MISSK N \R r' SO w w w w P-L &Lib Warren Waterk ouAe E hari te fau E toro te faaro E nau te taata." THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES CAPTAIN JAMES WILSON, COMMANDER OF THE " DUFF." THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS TKIUitten for Jl)oung people GEORGE COUSINS Editorial Secretary and Assistant Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society Author of " From Island to Island in the South Seas " WITH MAPS AND MANY ILLUSTRATIONS Centcnarg {ft auto $cfo gear ffering Etiitfan, completing 2^,000. LONDON LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY 14, BLOM FIELD STREET, E.G. JOHN SNOW & CO., 2, IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER Row, E.C. 1894 Gctn'cateti to THE MEMORY OF MY ELDEST SISTER (THE WIFE OF AN OLD FELLOW-STUDENT) WHO DIED AT LEONE, SAMOA, JULY 16x11, 1864, AFTER A SHORT BUT HAPPY MISSIONARY CAREER 136478G PREFACE THIS book is the outcome of the revived interest in the South Seas which the effort to -build the steamer, John Williams, has created. In reading old books descriptive of the early days of the mission I came across so many striking facts unknown to the young people of to-day that a desire to put these facts together in a short connected story grew strong within me. It seemed also only right that those who had worked so nobly in raising money for the steamer should possess a volume that would clearly show them the greatness of the enterprise which they were helping forward. The first few pages repeat what appears in the opening chapter of " From Island to Island," but in an altered form. The remainder is newly written. The books to which I am specially indebted are : Ellis's " Polynesian Researches," Williams's" Missionary Enterprises," Buzacott's " Mission Life in the Pacific," Turner's " Nineteen Years in Polynesia," Murray's " Western Polynesia," and " Forty Years' Mission Work," Gill's "Gems from the Coral Islands," Dr. Steele's "New Hebrides and Christian Missions," " The Night of Toil," by the author of the " Peep of Day," and an article entitled " Christian Work in Polynesia," which appeared in " The Missionary Review of the World." I have to thank my friends the Revs. S. J. Whitmee, F.R.G.S., formerly of Samoa, and A. T. Saville, formerly of Huahine, for their valued help in reading through the proofs. That the reader may have as much happiness in perusing this wonderful record of God's power and grace as I have had in writing it is my most earnest wish. GEORGE COUSINS. July i tfh, 1894. CONTENTS CHAPTFR PAGB I. THE GOOD SHIP "DUFF" AND HER STRANGE CARGO i II. "THE NIGHT OF TOIL" 17 III. THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 26 IV. SPREADING OUT 47 V. CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS .69 VI. THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK ... 96 VII. THE MARTYRED MISSIONARY AND WESTERN POLYNESIA . . .125 VIII. FURTHER EXTENSION 148 IX. TEACHING AND TRAINING HEATHEN CONVERTS 165 X. JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA . . . . . .183 XL OTHER LABOURERS IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN 202 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS CAPTAIN JAMES WILSON, COM- I'AOC, 30. A SAMO MANDER OF THE "DUFF " (Frontispiece] 31. A NATH THE REV. DR. HAWEIS . 2 32. NATIVE CAPT. COOK 6 33. A BEE-I CAPT. COOK'S VESSELS AT ANCHOR 8 34. REV. A. THE "DUFF" IN THE PACIFIC 9 35. CANOES CEDING MATAVAI TO THE MISSION 13 36. HOUSE OFFERING A HUMAN SACRIFICE . 22 AT M A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER Hus- 37. A SAMO 28 38. A WESI NATIVES FISHING .... 31 39. A VILLJ POLYNESIAN DEITIES 35 40. SOLOMO A TATOOED WARRIOR . 38 MASK POLYNESIAN WEAPONS . 39 41. LEVUKA POLYNESIAN CANOES 43 42. LEULUM POMARE'S IDOLS .... 45 SCHO< POMARE II 48 MANI A CORAL ISLAND .... 55 43. CHAPEL POMARE'S ROYAL CHAPEL 58 REV. FARE HARBOUR, HUAHINE . 63 44. DUGONC INTERIOR OF NATIVE HUT . 65 WHAI REV. JOHN WILLIAMS . 70 45. NEW Gi AITUTAKI 81 THE i THE BRAVE TEACHER, PAPEIHA . 87 46. SOUTH HEATHEN CEREMONIES ON THE NATH RETURN OF THE PLEIADES 92 47. TAURAK THE " MESSENGER OF PEACE " 98 48. RUATOK HEATHEN REVELRY 1 02 49. THE B/ THE FRENZIED OLD CHIEF . 109 LEAVJ A SAMOAN CHIEF .... 114 VOYA( THE REV. HENRY NOTT 117 50. MAORI NATIVES OF SAMOA IN PAST AND 51. BISHOP PRESENT STYLES OF DRESS 121 52. KING T 2. 3- 4- 5- 6. 7- 8. 9- 10. 11. 12. 13- 14. 15- 16. 17- 1 8. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23- 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 1. SOCIETY ISLANDS 2. HERVEY ISLANDS 3. SAMOAN ISLANDS A NATIVE OF WESTERN POLYNESIA H-HOOKS HUT .... MURRAY [NG OFF TO A VESSEL. HOUSE OF THE REV. JOHN JONES AT MARE SAMOAN GIRL .... WESTERN POLYNESIAN DANDY . VILLAGE CHAPEL IN SAMOA ISLANDERS DRESSED IN LEVUKA, THE CHIEF PORT OF FIJI )EGA (UPOLU) HIGH L BOYS ENGAGED AT ^L WORK .... AT MARE BUILT BY THE OHN JONES ;, A SMALL KIND OF NEW GUINEA VILLAGE BUILT INTO THE SEA SOUTH SEA ISLAND TEACHERS AND NATIVES OF NEW GUINEA . UJRAKI LTATOKA AND HIS WIFE THE BARQUE "JOHN WILLIAMS" SYDNEY ON HER LAST MAPS PAGE 52 77 112 PAGE 4. WESTERN POLYNESIA . . .129 5. NEW GUINEA AND SOUTH-EAST NEW GUINEA 185 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS CHAPTER I. THE GOOD SHIP " DUFF " AND HER STRANGE CARGO. " And He spake to His disciples that a small ship should wait on Him? N August, 1796, a ship was sailing down the river Thames. As she passed along crowds of people were to be seen lining the shores at certain points, who waved their hats and shouted out "God -speed," while those on board sang hymns, especially one which was then a great favourite : "Jesus, at Thy command, We launch into the deep." The sailors in other ships that they passed could not make them out. Had they been singing coarse songs, they would have joined in, but who these hymn-singers were puzzled them much. Leaving the river, the ship got out into the channel, and a man- of-war that was stationed there hailed them with the usual ques- tions: "What ship is that?" "The Duff." " Whither bound ?" " Otaheite." " What cargo ? " " Missionaries and provisions." Mis- sionaries and provisions ! what could they be ? Such a cargo had never been heard of before ; so thinking perhaps that this answer was meant to deceive him, the captain of the man-of-war ordered an officer to take a boat, and board the Duff at once. Pulling alongside, the officer clambered up on deck, was met by the Duff's captain, who showed him his papers, and finding nothing more than a party of peaceable men and women on board, who were on their way to a far- B THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS away island of the Pacific, the king's officer could say no more. The ship was allowed to pass as " all right," and went on her voyage to that distant ocean. In those days a missionary ship was quite a new thing, and we must explain how it was that such a vessel was sailing to Otaheite. Twelve months before, a number of earnest ministers and other good Christians had joined together to send the gospel to heathen nations. They founded what at first they called the " The Missionary Society," but is now known as the London Missionary Society, and on the very day that they did so (September 25th, 1795), made up their minds to begin by sending missionaries to Otaheite or some other islands of the South Seas. Those were the words they used. A hundred years ago maps were scarce, and what few there were could not tell their owners what our maps tell us. Much less was known about the world than is known now. A school-boy to-day can easily learn more geography than grown-up people who were fond of books could then. That accounts for the want of clearness in speaking about the islands. One thing only was certain, and that was that the first place to which the newly-formed Society was to send missionaries was an island of the South Seas. But why choose a small island when large conti- nents were without the light ? Partly because those larger lands were closed against them ; partly because the voyages of Captain Wallis, Captain Cook, and others, had aroused much interest in " Otaheite " and " other islands " of the Southern Ocean ; partly because a noble Christian lady, Selina, Countess of Huntingdon, was one whose heart was drawn to those islands, and through her chaplain, Dr. Haweis, who was a THE REV. DR. HAWEIS. THE GOOD SHIP "DUFF" AND HER STRANGE CARGO 3 director of the new Society, was led to use her influence on their behalf. So it was settled : India, China, Japan, Africa, were not yet open to the servants of Christ, but the islands were open, and to them therefore would they send. The next step was to fix upon a plan for doing this. An offer from a gentleman named Captain James Wilson made it easy. Captain Wilson had passed through strange adventures. His father was captain of a Newcastle collier, and he himself grew up a rough and reckless sailor-boy. For a time he served as a soldier in the American war. Then, leaving America, he went to India, became captain of a vessel, and served the East India Company. After a time he was taken prisoner by the French, but managed to make his escape by jumping down from the prison walls, a height not less than forty feet. It is a wonder that he did not break his legs. In his flight he came to a river full of alligators, but not knowing anything about this he plunged in and swam across to the other side. No alligator had seized him, but when he climbed up from the river's bank to some high ground near, he was seen and again taken prisoner ! not, as before, by the French, but by Hyder Ali's soldiers. Hyder AH was at that time fighting against the English ; so Wilson was stripped naked, and with his hands tied behind him, and the rope held by one of the soldiers, he was driven into camp. When asked where he had come from he simply told the story of his escape, but at first was not believed. " No mortal man had ever swum across the Coleroon," said the chief, " and if he had but dipped his fingers in its waters, he would have been seized by the alligators." Upon learning, however, that Wilson spoke the truth, they looked upon him in wonder, and Hyder said : " This is God's man." Still he was a prisoner of war, and was therefore chained to a common soldier, and driven, naked, barefoot, and wounded, a distance of 500 miles. He was at length loaded with irons of thirty-two pounds weight, and thrust into a horrible prison called the Black Hole ; and, while there, so great at times was the raging of hunger, that his jaws snapped together of their own accord when his scanty 4 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS meal was brought to him. Often the dead body of the man who had been chained to him was unchained from his arm in the morning that another living sufferer might take its place to die in the same way. That he should have lived through such misery for twenty-two months was next to a miracle. But at length the monster Hyder Ali was sub- dued, and the doors of the Black Hole were thrown open, when worn to a skeleton, naked, half-starved, and covered with ulcers with thirty-one companions, who alone remained to tell the dismal tale of their sufferings, Captain Wilson was set free. Having made enough money to live upon, he resolved to retu'rn to Eng- land. With this in view he embarked in the same ship in which the excellent Mr. Thomas, one of the Baptist missionaries, was returning to England. Mr. Wilson, who boasted that he did not believe in God, had frequent disputes with Mr. Thomas, who one day remarked to the chief officer of the vessel that he should have much more hope of converting the Lascars to Christianity than Captain Wilson. But what man can- not do God can, and at length, by a series of most interesting incidents, he was induced to abandon his unbelief and became an eminent and devoted Christian. After some years of quiet life at home a copy of the Evangelical Magazine, announcing the purpose of sending mis- sionaries to the South Seas, fell into his hands and at once set him thinking that here was work God w r as giving him to do. He resolved that if his services were either needful or acceptable, he would give up ease and embark once more upon the stormy ocean. Captain Wilson offered to take charge of any ship that the Society might buy, and in it convey the missionaries to their far distant home. In these days of rapid travel there is neither difficulty nor hardship in reaching the Pacific. A voyage by steamer to Australia, a second by another steamer to the special group of islands to which he is bound, or a short passage to America, a railway journey across the prairies, followed by a second voyage from San Francisco, and in a few short weeks a missionary is at his work. But a hundred years ago it was very different. The only way in which missionaries could be taken to Otaheite was by buying a special vessel, and sending them out in that. THE GOOD SHIP "DUFF" AND HER STRANGE CARGO 5 Accepting Captain Wilson's noble offer, the directors bought the good ship Duff, the first missionary ship that ever sailed the seas, for a sum of 4,800, while a further sum of 5,000 was expended in fitting her out with all needful supplies. That was before the days of Sunday schools. It was to the general public, not to the children, that the directors looked for help in collecting the money ; but so heartily did people take up the scheme, that the money came pouring in from all quarters. The name of Captain Wilson did much to win support ; but besides this, deep interest was felt by many in the novel undertaking. To us, sending missionaries to the heathen has become almost a matter of course, but to our grandfathers and great-grandfathers it was quite a new thing. Most people laughed at the idea. It seemed to them the veriest "wild-goose chase." " Why trouble oneself about South Sea Island savages ? " said they. " The chances are that the missionaries will ba killed and eaten at a cannibal feast, while as for converting such people, the thing is impossible." Others thought it wrong even to attempt this. " If God wishes to convert them," they said, "He will do it without our aid." On the other hand, many were full of hope about the plan ; above all, they felt that the command of Jesus Christ was clear and must be obeyed. " Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature," Christ had said, and yet the greater part of the world had never heard the gospel. " We have neglected them too long," said the earnest ones ; " let us now be up and doing." So, on August loth, 1796, a party of thirty missionaries embarked at Gravesend. While Captain Wilson and his friends had been busy preparing the ship, others had been at work all over the country re- ceiving offers of service from those willing to go. There had been a stirring farewell meeting the evening before in the Haberdasher's Hall, in the city of London, at which they were commended to the loving care of the Lord of the Harvest, in whose name they were setting forth. In that party of missionaries there were men of " all sorts." Four of the thirty were ministers ; the rest belonged to various trades. There were six carpenters, two shoemakers, two bricklayers, two tailors, two smiths, two weavers, a surgeon, a hatter, a shop- THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS keeper, a eotton manufacturer, a cabinet maker, a draper, a harness maker, a gentleman's servant who had become a tin-worker, a cooper, and a butcher. Only six of them were married. There were also three children. This was the missionary party that sailed down the Thames as described on the first page. Otaheite, to which they were bound, is the principal island of what is sometimes called, after King George the Third, in whose reign Captain VVallis of H.M.S. Dolphin landed and hoisted the British flag, the Georgian, but more commonly, the Society group. It was discovered by a Spaniard in 1606, and was visited, not only by Captain Wallis but also by Captain Bligh in the Bounty, and also several times by Captain Cook between the years 1769 and 1778. The island lies in i745' S. lat., and 149 30' W. long., is thirty-five miles long, and consists of two peninsulas. Captain Cook called it by its native name Otaheite, or O Tahiti. The O, however, is no real part of the name, and was soon dropped. 1 A smaller island, Moorea, or Eimeo, 2 is situated about ten miles from the mainland. Tahiti is well known now, and is much admired by all who visit it as one of the loveliest spots ever seen. Travellers of all nations join in its praise. Its beauty is most striking. The island is of volcanic origin, and its lofty sharply-cut mountain peaks, its deep thickly 1 The O is an article used before proper nouns. For instance, the natives speak of O Beritani = (Great) Britain, and O Viriamu = (John) Williams. When Captain Cook and others asked the name of the island, the reply was " O Tahiti," and this mis- led them. 2 So called in all the earlier records, but on what authority is unknown. Its only native name is Moorea. CAPTAIN COOK. THE GOOD SHIP "DUFF" AND HER STRANGE CARGO 7 wooded valleys, and its rich fruits and beautiful flowers make it quite a gem of the ocean. Many additions have been made to what were found in the island when Europeans first settled there, and to-day bananas, oranges, cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit trees, yams, sweet potatoes, sugar-cane, pine-apples, and many other fruits abound. A coral reef serves as a breakwater, and shuts out the swell of the Pacific. Inside the reef the water is as quiet and smooth as a lake. The natives belong to the light-skinned branch of the Malayo- Polynesian race, a people who have spread over many parts of the world, and are to be found in the Malayan Archipelago, in many parts of the Pacific, in New Zealand, and, strangest of all, in the far distant island of Madagascar. Visitors to Tahiti are always struck with the merry, light-hearted, laughing, rollicking character of the inhabi- tants. They are an easy-going, good-tempered folk. This has its pleasant side, but, on the other hand, has made them morally weak and vicious. In the days of their barbarism they were about as corrupt and impure in thought, speech, and conduct as any nation ever heard of ; and even to-day, in the ports, there is gross vice and wickedness- But we are going too fast, and must return to the Duff and her- strange cargo. It was not until the 23rd of September that she actually- started on her voyage. She had been detained for three weeks at. Spithead, waiting for a British man-of-war to see her safely out of the reach of French frigates, for England and France being then at war - with each other, it was not safe for a ship to sail alone. A week later- she had got far enough away to do this, so she parted from the man- of-war and steered for Rio Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, in South, America, which she reached in seven \veeks. After a stay of a week: she again set sail. Captain Wilson intended to take her to the Pacific* by the nearer route round Cape Horn. Once round that terrible Cape, he would have steered to the west, and reached Tahiti in three or four weeks; but so fierce were the gales he met with that his plan had to be given up, and, turning the ship's head, the longer voyage to the east taken instead. This added seven thousand miles to the dis- tance. For ninety-seven days the Duff sailed on over the dreary s THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS waste of waters, seeing neither land nor ship. How weary all on board became ! How eagerly did they long for the sight of land ! One evening the captain bade them be of good cheer, for if the wind changed a little during the night, he thought they would be near an island the next morning. The captain was right, and as soon as CAPTAIN COOK'S VESSELS AT ANCHOR. it began to grow light the following day there came the welcome cry from the man at the masthead : " Land, O ! " The land proved to be Tubuai, one of the Austral Islands ; so passing it the Duff still sailed northwards until, on Saturday, March 4th, the lofty peaks of Tahiti came in sight, and the hearts of all were made glad. The next morning, which was Sunday, the ship entered Matavai Bay, on the THE GOOD SHIP "DUFF" AND HER STRANGE CARGO 9 north side of the island, and dropping her anchor, ended her long and wearying voyage. That was a red-letter day in the history of missions, a day to be held in grateful memory to the end of time. As soon as she came to anchor the ship was surrounded by natives. THE "DUFF" IN THE PACIFIC. Some in canoes, some simply swimming, they swarmed about her, and were speedily climbing up on to her deck. They were not in the least afraid ; indeed, being now used to the visits of foreign vessels, they had come bringing pigs, fowls, fish, and fruit, which they offered for io THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS sale in exchange for knives, axes, and other things they liked. But as it was Sunday no one would buy. Chattering, laughing, and danc- ing, they roamed all over the vessel, seemed to feel quite at home, and took great interest in all they saw. The missionaries held Sunda\ r service on deck. This seemed greatly to surprise and amuse their heathen visitors, who, of course, were quite unable to understand Avhat they were doing. The singing was the only part of the service that seemed to impress them : that they evidently enjoyed. The hymn the Englishmen sang was the one that begins Avith the verse : " O'er the gloomy hills of darkness, Look, my soul, be still and gaze ; All the promises do travail With a glorious day of grace ! Blessed jubilee, Let thy glorious morning dawn." The hearts of those Christian men and women were full to overflowing. For many months they had been looking forward to that day and daily praying for its arrival, whilst slowly sailing more than half- way round the earth. At last they were off Tahiti, face to face with the people they were to teach the way of salvation. With gratitude to their loving Father, who had had them in His safe keep- ing, with a yearning desire to lead these degraded, ignorant islanders to His feet, with inward fears, perhaps, as the difficulties of their task became clearer to their minds, they poured forth both praise and prayer, thanking God for His many mercies, and beseeching Him to bless and " establish the work of their hands." Two Swedish sailors, Peter and Andrew by name, who were able to speak both English and Tahitian, coming off in a canoe, it became possible to let the natives know for what purpose the Duff had come. One of these Swedes had been shipwrecked on Tahiti, the other had been left there by a passing vessel. Though white men, they were living just as the natives lived. Several chiefs had come on board. One of them, an old man to whom the others paid much respect, named Haamanemane, was of high rank and great power. He was an aged THE GOOD SHIP "DUFF" AND HER STRANGE CARGO u chief of the neighbouring island of Raiatea, and high priest to the idol gods of Tahiti. In writing home the missionaries often had some- thing to say about this old man. He was very anxious to make Captain Wilson his " taio," or special friend. This was a custom in Tahiti. People chose one another as friends, made presents to them, and looked for presents in return. Haamanemane thought that the captain of a ship would be a friend of the right sort, from whom he would easily obtain many useful gifts. To humour him, Captain Wilson agreed, and became his " taio." With the help of Peter the Swede and Haamanemane, messages were sent to the king and queen, and arrangements made for a formal landing. This took place on Tuesday, March yth, though Captain Wilson and one or two of the missionaries had been on shore the day before. A large crowd awaited the party, the king and queen being among them. As the boat neared the shore some of the natives rushed into the water, seized the boat, and hauled her aground ; then, taking the captain and missionaries on their backs, carried them dry to the beach. The king and queen were riding on men's shoulders, as they always did when out of their own abode. Whenever they left their house they were carried, and in changing from the shoulders of one man to another were not allowed to touch the ground. The reason for that was very simple. All land that they touched became their own, and as their people did not wish to lose their lands or houses, they were willing to carry them about. The king welcomed the new comers. He and his people were greatly pleased to learn that these white visitors had come to stay. We may be sure that they hoped themselves to be the gainers, that they would often be able to beg and steal, and their island grow richer at the white men's expense. Then, knowing already how much wiser and more skilful than themselves the white men they had seen were, perhaps some of the more thoughtful natives expected to profit by this wisdom, and make it their own. But there was one thing they, at that time, knew nothing about. They did not know that it was from a desire to lead them to God, to bring them " out of darkness into light," and to make them " new creatures in Christ 12 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS Jesus," that these strangers had left their homes and come so far. For the present that was hidden from their eyes. To show his goodwill and pleasure, the king, through Haamane- mane, the high priest, granted to the missionaries the use of a large and roomy house, and also handed over to them the whole district of Matavai in which they had landed. The house was 108 feet long by 48 feet broad. It had been built by the king for Captain Bligh, of the Bounty, on his visit a few years before, and was called Fare Beritani, i.e. British House. A few days later this grant of land was formally ratified, and the event was afterwards made the subject of a painting, an engraving of which appears on the opposite page. Thus the mission in Tahiti, the first of many which the London Missionary Society has had the honour and joy of founding, was fairly begun. The first week was a busy one, for the house had to be got ready, boxes to be landed, and many things to be done, but by Saturday, March nth, exactly a week from the day they first sighted the island, the missionaries' wives and children were taken on shore to spend their first night in Tahiti. They were rowed to land in the largest boat the ship had, and a very large crowd had gathered on the beach to see them land. For the first time in their lives the natives saw white women and white boys and girls. They were greatly delighted. At first the king and queen were afraid to come near or to speak to the women, but after a time went with them into their house. The crowd remained outside, and every now and then shouted out a request that the ladies and children might be brought to the door for them to have another peep at them. The king Otu, his wife Idia, and his father, Pomare, went in their canoe to visit the ship nearly every day. Pomare was very fond of eating and drinking. Once when he dined with the captain he ate the whole of a fowl and two pounds of boiled pork, besides drinking a great deal of wine. The wine was poured down his throat by his servants. He was also a very greedy man, and untruthful. When he made presents it was always with the hope of getting larger ones in return. The first day he went to the ship he took with him four large pieces I 4 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS of cloth, made of bark, and wrapped them round the captain, also four more as a present from his wife. A few days afterwards he came again with another piece of cloth, but bringing also a large chest. The captain knew that Pomare meant him to fill this chest with pre- sents, but pretending not to know, asked him what it was for. Pomare felt ashamed to tell the truth, so made an excuse, and said that the lock wanted mending. " Take it back to the shore then," said Captain Wilson, " and one of the missionaries, who is a blacksmith, will mend it for you." Poor Pomare was in a fix, but at length, with a smile, confessed : " It is for the presents that you will give to me and my wife. Will you take it to your cabin, that my people may not see what I receive." In the cabin he asked for ten axes, five shirts, eight looking-glasses, six pairs of scissors, six knives, fifty nails, and five combs for himself, and the same number for his wife, besides an iron pot, a razor, and a blanket for his own especial use, The captain gave him all these things, and locked them safely in the box (for there was nothing wrong with the lock), but as he walked about the ship Pomare saw many other things that he wanted, nor was he too modest to beg for them. Captain Wilson was much cheered by his success, and leaving eighteen missionaries in Tahiti, went on in the Duff to other islands. He was absent three months, during which he visited the Friendly Islands, and landed ten missionaries on Tongatabu, an island of that group. There the islanders laid a plot to seize his ship and murder all on board. One night, when the weather was thick, four natives paddled off in a canoe, intending to cut the ship's cable, so that she might be wrecked upon the reef, which was only half a mile astern. But they kept quiet, at a distance from the Duff, until midnight, no doubt fancying that they had not been observed. Happily, however, in this they were mistaken. Through the gloom the man on watch had caught sight of the canoe. The crew there- upon prepared to receive the visitors in a way they did not expect. For this purpose a number of cocoa-nut husks were piled up at the ship's bow, and sentinels with quick eyes and brawny arms were THE GOOD SHIP "DUFF" AND HER STRANGE CARGO 15 stationed there, eagerly awaiting the expected visit. Bending down, and w r atching in silence, at length they saw the canoe begin to move towards the Duff stealthily and softly, like a crouching tiger. On came the savages, nearer and nearer to the ship, thinking all the time that they were unseen, until the canoe was under the bow, and they were within reach of the cable. Instantly the signal was given to the sailors ; up they sprang, and poured down a terrible volley of hard husks upon the unshielded heads and naked bodies of the natives. Though more frightened than hurt, the next moment they all jumped overboard, swimming for their lives, and leaving the canoe a prize to the conquerors. The issue was amusing ; but had these men cut the cable, it was Captain Wilson's opinion that nothing could have saved the ship. From Tongatabu the Duff went to the Marquesas Isles, which lie to the north-east of Tahiti, and having surveyed several of these, and placed one missionary on shore, returned to Tahiti. Captain Wilson's intention was to leave two missionaries in the Marquesas, but one of them, it is sad to record, lost heart, and refused to stay. Nothing daunted, his companion, a noble young fellow of thorough missionary spirit, resolved to remain alone. He trusted in God, and God was with him. First at Santa Christina in the Mar- quesas group, subsequently in Tahiti, this young man Mr. Crook- did good service for his Master, and as the earliest example of a man willing for Christ's sake to live alone among barbarous idolaters in a small island, his name deserves to be held in esteem. A nine days' voyage brought the ship back in safety to Matavai Bay, and it was a joy alike to those on board and those on shore to meet once more and report all well. The natives had been friendly, the supply of food ample for all needs, and the health of the entire party all that could be wished. Captain Wilson therefore decided to land the iron, tools, and general supplies for the mission he had brought out with him, and then set sail on his homeward journey. While this work was in progress, his nephew, Mr. W. Wilson, who had come out from England with him, made a tour of the island. A 1 6 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS month thus passed, and then bidding one another an affectionate fare- well, the missionaries parted from their kind and honoured friend, the captain, whose face they never saw again. Dr. Graham, the doctor of the mission, made up his mind to return to England. The rest settled down to their new life, and prepared themselves for the serious tasks that awaited them. As the Duff sailed away and slowly faded from their sight, they felt cut off from the outside world, and cast upon the guidance, protection, and support of their Heavenly Father. Captain Wilson first coasted along the picturesque island of Huahine, then made for Tongatabu, where he spent nearly three weeks with the missionaries he had stationed there, and finally sailed for Canton in search of a cargo. Successful in this, he returned in safety to the Thames, in which he came to anchor on July nth, 1798, a little less than two years from the date of his departure for " Otaheite." " We have not," writes Mr. W. Wilson, the captain's nephew, who compiled an account of the voyage, i( lost a single individual ; we have hardly ever had a sick-list ; we landed every missionary in perfect health ; and every seaman returned to England as well as on the day he em- barked." So ended the first voyage of the first missionary ship. 1 1 "The return of the Z?z^"was hailed by thousands with gratitude and delight. In London and elsewhere special services were held to render public thanks to Him whom wind and waves obey ; and it was immediately resolved again to equip and send forth the good ship upon another errand of mercy to the same promising sphere of labour. Many earnest men offered their service as missionaries ; and an appeal from the Directors met with such a response, that money and stores came pouring in upon them from all parts of the country. As good Captain Wilson's health would not permit him to undertake this second voyage, he was succeeded by one of the officers of the ship, Captain Robson. So prompt and energetic were the preparations, that on the iQth of December, 1798, the Duff, with about thirty missionaries for Tongatabu, the Marquesas, the Society, the Samoan, and the Fiji Islands, under the convoy of the Amphion frigate, set sail from Spithead." Missionary Ships. The second voyage proved as disastrous as the first had been prosperous, for on February igth, 1799, when off the coast of South America, the Z?