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 'James Chalmers —the Great Heart of New Guinea. 
 
 • A Man I love A Man that took me fairly by storm for the 
 
 most attractive, simple, brave, and interesting man in the ivhole 
 
 Pacific." 
 
 Robert Louis Stevenson. 
 
 CDe jlpostle of iDe Papuan 6ulf, 
 
 C. STUART ROSS, 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 THE SCOTTISH CHURCH IN VICTORIA, 
 Etc., Etc., Etc. 
 
 Published by 
 M. L. HUTCHINSON, little CouLINs St., Melbourne,
 
 DEDICATED 
 
 TO THE 
 
 DIRECTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY, 
 
 WHOSE EFFORTS FOR THE 
 
 EVANGELIZATION OF HEATHEN RACES 
 
 HAVE BEEN 
 
 A BENEDICTION 
 
 TO THE 
 
 CHRISTIAN WORLD.
 
 
 i 1 rf?<^-<^>Q
 
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR: 
 
 **The Story of the Otago Church & Settlement.*' 
 ** Education Sc Educationists in Otago." 
 ** Colonization & Church Work in Victoria/* 
 **Dick Arnold: a Tasmanian Story.** 
 ''Life & Times of D. M. Stuart, D.D.** 
 "The Scottish Church in Victoria.** 
 Etc., Etc., Etc.
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 JAMES CHALMERS takes rank among the 
 excellent of the earth. His life and work are a 
 stimulus and inspiration to us to labour ever- more 
 abundantly in the Gospel of Christ. All that he 
 was and had he laid at the Master's feet. He 
 endured hunger and fronted peril with unflinching 
 and fearless heart. His love to Christ was a 
 glowing passion in his soul. His faith in His 
 promises never faltered. He was willing to spend 
 and be spent in His service. Hardest and rough- 
 est experiences could neither daunt his courage nor 
 quench his zeal. His longing for the conversion of 
 the heathen was deep and strong. It reminds us 
 of that of Knox, when he cried out in the dark 
 night in an agony of prayer, " Lord, give me 
 Scotland, or I die." So Chalmers, more than once, 
 with a holy daring cried, "Give me New Guinea, 
 or I die." And, in fact, for New Guinea he laid 
 down his life, surrendering it cheerfully, as he 
 sometimes prophetically (as it now seems to us) 
 said he would, in order that the light and healing 
 power of God's Word might shine in upon the 
 darkness of the heathen whom he loved so well. 
 
 He stood out with such prominence in the 
 Mission, prosecuting his work with such devotion
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 and energy, and wielding such influence over the 
 natives, that he was referred to in one report as 
 " the Apostle of the Papuan Gulf." Sir William 
 Macgregor, who knew him well, declared on a great 
 public occasion that there was nothing strained in 
 the definition. 
 
 1 have read with great interest, " James 
 Chalmers : His Autobiography and Letters," by 
 Richard Lovett, M.A. ; and to those who desire 
 very full information regarding the life and work 
 of Chalmers, 1 would recommend a perusal of that 
 book, which has been published by the Religious 
 Tract Society, London. But quite naturally, much 
 is omitted that is of special interest to many in 
 the Colonies, who were biought into personal con- 
 tact with Chalmers, and whose love and practical 
 sympathies he entirely won. To supply that 
 omission, therefore, I decided to issue this sup- 
 plementally volume, in the hope that it may con- 
 tribute in some measure to the creation in oui 
 Christian people of a deeper and more general 
 interest in the Kvangelistic operations of ti)e 
 agents of the London Missionary Society in 
 British New Guinea, which has now been brought 
 into close political touch with our own Australian 
 Commonwealth. 
 
 C. STUART ROSS. 
 
 The Manse, 
 
 Darlington, 
 
 Victoria. 
 1903.
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 Page 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A Mission — Ardour Kindled in Dunedin . . 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Moulding Influences, and Work at Rarotonga . 13 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 New Guinea 19 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Native Teachers and their Work .... 26 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 The Hood Bay Massacre 32 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Gospel JAght Driving Heathen Darkness Back 38 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Polygamy and its Problem .... 46 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Trip to Mekeo 54 
 
 CHAPTER TX. 
 Collections for Princeton Mission Cabinet . 61 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Kone, the New Guinea Raiti-maker ... 67
 
 CONTENTS— (Con«»M«i.) 
 
 Page 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Decked Boat— A Supreme Need of the Mission 80 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 A Munificent Gift to the Mission ... 87 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Thanksgivings 93 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Church's Vitality Conditioned by Aggres- 
 siveness 98 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Political Developments — Protectorate . . 108 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 Undenominational Christian Missions . . 113 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Sir Peter Scratchley appointed Special Com- 
 missioner 120 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 Honoured in Melbourne 126 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 Re-Visiting Old Scenes 132 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The P'ly River 139 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 Second Visit to Great Britain .... 145 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Station Established at Saguane . . 152 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 Tamate wins the Martvr's Crown . . . 160
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A Mission — Ardour Kindled in 
 
 DUNEDIN. 
 
 \T was in July, 1877, that we first met 
 James Chalmers and his wife at 
 Cintra, the Dunedin residence of the 
 Hon. Mathew Holmes. They were on 
 their way from Rarotonga to New Guinea, 
 and made some pause at Dunedin to visit 
 relatives who were resident there. Mrs. 
 Holmes, a saintly woman, htid travelled 
 down the coast v.ith them from Wellington, 
 and, attracted by the charm of their 
 personality, and the robust type of their 
 Christianity, had welcomed them as guests 
 at her hospitable home at Anderson's Bay. 
 We felt drawn to Chalmers at once. His 
 force and manliness, and splendid en- 
 thusiasm, laid their spell upon us. His 
 talk sparkled with uncommon incident and 
 adventure, and was stamped with such
 
 lo TAMATE. 
 
 glowing earnestness and honesty, that he 
 took us by assault. A few days later, in 
 the Church at Anderson's Bay, he held a 
 large audience fairly captivated by a 
 stirring address which he delivered on 
 Mission Work at Rarotonga and the islands 
 of the Hervey Gro^p. He was our guest 
 that night, and we sat on till late chatting 
 on the great subject that lay so near his 
 heart. The result of that talk was that we 
 were committed to the cost of maintaining 
 a native teacher in New Guinea. 
 
 On the 7th August following a great 
 public meeting was held in the Temperance 
 Hall, Dunedin, by way of welcome to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Chalmers, and to wish them 
 success in their great Christian enterprise in 
 the new land. Speeches full of force and 
 fervour kindled into practical sympathy 
 and interest the hearts of that vast 
 audience. Mr. James McKerras, a leading 
 merchant of the city, on that occasion 
 called us from the platform and put £15 
 into our hand, which he desired us to give 
 to the Missionary, with an engagement that 
 an equal sum, subscribed by himself and 
 two other merchants of the city, would be
 
 TAMATE. II 
 
 paid annually for three years, to maintain 
 an evangelist in New Guinea. The an- 
 nouncement of that generous donation and 
 undertaking elicited a great outburst of 
 applause. When the Missionary rose to 
 speak he was greeted with an enthusiastic 
 welcome, and amid the outpourings of his 
 thanksgivings and praise, a wistful look 
 came into his eyes as his thoughts flashed 
 back to the old humble home at Inverary, 
 and a deep, sad longing was expressed that 
 his mother could have been there to witness 
 the splendid enthusiasm there displayed. 
 Her recent death had scarred his heart and 
 tinged with sadness all his joys. 
 
 Mr. William Somerville, an elder of the 
 Church, and one of the kindliest and best of 
 men, threw himself with ardour into the 
 mission movement now initiated, and under 
 his guidance the Sunday School children 
 took upon them certain obligations in 
 regard to the New Guinea work. Mr. Eley, 
 a member of the Church, came to us at the 
 close of an evening service, and after some 
 talk about the mission, handed us a cheque 
 for £15 to be applied in aid of its 
 prosecution. Thus men's hearts were
 
 12 TAMATE. 
 
 touched by the magnetic influence that 
 flowed from Chalmers, and kindled into an 
 interest that grew and glowed, and that led 
 them to lay their gold upon the altar that 
 the heathen might be won for Christ. 
 
 Early in wSeptember Mr. Chalmers had 
 reached Sydney on his way to his des- 
 tination. " When we get to New Guinea," 
 he wrote to us, "1 shall appoint your 
 teacher and let you know his name. . . .We 
 leave on the 20th for Somerset, where we 
 join the Schooner at present engaged in tke 
 New Guinea Mission, and accompany 
 Macfarlane and Lawes to China Straits. 
 The "Ellengowan" will not be ready for 
 some time, so we must press on by the 
 mail. We pray that your Sabbath School 
 may indeed be abundantly blessed, and that 
 the work they are now entering upon in 
 New Guinea may be the source of great 
 good to them. May your own dear children 
 be richly blessed, indeed, and may they ever 
 feel it an honour to so help in supporting 
 an evangelist amongst the heathen. God 
 bless them. Our love to you and yours, 
 &c. JAMES CHALMERS."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Moulding Influences, and Work at 
 Rarotonga. 
 
 ^^AMES Chalmers was born at Ardri- 
 Srali^ shaig, Argyllshire, on August 4th, 
 ^^iS^ 1841, and received an elementary 
 education at his villj^e school. It was in 
 the little Church at Inverary that the first 
 longing to labour in the Mission field was 
 awakened in his heart. The Rev. Mr. 
 Meikle, the minister, for whom throughout 
 his life he entertained the warmest aftection, 
 read to the class one day, at the close of 
 the Sunday School lessons, a letter from a 
 Missionary in Fiji, which was published in 
 the Record of the United Presbyterian 
 Church, and which dealt with the revolting 
 practices of heathenism, and the power of 
 the Gospel to cleanse the polluted heart.
 
 14 TAMATE. 
 
 Tlie reading of that letter kindled a desire 
 in young Chalmers to devote himself to 
 Foreign Mission work. He was then only 
 fifteen years of age, and though the im- 
 pression which was made gave for a. little 
 while a new direction to his thoughts , yet 
 it passed away under force of the influences 
 that daily operated on him. 
 
 At eighteen years of age he was brought 
 under religious conviction, which issued in 
 conversion, and three years later, u^der a 
 quickening of the old longing, he began to 
 qualify himself for the srreat work on which 
 he now set his heart. 
 
 For eight months he laboured in con- 
 nection with the City of Glasgow Mission, 
 and was thus brought into close contact 
 with the practical heathenism that existed 
 in his native land. But he always looked 
 wistfully across the seas hoping that 
 the way would open for him to enter upon 
 the foreign field. ]t was about this time 
 that Dr. Turner, of Samoa, crossed his path 
 and powerfully influenced his future move- 
 ments. Guided by his counsel he applied 
 to the directors of the London Missionary
 
 TAMATE. 15 
 
 Society, who, satisfied that he was the 
 stamp of man which they required for their 
 work, sent him to qualify in Theolog-y at 
 Cheshunt where he remained for two years. 
 At Highgate he remained for another year, 
 following such lines of study as were pres- 
 cribed for those who were designated to 
 labour in the foreign field. Then came his 
 marriage, in 1865, to Miss Hercus, and 
 shortly after that he set sail for Rarotonga 
 and was wrecked en route at Savage 
 Island. He arrived at his destination on 
 May 20th, 1867. 
 
 Rarotonga is the largest and most pic- 
 turesque island of the Hervey group. It 
 is some thirty miles in circumference and 
 has a lofty mountain range running from 
 East to West, which is clothed with lux- 
 uriant vegetation to its very summit. The 
 highest peak is called Teatu-Kura, which 
 commands a magnificent outlook over a 
 vast extent of broken volcanic country. 
 
 Forty years of Christian teaching in 
 the Hervey group had produced good 
 results. Outwardly the people were well 
 advanced in Christian knowledge and civiii-
 
 i6 TAMATE. 
 
 zation ; on many of them the Gospel had 
 laid a firm grip and developed in them some 
 of the finest traits of Christian character. 
 But the moral tone was low, vices were 
 rife, and against these the Missionaries had 
 unceasingly to contend. Chief among the 
 evils that hindered progress was intemper- 
 ance, caused by indulgence in foreign spirits 
 and an intoxicant manufactured locally 
 and known as *' orange beer." 
 
 Mr, Chalmers did splendid work there, 
 and displayed a tact and courage in dealing 
 with hostile elements that had the happiest 
 results. He had a remarkable power of 
 adapting himself to circumstances and of 
 reaching chords in the natives' hearts that 
 vibrated to his touch, thus bringing them 
 out of indifTerency into sympathy with 
 Christian work. His occasional impatience 
 of staid old methods and ways of doing 
 things exposed him sometimes to strictures 
 and admonitions from older workers in the 
 Mission field. But he went on his way 
 longing to see the Gospel triumphant and 
 all men around him conscious of the 
 throbbiners of a new-found life.
 
 TAMATE. 17 
 
 He was not satisfied, however, with his 
 field of operations. His restless, fiery spirit 
 chafed at its limitations. He felt that the 
 islands and tribes which had been evangel- 
 ised might now safely be left to the care of 
 native pastors and teachers with only 
 slight European supervision. He had an 
 ardent desire to go out beyond the furthest 
 reach of civilization among the very fiercest 
 and wildest tribes and declare to them 
 God's love in Christ. His irrepressible 
 energy found outlet in exploring every 
 valley and clambering over every moun- 
 tain top in Rarotonga. That was his un- 
 failing remedy for indisposition and 
 depression. 
 
 At last, in 1876, the Directors invited 
 him to visit Britain, calling at New Guinea 
 on his way. His mother still lived and 
 longed to see him, and he had a great 
 yearning to look into her face once more. 
 But in December of that year he received 
 the announcement of her death. The visit 
 which he had projected was therefore in- 
 definitely postponed. " The nearer I get to 
 Christ and His Cross," he said, " the more 
 do I long for direct contact with the
 
 i8 TAMATE. 
 
 heathen/' And it was with great joy that 
 he received instructions from the Directors 
 of his society to proceed to New Guinea, 
 where he knew he would find his longing 
 abundantly gratified. On the eve of his 
 departure from the Hervey Islands, the 
 Mangaians presented him with the sum of 
 £60 as a small token of their love and 
 esteem.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 New Guinea. 
 
 >ORTH of Australia, some 150 
 miles beyond the outermost fron- 
 tier of Queensland, lies New Guinea, 
 the largest Island in the world. It is nearly 
 1,400 miles in length, and some 400 miles 
 across at its broadest part, and is separated 
 from Australia by Torres Straits, which are 
 thickly studded with islands and sand 
 banks, the busy scene of the pearl fisheries, 
 which have now developed into an 
 important industry. In New Guinea there 
 are tropical forests of marvellous beauty, 
 where vegetation wantons luxuriantly in a 
 thousand forms of exquisite loveliness. 
 Lofty mountain ranges, the birth-home of 
 innumerable rivers, hide their summits amid 
 mists and snows. The Owen- Stanley range 
 which, forty miles back from the sea-board, 
 rises to a height of some 13,205 feet, is said
 
 20 TAMATE. 
 
 to have a swarming population dwelling in 
 villages biult on its ridges and spurs. The 
 countless streams, which in the rainy season 
 rush down the gorges and valleys from 
 those stupendous heights, flood the low 
 lands, and turn many of them into a vast 
 morass, the fertile cause of the deadly fevers 
 which make havoc of the health of the 
 Christian teachers, who have gone thither 
 from other isles. The climate of the South- 
 Eastern coast, which is higher than the 
 other side, is comparatively healthy from 
 the wholesome influences which the trade 
 winds exert \\\}on it. The country is des- 
 cribed as generally fertile, abounding with 
 streams and inland lagoons, which swarm 
 with ducks, and are the home of crocodiles, 
 of which the natives stand in constant 
 dread. 
 
 There seem to be two distinct races 
 inhabiting the island, the Malayan and the 
 Papuan, which differ from one another in 
 colour and habits, and in the way in which 
 they treat their women. The houses of the 
 Coast tribes are built on lofty piles or trees, 
 probably for safety from incursions of 
 crafty foes.
 
 TAMATE. 21 
 
 The condition of the heathen population 
 of the country awakened interest in the 
 London Missionary Society, which sent out 
 agents to break up ground as early as 1871. 
 Native teachers from various islands in the 
 South Pacific were also located at various 
 points. Tn 1874 the Rev. W. G. Lawes 
 joined the Mission as superintendent of the 
 Malayan or Eastern branch, with Port 
 Moresby as his centre of operations. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers, with such a field before 
 him, vast and unexplored, entered upon his 
 work with glowing zeal and heart aflame to 
 win the heathen for Christ. 
 
