the same subject, and written
to some extent on the same plan, it is never-
theless totally different from the other. While
I have not followed the order of time in re-
lating events, I have endeavoured to keep up
the connection of subjects. I have arranged these
so that each chapter may be complete in itself,
and that the whole book from beginning to end
may be clearly and distinctly understood. In the
first part of the book the subject is entirely new :
fresh light from the New Hebrides is shed upon
texts of Scripture all more or less obscure then
follow sketches of natural history, manners and
customs of the natives, short native biographies,
heathen and Christian, and a statement of the
progress of the Mission. I pray and hope that,
Vlll PREFACE.
by the blessing of God, the book may be instru-
mental in advancing the Divine glory, in interest-
ing and instructing its readers, and in advancing
the interests of the New Hebrides Mission.
LINCUAN COTTAGE, KIRKCOWAN, WIGTOWNSHIRE, N.B.
December i^t/i, 1889.
CONTENTS.
I. NAKEDNESS AND CLOTHING (Genesis ii. 25; iii. 7,
21 ; John xxi. 7) I
II. THE CURSE OF CANAAN (Genesis ix. 24-27) . . 7
III. BENJAMIN'S MESS (Genesis xliii. 32-34) . . .12
IV. WITCHCRAFT FROM A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW
(Exodus xxii. 18) 17
V. GIDEON'S SOLDIERS LAPPING (Judges vii. 5, 6) . 36
VI. SHIBBOLETH VERSUS SIBBOLETH (Judges xii. 5,6). 41
VII. SAMSON AND THE FOXES AND FIREBRANDS, ETC.
(Judges xv. 1-6) 45
THE LEVITE AND HIS CONCUBINE (Judges xx. 29,
30 ; xxi. 1-7)
SAUL AND THE YOKE OF OXEN (i Samuel xi. 5-8)
ABSALOM AND JOAB (2 Samuel xiv. 28-33)
VIII. MICAH'S MOTHER CURSING (Judges xvii. i, 2) . 54
IX. A SINGLE FLEA (i Samuel xxiv. 14; xxvi. 20) . 57
X. THE GOING IN THE TOPS OF THE MULBERRY TREES
(2 Samuel v. 22-25 ; i Chronicles xiv. 13-16) . 64
XI. MINISTERING ANGELS (Psalm xci. 11,12; Matthew
iv. 5, 6; Luke iv. 9-11) 70
X CONTENTS
XII. THE HAMMER AND THE ROCK (Jeremiah xxiii. 29) 77
XIII. THE FIG TREE (Habakkuk iii. 17 ; Paraphrase
xxxii. i) . . . ." 8 1
XIV. THE COCK CROWING TWICE (Matthew xxvi. 34, 74,
75 ; Mark xiv. 30, 71, 72) 84
XV. FASTING AND TAKING NOTHING (Acts xxvii. 33-36) 90
XVI. MODE OF TREATING NATIVES (Acts xxvii. 3 ; xxviii.
7 ; i Peter iii. 8) 94
XVII. NATURAL HISTORY. CORAL TREES: COCOA-NUT,
BREAD-FRUIT, ORANGE, SANDAL- WOOD . .109
XVIII. NATURAL HISTORY. PLANTS : TARO, YAMS, PLAN-
TAINS, ARROWROOT 120
XIX. NATURAL HISTORY. ANIMALS : SERPENTS, SHELL-
FISH, TURTLE 135
XX. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS : COOKING AND EATING ;
DRINKING KAVA 148
XXI. COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM . .162
XXII. DISEASES ON ANEITYUM AND THEIR REMEDIES . 176
XXIII. CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM . . . .188
XXIV. NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS 204
XXV. NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS . .219
XXVI. NATIVE AGENCY RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN
TEACHERS 234
XXVII. COMMENCEMENT OF THE MISSION ON ANEITYUM . 243
XXVIII. THE FRENCH ON THE NEW HEBRIDES, 1887-8 . 254
XXIX. BISHOP PATTESON'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF
ANEITYUM , 260
CONTENTS. XI
XXX. BlOGEAPHICAL SKETCHES, HEATHEN AND CHRIS-
TIAN RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS . 268
XXXI. LASARUS AND ESTER (with illustration) . ' . .281
XXXII. INHALVATIMI AND THIGANUA . . . ^. .291
XXXIII. WILLIAM u 304
XXXIV. WILLIAMU'S LETTERS 320
XXXV. CONCLUSION 350
BIBLE ILLUSTBATIONS FBOM THE
NEW HEBBIDES.
CHAPTER I.
NAKEDNESS AND CLOTHING.
"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not
ashamed." GENESIS ii. 25.
"And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they
were naked ; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
aprons" (breeches, old version), (things to gird about, margin).
GENESIS iii. 7.
" Unto Adam also, and to his wife, did the Lord God make coats of
skins, and clothed them." GENESIS iii. 21.
"Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his
fisher's coat unto him (for he was naked), and did cast himself into
the sea." JOHN xxi. 7.
" NAKED savages ! " This is an expression often used both by
missionaries, travellers, and others. Now, in one sense, it is
quite correct, but in another sense it is quite incorrect : for
the most part it is misleading. In their heathen state all the
natives of the New Hebrides, the men at least, are naked, so
far as anything they wear can protect them from cold or heat,
rain or wind. But, on the other hand, there is no native who
goes absolutely naked, or without any covering. They have
all some clothing, some conventional dress, however scanty,
which secures decency.
2 NAKEDNESS AND CLOTHING.
I
While Adam and Eve were in a state of innocency they
were both naked, and were not ashamed. But after the fall,
conscious of shame, they took fig leaves and made themselves
girdles. And the natives of the New Hebrides retain, as
nearly as may be, this primitive costume. All the world over
dress is more or less conventional. A lady's ball-room dress,
conventionally proper there, would not be considered proper
in a church. In like manner, scanty as the native costume is,
so scanty that it cannot be minutely described, the natives
feel quite decent and proper while thus dressed ; but without
this, in a state of complete nudity, they would feel as much
ashamed as we should do, if in the same condition.
When God had revealed the first promise to Adam and
Eve, He covered them with skins, generally supposed to be
the skins of the sheep or goats slain in sacrifice. Now, our
natives on Aneityum, while heathen, were not only content
with their fig-leaf-like girdles, but they would wear no
European clothing of any kind, even had it been given them
for nothing. But no sooner did they abandon heathenism and
profess Christianity, than they adopted our mode of clothing.
Without any special teaching from us, European clothing,
more or less full, became the badge of Christianity ; and when
once they put it on they never gave up its use. On one
occasion, shortly after I went to Aneityum, while I was sailing
round to the other mission station in my boat, we saw about
half a score of natives walking single file along the beach ; we
were too far from the shore to recognise them individually.
But, nevertheless, one of my native boatmen said, " Six of
these men are heathen, and four are Christian;" I said to
him, "How do you know that, when they are so far off that
you do not know who they are?" "Oh," said he, "do you
NAKEDNESS AND CLOTHING. 3
not see that four of them have on white lavalavas, while the
rest have none ? " A lavalava is a fathom of cloth, which is
wrapped round the loins, and is the smallest portion of
European clothing ever worn by a native man. ' On another
occasion, in the first years of the mission, Nahoat, one of the
principal chiefs, then newly professing himself a Christian,
was ill with a severe cold. Mr. Geddie visited him, and offered
to pray with him. Nohoat gladly accepted his offer. But as
he was lying with nothing on but his native dress, he said to
the missionary, " O, Misi, stop a little till I put on my lava-
lava." He evidently thought that European clothing was
essential to Christian worship. We had never taught this
doctrine ; but seeing the natives had taken up the idea, we
allowed them to retain it; it acted powerfully in promoting
their civilization. Our Sabbath-day clothes have a marvellously
elevating influence on the community ; they are an impor-
tant factor in our Christian culture. No doubt Campbell's
translation of i Peter iii. 3, 4 is the correct one, "Whose
adorning let it be not only that outward adorning of plaiting
the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on of
apparel ; but let it be also the hidden man of the heart, in
that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek
and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."
This is our rendering in the Aneityumese, sanctioned by the
authority of the late Eev. Mr. Meller, Rector of Woodbridge,
Suffolk, and Editorial Superintendent of the Foreign Versions
published by the British and Foreign Bible Society ; one of
the ablest and most exact Biblical scholars of his day. It is
only those of us who have had personal experience in the
training of " naked savages " to the use of decent clothing,
that can fully appreciate the great breadth and exceeding
4 NAKEDNESS AND CLOTHING.
minuteness of Bible teaching, and how important it is to
translate every word with painstaking accuracy. The verbal in-
spiration of Scripture is a doctrine of vastly greater importance
than shallow theologians and superficial critics, who talk and
write so confidently, would lead us to believe. The Apostle
Peter emphasizes the inward adorning ; but, in accordance
with the whole tenor of Scripture, instead of condemning, he
sanctions and encourages elegant female dress, and valuable
female ornaments; and we found our hands strengthened by
his words in our efforts to civilize the savage.
Adam and Eve, in what might be called their heathen
state, before the gospel of Christ was revealed to them, and
accepted by them, wore nothing but the fig-leaf girdle ; but
after they became Christian, so to speak, they accepted and
wore a fuller and better costume. The Lord clothed them
with skins. True religion led the way in the civilization and
history of the human race. The Church became a separate
society. Men called themselves by the name of the Lord, by
some name equivalent to the name Christian given to the
disciples at Antioch. Cain followed his father's profession as
a tiller of the soil, but to that he added architecture or house-
building, and builded a city. Abel fed his flocks and lived on
the produce. Jabal originated the nomadic life, and owned
herds of cattle. Lamech cultivated poetry. Jubal invented
instruments of music. Tubal-cain (called by the Greeks, with
a slight change of the letters from Hebrew to Greek, Vulcan,
and made him the god of the Hammer-men) smelted the ores
and produced the useful metals. While Noah brought ship-
building to such perfection that, even in modern times, his
ark became a model, in its proportions, for the Dutch and
other shipbuilding nations in Europe.
NAKEDNESS AND CLOTHING. 5
There is nothing new under the sun. History repeats
itself. This same process was observed on Aneityurn. The
fall of man is everywhere recognized. A sense of shame is
universal. I have seen naked children on the islands naked
little boys and girls ; but I never saw either a naked man
or a naked woman such may exist, but I never saw any of
them, nor never heard of any such in any island of the South
Seas. The dress might be very scanty according to our ideas
of dress, but it was always in accordance with some conven-
tional standard by which decency and propriety were secured.
No sooner was Christianity introduced into Aneityum than
the natives began to wear European clothing, as far as the
climate required it, and as far as their means enabled them
to obtain it. Like the human race after the first promise,
they took a new departure both in religion and civilization.
The Sabbath was observed ; the worship of God, public and
private, was set up; a higher standard of family life was
adopted ; education became general, and the Bible was read ;
a j uster and a gentler type of civil government was estab-
lished ; a steadier industry arose ; individual ownership of
property began to be more fully recognized ; and all traces
of the socialistic principle disappeared, and a better knowledge
of the mechanical arts was acquired. They could not build
ships like Noah, or his son Ham, their great progenitor ; but
they made larger and better canoes, and before long they
were able to handle an oar, to steer a boat, or to harpoon
a whale, as skilfully as if they had hailed from Newbury-
port, Hobart, or Peterhead, or any of the great centres of the
Avhale-fishing industry. In short, in a small way, they began
to take their place in the comity of Christian and civilized
6 NAKEDNESS AND CLOTHING.
communities, and year by year they continue to advance in
Christianity and culture.
Peter was naked, but not absolutely so ; he had on some
underclothing, but he threw on his upper garment. In the
Aneityumese New Testament we have rendered it, " he had
nothing on save a lavalava," which is the way a Christian
native would dress when fishing. In Scotland we say of a
man who is working, that he is stripped to the shirt, when
he has thrown off his vest as well as his coat. But we do not
mean that he has nothing on but his shirt; and every one
understands what is meant, although out of Scotland it would
be understood literally. Peter was naked, simply in the
sense that we say a savage is naked, when his clothing is
sufficient for decency but no more. He was not dressed in
his usual apparel. In every language there are brief elliptical
expressions, which cannot be taken literally, but which no one
misunderstands who knows the idiom of the language ; and
this word naked is one of these, both in the Scriptures and
among ourselves.
At the trial of the Bishop of Murray in the General
Assembly of 1638, Mr. Andrew Cant, minister of Pitsligo,
bore witness "that the Bishop was a pretty dancer; at his
daughter's bridal he danced in Ms shirt." Of course this
could mean no more than that he had stripped off both his
coat and vest.
CHAPTER II.
THE CURSE ON CANAAN.
" And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son
had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of
servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the
Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall
enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem ; and Canaan
shall be his servant." GENESIS ix. 24-27.
THIS prophecy is amazingly distinct, and yet it was very long
in being fulfilled. At first, and for many long centuries, it
seemed as if a blessing and not a curse rested upon the family
of Ham. For nearly 2000 long years the dominant races
upon the earth were the descendants of Ham. It was nearly
900 years before the Canaanites, those specially marked out
in the cuflse, were subdued by Joshua. All the first great
empires that arose in the world were established by the
descendants of Noah's younger son. According to the mar-
ginal reading of the Bible, generally recognised as the most
correct, Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, by Gush, his eldest
son, went out into Assyria, and builded Nineveh. And for
ages the city which he built, and the empire which he
founded, continued to overshadow all Western Asia. When
Layard was carrying on his excavations in Nineveh, and had
disinterred a monster statue, the natives, as soon as they saw
it, all shouted out, Nimroud ! Nimroud ! thus adding to the
testimony of Scripture a tradition of 4000 years continuance,
as to who was the founder of the city. Mizraim, the second son
THE CURSE ON CANAAN.
of Ham, founded the Egyptian monarchy and the Philistian
commonwealth. Canaan, the fourth son of Hani, settled in
Palestine, and his descendants founded first the Canaanitish
kingdoms, then Tyre and Sidon, and subsequently Carthage.
Also the great empire of the Hittites only now brought to
light. These were for many long centuries the leading
nations of the world ; .they possessed its highest civilization,
and held all but a monopoly of its commerce.
How slow are God's threatenings in being inflicted ! how
slow are His promises in being fulfilled ! And there can be
no doubt that when Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nahum, and others of
the Hebrew prophets were respectively warning their fellow-
countrymen of their danger, exhorting them to repent of
their sins and be obedient to their God, and fearlessly pre-
dicting the judgments that were about to descend upon them,
and upon the guilty nations around the sceptics of those
days the men who had ceased to believe in a personal God
and a special providence ; in the truth of prophecy and in the
efficacy of prayer the agnostics, the materialists, the ration-
alists, the pantheists, and the atheists all the advanced
thinkers of those days ; the men of professedly high culture
and refined taste ; the men who had avowedly risen above the
superstitions of the times these all would attempt to turn
aside the point and force of those threatening predictions, by
referring with a sneer to the prophecy of Noah. " It is now,"
they would say, "nearly 2000 years since Noah predicted
these judgments against the descendants of Ham, and when
are they to be fulfilled 1 " It would be convenient for them
to ignore the conquest of Canaan by Joshua, and with great
assurance they would proceed to say, " Is not the sea coast
still occupied by the five Lords of the Philistines ? Are not
THE CUIISE ON CANAAN. 9
the kings of the Hittites on the other side of Lebanon as
powerful as ever 1 Does not Tyre sit, as of old, queen of the
seas ? Is not Egypt, as she has ever been, the chief among
the nations ? And who, what people on the face of the earth,
can stand before the great king, the king of Assyria ? Is not
Nineveh the metropolis, the mother city, the mistress and
ruler of the whole world ? " So, no doubt, spoke the scoffer,
and the believer in prophecy, inspiration, and Holy Scripture
found it very difficult to answer his objections. It required
faith like that of Abraham's to enable them to hold on by
God's covenant : they had to endure as seeing Him who is
invisible.
But the Lord is not slack concerning either His promises or
His threatenings, as some men count slackness; a thousand
years are with Him as one day. Even then, the believer had
not long to wait till Nineveh, Egypt, Tyre, and other Hametic
nations fell. But if difficult then, it would be easy now.
Let any one take a look at New Zealand, and then accompany
us in our mission vessel, the Dayspring, and we can show him
this prophecy, which was uttered more than 4000 years ago,
fulfilled to the very letter. In the South Seas he will find
portions of the three races, Shemetic, Hametic, and Japhetic,
as distinctly marked off from one another as were the three
sons of Noah, when they took their leave of the ark among
the mountains of Ararat, or when a century later their speech
was confounded at Babel ; when the earth was divided, and
the three families, each according to their tongues, took pos-
session of their respective portions, when
" The world was all before them where to choose,
And Providence their guide."
10 THE CUESE ON CANAAN.
But let us take the prophecy verse by verse. " Cursed be
Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."
Ham was cursed in the person of his youngest, probably his
favourite, son. He was cursed in his descendants. Now in
the New Hebrides we see this curse lying in all its crushing
weight. The Papuans, the poor descendants of Ham, are
lying in the lowest state of degradation, trodden down by
the iron heel of every oppressor. Let us take the next verse,
" Blessed be the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall be his
servant." In the fulfilment of this blessing we find that the
whole of the Malay race, descendants of Shem, in the South
Seas, had abandoned heathenism, had embraced Christianity,
and had the Bible translated for them into the six principal
dialects of their language, while the whole, or nearly the
whole, of the Papuan race, the children of Ham, were still
lying in heathen darkness. And wherever these Malays,
these children of Shem, go in the South Seas, these Papuans
are willing to be their servants. Everywhere we see the
Papuans serving the Malays, Canaan being the servant of
Shem; but nowhere do we see the Malays serving the
Papuans, or Shem being the servant of Canaan. Now let
us take the last verse : " God shall enlarge Japheth, and he
shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his
servant. " We, the descendants of Japheth, seem to be specially
called of God at the present day to colonize and evangelize
the world. Our fellow-countrymen in New Zealand, for
example, are dwelling in the tents of Shem they are dwell-
ing on the land long occupied by the Maories, a tribe of the
Malays ; while the rowdyism of Sydney and of Brisbane are
reviving the slave-trade, kidnapping the poor Papuans, and
carrying them into servitude in Queensland, Fiji, and New
THE CUKSE ON CANAAN. I I
Caledonia. But especially has God enlarged us, and given us
the heritage of Shem, by making us the representatives of
His visible Church, to dispense its blessings to the heathen ;
and these poor Gibeonites are willing to become hewers of
wood and drawers of water to us for the house of the Lord.
Yesj " Canaan shall be his servant."
CHAPTEE III.
BENJAMIN'S MESS.
" And they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves,
and for the Egyptians which dM eat with him by themselves : because
the Egyptians might not eat with the Hebrews j for that is an abomina-
tion unto the Egyptians. And he took and sent messes unto them from
before him : but Benjamin's mess was Jive times so much as any of theirs."
GENESIS xliii. 32, 34.
THERE is no difficulty in understanding why there were three
tables one for Joseph, one for the Egyptians, and one for the
Hebrews. Joseph, either from his rank, or from his being a
foreigner, did not eat with the Egyptians ; and his brethren
would eat by themselves, because to eat with the Hebrews was
an abomination to the Egyptians. But that Benjamin should
have five times the quantity of food sent to him that was sent
to any of his brethren, who, doubtless, after the manner of a
feast, had abundance, is contrary to all our customs, and to all
our ideas of table etiquette ; but to a native of the South Seas
Joseph's mode of procedure would cause no difficulty, it is
quite in accordance with their own. There is no religious
caste among them, as in India ; but for nationality and rank
they make a difference in the quantity of food supplied at
meals. At our feasts we have different courses, one following
another ; with the natives each guest receives his full share of
the food at once. Our custom also is for each one to eat as
much as he pleases, and whatever is not eaten of each course
BENJAMIN S MESS. I 3
is left on the plate, or on the table, or in the house. But
this is not the custom in the South Seas. Each guest, having
received his share of the food, eats what he thinks proper, and
whatever is left he puts into his basket, or ties up in a leaf,
and takes it home with him, to eat next day, or divide among
his family or his friends. But perhaps I cannot illustrate
this better than by g'iving an account of a little feast that we
had on Aneityum, in one of the first years of our mission, at
the opening of a new school- house, which was also to be used
as a place of worship.
The feast was provided by Amosa, a Samoan teacher, who
had charge of the station, and Nemet, the chief of the district.
There were four parties of us, composed of three nationalities ;
viz., a missionary party, a teacher party, and two Aneityumese
parties. There were the two mission families ; Dr. and Mrs.
Geddie and their children being with us at the time. We had
also four Rarotongan teachers and their wives and some
children, who had been left with us for two months or so by the
captain of the John Williams, till the vessel went up to Sydney
for repairs. A party of Aneityumese also accompanied us.
We had a service of singing, prayer, and addresses in the
new building. After that the oven, a very large one, was
opened, and the contents carefully divided into four parts. A
table was set for the missionary party in the teacher's house ;
and, we being the most important strangers, a mess like that
of Benjamin's was brought to us. It consisted of two large
baskets of taro, steaming hot from the oven ; two fowls, cooked
in the same way ; a large fish, in shape and size like a goodly
14 Ib. salmon, cooked also in the oven; a large bunch of
beautiful bananas, fully ripe and yellow, all fit for eating, and
a large basket of fresh cocoa-nuts, all husked and ready for
14 BENJAMIN'S MESS.
drinking. My wife had provided tea and sugar, and other
accompaniments ; so that we sat down to what, in some places,
would be called a high tea, or a knife and fork tea, or a tea
with something, and that greatly beyond the ordinary, to it.
Mats were spread outside, under banyan and bread-fruit trees,
for the other three parties, as Abraham provided for the
three celestial visitors under the oak at Mamre. The next
largest portion was for the Rarotongan teachers, which,
though greatly less than ours, was yet twice as much as they
could possibly eat. The third portion was for the Aneityumese
who had accompanied us ; it was a full meal, but not much
more. And the fourth portion was for Amosa and Nemet
and their friends who had provided the feast, and consisted
of the smallest of the taro, and the most diminutive of the
fishes ; it was a scanty meal, and barely allayed the cravings
of their hunger. After we had partaken to satisfaction of
our sumptuous meal, our Aneityumese servants came and
gathered up all that was left, as the disciples did with the
remains of the loaves and the fishes, packed it into baskets,
and took all home; to have left anything behind us would
have been an insult to our entertainers. Enough of what
was brought home was set apart to do for our breakfast next
morning, the rest was divided among the natives living on
our premises, and when they had all had a good meal, whatever
was left, if any, was carried forth as a kind of overflow meal
to their friends and neighbours outside of the mission household.
The Egyptians, like the Papuans, were descendants of Ham.
Egypt was Ham's land. We may therefore legitimately infer
that the people would do in Egypt then very much as the
people do on Aneityum at the present time ; and that Ben-
jamin's servants, who would be waiting somewhere outside,
BENJAMIN'S MESS. 15
in one of the courts of Joseph's palace, would come in when
the feast was over, and gather up the remains of his mess,
put it into scrips, or bags, or baskets, and carry all home to
their lodgings ; the servants of the others would do the same,
and in that time of famine they, as well as their masters,
would feast on those royal dainties till they were finished.
Benjamin would have the honour, but his brethren and the
servants would enjoy the benefit, and Joseph would be
applauded for his princely hospitality. On Aneityum, in
heathen times, he was the great man who had the most food,
and he was the good man who dispensed it most liberally.
He was the poor man who had little food, and he was the bad
man who was stingy with his food, and gave it grudgingly.
Liberality in giving food was the highest virtue, and stinginess
with respect to food was the greatest sin.
We hear nothing of servants in the narrative ; but we can-
not conceive of Jacob's sons going all the way from Canaan
to Egypt with a solitary ass, or even more, each, to carry up
a supply of corn for their families, amounting to upwards of
one hundred persons, exclusive of servants. A few years
before, when Jacob returned from Padan-Aram, he had a
large number of men-servants and maid-servants, even a great
household. We may safely suppose that Jacob's sons had a
large number of retainers and servants accompanying them,
that they formed a large caravan, although the historian
does not find it necessary to refer to them for the purpose of
his narrative ; the servants not doing anything that required
their presence to be noticed. Brevity being so carefully
studied by the sacred writers, everything not essential to
their main subject is invariably excluded.
The more natural, beautiful, and truth-like do the Scripture
1 6 BENJAMIN'S MESS.
narratives appear, in proportion as we know the manners and
customs of the times and the places to which they refer ; and
from the most remote and obscure corners of the earth, even
the tiny and distant isles of the sea, come light and know-
ledge to illustrate and confirm the truth of sacred history.
CHAPTER IV.
WITCHCRAFT FKOM A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW.
" Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." EXODUS xxii. 18.
THIS text may receive some light from our missionary experi-
ence. The Hebrew word mecashepJia, translated witch, wizard,
sorcerer, magician, &c., comes from the verb cashaph, which
signifies to pray, to offer prayers or worship ; but is restricted
to the worship of idols, hence it signifies to use enchantments,
to use magical songs, to mutter. It was the connection of
witchcraft with idolatry, and hence with the virtual renoun-
cing of Jehovah, which rendered it a sin so displeasing to God,
and made it to be treason under the Theocracy. For a century
and a half after the Reformation burning for witchcraft was
common in this country. In the early part of last century
this practice ceased. The scepticism that afterwards prevailed,
as well as the clearer knowledge that was diffused throughout
society, banished superstition, and in all intelligent circles
destroyed the belief in witchcraft. The belief lingered among
the ignorant ; but for a century and a half, if any of the laws
against witchcraft have remained in the statute-book, they
have been a dead letter.
That evil spirits exist the Scriptures amply prove; that
men may hold communication with them is possible; that
they did so in ancient times the Bible clearly affirms. Satan
appeared to Adam and Eve and tempted them; he did the
I 8 WITCECKAFT FHOM
same to our Saviour in the wilderness. Dealing with familiar
spirits was common in Old Testament times. Our Saviour
spoke to the evil spirits and cast them out. That men should
still hold intercourse with evil spirits is certainly possible.
But, as the eminently judicious Thomas Scott, the commen-
tator, says : "As by certain degrees of civilization wild beasts
are banished or extirpated, so, in some stages of civilization,
the practice of witchcraft is nearly excluded." It is so in
this country at the present time, and Satan acquiesces; "nor
is he any loser by exchanging the practice of witchcraft for
the prevalence of scepticism." "Witchcraft is generally under-
stood to mean " a compact with evil spirits, by whose agency
and assistance, applied for by certain incantations, effects of
various kinds may be produced, by which malice, or covetous-
ness, or other corrupt passions may be gratified." A current
belief in our times is, that there is no such thing as witchcraft,
and that there never was such a thing; that it never was
anything but pretence; that in most cases men who were
cleverer than their neighbours, or who were better acquainted
with the laws of nature than others, either professed them-
selves or allowed others to believe that certain things were
accomplished by supernatural powers that were done simply
by superior skill or through a better knowledge of the laws of
nature ; that sleight-of-hand was passed off for a compact with
the devil; and that those persons found it to be for their
advantage to allow such delusions to pass uncontradicted.
Furthermore, it is also a part of the popular belief still, that,
in those times, if an old woman was only very poor and very
ugly, it was quite sufficient to raise the suspicion that she was
a witch, irrespective of anything connected with her former
character or history. We are certain of this, that, whether
A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. 1 9
any person in those remote times was in league with the devil
or not, and through the agency of evil and malignant spirits
inflicted injuries of various kinds on others, there was among
the community at large, whether rightly or wrongly, a fixed
and firm belief in the existence of witchcraft, and they acted
on this belief.
In reading such books as Sir Walter Scott's " Letters on
Demonology and Witchcraft," or the Rev. Walter Scott's
" Lectures on the Existence and Agency of Evil Spirits," and
learning the history of witchcraft in England, Scotland, and
New England, one is led to exclaim, "Oh, poor human
nature ! " one's blood is apt to boil at the cruelties exercised
by the witch-finders and witch-prickers of those times, and
we cannot be too thankful that we live in an age of Christian
light and knowledge, when witchcraft has disappeared. Still
there is another side to this question ; and after living three
and thirty long years in lands where witchcraft was in the
air, so to speak ; where " I believe in witchcraft " was the
first article in the popular creed ; accepted as true as certainly
as " I believe in God the Father Almighty " is among us ; I
am led to be much more charitable towards our forefathers in
their prosecutions for witchcraft, than would be sanctioned
by the average of public opinion in the present day. Our
forefathers had doubtless as much common sense as we have ;
they were naturally as just and as humane as we are ; but
they lived under different circumstances, and they are not
to be blamed for doing what they did, as we should be
blamed were we to do the same. As opportunity makes
the thief, so ignorance and superstition produce the witch.
Human nature is the same in all ages, and men everywhere
are greatly influenced by their surroundings and their environ-
2O WITCHCRAFT FEOM
ments. Our forefathers were just emerging from the ignor-
ance and superstition of the dark ages ; and it was by slow
degrees that they emancipated themselves from the errors of
the times, from the belief in witchcraft and kindred opinions,
and attained to our present standing-ground on these questions.
The belief in the supernatural has prevailed in all ages and in
all countries ; it is co-existent with the human race. Religious
belief and feeling, or a belief in the supernatural, is as much
an essential part of man's nature as conscience or reason ; and
it manifests itself either in true religion, or in superstition ;
either in the worship of God, or the worship of the devil ; or
it may be partly of both. The existence of superstition is
essential to the existence of witchcraft. Where superstition
abounds the belief in witchcraft will also abound. In the
New Hebrides there is the grossest ignorance, and hence
there is the most debasing superstition. The belief in witch-
craft is universal and unwavering. Witchcraft is accepted
as a reality, as a thing about which there can be no doubt.
No death, at least the death of no person of any importance,
is ever recognised as resulting from natural causes ; the death
of such persons is always ascribed to witchcraft; and the
question to be answered is, by whom has the death been
caused ? Of course it is always ascribed to some enemy.
On one occasion my fellow-missionary, Dr. Geddie, was over
at Port Resolution on Tanna, and was urging Miaki, a
principal chief there, to give up heathenism and become a
Christian. Miaki said he wished to do so as soon as he had
avenged the death of five of his men of two who had been
killed in battle, and of three who had been killed by witch-
craft. Dr. Geddie, knowing that the killing by witchcraft
was pure imagination, tried his best to reason him out of
A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. 2 I
his belief, and to convince him that the sacred men had no
power whatever that God only has the power of life and
death. But, alas ! Leviathan was not to be so easily tamed.
Miaki remained firm in the belief, that the three men were
as certainly killed by witchcraft, as that the two were shot
in battle. A new faith must be implanted before the old
beliefs can be eradicated. It gives way only before "the
expulsive power of a new affection." The belief of the
natives in witchcraft is much stronger than was the belief
of our forefathers three centuries ago. We are quite safe
in assuming that the sacred men in the New Hebrides
possess no more supernatural power than did the witches
in Scotland two or three hundred years ago. These sacred
men, however, possess and exercise a tremendous power ; but
it is exercised by working on the superstitious fears of their
fellow-countrymen. A similar power was possessed and
exercised by those who professed to deal in the black arts
in the days of our forefathers ; and in like manner the secret
of their power lay, not in any compact which they had made
with the Evil One, but in the strong superstitious fears of the
age. This is undoubtedly the case in the New Hebrides.
If a native becomes unwell, and if he fancies that he is
bewitched, or if it is known that some sacred man has per-
formed some incantation upon him, no European medicine,
or no treatment that we can give, will cure him he believes
that it may mitigate the disease, or ward off death for a time,
but till the incantation is taken off, either by the person who
laid it on, or by some other person equally powerful in spells,
the sick person believes that he cannot recover ; he has the
sentence of death in himself, and he will as certainly die as
if he had been mortally wounded by a spear, or a bullet, or
22 WITCHCRAFT FROM
any lethal weapon ; hence the sacred man who, by his incan-
tations, works in this way on the superstitious fears of any
of his countrymen, so as to cause his death, is as really a
murderer as the man who shoots him dead with his musket.
To prevent incantation the natives, on some islands at least,
are scrupulously careful, after every meal, to collect every
particle of skin, or rind, or crumb, and either burn them or
cast them into the sea, lest any enemy should get hold of
them, and form some incantation with them, and employ it
to cause sickness or death. As soon as Christianity was
generally professed on Aneityum, the native belief was, that
the sacred men had no longer any power. It was astonishing
how rapidly the superstitious fears of the people were dis-
pelled, and their belief in the natmasses or spirits was not
only shaken, but completely lost. The effect was almost the
same as that which the Christian fathers attributed to the
birth of Christ, or as that which Dr. Blair so eloquently
ascribes to the Saviour's death, when he says, " In that hour,
the foundation of every Pagan temple shook the statue of
every false god tottered on its base the priest fled from the
falling shrine and the heathen oracles became dumb for ever."
But by and by we learned that, while they sincerely believed
that the witchcraft of Aneityum was one of the lost arts,
there was still a partial belief that in fhe heathen islands
around the power of witchcraft remained. When some of our
adventurous young men went to Tanna or Eromanga, they
sometimes brought home material for witchcraft from those
islands, and threatened or attempted, by such ingredients, to
practise witchcraft. Navalak and Paulo, two of our principal
chiefs, came to me one day very angry with two of these
young men, who had returned from Tanna, and who were
A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. 23
threatening to bewitch them, and compass their death by this
means, in revenge for some punishment which they had
inflicted upon them for some offence of which they had been
guilty. They evidently believed that the young men pos-
sessed some power to do them mischief, and wished to have
them punished for their conduct, as being a species of treason-
felony. I strongly condemned the conduct of the young men,
but counselled forbearance, and comforted the chiefs with the
assurance that these threats, or attempts at witchcraft, were
utterly powerless ; that the devil has no power as against God ;
that the Lord has said, " There is no enchantment against
Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel ; " that
Balaam of old had no power to bewitch or curse the children
of Israel; and Satan and his servants have as little power
now to bewitch God's people. They were two good Christian
men, and they believed my words, and went away pacified
and satisfied.
Some ten or twelve years ago a young woman was married
at my station, and, as often happened on such occasions, one
or two young men were greatly disappointed, and hence were
very angry. One of these had been at Eromanga during the
whaling season, and had brought home with him a quantity
of the material used there for incantations, the chief in-
gredient of which was a species of black lead. "With us
marriages were usually performed in the church at the
Wednesday prayer- meeting. After the service was over the
missionary always shook hands with the bride and bride-
groom, his wife followed and did the same, and afterwards
as many of the congregation as wished to do so. On this
occasion one of these disappointed young men went up with
the others, and shook hands with them, and left on the bride's
24 WITCHCRAFT FKOM
hand some of the incantation matter, without her observing
it. It so happened that on that day my wife and I were
going on board the Dayspring, our mission vessel, to visit
some of the other islands, and to be absent for a month.
The vessel was lying in the offing, and we went on board
direct from the church, and knew nothing of what I am
about to relate till our return. The young bride had hardly
left the church, when one of this young man's companions
went up to her, and said, "Did you see what So-and-so did
to you ? " She said, " No." " Look at your hand," said he,
"and see how black it is. You are bewitched." She opened
her hand and looked, and lo, there were the marks of the
black pigment ! She stood transfixed, as if she had been
shot. She felt that she had been bewitched, and was certain
that she would die. She cried all the way home, more than
three miles ; she cried all night, cried all the next day, and
all the next night, would eat nothing, cried till her eyes were
red and her face yellow, till she had all the appearance of one
suffering from jaundice; she was sure she would die, and
most certainly would have died, in spite of all that her friends
could say to make her believe that there was nothing in the
incantation. But it so happened that there was a small party
of Tannese working to a white man, about eight miles distant,
and among these was a sacred man, who was held to be able
to remove the effects of witchcraft. He was sent for, and
when he came, he took a small branch of a tree held to be
sacred on Tanna, dipped it in water, and sprinkled it over
the head of the poor girl, repeating at the same time some
unknown words. The enchantment was held to be taken off,
the young woman's superstitious fears were removed, and in
a short time she was herself again. It has almost invariably
A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. . 25
happened in our mission that when any untoward event
occurred on the one side of the island, another of the same
kind took place on the other side. About three weeks after-
wards there was a marriage at the other station, and a disap-
pointed young man practised the very same trick upon the
young bride, with essentially the same results, which had to
be removed by similar means. We had a good deal of trouble
before we eradicated the belief in this importation of foreign
witchcraft. The wife of one of our principal chiefs was sup-
posed to be bewitched, and, as it was believed, narrowly
escaped with her life; and many of our best and most
intelligent natives were greatly staggered in their belief
about it. When I spoke to them on the subject, they said,
" You know our hearts are weak and dark. We know that
Satan has lost all power to work by witchcraft on this island,
because we have ceased to believe in him and worship him ;
but we thought he might still be able to work by the black
arts belonging to the heathen islands where he is still
worshipped."
There are few subjects on which certain of the would-
be advanced thinkers of this nineteenth century wax more
eloquent than when they are denouncing our forefathers on
the subject of witchcraft. No terms are strong enough for
decrying the ignorance, the bigotry, and the fanaticism of
our ancestors, especially the clergy of those times, on this
subject; so much so, that the belief largely prevails, that
such was the fanaticism of the times, that if a woman was
only poor, and old, and ugly, and perhaps a little better
informed than her neighbours, she was sure to be suspected
of being a witch, would most likely be tried, and very pro-
bably be burned. It may frankly be admitted that the recog-
26 WITCHCRAFT FIIOM
nised witches and wizards of 200 or 300 years ago had no
more supernatural power than the sacred men of the New
Hebrides of the present day ; but the people of those times,
like the savages of our days, were superstitious, and believed
in witchcraft they believed that certain persons possessed
supernatural power to inflict evil, and to cause sickness, death,
or other calamities ; the ancient witchcraft, like the modern,
was always employed for evil, never for good ; the true worship
and service of God produces nothing but good, the worship
and service of the devil is always connected with malignant
purposes. Moreover, certain persons in those times professed
to possess supernatural power, and practised on the super-
stitious fears of the people, just as the sacred men on the
New Hebrides do at the present day, and no doubt they often
caused the death of superstitious people. The two young men
on Aneityum who wrought on the superstitious fears of the
two young women, would as certainly have been murderers,
had those two young women died, as they evidently would
have done had the incantations not been, as they believed,
taken away, as if they had shot them ; at all events they
would have been chargeable with culpable homicide, and on
the heathen islands such things are of frequent occurrence,
and would still be more frequent, were it not that a salutary
fear is inspired by the threats of the chief, the secret machina-
tions of the avenger of blood, and the counter incantations
that can be brought into play by some other sacred man.
Now assuming, as we may safely do, that the witchcraft of 200
or 300 years ago was essentially the same as the witchcraft of
the New Hebrides at the present day, the witches of those
times were not as a class poor, old, innocent women, of the
type of Mause in Ramsay's "Gentle Shepherd," they were
MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. 27
largely a wicked class of men and women, practising on the
superstitious fears of the people for selfish and wicked ends,
and through the influence of those fears bringing on sickness,
or causing death and other evils, and extorting payments or
levying blackmail to avert those calamities ; and they are barely
extinct even yet. At this very hour, amid all the blazing light
of this nineteenth century, with the schoolmaster abroad,
science popularised, the penny newspaper in every man's
hand, knowledge, scriptural and secular, so universally dif-
fused, that the light of the moon is become as the light of the
sun ; yet just now, I happen to know of an old, bold, wicked
woman, who gives her neighbours to understand that her
wishes and her curses are not to be despised, as her words
seldom fall to the ground ; and hence she levies blackmail
over a good part of the district, and she tells her friends that
the highest lady in the parish never refuses her anything that
she asks from her ; and that, not because she loves her, but
because she fears her. What would this beldame not have
done 200 years ago ? Are we therefore to blame very severely
the authorities of those times for inflicting punishment, even
capital punishment, on persons guilty of such crimes, any
more than we should blame the authorities of the present
day when they punish men for threatening to shoot the Queen
or any other person 1 These witches or wizards were no doubt
often murderers, or at least manslayers, just as the sacred men
in the New Hebrides are at the present time, and deserved to
be punished as such ; not because they were in league with
the devil, and possessed power derived from him, but by pro-
fessing to possess such power, and threatening, or affecting, to
exercise it, they were culpable to the extent of the mischief
likely to accrue. Hence, in these circumstances, the burning
28 WITCHCRAFT FROM
of witches was not the absurd, outrageous, indefensible crime
that, tried by our light and in our circumstances, it would
undoubtedly be. It was a rude kind of justice, like a great
deal of the justice of those times. It was society protecting
itself against a formidable and peculiar evil. No doubt many
innocent persons suffered, but they did the same in many other
ways, as the laws were then administerd. Witchcraft does
not now exist, because the elements out of which it grew, viz.,
ignorance and superstition, are removed. In those times
superstition prevailed among all classes. It was found to be
nearly as strong among the upper ten thousand, as among
servant-maids, cottars' wives, well-to-do tradesmen, and wealthy
farmers. Persons of the highest rank were accused of witqh-
craft, as well as poor old women. After the death of King
Edward IV. of England, his mistress, the beautiful Jane
Shore, became attached to Lord Hastings. Their known
partiality to the young princes rendered them obnoxious to
the Duke of Gloucester, who accused them of witchcraft.
On this charge Hastings was beheaded, and Jane Shore was
committed to the Tower. After a mock trial she was ordered
to do penance in St. Paul's -in a Avhite sheet, and was paraded
through the public streets, the Bishop of London heading the
procession. Be it admitted that, while the ostensible charge
against them was one of witchcraft, the real charge sought to
be made out was one of treason. Nevertheless, such was the
superstition of the time, that it was easier to establish a
charge of witchcraft than a charge of treason, and the most
easily proved charge answered the purpose of the tyrant best ;
and the public mind recognised the charge as quite competent.
In Scotland, too, ladies of the highest rank were at times
accused of practising witchcraft, of seeking to compass the
A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. 29
death of royal personages, by incantations and pactions with
Satan ; and, no doubt, traitors at times sought to accomplish
their ends by such means.
The superstition of 200 years ago was almost equal to
anything existing in the South Seas at the present time.
History informs us that before the Revolution, when so many
of the Scottish nobility fled over to Holland, Colin, the young
Earl of Balcarres, was engaged to be married to Maritia de
Nassau, a charming young Dutch lady, a relation of the Prince
of Orange. But when the marriage day came, and the bride
and her party arrived in the church, the bridegroom was not
there ; and when his friends went to seek him, they found
him sitting in his morning gown quite oblivious of his
engagement. As he went out hastily, he forgot the ring in
his writing-case, a friend in the company gave him one, the
ceremony went on, and, without looking at the ring, he placed
it on the finger of the fair young bride. When the ceremony
was over, the bride happened to look at the ring, and, to her
horror, she discovered that it was a mourning one, with a
death's-head and cross-bones on it ; and the belief then was,
that any woman married with a mourning ring would die
within a year. On seeing the ring the young lady fainted,
being fully impressed with the belief that she would die within
a twelvemonth ; and in spite of all that could be said or done
to her, she pined away and died before the year was out.
Imagination kills, and imagination cures. Now, if such was
the power of superstition at that time in the most enlightened
court in Europe, more than 150 years after the Reformation,
what must it have been among the people in general ? What
ample material must have existed for producing witchcraft !
Under the Mosaic Law witchcraft was regarded as a sin
30 WITCHCRAFT FROM
against God, it was a worshipping of the devil, a breaking of the
first, second and third commandments. It was idolatry ; and
no sin was so heinous, or so displeasing to God, or so severely
punished, as idolatry; it was, as I have said, treason under
the Theocracy. In the days of our forefathers it was as a crime
against man, rather than as a sin against God, that witchcraft
was held to be punishable. It was the crime of men in
compact with the devil, or using incantations for malignant
purposes ; it was the use of the black arts for the perpetration
of black deeds, for destroying life and property. The persons
who professed these arts, or claimed these powers, in those
times were regarded by the authorities very much as we at
present regard men who are found to have dynamite or other
dangerous substances in their possession, and for which they
cannot give a satisfactory account. This is the view that is
taken of witchcraft by the heathen in the New Hebrides and
elsewhere at the present time ; it is a crime imperilling the
safety of society.
There is this marked difference between the views of our
forefathers and those held in modern times. They looked
upon the danger as lying in the power possessed by those who
had the knowledge of secret incantations, and exercised that
knowledge for evil purposes. Modern theology and modern
science have successfully proved that the danger lies wholly in
the superstitious fears of those against whom these arts are
practised. If they have no superstitious fears the incantations
are perfectly harmless. If they are possessed with superstitious
fears, like the natives of the New Hebrides, the likelihood
is that the incantation will be injurious, probably fatal. In-
cantations are like certain diseases, or certain states of the
atmosphere, that have no effect upon healthy constitutions,
A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. 31
but are injurious or fatal to those whose constitutions are
weak ; with this important difference, that, in the case of
those diseases, the state of the body is the chief, but not the
sole, cause of their taking effect or not ; but in the case of witch-
craft it is the imagination alone that kills or saves. Bryant
and May's safety matches will not ignite unless you strike them
against the prepared portion of the box; so those incantations
were powerless, except when they were practised upon people
filled with superstitious fears ; but on such the results were
more or less fatal or injurious. They are powerless with us ;
because the superstitious fears are awanting. It is Bryant
and May's matches without the prepared box ; they will not
ignite. Our forefathers believed that there was a positive,
supernatural, Satanic power possessed by the sorcerer, and
exercised by him through his incantations; they took no
account of the superstitious fear. On the other hand we
know that the case is reversed. But, nevertheless, although
they acted ignorantly in punishing those who profess to
practise witchcraft, in order that they might protect society,
the punishments which they inflicted, no doubt, restrained the
evil to a great extent, and tended to the protection of life and
property. But, in these completely altered times of ours, it is
as unjust to blame our forefathers for the burning of witches,
as it would be to blame them for inflicting capital punish-
ment for twenty other crimes, for all of which the penalty
is now removed from the criminal list, and blotted out of the
statute-book.
It is admitted on all hands, that in the ancient systems of
witchcraft, whether in Greece and Rome, in Egypt or in the
far east, as well as among our forefathers, imposture, as well
as superstition, came largely into play. It is so in the New
32 WITCHCRAFT FROM
Hebrides and elsewhere. The sacred men are cunning as
well as superstitious, impostors as well as wizards. I knew a
Maori priest in New Zealand who used to go to the missionary
for medicine for a sick man ; this he carefully administered
till the patient was nearly well ; he then removed him to a
sacred enclosure, took a branch from a consecrated tree,
dipped it in holy water, and with the water sprinkled the
man's head, pronouncing over him certain cabalistic words.
He then declared him healed, and the man brought him a
large present for the cure.
On some islands in the New Hebrides when a native is
attacked with acute rheumatic or other pains, it is supposed
that an evil spirit has entered into him, and is tormenting
him. A sacred man, whose office it is to exorcise spirits, is
sent for. On his arrival he examines the man, and causes
him to lie down on a mat with his face to the ground ; he
performs various incantations over him, sings certain songs,
and repeats certain prayers. He then rubs him, and sham-
poos him, and applies heated stones to the most painful
parts; then he takes a sacred leaf, gesticulates with it, and
calls upon the spirit to come out of the man ; then draws his
hand across the man's shoulder, lifts it up, opens it in pre-
sence of the assembled people, and there is the spirit in the
form of a live lizard, which had been concealed in the leaf !
If the patient speedily recovers, a large pig is sent as pay-
ment for the cure; if no improvement takes place, some
excuse is easily invented to cover the failure.
There is one important difference between the witchcraft
of the Bible, the witchcraft of this country in former times,
and the witchcraft of the New Hebrides. In Bible times
women, as well as men, practised sorcery and used enchant-
A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. 33
merits. In this country it was chiefly women, and those
poor old women, who were credited with these supernatural
powers. But in the New Hebrides these powers belong
exclusively to the men. When we went to Aneityum there
was one young woman who was regarded as a kind of vestal
virgin, and who performed some ceremonies at feasts, but
she was not recognised as having any power to cause sickness
or death. There was plenty of dancing on Aneityum in
heathen times; they danced nine months in the year; but
a "dance o' witches" was a thing that the wildest poetic
fancy would never have dreamed of. Of no woman in the
New Hebrides could it ever have been said, as of Tarn o'
Shanter's Nannie
' ' For mony a beast to dead she shot,
And perished mony a bonnie boat,
And shook baith meikle corn and bere,
And kept the country-side in fear."
In the islands it is the men, and the important men only,
who are believed to possess supernatural power, and direct
supernatural operations : according to the popular belief it is
those only who are in league with the devil ; who bring on
diseases and cause death ; who raise epidemics and send forth
the pestilence ; who shake the earth, convulse the sea, and
agitate the air; who cause the thunders to roar, and the
forked lightnings to issue from the clouds; who raise the
tempests, and command the hurricanes that spread desolation
over sea and land. Hence it is some man like Balaam, and
not a woman like the Witch of Endor, who is consulted and
called in to curse enemies, or tell the fate of battles; it
is some man like Manasseh, and not a woman like Jezebel,
who uses enchantments, practises witchcraft, and deals with
34 WITCHCRAFT FROM
familiar spirits; it is some man like Simon Magus, and not
a woman like the Pythoness of Philippi, who bewitches the
people and secures gain by soothsaying; they are some men
like Jannes and Jambres, and not simply the wise women, who
withstand the missionaries and counteract their efforts ; it is
some men like Elymas the Sorcerer, and not some women like
Herodias and Salome, who turn away the deputies or the
chiefs from the faith, and cease not to pervert the right ways
of the Lord. With them men are everything, women are
nothing. It shows the position long assigned to women in
this country, when they are credited with the power of the
supernatural. In those heathen isles they have no such
position assigned to them. There is no woman in those
islands, whether young or old, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly,
that is eligible to be a witch !
With a certain class of people it was believed that the
inhabitants of those islands, at least when the islands were
discovered, were living in a state of Arcadian simplicity ; that
those children of nature were the happiest beings on earth ;
that their lives were innocent as those of childhood ; with few
wants, and those amply supplied by the bounties of providence ;
and that they were objects of envy, but not of pity. This is
a very great mistake. Our greatest blessings when perverted
become our greatest curses. True religion is the greatest
blessing that is enjoyed by man, the source of his highest
happiness ; but false religion is one of the greatest curses to
which he can be exposed, the source of his greatest misery.
Perhaps the worst element in the heathenism of the New
Hebrides is the system of witchcraft that exists among them.
It is a fearful bondage. It keeps the people under something
like a reign of terror. According to the popular creed, earth,
A MISSIONARY POINT OF VIEW. 35
and air, and ocean, are teeming with spirits, all of them
malignant they have no beneficent deities, and the sacred
men are supposed to have full power over all the malignity of
the unseen world, and can direct it against whomsoever they
may think fit. Hence every one lives more or less in terror.
When Christianity was universally accepted on Aneityum, and
the power of the sacred men had ceased, as it certainly did
cease, the change to the people was marvellous. Men breathed
a different atmosphere. They all felt, if not the highest form
of liberty, the truly spiritual, at least a foretaste of this liberty.
In a very palpable sense they were all brought out of darkness
into light j and from the power of Satan unto God ; from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of God's chil-
dren. On this account Christianity, as drawn directly from
the Bible, is the greatest gift that can be conferred upon them,
the choicest blessing they can possibly receive.
CHAPTER V.
GIDEON'S SOLDIERS LAPPING WATER AS A DOG LAPPETII.
" So he brought down the -people unto the water : and the Lord said
unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a
dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself ; likewise every one that
boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that
lapped putting their hand to their mouth were three hundred men :
but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink
water." JUDGES vii. 5, 6.
I NEVER understood these two verses till I went to Aneityum.
In this country we never lap water like a dog ; and when we
put our hand to our mouth, we make a cup of the palm of our
hand, and drink as if it were out of a small cup, in no way
resembling the lapping of a dog : but these men lapped not
with their tongue like a dog, but putting their hand to their
mouth. However, shortly after I went to Aneityum I saw
what appeared to me to give a satisfactory solution of the
difficulty. I was standing one day by the side of a stream
where it was crossed by a path : a native came hurrying along,
but he stopped to drink ; he did not, however, bow down
upon his knees as most people do among us, who wish to drink
heartily, nor did he lift the water to his mouth with his hand
formed cup-like as we do ; but he stooped till his head was
within eighteen inches or so of the water; then he began to
throw up the water into his mouth with his hand as fast as a
dog could lap ; and he looked, as near as might be, like
a dog lapping. I said at once to myself, that is the way
GIDEONS SOLDIERS. 37
Gideon's soldiers lapped. I had an opportunity scores of
times afterwards, of seeing the natives drink in the same
way ; and I observed that, as a general rule, it was the strong,
the vigorous, and the energetic who drank water in this way ;
never the feeble, the lazy, or the easy-going ; and the inference
that I drew respecting God's intentions towards Gideon and
his army was this. The Lord wished to select the very best
men in that army, and with them to accomplish the deliver-
ance of Israel. Moreover, this selection was to be made in
such a way, that those not chosen could have no ground of
offence against Gideon, and hence could not be thrown into
antagonism. The proclamation to depart before day of all
who were fearful and afraid, relieved the army of 22,000
faint-hearted soldiers, leaving 10,000 men, presumably all
mighty men of valour. But the Lord said that these were
still too many for His purpose, and another test was named.
The men were all to be taken to the water, and according to
their mode of drinking they were to be divided. The Well
of Harod was at hand, " gushing from the rocks which form
the basis of Mount Gilboa." "It supplies a pool of clear
water," says Canon Tristram, " fifty feet in diameter, and at
this pool there is room for a large number to drink together."
Here, then, Gideon must have tested his men. All the 10,000
except 300 bowed down upon their knees to drink. But the
300 lapped like a dog, putting their hand to their mouth.
The Lord promised to Gideon that by those 300 He would
deliver Israel. And, judging from what I have seen on
Aneityum, I would infer that they were the very elite of the
whole army, for courage, strength, activity, coolness, and the
power of endurance ; men who knew not the meaning of fear,
and were totally ignorant of faint-heartedness ; men who
38 .GIDEON'S SOLDIERS.
possessed in the highest degree every soldier-like qualification ;
men like the Gadites that joined David when he was in the
hold, who could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were
like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the
mountains, and of whom it might be said, as David sung of
Saul and Jonathan, "they were swifter than eagles, they
were stronger than lions."
While God was delivering Israel miraculously, the task He
had appointed for these 300 men required special qualifica-
tions ; hence there was nothing arbitrary in this apparently
simple mode of selecting the valiant 300 ; it was a means,
though never employed, so far as we know, either before or
since, that fully secured the end. By a principle of natural
selection, which man would never have thought of, it secured
the survival of the fittest. It was only men after the type
of David's mighties that could have accomplished the work
they were called upon to perform. When the three com-
panies surrounded the camp, broke their pitchers, held
their lamps, blew their trumpets, and cried, " The sword of
the Lord and of Gideon," it was needful that their voices
should be like the voices of lions, to strike terror into the
hearts of their enemies ; and when, hungry and weary, they
went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on the coast
of Nobah and Jogbehah, and smote the host of 15,000 men
in Karkor, when the host was secure, it was necessary that,
like Asahel, they should be light of foot as a wild roe ; hence
their appearance was unexpected and terrific, and their
enemies fled; and when they tore the flesh of the princes
of Succoth with the thorns of the wilderness, and rased to
its foundation the tower of Penuel, in which the nobles
trusted, they were found in all these cases to be men of such
LAPPING WATER AS A DOG LAPPETH. 39
powers, that, according to God's promise, five of them could
chase a hundred, and a hundred of them could put ten
thousand to flight, for they were God's elect, and filled with
His Spirit.
Since writing the above I observe that Dr. Kitto, in his
note on this passage in his Pictorial Bible, has observed the
same practice in the East. His remarks are so much to the
point that I cannot do better than quote them. He says :
"These two modes of action have been differently understood,
and the first (the lapping) in particular has been the subject
of various interpretations. The dog drinks by shaping the
end of his long thin tongue into the form of a spoon, which
it rapidly introduces into, and withdraws from, the water,
throwing each time a spoonful of the fluid into his mouth.
The tongue of man is not adapted to this use, and it is physi-
cally impossible for a man, therefore, to lap, literally, as a
dog laps. The true explanation, probably, is that these men,
instead of kneeling down to take a long draught, or successive
draughts, from the water, employed their hands as the dog
employs its tongue that is, forming it into a hollow spoon,
and dipping water with it from the stream. We have often
seen it done, and the comparison to the lapping of a dog
spontaneously occurred to our mind. Practice gives a peculiar
tact in this mode of drinking, and the interchange of the hand
between the water and the mouth is so rapidly managed as
to be comparable to that of the dog's tongue in similar circum-
stances. Besides, the water is not usually sucked out of the
hand into the mouth, but, by a peculiar knack, is jerked into
the mouth before the hand is brought close to it, so that the
hand is approaching with a fresh supply almost before the
preceding has been swallowed ; this is another resemblance
4O GIDEONS SOLDIEES.
to the action of a dog's tongue. When travelling with small
caravans, we have had opportunities of seeing both processes."
He then shows that those knelt down to drink who had
plenty of time, but that those to whom time was an object
lapped like a dog; and concludes by saying, " This explana-
tion may help to show how the distinction operated, and why
those who 'lapped, putting their hand to their mouth,' were
considered to evince an alacrity and readiness for action
which peculiarly fitted them for the service on which Gideon
was engaged."
Thus both the Antipodes and the Orient supply testimony
as to the minute accuracy of the Scripture narrative; so
that by the mouth of at least two witnesses every word of the
Bible may be established.
CHAPTER VI.
SHIBBOLETH VEESUS SIBBOLETH.
" And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraim-
ites : and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped
said, Let me go over ; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou
an Ephraimite ? If he said, Nay ; then said they unto him, Say now
Shibboleth ; and he said, Sibboleth : for he could not frame to pronounce
it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan."
JUDGES xii. 5, 6.
THE Gileadites, a portion of the half-tribe of Manasseh, had
lived for 300 years on the east side of the Jordan, and had
retained, as far as the sound of this word was concerned, the
original Hebrew pronunciation ; but the Ephraimites, living
for the same length of time on the west side of the river, had
lost entirely the old original sound, and had adopted a softer,
smoother pronunciation. In all living languages changes of
this kind are continually going on. The Gileadites were a
pastoral people, inhabiting a mountainous country, and living
remote from cities : hence their language would be the Doric
of Israel, and they would retain the strong primitive pro-
nunciation. The Ephraimites lived in the very centre of
Canaan, and, next to the tribe of Judah, were the leading tribe
in Israel. And up to this time the ark, the one central altar,-
and the tabernacle were at Shiloh, within the boundaries of the
tribe of Ephraim. This city was the residence of the leading
priests ; it was the leading centre of religion, literature, and
42 SHIBBOLETH VERSUS SIBBOLETH.
civilization : hence the Ephraimites would naturally take a
first place for refinement in speech and manners, and thus
the stronger and rougher sound would become softer and more
mellifluous sh would become s; the letter shin would
become samech. This would be the new and fashionable
pronunciation; and it had become adopted by the whole
tribe. The word Shibboleth means, first, an ear of corn, and
next, a river. The crossing of the river would soon lead to the
use of the word by the Ephraimites ; the Gileadites would
soon observe their pronunciation of the word, and thus
secure an easy test for discovering their enemies. The
Ephraimites, not knowing the Gileadite pronunciation, and
not suspecting the use to be made of their answer, would
easily fall into the trap thus laid for them. Sh is such a
common sound with us, we have from 300 to 400 words in
the English language commencing with sh, to say nothing
of its frequent occurrences in the middle and end of words ;
and with our organs of speech the sound is so easily pronounced
that we can hardly understand how any difficulty can be felt
in its pronunciation. But I may remark that sh is not a
common sound. So far as is known to me, the sound of sh is
found in no language spoken in the South Seas. Certainly it is
found in none of the dialects of the Malay- Polynesian language.
It is not found in the Maori, the Samoan, the Tongan, the Raro-
tongan, the Tahitian, nor the Hawaiian. It is not in the Fijian
language, it is not in the Aneityumese ; and, so far as I have
observed, it is not found in any other of the Papuan languages.
Dr. Kitto observes that sh is a very difficult sound to acquire
by those who have not learned it in childhood ; and hence the
Ephraimites were unable to pronounce it, and evasion or
escape from this test became impossible. We found this the
SHIBBOLETH VERSUS S1BBOLETH. 43
case on Aneityum. The sound of sk is not found in the
language; and the natives did not seem capable of acquiring the
power to pronounce it. They never could pronounce English
words containing this sound. The nearest they could come to
shirt, ship, sheep, sheet, &c., was sirt, sip, seep, and seet. So
that had the Aneityumese been with the Ephraimites on that
memorable day, every one of them would have been slain at
the fords of the Jordan ; for not one of them could have said
Shibboleth, every one of them would have said Sibboleth.
But we have a parallel case among ourselves. No English-
man can pronounce ch and gh as they are pronounced in
Scotland. Ask an Englishman to say loch, and he says lolc.
Ask him to say Waugh, and he says Wa ; or ask him to say
Gouyli, and he says Goff.
But this process of change, such as that which took place
among the Ephraimites we see going on daily under our own
eyes in the South Sea Islands. As I have said the Malay-
Polynesians have not sh ; but except in one principal group,
viz., that of Samoa, and two or three small groups, they have
not even s. In all the other groups they use h instead of s ;
thus tasi, one, in Samoan, becomes tahi, one, in Maori, and soa,
a friend, becomes hoa. And not only do they use the h
instead of the s, but they cannot pronounce s; the nearest
that a Maori can come to sixpence, is to say Jiikapene. And
in the early stages of the New Zealand colony, one of the
common jokes played upon the Maories by waggish paltelias,
or white people, was to offer a native a tempting reward, if
he would say, split a sixpence ; and then to laugh at him
in his hopeless attempts to pronounce the sentence. The
Gileadites could not have devised a surer test to discover
an Ephraimite than by asking him to say Shibboleth ; for
44 SHIBBOLETH VERSUS SIBBOLETH.
it was a physical impossibility for him to do so. The
narrative is not a myth or a fiction, it is true to the first
principles of language.
For three hundred years we have adopted Shibboleth as an
English word, equivalent to test. And every party, both
political and religious, has had its Shibboleth; its party
test; some word or formula which expressed its distinctive
principle, and hence every man who had the courage of his
convictions and could not in conscience pronounce this Shib-
boleth, was according to the temper of the times, deprived of
office, or place, or emolument, or privilege, or liberty, or life
itself. Its operation has been good when it excluded the
evil ; but the reverse, as has often been the case, when it cut
off the good.
CHAPTER VII.
SAMSON AND THE FOXES AND FIREBRANDS, ETC.
"But it came to pass within a while after, in the time of wheat har-
vest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid ; and he said, I will go in
to my wife into the chamber : but her father would not suffer him to
go in. And her father said, I verily thought that thou hadst utterly
hated her ; therefore I gave her to thy companion : is not her younger
sister fairer than she ? take her, I pray thee, instead of her. And
Samson said concerning them, Now shall I be more blameless than the
Philistines, though I do them a displeasure. And Samson went and
caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail,
and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails. And when he had
set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing corn of the
Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks, and also the standing corn,
with the vineyards and olives. Then the Philistines said, Who hath
done this ? And they answered, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,
because he had taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And
the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire."
JUDGES xv. 1-6.
" So Absalom dwelt two full years in Jerusalem, and saw not the
king's face. Therefore Absalom sent for Joab, to have sent him to the
king ; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the
second time, he would not come. Therefore he said unto his servants,
See, Joab's field is near mine, and he hath barley there ; go and set it
on fire. And Absalom's servants set the field on fire. Then Joab arose,
and came to Absalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore
have thy servants set my field on fire ? And Absalom answered Joab,
Behold, I sent unto thee, saying, Come hither, that I may send thee to
the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur ? it had been good
for me to have been there still : now therefore let me see the king's
face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me. So Joab
came to the king, and told him." 2 SAMUEL xiv. 28-33.
"And when he (the Levite) was come into his house, he took a knife,
and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her
46 SAMSON AND
bones, into twelve pieces, and sent her into all the coasts of Israel.