//^"fell an easy prey to the French privateer, the Buonaparte, and was taken into Monte Video as a prize. After enduring many privations, the missionaries eventually got back to England. CHAPTER II. "THE NIGHT OF TOIL. Dark places of the earth . . . full of the habitations of cruelty? OR a time all went smoothly with the missionary party at Matavai. Pomare, the king's father, Otu, the king, Haa- manemane,the high-priest, Paitia, the chief of the district, and other men of island renown, vied with each other in showing friendliness and in liberally supplying them with such food as the island pro- duced. As soon, therefore, as the mis- sionaries had made their house comfort- able, they began in different ways to fulfil their mission, some at the bench and the forge, others by attempts to learn the language. The former could begin at once. When the Tahitians saw them use their carpenters' tools, cut with a saw eight or ten boards from one tree two being the largest number they had ever been able to obtain themselves they were loud in their praises of the skill of the work- men. When from these boards they made tables, chests and other articles of furniture, their delight increased, and they hung around watching, and chattering to each other, their faces beaming with surprise and pleasure. Their pleasure and surprise were greatly increased when to other tasks that of building a boat twenty feet long and of six tons burden was added. Day by day they watched its progress with keen interest. But what amazed them most was the 17 c 1 8 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS blacksmith's shop, and their first insight into the mysteries of anvil and forge. They had long been acquainted with the uses of iron, having procured some from a neighbouring island, where it had been obtained from a Dutch vessel that had been wrecked ; but they had no idea how it w^as worked. When, therefore, the heated iron was ham- mered on the anvil, and the sparks flew among them, they fancied it was spitting at them, and were frightened, as they also were by the hissing caused by plunging it into the water trough ; yet great was their delight to see the bar of iron turned into hatchets, adzes, fishing spears, and hooks. Pomare, entering one day when the blacksmith was busy at the forge, after staring in silent amazement for a time ) was so impressed by what he saw, that he caught up the smith in his arms, all dirty and hot as he was, hugged him fondly, and rubbed noses with him. While some of the missionaries were thus occupied with useful arts which at once won the hearts of the natives, others explored the sur- rounding district, planted the seeds they had brought with them from England, and sought to gain a mastery of the language. This was a difficult thing to do, for they had no books to aid them even the al- phabet had not yet been formed ; nor had they any competent teacher. Peter, the Swede, knew a little, and could interpret their wishes, but he was a man of low education and bad character, and therefore, in some ways, more of a hindrance than a help. The natives them- selves were the most useful teachers, for, being fond of talking, they would patiently repeat words, tell the names of things the missionaries touched, correct their mistakes, and try to make themselves under- stood. But, though gradually adding to their knowledge of words and construction, it was not for several years that the missionaries saw their way to settle how to write the language, fix its alphabet, and so, for the first time, reduce to writing one of the many different tongues which South Sea Islanders speak. In the meantime important changes had occurred. Friendliness on the part of chiefs, and even on the part of the people, did not check their evil habits. They looked with wonder upon their foreign "THE NIGHT OF TOIL" 19 neighbours, but mingled with wonder were thoughts and feelings of another sort. They were terrible thieves, from the king downw r ards. His servants were obliged to steal as a part of their daily duty. And others were like them. One day the clothes of a missionary were stolen while he was bathing. The thief was caught, brought to the house, and chained to a pillar with a padlock ; but he managed to get away, and, clever rogue that he was, stole the padlock by which he had been made fast. Seeing that the missionaries had so many more things than they had themselves, the people began to carry off all that they could lay hands on, and even went the length of digging holes underneath the walls of their shops, and right through to the inside, in this way making a passage by which they could " break through and steal." Clothing, tools, anything and everything made of iron, were the greatest attraction ; but the culprits were not over-nice in their choice, and it was only by keeping a very strict look-out that the missionaries \vere able to retain any of their property. There was also a threat to attack them. Even Peter, the Swede, was found plotting against them, and their troubles grew thicker as the days went on. So sad at heart did this make them that in March, 1798, a year from the date of their landing, more than half of them left the island in a passing vessel that called, and on reaching Sydney gave up the work. The rest, however, held bravely on, though their faith and patience were sorely tested. It was two years after they left home before they received their first letters. That was but one of many trials they had to undergo. By no means the least of these was found in the terrible nature of Tahitian heathenism. As this became more clear to the missionaries, their hearts were filled with grief and horror. There was one god who was supposed to protect thieves ; and when they were going to steal, they often promised to give him part of what they should get. A man who had been stealing a pig in the night would bring a piece of its tail to Hiro next morning and say : <( Here is a piece of the pig I stole last night ; but don't tell anybody." There was a large stone in the island, behind which they said Hiro 20 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH S&AS hid himself when he was caught stealing, and was ashamed. With such a god, no wonder that the people were thieves. Then the mis- sionaries found out that many cruel customs prevailed, especially the killing of infants, and the offering of human sacrifices to Oro, the chief god of war. War was supposed to be the favourite pursuit of this deity. Nothing gave him such pleasure as the sight and smell of blood. . Victims laid at his feet were always besmeared with their own blood, for only when thus presented would Oro accept them. When war was about to be undertaken, the first act was to offer a human sacrifice to Oro. The image of the god was brought out, the victim slain and presented, and a red feather taken from the idol given to the offerers, who carried it in triumph to their companions, as the symbol of Oro's favour and sanction to the fight. During the war similar sacrifices were made, the number being fixed, by the importance of the undertaking in hand, or by the strength of the enemy's forces. Another special ceremony w r as the building of a house for the gods and spirits, who were supposed to be fighting on their side, to live in. The work was begun and the house completed in a single day, which was sacred to the one task of building it. Nobody was allowed to touch food, no fire was lighted, no canoe launched until the work was finished ; and at the foot of the central pillar the body of a man offered in sacrifice was laid. Into this house the images of the spirits and .gods were sometimes taken, but more com- monly they were left undisturbed in their " maraes " or temples, and only feathers taken from their, images placed in the house. And what were these images ? As a rule, the idols of Tahiti, and of the Pacific generally, were shapeless pieces of wood, from one to four or more feet long, covered with cinet of cocoa-nut fibre, and adorned with yellow or scarlet feathers. Oro was a straight log of hard casuarina wood, six feet in length, uncarved, but decorated with feathers. The supreme deity of the island was Taaroa, the creator of the world, the former and father of gods and men. His image, to- gether with many another Polynesian god, has long been a trophy in the museum of the London Missionary Society, and is now exhibited "THE NIGHT OF TOIL" 21 as a permanent loan from that Society in one of the galleries of the British Museum. It is nearly four feet high, and twelve or fifteen inches broad, carved out of a solid piece of close, white, hard wood. His face and body are studded with small figures intended to symbol- ise the multitudes of divine and human beings he has made. His body is hollow, the back being in fact a door ; and when the image was taken away from the temple at Rurutu, in which for many generations Taaroa had been worshipped, a number of small idols were found lying in the hollow. Most likely they had been placed there in order to receive supernatural powers before removal to some new shrine. The object of man's worship affects the thoughts, feeling, and character of the worshipper, and such gods as those described could not but darken and degrade the Tahitian mind. " Verily the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty ; " and though charming to the eye and marked by beautiful scenery, these jewels of the Southern Seas were the home of gross ignorance and barbarity. Adult murder was sometimes heard of; many were slain in war ; others were, as already stated, offered in sacrifice ; but the sum total of deaths from these causes combined was altogether over-balanced by those who were killed while young. The practice of slaying in- fants was general through the South Seas. A few weeks after the missionaries landed Pomare's own wife killed her baby, and was very angry when they let her know that this grieved them. Whether they liked it or not, she said, she should follow the custom of her country. As a matter of course, without shame or any attempt to hide the deed, children were destroyed at the birth. Writing many years later, Mr. Ellis x states that the early missionaries reckoned, and later research had confirmed the correctness of their figures, that not less than two-thirds of the children born were killed by their own parents. In many homes the first three infants were killed. Of twins one was always slain. In the largest families only two or three children were to be found, while the numbers that were made away 1 " Polynesian Researches," vol. i., p. 25 1 ff. "THE NIGHT OF TOIL" 23 with were twice or three times as many as those that were spared. At the end of thirty years' service as a missionary Mr. Nott gave as his experience that he had not known a single mother brought up in the old heathen customs who had not been guilty of baby killing. But we will not further enlarge upon such horrible and unnatural conduct. It sprang from the evil that belongs to heathenism. The marriage tie was a very loose one, and husbands and wives often left one another ; many men had several wives ; and men and womer alike had no rule of life but their own selfish desires. Struggling with the difficulties of a language that had never been put into writing, face to face with corrupt and enslaving idolatry, compelled to witness scenes and hear sounds that filled them with sorrow and many misgivings, the band of missionaries faithfully toiled on. In 1800 the building of a chapel -was commenced with the king's consent, and Messrs. Nott and Jefferson soon began to give public addresses. This was the first building ever erected on a South Sea Island for the worship of the living God. When it was nearly finished Pomare sent a fish as an offering to Jesus Christ, requesting that it might be hung up in the building, so little did he understand its true character. Two or three small schools were also started. A year or two later some of the missionaries took a tour round the island, and visited all the different villages. They were received with hospi- tality, and Mr. Nott preached to about three thousand people. But fighting between rival chiefs was frequent, and many of the islanders were in great distress, yet the efforts of missionaries to bring the strife to a peaceful end seemed in vain. In the meantime they had been anxiously awaiting the return of the Duff with letters, supplies, and more missionaries. At the end of 1799 a ship called, from which they heard of her capture, and it was not until July, 1801, that they were cheered by the arrival of the Royal Admiral, the vessel which the directors had chartered in her place. The same ship that brought them the disappointing tidings about the Duff carried also a letter telling them that three of their brethren on Tongatabu had been murdered, that the rest had been obliged to 24 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS flee, and that the mission there was broken up. In after years the work was begun once more, and under the Wesleyans, carried on with success ; but for a time Tonga seemed closed against the gospel. By the year 1805 the brethren in Tahiti knew enough about the language to enable them to settle how to write it, and to prepare a reading primer ; they had also made a small vocabulary. Still they were in the greatest difficulty. None of the natives seemed to care for the message of salvation, while, owing to war between Great Britain and France, no letters or boxes of clothes and pro- visions reached them. For five years they had neither! Indeed, it looked as if the first mission of the London Missionary Society were about to end in complete failure. Some catechisms and spelling books had been prepared, and were sent to England to be printed. But in 1808 w T ar again broke out between King Pomare and other chiefs, whereupon about half of the remaining missionaries left Tahiti, thinking it useless any longer to stay. To make matters worse^ Pomare was defeated, and the rest of the missionaries, who had taken refuge in the camp, fled to the neighbouring island of Moorea for safety. The mission buildings at Matavai were then burnt by the rebels, their gardens and plantations were destroyed, their cattle seized, and all the property which they had been unable to carry away with them was stolen. Some of the brethren left Moorea for Huahine, where others had previously gone, and there carried on work for a time ; but most of them sailed for Sydney on the first opportunity. Several then gave up the work. Mr. Nott, however, remained with Pomare. Mr. Hay- ward also joined him from Huahine. The night was at its darkest in 1810. Seemingly all the efforts put forth had been in vain. But it was not so. " Be not weary in well- doing ; for in due season ye shall reap, if ye faint not." So wrote the Apostle Paul, and his words are true for all ages. In 1811 the first streaks of dawn began to appear. Mr. Bicknell, who had been to England, returned to Australia, bringing a wife with him. He also brought four ladies, three of whom soon married missionaries. These then went back to Moorea, and by the beginning of 1812 there were in U THE NIGHT OF TOIL" 25 the island Mr. Nott, Mr. and Mrs. Bicknell, Mr. and Mrs. Hay ward, Mr. and Mrs. Davies, Mr. and Mrs. Scott, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, and Mr. Henry. Not only was there a good staff of workers, but the work itself was about to grow greatly. The night of toil was ending ; the dawn of a new day was about to set in. CHAPTER III. THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY. " And the idols He shall utterly abolish" ING POMARE, that is Otu, son of Pomare I., more generally known as Pomare II. , was in trouble. As we have seen, many of his subjects were in open revolt against him, and as an exile from his own island he was living in Moorea. His troubles softened his heart. To begin with, the idols in which he had put his trust had failed him. His enemies had proved stronger than he. Then, as the result of frequent talks with Mr. Nott and other missionaries, he had begun to grasp the real meaning of Christian truth. Their friendship for him had also impressed him. Gradually his mind was receiving light, and he showed in different ways that he was no longer bound by his former regard for the gods of his fathers. The Tahitians looked upon turtles as sacred animals, and before a turtle was cooked and eaten, it was taken first to the king and then sent by him to the idol temple to be roasted with sacred fire. In the spring of 1812 a turtle was caught, and the king's servants were for carrying it to the temple as usual ; but Pomare called them back, and told them to cook it in his own oven, just as they cooked other food, and said that he would have it for his dinner. The servants thought that he was either out of his mind, or was joking ; yet, finding him to be in earnest, they were obliged to obey. As the king eat the turtle, the servants and others stood round in great terror, expecting him to be seized with a fit, or to drop down dead. Pomare asked them to join THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 27 him at the feast, boldly telling them that the gods could do them no harm ; but they were all much too frightened to do so, and still ex- pected to see him punished for his conduct. He was, however, none the worse for what he had done, and his faith in the power of the idols was still further weakened. On the i8th of July, 1812, Pomare had a serious talk with the missionaries, which filled their hearts with praise to God. He came to them of his own accord and began in this way : " You do not know the thought of my heart, nor I yours, but God does." He then went on to say that he wished to be baptized, as he had made up his mind to serve Jehovah and to follow the guidance of Jehovah's servants, and he finished with the words : " I want you to pray for me." That was welcome news for the missionaries to hear, but they " rejoiced with trembling." One of them at once made answer : " We have never ceased to pray for you, and it would indeed make us happy to see you give your heart to God. As soon as we feel sure of this we will gladly baptize you." Pomare again fell back upon the thought that God knew what was in his heart : " You do not know my heart, nor I yours ; but he who made men, knows their hearts and whether they speak truth or falsehood to each other." When, how- ever, the missionaries pointed out to him that it was not the custom to baptize heathen people until they had first been carefully taught, the king agreed to wait and to leave it with them to say when they thought he might be baptized. But as a token of his earnestness he begged that if he could not be baptized, he might be allowed to build a large chapel to take the place of the one they were then using, which was certainly too small. He said too that he had been speaking to Tamatoa, the king of Raiatea, and to Tapoa, the leading chief of Raiatea, urging them also to give up their idols and turn to the living God, but that they had refused, saying: "You may do as you like; as for us, we mean to keep to Oro." Pomare seemed to be thoroughly sincere, and the missionaries " thanked God and took courage." Still they thought it wise to wait for a time and watch for the signs of a true change of heart. The 28 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS new chapel was hardly begun before Pomare was called back to Tahiti. Two chiefs came over and told the king that, if he returned, they would try to get the dispute between him and his people settled, and a lasting peace secured. When the missionaries heard of this, and saw Pomare depart, they feared lest he should yield to evil habits once more and forget his promise to obey God. Happily, their fears were groundless, for the letters that the king wrote to them showed that the Spirit of God was working in his mind and making him feel that he was a sin- ner needing pardon at the hands of his Maker. He grew anxious also about the things he had to do as king. At one time he had been ready to kill any one who made him angry ; now he began to Avonder whether it was right to kill even thieves who had been caught steal- ing cloth and books. Nor did he in any way try to hide the fact that he had given up faith in idols, and had be- come a worshipper of Jehovah. Many of his followers laughed at him for becoming a Christian ; others told him in scorn that this was the cause of all the trouble they were having in the island. The gods were angry, they said, because he had ceased to treat them with proper "5- =^ * .='- A BRIDE ADORNED FOR HER HUSBAXD. THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 29 respect. As the missionaries heard of these things they could no longer doubt that Pomare was a " a new creature in Christ Jesus," that " old things had passed away and all things become new." The king had lived a very wicked life in the past : he had been a bad man ; but Christ had come to save sinners, and Pomare was feeling the power of His grace and love. Not only so ; others were coming to the light. God's faithful servants had thought that their past labours had all been in vain, but were now learning that they were mistaken. Their words, and more powerfully still their godly lives, had set many a Tahitian thinking. They had " sown in tears," now they were to " reap in joy." The people in Moorea, where they were for the time living, were quite ready to listen to their teaching. Tidings also came over from Tahiti that there too men were beginning to seek after God. This joy- ful news made them decide to send two of their number across to see whether the report was true. Mr. Scott and Mr. Hayward were chosen for this mission. Landing in Tahiti, they spent the first night in a native hut. Early in the morning they rose and each walked into the bush near to find a quiet spot in which to pray. Native houses had but one room, and privacy was unknown. As Mr. Scott was thus engaged, to his great surprise he heard the voice of a native speaking as it seemed to him in prayer. Quietly drawing near to listen, he heard a Tahitian lifting up heart and voice in praise to the only living and true God. It was the first time that on Tahiti itself he had heard a native pray, and tears of joy filled his eyes as he listened. At first he wanted to rush out and throw his arms around the Tahitian's neck and claim him as a Christian brother ; but checking himself, he allowed him to go away, and then, kneeling down himself, he poured out his soul in adoration and thanksgiving to the great Father above, whose Spirit had at last brought a Tahitian to Himself. Afterwards they found out that this man's name was Oito (subsequently it was changed to Petero), and that he and another called Tuahine, 1 who had acted as his teacher, 1 Tuahine became one of the most devoted and useful of native Christians. He helped Mr. Nott in his work of translating the Bible into the Tahitian, and afterwards 30 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS both of whom at one time had lived with the missionaries as servants, were known to have given up idols and many evil habits. Several more had joined them, until there was quite a band of them, chiefly lads and young men, who without any missionary to guide them, were wont to find their way into lonely valleys and woods, and there spend their Sundays in prayer and quiet talk together about God. Mr. Scott and Mr. Hay ward went round the island of Tahiti preach- ing the gospel to the people. But before they started they wrote to their brethren in Moorea, to tell them the joyful tidings about these young men. " Behold he prayeth " were the words with which the Lord sought to show Ananias that Saul, the persecutor, was a changed man ; and this letter telling of young Tahitians who were pray ing to God sent a thrill of gladness through the hearts of good Mr. Nott and his companions when they received it. For sixteen weary years some of them had been longing for such a token of God's presence and power. Tears of happiness rolled down their cheeks as they read the cheering words. God had heard their cry, and at last was sending them the very answer for which they had prayed. After their tour of the island the two missionaries went back to Moorea ; and as Tahiti was a very wicked place and greatly disturbed with rumours of war, and as they wished to give their newly-found converts fuller teaching and guidance, they asked them to return with them to Moorea and there attend school. Tuahine, Oito and the rest were only too glad to follow this good advice, and so the entire party set sail. Very soon after this a great move forward was made. For some time the missionaries had known that there were a good many of the natives who were desirous of turning from " dumb idols " to serve the living God, and they thought of a plan by which they might find out who they were. The chapel which Pomare had ordered to be built was ready for opening, and although the king himself was in Tahiti and could not join in the opening services, it was set apart for the worship of God on Sunday, July 25, 1813. The missionaries had did the same for Mr. Williams. He was for many years Mr. Williams's right hand at Raiatea. THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 31 built a small chapel for their own use soon after their arrival at Mata- vai, and of course had always kept up Sunday services, to which some of the natives came, but the chapel at Moorea was the first ever raised in the South Seas for native use. There are hundreds of such chapels all over the Pacific to-day connected with the different missionary societies which are at work there ; but that at Moorea, built by the ex- press desire of Pomare II., was the first ; and although many later ones NATIVES FISHING. would put it to shame for size, style, and appearance, its honour is all its own. On the day of opening, at the close of the evening service, Mr. Da vies gave notice that a meeting w r ould be held the next morning for all who were willing to cast away their idols. These were specially invited to come and have their names written down in a book. Forty natives came on the Monday morning. After singing and prayer, Mr. Nott gave them an address explaining yet more fully what the object of the 32 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS meeting was, and why they wanted them to give up idolatry and boldly show that they had done so. Each native was spoken to per- sonally, and thirty-one of them agreed to have their names recorded. Among the first of these were Tuahine and Oito. Others said rhat they no longer trusted in idols, indeed that they had given them up, but that they did not wish to have their names written down. The thirty-one were asked to come together often for further teaching, and thus the foundation was laid for a South Sea Island Christian Church. Eleven others soon joined the thirty-one, among them being the young chief of Huahine, and another man, who, as chief priest of Huahine, had been one of the chief pillars of idolatry. A few months later, on January i6th, 1814, one of the greatest enemies of the gospel died. This was Idia, the king's mother. She had always been friendly to the missionaries themselves, but was bitterly opposed to their teaching. Heathen thought, heathen worship, heathen customs were her delight, and her power over the people was very great. Her death made a great difference to many. While she lived they had been afraid to confess themselves Christians, but as soon as she was dead they came out boldly. That