 Towards the end of the year there came 
 to us from Murray Island a marvellous 
 collection of butterflies of unusual size, and 
 with gorgeously tinted wings ; and, later 
 on, we received specimens of products of the 
 land, which told of illimitable sources of 
 commercial wealth, which only enterprise 
 and capital are needed to develop. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers moved about unceasingly, 
 opening new Stations, placing teachers, and 
 visiting Mission districts already formed.
 
 22 TAMATE. 
 
 A noble contribution to the Mission cause 
 was made by the native Churches of 
 Raiatea and Rarotonga, which sent twenty 
 additional teachers to the New Guinea field. 
 But all too soon difficulties and disasters 
 began to gather and thicken around the 
 heroic band that laboured there. The 
 malarious climate and the want of proper 
 food seriously affected their health, and 
 some were removed by death, while others 
 fell victims to the treachery of those whom 
 they sought to evangelize. 
 
 Early in 1878 Mrs. Chalmers made 
 splendid exhibition of her dauntless courage 
 and faith when, during the absence of her 
 husband for six weeks on matters of 
 urgency connected with the welfare of the 
 Mission, she, of her own will, decided to 
 remain among the wild Suau tribe in order 
 that the work might not suffer hindrance, 
 and that the native teachers might have the 
 cheer and the moral support of her 
 presence. And that sublime act of moral 
 daring had the best effect on the native 
 mind. " They trust us/' the savages said, 
 " We must treat them kindly. They cannot 
 mean us harm, or Tamate would not have
 
 TAMATE. 23 
 
 left his wife behind." It is one of the most 
 luminous pages in the history of Missions, 
 that which exhibits to our view the frail, 
 cultured woman, left alone among a wild 
 cannibal tribe, with only a few native 
 teachers around her, whose couraj^e she had 
 to sustain as best she could. But the strain 
 to which she was then subjected was too 
 much for her. Her vitaility fell low. She 
 lost the power of resisting the enervating 
 influence of climate, and, under date, South 
 Cape, New Gumea, 29th August, 1878, Mr. 
 Chalmers wrote to us : — 
 
 *' The enclosed translations explain 
 themselves. If I have time I shall send you 
 a copy of ' My trip across the Peninsula.' 
 You may do what you like with it — publish 
 or burn it. 
 
 " I have got a collection of curios and 
 insects for the Dunedin Museum, but will 
 not be able to send them on until ' John 
 Williams ' leaves in November. I shall send 
 the whole to you, and ask you to present 
 them. The insects had better be given to 
 an expert, and ask him to make a complete
 
 24 TAMATE. 
 
 collection for you. My collections of plants 
 go to Baron von Miiller. 
 
 " Mrs. Chalmers is not well, and may 
 have to go to the colonies. If so, we shall 
 leave next week for Cooktown. I am in 
 excellent health, much lighter than when in 
 Dunedin this time last year. Hence in much 
 better trim for travelling. 
 
 " We are expedient friends with the 
 cannibals, go about with them, sleep with 
 them, eat with them, and sit to all hours 
 yarning with them. They are not bad 
 fellows, and can appreciate kindness. 
 
 " 31st August . . . Piri's letter 1 think 
 interesting. Parts I have translated separ- 
 ately. You will see why. I know all is 
 interesting to you. 1 had to translate right 
 off, and have not been able to revise and 
 
 copy. 
 
 " I hope soon to clear up about 
 Orangerie Bay lagoon and the different 
 rivers flowing into it. Our united love to 
 you all. Pray for us that we mav be 
 strong in His strength, and evermore live
 
 TAMATE. 25 
 
 near to our Lord Jesus. We remember you. 
 Affectionately yours, 
 
 JAMES CHALMERS." 
 
 Mrs. Chalmers went to Sydney, and died 
 there on 19th February, 1879. " It was 
 evident to all," the Rev. J. P. Sunderland 
 wrote to us, " she could not recover. She 
 had every care which loving friends could 
 show to her, but she fell asleep in Jesu,s." 
 Mr. Chalmers had been arranging a visit 
 to the Home-land, but his wife's last v/ords 
 to him — " On no account leave the teach- 
 ers " — determined him to go back to work ; 
 and with chastened spirit he threw himself 
 with renewed energy into it, striving thus 
 to overmaster the sorrow which had so 
 deeply bruised his heart. 
 
 The translations referred to were those 
 of letters received from Piri and Pi, the 
 former being the evangelist supported by 
 the Anderson's Bay Sunday School, and the 
 latter by Mr. McKerras and his friends.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Native Teachers and Their Work. 
 
 SKj^HE mortality among the native 
 *^Ji3^ teachers distressed Mr, Chalmers 
 cS^sr^ greatly. They held a large place in 
 his heart. Many of them had been trained 
 by himself at Rarotonga. In many respects 
 they did admirable work, but they had no 
 toughness of fibre to resist the miasmatic 
 fever that smote so many of them down. 
 Those native evangelists we are apt to hold 
 of small account, we are slow to appreciate 
 their courage and devotion, and the great 
 longing that sometimes fills their hearts to 
 carry the lamp of truth to heathen lands. 
 With full knowledge of the perils to which 
 they would be exposed, the Rarotongans 
 left the quiet security of their island 
 homes to pluck the standard from their 
 dead comrade's hands, and to carry it 
 forward into the thickest of the fight. Mr.
 
 TAMATE. 27 
 
 Chalmers knew their worth, and was 
 always eager to honour them. He never 
 allowed either them or their labours to be 
 depreciated. Many of them wielded an 
 influence that was sometimes powerful, and 
 that was wholly for good. They not only 
 taught the people and exhibited in their 
 view the purity and beauty of a consistent 
 Christian life, but they also translated 
 portions of Scripture into the language of 
 the country, which effectively helped on the 
 evangelization of the tribes. Piri, and Pi, 
 and Ruatoka were splendid types of native 
 Christians and evangelists, whose praises 
 Mr. Chalmers never ceased to sing. And 
 they were utterly devoid of ambition, 
 always willing to make sacrifices and endure 
 toil, without any itching desire for applau,se 
 and fame. It was to save precious lives so 
 often decimated by malaria, that Mr. 
 Chalmers projected a Training Institution 
 at Port Moresby, where natives of New 
 Guinea might be educated to become teach- 
 ers and evangelists to their coiintrymen. 
 
 An imperative need of the native teach- 
 ers was a boat, and on 1st April, 1879, Mr. 
 Robert Brown, of Dunedin, who took a deep
 
 28 TAMATE. 
 
 and intelligent interest in Mission work, 
 sent us a che(iue for £35 which had been 
 subscribed, and which was forwarded to the 
 Rev. J, P. Sunderland, in aid of the New 
 Guinea Boat Fund. And, in response to an 
 appeal made to them by Mr. Chalmers, the 
 native Churches of Mangaia subscribed to 
 the same fund the sum of £66 18s., collected 
 by them on one Sabbath day. 
 
 In April Mr. Chalmers returned to 
 Dunedin, and gave eloquent and fervent 
 addresses on his work in New Guinea in the 
 Anderson's Bay, and other Churches. He 
 was greatly changed and reduced in weight. 
 Sorrow had left its ravages upon him. But 
 the old fire in the eye and magnetic rinsr m 
 the voice with their wonted power searched 
 and thrilled men's hearts. 
 
 The following letter addressed to the 
 children of the Sunday School, will show 
 the spirit with which the Native teachers 
 prosecuted their work : — "Blessings on you 
 from God and Jesus Christ our Saviour. 
 'Tis 1, Piri, who write this letter of love to 
 you, that you may know the nature of our 
 stay in New Guinea now. We are doing our
 
 T AM ATE. 29 
 
 Master's work, every day trying to per- 
 suade the people to become people of Jesus, 
 teaching that the people may know the 
 Word of God, — and some already know how 
 to read, and now we follow on, that they 
 may become as members of the Church of 
 Jesus, and New Guinea must become a 
 Kingdom of Jesus. Children, 'tis that I 
 seek, that 1 may obtain some souls from 
 New Guinea as a hand-l^earing presentation 
 in God's presence. God's talent is in my 
 hand, and 1 am buying (bartering) now, 
 that I may other talents beside obtain, and 
 I make known that all-powerful and all- 
 glorious Name in the presence of the people, 
 that they may receive Jesus as life for 
 their souls. If they live I have obtained 
 more talents for my Master. Should no 
 soul be saved Idv my making known the 
 Name of Jesus, then truly I am like unto 
 the servant who hid the talent of his lord. 
 That is my great fear, lest I should become 
 a worthless and lazy servant and be 
 thrown out into the darkness, where there 
 is weeping and gnashing of teeth . . Bless- 
 ings on you from God, through Jesu,s 
 Christ." Tis I, PTRT. BOERA.
 
 30 TAMATE. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers wrote to us under date, 
 March 4, 1880 :— "My dear Brother— With 
 the teacher, I say, too, 'Blcssinors on 
 you and yours.' We are busy erctting wood 
 for Church huildin":, and hope to have a 
 good house up very soon. Assisted by two 
 teachers and two natives, we are trans- 
 latintr Matthew, i hope to be able to keep 
 at it until we have s^ot to the end of Mark. 
 At odd times the teachers have translated 
 Catechisms, which I am revisinj^, and with 
 new hymns, may soon be able to send to 
 press. 
 
 "1 hope in opening the new Church to 
 baptize a few natives who are now in class, 
 and whose progress is cheering. T feel con- 
 fident we have not much longer to wait ; 
 the wall gives way, and we must enter in. 
 
 "We are now riijht in our wet season, 
 and some days you would be astonished to 
 find it so cold, sufficient for warm clothes — 
 thermometer, 75 deg. 1 wonder how 1 
 would stand the Highlands now; not well, 
 1 fear. Fancy being snowed up in Lochaber, 
 or, worse still, in a carriage of the High- 
 land railway, and not able to get along.
 
 TAMATE. 31 
 
 I remember you, are now entering on your 
 cold weather, and will laugh at our cold of 
 75 deg. One of our inland teachers came 
 down lately very sick, but has returned 
 quite well again. All on the coast are at 
 present well." 
 
 Mr. James McKerras, whose interest in 
 Christian Missions was always keen and 
 well sustained, announced to us his in- 
 tention of subscribing, in conjunction with 
 Mr. Robert Glendining, £15 a year for the 
 support of a native teacher in New Guinea. 
 Mr. Glendining for many years has stood 
 well to the front as one of the most gen- 
 erous and sympathetic friends of the Church 
 in Dunedin.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Hood Bay Massacre. 
 
 SwpH^ARLY in 1881 a sad disaster befell 
 ^r^i the Mission in the Hood Bay Mas- 
 tfi^s^rllj Scicre, which was perpetrated at 
 the instance of Qu,aipo, Chief of Kalo. 
 Twelve persons were then barbjarously 
 slain, inchiding four Native teachers, who 
 could ill be spared. The British Govern- 
 ment sent Commodore Wilson in his flag- 
 ship, the " Wolverene," to punish the 
 murderers, and the chief and three others 
 were killed. How Tamate's heart was torn 
 by that cruel tragedy will appear by the 
 following- letter from his own pen — or 
 rather pencil. It is dated Dilend, 
 Hall Sound, :^)Oth May. 1881 :— "Dear 
 Brother Ross — Excuse pencil. I am 
 living in a tent and cannot find 
 ink. I came down here last week to begin 
 work at Maiva, the largest district visited 
 by me the end of last year, but a heavy sea
 
 TAMATE. 33 
 
 rolling in prevented me landing, so I re- 
 turned here and have begun work. The 
 natives are all out to-day cutting wood for 
 a house. This is really the only good har- 
 bour in all the Gulf, after leaving: Port 
 Moresby. Some years ago we had a 
 station on Yule Island, just opposite, but 
 two white men having been murdered near 
 here, the teacher was withdrawn, and since 
 then nothing has been done. Our hope is 
 to have stations here at Maiva, Kevai, 
 Jokea, and Motumotu as soon as we can 
 possibly o-et teachers, and at Naara, Cape 
 Suckling, where my friendly queen is. 
 
 "The Hood Bay Massacre was a ter- 
 rible blow to us, but I hope not upsetting 
 or disastrous. Lioht will arise in the dark- 
 ness, and this cruel massacre will not be 
 forgotten or unblessed. Eh ! brother, they 
 were my ain bairns : three of the men and 
 the two women were trained by me on 
 Karotonga, and since our joining this Mis- 
 sion we have worked together — they looking 
 to me as to a father. It was a terrible 
 heart-raking. The murdering of the women, 
 infants at the breast and walking children, 
 was horriblv cruel. Anederea's wife and
 
 34 TAMATE. 
 
 infant were pinned with one spear. You 
 will not be astonished at mv an;ireciation 
 of those imprecatory Psalms, and breatliing 
 them freely. A child of five years, running 
 from the boat to the Mission-house and 
 calling on its father, was met and syieared 
 by a youth who nursed him, and for two 
 years lived about the house. I have been 
 twice in the Bay since the massacre, but 
 have not met a Kalo native. They are in 
 expectation of an attack, and are prepared. 
 We have returned the Aroma teachers ; the 
 people and chiefs received us well. At 
 Kerepunu and Hula they beg for teachers 
 to supnly the places of the murdered ones. 
 We have written to the various Institutions 
 of the South Seas, and hope soon to re- 
 ceive a number. Some will come via Auck- 
 land. 
 
 "How are all in your home ? How the 
 bairns would enjoy a peep in here ! I do 
 not suppose they would care for it beyond 
 an hour — A good tent with fly : my bed a 
 piece of an old canoe covered with a mat : 
 my table a camphor-wood box, and a to- 
 bacco case for a seat : another tent outside 
 for a store : and, to the North, a fly for a
 
 TAMATE. 35 
 
 cook-house : natives in crowds all about, 
 jabbering frightfully, and a sorcerer trying 
 to make friends by appearing friendly : but 
 these are gentlemen I dislike, and do not 
 feel friendly. There are only three of us. 
 Bob Samoa, and Keua, the old Port Mores- 
 by woman who accompanied me in my 
 inland trips : and this waif Keua says she 
 is going wherever Tamate goes, and she is 
 not afraid, because if Tamate lives she will 
 live, and if they kill Tamate then they will 
 kill her, and it will be all right. She does 
 the cooking. I look upon this kind of life 
 as the pepper and salt to the regular 
 settled Mission Work. 1 expect to have a 
 good deal of it for some time to come. 
 
 "Mr. and Mrs. Lawes have returned and 
 taken their old station. Port Moresby, the 
 central station of the New Guinea Mission. 
 I shall have my headquarters with them, 
 and sally forth after a rest and other work. 
 God help us to live out our little day for 
 His praise and glory — in all kinds of work 
 abundant. If only Christ is glorified all is 
 well. 
 
 "Do you know 1 never yet felt sick with 
 hard work, but I have really been sick with
 
 36 TAMATE. 
 
 laziness and doing nothing. I have spent 
 three weeks in an open boat, visiting in all 
 kinds of weather, and thoroughly enjoyed 
 it. 1 have had to tighten my belt to ease 
 hunger, but have never had any evil con- 
 sequences. But when resting for a time and 
 feasting 1 have got fever. Tell the bairns 
 honest, hard work for Christ, it matters 
 not in what situation, will be always bles- 
 sed, and no evil consequences will follow. 
 
 ''What is the matter now ? Natives are 
 shouting, ' Tamate, Tamate, come out 
 quick.' Must go. It was to see the wood 
 they had brought in for house. Poor fel- 
 lows, they are in earnest in this house 
 business. I hope soon they will be as earn- 
 est in another business. 
 
 ''You are right, brother, as to our ups 
 and downs, lights and shadows. They are 
 many, but they will lend a grand back- 
 ground to the future. 
 
 "I shall keep Princeton Museum in mem- 
 ory. I have ju,st finished a collection for 
 Berlin. T wonder if they will make me a 
 Baron. Fancy your old friend Baron ! 
 Now Tamate ! What about the world 
 endiner ?
 
 TAMATE. 37 
 
 "... I wonder if ever I shall see you 
 all again. My path seems plain enough. 
 My loved one at Home ! My work for 
 Christ here, until He shall say it otherwise. 
 Do not suppose I am never lonely. God 
 only knows how alone T am, and at times 
 how I feel it. I live the past and sometimes 
 forget it is a past. But, brother, God is 
 Home. In Him through Christ there is all. 
 Have you ever felt you were comforted with 
 the insects chirping, the sough of the wind 
 through the trees, or a solitary bird singing 
 in his loneliness out of tune ? Or have you 
 ever felt that your nearest companions and 
 friends were the seemingly unattached stars 
 overhead ? And you remembered yourself 
 and thought, God is here, near, and loved 
 ones who have gone within are here, near, 
 and you have felt life change and worth 
 living. 
 
