THE UFEUSTORY 
 JAMES CHALMERS 
 
 HA
 
 /->< 
 
 v
 
 "CARRYING A HEAVY STONE CLUB HE RUSHED 
 TOWARDS ME AS IF TO STRIKE"
 
 T AM ATE: The Life Story 
 of JAMES CHALMERS 
 
 'Told for Young People 
 
 By 
 
 RICHARD LOVETT, M. A. 
 
 Author of "James Chalmers: His Autobiography and Letters" 
 and "James Gilmour of Mongolia," etc. 
 
 With Maps and Illustrations 
 
 NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 LONDON AND EDINBURGH
 
 PREFACE 
 
 JAMES CHALMERS was as brave a man as ever fought 
 in the British Army or Navy. He was as true a hero as 
 any Englishman who has ever been honoured by the 
 nation for victories won in the field or on the sea. The 
 aim of this book is to tell the story of his life in such a 
 way as to interest boys. The main purpose of the author 
 has been to show that Tamate, whose great aim in life 
 was to do good to others, was as bold, as courageous, and 
 as worthy of imitation as any explorer, man of science, 
 soldier, or statesman whose name is famous in British 
 annals. 
 
 It is a good thing that young readers, and especially 
 boys, should see that a true Christian man can also be 
 a hero. Tamate loved and served Jesus Christ himself, 
 and from love to Christ spent all his time and strength 
 in making known the love of Jesus to degraded cannibals 
 and fierce savages. In this work he often endured 
 hardship, hunger, fever, shipwreck and weary toil, and 
 on not a few occasions risked even life itself. His career 
 should prove an inspiration to young and earnest hearts. 
 
 2136717
 
 4 Preface 
 
 The book of necessity contains much that has already 
 appeared in Tamate's own books, and in the standard 
 life of the great missionary. But it also contains a 
 number of letters and diaries that have never before 
 appeared in print. For some of the most valuable of 
 these the author is indebted to the courtesy of the Rev. 
 H. M. Harrison-Chalmers. He is also specially indebted 
 to the Rev. A. T. Saville, who was Chalmers's fellow 
 passenger in the long and stormy and trying voyage of 
 the 'John Williams,' which ended in the total wreck of 
 that vessel. Mr. Saville kindly allowed extracts to be 
 made from this which add greatly to the interest of 
 Chapters iii and iv. 
 
 The book is sent forth with the prayer that the brave 
 deeds and stirring words and consecrated life of Tamate 
 may kindle in many a young heart the desire and the 
 ambition to follow in his steps, as a brave soldier, in the 
 struggle to bring light and truth and hope to those, 
 whether at home or abroad, who are yet in the darkness 
 and sorrow of sin.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. A BROTH OF A BOY 9 
 
 II. A CALL AND THE ANSWER 17 
 
 III. IN PERILS OF WATERS 34 
 
 IV. A PIRATE OF THE PACIFIC 62 
 
 V. THE GEM OF THE PACIFIC 73 
 
 VI. OFF TO NEW GUINEA 90 
 
 VII. ON THE BRINK OF DEATH 101 
 
 VIII. THE MAN WITH THE CLUB 128 
 
 IX. LIFE IN THE TREE-TOPS ..... 140 
 
 X. A CRUEL REVENGE 153 
 
 XI. A NOBLE SAVAGE 165 
 
 XII. RIDING PACIFIC SURGES 173 
 
 XIII. LIFE ON A LAKATOI 187 
 
 XIV, AMONG THE CANNIBALS OF MAIPUA . . 202
 
 6 Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XV. How NEW GUINEA CAME UNDER THE FLAG . . 220 
 
 XVI. BOYS WHOM TAMATE TRAINED .... 237 
 
 XVII. LIFE AT TOARIPI 252 
 
 XVIII. THE WRECK OF THE 'HARRIER' .... 279 
 
 XIX. How TAMATE MADE FRIENDS WITH SAVAGES . 286 
 
 XX. UP AND DOWN THE FLY RlVER .... 296 
 
 XXI. THE END OF A NOBLE LIFE 309
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 FACING PAGE 
 "CARRYING A HEAVY STONE CLUB HE RUSHED TOWARDS 
 
 ME AS IF TO STRIKE" title 
 
 A MAP OF SOUTH-EASTERN NEW GUINEA 9 
 
 "BY A TERRIBLE EFFORT I CLUNG TO THE ROCK" 61 
 
 PURSUED BY A MAN-CATCHER 118 
 
 SAVAGE LIFE IN THE TREE-TOPS 151 
 
 "THE SPEAR INTENDED FOR THE NAARA MAN ENTERED 
 
 KONE'S OWN BREAST" 171 
 
 "THE BOAT SWUNG AND WENT OVER" 184 
 
 "ARUAKO LOOKED BLACK AND ASKED IF THEY WANTED TO 
 
 FIGHT" 196 
 
 A CRITICAL MOMENT 263 
 
 MAP OF THE FLY RIVER DELTA, SHOWING SAGUANE AND 
 
 GOARIBARI ISLAND 310
 
 T A M A T E 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 A BROTH OF A BOY 
 
 WHEN the telegraph in April, 1901, flashed the news 
 from Australia to England that James Chalmers had 
 been murdered by cannibals in New Guinea, multitudes 
 felt that they had lost a personal friend, and multitudes 
 more that a great champion in the fight for freedom and 
 truth had fallen. For a week or two the papers of 
 the whole civilized world reported the brief tidings of 
 the death of the great missionary, of his young colleague, 
 and of all the native helpers who had landed with him 
 at Dopima on that fateful morning. 
 
 Yet in the year 1841 James Chalmers had been born 
 of very humble parents in a remote district of Scotland. 
 What made him the man that he became ? What gave 
 him so much influence that when his life reached a 
 sudden and tragic close the papers of the whole civilized 
 world reported the fact ? The object of this book is to 
 show that it was because James Chalmers when a youth 
 gave himself up to the leading of God's Spirit, and 
 devoted his life to the great task of trying to benefit 
 and to bless others. He did this with his whole heart 
 and with entire devotion to duty, and hence it was that 
 he became one of the great heroes of the nineteenth 
 century. 
 
 James Chalmers was born in the village of Ardrishaig, 
 in the county of Argyleshire. His father was a stone- 
 mason who had come from Aberdeen to Inverary to
 
 io A Broth of a Boy 
 
 help in the building of a stone quay at that place. His 
 wife, the mother of James Chalmers, was a fine type of 
 the Scotch peasant. She was a Highlander, born in the 
 lovely little village of Luss, on the shores of Loch 
 Lomond, in the midst of that beautiful scenery familiar 
 to every boy who loves the romantic poetry and the 
 fascinating stories of Sir Walter Scott. In the neigh- 
 bourhood of Ardrishaig the early years of Chalmers's life 
 were spent. 'My first school,' he says, 'was on the south 
 side of the canal, and I can well remember my mother 
 leading me to the master and giving him strict instruc- 
 tions not to spare the rod.' This master soon after 
 emigrated to Australia. At the next school which 
 Chalmers attended the master was popular because he 
 frequently gave sweets to his scholars, and also, un- 
 happily, because his liking for whisky was so great that 
 the boys had, in consequence of his drinking habits, 
 many whole and half-holidays. 
 
 Chalmers was brought up under the severe discipline 
 and the simple habits of a Scotch peasant home. But 
 he lived in the midst of some of the loveliest scenery in 
 Great Britain, he breathed a bracing and invigorating 
 air, and from his infancy he was taught lessons of self- 
 reliance. He had to make his way by resolutely holding 
 his own with those who were but too ready to tyrannize 
 over him. To this free, open-hearted, strong-handed life 
 of his boyhood James Chalmers owed the strong body, 
 the dauntless courage, the great energy and power of 
 work which he possessed in the later years of his life. 
 
 4 My father,' he tells us, * was very seldom at home. I 
 can well remember how I earned the first money I ever 
 possessed. On one occasion when he had walked out 
 from Inverary to Ardrishaig to spend the Sunday with 
 us, he promised that he would give me sixpence if
 
 Chalmers's First Sixpence 11 
 
 I could learn and repeat the Twenty -third Psalm before 
 night. I did it without a mistake, and got the prize ; 
 but sixpence was considered far too great a sum of 
 money for me to deal with, and so I had to hand that 
 over to my mother, who took care of it, and gave me 
 one penny as my own share.' 
 
 The life of those days, though less than seventy years 
 distant in time from to-day, was very much further away 
 from our life in opinion and habits and knowledge. 
 Chalmers tells us that the people among whom he spent 
 his boyhood were very superstitious. If a child fell ill, 
 instead of bringing a doctor, a donkey was found, and 
 women stood on each side of the creature and passed 
 the sick child under and over it, and believed that this 
 fantastic action would result in a cure. A dog's whine 
 was believed to be the sure sign of a death. Chalmers 
 states that once when he and his companions were play- 
 ing they heard a big dog cry, and they stopped at once, 
 and begun to wonder who could be dead. He and his 
 playmates were on the bank of the canal, and shortly 
 afterwards there came along, by one of those strange 
 coincidences that happen in real life, a horse dragging 
 a canal-boat, and in the boat there was a coffin. This 
 made such a deep impression upon the child that 
 throughout his life, even to the end of it, it was always 
 a shock to Chalmers to hear the cry of a dog. 
 
 Although Chalmers became a great missionary, there 
 was nothing of the story-book good boy about him in 
 his early years. He lived a wild free life, near one of 
 the great lochs of Scotland, and it was natural that the 
 high-spirited boy should play many pranks and get 
 into many difficulties. He soon came to love the sea 
 with a passionate love. He was never happier than 
 when in a boat, and if no boat could be found, then a
 
 12 A Broth of a Boy 
 
 log or a plank of wood was made to serve his purpose. 
 4 1 have had,' he says, 4 many narrow escapes, many 
 thrashings from my mother and friends in consequence 
 of these escapades. Three times I was carried home 
 supposed to be dead by drowning, and my father used 
 to say, t4 You will never die by drowning." I was very 
 restless, and dearly loved adventure; the greater the 
 danger, the more exhilarating the action.' 
 
 It is not surprising to learn that Chalmers was a great 
 favourite with the hardy fishermen on the shores of Loch 
 Fyne. The keen-eyed, open-faced boy, so ready for 
 adventure and so full of courage, was sure to be a 
 favourite of men of that type. They frequently allowed 
 him to go out with them in their boats, and thus very 
 early in life he learned much of their own skill in the 
 management of boats and knowledge of winds and tides 
 and currents and weather. One of his school escapades 
 has come down to us. He and four of his comrades 
 thought that they could build a boat for themselves, and 
 decided to do it. But they found this task beyond their 
 powers, and so they tried, by caulking and tarring a 
 herring-box, to get a craft that would serve their purpose. 
 
 They were so eager to try this novel boat, that they 
 did not trouble to finish their work thoroughly. As 
 Chalmers was captain, he had the privilege of the first 
 sail. 4 We got a long line,' he says; 4 I sat in and tried 
 to steer the herring-box as it was dragged along in the 
 sea parallel to the beach. But at last the line broke, 
 and I was carried out to sea by the strong current 
 There was considerable difficulty in saving me because 
 of the force of the current that was running at the time.' 
 This was only a foreshadowing of many an adventure 
 in his later life, when Chalmers steered a boat-crew of 
 New Guinea natives through the raging surf of a Pacific
 
 Life in Glenaray 13 
 
 beach, or when he navigated the little mission schooner 
 through the wild storms that sweep over the great Gulf 
 of Papua. 
 
 When Chalmers was about eight years old the family 
 removed to Glenaray, near Inverary. This village was 
 almost under the walls of the great castle of the Duke 
 of Argyll, and Chalmers came in later years to look 
 upon himself as a clansman of the duke, and ever felt 
 pride in his connexion with one of the famous spots in 
 Great Britain. 
 
 Life in Glenaray in the year 1850 was rough and wild. 
 4 1 can remember,' he says, ' that it was a fearful place 
 for whisky -drinking. It was also a great centre of the 
 fishing industry ; but the constant drinking during the 
 buying and the selling and the curing of the fish was 
 bad for all concerned. There were frequent fights, 
 frequent arrests, and frequent trips on the part of those 
 who had been arrested and banished to Inverary.' 
 
 In this Glenaray home Chalmers spent several happy 
 years. He had two sisters, and the three used to go 
 together daily to the Glenaray school. The master was 
 quite a famous man in his way, one of the fine types of 
 schoolmaster so common throughout Scotland. His 
 name was John M c Arthur. The Scotch schools of that 
 date, even in the country districts like Argyleshire, were 
 much better than any but the best class of grammar 
 schools in England. The scholars under Mr. M c Arthur's 
 care were taught all the ordinary elementary subjects, 
 and also Latin and Euclid. Chalmers mentions with 
 pride that in the competitive examinations which were 
 occasionally held in the district, the school to which 
 he belonged several times stood first. Many of the 
 boys trained at that little country Scotch school were 
 afterwards scattered over the globe, filling places of
 
 14 A Broth of a Boy 
 
 importance and of influence. 'The master,' Chalmers 
 writes, ' was proud of us, and we were certainly proud 
 of him, and loved him.' 
 
 At the same time the schoolmaster had a somewhat 
 turbulent and unruly brood of youngsters to deal with. 
 The wild blood and fierce border strife of their Highland 
 ancestors lived on in the boys in the milder form of 
 a spirit of rivalry that led to frequent fights. The settle- 
 ment of all differences was by means of their fists. Not 
 only were there frequent fights between individuals, but 
 the scholars of the village school looked upon the scholars 
 of the town school as their mortal enemies, and when- 
 ever the rival factions met, going to or returning from 
 school, immediate hostilities took place. Chalmers re- 
 calls that not unfrequent thrashings were administered 
 by the master to his pupils because they appeared at 
 class with black eyes and other signs of pugilistic en- 
 counter. The minister of the parish even found that 
 his own son was a ringleader in these engagements. 
 
 It is needless to say that in the life of a school like 
 this Chalmers was a foremost boy. He was a prominent 
 leader in the battles with rival schools, and the frequent 
 victories which he and his fellows secured were largely 
 due to his tactics, energy and physical force. But 
 though often in scrapes Chalmers was a thoroughly 
 straightforward, courageous lad. He remembered to 
 the last days of his life an injustice that unwittingly the 
 schoolmaster, whom he earnestly loved, inflicted upon 
 him. He was wrongfully accused of a fault, and the 
 master having made up his mind that Chalmers was the 
 guilty boy, and being unable to bring him to the point 
 of confession, became so wrathful, and thrashed him so 
 soundly, that he broke several canes upon him. Chalmers 
 tells us that more than thirty years later, when on a visit
 
 A Rescue from Drowning 15 
 
 to the Glen, he met his old schoolmaster. The latter 
 referred to that thrashing, and then told him how sorry 
 he afterwards became when he found out that Chalmers 
 had had nothing whatever to do with the affair, for his 
 supposed share in which he had been so severely 
 punished. 
 
 Chalmers's love of the sea, and his skill and readiness 
 in coping with difficulties even in his boyhood, enabled 
 him from time to time to be of great service to others. 
 When only about ten years old he saved one of the lads 
 belonging to a rival school from drowning. The boys 
 had been in school all day, and it had rained that 
 morning as it only can at times in Scotland. Just as the 
 schools closed the sun came out brightly and the after- 
 noon was fine. The tremendous rainfall had produced 
 in the river Aray what is locally called a ' spate,' and the 
 river, which is usually a small stream, was rushing and 
 roaring along like a mountain torrent. At a place called 
 the Three Bridges the river was crossed by a rough 
 bridge, and while Chalmers was some short distance 
 away there was a shout that a boy had fallen in and was 
 being carried away by the rushing stream. Chalmers 
 ran forward, and as he went, with that readiness for 
 action that was one of his most marked qualities both as 
 boy and man, he tore off his jacket. He saw the boy 
 being rolled along in the stream. ' I quickly ran,' he 
 tells us, * to the lower side of the bridge, and holding on 
 to the timber, and stretching well out as he was passing 
 under the bridge, I was able to seize him, and to bring 
 him near, and hold him tightly with my left hand. 
 I then slipped down a little, and allowed the current to 
 carry us both some distance further, where I was able 
 to seize a branch, and getting near the bank was helped 
 by the others to draw out the boy. Why I went down
 
 16 A Broth of a Boy 
 
 to the lower side and acted as I did, I cannot say ; but 
 it was the only way in which he could have been saved.' 
 
 This incident, happening when he was only ten years 
 old, was very characteristic. It shows that there was 
 inborn in the boy who was afterwards to become a great 
 pioneer leader, that readiness and instinctive perception 
 of the right thing to do, which so often in later life 
 saved his own life and the lives of all who were working 
 with him. 
 
 Some time after this event he was standing on the 
 quay at Inverary one afternoon, and there were only one 
 or two others within sight. Suddenly he heard a loud 
 scream, and on looking round, saw a woman crying out 
 in great distress that her child was drowning. By this 
 time Chalmers had become a powerful swimmer. He 
 ran along the quay, taking off his coat as he ran, sprang 
 into the sea, seized the child (who, apparently dead, was 
 being floated away by the stream) by the dress, and drew 
 him ashore. Though very nearly drowned, ultimately he 
 was restored to life and strength. 
 
 In this vigorous, open-air, merry life, the early years 
 of Chalmers were passed. They brought him health, 
 a keen eye and a ready hand, and a heart already 
 prompt not only to sympathize with those in danger, but 
 quick to give just the help that could be most effective 
 for good.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 A CALL AND THE ANSWER 
 
 WHEN Chalmers was thirteen years old he left the 
 Glen school and attended one of higher status called the 
 grammar school. His father was anxious that he should 
 become a civil engineer, but was too poor to enable his 
 boy to enter upon this path in life. Two or three other 
 things were suggested and tried, and when Chalmers 
 was about fifteen he was placed in a lawyer's office at 
 Inverary. There he remained for some three years ; 
 but there is no evidence in his after-life that his legal 
 studies had made any deep impression upon him. 
 
 It was during this period that the whole bent and 
 purpose of his life was changed. He had been brought 
 up in a strict Scottish home ; his father belonged to what 
 was known in Scotland as the Auld Kirk. But he was 
 wider in his sympathies than many of his class, and he 
 held in great respect the minister of the United Pres- 
 byterian Church at Inverary, named Mr. Meikle. Some 
 of Chalmers's old school-fellows had induced him to 
 attend the Sunday school connected with the United 
 Presbyterian Church, and for several years Chalmers 
 was a regular attendant. While a scholar there he 
 reached what he calls the great decision of his life. 
 
 He attended a class on the Sunday afternoon that was 
 held 'n the vestry of the church. One afternoon, when 
 the lesson for the day had been finished and the scholars 
 had all entered the church to receive a brief address and 
 
 B
 
 i8 A Call and the Answer 
 
 to sing the closing hymn, Mr. Meikle, who was acting 
 as the superintendent, produced a copy of the United 
 Presbyterian Record, and read to the children a striking 
 letter from a missionary in the Fiji Islands. The letter 
 described the horrible cannibals and the savage life they 
 lived there, and the power that the Gospel had already 
 obtained over them, leading many of them to give up 
 their savage practices, and to begin living better lives. 
 When the minister had finished reading this letter he 
 looked round the school and said, ' I wonder if there is 
 a boy here this afternoon who will become a missionary 
 and by and by bring the Gospel to cannibals ? ' Im- 
 mediately Chalmers in his heart said, ' Yes, God helping 
 me, I will.' 
 
 He made no outward sign, nor did he tell any one at 
 that time of the decision which he had reached. He 
 went away home alone. The scene had impressed itself 
 so strongly upon his heart that, when he reached a 
 certain point in the road where there was a wall, he 
 climbed over this wall, and kneeled down on the other 
 side, and asked God in prayer to accept him and to 
 make him a good missionary to the heathen. 
 
 Many lads under the powerful impression produced 
 upon them by a good speaker or a striking letter and 
 tale of the kind which had been addressed to Chalmers 
 that afternoon, soon forget it; and even good resolves 
 made under these conditions soon pass away. This was 
 the case with Chalmers himself. He tells us that for 
 some time he was greatly impressed, but the impression 
 passed away, and at last he forgot all about it. For a 
 time he fell into bad company. He even ceased going 
 to the school and to the church; but his impression 
 came back to him in a very striking form some two or 
 three years later.
 
 Chalmers's Conversion 19 
 
 In November, 1859, two preachers came from the 
 North of Ireland to Inverary to hold a series of evange- 
 listic meetings. They had come at the urgent request 
 of Mr. Meikle. Meetings of this kind were a novelty at 
 Inverary at that date, and that group of harum-scarum 
 young fellows with whom Chalmers was then associating 
 determined to break up the meetings, and to prevent 
 any conversions. In the afternoon of the day on which 
 the first meeting was to be held, Chalmers happened to 
 look in at the shop of a friend. He had been in the 
 habit of often dropping in on this friend for a chat. On 
 this occasion his friend asked him why he was not going 
 to the meeting, and said he ought to go that night. 
 Chalmers raised many objections, but his friend was 
 resolved that he should go, and he gave him a small Bible 
 to use at the service, and at last Chalmers consented. 
 
 It was raining hard, and when Chalmers came to the 
 stairs leading to the room where the meeting was to 
 be held, he found that the congregation was singing the 
 well-known hymn ' All people that on earth do dwell,' to 
 the familiar Old Hundredth tune. ' I thought,' he said, 
 * I never heard such singing before, so solemn and yet so 
 joyful.' He went up the steps to enter the room, and 
 found a large congregation there, all of whom were 
 intensely in earnest. One of the evangelists gave an 
 address based on Revelation xxii. 17 ; 'And let him that 
 heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. 
 And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.' 
 This address appeared to James Chalmers as though 
 directed straight at himself. He felt very much impressed, 
 and at the close of the meeting slipped away to his home. 
 
 The following Sunday night, Chalmers tells us, 'in 
 the Free Church I was pierced through and through 
 from the conviction of sin, and felt lost beyond all 
 
 B 2
 
 2O A Call and the Answer 
 
 hope of salvation. On the Monday Mr. Meikle came to 
 my help, and led me kindly to promises and to light. 
 As he quoted the passage "The Blood of Jesus Christ 
 His Son cleanseth us from all sin," I felt that this 
 salvation was possible for me, and some gladness came 
 to my heart. After a time the light increased, and I felt 
 that God was speaking to me in His Word, and I believed 
 unto salvation.' 
 
 When a young man of Chalmers's type passes through 
 a strong religious experience of this kind, the results 
 appear at once in his life. He soon began to speak at 
 religious meetings, both in the town and in the country, 
 and one day the remembrance of the old vow which he 
 had made as a schoolboy came back to him, that promise 
 that he would give himself to the great work of carrying 
 to the heathen the glad tidings of Jesus Christ. 1 Never 
 again,' he says, ' was this forgotten.' 
 
 James Chalmers was one of a group of Scottish lads 
 who resolutely came to the great decision to give their 
 lives to Jesus Christ, and for His sake to the service of 
 men. The decision in every case was made early in 
 life, and the result of the choice was to give great force 
 and influence for good to all their subsequent work. 
 Another member of this group was David Livingstone, 
 the first white man to make his way into the heart of the 
 dark continent of Africa; the man who by God's 
 blessing aroused the conscience of the modern world 
 against the crimes of Central African slavery, and made 
 possible that wonderful development which occurred 
 during the last half of the nineteenth century in Central 
 and in Southern Africa. 
 
 Livingstone had been preceded by a man almost 
 equally remarkable, though for other qualities Robert 
 Moffat, who went out to Africa in 1817, and spent fifty
 
 A Struggle for Education 21 
 
 years of strenuous labour in Bechuanaland, striving to 
 lift up the natives in the scale of civilization and to bring 
 them to the light of the Gospel. The developed state of 
 Bechuanaland and the presence in the native life there of 
 such a man as Khama, the Bechuanaland chief, are the 
 evidences of the good work that Robert Moffat did. 
 
 The third member of this remarkable group was 
 James Gilmour, who, after being educated at Glasgow 
 University and Cheshunt College, went out to Mongolia 
 and devoted his talents and his spirit of altogether extra- 
 ordinary consecration to the great task of enlightening 
 that dark and difficult region. 
 
 In this little company of men, destined in such a 
 remarkable way to help in the uplifting of humanity, 
 James Chalmers takes a high place. His conversion 
 having once and for all settled the path of life which he 
 was to tread, all the power of his strong nature led him 
 along the way thus marked out. He had to overcome 
 difficulties that would have crushed a weaker youth. His 
 parents, he tells us, were too poor to give him any 
 University training. He had become a member of the 
 United Presbyterian Church in Inverary, of which the 
 Rev. Gilbert Meikle was then the pastor, and he was a 
 regular teacher in the Sunday school which for many 
 years he had attended as a lad. He used frequently to 
 ponder how the perplexing problem of securing a proper 
 education for the work he wished to do in life could be 
 solved. Mr. Meikle helped him in many ways, and 
 especially in Latin and in Euclid. He also encouraged 
 the Highland youth by telling him that many students 
 had managed to get a college course by doing work in 
 connexion with some of the churches at Glasgow. 
 
 In the course of the year 1861, at some of the religious 
 meetings held in Inverary, a Mr. William Turner, from
 
 22 A Call and the Answer 
 
 Glasgow, was present. He was the brother of a famous 
 South Sea missionary, Dr. Turner, who spent forty 
 years in the important Samoan Mission. Mr. Turner 
 talked freely with Chalmers about his brother and about 
 mission work in the South Seas, and these talks 
 strengthened the desire that Chalmers already felt so 
 strongly, to become a missionary himself. Where there 
 is a powerful desire of this kind, and especially in early 
 life, a strong will is certain to find the way. 
 
 In the course of 1861 Chalmers managed to secure an 
 appointment as a worker in the Glasgow City Mission. 
 Dr. Turner, the missionary, happened to be at home at 
 that time resident in Glasgow, engaged in the work of 
 seeing through the press a new edition of the Bible in 
 the Samoan language. Through his brother Chalmers 
 got to know Dr. Turner, who soon perceived in the 
 young Scotchman qualities that were certain to make 
 him of very great service in mission work in the South 
 Pacific. The two had many long chats, and in the end 
 Dr. Turner was the means of solving for James Chalmers 
 the educational problem. He suggested that the best 
 thing for Chalmers to do was to offer his services to the 
 Directors of the London Missionary Society in London. 
 If they accepted him, he would then be sent to a college 
 for a preliminary training, and ultimately appointed to 
 some station in one of the many great mission fields 
 under the care of that Society. 
 
 These chats and the carrying out of this plan neces- 
 sarily took a good deal of time, and all this while Chalmers 
 was entirely dependent upon his own efforts for support. 
 He had made it not only a matter of pride, but a matter 
 of duty, to be independent of his parents so far as his 
 maintenance was concerned. He managed to live on 
 the scanty wages that he received as a worker in
 
 Hard Work in Glasgow 23 
 
 connexion with the Glasgow City Mission one of the 
 most difficult positions that any Christian youth could 
 occupy. It is a reproach to our civilization that in every 
 great centre, like Glasgow and Liverpool and London, 
 and even in many of the country districts and smaller 
 villages of our land, there are regions almost as degraded 
 and there are men and women almost as savage and as 
 strange to all true and good influences as in the worst 
 parts of the heathen field. 
 
 The work which Chalmers was now doing took him 
 into the worst slums of Glasgow. He had to try to help 
 the worst men and women in the darkest districts of that 
 great city. He was associated with the Mission Church 
 that was in connexion with the Greyfriars Church over 
 which at that time Dr. Calderwood was the pastor. 
 Unhappily Chalmers never wrote down any recollections 
 of the months that he spent in Glasgow. He was there 
 for the greater part of a year, and the discipline through 
 which he passed at that time was of invaluable service to 
 him in later life. He used to say that he never met any 
 New Guinea or Rarotongan man or woman more degraded 
 and harder to influence for good than some of those 
 with whom he came into contact and whom he tried to 
 benefit in the alleys and cellars of Glasgow. 
 
 After Chalmers had been in Glasgow about eight 
 months, the correspondence with the Directors of the 
 London Missionary Society led to his going up to 
 London to meet them. In the end he was accepted by 
 them as a missionary student, and was sent for his 
 training to Cheshunt College, a Theological Institution 
 situated about thirteen miles from London, where in the 
 course of the last century a large number of prominent 
 missionaries received their early training. On the roll 
 of the men who went forth from Cheshunt to the work 
 
 *>
 
 24 A Call and the Answer 
 
 in the heathen field are such names as Dr. Muirhead 
 and Dr. Chalmers of China, James Gilmour of Mongolia, 
 G. O. Newport and Edward Rice of South India, and 
 many others, including- Mr. Wardlaw Thompson, the 
 Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society, 
 who have had great influence in the work of modern 
 missionary enterprise. 
 
 Cheshunt College, at the time when Chalmers entered 
 it, had for its president and its inspiration Dr. Reynolds, 
 a man of exceptional intellectual gifts, but of even higher 
 personal graces and charm. He was endowed with a 
 spiritual influence of quite an extraordinary quality. In 
 college training the personality of the man at the head 
 of the institution is the most important factor in the 
 education there given ; and all students at Cheshunt 
 College from the year 1860 to the year 1895^ were 
 fortunate in coming under the influence of so rich and 
 ripe and inspiring a personality as that of Dr. Reynolds. 
 Chalmers describes his first interview with him. ' He 
 asked me,' he says, ' many questions about Greek, Latin, 
 Mathematics, and being satisfied then said, his whole face 
 speaking, " But, brother, the most important thing of all 
 is your state in relation to our Lord Jesus Christ." 
 Every student of our St. Anselm's time looks back with 
 holy and blessed memories to Cheshunt.' 
 
 Chalmers was at Cheshunt for only two years. The 
 full course in those days was four years. Under the in- 
 creasing pressure of intellectual developments, the course 
 is now five or six years, but Chalmers's early training 
 had not fitted him to receive benefit from a long in- 
 tellectual course. From the first his bent was towards 
 practical matters ; and it was soon obvious that he was 
 a man much more likely to do good service in the South 
 Seas or in some pioneer mission than at such centres of
 
 Chalmers at Cheshunt College 25 
 
 ancient heathen civilization as Benares or Calcutta, 
 Peking- or Hankow. 
 
 Money matters were an additional difficulty, because 
 although in the case of missionary students their tuition 
 fees and board were paid by the Society, the student 
 was expected to provide his own personal expenses. To 
 men training for the foreign field a small allowance was 
 at that time made for these by the Society; but even 
 Chalmers, frugal and economical as he was, having come 
 through the hard training of his boyhood and early man- 
 hood, found it extremely difficult with the sum allowed 
 to make both ends meet. But hard as the struggle was, 
 he went at it with the energy that marked all his actions. 
 * I have no doubt,' he says, ' that I will get this session 
 battled through in some way, and it may in after life 
 prove one of the best lessons I had while at college. It 
 teaches how to economize, but in rather a difficult way.' 
 
 It might not be a bad thing in many other educational 
 institutions if the students in them, instead of having, as 
 in many cases they now do, allowances so large that 
 they are tempted into extravagant habits in early life, 
 were compelled to weigh every item of expenditure, and 
 to avoid all forms of extravagance and even some forms 
 of almost necessary expenses, as a discipline for the mone- 
 tary problems of later life. How often does it happen 
 that the boy and the youth for whom the pathway in 
 life is made so smooth, that he really knows nothing 1 
 about anxieties and cares and difficulties, turns out a 
 useless or an insignificant member of society, while the 
 boy whose struggles are a trial from first to last succeeds 
 in making his mark in the life of the community in which 
 he lives. 
 
 Though never likely to become a scholar, Chalmers 
 went at his tasks with great vigour* * I am beginning^
 
 26 A Call and the Answer 
 
 he says, * to make use of the Greek for my Testament, 
 and I rather like it, although I cannot say I like the 
 languages as well as theology and mathematics. But 
 by the blessing of God I am determined to master all 
 the languages I have to undertake.' It is to be feared 
 that the mastery which Chalmers secured over Latin and 
 Greek and Hebrew was of a shadowy and unsubstantial 
 kind, but there is no doubt that the discipline which he 
 went through at Cheshunt fitted him for his later 
 language -studies. He acquired such a knowledge of 
 Rarotongan that it became as familiar to him as his 
 native tongue, and many of the native assistants who in 
 later years went from the island of Rarotonga to the 
 New Guinea Mission were encouraged in hours of 
 difficulty, were comforted in times of sorrow, and were 
 sustained in the valley of the shadow of death by the 
 power and the beauty with which Chalmers could speak 
 their own tongue. 
 
 Those who were students at Cheshunt College in the 
 years when Chalmers was there have vivid recollections 
 of his personal influence and his boundless energy and 
 high spirit. One of them tells us that he was then tall 
 and thin, not at all portly, as he became in later years. 
 His complexion was pale and freckled, his hair was 
 black, and his eyes hazel with an endless sparkle in 
 them. He was active and muscular, lithe but strong. 
 He had the frame of an athlete, and was a powerful 
 skater and a vigorous football player. By all his 
 natural qualities of body, mind and spirit he was a born 
 pioneer and leader of men. 
 
 There is universal testimony on the part of his fellow 
 students that he was always ready for pranks and for 
 practical jokes. The only way in which peace could be 
 preserved in the college corridors near his room was to
 
 A Leader in Practical Jokes 27 
 
 make him a sort of college policeman whose duty it was 
 to keep the peace. As an instance of the practical jokes 
 to which he was addicted we describe the one that 
 seems to have made the greatest impression on his 
 contemporaries. 'Who, for instance,' writes one of 
 these, ' that was at Cheshunt at the time can forget the 
 awful apparition of the great brown bear ? Chalmers 
 had made the acquaintance of Mr. Tugwell, curate at 
 Goff's Oak. Mr. Tugwell had been for a time a mis- 
 sionary among the North American Indians, and had 
 brought home with him some interesting curios. Among 
 others there was an enormous bear's skin, with the head 
 and paws complete, prepared by the Indians to be worn 
 in some of their dances. Chalmers promptly borrowed 
 this skin, and brought it down by night to the college. 
 He confided his secret to only one or two confederates, 
 and at the close of a very quiet evening, when prayers 
 were over, and the men were all in the dining-hall at 
 supper, the door was suddenly flung open and the 
 bear appeared, standing on its hind-legs, and roaring 
 ominously. It shambled quickly into the room among 
 the startled students, made for one of the quietest, sub- 
 jected him to a terrible hug, and then pursued others. 
 At this juncture a confederate turned out the gas, and 
 the scene of excitement in the dark may be better 
 imagined than described. When the light was turned 
 on again it was discovered that it was Chalmers who 
 was masquerading in this fashion. For a week after 
 that bear was the central figure in numberless jokes. 
 I shall never forget the abject terror on the face of an 
 old Irishman who used to come into the college as a 
 vendor of fruit and other luxuries, when the bear 
 suddenly met him at the end of the corridor, and seized 
 him and his basket in its ample embrace."
 
 28 A Call and the Answer 
 
 All the qualities for which his boyhood had been 
 remarkable, muscular strength, decision, the power of 
 seeing the right thing to do and doing it at the 
 moment, also served him in good stead at Cheshunt. 
 A fellow student has recorded how by his readiness he 
 saved the lives of two others : 
 
 ' One hot day, near the end of April, eight of the 
 students, including Chalmers, agreed to go for an after- 
 noon's boating on the river Lea. Having pulled for 
 an hour, as the day was so hot, they agreed to have 
 a swim ; but Chalmers, not being very well, resolved to 
 remain on the river's bank. Of the seven who entered 
 the water, six were good swimmers ; the one unable to 
 swim did not venture far from the river's brink. Having 
 been ten or fifteen minutes in the water the six swimmers 
 landed, and were drying themselves, one of them being 
 a little distance from the rest. The one man unable to 
 swim remained in the water for a little time longer. 
 Suddenly there was a splash and a scream ; Jput one 
 man (the writer), who was apart from the others, clearly 
 saw that the man in the water was beyond his depth, 
 and ran the few yards to the margin of the river and 
 jumped in. The others thought that the man who 
 screamed was only larking. Instantly the drowning 
 man clutched hold of his deliverer in such a way as 
 made it impossible for him to swim ; and although he 
 pleaded with him to relax his hold, saying that he could 
 easily save him if he did so, the frightened man clung all 
 the closer ; and both men were in the greatest danger of 
 being drowned. Their struggles forced them towards 
 the middle of the river, when Chalmers perceived the 
 greatness of the peril, and called upon the other six 
 men, who were still undressed, to plunge into the river, 
 and to swim out one a little beyond the other, so as to
 
 Saving a Companion's Life 29 
 
 be able to make a chain of hands, when he, having- only 
 thrown off his coat and waistcoat, jumped into the water, 
 and swam towards the drowning pair. Having taken 
 a secure hold of one of them as they were sinking- 
 together for the last time, with the other hand he seized 
 one hand of the outermost set of the swimmers, and 
 called upon them to haul him and the endangered men 
 ashore. By this means both of their lives were saved. 
 Chalmers's skill, as well as courage, was revealed by the 
 instantaneous formation of the plan that saved his 
 colleagues from what otherwise would have been certain 
 death.' 
 
 In addition to the intellectual life and work at Cheshunt, 
 the college under Dr. Reynolds maintained a high level 
 of spiritual life. Some of the severer type of students 
 found it a little difficult to reconcile Chalmers' high 
 spirits and intense love of practical joking with the more 
 solemn and serious side of a college life where men were 
 being trained for the ministry. They saw the uproarious 
 student pouring water upon his colleagues from a window, 
 and then they saw the same man earnestly engaged in 
 prayer at one of the devotional meetings or in one of 
 the services at the college chapel. But this was one of 
 Chalmers's great qualities. He could take keen interest 
 in the humorous side of life and in the fun and frolic of 
 every day, and yet at the proper time be as earnest, as 
 devout, and as truthful in his devotional spirit as any 
 man could desire to be. 
 
 There are connected with Cheshunt College a number 
 of little village churches. Each year a student is 
 appointed to take special superintendence of one of 
 these village churches, and is called by the high-sounding- 
 title of 'the dean.' Possibly because of his muscular 
 build and powers of walking, Chalmers was made the
 
 3O A Call and the Answer 
 
 dean of a little place situated at Hertford Heath, some 
 seven miles away from the college. This station, at the 
 time when Chalmers was at Cheshunt, possessed special 
 interest, because it was under the care of a famous 
 Sanskrit scholar of Haileybury College, at that time a 
 training school for the Indian Civil Service, viz. Professor 
 Johnson. Between Professor Johnson and Chalmers a 
 warm friendship sprang up. Chalmers frequently used 
 to cover the fourteen miles involved in the journey to 
 Hertford Heath and back. He often preached in this 
 chapel and worked heartily for the welfare of its tiny 
 congregation, and for more than a generation one of the 
 proudest memories of that congregation was that the 
 ' Great-heart of New Guinea ' was one of their early 
 deans. 
 
 During his college course Chalmers entered into an 
 engagement of marriage with Miss Hercus of Greenock, 
 a lady, as will appear in the later pages of this story, in 
 every way qualified to be a worthy helper of such a 
 man. After leaving Cheshunt Chalmers went for twelve 
 months to a Missionary College conducted at Farquhar 
 House, Highgate, by Dr. John Wardlaw. One who 
 knew him well there has summed up the main points of 
 his character at the close of his college course : ' He 
 had his faults, as we all have ; he was too impulsive ; he 
 was sometimes inclined to be very strongly prejudiced, 
 and to take up very unreasonable positions ; nor was it 
 easy to get him to alter his views when once formed. 
 But these failings were but spots on the sun ; the great, 
 qualities which impressed his fellow students remained 
 with him and were his power throughout his missionary 
 life, an intense humanity, absolute fearlessness, a beautiful 
 simplicity of nature, and absence of selfishness, and a 
 whole-hearted devotion to the work of the Lord Jesus
 
 Chalmers as Schoolmaster 31 
 
 Christ, to which he had given his life, and for which he 
 was prepared to do anything that might be required in 
 the interests of the great cause. 
 
 'Some of his fellow-students in later years were greatly 
 amused when they heard of him at Rarotonga as pre- 
 siding over a Training Institution for the preparation of 
 native evangelists. We could scarcely imagine our old 
 associate tethered to the desk, or methodically teaching 
 and lecturing; yet when I saw the same Chalmers at 
 Saguane, walking up and down the sanded floor of his 
 little school-chapel, and for the love of Christ teaching 
 some three-and- twenty wild young New Guineans arith- 
 metic, geography, and the English language, I fully 
 understood and appreciated the way in which he would 
 undertake the duties of a tutor of theological students. 
 The great missionary explorer, with his boundless energy, 
 seemed grotesquely out of place in giving an elementary 
 lesson to the young New Guineans, but he did not feel it 
 to be so. It was work which had to be done, there was 
 no one else to do it; he therefore quite naturally and 
 simply took it up, prepared to hand it over to any one 
 who could do it better, or to stick to it as long as it 
 was necessary for him to do so. I laughed heartily with 
 him, and I fear chaffed him unmercifully, but none the 
 less I got a new view of his simple and noble character, 
 and admired and honoured him more than ever for his 
 devotion to duty.' 
 
 The influences that mould a boy or a man are many 
 and complex. But the highest and the best is to come 
 into close touch with a noble and saintly personality. 
 The fact that he had there passed through this experience 
 more than anything else bound Chalmers to Cheshunt 
 by unbreakable bonds. No two men could possibly 
 have differed more in their putward respects than Dr.
 
 32 A Call and the Answer 
 
 Reynolds and James Chalmers when a student. The 
 one was a quiet scholar, an English gentleman, a man of 
 profound spiritual insight, great in prayer, great in his 
 power of seizing and of applying to character and to life 
 the teaching of the Scriptures. Chalmers was a man of 
 action, a man of high spirit, a man who loved to be in 
 the open air, who was never happier than when in a 
 boat on the sea, or climbing a mountain, or facing a horde 
 of savages. Yet when many years later Dr. Reynolds 
 sent him a copy of his book called The Lamps of the 
 Temple, in his letter acknowledging the gift, Chalmers 
 recalls the old college days. He says, 'I have been 
 listening to you again and again, and drinking in new 
 life from the Water of Life flowing through you. I 
 have read all these addresses, and to-day begin them 
 again. At times of devotion may they be to me as the 
 very Lamp of God ! These lamps will bring to every 
 college fellow the past, and flash anew through his soul 
 thoughts and inspirations that in the past were his 
 through you.' 
 
 And Dr. Reynolds on his side, writing long years later 
 of these college days, said : ' Chalmers gave me the idea 
 of lofty consecration to the Divine work of saving those 
 for whom Christ died. His faith was simple, unswerving, 
 and enthusiastic, and while he could throw a giant's 
 strength into all kinds of work, he was gentle as a child 
 and submissive as a soldier. He used to pray for help 
 as if he were sure of the message he had then to 
 deliver.' 
 
 If Cheshunt did not give to Chalmers much of the 
 knowledge usually taught at such institutions, yet the 
 spiritual life imparted through Dr. Reynolds deepened 
 even his devotion and enthusiasm and intense longing 
 for the salvation of men. On the other hand, his vigorous
 
 Chalmers a Joy to Others 33 
 
 physical life, his love of fun, his freedom from all con- 
 vention, rendered Chalmers a breezy, helpful and abiding- 
 influence for good over the men who were with him at 
 Cheshunt. One of them said, in recalling his recollec- 
 tions : 4 1 count it one of the joys, the great joys of my 
 life, to have known James Chalmers.'
 
 CHAPTER III 
 IN PERILS OF WATERS 
 
 BEFORE the close of his college training, the Directors 
 of the London Missionary Society decided that Chalmers 
 should go to the island of Mangaia, one of the Hervey 
 Group in the far South Pacific. But before the time 
 came for him to sail his place of work was changed, 
 and he was appointed to the island of Rarotonga. In 
 October, 1865, he was ordained to the Christian ministry 
 at Finchley, in North London, and two days before his 
 ordination he was married to Miss Hercus. 
 
 Although only forty years have passed since those 
 days, the changes in the modes of travel and in the means 
 of reaching distant parts of the earth have been so great, 
 that it is hard now to understand the conditions of that 
 time. In 1 865 there were no steamships or even sailing 
 vessels trading regularly to any of the South Pacific 
 Islands. And even to-day there is regular mail com- 
 munication with only a few of the groups. Hence the 
 Societies at work in the South Pacific found it necessary 
 to provide vessels of their own which could convey the 
 missionaries to and from their stations, and also carry 
 to the different stations the stores and goods and 
 publications required for their work. 
 
 When John Williams, one of the most famous mis- 
 sionaries connected with the London Missionary Society, 
 came to England on furlough in the year 1834, his 
 energetic and thrilling speeches about the wonderful
 
 The Ship 'John Williams' 35 
 
 progress made in the South Sea islands aroused such 
 enthusiasm that a special vessel, called the ' Camden,' 
 was purchased and set aside for the work of convey- 
 ing missionaries and their wives, native agents, and 
 teachers to these different mission stations. John 
 Williams went out again in the first voyage that the 
 ' Camden' made, and in the year 1839 was murdered by 
 the wild and ferocious natives on the island of Erro- 
 manga. The ' Camden ' returned to England in 1 843, and 
 was then sold. As a memorial of John Williams, the 
 martyr, the children of England raised 6,000 to build 
 a new missionary ship on a much larger scale. This 
 when launched was called the 'John Williams,' and from 
 1844 to 1864 did splendid service in the work of the 
 mission. But on December 10, 1864, she became a 
 total wreck on the coral reef of Pukapuka, or Danger 
 Island. 
 
 When the news of this loss reached England the 
 children of a later generation, with enthusiasm like that 
 of their predecessors, raised the money to build a still 
 larger and finer 'John Williams/ In this new vessel 
 Chalmers and his wife sailed for Australia on January 4, 
 1866. 'The first "John Williams," ' writes Chalmers in 
 his autobiography, ' was wrecked on Danger Island, and 
 to replace her a very fine clipper ship was built in Aber- 
 deen, and also named the "John Williams." In her, on 
 January 4, 1866, we left Gravesend. The vessel was 
 commanded by Captain Williams, and his mate was 
 Mr. Turpie, afterwards so well known as captain of the 
 third "John Williams." 
 
 4 We had a rough time in the Channel, and at one 
 period it was thought we should certainly be wrecked, 
 and every soul lost. We met and survived the gale 
 of wind in which the "London " was lost. We suffered 
 
 C 2
 
 36 In Perils of Waters 
 
 a good deal of damage, and put into Weymouth for 
 repairs, where we remained for over a fortnight. The 
 missionaries and their wives landed, accepting the kind 
 and pressing invitation of the many friends ashore ; but 
 my wife and I preferred to stay on board. Mrs. Wil- 
 liams, the captain's wife, was also on board. Through- 
 out January the weather continued bad. Towards the 
 end of the month we weighed anchor, and stood away 
 to sunnier climes. 
 
 ' We had a long stiff beat in getting to the South, but 
 how we did enjoy the warm weather when we got into 
 it! Our party consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Michie, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Watson, and Mr. and Mrs. Davies, bound for 
 Samoa ; Mr. and Mrs. Saville, bound for Huahine ; and 
 ourselves, bound for Rarotonga. I am now (1900) alone 
 in the field.' 
 
 A letter dated, ' Ship " John Williams," near Australia, 
 April 25, 1866,' gives some pleasant glimpses of life on 
 the missionary ship after their stormy start was over : 
 
 ' We are now within 900 miles of Adelaide, and hope 
 to get there within a few days. It has been a truly 
 happy, pleasant, and blessed time to us all. We have 
 felt none of the monotony of sea life, so much spoken 
 about, but on the contrary have enjoyed change and 
 variety in the heavens, sea, and atmosphere. The Bible 
 class and prayer-meetings with the men have been 
 blessed. Prayers offered on our behalf have truly been 
 answered, and God has blessed souls. The careless have 
 been led to inquire for salvation, and the praying on 
 board have been aroused to greater earnestness. Our 
 Sabbath services and prayer-meetings in the saloon 
 have been to thirsty ones wellsprings of salvation. I 
 have enjoyed and benefited much by the voyage thus 
 far, and sincerely trust it will prove all through a grand
 
 An Incident in 'The Doldrums' 37 
 
 spiritual preparation for the great work. Souls and 
 God's glory are all that we desire. 
 
 'In health God has largely blessed us. We have 
 been in excellent health all the way. After leaving 
 Weymouth we had a slight touch of sea-sickness, by 
 which I think we benefited much. I hope we won't be 
 getting like the sailors, land-sick after being on shore 
 a little. Mrs. Chalmers has proved the best sailor of 
 the ladies in the saloon ; in fact, beating some of the 
 gentlemen.' 
 
 We are able to extend this somewhat meagre sketch 
 of a long and very interesting voyage by some extracts 
 from a diary kept by Mr. Saville, one of Mr. Chalmers's 
 companions, who kindly placed it at the disposal of the 
 author. Mr. Saville's notes enable the reader to see what 
 a voyage to Australia in a sailing ship in 1866 was like. 
 The following incident took place in that famous region 
 known to sailors as 4 The Doldrums ' : 
 
 'Friday, March 2, lat. N. i^S'; long. W. 23 40'. 
 Yesterday passed away as many other days have done 
 on board, without anything particular taking place. It 
 was intensely hot, and some parts of the day there was 
 not a puff of wind. To-day we have had plenty of 
 recreation and excitement. Early this morning we found 
 ourselves at good signalling distance from a well-built 
 iron clipper barque, and though we scarcely expected 
 that the master of the ship would signal with us, yet our 
 captain had a try. Our ensign was hoisted, and very 
 soon they replied by hoisting theirs. Some time before 
 breakfast we were engaged in a very pleasant and friendly 
 chat. We learned from the captain's signals that her 
 name was " Arequipa," that she was from Liverpool and 
 bound for Arica, a Peruvian port on the west coast of 
 South America, and that she was thirty-one days out
 
 38 In Perils of Waters 
 
 from Liverpool. We answered a number of questions 
 which her captain put to us, thanked him for his kind- 
 ness, and bade him farewell and a pleasant voyage, little 
 thinking that we should have still closer converse with 
 him before we finally parted. 
 
 ' After breakfast we hurried on deck to see how far our 
 friendly ship had gone from us, when to our astonishment 
 we found that whilst we were quite becalmed she had met 
 with a strong current of wind which had brought her 
 within almost speaking distance of us. At first she 
 was on our starboard side, but in a very short time 
 she was carried across our bows, and not long after 
 this she was close to our port side. Whilst we were 
 down at prayers the wind carried her round our stern, 
 and very soon after this she was again on our starboard. 
 These strange manoeuvres were to us an interesting 
 illustration of the remarkable and changeful winds which 
 are invariably met with in these latitudes. 
 
 ' After we had both got fairly into the same current of 
 wind, they signalled to us to know if all were well on 
 board ; they then asked us if we would come on board. 
 We had scarcely expected such an invitation, but 
 Captain Williams at once signalled that he would send 
 a boat. Then commenced the excitement. Such a 
 pleasant change in our sea life was very agreeable to 
 all of the brethren, and we could hardly have been more 
 excited in our preparations if we had been just making 
 ready to go ashore at Adelaide. The boat was soon 
 lowered and manned, and we were rowed speedily in 
 the little craft alongside the "Arequipa," which was about 
 half a mile from our own ship. As we rowed away the 
 "John Williams " looked beautiful with her sails all set and 
 gently filled with the light wind which was blowing. 
 
 * We received a kind welcome on board the "Arequipa"
 
 The Fast Clipper, 'John Williams* 39 
 
 from the captain. He had but one passenger on board. 
 He did not seem particularly interested when he learned 
 that ours was a missionary ship. His chief reason for 
 getting us on board was to learn how it was we had 
 beaten him in speed. On the previous evening he had 
 sighted us many miles astern of him, but when daylight 
 came he found us ahead of him. He said he had beaten 
 every ship he had seen since leaving port till ours came 
 in sight. We were not surprised at this, for we have 
 got ahead of every vessel we have met since we left 
 Gravesend, no matter how lightly built or how much sail 
 they carried. We have made many a captain sore beside 
 the master of the " Arequipa." We told him that there 
 was not a ship upon the waters which could beat us for 
 speed, and I do not think there is. He would not believe 
 us, but boasted finely about his own ; and indeed he had 
 reason for doing this, since she was beautifully built. 
 
 'After some friendly teasing on both sides we got 
 back again into our boat, and as we pushed off the crew 
 of the "Arequipa" gave us three noisy cheers, and we 
 returned the compliment by three still noisier ones. 
 Meanwhile a breeze sprang up, and directly we had 
 left the ship the captain set every available sail in order 
 to get the start of the "John Williams." But the effort 
 was futile. For some time he kept ahead of us, and 
 signalled to know if he should put a tow-line out to 
 help us along. In a very short time he was behind us, 
 and we then asked him if we should put two tow-lines 
 out to assist him to follow us. Before night he was 
 many miles astern of us.' 
 
 The next incident illustrates the diversions that used 
 to be common on sailing vessels, but have become im- 
 possible since the advent of the steam-driven ocean 
 greyhounds :
 
 4O In Perils of Waters 
 
 * We had fine sport early yesterday morning. Imme- 
 diately after I had taken my bath on deck a shark was 
 seen at the stern. All the men were determined to have 
 this one, as we had been disappointed of a small one on 
 a previous occasion. A piece of pork was placed on 
 a great hook which was made fast to a strong rope. He 
 soon noticed it when it was dropped into the water, and 
 after smelling it, turned over on his back, opened his 
 great mouth, and took it in. All hands then pulled 
 lustily at the rope, but, alas ! when he had been raised 
 some distance out of the water he got clear of the hook, 
 and swam away. But he could not resist coming again, 
 the morsel was too sweet for him to lose. So back he 
 came, smelt again, turned over his great body once more, 
 closed his immense jaws upon the piece of pork and 
 hook, and then once more the ropes were pulled. This 
 time he was hoisted far above the water, a noose was 
 passed over his head, another over his tail, and the 
 monster was brought on deck. He struggled with 
 terrible force, but had no chance for escape ; his great 
 jaws opened and closed with immense fury, and if 
 any of us had been caught by them we must certainly 
 have come off minus a limb. We measured the great 
 fish, and found him to be 6 feet lof inches in length. This 
 the sailors call a small shark. The monster was soon 
 cut up, but although his tail, fins and spine were removed, 
 and his bowels taken out, he continued tor an hour or 
 more to struggle with much violence, and to open and 
 close his mouth in such a manner that it would not have 
 been safe to have had one's leg near it. In the afternoon 
 some parts of the fish were cooked for the sailors, which 
 they appeared to enjoy quite as much as we can relish 
 a piece of salmon.' 
 
 The next paragraph is of special interest, since the
 
 The Island of Tristan da Cunha 41 
 
 Society which publishes this book from time to time sends 
 out gifts of literature to the dwellers on the lonely little 
 islet referred to : 
 
 ' Soon after breakfast some of us were on deck, and 
 were not a little surprised to see through the mist, which 
 rested upon the waters, a large ship at no great distance 
 from us. We hoped to signal with her, but to the morti- 
 fication of us all she went ahead of us in a very short 
 time, and left us far behind. This is the first ship we 
 have met with since we left Gravesend which has beaten 
 us in speed. The mists and the clouded sun have also 
 disappointed us of a pleasant treat. At midday and most 
 of this afternoon we were less than twenty miles from 
 the small island called Tristan da Cunha. There is a 
 mountain in the island quite as lofty as the one in Tahiti, 
 and on a clear day it is easy to see the island when quite 
 ninety miles from it. As the mist became thinner, 
 several times some of us thought we were just able to 
 discern the peak, but it was very indistinct. 
 
 * We found in our almanacks that a total eclipse of the 
 moon was to take place early on Saturday morning. We 
 thought we could all very well spare an hour from our 
 beds in the night, so we arranged that Mr. Turpie, the 
 chief officer, who was on watch that night, should blow 
 the fog-horn when the eclipse was nearly total. At 
 four o'clock a.m. all of us were suddenly aroused by an 
 immense blast of the fog-horn, and in a very short time 
 most of us were on deck. There were a few dark clouds 
 occasionally passing over the moon; apart from this 
 everything combined to give us a good sight of an 
 eclipse at sea. And it was really a beautiful scene to 
 watch the gradual progress of the shadow as it spread 
 over the silvery brilliancy of the moon, and to see the 
 slowly diminishing pathway of light which it reflected
 
 42 In Perils of Waters 
 
 upon the waters. We remained on deck about an hour, 
 and were then very glad to come to our warmer quarters 
 below.' 
 
 Here is another illustration of the way in which, on the 
 old sailing ships, it was possible to study the natural 
 history of the ocean in a manner seldom available to-day : 
 
 ' During part of this morning there was no wind, and 
 our ship lay quite quiet in the waters, apart from the 
 rolling which occasional swells caused. This was a first- 
 rate opportunity for catching the birds, and the boatswain 
 with Mr. Michie and myself made an effort to bring one 
 on board. A line was let out from the stern with a 
 number of small hooks attached, on which some pieces 
 of raw pork were made fast. For some time the birds, 
 although they saw the meat, refused to yield to tempta- 
 tion. At length a fine albatross came down to the 
 floating pork, made an effort to swallow it, and in 
 making this attempt he, to our great satisfaction, got 
 the hook firmly fixed in his beak. We instantly hauled 
 in the rope, while the great bird tried in vain to disgorge 
 the unfriendly morsel from his mouth. 
 
 4 When we brought the bird over the stern and placed 
 him on the deck we were surprised at his immense size 
 and with his beauty. When flying about the ship he did 
 not look much larger than a goose, but when he came on 
 deck he proved to be larger than any bird I ever saw. 
 We spread his wings out, and I measured from the tip 
 of one to the tip of the other, and found that they were 
 more than ten feet across ; while from the tail to the end 
 of the beak the measurement was three feet four inches. 
 The beak was six or eight inches in length. The parts 
 under the wings of the entire bird were covered with 
 beautiful white feathers. The feathers on the other part 
 of the body were brown. His feet, which were a great
 
 How to catch an Albatross 43 
 
 size, were of the web-footed kind. His legs were not 
 the least use to him on deck ; whenever he made an effort 
 to stand he fell forwards on to his beak. These birds 
 can fly only from the water. Although he opened his 
 great wings many times in his attempts to fly he was not 
 able to raise himself from the deck. 
 
 ' The albatross did not seem to be the least alarmed at 
 us, but sat down quite content in our midst. When, 
 however, any of us came near enough to him to defile 
 him with our touch he made an unpleasant noise in his 
 throat, not unlike that of a goose, and snapped at us with 
 his great beak, and if any of us had come near enough 
 to allow him to touch our fingers he would soon have 
 severed them from the hand. Some of the men begged 
 hard for him in order that they might make what they 
 call sea-pie of him ; but sailors generally have strange 
 superstitions respecting the albatross, and most of them 
 would sooner give up their dinner to these birds than 
 kill them. Some of our men cling to these ancient 
 superstitions, and when we had all done looking at our 
 strange visitor, he was thrown overboard greatly to his 
 own satisfaction. The bird was very sick immediately 
 on reaching water, and while on board he was vomiting. 
 The sailors say these birds are generally sick after being 
 on board a ship for a short time.' 
 
 The well-known and always feared 'rolling forties' 
 treated the passengers on the 'John Williams' to a 
 trying spell of the discomfort accompanying very rough 
 weather at sea : 
 
 'Thursday, April 12. None of us are likely to forget 
 the troubles of to-day. Our painful experiences in the 
 Channel have been brought afresh to our minds, and we 
 have been made to feel once more how insecure is our 
 floating habitation, and how dependent we are for our
 
 44 In Perils of Waters 
 
 lives upon Him Who holds the great waters in His handa 
 and Who stayeth the noise of the tempest by His word. 
 Long before we rose from our berths this morning we 
 were uncomfortably informed that the wind and the sea 
 had risen considerably, for we were rolled from side to 
 side of our berths in such a manner as made it impossible 
 for us to sleep. After breakfast I went on deck, and 
 found the sea running very much higher than I had seen 
 it for many weeks past. The sun was shining beauti- 
 fully, and I thought as I saw the majestic waves come 
 careering along with their foaming heads glistening in 
 the sunshine like so many snow-capped hillocks spark- 
 ling in the light of day that I had never, not even on 
 land, seen a sight more glorious. As far as the eye 
 could reach on every hand, great hills of water were 
 tossing their snowy heads high in the air. Sometimes 
 our ship was carried high upon their lofty summits ; at 
 other times we were far below in a valley of dark-blue 
 waters. 
 
 ' As the day advanced the weather kept fine, but the 
 wind became stronger, so much so that many of the .sails 
 were furled. A few small seas broke over the ship during 
 the morning, and made the deck rather damp. Apart 
 from this we were as comfortable as when under the 
 influence of lighter winds. Some of us went on deck 
 immediately after dinner, but fortunately we did not 
 remain there after three o'clock. Soon after that hour 
 an immense sea broke over the ship. It fell upon the 
 deck with a crashing noise like a clap of loud thunder. 
 Its full force came upon the saloon skylight, completely 
 carrying away three of the panes of glass, then rolling 
 down into the saloon like a great waterfall. We were 
 all startled, and the ladies were greatly alarmed. After 
 the first rush of water came down, the rolling of the
 
 In the * Rolling Forties' 45 
 
 vessel brought four or five more torrents upon us, 
 which added not a little to the first alarm. 
 
 'The water soon made its way into the cabins, and 
 in a short time all light boxes, portmanteaus, shoes, 
 slippers, &c., were floating about. For a few minutes 
 we seemed paralyzed at this sudden and forlorn state 
 of affairs ; but we soon came to ourselves, and then 
 all hands were quickly at work baling out our rude 
 visitor, and by half-past four o'clock we were all com- 
 fortably seated at the tea-table. The water made sad work 
 in some of the cabins, but we had nothing seriously hurt. 
 The second mate was on deck at the time the sea came 
 over. He saw it advancing before it broke over the ship, 
 and as the mighty volume of water came rushing on, he 
 fully expected that it would sweep everything from the 
 decks. Fortunately only a little of the great mass came 
 on board, so that in the midst of our trouble we soon 
 felt that we had great cause for gratitude.' 
 