same year (1814) Mr. Nott and Mr. Hayward paid a second visit to Raiatea, Huahine, and Borabora. They had been there once already, but that was several years before. A change was now manifest. Then they had sown the seed of truth, but the ground was hard, and none, of the seed seemed to spring up. They had great difficulty too in getting hearers. On their second visit they were received with marked interest and favour. The Raiateans and their neighbours gladly came together to hear them, and listened to them with the greatest willingness and attention. Indeed it was becoming clearer every day that the islanders at length were beginning to understand and care for that message of mercy and love, of goodness and truth, which the missionaries had come so far to de- liver. Later on in the same year, after Mr. Nott and Mr. Hayward had gone away, a brig, which had on board as one of its passengers another of the missionaries named Wilson, drifted to Raiatea, Tahaa, and Huahine, and was kept among these islands for three months by THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 33 contrary winds. Mr. Wilson thus had a grand opportunity for preach- ing to the people. Large crowds of people gathered to hear him. Pomare was on board the same vessel and added his influence to that of the missionary in an endeavour to persuade the islanders to become Christians. But we must hurry forward. To relate all the incidents of those early days would be a pleasure, if we had space in this little book for such a long story. There are, however, two events that must be narrated, namely, the burning of idols in Moorea, and the victory of Pomare over all his foes, followed as this was by his public baptism. The people of Moorea were more and more anxious to be taught the Word of God. More than three hundred had now given in their names, and there was a school with three hundred scholars, most of whom were grown-up people. These met every day. None had as yet been baptized ; indeed Pomare was unwilling to have any of them baptized before himself. That was selfish on his part. After an absence of two years he had returned to Moorea ; but while in some ways a convert to Christianity, he did not fully satisfy the mission- aries, so they still waited. Just then a wonderful thing took place. This was in the year 1815. Coming home one evening along the sea-shore after a visit to a chief, to whom with his people he had been preaching, Mr. Nott was followed by a priest -named Patii, who had charge of the idol temple in the district of Moorea in w r hich the missionaries were then living. This priest had been listening to Mr. Nott's sermon, and now seemed anxious to speak to him about something. To the missionary's great surprise Patii said : " To-morrow evening I shall burn the idols under my care." Mr. Nott made answer : " I am afraid you are jesting with me. You know that we wish to have the idols burned, and you speak thus because you think it will please me. I can scarcely believe what you say." " Don't be unbelieving," said Patii, " wait till to-morrow, and you shall see." After this they talked all the way home about Jesus Christ and His salvation. When Mr. Nott met his brethren, he told them of what the priest had said. They D 34 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS were filled with gladness ; at the same time they doubted whether Patii would dare carry out his purpose, and feared that if he did the heathen might attack both him and the Christians, Patii, however, meant what he had said, and the next morning, with the help of some of his friends, was busily occupied collecting wood near the sea-shore. In the afternoon they split the wood up and' then piled it in a great heap near the temple in which the idols were kept. By evening a large crowd had gathered together, for everybody had heard of what the priest was going to do. Missionaries, native Christians, some of them filled with fear lest the heathen should kill them, idolaters from the whole district round, and Patii himself all were assembled near the heaped-up fuel. Just before sunset Patii ordered some of his helpers to light the fire. Then, going into the temple, he brought out the idols. This he had often done before, but for a very different purpose. He had no words of praise for the idols now, nothing to ask in their honour. Spreading them in a row, he stripped off the fine fibre and mats with which they were bound, and tore off the red feathers by which they were adorned. Then taking the idols one by one in his hand and calling out its name, giving a short history of its supposed power, and saying how sorry he was that he had ever worshipped such blocks of wood, he threw them one after another into the flames. Just as the sun w r ent down the last ot Moorea's heathen gods was burnt to ashes by the very man who had been their keeper, but had found out what helpless logs they were. The heathen were awed. Some of them still thought that the gods would quickly punish Patii for his wickedness, but most of them felt convinced that those gods had no power at all. Others followed the priest's example and burned their own family idols. On the other hand, many of the heathen grew very bitter. They saw that .the religion of Jesus was becoming strong, and wanted if possible to check its progress. They began therefore to ill-treat the native Christians, some of whom lost their lives. One young man died most bravely, saying to the crowd of angry idolaters who had resolved to offer him in sacrifice and were thirsting for his blood : " You may be allowed POLYNESIAN DEITIES. 35 36 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS to kill my body, but I am not afraid to die. My soul you cannot hurt ; Jesus Christ will keep it safely." Sunday, November 12, 1815, for ever broke the power of the old heathen party and ushered in a new and better day. Four months be- fore the Christians in Tahiti who had not already fled to other islands were obliged to do so, for a plot to destroy them had been discovered. At midnight, on July 17, they were all to be killed, their property to be seized, and every Christian in the island got rid of. Neighbouring chiefs were asked to come and help in this foul murder. Until the even- ing of the very day fixed upon for their massacre none of the Christians had the least idea of the danger they were all in ; but a few hours before the slaughter was to begin a friendly word of warning was secretly given them, and they knew what to expect. Through delay on the part of some of the chiefs in not arriving at the right time, and above all through the gracious protection of God, the Christians were able to escape. At eventide they had assembled on the sea-shore. This meeting had been arranged before they knew anything about the plot. Probably it was for prayer, but of this we cannot be quite sure. No time was to be lost. What should they do? Stay in Tahiti and be murdered, or flee? They quickly decided to try and escape, and as their canoes were lying on the beach close at hand, they were instantly launched ; and simply carrying what few things they could lay hands on, the Christians paddled away soon after sunset, and made for Moorea, which they reached in safety the next morning When the heathen chiefs and their followers arrived at the spot agreed upon, and found that the Christians had all fled, they were greatly enraged. Not only so, but they began to quarrel among themselves. For a long time past these chiefs had been jealous of each other, and it was only because they alike hated Christians that they had for a brief space joined forces. Now they blamed one another for what had happened, and from words soon came to blows. Those who had pro- posed the slaughter of the Christians were the chief sufferers. Their leader and several others were killed and the rest put to flight. For some weeks after this there was continual fighting between the THE OVERTHROW OF J DO LA TRY 37 different districts, and Tahiti appeared to be farther from peace than ever. Those weeks were like the darkest hour before the dawn. The missionaries in Moorea welcomed the Tahitian Christians who had joined them. Their work had grown. Four hundred people had given in their names as Christians, and there were between six and seven hundred pupils in the school. But for the want of books there would have been many more. Tahiti alas ! was still in darkness, but God had heard their prayers before, and would hear them again. So they set apart a day for fasting and prayer, and besought the Lord to turn the hearts of their enemies. They had often appointed days for the like purpose when there were no natives to join them ; now hundreds of natives gladly spent the day with them. Together they pleaded on behalf of Tahiti, and entreated God to save it from its ignorance and wickedness. The answer came sooner than any of them expected. It came first of all from Tahiti itself, for some of the heathen, growing tired of the tumult and disorder, sent across to Moorea to beg the chiefs to come back. They went ; Pomare went with them ; and a number of Christ- ians from Huahine, Raiatea, and Borabora joined them. There were about eight hundred of them in all. When they reached Tahiti they saw a crowd of people drawn up on shore, armed with spears and guns, who forbade their landing and fired several shots. Pomare would not allow any guns to be fired in return, but instead of this sent a flag on shore with an offer of peace. Messages passed to and fro, and at last the king and those with him were permitted to land. It was at best but a patched-up peace that had been arranged. Pomare knew this quite well, and kept careful watch. On Sunday morning, November 12, as Pomare and his friends and followers were gathered together for worship, his old enemies once more came forward and attacked him. He was not unprepared for this, for although he did not know that that particular day was fixed upon, he knew that there would be another battle, and that most likely it would be upon a Sunday. He had therefore placed watchmen at THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS \ different points to keep a sharp look-out. Just as they were about to begin the service, shots were heard, and looking out of the building, they saw an army of heathen people approaching, carrying a flag in honour of the idols. " It is war, it is war ! " the Christians exclaimed. VSome of them had .&. - brought their arms with them to the service ; others began to. rush off to fetch theirs. But Pomare stopped them. He begged them all to remain quietly in their places until the service was finished, at the same time assuring them that God, in whose name they were gathered together, would cer- tainly protect them. A teacher named Auna gave out a hymn, which all joined in singing. He then read a pas- sage of Scripture from one of the small books the mission- aries had got printed that was long before the Tahitian Bible that has since done so much for the islanders was in their hands and after that a prayer was offered to the King of kings in whom they put their trust. The service over, the people who were unarmed went to their tents for their weapons. A TATOOED WARRIOR. THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 39 The fight took place on the sand of the sea-shore and among the trees that grew on its edge. Many of Pomare's followers had not yet become Christians, and not knowing how these might act, he placed them in the centre or at the rear. His trusty men formed the front line and were posted at other points of danger and importance. Con- >J?S POLYNESIAN WEAPONS. spicuous among the warriors was Pomare Vahine, the queen's sister, a tall strong woman, who wore a curious helmet covered with plates of a beautiful spotted cowrie shell, and a kind of armour made of twisted cords of native flax. On one side of her was her faithful Christian servant Farefau ; on the other a tall manly chief who was related to her, 40 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS a chief whose wife in her heathen days had killed no less than twelve or thirteen of her own children. Pomare took his station in a canoe with a number of men armed with muskets, who fired into the enemy on the flank. Near the king was another canoe in which was a swivel gun worked by an Englishman called Joe, who had come up from Raiatea specially to help Pomare in this fight. The heathen rushed into battle in a perfect fury, and for a time by the force of their onset shook the Christian line, but this, quickly rallying, stood its ground firmly, and finally completely overcame the foe. The trees and bushes were so thick that much of the fighting was of a broken irregular kind, and often two or three Christians finding themselves together in the woods, none of the enemy for the moment being in sight, took the opportunity for a few moments of earnest prayer to God. At length Upufara, the chief captain of the heathen was slain, and from that moment the idolaters lost heart and began to flee to the rocks and mountains. The king's army was about to pursue them and kill as many as they could. But Pomare was wiser than his people. He shouted out : " It is enough. Pursue none that have fled from the battle, neither burn their houses, nor murder their children." That was a wonderful command, quite unlike any heard in Tahiti before, and was a clear proof that new thoughts and a new spirit had come into Pomare. Even the bodies of the slain were properly buried instead of being left upon the shore as in former days, and the corpse of Upufara was carried to the tomb of his fathers and there laid to rest. Instead of ending the day in the slaughter of his foes, Pomare gathered his little army together to offer thanksgiving unto God for His protection, and for the great victory He had granted. Then he sent a chosen band of followers, among them being Farefau, to destroy the idols. They were ordered to go straight to the temple of Oro, and destroy it and all that belonged to it. They did as they were com- manded, and on reaching Oro's temple at Tautira told the keeper for what purpose they had come, and also of the result of the war. No one dared stop them, so first of all firing at the small house in which THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 41 the idols were kept, and shouting out : " Now, ye gods, if ye be gods, and have any power, come forth and avenge the insults which we offer you, 1 ' they next pulled the house down, and cast the idols into the fire. Oro himself was not destroyed, but only his trappings. This god, to whom so many victims had been offered, was but a pole of hard wood, about as thick as a man's leg, and rather longer than a man's height. The pole was carried in triumph to Pomare and laid at his feet. And what did he do with it ? Why, he had it set up in his kitchen as a post into which he fixed pegs for hanging his baskets of food upon ! Finally, it was chopped up for firewood. In this way did idolatry come to an end in Tahiti and Moorea. Pomare's clemency did as much to subdue his enemies as his bravery and skill in battle. The people who had fled to the moun- tains sent secretly at night to see what had been done to their wives and children. They expected, as a matter of course, that they would all be slain, and at first could not believe the news brought back to them that they were alive and unhurt, and that none of their houses had been destroyed. Getting bolder, they found their way back to their homes, and were allowed to settle quietly in them. They went to the king and begged for mercy and forgiveness, and they had not to beg in vain. They now saw how good the God that Pomare served must be. "We had done everything to offend the king," they said, " and yet when he had it in his power to destroy us, he freely forgave us." By common consent, and with a heartiness never before shown, the entire island now made Pomare king, and found true pleasure in obeying him. As soon as possible after the battle, Pomare sent a messenger in a canoe to tell. the missionaries in Moorea of his great victory. The man he chose for this duty was formerly a priest and a great warrior. When his canoe drew near to the shore of Moorea the missionaries and their pupils hurried towards him, hope and fear struggling together in their minds. The chief was seen standing on the prow of his light skiff-like craft, which came dashing through the spray and gliding along upon the crests of the waves until it touched the shore. Leap- 42 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS ing to the sand, spear in hand, before a question could be asked, he exclaimed : " Ua pau ! ua pau ! i te bure anae " ; " Vanquished ! van- quished ! by prayer alone!" At first his hearers could scarcely believe the news, but as he related at length the story of what had happened they burst into grateful praise to God for this wonderful conquest of His enemies. The chief idols had parished ; the smaller ones met with a like fate. A time of great excitement followed. Family gods, gods belonging to special districts, gods of all sorts, were destroyed. " Maraes," or altars, temples, sacred stones, were pulled down, and in a few months not an idol was to be seen. The very men who had been loudest in their praise set to work to demolish them, and, not content with this, sent messengers to the king and his Christian friends asking for instructors who would teach them to read and how to worship the true God. Schools and chapels were built ; the Lord's Day was kept as a day of rest and worship ; three services were held each Sunday all over the island ; and some of the worst heathen customs, such as child- murder, were given up. The preachers were all too few for the work to be done, so at many of the services the people usually only prayed, or listened to passages read from one of the Scripture readers the mis- sionaries had prepared. Some were unable to pray themselves. For their guidance prayers were written out. Here is one which Pomare himself wrote and often read in the different chapels he visited : " Jehovah, Thou God of our salvation, hear our prayers, pardon Thou our sins, and save our souls. Our sins are great, and more in number than the fishes in the sea, and our obstinacy has been very great, and not to be equalled. Turn Thou us to Thyself, and enable us to cast off every evil way. Lead us to Jesus Christ, and let our sins be cleansed in His blood. Grant us Thy good Spirit to be our sanctifier. "Save us from hypocrisy: suffer us not to come to Thine house with carelessness, and return to our own houses and commit sin. Unless Thou dost have mercy upon us, we perish ; unless Thou dost save us, unless we are prepared and made meet for Thy house in heaven, we are banished to the fire, we die. But let us not be banished to that unknown world of fire. Save Thou us through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, the Prince of life ; yea, let us obtain salvation through Him. THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 43 " Bless all the people of these islands, all the families thereof. Let every one stretch out his hands unto God and say : Lord, save me ; Lord, save me. Let all these islands, Tahiti with all the people of Moorea, and of Huahine, and of Raiatea, and of the little islands around, partake of Thy salvation. POLYNESIAN CANOES. " Bless Britain, and every country in the world. Let Thy word grow with speed in the world, so as to grow faster than evil. Be merciful to us, and bless us, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." That was Pomare's prayer. He had learned both how to pray and what to pray for. Of course he still knew but little about the new re- 44 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS ligion he had accepted, but he did understand that he was a sinner, and that God alone could save him. The missionaries came over from Moorea and went round the island of Tahiti to see with their own eyes what changes had taken place. Mr. Nott was the first to go. Five years before he had been obliged to flee from the place for his life. Now wherever he went he found the people eager to hear. Of their own accord they came together, and some would stay with him far into the night asking him questions and listening to what he had to tell them about Jesus Christ. Aged chiefs, priests, and warriors were to be seen seated, spelling-book in hand, on the school benches, by the side of some happy-faced boy or girl who was busy teaching them to read. Others were engaged in chapel building. On Sundays there were larger gatherings, not of men alone, as at the old heathen cere- monies, but of women also. Mothers, wives, sisters y daughters flocked to the house of prayer. In fact, for a time nearly everybody was to be seen there. The difficulty was to find lesson-books and Scripture portions enough for the needs of the crowds who wished to obtain them. There were two thousand seven hundred spelling-books in use, eight hundred copies of Scripture passages, and many written copies of the Gospel of Luke ; but what were " these among so many " ? Not in Tahiti alone was this glorious change taking place, but in the Society Islands also. Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa and Borabora all followed the good example that had been set. The chiefs from those islands who had fought on Pomare's side either sent messages to their people, or, on their return home, themselves took the work in hand, and thus through the entire group the idols were "utterly abolished,'' The destruction of idols is but the beginning of the difficult task of bringing heathen nations out of darkness into light; still, it is a beginning, and should therefore beget gratitude to God. Pomare sent most of his family idols to the missionaries, giving them liberty either to burn them, or to send them home to England. They decided to ship them to England. With the idols the king sent a letter, of which the following is a translation : THE OVERTHROW OF IDOLATRY 45 " FRIENDS, "May you be saved by Jehovah and Jesus Christ our Saviour. " This is my speech to you, my friends. POMARE'S IDOLS. " I wish you to send these idols to Britain for the Missionary Society, that they may know the likeness of the gods that Tahiti wor- shipped. These were my own idols, belonging to our family from of old, and when my father died he left them to me. And now, having 46 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS been brought to know Jehovah, the true God, He is my God, and when this body of mine shall fall to pieces in death, may the Three-One save me. This is my shelter, my close hiding-place, even from the anger of Jehovah. When He looks upon me, I will hide me at the feet of Jesus Christ, the Saviour, that I may escape. " I feel pleasure and satisfaction in my mind ; I rejoice, I praise Jehovah, that He hath made known His word unto me. I should have gone to destruction if Jehovah had not interposed. Many have died, and are gone to destruction, kings and common people; they died without knowing anything of the true God, and now, when it came to the small remainder of the people, Jehovah hath been pleased to make known His word, and we are acquainted with His good word, made acquainted with the deception of the false gods, with all that is evil and false. The true God Jehovah, it was He that made us acquainted with these things. It was you that taught us ; but the words, the knowledge, was from Jehovah. It is because of this that I rejoice, and I pray to Jehovah that He may increase my abhorrence of every evil way. The Three-One, He it is that can make the love of sin to cease ; we cannot effect it ; it is the work of God to cause evil things to be cast off, and the love of them to cease. " I am going a journey around Tahiti to acquaint the people with the word of God, and to cause them to be vigilant about good things. The word of God does grow in Tahiti, and the people are diligent about setting up houses for worship ; they are also diligent in seeking in- struction, and now it is well with Tahiti. " That principal idol, that has the red feathers of the Otuu, is Temeharo ; that is his name. Look you, you may know it by the red feathers. That was my father's own god, and those feathers were from the ship of Lieutenant Watts ; l it was my father that set them about the idol himself. If you think proper, you may burn them all in the fire ; or, if you like, send them to your country for the people of Europe to see them, that they may satisfy their curiosity and know Tahiti's foolish gods ! * # * * # " May you be saved, my friends, by Jehovah and Jesus Christ, the only Saviour by whom we sinners can be saved. " POMARE, KING OF TAHITI, etc., etc " TAHITI MOTU TA, February iqth, 1816." 1 The Lady Penrhyn, which visited Tahiti in 1788. f CHAPTER IV. SPREADING OUT. " The isles shall wait for His law. " CJRING the year 1817, and at the very time that throughout the entire group there was a willing- ness to listen to the Christian teacher, eight new workers reached Tahiti. It thus became possible to scatter among the is- lands and so spread the light of the Gospel. The first to arrive was William Ellis, 1 then a young man of twenty-two. With him was his wife, their baby, and the child's nurse. Later in the year came the seven others. Among them were three missionaries who in one case for forty-three^ and in the two others for forty-eight years, were spared to labour through a long career in attempting to raise the islanders to a batter and higher life. These were David Darling, Charles Barff, and George Platt. Last, but by no means least, was the large-hearted, 1 Mr. Ellis did not long remain in the South Seas. The serious illness of his wife compelled him to return home at the end of seven years. But though his stay in the Pacific was a short one, he has, through his writings, done more than all his brethren to provide us with a record of the early history of the mission. Were it not for his carefulness in observing, inquiring about, and narrating facts, the story would have been almost lost. In later life he rendered like service to the Madagascar mission. 47 4 3 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS enterprising man, John Williams, about whom these pages will have much to relate. The ship which brought Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, brought also a horse as a present to Pomare, the landing of which caused great alarm Many of the people fled in terror, hid behind rocks, or climbed up trees, to get away from the terrible animal. But seeing a sailor go __ quietly up to the horse and take hold of the halter that was round his neck, they gained courage, and drew. near to look at and touch the strange creature. When, after being pro- perly bridled and sad- dled, the horse ran along the beach with the captain on his back the Tahitians were de- lighted, and at once called him " a land- running pig," and " a man-carrying pig," the pig being the only four-footed animal with which they could com- pare him. Pomare came on board, and Mr. Ellis POMARE II. gives us the following description of him " I was struck with his tall and almost gigantic appearance ; he was upwards of six feet high, and seemed about forty * From a portrait taken by an artist attached to two Russian ships of discovery that visited Tahiti shortly before Pomare's death, and excepting a little undue promi- nency in the forehead, stated by the Rev. W. Ellis to be a good likeness. SPREADING OUT 49 years of age. His forehead was rather prominent and high, his eye- brows narrow, welt defined and nearly straight * his hair, which was combed back from his forehead and the sides of his face, was of a glossy black colour, slightly curled behind ; his eyes were small, some- times appearing remarkably keen, at others rather heavy; his nose was straight, and the nostrils by no means large ; his lips were thick, and his chin projecting. He was arrayed in a handsome tiputa of native manufacture. His body was stout, but not disproportioned to his height ; and his limbs, though well formed, were not firm and muscular." The ship, having touched at Tahiti, went on to Moorea, where a hearty welcome awaited the new comers. Not the missionaries only, but the chiefs and people also, received them with great gladness, bringing presents of food, which they piled in three heaps, one for Mr. Ellis, one for Mrs. Ellis, and one for the baby ! The school-house was early visited. The first Sunday on shore was much enjoyed. A prayer meeting at sunrise, at which not fewer than four or five hun- dred people were present, began the day ; morning service followed, then English ^service ; and, later on in the day, a second native ser- vice. All of these were well attended, and the quiet behaviour of the people was everything that one could wish. One great need of the mission was a printing press. A few copies of the spelling book, printed in England, had been taken to the island six years before, and others, as already mentioned, together with brief summaries of the Old and New Testament, had been obtained from Sydney since ; but some hundreds of the natives who had learned to read were still without a book of any kind. Many had learned the little books by heart, and could repeat them correctly from beginning to end. These naturally longed for some new specimen of the prin- ter's wonderful art. In dozens of families, where all were scholars, there was but one book in the house. People living in the other islands were even worse off. Some of them wrote out the whole of the spelling book on sheets of writing paper ; and others, unable to get paper, prepared pieces of native cloth with great care, and then, with E 5 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS a reed dipped in red or purple dye, wrote out the alphabet, spelling and reading lessons on these pieces of cloth which had been made from the bark of a tree. In the same way they wrote out texts of Scripture, and carried them about with them. In view of this need the directors had sent out a printing press, and one of the first things Mr. Ellis did was to arrange for setting up this press and getting it to work. A site for a printing office was chosen, a building erected without delay, and to secure the firm floor- ing necessary for working the heavy press, one or two " maraes," or heathen altars, were pulled down, and the great slabs of smooth basaltic rock found in them dragged to the new building, and there laid side by side as a part of the printing-office floor. Pomare was greatly interested in the progress of this building, and specially begged that, when they were ready for making a start with the wonder- ful new machine, he might be sent for. He came from the other side of Moorea, where at the time he was staying, and with him came a crowd of chiefs and their followers. When quite ready to commence, Mr. Ellis, seeing how earnestly Pomare was looking at the shining type, asked the king if he would like to set the letters. Yes, it was the very thing