And it was so, that all that saw it said, There was no such deed done
nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the
land of Egypt unto this day : consider of it, take advice, and speak
your minds. Then all the children of Israel went out and gathered as
one man unto the Lord in Mizpeh, four hundred thousand footmen.
Then said the children of Israel, Tell us, how was this wickedness?
And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was slain, answered
and said, I came into Gibeah that belongeth to Benjamin, I and my
concubine, to lodge. And the men of Gibeah rose against me, and
beset the house round about me by night, and thought to have slain
me; and my concubine have they forced, that she is dead. And I
took my concubine, and cut her in pieces, and sent her throughout all
the country of the inheritance of Israel; for they have committed
lewdness and folly in Israel. Behold, ye are all the children of Israel ;
give here your advice and counsel. JUDGES xix. 29, 30, and xx. 1-7.
" And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings,
and his anger was kindled greatly. And he took a yoke of oxen, and
hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of
Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth
after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And
the fear of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out with one
consent. And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel
were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand."
i SAMUEL xi. 6-8.
WHEN Samson's father-in-law had taken his wife and given
her to another man, Samson did not remonstrate with him,
or threaten him with legal proceedings. Neither did he go
to the judge at Timnath, and cry, like the importunate widow,
Avenge me of mine adversary. Such a course he no doubt
regarded as unavailing. Neither did he, like the Strome Ferry
rioters of our own time, violate the human law in order to
vindicate the divine. In seeking redress he kept strictly
within constitutional lines, within use and wont, within the
law of the land. Hence when, on a beautiful harvest morn-
ing, the Philistines looked out and saw nothing for miles
around but one unbroken conflagration, fields of wheat, vine-
THE FOXES AND FIREBRANDS, ETC. 47
yards, and olive-yards all crackling and blazing, or black,
charred, and reduced to ashes, and when to the inquiry,
Who hath done this ? the answer was returned, Samson, the
son-in-law of the Timnite, because he had taken his wife and
given her to his companion, the authorities did not do as
ours would have done, send out a strong body of police to
apprehend and imprison the incendiary, they found no fault
with Samson. But when the elders of the land met and took
their seats in the gate of Timnath, they agreed unanimously,
and at once, that the Timnite and his daughter should suffer
for Samson's crime. And the punishment was summary, for
before night, after the manner of the Philistines, they were
both burned with fire.
A hundred and twenty-five years afterwards we find
Absalom acting on the same principle towards Joab. Once
and again Absalom sends a messenger to Joab, asking Joab
to visit him. But Joab, on the way back from Geshur, had
evidently discovered the character, principles, and aims of
Absalom, and had therefore no wish to introduce him to the
court, that with David's other sons he should be a chief
ruler; and hence refused to visit Absalom. Upon this
Absalom does not write him a letter of remonstrance, or
call upon himself, as we might have done, and reproach him
for want of friendship or courtesy ; but he at once sends his
servants to burn Joab's field of barley; and this brought to
him the commander-in-chief, and secured the interview which
he so much desired, and Joab accepted his explanation as to
the burning of the barley.
Now this is not our way of doing things ; but such things
as these are common occurrences on Aneityum ; they are
part of the common law of the land, a necessary part of their
48 SAMSON AND
criminal and ordinary jurisprudence. If a native finds him-
self aggrieved, lie does not go to the offender and expostulate
with him, nor does he go to the chief and lodge an information
against the offender, but he goes and commits some injury on
some one's property, either on the offender's or on somebody's
else, as the case may be, in order to arouse public attention,
and to lead people to inquire, Who has done this ? and for
what purpose has it been done 1 In this way publicity is
given to the grievance, and public sympathy is secured for
the aggrieved ; the evil is redressed, and the aggrieved man
is satisfied. Had the injured man complained to the chief,
his complaint might have been neglected. But when public
opinion is brought to bear strongly on a grievance, redress
is almost sure to follow. The natives resort now and again
to this mode of redress in all matters, from the most trifling
to the most important. On one occasion I found a fine bunch
of bananas cut down in my garden, and left lying on the
ground, not stolen. On inquiring who had done this, I found
that it had been done by a young lad who had once lived on
our premises. When I sent for him he never denied the
deed ; and when I asked him why he had done this " I did
it," he said, " because So-and-so " two lads living with us
" had said so-and-so about me, which was not true, and so broke
my heart; and I did this that you might ask me about it,
and reprove them." But I said, "Why did not you come to
me and tell me about it yourself ? " " Oh," said he, " tup
netho unyima nigki " this is our custom this is our way of
doing things.
On another occasion the proprietor of a whaling establish-
ment sent me a letter, telling me that N , a native who
lived about a mile from my station, had stolen a musket from
THE FOXES AND FIREBRANDS, ETC. 49
a white man in his employment, and asking me to assist him
in recovering it. I sent for the man, and inquired about
the stealing of the musket. He never denied the theft ; yea,
he seemed rather desirous that publicity should be given to
the fact. When I asked him why he had stolen the musket, he
frankly said : " You know that last year I had charge of one
of the whale-boats ; but this year Mr. So-and-so has taken it
from me, and given it to another man, which was not fair to
me. It broke my heart ; I was angry, and I stole the musket,
that they might send after me and inquire, and then I could
tell how badly I had been used." The musket was returned,
but the object was gained. The community were thus made
aware of 1ST 's grievances; public opinion was freely
expressed in his favour, and the young man's heart was
relieved and comforted.
On another occasion one of our very best natives, who had
been living, both he and his wife, for a long time on our
premises, supplied another example of this custom. He had
been acting as cook, and his wife as housemaid. He had
given great satisfaction ; but all at once he began to act very
strangely. My wife could not comprehend him ; her patience
became quite worn out with him ; and one day she said to me,
" I do wish you would speak to So-and-so. I do not know what
is come over him of late, he acts so strangely. He never
actually refuses to do what I bid him, but he turns his back
to me when I speak to him, and scarcely ever gives me a civil
answer; and this morning, while his wife was passing the
kitchen door, he threw a stone at her, and struck her on the
head. It looks to me as if he were going out of his mind." I
then took the native into my study, and asked him what the
meaning of this conduct was, so different from all his past
50 SAMSON AND
conduct. "Oh," said he, "I wanted you to ask me. You
know that I have been a long time about this house, and I am
anxious for a change. I would like if you would appoint me to
be a teacher somewhere." I said, "If that is all there will be
no difficulty. If you go on with your work here, and wait for
three months, till I am changing the teachers, I will then
appoint you to a school. But," said I, "why did you not
come and tell me that you wanted a change ? " " Oh, this is
our way of doing things," he said " Ek atimi imtita atimi
ainyak " " I am a very timid man, and I did not like to speak ;
but I did these things that you might ask me." He resumed
his work, and gave us entire satisfaction, and at the end of
three months I appointed him to be a teacher.
I have known a man, whose wife had proved unfaithful to him,
actually go and live with some worthless woman, not from any
love of the woman, but simply to call public attention to the
conduct of his own wife, and to evoke public sympathy for
himself in connection with his domestic troubles.
After we found out this custom we had no difficulties with
the natives about it. In the first years of the mission we
were often puzzled with the conduct of natives; they were
sullen, and wayward, and troublesome, and we knew not what
was the matter with them ; but after we discovered the
existence of this custom, when any native began to act in any
strange sort of way, especially if he was living on or near the
mission premises, I at once took him into my study, and asked
him, in as kindly a tone as possible, as to who or what had
broken his heart. Sometimes he would own to nothing, and
then I talked seriously, but not angrily, to him for acting
thus, and generally with good results ; but if it was owing to
something that somebody had said or done, the grievance was
THE FOXES AND FIREBRANDS, ETC. 51
inquired into, the injured man was satisfied, and the matter
ended.
In a rude or corrupt state of society, where judges have
little fear of God, and little regard for man ; where the strong
arm of the law and the firm hand of justice can be put into
motion only with extreme difficulty; when it requires a
strong expression of public opinion, and an open display of
public sympathy, before the redress of any serious grievance
can be obtained, this mode of proceeding has many obvious
advantages ; and no doubt was resorted to on that account,
though not for a moment to be thought of in a country like
ours. Had Samson laid his grievance before any one of the
Lords of the Philistines, it is doubtful if the slightest atten-
tion would have been paid to his complaint. "A family
squabble," he would have said; "go and settle it among
yourselves." But when a whole country-side rose up burning
with anger to inquire into the cause of this incendiarism, the
Lords of the Philistines were suddenly aroused to a sense
of their danger, and retribution swift and terrible overtook
the delinquents. Joab's political sagacity discovered the
danger to the state that lurked in the fair face, the smooth
tongue, and the comely person of Absalom, and his aim was
to keep him from the court as long as possible; hence
Absalom might have sent twenty messengers to Joab instead
of two, without securing a visit from him. But when all
Jerusalem knew that Absalom's servants had burnt Joab's
field of barley, it was at once known that Absalom had some
serious grievance against Joab, and the cautious statesman
found that his Fabian tactics, his masterly inactivity, his do
nothing policy, would no longer serve his purpose, that at
whatever hazard he must visit the irrepressible and popular
52 SAMSON AND
prince. The Levite might have gone to Shiloh and repre-
sented his wrong, both to Phinehas and to the whole college
of priests, but no redress would have been given him ; the
arm of justice was weak. There was not only no king, but
no judge in Israel at that time. Joshua was dead, and
Othniel had not been called to office. But when the mes-
sengers went through all the twelve tribes of Israel, and
exhibited the mangled fragments of the Levite's concubine
to the elders of every city as they sat in the gate, a universal
shudder was felt ; they all knew that some terrible crime had
been committed, and the Israelites, from Dan to Beersheba,
came up as one man to Mizpeh. It was on lines of policy
similar to this that Saul acted when he slew the yoke of oxen,
hewed them in pieces, and sent them through all the coasts
of Israel ; the people recognised under this action the terrible
danger to which the nation was exposed, and a unanimous
and instant response was given to the summons sent to them in
the name of Samuel and of Saul. The Midlothian Campaign
of Mr. Gladstone, in 1880, which overturned the Beaconsfield
government, was as nothing compared with the action of the
Levite and of the newly anointed king : the oratory of Glad-
stone, in its effects, was like the striking of a lucifer match ;
the actions of these two men, in their results, were like
explosions of dynamite.
But some may say that the cases I have adduced from the
customs on Aneityum are trifling compared with those I have
referred to in the Bible. This is quite true. But then the
same laws, that regulate the form and movements of a drop
of water, operate equally on the whole ocean. Such cases as
those I have selected from the Bible could not occur on
Aneityum; the people are too few, and the time I have
THE FOXES AND FIREBRANDS, ETC. 53
referred to, only a quarter of a century, is too short, whereas
from the time of the Levite till that of Joab and Absalom
was a period of nearly 500 years. While the cases recorded
in the sacred narrative were typical as regarded the customs,
they were exceptional in degree, and not of everyday occur-
rence. It was not every night that the wife of a stranger,
a Levite, a minister of the sanctuary, on his way to the
house of God, was forcibly taken from him, abused, and mur-
dered, in the public streets of one of the principal cities of
Israel while the elders took no notice of the crime. It was
not every day that a judge of Israel, of the type of Samson,
impulsive and irrepressible, had his newly married wife taken
from him and given to another man, while the authorities
never once inquired into the case. It was not every day,
when a king had been newly anointed over God's people,
that the king of Ammon laid siege to one of their principal
cities, and through the elders of that city sent a reproachful
taunt to all Israel. And it was not every day that there was
a rupture between the favourite son of the king and the
commander of all the forces of Israel. But it is only such
cases as these that are put in record by the sacred writers.
The custom, however, was no doubt in constant existence, and
minor cases of it would be of daily occurrence. Human
nature is the same in all ages; like causes produce like
effects; and like states of society will produce similar cus-
toms. The Bible is true to the principles of human nature ;
hence the most unlikely events, and the most incredible-
like statements, recorded in sacred history, can be paralleled
in the most unexpected quarters at the present day.
CHAPTER VIII.
MICAH'S MOTHER CURSING.
" And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that
were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also
in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me ; I took it. And his mother
said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son." JUDGES xvii. i, 2.
THIS case of cursing is unique. So far as we remember no
other case of the kind is recorded in the Bible. But yet at
the end of 3300 years we find the very same practice existing
in the New Hebrides.
On one occasion my wife and I were on a visit to Mr. and
Mrs. Copeland, on Futuna, an island fifty miles north-east
of Aneityum. One morning at daylight we were awakened
by a tremendous shouting noise outside the mission premises,
and looking out we saw an elderly woman screaming at the
top of her voice, in the most angry tones. As the Futuna
language is totally different from the language spoken on
Aneityum, we did not understand what the woman was say-
ing ; we only heard that she was loud, angry, and terribly
in earnest. However, when we met our friends at breakfast,
for the sake of health always the first thing attended to in
the mission families on the islands, we learned that all this
excitement had been caused by some stealing during the night.
Some property had been taken, as Micah euphoniously ex-
pressed it in his mother's case, out of the woman's house
MICAH'S MOTHER CURSING. 55
during the night, and as soon as she discovered her loss, as
the custom is on Futuna, she proclaimed it by cursing. With
all the power of voice that she could command, she was curs-
ing the thief; imploring every one of the Futuna gods to
pour down their most awful judgments on the head of the
poor culprit ; that so the offender, fearing the awful curses,
might restore the stolen goods. Ignorant and superstitious
people fear nothing so much as curses and imprecations of
this kind. In former times in this country, it was the fear
that their imprecations would be followed by judgments, that
gave reputed witches such power in levying blackmail, or in
securing good presents. In this case the woman cried loud
that they might hear her, and with intense earnestness that
they might fear her ; and she was successful, for before our
breakfast was over the stolen property was restored. The
scene was now totally changed, anger gave way to joy ; the
crime of stealing was entirely overlooked, and the warmest
blessings were invoked upon the head of the thief, because
the stolen property was returned. We have no such custom
as this on Aneityum ; but then the Aneityumese are Papuans,
descendants of Ham; whereas the Futunese are Malays,
descendants of Shem, the same as the Israelites. Micah's
mother had evidently acted very much as they do on Futuna.
One morning when she rose, she found that the chest con-
taining her treasure had been broken open, and the bags
containing her 1 1 oo shekels of silver had been taken away.
An old divine says that " outward losses drive good people to
their prayers, but bad people to their curses." This is the
effect, as we see, among the heathen on Futuna, and Micah's
mother had strong heathen proclivities, she was like old clothes
tainted with the plague ; as good old Bishop Hall says of
56 MICAH'S MOTHER CURSING.
her, " After all lier airing in the desert, she will still smell
of Egypt." So as soon as she discovers her loss, the curse
and not the prayer rises to her lips. So hastening to the
door, and lifting up her voice to its highest pitch, she awakens
the whole household. Micah starts from his bed, and her
words ring in his ears till both of them tingle, as she pours
forth against the unknown thief a string of maledictions, as
terrible as those contained in the 27th chapter of Deuteronomy.
Micah hearing those dreadful curses, and knowing his guilt,
was struck with more than superstitious fear, for his con-
science bore witness against him, and, dreading lest some
terrible judgment from God should overtake him, he went to
his mother and confessed the crime, and told her that the
eleven hundred shekels of silver, about which she had uttered
those dreadful curses, were with him, and that he would
restore them. The poor woman, like her sister on JFutuna,
as much overcome with joy as she had been carried away
with anger, pours forth her benedictions upon her son, utterly
forgetful of the theft, and thinking only of the restitution ;
and, as if afraid that her curses would take effect, she hastens
to intercept them, and says, " Blessed be thou of Jehovah,
my son." Some commentators think that Micah's mother
adjured her son, or put him to his oath about the money,
and thus extorted the confession from him; but as appears
to us, the custom on Futuna affords a much more natural
explanation. Thus in a rocky islet, " far amid the melan-
choly main," comes forth a witness for the historic truth and
accuracy of the Old Testament Scriptures. Even there " the
tenants of the rock, in accents rude," all unconsciously, bear
testimony to the truth of the inspired Record. Do they not
deserve the Bible in return for such a service ?
CHAPTER IX.
A SINGLE FLEA.
" After whom is the king of Israel come out ? after whom dost thou
pursue? after a dead dog, after a, flea?" i SAMUEL xxiv. 14.
" For the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as when one doth
hunt a partridge on the mountains." i SAMUEL xxvi. 20.
THIS is one of those slight allusions which clearly prove that
the Bible was written in the East. In this country one royal
personage speaking to another would never have employed
the illustration, which David once and again used in speaking
to Saul. But there the flea was so well known, that a refer-
ence to it was quite natural. In this country its name is
unmentionable in the hearing of ears polite. In the East
fleas are so plentiful and so well known, that Kitto says
even ladies have no delicacy in speaking openly about them
in public companies. Canon Tristram says, " Fleas are the
great pests both of the inhabitants and of travellers in the
Holy Land, and it is impossible to keep free from them.
They are the only vermin towards which the natives have
a thorough animosity, and which can disturb even Moslem
equanimity. Their numbers force the Bedouins to change
their camps more frequently than they otherwise would, and
if the luckless traveller incautiously pitches upon the site of
a camp which has been deserted even for a month, he is soon
driven away by the swarms of fleas, which rise from the dust
58 A SINGLE FLEA.
and the refuse stubble on the ground, where they are con-
cealed in myriads."
In New Zealand, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, and
in all the South Sea Islands fleas are one of the greatest
pests, so that one chief speaking to another as David did
to Saul would excite no surprise. As in the East even ladies
can talk about them and not be accused of vulgarity. When
we went first to New Zealand, one morning, shortly after our
settlement on the Manawatu river, on looking out, I was
shocked to see one of the principal chiefs of the district
standing with his blanket spread out on a fence before him,
and he himself busily engaged catching and killing fleas !
But as time went on my sensibilities on this point became
very much blunted : such or similar exhibitions were far too
common to excite any surprise. These insects breed in the
ground, especially in the sand, and during certain months
in the year no amount of cleanliness can eradicate them,
although it can do much to keep them bearable. On
Aneityum, and I suppose it will be the same elsewhere,
about the month of November, when the weather becomes
warm and dry, it makes the place too hot for the fleas, and
they nearly disappear for some months. As in Palestine,
deserted houses soon become very much infested with these
vermin, and any person who unawares enters one of them,
comes out with quite a colony of fleas adhering to him. On
the other hand, when a native erects a new house, and gets
the floor covered with fresh, clean cocoa-nut mats, every
native in the neighbourhood wishes to come and sleep in that
house, it is for some weeks so comfortable.
There are two species of fleas on Aneityum ; a native and a
European. They are about the same size and the same colour,
A SINGLE FLEA. 59
but quite distinct in appearance. The native flea has long
straddling hind-legs, and appears to belong rather to the
creeping than the "jumping cattle." The European flea is
a comparatively recent importation. It was brought to the
island in this way : One of the first vessels that anchored in
the harbour of Aneityum had a dog on board. A native stole
the dog, and carried it off inland : but unhappily he got more
than he bargained for ; he got the fleas which it harboured as
well as the dog ! and the fleas have remained, multiplied, and
increased ever since. It is curious how insect, as well as other
forms of life, are extended over the earth. One of the
Wesleyan missionaries told me that, when they went to
Tonga, there were no mosquitoes there; but on one occasion
when the missionaries were assembled at their annual con-
ference, one of them looked out at a window, and there was
a cloud of mosquitoes in front of the house. Whence they
came no one could tell. They had been wafted no doubt by
the wind from some other island or group. But they main-
tained their footing there ever after.
The existence of fleas in those islands is a fact, as in
Palestine, that cannot be ignored ; no prudent reserve can
conceal the fact that they are one of the household pests of
the South Seas. But although, while with native houses
and natives living as they do, it is extremely difficult to abate
the nuisance, yet in the mission-houses, by care, cleanliness,
and great activity, if they, cannot be quite extirpated, they
can at least be reduced to something like a " vanishing
quantity," and kept, something like the Canaanites of old,
under tribute ; and if still a living, yet not a reigning power,
occasionally irritating, but never dangerous neighbours.
But there are no bugs on the islands. If they do chance
60 A SINGLE FLEA.
to be brought, as they sometimes are, by vessels, they are
immediately killed out by the cockroaches, a species of beetle
which buzzes but never bites any human being ; so that had
Mrs. Carlyle lived, not in Chelsea, but in the New Hebrides,
she might have had occasion to send out her maids to look
the bedclothes on the fences; but she would not have been
required to commence those energetic crusades against the
bugs in 5 Cheyne Row which she describes so graphically in
her letters.
Men of genius have the rare faculty of dignifying not only
humble, but even disgusting objects. When Burns proposed
publishing his "Address to a Louse, on Seeing one on a
Lady's Bonnet at Church," Mrs. Dunlop and all his lady friends
strongly opposed his intentions ; but genius prevailed over
prudence ; he published the poem, and criticism and posterity
have approved of his resolution. It was only a man of Lord
Beaconsfield's genius that could stand up in the House of
Lords, and tell that august assembly, that in comparison with
the enormous wealth of this country, the National Debt was
a mere flea bite, and thus convert an expression, otherwise
vulgar, to one of classical propriety. So it was the poet in
David, and not the prince, that seized this humble, and rather
coarse proverb, and, by the unconscious touch of his genius,
raised it up to dignity and elegance. He expressed his
humility in tones of honest genuine pathos, by comparing
himself, in the first instance, to a dead dog and a flea ; and
in the second to a partridge and a flea ; but on both occasions
the flea stands prominently out, as the object of comparison.
David was so harmless, and, in his own estimation, so despic-
able, that he says : " After whom is the king of Israel come
out ? " He is not come out in search of royal game ; he is not
A SINGLE FLEA. 6 1
hunting lions or bears ; he is not even deer stalking ; he is
pursuing a dead dog, hunting a partridge upon the mountains ;
he is come out to seek a flea, a single flea. " A creature,"
says Matthew Henry, " which (as some have observed), if it be
sought, is not easily found ; if it be found, is not easily caught ;
and if it be caught, is a poor prize, especially for a prince."
It is recorded to the disgrace of one of the late Roman
emperors, that he occupied a good part of his time in killing
flies with a bodkin, and that on one occasion, when a nobleman
asked one of the pages if the Emperor had any company in
his room, the page said : " No ! not even a single fly."
We smile at the game laws in Tahiti, and the royal hunts
as practised there before the introduction of Christianity.
In Ellis's " Polynesian Researches " a graphic picture exhibits
a view of royalty while enjoying this privilege. There were
no horses on the island; but when the king and queen
travelled, they were always carried on men's shoulders, with
their feet hanging down in front, over the breasts of the men
who were carrying them respectively; and they possessed
the exclusive privilege of hunting over the heads of the men ;
their heads were the royal preserves set apart as special
hunting ground for the king and queen of Tahiti, and they
were privileged to eat all the game that they caught.
The natives of Aneityum can employ low and undignified
comparisons, without intending or wishing to be vulgar, and
without really being so. One day my wife was giving a little
girl a lesson in the letters, and to see that she was not
learning them by rote, she began to try her on them crosswise,
by pointing to them in different directions. When she pointed
io j, as the pencil she was using was not very sharp, the girl
evidently was not sure whether she was pointing to /or to k, and
62 A SINGLE FLEA.
said : " Do you mean the one with the fly dung on its head ? "
referring to the dot above the j. She afterwards found that
the girl's mother, when teaching her, had employed this
homely illustration to assist her memory; an illustration
original to us, but one of the most obvious to a native,
inasmuch as greatly to the annoyance of both natives and
foreign residents, at least those who have any responsibility
about cleaning, especially the cleaning of windows. Those
troublesome insects, wherever they alight, leave marks without
number, like the dots above the letters i and j, and which are
especially visible on glass.
Burns is the only poet who has immortalised a louse, and
fixed it as a gem in our national literature, "to point a
moral," while the verse, in which that lesson has been incul-
cated, has been perhaps more frequently quoted than any
other verse he ever wrote. Lord Beaconsfield is the only
orator who has immortalised a flea-bite, and left it to sparkle
as a classical proverb in all time to come, after having em-
ployed it as the most successful argument ever brought forth
in the defence of reckless and extravagant national expendi-
ture. And David was the only sacred writer who selected
the detested flea as an illustration, and by skilfully using it
once and again exorcised the evil spirit from the soul of Saul,
gave it a place in the pages of inspiration, and made it to be
a vehicle of spiritual instruction to all generations. Verily
God hath chosen the base things of the world, and things
which are despised, and things which are not, to bring to
nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in His
presence.
The flea seems still to cleave to the lips of Oriental princes.
When Tawhiao, the Maori king, was in this country, he was
A SINGLE FLEA. 63
interviewed by one of the staff of the Pall Mall Gazette.
During the process his majesty fell asleep, much to the
chagrin of the interviewer. When he woke up, and found
his unwelcome visitor still there, Tawhiao said to the offended
journalist, " I say, sir, you are as troublesome as a flea, and
as persevering." " If the Maori monarch had been a fashion-
able wit of the last century," said a writer to the press, "he
could scarcely have turned out a neater epigram." It is
doubtful, however, if the interviewer, who had perhaps never
seen a flea in his life, would understand the force of the
simile ; he would certainly not do so as clearly as Saul under-
stood David. But this form of speech came easily and
naturally from the lips of Tawhiao ; and to any one who, like
myself, had lived eight years in New Zealand, and a good
part of that time in the interior, and who had slept many
a night in a Maori tvJtare, or native hut, and had known by
experience the habits of such bedfellows to such the illus-
tration, though homely, would seem pat and pithy.
General Gordon too could use the contemptible insect with
good effect. "When Sebastapol fell the Eussians," he said,
" carried off everything from the vile place, literally every-
thing, but rubbish and fleas."
CHAPTER X.
THE GOING IN THE TOPS OF THE MULBERRY TREES.
"And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in
the valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the Lord, he said,
Thou shalt not go up ; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon
them over against the mulberry-trees. And let it be, when thou hearest
the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou
shalt bestir thyself : for then shall the Lord go out before thee, to smite
the host of the Philistines. And David did as the Lord had commanded
him." 2 SAMUEL v. 22-25 > an ^ J CHKONICLES xiv. 13-16.
THE Hebrew word lecdtm, translated mulberry, is generally
understood now to be the same as our poplar or aspen tree.
"There is every reason to believe," says Dr. Tristram, "that
the mulberry here means the aspen." The eminently sound
and sagacious John Brown of Haddington, the first, and,
considering his advantages, the greatest of all the Browns,
says, " By a sound, made no doubt by angels, on the tops of
those trees in the valley of Rephaim, was David warned when
to attack the Philistines." This was a natural explanation a
hundred and more years ago. But there does not appear to us to
be any occasion for calling in angelic agency here ; no mention
is made of angels in the text, and the sound of a going might,
we think, be produced by ordinary agencies. We have no
wish to follow in the wake of the so-called higher criticism,
and eliminate the supernatural out of nearly every portion of
the Biblical narrative ; but neither have we any wish to call
in the supernatural where the natural appears, as in this case,
to be sufficient. God is ever sparing in His putting forth of
GOING IN THE TOPS OF THE MULBERRY TREES. 65
miraculous or supernatural energy. Although He " is free to
work," as the Westminster Confession says, " without, above,
and against means, at His pleasure; yet, in His ordinary
providence, He maketh use of them." According to the most
approved translation, Psalm civ. 4, " Who maketh His angels
spirits ; " should be rendered, " Who maketh winds His angels
or messengers." Now, as appears to us, winds were quite
sufficient, under the ordinary providence of God, to cause the
sound of a going to be heard in the tops of the trees. I have
read somewhere, though I cannot remember in what book,
that the mulberry or aspen did not grow near the sea shore,
or in the Philistian territory ; but in the high table land, and
in the valleys in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. Assuming
this to be the case, our explanation is simple and natural.
The sound of these leaves, when moved by a light breeze,
would be a phenomenon unknown to the Philistian soldiery.
The night wind blowing upon the groves of aspen trees, with
their tremulous leaves, would produce such a sudden and, to
them, unwonted sound as might be easily believed to be the
tread of a numerous and powerful enemy. At this moment
they were so timid and suspicious, that the sound of a shaken
leaf would chase them, and they would flee. Encamped, as
the Philistines were, in an enemy's country, and in the very
locality where they had formerly been defeated, and that
enemy, too, still under the command of David, a man so able
and courageous, so noted for skill and prowess for skill in
devising stratagems, and determination in carrying them out ;
a man who, ever since the day he slew Goliath, had been a
terror to the Philistines ; a man whose name the Philistian
mothers had ever since invoked as a terror with which to
frighten their children into quietness, when they could not
B
66 THE GOING IN THE TOPS
otherwise still their crying ; just as, in ages long after, it is
said the Oriental mothers stilled their crying children by
threatening them with the name of Richard Cceur de Lion.
In these circumstances, when David, by the command of God,
who knew the end from the beginning, and knew at what
time the wind would blow, had led his men round to the rear
of the Philistian host, and was waiting the divinely appointed
signal when the Philistines had newly set the middle watch,
and all was again still and quiet, suddenly there springs up a
gentle breeze ; on a thousand aspen trees the leaves quiver,
watchmen are startled ; it is like the sound of a multitude ;
they give the alarm, the half-sleeping soldiers awake. What
is this sound on the tops of the trees ? They are startled and
panic-stricken. In another instant from behind the army,
from the quarter least of all expected, a tremendous shout arises.
David's seven-and-thirty mighties, at the utmost pitch of their
stentorian voices, cry out, " The sword of Jehovah and of
David ! " and the whole Israelitish host prolong the echo,
and rush down with irresistible impetuosity on the Philistines,
upon whom the terror of the Lord has now fallen, and they
are fleeing down the valleys towards the plain in breathless
haste and tumultuous confusion. David and his men pursue
them with resistless force and with irrepressible ardour, and
smite them down from Gibeon as far as Gazer. The victory
was complete, and so thoroughly was the Philistine power
broken, that it was many a long day before the five lords
durst again lift up their heads, or attempt an attack upon
Israel.
On Aneityum there are no aspen trees, but the gentle
breeze, in a quiet night, stirring the leaflets of the cocoa-nut
palm, produces a sound that would not be unlike the going
OF THE MULBERRY TREES. 67
in the tops of the mulberry trees ; it is a sound exactly like
that of a heavy shower of rain. To a stranger the illusion
is so complete that the rustling is often mistaken for the
rain. When I went to Aneityum in 1852, I left Mrs. Inglis
at Anelgauhat with Mrs. Geddie, and Mr. Geddie and I went
round to Aname to my station, that we might erect two
rooms of a weather- boarded house, which I had brought
from New Zealand. We had to build a stone foundation
before we could erect the frame. Although it was in the
beginning of July, and hence the middle of winter there,
yet the weather was fine, and the days hot, and working
hard all day under a tropical sun, a kind of labour too, to
which I had not for a long time been accustomed, when
night came I felt very tired. We slept in the house of
Amosa, the Samoan teacher, which stood in the midst of a
grove of cocoa-nut trees. On the second or third night,
when we went to bed, the evening was clear and calm, not
a breath of wind was moving the trees. It had been blow-
ing a fresh trade wind during the day, but, as it often
happens, it had calmed down before sunset. During the
night I happened to awake ; and lo ! as appeared to me, it
was raining heavily ; how glad I felt ! Now, thought I,
the weather is broken ; there is heavy rain, I shall get a
good rest to-morrow, and I do need it. I turned myself, and
fell asleep with pleasing hopes. At daybreak, shortly after
six o'clock, I again awoke, and heard Amosa and his house-
hold singing their hymn at family worship. When they had
finished, I arose and looked out at the window, and there,
to my great disappointment, instead of a pouring wet morn-
ing and a day's rest, as I had expected, I was forcibly re-
minded of Thomson's well-known lines
68 THE GOING IN THE TOPS
" But yonder comes the powerful king of day,
Kejoicing in the east ; "
the earth flooded with his light, and another hard, toilsome
day's work before me, under the rays of this tropical burning
sun. The supposed rain during the night was only the sound
of the cocoa-nut leaflets moved by a gentle breeze, resembling
the going in the tops of the mulberries.
Twelve years later, in 1864, and about the same season
of the year, the Rev. James D. Gordon, afterwards murdered
by a native of Eromanga, arrived at Aneityum from Nova
Scotia. He landed at Anelgauhat, and was occupying a bed-
room at the end of the printing-office, at a short distance
from the mission-house. One beautifully clear, calm night,
shortly after his arrival, he went to bed as usual, but some
time during the night he awoke, and heard, as seemed to
him, a heavy rain. " What a pity it is," he said to himself,
" that that valuable box of goods of mine was left outside,
and not put into the boat-house, where it would have been
kept dry; it will get thoroughly soaked with this rain. I
must get up at once and see what can be done." So up
he got in an instant, dressed himself as quickly as possible,
threw on his waterproof, buttoned it up to his chin, got
his umbrella, put his thumb on the spring, ready to put it
up the moment he got out; he then opened the door, and
was about to sally forth, when, lo ! to his utter surprise,
there was no rain, nothing was to be seen but a cloudless
sky, the stars shining, and " the moon walking in brightness,"
the island and its inhabitants silent as the grave, and no
sound to be heard but the sea breaking on the reef. The
supposed rain was nothing but the rustling sound of the
OF THE MULBERRY TREES. 69
cocoa-nut leaflets, the sound of the midnight breeze playing
with the feathery palm. The resemblance is so complete that
hundreds of times we have listened to the sound, and if there
was any object to be versed by knowing which was which, we
had to look out at the window, in order to satisfy ourselves
as to whether the sound was caused by the wind or the rain.
To me therefore it does not appear in the least necessary to
suppose that there was anything supernatural in the sound of
the going in the tops of the mulberry trees. In this instance
God made the winds His angels or messengers. The super-
natural was in God instructing David to make a compass to
come in behind the Philistian camp, and await the appointed
signal. This, in the exercise of implicit faith, he did, and
returned a triumphant conqueror.
CHAFFER XL
MINISTERING ANGELS.
" He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy
ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot
against a stone." PSALM xci. n, 12.
" Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on
a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him, If Thou be the Son of
God, cast Thyself down ; for it is written, He shall give His angels
charge concerning Thee ; and in their hands they shall bear Thee up,
lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone." MATTHEW iv. 5, 6.
"And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the
temple, and said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down
from hence : for it is written, He shall give His angels charge over Thee,
to keep Thee : and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any
time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone." LUKE iv. 9-11.
SATAN can quote Scripture very glibly, but he is a very un-
sound, and a very unsafe expositor. He wants honesty, truth,
and moral principle. He quotes incorrectly, and he then mis-
applies. He quoted incorrectly, by omitting the words, "in
all thy ways," which limits the promise to a condition, and
then he makes it an unconditional promise. " In all thy
ways " clearly indicates that it was when employed in lawful
duty that this help and protection would be afforded ; but not
if He had presumptuously, without any call, cast Himself
down from the pinnacle of the temple. As Hengstenberg
says : "The language in both of the two verses does not apply
to dangers which one seeks, but only to such dangers as meet
the righteous man unsought, in his course through life."
MINISTERING ANGELS. 7 I
Abraham's servant said : " I being in the way, the Lord led
me." King William, the Prince of Orange, according to Lord
Macaulay, recognised this principle very distinctly, when
Bishop Walker of Derry was shot as he was needlessly ex-
posing himself. When the King heard of his death, he was
very angry, and said : " He had no call to expose himself, and
hence no right to expect God's protection. It is totally
different with me, my duty calls me to expose myself; and
I have a right to trust to the divine protection : it was not so
with him." The Bishop accepted the New Theology as taught
by Satan, and lost his life : the King held fast by the Old
Theology of the Psalmist, honoured God, escaped danger, and
saved his country.
I have read an anecdote of one of the Fathers of the Secession
Church to the following effect : One Sabbath day he had
preached on the ministration of angels, from Hebrews i. 14.
After the service was over, his mind became seriously exercised
with doubts about the truth of the doctrine, as he had never
had any personal experience on the subject. While thus
ruminating, he was unexpectedly called to visit a sick person.
After he had spoken and prayed, he was leaving the house,
and was about to descend by an outside stair, on which there
was no railing ; he turned to the wrong side of the stair, and
instead of going down the steps, as he expected, he was sud-
denly precipitated on the other side. But before he reached
the ground, he felt like a hand catching him, and placing him
gently and safely on his feet. From that night till his dying
day he firmly believed that the hand that saved him was that
of an angel, and he had no longer any doubt about the doctrine
he had been preaching, that the angels are "all ministering
spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of
72 MINISTERING ANGELS.
salvation." Much to the same effect may be found in an
interesting book on "The Ministration of Angels," by that
good old Puritan, Isaac Ambrose, author of a still better
known book, entitled " First, Middle, and Last Things."
But my object in citing this passage is to illustrate it by a
practice that prevails on Aneityum, which suggests a simple
explanation of the text ; and which, I think, it is probable,
also existed in Palestine. Most commentators think that the
expression, "they shall bear thee up in their hands," refers to
the conduct of mothers or nurses holding up children when
they are commencing to walk. I rather think it refers to
the walking of full grown men, needing help or protection,
cases such as our missionary experience can supply. In the
first years of our mission, Mr. Geddie and I usually made a
visit round the island once a year, taking with us a large
party of the most influential Christian natives. We visited
every settlement, and held a mission service at each, and the
Christian natives distributed themselves and talked to the
heathen. These visits occupied the most of a week each time.
Sometimes a wet day or a wet night intervened, and then the
roads became soft and slippery. In these cases two strong
men would come to the help of each of us. One on each side,
they would grasp our arms and half carry us up the steep and
slippery paths, and sometimes also as we went down on the
other side of a ridge ; their object was to hasten our progress
and ease our toil ; but especially to keep us from falling.
This was a common practice with them. But the most notable
instance of the kind occurred a short time before I left the
Islands. Mr. Annand had been appointed to what was formerly
Dr. Geddie's station. It had been vacant for a twelvemonth,
during which time I had taken charge of it. I stayed a month
MINISTERING ANGELS. 73
with Mr. Annand, introducing him to the people and to the
work. "We visited every school on that side of the island, and
examined every scholar, and as every native was at school, it
involved the examination of every individual on that side of
the island. We were everywhere well received, and kindly
treated, but I shall notice only one special case as illustrative
of our text. We had fixed our headquarters at a place called
Umej, a settlement on the shore. One day we made rather a
long journey inland to a district called Anumej, to visit several
schools in that direction. Our path lay along the banks of
a beautiful stream, which we had frequently to cross. The
valley of Anumej is one of the largest and most beautiful on
Aneityum, and opens up into a most magnificent panorama,
which in the far distant pre -historic, or rather pre- Adamite
times, must have been the crater of some tremendous volcano,
some ten or twelve miles it may be from the one margin to the
other, but the whole interior from the bottom to the topmost
verge was covered with the densest forest, and the trees all
clothed with foliage of the freshest green. Igneous or
aqueous agencies, or both, had forced an opening to the
sea, which now constitutes the valley. As it was nearly
twenty years since I had visited that district with Mr.
Geddie, I had forgotten the distances, and when we had
finished our labours, I found that the day was farther on, and
the road to Umej a good deal longer, than I had calculated
upon. It had also come on a wet day. The road too was only
a narrow native footpath : hence on our return home we had
to hurry along lest we should be benighted. We had a party
of natives with us, who of their own accord had come to accom-
pany us, and to act as guides and assistants. The road became
bad, and travelling was often difficult. As Mr. Annand was
74 MINISTERING ANGELS.
young and active, lie tripped along the path with a firm, elastic
step, and it was only on special occasions that he either needed
or would accept of any help. But it was always ready when
he wanted it. It was different with me. With the shadow
of threescore and ten hovering in the near distance, my limbs
were neither so strong nor so nimble as they had been thirty
or forty years before, and the natives instinctively recognised
this ; and four of our native teachers, all strong, vigorous
men, spontaneously attached themselves to me, and walked
close behind me, two on my right side and two on my left :
and whenever the road was slippery, or over stones, or among
stumps, or across the stream whenever there was the
slightest danger that I might fall, or slip, or stumble, that
moment two of those men, sometimes the whole four, two on
each side, seized me by the arms, kept me firmly up, and half
carried me till the danger was over. In this way we travelled
along for three or. four long hours, till we reached our destina-
tion, the last hour by the aid of torchlight. This is an exceed-
ingly comfortable mode of walking on such roads. You walk
with great safety and great ease; being held up firmly, you
have no fear of falling, and being half carried, you walk both
fast and with very little fatigue, and the limbs, being relieved
from the weight of the body, move on with the utmost facility.
Although such attentions on the part of the natives were not
new to me, for they had always assisted me in the same way
when needful, when I was travelling among them, yet as that
was one of the worst and most difficult journeys that I had
made for a long time, I realised more vividly than I had ever
done before, what seemed to me to be the meaning of the
promise made primarily to Christ, but through Him to His
people : " They (the angels) shall bear thee up in their hands,
MINISTERING ANGELS. 75
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone ; " for many a time
that night would I have dashed my feet against both stones
and stumps of trees, but for the strong and willing hands that
bore me up on our journey. I have no doubt but that in
Palestine, from the nature of the country, and the character
of the roads, this was a common mode of travelling for aged
or important persons, when the paths were difficult or dan-
gerous. But to Christ were promised angels, not men, to be
His ministering servants, because He was divine; whereas
ministers and missionaries are best served by men, not angels,
at least visibly, because they themselves are human. But
what shall we say of that Gospel which changes heathens
into Christians, and transforms the wildest and most cruel of
cannibal savages into the mildest, and kindest, and gentlest
of ministering angels.
Thirty years before that time, when the natives of that
district were all heathen, a whale-boat was wrecked on the
coast, and one solitary white man escaped ashore with his
life. The natives gathered around him, and took him to the
house of the chief. It was there and then agreed to have
a cannibal feast over the poor man's body on the following
day. Wood was at once collected, and the fire was kindled
for the oven; and before twenty-four hours had elapsed, the
bones of the unhappy man would have been picked, broken,
and the marrow sucked out of them, had it not so happened
that a native was there, who had been at Sydney or some-
where else, and represented strongly to the chief the numbers
and power of the white people, and how most assuredly they
would revenge this man's death. In consequence of this the
chief reluctantly gave orders to save his life; and a party
of natives were told off who conveyed him to the harbour,
76 MINISTERING ANGELS.
and delivered him safely to the master of the sandal wood
establishment. Now here were we, thirty years afterwards,
two defenceless white men, entirely in their hands, and yet
we were as safe, and as kindly and lovingly treated, as if
we had been the nearest and dearest of their own flesh and
blood. And what made the difference between then and now ?
Then they were heathen, now they are Christian. Has any
other book than the Bible such a transforming power ?
CHAPTER XII.
THE HAMMER AND THE ROCK.
" Is not My Word like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces."
JEKEMIAH xxiii. 29.
IN 1844 when I left this country to go out to our Foreign
Mission in New Zealand, I received a set of mason's tools from
my friend the late Mr, Thomas Binnie, builder, one of the
hundred men in Glasgow who were worth remembering.
Among those tools was a good whinstone hammer. During
the eight years I was in New Zealand, although I did require
to use some of the other tools, I did not require to use that
said hammer. But according to the ancient proverb, " Keep
a thing for seven years and you will find use for it : " and
certainly such was my experience. When I went to Aneityum
and had erected my house it was a wooden frame and the
walls were partly weather-boarded, and partly wattle and
plaster I found it was necessary to build two stone and
lime chimneys, one for our kitchen, and one for our dining-
room, which served also for our parlour, in wet or cold
weather. Very happily for me I accidentally discovered a
large quantity of stones, among which I found quite enough
very suitable for my purpose. The discovery was made in
this way : one day I was unexpectedly called upon to visit
a native woman, who was dangerously ill. She was the
chief's wife of Nohmunjap, a district about a mile and a half
78 THE HAMMER AND THE ROCK.
distant. I went off at once to visit her, I administered some
medicine, and my patient soon recovered. On the shore
opposite to the settlement there was a great collection of
stones, whinstone and basaltic, partly in the sea and partly
on the beach, which had all been thrown out of the mountain
side by some volcanic eruption, in some long past era in the
pre-Adamite period of the island's history. When I began
to build my chimneys, I went off to examine those stones, for
the recovery of the chief's wife secured my liberty to take
whatever I wanted. I took with me a party of my most
intelligent natives, to assist me in selecting suitable stones,
in carrying them to the landing-place, and in rowing the boat
home. They were all deeply interested in my work. I found
the stones well suited for my purpose ; they were of the
proper size and shape and of the very quality that I wanted ;
they were of a very workable material, they were what Scotch
masons would have called good sltelping stones easily cut into
shape. When I had measured their length and breadth,
applied rule and square to them, and marked the lines accord-
ingly, and then struck them with my well-tempered, square-
faced hammer, along those lines, I could with ease not only
break the stones, a thing the natives had never seen done, but
cut them along those lines into the very shapes that I had
marked on them. When the natives saw this done, they
were amazed ; they opened their eyes and their mouths, they
held up their hands, and shouted aloud till they had exhausted
all the exclamations in the language. I never saw them so
surprised, except in the case of one man, after the chimneys
were erected. He came into our dining-room, and I caused
him to look up the chimney ; and when he saw daylight and
the sky at the top, he was fairly out of himself; he rushed
THE HAMMER AND THE ROCK. 79
back to the middle of the floor, danced and leaped, crying out,
" Ah ! wauho / Kahispin ! Kaiheug vai cama ! ale Misi ! ok
Misi Inglis! He alia nitai inigki!" "Oh! wonderful!
prodigious ! Mercy on us ! Mister ! Mister Inglis ! What
thing is this ? " A little mechanical as well as medical know-
ledge often helps to increase the influence, and promote the
usefulness, of a missionary. As soon as I could speak
intelligibly to them, I made the hammer and the stones a
familiar text to them, and spoke to them somewhat in this
manner. " You are surprised with the hammer, but God
says, ' Is not My Word like a hammer, that breaketh the rock
in pieces 1 ' Now you see what a hammer can do with a stone,
it not only can break a stone but it can cut it into a particular
shape ; with the hammer I can cut the Stone straight, or
square, or round, as I wish ; but if I strike the stone with
a piece of wood, it has no effect whatever upon it. God says
our hearts are stony, they are hard as a stone. Now, as it
is only a hammer that can break a stone, and cut it into
shape, so it is only God's Word that, like the hammer, can
break our stony hearts, and form them into shape. Man's
word is like a piece of wood, it has no effect upon the heart of
men. Before the missionaries came to this island, many white
people came here, and some of them talked a great deal to you,
but you remained as you were your hearts were not changed .
And why ? because it was only the words of man that they
spoke to you, which was like striking the stone with a
piece of wood. But when the missionaries came, they brought
the hammer, the Word of God, with them, and they struck
the stone with this hammer; they applied the Word of God to
your hearts. They translated the Word of God into your
language, they read it to you ; they taught you to read it, you
80 THE HAMMER AND THE ROCK.
read it yourselves ; you committed portions of it to memory,
you believed it, you obeyed it, it broke your stony heart, it
brought your heart into a new shape, you gave up your
heathenism, you accepted Christ as your Saviour, and took
God's law as the rule of your lives ; and hence wickedness and
misery are largely banished from the island, and goodness
and happiness are come in their place." This simile the
natives never forgot during all the five-and-twenty years that
I was on the island. Every now and again those who were
leading in prayer might have been heard using such ex-
pressions as the following, " O Lord,' Thy Word is like a
hammer, but our hearts are like a stone. Oh take Thy hammer
and with it break our stony hearts, take Thy good and holy
Word, and with it make our sinful hearts what Thou wishest
them to become, holy and just and good, that we may be
blessed and happy, and that Thy name may be praised and
glorified for ever and ever. Amen."
CHAPTER XIII.
THE FIG TEEE.
"What though the fig tree shall noiTUossom." HABAKKUK iii. 17.
"Although no flowers the fig tree clothe." PAKAPHRASE xxxii. r.
THE Hebrew word Parach, which is translated blossom in
the Authorised and Douay Versions in Habakkuk iii. 17,
signifies, according to Gesenius, " To sprout, to nourish, and
to bud as a plant ; and to put forth buds, leaves, and flowers
as a tree." The natural history of the fig tree was evidently
not known either to the translators of the Authorised or of
the Douay Versions ; still less was it known to Randell, the
author of that beautiful paraphrase, the 32nd, in the Church
of Scotland Version. The error is even continued in the
Revised Version. It is well known to those who have lived in
fig- growing countries, that the fig tree never blossoms, and is
never clothed with flowers. The fruit of the fig tree is simply
an undeveloped flower. My lamented friend, the late Hon.
Andrew Sinclair, M.D., Colonial Secretary of New Zealand,
was the first to point this out to me. And Canon Tristram
says, "The fruit of the fig, unlike any other fruit in this
country, is an enlarged, succulent, hollow receptacle contain-
ing the imperfect flowers in the interior. Hence the flowers
of the fig tree are not visible until the receptacle has been cut
open." The commentators have all followed our translators^
82 THE FIG TREE.
and accepted their rendering as correct. So far as I know,
Dr. Adam Clarke is the only commentator, and Dr. Robert
Young is the only translator, who has corrected the mis-
translation. They both use the word flourish instead of
blossom. Their rendering is, " Although the fig tree shall not
flourish." As I have said, there is no such thing as a flower
or a blossom ever seen on the fig tree. It flourishes, it puts
forth leaves, and produces fruit, but it never flowers or
blossoms. The fruit comes first and then the leaves. Hence,
in his poem, on the Seasons, Thomson, " that great master of
description," as Hervey calls him, says :
" And rich beneath its leaf the luscious fig."
It was the leaves without the fruit that disappointed our
Saviour with the barren fig tree. Whether the leaves were
abnormal, as some suppose, or normal, as others infer, it did
not alter the condition of the tree ; the fruit should have been
there before the leaves.
The Bible is not a single book, it is a library, a literature,
an encyclopaedia ; it touches at more or fewer points the
whole circle of human knowledge. It is not merely a know-
ledge of Hebrew, Greek, and some other language, that a
translator of the Bible requires to possess; he would require
to know almost everything. The translators of our Authorised
Version, and also the translators of the Douay Version,
although the best scholars of the age in their respective
churches, were alike ignorant of botany, and were not aware
that the fig tree was an exception to all other fruit-bearing
trees, and that it never blossoms or puts forth flowers ; and,
hence, for more than two centuries and a half, a glaring
mistranslation has disfigured these otherwise matchless trans-
THE FIG TREE. 83
lations. Happily for the credit of the translators very few of
their readers could detect the error.
On Aneityum there is no specimen of the common fig tree
indigenous ; but there is a very poor variety of the sycamore
fig. The peculiarity of the sycamore is this : the fruit all
adheres to the stock of the tree, and not, as in the common fig
tree, to the extremities of the branches. But on Tanna there
is an excellent species of the common fig; so good, that the
missionaries of the London Missionary Society took plants of
it in the John Williams on to Samoa. However, when I went
to Aneityurn I took from New Zealand two or three varie-
ties *of the common fig tree, which grew and bore fruit; and
although they were annually attacked by a worm, which de-
stroyed the old wood, and prevented the plants from reaching
the size they would otherwise have attained, they, nevertheless,
served to keep me always sorrowfully in mind that, however
beautiful the expression, " What though the fig tree shall
not blossom," and " though no floivcrs the fig tree clothe,' 1 they
were still mistranslations ; and also to secure that, whatever
other errors might find their way into the Aneityumese trans-
lation of the Bible, Habakkuk iii. 17 would, without doubt,
be correctly rendered.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE COCK CROWING TWICE.
" Jesus said unto Peter, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before
the cock crow, thou shalt deny Me thrice." MATTHEW xxvi. 34.
" And Jesus saith unto Peter, Verily I say unto thee, That this day,
even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny Me
thrice." MARK xiv. 30.
" Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man.
And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of
Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow thou shalt deny Me
thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly." MATTHEW xxvi. 74, 75.
" But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man
of whom ye speak. And the second time the cock crew. And Peter
called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock
crow twice, thou shalt deny Me thrice. And when he thought thereon
he wept." MARK xiv. 71, 72.
CRITICS and commentators Have been a good deal puzzled how
to reconcile the apparently contradictory statements of Mark
and the other three Evangelists about the crowing of the cock.
This prediction of our Saviour did not refer to the crowing of
any particular cock, but to that time in the morning known as
cock-crowing, the beginning of the fourth watch. But Mark
says, " Before the cock crow twice," which makes two cock-
Growings. This has caused the difficulty to the critics. So
much has this been felt that, in one very old manuscript, the
word dis, twice, is found partially erased, as if the copyist
wished in this way to reconcile or assimilate Mark with the
other three Evangelists. But the rule now recognised by all
modern critics, that the reading most difficult to be accounted
THE COCK CROWING TWICE. 85
for is most likely to be the true one, had not been present to
the mind of those redactors, nor yet another principle, equally
recognised in our times, that conjectural emendations are
almost invariably found to be wrong, when all the facts come
to be known. I shall be able to show that there is no dis-
crepancy between Mark and the other Evangelists. Natural
history does not seem to have been much studied, by some of
the commentators at least. One says, the first crowing of the
cock was about twelve o'clock. Another says that the first
crowing is irregular. A better knowledge of the habits of
the bird would have shown that both these statements were
wrong. Even Dr. Kitto, so famous as an Orientalist, is as
ignorant of the true facts as the ordinary commentators. Since
the doctrine of evolution and the transmutation of species has
not yet been established, we may safely assume that the cock-
crowing has been the same in all countries and in all ages ;
that it was the same in Jerusalem in the first century of the
Christian era as it is on Aneityum in the nineteenth. In
ancient times, when clocks and watches were unknown, the
cock-crowing was a distinctly marked time of the morning ;
but since clocks and watches came into common use, and since
poultry, as in towns, were not generally kept, the cock-crowing,
as a marking of time, ceased to be attended to, and the habits
of the bird were no longer noticed : hence the loose writing of
the commentators. But in the South Seas, where clocks and
watches were unknown, as in Palestine of old, the cock-crowing
was the best marked hour of the night. Like the Jews, too,
they had two cock-crowings : the first of these between two
and three, the other fully an hour later, between three and
four : the first called the false cock-crowing, the second called
the true cock-crowing. When we first went to Aneityum, we
8o THE COCK CROWING TWICE.
soon discovered that time was regularly marked by the cock-
crowing ; but it was some time before we discovered that there
were two cock-crowings. It came about in this way. When
Mr. Geddie, who had charge of the printing-press, was
printing our native books, to secure the greatest possible
accuracy he always sent the proof-sheets over to me, that I
might read them over, and make any corrections. For the
sake of being company to one another, two lads generally came
with them, stayed all night to allow me time to look over
the sheets, and then returned in the morning : the distance
was twelve or fourteen miles. They started earlier or later
according to the urgency of the case. One evening I said
to them, " Mr. Geddie says he is in a great hurry for this
sheet, and wishes you back as soon as possible. I want you,
therefore, to rise very early and leave this place by the cock-
crowing." " But which cock-crowing do you mean ? " they said.
" Which 1 " I said, " how many are there ? " " Oh, you know,"
they said, "there are two cock-crowings; the true one and the
false one." "And what is the difference?" I said. "Oh,"
said they, " the false cock-crowing is the first one, and then
after a while is the true one." This we afterwards found
ample means of verifying. Cocks, if they are disturbed or
awakened, will crow at any hour of the night. But if left
unmolested, these two cock-crowings are as regular in their
occurrence as the rising and setting of the sun. We had the
best means of knowing this fact every morning that we wished
to observe its recurrence. We had always a good supply of
poultry in our own yard ; and every family on the island kept
poultry. There are no villages on Aneityum, and there are no
farm-houses standing a mile or two apart, as in this country,
but the whole island is occupied with a system of cottage
THE COCK CROWING TWICE. 87
gardening. The system is this : there is one cottage or hut, or
perhaps two, each occupied by a family, and surrounded by
a neat reed fence of wicker-work, to protect the garden from
the pigs ; there are on the island from fifty to sixty lands or
districts, each containing, when we went first thither, from
half-a-dozen to a score of such cottages and gardens. Our
mission station lay between two such lands, and within about
a quarter of a mile of us there might be about twenty families.
Every family had poultry, which all roosted on the trees
standing round about the houses. Hence thirty, forty, or fifty
cocks were within hearing. Every morning, therefore, we
could hear both crowings. Somewhere about two o'clock one
cock would crow, and a few others would follow, all feeble and
drowsy-like, as if half asleep ; then all would subside into
stillness. This is the false coclc-croioing : there is no truth, no
heart, no reality in it ; it is only, as it were, a pretence. But
about an hour or rather more afterwards (Luke says, "About
the space of one hour," &c.), somewhere about three o'clock, or
a little later, when one cock crows, immediately there is a full
ringing chorus, a perfect storm of crowing, every one more
fully alive than another. This is the true code-crowing, the
alektorophonia of the Gospels, which marks the time with an
unmistakable distinctness, and is enough to awaken the soundest
sleeper, or arrest the attention of the most indifferent listener.
It was this, the true cock-crowing, that awoke Burns out of
his reverie, when he was composing his poem, " A Winter
Night," when he wrote :
" I heard nae mair, for Chanticleer
Shook off the powthery snaw,
And hailed the morning wi' a cheer,
A cottage-rousing craw."
88 THE COCK CROWING TWICE.
It was the clear, shrill, true crowing of the cock that startled
the poet, and recalled him from his moody musing. It was
the same true cock-crowing that awoke Mrs. Thomas Carlyle,
when she was staying with the Bullers at Troston Rectory,
near St. Edmundsbury in Suffolk, as recorded in one of her
letters, dated Aug. n, 1842. "Then about four," she says,
"commenced never so many cocks challenging each other all
over the parish."
Peter must have heard the low, half suppressed, feeble, false
crowing, but it had made no impression on his mind. But
when the true crowing rang forth loud and clear, he was
instantaneously aroused to a consciousness of his cowardice
and his guilt : and when the Saviour looked on him, he re-
membered the warning prophecy, his conscience smote him,
he repented, and wept bitterly.
But the point to which I wish to direct special attention
is this, that, to natives of Aneityum, the statement in Mark
about two cock- Growings, while the other three Evangelists
speak only of one, would cause no difficulty whatever, because
to them both expressions convey exactly the same meaning.
When they speak of the cock-crowing, they mean the true
cock-crowing ; and when they speak of the two cock-crowings the
expression points to the very same time as the other. Hence,
before the cock crew and before the cock crew twice, to them
mean exactly the same thing ; the same as, before the morning
watch, or Ixjfore three o'clock, thou shalt deny Me thrice.
Whether therefore our Saviour warned Peter twice, as some
commentators think, and that Mark gives the words used by
Christ on the one occasion, and the other three Evangelists
give the words used by Him on the other occasion, or whether
He warned him only once, and that Mark gives the full form
THE COCK CEO WING TWICE. 89
of the words He used, while the other three writers give the
shorter abridged form, the meaning to the Jews and to all the
ancients, as it is to the natives of Aneityum, would be pre-
cisely the same. The doctrine of verbal inspiration does not
mean, that two or more of the sacred writers, narrating the
same event, or recording the same speech, must all use pre-
cisely the same words, but that they must all convey sub-
stantially the same meaning when the statements are properly
understood, although the meaning may be more or less fully
stated, according as it may be required by the object which
the writer has in view. It was not till I was on Aneityum
and heard the two cock-crowings so distinctly, that I clearly
understood how Mark's words, so different from those of the
other three Evangelists, were in meaning the very same as
theirs. At the same time this difference of statement showed
that he was no copyist. His was independent testimony, and
on that account doubly valuable; as "In the mouth of two
or three witnesses shall every word be established."
CHAPTER XV.
FASTING AND TAKING NOTHING.
"And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take
meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and
continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to
take some meat ; for this is for your health : for there shall not an
hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus spoken,
he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all ; and
when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then were they all of good
cheer, and they also took some meat." ACTS xxvii. 33-36.
THIS is a strictly Oriental form of speech. " This day is the
foxirteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting"
But lest the word fasting should be ambiguous, something
like Daniel's mourning for three full weeks, during which
time he ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine
into his mouth, it is added, " having taken nothing" Words,
as we understand them, could not more unequivocally convey
the impression, that during those fourteen days they had
literally tasted no food whatever. We have no hesitation
in admitting that Moses, on three occasions, literally fasted
forty days and forty nights ; that Elijah and our Saviour did
each of them the same. But then we recognise that they
were miraculously sustained. In this case, however, Luke
gives no intimation that Paul and his 275 companions in
suffering experienced any miraculous support. It was an
ordinary voyage, and they trusted to nothing but ordinary
FASTING AND TAKING NOTHING. 91
means for both their safety and their sustenance. But in
this form of speech we have a clear proof that this book
was written in the East. It is an exact Oriental idiom. No
man brought up in Western Europe, at least no English
speaking missionary, could, in Paul's circumstances, have
used such a loose, vague mode of expression; but it was
doubtless quite well understood by his audience. Although
this mode of speaking is stumbling to us, it is not in the least
so to the natives of Aneityum, as they themselves speak pre-
cisely in the same way. We instinctively know that the
words cannot be understood literally; but the natives of
Aneityum, without any explanation, know as near as may
be what the Apostle meant. Their mode of speaking, like
his, is Oriental. For example, you ask a native if he has
eaten anything to-day. He says, No, he has eaten nothing.
You ask him if he ate anything yesterday. He says, No, he
ate nothing. You ask him again if he ate anything the day
before. He gives you the same answer; and you might go
on putting the same questions and receiving the same answers
for any length of time; and were he on board a ship, like
that in which Paul was sailing, he would say without hesita-
tion that he had eaten nothing for a fortnight. But if you
catechise him a little more closely, you will find what he
means by these general assertions. If you say, You have
told us that you ate nothing to-day : but did you not drink
a cocoa-nut or two, and eat the food contained in the inside
of it ? He will say, Oh yes. You go on and say, But did you
not also eat some bananas yesterday? He will again say,
Oh yes. And the day before yesterday, did you not chew some
sugar cane? He again answers, Oh yes, I chewed a little.
And the day before that, did you not roast a bread-fruit and
92 FASTING AND TAKING NOTHING.
eat it ? and the day before that, did you not roast some horse
chestnuts and eat them 1 He says, Oh yes, I had a few. And
the day before that, did you not roast a few small yams and
eat them 1 He says again, Oh yes, I had some. In this way
you might go on for the whole fortnight, and he would readily
admit that he had been eating something every day. But
what a native means, when he tells you he has eaten nothing,
is simply this, that no oven has been cooked that day ; and
that the family or the party have sat down to no regular
meal. Now this was precisely the case on board of this ship.
During the fourteen days in which the vessel was hove to,
and drifting under the pressure of this Euroclydon or
Levanter, the waves would be constantly breaking over the
bulwarks, and washing along the decks ; the hatches would all
be battened down, and the fires in the ship's galley would
remain extinguished. There would be no cooking on board,
no rations would be served out, and no meals served up.
Both seamen and passengers would take food when and how
they could get it ; stale bread, or mouldy biscuit, or handfuls
of wheat, or anything else they could lay their hands on, but
never once a regular meal ; hence Paul said truly, as they
understood him, "Ye have continued fasting, having taken
nothing." But now that the vessel had been brought to
anchor, the sea calm, and the ship steady, the hatches were
again opened, and all on board came on deck ; and although
they probably did not wait till the cooks kindled the galley
fires, filled the ship's coppers, and cooked provisions for a full
meal, yet, evidently at Paul's suggestion, and by the captain's
orders, the stewards served out full rations for the whole
company, and Paul, now recognised as the accredited chaplain
of the ship, delivered to the whole company this hope-inspiring
FASTING AND TAKING NOTHING. 93
address, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all. He
then broke the bread, Matthew Harvey says in a parenthesis,
" It was sea-biscuit," and began to eat. What a change the
speech, and prayer, and conduct of Paul made on the whole
company ! For the last fortnight they had been at their
wit's end through hunger and despair. Now they were all
of good cheer. During that time, as Paul expressed it, they
had fasted, having taken nothing. Now they all had a
regular full meal; for when it was over, "they had eaten
enough," and rose with alacrity to their work.
On Aneityum the natives never had more than one regular
meal in the day, generally in the evening, and which might
in Scripture phraseology be called either a dinner or a supper.
All their other eating, however plentiful, was at odd times ;
they did this because they cooked, or made a regular oven,
only once a day, and not always that. But since they be-
came Christian, although they should not have even one oven
during the whole week, they have always one on the Saturday,
in which a sufficiency of food is provided for the Sabbath.