 Religious work was not neglected on board. Not 
 only were regular services held on the Sundays, and 
 meetings for prayer both morning and evening, but from 
 time to time special meetings were held with the crew, 
 resulting in the conversion of some of the sailors : 
 
 * To-night I went forward to the weekly prayer-meet- 
 ing which our men hold in the forecastle. We enjoyed 
 a season of great refreshing from the Lord. I think 
 none of us who were present will easily forget the 
 happy moments we spent together. God was very near 
 to us. For some time past we have had many manifest 
 signs that God was working mightily among many 
 of our crew, and to-night our hearts were gladdened 
 with even more stirring tokens than we have hitherto 
 seen. Mr. Chalmers and I led the little meeting. 
 Many of the men engaged in prayer in a most touching
 
 46 In Perils of Waters 
 
 and fervent manner. I felt ashamed of my own piety as 
 I listened to the simple earnestness of these good men. 
 
 * Towards the close of the meeting, Mr. Chalmers said 
 we were convinced that God was working in the hearts 
 of some who till recently had been strangers to the love 
 of Jesus, and if any of these would like to unite with us 
 in praying to God, we should be glad if they would 
 kneel down and pray with us. This was no sooner said 
 than one of the sailors fell upon his knees, and for the 
 first time in his life prayed in the presence of others. 
 His prayer was only a few words, but they were touch- 
 ing words rising from a wounded heart. Directly he 
 had finished, another of our seamen who came on board 
 the ship, an ungodly man, strove to pray with us. He 
 had never prayed with us before, and so greatly were 
 our hearts gladdened to hear his voice, that I know not 
 whether he or we felt most during the few moments he 
 was upon his knees. His prayer was scarcely heard by 
 us, for the few sentences he uttered were broken by sobs 
 and strong feelings.' 
 
 On May 20 the 'John Williams' arrived in Adelaide, and 
 received a hea/ty welcome from the Christian people of 
 that beautiful city. Mrs. Chalmers's father came from New 
 Zealand, and met his daughter and her husband. The 
 party of young missionaries visited Melbourne, Geelong, 
 Ballarat, Hobart, and Sydney, where they spent some 
 weeks. The interest taken in them and the kindness 
 shown in each city and town they visited were great. 
 They left Australia feeling that they had many friends 
 whom they would long remember. 
 
 The followingletter, which appeared in The Australian 
 Christian World for May 17, 1901, refers to this visit to 
 Sydney, and illustrates a phase of Chalmers's character 
 which was always prominent:
 
 Chalmers's Defence of a Friend 47 
 
 1 About thirty-five years ago five missionaries, belong- 
 ing to the London Missionary Society, arrived in Sydney; 
 three of them were young men, and two were returned 
 missionaries. The company comprised Messrs. J.Chalmers 
 and A. T. Saville. All were received warmly by the 
 Congregational body in that city. At Bourke Street 
 there was a very large meeting held in the Congre- 
 gational Church, the pastor, Rev. Thomas Johnston, 
 presiding. That was the first time I either heard or 
 saw young Chalmers, and I shall never forget him. 
 Mr. Saville was the first young man to speak. He 
 made some remarks on the work they were about to 
 enter upon, and was winding up his short speech by 
 saying "that he trusted he would live to see the 
 Australian colonies under one Federal Union," when 
 the chairman rose and said with much warmth, " Come, 
 come, sir, we'll have no republicanism here." Mr. Saville 
 at once sat down. I was, comparatively speaking, a 
 young man then, full of warm blood, and I felt indignant 
 at the manner in which Mr. Saville was addressed. 
 
 'However, I had not to wait long until his friend, 
 the Rev. James Chalmers, was called upon by the 
 chairman to speak. He at once stood up in the vigour 
 of youthful manhood, a fine specimen of a young man, 
 just twenty-five years of age, about five feet nine inches 
 in height, and with a well-knit, powerful frame. He said, 
 "Mr. Chairman, before I touch on the subject-matter 
 I wish to speak upon, I first wish to put my friend, 
 Mr. Saville, right with this audience. Respecting the 
 federation of the Australian colonies, I endorse every 
 word he said, and I trust also to live to see the colonies 
 under one Federal Union. Mr. Saville is no more 
 a republican than I am, and I consider he is as loyal 
 to the throne of England as any one in this room."
 
 48 In Perils of Waters 
 
 I have never forgotten the fire of indignation that was 
 expressed both in the attitude and utterance of the 
 few words I have written, which I believe are the 
 exact words spoken on the occasion. 
 
 'Young Chalmers was greeted with applause for his 
 manly defence on behalf of his friend. I well remember 
 what I said to a friend at the time : " Chalmers is every 
 inch a man, and he will make his mark in after years." 
 He made a telling speech that night, and there is no 
 doubt whatever that his frank, generous, manly bearing 
 won the hearts of the audience.' 
 
 In August the ' John Williams ' left Sydney, and stood 
 away for the New Hebrides. She had Dr. and Mrs. Geddie 
 and Mr. and Mrs. Neilson on board as passengers from 
 Sydney, and they were to be landed on Aneiteum. The 
 afternoon she entered the harbour of Aneiteum was clear, 
 and there was a good south-east breeze blowing. All 
 her passengers visiting the South Seas for the first time 
 were charmed with the new scenery, and were standing 
 aft, entranced with watching the many beautiful colours 
 of the reef near to which they were sailing. Suddenly 
 several were thrown down upon their backs on the deck. 
 The vessel had struck upon an unobserved reef with 
 every stitch of canvas set. There she stuck hard and 
 fast for some days. Her forefoot was smashed, and 
 a great piece of her false keel carried away. 
 
 Here again Mr. Saville's diary gives fuller details of 
 this new misfortune. He wrote : 
 
 * Sad and unexpected have been the events which 
 have transpired since I wrote here last. Our ship, of 
 which we have boasted so much concerning her beauty 
 and strength, is now anchored in the harbour here, 
 broken and leaky, stripped of her cargo, and noisy 
 with her pumps, which are being worked night and
 
 The 'John Williams' on a Reef 49 
 
 day to keep her free from water. Last Wednesday 
 morning, the day after we had sighted Tanna, we were 
 gladdened by seeing the hills of Aneiteum in the dis- 
 tance. We were only eight or ten miles from the 
 nearest point of land at breakfast time, but it took us 
 all day to beat up to the bay because of adverse winds. 
 As we neared the land in different parts of the island 
 we were delighted with the lovely character of the 
 scenery, and with a view of the schoolrooms and other 
 premises belonging to the mission which Mr. Geddie 
 pointed out to us. 
 
 * Early in the afternoon the wind became more favour- 
 able and carried us to a position where by the aid of 
 the glasses we could see Mr. Geddie's home and the 
 large neat-looking chapel. Very quickly after this 
 we were fairly in the bay with the surf foaming about 
 us on the coral reefs which lay near the entrance to 
 the harbour. All our hearts were light and joyous 
 with the prospect of so soon having a near view of this 
 lovely island and seeing for the first time missionary 
 operations, when suddenly alarm came upon all, as 
 the ship with a great crash ran upon a reef and fastened 
 herself upon it. The sails were put back, but still we 
 were stationary. For a time we all seemed to be speech- 
 less, and looked with wonder into the face of each other, 
 not daring to give utterance to what each of us felt to 
 be a fact, viz. that our ship had struck a reef with great 
 violence, and was now fast upon it. 
 
 * In a few minutes we were surrounded with boats and 
 canoes filled with natives, they soon crowded our deck, 
 and made the scene even more exciting than it was 
 before. Not one of them were dressed alike, most of 
 them wore little else than a short covering over the 
 loins. Many of them had their heads decorated with 
 
 D
 
 5O In Perils of Waters 
 
 green leaves, and others with handkerchiefs and caps. 
 After making for each of us to shake our hands they 
 speedily ran to the ropes, and helped our men to back 
 the sails, and to get the boats down to the water. 
 
 ' While all of this was going on, which occupied but 
 a very short space of time, our minds were in a most 
 tumultuous condition. The accident was so sudden 
 that at first we scarcely realized it as a fact ; but soon 
 we became anxious to know the extent of the damage. 
 We wondered if we were in danger, if the ship had 
 sprung a leak, and whether it would be well for us 
 to go below and prepare to go ashore. We soon 
 became assured that however much damage the ship 
 had sustained, she was making little or no water, and 
 therefore we were safe for a time on board of her. An 
 invitation was instantly sent from the shore for us to 
 land and leave for the time our unfortunate ship. v 
 
 ' All that day was employed in turning out luggage 
 from the ship which was afterwards stowed away in the 
 schoolroom and a large boathouse on the beach. Several 
 native divers went below the ship, and stuffed oakum 
 in the holes which the reef had made, and nailed tarred 
 blankets and pieces of wood over the broken parts. 
 This considerably lessened the leakage, although it 
 was still necessary for the pumps to be kept constantly 
 at work. At low tide the ship looked in a most pitiable 
 condition, for while her fore part rested on the sunken 
 reef, her stern went down with the falling tide, and 
 made her look as if she would plunge stern foremost 
 into the water. And this was indeed the fear which was 
 felt by all for some days, until after being considerably 
 lightened by removing her cargo, she was heaved from 
 her dangerous resting-place into deep water. This was 
 an occasion of great joy to us all. The natives gave
 
 Return to Sydney for Repairs 51 
 
 a great shout when she slipped from the rock, and then 
 tried to give three cheers in English fashion. 
 
 4 Tuesday, September 1 8. This day week the " Day- 
 spring " arrived here with all of the missionaries of the 
 New Hebrides Mission on board of her. In the afternoon 
 a meeting of the missionaries and captains of both ships 
 was called to consider what was the best course to be 
 taken for the repairs of the "John Williams," and it was 
 decided that she was to return to Sydney, and that 
 a number of natives should be engaged to go with 
 her to help in working the pumps, and that the " Day- 
 spring " accompany her for the safety of those on board. 
 The missionaries and most of the luggage of both ships 
 were to remain at Aneiteum until the return of the 
 "John Williams.'" 
 
 The return voyage to Sydney lasted nearly three 
 weeks. Twenty-two natives had been taken on board 
 to work the pumps, and they had to be kept going day 
 and night in order to keep the 'John Williams' afloat. 
 This was too good an opportunity for Chalmers to lose. 
 All the other missionaries remained at Aneiteum, but 
 Chalmers and his wife returned in the damaged 'John 
 Williams.' 
 
 The Sydney friends were considerably astonished to 
 see them back so soon, and sorry indeed when they 
 heard the reason. The necessary repairs took six 
 weeks. This period Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers occupied 
 in trying to arouse the interest of colonial friends in the 
 work of the missions. 
 
 Considering the stormy passage they had through the 
 English Channel, and that they had escaped total wreck 
 at Aneiteum only by the very narrowest margin, the 
 travellers might reasonably have expected that the rest 
 of their voyage would be peaceful. But this was not to 
 
 D 2
 
 52 In Perils of Waters 
 
 prove the case. They left Sydney on November 15 with 
 the 'John Williams ' fully repaired, and as strong as ever. 
 In four weeks from the day she left Sydney they had 
 finished all their work at Aneiteum and the Loyalty 
 Isles, and with high hopes in the hearts of her passengers 
 the ship went on her way to Niue. She arrived there 
 on January 3, 1866, after a passage of three weeks from 
 Mare. She had to beat all the way, and for nine days 
 before getting to Niue she had to sail amongst dangerous 
 reefs by dead reckoning. 
 
 In the afternoon of January 3 all the passengers, except 
 Mr. and Mrs. Davies, who were not very well, came on 
 shore to see Mr. and Mrs. Lawes, the missionaries then 
 living on Niue, and were persuaded by them to remain 
 on the island all night. Mrs. Williams, the captain's 
 wife, also remained on shore, leaving the captain to return 
 to the ship alone. 
 
 During the night the wind changed, and blew with 
 such violence as to prevent any communication being 
 held with the ship till the morning of Tuesday, January 8, 
 when the captain came on shore with the remainder of 
 Mr. Lawes' goods. After sending on board a quantity 
 of cocoanuts, taro, and yams, presents from the natives, 
 Mr. Chalmers and his wife accompanied the captain and 
 Mrs. Williams to the ship. They hoped, and fully 
 expected, to be able to sail for Samoa next day. 
 
 The boats were soon swung on the davits, and the 
 * John Williams ' stood out to sea for the night, with a fair 
 breeze. The sea is so deep around these coral islands 
 that at most of them it is impossible to anchor. Soon 
 the ship was a long way out. The sky had a squally 
 appearance, and this brought comfort to those on board, 
 as they knew a squall was safer for them than a calm. 
 But by half-past seven in the evening it fell quite calm,
 
 A Ship in Peril 53 
 
 with a heavy swell driving in towards the land. A short 
 time after this the vessel was observed to have lost all way 
 and to be beginning to drift astern. Still as they were so 
 far out to sea no danger was apprehended. All means 
 were at once resorted to keep the vessel out to sea. The 
 whaleboat, the pinnace, and the gig were well manned 
 with rowers, and soon had the vessel in tow. The sails 
 were also kept trimmed, so as to catch any wind that 
 might spring up. All the native teachers on board toiled 
 at the oars as well as the sailors. But soon it became 
 evident that all these efforts were of no avail. The ship 
 still went astern ; nearer and nearer she approached the 
 dreadful reef. About nine, Mrs. Williams, Mr. and Mrs. 
 Davies, and Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers went into the saloon 
 for prayer, whilst at the same time the native teachers 
 engaged in prayer on the main -deck. Fervent were the 
 prayers offered that the Lord would save their justly 
 prized ship His own ship from the doom that was 
 threatening her, and that she might be spared for many 
 years to carry the good news of salvation to these lovely 
 isles. 
 
 After prayer they went on deck, and fired off some 
 rockets and blue lights to warn the friends on shore of 
 the great danger they were in ; though they knew only 
 too well that those on shore could not help them. The 
 agony of that hour was such that none but those who 
 lived through it could realize it fully. The splendid ship 
 was being slowly and steadily drifted to destruction, and 
 the efforts and toil over which all were breaking their 
 hearts were unable to save her. 
 
 The night had become densely dark ; lightnings began 
 to flash, and the anxious watchers on deck began to 
 think that the wind would spring up and save her. But 
 not a breath of air could be felt. ' About ten o'clock the
 
 54 In Perils of Waters 
 
 gig was ordered alongside, and the ladies were dropped 
 into it from the side of the vessel. There was no time for 
 ceremony ; there were seventy-two souls, including several 
 native women and children, on board. Already the back 
 swell of the reef could be felt. By twenty minutes past 
 eleven all were in the boats. A few minutes after the 
 vessel struck full on the reef with a terrible crash that 
 soon destroyed all hope that she could be saved, and 
 sent a pang through the hearts of the anxious watchers. 
 They loved the vessel, and it seemed like losing a friend 
 to lose her. 
 
 4 The position of those in the boats was not very com- 
 fortable. They had put a few things into bags, but 
 these had had to be left on the deck. It rained as it can 
 rain only in the tropics, and they were some miles from 
 the mission premises. The shipwrecked passengers and 
 crew made for these as soon as they could, keeping the 
 boats together by ropes. It was very dark, but they 
 found out the way by means of a succession of torches 
 which the natives kept lighting on shore. By three a.m. 
 they all reached the landing-place. The surf was 
 very high, thundering heavily on the reef. No boat 
 could possibly get near the beach that night. But the 
 natives came off in canoes, and took the forlorn travel- 
 lers out of the boats and brought them safely through 
 the heaviest surge. They were then dragged through 
 the surf on the beach by the natives, and carried on their 
 backs up a long extent of steep rocks, over which the 
 surf was constantly rushing. By half- past four a.m. all 
 were safely landed. They were very wet, very cold, very 
 weary ; but by using precautionary measures at once all 
 escaped illness.' 
 
 Mr. Chalmers's narrative, as given above, tells the story 
 as it appeared to those on the ill-fated ship. Mr. Saville's
 
 Friends on Shore alarmed 55 
 
 diary describes the events as they appeared to the friends 
 who had been left ashore on Niue. 
 
 ' We spent a very happy evening together ; we had 
 a number of the natives collected in one of the rooms, 
 and I, with the assistance of the carpenter, was doing 
 my best to teach them a couple of tunes. They are 
 excellent singers, and during the short time we spent 
 with them they could nearly sing the National Anthem 
 and tune Evan. I arranged to meet them two hours 
 before breakfast in the morning in order to make them 
 perfect in these tunes before leaving the island, little 
 thinking how our happy pleasures would be disarranged 
 by a disaster, the beginning of which was already filling 
 the remainder of our party with sorrow and anxiety. 
 
 'Towards ten o'clock the carpenter, who had been 
 outside, came hurriedly into the house telling us that 
 they were sending up rockets from the ship. We all 
 ran out, and after looking through the darkness for 
 a time we saw several rockets shoot into the air. At 
 first we tried to encourage the thought that they were 
 only sending these up for the amusement of the natives, 
 but when presently they burnt a blue light on the ship we 
 felt convinced that something serious was the matter, and 
 that they required help. The blue light also enabled us 
 to see that they were not so far from the rocks. Fires 
 were instantly lighted opposite the house, and the natives 
 were aroused in all directions. A great canoe was put 
 into the water filled with natives. Twice the heavy seas 
 washed it back again on to the reef; a third time it was 
 safely launched. 
 
 1 Mr. Watson, the carpenter, and myself, accompanied 
 by a few natives, started at full gallop for the point of 
 rock opposite to which we saw the lights of the ship. 
 The night was inky dark, which made the narrow coral
 
 56 In Perils of Waters 
 
 way along which we hastened exceedingly difficult and 
 dangerous for our feet. At length the men got torches 
 made of sticks brought by women from the houses on 
 our way, and these helped us a little. While we ran 
 along the natives kept up a continual hooting, which 
 sounded strange and almost horrible in the middle of the 
 night. By this shouting they aroused all sleepers, and 
 informed them that the ship was in trouble. 
 
 4 After running for nearly four miles we scrambled to 
 the edge of a jutting rock, and there some distance 
 before us to our dismay we saw the "John Williams" 
 almost close under the rocks. Through the darkness 
 we ran on still further. Then, by the aid of the natives, 
 we were conducted over a shaggy extent of coral till we 
 reached the summit of a precipice. We looked down. 
 The angry surf was foaming and boiling below ; and in 
 the midst of this the dim light of the native torches 
 enabled us to see our ship rolling to and fro upon the 
 reef. Every wave which struck her sent her crashing 
 upon the coral reefs. She had all her sails set. The top 
 parts of two of her masts were already broken, and we 
 were expecting every moment to see all of her heavy 
 iron masts break off, and fall with great weight over her 
 side. Sea after sea rolled against her with immense 
 force. Still her masts stood well. 
 
 ' We were very anxious to know if any one was on 
 board, or if they had left in the boats. We shouted 
 again and again ; but no sound of human voice came in 
 return. The lights continued to burn in the saloon, for 
 we could see them flickering through the skylight. We 
 were greatly relieved at length to see a rocket dart up 
 through the darkness from some distant object in the 
 water, since we were pretty sure it came from one of the 
 ship's boats. This was followed by several blue lights,
 
 The 'John Williams' a Total Wreck 57 
 
 all of which, showed us that the boats were making for 
 the mission station. 
 
 4 During all this time the darkness was terrible, and the 
 rain came down in torrents. The natives brought great 
 leaves to shelter us, but notwithstanding this we were 
 saturated with wet. They also brought great logs of 
 wood and made fires to keep us warm. But we had 
 become cold and wet, and could do nothing to the wreck 
 till daylight, so we turned our faces to return to the 
 station, with our minds stunned with what we had seen. 
 It seemed to us a dream. We could not believe that our 
 ship, the pride of so many, the new " John Williams," was 
 lost with all our earthly possessions except those 
 which we carried on our backs. A thousand thoughts 
 hurried through our bewildered brains as we retraced our 
 steps to tell the anxious ones at Alofi of what our eyes 
 had seen. 
 
 ' The rain continued to come down heavier and 
 heavier, and the darkness seemed to increase about us. 
 In the midst of all this the natives kept up their constant 
 wild crying and shouting, which distracted and distressed 
 one still more. We reached the mission premises at last 
 without a dry thing upon us. It was then nearly three 
 o'clock in the morning. Canoes had been out to the 
 boats and brought the joyful news that every one was 
 saved. There were seventy -three in all, and of these 
 a great many were Rarotongan and Samoan teachers 
 with their wives and children returning to their homes. 
 
 ' No one thought they would venture to bring the 
 boats ashore before daylight, for the sea was rolling 
 in so strongly towards the land that it was almost 
 impossible to enter the boat-opening in the reef with 
 safety. They were all, however, so drenched with the 
 pouring rain, and so cold in consequence, that they chose
 
 58 In Perils of Waters 
 
 to come ashore by being transferred to the canoes. We 
 got all the blankets, dry clothes, and stimulants we could 
 find, ready for these shipwrecked sufferers, and as they 
 were brought in one by one we did our best to restore 
 them from their fainting and half-drowned condition. 
 
 4 When things had quietened down a little they told 
 us the tale of the wreck, the substance of which was that 
 they were drifted to the shore in a calm, just as the old 
 ship was lost, and just as this ship would have been 
 lost the previous night if the wind had not sprung up. 
 They found they were being carried towards the land 
 by the swell of the sea at sunset. Every stretch of 
 canvas was raised in order to catch the faintest breeze 
 of wind which might blow from the shore, and the 
 three boats were lowered in order to take the ship in 
 tow. They were drifting too fast ashore, however, for 
 the boats to hold her back, on and on she went till it 
 was found there was no hope. All were then ordered 
 from the ship into the boats, and so our beautiful ship 
 in the midst of that dark miserable night was abandoned 
 and left a wreck upon the rocks of this iron-bound coast. 
 
 ' It is now a fortnight since the wreck. Still the ship 
 has not entirely broken up. The heavy seas and high 
 tides have carried her further upon the reef into shallower 
 water. The great waves of the surf continue to dash 
 and break over her with terrible force. Her masts are 
 all down. Great holes are in her sides through which 
 the water is continually pouring. Her back is broken, 
 and she is now a shapeless hulk upon the rocks. 
 
 ' A number of natives ventured on board the ship the 
 next morning at the risk of the great masts and yards 
 falling upon them. They dragged up from the cabin 
 every box they could seize, then threw them overboard 
 to find their way to the beach as best they could. It
 
 Salvage from the Wreck 59 
 
 was a pitiful sight for us, as we stood upon the rocks, to 
 see the things we had prized floating upon the water, or 
 lying wet and spoilt in heaps upon the rocks. Next day 
 I was carried on a native's shoulder to the side of the 
 ship, which I soon climbed by means of a rope ladder. 
 She was lying nearly on her side, and every sea which 
 struck her sent her crashing against the rocks as if all 
 her timbers were about to separate, so that it was only 
 possible to keep one's footing by holding firmly to what- 
 ever was at hand. There was plenty of water in the hold, 
 but I managed to get down to a part where some of the 
 things were dry, and from there our men, with the assist- 
 ance of the natives, managed to get a pretty good stock 
 of provisions, enough to supply us with food for a short 
 time. 
 
 ' The natives have no idea of the value of property. 
 They found a number of axes on board, and with these 
 they chopped open every case or barrel they could find, 
 scattering their contents in all directions after their 
 curiosity had been satisfied.' 
 
 In this unforeseen and unwelcome manner the voyage, 
 so full of dangers and hindrances, had come to an un- 
 timely end. Mr. and Mrs. Lawes cared as well as they 
 could for their shipwrecked friends, and taxed the re- 
 sources of the mission to the utmost to meet the neces- 
 sities of the large company thus unexpectedly thrust 
 upon their hands. 
 
 A shipwreck in the Pacific at that date was a serious 
 matter for the survivors. Communication between the 
 islands was very uncertain and irregular, and a party of 
 shipwrecked travellers might be weeks or even months 
 upon an island like the remote and solitary Niue before 
 a passing vessel appeared that could take them either 
 part or the whole of the way to their destination. They
 
 60 In Perils of Waters 
 
 were compelled to stay on Niue for some weeks. In the 
 interval Chalmers, with his usual spirit of adventure and 
 eagerness in all physical exercises, nearly lost his life. 
 
 The natives of Niue, in common with those of most 
 of the islands of the Pacific, are very fond of surf-swim- 
 ming 1 . This is a sport which derives part of its pleasure 
 from the danger involved in it. The amount of danger 
 differs with the kind of coast upon which it is tried. 
 Where there is a level beach there is comparatively 
 little risk ; where, as in the case of Niue, the beach is 
 rocky and broken there may be very considerable danger 
 to any but a strong and skilful native swimmer. The 
 sport consists in swimming some distance out to sea, the 
 swimmer carrying with him a small piece of board. 
 When well out beyond the line of breakers the swimmer 
 waits until a wave is passing that seems suitable for his 
 purpose. Then he skilfully places himself on the crest 
 of the wave with the flat board beneath his chest. Thus 
 mounted on the very crest of the rushing wave sur- 
 rounded by foam and spray he shoots towards the shore 
 at almost express speed. Sometimes the natives when 
 they reach the breakers fall behind the wave or dive 
 backwards and allow it to pass over their heads. The 
 South Sea Islanders are so much at home in the water 
 that, although the opportunities for dangerous accidents 
 are exceedingly numerous in surf-swimming, they very 
 seldom occur. 
 
 Obviously to become proficient in this sport one should 
 begin early in life. Chalmers watching the natives 
 enjoying the pleasure it gives found it impossible to 
 resist the temptation to indulge in it himself. The 
 result may be given in his own words: 
 
 * During our stay on the island I nearly lost my life. 
 I was greatly interested in the surf-swimming, and often
 
 'BY A TERRIBLE EFFORT I CLUNG TO THE ROCK"
 
 Chalmers nearly drowned surf'Swimming 61 
 
 watched the lads at it. One day the sea was particularly 
 big, and I determined whilst bathing to try and run in 
 on a sea with a plank. I got too far out, and was sucked 
 back to the big boulders, and the seas washing me about, 
 I got much bruised and cut. I can remember feeling 
 that all was lost, when a great sea caught me, and threw 
 me on to a boulder. I felt that it was now or never with 
 me, and by a terrible effort I clung to the rock, and, then 
 rising, gave one spring and landed where the watchful 
 natives could bring help to me. I was picked up and 
 carried to the house. I was in bed for several days. 
 I never again tried surf-swimming.' 
 
 He thus once again escaped from sea peril with 
 his life, but a considerable part of the six weeks which 
 the shipwrecked were compelled to pass on the Niue 
 were occupied, so far as Chalmers was concerned, in 
 regaining health and strength after his terrible battle 
 with the waves. At the end of that time a small schooner 
 visited Niue, and on her Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers, two of 
 their fellow-travellers, and a few members of the crew of 
 the 'John Williams' took passage to Samoa. They were 
 eleven days in reaching Apia and on that voyage they 
 ran out of water, and had to be placed upon very short 
 rations of food. This experience illustrates the difficulties 
 at that time of South Pacific travel. On reaching Samoa 
 they were very kindly received by the little community 
 resident at Apia, and the British Consul did all in his 
 power for the comfort and welfare of the shipwrecked 
 crew. Mr. Murray, one of the veteran missionaries of 
 the London Missionary Society, entertained all the mem- 
 bers of the missionary party.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 A PIRATE OF THE PACIFIC 
 
 IN order to understand the forlorn condition of 
 Chalmers and his companions, we have to bear in mind 
 that they had lost all their spare clothing in the wreck, 
 and that such things as clothing were extremely difficult 
 to replace at that time and in that part of the world. 
 All the missionaries also were eager to reach the stations 
 to which the Directors of the Society had assigned them, 
 and among these the most eager were Chalmers and his 
 wife. While waiting at Samoa for a ship that could be 
 chartered, there came to that port a brig of one hundred 
 and fifty tons, called the ' Rona.' It was commanded and 
 sailed by a man who in later years became the most 
 notorious character in the whole Pacific, known at that 
 time all over the islands by the name of ' Bully Hayes.' 
 Most people would have hesitated to embark on a ship 
 commanded by a man of this type ; but we are inclined 
 to think that his personality, even imperfectly known as 
 it then was, rather attracted than repelled Chalmers. 
 At any rate, as the result of certain business negotiations, 
 the ' Rona,' belonging to Hayes, was chartered to go back 
 to Niue and bring to Apia the remaining members of 
 the shipwrecked crew and shipwrecked party and all the 
 spoiled cargo that had been saved from the 'John 
 Williams.' 
 
 On the return of the ' Rona ' to Apia the salvage was 
 divided between the missionaries in Samoa, the Society
 
 4 Bully Hayes' 63 
 
 Islands, and the Cook Islands. In order to apportion 
 the things the missionaries drew lots. Chalmers writes, 
 * I had a chest of tea in my lot, and believed it good ; 
 but on opening it in Rarotonga months later, we found 
 that it had been wetted and was quite spoilt.' 
 
 Another six weeks were spent at Apia in preparation 
 for the voyage, and then the 'Rona' sailed to convey 
 Mr. and Mrs. Saville, Chalmers's fellow travellers, to 
 Huahine, and Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers to Rarotonga. 
 
 There is no authentic account of the captain in whose 
 ship Chalmers made the last stage of his eventful voyage 
 from England to Rarotonga, but a number of books of 
 adventure have been written in which his personality 
 and deeds form the central part. Hayes was a giant 
 some six feet four in height, and measuring round his 
 chest from shoulder to shoulder about four feet. He 
 was possessed of immense physical strength, and of this 
 he was extremely proud. He was also a handsome man 
 with bright blue eyes, a strong nose and well-cut mouth, 
 and large moustache, and long clustering hair. In his 
 manner, in his figure, in his appearance, he was the 
 prominent personality in any gathering at which he was 
 present. The most marked feature in his character was 
 a temper that when once roused passed entirely out of 
 his control. In these moments of ungovernable rage he 
 became little short of a madman. Those who knew him 
 well tell us that in a moment his smiling face would turn 
 into that of a demon ; his eyes became almost black, and 
 his face flushed into a deep purple. In these moments he 
 would do deeds of the greatest cruelty, not scrupling 
 even to take the life of those who offended him. 
 
 With Hayes, as with men of strong passions of this 
 nature, the rebound when it came was also extreme. He 
 could be generous to a fault, and he could fascinate those
 
 64 A Pirate of the Pacific 
 
 whom but a few moments before he had terrified beyond 
 endurance. He was possessed of considerable culture, 
 speaking German, French, and Spanish fluently. His 
 career was possible in the Pacific Ocean in the middle 
 of the nineteenth century. 
 
 For many years before the missionaries of the 'John 
 Williams ' came in contact with him Hayes was known 
 in many parts of the world as the terrible highwayman 
 of the seas. His scandalous performances had made 
 him an outlaw in almost every civilized port. If he had 
 dropped anchor in any one of these ports the ' Rona ' 
 would have been seized, and he would have been handed 
 over to the Government officers. 
 
 A sharp outlook was kept for him at Melbourne in 
 consequence of an unscrupulous fraud he played upon 
 the officials on the occasion of his last visit. He had on 
 board three hundred Chinamen whom he had Jbrought 
 from Hong Kong. At that time a poll-tax of 10 
 was paid by every Chinaman landing at Melbourne. 
 Before going on board each of these men paid ' Bully 
 Hayes' their 10 as well as the charges for the voyage. 
 But the knavish captain had no thought or intention 
 of paying over to the Australian authorities the large 
 amount he had received as poll-tax, amounting in all to 
 something like ^3,000. 
 
 When the port was within sight he with the assistance 
 of his carpenter managed to scuttle the vessel by making 
 a large hole in the ship's side. In this water-logged and 
 apparently sinking condition the vessel slowly entered 
 the harbour. Hayes ordered that a flag of distress 
 should be hoisted on the mast-head. Immediately the 
 pilot and a number of tug-boats put out from the shore 
 to assist the disabled vessel. When they came alongside 
 the captain shouted telling them of his sinking, hopeless
 
 The Crimes of * Bully Hayes' 65 
 
 condition 'And,' said he, 'for mercy sake, don't stop to 
 tow us to the shore, but save these hundreds of poor 
 distracted creatures by getting" them ashore at once in 
 your boats. I care nothing about my own life, if you 
 will only save these poor fellows. Then, when they are 
 ashore, come immediately for us. In the meantime we 
 will work away at the pumps to keep the ship afloat.' 
 
 Accordingly the three hundred Chinamen were passed 
 over the side of the vessel into the various tug-boats and 
 conveyed to the landing-place which was several miles 
 away. Whilst this was being done the hole in the side 
 of the ship was closed. All hands were put to work on 
 the pumps, the bow of the vessel was set towards the sea, 
 away went the ' Rona ' and her scoundrel of a captain. 
 He had managed to land the three hundred Chinamen, 
 and yet keep the 3,000 poll-tax for himself instead of 
 paying it over to the colonial authorities. 
 
 This was a cruel business for the Pilot Company. 
 They had to pay that large amount themselves, and it 
 nearly ruined the company. Henceforth, however, 
 Hayes could never again show his face in Melbourne if 
 he hoped to escape prison life. 
 
 In like manner the various ports of New Zealand had 
 become dangerous for him to revisit. On one occasion 
 he went to Auckland and filled his vessel with a valuable 
 cargo of cattle. He spoke of sailing on the following 
 day, and promised that before doing so he would call 
 early in the morning to settle with the man from whom 
 he had purchased the cattle. But long before the morn- 
 ing dawned he lifted the anchor, and sailed away during 
 the stillness of the night with his precious cargo for 
 which he had not paid a cent. 
 
 At San Francisco Hayes's vessel mysteriously dis- 
 appeared in the night with a great cargo on board and 
 
 B
 
 66 A Pirate of the Pacific 
 
 a quantity of valuable jewels ordered for Mr. Hayes. 
 The outlaw had once more duped custom-house officers, 
 merchants, and tradesmen. In most of the ports of the 
 China Seas he was not only in danger of prison but of 
 death ; for he had there shed much blood in effecting 
 his deeds of robbery. 
 
 4 This was the man,' writes Mr. Saville, * who when he 
 found the large doors for the world's commerce closed 
 against him turned his attentions to the South Sea 
 Islands. He had paid several visits to Niue before 
 Chalmers met him, and he was also known in Samoa. 
 The missionaries regarded him with an air of suspicion, 
 for smiling and fair as he seemed to be, they were not 
 quite sure of their man, although the terrible facts of his 
 life were then unknown to them. 
 
 ' It was a strange Providence which cast Mr. and Mrs. 
 Chalmers, my wife and myself, for a voyage of 2,000 miles, 
 upon the tender mercies of this outlaw. But if the 
 association was perilous for us, it was fortunate for him. 
 He was paid 500 for our passage- money, and more 
 than this, he was able once more to secure the confidence 
 of traders by announcing the fact that he had become 
 a missionary captain. When we reached Tahiti he 
 bought freely and was trusted largely. If he had been 
 captain of the " John Williams " he could not have been 
 treated better by the merchants. 
 
 * During our voyage of six or seven weeks his self- 
 suppression was perfect, not a foul word or oath escaped 
 his lips. His rough crew were kept in check in the 
 same manner. Tamate and I were permitted to conduct 
 prayers on deck each day when the weather permitted 
 and each Sunday we held services. The day before we 
 landed at Huahine a note was put into the, hand of 
 Tamate and another into my own, written in the name
 
 The Violence of 'Bully Hayes' 67 
 
 of the captain, in which we were thanked for the services 
 held on board, and assured that both the services and 
 our society had been of great religious helpfulness to all 
 on board. Not many hours after receiving- these epistles, 
 when we were entering the harbour at Huahine, the pent- 
 up passions of the captain broke out, and in his madness 
 he ran the vessel upon the reef and flung his wife's 
 jewellery together with a bag of dollars into the sea. 
 Fortunately the ship was removed from its dangerous 
 position, and we landed safely with very thankful hearts. 
 
 4 Tamate and his wife had still to be carried 600 miles 
 further west to Rarotonga. We trembled for their safety, 
 so did they. Afterwards I heard from my dear old 
 friend that the remainder of the voyage was terrible. 
 Daily oaths and curses pained their ears, and the con- 
 stant fits of passion from the captain filled their hearts 
 with alarm. When Rarotonga was reached Tamate had 
 a very narrow escape of his life. The captain tried to 
 run the boat down in which he was being pulled to the 
 shore. 
 
 'Hayes bought the wreck of the "John Williams" for a 
 little more than ;ioo. This was a splendid bargain for 
 him. He made great profit out of the purchase. With 
 this and with the 500 he had received as our passage- 
 money he returned to Tahiti, bought a small schooner 
 called the "Samoa," filled her with a cargo of goods to be 
 sold in the small islands to the westward, and put his 
 mate on board as captain. His wife and twin children 
 had become an incumbrance to him. These he left 
 unprovided for at Apia. 
 
 1 After starting the " Samoa " on her trading voyage to 
 the westward, he sailed the " Rona " to Huahine. There 
 he filled up with a great cargo of oranges for British 
 Columbia. But the way of transgressors is hard. A 
 
 E 2
 
 68 A Pirate of the Pacific 
 
 few days after leaving Huahine the vessel was overtaken 
 by a terrific storm. She was a rotten, unsafe craft, even 
 under favouring 1 circumstances ; but exposed to the force 
 of a great storm she sprang a leak, and began to sink. 
 Hurriedly the longboat was lowered, a compass and 
 some kegs of water and food were put in her, and Bully 
 Hayes and his crew left the sinking " Rona" for the boat. 
 They steered for the westward in the hope of finding 
 the " Samoa " at one of the Cook Islands. 
 
 ' After many days and nights of hardship in the open 
 boat they reached Mauke, and found the schooner they 
 were seeking ; but as they came nearer to the shore they 
 found she was a wreck upon the reef. The captain and 
 crew were busy building a boat from her broken planks 
 to convey them to one of the islands of the Samoan 
 group. So Hayes had now lost all which he gained 
 through our misfortunes. 
 
 ' When the boat was finished he and the crews of both 
 vessels sailed for Samoa. After being there for a time 
 he chartered a vessel and started upon the kidnapping 
 business. He made frequent voyages to savage and 
 heathen islands. When the natives came off in their 
 canoes he decoyed them on board, induced them to go 
 below to see the goods which were spread out to 
 fascinate their eyes, he then had the hatches closed 
 upon them and the canoes broken. The kidnapped 
 savages were then carried to the Fiji plantations or to 
 any other place where he could get a price for them. 
 
 ' After a time the British cruisers were put on his 
 track, but he always cleverly managed to evade them. 
 The British Consul in Samoa was, however, instructed 
 to take him prisoner if he ever tried to land there. Not 
 knowing that he was thus in danger he sailed his vessel 
 to Tutuila, an island of the Samoan group. He went
 
 Death of 'Bully Hayes' 69 
 
 ashore in a canoe manned by natives ; but before doing 
 so he thrust a couple of revolvers into his side pocket. 
 The natives observed this, and when the canoe was half- 
 way across the bay an unexpected and unusual event 
 took place. The canoe was overturned, and away went 
 Bully Hayes beneath the blue waters. The natives 
 immediately swam around him, delivered him from the 
 perilous waters, righted the canoe, and were profuse in 
 their apologies for the accident. 
 
 * Directly Hayes stepped ashore an effort was made to 
 arrest him by Consul Williams. Hayes drew his two 
 revolvers at once and tried to fire at the Consul; but the 
 powder was damp. The natives smiled, and Hayes was 
 easily made a prisoner. 
 
 'Hayes was, however, easier to catch than to keep. 
 It was hoped that he might be kept until an English 
 man-of-war arrived ; but long before the expected vessel 
 arrived he had made his escape. It was found that one 
 bright moonlight night he had sailed away on board of 
 a vessel of very questionable character to some unknown 
 port. 
 
 ' Later on Hayes was again traced. This time he was 
 trading in the Torres Straits in a vessel he had obtained 
 for himself through fraud. Still later we read in the 
 newspapers that the Mexican authorities had placed " the 
 notorious Bully Hayes " in jail. 
 
 1 Last of all we learned from English newspapers that 
 after leaving jail he was once more the captain of a 
 vessel, and that in a quarrel he was murdered by his first 
 mate.' 
 
 Such was the type of man who attracted Chalmers 
 during his stay in Samoa, and he was utilized by him for 
 the conveyance of the Savilles to Huahine, and of himself 
 and his wife to Rarotonga, because no other ready method
 
 7O A Pirate of the Pacific 
 
 presented itself. Chalmers would rather go on board 
 a pirate ship than wait week after week at Samoa. 
 And Hayes himself seems to have come strongly under 
 the fascination of Chalmers's personality. 4 Hayes,' he 
 tells us, ' seemed to take to me during the frequent 
 meetings we had on shore, and before going on board 
 for good I met him one afternoon, and said to him, 
 " Captain Hayes, I hope you will have no objection to 
 our having morning and evening service on board, and 
 twice on Sabbaths. All will be short, and only those who 
 like to come need attend." " Certainly not ; " he replied, 
 "my ship is a missionary ship now, and I hope you 
 will feel it so. All on board will attend these services." 
 " Only if they are inclined," I replied.' 
 
 'We were well treated on board,' writes Chalmers. 
 ' Hayes was a perfect host, and a thorough gentleman. 
 His wife and children were on board ; and although we 
 had fearful weather nearly all the time, yet I must say we 
 enjoyed ourselves. Instead of going to Rarotonga first, 
 we had gone so far south that we could easily fetch 
 Tahiti, and so we stood for it, causing us to be much 
 longer on board.' 
 
 The Savilles were landed in due course at Huahine, 
 and then the ' Rona ' called at Mangaia, where Chalmers 
 and his wife were very kindly received by Mr. and 
 Mrs. Wyatt Gill and their people. They arrived on 
 a Sunday in stormy weather, and landed just after sunset. 
 On Monday morning Mr. Chalmers returned to the 
 ship for Mrs. Chalmers, and about midday they went 
 ashore with the captain, hoping to return in the evening. 
 The wind was easterly and very strong. The boat 
 remained outside the reef, going to and trom the ship 
 with goods and provisions. About dark, a wet and 
 disagreeable night, the boat was ready outside the surf
 
 A Narrow Escape 71 
 
 to return to the ship. Both the captain and Chalmers 
 were anxious to get on board, and were quite ready to 
 go, but the natives refused to put them over the reef, 
 as it was very rough. The captain offered them five 
 dollars to get on board. Neither requests nor commands 
 moved them, the pilot saying, ' It is easy for me to take 
 you to the boat, but I feel certain that boat will never 
 reach the ship.' Little did they suppose that by this 
 refusal their lives were preserved. 
 
 The boat left for the ship which lay off and on, at no 
 great distance from the reef. All night they felt anxious 
 about the ship, for the night was dark and stormy. The 
 next morning no ship was to be seen, and it was not 
 until Thursday she hove in sight. The captain went on 
 board immediately. Soon a flag went up, but alas! it 
 was only half-mast, then another. It too was half-mast. 
 What could be wrong? Mr. Gill and Chalmers got a 
 canoe and went off, but before getting to the ship they 
 saw what was wrong. No whaleboat could be seen on 
 the starboard davits, and getting on board they found 
 the boat had never reached the ship. There were two 
 men in the boat, one a native of the Sandwich Islands, 
 who was second mate, and the other a native of Ireland, 
 named Hughes, who was working his passage from 
 Huahine. The supposition is that the boat was swamped, 
 or was run down by the ship. They were last heard 
 cooeying close to the ship but could not be seen. 
 Chalmers writes ; ' We had had many merciful deliver- 
 ances since we set sail from Gravesend on January 4, 
 1 865, and again our prayer was that life thus preserved 
 might entirely be devoted to the service of God.' 
 
 The rest of the voyage to Rarotonga passed without 
 any special or exciting incident. On May 20, 1867, the 
 vessel anchored in the harbour of Avarua. Chalmers
 
 72 A Pirate of the Pacific 
 
 was the first to land, and as he was being- carried ashore 
 from the boat by a native, the latter asked, ' What fellow 
 name belong- you ? ' He wished to know in order that 
 he might shout the name out to those who were standing 
 on the shore. Chalmers answered ' Chalmers,' and the 
 native roared out 'Tamate.' This was the nearest 
 approach to the sounds of the missionary's name that 
 a South Sea Islander could make. It was in this way 
 that Mr. Chalmers, just as he was first setting foot on the 
 island of Rarotonga, received the name by which he 
 was to become known in that lovely little island of the 
 far Pacific, and then in later years over the whole of the 
 South Eastern Coast of New Guinea. 
 
 c
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE GEM OF THE PACIFIC 
 
 THE title of this chapter is an apt description of the 
 island of Rarotonga upon which Chalmers was to spend 
 the next ten years of his life. Scattered about through 
 the vast Pacific Ocean are many islands of extreme beauty, 
 and Rarotonga holds a front place in this respect. It 
 consists of mountains that rise up abruptly to a height 
 of about 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. The 
 slopes in these mountains contain lovely little valleys, 
 and they are wooded with palms and with beautiful trees 
 down to the level of the sea. 
 
 Entirely surrounding the island is a great barrier reef 
 of coral forming a huge protective wall. This reef varies 
 from a few feet to nearly half a mile in width. At low 
 tide most of it is bare, at high tide it has upon it from four 
 to six feet of water. Here and there in the course of the 
 reef are openings which allow canoes to pass in and out. 
 One or two of these openings are large enough to admit 
 small vessels. This coral reef forms a huge barrier against 
 which the mighty waves of the Pacific of deepest blue rise 
 to a height of more than twenty feet and then curling- 
 over break in myriad forms of silvery white spray. On 
 the other side of the lagoon within the reef is a long 
 white sandy beach varying from ten to a hundred feet 
 wide, forming a natural margin round the whole of the 
 island. It is richly covered with groves of chestnut,
 
 74 The Gem of the Pacific 
 
 cocoanut, bread-fruit and banana trees. So far as out- 
 ward beauty goes no spot on earth could be lovelier, 
 and the conditions of life there are such that with very 
 little labour the necessary food and clothing can be 
 procured. 
 
 In the earlier part of the nineteenth century this 
 paradise of the Pacific was the home of most revolting 
 cruelty and degraded savagery. The island was occupied 
 by two or three tribes that were continually at war one 
 against another. The power of the chief was absolute. 
 All the property on the island, all the lives on the island 
 were absolutely at his disposal. In the old heathen days 
 the chief of the tribe was carried about on the shoulders 
 of men because his feet were too sacred to tread the 
 common earth. Whenever he rested, it was upon the 
 bodies of his slaves, and so sacred was he that if, as he 
 passed by, his shadow fell upon any of his tribesmen, 
 the man was immediately killed since the shadow of the 
 chief falling upon him had made him sacred. 
 
 The religious ideas of the people necessitated human 
 sacrifices in order to avert the anger of the gods. One 
 of the missionaries who spent long years upon the island 
 soon after its conversion to Christianity tells us that 
 whenever the people had reason, from famine or sickness 
 or war or death, to think that the gods were angry with 
 them, in order to appease them, they offered human 
 sacrifices. Two or three natives either of their own or 
 of some other tribe were secured. Their arms and legs 
 were bound with green thongs, and they were then 
 dragged to the great altar of sacrifice on which they 
 were presented alive to the gods, the priest at the same 
 time confessing the sins of the people, and asking the 
 gods to remove the calamity. When this ceremony 
 was over the living bodies of the victims were placed
 
 The Oven of Sacrifice 75 
 
 upon an immense oven of red-hot stones and there 
 sacrificed as an atonement for the sins of the people. 
 
 Dr. Gill, in a book written in the year 1855, says: 
 ' Three or four years ago, in company with a few old 
 men, who had spent the first years of their manhood in 
 heathen life, I visited this great oven of national sacrifice. 
 The paths leading to it had long since grown over with 
 brushwood, which we had to cut down as we advanced. 
 On reaching the spot I found an area of comparatively 
 clear ground about a hundred feet in circumference, 
 surrounded by high trees and dense bush. In the centre 
 was a pit five feet deep and twelve feet wide. This pit 
 used to be filled with firewood, on the top of which were 
 piled large basaltic stones. These were heated to a red- 
 hot heat, and as the wood consumed they sank to a level 
 with the ground. This was the oven, and on it the living 1 
 human sacrifices were placed and burnt to death, as an 
 atonement for the sins of the people. As we gazed on 
 this scene, and remembered the generations of bygone 
 days, our hearts were filled with emotions of mournful 
 interest ; and, singing a hymn, expressive of sympathy 
 with the heathen yet in darkness, we retired, praising 
 God that the knowledge of the true atonement for sin 
 had been brought to the inhabitants of Rarotonga, not 
 a few of whom had proved its efficacy and rejoiced in 
 its grace.' 
 
 In the same volume Dr. Gill gives a picture of the 
 cruelties of those old savage and cannibal days. When 
 Christianity had been introduced into the island and 
 when the people had become semi-civilized, there were 
 of course many who remembered the former days of 
 cruelty and terror. Once when the children of the 
 different Sunday Schools were gathered together for 
 their annual treat, an old man who had in former years
 
 76 The Gem of the Pacific 
 
 been a warrior and a cannibal, sang 1 one of the old 
 invocations to the great idol Tangaroa, the chief idol 
 of the Rarotongans. He then went on to say ' You 
 have often been told of the dark deeds practised in this 
 land before the love of God reached us. Before the word 
 of God shone upon us we were at war with the people of 
 the other side of the island. There was no safety at that 
 time. If men or women or children left home in the 
 morning, perhaps they would be killed before night. 
 During this war a father and mother left their house on 
 yonder mountain to fish in the sea towards Avarua. They 
 had a little child whom they took with them, and, being 1 
 weary, they sat under a tree to rest. While there they 
 were surprised by the sudden approach of two men from 
 the enemy's station. They put the child up in the tree, 
 and hid themselves in the bush. Alas! the child was 
 seen by the two men. They took it, and with wild 
 shouting, dashed it to death on a heap of stones. But 
 this did not satisfy them ; they took up the stones and 
 crushed its body to atoms. My heart weeps for that 
 child. Had the word of God come in his time, he would 
 have lived, and perhaps would now have been in our 
 midst.' 
 
 The story of how Christianity came to the island of 
 Rarotonga is famous and inspiring. In the early part 
 of the last century, the island of Rarotonga had been 
 discovered and visited by an English ship whose captain 
 and crew lived on shore there for some months. But 
 they never reported their discovery, because they were 
 guilty of such crimes that at last the islanders rose against 
 them, and drove them away from the beach. 
 
 The rediscovery of Rarotonga was due to the great 
 pioneer missionary, John Williams, the true predecessor 
 of James Chalmers. In 1822 he visited the Hervey Group
 
 Williams rediscovers Rarotonga 77 
 
 islands, and while off the island of Atiu was informed by 
 the chief that a long way off in the direction south- 
 west by west the island of Rarotonga would be found. 
 John Williams determined to go in search of the island. 
 Contrary winds baffled the voyagers. Their provisions 
 were nearly consumed, and their patience exhausted, 
 when early one morning the captain of the ship came 
 to John Williams and said, ' We must give up this search, 
 or we shall all be starved.' It was agreed to continue 
 the search until eight o'clock and if no land was sighted 
 by that time, the ship was to return. 
 
 John Williams tells us, 'this was an hour of great 
 anxiety. I had sent a native to the top of the mast four 
 times. He went up a fifth time, and when the clock 
 stood at half- past seven and we were within half an hour 
 of giving up search, the clouds which had hitherto hidden 
 the towering heights of Rarotonga from us were chased 
 away by the heat of the ascending sun, and our anxieties 
 were all forgotten in the shout of land, land, that came 
 from the mast-head.' This naturally changed the feeling 
 at once of every one on board. Faces brightened and 
 new interest was aroused, and all were grateful to Him 
 Who had led them by the right way. 
 
 On board the ship were a little party of Rarotongan 
 natives who had been living on the island of Aitutaki. 
 John Williams recognized how valuable these natives 
 would be should he succeed in finding Rarotonga, and 
 so he had brought them with him. When the visitors 
 reached the island the leading chief, Makea by name, 
 came to see John Williams. He was rejoiced to find 
 that among the little band whom the stranger had 
 brought back there was his own cousin. An active, 
 earnest young native teacher, Papeiha by name, and 
 two other teachers with their wives were landed in the
 
 78 The Gem of the Pacific 
 
 hope that they would be able to make a settlement on 
 the island. But the next morning they came back to the 
 ship in a sad plight. A chief had come and had demanded 
 some of them as his prisoners, and it was only by the 
 most strenuous efforts on the part of Makea's cousin, 
 the princess whose name was Tapaeru, that they had 
 been preserved from outrage. 
 
 It looked at first as though John Williams would have 
 to give up all hope of leaving a teacher on the island, 
 but the faith of Papeiha rose to the height of a great 
 action. At his own request he was left alone, the only 
 request being that a friend whom he named should be 
 sent to help him as soon as possible. He landed, carrying 
 with him his clothes, his native testament, and a little 
 bundle of books which he hoped to find useful in teach- 
 ing the natives to read. He took no other property 
 with him because he knew that if he did he would be 
 instantly robbed. He was not entirely without friends, 
 since the two men and the four women who had been 
 brought back from Aitutaki had become Christians, and 
 all of these promised to help him. The friend he had 
 asked for was sent to him. They lived and worked on 
 the island for twelve months, and at the end of that time 
 through their labours and life of prayer the whole of the 
 island was led to renounce idolatry. When John Williams 
 a year or two later revisited the island he was rejoiced 
 to find that the savages, who, when he had last seen 
 them, appeared to be the most ferocious that he had ever 
 met, were now changed, and becomingly clothed, and in 
 their right minds. 
 
 It was to this island so lovely in itself, so terrible in 
 its memories, so romantic in its rapid conversion to 
 Christianity that Chalmers and his wife had been sent 
 by the Directors of the London Missionary Society to
 
 Chalmers's Disappointment 79 
 
 carry on Christian work. It was not at all the place nor 
 the work that he himself would have chosen. The early 
 missionaries, Charles Pitman and Aaron Buzacott, built 
 wisely and well upon the foundation laid by the heroic 
 Papeiha and the great John Williams. The wild warlike 
 race of savages had been transformed into a half-civilized 
 law-abiding- people. Long before the eye of Chalmers 
 looked upon the mountains and valleys, lagoons and 
 reefs of Rarotonga, the old heathenism had passed away. 
 Many of the islanders had been converted, and had 
 become good Christian people ; but numbers of them 
 were Christians only in name, and needed still to be 
 helped and taught and guided. 
 
 As soon as Chalmers himself realized the conditions 
 of life on the island he began to look out beyond 
 it. The experience of John Williams at Raiatea was 
 repeated by Chalmers. John Williams had written in 
 the year 1817, in a letter to the Directors of the Society, 
 a sentence which afterwards became famous. 'I can 
 never consent to be confined within the limits of a single 
 reef.' He looked out, and saw beyond many islands, 
 the inhabitants of which were living in the darkest and 
 most cruel savagery. The great heart of John Williams 
 yearned over those savages, and he was soon helped by 
 God to carry the Gospel to many of them. 
 
 Similar feelings ruled in the heart of James Chalmers. 
 1 For years,' he writes, ' I had longed to get amongst 
 real heathen and savages, and I was disappointed when 
 we landed on Rarotonga, and found them so much 
 civilized and Christianized. I wrote to the Directors 
 stating my disappointment, and begged them to appoint 
 us to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides. At the 
 District Committee Meeting, held very shortly after we 
 landed, the first I ever attended, I stated my feelings to
 
 8o The Gem of the Pacific 
 
 the brethren, and suggested that Mr. Green, formerly of 
 Tahiti, and at that time on Tahaa, should be appointed 
 to Rarotonga. A minute to that effect was actually 
 passed, but nothing came of it, and we lived on Rarotonga 
 for ten years. Those years were full of happiness, of 
 life, and of work.' 
 
 Though not permitted to do the work upon which his 
 heart was set, Chalmers, like all strong, wise and good 
 men, set himself resolutely to do the work close at hand. 
 He took classes in the training institution. He preached 
 on the Sundays and often during the week. He visited 
 the different villages on the island. He found that in 
 Rarotonga there were strong and fierce temptations 
 that assailed the hearts of men. 
 
 ' In that Paradise of the Pacific,' he wrote, * there was 
 one fearful curse, strong drink, and that we tried to 
 combat. I turned policeman, and used to find out where 
 the meetings for drink were held. My experience is that 
 native chiefs and policemen are not fit in themselves to 
 carry out laws. They put on a spurt for a fortnight, 
 and then things drift back, and are left to become worse 
 than before. During the chief Makea Abela's time, we 
 succeeded in putting it down to a considerable extent ; 
 but he was a great hindrance, being himself much 
 addicted to drink, both foreign and native. 1 
 
 Chalmers found living upon Rarotonga in the year 
 1867 some who had lived in the old time of savagery 
 and cruelty. Manarangi, who had been chief of the island 
 in the days of heathenism, was still alive. Chalmers 
 tells an incident that illustrated the sacred character 
 attributed by the natives to their chiefs. He says : 
 
 * I remember once getting some of the inferior chiefs 
 togedier and going on deputation to Makea and Mana- 
 rangi, who was chief justice and had lapsed from church
 
 Snatched from the Jaws of Death 81 
 
 membership and from his social position through drink. 
 They both received us well, and listened to all we had 
 to say. One of the lesser chiefs spoke very seriously to 
 Makea, and Manarangi pulled him up by asking, in a bit 
 of song, "Whence is Makea ? " and the old native replied 
 in song, " From heaven he came," and then Manarangi 
 wound up with, " Who then can speak ? " and we 
 returned, forced to remember that Makea in native 
 opinion was beyond and above all law and all human 
 beings. In the light of an incident like this we can 
 understand how and why in heathen times any one who 
 crossed even his shadow was instantly clubbed to death.' 
 Chalmers himself told the writer of this book an 
 incident which illustrates at once his own character, and 
 the risks that a man bold and courageous may run 
 through ignorance of locality. A few days after he 
 landed on the island he was being rowed across the 
 lagoon between the reef and the beach of Rarotonga. 
 The rowers consisted of stalwart Rarotongans. When 
 the boat neared the reef Chalmers stood up on the bow, 
 and as the keel was about to touch he jumped forward 
 upon the reef, which was slightly covered with water. 
 His foot slipped and he fell forward over the outer edge 
 of the reef. Fortunately one of the natives, a stalwart 
 active man in the prime of life, had heard the sound of 
 his foot on the coral, and realized instantly what had 
 happened. He sprang forward and was able to seize 
 Chalmers by the hair just as he was being swept under 
 the reef by the wave. His muscular strength was such 
 that he was able to drag him back out of the surf and 
 land him upon the reef. Had it not been for the quick- 
 ness of the native, Chalmers's life would have ended then 
 and there, because even the strongest native swimmers, 
 if they are once swept by the surf over the outward 
 
 F
 
 82 The Gem of the Pacific 
 
 edge of the reef, are powerless to save themselves from 
 death either by being dashed against the coral or by 
 being sucked under by the current. 
 
 An incident that illustrates the great risk that Chal- 
 mers ran on this occasion is recorded by his old friend 
 Dr. Wyatt Gill. ' Moanakino and two companions, 
 natives of the island Mangaia, went fishing on the coral 
 reef. It was a lovely day. They had been fishing some 
 time with good success, and were just saying to each 
 other that they would return home, when two of their 
 number unfortunately found that their fish-hooks were 
 caught in the coral in rather deep water. In those days 
 the natives set great value on their fish-hooks. As the 
 sea was tolerably smooth they dived for them, the usual 
 practice of fishermen under such circumstances. But, 
 alas! they had scarcely dived into the sea when suddenly a 
 breeze sprung up and immediately the sea became rough. 
 They tried to return to the reef, but they were con- 
 tinually baffled in their attempts by the surf, which by 
 this time was running high and dashing with great force 
 against the sharp shelving coral. Their friend ashore 
 on the reef could do but little for them. He held 
 out his long fishing-rod, a bamboo cane, for them to 
 catch hold of; but, alas! it was too short. There was 
 no canoe near, but he immediately ran off for one. An 
 hour elapsed ere the canoe arrived. In the meantime 
 one of the poor fellows in the ocean complained that he 
 was getting weak and very cold. His friend tried to 
 hold him up by his arm. After a time poor Moanakino, 
 fearing his friend's strength might also fail, said, " Let us 
 pray together to God for help ; but if He should see fit 
 to take us to Himself, we will say, Thy will be done." 
 When the prayer was concluded, Moanakino said, u I 
 must die. I have no sensation in any of my limbs.
 
 A Terrible Death 83 
 
 Now leave your hold of me, for fear you also should 
 sink. Farewell, I am going to Jesus and to heaven." 
 His friend continued holding on to his hair as long as 
 he could, and for some time after he was dead. The 
 body at length sank to the coral bottom. When the 
 canoe arrived several men dived for Moanakino's body, 
 which they obtained with great difficulty. I tried every 
 means I could think of to restore animation, but to no 
 purpose. 1 
 
 When Chalmers had settled down to steady work he 
 found that the worst enemy he had to fight on Rarotonga 
 was strong drink, and the ravages which indulgence in 
 it was working in the lives of many of the natives. 
 How best to fight this evil constantly occupied his 
 thoughts and the strength of the man came out in his 
 readiness to use any methods that would give him 
 power in fighting this great curse. He has himself 
 described for us in his own way the method that he 
 found most effective : 
 
 ' About two years ago there was started by the beer- 
 drinkers at this settlement a volunteer corps. They 
 were drilled by a man who had been in Tahiti for some 
 time. They had been practising drill some time before 
 I knew anything of it. They were recognized by the 
 chiefs, and the majority were men who for many years 
 had never attended any service of any kind. I knew 
 them only by seeing them in their sacred grove at night, 
 around orange-beer barrels and a great fire, naked and 
 fierce. Sabbath and week-day were both alike to them. 
 They were unknown to the missionaries. Well, these 
 men met for drill, and I felt that here was a new thing 
 growing up amongst us, which, if seized and guided, 
 might be turned to good account. If it were left alone, 
 or if any attempt were made to put an end to it, evil 
 
 F 2
 
 84 The Gem of the Pacific 
 
 would result. I had no power to stop it, even had 
 I desired to do so, which certainly I did not. 
 
