L / JOHN G. PATON MISSIONARY TO THE NEW HEBRIDES EDITED BY HIS BROTHER SECOND PART &itton FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO Publishers of Evangelical Literature INTRODUCTORY NOTE. BY ARTHUR T. PIERSON, D.D. 'THHE avidity with which Part I. of Mr. Paton's -* remarkable life-story was received by the public in England has been no surprise. Before this second part was issued from the press, three thousand copies were already sold ; and the entire edition of five thousand was so soon exhausted that it has been impossible to cope with the demand. We have no hesitation in pronouncing this second part the most fascinating narrative of missionary adventure and heroism and success that we have ever met. This volume abounds in poetry and pathos, dramatic incident and thrilling experience, lit up by the golden rays of a delicate and unique humor. It reminds one of a varied landscape with bold mountains and modest valleys, where snow- crowned summits look down on summer gardens ; where cascades fall into quiet streams, and where all the marvels of light and shade at once relieve and diversify the scene. The twenty-two miles' gallop through the Australian Bush on the back of Garibaldi, which made the inexperienced rider INTRODUCTORY NOTE. drunk with excitement and fatigue ; the Ariwan woman who, judging clothes an evidence of a new heart, approved her decided conversion by coming into chapel having her person grotesquely adorned with every article of male attire which she could beg or borrow, may illustrate the comical side of this charming story. The three- years of progress among cannibals, in laying foundations of Christian families, schools, churches, and even social order, may serve as one of the greatest vindications, through all history, of that Gospel which is still the power of God and the wisdom of God unto salvation. [" T is a true joy to me, that I am enabled to * place Part Second of my brother's Auto- biography in the hands of the Public without undue delay. The amount of interesting and precious material, entrusted to me to be re-written and prepared for the Press, has, by its very abun- dance and variety, landed me in the greatest perplexity. Amidst all the toil and anxiety of producing such a book, my only painful experience has been the necessity of cutting out page after page, every whit as beautiful and valuable as any of the pages for which room has been found. That observation applies very specially to the "Letters," which constitute Chapter IX. These I verily regret to publish in mere frag- ri PREFACE. ments, instead of in their own rounded com- pleteness. Two whole Chapters, as outlined by my brother, I am sorrowfully necessitated to omit, so that the Life-Story itself may not be too much enlarged or overloaded. The one refers to "The Kanaka, or Labour Traffic in the South Seas " ; and the other to " Annexation, and the Future of the New Hebrides." Both are of vital import among the Public Questions of the day ; and, in the discussion of both, his position and opportunities have led him to take a not inconsiderable share. But the claims of what may more properly be regarded as the Personal Narrative were paramount; and the allotted space, within the limits of this volume, left me, for the present at least, no other choice. Readers would think me foolishly uplifted, if I indicated one-hundredth part of the chorus of approbation, that has reached me regarding Part First of this Autobiography. My best wish for the Second Volume is that it may be similarly welcomed; and that it may bring a PREFACE. Til special blessing to as many hearts in all quarters of the world. More than that I could not reasonably anticipate. JAMES PATON, Editor. Glasgow, October, 1889. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE FLOATING OF THE DAYSPRING. MM Preliminary Note I Call for a Mission Ship 2 A Brutal Captain 3 Sun- Worshippers, or Slaves ? 5 The Lights of Sydney 6 Thrown upon the Lord 7 Mr. Foss's Open Door 8 Climbing into Pulpits 9 Shipping Company for Jesus 10 The Golden Shower ....... 12 Wanted ! More Missionaries 13 Commissioned to Scotland 14 Wayside Incidents of Australian Travel 16 Lost in the Bush 17 Sinking in the Swamp 2-1 Put through my Catechism 23 "Do for the Parson !" ,- '.i 24 Crossing the Colony on Novel Conditions ... 25 Pay-Day at a Squatter's 29 Three Days in a Public House 31 A Meeting among the Diggers ..... 35 Camping Out 37 A Squatter Rescued ....... 39 John Gilpin's Ride through the Bush .... 40 CONTENTS. CHAPTER II. AMONG THE ABORIGINES. PACK A Fire- Water Festival ...... 47 At Tea with the Aborigines 48 " Black Fellow all Gone ! " . . . . .50 The Poison-Gift of Civilization 51 The "Scattering "of the Blacks 52 The " Brute-in-human-shape " Theory ... 54 The Testimony of Nora ... 55 Nathaniel Pepper and their " Gods ". ... 57 Smooth Stone Idols 58 Rites and Ceremonies .... . . . 59 " Too Much Devil-Devil " 60 The Quest for Idols 61 Visit to Nora in the Camp .63 Independent Testimonies ...... 65 Nora's own Letters 68 The Aborigines in Settlements . . . . .71 CHAPTER IIL 7*0 SCOTLAND AND BACK. Dr. Inglis on the Mission Crisis . .... 73 Casting Lots before the Lord . . . . .74 Struck by Lightning .75 A Peep at London .76 A Heavenly Welcome 77 The Moderator's Chair 78 Reformed Presbyterian Church and Free Church . 80 Tour through Scotland 82 A Frosted Foot . . 83 The Children's Holy League 84 Missionary Volunteers . . . . .85 A God-provided Help-Mate 86 Farewell to the Old Family Altar . . .88 First Peep at the Dayspring ..... 90 CONTENTS. PAGF The Dayspring in a Dead- Lock .... 91 Tokens of Deliverance 93 The John W illiams and the Dayspring . . .95 Australia's Special Call ...... 98 CHAPTER IV. CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. First of Missionary Duties ...*. 100 Mare" and Noumea 101 The French in the Pacific ...... 103 The Curasao. Affair 104 The " Gospel and Gunpowder " Cry .... 105 The Missionaries on their Defence .... 106 The Mission Synod's Report 107 The Shelling of the Tannese Villages ... 109 Public Meeting and Presbytery in Fighting at Bay . . . . . . . .114 Federal Union in Missions 115 A Fiery Furnace at Geelong . . . . . 116 Results of Australian Tour .119 New Hebrides Mission Adopted by Colonies . . 120 CHAPTER V. SETTLEMENT ON ANIWA. The John Williams on the Reef . . , .123 A Native's Soliloquy ....... 124 Nowar Pleading for Tanna. . . . . . 125 The White Shells of Nowar 126 The Island of Aniwa ....... 127 First Landing on Aniwa ...... 129 The Site of our New Home ..... 130 "Me no Steal!". . . " 131 House-Building for God ...... 132 xii CONTENTS. PACK Native Expectations ....... 135 Tafigeitu or Sorcery . . . . . . .136 The Miracle of Speaking Wood 138 Perils through Superstition 139 The Mission Premises a City of God . . .141 Builders and their Wages ...... 142 Great Swimming Feat ...... 144 Stronger than the " Gods " of Aniwa . . . .145 CHAPTER VI. FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. Navalak and Nemeyan on Aniwa .... 149 Taia the " Orator " 150 The Two next Aneityumese Teachers . . 151 In the Arms of Murderers 152 Our First Aniwan Converts . . . . . 153 Litsi Sore* 153 Surrounded by Torches 155 Traditions of Creation, Fall, and Deluge . . .156 Infanticide and Wife-Murder 159 Last Heathen Dance ....... 162 Nel Wang's Elopement . . , . . .163 Yakin's Bridal Attire 169 Christ-Spirit versus War-Spirit . . . . .171 Heathenism in Death Grips 174 A Great Aniwan Palaver 175 The Sinking of the Well 176 Old Chiefs Sermon on " Rain from Below " . .189 The Idols Cast Away . 192 The New Social Order 194 Back of Heathenism Broken ..... 196 CHAPTER VII. THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. My First Aniwan Book 198 The Power of Music . 201 CONTENTS. xiii PAGE A Pair of Glass Eyes ....... 202 Church Building for Jesus ...... 203 The Hanging of the Bell 206 Patesa and his Bride 207 An Armed Embassage . . . . . .210 Youwili's Taboo 212 The Conversion of You will 216 The Tobacco Idol 218 First Communion on Aniwa . . . . .221 Our Village Day Schools 223 New Social Laws 225 A Sabbath Day's Work on Aniwa .... 226 Our Week- Day Life 229 The Orphans and their Biscuits 231 The Wreck of the Dayspring ..... 233 God's Own Finger Posts . . . . . .234 " God's Work our Guarantee " 235 Profane Swearers Rebuked ..... 237 A Heavenly Vision 238 On Wing through New Zealand . . . 239 Our Second Dayspring 240 CHAPTER VIII. PEN PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. The Gospel in Living Capitals . , . . . 241 u A Shower of Spears " ...... 243 The Tannese Refugees 244 Pilgrimage and Death of Namakei .... 245 The Character of Naswai ...... 250 Christianity and Cocoa-Nuts 254 Nerwa the Agnostic ....... 255 Nerwa's Beautiful Farewell . . . . .258 The Story of Ruwawa 260 Waiwai and his Wives . . . . . . 262 Nelwang and Kalangi 268 xiv CONTENTS. PAGE Mungaw and Litsi Sore" ...... 270 The Maddening of Mungaw 271 The Queen of Aniwa a Missionary .... 275 Surrender of Nasi to Jesus 277 Daylight Prayer Meeting on Aniwa ... 280 Candidates for Baptism 281 The Appeal and Testimony of Laniu . * 282 CHAPTER IX. LETTERS FROM ANIWA. Editorial Preface 285 Letter for 1867 286 Not Tanna but Aniwa 287 u Missi Paton versus Teapots " . . . . . 288 The Humour of Taia 288 Evening Village Prayers 289 "Make Him Bokis sing" 289 My Sewing Class 289 " That No Gammon " 290 M Talk Biritania * 290 The Marriage of Kahi 291 Letter for 1869 292 First Communicants on Aniwa 292 Mungaw and the Mission Boys ..... 293 The Blessing of the Dayspring 294 Letter for 1874 . . 294 Home to Aniwa 295 "Taking Possession" 296 " Another Soul Committed to our Care " . . 296 Hutshi and her Lover 297 Six Missionaries on Aniwa 298 Letter for 1875 299 Missi Paton and " Joseph," and the Tannese . . 300 A Tropical Hurricane ... .... 301 The Disgrace and Sale of Hutshi , 303 CONTENTS. vi PAGE Taia Baited by Nalihi ...... 308 Earthquakes and Tidal Waves . . . .310 Farewells . . . . . . . . .311 Letter for 1878 3" A Madman at Large 312 The Passing of Yawaci 324 Madness and Death of Mungaw 325 Our Native Elders 334 Music on the Waters 335 A Wicked Vow 335 Letter for 1879 336 New Year's Day on Aniwa ..... 336 A Miserable Slaver 337 Litsi Married Again 337 Mission Synod on Erromanga 338 Tragic and Holy Memories 339 Daylight at last on Tanna 340 Pigs in Galore 341 Arrowroot for Jehovah ...... 341 CHAPTER X. LAST VISIT TO BRITAIN. " Wanted ! A Steam Auxiliary " 342 Commissioned Home to Britain 343 English Presbyterian Synod . 344 United Presbyterian Synod 345 The " Veto " from the Sydney Board . . . .345 Dr. Hood Wilson 347 The Free Church Assembly ..... 348 Neutrality of Foreign Mission Committee . . . 349 The Church of Scotland 350 At Holyrood and at Alva House 351 Irish Presbyterian Assembly ..... 352 The Pan-Presbyterian Council of 1884 . . . 353 My " Plan of Campaign " 354 xvi CONTENTS. PAGE Old Ireland's Response ...... 355 Operations in Scotland ...... 356 Seventy Letters in a Day ...... 358 Beautiful Type of Merchant ..... 359 My First ^100 at Dundee ...... 360 Peculiar Gifts and Offerings ..... 361 Approach to London 364 Mildmay's Open Door 366 Largest Single Donation ...... 367 Personal Memories of London 368 Garden Party at Mr. Spurgeon's .... 370 The Hon. Ion Keith-Falconer 371 Three New Missionaries 372 " Restitution Money " 375 The Farewell at M ildrnay 376 Welcome to Victoria 377 The Dream of my Life 378 The New Mission Ship Dd.iyed .... 378 Welcome back to Aniwa 379 Parting Testimony ....... 380 Fare-thce-well 382 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. MISSION HOUSE AT ANIWA . . . . . Frontispiece. "ALL THE NATIVES WITHIN REACH ASSEMBLED " To face p. 129 I WANT You TO TRAIN LISTI FOR JESUS . . . " 153 " OH, MY NEW EYES " " 203 " I'LL KNOCK THE TEVIL OUT OF HIM " . " 211 CHAPTER L THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSPRING." Preliminary Note. Call for a Mission Ship. A Brutal Captain Sun- Worshippers or Slaves ? The Lights of Sydney. Thrown upon the Lord. Mr. Foss's Open Door. Climbing into Pulpits. Shipping Company for Jesus. The Golden Shower. Wanted More Missionaries. Commissioned to Scotland. Wayside Incidents of Australian Travel. Lost in the Bush. Sinking in the Swamp. Put Through My Catechism. " Do for the Parson 1 " Crossing the Colony on Novel Conditions. Pay-Day at a Squatter's. Three Days in a Public House. A Meeting among the Diggers. Camping Out. A Squatter Rescued. John Gilpin's Ride through the Bush. OTRANGE yet gratifying news has reached me. ^ Part First of my Autobiography has met with a wonderful response from the Public. Within three weeks of its appearance, a second edition has been called for. At the Editor's urgent appeal, therefore, and as- sured also that the finger of God is guiding me, I take up my pen to write Part Second, feeling that 1 am bound to do so by my promise at the close of the first volume, and by loyalty to the Lord, who seems thus to use my humble life-story to promote the glory of His Name both at home and abroad. P. * I THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING" But, oh, surely never any man was called upon to write a book amid such distracting circumstances ! Ceaselessly travelling from Church to Church and from town to town from one end of Australia to the other, addressing a meeting almost every evening of the week, often also during the afternoons, and several Congregations and Sabbath Schools every Lord's Day, the following pages are the outpourings of a heart saturated with the subject, but bereft of all opportunity for quiet thought or studious hours. Having thus far done my part, I leave all else to the careful Editorship of my dear brother, whose loving hand will put everything into shape for the public eyes. This only I can sincerely testify, 1 The Lord has called for it, and I lay on His altar the only gift that I have to offer, believing that He will both accept it and use it as He sees to be for the best * * * Rescued from Tanna by the Blue Bell in the Spring of 1862, I was landed on Aneityum, leaving behind me all that I owned on Earth, save the clothes upon my back, my precious Bible, and a few trans- lations that I had made from it into the Tannes- language. The Missionaries on Aneityum Messrs. Geddie and Copeland united, after repeated delibera- tions, in urging me to go to Australia in the interests of our Mission. In this appeal they were joined now by my companions in tribulation, Mr. and Mrs. Mathieson. A Mission Ship was sorely needed was THE FLOATING OF THE DAYSPRING." 3 absolutely required, to prevent the needless sacrifice of devoted lives. More Missionaries were called for, and must somehow be brought into the field, unless the hope of claiming these fair Islands for Jesus was to be for ever abandoned. With unaffected reluctance, I at last felt constrained to undertake this unwelcome but apparently inevit- able task. It meant the leaving of my dear Islanders for a season ; but it embraced within it the hope of returning to them again, with perhaps every power of blessing amongst them tenfold increased. A Sandal-wooder, then lying at Aneityum, was to sail in a few days direct for Sydney. My passage was secured for 10. And, as if to make me realize how bare the Lord had stripped me in my late trials, the first thing that occupied me on board was the making with my own hands, from a piece of cloth obtained on Aneityum, another shirt for the voyage, to change with that which I wore the only one that had been left to me. The Captain proved to be a profane and brutal fellow. He professed to be a Roman Catholic, but he was typical of the coarse and godless Traders in those Seas. If he had exerted himself to make the voyage disagreeable, and even disgusting, he could scarcely have had better success. He frequently fought with the mate and steward, and his tyrannical bearing made every one wretched. He and his Native wife (a Heathen but not more so than him- self!) occupied the Cabin. I had to sleep on boards, 4 THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." without a bed, in a place where they stored the sandal-wood ; and never could take off my clothes by night or day during that voyage of nearly fourteen hundred miles. The vessel was miserably supplied. Any food I got was scarcely eatable, and was sent to me in a plate on deck. There I spent all my time, except at night or in heavy rain, when I crept in and lay upon my planks. The poor steward often came rushing on deck from the cabin, with blood streaming from his face, struck by the passionate Captain with whatever came to his hand. Yet he appeared to be a smart and obliging lad, and I pitied him exceedingly. Seeing no hope for redress, I took careful notes of his shocking treat- ment, and resolved to bide my time for exposing this base and cruel inhumanity. On reaching Sydney, the steward was dismissed without wages, the Captain having accused him to his employers of refusing to work on board. He found me out, and told me, weeping, that he cared more for his poor aged mother than himself, as his pay was all her support. On my advice, he informed the Captain that he would summon him, and that I had consented to appear in Court and produce my notes of what I had seen, day by day, on the voyage. He was immediately paid in full, and came to me big with gratitude. One hesitates to dwell further on this miserable episode. But I must relate how my heart bled for some poor Islanders also, whom that Captain had on THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING " S board. They knew not a word of English, and no one in the vessel knew a sound of their language. They were made to work, and to understand what was expected of them, only by hard knocks and blows, being pushed and pulled hither and thither. They were kept quite naked on the voyage up ; but, when nearing Sydney, each received two yards of calico to be twisted as a kilt around his loins. A most pathetic spectacle it was to watch these poor Natives, when they had leisure to sit on deck, gazing, gazing, intently and imploringly, upon the face of the Sun ! This they did every day, and at all hours, and I wept much to look on them, and not be able to tell them of the Son of God, the Light of the world, for I knew no word of their language. Perhaps they were worshippers of the Sun ; and perhaps, amid all their misery, oh, perhaps, some ray of truth from the great Father of Lights may have streamed into those darkened souls ! When we arrived at Sydney, the Inspecting Officer of the Government, coming on board, asked how these Islanders came to be there. The Captain im- pudently replied that they were "passengers." No further question was put. No other evidence was sought. Yet all who knew anything of our South- Sea Island Traders were perfectly aware that the moral certainty was that these Natives were there practically as Slaves. They would be privately dis- posed of by the Captain to the highest bidder ; and that, forsooth, is to be called the Labour Traffic. 6 THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSPRING." About midnight we came to anchor in Sydney har- bour. The Captain condescended to say, " I will not drive you ashore to-night, but you must be off by daylight" His orders might have been spared. It was too great a relief to get away from such coarse- ness and profanity. As we came to anchorage, I anxiously paced the deck, gazing towards the gas-lighted city, and plead- ing with God to open up my way, and give success in the work before me, on which the salvation of thousands of the Heathen might depend. Still I saw them perishing, still heard their wailing cry on the Islands behind me. I saw them groaning under blinding superstitions, and imbruing their hands in each other's blood, and I felt as if crushed by the awful responsibility of my work and by the thought of all that hung upon its success or failure. But I felt also that there must be many of God's dear people in Sydney who would sympathize with such work and help me, if only I could get access to them. At the same time, I knew not a soul in that great city ; though I had a note of introduction to one person, which, as experience proved, I would have been better without. Unfortunately, I had not with me a copy of the Resolution of the Missionaries, commissioning me to plead their cause and to raise funds for the new Mission Ship. Again and again I had earnestly requested it, but the Clerk of the meeting, pressed by correspondence, or for some other reason, gave me THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." J instead that note of introduction, which proved more of a hindrance than a help in launching my work ; except that it threw me more exclusively on the guidance of my Lord, and taught me to trust in Him, and in the resources He had given me, rather than in any human aid, from that day till the present hour. That friend, however, did his best He kindly called with me on a number of Ministers and others. They heard my story, sympathized with me, shook hands, and wished me success ; but, strangely enough, something " very special " prevented every one of them from giving me access to his pulpit or Sabbath School. At length, I felt so disappointed, so miser- able, that I wished I had been in my grave with my dear departed and my brethren on the Islands who had fallen around me, in order that the work on which so much now appeared to depend might have been entrusted to some one better fitted to accom- plish it. The heart seemed to keep repeating, " All these things are against thee." Finding out at last the Rev. A. Buzacott, then retired, but formerly the successful and honoured representative of the London Missionary Society on Rarotonga, considerable light was let in upon the mysteries of my last week's experiences. He in- formed me that the highly esteemed friend, who had kindly been introducing me all round, was at that moment immersed in a keen Newspaper war with Presbyterians and Independents. He had published statements and changes of view, which charged them 8 THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." with being unscriptural in belief and practice. They, of course, were rigorously defending themselves. This made it painfully manifest that, in order to succeed, I must strike out a new course for myself, and one clear from all local entanglement. Paying a fortnight in advance, I withdrew even from the lodging I had taken, and turned to the Lord more absolutely for guidance. He brought me into contact with good and generous-souled servants of His, the open-hearted Mr. and Mrs. Foss. Though entire strangers, they kindly invited me to be their guest while in Sydney, assuring me that I would meet with many Ministers and other Christians at their house who could help me in my work. God had opened the door ; I entered with a grateful heart ; they will not miss their recompence. A letter and appeal had been already printed on behalf of our Mission. I now re-cast and reprinted it, adding a postscript, and appending my own name and new address. This was widely circulated among Ministers and others engaged in Christian work ; and by this means, and by letters in the Newspapers, I did everything in my power to make our Mission known. But one week had passed, and no response came. One Lord's Day had gone by, and no pulpit had been opened to me. I was perplexed beyond measure, how to get access to Congregations and Sabbath Schools ; though a Something deep in my soul assured me, that if once my lips were opened, the Word of the Lord would not return void. THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 9 On my second Sabbath in Sydney, I wandered out with a great yearning at heart to get telling my message to any soul that would listen. It was the afternoon ; and children were flocking into a Church that I passed. I followed them that yearn- ing growing stronger every moment. My God so ordered it, that I was guided thus to the Chalmers Presbyterian Church. The Minister, the Rev. Mr. McSkimming, addressed the children. At the close I went up and pleaded with him to allow me ten minutes to speak to them. After a little hesitation, and having consulted together, they gave me fifteen minutes. Becoming deeply interested, the good man invited me to preach to his Congregation in the evening. This was duly intimated in the Sabbath School ; and thus my little boat was at last launched surely by the hand of the dear Lord, with the help of His little children. The kindly Minister, now very deeply interested, offered to spend the next day in introducing me to his clerical brethren. For his sake, I was most cor- dially received by them all, but especially by Dr. Dunsmore Lang, who greatly helped me ; and now access was granted me to almost every Church and Sabbath School, both Presbyterian and Independent In Sabbath Schools, I got a collection in connection with my address, and distributed, with the sanction of Superintendents, Collecting Cards amongst the children, to be returned through the teachers within a specified date. In Congregations, I received for io THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." the Mission the surplus over and above the ordinary collection when I preached on Sabbaths, and the full collection at all week-night meetings for which I could arrange. I now appealed to a few of the most friendly Ministers to form themselves into an Honorary Committee of advice ; and, at my earnest request, they got J. Goodlet, Esq., an excellent elder, to be- come Honorary Treasurer, and to take charge of all funds raised for the Mission Ship. For the Public knew nothing of me ; but all knew my good Trea- surer and these faithful Ministers, and had confidence in the work. They knew that every penny went direct to the Mission ; and they saw that my one object was to promote God's glory in the conversion of the Heathen. Our dear Lord Jesus thus opened up my way, and now I had invitations from more Schools and Congregations than I knew how to overtake the response in money being also gratify- ing beyond almost all expectation. It was now that I began a little plan of interesting the children, that attracted them from the first, and has since had an amazing development I made them shareholders in the new Mission Ship each child receiving a printed form, in acknowledgment of the number of shares, at sixpence each, of which he was the owner. Thousands of these shares were taken out, were shown about amongst families, and were greatly prized. The Ship was to be their very own 1 They were to be a great Shipping Company THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPXING." II for Jesus. In hundreds of homes, these receipt-forms have been preserved ; and their owners, now in middle years, are training their children of to-day to give their pennies to support the white-winged Angel of the Seas, that bears the Gospel and the Missionary to the Heathen Isles. Let no one think me ungrateful to my good Treasurer and his wife, to Dr. and Mrs. Moon, and to other dear friends who generously helped me, when I trace step by step how the Lord opened up my way. The Angel of His Presence went before me, and wonderfully moved His people to contribute in answer to my poor appeals. I had indeed to make all my own arrangements, and correspond re- garding all engagements and details, to me, always a slow and laborious writer, a very burdensome task. But it was all necessary in order to the fulfil- ment of the Lord's purposes ; and, to one who realizes that he is a fellow-labourer with Jesus, every yoke that He lays on becomes easy and every burden light. Having done all that could at that time be accom- plished in New South Wales, and as rapidly as possible, my Committee gave me a Letter of Com- mendation to Victoria. But there I had no difficulty. The ministers had heard of our work in Sydney. They received me most cordially, and at my request formed themselves into a Committee of Advice. Our dear friend, James McBain, Esq., now Sir James, became Honorary Treasurer. All moneys from this 12 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." Colony, raised by my pleading for the Ship, were entrusted to him ; and, ultimately, the acknowledging of every individual sum cost much time and labour. Dr. Cairns, and many others now gone to their rest, along with several honoured Ministers yet living, formed my Committee. The Lord richly reward them all in that Day ! As in New South Wales, I made all my own engagements, and arranged for Churches and Sabbath Schools as best I could. Few in the other Denominations of Victoria gave any help, but the Presbyterians rose to our appeal as with one heart. God moved them by one impulse ; and Ministers, Superintendents, Teachers and Children heartily embraced the scheme as their own. I addressed three or four meetings every Sabbath, and one or more every week-day ; and thus travelled over the length and breadth of Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. Wheresoever a few of the Lord's people could be gathered together, thither I gladly went, and told the story of our Mission, setting forth its needs and claims. The contributions and collections were nearly all in very small sums. I recall only one exception, a gift of 250 from the late Hon. G. F. Angus, South Australia, whose heart the Lord had touched. Yet gently and steadily the required money began to come pouring in ; and my personal outlays were reduced to a minimum by the hospitality of Christian friends and their kindly conveying of me from place THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 13 to place. For all this I felt deeply grateful ; it saved money for the Lord's work. Each of my Treasurers, to whom all contributions were sent direct, kept me duly posted as to sums received from time to time. The progress made soon led on to the resolution to aim at a Ship three times the size of that originally proposed. We set apart the sum of 3,000 as necessary for it ; and I vowed, in my solitude, that if God sent an additional 800 within a given time, that would be my Gideon's fleece, and would warrant me in going home to Scotland to secure more Missionaries for the Islands. By this time, I had heard of the death of my dear fellow-labourers, Mrs. Mathieson on Aneityum, and shortly thereafter Mr. Mathieson on Mare*. I alone was now left to tell the story of the planting of the Standard on Tanna, our Mission numbered then only four agents in the field, and the thought arose, Why keep a Mission Vessel for so few ? The resolu- tion was, therefore, taken in God's Name to get more Missionaries too. But this, as yet, was betwixt my own soul and the Lord. The work was unceasingly prosecuted. Meetings were urged upon me now from every quarter. Money flowed in so freely that, at the close of my tour, the fund had risen to ,5,000, including special Donations of 300 for the support of Native Teachers. Many Sabbath Schools, and many ladies and gentlemen, had individually promised the sum of 5 yearly to keep a Native Teacher on one or other of the New 14 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING. Hebrides Islands. This happy custom prevails still, and is largely developed ; the sum required being now 6 per annum at least for which you may have your own personal representative toiling among the Heathen and telling them of Jesus. Returning to Melbourne, the whole matter was laid before my Committee. I reported how God had blessed the undertaking, and what sums were now in the hands of the several Treasurers, indicating also what larger hopes and plans had been put into my soul. Dear Dr. Cairns rose and said, " Sir, it is of the Lord. This whole enterprise is of God, and not of us. Go home, and He will give you more Mis- sionaries for the Islands." My ever-honoured friends, Dr. and Mrs. Inglis, had just returned to Melbourne from Britain, where they had been carrying the com- plete New Testament in Aneityumese through the press. Dr. Inglis was present at that meeting, and approved warmly of my going home for more Missionaries, especially as from want of time and opportunity he had not himself succeeded in getting any additions to our Missionary staff. Melbourne held a Farewell meeting. The Governor, Sir Henry Barkley, took the chair. The Hall was crowded ; and the Governor's sympathetic utterances arrested public attention and deepened the interest in our Mission. The fact was emphasized that this work, lying at their very doors in the Pacific Seas, had peculiar claims on the heart and conscience of Australia. THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRINGS 15 Thence I hasted to Sydney, arid reported myself also there. The New South Wales Committee gave their cordial approval to our larger plans. A Fare- well was held there too ; and the Governcr, Sir John Young, took the chair. The meeting was a great success. His presence, and his excellent speech, again helped to fix the eyes of all Australians on the peculiar claims of the New Hebrides. This was their work, more than that of any other people on the face of the Earth. The awakening of this conscious- ness, and intensifying it into a practical and burning faith, was a great and far-reaching achievement for Australia and for the Islanders. It is one of the purest joys of my life, that in this work I was honoured to have some share, along with many other dear servants of the Lord. Of the money which I had raised, 3,000 were sent to Nova Scotia, to pay for the building of our new Mission Ship, the Dayspring. The Church which began the Mission on the New Hebrides was granted the honour of building its first Mission Ship. The remainder was set apart to pay for the outfit and passage of additional Missionaries for the field, and I was commissioned to return home to Scotland in quest of them. Dr. Inglis wrote, in vindication of this enterprise, to the friends whom he had just left, "From first to last, Mr. Paton's mission here has been a great success ; and it has been followed up with such energy and promptitude in Nova Scotia, both in regard to the Ship and the Missionaries, that 1 6 THE FLOATING OF THE "DAYSPRING." Mr. Paton's pledge to the Australian Churches has been fully redeemed. The hand of the Lord has been very visible in the whole movement from be- ginning to end, and we trust He has yet great bless- ing in store for the long and deeply degraded Islanders." Here let me turn aside from the current of Mis- sionary toils, and record a few wayside incidents that marked some of my wanderings to and fro in connec- tion with the Floating of the Dayspring. Travelling in the Colonies in 1862-63 was vastly less developed than it is to-day ; and a few of my experiences then will for many reasons be not unwelcome to most readers of this book. Besides, these incidents, one and all, will be felt to have a vital connection with the main purpose of writing this Autobiography, namely, to show that the Finger of God is as visible still, to those who have eyes to see, as when the fire-cloud Pillar led His People through the wilder- ness. Twenty-six years ago, the roads of Australia, except those in and around the principal towns, were mere tracks over unfenced plains and hills, and on many of them packhorses only could be used in slushy weather. During long journeys through the bush, the traveller could find his road only by follow- ing the deep notches, gashed by friendly precursors into the larger trees, and all pointing in one direction. If he lost his way, he had to struggle back to the last indented tree, and try to interpret more correctly its THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 1} pilgrim notch. Experienced bush-travellers seldom miss the path ; yet many others, losing the track, have wandered round and round till they sank and died. For then, it was easy to walk thirty or forty miles, and see neither a person nor a house. The more intelligent do sometimes guide their steps by sun, moon, and stars, or by glimpses of mountain peaks or natural features on the far and high horizon, or by the needle of the compass ; but the perils are not illusory, and occasionally the most experienced have miscalculated and perished. An intelligent gentleman, a sheep farmer, who knew the country well, once kindly volunteered to lift me in an out-of-the-way place, and drive me to a meeting at his Station. Having a long spell before us, we started at midday in a buggy drawn by a pair of splendid horses, in the hope of reaching our destination before dusk. He turned into the usual bush-track through the forests, saying, "I know this road well; and we must drive steadily, as we have not a moment to lose." Our conversation became absorbingly interesting. After we had driven about three hours, he re- marked, " We must soon emerge into the open plain." I doubtfully replied, "Surely we cannot have turned back ! These trees and bushes are wonder- fully like those we passed at starting." He laughed, and made me feel rather vexed that I had spoken, when he said, " I am too old a hand in P. ?. 1 8 THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." the bush for thatl I have gone this road many a time before." But my courage immediately revived, for I got what appeared to me a glint of the roof of the Inn beyond the bush, from which we had started at noon, and I repeated, " I am certain we have wheeled, and are back at the beginning of our journey ; but there comes a Chinaman ; let us wait and inquire." My dear friend learned, to his utter amazement, that he had erred. The bush-track was entered upon once more, and followed with painful care, as he murmured, half to himself, "Well, this beats all reckoning! I could have staked my life that this was impossible." Turning to me, he said, with manifest grief, " Our meeting is done for 1 It will be midnight before we can arrive." The sun was beginning to set, as we reached the thinly timbered ground. Ere dusk fell, he took his bearings with the greatest possible care. Beyond the wood, a vast plain stretched before us, where neither fence nor house was visible, far as the eye could reach. He drove steadily towards a far-distant point, which was in the direction of his home. At last we struck upon the wire fence that bounded his property. The horses were now getting badly fagged ; and, in order to save them a long round-about drive, he lifted and laid low a portion of the fence, led his horses cautiously over it, and, leaving it to be re-erected by a servant next day, he started direct for the Statioa THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 19 That seemed a long journey too ; but it was for him familiar ground ; and through amongst great patri- archal trees here and there, and safely past dangerous water-holes, we swung steadily on, reached his home in safety, and had a joyous welcome. The household had by this time got into great excitement over our non-appearance. The expected meeting had, of course, been abandoned hours ago ; and the people were all gone, wondering in their hearts "whereto this would grow ! At that time, in the depth of winter, the roads were often wrought into rivers of mire, and at many points almost impassable even for well-appointed conveyances. In connection therewith, I had one very perilous experience. I had to go from Clunes to a farm in the Learmouth district The dear old Minister there, Mr. Downes, went with me to every place where a horse could be hired ; but the owners positively refused they would sell, but they would not hire, for the conveyance would be broken, and the horse would never return alive ! Now, I was advertised to preach at Learmouth, and must some- how get over the nine miles that lay between. This would have been comparatively practicable, were it not that I carried with me an indispensable bag of " curios," and a heavy bundle of clubs, arrows, dresses, etc., from the Islands, wherewith to illustrate my lectures and enforce my appeals. No one could be hired to carry my luggage, nor could I get it sent after me by coach on that particular way. There- zo THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." fore, seeing no alternative opening in my path, I committed myself once more to the Lord, as in harder trials before, shouldered my bundle of clubs, lifted my heavy bag, and started off on foot They urged me fervently to desist ; but I heard a voice repeating, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be." There came back to me also the old adage that had in youthful difficulties spurred me on, " Where there's a will, there's a way." And I thought that, with these two in his heart, a Scotchman would not be easily beaten. When I found the road wrought into mire, and dangerous, or impassable, I climbed the fence, and waded along in the ploughed fields though they were nearly as bad. My bundle was changed from shoulder to shoulder, and my bag from hand to hand, till I became thoroughly tired of both. Pressing on, however, I arrived at a wayside Public House, where several roads met, and there I inquired the way to Learmouth, and how far it was. The Innkeeper, pointing, answered, "This is the road. If you are on horseback, it might be three to four miles just now, as your horse is able to take it. If you are in a conveyance, with a good horse, it might be six miles. And if you are walking, it might be eight or ten miles, or even more." I said, " I am walking. How many English miles is it to Mr. Baird's farm ? " He laughingly replied, "You will find it a long THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 21 way indeed this dark night, considering the state of the road, fenced in on both sides so that you cannot get off." I passed on, leaving my Job's comforter; but a surly watch-dog got upon my track, and I had much difficulty in keeping it from biting me. Its attacks, renewed upon me again and again, had one good effect, they stirred up my spirits and made me hasten on. Having persevered along the Learmouth road, I next met a company of men hastening on with a bundle of ropes. They were on their way to relieve a poor bullock, which by this time had almost dis- appeared, sinking in the mire on the public highway ! They kindly pointed me to a light, visible through the dusk. That was the farm at which I was to stay, and they advised me to clear the fence, and make straight for that light, as the way was good. With thankful heart, I did so. The light was soon lost to me, but I walked steadily on in the direction thereof, to the best of my judgment Immediately I began to feel the ground all floating under me. Then at every step I took, or tried to take, I sank deeper and deeper, till at last I durst not move either backward or forward. I was floundering in a deadly swamp. I called out again and again, and "coo-ee-d" with all my strength, but there came no reply. It grew extremely dark, while I kept praying to God for deliverance. About midnight, I heard two men conversing, apparently at no very great distance. 22 THE FLOATING Of THE " DA Y SPRING." I began " coo-ee-ing " again, but my strength was failing. Fortunately, the night was perfectly calm. The conversation ceased for a while ; but I kept on crying for help. At length, I heard one voice remark to the other, "Some one is in the swamp." And then a question came, " Who's there ? " I answered, M A stranger. Oh, do help me ! " Again a voice came through the darkness, " How did you get in there ? " And I feebly replied, " I have lost my way." I heard the one say to the other : " I will go and get him out, whoever he may be. We must not leave him there; he'll be dead before the morning. As you pass by our door, tell my wife that I'm helping some poor creature out of the swamp, and will be home immediately." He kept calling to me, and I answering his call through the darkness, till, not without peril, he managed to reach and aid me Once I was safely dragged out, he got my bag in his hand and slung my clubs on his shoulder, and in a very short time landed me at the farm, dripping and dirty and cold. Had God not sent that man to save me, I must have perished there, as many others have similarly perished before. The farmer heartily welcomed me and kindly ministered to all my needs. Though not yet gone to rest, they had given up all hope of seeing me. I heard the kind servant say to his mistress, 1 don't know where he came from, or how far he has carried his bundles ; but I got him stuck fast in THE FLOATING OF THF "DAYSPRINGS 33 the swamp, and my shoulder is already sore from carrying his clubs ! " A cup of warm tea restored me. The Lord gave me a sound and blessed sleep. I rose next morning wonderfully refreshed, though arms and shoulders were rather sore with the burdens of yesterday. I conducted three Services, and told the story of my Mission, not without comfort and blessing ; and with gratifying results in money. The people gave liber- ally to the work. One day, after this, I was driving a long distance on the outside of a crowded coach. A grave and sensible-looking Scotchman sat next me. He had inquiringly marked me reading in silence, while all around were conversing on matters of common in- terest. At last, he queried, " Are you a Minister ? " I answered, " Yes." " Where is your Church ? " " I have no Church." " Where are you placed ? " I am not placed in any charge now." " Where is your home ? " *' I have no home." " Where have you come from ? " " The South Sea Islands." "What are you doing in Australia?" " Pleading the cause of the Mission. " Are you a Presbyterian ? " I am." Having gone through this Catechism to his satis- *4 THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." faction, a most interesting and profitable conversation followed. When the time came for the payment of fares, nothing would please but that I must allow him to pay for me some twenty-two shillings which he did with all his heart, protesting, "A joy to me, Sir, a great joy ; I honour you for your work's sake ! " Thereafter, a Schoolmaster drove me a long dis- tance across the country to Violet Town, where for the night we had to stay at an Inn. We had a taste of what Australian life really was, when the land was being broken in. A company of wild and reck- less men were carousing there at the time, and our arrival was the signal for an outbreak of malicious mischief. A powerful fellow, who turned out to be a young Medical, rushed upon me as I left the con- veyance, seized me by the throat, and shook me roughly, shouting, " A parson, a parson ! I will do for the parson ! " Others with great difficulty relieved me from his grips, and dragged him away, cursing as if at his mortal enemy. After tea, we got into the only bedroom in the house, available for two. The Teacher and I locked ourselves in and barricaded the door, hearing in the next room a large party of drunken men gambling and roaring over their cards. By-and-by they quarrelled and fought ; they smashed in and out of their room, and seemed to be murdering each other ; every moment we expected our door to come crashing THE FLOATING OF THE DA YSPRING." 