The Saturday evening oven is an institution over the whole
island, hence there is no fasting on Sabbath. There has
grown up, what was formerly unknown, even a regular
breakfast on Sabbath morning ; and having, like Paul's com-
panions, "eaten enough," they are "of good cheer" when
they enter the church, and throughout the day ; the psalmist's
picture of family life is realised through the whole com-
munity
" In dwellings of the righteous
Is heard the melody
Of joy and health."
CHAPTER XVI.
MODE OF TREATING NATIVES.
"Be courteous." i PETER iii. 8.
"Julius courteously entreated Paul." ACTS xxvii. 3.
"Publius received us, and lodged us three days courteously."
ACTS xxvii. 7.
THE mode of approaching and of holding intercourse with
natives is a matter of great importance to a missionary for
securing success among them. Many people think that because
they are low, degraded savages, you may speak to them as you
like, and treat them as you may think proper, it will make no
difference. I have heard white men, who ought to have known
better, shout out to a native, " Come along, you lazy black
fellow," or "Go away, you stupid nigger," or "Now, kanaka, if
you don't be smart, I'll let you feel the weight of a rope's end."
But this is a great mistake, they are men, and have all the
attributes of humanity, and all the feelings of human beings ;
they are specially sensitive to any improper treatment, they
discriminate very quickly and acutely between rudeness and
politeness, between good and bad usage. Many would scarcely
believe it; but true it is and of verity, that there is perhaps
no place where politeness is of more importance than among
savages. I have seen it hundreds of times. When natives
know you thoroughly, there is nothing that is reasonable that
they will not do for you, if you approach them in the right
spirit. They are as human as any of ourselves ; they are
MODE OF TREATING NATIVES. 95
actuated by the same motives, animated by the same spirit,
and moved by the same influences. I always made a point of
reproving them as seldom as possible. If a native, whom I
had engaged to do some work for me, disappointed me, with-
out taking any notice of what had happened, I charitably
assumed that there had been some oversight or some mis-
management on my part or some misunderstanding on his
part, and on the next occasion I tried to be doubly careful that
all my arrangements should be as complete as I could possibly
make them, and the results were generally satisfactory, or if
not so, I had no ground of real complaint against the natives.
There was some good reason if they failed. I remember on one
occasion that Mrs. Inglis and I were going round in our boat
to the other side of the island. I bespoke a boat's crew the
night before. We were to go off at ten o'clock in the forenoon,
that being the hour that suited best for the tide. The boat was
launched, the sail, the oars, and the luggage were all put into
the boat, Mrs. Inglis had taken her seat, and everything was
ready for us to proceed on our voyage, when we discovered
that one of our crew was awanting, without whom we could
not proceed, as I had no odd boatman that morning. I liked
always to have a good strong boat's crew, hence I often en-
engaged an extra man, and not unfrequently, especially when
they had any object of their own to serve, we had one or
more volunteers, and as it was always well to have the boat
well manned, I never discouraged a little volunteering. This
morning, however, we had no spare hands. The missing boat-
man was again and again called aloud by his name, but there
was no response. Messengers were then sent out to inquire
after him, but with no better results. At this juncture we saw
the lad coming along slowly towards the boat, but instead of
g6 MODE OF TREATING NATIVES.
hastening along, and jumping into the boat, as I expected him
to do, he deliberately passed us, and went into the bush. This
looked so much like a desire to add insult to injury that I
was quite nonplussed. It was now clear that another boat-
man must be sought for. We had already lost half an hour ;
the case was urgent, and also beset with difficulty. There was
only a limited number of natives who could handle an oar.
In Samoa none of the natives could pull : all the missionaries
got their boats propelled by paddles. This required double
the number of boatmen. It was the same on Aneityum at
the beginning of the mission ; not one of them could pull an
oar, or manage a boat, till Mr. Geddie and I had taught them.
Afterwards when the whaling commenced, and they had
acquired practice in boating, they became expert oarsmen.
But at that hour of the day all the natives, boatmen and non-
boatmen, were away at their plantations, a good distance off.
However, messengers were sent off, and at the end of another
half hour the services of two boatmen were secured, and we
set off on our voyage. When we had got fairly under way
my wife, whose patience by this time was all but exhausted,
said to me in a tone of unmistakable earnestness, " I do hope
when we get home that you will take that lad and give him
a thorough talking to. I have sat for an hour in the boat, in
this burning sun, I have four or five hours to sit in the same
condition, before we get to the end of our voyage, and you
know, that I lost four hours' sleep last night with fever and
ague. Now see that you don't miss him. We shall soon not
be able to trust to one of them." A few mornings afterwards
I had again to go round to the other station, but I took care
to have all my arrangements made perfectly secure the night
before, but on going down to the beach I was agreeably surprised
MODE OP TREATING NATIVES. 97
to find that my defaulting friend of the former day had been
the first to enter the boat and the first to lay hold of an oar.
On inquiring at him about his former conduct I found that he
had taken ill of a complaint of which he felt a delicacy in
speaking about in public, and hence he acted as he did. " But,"
I said, " why did not you tell me, and then I should have
known, and it would have been all right ? " " Oh," said he,
" I was ashamed, and could not speak about it." Further
reproof was unnecessary. I have repeatedly found that, when
the conduct of a native seemed to be very ambiguous, and
looked from our standpoint to be very bad, the most charitable
view of the case was generally found to be the right one.
The conduct was better than it seemed to be.
By taking a native privately, and speaking to him quietly,
you can do almost anything with him ; but speak to him
publicly about his conduct, or reprove him openly before the
other natives, and you at once throw him into antagonism
and make him your decided enemy. He feels, like Jonah,
that he does well to be angry. On one occasion a young
man living on the premises had been behaving very badly,
neglecting his work, and showing a great amount of wilful
disobedience. I saw that this could not be allowed to go on,
so I took him quietly one evening into my study by himself,
and had a long friendly talk with him. I said, "What is
this that you have been doing ? What kind of conduct is this
that you have been carrying on of late 1 This is not like your
former conduct. This is not at all like the conduct of your
father and mother. You know how well your father always
behaved towards me ; he was always kind, and obliging, and
helpful ; and your mother was always the same to Mrs. Inglis.
You, too, used always to be a good boy," (here I enumerated
98 MODE OF TREATING NATIVES.
fill the good things he had ever done that I could remem-
ber). "You came regularly to school, and were diligent in
learning to read. I remember, too, when your mother was
dying, how attentive you were to her; how, day after day,
you waited on her, how you sought all kinds of food for her
that you thought she would like, how you went to the sea
every day and fished for her, how you went daily to the spring
and filled her bottle with fresh water and laid it at her head,
how you gathered sticks and kept a nice fire burning beside
her every night, how you made worship with her night and
morning, sang the 'Happy Land' and the 'Rock of Ages,'
and often read the Bible to her during the day. Everybody
remarked what a good boy you were, and how kind you were
to your mother. Now, as boys who are good to their parents
almost always turn out well, the Lord blesses them and keeps
them, how is it that you are now behaving in this way ? " By
this time he had completely broken down, and was crying.
"Oh," said he, " So-and-so said so-and-so to me, and broke my
heart. I was very weak, my heart was dark, Satan tempted
me, and I forgot myself, and did as you saw." I said to him,
" Oh, I see you understand ; I shall not speak about this again.
You go away. You pray to the Lord to keep you, and see that
you watch carefully over your heart ; and to-morrow I want
you to do so-and-so," naming some work for him to do. He
went away, and I had no further trouble with him. In
dealing with natives, it is of the utmost importance to lead
them to cherish feelings of self-respect, to make them feel that
they have a character to maintain. While you can lay down
no hard and fast lines by which to act towards them, it is
always safe to praise them for what is good in their conduct,
rather than blame them for what is bad. Among a people
MODE OF TREATING NATIVES. 99
like the South Sea Islanders, especially the Papuans, who are
so little amenable to authority of any kind, where every man
is accustomed to do very much what is right in his own eyes,
it is extremely difficult to establish anything like rule or dis-
cipline. The missionary must trust to his personal influence,
to the attachment which the natives form for himself. John
Williams, John Hunt, and all the most outstanding mission-
aries in the South Seas, exercised a magnetic personal influence
over the natives ; the natives became so attached to the mis-
sionaries that they would have risked their lives for them,
as David's three mighties broke through the host of the
Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, not
to save his life, but simply to quench his thirst. Human
nature is the same everywhere. During the American War
of Independence, an old lady, who had a store in Philadelphia,
used to say that the most profitable thing she kept in her shop
was politeness, it drew the very children to her even better
than sweeties. What was it that gave Miss Nightingale such
powerful control over the soldiers and seamen in the hospitals
during the Crimean war, so that they would have done any-
thing for her in their power ; and in her presence they would
not have uttered a single coarse, vulgar, profane, or improper
word 1 It was, no doubt, largely owing to her refined, cultured,
polite manner, dominated by a truly Christian spirit. It
is by approaching heathen natives in this manner that mis-
sionaries may expect to be successful among them.
For politeness the Samoans are said to be the French of
the Pacific. They are at least very formal and ceremonious
in their intercourse one with another. Our brethren, the
missionaries there, met them on their own ground, and added
a Christ like spirit to their court-like forms of social inter-
100 MODE OF TREATING NATIVES.
course. The word alofa, to love or pity, is, in one form or
another, used in all modes of salutation; and, like oil to
machinery, softens and smoothes all their social intercourse.
Mr. Geddie stayed some time in Samoa, on his way to the
New Hebrides, and brought on to Aneityum some of their
forms of politeness. Aiheug, to love or pity, has the same
meaning as alofa ; and he introduced the salutation, Kaiheug
vai eug, " My love to thee." The Aneityumese had no form of
salutation in their heathen state ; they passed each other in
heathenism without any recognition ; but in imitation of the
missionaries, the Christian natives saluted each other ; and as
Christianity spread, so did the salutation, " My love to you,"
or, "I wish you well," till the minor virtue of politeness, as
far at least as salutations went, had permeated the whole
community. Many people think that you may speak as you
like to savages. This is quite a mistake. As I have said,
you cannot speak too politely to natives. The sovereign of
the realm, and the captain of a ship always command the
Queen her subjects, the captain his crew. But in spite of the
adage, " The Court is the standard of good breeding," we did
not find that commanding was the most successful way of
getting on well with savages ; but, following the example of
our Samoan brethren, and, I suppose, of most of the successful
missionaries, we found that the surest and most pleasant way
of getting along with natives was, not by commanding or
ordering, but by politely requesting them. Even when we
were paying a native for working, we invariably said to him,
Aiheug vai nyalc, " Have compassion on me," and do so-and-so ;
but which in reality amounts very much to the phrase, " Please
do so-and-so," or " Please give me so-and-so," among ourselves.
But doubtless among natives, whether savage or Christian,*
MODE OF TREATING NATIVES. IOI
politeness, genuine Christian politeness, is one of the most
certain guarantees for success. We had on the islands a
trader's wife, who was not recognised as a model for all the
virtues, but who was certainly a model for suavity and
blandness of manner towards the natives. She had, when
a girl, been boarded and educated in the family of a retired
missionary. She was naturally kind, and possessed great
tact ; and had she been imbued with higher religious principles,
and been placed in more favourable circumstances, she would
have been a power for good among the islands. When she
wished any special favour, or any important service, from a
native, she would clap him gently on the shoulder, and say,
Ak inlial unyak, ak irihal unyak, aiheug vai nyak, " O my child,
my child, have compassion on me," and do so-and-so for me,
or give me so-and-so; and the request was never refused.
When she died, one of our natives said to my wife about her :
" She was a kind woman to us when we were working for her ;
she did not think much about our souls, but she was always
good in thinking about our bodies."
It is matter of great importance to consider in what manner
the Gospel is to be presented to the heathen, so as to make it
attractive and not repulsive. As a general rule the heathen
are averse to the receiving of the Gospel. If they have had
little or no intercourse with white men they are anxious to have
a missionary to live among them, for the sake of the temporal
benefits they expect to receive by him or from him, for the
fish-hooks, the knives, the hatchets, or any other articles of
European manufacture for which they may have taken a
fancy; but if they can get these from a trader they would
prefer him. It is not for any religious instruction they desire
to receive. As a general rule the natives, in their heathen
IO2 MODE OF TREATING NATIVES.
state, are afraid of the new religion and of the missionaries.
Their own religion is a burdensome and expensive system.
Their own priests lay on them heavy burdens, and grievous to
be borne, and keep them in constant terror, by professing to
possess supernatural power to bring upon them sickness and
death, and all other calamities ; and they think that mission-
aries are only a class of priests stronger and more powerful
than their own, and if they receive the new religion, they
will be only adding a load to a burden; if the old religion
scourged them with whips the new religion would scourge
them with scorpions. Hence they keep as shy as possible
both of the missionary and of the new religion. Some young
missionaries too, with the very best intentions, present the
gospel, not simply as good news, but rather as a system of
restrictions. Shocked by the cruelties and abominations of
heathenism, they begin and forbid and denounce these, before
they can make them understand anything about the blessings
of the Gospel. It has been said that a young missionary does
very well, if, at the end of the first year, he has done no ill.
Let him live very quietly, interfere with nobody, but observe
carefully, learn the language as fast as he can, acquire as much
knowledge about the people as possible, write down their
names, find out the relations of one tribe to another, and do
good as he finds opportunity ; but never force his services.
Let him bide his time, and his time will come, perhaps sooner
than he may think it will ; but he will then be able to utilise
opportunities when they occur. We tried to act upon these
principles, to hurry nothing. We trusted for success to " the
expulsive power of a new affection." We forbade nothing.
We never said, " You must cease smoking, you must not drink
kava, you must give over your night- dances and your great
MODE OF TREATING NATIVES, 103
feasts, you must put away all your wives bat one, you must
not beat your wife, you must not fight with the neighbouring
tribes, you must not bewitch any one, you must not avenge
yourselves upon your enemies, you must not paint your faces
with black or red or yellow pigments, you must not indulge
in any heathen practices. Some may think that this was
very doubtful teaching, a very loose kind of preaching. But
no; our Saviour began His sermon on the mount, not by
inculcating the tithing of mint and cummin, not by pro-
nouncing woes on the Pharisees, but by the Beatitudes.
" Blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, blessed are the
merciful, happy are ye," &c. We endeavoured both by our
preaching and our practice, to represent Christianity as some-
thing great, and something good ; as something very attractive,
but never in the least repulsive. As I have said we offered
them the Sabbath as a day of rest, a day also with abundance
of food, a day not of amusement and frivolity, but a day of joy
and gladness in the worship of God. We took nothing away,
we deprived them of no enjoyment. But whdn they came to
know and understand and embrace what was good, the evil
was given up without a grudge. They embraced the Sabbath
and soon rejoiced in its privileges. When they came to under-
stand that Christ was the only Saviour of sinners, and pro-
fessed their faith in Him as such, they gave up all their
heathen worship and never went back to it. When they came
to understand that the marriage of one man with one woman
was the best and happiest kind of marriage, bigamy and poly-
gamy disappeared without an effort. By our teaching and by
our example we tried to show what a good thing Christianity
is. "Accept of the Gospel," we said, "and see how happy
you will be." They were sufficiently miserable in heathenism,
IO4 MODE OF TREATING NATIVES.
and our object was to show them that godliness is profitable
unto all things having promise of the life that now is and of
that which is to come. I have often been struck in reading
Dr. Chalmers's sermons, with the way in which he approaches
the unconverted, in order to convince them of sin. He never
assails them on the worst side of their character. He
approaches them on the best. He never begins by telling
them of all the evil that is in their lives and in their conduct,
but by enumerating all their good qualities. He never takes
up the attitude of a pessimist, and sets forth all the evils of
the time, and all the wickedness of the people, and charges
these home upon his hearers or his readers, and says to each
of them, " Thou art the man, therefore repent in sackcloth
and ashes." No, he took a different path in approaching
them. He took them as it were into his confidence, made
them his friends, and made them feel that he was their
friend. He said in effect to them, " There is very much
in you that is commendable; you are industrious, you are
temperate, your character is blameless and irreproachable;
you are honest, you are honourable in all your business trans-
actions ; you are just, you are generous, you are kind, you
are genial ; you are good husbands, you are excellent fathers,
you are quiet and obliging neighbours ; touching the righte-
ousness that is by the law you are blameless. But, never-
theless, although man has nothing against you, yet you know
what your own heart in the sight of God testifies against you.
You are conscious that the love of God is not in you, that
love to God is not the highest and overruling motive in all
your actions that the heart is deceitful above all things, and
desperately, incurably wicked. The old heart cannot be made
better, it must be made anew, renewed." The charge was
MODE OP TREATING KATIVES. 105
thus made against the race, not against the individual, against
what the man's heart said, not against what the world knew,
and hence there was no quarrel with the preacher. It was
on such lines as these that we endeavoured to approach the
natives. We knew that God communicates to men the
benefits of redemption chiefly by the ordinary means of grace,
the Word, sacraments, and prayer. We strove to bring them
under the influence of those means. We translated the
Scriptures for them, read them to them, explained them to
them, and taught them to read them. We urged the natives
to come to the house of God, and take part, as they were
able, in all the ordinances of divine grace; and as there is
a special fitness in the means of grace for effecting a change
of heart, we did our best to bring the natives, and to keep
them constantly under these influences. And knowing that
human power was totally unable to change their hearts and
save their souls, we did all in our power to place them in
such relations to the means of grace the Word, sacraments,
and prayer that those means would most effectually operate
to secure their salvation. We endeavoured to place their
souls in such a relation to these heaven- appointed means and
to the Spirit of God, that we could rest with confidence on
the divine promise rendering these means effectual. And we
were not disappointed. In twelve years after the arrival of
Messrs. Powell and Geddie and their wives, and eight years
after our arrival, the whole population of 3500 had abandoned
heathenism, professed Christianity, and placed themselves
under Christian instruction. We made all our converts
missionaries. For a long time, every Sabbath afternoon we
sent out two or three parties to visit heathen districts, hold
little services of praise and prayer with the natives, and to
106 MODE OP TREATING NATIVES.
talk with them about Christianity. If we knew that the
people of the district to which they were going were not
friendly to the Christian party, we sent with them a strong
body of men, headed by some persons of importance, not to
compel them to become Christian, but to remove from them
all temptation to attack the evangelistic party, which they
might have had, if the evangelists had been weak. On one
occasion this was attempted, and a Christian chief was
severely wounded ; but we took such precautions afterwards,
that the attempt was never again repeated. As the work
went on we had to change our modes of operation, but never
to abandon the spirit of politeness ; it being one form of that
charity which never faileth.
It has been said, that he who spits against the wind spits
in his own face; and that if men will speak soft words they
will hear sweet echoes. These axioms we found specially true
in our dealings with the natives. We found it always, as I
have said, better to praise them for what they did well, than
to blame them for what they did ill. They were intensely
human. It has been said, that no man can be a successful
teacher who has not studied moral philosophy, that he may
understand human nature, and know how to manage human
beings, that he may know the principles by which men are
actuated. If this is so necessary in this country for a teacher,
it is greatly more necessary for a missionary labouring among
savages. A great many people make mistakes of this kind.
They expect, on the one hand, that the poor and the ignorant
should always be humble and grateful, ready to accept of any
place, and to submit to any treatment ; and on the other hand,
that the rich and the great only are likely to be proud. The
reverse of this is usually the case. Other things being equal, it
MODE OF TREATING NATIVES. 1 07
is among the poor and the ignorant that the proud are chiefly
found, so is it among savages. Our heathen natives were at first
all proud, and many of them extremely touchy. If one native
reproved or admonished another, no matter however justly,
the native reproved was very likely to get quite angry, and
say to his friends, " What right had So-and-so to speak to me
in that way 1 Had the missionary reproved me, or had the chief
spoken to me, or the teacher, I should have heard them and
done as they said. But for that creature a mere nobody,
for him. to speak that way to me is quite unbearable." With
such feelings among the natives, the politeness of a missionary
and his wife comes upon them with an agreeable surprise.
They do not expect it. But others have had similar surprises.
A few years ago the Synod of the Presbyterian Church of
England met in Manchester, when a committee of the friends
in that city made arrangements to have the members of the
Synod accommodated in private families, both with the view
of saving expense, and of creating an interest in the ministers
especially, among the leading members of the Church. Two
of the ministers were lodged with a family of our acquaintance,
excellent people, but who had not happened to come much in
contact with ministers. One day during the meeting of the
Synod, the lady of 'the house met with a lady friend, and told
her how delighted they were that the committee had sent two
of the ministers to them. They were such nice men. They
were so cheerful, so agreeable, so sensible, so pleasant in
conversation ; they never thought that ministers were such
nice men. The Christian culture and politeness of these two
ministers had left on the minds of the family a favourable
impression on behalf of the whole Christian ministry. But
it is not only savages, and well-to-do, but unobtrusive and
IOS MODE OF TREATING NATIVES.
retiring Christians, who meet with these gratifying incidents,
sometimes eminent men are singularly ignorant of things out
of their own circle. The late Dean Stanley, when he was
visiting his wife's relations, the Earl of Elgin's family, at
Dunfermline, made the acquaintance of the late Rev. Dr.
Johnstone of Limekilns, and became very much attached to
him ; and he was wont to say, that if all Presbyterian
ministers were as intelligent, as tolerant, and as charitable in
their sentiments as Dr. Johnstone, it would be a pleasure to
associate with them. Now, there can be no doubt that, with-
out in the least depreciating Dr Johnstone's reputation, if the
learned Dean had possessed a wider acquaintance with Presby-
terian ministers, he would have found that a large proportion
of them were as intelligent, as liberal in spirit, and as charitable
in their feelings and sentiments as Dr. Johnstone himself.
But like our natives with the missionaries he was ignorant of
the class ; and, hence, those characteristics which indicated the
rule were looked upon by him as being the exception. Like
the Presbyterian lady in Manchester, he required a larger in-
duction of facts to remove his doubts, a greater amount of
Christian intercourse to convince him than was needed by the
good hostess of these country ministers. But the principle is
the same, and human nature is the same through all grades of
society. Christian culture is everywhere a power ; the minor
grace of politeness exerts an influence for good on the rude
savage, on the gentle lady, and on the learned dignitary ; it is
an influence in the same direction, if not in the same degree,
on those who squat in huts, on those who live in houses, on
those who dwell in deaneries, or on those who inhabit palaces.
CHAPTER XVII.
NATURAL HISTOKY: CORAL TREES.
A FEW of the islands are of coral formation, and most of them
are surrounded by coral reefs. Specimens of the coral, both
white and red, may be often seen as curiosities in houses in
this country, but no one would think of comparing any of the
coral in those seas with that which Job refers to (chap, xxviii.
1 8) when he says, "No mention shall be made of coral, or of
pearls, for the price of wisdom is above rubies." We have all
heard of the coral insect, of the millions of those tiny masons
that have been toiling on, year after year, and age after age,
building up gigantic structures, compared with which the
tower of Babel, the wall of China, and the pyramids of Egypt
were like the toys and the playthings of children. Now there
is a great popular delusion abroad in connection with these so-
called coral insects. Most people think of them as plodding
away with the instinctive wisdom and the persevering industry
of bees building up their combs : or, like ants, raising their
hills, and filling their garners with food for the coming
winter; but this is not the case. The so-called insect is
a kind of polypus, more like a plant than an animal. It
cannot move from place to place, it is a fixture. The coral
is a mass of lime ; it is porous like a sponge ; every crevice,
every pore is filled with a gelatinous matter : this is all
I 1 O NATURAL HISTORY : CORAL TREES.
covered with a very thin skin. At the outer extremity of
every pore, there is a small orifice or mouth, which is con-
tinually sucking in, or secreting the lime, which is held in
solution in the sea-water, and depositing it in the block
below, and in this way the lump of coral continues to grow ;
but it grows like a plant, not like the work of an insect.
When sailing in a boat over these coral reefs you seem, at
times, to be sailing over a coral garden. Many species, and
innumerable varieties, and of various colours, are seen growing
beneath the water, and yet, so far as I have observed, they all
belong to two classes, the branch coral and the brain coral,
the former like small branches without leaves, the latter in
shape and appearance like a human brain with the bone
removed, but of all sizes, from that of an egg to blocks of
many tons weight. Coral is found both dead and alive.
The dead coral is in masses and mountains of solid rock, but
containing, so far as I know, no organic remains. The live
coral is growing on the top of these dead rocks, near the
surface of the water. To prepare those beautiful specimens
that are exhibited as curiosities, you have to boil the piece
of live coral in fresh water with carbonate of soda, to loosen
the gelatinous matter, then wash it again and again in fresh
water, to remove all this matter, and finally expose it to the
sun to dry it. It then contains nothing but the skeleton of
this plant-like organism, and is in reality nothing but a lump
of limestone, but so exquisitely wrought, so marvellously
beautiful, that Solomon in all his glory could produce nothing
to equal it. Hiram with all his highly skilled workmen
could produce no castings, could execute no carvings, half so
cunning or half so curious as these. Coral thus prepared is " a
thing of beauty and a joy for ever." The live coral is the only
NATURAL HISTORY : CORAL TREES. I I I
lime we have on the islands. We collect it out of the sea,
burn it with wood in large pits, and build, or plaster, or
white wash our houses with it as required.
TREES: THE COCOA-NUT.
Among the trees the cocoa-nut, the Goccos nucifera, is one of
the most beautiful and valuable trees on Aneityum. It is
found on all the South Sea Islands. It belongs to the family
of the palms, and grows most luxuriantly, especially near
the shore. It is an evergreen; hence the Psalmist employs
it as an emblem of the spiritual condition of the righteous.
" But like the palm tree flourishing
Shall be the righteous one."
" He shall be fat, and full of sap,
And aye be flourishing."
I have the names of twelve species, or distinct varieties, of
palms that grow on Aneityum. I may here remark that
many people pronounce this word as if it were written Ico-M-a,
in three syllables, with the accent on the second. But so
far as I have ever heard it named in the South Seas, it is
pronounced, as if within ko-ho, in two syllables, with the
accent on the first. The cocoa-nut is a beautiful tree. The
trunk grows up straight, without a branch or a twist, till
it reaches a height of fifty or sixty feet, with a fine spreading
crown of leaves, or rather branches, though usually called
leaves, interspersed with large clusters of fruit in all stages
of progress. It is always shedding its old leaves on branches,
as well as its fruit, and is always producing fresh ones ; hence
the whole year round you can stand, or sit, " 'neath the shade
of the feathery palm," although it is not safe to do either,
1 1 2 NATURAL HISTORY I CORAL TREES.
lest a hard cocoa-nut should strike you on the head. Another
peculiarity of the cocoa-nut is, that it is, as all the palms are,
endogenous, it increases from within, and not from without.
It also carries the whole thickness of the trunk up with it
from the root. At the end of the first year's growth, the
trunk is as thick as it ever becomes. In all cold countries
the trees are exogenous they grow from without, their
addition of growth are all on the outside, as are seen in
the concentric rings, when a tree is sawn across; hence if
you bark a tree you kill it, but in tropical climates, a portion
of the trees are endogenous the new life, the new matter
that supplies growth, goes all up the centre ; and you may
cut the outside of a cocoa-nut as much as you choose, if you
leave the centre untouched, you do not kill the tree; but
if you injure the centre, or the top, it dies at once. The
easiest way to destroy a cocoa-nut tree, is to kill the central
growth at the top. On some islands in the South Seas, if
a man wishes to avenge himself secretly on his neighbour,
he climbs up one of his cocoa-nut trees, and places a dead
snake, or some dead animal, on the central growth of the
tree. The decaying animal matter kills this vital part of
the tree, and the whole tree dies, while, as in the case of
the enemy, who sowed the tares while men were asleep, the
author of the mischief is not discovered. In the case of
every new leaf or branch, when it comes out, it shoots directly
up to its full length, like a round spear ; when it reaches its
full length, the fibre that holds it together bursts, and the
branch expands. The branches are usually from about twelve
to fifteen feet long, with a row of leaflets on each side of
the stem, about two feet long each. Every part of the cocoa-
nut is useful its leaves, its wood, and its fruit. Its leaves
NATURAL HISTORY : CORAL TREES. I I 3
are made into mats for floors, and they are also employed
as a thatch for houses ; its wood is not durable, but it is
employed usefully in various ways. I have seen a boat made
out of some species. On Aneityum one species of palm is
split up and used as small rafters for the roof of our churches,
mission, and other houses ; but it is its fruit the cocoa-nut
which constitutes its great value. Every part of the nut
is valuable; its husk is made into cordage by the natives,
and into door mats and brushes by Europeans. It is also
used like horse-hair for stuffing mattresses. When green the
husk of one species is of a sweet taste, and is greatly prized
by the natives when they are unwell : they chew the husk and
swallow the juice, and seem to be soothed by the operation.
The shell is made into cups and water-bottles. The liquor
which the nut contains when full grown and half ripe, which
is enough generally to fill one or two tumblers, is one of the
most delicious and refreshing drinks that is anywhere known :
it is of a slightly sweet and a slightly acid taste, something
like lemonade, but much finer. It is all but equal to the
juice of the grape, such as it must have been when pressed
into Pharaoh's cup by the chief butler. It is palm wine ;
and by most of the missionaries in the South Seas is used
at the Lord's Supper as a legitimate substitute for the fruit
of the vine, and greatly to be preferred to the brandified wine
of commerce. It is a wine that cheers but not inebriates.
The kernel is no less valuable ; as an article of diet it is to
the natives a substitute for both butter and meat, and as
an article of commerce it supplies the well-known cocoa-nut
oil, which is extensively used for so many purposes, in supply-
ing both the necessaries and luxuries of life. The kernel
is now generally dried, and is the cobra of commerce. Two
ii4 NATURAL HISTORY: CORAL TREES.
hundred years ago the quaint but pious Herbert, as quoted by
Ellis in his valuable Polynesian Researches, sang :
" The Indian's nut alone
Is clothing, meat and trencher, drink and can,
Boat and cable, sail and needle, all in one."
What the reindeer is to the Greenlander, the cocoa-nut is to
the natives of the South Seas.
THE BREAD-FEUIT TREE.
The next of the most important trees on these islands is
the bread-fruit tree, artocarpus. It is also a beautiful tree ;
not unlike an ash tree in shape, except in the foliage. It
has large digitated leaves, every one spreading out like the
open hand of a mighty giant ; but hands, in comparison with
which, the hands of Goliath of Gath would have been like
that of an infant. The wood of the tree is of great use to
the natives. It is a soft wood and easily worked ; but it is
durable ; it is long before it rots. It is valuable for house-
building ; but it is chiefly prized by the natives for supplying
them with wood for making their canoes. On Aneityum the
canoes are all hollowed out of single trees ; and the bread-
fruit tree, being soft and easily worked, and at the same time
durable, is preferred to all others for that purpose. The chief
value of the tree, however, is its fruit. It is the staple
article of food for two, three, or four months in the year,
according as the crop is plentiful or otherwise, or as the
hurricanes may spare the fruit. There are two crops in the
year, a winter one and a summer one. The winter crop is
ripe about the months of July and August, and is a small
crop. The summer crop, which is a large one, comes on in
December or January, the latter being the month near the
NATURAL HISTORY : CORAL TREES. I I 5
end of which hurricanes most frequently occur, and which
sometimes destroy the crop. The fruit is generally round or
oval, averaging about six inches in diameter, but there is a
considerable diversity in the size. It is called bread-fruit by
Europeans, because, in appearance and in consistency, it has
a considerable resemblance to fine wheaten bread. It is very
easily cooked ; it may be either boiled, steamed in the native
oven, or roasted on the embers. In heathen times the natives
of Aneityum and the Southern islands of the group had no
vessels in which to boil anything. Now they are procuring
pots, saucepans, kettles, &c. At Port Resolution on Tanna,
the natives cooked their food by immersing it in the boiling
springs till it was fit for being eaten. The natives frequently
lay their bread-fruit on the hot embers, and keep turning
it for fifteen or twenty minutes, or longer, according to cir-
cumstances. It is then perfectly cooked. They afterwards
scrape off the skin very gently, and you have then the finest
hot rolls either for breakfast or any other meal. You have
bread nearly pure white, only very slightly yellow, but
unadulterated, soft, delicious to the taste, wholesome and
nourishing. I have the names of thirty-two varieties of
bread-fruit growing on Aneityum. The fruit requires to be
eaten as fast as it ripens, as it cannot be kept fresh more
than a day or two after it is pulled. The fact that it has to
be eaten so soon, as well as its abundance, and its nutritious
qualities, has a good deal to do with the improved appearance
of the natives during the bread-fruit season ; for they get
quite fat, plump, and vigorous, especially during the con
tinuance of the summer crop. But they have a mode of
preserving the bread-fruit, either when the crop is very
plentiful and they cannot eat it all, or when the ripe fruit
I I 6 NATURAL HISTORY : CORAL TREES.
is blown down by a hurricane ; they dig pits about three or
four feet deep, and three feet in diameter, line them with
cocoa-nut leaves, cut up each bread-fruit into four pieces each,
and then cast them into these pits, cover the fruit with leaves
and earth. The fruit undergoes a kind of fermentation ; by
and by they take it out, work it up, and put it back again
into the pits and cover it up. When thus prepared it will
keep good for some months, and in the " hungry season,"
when food is scarce, they take it out as they require it, knead
it up into little loaves, and cook it in the native oven. The
taste is strong, and the smell still more so, but when better
food is not plentiful, it supplies a want, and proves a good
stand by; it ekes out a scanty allowance, and serves as a
substitute till something better can be found. Providence
is kind to those simple islanders in supplying their many
wants. Paley's famous law of compensation comes often into
operation in their behalf, many are the resources on which
they can fall back, so that anything like a severe famine is
but seldom known ; hence they love their islands, enjoy their
bread-fruit, bask in the glowing sunshine, and bless the giver
of all good.
THE ORANGE.
Of the fruit trees introduced the orange family is that which
appears to thrive best. There is a native orange which grows
well, but which is so bitter that it cannot be eaten ; but on all
the islands the ordinary introduced oranges, of different kinds,
grow remarkably well. For several years the trees in my
garden produced from 20,000 to 30,000 oranges annually, and
the quality of the fruit was as excellent as the quantity was
large. On one occasion a gentleman from Victoria paid a
NATURAL HISTORY : CORAL TREES. I I 7
visit to the New Hebrides, and stayed with us on Aneityum
for a couple of months or so, during the time the orange crop
was in season. He greatly relished our oranges ; but some
time afterwards he wrote me, that he had never been able to
relish an orange since, the Australian oranges were so poor
and insipid after those he had got on Aneityum. Now, if the
principles of Christianity were brought to bear with sufficient
power on the population of the New Hebrides, the orange
groves would soon become so extensive, that the commerce of
New Zealand would find it profitable to send down its smartest
running steamers to our islands ; we should fill them, and
flood that colony with the finest oranges, and drive the inferior
products of Australia completely out of that market.
THE SANDAL-WOOD.
The only other tree to which I shall advert at this time is
the sandal- wood tree, which at one time grew extensively on
the New Hebrides, especially on Eromanga and Espiritu Santo,
but which is now nearly all cut down. It is a scented wood,
a hard, knotty, and crooked tree, of slow growth, and does not
attain a large size, seldom more than ten or twelve inches in
diameter. It is a valuable article of commerce. It used to
bring from ^"30 to ^45 a ton in China. It was estimated
that one or two firms in Sydney realised as much as ; 70,000
for the sandal-wood which they obtained on Eromanga alone.
The Chinese manufacture the most workable part of the wood
into dressing-cases, work-boxes, and various articles of cui'ious
workmanship, while the shavings, parings, and other odds and
ends are collected, mixed with gums, and burned as incense
before their idols in their sacred temples. Referring to the
I I 8 NATURAL HISTORY : CORAL TREES.
use of sandal-wood in this way for upholding idolatry, the
wife of a trader in the islands, who had been long engaged in
this business, a very clever, intelligent woman, remarked,
on one occasion, to the captain of the Dayspring, that she
thought, although it appeared to be a very paying business,
it was, after all, a very unlucky occupation to be employed in,
gathering firewood for the devil ; they had made three or four
fortunes, but they had as often lost them, and she believed
they would at last die in beggary. The sandal-wood tree,
according to Biblical botanists, is the same, or at least belongs
to the same family, as the algum or almug trees mentioned in
i Kings x. n, and 2 Chronicles ii. 8, ix. 10, 1 1, which Hiram's
ships brought to Solomon from Ophir, and with which the king
made rails for the house of the Lord, and for the king's house,
harps also, and psalteries for singers. The sandal-wood trade
was a lucky business in those days. So far as we learn, none
of Hiram's ships were lost, and none of those engaged in the
trade became bankrupt, or died in beggary ; and why 1 because
instead of gathering firewood for the devil, they brought the
finest specimens of wood which the regions of the East could
supply, to furnish materials out of which to prepare the orna-
mental work for the temple of the Lord and the palace of the
king, and to make those instruments of music with which they
sounded the praises of Jehovah. The devil is a bad pay-
master ; but the Lord keeps and rewards those who serve Him.
In connection with the sandal- wood there is a beautiful saying,
or proverb, in the East Indies, where this scented tree grows.
They say, " A good man is like the sandal- wood tree as the
sandal-wood tree leaves a part of its fragrance on the axe
that cuts it down, so the good man leaves his blessing on the
head of the man that does him an injury."
NATURAL HISTORY: CORAL TREES. I 19
In the New Hebrides there are no- cereals no wheat, no
barley, no oats ; none of these will grow there. Indian corn
or maize, however, has been introduced and grows well. But
notwithstanding this there is no lack of food; there is an
abundance of yams, taro, sweet potatoes, bananas, sugar cane,
and other productions. If the natives were Christianised
those islands would become the West Indies to Australia and
New Zealand. But the commercial value of those islands
depends almost entirely upon the natives being Christianised.
Where the natives are heathen there is no security for life
and property, and no reliable labour to be obtained ; but in
so far as Christianity is embraced by the natives, life and
property become secure, and reliable labour can be obtained
on the spot. European capital and native labour combined
would develop the resources of the islands.
CHAPTER XVIII.
NATURAL HISTORY: TARO.
I AM often asked, What is taro ? what is it like ? how does
it grow ? is it indigenous on the islands, or has it been intro-
duced ? is it good food 1 how is it cooked ? and a great many
other questions about it. Taro is the Arum esculentum of
botanists. It is the most highly prized food on Aneityum.
On some other islands the yam is the staple article of food,
but on Aneityum the taro holds the chief place. The natives
could not hold a feast without taro. They might have yams,
bread-fruit, bananas, plantains, horse-chestnuts, sweet potatoes,
sugar-cane, and every vegetable that is eaten, but without
taro the feast would not be complete. On one occasion I
was urging on a marriage, but the parties connected with it
pleaded for delay, for which I could see no reason. At last
one of the leading men took me aside, and said to me that
the taro was not ripe, and would not be ripe for two or three
months. "But," I said, "you have plenty of other food."
"Yes," he said, "but we could not have a marriage feast
without taro : it would never do." In the estimation of the
natives, it would have been as much out of place to have a
feast without taro, as for us to have a tea-party without
bread of any kind. Taro is a remarkably fine root. It grows
like a carrot or parsnip, but much larger, and it does not
taper at the lower end : it looks as if the point of the taro
NATURAL HISTORY : TARO. I 2 I
were cut off straight across. A large taro is about the size
and shape of a man's arm from the elbow to the wrist. The
top leaves are not unlike those of a turnip, but they project
higher up ; while in colour they more resemble rhubarb, but
are smoother on the upper surface. The skin or rind is
black or brownish. The taro is an agreeable and nutritious
article of food, mealy or farinaceous like the best potatoes ; in
taste slightly different from the potato, but equally as plea-
sant as the potato. In colour the body of the taro is white
or slightly yellow. It is indigenous both on Aneityum and
everywhere in the South Seas. Dr. Thomson, an eminent
army surgeon, while stationed in Auckland, wrote a book on
New Zealand, in which he said that taro contained twice as
much nutriment as the potato, pound for pound. If New
Zealand taro was so much superior to the potato, I feel
certain that Aneityum taro will contain three times as much
nourishment as the potato, weight for weight. Taro grows
both on dry ground and on marshy. It is of all sizes, from
three inches to twelve or fifteen, and is proportionate in
thickness, from one to three or four inches in diameter. It
grows best on marshy ground, but it must be surrounded
with running not stagnant water. It needs constant irriga-
tion, hence the common or public canals have to be kept in
constant repair. Taro is a slow growing plant. It takes
nearly a twelvemonth to come to maturity ; when taken out
of the ground it can be kept fresh, and good for eating, for
little more than a week ; but then it grows all the year round.
The natives are always taking it up, and always planting it
anew ; but it grows much faster in summer than in winter.
It is propagated in two ways : either by planting the shoots
or small tubers that grow around the principal roots, or by
122 NATURAL HISTORY: THE YAM.
planting the stalk or top of the plant when the root has been
cut off. The latter is the method which the natives generally
prefer. The taro can be cooked either by boiling it in a pot,
steaming it in the native oven, or by roasting on the embers.
When cold, it is best heated by cutting it into slices, and
heating it in the frying-pan. In my lexicon I have seventy
different names for the varieties of taro, and probably the
natives have more than those.
THE YAM.
The yam, the Dioscoria alata of botanists, is not much cul-
tivated on Aneityum, but on parts of Tanna it is the staple
food. As a general rule the yam is cultivated as a staple
article of food on the low flat coral islands where water is
scarce, and the taro on the high volcanic islands where water
is plentiful. The yam, like the taro, is of all sizes ; but the
larger roots are three or four times larger than the largest
taro. Some species or varieties are farinaceous or mealy,
resembling taro; but, as a general rule, the yam is much
softer in texture and more watery than the taro. In its
substance the yam is granular, which the taro is not. The
yam, however, is in one respect quite different from the taro,
it does not ripen all the year round ; there is only one crop
in the year, but then the yams can be kept good for several
months. The skin of the yam is very tender, and is easily
injured, and if the skin is broken, the yam soon begins to rot
and decay ; the natives, therefore, handle them with great
care ; they handle them as tenderly as they would do eggs, if
they mean to keep them. Yams are cooked in the same way
as taro, but they contain only about half the nourishment of
NATURAL HISTORY: THE YAM. 123
taro, weight for weight. They are cultivated quite differently
from taro. Taro grows best on land over which water is
running, yams grow best on light, dry, sandy, or volcanic soil.
The natives on Aneityum form a mound from six to ten feet
in diameter, and about three feet high in the centre, the earth
being first thoroughly pulverised. They plant the seed yam
around the mound, the eye of the seed being slightly exposed.
The tops of the yams are long slender vines with small leaves.
When the vines begin to grow, the natives prepare a frame
or a lattice-work of reeds, about a foot high or so above the
ground, and stretching away on one side of the mound to a
distance of from twelve to twenty feet, which in due time is
densely covered with foliage.
When I was in New Zealand, and was contemplating going
to the New Hebrides, my much respected and highly esteemed
friend, the Rev. James Watkin of the Wesleyan Mission, who
had lived several years as a missionary on the Tongan group
islands famous for fine yams in the way of giving me
information and encouragement about the New Hebrides, and
what the advantages of the field would be, said, " In the matter
of native food you will get so-and-so," enumerating a few of the
most important and attractive items, and then said finally,
with great emphasis, " And you will get yams ! " Some of the
missionaries, on the yam-growing islands on the New Hebrides
and on the Loyalty Islands, used also to speak in glowing terms
of the yams on their respective islands, and no doubt truthfully,
as they felt. But as I lived on a taro-growing, not on a yam-
producing island, and as the taste for yams is to some extent
an acquired taste, whereas the taste for taro, like that for
potatoes, is to most people a natural taste, I never acquired
the taste for yams, and always preferred the taro to the yam.
124 NATURAL HISTORY: THE BANANA.
But the old Latins said : De gustibus non disputandum, and we
continue to say, as if it were an English proverb, " There is no
disputing about tastes ; " but be that as it may, one thing is
undisputable, that the yam is a most valuable esculent root.
THE BANANA.
The banana, Musa sapientum, is a herbaceous plant which
grows luxuriantly everywhere throughout the South Sea
Islands. It is propagated from shoots or suckers, and most of
the species or varieties attain a height of from twelve to fifteen
feet or more. The stock or stem is from six to nine inches in
diameter. The banana is not a tree, but the stem or body of
the plant is formed of a number of soft concentric layers, about
half an inch in thickness, somewhat resembling a thick-necked
onion. The leaves are long and pendent, from four to six
feet long, and about two feet broad. When slightly heated
over the fire they are soft, tough, and flexible as cloth, and
are employed by the natives in wrapping up puddings and
other articles of food, to preserve the juice from being lost,
when cooked in the native ovens. There is only one bunch of
fruit on each plant, but it contains about a hundred bananas,
more or fewer, from six to nine inches in length, somewhat
like a cucumber : the fruit, as well as the leaves, when
growing, is of a beautiful pea-green colour, and when ripe a
rich bright yellow. The bunch is cut as soon as one or two
of the bananas begin to change colour ; it is hung up in the
house for a week or so, and by that time the whole bunch is
yellow and fit for use. When ripe they may be eaten either
raw, or baked as a pudding in a dish, and eaten with milk.
The taste is delicious, something like a very fine ripe pear, but
NATURAL HISTORY : THE BANANA. I 2 5
in substance softer. Everybody likes it from the very first. In
my lexicon I have the native names for forty-five different
species or varieties of bananas. In Samoa they have more
than fifty. The banana, it is said, produces more nutritious
substance in the same space than any other plant. In Mexico,
Hurnboldt calculated that an acre of ground planted with
bananas was sufficient to support fifty men, whilst the same
extent of land in wheat would barely supply the wants of three,
or if planted with potatoes to support nine. On Aneityum, as
far as we could judge, we found that the banana was as prolific
as Humboldt found it to be in Mexico. Our garden of about
half an acre, planted with bananas, went far to feed from
twenty to thirty young people living on our premises. We
had, on an average, two bunches a day, or about seven hundred
bunches in the year ; and most certainly nothing else that we
could have cultivated would have been anything like So pro-
ductive.
There is one banana known by the name of the " Chinese
banana," "most probably," says Mr. Mills, "the Musa caven-
disliii, the origin of which is said to be the Isle of France,"
which was introduced into the South Seas half a century ago,
which has been a great boon to the natives, which has been
highly appreciated, and has spread over the islands with great
rapidity. When the apostolic John Williams left England in
the Gamden in 1838, an English nobleman, the Duke of Devon-
shire, presented him with some boxes of plants for the benefit
of the mission. These were landed in Samoa till Mr. Williams
should have time to dispose of them. They remained unopened
till after his martyrdom on Eromanga, when they were opened
by the Rev. W. Mills, a man of eminent scientific tastes ; but
every plant was dead except one shoot of the Chinese banana ;
126 NATURAL HISTORY: THE BANANA.
but this proved to be a priceless treasure. Mr. Mills planted
it out, and tended it with great care. At the end of a year it
produced a bunch weighing nearly a hundred pounds. When
its value was discovered, every chief in Samoa, and every
missionary on the group, was eager to obtain shoots, and in
a short time this new banana was known in every part of
Samoa; and thenceforth every teacher that was sent forth
to any heathen island carried with him a small basket with
a few shoots of this banana as part of his outfit, till they
were introduced into every group from the Society Islands on
the east to the New Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands on the
west; from Savage Islands on the south to the groups of
islands on the line, and I have no doubt that by this time
they are to be found along the whole of the south-west coast
of New Guinea. The Chinese bananas possess two advan-
tages over the native bananas. They are of a finer quality,
and they grow to little more than half the height of the
native banana, and hence are not so easily blown down and
destroyed by hurricanes.
When we went to Aneityum, and were settled on our
station of Aname, Amosa, the Samoan teacher, had a fine
bunch of Chinese bananas in his garden. As soon as it was
fully ripe he brought it in a present to us as an offering of
welcome. We were afraid to accept of it, not knowing how
we should be able to repay the good man for such a rare and
valuable present. When our garden, a small one at first,
was prepared, Amosa, Tavita, Williamu and others, gathered
up among them thirteen small shoots of the Chinese banana
and planted them. Eleven months after this we cut the first
ripe bunch of our own. We never planted any kind but the
Chinese. By the end of a year the suckers numbered sixty
NATURAL HISTORY: THE BANANA. 127
or seventy, and from that time forward we began and gave
them away right and left till there was not a native on the
island who had not Chinese bananas, Nohos Saina, as they
called them.
But our bananas were made to serve another and a higher
purpose in connection with the mission. Towards the end
of the first decade of missionary operations on the island, a
party of Tannese came over to Aneityum in the John Knox
on a visit. Our chiefs and teachers were very attentive to
them, and showed them everything that was worth being
seen, our garden among the rest. "Look here," said one
of the chiefs, "see what bananas the missionary has. You
on Tanna think that if you take the Gospel you will have
no food, but look at the missionary's garden; you all know
that in three years our gardens are grown out, and will bear
no more, but the missionary's garden has been growing for
seven years, and it is still as good as ever, and why 1 because
of his. Christianity : the Gospel does not keep the food from
growing, as your sacred men tell you. The chief overlooked
the fact that, like the dresser of the vineyard in the parable,
we had been digging about them and dunging them, that
every day we had buried around their roots all the dung
produced by our cows and our goats, and in this way pre-
served the fertility of the soil. The argument from the
bananas, ill applied though it had been, was, however, more
convincing to the Tannese than a whole volume on the
evidences. Taura the chief went home, and went over all his
ten lands, publishing what he had seen on Aneityum ; and,
according to the native accounts that came back to us, from
the south of Tanna to the west, from Kwamera to Black
Beach, Taura's words shook the whole land. And had the
I 2 8 NATURAL HISTORY : THE PLANTAIN.
disposition to receive the truth on the part of the Tannese
been as strong as the demonstration was clear, all that part
of Tanna had become Christian ; but alas ! it was then as it
had been of old, no mighty work was done because of their
unbelief.
THE PLANTAIN.
The plantain, Musa paradisiaca, grows only to a limited
extent on Aneityum. I have the names of only six species
or varieties. The plantain grows only in the inland districts,
I never saw it growing near the shore. The fruit grows in
quite a different manner from that of the banana. The bunch
of fruit on the banana after it comes out, turns over and
hangs down from the top towards the ground, but the bunch
of fruit on the plantain projects straight up, "The plan
tain or banana," says the Encyclopaedia Britannica, " belongs
botanically to the same family as Manilla hemp, but its fibre
is not so fine. By adequate preparation, however, it may
be made into fabrics of elegant appearance, as well as more
coarse and strong ones. Hitherto, it would seem, little care
has been bestowed on the preparation and assortment of the
fibres. The extraordinary productiveness of this plant as
a food-producer has been the sole reason of its cultivation,
but every plant yields from three to four pounds of fibre, the
utilising of which needs only labour and care." Our practice
has been this : when we cut the fruit, we immediately cut
down the stem also, and throw it into a pit to be converted
into manure ; but had we utilised the fibre, my garden,
assuming Humboldt's calculations to be correct, would not
only have fed twenty- five natives, but produced from a ton
to a ton and a half of fibre equal to Manilla hemp. And if
NATURAL HISTORY: THE PLANTAIN. 129
the French would only let us alone, and if the Labour Traffic
would only cease, we might have a hemp manufactory on
every island, as well as twenty other industries. The com-
mercial value of the islands, were they first christianised, and
life and property secure, and labour obtainable, have never yet
been calculated ; but it would be immense.
ARROWROOT.
Arrowroot, or more properly, as some say Arree root, is
indigenous in the New Hebrides, and in most of the islands
of the South Seas. The bulbs are very like those of potatoes,
but the stalks and leaves are different : they grow up in a
bunch to the height of about two feet. Arrowroot cannot be
reckoned as a food for people in health ; but for infants and
invalids it is valuable. Its medicinal properties are great; as
a diffusive . stimulant for removing chills, and restoring heat
to the body, it acts as speedily and as powerfully as brandy,
without any of its reactionary and injurious effects. Dr. See-
man, in his very able work on Fiji, says "it is invaluable in
cases of dysentery and diarrhoea, the bane of the South Seas,"
(he should have said of Fiji only), but " it is necessary to
have it genuine." There are two kinds of arrowroot in Fiji,
there are the same in the New Hebrides, but in neither group
do the natives make any difference in preparing the bulbs
for flour, any more than we should in this country between
two kinds of potatoes in the making of potato starch. The
Bermuda arrowroot is universally recognised as the best that
comes to this country, and is sold at three shillings and
sixpence a pound if not more. When we were living in
London in 1877 we were introduced by our friend Canon
130 NATURAL HISTORY: ARROWROOT.
Tristram to the widow and daughter of a missionary, who
had laboured along with him in Bermuda under the Church
Missionary Society, and who annually received from their
friends a small quantity of the genuine Bermuda arrowroot.
My wife and they made an exchange between the Bermuda
and Aneityum arrowroot, that they might both compare them
respectively. They did so, but each of them preferred their
own. Both kinds were genuine, both were good ; and they
concluded that each preferred that to which they had been
most accustomed. But the Bermuda and the Aneityum were
evidently different species of the same plant. The Aneityum
contained the most starch, which renders it so valuable in
bowel complaints : but the Bermuda must possess some other
properties which enhance its general value so much. The
supply of Bermuda arrowroot is very limited. It is said that
there is more port wine drunk in London than all that is
produced in Portugal; so it is affirmed that there is more
Bermuda arrowroot used in London than all that is made
in Bermuda, and it can be bought cheaper in some places
in London than it can be bought in Bermuda itself. Such
are some of the achievements of commerce ! The Aneityum
and Fiji arrowroot is the Tacca pinnatifida of the botanists.
The Bermuda, I presume, is the Maranta arundinacea,
"which," it is said, "comes to us from the warmer regions
of the New World."
For more than a quarter of a century the natives of
Aneityum have prepared arrowroot and made a contribution
of it, first for the payment of their Bibles, and next to assist
in sending the Gospel to the heathen on the other islands.
During the three years that my station was vacant, the
natives made the average quantity of arrowroot, and prepared
NATURAL HISTORY: ARROWROOT. 131
it with as much care as when we were living among them.
It is true the Rev. Joseph Annand was living on the other
side of the island, and exercised very efficiently a general
superintendence over them, weighed the arrowroot, and put
it carefully up in casks ; but the chief responsibility fell upon
the natives themselves. To the friends and supporters of the
mission, the history of the arrowroot movement, even had
there been nothing else, would have been accepted as a satis-
factory proof that the Christianity of the natives was genuine.
I have been told by those who ought to know, that there is
no foreign mission station belonging to the Free Church,
where the contributions for the extension of the Gospel are
proportionately so liberal, as those made by the natives of
Aneityum; and these are all made in arrowroot. I have
elsewhere stated how Mrs. Inglis learned to make the arrow-
root from Tutau, the wife of a Rarotongan teacher; how she
taught the natives on the following year ; and how the pro-
cess went on till it became a settled industry, a standing
institution, and a part of the mission. It is now made on
every island where Christianity has got a firm footing. It is
made like potato starch. I had twenty-eight schools, and
every teacher and his people made a contribution. It was
done in this way. At the proper time they made a plantation
of arrowroot ; when it was ripe they dug it up, and prepared
it at the rate of four or five schools each week. The natives
provided the raw material and I provided zinc tubs, buckets,
graters, sheets, bags, tables, and casks, and what might be
called the plant of the manufactory. The Teachers' Institution
was utilised for three months during the vacation for drying
the arrowroot. In order that it might be made properly,
I provided everything that the natives did not themselves
132 NATURAL HISTORY: ARROWROOT.
possess. Being thus assisted they went to the work with a
will. I also appointed two of the most active and trust-
worthy of the natives to attend to the drying, sifting, weigh-
ing, and packing of the arrowroot. The process was as
follows. I shall describe it as it was done at my station.
On Monday morning the natives collected all the ripe arrow-
root. Then so many of them were told off to collect food and
make an oven for the whole party, that they might be strong
for the work ; another party, mostly of women and girls,
were appointed to wash the tubers, and scrape the skin off,
and then grate them to a pulp ; a third party of strong men
and boys undertook to strain the grated matter through a
thin cloth into tubs. It was night before the work was done.
This was the great day. The tubs were all left full. On the
Tuesday morning the men returned and found the arrowroot
all sunk to the bottom of the tubs, and the water almost pure.
This they poured off, and filled the tubs again with fresh
water, and stirred up the sediment till it was all mixed with
the water. This process was repeated two or three times
during the course of the day; at night it was again all
strained through the thin cloth, so that no mote or impurity
of any kind should be found in the arrowroot. On Wednesday
morning the water was again poured off, and the pure arrow-
root was ready for being dried. When first strained the
arrowroot is bitter and poisonous, at least fowls eating it die ;
but when the water has been changed on it five or six times
it is sweet, or tasteless, and perfectly wholesome. In the
backyard of our Teachers' Institution tables had been erected ;
first rough frames had been fixed up, about three feet high.
These were covered with old reed fencing, being a wicker
work about four feet broad ; large fresh banana leaves were
NATURAL HISTORY: ARROWROOT. 133
spread on these tables, and the lumps of wet but still solid
arrowroot were laid on the leaves, and exposed to the sun,
and before night it was so far dried that it could be removed
from the leaves, broken up by the hands, and spread out on
cotton sheets, which my wife had prepared for the purpose.
Meanwhile, we had the Teachers' Institution prepared with
tables, by placing the forms across the floor, and covering
them with boards on which the sheets and the arrowroot could
be spread out at night, or on wet days ; the windows were
all opened ; and hence it could be put out or in as required in
the shortest time. On the Thursday morning the two men
appointed to watch it had it all spread out on the tables, and
exposed to the sun ; and, if the weather was good, by Satur-
day it was fit for being sifted, and could be rolled up during
the Sabbath, without being injured. If rolled up wet it soon
became heated and discoloured ; but if the weather was un-
favourable, and it was still damp, it was spread out on the
sheets, on those tables in the house, and covered with other
sheets to prevent dust falling on it. If the weather was
good it was fit for being put into casks by the end of a fort-
night ; but if the weather was wet or showery, it was three
weeks or a month before it was quite dry. The same process
was gone through in all the twenty-eight schools. The
teachers and the natives got the arrowroot all made and
washed at their respective lands, but it was all brought to
the mission station to be dried and finished up. The planting
and the making was all done by the general public ; the two
or three men whom I appointed to watch it, and whom I
paid for their work, did all the rest. The time required for
the whole process was fully two months. The time that each
person gave to the work was in general three or four days.
I 34 NATURAL HISTOKY : ARROWROOT.
They had little or no money, but they gave their labour with-
out grudging. In all that we got them to do for the mission,
we tried to spread the labour as widely as possible, that it
might touch the whole community, but touch each person as
lightly as might be touch them so lightly that it was never
felt to be oppressive ; and thus what they did for the Gospel
was felt to be a privilege and not a burden. If wise arrange-
ments are made, it is astonishing how much help may be
cheerfully obtained to advance the kingdom of Christ.
CHAPTER XIX.
NATURAL HISTORY: ANIMALS.
HAD the Eev. Gilbert White, M.A., the eminent naturalist
of last century, lived on our island, he would no doubt have
made the Natural History of Aneityum as interesting and as
well known as the Natural History of Selbourne ; and Sir
William Jardine, Bart., of Jardine Hall, would have brought
out a new edition of the book, with additions, and have in-
terested scientific observers with his many important facts.
But as I am writing only a chapter on this subject, and not
a book, and as I have not had time to make any extensive
observations, I shall confine myself to a very few specimens.
Mr. White regretted that he lived in an inland locality, far
from, the sea or any large river, and hence had to confine
his observations to land animals, and could give no account
of those inhabiting the waters. On the other hand, as I
resided always on the sea-shore, I shall say little of land
animals, but confine myself chiefly to denizens of the sea.
The only indigenous quadrupeds on the island are a small
rat, and perhaps the pig. The British or Norway rat has,
however, made good his residence on the island. There is
no tradition as to the origin of the pig on Aneityum, but
as its name is pigafh, which may be a corruption of pig or
piggy i it looks very like as if English were its origin. Among
the Malays the name for pig is everywhere puaka, which
136 NATURAL HISTORY: ANIMALS.
some regard as a corruption of pork, although other deriva-
tions have been suggested. There are four kinds of lizards
on the island ; the smallest, which is very beautiful, is about
six inches long ; the largest is from a foot to eighteen inches.
There are three species of bats, one smaller than our common
bat, a second called the stinking bat, and the third a large
species, generally called the flying fox. When flying it seems
larger than a common crow. It is fat and good eating, much
prized by the natives, but has a very offensive smell. There
are two species of swallows, both smaller than the swallows
in this country ; they never migrate, but remain on the
island all the year round. There are four species of pigeons,
one a small species, but remarkably beautiful, fully realising
the description of the psalmist
" Whose wings with silver, and with gold
Whose feathers covered are "
these colours being laid on a ground of the loveliest green.
There are two species of hawks, about the ordinary size of
hawks in this country. There is no hawk on Tanna, though
only forty miles distant. Hence hawk feathers are a standing
article of export from Aneityum to Tanna ; they are in great
demand for making plumes with which to adorn the heads
of the Tannese chiefs. There are two species of owls, one
larger and one smaller ; there is one or more species of
paroquet, a heron, gulls and other sea-birds, and several
species of small birds resembling the robin or the linnet,
but rather smaller. There is also a very small bird just like
a wren. There is a bird called the Lau-aing, resembling a
water-hen ; its feathers are black and its legs yellow, its
beak like that of a common fowl. Like the ostrich, " she
NATURAL HISTORY: ANIMALS. 137
layetli her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in the
dust." When hatched, the young ones seek food for them-
selves, but only a few of them live. The habits of this bird
furnish the basis for a proverb : the natives say of a mother
who neglects her children, " Et ithivaing lau-aing aien," She is
just like a Lau-aing. I have the native names of more than
forty species of birds, of more than seventy species of sea-
fish, of more than thirty species of fresh-water fish, and over
seventy species of shell-fish. The natives are great fishers ;
around all the island, twice a day, at low water, in good
weather, they are out on the reef especially the women
gathering shell-fish; these are a standing and much- prized
article of food.
There are no poisonous reptiles on the island. There are
two species of serpents. The one, called the Nimyeuv, is found
in the woods, chiefly on the mountains; in colour it is brown on
the back and yellow on the belly; the other, called the Nispeuv,
is found on the shore, chiefly among rocks, and is to some
extent amphibious in its habits; its colour is formed by a
succession of alternate black and grey bands round the body
of an elegant appearance. Both of them, when full-grown,
are found from two and a half to four feet in length, but the
bite of neither of them is poisonous. There is, however, a
small shell-fish called the Inhaag, which contains a virulent
poison. This fish is a gasteropod, and inhabits a univalve,
cone-shaped, spiral shell, about two inches in length. It does
not bite, or inflict any wound ; but when disturbed, it blows
out its poison, which seems to be a vapour rather than a liquid.
It is generally the hand that comes in contact with the
poisonous matter. In a short time the hand becomes painful
and swells ; then the swelling extends up the arm, and finally
I3 NATURAL HISTORY: ANIMALS.
the whole body becomes affected, and, unless prompt measures
are adopted, death follows in a few hours. In the year 1855,
from January ist till April ist, out of thirteen deaths four
were occasioned by the poisoning of the Inhaag. In three of
these cases the persons were dead in less than twelve hours.