 ''Brother, Good-bye. The God of all 
 grace bless you and yours. Love to you 
 all. Oh, pray for me : earnestly do I ask 
 for it." 
 
 Very affectionately yours, 
 
 JAMES CHALMERS.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Gospel Light Driving Heathen 
 Darkness Back. 
 
 jHE publication of the foregoing 
 letter, and the wide distribution of 
 copies of a brochure which we wrote 
 on Mission Work in New Guinea, stimulated 
 interest in the great enterprise, and Mr. 
 Chapman, at that time a member of the 
 Ri vert on Church, but now in the Church 
 triumphant, came to us and said, ''The 
 people are not doing enough for Missions, I 
 will give five pounds a year if the con- 
 gregation will raise other ten pounds to 
 support a native teacher." A little boy, 
 who is now a prominent minister of our 
 Church in Dunedin, handed us three shil- 
 lings which he had saved, saying, "Please 
 use that for Christ's work among the hea- 
 then." Another boy put into our hand a 
 shilling, which he had earned by some hard
 
 TAMATE. 39 
 
 service ; and another handed us two pounds 
 four shillings — all for Missions. 
 
 The following letter addressed to us by 
 Mr. Chalmers, will shew the steady progress 
 made by the Gospel in New Guinea : — 
 "Your very kind letter of 1st August I 
 duly received, and, by last mail, your deeply 
 interesting pamphlet. Your letters are as 
 tine cool water to a thirsty soul in this 
 sun-burnt land. 
 
 "I have ink this time, brother, but no 
 box suitable for a table, and with my wri- 
 ting case on my knees I write, finding it 
 easier to do so with my pencil than with 
 ink, so pray forgive. 
 
 ''I am here superintending the building 
 of two houses to be in readiness for teach- 
 ers expected very soon, so that they may 
 have comfortable houses, without the hard 
 work of putting them up when they come 
 new to the country. To know that we are 
 remembered in prayer by you and yours is 
 strength and consolation, and helps us 
 amazingly in our work. In such ways the 
 toiling disciples may see the Master stand-
 
 40 TAMATE. 
 
 iniJ: near coming over the seas to cheer and 
 comfort, 
 
 "We are now really in the Gulf, amongst 
 a fine sturdy lot of natives, with whom we 
 get on amazingly well. Our camp is prim- 
 itive. We shall be glad when our houses are 
 hnished. Your teacher, Piri, is with me, a 
 splendid fellow with natives, and a right 
 good workman in every respect. I have 
 the old Port Moresby woman again and two 
 boys from Hood Bay. The old woman does 
 our cooking, and the boys are for the boat. 
 Working with natives only is slow work, 
 and requires much patience. 1 sometimes 
 wonder if Job's would be sufficient for 
 them. 
 
 "It will cheer you to hear that on the 
 1st of January twenty more natives were 
 baptized, and seven sat down at our blessed 
 Lord's table. In the afternoon an open 
 service was held, when several spoke, and 
 some said really good things, testifying to 
 the good they had derived from the Gospel, 
 and the effect it has had on the whole tribe, 
 and that it is their sincere desire to follow 
 Christ. There were natives present from
 
 TAMATE. 41 
 
 various other tribes, some formerly in 
 mortal dread of the Port Moresby tribe, 
 and I have no doubt they were astonished 
 at what they heard and saw, and the effect 
 on them must be for good. 
 
 "In December we opened two Churches 
 at Aroma (where the Chinese were murder- 
 ed), which will become centres of light for 
 that and surrounding districts. There are 
 now many openings for teachers, and splen- 
 did scope for thorough, earnest work, which 
 I hope will soon be undertaken in a truly 
 Christ-like enthusiastic manner. We need 
 men in true sympathy with our Lord in His 
 great work of man's redemption. Men 
 living themselves near the cross will ever 
 desire to lead tl.e heathen to the cross. 
 
 "How I should like to spend an evening 
 with you, and over a pipe talk of the work 
 and its prospects, and hear of your work 
 too. 
 
 "The shades of evening are falling ; the 
 curtain is being drawn, the natives are as- 
 sembling in front, and the talk begins. 
 Soon, the Gospel having lost none of its 
 c
 
 42 
 
 TAMATE. 
 
 calm Christian men and women, and in the 
 grand old power, these wild sava<i:es will be 
 evening hour will meet to praise Him who 
 has redeemed them and given them peace. 
 Brother, we rest in active work in preaching 
 Christ, and the curtain will arise to reveal 
 day breaking and a rising sun, the glorious 
 Siyi of righteousness. Oh, God, what are 
 we that we should be honoured to take part 
 in that great Work ? 
 
 "Here we shall have a fine lot of chil- 
 dren, merry boys and girls, to teach and 
 train. 
 
 "We are expecting our new Mission 
 Schooner soon, and I hope to have a small 
 vessel to do work the larger one cannot do, 
 so that the teachers may be constantly vis- 
 ited, and get supplies regularly. 
 
 "Light is going. Brother, good-bye. 
 Christian love to you and yours. God bless 
 you in all your work for His dear Son, 
 with old and young." 
 
 In the midst of all his strenuous labours 
 to advance Christ's kingdom in that dark 
 heathen land, he was stricken down by
 
 TAMATE. 43 
 
 sickness, and had to seek change in a cooler 
 climate. "Schooner came in to-day/' he 
 wrote under date Port Moresby, 10th July, 
 1882," a vessel leaves in a few hours. Just 
 time to thank you, yes, thanks, thanks 
 many, for your remembrance of me. The 
 box has arrived, not yet opened. . . T have 
 been very ill with fever, and am a little bet- 
 ter, but must seek a slight, short change. 
 Will soon be in Cooktown, and write you 
 more fully. . . ." 
 
 A few weeks later he was back again at 
 work with all his old energy, visiting and 
 encouraging teachers, his heart cheered by 
 signs of progress made on every side. "Our 
 new Mission schooner," he wrote, under 
 date Cooktown, 1st September, 1882, "is 
 really a failure, and already needs extensive 
 repairs and alterations ; hence our being 
 here. We visited all the stations on the 
 coast, and everywhere were greatly pleased 
 with apparent progress. At South Cape, 
 where, more than four years ago we were 
 surrounded by cannibals clamouring for 
 our lives, the teachers presented twenty-one 
 Catechumens, some young and some old — 
 notablv one man who eave us much trouble
 
 44 
 
 TAMATE. 
 
 in former days — and asked that they should 
 be baptized. We examined all separately, 
 and were delig"hted with their answers. We 
 heard many of them pray in public, and 
 exhort their countrymen to receive the 
 Gospel, and believe in Jesus Christ. Hav- 
 ing to spend some days with them, we were 
 able to see a little of their lives, and these 
 corresponding with their profession, we 
 baptized them. It was a truly blessed 
 season, and one that ought to stir us all 
 up to more diligence in the Master's 
 work. , . ." 
 
 "We are at present putting u[) a new 
 building," he wrote, "to be used as a class- 
 room, where we hope many New Guineans 
 will receive an education sufficient to qualify 
 them for pioneer work among their own 
 countrymen. Students' houses, native- 
 built, will be up all round, and we hope 
 the whole will be finished by the end of the 
 year. We propose calling it 'The New 
 Guinea Institution for Training Native 
 Evangelists.' 
 
 "Last week I was East as far as Aroma 
 and found all well. We had peculiar
 
 TAMATE. 45 
 
 weather for our trip — a scorching hot sun 
 by day, and drenching rain by night. One 
 night I had to keep two men baling the 
 boat. 
 
 "Our Schools keep up well. Here (at 
 Port Moresby) we have an average attend- 
 ance of over a hundred. There is a very 
 large Catechumen Class at this station, old 
 and young. At other stations along the 
 coast they have the same." 
 
 Early in 1S83 the New Guinea College 
 was opened with twelve students and their 
 wives; and before the close of the following 
 year, nine New Guinea Evangelists, the 
 first fruits of the College, were placed in 
 various districts with happy augury of 
 success.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Polygamy and its Problem. 
 
 f«SiS^^MONG the twenty-one candidates 
 1^1^ for baptism mentioned in the last 
 tf^^t^^ chapter, who were sacramentally 
 admitted to the Church, "there were two 
 men — the best of them all — " Mr. Chalmers 
 wrote, "who had two wives each, and they, 
 poor fellows, wondered what should become 
 of them — must they jiut away the extra 
 wives, and which one should go ? In the 
 early Church, 1 believe, there were men 
 with more than one wife ; only the bishop 
 and the deacon mu,st not have more than 
 one. Then, as now, the (iospel went to a 
 heathen people, and found their custom 
 such. Men believed the Gospel, accept'cd of 
 God's terms of salvation, and sous"ht to 
 serve Christ. 1 cannot think they would be 
 compelled to cause much sorrow and suffer- 
 ing, by casting out of their homes women
 
 TAMATE. 47 
 
 who had for many years been there as their 
 wives, and who served them faithfully. 
 Insist on it, and tiie young woman is kept, 
 the old one is thrust out — to go where, and 
 to be looked after by whom ? In the two 
 above cases it would be a terrible hardship, 
 and one not sanctioned by the Gospel, I 
 think. In both cases the wives live com- 
 fortably together, work together, and 
 together care for the husband, as lie 
 does for them ; one must be cast 
 off, and where will she go, poor 
 body ? Years and work have told on 
 her ; relations are dead, and those remain- 
 ing will not be burdened with her support. 
 Should another seek her, and take her to 
 his home as wife, how will it be when she 
 has frequently to meet the man, with his 
 relations, who has cast her away ? Poor 
 woman, I sympathize with her, if with her 
 whole soul she loathes and scorns that ter- 
 rible Gospel decree that made her a widow, 
 or worse than a widow, that may even have 
 made life unbeartvble to her. Surely not 
 the glad tidings of a Father's love, thr<)U'_rh 
 the adorable Son, our Redeemer, has caused 
 such ? No, no, only man's device ; a re- 
 quirement our Lord Jesus lias not laid
 
 48 TAMATE. 
 
 down. Other Missions have required it, it 
 will be said. T answer : Not what THEY 
 have required ; but what saith the SCRIP- 
 TURES, or what is the spirit of the 
 Gospel ? " 
 
 Questions like that on which he was 
 forced to take issue with the views of his 
 Society, caused him mu,ch perplexity and 
 tribulation of soul. 
 
 Then we find him fearlessly facing oerils 
 from which most men would shrink back 
 appalled. "A friend," he wrote from Tort 
 Moresby, under date 12th February, 1SS3, 
 ''has copied the enclosed ; will it interest 
 your children ? . . . Last month I was at 
 Maiva and Delena, and found all well, and 
 heartily engagfed in their work. Last week 
 T was at Kabadi, where we hope soon to 
 have teachers. They had been attacked by 
 a part of this tribe on their way back from 
 attacking another tribe. Since then no one 
 has visited them, all our natives here being 
 afraid. So I thought I would just like to 
 see them. I with difficulty got five men 
 from here to accompany me. We had a 
 splendid reception. They were glad to see
 
 TAMATE. 49 
 
 us and treated us accordingly. I was told 
 1 should never leave Kabadi, I should be 
 murdered, &c., &c. Those with me said, 
 'Yes, God has cared for us, and only He 
 could have caused such friendliness.' We 
 have begun work in our New Guinea Coll- 
 ege. God grant that many real Christ-men 
 and women shall go forth from here to lead 
 their countrymen to Him. 
 
 ' X wish your new Missionary paper all 
 success, and only wish T had a good pen to 
 help you. The following may be of use. 
 It is an extract from a letter of Mr. Lawes 
 to ' The Queenslander ' : — 
 
 'The first South Sea Island teachers 
 were landed in Redscar Bay by Messrs. 
 Murray and Gill, in November, 1872. They 
 had to be removed on account of sickness, 
 and in November, 1873, were placed here at 
 Port Moresby by Mr. Murray. From that 
 date until now the work has never been 
 suspended. Mrs. Lawes and I made our 
 home among the people here in 1874; Mr. 
 and Mrs. Chalmers came in 1877. These 
 years have been full of work, with their due 
 share of anxietv and sorrow ; but no one
 
 50 TAMATE. 
 
 here ever lost hope, or despaired of ujtimate 
 success. 
 
 *A great change has taken place in tlie 
 people, and they are advancing in civil- 
 ization and knowledge. True civilization 
 is always of slow growth, and from within 
 outwards. 
 
 'It was part of their business at Port 
 Moresby to rob and plunder. Just as they 
 had a warrior chief, and a hunter chief, so 
 they had a robber chief. He is still living 
 in the village, though his occupation is 
 gone. Passing canoes were plundered, in- 
 land parties who came to the coast to trade 
 had everything taken from them ; all this 
 has passed away, but the memory of it 
 lives. Only two months ago, canoes be- 
 longing to villages on either side of the 
 harbour returned from the West with Sago, 
 and waited for night to pass this place, be- 
 cause they feared a revival of the past. 
 There is a good deal of petty pilfering still, 
 but the people are ashamed of it. They 
 have learned to respect property. The 
 character which this coast bore for cruelty 
 and savagery was deserved, though ex-
 
 TAMATE. 51 
 
 aggerated. Their greatest honour and 
 glory was murder. The tattoo marks on 
 the chests of the men show how proud they 
 were of what should have been their shame, 
 for these are the medals of honour worn 
 only by those who have shed human blood. 
 Life is now respected, and strangers are per- 
 fectly safe at almost all the villages along 
 the coast. I may be reminded of the mas- 
 sacre of Chinamen at Aroma a few years 
 ago. Their skulls dangle from the "dubu" 
 there, and are a warning to foreigners that 
 the people will stand no trifling with their 
 women. Men doing as they did would be 
 lynched in the streets of Brisbane. Com- 
 modore Wilson, of the " Wolverene," coujd 
 not blame the people for what was really a 
 righteous retribution. If Englishmen take 
 the liberties these men did, their skulls are 
 likely to ornament a "dubu" too. Kespect 
 for the rights of others, whether in prop- 
 erty or life, is an important sign of civil- 
 ization. It's a miserable shame that the 
 same respect is not always shown by men 
 of boasted civilization for native rights. 
 
 'In knowledge the people are advancing. 
 The Schoolmaster is abroad on New Guinea.
 
 52 TAMATE. 
 
 A hundred children attend school at Port 
 Moresby twice every day. During the past 
 year 650 children have attended the schools 
 in this district. This is exclusive of Fouth 
 Cape and the Stations in China Straits, 
 which would bring the number up to 1000 
 at least of New Guinea children under in- 
 struction. We have sixteen stations occu- 
 pied between Cape Possession and Cape 
 Rodney, two at South Cape, and fouf at 
 the East end. These are so many centres of 
 peace and light. They are occupied by 
 South Sea Islanders, countrymen, many of 
 them, of Ruatoka, who received a testi- 
 monial from the Queensland Government 
 for his kindness to the diggers. He rep- 
 resents the average South Sea Island teach- 
 er, and the testimony borne by all classes 
 to his character would apply equally to 
 his colleagues. 
 
 *We have reason to believe that Chris- 
 tianity, the root of all true civilization, is 
 beginning to be felt as a power in New 
 Guinea. Greater success has attended our 
 work as Missionaries on New (xuinea than 
 on many of the South Sea Islands in olden 
 time — Islands now christianized. The
 
 TAMATE. 53 
 
 nucleus of a Christian Church has been 
 formed. At four different stations we have 
 men and women baptized on a personal pro- 
 fession of faith in Christ.'
 
 CHAPTER VIll. 
 
 Trip to Mekeo. 
 
 I HE paper I enclose," Mr. Chalmers 
 wrote to us, 'Trip to Mekeo from 
 Maiva,' I have not time to read 
 over. Use it as you like." 
 
 'During my various visits to Maiva, tlie 
 chief, Meauri, and his friends were always 
 anxious that I should visit a district on 
 friendly terms with them, some distance in- 
 land. They spoke of it as being inhabited 
 by a kindly people, who grew large quan- 
 tities of various kinds of food, and had betel 
 nuts in such abundance that they knew not 
 what to do with them. On two occasions I 
 met a few men and women from that dis- 
 trict, who pleased me much. The men were 
 well covered, and the women wore short, 
 bushy, grass netticoats, that did not reach 
 down to their knees. They are terrible
 
 TAMATE. 55 
 
 smokers, and had pipes an inch in diameter, 
 made of bamboo, and open at both ends ; 
 a large cigar of leaf tobacco was stuck into 
 one end, and the smoker drew vehemently 
 at the other, and such clouds of tobacco 
 smioke I have never seen before. 
 