25 in, as they were thrown or lurched against it Their very language made us tremble. One man in parti- cular seemed to be badly abused ; he shouted that they were robbing him of his money ; and he groaned and cried for protection, all in vain. We spent a sleepless and most miserable night. At four in the morning I arose, and was glad to get away by the early coach. My friend also left in his own conveyance, and reached his home in safety. At that period, it was not only painful but dangerous for any decent traveller to stay at many of these wayside Inns, in the new and rough country. Every man lived and acted just as he pleased, doing that which was right in his own eyes; and Might was' Right. After this, I made a Mission tour, in a somewhat mixed and original fashion, right across the Colony of Victoria, from Albury in New South Wales to Mount Gambier in South Australia. I conducted Mission Services almost every day, and three or more every Sabbath, besides visiting all Sunday Schools that could be touched on the way. When I reached a gold-digging or township, where I had been unable to get any one to announce a meeting, the first thing I did on arriving was to secure some Church or Hall, and, failing that, to fix on some suitable spot in the open air. Then, I was always able to hire some one to go round with the bell, and announce the meeting. Few will believe how large were the audiences in this way gathered together, and how very substantial 26 THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." was the help that thereby came to the Mission fund. Besides, I know that much good was done to many of those addressed ; for I have always, to this hour, combined the Evangelist's appeal with the Mission- ary's story, in all public addresses, whether on Sabbath or other days. I tried to bring every soul to feel personal duty and responsibility to the Lord Jesus, for I knew that then they would rightly understand the claims of the Heathen. Wheresoever railway, steamboat, and coach were available, I always used them ; but failing these, I hired, or was obliged to friends of Missions for driving me from place to place. On this tour, having reached a certain place, from which my way lay for many miles across the country where there was no public conveyance, I walked to the nearest squatter's Station and frankly informed the owner how I was situated ; that I could not hire, and that I would like to stay at his house all night, if he would kindly send me on in the morning by any sort of trap to the next Station on my list. He happened to be a good Christian and a Presbyterian, and gave me a right cordial welcome. A meeting of his servants was called, which I had the pleasure of addressing. Next morn- ing, he gave me 20, and sent me forward with his own conveyance, telling me to retain it all day, if necessary. On reaching the next squatter's Station, I found the master also at home, and said, "I am a Missionary from the South Sea Islands. I THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 27 am crossing Victoria to plead the cause of the Mission. I would like to rest here for an hour or two. Could you kindly send me on to the next Station by your conveyance ? If not, I am to keep the last squatter's buggy, until I reach it." Looking with a queer smile at me, he replied, " You propose a rather novel condition on which to rest at my house ! My horses are so employed to- day, I fear that I may have difficulty in sending you on. But come in ; both you and your horses need rest ; and my wife will be glad to see you." I immediately discovered that the good lady came from Glasgow, from a street in which I had lodged when a student at the Free Normal College. I even knew some of her friends. All the places of her youthful associations were equally familiar to me. We launched out into deeply interesting conversa- tion, which finally led up, of course, to the story of our Mission. The gentleman, by this time, had so far been won, that he slipped out and sent my conveyance and horses back to their owner, and ordered his own to be ready to take me to the next Station, or, if need be, to the next again. At parting, the lady said to her husband, "The Missionary has asked no money, though he sees we have been deeply interested ; yet clearly that is the object of his tour. He is the first Missionary from the Heathen that ever visited us here ; and you must contribute something to his Mission fund." 88 THE FLOATING OF THE DAYSPRING." I thanked her, explaining, " I never ask money directly from any person for the Lord's work. My part is done when I have told my story and shown the needs of the Heathen and the claims of Christ ; but I gratefully receive all that the Lord moves His people to give for the Mission." Her husband replied, rather sharply, " You know I don't keep money here." To which she retorted with ready tact and with a resistless smile, " But you keep a cheque book ; and your cheque is as good as gold ! This is the first donation we ever gave to such a cause, and let it be a good one." He made it indeed handsome, and I went on my way, thanking them very sincerely, and thanking God. At the next Station, the owner turned out to be a gruff Irishman, forbidding and insolent Stating my case to him as to the others, he shouted at me, " Go on ! I don't want to be troubled with the loikes o* you here." I answered, " I am sorry if my coming troubles you ; but I wish you every blessing in Christ Jesus. Good-bye ! " As we drove off, he shouted curses after us. On leaving his door, I heard a lady calling to him from the window : " Don't let that Missionary go away ! Make haste and call him back. I want the children to see the idols and the South Sea curios." At first he drowned her appeal in his own shout- THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 29 ings. But she must have persisted effectually ; for shortly we heard him " coo-ee-ing," and stopped. When he came up to us, he explained : " That lady in my house heard you speaking in Melbourne. The ladies and children are very anxious to see your idols, dresses, and weapons. Will you please come back?" We did so. I spent fifteen minutes or so, giving them information about the Natives and our Mission. As I left, our boisterous friend handed me a cheque for 5, and wished me great success ! The next Station at which we arrived was one of the largest of all. It happened to be a sort of pay day, and men were assembled from all parts of the run, and were to remain there over night. The squatter and his family were from home ; but Mr. Todd, the overseer, being a good Christian and a Scotchman, was glad to receive us, arranged to hold a meeting that evening in the men's hut, and promised to set me forward on my journey next day. The meeting was very enthusiastic ; and they subscribed 20 to the Mission every man being determined to have so many shares in the new Mission Ship. With earnest personal dealing, I urged the claims of the Lord Jesus upon all who were present, seeking the salvation of every hearer. I ever found even the rough digger, and the lowest of the hands about far- away Stations, most attentive and perfectly respect- ful. To the honour of Australia I must here record, 30 THE FLOATING OF THE ' ' DA Y SPRING.* that anything like uncivil treatment was a rare ex- ception in all my travels. Sometimes, indeed, I have suspected that people were acting as if to say, Let us treat him kindly, do as little for his cause as we can, and get rid of him as quickly as possible! But, as a rule, almost without an exception, I have met with remarkable kindness, hospitality, and help from all the Ministers and people of Australia. Scarcely ever, at any place visited, was I without one or more invitations to be guest of some of the Lord's people ; and I was there treated as a dear friend of the family, rather than a passing stranger. Colonials, indeed, are proverbial for the open door and the generous hand to pilgrims by the way. May the Divine Master grant them evermore of His own Spirit, with His ever- enriching blessings on their Souls and in their homes ! Disappointments and successes were strangely in- termingled. Once I travelled a very long way to con- duct a meeting at a certain township. I had written pleading with the Minister to make due intimation ; but he had informed no person of my intended visit, neither had he written to me, which he could easily have done. When I arrived, he met me on horse- back, said, " I have arranged no meeting here," and instantly rode away. Only two coaches weekly passed that way, so I had to remain there at a Public House for the next three days. Drinking and noise, of course, abounded ; but they kindly gave me a small back room, as far away as pQssible, and looking THE FLOATING OF THE ".DAYSPRING? 31 out into a quiet garden. It was to cost me thirteen shillings and sixpence per day ; and there I sat patiently and somewhat sadly working up my heavy correspondence. The district was rich, and I knew that there were pious as well as wealthy people there, who could have been interested in our Mission and would have helped me, hence my keen dis- appointment. On the afternoon of the second day, I saw a beau- tiful garden from my bedroom window, wherein a considerable party of ladies, gentlemen, and hand- somely dressed children were disporting in happy amusements. Thinking that they were growing tired, and might not object to a little variety, I sum- moned courage to walk up and ask for the gentleman of the house. I told him that I was a Missionary from the South Sea Islands and had come here to address a meeting, and how I had been disappointed ; that I was staying at the Public House till the next Mail passed inland, and that I had there some Heathen idols, clubs, dresses, and "curios," which perhaps the ladies and children would like to see, and to hear a little about the Lord's work on the Islands. I explained also that I asked no money and received no reward, but only wished an oppor- tunity of interesting them in this work of God. He consulted the company. They were eager to see what I had got, and to hear what I had to say. On returning with my bundle of " curios," I found J2 THE FLOATING OF THE DAYSPRING.' them all arranged under the verandah, and a chair placed in front for me and my articles of mystery. They eagerly examined everything, and listened to my description of its uses. I gave them a short account of the Islanders and of our efforts to carry to them the Gospel of Jesus. I pressed on them the blessings and the advantages of the great Redemp- tion, and the peace and joy of living for and walking daily with God here, in the assured hope of eternal glory with Him hereafter ; and I urged one and all to love and serve the Lord Jesus. Having stated how I came to be there, and how I had been dis- appointed, knowing that many would have sym- pathized with and helped my Mission if only I could have addressed them, I intimated that I would not ask any contributions, but I would leave a few of the Collecting Cards for the new Mission Ship ; and if, after what they had heard, they chose to do any- thing, all money was to be sent to the Treasurer at Melbourne. Some offered me donations, but I declined, saying, " I am a stranger to you all The Minister has cast suspicion on me by refusing to intimate any meeting. In the circumstances, I can in this case receive nothing. But I will rejoice if you all do whatever you can for the precious work of our Lord Jesus among the Heathen, and send it on to Melbourne, whence every penny will be acknowledged in due time." Many took cards and became eager collectors for THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 33 the Mission ; and I knew, ere I returned to the Public House that day, that the Lord's finger was here also, and that the trial of disappointment through the Minister was being already over-ruled for good. This was even more remarkably manifested on the evening of that same day, and within the said Public House itself. A very large number of men were assembled there, some at tea, and others drinking noisily, on their return from a great cattle market and show. I tried to get into conversation with some of the quieter spirits, and produced and ex- plained to them the idols, clubs, and dresses, till nearly all crowded eagerly around me. Then I told them the story of our Mission, in process of which I managed to urge the Gospel message on their own hearts also ; and invited them to ask questions at the close. The rough fellows became wonderfully interested. Several took Collecting Cards for the Dayspring fund. And the publican and his wife were thereafter very kind, declining to take anything from me either for bed or meals another gleam out of the darkness ! It is my conviction that in these ways the Lord helped me to gain as much, if not, more for the Mission than all that was lost through lack of a meeting ; and it is certain that I thus had oppor- tunity of speaking of sin and salvation, and of setting forth the claims of Jesus before many souls that never could have been reached through any ordinary P. 3 34 THE FLOATING OF THE Congregation. Again I learned to praise the Lord in all circumstances " Bless the Lord at all times, my soul." A lively and memorable extemporized meeting on this tour is associated in memory with one of my dearest friends. The district was very remote. He, the squatter, and his beloved wife were sterling Christians, and have been ever since warmly devoted to me. On my arrival, he invited the people from all the surrounding Stations, as well as his own numerous servants, to hear the story of our Mission. Next day he volunteered to drive me a long distance over the plains of St. Arnaud, his dear wife accom- panying us. At that time there were few fences in such districts in Australia. The drive was long, but the day had been lovely, and the fellowship was so sweet that it still shines a sunny spot in the fields of memory. Having reached our destination about seven o'clock, he ordered tea at the Inn for the whole party ; and we sallied out meantime and took the only Hall in the place, for an extemporized meeting to be held that evening at eight o'clock. I then hired a man to go through the township with a bell, announcing the same ; while I myself went up one side of the main street, and my friend up the other, inviting all who would listen to us to attend the Mission meeting, where South Sea Island idols, weapons, and dresses would be exhibited, and stories of the Natives told. Tff FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPR1NG." 35 Running back for a hurried cup of tea, I then hasted to the Hall, and found it crowded to excess with rough and boisterous diggers. The hour struck as I was getting my articles arranged and spread out upon the table, and they began shouting, " Where's the Missionary ? " " Another hoax ! " indicating that they were not unwilling for a row. I learned that, only a few nights ago, a so-called Professor had advertised a lecture, lifted entrance money till the Hall was crowded, and then quietly slipped off the scene. In our case, though there was no charge, they seemed disposed to gratify themselves by some sort of promiscuous revenge. Amidst the noisy chaff and rising uproar, I stepped up on the table, and said, "Gentlemen, I am the Missionary. If you will now be silent, the lecture will proceed. According to my usual custom, let us open the meeting with prayer." The hush that fell was such a contrast to the pre- ceding hubbub, that I heard my heart throbbing aloud ! Then they listened to me for an hour, in perfect silence and with ever-increasing interest. At the close I intimated that I asked no collection ; but if, after what they had heard, they would take a Collecting Card for the new Mission Ship, and send any contributions to the Treasurer at Melbourne, I would praise God for sending me amongst them. Many were heartily taken, and doubtless some souls felt the "constraining love," who had till then been living without God. Next morning, I mounted the 36 THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." Mail Coach, and started on a three days' run, while my dear friend returned safely to his home. It was really very seldom, however, that I found myself thus driven to extemporize my meetings. Some Christian friend, if not the Minister of the place, arranged all, and advertised my coming. And the Lord greatly helped me in carrying on the bur- densome correspondence thereanent, and keeping it always three weeks ahead. I travelled thus over the length and breadth of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia, telling the story of our Mission, and deliver- ing the Lord's message, not only in great centres of population, but in almost every smaller township ; and not only thereby Floating the Dayspring, but sowing, by God's help, seeds of far-reaching blessing, whose fruits will ripen through the years to come. Blessed be His holy Name! And here let me recall what happened at Penola, a border town between Victoria and South Australia. In the flooded, swampy country and bad bush-track between it and Mount Gambier the roads were im- passable, and the coach broke down. The Mail was sent forward on horseback. I had waited for nearly a week, in the hope of getting to the Mount for the Sabbath Services that had been arranged. At length I succeeded in engaging a man, with a pair of horses and a light spring cart, to drive me there for 4 los. He declared the horses to be fresh, and able for the journey. We started about mid-day ; but, ere many THE FLOATING OF THE "DA YSPR1NG." 37 miles had been covered, he began to whip them severely. The horses looked utterly exhausted, and the truth at once flashed on me. I was pleading with him not to flog them so, when, on reaching a higher piece of ground, he pulled up, and said, " I am ashamed to tell you that my horses are done ! They had just come off a journey of forty miles when we started. I have told you a He ; but I hope you will forgive me. I was sorely in need of the hire, and I deceived you. There is no help for it now. We must camp out for the night on this dry ground. I do hope you won't catch cold. You shall sleep in the cart ; I can rest under it. I will set fire to this large fallen tree to keep us warm. I have brought a loaf of bread, and a billy (=a bushman's can for boiling water). We can have some tea ; and, rest assured, I shall land you there in time for the Sabbath Morning Service." So saying, while I listened dumbfounded, he turned aside, unyoked the horses, " hobbled " them, and let them go upon the grass. He made the black tea which bushmen drink, and appeared to enjoy it. The conveyance was drawn near to that butning tree, and I got located into it, and was expected to rest. I sat there wide-awake during weary hours ! Time passed at a dreadfully slow pace, and sleep refused to come near me. Kangaroos, wallabies, with other nameless wild creatures and screaming birds, kept loud festival all around ; and mosquitoes tortured me, apparently in thousands. Towards midnight I saw 38 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING" a light in the distant bush, and, awaking my com- panion, inquired if he could say what it might be. He had heard that a Wesleyan farmer from near Adelaide had come into that region to take up a sheep and cattle Station there, as in that swampy country the grass was excellent. It might be their light, or it might be that oi some benighted party camping out like ourselves. He assured me that he could find our way to that light, and back again to our burning tree, and, partly to pass the time, I resolved to try. We found the Wesleyan farmer there, living in a large bush-shed, surrounded by a still larger enclosure wherein horses, cattle, and sheep were kept for the night all together upon the dry ground, awaiting the erection of houses and fencing, with which they were busily engaged. Unseemly as was our hour of call, the dogs had loudly announced our approach, and we got a cordial greeting, being immediately sur- rounded by all the family. They eagerly listened to everything about the Mission. We had worship to- gether. They gave us a hearty tea, besides a loaf of bread and a jug of milk for our breakfast next morn- ing the jug to be left by us beside the burning tree, whither they could send for it after we departed. Their regrets were genuine and profuse that their circumstances prevented them from offering us a bed, but we exceedingly enjoyed our intercourse with them, and felt them to be dear Christian friends. How delightful and responsive is the communion of those who love the Lord Jesus, wherever they meet ; THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." 39 and oh, what will it be in Glory, when, made like unto the Saviour, we shall " see Him as He is ! " At day- break we were off again on our weary journey, and reached the destination safely and in good time. A hearty welcome awaited us from dear Mr. and Mrs, Caldwell, who had long since despaired of my appear- ing. All the Services were largely attended, and the Lord led the people to take a deep interest in our Mission, many generous and devoted friends to it arising there, where the Minister and his wife struck the right key-note, and were so highly and justly esteemed. Returning to Penola, we found that the Mail coach would not try to run for some time. I had to re- concile myself to wait there for several days. Every day I beheld a man staggering about at all hours under the influence of drink. I learned that he had been a wealthy and open-handed squatter, had lost everything, had recently laid his wife in the grave, and now, followed about by his three little girls, was trying to drown his sorrows in whisky. Overcome with irresistible pity, I followed him day after day, and again and again remonstrated with him on the madness of his conduct, especially appealing to him for his children's sake. At last he turned upon me, with an earnest gaze, and said, "If you take the pledge with me, God helping me, I will keep it for life." We entered the house together, signed a pledge, aod solemnly invoked God in prayer to enable us to 40 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSRlNG. n keep it till death. For his sake, I renewed the vow of my youthful days ; and he, by my sympathy, took this vow for the first time, and, by God's help, he kept it He left Penola next day, shaking off old associates, and started a humble business where he had once owned much of the land. He became a Christian out and out, and has been an Elder of the Church for many years. I have often been laughed at by whisky drinkers, and also by so-called " tem- perance " men, for being a Total Abstainer ; but even one case like that (and, thank God, there are many) is an eternal reward, and can sustain us to smile down all ridicule. Dear reader, can you measure the effect of the example which you are setting ? Are you to-day amongst the ranks of the moderate drinkers ? Re- member that from that class all drunkards have come ; and ask yourself whether you would not act more nobly and unselfishly to abstain, for the in- terests of our common Humanity, for loyalty to our Lord Jesus Christ, and for the hope of leading a pure and unstained life yourself, as well as helping others to do so, whom Jesus died to save ? The crowning adventure of my tour came about in the following manner : I was advertised to conduct Services at Narracoort on Sabbath, and at a Station on the way on Saturday evening. But how to get from Penola was a terrible perplexity. On Saturday morning, however, a young lady offered me, out of gratitude for blessings received, the use of her riding THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING." 41 horse for the journey. u Garibaldi " was his name ; and, though bred for a race-horse, I was assured that if I kept him firmly in hand, he would easily carry me over the two-and-twenty miles. He was to be left at the journey's end, and the lady herself would fetch him back. I shrank from the undertaking, know- ing little of horses, and having vague recollections of being dreadfully punished for more than a week after my last and almost only ride. But every one in that country is quite at ease on the back of a horse. They saw no risk ; and, as there appeared no other way of getting 'there to fulfil my engagements, I, for my part, began to think that God had unexpectedly provided the means, and that He would carry me safely through. I accepted the lady's kind offer, and started on my pilgrimage. A friend showed me the road, and gave me ample directions. In the bush, I was to keep my eye on the notches in the trees, and follow them. He agreed kindly to bring my luggage to the Station, and leave it there for me by-and-bye. After I had walked very quietly for some distance, three gentle- men on horseback overtook me. We entered into conversation. They inquired how far I was going, and advised me to sit a little " freer " in the saddle, as it would be so much easier for me. They seemed greatly amused at my awkward riding ! Dark clouds were now gathering ahead, and the atmosphere pro- phesied a severe storm ; therefore they urged that I should ride a little faster, as they, for a considerable 42 THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRJNG. ' distance, could guide me on the right way. I ex- plained to them my plight through inexperience, said that I could only creep on slowly with safety, and bade them Good-bye. As the sky was getting darker every minute, they consented, wishing me a safe journey, and started off at a smart pace. I struggled to hold in my horse ; but seizing the bit with his teeth, laying back his ears, and stretching out his eager neck, he manifestly felt that his honour was at stake ; and in less time than I take to write it, the three friends cleared a way for us, and he tore past them all at an appalling speed. They tried for a time to keep within reach of us, but that sound only put fire into his blood ; and in an incredibly short time I heard them not ; nor, from the moment that he bore me swinging past them, durst I turn my head by one inch to look for them again. In vain I tried to hold him in ; he tore on, with what appeared to me the speed of the wind. Then the thunderstorm broke around us, with flash of lightning and flood of rain, and at every fresh peal my " Garibaldi " dashed more wildly onward. To me, it was a vast surprise to discover that I could sit more easily on this wild flying thing, than when at a canter or a trot. At every turn I expected that he would dash himself and me against the great forest trees ; but instinct rather than my hand guided him miraculously. Sometimes I had a glimpse of the road, but as for the " notches," I never saw one of them ; we passed them with lightning speed THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPRING." 43 Indeed, I durst not lift my eyes for one moment from watching the horse's head and the trees on our track My high-crowned hat was now drenched, and battered out of shape ; for whenever we came to a rather clear space, I seized the chance and gave it another knock down over my head. I was spattered and covered with mud and mire. Crash, crash, went the thunder, and on, on, went " Garibaldi " through the gloom of the forest, emerg- ing at length upon a clearer ground with a more visible pathway. Reaching the top of the slope, a large house stood out far in front of us to the left ; and the horse had apparently determined to make straight for that, as if it were his home. He skirted along the hill, and took the track as his own familiar ground, all my effort to hold him in or guide him having no more effect than that of a child. By this time, I suspect, I really had lost all power. " Garibaldi " had been at that house, probably fre- quently before ; he knew those stables ; and my fate seemed to be instant death against door or wall. Some members of the family, on the outlook for the Missionary, saw us come tearing along as if mad or drunk ; and now all rushed to the verandah, expecting some dread catastrophe. A tall and stout young groom, amazed at our wild career, throwing wide open the gate, seized the bridle at great risk to himself, and ran full speed, yet holding back with all his might, and shouting at me to do the same. We succeeded, "Garibaldi" having probably attained 44 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING.' his purpose, in bringing him to a halt within a few paces of the door. Staring at me with open mouth, the man exclaimed, " I have saved your life. What madness to ride like that!" Thanking him, though I could scarcely by this time articulate a word, I told him that the horse had run away, and that I had lost all control. Truly I was in a sorry plight, drenched, covered with mud, and my hat battered down over my eyes ; little wonder they thought me drunk or mad ! Finally, as if to confirm every suspicion, and amuse them all, for master, mistress, governess, and children now looked on from the verandah, when I was helped off the horse, I could not stand on my feet ! My head still went rushing on in the race ; I staggered, and down I tumbled into the mud, feeling chagrin and mortification ; yet there I had to sit for some time before I recovered myself, so as either to rise or to speak a word. When I did get to my feet, I had to stand holding by the verandah for some time, my head still rushing on in the race. At length the master said, " Will you not come in ? " I knew that he was treating me for a drunken man ; and the giddiness was so dreadful still, that my attempts at speech seemed more drunken than even my gait As soon as I could stand, I went into the house, and drew near to an excellent fire in my dripping clothes. The squatter sat opposite me in silence f reading the newspapers, and taking a look at me THE FLOATING OF THE " DA YSPR1NG." 45 now and again over his spectacles. By-and-bye he remarked, " Wouldn't it be worth while to change your clothes ? " Speech was now returning to me. I replied, " Yes, but my bag is coming on in the cart, and may not be here to-night." He began to relent. He took me into a room, and laid out for me a suit of his own. I being then very slender, and he a big-framed farmer, my new dress, though greatly adding to my comfort, enhanced the singularity of my appearance. Returning to him, washed and dressed, I inquired if he had arranged for a meeting ? My tongue, I fear, was still unsteady, for the squatter looked at me rather reproachfully, and said, "Do you really consider yourself fit to appear before a meeting to-night?" I assured him that he was quite wrong in his suspicions, that I was a life-long Abstainer, and that my nerves had been so unhinged by the terrible ride and the runaway horse. He smiled rather suggest- ively, and said we would see how I felt after tea. We went to the table. All that had occurred was now consummated by my appearing in the lusty farmer's clothes ; and the lady and other friends had infinite difficulty in keeping their amusement within decent bounds. I again took speech in hand, but I suspect my words had still the thickness of the tippler's utterance, for they seemed not to carry much conviction, " Dear friends, I quite understand your 46 THE FLOATING OF THE " DAYSPRING" feelings ; appearances are so strangely against me. But I am not drunken, as ye suppose. I have tasted no intoxicating drink, I am a life-long Total Abstainer ! M This fairly broke down their reserve. They laughed aloud, looking at each other and at me, as if to say, " Man, you're drunk at this very moment" Before tea was over they appeared, however, to begin to entertain the idea that I might address the meeting ; and so I was informed of the arrangements that had been made. At the meeting, my incre- dulous friends became very deeply interested. Manifestly their better thoughts were gaining the ascendancy. And they heaped thereafter every kindness upon me, as if to make amends for harder suspicions. Next morning the master drove me about ten miles further on to the Church. A groom rode the race-horse, who took no scathe from his thundering gallop of the day before. It left deeper traces upon me. I got through the Services, however, and with good returns for the Mission. Twice since, on my Mission tours, I have found myself at that same memorable house ; and on each occasion a large company of friends were being regaled by the good lady there with very comical descriptions of my first arrival at her door. CHAPTER II. AMONG THE ABORIGINES. A Fire-Water Festival. At Tea with the Aborigines. "Black Fellow all Gone !" The Poison-Gift and Civilization. The "Scattering "of the Blacks. The "Brute-in-human- shape" Theory. The Testimony of Nora. Nathaniel Pepper and their "Gods." Smooth Stone Idols. Rites and Ceremonies. " Too much Devil-Devil." The Quest for Idols. Visit to Nora in the Camp. Independent Testi- monies. Nora's own Letters. The Aborigines in Settle- ments. T"\ETAINED for nearly a week at Balmoral by * ' the break-down of the coach on these dreadful roads, I telegraphed to Hamilton for a conveyance ; and the Superintendent of the Sunday School, dear Mr. Laidlaw, volunteered, in order to reduce expenses, to spend one day of his precious time coming for me, and another driving me down. While awaiting him, I came into painful and memorable contact with the Aborigines of Australia. The Publicans had organ- ized a day of sports, horse-racing, and circus exhibi- tions. Immense crowds assembled, and, amongst the rest, tribe after tribe of the Aborigines from all the surrounding country. Despite the law prohibiting 47 AMONG THE ABORIGINES, the giving of strong drinks to these poor creatures, foolish and unprincipled dealers supplied them with the same, and the very blankets which the Govern- ment had given them, were freely exchanged for the fire-water which kindled them to madness. Next day was Sabbath. The morning was hideous with the yells of the fighting Savages. They tore about on the Common in front of the Church, leading gentlemen having tried in vain to quiet them, and their wild voices without jarred upon the Morning Service. About two o'clock, I tried to get into con- versation with them. I appealed to them whether they were not all tired and hungry ? They replied that they had had no food all that day ; they had fought since the morning ! I said, " I love you black fellows. I go Missionary black fellows far away. I love you, want you rest, get food. Come all of you, rest, sit round me, and we will talk, till the jins (= women) get ready tea. They boil water, I take tea with you, and then you will be strong ! " By broken English and by many symbols, I won their ear. They produced tea and damper, i.e., a rather forbidding-looking bread, without yeast, baked on the coals. Their wives hasted to boil water. I kept incessantly talking, to interest them, and told them how Jesus, God's dear Son, came and died to make them happy, and how He grieved to see them beating and fighting and killing each other. When the tea was ready, we squatted on the green grass, their tins were filled, the "damper" was AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 49 broken into lumps, and I asked the blessing of God on the meal. To me it was unpleasant eating ! Many of them looked strong and healthy ; but not a few were weak and dying creatures. The strong, devouring all they could get, urged me to be done, and let them finish their fighting, eager for the fray. But having gained their confidence, I prayed with them, and thereafter said, " Now, before I leave, I will ask of you to do one thing for my sake, which you can all easily do." With one voice they replied, " Yes, we all do whatever you say." I got their leaders to promise to me one by one. I then said, " Now you have got your tea, and I ask every man and boy among you to lie down in the bush and take a sleep, and your wives will sit by and watch over your safety ! " In glum silence, their war weapons still grasped in their hands, they stood looking intently at me, doubting whether I could be in earnest I urged them, "You all promised to do what I asked. If >ou break your promise, these white men will laugh at me, and say that black fellows only lie and deceive. Let them see that you can be trusted. I wait here till I see you all asleep." One said that his head was cut, and he must have revenge before he could lie down. Others filed past showing their wounds, and declaring that it T ras too bad to request them to go to sleep. I praised them P. 4 50 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. as far as I could, but urged them for once to be men and to keep their word. Finally they all agreed to lie down, I waiting till the last man had disap- peared ; and, being doubly exhausted with the debauch and the fighting, they were soon all fast asleep. I prayed that the blessed Sleep might lull their savage passions. Before daylight next morning, the Minister and I were hastening to the scene to prevent further fight- ing ; but as the sun was rising we saw the last tribe of the distant Natives disappearing over the brow of a hill. A small party belonging to the district alone remained. They shouted to us, "Black fellow all gone! No more fight. You too much like black fellow!" For three days afterwards I had still to linger there ; and if their dogs ran or barked at me, the women chased them with sticks and stones, and protected me. One little touch of kindness and sympathy had unlocked their darkened hearts. The Aborigines of Australia have been regarded as perhaps the most degraded portion of the human race, at least in the Southern Hemisphere. Like the Papuans of our Islands, they rank betwixt Malay and Negro in colour and appearance. Their hair, coarse, black, curly, but not woolly ; eyes, dark and yellowish, with very heavy eyebrows ; nose flat, with hole bored through septum, in which ornament is hung; small chin, thick lips, large mouth, and lustrous teeth ; high cheek bones, with sunken eyes AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 51 and well-developed brow. Like all Savages in their natural state, they were nearly nude, filthy, and wretched ; especially in winter, when covered with kangaroo and opossum skins, which they hung around themselves loosely by day, and under which they slept at night. They sometimes daubed their bodies all over with paint, mud, charcoal, or ashes. Their women are generally of a slender build. All these features and notes are true of many of our South Sea Islanders too; but they, again, are decidedly of a higher type. On many of the Islands, faces, though dark, are as pleasant and as well formed as amongst Europeans. Besides, the Islanders are not nomadic ; they live in settled villages, and cul- tivate the land for their support Having read very strong statements for and against the Aborigines, in my many journeys twenty- four years ago I resolved to embrace every oppor- tunity of learning their customs and beliefs directly from themselves. I have also seen their disgusting " Corrobbarees," and know by facts how demoralizing these Heathen dances are. I know also what strong drink has done amongst them. Who wonders that the dark races melt away before the whites? The pioneers of civilization will carry with them this demon of strong drink, the fruitful parent of every other vice. The black people drink, and become unmanageable ; and through the white man's own poison-gift an excuse is found for sweeping the poor creatures off the face 52 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. of the earth. Marsden's writings show how our Australian blacks are destroyed. But I have myself been on the track of such butcheries again and again. A Victorian lady told me the following incident She heard a child's pitiful cry in the bush. On tracing it, she found a little girl weeping over her younger brother. She said, " The white men poisoned our father and mother. They threaten to shoot me, so that I dare not go near them. I am here, weeping over my brother till we die I " The compassionate lady promised to be a mother to the little sufferers, and to protect them. They instantly clung to her, and have proved themselves to be loving and dutiful ever since. In Queensland itself, the Native Police, armed and mounted accompanied by only one white officer, that no tales might be told were reported to be regularly sent out to "scatter" the blacks! That meant, in many a case, wholesale murder. But in 1887, the humane Sir Samuel Griffiths, premier, had these blood-stained forces disbanded for ever. The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 1st March, 1883, contains stronger things than were ever penned or uttered by me as to the wholesale destruction of the Aborigines. The watchword of the white settlers, practically if not theoretically, has been, " Clear them out of the way, and give us the soil ! " Though amongst the lower types of the human race, the Aborigines have made excellent stock AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 53 riders, bullock drivers, fencers, and servants in every department And they have proved honest and faithful, especially when kindly treated. Austra- lians are sometimes bitter against them, for a reason that ought rather to awaken sympathy. They take Aboriginal boys or girls into their service, they train them just till they are beginning to be useful, and lo ! they go back to their own people. But in almost every case of that kind, the reason is perfectly clear. They are only taught so far as to make them useful tools. Their minds were not instructed, nor their hearts enlightened in the fear of God and the love of Jesus, They were not on an equality in any way either with children or with servants. They grew up without equals and without associates. They saw their parents and tribesmen treated with contempt and abuse. They instinctively felt that the moment they were unable to serve the self-in- terest of their employers, they themselves would be thrust out They had not the spirit of the slave, though kept in the rank of a slave ; and they yearned for satisfaction of these instincts, which the supply of their mere animal necessities could not assuage. Among the whites, they felt degraded and outcast ; amongst their own people, they had the honour and esteem that were within reach of their kindred, and they might weave around their poor lot the mys- terious and ever-blessed ties of family and home. And here and there, doubtless, flashed in the heart of some Native boy a gleam of that patriotism that 54 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. led Moses to escape from Pharaoh's court, and refuse to be identified with the despisers and oppressors of his own enslaved race, divine in the Aboriginal as in the Hebrew, though each might give a very differ- ent account of its origin ! A book once fell into my hands, entitled, " Sermons on Public Subjects," by Charles Kingsley. I knew him to be a man greatly gifted and greatly beloved ; and hence my positive distress on reading from the eighth sermon, page 234, " On the Fall,' 1 the following awful words : *" The Black people of Australia, exactly the same race as the African Negro, cannot take in the Gospel. . . . All at- tempts to bring them to a knowledge of the true God have as yet failed utterly. . . . Poor brutes in human shape . . . they must perish off the face of the earth like brute beasts." I will not blame this great preacher for boldly uttering and publishing what multitudes of others show by their conduct that they believe, but dare not say so. Nor need any one blame me, if, knowing facts and details which Kingsley could never know, * See the whole context in " Sermons on National Subjects." (Macmillan &* Co., 1880) pp. 414 to 417, where it is numbered as Sermon XLI.; particularly this regulative declaration regarding " what Original Sin may bring man to " : " What is to my mind the most awful part of the matter remains to be told that man may actually fall by Original Sin too low to re- ceive the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to be recovered again by if (Editor). AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 55 I turn aside for a few moments, and let the light of practical knowledge stream in on this and all similar teaching, come from whatsoever quarter it may. While I was pondering over Kingsley's words, the story of Nora, an Aboriginal Christian woman, whom, as hereafter related, I myself actually visited and corresponded with, was brought under my notice, as if to shatter to pieces everything that the famous preacher had proclaimed. A dear friend told me how he had seen Nora encamped with the blacks near Hexham in Victoria. Her husband had lost, through drink, their once comfortable home at a Station where he was employed. The change back to life in camp had broken her health, and she lay sick on the ground within a miserable hut. The visitors found her reading a Bible, and explaining to a number of her own poor people the wonders of redeeming love. My friend, Roderick Urquhart, Esq., overcome by the sight, said, " Nora, I am grieved to see you here, and deprived of every comfort in your sickness." She answered, not without tears, "The change has indeed made me unwell ; but I am beginning to think that this too is for the best ; it has at last brought my poor husband to his senses, and I will grudge nothing if God thereby brings him to the Saviour's feet ! " She further explained, that she had found wonder- ful joy in telling her own people about the true God 56 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. and his Son Jesus, and was quite assured that the Lord in His own way would send her relief. The visitors who accompanied Mr. Urquhart showed themselves to be greatly affected by the true and pure Christian spirit of this poor Aboriginal, and on parting she said, M Do not think that I like this miserable hut, or the food, or the company ; but I am and have been happy in trying to do good amongst my people." For my part, let that dear Christlike soul look out on me from her Aboriginal hut, and I will trample under foot all teachings or theorizings that dare to say that she or her kind are but poor brutes ; they who say so blaspheme Human Nature. "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Recall, ere you read further, what the Gospel has done for the near kindred of these same Abori- ginals. On our own Aneityum 3,500 Cannibals have been led to renounce their heathenism, and are lead- ing a civilized and a Christian life. In Fiji, 70,000 Cannibals have been brought under the influence of the Gospel ; and 13,000 members of the Churches there are professing to live and work for Jesus. In Samoa, 34,000 Cannibals have professed Christianity ; and, in nineteen years, its College has sent forth 206 Native teachers and evangelists. On our New Hebrides, more than 12,000 Cannibals have been brought to sit at the feet of Christ, not to say that AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 5> they are all model Christians; and 133 of the Natives have been trained and sent forth as teachers and preachers of the Gospel. Had Christ been brought in the same way into the heart and life of the Aborigines by the Christians of Australia and of Britain equally blessed results would as surely have followed, for He is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." It is easy to understand, moreover, how even ex- perienced travellers may be deluded to believe that the Aborigines have no idols and no religion. One must have lived amongst them or their kindred ere he can authoritatively decide these questions. Before I left Melbourne, for instance, I had met Nathaniel Pepper, a converted Aboriginal from Wimmera. I asked him if his people had any " Doctors," i.e., sacred men or priests. He said they had. I inquired if they had any objects of Worship, or any belief in God ? He said, " No ! None whatever." But on taking from my pocket some four small stone idols, his expression showed at once that he recognised them as objects of Worship. He had seen the sacred men use them; but he refused to answer any more questions. I resolved now, if pos- sible, to secure some of their idols, and set this whole problem once for all at rest. At Newstead, on another occasion, I persuaded a whole camp of the Aborigines to come to my meet- ing. After the address, they waited to examine the idols and stone gods which I had shown. Some of 58 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. the young men admitted that their " doctors " had things like these, which they and the old people prayed to ; but they added jauntily, " We young fellows don't worship ; we know too much for that 1 " No " doctors " were, however, in that camp ; so I could not meet with them ; but I already felt that the testimony of nearly all white people that the blacks had " no idols and no worship," was quickly crumbling away. Besides, my ever-dear friend, Andrew Scott, Esq., had informed me that when he first went out among the blacks, almost alone, and one of the first white men they had ever seen, he saw them handling, and going through ceremonials with just such "smooth stones" as I had brought from the Islands, without for a moment dreaming that they were idols. Yet such is the actual fact ; very much as it was in the ancient days when Isaiah (ch. Ivii. 6) denounced thus the "sons of the sorcer- ess," who were "inflaming themselves with idols." " Among the smooth stones of the stream (or valley) is thy portion ; they, they are thy lot ; even to them hast thou poured a drink offering, hast thou offered a meat offering (or oblation)." Yet again, R. Urquhart, Esq., Tangery, in- formed me that he also had seen the Aborigines engaged in religious observances. First of all, a vast multitude of men and women joined in a great Corrobbarree, or Heathen festival and dance. There- after each marched individually towards the centre of AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 59 a huge ring, and after certain ceremonies, bowed as if in worship towards two manlike figures cut in the ground. Our life amongst the heathen had taught us that Worship was there. The rite of circumcision was practised also amongst the blacks of Australia as well as amongst our New Hebrideans. Boys, on attaining what was looked upon as early manhood, were thus initiated into their privileges as men ; and the occasion was accom- panied with feasting, dancing, and what they regarded as religious ceremonies. Some tribes in Australia, as on our Islands also, indicate the rank or class to which a man belongs by the barbarous custom of knocking out the two front teeth ! This is done on reaching a certain age ; with feasts and dancings held at midnight, and during full moon, in connection with sacred spots, which no one but a priest will be found daring enough to ap- proach. Hence there is no doubt in my mind as to the character and meaning of such " mysterious figures " as those so much discussed, carved on the flat rocks at Middle Harbour, or on the South Reef promon- tory at Cape Cove. They are found also at Point Piper, at Mossmans, at Lane Cove, and at many other places throughout Australia, representing the human figure in almost every attitude, the kangaroo, the flying squirrel, the shark, the whale, etc., etc., all of which I believe to be sacred objects, and these rocks and cliffs to be sacred places. Some of the 60 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. fish carved there are twenty-seven feet long. The Aborigines would give no explanation of their origin, except that they were " made by black fellows long, long ago ; " and that the blacks would not live near them, for "too much devil-devil walk about there." The Balmoral blacks informed me that their sacred men carried about such objects as I showed them, and " that they were devil-devil," which is their only word for God or Spirit, when they talk to you in broken English. The 1 8th of February, 1863, was a day worthy of being chronicled and remembered. I visited the Wonwonda Station in the Wimmera district of Victoria, and there beheld a great camp of the Aborigines on the plain near by. Securing the com- pany of the following witnesses, I proceeded to the camp, and found that part of them had already seen me at Balmoral. Two of them spoke English fairly well. I managed to break through their reticence, and in course of time they told us freely about the customs and traditions of their people. They took us to their "doctor," or Sacred Man, who was lying sick in his hut Half concealed among the skins and clothes behind him, I observed several curious bags, which I knew at once would probably contain the little idols of which I was in quest I urged the witnesses to take special notice of everything that occurred, and draw up and sign a statement for my future use. The following is their attested report : "Mr. Paton, having carefully explained to the AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 61 blacks that he would like to see some of the sacred objects which they said made the people sick and well, assured them that his aim was not to mock at them, but to prove to white people that the blacks had objects of worship and were not like pigs and dogs. He offered them a number of small pieces of silver to get bread and tea for the "doctor," if they would open these little bags and let us see what was in them. After a good deal of talk amongst themselves, he took some of the Island stone-gods from his pocket, saying, ' I know that these bags have such things in them.' An Aboriginal woman exclaimed, ' You can't hide them from that fellow! He knows all about us.' Mr. Rutherford offered to kill a sheep, and give them sugar and tea to feast on, if they would open the little bags, but they refused. After consulting the Sacred Man, however, he took the silver pieces and allowed them to be opened before us. They were full of exactly such stones and other things as Mr. Paton had brought from the Islands, to prove to white people in Melbourne that they were not like dogs, but had gods ; he offered the Sacred Man more money for four of the objects he had seen. After much talk among themselves, he took the money ; and in our presence Mr. Paton selected a stone idol, a piece of painted wood of conical shape, a piece of bone of human leg with seven rings carved round it, which they said had the power of restoring sick people to health, and another piece of painted wood which made people sick; but they made him solemnly 62 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. promise that he would tell no other black fellows where he got them. They were much interested in Mr. Paton's conversation, and said, ' No Missionary teach black fellow.' They then showed us square rugs, thread and grass bags, etc., all neatly made by themselves, as proofs that if they were taught they and their wives could learn to do things and to work just like white people ; but they said, ' White man no care for black fellow.' All this, we, whose names follow, were eye-witnesses of : G. Rutherford, (Mrs.) A. Sutherland, (Mrs.) Martha Rutherford, Jemima Rutherford, Ben. B. Bentock, tutor of the Rutherford family." On returning to Horsham, I informed my dear friends, Rev. P. Simpson and his excellent lady, of my exploits and possessions. He replied, " There is a black ' doctor ' gone round our house just now to see one of his people who is washing here to-day. Let us go and test them, whether they know these objects." Carrying them in his hand we went to them. The woman instantly on perceiving them dropped what she was washing, and turned away in instinctive terror. Mr. Simpson asked, " Have you ever before seen stones like these ? " The wily u doctor " replied, " Plenty on the plains, where I kick them out of my way." Taking others out of my pocket, I said, " These make people sick and well, don't they ? " His rage overcame his duplicity, and he exclaimed, AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 63 u What black fellow give you these ? If I know him I do for him ! " The woman, looking the picture of terror, and pointing to one of the objects, cried, " That fellow no good ! he kill men. No good, no good ! Me too much afraid." Then, looking to me, she said, pointing with her finger, "That fellow savy (knows) too much! No white man see them. He no good." There was more in this scene and in all its sur- roundings, than in many arguments ; and Mr. Simp- son thoroughly believed that these were objects of idolatrous worship. On a later occasion I showed these four objects to Aborigines, with whom I got into intercourse far off in New South Wales. They at once recognised them, and showed the same superstitious dread. They told me the peculiar characteristics and the special powers ascribed to each idol or charm. This I confirmed by the testimony of five different tribes living at great distances from each other ; and it is morally certain that amongst all the blacks of Austra- lia such objects are so worshipped and feared in the place of God. And now let me relate the story of my visit to Nora, the converted Aboriginal referred to above. Accompanied by Robert Hood, Esq., J.P., Victoria, I found my way to the encampment near Hexham. She did not know of our coming, nor see us till we stood at the door of her hut She was clean and 64 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. tidily dressed, as were also her dear little children, and appeared glad to see us. She had just been reading the Presbyterian Messenger, and the Bible was lying at her elbow. I said, " Do you read the Messenger ? " She replied, " Yes ; I like to know what is going on in the Church." We found her to be a sensible and humble Chris- tian woman, conversing intelligently about religion and serving God devotedly. Next Sabbath she brought her husband, her children, and six blacks to Church, all decently dressed, and they all listened most attentively. At our first meeting I said, M Nora, they tell me you are a Christian. 