 'Weeks passed, and at length I saw these men and 
 said to them, " You meet for drill, why do you not come 
 to church on the Sabbath instead of living even worse 
 lives than your fathers when in heathenism ? If you 
 remain volunteers you must come to church." I told 
 them that I did not wish them to give up drilling. And 
 I did so because I felt that I had a better chance of 
 speaking to them when they were sober and at drill. 
 The following Sabbath a few came to the service, but 
 not all. I addressed them as young men belonging to 
 a volunteer corps of their own formation, and I pressed 
 them to make Christ their portion, their captain, and 
 to believe on Him as their Saviour. 
 
 'The idea took; they were now volunteers, and of 
 some account, and soon all began to attend church 
 regularly. I then asked them to meet separately at 
 other times for instruction and prayer, and this they 
 did. Drinking diminished, and the drilling became 
 very popular. I formed them into classes for reading, 
 writing, and arithmetic. On Sabbaths they met by 
 themselves under the superintendence of a teacher, 
 after the conclusion of the forenoon service, and went 
 over the sermon which had just been preached, sang 
 a hymn and engaged in prayer. I held a Bible class 
 with them every Sabbath evening, and on Thursday 
 morning taught them English. They all began planting 
 their lands and doing everything possible to get new 
 clothes to attend drill, meetings, and church. They 
 became interested in the services, and I kept on en- 
 couraging volunteering, as I felt good was being done. 
 The beer-drinking diminished, and we had full instead 
 of empty seats in the gallery.
 
 Chalmers eager for Hard Work 85 
 
 'When it was necessary to repair the church these 
 young men cut all the coral required for the platform 
 and the staircase. They became thoroughly concerned 
 about all that belonged to the Church, and many of 
 them are now much interested in the Great Head of the 
 Church. God has answered prayer, and the majority, 
 if they have not found Christ precious, feel their need, 
 I trust, and will be found of Him. But for the volunteer- 
 ing, begun, as described by themselves, they might still 
 be living unknown in the bush in wickedness. I could 
 not frown upon them. I thought it a good opportunity 
 to be of help to them.' 
 
 From the early days of his settlement on Rarotonga 
 Chalmers made no secret of his desire to be chosen as 
 a missionary to the fierce and barbarous heathen, of 
 whom there were still so many who had never yet had 
 an opportunity of hearing the Gospel, and to whom 
 not even a native evangelist or teacher had been sent. 
 Like Livingstone he felt that the islands and tribes 
 which had been long evangelized might safely be left to 
 native pastors and teachers, with only slight European 
 supervision. For this work, and for the duty of training 
 native teachers, he felt that there were many better 
 qualified than himself, who would feel these quieter and 
 safer duties less irksome than he did. He was dominated 
 by that energy of a noble restlessness which was ever 
 urging him onwards towards ' the regions beyond.' John 
 Williams, in an earlier generation, had had to overcome 
 the opposition of colleagues and the objections of home 
 authorities ; and Chalmers now had to convince similar 
 gainsayers, although he was not without encouragement 
 both at home and in the field. But God had a noble 
 work in store for His wholehearted and devoted servant, 
 and step by step the way was made plain for the young
 
 86 The Gem of the Pacific 
 
 missionary that led from the quiet round of daily tasks 
 in Rarotonga to those thrilling years in New Guinea, so 
 full of adventure, of peril, of hairbreadth escapes, of 
 successful presentation of the glad tidings to multitudes 
 who had never before heard the name of Jesus, or 
 realized the meaning 1 of such graces as love and peace 
 and pardon and light. 
 
 It is not strange to find that a man who could throw 
 himself into his work with such energy and whole - 
 heartedness soon began to gain power with the people. 
 Even the drunkards on Rarotonga, he wrote, 'rather 
 liked the missionary and are very ready to help him in 
 work. I have frequently been in the midst of the large 
 drinking-meetings and found natives in all stages of 
 drunkenness and fighting, and yet I always felt quite safe, 
 and I have never met with the least insult or abuse from 
 any Rarotongan. I made it a rule that, as I am neither 
 policeman nor judge, those I find drinking are not to 
 be fined; the chiefs agree with me in this.' This 
 passage is most characteristic of the man and so also is 
 the following: 
 
 'All work and no play,' he wrote at another time, 
 ' is just as irksome for missionaries, I mean those of the 
 Rarotongan stamp, as for boys. I have been on every 
 mountain-top in Rarotonga, and there are few valleys 
 I have not explored. I find a mountain trip excellent 
 medicine, and so, when out of sorts, and not quite up to 
 the mark for Jeremiah or Ezekiel, the Acts of the 
 Apostles or Ephesians, the history of the Jews from 
 Malachi to Christ, or my condensed History, ancient 
 and modern, I throw down the pen and away I go.' 
 
 During the ten years that Chalmers spent on 
 Rarotonga, God was preparing him by ways that he 
 knew not for the great work of his life : the extension
 
 Teava, the Rarotongan 87 
 
 of the Gospel in New Guinea. The quiet years he 
 spent in teaching natives who were very slow to learn, 
 in taking 1 services that he sometimes felt irksome, in 
 going through a quiet round of daily duties when he 
 would have liked to have been up and away scouring 
 the Pacific Ocean, strengthened within him his good 
 qualities and gave him that self-discipline without which 
 no good work can be done in the world. He came to 
 know the Rarotongans intimately. He could speak 
 their language as well as a native. Many of them 
 became his closest personal friends, and some of the 
 latter were men who in ancient days had been amongst 
 the most degraded and the most fierce on the island. 
 
 One of these, Teava by name, had been converted by 
 Papeiha himself, and as he came to know in his own 
 heart the light and the joy of the Truth of the Gospel, 
 the desire grew within him to carry the glad tidings to 
 savage tribes still in darkness. He himself became 
 a missionary and was the first Christian Evangelist sent 
 to the Samoan group of islands. There he spent 
 more than twenty years with his life in his hand. He 
 used to travel about in an open canoe from island to 
 island doing all that he could to remove the prejudices 
 of the people, and to prepare the way for the Christian 
 missionaries to live among them, and to understand the 
 teaching that they brought. 
 
 In later life he returned to Rarotonga, and there 
 Chalmers came to know him and to love him. ' During 
 the last nine years,' he wrote in 1876, ' I have seen much 
 of Teava, and learned to admire the man. He lived 
 much in prayer, and in the study of God's Word. At 
 prayer-meetings he was always first there, coming at 
 least half an hour before any one else, so that he might 
 have time to pray and receive a blessing for himself, and
 
 88 The Gem of the Pacific 
 
 others before the service began. He was never absent 
 from the deacons' Saturday afternoon prayer-meeting-. 
 He was always ready to speak to the Church, ever 
 pointing the members to Christ, and warning them 
 against the many evils to which they are exposed. 
 From his long, true and earnest life he was able to speak 
 to them as only very few could. He spoke very plainly, 
 not at all mincing matters, when occasion required. 
 He had great regard for the Pilgrim's Progress, and his 
 delight was to have me sit with him and go over a part 
 of Christian's journey to Mount Zion, the Heavenly 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 ' For five weeks before his death he was unable to 
 attend the services in church, but he welcomed any who 
 could spend a short time with him in prayer in his own 
 house. He told me some days before he died that he 
 was just waiting on ; he knew the Master had sent for 
 him. He said he was done with all below, and looked 
 only for Christ's presence. Not in what he had done 
 did he trust, but in the Cross of Christ alone. One day 
 he asked for a little food. It was given him, but he 
 could not eat it; he got up and walked a very short 
 distance in the house, when he said, "I think the 
 messenger has come to fetch me ; I shall die." His wife 
 and another woman laid him down on his mat, when he 
 quietly passed away. What a change ! In his youth he 
 was a heathen, had fought with, and had captured men, 
 and cooked and helped to eat them. In his manhood 
 he was converted to Christ, became a true soldier of the 
 Cross, and led many to the Saviour. In his death he 
 trusted alone to Christ, conquered death in Christ and 
 went up to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful 
 servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." ' 
 
 In labours of the kind that we have described, and
 
 Set free for New Service 89 
 
 among people like these, Chalmers worked until the 
 year 1877. For some time prior to that date the 
 Directors had come to the conviction that New Guinea 
 was the right sphere for the energies and the powers 
 which Chalmers possessed. But it was not until May, 
 1877, that they were set free, and then to Chalmers and 
 his wife there came the grief of parting from many with 
 whom they had worked side by side in happy fellowship, 
 and to part irom whom was a grief to their loving 
 hearts.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 OFF TO NEW GUINEA 
 
 IN 1872 five of the men Taraate had trained, with 
 their wives, were sent to take part in the attempt to 
 establish a mission on the mainland of New Guinea. 
 In Samoa they were joined by Piri and his wife, making 
 up the total to six couples. Mr. Wyatt Gill was then 
 going 1 home on furlough, and these native missionaries 
 were placed in his charge by the Committee. Their 
 names were : Ruatoka, Anederea, Adamu, Henere, Rau 
 and Piri. 
 
 * At Somerset Gill was joined by Mr. A. W. Murray, 
 and together they placed the above in Redscar Bay at 
 Manumanu. Years after, when I called at Manumanu, 
 the old chief Naime came to me, pretending to be very 
 cold, and sitting down, I asked him if he were ill, and 
 he answered, " Yes, very. Tamate, listen ! What have 
 I done that I am thus left out in the cold whilst others 
 are happy ? Why have I no teacher ? Was not I the 
 first to receive teachers, and did I not treat them kindly ? 
 When many wished to murder them, did I not prevent 
 it ? And now you leave me alone. Tamate, you must 
 give me a teacher." 
 
 * We had a grand year of refreshing before that first 
 contingent left Rarotonga. Many meetings for prayer 
 were held, and the Church, I believe, had never had such 
 a time of refreshing since Buzacott's time. Many were
 
 The Island of New Guinea 91 
 
 led to give their lives to Christ and joined the Church. 
 What a day the Sunday before the teachers left us 
 was ! The excitement was intense ; old men with tears 
 streaming down their faces begged to be also sent, 
 alleging that their knowledge of savage life and heathen 
 customs well fitted them for the work. Never before 
 or since have I experienced such emotions, and I felt 
 that I must go too.' 
 
 Chalmers did go, but not until four years later. In 
 1876 he left the lovely Pacific island to embark on 
 wholly unknown but certainly dangerous and toilsome 
 experiences in New Guinea. But no heart was ever 
 lighter or happier than Tamate's at this time. He 
 loved, as we have seen, his friends in Rarotonga, he 
 grieved to say good-bye ; but, like St. Paul, his eye 
 was ever upon the ' regions beyond,' yet living in the 
 power of the wicked one, and he was eager to be up 
 and off there to fight the battle against ignorance, 
 cruelty, superstition, terror, and sin. 
 
 He left Rarotonga in 1877, and, after visiting his wife's 
 friends and relations in New Zealand, and old friends 
 in Australia, he reached New Guinea in the schooner 
 1 Bertha ' in October of that year. 
 
 New Guinea is the largest island in the world. It 
 had been known by name for about three centuries, 
 but so little was really known about it, except the 
 extreme north-west end, that it was practically an 
 unknown country. It was supposed to be a country 
 flowing with milk and honey. Spice groves were said 
 to lade the air with their sweet perfume; gold and 
 precious stones abundant, while valuable woods were 
 so plentiful that although it was extremely probable 
 any visitor to its shores might be clubbed to death by 
 the savage natives his friends would have the satisfaction
 
 92 Off to New Guinea 
 
 of knowing that the deed was done with the best ebony. 
 There was good reason also to believe that his body 
 would furnish forth a cannibal feast. 
 
 ' Notwithstanding its character for commercial wealth, 
 although separated from Australia only by Torres 
 Straits and Australians are by no means wanting in 
 love of adventure yet the uncertain navigation and 
 the ferocious character of its inhabitants were such 
 that, until it was opened up by the missionaries of the 
 London Missionary Society in 1872, the south-east part 
 of New Guinea was an unknown and unexplored country. 
 The island is i ,400 miles long, and about three times as 
 large as Great Britain ; there is in it very great diversity 
 of climate, of products, and of peoples, and it is always 
 important when a statement in reference to New Guinea 
 is made, to know to which part of this great island the 
 statement refers. 
 
 ' Every village then lived in suspicion of its neighbours, 
 and at enmity with them, so that they were practically 
 as isolated and separated as if they were living on some 
 lone island in mid-ocean. The natives of the south- 
 eastern coast are a light -coloured race, belonging to 
 the Malayo-Polynesian family, of which the Maories of 
 New Zealand, the Tahitians, and Samoans are the best- 
 known representatives. Physically they are a fine race ; 
 but, whatever good looks they possess, they owe neither 
 to the tailor nor the dressmaker. There is the usual 
 profusion of barbaric ornaments in the shape of nose- 
 sticks, earrings, necklaces, feathers, tattooing, and paint. 
 
 'Some of the natives live in lake dwellings, such as 
 those of which relics are to be found in different parts 
 of Europe. Some villages are always surrounded by 
 water, so that the mission steamer can anchor in the 
 main street with safety. The stone age still prevailed
 
 The Savagery of New Guinea 93 
 
 in 1872. No implement, utensil, or weapon could be 
 found made of iron or any metal ; but even at that time 
 after visiting the canoe -making yards at Hood Bay, and 
 seeing the carving from Orangerie Bay, the observer 
 had a greater respect for the stone age than before. 
 The fine houses testified to the excellence of their tools, 
 as well as to the industry, perseverance, and skill of their 
 builders. Their houses, however, were empty of furni- 
 ture. They dispensed easily with chairs, and every 
 man slept on a plank bed without a pillow. 
 
 'So primitive were their habits that neither the use 
 of money was known, nor its want felt. They were 
 supremely indifferent to the state of the money market. 
 But there was a wonderful absence of that abject squalor 
 and wretchedness only too familiar to dwellers in the 
 large towns and cities of Europe, America, and Australia. 
 A man without a penny to his name, a coat to his back, 
 or a bed to lie on could enjoy life fairly well in New 
 Guinea. He had no morning newspaper to disturb his 
 peace of mind. He had no pile of letters to answer, no 
 telegraph boy to alarm him. 
 
 'But there were dark features which detracted from the 
 inviting character of this picture. There were some 
 terrible habits and vices. Cannibalism in all its hideous- 
 ness flourished on many parts of the coast. At Port 
 Moresby cannibalism was not practised, but the sanctity 
 of human life was unknown, and every man was a thief 
 and a liar. The thing of which the men were most 
 proud was the tattooing marks, which meant that the 
 man who was tattooed had shed human blood. He had 
 no right to this distinction until he had murdered some 
 one. They " gloried in their shame." 
 
 'Woman was not so degraded and down-trodden as in 
 many parts of the heathen world. They were certainly
 
 94 Off to New Guinea 
 
 the burden -carriers of the community; but that did 
 not imply the degradation which it does with us, and 
 they resented any interference on the part of the men 
 with the fetching- of water and the carrying of wood, 
 as an infringement of women's rights. Domestic affection 
 existed to a degree which surprised the first missionaries. 
 Parents cared for the children, long after they had grown 
 up to maturity, with great affection and tenderness, and, 
 what was more remarkable, the children cared for the 
 parents and watched over them when they had become 
 infirm or sick. The vice of drunkenness was gladly 
 missed, for no man drank anything stronger than water. 
 There was a wonderful absence, too, of open immorality. 
 The natives were industrious. They cultivated the soil 
 with great care, and the early explorers saw what is 
 seldom found except in civilized life flowers cultivated 
 in gardens. This alone spoke hopefully for the future 
 development of the people. 
 
 ' The only religious idea of the New Guinea savages 
 seems to have been a slavish fear of evil spirits and 
 a belief in the deathlessness of the soul. Their spiritual 
 darkness could be felt, but could scarcely be described. 
 It was most intense at the grave. The hope which 
 Christianity gives of reunion after the grave caught 
 their attention in a way which nothing else seemed to 
 command.' 
 
 Such was the island, such were the people among 
 whom Tamate was to spend the next twenty-five years 
 of his life. The ' Bertha ' sighted the New Guinea coast 
 off Yule Island, and Boera was the first of its mission 
 stations that Chalmers saw. The only European mis- 
 sionary then on the mainland of New Guinea was 
 Mr. Lawes, who had been at Port Moresby since 1872. 
 Mr. Macfarlane, whose station was at Murray Island, was
 
 First Impressions of New Guinea 95 
 
 also on board the ' Bertha ' with Mr. Chalmers. Tamate 
 himself tells us the story of his first impressions of New 
 Guinea and its savage tribes. 
 
 4 Near to the place where we anchored was a low 
 swampy ground covered with mangrove. Soon after 
 we anchored a canoe came alongside with Mr. Lawes 
 and Piri, the Rarotongan native teacher stationed at 
 Boera, on board. Piri was a strong, hearty fellow ; the 
 climate seemed to have had little effect on him. They 
 remained some time on board, and then they went ashore 
 in the vessel's boat Piri taking the teachers, whoever 
 wished to land there, and their wives ashore with him. 
 
 'We arrived at Port Moresby Oct. 22, 1877. I 
 cannot say I was much charmed with the place, it had 
 such a burnt-up, barren appearance. Close to the 
 village is a mangrove swamp, and the whole bay is 
 enclosed with high hills. At the back of the mission 
 premises, and close to them, is a large swampy place, 
 which in wet weather is full of water. There can be no 
 doubt about Port Moresby being a very unhealthy place. 
 
 * We went ashore for breakfast next day, and in the 
 afternoon visited the school; about forty children were 
 present an unusually large number. Many of the 
 children knew the alphabet, and a few could spell words 
 of two or three letters. In walking through the village 
 in the afternoon we saw the women making large num- 
 bers of crockery pots, preparing for the men's voyage to 
 the Gulf, the next season, when these pots will be taken 
 west and exchanged for large quantities of sago. 
 
 'As it had been decided that the " Bertha " should not 
 leave for a few days, Mr. Macfarlane and I took a trip 
 inland. I was anxious to see for myself if anything 
 could be done for the natives living in the mountains. 
 
 ' Mrs. Lawes and I left Port Moresby on Nov. i, and
 
 96 Off to New Guinea 
 
 sailed down the coast inside the reef. We arrived at 
 Tupuselei about midday. There were two teachers 
 here, and Mr. Lawes had decided to remove one. We 
 got him on board, and sailed for Kaile. The houses of 
 Tupuselei and Kaile are built upon piles standing in the 
 sea. The Astrolabe Range is not far from the shore, 
 along which we sailed all day. This part of the island 
 has a fine, bold coast- line, with many bays. 
 
 'In the early morning our small vessel, the " Mayri," of 
 only seven tons, was crowded with natives. We left the 
 vessel about nine a.m. for a walk inland, accompanied 
 by a number of natives, who all went to their houses to 
 get their arms before they would leave their village. The 
 natives have no faith whatever in one another. We 
 passed through a large swamp covered with mangroves 
 then into a dense tropical bush, passing through 
 a large grove of sago-palms and large mango -trees. 
 The mangoes were small about the size of a plum and 
 very sweet. 
 
 4 We walked about seven miles through bush, and began 
 the ascent of one of the spurs of the Astrolabe range. 
 On nearing the inland village for which we were bound, 
 the natives became somewhat afraid, and the leader 
 stopped, and, turning to Mr. Lawes, asked him if he 
 would indeed not kill any of the people. He was 
 assured all was right, and then he moved on a few 
 paces, to stop again, and re-enquire if all was right. 
 When reassured, we all went on, not a word spoken by 
 any one, and so in silence we entered the village. When 
 we were observed, spears began rattling in the houses ; 
 but our party shouted, Maino, maino (Peace, peace), 
 Misi Lao, Misi Lao *. The women escaped through 
 the trap-doors in the floors of their houses, and away 
 
 1 The nearest approach native lips could make to ' Mr. Lawes.'
 
 Natives of Eastern New Guinea 97 
 
 down the side of the hill into the bush. We reached the 
 chief's house, and there remained. 
 
 ' The people soon regained confidence, and came round 
 us, wondering greatly at the first white men they had 
 ever seen in their village. The women returned from 
 their flight, and began to cook food, which, when ready, 
 they brought to us, and of which we all heartily partook. 
 We gave them presents, and they would not suffer us 
 to depart till they had brought us a return present of 
 uncooked food. We returned by a different way, 
 following the bed of what must be in the rainy season 
 a large river. 
 
 ' On the following morning, Nov. 3, we weighed 
 anchor and set sail, passing Kapakapa, a double village 
 in the sea. The houses are large and well built. There 
 are numerous villages on the hills at the back of it, 
 easily visited. We anchored off Round Head. 
 
 4 The vessel continued her eastward voyage, and Hula, 
 Kerepunu, and Teste Island were visited in turn. At the 
 latter place the people were very friendly and crowded 
 round us. We were led up to a platform in front of one 
 of their large houses, and there seated and regaled with 
 cocoanuts. The next morning we were soon surrounded 
 with canoes, and our deck swarmed with natives trading 
 curios, yams, cocoanuts and fish for beads and hoop-iron. 
 Many were swearing friendship, and exchanging names 
 with us, in hopes of getting hoop-iron l . There is as 
 great a demand for hoop -iron here as for tobacco at 
 Port Moresby. They told us they disliked fighting, 
 but delighted in the dance, betel-nut, and sleep. The 
 
 1 At this time hoop-iron, about three-quarters of an inch thick, 
 and capable of being used in many ways by the natives, was much 
 more precious to them than gold. Hoop-iron and tobacco were 
 the money of New Guinea at that period. 
 
 G
 
 98 Off to New Guinea 
 
 majority had jet-black teeth, which they consider very 
 beautiful, and all had their noses and ears pierced, with 
 various sorts of nose and ear-rings, chiefly made from 
 shell, inserted. A crown piece could easily be put through 
 the lobe of their ears. 
 
 1 We went ashore in the afternoon. The three villages 
 were all close to one another. Their houses were built 
 on poles, some shaped like a canoe turned bottom 
 upwards, others like one in the water. The houses 
 were ornamented on the outside with cocoanuts and 
 shells. The nabobs of the place had on the posts of 
 their houses skulls, which they said had belonged to the 
 enemies they had killed and eaten. One skull was very 
 much fractured ; they told us it was done with a stone 
 axe, and showed us how they used these weapons. 
 
 'A few days later Mr. Macfarlane stationed some 
 teachers near East Cape. After breakfast, we went 
 ashore to hold a service with the teachers. We 
 met under a large tree near their house. About 600 
 natives were about us, and all round outside of the 
 crowd were men armed with spears and clubs. Mr. Mac- 
 farlane preached. When we began to sing the first 
 hymn a number of women and children got up and ran 
 into the bush. They were frightened at the strange 
 sounds to them of words being sung in tune. The 
 service was short; at its close we sat down and sang 
 hymns. This, as they got used to it, seemed to amuse 
 them greatly. The painted men were not pleasant- 
 looking fellows. 
 
 * Next morning we sailed through the Straits, and, on 
 coming out on the opposite side, we were glad to see 
 the " Bertha " beating outside. By noon we were on board 
 the " Bertha," and off for South Cape, the " Mayri " going 
 to Teste Island with a letter, telling the captain of the
 
 Arrival at South Cape 99 
 
 " Ellengowan " to follow us, and also to see if the teachers 
 we had already landed were all right. 
 
 ' By evening we were well up to South Cape. The 
 captain did not care to get too near the shore at night, 
 and stood away in the open sea till morning. About 
 ten next morning I accompanied the captain in the boat, 
 to sound and look for anchorage, which we found in 
 22 fathoms, near South-West Point. By half-past five 
 that evening we anchored. The excitement caused ashore 
 by the arrival and anchoring of the " Bertha " was great, 
 and before the anchor was really down we were sur- 
 rounded by canoes. 
 
 4 The people were small and puny, and much darker 
 than the Eastern Polynesians. Canoes came off to 
 us again very early in the morning. About half- 
 past seven, when we were ready to go ashore, there 
 arose great consternation amongst the natives. Three 
 large war canoes, with warriors on board blowing conch- 
 shells, appeared off the mainland, and paddled across the 
 Mayri Straits. Soon a large war canoe appeared near 
 the vessel. A great many small canoes from various 
 parts of the mainland were ordered off by those near 
 whose villages we were anchored. They had to leave. 
 On their departure a great shout was raised by the 
 victorious party, and in a short time all returned quietly 
 to their bartering. It seemed that the Stacy Islanders 
 wished to keep all the bartering to themselves. They 
 did not wish the rest to obtain hoop-iron or any other 
 foreign wealth. They were at feud with one party on 
 the mainland, and their late contests had been victorious, 
 for they told us with great exultation that they had lately 
 killed and eaten ten of their enemies from the mainland. 
 
 * We went ashore near the anchorage on Nov. 29, 1877. 
 I crossed the island to the village, but did not feel satisfied 
 
 ca
 
 loo Off to New Guinea 
 
 as to the suitable nature of its position for a station. 
 One of our guides to the village wore, as an armlet, 
 the jawbone of a man from the mainland whom he 
 had killed and eaten. Others strutted about with human 
 bones dangling from their hair, and about their necks. 
 It was only with the village Tepauri on the mainland 
 that they were unfriendly. 
 
 ' We embarked again and sailed along the coast. On 
 turning a cape, we came to a pretty village, on a well- 
 wooded point. The people were friendly, and led us to 
 see the water, of which there is a good supply. This at 
 once appeared to be the spot for which we had been in 
 search as a station where we could begin work. We 
 could go anywhere from it, and were surrounded by 
 villages. The mainland was not more than a gun-shot 
 across. It seemed to us that God had led us to the 
 right and to a good place. We made arrangements for 
 a house for the teachers ; then returned to the vessel.'
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 ON THE BRINK OF DEATH 
 
 IN the way and by the steps graphically described in 
 the last chapter James Chalmers and his brave and 
 devoted wife had been led by God to the spot where 
 they could begin the work upon which their hearts had 
 been set for long years. They had obtained a foothold 
 in the midst of a community of ferocious cannibal savages. 
 These people had never seen any one before who had 
 shown the least desire to help and to benefit them. 
 They had no glimmering of an idea about God and the 
 Gospel and the glad tidings of salvation. They had no 
 knowledge of civilization, and no desire to know any- 
 thing about it. Their main occupation was tribal war ; 
 their only industries were the getting of food and the 
 making of weapons wherewith to kill their neighbours ; 
 their chief pleasure was a riotous carouse, in which they 
 gorged themselves with the roasted flesh of their dead 
 enemies. The power of the love of Jesus Christ in the 
 hearts that truly receive Him is shown by the fact that 
 Chalmers and his wife rejoiced to be able to make their 
 home amidst savages like these, because they believed 
 God would help them to bless and to civilize these fierce 
 and ignorant natives. 
 
 We take up the story of the next few weeks in 
 Chalmers's own words. 
 
 * In the afternoon, I landed the teachers, their wives, 
 and part of their goods the people helping to carry the
 
 1O2 On the Brink of Death 
 
 stuff to the house. The house in which the teachers 
 were to reside till our own was finished was the largest 
 in the place, but they could only get the use of one end 
 of it the owner, who considered himself the chief man 
 of the place, requiring the other end for himself and 
 family. The partition between the two ends was only 
 two feet high. Skulls, shells, and cocoanuts hung about 
 the house ; the skulls were those of the enemies whom 
 the chief and his people had eaten. Inside the house, 
 hung up on the wall, was a very large collection of human 
 bones, bones of animals and of fish. 
 
 ' I selected a spot for my own house on the point of 
 land nearest the mainland. It was a large sand-hill, and 
 well wooded at the back. We had a good piece of land, 
 with bread-fruit and other fruit trees on it, which I hoped 
 to have cleared and planted with food, for the benefit of 
 the teachers who might come here from time to time and 
 have to wait awhile before going to their stations, as well 
 as for the teacher of the station. 
 
 'Early next morning there was great excitement 
 ashore. The large war canoe came off, with drums 
 beating and men dancing. They came alongside the 
 " Bertha," and presented us with a small pig and food. 
 Then the men came on board and danced on the deck. 
 The captain gave them a return present. Mr. Macfarlane 
 and I went ashore immediately after breakfast, and found 
 that the Rarotongan teachers had been kindly treated. 
 We gave some natives a few axes, and they at once set 
 off to cut wood for the house. Before we returned to 
 the vessel in the evening two posts were up. 
 
 'As the time for which the " Bertha " had been chartered 
 was up, and the season for the trade winds was closing, 
 everything was done to get on fast with the house. 
 Mr. Macfarlane worked well. Two men from the
 
 A House adorned with Skulls 103 
 
 " Bertha " and two from the " Mayri "joined with the four 
 teachers in the work, and by Tuesday the framework 
 was nearly up. Mr. Macfarlane and I visited several 
 villages on the mainland. The people appeared friendly, 
 and got very excited over the presents we gave them. 
 We landed all our things also on Tuesday, and imme- 
 diately after breakfast on Wednesday, December 5, 1877, 
 we went ashore to reside ; and about ten a.m. the " Bertha " 
 sailed away. 
 
 4 We took up our quarters in the chief's house. Hang- 
 ing close by us were human skulls, and all round us the 
 bones of pigs and cassowaries and fishes. The division 
 between our small apartment and the chiefs was about 
 two feet high, and in the early morning, about three 
 o'clock, he and others stepped over it, and across our 
 mattress. The whole surroundings were peculiar, and it 
 was a weird sight to look out in the moonlight between 
 these human skulls. A very fine tamano tree grew close 
 by, and had been growing there for ages, and one could 
 only wonder what scenes had been enacted under its 
 shade. 
 
 * Sabbath came, and we held a service in the Raroton- 
 gan language, and sang many hymns sitting under the 
 shade of the old tamano tree. We were all in excellent 
 health, and very fit for work. The " Mayri " was anchored 
 opposite and close by the shore. We worked on steadily, 
 trying to get my house finished. We were anxious not 
 to excite the native cupidity by a display of tools, toma- 
 hawks, and cloth, and so landed from the " Mayri " only 
 such things as were absolutely necessary. 
 
 ' We had much difficulty in getting a sufficient supply 
 of plaited cocoanut leaves for the walls and roof of our 
 house. By Dec. 12 we had the walls and roof of the 
 house finished, and then all our party moved into it.
 
 104 On the Brink of Death 
 
 We had a curtain of unbleached calico put up between 
 the teachers' end and ours, and curtains for doors and 
 windows. We were glad to get into the house even 
 while it was in that unfinished state, for the weather was 
 breaking, and we felt anxious about the health of the 
 teachers while they had to sleep in the tent when it 
 rained. And we had no privacy at all where we were, 
 and were tired of squatting on the ground. For we 
 could not get a chair into our part of the house ; indeed, 
 the flooring was of such a construction that the legs of 
 a chair or table would have soon gone through it. 
 
 ' On Dec. 13 we were busy getting the wood we had 
 cut for the flooring of our house into the sea to be 
 rafted along; and had got ten large pieces into the water 
 by breakfast-time. After breakfast Mrs. Chalmers and I 
 were at the new house, with the captain of the " Mayri," 
 when we heard a noise like quarrelling. On looking 
 out, I saw the natives very excited, and many of them 
 running with spears and clubs towards the house where 
 Mrs. Chalmers, about five minutes before, had left the 
 teachers rising from breakfast. I hastened over, and 
 pushed my way amongst the natives till I got to the 
 front, when, to my horror, I was right in front of a 
 gun aimed by one of the " Mayri's " crew (who had been 
 helping us with the house) at a young man brandishing 
 a spear. The aim was perfect : had the gun been fired 
 as it would have been had I not arrived in time the 
 native would have been shot dead. I pushed the native 
 aside, and ordered the gun to be put down, and turned 
 to the natives, shouting, Besi, Best/ (Enough, enough !). 
 Some of them put down their spears and clubs, but 
 others remained threatening. I spoke to our party 
 against using firearms, and then I caught the young 
 savage who was flourishing his spear, and with difficulty
 
 Thefts by the Natives 105 
 
 took it from him. Poor fellow, he cried with rage ; yet 
 he did me no harm. I clapped him on the back, and 
 got him to go away. All day he sat under a tree, which 
 we had frequently to pass ; but he would have nothing 
 to say to us. It seems a knife had been stolen, and he 
 being the only one about the house when it was missed, 
 was accused of taking it. One of the teachers was 
 winding line, and he caught the young fellow by the 
 arm to inquire about the knife. The lad thought he 
 was going to be tied up with the line: he struggled, 
 got free, and raised the alarm. 
 
 ' Only the night before I had had to warn the teachers 
 against using firearms to alarm or threaten the natives. 
 An axe was stolen ; every place about was searched for 
 it, and for some time without its being found. Finally, 
 a native found it buried in the sand near where it was 
 last used. It had evidently been hidden there till a 
 favourable opportunity should occur of taking it away. 
 During the search, the owner of the axe (one of the 
 teachers) ran off for his gun, and came rushing over with 
 it. I ordered him to take it back, and in the evening 
 told them it was only in New Guinea that guns were 
 used by missionaries. It was not so in any other mission 
 I knew of, and if we could not live amongst the natives 
 without arms, we had better remain at home ; and if 
 I saw arms used again by them for anything, except to 
 shoot birds, or the like, I should have the whole of the 
 guns thrown into the sea. 
 
 ' One afternoon, after resting, we were turning again to 
 work, and I went down the beach to the water's edge, 
 and called to the captain of the " Mayri " to look in a 
 certain box, and find a saw, and send it ashore. I heard 
 a noise, and on turning round saw our house surrounded 
 by an armed, ugly-looking mob of painted savages.
 
 io6 On the Brink of Death 
 
 I signed to the captain not to send ashore, and I 
 rushed up and got through the cordon, and upon the 
 platform in front of where we slept. The excitement 
 was intense. The men were demanding tomahawks, 
 knives, hoop-iron, beads; and by signs gave us to 
 understand that if they did not get them then they would 
 murder us. I felt vexed, since we had been particularly 
 careful to avoid trouble, and had given no occasion for 
 offence. 
 
 ' One evil-looking fellow, wearing a human jaw-bone, 
 and carrying a heavy stone club, rushed towards me as 
 if to strike. Looking him steadily in the face our eyes 
 met, and I demanded in loud, angry tones what he 
 wanted. He said tomahawks, knives, iron, beads, and 
 that if we did not give them they were going to kill us. 
 " You may kill us, but never a thing will you get from 
 us." Some of the teachers suggested it would be better 
 to let them have a few things than for us to be mur- 
 dered. I replied, u Can't you see if we give to these 
 men, other parties from all round will come and make 
 demands, and the end will be that we shall all be mur- 
 dered? " " No," I said, " if they mean to kill us, let them 
 do it now, and be done with it." I was in quite a don't 
 care mood. 
 
 'Kirikeu then approached, and advised me to give 
 the men a small present, as those who were troubling us 
 were people from the other side of the island, and our 
 friends at Suau could not do much for us against them. 
 Again I replied, " No, my friend, never to people carry- 
 ing arms do I give a present. All the time we have 
 been here we have never carried arms, and have dwelt 
 amongst you as friends." 
 
 ' Kirikeu then began to harangue the crowd, assisted 
 by the chief Manuegu, and all retired to the bush
 
 'I never give to Armed People* 107 
 
 behind the house. A deputation waited upon me from 
 the bush, again asking me to give something, but they 
 received the same answer, "I never give to armed 
 people." 
 
 ' This commotion stopped our work, and that night, 
 for the first time since we landed, we kept a watch all 
 night. There was a good deal of unrest throughout 
 the night, and natives were seen moving about in the 
 bush. The next morning we resumed work just as if 
 nothing had happened. We were getting the wall- 
 plates on when Kirikeu came, accompanied by a very 
 decent-looking native, and saying, " This is the chief 
 of yesterday, and he is sorry for what took place." 
 I liked the look of the man, and tried to explain to 
 him his error, and that now he was unarmed and clean 
 we were glad to make friends with him, and I went 
 over to the house, taking him with me, and there gave 
 him a present. 
 
 ' When the house was finished, and half the flooring 
 down, we left the chief's house, and were glad to get 
 quarters of our own. We had begun sawing wood for 
 flooring and other necessary work. During our stay 
 in the chief's house my wife used to sit on the platform 
 sewing or tatting, and every day Bocasi, a very fine- 
 looking young warrior, wearing the shells that marked 
 him out as a fighting-man, came and sat in front of 
 her. He helped her to learn the language, and she 
 taught him tatting and knitting. 
 
 ' The shifting of the goods from the chief's house to 
 our new home was no easy matter ; and twice spears 
 and clubs were handled by the natives very suspiciously. 
 They claimed everything we had taken into the house, 
 but at length we got all our property away. Many 
 things were stolen. The loss which troubled us most
 
 io8 On the Brink of Death 
 
 was the theft of our camp oven. We never saw it again 
 for two years, and then found it had been stolen by 
 a man who had been most friendly towards the teachers. 
 I afterwards sent the chief a present, in addition to pay- 
 ing him for the use of his house, and for the ground the 
 teachers had occupied with their tents. 
 
 * We now began to feel ill and feverish, I suffering 
 most because of a severe attack of diarrhoea. It was 
 nearing the end of the year, and I, having bought 
 a piece of land for planting purposes, was anxious to 
 have it cleared and planted, so that on January i, 1878, 
 I might be free to travel along the coast to Orangerie 
 Bay on the one side, and Leocadie on the other. We 
 missed Bocasi for some time, and wondered what had 
 become of him. We got news that some white men had 
 been murdered on an island, and everything they 
 possessed divided out among the murderers. This led 
 to great unsettledness among the natives ; but we went 
 steadily on with our work. 
 
 4 We were getting to know many of the people, and 
 we fancied that we had gained their confidence. Many of 
 the natives showed kindness in bringing us vegetables 
 and fish. We also received numerous invitations to feasts, 
 some of which were to cannibal feasts. We were still 
 watched day and night. 
 
 4 About noon on Dec. 29, 1 was with some natives in the 
 bush at the back clearing away some bush, the teachers 
 were at the seaside sawing wood, when Johnnie, one of the 
 crew of the " Mayri," who was ashore getting wood and 
 water for our trip to the west, came to me in the bush, 
 and said, " I think we are going to have trouble. Natives 
 all look bad, and he been off trying make row we 
 fellow." " Oh no, I think it is all right," I replied. But I 
 told the men to knock off work, and come to the cook-
 
 Trouble brewing 109 
 
 house, where I would pay them for what they had done. 
 I was paying them, when I heard two shots fired from 
 the " Mayri." I quickly picked up my things, and made 
 a bound for the house. The sawyers did the same. 
 Two of the crew of the " Mayri " were with us, and this left 
 on board only the captain and the cook, a Darnley 
 islander, named Kangaroo. 
 
 ' I insisted that the crew should return on board, and 
 on looking out towards the vessel, I saw that she was in 
 charge of natives, and the long sennit hawser kept 
 on deck had been passed ashore to natives on the reef. 
 Some natives were pulling up the anchor, and in a few 
 minutes more the vessel would have been ashore. I also 
 heard shouting from the beach where the dinghey was, and 
 one of the crew came running up to say that they would 
 not let them get the boat away. I sprang down from 
 the house, and vaulted over the fence, ran to the boat 
 and sent the natives flying, and got her off. The 
 natives on board the vessel, seeing the dinghey coming 
 off, let go the anchor, and sprang overboard, and those 
 on the reef ran along the beach to the village. 
 
 ' Firing began from the vessel as soon as the crew got 
 on board, and the shots came to the village, and into the 
 bush. Natives were arming, and the bush seemed all 
 alive with them. I went on to the beach, and as far as the 
 chiefs house, where I saw two men who had been 
 wounded, and came back to the house for bandages. A 
 crowd was gathering round the house, all carrying arms, 
 spears and clubs. When at the chiefs house I was told 
 that a native named Bocasi was on board the vessel. 
 Getting into a small canoe I took two men with me, and 
 they paddled off. I thought that possibly the native 
 was detained as a hostage for peace, but on nearing the 
 vessel I called out, " Is there still a man on board ? " and
 
 no On the Brink of Death 
 
 the answer was, " Yes, he board." I felt he was dead, and 
 so I said, " Is he shot ? " " Yes, he shot dead, yes, he 
 dead." 
 
 'Getting on board, I found the deck covered with 
 blood, and the captain leaning against the mainmast 
 white and weak from loss of blood. He had been 
 speared in the side, and he had a fearful cut on his foot. 
 In the small hold was the body of Bocasi, and my canoe- 
 men decided to take it ashore ; they were getting it on 
 deck, but I felt that it would never do to allow them to 
 land it. To take the body to land with me would mean 
 instant death to us all at the hands of the enraged natives. 
 To allow it to land before me would mean the death of 
 those ashore, and also that I should not be allowed to 
 return to the land. So I stepped quickly into the canoe, 
 caught the man in it under his arm and made him come 
 with me. He was a son of our old friend Kirikeu, and 
 I asked him to let me get to the house before he said 
 anything. 
 
 'The principal people seemed friendly, and kept 
 assuring us that all was right, we should not be harmed. 
 Great was the wailing when the body was landed, and 
 arms were taken up and then put down again fre- 
 quently. Canoes began to crowd in from the regions 
 around. 
 
 ' At dusk I sent off to the " Mayri " some things for the 
 native who was going to act as captain, and for the mate, 
 and I told them to send by the native teacher in the 
 canoe all the barter that could be spared us, and to stand 
 in readiness for the signal to set off. A native then 
 came in to us quietly through the bush and said, 
 *' Tamate, you must get away to-night if you can ; at 
 midnight, perhaps, you may have a chance ; to-morrow 
 morning, when the big star rises, they will murder you. "
 
 'We will stay' in 
 
 " Are you sure of it ? " I asked. " Yes ; I have just come 
 from their meeting- at the chief's house, and that is their 
 decision ; they will do nothing till to-morrow morning-." 
 Just before that there had been a rush of the natives, as 
 if they were going- to take the mission house ; but still 
 they did not break the fence. They came close up to 
 the fence, defying us and vowing vengeance. The chief 
 himself came to the house at dusk and said, " You must 
 give compensation." " Yes," I said, " I will give compen- 
 sation ; but, remember, I have had nothing to do with 
 Bocasi's death." " You must give it now," he said. " I 
 cannot," I replied ; " if you come to-morrow when the 
 big star rises, I will give it you." He then went sulkily 
 away. 
 
 ' I told Mrs. Chalmers what the chief had told me, and 
 I said, " It is for you to decide. Shall we men stay and 
 you women go, as there is not room enough for us all on 
 the vessel ? Or shall we try all of us to go ? Or shall 
 we all stay ? " The answer I received was, " We have 
 come here to preach the Gospel and do these people 
 good ; God, Whom we serve, will take care of us. We 
 will stay. If we die, we die ; if we live, we live." The 
 teachers' wives then came up, and I put the same 
 question to them ; and they said that whatever my wife 
 did they would do ; " Let us live together or die 
 together." We decided to stay, and we then had even- 
 ing prayer. We dared not sing the evening hymn, 
 because it would draw the people about us. I read the 
 forty-sixth Psalm and engaged in prayer. As I was 
 praying in the Rarotongan dialect we heard the anchor 
 being pulled up, and when I had finished I could see the 
 last of the " Mayri " going out of the bay. The bridge was 
 then broken, and we had simply to trust Him Who alone 
 could care for us.
 
 it 2 On the Brink of Death 
 
 'The noise during the night had somewhat abated, but 
 in the morning we could hear the natives coming all 
 round from very long distances, from which the war- 
 horn called them. At four o'clock the chief came to see 
 me. During the night I had got tomahawks, hoop-iron, 
 red beads, and cloth together. Mrs. Chalmers and 
 myself made parcels of them a large parcel for the 
 friends of the one who was killed, and smaller parcels 
 for the wounded. These were shown to the chief. " It 
 is not enough," he said ; " cannot you give any more ?" 
 I replied, " If you will wait till the steamer comes I may 
 be able to give you more ; but at present I cannot." " I 
 must have more now." " I cannot give you more now." 
 The man then went away, and we expected that the 
 natives would attack us immediately. Several of them 
 came as far as the fence and demanded more, but we 
 took no notice, and they went away. 
 
 ' During all that day (Sunday) we could not tell when 
 the attack would be made. Of course during the night 
 and day we had to keep watch and watch. On Monday, 
 when a funeral feast was going on, and the man who 
 was killed was being buried, we thought that surely the 
 attack would be made. The old man, who seemed to 
 be very friendly, kept close by us, and told us that we 
 must not on any account go outside, and that he would 
 be our friend. 
 
 ' I had been on watch in the night, and at three o'clock 
 I had just turned in. I had not been long asleep when 
 Mrs. Chalmers called out : " Quick ! they have taken the 
 house." I sprang from my bed and rushed to one of 
 the doors, which was simply a piece of cloth hung in the 
 doorway. I threw the cloth aside, and there was a large 
 armed party standing in front of us, and others at the 
 end of the house. I could see in the dimness of the
 
 'You kill him over my Body* 113 
 
 morning- that they were led by the old chief from the 
 mainland. Standing before him, I said, " What do you 
 want ?" " Give us more compensation," said he, " or we 
 will kill you and burn the house now." " Kill you may," 
 I said, " but no more compensation do I give. Remem- 
 ber, if we die we shall die fighting ; and there is an end 
 of it." The old man got frightened. Then, for the first 
 time, I took down a musket and showed it to the old man. 
 Some powder was put in and some small shot. The people 
 had seen us shoot birds before. I said to the old man, 
 " Go ! tell them that we are going to fight, and there must 
 be an end to this. The first man that crosses the line 
 where that fence stood " (for it had been thrown down) 
 " is a dead man ! Go ! " They retired, leaving us alone 
 with Him Who ever cares for His children. 
 
 1 For about an hour and a half the savages held a long 
 discussion. At last the old man came back, calling me 
 by name. I challenged him ; I would not allow him 
 to come inside the fence, as we feared treachery. He 
 said, " It is all right," and looking out we saw a large 
 war canoe manned, and several hundred smaller canoes 
 being lifted into the water. The natives in the war 
 canoe were standing up and saying to the people on 
 shore, " To-morrow we return, not only to kill the 
 white man and his friends, but to kill all of you." The 
 uproar and confusion at last ended in this way. The 
 chief had said, " Before this white man came here with 
 his friends I was nobody ; they have brought me toma- 
 hawks, hoop-iron, red beads, and cloth ; you have no 
 white man, and if you try to kill him, you kill him over 
 my body." So our lives were saved. We dared not, 
 however, go far into the bush or into the eastern side of 
 the village for some considerable time. 
 
 * Amidst all the troubles Mrs. Chalmers was the only 
 
 H
 
 114 O n the Brink of Death 
 
 one who kept calm and well. The people became 
 much quieter, and no new demands were made upon 
 us. A few days later a cannibal feast of which we 
 had heard was held, and some of our friends took 
 part in it. 
 
 ' The steamer " EUengowan " arrived on January 20, 
 1878. The natives began to think no vessel would come ; 
 but when she arrived they were frightened, and willing 
 to forget the Mayri affair. After her arrival we were 
 able to go about among the people again.' 
 
 Such were the conditions and such the savages among 
 whom for several weeks Tamate and his devoted wife 
 were literally on the brink of death. Later on they 
 came to know well most of the chief actors in those 
 stirring scenes, and they also witnessed a wondrous 
 change in many of those savage hearts. Years after- 
 wards, in the light of fuller knowledge, Tamate drew 
 the portraits of some of these South Cape cannibals. 
 
 ' Two men/ he wrote, ' who were old when we arrived 
 at South Cape, and men of influence among their 
 neighbours, were very helpful to us in many ways. 
 Kirikeu belonged to Suau, and Quaiani to the main- 
 land in Catamaran Bay. The natives of this bay have 
 had a bad name from old time, as cannibals, not 
 respecting life, and delighting in robbery. They were 
 all thieves, and took everything they could lay their 
 fingers on, causing us much trouble and great anxiety. 
 
 ' The first time we went to South Cape we anchored 
 in the evening, and in the morning were surrounded 
 with canoes full of noisy natives, who came on board 
 and made themselves quite at home. One old man, 
 who seemed to think he had a right to go everywhere 
 in our schooner, found his way aft and made friends 
 with Mrs. Chalmers. He wore round his neck a string
 
 Kirikeu or 'Bag o' Bones' 115 
 
 of bones, and offered these as a mark of friendship ; but 
 they were not accepted. From these bones he was 
 called ever after " Bag o' Bones," and for a long time 
 was known by no other name. 
 
 4 His real name was Kirikeu. When he knew that we 
 wished to stay and build a house, he was very anxious 
 we should live near him. On our deciding for his 
 village he was perfectly satisfied, and then became our 
 real friend, resolved to help us in every possible way. 
 The strip of land now belonging to the London 
 Missionary Society was bought from him and paid 
 for in goods. Remembering the many charges brought 
 against missionaries of cheating the natives in land 
 purchases, I determined to pay for all land bought for 
 mission use what I considered a fair price, so that in 
 future it might not be said that we had overreached 
 the natives. I paid at the rate of thirty shillings per 
 acre a good price, I think, for unused land. Kirikeu 
 and his friends were delighted, and he now looked upon 
 us as his children. 
 
 ' Kirikeu was the talker of the village, and at night, 
 or very early in the morning, used to get on to the 
 platform in front of his house when all were asleep or 
 near it, and express his thoughts on things general 
 or particular. That is a very common habit on the 
 part of the natives throughout this part of New Guinea. 
 Pent-up wrath often explodes on the platform. Hunters 
 returning unsuccessful from the chase let forth on the 
 sorcerers and evil spirits. Fishermen, after a weary day 
 or night of trying the net in many places, but " catching 
 nothing," will, in the weary, sleepy native hour between 
 eight and nine at night, pour forth their fulminations of 
 wrath. They may contain themselves till the morning, 
 but when the morning star has climbed the near hills
 
 n6 On the Brink of Death 
 
 they begin, and continue until light has spread itself 
 like a gauzy garment over all Nature. By that time 
 their wrath is gone, and they hope for more success in 
 future. Kirikeu was great at this work. 
 
 ' When we were passing through what we called the 
 Mayri troubles, he was our adviser as to where we 
 should go and what we should do; and I believe now 
 he used his influence for our preservation. During 
 that time he always came to us armed with a large 
 knife, assuring us that he and his son would defend us 
 with their lives. He often came looking anxious, and 
 besought us to keep a good look-out and not go far 
 away. On the day of the burial of a native who had 
 been shot, when great crowds were about our house, 
 he would not go to the meeting, but remained by us 
 all day, taking an occasional walk round in the bush. 
 Kirikeu knew that sorcerers were being employed to 
 pray us or exorcise us dead, so he employed two old 
 sorcerers from the mainland to use their powers on our 
 behalf. Quaiani was one of them, and was considered 
 one of the best sorcerers in that part. Having faith in 
 the latter as a chief, and knowing him to be a man of 
 influence, when he visited us on the day of the funeral, 
 at the request of Kirikeu, I gave him a present. On 
 the morning, when, worn out with anxiety and with 
 the constant threats of the natives, I invited them to 
 attack us, saying that we should defend ourselves, he 
 was one of those I detained in the house to see the 
 preparation for defence, and he it was who returned 
 to report progress and tell us that the natives had finally 
 agreed that it should be peace. 
 
 ' Some time after, when opening a box, I brought 
 out a bag of peas. Kirikeu was assisting me : he 
 thought the peas were shot, and at once left to inform
 
 Kirikeu frightened 117 
 
 them in the village that we were terribly armed, and 
 they must be careful. When he returned in the after- 
 noon I spoke sharply to him ; but he still thought the 
 peas were shot until he saw them boiled and eaten. 
 Our tinned meat he, with other natives, believed to be 
 man; and long after our arrival he would shake his 
 head incredulously when we tried to assure him it 
 was pig. 
 
 4 Kirikeu came to me once in great trouble. A chief 
 had come to his house one morning, and had been very 
 troublesome, telling him the white man was useless as a 
 chief, having no arms ; that wherever he went he was un- 
 armed. I told him I was a man of peace, I had come to 
 preach peace, but if necessary should defend myself. I 
 brought out two bottles one containing sulphuric acid 
 and the other muriatic acid. I poured a little of each on 
 the ground close by him ; the fumes went into his face. 
 Frightened, he started and ran, I believe, quicker than 
 he ever did before. He got to Manuegu's house, and 
 complained of being ill, assuring them that I had 
 killed him. There was great consternation, and the 
 old man came to inquire and beg of me to remove 
 the evil influence. I told him it was all right, that 
 nothing would happen. He was quite satisfied, and 
 left. 
 
 'As time wore on it became evident Kirikeu was 
 jealous of the attention shown to Quaiani ; and once 
 when the latter came to see us and was in the house, 
 Kirikeu rushed down to the beach and began breaking 
 the canoe. I ran down and dragged him away ; he was 
 in a terrible passion. We were house- building at the 
 time. I stopped the work, and told the people unless 
 I was allowed to have my friends come and see me 
 unmolested I must leave. They insisted on the old
 
 n8 On the Brink of Death 
 
 man giving compensation to me; and knowing well 
 it was a native custom, when he came with his armlets 
 I accepted them, saying I was sorry for what had 
 happened, and hoped we should have no repetition 
 of it. In the afternoon our whole party went to him 
 on his platform, where he sat very disconsolate, and 
 presented him with things he liked much. They made 
 all right, and we became good friends again. 
 
 4 1 left the South Cape for a long time, and then returned 
 to find Kirikeu in great trouble : he had lost his only son 
 a man thirty-five years old. Instead of painting his 
 body black, he had got on old clothes given him by 
 the teacher, but I would certainly have preferred him 
 in his native mourning. He attended all services in the 
 teacher's house, and was never absent from services in 
 the chapel. Everywhere he advised the natives to give 
 up cannibalism, and spoke on behalf of peace. 
 
 'Quaiani was a different man; much more likeable, 
 much more excitable, but not so determined. I could 
 not think him guilty of doing much killing; but Kirikeu 
 in his savage days gloried in nothing so much as in 
 recounting the number of men he had killed and eaten. 
 Quaiani adorned himself with cassowary feathers hanging 
 down behind from his arms and on his head. He 
 attended all native feasts, and was considered a great 
 dancer, and all round that region he was very much 
 respected. 
 
 * When I first visited him in his own village of Varauru, 
 he presented me with taro, yams, and sugar-cane, and 
 a dog that he wished to have slain at once ; but I objected, 
 not desiring to have to eat any of it. My not doing so, 
 if once it were cooked, would annoy him. He brought 
 me all his friends, and it was through him I got to know 
 natives from all about Cloudy Mountain and the ranges
 
 PURSUED BY A MAN-CATCHER
 
 Quaiani as Interpreter 119 
 
 extending to the west and east. On my first long walk 
 in New Guinea, Quaiani was my guide, introducer, and 
 interpreter. When we reached Vagavaga, the village in 
 Possession Bay, he resigned me entirely into the hands 
 of the chiefs, saying, " I have done, I have led you safely 
 over; now your friends will look after you"; and as- 
 suredly he did leave us. He was much pleased with the 
 presents he and his people received. He never made 
 any profession of caring anything about the Gospel, but 
 remained a good friend of the mission right through. 
 It is strange that two men so very unlike should have 
 become our fast friends. 
 
 * In those early days at Suau I also got to know two 
 cannibals, pure and simple. Ribuna lived at Suau, and 
 was a man of much influence ; he had a very white skin 
 for a native, and his hair and whiskers were of a sandy 
 colour. Rabena lived at Didutuna, a village about two 
 miles from Suau ; he was a very quiet, deep man, such as 
 could be a good friend, or a nasty, underhand, sneaking 
 enemy. 
 
 ' Of the former I knew more than the latter, because at 
 one time I saw him every day, and had frequent quarrels 
 with him. On my first arrival at Suau, Ribuna thought 
 us all insane; and as we became acquainted with him 
 and the dialect, and began to teach the people about the 
 one living and true God, and of His infinite love to all 
 mankind, and when we told them that we came to teach 
 them about the God of love and His Son Jesus Christ, 
 Ribuna thought it was all falsehood, and that our mission 
 was a truly useless one. He often laughed when we 
 spoke of the Great Spirit, and of His willingness to save 
 men. 
 
 * Ribuna was a terrible pilferer, and used to pick up 
 small things on every occasion. Once he was in a great
 
 120 On the Brink of Death 
 
 passion with us, because of a pig. He rushed up to the 
 house, threw great stones at it, and pulled down part of 
 the fence. I had to speak very plainly to him and warn 
 him off. When he went to his house I followed him, 
 and found him surrounded by a number of men armed. 
 I tried to make friends with him ; it was of no use. He 
 sat all day, surrounded by a large party, till nearly sunset, 
 when he came to me, and asked me to be friendly and 
 forgive him for what he had said and done. 
 
 4 Once when there was a serious fight on the beach, of 
 which he was the cause, spears were thrown, and stones. 
 A stone struck him on the head, and knocked him sense- 
 less on the sand. When he recovered he was full of 
 wrath, but I interfered, and got him away. He nursed 
 his wrath all that night, and the following morning was 
 preparing for another fight, when the opposite party 
 came and made friends. During the time when we were 
 on the brink of death at Suau, and when many sought 
 our lives, he was at first against us, but afterwards 
 decided in our favour, and resolved that we should 
 live. Ribuna was not a man we could wholly trust, 
 yet he professed to be our friend, and came frequently 
 as such to see us. 
 
 'Rabena attended our religious service, but seldom 
 visited us in a friendly way. When he did so it was 
 to pick up something. Iron of any kind was much 
 sought after by the natives at that time, and was our 
 principal article of barter. Anything that Rabena 
 thought would make good iron for tomahawks he 
 stole. For a long while after one of these thefts he 
 would not come near us, but his wife used to visit 
 Mrs. Chalmers, and bring supplies of food to her 
 for sale. 
 
 * When I knew these two men first, they were good
 
 A Savage Murder 121 
 
 friends, but later on they became deadly enemies, and 
 were kept from attacking one another only by the 
 influence of the mission. Rabena was afraid to come to 
 Suau to attack Ribuna, lest the latter should be helped 
 by the mission. The cause of their quarrel was the 
 following'. Ribuna's wife had been visiting friends, 
 at one of the neighbouring villages, on the mainland. 
 There she met an old man, Rabena's uncle, and in con- 
 versation with him took some betel-nut from him, and 
 chewed it with pepper and lime. She returned home, 
 and soon afterwards died. Ribuna and his sons said 
 that she had been poisoned, and determined to take 
 revenge for her death. Nothing was said until after the 
 burial. Then the sons of Ribuna armed themselves, and 
 crossed to the other side. They had not long to wait 
 before they saw Rabena's uncle coming towards them 
 along the path, not suspecting any danger. When he 
 came opposite to them, they rushed out, speared him in 
 several places, and with a club broke his skull. They 
 left him dead on the path, hurried to their canoe, crossed 
 to Suau, and reported what they had done, glorying 
 in the savage deed. When Rabena heard of it, he 
 hurried across to the mainland, mourned with other 
 friends for his relative, and at the burial vowed 
 revenge. 
 
 1 Ribuna later on repented of the cruel deed, and made 
 friends by payment to the relatives. All accepted pay- 
 ment but Rabena, but he would have none of it, saying 
 that he would be satisfied only when Ribuna had been 
 eaten by him. A long time passed, and they did not 
 meet. Ribuna had been for some time attending all our 
 services regularly. Rabena and his wife also began to 
 come frequently to the mission house, and became much 
 attached to the native teachers. Both. Rjibun.a. and. Rabena
 
 122 On the Brink of Death 
 
 became anxious to be taught, though when they attended 
 services, they sat on different sides of the house. The 
 teachers frequently tried to reconcile the two men, 
 but without success ; all Ribuna would say was, " Teach 
 Rabena and leave him alone ; it may be the light will 
 remove his hatred." Ribuna was anxious for peace and 
 friendship ; but had it not been for the influence of 
 the Gospel, the quarrel would have soon been settled 
 by the death of one or both of the men. 
 
 ' Time passed on, and the entrance of light into his 
 mind and heart softened Rabena. In this good work 
 his wife helped him much. She learned more and faster 
 than her husband; and used all her influence to bring 
 him to a right state of mind. As the months passed on, 
 several natives from various parts round Suau joined 
 the catechumen class, and became anxious for baptism 
 amongst them Rabena's wife. She was an earnest, in- 
 telligent woman. In 1882, twenty-one were baptized 
 into the Church of Christ, and amongst them Rabena's 
 wife. When the service was over, Rabena expressed 
 a desire, through the teachers, to be made friends with 
 Ribuna. This was accordingly done in the native fashion 
 by an exchange of presents, the teachers assisting both 
 parties. After shaking hands, they sat down together, 
 and prayer was offered for them both, and for all present, 
 that they might live in peace and true friendship, in holy 
 and sincere love to Christ. Soon after this happy event 
 Rabena joined the classes, was baptized, after an earnest 
 profession of faith in Christ, was received into the 
 Church. Thus, in the case of these two men, the 
 teaching of the Gospel prevented murder and cannibal- 
 ism. Who shall say it has lost any of its glorious ancient 
 power ? ' 
 
 Many years later a young colleague of Tamate's in
 
 Suau in Later Days 123 
 
 the New Guinea Mission, the Rev. C. W. Abel, of Kwato, 
 visited Suau. He has given an account of this visit, 
 which exhibits in a striking way Tamate's extraordinary 
 power over the savage mind and heart. 
 
 * I remember, some years ago, spending an evening at 
 Suau, in the Daui district, where Tamate passed a night 
 and a day as a prisoner, and where the destruction of his 
 life was only postponed from hour to hour because of 
 a wrangle amongst the people as to who had the right 
 to kill him and claim his body as a prize. I was speak- 
 ing to a group of men in the little mission house there, 
 two of whom had been prominent actors on the occasion 
 of Tamate's detention. They had of course the most 
 vivid recollection of every incident of that night's stirring 
 episode. They were able to tell me of the conflicting 
 passions which swayed their minds ; they described the 
 excitement which the capture and incarceration of this 
 strange white man caused in the vicinity of their village, 
 and they told me how their friends from the other side 
 of the island and across the narrow strait on the main- 
 land came in their canoes to participate in the sensation, 
 and to share in the spoils of bloodshed ; they were able 
 now to rejoice in the fact that, through a local dispute, 
 the life of the man who afterwards became their friend 
 was saved. They were cannibals at Suau at that time ; 
 but the practice was abandoned at this village before 
 Tamate left the east end to join Dr. Lawes at Port 
 Moresby. 
 