he wanted to do. The first book to be printed was the spelling-book, which the Ta- hitians called the Ba-ba. So Pomare, composing-stick in hand, began with the capitals A B, and got through the alphabet ; then set up the same in small letters, taking each letter out of its own compartment in the type case, and finished the first page with a few lines of single syllables. He was delighted with his work, and was eager at once to print the page ; but when it was explained to him that not until the other pages to complete the sheet had been set up could this be done, he arranged that he should again be summoned when the sheet was finished. For nearly three weeks he had to wait, but almost every day came to see how things were going on. At last, on June 30, 1817, the first sheet was pulled off. Pomare was attended by only two of his favourite chiefs, but crowds of natives, who had heard of what was to happen, had gathered about the doors. These made way SPREADING OUT 51 for him. The door was then closed, and one of the windows darkened, so that he might not be overlooked by the people outside. He care- fully examined the form as it lay on the press, and was told by Mr Ellis exactly how to go to work. The printer's ink-ball was placed in his hands and he struck it two or three times upon the face of the letters ; he then placed a sheet of clean paper upon the parchment ; this was covered down, turned under the press, and Pomare pulled the handle. It was all a mystery to him and his companions. What would that pull do ? All rushed to see, and lo ! there were, the letters black, large, and clear. The king was a successful printer ! He was delighted, and repeated the process. In the meantime the first sheet was shown to the crowd outside, who, on seeing it, raised a great shout of surprise and joy. This old story is worthy of being re-told, for that was a great day for Tahiti, and indeed for the entire Pacific. The spelling-book printed, a catechism and a book of Scripture extracts followed, and, lastly, a translation of the Gospel of Luke, which Mr. Nott had prepared. Of this, the first complete book of the Scriptures translated into any Polynesian tongue, an edition of 3,000 copies was struck off, the paper for it having been generously presented by that Society which enables missionaries all over the world to furnish their people with the Word of God the British and Foreign Bible Society. That gift of paper to Tahiti was the first of many a similar gift to the islands in later days. The fame of the printing press spread rapidly, and from all parts of Moorea, and even from other islands, strangers flocked as to a fair. The beach was lined with their canoes, the native houses were crowded to excess with visitors from a distance; temporary huts had to be built as the houses were too few for their accommodation, while as for the printing office it was daily crowded. Thronging the doors, climb- ing upon one another's backs, blocking up the windows, there the strangers were, all eager to see with their own eyes the marvellous machine of which they had heard. Book binding was a yet more difficult task than book printing, for the missionaries had brought with them only a small quantity of boards and skins. But an old pro- 512 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS verb says that " necessity is the mother of invention," which means that when people are in difficulty they think of ways for conquering their difficulty ; and so it was in this case. The bark of a tree, the skins of any and every animal (dogs, goats, cats) to be found in the island, and everything else that could be used, were sought out, and very soon the natives were clever enough to bind their own books. The eagerness of the islanders to obtain copies of the Gospel of Luke was most striking. Often from thirty to forty canoes were to be 1 52' 1 >l 1, )0 140 1^ seen lying on the beach, each of which had brought five or six per- sons intent on buying a Gospel. It was impossible for a time to keep pace with the demand, and some would-be buyers had to wait patiently for five or six weeks before they could get their copies. One evening, about sunset, Mr. Ellis saw a canoe arrive from Tahiti with five men in her. They landed on the beach, lowered their sail, hauled their canoe up on the sand, and then came straight to- wards him. Meeting them at the door of his house, Mr. Ellis asked them what they wanted. Lttka, or " Luke," Te Paran na Luka, or SPREADING OUT 53 " The Word of Luke," was their prompt reply, and pointing to some bamboo canes filled with cocoa-nut oil, they said they had brought these as payment for the books. Mr. Ellis told them that he had none ready for them that night, but that if they would come to him in the morning, he would give them as many as they needed. " Go," said he, " to one of the houses near, and seek shelter for the night, and come back to me to-morrow." Bidding them good-night, he retired, thinking, of course, that they would do as he had suggested ; but on looking out at sunrise the next morning, what was his astonishment to see these five men quietly lying on the ground in front of his house, their only bed being a few cocoa-nut leaves, their only cover- ing their large native cloth. He hastened out and asked them if they had been there all night. Yes, they had, for said they in explanation: " We were afraid that, had we gone away, some one might have come before us this morning, and have taken what books you had to spare, and then we should have been obliged to return without any." Mr. Ellis at once took them into the printing office, and as soon as he could put the sheets together gave each one a copy. They then asked for two copies more, one for a mother, the other for a sister, for which also they had brought payment. He gave these also. Each wrapped his book up in a piece of white native cloth, put it in his bosom, wished Mr. Ellis good-morning, and without, he says, either eating or drinking, or calling upon any one in the settlement, hastened to the shore, launched their canoe, hoisted their mat sail, and steered for home. That, he adds, was but one of many such examples of eager desire to become the possessor of the Scriptures. For a long time the missionaries in Moorea had been at work building, with Pomare's aid, a seventy-ton fore-and-aft schooner, but until the advent of the party of fresh helpers, especially John Wil- liams, they had not been able to finish it. The iron work had baffled them. The new arrivals set to work with a will, the more so as it was decided that they should not separate to the different islands until the schooner was finished. In a few weeks the vessel was ready for launching. She was named the Haweis, in honour of Dr. Haweis, 54 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS the steady friend of the mission, and one most of all responsible for its establishment. A slight accident made the first attempt to launch her a failure. Pomare, in naming her, so startled the natives on one side of the vessel that they let go of the ropes, and she fell over on her side. She was, however, got into position once more, and was then safely and successfully launched. The Haiueis was rigged and used for carrying the missionaries and their families to their stations, but after one or two voyages to Australia she was sold, being altogether tco costly for mission purposes, and eventually became a trading ves- sel between Sydney and Tasmania. The missionaries were about to scatter. Other islands needed their guidance and presence: they were ready to go and settle in these. But before separating they had one important duty to fulfil. They clearly saw that if the gospel was to spread throughout the Pacific Ocean, the natives who had already heard its joyful sound must themselves be taught to spread it. Unless the islanders could be made to feel that it was as much their duty to share the blessings of salvation with those not yet enjoying them, as it had been the duty of British Christians to share those blessings with themselves, the work would advance but slowly. They therefore wished in some special way to bring this thought home to the hearts and consciences of their converts. In this they were wise. More than that: looking back upon the history of the South Sea Mission, as we are able to do, we can easily see that that band of faithful missionaries were verily " taught of God," and acted under the direct guidance of God's Spirit. The tree they planted in 1818 has borne the richest fruit, and in no part of the world have Christian people shown a truer missionary spirit, a greater readiness to give to missionary collections, or a more constant desire to hand on to others the good news of salvation than in the mission stations of the Pacific. The Christian natives have freely given themselves, their sons and their daughters, the produce of their plantations, and their money, so that the heathen not yet reached might receive the Word of God. After talking the matter over among themselves, the missionaries SPREADING OUT 55 took Pomare into their confidence, and asked him what he thought of starting a native missionary society. 1'he king at once approved, and lost no time in speaking of it to others. This was how he set to work. Among his chiefs was a godly man named Auna. Addressing him one day, Pomare said : " Auna, do you think you could collect five bamboo canes of oil in a year ? " A CORAL ISLAND. " Yes," was the prompt reply. " Do you think you could afford to give so much for sending the Word of God to the heathen ? " " Yes," was again the answer that Auna gave. " Do you think that those of us who value the gospel would think it a great labour to collect so much oil every year ? " "No," answered Auna, " I do not think we should." " Very well, then," said Pomare, " think the thing over, and perhaps we can form a society for this purpose." 56 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS Shortly after this a private meeting of the king and missionaries was held for drawing up rules for the new societ}-, and on May 13, 1818, on the very day that the London Missionary Society was holding its annual meeting in England, a large public assembl}* gathered at Papetoai in Moorea to found a Tahitian Missionary Society. Two prayer meetings, one in the English language, and one in the native, had been held in the early morning ; these had been followed by an English morning service, at which Mr. Henry preached ; but the chief meeting was held in the afternoon, and was conducted entirely in the Tahitian language. The chapel proving too small, and more than half of the people being unable to get in, it was decided to hold the meeting- out of doors in a neighbouring grove. At three o'clock the mission- aries walked down to this grove, and there saw a sight that filled them with delight. The clear bright sky, the calm surface of the sea just ruffled with a gentle breeze, the dense foliage and over-hanging canopy of cocoa-nut and other trees, creepers, and tropical plants, many of them in full bloom, the carpet of ferns, all lent a charm to the scene. Seated on trunks of trees, on blocks of wood, or on the ground, were thousands of natives decked out in native or European clothing. Near one of the large cocoa-nut trees, w r hose fine trunk looked like a pillar supporting the roof -of interlacing branches above, was a wooden stand upon which Mr. Nott took his place. Before him, in a large arm-chair, sat Pomare, dressed in a fine yellow tiputa, stamped over the left breast with a rich and elegant scarlet flower instead of a star. A chief sat on the king's right, his sec- retary on his left. A number of the chiefs, with the queen and leading ladies of the court, sat near. Most of them wore native gar- ments, the ladies, however, having added a sort of bonnet made from the leaves of the cocoa-nut, and being ornamented with wreaths of sweet-scented flowers round their necks or garlands of the same in their hair. A solemn and earnest service followed, Mr. Nott, the preacher of the day, taking as his text the words of Philip to the eunuch, and the eunuch's reply: " Understandest thou what thou readest ? " "How SPREADING OUT 57 can I, except some man should guide me? " (Acts viii. 30, 31.) Po- mare followed with a vigorous speech, urging the people to form a society for spreading the gospel, but warning them against agreeing to do so unless they were in their hearts convinced that this was right, and were further prepared to give of their own free will. As he drew towards the close of his address he asked those w-ho from their hearts agreed to his proposal to raise their right hand, whereupon between two and three thousand naked brown arms were at once lifted up. The sight of those uplifted arms, raised now on behalf of peace and goodwill as formerly they had been on behalf of war and evil, greatly affected the missionaries, and filled their hearts with thankfulness to God. Indeed as the sun sank to rest that evening and the assembly broke up, missionaries and natives alike were deeply impressed with the day's proceedings, and seemed to realize that a great step forward had been taken. And they were right. The example then set was followed elsewhere, not perhaps in the formal founding of societies on an English model, but in spirit and general aim, and has made South-Sea missions to a large extent self-supporting and self-propagating. Before leaving Tahiti for a time to follow the workers in their re- moval to other islands, we had better here refer to one or two incidents of special interest connected with Tahiti itself. For many months Pomare had been busy building an immense new chapel at Papao, which was only four miles from Matavai, where the missionaries first settled. This building, called the Royal Mission Chapel, was so large that the missionaries were sure that it would be of little use, and they did their best to dissuade the king from his purpose to build it. But all in vain. Pomare was ambitious. He had read of King Solomon's temple, and wished to have a house of prayer something like that. Besides, as he argued, their heathen altars and idol temples had cost them much in hard work, time, and self-denial, and why should not a Christian chapel cost the same ? He therefore kept to his plan, made his chiefs and people cut and carry timber, gather and prepare leaves for thatching, coral, pebbles, and other material for the walls, make the doors and windows, and build, thatch, and ornament the building. THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS Mr. Ellis, in describing it, says that when he remembered how little training in such work the Tahitians had had, how rude their tools were, and how great the quantity of material required was, he could not but be astonished at the result. The chapel was 712 feet long, by 54 feet wide, proportions which of course spoiled the effect that the size might otherwise have given. Added to this the roof was low ; so that as regards appearance the chapel was a dismal failure. There were 36 large bread-fruit tree trunks supporting the centre of the roof, and 280 smaller pillars supporting the wall plates. The walls outside were made from planks of the bread-fruit tree fixed in square frames, and either planed or rubbed smooth with coral and sand. For windows there were 133 openings provided with sliding shutters, and the num- ber of doors was 29. The roof was thatched with pandanus leaves, POM ARE'S ROYAL CHAPEL. (From a model in the Society's Museum.') the rafters being bound together with braided cord, coloured with native dyes. The ceiling was covered with fine matting, and the floor with dried grass. From end to end the building was furnished with simple rough forms. Two very strange things were to be seen in this royal chapel : the first, a stream of water five or six feet wide, flowing across it in a slanting direction ; the other, three pulpits, placed nearly 260 feet apart. The stream, which flowed down from the mountains to the sea, had not been noticed when the chapel was begun. To have turned it aside in another direction would have given the people so much extra labour and trouble that they left it as it was, contenting themselves with placing a grating at each side under the walls, through which it might flow. The three pulpits were required because of the chapel's great length, and on the opening day Tuesday, May n, 1819 were all used at the same time. Great crowds of visitors from all the neighbouring islands had flocked to the ceremony. Their tents lined the beach for a distance of four miles. Seven thou- SPREADING OUT 59 sand people gathered in the chapel, and these grouped themselves as three distinct congregations around the three pulpits, leaving a space between. A minister stood in each of the pulpits. Mr. Darling, who was in the middle pulpit, gave out a hymn in a voice that all could hear, and the three congregations joined in singing it. Then each minister read Luke xiv. to the people around him, and afterwards prayed ; and though three voices were speaking at the same time, the size of the chapel was so great that they did not interfere with one another. The three sermons began at the same time. Mr. Darling's text was, " I will make them joyful in my house of prayer " (Isa. Ivi. 7); Mr. Platt chose "And yet there is room" (Luke xiv. 22); while Mr. Crook preached from, " In all places where I record My name 1 will come unto thee and bless thee" (Exod. xx. 24). The three ser- mons ended, the entire congregation joined in another hymn, then a short prayer from each minister brought the service to a close. The next day the people met together again to hear three sermons on behalf of their Missionary Society. In the afternoon they heard three more. Gifts of different kinds poured in pigs, arrow-root, cocoa-nut oil, matting, and fibre. Pomare put his name down as a yearly subscriber of eight hogs ! One other meeting in ttie Royal Chapel was held that week. It was for the purpose of proclaiming the laws by which in future Tahiti was to be governed. The chapel seemed to be the most suitable place for gathering the people together, and as their new laws were intended to be in accordance with the teaching of Scripture, they thought it right to have them proclaimed in the house of prayer. The missionaries were present, but beyond opening the meeting with reading and prayer, took no part in it. Pomare standing in the central pulpit and looking around upon his assembled people, began by putting a question to a chief named Tati, brother and successor of the man who had been the leader of his enemies four years before. " Tati," said the king, " what is your desire ? what can I do for you ?" Tati, who sat nearly opposite the pulpit, rose and said : " Those are what we want, the papers you hold in your hand, the laws : give them Co THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS to us, that we may have them in our hands, that we may regard them and do what is right." Pomare put a like question to a good chief named Utami, and in an affectionate manner said: " Utami, and what is your desire? " " One thing only is desired by us all," was the reply, " that which Tati has said the laws which you hold in your hand." After questioning the other chiefs and receiving from each a similar answer, Pomare read eighteen laws against murder, theft, rebellion, and other kinds of wickedness ; and after each law had been distinctly read and explained, he said to the chiefs : " Do you agree to this law ? " and the chiefs made answer : " We heartily agree to it.'' The king then asked the people also if they agreed to it, and told them if they did to lift up their right hands They instantly obeyed, and so great was the number, and so prompt the action, that a rushing sound was made by the arms thus suddenly raised. When the king came to the law about people who rebel against the sovereign, he stopped as if he would pass it over, for he remembered all the trouble he had had with his rebellious subjects in days gone by. Yet when he had read the law, Tati, who had been one of the greatest rebels, quite a ringleader among them in fact, jumped up from his seat, and not satisfied with holding up one hand, raised both and asked the people to follow his example which they promptly did. What a change had come over the islanders ! On the following Sunday Pomare was baptized. He had long- desired this, but in spite of his zeal and evident earnestness he had so many serious faults that the missionaries had hesitated. Now, how- ever, they felt more satisfied about him, and agreed to baptize him. Three sermons were preached that morning from the same text: "Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations," etc. (Matt, xxviii. 18- 20), and after the sermons the eight missionaries present gathered around Pomare who was seated near the middle pulpit. A hymn was sung, special prayer offered, and then Pomare standing up, Mr. Bick- nell, one of the first missionaries brought by the Duff, mounting the pulpit stairs in the sight of all the people, poured water on his head SPREADING OUT 61 and baptized him. The venerable missionary then addressed the king, and in feeling tones and words urged him to walk worthy of his high calling, and to remember that the eyes of men as well as the eyes of angels and of God were upon him. Pomare's example was quickly followed. Throughout Tahiti, Moorea and the rest of the group some hundreds soon sought baptism. These were carefully taught the meaning of the rite, and on giving satisfactory proof of their sincerity were baptized together with their children parents with their boys and girls, some of whom were old enough to run about, being received together. " So mightily grew the Word of God and prevailed." Two years and a half afterwards Pomare died from dropsy and elephantiasis, at the age of forty-seven, and his death plunged all Tahiti into grief. Missionaries, chiefs, and people alike mourned his loss. He was very far from perfect, indulged in low vices at times, was jealous, exacting, and treacherous, and yet in many ways showed his sincere regard for Christian teaching and his true friend- ship for the missionaries who taught him. He had stood by them in times of great darkness, and to him the mission owed much of its success. God used Pomare, weak and sinful though he was t for bringing great blessing to those picturesque yet degraded islands, and his name will be honoured for many a long day yet to come. To return to our story and to retrace our steps to the year 1818, we have now to tell of the progress made in the Leeward or Society Islands Huahine, Raiatea, Tahaa, and Borabora. On June 18, the Haweis, having taken on board the printing press and all belonging to it, the goods of the missionaries who were leaving, and some cattle, finally received as passengers Mr. Davies, Mr. and Mrs. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. Orsmond, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, and a number of the leading chiefs, and then set sail. On the evening of the next day she safely reached Huahine. Some of the party landed, but the rest remained on board. Nine years before, when the times were troublous, some of the missionaries had lived in that island for nearly a year, and since that time idolatry had come to an end, and a native chapel had been 62 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS built by the islanders, who wished to imitate the people of Tahiti, although ignorant of the true nature of Christianity. On the morning of the next day, June 20, the Haiveis dropped anchor in Fare Harb'our, a beautiful spot which charms all visitors. Lofty mountain peaks in the background, richly wooded valleys and the low-lying ground fringing the shore, rich with groves of stately bread-fruit, graceful cocoa-nut and various flowering trees, the gleaming white coral rock, fine sand and delicate shells upon the beach, the bright blue sky reflected upon the peaceful waters of the bay who can wonder at the praise freely poured out in Fare's honour by those who have witnessed its loveliness ! To-day it contains many good houses, and its inhabitants are civilized men and women, but when the missionaries first landed it was very different. A few native huts were visible ; there were not more than a dozen in the district, and guiding their light canoes, or leisurely strolling beneath the shade of the branching trees, their owners might every now and again be seen. They were still rude and untaught, their only clothing a girdle of cloth loosely bound around the waist and a wreath of leaves to protect their heads from the sun. The first night on shore was spent in a primitive fashion. Two houses belonging to chiefs were freely placed at the disposal of the missionaries; but as these were simply oval sheds, without either outside walls or inside partitions, consisting indeed of nothing more than a roof resting upon three large pillars in the centre and smaller pillars round the sides, they were open alike to the winds of heaven and to the easy entrance of visitors, both two and four-footed. Boxes had been landed, also some cattle, a young calf, and two or three milch goats. These arrivals were soon quite happy cropping the grass that grew among the rocks ; so too were the children, one of whom Mr. Ellis describes as smiling in the lap of its native nurse, while the other played on the dry grass by the side of the boxes just landed from the ship. Dinner was prepared in a homely way. The chiefs sent a present of bread-fruit and fish. A native youth, fourteen or fifteen years of age, leaving the crowd of spectators who had gathered 64 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS to see this novel company of white men, white women, and, more strange still, white children, stepped forward and asked if he should cook them some bread-fruit. His kind offer was gladly accepted. Fixing two large stones in the ground for a fireplace, and bringing a bundle of dry sticks from the bushes near at hand, he made a tire between the two stones, and soon had the tea-kettle boiling, and dishes of fried fish, bread-fruit and plantains ready for the strangers' meal. They were so pleased with his first success as cook that Mr. Ellis asked him to become their servant, to which he agreed, and he faith- fully served them until they left the island. Dinner over, the next thing was to prepare for the night, as the sun was already sinking in the west, and darkness would soon be upon them. Some natives readily cut four stout sticks from neighbouring trees. These were fixed in the earthen floor, and with sheets and native cloth fastened from one to the other formed a bedroom. A couple of sheets were carried inside this enclosure, and the bed spread upon them, a smaller bed for the children being made by the side. With only a twist of cotton fibre fixed in the half of a cocoa-nut, into which some cocoa-nut oil had been poured, for a lamp and this soon blown out by the breeze from the mountains it was necessary to retire to rest early. All was strange ; it was like sleeping out of doors ; the surf was moaning on the beach; dogs and pigs came prowling about to see what new kind of household arrangements these foreigners had set up in their midst ; and yet the night was passed in peace and comfort, and the morning light broke upon a grateful party, refreshed and fitted for another day's work. Not a single article had been stolen under cover of the darkness, although so many things were temptingly exposed and might have been easily carried off. That first night in Huahine was a good beginning, and helped to cheer the missionaries. But they soon found that although the idols had gone, by far the greater part of the natives were still heathen at heart. Following the example of Pomare in Tahiti and Moorea, Mahine, the king of Huahine, who had fought on Pomare's side, had sent down Vahaivi, one of his leading men, to Huahine with directions INTERIOR OF NATIVE HUT. N 66 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS to the chiefs to burn the idols, destroy the temples, and put an end to all heathen rites. His commands were obeyed, and not only were the uncouth images in which they had put their trust thrown into the fire, their altars pulled down, the houses in which the idols had been kept burnt to the ground, and idol- worship no longer practised, but the rude stills, in which native rum had been made from sugar-cane and various berries and fruits, were either broken to pieces or care- fully buried. Drunkenness, child-murder, and similar vices were also forbidden. The higher chiefs had taken these steps out of respect to Mahine, but many of lower rank objected, and at first threatened to fight in defence of the old customs and the gods of their forefathers. Gathering themselves together, they made ready to attack the men who had destroyed their idols ; but either from fear of them, or from some faint impression of the power of the new religion which was effecting such changes in Tahiti, they did not come to blows. After much talking they broke up, having agreed together to await the arrival of the missionaries, and from them hear what had to be said in favour of the worship of Jehovah. The missionaries found the people of Huahine in a very ignorant and uncertain state of mind. With the exception of one or two, they had all given up idolatry, but they knew little or nothing of Chris- tianity, and their hearts were still untouched by its power. Some, including a few who had been in Moorea, had learned to read, or had committed to memory the lessons given in the spelling book, and they had set apart a building for the worship of the true God. But when Sunday came round the missionaries did not find a large congregation gathered together to hear them ; indeed for many weeks they had but a very small number of hearers, and the schools too were very thinly attended. All sorts of excuses were made for not coming. They said: "Learning to read makes us feel tired"; "it is of no use to come to chapel, as we cannot read " ; " we are not scholars " ; and " we are not praying people." The real reason was that they still loved sinful ways and were unwilling to give these up. Gradually, however, a change for the better began to take place, and this was SPREADING OUT 67 much increased by the return to Huahine of a number of chiefs and people, who for several years had been living in Tahiti and had shared in the glorious awakening that had there taken place. These return- ing emigrants came across in three large boats and quite a fleet of smaller canoes. The missionaries knew many of them, and welcomed them as friends, and as these new comers began to tell their neighbours of what their eyes had seen and their ears had heard, and as the power of the Word of God was shown in their own lives and character, the chapel was soon filled with worshippers, while scholars flocked to the schools. A demand for lesson-books sprang up, and the dawn of a brighter day appeared. The