1 want to ask you a few ques- tions about the blacks ; and I hope that as a Chris- tian you will speak the truth." Rather hurt at my language, she raised her right hand, and replied, " I am a Christian. I fear and serve the true God. I always speak the truth." Taking from my pocket the stone idols from the Islands, I inquired if her people had or worshipped things like these. She replied, " The ' doctors ' have them." " Have you a ' doctor ' in your camp ? " I asked. She said, " Yes, my uncle is the Sacred Man ; but he is now far away from this." " Has he the idols with him now ? " I inquired. She answered, " No ; they are left in my care." I then said : "Could you let us see them ?" She consulted certain representatives of the tribe AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 65 who were at hand. They rose, and removed to a distance. They had consented. Mr. Hood assured me that no fault would be found with her, as she was the real, or at least virtual head of the tribe. Out of a larger bag she then drew two smaller bags and opened them. They were filled with the very objects which I had brought from the Islands. I asked her to consult the men of her tribe whether they would agree to sell four or five of them to me, that I might by them convince the white people that they had gods of their own, and are, therefore, above the brutes of the field ; the money to be given to their Sacred Man on his return. This, also, after a time was agreed to. I selected three of the objects, and paid the stipulated price. And the undernoted indepen- dent witness attests the transaction : " I this day visited an encampment of the Hop- kins blacks, in company with Rev. Mr. Paton, Missionary, and was witness to the following. Mr. Paton being under the impression that many of the superstitions and usages, common to the South Sea Islanders were similar among the Aborigines of Australia, began by showing some idols, etc., of the former, and asking if they had seen any like them. This inquiry was made of a highly civilized woman, named Nora, who can read and write, and has great influence with her tribe. She answered : Oh yes, the ' doctors ' have them. " On Mr. Paton expressing great anxiety to see some of them, she, after consulting some time with the P. 5 66 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. other blacks, said she had some belonging to King John, her uncle, who was absent, and had left them )n her care. After considerable reluctance shown on the part of the other blacks, who were off when they saw Mr. Paton knew all about them, a bag was produced, in which there were kangaroo tusks or bears' tusks, pieces of human bone, stones, charred wood, etc., etc. She described the virtues attributed to the different articles. If any evil was wanted to befall one of another tribe, the 'doctor,' after mut- tering, threw such a stone in the direction he was supposed to be, wishing he might fall sick, or might die, etc. The spirit from the idol entered into his body, and he was sure to fall sick or die. Another piece of charred wood, that the ' doctor ' rubbed on the diseased part of any sick person, made the pain come out to the spirit in the wood, and the ' doctor ' carried it away. All this time the other blacks were in evident dread of the things being seen and handled, repeating, ' No white man ever see these before ! ' Mr. Paton got three specimens from them, viz., an evil and a good spirit, and a piece of carved bone, Robert Hood, J.P., Hexham, Victoria, Me- rang, 28th February, 1863." Mr. Hood asked Nora how he had never heard of or seen these things before, living so long amongst them, and blacks constantly coming and going about his house. She replied, " Long ago white men laughed at black fellows, praying to their idols. Black fellows said, white AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 67 men never see them again 1 Suppose this white man not know all about them, he would not now see them No white men live now have seen what you have seen." Thus it has been demonstrated on the spot, and in presence of the most reliable witnesses, that the Aborigines, before they saw the white invaders, were not "brutes" incapable of knowing God, but human beings, yearning after a God of some kind. Nor do I believe that any tribe of men will ever be found, who, when their language and customs are rightly interpreted, will not display their consciousness of the need of a God and that Divine capacity of hold- ing fellowship with the Unseen Powers, of which the brutes are without one faintest trace. The late Mr. Hamilton, of Mortlake, wrote me in 1863 as follows : "During a residence of twenty-six years in New South Wales and Victoria, from constant intercourse with Australian Aborigines I am convinced that they are capable of learning anything that white people in an equally neglected condition could learn. In two instances I met with females possessing a greater amount of religious knowledge than many of our white population. The one was able to prompt the children she was attending' as a servant in the answers proper to give to the questions I put to them regarding the facts and doctrines of Christian- ity. This was in New South Wales. The other was Nora Hood, baptized and married to an Aboriginal I conversed with her according to the usage of the 68 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. Presbyterian Church, and I believe her to be a sin- cere and intelligent Christian. I baptized her chil- dren without hesitation ; while I felt it to be my duty in many cases to withhold the privilege from white parents, on account of their being unable to make a credible profession of their faith in Christ and obedi* ence to Him. Under God, she owes her instruction and conversion to Mrs. MacKenzie. William Hamil- ton, Minister." William Armstrong, Esq., of Hexham Park, wrote in 1863 : " The Aborigines of Australia certainly believe in spirits, and that their spirit leaves the body at death and goes to some other island, and they seem to have many superstitious ideas about the dead. . . . I believe they would have been as easily influenced by the Gospel as any other savages, if they had been taught ; but intoxicating spirits, and the accompany- ing vices of white people have ruined them. William Armstrong." But let Nora, one of the " poor brutes in human shape," who was " incapable of taking in the Gospel," and must " perish like brute beasts," now speak to the heart of every reader in her own words. In February, 1863, she wrote to me as follows : " Dear Sir, I received your kind letter, and was glad to hear from you. I am always reading my Bible, for I believe in God the Father and in Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen. I often speak to the blacks about Jesus Christ ; and some of them believe in AMONG ' THE ABORIGINES. 69 God and in Jesus. I always teach my children to pray to God our Father in Heaven. . . . Colin will try not to drink any more. He is always pray- ing to God. Them blacks that come with me, I will tell about God and about their sins ; but they are so very wicked, they won t listen to me teaching them. Sir, I shall always pray for you, that God may bless and guide you. O Sir, pray for me, my husband, and my children ! Your obedient servant, Nora Hood." In her second letter, she says : " Your kind letter gave me great comfort. I thank God that I am able to read and write. Mrs. and Miss MacKenzie taught me ; and through them I came to know Jesus Christ my Saviour. Our Lord says, ' Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' ' Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters ! ' Sir, I will tell Joe and King John, and I have been always telling Katy and all the rest of them about Jesus Christ our Saviour. Please, Sir, I would like you to write to me, that I may show them your letters," etc., etc. In a third letter, also dated 1863, she says: " Dear Sir, Colin and I were glad to hear from you. I am telling the blacks always about God our Saviour and the salvation of their souls. They are so very wicked. They go from place to place, and don't stop long with me. I am always teaching my children to pray, and would like to send them to School if I could. ... I hope you will go home 70 AMONG THE ABORIGINES. to England safely, get more Missionaries, and then go back to your poor blacks on the Islands. I will be glad to hear from you. May the Lord God bless you, wherever you go I Your affectionate, Nora Hood." Poor, dear, Christian-hearted Nora 1 The Christ- spirit shines forth unmistakably through thee, praying for and seeking to save husband and children, enduring trials and miseries by the aid of communion with thy Lord, weeping over the degradation of thy people and seeking to lift them up by telling them of the true God and of His love to Mankind through Jesus Christ. Would that all white Christians mani- fested forth as much of the Divine Master's Spirit ! Alas, in reading Marsden's " Life," and other authorities, one shrinks with a sickening feeling at the description of the butcheries of the poor blacks ! Imagine 1830, when the inhabitants were called out to join the troops, and nearly three thousand armed men gloated in the work of destruction from the 4th of October till the 26th November. Read of one boasting that he had killed seven blacks with his own hand ; another, that he had slain, and piled up in a heap, thirty men, women, and children ; and a third, a gentleman, of whom Lieutenant Laidlaw tells, exhibiting as a trophy over his bookcase the skull of a poor black, pierced by the bullet with which he had shot him ! And their sin, their crime ? Oh, only seizing a sheep, in the frenzy of hunger, which fattened on the lands where once grew their food AMONG THE ABORIGINES. 71 and from which the white man had pitilessly hunted them. Retribution comes, but sometimes slowly, and is not recognised when she appears ; but Australia suffers to-day from the passions then let loose against the blacks. The demons have come home to roost. During my last Mission tour, in 1888, through Victoria and part of New South Wales, I visited all Stations of the Aborigines that could be conveniently reached. There the few remnants of a once numerous race are now assembled together. They try hard to constrain themselves to live in houses. But the spirit of the wanderer is in them. They start forth, every now and again, for an occasional ramble over their old hunting grounds, and to taste the sweets of freedom. In Victoria, the Government now provide food and clothing for the Aborigines who will remain at the appointed Stations, so that in regard to temporals the survivors are not badly off. Their religious training and spiritual interests are left entirely to the Churches. The Government pro- vides a Superintendent at each Station ; and where he is a Christian man, and takes any interest in the religion and morals of the tribes, contentment reigns. At Ramayeuk, for instance, the Superintendent is Rev. F. A. Haganeur ; and he and his excellent wife regularly instruct the blacks. Nothing can be more delightful than the results. The faces of the people were shining with happiness. Their rows of clean and neat cottages were a picture and an emblem. In their Church, a Native woman played the harmonium 7* AMONG THE ABORIGINES. and led the praise. I never had more attentive Congregations. On two occasions they handed me 5, collected at their own free will, for our Island Mission. Their School received from the Government examiners one of the highest percentages. Many at this Station have, after a consistent Christian life, died in the full hope of Glory together with Jesus. At all the other Stations in Victoria the outward comforts of the Natives are attended to, but Superin- tendents ought to be appointed, in every case, to care for their souls as well as their bodies. For strong drink and other vices are rapidly sweeping the Aborigines away ; and Australia has but short time to atone for the cruelties of the past, and to snatch a few more jewels from amongst them for the Crown of Jesus our Lord. At my farewell meeting in Melbourne, Sir Henry Barkley presiding, I pleaded that the Colony should put forth greater efforts to give the Gospel to the Aborigines ; I showed the idols which I had dis- covered amongst them ; I read Nora's letters, and, I may, without presumption, say, the " brute-in-human- shape " theory has been pretty effectually buried ever tince, CHAPTER III. TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. Dr. Inglis on the Mission Crisis. Casting Lots before the Lord. Struck by Lightning. A Peep at London. A Heavenly Welcome. The Moderator's Chair. Reformed Presbyterian Church and Free Church. Tour through Scotland. A Frosted Foot The Children's Holy League. Missionary Volunteers. A God-provided Help-Mate. Farewell to the Old Family Altar. First Peep at the Day- spring. The Day spring in a Dead- Lock. Tokens of Deliverance. The John Williams and the Dayspring. Australia's Special Call. EACH of my Australian Committees strongly urged my return to Scotland, chiefly to secure, if possible, more Missionaries for the New Hebrides. Dr. Inglis, just arrived from Britain, where he had the Aneityumese New Testament carried through the press, zealously enforced this appeal. " Before I left home," he wrote back to the Church in Scotland, u I thought this would be inexpedient ; but since I returned here, and have seen the sympathy, interest, and liberality displayed through the blessing of God on Mr. Paton's instrumentality, and the altered aspect of the Mission, I feel that a crisis has been reached 71 74 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. when a special effort must be made to procure more men, for which I had neither the time, nor had I the means to employ them, but which may now be appropriately done by Mr. Paton ; and my prayer and hope are that he may be as successful in securing men at home as he has been in securing money in these Colonies." Yet my path was far from clear, notwithstanding my Gideon's fleece referred to already. To lose time in going home to do work that others ought to do, while I still heard the wail of the perishing Heathen on the Islands, could scarcely be my duty. Amidst overwhelming perplexity, and finding no light from any human counsel, I took a step, to which only once before in all my chequered career I have felt constrained. Some will mock when they read it, but others will perhaps more profoundly say : " To whomsoever this faith is given, let him obey it" After many prayers, and wrestlings, and tears, I went alone before the Lord, and, on my knees, cast lots with a solemn appeal to God, and the answer came, " Go home ! " In my heart, I sincerely believe that on both these occasions the Lord condescended to decide for me the path of duty, otherwise un- known ; and I believe it the more truly now, in view of the after-come of thirty years of service to Christ that flowed out of the steps then deliberately and devoutly taken. In this, and in many other matters, I am no law to others, though I obeyed my then highest light Nor can I refrain from adding that, fo* TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 75 the very reasons indicated above, I regard so-called " lotteries " and " raffles " as a mockery of God, and little if at all short of blasphemy. " Ye cannot drink at the Lord's Table, and at the table of devils." I sailed for London in the Kosciusko, an Aberdeen clipper, on i6th May, 1863. Captain Stewart made the voyage most enjoyable to all. The son of my old friend Bishop Selwyn and I conducted alternately a Presbyterian and an Anglican Service. We passed through a memorable thunder-burst in rounding the Cape. Our good ship was perilously struck by lightning. The men on deck were thrown violently down. The copper on the bulwarks was twisted and melted a specimen of which the Captain gave me and I still retain. When the ball of fire struck the ship, those of us sitting on chairs, screwed to the floor around the Cabin table, felt as if she were plunging to the bottom. When she sprang aloft again, a military man and a medical officer were thrown heavily into the back passage between the Cabins, the screws that held their seats having snapped asunder. I, in grasping the table, got my leg severely bruised, being jammed betwixt the seat and the table, and had to be carried to my berth. All the men were attended to, and quickly recovered consciousness ; and immediately the good Captain, an elder of the Church, came to me, and said, " Lead us in prayer, and let us thank the Lord for this most merciful deliverance ; the ship is not on fire, and no one is seriously injured ! " 76 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. Poor fellow ! whether hastened on by this event I know not, but he struggled for three weeks thereafter in a fever, and it took our united care and love to pull him through. The Lord, however, rest6red him; and we cast anchor safely in the East India Docks, at London, on 26th August, 1863, having been three months and ten days at sea from port to port It was 5.30 p.m. when we cast anchor, and the gates closed at six o'clock. My little box was ready on deck. The Custom House officers kindly passed me, and I was immediately on my way to Euston Square. Never before had I been within the Great City, and doubtless I could have enjoyed its palaces and memorials. But the King's business, entrusted to me, " required haste," and I felt constrained to press forward, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left The streets through which I was driven seemed to be dirty and narrow ; many of the people had a squalid and vicious look ; and, fresh from Australia, my disappointment was keen as to the smoky and miserable appearance of what I saw. No doubt other visitors will behold only the grandeur and the wealth ; they will see exactly what they coine to see, and London will shine before them accordingly. At nine o'clock, that evening, I left for Scotland by train. Next morning, about the same hour, I reported myself at the manse of the Rev. John Kay, Castle Douglas, the Convener of the Foreign Missions Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church, to TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 77 which I belonged. We arranged for a meeting of said Committee, at earliest practicable date, that my scheme and plans might at once be laid before them. By the next train I was on my way to Dumfries, and thence by conveyance to my dear old home at Torthorwald. There I had a Heavenly Welcome from my saintly parents, yet not unmixed with many fast-falling tears. Five brief years only had elapsed, since I went forth from their Sanctuary, with my young bride ; and now, alas 1 alas ! that grave on Tanna held mother and son locked in each other's embrace till the Resurrection Day. Not less glowing, but more terribly agonizing, was my reception, a few days thereafter, at Coldstream, when I first gazed on the bereaved father and mother of my beloved ; who, though godly people, were conscious of a heart-break under that stroke, from which through their remaining years they never fully rallied. They murmured not against the Lord ; but all the same, heart and flesh began to faint and fail, even as our Divine Example Himself fainted under the Cross, which yet He so uncomplainingly bore. The Foreign Mission Committee of the Reformed Presbyterian Church met in Edinburgh, and welcomed me kindly, nay, warrnly. A full report of all my doings for the past, and of all my plans and hopes, was laid before them. They at once agreed to my visiting and addressing every Sabbath School in the Church. They opened to me their Divinity Hall, that I might appeal to the Students. My Address 78 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. there was published and largely circulated, under the motto : " Come over and help us." It was used of God to deepen vastly the interest in our Mission. The Committee generously and enthusiastically did everything in their power to help me. By their influence, the Church in 1864 conferred on me the undesired and undeserved honour, the highest which they could confer the honour of being the Moderator of their Supreme Court. No one can understand how much I shrank from all this ; but, in hope of the Lord's using it and me to promote His work amongst the Heathen, I accepted the Chair, though, I fear, only to occupy it most unworthily, for Tanna gave me little training for work like that ! The Church, as there represented, passed a Reso- lution, declaring : " It is with feelings of no ordinary pleasure that we behold present at this meeting one of our most devoted Missionaries. The result of Mr. Paton's appeals in Australia has been unprecedented in the history of this Mission. It appears in the shape of ^4,500 added to the funds of the New Hebrides Mission, besides over ^300 for Native Teachers, to be paid yearly in 5 contributions, and all expenses met. The Spirit of God musthave been poured out upon the inhabitants of the Colonies, in leading them to make such a noble offering as this to the cause of Missions, and in making our Missionary the honoured instrument God employed in drawing forth the sym- pathy and liberality of the Colonists. Now, by the TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 79 good hand of God upon him, he holds the most honoured position of Moderator of the Church, etc., etc." The Synod also placed on record its gratitude for what God had thus done ; and its cordial recognition of the many and fruitful services rendered by Minis- ters and Sabbath Schools, both in Scotland and Australia, in standing by me and helping on the Floating of the Dayspring. I have ever regarded it as a privilege and honour that I was born and trained within the old covenant- ing Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. As a separate Communion, that Church is small amongst the thousands of Israel ; but the principles of Civil and Religious Liberty for which her founders suffered and died are, at this moment, the heart and soul of all that is best and divinest in the Constitution of our British Empire. I am more proud that the blood of Martyrs is in my veins, and their truths in my heart, than other men can be of noble pedigree or royal names. And I was, in that day of the Church's honour so distinguished for her Missionary zeal, filled with a high passion of gratitude to be able to proclaim, at the close of my tour, and after the addition of new names to our staff, that of all her ordained Ministers, one in every six was a Missionary of the Cross, Nor did the dear old Church thus cripple herself; on the contrary, her zeal for Missions accompanied, if not caused, unwonted prosperity at home. New 80 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. waves of liberality passed over the heart of her people. Debts that had burdened many of the Churches and Manses were swept away. Additional Congregations were organized. And in May, 1876, the Reformed Presbyterian Church entered into an honourable and independent Union with her larger, wealthier, and more progressive sister, the Free Church of Scotland, only a few of the brethren, doubtless with perfect loyalty to what they regarded as duty to Christ, still holding aloof and standing firmly in the old paths, as they appeared to them. In the Deed of Union the incorporating Church took itself bound legally and formally to maintain the New Hebrides Mission staff, and also the Day- spring y committing herself never to withdraw, as it were, till these Islands were all occupied for Jesus. Now that the French have been constrained to abandon the scene, the field is open, and the Islands wail aloud for eight or ten Missionaries more than we at present have (1889) ; and then the Standard of the Cross might speedily be planted on every separate isle, and a true sense might at last come into the foolish name given to these regions by their Spanish discoverer, when he called the part at which he touched, thinking it the fabled Southern Continent, the Land of the Holy Ghost. When the aforesaid Union took place, all the Missionaries of their own free accord cast in their lot with the incorporating Church ; not only those directly supported by the old Reformed Presby- TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 81 terians themselves, but also the several Missionaries sent forth by them, though supported by one or other of the Australian Colonies. And, beyond question, one feature in the Free Church that drew them and bound them to her heart was her noble zeal for and sacrifices in connection with the work of Missions, both at home and abroad. For it is a fixed point in the faith of every Missionary, that the more any Church or Congregation interests itself in the Heathen, the more will it be blessed and prospered at Home. "One of the surest signs of life," wrote the Victorian Christian Review, "is the effort of a Church to spread the Gospel beyond its own bounds, and especially to send the knowledge of Jesus amongst the Heathen. The Missions to the Aborigines, to the Chinese in this Colony, and to the New Hebrides, came to this Church from God. In a great crisis of the New Hebrides, they sent one of their number to Australia for help, and his appeal was largely owned by the Head of the Church. The Children, and especially the Sabbath Scholars of the Presbyterian Churches, became alive with Missionary enthusiasm. Large sums were raised for a Mission Ship. The Congregations were roused to see their duty to God and their fellow-men beyond these Colonies, and a new Missionary Spirit took possession of the whole Church. Their deputy from the Islands agreed to become the Missionary from this Church. Many circumstances indeed combined to show that it was the will of the Master, that this Church should join P. 6 8a TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. the other Presbyterian Churches in taking possession of this field of usefulness ; and already the results are very important both to the Church and to the Mission. The Missionaries feel much encouraged in receiving substantial support from the largest Presby- terian Church in the Australian Colonies ; while the Presbyterian Church in Victoria is largely blessed in her own spirit through the Missionary zeal awakened in her midst. Thus, there is that scattereth and yet increaseth ; bringing out anew the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." But, in all this, I am rather anticipating. My tour through Scotland brought me into contact with every Minister, Congregation, and Sabbath School in the Church of my fathers. They were never at any time a rich people, but they were always liberal. At this time they contributed beyond all previous experi- ence, both in money and in boxes of useful articles for the Islanders. Unfortunately, my visit to the far North, to our Congregations at Wick and Stromness, had been arranged for the month of January ; and thereby a sore trial befell me in my pilgrimages. The roads were covered with snow and ice. I reached Aberdeen and Wick by steamer from Edinburgh, and had to find my way thence to Thurso. The inside seats on the Mail Coach being all occupied, I had to take my place outside. The cold was intense, and one of my feet got bitten by the frost The storm detained me TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 83 nearly a week at Thurso, but feeling did not return to the foot. We started, in a lull, by steamer for Stromness ; but the storm burst again, all were ordered below, and hatches and doors made fast. The passengers were mostly very rough, the place was foul with whisky and tobacco. I appealed to the Captain to let me crouch somewhere on deck, and hold on as best I could. He shouted, " I dare not ! You'll be washed overboard." On seeing my appealing look, he relented, directed his men to fasten a tarpaulin over me, and lash it and me to the mast, and there I lay till we reached Stromness. The sea broke heavily and dangerously over the vessel. But the Captain, finding shelter for several hours under the lee of a headland, saved both the ship and the passengers. When at last we landed, my foot was so benumbed and painful that I could move a step only with greatest agony. Two meetings, however, were in some kind of way con- ducted ; but the projected visit to Dingwall and othei places had to be renounced, the snow lying too deep for any conveyance to carry me, and my foot crying aloud for treatment and skill On returning Southwards, I was confined for about two months, and placed under the best medical advice. All feeling seemed gradually to have de- parted from my foot ; and amputation was seriously proposed both in Edinburgh and in Glasgow. Having somehow managed to reach Liverpool, my dear friend, 84 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. the Rev. Dr. Graham, took me there to a Doctor who had wrought many wonderful recoveries by gal- vanism. Time after time he applied the battery, but I felt nothing. He declared that the power used would almost have killed an ordinary man, and that he had never seen any part of the human body so dead to feeling on a live and healthy person. Finally, he covered it all over with a dark plaster, and told me to return in three days. But next day, the throbbing feeling of insufferable coldness in the foot compelled me to return at once. After my persistent appeals, he removed the plaster; and, to his great astonish- ment, the whole of the frosted part adhered to it ! Again dressing the remaining parts, he covered it with plaster as before, and assured me that with care and rest it would now completely recover. By the bless- ing of the Lord it did, though it was a bitter trial to me amidst all these growing plans to be thus crippled by the way ; and to this day I am sometimes warned in over-walking that the part is capable of many a painful twinge. And humbly I feel myself crooning over the graphic words of the Greatest Missionary, " I bear about in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." On that tour, the Sabbath Schools joyfully adopted my scheme, and became "shareholders" in the Mission Ship. It was thereafter ably developed by an elder of the Church. A Dayspring collecting box has found its way into almost every family ; and the returns from Scotland have yielded ever since about TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 85 250 per annum, as their proportion for the expenses of the Children's Mission Ship to the New Hebrides. The Church in Nova Scotia heartily accepted the same idea, and their Sabbath School children have regularly contributed their 2 50 per annum too. The Colonial children have contributed the rest, throughout all these years, with unfailing interest. And whensoever the true and full history of the South Sea Islands Mission is written for the edifica- tion of the Universal Church, let it not be forgotten that the children of Australasia, and Nova Scotia, and Scotland did by their united pennies keep the Dayspring floating in the New Hebrides; that the Missionaries and their families were thereby supplied with the necessaries of life, and that the Islanders were thus taught to clothe themselves and to sit at the feet of Jesus. This was the Children's Holy League, erewhile referred to ; and one knows that on such a Union the Divine Master smiles well pleased. The Lord also crowned this tour with another precious fruit of blessing, though not all by any means due to my influence. Four new Missionaries volunteered from Scotland, and three from Nova Scotia. By their aid we not only reclaimed for Jesus the posts that had been abandoned, but we took possession of other Islands in His most blessed Name. But I did not wait and take them out with me. They had matters to look into and to learn about, that would be infinitely helpful to them in the Mission field. Especially, and far above everything 86 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. else, in addition to their regular clerical course, some Medical instruction was an almost absolute pre- requisite. I myself had attended several Medical Classes at the Andersonian College, when a student in Glasgow, and had had personal training from an experienced physician. This had proved invaluable, not only on the Islands, but in the remote bush during Australian tours, and indeed on many private occasions, when other medical help was unavailable. Every future Missionary was therefore urged to obtain all insight and instruction that was practic- able at Medical Missions and otherwise, especially on lines known to be most requisite for these Islands. For this, and similar objects, all that I raised over and above what was required for the Dayspring was entrusted to the Foreign Mission Committee, that the new Missionaries might be fully equipped, and their outfit and travelling expenses be provided for with- out burdening the Church at home. Her responsi- bilities were already large enough for her resources. But she could give men, God's own greatest gift, and His people elsewhere gave the money, the Colonies and the Home Country thus binding themselves to each other in this Holy Mission of the Cross. But I did not return alone. The dear Lord had brought to me one prepared, all unknown to either of us, by special culture, by godly training, by many gifts and accomplishments, and even by family associ- ations, to share my lot on the New Hebrides. Her heart was stirred with a yearning to aid and teach TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 87 those who were sitting in darkness ; her brother had been an honoured Missionary in the foreign field, and had fallen asleep while the dew of youth was yet upon him ; her sister was the wife of a devoted Minister of our Church in Adelaide, both sh'e and her husband being zealous promoters of our work ; and her father had left behind him a fragrant memory through his many Christian works in all the Stirling district, and not unknown to fame as the author of the still popular books of Anecdotes, illustrative of the Shorter Catechism and of the Holy Scriptures. Ere I left Scotland in 1864, I was married to Margaret Whitecross, and God spares us to each other still ; and the family which He has been pleased in His love to grant unto us we have dedicated to His service, with the prayer and hope that He may use every one of them in spreading the Gospel throughout the Heathen World. Our marriage was celebrated at her sister's house in Edinburgh ; and I may be pardoned for recalling a little event that characterized the occasion. My youngest brother, then tutor to a gentleman studying at the University, stepped forth at the close of the ceremony and recited an Epithalamium composed for the day. For many a month and year the refrain, a play upon the Bride's name, kept singing itself through my memory : " Long may the Whitecross banner wave. By the battle blasts unriven ; Long may our Brother and Sister brave Rejoice in the light of Heaven." 83 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. He described the Bride as hearing a " Voice from the far Pacific Seas " ; and turning to us both, he sang of an Angel beckoning us to the Tanna-land, to gather a harvest of souls : " The warfare is brief, the crown is bright, The pledge is the souls of men ; Go, may the Lord defend the Right, And restore you safe again ! " But the verse which my dear wife thought most beautiful for a bridal day, and which her memory cherishes still, was this : ** May the ruddy Joys, and the Graces fair, Wait fondly around you now ; Sweet angel Hopes and young Loves repair To your home and bless your vow ! " My last scene in Scotland was kneeling at the family altar in the old Sanctuary Cottage at Torthor- wald, while my venerable father, with his high-priestly locks of snow-white hair streaming over his shoul- ders, commended us once again to "the care and keeping of the Lord God of the families of Israel." It was the last time that ever on this Earth those accents of intercession, loaded with a pathos of deathless love, would fall upon my ears. I knew to a certainty that when we rose from our knees and said farewell, our eyes would never meet again till they were flooded with the lights of the Resurrection Day. But he and my darling mother gave us away once again with a free heart, not unpierced with the sword of human anguish, to the service of our com- TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 89 mon Lord and to the Salvation of the Heathen. And we went forth, praying that a double portion of their spirit, with their precious blessing, might rest upon us in all the way that we had to go. Our beloved mother, always more self-restrained, and less demonstrative in the presence of others, held back her heart till we were fairly gone from the door; and then, as my dear brother afterwards in- formed me, she fell back into his arms with a great cry, as if all the heart-strings had broken, and lay for long in a death-like swoon. Oh, all ye that read this page, think most tenderly of the cries of Nature, even where Grace and Faith are in perfect triumph. Read, through scenes like these, a fuller meaning into the words addressed to that blessed Mother, whose Son was given for us all, " Yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also." Here, in passing, I may mention that my mother, ever beloved, " fell on sleep," after a short agony of affliction, in 1865 ; and my "priest-like father" passed peacefully and joyfully into the presence of his Lord in 1868; both cradled and cherished to the last in the arms of their own affectionate children, and both in the assured hope of a blessed immortality, where all their sons and daughters firmly expect to meet them again in the Home prepared by their blessed Saviour. We embarked at Liverpool for Australia in The Crest of the Wave, Captain Ellis; and after what was then considered a fast passage of ninety-five days, we landed at Sydney on i/th January, 1865. 