 'It was on another occasion when I was speaking 
 to Manurewa, the chief of Suau, that the subject of 
 cannibalism came under discussion. 
 
 * " What led you," I asked, " to give up this practice ? " 
 
 'Manurewa straightened himself up, clenched his 
 hands, and his usually calm face wore a stern, deter-
 
 124 On the Brink of Death 
 
 mined expression: he was evidently unconsciously 
 remembering a scene of bygone days, and in his mind 
 there was the figure of a man to whom command 
 came natural. 
 
 ' " Tamate ! " he said ; and with a gesture of insistence 
 he continued, "Tamate said, 'You must give up can- 
 nibalism ' : and we did." ' 
 
 Early in 1878 Tamate visited all the stations along 
 the coast from Suau to Port Moresby, from thence he 
 went on to Murray Island, and to Thursday Island and 
 Cooktown. From Cooktown, after coaling and refitting, 
 the ' Ellengowan ' returned to South Cape. He was 
 away for several weeks, and on his return to Suau he 
 wrote : 
 
 ' Mrs. Chalmers was well, and had been treated right 
 kindly by the savages, they bringing her food, and tell- 
 ing her that she must eat plenty, so that when Tamate 
 returned she might be looking well and strong. Mrs. 
 Chalmers says it is well she remained, as the natives saw 
 we had confidence in them, and the day following our 
 departure they were saying amongst themselves, " They 
 trust us; we must treat them kindly. They cannot 
 mean us harm, or Tamate would not have left his wife 
 behind."' 
 
 In the splendid record of nineteenth-century missions 
 no more courageous and self-denying action can be 
 found than this decision of Mrs. Chalmers to remain 
 alone amid a horde of cannibals for the sake of Christ's 
 work among them, and for the benefit of her Rarotongan 
 fellow workers. Tamate wished her to go with him. 
 But she felt that if she did the work would suffer, and 
 the Rarotongan teachers might sicken and die. So she 
 decided to stay. When her husband left her there was 
 no possibility of receiving any tidings of him until he
 
 Courage of Mrs. Chalmers 125 
 
 himself brought back the tale of his wanderings. She 
 knew well enough that danger attracted him, that the 
 worse the reputation of any tribe or place the more 
 likely he was to go there. 
 
 The terrible experiences she and her husband had 
 passed through only a few weeks before might well 
 have unnerved the strongest heart. Chalmers came to 
 know afterwards, from one of the chiefs, that again and 
 again the murder of the whole missionary party had 
 been determined, and those appointed to do the deed 
 had come once and again to the low fence which 
 surrounded the rough mission home. They had only to 
 step over it and rush in upon and murder the unarmed 
 man and his wife. Had they done so their companions 
 would have hailed them as heroes. But the same chief 
 told Chalmers that at the low fence some mysterious 
 thing kept them back. What was it? Can there be 
 any doubt ? It was the restraining Hand of that God 
 and Father in Whom both His servants so firmly 
 trusted, at Whose call they had come to Suau, and 
 for Whose sake they were willing to lay down their 
 lives. 
 
 Yet Mrs. Chalmers allowed her husband at the call of 
 duty to go from her, leaving her at the mercy of savages 
 who were only just beginning to know them and their 
 ways. Her only helpers were two or three Rarotongan 
 teachers and their wives. All her possessions were 
 eagerly coveted by the savages who surrounded her, 
 and the bodies of herself and the Rarotongan teachers 
 would have been considered choice dainties for a great 
 cannibal feast. We marvel at her courage, at her faith, 
 at the quiet heroism which led her to endure the unen- 
 durable because she did not think it right to leave the 
 weaker teachers to bear the strain alone, and because she
 
 126 On the Brink of Death 
 
 thought that if she went with her husband the absence 
 of both would injure the work so well and so hopefully 
 begun. 
 
 But though her courage and her faith rose supreme, 
 the strain upon her health was great. Probably some 
 inherent weakness in her constitution would never have 
 permitted her long to endure the life in New Guinea. 
 And there can be no doubt that the nervous excitement 
 of the thrilling scenes through which she had passed 
 during the previous three months, and the intense strain 
 which she had to bear through her weeks of loneliness, 
 rendered her more susceptible to fever, and hastened the 
 end. Neither she nor her husband had realized how 
 serious her state of health was ; and when one remem- 
 bers how ill-health depresses, and tends to weaken 
 courage, we find only more reason to wonder that 
 she was able to act as she did. 
 
 In October, 1878, Mrs. Chalmers was so ill that she 
 had to leave Suau and go on a visit to friends at Sydney, 
 in the hope that there she might get better. Every- 
 thing that skill and kindness could do was done; but 
 all in vain. In February, 1879, she died, and a life of 
 splendid devotion and heroic courage in the service of 
 God and of men was brought to an early close. Tamate 
 had not gone to Sydney with her, keeping at work in 
 obedience to her own urgent request. ' On no account 
 leave the teachers,' was her solemn charge to him in 
 the last letter he ever received from her. One who 
 was with her in the last days of her life on earth 
 wrote : 
 
 ' Her mind to the last was bright and vigorous. She 
 delighted to talk on the missionary work, and especially 
 on scenes and events in the New Guinea Mission, regard- 
 ing the prospects of which she was very hopeful. Had
 
 Death of Mrs. Chalmers 127 
 
 it pleased God to spare her to return to that mission, 
 she would have proved a most valuable labourer; but 
 He has, in His inscrutable will, called her away to the 
 heavenly rest, and New Guinea and the Missionary 
 Society have lost one of the brightest heroines the 
 mission field has known.'
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE MAN WITH THE CLUB 
 
 THE thrilling- experiences described in the last chapter 
 only whetted Chalmers's desire to see more of New 
 Guinea and to get to know better her fierce and savage 
 people. The ' Ellengowan ' had been thoroughly refitted 
 at Sydney; and in the spring of 1878 Chalmers 
 embarked on a cruise from east to west along the south 
 coast of New Guinea. He visited in all one hundred 
 and five villages, and of these ninety for the first time in 
 him saw a white man. Several bays, harbours, rivers, 
 and islands were discovered and named ; the country 
 between Meikle and Orangerie Bays, together with that 
 lying at the back of Kerepunu, was explored, and the 
 entire coast line, from Keppel Point to Macfarlane 
 Harbour, traversed on foot. 
 
 * I began my journeys on New Guinea,' he tells us, * in 
 parts hitherto unknown, and amongst tribes supposed to 
 be hostile. I resolved, come what might, to travel 
 unarmed, trusting to Him in Whose work I was engaged, 
 and feeling that no harm could come to me while in 
 His care. 
 
 1 On leaving Heath Island we really began on new and 
 little known seas and country, and we first anchored in a 
 bay we called Inverary Bay. On landing 1 we were met 
 by a few men, the others coming out with goods and 
 chattels. We steamed round by the Leocadie, through 
 what forms a good harbour for small vessels, and over
 
 Early Explorations 129 
 
 by the sandbanks in Catamaran Bay.' He also went 
 further east round Rugged Head to Farm Bay, and well 
 up to the head of the bay, anchoring opposite to 
 Naroopoo. He there landed, and soon had an admiring 
 crowd round him. He was dressed in white, with black 
 leather boots. Sitting on a verandah, some of the 
 natives, more daring than others, came up, touched his 
 shirt and trousers, bit their fingers and ran away. Again 
 and again this was done by the bold ones, who always 
 eyed his boots. After consultation, one old woman 
 mustered enough courage and came up and touched his 
 trousers, and finally his boots. She was trembling all 
 over, but when Chalmers lifted his foot and pulled his 
 boot off, she screamed wildly and ran away at full 
 speed, some others setting out with her, nor did they 
 stop until quite out of sight. 
 
 The following morning many canoes came alongside, 
 and on the ' Ellengowan ' getting up steam they were 
 much afraid. It was evident they wanted to show that 
 they had confidence in their visitors, but it was difficult 
 with the steam up, the snorting and general commotion 
 on board being so great. They were warned on getting 
 up anchor to clear off. Why should they ? There was 
 no sail, and they did not see how the ship was going to 
 move. When the signal to start was given there was a 
 commotion aft, the canoes with their crews clearing away 
 to a very safe distance. One canoe bolder than the rest 
 hung on and was pulled under the water. There was a 
 wild shout, a moment's silence, and then a loud roar of 
 laughter, when the others saw the canoe and paddlers 
 appear some distance astern. The ' Ellengowan ' rounded 
 One Tree Point, and, keeping on, anchored outside the 
 Roux Islands, in a fine safe harbour. 
 
 * We had some difficulty,' says Mr. Chalmers, 'in getting 
 
 I
 
 130 The Man with the Club 
 
 a canoe to come alongside, and it was not until we had 
 fastened a piece of red cloth to a stick, and floated it 
 astern, that the first canoe would come near. The 
 natives approached and picked up the red cloth. We 
 then showed them pieces of hoop-iron. They gradually 
 came near enough to take hold of a piece, to look well 
 at it ; and then finally decided to come alongside. After 
 they were once alongside we soon became friendly ; and 
 seeing what had happened to their friends other canoes 
 came off, and trading for curios began. 
 
 'I asked the captain to keep on trading as long as 
 possible, and then I hastened ashore, to see the chief of 
 one of the villages. As long as trading canoes remain 
 alongside a visiting vessel any persons who land are 
 perfectly safe ; but care should be taken to return on 
 board as soon as possible after the canoes leave the 
 vessel. The tide was far out when our boat touched the 
 beach A crowd met us, and in every hand was a club 
 or spear. I stood on the bow of the boat ready to 
 spring ashore, but I was warned not to land. I told 
 them I had come to see the chief, to give him a present ; 
 and that I must see him. 
 
 ' " Give us your present, and we will give it to him," 
 they replied, "but you must not land." 
 
 ' " I am Tamate, from Suau, and have come as a friend 
 to visit your old chief, and I must land." 
 
 4 An elderly woman came close up to the boat, saying, 
 "You must not land, but I will take the present, or,' 
 pointing to a young man close by, " he will take it for 
 his father, as he is the chief's son." 
 
 ' " No," I replied, "I must see the chief for myself; but 
 the son I should also like to know, and will give him a 
 presen to ." 
 
 4 The tide was far out and two of the crew, South Sea
 
 'If I had that Club in my Hand' 131 
 
 Islanders, were left in the boat with careful instructions 
 to keep her afloat. 
 
 ' I stepped into the water, followed by the mate, a fine 
 daring fellow, much accustomed to roughing it on the 
 diggings, and not the least afraid of natives. We walked 
 up the long beach to the village, through the mangrove 
 to the chief's house. The old man was seated on the 
 platform in front of the house, nursing a small child, and 
 did not even deign to rise to receive us. I told him who 
 I was, and the object of my coming. He heard me 
 through, and then replied that he knew all about me. 
 I placed my present on the platform in front of him, and 
 then, hoping to please him, offered a present to the child. 
 I waited for some word of satisfaction ; but none escaped 
 the stern old chieftain. He picked up the things I had 
 tried to give him, and threw them back at me. Presents 
 of beads were handed to little children in arms, but 
 indignantly returned. There was loud laughing on the 
 outskirts of the crowd and a little jostling, and I could 
 see a storm was brewing. 
 
 1 " Gould," said I to the mate, " I think we had better 
 get away from here ; keep your eyes open, and let us 
 make quietly for the beach." 
 
 ' To the chief I said, " Friend, I am going, you stay." 
 Lifting his eyebrows, he said, " Go." 
 
 ' As we passed through the mangrove, we could see 
 that the bush all around us was full of natives armed 
 with clubs and spears. We were followed by a big crowd, 
 and one man with a large round club walked behind me, 
 and uncomfortably near. The thought crossed my mind 
 that if I had that club in my hand, I should feel a little 
 more comfortable. We reached the beach and saw that 
 the canoes had left the vessel, and were hurrying ashore. 
 Our boat was afloat, but we still had some distance to go. 
 
 I 2
 
 132 The Man with the Club 
 
 4 Again I felt I must have that club, or that club will 
 have me. I had a large piece of hoop-iron, such as is 
 highly prized by the natives, in my satchel. I took it out, 
 wheeled quickly round, presented it to the savage, whose 
 eyes were dazzled by it as ours would be with a bar of 
 gold. With my left hand I seized the club and wrenched 
 it out of his hand, and before he knew what was done I 
 was heading that procession, armed as a savage, and 
 feeling a good deal more comfortable than I had a 
 minute or two before. The crew of the boat in their 
 excitement had allowed it to ground. I stood in the 
 water holding the club and facing and keeping the crowd 
 back until the boat was floated. We got safely away. 
 
 'We learned long afterwards why they treated us 
 so. Our Suau natives had been there, showed them 
 some knives we had given them and challenged them 
 to fight. They also taunted them, " You have no white 
 living with you." Hence when they saw me they said, 
 " Now the Suau white man is in our hands. Let us 
 kill him and those with him." 
 
 4 From Fyfe Bay we went round to Meikle Bay, where 
 I visited all the villages, and was well received. At one 
 some distance inland our mate, who had his fowling-piece 
 with him, saw a very pretty parrot on a cocoanut tree. 
 He approached until close under the natives, about 
 forty in number, standing breathlessly round, and 
 wondering what was going to happen. He raised his 
 gun ; there was a loud bang. Down dropped the 
 parrot ; a wail arose, hands were clapped to ears, there 
 was a shout, and we were left alone with the chief, who 
 happened to be standing close by me. Those natives 
 only ceased running when they reached their homes. 
 
 ' We visited several villages, and at sundown returned. 
 In the dark we travelled along the bed of a creek,
 
 A Veritable Hero 133 
 
 passing small villages, whose inhabitants were terribly 
 alarmed, but none more so than the chief who had stood 
 near me when the parrot was shot. Poor fellow, he was 
 frightened. How nimbly he ascended his platform on 
 our arrival at his house, where his two wives were 
 crying, thinking he had already been slain by the terrible 
 white men, but now rejoiced to see him in the body. 
 Long ago the escort had returned with a terrible tale, 
 and they had feared whether their husband could have 
 lived through it all. But now that he had returned 
 safely he was considered a veritable hero, to be sung 
 about in many a song and shouted about in many a 
 dance. Friends gathered round; he told the thrilling 
 tale ; he showed the bird ; the wives examined it, then 
 the crowd of relatives. He afraid ! oh dear no ! But he 
 looked pale for a native, and no quantity of hoop-iron 
 could induce him to move from that platform and the 
 sides of those dear wives that night. 
 
 ' The following day we got round to Ellengowan Bay. 
 After visiting all the villages, I went right up to the 
 head of the bay to see Silo and its chief. The tide was 
 very low, and after pulling the boat some distance 
 through mud we left her in charge of the two rowers, 
 the mate and I going to the village. He had hoop-iron 
 cut in seven-inch lengths in his pockets. The old chief 
 received us graciously, and began giving me a long 
 story of what he wished to do in the way of pigs and 
 food, if I would only stay two days. It was a sickly- 
 looking hole, and not being quite rid of fever, I wanted 
 to get on board and sail away in an hour. A large 
 crowd gathered round, all armed, all very noisy, and 
 certainly not gentle. A slight scuffle took place, but 
 was soon over. The mate missed some of his hoop- iron, 
 caught one young man with a piece, and took it from
 
 134 The Man with the Club 
 
 him. The crowd increased. I told the chief I should 
 prefer his people unarmed, and not so noisy. He spoke 
 to them. Some put down their clubs and spears ; but 
 only hid them in the bush close by. We bade the chief 
 good-bye, but he expressed a great wish to see us in 
 the boat. Trying to appear as careless as possible we 
 made towards the beach, attended by a noisy crowd, 
 who had all picked up their arms again. 
 
 ' Remembering the difficulty we had had in landing, 
 and knowing that savages always prefer to kill strangers 
 who visit them outside their own villages, since 
 hospitality ends when friends have left the precincts, 
 I determined not to have that crowd near the boat. I 
 asked the chief to send them back. But to him they 
 would not listen, and still the noisy crowd followed hard 
 upon us. I shouted to them to return, and not^come 
 troubling us, as we were going away in the boat. It was 
 all no use ; on they followed ; and that boat they meant to 
 visit. I stood still, and not feeling particularly cheerful, 
 I told them to go on, and go off to the vessel that 
 I should wait and return to the village. Stamping my 
 foot, as if in a towering passion, I told the chief, " Go 
 with all your people to the boat ; as for me, I shall 
 return." This had the desired effect. The people fled, 
 and the few who remained listened to the old chief, and 
 came after us no further. We got to the boat and away, 
 thankful to have escaped without, what might have so 
 easily happened, the loss of all our lives.' 
 
 Any one who ever heard Tamate's trumpet tones on 
 a platform when he was speaking under excitement, can 
 understand why that shout terrified the wild savages 
 eager to murder them. 
 
 A third incident of the same kind happened soon 
 after, * I went ashore,' Chalmers tells us, ' in one of the
 
 Trouble with the Natives 135 
 
 canoes, to be landed at Bootu, in order to walk across to 
 Milne Bay. Before leaving the vessel I engaged with 
 the natives to take me to the head of the lagoon, and, 
 when I had seen Milne Bay, to return me to the vessel. 
 As soon as they had done this I promised to pay them 
 well for all their trouble. So with our bags and a few 
 eatables we started. But when about a mile away from 
 the vessel, they headed the canoe more in towards the 
 right shore, and no amount of talk, either in calmness or 
 wrath, could get them to do otherwise. We touched at 
 a place not far from a village we had visited some time 
 before some of the natives left us, and we thus became 
 too weak to proceed on the journey we had planned. 
 
 * We ran down to the village, where we landed with my 
 bag ; and then away went my native canoe-men. Neither 
 love nor money would move the villagers, and they 
 became exceedingly impudent, knowing well that we 
 were quite in their hands. My friend the mate, who had 
 insisted on accompanying me, agreed with me that 
 things were in a bad way with us, and that a sharp eye, 
 and quick ear, and quick action were of prime im- 
 portance. The savages at once went to get their clubs 
 and spears, and begged and insisted on presents. But 
 they were astonished, I doubt not, to find their begging 
 of little avail. 
 
 ' u Go to the vessel, if you want presents." 
 
 ' " Why are you anchored so far off ? " 
 
 ' " Can't get nearer, and only wish you would show me 
 the way in close to here." 
 
 ' Pointing to a passage close in shore, I suggested they 
 had better take us off, and we would try and get the 
 ship round when the tide rose. But to this they objected, 
 and instead of becoming more friendly, it seemed to us 
 they were just going the other way. But that may have
 
 136 The Man with the Club 
 
 been merely our fancy, since we were looking- at them 
 through the coloured glasses of suspicion, and of doubt 
 whether we should again see the vessel. 
 
 4 A few men came running along the beach. I met 
 them, and hurriedly asked them to take us off, promising 
 to give them hoop- iron and beads. 
 4 " Yes." 
 
 4 " Quick ! do not let them think ! Into the nearest canoe." 
 4 Away in the distance those in the village were 
 shouting and gesticulating. 
 
 ' " Come back ! Come back, at once." 
 4 44 Oh no, my friends ; pull, you must pull ! " 
 4 While they were discussing we were paddling. I tell 
 our canoe-men it will be dangerous to attempt going 
 back. On we go, beyond small islands in sight of 
 vessel ; and at last our crew give up speaking of return- 
 ing-. We got off; and I paid the fellows well.' 
 
 One other incident illustrates the risks Tamate con- 
 stantly ran at this time in his efforts to become friendly 
 with the natives of as many parts of New Guinea as he 
 could: 
 
 ' After visiting the Keakaro and Aroma districts, our 
 journeyings were nearly brought to a sudden close. 
 We were walking along half-way between the point next 
 to Macfarlane Harbour and Mailu, when we saw the 
 boat, and waved to them to come in and take us off. 
 They came near to the surf, but not near enough for us 
 to get on board. I called out to them to go along to a 
 boat entrance at Mailu, further along the coast. Great 
 numbers of natives were with us ; we saw, in the distance, 
 numbers more sitting on the beach, and armed. Some 
 of those following us were armed. When within two 
 miles of where the boat was to await us, we came upon 
 a crowd of men and women. The men carried spears,
 
 'Let us walk and pray* 137 
 
 clubs, or pieces of hard wood, used in opening cocoa- 
 nuts ; the women had clubs. Some time before this, I 
 said to the teacher and Loyalty Islander, " Keep a good 
 look-out ; I fear there will be mischief here." 
 
 ' When we came upon the last group of natives, I 
 asked for a cocoanut in exchange for beads. A man 
 was giving it to me, when a young man stepped for- 
 ward, and sent him back. We hastened our steps, so as 
 to get to the village. The teacher heard them discussing 
 as to the best place for the attack. I said to him, " W r hat 
 are they saying ? " He replied, " They are saying 
 they intend to kill us. Let us kneel down and pray." 
 " No, no," I replied, " let us walk and pray," and I strode 
 resolutely forward. I carried a satchel, which had beads 
 and hoop-iron in it ; they tried to get hold of it. I gave 
 presents of beads ; but some of these were indignantly 
 returned. I was marching along in front, between two 
 men with clubs, who kept telling me I was a bad man. 
 I held their hands, one of theirs in each of mine, and 
 kept them so that they could not use their clubs. The 
 Loyalty Islander had a fowling-piece which we had 
 brought with us, thinking we might be away some 
 days, and might have to shoot game for our dinners. 
 The natives tried hard to get him to fire the gun off, 
 and twice they tried to wrest it from him. They knew 
 w r hat guns were, and with reason. They tried to trip 
 us ; they jostled us ; but on we went. 
 
 4 When near the village two men came close up behind 
 me with large wooden clubs, but these were taken 
 from them by two women, who ran off to the village. 
 Things looked black indeed, and each of us prayed in 
 silence to Him Who rules over the heathen. Soon a man 
 came rushing along, seized the club, and took it from 
 the man on my left, and threw it in the sea. He tried
 
 138 The Man with the Club 
 
 to do the same with the one on my right ; but he was 
 too light a man and did not succeed. An old woman, 
 when at the point, came out and asked them what they 
 meant, and followed us, talking to them all the way, so 
 diverting their thoughts. 
 
 * An old chief, whom we had seen on our way up, came 
 hurriedly along to meet us, calling out, " Mine is the 
 peace ! What have these foreigners done that you want 
 to kill them ? " He closed up to the teacher, and took 
 him by the hand. Another chief walked close behind 
 me. They began to talk loudly amongst themselves. 
 Some were blaming others that we had been allowed to 
 get near the village ; and others were saying that there 
 was yet time to kill us. The boat was anchored some 
 distance off and we got her to come in nearer. Just 
 when we were ready to move off to the boat, I .opened 
 my satchel, gave hoop- iron to our friends, the chiefs, 
 and threw beads amongst the crowd. I shouted for 
 Kapumari, a sturdy young fellow whom I knew. He 
 fought his way through the crowd. I gave him a piece 
 of hoop-iron, and, with the help of our friendly chiefs, 
 he forced the crowd back, calling on us to be quick and 
 get away. 
 
 ' So into the water we waded, the chiefs calling out, 
 " Go quick ; go quick ! " We got on board ; but our 
 Chinamen were flustered, and very nearly let the boat 
 drift broadside on the beach. But with poles and oars 
 we got her round and off shore, and sails set, and 
 then away we went for Kerepunu. Before changing 
 clothes we thanked God our Father for His protection 
 and care over us. We felt that He alone had saved us. 
 He had unsettled their thoughts as to who should be 
 killed first, and where, and when ; and it was He Who 
 gave us friends.
 
 'All Strangers there are killed* 139 
 
 c Why did they want to kill us ? Not merely for the 
 contents of the small satchel I carried. I believe it was 
 revenge. Some years ago a vessel called at Aroma. 
 Some trading for food was done on board; and some 
 thieving went on. Food was sold twice over ; revolvers 
 and rifles were brought out ; the natives were fired on, 
 several were wounded, and very likely some were killed. 
 Natives on the beach were fired upon, and some were 
 wounded who were hiding in the bush close by. We 
 land the first foreigners to visit them after this deed of 
 violence and they resolve that on us they will be 
 revenged. What a pity that those foreigners who fire 
 on the natives do not return the following week, and so 
 receive their deserts ! The wretches steer clear of such 
 parts. 
 
 'A week later a chief from Maopa came with a Kerepunu 
 chief to see me. I recognized him as the one who 
 kept back the crowd at Aroma, and opened the way for 
 me to get into the water, and so into the boat. He said 
 that from the moment of our landing in the morning 
 they had determined to kill us, but the suitable time did 
 not arrive. When we arrived at a place where some 
 large canoes from Toulon and Daunai were lying, it 
 was arranged by the Aroma people and those from the 
 canoes that the natives of Aroma should kill us and have 
 all our property they could get ; and that those from the 
 canoes should have our bodies to eat. He said the 
 natives kept putting it off, until, finally, they decided 
 the deed should be done at the boat, then they would 
 get boat also and all its contents, but he and two other 
 chiefs arrived just in time. He said it was not revenge. 
 Turning to the Kerepunu man with him he remarked, 
 " You know Aroma from of old, and how all strangers 
 visiting there are killed." '
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 LIFE IN THE TREE-TOPS 
 
 IN its savage state every village in New Guinea was 
 the enemy of every other village. Hence along the 
 coast at Port Moresby and Tupuselei and elsewhere 
 houses were built on piles out in the sea, so that it was 
 not easy for enemies to approach and attack them. In 
 the villages on the mainland the houses were often built 
 in the tops of the trees, for the same reason, that it might 
 be easy to defend themselves and hard for enemies to 
 attack them. Chalmers early in his wanderings came 
 upon some of these villages and their strange dwellings. 
 
 On his arrival at Port Moresby in 1877 he took a long 
 w alk inland and visited one of these tree villages. 
 
 ' We were now about 1,100 feet above the sea-level. 
 We were surprised to see their houses built on the 
 highest tree-tops they could find on the top of the ridge. 
 One of the teachers remarked, " Queer fellows these ; 
 not only do they live on the mountain tops, but they 
 must select the highest trees they can find for their 
 houses." We were very soon made friends, and the 
 natives seemed at ease. Some of them were smoking 
 tobacco, and others chewing betel- nuts. I changed my 
 shirt, and when those near me saw my white skin they 
 raised a shout of surprise that soon brought all the 
 others round me. Bartering soon began taro, sugar- 
 cane, sweet yams, and water were got in exchange for 
 tobacco, beads, and cloth,
 
 Houses on High Trees 141 
 
 1 After resting about two hours, we proceeded to the 
 next village, five miles further along the ridge. Some 
 of our party were too tired to accompany us ; they re- 
 mained where we expected to camp for the night. After 
 walking some miles we came unexpectedly on some 
 natives. As soon as they saw us they rushed for their 
 spears, and seemed determined to dispute our way. By 
 a number of signs by touching our chins with our right 
 hands and in other ways we made them understand that 
 we were not foes, and they soon became friendly. They 
 had their faces blackened with soot, plumbago, and gum, 
 and then sprinkled over with white ; and their mouths 
 and teeth were in a terrible mess from chewing the betel- 
 nut. On our leaving them, they shouted on to the next 
 village. An old man lay outside on the platform of the 
 next house we came to. He looked terribly frightened 
 as we approached him, but as, instead of injuring him, 
 we gave him a present, he soon rallied and got us water 
 to drink. By and by a few gathered round. We under- 
 stood them to say the most of the people were away on 
 the plains hunting for wallabies. . . . 
 
 ' For nearly six hours we have been travelling with our 
 bags, and I can honestly say I feel tired. We are now 
 at a new village the houses just going up on the top 
 of the high green hill in front of Munikahila, overlooking 
 the J^ja Moumiri valley. The village is named Keni- 
 numu, and consists of four houses at present, two on 
 high trees and two on high rocks. We have pitched our 
 tent close by, and intend resting until Monday, when we 
 hope to start for the plain a very fine country, but no 
 natives. This part of the plain is dry and barren, with 
 stunted gum-trees. A party met us when near the 
 village, and a woman with a child on her shoulder, I 
 suppose seeing me look tired, insisted on my giving her
 
 142 Life in the Trec^tops 
 
 my bag. I looked at the child, and wondered how she 
 was going to manage, but that was soon arranged ; she 
 made the child sit on her left shoulder, holding her by 
 the hair ; then she took my bundle, and away she went. 
 Some young men have come in from one of the districts 
 we wish to visit, and I hope to keep them until we leave ; 
 it will be a help and of great value as an introduction at 
 this time of trouble. We are 1,440 feet above sea-level.' 
 
 On a later trip Tamate writes : ' Before we came here 
 the women and children slept in the bush at night, the 
 men in the village. They are at enmity with the natives 
 on the flat across the ravine, and it seems that sometimes 
 they get a night visit, and then a man is murdered. For 
 the last two nights the women have been in the village, 
 but every sound heard causes a shout. Last night, when 
 just getting off, they came rushing up to our house, and 
 calling on us to get up with our guns, as their enemies 
 were coming. " Only fire off a gun, and it will frighten 
 them away." We told them to go and sleep, and not be 
 afraid. 
 
 ' The state of fear of one another in which the savage 
 lives is truly pitiful. To him every stranger is one who 
 seeks his life ; and this indeed is true of every other 
 savage. The falling of a dry leaf at night, the tread of 
 a pig, or the passage of a bird over his house, all these 
 sounds rouse the savage, and he trembles at them with 
 fear for his life. 
 
 ' Here, as in all other parts of New Guinea, it is not 
 the most powerful man who fights and kills the most ; 
 but the bulk of the crimes are the work of abominable 
 little sneaks, who are treacherous and crafty in the 
 extreme. 
 
 ' The village in which we are now is built on the ridge, 
 the chief's house right on the high end and looking east,.
 
 A Native Sorcerer 143 
 
 our small house close by on the side of the others, on 
 each side leaving a pathway in the centre. At the very 
 end of the ridge is a house on a very high tree, used as 
 a look-out house and a refuge for women and children 
 in case of attack. There are quite a number of tree- 
 houses in the various villages on the ridges seen from 
 here. 
 
 ' A number of strangers slept, or rather made a noise 
 all night in houses close by, and amongst them was a 
 spiritist, whose hideous singing and chanting of reve- 
 lations was enough to drive one frantic. We tried to 
 quiet him, but it was of no use silenced he would not 
 be. A man sitting by us when having morning tea 
 asked for some of the salt we were using. We told him 
 it was not salt, but sugar. He insisted that it was salt, 
 and we gave him some on his taro. He began eating, 
 and the look of disgust on his face was worth seeing. 
 He rose up, went out, spat out what he had in his 
 mouth, and threw the remainder away. 
 
 ' We cannot get the natives to move ; they say they 
 are tired, and will have to rest until to-morrow morning, 
 and that they are also afraid of their enemies. The 
 excitement is great, but what it all means is difficult for 
 us to say. At noon all the men cleared out with spears, 
 clubs, and shields, two men having been killed in a 
 village near. They have gone to get hold of the 
 murderers if they can. Dressed in their feathers and 
 fighting gear, with faces streaked, they do certainly look 
 ugly. After being away some time they returned, 
 saying the enemy had gone off to the back mountains.' 
 
 In 1878 Tamate walked right across the eastern end 
 of New Guinea, being thus doubtless the first white man 
 who had ever accomplished the feat. He came upon 
 many new and novel experiences in the course of this
 
 144 Life in the Tree^tops 
 
 hard and adventurous journey, one or two of which we 
 quote as samples of the whole. 
 
 'In October, 1880, I started to visit Doura, a district 
 near the base of Mount Owen Stanley, but on arriving at 
 Manumanu, in Redscar Bay, I was informed that the day 
 before a party of coast natives had gone up the river 
 and surprised the nearest village, killing twenty, and 
 taking away everything they could carry. It would 
 be useless for us to go then, as the natives of the other 
 villages would have fled to the mountains, and would not 
 return for some time ; so I determined we should visit 
 Naara, the district around Cape Suckling. A few miles 
 east of Cape Suckling there is a small salt-water creek, 
 in which we left our boat, and walked to the village of 
 Tobokau, ten miles inland. 
 
 'The country is very swampy near the coast, but 
 between the swamp and the hills is very fine, level 
 country. The village is on one of the ridges, 150 feet 
 above sea-level, with low, thick scrub all round ; for that 
 part of New Guinea it is a large village. Houses 
 belonging to one family adjoin, with one verandah 
 covered over. A man with more wives than one has 
 for each wife a separate house. Food, children, house 
 duties, planting, are all distinct. Sometimes the wives 
 are very friendly, and assist one another in planting and 
 cooking, but more generally the opposite, and then the 
 poor husband wishes their houses were in different 
 villages, instead of being close by one another with one 
 verandah. A native asked me if I knew he once had 
 two wives, and on my replying I was not aware of it, 
 he said, " Yes, I had two wives ; but they nearly broke 
 my heart. It was a continuous quarrel, so I sent one 
 about her business, telling her she must never appear 
 again in my house. Lately she sent to me for a little
 
 Surprised while Feasting 145 
 
 tobacco, and to know if I would have her back. I gave 
 no tobacco, and to have her back I know better than 
 that." 
 
 4 They were having a grand feast when we entered the 
 village. Some were dancing, others were cutting up 
 pigs, so that we had come right into the village before 
 they noticed us. On seeing us the men rushed for their 
 arms, and the women and children climbed up on to the 
 verandahs of their huts much quicker than they generally 
 do. But when they knew who we were, they put down 
 their arms, and a crowd gathered round us. Some were 
 covered with blood from pig-cutting, others were dressed 
 regardless of expense. There were head-dresses of 
 many shapes, and a few had hats seven feet high, built 
 upon a wooden frame, one mass of feathers and plumes. 
 Some had large pieces of native cloth, beautifully marked, 
 like tartan ; from others, long streamers of the pandanus 
 leaf hung from the neck, arms, and legs ; and nearly all 
 had necklaces, armlets, and anklets made of shells. 
 
 'About three miles further inland is Gerise, nine 
 hundred feet above sea-level, with a population of 
 about two hundred. They were having a grand feast 
 when we arrived, and insisted on our remaining to see 
 the opening dance. At the opposite end of the village 
 we heard drumming, and soon four girls, beautifully 
 tattooed, came on dancing, followed by thirty men 
 drumming and dancing, and two more girls brought up 
 the rear. The dancing was wild and the drumming 
 noisy. These girls were being publicly introduced into 
 society. They were skilfully dressed with feathers and 
 shells, and short dress petticoats, made for the occasion. 
 It was amusing to see the anxiety of the female relatives 
 that the dress and every motion should be as correct as 
 possible. 
 
 K
 
 146 Life in the Tree^tops 
 
 * In the centre of the village they had what I call a 
 gigantic Christmas-tree, about seventy-five feet high, and 
 branches in proportion, laden with cocoanuts, betel-nuts, 
 bananas,and yams, and numerous pandanus-leaf streamers, 
 croton leaves and flowers all hung about. In front of 
 the houses were collections of food, and every verandah 
 was nicely decorated with flowers, variegated leaves, and 
 food. A great many natives, all armed, had come in 
 from various districts, and many that we met in our last 
 long tramp came to touch chins. 
 
 ' All up the Laroki and in the creek and lagoons the 
 alligators were very numerous. Beautiful lilies, tinted 
 blue and white, adorned the fever-stinking swamp. 
 Paddling, poling, and wading brought us about five 
 o'clock to the village a miserable locality in very 
 truth. We were given the dubu l the sacred place or 
 platform to sleep on. It is about twenty feet from the 
 ground, the posts are carved, and on each side are 
 representations of men, women, and alligators, roughly 
 done, and showing very little taste. The people were 
 exceedingly kind, giving us food cooked and uncooked. 
 Shooting ducks on the way up frightened them much, 
 but having heard I was likely to be about soon, some 
 thought they would risk coming down in their double 
 canoe and have a look, others were rushing through 
 the bush with their arms. On seeing us, and learning 
 who we were and what we wanted, they shouted to the 
 village, so that on our landing we were received as 
 friends. 
 
 4 Stinking swamps were all round us,and the mosquitoes 
 
 1 Most New Guinea villages possess a dubu or sacred place. 
 Some of them are immense buildings. Only men are allowed to 
 enter, and prior to certain initiation ceremonies which many of the 
 tribes practise the men live in the dubu for a considerable time. 
 These dubus are often referred to in later chapters.
 
 Gladness at Tamate's Visit 147 
 
 so numerous that even their singing outside of the net 
 prevented sleep. The boards on the sacred place were 
 so uneven that they could not be spoken of as " very 
 comfortable," and between them the mosquitoes found 
 me out. It was a most romantic night ; clear moonlight, 
 beautiful lilies, tropical forests with gigantic trees ; sleep- 
 ing on a platform twenty feet high, with coarsely -carved 
 figures and pigs' jaws fastened as pegs, on which we 
 hung our things, mosquitoes singing outside your net, 
 and rascally ones biting you inside ; men, women, and 
 children coughing, and the last, also, crying ; and ugly 
 dingoes collected underneath, with evil designs, and 
 howling frightfully. 
 
 * The district is called Lariva, and comprises eighteen 
 villages, with fine rich land well watered. I always 
 understood that cocoanuts only grew on the coast, and 
 never far away from the sea, but here there were 
 splendid groves of healthy trees and plenty of good 
 large nuts on them. 
 
 'We had not long to wait before there was a great 
 commotion, much conch-shell blowing, and shouting of 
 men, women, and children, and then a crowd approached 
 us carrying two pigs and quantities of yams, taro, sugar- 
 cane, and bananas. We were sitting on the platform in 
 front of the house, and they came near. The poles on 
 which the pigs were fastened were supported by cross 
 sticks and the food was placed close by. One who had 
 been told off to make the presentation did so in a short, 
 serious speech, saying how glad they were we had come, 
 and how full of wonder they all were at our appearance. 
 They had heard of us from some of their friends who 
 had seen us, but they doubted much what had been told 
 them. Now they saw for themselves, and could only 
 wonder. 
 
 K 2
 
 148 Life in the Tree^tops 
 
 * The old chief then took possession, and gave orders 
 to our young 1 men to spear, clean, and cut up the pigs ; 
 and this was soon done. Earthenware pots were brought 
 out, and fires were soon made all round. It was a grand 
 time, and all were happy. During the cooking of the 
 food we were the centre of attraction, and men, women, 
 and children crowded round. Our clothes, legs, arms, 
 and chest were carefully examined. Our boots they 
 could not understand, and amongst themselves they 
 discussed the question whether they were really part of 
 our skin or not. 
 
 4 The people are of the same tribe as those on the 
 coast ; they wear the same things, speak a dialect of the 
 same language, build the same kind of houses, and bury 
 their dead in the same manner. All day long we were 
 interviewed, touched, rubbed, admired, and in the evening 
 a bath was considered necessary. Our singing was 
 thoroughly appreciated, and I do not suppose they will 
 soon forget the way in which we sang "Auld Lang- 
 Syne," or, at all events, the joining of hands. We had 
 a large congregation at our evening service, when 
 Quaiani explained as much as he could to them. 
 
 ' It is often said, " Why not leave the savages alone in 
 their virgin glory ? only then are they truly happy." 
 How little those who so speak and write know what 
 savage life is! A savage seldom sleeps well at night. 
 He fears ghosts and hobgoblins; these midnight 
 wanderers cause him much alarm, as they are heard 
 in falling leaves, chirping lizards, or disturbed birds 
 singing; but, besides these, there are embodied spirits 
 that he has good cause to fear, and especially at that 
 uncanny hour between the morning star and glimmering 
 light of the approaching lord of day, the hour of 
 yawning and arm-stretching, when the awakening pipe
 
 A Man from Lcse murdered 149 
 
 is lighted and the first smoke of the day is enjoyed. 
 The following narrative explains what I mean. 
 
 * Paitana is a village up one of the creeks from Hall 
 Sound, near Yule Island, surrounded by mangrove 
 swamps; but in the village, cocoanut, betel-nut, and 
 bread-fruit grow luxuriantly. The natives have always 
 been looked upon as treacherous, but having visited 
 them some time ago it was hoped they would become 
 more friendly. On my return to Yule Island I found 
 that on my previous visit some of the natives had formed 
 a plan to get my head, and I remember many things 
 that looked very suspicious on that occasion. Some 
 years ago two foreigners were killed in Hall Sound by 
 the Paitana natives. They had also killed people from 
 Delena, Maiva, and other villages, but the climax was 
 reached when they killed a man from Lese who was 
 visiting them as a friend. When the news of the murder 
 reached the Lese people, they determined to have 
 revenge, but resolved to wait until the planting season 
 was over. 
 
 * For a long while the Paitana natives lived away inland 
 towards the hills, but thinking Lese had in the meantime 
 given up all idea of " payment," they returned to their old 
 village. During all that time the Lese natives were pre- 
 paring war canoes, and keeping very quiet as to the 
 time of their attack ; but it came at last, and a terrible 
 payment it was. Paitana, in her fancied security far up 
 a creek, to be reached only by forcing a way through 
 very long grass, and surrounded by thick mangrove 
 bush, little dreamt of what the morning would yield. 
 
 * Once, when visiting Motumotu, we slept in our boat 
 one night between Lese and the former. I was very 
 tired, and had been over a week knocking about in the 
 boats. About two a.m. I was awakened by shouting,
 
 150 Life in the Tree^tops 
 
 and on looking over the gunwale saw to my astonish- 
 ment a fully equipped war canoe. Forty men are carried 
 in each canoe, with paddles, and a number of men stand 
 on the centre platform with bows and arrows. After 
 hearing who we were, we soon became friends and 
 exchanged presents. The war canoe is made up of two 
 very long canoes lashed together by long poles, with 
 a platform between. 
 
 4 Twenty- four of these canoes were got ready by Lese 
 and started. Pulling all night, they arrived on the 
 south-west side of Yule Island before daybreak, and there 
 they remained until the following night. After sunset, 
 and when quite dark, they pulled for the creek, where 
 they met a canoe with a man and two women belonging 
 to Lolo in it. They made the man prisoner, saying they 
 did not mean to kill him, but that to save his own life 
 and that of the women he must become their guide to 
 Paitana. To that he consented, and they allowed the 
 women to depart. He led them up the creek, through 
 the swamps, long grass, bush, and close to the village, 
 when they allowed him to return. 
 
 4 They then surrounded the village, sending a strong 
 party into the main street. All sat down quietly and 
 waited for a little more light. The morning star was 
 up, and soon there was light enough for their dreadful 
 work. A native awoke, lit his pipe, had a smoke, a 
 yawn, and a stretch, looked out and saw people in the 
 village. He called out 
 
 44 Who are you ? " 
 
 " We are Leseans come to pay for our friend you 
 murdered. Long have we waited to see you paid for 
 your murdering propensities, but all seem afraid. You 
 have murdered one of us, and now we shall see." 
 
 ' In other houses the hastily aroused natives were in
 
 SAVAGE LIFE IN THE TREE-TOPS
 
 Massacre at Paitana 151 
 
 a state of confusion, the arrows began to fly in showers, 
 and men, women, and children were wounded in their 
 houses. Many fleeing were caught and clubbed, or had 
 their brains beaten out with clubs. Many remained in 
 their houses, hoping thus to escape the general carnage. 
 The houses were entered and everything valuable carried 
 away, and then the whole was set in a blaze, when the 
 dead, those dying from wounds, and the living were all 
 burnt in the one great fire. Men, women, and children 
 all suffered; mercy was shown to none. I asked a 
 native of Lese who had managed to escape how many 
 were killed. He said it was impossible to tell the 
 number of the dead, but only ten who slept in the village 
 that night escaped. 
 
 4 Flushed with victory and weighted with loot, the 
 Leseans returned to their canoes, pulled down the creek 
 and along the coast, with horns blowing and men and 
 women dancing and singing on the platforms of the 
 canoes. Mercy the savage does not know ; but still he 
 can appreciate it when extended to himself. 
 
 * While staying at Maiva, where the few who escaped 
 lived, a child six years old was brought to me as a 
 Paitana child. In the first scrimmage he got through 
 the surrounding army unnoticed, and ran away into the 
 bush, where he remained until he heard the Leseans 
 departing. Then he returned to the village to look for 
 his mother, brothers, and sisters. He found the dead 
 charred bodies of them all. A man told me that little 
 children were caught by the feet and dashed against the 
 cocoanut-trees. 
 
 * Savage life is not the joyous hilarity that many writers 
 would lead us to understand. It is not all the happy 
 laugh, the feast, and the dance. There are often seasons 
 when communities are scattered, hiding in large trees, in
 
 152 Life in the Tree^tops 
 
 caves, under rocks, in other villages, and far away from 
 their own. Inland from Port Moresby, a large hunting- 
 party camping in a cave were smoked out by their 
 enemies and all killed but one. When travelling inland, 
 we found the Makapili tribe in terrible weather living in 
 the bush, under shelving rocks, among the long grass, 
 and in hollow trees. 
 
 ' At Port Moresby they say that since the mission came 
 for the first time they can sleep in peace, and that as 
 they can trust the peace of God's Word they mean to 
 keep it. Having been themselves pirates, robbers, and 
 murderers, they might well fear others. 
 
 ' Some time ago the large tribe of Saroa came over the 
 hills in strong battle array, and in the early morning 
 ascended the Manukolo hills, surrounded the villages, 
 killed men, women, and children, old and young, from 
 the poor old grey-headed sire to the infant in arms. 
 About forty got away to Kaile, but soon had to leave, 
 as Saroa threatened to burn Kaile if they continued to 
 harbour the fugitives. They pleaded for peace, but in 
 vain ; Saroa said all must die. The quarrel began about 
 a pig. 
 
 ' And so it has been all along the coast of New Guinea 
 for ages past. But a better day is dawning. We are 
 doing better than leave the fine, active, intelligent New 
 Guinea natives to their " happy " state of savage life. 
 The Gospel is pre-eminently to them a Gospel of peace, 
 and it is only during the last ten years that the in- 
 habitants of New Guinea have begun to know what real 
 happiness is.'
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 A CRUEL REVENGE 
 
 TAMATE in the year 1890 visited Samoa. While 
 there he stayed at the Malua Institution, where many 
 young Samoans are trained who afterwards become 
 evangelists in New Guinea and in outlying islands in 
 the vast Pacific Ocean. All the students were gathered 
 together to be addressed by the veteran missionary. As 
 a warning of what terrible consequences might follow 
 a careless or a selfish word and deed, he told them the 
 following story : 'The Rarotongan teacher's wife at Kalo 
 was visited by the young wife of the chief. This woman 
 had been rather troublesome begging for tobacco and 
 other things. The Rarotongan woman, going out upon 
 the verandah of the house (which was elevated above 
 the ground as such houses are in New Guinea) where 
 the New Guinea woman was standing, gave her a push, 
 and the woman fell down from the verandah on to the 
 ground below. She was not hurt at all, but she went 
 home, and when her husband came he found her sulking 
 in the house. Without replying to his questions in 
 words, she pointed to the spears and arrows in the 
 roof of the house, and with a taunt ordered him to 
 avenge the insult she had suffered by killing the strange 
 teachers. As he gathered his young men together a 
 party of teachers landed, who were calling at Kalo 
 for their colleague, intending to take him and his wife 
 with them to a meeting of the mission or district at
 
 154 A Cruel Revenge 
 
 Port Moresby.' This is what happened in consequence 
 of that careless action on the part of the teacher's wife. 
 
 'On March 7, 1881, Taria, the native teacher of 
 Hula, along with five Hula boys, went in a boat to 
 Kalo and Kerepunu, to bring the teachers and their 
 families to Hula, on account of the ill health of some 
 of the party. He called at Kalo on the way thither, 
 and told the teacher there that he would call for him 
 on the return journey. At Kerepunu he took on board 
 a teacher there whose name was Anederea, his wife 
 and two children, and a native youth. The party then 
 proceeded to Kalo. During the interval of waiting 
 there the chief and pretended friend of the Kalo teacher 
 got into the boat for a chat. On the arrival of the Kalo 
 teacher, along with his wife and two children, the chief 
 stepped out of the boat. This was the prearranged 
 signal for attack to the crowds assembled on the bank. 
 
 ' At the outset the Kalo chief ordered his followers not 
 to injure the Hula and Kerepunu boys ; but this order 
 did not prevent two of the former being killed. The 
 other four boys escaped by swimming the river. The 
 mission party were so cooped up in the boat, and spears 
 flew so thickly and fast, that resistance and escape were 
 alike impossible. Taria resisted for a time, but a fourth 
 spear put an end to his life. The others were killed 
 with little trouble. A single spear slew both mother 
 and babe in the case of both women. The only bodies 
 recovered were those of the Kerepunu teacher's wife and 
 her babe ; the natives of Hula and Kerepunu severally 
 interred the two bodies. The rest of the bodies became 
 a prey to the alligators. For the two Hula boys who 
 were slain speedy compensation was made by the Kalo 
 people. The whaleboat, too, was recovered by the 
 Hula natives.
 
 Caring for the Native Teachers 155 
 
 * The sad intelligence of this cruel deed reached Port 
 Moresby just as the schooner " Harriet " was about 
 to leave for Thursday Island, and the " Mayri " about to 
 take me to Hula, whilst a party of foreigners were 
 leaving for the East End. The news, of course, upset 
 all arrangements, and, after the first moments of excite- 
 ment were over, our next concern was about the safety 
 of the two Aroma teachers. With as little delay as 
 possible, but with forebodings of coming evil, a large 
 party of us left for Aroma. We reached Aroma, and 
 whilst our three boats lay off a little, so as not to arouse 
 suspicion, a teacher and myself went ashore. With 
 devout gratitude I heard that both teachers and natives 
 were ignorant of the massacre. In less than an hour 
 the two teachers and their families were safely ensconced 
 in their whaleboat, taking along with them but a mini- 
 mum of their property, according to the orders given. 
 By these means the chiefs and natives of Aroma were 
 left in utter ignorance as to the cause of our erratic 
 movements, nor did they seem to suspect anything. 
 
 4 At Kerepunu we experienced considerable noise and 
 worry. Here, too, we judged it prudent to remove 
 very little belonging to the deceased teacher. At Hula 
 my house had been entered, but the few things stolen 
 were mostly returned. Here, too, we have left goods, 
 until some definite course be decided upon. Strange 
 to say, at Hula, where we expected the least trouble 
 and danger, there we had the greatest ; indeed, on one 
 or two occasions affairs assumed a rather serious aspect. 
 The main idea present in the native mind was to take 
 advantage of us in our weakness and sorrow. After 
 a very brief stay at Hula, we returned to Port Moresby. 
 
 ' I should have visited Kalo at once, but was afraid of 
 compromising the mission, as it was possible that the
 
 156 A Cruel Revenge 
 
 government would at once take steps to punish the 
 natives for the outrage. And this in the end proved 
 to be the case. 
 
 ' The native is very impulsive, and often commits deeds 
 for which he is afterwards sorry. Much of the same 
 impulse is noticeable in white men, and deeds are often 
 committed under the influence of excitement or passion 
 for which they also are afterwards very sorry. Some of 
 those who have been murdered on the New Guinea coast 
 brought about their own destruction ; others suffered 
 for the misdeeds of white men, and a few because of the 
 cupidity of the native. In every case the native has 
 been more or less punished, but in none to such advan- 
 tage as at Kalo. 
 
 4 After the Kalo massacre a man-of-war came to make 
 inquiries, so as to report to the commodore of the 
 station. We decidedly objected to any interference, and 
 opposed any punishment of the Kalo natives, and, as 
 a mission, refused to report on the subject. The captain 
 was persistent, saying his instructions were to make 
 inquiries, and report; which he did. A few months 
 afterwards he returned, saying that the commodore 
 had decided to make an example of Kalo, so as to 
 put a stop for the future to these coast murders. 
 
 4 1 was on the coast at the time, and was sent for ; and 
 on the day after my arrival the flag-ship " Wolverene " 
 came into Port Moresby with Commodore Wilson, late 
 Rear- Admiral Wilson, on board. He came to the 
 mission-house, and asked me to accompany him, as he 
 had determined to make war on Kalo, secure the chief, the 
 real instigator of the crime, and hang him. I objected ; 
 but he said my accompanying him would make his 
 mission one of peace, and he should be sorry if a single 
 shot were fired. His plan was to make the Kalo people
 
 * Everything to prevent Firing ' 157 
 
 give up Quaipo, the chief but this I felt certain they 
 would never do and on their failing to do this, try 
 to get the Kerepunu natives to seize him. But they 
 would have taken to the bush sooner than interfere with 
 Kalo and Quaipo. 
 
 1 The next, and only feasible plan, was to surround the 
 village and make the chief a prisoner. Some weeks 
 before the arrival of the "Wolverene " I received a message 
 from Quaipo that he was watching everywhere, and 
 would not be satisfied until he had my head on his 
 sacred place. I returned another message, that I should 
 visit Kalo, and would leave his village with my head on 
 my shoulders, and not on his dubu. I did not then 
 know how this was to be accomplished. 
 
 4 Finally I consented to go with the commodore. A 
 man-of-war schooner was taken in tow, and when off 
 Round Head arrangements were made for a landing 
 party. The officers were appointed, and the surgeons 
 were busy examining the blue-jackets and marines, so 
 that no one should land who was in any way maimed. 
 We dropped anchor between Round Head and Hula, as it 
 was necessary that the Hula natives should know nothing 
 of the overland party. All were called aft, and before 
 leaving in the pinnace and boats for the " Beagle " the 
 commodore said, in effect : 
 
 * " Now, officers and men, I do hope there will be no 
 firing. Remember, there is neither honour nor glory 
 attached to this business. You can shoot these savages 
 down hundreds of yards away, and they must be close 
 on you before they can do you any harm. Try and get 
 the chief, make him a prisoner, and bring him off." The 
 commodore's anxiety to secure the chief without blood- 
 shed was great, and again and again he said to me, 
 " Everything to prevent firing." The " Wolverene "
 
 158 A Cruel Revenge 
 
 steamed round to Hood Bay, so as to draw the attention 
 of the natives, and divert them from thinking of an 
 inland attack. Nearly 200 of us went on board the 
 4 Beagle,' and at night and such a night, heavy rain 
 and dreadfully dark and blowing hard tried to sail or 
 beat up to Hula Point, where we were to land and 
 go overland to Kalo. We got amongst reefs and had to 
 anchor, and then I accompanied Commander Watson in 
 a boat to find the Point. We succeeded, and at once the 
 landing began. I had an attack of fever, and had to lie 
 on the beach for a short time. All having landed, we 
 started in the rain and darkness to find the path, led by 
 Taria's wife, her husband having been one of the men 
 murdered. I thought I knew the place well, and she 
 had lived near there for years, but neither of us could 
 find it. So we had to go on to Hula, and there securing 
 the aid of one of our mission boys, we were soon on our 
 way. Instead of getting to Kalo by four a.m. it was 
 eight o'clock, and anxiously the commodore awaited us, 
 he having landed with a party on the opposite shore of 
 the Kemp Welch River in order to cut off the retreat. 
 
 'Commander Watson, with a party, went to the 
 eastern side of the village ; a lieutenant with a party 
 which I accompanied entered the village ; and another 
 lieutenant with his party closed in on the western side, 
 so as to be able to surround the chiefs house. I told 
 the natives whom we met that we had come to seize the 
 chief Quaipo, and nothing more. Our party took up 
 a position near to one of the chief's houses, so as to 
 prevent any from escaping. The western party, while 
 closing in, came in view of a large armed party of 
 natives, headed by Quaipo, who all night through had 
 been watching the river, and from daylight had been 
 defying the commodore and his party. The natives,
 
 Quaipo, Chief of Kalo, shot* 159 
 
 finding they were taken in the rear, wheeled round and 
 at once attacked the blue-jackets and marines. After 
 three of the former had been severely wounded, the 
 young lieutenant, seeing the natives were getting too 
 near, ordered " Fire ! " and the first to fall, as we were 
 afterwards informed, was Quaipo. In all, four were 
 shot dead, several wounded, and two taken prisoners. 
 There was no looting, not a cocoanut touched, not a pig 
 shot, and not a woman or a child molested. 
 
 1 After the firing not a native could be seen anywhere. 
 The bugle sounded, and we all made for the boats. The 
 commodore determined to make sure the chief was 
 dead, and would not accept the evidence of the Kere- 
 punu natives. He insisted that the body should be 
 brought in for identification, and this was done. Find- 
 ing we had left, the natives took the dead and at once 
 buried them ; but on the commodore's demanding the 
 body of Quaipo, it was carried five miles by his people, 
 in order that it might be identified. 
 
 ' On the Monday a party landed, and with native help 
 destroyed the chief's largest house. Anxious for peace, 
 pigs and presents were brought to the commodore, and 
 he in return gave presents. At Kalo and everywhere 
 else along the coast the affair is well known, and it has 
 had a wonderful effect. All the natives say that only 
 a very powerful chief and people could ever thus mingle 
 mercy with justice, show so much mercy when all power 
 was theirs. Indiscriminate shooting down of innocent 
 natives, burning villages, and cutting down cocoanut- 
 trees, I think mere barbarism. It ought never to be 
 done by our Navy. Every shot fired and every deed 
 done by our blue -jackets and marines are acts of war; 
 and is it right that a great nation should do such things 
 to savages ? Better tar that we should suffer than that
 
 160 A Cruel Revenge 
 
 we should do wrong-, and I altogether object to our 
 Navy being used in such mean service, especially when, 
 in many instances, some of our countrymen have 
 suffered for their own or others' misdeeds.' 
 
 Chalmers has given a sketch of the Kerepunu 
 teacher whose useful labours were cut short in the cruel 
 way described above : 
 
 ' Anederea was a native of Titikaveka, Rarotonga. 
 He was the son of a good man, who took a great interest 
 in mission work. The son for a few years had led a 
 wild, reckless life. He went to sea on board a whale- 
 ship, and on his return home settled down to orange- 
 beer drinking and to other evils. I had not been very 
 long on Rarotonga when Anederea professed conversion, 
 and was received into the church fellowship. His life 
 became altogether changed, and he was a good worker 
 in the church. Through his teacher he applied to be 
 received as a student into the Institution of which I was 
 then in charge. I admitted him, and during his six 
 months' probation found him both earnest and willing. 
 He got on well, and when his probation was over 
 I received him as a student. He worked hard, and was 
 soon the best scholar I had. 
 
 ' In his spare time I employed him in the printing 
 office, and there he soon developed into a good com- 
 positor and an all-round man in everything pertaining 
 to printing. He began to fear that I meant to keep him 
 always at printing, and that he would not be sent to 
 preach Christ to the heathen. So he came to me and 
 resigned all connexion with the printing office, and said 
 that he would have nothing more to do with it unless 
 I faithfully promised him he should certainly be sent to 
 the heathen. 
 
 ' When it was decided to send teachers from Rarotonga
 
 Anederea goes to New Guinea 161 
 
 to New Guinea he was one of those selected. He was 
 in great spirits, and started at once to inform his Titi- 
 kaveka friends. As a preacher he was well liked every- 
 where, and during his last year he had preached often 
 at the villages on the island. His wife was a good 
 woman, but slow and somewhat untidy, whereas he was 
 active and very particular about his clothing. He helped 
 me much in teaching, especially with the first-year 
 students, and they all liked him as a teacher. He was 
 one of the first band of those who left Rarotonga in 1872. 
 In the first few years he suffered much from fever, and 
 lost his wife. Some time after he married the widow of 
 a teacher, a very capable woman, and a very suitable 
 woman in every way to be his wife. She was a Mangaian, 
 and in the New Guinea Mission the Mangaian women 
 proved themselves to be excellent missionaries' wives, 
 and good earnest workers. 
 
 'The year before I reached New Guinea, 1876, Ane- 
 derea was placed by Mr. Lawes at Kerepunu, and he 
 and his wife soon learned the language, and the people 
 became much attached to them. There were no bap- 
 tisms, but the few children who attended school were 
 more advanced than those from any other station, and 
 at our first competitive examination his school stood first. 
 It certainly was only the day of small things, but it was 
 a good beginning. 
 
 'In the beginning of 1881 I was at Port Moresby, 
 doing what I could to translate the four Gospels, when 
 one morning Taria, the Hula teacher, came in to tell me 
 that Anederea was very ill, and to ask me to visit him or 
 to send the proper medicine for him. He was suffering 
 from fever, so I gave the medicine, and sent Taria back 
 immediately, instructing him to proceed to Kerepunu, 
 give the medicine, and tell Anederea to come on to Hula, 
 
 L
 
 162 A Cruel Revenge 
 
 and that next week I would send the boat there for him. 
 The medicine which was sent he took, and he felt better, 
 and a few days after Taria went in the whaleboat to 
 bring him with his wife and children to Hula. They 
 called at Kalo on their return to take Materua and his 
 family on with them. 
 
 ' When Taria landed, leaving- the others in the boat, 
 Anederea, his wife and children, were sitting aft, and 
 Quaipo, the chief, stepped into the boat and sat down 
 beside the teacher. A great crowd gathered on the 
 beach, behind the boat, and most of the natives had arms. 
 Anederea wondered what this meant, but the chief 
 assured him that all was right. The chief stepped out of 
 the boat, and then the massacre began. He seized 
 a tomahawk which he carried in his netted bag, and 
 struck at Anederea, who, looking at him, said, -"My 
 friend, surely you are not going to kill us?" The 
 chief struck another blow on Anederea's head, and he 
 fell dead. 
 