plan which the missionaries had in view when they reached Huahine was to remain together on that island, making that the one station for the Society or Leeward group. For a while the study of the language would occupy much of their time, and when they had mastered the language they hoped to feel strong enough to manage the mission without further aid from their seniors in Tahiti. But this plan was laid aside. They had not been many weeks at Fare before Tamatoa, the king of Raiatea, with his brother and a number of chiefs from Raiatea, Tahaa, and Borabora, arrived with an earnest request that the missionaries should divide their forces and some of them accompany them back to Raiatea. Mai, the king of Borabora, who was also at Huahine, had before this written a touching letter to the missionaries, in which he reminded them that Jesus Christ and His apostles did not remain in one place, but visited many different cities and countries, so as to give larger numbers an opportunity for re- ceiving the light. The arguments of these chiefs were so forcible that Mr. Williams and Mr. Threlkeld felt it to be their duty to go back to- Raiatea with Tamatoa. True, they knew as yet but little of the lan- guage ; but said the chiefs when this was urged: " Never mind that ; you possess enough now to teach us more than we know, and we will make it our business to teach you our language." So it was settled, and Raiatea was added to the mission stations of the Pacific. That island is a lovely spot. It is thirty miles dis- tant from Huahine and a hundred miles to the N. W. of Tahiti, is 68 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS the largest of the Leeward Islands, and the cradle and centre of Tahitian mythology. It was sacred as the birthplace and home of Oro, as the spot to which the spirits of the dead took flight when they left the body, as the place at which Oro had to be consulted as an oracle, and as the abode of the priests who had him in charge. Raiatea is famous for its lofty mountain peaks, which, rising abruptly from the sea, tower aloft to a height of 4,500 feet. Between the mountains are beautiful valleys, clothed with luxuriant tropical vegetation. Enclosed with it by the same coral reef, and distant only four miles, is the little island of Tahaa. Fruit is very plentiful. Before Europeans settled on the island there was a rich supply, while in these days oranges, limes, mangoes, bananas, papaw-apples, pine- apples, barbadines, guavas, and cocoa-nuts abound, as do also sweet potatoes, bread-fruit, plantains, taro, and yams. Some of the valleys are nothing but orange groves : the oranges fall in thousands, and are left to rot, or to be eaten by the pigs. In race, language, character, and general habits the people of Raiatea are like the Tahitians. Tamatoa's request for teachers was the outcome of a sincere desire to lead his people forward. He and other chiefs of Raiatea had gone over to Tahiti in 1811 in order to aid Pomare in his struggle against his rebellious subjects, and while there had learned much concerning Christianity. On returning to Raiatea in the autumn of 1815 they were welcomed by the heathen priests and idol-keepers. But Tamatoa and his companions declared that they were Christians, and no longer believed in idols. Moreover, they urged others to follow their example. The priests were very angry at this, and stirred up their followers to attack Tamatoa. War broke out, but the victory was with the Christian party. Tamatoa was conqueror. Still, like a wise ruler, he tempered judgment with mercy, and his clemency so impressed his former foes that they readily listened to his counsels. The people generally destroyed their idols and idol temples, and became nominally Christians. They knew but little as yet, it is true, and in heart and life were scarcely any better than the heathen ; the only thing they seemed clear about was that their gods were no gods. Hence the need of further teaching and the urgent pleading for missionaries. CHAPTER V. CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS. " To whom He was not spoken of, they shall see." ULL of promise though the work was, it was still very limited in extent. Twenty years had gone by since the Duff landed her unique cargo in Matavai Bay, and thus far only the eastern edge of Polynesia had been touched. In two groups of little islands the people had seen " a great light," and were trying to walk in its beams ; they felt the throbbings of a new life, and under its impulse were bent on attempting " great things for God." They little knew for what they were being prepared. . From them was the Word of God to " sound forth " to other groups, and with their aid island after island was to receive the message of salvation and be won from savage darkness, bloodshed, and wickedness to a life of peace, friendli- ness, and in many instances of genuine goodness and virtue. The romance of missions was on the point of being seen on a large scale. Moreover, whilst the distant islanders were being prepared to receive instruction in the ways of God, their Father in heaven, of whose goodness and love they had been so sadly ignorant, had drawn to Himself, had called to His service, and was about to send forth as their guide and teacher one eminently fitted for this high duty. This was the large-hearted, enterprising, capable man w r hose name stands en- rolled in the annals of missionary fame as John Williams, the Martyr of Eromanga, and whose arrival in the South Seas and decision to go to Raiatea were mentioned in the last chapter. THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS Mr. Williams was still quite young. Born at Tottenham High Cross, near London, on June 29, 1796, he was only a little over twenty when, in company with his young bride and his fellow-missionaries, he sailed down the Thames on his way to the Antipodes. But he came of a good stock, had received excellent training from a godly mother, and though for a time thoughtless and even hostile to religion, had, while in his eighteenth year, been brought to Christ by a sermon preached in the Moor- fields Tabernacle by the Rev. Timothy East, of Birmingham. John Williams was at that time an apprentice to an ironmonger and founder in the City Road. By the terms of his inden- tures he was to be taught the commercial rather than the mechanical side of his master's business. His work was to be, not at the forge or the bench, but at the counter ' and the desk. But natural tastes and desires proved stronger than written agree- ments, and rapidly mastering the details of his own special department, 'John" was constantly leaving the counter to loiter near the smiths' shop, where he watched \vith keen and intelligent interest every movement of their hands, every stroke of their hammers. During the intervals for meals too, and after shop hours, he was often busily REV. JOHN WILLIAMS. CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 71 engaged at the bellows and anvil. In this way he soon became a skilful workman, and Mr. Tonkin, his master, found it to his own advantage to employ him on any tasks that demanded more than ordinary exactness and delicacy of touch. How little did the young mechanic then realize for what strange exploits in far-off lands he was in this way being trained and qualified. A few months after he had given his heart to Christ he joined the Moorfields Tabernacle church, of which the venerable Rev. Matthew Wilks was at that time the minister. This step at once gave him opportunities both for self-culture as a member of the Youths' Class, and for entering upon Christian work in connection with the Sunday . School, alms-house and poor-house visitation, and tract distribution all of which forms of service were at that time carried on with great earnestness and vigour. It also brought him into intimate relations with a minister whose whole soul was aflame with missionary ardour and enthusiasm. Mr. Wilks was a prominent member of the Board of directors of the London Missionary Society, one of that Society's most eminent " fathers and founders." He it was who, when the discpurag- ing news of the capture of their ship had filled the hearts of not a few with fearfulness, and had made some waver as to the further prosecu- tion of the mission, exclaimed : " Give it up! I would rather sell my coat from my back than give the mission up." Nor did Mr. Wilks content himself with personal interest in the work, but as the minister of an influential church spared no pains to interest his people also. In this he was most successful. The thoughts of young Williams were thus early directed towards the heathen, and it was not long before he conceived the desire to devote his life to work amongst them. En- couraged by his revered pastor, he offered himself to the Society ; and an arrangement with his employer having been effected, he was released from his apprenticeship, and after a brief and scanty training, sadly too short as it would seem to many, but all that in the pressing claims of the work could be allowed him, he was set apart as a mis- sionary, and appointed to the South Seas. Thus it was that when the work was growing and spreading in 72 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS different directions made possible, God had raised up a man of the right stamp for extending it. Mr. Threlkeld remained in Raiatea for six years only, but for fifteen years this charming island was the home of John Williams. Not that he remained there the whole time. No; as he himself said, "he could not content himself within the narrow limits of a single reef." But Raiatea was for many years the centre from which he worked and enlarged his sphere of influence. The reception given to him and his colleague was most gratifying, and at once they set to work. They soon found that the Christianity of the Raiateans was only skin-deep. Their moral condition was simply abominable, and their laziness most distressing. It was difficult to get at them ; for, instead of living together in towns or villages, the people were scattered all over the island, each family residing by itself. A change for the better, however, was quickly seen. Good substantial houses for the use of the missionaries and for the chiefs were built, also a large chapel ; and young men began to acquire skill as carpen- ters, smiths, and boat-builders. Two years after their arrival the missionaries had the joy of baptizing the first converts. A code of laws was prepared. Schools were established, and in these schools all classes were gathered, from the king to the little child. Portions of the Scriptures were also translated, and an auxiliary missionary society was started after the example of Tahiti. To this they had been moved by the wonderful story of what had happened in Rurutu, a small island lying 350 miles to the south of Raiatea. This island had been visited by a terrible epidemic, which had carried off so many of the people that the rest became alarmed. One of the gods, they thought, must be angry with them, and was punishing them for some wrong thing they had done. Anxious to escape before this angry god had " devoured " them all, two old chiefs made up their minds to flee. Each of them determined to build a large canoe, and in this, with as many of their people as the canoe would hold, to sail for some happier land. If they failed to reach such a land, they could but perish at sea, while to remain where they were was to await certain death. Auura was the name of one of these chiefs. His CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 73 canoe ready, away he sailed with a large party of his friends. They safely reached the island of Tubuai, where, for a time, they stayed. Recruited in strength and spirits, they at length made up their minds to return to Rurutu, thinking that by that time the plague must have stopped ; but scarcely had they lost sight of the mountains of Tubuai, when a violent storm overtook them, swamped one of the canoes, and drove the other out of its course. For three weeks Auura and his followers were tossed about upon the ocean, they knew not whither, while their sufferings for want of food and water were dreadful. But God in His mercy preserved them, and guided their storm-beaten craft to Maurua, the most westerly of the Society Islands. Here they were received with much kindness by the natives, who, however, told them that they formerly worshipped the same deities as themselves, and had a like fear of evil spirits ; but that now they praj'ed to the One living and true God. They also pointed to the overthrown " maracs " as proof of what they had said. Hearing that white men had come in ships to bring these good tidings, and that they were living quite near, Auura thought it would be wise to go and see them before returning to Rurutu. A westerly wind setting in, he and his friends again set sail in his canoe, intend- ing to stop at Borabora on the way ; but missing the entrance in the reef at that island, they were carried on to Raiatea. Landing there, everything they saw filled them with surprise. The missionaries and their wives, the natives dressed in European fashion and wearing hats and bonnets, the neat white cottages that had been built, the work- shops and other novelties, astonished them beyond measure ; and when on Sunday they were taken to the house of God, saw the immense congregation, heard them sing songs of praise, and listened to the preaching of the gospel, they at once felt convinced that the Christian religion was the true one, and were even thankful for the perils and hardships that had brought them to Raiatea. Their one desire was to learn how to read, and the deacons of the church undertook to teach them. Auura especially showed great zeal and made rapid progress. In a short time he had mastered the spelling-book, could repeat most 74 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS of the catechism, and was able to read in the Gospel of Matthew. These Rurutuans were only in Raiatea for three months, but before they left several of them could read, spell, and write correctly ; and yet until the day they landed there they had never seen a letter. Auura's great wish now was to return as quickly as possible to his native isle that he might tell his relatives and neighbours of the love of God, his only fear being that most of them would be dead before he reached home. A ship, having a cargo of cocoa-nut oil, which native Christians were sending as the first of many generous gifts to the London Mission- ary Society, coming into harbour, Mr. Williams had no difficulty in persuading the captain to take them back. Auura, however, was un- willing to go unless he had with him some one who could teach him and his people ; for, said he, " it will never do to go to the land of dark- ness without a light in my hand." Calling the members of the church- together, the missionaries asked for volunteers for this work, and two oi the deacons, who were among the very best men in the church, readily came forward and said : " Here are we ; send us." They were then set apart to their special mission in a solemn and impressive service. This was the earliest ordination service of South Sea Island missionaries to distant heathen islands of which we have record, and the greater part of the night before they sailed was spent by the people in providing some article for their missionaries to take with them. Every member of the church, says Mr. Williams, from whose " Missionary Enter- prises" we take the story, brought something: one a razor, another a knife, a third a roll of native cloth, a fourth a pair of scissors, and others various useful tools. The English missionaries supplied them with lesson-books and a few copies of Scripture portions in the Tahitian language, which closely resembles their own. As Mr. Williams and his native helpers were anxious to hear quickly how these men were received, they sent a boat of their own with a native crew to bring back word ; and after an absence of little more than a month, they had the great joy of seeing this boat return laden with the trophies of victory the gods" of Rurutu, which the CARRY JNG THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 75 islanders had readily given up. With the idols there came letters, and as these were read the hearts of God's servants were moved with grati- tude and confidence in His power to overthrow the kingdom of dark- ness. A meeting was called, and the people crowded into the large chapel to hear the letters read and to join in praise to Him who had so signally manifested His power. This meeting was held in the evening, the chapel being lighted up with ten chandeliers made of wood neatly turned, cocoa-nut shells taking the place of lamps, and must have been wonderfully affecting. The rejected idols had been carried into the chapel, and during the meeting were publicly exhibited from the pulpit. One in particular Aa,* the national god of Rurutu excited much interest, for besides being covered with little gods outside, it was found that he had a door in his back ; and on opening this door, twenty-four small gods were taken from the inside, and one after another held up to view. He was supposed to be the ancestor from whom the island of Rurutu was peopled, and who after death was regarded as a god. Several stirring speeches were made that evening. Tuahine, the deacon, of whom we have heard before, spoke of the idols in these terms : " Thus the gods made with hands shall perish. There they are, tied with cords ! Yes, their very names are also changed ! Formerly they were called ' Te man Atua] or the gods ; now they are called ' Te mau Varua mo,' or evil spirits. Their glory, look ! it is birds' feathers, soon rotten ; but our God is the same for ever." Tamatoa, the king, also made a striking speech. "Let us," said he, " continue to give our oil and arrowroot to God, that the blind may see, and the deaf hear. Let us not be weary in this good work We behold the great deep : it is full of sea ; it is rough arid rugged underneath; but the water makes a plain, smooth surface, so that nothing of its ruggedness is seen. Our lands were rugged and rough with wickedness and godless customs. The Word of God alone can make these rough places smooth. Let us all be diligent in this good work, till the rugged world is made smooth by the Word of God, * Aa of Rurutu was the same as Taaroa of Tahiti and Tan-jaroa of Rarotonjja. 76 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS as the waters cover the ruggedness of the great deep. Let us, above all, be concerned to have our own hearts washed in Jesus' blood; then God will become our Friend and Jesus our Brother." Well might the Raiatean church be stirred with deep emotion as they listened to such words, as they reflected on the great change that had taken place in their own island, and as they pondered this new token of the mighty power of God. Nor must we think that Rurutu had simply given up its idols. No: from that day forth its people b:>gan to live a quiet and sober life. Some time afterwards the master of an American whaler, Captain Benjamin Chase, who often called at Raiatea for provisions, made up his mind to touch at Rurutu on his way back to the States, but in attempting this was unfortunately wrecked. The natives, however, treated him with great friendliness, and before Captain Chase left he handed a paper to the native teacher, signed by himself, in which he had written these words: " The natives gave us all the assistance in their power from the time the ship struck to the present moment. The first day, while land- ing the things from the ship, they were put into the hands of the natives, and carried up to the native mission-house, a distance of half a mile ; and not a single article of clothing was taken from any man belonging to the ship, though they had it in their power to have plun- dered us of everything that was landed, which fully proves the honesty of the natives of this island. Since I have lived on shore, myself, officers, and people have received the kindest treatment from the natives that can be imagined, for which I shall ever be thankful. Myself and officers have lived in the house with Puna, who, together with his wife, have paid every attention to make us comfortable, for which I return my unfeigned thanks, being the only compensation I can make them at present. (Signed) " B. CHASE." Mr. Williams had already begun to long for greater usefulness, and this story of Rurutu stirred anew his desire to get outside the " single reef," and visit other islands. His people also were feeling the throb- bings of the missionary spirit. In 1821, Mrs. Williams being in feeble health, and he himself suffering from a disease common in the Pacific, a voyage to Sydney was thought desirable ; but combining with family rukapuka or '\-*; Danger I. Nessau /, fiakaanga i Sauwaroff /, South Pacific Palme rston I. AITUTAKI 2(f- Penrhyn I. -10 Ocean {^-.Manual Z-Mitiaro OQ Rurutu 4* ' 'Mauke cP MANGAIA l()0 77 78 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS duties his ardent wish to take the Gospel to groups yet unvisited, he arranged to commence forthwith the special work upon which his heart was set, and utilise his voyage in search of health for visiting, and, if possible, stationing teachers in a fresh centre. Six or seven hundred miles to the south-west of Tahiti lies a group of islands, which, discovered by Captain Cook (Rarotonga, the largest of them, excepted), were by him named the Hervey Islands, in honour of the Honourable Captain Hervey, one of the Lords of the Admiralty, and to that group of islands did the Gospel next spread. Aitutaki, the third in size, was the first of the Hervey Islands to be enlightened. Two native Christians, members of the church of Raiatea, had been selected by that church for the new effort. Convened for the solemn purpose of choosing from among themselves those most suitable for taking the news of God's power and love to the regions beyond, the Raiateans, like the mother-church of Antioch in the days of the apostles, were directed by the same all-sufficient Guide to separate Papeiha and Vahapata for the work unto which He had called them. Both were well fitted for the duty, more especially the former, whose graphic narratives, carefully preserved in the pages of " Missionary Enterprises," are both deeply interesting in themselves, and at the same time a remarkable evidence of their heroism and consecration. On the arrival of the vessel at Aitutaki, she was immediately sur- rounded by native canoes, the occupiers of which were a noisy, wild set of savages. " Some," says Mr. Williams, " were tattooed from head to foot some were painted most fantastically with pipe-clay and yellow and red ochre ; others were smeared all over with charcoal ; and in this state were dancing, shouting, and exhibiting the most frantic gestures. We invited the chief Tamatoa on board the vessel. A number of his people followed him. Finding that I could converse readily in their language, I informed the chief of what had taken place in the Tahitian and Society Islands with respect to the overthrow of idolatry. He asked me very significantly where great Tangaroa was. I told him that he, with all the other gods, were burned. He then inquired where Koro of Raiatea was. I replied that he, too, was consumed with fire ; CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 79 and that I had brought two teachers to instruct him and his people in the word and knowledge of the true God, that he and they also might be induced to abandon and destroy their idols, as others had done. On my introducing the teachers to him, he asked me if they would accom- pany him to the shore. I replied in the affirmative, and proposed that they should remain with him. He seized them with delight, and saluted them most heartily by rubbing noses, which salutation he con- tinued for some time. On the chief promising me that he would treat the teachers with kindness, and afford them protection, taking with them their little store, they got into his large canoe, and the natives paddled off to the land, apparently greatly delighted with their treasure." In such a simple and primitive manner was the kingdom of God extended. A third evangelist, who took with him a supply of lesson- cooks and other aids to progress, was soon sent to help Papeiha and Vahapata, so that when in the second year of the new mission's his- tory Mr. Williams (whose stay of eight months in Sydney had greatly refreshed him), accompanied by his fellow missionary, Mr. Bourne, and sailing in the schooner Endeavour (which, while in Sydney, he had bought for such service), again visited them, he found wonderful changes already effected. A large chapel, nearly 200 feet in length and about 30 feet in width, had been built of wattle and plaster, also a neat house for the teacher, containing five rooms ; heathen temples had been destroyed, and their idols gone; they who only eighteen months before had been sunken in superstition and gross idolatry were now busily occupied chanting the praises of God, singing Christian hymns, or repeating passages from a catechism, while Sunday was observed by the entire people as a day of rest and worship. Of course the change was, to a large extent, external only ; but making all deduc- tions, it was enough to fill the hearts of native and English mission- aries alike with thankfulness and hope. The next day the ceremony of opening the chapel took place, when a congregation, of between 1,500 and 2,000 people were present. Mr. Williams preached from the words, (< God so loved the world," etc., and as he did so, was much moved by reflecting how different were the Aitutakians on this his So THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS second visit from what they were on his first then cannibals, now with one accord bending their knees in prayer to God. And how had this been brought about ? By a slow process during the first twelve months, and then very rapidly. On landing Papeiha and Vahapata were taken to the heathen " maraes," or altars, and there given up to the gods. Little did the Aitutakians then think that in a few short months the two strangers they were thus placing under the care of their gods would have turned their little " world upside clown," and brought them all to understand that these gods were lifeless blocks of wood and stone. Yet so it was. But not all at once. For a time the teachers had much difficulty, and were badly treated. Fight- ing broke out among the islanders three distinct times, and this led to rioting and robbery of their goods. Still they never lost heart, but were confident that God would soon overthrow the idolatry of the land. A tour of the island, which the two teachers made together, was the first thing to make a definite impression upon the heathen. They stayed a few days in each district, and while there took every oppor- tunity that offered for getting into conversation with the natives. They also taught them to repeat the Lord's Prayer and the alphabet. In one district, in the presence of a large crowd of natives, they had a discussion with an old priest, who, by shouting and bluster, did his best to refute their teaching. " Te-erui," said the old man, " made all lands : he made Aitutaki ; and after he had made it, he gave it its present form by moulding it with his hands." " No," answered the teachers, "God alone has power to create, and He made Aitutaki and all other lands." But the old priest would not be silenced, but con- tinued to shout out that Te-erui \vas great, and that he had been the lirst man. "Indeed! then who was his father?" asked the teachers. "Oh, Te-tareva.'' "Where did Te-tareva come from?" was their next question. "From Avaiki." "Where is that?" "It is down below the earth : Te-tareva climbed up from it ; and because he reached the top, was called by that name." Quickly seeing that they had the old priest in a corner, the teachers asked : " This land, then, was made before Te-tareva arrived ? " " Most certainly," was the prompt reply. CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 81 " Then, ' continued the Raiateans, " how can Te-erui be the maker of a land which, you say, was made before his parent, Te-tareva, came up from beneath?" This was a poser for the old man, and he was silent ; but the teachers went on to tell the crowd about the true God, who made heaven and earth and all that is therein, and so interested them, that if any one made the least noise, there was at once a cry of: " Be still, be still ; let us hear what they say." From that time many began to listen thoughtfully to the new teaching. AITUTAKI. Two other events helped to deepen the impression. The first was the arrival of a ship which had called at Aitutaki for the express pur- pose of finding out how Papeiha and Vahapata were, and to bring them presents and greetings from their friends. The heathen had spoken of them as " two logs of driftwood, washed on shore by the waves of the ocean," and would not believe that any one would come to visit them, when lo ! here was a vessel come for that very purpose! Besides which the captain made gifts of axes and other things the 82 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS Aitutakians were very glad to get, and the teachers presented to the king's grandfather some pigs and goats which had been sent to them. A few days after the ship had sailed away there was a general wish on the part of the people to give up their idols, and seek instruction at the hands of the two teachers. One man stood in the way ; this was the king's grandfather, who declared that he would never give up the gods he had always served. But a great sorrow led him to alter his mind. While he was busily engaged in certain heathen customs, a daughter of whom he was very fond was taken ill. The priests at once began to invoke the help of the gods. Offerings were freely laid before them, and from morn to eve, day after day, they were entreated to restore the sick child to health. Instead of getting better she grew worse, and at last died. So enraged w r as the chief that in wild grief and anger he wreaked his vengeance upon the gods who had been deaf to his cries by sending his son to set fire to the " marae." Two other "maraes" near also caught fire and were destroyed. Going to another larger one, before which people were at the very moment making offerings, he tried to burn that too, but was held back by the party of worshippers. The death of this young princess and the act of her father and mother roused the entire island, and when Sunday came round the people from several districts brought their idols and laid them at the teachers' feet. Many did the same during the following week, and by the next Sunday, just fifteen months after the teachers had landed, not a single person w r as left in Aitutaki who professed to have any faith in idols. On the Monday a large meeting was held, when it was agreed first that every " marae " in the