 'During my last visit Meauri reminded 
 me of a promise made some time ago, 
 which I certainly had forgotten, and 
 begged me to go now and fulfil it. We ar- 
 ranged accordingly to start on Monday 
 morning. Meauri was to accompany us, 
 but when the morning came he found some 
 plausible excuse to remain behind, and we 
 started, led by Meauri' s two uncles, and 
 several cousins following-. Dr. Ridgley, who 
 recently came from Home to join our Mis- 
 sion, being anxious to accompany us, was 
 the only other white man with me. 
 
 'We found the swamps at the back of 
 the inland Maiva villages — ^between the 
 latter and the low range of hills — about 
 half a mile in breadth. T believe it is pos- 
 sible to take a boat from the mouth of the 
 creek West of Maiva one mile, and put right 
 round to Kevori, and out at Cape Posses-
 
 56 TAMATE. 
 
 sion. We waded through the swamps, and 
 ascended the range, which has higher peaks 
 than those near the coast. I do not think 
 the highest point of the coast range more 
 than 350 feet high, and that of the other, 
 500 feet at the outside. I propose calling 
 both ranges the "Ridgley Ranges." From 
 the top of the first, we proceeded along the 
 top of a ridge that led us to a valley with 
 several swamps. We then ascended, and 
 crossed over to the long stretch of flat 
 country, extending, as far as we could see, 
 right back to what has been called the 
 Yule Range, although 1 could never dis- 
 tinguish that from the Stanley Range, 
 Mount Yule being only one of the high 
 peaks of that great New (Juinea Ijackbone. 
 
 'Descending into the plain, we constant- 
 ly crossed creeks and mud swamps, and at 
 last our leader turned round to me and said, 
 "Water all finished." Hoping that now we 
 were to have pleasant travelling over a line 
 level country, we were somewhat cheered by 
 the information ; but lo ! when scarcely a 
 mile on we were again into swamp, which 
 continued, more or less, for many miles. 
 We came to the first village, about nine
 
 TAMATE. 57 
 
 miles from Maiva, close to a large, deep 
 swamp. The bouses were few, and 
 
 built on very high posts. The natives were 
 much afraid at first. It was soon evident 
 that our guides had only to order what 
 they desired, and it was at once fetched. 
 After l?eing refreshed with cocoanuts, wc 
 again started, and having walked about 
 four miles, we came to another small vill- 
 age, where we met Anapanau, Chief of 
 Aepeana, who was living here because he 
 had recently lost one of his wives. He is a 
 fine old fellow, light-coloured, tall and well- 
 proportioned, with enormous teeth, one of 
 them beino- formed like a horse's hoof. In 
 the house in which we rested were two large 
 peculiar-looking things, made from the net- 
 like bark got near the top of all cocoanut 
 and sago palm trees. The various pieces 
 were carefully sewed tooothor with the fibre 
 from the bark of a tree. They were about 
 seven feet long, and three feet broad, and 
 looked like a case in which dead bodies 
 might be kept. On enquiry I was informed 
 they were mosquito nettings. Those who 
 used them crept inside from the top, and 
 then fastened down the door, preferring 
 rather to be stewed than eaten. There
 
 58 TAMATE. 
 
 were no swamps on the road to the next 
 village, only mii,dcly patches, the country 
 tolerably open, with lon^ irrass and clumps 
 of trees. Arrived at the villaire we were 
 warmly received by Anapanau's brother, 
 Maino Parau. The afternoon being well 
 advanced, cooking was soon begun, and a 
 cup of refreshing tea made us feel less tired. 
 The village is a large one, with an extensive 
 cocoanut grove encircling it. There are 
 two rows of houses, with a nice clean street 
 in the centre, and a miserable reception 
 house at each end. They bury their dead in 
 the front of the house, and cover the ufrave 
 ^vith a small building, in which the near re- 
 lations sleep for several months. 
 
 'Men and women and children crowded 
 round our lodgings to see the distinguished 
 visitors. We felt sure there were some large 
 villages near at hand. Later on, our 
 guides told us there were in all a group of 
 six villages like the one we were in. 
 
 'When we made show of retiring, fires 
 were lighted all round and underneath, the 
 smoke of which was to protect us from the 
 mosquitoes. By tucking our nets care-
 
 TAMATE. 59 
 
 fully under our blankets, we were soon able 
 to give orders to remove the fires below. 
 The flooring of our house was only round 
 pieces of any kind of wood. We slept well, 
 and were up betimes walking about. Our 
 last night's visitors returned, and we de- 
 termined to follow them. Our guides and 
 newly made friends objected, but it was of 
 no use, we must go on. Pushing our way 
 through rather thick bush for about a mile, 
 we came to Amoama, a village as large as 
 the former. 
 
 'In the centre of the village was a 
 "dubu," or temple, of considerable preten- 
 sions, with peculiar stuffed figures outside, 
 one of them representing a man armed for 
 the fray, with bow strung and arrow ready 
 to shoot. Another figure, just inside, re- 
 presented a crocodile, and over the door- 
 way were the representations of a man and 
 woman. SevertJ old men were seated on 
 the platform, and, after giving them a 
 present, we returned. The natives are 
 altogether a very fine-looking people, light- 
 coloured, tall, and well-built, and resemble 
 those of Hood Bay more than any others I 
 know. Having got our swags ready in the
 
 6o TAMATE. 
 
 early moruinu, we were soon on tlie road 
 for our return journey. Our carriers were 
 heavily laden with betel nuts, and one with 
 a dead doy^ and taro. 
 
 'Shortly after our arrival our hosts 
 killed two do^s to entertain us, which our 
 followers soon disposed of ; the third was 
 killed and sent to Meauri. In killing the 
 dogs they struck them on the head with a 
 large stick, and then broke all their legs. 
 We arrived at Maiva about 2 p.m., wet and 
 tired. 
 
 'Ill future this district will be worked 
 from Maiva. Already they are learning the 
 object of our work from the teachers whom 
 they constantly visit. All they can at 
 present understand is peace, tomahawks, 
 tobacco, and so on.'
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Collections for Princeton Mission 
 Cabinet. 
 
 'TgN 1880, Dr. Sheldon Jackson, of the 
 \H Presbyterian Church of the United 
 States, wrote to us as follows : — ''We 
 have commenced the formation at Prince- 
 ton TheoloLHcal Seminary of a Cabinet to 
 represent the customs, condition, religions, 
 &c., of Indian and other native races; also 
 the character of countries. As you well 
 know, Princeton is the leading Divinity 
 School for the training of Ministers in the 
 United States ; ant] we wish to keep before 
 them such un exhibit as shall help to create 
 in those training for the Ministry a Mis- 
 sionary spirit. . . . Perhaps you know of 
 some one in Australia who would take an 
 interest in making a collection for this pur- 
 pose in their section. If so, please lay the 
 matter before them.
 
 62 TAMATE. 
 
 "This will be the only collection of the 
 kind on this continent, ixnd we wish to 
 make it as large and important as possible, 
 and hope it may be no unimportant instru- 
 mentality in creatino- a greater enthusiasm 
 for Missions." 
 
 We shi])ped, in response to that appeal. 
 a large collection, via San Francisco, which 
 the agents kindly forwaixied free of charge ; 
 and also endeavoui-ed to interest Mr. Chal- 
 mers in the movement. Later on, Dr. 
 Jackson wrote to us as follows : — " T am 
 authorized by a friend of the Cabinet to 
 place in your hands £20, for collections in 
 the Islands. If you can use it to advantage 
 please let me know, and I will forward it 
 to you. ... If you think that collections 
 can be made in all the Colonies for Prince- 
 ton Cabinet, perhaps I can raise £20 for 
 each. The object is to illustrate the native 
 races — their customs, handiwork and re- 
 ligions." 
 
 That will explain the opening sentences 
 of the following letter, dated 18th May, 
 1883: — "1 have just written Dr. Jackson. 
 I will do mv best for the Museum, but will
 
 TAMATE. 63 
 
 accept of no money. If they like to trive a 
 subscription to L.M.S., i^ood ; but I take 
 nothing personal. I have now on hand 
 several things ; my trouble is how to send 
 them. 
 
 "If my papers will suit your very excel- 
 lent Missionary Man:azine, I can supoly you 
 occasionally. ... 1 have had a turn over 
 with fever : am JDctter, Init take chanere for 
 repairs. 
 
 "I am glad you agree with me as to 
 baptisms. I dislike oddities, and do not 
 wish the popularity of aloneness as a giant. 
 I have not yet heard from Mission House. , 
 I wonder, brother, how far you and I would 
 agree in many other things — a few pipes 
 and many long cracks would let us know. 
 Ah, well, we both agree in this, let the hea- 
 then know God is Love, and He gave His 
 Son for them, for us. . . ." 
 
 A few weeks later Mr. Chalmers was at 
 Cooktown, and went on to Brisbane to 
 shake off the fever, and to see about annex- 
 ation business, which at that time had 
 come within the sphere of practical politics.
 
 64 TAMATE. 
 
 ''We have just finished," he wrote, "print- 
 ing the Gospel of Matthew, a hymn-book, 
 school hook and (leoj^raphy in the Port 
 Moresby dialect." 
 
 "Pi, of South Cape," he wrote under 
 date I7th AuLmst, 1883, "is Mr. Mc 
 Kerras' teacher, and has been so from the 
 beginninir. I shall i^ee him soon, and *jet 
 him to write. He has got on well, and has 
 been greatly blessed. 
 
 "I go to South Cape next month to 
 open a' new Church, and administer the (or- 
 dinance of the Lord's Su,pper for the lirst 
 time there. There are twenty-one Church 
 Members, and a number of candidates. 
 
 "I have been travelling inland towards 
 Mount Owen Stanley. I return soon, and 
 hope to ascend. 
 
 "The Maiva Churches (three) are fin- 
 ished, and I so West to or)en them. 
 
 "I may go home next Aprd tor six 
 months, but nf)w undecided. T dread civil- 
 ization, and fear T am too much a savaee.
 
 TAMATE. 65 
 
 I have now long led a Bohemian life. 1 do 
 not think the strictures of English life 
 would suit me. 
 
 "I sometimes think 1 will propose to the 
 Directors to give me a lengthened holiday 
 for New Zealand, and travel through it, 
 and try some rich friends to give me a ten- 
 ton boat. I am getting older, brother, and 
 fancy a little more comfort. An open boat 
 by night and day in sun and rain is not all 
 comfort, and a ten-ton boat would be a 
 travelling palace, a lengthener of days. 
 Well, 1 will see. God will direct aright. . . 
 My collection for Princeton is growing, and 
 by end of year will, 1 hope, be worth send- 
 ing.- 
 
 "I have sent you a letter from Piri,'' 
 Mr. Chalmers wrote under date, Hanua- 
 bada, 29th September, 1883, "1 have also 
 sent one for Mr. Somerville's sister, thank- 
 ing her for the very valuable gift of a 
 splendid bell. A few more such gifts from 
 friends would be truly apj)reciated. 1 am 
 waiting daily for the schooner to visit 
 South Cape, where Pi, Mr. McKerras' 
 teacher, is stationed. 1 had a letter from
 
 66 TAMATE. 
 
 him lately : their C'lmnli is finished, and he 
 reports a large class of candidates for 
 baptism. 
 
 "Piri asks for a boat. Of course if you 
 do assist, let it be understood it is for a 
 Mission boat to be used by Piri, not his 
 own private property. . . . 
 
 "I must see if I have got a paper that 
 would suit your interesting Magazine. 1 
 leave shortly for Boera to spend the Sab- 
 bath with Piri. 
 
 "You will see from the papers of a 
 large sale of land. If not stopped, it will 
 lead to serious trouble i?i the future. No 
 native understands he is parting with his 
 heritage for ever. 
 
 ■'I have just got a paper. Wou,ld you 
 read it over and correct. The wind is 
 springing up, and 1 am away. . . ." 
 
 The paper which he sent was the Story 
 of Kone, which we reproduce from the pages 
 of our "Missionary Record."
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 KoNE, THK New (Guinea Rainmaker. 
 
 MADI^" tlie acquaintance of Kone on 
 the beach to the West of Cape Suck- 
 ling:, and from that time to the Hay 
 of his death 1 ever found him a true friend. 
 We were on our way to the Culf of Papua, 
 to visit the Elema District, in order to try 
 and make peace between tribes which were 
 at war with one another. 
 
 "We luid been saiiin^:: and rowing all 
 day and all night, and feeling tired and 
 hungry, we anchored the boat to cook food, 
 and have a sleep during the heat of the day. 
 A number of canoes were pulled up on the 
 beach close to us, and natives were sitting 
 about with a large (.'ollection of earthen- 
 ware pots. 1 landed antl sat down with 
 them, and found they spoke the Motu dia- 
 lect. Thev told me thev had come to trade
 
 68 TAMATE. 
 
 with Namoa natives, liviny: in a village in 
 the Naara district, that tliey would receive 
 in exchange for their wares pieces of 
 Kangaroo flesh, and that, on the following 
 day. they would return to their own village, 
 Delena, on the mainland near Yule Island, 
 They were of course trreatly delighted to 
 meet us, and begged me to remain and go 
 with them. A proposal was made to visit 
 Namoa, and return in the evening, but the 
 day being hot and sultry. T feared we should 
 have heavy rain in the afternoon, and did 
 not wish to get wet away from the boat. 
 
 "Do not be afraid ; there will be no 
 rain,'" said a woman who sat close beside 
 me. 
 
 "Why not ? 1 am sr.re there will be, ' I 
 repliefl. 
 
 "There cannot be, as the rainmaker is 
 here, ai-d will conduct the party in. You 
 need not be afraid, as he is going with 
 you." 
 
 "Who is the rainmaker ? "
 
 TAMATE. 69 
 
 "Kone, the chief, who is sitting by 
 you." 
 
 "Well, Kone," I said, "you, are the 
 rainmaker. Are we aoing to have rain ? " 
 
 ■'No, not to-day, not until we have 
 finished our trading." 
 
 "1 think you are wrong/' I replied. 
 "But 1 will go with you and see Namoa, 
 and the queen, Koloka, of whom I have 
 heard much, and whom 1 met once at one 
 of the other villages." 
 
 "Kone was pleased at my consenting to 
 go, saying the Namoans would be greatly 
 delighted to see me. After a late breakfast 
 we started, Kone keeping close by me. We 
 left the narrow strip of low level coast 
 country and got on to the Leata hills, and, 
 when within a mile of the village, there 
 could be no mistake about our being 
 drenched before we could reach any shelter. 
 
 "Kone." I said, ''the wind is now from 
 inland, and the rain will very soon be down 
 on us."
 
 70 TAMATE. 
 
 "Turning in the direction of the coming 
 darkness, he said, "Rain ! remain, and come 
 not here.' " 
 
 "1 called laughingly on the rain to 
 come, and soon it did come in earnest, and 
 said, 'Kone, my friend, who now is right?' " 
 
 "He stopped and turned, and. looking 
 me earnestly in the face, said, 'Tamate, did 
 you think I took you for a mere child ? 
 No. I knew you were a great chief and had 
 power, and the rain listened to you. You 
 should not have called on the rain to come ; 
 but T too am a chief, and have power.' 
 
 "Kone, I did not make the rain, nor 
 have T power to make it come. No man 
 possesses that power ; only the great and 
 good Spirit who created all things can do 
 that, and He alone it is who gives us rain." 
 
 "Kone had never before heard of the 
 great Spirit, the Creator, and during the 
 remainder of our journey he listened, and I 
 think, thoughtfully, to what I said." 
 
 "On our arrival at the village, he intro- 
 ducetl me to the queen, and to her husband
 
 TAMATE. 71 
 
 and people, and eave them to understand 
 that I was a chief of great power." 
 
 "It was raining heavily, and we decided 
 to remain. We encamped in the large 
 "dubii," or temple, and with a good fire 
 were soon dry and warm, Kone kept close 
 by me all night, and, fearing lest 1 should 
 be disturbed, he told the people to remain 
 quiet. The evening was spent in smoking 
 and chewing betel-nuts, while Kone re- 
 counted the rain story, and some of what I 
 had to!d him on the journey. After evening 
 prayers, we all lay down by the fire, Kone 
 lying down close by me." 
 