 ' As soon as the natives had been punished for their 
 cruel massacre of the teachers, they were anxious to have 
 a teacher again stationed with them ; but this was not 
 possible until 1 884. In that year a band of native teachers 
 arrived from Polynesia, and we selected one, Tau, and his 
 wife, from Rarotonga, to go to Kalo. We started, taking 
 with us all the things that Tau and his wife wished to 
 have, but leaving the most of their goods at Hula. There 
 had been a good deal of rain the night before ; it was 
 still raining a little and the grass was wet, so the walking 
 was not very pleasant. Arriving at Kalo, we at once 
 took possession of the house, which was soon crowded 
 with an enthusiastic and rejoicing lot of natives. After 
 a little while I paid for the house, and then sent for all 
 the chiefs, four in number, to whom I gave presents, and
 
 An Anxious Night 163 
 
 begged of them to be kind to Tau and his wife, which 
 they cheerfully promised. The chiefs son, with whom 
 the former teacher had lived, and who was one of the 
 active murderers, told me that the piece of land belong- 
 ing to the Society had never been touched, and he hoped 
 that as the past had been forgiven Tau would take 
 possession at once, and begin planting. Kulu, a chief, 
 who had had nothing whatever to do with the massacre, 
 told the Hula teacher that they were all afraid and 
 ashamed, but that now they felt more comfortable, and 
 would assist the teacher. All assured me they would 
 take care that our trust in them would not again be for- 
 feited. In the afternoon the eldest son of the chief 
 Quaipo, who planned the attack, came with a pig and 
 a large quantity of food. At one time we received 
 twenty-four dishes of cooked food, and several hundreds 
 of young cocoanuts. 
 
 4 In the evening a number of our Hula friends returned ; 
 but, anxious to show the Kalo natives that I trusted them, 
 I decided to remain, and to return to Hula the following 
 morning. Shortly after sundown we were left alone, 
 and at first I doubted if I had done right in remaining, 
 lest I should be the means of leading our teachers and 
 their wives and my boat's crew into trouble. No 
 Europeans had slept there since the massacre. We were 
 quite at their mercy, being in an unprotected house and 
 unarmed, and had they attacked me we should all have 
 been killed. In one sense it was foolhardy, as the natives 
 had often said that nothing would satisfy them but my 
 head. On the other hand, if all went well, it would be 
 the best augury for future success. I did not feel quite 
 at my ease, and had fully intended to keep awake and 
 watchful through the night. But after evening prayers 
 I rolled myself up in my blanket, feeling it very cold. In 
 
 La
 
 164 A Cruel Revenge 
 
 spite of my prudent intentions, I soon was sound asleep, 
 and never woke until the next morning at daylight. The 
 people were pleased that I should have shown such con- 
 fidence in them, as they all knew we were quite unarmed. 
 May He Who protected us soon become known unto 
 them all 1 '
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 A NOBLE SAVAGE 
 
 IN his early visits to the district about Cape Suckling 
 Tamate made the acquaintance of a native whom he 
 soon came to love. Here is the account of their 
 meeting. 
 
 'When a few miles beyond Cape Suckling we met 
 three Delena canoes laden with pottery. It seems that 
 in ancient times the Boera natives were one with this 
 people, and now a great many Boera women are married 
 to Delena natives. The canoes were waiting for the 
 Namoa natives to come down and trade for their 
 pottery with smoked kangaroo. We all landed, and, 
 after luncheon, a party was arranged to visit Namoa. 
 When about to start, I said, " I fear it will rain before we 
 can return." A woman sitting close by said, " It cannot 
 rain until after we return home to Delena." 
 
 "'Why not?" I asked. 
 
 ' " The rain-maker is with us, and he alone has 
 power." 
 
 ' " Where is he ? " and she pointed to the chief 
 Kone. 
 
 1 " Kone, my friend," said I, " what about the rain ? " 
 
 ' " It cannot rain ; so do not be afraid." 
 
 '"But I think it will rain this afternoon, and I am 
 not sure of going to Namoa until our return from 
 Maiva." 
 
 '"You need not fear; so let us start,"
 
 166 A Noble Savage 
 
 'The natives were exceedingly desirous that we 
 should at once start. So off we set for a walk of 
 about three miles. When crossing a piece of level 
 country, I said, " Now, Kone, it will rain." 
 
 ' " It will not ! " and he cried out, " Rain, stay on 
 the mountains." 
 
 ' I said, " No use, Kone, rain will come." 
 
 'We reached Namoa, and the rain came, and there 
 we had to stay, weatherbound, as prisoners. Kone 
 only says 
 
 ' " Do you think I thought you were a man of no 
 power? You are a Lohiabada (great chief), and so 
 am I, but the rain has listened to you." 
 
 ' Kone laughed when I replied, " Come, my friend, 
 remember what I have been telling you of the great 
 and good Spirit and His power." 
 
 ' He was greatly relieved when it began to clear up, 
 and the stars to peep out. We were led into the great 
 meeting-house, and as a mark of friendship were at once 
 presented with betel-nuts and cooked food.' 
 
 From time to time, when on his coast trips in the whale- 
 boat, Tamate looked in upon his friend. In January, 
 1 88 1, he writes: 
 
 4 We spent the hour of midnight with Kone and Lavao, 
 chiefs of Delena, telling them of our visit to the west, 
 and its success in establishing peace. They were 
 greatly delighted, and will do me the honour of visit- 
 ing me .at Port Moresby, that is, will relieve me of 
 some tomahawks.' 
 
 ' On the Sunday after landing,' Chalmers writes, * we 
 went down and had service in the village. Kone inter- 
 preted into Lolo. When telling the people we had no 
 work for them on Sunday, Kone said : " Oh ! we know, 
 and we, too, are going to be helaka (sacred) to-morrow."
 
 had to keep a Good Look-out' 167 
 
 I asked him, "Come, Kone, how do you know ? " " From 
 Boera." I met a lad repeating the Lord's Prayer in 
 Motu, and found he had been taught by Piri of Boera. 
 
 4 What nonsense one could write of the reception here 
 such as, " Everybody at service this morning listened 
 attentively; commented on address or conversation; 
 children all come to school, so intelligent, and seem- 
 ingly anxious to learn ; and, altogether, prospects are 
 bright." At home they would say, Why, they are 
 being converted ; see the speedy triumph ! Alas ! they 
 are but savages, pure and simple, rejoicing in the 
 prospect of an unlimited supply of tobacco, beads, and 
 tomahawks.' 
 
 During this stay at Delena, one of those warlike 
 incursions by hostile tribes so common in New Guinea 
 took place. Chalmers's presence and influence happily 
 brought about an early and satisfactory settlement of the 
 dispute. In his journal for June, 1881, he wrote : 
 
 'Our friends seem troubled. I find they have 
 heard that the Lolo tribe intend making a raid on them. 
 Is it on them, or on us ? The great hope of these natives 
 is that we shall use our guns, and so frighten the invaders. 
 I tell them that we cannot do this ; that we are men of 
 peace, and have no wish to frighten any one. 
 
 'We had to keep a good look-out at night. Our 
 friends seemed very troubled and excited. I had given 
 warning that any one coming near our camp must call 
 out my name and his or her own. No one could come 
 near without our knowing, as my terrier Flora was 
 a splendid watch-dog. One evening some women passed 
 the camp, carrying their valuables to hide away in the 
 bush. Bob Samoa, my boy, asked, " Suppose Lolo natives 
 come to us, what we do ? " " Of course they will not come 
 near to us unless they mean to attack, and then we must
 
 i68 A Noble Savage 
 
 defend ourselves. The guns are ready." It was not 
 pleasant ; but I managed to sleep well, knowing we were 
 well cared for by Him Who is never far off. Through 
 much trouble in ways like this we get to be known, and 
 the purpose for which we came to New Guinea comes 
 to be understood. 
 
 ' The next night I slept lightly, with Flora on watch, 
 and Bob easily aroused. After midnight he kept watch. 
 We placed the lights beyond tents on each side, and so 
 arranged that the light would strike on any native nearing 
 camp. About two a.m. word came that the Loloans were 
 corning. There was very loud and noisy talking in the 
 village. At four we called out for Kone, who came 
 up telling us that we were to be attacked first, and then 
 Delena. I went to the village, and saw the old friendly 
 chief from Lavao. I told him that any Loloan coming 
 over the brow of the hill with weapons in his hands 
 would be considered as coming to fight, and that we 
 were ready. At five, women and children crowded into 
 camp, with all their belongings, and asked for protection. 
 Certainly ; we promised to do what we could for them. 
 
 ' Men were running about, planting arms in convenient 
 places in the bush. We were told to keep a good look- 
 out and that we did. It was now daylight, so we did 
 not care much. A fight had begun in the village. Some 
 Loloans, running after Delena natives, rushed uphill ; we 
 warned them back, and they retired. There was a loud 
 shout for us to go to the village and fight. I left Bob 
 with guns and cartridges to keep watch over the camp. 
 I had more confidence in going into the skirmish 
 unarmed, and I had no wish for the savages to think I 
 had come to fight. I shouted out Maino (Peace), and 
 soon there was a hush in the terrible storm. 
 
 ' I was allowed to walk through the village, and disarm
 
 Tamate makes Peace 169 
 
 one or two warriors. On my return to our friend 
 Kone's end of the village, he whispered to me, " There is 
 Arua," understanding him to mean the chief, or vata 
 tauna (sorcerer). I recognized in him the sorcerer 
 introduced to me on a former visit, and who in wrath 
 had gone away from my presence. Now this may be 
 his time to pay me out. I took his weapons from him, 
 linked my arm in his, and walked him up the hill. I 
 spoke kindly to him, showed him the flag, and told him 
 we were maino (at peace), and warned him that his 
 people must on no account ascend the hill. He 
 promised that he would stop the fighting. I sat down 
 in camp for awhile, when again they rushed up for me, 
 saying that Kone was to be killed. Again leaving Bob 
 in charge of the arms, I went down to the village, and 
 without my hat. More canoes had arrived. What 
 a crowd of painted fiends ! I was surrounded, and had 
 no way of escape. Sticks and spears rattled round 
 about me. I got a knock on the head, and a piece of 
 stick fell on my hand. My old Lavao friend got hold of 
 me and walked me to the outskirts of the crowd. Arua 
 and Lauma, chiefs of Lolo, assured me they would not 
 ascend the hill, and that we had better not interfere with 
 them. " Right, friends ; but you must stop, and on 
 no account injure my friend Kone." We could have 
 easily frightened them had we gone armed into the 
 village, but then we should not have been able to stay 
 there twenty-four hours after. I was able to do more for 
 the natives unarmed. I was glad to be able to mix with 
 both parties. 
 
 * After all this uproar and tumult no one was killed, but 
 several were severely wounded, and a few houses were 
 destroyed. They made peace at last, and I had a meet- 
 ing in the village with them alt The Loloans promised
 
 170 A Noble Savage 
 
 to be quiet. I told them we could not stay if they were 
 to be constantly threatening. In the afternoon the chiefs 
 came up, and I promised to visit them all. My head 
 ached a little. Had I been killed, I alone should have 
 been to blame, and not the natives. The Delena natives 
 say : " Well, Tamate, had you not been here many of us 
 would have been killed, and the remainder gone to 
 Naara, never to return." There is pleasure in being of 
 use even to savages. 
 
 ' The next Sunday we had a splendid service. All the 
 young fellows dressed for it by painting their faces. 
 It was amusing and interesting to hear them interpret 
 all I said from Motuan into Loloan ; and when I 
 attempted to use a Lolo word, they corrected me if 
 I wrongly pronounced or misplaced it. After service 
 we had all the children and young men to school. A 
 goodly number have learnt most of the letters. Some 
 of the natives would beat native cloth, and thus disturb 
 the school, and Kone grew very angry, and, because 
 they would not listen to him, threatened to pull up his 
 recently buried child. I sent word that he must on no 
 account do that, and must say no more to the men beat- 
 ing cloth. By and by his people will become more 
 enlightened, and then they will understand how to keep 
 the Sabbath. Kone's idea is that they ought now and at 
 once to understand. 
 
 ' A few days later I left Delena for Maiva, and, although 
 a heavy sea was running at the time, landed safely at 
 eleven a.m. at Miria's village, on the Maiva coast. 
 
 'In October, 1881, we left Port Moresby in the 
 " Mayri " with a good breeze, and were soon at Boera, 
 where, after an hour's trading for earthenware pots to 
 take west, for which we were to receive sago in return, 
 I took fifty on board, and set sail for Delena, intending
 
 "THE SPEAR INTENDED FOR THE NAARA MAN 
 ENTERED KONE'S OWN BREAST"
 
 'Kone, your Friend, is dead' 171 
 
 to get my boat for river work, and to take my friend 
 Kone with me. He was well known, and liked all along 
 the Gulf coast to Bald Head. 
 
 'We anchored next morning about three miles from 
 Delena, and at daylight ran down to the anchorage off 
 the village. Very soon we saw the boat coming, Lavao 
 standing up aft, and several of the men with native 
 cloth on their heads, a sign of mourning. I missed 
 Kone, and anxiously waited for them to come alongside. 
 As they neared the vessel, there was no loud talking, and 
 all looked sorrowful. Lavao stepped on board, and I 
 asked at once, " Where is Kone ? " After a time he said, 
 " Oh, Tamate, Kone, your friend, is dead." 
 
 4 " Dead, Lavao ? " I was so overcome that I had to sit 
 down. 
 
 1 " Yes, Kone is dead, and we buried him on your 
 ground, near your house ; the house of his one great 
 friend." 
 
 ' " Did Kone die of sickness ? " 
 
 4 " No ; he was speared by your friend Laoma. After 
 you left, there was a feast at Delena. Kone and others 
 were there, also some Naara natives. At night, Laoma 
 came with his spears to kill a Naara man, and when 
 about to throw a spear, Kone caught the Naara man 
 and placed him behind him. The spear intended for the 
 Naara man entered Kone's own breast. We carried him 
 home, and on the second moon he died." 
 
 4 My poor Kone ! The kindliest savage I have ever 
 met ; how I shall miss you ! I had hoped that you 
 would have been a great help to me in introducing the 
 Gospel along the shores of the Gulf. How anxious 
 Kone was to be taught and to learn how to pray ! I 
 taught him this short prayer : 4t God of love, give me 
 light; lead me to Christ." Who will deny that my
 
 172 A Noble Savage 
 
 wind-making and rain-making friend has passed from 
 this darkness into the light that he prayed for ? 
 
 ' After breakfast I landed, and found Kone's house just 
 as we left it hammocks swung underneath, and small 
 houses all about. Where I pitched my tent on my first 
 visit to Delena they had built a good-sized house, and in 
 this Kone's body was buried. I entered, and found Kaia, 
 Kone's widow, enveloped in cloth. She began wailing 
 and cutting her head with a shell held in her right hand, 
 the blood flowing freely, and would certainly have done 
 herself much harm had I not interfered. I felt sorry 
 indeed for her; but what could I say to comfort her? 
 I did not think it out of place to pray, sitting on that 
 grave, whilst for a little while the loud wailing was 
 hushed. After sitting for some time by the grave, I 
 gave our presents to the dead and the living, placing 
 those for Kone on the mat covering his grave. Leaving 
 the grave, I went up to the house, where several dishes 
 of bananas and fish were presented to me. Everything 
 we had left in charge of Kone and other natives had 
 been well cared for, and the boat was in excellent 
 order.'
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 RIDING THE PACIFIC SURGES 
 
 TAMATE was a born explorer and pioneer. From his 
 early boyhood he had been familiar with the sea in calm 
 and in storm, and he was as much at home in a boat as 
 on land. It was his constant habit to make trips along 
 the New Guinea coast in a whaleboat, and scenes of 
 peril, where only nerve and judgement and a strong arm 
 at the steering oar could avert deadly peril, were of 
 almost daily occurrence. 
 
 In many parts of New Guinea at certain seasons of the 
 year the great breakers of the Papuan Gulf crash cease- 
 lessly on the beach. If a landing has to be made it can 
 be made only either in a native canoe or in a boat which 
 can successfully ride through the seven lines of huge 
 breakers that guard the shore. Great skill is required 
 in choosing the right kind of wave on which to ride 
 through the breakers. If too big a wave is chosen it 
 may break over the boat and overturn and swamp it, 
 with the result that some or all of the crew lose their lives. 
 In this riding of the Pacific surges Tamate was an 
 expert, and hundreds of times he successfully did it. 
 From the many incidents available we select three or 
 four to illustrate this dangerous side of New Guinea life 
 and work. 
 
 At the end of October, 1881, Tamate left Vailala on a 
 stormy morning, hoping that during the day it would 
 clear up, and that he would get along all right There
 
 174 Riding the Pacific Surges 
 
 was a heavy sea on the bar of the river, and to avoid it he 
 kept away west, between sandbanks, and when opposite 
 to Maclatchie Point, the boat pulled out to sea. On 
 leaving the sandbanks, it met a nasty sea, and the boat 
 shipped one sea that nearly swamped it, soaking every- 
 thing, and mixing up together tea, sugar, bread, and 
 tobacco, so that all were useless. The crew pulled until 
 the boat got right out to sea, when they set sail, and 
 away she bowled before a freshening breeze and an 
 increasing sea. 
 
 When off the Aivei River, the eastern mouth of the 
 Purari Delta, in the Namau district, and not far from 
 Maipua, there was a very heavy sea breaking on the bar 
 right across the mouth of the river, and it would have 
 been madness to attempt to enter. So there was nothing 
 for it but to put back. 
 
 It was blowing hard, and the weather was dirty, with 
 a very heavy sea running. They took a reef in the sail, 
 and bore away for Orokolo, where they found a succes- 
 sion of breaking seas between them and the beach. So 
 little did Tamate like the look of things that he thought 
 of beating back to Vailala. But in such weather there was 
 no hope of getting there before dark, and to be out all 
 night in the open sea was a danger he did not wish to 
 risk. What was to be done ? There was nothing for it 
 but to run through the breakers ; and then arose another 
 fear would the savages on the beach, who were unknown 
 to him, receive them kindly or otherwise ? 
 
 Two years before, in the ' Ellengowan,' he was off 
 Orokolo, and about the same place, and then he believed 
 the people were not friendly. They came off in large 
 fighting canoes, with many bundles of arrows and bows, 
 and fighting men, with arm-guards on, standing on the 
 fighting platforms. He thought they had planned to
 
 'Pull easy and steady, Lads' 175 
 
 attack him. As they neared him, two Motuans, who 
 were with him, said they were going to fight. So he 
 asked the captain to keep the ' Ellengowan ' moving, and 
 to see that there was a good reserve of steam for a spurt 
 if necessary. He watched the canoes closely, and saw 
 a strange movement amongst them. They were sur- 
 rounding him, and the fighting men had their bows 
 strung. Then he thought it advisable to head out, and 
 give her all the steam she could carry. For a short 
 distance they headed him, but seemed afraid to close in, 
 and he, keeping at full speed, got away from them 
 altogether. 
 
 * Now, on this, my second visit,' wrote Tamate, 4 1 
 wondered what kind of reception we should have. On 
 one of my journeys at the east end of New Guinea, when 
 we landed on the beach, we were welcomed by having 
 about a dozen spears thrown at us. But before the 
 savages could get too near we got into the boat and 
 pulled away. Now if we got safely over these long 
 lines of heavy breakers it would not be pleasant to be 
 met on landing with arrows and clubs, for there was no 
 chance of our being able to get the boat out to sea 
 again. 
 
 'We anchored, then down sails and mast, and made 
 all snug. Then we had prayer, and trusted Him on 
 Whose business we were. 
 
 * Out came the long steer oar ; we shipped rowlocks, 
 out came the oars, our best men were placed at the oars, 
 and in came the anchor. The boat is swept round, head 
 right in shore, where a great crowd of natives awaited 
 us on the beach. " Pull easy and steady, lads ; watch 
 and listen." Away we go, and we are soon into a 
 heavy sea, and a surging, roaring mass of water all 
 round. At times the boat is flying through the water
 
 176 Riding the Pacific Surges 
 
 on top of a fierce roller, just as if shot from a catapult ; 
 at others, though pulling hard, it is difficult to feel that 
 she is making any headway, there being only a confused 
 mass of waves around. " Easy, easy, lads ; let this wave 
 and the next pass." Then comes a suitable, smoother, 
 swelling billow. "Now, lads, give her it; pull, pull. 
 Easy again." A great sea is close on us ; it curls, roars, 
 breaks all round, followed by another and another, and 
 now again the shout is given, " Lads, pull, pull as for 
 dear life ! " The oars are bending ; God grant no oar 
 may break. 
 
 ' By this time the boat is close in to the shore, and we 
 look anxiously behind us, whilst long rollers gather 
 strength, and we have to manoeuvre to save the boat 
 from being swamped. All are watching, so as to seize 
 the first chance of a lesser roller. Here it comes, and 
 away we are again on the back of that last one " Pull, 
 let her have it." Here it comes; she tilts, she bounds, she 
 threatens to swing broadside and upset ; but is in control 
 with the long steer oar. The natives, unarmed, are 
 rushing into the water ; the rowers cast their oars into 
 the boat, and themselves plunge overboard. The boat 
 is seized and carried by an excited, shouting, yelling 
 crowd to a point far beyond high-water mark. 
 
 'A kindly-looking man conies through the crowd, 
 takes hold of my arm, and gives me to understand that 
 I am to be his friend and guest. We are all marched 
 up to the large dubu, or sacred house, and there I am 
 given a corner with a fireplace on the floor, to make 
 myself at home in until the weather moderates. And 
 this is how we often land on a New Guinea beach. 
 
 4 The following day was a Sunday, and after an early 
 breakfast and service, I left my man, Bob, in charge of 
 our things, and went with our crew to the western
 
 Aveo, the Sorcerer 177 
 
 villages, and held services in each. About midday I 
 returned, and found a very angry crowd, armed with 
 bows and arrows, all crowded together in front of our 
 dubu, and I could see mischief was meant. On getting 
 in, I found my man had been threatened, and it was 
 hinted we might all be killed because we had not dis- 
 tributed things to all the chiefs connected with the 
 dubu. I sent for the chiefs, and, through an interpreter, 
 we had a good time, a straight talk, and when finished 
 they went away, I think, more ashamed than when they 
 came. They certainly were made to understand no one 
 ever got anything by threatening me. Bows and arrows 
 were all placed away, and we had quiet for the rest of 
 the day. 
 
 4 It was on this visit that I first met Aveo, the sorcerer. 
 I had heard from the Port Moresby natives, who visit the 
 Gulf yearly for sago, that this Aveo had very powerful 
 " things " that he could, through them, raise storms, 
 make calms, cause droughts and famines, give plenty, 
 create lightnings and thunderings, and earthquakes, until 
 all the people trembled with fear, and that when they 
 were about to return from the west to their home, with 
 their large rafts and canoes laden with sago, they took 
 the precaution of making Aveo a good present, and ask 
 him for quiet, favourable weather. 
 
 ' When I met him at Orokolo, I promised to visit his 
 village on my way back to Vailala. When I did so, I 
 was led into thick brush, through swamp, and across 
 several creeks to a good-sized village in a cleared space 
 in the bush. We were given the use of a good-sized 
 erabo or dubu and were comfortable. Aveo provided 
 us with food, fish, and cocoanuts, and in the afternoon 
 killed a pig for us. Whilst the pig was being cooked, I 
 got Aveo to sit down beside me, and he told me that 
 
 M
 
 178 Riding the Pacific Surges 
 
 what I had heard of his " wonderful things " was true. 
 I asked him to show me them, but he point-blank refused, 
 saying, 
 
 4 " Tamate, you are now my friend ; and if I showed 
 you these things, you would die, as no one but myself 
 must see them." 
 
 4 " Aveo, there is not the slightest chance of my dying, 
 or being sick even, by seeing your things." 
 
 * " Never, Tamate, my friend, no, never." 
 
 4 " It is all right, Aveo, they can do me no harm." 
 
 * A Motuan standing by, and hearing us, said to Aveo, 
 " You may let him see them, as they will have no effect 
 whatever upon him ; he goes everywhere, sees every- 
 thing, and he is all right." 
 
 4 A long sigh, and then Aveo said, " I fear, but I will 
 think about it." 
 
 ' I was determined to see them. 
 
 * After an evening service, we all turned in, I into my 
 hammock, swung on the platform of the erabo. It was 
 a hot, close night, and, although tired, yet I could not 
 get off into a good, sound, healthy sleep. Near mid- 
 night I saw a figure approach me, and when alongside 
 touched me, saying in a whisper, 
 
 4 44 Are you asleep ? " 
 
 * 44 No, I am not. Is it you, Aveo ? " 
 
 * " Yes do you really want to see those things ? " 
 
 4 "Yes, I do." 
 
 * 44 They won't kill you ? You will not get sick, and 
 then die, after you have seen them ? " 
 
 4 4C No, certainly not." 
 
 * 4< I am afraid, greatly afraid, but come with me," and 
 he led me through the village to the end house, built on 
 the ground. 
 
 * We passed through two rooms, and into a very small
 
 Aveo's Sacred Idols 179 
 
 room, which he told me was his. He carefully put the 
 door up, then stirred a fire and got dry wood, and we 
 had a good light. A small, dirty, netted bag was taken 
 down, and he began to undo. Stopping, he said, 
 
 4 " That must be enough, Tamate ; you will die, and 
 what then will I do ? " 
 
 1 " No, Aveo, I will not die, so fear not." 
 'A small parcel is taken from the bag; yards and 
 yards of twine, made from cocoanut fibre, are unwound ; 
 pieces of native cloth, made from the bark of the mul- 
 berry shrub, are also unwound, and at length something 
 is nearing. From the quantities of twine and native 
 cloth, I was beginning to think there was a bit of a 
 swindle. I stir up the fire, he stops, the tears are 
 trickling down his cheeks, his hands shake, and again 
 he says, in a voice full of emotion, 
 " Oh, Tamate, you will die." 
 ' " No, Aveo, no ; I am all right ; go on." 
 * The last roll, and then three pieces of wood appear, 
 which he placed carefully on the mat. Two were like 
 small dolls, a male and a female, and the other a very 
 small Indian club. They looked ancient, and he told me 
 they were very very ancient, handed down from father 
 to son, through many generations, and no one living 
 but himself had ever seen them, and now I had. He 
 was beginning to pack them up, and I suggested my 
 buying them, but that was sacrilege ; so I told him again, 
 as we had done during the day, that by and by a mis- 
 sionary would be placed near to him, who would teach 
 him of the true God, Who made all things, and Who 
 loves us all, and Who gave Jesus to show us He loves 
 us, and then he would believe the missionary, and not 
 want these things any more. He was to give them or 
 sell them to no one else but me. 
 
 M 2
 
 180 Riding the Pacific Surges 
 
 ' A quiet smile, a very sarcastic reply, " Yes, should it 
 ever happen. These things I will give to my son after 
 I have taught him all." 
 
 4 Stealthily I stole back to my quarters and slept. 
 The next day, after breakfast, we left for Vailala. 
 
 ' In a few years' time I placed teachers at Vailala and 
 Orokolo. Aveo's village was forsaken, and he went 
 to live on the eastern side of the river. A few years 
 more, and then Mr. Holmes took charge of the whole 
 western district, and I went on to the Fly River. 
 Mr. Holmes, being very ill with fever, had to go to 
 Sydney and the South Seas for change, and I paid 
 a visit for him to all the Gulf stations. I had forgotten 
 all about Aveo's " things." 
 
 ' I was sitting in the teacher's house on the western 
 side of the river, after a busy morning, when in comes 
 my old friend. We had some conversation, and then 
 he said, 
 
 ' " What of those things, Tamate ? " 
 
 ' " What things, Aveo ? " 
 
 ' u Why, have you forgotten them ? " and then there 
 flashed across my memory the long-ago night, and 
 I say, 
 
 '"No, I remember them well; and what of them, 
 Aveo ? " 
 
 ' " Do you want them now ? " 
 
 ' " Certainly I do, and I will pay for them, if you will 
 let me have them." 
 
 ' " No, no payment, Tamate, but you will have them. 
 When you come to our side of the river, and at night, 
 when no one is about, you will get them." 
 
 ' I crossed over, and had finished my work, and 
 arranged to sail the following morning. About 9.30 p.m. 
 I was sitting writing when Aveo appeared. He first
 
 Tamate secures Aveo's Idols 181 
 
 had a good look all over the place, and when he came 
 on to the verandah, he saw two men at the back door 
 who were watching me writing, and he said, " Who are 
 these men ? What do they want ? Send them away." 
 So, giving them a smoke, I told them to be gone. He 
 asked that all doors and windows should be shut, and, 
 seating himself down beside me, placed the old bag 
 before me as of old, unwound twine and native cloth, 
 until there were the identical figures. " All right, my 
 friend ; pack them up quick " which was done with 
 much heavy breathing, sighing, and mutterings. 
 
 ' He handed the parcel to me, and I told him to wait 
 whilst I went to the " Niue " anchored close by. I was 
 afraid lest he should change his mind, and so wanted 
 the parcel safe on the vessel. I soon had it in one of 
 the lockers. I returned and gave Aveo a suitable 
 present. 
 
 ' I slept ashore that night, and the next morning early 
 was on board the " Niue," ready for a start. The tide 
 was on the slack ; there was a light breeze from inland, 
 but with the tide sufficient to take us out. There was 
 a heavy sea on the bar, breaking white right across, but 
 I was anxious to get on. The wind failed, so we dropped 
 anchor. In about half an hour after again the land 
 breeze came up, and we up anchor and stood out. Sky- 
 lights and ports were all tightly closed, and a small 
 terrier I had with me was shut up down below. We were 
 certainly a little too far west, but we all hoped to clear 
 the point. Then the thought struck us, Will the wind 
 fail us now ? Stand by the anchor ! 
 
 * Bob, our captain, an excellent Aitutakian, was steer- 
 ing ; the mate, a Manilla man, was looking queer. She 
 was being swept on ; she won't clear the point : the 
 wind dropped altogether. If we go on that point there
 
 182 Riding the Pacific Surges 
 
 will be little hope for us, as a fearful sea was breaking 
 on it. " Let go that anchor ! " was roared out ; but too 
 late. We were in it, and before the anchor caught she 
 was on the point, and seas were washing her fore and aft. 
 Jimi, my boy, came close up to me, and I put my arm 
 round him, and with the right clung to the port main 
 rigging. It was fearful. Bob found his way forward, 
 but he felt nothing could be done. She was bumping, 
 thumping, swinging from port to starboard, and star- 
 board to port. I shouted to Bob, " Give her all the 
 chain, and let her be swept out of this into better water, 
 and we may have a chance." 
 
 ' We were seen from the shore, but no one could come 
 near us; yet there was hope for us now. We had 
 been lifted by the breakers in beyond where they broke 
 furiously, and a whaleboat in charge of a white man, 
 a trader, came near, and with difficulty Jimi and I got in. 
 I remembered the dog, and got him up and on board the 
 boat. Two men were baling all the time, so as to keep 
 the boat afloat. The canoes came near, and everything 
 worth saving- was put on them, and all left the vessel. 
 We landed near to the teacher's, and awaited low water. 
 
 ' The vessel was high and dry at low water, and so all 
 were able to arrange to float her off at the next tide. 
 Many natives came off, and the anchors were placed 
 well in towards the shore, so that when the vessel rose 
 she would swing to them in smooth water. The ballast 
 was all taken out, and landed, and we had just to wait 
 the incoming tide. Near to high water she floated, and 
 came right in to a good anchorage. But it took us a 
 week to get her ready for sea. 
 
 'When the natives saw us go ashore, there was a 
 great shout, " Tamate has got Aveo's ' things,' and the 
 ' Niue ' is wrecked and Tamate drowned." East and
 
 Aveo's Idols cause Mischief 183 
 
 west the report rang that the "Nine " was a total wreck, 
 Tamate drowned, and all because of Aveo's " things." 
 In the afternoon Aveo appeared, in great distress, but 
 I comforted him by assuring him it was the wind failing 
 us that caused the mischief, and God had been good to 
 us, and no lives were lost. The " things " also were all 
 right, and would yet find their way to Beritani. 
 
 ' When the " Niue " was ready for sea, the sea on the 
 bar was still very bad, so I determined to go on by 
 canoe, the teacher offering to take me in his fine, large 
 one. The sea was so bad on the coast that, after trying 
 to get through it, and not succeeding, several of our 
 crew left us, and took to the bush. We got a few others, 
 and were two hours trying, when at last the teacher, who 
 was in charge, called out, " Pull, pull, pull hard ! " Up, 
 down, easing off, keeping to, seas curling, breaking all 
 round, and the rowers fagging ; still the teacher's " Pull, 
 pull, pull away, children," and at length a great shout, 
 and we were outside of all breakers, and in a nice sea, 
 with a fine, steady, favourable breeze. The " Niue " got 
 out a few days after.' 
 
 Here is another landing, which did not end so happily. 
 It occurred in the year 1888. 
 
 4 A week ago I went to Kabadi. Mr. Romilly hearing 
 I was going, decided to go with me, so the Government 
 cutter took us to the Skittles (Kekeni), Redscar Bay, and 
 there my whaleboat met us. About four p.m. we left 
 the cutter, eighteen all told on board the boat, and we 
 were very deeply laden. Mr. Romilly was against land- 
 ing until the morning. But I was anxious to spend 
 as long a time as possible with the teacher and people 
 and visit all the villages ; hence my hurry to get ashore. 
 I had a trusty native at the oar steering. 
 
 ' On nearing the bar it did not seem to me as very
 
 184 Riding the Pacific Surges 
 
 dangerous, so we stood on. The first bar sea sped us 
 on, the second one caught us, we shipped some water, 
 the steer oar got jammed, the boat swung round broad- 
 side to the sea and went over. It was in deep water and 
 the seas were heavy, and for a short time it seemed 
 as though some of us must be drowned. It is a terrible 
 place for crocodiles, but I suppose so many of us in the 
 water at once frightened them. The smashing in the 
 surf was enough to kill us all. 
 
 ' The boat's crew of native students did nobly, and at 
 length we got ashore. I feared at one time that Romilly 
 was drowning; and I felt somewhat exhausted myself. 
 I fancy Romilly must have been struck with an oar. 
 The boys got the boat in to the beach after a good hour's 
 hard work. I got three times on to the boat's keel, and 
 each time I was swept away by the seas. At last I got 
 an oar, and assisted by a native reached a sandbank, and 
 after resting- there a little, reached the shore. A fire 
 was lighted, around which we all gathered, when one of 
 the students engaged in prayer, and with full hearts we 
 all joined him in thanksgiving. During the night things 
 were washed ashore and amongst them my swag. We 
 remained by the fire all night. The teacher, on hearing 
 of what had happened, brought us a change each, but 
 being a small man there were difficulties in using what 
 he brought. The next morning we pulled through the 
 surf, and got on board the cutter, and ran to Manumanu. 
 We all felt sore and unfit for much exertion. I spent 
 the Sunday ashore at the teacher's and had two services. 
 
 ' Don't moralize on the foregoing and say, " Rash man." 
 Yes, I am, but have been blessed and successful in all 
 kinds of hazards for the last eleven years in this land. 
 No use talking ; I will do it again, I must do it again and 
 again, hoping to get through all right. I am exceedingly
 
 'THE BOAT SWUNG AND WENT OVER"
 
 A Terrible Landing 185 
 
 cautious, especially when others are with me ; but there 
 is such a thing as excess of caution.' 
 
 The last incident of the kind we describe is one in 
 which Mr. Chalmers and his second wife were concerned. 
 It illustrates the hardships missionaries' wives often so 
 bravely meet. Fever had grievously injured Mrs. 
 Chalmers's health and a visit to Port Moresby became 
 necessary in May, 1889. The journey, made in the whale- 
 boat from Motumotu, was one of the worst that even 
 Tamate had ever made. But it illustrates his great skill 
 in handling a boat in the wild Papuan surf and his nerve 
 at a critical moment. ' The long journey in the boat,' 
 writes Mrs. Chalmers, ' was terrible. The first morning 
 we were nearly upset, and shipped a big sea. I was 
 drenched. Everything was wet through and completely 
 ruined ; most of our provisions were spoilt too. Well, 
 Tamate wrapped me in a blanket, and there I had to 
 remain till sundown. All day there was a rough, nasty 
 sea, and very heavy swell, but the wind and current 
 fortunately were in our favour. I thought at times that 
 the waves must engulf us, but the little boat rose to 
 them splendidly ; sometimes she seemed almost per- 
 pendicular, and then down into a deep trough, with 
 waves as high as a house behind and before. 
 
 ' Arriving off Maiva we were warned not to land the 
 boiling surf looked dreadful right along the beach. 
 Two splendid fellows swam out to us and said we could 
 not land in safety. Tamate nearly lost his life here 
 years ago, when he attempted to run the boat ashore in 
 such a sea. It was sunset, I was ill and wet, we had had 
 nothing all day but biscuits and water, the wind was 
 now right ahead, and the boys would have to pull to 
 Delena, fifteen or twenty miles off. Tamate said that it 
 looked like a stormy night, and SO he determined to risk
 
 i86 Riding the Pacific Surges 
 
 the run in, especially as we now had two fresh men to 
 pull. I sat straight up and threw off the blankets. I 
 think the excitement cured my sickness and headache. 
 Before turning the boat for the boiling surf, Tamate 
 said : " Now, Lizzie, in a surf like this, the boat, if she 
 goes at all, will turn right over, so do not cling to it, but 
 keep clear of her if possible. The boys and every one 
 will think first of you : and if we get ashore alive, never 
 mind if all goes. The anchor will fall out and keep 
 the boat." 
 
 'Then we faced it. The men were so excited, but 
 Tamate and Naimi timed the pulling well. We got 
 over the first line of surf all right, and there was a great 
 shout from shore ; then a second and third line were 
 crossed successfully ; in the last line we were a little 
 too late, and should have been washed back^ and, 
 meeting the next breaker, have been swamped, but 
 dozens of the natives rushed in up to their necks and 
 dragged us on to the beach. We were pretty wet, 
 but thankful.'
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 LIFE ON A LAKATOI 
 
 ONCE a year the natives of Port Moresby, in great 
 canoes called lakatois, make a voyage to the west for 
 sago. For many weeks before large quantities of pottery 
 are made which is to be exchanged in due time for sago. 
 The men have nothing whatever to do with the manu- 
 facture of these things ; the art belongs entirely to the 
 female portion of the community. The men are, how- 
 ever, busy getting their canoes together, working all 
 day and at night poling them well out, where the man 
 who is captain sleeps with a few others. There are six 
 officers in all one fore and one aft, two for the mast 
 and two for the sail. For a long time the captain has 
 been observing ceremonies which have made him sacred. 
 
 In the morning at sunrise the lakatoi is brought in 
 for construction. Four large canoes are lashed together, 
 then bulwarks are made from leaves of the Nipa palm, 
 sewn together, well fastened with long, strong mangrove 
 poles, and caulked with dry banana leaves. A stage is 
 made all round, so that the sailors can work her without 
 getting inside the bulwarks. Masts of mangrove with 
 the roots are stepped on to the centre, and large sails, 
 made of mats sewn together and shaped like crab toes, 
 are fixed for working with ropes made from the bark 
 of the large yellow hibiscus. The anchor is a large stone 
 made fast with long canes, which are sometimes 100 
 fathoms in length. Fore and aft are small covered-in 
 houses strong enough to withstand a very heavy sea,
 
 i88 Life on a Lakatoi 
 
 where the captain, mates, and boatswains sleep and smoke. 
 There are strong divisions of wicker-work in each canoe, 
 into which pottery is put, each division having an owner. 
 The pottery is well packed with dried banana leaves, 
 and only when thrown ashore in a gale do they have 
 much breakage. 
 
 A day or two before leaving they sail about the 
 harbour racing, with all the young swells, male and 
 female, dressed in the height of New Guinea fashion, on 
 board, and then they have a hearty song with drums 
 beating and bodies and grass petticoats swaying 
 altogether making a very pretty picture. 
 
 At last the cargo is on board, and, the wind being 
 favourable, the crew pull out a mile or two to windward, 
 then set sail and away, with a fine breeze following fast, 
 whilst friends at home remain to weep. The men most 
 worked are the steerers. Of these there are several, 
 with large paddles, standing aft, whilst the others are 
 drum-beating and singing. 
 
 When the port whither the traders are bound is 
 reached they are received with great delight ; pigs and 
 dogs are killed for the reception feast, after which they 
 distribute their pottery, to be paid for when they are 
 ready to take their return journey. They sleep on the 
 lakatoi, their shore friends cooking them food and taking 
 it to them. The first month they do nothing but enjoy 
 themselves ; after that they ascend the rivers, cut down 
 large trees, and make canoes of them, to take home on 
 their return journey laden with sago. When they return 
 they will have as many as fourteen or fifteen canoes for 
 one lakatoi, making it very cumbersome. In rough 
 weather these canoes labour fearfully, and often they have 
 to cut all away but two, in which they save their lives ; 
 sometimes they are wrecked and never heard of more.
 
 Tamate sails on the 'Kevaubada* 189 
 
 Since New Guinea has been open to mission work the 
 natives go on these trading voyages much better equipped 
 than formerly, taking with them tomahawks, knives, 
 beads, looking-glasses, red cloth, and tobacco. They 
 return with many tons of sago, which they dispose of to 
 Tupuselei, Kaile, Kapakapa, Hula, and Kerepunu, the 
 natives of these parts paying them in arm-shells and 
 other native articles. 
 
 In 1883 Tamate sailed west from Port Moresby on 
 one of these lakatois certainly at that period the first 
 and only white man who had ventured, or who would have 
 thought of venturing, upon such a novel and dangerous 
 experience. The following incidents are from the journal 
 he kept at the time. 
 
 ' Oct. 5, 1883. Long before daylight, sounds of weep- 
 ing and wailing came from the village, and we knew 
 that at last the sago traders to the west were really going 
 to start. Long have I had a desire to take a trip in one 
 of the lakatois, so yesterday I took my passage on board 
 the " Kevaubada," commanded by Vaaburi and Aruako, 
 and was therefore early astir this morning. A few tears 
 and a little wailing awaited my exit. Saying good-bye 
 to friends, I took the whaleboat and followed the canoes, 
 which had left some time before, and joined mine about 
 two miles from Port Moresby. Many friends were there 
 to bid farewell to the adventurous spirits who for at 
 least four months would be absent from their homes. 
 Wood and water were put on board, sails were squared, 
 and then began a terrible scene, weeping, howling, tear- 
 ing hair, scratching faces until the blood flowed, clasping 
 dear ones in long embraces ; wives their husbands ; 
 children their parents ; and young ladies their future 
 husbands. It was enough to melt a stony heart. 
 
 ' At Idler's Bay we parted with the last of our friends,
 
 IQO Life on a Lakatoi 
 
 and there tears were dried up and the ocean-singing 
 began in right earnest. The laughing and joking was, 
 however, strained, and not the hearty outburst of joyous 
 hearts. The company in our craft were thirty-five all 
 told. Our lakatoi consisted of four large canoes lashed 
 together, with good bulwarks made of leaves strongly 
 bound together with mangrove saplings. We had two 
 masts of mangrove, stepped on top of the canoes with 
 stays and backstays of rattan cane. Our sails were made 
 of mats and shaped like the large crab-claw. Fore and 
 aft were good-sized houses, made of wood, and packed 
 full of pottery. Running right round was a platform 
 two-and-a-half feet wide. 
 
 4 The canoes were full of pottery, and in the centre, 
 between the masts, was a large crate also full. On the 
 top of the crate were two planks covered with a mat, and 
 on these I slept. Close by me was Vaaburi, who seldom 
 or ever spoke, and who, until we passed Idler's Bay, 
 kept himself covered with a blanket ; and on the other 
 side was Keroro, a lad of ten years, who was acting for 
 Aruako, and who was also considered sacred. Hanging 
 close by each was a small pot, in which was good-wind 
 and favourable -weather medicine, consisting of burnt 
 banana leaves. They told me that although it was a 
 good breeze it was impossible for the lakatoi to sail well 
 to-day, as there was too much feeling with the friends 
 left behind, but to-morrow I should see what could 
 be done. 
 
 4 We went about four knots an hour. We had several 
 boys on board; each had his station, and was kept 
 pretty constantly baling. About eleven p.m. we anchored 
 eight miles east of Hall Sound. All were tired, and 
 throats were very sore from singing so much, so there 
 was no need to drone to sleep.
 
 A Dilatory Start 191 
 
 * Oct. 6. Not early awake, as when we rose the sun 
 had already appeared in his gigantic striding over the 
 high mountains of the Stanley Range. We have on 
 board several church members, and before turning-to we 
 had morning service, and then breakfast, when we poled 
 in towards the shore reef, where all the young men 
 landed to get wood, cane, and a large stone, to be used 
 as an anchor. They did all heartily, and seem to have 
 got over the parting of yesterday. 
 
 4 All is ready for a start ; but we have to wait for wind, 
 so the crew are spending their time in going over their 
 wealth. What a collection ! Arm-shells, large and 
 small ; tomahawks, old and new ; beads, foreign and 
 native ; cloth of all colours, nose -jewels, frontlets and 
 breastplates. All exhibit their treasures in rotation. 
 
 ' Noon. I insist on leaving, so up sails, in with the 
 cane hawsers, and we clear away, soon followed by 
 others. Nobody seems master on this craft, and I fancy 
 all do as they like. Orders are given with great hesi- 
 tancy, and in such a manner as if the giver were doubtful 
 whether they would be attended to. Some wish to 
 return and wait, and I fancy would be glad of an excuse 
 to go back. To them this journey of 200 miles is some- 
 thing awful. The excuse is that the wind is not strong 
 enough. I am asked to give orders for a short time, but 
 decline, as I am anxious to see how they will act. All 
 I insist on is that they keep on, and on no account dilly- 
 dally so as to lose the wind. They have become very 
 scrupulous about Sunday, and are anxious to put into 
 Delena ; but I explain to them the day can be more 
 quietly and profitably spent at sea. 
 
 ' We were well under way, and I was standing on my 
 deck bunk dinner being spread for the crew when 
 Aruako, an old robber-chief, who was the cause of much
 
 192 Life on a Lakatoi 
 
 suffering all along- this coast in past years, said, " Tamate, 
 would you sit down for a little until I ask God's blessing 
 on this food, that my boys may eat ? " 
 
 'When in front of Hall Sound entrance, the lakatoi 
 was brought right up in the wind, and Aruako took his 
 little nephew by the hand and handed him two wisps of 
 cassowary feathers, stood in front shaking them with 
 a peculiar motion of the body, and turning to the fore- 
 mast did the same, then came aft, and turning to the 
 mainmast went through the same performance. When 
 breaking her off again all shouted, as if driving some- 
 thing away. 
 
 ' A long while ago, it seems, the Motuans, to keep an 
 open coast, killed many Loloans, who had interfered 
 with one of their canoes, and since then the Lolo spirits 
 have been troublesome in that one place, detaining the 
 lakatois. Hence the above incantation was necessary in 
 order to drive them away. We were successful, and got 
 beyond the passage all right, the tide being on the slack 
 at the time. 
 
 'Immediately afterwards, several bunches of bananas 
 were brought to each mast, and these formerly would have 
 been presented as a thank-offering and peace-offering 
 to the spirits of their ancestors. And I doubt not they 
 were so considered in many minds now. It was only 
 the church members who sought a blessing on food from 
 Him Whom they profess to love and serve. All are 
 very busy scraping bananas, cleaning pots, and getting 
 water. 
 
 'Nothing is thrown overboard; the banana skin is 
 carefully kept, to be thrown into any river we may 
 enter. To throw anything overboard now would be 
 a terrible crime, and cause the spirits to oppose us in 
 every way. Unfortunately, I cannot remember this, and
 
 Sunday on a Lakatoi 193 
 
 often offend them by throwing overboard banana-skin 
 and cocoanut-shell. 
 
 ' At sunset we were off Maiva ; the other lakatois put 
 into Delena. 
 
 ' Sunday, Oct. 7. During- the night there was very 
 little wind and at daybreak we were only off Oiabu, 
 round Cape Possession. All night long singing and 
 drumming were continued, so now that it is morning 
 all are quiet and many asleep. We are nearing lokea, 
 and hope to have communication. The wind entirely 
 failed, and after pulling for two hours we found we were 
 going back with the strong current ; so out anchor, with 
 about thirty fathoms of cane rope. The cane is made 
 fast to the mast. After anchoring, all are assembled ; 
 and we have a very pleasant service, conducted chiefly 
 by the Motuans. It was short, but I think to the point. 
 Many of the Motuans have a tendency to exceedingly 
 long prayers, but to-day, having been told beforehand, 
 they were short and precise, not wandering over many 
 fields. 
 
 'Afternoon. We have been anxiously waiting for 
 wind, but, alas, that commodity seems scarce indeed, 
 so we are still at anchor, and have another short interest- 
 ing service. I fear there is no chance of a start to-day, 
 and some are now talking of a hunt to-morrow. In the 
 evening we heaved anchor, and dropped down with the 
 tide nearer the village, to be ready to get wood and 
 water in the morning. 
 
 ' Oct. 8. Early in the morning we saw the other 
 canoes very far out, and bearing away for Maclatchie 
 Point. The Porebada and Tatana canoes have just 
 anchored close by us. A small canoe came off from the 
 shore, and in it three old friends with cocoanuts. We 
 got some sago cake and cocoanuts, also some water; 
 
 N
 
 1Q4 Life on a Lakatoi 
 
 and then went on board for a start, to prevent any 
 hunting-. This is the beginning of Elema, and the 
 beginning of nose-rubbing. Sharp noses would soon 
 be flattened in this district, and it would be as well to 
 carry a small pocket-looking-glass, as the face-colours 
 are very varied. 
 
 ' About twelve we became alive, bade farewell to our 
 friends, up sail, in anchor, and were away again. We had 
 a fine breeze, but a strong 1 current against us. Near 
 sundown we were off Motumotu, and saw the Tatana 
 and Porebada lakatois enter the river. Our sail gave 
 way, so it had to be lowered for repairs, but these were 
 soon executed. All the food to be cooked for the crew 
 is first placed close by the masts. To-night several 
 bunches were so placed and presented to the spirits, 
 that we might get along quicker. The current is very 
 strong against us, and the wind is light. Instead of 
 following the old customs, they consent to one of the 
 church members engaging in prayer. The singing and 
 drum-beating continues, and hopes are great that we 
 shall anchor to-morrow at Vailala or Perau, on the 
 Annie River. 
 
 ' Oct. 9. We have had the strong current all night, 
 and a light easterly wind. This morning the wind is 
 so light that the long paddles are out and several are 
 pulling hard. Last night, about nine, we were close 
 alongside a large schooner beating to the eastward. 
 I had turned in, thinking the light we saw was one of 
 the other lakatois, so we kept away from her, but not 
 long after there was a terrific shout, Nao, nao (foreigner), 
 so I sprang up, and found we were close under the 
 schooner. I hailed her, but all we could make out was 
 that she was from Thursday Island. 
 
 * Soon after, I went to sleep, but not for long, as I was
 
 Troublesome Visitors 195 
 
 aroused by those on duty, who must have thought the 
 bay was full of foreign vessels, as they reported more 
 lights. This time the lights were from the lakatois we 
 had seen far out in the morning, and who, finding the 
 current too strong, stood in. We were then close to 
 the Cupola and near to Uamai and Silo. We spoke the 
 lakatois, and then instructions were given for no more 
 lights to be shown and no more singing, as the natives 
 from the shore might see us and come off in canoes and 
 take us, in order to rob us of the pottery. 
 
 'About midnight one of the canoes put about and 
 bore down, wishing all to turn back to Karama and 
 Motumotu, because of the strong current. Our people 
 said, " No ; pull away till morning: we have Tamate on 
 board, and must do our best to get to Vailala." They 
 stood on, and then the others followed. Had I not been 
 on board, the whole party would have gone back to the 
 above places. 
 
 ' We have no wind, and make little progress pulling. 
 Some canoes came off from Pisi and Kerema, and tried 
 hard to persuade us to go to them ; but no use, we are 
 bound further west. They are gone to try their fortune 
 with the other canoes. We are pulling, and only just 
 able to hold our own against the current. A large 
 fighting canoe is coming towards us, and our folks seem 
 much concerned. They ask Johnnie, my boy from the 
 east end, to get his old fowling-piece charged, so as to 
 be ready ; but he takes no notice, and they are afraid 
 to appeal to me. 
 
 ' We have been boarded by a noisy, impudent lot. 
 Before they approached, our boys hid all their valuables. 
 As they neared I saw that our visitors were making for 
 the bow, so I ordered them aft, and called out that they 
 must not come on board. They seemed prepared to 
 
 N 2
 
 196 Life on a Lakatoi 
 
 fight ; bows and arrows were all handy on the platform, 
 fighting armlets were on, and a few had their clubs 
 hanging on their backs. They said they had come for 
 us, and that Tamate and the lakatoi must go with them. 
 I told them, " No, Tamate must go to Vailala, and on to 
 Namau." They replied, " You will not go on ; we shall 
 keep you." Their canoe came close, and two of them 
 stepped on board, giving orders to make for their place. 
 One of them seized me, and rubbed noses, and begged of 
 me, as his friend, to land. " No, I will go on ; I shall not 
 go in here." 
 
 'The strangers became very excited, and looked 
 nasty ; but our people were beginning to look as nasty, 
 especially Aruako, the robber-chief. I was anxious to 
 avoid a collision, as this would make it unpleasant for me 
 afterwards. A piece of rope fell into the water, and was 
 picked up by them. Their canoe being close enough, 
 Aruako stepped into it and took it from them, when 
 one of them seized his club. Aruako looked black and 
 fierce, and asked if they wanted to fight, for if they did 
 just say so, and they would have plenty. His first action 
 would be to break up their canoe, and then with arrows 
 to shoot them down. M No, no, we do not wish to fight ; 
 but, great chief, your lakatoi must come to us. Our 
 wives say we are weak and worthless, hence we have 
 no lakatoi, and they have sent us oft" We insisted on 
 their leaving; and, anxious they should do so without 
 a threat, I addressed my new friend, and told him they 
 must not press on us, as I must go to Vailala. Again 
 we rubbed noses ; he asked me for an uro, and as I had 
 none he begged for a piece of cloth. I took off my 
 shirt, which wanted washing, and gave it to him, and 
 so saved myself trouble with soap and water. Again 
 we rubbed noses, spoke of sincere friendship, they
 
 "ARUAKO LOOKED BLACK AND ASKED IF THEY 
 WANTED TO FIGHT"
 
 Natives levying Blackmail 197 
 
 got into the canoe and left us, saying, " It is good ; 
 Tamate go." 
 
 " Our visitors then made for another lakatoi, about two 
 miles from us, and they were joined by two more canoes 
 from Pisi. We cannot help them, so they must make 
 the best of it. The plan these natives adopt is to board 
 the lakatois, and if they are strong enough they take 
 everything of value, and so compel their victims to go 
 with them. They say they will pay well for everything 
 taken. If the Motuans resist of course a fight takes place. 
 The natives from the shore will be ashamed to return if 
 they do not succeed in getting something, and they will 
 probably visit Kerema, on the other side of the harbour, 
 where two lakatois have already gone, and quarrel with 
 them, in order to show their wives that they have done 
 their best. They are very eager to get pottery to cook 
 their food in, and that they may have hot water (gravy) 
 to drink. 
 
 ' We are moving on. It seems that what brought 
 Aruako aft was a remark he overheard from some one 
 in the canoe, " What can Motu do if we use our weapons 
 will they live ? " He then came aft and said, " What 
 do you say ? Are you ashore, that you speak so ? Say 
 more, and you will have to swim ashore.' And seeing 
 the piece of rope, he stepped into the canoe ; and the 
 man in front, fearing he was going to carry out his 
 words, drew his club. Of course all our boys pose now 
 the bravest of the brave. I fear the other canoe is in 
 much trouble, and they are now making for Pisi. We 
 are nearing Vailala, and for the first time yams have been 
 cooked a sign they hope to get in to-night. 
 
 * Oct. 10. Two canoes got in to Vailala before us 
 yesterday. We got in about seven p.m., making the 
 passage after dark. What excitement ! We hoped for
 
 198 Life on a Lakatoi 
 
 a clear sunset, but the sun disappeared behind a thick 
 covering ere taking his nightly bath. When nearing the 
 passage, orders were many, and great were the prepara- 
 tions made. We must go in on the other tack. " 'Bout 
 ship," and all young fellows were warned to keep to 
 their stations, fore-and-aft men stand with paddles, the 
 hawsers are all got ready to be thrown to the crowd 
 standing on the point, who were to pull us over the 
 bank and up the stream. The deep passage was avoided, 
 as the wind was light and the river-current strong. 
 
 ' When I heard that the hawser was to be handed ashore, 
 I gathered my books and a few things I wished to keep 
 dry together, intending if possible to get them ashore. 
 For I expected nothing but a general smash-up of the 
 lakatoi in the great white surf on the bar. I looked 
 steadily ahead; on she goes, up, down. All around us 
 are terrific breakers. Ah! there it is now; one sea has 
 boarded us ; we are right in the breakers ; shore-lights 
 are guiding us, everybody is shouting; one man is 
 calling on his ancestors and talking to the wild seas, 
 and saying, " Oh, my lakatoi, my lakatoi ; oh, my lakatoi 
 will be broken." Well done, she is on the bank. I now 
 see that they all know what they are about. Hallo! 
 a terrific sea; she swings broadside to the sea but is 
 soon righted. A loud voice calls out, " Boys, don't be 
 afraid, keep to your stations." She is away, sails are 
 drawing, and the excitement is getting greater. There 
 is much shouting fore and aft, some are calling out, 
 " Pray, oh, pray ! " Forward we go on the tops of the 
 seas ; nearer, still nearer to the beach ; the men on the 
 shore are close by ; what now ? 
 
 4 The hawser is dropped and we are aground. There 
 is one great rush on to the platform and over the 
 bulwarks, fore and aft, regardless of the lakatoi coming
 
 Landing at Vailala 199 
 
 to grief. About 150 men have boarded us, shouting, 
 yelling, and rubbing- noses. What is it ? In the dark 
 one might think a certain undesirable region had opened 
 wide its portals and that the imprisoned got free. Oh 
 no, they are all excited friends ; with joy overflowing at 
 meeting us. All is right now. The majority step 
 overboard into the surf, seize the hawser, and soon walk 
 us away into calm water, and up the river to the village. 
 We are all right; with no damage done, not even 
 a wetting. 
 
 ' Friends innumerable claim me. Alas, alas ! I cannot 
 say I like this nose-rubbing; and, having- no looking- 
 glass, I cannot tell the state of my face. Promiscuous 
 kissing with white folks, male or female, is mightily 
 insipid but this ! When your nose is flattened, or at 
 a peculiar angle, and your face one mass of pigment! 
 Cover over the scene and say no more. 
 
 * When getting near the village a canoe came down to 
 us, and there was soon on board my old friend Avea, 
 calling out, "Tamate, where are Misi Lao and Misi 
 Haine ? " (Mr. and Mrs. Lawes). " I thought they were 
 to have been here long- ago." I could not see the face 
 in the dark, but I knew the voice well. " Let me go, 
 Avea; this hugging business on an empty stomach 
 is bad." 
 
 'The excitement was something terrible shouting, 
 bawling, screaming, kept up until ten p.m., when I landed 
 and made myself comfortable on the roomy verandah or 
 platform of a large dubu. The people in the dubu 
 received many instructions concerning me, and were 
 warned to be quiet and treat me well. 
 
 ' So ended my trip on board the Motu lakatoi, " Kevau- 
 bada." I enjoyed it much; it was unique, and I shall 
 not soon forget the kindness of all on board. They
 
 2oo Life on a Lakatoi 
 
 managed their cumbersome craft well, and would do so, 
 I doubt not, in much worse weather than we had. 
 I was more comfortable than I could have been on board 
 the whaleboat, in which I have often to make long- 
 voyages. We had not been in long when it blew hard 
 from the east, and about one a.m. it began to rain and 
 continued until daylight, a true torrid zone downpour. 
 
 ' What a day the next was ! These people need much 
 to be taught, constantly taught, that " the merciful man 
 is merciful to his beast." On board the canoes, goods 
 were early disposed of; arm-shells large and small, 
 tomahawks, native beads, shirts, and other articles were 
 given away, each going to his own particular friend. 
 And now the slaughtering or murdering in preparation 
 for the friendly feast is going on. Several dogs have 
 departed this life. They were caught by the hind legs 
 and their brains dashed out against the canoes. Horns 
 have been blowing, and pigs, some large, others of 
 ordinary size, have been brought in well bound, and 
 hanging on poles have had their skulls smashed with 
 pieces of wood or stone clubs. It is so horrible that 
 I dare not taste pork, but my expostulations are only 
 laughed at. They seem drunken with dogs and swine, 
 and to care for nothing else. Inside the bulwarks 
 there is a terrible mess betel-nuts, pepper, cocoanuts, 
 old and young, and sago, cooked and uncooked, with 
 natives squatting everywhere. Now is feasting time. 
 After a few days canoe-cutting will begin, and in return 
 for the things now given the natives of Vailala will help, 
 and when the new canoes leave give payment in sago 
 over and above that received all the time the lakatois are 
 here. All the pottery that has been brought from Port 
 Moresby is disposed of last of all. 
 
 ' My quarters are not at all bad. The dubu is large,
 
 Close of the Voyage 201 
 
 about fifty feet in height in front ; the platform I am on 
 is about ten feet from the ground, and one with the 
 flooring of the dubu. I am outside, preferring it for 
 light and air ; and hanging all round there are charms 
 large and small, nets used for river and surf fishing, and 
 fish-traps made like foolscaps of the spines of the sago 
 frond, bows and arrows, and a few clubs.' 
 
 Thus ended one of the most daring and striking 
 episodes in Tamate's personal history, and in the story of 
 New Guinea exploration and civilization.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 AMONG THE CANNIBALS OF MAIPUA 
 
 TAMATE took the voyage described in the last chapter 
 because he liked the novelty and adventure of it. But 
 he always made adventure help forward his great task 
 of getting to know and to become friendly with savages 
 he had not yet met. Hence the end of the voyage on 
 the lakatoi was only a starting-point for a visit he 
 was very eager to pay to Orokolo and the fierce 
 cannibals who dwelt there. He had no sooner landed 
 at Vailala than he began preparations for his journey 
 still further west. His diary at this time shows how 
 difficult it is to enforce the white man's views and 
 methods of work among savages. It also records some 
 of the most interesting of his early experiences in the 
 Gulf of Papua. 
 