island should be destroyed, and next that they should at once set to work and build a house of prayer. That very evening several temples were overthrown, and by the Tuesday morning not a single one remained. With equal ardour did the people begin the more difficult task of building the chapel. They were quick to learn, but some things astonished them beyond measure, especially their first experience of lime-burning. The foreigners were " roasting stones," they said. Then when they found CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 83 the " roast stone " turned to a beautiful soft, white powder, they were so pleased with the powder that they whitewashed their clothes and hats, and strutted about the village as proud as peacocks. Their sur- prise reached its highest point when, mixed with sand and carefully plastered over a piece of the wall and protected for the night by mat- ting, by next morning the soft powder had turned to hard cement. That beat everything. They gently touched it, smelt it, scratched it, and finished up by saying : " Wonderful, wonderful ! The very stones in the sea and the sand on the shore become useful in the hands of those who worship the true God and obey His good word." In these ways had Aitutaki been brought o^t of the heathen darkness that had hitherto enslaved her. Mr. Williams had brought six additional teachers, and their wives, to whom, with the three already at work, the task of rescuing the Hervey Islands from idolatry was to be entrusted. Some were in- tended for Rarotonga, of which island reports had often reached the missionaries, and natives from which were then at Aitutaki. These Rarotongans had become Christians during their stay in Aitutaki, and were eager to return home and tell their countrymen of what the Lord had done for them, and to the missionaries this seemed a clear sign of the guiding hand of God. But the exact whereabouts of the island was still unknown, and the first thing to do was to discover it. Taking the Rarotongans on board, and having Papeiha to help them in their efforts to get on. friendly terms with the people, who were reputed to be of most fierce character, treacherous, bloodthirsty, and thorough cannibals, the missionaries sailed in search of the island. After more than a week's unsuccessful cruise backwards and for- wards, however, they had to give up the attempt and steer for Man- gaia instead. Their reception there was not encouraging. At first they could not induce the natives to approach them, and when, after repeated failures, one man, by a liberal offer of knives and pearl orna- ments, was persuaded to come on board, the poor fellow, though a very Hercules in build, trembled with terror at finding himself on a white man's ship, and eagerly seizing the first chance to descend to 84 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS his canoe, paddled off to the shore as if for his life. Unwilling to sail away without first landing and trying to make friends with the people, and yet feeling the difficulty of doing so, the missionaries and teachers consulted together as to what should be done. Brave Pa- peiha was equal to the emergency, and at once offered to venture on shore alone. No opening in the reef, available for the entry of a boat into the lagoon, was to be seen, but that was no trouble to Papeiha ; he was ready to leap into the sea and swim through the surf to land. He was taken in a boat to the reef, and getting out upon the coral rock, prepared to dive ; but noticing that the natives were all armed, some with slings in which stones were already placed, others with spears which were poised for hurling at him, he began to address them. He told them that he wanted to come on shore, that he came unarmed, that he was a man of peace and not of war, and begged them to tie their spears in bundles with the slings, for unless they would do this he could not venture. The Mangaians readily agreed to do as he asked, when, diving into the surf, he w r as borne on the crest of a wave to the beach. He was so well received that he at once explained to the chiefs what the missionaries wished to do, and arranged w r ith them for the landing of the teachers. Swimming 1 back to the boat, he reported his success, and gave as his opinion that the Deople would prove quiet and were to be trusted. In this, unfortu- nately, he was mistaken, for on their landing they met with gross ill-treatment. Both they and their property were forthwith seized. A saw which one of them carried was pounced upon, broken into three pieces, and then hung from the savages' ears as ornaments. A box of bonnets was dragged through the water. Bamboos of oil were tapped, and the oil poured over their naked bodies till the skin shone as they stood in the sunbeams. Strangest of all, two pigs, an animal which had never before been seen in Mangaia, were seized by a chief, dressed by him in his own royal feathers and decorations, and sent in procession to the temple of the island gods. The teachers' wives were carried off bodily into the woods, and there treated with great brutality and cruelty, their clothes being torn into shreds, and they themselves CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 85 dragged through mire and water, while their poor husbands, being bound hand and foot, were powerless to help them. Papeiha himself was marked for slaughter, and but for his presence of mind would have suffered death from strangling. A tiputa was thrown over his head for this purpose, but managing to get his hand into the opening, he saved his neck from the tightening pressure. Happily these pro- ceedings could be seen from the vessel, so a small cannon was fired to frighten the natives, and at the sound of its report they fled to the bush in great haste. Their flight made it possible to send a boat on shore and effect a speedy rescue. The teachers returned in a most bedraggled and woe-begone condition. In such disastrous fashion did the first attempt to win over Mangaia end. But less than two years later (1825), when Messrs. Tyerman and Bennet, who, as a deputation from the Directors, were going the round of the missions, were returning from Tahiti to Australia, the attempt was renewed, and with thorough success. Two young men, Davida and Tiera, both of them members of the church at Tahaa, were on board, ready to land on any island that might be found prepared to receive them. Reaching Mangaia, friendly intercourse was easily opened with the people, who had come to a better frame of mind, and were now quite willing to receive teachers. This was chiefly due to the terrible sufferings the islanders had been called to endure. Very soon after the visit of Mr. Williams and their harsh treatment of the teachers disease had broken out among them, and, spreading rapidly, had killed many. Men of rank and the poor, grown-up people and children, were alike its victims, and the hearts of the people " became as water," while the one thought that fixed itself in their minds was that the plague was a punishment to them for their own misdeeds. Having nothing with them but the light calico shirts which they wore, and a portion of the Tahitian New Testament tied tightly across their foreheads, these two devoted missionary pioneers, leaping into the sea from the canoe, swam to the shore, and became the honoured instruments of overthrowing the idolatry of the island, and of laying the foundations of the kingdom of Christ. ?6 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS Atiu, Mauke, Mitiaro, and other islands were also welcoming the light, and at last Rarotonga was added to the number. Once again John Williams set out to look for it, and when provisions were failing, the captain's patience almost worn out, and a promise made that if not found within an hour the search should be given up, lo, there came a shout from the masthead: "Here, here is the land we have been seeking." The morning clouds had lifted with the rising sun, and Rarotonga lay within sight. Though previously observed and even visited by one or two passing A r essels, in a sense it was dis- covered by Mr. Williams. Papeiha and one of the Rarotongans, who had been brought away from Aitutaki, landed in a canoe, and easily persuaded Makea, the king, a light-skinned, handsome man, six feet high, whose stout body was beautifully tattooed and slightly tinged with orange by the use of a mixture of turmeric and ginger, to return with them to the vessel. There he met with a most hearty welcome. He was much rejoiced to see his people back again, and especially to find his own cousin among them. Teachers with their wives, Pa- peiha, and all the Rarotongans were taken ashore, and it was hoped that all would go well. But, as at Mangaia, appearances were de- ceitful. The licentious habits of a powerful chief led to sad trouble. This man was already the husband of nineteen wives, but wishing to add a twentieth, came with a number of his followers to seize a teacher's wife and carry her away by force. This he would certainly have done but for the courage of one of the Christian Rarotongans who had come in the Endeavour from Aitutaki. This Christian woman Tapairu by name who was a cousin of Makea's, and had been welcomed home by him an hour or two before with much nose- rubbing and like tokens of delight, a woman of influence and of great bravery, defended her friend from the wicked chief. She argued, wept, and fought to save her from disgrace, and to her alone, under God, the woman's rescue was due. Early the next morning the entire party came off to the ship, their garments tattered and torn, and with a truly piteous tale of woe to tell. What was to be done ? Again did the courage of Papeiha solve CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS a difficult problem. "Let me remain alone," said he, "at any rate until you can send me a colleague from Raiatea," naming one of like spirit with himself. "Let the savages spare me or kill me, I will S THE BRAVE TEACHER, PAPEIHA. land among them ; Jehovah is my shield, I am in His hand." So it was settled. Leaving his little property on board, and bidding fare- well to his friends, this devoted Polynesian apostle got into a canoe 88 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS and made for the shore, carrying nothing with him but the clothes he wore, his native Testament, and a bundle of elementary lesson- books. With the six Rarotongans who, while still in Aitutaki, had become Christians, as his sympathisers and helpers, Papeiha was about to commence a work of real magnitude. Earnest prayer was offered on his behalf prayer that was heard and answered and four months later, when Tiberio, the chosen colleague, arrived, many ad- ditions to the little flock had been made. A year later Messrs. Tyer- man and Bennet found the whole population nominally Christian. They had renounced their idols, feathers, hideous images, poles swathed in endless coils of native cloth, and similar emblems of igno- rance and superstition, and were busily engaged erecting a place of worship six hundred feet long. Some fifteen hundred wild, almost naked people, gathered together to listen to the preacher. They were not Christians in any true sense of the word. Their hearts were un- changed. But they were quite sure of one thing, and that was that the God of the Christians was mightier than their own gods. It was indeed a marvellous thing. Two native teachers, themselves born heathen in an island seven hundred miles away, landed on Rarotonga, and in less than two years and a half the worship of idols was at an end ! A heathen woman had prepared the way. Her story is so strange that it must be told once more. She had been brought either by a canoe or in some passing vessel from Tahiti to Rarotonga, and proud of her travels and knowledge of other lands, lost no time in telling the natives of all she had seen. " Don't think that you are the only people in the world," she said, " for there are many others, and some of them are white all over. They are called Cookies." l She then told of Captain Cook's visit to Tahiti, and that after he left some " servants of Jehovah and Jesus Christ, the white man's God," came and were now living in the island. These white men, she said, had brought many new things. The people no longer used 1 A name, derived from that of Captain Cook, at that time given by the natives of the South Seas to all English people. CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 89 stone axes for hewing trees, but sharp things with which they could cut down timber with the greatest ease; they no longer used tools made of men's bones for scraping out their canoes, or when making posts for their houses, for the same foreign teachers had brought sharp hard things, made of iron, with which one could do the work much more quickly and better ; the children did not now cry and scream when they had their hair cut, as they formerly did when it was sawn off with sharks' teeth, for the Cookies had brought them bright things which w r ere so sharp that they cut the hair with- out hurting ; and they had no need now to go down to the water's edge if they wanted to see what their faces looked like, for these wonderful visitors had brought with them some small shining things, which they could carry about with them, and in which they could see themselves as plainly as they could see each other. So impressed were the Rarotongans with all that this heathen Tahitian woman told them that the king, Makea, called one of his children " Tehovah " (Jehovah) and another " Jetu Terai " (Jesus Christ). An uncle of the king built an altar to Jehovah and Jesus Christ, to which sick people were taken to be healed, and so famous had this " marae " or altar become that the power of Jehovah and Jesus Christ was already famous. But Papeiha for a time had an uphill struggle and very little to cheer his heart. On reaching the shore to which he had so bravely swum, he was at once taken to the house of the old chief Makea, father of the one then in power. He was followed by a great crowd of natives who threatened to steal his clothes. " I'll have his hat,' said one; " I'll have his jacket," said another; " I'll have his shirt," said a third. But they did not carry out their threats, for the chief called out : " Speak to us, O man, that we may know the business on which you have come." Papeiha told them that he had come to tell them about the true God and the way of salvation through Jesus Christ, so that they, like the people of Tahiti and other islands, might burn the idols of wood, of cloth, and of birds' feathers which they had made with their own hands, and ignorantly called gods. These bold 90 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS words startled the crowd, who burst out in horror and surprise: " What ! burn the gods ! what gods shall we then have, and what shall we do without the gods?" The wonder is that Papeiha's blunt outspokenness did not cost him his life. But God graciously protected him. Morning and evening worship, and Sunday services, which about a score of persons, more or less friendly, attended, were regularly carried on. Among those who came was a young man, the eldest son of the chief, who was afterwards baptized with the name Davida, and became a true friend and a sincere Christian. Up in the moun- tains of Rarotonga there lived a chief, called Tinomana, where with his clan he was forced to live by the more powerful chiefs, who dwelt near the shore. Weaker than his neighbours, Tinomana had to endure unfair and cruel treatment. He was not allowed to come down to the sea to fish : all the fishing his people could do had to be done by stealth at night. His plantations were often robbed; and, worse still, when the gods were supposed to want a victim, or a large offering of food, it was one of his followers who had to be slain, or it was from him the present for the gods had to be obtained. Now Tinomana was the first chief to burn his idols. He sent for Papeiha, and the zealous Raiatean teacher at once obeyed the call, and went to see him. He had a long talk with the chief, and fully convinced him that the idols were powerless. He also pointed out to him the great blessings which the Gospel would bring. Fighting would cease. Instead of being driven up into the mountains, he would be allowed peacefully to settle near the shore, and both he and others would gain greatly. At nightfall, when Papeiha was about to lie down to rest, Tinomana brought his native mat, the only bed he used, and spreading it by Papeiha's side, begged him to teach him how to pray to Jehovah. Papeiha commenced a short prayer, which the chief repeated after him. Wearied with his journey and the long talk, the teacher dropped off to sleep ; but scarcely had he closed his eyes before Tinomana in great distress awoke him, saying : " I've forgotten it ; go over it again." After making him repeat it many times, he again fell asleep ; but once CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 91 more was he aroused with the same touching plea : " I've forgotten it ; go over it again " ; and this occurred several times during the night. As he was leaving the next morning, the chief accompanied Papeiha part of the way, repeating his prayer as he went, and thanking him again and again for what he had told him. A few months afterwards, as we shall find, Tinomana went a step further and burnt his gods. In private and in public alike Papeiha spoke out boldly. Numbers did not in the least terrify him. Soon after his visit to the mountains he attended a large gathering held at a heathen " marae." Hundreds had come together to make a specially great offering to the idols. Many priests were moving about among the crowd shouting like madmen. This was to show that they were inspired. Some of these priests had one side of their face and body blackened with charcoal ; others were painted with stripes of all the colours they could find ; while others were arrayed as warriors with large head-dresses, white cowrie shells and feathers. Without a trace of fear, the teacher walked into the midst of these frenzied men and began to point out the folly of bringing presents of food to mere pieces of wood which their own hands had carved and ornamented, and were only gods because they who made them gave them that name. A priest stood up to defend their customs, and a long discussion followed. Papeiha told the crowd that the day would soon come when their gods would be "fuel for the fire," and though his hearers seemed to be struck with horror as he said this, they allowed him to go on and preach to them at great length. He did not, however, make any new converts that day. His New Testament was a puzzle to the Rarotongans. He always carried it with him, and as he walked about the people would say: "There! there's the god of that man! What a funny god it is; he carries it about with him, but we leave ours at the "marae." When they saw him reading, they would say that he and his god were talking together. After working for five months alone, Papeiha was cheered by the arrival of Tiberio, for whom, as a co-worker, he had specially asked. CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 93 The two men soon decided to go all over the island, and whether treated ill or well, to speak out fearlessly. Shortly after this a priest came to say that he meant to burn his idol, and also to place his son, a boy about ten years old, under their care, lest the gods in their anger should kill him. Leaving his boy, he returned home, and the next morning came bending under the weight of the heavy rudely shaped image he was bringing to be burned. A crowd followed him, saying that he was mad. He threw the idol down before the teachers, and one of them, fetching a saw, sawed off its head. The people fled in terror, but coming back saw the god rapidly turning to ashes, while some bananas were being cooked over the fire its burning body made. Papeiha and Tiberio ate of the bananas, but none of the Rarotongans could be induced to touch one. Thus perished the first of Rarotonga's idols. Others quickly followed. Within three days fourteen of them met with a like fate. Then came Tinomana's decisive act. Sending for the two brethren, he told them that after careful thought he had made up his mind to become a Christian, begged them to be his teachers, and inquired what was the first step for him to take. To this they answered that he must destroy his "maraes," and burn his idols. "Come with me," said the chief, " and see them destroyed." A man was bidden to set fire to the temple, and two great wooden figures were then stripped of their wrappings and cast to the flames. This deed of Tinomana's made some of his clan very angry. They said he was out of his mind. The women especially seemed mad with rage and grief. They cut their heads with sharp shells and sharks' teeth, then ran about smeared with the blood which flowed from their wounds, dolefully crying out: "Alas! alas! the gods of the madman Tino- mana, the gods of the insane chief, are given to the flames." Others blackened themselves with charcoal and joined in the same wild cries. But all to no purpose. Very soon all through Rarotonga the work of destruction was going on, and every idol had either perished in the fire or had been handed over to the teachers to be sent to Raiatea. A few of the heathen for a time tried to stem the torrent. One man, a priest, who pretended to be inspired by the god Tangaroa, 94 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS came to the house of a chief named Pa, where the two teachers were seated talking to him about the true God. He spoke in a gruff un- natural voice, twisted himself about, and made hideous grimaces just to frighten those who saw him and to show that Tangaroa had indeed entered into him. Coming close to the house, he shouted out : " Pa, Pa, give me those two men! Why do you keep two rotten sticks driven onshore by the waves? Why do you listen to the froth of the sea ? I am the great Tangaroa ! give them to me, and I'll eat them." This greatly amused Papeiha and Tiberio, who, taking out their knives, jokingly said that when he entered the house they would make a hole in his body and look for the great Tangaroa, who he said was inside him. Overhearing this, Pa went out and told the priest what they were going to do. That was enough. Away the silly man ran, as fast as his legs could carry him, and no more was heard of him or his nonsense. Papeiha tells another amusing story about a cat, an animal never seen in Rarotonga before. A favourite cat had been taken on shore by one of the teachers' wives, but not feeling at home, had fled to the mountains. There it lived a wild life of its own for a time. One night, the wife of a priest, who had that day destroyed his idol, was sitting on her mat by her husband's side, he being fast asleep. She was thinking of the strange things that had happened, when, looking up, she saw near the doonvay two bright, sparkling lights, and heard a mysterious voice. In great alarm, and thinking that the burnt god had come back to torment them, she aroused her husband, crying : " Get up and pray, get up and pray." Opening his eyes, the man looked up, and saw the same glaring jets of fire and heard the same unearthly sound. (It was only pussy's eyes and friendly mew, but this he then knew nothing about.) Not knowing what to do, the poor fellow began repeating the alphabet as loud as he possibly could, using this as a sort of prayer to God ; and such a noise did he make, that the cat became frightened and ran away. On another occasion Tom took up his abode in a " marae " which was in a quiet spot sur- rounded by trees. Approaching this "marae" with a number of CARRYING THE LIGHT TO OTHER GROUPS 95 people to bring an offering, what was the astonishment of the priest on opening the door to see a living creature come walking towards him, mewing as it came ! " Here's a monster from the deep," he shouted, and rushed away in terror, the whole party close at his heels. Reaching his house, the priest summoned his neighbours to come and help him slay the monster. Several hundred men came together, war-caps on head, sling, or club, or spear in hand, face and body blackened with charcoal, and marching in a bod}', made ready for the attack. Hearing the noise, and himself thoroughly frightened, poor Tom awaited the opening of the door, then darting forward, nimbly slipped through the warriors' legs and fled to the bush. The}', in turn, terrified out of their wits, turned in dismay and hurried pell-mell in all directions. Later the same day, the cat gave them a second fright and again escaped ; but at night, trusting foolishly to man's good nature, he stole into a house, and nestling himself under a man's coverlet, began to pur. That pur cost him his life ; for it awoke the man, who, closing the door, roused all in the house, and then, aided by their clubs and spears, set upon the wretched cat and killed him. And these warriors felt quite proud of themselves for putting an end to " the monster from the deep! " CHAPTER VI. THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK. " He hath filled him ivith the spirit of God . . . in all manner of workmanship? J May, 1827, John Williams himself landed in Rarotonga for the first time. His wife and children were with him, also two new helpers the Rev. Charles Pitman and Mrs. Pitman, who had come out from England two or three years before, and after gain- ing a little experience in Tahiti, Raiatea, and Tahaa, were now appointed to settle in Rarotonga. For thirty-one years that island became their home. Once they were absent for a few months, and at another time for two years ; but with these ex- ceptions, though often far from strong, they faithfully kept at their post and did noble work in training the rough Rarotongan people, in building them up in Christian knowledge, and in leading them forward in newness of life. It was no easy duty. The chiefs and their subjects had got rid of their idols, it is true, but that was about all they had done, and the much more difficult task of inducing them to give their hearts to God had yet to be under- taken. Mr. Williams intended to remain three or four months only, but was detained there, through lack of a vessel, for a whole year, during- which time he rendered invaluable service to the mission. Among other things was the work of chapel-building. The ambition of the THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK 97 native teachers had over-shot the mark, and their absurdly large chapel proved both inconvenient and frail. Mr. Williams came to their aid, and helped them to build a really handsome edifice, 150 feet long by 56 feet wide, with a thatched roof, supported on either side by seven iron-wood pillars twenty-five feet high, and containing well- made doors and windows, the latter fitted with Venetian blinds. 