90 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. Within an hour we had to grapple with a new and amazing perplexity. The Captain of our Dayspring came to inform me that his ship had arrived three days ago and now lay in the stream, that she had been to the Islands, and had settled the Gordons, McCullaghs, and Goodwills on their several Stations, that she had left Halifax in Nova Scotia fourteen months ago, and that now, on arriving at Sydney, he could not get one penny of money, and that the crew were clamouring for their pay, etc., etc. He con- tinued, "Where shall I get money for current ex- penses ? No one will lend unless we mortgage the Dayspring. I fear there is nothing before us but to sell her ! " I gave him 50 of my own to meet clamant demands, and besought him to secure me a day or two of delay that something might be done. Having landed, and been heartily welcomed by dear Dr. and Mrs. Moon and other friends, I went with a kind of trembling joy to have my first look at the Dayspring, like a sailor getting a first peep at the child born to him whilst far away on the sea. Some of the irritated ship's company stopped us by the way, and threatened prosecution and all sorts of annoyance. I could only urge again for a few days' patience. I found her to be a beautiful two-masted Brig, with a deck-house (added when she first arrived at Melbourne), and every way suitable for our neces- sities, a thing of beauty, a white-winged Angel set a-floating by the pennies of the children to bear the Gospel to these sin-darkened but sun-lit Southern TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 91 Isles. To me she became a sort of living thing, the impersonation of a living and throbbing love in the heart of thousands of " shareholders " ; and I said, with a deep, indestructible faith, "The Lord has provided the Lord will provide." For present liabilities at least ,700 were instantly required ; and, at any rate, as large a sum to pay her way and meet expenses of next trip to the Islands. Having laid our perplexing circumstances before our dear Lord Jesus, having " spread out " all the details in His sympathetic presence, pleading that the Ship itself and the new Missionaries were all His own, not mine, I told Him that this money was needed to do His own blessed work. On Friday morning, I consulted friends of the Mission, but no help was visible. . I tried to borrow, but found that the lender demanded twenty per cent, for interest, besides the title deeds of the ship for security. I applied for a loan from the agent of the London Missionary Society (then agent for us too) on the credit of the Reformed Presbyterian Church's Foreign Committee, but he could not give it without a written order from Scotland. There were some who seemed rather to enjoy our perplexity I Driven thus to the wall, I advertised for a meeting of Ministers and other friends, next morning at II o'clock, to receive my report and to consult re the Day spring. I related my journeyings since leaving them, and the results, and then asked for advice about the ship. 92 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. " Sell her," said some, " and have done with it" "What," said others, "have the Sabbath Schools given you the Dayspring, and can you not support her yourselves ? " I pointed out to them that the salary of each Mis- sionary was only 120 per annum, that they gave their lives for the Heathen, and that surely the Colo- nial Christians would undertake the up-keep of the Ship, which was necessary to the very existence of the Mission. I appealed to them that, as my own Church in Scotland had now one Missionary abroad for every six Ministers at home, and the small Pres- byterian Church of Nova Scotia had actually three Missionaries now on our Islands, it would be a blessed privilege for the Australian Churches and Sabbath Schools to keep the Dayspring afloat, with- out whose services the Missionaries could not live nor the Islanders be evangelized. Being Saturday, the morning Services for Sabbath were all arranged for, or advertised ; but Dr. McGib- bon offered me a meeting for the evening, and Dr. Steel an afternoon Service at three o'clock, combined with his Sabbath School. Rev. Mr. Patterson, of Piermont, offered me a morning Service ; but, as his was only a Mission Church, he could not give me a collection. These openings I accepted, as from the Lord, however much they fell short of what I de- sired. At the morning Service I informed the Congrega- tion how we were situated, and expressed the hope TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 93 that under God and their devoted pastor they would greatly prosper, and would yet be able to help in supporting our Mission to their South Sea neigh- bours. Returning to the vestry, a lady and gentle- man waited to be introduced to me. They were from Launceston, Tasmania. " I am," said he, " Captain and owner of that vessel lying at anchor opposite the Day spring. My wife and I, being too late to get on shore to attend any Church in the city, heard this little Chapel bell ring- ing, and followed, when we saw you going up the stairs. We have so enjoyed the Service. We do heartily sympathize with you. This cheque for ^50 will be a beginning to help you out of your diffi- culties." The reader knows how warmly I would thank them ; and how in my own heart I knew Who it was that made them arrive too late for their plans, but not for His, and guided them up that Chapel stair, and opened their hearts. Jehovah-Jireh ! At three o'clock, Dr. Steel's Church was filled with children and others. I told them in my appeal what had happened in the Mission Chapel, and how God had led Captain Frith and his wife, entire strangers, to sound the first note of our deliverance. One man stood up and said, " I will give 10." Another, " I will give 5." A third, " I shall send you 20 to-morrow morning." Several others followed their example, and the general collection was greatly en- couraging 94 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. In the even 'ng, I had a very large as well as sym- pathetic Congregation. I fully explained the diffi- culty about th: Dayspring, and told them what God had already Olone for us, announcing an address to which contributions might be sent Almost every Mail brought me the free-will offerings of God's people ; and on Wednesday, when the adjourned meeting was held, the sum had reached in all 456. Believing that the Lord thus intervened at a vital crisis in our Mission, I dwell on it to the praise of His blessed Name. Trust in Him, obey Him f and He will not suffer you fo be put to shame. At a public meeting, held immediately thereafter, an attempt was made to organize the first Australian Mission Auxiliary to the New Hebrides ; but it needed an enthusiastic secretary, and for lack thereof came to nothing at that time. At another meeting, the first elements of a brooding strife appeared. The then Agent of the noble and generous London Mis- sionary Society intimated that he had just issued Collecting Cards for the John Williams, and that it would be unbrotherly to urge collections for the Day- spring at the same time throughout New South Wales. He suggested that I should first visit Tas- mania and South Australia, and that, on our return, they would help us as we would now help them. The most cordial feelings had always prevailed be- twixt the Societies, and we accepted the proposal, though our circumstances were peculiarly trying, and I personally believed that no harm, but good, would TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 95 come from both of us doing everything possible to fan the Missionary spirit. Clearing out from her sister ships, then in harbour, the John Williams and the John Wesley, our little Day spring sailed for Tasmania. At Hobart we were visited by thousands of children and parents, and afterwards at Launceston, who were proud to see their own ship, in which they were " shareholders " for Jesus. Daily, all over the Colony, I preached in Churches and addressed public meetings, and got collections, and gave out Collecting Cards to be re- turned within two weeks. But here also the little rift began to show itself. At a public meeting in Hobart, the Congregational Minister said, "We support the John Williams for the London Missionary Society. Let the Presbyterians do as much for the Day spring!" I replied, that I was there by special invitation from those who had called the meeting, and that, rather than have any unseemly wrangling, my friend, Dr. Nicolson, and I would quietly retire. But the Chairman intervened, and insisted that the meeting should go forward in a Christian spirit, and without any word of recrimination. To find ourselves, even by a misunderstanding, regarded as inimical to the London Missionary Society, one of the most Catholic- spirited and Christlike Societies in the world, was peculiarly painful. Still the little rift seemed to widen at every turn, and we found ourselves thrown oiore and more exclusively on Presbyterians alone. 96 TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. But thus also the hearts of two great Communions were concentrated on Heathendom, where one only or chiefly had been bearing the burden heretofore, And the Lord hath need of all. We received many tokens of interest and sympathy. The steam tug was granted to us free, and the har- bour dues were remitted. Many presents were also sent on board the Dayspring. Still, after meeting all necessary outlays, the trip to Tasmania gave us only 227 8s. lid. clear for the Mission fund. Sailing now for South Australia, we arrived at Adelaide. Many friends there showed the deepest interest in our plans. Thousands of children and parents came to visit their own Mission Ship by several special trips. Daily and nightly I addressed meetings, and God's people were moved greatly in the cause. After meeting all expenses while in port, there remained a sum of 634 gs. 2d. for the up- keep of the vessel. The Honourable George Fife Angus gave me 241 a dear friend belonging to the Bap- tist Church. But there was still a deficit of 400 before the Dayspring could sail free of debt, and my heart was sore as I cried for it to the Lord. Leaving the ship to sail direct for Sydney, I took steamer to Melbourne ; but, on arriving there, sickness and anxiety laid me aside for three days. Under great weakness, I crept along to my dear friends at the Scotch College, Dr. and Mrs. Morrison, and Miss Fraser, and threw myself on their advice. " Come along," said the Doctor cheerily, ** and I'll TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 97 introduce you to Mr. Butchart and one or two friends in East Melbourne, and we'll see what can be done ! " I gave all information, being led on in conversation by the Doctor, and tried to interest them in our work, but no subscriptions were asked or received. Ere I sailed for Sydney, however, the whole deficiency was sent to me. I received in all, on this tour, the sum of 1,726 gs. iod. Our Dayspring once more sailed free, and our hearts overflowed with gratitude to the Lord and to His stewards ! On my return to Sydney, and before sailing to the Islands, I called, by advertisement, a public meeting of Ministers and other friends to report success, and to take counsel for the future. My report was received with hearty thanksgiving to Almighty God. And a resolution was unanimously adopted, in view of all that had transpired, urging that a scheme must be organized, whereby the Presby- terian Churches and Sabbath Schools of Australia should be banded together for the support of the Dayspring, and so prevent the necessity of such spasmodic efforts for all future time. From that day, practically, the Dayspring was sup- ported by the Presbyterians alone. At the first, all helped in the original purchase of the Mission Ship, and she was to do all needful work on the Loyalty Islands for the London Society's Missionaries, as well as on the New Hebrides for us. This was the agree- ment ; and, despite little misunderstandings with the Agents, the Dayspring was for some -years placed P. 7 98 710 SCOTLAND AND BACK. heartily at their service. When the John William* was wrecked, our ship, at great loss and expense, accompanied her to Sydney, and spent four months of the following year for them entirely amongst the Eastern Islands. The brethren on the Loyalty Is- lands sent up their Mr. Macfarland to the Colonies to secure that the promised support should be given by their friends to the D ay spring ; but, this failing, they in 1870 declined finally to have her doing their work, when no longer paid for by their Churches. This little rift, however, amongst the contributing Churches never affected us in the Mission field ; they and we have ever wrought together there in most perfect cordiality of brotherhood. Perhaps the' true way to look upon the whole series of events is this : the Australian Presbyterian Churches had been led to hear from God a special call, and must necessarily organize themselves to answer it In this blessed work of converting the Heathen, we can all loyally rejoice, whether the instruments in the Lord's hand be Episcopal, Presbyterian, or Congre- gational ! I glory in the success of every Protestant Mission, and daily pray for them all. It was God's own wise providence, and not my zeal, wise or in- trusive, that matured these arrangements, and gave the Australian Presbyterian Churches a Mission Ship of their own, and a Mission field at their doors. The Ministers and the Sabbath Schools felt constrained as by one impulse to undertake this gracious work. The Presbyterian Churches in all these Colonies re- TO SCOTLAND AND BACK. 99 ceived this duty as from God ; and the organizing of Missionary Societies in Congregations and Sabbath Schools, for the effective accomplishment of the same, has been a principal means in the hands of the Lord of promoting and uplifting the cause of Christ through- out Australasia. It is worth while to re-travel that old road once again, were it for no other purpose than to show how, despite apparent checks and reverses, the mighty tide of Divine Love moves resistlessly on- ward, covers up temporary obstructions, and claims everything for Jesus. CHAPTER IV. CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. First of Missionary Duties. Mare* and Noumea. The French in the Pacific. The Cura$oa Affair. The "Gospel and Gunpowder " Cry. The Missionaries on their Defence. The Mission Synod's Report. The Shelling of the Tan- nese Villages. Public Meeting and Presbytery. Fighting at Bay. Federal Union in Missions. A Fiery Furnace at Geelong. Results of Australian Tour. New Hebrides Mission Adopted by Colonies. WE went down to the Islands with the Dayspring in 1865. The full story of the years that had passed was laid before my Missionary brethren at their Annual Synod. They resolved that perma- nent arrangements must now be made for the Vessel's support, and that I must return to the Colonies and see these matured. This, meantime, appeared to all of them the most clamant of all Missionary duties, their very lives, and the existence of the Mission it- self, depending thereon. The Lord seemed to leave me no alternative ; and, with great reluctance, my back was again turned away from the Islands. The Dayspring, doing duty among the Loyalty Islands, left me, along with my dear wife, on Mare", there to CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 101 await an opportunity of getting to New Caledonia, and thence to Sydney. Detained there for some time, we saw the noble work done by Messrs. Jones and Creagh, of the Lon- don Missionary Society, all being cruelly undone by the tyranny and Popery of the French. One day, in an inland walk, Mrs. Paton and I came on a large Conventicle in the bush. They were teaching each other, and reading the Scriptures which the Mission- aries had translated into their own language, and which the French had forbidden them to use. They cried to God for deliverance from their oppressors ! Missionaries were prohibited from teaching the Gospel to the Natives without the permission of France ; their books were suppressed, and they themselves placed under military guard on the island of Lifu. Even when, by Britain's protest, the Missionaries were al- lowed to resume their work, the French language was alone to be used by them ; and some, like Rev. J Jones (as far down as 1888), were marched on board a Man-of-war, at half an hour's notice, and, without crime laid to their charge, forbidden ever to return to the Islands. While, on the other hand, the French Popish Missionaries were everywhere fostered and protected, presenting to the Natives as many objects of idolatry as their own, and following, as is the custom of the Romish Church in those Seas, in the wake of every Protestant Mission, to pollute and to destroy. Being detained also for two weeks on Noumea, we loa CONCERNING FKIENDS AND FOES. saw the state of affairs under military rule. English Protestant residents, few in number, appealed to me to conduct worship, but liberty could not be obtained from the authorities, who hated everything English. But a number of Protestant parents, some French, others English and German, applied to me to baptize their children at their own houses. To have asked permission would have been to court refusal, and to falsify my position. I laid the matter before the Lord, and baptized them all. Within two days the Private Secretary of the Governor arrived with an interpreter, and began to inquire of me, " Is it true that you have been baptizing here ? n I replied quite frankly, " It is." "We are sent to demand on whose authority." " On the authority of my Great Master." " When did you get that authority ? " " When I was licensed and ordained to preach the Gospel, I got that authority from my Great Master." Here a spirited conversation followed betwixt the two in French, and they politely bowed, and left me. Very shortly they returned, saying, "The Governor sends his compliments, and he wishes the honour of a visit from you at Government House at three o'clock, if convenient for you." I returned my greeting, and said that I would have pleasure in waiting upon his Excellency at the appointed hour. I thought to myself that I was in for it now, and I earnestly cried for Divine guidance. He saluted me graciously as " de great Missionary CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 103 of de New Hebrides." He conversed in a very friendly manner about the work there, and seemed anxious to find any indication as to the English designs. I had to deal very cautiously. He spoke chiefly through the interpreter; but, sometimes dismissing him, he talked to me as good, if not better, English himself. He was eager to get my opinions as to how Britain got and retained her power over the Natives. After a very prolonged interview, we parted without a single reference to the baptisms or to religious services ! That evening the Secretary and interpreter waited upon us at our Inn, saying, "The Governor will have pleasure in placing his yacht and crew at your disposal to-morrow. Mrs. Paton and you can sail all round, and visit the Convict island, and the Government gardens, where lunch will be prepared for you." It was a great treat to us indeed. The crew were in prison garments, but all so kind to us. By Convict labour all the public works seemed to be carried on, and the Gardens were most beautiful. The carved work in bone, ivory, cocoa-nuts, shells, etc., was in- deed very wonderful. We bought a few specimens, but the prices were beyond our purse. It was a strange spectacle these things of beauty and joy, and beside them the chained gangs of fierce and savage Convicts, kept down only by bullet and sword ! Thanking the Governor for his exceeding kindness, I referred to their Man-of-war about to go to Sydney, 104 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. and offered to pay full passage money if they would take me, instead of leaving me to wait for a " trader." He at once granted my request, and arranged that we should be charged only at the daily cost for the sailors. At his suggestion, however, I took a number of things on board with me, and presented them to be used at the Cabin table. We were most generously treated, the Captain giving up his own room to my wife and myself, as they had no special accommodation for passengers. Noumea appeared to me at that time to be wholly given over to drunkenness and vice, supported as a great Convict settlement by the Government of France, and showing every extreme of reckless, worldly pleasure, and of cruel, slavish toil. When I saw it again, three-and-twenty years thereafter, it showed no signs of progress for the better. In his book on the French Colonies, J. Bonwick, F.R.G.S., says that even yet Noumea and its dependencies con- tain only 1,068 Colonists from France. If there be a God of justice and of love, His blight cannot but rest on a nation whose pathway is stained with cor- ruption and steeped in blood, as is undeniably the case with France in the Pacific Isles. Arriving at Sydney, I was at once plunged into a whirlpool of horrors. H.M.S. Curaqoa had just re- turned from her official trip to the Islands, in which the Commodore, Sir William Wiseman, had thought it his duty to inflict punishment on the Natives for murder and robbery of Traders and others. On these CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. i<5 Islands, as in all similar cases, the Missionaries had acted as interpreters, and of course always used their influence on the side of mercy, and in the interests of peace. But Sydney, and indeed Australia and the Christian World, were thrown into a ferment just a few days before our arrival, by certain articles in a leading publication there, and by the pictorial illus- trations of the same. They were professedly from an officer on board Her Majesty's ship, and the sen- sation was increased by their apparent truthfulness and reality. Tanna was the scene of the first event, and a series was to follow in succeeding numbers. The Curaqoa was pictured lying off the shore, having the Dayspring in tow. The Tannese warriors were being blown to pieces by shot and shell, and lay in heaps on the bloody coast And the Missionaries were represented as safe in the lee of the Man-of-war, directing the onslaught, and gloating over the carnage. Without a question being asked or a doubt sug- gested, without a voice being raised in fierce denial that such men as these Missionaries were known to be could be guilty of such conduct men who had jeoparded their lives for years on end rather than hurt one hair on a Native's head a cry of execration, loud and deep and even savage, arose from the Press, and was apparently joined in by the Church itself. The common witticism about the " Gospel and Gun- powder" headed hundreds of bitter and scoffing articles in the journals ; and, as we afterwards learned, the shocking news had been telegraphed to Britain and io6 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOBS. America, losing nothing in force by the way, and while filling friends of Missions with dismay, was dished up day after day with every imaginable en- hancement of horror for the readers of the secular and infidel Press. As I stepped ashore at Sydney, I found myself probably the best-abused man in all Australia, and the very name of the New Hebrides Mission stinking in the nostrils of the People. The gage of battle had been thrown and fell at my feet. Without one moment's delay, I lifted it in the name of my Lord and of my maligned brethren. That evening my reply was in the hands of the editor, denying that such battles ever took place, retailing the actual facts of which I had been myself an eye-witness, and intimating legal prosecution unless the most ample and unequivocal withdrawal and apology were at once published. The Newspaper printed my rejoinder, and made satisfactory amends for having been imposed upon and deceived. I waited upon the Commodore, and appealed for his help in redressing this terrible injury to our Mission. He informed me that he had already called his officers to account, but that all denied any connection with the articles or the pictures. He had little doubt, all the same, that some one on board was the promp- ter, who gloried in the evil that was being done to the cause of Christ. He offered every possible assist- ance, by testimony or otherwise, to place all the facts before the Christian public and to vindicate oui Missionaries. CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 107 The outstanding facts are best presented in the following extract from the official report of the Mission Synod : "When the New Hebrides Missionaries were as- sembled at their annual meeting on Aneityum, H.M.S. Cura$oa, Sir Wm. Wiseman, Bart, C.B., arrived in the harbour to investigate many grievances of white men and trading vessels among the Islands. A petition having been previously presented to the Governor in Sydney, as drawn out by the Revs. Messrs. Geddie and Copeland, after the murder of Mr. and Mrs. Gordon on Erromanga, requesting an investigation into the sad event, and the removal of a Sandal-wood trader, a British subject, who had ex- cited the Natives to it, the Missionaries gave the Commodore a memorandum on the loss of life and property that had been sustained by the Mission on Tanna, Erromanga, and Efate. He requested the Missionaries to supply him with interpreters, and requested the Dayspring to accompany him with them. The request was at once acceded to. Mr. Paton was appointed to act as interpreter for Tanna, Mr. Gordon for Erromanga, and Mr. Morrison for Efate. " At each of these Islands, the Commodore sum- moned the principal Chiefs near the harbours to appear before him, and explained to them that his visit was to inquire into the complaints British sub- jects had made against them, and to see if they had any against British subjects ; and when he had found I08 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. out the truth he would punish those who had done the wrong and protect those who had suffered wrong. The Queen did not send him to compel them to be- come Christians, or to punish them for not becoming Christians. She left them to do as they liked in this matter ; but she was very angry at them because they had encouraged her subjects to live amongst them, sold them land and promised to protect them, and afterwards murdered some of them and at- tempted to murder others, and stolen and destroyed their property ; that the inhabitants of these islands were talked of over the whole world for their treachery, cruelty, and murders ; and that the Queen would no longer allow them to murder or injure her subjects, who were living peaceably among them either as Missionaries or Traders. She would send a ship of war every year to inquire into their conduct, and if any white man injured any Native they were to tell the captain of the Man-of-war, and the white man would be punished as fast as the black man." After spending much time, and using peaceably every means in his power in trying to get the guilty parties on Tanna, and not succeeding, he shelled two villages, having the day before informed the natives that he would do so, and advising to have all women, children, and sick removed, which in fact they did. He also sent a party on shore to destroy canoes, houses, etc. The Tannese were astonished, beyond all precedent, by the terrific display of destructive power that was exhibited in the harbour. It was CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. , found impossible to reach the actual murder; an d these circumstances the Commodore's object Baring save life and limit himself to the destruction of pie perty, and so impress the Natives with some idea of those tremendous powers of destruction, which lie slumbering in a Man-of-war, and which can be awakened and brought into action at any moment. On Erromanga no lives were lost. On Tanna one man was wounded ; but, it was reported, three per- sons were afterwards killed by the bursting of a shell, when the natives were stripping off its lead to make balls. It is matter of deep regret that one man of the party sent on shore was shot by a Native con- cealed in a tree. Against orders he had wandered from his party, and was in a plantation standing eating a stick of sugar-cane when he was shot. As I had orders to act as interpreter for the Com- modore on Tanna, I will relate what happened there. From day to day, for three continuous days, he be- sought the Natives to comply with his wishes. He warned them that if they did not, he would shell the two villages of the Chief who murdered the last white man at Port Resolution, and destroy his canoes. He also explained to them, that all who retired to a large bay in the land of Nowar, the Christian Chief (if Christian he can be called), would be safe, as he had protected white men from being murdered ; and now he would protect his property and all under his care on this land. The whole of these inhabitants, young and old, went to Nowar's land and were to8 CONCERNNG FRIENDS AND FOES. out thvhile they witnessed what a Man-of-war could the w>. punishing murderers. But, before the hour Tbproached, multitudes of Tannese warriors had assembled on the beach, painted and armed and determined to fight the Man-of-war ! When the Commodore gave orders to prepare for action, I approached him and said with tears, " O Commodore, surely you are not going to shell these poor and foolish Tannese ! " Sharply, but not unkindly, he replied, " You are here as interpreter, not as my adviser. I alone am responsible. You see their defiant atti- tude. If I leave without punishing them now, no vessel or white man will be safe at this harbour. You can go on board your own ship, till I require your services again." Indeed he had many counts against them, and his instructions were explicit. Shortly before that, Nouka, the Chief of one of the villages, had murdered a trader with a bar of iron, and another was murdered at his instigation. Miaki, the Chief of another, had for many years been ringleader of all mischief and murder on that side of the island. The Chief of a village on the other side of the bay was at that moment assembled with his men on the high ground within our view, and dancing to a war song in defiance ! The Commodore caused a shell to strike the hill and explode with terrific fury just underneath the dancers. The earth and the bush were torn and CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. Ill thrown into the air above and around them ; and next moment the whole host were seen disappearing over the brow of the hill. Two shots were sent over the heads of the warriors on the shore, with terrific noise and uproar; in an instant, every man was making haste for Nowar's land, the place of refuge. The Commodore then shelled the villages, and de- stroyed their property. Beyond what I have here recorded, absolutely nothing was done. We return then for a moment to Sydney. The public excitement made it impossible to open my lips in the promotion of our Mission. The Revs. Drs. Dunsmore Lang and Steel, along with Professor Smith of the University, waited on the Commodore, and got an independent version of the facts. They then called a meeting on the affair by public adver- tisement. Without being made acquainted with the results of their investigations, I was called upon to give my own account of the Cura$ocs visit and of the connection of the Missionaries therewith. They then submitted the Commodore's statement, given by him in writing. He exonerated the Missionaries from every shadow of blame and from all responsi- bility. In the interests of mercy as well as justice, and to save life, they had acted as his interpreters ; and there all that they had to do with the Cura$oa began and ended. All this was published in the Newspapers next day, along with the speeches of the three deputies. The excitement began to subside. But the poison had been lodged in many hearts, H2 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. and the ejectment of it was a slow and difficult process. The Presbytery of Sydney held a special meeting, and I was summoned to appear before it. Dr. Geddie of Aneityum was also present, being then in the Colonies. Whether the tide of abuse had turned my dear fellow- Missionary's head, I cannot tell ; but, on being asked to make a statement, he condemned the Missionaries for acting as interpreters, and wound up with a dramatic exclamation that " rather than have had anything to do with the Curaqoa's visit he would have had his hand burned off in the fire." The Court applauded. The Moderator then said : " Mr. Paton has heard the noble speech of Dr. Geddie. Let him now solemnly promise that, under no cir- cumstances, will he have anything to do with a Man- of-war. Then we may see our way again to stand by him, and help him in his Mission." And in this spirit, he appealed to me. On rising, I explained that I appeared before them only out of brotherly courtesy, as their Presbytery had no jurisdiction over me, and I spoke to the following effect : w I am indeed a Missionary to the Heathen, but also a British subject I have never requested redress from Man-of-war, or any civil power ; but, like Paul, I reserve my full rights, if need be, to appeal unto Caesar. If any member of this Presbytery has his house robbed, as a good citizen he seeks redress and protection. But OP Tanna I lost my earthly all, and CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 113 sought no redress from man. The Tannese Chiefs, indeed, who were friendly, sent a Petition by me to the Governor of Sydney; which, however, was never presented to him at all, fearing that thereby indirectly I might bring punishment upon my poor deluded Tannese. Others were more convinced as to the path of duty, or less considerate of the Natives. Their Petition I now take from my pocket and submit it to you. It was presented to the Governor, Sir John Young, after the death of the Gordons, and prayed for a judicial investigation as to their murders. As soon it was known of, a counter Petition in the interests of the Traders was immediately got up and signed by many of the great merchants of Sydney, protesting against any such visit to the Islands by a Man-of-war. This Petition, then, the original and only one ever presented in favour of a visit from Her Majesty's Commodore, was drawn up and is signed by whom ? " On Dr. Geddie acknowledging that he had written and signed that Petition, but that it prayed only for an investigation, I proceeded, " Surely a judicial investigation like this implied all the after consequences, if once undertaken 1 At any rate, this is the only Petition sent from the Mission- aries, and it was sent unknown to me. Finally, I must respectfully inform the Presbytery that I will never make such a promise as the Moderator has indicated. I shall remain free to act in humanity and in justice as God and conscience guide me. P. 8 114 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. I believe I saved both life and property by inter- preting for the Commodore, and making things mutually intelligible to him and to the Natives. I have done as clear a Christian duty as I ever did in my life. I am not ashamed. I offer no apology. I do not believe that in the long run, when all facts are known, my conduct in this affair can possibly injure either myself, or, what is more, the Name of my Lord." Perhaps my words were not too conciliatory. But excitement so blinded many friends, that I had to fight as if at bay, or get no hearing and no justice. The Presbytery hesitated, and closed without coming to any resolution. All the members of it showed me thereafter the same respect as ever before. It was gratifying to learn in due course that all the Churches supporting our Mission, after having independently investigated into the facts, justified the course adopted by us, Nova Scotia alone excepted. Yet two of her own Missionaries had also to interpret for that Man-of-war, exactly as I had done, nor did I ever hear that any rebuke was administered to them. Feeling absolutely conscious that I had only done my Christian duty, I left all results in the hands of my Lord Jesus, and pressed forward in His blessed work. More than one dear personal friend had to be sacrificed over this painful affair. A Presbyterian Minister, and a godly elder and his wife, all most excellent and well-beloved, at whose houses I had been received as a brother, intimated to me that owing to this case of the Curaqoa their friendship and mine CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 115 must entirely cease in this world. And it did cease ; but my esteem never changed. I had learned not to think unkindly of friends, even when they manifestly misunderstood my actions. Nor would these things merit being recorded here, were it not that they may be at once a beacon and a guide. God's people are still belied. And the multitude are still as ready as ever to cry, " Crucify ! Crucify ! " The scheme for meeting the yearly cost of the Dayspring, that had already been tentatively set a-going, had now to be matured and permanently organized. In this my dear friend Dr. J. Dunsmore Lang, well acquainted with the resources of all the Churches, was our judicious counsellor. We pro- posed that Victoria should raise ^"500 ; New South Wales and New Zealand, 200 each ; Tasmania, Queensland, and South Australia, 100 each, and 250 each from Novia Scotia and Scotland. Tas- mania, South Australia, and Queensland fell a little short of their proportion ; Sydney, Scotland, and Novia Scotia met their claims ; and Victoria and New Zealand exceeded them, and made up for deficiency in others. This has ever since been done in great measure, though not exclusively, by the Sabbath Scholars of the Churches, through their Dayspring " Mission-boxes." In organizing and maturing this scheme, I visited and addressed al- most every Presbyterian Congregation and Sabbath School in New South Wales and Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania ; and Ministers and Super- Il6 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. intendents, with scarcely an exception, came to be bound together in a true federal union in support of our Mission and our Ship. For the first three years, when everything was new, the Dayspring cost us about 1,400 per annum ; but since then she has cost on an average little short of 2,000 over all. There has too often been a floating debt of 300 or more, which has given us great anxiety ; but the Lord has sent what was required, and enabled us to keep her sailing with the Gospel and His servants amongst these Islands, free of any actual burden, His own pure messenger of Good Tidings, unstained with the polluting and bloody associations of the foul-winged trading Ships ! Another fiery furnace awaited me on this tour, when I reached Geelong. One of the prominent Ministers refused to shake hands. An agent of the London Missionary Society had informed them " that the 3,000 paid for the Dayspring had been thrown away, that the Vessel was useless, fitted only for carrying stores, and having no accomodation for pas- sengers j and that on her second trip to the Islands our Missionaries had to wait and go down by the John Williams? It was an abiding sorrow to me, that local misrepresentations gave the Societies an appearance of conflict, whereof the parent organi- zations knew nothing whatever. But, for all the interests at stake, facts had to be made known. Several Congregations had resolved to withdraw from the support of our Mission ; and several CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES 117 Ministers at Ballarat, and elsewhere, were by similar accounts prejudiced against us. I demanded an opportunity of stating the facts, and vindicating myself and others, in a public meeting duly called for the purpose. They at once agreed. I wrote once and a second time to the Agent, but got no answer, only an evasive note. I went by rail and saw him. He would give no ex- planation, or authority for his statements, but practi- cally put me out, on a pretence of there being sickness at the house. . Nevertheless, in a spirit of determined brotherhood, I resolved only to explain facts about the Dayspring) and not to drag in the name of that great sister Society which he so poorly served. There was a crowded meeting. The Minister who refused to shake hands was voted to the chair. I was called upon to explain my position. By this time I had communicated with the Dayspring offi- cials, and, producing the log-book, I read from it, regarding the voyage referred to, the following : "When the Dayspring sailed from Sydney for the Islands, she had as passengers on board, Rev. Mr. Paton, Mrs. Paton, and child, Rev. Mr. McNair and Mrs. McNair, Rev. Mr. Niven and Mrs. Niven, Mrs. Ella and child, of the London Missionary Society, Captain Fraser, Mrs. Fraser, child, and ser- vant, besides all the year's Mission supplies for both the New Hebrides and the Loyalty Islands. And on reaching these Islands, as the French Government had ordered the removal of all the Eastern Teachers Il8 CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. of the London Missionary Society from that group, the Dayspring had to undertake an unexpected voyage of three months from the Loyalties to Samoa, Rarotonga, etc., with Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Sleigh of the London Missionary Society, and sixty-one of their Native Teachers, who, along with their families, were all in health landed safely on their respective islands, as passengers by the Dayspring? I also read a corroborative narrative from Captain Fraser, written from memory, as he was at that time far inland in the country, and had not access to the records of his vessel. And my statement closed to this effect, " It must now be manifest to all, that the damaging reports circulated in Geelong are more than replied to. By the Captain, and from the log, they are proved to be false, both as to capacity for goods and passengers. At present the Dayspring is everything that could be desired for the furtherance of our Mis- sion. If you are satisfied, I wish to leave this painful subject, and proceed with my proper work. But I am prepared to answer any question from the Chairman or the meeting, and to give the fullest information." The round of applause that followed was my com- plete vindication. The Chairman gave me his hand, and pledged his utmost support He proposed the following resolution, which was carried with ac- clamation, " That this meeting, having heard Mr. Paton with satisfaction, pledges the Churches, Sabbath Schools, CONCERNING FRIENDS AND FOES. 119 and friends in Geelong, henceforth to support the Day- spring and the New Hebrides Mission to the utmost of their power, and to receive and encourage him as much as ever in his work on behalf of the Mission." The special object of my visit was then explained, and several Ministers and others spoke heartily in furtherance of the proposals for the permanent sup- port of the Dayspring through the Sabbath Schools. All battles through mere misunderstandings are painful, but especially those amongst Christian brethren. Still they had to be fought, never laying aside the weapons of the Cross ; and God has over- ruled them for the promotion of His Kingdom in a way which makes all Catholic-spirited followers of the Lord Jesus equally rejoice. On this tour, in Victoria alone, I spent 250 days and addressed 265 meetings, representing 180 Congre- gations and their Sabbath Schools. The proportion was on the same scale in the other Colonies visited. And all these arrangements I had to make for my- self, by painful and laborious correspondence night and day. But the Lord's blessing was abundantly vouchsafed. Victoria gave 1,954 19^. 3 193 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. since he landed on Aniwa. We laughed at him, but now we believe him. The Jehovah God has sent us rain from the earth. Why should He not also send us His Son from Heaven? Namakei stands up foi Jehovah!" This address, and the Sinking of the Well, broke, as I already said, the back of Heathenism on Aniwa. That very afternoon, the old Chief and several of his people brought their idols and cast them down at my feet beside the door of our house. Oh, the intense excitement of the weeks that followed ! Company after company came to the spot, loaded with their gods of wood and stone, and piled them up in heaps, amid the tears and sobs of some, and the shoutings of others, in which was heard the oft-repeated word, "Jehovah! Jehovah!" What could be burned, we cast into the flames ; others we buried in pits twelve or fifteen feet deep ; and some few, more likely than the rest to feed or awaken superstition, we sank far out into the deep sea. Let no Heathen eyes ever gaze on them again ! We do not mean to indicate that, in all cases, their motives were either high or enlightened. There were not wanting some who wished to make this new movement pay, and were much disgusted when -we refused to "buy" their gods! On being told that Jehovah would not be pleased unless they gave them up of their own free will, and destroyed them with- out pay or reward, some took them home again and held on by them for a season, and others threw them FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 193 4- away in contempt. ' Meetings were held ; speeches were delivered, for these New Hebrideans are irre- pressible orators, florid, and amazingly graphic ; much talk followed, and the destruction of idols went on apace. By-and-bye two Sacred Men and some other selected persons were appointed a sort of detective Committee, to search out and expose those who pre- tended to give them all up, but were hiding certain Idols in secret, and to encourage waverers to come to a thorough decision for Jehovah. In these intensely exciting days, we " stood still " and saw the salvation of the Lord. They flocked around us now at every meeting we held. They listened eagerly to the story of the life and death of Jesus. They voluntarily assumed one or other article of clothing. And everything trans- piring was fully and faithfully submitted to us for counsel or for information. One of the very first things of a Christian discipline to which they readily and almost unanimously took was the asking of God's blessing on every meal and praising the great Jehovah for their daily bread. Whosoever did not do so was regarded as a Heathen. (Query: how many white Heathens are there?) The next step, and it was taken in a manner as if by some common consent that was not less surprising than joyful, was a form of Family Worship every morning and even- ing. Doubtless the prayers were often very queer, and mixed up with many remaining superstitions ; but they were prayers to the great Jehovah, the P. 13 194 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. compassionate Father, the Invisible One no longer to gods of stone 1 Necessarily these were the conspicuous features of our life as Christians in their midst morning and evening Family Prayer, and Grace at Meat ; and hence, most naturally, their instinctive adoption and imitation of the same as the first outward tokens of Christian discipline. Every house in which there was not Prayer to God in the family was known thereby to be Heathen. This was a direct and practical evidence of the New Religion ; and, so far as it goes (and that is very far indeed, where there is any sincerity at all), the test was one about which there could be no mistake on either side. A third conspicuous feature stood out distinctly and at once, the change as to the Lord's Day. Village after village followed in this also the example of the Mission House. All ordinary occupations ceased. Sabbath was spoken of as the Day for Jehovah. Saturday came to be called "Cooking Day," referring to the extra preparations for the day of rest and worship. They believed that it was Jehovah's will to keep the first day holy. The re- verse was a distinctive mark of Heathenism. The first traces of a new Social Order began to rise visibly on the delighted eye. The whole inhabit- ants, young and old, now attended School, three generations sometimes at the one copy or A B C book ! Thefts, quarrels, crimes, etc., were settled now, not by club law, but by fine or bonds or lash, as PACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. 195 agreed upon by the Chiefs and their people. Every- thing was rapidly and surely becoming " new " under the influence of the leaven of Jesus. Industry in- creased. Huts and plantations were safe. Formerly every man, in travelling, carried with him all his valuables ; now they were secure, left at home. Even a brood of fowls or a litter of pigs would be carried in bags on their persons in Heathen days. Hence at Church we had sometimes lively episodes, the chirruping of chicks, the squealing of piggies, and the barking of puppies, one gaily responding to the other, as we sang, or prayed, or preached the Gospel ! Being glad to see the Natives there, even with all their belongings, we carefully refrained from finding fault ; but the thread of devotion was sometimes apt to slip through one's fingers, especially when the conflict of the owner to silence a baby-pig inspired the little wretch to drown everything in a long-sustained and angry swinish scream. The Natives, finding this state of matters trouble- some to themselves and disagreeable all round, called a General Assembly, unanimously condemned dis- honesty, agreed upon severe fines and punishments for every act of theft, and covenanted to stand by each other in putting it down. The Chiefs, however, found this a long and difficult task, but they held at it under the inspiration of the Gospel and prevailed. Even the trials and difficulties with which they met were overruled by God, in assisting them to form by the light of their own experience a simple code 196 FACE TO FACE WITH HEATHENISM. of Social Laws, fitted to repress the crimes there prevailing, and to encourage the virtues specially needing to be cultivated there. Heathen Worship was gradually extinguished ; and, though no one was compelled to come to Church, every person on Aniwa, without exception, became an avowed worshipper of Jehovah God. Again, " O Galilean, Thou hast con- quered ! " Often since have I meditated on that old Cannibal Chief reasoning himself and his people, from the sinking of the well and the bringing of the invisible water to view, into a belief as to the existence and power of the great Invisible God, the only Hearer and Answerer of prayer. And the contrasted picture rises before my mind of the multitudes in Britain, America, Germany, and our Colonies, all whose wisdom, science, art, and wealth have only left them in spiritual dark- ness miserable doubters ! In their pride of heart, they deny their Creator and Redeemer, so gloriously revealed to them alike in Nature and in Scripture, and are like a dog barking against the sun. They will accept nothing but what their poorly-developed Science can demonstrate ; yet that Science, as com- pared with the All-Truth of the Universe, is infinitely smaller than was the poor Chief Namakei's know- ledge as compared with mine ! They do certainly know that their very existence, at every moment, depends on things that neither reason nor science can fathom, any more than Namakei could understand the rain from below. For every reason that he and FACE TO PACE WITH HEATHENISM. 197 his people had to believe in the Invisible God, who brought the water to their view, these sons and daughters of civilization, " the heirs of all the ages in the foremost files of time," have ten thousand more from history, from science, from material progress yet in their pride of Intellect they refuse to ac- knowledge and adore that Invisible and Inscrutable God, in whom every day they live, and move, and have their being, and who has spoken to us by His Son from Heaven. If their own sons, daughters, or servants, who are infinitely less dependent on them than they are upon God, should treat themselves as they are treating their Creator, what would they think ? How would they feel ? I pity from the depth of my heart every human being, who, from whatever cause, is a stranger to the most ennobling, uplifting, and consoling experience that can come to the soul of man blessed communion with the Father of our Spirits, through gracious union with the Lord Jesus Christ. " I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father : for so it seemed good in Thy sight . . . Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me ; for I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light " (Matt xi. 25-30). CHAPTER VII. THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. My first Aniwan Book. The Power of Music. A Pair of Glass Eyes. Church Building for Jesus. The Hanging of the Bell. Patesa and his Bride. An Armed Embassage. Youwili's Taboo. Youwili's Conversion. The Tobacco Idol First Communion on Aniwa. Our Village Day Schools. New Social Laws. A Sabbath Day's Work on Aniwa. Our Week-day Life. The Orphans and their Biscuits." The Wreck of the Dayspring." God's Own Finger- Posts. God's Work our Guarantee. Profane Swearers Rebuked. A Heavenly Vision. On Wing through New Zealand. Our Second Dayspring. THE printing of my first Aniwan book was a great event, not so much for the toil and worry which it cost me, though that was enough to have broken the heart of many a compositor, as rather for the joy it gave to the old Chief Namakei. The break-up at Tanna had robbed me of my own neat little printing press. I had since obtained at Aneityum the remains of one from Erromanga, that had belonged to the murdered Gordon. But the sup- ply of letters, in some cases, was so deficient that I could print only four pages at a time; and, besides, bits of the press were wanting, and I had first to manufac- 198 THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 199 ture substitutes from scraps of iron and wood. I managed, however, to make it go, and by-and-bye it did good service. By it I printed our Aniwan Hymn- Book, a portion of Genesis in Aniwan, a small book in Erromangan for the second Gordon, and other little things. The old Chief had eagerly helped me in translating and preparing this first book, He had a great desire " to hear it speak," as he graphically expressed it. It was made up chiefly of short passages from the Scrip- tures, that might help me to introduce them to the treasures of Divine truth and love. Namakei came to me, morning after morning, saying, " Missi, is it done ? Can it speak ? " At last I was able to answer, " Yes ! " The old Chief eagerly responded, " Does it speak my words ? " I said, " It does." With rising interest, Namakei exclaimed, " Make it speak to me, Missi ! Let me hear it speak." I read to him a part of the book, and the old man fairly shouted in an ecstasy of joy : " It does speak ! It speaks my own language, too ! Oh, give it to me ! " He grasped it hurriedly, turned it all round every way, pressed it to his bosom, and then, closing it with a look of great disappointment, handed it back to me, saying, " Missi, I cannot make it speak ! It will never speak to me." " No," said I ; " you don't know how to read it yet, 200 THE LIGHT THAT SHIN ETH MORE AND MORE. how to make it speak to you ; but I will teach you to read, and then it will speak to you as it does to me." " O Missi, dear Missi, show me how to make it speak ! " persisted the bewildered Chief. He was straining his eyes so, that I suspected they were dim with age, and could not see the letters. I looked out for him a pair of spectacles, and managed to fit him well. He was much afraid of putting them on at first, manifestly in dread of some sort of sorcery. At last when they were properly placed, he saw the letters and everything so clearly that he exclaimed in great excitement and joy, " I see it all now 1 This is what you told us about Jesus. He opened the eyes of a blind man. The word of Jesus has just come to Aniwa. He has sent me these glass eyes. I have gotten back again the sight that I had when a boy. O Missi, make the book speak to me now ! " I walked out with him to the public Village Ground. There I drew A B C in large characters upon the dust, showed him the same letters in the book, and left him to compare them, and find out how many occurred on the first page. Fixing these in his mind, he came running to me, and said, *' I have lifted up A B C. They are here in my head, and I will hold them fast Give me other three." This was repeated time after time. He mastered the whole Alphabet, and soon began to spell out the smaller words. Indeed, he came so often, getting THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 201 me to read it over and over, that before he himself could read it freely he had it word for word committed to memory. When strangers passed him, or young people came around, he would get out the little book, and say, "Come, and I will let you hear how the book speaks our. own Aniwan words. You say, it is hard to learn to read and make it speak. But be strong to try ! If an old man like me has done it, it ought to be much easier for you." One day I heard him read to a company with won- derful fluency. Taking the book, I asked him to show me how he had done it so quickly. Immediately I perceived that he could recite the whole from memory. He became our right-hand helper in the Conversion of Aniwa. Next after God's own Word, perhaps the power of Music was most amazingly blessed in opening up our way. Amongst many other illustrations, I may mention how Namakei's wife was won. The old lady positively shuddered at coming near the Mission House, and dreaded being taught anything. One day she was induced to draw near the door, and fixing a hand on either post, and gazing inwards, she ex- claimed, " Awai, Missi ! Kdi, Missi ! " the Native cry for unspeakable wonder. Mrs. Paton began to play on the harmonium, and sang a simple hymn in the old woman's language. Manifestly charmed, she drew nearer and nearer, and drank in the music, aj? it were, at every pore of her being. At last she ran off, ai*> 202 THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. we thought it was with fright, but it was to call to- gether all the women and girls from her village " to hear the bokis sing ! w (Having no x, the word box is pronounced thus.) She returned with them all at her heels. They listened with dancing eyes. And ever after the sound of a hymn, and the song of the bokis, made them flock freely to class or meeting. Being myself as nearly as possible destitute of the power of singing, all my work would have been im- paired and sadly hindered, and the joyous side of the Worship and Service of Jehovah could not have been presented to the Natives, but for the gift bestowed by the Lord on my dear wife. She led our songs of praise, both in the family and in the Church, and that was the first avenue by which the New Religion winged its way into the heart of Cannibal and Savage. The old Chief was particularly eager that this same aged lady, his wife Yauwaki, should be taught to read. But her sight was far gone. So, one day, he brought her to me, saying, " Missi, can you give my wife also a pair of new glass eyes like mine ? She tries to learn, but she cannot see the letters. She tries to sew, but she pricks her finger, and throws away the needle, saying, ' The ways of the white people are not good ! ' If she could get a pair of glass eyes, she would be in a new world like Namakei." In my bundle I found a pair that suited her. She was in positive terroi about putting them on her face, but at last she cried with delight, OH, MY NEW EYES!' THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 203 " Oh, my new eyes ! my new eyes ! I have the sight of a little girl. I will learn hard now. I will make up for lost time." Her progress was never very great, but her in- fluence for good on other women and girls was im- mense. In all my work amongst the Natives, I have striven to train them to be self-supporting, and have never helped them where I could train them to help them- selves. In this respect I was exceedingly careful, when the question arose of building their Churches, and Schools. At first we moved about amongst them from village to village, acquired their language, and taught them everywhere, by the roadside, under the shade of a tree, or on the public Village Ground. Our old Native Hut, when we removed to the Mission House formerly referred to, was used for all sorts of public meetings. Feeling by-and-bye that the time had come to interest them in building a new Church, and that it would be every way helpful, I laid the proposal before them, carefully explaining that for this work no one would be paid, that the Church was for all the Islanders and for the Worship alone, and that every one must build purely for the love of Jesus. I told them that God would be pleased with such materials as they had to give, that they must not begin till they had divided the work and counted the cost, and that for my part I would do all that I could to direct and help, and would supply the sinnet ao 4 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. ( = cocoa-nut fibre rope) which I had brought from Aneityum, and the nails brought from Sydney. They held meeting after meeting throughout the Island. Chiefs made long speeches ; orators chanted their palavers ; and warriors acted their part by waving of club and tomahawk. An unprecedented friendliness sprang up amongst them. They agreed to sink every quarrel, and unite in building the first Church on Aniwa, one Chief only holding back. Women and children began to gather and prepare the sugar-cane leaf for thatch. Men searched for and cut down suitable trees. The Church measured sixty-two feet by twenty- four. The wall was twelve feet high. The studs were of hard iron-wood, and were each by tenon and mortise fastened into six iron-wood trees forming the upper wall plates. All were not only nailed, but strongly tied together by sinnet-rope, so as to resist the hurricanes. The roof was supported by four huge iron-wood trees, and another of equally hard wood, sunk about eight feet into the ground, sur- rounded by building at the base, and forming massive pillars. There were two doorways and eight window spaces; the floor was laid with white coral, broken small, and covered with cocoa-nut tree leaf-mats, on which the people sat. I had a small platform, floored and surrounded with reeds ; and Mrs. Paton had a seat enclosing the harmonium, also made of reeds, and in keeping. Great harmony prevailed all the time, and no mishap marred the work. One hearty THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 205 ."ellow fell from the roof-tree to the ground, and was badly stunned. But, jumping up, he shook himself, and saying, " I was working for Jehovah ! He has saved me from being hurt," he mounted the roof again and went on cheerily with his work. Our pride in the New Church soon met with a dreadful blow. That very season a terrific hurricane evelled it with the ground. After much wailing, the principal Chief, in a great Assembly, said, " Let us not weep, like boys over their broken bows and arrows ! Let us be strong, and build a yet stronger Church for Jehovah." By our counsel, ten days were spent first in repair- ing houses and fences, and saving food from the plantations, many of which had been swept into utter ruin. Then they assembled on the appointed day. A hymn was sung. God's blessing was invoked, and all the work was dedicated afresh to Him. Days were spent in taking the iron- wood roof to pieces, and saving everything that could be saved. The work was allocated equally amongst the villages, and a wholesome emulation was created. One Chief still held back. After a while, I visited him and per- sonally invited his help, telling him that it was God's House, and for all the people of Aniwa ; and that if he and his people did not do their part, the others would cast it in their teeth that they had no share in the House of God. He yielded to my appeal, and entered vigorously upon the work. One large tree was still needed to complete the 206 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. couples, and could nowhere be found. The work was at a standstill ; for, though the size was now reduced to fifty feet by twenty-two, and the roof had been lowered by four feet in order to give the wind- lass sufficient purchase, there was plenty of smaller wood on Aniwa, but the larger trees were apparently exhausted. One morning, however, we were awoke at early daybreak by the shouting and singing of a company of men, carrying a great black tree to the Church, with this same Chief dancing before them, leading the singing, and beating time with the flourish of his tomahawk. Determined not to be beaten, though late in the field, he had lifted the roof-tree out of his own house, as black as soot could make it, and was carrying it to complete the couplings. The rest of the builders shouted against this. All the other wood of the Church was white and clean, and they would not have this black tree, conspicuous in the very centre of all But I praised the old Chief for what he had done, and hoped he and his people would come and worship Jehovah under his own roof-tree. At this all were delighted ; and the work went on apace, with many songs and shoutings. Whenever the Church was roofed in, we met in it for Public Worship. Coral was being got and burned, and preparations made for plastering the walls. The Natives were sharp enough to notice that I was not putting up the bell ; and suspicions arose that I kept it back in order to take it with me when I returned to Tanna. It was a beautiful Church bell, cast and THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 207 sent out by our dear friend, James Taylor, Esq., Engineer, Birkenhead. The Aniwans, therefore, gave me no rest till I agreed to have it hung on their new Church. They found a large iron-wood *ree near the shore, cut a road for half a mile through the bush, tied poles across it every few feet, and with shouts lifted it bodily on their shoulders six men or so at each pole and never set it down again till they reached the Church ; for as one party got exhausted, others were ready to rush in and relieve them at every stage of the journey. The two old Chiefs, flourishing their tomahawks, went capering in front of all the rest, and led the song to which they marched, joyfully bearing their load. They dug a deep hole into which to sink it ; I squared the top and screwed on the bell ; then we raised the tree by ropes, letting it sink into the hole, built it round eight feet deep with coral blocks and lime, and there from its top swings and rings ever since the Church bell of Aniwa. A fortnight's cessation of labour at the Church now followed. Their own plantations were attended to, and other needful duties performed. Our resump- tion of operations at the Church gave the opportunity for a deed of horrid cruelty. The Chiefs son, Patesa, had just been married to a youthful widow, whom Nasi, a Tanna man living on Aniwa, had also desired. The people of the young bridegroom's village agreed to sleep overnight near the Mission Premises, in order to be ready for the work early next morning ; and they deputed the young couple o8 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. to return to the village and sleep there, watching over their property. Nasi and his half-brother Nouka, knowing they were alone, crept stealthily towards their hut at earliest daybreak, and removed the door without awaking either of the sleepers. Next moment a ball struck the young husband dead. The wife sprang up and implored Nasi to spare her ; but he sent a ball through her heart, and she fell dead upon her dead spouse. Their people, hearing the double shot, rushed to the scene, and found the hut flowing with blood. Early that same forenoon the bride and bridegroom were laid in the same grave, in the sleep of love and death. For a week all our work was suspended. Men and boys went about fully armed, and all their talk was for revenge. Nasi had a number of desperate fellows at his back, all armed with muskets, and I feared the loss of many lives. I implored them for once to leave the vengeance in the hands of God, and to stand by each other in carrying forward the work of Jehovah. But I solemnly forbade the murderers to come near the Mission House, or to help us with the Church. My counsel was so far accepted. But every man came to the work armed with musket, tomahawk, spear, and club, and the boys with bows and arrows ; and these were piled up round the fence at hand, with watchmen stationed for alarm. Thus, literally with sword in one hand and trowel in the other, the House of the Lord was reared again on Aniwa. Coral was secured, as described in a preceding THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 209 chapter ; lime was prepared therefrom by burning it in extemporized kilns ; and each village vied with all the rest in plastering beautifully its own allocated portion the first job of the kind they had ever done. The floor was covered with broken coral and mats, but the Natives are now (1889) furnishing it with white men's seats. Originally they had a row of seats all round it inside, made of bamboo cane and reeds. The women and girls enter by one door, and the men and boys by another ; and they sit on separate sides, except at the Lord's table, when all sit together as one family. It was a Church perfectly suitable for their circumstances, and it cost the Home Committees not a single penny. It has withstood many a hurricane. A large number of the original builders are gone to their rest ; but their work abides, and witnesses for God amongst their children. On its rude walls I could see the glorious motto "Jehovah Shammah." One of the last attempts ever made on my life resulted, by God's blessing, in great good to us all and to the work of the Lord. It was when Nourai, one of Nasi's men, struck at me again and again with the barrel of his musket ; but I evaded the blows, till rescued by the women the men looking on stupefied. After he escaped into the bush, I as- sembled our people, and said, " If you do not now try to stop this bad conduct, I shall leave Aniwa, and go to some island where my life will be protected." P. U 210 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. Next morning at daybreak, about one hundred men arrived at my house, and in answer to my query why they came armed they replied, " We are now going to that village, where the men of wicked con- duct are gathered together. We will find out why they sought your life, and we will rebuke their Sacred Man for pretending to cause hurricanes and diseases. We cannot go unarmed. We will not suffer you to go alone. We are your friends and the friends of the Worship. And we are resolved to stand by you, and you must go at our head to-day ! " In great perplexity, yet believing that my presence might prevent bloodshed, I allowed myself to be placed at their head. The old Chief followed next, then a number of fiery young men ; then all the rest, single file, along the narrow path. At a sudden turn, as we neared their village, Nourai, who had attacked me the Sabbath day before, and his brother were seen lurking with their muskets ; but our young men made a rush in front, and they disappeared into the bush. We took possession of the Village Public Ground ; and the Chief, the Sacred Man, and others soon assembled. A most characteristic Native Palaver followed. Speeches, endless speeches, were fired by them at each other. My friends declared, in every conceivable form of language and of graphic illustra- tion, that they were resolved at any cost to defend me and the worship of Jehovah, and that they would as one man punish every attempt to injure me or take my life. The orator, Taia, exclaimed, THB LIGHT THAT SH1NBTH MORE AND MORE, an- " You think that Missi is here alone, and that you can do with him as you please ! No 1 We are now all Missi's men. We will fight for him and his rather than see him injured. Every one that attacks him attacks us. That is finished to-day 1 " In the general scolding, the Sacred Man had special attention, for pretending to cause hurricanes. One pointed out that he had himself a stiff knee, and argued, "If he can make a hurricane, why can't he restore the joint of his own knee ? It is surely easier to do the one than the other ! " The Natives laughed heartily, and taunted him. Meantime he sat looking down to the earth in sullen silence ; and a ludicrous episode ensued. His wife, a big, strong woman, scolded him roundly for the trouble he had brought them all into ; and then, getting indignant as well as angry, she seized a huge cocoa-nut leaf out of the bush, and with the butt end thereof began thrashing his shoulders vigorously, as she poured out the vials of her wrath in torrents of words, always winding up with the cry, " I'll knock the Tevil out of him 1 He'll not try hurricanes again!" The woman was a Malay, as many of the Aniwans were. Had a Papuan woman on Tanna or Erromanga dared such a thing, she would have been killed on the spot. But even on Aniwa, the unwonted spectacle of a wife beating her husband created uproarious amuse- ment At length I remonstrated, saying, 212 THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. u You had better stop now ! You don't want to kill him, do you ? You seem to have knocked ' the Tevil ' pretty well out of him now ! You see how he receives it all in silence, and repents of all his bad talk and bad conduct" They exacted from him a solemn promise as to the making of no more diseases or hurricanes, and that he would live at peace with his neighbours. The offending villagers at length presented a large quantity of sugar-cane and food to us as a peace- offering ; and we returned, praising God that the whole day's scolding had ended in talk, not blood. The result was every way most helpful. Our friends knew their strength and took courage. Our enemies were disheartened and afraid. We saw the balance growing heavier every day on the side of Jesus ; and our souls blessed the Lord. These events suggest to me another incident of those days full at once of trial and of joy. It pertains tc the story of our young Chief, Youwili. From the first, and for long, he was most audacious and trouble- some. Observing that for several days no Natives had come near the Mission House, I asked the old Chief if he knew why, and he answered, "Youwili has tabooed the paths, and threatens death to any one who breaks through it." I at once replied : " Then I conclude that you all agree with him, and wish me to leave. We are here only to teach you and your people. If he has power to prevent that, we shall leave with the Dayspring" THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 213 The old Chief called the people together, and they came to me, saying, " Our anger is strong against Youwili. Go with us and break down the taboo. We will assist and protect you." I went at their head and removed it. It consisted simply of reeds stuck into the ground, with twigs and leaves and fibre tied to each in a peculiar way, in a circle round the Mission House, The Natives had an extraordinary dread of violating the taboo, and believed that it meant death to the offender or to some one of his family. All present entered into a bond to punish on the spot any man who attempted to replace the taboo, or to revenge its removal. Thus a mortal blow was publicly struck at this most miserable superstition, which had caused bloodshed and misery untold. One day, thereafter, I was engaged in clearing away the bush around the Mission House, having purchased and paid for the land for the very purpose of opening it up, when suddenly Youwili appeared and menacingly forbade me to proceed. For the sake of peace I for the time desisted. But he went straight to my fence, and with his tomahawk cut down the portion in front of our house, also some bananas planted there, their usual declaration of war, intimating that he only awaited his opportunity similarly to cut down me and mine. We saw the old Chief and his men planting themselves here and there to guard us, and the Natives prowling about armed and excited. On calling them, they explained 214 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. the meaning of what Youwili had done, and that they were determined to protect us. I said, " This must not continue. Are you to permit one young fool to defy us all, and break up the Lord's work on Aniwa ? If you cannot righteously punish him, I will shut myself up in my House and with- draw from all attempts to teach or help you, till the Vessel comes, and then I can leave the Island." Now that they had begun really to love us, and to be anxious to learn more, this was always my most powerful argument We retired into the Mission House. The people surrounded our doors and win- dows and pleaded with us. After long silence, we replied, " You know our resolution. It is for you now to decide. Either you must control that foolish young man, or we must go 1 " Much speech -making, as usual, followed. The people resolved to seize and punish Youwili ; but he fled, and had hid himself in the bush. Coming to me, the Chief said, " It is left to you to say what shall be Youwili's punishment. Shall we kill him ? " I replied firmly, " Certainly not ! Only for murder can life be lawfully taken away." " What then ? " they continued. " Shall we burn his houses and destroy his plantations ? " I answered, " No." " Shall we bind him and beat him ?* "No." THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 7*5 " Shall we place him in a canoe, thrust him out to sea, and let him drown or escape as he may ? " a No ! by no means." " Then, Missi," said they, " these are our ways of punishing. What other punishment remains that Youwili cares for ? " I replied, "Make him with his own hands, and alone, put up a new fence, and restore all that he has destroyed ; and make him promise publicly that he will cease all evil conduct towards us. That will satisfy me." This idea of punishment seemed to tickle them greatly. The Chiefs reported our words to the Assembly ; and the Natives laughed and cheered, as if it were a capital joke ! They cried aloud, " It is good ! It is good ! Obey the word of the Missi." - After considerable hunting, the young Chief was found. They brought him to the Assembly and scolded him severely and told him their sentence. He was surprised by the nature of the punishment, and cowed by the determination of the people. " To-morrow," said he, " I will fully repair the fence. Never again will I oppose the Missi. His word is good." By daybreak next morning Youwili was diligently repairing what he had broken down, and before evening he had everything made right, better than it was before. While he toiled away, some fellows of his own rank twitted him, saying, *i6 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE ANL, MORE. " Youwili, you found it easier to cut down Missi's fence than to repair it again. You will not repeat that in a hurry ! " But he heard all in silence. Others passed with averted heads, and he knew they were laughing at him. He made everything tight, and then left with- out uttering a single word. My heart yearned after the poor fellow, but I thought it better to let his own mind work away, on its new ideas as to punishment and revenge, for a little longer by itself alone. I instinctively felt that Youwili was beginning to turn, that the Christ-Spirit had touched his darkly- groping soul. My doors were now thrown open, and every good work went on as before. We resolved to leave Youwili entirely to Jesus, setting apart a portion of our prayer every day for the enlighten- ment and conversion of the young Chief, on whom all our means had been exhausted apparently in vain. A considerable time elapsed. No sign came, and our prayers seemed to fail. But one day, I was toiling between the shafts of a hand-cart, assisted by two boys, drawing it along from the shore loaded with coral blocks. Youwili came rushing from his house, three hundred yards or so off the path, and said, " Missi, that is too hard work for you. Let me be your helper 1 " Without waiting for a reply, he ordered the two boys to seize one rope, while he grasped the other THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 217 threw it over his shoulder and started off, pulling with the strength of a horse. My heart rose in gratitude, and I wept with joy as I followed him. I knew that that rope was but a symbol of the yoke of Christ, which Youwili with his change of heart was beginning to carry ! Truly there is only one way of being born again, regeneration by the power of the Spirit of God, the new heart ; but there are many ways of conversion, of outwardly turning to the Lord, of taking the actual first step that shows on whose side we are. Regeneration is the sole work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart and soul, and is in every case one and the same. Conversion, on the other hand, bringing into play the action also of the human will, is never absolutely the same perhaps in even two souls, as like and yet as different as are the faces of men. Like those of old praying for the deliverance of Peter, and who could not believe their ears and eyes when Peter knocked and walked in amongst them, so we could scarcely believe our eyes and ears when Youwili became a disciple of Jesus, though we had been praying for his conversion every day. His once sullen countenance became literally bright with inner light. His wife came immediately for a book and a dress, saying, " Youwili sent me. His opposition to the Worship is over now. I am to attend Church and School. He is coming too. He wants to learn how to be strong, like you, for Jehovah and for Jesus." si8 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. Oh, Jesus 1 to Thee alone be all the glory. Thou hast the key to unlock every heart that Thou hast created. Youwili proved to be slow at learning to read, but he had perseverance, and his wife greatly helped him. The two attended the Communicants' Class together, and ultimately both sat down at the Lord's Table. After his first Communion, he waited for me under an orange-tree near the Mission House, and said, " Missi, I've given up everything for Jesus, except one. I want to know if it is bad, if it will make Jesus angry ; for if so, I am willing to give it up. I want to live so as to please Jesus now." We feared that it was some of their Heathenish immoralities, and were in a measure greatly relieved when he proceeded, " Missi, I have not yet given up my pipe and to- bacco ! O Missi, I have used it so long, and I do like it so well ; but if you say that it makes Jesus angry with me, I will smash my pipe now, and never smoke again ! " The man's soul was aflame. He was in tremendous earnest, and would have done anything for me. But I was more anxious to instruct his conscience than to dominate it I therefore replied in effect thus, " I rejoice, Youwili, that you are ready to give up anything to please Jesus. He well deserves it, for He gave up His life for you. For my part, you know that I do not smoke ; and from my point of view I would think it wrong in me to waste time and money THE LIGHT THAT SHINRTH MORE AND MORE. 219 and perhaps health in blowing tobacco smoke into the air. It would do me no good. It could not possibly help me to serve or please Jesus better. I think I am happier and healthier without it. And I am certain that I can use the time and money, spent on this selfish and rather filthy habit, far more for God's glory in many other ways. But I must be true to you, Youwili, and admit that many of God's dear people differ from me in these opinions. They spend time and money, and sometimes injure health, in smoking, besides setting a wasteful example to lads and young men, and do not regard it as sinful. I will not therefore condemn these, our fellow Chris- tians, by calling smoking a sin like drunkenness ; but I will say to you that I regard it as a foolish and wasteful indulgence, a bad habit, and that though you may serve and please Jesus with it, you might serve and please Jesus very much better without it" He looked very anxious, as if weighing his habit against his resolution, and then said, " Missi, I give up everything else. If it wont make Jesus angry, I will keep the pipe. I have used it so long, and oh, I do like it ! " Renewing our advice and counsel, but leaving him free to do in that matter so as to please Jesus accord- ing to his own best light, Youwili departed with a conscience so far greatly relieved, and we had many meditations upon the incident. Most of our Natives, on their conversion, have voluntarily renounced the Tobacco Idol ; but what more could I say to Youwili, 220 THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. with thousands of white Christians at my back burn- ing incense to that same idol every day of their lives ? Marvellous to me, in this connection, has often been the working of a tender conscience, asking itself how to serve and please Jesus, or how to do more for Jesus. Some years ago, for instance, I met a State School Teacher in Victoria, who had been lately brought under the power of the Gospel. In his fresh love, he wanted to do something to show his gratitude to Jesus. He had a young family, and the way was barred to the Mission field. His dear wife and he calculated over all their expenditure, to find out how much they could save to support the work of Jesus at home and abroad. Little or nothing could be spared from what appeared necessary claims. He fell upon his knees, and in tears implored God to show him how he could do something more to save the perishing. A voice came to him like a flash, "If you so care for Me and My work, you can easily sacrifice your pipe." He instantly took up his pipe, and laid it before the Lord, saying, "There it is, O my Lord, and whatsoever it may have cost me, shall now from year to year be Thine I" He was not what is called a heavy smoker, any- thing under one shilling per week being considered " moderate," as I am informed. But he found that he had been spending thirty-one shillings per annum on tobacco ; and every year since he has laid that THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 221 money upon the altar to Jesus, and prayed Him to use it in sending His Gospel to Heathen lands. I wonder which soul is the richer at the end of a year he who lays his money, saved from a selfish indulgence, at the feet of Jesus, or he who blows it away in filthy smoke ? And this leads me to relate the story of our First Communion on Aniwa. It was Sabbath, 24th October, 1869; and surely the Angels of God and the Church of the Redeemed in Glory were amongst the great cloud of witnesses who eagerly " peered " down upon the scene, when we sat around the Lord's Table and partook of His body and blood with those few souls rescued out of the Heathen World. My Communicants' Class had occupied me now a con- siderable time. The conditions of attendance at this early stage were explicit, and had to be made very severe, and only twenty were admitted to the roll. At the final examination only twelve gave evidence of understanding what they were doing, and of having given their hearts to the service of the Lord Jesus. At their own urgent desire, and after every care in examining and instructing, they were solemnly dedi- cated in prayer to be baptized and admitted to the Holy Table. On that Lord's Day, after the usual opening Service, I gave a short and careful exposition of the Ten Commandments and of the Way of Salva- tion according to the Gospel. The twelve Candidates then stood up before all the inhabitants there assem- bled; and, after a brief exhortation to them as 222 THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE* Converts, I put to them the two questions that follow, and each gave an affirmative reply, " Do you, in accordance with your profession of the Christian Faith, and your promises before God and the people, wish me now to baptize you ? And, " Will you live henceforth for Jesus only, hating all sin and trying to love and serve your Saviour ? " Then, beginning with the old Chief, the twelve came forward, and I baptized them one by one ac- cording to the Presbyterian usage. Two of them had also little children, and they were at the same time baptized, and received as the lambs of the flock. Solemn prayer was then offered, and in the name of the Holy Trinity the Church of Christ on Aniwa was formally constituted. I addressed them on the words of the Holy Institution I Corinthians XL 23 and then, after the prayer of Thanksgiving and Consecra- tion, administered the Lord's Supper, the first time since the Island of Aniwa was heaved out of its coral depths ! Mrs. McNair, my wife, and myself along with six Aneityumese Teachers, communicated with the newly baptized twelve. And I think, if ever in all my earthly experience, on that day I might truly add the blessed words Jesus " in the midst" The whole Service occupied nearly three hours. The Islanders looked on with a wonder whose un- wonted silence was almost painful to bear. Many were led to inquire carefully about everything they saw, so new and strange. For the first time the THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 223 Dorcas Street Sabbath School Teachers' gift from South Melbourne Presbyterian Church was put to use a new Communion Service of silver. They gave it in faith that we would require it, and in such we received it. And now the day had come and gone ! For three years we had toiled and prayed and taught for this. At the moment when I put the bread and wine into those dark hands, once stained with the blood of Cannibalism, now stretched out to receive and partake the emblems and seals of the Redeemer's love, I had a foretaste of the joy of Glory that well nigh broke my heart to pieces. I shall never taste a deeper bliss, till I gaze on the glorified face of Jesus Himself. On the afternoon of that Communion Day, an open-air Prayer Meeting was held under the shade of the great banyan tree in front of our Church. Seven of the new Church members there led the people in prayer to Jesus, a hymn being sung betwixt each. My heart was so full of joy that I could do little else but weep. Oh, I wonder, I wonder, when I see so many good Ministers at home, crowding each other and treading on each other's heels, whether they would not part with all their home privileges, and go out to the Heathen World and reap a joy like this "the joy of the Lord." Having now our little Aniwan book, we set about establishing Schools at every village on the Island. Mrs. Paton and I had been diligently instructing those around us, and had now a number prepared to 224 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. act as helpers. Experience has proved that, for the early stages their own fellow- Islanders are the most successful instructors. Each village built its own J chool, which on Sabbath served as a district Church. For the two most advanced Schools I had our good neityamese Teachers, and for the others I took the best readers that could be found. These I changed frequently, returning them to our own School for a season, which was held for them in the afternoon ; and, to encourage them, a small salary was granted to each of them yearly, drawn from what is known throughout the Churches as the Native Teachers' Fund. These village Schools have all to be conducted at daybreak, while the heavy dews still drench the bush ; for, so soon as the dews are lifted by the rising sun, the Natives are off to their plantations, on which they depend for their food almost exclusively. I had a large School at the Mission Station also at day- break, besides the afternoon School at three o'clock for the training of Teachers. At first they made very little progress ; but they began to form habits of attention ; and they learned the fruitful habit ot acknowledging God always, for all our Schools were opened and closed with prayer. As their knowledge and faith increased, we saw their Heathen practices rapidly passing away, and a new life shaping itself around us. Mrs. Paton taught a class of about fifty women and girls. They became experts at sewing, singing, plaiting hats, and reading. Nearly all the THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 225 girls could at length cut out and make their own dresses, as well as shirts or kilts for the men and clothing for the children. Yet, three short years before, men and women alike were running about naked and savage. The Christ-Spirit is the true civilizing power. The new Social Order, referred to already in its dim beginnings, rose around us like a sweet-scented flower. I never interfered directly, unless expressly called upon or appealed to. The two principal Chiefs were impressed with the idea that there was but one law, the Will of God, and one rule for them and their people as Christians, to please the Lord Jesus. In every difficulty they consulted me. I explained to them and read in their hearing the very words of Holy Scripture, showing what appeared to me to be the will of God and what would please the Saviour ; and then sent them away to talk it over with their people, and to apply these principles of the word of God as wisely as they could according to their circumstances. Our own part of the work went on very joyfully, notwithstanding occasional trying and painful incidents. Individual cases of greed and selfishness and vice brought us many a bitter pang. But the Lord never lost patience with us, and we durst not therefore lose patience with them ! We trained the Teachers, we translated and printed and expounded the Scriptures, we ministered to the sick and dying; we dispensed medicines every day, we taught them the use of tools, we advised them as P. IS 826 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. to laws and penalties ; and the New Society grew and developed, and bore amidst all its imperfections some traces of the fair Kingdom of God amongst men. Our life and work will reveal itself to the reader if I briefly outline a Sabbath Day on Aniwa. Break- fast is partaken of immediately after daylight. The Church bell then rings, and ere it stops every wor- shipper is seated. The Natives are guided in starting by the sunrise, and are forward from farthest corners at this early hour. The first Service is over in about an hour ; there is an interval of twenty minutes ; the bell is again rung, and the second Service begins. We follow the ordinary Presbyterian- ritual ; but in every Service I call upon an Elder or a Church Member to lead in one of the prayers, which they do with great alacrity and with much benefit to all con- cerned. As the last worshipper leaves, at close of second Service, the bell is sounded twice very deliberately, and that is the signal for the opening of my Com- municants' Class. I carefully expound the Church's Shorter Catechism, and show how its teachings are built upon Holy Scripture, applying each truth to the conscience and the life. This Class is conducted all the year round, and from it, step by step, our Church Members are drawn as the Lord opens up their way, the most of them attending two full years at least before being admitted to the Lord's Table. This discipline accounts for the fact that so very few THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 227 of our baptized converts have ever fallen away as few in proportion, I verily believe, as in Churches at home. Meantime, many of the Church members have been holding a prayer meeting amongst them- selves in the adjoining School, a thing started of their own free accord, in which they invoke God's blessing on all the work and worship of the day. Having snatched a brief meal of tea, or a cold dinner cooked on Saturday, the bell rings within an hour, and our Sabbath School assembles, in which the whole inhabitants, young and old, take part, myself superintending and giving the address, as well as questioning on the lesson, Mrs. Paton teaching a large class of adult women, and the Elders and best readers instructing the ordinary classes for about half an hour or so. About one o'clock the School is closed, and we then start off in our village tours. An experienced Elder, with several Teachers, takes one side of the Island this Sabbath, I with another company taking the other side, and next Sabbath we reverse the order. A short Service is conducted in the open air, or in Schoolrooms, at every village that can be reached ; and on their return they report to me cases of sickness, or any signs of progress in the work oi the Lord. The whole Island is thus steadily and methodically evangelized. As the sun is setting I am creeping home from my village tour ; and when darkness begins to approach, the canoe drum is beat at every village, and the 228 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. people assemble under the banyan-tree for evening village prayers. The Elder or Teacher presides. Five or six hymns are joyously sung, and five or six short prayers offered between, and thus the evening hour passes happily in the fellowship of God. On a calm evening, after Christianity had fairly taken hold of the people, and they loved to sing over and over again their favourite hymns, these village prayer- meetings formed a most blessed close to every day, and set the far-distant bush echoing with the praises of God. At the Mission House, before retiring to rest, we assembled all the young people and any of our villagers who chose to join them. They sat round the dining-room floor in rows, sang hymns, read verses of the Bible, and asked and answered ques- tions about the teaching of the day. About nine o'clock we dismissed them, but they pled to remain and hear our Family Worship in English : "Missi, we like the singing! We understand a little. And we like to be where prayer is rising ! " Thus Sabbath after Sabbath flowed on in incessant service and fellowship. I was often wearied enough, but it was not a " weary " day to me, nor what some would call Puritanical and dull Our hearts were in it, and the people made it a weekly festival. They had few other distractions ; and amongst them " The Worship" was an unfailing sensation and delight As long as you gave them a chance to sing, they knew not what weariness was. When I returned to THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 229 so-called civilization, and saw how the Lord's Day was abused in white Christendom, my soul longed after the holy Sabbaths of Aniwa ! Nor is our week-day life less crowded or busy, though in different ways. At grey dawn on Monday, and every morning, the Tavaka ( = the canoe drum) is struck in every village on Aniwa. The whole in- habitants turn in to the early School, which lasts about an hour and a half, and then the Natives are off to their plantations. Having partaken my breakfast, I then spend my forenoon in translating or printing, or visiting the sick, or whatever else is most urgent About two o'clock the Natives return from their work, bathe in the sea, and dine off cocoa-nut, bread-fruit, or anything else that comes handily in the way. At three o'clock the bell rings, and the afternoon School for the Teachers and the more advanced learners then occupies my wife and myself for about an hour and a half. After this, the Natives spend their time in fishing or lounging or preparing supper, which is amongst them always the meal of the day. Towards sundown the Tavaka sounds again, and the day closes amid the echoes of village prayers from under their several banyan trees. Thus day after day and week after week passes over us on Aniwa ; and much the same on all the Islands where the Missionary has found a home. In many respects it is a simple and happy and beau- tiful life ; and the man, whose heart is full of things that are dear to Jesus, feels no desire to exchange 230 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MOKE AND MORE. it for the poor frivolities of what calls itself " Society/ and seems to finds its life in pleasures that Christ cannot be asked to share, and in which, therefore, Christians should have neither lot nor part. The habits of morning and evening family prayer and of grace at meat took a very wonderful hold upon the people ; and became, as I have shown else- where, a distinctive badge of Christian versus Heathen. This was strikingly manifested during a time of bitter scarcity that befell us. I heard a father, for instance, at his hut door, with his family around him, reverently blessing God for the food provided for them, and for all His mercies in Christ Jesus. Draw- ing near and conversing with them, I found that their meal consisted of fig leaves which they had gathered and cooked, a poor enough dish; but hunger makes a happy appetite, and contentment is a grateful relish. During the same period of privation, my Orphans suffered badly also. Once they came to me, saying, " Missi, we are very hungry." I replied, " So am I, dear children, and we have no more white food till the Day spring comes." They continued, " Missi, you have two beautiful fig trees. Will you let us take one feast of the young and tender leaves? We will not injure branch or fruit." I answered, "Gladly, my children, take your fill !