In the case of the fourth, a strong man, he lingered for a
fortnight, and then died. The native treatment was to band-
age the arm and to make incisions. I used oil copiously, both
internally and externally, and often with good effect. But I
wrote to my friend, the late Dr. Logan of Wellington, New
Zealand, a retired navy surgeon, asking his advice. He advised
me to try the remedy employed in Africa for the bite of the
rattlesnake, which is to dig a hole in soft earth, place the
arm in the hole up to the shoulder, then fill up with earth,
and let the arm remain buried for four or five hours. This
was like applying a large poultice, and it seemed to act
accordingly and draw the virus out of the part affected. I
instructed the natives in the application of this remedy, and
for many long years before we left the island I never heard of
a death caused by the Inliaag, Accidents generally occurred
in this way. Around the whole island, the natives, as I
have said, at low tide, by night or by day, or both, as it may
happen, go out in great numbers in search of shell-fish. The
Inliaag, like the other shell-fish, lies generally in the sand or
among the stones; and when searching for other fish, they
occasionally disturb it. If they see it, they are in no danger ;
they can catch it with impunity at the spiral or closed end of
the shell, as it then squirts out its poison in the opposite
direction ; and after the ejection of the poison it is harmless,
and the natives even cook them and eat them without any
danger. The Inliaag is not plentiful ; otherwise nobody would
NATURAL HISTORY: ANIMALS. 139
be safe ; and as it is, I have reason to think that carelessness
is often the cause of accidents with this fish. The number
of cases of poisoning in 1855 was unusually great. The sea
had frequently receded very far at low tide, and the natives
at those times went far out into new ground, where, like
other shell-fish, the Inhaag was more numerous than in the
old fishing-ground, and the danger in the same proportion
greater.
At certain times different kinds of fish appear to be more
or less poisonous, though quite wholesome at other times,
apparently as they are in or out of season. After eating
them, at these times, the natives become very sick, and soon
after the sickness is over their hands and feet are daily
affected with sharp pains, and are rendered more or less
powerless. Some fish are recognised as always poisonous,
others as always good, and a third class as poisonous at times
only. Mrs. Paton of Aniwa and some of her children were
nearly killed on one occasion by eating a poisonous fish which
they understood to be a good one. After the severe sickness
was over a rash came out on their skin, and for a long time
they felt now and again cramps and a prickly sensation in
their hands and feet. There seems to be a perfect infatuation
among some natives to eat fish, even when they know them
to be poisonous. Even Ester, one of the most sensible women
on Aneityum, nearly poisoned herself in this way. For many
a day her hands and feet were occasionally benumbed. Mrs.
Inglis said to her, " Ester, did you not know that that fish
was poisonous?" "Oh yes," she said, " Iknew." "What, then,
made you eat it ? " " Oh," she said, " I cannot tell ; I was so
eager to eat fish that I could not keep myself from it, though
I knew the danger." On one occasion I knew of a native
140 NATURAL HISTORY: ANIMALS.
who caught a decidedly poisonous fish, and knew it to be so,
and yet he cooked it and ate it, though every native in the
place remonstrated with him; and he was dead in twelve
hours. On Aneityum the liver of the shark is very poisonous.
It makes excellent lamp oil, is purer and burns better than
train-oil ; but after melting the liver and making the oil, the
natives are so afraid of the poison, lest it should injure their
food, when they touch their food with their hands, that they
not only wash their hands thoroughly, but they hold them
over the smoke of a fire for a considerable time to remove the
last taint of the poison. On one occasion, Pita, one of our
Samoan teachers, got the liver of a shark, had it cooked, and
ate it. All the natives protested, and remonstrated with him
to the utmost. His poor wife wept and cried. "O Pita,"
she said, "if you eat that fish, and poison yourself, and die,
what is to become of me and these poor children in this
strange land?" "Oh," said Pita, "the sharks are not
poisonous in Samoa, and why should they be poisonous
here ? " In the face of all this opposition, eat it he would,
and eat it he did. We, in our different circumstances, cannot
understand the fish- crave that dominates those ichthyopha-
gists, those fish- eating islanders. We knew nothing of all
this, but shortly after midnight we heard a rap at our bed-
room window. It was Pita's wife. " O Misi," she said in
the most plaintive tones, " Pita is dying ; do come and pray
with us." I rose at once and went with her. Pita had all
the appearance of a dying man, and I prayed with him as
such, and administered such medicines as seemed most suit-
able. He was a strong, powerful, healthy man, in the prime
of life ; he survived and recovered ; he escaped, as it were,
with the skin of his teeth. His pulse had come down to
NATURAL HISTORY: ANIMALS. 141
about fifty, and continued at that for some time. Among my
medicines I had a bottle of brandy, which had remained there
for some years unopened. Acting on the authority of medical
books, I administered small doses of this stimulant several
times daily, till the contents of the bottle were nearly
exhausted, and the pulse had risen to something approaching
its normal condition. Pita lived many years after this, and
finally returned to Samoa ; but he never became quite his
former self he carried the effects of that poisoning with him
to his grave.
In the stream that runs past the mission station at Aname
a flood, on one occasion, by carrying away quantities of mud,
laid bare two enormous shells, which, when the water subsided,
I got the natives to carry out, and place one on each side of
the garden-walk in front of the mission-house. Unless I
am very much astray in my conchology, these shells were
specimens of the chatna gigas, or gigantic cockle, the largest
and heaviest shell yet discovered. They appear to have been
first seen by Captain Flinders in the Indian Ocean, although
before that time Captain Cook found shells of the same kind
on the Great Barrier reef on the east of Australia. They
were so large and so strong, that when his seamen placed a
piece of a ship's cable in the opening or mouth of the shell,
the animal snapped it in two as easily as Samson did the
green withes with which the Philistines bound him. "We
have seen," says Maunder in his " Treasury of Natural
History," " an immense pair in the church of St. Sulspice in
Paris, where they serve to hold holy water." This shell, he
says, is also called Tridacna. Why this name was applied to
it is not to me at all obvious. According to Ains worth,
Tridacna, or Ostrea tridacna, means shells that can be eaten at
142 NATURAL HISTORY : ANIMALS.
three bites ; but if the animal that lives in the chamas gigas
was ever eaten at three bites, it must have been by some of
the giants who warred against Jupiter, and who heaved up
Ossa on the top of Pelion, and compared to whom Goliath must
have been a pigmy ; or by some of the less fabulous megatJieria,
which basked in the sun and disported themselves in the
deltas during the far remote palaeozoic ages recorded in
the chronicles of geology. Those two shells, which were not
mates, were each four feet long, two feet seven inches broad,
and nine inches thick at the umbo. I had not the means of
weighing them, but each of them was as much as two men
could with some difficulty lift up from the ground. Some
time afterwards I found single shells apparently of the same
species, but not quite so large ; and there were others which I
did not see, but of whose existence the natives informed me,
and which were imbedded in the sands or adhering to the reefs.
Small bivalves that is, small compared with these either
of the same or of a similar species, from six to twelve or
fifteen inches long, are found alive, adhering to the reefs in
great numbers ; but no live specimens of this large size were
ever seen on the island, even by the oldest natives. Being
so large, they could not be numerous, and hence the natives
would easily kill them out. " A number of those cockles,"
says Captain Flinders, "were taken on board the ship, and
stewed in the coppers, but they were too rank to be agreeable
food, and were eaten by few." But on Aneityum, where the
natives pick the bones of a whale as neatly as they do the
bones of a herring, a Tridacna would not stand them long.
The native name of those shells is nipjineri ; but the two which
I obtained were worshipped as natmases, or gods, in the days
of heathenism, by the name of Nethuing. From time imme-
NATURAL HISTORY : ANIMALS. 1 43
morial the upper part of those shells had been seen above the
stones and mud in the channel of the stream ; and when the
natives were feeding pigs for feasts, before giving the food to
the animals, they laid it upon these shells, in the belief that,
by doing so, virtue would proceed from the natmases to make
the pigs large and fat. When they were about to plant taro
they laid their niraks the sticks with which they dig the
ground on the shells, in the belief that, by doing so, they
would secure an excellent crop of taro. Every', undertaking
on the island was preceded by an act of homage to some
natmas. In their own way, the Aneityumese, like the
Athenians, were (dnaitiai{J<Mseregoi) "very religious," and
there, as in Athens, it was easier to find. a god than a man.
How those shells came to be in such a place, and how long
they had remained there no one knew. But time's destroying
fingers, by the agency of the elements and the help of accidents,
had left their impress on them both ; the edges were chipped,
and the enamel was corroded, and they had not that smooth
and white appearance which they must have had when the
animals were alive, and had not yet enjoyed the honours of an
apotheosis or rites divine ?
Aneityum, as is well known, is a fertile island ; if it were
fully and skilfully cultivated, it would soon be a little earthly
paradise, like the garden of Eden itself. Food of all varieties,
and to almost any amount, could easily be raised. But the
sea there is nearly as rich in its supplies of food as the land,
from the whale that tumbles about with his enormous bulk,
to the flying- fish that rise from the crest of the waves on
their finny wings, and skim along for fifty or a hundred yards,
and then sink into their native element. Many of the fish
in those seas are coarse and hard ; but some of them at least
144 NATURAL HISTORY: THE TURTLE.
are soft, and very delicate eating, equal to trout, herring, or
salmon at home, or any of the fish mentioned in good old
Izaak Walton's "Angler," yea, as tender as anything to be
found either in the still waters of Lochfyne or in the rapid
currents of the Pentland Firth, each of which is so famous
for its matchless herrings.
THE TUETLE.
But the most highly prized denizen of the sea there is
the edible or green turtle (Chelonia midas). As we are on
the edge of the tropics, they are not so large as in lower
latitudes nearer the line, nor are they so plentiful ; neverthe-
less, they are sufficiently numerous to supply a fair amount
of sport in the catching of them, and sufficiently large to
supply a fair amount of food in the eating of them. They
are amphibious, although they live in the sea, and feed on a
kind of sea grass; but at the breeding season, the female
comes ashore, digs a deep hole in the sand above high- water
mark, and lays her eggs, to the number of one or two
hundred, covers them up, and, like the ostrich, leaves them
to be hatched by the heat of the sun. When the chicks
come out of the shell, they make direct for the sea, and are
never seen again till they return something like full-grown.
A friend of mine, an eminent naturalist, the late John
MacGillivray, Esq., F.R.S., told me that he was once en-
camped on a sandy beach on the northern coast of Australia ;
he was lying awake on his couch one night, and a fire was
burning before him. By and by he saw the sand being
upheaved near the fire, and then a tiny turtle, about the size
of a dollar, emerged from the earth, and waddled off direct
NATURAL HISTORY: THE TURTLE. 145
for the sea, then another, and another, and another, and
finally a whole troop of them followed, and all made direct
for the ocean. His tent had been pitched on the top of a
turtle's nest, and probably the heat of the fire had has-
tened the departure of this orphan-like family, for whose
preservation and support God had otherwise made ample
provision.
The natives generally catch the turtles at night, but some-
times during the day. They have various modes of catching
them, but the most effectual is by means of nets furnished
with floats and sinks : the floats are not corks, however, but
cocoa-nuts, and the sinks are not leads but round stones.
When they catch the turtles, or entangle them, the first
thing to be done is to turn them over on their back ; they
are then quite helpless, as they cannot turn themselves over
again. The natives seldom catch more than one or two at
a time, but occasionally they are more successful. One morn-
ing in 1875, a little fleet of canoes went out with two large
nets, and secured no fewer than six, out of a small shoal of
turtles which they had descried. They went out at daybreak,
and in less than two hours the whole six were hauled ashore,
and were lying on their backs on the beach within two
hundred yards of my door, but all of them alive. I weighed
one of them and found it to be 324 Ibs. The six would
average 300 Ibs. each, or 1800 Ibs. in all.
Now only think of nearly a ton of genuine turtle ! What
an amount of pure, green fat must have been there ! that
transcendental delicacy, sacred to the festive boards of wor-
shipful aldermen 1 What oceans of soup, pure, unadulterated
and genuine, could have been manufactured from such a large
supply of the real material fresh from the ocean ! none of
146 NATURAL HISTORY: THE TURTLE.
your mock turtle ; none even of those lean skinny animals,
closed in water-casks, and half starved on the passage from
the Island of Ascension or elsewhere to England, and more
dead than alive when they reach the Thames, and on which
all the skill of London cooks is exercised in preparing that
most admired and highly prized of all decoctions turtle-soup
on occasions such as when our friends the Lord Mayor,
such as Sir Andrew Lusk, M.P., or the late Sir William
McArthur, M.P., were wont to entertain their Majesty's
Ministers to dinner, and dispense with such dignified courtesy
the hospitalities of the Mansion House. Think again, more-
over, of all these six fine turtles being eaten by savages and
missionaries ! The natives very generally, if they catch but
one, give the mission family the head, which is the choicest
portion. In the days of heathenism it was given to the chief,
but now he foregoes his claim in favour of the missionary, but
the missionary on his part recognises the obligation, and
when he kills a pig he sends a roast of it to the chief, re-
membering the proverb about giff-gaff. On this occasion they
brought us the finest head of the six. Brother and sister
Murray and their little boy from Anelgauhat happened to
be with us on a visit. But only fancy two mission families
taking a holiday and luxuriously dining on a delicacy that
would not only have graced a civic banquet, but would have
been prized on the table of royalty itself.
This, I am aware, is a hazardous revelation to make, for
the sake of our poor missionaries; pity for them is almost
certain to be changed into envy, everybody's teeth will be set
a watering, tears of sympathy for them will cease to be shed,
and missionary contributions may perhaps dwindle down to
NATURAL HISTORY : THE TURTLE. 147
driblets. " What ! " they will say, " show pity, compassion,
sympathy, for whom ? for people living better than aldermen,
and dining on green turtle ! Verily that man told us the
truth who said, that some of those missionaries get into a
very good way of doing."
CHAPTER XX.
COOKING EATING DRINKING KAVA.
THE principal mode of cooking on Aneityum and in the New
Hebrides, as it was in New Zealand, and in the South Seas
generally, was the native oven. On Aneityum, and in the
southern islands of the group, they had no means of boiling
anything ; they had no vessels that could stand the fire. The
process of cooking was this : In the first place a round pit
was dug, from nine inches to two feet deep, according to the
Avidth ; and from eighteen inches to three or four feet in
diameter. If it was a permanent oven, it was paved in the
bottom. Every family had a collection of fire stones, that
could be made red-hot without breaking; these stones were
from the size of a hen's egg to that of one's fist. The next
thing to be done was to collect a quantity of dry, generally
soft, wood, mostly branches of trees ; if it was a large oven,
larger pieces were used. I shall describe a Saturday's oven,
being generally one of their largest, and also one of their best.
Often two or three families united to make one oven. In the
morning the men went away to the plantation for taro, or to
the woods for bread-fruit, or horse chestnuts a much larger
and better fruit than ours that goes by that name ; another
would go for a bunch of bananas, &c. If some fish happened
to be caught, they would be forthcoming ; or if a pig had been
killed in the district, a leg or a shoulder of it would also be
COOKING EATING. 149
there. They never salt their pork ; but when a pig is killed
it is at once divided among friends, and then cooked by them,
but to be repaid at some future time, which is never forgotten.
Some ripe cocoa-nuts are also stripped of the husk, the kernels
grated down into a small wooden trough. This they strain
through a cloth ; in former times through a piece of native
cloth that grows round the butt-end of the cocoa-nut branches ;
it is not unlike cheese-cloth in texture. The juice thus
strained out is the true cocoa-nut milk, which can be used for
coffee. With this milk they mix taro, or yams, or bananas,
or occasionally arrowroot, from which to make puddings.
This milk serves the purpose of lard, or suet, or butter. These
puddings are wrapped up in banana leaves, which have been
heated over the fire, and tied firmly by the neck with some
cord-like fibre, made from the inner bark of some bush.
While the men are away for wood, the women are away for
leaves in which to wrap up the food. The taro or yams are
carefully scraped, and, when washed quite clean, are wrapped
up in banana, or other wholesome leaves ; the fish, or pork, or
fruit, as well as the puddings, are the same. The natives
have a plant which they call nasieij, a small bush, the leaves
of which grow in little clusters, which, when baked, or
steamed, along with meat or fish, are uncommonly tender and
palatable, more so than cabbage, kail, savoys, broccoli, cauli-
flower, brussels sprouts, or any of that family. They generally
plant it among their bananas, and near their cottages. They
usually wrap it up along with pork, or fowl, or fish, to absorb
the juice. The dry wood is put into the pit, and then heaped
up as high as it will lie ; the stones are placed on the wood,
fire is applied to it, and it is soon all ablaze. It continues to
burn till all the wood is a mass of glowing embers, and the
150 COOKING EATING.
stones are red hot. When burned out the whole falls to the
bottom. The stones are all taken quickly out by means of
sticks, or by a pair of native tongs, made of a long stick split
up at the one end. The embers are spread out over the
bottom of the pit; these are covered with a layer of leaves,
and the food taro, yams, bread-fruit, chestnuts, pork, fish, &c.,
all previously wrapped up, is placed in a row on these leaves,
and red stones scattered over the top ; a second row of leaves,
and a second row of food, and a second covering of hot stones
follow, and if it is a large oven a third row will be laid on, a
quantity of old dried leaves is then added, and the whole is
covered with earth to the thickness of six inches or so. The
oven is now completed, and the process of steaming begins.
It is left for two or three hours, longer or shorter, according
to circumstances. If, for example, it is a turtle that they are
cooking, they will not open it till the morning. Meanwhile,
between sweat and smoke, stones, leaves, and earth, they are
completely begrimed and dirty ; and they are all off to the
stream to bathe, the men to one pool and the women to
another, and thus make themselves clean and comfortable for
the Sabbath. At the same time some of the young men are
sent off to pull a quantity of fresh or green cocoa-nuts for the
Lord's day. They select the younger and lower trees, as being
the most easily climbed, and as having also the best nuts for
drinking. It is astonishing to see how easily they can climb
the trees ; their toes are nearly as nimble in climbing as their
fingers. Most of the trees lean slightly to the one side, and,
as a matter of course, they take the nearest side, and they
often seem just to walk up the tree on all fours. John
Williams says that when the natives on Tahiti or elsewhere
saw English seamen try to climb cocoa-nut trees, they laughed
COOKING EATING. I 5 I
at them for their awkwardness, and when they wished to
disparage one another, they would say, " Why, you are as stupid
as an Englishman ! " The fruit is all hanging in clusters
among the branches. The natives knap the husk with the
nail of one of their fingers, and thereby ascertain the nuts that
are just sufficiently ripe for being drunk ; these they twist off
and throw down to the ground. They then fixed a sharp-pointed
stick in the earth, and by striking the rind of the nut against
the point they tore off the husk, and the nuts were ready to be
opened for drinking. The nuts, thus stripped of their husk,
were thrown into a basket, and put away for the Sabbath.
When the oven was considered fully cooked, and generally
they guessed very correctly, the earth was removed and
the oven opened, and taro, yams, fish, pork, &c., came out
piping hot, nicely cooked, and as tempting as if they had
been taken out of the best cooked baker's oven in our
land. The food was then distributed in the following
manner. The party sat in a circle, each with his food basket
beside him. The person or persons dividing the food went
round, and gave to each a taro or two; they went round a
second time and gave each a yam, then a fish, or a piece of
pork, or a piece of a fowl, a cocoa-nut, or a piece of sugar-
cane, till everything was divided. A blessing was then asked,
and they ate their supper, as much as they wished. After
this every one gathered up all that he had left, and put it
into his basket for the Sabbath day; and there was always
as much left as would serve them comfortably till the Monday
evening. In cold weather they often sliced down their taro
on the Sabbath, and warmed it in the frying-pan. On Efate,
where the staple food is yams, they often, on the Sabbath
afternoon, either roasted small yams, or made an oven, the
I 5 2 COOKING EATING.
wood and other requisites being provided on the Saturday,
because it was believed that the cold watery yams had a
tendency to produce bowel complaints ; and the missionaries
never thought of enjoining anything that was found to be
incompatible with health. The cooking in the native oven
is a slow and laborious process, and must evidently in time
give way to pots, saucepans, kettles, frying-pans, and American
or other stoves, but it cooks food remarkably well ; we liked
our taro better when it was cooked in the native oven than
when done in any other way. To those holding the principles
of the Sunday Society, a missionary Sabbath will no doubt be
the reverse of attractive ; but to the natives, who regularly
worked 365 days every year, who, in anticipation of some
great heathen feast, when the sacred men had made every
kind of common food tapu, had fasted or fared very very
scantily not only for days but for weeks, and even for
months, till the bones of their back and shoulders were far
more prominent than the muscles to people who had passed
through this experience, it was no difficult matter to make
them believe that 52 days' rest in the year, the first day in
every seven, with three plentiful, well-cooked meals on each
one of those days, was anything but a repulsive mode of life,
even though accompanied by public and private religious
exercises two sermons and a Sabbath-school, and family
prayers morning, noon, and night. But very likely the time
may come when those who had never known the wars of
Canaan, who had been ignorant of the bondage of Egypt,
the brick kiln, and the iron furnace, will look upon the manna
as light food, will prefer an aesthetic to a spiritual religion,
will say of the Lord's service, " What a weariness is it ! "
" When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn 1
KAVA AND KAVA DEINKING. 153
and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat ? " When a
feeble piety will be followed by a low morality, when they
shall make the ephah small and the shekel great, give small
measure, and charge a high price, and falsify the balances
by deceit. When they shall shun self-denial and seek after
self-indulgence; when they shall plead for doubtful amuse-
ments, and practise the pleasant vices, till they shall be
drinking with the sons of Belial, and dancing with the
daughters of Midian. Should such things happen again,
as they have happened before, and have happened elsewhere,
no trial will have happened but what is common to man, and
common to missions ; but to every temptation, and to every
trial, God will provide a way of escape, that His servants may
be able to bear it. He will watch over His own work, while
His Word shall endure for ever.
KAVA AND KAVA- DRINKING.
The kava plant is found, I believe, in all the South Sea
Islands, within the tropics as far west as the Solomon group,
and is converted into an intoxicating beverage. From the
Solomon group westward the betel-root, the chewing of which
renders the teeth of the natives quite black, grows plentifully
and is commonly used as a narcotic. The root of the kava
plant, and the extreme base of the stem, are the parts from
which the drink is prepared. These being washed and dried
are chewed ; in some groups this operation is performed by
young men, in other groups it is done by young women,
good clean teeth being the qualification for this office. When
the root is sufficiently chewed, the masticated fibres, in the
form of round, dry balls, are deposited in a common bowl;
154 KAVA AND KAVA DRINKING.
these are then diluted with water, and strained through a
piece of native cloth, or through fern leaves. When the
beverage is ready, the priest, or any head man, pronounces
a toast or prayer over it, after which the first cup the cup
is made from the lower half of a cocoa-nut shell is handed
to the person of highest rank in the company. It is not
given to women or to the common people; it is kept ex-
clusively for chiefs and principal men. This description
applies to all heathen islands, and to Aneityum in its heathen
state. It is no longer drunk on Aneityum. It has long
been prohibited. To prevent the injurious consequences that
flowed from its use, the natives, once and again, rooted the
kava all out, not by^the instigation of the missionaries, but
by an edict of the chiefs, supreme and subordinate; but of
course the roots were not so completely eradicated, but that
in time they again sprouted, and the plants grew up anew.
The drinking of kava, therefore, on Aneityum is not now
carried on with that dignity and eclat with which it was
done in former times ; kava is now a sort of smuggled article,
and is obtained and drunk very much in the same way as
alcoholic liquors are obtained and drunk in the state of Maine,
and in the other prohibitory states in America. When the
Rev. James Cosh, now of Balmain, Sydney, was our missionary
on Efate, he found that the leading men in the village met
every evening, after the toils of the day, to drink kava ; and
though at first he thought the practice was harmless, there
being no bad language, no quarrelling, and no fighting all
was good feeling and innocent hilarity, but erelong he found
that, when they left the banqueting-house and went to their
own homes, they were all so dead and stupid that scarcely
one of them was able to conduct family worship. They were
KAVA AND KAVA DRINKING. I 5 5
no longer Christians, they were in reality, on this point, all
back again to heathenism. Mr. Cosh took them and talked
seriously to them, and, by a powerful exhibition of moral
suasion, he led them to abstain from the stupefying liquor,
so that they could conduct their evening as well as their
morning devotions with clear and unclouded intellect.
Speaking of kava, Dr. Seeman, in his able work on Fiji,
says, " The beverage has the look of coffee with plenty of
milk in it, and an aromatic, slightly pungent taste, which,
when once acquired, must, like all acquired tastes, be perfectly
irresistible. It tastes like soapsuds, jalap, and magnesia.
Drunk in moderation it has probably no bad effect, and acts
upon the system something like betel-nut, but taken to excess
it generates all kinds of skin diseases, and weakens the
eyesight. Fortunately, kava, unlike distilled spirits, does
not make people quarrelsome ; it has rather, like tobacco,
a calming effect, and when Fijians extol the virtues of their
national beverage, they often and justly make this observation.
Nearly all the lower class of whites in Fiji are kava drinkers,
some regular drunkards. And what has always surprised me
is that, considering the Fijian to be a tropical climate, most
of these drunkards enjoy such a long life."
It is not true, however, that these men as a general rule
enjoy long life. I know on reliable authority that through-
out the South Seas the class referred to in general do " not
live out half their days : " few of them live past the age of
forty. Where this is the exception it is easily accounted for.
They are generally men of vigorous constitutions, and they
live, not in consequence of drinking, but in spite of it. In
most cases, this drinking especially of alcohol, though ex-
cessive, is only occasional, not habitual; it is not daily
I 5 6 KAVA AND KAVA DRINKING.
tippling, but '[occasional outbursts of violent drunkenness.
For months at a time they are, from necessity, abstainers at
least from spirits. Many of those captains, engaged in what
is called the Island trade, sail their vessels on teetotal
principles ; they adopt it from necessity, as the only means
of safely prosecuting this business with the class of men they
have generally to do with. The men are paid at the end of
the voyage, or once in six months, as the case may be ; the
liquor store is then opened, and drink is then sold to them
till every portion of their wages is expended, and abstinence
is reluctantly forced upon them, a new outfit must be pro-
vided on credit, and they must undertake another voyage of
the same kind to redeem themselves from their debts. " The
poor Indian," says Dr. Beecher, "who, once a month, drinks
himself dead to all but simple breathing, will outlive for years
the man who drinks daily, though he drinks moderately."
In the one case, it is constant war against nature; in the
other case, the system is allowed to throw off the injurious
effects of these debauches, and recruit for a while its impaired
energies. Those men, too, are almost constantly working or
living in the open air, and in other circumstances favourable
to longevity.
Some twenty years ago or so it was reported, although I
cannot vouch for the accuracy of the report, that one of the
first British governors of Fiji was in the habit, occasionally
at least, of leaving Government house of an evening, and
stepping across to the kava-drinking hall of the chiefs, and,
in order to ingratiate himself with the native aristocracy,
joined them in quaffing off a cup of the soothing, saponaceous
mixture, prepared for the company by the chief butler of
Fiji.
KAVA AND KAVA CHINKING. 157
A rather formidable objection against^ Nephalism is pre-
sented to some minds by the supposed fact that stimulants
or narcotics are in use among all nations: wine, beer, ardent
spirits, kava, opium, tobacco, &c. and hence they infer that
the desire for stimulants and sedatives is a natural appetite,
universal as the species, and is to be regulated, but not ex-
tinguished, and that, in this light, total abstainers, with the
best of aims, are nevertheless fighting, as it were, against God
and nature. There is a certain amount of plausibility about
this objection. Nothing is more certain than this, that every
attempt to benefit mankind in a way contrary to the estab-
lished order of God's providence must end in disappointment.
But it has always appeared to me that a fallacy lurks in this
objection. It assumes what requires to be proved. No one
will deny that the taste for stimulants and sedatives is easily
acquired, and when acquired is far stronger than our natural
appetites; but it is equally certain that these desires sleep
till they are awakened or created. The objection assumes
that these tastes or desires are always awake or alive. This
requires to be proved, which it never has been. . They cause
no uneasiness till acquired. Let the drink be prohibited, and
the customs be abolished that awaken those appetites, and
misery only, not happiness, will be removed. If the prin-
ciple of this objection proves anything, it proves the universal
depravity of man, but nothing more ; his disposition to abuse
the bounties of providence, and by converting medicines into
luxuries, to seek higher and more exquisite enjoyments than
is compatible with sound and permanent health, and the laws
of our earthly existence. Man is prone to pervert every one
of God's blessings. In consequence of this perversion the
greatest good has always become the greatest evil; religion
158 KAVA AND KAVA DRINKING.
is perverted into superstition ; civil government into tyranny ;
means of self-defence into weapons of unjust and aggressive
warfare; the strong social feelings into the "social evil;"
and the most valuable medicines into the most destructive
luxuries. The love of stimulants, the desire for pleasurable
excitement must be regulated, like every other desire, by
higher considerations than mere temporary gratification.
Scientific knowledge, and higher Christian principle, will lead
men to deny themselves a present enjoyment, for the sake
of averting a future evil, and securing a higher future advan-
tage, and will urge them to endeavour, both by example and
persuasion, that their less enlightened brethren may follow
the same course. We wish to bring back those stimulants
and sedatives from the category of pleasant but perilous
luxuries, and confine them again to the list of valuable and
powerful medicines.
" The medicinal value of the kava plant," says Seeman,
" has of late claimed some attention. In the French trans-
lation of Golding Bird's work on calculous affections, Dr.
O'Rorke has inserted among others the following remarks :
' The kava plant is the most powerful sudorific in existence,
and its stimulant qualities render it applicable in those cases
where colchicum is prescribed. The intoxication it produces
is not like that caused by spirituous liquors, but it rather
induces a placid tranquillity, accompanied by incoherent
dreams. Kava is as powerful in its therapeutic action as
lignum vitse, or guiacum, sarsaparilla, &c., and the islanders
use it as a specific against the diseases brought over to them
by foreign vessels. On the other hand, this drug, used to
excess as an intoxicating agent, over-excites the skin by its
sudorific effects, and eventually even causes elephantiasis.' "
KAVA AND KAVA DRINKING. 159
Throughout those groups the most common forms of disease
are fever and ague, as in the New Hebrides, and diarrhoea
and dysentery as in Fiji. It is well known that these
diseases are most frequently caused by some checking of the
insensible perspiration ; and consequently those medicines
that act promptly and powerfully on the skin are of the
highest value in such maladies. Here we see a benevolent
Providence beforehand with man ; side by side with the bane
rises up the antidote. The poor ignorant savages have not
discovered this. They found in the kava a fascinating luxury,
with present enjoyment, and only a remote penalty ; but of
its medicinal properties their knowledge was limited in the
extreme. Hence, by using a powerful medicine as a daily
luxury, the blessing was perverted more or less into a curse.
God has here provided the materials, it rests with scientific
skill and Christian principle to rectify the evils and secure
the advantages. In New Zealand, where neither ague nor
dysentery prevail, the kava, the piper methysticum, is not
found ; there is a piper there, it is true, but it is the piper
excelsum, and is not used for making kava; and hence the
New Zealanders never had this liquor ; so far as I am aware,
they had no intoxicating drink till they were supplied with
it by foreigners. It is not true, therefore, that the use of
stimulants is universal, as our objectors allege ; here was a
whole people without them ; and even in the kava-drinking
groups, not a tithe of the people partook of the indulgence.
Its use was confined almost exclusively to the chiefs, the same
class who contracted a morbid craving for human flesh, which
in many cases became as irresistible as the longing for kava.
But in both cases, those who abstained were the happy, those
who indulged were finally the sufferers.
160 KAVA AND KAVA DRINKING.
I am not aware that any of our missionaries, or any of the
white residents on those islands, have used kava medicinally ;
but assuming the above opinions respecting its medicinal
properties to be correct, it might be worth while to try it in
this way. Quinine has hitherto been the great sheet-anchor
in fever and ague, and diaphoretics in dysentery; but if
kava were found effectual in that formidable disease, ague, or
in that still more fatal malady, dysentery, it would be an
important addition to the pharmacopoeia for the South Seas.
But whatever uncertainty may remain for some time as to
its therapeutic value, it is clear as day that its use as a
luxury mild and gentle as its effects may seem to be is
highly perilous to health; a headache next morning is its
first admonition. Those gentlemen who complacently drink
their wine, or sip their toddy, aiming at exemplary modera-
tion as the acme of a model life in the use of stimulants, and
who think that in this way they are obeying God and follow-
ing nature, copying, at a safe distance, the example set by
saints, sages, and savages Noah and Lot, Belshazzar and
Alexander, Pomare and Thakombau Jet them for their com-
fort and encouragement pass an evening in imagination in
the public hall of some town or district in Fiji or in the New
Hebrides, and while they see these cheerful kava-quaffing
Bacchanals entering their elysiuin on the confines of Dream-
land, let them look up to those rafters where the skulls of
enemies are suspended as trophies ; and, dancing among these,
or glaring through those empty sockets, they may see gnomes,
and goblins, and spectres, the personifications of such diseased
as lepra, ophthalmia, and elephantiasis, eyeing with compla-
cency the joyous group beneath, and deliberately choosing
this, that, or the other, as their future victims. Let them
KAVA AND KAVA DRINKING. l6l
return when years have passed away, and, instead of that
noble savage, with eagle eye, and agile step, and prince-like
bearing, they will see a feeble man, prematurely old, with
eyes inflamed, skin diseased, and legs thick and rugose as
that of an elephant. Let them then gaze on the wine spark-
ling before them, and perhaps the utterances of the ancient
oracle may be clearer to their apprehension, as it sounds
forth these words, " Look not thou upon the wine when it is
red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth
itself aright ; at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth
like an adder."
CHAPTER XXI.
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM.
OF the two ordinances that survived the fall and were taken
out of Eden, namely, the Sabbath and Marriage, the former
was utterly unknown on Aneityum, and the latter, though
distinctly recognised, was but a feeble institution. The
strangulation of every wife on the death of her husband, and
the frequency with which female infants were killed, had
reduced the female population of the island to 65 per cent, of
the male, as we found to be the case when we were able first
to take a census of the population. Only sixty-five females
for every hundred males was a very gloomy outlook ; but we
did our best to save female life and promote suitable marriages.
In heathenism every girl was betrothed, often as soon as she
was born. The parents, or the relatives, or the chief, as one
or other happened to be the most powerful, had the full
disposal of the girl ; she was allowed no say in the matter at
all. There was no such thing as Narayin Sheshadri would
have called good honest courtship. Marriages were generally
celebrated when the girl was about sixteen or seventeen years
of age. The husband was generally much older than the wife.
As a general rule she lived quietly with him, through fear,
for five or six years, till she reached the full vigour of woman-
hood, when she showed that she had a will and a power of her
own. She then began to cast her eyes on some vigorous
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM. 163
young man of her own age, of that class who could more than
hold his own with her husband, or one who, with the help of
his friends, could more than hold his own with her husband
and his friends ; they then eloped ; a quarrel and sometimes
a war ensued, if peace was not secured by a large present
being given to the injured husband and his friends. After a
year or two, longer or shorter as the case might be, the
woman would quarrel with her new husband or he with her,
and she would leave him and become the wife of a third
husband. This was not an exceptional case ; it was the
normal state of society. When we came to know the people,
we found, in the district where we lived, that among the
thirty or forty families nearest to us, there was scarcely a
woman who had reached middle life, to whom it might not
have been said, as our Saviour said to the woman of Samaria,
" Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is
not thy husband." I knew one or two women who had had
as many as ten husbands. There was a good deal of formality
and feasting about the first marriage of a young woman,
especially if she were a chief's daughter, subsequent marriages
were informal enough. I may give one example. Shortly
before our arrival on the island, Jane, the daughter of Tavita,
the chief of our district, was affianced to Williamu, a sketch
of whom I have given elsewhere. Williamu did not wish her,
but the father was determined that the marriage should take
place, and so preparations were pushed on. At the court of
Ahasuerus, when Esther became one of the brides-elect, she
was kept twelve months in the house of the women under
Hegai before her marriage. Comparing small things with
great, a similar practice existed on Aneityum, and Jane,
Williamu's bride-elect, was, according to native custom, shut
1 64 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM.
up in a house adjoining her father's, preparatory to her
marriage, and an old trustworthy woman was appointed as
nurse or guardian, to supply her with food, and guarantee her
seclusion. At that time there was living with Williamu one
Manura, a native of Tahiti, a Christian ; one day Manura, no
doubt with Williamu's approval, went and broke open the
house in which Jane was shut up, brought her out, and set
her at liberty, saying that he would not allow her or any
young woman to be shut up like a pig that was being fed for
a feast ; and thus ended the purposed marriage, and the
example of Esther was never again repeated. Had any native
of Aneityum done what the Tahitian did his temerity would
have cost him his life ; but Manura was a Malay, a descendant
of Shem, and Tavita was only a Papuan, a descendant of Ham,
and was quite willing to submit; for of Shem it was said,
"And Canaan shall be his servant."
Our mode of proceeding in connection with marriage was
this. We remarried nobody; we recognised all native mar-
riages as valid. When natives gave up heathenism and
placed themselves under Christian instruction, we recognised
as husbands and wives all who professed themselves to be
such, and were recognised as such by the general public,
and I enrolled them as married in my catalogue. In New
Zealand the Church of England missionaries married none
who were not baptized. They allowed them to live together,
but they would not marry them. On the other hand, they
remarried all couples whom they baptized, although they had
been recognised as husband and wife for many years. This
always appeared to me as an unscriptural mode of proceeding,
and I have never seen anything in the standards of the
Church of England that seemed to require it ; but there may
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM. 165
be some connection between Baptism and " Holy Matrimony"
of which I am ignorant.
When an application was made for marriage, the parties
were proclaimed on the Sabbath, and the marriage was
solemnised in the church at the weekly prayer meeting on the
Wednesday following. In our circumstances we considered
one proclamation quite sufficient to secure all needed publicity.
At the commencement of the prayer meeting the parties to be
married sat down side by side on a clean new mat in front
of the pulpit platform. When the marriage was about to be
performed they rose up. In every country certain phrases
come into use that were never intended to become current in
that sense. In England the proclamation of the banns is
called the asking; in Scotland it is called the crying; they
were cried on such and such a day ; on Aneityum the mar-
riage is called the rising, because the parties rise when the
marriage is celebrated. Erau atithai arau, the two are rising.
We recognised about 700 native marriages, and on my side
of the island, between Mr. Copeland and myself, there were
enrolled up to the time I left the island 475 Christian
marriages ; and on Dr. Geddie's side of the island about the
same number. God signally owned His own ordinance. Out
of these 950 marriages, or thereabouts, during the twenty-
five years that I was on the island, there was only one or two
cases of final separation. As might have been supposed,
there were many cases of conjugal infidelity, but far fewer
than could have been reasonably expected ; and I feel certain
that nothing but the Word and Spirit of God could have
wrought such a revolution in the moral condition of a com-
munity of the lowest savages, all steeped to the very lips in
the foulest abominations of heathenism. We had no legal
1 66 COUETSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM.
or civil securities to guarantee the safety of the marriage
contract. Public opinion and the fear of God were all that
we had to rely upon. We had to trust to moral influences
alone. The marriages were nearly all celebrated at our
central stations, and at the prayer meetings on the Wednes-
day, when one-half and often two-thirds of our ordinary
congregations were present ; for in addition to the ordinary
worshippers, there were generally present a large bridal
party, so that the sacredness of the place, and the publicity
of the occasion, the fear of God and the regard for man,
rendered the moral influences as strong as they could be
made, and they largely supplied the lack of legal obligations.
After the service was over I shook hands with the newly
married pair and wished them much happiness, my wife
followed and did the same. Then came their friends, and
subsequently the bulk of the congregation. But all our
married friends, whether united by native or Christian rites,
required to be very carefully looked after. I kept a list of
every man, woman, and child on my side of the island, and
Mr. Geddie did the same. This I corrected annually, and
if I heard of any family quarrel, or of any doubtful conduct
in either husband or wife, I sent two or three of the wisest
of our elders, or teachers, or chiefs, if practicable, friends
of the accused or suspected, to visit them, to take them by
themselves, and inquire into the reports, to talk quietly to
them, and give them such advice as they might think need-
ful. My wife was generally the first, through the women,
to learn when anything was going wrong. She heard this,
not as a piece of gossip, for she put her foot firmly down
to stop all mere gossip ; but the teachers' wives, and other
trustworthy women, supplied her with the necessary informa-
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM. 167
tion, which she communicated to me. And then the session
and I took counsel together as to what should be done, and
the result of our measures was generally successful. And
by promoting the peace of families, we promoted largely the
peace of the island.
The clothing of the bride and bridegroom was at first a
matter for serious consideration. Every professed Christian
wore some portion of European clothing, especially at church.
And if clothing was deemed indispensable for ordinary worship,
it seemed still more necessary for a marriage. And our
Samoan teachers fostered the idea, and lent portions of their
own clothing to bedeck the bride and the bridegroom ; my
wife, too, always made a small bridal present. There was
always a small marriage feast provided by the friends. After
the manner of the Scotch, there was no marriage fee, but a
present from the feast was brought to the missionary, con-
sisting of a basket or two of taro, a fowl or two, and some-
times a pig. This implied a small present of clothing in
return. As time wore on clothing and other property became
more plentiful on the islands, marriage presents on both sides
became larger; marriage dresses became more stylish, and
civilization kept pace with Christianity, and we began to be
afraid lest there, as elsewhere, the secular might overlay the
spiritual. In heathen times there was little or no family life
on Aneityum the men of a district slept all in one common
house, and all the women in another. When we began to
celebrate Christian marriages, we strove hard to get every
new married couple to have a house of their own, and, if
possible, to get the house prepared and all ready before the
marriage, and this arrangement wrought well; although the
bridegroom was often eager to leave the preparing of the
1 68 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM.
house till after the marriage, but I was always strong for him
to have the house before the wife ; and by speaking to the
friends beforehand to help the young man I generally
succeeded ; and in this way every marriage not only added a
new family to the community, but also a new house to* the
settlement ; and the young wife realised the truth of what
was said by the Scotchwoman, " It's aye a nice thing to hae a
bit house o' yin's ain."
We never interfered in match-making, though often urged
to do so. We did what we could by advice to prevent un-
suitable matches; but we forced nothing. We left the
responsibility always with the parties interested. The notions
of the natives on this subject were often very absurd. The
bride and bridegroom behooved to belong to the same or
contiguous districts ; and as women were scarce, if one was
married into any particular tribe, another woman, sooner or
later, must be married back out of that tribe in return. All
old heathen ideas on that subject were tenacious of life, they
died hard. My truthfulness, on one occasion, was severely
and unexpectedly tried. In meeting an objection that the
bride was taken too far away from her people, some eight or
ten miles, I said that before I was married, my wife and I
lived as far from one another as between Aneityum and
Eromanga. When Williamu accompanied us to this country
in 1860, he first saw Mrs. Inglis' native place, and then he
saw mine; and he told me afterwards that he remembered
what I had said about how far we had lived from one another
before we were married ; and now he saw that what I had said
was quite true. How important it is at all times to speak
the exact truth. Who could have imagined that my casual
utterances were to be thus tested. If they had been found to
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM. 169
be incorrect, Williamu's confidence in me would have been
rudely shaken.
One day the chiefs came to me to proclaim a marriage. As
I have said, we took nothing to do with match-making,
though often importuned to espouse the interest of some
party, but I tried to improve all such opportunities to explain
to the people the Scriptural principles on which marriages
ought to be contracted, and to point out to them the evils of
ill-assorted marriages, leaving them to carry out these principles
themselves, and throwing all the responsibilities on the parties
promoting the marriage. In this case I was calling their
attention to the fact that the man was much older than the
woman, and had been anything but an exemplary man in his
general conduct, and that I was afraid she might not like him,
but was simply yielding to a strong pressure brought to bear
upon her by her friends, for there, as elsewhere, the course of
true love seldom runs smooth. The bride proposed was a
particularly interesting young woman. I had known her
from a child ; she had attended all my classes ; she was an
excellent scholar, good-looking, and well conducted, and was,
at the time, a candidate for church membership ; and I felt
that she deserved one of the best young men on the island.
As for the proposed bridegroom, poor fellow, I had a good deal
of sympathy for him ; he was a man of great force of character,
impulsive, often unselfish, and one of those generous natures
whom people generally like. He had been ill-used about three
years before ; he wished to marry a widow, and she wished to
marry him ; but strong family influences were brought to bear
on the widow, and she had to give him up and take his rival.
But, there, as much as in more civilised lands, public sympathy
comes out at length on behalf of right and justice, and in
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM.
behalf of the injured ; and public feeling was all on the man's
side in this case. One chief said to me, " Misi, I have a
parable I sometimes speak If I had a big wild pig that was
going about and breaking into plantations, eating people's food,
and doing all sorts of mischief, the people would say, Let
this pig be killed ; we cannot get living for it ; but I would
say, No, spare my pig, and help me to make an enclosure for
him. We set to, we make the enclosure, we put in the pig,
and feed him, and he becomes a quiet, tame pig. Now, there
was Raton ga. The people said, O don't give him a wife ; see
what a wild young man he is ; he hears nobody's words,
neither the chiefs, nor the teachers. But I stood up for him.
I spoke my parable. He was married. I talked to him ; he
has been a well-conducted man ever since ; he has two children,
and is now a member of the church." I said, "Yes, that is
all true, but Ratonga and his wife were both one age. What
about Lenia and her? " This was a young man belonging to
the same district, and also a candidate for church membership.
" yes," they said, " he is a very good young man, but all
the people of her land are against him getting her." "But
what about Kula ? " I said, naming another young man, " the
people said she wanted him." "0 yes," they said, "that was
some time ago ; but when they spoke to him he said, No,
she was a distant relation of his own, and he would not have
her." "Yes," said another, "and when she went up to
Ivanipek to stay with the teacher, the chief there wished her
for his son Ketipup (also a likely young man), but when she
heard this she was unwilling, and came off home immediately.
They have talked about this marriage between her and In jap
a great deal, and she thinks of nobody else now." "Yes,"
said the chief who had spoken the parable, " I spoke to her
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM. I/I
last Monday, and she said the words about In jap and her were
to stand." I said to them, "Well, you go home and search
her heart honestly, and see if these words be true, and not
said through fear of her friends, and come to me before church
time on Sabbath morning, and, if it is .good for her, I will
proclaim them ; " and so ended their interview. On the Sabbath
morning the elder came back and said that he had searched
the young woman's heart, and that she had said that their
words were good for her ; because that if Ketipup, the chief's
son, and she were married, as they were both young and
thoughtless, they would live in idleness, and have no food, and
then they would be quarrelling and fighting, and living an
unhappy life ; but if In jap and she were married, he would be
thoughtful, and strong to work, and she would work with him,
and they would have plenty of food and live happily together.
Whether these were actually her own sentiments, or whether
they were the words suggested to her, by a kind of process
akin to the leading of evidence, and to which she merely gave
her assent, I was not able to say, but I was shut up to
proclaim them ; and they were married on the following
Wednesday. But with all the drawbacks to marriage in such
a state of society as we found there, it was an unspeakable
blessing to the Aneityumese.
The question of bigamy and polygamy came up for solution
in our mission, as in most heathen missions; a question of
casuistry more difficult perhaps than any found in Pike and
Hayward's Cases of Conscience, and which has exercised the
casuistic skill of missionaries, missionary societies, and mis-
sionary churches, and on which they have not yet reached
unanimity of opinion. The arguments on both or on all
sides have been clearly and very fairly stated in a pamphlet
172 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM.
by my excellent and learned friend Dr. Gust, of the Indian
Civil Service. It refers chiefly to the missions in India and
Africa, and gives a list of twenty-five publications on that
subject, mostly pamphlets, seven of the writers being bishops.
Three solutions are offered to the question (i) That Christian
polygamists be baptized, but not admitted to office; (2) that
no polygamist be baptized till he have put away all his wives
but one ; (3) that he be admitted as a catechumen, but not
baptized. Dr. Cust holds to this latter view, especially for
the sake of the wives, that their rights may all be conserved.
He holds that the wives may all be baptized if otherwise
qualified. Our circumstances were quite different from those
that obtained either in India or in Africa. On Aneityum
the marriage bond was so slender, that in general it caused
no painful wrench to separate a wife from her husband, and
there were plenty of eligible men ready to marry the repudi-
ated wives. We had no polygamist literally ; we had a few
trigamists, but before these became practical questions the
third wife had become the wife of some other man, so that
we had only bigamy to deal with. We never pushed any
delicate or difficult question, so we allowed this question to
stand over till it was ripe for solution ; and when it had
to be practically disposed of, we found it less difficult than
we expected. In the first place, we allowed the husband to
keep either of the wives that he preferred, and before the
day appointed for the separation we had provided a suitable
husband for the repudiated wife, a man who was willing to
marry the woman, and a man whom the woman was willing
to accept as her husband. In this way there was no difficulty ;
the women were better pleased, each to have a husband of her
own, than only to be one of the inmates of a harem. Our
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEtTYUM. 173
first case was a very notable one; it was in July 1854, at the
opening of Mr. Geddie's new church. On that occasion Mr.
Geddie had no fewer than eleven couples to marry. Among
these were four principal chiefs, who had formerly had two
wives each, but who had repudiated one of them for some
time. However, to give all due publicity to their conduct,
they wished to be publicly married to the one, and to declare
publicly that they had renounced all claim upon the other.
Among the other seven brides were two repudiated wives ;
one of them formerly belonged to one of those chiefs, and the
other had belonged to another chief, who had put her away
some two years before that time. It was only chiefs and
important men that could secure more than one wife where
women were so scarce. A marriage on Aneityum, as in
other parts of the world, was then an exciting occasion.
As the natives were mostly assembled for the opening of the
new church, and as so many marriages were to be celebrated,
it was naturally to be expected that there would be a large
meeting, and most certainly so it was; the church, which
held from 800 to 900, was completely filled; a good many
heathen were there; within and without there must have
been nearly 1000 assembled. All, however, was order and
decorum. After devotional exercises Mr. Geddie gave an
address on marriage and the social position of woman. He
showed them that God created only one man and one woman
at first, and not many women for one man ; that the souls
of women are as precious in the sight of God as the souls
of men ; that women are not to be treated as beasts ; that
wives are not to be treated even as the mere servants of their
husbands, but are to be regarded as their equals and com-
panions. After he had married the eleven couples, I de-
174 COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM.
livered a short address both to them and to the audience, and
gave them in their own tongue, somewhat amplified, Matthew
Hem-y's celebrated commentary on Genesis ii. 21, 22: "The
woman was made of a rib out of Adam's side ; not made out
of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled
on by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, from
under his arm to be protected by him, and near his heart to be
beloved. " I then concluded the meeting with prayer and praise.
At that time every great movement on the one side of the
island reacted powerfully on the other. So about four months
afterwards we had a similar display at my station. In one
day at our weekly prayer- meeting I married no fewer than
thirteen couples. Four of the men had formerly had two
wives each, but had put away one of them, and the four wives
thus put away were also all married at the same time to other
husbands. On the previous Sabbath I preached on the nature
and duties of marriage ; and, on that occasion, notwithstanding
a very unfavourable day, we had a large attendance, especially
of women. I read and briefly expounded the last twenty- two
verses of the Book of Proverbs, which I had translated for the
occasion a passage which a venerable puritan divine calls a
"looking-glass for ladies, which they are desired to open and
dress themselves by, and if they do so, their adorning will
be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing
of Jesus Christ." The thirteen couples were arranged before
the pulpit in three rows, the first row consisted of the four
men who were putting away their wives, and the wives whom
they were keeping. They stood up, and I required each of the
four men to declare publicly that he gave up all claim upon
the wife he had put away, and then I married each of them to
the wife he had retained. The first row sat down, and the
COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE ON ANEITYUM. 175
second row, containing the four wives just put away, stood up.
These I married with equal distinctness. After this they sat
down, and the third row stood up, consisting of five couples
who had. not been married before. These I also married ; and
thus concluded an interesting and important service. We had
still three more professing Christianity who had two wives
each ; one of these was a chief who had recently joined us ;
another was the chief of the district in which we lived, a man
by whom the mission had been much benefited. It was under
his protection that the Rev. A. W. Murray left the first
Samoan teachers, and he was one of the first to make a pro-
fession of Christianity, and he had been always true to the
teachers and the missionaries. The natives at that time were
very fond of new names, and the teachers had gratified them
largely in this direction till they had nearly exhausted the
more common names in the Bible, as expressed in the Samoan
version. To this man and his principal wife they had given
the names of Tavita and Patisepa (David and Bathsheba).
But though in most other matters his conduct had been very
satisfactory, yet about the putting away of his wife he dis-
played a great amount of duplicity and obstinacy. He was
far from being happy. He had two settlements. The one
wife lived in the one, and the other in the other. He lived a
week or two with the one wife in the one place, then quarrelled
with her, left her, and went and lived a similar length of time
with the other. But at length good influences prevailed. He
and Patisepa were married, and Yauth, his other wife, was
married on the same day to a suitable man, and thus Tavita's
domestic troubles were happily brought to an end. He was
not the highest in rank, but he was the most influential chief
on my side of the island.
CHARTER XXII.
DISEASES ON ANEITYUM AND THEIR REMEDIES.
THE chief cause of disease on Aneityum is malaria. Perhaps
the gravest difficulty with which the New Hebrides Mission
has to contend is the climate. It is, so far as we know, the
least healthy of any group of islands in those seas on which
missions have been established. If the laws of life are very
carefully attended to, a fair average measure of health may
be enjoyed, but these laws cannot be trifled with as they may
be elsewhere. There is in general nothing specially deadly in
the climate it kills by inches, rather than suddenly ; malaria,
more or less virulent, continually infests all the low districts
of most of the islands, and is most injurious in warm dry
seasons. The presence of this malaria has never once been
discovered by any one of the five senses. It walks the earth
as invisible as the Evil One himself. It cleaves to the
ground : it cannot live on the ocean ; hence men are safe
till they touch those shores. It requires the four primal
elements of the ancients earth, air, heat, and moisture for
its production; yet it cannot be detected by the most skil-
fully conducted chemical analysis, although from its effects
various forms of well-marked diseases, chiefly fever and ague,
and milder forms of intermittent fever its existence is as
certainly known as the existence of moral depravity is ascer-
tained by the degrading heathenism which prevails on every
DISEASES ON ANEITYUM. 177
one of those non-christianised islands. When new missionaries
arrived among us, our warnings to them were like the
prophecies of Cassandra to the Trojans ; when we told them
of the danger of walking out after the sun went down, they
thought we were merely joking ; and when they saw that we
were in sober earnest, they began to doubt if we were quite
sane, and if there was not some twist about our minds, some
mental hallucination on this point. "Surely," they said,
" there can be no danger in a climate like this ; there is no
cold whatever; see how soft, and mild, and balmy the air is."
They had still to learn that fever and ague gives no warning ;
it comes galloping, but goes away creeping. It is not till
men are in its iron grasp that they realise their danger, and
it is then too late to secure their escape.
There is good reason for believing that sixty years ago the
population on Aneityum was at least 12,000. Some have
estimated it as high as 20,000; but two terribly alarming
epidemics reduced it to less than a third of that number.
Samoan teachers were first placed on Aneityum in 1841. It
was a few years before the settlement of those teachers that
the first epidemic appeared, probably about 1837 or 1838;
and it was some time after their settlement, probably 1844
or 1845, that the second epidemic broke out. Both epidemics
seem to have been of the nature of cholera. We never could
learn anything as to their origin or cause. The mortality
was so great that the living could not dispose of the dead,
which they did at that time by tying stones to their feet and
casting the bodies into the sea. No doubt the epidemic was
aggravated by the putrefying corpses. We arrived at our
conclusions respecting the extent of the mortality in these
epidemics in this way. In the first years of the mission, Mr.
M
1 78 DISEASES ON ANEITYUM
Gecldie and I made a circuit of the island annually ; in each
of these visits we spent about a week. We were always
accompanied by a party of at least twenty or thirty of the
principal Christian natives. At every school-house we held a
religious service, at which the natives, as well as the mission-
aries, gave addresses. We also sent deputations to the
heathen to speak to them at their own homes. Both at the
two principal stations, and at four other important stations,
as we had with us the most intelligent and best informed
men on the island, we took down the names of all the men
who had died at these places respectively during both the
first and second epidemics ; and making allowance for a fair
proportion of women and children, we calculated that fully
4000 people must have died during each of the epidemics.
No doubt those fearful scourges so affected the general health
as largely to account for the subsequent decrease of the popu-
lation ; a large proportion of the land was thrown out of culti-
vation, and a large amount of swamp land, instead of being
finely cultivated food-producing gardens, fell into stagnant
marshes, largely increasing the fever-producing malaria.
What purpose the Lord had to serve by that awfully start-
ling dispensation of His providence is a question not easily
answered, only it was not a chance that happened to the
people.
The lessons taught through the losses sustained by the Free
Church of Scotland last year, in South Arabia and in Living-
stonia, ought to be deeply pondered by all the members of that
Church, especially by her medical missionaries. These evils I
believe to be remediable. As I have shown elsewhere, much
will always depend upon the site and structure of mission
houses ; and the whole question of malaria must be carefully
AND THEIR REMEDIES. 179
studied. Dr. Gunn, I understand, is projecting a Sanitoriuin
on Futuna. This cannot be too soon gone about. When
Mrs. Charles Murray died, I felt extremely thankful that she
had a fully qualified medical man at her bedside, and that no
reflections could be made, to the effect that the result might
have been different if the requisite skill had been available.
But when she had not only the most careful nursing, but also
the best medical skill, there was no room for any regrets. It
was the Lord's will, and not man's unskilf ulness, to which her
death was due. It was for the sake of the mission families,
more than for the natives, that I was so anxious to secure the
services of a medical missionary on the group. Such an
arrangement not only gives confidence to the mission families
on the field, but it eases the minds of friends, especially
parents, at home, to think that in perilous junctures, their
daughters especially, have the benefit of the best skill which
the medical schools of Edinburgh or Scotland can supply. It
is true that a medical missionary cannot be everywhere at
once, cannot attend to every case at the same time ; but when-
ever danger is apprehended, arrangements can be made to
secure his presence and his help. And he can at all times be
watching the laws of health ; he can have every member of
the mission making observations for him ; then he can
generalise, and then, in consequence of this knowledge, supply
every missionary with instructions what he is to avoid, and
what he is to do in order to escape the most likely dangers,
and to secure the highest degree of attainable health.
The most common disease on Aneityum and in the New
Hebrides, generally, is fever and ague. In different groups
on the South Seas malaria has different developments. In
the New Hebrides it takes the form of fever and ague, from a
I SO DISEASES ON ANEITYUM
very mild to a very severe form of the disease. In Fiji it
develops into diarrhoea, often of a very troublesome type. In
Samoa it produces painful and chronic swellings in the legs
and arms, sometimes, if I mistake not, ending in a form of
elephantiasis. Of remedies, the great sheet anchor for fever
and ague and the other diseases is quinine, and it is matter for
thankfulness that it is now become so cheap. The other
specific is arsenic ; the most convenient form of administering
it we found to be Fowler's Solution of Arsenic. This, how-
ever, required to be administered with caution. An aperient
is generally administered two or three times a week with these
remedies. On our way home from the islands, I met a
gentleman in the steamer between Sydney and Melbourne,
who told me that in Queensland, to which he belonged, they
mixed quinine and Epsom salts, and found this mixture more
efficacious than when taken separately, enough of the salts
being used to act as an aperient.
A common complaint among children I found to be worms ;
the stomach swelled and became painful, especially after
eating, and the child often became much emaciated. For this
I found no medicine so effectual as a strong mixture of salt
and water; a spoonful administered every morning half-an-
hour before any food was taken. This, continued for ten days
or a fortnight, generally effected a complete cure ; some of the
cures were very striking. The medicine seemed to operate in
this way. On the fasting stomach the worms were hungry, and
greedily swallowed the salt and water, which acted as a poison
to the worms, but as a tonic to the child ; but whatever the
modus operandi might be, the remedy was in general effectual.
TJlceration and skin diseases were common ; and the most
effectual remedy that I found was carbolic acid. It was not,
AND THEIR REMEDIES. iSl
however, till the last year that I was on the island that I
became acquainted with this medicine, and that through the
Rev. J. Annand, after he came to the station on Aneityum
formerly occupied by Dr. Geddie ; and the occasion was this.
A young lad from my station had been engaged for some two
years as cook on Eromanga for Mrs. Robertson, and was
coming home ; but he had cut the upper part of his foot very
badly with an axe. Afterwards some lime fell on it while he was
plastering ; the foot had been neglected ; and finally it became
a very bad ulcerated wound. My wife and I were on a visit
to the other stations in the Dayspring, and arranged to call
and bring the lad home. Mr. Robertson had done his utmost,
but with very little success. We landed at Mr. Annand's
station, and took the lad ashore with us. The smell of the
wound was so offensive that he could not stay in the same
house with Mr. Annand's natives. I got Mr. Annand to
examine the wound ; after doing so, he recommended the
application of carbolic acid. It was a new medicine to me ; I
had never heard of it before, so far as I remember; but Mr.
Annand was not long from home, and he had brought a supply
of the medicine with him. I asked him to dress the wound,
which he did, with a preparation of one part of the acid to ten
of water, and in two days the offensive smell was all gone.
We took the lad home with us. I dressed the foot twice a day
as suggested by Mr. Annand, and in less than a month the
wound was quite healed, and the lad was in every way perfectly
well.
Another case was that of a middle-aged woman, whose skin
was all covered with an ulcerous rash, which I never expected
to see cured. I gave her a quart bottle, filled with a weak
solution of the acid, one part of the acid to about twenty of
I 82 DISEASES ON ANEITYUM
water. I gave her also a piece of old soft linen. I told her
to go home, get a piece of a clean cocoa-nut shell, pour a little
of the liquid into it, and twice a- day dip the cloth in the liquid,
and wet all her skin with the cloth, and to come back when
the contents of the bottle were done. What was my surprise,
when, in three weeks, she was present at the weekly prayer-
meeting, perfectly cured, her skin as fresh as that of a weaned
child, or if one might speak it with reverence, comparing small
things with great, the natural with the miraculous, the human
with the divine ; her skin was as fresh as one might suppose
Naaman's to have been when he stood before Elisha, after he
had dipped himself seven times in the Jordan.
Female complaints were common, especially menorrhagia.
I had a copy of Graham on " Diseases of Females," which I
often consulted with advantage. In page 91 he strongly re-
commends cream of tartar for this ailment and internal passive
haemorrhage. " The value," he says, " of this admirable medi-
cine is but little known in such cases ; it will, however, be soon
ascertained on trial, for where it is suitable, it is equally prompt
and successful in its effects." This remedy I often adminis-
tered, and with very beneficial, often with very striking, effects.
Dr. Graham says it is very effectual in creating red blood.
I was in general very successful with children. Their
diseases were mostly acute and of short standing, and one or
two, or at most a few doses of medicine generally effected a
cure. When a child was brought with disordered stomach,
and a very white tongue, a few doses of rhubarb and calomel
almost invariably effected a complete cure. Inflammation of the
eyes was a common complaint, but a solution of sugar of lead,
or of sulphate of zinc, with a few drops of laudanum or liquid
morphia, made a very effective lotion.
AND THEIR REMEDIES. 183
In their heathen state the natives had no knowledge of
O
medicine : all their cures were effected, or were supposed to
be effected, by incantations, and they were all performed by
the sacred men ; and it was believed that the sacred men could
produce diseases as well as cure them. They did not, however,
look upon the sacred men as we do upon the medical pro-
fession, as a benevolent class of men, or public benefactors, em-
ployed always in curing, but never in causing diseases. They
looked upon them very much as our forefathers, in former
times, looked upon wizards and witches, as exercising their
power to cause pain and suffering, not to produce health and
happiness, except when largely paid to remove some malady
which they themselves had inflicted. They looked upon them
very much as Mohammed did upon women, as an evil, a
necessary evil it might be, but still as an eviL Their sacred
men they felt to be a public burden. At first they looked
upon us missionaries as belonging to the same class as their
sacred men, and they thought that if they accepted the new
religion, they would be adding a load to a burden. When
they became better acquainted with us, and found that we
could cure them, they still thought that our cures, like those of
their sacred men, were effected by incantation, and that one
medicine must be able to cure every disease. Hence, when a
man had got medicine for himself, he would say, " I want
some medicine also for So-and-so." "Very well," I would
say, " and what is the matter with him 1 " " Oh," he would
say, " I do not know; I saw his brother as I came along, and
he said he was very ill, and I was to ask you for some medi-
cine for him." " But," said I, " unless you can tell me some-
thing about his disease, I cannot give you any medicine. You
see this medicine chest ; you see all these bottles : these all
184 DISEASES ON ANEITYUM
contain different medicines for different diseases ; you know
that you suffer from more diseases than one. Now this medi-
cine is to cure pains in the head, this is to cure pains in the
back, this is to cure pains in the bones, this is to stop vomiting,
this is to cause people to sleep : this is to cure one disease, and
that to cure another. Now you must go to So-and-so, and
tell him to come to me, and explain what is the matter with
his brother, and then I will know what medicine I can give
him, that it may cure him." It took years, however, to make
them all comprehend the difference between the charms and
incantations of their sacred men, and the medicines and the
medical treatment of the missionaries.