 * I have just had to assert myself, and show my friends 
 here that I must not be hampered. Having given Mama 
 and Apohe of Orokolo presents, our dubu chief came up 
 and was very angry. He scowled, shouted, and talked 
 much. Having leather belts, I thought I would try 
 him, and went to give him one, pretending to think he 
 was angry with some one else ; but he gave me the belt 
 back. All right, my friend. With savages I exercise 
 patience. I put the belt in his bag, and then he looked 
 black as a dark thundercloud, and again began shouting 
 and talking loud, and on my approaching him would 
 have nothing to do with me. Now, I must have liberty
 
 ' Oh, Tamate, stay, stay ' 203 
 
 to do as I like, give to whom I like, and go where I like. 
 So it is now my turn to look black and to speak loud. 
 In Motu I tell the crowd to stand out of the way, and 
 then I call on the boys from the lakatoi to come at 
 once, and pick up my things, and turning round roll up 
 my mat and blanket to tie it up. Then the old fellow 
 came back saying, " Oh, Tamate, stay, stay. I was not 
 angry with you, but with others. Do stay ; do not leave 
 me." He then insisted on rubbing noses. The boys 
 came, and I got them to explain that I came for one 
 object ; and that if I could not attain that, I should return 
 with all I have ; that I must be allowed to do as I like, to 
 give what I like, and to whomsoever I like. The old 
 fellow says, " All right," and I must not be vexed. Just 
 so, that was exactly what I wanted him to say, and I am 
 not at all vexed. 
 
 'I hope to start on Saturday for Orokolo, spend 
 Sunday there, and on Monday morning away for 
 Maipua. Delay is dangerous with natives, and the 
 work of to-day is left until to-morrow, to-morrow, the 
 everlasting to-morrow, which never comes, and wearies 
 the soul out of all strength and power of doing anything. 
 I would get rid of to-morrow, if to-day were only long 
 enough. 
 
 4 Oct. 12, 1883. Rained, thundered, and blew all night. 
 My blanket was rather heavy this morning. The dubu 
 was well filled. The natives must have been packed 
 sardine fashion. This morning at prayers on the plat- 
 form Aruadaera prayed that their young men might 
 be saved from the devil's power, "and, if fishing in 
 the river by and by, be preserved from these devils 
 (crocodiles) floating about." Great is the demand for 
 fish-hooks. They are preferred to anything else, except 
 tomahawks. I wished to get a fine carved pipe, and
 
 2O4 Among the Cannibals of Maipua 
 
 offered a knife, but was refused. My boy, Friday, got 
 it for three fish-hooks. 
 
 'Here comes a swell in the most fashionable dress. 
 His woolly hair is tied well back, and round it is a circle 
 of bright red hibiscus flowers, backed by a coronet of 
 beautiful feathers, and enlivened in front with a chain 
 of white shells. On his forehead is a frontlet of shells ; 
 between the eyebrows a round shell, with a finely cut 
 piece of tortoise-shell something like a large watch- 
 wheel, and on each temple the same. In his nose is 
 a large piece of round shell, and hanging from his ears 
 are various fancy pieces of tortoise-shell. His face is 
 one mass of red ochre, and round his neck is a large 
 necklace made of small shells, and hanging underneath 
 are a crescent-shaped pearl-shell and a large boar's tusk. 
 On his arms are arm-shells and wrought armlets and 
 new bowstring guards, and round his waist a large 
 carved belt made from the bark of a tree and coloured 
 red and white ; his trousers consist of a narrow stripe 
 of native cloth of various colours, and ends hanging 
 down in front, and under his knees and ankles are very 
 nicely knitted garters and anklets. He feels himself 
 handsome, and knows that he is now being admired. 
 
 ' We have just finished school, the first attempt, and 
 we have held it on our platform. When teaching our 
 pupils to say "A" they were convulsed with laughter, 
 but, after a time, repeated that and other letters well, 
 one handsome old gentleman remembering so as to 
 repeat several letters alone. A few years ago we 
 prepared a sheet of sentences, the Commandments, and 
 Lord's Prayer in their dialect, and we now begin teach- 
 ing it here. We sung A B C to the tune of " Auld 
 Lang Syne" ; all tried to join, and it was like a thunder- 
 storm between two hills, or over a city.
 
 The Kaevakuku 205 
 
 'Oct. 13. I hoped to have left to-day for Orokolo, 
 but it is now raining very steadily, and likely to con- 
 tinue. Should it clear away, I will do my utmost to 
 start. The natives have Kaevakuku, or dancing in 
 hideous face-masks, here also. We saw the men wearing 
 the masks first on the other side, and, taking a canoe, 
 they crossed, paddling themselves. When coming along 
 the beach from their canoe some of the men and all the 
 lads in our dubu began shouting. Then they sprang 
 down from the platform, and ran away into the bush. 
 The shouting informed the people in the village of the 
 arrival of the masks, and the place was soon cleared 
 of all women and children. 
 
 4 The Kaevakuku are connected with a sacred festival, 
 and they hold the power of taboo over cocoanuts and 
 food required for the coming feast. All the men 
 engaged in Kaevakuku are sacred for at least three 
 moons before the feast, not seeing wife or children, 
 and not living anywhere near their own houses. They 
 have large masks, two, three, four feet in height, which 
 they wear when going about. These masks are generally 
 shaped like a fool's cap, and the face represents some 
 animal with a very long mouth and teeth. The hat 
 is made with small branches, wickerwork covered with 
 native cloth, painted white, red, and black. They wear 
 a cloak about two-and-a-half feet long, and a petticoat 
 or kilt about eighteen inches long, both made from the 
 fibre of the large yellow hibiscus. They are not nearly 
 so imposing as the Maiva Kaevakukus, who look like 
 walking haystacks with large masks on the top. 
 
 ' I have had to go to a feast at Kaevakuku. A large 
 crowd had assembled from the villages round, and many 
 from Orokolo. Everywhere there was food, cooked 
 and uncooked, in heaps and hanging on poles, chiefly
 
 206 Among the Cannibals of Maipua 
 
 sago prepared in every imaginable way. Betel-nuts 
 and pepper also abound. On the platform of my 
 friend Meka's dubu was a large quantity of cut-up 
 pork, and all around the platform streamers were flying, 
 made from the young- sago frond. I stayed down with 
 the crowd, as I had a better view than from the dubu 
 platform. 
 
 4 1 had not long to wait until there came a man dressed 
 in a tall hat, or mask, resembling some strange animal 
 with peculiar mouth and sharp teeth ; his cloak and kilt 
 were of yellow hibiscus fibre, and a small stick was in 
 his hand. He had come from some distance back in the 
 bush, where, I was told, many are assembled, and that 
 all the masks and dresses I saw the other day in the 
 dubu, with their owners, are kept there. He danced 
 about for a short time, when an old man came >efore 
 him with a large piece of pork, gave it to him, and 
 he went away, followed by two young- men carrying 
 a long pole of food, sago, cocoanuts, betel-nuts, and 
 pepper. 
 
 ' Another Kaevakuku followed and did the same as the 
 first, this time in the dubu ; the conch- shell is being 
 blown as for a pig, and soon a live one appears on 
 a pole between two men. It was placed on the ground, 
 Kaevakuku dancing round and over it, when a bow 
 and arrow were presented to him, and he backed a little, 
 said something, let fly, and the pig soon breathed his 
 last. The two men picked the pig up and all left, 
 followed by two youths carrying food. More Kaeva- 
 kukus came, this time five; and all danced until they 
 received presentation of pig, when they too cleared 
 out. So on it went until the whole eighty had been. 
 Some got dogs; whereupon they caught them by the 
 hind legs and struck the head furiously on the ground.
 
 Some New Guinea Masks 207 
 
 Not a few were displeased with the small quantity given, 
 and persistently remained until they got more. 
 
 4 1 walked into the bush about a quarter of a mile, 
 where there was a large crowd of men, some armed, 
 and everywhere I turned weapons could be seen. 
 Some were cutting up pigs, others dogs, putting the 
 pieces into uros and upon the fire to cook. Some 
 distance back was a large representation of Semese. 
 It was a mask, fully ten feet high, and three broad: 
 it was surrounded with feathers of various kinds, and 
 down the middle was curiously painted. I was anxious 
 to secure some of the masks, and especially the one 
 representing Semese, but was told that they all had to 
 be burned. I saw some of my friends, who assisted 
 me in securing seven, but neither love nor tomahawks 
 could obtain Semese. Soon, all round, fires were 
 lighted, and masks, cloaks, and kilts were blazing. 
 I could not remove the masks I had obtained until 
 dark, that no one might see them, and especially lest 
 a woman should, as, according to tradition, she would 
 soon sicken and die. I collected them and set sentries 
 to watch, as I feared in the burning mania they might 
 be seized. 
 
 4 So as to get away easily and quietly this morning, 
 Johnny and I packed last night in the dark. Our 
 friends here are afraid I shall take away everything 
 to Orokolo and Maipua. This is one of the difficulties 
 of travelling amongst savages. The people you are 
 with do all in their power to prevent you from leaving 
 them, and their neighbours or neighbouring tribes from 
 getting anything. 
 
 4 How interested they are in my writing ! Every day 
 when I am at it I have admiring crowds looking on. 
 When new arrivals come on to the platform it is
 
 2o8 Among the Cannibals of Maipua 
 
 the one thing most spoken about, and I am generally 
 pressed to do a little. 
 
 ' We really started this morning. The weather having 
 cleared up, and " the pride of the morning " departed, we 
 had breakfast and were away by nine o'clock. Passing 
 through the village on the other side I met my friend 
 Meka, who insisted on my visiting his dubu and drinking 
 a cocoanut. It is a very fine building. On entering, 
 it was very dark, but after a little I could see better. 
 There were eighty masks arranged down the sides, 
 forty a-side, and alongside each mask a stick. There 
 were drums ; pretty small ladders, made of cane, and 
 used to ascend when beautifying the dubu ; spears, clubs, 
 bows and arrows, and many other things. Outside there 
 is a splendid platform, at present surrounded with cocoa- 
 nut leaves because of Kaevakuku, so that impure eyes 
 may not peer into the mysteries. Overhead, very high 
 up, is the long peaked roof, in which many arrows 
 were sticking, and small pieces of wood ornamented 
 with feathers representing the spirits. Anxious to get 
 away, I bade my friend " stay," and promised, if 
 I had time on my return, to spend a night in 
 his dubu. 
 
 * The tide being low, we travelled along the beach in 
 a broiling sun. There was no wind, and although by 
 this time I ought to be accustomed to it, yet I did indeed 
 feel it hot. We passed several fishing parties, men with 
 nets about nine feet square attached to two sticks, which 
 they lifted up and down in the water. The women had 
 bag nets on a long stick, and used them much in the 
 same way. They had also small bags hanging from 
 their heads down their backs, and into which all fish 
 caught were put. The young lads had hand-traps made 
 of the ribs of the sago frond, with which they ran about
 
 Arrival at Mama's Dubu 209 
 
 and placed over fish, putting their hands in from the 
 top to catch them. 
 
 ' It was thirsty travelling 1 , and I longed for a cocoa- 
 nut, but was told to wait. So wait I did, until about 
 half-way, when I was told that friends from Orokolo 
 were coming to meet me. Soon I could see a white 
 shirt with red trappings in the bush, and I knew 
 my good friend Apohe was awaiting me, and with 
 him about fifty young- men. The native " champagne " 
 (cocoanut water) was all ready in dozens. Soon the 
 necks of the cocoanuts are flying, and serving-men are 
 rushing around handing 1 the cool drink to all new-comers. 
 When all have finished, I say I should like another bottle. 
 Orders are at once given to ascend to the cellar. A man 
 quickly climbs a tall cocoanut-tree, and in a few minutes 
 we have more in abundance, cooler far than the former, 
 and cooler and better than all the champagne ever pro- 
 duced in the wine countries of Europe. We drank it 
 under the beautiful shade of a splendid hibiscus, with 
 a magnificent grove of wine-cellars behind. Feeling 
 refreshed, we rose up and started, accompanied by over 
 a hundred armed men, who have come out to do honour 
 to Apohe 's friends. 
 
 'We left Kovara (Apohe's village) about three p.m., 
 came inland for some distance over splendid land, and 
 then on to the beach. I have never anywhere seen 
 children swarm as here; boys and girls in crowds 
 accompanied us, shouting, laughing, dancing, and 
 running with all the hilarity of happy youth. Side 
 by side Apohe and I walked in state, until we arrived 
 at Mama's dubu, where his lordship was dressed to 
 receive us. There was a very large crowd on the 
 platform. Mama was standing up in the centre with 
 a short lady's jacket on, and on his head for a cap 
 
 O
 
 2io Among the Cannibals of Maipua 
 
 a small coloured bag I had given him two years ago. 
 On my ascending the platform, he came forward to 
 meet me, to shake hands, and rub noses. 
 
 1 His dubu is a new one, and inside is comfortable and 
 clean. I soon entered and selected my sleeping apart- 
 ment, and then went out to be seen, examined, and 
 scrutinized by the crowd of old and young. My heavy 
 black travelling boots were the wonder of all, and cer- 
 tainly the majority thought I had peculiarly black feet. 
 The unlacing of one caused the mouths to be opened 
 wide. But when I took the boot off, how shall I 
 describe that terrific shout ? 'twas as of a mighty host, 
 and beggars all description. I removed my sock, and 
 then another shout, and those not too much afraid 
 pressed round the platform to have a nearer look, and 
 some even to feel the foot and so make sure. I exposed 
 my chest, and that, too, excited great wonder. What 
 seemed to astonish them much was the softness of the skin, 
 especially of the sole of the foot, which was carefully 
 examined. I thought I was safe enough here, but it may 
 be well for me not to do this at Maipua, as the cannibals 
 there might take a fancy to cooked feet and breast. 
 
 * About sundown I walked through the large scat- 
 tered village, which contained many good houses and 
 many wretched hovels. They seemed to throw all their 
 strength into building dubus. Everywhere near the 
 houses I saw small plantations of tobacco strongly 
 fenced. Men, women, and children, pigs and dogs, 
 all seemed terribly excited. On my return it was 
 getting dark, and my host having entered the gloomy 
 precincts of his dubu, there I went too. Sombre it 
 was indeed, and only here and there a small flicker 
 of light from dying fires, with natives asleep close by, 
 breathing heavily.
 
 Evangelizing the Savages 211 
 
 'Sunday, Oct, 14. Last night in the dark we had 
 evening- prayers. The deacon gave a short address. 
 I, through him, another, then he engaged in prayer. 
 It was a strange, weird meeting. There were about 
 a dozen present, and we taught them to pray, " O Lord 
 Jesus, give us light, save us." Nothing more ; it was 
 quite enough ; and will He not answer them ? The 
 deacon spoke to them for a long while, and told them 
 of God's love. 
 
 * This morning, long before I was ready to get up, 
 the crowd appeared, but, having been disturbed during 
 the night by some too lively bed-fellows, I rolled 
 myself up in my blanket and stole some sleep. Last 
 night in the dark one old fellow got up and spoke: 
 " Tamate, we are glad you have come again, that we 
 all might see you, as we heard so much of you ; we 
 thought you must be a spirit, now we see you are a 
 man like ourselves, only white." 
 
 ' We have just had service : a hymn, a few verses 
 of St. Matthew, and prayer by the deacon in the 
 Elema dialect. The deacon also gave an address on 
 God's love to man, and His desire that all might be 
 saved. Some are very attentive, others chew betel-nut 
 or smoke ; we are all squatting tailor-fashion. They 
 soon tire, so we finish. 
 
 * Aruadaera (the deacon) and Aruako have been 
 away for a long time, and have just returned. They 
 have, on the platform of the neighbouring dubu, been 
 telling the story of Divine love as expressed in the 
 gift of Christ. Again and again have they had to go over 
 the good old story. The people, they say, were much 
 astonished, and very attentive. 
 
 ' I hear Mama has sent on to Maipua to inform the 
 natives there of our arrival here, and that to-morrow 
 
 O a
 
 212 Among the Cannibals of Maipua 
 
 they are to come with their canoes to this side of the 
 river, Alele, and meet us. It is perhaps better they 
 should know beforehand. 
 
 ' Five p.m. One of the messengers sent to Maipua 
 has returned. To-morrow the chief and a large party 
 are to come and meet me. When the people there 
 heard that I had arrived at Orokolo they said, " You 
 only deceive us " ; so a piece of foreign tobacco was 
 produced, with the question, " Is that ours, or like it ? " 
 then they sat down and had a smoke, and all believed. 
 Two messengers went, but the people insisted on one 
 staying, so as to ensure the return of the other with the 
 party in the morning. 
 
 ' Oct. 15. Not starting early enough, we had to wait 
 for the ebb tide, and it was ten o'clock when we got 
 off. We had a very large escort to near the river 
 Alele, where we were to meet the Maipuans. We 
 reached the river about noon, having crossed one salt- 
 water creek. Our escort returned, they being at war 
 at present with Maipua. We saw a large canoe, with- 
 out an outrigger, approaching. On getting to the beach 
 close to where we were standing, a man sprung out 
 and ran up to me with open arms, giving me a hearty 
 squeeze. This was Ipaivaitani, the leading chief of 
 Maipua. We were soon all on board. Including crew, 
 we were eleven altogether. The current was running 
 strongly, and I felt rather dubious as to our getting 
 across at all, but it was an unwarrantable doubt, as we 
 got over without shipping a drop of water. On the 
 other side we took more on board until we numbered 
 twenty-three, and away we pulled through various 
 creeks lined with palms and mangroves, until we came 
 to a splendid river, the largest I have yet seen east 
 of Bald Head ; it is the largest without doubt, for I
 
 A Splendid Dubu 213 
 
 know them all. I call the main stream inland the 
 Wickham, after a dear friend. The current was swift, 
 it being ebb tide at the time of our crossing, but our 
 bark was handled so well that we got over all right. 
 This is the Aivei river on the chart. 
 
 ' We then came easily along from one creek to 
 another, through stinking swamps, until we reached 
 Maipua about five p.m. It is indeed a large village, with 
 splendid houses and fine large temples. I estimate the 
 population at from fifteen to eighteen hundred people. 
 But what a horrible hole ! a real swamp, with miles 
 of swamp all round. The streets are all laid with long 
 large trees, and in front of many of the houses, as in 
 front of the temples, long platforms of wood rise 
 gradually from the streets. The village is intersected 
 with small creeks, and these are crossed by very good 
 bridges. 
 
 ' The temple where I am sitting is the largest, and 
 it is the finest thing of the kind I have yet seen. 
 There are two large posts in front, eighty feet high, 
 and on these rests the large peaked shade, around 
 which there hangs a graceful fringe of young sago 
 leaf. The front is about thirty feet wide, and the 
 house is about 160 feet long, tapering gradually down 
 to the back, where it is small. Our compartment is 
 about twenty feet high and ten broad. The front is 
 a common platform floored with the outer skin of the 
 sago palm, and kept beautifully clean. The whole is 
 divided into courts, with divisions of cocoanut leaves, 
 nine feet high, on which hang various figures, not at 
 all good-looking. From the top to the cocoanut leaves 
 hang graceful curtains of the young frond of the sago 
 palm. Standing on the platform in front and looking 
 down the whole length along the passage or hall, with
 
 214 Among the Cannibals of Maipua 
 
 the various divisions and their curtains, it has a wonder- 
 ful effect. In each of the courts are numerous skulls 
 of men, women, and children, crocodiles and wild boars, 
 also many breasts of the cassowary. All are carved and 
 many painted. The human skulls are of those who 
 have been killed and eaten. The daintiest dish here is 
 man, and it is considered that only fools refuse and 
 despise it. 
 
 ' In the last court there are the same kinds of 
 ornaments, and then a screen with curiously formed 
 things of wood and native cloth hanging- on it ; also 
 sihis (their only clothing), belts, small bags, and other 
 things belonging to those murdered, which have been 
 presented to the gods. Inside that court is the most 
 sacred place of all. Few ever enter there. 
 
 ' On my arrival, I had to stand up in the canoe, that I 
 might be seen by all the people. On ascending the 
 wooden steps from the canoe to the platform, I was 
 conducted by the chief to the temple, where, sitting 
 down each side of the passage, were many men ready to 
 receive me. They never spoke a word while I went 
 down the centre and back to the platform, followed by 
 the chief; then they all rose, and after giving a great 
 shout gathered round me. The passage I walked along 
 had the appearance of glazed cloth, with various figures 
 carved on it ; it was carpeted with the outer skin of the 
 sago palm, glazed by the blood of the victims so 
 frequently dragged over it and by the constant walking 
 on it. After being examined and pronounced a human 
 being, I returned with the chief through the various 
 courts to the sacred place. I was allowed to enter, but 
 the chief was too frightened, and he remained outside, 
 and would only speak in a whisper to those near. I 
 entered into that eerie place, where small bats in
 
 Aruako and Aruadaera teaching 215 
 
 abundance flew about, and saw six curious-looking 
 figures, made of cane. The mouth was like a frog's, 
 enormously large and wide open ; the body, seven feet 
 high in the centre, and about nine feet long, had the 
 appearance of a large dugong. Out of these mouths 
 flew, in constant succession, the small bats. 
 
 ' The whole temple looks splendid, and although my 
 new friends are cannibals, yet it goes to show that they 
 are something beyond the mere wild savage : might I 
 call them " cannibal semi -civilized savages " ? In the 
 various courts are fireplaces, alongside which the men 
 sleep. The chief, Ipaivaitani, has given me his quarters, 
 but I do not think I shall sleep in them. 
 
 * I have just had breakfast and dinner all in one. I 
 could have enjoyed it better if there had not been so 
 many skulls in a heap close by, some of which were 
 tolerably new. These skulls are at present down for 
 cleaning and repairs, but when all is in order they are 
 hung on pegs all round ; no scientific collection could be 
 better kept. 
 
 ' Oct. 1 6. Slept outside on the platform, and had 
 a splendid night. Aruako fulfilled his promise, given at 
 Orokolo, and for long held forth to the crowd of 
 listening cannibals on Adam and Eve, Noah and the 
 Flood ; and both he and Aruadaera spoke about Jesus 
 our Lord and His love. It was a strangely weird scene. 
 A large dark temple, lit only by flickering firelights; 
 a crowd of savages, real cannibals, who pronounce man 
 to be the best of all flesh, and whose wives also relish it. 
 Human skulls in abundance ornament the various courts, 
 and at the end, in the most sacred place, six Kanibus, or 
 great idols, who hold life and death, fighting and peace, 
 within themselves. In the centre of this weird crowd sit 
 Aruako and Aruadaera, both of them until recently wild
 
 216 Among the Cannibals of Maipua 
 
 savages themselves, preaching Christ as the revealer of 
 God's love and the Saviour of sinful men. It was the 
 most attentive congregation of the kind I have ever met. 
 They listened well, asked questions, and expatiated 
 freely on what they heard. Soon after sunset the service 
 commenced, and when I sought sleep it was still going on. 
 
 ' When I awoke, the sun, I found, had preceded me, 
 and Aruako and Aruadaera were still talking and listen- 
 ing. I went into the dubu, and looking my friend 
 Aruako, who was now quite hoarse, in the face, I said, 
 " Arua, have you been at it all night ? " He replied, 
 " Yes, and when I lay down they kept asking questions, 
 and I had to get up, go on and explain. But enough, I 
 am now at Jesus Christ, and must tell them all about 
 Him." 
 
 ' Yes, my friend had reached Him to Whom we all 
 must come for light and help and peace. When Arua 
 had finished there was but one response from all their 
 lips : " No more fighting, Tamate ; no more man-eating ; 
 we have heard good news, and we shall strive for 
 peace." 
 
 ' To the Kanibus, or gods of the dubu, the inhabitants 
 of Maipua give offerings ; pearl-shells, arm-shells, pigs, 
 human beings, and skulls. The sick apply to them for 
 healing, their friends presenting gifts. When wishing to 
 fight, they appeal for direction and help to these wicker 
 images ; and they assured me they get directions audibly 
 from their mouths. For days before any fighting is to 
 take place all the men are sacred, and no woman must 
 be seen or approached ; and when one of their number 
 is wounded, he is accused of breaking through the 
 sacredness. All the bodies of the slain are dragged 
 by the heels into the dubu and up to the sacred place, 
 where they are presented to Kanibu.
 
 Their Fondness for Flowers 217 
 
 ' I have just returned from visiting other dubus in the 
 village. A good part of the visiting was done in a canoe. 
 One dubu is 200 feet long, and has in its sacred place 
 twelve Kanibus. The carpet of sago bark down the 
 centre passage is really beautiful ; it has figures of men, 
 crocodiles, and other creatures carved along all its length. 
 The men, as yesterday, sat in rows down each side to 
 receive me, not speaking a word. The two Motuans 
 with me are terribly afraid of going near the sacred 
 place ; they have heard some awful stories of the mighty 
 doings there. In each dubu we preached Christ, God 
 the Father's expression of love, and begged of them to 
 give up fighting and man-eating, which they faithfully 
 promised to do. 
 
 ' Near all their dwelling-houses they have small 
 flower-gardens. A platform is made about ten feet 
 high, surrounded with a fence, and inside earth, brought 
 from far inland and the coast, is placed to the thickness 
 of about two feet. Various kinds of plants are grown, 
 but, in the majority, tobacco prevails. I think these 
 gardens furnish further evidence that there is a kind 
 of civilization amongst these people ; and this taste for 
 the beautiful can surely be worked upon with much 
 good result. 
 
 ' I grow weary of walking on the trees of their streets 
 and bridges, and some of the latter are very shaky 
 indeed. The tide is just now high, and it is simply water 
 everywhere, not an inch of dry land to be seen. The 
 houses inside are commodious, and each wife has her 
 own compartment, with its fireplace and all necessary 
 utensils for cooking. I was much pleased with the 
 cleanly appearance of their houses. 
 
 ' I am at last in the canoe on the return journey. 
 When about to leave, a very old man came with a broken
 
 218 Among the Cannibals of Maipua 
 
 piece of an uro, saying, " Will you not pity us, and get 
 Motu to visit us ? I have only this to cook food in, and 
 others have nothing at all." The last cannibal feast they 
 had lost much of its relish from their not having large 
 supplies of gravy ! 
 
 ' We made a splendid start in a large canoe, and had 
 an escort of nine other canoes. Leaving the village, the 
 tide being now on the ebb, we floated gently down 
 stream, questioning and being questioned. Our Vailala 
 friends were glad indeed to get off, as they were terribly 
 afraid of being killed, cooked, and eaten ! Arua tells me 
 it was near daylight when he sought a little sleep. They 
 spent the whole night going over and over the grand old 
 story of God's love. 
 
 ' The sun was frightfully hot, but fortunately we had 
 frequent shade. I had to sing constantly for the natives ; 
 and we met two large canoes of women, and nolens 
 volens I had to sing for them, in order " that when 
 Tamate's face is lost they may hear his voice, and weep 
 that he so soon leaves Maipua." How delighted they 
 were when I showed them my sewing-gear. And the 
 pocket-knife with its many blades they will not soon 
 forget. 
 
 ' Now for the last time comes the request, " Would you 
 mind undoing your shirt and showing us your chest, 
 that we may have one look and feel before you leave ? " 
 Mute astonishment possessed all who had not seen it 
 before ; the other canoes closed round, and I allowed all 
 who wished to put their hand on me. This gave great 
 satisfaction ; and then came the farewell words, " Tamate, 
 come back soon, very soon ; do not disappoint us, and 
 we will bring you every where on the rivers." 
 
 ' Orokolo. We spent an hour on the west bank of the 
 Alele with our cannibal friends. They gave us cooked
 
 Return to Vailala 219 
 
 sago and cocoanuts. Our friends seemed, and no doubt 
 were, very sorry to part with us. They are to be at 
 Vailala soon, to meet the Motuans, and secure if possible 
 a few uros. Before entering the canoe the chief knotted 
 two strings with nine knots ; one string he kept, the 
 other he gave me, so that I might know that he will be 
 in Vailala after nine sleeps (nights), if the weather should 
 be fine. 
 
 4 Oct. 17. About four a.m. we were ready to start for 
 Vailala, and walking along the beach in the cool, accom- 
 panied by Apohe and others, we arrived at Perau about 
 eight. Johnnie and I crossed the river in a very rickety 
 old canoe, in which I got soaked for the first time during 
 the trip. The soaking came all right, but I was in 
 terror of the " devils " (crocodiles), and felt really happy 
 when the canoe touched shore. 
 
 1 We found all well, and all right glad to see us back. 
 Our things were just as we left them. The old chief put 
 a taboo on our division of the dubu, and so prevented 
 the intrusion of stragglers and thieves. 
 
 * A successful mission has for many years been carried 
 on among these fierce cannibals first by Tamate and his 
 native teachers, and then by Tamate's friend and col- 
 league Mr. Holmes.'
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 HOW NEW GUINEA CAME UNDER 
 THE FLAG 
 
 THE annexation of New Guinea was talked of long 
 before it came to pass and the Union Jack was hoisted, 
 and then the transaction was cancelled several times before 
 the final and authoritative act. In this Tamate took an 
 active part, and was able to render great service to the 
 government officials concerned, by explaining matters 
 to the native chiefs, by securing their good-will and 
 friendship, and by inducing them to come on board 
 the men-of-war to meet Commodore Erskine and the 
 other officers entrusted with this important duty. 
 Dr. Lawes rendered most important aid at Port Moresby 
 and the neighbourhood, while Tamate's influence with 
 the natives was such that he did what no other man 
 could have accomplished in the Gulf of Papua, at the 
 east end, and along the north-eastern coasts of New 
 Guinea. We give the sketch of this important public 
 service in Tamate's own words : 
 
 ' I was in the Gulf hard at work placing teachers and 
 visiting the various mission stations when I received 
 a letter from Mr. Lawes, suggesting that I should return 
 to Port Moresby, and so be in time for a grand display 
 of British power. Anxious to see the grand display 
 that would be made by the full Australian Squadron 
 with the commodore in command of the largest ship in 
 the Pacific waters, and also to behold the pageantry of
 
 Flag hoisted at Port Moresby 221 
 
 the final hoisting of the British Union Jack on New 
 Guinea soil, I hastened back to Port Moresby. We 
 found the " Harrier " and the " Raven " in harbour still 
 waiting for the others, and daily expecting the com- 
 modore in the battleship " Nelson." On Saturday, 
 November i, 1884, the " Swinger" came in from Cook- 
 town, and on Sunday about midday the " Nelson," and 
 soon after the " Espiegle," arrived, followed some days 
 later by the " Dart." It was a peculiarly busy and 
 exciting time. Native chiefs from a coast-line sixty 
 miles in extent were assembled to witness the hoisting 
 of the flag. 
 
 ' On the afternoon of November 5 all the chiefs were 
 assembled on the " Nelson," and after a feast, the prime 
 essential in all transactions with a native, the commodore, 
 surrounded by his officers, read the official address. 
 This was interpreted to all the chiefs present by the 
 Rev. W. G. Lawes, and when he had finished they were 
 all asked if they understood what was meant, and all said 
 that they did. Another very important part of the 
 palaver then took place, each chief being handed a suit- 
 able present by the commodore. Several shots were 
 fired from two of the big guns, which astonished the 
 natives much. At night the electric search-light was 
 shown, blue lights were burned and rockets fired off. 
 All of these incidents were thoroughly appreciated by 
 the crowds on shore ; but when the climax of the day 
 came in the weird, fiendish, and altogether unearthly 
 noise of the syren, man and beast alike became alarmed. 
 Sometimes it sounded as if away back in the hills, then 
 as if in the village, then from the reef, and finally from 
 a long, long distance, only to shriek forth again uncan- 
 nily close at hand. Dogs rushed madly about, but soon 
 escaped into snug places where they thought themselves
 
 222 How New Guinea came under the Flag 
 
 safe. Human beings asked one another what it meant, 
 grew alarmed, fearful lest fiends from nether regions had 
 been exorcised to this sphere and to this particular spot ; 
 and they too sought the shelter of their houses. This 
 ended the ceremonies for that day, and for one night at 
 least peace reigned in the village of Port Moresby. 
 
 ' November 6 was the day of days for Port Moresby, 
 and for all who saw the grand sight when New Guinea, 
 or rather its south-eastern portion, was taken under the 
 very powerful wing of Her Most Gracious Majesty, Queen 
 Victoria, her heirs and successors for all time coming. 
 Although previous actions of taking possession were 
 more complete, and to some seemed more statesmanlike, 
 yet this act was expressly ordered and arranged to 
 supersede all the earlier acts. 
 
 ' Soon after breakfast, boats landed officers and men, 
 blue-jackets and marines. They were soon followed by 
 Commodore Erskine, who was met on the beach by 
 a large number of his officers and the band of the 
 "Nelson." They marched up from the beach to the 
 mission premises, where the great act took place, 
 the band playing all the way. The blue-jackets and 
 marines were drawn up round the flagstaff, whilst the 
 commodore, his officers, and the missionaries took their 
 stations on the verandah of the mission -house. 
 
 'When all was ready, the commodore, standing in 
 front, read the Proclamation, which was immediately 
 afterwards translated by Mr. Lawes to the native chiefs. 
 Firing of salutes and cheering then took place, and the 
 final and complete annexation of New Guinea was 
 accomplished. It is impossible to conceive of its being 
 better done than it was then, and perhaps no better man 
 could have been selected than Commodore Erskine to 
 perform the ceremony.
 
 Motumotu and Freshwater Bay 223 
 
 * The following day the men-of-war weighed anchors 
 and sailed for the west. That night they anchored in 
 Hall Sound, and on Saturday, November 8, in the pre- 
 sence of chiefs from all the districts round, hoisted the 
 flag on a flagstaff erected by the blue-jackets that 
 morning on a hill overlooking the village. The same 
 care was taken by the commodore here as at Port 
 Moresby, that all should thoroughly understand what 
 was done and the reasons for doing it. Queen Koloka 
 of Naara, who calls herself Queen Victoria's sister, was 
 present, and told the commodore everything he said 
 was good. She received presents, and so did the other 
 chiefs. 
 
 ' After Hall Sound the squadron visited Motumotu and 
 Freshwater Bay. The chiefs slept one night on board 
 the " Nelson," feeling safe and at home, and the following 
 morning landed with the commodore and party to see 
 the flag hoisted and hear the proclamation. The natives, 
 men, women, and children, crowded round the flagstaff, 
 and showed no fear whatever. At each place a stick 
 with a silver queen's head on the top a florin, I sup- 
 pose was given to the principal chief. Here it was 
 given to Semese, an old warrior, the very picture of 
 what an- old savage should be. His days of active life 
 were over, but he still walked stately and erect about 
 Motumotu, seeing with his one eye as much as any two 
 ordinary good ones. In the fighting ardour of the youth 
 of the tribe he took delight ; but he had been brought to 
 think that peace was better, and to use his influence 
 on its behalf. 
 
 *On Tuesday all the ships were back again at Port 
 Moresby, where a few days were spent, during which 
 the officers made various journeys inland in quest of 
 game.
 
 224 How New Guinea came under the Flag 
 
 ' On Monday, Nov. 1 7, in the afternoon, the meeting 
 of chiefs from all round Hood Bay and Aroma took 
 place on board the " Nelson." All were delighted with 
 their reception, and thoroughly approved of the address 
 and of its objects. Some of the chiefs, to be certain of 
 their position, put questions, and had them satisfactorily 
 answered, and they left, saying it was all good. On the 
 morning of Nov. 18, the commodore, officers, and a party 
 landed at Kerepunu. In a square, named then Espiegle 
 Square, in front of the principal chief's house, the Union 
 Jack was hoisted on a flagstaff that had been erected 
 that morning by the carpenter and a few blue -jackets 
 from the "Espiegle." On Wednesday, Nov. 19, the 
 " Espiegle " called at Toulon, and Captain Bridge read 
 an address to the chiefs and people, and told them to 
 warn the Cloudy Bay natives against interfering with 
 white men. At Argyle Bay, near Dufaure Island, the 
 ships again met the " Nelson," and after getting all the 
 chiefs in the neighbourhood on board the flagship, 
 the same formalities were gone through as in the other 
 places. On the morning of Thursday, Nov. 20, the flag 
 was hoisted in the presence of a large number of natives, 
 who nearly all fled when the firing begun. On the after- 
 noon of the same day all were anchored in front of the 
 mission station on Stacey Island. 
 
 ' On the following day the flag was hoisted at Suau. 
 Here the chiefs complained to the commodore respecting 
 two of their youths, who had been staying at Moresby 
 Island, and were taken to Queensland for three moons, 
 and who had not yet returned, although nearly a year 
 had passed. The commodore promised to do his utmost 
 to have them sent back, which gave great satisfaction, 
 and, if accomplished, will help much in showing the 
 natives that the promises of the Protectorate are real.
 
 Climbing Cloudy Mountain 225 
 
 * Whilst the squadron was at anchor at Suau a party 
 was got together from the various ships to ascend Cloudy 
 Mountain. As fine and hearty a number assembled on 
 the beach as it was possible to wish for. The senior 
 officer was Captain Bridge of the " Espiegle," and next 
 was Captain Henderson of the " Nelson." Several other 
 officers, blue-jackets, and marines, with some of the 
 missionaries, composed the party. About thirty natives 
 came to act as guides and carriers. The ascent was 
 steep, and in some places difficult, because of the thick 
 scrub. Before getting to the top, and whilst some were 
 shouting " Excelsior," others, I fear, were thinking of the 
 comforts on board ship, and the folly of undertaking such 
 a useless business, and would gladly have gone back. 
 About four p.m. the top was reached, and all at once 
 went to work forming camp, then to cooking and making 
 all comfortable for the night. 
 
 ' The mountain mist was very heavy, and came down 
 in copious showers ; blankets were stretched over wood 
 to form tents, and so preserve us from the very heavy 
 rain. It was a jolly party, and as sleep was out of the 
 question to the majority, the greater part of the night 
 was spent in smoking and singing. The natives enjoyed 
 the sport, and entered fully into the spirit of the fun, 
 singing songs of their own, so as not to be outdone by 
 "Beritani dimdims." At midnight my blanket- fellow 
 turned round, saying, "Just think of the comfortable 
 bed at the mission house and the folly of being here." 
 
 * The following morning the Union Jack was fastened 
 to a long pole made from a tree, and set up, a mark 
 to all comers that in solitude as well as in busy scenes 
 Britain's voice must be heard. Some Britons think the 
 world was made for the Anglo-Saxon. Three cheers 
 were heartily given under the grand old flag, and we 
 
 P
 
 226 How New Guinea came under the Flag 
 
 descended, leaving it to fly alone, a wonder to all living 
 things up in those solitudes. 
 
 'The descent was soon made, and at the bottom 
 breakfast was prepared, where all assembled perfectly 
 ready for refreshments. Feeling better and livelier, all 
 started for Bertha Lagoon, where boats were met, and 
 by one p.m. all were on board their various ships, and 
 the natives at their homes rejoicing in what they con- 
 sidered good payment. 
 
 4 On Sunday the " Espiegle " arrived at Moresby Island 
 with natives of that island who had been taken to 
 Queensland under false pretences. They had escaped 
 from their plantations, and risked a cockle-shell boat 
 in a south-east gale and the chances of being murdered 
 by savages, rather than remain in servitude any longer. 
 Fortunately they made Murray Island, and were kindly 
 treated. Their friends on Moresby Island had given 
 them up and mourned for them as dead, blackened 
 themselves, and put on various articles of mourning, 
 and cooked food for their spirits. Some of their friends 
 came on board, having heard that some of the lost ones 
 had returned, and the scene was most affecting. On 
 landing they were received with great demonstrations 
 of weeping, and many were the questions they had to 
 answer respecting others. A chief who was amongst 
 those returned landed in our boat, and when met on 
 the beach he tried hard to play the Stoic. Several 
 women threw themselves at his feet crying, then rose 
 and went a few yards away, crying bitterly, he standing 
 at the waterside gazing into space. It was too much 
 for him, and his stoicism giving way he sat down, and 
 the women gathering round him he gave free vent to 
 his feelings. 
 
 'The natives were not ungrateful for the kindness
 
 Bringing a Chief on Board 227 
 
 shown them, and in the evening they brought off a pig, 
 and a large quantity of food for Captain Bridge. Many 
 came off begging the captain to bring back the others, 
 saying, u You have brought light and joy to some homes, 
 but what of the darkness and sorrow in others? We 
 thought them all dead, and our mourning is great ; we 
 have no glad tears ; no, not until you bring ours back." 
 They wept bitterly ; if the captain would only go now 
 and get them, they would fill his ship with pigs and 
 food. Captain Bridge begged of them, or at all events 
 some of their chiefs, to accompany him in the "Espiegle" 
 to meet the commodore at Dinner Island ; but there 
 was ever the one answer, " No, we will not go ; bring 
 back our boys." 
 
 'The squadron met on Monday, Nov. 24, at Dinner 
 Island, where the flag was hoisted and the same cere- 
 mony gone through as at other places. When finished, 
 the flagship and one or two others weighed anchors 
 and made for Killerton Island, near East Cape, the 
 " Swinger " calling at Discovery Bay and at Kabi, both 
 in Milne Bay. We had no difficulty in getting my old 
 friend of Vagavaga on board, but at Kabi the old chief, 
 who had just left a cannibal feast to meet us, was not so 
 sure. Linking my arm in his, I walked him into the 
 boat with his son, and before he had time to think of 
 the situation we were well off on our way to the ship. 
 The people on shore were crying and calling on him 
 to return, but that was now out of the question. After 
 being some time on board he began to breathe more 
 freely, and felt it was all right. He told us the men 
 were out that morning, and had killed three belonging 
 to a neighbouring village, one man and two women ; 
 the latter were left for their friends to remove, the 
 former was taken and eaten. 
 
 Pa
 
 228 How New Guinea came under the Flag 
 
 ' That night he accompanied the Vagavaga chiefs on 
 board the " Nelson," and the following morning all were 
 present at the ceremony ashore, which must have been 
 to them very terrible. They too had complaints to 
 make of men who had been taken away to Queensland 
 for three moons and not returned. 
 
 * The ceremony ashore being over, early after break- 
 fast all the ships cleared away for Teste Island, the most 
 westerly of the Louisiade Group. Here they came to 
 the end of proclaiming and explaining. On the follow- 
 ing morning, Wednesday, Nov. 26, all were full of life 
 on board the ships, for all knew the end of the 
 business had come, and Sydney was not many days 
 distant. Some were disappointed because they had 
 received orders to remain for a while longer on the New 
 Guinea coast. A flagstaff was erected on the north-west 
 side of the island, and at nine o'clock the final ceremony 
 was performed. On the arrival of the party on board 
 there was a lively scene alongside the " Nelson." Many 
 canoes had drawn near, and the occupants were plenti- 
 fully supplied with tobacco, for which they had to dive. 
 That noxious weed was thrown overboard quite regard- 
 less of quantity, since it was known that no more would 
 be required to procure curios. 
 
 * It was impossible, I think, to have such work better 
 done than it was by Commodore Erskine. Everywhere 
 the Address and Proclamation were carefully explained 
 to the natives, and it was evident they understood it, 
 from the questions they put and the remarks they 
 made. I do not know of a single hitch anywhere in 
 all the proceedings. About midday I went on board 
 the " Raven," the " Nelson," with Mr. and Mrs. Lawes 
 on board, steaming away to the south. 
 
 *The following morning the "Raven" returned to
 
 Tamate as Interpreter 229 
 
 South Cape, where I went on with my mission work, 
 placing New Guinea natives as teachers amongst their 
 own countrymen. The last few weeks had been full of 
 excitement and considerable knocking about in ships 
 and boats by day and night, and I was not sorry for 
 a rest and change of work.' 
 
 'In December, 1884, H.M.S. " Raven " received instruc- 
 tions at Cooktown to proceed immediately and take me 
 on board, and with all dispatch proceed to Huon Gulf, 
 and there hoist the British flag. The " Raven " arrived 
 at Port Moresby, after picking up the " Ellengowan " and 
 towing her in, on December 26. Commander Ross was 
 anxious, according to instructions, to get hold of me, and 
 he knew, " No ' Ellengowan ' no Chalmers " the former 
 reaching port, the latter was ready to go. There was 
 some difficulty in getting natives to coal the " Raven " ; 
 but even that was overcome, and on Dec. 27 she was 
 again ready for sea. This terrible haste astonished the 
 New Guinea natives, who, generation after generation, 
 have been accustomed to do as their fathers did move 
 by seasons, and not press time. 
 
 'On Sunday morning by daybreak we were away, 
 having Tamate on board as interpreter. The errand 
 of the 'V Raven " was to proclaim a Protectorate over all 
 the then unknown annexed portion of New Guinea. 
 With tide and wind in our favour, instead of getting to 
 South Cape by six p.m. we were there before noon. 
 Three weeks before the "Raven" had been there, and left a 
 teacher belonging to the London Missionary Society, well 
 and hearty, a jolly, kind-hearted fellow whom all liked, 
 and who was a favourite with the natives, one who had 
 done the London Missionary Society good and faithful ser- 
 vice. The first words spoken to us on the beach were, 
 "Mataio is dead." He had died suddenly from yellow fever.
 
 230 How New Guinea came under the Flag 
 
 ' Natives, in charge of a fine young New Guinea 
 teacher, were sent to get spars suitable for flagstaff's. 
 Long before sundown they came in with six good spars 
 suitable to hoist our good old flag on. Next morning 
 by daybreak we were off for Dinner Island. I was 
 anxious to get Paulo, a native chief, and finding that he 
 had just gone to Heath Island, we accordingly steamed 
 there, and soon picked him up. We found Heath Island 
 and Hayter Island at war. Captain Ross told them there 
 must be no fighting until he returned and met the chiefs 
 and decided the whole affair. I liked that, and felt 
 proud of our British Protectorate. 
 
 1 We then steamed for Killerton. The mission station 
 here is a model farm, splendidly laid out, and sufficiently 
 extensive for all purposes. The kindness of these South 
 Sea Island teachers beat everything. On our return to 
 the ship we were laden with presents, and our excellent 
 commander was much concerned what to do in regard 
 to a return present. On the last day of 1884 we left 
 Killerton, and steamed away for East Cape, soon to find 
 our exit barred by innumerable reefs ; so we had to 
 right about, hold away in, round the reefs, and then run 
 close by Lydia and the smaller islands, and steam full 
 speed through Goschen Straits. 
 
 ' It was a splendid sight : on the left the high mountains 
 of the east end of New Guinea rising until their tops 
 were lost in clouds, and on the right the grand bold 
 land of Normanby Island rising still higher magnificent 
 outposts of the grandest island in the world. Very little 
 level country was to be seen on either hand, but plenty 
 of what may yet be the region of large tea, coffee, and 
 cinchona plantations. All night we kept on, our gallant 
 commander being anxious to carry out his instructions 
 to the letter, and if possible get to Huon Gulf the next
 
 In Porlock Bay 231 
 
 day. Well, Fortuna favet fortibus. At daybreak we 
 were amongst countless reefs and ugly pointed rocks. 
 " Back," "slow," "ahead," "back," and so on ; for hours 
 we were wending our weary way through these sea 
 terrors. 
 
 ' In the afternoon we anchored in Porlock Bay, and 
 soon preparations were made for landing. " Lower 
 boats, lash spar to gig, embark blue -jackets and marines," 
 were the orders given, and then Captain Ross, his officers, 
 myself with the native interpreters, followed. A few 
 natives were seen on the beach, but on the approach of 
 the boats they all, except two, disappeared in the bush, 
 and these also decamped on our getting nearer. Our 
 native interpreters at once got out in the surf and gave 
 chase, coming up to one about a mile inland. They say 
 he was terribly frightened, and would on no account 
 return with them. They gave him presents, and not 
 being able to speak to him, not knowing the dialect, by 
 signs begged of him to accompany them ; he, by signs, 
 told them he would go inland and get all his friends, 
 and then return. He left, not to be seen again. 
 
 'The captain, feeling anxious for the bush party, 
 went inland some distance, and meeting them, returned 
 to find the staff erected and all ready. They then hoisted 
 the flag, and from the " Raven " twenty-one guns were 
 fired. The blue -jackets and marines gave three rounds 
 feu-de-joie, and then, to conclude, three hearty English 
 cheers rang out for the Queen. The captain buried 
 a bottle containing the Proclamation, and left a large 
 present near the flagstaff. 
 
 * In the evening we saw from the ship about a dozen 
 natives near where the presents were left. They were 
 carrying sugar-cane, and we at once landed. On our 
 nearing the shore all disappeared, and we found the
 
 232 How New Guinea came under the Flag 
 
 presents untouched, the present given to the man met 
 in the bush returned, and lying alongside the other 
 things, and close by a large bundle of good sugar-cane, 
 and eighteen cooked bread- fruit. Our interpreters went 
 into the bush, but did not succeed in seeing any one. 
 We left, taking their present, and leaving all ours. We 
 pulled some distance round the bay, hoping to meet 
 some one, but failing, and night and rain coming on, we 
 returned to the ship. 
 
 ' On January 3 we left early, and steamed slowly along 
 the coast. We anchored near to Caution Point, and 
 were delighted to see numbers of natives on the beach. 
 At sunrise next morning we went ashore, and were met 
 by a large crowd, and helped through the surf. They 
 danced madly round us, and each sought a friend. They 
 dug the hole, and carried up the staff, and assisted to 
 erect it; but when the blue-jackets and marines fell in 
 and marched up to the staff, and the doctor was seen 
 fixing his camera, what they thought we know not, only 
 there was a general stampede to the bush. We detained, 
 by coaxing, about a dozen natives, and with them the old 
 chief, whom we all liked. Fearing to frighten them, 
 there was no firing, only, after reading the Proclamation, 
 presenting arms to the flag aloft ; then were three lusty 
 British cheers given, and again a few decamped. We 
 gave presents all round, and to the old chief several, 
 including a tomahawk, which he certainly did not know 
 how to use or what it was for. The majority now 
 returned, and witnessed the old chief receive the 
 Proclamation and take charge of the flag. 
 
 4 A series of similar incidents on the return voyage 
 closed the proclaiming of the Protectorate over all this 
 country or countries between Huon Gulf and East Cape, 
 and all the islands of the D'Entrecasteaux Group. The
 
 Commodore Erskine's Testimony 233 
 
 work was well done, and Captain Ross and his officers 
 shunned no difficulties in doing it well.' 
 
 In his official report, dated Sydney, December, 1884, 
 Commodore Erskine wrote: 
 
 4 It will readily be seen that it would have been 
 impossible for me to have carried out this programme 
 without the assistance of the Revs. Messrs. Chalmers 
 and Lawes, whose acquaintance with the people and 
 knowledge of their habits are well known and acknow- 
 ledged. From the moment of my arrival these gentle- 
 men have placed their invaluable services entirely at my 
 disposal. They have been ready day and night to assist 
 me in every possible way ; they have spared no pains in 
 translating and explaining the terms of the Proclama- 
 tion and addresses which I have made, and in collecting 
 the numerous chiefs who, but for them, would never 
 have come near the ship. 
 
 * These gentlemen, who first came and settled single- 
 handed amongst these wild and cannibal tribes about 
 ten years ago, have by their firm but conciliatory and 
 upright dealings, established such a hold over the 
 natives, as many a crowned head would be proud to 
 possess. I have been lost in admiration of the influence 
 which they command over these savage but intelligent 
 people. 
 
 'Under these circumstances I desire to testify to the 
 invaluable services which have been rendered to me 
 by Messrs. Chalmers and Lawes, and to express the 
 hope that they will be duly acknowledged by Her 
 Majesty's Government. The wonderful confidence shown 
 by the natives must be entirely attributed to their influence.' 
 
 It need scarcely be said that the Government paid 
 no attention to the commodore's hope that some official 
 recognition of their services would be made. Many
 
 234 How New Guinea came under the Flag 
 
 difficulties would be averted, and not unfrequently 
 bloodshed and expense avoided, if the officials of Britain, 
 which is professedly a Christian country, could bring 
 themselves to believe that missionaries are intelligent 
 men who love their own country none the less because 
 they are seeking to uplift the savages or the heathen 
 among whom they live. 
 
 It is only fair to bear in mind that the last thing any 
 true missionary desires is government reward. In all 
 parts of the world missionaries place their services at 
 the disposal of the government when this can be done 
 without interfering with their proper work, and they 
 do this ungrudgingly and without the desire or the 
 expectation of any recompense. But the ordinary 
 Christian Englishman sometimes gets indignant when 
 British officials make all kinds of wild blunders in 
 dealing with foreign peoples, from which they could 
 be saved if they were as ready to consult the missionary 
 as they are the globe-trotter and the trader. Not for 
 the benefit of the missionary, but for the credit of our 
 government, it would be a desirable change if the high 
 authorities of our Foreign and Colonial Offices could 
 convince themselves that a man who has given his life 
 to the work, and who knows the language and thoughts 
 of the people, is at least as good a judge and as sound 
 an authority to be consulted as the consul, who knows 
 little about the people and cares even less, or as the 
 man who is living abroad simply to make money and 
 then depart. 
 
 Officers like Commodore Erskine often acknowledge 
 in the handsomest way their indebtedness to mission- 
 aries ; but so far as the British Government is concerned, 
 in official action and official speech, missionaries are 
 not always regarded as men of knowledge and common
 
 Tamate a 'Really Great Englishman' 235 
 
 sense whose experience should be turned to good 
 account. 
 
 We cannot better close this chapter in the life 
 of Chalmers than by recording the testimony to his 
 worth, and the exceptional value of the services he 
 rendered to the nation, given by Vice-Admiral Bridge. 
 In a letter to the Times, dated May 4, 1901, Admiral 
 Bridge said : 
 
 'I first met Mr. Chalmers in 1884, when the British 
 flag was hoisted in Southern New Guinea by the present 
 Sir James Erskine, who then commanded the squadron 
 on the Australian station. I was at that time serving 
 under Sir James's orders ; and I am sure that my 
 distinguished chief will be most ready to testify to 
 the value of the assistance rendered him in a difficult 
 operation by Mr. Chalmers and his colleague Dr. Lawes. 
 
 'Mr. Chalmers accompanied me in the ship I then 
 commanded on an expedition to Kapakapa and Kaile, 
 on which I had been sent by Sir James Erskine. At my 
 earnest request Mr. Chalmers again accompanied me, 
 early in 1885, on a special expedition in H.M.S. " Dart," 
 accompanied by the present Captain W. Usborne Moore 
 to North-eastern New Guinea and Rook Island. His 
 vigilance, cheeriness, readiness of resource, and extra- 
 ordinary influence over native savages made his help quite 
 invaluable. I can honestly say that I do not know how I 
 should have got on without him. He had an equal 
 power of winning the confidence of savages quite unused 
 to strangers, and the respect, and even love, of white 
 seamen. Notwithstanding the great inconvenience and, 
 I fear, not inconsiderable expense to which he had been 
 put by giving his valuable services in the expeditions 
 mentioned, he firmly refused to allow his name to be 
 officially submitted in any claim for pecuniary remunera-
 
 236 How New Guinea came under the Flag 
 
 tion, or even to accept the legitimate compensation to 
 which he was entitled. 
 
 ' It is difficult to do justice in writing to the character 
 of this really great Englishman. One had only to know 
 and live with him in out-of-the-way lands to be convinced 
 that he was endowed with the splendid characteristics 
 which distinguished our most eminent explorers and 
 pioneers.' 
 
 Another of the officers concerned in these events 
 wrote in later years : 
 
 'New Guinea is an unknown tropical corner of our 
 Empire, and from a commercial point of view of com- 
 paratively little value; but the pioneer work done by 
 James Chalmers in opening up communications with the 
 natives, and thus rendering Europeans' exploitations 
 possible, was emphatically imperial in character. As an 
 explorer and pioneer, his name should stand high in the 
 annals of our Imperial history. With regard to the man 
 himself, I can only consider myself as most fortunate to 
 have, in a very small way, shared in his work, and to 
 have been accounted by him amongst his friends. He 
 will ever live in memory as a rich emotional nature allied 
 with finest fighting qualities of our Saxon race, and as 
 one who achieved difficult and disappointing work with 
 noble sympathy and courage.'
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 BOYS WHOM TAMATE TRAINED 
 
 TAMATE had all the qualities of a great leader. Hence 
 when those with him would have hung back in dangerous 
 duties, his courage and power carried them forward. 
 The native teachers whom he either trained or led did 
 splendid service in New Guinea. Up to the full measure 
 of their ability they toiled hard to teach the New Guinea 
 savages all that they themselves knew. And many of 
 them died bravely in lonely stations while doing the 
 work with which Tamate had entrusted them. He has 
 sketched for us the character and work of some of these 
 men, who may fairly be taken as examples of like 
 courage and devotion shown by large numbers whose 
 names even are unknown. 
 
 ' Piri, who was in charge of the station at Boera when 
 I first landed in New Guinea, was a noted character. He 
 was a very powerful man, stronger far than any New 
 Guinean I have met. He was born at Avarua about the 
 year 1835, twelve years after the landing- of Papeiha, 
 who was the first teacher to bring the Gospel to the 
 islands. Piri attended the village school, and was taught 
 to read and write there. As he grew up towards man- 
 hood, he cast off all restraint, and gave way to all the 
 evil passions of the youthful native. Orange-beer 
 drinking was introduced about this time from Tahiti, 
 and spread all round the island. 
 
 'Piri was one of the ringleaders in making the orange
 
 238 Boys whom Tamate trained 
 
 beer and drinking it, and was often fined. In 1857 the 
 law was executed with a little more stringency, and 
 several times Piri came under its ban. For this he 
 blamed the white missionary, and determined to kill 
 him with his own hands. 
 
 ' Once when drunk Piri took a spade and made for the 
 mission house. He was seen, and a party armed with 
 sticks and having a rope set off in pursuit of him. As 
 he was getting on to the verandah of the mission house 
 they seized him, and with great difficulty bound him, 
 and led him back to the coast. He was kept in charge 
 for some days, and when really sober saw the terrible- 
 ness of the crime he had been saved from committing, 
 and vowed that, with God's help, he would never again 
 taste drink. He began attending the services, and 
 became truly converted. 
 
 ' Piri became a man so filled with the Holy Spirit as 
 to earnestly seek the salvation of souls, and felt com- 
 pelled to go to the heathen. He joined the Institution, 
 and after a four years' course was sent to Samoa to 
 take charge there of a colony of Cook Islanders. He 
 hoped in this way to get nearer than he could at home 
 to the fulfilment of his great desire. He did good work 
 whilst in Samoa. His wife died there. Some time after, 
 Maki, the widow of a teacher who died in the New 
 Hebrides, landed at Apia on her way to her home on 
 Mangaia. Piri asked her in marriage, and she consent- 
 ing, they were married. 
 
 ' This wife was a very fine woman. Piri was her 
 second husband. In the New Hebrides fever attacked 
 the missionary party, and all except two women, Piri's 
 wife one of them, died. These women were at first 
 afraid they would be taken by the chiefs and kept as their 
 wives ; but one old chief took them, and treated them as
 
 Piri a New Guinea Pioneer 239 
 
 his daughters. For long- they waited, and every morn- 
 ing they used to ascend a small hill at the back of the 
 house, and scan the horizon for a sail. Even when sick 
 with fever they used to crawl up. It was a long weary 
 waiting, and then one died, leaving Maki alone. All 
 hope of ever getting away was given up, but after nearly 
 two years, when Maki one morning ascended to the look- 
 out she saw a speck in the far-away distance. As the 
 speck increased, and the ship came near, the poor 
 woman was overjoyed, and wept profusely. The old 
 chief was sorry to lose his daughter, but when the 
 vessel, which turned out to be the "John Williams," was 
 off the island, and the boat came ashore, he accompanied 
 her to the boat weeping bitterly. The "John Williams " 
 had been to England in the interval, hence the delay, 
 
 'In 1872 Messrs. Murray and Wyatt Gill had been 
 appointed to take the first batch of teachers to New 
 Guinea, and see them landed safely somewhere on that 
 savage island. In July, 1872, they left Rarotonga in 
 the "John Williams," calling at Samoa on their way to 
 New Guinea. There Piri and his wife pressed Mr. Gill 
 so hard that they might be taken to New Guinea that 
 he consented, and so they made the sixth couple in the 
 company of native teachers. 
 
 4 Piri was a very fine specimen of humanity. He was 
 about six feet two inches in height, and large in pro- 
 portion. When they arrived in Redscar Bay Mr. Murray 
 and Mr. Gill decided to land them all at Manumanu. 
 Piri landed in a flaming red shirt, which was long 
 remembered by the older natives. The natives respected 
 him much and feared him. He was not easily moved to 
 anger, but when he was once aroused it was advisable to 
 keep out of his way. 
 
 ' I remember on one occasion arriving at Boera in the
 
 240 Boys whom Tamate trained 
 
 night, and going up to Piri's house to have a sleep. 
 Everything was left in the boat, so as to be ready to 
 start when the tide suited, we then having no fear of 
 thieves. After breakfast, the boat being afloat, I went 
 on board with the crew, and we found that not a row- 
 lock was left. Piri was on the beach with his wife, 
 and I landed and told them what had happened. His 
 wife got very wroth, but no one seemed to mind her as 
 she went through the village demanding the return of 
 the rowlocks. We then sent for the chief and headmen, 
 and met them in Piri's house. Piri quietly told them 
 that the rowlocks must be returned to the boat. The 
 chief and headmen had a run through the village, but 
 it was of no use. Piri, now thoroughly roused, stalked 
 to the end of the village and demanded the rowlocks, 
 and said that no one should leave the village until they 
 were returned, and that every house should be searched. 
 He looked as if he meant what he said, and then in a 
 very strange way we received back the rowlocks from 
 a woman who said she had found them in the street. 
 I never again missed anything when at Boera.' 
 
 From Manumanu Piri and his wife were removed with 
 the others because of serious illness, fever being very 
 bad there. One man had died and three of the women. 
 Finally all were removed to Somerset, to be near Mr. 
 Murray. In November, 1873, being much better, the 
 teachers were returned to New Guinea and placed at 
 Port Moresby. For sixteen years Piri and his wife did 
 good service at Boera, and their work was blessed. 
 * Piri accompanied me in many of my trips, especially 
 to the west in the Gulf. Several Gulf natives who had 
 stayed at Boera, and received many kindnesses from 
 Piri and his wife, gave us a good welcome to their 
 villages, and made our stay with the people much more
 
 Death of Phi 241 
 
 satisfactory than it might otherwise have been. He is 
 said to have introduced the large potato, and for years 
 along both the east and west coast it was called by his 
 name. In 1878 he and his wife spent a few months 
 with us at Suau, and I saw much of Piri then. He was 
 a good man, and a man of prayer, and when addressing 
 new teachers he always told them to live much in 
 prayer, and to remember that Jesus our Master was 
 never far away, but ever near. In 1887 he and his wife 
 accompanied us to Motumotu. While there he was 
 attacked with dysentery. He got better, and as soon 
 as he was able to travel he left us, we hoping to meet 
 him again at Boera, but his work was done. They 
 got safely to Boera, where he had a relapse, and they 
 were taking him to Port Moresby to Mr. Lawes when 
 he died on the way, in January, 1888. In May of the 
 same year his wife followed him. She was to have 
 gone home to Mangaia, but I was glad she was called 
 to higher service where her husband was. They both 
 rest side by side at Boera, near to the house on the hill 
 by the village. 
 