*' In a twinkling each child was perched upon a branch; and they feasted there happy as squirrels TBE LIGHT THA7 SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 231 Every night we prayed for the vessel, and in the morning our Orphan boys rushed to the coral rocks and eagerly scanned the sea for an answer. Day after day they returned with sad faces, saying, " Missi, Tavakajimra /" ( = No vessel yet). But at grey dawn of a certain day, we were awoke by the boys shouting from the shore and running for the Mission House with the cry, "Tavaka oal Tavaka oaf" ( The vessel, hurrah ! ) We arose at once, and the boys exclaimed, " Missi, she is not our own vessel, but we think she carries her flag. She has three masts, and our Dayspring only two ! " I looked through my glass, and saw that they were discharging goods into the vessel's boats ; and the children, when I told them that boxes and bags and casks were being sent on shore, shouted and danced with delight. As the first boat-load was discharged, the Orphans surrounded me, saying, " Missi, here is a cask that rattles like biscuits ! Will you let us take it to the Mission House ? " " I told them to do so if they could ; and in a moment it was turned into the path, and the boys had it flying before them, some tumbling and hurting their knees, but up and at it again, and never pausing till it rolled up at the door of our Storehouse. On returning I found them all around it, and they said, "Missi, have you forgotten what you promised us?" I said, " What did 1 promise you ? " 232 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. They looked very disappointed and whispered to each other, " Missi has forgot ! " " Forgot what ? " inquired I. " Missi," they answered, " you promised that when the vessel came you would give each of us a biscuit" " Oh," I replied, " I did not forget ; I only wanted to see if you remembered it 1 " They laughed, saying, "No fear of that, Missi i Will you soon open the cask? We are dying for biscuits." At once I got hammer and tools, knocked off the hoops, took out the end, and then gave girls and boys a biscuit each. To my surprise, they all stood round biscuit in hand, but not one beginning to eat " What," I exclaimed, " you are dying for biscuits I Why don't you eat ? Are you expecting another ? " One of the eldest said, " We will first thank God for sending us food, and ask Him to bless it to us all" And this was done in their own simple and beauti- ful childlike way ; and then they did eat, and enjoyed their food as a gift from the Heavenly Father's hand. (Is there any child reading this, or hearing it read, who never thanks God or asks Him to bless daily bread ? Then is that child not a while Heathen ?) We ourselves at the Mission House could very heartily rejoice with the dear Orphans. For soioe weeks past our European food had been all ex- hausted, except a little tea, and the cocoa-nut had been our chief support. It was beginning to tell against us. Our souls rose in gratitude to tfie Lord, THE LIGHT THAT SHINE TH MORE AND MORE. 233 who had sent us these fresh provisions that we might love Him better and serve Him more. The children's sharp eyes had read correctly. It was not the Dayspring. Our brave little ship had gone to wreck on 6th January, 1873 ; and this vessel was the Paragon, chartered to bring down our sup- plies. Alas ! the wreck had gone by auction sale to a French slaving company, who cut a passage through the coral reef, and had the vessel again floating in the Bay, elated at the prospect of employing our Mission Ship in the blood-stained Kanaka-traffic ( = a mere euphemism for South Sea slavery)! Our souls sank in horror and concern. Many Natives would unwittingly trust themselves to the Dayspring ; and revenge would be taken on us, as was done on noble Bishop Patteson, when the deception was found out What could be done? Nothing but cry to God, which all the friends of our Mission did day and night, not without tears, as we thought of the possible degradation of our noble little Ship. Listen ! The French Slavers, anchoring their prize in the Bay, and greatly rejoicing, went ashore to celebrate the event. They drank and feasted and revelled. But that night a mighty storm arose, the old Dayspring dragged her anchor, and at daybreak she was seen again on the reef, but this time with her back broken in two and for ever unfit for service, either fair or foul. Oh, white-winged Virgin of the waves, better for thee, as for thy human sisters, to die and pass away than to suffer pollution and live on in disgrace ! 34 THE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. Dr. Steel had chartered the Paragon^ a new three- masted schooner, built at Balmain, Sydney, to come down with our provisions, letters, etc. ; and the owners had given a written agreement that if we could pur- chase her within a year we would get her for 3,000. She proved in every way a suitable vessel, and it became abundantly manifest that in the interests of our Mission her services ought to be permanently secured. I had often said that I would not again leave my beloved work on the Islands, unless compelled to do so either by the breakdown of health, or by the loss of our Mission Ship and my services being required to assist in providing another. Very strange, that in this one season both of these events befell us. During the hurricanes, from January to April, 1873, when the Day spring was wrecked, we lost a darling child by death, my dear wife had a protracted illness, and I was brought very low with severe rheumatic fever. I was reduced so far that I could not speak, and was reported as dying. The Captain of a vessel, having seen me, called at Tanna, and spoke of me as in all probability dead by that time. Our unfailing and ever-beloved friends and fellow Missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. Watt, at once started from Kwamera, Tanna, in their open boat and rowed and sailed thirty miles to visit us. But a few days before they arrived I had fallen into a long and sound sleep, out of which, when I awoke, consciousness had again returned to me. I had got the turn ; there was no THE LIGHT THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. 235 further relapse ; but when I did regain a little strength, my weakness was so great that I had to travel about on crutches for many a day. Being ordered to seek health by change and by higher medical aid, and if possible in the cooler air of New Zealand, we took the first opportunity and arrived at Sydney, anxious to start the new move- ment to secure the Paragon there, and then to go on to the Sister Colony. Being scarcely able to walk without the crutches, we called privately a preliminary meeting of friends for consultation and advice. The conditions were laid before them and discussed. The Insurance Company had paid ,2,000 on the first Day spring. Of that sum 1,000 had been spent on chartering and maintaining the Paragon; so that we required an additional 2,000 to purchase her, besides a large sum for alterations and equipment for the Mission. The late Mr. Learmouth looked across to Mr. Goodlet, and said, " If you'll join me, we will at once secure this vessel for the Missionaries, that God's work may not suffer from the wreck of the Dayspring. " Those two servants of God, excellent Elders of the Presbyterian Church, consulted together, and the vessel was purchased next day. How I did praise God, and pray Him to bless them and theirs ! The late Dr. Fullarton, our dear friend, said to them, " But what guarantee do you ask from the Mission- aries for your money ? " Mr. Learmouth's noble reply was, and the other 236 THE UGH? THAT SH1NETH MORE AND MORE. heartily re-echoed it, " God's work is our guarantee f From them we will ask none. What guarantee have they to give us, except their faith in God ? That guarantee is ours already." I answered, "You take God and His work foi your guarantee. Rest assured that He will soon repay you, and you will lose nothing by this noble service." Having secured St Andrew's Church for a public meeting, I advertised it in all the papers. Ministers, Sabbath School Teachers, and other friends came in great numbers. The scheme was fairly launched, and Collecting Cards largely distributed. Some of our fellow-Missionaries thought that the Colonial Churches should now do all these things voluntarily, without our personal efforts. But in every great emergency some one must take action and show the way, else golden opport unities are apt to slip. Com- mittees carried everything out into detail, and all worked for the fund with great goodwill. I then sailed from Sydney to Victoria, and ad- dressed the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in session at Melbourne. The work was easily set agoing there, and willing workers fully and rapidly organized it through Congregations and Sabbath Schools. Under medical advice, I next sailed for New Zealand in the S.S. Hero, Captain Logan. A large number of fast men and gamblers were on board, re- turning from the Melbourne Races, and their language fffE LIGHT THAT SHINETH MORE AND MORE. 237 was extremely profane. Having prayed over it, I said on the second day at the dinner table, " Gentlemen, will you bear with me a moment ? I am sure no man at this table wishes to wound the feelings of another or to give needless pain." Every eye stared at me, and there was a general cry as to what I meant. I continued, " Gentlemen, we are to be fellow- passengers for a week or more. Now I am cut and wounded to my very heart to hear you cursing the name of my Heavenly Father, and taking in vain the name of my blessed Saviour. It is God in whom we live and move, it is Jesus who died to save us, and I would rather ten times over you would wound and abuse me, which no gentleman here would think of doing, than profanely use those Holy Names so dear to me." There was a painful silence, and most faces grew crimson, some with rage, some perhaps with shame. At last a banker, who was there, a man dying of con- sumption, replied with a profane oath and with wrathful words. Keeping perfectly calm, in sorrow and pity, I replied, looking him kindly in the face, "Dear Sir, you and I are strangers. But I have pitied you very tenderly, ever since I came on board, for your heavy trouble and hacking cough. You ought to be the last to curse that blessed Name, as you may soon have to appear in His presence. I re- turn, however, no railing word. If the Saviour was as dear to your heart as He is to mine, you would better understand me." 238 THE LIGHT THAT SHI NET H MORE AND MORE. Little else was said during the remainder of that meal. But an hour later Captain Logan sent for me to his room, and said, " Sir, I too am a Christian. I would not give my quiet hour in the Cabin with this Bible for all the pleasures that the world can afford. You did your duty to-day amongst these profane men. But leave them and their consciences now in the hands of God, and take no further notice during the voyage." I never heard another oath on board that ship. The banker met me in New Zealand and warmly in- vited me to his house ! My health greatly improved during the voyage; but I was sorely perplexed about this new under- taking. A sum of 2,800 must be raised, else the vessel could not sail free for the New Hebrides. I trembled, in my reduced state, at the task that seemed laid upon me again. One night, after long praying, I fell into a deep sleep in my Cabin, and God granted me a Heavenly Dream or Vision which greatly comforted me, explain it how you will. Sweetest music, praising God, arrested me and came nearer and nearer. I gazed towards it approaching, and seemed to behold hosts of shining beings bursting into view. The brilliancy came pouring all from one centre, and that was ablaze with insufferable bright- ness. Blinded with excess of light, my eyes seemed yet to behold in fair outline the form of the glorified Jesus ; but as I lifted them to gaze on His face, the joy deepened into pain, my hand rose instinctively to THE LIGHT THAT SHIN ETH MOA' AND MORE. 239 shade my eyes, I cried with ecstasy, the music passed farther and farther away, and I started up hearing a Voice saying, in marvellous power and sweetness, " Who art thou, O great mountain ? Before Zerub- babel thou shalt become a plain." At this some will only smile. But to me it was a great and abiding consolation. And I kept repeating to myself, " He is Lord, and they all are ministering Spirits ; if He cheers me thus in His own work, I take courage, I know I shall succeed." Reaching Auckland, I was in time to address the General Assembly of the Church there also. They gave me cordial welcome, and every Congregation and Sabbath School might be visited as far as I possibly could. The ministers promoted the move- ment with hearty zeal. The Sabbath Scholars took Collecting Cards for "shares" in the new Mission Ship. A meeting was held every day, and three every Sabbath. Auckland, Nelson, Wellington, Dunedin, and all towns and Churches within reach of these were rapidly visited ; and I never had greater joy or heartiness in any of my tours than in this happy intercourse with the Ministers and People of the Presbyterian Church in New Zealand. I arrived back in Sydney about the end of March. My health was wonderfully restored, and New Zea- land had given me about 1,700 for the new ship. With the 1,000 of insurance money, and about 700 from New South Wales, and 400 from Victoria, besides the 500 for her support also from Victoria, 240 THE LIGHT THA T SHINETH MORE AND MORE. we were able to pay back the ^"3,000 of purchase money, and about ^"800 for alterations and repairs, as well as equip and provision her to sail for her next year's work amongst the Islands free of debt. I said to our two good friends at Sydney, "You took God and His work for your guarantee. He has soon relieved you from all responsibility. You have suffered no loss, and you have had the honour and privilege of serving your Lord. I envy you the joy you must feel in so using your wealth, and I pray God's double blessing on all your store." Our agent, Dr. Steele, had applied to the Home authorities for power to change the vessel's name from Paragon to Dayspring, so that the old associa- tions might not be broken. This was cordially granted. And so our second Dayspring, owing no man anything, sailed on her annual trip to the New Hebrides, and we returned with her, praising the Lord and reinvigorated alike in spirit and in body. CHAPTER VIII. PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. The Gospel in Living Capitals. "A Shower of Spears." The Tannese Refugees. Pilgrimage and Death of Namakei. The Character of Naswai. Christianity and Cocoa- Nuts. Nerwa the Agnostic. Nerwa's Beautiful Farewell. The Story of Ruwawa. Waiwai and his Wives. Nelwang and Kalangi. Mungaw and Litsi Sord. The Maddening of Mungaw. The Queen of Aniwa a Missionary. The Surrender of Nasi to Jesus. Day- Light Prayer Meeting on Aniwa. Candidates for Baptism. The Appeal and Testimony of Lamu. IN Heathendom every true Convert becomes at once a Missionary. The changed life, shining out amid the surrounding darkness, is a Gospel in largest Capitals which all can read. Our Islanders, especially, having little to engage or otherwise dis- tract attention, become intense and devoted workers for the Lord Jesus, if once the Divine Passion for souls stirs within them. Many a reader, not making due allowance for these special circumstances, would therefore be tempted to think our estimate of their enthusiasm for the Gospel was overdone ; but thoughtful men will easily perceive that Natives, P. 841 16 242 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS. touched with the mighty impulses of Calvary, and undistracted by social pleasures or politics, or litera- ture, or business claims, would almost by a moral necessity pour all the currents of their being into Religion, and probably show an apostolic devotion and self-sacrifice too seldom seen, alas, amid the thousand clamouring appeals of Civilization. A Heathen has been all his days groping after peace of soul in dark superstition and degrading rites. You pour into his soul the light of Revelation. He learns that God is love, that God sent His Son to die for him, and that he is the heir of Life Eternal in and through Jesus Christ By the blessed en- lightenment of the Spirit of the Lord he believes all this. He passes into a third heaven of joy, and he burns to tell every one of this Glad Tidings. Others see the change in his disposition, in his character, in his whole life and actions ; and, amid such surroundings, every Convert is a burning and a shining light. Even whole populations are thus brought into the Outer Court of the Temple ; and Islands, still Heathen and Cannibal, are positively eager for the Missionary to live amongst them and would guard his life and property now in com- plete security, where a very few years ago everything would have been instantly sacrificed on touching their shores 1 They are not Christianized, neither are they Civilized, but the light has been kindled all around them, and though still only shining afar, they cannot but rejoice in its beams PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 243 But even where the path is not so smooth, nor any welcome awaiting them, Native Converts show amazing zeal. For instance, one of our Chiefs, full of the Christ-kindled desire to seek and to save, sent a message to an inland Chief, that he and four attend- ants would come on Sabbath and tell them the Gospel of Jehovah God. The reply came back sternly forbidding their visit, and threatening with death any Christian that approached their village. Our Chief sent in response a loving message, telling them that Jehovah had taught the Christians to return good for evil, and that they would come un- armed to tell them the story of how the Son of God came into the world and died in order to bless and save His enemies. The Heathen Chief sent back a stern and prompt reply once more : " If you come, you will be killed." On Sabbath morning, the Christian Chief and his four companions were met outside the village by the Heathen Chief, who im- plored and threatened them once more. But the former said, " We come to you without weapons of war ! We come only to tell you about Jesus. We believe that He will protect us to-day." As they steadily pressed forward towards the village, spears began to be thrown at them. Some they evaded, being all except one most dexterous warriors ; and others they literally received with their bare hands, and turned them aside in an incredible manner. The Heathen, apparently thunderstruck 244 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. at these men thus approaching them without weapons of war, and not even flinging back their own spears which they had caught, after having thrown what the old Chief called " a shower of spears," desisted from mere surprise. Our Christian Chief called out, as he and his companions drew up in the midst of them on the village Public Ground, "Jehovah thus protects us. He has given us all your spears ! Once we would have thrown them back at you and killed you. But now we come not to fight, but to tell you about Jesus. He has changed our dark hearts. He asks you now to lay down all these your other weapons of war, and to hear what we can tell you about the love of God, our great Father, the only living God." The Heathen were perfectly over-awed. They manifestly looked upon these Christians as protected by some Invisible One. They listened for the first time to the story of the Gospel and of the Cross. We lived to see that Chief and all his tribe sitting in the School of Christ. And there is perhaps not an Island in these Southern Seas, amongst all those won for Christ, where similar acts of heroism on the part of Converts cannot be recited by every Missionary to the honour of our poor Natives and to the glory of their Saviour. Larger and harder tests were sometimes laid upon their new faith. Once the war on Tanna drove about one hundred of them to seek refuge on Aniwa, Not so many years before their lives would never PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 245 have been thus entrusted to the inhabitants of another Cannibal Island. But the Christ-Spirit was abroad upon Aniwa. The refugees were kindly cared for, and in process of time were restored, to their own lands by our Missionary ship the Dayspring. The Chiefs, however, and the Elders of the Church laid the new laws before them very clearly and decidedly. They would be helped and sheltered, but Aniwa was now under law to Christ, and if any of the Tan- nese broke the public rules as to moral conduct, or in any way disturbed the Worship of Jehovah, they would at once be expelled from the Island and sent back to Tanna. In all this, the Chief of the Tanna party, my old friend Nowar, strongly supported our Christian Chiefs. The Tannese behaved well, and many of them wore clothing and began to attend Church ; and the heavy drain upon the poor re- sources of Aniwa was borne with a noble and Christian spirit, which greatly impressed the Tan- nese and commended the Gospel of Christ. In claiming Aniwa for Christ, and winning it as a jewel for His crown, we had the experience which has ever marked God's path through history, He raised up around us and wonderfully endowed men to carry forward His own blessed work. Among these must be specially commemorated Namakei, the old Chief of Aniwa. Slowly, but very steadily, the light of the Gospel broke in upon his soul, and he was ever very eager to communicate to his people all that he learned. In Heathen days he was a Cannibal and 246 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. a great warrior ; but from the first, as shown in the preceding chapters, he took a warm interest in us and our work, a little selfish, no doubt, at the beginning, but soon becoming purified as his eyes and heart were opened to the Gospel of Jesus. On the birth of a son to us on the Island, the old Chief was in ecstasies. He claimed the child as his heir, his own son being dead, and brought nearly the whole inhabitants in relays to see the -white Chief of Aniwa ! He would have him called Namakei the Younger, an honour which I fear we did not too highly appreciate. As the child grew, he took his hand and walked about with him freely amongst the people, learning to speak their language like a Native, and not only greatly interesting them in himself, but even in us and in the work of the Lord. This, too, was one of the bonds, however purely human, that drew them all nearer and nearer to Jesus. The death of Namakei had in it many streaks of Christian romance. He had heard about the Missionaries annually meeting on one or other of the Islands and consulting about the work of Jehovah. What ideas he had formed of a Mission Synod one cannot easily imagine ; but in his old age, and when very frail, he formed an impassioned desire to attend our next meeting on Aneityum, and see and hear all the Missionaries of Jesus gathered together from the New Hebrides. Terrified that he would die away from home, and that that might bring great reverses to the good work on Aniwa, PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS. 247 where he was truly beloved, I opposed his going with all my might. But he and his relations and his people were all set upon it, and I had at length to give way. His few little books were then gathered together, his meagre wardrobe was made up, and a small Native basket carried all his belongings. He assembled his people and took an affectionate farewell, pleading with them to be " strong for Jesus," whether they ever saw him again or not, and to be loyal and kind to Missi. The people wailed out, and many wept bitterly. Those on board the Dayspring were amazed to see how his people loved him. The old Chief stood the voyage well. He went in and out to our meeting of Synod, and was vastly pleased with the respect paid to him on Aneityum. When he heard of the prosperity of the Lord's work, and how Island after Island was learning to sing the praises of Jesus, his heart glowed, and he said, " Missi, I am lifting up my head like a tree. I am growing tall with joy ! " On the fourth or fifth day, however, he sent for me out of the Synod, and when I came to him, he said, eagerly, " Missi, I am near to die ! I have asked you to come and say farewell. Tell my daughter, my brother, and my people to go on pleasing Jesus, and I will meet them again in the fair World." I tried to encourage him, saying that God might raise him up again and restore him to his people ; but he faintly whispered, 248 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS. " O Missi, death is already touching me 1 I feel my feet going away from under me. Help me to lie down under the shade of that banyan tree." So saying, he seized my arm, we staggered near to the tree, and he lay down under its cool shade. He whispered again, " I am going ! O Missi, let me hear your words rising up in prayer, and then my Soul will be strong to go." Amidst many choking sobs, I tried to pray. At last he took my hand, pressed it to his heart, and said in a stronger and clearer tone, "O my Missi, my dear Missi, I go before you, but I will meet you again in the Home of Jesus. Farewell!" That was the last effort of dissolving strength ; he immediately became unconscious, and fell asleep. My heart felt like to break over him. He was my first Aniwan Convert, the first who ever on that Island of love and tears opened his heart to Jesus ; and as he lay there on the leaves and grass, my soul soared upward after his, and all the harps of God seemed to thrill with song as Jesus presented to the Father this trophy of redeeming love. He had been our true and devoted friend and fellow- helper in the Gospel, and next morning all the members of our Synod followed his remains to the grave. There we stood, the white Missionaries of the Cross from far distant lands, mingling our tears with Christian Natives of Aneityum, and letting PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS. 249 them fall over one who only a few years before was a blood-stained Cannibal, and whom now we mourned as a brother, a saint, an Apostle amongst his people. Ye ask an explanation? The Christ entered into his heart, and Namakei became a new Creature, " Behold, I make all things new." We were in positive distress about returning to Aniwa without the Chief, and we greatly feared the consequences. To show our perfect sympathy with them, we prepared a special and considerable present for Litsi his daughter, for his brother, and for other near friends a sort of object lesson, that we had in every way been kind to old Namakei, as we now wished to be to them. When our boat approached the landing, nearly the whole population had as- sembled to meet us ; and Litsi and his brother were far out on the reef to salute us. Litsi's keen eye had missed old Namakei's form ; and far as words could carry I heard her voice crying, " Missi, where is my father ?" I made as if I did not hear; the boat was draw- ing slowly near, and again she cried aloud, " Missi, where is my father ? Is Namakei dead ! " I replied, " Yes. He died on Aneityum. He is now with Jesus in Glory." Then arose a wild, wailing cry, led by Litsi and taken up by all around. It rose and fell like a chant or dirge, as one after another wailed out praise and sorrow over the name of Namakei. We moved slowly into the boat harbour. Litsi, the daughter, 250 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. and Kalangi his brother, shook hands, weeping sadly, and welcomed us back, assuring us that we had nothing to fear. Amidst many sobs and wailings, Litsi told us that they all dreaded he would never return, and explained to this effect : " We knew that he was dying, but we durst not tell you. When you agreed to let him go, he went round and took farewell of all his friends, and told them he was going to sleep at last on Aneityum, and that at the Great Day he would rise to meet Jesus with the glorious company of the Aneityumese Christians. He urged us all to obey you and be true to Jesus. Truly, Missi, we will remember my dear father's parting word, and follow in his steps, and help you in the work of the Lord ! " The other Chief, Naswai, now accompanied us to the Mission House, and all the people followed, wailing loudly for Namakei. On the following Sabbath, I told the story of his conversion, life for Jesus, and death on Aneityum ; and God overruled this event, contrary to our fears, for greatly increas- ing the interest of many in the Church and in the claims of Jesus upon themselves. Naswai, the friend and companion of Namakei, was an inland Chief. He had, as his followers, by far the largest number of men in any village on Aniwa, He had certainly a dignified bearing, and his wife Katua was quite a lady in look and manner as compared with all around her. She was the first woman on the Island that adopted the clothes of PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 251 civilization, and she showed considerable instinctive taste in the way she dressed herself in these. Her example was a kind of Gospel in its good influence on all the women ; she was a real companion to her husband, and went with him almost every- where. Naswai, after he became a Christian, had a touch of scorn in his manner, and was particularly stern against every form of lying or deceit. I used some- times to let jobs to Naswai, such as fencing or thatching, at a fixed price. He would come with a staff of men, say thirty or forty, see the work thoroughly done, and then divide the price gener- ously in equal portions amongst the workers, seldom keeping anything either in food or wages for himself. On one occasion, the people of a distant village were working for me. Naswai assisted and directed them. On paying them, one of the company said, "Missi, you have not paid Naswai. He worked as hard as any of us." Naswai turned upon him with the dignity of a prince, and said, " I did not work for pay 1 Would you make Missi pay more than he promised ? Your conduct is bad. I will be no party to your bad ways." And, with an indignant wave of his hand, he stalked away in great disdain. Naswai was younger and more intelligent than Namakei, and in everything except in translating the Scriptures he was much more of a fellow-helper in PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. the work of the Lord. For many years it was Naswai's special delight to carry my pulpit Bible from the Mission House to the Church every Sab- bath morning, and to see that everything was in perfect order before the Service began. He was also the Teacher in his own village School, as well as an Elder in the Church. His preaching was wonderfully happy in its graphic illustrations, and his prayers were fervent and uplifting. Yet his people were the worst to manage on all the Island, and the very last to embrace the Gospel. He died when we were in the Colonies on furlough in 1875 ; and his wife Katua very shortly pre-deceased him. His last counsels to his people made a great impression on them. They told us how he pleaded with them to love and serve the Lord Jesus, and how he assured them with his dying breath that he had been " a new creature " since he gave his heart to Christ, and that he was perfectly happy in going to be with his Saviour. I must here recall one memorable example of Naswai's power and skill as a preacher. On one occasion the Dayspring brought a large deputation from Fotuna to see for themselves the change which the Gospel had produced on Aniwa. On Sabbath, after the Missionaries had conducted the usual Public Worship, some of the leading Aniwans ad- dressed the Fotunese ; and amongst others, Naswai spoke to the following effect : "Men of Fotuna, you come to see what the PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 353 Gospel has done for Aniwa. It is Jehovah the living God that has made all this change. As Heathens, we quarrelled, killed and ate each other. We had no peace and no joy in heart or house, in villages or in lands ; but we now live as brethren and have happiness in all these things. When you go back to Fotuna, they will ask you, * What is Christianity ?* And you will have to reply, ' It is that which has changed the people of Aniwa.' But they will still say, ' What is it ? ' And you will answer, It is that which has given them clothing and blankets, knives and axes, fish-hooks and many other useful things ; it is that which has led them to give up fighting, and to live together as friends.' But they will ask you, ' What is it like ? ' And you will have to tell them, alas, that you cannot explain it, that you have only seen its workings, not itself, and that no one can tell what Christianity is but the man that loves Jesus, the Invisible Master, and walks with Him and tries to please Him. Now, you people of Fotuna, you think that if you don't dance and sing and pray to your gods, you will have no crops. We once did so too, sacrificing and doing much abomination to our gods for weeks before our planting season every year. But we saw our Missi only praying to the Invisible Jehovah, and planting his yams, and they grew fairer than ours. You are weak every year before your hard work begins in the fields, with your wild and bad conduct to please your gods. But we are strong for our work, for we pray to Jehovah, PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS. and He gives quiet rest instead of wild dancing, and makes us happy in our toils. Since we followed Missi's example, Jehovah has given us large and beautiful crops, and we now know that He gives us all our blessings." Turning to me, he exclaimed, " Missi, have you the large yam we presented to you ? Would you not think it well to send it back with these men of Fotuna, to let their people see the yams which Jehovah grows for us in answer to prayer ? Jehovah is the only God who can grow yams like that ! " Then, after a pause, he proceeded, " When you go back to Fotuna, and they ask you, ' What is Christianity ? ' you will be like an inland Chief of Erromanga, who once came down and saw a great feast on the shore. When he saw so much food and so many different kinds of it, he asked, ' What is this made of ? ' and was answered, ' Cocoa-nuts and yams.' 'And this ? ' ' Cocoa-nuts and bananas.' ' And this ? ' ' Cocoa-nuts and taro.' ' And this ? ' Cocoa-nuts and chestnuts,' etc., etc. The Chief was immensely as- tonished at the host of dishes that could be prepared from the cocoa-nuts. On returning, he carried home a great load of them to his people, that they might see and taste the excellent food of the shore-people. One day, all being assembled, he told them the wonders of that feast; and, having roasted the cocoa- nuts, he took out the kernels, all charred and spoiled, and distributed them amongst his people. They tasted the cocoa-nut, they began to chew it, and then PEN-PORTRAITS OP ANIWANS. 255 spat it out, crying, ' Our own food is far better than thatl ' The Chief was confused and only got laughed at for all his trouble. Was the fault in the cocoa- nuts ? No ; but they were spoiled in the cooking ! So your attempts to explain Christianity will only spoil it. Tell them that a man must live as a Chris- tian before he can show others what Christianity is." On their return to Fotuna they exhibited Jehovah's yam, given in answer to prayer and labour ; they told what Christianity had done for Aniwa ; but did not fail to qualify all their accounts with the story of the Erromangan Chief and the cocoa-nuts, with its very practical lesson. The two Chiefs of next importance on Aniwa were Nerwa and Ruwawa. Nerwa was a keen de- bater; all his thoughts ran in the channels of logic. When I could speak a little of their language, I visited and preached at his village ; but the moment he discovered that the teaching about Jehovah was opposed to their Heathen customs, he sternly for- bade us. One day, during my address, he blossomed out into a full-fledged and pronounced Agnostic (with as much reason at his back as the European type !) and angrily interrupted me : " It's all lies you come here to teach us, and you call it Worship 1 You say your Jehovah God dwells in Heaven. Who ever went up there to hear Him or see Him ? You talk of Jehovah as if you had visited His Heaven. Why, you cannot climb even to the top of one of our cocoa-nut trees, though we can, a$6 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. and that with ease 1 In going up to the roof of your own Mission House, you require the help of a ladder to carry you. And even if you could make your ladder higher than our highest cocoa-nut tree, on what would you lean its top? And when you get to its top, you can only climb down the other side and end where you began I The thing is im- possible. You never saw that God ; you never heard Him speak ; don't come here with any of your white lies, or I'll send my spear through you." He drove us from his village, and furiously threatened murder, if we ever dared to return. But very soon thereafter the Lord sent us a little orphan girl from Nerwa's village. She was very clever, and could both read and write, and told over all that we taught her. Her visits home, or at least amongst the villagers where her home had been, her changed appearance and her childish talk, produced a very deep interest in us and in our work. An orphan boy next was sent from that village to be kept and trained at the Mission House, and he too took back his little stories of how kind and good to him were Missi the man and Missi the woman. By this time Chief and people alike were taking a lively interest in all that was transpiring. One day the Chief's wife, a quiet and gentle woman, came to the Worship and said, "Nerwa's opposition dies fast The story of the Orphans did it. He has allowed me to attend the Church, and to get the Christian's book." PEN-PORTRAITS OF A.NIWANS. 257 We gave her a book and a bit of clothing. She went home and told everything. Woman after woman followed her from that same village, and some of the men began to accompany them. The only thing in which they showed a real interest was the children singing the little hymns which I had translated into their own Aniwan tongue, and which my wife had taught them to sing very sweetly and joyfully. Nerwa at last got so interested that he came himself, and sat within earshot, and drank in the joyful sound. In a short time he drew so near that he could hear our preaching, and then began openly and regularly to attend the Church. His keen reasoning faculty was constantly at work. He weighed and compared everything he heard, and soon out-distanced nearly all of them in his grasp of the ideas of the Gospel. He put on clothing, joined our School, and professed himself a follower of the Lord Jesus. He eagerly set himself, with all his power, to bring in a neighbouring Chief and his people, and constituted himself at once an energetic and very pronounced helper to the Missionary. On the death of Naswai, Nerwa at once took his place in carrying my Bible to the Church, and seeing that all the people were seated before the stopping of the bell. I have seen him clasping the Bible like a living thing to his breast, and heard him cry, "Oh, to have this treasure in my own words of Aniwal" When Matthew and Mark were at last printed in P. 17 258 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN I WANS. Aniwan, he studied them incessantly, and soon could read them freely. He became the Teacher in his own village School, and delighted in instruct- ing others. He was assisted by Ruwawa, whom he himself had drawn into the circle of Gospel in fluence ; and at our next election these two friends were appointed Elders of the Church, and greatly sus- tained our hands in every good work on Aniwa. After years of happy and useful service, the time came for Nerwa to die. He was then so greatly beloved that most of the inhabitants visited him during his long illness. He read a bit of the Gospels in his own Aniwan, and prayed with and for every visitor. He sang beautifully, and scarcely allowed any one to leave his bedside without having a verse of one or other of his favourite hymns, " Happy Land," and " Nearer, my God, to Thee." On my last visit to Nerwa, his strength had gone very low, but he drew me near his face, and whispered, " Missi, my Missi, I am glad to see you. You see that group of young men ? They came to sympathize with me ; but they have never once spoken the name of Jesus, though they have spoken about everything else ! They could not have weakened me so, if they had spoken about Jesus! Read me the story of Jesus ; pray for me to Jesus. No ! stop, let us call them, and let me speak with them before I go." I called them all around him, and he strained his dying strength, and said, " After I am gone, \et there be no bad talk, no Heathen ways. Sing PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 255 Jehovah's songs, and pray to Jesus, and bury me as a Christian. Take good care of my Missi, and help him all you can. I am dying happy and going to be with Jesus, and it was Missi that showed me this way. And who among you will take my place in the village School and in the Church? Who amongst you all will stand up for Jesus ? " Many were shedding tears, but there was no reply ; after which the dying Chief proceeded, " Now let my last work on earth be this : we will read a chapter of the Book, verse about, and then I will pray for you all, and the Missi will pray for me, and God will let me go while the song is still sound- ing in my heart 1 " At the close of this most touching exercise, we gathered the Christians who were near-bye close around, and sang very softly in Aniwan, " There is a Happy Land." As they sang, the old man grasped my hand, and tried hard to speak, but in vain. His head fell to one side, " the silver cord was loosed, and the golden bowl was broken." Soon after his burial, the best and ablest man in the village, the husband now of the orphan girl already referred to, came and offered himself to take the Chief's place as Teacher in the village School ; and in that post he was ably assisted by his wife, our "little maid," the first who carried the news of the Gospel life to her tribe, and inclined their ears to listen to the message of Jesus. His great friend, Ruwawa the Chief, had waited by 200 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. Nerwa like a brother till within a few days of the latter's death, when he also was smitten down appa- rently by the same disease. He was thought to be dying, and he resigned himself calmly into the hands of Christ One Sabbath afternoon, sorely distressed for lack of air, he instructed his people to carry him from the village to a rising ground on one of his plantations. It was fallow ; the fresh air would reach him ; and all his friends could sit around him. They extemporized a rest, two posts stuck into the ground, slanting, sticks tied across them, then dried banana leaves spread on these and also as a cushion on the ground, and there sat Ruwawa, leaning back and breathing heavily. After the Church Services, I visited him, and found half the people of that side of the Island sitting round him, in silence, in the open air. Ruwawa beckoned me, and I sat down before him. Though suffering sorely, his eye and face had the look of ecstasy. "Missi," he said, "I could not breathe in my village ; so I got them to carry me here, where there is room for all. They are silent and they weep, because they think I am dying. If it were God's will, I would like to live and to help you in His work. I am in the hands of our dear Lord. If He takes me, it is good ; if He spares me, it is good ! Pray, and tell our Saviour all about it." I explained to the people, that we would tell our Heavenly Father how anxious we all were to see Ruwawa given back to us strong and well to work PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 261 for Jesus, and then leave all to His wise and holy disposal. I prayed, and the place became a very Bochim. When I left him, Ruwawa exclaimed, " Farewell, Missi ; if I go first, I will welcome you to Glory ; if I am spared, I will work with you for Jesus ; so all is well ! " One of the young Christians followed me and said, " Missi, our hearts are very sore ! If Ruwawa dies, we have no Chief to take his place in the Church, and it will be a heavy blow against Jehovah's Worship on Aniwa." I answered, " Let us each tell our God and Father all that we feel and all that we fear; and leave Ruwawa and our work in His holy hands." We did so, with earnest and unceasing cry. And when all hope had died out of every heart, the Lord began to answer us ; the disease began to relax its hold, and the beloved Chief was restored to health. As soon as he was able, though still needing help, he found his way back to the Church, and we all offered special thanksgiving to God. He indicated a desire to say a few words ; and although still very weak, spoke with great pathos thus : u Dear Friends, God has given me back to you all. I rejoice thus to come here and praise the great Father, who made us all, and who knows how to make and keep us well. I want you all to work hard for Jesus, and to lose no opportunity of trying to do good and so to please Him. In my deep journey away near to the grave, it was the memory 26a PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. of what I had done in love to Jesus that made my heart sing. I am not afraid of pain, my dear Lord Jesus suffered far more for me and teaches me how to bear it. I am not afraid of war or famine or death, or of the present or of the future ; my dear Lord Jesus died for me, and in dying I shall live with Him in Glory. I fear and love my dear Lord Jesus, because He loved me and gave Himself for me." Then he raised his right hand, and cried in a soft, full-hearted voice, " My own, my dear Lord Jesus ! " and stood for a moment looking joyfully upward, as if gazing into his Saviour's face. When he sat down, there was a long hush, broken here and there by a smothered sob ; and Ruwawa's words produced an impression that is remembered to this day. In 1888, when I visited the Islands, Ruwawa was still devoting himself heart and soul to the work of the Lord on Aniwa. Assisted by Koris, a Teacher from Aneityum, and visited occasionally by our ever- dear and faithful friends, Mr. and Mrs. Watt, from Tanna, the good Ruwawa carries forward all the work of God on Aniwa, along with others, in our absence as in our presence. The meetings, the Com- municants' Class, the Schools, and the Church Services are all regularly conducted and faithfully attended. " Bless the Lord, O my soul ! " I am now reminded of the story of Waiwai, both because it was interesting for his own personality, and also as illustrating our difficulties about the deli- PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 263 cate question of many wives. He was a man of great wisdom, and had in his early days displayed unwonted energy. His assistance in finding exact and idiomatic equivalents for me, while translating the Scriptures, was of the highest value. He had been once at the head of a numerous people, but was now literally a Chief without a tribe. His son and heir was smitten down with sunstroke, while helping us to get the coral limestone, and shortly thereafter died. His only daughter was married to a young Chief. And at last, of all his seven wives only two remained alive. He became a regular attender at Church, and when our first Communicants' Class was formed, Waiwai and his two wives were enrolled. At Communion time, he was dreadfully disappointed when informed that he could neither be baptized nor admitted to the Lord's Table till he had given up one of his wives, as God allowed no Christian to have more than one wife at a time. They were advised to attend regu- larly, and learn more and more of Christianity, till God opened up their way in regard to this matter; that it might be done from conscience, under a sense of duty to Christ, and if at all possible by peaceable and mutual agreement Waiwai professed to be willing, but found it terribly hard to give up either of his wives. They had houses far apart from each other, for they quarrelled badly, as is usual in such cases. But both were excellent workers, both were very attentive to the wants of 264 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. Waiwai, and he managed to keep on affectionate terms with both. After all the other men on the Island had, under the influence of Christianity, given up all their wives save one, Waiwai began to feel rather ashamed of being the conspicuous exception, or thought it prudent to pretend to be ashamed ; and so he publicly scolded them both, ordering one or other to go and leave him, that he might be enabled to join the Church and be a Christian like the rest. But I learned privately that he did not wish either to go, and that he would shoot the one that dared to leave him. I remonstrated with him on his hypo- crisy, warning him that God knew his heart At last he said, that sinoo neither of them would depart, he would leave them both and go to Tanna for a year, ordering one or other of them to get married during his absence. He did go, but on his return found both still awaiting him at their respective stations. He pretended to scold them very vigorously in public; but his duplicity was too open, and I again very solemnly rebuked him for double dealing, showing him that not even men were deceived by him, much less the all-seeing God. He frankly admitted his hypocrisy. He loved both ; he did not want to part with either ; and both were excellent workers ! In process of time the younger of the two women bore him a beautiful baby boy, about which he was immensely uplifted ; and a short while thereafter the elder woman died. At her grave the inveterate talk- ing instinct of these Islanders asserted itself, and PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 165 Waiwai made a speech to the assembled people in the following strain : " O ye people of Aniwa, I was not willing to give up either of my wives for Jesus ; but God has taken one from me and laid her there in the grave ; and now I am called to be baptized, and to follow Jesus." The two now regularly attended Church, and learned diligently at the Communicants' Class. Both seemed to be very sincere, and Waiwai particularly showed a very gentle Christian spirit, and seemed to brood much upon the loss of family and people and tribe that had befallen him. His had been indeed a crushing discipline, and it was not yet complete. For, shortly before the Communion at which they were to be received into fellowship, his remaining wife became suddenly ill and died also. At her grave the old man wept very bitterly, and made another speech, but this time in tones of more intense reality than before, as if the iron had entered his very soul : "Listen, all ye men of Aniwa, and take warning by Waiwai. I am now old, and ready to drop into the grave alone. My wives kept me back from Jesus, but now they are all taken, and I am left without one to care for me or this little child. I tried to deceive the Missi, but I could not deceive God. When I was left with only one wife, I said that I would now be baptized and live as a Christian. But God has taken her also. I pretended to serve the Lord, when I was only serving and pleasing myself. God has now *66 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. broken my heart all to pieces. I must learn no longer to please myself, but to please my Lord. Oh, take warning by me, all ye men of Aniwal Lies cannot cheat the great Jehovah God." Poor brjken-hearted Waiwai had sorrow upon sorrow to the full. We had agreed to baptize him and admit him to the Lord's Table. But a terrible form of cramp, sometimes met with on the Islands, overtook him, shrinking up both his legs, and curving his feet up behind him. He suffered great agony, and could neither walk nor sit without pain. In spite of all efforts to relieve him, this condition became chronic ; and he died at last from the effects thereof during our absence on furlough. His married daughter took charge of him and of the little boy ; and so long as I was on Aniwa during his illness, I visited and instructed and ministered to him in every possible way. He prayed much, and asked God's blessing on all his meals ; but all that I could say failed to lead him into the sunshine of the Divine Love. And the poor soul often revealed the shadow by which his heart was clouded by such cries as these, " I lied to Jehovah ! It is He that punishes me ! I lied to Jesus ! " Readers may perhaps think that this case of the two wives and our treatment of it was too hard upon Waiwai ; and those will be the most ready to condemn us, who have never been on the spot, and who cannot see all the facts as they lie under the eyes of the Missionary. How could we ever have led Natives to PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 267 see the difference betwixt admitting a man to the Church who had two wives, and not permitting a member of the Church to take two wives after his admission ? Their moral sense is blunted enough without our knocking their heads against a conun- drum in ethics ! In our Church membership we have to draw the line as sharply as God's law will allow betwixt what is Heathen and what is Christian, instead of minimising the difference. Again, we found that the Heathen practices were apparently more destructive to women than to men ; so that in one Island, with a population of only two hundred, I found that there were thirty adult men over and above the number of women. As a rule, for every man that has two or more wives, the same number of men have no wives and can get none ; and polygamy is therefore the prolific cause of hatreds and murders innumerable. Besides all this, to look at things in a purely practical light, as the so-called " practical men " are our scornful censors in these affairs, it is really no hardship for one woman, or any number of women, to be given up when the man becomes a Christian and elects to have one wife only ; for every one so discarded is at once eagerly contended for by the men who had no hope of ever being married, and her chances of comfort and happiness are infinitely improved. We had one Chief who gave up eleven wives on his being baptized. They were without a single exception happily settled in other homes. 