1 He further assisted the chiefs to frame and put into writing laws for the future government of the island, and in that way sought to get rid of cruel and corrupt practices, and secure a wise and merciful ad- ministration of justice. But the one great event of that year's detention in Rarotonga was the building of the Messenger of Peace, a vessel of from seventy to eighty tons, unlike in appearance any other afloat. Nothing showed the real greatness of John Williams more clearly than the building of this vessel. Pluck, cleverness in overcoming difficulties, mechanical skill were alike seen. With sleeves turned up and wearing a curious apron made of native cloth he worked with his own hands, and managed to make other people work too. The project of making a ship of his own had been maturing in his mind for some time. Whilst still in Raiatea he had thought of it, hoping thus to extend the mission to the Navigators (Samoan) and New Hebrides Islands, but had laid the plan aside because of the strong opposition of his wife. She not unnaturally objected to a proposal which would take her husband a voyage of 1,800 or 2,000 miles, keep him absent from her for six months, and expose him to frequent danger among rude and savage islanders. But a serious illness she had in Rarotonga led Mrs. Williams to think that she had been selfish in her thoughts. She even urged her husband to undertake the work. Nothing loth, though surprised at the change in her views, he decided to begin without delay. His first purpose was to build the keel only in Rarotonga, and then complete the vessel on his return to Raiatea ; but finding Makea and the other chiefs indeed, the whole people eager to aid him, and 1 It was during the erection of this chapel that the oft-quoted incident of the talking chip occurred. H 9 8 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS prepared to give time and strength to the task, he modified his plan and determined to finish the work in Rarotonga. In less than four months from the date of her commencement, the Messenger of Peace was afloat. Timber was cut in the mountains, dragged to the shore by hundreds of strong arms, and there, large saws being wanting split in halves by wedges, adzed down to the requisite thinness with small hatchets, and then pinned together by means of great wooden THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE." pegs driven through auger-holes. Bent planks were obtained from crooked trees, and by like devices every difficulty was conquered. For iron Mr. Williams was chiefly dependent upon a rusty chain cable. This had been left on the island by a ship whose crew had hastily fled in terfor from the wild natives they found there. For oakum he used cocoa-nut fibre, for ropes the bark of the hibiscus, for sails the mats on which the islanders slept, simply quilting them to make them strong enough to resist the force of the wind. His THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK 99 bellows being destroyed by rats, who held high carnival one night and devoured the goat-skin of which its leather sides had been made^ he was for a time in dire straits ; but, nothing daunted, set to work and devised a wonderful wind-making box as a substitute, and this, whatever its defects, accomplished its special purpose. The natives were deeply impressed with all this mechanical ingenuity and skill, especially with the pumps. Indeed, the king was so much interested in them that he frequently had his favourite stool carried on board, and amused himself for hours in pumping out the bilge- water. The hanging of the rudder gave some difficulty, for, having no iron suffi- ciently large for pintles, Mr. Williams had to make these from a piece of a pick-axe, a cooper's adze, and a large hoe. Before this wonderful schooner was quite finished, her builder was greatly cheered by the arrival in Rarotonga of another fellow-worker, the Rev. Aaron Buzacott, a missionary whose name will ever stand high in the annals of the South Seas. Mr. Buzacott was a native of South Molton, Devonshire, in which town his father was in business as an ironmonger and whitesmith. After three years spent in learning farming, to which out-of-door life he had been sent on account of his poor health, the son learned his father's trade, and on reaching Raro- tonga was at once glad to turn his knowledge of the smith's craft to good account. While on the farm he had given his heart to Christ, and when sixteen years of age a visit to South Devon from the Rev. Richard Knill set him longing to be a missionary. Relating his own story first of all, Mr. Knill turned to the gallery and exclaimed : " There is a young man in that gallery who is now saying : ' Here am I, send me.' " The words were but " a bow drawn at a venture," but they went straight to the mark; for young Buzacott was at that very moment using these words in the silence of his own heart. Indeed, so startled was he, that he could hardly refrain from calling out from that gallery seat: " Yes, I am that young man." Not for three or four years, however, was the way opened for him to obey the prompting of God's Spirit ; but at length God made it plain to parents, ministers, and other friends that He had called this young man to serve Him in too THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS the mission field. A full course of study followed, and then, in his twenty-seventh year, well prepared for his life's work, he set sail for Rarotonga. Before sailing he had married a Miss Hitchcock, a lady belonging to a remarkable family. She was one of three sisters who married missionaries, one becoming the wife of the Rev. Charles Hardie, of Samoa, the other the wife of the Rev. James Sewell, Bangalore, South India, while her brother was none other than the late widely known and highly respected Mr. George Hitchcock, of St. Paul's Churchyard, London. Mr. and Mrs. Buzacott's voyage to the Pacific was a most trying one, thanks to the coarse, harsh behaviour of the ship's captain and crew. Among their fellow-passengers was Mr. Nott, of Tahiti, who after twenty-eight years in the islands had been home for a short change. On reaching Matavai Bay, canoes in great number put off from shore, and seeing their old friend on board, their owners raised loud shouts of joy : " Noti has come ! " " Noti has come ! " The excitement became intense. Yet, as the people looked at him, they were much puzzled. When he left them to go home, he was quite bald ; now he had a fine crop of hair on his head. How had that come to pass ? was the question everybody was asking. So to satisfy their curiosity Mr. Nott inquired in the Tahitian language : " When the thatch of your houses is worn out what do you do?" "We thatch them again," they replied. " Just so," said he ; "I have had my head re-thatched in England." With that answer they had to be content. Mr. and Mrs. Buzacott spent five months in Tahiti before they were able to go on to Rarotonga. Most of the time they spent at Taiarapu, Mr. Crook's station, where their first child was born, and so pleased were the Tahitian people with their new visitors that they actually tried to steal them ! There was a district on the east side of the island that had no missionary, the chief of which, who was Pomare's uncle, had long wished to have a teacher all to himself. Trying bribery first, he made large promises. " If you will only consent; the whole of the people shall be your servants ; we will build you a chapel, a school- house, and a dwelling. We will fence in a garden without payment, and do everything else you require. All the bread-fruit and cocoa- THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK ici nut trees shall be yours. All the pigs and poultry you may want shall be given. Indeed, you shall be our king and our priest." Very tempting ; but Mr. Buzacott was firm : " I came for Rarotonga, and to Rarotonga I must go." Then they tried to prey upon his fears by telling him that the Rarotongans were cannibals and might eat him. Finding those attempts also useless, they next laid a clever plot to carry the missionary off by force. He was to return in a boat from one station to another. Knowing this, these strangers contrived to secure places as boatmen ; others were hidden away in the bush armed with stones to prevent a rescue ; and when Mr. Buzacott took his seat the boatmen tried to row him off in the direction of their own village. But their plot was quickly seen through, and although stones began to fly about and the rowers did their best to get away, they did not suc- ceed. After a while the chief, seeing that his plan was a failure, himself came off in a canoe and told his men to row the boat back to shore. It might be wrong to steal other things, but that it would be wrong to steal a missionary, the chief and his companions were quite unable to see. The next plan was to steal the baby; "for," said these Tahitians, " if we can carry off the baby, Mr. and Mrs. Buzacott will soon come after it." It was only by constant watchful- ness that they were able to defeat such wild schemes and get safely back to Matavai Bay. While there they gathered together as many useful things as they could. Among other articles Mr. Buzacott bought at an auction sale a quantity of old iron which proved of more value than gold, for with it, on reaching Rarotonga, they were able to complete the Messenger oj Peace and build a new mission house. After long delay a vessel called on her way to the Hervey Islands, and on January 22, 1828, they sailed in her. Eight months had passed since Mr. and Mrs. Williams and Mr. and Mrs. Pitman had landed there, and nothing had been heard of them since. The new comers naturally felt anxious, but on arriving found all well. The ship's boat was lowered, and the captain took Mrs. Buzacott and her infant on shore while her husband stayed behind to see their goods sent off. On near ing the beach, and seeing THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK 103 crowds of men wearing long hair and having their faces, arms, legs, and even the entire body in some cases tattooed, men and women alike only half-clothed and the children perfectly naked, the missionary's wife may be forgiven for being a little alarmed, the more so as the natives pressed around the boat as it grounded. But Mr. Williams came hurrying down, and soon set her mind at rest by assuring her that there was no danger. For thirty years Rarotonga was to be the home of Mr. and Mrs. Buzacott, and his work there, especially in translating and printing the Rarotongan Bible, in which he took a leading part, bears fruit still. From the first day of meeting Mr. Williams and Mr. Buzacott were drawn to one another, and their friendship only ended with death. As soon as boxes had been opened and the house put a little straight, the young missionary came to the older one's aid. Appearing, the very first morning after landing, with his sleeves already rolled up, and wearing a proper English workman's apron, he surprised the latter by asking what he should do. Handing him some tools, Mr. Williams said : " Make me a few nails." With ease his young colleague forged nails and bolts in a neat and practised style. The eyes of the older man filled with joy, for he could not do the work better himself, and, turning to the chief, who was looking on in mute astonishment, he said, putting his hand on Buzacott' s shoulder as he said so : " This is the man for us ; this is the man for us " ; to which Makea said Amen. Successfully built, launched, and fitted up, the Messenger of Peace made her trial trip to Aitutaki, which was only 170 miles away. Her arrival there caused immense excitement. She returned in safety to Rarotonga, and then, in April, 1828, sailed to Tahiti, a distance oi from 600 to 700 miles. "There can be little doubt," says Mr. Buza- cott, when telling the story years afterwards, " that they owed their safe voyage quite as much to the special care of the Lord of winds and waves as to the sea- worthiness of the schooner. God gave them a fair and moderate wind until they cast anchor. Had the weather been rough, she must have foundered ; for when they reached safe anchor- age, the caulking was hanging from the sides of the ship in long 104 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS strips The straining caused by rough weather would have released the caulking completely, and the vessel must have filled rapidly and sunk to the bottom." Her strange uncanny build and rig greatly puzzled the crews of the ships that happened to be in Papeete harbour at the time. " Some," says Mr. Williams, " took us for South American patriots ; others for pirates ; and others could not tell what to make of us." From Tahiti the vessel went on to Raiatea, where, after a year's absence, a most cordial welcome awaited Mr. and Mrs. Williams. Postponing for a time his projected voyage to Samoa, he remained among his own people, doing his utmost to counteract the evil effects of their old heathen habits, and to strengthen their Christian principle and practice. In the meantime the temporary rig of his " yacht," as her builder called her, had been replaced by proper masts and sails, and when she was thus properly equipped, Mr. Platt accompanied Messrs. Pritchard and Simpson to the Marquesas in her, afterwards visiting the Hervey Islands. The ship thus gave ample evidence of her usefulness. At length she set out on that mission of extension for which she had been specially built. On the 24th of May, 1830, Messrs. Williams andBarff 1 sailed for the distant Navigators, or, as we generally call them now, the Samoan Islands. On their way they called at several of the islands in which the gospel was already gaining ground. First Mangaia, then Atiu, whose beautiful green hills always delight the eye, Mauke, a low-lying little islet some fifteen miles round, Mitiaro, which is even smaller, and lastly Rarotonga and Aitutaki, were visited one after the other, and at every station but Rarotonga there was much to fill the heart with gladness. The new converts, though still very backward, were making good progress. In dress, in behaviour, in knowledge, in their treatment of women, and in missionary zeal they 1 From Captain Turpie we learn that Mr. Barffhad many an amusing story to tell about this and other trips. The Messenger of Peace, he said, sailed faster on one tack than she did on the other, and it was very difficult to get the anchor to hold, and no wonder, for it was nothing but a, sort of barrel filled with stones, while the two sides of the ship were not alike. THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK 105 were showing pleasing signs of real advance. Aitutaki especially was doing nobly. The natives of this island, only recently rescued from idolatry, had already begun to exercise a spirit of liberality towards others, and a longing to extend the kingdom 'of Christ. To Mr. Williams's great surprise and joy, the native church brought him the sum of 103 as an offering to the London Missionary Society. They had " bought" this money from the captains of passing ships, they said, with pigs and other island produce. " This was the first money they ever possessed," says Mr. Williams, " and every farthing of it was dedicated to the cause of Christ ! " Nor did they give their money alone ; they gave themselves also. Four embarked as mission- aries to distant islands. The visit to Rarotonga was a sad one, for the people of that island were in sore trouble. Mr. and Mrs. Pitman, at Ngatangia, on one side of it, Mr. and Mrs. Buzacott, at Avarua, on the other, and faithful Papeiha, at the third station of Arorangi, were one and all plunged in sorrow. For several months an outbreak of ague and dysentery had raged all over Rarotonga, and had carried off about nine hundred of the natives. The island was turned into a house of mourning. The few natives who had strength to come and see Mr. Williams had piteous stories to tell him. An, enquiry after any one whom he did not see was almost always followed by the answer: "He is dead." Some who were too weak to walk were carried on mats to their doors just to take a last look at their good friend before they died. It was a truly painful experience. Nor were disease and death the only trials of God's servants in Rarotonga. In one sense these proved a means of blessing, lor they had brought to an end the wicked plots and purposes of a number of reckless men who had almost ruined the mission by their bitterness and violence. As related in the last chapter, the Rarotongan idols had all been swept away. Perhaps Papeiha had been too eager to get this done and would have been wiser if he had not urged it so strongly, but had waited for the truth to sink more deeply into the minds of the natives. At any rate, it soon became clear that many were longing for the old days and- the old customs. Not the chiefs. io6 They were tired of constant fighting and of the famines which fighting always caused, and they longed for quieter times. They therefore did their best to persuade the people to obey the new teaching. F.ut a band of thoroughly bad men, angry at finding themselves checked in their evil practices by the laws which that new teaching gave rise to, set to work to crush both laws and teaching, and, sad to say, Papeiha's fellow teacher yielded to temptation and was guilty of a great sin which made the heathen more bitter than ever. That was a terrible grief to the missionaries. " Seventy of them vowed a vow over their sacred fires," we read, " and in the names of their dethroned gods, to die rather than submit " to the religion of Jesus. First they tried to stir up the tribes to another war. As this failed, they next took to setting fire to buildings. They burnt down the chapel, the school-house, and no less than twenty-eight houses of people favourable to the new religion. One stormy night Mr. Buzacott was roused at dead of night by a messenger bringing the following note from Mr. Pitman : " DEAR BROTHER, Our chief judge's house is burnt to ashes ; the chapel is now in a blaze, and if the wind shift a point, our own house must go too. " I remain, etc., " CHARLES PITMAN." So cleverly was this work of house-burning done that it was most difficult to find out who did it. " A piece of native cloth, twisted into the shape of a small rope, with a live coal inserted in the bend of it, was thrown upon the thatch, on the windward side of the house. This cloth is like tinder, and once alight and fanned by the wind, the spark would soon burst into a flame, and before the inmates could be well aware of their danger the whole roof would be in a blaze. Glad to escape with their lives, they often abandoned their little property to the fury of the flames. The one thing people seemed most anxious to save was any book they possessed. One man rushed into a blazing chapel, at the risk of his life, to save the pulpit Bible from destruction and got out again in safety, bearing the valued prize, amidst the shouts of those who were THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK 107 standing by." l There was even a plot to kill all the Christian chiefs and missionaries, but as no one chosen by lot to make an attack upon Makea could be persuaded to undertake this serious business, the plot fell through. A flood, followed by the outbreak of disease, however, put a stop to all this wickedness, and everybody was struck with the fact that most of the rebels were victims of its ravages, and saw in this fresh evidence of the power of the Christians' God. Midway between the Hervey Islands and Samoa lies the low, rock- bound, unromantic-looking island called by the natives Niue, but named by Captain Cook Savage Island, so fierce did its inhabitants appear to him to be. To this spot the Messenger of Peace next sailed. Two young Aitutakians and their wives, who had been specially set apart for missionary work, were on board, and these it was hoped would settle on Niue. Seeing a break in the cliffs, with a stretch of sandy beach, and some natives moving about, they waved a white flag as a sign of friendliness. In the usual way that would have led the islanders to launch their canoes and paddle off to the vessel, but instead of doing this, they waved a flag in return. A boat was therefore lowered and rowed ashore. No white man was in the boat, as it was thought wiser for none but Polynesians like themselves to go in the first instance. The natives were all armed, and when the boat drew near to the beach they were seen ranged in line as if to repel invaders, each man holding three or four spears and carrying a sling and a belt- ful of stones. Resting on their oars for a few moments, the boatmen lifted up their hearts to God in prayer, and then, advancing slowly, made signs to the natives to put down their weapons. This at length they did, and coming to the edge of the reef, made an offering of bread-fruit, a piece of cloth, and the sacred cocoa-nut leaf, at that time the common token in the South Seas of goodwill and peaceful purpose. A small present was made in return, after which a few launched their canoes and paddled towards the ship, yet cautiously keeping at a distance. After much coaxing an aged chief was persuaded to go on board. He was a terrible-looking old man. About sixty years of age, tall in lc< Mission Life in the Pacific Islands." io8 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS person, with high cheek bones and a forbidding face, he was enough to startle any one, the more so as his whole body was smeared with charcoal. His head and beard were long and grey, and the beard was plaited and twisted together and made to hang from his mouth like so many rats' tails. He wore no clothing except a small band of cloth round his waist, which he used as a sling for his spear or anything he wanted to carry. The moment this strange-looking creature got on deck he began to dance about and shout at everything he saw. It was useless trying to get him to talk, for he would not stay still for a single moment, but moved from place to place. Some of the native Christians tried to wrap a little clothing round him, but in a towering passion the old savage tore it off, threw it upon the deck, and stamped upon it with his foot, saying as he did so : " Am I a woman, that I should be covered up with that stuff? " He then set to work to show them what a brave fellow he was, by dancing a wild war dance, poising and shaking his spears, running to and fro, leaping up, and yelling like a madman. Next he made the most horrible grimaces, stretching open his mouth, gnashing his teeth, staring until his eyes seemed as if they would come out of their sockets, and finishing up by thrusting the whole of his long grey beard into his mouth and gnawing it with all the ferocity of a wild beast. Through the whole of this performance, he kept up a loud and hideous howl. This wretched heathen was kept on board for a time while some of the Messenger of Peace's people went on shore. They were allowed to land and had food given them, but the islanders were far from friendly, and kept their weapons within easy reach. After a time a man who seemed to be a leader came and told the teacher that he must take the ship round to another part of the island. They therefore got into the boat and rowed back to the vessel. Before the wild old chief left the ship he was presented with a hatchet, a knife, a looking-glass, and a pair of scissors, for none of which, however, did he care, as he knew nothing of their use ; but a mother-of-pearl ornament he saw took his fancy, so seizing this, he became almost frantic with delight. Much to his own relief, he soon found himself back on land. THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK 109 Disappointed, the vessel drew off for the night. The next day a THE FRENZIED ULD CHIEF. second landing was made at another part of the island. There the teachers and the natives from the ship who had gone with them were no THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS handled, smelt, and all but tasted by the people. Presently a large crowd, armed for fighting, coming in sight, the ship's party returned to the vessel. Another chief came on board. He, and in fact all the men, were quite naked, and did not seem to have the slightest sense of shame. The women kept out of sight in the woods. To station teachers among such unfriendry savages hardly seemed right ; indeed, the Aitutakian teachers were afraid to stay and begged to be taken on to Samoa. This request was granted. Before sailing away, the missionaries tried another plan, and that was to induce a couple of young Niue"ans to go with them to Raiatea. After great difficulty they managed to do this. But as soon as the two youths saw that they were passing out of sight of their home, they tore their hair and howled with grief. This performance they kept up for three or four days, during which time nothing would induce them to eat, drink, or sleep. When meat was offered them, they turned away from it in dis- gust, thinking that it was human flesh, and that they themselves would soon be killed and served up in the same way. So things continued until one day a pig was slaughtered. Seeing piggy cut up into joints, they began to understand that the meat brought to them was the flesh of hogs and not of men, and from that time grew quiet and reconciled to their lot. From Niue the Messenger of Peace made for Tongatabu, in which island the Wesleyan Missionary Society had been labouring since 1822; Two missionaries of that Society Messrs. Turner and Cross who, with their wives, were living there, received Mr. Williams and Mr Barff with great heartiness as their guests. These four brethren, repre- senting two great Societies, spent a very pleasant fortnight together at Tongatabu, talking over plans of work and arranging which islands each Society should take charge of. In this way they hoped to prevent clashing. The visitors were much pleased with all they saw and heard. One thing greatly cheered them. They learned that the station at which they had happened to call was commenced by some of their own Society's native missionaries, who, sent from Tahiti to open a mission in Fiji, had in some way been detained in Tongatabu. There THE "MESSENGER OF PEACE" AND HER USEFUL WORK nr one of them had succeeded in winning over a chief with about four hundred of his people, and had built a chapel. Hearing that there were white missionaries on the opposite side of the island, and know- ing nothing of differences between one Society and another, this teacher had invited Mr. Turner to come over to his station, which he readily did. It was gratifying to find that the Wesleyan missionary had nothing but praise for the devotedness and consistent character of the Tahitian teacher. The friendly division of labour agreed upon was that the London Missionary Society should take charge of the Samoan Islands, whilst Fiji should be left to the Wesleyans as soon as they were able to settle there. For the present, however, until missionaries should arrive from England, the two native teachers who had been brought from the Society Islands for the express purpose of being settled in Fiji were to be sent on there to commence the work. Wesleyan missionaries might follow them and take it up as soon as they were ready to do so. This was carried out. In due time the Wesleyan missionaries came out, and the story of Gospel triumph over cannibalism and heathenism among the Fijians, as told by the Rev. James Calvert and many others, is one of the most wonderful in the history of the Christian Church. Samoa too, as we shall now learn, yielded a rich harvest to the London Missionary Society. During their stay at Tongatabu Mr. Williams and Mr. Barff found a Samoan chief, named Fauea, who gladly joined them, and proved a valuable ally when they reached Savaii, a lofty mountainous island, the largest of the Samoan group. On the voyage Fauea had been greatly exercised in mind about a native named Tamafainga, a man in whom the spirit of the gods was supposed to dwell, and whose in- fluence among the people was very strong. Were that man to oppose, urged Fauea, no Samoan would dare to become a Christian. To Fauea's intense delight, one of the first things he learned from the Samoans who came out in their canoes to meet the ship was that Tamafainga had been killed some ten or twelve days before. Greatly relieved by this news, he came bounding along the deck towards the missionaries, shouting as he came : " The devil is dead, the devil is dead ! Our work 112 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS is done." As the naked Samoans crowded around their visitors, star- ing at them in wonder and curiosity, Fauea began to harangue them in true native style.. " Can the religion of these wonderful foreigners be anything but wise or good ? " he asked. " Let us look at them, and then look at ourselves. Their heads are covered, while ours are ex- posed to the heat of the sun and the wet of the rain ; their bodies are clothed all over with beautiful cloth, while we have nothing but a bandage of leaves around our waists ; they have clothes upon their very feet, while ours are. like the dogs' ; and then look at their axes, 1 .-:>.. J -(1 1 -d u 170 I GILBERT GROUP ELLICE '; ..r JROUP l\i ^KELAU ^ROUP SAMO AX "ISLANDS., Scale -13 10 20 30 40 50 13 Q '0 ] SAMOAN ISL )0" 1 *NDS '0 Matautu ^S2i n J ^X , 11 '^^^" /e/P fa ^ others made from coral stone, with proper windows and doors. Pulpits- in some instances were added. One striking feature of a South Sea church is the tasteful fibre-plaiting by which pillars and roof timbers- are lashed fast together. By means of coloured fibres worked in curious geometrical patterns, very pleasing effects are produced. A chapel opening or dedication is a grand gala time with the natives, and usually associated with a big feed. On one such occasion no less than four hundred pigs were killed and cooked, an immense quantity of fruit and vegetables was provided, and some five thousand guests sat down to the feast. The pigs were served whole. Amazed at the number of pigs, a man who was present greatly amused the missionary by vainly trying to count them. Determined not to be beaten, the man at length hit upon the device of cutting off the tip of each pig's tail ; then arranging these, he made out that there were four hundred. Immense puddings also graced the feast in some islands. The islanders enjoy such gatherings and have them at least once a 3 r ear, not exactly for setting apart a new chapel, but for what they call their " Me " (May meeting). Following the lead of the Society at headquarters, an annual meeting for receiving contributions for missionary purposes, and for stirring one another up to greater interest in missionary service, is held. No matter in what month the meeting takes place it goes by the name of " Me," and a most useful institution it is. Polynesian Christians are wonderfully generous. Each one gives husbands, wives, children, even down to the baby in arms, who is often carried up to the table holding a coin or some article in its chubby little hand as its contribution to the collection. If English Christians gave as generally and as liberally as the swarthy sons and daughters of the Pacific Islands, there would be no lack of funds in the missionary treasury, and by giving money they would TEACHING AND TRAINING HEATHEN CONVERTS 181 learn how also to give themselves to the work. In this respect also they are quite out-distanced by many a little island, more than one per thousand of whose population goes out into the Oceanic world as a missionary to islanders still lying in darkness. There was a time when it was necessary for missionaries to help the natives to frame codes of laws and advise them in political as well CHAPEL AT MARE BUILT BY THE REV. JOHN JONES. as religious questions, but that day is now past. Official representatives of European Governments were then rarely seen. In 1837 the visit of the C0wzmy,the first British man-of-war that had been seen in Samoa, created quite a sensation. But visits of the kind are a common occur- rence now. Consuls also and residents abound, and to them naturally and rightly political matters are left ; but it was not always so, and by the force of circumstances those who would gladly have kept themselves 182 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS to strictly religious teaching, of necessity became the guides of the chiefs as they sought to bring their rule into harmony with Christian principle and practice. Medical work also engaged and still engages the attention of not a few. This is unavoidable in lonely islands. Either the missionary or his wife, whichever has the greater fitness for it, is bound to listen to the appeal for help from suffering islanders, and to the best of his or her skill to minister to their needs. They must also doctor one another and attend to the ailments of their child- ren. One room in a South Sea mission house, therefore, is sure to look something like a small druggist's shop, with a row of bottles and jars, " pills and potions," remedies for the various " ills that flesh is heir to." By these and similar methods, one generation of labourers after another has been seeking to establish South Sea Island Christianity upon a safe and solid foundation. CHAPTER X. JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA. " To turn them from darkness to light." TO the north of Australia, -and brooding over it like some huge bird, lies the island of New Guinea. It is the largest island in the world, unless we include Australia itself among the islands. But to do that would be to rob that great country of her dig- nity. Though an island in reality, Australia now ranks among the continents, and to her northern neighbour graciously yields the leading place as an island of the sea. New Guinea was discovered arid named by Portu- guese and Spanish sailors nearly four hundred years ago. The natives of other islands called it Tanna Papua, or the land of the woolly-haired people, but its European visitors, thinking they saw some resemblance to the Guinea coast of West Africa, sought to indicate this by calling it Neuva (New) Guinea. For many years the Dutch have had trading stations on its north-west coast. Dutch missionaries have also done a little for the natives on that side of the island, but to all intents and purposes Papua ana its people were unknown to Europe until the year 1871, when the London Missionary Society decided to commence work upon its south-eastern shores. Since then our knowledge of it has in- creased, and we have learned that it contains snow-clad peaks 17,000 feet high, noble rivers, immense forests, and dense tropical vegetation, and that its inhabitants belong to different races, speaking a great 183 184 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS variety of dialects and distinct languages. The savage character of the natives was found out by their earliest visitors, and to a large extent remains unchanged to day. Indeed, although we are adding to our knowledge of New Guinea and the New Guineans day by day, we must even now confess that most of it is still unknown. The Western half of the island belongs to the Dutch, and ten years ago an arrangement was made by Germany and Great Britain, by which the south-eastern portion came under the control of the latter power, the north-eastern under that of the former. For the purposes of this volume we shall have to content ourselves with the British side of New Ouinea. As far back as 1837, when John Williams was planning the evange- lisation of the entire Pacific Ocean, he thought of this great island as the goal to which his efforts should be directed. That fact helps us to understand the wide sweep of his mind, for thirty-five years went past 'before it was possible to carry out his scheme. But at length the day came when the attempt must be made. As already stated, that was in the year 1871, five or six years before the British Government turned its attention to New Guinea. A new method of working was determined on. Readers of this " Story " will easily remember that one method adopted was first of all to send European missionaries, and then for native converts gradually to become their helpers in the work. Another method, and one the most often tried, was to station pioneer native missionaries who led the way, but were followed in a few years by European missionaries. New Guinea seemed to require special treatment. Its size gave the promise of a long line of stations, at each of which a teacher might be placed, while the number of posts to be occupied, their distance from one another, the wild and barbarous character of the people, the difficulty of finding food supply, and similar considerations, all showed that the work must be a joint work. White and coloured missionaries must undertake it together : a few carefully chosen English missionaries to guide, to care for, and to encourage their native brethren and sisters, and with them as many of these native workers under their superintendence as they could JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA 185 possibly find suitable stations for. Not only so, but all the Christianized islands, from Tahiti on the east to the Loyalty group on the west, were to share in the arduous yet glorious task of trying to win this strong- hold of heathenism for the Lord. That was the special method and plan agreed upon for attacking and conquering New Guinea. Thus it was that twenty-three years ago a schooner named the Surprise was found coasting along its southern shores. On board were the Revs. A. W. Murray and S. McFarlane,with eight native teachers from Lifu and the other Loyalty Islands. As the vessel passed along they were examining with anxious eyes the islands, bays, and creeks. 