 4 What can I say of Ruatoka ? As a young man, we 
 were greatly attached to him and his wife. He was 
 born at Tamarua, Mangaia, in the year 1846. His 
 parents dedicated him when young to the work of God. 
 When a lad he attended Mr. Wyatt Gill's school, and 
 made fair progress. He joined the church, and after- 
 wards came to live with the missionary in order to 
 prepare for entrance into the Rarotonga Institution. 
 He married Tungane, the daughter of a very excellent 
 Christian couple. Her father had for many years been 
 the missionary's right-hand man. He and his wife came 
 to the Institution. As a young man he was very tall 
 and very thin, and I feared not very strong. He was 
 
 Q
 
 242 Boys whom Tamate trained 
 
 all that could be desired, and I never once heard any- 
 thing- against him or his wife. We became very much 
 attached to them. 
 
 ' The year before sending the first contingent of 
 teachers to New Guinea, and before any had been 
 selected for the work, Ruatoka broke down in health, 
 and I feared would never be able to go out. Re- 
 covering a little, I appointed him one of the pioneer 
 band, contrary to the strongly expressed views of many 
 in Rarotonga, who thought I was throwing away a 
 valuable life. Both Ruatoka and his wife were in 
 ecstasies at the thought of going, yet they were afraid 
 with a great fear that I might be influenced to change 
 the appointment, and detain them. Going about to 
 the villages agreed with him, and he certainly grew 
 stronger. Those opposed to his going even in the 
 last week thought it was a sin to send him only to die 
 shortly after landing on New Guinea. But I felt con- 
 vinced I was right in sending them, and for years he 
 was the only one remaining out of that band and of 
 several subsequent bands that were sent. 
 
 ' In the first years Ruatoka and his wife had very 
 hard times, knowing much sickness, often suffering from 
 hunger, and their lives frequently threatened. They 
 have often had to keep watch all night, lest they should 
 be attacked unawares ; for the natives everywhere prefer 
 that style of fighting. All subsequent bands of teachers 
 were landed at Port Moresby, and then placed at their 
 stations by the white missionary. Ruatoka and his wife 
 were as father and mother to these newcomers. When 
 the sick teachers were brought to Port Moresby they 
 nursed them day and night. Many died, and Ruatoka 
 and his wife made their coffins, superintended the dig- 
 ging of their graves, and gave them Christian burial.
 
 Ruatoka's Courage and Strength 243 
 
 'In 1878 a large party of gold prospectors came to 
 New Guinea, making Port Moresby their head quarters. 
 Very many of them became sick, and many died, and 
 to them all Rua and his wife were ever kind. Ruatoka 
 did much for them. Once he heard the prospectors 
 were about to be attacked by inland tribes, and he 
 determined if possible to stop it. Getting together a 
 few Port Moresby, Motuan, and Koitapuan natives, he 
 marched inland, visited the prospectors, and told them 
 what he had heard. They feared that something was 
 about to happen from the stealthy ways the natives were 
 seen to move about. At times some had approached 
 near to the camp at night, and one prospector had been 
 badly used by some natives. 
 
 ' Rua had heard the tribe were to meet at Moumiri, 
 and so he determined to go right in amongst them. 
 The prospectors chose a party from amongst themselves, 
 all armed, to accompany Rua, and if necessary fight for 
 him ; but Rua decidedly objected, and went with his 
 natives right into Moumiri, where there was a great 
 gathering of armed men from all the region round. At 
 first the natives threatened him, but he took no further 
 notice than to say, " Why do you want to kill me ? what 
 have I done ? " He then reasoned with them, preached 
 to them, prayed for them, and the end was that they all 
 dispersed to their homes. The prospectors on his 
 return thanked him, as they were very anxious to be on 
 friendly terms with all the natives, and succeeded in 
 being that right through. 
 
 'On two occasions Ruatoka carried prospectors a 
 long distance on his back to his own house, and so 
 saved their lives. One was Neville, a gentleman by 
 birth, and an army man, who begged of the prospectors 
 in Sydney to be allowed to accompany them for the 
 
 Q2
 
 244 Boys whom Tamate trained 
 
 sake of adventure. He was on his way in from the 
 Larogi to Port Moresby, and was taken very ill, and 
 lay down to die. Natives found him, but as it was 
 getting near night, and he looked like dying, they 
 were afraid to touch him. They on arriving at Port 
 Moresby told Rua, and he begged them to return with 
 him, and help him. But no New Guinea native could 
 do such a thing, as the spirit might ever afterwards 
 haunt them. 
 
 4 Ruatoka got a long piece of cloth, a small lantern, 
 and bottle of water, and started in the dark. About 
 five miles out he was searching in the long grass when 
 he heard low moaning, and going whence the sound 
 came he found poor Neville nearly dead, quite un- 
 conscious. He gave him a little water, then fastening 
 the cloth round him he bent down, and taking the two 
 ends in his hands, and using all his strength, he got the 
 sick man on his back, and began his return journey. 
 He had to cross a range of hills over 300 feet high, and 
 as day was breaking he arrived at his house, and laid 
 the sick man on their one bed, to be cared for by his 
 wife, whilst he lay down dead beat. Neville was nursed 
 back to life, and was able to return inland, where some 
 time after he died from another attack of fever. 
 
 * Rua was a true Sabbatarian, and it often vexed his 
 soul to see the abuse of that sacred day. No Sabbath 
 passed that Rua did not make some reference to it to 
 the few natives who attended the services. It was hoped 
 gold would be found in large quantities, and a German 
 thought the best paying concern would be a store. So 
 he built one a little way from the back of the mission 
 ground. When the store was finished he wanted a 
 cook-house, and that he got a Scotchman who was in 
 from the river to put up. The roof was put on, and
 
 Ruatoka's Rebuke to White Men 245 
 
 on the Sabbath, when Rua was holding his forenoon 
 service, there was the loud noise of hammering iron. 
 For a short time he stood it, but at last, telling his 
 audience to go home, he went to his own house to get 
 an English Bible, in which he found the chapter and 
 verses containing the Fourth Commandment. He then 
 marched to where the cook-house was being put up. 
 * The German and a friend were sitting on the door- 
 step of the store, and saw the teacher coming, and 
 wondered what was the matter, as he looked very 
 solemn. The Scotchman was on the top of the cook- 
 house. Rua came just beneath him, and knowing only a 
 little Pidgin English, he said, pointing to the man on 
 the house, "Say, come down." The white man was 
 somewhat astonished to have such a peremptory order 
 from a coloured man, and did not answer. " Say, you 
 know savee, I speak come down." The white man 
 found his tongue, and I believe his wrath exploded 
 in fearful cursing. Again Rua said, "What do you 
 talk ? You white fellow send missionary along my 
 country, and my country he get good, and he like 
 Sabati much. Before my countrymen he eat you, 
 but no now. I come along New Guinea, I speak man 
 Sabati he tapu, no work, no fish, no hunt, no build 
 house on Sabati ; and New Guinea man, he say, Ruatoka, 
 you make lie, white man, he work Sabati. What for you 
 make him ? Come down." Once again very forceful 
 adjectives, and the teacher's wrath rises. The tall, 
 powerful man at last makes as though he would ascend 
 the ladder, when the German, knowing well what would 
 take place, shouts out, " Rua, my friend, stop ! " and to 
 the white man, "You fool, come down at once, can't you 
 see it is our friend the teacher, and we are wrong?" 
 Rua was roused, so when the white man came down, he
 
 246 Boys whom Tamate trained 
 
 handed him the Bible, and ordered him to read the 
 verses he pointed out, and at once. The white man did 
 it, and then the teacher said, " God, He speak, you no 
 work now. Put down hammer belong you." There was 
 a quiet Sabbath for the remainder of the day. 
 
 'I took many trips with Rua along the coast and 
 inland, and ever found him an excellent travelling com- 
 panion. It was when away on one of these, looking out 
 for an inland position as a head station, that his wife 
 was left in entire charge, and she conducted schools 
 and services just as when Rua was at home. One 
 Sabbath morning she was speaking about God's love 
 in giving Jesus, and that day the services were well 
 attended. In the afternoon she spoke of the need for 
 the Holy Spirit to work in all their hearts, and said 
 that when He did they would be changed and love 
 Jesus. Nearly midnight, long after she and her girls 
 had gone to bed, there was a knock at the door, and 
 she called out, " Who is there ? " she was answered, " I." 
 " Who are you ? " again, " I." No native likes giving his 
 name. The girls were awakened, and one of them 
 recognized the voice as that of Aruadaera, and said so. 
 Then she called out, " Is it you, Aruadaera ? " and he 
 answered, " It is." " What do you want ? " " Open the 
 door and let me in, and I will tell you." He was 
 evidently in great distress, but she replied, " It is now 
 very late, and we are all in bed, so come in the morning." 
 " No, now ; I cannot wait until the morning." 
 
 ' She had to strike a match, and light the lamp, and let 
 him in. " Now, what is it ? " "I do not know what it 
 is, but I am afraid, and I think it must be the Spirit you 
 spoke of working in my heart. I am afraid to lie down, 
 lest I should die, for I know I am bad." So then and 
 there she told him of Jesus, and prayed for him, and
 
 Death of Ruatoka 247 
 
 advised him to go home, and come back in the morning ; 
 but he insisted on hearing more, and being prayed for 
 again. He left, but before daylight was back again, 
 and sitting outside the door waiting for it to be opened. 
 He accepted pardon through Christ, and became quite a 
 changed man. He was the first baptized native in New 
 Guinea. For many years he was a deacon in the Port 
 Moresby church, and an earnest Christian man. He 
 was well advanced in years when he was converted, but 
 he learned to read and write. Three of his daughters 
 became wives of teachers, and did very excellent work. 
 He was a great help to Ruatoka in many ways. 
 
 'In December, 1885, Ruatoka lost his wife, after 
 a very short illness. She had shared the sufferings of 
 the first hard years of the mission, and had been the 
 first to teach girls to read, sew and iron. Some time 
 after Ruatoka married the widow of a teacher, and she 
 became a very great help to him in all his work. 
 
 4 During the many changes of white missionaries at 
 Port Moresby, Ruatoka stuck bravely to his work there. 
 For twenty-six years he had only one change, and that 
 to Cooktown, where he spent a few days. He was 
 greatly respected by all. The governor, government 
 officials, and all the whites spoke highly of him, and the 
 natives looked to him as to a father. His was a grand 
 career.' 
 
 He did not long survive his beloved master Tamate. 
 After the news of his death at Dopima Ruatoka asked 
 to be allowed to go and preach the Gospel to the 
 savages who had killed unwittingly their best friend. 
 But this, though it shows the spirit and courage of 
 Ruatoka, could not be. His long and useful life closed 
 in 1903. He died at Port Moresby in a ripe old age, 
 respected by all who ever met him, and beloved by those
 
 248 Boys whom Tamate trained 
 
 who had worked by his side and seen the beauty and 
 power of his life. 
 
 We give two or three other examples of how the love 
 of Christ can and does transform savages into happy 
 and useful Christian workers. Tamate wrote of another : 
 
 ' Pi was the first of the Rarotongan boys brought up 
 under my care who desired to become a teacher. He 
 was a quiet, good boy, and although not over quick, 
 was a good plodder, and made progress. His father, 
 Paniani, was a queer mixture, a man full of good 
 intentions, but weak, and ever stepping- forward, only 
 to drift back again. He gave his son gladly to the 
 work of Christ, and he ever spoke of his son, who 
 was for Christ's sake preparing for foreign work, as 
 an honour to his father. After some years Pi wished 
 to prepare for New Guinea. He married a quiet, in- 
 telligent girl, and they both lived happily with us. 
 After four years of student life he and his wife were 
 sent to New Guinea. No one could ever say an evil 
 word of either of them. During all the years Pi was 
 with us I never once heard his name connected with any 
 evil. 
 
 * He stayed with us for some time at Suau, and then 
 I placed him at the Leocadie. But in a short time so 
 many teachers died that I was forced to bring- Pi back 
 to take charge of Suau, and right well he did his work. 
 There he lost his wife, and after some time he married 
 the widow of one of our teachers, and she dying-, he 
 was again left a widower, and for a long time simply 
 gave himself to his work. In 1885 he married the 
 widow of one of the teachers murdered at Kalo, but 
 she only lived a short time, and in 1887, when on a visit 
 to Port Moresby, Pi died. He was greatly mourned by 
 the natives of the east end of New Guinea, for whose
 
 Pi's Translation of Mark's Gospel 249 
 
 uplifting he had worked hard during ten years. He 
 was quiet and lovable, and yet very firm. These were 
 qualities not found in the New Guinea savages, yet 
 thoroughly appreciated by them. 
 
 'In 1878, at Suau, I translated a few hymns and two 
 chapters of Mark's Gospel. For a long while these 
 were all the literature we had to help us in our work. 
 Pi gained a wonderfully correct knowledge of the 
 language, and I urged him to translate the Gospel of 
 Mark and to get the assistance of the most suitable 
 natives. After a long time he finished the Gospel, 
 revised, and re-revised it, and then, accompanied by the 
 natives who had helped him, brought the manuscript to 
 me at Port Moresby, and we together again revised it, 
 and then sent it to Sydney, where it was printed. The 
 New Guinea Mission could do with many more men 
 like Pi.' 
 
 When Tamate returned to take up work at Toaripi 
 he had relied greatly upon the help of a young devoted 
 native teacher named Tauraki. But shortly before his 
 return the natives of the Moveave district murdered him. 
 Tauraki was the son of Elikana, a native of Rakaanga, 
 one of the islands of the Penrhyn Group, the man, who 
 by a series of adventures among the most romantic and 
 striking in the history of the Pacific, was the agent in 
 introducing Christianity into the Ellice Islands. Tauraki, 
 his son, had in early days been a favourite pupil in 
 Chalmers's boys' school in Rarotonga, and followed him 
 to New Guinea, and settled at Toaripi. 
 
 Chalmers in a letter dated September 38, 1887, tells 
 the story of his end : 
 
 4 Tauraki, who was murdered, his wife and child and 
 ten natives, left their homes one Sunday night about ten 
 o'clock, and went down some distance to an island just
 
 250 Boys whom Tamate trained 
 
 at the mouth of a river, and slept there, so as to be ready 
 for an early start in the morning. They wished to 
 ascend the river, and collect the bulb used in making the 
 best arrowroot. Monday and Tuesday were spent in 
 collecting this bulb. They returned down the river on 
 Tuesday afternoon, and when approaching a bend they 
 saw a large number of canoes, each with the fighting- 
 wisp in front. They tried to get back by another route, 
 but that way was also blocked. They then just drifted 
 down the stream, and the canoes closed on them. 
 
 'Tauraki's wife begged him to fire a shot from his 
 fowling-piece or rifle, and thus to frighten the natives, 
 but he would not. There was a contention amongst the 
 enemy some pleading that there should be no fighting, 
 others declaring that they would murder the whole 
 party. Hoping to make friends, the wife distributed 
 some tobacco ; but soon the arrows began to fly. 
 Tauraki's child was wounded by an arrow. His wife 
 was also wounded, and two natives fell dead. She had 
 the fowling-piece in her hand, and fired, and the shot 
 scared those near. Tauraki's party had two canoes 
 lashed together, and some of their natives sprang over- 
 board and got between the canoes. His wife with the 
 child followed, and the husband stood up with several 
 arrows sticking in him, and began firing his rifle. This 
 scared the enemy, and they all plunged into the river. 
 
 ' Those with Tauraki who were still alive, and his 
 wife and child, got into the canoe, and paddled away. 
 It was then getting dark, and they were a long way 
 from home. Their great want was water, but they kept 
 on, and about midnight got to the beach near their own 
 house. On landing the child expired. The teacher and 
 wife were helped up to the house of Mr. Edelfelt, resident 
 at Toaripi, who with his wife did everything possible for
 
 Story of Tauraki 251 
 
 them. But on Saturday morning Tauraki died, the wife 
 recovering. 
 
 4 Five natives of Motumotu who had been in Tauraki's 
 canoe were dead. The attack was really made in order 
 to kill the natives with him. If Tauraki would have 
 consented to go on board one of the enemy's canoes, 
 with his wife and child, all would have been well for 
 them. But that he nobly refused to do, saying that he 
 would stand by his friends, and if need be die with them. 
 Eh, 'tis a sad, sad story. He was our very best teacher, 
 and from him I hoped much.' 
 
 In a subsequent letter of this time, Chalmers wrote : 
 'We had another teacher and his wife at Motumotu. 
 In January of this year the husband died from fever, 
 and a few months later the wife followed. Yet there is 
 light in the darkness lives given to Christ and man. 
 Following in His footsteps, they count not their lives 
 dear ; as He went to Calvary, knowing all, so do they, 
 trusting in Him, and following His example. Christ 
 shows us how to live, and also how to die, and there are 
 still Calvarys with their grand life-ending.'
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 LIFE AT TOARIPI 
 
 IN 1886 Tamate revisited Great Britain for the first 
 time in twenty-one years. He made an immense number 
 of friends. He spoke at many meetings both small and 
 great, and wherever he went he became an inspiration 
 to those who met and heard him. His influence ex- 
 tended far beyond the ordinary religious circles because 
 his sympathies were so wide. The secret of this influence 
 is found in speeches like that which he gave at a great 
 meeting in Exeter Hall. 
 
 'I have had twenty-one years' experience amongst 
 natives. I have seen the semi-civilized and the un- 
 civilized; I have lived with the Christian native, and 
 I have lived, dined, and slept with the cannibal. I have 
 visited the islands of the New Hebrides. I have visited 
 the Loyalty Group, I have seen the work of missions in 
 the Samoan Group, I know all the islands of the Society 
 Group, I have lived for ten years in the Hervey Group, 
 I know a few of the groups close on the line, and for at 
 least nine years of my life I have lived with the savages 
 of New Guinea ; but I have never yet met with a single 
 man or woman, or a single people, that your civilization 
 without Christianity has civilized. For God's sake let 
 it be done at once! Gospel and commerce, but remember 
 this, it must be the Gospel first. Wherever there has 
 been the slightest spark of civilization in the Southern 
 Seas it has been because the Gospel has been preached
 
 Tamate's Eloquence 253 
 
 there, and wherever you find in the Island of New Guinea 
 a friendly people, or a people that will welcome you, 
 there the missionaries of the Cross have been preaching 
 Christ. Civilization ! The rampart can only be stormed 
 by those who carry the Cross. 
 
 4 Recall the twenty-one years, give me back all its 
 experience, give me its shipwrecks, give me its standings 
 in the face of death, give it me surrounded with savages 
 with spears and clubs, give it me back again with spears 
 flying about me, with the club knocking me to the 
 ground, give it me back, and I will still be your mis- 
 sionary ! 
 
 4 How do we preach the Gospel ? No, we do not go 
 with a black coat and white necktie, standing in the boat 
 with a Bible in our hand. We go as man to man, to 
 try and live the Gospel.' 
 
 Tamate returned to New Guinea in June, 1887. He 
 had determined to make Motumotu or Toaripi, to give it 
 the correct name, his new head quarters. This station 
 lies some distance to the west of Port Moresby, and the 
 natives there were a wild, rowdy lot. They thus pre- 
 sented an especial attraction to Tamate. While at home 
 he became engaged to be married to an old and intimate 
 friend of his first wife, and in 1888 this lady came out 
 to him, and they were married at Cooktowri. Together 
 they went to Toaripi to attempt to establish there a 
 Christian home, and a centre of light and help for the 
 wild natives who hitherto had rejoiced only in robbery 
 and bloodshed. The following description of the place 
 and people and conditions of life there is from the pen 
 of Mrs. Chalmers : 
 
 4 There are a great number of creeks about Toaripi, 
 near the coast, and often when the Port Moresby natives 
 came up, the tide was high, and they found the creeks
 
 254 Life at Toaripi 
 
 full of water, which turned the place into a number of 
 islands. So they named the district Motu-Motu, for in 
 their language Motu means an island, and Motu-Motu 
 is the plural, meaning a number of islands. 
 
 ' I first arrived at Toaripi in the middle of the night, 
 and could not see anything, except wild-looking, dark 
 figures, waving lighted torches, and dancing about in 
 great excitement amidst showers of bright sparks. Next 
 morning I was awake early, and heard a great chattering 
 outside. At first, for a few moments, I could not re- 
 member where I was. I will tell you about our room, and 
 you can imagine how strange it looked when I opened 
 my eyes. The walls were of dark and very rough- 
 looking wood ; the planks did not fit well together, and 
 so daylight showed through in many places. A high 
 thatched roof, well and evenly done ; no windows ; three 
 doorways, but never a door, simply a native mat before 
 the two outer doorways, and a blanket hung before the 
 one leading to the other room. The partition between 
 the rooms was about seven feet high, half the floor 
 covered by a native mat, and on it our mattress. Two 
 boxes and an empty packing-case, with a bowl on it, 
 served as washstand. 
 
 ' A little light showed over the partition from the 
 open doors of the next room. The voices seemed very 
 close to me, and when I looked down, where the mat 
 did not cover, I saw between the floor planks several 
 dark forms moving about underneath the house ; for 
 you must remember the house was built on piles six feet 
 above the ground. 
 
 ' When dressed I drew aside the mat which did duty 
 for a door. Glorious sunshine, and the grand sea waves 
 rolling up to within a few yards of the house. On the 
 strip of sand in front a great number of natives waiting
 
 Mrs. Chalmers at Toaripi 255 
 
 to see me. Very many children bright, happy-looking 
 boys and girls : some full of mischief and pranks, and all 
 anxious to see the white lady. When I appeared there 
 were shouts of welcome, and all called me by the name 
 of Tamate Hahine, that means Tamate's wife. 
 
 ' How I longed to be able to talk to them, and to 
 understand what they were saying about me. I wanted 
 to ask and answer many questions, but of course I could 
 not do so. I was evidently a great curiosity to them. 
 The bolder ones came up, took hold of my hands, 
 touched my hair, and examined my clothes. They were 
 especially interested in my shoes and stockings. As 
 I sat on the verandah or platform, they could reach my 
 slippers ; first they stroked, and then ventured to draw 
 them on and off. You would think the children very 
 strange, and I am afraid that at first you might say: 
 " Dear me, how ugly these New Guinea children are " ; 
 but, when you examine the little faces, many of them are 
 quite bonnie. Their heads are shaved ; only a small 
 tuft of hair left on the crown of the head, and another 
 near the front. They do not wear clothes, and have 
 brown skins, the colour of nice bright chocolate. Tamate 
 joined me outside, and we tried to talk to them. You 
 would have been very much amused. We did not know 
 a word of their language, and of course they did not 
 know one word of ours. They are very quick to 
 understand, and some began to tell me the names of the 
 things I touched, and so we began to learn a little, but 
 we made very funny mistakes on both sides, and there 
 was much laughter. I gave them beads, and small fish- 
 hooks, and we became very good friends. Later on 
 they escorted me through their village, showed me their 
 homes, and fathers and mothers. 
 
 * Parents are very fond of their children, and nurse,
 
 256 Life at Toaripi 
 
 kiss, and play with them quite as much as good white 
 parents do with their little ones. They have such a 
 funny way of kissing instead of pressing the lips 
 together, they press their noses together, and rub them 
 gently. I have seen little ones run to father or mother, 
 climb into their arms, and rub noses in a loving manner, 
 and they seem to enjoy it very much. 
 
 ' All the children are very fond of playing cat's cradle, 
 and they are much cleverer at the game than we are. 
 The boys have many merry games, and, like British 
 boys, they have different games for different times of the 
 year. Fathers and elder brothers help them to make 
 pretty canoes, with neat sails and paddles. Some of 
 these are large enough for a small child to get inside, 
 and paddle about in shallow waters ; others are simply 
 toys. They are fond of mimic warfare, and have toy 
 bows and arrows, clubs, and throwing-sticks sharpened 
 like spears. The older men take great interest in this 
 pastime, and teach the boys how to use their arms like 
 warriors. The girls have not many games; they are 
 fond of playing and dancing on the beach, and they take 
 great care of their wee sisters and brothers, and help to 
 plant food, to fish, and to do other work. 
 
 'The sea is a grand playfellow for all the young 
 people, and they spend more than half their leisure time 
 in or on the water. Even the small children can swim, 
 and the boys are fond of practising surf-swimming. We 
 have a great deal of surf. When the waves break one 
 behind another, often three or more lines of them, and 
 send up grand showers of white spray, then is a fine 
 time for the boys. They get a piece of wood plank, 
 about a foot wide and two feet long, and hollow a place 
 at one end for the arm to rest in ; then swim out, away 
 beyond the wild breakers. When the next wave comes,
 
 Native Boys at play 257 
 
 they throw themselves upon it, resting one arm on the 
 board, and ride in on the very top of the high waves 
 amidst the white surf. Often I lose sight of them 
 altogether can see nothing but the mass of foam and 
 spray, and I think they must have been carried away ; 
 but they always turn up safe and sound on the beach, 
 where they give themselves a good shake. A few 
 moments in the hot sun, and they are dry, have got 
 a new supply of breath, and are ready for another start. 
 I think it must be a fine sensation to be carried in on 
 the top of those big waves. 
 
 ' One afternoon I saw a number of boys standing in 
 a line on the firm beach. Each had a good-sized hoop 
 made of bamboo, and a long, pointed stick sharpened 
 like a spear. Suddenly there was a shout, and away 
 bowled the hoops ; but, instead of the boys running 
 after them, as I expected, they just advanced a short 
 distance, and each threw a stick after his own hoop. 
 The aim was to make the stick pass through the running 
 hoop, fix in the ground, and so cause the hoop to fall 
 around it. Very many succeeded in doing the trick, and 
 I am sure it must have been difficult to manage. It 
 would be a good game for English boys to try on a 
 sandy beach. 
 
 ' Very often the children go to the lagoon or the river 
 to bathe, but they always go in numbers, for it is not 
 safe to go singly, on account of the crocodiles. At the 
 lagoon they get quantities of shell-fish, something like 
 our cockles and oysters. After bathing, they make fires 
 on the sand, roast their shell-fish, and have a good time. 
 I have seen as many as a dozen fires at once, with a little 
 group round each, enjoying themselves. 
 
 ' I used to wonder why they made such a deafening 
 noise when bathing ; such a yelling, splashing, shouting, 
 
 R
 
 258 Life at Toaripi 
 
 and screaming- I never heard. I was told it was to 
 frighten away the crocodiles, who do not like a great 
 noise, and will not attack a crowd. They are dreadful 
 creatures, and often lie in wait near the bank, just under 
 the surface of the water, ready to seize any poor un- 
 fortunate mortal who gets separated from the others. 
 
 ' I had a native boy a dear, bright little fellow, about 
 seven years old. He had been with me some time, and 
 was quick to learn and very affectionate. I was very fond 
 of dear little Piri. One day he and two or three more 
 little playfellows were amusing themselves on the beach, 
 near the mouth of the river. Hand in hand, with great 
 shouting and splashing, they had been running to meet 
 and jump over the incoming wave as it broke on the 
 sand. Little Piri suddenly left the others, and ran to 
 jump over a larger wave, further from the shore. Poor 
 laddie, he was never seen again. Only one cry and the 
 blood on the water told his dreadful fate. Ah, it was 
 very sad ; his poor father and mother were almost heart- 
 broken for the loss of their eldest son, and I shed many 
 tears for our dear little Piri. Piri's father and mother 
 are both Christians, and so they look forward to meeting 
 their little boy in heaven, and they know he is safe and 
 happy there.' 
 
 The house in which Tatnate and his wife lived was 
 about fifty feet long, and divided into three rooms ; the 
 partitions were the height of the outer walls only, and 
 left the very high, pointed, thatched roof open from end 
 to end. At night it was too lively rats, mice, and, on 
 the roof, lizards running all over it in armies. The 
 latter, Mrs. Chalmers tells us, were very tame, and 
 made a cheery chirp, and hunted the spiders, tarantulas 
 and others, big and little, cockroaches and crickets, and 
 beetles of all kinds.
 
 Mrs. Chalmers alone with Savages 259 
 
 The district of Toaripi was inhabited by about 3,000 
 wild savages, big, fine, handsome men, arrayed in truly 
 savage style. Every day about 5 p.m. some of the swells 
 visited the house fully got up for conquest. They 
 looked very fine, with their hair in a great bush, and 
 beautifully dressed ; some had plumes a yard long made 
 of tiny white feathers, and leaves and flowers tucked 
 into their belts and armlets. The faces of some of them 
 were beautifully painted in various designs and colours, 
 like fine network, while others were horridly smeared 
 with paint their bodies also were greased and polished 
 to perfection. The tight belt round the waist was the 
 only clothing the men wore. 
 
 Tamate and his wife felt that this was a fine sphere 
 of work, that these savages were people worth helping, 
 and when they settled down there they expected to 
 spend the rest of their working life at Toaripi. 
 
 From the earliest days of their life at Toaripi Mrs. 
 Chalmers had to get used to being left alone. The 
 trips taken by Tamate, in the prosecution of his work, 
 varied in length from three or four days to six or seven 
 weeks. They were for him seasons of hard work, 
 exposure to storms and difficult landings. To his wife 
 they were times of loneliness, often of vexation and 
 difficulty with her boys and girls, and sometimes, in the 
 early days, of extreme danger. But she always bore 
 them bravely and uncomplainingly, as the following 
 letter shows: 
 
 * Here I am, all alone. Tamate left this morning. 
 I think I should have gone with him, but since my attack 
 of fever three weeks ago I have been so weak and ill 
 that I did not think it advisable to venture. Tamate 
 said not a word about going until after breakfast, and 
 then suddenly, at nine a.m., " Lassie, there is a good wind 
 
 R2
 
 260 Life at Toaripi 
 
 and sea, so I must away." Naimi sought up a crew, and 
 by ten a.m. they were really off, bag and bag-gage. The 
 wind has been favourable, so I hope all is well with 
 them. 
 
 * I have been very busy, and the day has passed quickly 
 away. I had all our boys for lessons, and they enjoyed 
 it. I could not hear reading and spelling, but we had 
 counting tables, and sums, and then writing. We make 
 each other understand somehow, and they think it fine 
 fun all round. I shall take them every day if I keep 
 well. Many natives have been round to visit me, and 
 to tell me there is a good wind for Tamate. Really 
 they came to beg tobacco, but I only gave to our old 
 pensioners.' 
 
 In a community like Toaripi life was not likely to be 
 dull. Mrs. Chalmers notes in her journal constantly 
 events like the following : 
 
 'These people are very quiet at present, but there 
 has been fighting at Maiva and Kivori, and very cruel 
 spearing to death. The other day Tamate started up, 
 saying, " Listen, there's the death wail." Again and 
 again it sounded, such a weird, mournful sound, and then 
 two women, the wife and daughter of the dead man, came 
 out of the house, quite nude, each heading a procession 
 of women ; they went in opposite directions, taking the 
 paths he was most accustomed to tread, each leader 
 chanting a sad solo, and now and again at various 
 stopping-places all the women joined in chorus. It was 
 a strange sight and sounded most mournful. We have 
 lost three teachers here in less than six weeks ; two were 
 confined and fever at the same time, and one fever alone. 
 They are most difficult to manage when ill, and do not 
 give themselves a fair chance of recovery. 
 
 4 There have been two fights here lately some were
 
 A Fight 261 
 
 badly hurt. The last was unpleasantly near the mission 
 house, as one party were in the bush close to our fence. 
 I was on the verandah, and some cocoanut shells and 
 one or two sticks came over close to me, so I retired. 
 Tamate went out and sent off one party (I should think 
 there were 200) to their own village, and then Tamate 
 went into the bushes and routed out the other side ; they 
 were angry at the interruption, but eventually cleared 
 off. They will, I expect, fight it out some time, and go 
 further away to do it. It is a quarrel between the young 
 men of the different dubus, and formerly would have led 
 to a desperate fight between the tribes, but now we are 
 here the chiefs will not join in, and they try to stop 
 the fight. The young men have been shut up in the 
 dubus for eighteen months, only coming out on very 
 rare occasions, and at night to get a little fresh air on 
 the beach. They are most of them fine strong fellows, 
 and anxious to try their strength on each side. They 
 have just come out this month, and freedom makes them 
 rather wild. I think I never felt myself amongst savages 
 as I have done this last week, the excitement has been 
 so great. The feast to " Semese " has been held. It is 
 only held, I believe, at intervals of many years, and now 
 we are here and getting an influence over the people, 
 it will most likely never be held again in all its wild 
 savagery. I am glad to have seen it, for from description 
 one could not possibly imagine it. 
 
 'Yesterday we went inland. Tamate thought he 
 would like me to see Moveave in its wild state. It is tire- 
 some to get there in a boat the canoes go a short cut 
 through some winding narrow creeks; we went in the 
 boat up some splendid streams of water, tributaries of 
 the large river. It was very pretty indeed ; the banks 
 were covered with nipa, sago, and cocoanut palms, and
 
 262 Life at Toaripi 
 
 the mangrove swamps look pretty, though they are so 
 deadly. We disturbed two crocodiles on the way, one 
 twenty feet long 1 at least, but they slid so quickly into 
 the water I could not get a real good look. They are 
 wonderfully quick in their movements, and being the 
 exact colour of the muddy bank one can't get a good 
 look at them. 
 
 ' At the first little village, I was so hot and tired, we 
 had a halt. Huari carried my folding-chair, and I sat 
 down comfortably, as I thought, to rest, while the chief 
 sent a boy up a tall tree for fresh nuts. The milk was 
 delicious, but the rest was not ; the chair was low, and 
 the natives crowded round in a circle, men, women, and 
 children, so that I could not feel a breath of air. I gave 
 up the notion of having anything to eat there, and was 
 glad to move on soon. 
 
 * It was very hot in the bush, and I was glad to reach 
 Moveave and know I could rest and eat. It is very much 
 larger than I expected, and the houses are built on a nice 
 open plain, which felt airy after the close bush. The 
 first sight was a sad one. An old chief died a fortnight 
 ago, and we had to halt at his place ; in front of the 
 house was the grave in an enclosure, nine feet square, 
 and inside this the whole family widow, children, and 
 grandchildren are living, sleeping, cooking, and eating. 
 The widow does not come out at all for three months, 
 but she came to me, naked and daubed with clay so 
 wretched, and so dirty, for they do not bathe during 
 the first mourning. We left them and went on into the 
 village. 
 
 * There were quite a large number of dubus, some of 
 them much higher from the ground than any Tamate 
 had seen before. I longed to get up, but did not think 
 it at all possible, The steps are just tree-stems tied
 
 A CRITICAL MOMENT
 
 A Critical Moment 263 
 
 across, two feet apart (sometimes more), to two long 
 slender poles, and they are not as a rule very straight 
 across. I was terribly tired, and hot, hungry, and thirsty. 
 There were a great many strangers in the village, as 
 a great feast was in progress. The houses were half 
 hidden by immense quantities of food ; splendid bunches 
 of bananas hung round the platforms, and piled high on 
 the platform were taro, sweet potatoes, yams, cocoanuts 
 in all stages of growth, and bundles of sago. A great 
 amount of cooking was going on in front of the houses, 
 and there did not seem one place to rest and cool off. 
 On a dubu we saw some of our people who had come 
 by canoe. 
 
 'Tamate, to please them, walked with me round the 
 village ; such a scene of noise and excitement it is im- 
 possible to describe. They crowded round me until 
 I felt stifled. Out again in the centre, which is rather 
 open, we were near a large new dubu, twenty-two or 
 more feet from the ground, and my chair was placed 
 underneath for shade and coolness ; but it was no use, 
 they would stand round me and keep away the air. Ka 
 and Naimi and some of the men set to work and put 
 more strands across the ladder, and I determined to 
 venture. I shall never forget the ascent as long as I 
 live ; but at last I was safely landed, and it was delight- 
 fully cool and shady so far above them all. I unpacked 
 the food, and we had cocoanuts to drink. 
 
 * The getting down was dreadful ; and there was a 
 sudden misunderstanding between some of our teachers 
 and the natives. In a moment every one seemed armed 
 bows, arrows, and those dreadful clubs. Fortunately 
 I did not see the quarrel, and when the natives suddenly 
 appeared armed and around us, I thought it was part of 
 the show for our entertainment, and I had only just time
 
 264 Life at Toaripi 
 
 to realize danger before it was over. We had a narrow 
 escape, and five minutes might have seen the end of us 
 all, and no one left to tell the tale. Tamate seems equal 
 to any emergency, however, and everything was made 
 right. It was want of tact, and nervousness, on the part 
 of one of the new teachers which caused it all.' 
 
 We give a few hitherto unpublished letters of Tamate 's 
 and Mrs. Chalmers's which illustrate the life he lived, the 
 kind of work he tried to do, and the experiences through 
 which he passed at Toaripi from 1888 to 1895. The 
 first is a characteristic letter of the kind Tamate some- 
 times wrote to young people, and was, for him, an 
 unusually long letter. 
 
 MOTUMOTU, December 10, 1888. 
 
 ' My dear young friends : It is a very long time since 
 I wrote to my old Sunday school, the school of my 
 youth. It is not an easy matter to get sufficient time 
 together so as to be able to write a letter worth the 
 postage. How very different our letters are to those the 
 natives send. Yesterday I sent up the river for sago, 
 and in the afternoon the double canoe returned with 
 forty-five bundles only. They brought me a native 
 letter which I must try and enclose for you to see. It 
 reads as follows : " To Tamate. Let Tamate know that 
 we are going to make sago, and in three sleeps it will be 
 ready, on the fourth let him send for it." I have had 
 invitations to feasts and dances with knotted string. If 
 the string spoke it would say : " Know, Tamate, that in 
 fourteen sleeps (number of knots) you are to come ; the 
 pigs will be ready and there will be food in abundance ; 
 the dancing will begin before sunset and continue until 
 long after sunrise." Some years ago, before the Port 
 Moresby natives understood our divisions of time, and 
 when they only knew the Sabbath by the informing bell
 
 A Case of Discipline 265 
 
 on the Saturday night, I sent a native with one of the 
 large trading canoes to the west and told him to hold 
 services and teach the people of the place of Jesus Who 
 came to reveal our Father's love. Some weeks after I 
 went down in the boat, and on entering the river in the 
 dark a small canoe met us, and in it the Christian native 
 I sent. He reported all well and the people interested. 
 I asked him what day it was, and he answered correctly. 
 I asked him when the Sabati would be, and he soon 
 answered. I was astonished, as many of our teachers get 
 wrong in the day. I have gone to places on the 
 Saturday or Monday and found them holding services, 
 and on asking what day it was was told it was Sabati. 
 From fever I have known them two days wrong. I 
 asked him, How do you know the time so well ? and he 
 answered, " Feel that." I felt a piece of string he had 
 attached to a small bag similar to those carried by all 
 natives, and found it knotted. Here and there it had 
 large knots and between small ones. The latter stood 
 for days of the week and the former for Sabbaths. 
 Every morning he made a knot, and so on the seventh 
 doubled it, and in that way he kept time correctly for 
 several months. 
 
 ' The people here are a fine wild independent lot. 
 Some time ago at one of our services during the closing 
 prayer a lad was noisy, at the close I detained him to 
 talk to, and told the others to leave. They left very 
 slowly, only a few of the first running on to the village. 
 I wanted to speak to him alone, and so insisted on the 
 others leaving. I would not let the boy go. On looking 
 out I saw a crowd gathering and armed with clubs and 
 sticks, and knew well what it meant ; they were coming 
 to attack us and take away the boy. I determined they 
 should do neither, so I made for the door. I was just in
 
 266 Life at Toaripi 
 
 time to meet the leader entering carrying his club ready ; 
 by one hand I seized him and with the other wrenched 
 the club from him. He turned and in one spring cleared 
 steps and everything. I was now armed and not feeling 
 particularly amiable, and I have no doubt looking any- 
 thing but it ; and you should have seen that crowd go 
 they scattered and ran helter-skelter into the bush. In 
 the confusion my boy thought he would escape, but oh 
 dear no ! I got him, cleared the house and talked to him. 
 Afterwards I went through the village with my club, and 
 I have it now. 
 
 'We are often getting messages from neighbouring 
 peoples that we are to be murdered, and I send them 
 back word or take it : " It is very bad to say bad things, 
 and they must never again say it ; as for doing it, they are 
 not children and cannot." I am leaving this week to 
 bring two tribes together who have been killing one 
 another for some time. Both are now anxious for peace 
 and friendship. Some of their murders are fearfully 
 cruel ; and knowing those who commit them, I often 
 wonder how they can commit them. Some murders 
 are committed by small, insignificant, sneaking fellows 
 for whom you would have the greatest contempt, and 
 think them not worthy a thought. They are the very 
 fellows to be careful of and just keep your eyes and ears 
 about you, or rather alive, without them knowing it. 
 
 ' We have begun three new stations, one is at Vailala 
 on the " Annie." It is a fearful place for crocodiles, and 
 often a native is taken. When we were anchoring there 
 was a shout, and away went all the canoes ; but no use, a 
 fine young woman had been taken, and was never again 
 seen. In the afternoon it was very sad to stand near the 
 house, and hear her poor mother with all her relatives 
 and girls of her own age wailing. She had gone with a
 
 Seized by a Crocodile 267 
 
 dish to the river near the house to draw water, and on 
 bending down was seized and taken : there was only one 
 loud scream, and nothing more gone, gone for ever. A 
 few days after a man was taken, and so on. Here we 
 have crocodiles, but they are not so vicious. At Lese, 
 near here, a few days ago, a young woman who was 
 going to be married was seized : she screamed, a number 
 of men near plunged into the water and killed the 
 crocodile. The girl was too terribly lacerated ; she died 
 a few minutes after bringing her to the village. 
 
 ' I suppose all of you belong to the " Band of Hope " ? 
 If you don't you ought to. Fancy being able to say 
 when old, "I do not know the taste of spirits." Our 
 natives can say that, and our new and excellent Governor 
 means they shall continue to do so. With us pray they 
 may be kept from the fiend destroyer. 
 
 ' Their great luxury is the areca nut and betel 
 pepper, and that they are ever chewing with lime. 
 They constantly tell us it is a splendid specific for 
 fever. When I first came to New Guinea I tried it and 
 rather liked it ; but one day I overdid it. I chewed 
 nearly all day long a regular spree. Unfortunately it 
 was a calm, I was in a small vessel, and there was nothing 
 else to do, and we lay, "like a painted ship upon a painted 
 ocean." Eh, I remember it well, a brawling sun over- 
 head, little or no shade, and chewing. Night came on, 
 and for the first time in many years, perhaps the first in 
 my life, I had a racking headache. I slept, and the next 
 morning felt queer, and then and there bade farewell to 
 the betel. I was cured. Nearly all our teachers like it. 
 Had I had the headache first I should never have chewed 
 betel. 
 
 ' We have got eight students here being taught, so that 
 in a few years they may go to their countrymen and
 
 268 Life at Toaripi 
 
 tell them " God is love." We have also a few boys 
 these are taught English. How you would laugh to 
 hear their first attempts. Never mind, they are getting 
 on well, and perhaps some day may become teachers. 
 They all dearly love stories, and to them there is no 
 wearying when Bible stories are told. I have sent for 
 my magic-lantern so that they may have an opportunity 
 of seeing some pictures. The excitement will be great, 
 and I only hope they will not rush the table. At Port 
 Moresby they dearly love comic slides, and they also 
 enjoy seeing David standing on Goliath and cutting off 
 his head. Here the whole will be new, and I have no 
 doubt will be much appreciated. 
 
 * We have two village schools, one for the east, and 
 one for the west. Some of the boys are getting on, but 
 unless there is plenty of fun only a few attend. I fear 
 no school inspector would pass us, we are such a rowdy 
 lot. They, the children, dearly love to get me for an 
 hour with them, for then we sing, we march, we learn 
 tables and geography, marching. You should hear them 
 sing ; I have never heard anything like it. I wonder if 
 they will ever learn to sing. 
 
 1 They are very irregular in their attendance and often 
 play truant. I did that once, only once ; it was quite 
 enough, it is a memory. There were two of us : we heard 
 there was to be blasting on or near to Mr. Blair's farm, 
 and the temptation was strong, so we had breakfast, 
 pretended to go to school, crossed the river at Low 
 Ballantyre into the woods and away along to the scene 
 of the blasting. It was not half a day, there were ghosts 
 following us all day long, and we had to keep in hiding 
 much of our time. There was some fine blasting, but it 
 did not compensate for the risk of exposure. Never mind 
 how it was settled. I have already said it is a memory.
 
 A Sunday at Toaripi 269 
 
 On Rarotonga I have often got on my horse and run 
 the truants in. 
 
 ' I must be closing, or you will all be saying, Hold, yarn 
 enough ! Some day we may meet, and then I must yarn 
 on. I have men sawing, some boat- cleaning, others fence- 
 repairing, so must stop. Hallo, I forgot the real reason 
 of my writing. Thank you all ever so much for your 
 kind box of presents for the natives. Why, one would 
 imagine you had been here, and you knew what was 
 wanted. It was right good in you all to so remember 
 us; and how jolly the natives will feel wearing and using 
 the things. I am going to close, and not a bit of a 
 sermon, and you all shout hurrah. Hurrah ! good-bye. 
 God bless you. 
 
 4 Your old friend 
 
 TAMATE.' 
 
 'July 15, 1890. 
 
 'We had the ordinance service on Sunday, and a good 
 congregation of natives to witness it, they were very 
 attentive and interested, and Tamate tried to explain to 
 them. We have no church members here yet, but with 
 teachers from other stations, ourselves, new teachers, 
 Maimi, Ikupu and one of the " Harrier " crew, some four 
 natives from Pari, we made a goodly number. It was 
 a solemn and strange service in this wild place. I could 
 not help contrasting this service with the one at home, 
 here the bright sun outside, and on one side the dazzling 
 sea breaking in heavy waves up to the very steps of the 
 church, on the other, a portion of sandy beach, some 
 native houses, looking like haystacks on high posts, 
 cocoanuts, palms, and little peeps in between, and under- 
 neath the houses, of the wide river beyond, plenty of 
 dogs and pigs running about. Inside, my table covered
 
 270 Life at Toaripi 
 
 with a white cloth ; and on it a jug- of cocoanut milk, and 
 two glasses, and two plates of bread. Tamate at the 
 table, a teacher on either hand. I sat at the right hand, 
 and on the floor at my side the native members, on the 
 left hand the teachers and wives, in front a gathering of 
 orderly, interested-looking natives, many gorgeously 
 painted and befeathered, and dark faces peering in at 
 the six doors. Can you picture it at all ? The church 
 is built by the natives, walls of nipa palm spines, and 
 thatched roof of palm leaves, floor of bark two door- 
 ways on each side, and one at each end, and plenty of 
 square openings for windows. We have no church 
 members here yet, but we think of the Moffats and feel 
 encouraged, they were fifteen years working at one 
 station, and not one member, and yet she asked a friend 
 to send her an ordinary service, and directly after it 
 arrived, they needed it.' 
 
 ' MOTUMOTU, April 26, 1890. 
 
 'My dear Pastor: I returned from the Fly River a 
 few weeks ago, and since then have been fairly busy with 
 classes, writing, and superintending house-building. I 
 was absent from here nine weeks and on my return 
 found Tamate Vaine tolerably well, although during my 
 absence she had two bad attacks of fever. When I left 
 Mr. Savage was here, but he had gone some weeks 
 before my return. Tamate Vaine carried on the work 
 splendidly and got on well with all parties, the people 
 causing her no trouble. She kept the teachers and 
 students well up to the mark. My visit to the west was 
 a long one and we went over much ground, some old, 
 more new. The Governor was exceedingly kind and 
 gave me every opportunity of seeing the mission stations 
 and other places suitable for mission stations. I am
 
 Visit to the Fly River 271 
 
 sorry to have to report that our work near the Fly 
 River is nil. The few teachers seem quite disheartened 
 and simply vegetate, their houses are the most miserable 
 of teachers' houses. I am sorry for them, as I fancy 
 more could have been done with them. I think I told 
 you of the request from Blomfield Street to go to Torres 
 Straits and take up the Fly Mission. We go and make 
 Dauan our head quarters, working the coast and river 
 with a steam launch. We both expect to leave here in 
 July for the Colonies and South Seas. Our hope is to 
 get a goodly number of teachers from Samoa and 
 Rarotonga. 
 
 'The country visited is uninteresting, but it is new. 
 It is a terribly wet country, with swamps everywhere, 
 and no ground could I see for which I would give a cent 
 an acre. The population is sparse and I should think 
 very suspicious. On the island of Kiwai there is a 
 tolerably large population, but all the other islands in 
 the mouth of the Fly are uninhabited. About sixty 
 miles up is the island of Domoro with a small population, 
 and there I hope soon to have a station. It will be 
 central for working both banks of the river. We know 
 nothing of what is inside the river scrub, the population 
 may be large but I fancy it is small. The few people I 
 saw were frightened as March hares. At Kiwai they 
 speak " pidgeon " English, and all day long you hear 
 " No savee," " My word, no gammon," and interlarded 
 profusely with rich adjectives which many whites think 
 very effective and which the natives soon get a hold of. 
 A native giving me a present in the heartiest and most 
 good-humoured way, swore profusely without knowing 
 what he did. Would you believe it, there are white 
 men who deliberately teach the natives to curse and 
 swear and to use the filthiest language. The "mean
 
 272 Life at Toaripi 
 
 white " is a low man ; our " white man " is a good 
 fellow. 
 
 'Our visit to Saibai was most interesting. Many 
 years ago I visited the island and they were then a wild 
 uncouth lot, who several times threatened the teacher 
 and his wife. They were the wildest skull-hunters on 
 the whole coast and had heaps of skulls under the shade 
 of their sacred trees. That is all changed, they are now 
 a quiet, law-abiding people, and many of them I believe 
 earnest Christian men and women. The king is a little 
 man, squat, active, and very intelligent, and a great man 
 in the church. Here is a good one a hint for the 
 elders. The king is a deacon and carries a wand, a 
 switch, and his quick-seeing eyes sweep over the 
 assembly when in church, and any poor unfortunate 
 whose head should hang, or nod, or whose eyes are 
 closed except at prayer-time, is soon discovered and 
 away goes the king, sets the head right, or touches the 
 culprit with the wand and informs him or her, no 
 sleeping in church. With what gusto he sings! He 
 reminds me of your Mrs. McKay in the Orkneys, a 
 lady I heard you speak of thirty years ago, and of how 
 sorry you were when the regular precentor was able to 
 take his duties. Well our Saibai king is the same, 'tis 
 a pity when the regular precentor is in his place. They 
 sing all and well. God's Gospel of love to man is all 
 powerful ; only that blessed Gospel could have wrought 
 so great a change. 
 
 ' Well, we met the Tugeri and became right friendly. 
 They are Dutch men. They are certainly a fine lot, and 
 if only won to Christ will make splendid pioneers. We 
 hoped to meet them in British territory, and so would 
 have taught them not to skull-hunt any more. I believe 
 His Excellency would have insisted on their returning
 
 Mrs. Chalmers and the Savages 273 
 
 home. We ascended one new river through swampy 
 country. In some places we had a constant supply of 
 wild geese, so much so that I tired of goose. We had a 
 small explosion in the steam launch one day and some of 
 us went at the quick over the stern, preferring cool 
 water to boiling.' 
 
 Here is Mrs. Chalmers's view of the same period from 
 the very different standpoint of the one left at home to 
 carry on the routine work, while the equally necessary 
 duty of exploring new districts and visiting lonely native 
 teachers was being discharged by her adventurous 
 husband. 
 
 MOTUMOTU, Aprils, 1890. 
 
 'You cannot think how I welcomed Tamate home 
 after nine weeks' absence, five of which I spent alone 
 here. I had one or two amusing adventures with the 
 natives. On the whole I managed very well, and Tamate 
 is delighted because I have been able to carry on all the 
 work, college, schools, and buildings, etc. The anxiety 
 and worry has been so much, that now the strain is over, 
 Tin done, and submit to be coddled and nursed up. 
 Being independent is all very well sometimes, but it's 
 nice to be taken care of again. I get on well with these 
 savages, and Tamate is much amused at the way I order 
 these big wild men about, and even take their clubs 
 away, if they bring them to the house. The men them- 
 selves laugh, and pat me on the shoulder, but they all 
 do as I tell them. They will take more from me than 
 they would from a man, and they see I am not in the 
 least afraid of them, or their sorcerers either.' 
 
 A lady friend who visited Mrs. Chalmers two or three 
 years after the home at Toaripi was set up has left an 
 
 S
 
 274 Life at Toaripi 
 
 account full of interest of her visit. With some extracts 
 from her account we close this period of Tamate's life l . 
 
 * Let me tell you what a brave woman Mrs. Chalmers 
 is, and what a missionary's wife in New Guinea has to 
 endure. She has often been left entirely alone with these 
 savages for weeks at a time, while her husband has been 
 on duty elsewhere, settling native teachers in new stations 
 or exploring new country. To realize what this means 
 you must remember that, as I said before, there are no 
 roads in New Guinea, and no possibility of communica- 
 tion, however great the emergency, with any civilized 
 being nearer than Port Moresby, 150 miles away. 
 During one of Tamate's absences his wife lay for weeks 
 desperately ill of fever, alone, entirely at the mercy of 
 the natives, and without attendance except for any care 
 the teachers' wives could give her. She lay thus in 
 constant dread that she might die before Mr. Chalmers 
 got back, or, worse still, sink into a state of coma and 
 be buried alive. By the good providence of God, her 
 husband returned just in time to draw her away by 
 tender care and wise nursing from the gates of death she 
 had so nearly passed through. 
 
 'All the many dangers of various kinds that have 
 threatened her even she herself could not tell you, but 
 I think one story of her courage will not be inappro- 
 priate here. One night, when she was quite alone in 
 the mission house, she was awakened by a slight noise 
 on the verandah. She got up and went out to see what 
 it was, and discovered that the house was surrounded by 
 the natives, chiefly the young warriors, all fully armed, 
 crouching in the darkness under the verandah. Instead 
 of being overcome with fear she went down amongst 
 
 1 These extracts are from a paper by Frances Baildon, entitled 
 'A Lady's Visit to New Guinea.'
 
 A New Guinea Visit 275 
 
 them, asked them how they dared to come there at 
 that hour of night, and gave them a good sound scolding 
 for disturbing her. Whether they were daunted by her 
 coolness, or what it was that deterred them from attack- 
 ing her, no one will ever know, but an old chief came 
 up to her and patting her on the shoulder told her to 
 have no fear, and he would make these men go away 
 and she was to go back to the house and rest. True 
 to his word, she heard him, during the remainder of a 
 sleepless night, patrolling the verandah, keeping watch 
 over her. And so the adventure ended, but there is 
 little doubt they came to kill her, and were only pre- 
 vented by her courage and self-possession. 
 
 'The day after our arrival we were taken through 
 the native villages, and Mr. Chalmers made me go up 
 into two of the houses, which were as usual built on 
 piles ten to twelve feet above the ground. These were 
 reached by means of a very rudimentary ladder made of 
 branches of trees, varying from one to two feet apart. 
 I had to scramble up these unaided as best I could, it 
 being against New Guinea etiquette for Mr. Chalmers to 
 accompany me. When I reached the platform I was 
 greeted in friendly fashion by the women and children, 
 and, not being able to communicate in language, we 
 were very liberal with our smiles and handshakes. Then 
 they showed me their houses, which consist of a platform 
 with the roof hanging over it like a porch, and where 
 they usually sit, and then a long darkish room and a 
 further one darker still. During our walk afterwards we 
 met an extraordinary spectre-like figure of a whitish ash 
 colour. This was a widow in deep mourning, and whose 
 only covering consisted of the clay she had smeared 
 over her body. 
 
 * Next morning we started on a canoe voyage up the 
 S3
 
 276 Life at Toaripi 
 
 Williams River to a place called Moveave, where the 
 people are still so ferocious and so entirely in their 
 savage condition that the only teacher ever placed there 
 was murdered, and Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers recently had 
 a very narrow escape of their lives. 
 
 'Our canoe voyage was very interesting. We soon 
 got out of the main river and turned into a creek, and 
 the scenery became like fairyland, the canoe being 
 paddled slowly along between banks covered with the 
 loveliest trailing ferns, sago, nipa and cocoanut palms, 
 with their great feathery leaves bending down and 
 meeting across the water. So low did these fall that 
 we had often to lie almost flat in the canoe to avoid 
 contact with the prickly leaf-stems of the sago palm. 
 
 ' After two or three hours' voyage, sometimes. crossing 
 broader streams and then taking short cuts up narrow 
 creeks, we began to see people on the banks and various 
 signs of a native village at hand. When we landed a 
 little later at the end of one of these creeks, the situation 
 looked a little alarming. There were no women to 
 be seen amongst the savages who came to meet us, which 
 was a very bad sign, and all the men were fully armed 
 with their clubs and bows and arrows, and appeared 
 sullen and distrustful. We all had to be very careful in 
 our behaviour, as the least misunderstanding would have 
 cost us our lives. Our stay was limited by the fact that 
 the creek on which Moveave was situated was a tidal 
 one, and, as the tide had already turned, too long a 
 delay might have involved a wait of many hours, which 
 would have been very dangerous in the present temper 
 of the people. Perhaps the fact of our party having a 
 white woman with them helped to keep the peace, and 
 as I was only the third they had ever seen they were 
 greatly interested in me. Here the houses were built
 
 A Moment of Danger 277 
 
 even higher from the ground than any we had seen 
 before, and the people were extremely terrible-looking 
 and very fierce. To add to their already dreadful 
 appearance they chew betel-nut, which leaves their teeth 
 black and their gums blood-red. 
 
 * In spite of this not encouraging reception we made a 
 tour through the village, and I walked along with Mr. 
 Chalmers, who remonstrated with the natives for meeting 
 us armed to the teeth. For the first time I saw he was 
 uneasy, and consequently I felt rather alarmed, but was 
 able not to appear so. By this time we had crowds round 
 us, and my brother and one of the other missionaries 
 came up and photographed us in groups. The three 
 men nearest me were simply hideous, though, according 
 to their ideas of beauty, they were most elaborately got 
 up, with endless ornaments, painted faces, and frizzed-out 
 hair. After this we made for the canoe, accompanied by 
 a large escort, which considerably delayed our progress. 
 At last we embarked, but were at once surrounded by 
 the natives, still apparently displeased and jabbering 
 away in a language I could not of course understand. I 
 confess then I thought we were doomed, and that I 
 should never see home or friends again. There was no 
 use making a fuss, however, so I sat perfectly still, trying 
 to judge from their faces and gestures what our fate was 
 to be. But after much jabbering and gesticulation, and 
 some presents of tobacco, we pushed off, followed how- 
 ever on both banks by these unpleasantly well-armed 
 savages until we got into the main river, where they left 
 us ; and I think, though nothing was said, we were all 
 deeply thankful to God for preserving us alive. 
 
 ' We had a safe voyage back to Motumotu, where we 
 remained over a Sunday and witnessed some interesting 
 services with the natives, especially a communion service.
 
 278 Life at Toaripi 
 
 The communicants were principally teachers and students 
 and their wives, as Mr. Chalmers is very careful not to 
 admit any to the sacrament who do not quite understand 
 the meaning- of it.'
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE WRECK OF THE ' HARRIER ' 
 
 IN the year 1891, after spending a few days at Port 
 Moresby on returning from a visit to Kerepunu on 
 June 30, Tamate and Mrs. Chalmers, and all the Raro- 
 tongan teachers and their wives sailed in the ' Harrier ' 1 
 from Port Moresby to Motumotu, where they arrived on 
 July 4. They could not land that night, and had to toss 
 the long night through in a heavy gulf-swell. Here is 
 Mrs. Chalmers's account of that night : 
 
 ' What a terrible night we had for discomfort, to be 
 sure ! the ship swung a little and got nearly broadside on 
 the seas, and with every roll she shipped a sea one side 
 or the other. The men lashed me firmly to the seat, 
 which is bolted to the companion-way, and I just rolled 
 with the ship, feeling every time she went down on my 
 side that the great wall of water must come over us. 
 I never passed such a night ; and there opposite was our 
 own home, and every time the ship came right side up 
 I caught a glimpse of the lantern which our people kept 
 on the flagstaff. Of course no one slept. Tamate stayed 
 down below. He could not stand on deck, and he could 
 not keep in the berth either. Tamate struggled up 
 and peeped over at me two or three times. I was fast 
 enough, and could move only with the ship. 
 
 1 The ' Harrier' was a large schooner which had been purchased 
 from the Government by the Directors of the London Missionary 
 Society and was used exclusively in the service of the New Guinea 
 Mission.
 
 280 The Wreck of the 'Harrier' 
 
 * The following morning we landed, and were all delighted 
 with the work done, especially that done in our absence.' 
 
 ' At Motumotu,' says Mr. Chalmers, ' I left my students 
 in charge of a very excellent Tahitian, who has done 
 well. In manual labour during my absence thay have 
 sawn a large quantity of timber for a house for the Fly 
 River ; and have also sawn timber for and built a very 
 fine schoolroom the best in the mission. The teacher, 
 Terai, has also built for himself a house every way 
 suitable for Motumotu, and thoroughly comfortable. 
 
 ' The teachers report that the people now attend 
 services much better, and I was delighted to find that 
 several children could really and truly read. The 
 students do arithmetic to simple division entirely in 
 English, and read the Motuan Gospels well. I believe 
 what I thought before I left an impossibility will shortly 
 become a fact the young people will sing, and do so 
 with intelligence. 
 