268 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. And he became an earnest and devoted Chris- tian. While they remain Heathen, and have many wives to manage, the condition of most of the women is worse than slavery. On remonstrating with a Chief, who was savagely beating one of his wives, he indig- nantly assured me, " We must beat them, or they would never obey us. When they quarrel, and become bad to manage, we have to kill one, and feast on her. Then all the other wives of the whole tribe are quiet and obedient for a long time to come." I knew one Chief, who had many wives, always jealous of each other and violently quarrelling amongst themselves. When he was off at war, along with his men, the favourite wife, a tall and powerful woman, armed herself with an axe, and murdered all the others. On his return he made peace with her, and, either in terror or for other motives, promised to forego and protect her against all attempts at revenge. One has to live amongst the Papuans, or the Malays, in order to understand how much Woman is indebted to Christ I The old Chiefs only brother was called Kalangi. Twice in Heathen days he tried to shoot me. On the second occasipn he heard me rebuking his daughter for letting a child destroy a beautiful Island plant in front of our house. He levelled his musket at me, but his daughter, whom we were training at the Mis- sion House, ran in front of it, and cred, " O father, PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 269 don't shoot Missi ! He loves me. He gives us food and clothing. He teaches us about Jehovah and Jesus ! " Then she pled with me to retire into the house, saying, " He will not shoot you for fear of shooting me. I will soothe him down. Leave him to me, and flee for safety." Thus she probably saved my life. Time after time he heard from this little daughter all that we taught her, and all she could remember of our preaching. By-and-bye he showed a strong personal interest in the things he heard about Jesus, and questioned deeply, and learned diligently. When he became a Christian, he constituted himself, along with Nelwang, my body-guard, and often marched near me, or within safe distance of me, armed with tomahawk and musket, when I journeyed from village to village in the pre- Christian days. Once, on approaching one of our most distant villages, Nelwang sprang to my side, and warned me of a man in the bush watching an opportunity to shoot me. I shouted to the fellow, " What are you going to shoot there ? This is the Lord's own Day ! " He answered, " Only a bird." I replied, " Never mind it to-day. You can shoot it to-morrow. We are going to your Village. Come on before us, and show us the way ! " Seeing how I was protected, he lowered his musket, and marched on before us. Kalangi addressed the people, after I had spoken and prayed. In course of 270 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. time they became warm friends of the Worship ; and that very man and his wife, who once sought my life; sat with me at the Lord's Table on Aniwa. And the little girl, above referred to, is now the wife of one of the Elders there, and the mother of three Christian children, both she and her husband being devoted workers in the Church of God. Litsi, the only daughter of Namakei, had, both in her own career and in her connection with poor, dear Mungaw, an almost unparalleled experience. She was entrusted to us when very young, and became a bright, clever, and attractive Christian girl Many sought her hand, but she disdainfully replied, " I am Queen of my own Island, and when I like I will ask a husband in marriage, as you told us that the great Queen Victoria did ! " Her first husband, however won, was undoubtedly the tallest and most handsome man on Aniwa ; but he was a giddy fool, and, on his early death, she again returned to live with us at the Mission House. Her second marriage had everything to commend it, but it resulted in indescribable disaster. Mungaw, heir to a Chief, had been trained with us, and gave every evidence of decided Christianity. They were married in the Church, and lived in the greatest happiness. He was able and eloquent, and was first chosen as a deacon, then as an Elder of the Church, and finally as High Chief of one half of the Island. He showed the finest Christian spirit under many trying circum- stances. Once, when working at the lime for the PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 271 building of our Church, two bad men, armed with muskets, sought his life for some revenge or another. Hearing of the quarrel, I rushed to the scene, and heard him saying, " Don't call me coward, or think me afraid to die. If I died now, I would go to be with Jesus. But I am no longer a Heathen ; I am a Christian, and wish to treat you as a Christian should." Others now coming to the rescue, the men were disarmed ; and, after much talk, they professed them- selves ashamed, and promised better conduct for the future. Next day they sent a large present as a peace-offering to me, but I refused to receive it till they should first of all make peace with the young Chief. They sent a larger present to him, praying him to receive it, and to forgive them. Mungaw brought a still larger present in exchange, laid it down at their feet in the Public Ground, shook hands with them graciously, and forgave them in presence of all the people. His constant saying was, "I am a Christian, and I must do the conduct of a Christian." In one of my furloughs to Australia I took the young Chief with me, in the hope of interesting the Sabbath Schools and Congregations by his eloquent addresses and noble personality. The late Dr. Cameron, of Melbourne, having heard him, as trans- lated by me, publicly declared that Mungaw's appear- ance and speech in his Church did more to show him the grand results of the Gospel amongst the Heathen 873 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. than all the Missionary addresses he ever listened to or read. Our lodging was in St. Kilda. My dear wife was suddenly seized with a dangerous illness on a visit to Taradale, and I was telegraphed for. Finding that I must remain with her, I got Mungaw booked for Melbourne, on the road for St. Kilda, in charge of a railway guard. Some white wretches, in the guise of gentlemen, offered to see him to the St. Kilda Station, assuring the guard that they were friends of mine, and interested in our Mission. They took him, instead, to some den of infamy in Melbourne. On refusing to drink with them, he said they threw him down on a sofa, and poured drink or drugs into him till he was nearly dead. Having taken all his money (he had only two or three pounds, made up of little presents from various friends), they thrust him out to the street, with only one penny in his pocket On becoming conscious, he applied to a policeman, who either did not understand or would not inter- fere. Hearing an engine whistle, he followed the sound, and found his way to Spencer Street Station. There he stood for a whole day, offering his penny for a ticket by every train, and was always refused. At last a sailor took pity on him, got him some food, and led him to the St. Kilda Station. Again he proffered his penny, only to meet with refusal after refusal, till he broke down, and cried aloud in such English as desperation gave him, " If me savvy road, me go. Me no savvy road, and PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 273 stop here me die. My Missi Paton live at Kilda. Me want go Kilda. Me no more money. Bad fellow took all ! Send me Kilda." Some gentle Samaritan gave him a ticket, and he reached our house at St Kilda at last. There for above three weeks the poor creature lay in a sort of stupid doze. Food he could scarcely be induced to taste, and he only rose now and again for a drink of water. When my wife was able to be removed thither also, we found dear Mungaw dreadfully changed in appearance and in conduct. Twice thereafter I took him with me on Mission work ; but, on medical advice, preparations were made for his immediate return to the Islands. I entrusted him to the kind care of Captain Logan, who undertook to see him safely on board the Day spring, then lying at Auckland. Mun- gaw was delighted, and we hoped everything from his return to his own land and people. After some little trouble, he was landed safely home on Aniwa But his malady developed dangerous and violent symptoms, characterized by long periods of quiet and sleep, and then sudden paroxysms, in which he destroyed property, burned houses, and was a terror to all. On our return he was greatly delighted ; but he complained bitterly that the white men " had spoiled his head," and that when it " burned hot " he did all these bad things, for which he was extremely sorry He deliberately attempted my life, and most cruelly abused his dear and gentle wife ; and then, when the p. 18 274 PEN-PORTRAITS OP ANIWANS. frenzy was over, he wept and lamented over it Many a time he marched round and round our House with loaded musket and spear and tomahawk, while we had to keep doors and windows locked and barri- caded ; then the paroxysm passed off, and he slept, long and deep, like a child. When he came to him- self, he wept and said, u The white men spoiled my head I I know not nrhat I do. My head burns hot, and I am driven." One day, in the Imrai, he leapt up with a loud- felling war-cry, rushed off to his own house, set fire to it, and danced around till everything he possessed was burned to ashes. Nasi, a bad Tannese Chief living on Aniwa, had a quarrel with Mungaw about a cask found at the shore, and threatened to shoot him. Others encouraged him to do so, as Mungaw was growing every day more and more destructive and violent. When a person became outrageous or insane on Aniwa, as they had neither asylum nor prison, they first of all held him fast and discharged a musket close to his ear ; and then, if the shock did not bring him back to his senses, they tied him up for two days or so ; and finally, if that did not restore him, they shot him dead. Thus the plan of Nasi was favoured by their own customs. One night, after family worship, for amidst all his madness, when clear moments came, he poured out his soul in faith and love to the Lord, he said, "Litsi, I am melting 1 My head burns. Let us go out and get cooled in the open air." PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 275 She warned him not to go, as she heard voices whispering under the verandah. He answered a little wildly, "I am not afraid to die. Life is a curse and burden. The white men spoiled my head. If there is a hope of dying, let me go quickly and die ! " As he crossed the door, a ball crashed through him, and he fell dead. We got the mother and her children away to the Mission House; and next morning they buried the remains of poor Mungaw under the floor of his own hut, and enclosed the whole place with a fence. It was a sorrowful close to so noble a career. I shed many a tear that I ever took him to Australia. What will God have to say to those white fiends who poisoned and maddened poor dear Mungaw ? After a while the good Queen Litsi was happily married again. She became possessed with a great desire to go as a Missionary to the people and tribe of Nasi, the very man who had murdered her hus- band. She used to say, "Is there no Missionary to go and teach Nasi's people? I weep and pray for them, that they too may come to know and love Jesus." I answered, " Litsi, if I had only wept and prayed for you, but stayed at home in Scotland, would that have brought you to know and love Jesus as you do ? " " Certainly not," she replied. "Now then," I proceeded, "would it not please 276 PEN- PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. Jesus and be a grand and holy revenge, if you, the Christians of Aniwa, could carry the Gospel to the very people whose Chief murdered Mungaw ? " The idea took possession of her soul. She was never wearied talking and praying over it When at length a Missionary was got for Nasi's people, Litsi and her new husband placed themselves at the head of a band of six or eight Aniwan Christians, and plantsd themselves there to open up the way and assist as Native Teachers the Missionary and his wife. There she and they have laboured ever since. They are "strong" for the Worship. Her son is being trained up by his cousin, an Elder of the Church, to be "the good Chief of Aniwa"; so she calls him in her prayers, as she cries on God to bless and watch over him, while she is serving the Lord in the Mission field. Many years have now passed ; and when lately I visited that part of Tanna, Litsi ran to me, clasped my hand, kissed it with many sobs, and cried, " O my father 1 God has blessed me to see you again. Is my mother, your dear wife, well ? And your children, my brothers and sisters ? My love to them all ! O my heart clings to you ! " We had sweet conversation, and then she said more calmly, " My days here are hard. I might be happy and wealthy as Queen on Aniwa. But the Heathen here are beginning to listen. The Missi sees them coming nearer to Jesus. And oh, what a reward when we PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS. 277 shall hear them sing and pray to our dear Saviour 1 The hope of that makes me strong for anything." My heart often says within itself When, when will men's eyes at home be opened ? When will the rich and the learned and the noble and even the princes of the Earth renounce their shallow frivolities, and go to live amongst the poor, the ignorant, the outcast, and the lost, and write their eternal fame on the souls by them blessed and brought to the Saviour ? Those who have tasted this highest joy, "the joy of the Lord," will never again ask, Is Life worth living? Life, any life, would be well spent, under any conceivable conditions, in bringing one human soul to know and love and serve God and His Son, and thereby securing for yourself at least one temple where your name and memory would be held for ever and for ever in affectionate praise, a regenerated Heart in Heaven. That fame will prove immortal, when all the poems and monuments and pyramids of Earth have gone into dust. Nasi, the Tannaman, was a bad and dangerous character, though some readers may condone his putting an end to Mungaw in the terrible circum- stances of our case. During a great illness that befell him, I ministered to him regularly, but no kindness seemed to move him. When about to leave Aniwa, I went specially to visit him. On parting I said, "Nasi, are you happy? Have you ever been happy ? " 278 PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN1WANS. He answered gloomily, " No ! Never." I said, "Would you like this dear little boy of yours to grow up like yourself, and lead the life you have lived ? " " No I " he replied warmly ; * I certainly would not" "Then," I continued, "you must become a Chris- tian, and give up all your Heathen conduct, or he will just grow up to quarrel and fight and murder as you have done ; and, O Nasi, he will curse you through all Eternity for leading him to such a life and to such a doom ! " He was very much impressed, but made no re- sponse. After we had sailed, a band of our young Native Christians held a consultation over the case of Nasi. They said, "We know the burden and terror that Nasi has been to our dear Missi. We know that he has mur- dered several persons with his own hands, and has taken part in the murder of others. Let us unite in daily prayer that the Lord would open his heart and change his conduct, and teach him to love and folbw what is good, and let us set ourselves to win Nasi for Christ, just as Missi tried to win us." So they began to show him every possible kind- ness, and one after another helped him in his daily tasks, embracing every opportunity of pleading with him to yield to Jesus and take the new path of life, At first he repelled them, and sullenly held aloof. But their prayers never ceased, and their patient PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 279 affections continued to grow. At last, after long waiting, Nasi broke down, and cried to one of the Teachers, " I can oppose your Jesus no longer. If He can make you treat me like that, I yield myself to Him and to you, l want Him to change me too. I want a heart like that of Jesus." He took the ugly paint patches from his face ; he cut off his long Heathen hair; he went to the sea and bathed, washing himself clean ; and then he ,ame to the Christians and dressed himself in a shirt and a kilt. The next step was to get a book, his was the translation of the Gospel according to St. John. He eagerly listened to every one that would read bits of it aloud to him, and his soul seemed to drink in the new ideas at every pore. He attended the Church and the School most regularly, and could in a very short time read the Gospel for himself. The Elders of the Church took special pains in in- structing him, and after due preparation he was admitted to the Lord's Table my brother Mis- sionary from Tanna baptizing and receiving him. Imagine my joy on learning all this regarding one who had sullenly resisted my appeals for many years, and how my soul praised the Lord who is " Mighty to save ! " On my recent visit to Aniwa, in 1886, God's almighty compassion was further revealed to me, when I found that Nasi the murderer was now a Scripture Reader, and able to comment in a wonder- PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. ful and interesting manner on what he reads to the people! When I arrived on a visit to the Island, after my last tour in Great Britain in the interests of our Mission, all the inhabitants of Aniwa seemed to be assembled at the boat-landing to welcome me, except Nasi. He was away fishing aa distance, and had been sent for, but had not yet arrived. On the way to the Mission House, he came rushing to meet me. He grasped my hand, and kissed it, and burst into tears. I said, " Nasi, do I now at last meet you as a Christian ? " He warmly answered, "Yes, Missi; I now worship and serve the only Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Bless God, I am a Christian at last ! " My soul went out with the silent cry, " Oh, that the men at home who discuss and doubt about conversion, and the new heart, and the power of Jesus to change and save, could but look on Nasi, and spell out the simple lesson, He that created us at first by His power can create us anew by His love ! " My first Sabbath on Aniwa, after the late tour in Great Britain and the Colonies, gave me a blessed surprise. Before daybreak I lay awake thinking of all my experiences on that Island, and wondering whether the Church had fallen off in my four years' absence, when suddenly the voice of song broke on my ears ! It was scarcely full dawn, yet I jumped up and called to a man that was passing, " Have I slept in ? Is it already Church-time ? Or why are the people met so early ? " PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. 281 He was one of their leaders, and gravely replied, "Missi, since you left, we have found it very hard to live near to God ! So the Chief and the Teachers and a few others meet when daylight comes in every Sabbath morning, and spend the first hour of every Lord's Day in prayer and praise. They are met to pray for you now, that God may help you in your preaching, and that all hearts may bear fruit to the glory of Jesus this day." I returned to my room, and felt quite prepared myself. It would be an easy and a blessed thing to lead such a Congregation into the presence of the Lord ! They were there already. On that day every person on Aniwa seemed to be at Church, except the bedridden and the sick. At the close of the Services, the Elders informed me that they had kept up all the Meetings during my absence, and had also conducted the Communicants' Class, and they presented to me a considerable number of candidates for membership. After careful examina- tion, I set apart nine boys and girls, about twelve or thirteen years of age, and advised them to wait for at least another year or so, that their knowledge and habits might be matured. They had answered every question, indeed, and were eager to be baptized and admitted ; but I feared for their youth, lest they should fall away and bring disgrace on the Church, One of them, with very earnest eyes, looked at me and said, " We have been taught that whosoever believeth la 28a PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. to be baptized. We do most heartily believe in Jesus, and try to please Jesus." I answered, " Hold on for another year, and then our way will be clear." But he persisted, " Some of us may not be living then ; and you may not be here. We long to be baptized by you, our own Missi, and to take our place among the servants of Jesus." After much conversation I agreed to baptize them, and they agreed to refrain from going to the Lord's Table for a year ; that all the Church might by that time have knowledge and proof of their consistent Christian life, though so young in years. This dis- cipline, I thought, would be good for them ; and the Lord might use it as a precedent for guidance in future days. Of other ten adults at this time admitted, one was specially noteworthy. She was about twenty-five, and the Elders objected because her marriage had not been according to the Christian usage oh Aniwa. She left us weeping deeply. I was writing late at night in the cool evening air, as was my wont in that oppressive tropical clime, and a knock was heard at my door. I called out, " Akai era ?" ( = Who is there ?) A voice softly answered, " Missi, it is Lamu. Oh, do speak with me ! " This was the rejected candidate, and I at once opened the door. " Oh, Missi," she began, " I cannot sleep, I cannot PEN-PORTRAITS OF AN 1 WANS, 283 eat ; my soul is in pain. Am I to be shut out from Jesus ? Some of those at the Lord's Table com- mitted murder. They repented, and have been saved. My heart is very bad ; yet I never did any of those crimes of Heathenism ; and I know that it is my joy to try and please my Saviour Jesus. How is it that I only am to be shut out from Jesus ? " I tried all I could to guide and console her, and she listened to all very eagerly. Then she looked up at me and said, " Missi, you and the Elders may think it right to keep me back from showing my love to Jesus at the Lord's Table ; but I know here in my heart that Jesus has received me ; and if I were dying now, I know that Jesus would take me to Glory and present me to the Father." Her look and manner thrilled me. I promised to see the Elders and submit her appeal. But Lamu appeared and pled her own cause before them with convincing effect She was baptized and admitted along with other nine. And that Communion Day will be long remembered by many souls on Aniwa. It has often struck me, when relating these events, to press this question on the many young people, the highly privileged white brothers and sisters of Lamu, Did you ever lose one hour of sleep or a single meal in thinking of your Soul, your God, the claims of Jesus, and your Eternal Destiny ? And when I saw the diligence and fidelity of these poor Aniwan Elders, teaching and ministering during 284 PEN-PORTRAITS OF ANIWANS. all those years, my soul has cried aloud to God, Oh, what could not the Church accomplish if the educated and gifted Elders and others in Christian lands would set themselves thus to work for Jesus, to teach the ignorant, to protect the tempted, and to rescue the fallen ! CHAPTER IX. LETTERS FROM ANIWA. Editorial Preface. Letter for 1867. Not Tanna but Aniwi. " Missi Paton versus Teapots." The Humour of Taia. Evening Village-Prayers." Make him Bokis Sing." My Sewing Class. "That no Gammon." " Talk Biritania." The Marriage of Kahi. . . . Letter for 1869. First Communicants on Aniwa. Mungaw and the Mission Boys. The Blessing of the Dayspring, . . . Letter for 1874. Home to Aniwa. "Taking Possession." "Another Soul Committed to our Care." Hutshi and her Lover. Six Missionaries on Aniwa. . . . Letter for 1875. Missi Paton and "Joseph" and the Tannese. A Tropical Hurri- cane. The Disgrace and Sale of Hutshi. Taia Baited by Nalihi. Earthquakes and Tidal Waves. Farewells. . . . Letter for 1878. A Madman at Large. The Passing of Yawaci. The Madness and Death of Mungaw. Our Native Elders. Music on the Waters. A Wicked Vow. . . . Letter for 1879. New Year's Day on Aniwa. A Miserable Slaver. Litsi Married Again. Mission Synod on Erromanga. Tragic and Holy Memories. Day-Light on Tanna. Pigs in Galore. Arrowroot for Jehovah. [THE EDITOR takes upon himself the responsibility of presenting here a picture of life among the New Hebrideans, as portrayed by the graphic and gifted pen of Mrs. John G. Paton. His only regret is that the exigencies of space **s 286 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. compel him to give mere fragments of these Letters, instead of the full-flowing descriptions, which have led him to regard them as amongst the most charm- ing pieces of Missionary literature with which he has become acquainted. He apologizes also to that dear lady herself for the liberty he is thus taking with her " Family Epistles," written for the delight of her inner circle of friends, and for their eyes alone. He is well aware that if she were at his side, instead of being in the New Hebrides, while he is sending these pages to press, nothing would probably induce her to give her consent to this appearance in print. But he trusts that her wrath will be assuaged, when she returns to the Colonies and learns how the Christian Public ap- prove in this respect of what her friend has done. The Editor makes no apology to the reader for this break in the flow of the story, or even for re-touching one or two scenes that are past, for he already instinctively knows that even these fragments will be appreciated, as a great enrichment to the Autobiography which he has been privileged to introduce to them.] (1867.) TO REV. DR. MACDONALD, SOUTH MELBOURNE. ". . . How much I enjoyed your kind letter which came by the Dayspring last month ! I was delighted indeed to hear that your Parish now extends to the New Hebrides, rather a scattered one certainly, nevertheless you ajre bound to look LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 3*1 after your flock, and we shall soon be expecting a pastoral visit. . . . "You were, I dare say, surprised when you heard that we had been sent to Aniwa instead of Tanna. It was a blow which Mr. Paton has hardly got over yet ; but all the brethren were decidedly opposed to us going there alone, and we feel now that we have been Divinely led hither. Mr. Inglis, in his last kind letter, said to Mr. Paton that he believed he was doing more real work for Tanna, by bringing the Aniwans to a knowledge of the truth and thus fitting them for by-and-bye spreading the Gospel among the Tannese, than if he were now labouring alone among that dense mass of people. We are encouraged, therefore, to hope that there may be many ambas- sadors for Christ from this little Island, for the Aniwans are a superior people, and the work has made steady and rapid pro- gress of late. I don't mean that half the people are converted, very far from that 1 There is a great deal to be done, before the soil is prepared even to receive the seed, they cling so to their old prejudices and superstitions. I believe, to many of them, it is like taking a great leap into the dark to risk the anger of their gods by coming to the Worship. For what proof have they at first that we are leading them into the right way ? True, they see we wish to be kind ; but the idea of any one coming among them simply for their good is a doctrine they cannot understand. " We are very thankful to have so many regularly at Church ; and Mr. Paton possessed a great advantage in being able to address them from the first in Tannese, which some of them speak freely, hence the double hope of training them as helpers for Tanna. You would be surprised to see with what propriety the Services are conducted. The Native Teachers, two devoted men from Aneityum who have been here for years, try to give short speeches. Then Mr. Paton usually invites one or other of the more enlightened of the Aniwans to speak, which he does by invariably pitching into his brethren in the most energetic terms, comparing them to pigs, dogs, serpents, etc., the speaker not generally including himself, and asking how long they mean to continue their ' black-hearted conduct ' ? 288 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. "They are never at a loss for a text, and for a long time after we came it sounded to me something like ' Missi Paton and Teapots.' I supposed it to be, ' Missi Paton versus Tea- pots,' but by-and-bye I discovered that it was not Teapots, but Teapolo ( - Devil), against which they stormed. Lately they have been choosing more sacred subjects, generally a repetition of what they have heard from Mr. Paton before, or been helping him to translate during the week. Last Sabbath, we were much struck with the gentle, persuasive tones of the old Chief who was addressing them. Mr. Paton noted down two words he did not remember having heard before, and asked for the translation after worship. The man took him by the hand and said in Tannese, ' Missi, I was only telling them what you have been teaching us all this time about Jesus pouring out His blood to wash away all our sins ! ' **Taia, and Namakei the Chief, two of our firmest friends, give very telling speeches sometimes. The former is a tall and powerful fellow, quite a notoriety on account of his loquacious powers. He has a great deal of ready wit too ; and, though he does little else but talk, it is wonderful what influence he exerts. Some time ago, he prevented a violent quarrel ending in pro- bable bloodshed. The party who thought themselves insulted ran home, seized their arms, and were rushing past Taia's house, where he was lying outside, basking in the sun and enjoying his pipe. He saw something was wrong, for they don't continue the habit of carrying their arms constantly now, and he called out to them (of course in their own language), 'Stop ! stop ! let me see what you are carrying. Is it the book that Missi has been busy making?' His sly hit set them all a-laughing, and they turned into his house ; there he had a long and serious talk with them, and got them to give up the idea of fighting, at least for that day. The next being Sabbath, he came to Mr. Paton before the Service to ask him to let him speak ; and, having both the offending parties present, he did give it them, finishing up by reminding them how difficult it had been to get a Missionary, and how he, Taia, had gone to Aneityum to plead for more Native Teachers after they had murdered Nemeyan and tried to kill Navalak, and how he had LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 289 always been careful to give them food to do the work of Jehovah ! In that part of the speech referring to his own conduct, there were a few embellishments which in strict regard to truth might have been omitted ; but his advice seemed to do good, for we heard no more of that quarrel. " Taia, however, does not always do as he professes, and Mr. Paton sometimes feels it incumbent on him to call Taia to account ; but Taia's equanimity is never in the least ruffled. He sits listening with his chin resting upon his knees, looking up now and again with a bland smile, saying, ' Ah, very good talk that, Missi I Very good talk that ! ' . . . " Namakei never fails, when well, to take Mr. Paton's Bible and lay it on the desk every Sabbath and Wednesday before the Service, and to get the people in the village assembled for wor- ship, which we have every evening under a large banyan tree in the Imrai ( = the public meeting-ground), the great place of general rendezvous, which is close behind our house. " I particularly enjoy this Evening Service, when all Nature is at rest and looks so exquisitely beautiful, everything reflecting the gorgeous sunsets and nothing heard but the soft rustle of the leaves and what Longfellow calls ' the symphony of Ocean. I think the Natives, too, are inspired with it, for none of us seem inclined to move off after worship, and often, but espe- cially on Sabbath evenings, we sit still and sing over all our hymns. They never tire of this, being all of them intensely fond of music. . . . " I was heartily amused, the first time I was called upon to perform on Aniwa ! We had just unpacked the harmonium, one day, about a fortnight after our arrival. The news must have spread like wildfire ; for, towards evening, about forty or fifty people came marching towards the Church (the house where we stayed till our new home was built), the foremost shouting in broken English, ' Missi, make him bokis (box) sing ! Plenty man come hear you make him bokis sing ! ' " I must not omit to tell you about my peculiar charge, and a very pleasant one it is, I mean my own Sewing Class. Nearly fifty women and girls attend pretty regularly every morning, except Wednesday and Saturday, and we spend two hours P. 19 290 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. (often more) together sewing and singing. They are very tract- able and willing to learn, having taken a great fancy for sewing. I never dreamt it would be really such delightful work teaching them, but my heart was drawn to them from the first, and I will always feel grateful to them for the kindly way they be- haved to me when I landed amongst them, timid and rather frightened at feeling myself the only white woman on these lonely shores. . . . " Mr. Paton took the matter much more coolly, seeming to take for granted that they were all his * dear friends,' though most of the men, really fine fellows we have since found them, thought it advisable to receive us with a good deal of impudence, trying how far we could be imposed upon 1 Plenty of them talk a little English, and really it was almost laughable to hear them telling the most monstrous lies with such a long innocent face, that one would suppose they believed them themselves, and then gravely adding, ' That no gammon ! ' . . . " I feel the sewing, however, to be only a stepping-stone to something far more important. It brings me into contact with them so as to learn their language. I so long to be able to talk freely to them ; but it is slow work with me ! How the Apostles must have appreciated the gift of Tongues on the day of Pente- cost ! I wonder if it was accorded to their wives as well ? Il is so provoking, when you think you have mastered enough to venture on a little conversation with them, to see them looking at each other wonderingly. Some time ago, in talking to a girl, I plunged a little deeper than usual, thinking to astonish her with my wisdom, but she looked up innocently and told me she ' did not savvy talk Biritania ! ' I must have made awful blun- ders at first But some of the women can talk Tannese as well as the men ; and I got Mr. Paton's help in any great difficulty, though he did not at all times enjoy the interruption, especially if the point in question turned out to be only about a needle and a thread, while he had been called away when setting up the type for our first Aniwan book ! . . . " Before closing this long epistle, I want to tell you about our first Christian marriage here, especially as the Bride was decked out from your Emerald Hill box, last sent, at least partly so. It LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 291 was a deeply interesting occasion. Kahi, the bride, was one of my scholars, a pretty young widow of about seventeen ; and Ropu, her lover, was such a nice fellow, too, a great favourite of Mr. Paton's. They seemed really attached ; but Kahi's father-in-law demurred about giving her away, as he considered her still his property, having given a high price (present ?) for her when he bought her for his son. One morning, however, Ropu appeared with such a number of fat pigs, that they quite took the old man's heart by storm, and he declared that he might have her that day, if the Missi thought it was right. The Missi did not object, but advised them to get married in Church ; and I determined to give Kahi a nice present, in order to tempt her young companions to follow her example ; not a very high motive, to be sure, but if the prospect of a good present will induce them to alter their habits in regard to marriage, I have not the slightest objection that it should be so. It's about the highest motive some of them can yet appreciate, and there is no vital principle, after all, at stake in the mere form. We made the event as public as the time would permit, and there was quite a little gathering to witness the ceremony. Poor Kahi was brought to me in tears ; but when we put on her nice skirt and jacket, and she caught sight of the pretty hat which hap- pened to be trimmed with orange blossom, she seemed to think she had indulged long enough in sentiment and dried her tears quite briskly, looking out from under her long eyelashes from side to side with great admiration, and when at last I put a glaring red handkerchief into her hand she fairly laughed aloud ! There was a little trouble with them in Church, as they would not come near enough to join hands till they were pushed ; and then the poor girl got her marriage vows repeated to her on the deafest side of her head, for, being too bashful or some- thing of the sort to give the response, it seemed to be the public opinion that Mr. Paton was letting her off too easily, and the men taking up the question thundered it in such a manner as to elicit a pretty quick reply ! "... P.S. " 6th December. u Please send the Dayspring quickly down this season ; for I have found this morning to my horror, that the whole stock of 292 LETTERS FROM AN2WA. flour has gone useless, and not a bit of bread shall we get till the Vessel returns ! I suppose we are indebted to the climate and the weevil together for this. We have plenty of other food, so no danger of starving." (1869.) TO A LADY. ... M To spend such a day as we did a few Sabbaths ago when our little Church of God on Aniwa was formally constituted, we felt to be worth more than all the sacrifices connected with our isolated life. We had a very good attendance, 180 being present, and an unusual solemnity and interest pervaded the Church throughout the whole Services. The Communicants, twelve in number, were arranged in rows from the platform to my seat, so that they Occupied the space in the centre ; and, as they stood up to answer the form of questions Mr. Paton put to them before receiving Baptism, you could scarcely have conceived a more interesting group. Vasi, our eldest member, must we think be near to ninety ; but, aged and infirm as he is, he came every day to School vith his spectacles on, and is one of Mr. Paton's best writers as well as readers. Our old chief, Namakei, was there, with his daughter Litsi. She is his only child living, and is almost as great a comfort to me as to her father. She was the first girl who came to live with us, and, being the eldest on our Premises, she sets a good example to the others. Her devotion to Mr. Paton amounts almost to idolatry. She seems as if she never could be grateful enough to him for being the means of her conversion. But the one I felt most interest in was Namakei's sister, a very gentle and delicate- looking woman. I knew what it had cost her to profess her faith in Jesus, and how her husband and son were even then jeering and laughing at her. If I had time, I could tell you something interesting about each of them, for of course it was our knowing all their little histories that made it so in- tensely gratifying a sight to us. I can remember when one began to wear clothing, when another cut off his long hair, and when one whom we had thought a very hardened charac- LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 293 ter came one day with the last of his idols, saying, ' Now, Missi, these are the very last. I have no more.' "It was a beautiful sight to see these all standing up neatly clothed, in the midst of their benighted brethren, to declare themselves on the Lord's side ; and more than one could wit- ness without deep emotion. Never did I feel happier in any society on Earth, than when partaking of our Saviour's body and blood with these dark Sisters and Brothers, now united with me in Jesus. It was a day long to be remembered. I trust it will be so even in Eternity, with thanksgiving. Our dear friend and sister Missionary, Mrs. McNair, was with us, paying a long-promised visit ; and I felt so glad she happened to be here at the time, for she says she never witnessed a more beautiful and affecting spectacle. We have every reason to hope that the true work of grace is begun in their hearts. Mr. Paton had much satisfaction in them while attending his Candidates' Class ; and their own earnest inquiries were what delighted him most How often have we had cause to set up our Ebenezer since coming to this far-off land ; and this is but a small begin- ning, yet we have most emphatically reason to thank the Lord and take courage. ... . " Mungaw was so disgusted at having to wear a kilt, that I did not dare to mention about cutting his long hair ; and Mr. Paton does not wish the Natives to be forced to these things, for he always says that, when their hearts are changed, they will be sure to give up these things of their own accord. I know that this is very true ; but as I don't see that there would be any harm in having the short hair first, I coaxed Mungaw to cut his, and he looks very much more civilized. " We have a gathering of boys now on the Premises ; for Mungaw had not been installed into his office two days, before a few others came and asked quite humbly that they might be allowed to do something for the Missi. We were truly amazed as well as gratified at this unexpected proposal ; for the boys here, as a rule, are the idlest and most impudent set I ever saw. They seem to be the ' masters ' too, for no one thinks of con- tradicting a boy. Of course, Mr. Paton told them that he was very glad to have them come, as he wanted to teach them a 294 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. great deal they ought to know. They are really doing toler- ably well, and I feel so thankful to have a man-cook, as there are so many things connected therewith that men or boys re- quire to do and that they will not do to help a woman; for instance, chopping wood and black-leading the stove. . . . " The Dayspring is a great blessing to us all. There is little fear of any Missionary now on the most savage Islands being ill-treated, if they see that he is well looked after. Of course, I mean ' humanly speaking/ the fear is nilj and if we be kept in safety, and our work in the end begins to prosper, that dear little Vessel and her supporters have more to do with it all than might by some be imagined. Two of our Natives, one of them the wildest character -on Aniwa, were engaged by Captain Fraser to go as boat's crew, the trip before last ; and they came back in ecstasies, declaring there was never such a Captain as the one on board the Dayspring. He was so kind and good to them, for when they came to any Island without a Missionary, he would not let them go on shore for fear of being killed, and that would have damaged our work on Aniwa. Then they counted on their finger ends, with great glee, the things they had received in payment ; and as these are good and useful articles, it engenders a love for such things instead of the paint and stuffs they get from the Traders, while their huge ambition for sailing and sight-seeing is gratified." (1874.) TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE " MY DEAREST MOTHER, SISTERS, AND BROTHERS, . . . I must, however, arrive at Aniwa more by degrees, as this is to be the journalistic Family Epistle, and you have heard nothing of us since we left Sydney