From the first I opened my dispensary every day at one
o'clock for all the patients that came ; and the attendance was
smaller or greater according to the state of the public health,
from one, two, or three, to twenty or thirty, or even more.
A number of the cases, especially among children, were cured,
a large number were benefited, and as it happens in all medical
practice, in a large number of instances my medical labours
were fruitless; but I examined every case carefully, and
treated them all honestly, to the best of my knowledge and
ability, and the result was, that the natives came to have un-
bounded confidence in my medical treatment ; and this depart-
ment of my mission work tended greatly to increase my moral
influence among the people.
I had always one and frequently two hospitals for the re-
ception of indoor patients, one for the people of the upper or
eastern end of my district, and the other for the lower or
western part. These were very humble structures, mere huts,
erected by the natives themselves under my directions, but
they served a useful purpose. They stood at a convenient
AND THEIR REMEDIES. 185
distance outside of our premises. The natives provided their
own food and attendance ; if it was a husband the wife nursed
him and attended to him, if it was a girl the mother nursed
her, if it was a boy both father and mother were in attendanca
I visited the patient and administered the medicine ; my wife
supplied tea, biscuit, arrowroot, and other medical comforts :
and the elders, deacons, teachers, and church members often
went and made worship with them night and morning, and at
other times, and sometimes brought a small present of food,
and the results were satisfactory ; the social influences, as well
as the medical treatment, promoted the recovery of the patients,
as the good feeling and cheerfulness thereby engendered were
new and powerful curatives added to the sanitary conditions of
the island and the hospital.
There is one point in relation to medicine on which I must
say a word or two. It was one of our primary objects in the
mission to avoid pauperising the natives, and to cherish in
every way among them a spirit of self-respect and indepen-
dence, and yet to make the mission as little burdensome as
possible. We gave them nothing for nothing. We made
them understand that they had no claim upon us for anything,
and, as soon as we deemed it to be expedient, we made them
pay for their medicines. In Samoa and elsewhere the mis-
sionaries did the same, but the Samoan missionaries made
every native pay for his own medicines ; but our natives were
much poorer than theirs, and we found that with medicines as
with books, it was better to lay a tax upon the entire com-
munity than to make each man pay for himself. Mr. Geddie
and I, therefore, arranged that, week by week, the teacher or
the chief should collect from two to four baskets of taro among
the people of his district, according to their number, and bring
I 86 DISEASES ON ANEITYUM
them on the Wednesday, and then every native on both sides
of the island was at liberty to go to each of the dispensaries
respectively, as often as they required it, and obtain medicine
for nothing. I had twenty- eight schools, hence it took twenty-
eight weeks to go over these, and as we had a good many
marriages during the year, and also other occasions, such as
the opening of schoolhouses, at which presents, chiefly of taro,
were always made, and at which times we always stopped the
taro for the medicine, so it was seldom oftener than once a
year that they had to give anything for medicine ; and as the
tax fell on every one, and on every one equally, it touched
every one so lightly, that it was not felt at all to be a burden.
To those who carried the taro I always gave a few fish-hooks,
which rendered the labour less irksome ; or, if they came from
an inland district, where they could not fish, my wife gave
them some needles and a portion of thread. These weekly
contributions supplied our household ourselves and the natives
who lived with us with the most important article of vege-
table food that we required. Our friends at home supplied the
medicines. The Rev. Dr. Goold's congregation in Edinburgh
presented me with a medicine-chest and a set of medical instru-
ments when I first went out to the mission in 1844, and as
often as requested they refilled it. On one or two occasions
the Rev. J. Kay's congregation in Castle-Douglas sent me a
valuable supply of medicines, through the late J. Paterson,
Esq., of the Apothecary's Hall. On all occasions our friends
were thoughtful and liberal. We never made an appeal to
them for medicine or for anything else but we met with a
generous response.
The birth-rate since we went to Aneityum has always been
high ; but alas ! the death-rate has always been higher. For
AND THEIR REMEDIES. 187
about ten years before we left the island the birth and death
rate stood something like this : birth-rate, 99^ ; death-rate,
icoj. A reverse of this ratio would make us equal to what
exists in India, where the birth-rate is equal to 100^, and the
death-rate to 99 J ; and this going on for ages has resulted in
the millions of our Indian Empire, instead of the steady de-
population of Aneityum. Some years after we left the island
the disproportion between the birth and the death rate was
still greater. But we are still hoping that, when the present
transition period has passed, and Christianity, with its strongly
conservative influence, has been fully and permanently esta-
blished, there will set in, as in many of the eastern islands,
where the depopulation was as great as it has been with us, a
steady increase in the number of the inhabitants ; and thus
may " a little one become a thousand, and a small one a strong
nation ; " and may " the Lord hasten it in His time ! "
CHAPTER XXIII.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM.
WHEN the mission work was begim on Aneityum, the island
was governed by six principal chiefs, and about fifty under
chiefs. The name of a principal chief was Natimarith, from
Natimi, man, and arith, high; a secondary chief was called
Natimi alupas, from Natimi, man, and alupas, great. In
heathen times the duties of the priesthood were discharged
chiefly by the Natimariths. Each Natimarith, in his own
district, was a kind of Pontifex maximus, or high priest ; he
presided at feasts, and performed certain sacerdotal duties;
but when heathenism came to an end, their priestly vocation
also terminated, and their civil power alone remained ; but it
became very much increased when it became based upon
Scriptural authority. In heathen times there was no union,
no united action among the chiefs. The normal state of
society was for one part of the island to be at war with
another part ; for two districts to be at war with the other
four, but not necessarily the same districts. On the south
side of the island, Mr. Geddie's side, the principal district was
Anelgauhat, of which Nohoat was the Natimarith, and after
his death his son Lathella ; on the north side it was Aneityo,
of which Nowanpakau was the Natimarith. At first, when
Mr. Geddie was settled, the three high chiefs on the south
side were Nohoat, Yiapai, and Karaheth, all three men of
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM. 189
influence and of great force of character, who joined the
mission at an early stage, threw their influence into the
movement, and helped it greatly. Topoe, or Topwe, an under
chief, a brother-in-law of Nohoat's, was another power for
good ; and Waihit, a famous sacred man, was for thirty years
a great support of the mission. The Natimariths on my side
were Nemet, Viali, and Nimivero, all three feeble men ; but
we had three under chiefs, Tavita, Luka, and Napollos, who
proved admirable substitutes. Ta vita's history I have given
elsewhere. Luka, in his heathen state, was a great warrior,
but a great savage ; on the death of his son, a little boy, he
strangled his own sister, that her spirit might accompany the
little boy's to Umaatmas, the Land of the Dead, to attend upon
him there. When the first Samoan teachers were settled at
Ipeke, the district adjoining Aname, afterwards my station,
and were beginning to influence the young men, Luka became
very angry with them, and set off one day, followed by a party
of the heathen, and carrying a massive spear with which to
murder them. The two Samoans and their wives got word of
his intentions, and kept inside the house, barred the door, and
betook themselves to prayer. Luka came on, broke open the
door, and told them that he had come to kill them. They
calmly looked him in the face and told him they were not
afraid to die, but warned him to think what he was doing, for
that God would certainly avenge their deaths, either here or
hereafter. Luka raised his spear, but, as Milton, I think it is,
says somewhere, "Awful is the power of goodness," and a
higher authority says, " The wicked flee when no man pursueth,
but the righteous are bold as a lion," so their words troubled
Luka's heart ; he was agitated, the cord with which he poised
his spear slipped from his finger, and the weapon when he threw
190 CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM.
it fell powerless to the ground. A conversation took place,
the teachers engaged in prayer, and Luka went home no
longer a heathen, and in the course of a few Sabbaths he was
attending the place of worship. He was one of the very first
whom I baptized and admitted to the fellowship of the Church.
When he was an elderly man, and we had difficulty in getting
teachers to go to Tanna, Luka and his wife volunteered to go
thither, as he was well known there, and had much influence
wit'h the Tannese, to assist Mr. and Mrs. Watt. After they went
thither, they met with great opposition from the heathen. His
wife was indeed poisoned by the wife of a Tannese chief, who
intentionally gave her a poisonous fish to eat, when she was
sick, under the pretence that it was a good fish. On one
occasion the heathen attempted to murder Luka; an armed
party surrounded him, they levelled their muskets at his head,
one bullet knocked off his hat, another one passed through his
shirt, other three fell short of him, but the Lord protected
him, and he escaped unhurt. Luka lived to a good old age at
Kwamera, Mr. Watt's station, and died honoured and lamented.
The people of Itath, the land where he was chief, followed his
example, and all along took the lead in Christianity, education,
and civilization. A very interesting account of Luka, written
by Mrs. Watt of Tanna, appeared in the juvenile magazine,
the Day spring, for November 1879, published by Messrs.
Parlane of Paisley.
Napollos was a third Natimi alupas, or common chief, one
of the three mighties in my district. In heathen times he was
a great warrior, possessed great influence, was a man famous
both in camp and in council, in planning an attack or a
defence, or in carrying it into effect. The shadow of his arm
struck terror into the hearts of his enemies, and the sound of
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM. 191
his footsteps was recognised as the harbinger of death; he
had joined the Christian party before our arrival. Shortly
after our settlement, of his own accord, both he and 1 his wife
came and lived beside us for two years, that they might get
all the instructions we could give them, both scriptural and
secular. It was to his land, and at his request, that I sent
out Yona, my first native teacher. Next to the mission
station, Ijasis, his land, and Itath, Luka's land, were the
most advanced, on my side of the island, both in scholarship
and Christianity. He died just immediately before our return
to the island with the New Testament, in 1863. Tavita,
Luka, and Napollos were all three very able rulers, which
indicated that they possessed in an eminent degree the higher
order of intellect.
The chiefs both supreme and subordinate were partly
hereditary and partly elective. If a chief died, his son, if
grown up, succeeded him; if he had no son grown up, his
brother or some near relative succeeded ; his daughter never
succeeded the father : there was a tacit Salic law, minors and
daughters were always excluded ; and eligible candidates were
always confined to certain families. Human nature is human
nature all the world over. On Aneityum, rank is recognised
and appreciated as much as among the British aristocracy, the
Spanish nobility, or the Princes of Germany. In the early
part of this century the Duke of Beaufort had six daughters ;
they were all married ; the Countess of Galloway was one of
them, and it was said of her that she made the poorest match
of all the six, so well were they all married. But be that as
it may have been, we could nearly equal this on Aneityum.
About that very time one of the Natimariths of Aneityum had
five daughters, who all grew up to womanhood, and each one
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM.
of them was married to a Natimarith ; but I mention this for
another purpose. When we .were settled on Aneityum, Nemet,
one of our three Natimariths, who had been married to one of
these five daughters of that high chief, had two daughters but
no son. His eldest daughter was a young, giddy, thoughtless
girl of whom nobody thought anything. By and by, as she
was a high chief's daughter, Mrs. Inglis took her into her
boarding-school, where she remained for several years, and
developed into a tall, good-looking young woman, though still
somewhat reckless and harum-scarum. At this time, Solomona,
one of our best, cleverest, and most scholarly young men, asked
her in marriage, and she was willing to take him ; but family
considerations interposed. He was the son of only a small
chief, a poor gentleman, whereas she, both by father and
mother, belonged to one of the highest families in the land ;
and the whole family connection was arrayed against them. She
must marry nobody but a Natimarith, as her mother and all her
aunts had done before her. But when the family council was
assembled, Eitia gave them a bit of her mind ; trusting to her
position, she spoke more freely than a woman of lower rank
durst have done. "When I was a child," she said, "you
treated me like a wild pig, and let me run about as I liked,
and seek my food where I could find it. You looked upon me
as a naldi natmas (literally a little devil), a contemptible
creature, utterly worthless. But now, when Mrs. Inglis,
after taking me in, clothing me, and educating me, has made
a woman of me, you come now and say that I must take a
man whom I know nothing about, and whom I care nothing
about, because his father is a Natimarith. No, I want Solo-
mona, and I'll have him if I can get him." However, the
family influence prevailed, and, although there was neither UB
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM. 193
elopement nor a suicide nor any of those tragic endings with
which the writers of fiction so often finish up their stories,
Ritia was married to a respectable man ; but when the measles
swept over Aneityum she was one of the 1200 that died in
that epidemic, purposely brought to the island by the traders.
We never assumed any civil power, we recognised and
accepted whatever civil government existed; we instructed
and guided the authorities as opportunities occurred. In all
offences against life we counselled severe punishment, so far
as the Scriptures sanctioned it ; but in all offences against
property merely, we counselled the use of mild punishments.
The natives wished to punish indiscriminately : for the killing
of a pig and the killing of a man they would have inflicted
nearly the same punishment. In all cases we counselled
prompt punishment, while public sympathy was with the
authorities and not with the criminal. There, as elsewhere,
but especially in such a state of society, if punishment is
postponed, public sympathy begins to turn in favour of the
criminal and against the law, and the ends of punishment are
defeated.
A case occurred in New Zealand in the early days of its
history, before the British Government took possession of it as
a colony. At that time there were several whaling stations
established along the coasts of those islands. Within what is
now the province of Otago, one of those whaling parties had
apprehended a native for some crime, and adjudged him to be
hanged, but as the time for executing the sentence drew near,
they became alarmed. Men-of-war were sailing in those seas,
and the power of the criminal courts in Sydney extended to
New Zealand, and they might easily get themselves into
trouble. Meanwhile, one of their number, who could speak
K
194 CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM.
the Maori language, went to the native, and persuaded him
that it would be much more honourable for him to shoot
himself, than to be hanged by the pakeha (foreigner). A
loaded musket was introduced into the place of his confinement,
and the native shot himself. In this way the whalers gained
their end, and evaded the legal consequences to which they
were exposing themselves, and of which they were now
becoming seriously afraid.
In some of the eastern islands the missionaries, assisted in
some cases by an English lawyer, prepared a civil constitution
for the natives. But, as far as I know, these remained to a
large extent a dead letter. At first we got the natives, as a
beginning in legislation, to pass four enactments, which Mr.
Geddie printed. One of these was to prohibit the sale of
native women to white men, and which effectually prevented
that practice. With these four Acts of Parliament, printing
for the Government ceased. We very soon concluded that it
was our best policy to let the framework of society remain as
we found it ; not to touch the common or unwritten law of
the land ; and as for statutory law, we thought that the ten
commandments would be amply sufficient for all ordinary
purposes. The natives understood their own customs better
than any foreign legislation that we could introduce.
Our chiefs were not at all the important-looking men that
many supposed them to be. They were not tall, gigantic men,
like the chiefs in Eastern Polynesia. There was no court
language, no class of words employed exclusively in speaking
to, or of, chiefs, as in Samoa They were not objects of dread,
whose shadow even no man durst touch, as they were in
Hawaii. They were plain, simple-looking men, whom no
stranger would have recognised in a crowd ; and as there was
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM. 195
very little formality among the people, very little deference
appeared to be paid to their rank. Still it was surprising to
see the power of preserving peace and order over the island
which they acquired after Christianity was accepted. In
heathenism it required very little authority to get men to
commit murder and fight, to retaliate and take vengeance,
because all their natural instincts led them in that direction ;
but, in a community newly reclaimed from heathenism, to
keep men all quiet required vastly more influence of one kind
or another. There were few breaches of the peace, and when
any breaches did occur they were quickly punished by the
chiefs. The particulars of one instance I shall give by way
of illustration. A man belonging to an inland district had
committed adultery with his neighbour's wife. The woman's
friends belonged to the other side of the island. When they
heard of this affair a few of them went to talk with the man
about his conduct. Like most evildoers, he was angry at this
interference ; and when they were near his house he went out
to meet them, threw his spear among them, and wounded one
man severely in the foot ; had it struck him in the side it
might have killed him. In old times this would have led to
a war between the two tribes ; the one party to revenge the
deed, the other party to defend the evildoer. The chief of
the district came to me immediately to consult with me what
was to be done, as he expected all the friends of the wounded
man to be at his house next day. I advised him to ask some
of the other chiefs to come and help him to punish the man,
but not to attempt anything till he had plenty of help. He
immediately asked three or four of the nearest chiefs to assist
him. On the following morning, these all repaired to this
assize meeting, each chief accompanied by a few trustworthy
ig6 CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM.
influential friends. In this country such an offence would
have been punished by so many days' or months' imprisonment,
but there were no jails there, and all punishments required to
be summary. They adjudged the man to be tied and fined, a
very heavy punishment. They tied him hand and foot for
half a day, and fined him of a large pig, which they gave to
the friends of the wounded man. The man had just three
pigs, and he pleaded hard that they would take the least one ;
but the chiefs were inexorable and took the largest. The
people from the other side went away well pleased, satisfied
that full justice had been done. I was always anxious when
such cases occurred, and in that instance I felt great relief
when the people returned from the trial and told me how the
chiefs had acted, and what the result had been. There was no
excitement, no high words ; but everything was done with
order and dignity. As I have already said, in all cases where
property only was concerned, I always advised the chiefs to
adopt a gentle policy, to talk to the offenders, and to get them
to make restitution, employing moral and personal influence
rather than legal authority, to carry out, if possible, a paternal
government. But, in all cases where life was imperilled, I
counselled prompt and vigorous measures, such as would strike
terror into the hearts of evildoers, and I got the chiefs to
unite in helping one another, so that their authority would
not be disputed. We always aimed at two things with our
chiefs that their government should be good, and that it
should be strong. And happily in every important case that
occurred, on either side of the island, acting on our advice,
they proceeded unitedly, and also carried public sympathy
along with them, and thus increased both their official autho-
triy and their personal influence.
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANE1TYUM. 1 97
For the sake of showing the working of our criminal
courts, I may here give a report of two cases that occurred,
the one on the one side of the island, and the other on the
other : the one a case affecting life, the other a case affect-
ing property. I shall relate the property case first, and as
I wrote an account of it at the time it occurred, which
appeared in the R. P. magazine, I shall quote from my own
letter.
"Perhaps the most readily observed crime among the
natives on this island is stealing, and I believe the evil is
increasing. Not that the people are getting worse, but that
the opportunities for stealing are more frequent and more
favourable. There is more property to be stolen ; and there
are more facilities for concealing it. But there is not now,
nor has there been for a long time past, any stealing of food,
as there used to be in heathenism, or as there is still on
heathen islands. During the past year there has been no
punishing for stealing on my side of the. island. There have
been several cases of stealing, most of them of a petty char-
acter, but as the thieves were not found out, there could be no
punishment inflicted. The last case of punishment for stealing
by natives belonging to my side of the island, was at our last
Synod here, when the stealing of four white shirts belonging
to the crew of H.M.S. Basilisk, and valued at i6s. 6d., was
wound up, and the last of the fines paid. Why those washing
such a quantity of clothes, as was spread out on that occasion,
should have left them unguarded, while there were five or six
boats' crews of whalers in the immediate neighbourhoood, is
to me unaccountable. I do not think that they would have
done so in Sydney. The opportunity here certainly made the
thieves ; a single sentinel would have kept them all honest
1 98 CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM.
men. I have no serious fears about stealing ever becoming a
formidable crime on this island.
"The case was this: On the pth September 1872, H.M.S.
Basilisk, Captain Moresby, came into Aneityum harbour, on
his way from the islands to the north of Aneityum to Sydney.
It was the middle of the whaling season. Both the whaling
stations had all their boats manned and afloat ; almost all the
thoughtless, reckless young men were collected at the harbour.
The seamen of the Basilisk went ashore to wash their clothes,
and they spread them out on the beach to dry, opposite a piece
of dense bush, and five white shirts, or jumpers, were stolen
by the native whalers. That same day, without knowing any-
thing about the arrival of the man-of-war, Mrs. Inglis and I
had gone round to the harbour, to be present at the communion
on the following Sabbath. The first news we heard on stepping
ashore was about this stealing. I was very much annoyed to
think that the natives should be stealing from a man-of-war,
a thing that they had never done before. Captain Moresby,
who is the warm friend of missions, felt sorry that the fair
fame of the Aneityumese should be thus tarnished. The
better class of the natives were much grieved, and did their
best to find out the thieves ; they discovered one of them,
and the stolen article was returned to the ship. Manura, a
Tahitian, who was foreman in one of the establishments, im-
posed a fine of sixpence each on one of his boats' crews, who
had been seen in suspicious proximity to the exposed clothing.
But four of the articles could not be found.
" The Basilisk was to sail the following morning at 1 1
o'clock, and there was not time for the chiefs to discover and
arrest the offenders. Mr. Murray, the missionary in charge of
the station, and I, therefore, went on board in the morning,
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM. 199
to explain to Captain Moresby the circumstances of the case.
As Mr. Murray had been but recently settled, and still un-
acquainted with native character and customs, I undertook the
whole responsibility of the affair. I said to Captain Moresby
that I would pay for the articles stolen, and take the chiefs
for my security for being paid. He was unwilling that I
should run any risk in the matter ; but I assured him that I
had no fears, I knew the chiefs and the people too well to
have the slightest apprehensions about not being refunded.
Inquiries were then made at the purser, and it was found that
sixteen shillings and sixpence would replace the articles stolen.
I accordingly paid the money, received a written discharge for
the debt from Captain Moresby, and saved the character of
the Aneityumese.
" As soon as the machinery of the law, as it exists on
Aneityum, could be set in motion, by Lathella on the one
side of the island, and by Nowanpakau on the other, the
thieves were discovered, and the stolen property found. The
culprits were each fined to the extent of the value of the
article he had stolen, and the articles taken from them ; but,
as there are no professional lawyers on Aneityum, each man and
his friends conducting his own case, the Bench adjudged no
law expenses in addition. It was not, however, till the meeting
of the Synod in the following year, 1873, that the matter
was finally disposed of. Mr. Murray dispensed the com-
munion at that time, the chiefs from both sides of the island
were present, and a large assembly of people. The chiefs met
on the Monday, and had up before them all the young men
chargeable with that or any other offence during the previous
year, and talked very earnestly to them. The chiefs paid
me out of the fines, while the stolen articles and Manura's
200 CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM.
sixpences were divided between the two principal Natimariths,
and by them appropriated respectively, as part payment for
two nets, one for each side of the island, which the inland
people (the great net manufacturers of the island) were mak-
ing for the shore people. This is a kind of public treasury
into which fines of this kind are usually thrown, which, as
all are benefited thereby, has the effect of enlisting public
. sympathy on the side of public authority. This is the nearest
parallel case that has occurred on this island to the gigantic
robbery on the Bank of England that was going on about
the same time. But it is satisfactory to know that while
both in Britain and Aneityum crimes may be committed, they
cannot be committed with impunity. In both countries the
arm of Justice is strong strong to protect the innocent, and
inflict merited punishment upon the guilty."
The next case was one affecting not property but life. It
was not murder but it was culpable homicide, and had to be
dealt with by the constituted authorities. This case occurred
on my side of the island. It was this : On the 3oth May
1865 a native living at Anpeke, about two miles or more
west from our station, whose name was Yakari, killed his wife
Lavi by striking her violently on the side with the paddle of
a canoe. In the morning he had told her to do some digging,
but she, evidently thinking that there was plenty of time,
instead of going to the plantation went to the school As she
came out of the schoolhouse he saw her, and, being a man
of a vehement and hasty temper, he lifted a paddle and struck
her a most severe blow on the side, meaning to produce pain but
not to cause death ; Lavi fell at once to the ground insensible.
Some of the women gathered around her, and lifted her up ;
but, though not dead, she was unconscious. They took her
CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM. 2OI
into the house, but she expired in half an hour. Yakari was
panic stricken ; he was more taken by surprise than any
person present. He had never dreamed of such a result ; he
stood petrified. Tidings soon reached me of what had hap-
pened. I sent word to the three Natimariths, requesting
them to meet, and to bring their chiefs with them, that they
might inquire into the matter. We all met at Anpeke.
Every man of note on my side of the island was there, and
a good many from the other side, for the news spread like
wildfire. No trial was required ; the facts were patent, and
Yakari never attempted to deny them : the only question was
about the punishment. I explained to them the difference
between murder and manslaughter ; that this was not a case
of murder, but of what is called "culpable homicide;" that
Yakari had killed his wife, but it was not through what is
called " malice prepense ; " he had not killed her intentionally.
He had had no desire to kill her, or no thought of doing so ;
but his sin and his crime was striking her in such a way as
to cause her death ; that in Britain there was always a clear
distinction made between murder and manslaughter. While
capital punishment was inflicted on the murderer, a milder
punishment was inflicted for manslaughter. In this case it
would be contrary to the Word of God, and to the practice
followed in Britain, to put Yakari to death ; but as he had
been guilty of a very great crime, they might inflict any
punishment they thought proper upon him, only they must
spare his life, and not do any injury to his body. I had now
explained to them the Law of God, and the practice pursued
in Britain, it was for themselves to carry out these principles,
and punish Yakari as they thought best. I was not a chief,
and I had no power to do more than explain to them the
2O2 CIVIL GOVERNMENT ON ANEITYUM.
Word of God. I suggested to them that Nowanpakau, as
being the principal Natimarith, should preside, and that the
other two Natimariths should sit one on each side of him,
and that all the chiefs should assemble round about them.
They should decide what was to be done. Nowanpakau
would pronounce the sentence, and the chiefs would carry it
out themselves. This was all done after I had left them.
It was agreed that Yakari's arms were to be tied, a very
painful operation, and the chiefs were to talk to him; his
house was to be pulled down and burned ; all his property
and food were to be taken from him, and given to the chiefs,
to be distributed among them by the Natimarith. He was
to be banished for twelve months to the other end of the
island, and made to live in the land of a particular chief, who
was to be responsible for looking after him ; and he was never
to be allowed to take another wife ; he had had two already,
and he had been good to neither of. them. The chiefs were
unanimous, and the people supported them as one man. The
uncertainty of the law was anticipated, and its delay was
unknown on that occasion. There and then, on the spot,~and
on that very day, the sentence was carried out to the very
letter. Before the sun had sunk in the western ocean,
Yakari was being conducted to the land of his exile. He
served out his term of banishment, then left the land of
strangers, and returned to his own people; but when he
returned, I never saw a more changed man. I do beh'eve
that his punishment was blessed of the Lord for leading to
his conversion. His whole appearance was changed. During
the previous thirteen years that I had known him, while for
the most part of it he was nominally a Christian, his uniform
bearing was that of a heathen ; but during the following ten
CIVIL GOVEKNMENT ON ANEITYUM. 203
or eleven years that we were on the island he seemed to be
another man ; formerly he was for the most part sour, glum,
and sullen ; but afterwards there was a cheerfulness and
alacrity about his religious movements that I had never seen
before. Generally he was twice in the house of God every
Sabbath, and although he lived more than two miles distant,
he was at the prayer meeting every Wednesday afternoon.
He entered my candidates' class, was baptized, and became
a member of the Church, and I never heard a word against
him all these ten or eleven years. In a small way it might
have been said of him, as the Kev. Sydney Smith said of his
distinguished friend and contemporary, the Hon. Francis
Horner, that "the ten commandments were written on his
face, and all the law on his gait and manner." Most certainly
civil government is of divine appointment, and in the lowest
and least civilised communities, if acting on anything like
Bible principles, the magistrate is the minister of God for
good, proving himself to be a terror to evildoers, and a praise
to them that do well. And this we found to our happy
experience on Aneityum.
CHAPTER XXIV.
NUP-U-TONGA OK FOKEIGNEES.
IN the Aneityumese language nup signifies people ; u, i, or o,
of ; and tonga, foreign. This word is applied to all who are not
natives. But it is not applied to all foreigners. The mission-
aries are nup-u-missionary; those belonging to men-of-war
are nup-u-man-o-war, and all the better class of white people
are nup-u-Beretani. The French are mvp-u-wiwi. But traders
and all common white people are nup-u-tonga. Everything
foreign, everything not produced on the island, is i-tonga.
When we went to Aneityum the nup-u-tonga were a numerous
and influential class in those islands. Their influence had to be
taken carefully into account. They at first appeared as sandal-
wood traders, then as whalers, then as engaged in the labour
traffic, and finally as general traders. At first the nup-u-
missionary were as nothing compared with the nup-u-tonga.
They were allowed to hold their place more by sufferance
than by anything else. When I first visited the New Hebrides
in 1850, there was a large sandal- wood establishment on
Aneityum, supported by leading merchants in Sydney; the
wood was collected on Santo and Eromanga, stored and
cleaned on Aneityum, and once a quarter shipped on to China.
^70,000 worth of sandal-wood was said to be collected on
Eromanga alone. It was a sort of East India Company on a
small scale, and not much more favourable to the mission, not
NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS. 205
much more kindly in their feelings towards Messrs. Geddie
and Powell, when they landed on Aneityum, than that great
Oriental Corporation was toward Messrs. Carey, Marshman,
and Ward, when they located themselves in the Danish settle-
ment of Serampore. But when my wife and I settled on
Aneityum in 1852, the- proprietor of that establishment
had removed to Tanna, and shortly afterwards he removed to
Noumea, in New Caledonia; and as the "gold fever" broke
out in Australia about that time, in a year or two all the
floating population were drawn away both from Aneityum
and most of the other islands, leaving the mission in the full
possession of the field, and by the time they began to return,
we had gained such an influence over the natives, that we had
no special difficulty in holding our own against them. Never-
theless, we had to act towards them, as missionaries have to
do everywhere, with great circumspection, so that if we could
not obtain their friendship and assistance we might disarm
their hostility, and secure, at least, their neutrality.
For some years about that time our friends on both sides of
the Atlantic, and elsewhere, had been bespattering us with
greatly more praise than was for our general good. It is,
however, a wise and merciful arrangement in Divine providence,
that when pride buds, the rod blossoms, with which it is to be
corrected (Ezek. vii. 10). We were kept happily free from
the woe denounced against those of whom " all men speak well."
With our fellow-countrymen either sojourning or sailing among
those islands, we, in general, got on very well ; they were for
the most part obliging, and acted in a kind and friendly
manner; and we endeavoured to reciprocate their kindness,
and oblige and benefit them as we had opportunity. Still, at
times, our work came into collision with theirs. Our operations
206 NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS.
interfered, or were supposed to interfere, with their interests.
We used all our influence to get the natives to give up the use
of tobacco, and to sell their produce and their labour for cloth
and other useful articles, rather than for useless or pernicious
luxuries. In former times tobacco was the staple article of
payment, and it continued to be by far the cheapest that the
traders could employ. They could not openly object to the
natives refusing tobacco and preferring other articles, but
many of them did not like it. All along, too, we set our faces
against rum and other intoxicants. We also had been using
our best endeavours to elevate the status of our chiefs, believing
that no government was so bad as a weak government. We,
of course, used no means but moral suasion to accomplish these
ends. We instructed the chiefs on their duties, obligations,
and responsibilities; and the people on their privileges, and
the duties they owed to their superiors. These instructions
produced results, not always to the liking of those who thought
that the natives should, at all times, do just as they wished
them, and no otherwise. If the natives were not disposed to
sell always when they wished to buy, or to work when they
wished to employ them, we generally got the blame of the
refusal. Every inconvenience which they experienced, in
their intercourse with the natives, was charitably ascribed to
our interference, or to our teaching. There were no chiefs
ever heard of on the island, it was said, till we made them.
We protected the poor women, and that, in the eyes of some,
was an unjustifiable restraint upon the liberty of the subject.
For these and similar reasons, the scourge of tongues was
frequently applied with great freedom to our backs, and
occasionally, without any feelings of delicacy, even to our faces.
This latter mode of flagellation, however, though more painful,
NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS. 2 07
was less dangerous; as the weapon being perceived, it was
often practicable to parry the blows, or even make them recoil
on the head of those inflicting them. For although we did
not render railing for railing, yet, at such times, we had
occasionally an opportunity, in the way of self-defence, of
stating important facts, and publishing important truths
and principles. Mr. and Mrs. Geddie, from their residing at
the haven of ships, and coming oftener into contact with our
European neighbours, were more frequently honoured with
those biiffetings than we were. Still, even we were occasionally
drawn out from our obscurity, and made ample sharers in the
same privileges. Like Christian and Faithful at Vanity Fair,
Mr. Geddie and I were sometimes made to stand on the pillory
together. On one occasion we sat for four long hours hearing
ourselves abused, and listening to an enumeration of the injuries
done to the commerce of those seas by the operations of the
mission. They all readily admitted at times that religion was
a good thing. They approved highly, they said, of religion
in its proper place. But then the natives were getting too
much of it. They evidently thought that religion should be
administered on homoeopathic principles, and that the doses
both for the natives and themselves should be infinitesimally
small It would be a long story, and neither very interesting
nor very edifying, to repeat all the outs and ins of the charges
preferred against us during that four hours sederunt, with all
the replies, duplies, and triplies brought out in the defence.
One of the gravest charges was as follows : " Why," said the
leading speaker, not in joke, but in sober earnest, " if things
go on at this rate, they will soon be altogether unbearable.
This island will soon be what England was in the days of the
Commonwealth, when
208 NDP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS.
' They hanged a cat on Monday,
For killing mice on Sunday.'
We shall have the times of the Covenanters back again."
We had nothing to say in reply, except a silent amen ! Could
we believe our own ears ? Were we really accomplishing such
wonders, our enemies themselves being witnesses ? Were we
making Aneityum to resemble Puritan England, or Covenant-
ing Scotland ? England as it was in the days of Owen, Howe,
and Baxter, and Scotland as it was in the days of Henderson,
Gillespie, and Rutherford? It was worth sitting four long
hours in such a position to hear the matter wound up with
such a charge. I simply hinted that it was in those times
that Britain rose from being a second or third rate nation
to take her place as one of the leading powers of Europe. I
said that every reader of history knew that it was not till the
thunders of Blake that old stern puritan had humbled
the pride of Holland, and scattered the armaments of Spain,
that the song arose, " Britannia rules the waves." These
charges, comparing small things with great, seemed to bear
such a strong family likeness to those drawn up at Jerusalem
by John, Annas, Caiaphas, Alexander and their company, and
those set forth at Ephesus by Demetrius and his fellow-crafts-
men, that we felt as if we were more akin to the Apostles than
we had ever before dared to suppose that we were. We
thought that we understood better than we ever did before,
how it was that they rejoiced. It is, however, a very simple
thing to play the confessor or the martyr when a man feels,
as we did, that his head is quite safe on his shoulders.
The world is slow to admit the claims of Christianity, and to
recognise the benefits that flow from its influence. Even such
an enlightened statesman as the late Earl of Derby wished to
NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS. 2 09
attribute the abolition of the suttee in India, and all the im-
provements in the administration of law and justice in the
East to anything and everything but the Gospel. So our nup-
u-tonga friends out there, though they wished to see the natives
peaceable and honest, that life and property might be secure,
yet when the Gospel had effected that change, either directly or
indirectly, they wished to ascribe it to commerce, rather than to
Christianity. It was all the effect of tobacco and gunpowder,
the love of the one, and the fear of the other. Even Richard
Cobden believed that he would chain down the spirit of war
by bands of calico, and bring about the peaceful days of the
millennium by the potent influence of free trade. There, in
our islands, it was to be ushered in by pipes, muskets, and
clouds of smoke. Christianity, such as we taught them, some
of our countrymen, professedly well versed in theology, de-
clared was not the right Christianity at all, not the Christianity
of the New Testament, but some puritanical, pharisaical
imitation of it, which made the natives not better, but greatly
worse. It made them (the natives) to have greatly less love
for tobacco, and greatly less fear for gunpowder than they had
before we went among them. It made them begin, at least,
to think and act for themselves, which, it was assumed, they
had no right to do, as the blacks were made only to be slaves
to the whites, and whoever taught them anything else did
them only an injury.
But we were more afraid of the nup-u-wiwi the French
than all the nup-u-tongas, all the whalers and traders in the
Pacific. These were our fellow-countrymen ; we had a common
language, and many common sympathies, and except when
under strong prejudices, false impressions, or great excite-
ment, we found even the worst of them to be reasonable men.
210 NUP-TJ-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS.
Besides, the island trade was improving, a better class of men
were investing their capital in it, and from various causes it
appeared likely to be accompanied with more advantages and
fewer drawbacks to the work of the mission than it had
formerly been.
Occasionally, too, the power of the Gospel, was seen to operate
effectually among some of those characters; the prayers of
God-fearing mothers, fathers, sisters, and brothers, no doubt,
followed them to the islands, where the Gospel unexpectedly
met them, and brought down blessings, when more direct
home influences could not reach them. We had one pleasing
case of this kind, that of George Rodburn, with which I shall
conclude this chapter. George's first appearance at our station
was anything but encouraging to us. One Sabbath day, as we
were coming out of church, the second year of our residence
on Aneityum, a boat was seen coming in to our little harbour,
steered by a white man, and rowed by a native crew. The
cargo consisted of pots, pans, and buckets, boxes, bags, and
bundles, an axe, a handsaw, and some miscellaneous articles.
This was George Rodburn and his belongings. The reason
why he had come to reside so near us was this. Before we
settled on the island several seamen connected with the sandal-
wood trade had bought young women from their relations or
the chief of the tribe and taken them away to the other
islands. Some of the young women belonged to our district.
According to the recognised native custom, if a man bought
and paid for a woman, she became out-and-out his property.
Her relations had no more claim upon her. If she had not
been paid for, her friends could have demanded her back. One
of these young women, called Morana, had been sold to a nup-
u-tonga, and taken away before our arrival on the island, but
NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS. 211
he had left the islands, and before doing so, had sold Morana
to George Rodburn, and she was now his propeity. When he
came to Aneityum he bought a small piece of land from an
uncle of Morana's, close beside our station. Those men, when
a number of them were together, were generally bouncing and
troublesome, but when there was only one or two of them they
were always quiet and easily controlled, and liked to settle
down near a missionary, not for the sake of his religion, but
for the sake of his protection. They felt safe in the neigh-
bourhood of his dwelling. George Rodburn was no exception
to his class ; he was a tall, well-made Englishman, about forty
years of age, rather pale, and not very robust, though in
general he enjoyed good health. He got a house erected a
little way off the beach, just in front of my boat harbour, and
we found him a very quiet inoffensive, obliging neighbour.
He came to church to the native service, and Morana came,
not only to the church, but also to the morning school. I
found her a very capable woman. As she had been twice sold
to a white man, and was now according to native ideas recog-
nised as George's property, I advised him to get married to
her, so that they might live together as lawful husband and
wife. To this proposal they both very willingly agreed, and at
one of our Wednesday public prayer-meetings the marriage was
celebrated; and thus, after several years of a very doubtful
status, George " made her again an honest woman," to use an
expression that has found its way into the proverbial literature
of both north and south Britain, being quoted both by Dr.
Jamieson in his " Scottish Dictionary," and by Dr. Goldsmith
in his " Vicar of Wakefield." I found that George was a very
poor scholar; his original education had been very limited,
and when a young lad, like Robinson Crusoe, he had run away
2 I 2 NUP-U-TONGA OK FOREIGNEKS.
to sea ; but as he had not enjoyed the early educational ad-
vantages of Defoe's hero, so he had not improved his book-
knowledge at sea, but had in reality lost almost completely all
that he had ever learned. When he came first to reside
beside us he knew very little beyond the letters of the alphabet.
I offered to give him a short lesson daily, and I began him
with the first primer of the English Sunday School Union. I
preferred those primers because the print was large and very
clear, and George had suffered an injury in one of his eyes,
and his sight was not very good, and further the books con-
tained nothing but texts of Scripture. On the Sabbath after-
noons my wife and I had always a short service in English
for our own edification. To this I invited George, and he
came regularly. After a short devotional exercise, we read
a portion of some approved author; at that time we were
reading through the " Pilgrim's Progress." As our time was
limited I did nothing but read a portion of it without any
comment, as I thought that would be most profitable to
George. Both Mason and Scott wrote notes to the Pilgrim,
and it is reported that on one occasion Mason found a plain
man reading his edition of the Pilgrim, and asked him if he
understood what he was reading. " Oh yes," said the man,
" I understand the Pilgrim, and I hope soon to be able to
understand your notes also." I once had an experience of
the same kind myself. When we lived in New Zealand we
had a young girl of about fourteen years of age as a servant.
In the course of our reading the Old Testament at family
worship, when I came round to Genesis, I thought that in-
stead of reading the Scriptures alone, I would read only half
a chapter, and read along with that Scott's commentary on
the portion read at morning worship. About a week after I
NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS. 213
began this practice, my wife one day asked the young girl
if she understood what I read at worship. " Oh yes," said
the girl, "I understand the Bible, but I do not understand
the explanation." On hearing of this result I discontinued
the reading of Scott's Commentary, and read only the Bible.
In like manner, when George attended our meeting I never
read anything but the Scripture and the text of Bunyan ; but
these seemed to impress George deeply. I often saw the tears
trickling down his cheeks, and when he left the room, he was
so overcome by his feelings that he could not speak. After he
could read with ease the three primers of the Sunday School
Union, I got him a New Testament in large print, and as, on
account of other duties, I could not spare time on week days
for his lesson, I gave him a weekly lesson, which I heard on
Sabbath. I made him prepare a chapter of John's Gospel,
which he read to me before we commenced our service on
Sabbath. In this way he mastered the whole of that Gospel.
And I had reason to believe that the Spirit of God made those
simple means effectual for his conversion. At the end of four
years, a severe epidemic of influenza passed over the island.
George caught the disease, and succumbed under it. My wife
and I had to accompany the John Williams on a four weeks'
voyage round the islands, to assist in the settlement of Mr. and
Mrs. G. N. Gordon on Eromanga, On our return home we
found that George was dead, but before we left home she had
supplied him with all needful medical comforts, and Williamu
and the other natives, for he was well liked, had ministered
very faithfully to his wants, had read the Scriptures to him,
and prayed regularly with him, and at last laid him decently
in his grave.
If I might be allowed a short digression here, I would say,
214 NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS.
it appears to me, that the much contested question of the
Bible in common or Board schools might be easily settled on
such lines as I followed with George Rodburn. Religious
instruction in schools, and the Bible in schools, may easily be
made quite distinct questions. Religious instruction in schools
generally means denominational teaching. But the Bible in
schools may easily be kept quite apart from denominational
religious teaching. All our Bible societies circulate the Bible
without note or comment. So I would have the Bible read
in schools, bvit always without either note or comment. Our
authorised version is a national, not a denominational book ; it
has nothing sectarian in it. In England and Ireland the
Bible is part of the common law of the land. In Scotland,
according to Chalmers in his " Caledonia," we never had any
common law, nothing but statute law ; but the Bible is, as it
is in both England and Ireland, a distinct part of the statute
law of the country. It is, as such, embodied both in the
Westminster Confession, and in the Thirty-nine Articles.
Moreover, it is recognised by all our Protestant denominations
as the supreme authority in faith and morals. None of them
could or would object to the simple reading of the Bible in
schools ; and whenever the Romanists objected to our author-
ised version, I woiild give them every facility for reading the
Douay version of the Old Testament and the Rheims trans-
lation of the New. These are not equal as translations to our
authorised version ; but with a few exceptions they are correct
readings, and Dr. Chalmers has said, that the most imperfect
version of the Bible ever made, if honestly executed, will
convey a sufficient amount of knowledge to secure the salva-
tion of the soul; hence the reading of this version would be
immeasurably better than reading no Scripture at all. As
NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS. 215
for the secularists, as they recognise the Bible to be one of
the best and most valuable of the ancient classics, they could
have no reasonable objection to the simple reading of it in the
schools. I would, therefore, have the Bible made a part of
each of the six reading standards, and allow proficiency in the
reading of the Bible to secure grants in the same proportion
as anything else taught in the schools. I would have the
reading of the Bible but the reading only, including specially
the proper names, a part of Bible reading often sadly neglected.
I would have this reading thoroughly taught in schools ; let
the children learn also to repeat the books, to know the
chapters and verses, and to find the places with ease and
readiness, thus giving children full ability to read and examine
the Bible easily. I would leave it to the Spirit of God to
apply the truths of the word to the hearts of the readers,
according, as Dr. Williams says, to " the equity of the Divine
government, and the sovereignty of Divine grace," and I
would have no fear of the result ; religion and morality would
nourish, and sectarian strife about denominational teaching
would to a certainty come to an end.
But to return from this digression, and come back to
George and Morana. They had two children, both of them
girls, but the eldest died before her father. The younger one
grew up to womanhood, was taught, when old enough to
enter it, in Mrs. Inglis's boarding or industrial school for
girls, and before we left the island was married to one of the
best and cleverest of our young men. As they lived close
beside us, and as her husband gave her every encouragement,
Morana attended all my classes, and also all Mrs. Inglis's,
became a good scholar, and willingly made herself generally
useful. While George lived she learned to read the Aneit-
216 NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS.
yumese New Testament much faster than he learned the
English. As a native woman she was much cleverer than he
was for a white man, although he was a man of average
capacity. She was at times impatient with him, on account
of his slowness in acquiring the Aneityumese language, and
would say to him, " Why cannot you learn the Aneityumese
as fast as Misi (the missionary) ? " " Oh, Misi," George would
say, " Misi is a learned man, and I am not a scholar, and can
never learn your language as fast as he can do." And George
was right ; a man who has received a professional education,
and learned one or more foreign languages, will, as a general
rule, learn any of those native tongues much faster than a
man who knows no language but his own. George was often
making mistakes, both when he was speaking the language
himself and when he was hearing it spoken by others, some
of them rather amusing. On one occasion Setefano, one of
our young men, came to my wife and said, "Misi, I would
like very much to learn English, if you would teach me."
" Oh," said she, " I will be very glad to teach you, but you
know it is a very difficult thing to learn English ; why do you
wish to learn English?" "Oh," he said, "to be able to
speak to George ; he speaks the Aneityumese so badly, that
the people will be angry with him. As you know, he always
says dhving, when he should say merit. When he wants a
man to ivork for him, he says he wants a man that he may eat
him ! " Now this language, to men who had been all canni-
bals, and were now thoroughly ashamed of the practice, was
the reverse of complimentary. On another occasion George
came to me in a great rage, on account of the way in which
the natives had been speaking to him, and of him. He had
taken my boat to the other station, and brought her back with
KUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS. 21 7
a native crew ; but the natives, he said, had been making fun
of him all the way back ; they had been calling him a cat, and
had repeatedly said that he was a poosie. I was surprised
at this, because I had supplied him with half a dozen of our
best young men ; but I called in two or three of them, and
asked them what they had been saying to George, and if they
had been calling him a poosie. The lads looked amazed ; they
could remember nothing improper that they had said. At
last one of them opened his eyes wide, and laughed, and said
to me, " I think I know now how it happened. The wind was
ahead, and we had to tack a good many times. George was
steering, but I had charge of the sail. As often as we tacked
and had to turn the sail, I called out to those in the cent, e
of the boat atpuse (stoop down), that the sail might not strike
their heads. George had not understood the word, and as we
were talking and laughing he must have thought we were
calling him a poosie." I explained to him these words and he
was satisfied ; but he evidently felt a good deal ashamed of
the mistake that he had made.
After his death, in due time, Morana, who was still a young
woman, was again married, but this time to a native, to Pitello,
one of the best of our teachers. We moved our teachers about,
very much as the "VVesleyans do their preachers, but, wher-
ever they were located, Morana proved herself to be a power
for good among the women. During her second marriage,
Morana, quite unconsciously to herself, solved a question a
good deal talked about in those seas, especially among a class
of men who professed to be well acquainted with science and
philosophy. The view held by many was, that if a native
woman lived with a white ED an, and had children to him, and
if she afterwards was married to a native, she would have no
2l8 NUP-U-TONGA OR FOREIGNERS.
children to him. Thus proving, as they held, that the blacks
and the whites were two distinct species, and could not propa-
gate families, as if they had been both only one species. But
Morana, as I have said, had two children to George, and both
of them as like him as they could be ; and to Pitello, her
second husband, two or more, one a very fine boy, whom T
distinctly remember, and who bore evidence of his paternity,
as distinctly as the two girls had done ; thus clearly proving,
as far as that case could prove it, whatever those sciolists
might say, that God " hath made of one blood all nations of
men for to dwell on all the face of the earth," and that from
the three sons of Noah the whole world has been peopled, as
they were divided in their generations, after their nations,
after the flood. Indeed, as I have said elsewhere, we may
see in the South Seas those three great divisions of mankind
the Hametic, the Shemetic, and the Japhetic in the Papuans,
in the Malay-Polynesians, and in the Europeans, as distinctly
marked as when Mizraim, the son of Ham, and his sons settled
in Egypt ; when Terah and his three sons, Abram, Nahor, and
Haran, dwelt in ITr of the Chaldees, or when Javan, the son
of Japheth, the father of the Samoans, took up his abode in the
Isles of Greece, or on the shores of Asia Minor, and re-
spectively increased, multiplied, and replenished the earth,
every one after his tongue, after their families, in their
nations. No treatise on ethnology is so clear and distinct as
the tenth chapter of Genesis.
CHAPTER XXV.
NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS.
PERHAPS in nothing have the South Sea missions been more
characteristic than in the extent to which they have em-
ployed native agency. And in none of those missions has
this principle been more fully carried out than in the New
Hebrides Mission. On Aneityum every convert, as far as it
was practicable, was made a missionary. At both stations we
had a training school for preparing teachers. When our
arrangements were complete we had fifty teachers and their
wives stationed on Aneityum; and we followed out an
aggressive policy in regard to the other islands of the group.
At a very early stage of our missionary operations we sent
two teachers and their wives to Futuna, and the same to
Tanna; subsequently we occupied Aniwa with other two.
When missionaries were settled on Eromanga, Efat^, and
Nguna, we sent Aneityum teachers with them to strengthen
their hands and assist them. The teachers on Aneityum
received no salary, except an annual present of clothing to
the value of from ten shillings to a pound out of mission
boxes, sent out from home from Scotland and the colonies
to us, and from Nova Scotia to Dr. Geddie. The teachers on
the other islands received a salary of five pounds a year, out
of a fund raised in the colonies, which was commenced by
Mr. Paton in 1863, after he had raised funds for the purchase
220 NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS.
of the Day spring. For several years before we left the islands
there were from twenty to thirty Aneityum teachers and
their wives settled on the other islands. As in another place
I have described the work that was carried on by the teachers
on Aneityum, so in this chapter I shall confine myself to the
work that was done by our Aneityum teachers on the other
islands of the group. The first island to which Mr. Geddie
and I sent teachers was Futuna; and that we might enlist
the sympathy of the whole people in the enterprise, we
selected a teacher from each side of the island. The men
selected were Waihit and Yosefa; the former from Mr.
Geddie's side of the island, the latter from mine. Waihit
was a somewhat extraordinary character. In heathen times
he was a sacred man, a great disease maker, and a furious
savage; and hence a man of great influence among his
countrymen. He became one of the first converts to Chris-
tianity. No sooner was he converted himself, than he sought,
with all the energy of his character, to bring his fellow-
countrymen out of the darkness of heathenism into the blessed
light of the Gospel. Mr. Geddie was of opinion that the first
great impression in favour of the Gospel on Aneityum was
made chiefly by Waihit. He evinced the same earnestness
and decision of character on Futuna. He exposed himself
to considerable danger by his fidelity. The natives of Futuna
had a cruel and barbarous practice when a scarcity of food
occurred, which I suppose would be often once a year, before
the bread-fruit season came in. They killed a man, as a
sacrifice to propitiate their deities and secure an abundant
harvest of bread-fruit. The chiefs assembled, fixed upon the
individual, and immediately thereafter killed him. When
Waihit heard of their intentions, he remonstrated with them
NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS. 221
to the utmost of his power, but it was of no avail ; they were
only angry with him, and several who professed themselves
favourable to Christianity left off coming near him. As one
of these poor victims had been killed only a short time before,
we had sent our boat there to visit the teachers. Our natives
returned quite shocked with the horrid deed, and apparently
more impressed than ever with the excellence of the GospeL
The Aneityumese had been cannibals, but they had never
offered up human sacrifices. Waihit had also severely re-
proved some natives of Aneityum, living on Futuna,- for their
wicked conduct generally. One of them was so angry at him
for this, that he advised the natives to kill Waihit. When
he heard that his life was threatened, he firmly replied, " Oh,
I am not afraid \ they may kill my body, but they cannot
touch my soul."
Yosefa, the other teacher, who was from my side of the
island, was a young man of high promise ; he was one of
eight or ten young men whom the Samoan teachers attracted
to the mission before the arrival of the missionaries, Messrs.
Powell, Geddie, and Archibald, in 1848; and who received
Samoanised scriptural or other names, such as Williamu,
Seremona, Yosefa, Filipo, Hosia, Lazarus, Sabataia, Paulo,
Setefano, &c. ; a practice we soon discontinued as tending to
barbarise the language and destroy its idiomatic charac-
teristics. Several of them went and stayed, for longer or
shorter periods, with Mr. Geddie, to learn the Word of God ;
and they all joined my first classes. Subsequently they all
became teachers, and, as a whole, their character and history
continued very satisfactory. Our first converts were always
our best. They joined us from conviction. Intellectually and
morally they were the best men ; and they were the longest
222 NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHEKS.
under instruction : their number being limited at first, the
missionaries had more time to instruct them than they had
afterwards. But to return to Yosefa. There was something
of romance in his subsequent history. Mr. Geddie and I
had talked of sending teachers to Futuna, but nothing was
definitely agreed upon till the arrival of the John Williams,
and we had consulted the deputation on board, when a
decision was at once come to. Yosefa had been engaged to
a young woman, and it was agreed that they must be married
there and then. It was the second year of our residence on
Aneityum ; our new church was only being erected, and the
temporary building in which we were worshipping was far too
small for the company. It was the first marriage that I per-
formed on Aneityum ; it was conducted with great publicity ;
it was performed on the shore, in front of the mission premises,
and in presence of a great concourse of natives. Mr. Geddie,
the Samoan brethren, Messrs. Murray and Sunderland, Captain
Morgan, and a number of the men from the mission ship
were all present. As soon as the marriage was over the
young couple were hurried into the boat, put on board the
John Williams, and the next morning they were landed on
Futuna. This marriage trip was a rough voyage of one night
between Aneityum and Futuna, their honeymoon was a full
month spent in a land of strangers, all savages.
Shortly after the landing of our teachers, H.M.S. Herald,
Captain Denham, spent about a week making surveys of the
coast of Futuna. Captain Denham took a deep interest in
missions ; and to strengthen our infant cause on that island,
he made particular inquiries after our teachers, had them on
board, and made it appear to the natives as if to inquire after
and see the teachers had been the principal object of his visit.
NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS. 223
Waihit and Yosefa went on prosecuting their mission work
for about eighteen months, when we sent Pita, one of our
Samoan teachers, who had formerly lived as a teacher on
Tanna, with a strong select crew in our best boat to visit our
teachers on Futuna and Tanna. On their return we learned
that, ten days before they reached Futuna, a white man who
lived there had left Futuna for Aneityum, and that Yosefa
and two other natives of our island, besides some natives
of Futuna, had accompanied him in his boat. As the Joltn
Williams had not called at Futuna, Yosefa was going over
to Aneityum to obtain supplies. Pita and the natives found
that the boat had not been heard of either at Tanna or Ero-
manga. The only conclusion, therefore, that we could draw
was, that, as the boat had not come to Aneityum, it must
have gone down at sea, being probably upset in a squall, and
all in her had perished. We also learned from them that two
canoes had been lost about the same time, one coming from
Futuna to Aneityum, and the other going from Aneityum to
Tanna. But, after being regarded as lost for six months,
Yosefa, the white man, and all the boat's crew found their way
back to Futuna, having had a most singular escape. They
had nearly reached Aneityum, when a strong south-east wind
arose, and they could neither make Aneityum nor Tanna.
There was nothing then left them but to let the boat drift
before the wind. Most providentially the white man, to
whom the boat belonged, was a skilful seaman. He tied all
the oars in a bundle, and fastening one rope in the middle
of the oars, and another to each of the ends, and making all
three fast to the bow of the boat, he threw the oars into the
sea. The oars thus fastened, kept the head of the boat to the
wind, and served also to break the waves, that might other-
224 NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS.
wise Lave 'swept over and swamped the boat. In this way,
with little or no food but a few uncooked yams, they lay-to
and drifted before the wind for five days. They then made
for and reached New Caledonia, a distance of nearly two
hundred miles from Futuna. They landed at Balad, near the
north end of that island. This was the harbour at which
Captain Cook chiefly lay, when he discovered that island in
1778, and took possession of it in the name of His Britannic
Majesty. They afterwards sailed along the north-east side of
New Caledonia, till they reached the Isle of Pines, a distance
of about a hundred and fifty miles. They were there hos-
pitably received by an English family, Mr. and Mrs. Under-
wood, who had formerly lived on Aneityum. They all remained
there for about four or five months, till a trading vessel called
at the Isle of Pines, the captain of which gave them a free
passage, and landed them all safely on Futuna. We could
not regard that event otherwise than as truly providential.
It made a favourable and a deep impression on the natives of
Aneityum. It strengthened their faith in God. Such an
escape was never known in the history of these islands in the
memory of living man, and even tradition had never recorded
any similar deliverance.
Shortly after the settlement of the teachers on Futuna, the
island which Dr. Gunn now occupies, we settled two Aneityum
teachers and their wives on Tanna, at the station presently
occupied by Rev. "William Watt and his wife. The one teacher,
Talip, from my side of the island; the other, Yaufati, from
Mr. Geddie's side. They were subsequently joined by others ;
they were all well received, and prepared the field for the
settlement of the Rev. J. W. Mathieson and his wife, whose
health failed them, and who both sunk into an early grave.
NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS. 225
Some years later, in 1858, Mr. Geddie accompanied the John
Williams as far as Eromanga, and settled two teachers on
Aniwa, the island on which Mr. and Mrs. Paton have laboured
so successfully, and of which labours, when last at home, Mr.
Paton gave so many thrilling accounts, and stirred the hearts
of so many audiences by the exciting accounts of the digging
of his well, and other telling incidents of mission life and
work. The names of the two teachers were Navallak from
Umej, on Mr. Geddie's side of the island, and Nemeyin from
Ijasis, on my side. When the John Knox was at Aniwa in
December of that year, all things were going on comfortably ;
but when she visited the island in May of next year, it was
found that Nemeyin had been killed a few weeks before, and
that Navallak had barely escaped with his life. After a
careful investigation the facts of the case, as near as we could
ascertain them, appeared to be these : Some thirty years
before, if not more, a canoe had left Aniwa for Aneityum. This
canoe carried Naparau, the principal chief of Aniwa, and six
or eight of his people. The object of the voyage was to pay a
visit to Naumi, the Natimarith of Aneityo, the highest chief
on my side of the island, between whom and Naparau there
existed a league of hospitality. Instead of getting ashore at
Ithumu, the place where Naumi lived, the wind carried the
canoe five or six miles farther to the east, to a place called
Ingarei, the chief of which land had no connection with the
people of Aniwa. As soon as the canoe had escaped from the
rolling waves of the Pacific, and was got safely within the
snug little harbour of Ingarei, Naparau and his fellow-
voyagers were attacked by the people of Ingarei and Ijasis,
and were all killed and feasted on, except two who plunged
into the sea and swam for about three miles, till they reached
226 NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHEES.
a huge rock that rises above the waves near the shore, at a
place called Ahaij. They climbed up on this rock, and lay
concealed all day. In those days iron axes were unknown on
Aneityum, and canoes were very scarce. The few that were
made were hollowed out of trees with great labour by means
of stone adzes, and were as rude, rough, and shapeless as any
antiquarian could desire. During the day, however, they saw
one man fishing in a canoe. They watched him narrowly, and
carefully observed the spot where he drew up his canoe on the
beach. At night, when all was quiet, they swam ashore ; one
of them climbed a cocoa-nut tree, and pulled a few cocoa-nuts
to satisfy hunger ; they plaited some cocoa-nut leaves to use as
a sail. They then launched the canoe, and as the trade wind
was blowing fair, they reached their own island without much
difficulty. Great was the grief, and loud were the lamenta-
tions of the people of Aniwa, when they heard that Naparau
and his followers were killed ; and measures were at once
adopted to insure revenge for his death. That it might not
be forgotten, a piece of ground was marked off, and pieces
of wood were stuck into the earth ; and from that year
onward, as often as these rotted they were renewed, to per-
petuate the remembrance of the event. Had we known
anything of this, we should never have sent to them a teacher
from Ijasis; for among savage tribes revenge is surpassingly
sweet. When we lived among the natives of New Zealand,
and were in daily dread of Rangihaeata and the rebel Maories,
two native women tried to comfort my wife one day, by
administering to her the sweetest cup of consolation they
could think of, " Oh, you need not be afraid," they said, "for
if they kill you, your countrymen will revenge your death ; but
if they kill us, we have nobody able to take revenge." After
NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS. 22;
the teachers were settled, some of the people of Aniwa began to
inquire from what part of Aneityum they came. The teachers
seem to have had some misgivings, for they evaded the question.
But an Aneityum woman who was married to an Aniwa man in-
advertently told an Aniwa chief the name of the district from
which Nemeyin came. The chief shrugged his shoulders and
said very significantly yiali, yes. Nemeyin felt very uneasy
about this disclosure, but nothing further took place at that
time. As the Aniwa people had received the teachers from
us, they felt bound not to injure them. But there were two
Tanna men living on the island, and married to Aniwa women.
The wife and child of one of these men died. The teachers
were accused of causing their death by witchcraft, and a plot
was laid to kill them. And, although the Aniwa people would
not kill the teachers themselves, they felt no objections, but
were quite well pleased, that their revenge should be taken by
the Tannese. Accordingly, on a Sabbath-day, in the end of
April of that year, 1859, when the teachers were returning
from a place at which they had been conducting worship with
the people, they were waylaid and clubbed by those two
infuriated Tannese. Nemeyin was killed dead on the spot, and
Navallak was knocked down and rendered insensible. But
on some women coming up, the two men ran off. They soon
after left Aniwa and went to Tanna, where one of them was
killed in a battle. Since then Aniwa has contained a martyr's
grave. But for the sake of the Gospel, Nemeyin would never
have gone to that island. He lost his life for the sake of
Christ. When the John Knox reached Aniwa a few weeks
thereafter, our natives were extremely grieved to find that
the teachers had been so barbarously treated. Nohoat, the
principal chief of Aneityum, was with them, and his whole
228 NATIVE AGENCY ANE1TYUMESE TEACHERS.
heart was moved. He spoke so long and so loud to the people
of Aniwa on the wickedness of their conduct, that when he
returned to the vessel he was quite hoarse and exhausted.
The exertion had evidently been too much for his strength, as
he became ill that very night, and never again recovered, but
died about a month afterwards. After the return of the John
Knox, we sent over a deputation of our chiefs to examine into
the case. At the head of them was Viali, the son and
successor of Naumi, between whom and the people of Aniwa
the old league of hospitality and friendship still existed.
Viali and his people had the privilege of a harbour on Aniwa.
The Aniwa chiefs said that they had no ill-will to the teachers,
that the debt of revenge was now paid, that the memorial
sticks were destroyed, and that no one else would be injured,
and that they wished the teachers to live among them. On
their return Mr. Geddie and I again consulted on this matter.
We felt exceedingly reluctant to abandon the island, and we
felt equally unwilling to imperil human life. But as Nalmai,
an influential man in Viali's district, and his wife, were both
willing to go to Aniwa, we sent them to occupy Nemeyin's
place, and the subsequent history of the island has shown that,
in this instance, as often in medical cases, a bold practice was
a safe one.
The history of our native agency, as regards other islands,
may be divided into two parts; from 1853 to 1862, and from
1864 till the present time. I have briefly sketched the
initiatory steps taken in this work, I shall now, but still more
briefly, refer to its subsequent history. After the murder of
the Rev. G. N. Gordon and his wife on Eromanga, in 1861,
and the breaking up of the Tanna Mission in 1862, nearly
the whole of the New Hebrides Mission was driven back on
NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS. 229
Aneityum; and on the arrival of the Dai/spring in 1864, we
had to commence the mission anew, under far more depressing
circumstances than those under which we had commenced it
at first. But I cannot go into details. Aneityum was the only
island from which we could draw our teachers ; and here our
choice was limited. After that, as the result of successive
epidemics of measles, diphtheria, hooping-cough, influenza, &c.,
the population of Aneityum had been reduced by one-half, and
our teachers had borne their full share of all those calamities.