 ' On July 10 I left Motumotu for Port Moresby. All 
 were well then and hearty. Owing to light winds and 
 calm we did not arrive in Port Moresby until Monday, 
 July 13. Wood and water were got on board, the ship 
 cleared at the Customs, and on Saturday, July 18, we 
 sailed for Cooktown. We had as passengers three 
 teachers who came with us for change of air, one young 
 Irish gentleman who was anxious to get away from Port 
 Moresby, and Belford, so often mentioned in our 
 Governor's report, who was also wanting a change. 
 
 ' The weather came on very dirty just after we left ; but 
 having southerly wind we got to Kerepuna on Sunday 
 afternoon. We found Mr. and Mrs. Pearse well. Theirs 
 is a pretty station, and one where much good work is 
 being done. The earnest, steady work carried on must 
 soon tell, and be felt all round.
 
 The 'Harrier' strikes 281 
 
 ' On Monday, July 20, we weighed anchor, and stood 
 away for Cooktown. It was blowing very hard, and the 
 weather was very thick. On Thursday, July 24, we 
 entered the Barrier through Cook's opening, a little to 
 the north of Lizard Island ; and we all hoped to be in 
 Cooktown the following morning. It was a rough night, 
 and when light came we were only a little to the south of 
 the Lizard. We kept at it all day, carrying away our head- 
 sails several times, and two of the forestays. To repair 
 damages we anchored for a short time to leeward of 
 Three Islands ; and at four p.m. weighed anchor again, 
 and began pile-driving into a very heavy head-sea. 
 
 'At eight p.m., off Cape Bedford, we rounded ship, and 
 stood off on the starboard tack, hoping that when we 
 put about again we should stand right into Cooktown. 
 Several of our crew were married, and their wives living 
 in Cooktown, so " Homeward bound " was frequently 
 said and sung. 
 
 ' The night was wet, dark and stormy, and I turned into 
 my bunk some time before nine o'clock. I was half 
 asleep when the captain, in his oilskins, came down to 
 the saloon, and had a look at his chart, and then went 
 back. Presently, there was a grating, a bound, and a 
 fearful thump ! I knew we were ashore, and sprang to 
 my feet : on coat and slippers, and rushed on deck. 
 
 ' In passing up the companion I looked at the clock, 
 the time was 9.15. All were on deck. Orders were 
 immediately given to lower away the head-sails, fore-sail 
 and main-sail. Another order was that the second 
 officer with the crew should take a kedge-anchor in 
 the whaleboat, find deep water, and drop it. This 
 was done, and soon all were heaving away at the 
 kedge, hoping to get our good ship off. But she 
 was fast aground, and we could not make her move
 
 282 The Wreck of the 'Harrier' 
 
 toward deep water. As the tide went out she settled 
 on her bilge, in which position we were anything but 
 comfortable. 
 
 'Throughout the night she continued bumping; and 
 in the morning some felt there was little hope of saving 
 her. The kedge was moved into deep water aft, and 
 the hawser passed in over the starboard quarter and away 
 to the windlass, when it was hove tight. 
 
 * During the day part of the iron ballast was got on 
 deck to be thrown overboard if she righted with the 
 night tide, and that so there might be a chance of getting 
 her off. 
 
 'Flags of distress were flying all day, but no vessel saw 
 us. After dark, blue lights were burned and rockets 
 fired, and a great blaze was produced by firing tow steeped 
 in kerosene. Our hope was that our signals might be 
 observed from Grassy Hill, Cooktown, and that a boat 
 would be sent to our relief in the morning. 
 
 1 Shortly after ten p.m. the ship righted. Instantly all 
 were hard at work, some throwing ballast overboard, 
 others heaving away at the windlass until they nearly 
 broke the hawser, but all in vain she was on too fast to 
 be got off. 
 
 ' As the tide receded she again settled on her bilge. 
 During the night wind and sea increased and in the 
 morning it was evident something must be done to save 
 our lives. The ship had heeled over a great deal more, 
 and the heavy sea breaking on her starboard quarter 
 made us fear she might go over altogether. It was 
 painful work hanging on to her. 
 
 ' Up to four a.m. on Sunday the pumps kept her dry, 
 but after that pumping was of no use, as the water 
 flowed freely in and out. Between seven and eight a.m. 
 it was decided to cut away the masts, in order to ease the
 
 'Master Tom' saved 283 
 
 great strain they made on the wreck ; and in a short time 
 the lee rigging was hanging away free of the ship ; the 
 forestays were cut away, the masts nicked on the port 
 side, and then the starboard rigging was cut. When all 
 was free, the distress signals were hauled down from the 
 mainmast : there came one fearful crashing sea : a loud 
 crack of the masts giving way: a starboard swing, and 
 away went the masts ! Eh ! it was a sair, sair sicht 
 to see our pretty " Harrier " then. 
 
 4 Orders were now given to get the whaleboat ready. 
 The sea was running so heavy that I confess I did not 
 like the idea of crossing over to the Three Islands. 
 Still there was no hope of rescue any other way. Those 
 islands were near the deep route for vessels, and we also 
 knew that a steamer was due that night from Normanton 
 to Cooktown. 
 
 ' The water was now all over the ship. Provisions for 
 the boat and for those remaining on the wreck, also our 
 few effects, were got ready. Our second mate, Mac- 
 dougall, a young man from Stornoway, was put in 
 charge of the boat with three of the crew. The boat 
 was well handled, and kept up under the jibboom 
 while food and our effects were passed along, and 
 dropped into her. Our cook, a lame man, followed, and 
 then we, the passengers, letting ourselves down by hold- 
 ing on to a line, and as the boat rose, carefully letting go 
 and taking a seat. 
 
 'Climbing along the deck, I saw one of the sailors 
 diving into the hold. I called out to him, " What are 
 you doing ? " He answered, " I am looking for the poor 
 cat, to save him by taking him into the boat." He found 
 " Master Tom," and so he had a passage. 
 
 'When I got to the windlass I found there a young 
 cockatoo, more dead than alive, and screeching. I asked,
 
 284 The Wreck of the 'Harrier* 
 
 "What about Cockle?" to which one fellow replied, 
 " Oh, we save him ; he go in boat." 
 
 ' There were eleven of us all told in the boat, together 
 with our provisions and effects. Many of the others, as 
 well as myself, never expected to reach land. We were 
 heavily laden, a gale of wind was blowing, and a very 
 high sea running. But by the aid of constant bailing, 
 and Macdougall's splendid management with his steer- 
 oar, we rounded the reef, got under the lee of and 
 landed on Three Islands. I think every heart was honest 
 in returning thanks to our heavenly Father for His care 
 over us. 
 
 ' We took possession of a beche-de-mer station, and 
 soon had a fire going, changed our clothes, and put out 
 all the wet things to dry. " Tom " was a real ship's cat, 
 and when he touched the sand it was amusing to see him 
 shake his feet as cats do when crossing wet. It was too 
 much for him, so he rushed back into the water, and up 
 on to the boat. " Cockie " did look a pitiable object, and 
 when put down was heard calling for his sailor friend. 
 He was picked up, placed by the fire, and soon recovered, 
 but would not be left alone. 
 
 4 There was a large patch of dry grass on the island, 
 which we fired to let those on board know we had 
 arrived, and to show passing vessels that the island was 
 inhabited. Of course we were all anxious to see a 
 vessel of some kind, and about two hours after landing 
 a small lugger passed to the north, but did not see our 
 signals of distress. About five p.m. another vessel was 
 seen beating down from the north, and she was anxiously 
 watched ; but keeping well in under the mainland, she 
 did not see our signals, and the sun set. When quite 
 dark we burned two blue lights, and fired one rocket in 
 hopes of attracting the attention of those on board
 
 Rescued by the 'Governor Cairns' 285 
 
 the vessel we had seen just before sunset. We were all 
 sore and tired, and right glad to lay down on the sand 
 and rest, keeping watch about. Often during the night 
 we fancied we could see a steamer's light approaching, 
 but it was mere imagination. 
 
 'After sunrise we saw the lugger that had passed north 
 beating back towards us, and shortly after the other 
 vessel running down to the lee of the island. The latter 
 we soon recognized to be the Queensland Government 
 vessel the " Governor Cairns," and soon after she came to 
 anchor we were all on board of her. The lugger eased 
 away her main sheet, and stood before the wind for the 
 north. Captain Cole of the " Governor Cairns " received 
 us kindly, and on hearing there were others on the wreck 
 immediately weighed anchor and beat to the leeward of 
 the reef. 
 
 ' By one p.m. we anchored to the lee of the reef, and by 
 four o'clock all those who had been left on the wreck 
 were on board ; the anchor was weighed, and we made 
 for Cooktown, arriving there that night. 
 
 'On landing at Three Islands, the cook preceded us up 
 the beach, and wben near the shanties formerly occupied 
 by the beche-de-mer fishermen, he turned round, and 
 producing a cake of Pears' soap, said, " Now if any of 
 you want a wash, here's the soap, but no towels." How 
 he came by the soap is a mystery.'
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 HOW TAMATE MADE FRIENDS WITH 
 SAVAGES 
 
 MR. C. W. ABEL of Kwato, New Guinea, an old 
 friend and junior colleague of Chalmers, has given 
 a striking sketch of Tamate, as he appeared when 
 making friends with new tribes. Mr. Abel and his 
 wife at the time this characteristic incident happened 
 were on board a vessel anchored off the Purari river. 
 
 ' The officer who had been ashore brought me a note 
 written in pencil. I opened it, and to my surprise and 
 delight found that it was from Tamate. He told me he 
 was at the mouth of the river with his steam launch 
 "Miro." It was an ill-wind, he reminded me, which 
 served no one, and he would be off to see me and to 
 make my wife's acquaintance later in the day. He 
 concluded his note by saying that he had something 
 important to suggest to me. 
 
 ' By and by the little launch steamed out of the river, 
 and in half an hour Tamate was with us. He was in 
 the highest spirits. Tamate's temperament was not 
 always hilarious. There were times when he was 
 uncommunicative, and almost inaccessible. His serious- 
 ness on Sundays was very marked ; and he spent these 
 times with his own reflections. His prevailing disposi- 
 tion was in striking contrast to these periodically pensive 
 moods. Then grey hairs seemed inappropriate, and his
 
 A Trip with Tamate 287 
 
 buoyant spirits unfailing. He came on board the steam 
 yacht in the highest spirits. It was not long before he 
 took me aside, and opened up the subject to which 
 he had alluded in his note. 
 
 ' He had learnt from the Governor that the steamer 
 would be detained at her present anchorage for ten 
 days. We might chafe, he said, at our misfortune, but 
 it was better for us to accept our position philosophically 
 and make the best of it. Here was a splendid oppor- 
 tunity for a trip up the Aivai river together. There 
 was a big, influential tribe somewhere up there he 
 wanted to visit. They had never seen a white man 
 yet ; and I might spend the time of my enforced leisure 
 to good purpose, if we went and opened the way to 
 future intercourse with these savages. 
 
 ' He put the idea before me with the air of a schoolboy 
 who has an unexpected holiday in prospect ; but I do 
 Tamate an injustice unless I add that his jubilant spirits 
 were the outcome of no mere love of excitement and 
 adventure, though this was always strong in him, but 
 of a deep and earnest conviction that he was engaging 
 in a glorious enterprise for Christ. Tamate 's face wore 
 an expression of disappointment, when, after telling him 
 how delighted I should be to join him, I went on to say 
 that I might be something like the man in the parable, 
 and have to excuse myself on the grounds of my recent 
 marriage. I left him on deck to go and seek my wife, 
 and get her permission for me to leave her alone on 
 board for a day or two. 
 
 ' My wife put the matter in an entirely new light ; and 
 I had to return to Tamate with a suggestion I was 
 doubtful whether he would agree to. 
 
 4 " If," said my wife, " I may accompany you, certainly 
 you may go."
 
 288 How Tamate made Friends with Savages 
 
 c Tamate received this intimation in silence. Then he 
 shook his head gravely. At last he said : 
 
 ' " It's very rough work you know for a woman we 
 may get into serious trouble it's hardly the place to 
 take a young lady, is it?" 
 
 ' Then his face underwent a sudden change. " Come 
 along," said he, quite carried away by a new idea; 
 " splendid ! splendid ! We'll make it the white woman's 
 peace. Bravo ! " And he praised my wife for the stand 
 she had taken. 
 
 'By nine o'clock the following morning we were 
 steaming up the Aivai river in the " Miro." There 
 was something strange in the thought that we were the 
 first civilized people to navigate that rapid stream. This 
 was the atmosphere in which Tamate had lived, on and 
 off, for years ; but he seemed to find as much enjoyment 
 in it that morning as if it was a novelty. There was 
 nothing to be seen, mile after mile, but the dead level 
 of the mangroves, and the alternating thick bush which 
 lined the banks on either side. 
 
 ' We had only a very imperfect idea of the distance 
 we had to go. lala, the village we were presently to 
 take by surprise, was known to only one man in our 
 party. Iko was to introduce us to this new tribe. 
 He was very emphatic in all his answers to the many 
 questions with which we plied him, as to the distance 
 we had yet to travel. He measured his miles along the 
 joints of his forefinger. Tamate always addressed him 
 through an interpreter. Tamate spoke in Motuan to 
 old Vaaburi, and Vaaburi passed his remark on in another 
 dialect to Iko. Then Iko's forefinger was usually brought 
 into requisition, and though we were doubtful to begin 
 with whether the full length of this indispensable digit 
 represented ten, or twenty, or fifty miles, it was a source
 
 Tamate's Interpreter 289 
 
 of satisfaction to us to find that after midday we were 
 approaching Iko's claw-like nail. 
 
 ' Tamate always had a retinue of old men with him on 
 his travels. They were not necessarily men who had 
 been chosen to accompany him because of their Christian 
 character. They were oftener, I think, men who of their 
 own accord attached themselves to him. Vaaburi, though 
 his sympathies were with the mission, was not a strong 
 man ; but Tamate fascinated him. It was amusing to 
 witness Tamate's occasional banter with his shifty-eyed 
 admirer. Vaaburi's ecstasy was unbounded when his 
 master would stand up in front of him, and addressing 
 him sternly in English a language no word of which 
 he understood would tell him what a rare rascal he 
 was, and how seriously his presence compromised the 
 mission. " You old humbug, you ! ** Tamate would 
 say in conclusion ; and Vaaburi's cup of joy would 
 be full. 
 
 'About three o'clock, after we had been steaming for 
 six hours, Iko had reached the middle of his nail ; and 
 as we turned each successive bend in the river, we 
 looked expectantly ahead for any sign of lala. Our 
 position was growing more and more exciting every 
 minute. Somewhere, a little ahead of us, a large savage 
 community were engaged in their ordinary daily occupa- 
 tions, of whatsoever sort they were, in utter ignorance 
 of our approach. What a day to be remembered by 
 them this was to be, when for the first time they were 
 to see people with white skins, and when their first intro- 
 duction to civilization was to be the sudden approach 
 of our steam launch! 
 
 ' At length we turned a sharp bend in the river, and 
 a long straight reach lay before us. Iko ejaculated 
 something which arrested our attention. There was 
 
 T
 
 290 How Tamate made Friends with Savages 
 
 no doubt as to his meaning 1 . We peered ahead, and 
 there, in the far distance, were the clustered houses of 
 lala, on both banks of the narrow river. 
 
 * " Slow ! " shouted Tamate to the West Indian in 
 charge of the engine. 
 
 'The " Miro " slackened speed, and for some time only 
 just managed to stem the swift current. 
 
 ' " It will be a bit of a shock to them," said Tamate, 
 " to see this thing. We'll give them time to collect their 
 scattered wits." 
 
 ' A little later the order was given to go full speed 
 ahead ; and as we lessened the distance between us and 
 our startled friends, we could see through our glasses 
 the commotion we were causing amongst them. Men 
 were rushing about in frantic excitement, while canoes 
 were hurriedly crossing and recrossing the river in the 
 wildest bewilderment. It was much like the agitation 
 you have noticed when you have trodden unconsciously 
 upon an ant-hill. 
 
 4 " Go slow ! " Tamate ordered again ; and the engines 
 were slowed down a second time. 
 
 ' " It will never do," said Tamate, " to drop amongst 
 them while they are in that state. They'll settle down 
 presently." 
 
 * He looked up to the narrow strip of sky between the 
 thickly timbered banks of the river. 
 
 ' " We've a good two hours' daylight yet," he said. 
 " There's plenty of time." 
 
 * I have watched the Motumotu whaleboat coxswain 
 waiting patiently off the shore for an opportunity to get 
 through the pounding surf, and land his boat on the 
 beach in safety. The man's experienced eye would scan 
 the water seaward, while he held his crew with their long 
 oars in readiness to pull hard as soon as he should give the
 
 Tamate's Keen Insight 291 
 
 order. Presently he would detect some slight abatement 
 amongst the surging billows, and this would be his 
 opportunity. The order given, the six oars would bend 
 to their work, and the boat would fly towards the beach. 
 She would get amongst the breakers. One would catch 
 her astern and lift her bodily, and breaking and boiling 
 along her sides would land her home in a sea of seething 
 foam. The breaker before it, or the breaker after it, 
 would have swamped the boat. 
 
 * Tamate had this rare faculty of opportuneness. He 
 knew how to wait for the favourable moment. He knew 
 exactly when to act, and, what is quite as essential in the 
 pioneer, he knew precisely when to finish his work for 
 the time being, and get away. 
 
 ' The commotion having subsided to some extent, 
 Tamate ordered the engines ahead once more ; and we 
 crept slowly up the river, and drew nearer and nearer to 
 lala. We came up to the first houses, and then passed along 
 between the villages on both sides of us until we reached 
 the heart of this strange community. Hundreds of men 
 stood on either bank as silent and motionless as the 
 trees of the primaeval forest around them. They had 
 hauled their canoes partly up the river-bank, but ready 
 to be launched at a moment's notice ; and they stood 
 erect in rows along the bottoms of their boats. There 
 was not a woman or a child to be seen in all that dense 
 crowd. These were the fighting men of lala ; and they 
 were prepared, dumbfounded as they were, to defend 
 themselves against an attack from gods, or devils, ot 
 men, or whatever it might be that was invading them. 
 
 ' Iko took up a position in the bows of the " Miro. ' 
 Tamate stood a few feet away from him. Neither of 
 them spoke, as we slowly came to our anchorage, and 
 then stopped, and dropped the kedge overboard. Not 
 
 T a
 
 292 How Tamate made Friends with Savages 
 
 a sound reached us from the hundreds of men who 
 surrounded us. As soon as the West Indian engineer 
 heard the anchor-chain pay out, he took upon himself 
 to express his jubilant feelings by blowing the steam- 
 whistle. A trifling mistake of this kind might have cost 
 us our lives. No sooner had the sharp shriek been 
 given than a spontaneous buzz arose, and every man 
 was armed and ready to discharge his arrow at us. 
 Before this we had seen no weapons. They had care- 
 fully hidden their long bows down their bodies on the 
 side turned away from us, and their arrows were in 
 their feet. When the whistle blew, without stooping 
 they lifted the arrows between their toes, and like 
 a flash they had fixed them, and, taking up a defiant 
 attitude, were holding their bows taut, and taking aim 
 at our exposed and defenceless position. 
 
 'The old man Iko mounted the low bulwark, and 
 shouted a word at the top of his voice. That word 
 reached every ear in lala. He paused a moment, 
 and shouted the same word again. "Peace! Peace!" 
 
 1 Then he called again, " Pouta ! " This was the 
 name of the chief of the savages who held us at their 
 mercy. After a brief silence a voice answered from 
 the eastern bank of the river ; and with the precision 
 of a trained army the men took up their former atti- 
 tude, and not a weapon was to be seen. A brisk 
 conversation followed between Iko and his friend 
 Pouta, Tamate prompting the sentiments through his 
 interpreter. We had no means of getting ashore, as 
 we had left our dinghey at the mouth of the river. 
 After considerable hesitation a canoe was launched, and 
 slowly approached the " Miro." As it came towards us 
 Tamate left his position forward and joined us amid- 
 ships. To say he was not anxious would be misleading.
 
 Tamate's Brief Address 293 
 
 He saw the imminent danger we were in, but he was 
 calm and self-possessed, and perfectly master of the 
 situation. This was his particular forte. He relaxed 
 for a few moments, and standing- beside my wife, con- 
 gratulated her on her composure. 
 
 4 " You see," he said, " you have the distinction of 
 being the only woman here. Nothing will give these 
 savages greater confidence in us than your presence." 
 
 'The canoe came alongside, and we all got in and 
 pushed off, and were soon being paddled to the land- 
 ing-place, where the crowd was densest. We grounded ; 
 and Tamate, who was in the fore end of the canoe, 
 stepped out. Iko followed him and led him to Pouta. 
 Tamate embraced him heartily. 
 
 'Pouta took up a prominent position, and for two 
 minutes harangued his men at the top of his voice. 
 Then he returned to where we were standing. What 
 he said none of us knew ; but the effect of his short 
 oration was to be seen in the fact that no man moved 
 from his position. Where we stood we were completely 
 encircled by a multitude of bewildered men. Their 
 faces were almost expressionless with emotion. They 
 stood spell-bound, as they gazed upon the strange 
 apparition of our presence. 
 
 * Tamate got to work at once. He addressed Pouta 
 and his men through Vaaburi and Iko. He told them 
 that we had sought them out in order that we might 
 become their friends. We came unarmed. We brought 
 with us a woman. They were not to suppose we were 
 enemies because we were strangers. We had great 
 things to tell them, of which they were ignorant. 
 Some day we would come again, and stay with them, 
 and tell them our message. At Tamate's suggestion 
 Iko, closing his eyes, offered a short prayer to God,
 
 294 How Tamate made Friends with Savages 
 
 " God of all mercy, save this people ; " that must have 
 been the prayer Tamate put into Iko's mouth. 
 
 ' The short prayer finished, Tamate said to me : 
 
 ' " Now, Abel, we must get aboard as quickly as we 
 can. Ten minutes of this strain is as much as these 
 people can stand. My plan for a first visit," he con- 
 tinued, " is to arrive, make friends, and get away again 
 before the people realize what has happened. Every- 
 thing depends now upon our dispatch. After we are 
 gone they can think calmly about us ; and next time 
 we come we shall come amongst friends." 
 
 'We got into the canoe again and were paddled to 
 the " Miro." A minute after we reached the launch 
 the anchor was weighed. With some difficulty the 
 " Miro " swung round, the engines were started, and 
 with the full sweep of the strong current with us, we 
 were soon past the silent men who lined the banks; 
 lala was behind us, and our work for Christ that 
 day was done. 
 
 1 Tamate's power over savages was partly a personal 
 thing. To attempt to describe it would be to describe 
 the man. It was in his presence, his carriage, his eye, 
 his voice. It was not only wild men whom he fascinated. 
 There was something almost hypnotic about him, and 
 his subjects might be savages, or they might be saints. 
 "Tamate said we must give up cannibalism . . . and 
 we did''' There is a short biography of the pioneer 
 in old Manurewa's words. Then again, his judgement, 
 largely the result of wide experience in critical situations, 
 was unerring. He saw evil brooding where an inex- 
 perienced eye would have seen nothing to fear; he 
 was equally certain everything was satisfactory, when 
 a novice would have suspected danger. 
 
 'His fearlessness must have been a great factor of
 
 Tamate's Power over Savages 295 
 
 success in his hazardous work. He disarmed men by 
 boldly going amongst them unarmed. Even savages 
 must think twice before they strike a man who is not 
 only defenceless, but unconcerned in the presence of 
 poised spears. Run away, and they will hunt you : 
 tremble before them, and they will quickly justify your 
 fears and torture you : but face them if you can as 
 if their weapons were toys and they your friends, and 
 whatever thoughts were in their minds they will with- 
 hold the deed; and in postponing their violence you 
 are saved. 
 
 'Tamate was not only fearless, but as a pioneer he 
 was also perfectly cool. These characteristics do not 
 always go hand in hand; though both are essential to 
 success in such unique work as Tamate's. It was a sur- 
 prise to me to find that he possessed this quality, because 
 under ordinary circumstances he was often impetuous 
 and excitable. His perfect composure, as well as his 
 judgement, and tact, and fearlessness, humanly speaking, 
 saved our party from disaster at lala, as this rare com- 
 bination of qualities must have brought him through 
 a hundred difficulties of a like kind, during his long 
 service for Christ in New Guinea.'
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 UP AND DOWN THE FLY RIVER 
 
 THE great Fly River had for many years attracted 
 Tamate's attention. He thought that it would be the 
 most easy road to the vast unexplored interior of New 
 Guinea. He was anxious to evangelize the wild tribes 
 along its banks. The London Missionary Society were 
 eager to establish stations near the mouth and far up the 
 great stream. For this work a steam launch was neces- 
 sary, and in the course of 1891 the gifts of friends in 
 New Zealand and Australia enabled Tamate to ^secure 
 a boat which he named the ' Miro. 1 This enabled new 
 stations to be opened on the island of Kiwai, in the 
 delta of the Fly River, at Ipisia and Saguane. 
 
 On Jan. 5, 1892, the 'Miro' reached Thursday Island, 
 and was at once taken over by Tamate. On Jan. 1 2 she 
 sailed on her first voyage, and went by way of Darnley 
 Island, Murray Island, and Dauan to Saguane, and then 
 across to Vailala. Thence Tamate visited all the main 
 stations on the coast as far as Tupuselei, calling both on 
 the outward and return journey. 
 
 The * Miro's ' next trip was up the great river itself. 
 Between 1873 and 1893 four expeditions ascended the 
 Fly River, and on each occasion the natives appeared in 
 numerous canoes, and bore down on the expeditions as 
 if to attack them, so that they had to fire. Tamate was 
 strongly advised not to go near these people, but he felt
 
 How Tamate did his Work 297 
 
 he could not return to Britain and leave them unvisited 
 and unfriendly. So he steamed up the mighty stream, 
 landing wherever he could, in order if possible to make 
 friends with the natives. It was hard work, and dan- 
 gerous work. Here are one or two illustrations of how 
 it was done, and what it meant. 
 
 On leaving Sumai to visit the unfriendly tribes on the 
 Fly River, he steamed up against the current for some dis- 
 tance, and dropped anchor opposite an opening in the bush. 
 On landing he was taken charge of and conducted into 
 the bush, to a place where there were several small tem- 
 porary buildings, in place of a very large house which 
 had been recently burned down. The excitement was 
 great, as these natives had never before seen white men, 
 except at rifle range, and now they saw and touched 
 one. The noise and shouting were great, and to an 
 excitable and imaginative person it might have appeared 
 that the hour of doom had come. Tamate and his party 
 were, as always, unarmed, he himself having only a 
 walking-stick, which was useful in going over native 
 bridges and for long walks. Some of the men were 
 very evil-looking, and the women, who were gathered 
 in the houses, were not at all prepossessing. A few of the 
 men had been to Sumai, and had obtained in exchange 
 for yams, taro, bows and arrows, old filthy shirts, in 
 which they certainly looked fearful guys. 
 
 Tamate held a service in front of the houses, at 
 which his interpreters spoke and prayed. All seemed 
 to understand them, and gave audible assent to their 
 statements. How strange it must be for tribes such as 
 these, when they hear for the first time ' The Great 
 Spirit is love,' and loves them! 
 
 Tamate got on to the small verandah of one of the 
 houses, and with difficulty passed presents on to the
 
 298 Up and Down the Fly River 
 
 women and children inside. There were some very 
 suspicious movements groups consulting, men going 
 to the houses, and a noise of arrows being handled; 
 and so after a little time it was thought advisable to 
 get back to the launch. 
 
 Getting up anchor next morning the ' Miro ' steamed 
 along the bank for a few miles, and came to shallow 
 water. There it anchored, some distance from the one 
 large house village of Aduru. Soon over one hundred 
 and fifty canoes gathered around it, and on an average 
 four men in each canoe, all shouting at their loudest. 
 The natives could not be kept from crowding on 
 board, and at one time it was very uncomfortable, and 
 they seemed as if they meant to be unpleasant. Tamate 
 was ill with fever, and did not feel inclined to land, 
 and also thought it advisable to remain on the launch, 
 so that if trouble arose he might be at hand. The 
 engineer and interpreters landed, remaining for some 
 time, and on their return reported the place to be 
 swampy and full of strong smells. Tamate made 
 friends with a young man, named Zagai, whom they 
 called a chief, by means of a present, and prevailed on 
 him to accompany us up the river. But his people, 
 after the habit of savages, were much opposed to his 
 going, and at one time became very noisy on board 
 about it. Tamate gave them to understand at last 
 that he would not take him, and Zagai then, in his 
 turn, became angry with his people, and told them 
 he would go with the white man. 
 
 A few days later the ' Miro ' steamed up the river for 
 some miles, against a strong current, until it came to 
 where there were two creeks, one running south and the 
 other west. Tamate landed and found one long house 
 and five smaller. In the latter were all the women and
 
 Making Friends on the Fly River 299 
 
 children, the doors barricaded with wood. Nothing 
 would induce them to let the women and children out 
 to receive presents of beads. 
 
 Weighing anchor again, the ' Miro ' proceeded up the 
 river until it came to another large creek. The ' Miro ' 
 anchored off the mouth of the creek. Soon those on 
 board could see numbers of armed men in the banana 
 plantation at the point. Some left their arms and came 
 down the bank to the water's edge, whilst the greatest 
 number remained carrying their bows and arrows, and 
 ready for whatever might take place. Very cautiously 
 a canoe was seen coming down the creek, and with a 
 good deal of shouting, inviting them alongside, we 
 prevailed on them to come. Then another followed, 
 and soon we had several. Tamate got into a canoe and 
 ordered his interpreters to come with him ; the dinghey 
 was to follow some time after. Paddling up the creek 
 he saw the natives on the bank handling their bows 
 and placing arrows, and he protested through the 
 interpreters against this manner of receiving friends. 
 There was a great deal of shouting and a spurt of 
 paddling, until we got to the village. Tamate landed, 
 and having got the chiefs name called for him, and in 
 his presence emphatically protested against the men with 
 arms lining the bank. Ona, one of the interpreters, 
 assisted, saying that Tamate was a great friend of the 
 Domori chiefs, and was a man of peace, and that his 
 4 fire canoe ' was a ' peace canoe.' 
 
 Tamate 's time was now up, so he decided to return 
 down the river, having accomplished the object for 
 which he came to make friends with the dwellers on 
 the banks of the Fly River, and so open the way for the 
 introduction of the Gospel at a later date. 
 
 Unhappily closer acquaintance with the Fly River
 
 3OO Up and Down the Fly River 
 
 soon made two things clear. First, that the engines of 
 the ' Miro ' were not nearly powerful enough to contend 
 with the vast waters ; secondly, the difficulties of reach- 
 ing the natives in any effective way were greater and 
 more serious than even Tamate anticipated. Here is 
 an illustration of how the Fly River dealt with the 
 ' Miro.' 
 
 'DAUAN, September 22, 1893. 
 
 ' A few hours ago I arrived here in the whaleboat 
 from the Fly River. That word " river " has been the 
 bane of my life since I came here. Everybody seems to 
 think of a splendid stream of fresh water gently flowing 
 through tropical countries and falling into the Papuan 
 Gulf. I myself, until this last season's experience, thought 
 it might be a little boisterous at the mouth, but up the 
 river a large, calm, peaceful stream. I now know it to 
 be a fearful place for gales of wind and heavy seas, and 
 up it a dangerous bore during spring tides. 
 
 ' At Domori I got the chief on board, and, anxious to 
 get him right away, cleared out for the island close by 
 where I have been before. Crossing to the island we were 
 carrying one fathom good all the way, when suddenly we 
 were on a mud-bank fast enough. About 6.30 the tide 
 rose a little, and we pulled on a kedge I had got out 
 astern. We were off when we heard a peculiar express 
 train noise, and soon were on the bank again, and all on 
 board thought it was all up with us. A big bore tore 
 down on us, and carried the " Miro " bodily, anchor and 
 all, on to the bank, and away across it. Although we 
 gave her the bow anchor that too went with us. We 
 pulled up in six fathoms of water to find the rudder 
 would not work. Next morning we kedged her ashore 
 on to a bank of the mainland, and when the water left 
 her high and dry we found the rudder-post bent and
 
 Perils of the Fly River 301 
 
 cracked, and the stern-post carried quite away on the 
 under part. For two nights we remained on that bank, 
 but had to clear out into better quarters. 
 
 1 No use burking it, we want more powerful engines 
 and a different boiler, and a protracted keel to protect 
 the propeller and strong enough to hold the rudder. 
 There are banks innumerable and unknown in the river, 
 and we must be prepared for them. No one knows the 
 Fly River, and only now are tribes and villages coming 
 to light, and to each one of these we want to bring the 
 Gospel. No use finding fault with any one, the Fly 
 River is a river, but a bad, bad river, unknown to any 
 one. I think, and am troubled about the expense, but 
 I look through glasses beautifully clear, and I see savage 
 tribes now unknown sitting and being taught of Jesus.' 
 
 The Centenary celebrations of the London Missionary 
 Society began in 1895. The Directors, in view of that 
 great event, deemed it advisable to secure the magnetic 
 and heart-stirring advocacy of Tamate at the great 
 meetings which were to be held all over the country. 
 On reaching Thursday Island in March, 1894, he found 
 a telegram awaiting him, brief but to the point ; 
 ' Directors want you home.' By the middle of May he 
 was on his way to England. 
 
 Chalmers landed at Tilbury in 1894 with very different 
 feelings from those which dominated him in 1887. Then 
 he felt himself a stranger, more at home in a canoe than 
 in a train, far more at ease in a dubu than in a church. 
 He dreaded the duty of addressing audiences, and he 
 contemplated a speedy return flight from the restraints 
 of civilization. In 1894 he looked forward to meeting 
 hosts of loving friends, he had tested his power to move 
 audiences, his enthusiasm for his life-work was even more 
 fervent than in 1887, and he felt that God had a work
 
 3O2 Up and Down the Fly River 
 
 for him to do and would give him grace and strength to 
 perform it. 
 
 At every great missionary assembly, and at multitudes 
 of the smaller meetings also, the one indispensable orator 
 during the last half of 1894 and the first half of 1895 was 
 Chalmers. Throughout Britain he travelled unceasingly, 
 speaking, preaching, kindling into burning flame of love 
 and zeal alike the individuals who were fortunate enough 
 to come into close touch with his virile, sympathetic, 
 Christ -possessed humanity, and also the great assemblies 
 that were enthralled by his rugged eloquence and un- 
 quenchable enthusiasm for the uplifting of humanity. 
 
 Chalmers on the platform and in the pulpit was great ; 
 but in the quiet home, after the day's deputation work 
 was over, in congenial society it was then that the 
 simplicity, the single-heartedness, the consecration, the 
 Christ-likeness of the man shone out most brightly. On 
 these occasions as Chalmers talked you saw the wild, 
 fierce face of the cannibal soften at the story of the 
 Cross ; you trod with the intrepid missionary across 
 the beach to the chief's hut, not knowing whether you 
 would return alive ; you sat at the Lord's Table with 
 men and women who but a few years before had eaten 
 their enemies ; you clung to the boat as she swung back- 
 ward and forth on the surge until the wave came big 
 enough to float you over the reef and into the lagoon, 
 beyond the reach of the thundering and dangerous surf. 
 
 Early in June, 1895, while in Birmingham, Chalmers 
 had a severe breakdown, and was for a time quite 
 seriously ill. The strain through which he had for 
 months been passing was greater almost than any man 
 should be called upon to bear. Yet his own eager desire 
 to do all that he could, and the imperative demands for 
 his presence that would take no denial, combined to
 
 Tamate's Second Visit Home 303 
 
 produce the disaster. Happily rest and his own 
 vigorous constitution speedily brought him back again 
 to his working level. 
 
 Inverary by this time was so impressed with the 
 greatness of her son that the burghers of that ancient 
 town conferred upon Chalmers the highest honour in 
 their power the freedom of the burgh. 
 
 Tamate returned to New Guinea at the close of 1895. 
 He had determined to make Saguane, in the Fly River 
 Delta, his new home. His work at this period was the 
 superintendence of the stations scattered over the Torres 
 Straits on various islands, from Murray Island in the 
 south to Bampton Island in the north. These com- 
 munities were small in numbers and widely scattered. 
 To visit them repeatedly and only by this means could 
 the work of the native teachers be rendered effective 
 involved constant voyages in either the tiny mission 
 schooner, or in the still smaller and more cramped 
 whaleboat. The whole region is one in which naviga- 
 tion is of the most difficult order; stormy weather is 
 frequent, and the squalls exceedingly violent, and the 
 task of landing on the different islands toilsome and 
 dangerous. To pastoral visitation of this nature the last 
 years of Tamate's life were devoted. 
 
 Saguane, on the island of Kiwai in the very jaws of 
 the Fly River Delta, was chosen as his base, on Chalmers's 
 fundamental principle of always stationing himself as 
 near as possible to the strategic point for work. And 
 if the doing of this involved hardship and the excitement 
 of danger, so much the more he liked it. Probably no 
 less inviting spot in the whole region could have been 
 found. It was low, desolate, swampy land, only a few 
 feet above the sea-level, and it finally had to be aban- 
 doned because of the resistless encroachment of the sea.
 
 304 Up and Down the Fly River 
 
 Here at Saguane, when not off upon his visitation 
 voyages, Chalmers spent days and weeks, patiently 
 instructing- savage children in the rudiments of know- 
 ledge, and conducting simple daily services of prayer 
 and praise with handfuls of natives who came but slowly 
 to any comprehension of the meaning of the actions in 
 which they took part. He was ever seeking and ever 
 gaining more and more hold upon the savages who, 
 attracted by his residence there, and by his irresistible 
 personality, came in the first instance to see what they 
 could either get or steal from the white man, and ended 
 by being compelled under his constraining influence 
 to surrender all the worst features of their savagery. 
 It would be hard to find in the whole mission field 
 a more striking instance of surrender to duty than that 
 of Chalmers, the intrepid explorer, the man who was 
 never happier than when keenly reading the faces of 
 hitherto unseen savages, the man whose services were 
 sought by learned societies all over the world, who could 
 thrill vast audiences by the power of his personality and 
 the burning force of his enthusiasm, patiently giving 
 himself to the work of an infant-school teacher with the 
 savage children of Saguane. 
 
 In August, 1897, Mrs. Chalmers reached Saguane, 
 more than three years after her health had compelled 
 her to leave Toaripi. She found both place and people 
 at Saguane very different from the stormy beach and 
 the wild savages she had learned to love at Toaripi. 
 But she soon set herself, for the Master's sake, to the 
 duty of loving and caring for the degraded children and 
 natives around her. On Dec. i, 1897, she wrote: 
 
 'My children are a handful, perfect young savages, 
 and if anything goes wrong, they fight tooth and nail, 
 the former being the favourite mode. Sometimes I hear
 
 'Pray that I may love these People' 305 
 
 screams and yells, as if some one was being murdered, 
 and I find that a boy or girl has made the teeth meet in 
 the flesh of another. 
 
 'We get good attendance at school, although most 
 of the parents discourage their children from coming. 
 The attendance at church is fairly good. I look round 
 and long to see some sign of real interest. It is early 
 days yet, and we must just work on in patience. I want 
 you to pray that I may grow to love these people. I do 
 not feel to love them as I did my Toaripians. They are 
 a much lower type than the latter ; they are so mean, 
 and dirty, and selfish but Jesus loves them all, and oh, 
 how they need His love, and they need ours too. 
 Tamate, bless him, seems to like them well, and shakes 
 hands, and puts his arm over their shoulders, and never 
 minds dirt or disease.' 
 
 In May, 1898, Chalmers started on the 'Niue' to visit 
 his teachers in the Straits, and fortunately, as it turned 
 out, Mrs. Chalmers accompanied him. They had hardly 
 started when one of the worst series of gales ever known, 
 even in that region, overtook them. They were com- 
 pelled to take refuge at Thursday Island, where first 
 Mrs. Chalmers was laid up, and then Tamate himself had 
 a dangerous illness, due partly to a fall and partly to 
 the exposure, fatigue, and drenchings occasioned by the 
 terrible weather through which the 'Niue' passed. 
 Mrs. Chalmers, on June 13, wrote home an account of 
 this time of peril and suffering : 
 
 'We left Saguane May 19, and had a most terrible 
 time in these Straits. They are dangerous at all times, 
 anywhere out of the big ship channel, and every island 
 is reef-bound besides the sunken reefs, and many sand- 
 banks. For over a fortnight we were out, and battling 
 with awful seas and constant squalls night and day. The 
 
 u
 
 306 Up and Down the Fly River 
 
 little " Niue " is always what we call a wet boat, but during 
 this time she had seas over her from stem to stern and 
 often the water came into the cabin, and our mattresses, 
 pillows, and selves were soaked. We were beating and 
 tacking the whole time anchoring at night under lee of 
 islands or reefs, and pitching, rolling, and dancing the 
 whole night; only twice we had a quieter anchorage. 
 Tamate was on deck nearly the whole day long, wet 
 through and through, but obliged to be there in such 
 stormy weather.' 
 
 Gradually evidences of success attended the work in 
 this trying field. Chalmers writes : 
 
 * God is blessing our work very abundantly, and many 
 are seeking baptism. Last month I baptized at Parama 
 sixty-four, and at Geavi thirty-two, and at each place 
 hosts of children. Last Sunday I baptized fourteen here 
 and seven children. We need more teachers at many 
 places; they hold services and do their best. The 
 Master sees it all, and will bless them. Now that the 
 hard up-pull is easier, the long, dreech waiting over, 
 I would gladly give up to a younger man.' 
 
 Mrs. Chalmers's health, which had begun to fail steadily, 
 necessitated at this time a visit to Australia. There 
 Tamate joined her towards the close of her stay. He 
 was ever alert to utilize such visits and the opportunities 
 they afforded for stimulating assemblies and for con- 
 sulting friends and officials who could help on his work. 
 
 An old college friend who visited Tamate at this 
 time has well described his work : ' I once saw him in 
 his Fly River home, the most oppressively lonely 
 mission station I have ever seen. To have lived at 
 Saguane, in the midst of the mangrove swamps of 
 the Fly Delta, would have been an unbearable exile 
 to most men, but there, on an island mid-stream, which
 
 Tamate as Schoolmaster 307 
 
 seemed to him to be a strategic position for his work, 
 he planted his home. There was no permanent village 
 near, but he gathered a few friendly natives around 
 him, and formed the nucleus of a Christian community. 
 At daybreak I visited with him the rudely con- 
 structed schoolhouse he had built on the sand, just 
 above high-water mark. Twenty-three boys and girls 
 were gathered before him. He knew their language, 
 but he was teaching- them English, and with a small 
 bamboo stick for a baton, which I brought away as 
 a memento of the scene, he led them as they sang the 
 first verse of " God save the Queen," and " All hail the 
 power of Jesu's name." I do not think Chalmers ever 
 appeared to me quite so great a man as when I saw 
 him thus teaching that group of Fly River children.' 
 
 In July, 1900, Mrs. Chalmers became seriously ill, and 
 as week after week passed without improvement, it 
 gradually dawned upon them both that there was only 
 one possible end to her sufferings. Chalmers prepared, 
 during his last lonely months at Daru, a sketch of his 
 wife's life. The latter portion of this tells tenderly the 
 story of these last sorrowful weeks : 
 
 1 Lizzie came out to me in 1897, and enjoyed Saguane 
 much at first. With the old spirit she threw herself into 
 teaching-, and her bairns made progress. In the begin- 
 ning of 1 899 she went to the colonies, where stie soon 
 recovered. I went to Sydney to meet her, and stayed 
 four weeks, when we returned to Saguane. Towards 
 the end of the year illness returned, and she suffered 
 a good deal internally. In 1900 she still carried on her 
 classes. In May we went to Thursday Island, where 
 I left her. 
 
 * On my return I found her much better, and anxious 
 to get back to work, and especially to prepare for our 
 
 U 2
 
 308 Up and Down the Fly River 
 
 removal to Daru, which had become necessary owing to 
 the washing- away by the sea of the shore at Saguane. 
 Soon after our return she and the boys packed away all 
 her small things. She carried on her classes, and on 
 July 23 she had her evening class, and on my going to 
 her she complained of feeling very poorly. I got her to 
 bed, from which she never again rose without assistance. 
 
 ' For fourteen weeks she was ill, but steadily growing 
 in Christ. She was thankful for her long illness, not- 
 withstanding the great suffering, as it gave her time to 
 understand better, to get a clearer view and a stronger 
 faith. Often she could be heard in praise, and saying, 
 " Peace, perfect peace ! " " In my Father's house are 
 many mansions ; " " Jesus is near, very near." She 
 loved to hear the children sing. 
 
 ' One thing she feared was that she might die at 
 Saguane, and so would have to be buried in the swamp, 
 and earnestly prayed she might be spared to reach Daru 
 and be buried there. On October 24 we carried her on 
 board the " Niue." We had a very fine run across, 
 and at 10.30 we anchored off Daru. I said when the 
 anchor was going down, " Daru, dear," and with great 
 satisfaction she replied, "Yes." My hope was to get 
 her to Thursday Island and on to Sydney. But that 
 night she became much worse, was sometimes uncon- 
 scious, slept a good deal, and was evidently soon to pass 
 on yonder. She knew me until 9 a.m. on October 25, 
 and at 10.40 she quietly went home. She rests in the 
 native cemetery. The few whites were all exceedingly 
 kind and sympathetic, and helped me in every way. 
 The teachers were as sons, and did all they could. 
 Thank God for sympathy and love ! The world is full 
 of both as it is of God.'
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE END OF A NOBLE LIFE 
 
 AFTER his wife's death in October, 1900, Tamate gave 
 himself more earnestly than ever to the work of the 
 mission. His head quarters were removed from Saguane 
 to Daru ; and the closing weeks of 1900 and the early 
 part of 1901 found him busily engaged in getting his 
 new quarters straight and fit for effective service. Before 
 his plans could be completed the end came. 
 
 In April, 1900, Chalmers had been encouraged by 
 the arrival of a young colleague, the Rev. Oliver F. 
 Tomkins, who was to superintend the Torres Straits 
 Mission, and thus leave Tamate free to explore the Fly 
 River and to attempt to extend the mission eastwards 
 from that river. He was a colleague after Tamate 's own 
 heart, a man of fine physique, of beautiful spirit, of a 
 missionary enthusiasm akin to Chalmers's own. From 
 the first Tamate loved him. ' He will do ; send us two 
 more of the same sort,' was the message the veteran sent 
 home about him. Through the trying scenes of the last 
 illness of Mrs. Chalmers he was as a son to his elder 
 colleague. * What can I say of him who was the sharer 
 of his martyrdom,' said Dr. Lawes, at a great meeting in 
 the Albert Hall in May, 1901, 'except that he had won 
 all hearts, and that we expected great things from him 
 for many years to come ? A man of faith and prayer, 
 mighty in the Scriptures, he was a great help, comfort, 
 and joy to Tamate.'
 
 3io The End of a Noble Life 
 
 The following- letters, certainly the last Tamate 
 penned, were written only the day before the ' Niue ' left 
 Daru on that trip from which so many of her passengers 
 were never to return : 
 
 ' DARU, April 3, 1901. 
 
 'We leave to -morrow for the east, Risk Point, and 
 Cape Blackwood, and I shall be away for over a fortnight. 
 Our work here gets on very slowly. Sometimes the 
 greatness of it oppresses me, but He keeps saying, " Be 
 strong and of a good courage," and I know He is with 
 us, so all is well. 
 
 ' We had the " John Williams " here a fortnight ago, 
 and held committee meetings ashore on this verandah. 
 Oh, it was a good time. I keep well a slight touch of 
 fever about a fortnight ago, just after the "John 
 Williams " left. I have got very lazy and must break it 
 off, and so will be on the move for the next six weeks.' 
 
 'DARU, April 3, 1901. 
 
 ' Just a wee note to leave for any chance there may be 
 to Thursday Island. We leave to-morrow for the east, 
 as far as Cape Blackwood, and expect to be away more 
 than a fortnight. Many years ago I used Law's Serious 
 Call to a Devout Life, and am again at it. We are apt 
 to get so formal and lukewarm and need occasional 
 stimulus. 
 
 ' The sun is shining, and a south-east wind has come 
 up, and I feel cheered. For more than two months we 
 have not had such a day.' 
 
 The next day Tamate began that voyage which ended 
 so disastrously at Goaribari Island. 
 
 On April 4 Tamate sailed from Daru in the ' Niue ' 
 to visit the district around Cape Blackwood. This part 
 of the Papuan Gulf is inhabited by some of the wildest 
 and fiercest New Guinea tribes. Chalmers had for many
 
 3 2
 
 312 The End of a Noble Life 
 
 years been eager to gain a foothold there for mission 
 work. He loved the big savage cannibal chiefs and 
 natives there. He knew they were skull-hunters. He 
 knew that any one landing amongst them took his life 
 in his hand. He knew also that if he could win them 
 the victory for Christ and for civilization would be won 
 along the whole Papuan Gulf. And so he went on the 
 expedition from which he never returned. Here is the 
 terrible story of the next few days. 
 
 The captain of the ' Niue,' who escaped with his life, 
 reported that he left Daru, on April 4, with Tamate 
 and Tomkins, Hiro, a Rarotongan teacher, the chief of 
 Ipisia, and a party of ten mission boys. They made for 
 Risk Point, and arrived there April 7, at four p.m. 
 Directly the vessel anchored the natives came off, and 
 stayed on the vessel till sunset, when Tamate persuaded 
 them to go ashore, and promised to visit them in their 
 village the next day. At five a.m. the next morning 
 a great crowd of natives came off, and crowded the 
 decks so that there was no room to move. The canoes 
 in which they came were filled with bows and arrows, 
 clubs, bamboo knives and spears. Those on board the 
 ' Niue ' tried to persuade the natives to go on shore, but 
 they refused. Tamate then decided to go on shore 
 himself, thinking he might thereby induce the natives 
 to leave the vessel. Tomkins at once said he would 
 accompany him, and Tamate in vain tried to persuade 
 him to remain with the vessel. The two missionaries 
 got into the whaleboat with the mission boys and the 
 Ipisia chief, Hjro_re^iaining on board to help the captain. 
 Tamate said he would not stay more than half an hour, 
 and would return again to the l Niue ' to breakfast, after 
 which they would make for another village. 
 
 Those left on board watched the boat go away, followed
 
 The Fatal Morning 313 
 
 by about half the natives, the rest remaining- on board. 
 When the boat neared the village they saw it go in, then 
 come out again, and then in again, after which they 
 could see nothing more of it. 
 
 About seven o'clock a breeze sprang up, and the 
 ' Niue ' was got under way and taken to an anchorage 
 right opposite the village of Dopima, to which Tamate 
 had gone. The vessel waited there till noon, but could 
 see no signs of the party. It sailed on a little further, 
 but still could see no signs of either the mission party 
 or the boat. The captain waited till sunset, but still 
 there was no sign. The ' Niue ' was then taken outside 
 the island, and anchored for the night. Next morning 
 they went along the coast for some distance, but could see 
 no sign of their comrades, and at eight a.m. on April 9 
 the 'Niue' left for Daru to report the matter to the 
 governor. 
 
 The natives who had remained on board the 'Niue' 
 when Tamate and Tomkins went ashore, looted the 
 vessel, taking all the barter goods and the clothes and 
 stores belonging to Tamate and Tomkins. The latter 
 had no stores of any kind with them when they went 
 ashore. 
 
 As soon as the sad tidings reached the governor the 
 * Merrie England ' was sent with a sufficient force to find 
 out exactly what had happened. One of the natives 
 of the district was captured, and his tale was the 
 following : 
 
 'The first suggestion for massacring the London 
 Missionary Society party came from the chief Garopo, 
 off whose village, Dopima, the " Niue " was anchored. 
 Word was at once sent round that night to villages in 
 the vicinity to come to help. It is the usual custom for 
 people of surrounding villages, when, a large boat is.
 
 314 The End of a Noble Life 
 
 sighted, to congregate in one place. Dopima, Turotere, 
 and eight other villages took part. The next morning 
 all the canoes went off and persuaded Messrs. Chalmers 
 and Tomkins and party to come on shore in the whale- 
 boat. Some of the natives remained to loot the " Niue." 
 
 'When they got on shore Messrs. Chalmers and 
 Tomkins and a few boys entered the long house, the 
 rest of the boys remaining to guard the boat. These 
 last, however, were also enticed inside the house on 
 pretence of giving them something to eat. The signal 
 for a general massacre was given by knocking simul- 
 taneously from behind both Messrs. Chalmers and 
 Tomkins on the head with stone clubs. Chalmers was 
 struck by lake, of Turotere, and Tomkins by Arau-u, 
 of Turotere. Kaiture, of Dopima, then stabbed Mr. 
 Chalmers in the right side with a cassowary dagger, 
 and then Muroroa cut off his head. Ema cut off 
 Mr. Tomkins's head. They both fell senseless at the 
 first blow of the clubs. 
 
 'All the heads were immediately cut off. We, how- 
 ever, lost one man, Gahibai, of Dopima. He was running 
 to knock a big man, Naragi, chief of Ipisia, on the head, 
 when the latter snatched a stone club from a man stand- 
 ing near, and killed Gahibai. Naragi was, however, 
 immediately overpowered. The other boys were too 
 small to make any resistance. 
 
 'In the meantime the people in canoes left at the 
 "Niue" had come back after looting her. This party 
 was led by Kautiri, of Dopima. Finding the party on 
 shore dead, it was determined to go back to the " Niue " 
 and kill those on board. However, the "Niue" had 
 got under way, and left, so they could not accomplish 
 their purpose. Then Pakara, of Aimaha, called out 
 to all the people to come and break up the boat, which
 
 The Tragedy at Dopima 315 
 
 had been taken right inside the creek, it being high 
 water 1 . This was done, and the pieces were divided 
 amongst people from the various villages. 
 
 ' Directly the heads had been cut off the bodies some 
 men cut the latter up and handed the pieces over to the 
 women to cook, which they did, mixing the flesh with 
 sago. They were eaten the same day. Gebai took 
 Mr. Chalmers's head to Dopima, and Mahikaha took 
 Mr. Tomkins's head to Turotere. The rest of the heads 
 were divided amongst various individuals. Anybody 
 having a new head would naturally, on seeing strange 
 people coming to the village, hide it away in the bush, 
 and leave only the old skulls in the houses. The 
 same applies to the loot from the " Niue." As regards 
 the skulls in the houses, those having artificial noses 
 attached to them are of people who have died natural 
 deaths; those that have no noses attached have been 
 killed.' 
 
 Punishment for the tragedy was exacted by the 
 government in order to put a stop to such events in 
 the future, and not from any desire on the part of 
 Tamate's friends and fellow helpers for revenge. The 
 last desire in their hearts was for any vengeance upon 
 the poor ignorant savages who had, all unwittingly, 
 murdered their best friends. 
 
 The governor started with the steam launch, with six 
 boats in tow. Off the village of Dopima two of the 
 boats were cast off, while the governor with the other 
 four went about a mile and a half further up to the 
 second village, Turotere. He no sooner got abreast of 
 the village than the natives rushed down, and opened 
 fire upon him. Not till then did he hold up a white flag 
 
 1 This was the splendid boat which just before her death 
 Mrs. Chalmers had presented to the mission.
 
 316 The End of a Noble Life 
 
 (the signal to fire). A few rounds were fired, the whole 
 party scrambled ashore through the mud, and in a short 
 time had possession of the village. At Dopima the 
 attack was not made till after that on Turotere had 
 begun. Leaving two boats at Turotere, the governor 
 went round the north end of the island to a village on 
 the mainland. Here again he was attacked. Heavy 
 rain came on as he and his party from Dopima joined 
 those at Turotere. In the dark and the wet they went 
 ashore and camped in the dubu. For hours a most 
 violent thunderstorm raged. Despite this the natives 
 made two attacks on the dubu, and wounded one of 
 the native police. 
 
 ' The next morning the governor went away to Aimaha 
 with four of the boats, leaving two others to destroy the 
 war canoes and the dubus. He had given orders that 
 none of the family houses were to be touched. ^ This 
 order was obeyed, except in the case where the wind 
 carried the flame to other houses, and best part of the 
 village was burnt. One of these dubus was fully 
 300 yards long, and the shortest would not be less than 
 150 yards long. At Turotere four of these dubus were 
 fired, and no sooner did the smoke begin to rise than all 
 along the mangrove edge was lined with men in very 
 small canoes. Some few of them tried to cross, but they 
 vanished into the mangrove the moment the small 
 launch tried to capture them. The governor had given 
 orders that there was to be no more firing except in case 
 of need, and this order was in keeping with the spirit in 
 which the whole affair was carried out. During Friday 
 and Saturday ten villages were visited, and the fighting 
 dubus in each destroyed.' 
 
 The Lieutenant-Governor of British New Guinea, who 
 was present in person at the events first described, sent
 
 A Dubu at Dopima 317 
 
 in a full official report of his proceedings, and we quote 
 some passages from this : 
 
 ' The locality is one which has a very bad reputation ; 
 the population is large and savage. It was first visited, 
 as far as I know, by Captain Blackwood (after whom 
 the cape to the east of it is named) in 1845. Sir 
 William Macgregor visited it twice, in 1892 and 1898, 
 and on one occasion only prevented a collision between 
 his party and the natives of the Omati River, who were 
 stealing from his boat, by holding back with his own 
 hand one of his crew who had struck a thief who had 
 stolen his shirt. 
 
 'I went through the long dubu, which I should say 
 was 300 yards long, divided up on either side into small 
 partitions or cubicles screened off from the centre passage, 
 which was wide and clear from end to end. There were 
 quantities of bows and arrows, many of the latter barbed 
 and of a soft, easily broken wood, probably intentional 
 to make their extraction more difficult. The most 
 curious objects were fantastically carved and painted 
 figures fastened to a sort of seat, with dozens of skulls, 
 some of them carved and painted, in front of them; 
 each skull was attached to the figure or to the frame of 
 the seat by a thick twisted cord with a loop at the end 
 which slipped over a peg ; there were hundreds ot these 
 skulls before numerous figures, which we take to be 
 idols of some kind, in all the dubus. Some had pieces 
 smashed out by the death-blow, others were uninjured. 
 Some had artificial noses and teeth made of gum and 
 wool. We found bamboo head-knives and the daggers 
 of cassowary bone with which they dispatch their 
 victims. When a man is seized the dagger is plunged 
 downwards into his gullet, and his head is immediately 
 cut off with the bamboo knife.
 
 318 The End of a Noble Life 
 
 * I had to decide what punishment I ought to inflict 
 on all those villages which I had reason to believe were 
 implicated or connected in any way with the dreadful 
 tragedy, and I at length, after careful consideration, 
 decided to visit them all with one or other of our 
 parties and burn down the dubus, but not to touch any 
 of the ordinary dwelling-houses of the married men with 
 their women and children. I consulted those of my 
 officers whom I knew were sympathetic and experienced 
 with natives, and we came to the conclusion that it was 
 the right thing to do under the circumstances ; but, 
 while I took their opinion, the decision was mine and 
 I was entirely responsible for it. 
 
 ' By burning these dubus only, the punishment fell only 
 on the fighting men. The houses are made of sago-palm, 
 and can be rebuilt, but of course with a considerable 
 amount of time and labour ; the blow to the prestige of 
 the village would be greatly felt, and that is^of more 
 weight in this case than the material loss of the buildings. 
 It was necessary, in my opinion, to leave a lesson behind 
 me which would not only be felt by those punished, but 
 the report of which would spread amongst their neigh- 
 bours far and wide. I also decided to destroy several of 
 the large war canoes dug-outs without outriggers. 
 
 ' It is in surroundings such as these that the Pioneer 
 Missionary, and one of the mission's latest recruits, and 
 their faithful followers, lost their lives by the hands of 
 those they had come to befriend ; the first because he 
 knew of nothing that could stop him, and the others 
 because where their leader went they went too. It was 
 stated by the survivors on the " Niue " that Mr. Chalmers 
 probably anticipated some danger, as he wished to leave 
 Mr. Tomkins on board ; but the latter would not let him 
 go without him, and they were called away together at
 
 The Noble Character of Tamate 319 
 
 each other's side. I am not alone in the opinion that Mr. 
 Chalmers has won the death he would have wished for 
 of all others in New Guinea and for New Guinea and 
 if I am right in the belief that this sacrifice will prove to 
 be the means of putting an end to such tragedies any- 
 where on the coast of the Possession and they could 
 only occur in this last part of it which we had not yet in 
 hand I know that he, or any others of his brother 
 missionaries here, would unhesitatingly welcome the 
 opportunity for the sake of its end.' 
 
 His old friend and colleague, Dr. Lawes, wrote of 
 him: 
 
 4 That which characterized our beloved Tamate most 
 as a missionary, and as a leader among his brethren, was 
 spiritual power. He was a Christian of the robust, 
 healthy type, with instinctive hatred of all cant and 
 sham. A man of great faith, mighty in prayer, and full 
 of the love of Christ. He realized to a greater degree 
 than most men what it is to live in Christ, and to him 
 His presence was very real, and true, and constant. And 
 this spiritual power was the secret of his wonderful 
 influence over men, and of his great success as a mission- 
 ary : by it " he being dead, yet speaketh." The memory 
 of his Christ-life in its consecration and unselfishness, its 
 large-heartedness, its childlike faith, its communion with 
 God, its unwearied service, and in its bright hopefulness 
 is the rich legacy he has left wherever his name and 
 fame may come. 
 
 In this sudden and, as it seems to us who read the 
 story, terrible way came the end to a noble life. In 
 landing as he did Tamate took only once more a risk he 
 had taken scores of times before. He had often and 
 often in his wonderful life been on the very brink of 
 destruction. Hitherto God had preserved him ; now He
 
 32O The End of a Noble Life 
 
 allowed the blow to fall, and His faithful servant to be 
 called up home. Could Chalmers have chosen his end 
 we do not think he would have had it other than it was. 
 He died at the post of duty. He died while trying to 
 benefit fierce savages whom his great heart loved. And 
 he has left a splendid example of faithfulness unto the 
 end for all who read the story of his life to follow in 
 their own path of duty.
 
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