 "In the early morning I roused the 
 sleepers, got some yams, sago, and taro 
 cooked, and having helped these down with 
 cocoa-nut milk, we returned to the coast, 
 where al' had to listen to the experiences of 
 the trip. We were followed to the shore by 
 nearly all the natives of Namoa, carrying 
 kangaroos and betel-nuts, and a pig for my 
 party, presented to me by the queen." 
 
 ''When trading was finished, canoes were 
 launched, and bidding farewell to our new-
 
 72 
 
 TAMATE. 
 
 made friends, we started for Delena, Kone 
 leaving his own canoe to have the pleasure 
 of being by me. On our arrival at Delena, 
 all the home-stayers were told of the new 
 friend, of whom they had long heard, but 
 never seen, and they were told to have food 
 cooked at once, as he might be hungry. 
 Kone in.sisted on my staying ashore, and 
 taking his "dubu" until 1 left. He did 
 everything in his power to make me com- 
 fortable. In a very quiet and unosten- 
 tatious way he became servant to us, in- 
 sisting on attendinL"" to all our wants." 
 
 "Now 1 have written all this, and have 
 said nothing of his appearance. He was 
 about hve feet six inches i)i heit'^ht, and, 
 thoutrh slim, yet well built. He had a true, 
 kind expression in his face — a face one could 
 not help loving. His movements were staid 
 rather than active, trivini? an idea of calm- 
 ness not easily roused, and if roused, soon 
 allayed to return to his old friendship. He 
 was about forty-five years old, much res- 
 pected by the people, and known and liked 
 far beyond his own villatje. Eh. Kone ! I 
 have known many savages, but not one I 
 have loved like vou !
 
 TAMATE. 73 
 
 "Durinff our stay Kone insisted on our 
 usins: his mats, and said to me, 'Whatever 
 you want just let me know.' 
 
 "On my return from the West, we ar- 
 rived at his village near midnight, on a 
 thoron'.'hly wet stormy night. Kone was 
 soon on the beach with a torch to conduct 
 us to his "dubu." He brought his best 
 mats for us to sleep on, got his wife and 
 friends to get their pots on, and, helped by 
 our cooks, we were soon very comfortable. 
 The next morning, before leaving, he begged 
 for a teacher. I have no doubt he could see 
 tomahawks, knives, beads, and tobacco, 
 through a teacher ; but I know, too, he 
 saw something else. His tribe being small, 
 was often threatened by others, and he 
 could see that if a teacher lived with him he 
 would be a help to him, and he could also 
 see thax where teachers were, peace pre- 
 vailed. 
 
 "Before teachers arrived among the 
 Motu tribe, these people were the terror of 
 the coast, and especially of the Yule and 
 Delena districts, Init now Kone received 
 them without fear as friends. 
 
 B
 
 74 
 
 TAMATE. 
 
 "Our adversaries say, 'Pray, what have 
 Missionaries with the CJospel done for New 
 Guinea ? " 1 say, 'Ask the Motu tribe, and 
 then the other tribes from Round Head to 
 Maiva, and 1 think their answers will be 
 sufficient to warrant the statement that the 
 Gospel has lost none of its power, and is 
 still the peace for Savage tribes.' 
 
 "I wonder if, when Kone asked for a 
 teacher, he did not even then desire one to 
 tell him something of the new Great Spirit, 
 of whom he had now heard for the first 
 time. 
 
 "When preparing for teachers last year, 
 1 put up a house on land given to me by 
 him, at the back of the village. On my 
 arriving for that purpose I found Kone in 
 great sorrow, and living in a small house 
 built over a small grave, and mourning as 
 one without hope. 
 
 "Oh Tamate," he said, "I am sore 
 grieved ; my beloved child is dead, dead ; 
 and I am glad you have come."
 
 TAMATE. 75 
 
 "Kone," 1 said, "you must help me in 
 building a house" : and right willingly did 
 he consent, and help me through with it. 
 
 "To me the greatest sorrow of New 
 Guinea is the people's want of knowledge of 
 the true God of love, and their ignorance of 
 the future glorious life in Christ. I cannot 
 say that the war-horn and the shrieks of 
 the victims draw any sympathy from me. 
 They only excite wrath. But when such a 
 case as that of Kone comes before me, a 
 man weeping even unto death for a beloved 
 child, without hope of a future, I feel a 
 great longing to give them the Gospel of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 "I remember, some years ago, in 
 Orangerie Bay, at Dauni, on Sunday morn- 
 ing, being awakened by our captain, who 
 told me he though t the natives were getting 
 ready to come oi to attack us. It ^as 
 about three o'clock a.m On listening, I 
 could hear the horn blowing, but it was the 
 pig-horn, and in the villatre opposite to the 
 vessel there was a loud wailing. 1 returned 
 to sleep, and about ten o'clock landed in a 
 canoe, the first foreigner to walk through
 
 76 TAMATE. 
 
 that village. I sat down with the mourn- 
 ers, and grave a present to the dead. The 
 body was that of an elderly man , who had 
 been only a short time ill, and who had 
 died during the night. It was dressed in 
 finery, with scented sprigs through the pier- 
 ced nose and ears, and, supported with 
 sticks, was in a sitting posture. 
 
 "Soon a young man came running in, 
 and, with a loud wail, threw himself upon 
 the dead. I seem to hear it now. It came 
 from his heart, and I think it went to mine. 
 I cannot forget it. With what intense 
 agony he cried, 'Oh ! my father, my father ! 
 Speak, speak to me now I Speak, my 
 father, speak ! ' But from those dead lips 
 came no sound. Would that they only knew 
 of Him who says, 'I am the Resurrection 
 and the Life.' 
 
 "Well, Kone was in that dense, painful 
 darkness, 'without hope.' Often have" I 
 seen him sitting mourning by that small 
 grave, and occasionally liave I sat with 
 him, telling him of the 'Man of Sorrows/ 
 the Christ of God, the Light and Life of the 
 world, and the grave's destruction. I
 
 TAMATE. 77 
 
 taught liim a short prayer. It was, 'God of 
 Love, give me light ; lead me to Christ.' I 
 spent a month with him then, and the most 
 of that time Kone was near me. He helped 
 us in house-building, gave us food, killed a 
 pig, came regularly to services, and many 
 evenings came alone. 
 
 "On another visit, Kone, day and night, 
 kept near us, was a diligent learner, and 
 anxious indeed to be taught. When parting 
 with him, he always came to the boat and 
 gave me a parting present, and, weeping, 
 would say, 'Do come back soon. Day and 
 night we shall think of you, and long for 
 your return.' Last October I went to the 
 Gulf, to visit tribes near the Bald Head, 
 and called at Delena to take Kone on with 
 me. I shall close this with an extract from 
 my journal : — 
 
 "Anchored this morning just round 
 point, about three miles from Delena, and 
 at daylight up anchor and ran down to 
 anchorage. Very soon we saw boat coming, 
 and Lavao standing up aft, and several of 
 the men with native cloth on their heads, as 
 a badjj-e of mourning. 1 missed Kone, and
 
 78 TAMATE. 
 
 anxiously waited for them to come along- 
 side. As they approached there was no 
 loud talking, and all looked sorrowful. 
 Lavao, the Lolo chief, stepped on board, 
 and I asked, 'Where is Kone ?' 
 
 "After a little he said, 'Oh, Tamate, 
 Kone, your friend, is dead.' 
 
 ''Dead, Lavao ? T had to sit down. 
 
 "Yes, Kone is dead ; and we buried him 
 on your trround, near your house, the house 
 of his one erreat friend, 
 
 "Did Kone die of sickness ? 
 
 "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 cauizht the Naara man 
 and placed him behind him, the spear enter- 
 ing his own breast. We carried him home, 
 and on the second moon he died.
 
 TAMATE. 79 
 
 "Since then I have met Laoma, and he 
 tells me the same. My poor Kone ! my 
 kind savage friend ! Shall we meet again ? 
 Has that prayer of thine, from out thy 
 darkness, to the God of love, for light and 
 life, been unanswered ? 1 cannot think so, 
 and I can hope that even now they have 
 been revealed to thee."
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Decked Boat — a Supreme Need of 
 THE Mission. 
 
 [{lELING that a house was necessary 
 to hold services and school in/' Mr. 
 Chalmers wrote to us, u,nder date 
 19th October, "I set about this morning 
 building a simple, yet suitable house for 
 the climate. Tt is thirty-eight feet long and 
 twenty broad. We have nearly finished, Mnd 
 hope on Sunday to open it. The natives 
 assist willingly. God grant that light may 
 enter the hearts of these poor natives, and 
 that in this new house some may learn of 
 Christ as the Light, and their Saviour from 
 sin and superstition and all their con- 
 sei^uences. 
 
 "Johnnie (my boy) shot three pigeons 
 yesterday, which came in well to-day, as for 
 some days we have not had too much to 
 eat.
 
 TAMATE. 8i 
 
 "What a splendid (opening there is here 
 for a teacher at pi'esent, and 1 only wish we 
 could supply them. The sun is too hot for 
 working, so T am speculating on the future. 
 All the Elema tribe (over 20,000) having 
 teachers, one white missionary at Maiva, 
 with a staff of teachers, could undertake 
 from Cape Possession to Cape Suckling ; 
 the Port Missionary from Redscar Bay to 
 Round Head ; one at Hula or Kerepunu, 
 from Round Head to Mailiu Kolu ; one at 
 South Cape, from Port Milport to Leo- 
 cadie ; and one at Dinner Island, from last 
 group to East Cape. That is in the future. 
 But the present we can use by pressing on 
 with the teachers ; only we must have a 
 schooner of ten or twelve tons. To work 
 the Gulf and keep the College students 
 always supplied with food such a vessel is 
 necessary, and should always be on this 
 side, and have nothing whatever to do with 
 the Straits. 1 am sorry 1 have no rich 
 uncle likely soon to go hence, who might 
 think of his poor nephew's wants and leave 
 him £300. Not much that to wealth, and 
 not too much to give in so good a cause. 
 Some good friend may read this. J want 
 the boat, need her, the work cannot be done
 
 Ss TAMATE. 
 
 well without her. I am yettiny: old. Open 
 boats are very, very nice, but days and 
 weeUs in them aie rather stiffening, and 
 there are times when more than an open 
 boat is required, because of wind and sea. 
 The new vessel to be called the "Irene"' or 
 "Maine." 
 
 "Yesterday, brother, I got your letter. 
 On 19th October I wrote that : if 1 iret the 
 money for the vessel in New Zealand, the 
 vessel can be built either in Auckland or 
 Sydney. 1 have a captain and crew, and 
 would take them with me if f can uo South 
 next year. I would sail the vessel myself, 
 that is, I would l)e really captain, and have 
 a South Sea Islander under me, with a New 
 Cuinea crew. The working of the vessel 
 would be inexpensive, I pay half, and the 
 Society half. Tiie vessel to be entirely the 
 property of the London Missionary So- 
 ciety. . . ." 
 
 On the 27th March, 1884, Mr. Chalmers 
 wrote to us as follows : — "I was inland last 
 week, far, far away, making peace between 
 tribes, and had a most successful trip. I 
 had hoped to have got Mount Owen-Stan-
 
 TAMATE. &3 
 
 ley under my feet, hut it rained every day, 
 and such nxin too ! I turned back within 
 twelve miles of the top. 1 was only one 
 week away. an(l in terrible country, walked 
 over 170 miles, and must have climbed in all 
 over 20,000 feet. We brought tribes to- 
 gether that for many years have lived as 
 deadly enemies. We had the pipe of peace» 
 and the friendship so complete, that they 
 slept in one another's houses the nights we 
 stayed. 
 
 "I iiope your 'Missionary Record' flour- 
 ishes apace. 1 fear I can send you nothing 
 this time, 1 am so boxed ii[). You know my 
 habits in the matter of letter-writing. Well, 
 here 1 am in straits with several mails ujn- 
 answered, and if I do not set too in earnest 
 now, the burden will become too much f(»r 
 me. 
 
 "Our new teachers are suffering from 
 the climate. One poor woman died very 
 suddenly last Saturday . Her husband, 
 poor fellow, is now very ill. (Jod grant 
 that all may be spare<l for good earnest 
 work in New (Juinea. Next month, if the 
 weather is settled, we hope to place them all
 
 84 TAMATE. 
 
 at their stations. Our weather at present 
 is moist, hot, and uncomfortable. I think 
 light is breaking in Queensland on the 
 'Labour Trade.' Its days are numbered, 
 and not all the Isolstering of the politicians 
 can save it. The 'Courier and the 'Queens- 
 lander' are now against the ishmd trade, 
 and being the leading papers, I feel sure i he 
 death is near. Fiji must follow. 
 
 "We have had brother <^Jill with us, and 
 a fine refreshing time it was. I wish you 
 knew him. 
 
 "1 am busy now with school work, 
 teaching bairns a, e, i, o, u, &c., &c. We 
 agree splendidly, i.e., the bairns and your 
 humble servant ; they learn and romp, 
 laugh and are sober, and somehow they do 
 get along, though slowly. 
 
 "Piri's boat. — Rarotonga has given the 
 boat, a fine large whale boat, so pray for- 
 give us both, never mind the money. 
 
 "The ten-ton lx)at — I should not think of 
 asking our Hunedin friends ALOXK to sub- 
 scribe. Auckland will help, so will Adelaide
 
 TAMATE. 85 
 
 and Sydney. The islands would help, but 
 they have already griven four whaleboats, 
 and I cannot just now ask them. Complete, 
 it should not cost more than £250. ... I 
 wish I cc^uld visit New Zealand soon, iiut 
 there are too many teachers to leave in one 
 man's hands. 
 
 "What say you to this ? Take your first 
 holiday this way, only let me know when 
 expected at Cooktown or Thursday Island, 
 and I will meet you in 'EUengowan.' Let 
 us a' just a wee, wee nearer tae Him, .-^.nd 
 lipoen Him wi* a'." 
 
 ''Just a hurried line," he wrote on 26th 
 April, "T have made out the annexed boat 
 fund, and believe will get it. 1 cannot go 
 South, and must use my friends. Do you 
 think Diinedin trood for £60, to remit to 
 Mr. Sunderland, for a 10 or 12-ton boat, to 
 be called 'Irene,' or 'Maino,' and to be the 
 property of L.M.S. ? If you think more 
 could be done so much the better, as 
 other places may fall short or fail al- 
 together 
 
 ''The teachers are better, and will soon 
 be placed at their stations. They are anx-
 
 86 TAMATE. 
 
 ious to iret away and be at work. CJod 
 grant them many years of earnest work for 
 Christ, and a '.rlorious reapin'^-'time. 
 
 "1 trust Mr. (lill will write you about 
 Pi and his work ; he was lately at South 
 Cape. 
 
 "Piri has ifot his boat. He has finished 
 his Church, and is well. He goes with me 
 next week to Kabadi. 
 
 "Lawes and his wife may be in Sydney 
 about September. He might visit New 
 Zealand. He is a splendid deputation and 
 a fine fellow. You would be charmed with 
 him. 
 
 "Boat 
 
 Money. 
 
 
 Society Islands 
 
 
 £60 
 
 Hervey Group 
 
 
 105 
 
 Adelaide 
 
 
 40 
 
 Auckland 
 
 
 30 
 
 Wellington 
 
 
 20 
 
 Christchurch 
 
 . * > ... 
 
 20 
 
 Dunedin 
 
 
 60 
 
 I draw the above on faith.''
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A Munificent Gift to the Mission. 
 
 |JN April, 1884, we received the following 
 '^ letter, dated from Stewart Island : — 
 "Dear Sir, — In the 'New Zealand Mis- 
 sionary Record' for February, 1884, Mr. 
 Chalmers, Missionary to New Guinea, re- 
 fers to some communication made to him 
 about a decked boat, showing at the same 
 time, from the description given of liis 
 journeys, his need of such a thing. Has 
 Mr. Chalmers got a decked boat yet ? If 
 not, would a six-ton decked boat be accept- 
 able for his use ? I have such a boat. She 
 is a good little boat, though small for a 
 deck. She has sails, &c., and would not 
 need any great outlay to make her ready 
 for Mr. Chalmers. She cost £100 when 
 built, a little more than a year ago. The 
 deck might affoixi Mr. Chalmers some pro- 
 tection from the rain he speaks of. 1 had
 
 88 TAMATE. 
 
 intended to sell the boat, but takin^r up 
 your little 'Missionary Record,' broutrht 
 here with me, T was reminded of Mr. Chal- 
 mers's need, and, indeed, if he is supplied, 
 there may be another amongst the New 
 Hebrides, working for CJod in your Mission 
 service, who would be very <jlad of such a 
 convenience. All 1 can say is, dear sli-, that 
 if the boat is required for Mission Work, [ 
 would far, far rather give her for the dear 
 Saviour's service than sell her. She is 
 called 'The Blessing,' a name, if your Com- 
 mittee decide to accejit the gift, T should be 
 glad to have continued, and T would also 
 beg of you in such case, and earnestly de- 
 sire, that no mention even of my name be 
 made in connection with the boat, but that 
 she be simply accepted as 'from a friend for 
 the dear Lord's Service.' This letter will be 
 sufficient authority upon which you (Mr. 
 Ross) can claim the boat. . . I have iiad 
 since 1 came here very much for which to 
 lift up my heart in gratitude to our Heav- 
 enly Father, so that whilst I do hope for 
 the continuance of His loving kindness for 
 the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, I also feel 
 thankfu,l that 1 have something that I can
 
 TAMATE. 89 
 
 at least oft'er to Him for His service, and 
 most willingly give if required. . . .'' 
 