After these things, there was for several years, as might
naturally have been expected, a great reluctance on the part
of the Aneityumese to go forth as teachers to the surrounding
islands. Happily in time that feeling passed away. But
there were other difficulties which our diminished population
more or less intensified. It was not every man, however well
qualified in other respects, that was eligible to be a teacher,
that would have been accepted, or at least been of any service
on heathen islands. Strange as it may appear, it was only
members of aristocratic families, chiefs, or near relations of
chiefs, that carried any influence on heathen islands. As I
have said elsewhere, the natives, even the most heathen
natives, are intensely human ; rank or position are as much
worshipped by them as by us.
Some time ago, at a meeting of the London City Mission,
the late Lord Shaftesbury said that, in the most radical
districts of the metropolis, the people would rather receive a
visit from a lord than from a labourer ; because they thought
that the former had more in his power to benefit their temporal
interest than the latter. Human nature is essentially the
same in all ages and in all parts of the world. The argument
of the loaves and the fishes, or the temporal blessings that
230 NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACH EKS.
accompany or flow from Christianity, the rudest savage can
in some measure soon understand. Hence, in addition to
some intuitive notions on the subject, the heathen soon
observed that, as often as the Dayspring visited their island,
it was the teachers who were chiefs that always received the
largest presents of food and property from their friends on
Aneityum ; and on account of these, as well as of their high
ancestry, they were disposed to treat them with respect. The
value of the spiritual blessings secured by the Gospel is the very
last idea connected with Christianity which the heathen may
we not add the human mind wakens up to comprehend.
Moreover, we did not find it advisable to send young people
as teachers ; men in middle life carried most influence, and
proved most efficient. Besides this, some very suitable men
had unsuitable wives, or large families, whom they could
neither leave nor take with them. Some men had no wives,
and could not get them, because every marriageable woman was
married, and we found it inexpedient to send unmarried men.
It will be seen that, in the circumstances, our choice of
native agency was very limited, and that from one cause or
another a large proportion of our best men were necessarily shut
out from this department of missionary labour, and hence our
teachers on the heathen islands, though in general among our
best men, were by no means, as a whole, among our best
scholars. They could all read the Scriptures with tolerable
fluency, and could conduct religious services in an edifying
manner, but some of them could not write at all, and others of
them very imperfectly.
I am afraid that there is a false impression abroad in many
minds with respect to our native teachers. When people hear
of a valuable and an efficient native agency, they are apt to
NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS. 2^1
J
think of such men as Tigo Soga, Narayin Sheshadri, or
Rajahgopaul, men who received a regular course of university
education in this country; whereas the most of our native
teachers could hardly pass an examination in the first three
standards. The only book in which they would make a good
appearance at all would be the Bible. But you cannot expect
to command a high class agency for five pounds a year.
It may be asked by some, What is the special work which
our teachers on those heathen islands do ? From the name
teachers being given to them, it might naturally be inferred
by most people that teaching was their principal work, and
that each one of them had charge of a school. This was the
case on Aneityum, where nearly the whole education of the
island was carried on by native teachers, under the direction
of the missionaries. The same men who had been teachers on
Aneityum or elsewhere still retained the name of teachers
when they went to heathen islands, although pioneer, or some
such word, would have better indicated their position. The
first thing they had to do was to live among the people, and
acquire a knowledge of their language. For a considerable
time it was by their life rather than by any direct teaching
that they exhibited Christianity to the heathen. As soon as
they landed among them they kept the Sabbath : they wor-
shipped God morning and evening : they were peaceable,
industrious, well-behaved men and women. A few of the
heathen were generally more or less favourable to them, and
as a general rule they, sooner or later, worked their way to
positions of some influence. The teachers, as they best can,
conduct services at their respective stations, and, as soon
as the missionary can supply them with books, education
begins. Moreover, they are like a bodyguard to the missionary :
232 NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS.
in times of danger they protect him, his wife, his family, and
his all. They are his eyes, his ears, his feet, and his hands :
they inform him of what is going on; they carry out his
suggestions and his plans ; they supply him with the only
skilled labour beyond his own that can be obtained; they
build his house and man his boat, and without them, in the
midst of heathenism, he would often be very helpless indeed.
The teachers are an humble and only a subsidiary agency ;
and although, chiefly owing to the diversity of languages, they
can do little evangelistic work, especially in the first stages
of any mission, yet, in their own place, they are often very
valuable assistants to the missionary. As a whole, they
are an active, diligent, reliable, courageous, consistent, and
workable body of men ; and while, being so limited in their
attainments, and so crippled by their surroundings and their
conditions, they have not been able to do much by direct
teaching, they have exhibited a considerable amount of it in
their lives, a mode of teaching that can never be mistaken.
As I have already said, up to the time of our leaving the
islands in 1877, there were generally from twenty to thirty
Aneityumese teachers and their wives on the other islands.
Aneityum supplied almost all the new missionaries with the
needed native help, for house-building and other work, and
male cooks and female nurses for their wives, and all that the
Americans call "helps." We also supplied the Dayspring all
the year round with six or eight of a boat's crew, and these all
were always more or less satisfactory : although, as might
have been expected, when the missionary knew no Aneityumese,
and the teachers knew no English, and they were both speaking
to each other in a third language, of which both were at first
all but completely ignorant, misunderstandings were often
NATIVE AGENCY ANEITYUMESE TEACHERS. 233
occurring on both sides from no fault on either ; all the more,
as the missionary was totally unacquainted with the manners
and customs of the natives, and their modes of thinking.
Even my excellent colleague, Dr. Geddie, with all his singular
aptitude for understanding and managing natives, was often
singularly annoyed and perplexed with his Samoan teachers.
Our eight years' residence in New Zealand, and our extensive
acquaintance with the Maoris, gave us an advantage in this
respect, which no other missionary in the New Hebrides ever
enjoyed, and reduced to a minimum our difficulties on that
head. At first all the native agency was supplied from Aneit-
yum, but latterly Tanna, Aniwa, Bromanga, Efate, and Nguna
have not only been supplying themselves for the most part,
but also affording native help to the newly opened stations to
the north ; and their modes of operation and their experience
are much the same as ours was on Aneityum, and the pro-
cesses will go on, and be repeated with varying success, till
the whole group shall be evangelised. That is our aim, and
by God's blessing resting on our efforts, we assuredly calculate
on success.
CHAPTER XXVJ.
RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN - TEACHERS.
IN treating of native agency in the New Hebrides an im-
portant place must be allowed for Rarotongan and Samoan
teachers. It was our brethren of the Hervey and Samoan
missions that opened up the New Hebrides group. John
Williams and Mr. Harris laid down their lives in their first
attempt to carry the Gospel to the "barbarous people" of
Eromanga. Messrs. Heath, Murray, and others, with noble
promptitude, stepped at once into the breach. I have else-
where detailed Mr. Murray's courageous but cautious efforts
to gain a footing on Aneityum. Year after year, for more
than twenty long years, those brethren, with ungrudging spirit,
sent forth native teachers, male and female, to the New
Hebrides, to the number of seventy or eighty ; the very flower
of their islands, physically, intellectually, morally, and spiritu-
ally, fully equipped with everything necessary to secure success;
but unfortunately, from no fault of theirs, they were weak
in one point, and that to a great extent defeated the whole
scheme. Those natives could not stand the climate. The
missionaries, though very naturally, miscalculated. Time and
experience have been needed to correct this mistake. In the
Eastern Islands the climate was healthy : the natives were all
acclimatised. The same conditions existed in the Loyalty
Islands, hence the teachers enjoyed good health there, as well
RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN TEACHERS. 235
as on their own islands, and they were successful in their
labours. But in every island in the New Hebrides they
suffered so much from fever and ague that it was found to
be hopeless to continue their services. Several of them were
killed by the natives ; a number of them succumbed to the
climate and died ; but the majority had either to be removed
to their own islands, or else found their way, chiefly by trading
vessels, from the New Hebrides to the Loyalty Islands,
where they recovered their health and their usefulness.
In the New Hebrides, it was only on Aneityum where the
Rarotongan and Samoan teachers were really a success ; because
it was only there that they enjoyed a fair measure of health.
There they were living beside the mission families, had their
health attended to, and had medicine and medical comforts
supplied to them when required, and hence disease was warded
off and life preserved. During the first eight years that we
were on Aneityum, Dr. Geddie and I had always eight Samoans
or Rarotongans under our charge ; for some years we had
twelve, besides children. With one or two exceptions these all
enjoyed a fair measure of health, but on all the other islands
where any teachers were placed, their health was every now
and again breaking down, and the result of their labours was
next to nothing. In all those islands one of the first things
to be attended to in connection with native agency is sanita-
tion, or the conditions necessary for securing health. In the
New Guinea mission the missionaries have had similar diffi-
culties to contend with that we have had.
The teachers from the Eastern Islands were a valuable
agency. They largely bridged over the gulf between the
missionaries and our own natives. Their knowledge of
skilled native labour was much greater than that of the
236 RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN TEACHERS.
Aneityumese. In planting, cooking, and all kinds of mechan-
ical skill, they greatly excelled our natives, while they were
greatly below European ; and yet they were not so high but
that the Aneityumese could successfully imitate them, and
in this way they greatly assisted in promoting the civilisa-
tion of the natives. In the manufacture of mats, in the
plaiting of native garments, in the making of canoes, in the
burning of lime, in the building of houses, in cultivating
plantations, in the whole range of the arts, in all the processes
of education, in all the arrangements for public worship, they
were always sufficiently ahead of the natives to take the lead
and set a satisfactory example, and in this way they were
always a valuable help to the missionaries. They were expert
in teaching the natives what they themselves knew, and in
acquiring a knowledge of what they themselves did not know
they were adepts in learning the natives in all the arts
which they themselves understood, and displayed an aptitude
in acquiring a knowledge of the arts practised by Europeans.
They were a fine, tall, robust, stalwart race, and commanded
respect from their superior physical appearance. They were
in those seas a race evidently born to rule, and hence Canaan
was their servant.
But instead of dilating on the general character of those
teachers, I shall confine myself to a brief account of two of
them, Amosa and Pita, whom I had under my charge for
about seven years each, and who I have reason to believe were
fair average specimens of the whole class. Amosa (Amos)
and his wife were a very efficient couple. They were trained
up under the late Rev. Dr. Nisbet and his wife. Amosa was
an excellent carpenter, both for native and European work-
manship. In erecting our mission premises, in building
RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN TEACHERS. 237
churches, in fitting up the Teacher's Institution, I found
Amosa to be a valuable help. With axe and hammer, with
saw and plane, with mallet and chisel, with gimlet, augur,
and screw-driver, with every kind of common carpenter's tools,
his were skilful and active hands; and with every kind of
skilled native work he was equally at home. He was a great
help in the making of doors, presses, sofas, bedsteads, tables,
and all kinds of plain furniture ; he was also a well skilled
boatman.* Among the gifts granted by the Holy Spirit to
the primitive Church were Helps and Governments; Amosa
and his wife both possessed in an eminent degree the faculty
of government. They could rule the natives without oppress-
ing them. Like the missionaries they never interfered with
the civil power of the chiefs. But like the missionaries, in
addition to a general superintendence, and the exercise of
moral influence, they kept a boarding-school for the benefit of
the more advanced and the more promising of the young
people in their district. Amosa had generally six or eight of
the best young men whom he trained himself, and his wife had
five or six of the best young women under her special instruc
tion. In this way they drew out the industry and developed
the skill of the young people ; they dug the ground, and they
planted it, and had always abundance of food for the natives
living on their premises; hence the young people were con-
* In those primeval days of mission work the missionaries had not only
to build their own houses, but also to manipulate the most important
articles of furniture, with which their houses had to be replenished.
At that time there was no Dayspring making biennial visits to the
colonies, and no steamers making bi-monthly visits to the islands, and
supplying all the wants of the missionaries, even before they occur, so
that, as compared with those days, the present is almost like playing at
missions, instead of going at them in dead earnest.
238 RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN TEACHERS.
tented, happy, and genial : they were thus able not only to
support themselves, but, at times, also to make a present of
food to chiefs and influential men around them, and so were
helps and not burdens to the community. At Ahaij, the
district of which Amosa had special charge for six years, he
erected an excellent house for himself, two rooms of which
were always appropriated for the use of Mrs. Inglis and myself
as often as we visited the district ; but he also erected a church
75 feet long, in the very best style of Samoan ecclesiastical
architecture. In after years, when the most of those young
people had become teachers, they were all noted for their readi-
ness and aptitude in the erecting of schoolhouses and churches
in the districts in which they were settled.
Pita (or Peter) and his wife were in some respects totally
different from Amosa and his wife, though taken all round
they were as valuable as they were ; some would have said
more so. Pita had neither the mechanical skill nor the
organising faculty of Amosa, he was lower intellectually, but
he was higher morally and spiritually. He and his wife were
natives of Tutuila. He was one of the first three natives of
Tutuila that were admitted to the fellowship of the church,
and sat down with the Rev. A. W. Murray at the Lord's table.
He was a man of position : his sister was married to Pomare,
the heir-presumptive to the chieftainship of Tutuila, who was
also one of the first three converts ; he went to Tanna as a
teacher and died there. For some time Pita acted as a teacher
on Tutuila, his own island ; then he was appointed to the New
Hebrides, and was located at Port Resolution, on Tanna. In
1850, when I first visited Port Resolution in H.M.S. Havanndh,
Pita was at Port Resolution, although I did not see him.
By and by Pita's life was in danger, and he had to flee to
RAKOTONGAN AND SAMOAN TEACHERS. 239
Aneityum. After a time he returned to Tanna, but a second
time he had to flee to Aneityum for his life. As at this time
the Tanna mission was virtually broken up, it was arranged
that Pita and his wife should remain on Aneityum to assist
us at our station. This they did for nearly six years. They
returned with us in the John Williams to Tutuila, when in
1860 we came home to this country to carry the New Tes-
tament through the press. We found both of them to be
valuable assistants. They were, and deservedly so, well liked
by the natives. They were exemplary, God-fearing Christians ;
they were quiet, kind, and obliging, and the natives would have
done anything for them. Pita's wife was a kind, true-hearted,
reliable woman. I may mention one instance of her unselfish
and thoughtful kindness to my wife. On one occasion I went
round to Dr. Geddie's station ; Pita went with me in charge
of my boat. We intended to return on the following day;
but next morning the weather had become so squally, and the
sea so rough, that I at once gave up all thoughts of returning
home that day. But as the sea was often rough on the one
side of the island when it was smooth on the other, my wife,
not knowing how it might be on Dr. Geddie's side, and not
very certain whether I might not attempt to return after all,
had arranged to keep up an outlook. About the middle of the
day she went down to the beach, and saw one of our young
men looking very earnestly at some object down the shore.
She called out to him, and said, " Samuel, what are you look-
ing at so intently ? " He said, " Misi, when the squall came
up 1 thought I saw the boat, but since it cleared away I do
not see it. I am afraid it is swamped. " " The boat swamped ! "
said my wife, " if so, they will all be drowned." " I hope not,"
he said; "the missionary may, but the rest can all swim."
240 RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN TEACHERS.
"Oh," said my wife, " let us all run to Nohmunjap and see."
So off she ran. Pita's wife was also on the beach ; she took
hold of Mrs. Inglis's arm, and ran along with her, and all the
natives about joined them. As they ran along in a state of
high excitement, Pita's wife was overflowing with sympathy.
Ek aiheuc vai euc ainyak, ok Mist, &c., "Great is my pity for
you, Mrs. Inglis ; how my heart feels for you : my love, my
compassion for the missionary's wife. What will she do if Mr.
Inglis is drowned ? " They ran on for about a mile till they
reached Nohmunjap, the nearest settlement, and had the
satisfaction to find that it was a false alarm ; it was not the
boat, it was only a native canoe that the young man had seen ;
but it was a wreck. The outrigger was broken by the waves,
the canoe was upset, and the natives were thrown into the sea;
but as they were all expert swimmers, nearly as much at home
in the water as on the land, they all got safe to the shore,
dragging the canoe with them. My wife said oftentimes after-
wards, that after the excitement was over she felt quite
ashamed of herself, that she should selfishly have accepted to
herself all the sympathy of Pita's wife, and rendered none to
her in return ; never for a moment thinking that if Pita had been
drowned along with her husband, Pita's wife would have been left
a widow as well as herself. But I presume that neither Pita's
wife, nor any of the natives, ever thought it possible that Pita,
an expert swimmer, as all the natives were, and so near the
shore, could by any possibility be drowned ; but that I should
be drowned was, as they might think, not only possible, but
also highly probable, hence the sympathy not only of 'Pita's
wife, but of all the natives.
Pita was a man of a strong will, and at times very positive.
On one occasion he got the liver of a shark. Now, this was
RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN TEACHERS. 241
very good for making oil of : the oil made from it was better
than train oil ; but the liver itself was very poisonous. The
natives knew this, and they had often told Pita so. But he
had taken it into his head that he would eat the shark's liver.
The natives strongly opposed his doing so, and his wife im-
plored him with tears not to attempt doing it. " Pita,"
she said, " if you eat this and die, what will become of me and
these children?" " Oh," said Pita, "sharks are not poison-
ous in Samoa, and why should they be so here ? " Eat it he
would, in spite of all remonstrance, and eat it he did. The first
intimation that we heard of what was going on was about one
o'clock on the following morning, when a gentle tap was heard
at our bedroom window. On asking who was there, in a low,
timid voice Pita's wife said, " O Misi, Pita is dying ; do come
and pray with us." I arose at once, and followed her. I
found Pita very ill ; his pulse had fallen to fifty. I gave him
first an emetic, and then a purgative. I had a bottle of
brandy in my medicine chest, and following the suggestions
of my medical books, I administered small doses of this daily
while it lasted. Next day he was a good deal better, and at
the end of some weeks he was all but well ; but at the end of
two or three years, when we left him in Tutuila with Mr. and
Mrs. Powell, he was not exactly himself ; he was fairly well,
but he had not fully recovered his wonted vigour. He lived
ten years after his return to Tutuila, and maintained an
eminently consistent Christian character. Mr. Murray has
supplied a very interesting sketch of Pita in his able and
valuable work, "Forty Years' Mission Work in Polynesia."
During the last ten years of Pita's life he devoted a tenth of
all his income to the cause of God, and in this way was quite
abreast of the Society that aims at securing proportionate
242 RAROTONGAN AND SAMOAN TEACHERS.
giving. But I had no merit in instilling into his mind those
good principles. He must have been taught them by Mr.
Powell, or, what is not at all unlikely, he must have imbibed
them at his conversion from the Rev. A. W. Murray, the
proto-missionary of Tutuila. Mr. Powell wrote me a very
touching account of Pita's death. While Pita went back to
Tutuila, his native island, Amosa, who was a younger and
stronger man, was settled on Savage Island or Niwe, and
laboured there with much success. Both these families were
warm-hearted, friendly, and grateful As long as we were in
the islands, as often as the John Williams made a visit to the
west, we received from them letters and presents, articles of
native manufacture prepared by their own hands. One year
Amosa sent us a fine sofa, made by himself, the bottom and
back plaited with the finest native cinet, and the frame made
of the best native wood black, hard, and heavy, almost equal
to mahogany. It would not have been in accordance with
Samoan etiquette, nor yet in keeping with our own ideas of
Christian ethics, if, in these circumstances, we had not practised
a little giff-gaff ; but certainly it would have been the last ex-
planation that I would have accepted, that the desire to send us
those much-prized valuable gifts was in any way stimulated
by the lively apprehension of any future obligations. All those
teachers were a credit and an honour to the Society under
which they were trained the London Missionary Society.
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE MISSION ON ANEITYUM.
IT is always interesting to trace the beginnings of any
important movements, especially when these seem very unlikely
to succeed. Such was the beginning of the mission work on
Aneityum. The natives, through whose instrumentality the
mission first gained a footing on the island, were the most
unlikely that any one could think of to be employed in such
a work. But God is wiser than man.
The first teachers on Aneityum, named Tavita and Fotau-
yasi, were located on Ipeke, the district next to Aname, my
station, by the Rev. A. W. Murray of the Samoan Mission.
Mr. Murray says, in his " Western Polynesia" : " Let us try
briefly to trace those movements which, under the guiding
hand, and by the blessing, of Him from whom all good comes,
have raised Aneityum to the distinguished position which it
at present holds among the isles of the sea. It was during
the third voyage of the Gamden to Western Polynesia that
Christian teachers were introduced to Aneityum. On that
occasion the writer was privileged to make his first acquaint-
ance with a department of missionary work in which he has
been permitted to have a considerable share. Vividly was this
feeling realised on the morning of March the 3oth, 1841, when
we approached Aneityum. We had succeeded on the preced-
ing day in introducing teachers to the adjacent island of
244 THE COMMENCEMENT OF
Futuna. There we had experienced comparatively little diffi-
culty, as on that island a dialect of the Eastern Polynesian
language is spoken ; but how were we to manage at Aneityum,
the language of which was utterly unintelligible to vis ? We had
made the best provision against the difficulty of which our
circumstances admitted, having brought with us the chief
Kotiama from Futuna to act as our interpreter.
" An odd character, indeed, was Kotiama to bring on such
a mission himself a heathen, and afterwards concerned in the
murder of his own teachers, and, alas ! a heathen to this day
(1863). He was of essential service to us, however, as without
him there was no likelihood that we should have succeeded in
the object of our visit. When we drew near the island, canoes
came off towards the ship ; but the natives would by no means
come on board. A good many years before an affray had taken
place with a sandal- wood vessel in which two white men were
killed and some wounded, and five natives were killed, hence
this distrust and apprehension.
" All our efforts to induce the natives to come on board
being unsuccessful, a boat was lowered, and Captain Morgan
and myself went in close to the shore. After a while one
character of note ventured near enough to our boat to receive
from my hands a string of beads. Snatching the treasure, at
the risk of his life, as he seemed to think, he immediately
backed astern ; but the scale was turned. His venture had
succeeded and having succeeded once, he might a second time
hence distrust soon gave place to confidence, and we were in
a fair way to gain our object. The bold fellow who received
the beads was Yatta, the chief of the district off which we
were. I have seen many a heathen of a deeply degraded and
savage character, but a more finished savage, to all appearance,
THE MISSION ON ANEITYUM. 245
and, as we afterwards found, in reality, I never saw. He
realised most fully the idea one forms of the ferocious and
bloodthirsty savage. And yet this man received and protected
the messengers of peace. We made known our object, as well
as we could, through Kotiama. The teachers intended for
the island went on shore, and on their return they expressed
themselves satisfied with the prospects, and were willing to
remain. The reception they met with was interesting and
encouraging. Large numbers of people were congregated on
the beach. They expressed their pacific and friendly disposi-
tion by waving green boughs. Thus they welcomed to their
shores the messengers of salvation, and the initiatory step was
taken towards the wonderful revolution which has since been
effected. ' Who hath despised the day of small things ? ' "
Mr. Murray was prosecuting the Lord's work in faith; he
was " enduring as seeing Him who is invisible ; " he recognised
the hand of God in the relations into which he had been
brought both towards Kotiama and Yatta. They were, at
that time, the two most influential men on their respective
islands ; but the finger of God was working on behalf of the
mission far beyond anything that Mr. Murray then knew, or
perhaps ever knew at least he says nothing about it in his
book, and I never happened to hear him speak about it ; but
there was a man on board the Camden at that time, though
probably quite unknown to Mr. Murray, who was the most
important link in this chain of events, and that was Nu-umsi,
the Columbus of Aneityum, a brother of Yatta's ; he was
the first native of Aneityum who had ever sailed away in a
trading vessel, and gone beyond the adjoining islands and out
of sight of Aneityum. He sailed as far as the Loyalty Islands,
and on his way home called at Aniwa, and was left with
246 THE COMMENCEMENT OF
Kotiama on Futuna, one of the nearest islands to Aneityum.
When the Camden called at Futuna, and it was ascertained
that she was going to Aneityum, and would take Kotiama,
and also take home Nu-umsi, there was great rejoicing; a
great trading expedition would be at once arranged. The
settlement of the teachers on Futuna would be at once agreed
to ; almost any terms would have been agreed to in the
circumstances ; such a fortunate event had never occurred in
the memory of living man ; a foreign ship was going to take
them to Aneityum, and bring them back again. No wonder
that Mr. Murray says, as we have seen, that they had ex-
perienced little difficulty in settling the teachers on Futuna ;
the wonder would have been if there had been any difficulty at
all. Everywhere there would be excitement ; a large quantity
of property, chiefly mats and baskets, the staple manufacture
of Futuna, would be collected and taken on board. Kotiama
would have half-a-dozen of his leading men on board with
him, and Nu-umsi would act as pilot. He would cause the
vessel to be steered, not to Anelgauhat, the principal harbour,
then unknown to all sea-faring men, but direct to Ipeke, the
district over which his far-famed brother, Yatta, was chief.
As soon as Yatta would learn that his brother Nu-umsi was on
board, safe back from his hazardous travels, and that Kotiama,
the great chief of Futuna, was there also, with a large
quantity of mats and baskets, and that this was not, like the
last ship that had called at the island, a fighting ship that
this was a ship of peace, and killed nobody in these circum-
stances it would become as easy a matter to arrange for the
settlement of the teachers on Aneityum as it had been on
Futuna. I have an old copy of one of the numbers of the
London Missionary Society's Chronicle of that date, which
THE MISSION ON ANEITYUM. 247
gives a woodcut of the landing of the first teachers on
Aneityum. There is the ship's boat, Captain Morgan at the
stern and Mr. Murray in the bow ; two strong natives are
each carrying one of the chests belonging to the teachers,
while the teachers and their wives are wading ashore, and a
wondering crowd are standing on the beach giving them a
cordial welcome. Meanwhile, Yatta would be levying a large
contribution of taro, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, horse-chestnuts,
sugar-cane, and bananas, from his three lands Ipeke, Aname,
and Isav to present to Kotiama and his friends, who doubtless
returned to Futuna extremely delighted with the results of the
expedition. It was an era, as the natives would account it, in
the history of both islands. Mr. Murray, too, and Captain
Morgan, as they had good reason, were much gratified with
their success. In the readiness with which the teachers were
received on both islands, they believed, in their ignorance and
inexperience, that they saw on the part of the natives a great
desire for the Gospel. It was, as they thought, the isles
waiting for His la-w. It was Ethiopia stretching out her
hands unto God. It was, however, just what had happened
on the shores of the sea of Galilee 1800 years before ; when
the multitude followed Christ, riot for His teaching, not for
the gracious words which flowed from His. lips, but for the
loaves and the fishes : because they ate of the; loaves and were
filled. So this opening for the Gospel was cause'd by no
desire for its heavenly blessings : it was caused simply by the
mats and the baskets of Futuna, and by the taro, the cocoa-
nuts, and the bananas of Aneityum. But, nevertheless, in
both cases the Lord was overruling men's hearts, without
their being conscious of it, for the establishment of His
kingdom. The Lord's hand was as certainly present in con-
248 THE COMMENCEMENT OF
nection with the Camden as it was when He girded the loins
of Cyrus, and supported his right hand at the time he was
made the deliverer of Israel, though he did not know Jehovah.
It was the Lord that implanted the spirit of enterprise in the
heart of Nu-umsi, as certainly as He had implanted it in the
heart of Columbus. He guided the heart of the captain of the
trading vessel to land him on Futuna, and not on Aneityum.
In this way he was ready for the service of the mission when
the Camden reached Futuna. He was made the connecting
link between Kotiama and Yatta; the one the best man for intro-
ducing Mr. Murray to Aneityum, because Mr. Murray could
speak to him, and he was a man of influence ; and the other
was the best man under whom to place the teachers for pro-
tection, as he was the most powerful chief in the district.
Nu-umsi had wonderful stories relating to his travels with
which to entertain his fellow-countrymen, and to occupy their
minds till the most perilous period for the teachers had
passed, and they were gaining a hold on the hearts of the
people for themselves on their own account.
Nu-umsi died before any of the natives professed Chris-
tianity, but the teachers, Tavita and Fotau-yasi, might have
conveyed to him sufficient knowledge to produce faith in
Christ. Bishop Selwyn used to say, " We cannot tell how
little Scriptural knowledge is sufficient to save the soul of a
heathen." The famous Mr. David Dickson, minister of
frvine, used to meet the objection of those who neglected the
salvation of their souls, and said in excuse, " Perhaps we are
not elected, and therefore it might be of no use to try," by
saying, " But perhaps you are, and the one perhaps is just
as good as the other, and rather better, for it is certain that
you have been elected to the privileges of the Gospel ; " so God,
THE MISSION ON ANE1TYUM. 249
who elected Nu-umsi to be the pioneer of the Gospel for
Aneityum, might also have elected him to everlasting life,
and the Samoan teachers might supply him with the requisite
knowledge for producing faith but, like the Psalmist, we
must not meddle with things too high for us, for in his case
the Judge of all the earth would do right. But Nu-umsi left
two daughters, Naipora and Murivai, both young girls, who
afterwards attended Mrs. Inglis's classes, became church
members, were married to excellent young men, and exhibited
exemplary Christian lives, so that Nu-umsi brought the
Gospel, if not for himself which we hope he did yet at
least for his children and his countrymen.
Yatta had still another work to do, which he did, like the
former, quite unconsciously, but not so honourably. From
the settlement of the teachers till the settlement of the mis-
sionaries, seven long years were to intervene, and God made
provision for that event, and in so doing brought good out of
evil, and made the wrath of Yatta to praise Him. On Ipeke
there lived a man called Wumra, and his wife's name was
Singonga. Wumra was among the first on whom the Word
of God took effect. He began to keep the Sabbath, to attend
upon public worship, and pray both in secret and in his
family. In 1845 Mr. Murray, along with Rev. Mr., after-
wards Dr. Turner, visited Aneityum. Wumra applied to
them that he and his wife might be taken to Samoa, for the
sake of being more fully instructed in the Gospel ; but he had
a stronger reason than this of which the two missionaries
were in all likelihood not aware. Wumra was an elderly man,
but Singonga was a young, clever, good-looking woman ; and
Yatta had cast his covetous eyes upon his neighbour's wife,
and was plotting the murder of Wumra for the sake of ob-
250 THE COMMENCEMENT OF
^t
taining Singonga. Wumr^rflpplication was successful, and
JfWP>
they were both taken on to Samoa, and lived for three years
at one of the mission stations, gained a considerable know-
ledge of the Samoan language, considerably increased their
acquaintance with Scripture, and grew in Christian character.
In 1848 they came- back with Mr. Geddie and the mission
party. But like the Holy Family, who, when they came back
from Egypt and heard that Archelaus reigned instead of his
father Herod, instead of settling in Bethlehem, went on to
Nazareth, so Wumra, when he heard that Yatta was still
chief of the land, and had two wives, instead of returning to
his own property in Ipeke, remained with Mr. and Mrs.
Geddie on the other side of the island, where Yatta durst
not show his face except at the risk of his life. Nearly five
years after this, Yatta came to me one day, as I was about to
sail to Mr. Geddie's station, to ask for a passage in my boat,
which I granted him, to visit his mortal enemy, now, like
himself, a Christian, and on the following day, the Sabbath,
the two walked to the house of God in company. That : was
the first time that Yatta had ever been at Anelgauhat, although
only about fourteen miles distant. Not that he lacked the
opportunity to do so, for, in order to get some of Yatta's men
to work for him, the proprietor of the trading establishment
had repeatedly offered to send round an armed boat to bring
Yatta to the harbour, but he durst not venture; but when a
mission-boat was going, though quite unarmed, he went with
the utmost confidence. When Wumra returned Yatta was
still a savage. After we were settled beside him, the natives
showed us an old native oven in which Yatta had caused the
body of a young man to be cooked for cannibal purposes. But
eleven years of missionary influence had wrought a marvellous
THE MISSION ON ANE1TYUM. 251
change on the savage Yatta. Tavita (David), the Samoan
teacher, and his wife, had both died, the first of the missionary
staff who had fallen on Aneityum, and the teachers had be-
stowed the name of Tavita on Yatta, while they called his
principal wife Patisepa (Bathsheba). Notwithstanding much
that was not only unsatisfactory, but positively very wrong
in Yatta' s history, as might have been expected, he continued
steadily to protect the teachers and the missionaries. As
time went on he continued to improve, the truth evidently
laid hold of him ; as I have stated elsewhere, he put away one
of his wives, and was married to the other, and enjoyed
domestic peace to the end of his days. When he died, some
years afterwards, he was a candidate for church fellowship.
His death was caused by something like sunstroke, and his
illness was short. He left no son, but his daughter, Sina or
Jane, was a remarkably fine young woman ; she was the first
native girl that Mrs. Inglis took into her boarding-school, and
one of the first native women whom I baptized and admitted
into the church. She was married to one of the very best of
our young men, but after she had two children she died, like
her father, of what we afterwards found to be sunstroke. I
never saw such genuine grief displayed by the natives as I
saw and heard at her death ; the natives wail at every death,
but there, as elsewhere, much of the mourning is quite formal ;
but when Jane died, any one could perceive that the mourning
was genuine, that the weeping and the wailing came from the
heart.
But to return to Wumra and Singonga. As I have said
they were still afraid of Yatta, and did not return to Ipeke,
but remained with Mr. and Mrs. Geddie, which was a great
advantage to the mission, as they were a couple specially
252 THE COMMENCEMENT OF
prepared of God to assist the mission family in their first
struggles on Aneityum. Wumra assisted Mr. Geddie in
acquiring a knowledge of the native language, and Singonga
was for a long time Mrs. Geddie's right hand woman. It was
from Wumra that Mr. Geddie first got the correct word for
sin, and possibly, though I am not quite sure of this, also the
correct word for soul. During all the seven years that the
teachers were on the island before the arrival of the mission-
aries the nearest word for soul that they had got was shadoio,
and they were daily exhorting the natives to seek the salva-
tion, not of their souls, but of their shadoivs. Mr. Geddie got
also other important words, such as unbelief, faith, salvation,
&c. To acquire a knowledge of a foreign language in such
circumstances as they were in involved a great amount of
groping in the dark. It was not till Mr. and Mrs. Geddie
had been five years on Aneityum, and we had been one, that
he found out the native word for perhaps; and I think the
missionaries were ten or a dozen years on Tahiti before they
discovered some word that was equally common and equally
important. The word for perhaps is kit, often followed by et,
it is, and is pronounced so quickly, and is tripped over so
lightly, that it eluded their observation, and they were con-
tinually being annoyed by the natives telling them, as they
thought, falsehoods. They would have asked a native,
"Where is So-and-so?" or "What is So-and-so doing?"
The native would have answered, Kit et apan aien, fyc., or
Kit et ango aien, $c., " Perhaps he is away," &c., or " Perhaps
he is doing," &c. They understood him to say, Et apan aien,
fyc., "He is away," &c., or Et ango aien, $c., "He is doing,"
&c. They often afterwards found out, of course, that the
meaning which they attached to the answer was not true, and
THE MISSION ON ANEITYUM. 253
they inferred that the native was not speaking the truth,
which often led to serious misapprehensions. It was there-
fore a great and important discovery when kit was found out
and its correct meaning established; it was an acquisition
that was highly prized, a discovery that was greatly valued,
and could scarcely be overrated.
Kotiama, Yatta, and Nu-umsi were very unlikely agents
for God to employ to carry forward His work of mercy in
those heathen islands, but so were Judah, Jephthah, and
Samson in the Jewish Church ; and if salvation were of
works, none of these would be eligible for heaven ; but as it
is of grace, the irresistible efficacy of this Divine power can
accomplish anything ; it can transmute the chief of sinners
into the most eminent of saints, change the most ferocious
of murderers to be the mildest and meekest of martyrs, and
render the wildest of savages to be the gentlest of human
kind ; and this process is going constantly on wherever our
missionaries are opening the Bible to the heathen in their
own tongue.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE FRENCH IN THE NEW HEBRIDES, 1887-8.
IN the volume which I published some years ago I had a
chapter on "The French in the New Hebrides." This is a
continuation of that chapter, bringing the history down to the
present date. The general public are very ignorant about
both the geography and the history of the South Sea Islands.
Few would believe how ignorant both the British Government
and the secular press of this country are about the French
and the New Hebrides, till within the last few years, when
the attitude of the French toward those islands, and their
unjust and unjustifiable claims to that group, have awakened
an interest in the subject that was never before thought of.
Lord Harrowby, President of the British and Foreign Bible
Society, has done much to enlighten the British Government
on the question. Lord Roseberry has enlightened the Govern-
ment and the public as well. The reports of our Mission
Synod have diffused important information on this subject in
Scotland, in Nova Scotia, in Australia, and in New Zealand ;
the journals, letters, and speeches of our missionaries,
especially those of the Rev. J. G. Paton, have kept the subject
before the public mind. The Sydney Presbyterian, edited by
the Rev. J. Copeland, formerly one of our missionaries in the
New Hebrides, by the frequent publication of short, clear,
reliable statements, kept the churches of that denomination well
THE FRENCH IN THE NEW HEBRIDES. 255
informed on this question. The Colonial Government in
Australia and New Zealand have been repeatedly calling the
attention of the Imperial Government to the attitude of the
French towards the New Hebrides ; and the Foreign Mission
Committee of the Free Church of Scotland have been knocking
at the door of the Foreign Office in London with all the
persistency of the importunate widow; all of which things
have been reported to the authorities in Paris, so that the
French Government, like the unjust judge, for the sake of
peace, have at last most reluctantly succumbed, and with a
very bad grace, on the i5th of March 1888, they removed
the troops they had stationed at Havannah harbour and on
Malikula ; and the life and property of their respective subjects
in the New Hebrides are to be secured by a mixed com-
mission of captains of British and French men-of-war. All
claims for the annexation of the group by France are thus
abandoned in the meantime, but how this dual protectorate
may work is still uncertain. If the French still wish to
occupy the New Hebrides, as there is too much reason to fear
that they do, it will be easy for them to fabricate a reason for
doing so. Before they left Malikula the French soldiers stole
a pig, and when the natives remonstrated they shot one of the
native chiefs. They left two Romish priests on Malikula
against the will of the natives, and it will be easy for these
men, in accordance with French policy, to lodge a complaint
against the natives; and as far as the French may have it
in their power, judging from all their past history in the
South Seas, it will be the wolf sitting in judgment on the lamb,
and it would require no prophet to foresee the verdict. The
Australian journals, the missionaries on the New Hebrides,
and the supportersjrf the mission at the Antipodes, are not
256 THE FRENCH IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.
sanguine as to the success of the working of the mixed com-
mission. It is extensively believed that it is the chagrin felt
by the French at their being obliged to remove their troops
from the New Hebrides that has led them to wreak their
spite on the missions of the London Missionary Society on the
Loyalty Islands in the west and on the Society Islands in the
east. The Rev. John Jones of Mare" is the last victim of this
Rome-inspired persecution. He was for thirty years one of
the most peaceable, inoffensive, and law-abiding missionaries
in the South Seas. The French had worried him and fettered
him all those years to an extent that is almost incredible.
One restriction after another was imposed upon him. He
was forbidden to teach, he was forbidden to preach, he was pre-
vented from exercising almost all pastoral or mission work, so
that latterly he was confining himself almost entirely to his own
house, and doing almost nothing but translating the Scriptures
into the Mare" language. But Rome saw the danger to her
interests from the existence of an open Bible. In Tahiti,
before the French took possession of the island, the natives
had been supplied by the missionaries with a translation of
the whole Bible, and so attached had they become to the
Scriptures, that those of them who had become Papists
demanded the Bible so determinedly from the priests, that, as
they had no translation of their own to give them, they were
obliged to procure the Protestant translation from the agent
of the Bible Society, lest their converts should, as they
threatened them to do, return to their former faith and again
become Protestants. So, while engaged in translating the
Scriptures, Mr. Jones was surprised to be informed, by the
officer of a boat's crew from a French man-of-war, that they
had come to take him off the island, and that if he did not
THE FBENCH IN THE NEW HEBRIDES. 257
leave the station with them in half-an-hour they would
remove him by force. Mr. Jones hastily packed up his MSS.
of the Bible and a few necessaries, and went on board in the
custody of the French officers. No charge was formulated
against him. When he asked to be informed of what crime
he was accused, his captors could only inform him that they
had instructions to take him off the island ; in a loose, in-
formal way he was accused of advocating the annexation of
Mare" to Australia, but no proof has been produced in support
of this charge. He was not tried either on Mar or on New
Caledonia. He was simply removed and sent adrift. When
Festus, the Roman Governor, consulted King Agrippa about
Paul, he said, " It seemeth to me unreasonable to send a
prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against
him." But these professedly Christian Frenchmen, members
of the only true and infallible Church, as they believe, standing
avowedly in the very van of European civilisation, are, in
their notions of justice, greatly behind those old heathen
Romans. A short time ago a deputation from the London
Missionary Society waited upon the Marquis of Salisbury and
laid Mr. Jones's case before the Government, but with what
result I have not yet heard. But from the policy they have
been pursuing, we can easily see the animus with which the
French regard Protestant missions ; and if they had succeeded
in annexing the New Hebrides islands, judging of the future
from the past, the fate that would have awaited our mission
and our missionaries could have been easily foretold. On
their present lines of policy the French greatly want the New
Hebrides. New Caledonia is already strained to its utmost
capacity for sheltering the convicts and recidivists, and more
are being poured in continually. Guiana is " found too
258 THE FBENCH IN THE NEW HEBRIDES.
unhealthy for them," and they are to be transferred to New
Caledonia. The Australians are shocked with the proximity
of such a community. Their feeling towards their French
neighbours was strongly and unmistakably expressed by one
of the deputation from Victoria to the Free Church Assembly
at Inverness. The relations between Australia and New
Caledonia are so strained, that a little more pressure would
end in a rupture. The recidivists are constantly escaping
from New Caledonia and finding their way to Australia, and
more and more alienating the Anglo-Saxons from their Gallic
neighbours.
To show how highly honourable Her Majesty and Her
Majesty's Government act in regard to treaty obligations, and
how very careful they are not to wound the tenderest sensi-
bilities of the French in reference to the New Hebrides, I may
quote part of a letter that I received from a gentleman in
Glasgow, Mr. H. Barrett, who has been gratuitously acting
as agent for the Rev. H. A. Robertson, of Eromanga, in dis-
posing of the arrowroot prepared and contributed to the
mission by the natives of that island, and who also obliged
me in the same way by selling some of our Aneityum arrow-
root. He says in his letter
" 4 NATIONAL BANK BUILDINGS, QUEEN STREET,
"GLASGOW, 2ist September 1888.
" DEAR DR. INGLIS, It may interest you to know that some time
ago I sent a few packages of the Eromanga arrowroot to Her Majesty
Queen Victoria, through the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and
to-day I have received the following note from Downing Street :
' I am directed "by Lord Knutsford to acknowledge the receipt of
your letter of the ist instant, stating that you had forwarded to Her
THE FRENCH IN THE NEW HEBRIDES. 259
Majesty at Balmoral Castle a package of arrowroot, on behalf of the
Christian natives of Eromanga, in the New Hebrides.
' I am to acquaint you that the arrowroot has been duly received by
Her Majesty, and she has commanded me to convey, through you to
the Christian natives of Eromanga, her thanks for their present.
'I am to add that Her Majesty has accepted this gift in order not to
cause disappointment among the Christian natives, but in no way as
an act, however slight, of political importance ; the independence of
the New Hebrides group being respected by Her Majesty's Govern-
ment and France. I am, sir, your obedient servant, R. H. MEADE.'
" I shall send our friend Mr. Robertson a copy of this, and I trust the
effect for good on the natives will be appreciated by him. With kind
regards, yours very truly, Hu. BARRETT."
I am greatly pleased that Her Majesty has inserted such a
distinct caveat in her letter, disowning on her own part, and
consequently disallowing all political action on the part of our
missionaries, and I trust that the French authorities will take
notice of this action on the part of Her Majesty. I will
instruct the agent of our mission in Sydney, the Rev. Robert
Steel, D.D., to forward a copy of this letter to Noumea to the
Governor of New Caledonia, whom some French residents in
the New Hebrides, but happily, to his credit, without effect,
have been urging to annex the New Hebrides to New Caledonia,
that he may see that our Government grant no favours to
the missionaries but such as they grant to all loyal, peaceable,
faithful, and law-abiding subjects, and we ask for no more.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BISHOP FATTESON'S FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ANEITYUM, 1856.
THE Rev. J. 0. (afterwards Bishop) Patteson first visited the
New Hebrides along with Bishop Selwyn. He was a fine,
tall, well-made, good-looking man, the very type of a high-
class English gentleman. When the service of the Queen, in
some department or other, is the great object of ambition
among the sons of our nobility and gentry, we account it a
great" matter when men like Selwyn and Patteson, who, by
their talents, character, and social position, can easily obtain
the highest places in Church or State, cheerfully devote them-
selves to missionary work among the heathen. It is not
their own work alone that is important, but their example
stimulates and encourages a large number of average men
to engage in the same work, and they in this way give a
great impulse to missions. Most visitors, when they come to
the islands direct from Sydney or New Zealand, and thus pass
at once from the highest state of civilisation to the low type
of our most advanced Christianity, are greatly disappointed
with what they see among the natives, and express themselves
in language the reverse of flattering to the feelings of the
missionaries. It is gratifying, therefore, to find such an
appreciative estimate of what he saw on our island put on
record by Mr. Patteson. Aneityum was the first island in
the South Seas on which he landed, and it was under our
IMPRESSIONS OF ANEITYUM. 261
roof that he spent his first night on shore. The Soutliern
Cross on that occasion had brought us two boxes of mission
supplies from friends in New Zealand. Bishop Selwyn came
round to my station to land these boxes ; the sea was rather
rough, but he came as near to our harbour as he durst, and,
when the Tahitian went out in his whaleboat, he lay-to a
little to windward, as near the shore as possible, and Mr.
Patteson and Mr. Harper, a son of the Bishop of Christ-
church, came ashore with the boxes.
The following extract is from the Bishop's journal, as given
in Miss C. M. Yonge's "Life of the Martyr Bishop."
"The Southern Cross reached Aneityum on the i4th of
July 1856. This island was occupied by Mr. Inglis and Mr.
Geddie of the Scottish Presbyterian Mission, who had done
much towards improving the natives. Small canoes soon
began to come off to the vessel, little craft, consisting of no
more than the trunk of a tree hollowed out, seldom more than
a foot broad, and perhaps eighteen inches deep, all with out-
riggers namely, a slight wooden frame or raft to balance
them, and for the most part containing two men, or sometimes
three or four. Before long not less than fifteen or twenty had
come on board, with woolly hair and mahogany skins, generally
wearing a small strip of calico, but some without even this.
They were small men, but lithe and supple, and walked about
the deck quite at ease, chattering in a language no one under-
stood except the words ' Missy Inglis,' as they pointed to a
house ; presently another canoe arrived with a Samoan
teacher, with whom the Bishop could converse, and who said
that Mr. Geddie was at Mare. They were soon followed by a
whaleboat with a Tahitian, a Futuna man, and a crew of
Aneityumese.
262 BISHOP PATTESON'S FIEST
" The Futuna man had expended his energies upon his hair,
which was elaborately dressed after a fashion that precluded
the possibility of any attention being bestowed upon the rest
of his person, which was accordingly unencumbered with any
clothing. The perfection of this art apparently consisted in
gathering up about a dozen hairs and binding them firmly
with grass or fine twine of cocoa-nut fibre (not from cocoa-nut
fibre, but from the inner rind of the bark of a bush that grows
inland, and is tough and pliable as a strong thread), plastered
with coral lime. As the hair grows, the binding is lengthened
also, and only about four or five inches are suffered to escape
from this confinement, and are then frizzed and curled like
a mop or a poodle's coat. Leonard Harper and I returned
in this boat, Tahitian steering, Samoan, Futunan, and
Aneityumese making one motley crew. The brisk trade-
wind soon carried us to the beach in front of Mr. Inglis's
house, and, arrived at the reef, I rode out pick-a-back on the
Samoan, Leonard following on the back of a half-naked
Aneityan. We soon found ourselves in the midst of a number
of men, women, and children, standing round Mr. Inglis at
the entrance of his garden. I explained to him the reason of
the Bishop's being unable to land; that he alone knew the
harbour on the other side of the island, and so could not leave
the vessel.
" Then, having delivered the boxes and letters we had brought
for him from Auckland, we went into his house, gazing with
delight at cocoa-nut trees, bananas, bread-fruit trees, citrons,
lemons, taro, &c., with bright tropical colouring thrown over
all, lighting up the broad leaves and thick foliage of the trees
around us.
" The house itself is built, after the fashion of these islands,
IMPRESSIONS OF ANEITYUM. 263
of wattle, plastered with coral lime, the roof thatched with
the leaves of the cocoa-nut and pandanus. The fences of the
garden were made of cane, prettily worked together into a
cross pattern, the path neatly kept, and everything looking
clean and tidy. We sat down in a small well-furnished room,
and looked out upon the garden, verandah, and groups of men
and women standing outside. Presently Mrs. Inglis came
into the room, and after some discussion I was persuaded to
stay all night, since the schooner could not reach her anchorage
before dark; and the next day the water casks were to be
filled. An excellent dinner was provided roast fowl with
taro (a nutritious root, somewhat like potato), rice and jam,
bananas and delicious fruit, bread and Scotch cheese, with
glasses of cocoa-nut milk.
"Afterwards he showed us the arrangements for boarding
young men and women, twelve of the former and fourteen of
the latter. Nothing could well exceed the cleanliness and
order of their houses, sleeping rooms, and cooking rooma
The houses, wattled and plastered, had floors covered with
native mats, beds laid upon a raised platform running round
the inner room, mats and blankets for covering, and bamboo
cane for a pillow. The boys were, some writing, some making
twine, some summing, when we went in ; the girls just
putting on their bonnets, of their own manufacture, for
school.
" They learn all household work cooking, hemming, sewing,
&c. ; the boys tend the poultry, cows, cultivate taro, make
arrowroot, &c. All of them could read fluently, and all looked
happy, clean, and healthy. The girls wear their native petti-
coats of pandanus leaves, with a calico body. Boys wear
trousers, and some had shirts, waistcoats, and a few jackets.
264 BISHOP PATTESON'S FIKST
" We walked about a small wood adjoining the house, through
which a small fresh-water stream runs. In the woods we saw
specimens of the various trees and shrubs and flowers of the
islands, including those already noticed in Mr. Inglis's garden,
and the bread-fruit tree, and sugar-cane, and a beautiful bright
flower of scarlet colour, a convolvulus, larger than any I had
seen elsewhere; also a tree bearing a very beautiful yellow
flower.
" We then returned to the house, and shortly afterwards went
to the church, which is at present used as a schoolhouse,
though the uprights of a larger schoolhouse are already fixed
in the ground.
" Men, women, and children, to the number of ninety-four,
had assembled in a large oblong building, wattled and plastered,
with open windows on all sides ; mats arranged on the floor,
and a raised platform or bench running round the building,
for persons who prefer to sit after the English instead of the
native fashion.
" All that were called upon to read did so fluently; the singing
was harsh and nasal enough, but in very good time; their
counting very good, and their writing on slates quite equal to
the average performances, I am satisfied, of a good English
parish school. They listened attentively when Mr. Inglis
spoke to them, and when, at his request, I said a few words,
which he translated. The most perfect order and quiet pre-
vailed all the time we were in the school. At the end of the
lessons they came forward, and each one shook hands with
Leonard Harper and myself, smiling and laughing with their
quick intelligent eyes, and apparently pleased to see strangers
among them.
" By this time it was dusk, and we went back to the mission-
IMPRESSIONS OF ANEITYUM. 265
house and spent a pleasant evening asking and answering
questions about Aneityum and the world beyond it till
8 P.M., when the boarders came to prayers and two or three
persons who live about the place. They read the third
chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel in turns, verse by verse, and
then a prayer by Mr. Inglis followed. At 8.30 we had
private family prayers, and at 9 went to bed.
"July 16. We got up at 4, and were soon ready for our
walk to the south side of the island. Mr. Inglis came with
us, and ten or twelve natives. For the first half-mile we
walked along the beach among cocoa-nut trees, bananas, and
sugar-cane ; the sun, not yet above the horizon, tinging the
light clouds with faint pink and purple lines ; the freshness
of the early dawn, and the soft breeze playing about us,
gladdening at once our eyes and our hearts. Soon we struck
off to the south, and, passing through taro plantations, began
to ascend the slopes of the island. As we walked along we
heard the sound of the logs beaten together summoning the
people to attend the various schools planted in every locality
under the management of native teachers ; and we had a
good opportunity of observing the careful system of irrigation
adopted by the natives for the cultivation of the taro plant.
Following the course of a small mountain stream, we observed
the labour with which the water was brought down from
it upon causeways of earth carried in baskets from very con-
siderable distances. Occasionally the water is led round the
head of various small ravines ; at other times the trunk of
a tree is hollowed out and converted into an aqueduct, but
no pains have been wanting to make every provision for the
growth of the staple food of the island.
" The last school here, on the north side of the island, is
266 BISHOP PATTESON'S FIRST
about two miles from the coast, and from this point the path
is very steep, stony, and slippery, and occasionally requires
the use of hands as well as feet ; but to our amazement, and
advantage too, as it turned out, two natives attached them-
selves to us, and were always at hand to catch us if we
slipped, and help us up a rock or carry us across a stream
willing, good-natured fellows, laughing and chattering away,
and waiting upon us in a style that I had hitherto supposed
to be exclusively Oriental.
" The scenery of the uplands of this island is excessively
beautiful ; rich masses of forest, with deep intersecting valleys,
undulating slopes, brakes and woods, streams and torrents,
and, occasionally, glimpses of the lower plains by the seaside ;
the clearings for cultivation, the cocoa-nut trees on the beach,
the lagoon and the coral reef, and the broad open sea beyond.
We reached Mr. Geddie's station about n, and found the
Bishop seated a quarter of a mile from the settlement taking
shore sights, to the amazement, no doubt, of the dozen
natives who were grouped around him ; Hoari (George), the
New Zealand boy, very happy in the possession of a good
piece of sugar-cane, the men engaged in fetching water, the
vessel lying in the lagoon, and all looking as comfortable as
if the island had for centuries been the rendezvous of traders
and missionaries. Scarcely could one credit the fact that
eight years ago there was not one Christian upon it. Nohoat,
the principal chief of the island, came from his house to meet
us, and with him some three or four Tanna men, their faces
painted red. Nohoat has lately been behaving very well, and
showing a disposition to leave off native customs. Some of
these people are going as pioneers to the two islands which
can be seen from Aneityum, Tanna, with perhaps some
IMPRESSIONS OF ANEITYUM. 267
6000 inhabitants, and a volcano in active operation; and
Futuna, with about 600.
" From this scene of hope and encouragement the Southern
Cross sailed on the i6th, and, passing Eromanga, came in sight
of Fate."
From this time till 1864, when we obtained the Day spring,
and no longer required his visits, he generally called once a
year at Aneityum and the other islands where we had mission-
aries located, bringing letters or supplies, as the case might be,
and taking up our mails to the colonies. Yea, up to the time
of his lamented death at Nakapu in September 1871, there
was nothing but the most cordial relations between him and us :
and no higher tribute was paid to his memory than that re-
corded in the minutes of the New Hebrides Mission Synod in
the following year.
Some, who were fond of drawing comparisons, likened Bishop
Selwyn to the Apostle Paul, and Bishop Patteson to the
Apostle John, the one a man of strong character, on whom
feeble natures liked to lean ; the other a man of singular
amiability, to whom gentle natures went out in love and
clung to in affection.
CHAPTER XXX.
RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS.
FOR about twenty years Rangi was an outstanding figure in
the New Hebrides, and filled a large space in the public eye
among those islands, at first in connection with the sandal-
wood trade, and latterly as an agent in the labour traffic.
He was a Malay, a native of Singapore, and a British subject.
He first became famous in those regions while living among
the natives in New Caledonia, before the establishment of the
French power on that island. A trading or sandalwood vessel
was seized there by the natives, and some white men belonging
to the crew were murdered. Rangi was accused of being
deeply involved in the plot. He was got hold of by the white
men, tried, and condemned to be hanged. But here the traders
paused ; they saw danger to themselves ; they were afraid lest
the authorities in Sydney, or elsewhere, might call them to
account for their proceedings. The law allows no British
subject to inflict capital punishment, unless he act on Her
Majesty's authority duly conferred. I knew a captain in
those seas who gave the use of his vessel to a party of white
men to hang a native whom they had adjudged worthy of
death. He and his crew took no part in the proceedings ;
they retired to the fore-part of the ship and left the after- part
to those conducting the execution. But no sooner did the
vessel reach Sydney, whither the report had preceded him,
RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS. 269
than the captain was arrested and lodged in prison on a
charge of murder being committed on board of his ship. The
law recognises the deck of every British vessel as British
.territory, and holds the captain responsible for all that is done
on board. This captain was tried and condemned to so many
years of penal servitude. He was a man well connected, and
strong influences were brought to bear on the Government on
his behalf, and his punishment was first commuted, and subse-
quently remitted ; but the authority of the law was vindicated.
It was by overlooking this principle that the mistake was
made the other year by the missionaries of the Established
Church of Scotland at Blantyre in Livingstonia, and also,
about the same time, by the Rev. Mr. Brown of the Wesleyan
Mission in New Britain, who, with the aid of some white men,
as well as some Christian natives, waged war against the
heathens. The captain of a man of war, who was sent by the
Government to examine into the case, exonerated Mr. Brown,
as acting simply in self-defence, although the public thought
that he went greatly beyond that, and when the matter came to
be discussed in the House of Commons, although no action was
taken in either case, the law was announced with unmistake-
able clearness. And we who have lived in heathen lands know
the value of such a law. But for this stringent enactment every
over-zealous, strong-headed, imprudent missionary might soon
get himself and his brethren into trouble, and possibly ruin
the mission ; and every runaway sailor might profess that the
natives had made him a chief, and that he could punish and
kill natives at his pleasure. But Rangi's captors were wise
in their generation. Fear led them to spare his life, and self-
interest counselled them to utilise his abilities. Finding that
he was a man who might be turned to good account for the
270 KANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS.
snndalwood trade, they concluded that the most satisfactory
and salutary punishment they could inflict upon him was to
send him to Eromanga to collect sandalwood. The results
showed the shrewdness and sagacity of their views and the.
practical worldly wisdom ^of their policy. Rangi was a man of
great energy, not at all scrupulous or squeamish about the
means he employed to attain his ends, and in the collecting of
sandalwood most successful ; he was by far the best agent the
traders ever employed on Eromanga.
It was firmly believed by some that he was the chief insti-
gator of the murder of Rev. G. N. Gordon and his wife ; but
as the evidence on this point was conflicting, he may be allowed
the benefit of the doubt.
When the traders left Rangi on Eromanga, they kept him
well supplied with "trade," or material with which to buy
sandalwood. In the eyes of the Eromangans he was a wealthy
man. In those days any man could obtain a wife if he could
only pay the price. Rangi set to work at once, and, as oppor-
tunity offered, bought one chief's daughter as his wife after
another, till he had as many, according to report, as sixteen,
all slaves in reality. But the fathers and relations of his
wives, from motives of self-interest, all supported Rangi. In
this way he was virtually king of Eromanga he was the
" uncrowned king " of that Emerald Isle and he thus held a
monopoly of the sandalwood. He could buy it when and
where he liked ; no other person had any chance in competing
with him. Eromanga was virtually a gold mine to the traders.
For a few foreign shells, mostly from Fiji, but prized like
diamonds by the chiefs for armlets, costing about a dollar
each, a boat-load of sandalwood could be obtained worth
^40 in China. The sandalwood collected on Eromanga, as
EANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS. 271
currently reported, realised no less than ^70,000 in the China
market, and the most of that sandalwood was gathered in
Rangi's time, so that from a money point of view his had
proved a valuable life to his captors.
When the sandalwood was exhausted on Eromanga, Rangi
went to Efate to see if any could be found there, but there
was none ; but the labour traffic commenced about that time,
and he at once became an efficient agent in that trade. When
he went to Efate he took with him ten wives, all natives of
Eromanga. He had previously had an Aneityum woman as
his wife, who had one son to him; but he had left this wife
when he went to Eromanga. He had also bought an Efate
woman as his wife since he had gone thither. He was living
in a low swampy locality, and four of his wives had died before
he was killed. He had been on Efate about three years when
he was murdered, which was in the end of May 1868.
A month or six weeks after the murder of Rangi, Mr. Cosh,
our missionary on Pango, Efate, now minister of the Presby-
terian church of Balmain, Sydney, and I, wen tin the Dai/spring
into Havannah Harbour, where Rangi had lived, as a deputa-
tion to open up the mission station now occupied by the Rev.
D. Macdonald. The account we received of his murder was
this : One day an inland native came to Rangi's house ; he
had hid his tomahawk beneath the root of a tree near the
beach, had gone in, and got Rangi out, pretending that he
wished to make a bargain about the cutting of some grass for
a new house which Rangi was about to erect ; he then slipped
away for his tomahawk, hid it under his arm, came quietly in
behind Rangi, as he stood unsuspicious of danger, and struck
him a fatal blow on the back of the head. Having dispatched
Rangi, he coolly wiped the blood off his hatchet, put it again
272 EANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS.
under his arm, walked up to the house, and with the same
weapon killed one of Rangi's wives. The other five Eromangan
wives and his eight children would also have shared the same
fate would all have been murdered had not Marek-mel,
the chief of Isema, the nearest village to Rangi's house, been
present, and interposed his authority for their protection, and
stayed the slaughter, and taken them all home to his own
house. The two bodies were disposed of as is usually done by
cannibals. Rangi's property, which was very considerable
it was even said that he had ^150 or ^200 of money in the
house was all plundered by the natives who had planned his
murder.
As to the facts of the murder, and the identity of the
murderer, the accounts we heard were all substantially the
same. But as to the cause of the murder the reason on
account of which he was murdered the evidence was very
conflicting. We heard three distinct, independent accounts
one from the natives, another from a native of the Loyalty
Islands, an agent for the labour traffic, who lived in the
Harbour, and who spoke intelligible English, and a third
from a white man who knew Rangi well. The first account
was that Rangi had been carrying matters with a high hand
among the natives, that he had become specially disliked by
two chiefs in the district, that one day the daughter or niece
of one of those two chiefs, whose husband had been away in
Queensland for three years, was at the well for water, and
was coming home, when Rangi met her in the path and in-
sulted her; she ran home, and told her father or her uncle
that Rangi had shown bad intentions towards her. The
chief's anger was inflamed ; he said Rangi should die for
that. A plot was laid for his life, an inland man was em-
RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS. 273
ployed to carry it out, and in a month thereafter Kangi was
a dead man.
The second account said that three gentlemen belonging to
the labour traffic had bought a large piece of land contiguous
to Eangi's establishment, with the view of cultivating cotton,
coffee, and sugar ; that Rangi was employed as interpreter and
agent in the transactions ; that he paid ten muskets, so many
webs of calico, so much powder and shot, so much tobacco, so
many pipes, so many pounds of beads, &c., to one chief; to
other two chiefs^ he paid each one half of the above quantity ;
and that the one of these chiefs, though he professed to be
satisfied, was not, and knowing that Eangi had a large
quantity of goods in his house, he resolved to kill him and
get hold of his property. He therefore sent for an inland
native, a man who had been implicated in the capture of a
vessel called the Mary Ira and the murder of four white
men about two years before that time. This chief broke off
the head of a yam and a piece of a kava plant, and said to the
man, "You eat and drink these, and kill Rangi." When he
had accepted these, his honour was pledged to undertake the
deed, and in due time it was accomplished.
The third account was, that when Rangi was collecting
sandalwood on Eromanga, numbers of Efate men were taken
thither as labourers; that Rangi had often charge of them,
and treated them frequently with the greatest harshness and
severity made them work whether they were well or ill, and
if he did not shoot any of them, he killed them with hard
usage and that he was still displaying his old spirit, as far as
he had opportunity, and that the natives of Efate had for a
long time resolved to kill him. " A terrible murderer," said
our white informant, "was that Rangi." Some one, aware
274 RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS.
of the feeling against him, told him to be on his guard. He
replied that he was not afraid of the natives, as he had plenty
of powder and shot. It is probable that there was a portion
of truth in all these three accounts, that all these different
causes more or less conspired to bring about the result.