on the 4th April, with dear Dr. Steele on board, who seemed like a link between us and Civili- zation. I felt ' strong to go,' as our Natives would express it, for I realized as I never before had done the ' Lo, I am with you,' and some of God's dear ones with whom we had had such precious Christian fellowship were with us till the last. . . . LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 295 u We had finished up at Fotuna soon after breakfast ; and how intensely delighted we were to hear the Captain's cheery voice shouting out that we would be able to have a drink of milk at Aniwa to-morrow morning, as the wind was fair. We had all packed up in the afternoon, and the first sight which greeted me, on looking out at my port-hole next morning, was the trees and rocks of dear old Aniwa ! The first boat was sent ashore with eight or nine Fotunese and their cumbrous baggage, who had insisted on coming to visit our Island, rather to the disgust of the Captain. Meantime we were having our breakfast, and Mr. Arthur, the mate, brought back word that our Natives were in a state of great delight and excitement, dear Yawaci making the younger girls fly round their work, also that our six cows had increased to ten, and that our goats no man could number ! He had also heard that a number of our Natives had died, and some had been taken away by Traders. "When we neared the shore, we could see that the great majority of the people had turned out, and even the very cattle and goats been brought to meet us ! There were my girls, standing in a group in bright pink dresses, sewed and shaped by themselves, and turkey-red turbans, and in short, by one and another of the Natives all the colours of the rainbow were well represented. Not one person, I am thankful to say, was without clothing. True, some of their garments were ragged and scanty enough, still they had them, and it was almost more than we expected from some of them, after being away from them so long. They do so love to run naked ! " What a shaking of hands, and ' Alofa '-ing there was ! Two or three little groups were sitting apart sobbing for their dead ; indeed, they firmly believed that if we had been on the Island to attend to them they would not have died. When we reached the bouse, everything looked beautiful and the ground so well kept, new coral on the walks, a fine new mat on the dining- room floor and another on the lobby, and last, but not least in the estimation of weary sea-voyagers, a great jug of new goat's milk I When Dr. Steele and Mr. Robertson made playful speeches about our Home-coming before drinking it, I could tg6 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. most truly say, even after all the enjoyment and kindness of the Colonies and delightful Christian fellowship with kindred spirits there,' Home, sweet Home, no place like Home.' . . . "Amidst all my hurry, however, I had five minutes alone by my little Lena's grave. The beautiful white coral was blackened, but the grass and shrubs had grown, and the lemon branches with their bright fruit were bending over and shading it beautifully. How naturally one looks up to the blue sky above, and wonders where the spirit is, or if she can see the mourning hearts below. She would have been rutning on her own little feet now, had she been on Earth but though my heart aches for her still, I would not have it otherwise, for she was not sent in vain, and oh, what a little teacher she has been ! When John took Dr. Steele to see the grave, he said, ' You have thus taken possession ' ; and I felt we had taken possession of more through her than that little spot of ground on Aniwa. . . . " Our visitors and Vessel left us in the afternoon, and on my return from seeing them off (John was too exhausted to go), I met a very nice man, one of the Church members, who stopped me and said, ' Missi, I've given my boy up to you and Missi the man, and you're to feed and clothe and teach him, as you do the other children.' I could hardly believe my ears, and you would need to know how boys are prized here to appreciate as we did the sacrifice made, at least as John did, for I must confess that the thought of their bodily sustenance comes between me and the fervent thanksgiving of my earnest little man for ' another soul being added to our care ! ' We've got ten of these souls, with bodies attached, at the present cime, besides several outsiders who come during the day, and it taxes all my ingenuity to keep them in work and ' Kai-Kai,' their capacity for the latter being of no mean order. Their clothes are no concern beyond the making of them, and that they soon learn to do for themselves ; for we have always been abundantly supplied from kind Mission friends. . . . Although I do sometimes think how nice it would be to be in Civilization with a small house of our own and with the care of only one or two servants at most, yet we are more than re-paid for all our love to these dear Darkies. They are just like our very LETTERS FROM AN1WA. 297 children, and such we always call them, and they are so con- fiding and loving with us and tell us everything, especially the elder girls, who have lived with us now for more than five years. " By the way, we have just had an affaire de cceur amongst them, and as Hutshi is the young lady, you will be interested to hear. You know she was given away, when an infant, by her parents, to Nelwang, another infant about the same age, but who is now one of the best and most intelligent boys on the Island, the only drawback being that his limbs are rather diseased, and he is so fearfully timid that he won't let John apply anything to cure them. Well, when we were in Sydney, a middle-aged man, a returned labourer, whose betrothed wife is yet a baby, came trying to curry favour with Hutshi's guar- dians (her parents are dead long ago) by bringing them large presents, and finally got them talked over to give him Hutshi when she returned with us, so it was settled, only awaiting her and our consent. Now, her guardian has always been most honourable with us. He gave up Hutshi to us, when she was of the greatest use in his village (but I took care to let her go and help them pretty often), and when we asked if she might go with us to the Colonies, he and his wife said, 'She is more your child than ours, Missi ; do as you like.' So, when they explained matters to John one evening in the study, and said that both Hutshi and Nelwang were agreeable to the change, he felt he could not interfere much, but warned them not to be too rash and to ask God about it. "Hutshi, the mischief, flirted with her new admirer when she could get a chance, and I felt it would be a great relief to have her married ; but we could see, from Nelwang's looks (he is one of our boys), that there was a pain at his heart- I set him a piece of work in the dining-room one day, and, sitting down to help him, got all his confidence. The poor boy's heart was breaking, and he wound up by saying, ' I can't tell them my heart, Missi, for they would but laugh, and I am only one ; but if my father had been alive, they would not have dared to give Hutshi away before my eyes.' Seeing his lady-love, however, who at that moment came in at the open window and 298 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. evidently comprehended matters, he tossed his head proudly and said, ' It's very good that she takes him ! ' "John and I espoused Nelwang's cause from that moment, and he soon found an opportunity for saying a word on his behalf. I also got Hutshi alone, and told her what Nelwang had said. She replied that she did not know what to do, as they were all urging her to take Sarra (the new lover) ; but she said, 'I would cry more to give up Nelwang than that old fellow ! ' " She came to me the other day, and said she had finally made up her mind to keep by Nelwang. I answered, ' But I thought, Hutshi, you seemed for the while to prefer the other.' ' Yes, Missi,' she replied, ' when everybody was praising him and telling me to take him, I thought it would be nice ; but Nelwang and I have had a talk. We told each other what our dead parents said about our being married when we were big, and then we both cried, and we are going to be true to each other ! ' So, you see, there is sentiment in blacks as well as whites ! . . . "Here I am at the end of my fourth sheet, and have not even begun to tell you of the nice Ladies' Meeting we had at Aniwa, or the lively time we have had with visitors ever since the Vessel returned with the Missionaries on board for the annual Synod. . . . " That was a refreshing visit on the return of the Vessel from the Synod ; and we had a cheery houseful, for in addition to our four husbands, whom as canny Scots say, ' we were not sorry y to see after a three weeks' absence, Mr. and Mrs. Inglis and Dr. Steele (the latter to remain with us) came and stayed from the Saturday till the Monday, the vessel going out to sea with the rest of the Missionaries, who declared it would kill me outright to have any more ! Those who came tried to make me promise just to give them a pillow and a blanket on the floor, but we got them snugly stowed away in beds and on sofas, and we so enjoyed their society. It is especially delightful to hear their voices mingling in the Psalm at Family Worship. It makes one think of the great company of the redeemed, singing the * New Song.' LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 299 * The Sabbath was such a blessed day too, and it was quite an event in the Church history of Aniwa to see six Missionaries on the platform, and five ladies in the Missionary's pew. Mr. Inglis preached at the first service, Mr. Annand at the second (John of course translating), good Gospel truth ; and Dr. Steele gave us a white sermon in the evening in the drawing-room, upon the * Prayer of Jabez.' The language was very beautiful, and the Doctor suited himself to his audience, leaving out his appeal to unconverted Sinners / . . . " Every one in the house is asleep, and my eyes will hardlj keep open ; so I must say Good-night to you all, with heart's love from your ever-loving daughter and sister, "MAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON." (I87SO TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE. "Mv DEAREST SISTERS AND BROTHERS, w If I could only put one of the Earthquakes we've had into this journal it would produce a sensation, descriptions seem so very tame after one has experienced the awful feelings they produce ! But I must begin and go forward as best I can, there being no possibility of gratifying you in that direction. " You know, it was not till very near the time of the Vessel's sailing that we decided last year to remain ; and I sent my last 'Journal' on board with an aching heart. We had been so nearly going to see our precious boys, and till I saw the Day- spring slowly disappear in the distance I did not know how intensely my heart had been set upon seeing them ! . . . " To crown all, John got very ill, and sunk so low we feared he might not live to see the return of the Dayspring. But all the time I had an inward conviction that God had not kept him on Aniwa just to die, after giving us such encouragement to remain, and we had waited so confidingly upon Him just to show us the way. And He did not keep us long in suspense, for one event transpired after another to show how wisely we had been guided. 300 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. "The first of these happened about a month after the vessel left, and as John was slowly recovering from his illness. We heard, one lovely day, as I was setting the copies for afternoon School (I managed to keep it going all the time), a cry of ' Sail O ! ' which set us all into a fine pitch of excitement. School was the last thing to be thought of, and the Natives scampered off towards the other end of the Island, where the vessel lay. John was unable to walk so far ; but you may be sure we were quite on the qui vive for news, and I waylaid the first returning Native, who shouted to me in Aniwan, ' Missi, what do you think has happened ? A whole shipload of Tannese, men, women, and children, have been driven off their own Island by war, and have come over to live on this little Island, because the Worship is strong, and they know they are safe. They are many in number for the people of Aniwa ; and where are we to get food for them, Missi ? for they had to es- cape at night with what little baggage they could bring in the vessel.' " Another Native soon arrived with letters from Mr. and Mrs. Neilson, confirming the report, and we were rather dumbfounded at this turn of events ; but, like most of the other Missionaries, when they heard of it, we were also deeply impressed with God's mysterious ways. Tanna was the Island upon which John's whole heart was set ; and it was one of the bitterest dis- appointments of his life when the Mission Synod would not allow him to return there, instead of coming to Aniwa nine years ago ; but we both felt we were following God here, and now He had brought the Tannese to Aniwa; for those who had come were from around Port Resolution, and some of them were John's old friends ! " Some of the Islanders themselves were as much struck with the event as we were. And at last Mission Synod, Mr. Neilson amused all the Missionaries by giving the outline of a speech made upon the occasion by one of the Aneityumese Teachers on Tanna, apt as all Natives are in drawing illustrations from daily life to point their addresses on Sabbath. He took the story of Joseph for his subject, and made out ' Missi Paton ' to be Joseph driven from Tanna by his wicked brethren the Tanna LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 301 men, but that God had gone with him to Egypt, alias Aniwa, and prospered him and the land for his sake, and prepared it for them to go and live upon, and thus save much people alive! . . . " John immediately set to work revising his Tannese, which he had well-nigh forgotten, so that when the Tanna gentry declined to come to Church he was soon able to go to them and first read his addresses and then preach to them in Tan- nese. How it did remind us of the early Aniwan days, when our worthy parishioners used to enjoy a pipe or a nap, as they lay on their backs listening to the sermon ! . . . "The Hurricane began in earnest about noon on January I4th, after a heavy thunderstorm which had blackened the air all the morning. As we sat at dinner the wind suddenly became furious ; we had to jump up and make preparations, as the house was shaking and creaking, the thatch standing on end, and the rain pouring in. Immediately trees, fences, etc., began to occupy a horizontal position ; so the children and I took refuge in the Study, which seemed to stand firmer than the rest of the house, and from the windows watched the progress of the storm, a magnificent sight, tall trees bending and falling before the awful force of the wind. John came in greatly dejected, saying that if it continued much longer the Church would go, as it was already bending, notwithstanding its being so strongly propped. There was a lull just then in the storm, which cheered me ; but his more experienced eye led him to pronounce it the stillness that precedes a great storm, it was still so black and ominous. And sure enough, just before dark, a terrific blast sent us flying down to the Cellar, our usual place rf refuge. " John and a couple of the girls made a final attempt to get into the house for one or two loaves, and whatever else they could grab, we were now awfully hungry, having been so un- ceremoniously interrupted at our dinner. My faithful little cook was precipitated into the Cellar before a great blast, puffing and panting and holding on to a kettle of boiling water, which was an unexpected luxury in the circumstances. So we managed to make a very jolly meal off the top of a box ; and all our stores being in the Cellar, we got hold of a tin of salmon, 302 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. the girls had thoughtfully brought a great basin of milk foi the children, and when F. found we were all to eat the salmon out of one plate, his joy knew no bounds, and he stuck his fork into the biggest bit in the dish, which proved too large for his wee mouth, causing great merriment ! " The storm raged till midnight, when we were all thankful to get up to our beds, and found our own room, fortunately, the only habitable part of the house. But oh, what utter desolation the morning light revealed ! Our fine large Church a mass of ruins, with one great pillar standing solitary and upright through the rubbish against the clear blue sky. The School House in the same condition, at the other side of the Imrai (= public meeting ground). With the exception of our cook-house and printing-office, not an outhouse was left standing on the Mission Premises ; but oh, how thankful we felt that our dwelling-house stood secure, as John was in no condition to have attempted building another. Not even a pane of glass was broken, though of course the roof could not escape, and consequently everything was soaked. The day proved fortunately very hot, and we got all the mats lifted, and mattresses, blankets, etc., washed and dried. The pigs were in their glory, running riot over all the plantations, and I am sure if they could have spoken they would have said in Scotch, ' It's an ill wind that blaws naebody guid !' "Almost every Native on the Island was at work before day- light at his fences ; dwelling-houses and there were not a dozen standing uninjured on the Island being left till the plantations were secured. School duties were not even thought of. It was so sad to see the destruction of food, fine large breadfruit and cocoa-nut trees torn up by the roots, and bananas with the fruit half formed lying useless on the ground. But the greatest lamentation seemed to be about the Tafari Mart ( = House of Worship), though the general Public were complacently viewing it as a judgment from ' Teapolo* ( = His Satanic Majesty, in Aniwan), for their being ' so strong for the Worship.' This is a popular error ; and John guarded them against it next Sabbath, preaching an impressive sermon from the text, ' Labour not for the meat which perishethj rather apropos to the occasion! . . . LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 303 " It was altogether a sad time, that, for we had been so tried with Hutshi, the girl I had last time with us in Australia, and who turned out a complete vixen; the first of my girls, I am thankful to say, who has not turned out well. She was married to one of our best young lads, and went quite gracefully through the whole affair I think I wrote you all about it before but all the while she was dying for my handsome young cook, who is engaged to the little table-maid. She began, soon after the marriage, to persecute her husband and flirt with the other, going from bad to worse, notwithstanding all we could say to her ; and one day she behaved so frightfully, that, when we were told of her guilt, John and I sank down on the nearest seats, perfectly overpowered with disappointment and horror. I could hardly have believed that any woman, either black or white, could have so deliberately planned to lead others so young and innocent into sin. " The young Chief came to ask John how she ought to be punished, as something would have to be done ; but he hesi- tated to give advice, never having been called upon to legislate in a similar case, being indeed too vexed to collect his thoughts ; only he strongly forbade them to shoot her, as one or two of the enraged fathers proposed, and advised them to be guided by the Aneityumese Teachers, two wise Christian men from Mr. Inglis's Station. They said that the punishment inflicted on Aneityum by the Chiefs was to tie up the guilty parties, collect all the goods of those most deeply involved, and distribute them among the people at the other side of the Island, so as not to tempt those around to bring false accusations against neigh- bours for the sake of their property. " This was accordingly done in the case of Hutshi ; and we had an invitation to be present at the ceremony, which we declined, as John told them it was better he should not be too much mixed up in these things. The only way in which he did interfere was to shorten the time to three hours, instead of the twenty-four they were determined to keep her tied, and which, in my opinion, she richly deserved ! Two or three Tannese happened to arrive at her village before she was unloosed, and expressed their disgust at the consequences entailed by the 3 04 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. Worship, saying they could have as much ' fun ' on Tanna as they liked without being punished for it. But one of our Aniwans answered, with a sly wink at his neighbours, that bad as the Worship might be, it had at least not driven them from their own land ! . . . " I wish I could say that was the last of the trouble we had with Mistress Hutshi ; for she professed great repentance, and sent one of the girls, two or three weeks afterwards, to say she wanted to tell me all her badness, as that would make her feel better. She had not been allowed to come near the Mission Premises, nor had we since taken any notice of her. We had very little faith in the young lady's repentance, but feared to crush any yearning after amendment, if it did exist ; and 1 thought that God might give me a word for her. So we had a long interview ; but I felt all the time there was no change in her, as was immediately proved, for she went back tossing her head and telling the others they might talk as much as they liked, she didn't care, for the Missi was quite satisfied with her now ! " She did not improve, but the Church members round kept such a watch upon her that she did not do anything very flag- rant. She did, however, lead her husband a miserable life ; and I never believed that a Native could have borne with patience what he did ; at last, being able to stand it no longer, he came to bid us Good-bye, saying he was going to live about three miles distant (it was as far away almost as he could get on Aniwa, either in one direction or the other, as his lady-love lived close to us in the centre of the Island !) and that he freely bestowed "her upon any man who might be fool enough to take her, as henceforth he would have nothing to do with her. She had, out of pure bravado, professed to elude their vigilance and implicated a Tanna man, as well as Rangi (the wildest man on Aniwa), who both proved their innocence. Perhaps Rangi agreed with me that he had enough sins of his own to account for without being blamed for what he really did not do ; and being an out and out Savage in his disposition, we feared trouble when he came with all the Tanna men at his heels to inquire about it one morning after her husband had LETTERS FROM AN1WA. 305 left her. We little expected, however, the scene there really was enacted, right outside our gate too, for it was there Rangi caught hold of her. She gave one spring to John for protec- tion, but the gate was between them, and Rangi wrenched her from it, and the savage yells that got up nearly sent me frantic with terror. "John stood leaning carelessly against the gate, viewing it all the calmest person there ! He felt that his presence would be a sufficient check, though it would have been folly to inter- fere. My girls were groaning and crying ; and Yawaci (the girl I have here) was unconsciously doing her best to wrench the handles off the dining-room door in her despair, groaning out, " Missi, blood will be spilt ! ' while I was on my knees in the middle of the floor calling upon God to interfere. But my little F. stopped me, saying, " Mamma, Mamma, I don't like to see you look up and talk like that ! Are you ill ? ' So I tried to be myself again to the wee man, and felt comforted in having left the case with the Lord. Only I must see Rangi, though I had very slender hope of influencing him ; and I put my careful husband into a fine consternation, as he would rather have seen an apparition than me coming on such a scene. I had only a very dim notion, then, of his gestures and entreaties, being deaf and blind to everything except Rangi, who came nearest my idea of a demon of anything I had ever seen 1 " The poor girl was tied, with her arms backward, to a cocoa- nut tree, pale with terror, and a hundred muskets bristling round her. The Tannese were in full Heathen costume, which means paint instead of clothing ; and the Church members stood calmly, like John, looking on, except two or three of them, who kept guard around her with loaded muskets for her defence from murder, if necessary. Her life was all they or we wished to see spared, for she richly deserved any punishment short of death. I caught Rangi's eye at last. At a sign he came quietly forward, and I began to tell him he should not dare to shoot my girl, but being too excited I ended in sobs and was marched off, but not before Rangi earnestly assured me that he would not touch a hair of her head, or let any one else do it, only, he said, she deserved to be tied and ought to be well beaten for 20 306 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. blackening his character ! We could not keep from smiling, even in the excitement, at Rangi's care for his reputation, which was truly as black as it well could be. " Well, here was mistress Hutshi practically put up for public sale ; for, according to Native law, whoever dared to unloose her from that tree had to take her for his wife, her husband having renounced all claim to her. Rangi reminded them of this when he tied her up, saying that the Missi only could alter that law if he wished. The Missi did not feel inclined to do any such thing, having devoutly wished her at Jericho ever since she commenced her pranks, as she was proving a curse to the place, and now only hoped that the most tyrannical unmarried man on the Island would take her off bodily as far away as the limited circumference of Aniwa would permit (so did the Church members) ; but for John to say so would only be the beginning of mischief. He was so anxious they would not appeal to him for advice, for we both felt that for her Native law was the best But though a score of young men would have gone down on their knees for her before she was married, there she stood for about three hours without a single bidder ! "John had got the whole crowd dispersed to go and cut wood for the lime pits (you know he is of a rather practical turn of mind and likes to utilize the most unlikely occasions), which they did with great energy, having the steam up ; so she was left alone, as the women had all to run and cook food. I had a grand donation for the labourers besides the tea, that day, as we had a calf killed the evening before, and I was giving orders about it when I saw John waving me to the study with such an amused face. It seems that Hutshi's old sweetheart had rushed to him in eager haste, saying, ' Missi, I never will have such a chance for a wife I Will you marry me to Hutshi, if I untie her ? ' John said he centainly could not, and that if he took her it must be d la Native, and that he would have to dis- continue his attendance at the Candidates' Class, of which he was a member. He explained, at the same time, that it was not like running away with another man's wife, as her behaviour (which in Britain would have divorced her) had led her husband to give her up ; only that, for the sake of example, he could not LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 307 countenance such proceedings on the part of intending Com- municants. Sarra said, in that case he would have nothing to do with her. But, alas, female influence prevailed, and he un- loosed her an hour or two after, amid the Hurrahs of the passers- by and our intense though secret delight ; for though Sarra is obliged to confess he has ' caught a Tartar,' yet he manages to keep her in tolerable check, being a determined fellow. " We heartily re-echoed the sentiments of one of our Church members, when speaking of Hutshi, viz., 'that it was awful what a "woman could do, when she was bent upon mischief ! ' Indeed, according to the Natives, we have her, along with the two murderers, to thank for those awful Earthquakes which nearly frightened us out of our senses, though on Aniwa very little damage accrued from them. " The first, at least the first to speak of, occurred near mid- night on the 28th March (the second anniversary of our Lena's birth), and woke us up with a vengeance, being the worst we ever had, the Earth heaving so awfully that we expected every moment to be swallowed up, and were almost paralyzed with terror, but M. and F. slept through it all. After it, a tremendous rush of the sea seemed to take place, from the noise it made, and which we found next morning was the case, carrying our boat from where it lay, high and dry about one hundred yards inland, also canoes, two of which were smashed. " I lay in awful terror after the Earthquake till three o'clock, and was dropping off to sleep, when another terrible one sent us flying out of the house in our night gowns, John dragging the children out of their beds, and the girls rushing out of their house. There was not a breath of wind, and it was awful to see in the bright moonlight the great trunks of the trees swaying back and forward, and to feel the ground going to and fro with such force. We had one or two slight ones after that, and then just at daybreak an awful repetition, every one of us simultane- ously rushing out of doors 1 This was number five; and before breakfast we went to see the damage done to the boat (but it was uninjured) ; and we had two more violent shocks ere we got home, making seven in all before breakfast, after which we had a commotion of another kind. 308 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. " John felt so exhausted, and had just got fast asleep on the study sofa (a most unusual occurrence with him), when I heard high words between Taia, one of our Church members, and Nalihl, an Erromangan. I knew not what to do, for Natives never waste time on high words they at once rush to arms ; and I was unwilling to wake John to more excitement, as it was exactly that day two years since he had been seized with that awful fever, and I had been in fear of its return, as people pre- dicted it would, about the same time of the year. Well, I actually made up my mind to show my wifely devotion, and it was a good test for me, I beg leave to say, I always had such a foolish terror of a loaded musket anywhere, and infinitely more so in the hands of an enraged Savage, by going between the combatants myself. To make matters worse, all the men about had gone that morning to bring lime-coral, and only a few women had collected, and one or two timid fellows who stood at a safe distance. "Nalihi was flourishing his musket in Taia's face, as an accompaniment to an eloquent harangue he was delivering in Erromangan, not being able to speak Anivvan ; and Taia, who understood and could speak it perfectly, seemed to be paying him back with interest. They subsided for a few moments, when it was whispered the Missi was there ; but on finding that it was only the ' Missi find,' they went at it with renewed vigour. I took no notice of the Erromangan, knowing my only chance was with Taia ; so I went over to him, and implored him not to utter another word, whatever provocation he might receive ; and though reluctant at first, he behaved nobly and stood what I think few white men would have done in the circumstances. I kept close beside him all the time, and though for three quarters of an hour that villain stood heaping insults upon him, and at last, in his rage, cut down his bananas and fences before his eyes, he never spoke, though his muscles twitched and he clutched at his great club sometimes one that I knew had done good (?) service in Heathen days under the great brawny arms that wielded it ; for Taia is a perfect Hercules, and such a contrast to the little treacherous, sharp-nosed Erromangan, who was dying for an excuse to get a shot at him. When I thought LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 30$ Taia was going to give way, I put my cold white paw (it did feel so cold) on his black arm, and every time I did so he turned and looked down at me with a grim smile, saying, ' Don't fear, Missi, I'll not speak.' " Now I maintain, that though John sometimes fears Taia's Christianity is not of the highest type, yet he is undoubtedly a Perfect gentleman, or he would not have stood there, the greatest living orator on Aniwa, silent at the bidding of any woman 1 When I saw the good food being destroyed and so little left from the Hurricane, indignation mastered every other feeling, and I felt it was high time for John to interfere with Nalihi ; as no one else dared to speak to him, except master F., who had, by the way, found us out just then, and proceeded without hesitation to deal with him in plain terms. His little figure heaved with indignation, and he drew such a long breath before calling out, * O you naughty, naughty man I You're a wicked man ! Jehovah, so angry at you ! ' Every one was so amused, and a general titter went round, while Nalihi, with whom F. had been a favourite, began vigorously to defend himself to the child in broken Eglish, at the same time wielding his axe to some purpose amongst Taia's bananas. So, feeling my own strength would not hold out much longer, I sped off and brought John, who quietly went up to Nalihi and relieved him of his musket and axe (Oh, I was glad to see that musket in dear old John's trusty fingers, for Nalihi held it in a horizontal position, and it always would point at me the whole time I stood there !) clapped him on the shoulder and had him sobbing like a child in a minute and offering payment to Taia for the damage done, which, however, Taia was too seriously offended to receive, and I do not wonder at it. " The crowd began to disperse, and John was taking Nalihi off for a day's work under his own eye, in case of his coming in contact with Taia again, when I put a graceful finish to the proceedings by going off into a fainting fit under the cocoa-nut trees I John said I managed bravely, all except that ; but I do think that after seven Earthquakes and such a scene, 1 had a good right to get up some demonstration, and it was the first I ever perpetrated for the public benefit I 3io LETTERS FROM ANIWA. "We had three more Earthquakes that day, but slight, making ten in all ; and I took care at night to provide for emergencies by putting a supply of blankets on the verandah, as there is not a moment to snatch clothes when they come, and we had felt chilly the night before. I got laughed at for what was termed my needless precaution ; but we had hardly got into our first sleep, when another violent Earthquake turned us out, and we were thankful for them. It was not so bad as some, however, and we got a sleep till morning without further disturbance, as the grand performance did not come off till next evening at nine o'clock "John was busy in the bath-room, with the girls, damping paper for next day's printing, I was in the dining-room, jotting in my journal the events of the day, when we all had to rush out with the most frightful Earthquake that had yet taken place. The house danced, the windows rattled awfully, and F. woke up with the first of it screaming in terror, but M. took it more gently, telling him it was nice. It might have been nice to feel ourselves rocked on the bosom of mother Earth (we lay down on the ground at a safe distance from the house, which we expected to fall every moment), could we have been sure she would not open up and receive us into a closer embrace ! " The heaving must, I think, have continued nearly five minutes, and we had just got into the house again, still trembling with agitation, when a terrible gust of wind and roar of the sea half prepared us for the shouting of the Natives, who called to us that the sea had actually come close to our gate ! We went out and found Natives up to the waist in water, where it had been bush two or three minutes before. We heard something flapping, and Yawaci picked up a large fish about twelve feet from our gate ; and as the tidal wave receded, they were left in hundreds, which the Natives spent most of that night and next day in gathering. An enormous turtle was found too among a lot of cUbriS) ' Jehovah's turtle,' the Natives called it, owing to the way in which it was found. " No serious accident occurred from the wave on our Island, as in most of the others, though some Natives fishing at Tiara were nearly carried away, and our boat which lay at anchor LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 311 there was lifted, anchor and all, and carried a long way inland, bu v . to a sandy place, where it got no damage ; yet not a canoe, if I remember rightly, was left whole. " From that time we had a constant succession of Earthquakes, and were kept in continual dread, though none of them so violent as those I have mentioned. We had to sleep with our doors open, and at last John went to bed in his clothes to be ready to run ! I suppose you have heard that the tidal wave swept right through Mr. Inglis's, doing terrible damage and half drowning them, and the Earthquakes kept knocking down his walls and chimneys as fast as he could rebuild them. Dr. Geddie's fine Church, too, is all but destroyed. But I think the greatest damage done is to the nerves of the poor Missionaries' wives (the Missionaries themselves would be indignant if you accused them of having any !) It is such an awful sensation to eel the very Earth trembling and heaving beneath one, and such an eerie feeling comes on at night. ... "I must pass over everything else that happened until we turned up in Civilization, and it is close upon Mail time. I would have liked to tell you about our pretty new Church, with its snow white walls, which was finished just before our beloved friends, Mr. and Mrs. Inglis, paid us their fare well -visit, which was like to break our hearts, for they have been a father and mother to us and to the Mission. Our parting too with our Darkies was intensely trying, as we are to be away from them a longer visit than the last ; but the society of our dear friends, the Murrays, was an unexpected treat, and made the voyage so pleasant notwithstanding the sea-sickness. . . . M The Home Mail closes in the morning ; and I must close, with fervent love, from your loving sister, "MAGGIE WHITECROSS PATON." LETTERS FROM ANIWA. (1878.) TO THE FAMILY CIRCLE. 4 MY DEAREST SISTERS AND BROTHERS, "Sons and daughter, I should almost have added, as the biggest half of our little flock are separated from Aniwa, and will as eagerly look for the c family billet ' now as the rest of you. . . . " Now that I have sat down to write, so much comes crowd- ing upon me that I hardly know where to begin ; but I cannot put down a word of news before testifying of the Lord's good- ness to us, which has just been vouchsafed during this last hot season. He has encompassed us round as with a shield and preserved us safe and well, though from the day after the Day- spring left for the Colonies on the I4th November last until the 3oth March we have lived in daily I might almost say hourly terror of our lives. We have seen especially John has the rage of the Heathen, and passed through Earthquake and Hur- ricane ; but all seems as nothing compared with coming into constant contact with an unrestrained madman, and this we have had to do with poor Mungaw. . . . " You must not think of us as pining in solitude, however. Indeed, poor Mungaw took care to keep us all in lively exercise, and acted his first scene the day after the Dayspring left for Sydney with our mails. You know that he married Litsi, one of my best girls (and how delighted we were at the time that she was getting such a good young man !), who was with me on my first visit to Australia from Aniwa, and you remember how pleased you all were with her. Well, he spent the night beating that gentle girl (who was near her confinement) and their little boy about two years of age ; and when John met him in the Imrai and quietly remonstrated with him, he stalked off in high dudgeon ; and in two minutes more, a tremendous crackling and roar of fire made us rush to the window, where we saw his nice house and all that was in it one mass of flame. Not con- tent with setting it on fire, he tore off Litsi's jacket and flung it in too. We quite expected that our own house would go, as LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 313 there were only two light fences betwixt some of our outhouses and his, but providentially the wind carried everything the other way. " He then took Litsi and Nomaki, their little boy, to a distant village ; and, oh ! how we hoped he would remain, as Litsi had friends there, but back he dragged them, terror-stricken and breathless from having to keep pace with his tremendous strides. I sent Litsi an old jacket (she begged me not to send a good one, as it might go the same way), and a blanket to sleep or rather to roll herself in for there was no sleep for any one near that night. He had threatened to murder some of the villagers, and was stalking round and round our Premises with his loaded musket ; but an Aneityumese Teacher kept watch oyer our house all the night. "It so happened that next day had been appointed for a ' Members' Meeting.' These meetings are held monthly, for John to appoint them their work, and change it from one to another, so that it might not always devolve upon a few. You know there is no paid door-keeper, or paid service of any kind connected with the Church, so the women take it in turns, two by two, every Saturday morning, to clean the Church and enclosure. One man is appointed bell-ringer, another to take off and on the pulpit coverings and carry in the Bible, etc., two to stand at the doors and see there are no loiterers outside, and so forth. Cases of sickness or wickedness are also reported, and Church matters generally talked over. At this meeting one woman was scored off for absconding from her legal husband and living with another ; and Mungaw, who came in with the greatest blandness, as if nothing had happened, got a thorough ' talking to,' and was suspended till it should be proved whether he was more rogue or fool for at that time we could scarcely tell. That he had become decidedly cracked and his mind to a certain extent unhinged, no one who saw and heard him could doubt especially knowing what a dear good fellow he was before ; still he seemed sane enough at times ; and when he did break out, it was more like being possessed with evil spirits. All his madness took the form of wickedness, and when he saw people afraid of him he was the more emboldened. It was very 314 LETTERS FROM AN1WA. difficult to know how to treat him. He was rather cowed at the meeting, though, and kept pretty quiet till the full moon, while meantime we had peace to get all our machinery into working order again. . . . "John has had great comfort with his big boys, however, especially the one we were most averse to take in, a great ugly-looking fellow of about eighteen, couldn't speak without a growl, and scowled at everybody from under his black wool, which hung down over his eyebrows. To crown all, he had been with the slavers and that is no recommendation 1 " After keeping with our boys a day or two and coming to evening class, on the third evening he sent in for a blanket, as he was ' going to stay.' We looked aghast. John was for re- ceiving him ; but I was at the crying point, and declared I could not feed more Natives or make food go further than other people. John said, 'Then am I to send him away?' Well, no ! I was hardly prepared to do that either ; so, after talking over it a few minutes, we felt sure the Lord had sent him ; and though I did not feel particularly grateful at the time, I have often thanked Him since. We went to the blanket box, got a nice warm blanket (the Natives feel chilly at night), called him in, and John had a talk with him about certain rules, after which he took his gift with a very pleasant grin. He looked like a different creature with his hair cut ; and a more faithful, helpful, warm-hearted Native lad we never had. In times of danger from Mungaw, he stuck by John like his shadow no ostentation with it, but quietly getting some pretext for keeping close to him when there was any fear. A capital worker too for John does not approve of keeping his boys idle, and thy help him with whatever he is at, fencing, roofing, gardening, house-building, etc. u One day he and another big boy (a great wag keeps the others in roars of laughter, and himself the picture of solemnity) had been planing wood very nicely, and John praised them, calling them his 'Carpenter' and 'Joiner.' In the afternoon a slate full of writing was sent in, informing us that they wished from henceforth to drop their old names and be called ' Car- penter' and 'Joiner.' Nor would they answer to any other LETTERS FROM ANIWA. 315 We often torgot, at first, but were reminded by their paying not the slightest attention, till we came out with the new name when they would instantly wheel round with a smile and be at our service ! . . . "One day, before John was quite recovered, Mungaw put a lot of impudence on his copy for my special benefit. I took no notice he looked so wild but pointed out a mis-spelt word, wrote a fresh line, and telling him to follow it closely passed qukkijr on to the next writer. I told John, when I went in, I was sure he would do some mischief ere long ; and just an evening or two after, we heard him shouting and scolding from his house in an awful voice. John limped off, in spite of my entreaties to let them fight it out, and found Mungaw flourishing an axe over a poor woman, whose husband was from home and who had been helping Litsi to cook his fish, but had been un- fortunate enough not to divine that on that particular evening he wanted it wrapped in a different kind of leaf from what was usual. He had brought the axe within a few inches of her shoulder, when two or three Natives, attracted to the spot just before John, stayed his arm and wrenched it from him. He got his musket next, but poor Sibo and Litsi both ran to our house for protection, while John and the Natives tried to calm him down. They got his musket from him, and I saw a Teacher slip it behind a tree in our lawn ; but Mungaw was sharp enough to notice, and got it away again when the affray was over, and ordered poor Litsi back to her cooking. Sibo went to a distant village to be out of his way, declaring she was half dead with fright ; and I would very much have liked to get away from the Island altogether 1 John's spirit always rises equal to the emergency, but I get perfectly faint with terror, and the longer the worse. This was merely a little prelude, however, to what followed. u Next morning he had the audacity to appear at one of the dining-room windows, as the girls were clearing away the breakfast things ; and he demanded the keys from John, as he wanted to sharpen his axe at the grindstone. John said, ' No, Mungaw, you'll learn to put your axe to a better use first ; and I want you to return the two you have of mine.' He looked the 316 LETTERS FROM ANIWA. picture of innocent wonder, and replied, ' What do you mean, Missi ?' John replied, ' I just mean that I want you to give up your bad conduct' ' My bad conduct! What have I done?' protested Mungaw. John said pointedly, 'Do you not know^ Mungaw ?' That was all the provocation he got ; but he went cff for his musket, muttering, 'I'll let you know who you're talking to.' "When he was gone, John went out to his Printing Office for something, and on leaving it saw Mungaw just inside our fence taking deliberate aim at him with his musket John turned round to lock the door, showing no signs of fear, but feeling that all was over, and that he was to be shot down so near us all and yet none near enough to save ; but God was watching ! The next instant he heard a rush of feet, a scuffle, and looked round to see the musket pointed high in the air, and four strong arms grappling with the intended murderer. Two men had been accidentally (! ?) coming up the path, took in the scene at a glance, and my husband was saved. " I knew nothing of what was passing, but, feeling restless after Mungaw's parting look, went out to hurry John in for worship. I met him coming in, and stopped short at sight of his pale face to ask if he were ill, and he told me all We had just begun to sing at worship, when he re-appeared flourishing his musket, trying the doors and windows (you may believe I had them securely fastened by this time), and demanding en- trance. We went on, taking no notice, but the celestial quaver was plentifully introduced into the music,