1 86 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS and wondering where a beginning should be made. The proposal to start the new mission had been received with great enthusiasm all through the islands. Lifu, which led the way, was full of eager zeal. The band of missionaries was sent forth with many benedictions. Earnest prayers were offered on their behalf and stirring parting words were spoken in their hearing. One popular and powerful speaker, using an illustration from whale-fishing, which many of the Lifuans take part in year by year, exhorted them in the following graphic manner : " New Guinea is the whale. It is sighted. We are going to chase it. You are the first boat, remember. Take care and make fast " (that is drive the harpoon well into the whale so that it will remain fixed and firm) ; "and we will follow and help to tow in. The consequences of any mismanagement on your part may be very serious. You may only wound and irritate the whale, and drive it away." Only by living as true Christians, he urged, would this " first boat " be able to "make fast." Looking back upon those days, one sees that they did indeed " make fast," and reflecting upon the noble spirit manifested not only by them, the forerunners, but by their successors after them, one's heart rejoices greatly. The first station occupied was Darrdey Island, in the Papuan Gulf, and Mr. Murray tells us that, speaking of another island, the Darnley natives tried to alarm the teachers and prevent them from going there. " There are alligators there, and snakes, and centipedes " " Hold," said one of the Lifuans, whose name was Tepeso; "are there men there?" "Oh, yes," was the reply, " there are men ; but they are such dreadful savages that it is no use your thinking of living among them." " That will do," responded Tepeso ; " wherever there are men, missionaries are bound to go." A truly Christian answer, worthy of a disciple of Him who commands His followers to " go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." Tepes6 was a strong, healthy, young fellow when he thus spoke, but his work soon ended, and he was the first of the party yes, and the first of a long roll to succumb to the fever which has proved so fatal to the Polynesians. On that first voyage, besides Darnley Island, two other islands eS8 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS Tauan or Dauan and Saibai were occupied, but by the Lifuans only, no English missionary being then able to remain. Next year Mr. Murray returned in the missionary ship John Williams, having with diim thirteen more native teachers. He himself settled at Cape York, at the extreme north of Queensland, and from that point for the next two years superintended their efforts. Early in 1874 ne was joined by the Revs. S. McFarlane and W. G. Lawes, who had been appointed to take permanent charge of the new mission, Mr. Me Farlane on the western side, Mr. Lawes on the eastern. At the same time, through the generosity of Miss Baxter, of Dundee, a small steamer, the Ellen- gowan, was placed at their service. Three years later the Rev. James Chalmers, a host in himself, was added to the staff; and with such a trio of tried men as McFarlane, Lawes, and Chalmers, each of whom lhad shown marked ability and influence in dealing with natives, the first on Lifu, the second on Niue", the third on Rarotonga, the new mission had a group of leaders second to none anywhere. Moving from Cape York to Murray Island, Mr. McFarlane made that island tiis head-quarters for superintending the western branch of the work. 1 le relied chiefly upon an institution and an industrial school, hoping to touch the mainland through the young people trained in these. Mr. and Mrs. Lawes were the first white missionaries to settle on New Guinea dtself. Port Moresby was their station, and in a frame house put to- gether by the united crews of the John Williams and Ellengoii'an, and on that ground christened " the house that Jack built," they under- went some remarkable experiences. The New Guineans greatly admired the house and its many strange contents. To admire was to covet ; to covet to steal. Theft became the order of the day. The clever rogues hooked things out of the windows, and by other ingenious devices sought to possess themselves of everything that pleased their fancy. How different is the Port Moresby of to-day from the Port Moresby of 1874, when Mr. and Mrs. Lawes landed ! The curious native huts raised on piles on the shore and at high tide surrounded by the sea, the picturesque little island of Elevara, with houses of the same build, the native canoes passing to and fro between the shore JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA 189 and this island these are still there. But added to them the visitor now sees substantial houses belonging to the mission, imposing government buildings, the stores of different traders, first-class whale boats and gigs ; while lying at anchor a British gun-boat, the governor's steam yacht, or perhaps the mission barque John Williams, furnishes a further proof of change and progress. Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers went eastward to South Cape, where they underwent terrible hardships. So severe were these that Mrs. Chal- LANDWAHD SIDE OF A NEW GUINEA VILLAGE BUILT INTO THE SEA. mers sank beneath them, and in 1879 was laid to rest. Joining Mr. Lawes at Port Moresby, for many years Mr. Chalmers shared the work with him, the one remaining at his station busily engaged in translating the New Testament, preparing books, training teachers, and looking after Port Moresby itself, while the other gave himself chiefly to exploration and visitation of the tribes along the coast. Under his native name of Tamate (the nearest approach they can make to the pronunciation of Chalmers) he is better known along the south-east coast of New Guinea than any living man, native or igo THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS foreigner. By his happy, fearless spirit, his quick prompt ways, his real love for men, however degraded, and by a subtle personal influence which all who know him quickly feel, he has done wonders. Until the year 1886 the welfare of New Guinea mainly depended upon these men. Others joined them, but unable to bear the strain of the climate or the work, had to retire. In 1886 Mr. McFarlane withdrew, but Messrs. Lawes and Chalmers are still in harness, and reinforced by the Rev. Albert Pearse, formerly of Borabora and Raiatea, and a band of recruits from the old country, the mission is now well manned with strong and earnest workers. The natives of the great island belong to many races, some of them resembling the aborigines of Australia, others the people of Western Polynesia, and others again the Malayo-Polynesians of the eastern side of the Pacific. Driven out of their course by the wind, or forced by war or by hunger to flee, parties of islanders from all quarters of the great Southern Ocean appear to have found a dwelling-place in New Guinea. This increases the difficulty of teaching them, for every district seems to have its own peculiar language, and to be un- able to understand the speech of its near neighbours. Cut off from others, always ready to attack the next district, or to defend itseK against attack, each little clan lived its own wild, rough life. Fight- ing was, and in many parts still is, constant, and skull hunting a favourite pastime. Every man had to be prepared at any moment to rush to arms, to seize his club, his bow and arrows, his darts and spears ; and at night, instead of peacefully resting in their own huts, the able-bodied warriors used to huddle together in large houses, dubus (as some of the houses which had a semi-sacred character were called) and other convenient spots, so as to be able at the first alarm to hurry out and repel the foe. The fear of treachery, or of being repaid by enemies for his own misdeeds, robs the savage of his rest, and makes him long for the morning light. At the same time, so great is his temptation to attack those weaker than himself, or any who can be caught napping, so keen, tod, the appetite for human flesh among all man-eating races, that nothing in heathenism itself can check the 191 92 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS tendency to perpetual strife. Only missionaries, or others who come into close contact with savages, who learn their language, gain their confidence, and so obtain some insight into their thoughts and feelings, can have any idea how wretched their lot is. Always on the watch , always afraid, suspicious, and expecting evil; or constantly indulging in cunning, devising mischief, planning murder and bloodshed for the savage there is no security, no rest of mind, no peace or quietness. No wonder that when they find all this changed by the power of the Gospel, they should burst forth into praise and thanksgiving at its wonder-working power. We have no room in this short chapter to describe the villages, houses, canoes, pottery, weapons, and native life of the New Guineans, nor to trace the history of the different stations formed along its coast. For these details the reader can turn to the books written by Mr. Chalmers and Dr. McFarlane. There is, however, one thing we must find space for, and that is to raise a memorial in honour of the noble army of South Sea island missionaries and martyrs, who have given their lives for the salvation of its people. During the past twenty- three years nearly three hundred Christian teachers and their wives from the Society, the Hervey, the Samoan, and the Loyalty Islands, or from noble little Niue", have willingly, even eagerly, gone forth to labour there. Some have been spared to work on for many years con- spicuous among them Ruatoka, the greatly respected teacher of Port Moresby, who has been at that station since its commencement ; but others have been obliged to leave broken in health, aged before their time ; and, sadder still, no less than a hundred and twenty of them have died of fever, or have been poisoned, or brutally killed. Well may a missionary express his conviction that though perhaps lacking the polish and culture of Europeans, these faithful native teachers will bear comparison with Christians anywhere for strong, sincere, and whole-hearted devotion to Christ. At times the hearts of some of them failed them for a moment. Dr. McFarlane relates an incident that occurred in the earliest days- of the mission Standing near the door of a grass hut one morning JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA 193 where the teachers' bundles and boxes had been landed, and all was ready for him to leave them and start for the next spot at which teachers were to be stationed, he heard one of the women crying most piteously. She was the wife of a man named Gucheng, and was to stay behind with her husband while the ship went on. " Oh, my country!" she sobbed, "why did we leave our happy -home? Would that I were back in Lifu again ! I told you I did not want to come to New Guinea ! These people will kill us when the mission vessel leaves, or they will steal all we possess." To this her husband gently replied : " We must remember for what we have come here. Not to get pearl shell, or trepang, or any earthly riches ; but to tell these people about the true God and the loving Saviour Jesus Christ. We must think of what He suffered for us. If they kill us, or steal our goods, whatever we have to suffer, it will be very little compared with what He suffered for us." Unknown to the speakers, the mis- sionary overheard this conversation, which so touched his heart that he had to move away to hide his emotion. After a few minutes he- entered their hut, and talked, and prayed, and wept with them, seek- ing in this way to strengthen their hearts. Shortly after the moment for parting came, and as Dr. McFarlane pulled off to the ship, and saw the weeping little group upon the beach, surrounded by naked, noisy savages, he could not help thinking how little the world knows, of its truest heroes. That happened when the work in New Guinea was just beginning. But the same spirit is shown still. Only last year a Samoan teacher named Toma, who reached Kwato, the station at the eastern extremity of the island, two years ago, lost his wife. She had been ill for a long time, but had borne her sickness bravely. Had she been spared, she would have done good work for Christ ; but He has seen fit to call her home early in her day of service. Sad to say, too, one of the new men, named Telini, who had only recently gone from Samoa, died of sunstroke on December 27th, another lost his little girl, and another a new-born infant. This made four deaths in as many weeks. Mr. Walker, the missionary in charge, was absent at the time, but on his return Immediately sought out the teachers, and o 194 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS endeavoured to revive their drooping hearts. He was greatly struck with the noble spirit they evinced. In conversation with Maanaima, when he was trying to find from him how they all felt in the face of these terrible losses, Maanaima said to him in a quiet, unassuming way : " We are not afraid to die for Christ. If it is His will that we should live, it is good ; if it is His will that we should die, that also is good. We have come to New Guinea to do His work, and we give ourselves to Him." Change of food and climate have caused the death of some, but most of the losses have been due to fever. The coast is low and swampy, the vegetation dense, the heat tropical, and these things always breed fever. Still, not a few have fallen victims to the cruelty, treachery, and greed of the natives. In 1881 there was a terrible massacre at a place called Kalo, a village at the head of Hood Bay, near the mouth of the Kemp Welch river. The people killed their own teacher, his wife, and two children, also two other teachers, the wife and three children of one of them, and two boys who were with them a party of twelve in all. It is a sad story, and for a time filled the minds of the workers with misgiving. As related in the Chronicle of the Society, it seems that Taria, the Hula teacher, and Matatuhi, a fine young Society Islander, who was teacher at an inland station, left Port Moresby together to visit the Kalo teacher, Anedrea by name, from whom they hoped to obtain some native medicine. Reaching Hula the same evening, they heard a rumour that the Kalo people intended to murder their teacher and his family. This made them hasten to Kalo the next day, but Anedrea would not credit the rumour, and the chief, when questioned, declared that there was not the slightest truth in it. Two days afterwards, however, Taria, having with him five Hula boys, went by boat to Kerepunu, intending to bring the teachers and their families to Hula, on account of their ill-health. He called at Kalo on the way, and promised to look in again on his re- turn journey. At Kerepunu he took on board Materua, the teacher, his wife, two children, and a native youth. The party then rowed back to Kalo. While waiting there the chief and pretended friend of the teacher JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA '95 got into the boat for a chat. When Matatuhi and Anedrea, with his wife and two children, came down the bank and stepped into the boat, the TAURAKI. chief stepped out. That act was the signal arranged with his followers, who at once attacked the party. Four of the boys who were with them jumped overboard, and swam across the river; but the mission 196 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS party were so cooped up in the boat, and the spears flew so thick and fast, that escape was impossible. Taria . resisted for a time, but a fourth spear killed him. The others were easily despatched. A single spear pierced both mother and babe in the case of the two women. The only bodies recovered were those of the Kerepunu teacher's wife and her babe. The rest became a prey to the alligators that infest the coast. This massacre seems to have arisen from jealousy, the chief think- ing that he and his people got fewer presents than some of the other tribes. As a second instance, we cannot do better than tell the story of Tauraki, who, with his wife and child, was killed in 1887. Tauraki was a young Rarotongan. Mr. Chalmers knew him as a little boy. Mrs. Chalmers trained him, and with her husband had the joy of seeing the boy grow into an earnest Christian man and faithful missionary. The son of a savage, this young Rarotongan was a striking example of the power of the Gospel to uplift and ennoble. A glance at his portrait, given on the previous page, will show what his face was like. He was not content to remain in his small native island, but longed to be of as much use in the world as possible ; and when his old friends and teachers Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers went to New Guinea, Tauraki set his heart upon going too. He joined the Eastern branch of the mission. He was bright and intelligent, could read and speak English well, and was full of energy and tact. Mr. Lawes says that he was in many respects their best teacher, and that he had great influence over the wild, rowdy natives ; while Mr. Chalmers loved him as if he had been his own child. He was teacher at a place on the south-east coast, called Motu- motu. Some of the Motumotuans had killed some Moviavians that is, people from a large inland village called Moviavi ; and one day as Tauraki, his wife, his child, and five Motumotuans were making arrowroot on an island about half-way to Moviavi, a number of Moviavians suddenly attacked them. They did not wish to kill Tauraki. Indeed, they liked him, and would have spared him. They only wanted to kill the Motumotuans ; and they pressed the teachei JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA 197 to take his wife and child out of the canoe, and leave the Motumotuans to be slain in revenge. But he refused to do this. He felt that it would be a mean and cowardly act, and would not hear of it. The enemy then began shooting arrows. The wife, says Mr. Chalmers, wished to fire off a shot, but the husband said : " No ; you must not ; you have not yet been wounded." She was, however, soon wounded in the side, and so was the child. She fired, frightened the natives near her, and got overboard with the child, and in between the double canoe. (There is generally a space left between canoes when lashed together.) Tauraki, standing up, severely wounded, tore his shirt down the middle, a mark of distress amongst savages, and then began firing his rifle to frighten them. They were frightened, and sprang into the water, when those who were hiding between the canoes got on board, and they then paddled away. Five were dead the three women and two of the men. The child was dangerously wounded ; so also were Tauraki and his wife. Getting to one of the creeks, they were met by friends who had come to look for them. The water in the creek was salt, and terrible was the thirst they had to endure. The poor child cried bitterly for water, and all that could be done was to wet its mouth with salt water. When they reached the landing-place at the village of Motu- motu, the child died. The teacher and his wife were very weak from loss of blood, and were taken to the house of a white man, who had been at Motumotu for some months, with his wife, an English woman. There they were kindly treated, and it was hoped the teacher would live, but on the Saturday he died. The woman lived and was soon well. Tauraki died because he would not forsake the crew, and it was of that Mr. Chalmers wrote : " 'Twas nobly done, and I am proud of it. Such an act by one of us Britons, and the Empire would echo and re-echo with it ! Grand deed ! and by a native whose father and mother were savages in my life-time." The South Sea Island teachers can bravely die ; they can show equal courage in living simple Christian lives. What more striking testimony could be borne than the following account of Ruatoka, of 198 THE STORY OF THE SOUTH SEAS Port Moresby, already mentioned ? Of him Mr. Lawes, his daily co- worker and friend, said, nine years ago, and would repeat with yet greater emphasis to-day : " One of these teachers at Port Moresby may be regarded as a very fair specimen of these South Sea Island people. He was taken to Port Moresby by Mr. Murray a year before my own arrival, and he has been there eleven years steadily working. He has an amazing in- fluence over the people, and has proved himself not only the friend oi the natives, but of the white man also. About seven years ago there RUATOKA AND HIS WIFE. was an influx of diggers to Port Moresby, and some of them were stricken with sickness. This native teacher attended to these diggers, and watched over them most tenderly, and he carried one on his back from the place in which he was stricken down, and took him to his own home. " About that time a German had a store at Port Moresby, and a Scotchman was associated with him in the business. One Sunday, the Scotchman was hammering away and working while the native teacher was conducting service close by. The teacher got his Bible, and opened it at the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and going to the JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA 199 Sabbath-breaker, put the Bible before him, and pointing to the fourth commandment, said : ' See that.' The white face from the land of Bibles looked up at the face of his dark visitor and saw he was not to be trifled with ; for this native teacher was not only a Christian, but a very muscular Christian. Then the white man looked, and saw the long-forgotten w r ords : ' Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy.' And the native said : ' What for you make me liar ? You send me the Bible, and the Bible tells me not to work on Sunday. But you come here and work all day. What for you make me liar ? ' So the white man has learned to fear, respect, and honour the native teacher as much as the natives of the place do." The connection between Christianized Polynesia and heathen New Guinea is kept up by means of the missionary ship John Williams. Four vessels have borne this name. The Camden, in which Mr. and Mrs. Williams returned to the Pacific after their sojourn in England, proved too small for her work ; so in 1843, after five years' useful service, she was sold, and a barque that was almost ready for sea bought in her place. The new ship was called the John Williams, was paid for by money raised by Sunday School children, and for twenty years sailed to and fro among the islands. Crossing and re-crossing the South Seas in all directions, and returning to the Thames four different times, this missionary barque sailed in all nearly half a million miles. But in 1864 she was wrecked on Pukapuka or Danger Island. A new and yet finer vessel was forthwith built to carry on her work, the children again raising the money ; but she soon came to grief, being wrecked off Niu6 on her first and only voyage. That was the second John Williams. The third, which closely resembles her, was sent out in October, 1868, and for more than a quarter of a century has continued her useful mission. But she is no longer young ; and, now that the number of out-stations to be visited is so great, and yet more, because of the growing demands of the mission in New Guinea, she is about to retire and make way for the steamer John Williams, which the young readers of this book have had built and sent forth, and will have paid for before the book is in their hands. For many years to come New Guinea will need South Sea Island teachers, and this, together with JOINING HANDS TO SAVE NEW GUINEA 201 her rounds among the smaller islands, will keep the steamer con- stantly on the move. Samoans, Mangaians, Rarotongans, Aitutakians, Niueans, who have broken down in health, or who need a change and a year's rest among their friends, will be taken home ; others who have been home, or new ones going to the great island for the first time, will be carried to their work. Supplies of all kinds also will be conveyed to them and to the missionaries. By means of the steamer the links of connection will be kept, and New Guinea and all who labour for her be the gainers. Much yet remains to be done before that home of savage tribes is Christian, but a good beginning has been made. Four central stations and about a hundred out-stations have been opened. From these the light is spreading. Many villages on the coast have given up their idols and their most heathen customs, and are undergoing the same change as that described in the earlier chapters of this " Story." There are more than a thousand natives who have been baptized, and some hundreds of children are being taught in the schools. Still it is, as yet, but the day of small things, and we may have to pray, work, and give for a long time before we see the island rescued from its barbarism and brought to God. Our hope is in Him. He has wrought mighty changes in other islands ; indeed, He has already done wonders in New Guinea itself, and in past victories we see the pledge of the greater and more signal triumph yet to come. CHAPTER XL OTHER LABOURERS IN THE SOUTHERN OCEAN. " Each as the Lord gave to him." THIS " Story of the South Seas" might easily be enlarged. Not half of what might be told has found its way into these pages. There 1893 ..,,..... 2/ 1894 ....... 2/- " Juveniles," 1893 . i/- 1894 . . . . . . . i/- . i BOOKS OJM S/cLE (continued). Title. Author. Price. James Calvert. R. Vemon 1/6 James Chalmers, w. Robson ... . . . 1/6 Bishop Patteson. Jesse Page .1/6 Robert Moffat. David J. Deane 1/6 John Williams. Rev. J. J. Ellis 1/6 William Carey. Rev. J. B. Myers 1/6 Samuel Crowther. Jesse Page 1/6 Lady Missionaries in Foreign Lands. Mrs. E. R. Pitman. . 1/6 Madagascar. Rev. W. J. Townsend j/6 Amid Greenland Snows. Jesse Page 1/6 Thomas J. Comber. Rev. J. B. Myers 1/6 Robert Morrison. Rev. W. J. Townsend 1/6 David Livingstone. A. Montefiore 1/6 Griffith John. W. Robson .1/6 Alexander Maekay. By Author of " Story of Stanley " . . . i/- John Horden. Rev. A. R. Buckland, M.A i/- James Gilmour. Mrs. Bryson, of Tientsin i/- Among the Mongols. Rev. J. Gilmour, M.A 2/6 James Gilmour and his Boys. Rev. R. Lovett, M.A. . . . 2 /6 The Children of Madagascar. H. F. Standing .... 3/6 Reminiscences English and Australian. N. L. Doss . . 2/- Among the Matabele. D. Carnegie 1/6 Life on the Congo. Rev. W. H. Bentley 1/6 Memoirs of Thomas Smith Thomson. I. H. Hacker . . 2/6 Benjamin Rice. E. P. Rice 2/6 JVIISSION/cRY WjALL JVIAfS For Sunday Schools, Missionary Bands, etc. Printed on Calico: Nine Excellent Outline MAPS, specially adapted for address and lecture purposes, and covering the entire field of the Society's operations, viz. : North India. South India. ( Madagascar ' (Northern half). Madagascar (Southern half). China. Polynesia. Central Africa. South Africa. New Guinea. PRICES Single Maps, 6s. 6d. net. Postage included, 6s. gd. Complete Set, 2 12s. Carriage free. YOUj^Q fEOfLE'S JVIISSIOJ^A^Y LETTERS. Letter No. 3, from Rev. SIDNEY J. LONG, Coimbatoor, South India. 4, Rev. JAMES CHALMERS, Port Moresby, New Guinea. 5, Mr. A. J. SWANN, of Lake Tanganyika. ,, 7, ., Dr. E. SARCOOD FRY, Neyoor. A Missionary Doctor's Tour. 9, A FRIEND OF MISSIONS HERE AT HOME. How Johnny got laughed at for liking the Niggers, and how he didn't mind. 11&12, Rev. F. F. LONGMAN and AMY FISHER. A Visit to Gobordanga. " Little Ox." No. 13, A Tale about the Betsileo. Rev. A. S. HUCKETT. 14, from Miss S. J. ROWE. Letter from Hong-Kong to certain Boys and Girls in England. 15, Rev. C. W. ABEL. Letter from Hanuabada, New Guinea. 1 8, Capt. TURPIE etc. Our New Steamer. 2s. 6d. per 100. fAjVlPHLETS AND LE/cFLETS. Do We Spend too Much on Foreign Missions? A Diagrammatic Argument, zd. ; or in quantity u. 4^. per dozen. Guide for use in Forming' and Working 1 Auxiliaries. 12 pp. Svo. \d. Claims of the Forward Movement. By Rev. Prof. ARMITAGE. i6pp. i6mo. The London Missionary Society, and Young- People's Share in its Work. Illustrated 16 pp. pamphlet. For gratuitous circulation. Wang 1 Nai Nai. The Story of a Chinese Widow. 8 pp. leaflet. For gratuitous circulation. John Kenneth Mackenzie, Medical Missionary. 12 pp. pamphlet. -