Mr. Cosh and I went ashore and visited Rangi's house. He
had had a large establishment. It was surrounded first by a
strong fence of wooden posts, six or seven feet high, resembling
a New Zealand pah ; outside, but close to this, was a strongly
wattled reed fence ; the whole quite ball-proof, with loopholes
at regular intervals for shooting out at with muskets. But
it is treachery, rather than force, that has to be guarded
against when living among natives.
We found four of Rangi's wives and seven of his children
living under the protection of the Loyalty Island man on the
other side of Havannah Harbour. The fifth wife had been
taken away in a vessel by a white man, and one of the children
had died the day before our arrival. Rangi had sent his boy
his son by the Aneityum wife to Brisbane, for the sake of
his education, as we were told. When we were at Dillon's
Bay the Eromangans had urgently requested us to bring back
Rangi's wives to their own land. We did our best in this
work of humanity. We found the poor women very anxious
to get home, and we brought away three of the wives and
three of the children. We left one wife and four children.
The Loyalty Island man wished to keep the two eldest boys,
who were about six or seven years of age, and they wished to
stay with him ; their mothers were dead. But as the fourth
woman, who had two children of her own, both quite young,
was coming to the boat, one of the boys began to cry violently
for her to stay with him, and as he could not be pacified, and
RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS. 2/5
as we were in the midst of heathen natives, we thought it best
to push off with as many as we could get quietly, especially as
our time was limited. The woman who appeared to be Rangi's
chief wife carried a double-barrelled gun ; when she got into
the boat she fired off, into the sea, first the one barrel and
then the other, with as much coolness as if she had been an
Amazon. The woman that stayed behind carried a large
revolver. We weighed anchor and put out to sea. On passing
Pango Mr. Cosh was put ashore at his own station, and I
brought the three women and the three children on to
Eromanga, and left them with Mr. and Mrs. M'Nair. Their
Eromangan friends, being mostly Christians, appeared to
receive them with much kindness.
Mrs. M'Nair, now Mrs. Dr. Turner, writes me and says :
" Most distinctly do I recollect the time when you landed the
women and children from the Dayspring. Their support was
almost entirely at first thrown upon us. So we set about
finding employment for the women. The chief wife we took
into our family as servant. She was a clever and most useful
woman ; but as she could not or would not work with the
Eromangan girls, out of consideration for them we had to
part with her after a time. We thought we traced her in the
Ellis group in 1876, as the wife of a white man there.
Thomas Amos was a child about a year old, a plump, heavy-
looking boy, with festering sores about his mouth and face,
the little mouth always open, and round as a dollar : his
mother was made assistant laundress. The third woman was
lame, and one mass of sores, so she got patch-work to sew or
little garments to make for the small Eromangans, and so
helped to maintain her independence."
Our merchants are princes, and our traffickers are the
2?6 RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS.
honourable of the earth. They magnify their office, extol
their calling, and boast loudly of the blessings that they con-
fer upon mankind. That they accomplish a vast amount
of good, no one either doubts or denies. But, unhappily, the
result of their movements is not always, as they wish us to
believe it to be, an unmixed good. In the outskirts of
civilisation, and among wholly uncivilised races, the agents
they employ are often men of very doubtful character.
Rangi's employer was a merchant prince, a man honoured
by the mercantile aristocracy. Rangi himself was a type of
one class of evangelists whom commerce employs among those
islands to civilise the natives and prepare them for Chris-
tianity, and of one detachment of the pioneers whom we
have to follow in planting the Gospel among those dark and
deeply degraded races.
If one might be allowed to compare the small with the
great, the present with the long past, the lines composed by
Sir David Lindsay of the Mount on Cardinal Beaton of St.
Andrews, and, more than a century later, applied to Arch-
bishop Sharp, might now, at the end of other two centuries,
be not unfitly applied to poor Rangi :
" As for the Cardinal, I grant
He was a man we weel could want ;
God will forgive it soon.
But yet in sooth, the truth to say,
Although the loon be weel away,
The deed was foully done."
But happily, in connection with Rangi we have a very
pleasing episode to relate. At times grace interposes and
cuts off a sinful entail, so that the sins of the fathers are not
visited upon the children. Josiah was the grandson of
RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS. 277
Manasseh. The younger son of Kasuaui, the murderer of
John Williams, laid the foundation stone of the Martyrs'
Memorial Church at Dillon's Bay, Eromanga; and the
youngest son of Rangi, called Thomas Amos, came to this
country and was learning to be a printer, with the view of his
being sent back to Eromanga to take charge of the mission
press, and train up a staff of printers from among his own
countrymen to print elementary books for all the islands,
and in this way compensate, as far as possible, for the evils
done by his father.
His coming to this country occurred in this way. When I
brought three of Rangi's wives and three of his children from
Efate to Eromanga, the youngest of those children was a boy
of about a year old. His mother and he, with a sister about
two years older, continued to live on the mission premises,
first with Mr. and Mrs. N'Nair and subsequently with Mr.
and Mrs. Robertson. The mother abandoned heathenism,
and placed herself and her two children under the instruction
of the missionaries. Both mother and daughter, I under-
stand, have faithfully improved their privileges, and, if I am
not mistaken, Mr. Robertson has admitted both of them to
the fellowship of the church. Thomas Amos, the youngest
son of Rangi, grew up a very smart boy, and attracted the
attention of Lieutenant (now Captain) Caffin, R.N., an
excellent Christian man, who was at that time in command
of the Renard, the Government gunboat stationed on the
New Hebrides to watch the labour traffic. He was often
at Eromanga, and saw a good deal of the boy. On one
occasion when my wife and I were in the Dayspring, we were
wind-bound for about a week at Dillon's Bay, and there made
the acquaintance of Mr. Caffin, whom we met with every day
2/8 RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS.
at the mission-house. When Mr. Caffin was leaving the
New Hebrides, with the consent of the mother and of the
boy himself, he brought Thomas Amos home with him, with
the view of having him educated in this country and sent
back to Eromanga as a missionary to his own countrymen. He
expected to be able to get him educated free, or at least at a
reduced rate, at some college or institution here. But he was
disappointed to find that there was no institution into which
a lad of this kind could be received. The Rev. Grattan
Guinness would have received him into his Missionary College
in London, but he was too young for any of the classes in
that institution. But he promised to take him in when he
was sixteen years of age. Captain Caffin kept him boarded,
at his own expense, in an excellent private school near
Norwich, for about four years. He then transferred him to
Mr. Guinness's college, where he remained a year. But after
consulting with Mr. Robertson and myself, by whose advice
he has been always guided, it was thought that we could not
turn his acquirements to better account than by apprenticing
him for five years in a first-class printing establishment in
Leominster, Herefordshire, so that he might return to the
islands not only a good English scholar, but a thoroughly
trained printer. He was three years at the printing. Cap-
tain Caffin, who undertook the whole responsibility of his
support, always saw that his religious training was carefully
attended to, and that he was always surrounded by the best
of Christian influences. When I learned that Captain Caffin
was himself alone bearing the whole expense of his support
and education, I offered to raise ^10 a year among my own
personal friends to assist him. This I did for seven or
eight years, chiefly through the aid of a few good Christian
RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS. 2 79
ladies deeply interested in the New Hebrides Mission, who
cheerfully gave me a pound a year each. Mr. Robertson also
collected ;io among his friends when he was home in Nova
Scotia. Captain Caffin's religious principles are of the type
of Moody and Sankey's. His father was one of their com-
mittee of management when they were first in London about
fourteen years ago ; and when he and his second in command
came ashore on Eromanga on the Sabbath evening to our
mission service, they left the men on board singing Sankey's
hymns. He is also a brother-in-law to the well-known Rob
Roy MacGregor, who sailed down the Jordan and other rivers
in his canoe, and who, when an infant in his mother's arms,
was rescued, in the Bay of Biscay, from the burning of the
Kent, East Indiaman. Great and marvellous are the doings
of the Lord God Almighty.
Man proposes, but God disposes. Our sanguine hopes are
often sadly disappointed. In less than two years Thomas
Amos's curriculum of study would have been completed, his
apprenticeship would have been ended, and he would have
returned to Eromanga a fully qualified printer, prepared to
devote himself, all his time and all his acquirements, to serve
God in the work of the mission. But God had otherwise
appointed. He was an active lad, social in disposition and
overflowing with animal spirits. He took an active interest
in all the innocent athletic sports usually carried on in English
public schools, such as cricket, football, &c. But even in the
best conducted of these games there is danger, as the news-
papers are every now and again informing us. In the end of
last year, while playing at football, he accidentally received a
kick on the ankle ; but he apprehended no danger, and hence
paid no particular attention to it for some time ; but when
280 RANGI AND HIS SON THOMAS AMOS.
the doctor examined it, he found that the case was a serious
one, and he was at once placed in the hospital. There he was
attended by the best medical skill and nursed with the
greatest care that the institution could supply ; but the bone
had been injured, the foot had to be amputated, and the
patient succumbed after the operation. Those islanders have
not the robust constitutions that the inhabitants of this
country possess : under favourable circumstances they enjoy
good health and attain to an average length of life, but if
they meet with any accident, or are exposed to any unfavour-
able conditions of life, they have not the sustaining energy
nor the recuperative power that white men possess.
But it is satisfactory to know that during the eight or nine
years that he lived in this country in Norwich, in London,
and in Leominster he maintained a highly consistent Chris-
tian character, he made fair progress in learning, he was
acquiring a satisfactory knowledge of printing ; he was every-
where well liked and highly esteemed, he was a general
favourite among his companions; he lived respected and he
died lamented. On the Sabbath after his funeral the minister
of the church in which he worshipped in Leominster preached
an impressive sermon, and improved the occasion and the
circumstances of his death in a way that was calculated to
benefit the audience and leave good impressions on the com-
munity among whom he had lived. When many shall come
from the east and from the west, and from the north and
from the south, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac
and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, may the children of the
kingdom not be cast out into outer darkness.
TWO NATIVES OF ANEITYUM.
CHAPTER XXXI.
LASAEUS AND ESTER.
TAKING them unitedly and all round, Lasarus and Ester were
the most useful couple that we had in the mission. She
was certainly the most outstanding woman we had on our
side of the island. At the time we were settled on Aneityum,
Lasarus was one of a galaxy of young men, about ten or
twelve in number, who had abandoned heathenism and placed
themselves under Christian instruction. Williamu, being the
252 LASARUS AND ESTER.
oldest, was the most outstanding of this band. Lasarus was
the least conspicuous, because he was among the youngest.
They all became pupils in my advanced class. It is only
relatively that I call them advanced, for the best of them
could read only a very little ; but they were all eager to learn,
and did learn well. In due time they all became members
of the church, and also teachers. For many years they were
my chief helpers, both for skilled manual labour and mission
work proper. We often observed that those natives who
were the first to give up heathenism and profess Christianity,
always proved in the end to be the best Christians, while
those who hung back to the last were always less satis-
factory.
Lasarus's father had been the chief of Itath, a district
about a mile from the mission station. But as he died when
Lasarus was a boy, the chieftainship devolved upon his uncle,
Luka. When Lasarus reached manhood, the office should
have reverted to him, and some of his friends urged him to
claim his right. But power is sweet, and so Luka did not
offer to resign ; and as he was an able and a popular ruler,
Lasarus refused to disturb an arrangement that was working
satisfactorily, and hence he let well alone.
When we settled on Aneityum in 1852 Lasarus was a
young man apparently about twenty years of age. He
became a very regular, a very diligent, and a very successful
scholar. In 1855 he and Ester were married, and I appointed
them to take charge of the school in his own land, Itath,
where they gave great satisfaction both to' me and to the
people. His being the former chief's son went far to strengthen
his position and increase his influence. In 1858, when Mr.
and Mrs. Paton were settled at Port Resolution, on Tanna,
LASAKUS AND ESTER. 283
we sent Lasarus and Ester with them as their servants. To
the utmost of their ability they performed their duties. But
they suffered so much, Lasarus especially, from fever and
ague, that we had to bring them home at the end of a twelve-
month. From that time forward they lived on our premises,
in charge of the young women and girls attending Mrs.
Inglis's boarding school or school of industry. In this
department of mission work they were very successful. By
his prudent and consistent conduct, his kind disposition, and
his quiet but dignified manner, he maintained a mild but
unquestioned authority over all under their charge. Some-
times Ester would have said to Mrs. Inglis, " I am afraid that
So-and-so, that girl that came last week, is stealing. I think
there are some lumps of sugar going away, and I suspect her,
for I am sure that none of the other girls would do such a
thing. But I will watch her quietly ; we will not say anything
about it just now, but if the thing goes on I will speak to
Lasarus, and he will soon stop it." Mrs. Inglis kept all her
general stores carefully locked up, but she always left in the
safe tea and sugar and sundry eatables sumcient for every-
day use, and the girls were put upon their honour as to their
honesty, and they invariably behaved well. If this state of
things continued, and if proof was found that this girl could
not, as the Church of England Catechism expresses it, keep
her " hands from picking and stealing," on the Sabbath
evening, when Lasarus was catechising the girls, he would in
a quiet and apparently accidental manner make some strong
and striking remarks on the sin of stealing. There would be
no public exposure or no open reproof of any one ; but
breaches of the eighth commandment would immediately cease
to be observed. In our absence from the island for some
284 LASARUS AND ESTER.
months, first to New Zealand and afterwards, during another
year, to Victoria, they had charge of all the premises and all
our property, and on our return everything was found safe
and in good condition.
Christianity has introduced new principles into family life
on the island; one of the most prominent of these is com-
panionship. In heathenism there was little companionship or
sociality between husband and wife; they were not equals;
the man was a tyrant and the woman was a slave. It is
totally different there now, and few husbands and wives on
the island exhibited more of the Christian element in their
family relations than Lasarus and his wife ; he was a faith-
ful husband, a kind and affectionate father, and one that ruled
his own house well.
He was never strong for heavy work ; but in all kinds of
light skilled labour, whether native or European, he was a
ready workman. He was also skilful and expert in steering
and managing a boat ; from that and his trustworthy character,
I often employed him as my helmsman when I was travelling
by sea. For some years before he died he was my chief pundit
when I was translating or correcting translations. After our
return to Aneityum, poor Williamu, who previously had
rendered such valuable help in this department of mission
work, was of little service to me. And among the natives the
number was very limited who could render any assistance in
translating. They were good readers and intelligent men, but
they would allow almost anything to pass without a check.
But Lasarus possessed in a high degree what might be called
the critical faculty. If you gave him the ideas, he could
always tell you when the sense was clear and the language
grammatical. Lasarus felt a deep interest in the translating
LASARUS AND ESTER. 285
of the Bible : he evidently loved the Word of God. During
his latter illness, when I called in to see him or to give him
some medicine, I invariably found him either reading the
Scriptures or having some portion of them beside him. He
had helped forward the work of God very materially on
Aneityum, but his life and his labours were cut short. He
was still in the prime of life, a little over forty years of age.
He was never a robust man ; he was often laid up for a few
days or a few weeks with intermittent fever or other island
ailments, but during the last year of his life we had been
remarking that his health had been unusually good. About
the beginning of March, however, a kind of influenza passed
over the island ; almost everybody had it more or less severely.
Lasarus took it, and was very ill : once and again, however,
he was nearly well, but caught cold and relapsed. The week
before his death he seemed to be quite better, and was
beginning to work. But he got himself wet, and all the
unfavourable symptoms returned with increased severity, and
never abated till he died on the yth of May 1873.
He was quite sensible to the last. When I told him that
all hope of life was gone, and that Christ was now his only
refuge, he called to his wife, while I was speaking, to listen
well to what I was saying, as his ears were becoming dull.
When I went out she repeated to him what I had said. Yes,
he said, it was all true ; he felt he was dying his only hope
was in Christ. And having given her one or two brief direc-
tions about their property, he urged on her to look well after
the children, especially the two youngest. He was never
demonstrative as to his religious feelings none of the Aneit-
yumese were but there, as elsewhere, there were some whose
Christianity was so apparent in their everyday life that no
286 LASARUS AND ESTER.
one doubted its reality. Lasarus was one of those ; if twenty
years and more of unblemished, exemplary Christian conduct
be satisfactory evidence, he had that evidence in his favour.
Cecil says of John Newton that he has heard him say, when
particular inquiries were being made about the last expressions
of some eminent believer, " Tell me not how the man died, but
how he lived." Lasarus was one of the quiet and faithful in
the land, a man of peace, universally respected, esteemed and
beloved. I have rarely, if ever, seen among the natives grief
for the dead more undoubtedly sincere, or sympathy for the
living more certainly genuine or more extensively displayed.
Ester, as I have said, was the most outstanding woman on
our side of the island. She was a woman of high rank to
begin with ; she was nearly related to some of the highest
chiefs in the land, and this was an advantage to her. Social
position tells as much out there as it does at home. The Rev.
Mr. Anderson has written two interesting books, the one
" The Ladies of the Reformation," the other " The Ladies of
the Covenant; " a third might be written on "The Ladies of
the Disruption and the Free Church," and a fourth also on
" The Native Ladies of the South Sea Mission." Women of
royal and aristocratic families have, by their example and
influence, done very much to advance Christ's kingdom on
their respective islands. Ester belonged to this class of
women. When we went to Aneityum in 1852 she was then
a girl of sixteen. Her father was not dead, but her mother,
heathen-like, had left him and become the wife of another
man. Ester had left her heathen relations, had professed
Christianity, and was living with Amosa, the Samoan teacher.
The first we heard of her was this : A few weeks after our
arrival, one day while she was assisting some other Christian
LASARUS AND ESTER. 287
women to prepare thatch for our house, word came that her
stepfather was dying. It was the custom on Aneityum in
heathenism to strangle every wife on the death of her hus-
band, that her spirit might accompany his to the other world,
and wait upon him there as she had done here. Ester know-
ing what would befall her mother, threw down the thatch,
sprang up in a moment, and ran for nearly two miles with
the hope, of saving her mother's life. Christian influences had
saved some lives before this time, and it was believed that,
had she been in time, she might have been successful. But
alas ! she was too late ; her poor mother was strangled, and
stretched out beside the dead body of her husband, and both
were ready for being carried off and cast into the sea.
As soon as arrangements could be made for Mrs. Inglis
opening her Girls' Industrial Boarding school, Ester became
one of her pupils, and was with her for three years. At first,
like many high-spirited girls, she was wilful and wayward,
but as soon as Mrs. Inglis could speak to her intelligibly in
her own tongue, and bring the truths of Scripture to bear on
her conscience, an improvement began, and she became singu-
larly docile, and her consistent conduct for eight-and-twenty
years showed that she had received the truth in the love of
it. She had good natural abilities, and became an excellent
scholar as far as the three B/s were concerned. She loved the
Bible, and along with several other women, in the course of
seven years, committed to memory and repeated accurately
the whole of the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and
the Epistles of Paul, from Galatians to Philemon both in-
clusive that being the whole of the Bible at that time printed
in the Aneityumese language. She was a good singer, and
often led the psalmody in the church. She was uncommonly
288 LASARUS AND ESTER.
well handed ; for washing and dressing clothes, and for
general housework, she was equal to any white woman. She
was particularly well liked by the natives, especially the
native women. She was always generous with her food, and
that among natives is the most highly appreciated of all the
virtues; while stinginess or greediness in regard to food is
looked upon as the worst trait of character with which any
one could be charged. At first Mrs. Inglis was often annoyed
with idle gossiping, native women coming in and sitting in
our backyard, especially in the forenoon, when they came too
soon for medicine, which was always dispensed at one o'clock.
She took counsel with Ester, and they agreed that they would
provide some native work for this class of visitors to do. So
whenever any woman came likely to remain for an hour or
two, Ester would go up to her, give her a banana, or a piece
of taro or breadfruit, and say to her, Ak etwak, aiheuc vai
nyalc aieJc, um ago nauritai haklin inigki " Oh my sister,'-have
compassion on me, and do this little piece of work." Of course
the woman complied, and began at once, and wrought on till
the bell rang, when she came to me, got her medicine, and
went home, well pleased with herself and the treatment she
had received. But lazy gossips soon learned to become shy of
our premises, and Satan found no idle hands to employ in
mischief-making, as described by Dr. Watts. Ester was
always grave, though ever cheerful ; and although she was no
gossip, yet, as our station was always the centre to which
information came, she was always well informed as to what
was going on over the island, and when she heard of anything
which she thought it was right for us to know, she instantly
told Mrs. Inglis, and she again told me. If I thought it
necessary, I at once took action, and quietly brought influences
LASARUS AND ESTER. 289
to bear on the weak or the wicked, who might respectively be
the passive or the active instruments of evil, and thus often-
times mischief was prevented of which the general public
knew nothing. She was well known to all the missionaries,
and highly respected by every one of them. Her blythe and
open countenance, and her frank and courteous deportment,
made her a general favourite ; while, on account of her kind
and unselfish disposition, she was especially beloved by the
missionaries' children. After the death of Lasarus, she was
again very suitably married to Laapayi, a widower, a man of
her own age, also a chief and a teacher. They continued to
take charge of the girls till we left the island in the beginning
of 1877. At that time they were left, along with two other
families, in charge of the mission premises. During the
vacancy of two years and a half, till the settlement of Mr.
and Mrs. Lawrie, Ester's character came out to great advan-
tage for conscientiousness and firmness. When a missionary
could not be got at home to supply our place, Mr. and Mrs.
Watt, of Tanna, were appointed to our station ; but when the
case came before the Mission Synod, the other missionaries
refused to sanction their removal, lest the Tanna Mission
should be injured thereby. The people of my station were
extremely disappointed, and while their hearts were sore they
said, "We, the people of this station, have gone to assist
every missionary on the group ; we have gone as teachers, as
boatmen, as builders of houses, as cooks, as servants ; we have
gone to do everything for them, and now they will not give
us a missionary. What is the use of us looking after the
mission house and the mission premises, and the furniture,
and keeping everything safe and in good order, when we
cannot get a missionary to live in them and look after us ?
T
290 LASARUS AND ESTER.
Let the houses go to the dogs, and let the pigs look after
them." And but for Ester this proposal might have been
carried out; but she stood up and firmly opposed it; which
for a woman to do, even of her social position, showed courage
far beyond ordinary ; and she carried her point. The premises
and the property were safe and in good condition when Mr.
Lawrie arrived on Aneityum.
Ester died in 1880. In her last illness everything that
skill and kindness could devise was done for her by Mr. and
Mrs. Lawrie, but it was of no avail. They asked her if she
had any message for Mr. and Mrs. Inglis. She said, " Send
my kind love to them, and say that I will look for them in
heaven." She had nine children; of these three, two sons
and a daughter, survived her, and are still living. Her
daughter, whose name is Yegreimu, is married to an excellent
young man, and she is very much to Mrs. Lawrie what her
mother was to Mrs. Inglis. " There shall be a seed to serve
Him."
The object of our mission is to raise up, out of degraded
savages, men and women of the type of Lasarus and Ester;
and though only a small number may be equal to them, there
are on all the islands more or fewer of the natives similar
in Christian character, while a leavening process is going on
year by year, beneficent influences are in operation, and the
evangelisation of the whole group at no distant period is now
a moral certainty.
CHAPTER XXXII.
INHALAVATIMI AND THIGANUA.
INHALAVATIMI means literally Man-child, but when used as an
adjective it expresses great endearment, equivalent to dearly
beloved. As a proper name it is generally abridged to
Nalvatimi; and as this is the shortest form, and as it is as
good as the other, I shall employ it in this sketch.
When we went to Aneityum Nalvatimi was a boy of twelve
or fourteen years of age. His father, Katipae, was one of
the leading men in Isav, a land next to Aname, on which the
mission station stood. I at once began a class in the alphabet,
and Nalvatimi was the eldest of fourteen boys whose names
I enrolled in that class. He was a quiet but rather a soft
boy, but as time went on he developed in energy. The class
met daily for a twelvemonth ; the progress was steady but
not very rapid. At the end of that time H.M.S. Herald,
Captain Denham, R.N., came into the harbour at Anelgauhat,
on her way to Fiji to survey that group ; but, being prevented
by strong head-winds, the captain put in to Aneityum, which
he was also to survey, and he improved his enforced delay by
going on with that survey at once. Mr. Chimmo, the first
lieutenant, who had command of the steam tender attached
to the Herald, conducted the survey and laid down the coasts
of Aneityum for several miles out to sea. While engaged in
these operations he employed several natives to assist his own
292 1NHALAVATIMI AND THIGANUA.
men. Among those thus employed was Nalvatimi, who, with
his active and obliging deportment, so took Mr. Chimmo, that
he engaged the boy to go with him as his own personal
attendant. Some said that Mr. Chimmo wished him that he
might show off his young active black servant to his friends
and fellow countrymen when he returned home at the end of
the voyage, for Nalvatimi was a handsome, well-made, good-
looking lad ; his grandmother had belonged to Futuna, so
that he had some Malay blood in him. When the survey
was completed, and the tender had come to anchor in the
harbour, two seamen were appointed to prepare Nalvatimi
for the voyage ; they washed and scrubbed him, cropped and
combed his hair, and dressed him in a serge shirt and a pair
of dark trousers, and then took him to his master, quite
civilised looking. "Here he is, sir," said the men, " clean,
cropped, and clothed ; what shall we call him ? " I did not
learn whether he was named Tom, Dick, or Harry. But if he
got a name, it must have been some name of one word, short,
easily pronounced, and easily remembered by the sailors ; for
I scarcely ever met with a seaman who could tell you the
surname of any of his mates. If you asked him the name of
any one of them, he would generally say, "Well, sir, I do not
know; they always called him Jim," or Jack as the case might
be, "but I never heard his other name." It was of little
consequence to Nalvatimi what name was given to him, as
it was never used. As soon as his father and mother knew
that he was to be taken .away by Mr. Chimmo, they were
extremely distressed ; he was their eldest child, and they were
strongly attached to him. The father came at once to me,
asking me to write a letter to the captain, that he might
stop the boy from going away. I sat down and wrote a note
INHALAVAT1MI AND THIGANUA. 293
to Captain Denham, wlio was a good Christian man, a kind
friend to the native races, and who during the whole of his
stay in those seas took a deep interest in mission work. I
sent the letter by Katipae, the lad's father. As soon as the
captain had read my note, he gave orders that the lad should
be discharged and given over to his father, and then wrote
me a very courteous note, thanking me for what I had done
and saying that he would allow no boy to be taken on board
by any officer without the full and free consent of his parents.
During the five-and-twenty years that we were on Aneityum,
we had generally a visit of a man-of-war once a year. And
it is but just to say that the captains of all these vessels
were kind and friendly to the missionaries and their families,
and the most of them fully sympathised with the objects of
the mission and rendered us every assistance in their power.
The natives of Aneityum always looked upon the captain, the
officers, and the crew of every man-of-war as their friends.
They were, in their opinion, different from other ships, and
closely akin to mission ships.
Nalvatimi returned to school, and made steady and satis-
factory progress. We had an industrial school for the young
men as well as the young women ; some of them lived on the
premises, and some lived at home. By-and-by Nalvatimi
came to live on our premises, and, with some others, week
about or month about, as the case might be, he was first one
of our cow and goat-herds, at another time he had charge of
the poultry, and by-and-by he was one of Mrs. Inglis's cooks.
It was found to be the best arrangement to change them from
one occupation to another, weekly or monthly as the case
might require.
Some time before we left the island in 1859, Nalvatimi was
294 INHALAVATIMT AND THIGANUA.
married to Thiganua, and, along with Lasarus and Ester, they
remained on the premises as servants to Mr. Copeland, and
gave him great satisfaction.
When we went to Aneityum in 1852 Thiganua was a
little girl of about ten or eleven years of age. She belonged
to an inland district. She was an orphan ; both her father
and her mother were dead. She had one brother some two or
three years older than herself. Her brother and she came to
live with some Christian relations near the mission station ;
their inland relations were all heathen. We first knew her
more particularly about a year after our arrival, when she
came to live with Tutau, a Rarotongan teacher, and his wife,
who remained at our station for about a twelvemonth to assist
us in the work of the mission. Tutau's wife was an excellent,
active woman, but of a quick temper. Thiganua was always
timid. One day the teacher's wife had spoken rather sharply
to her, and, native-like, she ran off, first to the bush and then
to her friends. Tutau's health did not agree with our climate,
and shortly after this he and his wife left Aneityum in the
John Williams, and went to Lifu, where he soon recovered
his health, and Thiganua came to live with us, and stayed
with us till she was married. She proved a very active, well-
conducted girl, learned to read, write, cypher, sing, sew, wash
and dress clothes, and do all kinds of household work. She
had an excellent memory, and was one of Mrs. Inglis's class
that committed to memory the Scriptures as fast as they were
translated and printed.
In 1864 I stationed them as teachers at Ohuul, one of our
principal inland districts, where the people were much scattered,
and where both the imparting and the acquiring of know-
ledge were carried on under difficulties. Several teachers had
INHALAVATIMI AND THIGAKUA. 295
laboured there, but all of them with very little success ; con-
sequently the natives were far back in their education. The
people took to them at once, and the improvement which
they effected was marked and permanent. Her influence on
the women was great and lasting : their attendance at church
and school became more regular, and quarrelling among families
grew less; and from its being one of our worst and most
backward lands, it became one of our best. We had a number
both of men and women from that district who applied for
church membership, and who were in due time admitted into
the fellowship of the church. For nearly ten years after our
return to Aneityum she was one of Mrs. Inglis's never-failing
assistants. If any special work had to be done if the mission
vessel brought a crowd of visitors, if extra female help was
needed, either for an emergency or for a length of time
Thiganua had only to be sent for to secure her cheerful,
reliable, and well-skilled assistance.
She was never robust the seeds of consumption were lurking
in her constitution but she enjoyed on the whole a fair
measure of health. She had six children, four sons and two
daughters; five of them died before her, at different ages,
from one to six years of age. Her remaining child, a fine
boy of five years of age, died a few months after her, of
inflammation of the brain, caused by exposure to the sun
a not unfrequent cause of death on the island.
She was intensely attached to her children ; when her fifth
child died, she felt the death so much that we were afraid of
her mind giving way ; and it seemed to enhance the attractions
of heaven to her on her deathbed to think of meeting with
her children in glory.
When we left Aneityum, in December 1871, to proceed to
296 INHALAVATIMI AND THIGANUA.
Victoria on a visit, she was in rather indifferent health, but
nothing serious was apprehended. On our return, however,
on the ist of May, after an absence of more than four months,
we found her in the last stages of consumption. She was still
at the station inland, but we had her immediately brought to
a house which they had beside us, to see if anything could be
done for her. But alas ! she was beyond the power of human
help; all that skill, or care, or kindness could do was to
smooth the dying pillow, alleviate distressing symptoms, and
render the descent to the grave something less painful. She
died in about three weeks.
She died as she lived. She delighted in reading the Scrip-
tures while she was able to read them, and in hearing them
read when she became unable to read them herself. But her
natural timidity never left her ; she trembled as she entered
the valley of the shadow of death ; something like a chill came
over her as her feet touched the waters of the mystical Jordan.
One might have supposed that she was connected with one of
the pilgrim families whom John Bunyan saw in his dream.
Mr. Despondency might have been her uncle, and his daughter
Much-afraid her cousin, for though, referring to their doubts
and fears, they had entertained ghosts, as he confessed, when
they first began to be pilgrims, and could never shake them
off after, yet the root of the matter was in them, for when
" they went up to the brink of the river, the last words of Mr.
Despondency were, " Farewell night, welcome day ! " and his
daughter went through the water singing, although none could
understand what she said. So it was much in the same way
with poor Thiganua, for when she was reminded of the love of
God the Father, the grace of Christ the Son, and the work of
the Holy Spirit ; how God justified the poor publican, how
INHALAVATIMI AND THIGANUA. 297
Christ answered the prayer of the penitent thief, and how
the angels carried the soul of poor Lazarus into Abraham's
bosom, her fears were gradually dispelled and her faith was
strengthened, and she expressed a strong desire that, at her
death, the angels would come and take her soul to where the
Father is, and the Saviour, and the Spirit, and her children.
Nalvatimi was one of the most scholarly and cultured of
our native teachers; he had more of the logical faculty in
him than most of them, he had a good gift in prayer, and
aimed at method in his addresses. I may insert here a por-
tion of a letter written by Mrs. Inglis to Mrs. Kay, dated
November i6th, 1868, and which was inserted in the R. P.
Magazine for February 1869, in which she says: "Yesterday
Mr. Inglis was away preaching at one of our out-stations,
about seven miles distant, and the services here were con-
ducted by the elders and teachers. Williamu had charge
of the first service, and gave a good address. The second
service was conducted by Kalvatimi, one of our teachei'S, who
also gave a good address. He began by saying : ' Long ago
a man of this island went to the missionary to ask to be
allowed to go to Tanna in the John Knox, and said that he
could speak Tannese, and would help the teachers to speak
to the people. The missionary believed him, and allowed him
to go. On the next Sabbath day, when the teachers went
to speak to the people of the different villages, this man went
with them, and when they had spoken, and asked him to
speak, he stood up, but his speech was very short. He
simply said, " Men of Tanna, men of Tanna, the word of
Jehovah is true," and he sat down. At the next village he
said the same words, and the same at every village. Now,
I am like that man, my words will be very few. I will read
298 INHALAVATIMI AND THIGANUA.
you a verse in 2 Cor. i. 22. "Who hath also sealed us, and
given the earnest of the Holy Spirit in our hearts." A number
of you have lately got the seal of baptism on your bodies, but
have you got the seal of the Holy Spirit in your hearts ? If
you have not, the other will do you no good. When God
made the world, He did not first make it and then think
about it. No; He first thought about it, and then He
planned it, and then He made it. He first made the earth
and the sea, He then made the grass and the fruits, and then
He made the fishes and the birds and the beasts, and then,
when He had made these, and there was plenty of food, He
made man, and He saw that everything was good. When
the missionary made this church, he did not begin to make
it without first thinking, and then marking and fixing the
size and the shape. He first got us to clear the ground, and
then he measured and marked the length and the breadth
and the height, and then we made it as he marked it, and
it was a good church. Some of you were seeking the seal of
baptism, but the missionary and the elders and the deacons
said, " No, you cannot get it just now ; you must wait a little
till we see what your conduct is." But you go away, and you
shake your heads, and are angry at them, and say, " No, we
will not come back to seek it any more." This is not good
conduct. You want first to be marked as God's people, and
then you will think what sort of people you will be. This
is beginning at the wrong end. Think first what a Christian
should be. Pray to God to teach you and seal your hearts
by His Holy Spirit, and then come and seek to have the
mark of God's children on your bodies, and do not behave in
this foolish way.'
" Perhaps I cannot do better than add Williamu's address
INHALAVAT1MI AND THIGANUA. 299
here also. He was urging them very earnestly to prepare for
death, and went on to say ' Nobody lives long on this island.
We cannot keep away death. Tlie missionary cannot keep
away death. It is in the ground, and we cannot keep it from
rising ; and the ships that come here bring those diseases that
have killed so many of us ; but we cannot stop them in the
sea, and keep them away from our shores. But, if we are
prepared for death, it does not matter to us when it comes.
It is true we are all Christians as to our bodies, but what
good will that do us if we are hypocrites in our hearts ? We are
but a few people on this island, but many of us are hypocrites
in our hearts. I went to Britain with the missionary. I saw
what the land and the people are there. This island, what is it?
It is nothing it is just like one's hand ; but Britain, it is just
like the great ocean it has no bounds ; and the people are so
many, they are like the sand on the sea-shore for multitude ;
but they are all good none of them are bad ; they have not
two kinds of Christians there as we have here ; they are all
one in heart they are all one in conduct. I did not see one
bad person all the time I was there. Their conduct is all
good just like that of the angels in heaven ' (!!!). This last
comparison you will certainly look upon as a piece of Oriental
hyperbole. But it was accepted here as literally true. The
church was well attended, and the services well conducted." \
Williamu met with few either in this country or in Sydney
except the friends of the mission, and these were all un-
commonly kind to him, and reasoning on the principle of ex
uno disce omncs, he returned home with unmixed admiration
for the goodness of our countrymen. Had he lived till now,
and read certain numbers of the Pall Matt Gazette, he would
have inferred that there was also another class who, if like
3OO INHALAVAT1MI AND THIGANUA.
any angels, it was those described by the Apostle Jude. Had
it been deemed expedient to make him acquainted with the
dark side of social morality, my friend, the late Mr. William
Logan, author of "Moral Statistics," &c., by lifting the
curtain from the streets of our mystical Sodom, which he had
so fully explored, could have revealed scenes as repulsive as
any of those with which Mr. Stead had so rudely shocked the
mawkish sensibilities of modern Christianity. But here
ignorance was bliss, and to have increased knowledge in this
direction would have been only to increase sorrow.
But to return to Nalvatimi. After the death of Thiganua
he was married to the widow of an excellent man belonging
to Dr. Geddie's side of the island. She was a superior
woman, and on our leaving the island in 1876, to return
home, I appointed them to take charge of the school at
Aname, our station, where they remained till the arrival of
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrie. At that time he did a Very important
work. When the arrowroot for the payment of the Bible was
made, it was all brought to the station to be dried ; it was
only there that the necessary conveniences for doing so were
provided. The drying of the arrowroot was a very responsible
work. The value of the article depended very much on the
skill and care displayed in this part of the process. For three
years Nalvatimi, assisted by some other natives, had full
charge of the drying of the arrowroot, and it never was better
done even when my wife and I were on the spot. Mr.
Annand came round, saw it weighed, put up in casks, the
casks properly addressed, and all made ready for shipment.
In one of his Latter-day Pamphlets, written some thirty
and more years ago, Mr. T. Carlyle says (as I quote from
memory, I do not vouch for the exact words, only the sense) :
INHALAVATIMI AND THIGANUA. 301
"At Portsmouth," he says, "an old man-of-war is put into
commission for a three years' cruise. She proceeds to the
Cape, thence to the Antipodes, or wherever the behests of the
Admiralty require her to go. At the end of the time for
which she is commissioned she returns to Portsmouth, drops
her anchor, and reports herself to the Admiralty. Two of
their Lordships go down, inspect her, and depone that all is
right on board. Now," says Mr. Carlyle, "notwithstanding
the low tone of moral principle in these degenerate times, in
this age of shams and hypocrisies, there must be a good deal
of truth in that old man-of-war, when at the end of three
years she comes back, with the exception of tear and wear, as
good as when she went away."
So it was to us, and to all the friends of the mission, a very
satisfactory result, and a strong proof of the reality of their
religion, that for three years the whole of our natives made
the same average quantity of arrowroot for the payment of
the Bible, and the quality equally as good, when they were
left solely to themselves, as when we were living in the midst
of them. And Nalvatimi's presence and influence had much to
do with this result, especially with the quality of the arrowroot.
Inwaijipthav is a long deep inland valley, opening up into
two deep narrow valleys at the top. The valleys are the
deepest and the hills are the steepest that are to be found on
the island. We had a terribly hard battle to fight there with
heathenism. The sacred men were esteemed the most powerful
on my side of the island ; the valley was difficult of access, and
hence not easy to be visited, and in this way the people were
about the last to profess Christianity. Finally they all came
in, and I had three schools stationed among them. The central
schoolhouse was used on Sabbaths and on Wednesdays as a
3O2 INHALAVATIMI AND THIGANUA.
church. I visited the station once a quarter on Sabbaths
myself. Every other Sabbath the service was conducted by
the elders, deacons, or teachers. During the vacancy things
had gone back, and Mr. Lawrie, as soon as he knew exactly
how matters stood, placed Nalvatimi and his wife at the
principal school, with the view of resuscitating the cause
of education and religion in the valley. A new interest was
at once awakened. Assisted by his friends and the people of
the place, he went vigorously to work ; the schoolhouse was
repaired, and a new teacher's house was erected ; the earnest-
minded were encouraged, the lapsed brought back to church
and school, and the work was going on prosperously, when a
providential calamity placed a serious check on the cause.
Their house stood on the edge of a stream, close to a steep
mountain, but the site was deemed perfectly safe. A storm,
however, came ; it rained for days. The ground was thoroughly
saturated with water, the brooks swelled into rivers, the wind
blew a hurricane, and one night when darkness set in a slight
earthquake was felt. Suddenly there was a roar and a crash
which awoke the sleeping inmates. It was a landslip up on
the mountain above them. Down rolled the avalanche, sweep-
ing everything before it and carrying Nalvatimi's house into
the stream. Nalvatimi struggled out he knew not how, but
his poor wife was killed at once and buried beneath the pon-
derous mass.
Some time after this Nalvatimi offered his services as a
teacher for Tanna, and when I last heard of him he was
settled in one of Mr. Watt's outlying stations near Kwamera.
From time immemorial there existed between the Kwamera
district and the district to which Nalvatimi belongs some-
thing like a league of hospitality, such as existed in ancient
INHALAVATIMI AND THIGANUA. 303
Greece, so that he would be safer there, and possess
more influence, than anywhere else on Tanna. When Mr.
Paton and I visited Kwamera in the Dayspring in 1865,
with the view of reopening the Tanna mission after Mr. and
Mrs. Mathieson had been driven from the island, Nalvatimi
was with us, and greatly facilitated our intercourse with the
natives. He was their friend, and they trusted him. Had
Nalvatimi gone away with Mr. Chimmo, what a loss it would
have been to himself and to the mission. But the labour
traffic has deprived us of hundreds of young men who might
have been equally benefited and equally useful. But the
bones of many of them lie in Queensland or Fiji.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
WILLIAMU.
As Williamu accompanied my wife and me to this country in
1860, to assist us in carrying the Aneityumese New Testament
through the press, he was well known among the members
of the Keformed Presbyterian Church, and to some extent
also in the Free Church and elsewhere. A short notice of
him will therefore, I believe, be acceptable, especially to those
who still remember him. Perhaps more than any other
native he was identified with the history of Christianity on
Aneityum from its commencement till the time of his death.
As I have elsewhere stated, the first attempt to introduce the
Gospel into Aneityum was made in 1841. On the 3oth of
March of that year the Rev. A. W. Murray of Samoa settled
two teachers on Ipeke, the district next to Aname, afterwards
my station. Williamu, then a lad of fourteen or so, attached
himself to the teachers, along with some other lads of his own
age or a little older. Persecution soon began, for these lads
were often scolded, and at times beaten, by some of the old
chiefs and priests for countenancing the new religion. But
Williamu's heart was drawn towards the teachers, and in
spite of threats and blows he still clave to Christianity. He
received the name of Williamu in this way. The Samoan
teachers had a great difficulty in pronouncing Aneityumese
words, hence they were eager to change Aneityumese names
WILLIAMU. 305
into Samoan ones. Williamu is the Samoan form of Williams.
A great many of the Samoans took the name of the famous
missionary, John Williams ; but as the South Sea natives
have only one name, instead of loane Williamu they dropped
the John and retained Williamu only. The subject of our
sketch being one of the first converts on Aneityum, the
Samoan teachers honoured him by calling him Williamu.
Williamu is, therefore, not the native name for William, as
some have supposed, but for Williams, or of all that could be
utilised of John Williams.
In 1848 the Rev. John Geddie and his wife, and Mr.
Archibald, a catechist, and his wife, arrived at Aneityum
from Nova Scotia, accompanied by the Rev. T. Powell and
his wife, of Samoa, who remained with them for a year to
assist in establishing the mission. Mr. and Mrs. Geddie were
settled at Anelgauhat, on the other side of the island. Mr.
and Mrs. Archibald occupied what afterwards became our
station, but they did not remain long in the mission.
Williamu attached himself as firmly to the missionaries as
he had done to the teachers, and when help at boating or
housebuilding was needed his assistance was always forth-
coming. At times, when Mr. Geddie could not obtain the
requisite native help at his own station, Williamu and a few
other young men went round to his assistance and tided him
over those early difficulties.
In 1852, when my wife and I joined the mission, after
having been eight years in New Zealand, Williamu, among
others, gave us a hearty welcome ; and when we entered our
new house a half-finished building of two small apartments,
the chief materials for which I had brought from New Zealand,
and which Mr. Geddie and I, witli the assistance of the natives,
306 WILLIAMU.
had erected Williainu, to show his interest in us, brought us
a present of a fine large pig of ten or twelve stone weight.
Three weeks before our arrival, during a visit of the John
Williams, Mr. Geddie, assisted by the missionary deputation,
had formed a church and admitted thirteen members. Some
time after our arrival he saw his way clear to baptize William u
and another young man of kindred character named Seremona
(Solomon), the first-fruits of the mission on my side of the
island. No more were baptized for eighteen months.
As Williamu lived near the mission station, he availed him-
self to the utmost of the means of grace and the opportunities
for education. At the Sabbath services, the week-day prayer-
meeting, the morning school, the Bible class, and the Teachers'
Institution, he was in regular attendance ; and his profiting
was in accordance with his diligence. He was among the
first of those whom I placed out as teachers. He was a good
singer, and acted for a long time as our chief precentor. He
was one of the first band of deacons that were elected, and he
subsequently became an elder. When we were building our
church, which is still standing at Aname though bearing
the scars not only of time, but of hurricanes, earthquakes,
and tidal waves Williamu was located as a teacher at the
extremity of my district, nearly ten miles distant. But one
day, when the building was roofed and nearly finished, and
was beginning to stand out in its proper dimensions, he paid
us a visit. On going into the church, and seeing the progress
that had been made, he was so astonished and delighted with
what he saw that he ran up and down the building, and
leaping every now and again in an ecstacy of joy, cried,
" Wauho ! how you have been working here ! We at the end
of the island have been doing nothing." Williamu had
WILLIAMU. 307
wrought remarkably well at the church during the first stages
of its erection ; but preparatory and foundation, work did not
show like the finishing processes, and hence he was led to prize
the work of others more than his own.
When he arrived in this country he was amazed at what
he saw. As he sailed up the Thames he tried to count all the
ships, and counted to the extent of about three hundred, but
he abandoned the task as hopeless : a fleet of the Newcastle
coal craft had just entered the river. When addressing the
Reformed Presbyterian Synod in 1860 he said, "This is an
extraordinary country of yours. I have seen so much since I
came here that I am weak with wonder."
There were several things that struck Williamu very much
in this country. One of these was the remarkable kindness
of the people. Of course he was always living among our
friends, or the friends of the mission, and was everywhere
treated with special kindness ; and he very naturally drew
the conclusion that everybody was as kind as those .with
whom he was coming in contact. Hence reference was often
made in his letters to the kindness he received and the
abundance of the food with which he was supplied. He
considered it necessary to assure his friends on this point, and
he felt that he could do so honestly. There is nothing natives
are so afraid of as suffering from hunger, and nothing that
they prize so highly as having plenty of food. On our arrival
at home we stayed for a short time at my father-in-law's.
My wife's brothers and sisters and other friends were gathering
in day by day to see us, and there was a generous, though
neither an extravagant nor a wasteful hospitality being
exercised. Williamu, however, soon began to be alarmed for
the consequences. I may here notice in passing, that at first
308 WILLIAMTJ.
Williamu got his food by himself. He was so shy that he
objected to sit at table with us or with others ; but by-and-l>y,
when we explained to him that it was causing more trouble to
give him his food by himself than along with the family, a
sense of duty, and an unwillingness to give any extra trouble,
led him to suppress his timidity, and to take his place at the
family table; and when there, with an almost intuitive
perception of what was proper, he conducted himself as if he
had all his life been mingling with good society. So, about
the end of the first week, he came to Mrs. Inglis one morning
and said, "Misi, will you tell your mother and your two
sisters that they must not give me so much food to eat."
She said, " Why ? " " Oh," said he, "you know we have been
feasting every day now for a whole week, and the food will
certainly soon be all done. Tell them, therefore, to give me
less, or they will have nothing to give to the visitors who are
coming to see us." On Aneityum the natives can get up an
abundant feast that will last for one, two, or three days ; but
after the food collected and cooked for a feast is consumed,
the process cannot be repeated for some time ; and Williamu
thought that it must be the same here. But on being assured
that there was no danger of the provisions being exhausted so
soon, he felt relieved, and continued to take his share in the
daily feastings without any misgivings ; and he was, no doubt,
glad when he found that there would be no necessity for either
himself or the family being reduced to " short rations." But
his thoughtful and unselfish spirit was none the less evinced by
this proposal.
He was also much impressed with the goodness as well as
the kindness of the people of this country. But here again he
drew general conclusions from very limited premises. From
WILLIAMU. 309
what he saw of the ministers and elders, and their families,
with whom, almost exclusively, he was becoming acquainted,
he not unnaturally concluded that the whole community were
equally good. After our return to Aneityum a young man, a
native, went up to Sydney in a trading vessel. He remained
in Sydney for some weeks, and lived on board the vessel. He
was a sharp, intelligent lad, and observed the state of society
around him. When he returned to the island he told the
people that it was not true what the missionaries had told
them about the white people. There were no good people in
Sydney ; they were all bad, there were none of them married ;
they drank and swore, and did everything that was bad ; they
were worse than the heathen on Tanna and Eromanga. As
he went on repeating these statements, the better class of the
people were grieved, and some of them came to Williamu to
ask if these things were so, and if these words were true.
Williamu was as much surprised and shocked as the other
natives at these representations, and said to them that they
were quite untrue. "I do not know," he said, " where
Mataio was when he was in Sydney, or what he saw, but I
know this, that I saw none of that conduct, I saw none of
those bad people ; I saw none but good people. All the
people that I saw were good ; they were all as good as the
people of Beretani " (Britain). Comparison could go no
further, it could rise no higher. In Williamu 's estimation
greater excellence could not be found on earth than was to
be found among the people of Beretani. But both were
right; the one had seen the very best, the other the very
worst phase of Sydney society. Had each of them seen both
sides, they might have said of Sydney as Cowper said of
London, that it contained
3 I O WILL1AMU.
" Much that we love, and more that we admire,
And all that we abhor."
But modern Sydney is doubtless better than ancient London.
He was greatly delighted with the loyal, law-abiding character
of the people in this country ; and when the volunteers appeared
before the Queen in Edinburgh in 1861 although it was a
small affair compared with the review in the same place on
the 25th of August 1881, the moral effect of which told upon
every government in Europe yet it filled Williamu with
admiration. Some one had given him a picture of that
review, and he looked at it with delight. Just to think that
at the word of the Queen all the young men of the country
should assemble before her, and say that they were ready to
do whatever she commanded them ! To him a chief, who
had often had his patience sorely tried with wilful, stubborn,
refractory young men, the Queen seemed to enjoy the most
desirable of all the earthly conditions of existence. The
thoughts of his heart evidently said, " Oh happy Queen ! Oh
model young men ! "
He greatly admired our jails. They have no such institu-
tions on Aneityum ; but he thought it was a capital idea to
shut up in a strong, secure house the wayward and disobedient,
and to keep them there till they are brought to their senses
and become content to lead quiet and peaceable lives, hear
the words of the chiefs, and obey the commands of the Lord.
He was often puzzled with many things which he saw in
this country, and I was frequently in the same predicament
that Pollock says, in " The Course of Time," he was placed in
with the children, when he was called
" to answer curious questions, put
In much simplicity, but ill to solve :
And heard their observations strange and new."
WILLIAMU. 3 [ I
The low position of the sun in the sky in winter was what
he could not understand. To him, born and brought up on
Aneityum, three degrees within the tropics, where for one day
twice every year the sun passes over our heads, and we are
among the asldai, the" people who at noon have no shadows,
and where the sxin, even at the shortest day, is high up in the
heavens to him this phenomenon was perplexing. Hence
one day, about midwinter, he came to me and said, "Misi,
what is the matter with the sun just now ? For some time back
he seems always as if he wished and were trying to get up
to the top of the sky, but was not able. He just creeps along
low down near the earth, and then sinks into the sea or drops
out of sight." This was a simple question, but not so easily
answered to one who knew so little of astronomy as did
Williamu.
At another time he would come with a question of social or
domestic economy. "Misi," he would say, "can you tell me
about this ? On Aneityum there is always plenty of waste
land, and if a young man wishes to marry he can go into the
bush, choose a piece of land, fence it, dig and plant it, then
build his house and bring home his wife. But how does a
young man do here ? There is no waste land where he can
erect his house. All the land is occupied, not only on the
shore, as on Aneityum, but everywhere inland it is the same,
up to the very tops of the mountains. The people here are so
many, they are like the sand on the seashore." How to deal
with our surplus, ever-increasing population is a question that
has exercised more minds than Williamu's. But to him the
simplest and most satisfactory solution of this complex and
difficult problem was emigration to America, Australia, New
Zealand, or some of our colonies.
3 I 2 WILLIAMU.
We had great comfort in Williamu all the time we were at
home. The majority of natives who accompany missionaries
to this country are spoiled through the well-meant but in-
judicious kindness of friends ; they become lifted up with these
attentions, and forget themselves. Williamu entirely escaped
that danger, but another trial awaited us. Just as the work
was being brought to a close, his brain became affected, his
mind gave way, and he became partially insane. Most pro-
videntially it was not till the last sheet was passing through
the press that he entirely broke down. His brain was
naturally weak, or rather, he was of that fine, high-strung
nervous temperament which, though of the highest value
when well, is easily deranged ; and he supplied another illus-
tration of Dryden's oft-quoted couplet
" Great wits to madness nearly are allied ;
And thin partitions do the two divide."
Some time before we left the islands to come home, Williamu
had an attack of fever and ague, and every day, as certainly
as the fit came on, he became delirious, but the delirium
always took a religious turn. He came always into the house
in which our young men lived and read the Scripture to
them, and then took away a young lad, a cousin of his own,
into the bush, and gave him an earnest exhortation to follow
that which was good. When the fever left him the delirium
ceased. It is not uncommon for delirium^ to accompany fever
and ague. Shortly after his arrival in this country he had
a slight attack of fever and ague accompanied by delirium.
But for two years he continued quite well. For some months,
however, before we left this country to return to the islands,
symptoms of brain disease began to show themselves, and at
last, as I have said, he quite broke down.
WILLIAMU. 3 I 3
During his illness there were certain aspects of his case that
struck me forcibly. He became very timid, very proud, and
intensely selfish. When his intellect became clouded the
moral nature seemed to be subverted. When the brain
became affected and the judgment lost its guiding and con-
trolling influence, the moral sense or the conscience evidently
became weakened. When Williamu was well he was kind
and unselfish in a pre-eminent degree, but when his mind
gave way he thought of nobody but himself. I am told that
insane people are invariably timid; Williamu seemed to be
always more or less in a kind of terror. Naturally he was
very humble, now he became extremely proud. His selfishness
also was quite a new feature of his character. Formerly, when
we were travelling together on railways, without his ever
being told, he was the first to look after umbrellas, travelling
bags, portmanteaus, and luggage of every kind. But after he
became unwell, while he was as active as ever in looking after
his own things,' he paid no attention to ours. He would
deliberately lift his own umbrella and leave ours lying in the
carriage, as if he had had no connection with us. But our
experience was not exceptional. When the Rev. John Hunt
the celebrated Wesleyan missionary, the apostle of Fiji
had finished his translation of the New Testament, the native
who had acted as his pundit became quite insane ; not only
so, but, as a consequence of his insanity, he abandoned Chris-
tianity and went back to heathenism ; he threw off his
European clothing and dressed like a savage ; reason was
suspended, and he was no longer accountable either to God or
to man for his actions. Williamu never went so far, or any-
thing like so far, as this. But nevertheless, acting under
medical advice, we had to hurry off to the islands, as the most
314 WILLIAMU.
likely means for securing his recovery ; and this course was to
a great extent successful. We had some trouble with him
after his return to Aneityum, but after a time he settled
down comparatively well. A stranger could have observed
nothing wrong with him, but we who knew him formerly saw
that he was much altered. Our friends at home thought that,
after what he had seen and learned in this country, he would,
on his return, be a great help to the mission ; and they were
prepared to have allowed him a salary, that he might be fully
employed as a native missionary. But God had willed other-
wise, and these hopes were never realised. And we felt
thankful indeed that he remained quiet, and continued to
conduct himself with exemplary propriety. He frequently,
as in former days, led the singing, now and again he prayed
in public, and sometimes gave an address ; but I durst never
employ him as my pundit while translating or revising lest
his brain might be thereby affected. He inclined to live more
secluded than he had formerly done. But there was one idea
which he caught up strongly in this country, and to which he
gave practical effect all his life afterwards, and that was the
duty of being industrious. "There is no idleness," he said,
"in Beretani; every man and every woman works, and that
every day too. And why should we be idle here on Aneityum ? "
And he practised as he preached. In this way he eschewed
the temptations of an idle life, promoted health of body and
serenity of mind, had always abundance of food, was always
able to help those who were in want, and never needed any
help himself.
He was upwards of fifty years of age at the time of his
death. He died on the i5th of August 1878. His last
illness was very short only twenty-four hours. He was
WILLIAMU. 3 I 5
attacked with severe cramps in his feet and legs. These
became dead, and this deadness gradually crept over his
whole body till he expired. He was in church the Sabbath
before his death. The station was vacant, but Mr. Annand
was round at Aname preaching for three Sabbaths at that
time. After the sermon he asked Williamu to pray, which he
did. He also led one of the hymns, both of which exercises
he performed well. He was not at the prayer-meeting on the
Wednesday afternoon, but came to the mission premises in
the evening to see how the arrowroot, which they were pre-
paring for the payment of the Bible, was being attended to.
He always took a deep interest in everything connected with
the Bible. He became ill in the night. On the Thursday
he sent one of his friends to Mr. Annand for medicine, but
he charged him not to say that he was very ill his native
modesty evidently rendering him unwilling to trouble the
missionary. In this way Mr. and Mrs. Annand were not
made aware that he was seriously ill till they heard the
death-wail in the night. Though no report of his last words,
if there were any, has reached us, I know, from the character
of those around him, what their last words to him would be,
that the last words he would hear on earth would be those of
prayer and praise ; a prayer for grace, mercy, and peace, from
God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ; and the last
song he would hear, before he heard the song of the redeemed
in glory, would be, "I to the hills will lift mine eyes," or
" Rock of ages, cleft for me," or " How bright these glorious
spirits shine," or something similar.
Williamu was a striking example of the transforming power
of the Gospel, and of what the Word and Spirit of God can
effect in the heart and in the life of the lowest savage. He
3 I 6 WILLIAMU.
was an intelligent Christian ; he had clear conceptions of the
leading doctrines of the Gospel. He was a consistent Christian,
and had enlarged views of Christian duty. He had an intelli-
gent understanding both of " what man is to believe concern-
ing God," and "what duty God requires of man." He was
kind, unselfish, and generous. The first money he ever owned,
namely, four dollars which he received from a trader for four
rare shells highly prized by the natives of Eromanga, and
with one of which a trader could purchase a boat-load of
sandalwood, he gave as his contribution to the Bible Society.
In prayer he was reverent, fervent, fluent, copious, and
Scriptural ; and he was a good public speaker. It was, how-
ever, as a pundit, in assisting me in revising and editing the
Aneityumese New Testament, that Williamu rendered the
most valuable and abiding services to the mission. Many
natives, otherwise active and intelligent, can render very little
help to a translator; they fail to see what you want, or, if
they see your difficulty, they are unable to tell you how it can
be met. But Williamu was quick to perceive the idea you
wished to express, and equally ready to supply the word or
the idiom that was wanted. In this department of mission
work his services were invaluable.
Our avowed object was to Christianise the natives.
Civilisation followed as a necessary consequence. We did not
profess to teach the natives any trades. But the work created
by the mission developed among them a considerable amount
of mechanical skill, and showed that among them, as among
ourselves, there was a great diversity of natural gifts or of an
aptitude to excel severally in different kinds of skilled labour.
In most kinds of native labour Williamu was expert ; but in
some kinds of European work he did not excel, while in others
WILL1AMU. 3 I 7
he did. He was a very poor carpenter ; some other natives
left him far behind. But as a boatman, either for pulling an
oar or steering a boat, he had few equals among the natives,
and very few white men would have surpassed him.
The power of Christianity to civilise, as well as to sanctify
and make men good, was notably exemplified in this case.
For politeness he was a perfect gentleman; he was never
vulgar or rude, or even awkward, either in company or at
table. If a lady entered a room where he was sitting he
would be the first to offer her a chair.
He was a good scholar, as scholarship goes on Aneityum.
He was a correct, fluent, and tasteful reader. He knew a
little of arithmetic. He wrote a fair hand, and had a special
facility for writing letters. "When in this country he wrote a
series of letters to his friends on Aneityum, and some to
persons here, portions of which I am appending to this
notice as affording a vivid picture of the "First Impressions
of Britain and its People " on the mind of a South Sea
Islander.
Though only a secondary chief, yet from his intelligence,
sobriety of judgment, and general Christian character, his
influence in the community was far higher than his social
position.
At the time of his death he was a widower, but he left one
fine little boy about ten years of age. His name was Simetone
(Symington), so called after the leading ministerial family in
the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Simetone died about a
year after his father. He had always a very grateful re-
membrance of the kindness which he received in Britain.
We thus see that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is
everywhere the same mighty saving power, whether among
3 I 8 WILLIAMU.
sages or savages, among Jews or Greeks, among Scythians or
barbarians, among bond or free. "It is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that believeth."
, But let no one suppose, after what I have said of Williamu,
that his was an exceptional character among the Aneityumese.
By no means. On my side of the island alone I could with
ease have counted of men and women at least a hundred
whose Christian character was as pronounced as his, whose
general talents were equally conspicuous, and whose acquire-
ments, as far as time and opportunities allowed, were in no
way inferior to his. And on Dr. Geddie's side of the island
they were as fully advanced as on ours. If ever the Spirit
of God was seen working among a rude heathen people, it was
on Aneityum. There was never any excitement or any un-
usual demonstration, nothing that in these times would be
called a revival. Neither Dr. Geddie nor I preached anything
sensational, and perhaps too little even of the emotional. It
was the simple exhibition of God's Word and the regular
observance of God's ordinances that produced the change.
In their case " the kingdom of God was as if a man should
cast seed into the ground, and should sleep, and rise night
and day, and the seed should spring and grow up he knoweth
not how" (Mark iv. 26, 27.) They were not all genuine
Christians. The old roots of heathenism were ever and again
cropping up. But they were as good Christians as could be
reasonably expected in the circumstances. There existed a
little leaven of Christianity which more or less leavened the
whole lump. There was present the salt of grace which pre-
served from putrefaction the whole body of the people ; there
was a light of Divine truth among them which shed its illu-
minating influence over the whole population, which made
WILLIAMU. 319
Aneityum a different island from any in the group, and ren-
dered it the lona of the New Hebrides. The Word and Spirit
of God had transformed those wild, savage cannibals into a
quiet, peaceable, intelligent, docile, and affectionate com-
munity, a loving and a lovable people.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
WILLIAMU'S LETTEES.
WHEN we arrived in this country in 1860 I suggested to
Williamu that he should write home to Aneityum to some of
his friends, and said that I would enclose his letters to Mr.
Copeland or Mr. Geddie, as the case might require. This he
consented to do. I did not expect that his letters would be
either long or interesting. But I knew that, although they
should be neither, like all letters written in similar circum-
stances and coming from a far country, they would be accept-
able to his friends. I had taught him the art of writing, and
he wrote a fair, small, copy-hand ; but I was too busy, and
had too many other things to attend to, to give him any
lessons in letter- writing, or make him acquainted in any way
with the principles or the rules set forth in the " Elegant
Letter Writer." Beyond a few short notes, he had never
written any letters at all. But during the two and a half
years that we remained in this country he wrote a great
number of letters, and I was surprised to find that the letters
were both long, and, to me at least, interesting. As often
therefore as I had time I translated the letters, and copied the
translations into a book. These have been beside me ever
since, and from them I have made the following selection.
They are genuine letters, unaided compositions, the simple
utterances of the writer's own thoughts. Like most strangers
WILLIAMUS LETTERS. 321
recording the impressions made upon their minds by a country
and a people visited by them for the first time, he has made
a good many mistakes. But as no one will go to these letters
for information about this country, I did not consider it
necessary for me to correct these mistakes ; and hence I do
not hold myself responsible either for the correctness of the
facts or the soundness of the opinions. The letters are faith-
fully translated; I have neither added, subtracted, nor amended.