 Mr. R. Brown, honorary secretary to 
 the Otago Auxiliary of the London Mission- 
 ary Society (which was formed on the 
 occasion of the first visit of Mr. Chalmers 
 to Ihinedin) wrote with reference to the 
 timely gift of the boat — "We are sure no 
 one can read the aljove corresnondence and 
 not feel moved with admiration of the 
 ready and generous spirit in which this 
 munilioent gift is presented to the Society 
 for Mr. Chalmers' use. It has been well 
 said that it is 'more blessed to give than to 
 receive' : but we are sure that this is essen- 
 tially a case in which giver and receiver 
 partake alike of the pleasure and the bless- 
 ing. To Mr. Chalmers, labouring arduously 
 as he is doing in that 'terra incognita," New 
 Guinea, cut off entirely from the society of 
 civilized men, ex(- .)sed for weeks together 
 to the scorching sun by day and the 
 drenching dews by night, with no better 
 shelter than that afforded by an open whale 
 boat while exploring and mapping out tiie 
 harbours, bays, and islands on the coast of 
 New (luinea, and olantiiiLJ', at immense .-^ac-
 
 90 TAMATE. 
 
 ritice of health and all that men account 
 dear to them, Mission Stations here and 
 there — sii,cli a letter and such a gift must he 
 cheering in the extreme, and will doiii)tless 
 inspire him witli fresh ho})e and courage, 
 evidencing as it does the deep sympathy 
 with which his work is being regarded, and 
 we can scarcely over-estimate the value of 
 such a work. Three-foiyths of our know- 
 ledge of New Guinea with certainty comes 
 from Missionary sources : and wliile we wit- 
 ness, as we have again and again during the 
 last few years, one exploring party after 
 another returning, baffled and decimated by 
 climate and disease, and witness at the 
 same time the \massuming but persistent 
 labours of these messengers of peace, we 
 feel that surely it should be our duty to 
 strengthen their hands in their noble work. 
 Even looking at their labours altogether 
 apart from the Christian view, they are of 
 inestimable value to commerce and science. 
 What David Livingr^itone did for Africa, they 
 are striving to do for New Guinea." 
 
 Mr. Mills, the Manager of the Union 
 Steamship Company, on hearing of the 
 terms of the gift, kindiv offered to send on
 
 TAMATE. 91 
 
 "The Blessing" from Di'.nedin to Sydney 
 free of charore, and Mr. A. Hill Jack, Man- 
 ager of the National Insurance Company, 
 insured her. at his own private expense, 
 right through to Cooktown. 
 
 From all sides there came to us indi- 
 cations of a deepening interest in Mission 
 work, and expressions of ardent desire to 
 help in winning the heathen for Christ. 
 
 ''It is a most munificent gift," Mr. 
 Ceorce R, Hercus wrote to us, "and friven 
 in a most gracious spirit. I am sure Mr. 
 Chalmers will greatly appreciate both. 
 From the description of the boat, I think it 
 likely to prove jvist the thing he has so much 
 felt the want of, although it is rather less 
 in size than he snoke of. You would notice 
 in the 'Record' a few weeks airo a donation 
 referred to of £25 towards the same object. 
 I sent this to Mr. Sunderland at t,he 
 donor's request, and if any fittin^^s or alter- 
 ations are necessary to fit the boat for her 
 special mission, this will be available for 
 the purpose, so that there seems nothing in 
 the way of this wish of Mr. Chalmers being 
 fulfilled."
 
 93 , TAMATE. 
 
 "The heart of our Brother Chalmers," 
 the Rev. J. P. Sunderland wrote to us from 
 Sydney, "will be greatly cheered by the 
 noble j^ift of our New Zealand friend. " And 
 later on, he wrote, " 'The Blessing' arrived 
 safely. . . . We have re-shipped her for 
 
 Cooktown She is rather small for 
 
 open sea work, bu,t 1 have no doubt the be^it 
 vise will be made of her by our devoted Mis- 
 sionary Brother, Mr. Chalmers."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Thanksgivings. 
 
 K. AV. Wyatt Ciill, soon after his 
 return from a visit to New Guinea, 
 wrote to us as follows, under date, 
 [arrickville. May 17th, 1884, "At Mr. Chal- 
 mers' request I forward to you the enclosed 
 paper, which may possibly suit the readers 
 of your own excellent 'N.Z. Missionary 
 Record." If printed kindly send me a copy, 
 as i am coliectiuLT Mr. Chalmers' papers 
 (with his knowledge and consent for book 
 use) as well as send a copy to Mr. Chalmers 
 himself. Could you not favour me with a 
 copy of 'N'.Z. Missionary Record" for Jan- 
 uary, 1884, contaiiiinir the second part of 
 tht' story of 'Kone, the New (luinea Rain- 
 maker.' Mr. Chalmers gave me the lirst 
 part. I yaw Kone's srrave, the widow, and 
 the child.
 
 94 
 
 TAMATE. 
 
 "My visit to New (Jiiinea was full (^f 
 interest : it extended over some weeks. My 
 brethren showed me everything, and I am 
 l)ound to say the Mission is a ijreat success. 
 I admire the patience and devotedness of 
 Messrs. Lawes and Chalmers ; and not a 
 little the heroic zeal of our native pastors. 
 Only the Master kni^ws the amount of self- 
 denial and holy consecration manifested by 
 them all. Tn the Eastern branch of the New 
 Guinea Mission there are to-day 116 Church 
 members : 1200 children under instruction ; 
 also 14 students for the native ministry. 
 Twenty-nine teachers, old and new, are at 
 work under the brethren. Jt is twelve years 
 since my first visit to New Guinea. At that 
 time Port Moresby and its inhabitants were 
 not known to be in existence, and now — ! 
 Thank God for what 1 have seen of the 
 power of His blessed Word I In 1872, when 
 I first landed teachers at Redscar Bay, they 
 were always at war with each other. Now 
 there is no killing^ all along the coast. This 
 is the result of Gosoel teaching ! 
 
 "1 hear that a gentleman gave Mr. 
 Chalmers a small yacht. This is just what 
 he needs. I thank God that help has come
 
 TAMATE. 95 
 
 at last. It seemed to me that Mr. Chalmers 
 was fast weariiiLT himself out by exposure to 
 sun and rain in open boats. Who is the 
 generous donor ? if you know him, tell him 
 he has done the right thing, and that the 
 Master will surely reward him for it. How 
 is it that the yacht has not yet arrived here 
 at Sydney, en route for New Guinea ? The 
 sooner he gets it the bettei".' 
 
 Mr. Chalmers sent us "Koloka, a New 
 Guinea Queen," and "Keua, a Friend of the 
 New (Juinea Mission,"' two interesting 
 character sketches, which appeared in our 
 ''Missionary Record," but as they are given 
 with >Jome fulness in "Work and Adventure 
 in New Guinea,"' we abstain from re- 
 pro<iucinLf them here. 
 
 "How am 1 to express myself to you for 
 your manifold kindnesses," Mr. Chalmers 
 wrote to us, 4th June, 1S84. "Through you 
 I have got the yacht. Well, you have done 
 all for thiC Master, and He will see to it. 
 Thank you brother, thanks many. She will 
 be the property of the L.M.S., and used en- 
 tirely in Mission work. The donor nay rest 
 assured that she will be used for Christ's
 
 96 T AM ATE. 
 
 service only. J hope soon to hear of her ar- 
 rival in Cooktovvn, and as soon after as 
 possible 1 will have her here. 1 put c»lt 
 writing- the donor until 1 see her. 1 wonder 
 if he would object to our turning the name 
 into native. She is called 'Blessing' ; in 
 this dialect that is 'Hanamoa.' The natives 
 cannot pronounce the Knglish name, and to 
 them the native one is full of meaningf. It 
 is 'Blessing-,' 'Praise,' 'to make good,' kc. 
 Should I go home for a while she will be 
 kept moving, and will have plenty to do. 
 We have teachers now in Motumotu (Port 
 Chalmers) in the Gulf, and to visit them in 
 a boat is not over safe. The Admiralty 
 named it Port Chalmers, 1 suppose, in 
 honour of this Bohemian Missionary. 
 Friends say now that I have got my heart's 
 desire through you T will not go home. But 
 I think [ \vill, when, I cannot say. Should 
 I go home 1 shall return your way, and hope 
 then to meet face to face with the donor. 
 
 "We have also placed two teachers at 
 Kivori, a fine district behind Cape Poss- 
 ession : and at Naara, one teacher with our 
 queen Koloka. We letive to-morrow to 
 place two teachers at Kabadi. the district
 
 TAMATE. 97 
 
 of land-sale renown. Two teachers have 
 also been placed at Saroa, behind Round 
 Head, and we hope, in another month, to 
 have Kalo and Belerupii supplied. 
 
 "We expect a vessel in from the Straits 
 that may leave before onr return from Kab- 
 adi, and 1 write hurriedly this note. May 
 you, yours, and your work be ever 
 blessed "
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 The Church's Vitality conditioned 
 BY Aggressiveness. 
 
 I HE success that has attended the 
 labours of native teachers in New 
 Guinea proper during the last few 
 years must be very gratifying to the friends 
 of humanity and the London Missionary 
 Society, and should greatly encourage them 
 for the future. For twelve years Mission 
 work has been carried on in New Guinea, 
 and 1 know of no Mission connected with 
 this Society, or indeed any other Society, 
 that can compare with it in results. 
 
 "Believing as we do in the work of our 
 teachers, we are naturally anxious to be 
 regularly supplied from the older Missions 
 of the South Pacific. If these Missions 
 should confine themselves to home work, 
 they will suffer and eventually go out.
 
 TAMATE. 99 
 
 Everywhere the Church lives according to 
 her zeal for aggressive work amongst the 
 heathen, and for the Directors to pass min- 
 utes preventing Missions sending teachers 
 would be simply suicidal. We must do all 
 we can to keep the South Sea Churches 
 connected with New Guinea, and so preserve 
 the working sympathetic Christ-life 
 amongst them. As our knowledge of New 
 Guinea increases, the Church of Christ in 
 Britain and the South Seas should be pre- 
 pared to take up the work. Hitherto the 
 Directors have put no limit to ou^ extend- 
 ing, and we have gone on doing so. 
 
 "Last February, our Mission barque, 
 ■'John Williams,' visited us, conveying thir- 
 teen teachers and their wives, accompanied 
 by our old friend and co-worker, Mr. (lill, 
 late of Rarotonga. On the 'John Williams' 
 leaving us we distributed the teachers 
 amongst the old stations, that they might 
 be near to us, and have also the care of the 
 old and acclimatized teachers, until the 
 South-East Monsoon had really set in, 
 when they would be placed at their own 
 stations. Teachers on first arrival fire 
 almost sure to have fever, and it is better
 
 loo TAMATE. 
 
 that they should stay where they can be 
 attended to. ISome up to the present time 
 have had no fev^er, whilst others have suf- 
 fered much, but are now better. 
 
 "Last month we bei^an to locate them 
 at their own stations, and the tirst to be 
 located was lunia, a Tongan, educated by 
 Mr. Gill, on Rarotonga. Having married 
 here a widow, who understands the Mc)tu 
 dialect, we thought they should take Tupu- 
 selei, a village fourteen miles from Port 
 Moresby, where formerly a Niue teacher 
 lived. The natives were highly delighted to 
 have a teacher again amongst them, and 
 gave lu^nia and his wife a good welcome. 
 Since the death of their old teacher, they 
 have had a good deal of trouble with the 
 hill tribes, old scores thought to be for- 
 gotten have been paid and repaid, but now 
 a teacher is with them they will be able to 
 live peaceably. 
 
 'From Tupuselei we continued our boat- 
 ing to Kapakapa, where there were two new 
 teachers and their wives living with the old 
 teacher appointed to Taroa, the fine latge 
 district behind Round Head. For Ions: the
 
 TAMATE. loi 
 
 Tarna natives have been expectin<r teachers, 
 and knowiniT when they iJ:<)t them it was 
 peace all round. For the last few months 
 they have Heen l)usy payinij off (for murders 
 committed by them) debts and making 
 peace. 
 
 "On our arrival at Ka])akapa, a large 
 number of men came in to carry the teach- 
 ers' goods, and they told us it was now all 
 peace. The following morning we started 
 with a large company, and, taking it leis- 
 urely, arrived about 10 a.m. at Kigo, the 
 first of the Taroa villages. A new house 
 had been finished for the teacher, and from 
 it the view is unsurpassed in New (4uinea. 
 After placing the other teacher at another 
 village, about two miles further East, and 
 visiting other villages, and hearing entreat- 
 ies for more teachers, we returned to Kigo. 
 
 "Eaving some students and several 
 Port Moresby natives with us, we went into 
 the village and spent several hours singing 
 on one of their large platforms. It was a 
 beautifully clear moonlisrht night, and, 
 leaving the siniicrs. we walked to a L'"ood 
 position at the West end of the village, 
 where the view was splendid. I have trav-
 
 I02 TAMATE. 
 
 elled much in this eieat land, but have seen 
 nothing to surpass the view of that niirht 
 for picturesqiieness. 
 
 ''On our right the Gerese Hills, and on 
 our left the Coast Range, and, lying before 
 us, the hills and valleys of Taroa and 
 Manukolo, and, behind these, the higSier 
 hills of Keremu stretching on to the Astro- 
 labe range of Mountains, and, further 
 inland, as if guarding these in front, and 
 rising dark above them all, the Owen 
 Stanley Range, ending in the high unvisit- 
 ed mountaim of the same name. Every- 
 where near us were well watered valleys and 
 ridges with plantations, and villages scatt- 
 ered here and there containing kindly dis- 
 posed people. It is to be hoped there will 
 soon be suflBcient teachers to occupy all the 
 principal villages. \\e did conceive the idea 
 that night of building a large, comfortable 
 native house, to cost about £5, and when 
 weakened by fever, or needing a change 
 from the nagging, tiring work of schools, 
 &c.. steal away awhile to Taroa. We re- 
 turned to Port Moresby, and after spending 
 one nisrht, sailed in the 'Ellengowan' for 
 the West.
 
 TAMATE. 103 
 
 "Ever since Mr. Lawes joined the Mis- 
 sion the one cry of the Motu natives has 
 been 'Westward ho.' The largest pop- 
 ulation, and the freest, kindest, wildest 
 natives are there. They, especially these 
 in Freshwater Bay, simply care for no one, 
 and bounce all the tribes, thinking their 
 sweet will is law. I know them all well, 
 and my cry has also been, 'To the West — to 
 the West with our youngest, strongest, 
 bravest, best teachers.' 
 
 "We found good anchorage in two fath- 
 oms just outside 'Alice Meade Lagoon,' 
 about two miles from Motumotu. Affain 
 and again have the natives of Motumotu 
 asked for teachers, promising to treat them 
 well, and to live peaceably with their 
 neiehbours. They have them now, and 
 they feel our promise is sure, though often 
 long delayed through no fault of ours. All 
 were delighted with their teachers, and no 
 hard pressure was ref[uireH to get both 
 houses pushed on. These are our first 
 stations beyond Cape Possession, and the 
 first in the larue Elema district. We move 
 on, I think slowly, f hope surely, and before 
 long, we shall, I hope, be to Orokolo. To
 
 lO^ TAMATE. 
 
 coiiiiect Maiva and Motumotu we wiint two 
 more stations, and so have a continnous 
 line. 
 