I have occasionally left out a sentence or two, or even a para-
graph, where I found that substantially the same statement
had been made in another letter; I have occasionally transposed
a sentence or two for the sake of preserving the connection.
The letters were all written offhand. They are all first
copies, none of them were corrected and then rewritten, and
hence he had sometimes forgotten what he had intended to
say, and afterwards brought it in in another connection. The
letters are chiefly interesting as showing the first impressions
made upon the mind of a native by what he saw and heard
in this country, and the ability displayed in recording these
impressions by one. of the Christian natives of Aneityum, who
are regarded by the special correspondent of the Melbourne
Argus, the far-famed VAGABOND (see Melbourne Argus, May
1884, "Trip to New Guinea," No. III.), as "the greatest fools
and the biggest boors he had met," and who were apparently,
in his opinion, injured and not benefited by the missionary
teaching which they had received. On this point I leave my
readers to judge for themselves.
322 W1LLIAMUS LETTERS.
To Mrs. Snodgrass, Castle-Douglas.
NEWTON-STEWART, Sept. 2otk, 1860.
My VERY GOQD LABY, I wish you well, and I thank you for your
kind present to me, for the shirt which you sent me. It is big and it
is good. I have no words to express my wonder. I never saw any
kindness like this among my people. I thank you very much for the
present.
I will now tell you a little about my country. Formerly, long ago,
when we lived in heathen darkness, we showed no kindness to one
another. We were like people who carried heavy burdens on their
shoulders. We were a people laden with iniquity, we wrought all
manner of wicked works. We never ceased, night nor day, to steal,
and rob one another's plantations. We quarrelled, and there was
never a year passed over us in which we did not engage in war and
kill one another. We had this custom also, that when any man died
they strangled his widow. We were earnest in offering up sacrifices
to our false gods. We never ceased from doing such things as these.
Formerly there were two great epidemics on Aneityum. I saw the
one, but I did not see the other. Around the whole island the people
died ; they fell like the leaves from off the trees ; old men, and men
in the prime of life, and young men and women, and big boys ; but
there were no little boys or infants died. We performed heathen
rites over them for a while, and threw them into the sea ; but we
became so weak that we could not carry away the bodies, and there
was no wailing, and no tears were shed, and we ceased to observe
those customs by which we showed honour to the dead, the people
in the land had become so few. Moreover, we never lived in peace
one year. Our land was like a canoe tossed about between the winds
and the Avaves. It was this from time immemorial, till the Samoan
teachers came and lived among us. But even then we continued to
believe in lies, and we were obstinate in resisting the truth. We
said, " The Samoans have one way and we have another." But after
that the missionaries came, and explained clearly to us the Lord's
Gospel of peace, we gave up all these things ; and even those wicked
men, whose bodies were always gashed with wounds received in
fighting, are now whole and sound, like trees covered with fresh
leaves, all the effects of the Gospel of peace. The women are now
WILLIAMUS LETTERS. 323
raised, and they are rejoicing, whereas formerly on account of our
mad conduct they were killed round the whole island of Aneityum,
so that now the land is like a wilderness, and the people are few in
number, from our constantly fighting and killing one another. We
are truly thankful for this good word of peace which has put a stop to
all those evil practices which we formerly carried on.
When I came here with Mr. and Mrs. Inglis, and saw this country,
I had no words to express my wonder and my joy. There are such
crowds of people here ; the houses are all built close to one another ;
the land is everywhere so well cultivated, and the conduct of the
people is so good ; they all speak so lovingly to one another and live
in such peace. Truly this is not the way that we lived among our-
selves on the other side of the world.
My very good Lady, do not despise us. You are very many here ;
do have compassion upon us, and let some more of you come and
watch over us and instruct us. These are my words, and may the
Lord bless you. WILLIAMU.
To Mrs. Dr. Wilson, Glasgow.
NEWTON-STEWART, Dec. 8th, 1860.
MY VERY GOOD LADY, I wish blessings on you. I thank you for
your great kindness to Dora, my wife, in sending her the desk. I am
very glad, and I thank you very much for your kindness. When
Dora sees the present she will be delighted, and she will be surprised
at your unexpected kindness, and she will thank you.
Besides this, I wish to tell you a little about the heathen customs
that prevailed on our island before the missionaries came among us.
We worshipped false gods ; we had heathen feasts ; we practised
witchcraft ; we carried on war and fighting ; we robbed one another's
gardens ; we quarrelled ; we said the spirits are powerful to give us
all things. They gave us life, and they made the island for us. We
sacrificed to them that they might give us plenty of food, and that
they might save us when we died. We said there are two ways to
Umaatmas (the Land of the Dead) ; the one goes down at the west
end of the island, the other goes up at the east end. When the
Samoan teachers came among us and explained to us a little of the
Gospel, some of us said, " They have one religion and we have
another." One party among us said, "That is the religion of their
324 WILLIAMUS LETTEES.
islands ; " others of us said, " It is impossible to receive their religion
and practise it ; it is best to continue and worship the spirits." But
the missionaries came and sowed the good seed among us ; they were
earnest in preaching the Gospel, and in turning us from our former
practices, and in teaching us the way of righteousness. Now we are
very glad and very thankful for the grace of God, in that He sent His
servants to turn us from the ways of darkness and guide us into the
light. At present we are glad and joyful on account of the Good
Word. We are now living in peace, and have given up all those
things that we formerly practised ; namely, murder, witchcraft,
idolatry, robbery, quarrelling, strangling of widows, war, heathenish
feasts, and all these wicked courses. We are very thankful. If the
missionaries had not come we should soon have been all dead on
account of our wickedness. These are my words, and may the Lord
bless you. WILLIAMU.
To Lasarus and Ester, Anqityum.
SCOTLAND, August tfh, 1860.
MY DEAE FEIENDS, I wish you two well, also Inhalvatimi and
Thiganua. I write this letter to you all to tell you about our travels
and our health. We are all well just now. When we came in sight
of Britain, we sailed along the shore for a whole day, and when night
came we cast anchor and slept. On the following morning we sailed,
and made for the bay. The ships on the sea around us were like
driftwood on the water in the time of a flood. We could not see the
shore, it was hidden by the ships. When we reached the bay a
steamer came and towed us and brought us into the river. At low
tide we anchored, and waited till the tide turned. The steamer then
towed us, and brought us into a place where the water was shut in by
a wall. We had come as far as from Aname to Anelgauhat. We
again lay at anchor all night. In the morning they opened a gate, and
we brought the ship into a place they call the docks. Here the ships
were so crowded that we could not get far in, and we lay there till
the Sabbath was over, and then the ship was brought iuto another
place to remain. After this all the missionaries and the children
went ashore; but Kausiri [another native of Aneityum who ac-
companied the vessel as a sailor] and I remained in the ship till
Saturday. Then Mr. luglis came back and took us away, and we
WILLIAMUS LETTERS. 325
three travelled in a thing that runs by smoke. They call it a steam-
engine ; it runs far faster than a horse its running is like the flying
of a pigeon. We came to the house of Dr. Cunningham, and stayed
there over one Sabbath. After that Kausiri went back to the ship.
But we took our luggage, and travelled by the railway till we came to
Manchester, to the house of the brother of Mrs. Inglis. It is as far as
from Aneityum to Efate. We slept there, and on the following day
we travelled by railway till we came to Liverpool. Here we went on
board a large steamer, and sailed for Scotland, as far also as from
Aneityum to Efate. Here we came ashore, and rode in a thing they
call a machine, which is drawn by a horse, and came to a place called
the Mark of Shennanton [near Newton- Stewart], to the house of Mrs.
Inglis's father. They were all living. We stayed there over three
Sabbaths, and then took our luggage and went to Glasgow. But on
our way we came to the sea (at Girvan), and stayed in the house of
Mr. Easton. They were as kind to me as if I had been their own
child, and took great care of me, and gave me plenty of food, and
spoke kind words to me. The next day we came to Glasgow, which
is as far as from Futuna to Efate. There we stayed in the house of
Dr. Symington. He is a very good man, and his wife and children
are the same. They were very kind to me, and took great care of me,
and gave me plenty of food, and gave me a fine room in the house to
myself. They wished also to look at me, but I was ashamed and
afraid in presence of the people.
This Britain is a wonderful country ; there is not the like of it in the
world. It is all true that the missionaries told us about the things
here in Britain. It is impossible for me to explain to you all the
things in Britain, unless the letter were a thing that could carry
Britain to you, so that the people of Aneityum could see it them-
selves. But it is impossible for me to explain it to you by words.
The things in Britain are not like things made by the hands of men.
Such are the houses, the ships, the roads, and everything. Many'
many are the people. They are like the sand on the sea-shore. Every
place is like Aname at the time of the Sacrament, when all the people
on Mr. Inglis's side of the island, from Isia to Anau-unse, are gathered
together. So many are the people, and so great are the crowds in the
towns, that it is difficult for them to walk backwards and forwards,
or pass each other on the streets, so many are the people. When I
am walking with any one, he takes hold of me by the arm, lest I
326 WILLIAMU'S LETTERS.
should lose sight of him for the crowd in the streets. And there are
so many houses. If all Aneityum were covered with a forest, and if
every tree were a house, that would not be equal to the houses in
Britain. I dare not go about by myself, lest I should not find the
house where I am staying. I am weak with wondering at the things
which I see. This is my letter to you two. May the Lord bless you.
WlLLIAMU.
To Dora, Ms wife.
SCOTLAND, August 2oth, 1860.
DORA, My love to you. I write this letter to you to let you
know that I am well ; so are Mr. and Mrs. In<;lis, and Mr. Geddie's
children. Formerly we were staying in the house of Dr. Symington
in Glasgow. Afterwards we travelled by the railway and came to
Edinburgh, which is a very great city. Dr, Goold, the son-in-law of
Dr. Symington, lives there. He is a minister, and has a great many
children. We three stayed with him. They were very good to me,
and gave me plenty of food. A gentleman, a friend of Dr. Goold's,
took me and showed me through the houses where they make things
the house where they make axes and iron tools, the house where they
make types, the house where they make pictures, the house where
they print books, and a house where they keep most beautiful things.
But it is impossible to explain them to you in this letter.
Moreover, the people of Scotland were meeting every day in a
church, and making speeches about a great man who lived in Scot-
land long ago ; his name was John Knox [the Tercentenary of the
Reformation]. He expelled the false religion and brought in the true
religion. They were holding these meetings to keep it in remem-
brance that he was the first to establish this true religion ; and also
to keep in mind all the good he had done, and also that they might
thank the Lord for His mercy, that He had taken away the false
religion and had given His Word to them and to us all.
We three left Edinburgh by the railway, and came to the house of
a gentleman, Mr. Rowatt, of Currie-Vale, and stayed there over one
Sabbath. Afterwards we again travelled, and came to the house of
Dr. Symington in Glasgow, and stayed there. We then went and
took farewell of Mr. Geddie's children at the vessel. They sailed to
Liverpool in a steamer. From Liverpool they are to sail in a very
WILLTAMUS LETTERS. 327
large steamer to Nova Scotia. We three bade them farewell. They
send their love to you. We left them and returned to the house. On
the following day we travelled, and came to the house of a minister's
daughter, Miss Symington, Paisley, where AVC took tea. We left
there and came on to the house of Mrs. Inglis's uncle and aunt, Kev.
Mr. and Mrs. Jamieson, Kilmarnock, where we slept. Next morning
we again travelled by the railway, as far as if you were to leave
Ananie and go twice round Aneityum. We alighted at a village
called Thornhill, and travelled in a thing drawn by a horse till we
came to the village in which Mr. Inglis was born ; its name is
Moniaive. This was as far as from Aname to Anelgauhat. When
we came there we stayed in the house of Mr. Proudfoot. Both he
and his wife are very kind people. They were both very good to me.
On the Friday there was a marriage there, and Mr. Proudfoot and I
went to see it. On the Sabbath day all the people were very desirous
to hear Mr. Inglis. I had to rise and go out of the church ; my former
illness, fever and ague, came upon me. First my legs were benumbed
and then my hands. Mrs. Inglis and I went into the church, but she
brought me back to the house. My illness, however, was not great,
and it has now quite left me. On the next day, the Monday, we three
came to the house of Mrs. Inglis's sister, Mrs. M'Geoch, Craignell,
near New Galloway. This was as far as from Iteng to Itheg. We
slept there. On the following day Ave came to the house of Mrs.
Inglis's father, Avhere AVC stayed at first, and AVC are staying here at
present. Moreover, Mrs. Symington gave me a dress for you as a
token of her love to you. It is put into Mr. Geddie's box. You must
take good care of it and not give it away to anybody. My letter is
finished. My love to you, and may the Lord bless you.
WlLLIAMU.
To Dora, Ms ivife.
NEWTON-STEWART, October i$th, 1860.
DORA, I Avish you Avell. I Avrite to tell you about my health.
I am very Avell at present, and so are Mr. and Mrs. Inglis. Formerly
Ave three lived in the house of Mrs. Inglis's father, but afterwards they
two Avent to a toAvn called Newton-SteAvart, and rented a very fine
house for us three. At present we three live here, and a girl, Avhose name
328 WILLIAMU'S LETTEES.
is Agnes, for a servant. It is a very fine house ; it is large, and has a
number of rooms above as well as below.
I must also tell you this : when we were in Glasgow there was a
meeting for three days of the Reformed Presbyterian Synod, in Dr.
Symington's church. All the ministers and the elders and the
missionaries were there, and a great congregation of people. They
made speeches about the work of God throughout the world and in
Britain. Mr. Inglis stood up and spoke, and explained to them the pro-
gress of God's work among the islands, and particularly on Aneityum.
When the people heard him they rejoiced, and gave thanks to the
Lord for His love and mercy to us all. When he had finished he
called upon me to rise and speak. When I rose I was ashamed, and
made a short speech and then sat down. When we three were on
our way to Britain I never once thought that I would have to speak.
I only thought that I would have to look. A great number of the
ministers made speeches, and gave thanks to God for His love and
mercy. They also made speeches about a revival, and the work of
God in different countries. They also spoke about the Reformation
300 years ago, the time when they gave up the false religion and
embraced the true religion, and became one and prospered. In every
part of Britain the people attend church every Sabbath day, and never
give over. The people of Ireland and the people of America do the
same. They have great reverence for the Lord. There are no
heathen here.
Now, Dora, I will tell you of a present sent you by a lady. Her
name is Mrs. Wilson. Her kindness to you has been very great.
She has bought you a desk. It is packed in a box sent to Mr. Geddie.
Take good care of it, and be strong, and Avrite on paper every day.
Also be very careful lest some one should persist in begging it from
you, and you should not know its value and give it away. Be sure
you take good care of it. You know well that no one can get any-
thing like this for nothing. The price of it is great ; and very great
was the kindness to you of her who bought it : therefore take good
care of it.
On Tuesday the 2oth September I received your letter, and also
the ones from Mathima and Thioka. I read them, and I was glad you
were well, and I thank God for His mercy to us all. Be you strong
and pray to Him every day without ceasing.
I like this land of Britain very much. I am in very good health
WILLIAMUS LETTERS. 329
and think I would like to stay here a good while : but I do not know
how my heart may continue to feel. I visit a number of houses, and
the people give me always good food to eat. I have as much food
every day as I can eat. All the people are kind to me, and wish me
to go and visit at their houses. May the Lord bless you. This is the
letter of me, WILLIAMU.
To Setefano, a native teacher, an intimate friend of his.
NEWTON-STEWART, November 2^th, 1860.
SETEFANO, My love to you, my brother.* We three received your
letter on Tuesday the 2Oth of this month, November. I do sym-
pathise very deeply with you on account of the death of your wife. I
felt just as you do on account of my child, which the Lord gave me
and then took away. I Avas exceedingly grieved, and my heart was
like the heart of a dead man. But when Mr. Inglis talked to me, his
words refreshed me like water. I thought, and I said to myself, my
child is like one calling before me in the way that leads to heaven ;
and if I am strong I shall yet see him : whereas had he remained with
me I might have been weak and not watched over him carefully in
the world, to keep him from those things that are evil.
1 will now explain to you very shortly about Britain. This is a
most wonderful country for everything. They make roads for things
that run by smoke and boiling water ; they call them steam-engines,
but they call the roads on which they run railways. In places like
Mount Nathatahau they make roads underneath the ground, as if you
would go in at Itath and not come out till you came to Aname. Now,
Setefano, do not think that I am joking. I have travelled eight times
along with Mr. and Mrs. Inglis, and seen a great many places, as if
you would go to Futuna, and Tanna, and Aniwa, and Eromanga, and
Efate, and I have travelled under the ground where it was like dark-
ness itself. This is a fine country. There is not a single spot in it
that is lying waste. It is all cultivated. The ministers have very
fine houses. They are high, and have a great many rooms in them ;
and the churches are splendid ; they are like two houses under one
roof ; the upper house is called a gallery.
Moreover, the people of Britain have consulted together, and they
have appointed men to protect the'country. They call these men
330 WILLTAMUS LETTERS.
volunteers. There are twenty thousand of these men. But these
belong to the one half of the country only, which is called Scotland.
I do not know how many there are in the other half and in all other
places. These were all assembled in a city called Edinburgh. They
met together and marched before Victoria, the Queen of Great Britain.
When she saw them she was very glad.
Now, you teachers, see that you all obey Mr. Copeland, and do not
be obstinate and self-willed, but hear him willingly. If he has no
food, see that you, the teachers and the church members, bring him
some. Remember me to Filip, and Solomon, and Napolos, and
Yamtiu, and Luke, and Petelo, and Hosia, and Nowanpakau, and say
that I am not forgetting one of them. Peace be with you all.
WlLLIAMU.
To Thioka, and Mathima, an uncle and a half-brother.
SCOTLAND, Nov. 24^, 1860.
THIOKA AND MATHIMA, I wish you well. This is my letter to
you two, and to all the people of Aname, to explain to you two what
I wish you all to do. I wish you to look well after my house and
garden, and keep up a good fence round it. The women will gather
reeds ; and tell Nako and Niau and Nityok to look after the garden,
and weed it neatly. And do you, Mathima, look after my orange
trees, lest they be injured ; and be careful also about the house, lest
it be burned down ; and do not kindle too large a fire, lest the walls
become black with smoke. Moreover, do not be idle, but be strong,
and work every day. And do not be thinking every one of you about
his own things only, but be helpful to one another ; and do not be
quarrelling among yourselves, but live all in peace, and watch over
one another, and hear one another's advices. I have told you twice
now this, to look well after the pigs, that they do not injure the
plantations, and thus break the hearts of the people. Take good care
also of the sweet potatoes and the yams. Do not forget about them,
but dig and make plantations ; and if they grow well, be kind to
Dora and give her some of them. Besides this, be strong, all of you,
and go to the school every day, and attend the church, and read in
your own houses, and do not sit idle at home and think only about
the things of this world. Live in peace one with another, and do not
WILLIAMU'S LETTERS. 33!
be soon angry with one another, or quick to revenge injuries, but be
kind one to another.
The people are all very good to me here, and speak very kindly to
me, but I do not understand well what they say. I get plenty of food,
as much as I can eat. This is an extraordinary country. Many,
many, are the houses, and the people, and everything ; and the country
is so large, it is like the ocean in extent. But you hear of no bad
conduct in any place. The chiefs are all strong to put a stop to bad
conduct. My love to you all. WILLIAMU.
To Dora, Ms wife.
NEWTON-STEWART, January 4th, 1861.
O DORA, My love to you. I write this letter to explain things to
you, and to tell you that we three are well. Mr. Inglis and I are
very busy just now with the translation. While we were on the
voyage home we two began and corrected Matthew and Mark, and
Luke and John, the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Paul.
And then when we came to Newton-Stewart we began and corrected
all these books a second time, and we have not yet finished them.
Mr. Inglis has a great deal of work to do. They were repairing the
John Williams, and they were collecting money in every place to pay
for the repairs. Mr. Inglis had charge of this work in Scotland, and
he had to write a great many letters to the collectors to thank them
for their kindness to the missionaries in collecting money to repair
their ship. Moreover, when the corrections of the translation are
finished, he will take it to London, where it is to be printed.
The cold is very severe in Britain in November, December, and
January. When we arrived here in June, it was not cold. But the
cold began in October, and snow fell, but it was not much. The
water also was frozen and became hard, only it was but little. But
when November came the cold was very severe, and a great deal of
snow fell and covered all the ground. You could not see any growing
thing. It was as if you had spread out white clothes and covered
both the ground and the houses with them. But it was very beautiful
and very white. You could just see the trees and the houses and
the fences. The frost came down and the water was hard. What
332 WILLIAMUS LETTERS.
Mr. and Mrs. Inglis told us is quite true, that the water becomes hard,
and when the people go to get water they have to break it like glass,
and then get water ; they call this hard water ice. When December
came the cold was dreadful, and the water frozen very hard ; even the
milk was hard in the dishes. One morning the servant took out the
dishes from the breakfast, and left them unwashed till she did some-
thing else. When she went back to wash them they were all stick-
ing to the table with the ice, and she could not move them. When
she saw them sticking fast she laughed, and came and told me, that
I might pull them off. But I was afraid lest I should break them.
One morning she brought in some water from the well, and set it
clown ; I was in bed, but rose about six o'clock that is like at the
false cock-crowing and kindled a fire. I took the water pitcher to
pour some water into the kettle, but it was hard. I laughed to myself,
and then took the tongs and broke it just like glass. Another morn-
ing there was no water in the pitcher ; the girl was from home, and
had not brought in any. I kindled the fire, and then took the pitcher
and went out to the cask that stands at the side of the house, but the
water was frozen hard. I "then went into the house, and took a large
axe and broke the frozen water in the cask : it was like a flat stone ;
after that I got the water. Very great is the cold in Britain in
November, December, and January. Your hands get benumbed, and
you can do nothing with them.
Moreover, we three are living here ; but we go to their houses and
visit people, and feast with them ; and they come and feast with us
three. One day I went along with Mr. Inglis, that he might buy a
coat for me. We went into the house where they weave cloth. I saw
them weaving. It was wonderful beyond anything you ever saw, but
I cannot explain it to you in a letter. Before this I had gone to a
house where they make thread, belonging to Mr. Clark of Glasgow.
It was a large house, and very high. There were six houses inside,
all one above another. I could not express my wonder at seeing it.
There were one hundred, yea, I think two hundred people, working in
it, both men and women. In conclusion, give my love to the family
at Umka, and also to Goai ; and remember me to Mary, and Lathella,
and Selwyn. These are my words to you. WILLIAMU.
WILLIAMUS LETTERS. 333
To Mathima, his half-brother.
NEWTON-STEWART, January 29^, 1861.
MATHIMA, I -wish you well. I write this letter to let you know
that I am well, and also that Mr. and Mrs. Inglis are well. Formerly
we three went to visit a number of large towns; Glasgow, and
Edinburgh, and Kothesay, (?) and Moniaive (? ?), and likewise a number
of small places. Afterwards we returned to the house of Mrs. Inglis's
father and stayed there. Then Mr. and Mrs. Inglis went to the town
in which I am writing this letter, and rented a tine house for us three.
We three are staying in it just now. It is a very good house. There
are a great many rooms in it. There are five apartments below and
three above. The walls are smooth and beautiful, and covered with
painted paper. Moreover, it is fitted up with lights which they call
gas. This gas is first made out of coal, and kept in a vessel like a
very large cask, and then it goes under the ground in large iron pipes ;
it goes like wind ; then it comes up into the houses and stays there
always, and when it becomes dark then they light it every night. It
is very very cold in Britain just now, in those mouths when it is warm
in Aneityum. And when it rains it is like arrowroot ; it falls in
scales, and it is hard ; its name is snow ; and a dew falls which they
call frost ; and the water freezes and becomes like glass, and very
hard ; and the ground becomes all hard like stone, and the cold is
fearful. Still I am well and strong, and can do anything.
Britain is an extraordinary country for everything, and for the
good, upright conduct of all the people, all the married men and all
the married women, and all the young men and all the boys ; they
work diligently every day. They never sit idle ; young men and boys
all work. They are not like the young men on Aneityum. Moreover,
there are fine roads in Britain. There is one kind of roads, very
broad ones, for carts, and omnibuses, and gigs, and coaches, and cabs.
These are things with wheels ; they are drawn by horses, and go very
fast. There is another kind of roads for things that go by smoke.
The name of this is a steam-engine, but the name of the road on
which it goes is a railway. It is made by laying pieces of wood
across, and by laying along above these long stones which they call
iron. One of these roads is as far as from Aneityum to Efate.
Moreover, they have made a thing here which they call a telegraph.
334 WILLIAMU'S LETTERS.
It is made in this way. They erect poles on the ground, and then
they fix wires along on the tops of the poles. Then they catch the
spirit of the lightning and put it into a box. They can speak to
people as far distant from one another as from Aneityum to the
Loyalty Islands. They do it in this way. Suppose Mr. Inglis wanted
to speak to Mr. Jones on Mare, he would speak to the man who has
charge of the telegraph ; he would take the spirit of the lightning and
send it along these wires, to convey Mr. Inglis's words to the man on
Mare, who has charge of the telegraph there ; he would write down
Mr. Inglis's words and give them to Mr. Jones. The words go as fast
as a flash of lightning, just at once. My words are done. Peace be
with you. WILLIAMU.
To Ester (wife of Lasarus) and Thiganua (wife of Inhalvatimi).
(These two families icere living with Mr. Copeland in charge
of the mission premises.}
NEWTON-STEWART, July ist, 1861.
O ESTER AND THIGANUA, This is Mrs. Inglis's love to you two, and
her word to you two. She has asked me to write this letter to you
two, and to say that she was very glad when she heard by Mrs. Geddie's
letter that you two had had a baby each, and that you were nursing
them well, and keeping them clean ; and also about the house, and
that you are looking well after it. She says, just go on as you are
doing, and look well after the house, that she may find all things as
she left them. We three expect to return next year. Mrs. Inglis is
just as she was on Aneityum. She had a pain in her breast, but she
is Avell again. Mr. Inglis is well, and so am I. We three have an
excellent house. There are a great many rooms in it, both above and
below. But we have only one servant girl. Her name is Jane. But
she is equal to five, yea ten, of you women on Aneityum. I say we
have just one servant girl, but she looks after the house and every-
thing in it. She cooks the food, she washes the dishes, she sweeps
the house and she washes it ; she cleans the windows and she makes
the beds ; she runs messages and she buys food ; she brushes the
shoes and she cleans out the kitchen it is just like another room.
She takes care of both Mr. and Mrs. Inglis's clothes, and of mine
WILLIAMU S LETTERS. 335
also ; she washes them and irons them all herself. Mrs. Inglis does
not require to help her. She -works away herself. She is quiet, she
never gossips, and she is never angry ; she is never sulky, and she
never sits idle. She is not like the women of Aneityum. Quite a
band of them go to the water to wash the missionaries' clothes, and
they stay there, and bawl out, and laugh loud, and joke one another,
and sing songs, and one says, " I am hungry ; " and another says, " I
am going to the sea to gather shell- fish;" and another says, "I am
sleepy ; " and another says, " I am tired ; " and it is night before they
have done.
Moreover, we went to the house of Mrs. Inglis's brother, his name
is James [the late Mr. M'Clymont, Borgue House], and we stayed
there four weeks. It is a beautiful large house, with a great many
rooms in it, and it is surrounded by excellent fences. He has so
many things, I cannot describe them to you sheep, and cattle, and
fowls, and a great many servants. We three stayed there, and after
we left his house we came back to our own house at Newton-Stewart.
We three have a beautiful garden. We have in it potatoes, and
cabbage, and turnips, and pease, and parsley, and a great many goose-
berries, and currants, and apples.
Besides this, one of Mrs. Inglis's sisters was married on Thursday,
the 4th of July. Her name is Grace [the wife of Rev. D. Kellock,
Presbyterian minister, Spencerville congregation, Ontario, Canada].
Mr. Inglis married them. We all met and feasted, and sang and
rejoiced. They have splendid marriages in Britain, but I cannot de-
scribe them to you in this letter. Mr. Inglis is very busy every day
with the translation [of the New Testament]. He is never idle. My
love to Mr. Copeland, also to Lasarus and Inhalvatimi and the young
men. Peace be with you. WILLIAMU.
To Sabataio (his cousin).
NEWTON- STEW ART, April ist, 1861.
O SABATAIO, I wish you well. I received the letter from you two,
and read it, and was glad to learn that you were all well. Let us be
thankful for the grace of God to us, and that He is keeping us alive.
Let us pray to Him daily that He may give each of us a heart to hate
sin, and a heart to resist heathenism, and a heart filled with peace,
33 6 WILLIAMU'S LETTERS.
and a* heart full of light. I am quite well just now ; I have had no
sickness except a slight cough, but Mr. Inglis takes good care of me,
and gives me medicine.
They have finished the road here for the things that run by smoke
[the Castle Douglas and Stranraer railway]. It was opened in March.
The great men who are the owners of it travelled along it first. I
went to see them. All the people were assembled. There might be
a thousand people there. The running is far faster than that of a
horse. The road is as far as from Aneityum to Efate.
Mrs. Inglis's grandmother died on Wednesday, 2oth of March. She
was ninety- one years of age. But they did not bury her soon. They
waited till after the Sabbath before they buried her. Mr. Inglis and
I attended the funeral. All her relations came. There might be two
hundred people present. There were thirty-six machines drawn by
horses. They took her as far as from Imtainga to Anau-unse. All
the ministers and the elders were at the funeral. I go to the church
every Sabbath and worship, and I hear a few of the English words
that I know, but I do not understand the preaching.
Say to the people of Aname [his own land] that I always re
member them, and that I wish them all well. Be you ali strong, and
work daily. Let no man stroll about, let no man sit idle. O
Sabataio, my cousin, do you assist Thioka, and exhort these three
young men that they may behave themselves well, and work dili-
gently, and dig, and have plenty of food. This is my advice to
you all, that you live peaceably ; and if any one stir up a desire for
heathenism do not ye follow him, but abhor our former ways. You
all know that if we revive the heathen customs "that we practised
long ago, we should be rebelling against God. Be you all strong,
and work every day, and look well after your lands, that you may
have plenty of food. And remember this, that if any one wishes to
keep a pig, let him prepare a sty for it and put the pig into it, and
not leave it to go at large, lest it break the hearts of the rest of you
by its destroying your food. Also look well after the water-course
for the irrigation, that it may be always in good repair. But if any
one say, "Why is he talking so much about the things of this
world ? " I would say, no man can live on stones or on wood. We
sustain our bodies only by the food which God freely gives us day by
day. But if some one would say, "The things of this world are all
vanity," I would say, are not the things of earth the gifts of God as
WILLIAMUS LETTERS. 337
well as the things of heaven, and to be prized and used as His gifts ?
This is my word to all of you. f*wish you all well, both men and
women. My friends, be you all strong, and pray to God every day
that He may have mercy upon you and give you food to sustain your
souls and food to sustain your bodies. And pray for me that I may
explain correctly the language of our island, and His servant will
write it for us. All things are easy to God, and to Him all things
belong. This is the word of me, Williamu, to you, Sabataio.
To Dora, his wife.
NEWTON-STEWART, June 2oth, 1861.
DORA, My love to you. I am thankful that you are well. We
are the same, we three are well. I will tell you how we have been
getting on. We lived in Newton-Stewart during the winter, but
when May came we three and a sister travelled by the railway
and came to the town of Dumfries. We stayed in' the house
of the minister, Mr. Symington, over the Sabbath. We went to
church, and Mr. Inglis preached. On Monday morning we three
travelled in a thing drawn by a horse to go to the railway ; a young
man named Mr. AVilliam Halliday drove us. We were too late for
the railway, and we stayed in the house of a woman whose husband
was dead to wait for the next train. The young man and I went
away to fish in a river, and when we came back in the middle of
the day he went away home to Dumfries; but we stayed till the
afternoon, and got a fine dinner, and then went by the railway and
came to Currie-Vale, to the house of Mr. Rowatt [the late Bailie
RoAvatt of Edinburgh]. We slept there. On the following morning,
which was Tuesday, Mr. Inglis Avent to a meeting of ministers and
elders, which they call a Synod (the Reformed Presbyterian Synod).
They began their meetings on Monday, and continued them till
Friday. I went to the meetings, and Mr. Inglis told me I was to
rise and speak. I made a short speech. They meet to speak about
the work of God in Britain and throughout the world. They met
every morning in Dr. Goold's church, and continued their meetings
till late at night. They did not go out except to their dinner, and
at night every one Avent to his 'own home. On the day that they
Y
338 WILLIAMU'S LETTERS.
met, it was not observed that a window was open above ; Mr. Inglis
sat under it and caught a very bad cold, which continued for a fort-
night, but he is again quite well. While we stayed at Currie-Vale
they were very kind to me ; they gave me a little knife, and the
daughter of Mr. Rowatt gave me a pair of scissors for you. Her
name is Agnes, and she is about the same age as Charlotte [Miss
Geddie]. She has a sister whose name is Maggie. She is about the
same age as Lucy. And they two have a sister who is about the
same age as Elizabeth. They have three brothers. While we stayed
there they taught me to sing and to play on the piano. We left
Currie-Vale on the Saturday, travelled by the railway, and came to
Castle-Douglas. This is the city of Mr. Kay (!!). We remained
over the Sabbath, and then went to Mrs. Inglis's brother's [Borgue
House] where we stayed one Sabbath. On the Friday after we came
to Castle-Douglas there was a great meeting [a soiree] ; the church
was full. Mr. Inglis made a speech, and then called upon me to
speak. I told them about our heathenism and our folly long ago,
and also about our peace and happiness now. Mr. and Mrs. Inglis
stayed with Mr. Kay, but I stayed in the house of Mrs. Snodgrass,
a lady who was remarkably kind to me, she and her two daughters.
She sewed three shirts for me, and gave me a fine coat, and trousers,
and drawers. I was just like the child of them three, they were so
good to me. These are my words to you, Dora. My love to you.
WILLIAMU.
Note. At this time measles were introduced into Aneityum
by a trading vessel. The epidemic and its sequelae swept off
one third of the population of the island, and among others
Dora, Williamu's wife, died. Mr. Geddie's church was also
burned down the same year, supposed to be the act of an
incendiary. Frequent reference is made to these sad events
in Williamu's subsequent letters.
WILLIAMUS LETTERS. 339
To Mrs. Geddie.
NEWTON-STEWART, August 24^, 1861.
DEAR MRS. GEDDIE, I wish you well. I write this letter to you
to thank you for letting me know about Dora's death. But I cannot
Avrite well to you on account of my grief, nor can I explain to you the
sorrow of my heart. My wife, Mary Ann, and I lived first together.
But after she died, when I looked at Dora she was just like Mary
Ann, and on this account I married her. But she too is gone from
me, and my heart is very sad. But when I sorrow about Dora I do
not repine nor question about her death. We are all subject to death
and sickness. No one can run away from sickness and death in this
world. I am grieved, however, that her life was so short, for her
conduct to me was so good. She never grieved or vexed me. She
attended to what I said, and she acted towards me in the same way
that she did towards you.
Alas ! for the island of Aneityum. The people are all dying, and it
is becoming a wilderness. When we three first received letters telling
us that so many of the people were dying we were very grieved. I
was also afraid to receive a letter. And when the letters came on
Friday last I was out in the garden doing something. When I came
in to dinner I went up to Mr. Inglis's study to mend his fire, and
saw letters lying on the table. When I looked at them I saw that
they were letters from Aneityum. When they two went out from
dinner, they went up to the study ; but I was afraid to go with them
to hear the letters, and I went and sat in my own room. When they
had read the letters they called for me, and told me. We three were
very grieved. Oh yes, Mrs. Geddie, I am still very grieved. But
since they two have talked to me, and you also have written to me,
my heart is resigned, and it says, "It is even so. The Lord has
rebuked me and chastised me three times [by the death of his first
and second wife and his son], and why should I be afraid of His
hand ? " Your words to me, and the words of Mr. and Mrs. Inglis,
were soothing to me as its mother's milk to her child. And now I
find that it is as you say. Your words are true.
We three are very grieved about your church which was burned.
Woe to that wretched fellow ! His father, the devil, put it into his
heart to burn the church, that the hearts of the people might be weak
34-O WILLIAMU'S LETTERS.
towards the truth. What could make that foolish man think that he
could drag the people of Aneityum back to heathenism, and that,
being a fool himself, he could make them all to be fools too, and resist
the Avord of the Lord respecting His holy house ? Very great was Mr.
Geddie's work in building the church, and he was assisted by all the
people ; very great also was their work in building. But that Avorth-
less fellow, who never put a hand to it, to go and burn it down. I
am very grieved about his conduct.
Mr. Inglis is very busy just now with the translation. I am in
good health, I have no sickness. Mr. and Mrs. Inglis are also \vell.
Your words are very good respecting the things which Dora has left.
I salute Mr. Geddie. My love to Ella. I mourn with Lathella on
account of the death of Mary his wife. Who will take care of his
motherless children ? I pity the poor things ! I also sympathise with
Mataio for the loss of his wife. This is my letter to you, dear Mrs.
Geddie. My love to you, my mother. WILLIAMU.
To Talep (at that time a teacher on Tannd).
NEWTON-STEWART, Sept. loth, 1861.
MY DEAR UNCLE TALEP, I wish you well. I do not forget you
for a single day. I write this letter to you to let you know that I
enjoy good health every day. Mr. and Mrs. Inglis are doing the same.
I write also that I may tell you about my grief. Veiy very great is
the grief of my heart for the death of my wife, and also of my rela-
tions. The first letter we received told us of the death of Suaing, and
Joane, and Viali, and Katipae. Our next letter told us of the death
of Nemitangi, and Mala, and Nako, and Netwai, and the rest of the
people who had died ; and also that the sea had destroyed some of the
houses of the missionary, and many of the schoolhouses, and that the
church at the other side of the island had been burned down. This
letter came here in July. In August we got letters telling me of the
death of Dora, and Mary, and Naraki-inwai, and Mataio's wife, and
the rest of the people who had died on the following month. When
all this news came crowding on me, very great indeed was my grief,
and so was that of Mr. and Mrs. Inglis. Our hearts contained nothing
but grief, and we said, " What can this mean ? " But it is the Lord's
WILLIAMU'S LETTERS. 34!
Avill towards us, and He is Lord over all men. Tell me if you three are
well. Be strong, and pray every day to our Father in heaven for His
Holy Spirit, and remember Jesus our Saviour, and let us not be feeble
in our minds on account of these things. Let us not call in question
His doings. He has chastened us by these deaths, and by the trials He
has brought upon us : and He is still rebuking us. Alas ! alas ! for our
little island. It is now almost a desert ; the people are nearly all dead.
Remember me to your wife Elizabeth and your daughter Retia,
and say to your fellow-labourers, Matthew and Singonga, that I wish
them well. Be strong, my brethren, and let your hearts be estab-
lished in love to Jesus your Saviour. Say to your fellow teacher,
Yaresi, that I wish him well, and the same to Nakau, his wife.
Speak kindly to the Tannese chiefs, viz., Yaresi, and Namaka, and
Taura, and Lauaua, and Naka, and Kaipapa, and Namua, and say
that the word of Jehovah is certainly true, and that all things on
earth are weak to save our souls. Let them be strong towards the
Avords of truth, and give up those lying vanities that kill men's souls
and send them to hell. Jesus only is the way and the truth, both for
us and for the people of every land. Remember me to the missionary
and his wife, Mr. and Mrs. Mathicson. I am sorry that my friends
have not written to me as the missionaries have written to Mr. and
Mrs. Ingl is.
Moreover, Britain is a remarkable country for religion, and for the
kindness of the people to one another and to strangers. The people all
go to church every Sabbath day without ceasing, and they often meet
also on week days. Into whatever house I go, the people are all so
kind to me, and seem so glad to see me, but I am ashamed to be
looked at. This is indeed a good land. There are such crowds of
people here ; the houses too are crowded close together in the towns ;
and the country is so large, it is just like the ocean, and yet there is
none of it lying waste, there are so many people. But I cannot
describe it to you in a letter. Moreover, Mr. Inglis has bought me a
beautiful clock. It has a glass door, and in the inside there is a bell
which strikes every hour. At one o'clock it strikes once ; at two
o'clock it strikes twice and then stops ; at three o'clock it strikes
thrice and then stops, and it goes on in this way at every hour till it
comes to twelve o'clock, when it strikes twelve times and then stops.
Are you two looking after the two yams that I gave you ? My love
to you three. May the Lord bless you. WILLIAMU.
34 2 WILLIAMU'S LETTERS.
To Sabataio.
NEWTON-STEWART, September yoth, 1861.
O SABATAIO, my cousin, I wish you well. I am well at present, and
so are Mr. and Mrs. Inglis. We three are living here. But we go to
a number of places, and visit the people and feast with them. I have
a number of valuable things which the people have given me in pre-
sents. The people of this country are so good to me in giving me
food. I never ask for anything nor yet for food, and yet I am never
in want of anything, as I used to be on our island Aneityum.
Moreover, I say to you, tell the people of Aname [his own land,
where he was chief] that I wish them all well, men and women and
children ; I do not forget you for a single day : but I say to you, be all
strong, and assemble every Sabbath in the church, and pray to our
Father in heaven without ceasing ; and do not be weak-hearted on
account of those sorrows which you are now enduring. But think of
this, that our days on earth are few, and think of that place where
you are to abide for ever.
Besides this, be strong, and dig, and plant, that you may have
plenty of food to eat. Do not sit idle, but look well after the water-
course for irrigating the plantations. Do not neglect that. If you
neglect the land, and do not work, and if I return, I will not follow
your indolent ways ; but I will say that your former conduct was
better than your present. Let us cultivate the land, let us leave the
old plantations and form new ones, and drain the swamps and make
good dwellings. When I come home I wish to build a new house, I
wisli you all well, and I long to see you ; but 1 cannot yet on account
of the work for which I accompanied Mr. Inglis.
Be strong, all of you. If any one make you angry, do not take
revenge on him, and do not follow his way, but exhort him, and live
together in peace, and watch over your conduct, and do not provoke
one another to anger. Do not talk proudly, and do not quarrel. Tell
Nityok and Mathima to look Avell after my cocoa-nuts, and collect
them for oil to me. When I return home I will see whether they
have collected them or not. I wish you all to write me a letter, and
tell me about things and what the people of Aneityum are doing, and
how you are all getting on ; how you are attending the church and
the school, and how all the people are behaving themselves, and every-
WILLIAMU'S LETTERS. 343
thing about Aneityum. I sympathise with you in all your sufferings
and in all your sorrows.
This is the letter of me, Williamu, to you, Sabataio. My love to
you and to all the people of Aname. Be ye all strong.
WILLIAMU.
To Napolos, a chief of Aneityum whose wife had died.
NEWTON-STEWART, September $th, 1861,
O NAPOLOS, I sympathise with you, my brother, on account of the
death of your wife. I do indeed sympathise with you on account of
your grief ; your grief and mine are the same. The sorrow of all of us
is the same. I am telling you of my grief, while I am living here in
another land. When I first heard that death had come among you,
and that so many of the people were dying, and that the two churches
on the other side of the island had been burned down, and that a
number of the people were becoming weak in their hearts, and that
they were going back and observing old heathen practices, and making
offerings to their old gods when I heard of all these things my
sorrow was very great. I was truly grieved, and I wept ; because
when we worshipped vanities long ago, on account of our ignorance
of the Lord, He had compassion on us, and sent His servants to us
that they might show to us the only good way, even Jesus our
Saviour ; and because that now when we know Him Avell we are
rejecting Him and reviving those practices which we formerly ob-
served. This is wilful disobedience. Why do men think evil thoughts
of Him on account of those trials by means of which He has been
chastening us, in order that we may obey Him and become like fruit-
ful trees ? It is not good for us to be angry with God to whom all
things belong and we ourselves also. We must not call in question
His doings. The doings of God which we see are mighty. All things
and all men belong to God, and He doeth with us what seemeth good
to Him. O Napolos, my brother, very great is my sorrow on account
of the death of my wife and my relations. But I think the Lord is
chastening me that He may send me up to heaven. Why should I
rebel and be angry because He is rebuking me ?
The work of God prospers much in Britain. The ministers never
cease to assemble the people, and to speak to them about the work of
344 WILLIAMU'S LETTERS.
God in all countries throughout the world. They know all about
those trials that have come upon you. They sympathise with us,
and pray to the Lord for us at every meeting and every day, and that
without ceasing. I am grieved on account of the houses belonging
to Mr. Inglis which the sea destroyed. They stood too near the sea ;
also on account of the church, and the Teacher's Institution, and the
schoolhouses. But it was all our doing ; we were sleeping secure,
and never thought of the time that these things would come on us,
and built our houses on the shore, and forsook the inland districts.
But let all the people be strong and rebuild all their houses. Do not
let them say that this work pains them, and help Mr. Copeland. You,
and Kapos, and Yona, and Katipae, and Luka, and Yamtiu, and the
rest of the people. Speak also to the people, and let the chiefs exhort
all their followers in every district to work hard, that they may have
plenty of food and build good houses for themselves, and keep their
dwellings all clean. It is quite true that the missionaries tell us that
we do not take'proper care of ourselves. When any one is sick he lies
outside at night exposed to the damp and the cold, or else his house is
bad, and he breathes bad smells from the rubbish lying on the ground.
Britain is a fine country ; the whole country is cleared ; the houses
are excellent ; they clear away all rubbish from the ground ; and
they work every day, and make their houses and gardens beautiful,
and they have plenty of all things. But I cannot write any more to
you. This is the letter of me, Williamu, to you, Napolos. My love to
you, and to all the people who are living with you. Yours,
WILLIAMU.
To Mathima (his half-brother).
NEWTON-STEWART, March 25^, 1862.
O MATHIMA, My love to you, my brother. I am very well at
present. I have a great many clothes, and I wish to make you a present
of something, but I cannot just now. I have also a number of English
books. Moreover, I am learning to sing at present. A young man
comes to teach me. His name is Mr. Vernon. He leads the singing
in Mr. Goold's church, where we worship. Mr. Goold is a very good
man ; he is very kind to me. Very great is Mr. Vernon's knowledge
of singing ; he has taught me fourteen tunes which I know. He also
goes over them again with me, that I may have them correct. He has
WILLIAMU'S LETTERS. 345
been very kind to me. He made me a present of an instrument which
sounds like a natarau [a native flute]. They call it an accordion.
It is something like the instrument which Manura made. He also
made me a present of a book which teaches us how to sing and
play. They call it a music book. Very excellent is the singing in
Britain ; and so is all the worship. I am well at present, and so are
Mr. and Mrs. Inglis. But Mr. Inglis has not done with his work yet,
but they have commenced printing. It is being done in a great city
which they call London. We three expect to be home in the end of
the year.
Remember me to Netlmoware and to Yona, and say that I have
not forgotten them. Say to them also, Let the chiefs of Aneityum
be one in heart and live as brethren. Let their word be one, and
their work one also, and let their conduct be consistent. Let them
look well after all the people ; let them speak soft words to their
young men when they go astray, and bring them back by persuasion,
but do not get enraged at them, and beat them, or scold them, or
threaten them. We know that God only can punish aright those who
refuse to do His laws. My friends, do not be weak in your hearts
because you are few in number at present, but be strong and do your
parts Avell, as those dwelling in the land, that our island may again
revive and prosper, And be strong and help Mr. Copeland, and
speak well to all the people, that they look after him, and remember
the words where it is said, "The labourer is worthy of his hire."
My words are done. Peace be with you. WILLIAMU.
To Talep (his uncle, a teacher on Tanna).
NEWTON-STEWART, March 2$th, 1862.
O TALEP, my best wishes for you. I am very well just now, and
so are the two missionaries. The cold is very great here at present,
but I am strong to w 7 ork and to walk, and when Mr. and Mrs. Inglis
visit their friends I go with them. We go to a great many houses.
I do not know well what they say, but I go for the feasting. Very
very great was the cold of the winter of 1861. The cold of 1862 has
been moderate. I am strong to go to the church every Sabbath and
also on week days. I had a cough, and Mr. Inglis was afraid of me,
34 6 WILLTAMU'S LETTERS.
and gave me medicine, and took care of me, and made me stay in the
house, and made me put on more clothes in the daytime, and gave
me more blankets at night, and I live as they do. In the same way
all the people are good to me here in this great land. Such is their
way in this land of light. They treat me as if I had been born here,
and as if I were the child of everybody in the land, their kindness
to me is so great and their treatment of me is so good. They are
not kind to me because I am a chief, or for anything they see about
me. It is just the way they do in this land of light, from the grace
of God in their hearts, and from the peace and truth and goodness
which He has given them, and thereby made this land great, and
made the people willing and able to believe on His name. We three
have gone to a great many places where the people have asked
Mr. Inglis to explain to them the condition of other lands, as they
wish to hear about their way of living and their conduct. He also
told me to speak and explain to them our conduct in the days of
heathenism. I speak, and Mr. Inglis interprets in English what I
say. I have spoken in eight churches, and explained our heathen
customs that we clung to long ago. I spoke before great crowds, as
many as are assembled on Aneityum at the time of the communions.
The churches were full.
Moreover, it is good for us people of Aneityum to think earnestly
just now, seeing that we have renounced all our sins in the presence
of God, and have come to Him to receive eternal life through Jesus
our Lord. Talep, my father, I say this to you just now. Be very
strong, and seek diligently food for your soul, that is eternal life ; and
pray to our Father in heaven every day for His Holy Spirit to abide
with you, and love our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ with all your
heart, and read His Word every day that you may know the truth of
His Gospel, and explain well this Word of His to those chiefs on
Tanna to Yaresi, and Taura, and Namaka, and Lauaua, and to the
people who hear a little, and assure them that the Word of God is
true, that their idols are lies, that the works of the devil are vanity,
that his works bring men to misery, that he deceives us, and wishes
that we may all go to his place of torment, that the Lord Jesus is
the only true Saviour of us heathens in all lands. Urge the Tannese
to be strong and keep hold of Christianity, and not let it go from
them ; and let them take good care of their two missionaries, Mr.
and Mrs. Mathieson, and not to be angry with them. They two are
WILLIAMTJS LETTERS. 347
teaching them the Gospel, the Word that will save their souls. Be
you and Matthew strong, and assist Mr. Mathieson in his work ; and
let your two wives do the same to Mrs. Mathieson, and live all of you
in peace. I am thankful to learn that you are all well.
Great is Mr. Inglis's work on the book, the New Testament, up to
this month in which I am writing this letter to you. But they have
begun to print it in London, which is the chief city in Britain, and is
at the other end of the land. It is, as it were, at Espirito Santo ; and
we are here, as it were, at Aneityum. But the proof-sheets are carried
backwards and forwards by a railway, a thing that runs as fast as a
pigeon flies. We have been a long time here, but our stay will now
be short ; perhaps we may be home this year.
I am very happy living here. I am not crying for Aneityum ; I do
not long for any of the things in our land. I am fully satisfied with
what I get to eat j I am not in want of anything. I am not as you
were when you travelled and went to Sydney. You were so pained
with hunger that you longed for the leaves of the trees, and no one
gave you anything. It is not so here. Whatever house I go to, of
their own accord they say, " How do you do? I am glad to see you ;
come and eat something." I have no voice to express my wonder at
the conduct of the people in this laud of light. Peace be unto you
WlLLIAMU.
To Mathima and Kapos.
NEWTON-STEWABT, July 28th, 1862.
My love to you two. I wish you two well. When we three were
at the Synod in Glasgow Mr. Robertson of Blairbeth, at whose house
we were staying, took Mrs. Inglis and me into his house where he
makes cloth the house Avhere he makes cloth out of cotton a
very very large, high house. It is six houses inside from the ground
to the roof ; they call them storeys. The inside of it is as large as the
whole enclosure around our church. It is as wide as from the fence
at the back of the church to the road at the trees on the shore. And
it is as long as from the fence at the bell-house to the lower fence
at the Teachers' Institution. And there is another house joined to
it, also a very large house ; it has either six or seven roofs, I forget
which. There is a chimney at the side of the house as tall as any
34$ WILLIAMU'S LETTERS.
of the cocoa-nut trees beside the teachers' house. The body of the
chimney is as thick as the great inteijith (banyan) tree in Nityok's
yard. There are six fireplaces for heating the water that is inside
the boiler a boiler like that which used to be between the two
islands, between Inyeug and Nahringagas, which came out of some
vessel ; but it is long and full of water, under which they make fires.
When the water boils it makes a thing to go round which they call
a wheel. It goes round like those we saw on the outside of the
steamer, but they were small, this one was very large. Moreover,
when this wheel is made to go round by the steam of the boiling
water, it sets everything agoing in every one of these houses, and
the noise is like the noise of a waterfall. Everything is going round
in every house, from the bottom up to the top, both the things for
spinning thread and the things for weaving cloth. When everything
is going round and the wheels are all making a noise, the ground is
shaking just as if it were an earthquake. When all things are going,
the thread makes itself in one place and the cloth makes itself in
another place. None of the people make any with their hands. They
just stand, and look, and watch it. None of them spin any thread
with their hands, and none of them weave any cloth with their hands.
This is the Avay they do in all the places where they make thread,
and cloth, and blankets, and everything else. I cannot explain it to
you. I cannot write about it. I could not wonder. I stood still and
looked. When I went into the house in which they kept their cotton
they showed me some that came from Aneityum. They asked Mrs.
Inglis if it grew well on Aneityum. When she said that it did, they
said, " You ought to plant it ; we wish cotton very much." What do you
think of this, Kapos ? I think it will be an excellent thing for us.
Do not think it is a little word this about the cotton, I say it is a big
word. It has a body in it. There is a young man coming out with
us three to explain it to us. Let us be strong and plant cotton, and
gather it, and he will buy it from us and give us payment.
Moreover, when we came back from the Synod to the house in which
we lived, we packed up all our things and left the house, and went
to live in another house. We did this on the day on which all the
people who leave their houses and go to new ones do so, that
is on the 26th of May; they call it Whitsunday. It was on a
Monday.
Salute Luka, and Yosefa, and Filip, and all the people of Itath.
WILLIAMU'S LETTERS. 349
Salute also from me, Beni, and Moana, and Lasarus, Inhalvatimi,
and all the people of Aname. Salute also Seremona, and Faresi,
and Yawila, aud all the people of Ipeke. I wish them all well.
Let them pray for us three. Peace be with them all ; my words are
done. WILLIAMU.
CHAPTER XXXV.
CONCLUSION CLAIMS OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS,
ESPECIALLY THE NEW HEBKIDES.
FOR a long period the Polynesian missions were highly popular,
and deservedly so. Tahiti, Hawaii, and the South Seas were
the watchwords at every missionary meeting. But for a
number of years other fields have been attracting so much of
public attention that the South Seas are falling greatly into
the background. The continents are swamping the islands.
The millions in India, China, Africa, and elsewhere are
brought so prominently and so constantly forward, that the
thousands in Polynesia are all but thrown into the shade.
Those islands, it is said, were very good to begin with, or
they may be very well adapted for small churches or small
societies, but at this advanced stage of missionary pro-
gress, and for our large societies, the large continents, with
their teeming millions, are the proper fields on which to carry
on missionary operations. When you have continents con-
taining hundreds of millions, why direct your attention to
islands where the population is counted only by thousands?
And then science, commerce, and politics, with plausible argu-
ments loudly proclaimed and constantly reiterated, come in as
counsellors to a sincere and simple-minded, rather than a
shrewd, sagacious, and far-seeing philanthropy ; so that the
extent of territory and the amount of population, irrespective
of more important considerations, are allowed undue influence
CLAIMS OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS. 3 5 I
in- the selection of fields for missionary enterprises. While it
is only the merest fringes of those great territories and the
merest fractions of those vast populations that are being
touched, of what benefit to the work of missions are those
untold millions on whom no impression whatever can by any
possibility at present be made ? While we are attacking
Satan's strongholds in detail, why not attack his weakest
points first, other advantages being equal ? And he is greatly
weaker on the islands than on the continents. By all means
let everything be done that can be done for the continents
with their millions, ten times more than is being done, but by
no means at the expense of the islands with their thousands.
Could we count our missionaries by thousands but alas ! all
our European and American missionaries amount only to
three thousand ; or could we count our funds by millions
but alas ! all our annual contributions amount only to one
million and a quarter this mode of reasoning would be quite
conclusive : but so long as we send forth our missionaries by
units, or at most by twos, and collect our funds by hundreds,
or at most by thousands, the most manageable and the most
remunerative fields ought certainly to be chiefly cultivated.
And when God in His providence is granting ten times more
success in most of the islands than He is doing in most of the-
continents, and when missions can be carried on in Polynesia
at half the cost at which they can be carried on in India,
surely the claims of the islands are immeasurably stronger
than the claims of the continents. And, did space permit, it
would be easy to show that the hopes of science, commerce,
and politics would be in a similar proportion more fully
realised in the many isles of the sea than in the vast con-
tinents of which so much has been said. To scientific men
352 CLAIMS OP THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS,
what portion of Cook's voyages were so interesting as his
descriptions of the South Sea islands? In botanical speci-
mens those islands are remarkably rich. Aneityum alone
contains about a hundred different species of ferns. When I
was thinking of settling on Aneityum, the Curator of the
Botanical Garden in Sydney, who had made a voyage on board
a man-of-war in the New Hebrides, said to me, " Mr. Inglis,
if you would only collect specimens on those islands you might
immortalise your name." The entomologist will also find a
highly interesting field for his researches. They are teeming
with all varieties of insect life. Of shells and sea-fish the
numbers and varieties are truly marvellous; while in the
many and dissimilar languages, customs, and traditions of the
inhabitants of those islands, the ethnologist will find ample
materials for extensive and interesting investigations. In a
commercial point of view, an island is of far more value than
the same space of land, however fertile, in the centre of a
continent. The sea is an open highway, and the Pacific is
fast becoming one of the greatest thoroughfares in the world.
It is surrounded by countries which are rapidly rising in
commercial importance. It is the highway between China,
Australia, New Zealand, South America, California, and
Columbia. It is the greatest whaling-ground in the world.
To say nothing of Colonial and British whalers, it is said that
400 of the 600 whaleships sent out from the United States
are traversing the Pacific. It is only at Christianised islands
that any ship is either safe or can calculate on obtaining
supplies. As many as seventy vessels have called at Raro-
tonga in one year for supplies of wood, water, and fresh pro-
visions. For all tropical productions those islands will become
like the "West Indies to our Australasian Colonies. Their
ESPECIALLY THE NEW HEBRIDES. 353
political value to Britain is also great. Where is France
intriguing so much at present against British interests as
among those islands I France sees how rapidly those colonies
are increasing in wealth, and, at the same time, how weak and
unprotected they continue to be, and she is lurking in great
strength among the islands, ready to seize any favourable
opportunity for wounding our empire in that vulnerable heel.
The missions in those seas, so far as they extend, are a source
of political strength to Britain and the Australian Colonies.
Perhaps no equal number of men, in the same position, are a
source of more political strength to our Colonies than the
hundred Protestant missionaries who are labouring in the
South Pacific. But for the moral influence of the missionaries,
New Zealand, with her 600,000 colonists, would in all likeli-
hood not have been a British colony to-day ; the natives
would not have signed the treaty of Waitangi, and the sove-
reignty of Great Britain would not have been recognised by
the Maoris. New Guinea would not have been annexed so
easily had there been no missionaries on the spot. On account
of all these and other advantages, as well as of the direct mis-
sionary work accomplished and anticipated, we appeal to the
churches, and the individual members of the churches that
support the New Hebrides mission, for increased funds, in
order that we may conquer those islands for Christ; Satan
has long held them under his dominion. But we have opened
the campaign ; and, if it is vigorously followed up, we have
the prospect and we have the promise of ultimate and com-
plete success, for "the kingdom is the Lord's," and "the isles
shall wait for His law."
But we require men as well as money, perhaps men more
than money for this work, although hitherto for this and all
254 CLAIMS OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS,
other missions God has given both in very equal proportions.
"Very few well- qualified men have ever been refused for want
of funds to support them, and seldom has the mission treasury
been overflowing and no suitable agents forthcoming requiring
support. The Lord has not only supplied funds, but ' He has
sent forth men with all the qualifications needed for the work ;
and doubtless, in answer to prayer, He will do so in time to
come. In the mission-field, as elsewhere, there has always
been and there still is a diversity of gifts, but it is the same
Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He willeth ; on one
is bestowed the gift of tongues, and he is soon recognised
among his brethren as a living Polyglot; he can chain the
savage spirit of the heathen, as Paul did that of his own country-
men, by the simple but magic-like power of their own tongue.
On another is bestowed the gift of healing, and he is soon
known, like Luke, as the " beloved physician ;" his very shadow,
like that of Peter, is supposed to have a health-giving influence,
and, on this account the word finds readier access to many hearts.
On another is bestowed the gift of government ; like Moses, he
can organise and rule, reduce chaos into order, and infuse such
principles of scriptural polity into both ecclesiastical and civil
institutions as shall conserve truth and freedom to succeeding
generations. On another is bestowed the gift of mechanical
skill, and tabernacles and temples for the worship of God rise
up under his skilful hands as they did under those of Bezaleel
or Huram. On another is bestowed the gift of song and
music, and like David, he can call forth from ten thousand
voices the high praises of the Lord. To another it is given to
go down to the sea in ships and do the business of the Lord in
great waters ; he is at home on the ocean ; to him the loveliest
scene on earth is the isles waiting for God's law, and the most ^
ESPECIALLY THE NEW HEBRIDES. 355
attractive representation of heaven is the hyaline sea, having
its shores lined, as some eminent critics interpret the figure,
with the innumerable company of harpers all singing the song
of Moses and the Lamb. To another it is given to traverse
continents ; like Livingstone, to carry with apostolic zeal the
Gospel into the regions beyond where any other missionary
has penetrated, and leave behind him at every step the seeds
of Christianity, civilisation, and commerce, so that the wilder-
ness is made to nourish and blossom as the rose. On another
is bestowed the gift of prophecy; he is a Boanerges or a
Barnabas, a son of thunder or a son of consolation; when
he prophesies, when he preaches Christ as the Son of God
and as the Saviour of the world, when he exhibits sin in its
nature and in its consequences, and salvation in its origin, in
its purchase, and in its application, the heathen as of old are
convinced, the secrets of their hearts' are made manifest, and
they fall down confessing that God is in him of a truth. To
the most there is given a portion of several gifts, no one
towering above the rest; prodigies are but few in number,
because few such are needed ; ordinary work is best done by
ordinary men : such excite no special notice on earth, but the
result of their efforts is added to the common stock of the
world's benefits, the recording angel inscribes it to their
account in heaven, and it is kept in remembrance before God.
Every gift is needed in the mission field, none can be dis-
pensed with and none are to be despised ; and every man
serves God best with his own gift.
In the South Sea Missions we have had a few very out-
standing men, and we have had a large share of fully average
men, both in the South Seas and in the New Hebrides
missions. But it seems to be a tacitly recognised principle
356 CLAIMS OF THE SOUTH SEA ISLANDS.
at present, in all missionary circles, that the highest intellect,
the highest scholarship, and the highest general ability must
be quietly yielded up to India and to Africa, to China
and to Japan, but that for the South Seas nothing above
mediocrity is required; to a certain class of students it is
looked upon as the reverse of. complimentary to ask them to
go to the South Seas. We are still disposed to covet earnestly
the best gifts, but we are nevertheless content if we can obtain
men possessing the average amount of talent, of scholarship,
of piety, and of common sense. With us, however, an in-
dispensable qualification for missionaries and the wives of
missionaries, is that they possess good health and a good
constitution ; that they be able to rough it, and be able, more
or less deftly, to turn their hand to anything that may 'cast
up. As Dr. Livingstone has well put it, and it holds as true
of the New Hebrides as it does of Africa, " The missionary
must be Jack of all trades without, and his wife must be maid
of all work within." They must both belong to " the working
classes." Average missionaries of this type, with their heart
fully in their work, and the blessing of the Lord resting in an
ordinary measure on their labours, are morally certain of
success. They may go forth weeping, bearing precious seed,
but they shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing
their sheaves with them.
THE END.