 "Motumotu is at the mouth of the 
 'Williams River.' 1 often wished to j?o up 
 this^ river and visit a reported larj^e viJlatre, 
 Moveave, for years at enmity with Motu- 
 m.otu, but never could find sufficient time. 
 We intended spending a few days with the 
 teachers, so as to sjive them a good start 
 with their new demonstrative friends, and 
 we decided to ascend the river. We got a 
 canoe, and paddled up one of the branches 
 into a small creek, where we were dragged 
 through more mud than water up to the 
 village. As we neared the village our 
 friends from Motumotu were somewhat 
 fearfuj and anxious ; and not until after we 
 had been some time in the village di<l they 
 gain confidence. The population is very 
 large, the houses are well built on posts, 
 and there are many 'dubus.' Our ohl friend 
 Semese proclaimed words of peace, which 
 were reiterated by the Moveaveans, and all 
 felt that it was well, and friendship was re- 
 stored. We were at first met by a large 
 armed party — bows and arrows innumer-
 
 TAMATE. 105 
 
 able ; this was speedily converted into a 
 noisy demonstrative peace party, and in- 
 creased much in numbers. Before we had 
 done visiting^ the village and 'dubus,' not a 
 weapon was to be seen. Fires were started, 
 and pots containing queer viands were soon 
 placed on them. 
 
 "We ascended one 'dubu' to the platform 
 twenty feet from the ground, where we sat 
 down on a mat given for the purpose. So 
 great a crowd followed us that the platform 
 gave unmistakable signs of a very hurried 
 and unpleasant descent. Several posts and 
 cross-beams gave way, and we thought it 
 advisable to get off as quickly as possible. 
 In the street in front a temporary shade 
 was erected for vis , and mats spread, on 
 which we squatted, with more than a thous- 
 and people around us. We got presents of 
 areca nuts and lj<'tel, pepper and cocoanuts, 
 bananas, and yaris, and various dishes of 
 cooked food. On the islands of the West 
 highlands of Scotland the poor people make 
 porridge mixed with shell-fish. At Moveave 
 they make sago porridge mixed with the 
 same, also with dried fish and other things. 
 Taking one of the dishes, and thinking I got 
 
 G
 
 io6 TAMATE. 
 
 sayo and dried lish, began eating heartily, 
 until I noticed peculiar claws and a rather 
 long tail, and on inquiry found I had been 
 relishing stewed iguana. 
 
 "After the crowd had enjoyed a smoke 
 all round, there were loud and persistent 
 calls that we should sing, so getting our 
 singinp- companions near us we sang, to 
 their great delight, and were encored again 
 and again. Bu,t the sun kept hurrying 
 down, and before he dipped we wished to be 
 at Motumotu, so we had to get up and bid 
 them good-bye, promising soon to return." 
 
 "Last week," Mr. Chalmers wrote to us 
 early in 1885, "the 'Blessing' came in, sail- 
 intj. but made fast to the 'Ellengowan.' 
 She is a pretty boat, and a handsome gift. 
 She eoes to the Gulf to-day. The man in 
 charge when coming across from Cooktown, 
 got overboard and nearly lost his life. We 
 must get bulwarks or stanchions, or we may 
 have accidents. I wish I had the ability to 
 write my thanks to the donor. Union Co., 
 and Mr. Jack, and your own self. She will 
 be used entirely for real Mission work, and 
 will be a great acquisition. The native
 
 TAMATE. I07 
 
 name is 'Hanamoa' (Blessing), and all 
 aiontr the coast she will very soon be 
 known. 
 
 ''I am in excellent health. We begin 
 placing New Guinea evangelists, the first 
 real New Gnineans, at various villages. 
 They are quite full of enthusiasm, and de- 
 sire greatly to go far away, but we prefer 
 them near at present. . . ."
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Political Developments — 
 Protectorate Proclaimed. 
 
 sHE exiy^encies of the siiL'ar imhistry 
 in Northern Queensland, which was 
 t-o-nu^.iTt) always on the watch for new 
 sources of labour supply, and the spirit of 
 commercial enterprise whicli ^rudjjed to see 
 lands of boundless fertility lying in absolute 
 waste and disuse, caused attention to be 
 drawn to the grreat island <>f New Guinea, 
 which lay so close to our Australian North- 
 ern boundary. The discovery of gold also 
 awakened interest, and allured adventurous 
 bands of miners across the intervening strip 
 of sea, to explore and prospect the country, 
 These may have been in some measure con- 
 tributory to the movement for the estab- 
 lishment of a British Protectorate over 
 New Guinea. But the main reason that influ- 
 enced the Government to take that step was
 
 TAMATE. 109 
 
 a political one. namely, a determination to 
 forestall annexation of the Sou,th-Eastern 
 portion of the island by a foreign power. 
 The Missionaries would have preferred that 
 things should remain as they were ; but as 
 that seemed to be impossible, they regarded 
 British annexation as the next best thing 
 that could happen in the interest of the 
 natives. It was a time of great anxiety 
 and distress to Mr. Chalmers, who foresaw, 
 in certain contingencies, great perils to the 
 natives whom he and his brother Mission- 
 aries had done so mu,ch to advance. There 
 were two things which he strenuously op- 
 posed, namely, the alienation of the lands, 
 and the expatriation of the people to labour 
 on the sugar plantations of the adjacent 
 colony. 
 
 Two men, representing a Sydney syndi- 
 cate, had bought, as tliey alleuwl, 1.5,000 
 acres of fine sugar countiy in New (luinea, 
 for one penny an acre. The native who sold 
 it had no right to it ; the real chief and 
 owner had neither been seen nor had he re- 
 ceived an equivalent ; he had no knowledge 
 even of the traiisaction. Mr. Chalmers, in a 
 red glow of indiLnuition at what he retrarded
 
 no T AM ATE. 
 
 as unprincipled sjjoliation of a helpless 
 people, never rested till the alleged claim to 
 the land had been withdrawn. Through 
 personal interviews with Queensland Minis- 
 ters, through correspondence with the 
 Imperial Government, on the platform, and 
 in the columns of the press he insisteil that 
 the human rights of the natives should be 
 respected, and that they should not be torn 
 from their homes and placed in enforced 
 servitude in a foreign land. His noble and 
 chivalrous defence of the poor savages who 
 loved and trusted him had something in it 
 unspeakably touching and pathetic. 
 
 When Commodore Erskine arrived at 
 New Guinea to proclaim the Protectorate, 
 Mr. Chalmers, alonof with Mr. Lawes, x-en- 
 dered service of great value and importance 
 in gathering the chiefs together, instructing 
 them in the real nature of the proceedings, 
 translating and explainintr the terms of the 
 proclamation, and the full signification of 
 the public ceremonial. Without the help of 
 the Missionaries, the Commodore confessed, 
 insuperable difficulties would have fronted 
 him in the performance of the duties which 
 he was appointefl to fulfil. Anr) there is no
 
 TAMATE. Ill 
 
 doubt that the lines of policy pursued by 
 the Government are mainly those which 
 were suy:gested by Messrs. Chalmers and 
 Lawes for the control of the tribes and the 
 economic administration of the country. 
 More than most men are willing; to ack- 
 nowledtre we are indebted to Missionary de- 
 votion and enterprise for the development 
 of trade and the expansion of Empire, and 
 for the ever-orowing enlarL'^ement of the 
 boundaries of scientific and Lfeographical 
 knowledge. 
 
 "When J iinisJied with the Commodore," 
 Mr. Chalmers wrote to us, "and Mr. and 
 Mrs. Lawes went on in the F'laijship. J re- 
 turned from Peste Island to South Cape, 
 where we had youno" New Guinea teachers 
 and their wives from our College, awaiting 
 me to be landed— a kind of firstfruits to be 
 given in evangelistic work to the Lord of 
 the harvest. T placed four teachers at new 
 stations, and when finished came on here 
 and placed four more. Before the arrival of 
 all the warships. I placed one at Kivori, 
 near Cape Possession, making in all nine. 
 They were good, earnest men and women, 
 who long had been with our South Sea
 
 112 TAMATE. 
 
 Island teachers, and for a few years at Col- 
 lesre here. The services setting them apart 
 were full of interest and great blessing, and 
 they have '.rone out full of enthusiasm to do 
 work for Him whom they love, to lead their 
 ccnintrvmen to Him. T wish you could have 
 seen them, and felt the thrill of pleasure 
 when these ofterincrs were laid on Christ's 
 altar. Everywhere they had good recep- 
 tions. We know the Harvest Lord will not 
 forsake them, and we may expect good 
 work. Tt can only be a wee while now, and 
 He'll come to look us up. May we have 
 sheaves to shew Him, and may these New 
 Guineans have many. 
 
 "1 shall see Piri, and keep him up to the 
 mark. I wish T could only keep Tamate up 
 to it. Gill has all my papers. 1 must get 
 the spirit of ink. and write one or two for 
 the 'Record.' Love to yc-u all. and all bles- 
 sinofs descend on vou all. . . ."
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Undenominational Christian Missions. 
 
 ^p OON after our settlement in Victoria, 
 '^ we projected issuing a Mission 
 paper, to be conducted largely on 
 the lines of our ''New Zealand Record," 
 giving ample space in it to the publication 
 of Missionary operations in New Guinea, 
 and to the work generally of that 
 marvellously successful and honoured 
 organization, the London Missionary So- 
 ciety. But for various reasons, which 
 appeared cogent enough to us in the cir- 
 cumstances, we were constrained, to our 
 
 keen disappointment, to ai)andon the oiiter- 
 prise, in the hope that differences of 
 
 opinion in some of the great Mission 
 
 agencies represented in the Colonies, and 
 
 the friction engendered by tliesc. niiirht so 
 
 far disappeai- as to lead to cordial 
 
 harmony of action and to practical, 
 
 if not formal, co-operation in ac-
 
 114 TAMATE. 
 
 complishintj the sublime aim which 
 they held in common, to conquer 
 the heathen world for Christ. it has 
 
 always seemed to us, that if the .rreat 
 organized Churches of Christendom can 
 show a valid historical ' raison d'etre ' for 
 their separate existence, they can show 
 none for isolated action in Christian Mis- 
 sions — for perpetuating denominational 
 differences in pagan lands. A grand com- 
 bination of evangelizing agents and concen- 
 tration of financial resources moving; 
 forward in holy crusade against the follies 
 and pollutions of heathenism, would be 
 more impressive and eCiective than the 
 present mode of working ; they would 
 broaden sympathy, stimulate interest, lift 
 the Churches' efforts to higher ground with 
 loftier outlook, if there were blazoned on all 
 the banners planted in heathen soil, NOT 
 FOR DENOMINATTONALISM, BUT ALL 
 FOR CHRIST. 
 
 Hence we think the London Missionary 
 Society, in the undenominational aspect 
 which it presents in all its work, is worthy 
 of admiration and substantial support 
 from Christians of everv name.
 
 TAMATE. 115 
 
 ''Your letter is so to the point," Mr. 
 Chalmers wrote to us, under date. Port 
 Moresby, 19th August, 1885, ''and the 
 object in view so clear, that I shall send it 
 to the Mission House at once. Get Gill to 
 assist you with papers ; he writes well, and 
 is full of Mission news. A few weeks ago I 
 had a large case of valuables for Piri. I 
 divided them out between Piri, Ruatoka, 
 Isaako, and Pi. Piri also yot parcels en- 
 closed, addressed to him and wife. Mr. 
 Somervilie sent the case. 1 acknowledged 
 it a few days ago. . . . 
 
 "Is it not too true that the Christian 
 Church has neglected her opportunity ? 
 The apathy in reference to Christ's com- 
 mand is indeed depressing. 
 
 "Mr. Lawes tells me that Mr. KinL'", of 
 St. Kilda, Congregational Minister, has a 
 splendid macic lantern, with good slides. 
 You might get it for a while from him. I 
 do not know King personally ; he is an 
 old Samoan Missionary, and was, and is 
 highly spoken of as a man and a mini.^^ter. 
 
 "At present 1 am a prisoner from a 
 sprained foot, now getting bietter, and
 
 ii6 TAMATE. 
 
 hope the fetter;^ will be taken oft" in a day or 
 two. Until now, since Mr. and Mrs. Lawes 
 arrived, 1 liave been on the move, and 
 but for my foot would now be at Aroma. 
 
 "Have you heard the Eomanists have 
 come to Yule Island, right in the centre of 
 our Gulf work ? What is the use of saying 
 anything ? We can only work and pray, 
 and pity tlic poor natives, who will not 
 know what to believe. 
 
 "Our teachers are all well. At Saroa 
 two new churches have been opened, and 
 last week several were baptized at Kapa- 
 kapa, and Kaile, and at Aroma, Kerepunu, 
 Delena, and Maiva, there are good 
 catechumen classes. At Kalo the teacher is 
 getting on well, and has a fine large Church 
 nearly iinished. The schools are not nearly 
 so well attended as I could wish, hence that 
 branch of oui- work is very discouraging to 
 the teachers. In the College there is life^ 
 and many are the applications for admis- 
 sion. 
 
 "I hope, as 1 ordered, you have got 
 'Work and Adventure.' It is possible 
 another volume will apr)ear next year.
 
 TAMATE. 117 
 
 "I leave next month for the West, 
 where I shall stay some time in new dis- 
 tricts. The 'Blessing' (Hanamoa) has done 
 splendid service, and, although small, has 
 proved herself a capital sailer, and able to 
 stand a gale of wind. If I could get a 
 good offer for her, do you think the kind 
 and noble giver would be vexed if I sold 
 her, build a larger and more suitable, and 
 retain the name 'Blessing,' or 'Hanamoa/ 
 the native of blessing ? T should not like to 
 hurt the feelings of the true-hearted man 
 who gave her. . . ." 
 
 "Work and Adventure in New Huinea," 
 by Mr. Chalmers, contains remarkably in- 
 teresting sketches of Papuan life as he saw 
 it in the interior. Professedly Christian 
 people, who boldly aver that the heathen 
 are happy enough in their natural state, 
 should read that book and the companion 
 volume by the same author — 'Pioneering in 
 New Guinea.' The information given there 
 might lead them to change their opinion 
 regarding the utility and value of Christian 
 Missions to the heathen. The religion of 
 the New Guinea tribes, we are told, is one 
 of fear. They tremble at the falling of a
 
 ii8 TAMATE. 
 
 leaf, the flight of a bird, the appearance of 
 a strang-er in the land. The story of the 
 deep degradation into which they had sunk 
 is narrated to us with directness, sim- 
 plicity and graphic skill ; and there, we 
 learn, the Gospel has achieved some of its 
 highest triumphs, and exhibited its iivine 
 power, as in days of old, to transform into 
 meek and lowly followers of Christ, and 
 into devoted and heroic extenders of His 
 Kingdom, some of the basest and Laost 
 polluted thralls of a cruel and pitiless 
 heathenism. The two volumes give a ,nost 
 animated account of Missionary explor- 
 ation and work in New Guinea, and form a 
 valuable addition to the literature of the 
 great Society which has done so much to 
 scatter the darkness of heathenism in many 
 lands. 
 
 ''Mr. Chalmers has just sent me," Dr. 
 Wyatt Gill wrote to us, ''his Journal for 
 1884, written in pencil. Would it not suit 
 the pages of your Missionary Periodical ? 
 1 am glad that you are pleased with the 
 book on New Guinea. May it serve as an 
 impetus to the Missionary spirit and enter- 
 prise I" "Keep Chalmers' M.S. for your
 
 TAMATE. 119 
 
 own periodical," he wrote later on, "as 
 that would please our friend best. . . ." 
 
 The record of work referred to may be 
 found in "Pioneerine in New Guinea."
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Sir Peter Scratchley appointed 
 Special Commissioner. 
 
 ^^^ENERAL Sir Peter Scratchley was 
 Mc^ij; appointed by the British Govern- 
 "^^^-^"^^ ment to the office of Special Com- 
 missioner in New Guinea, soon after the 
 Protectorate was proclaimed, and no man 
 could have been chosen better fitted than 
 he for the important position which he was 
 called to fill. Full of sympathy with the 
 Missionaries in their work, and with clear 
 recognition of the advantages which they 
 possessed in their knowledge of the charac- 
 ter and habits of the natives, and in the 
 great moral influence which they had ac- 
 quired over them, he was specially desirous 
 of associating Mr. Chalmers with himself in 
 his visits to the various districts that 
 required attention, and in his dealings with
 
 TAMATE. 121 
 
 the chiefs with whom he was brouj^ht 
 officially into contact. Indeed it would 
 have gratified him exceedinsjly could he 
 have persuaded Mr. Chalmers to accept 
 some office of administrative trust mder 
 himself, and devote to the service of the 
 Crown those splendid gfifts, which com- 
 manded the homage of savage races, and 
 won for him their unfaltering confidence and 
 trust. But nothing could induce him to 
 swerve from the lofty service to which he 
 had consecrated all his powers. His work 
 as a Missionary he held to be of supreme 
 importance, and everything else was sub- 
 ordinated to that. in the interest of the 
 people whom he loved, however, he was 
 willing to render all possible help to '.heir 
 civic rulers, and to smooth the pathway 
 for their feet. His work as an explorer and 
 as an intelligent extender of the boundaries 
 of science, attract od attention both in the 
 Colonies and at Lome, and his papers and 
 collections describing and illustrating the 
 physical geography, flora and fauna of New 
 Guinea, not only awakened interest both in 
 the Colonies and in European lands, but 
 drew men's eyes upon him as one possessed 
 of rare daring and fertility of resource, and
 
 122 TAMATE. 
 
 such coniidence was reposed in his judement 
 and special qualifications for the position, 
 thai more than once he was offered, and 
 promptly refused, the leadership of ex- 
 peditions equipped by learned societies and 
 others, for exploration and research in that 
 great unknown land. Bu,t his Divine Work ! 
 Ambassador for Christ to the Heathen ! 
 Bearer of the Glorious Gospel of God's 
 errace to those, whose very misery voiced 
 their clamant need of its Divine consol- 
 ations. Ah, he felt that he could never turn 
 aside from that to take uji anything- that 
 the world could offer him. 
 
 On 6th Janu,ary, 1886, Mr. Chalmers 
 wrote to us from Port Moresby as follows : — 
 "Your kind letter of the 23rd October last 1 
 received a few weeks ago. on my return 
 from the East end, where 1 had been with 
 the late General Scratchley. When at 
 South Cape I baptized thirteen, and a few 
 weeks asTO Mr. Lawes baptized at Boera, 
 Piri's station, five. At various other 
 stations there are classes of catechumens, 
 men and women, waiting to be visited. 
 
 "I hope your book is out, and that it 
 will have a largre circulation and do much
 
 TAMATE. 123 
 
 good. I am sorry you are away from New 
 Zealand, bu,t 't is the Master's work wher- 
 ever you are. I am glad you have got to a 
 more agreeable climate, and a sphere that 
 opens more of life to you. May you be 
 abundantly blessed in your every work, and 
 know that Christ is. glorified ! 
 
 ''You are right about over-urging 
 money claims upon your people. We are 
 too apt to give the Church the idea that 
 our religion, our very faith, is money, and 
 money only. 1 dislike the begging- system 
 much. When a Church lives, there will be 
 no lack of funds for all her work. 
 
 ''General Scratch ley's death was a 
 terrible blow to us. We liked him much, 
 and we felt he was indeed a fit man to in- 
 augurate the New Guinea TJovernment. In 
 his great anxiety to become acquainted 
 with the people and country he overworked 
 himself. He was a very temperate man in 
 food and drink, and we did not fear the 
 climate would take serious effect upon him. 
 He was only ill a very short time, and we 
 hoped the quick run to Australia would 
 quite set him up. and a few quiet months
 
 124 TAMATE. 
 
 at Hobart with Lady Scratchley and cliil- 
 dren would so renew him, that his return 
 next season was secure. 'Tis otherwise; 
 we must submit. The (general would have 
 actetl ritrht by both races, and would not 
 be led by any party. Did you ever meet 
 him ? We cannot help wondering what the 
 next New Guinea chapter will be ; we won- 
 der and we pray. 
 
 '*We are now in our North- West Mon- 
 soon, and since Christmas have had plenty 
 of rain. 
 
 "We have got two new Missionaries 
 from England. I trust they may be kept in 
 health and prove true workers, thorough 
 Christ-men, and ha,ve many years of gjlorious 
 work in this land. 
 
 "The 'Hanamoa' does good work, but 
 she is too small. In the present state of the 
 Society's funds we must be satisfied and 
 wait. The great distress in Britain tells 
 much on the Mission funds. I suppose you 
 also feel it in the Colonies, . . ." 
 
 The "next New Guinea chapter," about 
 which Mr, Chalmers felt some anxiety, was
 
 TAMATE. 125 
 
 entirely satisfactory in its opening, and in 
 its political developments. An unwise ap- 
 pointment to administer the affairs of the 
 Protectorate might have seriously impeded 
 the progress of the Mission, and caused 
 much harm to the natives by sowing in 
 their minds the seeds of suspicion and dis- 
 trust, thus hindering their educational and 
 social upliftinu'. Tlie Missionaries therefore 
 welcomed the appointment that was rnn.Je 
 as a happy autjurv for the future prosperity 
 of the country.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 Honoured in Melbourne. 
 
 pElARLY twenty years hat! passed 
 since Mr. Chalmers, accompanied 
 by his yoiui!^ bride, had sailed fiom 
 English shores to take up work at Raro- 
 tonga. Years full of joys and full of 
 triumphs they had been, and with no small 
 share of perils and sorrows. The Directors 
 of his Society had repeatedly recpiested him 
 to lay aside his work among the heathen 
 for- a while and visit the H<^mc-land. ('ut 
 he shrank from leaving his post. His diffi- 
 dence, and tendency to underrate his own 
 fitness to undertake the deputation work, 
 which he knew would be thrust upon him, 
 made him reluctant to move. But the vast- 
 ness of the work that lay to hand, the 
 urgency of the needs of those swarming 
 tribes, who were living in pitiful darkness 
 and dying in absolute ignorance of 'Jod,
 
 TAMATE. 127 
 
 pressed upon his spirit and stamped out 
 his scruples ; and he Ijraced himseh' ap to 
 tell out in the face of the Britisli peonle how 
 alone New (Guinea could be won for Christ. 
 Four months after the date of his last letter 
 to us, he was in all the bustle of 
 preparation for a visit to l\nsrland. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers, always on the watch to 
 commend the Mission to the Christian 
 public, addressed meetings in the larger 
 Australian centres. On his arrival in Mel- 
 bourne, he received a great public welcome 
 in the Independent Church, Collins Street. 
 The Governor, vSir Henry Loch, who [)re- 
 sided on that occasion, said : — " . . \Vhile 
 we view with admiration and respect Mr. 
 Chalmers' Missionary laljours, the country 
 owes him a debt of gratitude for his 
 services to the State. Whenever differences 
 have arisen — which 1 am sorry to say has 
 not infrequently l")een the case — between the 
 natives and l^^uropetins who have <jone to 
 New Cuinea, we have ever found Mr. 
 Chalmers ready to assist in settling those 
 difficulties in such a way as to avoid fight- 
 ing and bloodshed. He accom|)anie<l <.'om- 
 modore ^^ ilson when he went there, anr) [
 
 128 TAMATE. 
 
 believe I am correct in stating that the 
 manner in which Mr. Chalmers then icted, 
 saved a very considerable expenditure of 
 blood and sufferincr to the natives. Atrain, 
 we find him acconijianyinii- Commodore 
 Erskine, when he was despatchetl to extend 
 the Queen's Protectorate over British New 
 Guinea ; and, on a more recent occasion, he 
 again accompanied Sir Peter Scratchley, 
 when that late lamented officer went to es- 
 tablish the authority of the Crown in that 
 country." 
 
 Baron F. Von Mueller moved:— "That 
 this meeting accord its profound appreci- 
 ation of the great labours during many 
 years of the Rev. James Chalmers, in not 
 only carrying the blessings of Christianity 
 to the savage populations of New Guinea, 
 but in advancing also the science of 
 Geography by penetrating into the wildest 
 recesses of that large island, tlms revealing 
 to us simultaneously many new forms of 
 the wondrous works throuGfh which Al- 
 mighty God speaks to us in living nature ; 
 and that this meeting, further, gratefully 
 recognises the aid cheerfully rendered by 
 Mr. Chalmers, and by his estimable col-
 
 TAMATE. 129 
 
 league, Mr. Lawes, by which exploratory- 
 efforts were vastly promoted in that great 
 cou,ntry, with which indeed Mr. Chalmers' 
 name will ever be historically identified, 
 where it will be cherished in the future by a 
 flourishing community, and be held in 
 grateful remembrance by the native races." 
 
 He said, ''that the representatives of 
 the Geographical Society were gratified for 
 the privilege of being present on that occa- 
 sion. Missionary work required a multitude 
 of gifts. It needed forbearance and kindli- 
 ness, blended with firmness and courage, 
 great tact, the renouncing of the plea-ures 
 of the v.orld, and the braving of difficulties 
 of all kinds. Mr. Chalmers had engaged in 
 geographical enterprise, and had con- 
 tributed much to our knowledge of New 
 Guinea. Even on his last short journey, 
 when he accompanied Forbes, he rendered 
 very important services. He had shown 
 that the upper regions of New Guinea were 
 uninhabited, and were therefore undoubt- 
 edly open to settlers. The chain of 
 mountains through New Guinea was double 
 the length of the European Alps, and its 
 upi-ier climate like that of Great Britain.
 
 I30 TAMATE. 
 
 It was destined to become the abf)de of 
 Colonists. He trusted Mr. Chalmers would 
 live to see New diinea free from savuire- 
 dom, and his work there a monument for 
 all time." 
 
 The Rev. A. Gosman said : — ". . . There 
 were some men who represented what mitjht 
 be called the prudenc^e of Christianity. Mr. 
 Chalmers was one of such enthusiastic 
 courage that danger had only to leap up to 
 call out all his manly qualities." 
 
 Mr. Chalmers (who on rising received 
 an enthusiastic welcome from the great 
 meeting) said : — " . . . d'reat Britain had 
 secured the grand harbours of the Soutli- 
 East Coast, and the principal waterways of 
 New Cuinea. There were no harbours on 
 the Australian coast, excepting that of 
 Sydney, that could compare with the har- 
 bours on the South-Eastern coast of New 
 Guinea. He had visited Tarlon and the 
 Amazon Islands, where the people were ail 
 women, but he found the men on the smaller 
 islands. They were part of the great ^ron-a 
 tribe, who had made their way eastward, 
 diiving back the real aboriginals of the
 
 TAMATE. 131 
 
 country. They made periodical expeditions 
 to the mainland, and but for the Mission, it 
 was probable they would have compelled 
 the native races to retire to the main- 
 land. . . ." 
 
 The Missionary hero received many 
 graceful attentions during his stay in 
 Melbourne. He was welcomed as a sjuest at 
 Government House, where Sir Henry and 
 Lady Loch delighted to honour him. His 
 modesty, his simple, unaffected manliness, 
 his splendid enthusiasm, his unconquerable 
 love for the heathen, and contempt for the 
 perils that fronted him in the performance 
 of his work — all excited the admiration, and 
 won the hearts of men. Efl'orts were made 
 to detach him from the Mission, and to 
 secure his services for exploration. But he 
 firmly resisted them all. "1 can't be any- 
 thing but a Missionary," he said, "and 
 when the Master calls me hence, He will 
 have to give me Missionary work to do. " — 
 Such red glow of desire burned in nis 
 heart to tell the lost of the infinite love of 
 God.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Re-visiting Old Scenes. 
 
 T was with a strange tumult in his 
 '^^ heart and thrill of his entire nature 
 that the Missionary exile, after so 
 long an absence, trod again the streets of 
 the British Metropolis. His name, and the 
 important services which he had rendered 
 in opening up New Guinea to Gospel light 
 and to Australian enterprise, were well 
 known to only a comparatively narrow 
 circle of Christian people, who had a vital 
 interest in the evangelization of the dark 
 places of the earth, and from them as well 
 as from the Directors of his own Society, 
 he received a most coixlia.l and inspiring 
 welcome. His fame, with rapid flight, flew 
 through the land. He leaped at once into a 
 popularity that made unceasing and in- 
 satiable demands upon his time and 
 enerefies. The circumstances in whicii he
 
 TAMATE. 133 
 
 was placed evoked all the hidden fire and 
 forces of his nature, and he threw himself 
 with a burning zeal and self-abandonment, 
 a white heat of holy passion into the task 
 which he set before him of firing the Chris- 
 tian heart of Britain with a living, flowing 
 interest in Missions to the heathen. His 
 fascinating magnetism, rugged eloquence, 
 supreme Apostolic devotion to Christ 
 captivated all men's hearts. Thousands 
 thronged to his meetings, eaeer to look 
 into his face and hear his voice. He was 
 the "lion" of his day and year — of his 
 century, some in the ecstasy of their ad- 
 miration averred. But this is certain, he 
 touched the people's hearts and roused their 
 sympathies as they had rarely been touched 
 and roused before. Sf^me who filled import- 
 ant places in the Imperial Service sought his 
 counsel on matters touchinof the interests of 
 the new Protectorate. His napers read 
 before the members of the Colonial Institute 
 and before the members of the Royal 
 Geographical Society, were full of valuable 
 information, and testified to the keenness 
 of his observation, and to the diligence of 
 his research. At the meetin[rs of these in- 
 stitutions men spoke of his noble courage
 
 134 TAMATE. 
 
 and intrepidity, of the potent intiuence 
 which he had acquired over some of the 
 native tribes, and of the immeasurable 
 value of the services which lie had rendered 
 to Christ and to his Country, as Missionary 
 and explorer of an absolutely unknown 
 land. 
 
 On his return to his field of labour 
 towards the close of 1888, he applied him- 
 self with new ardour and enthusiasm to his 
 work, ever projectinsr an extension of 
 operations along the line of coast, and 
 planting new Mission Stations in advan- 
 tageous positions, made to weep at times 
 over disappointments, and losses sustained 
 in the removal of teachers either by sick- 
 ness or treachery. The width and large 
 comprehensiveness of his views and plans 
 may be gathered from the following extract 
 from one of his letters : — "We look too much 
 for individual cases of conversion. These 
 are chronicled and made much of. Do not 
 you think the Gospel is for mankind, and 
 that it oujiht to influence whole tribes ? We 
 potter away with one or two converts ; 
 good, but strike for the higher — assert for 
 the nation or tribe. Our statistic svstem is
 
 TAMATE. 135 
 
 all wrong. They will keep the statistics in 
 heaven, J feel sure, and 1 would leave them 
 in their hands." And yet, with all his 
 broad, ambitious projects for the evangel- 
 ization of the whole Protectorate, we find 
 him, with all his soaring aspirations and 
 dauntless energy, chained down to the 
 humble task of teaching in an elementary 
 native school ! 
 
 Two Missionaries — Messrs. Walker and 
 Dauncey — arrived in September, 1888, as a 
 re-enforcement of the working strength of 
 the Mission, and that was a subject of 
 thankfulness and praise to him. And there 
 came into his home life, too, about the 
 same time a new brightness and joy — one 
 who became, for all too brief a period, a 
 courageous and eflBicient helper to him in his 
 work for Christ. He married again, a 
 widow, who had been in the early days an 
 intimate +'riend of his former wife. She 
 stood bravely at her post for a while, doing 
 faithfully the duty that lay to her hand to 
 do, and exerting an influence for good i>n 
 the rude savages who were round about 
 her. But all too soon her work was inter- 
 rupted. The climate made such ravages in
 
 136 TAMATE. 
 
 her health that it became necessary to take 
 her away U^r a r-hanirp. 
 
 Mr. Chalmers therefore arranQ;ed a visit 
 to the South Pacific Islands, and travelled 
 from Sydney to Samoa in company with 
 Robert Louis Stevenson, the '"gentle novel- 
 ist," who at once took Chalmers into his 
 heart, and spoke and wrote in words of 
 glowing admiration of both him and his 
 work. It was a happy time, which passed 
 too quickly away. 
 
 After visiting Samoa, Tonga, and other 
 islands, where his time was filled up with 
 public work — all more or less directly con- 
 nected with Missions — he set foot again in 
 his own old home at Rarotonga, where 
 sweet memories of earlier days throng'ed 
 thickly upon him, and there he had a good 
 time and a busy time, creating and deepen- 
 ing in the Islanders a sacred interest in his 
 own work at New Guinea. And when, at 
 length, the hour came to leave them, they 
 clung to him with a tender passionateness, 
 and would fain have kept him to be with 
 them always. But he told them that could 
 not be, as the Master had other work for
 
 TAMATE. 137 
 
 him to do; and the parting from Rarotonga 
 was a very pathetic one. In May, 1891, Mr. 
 and Mrs. Chalmers arrived at Port Moresby, 
 where they remained for a few weeks, until 
 the "John Williams" cast anchor and dis- 
 embarked twenty teachers, a welcome re- 
 enforcement to the Mission staff, from the 
 Islands which had been recently visited. 
 
 In October, 1888, British New Guinea 
 was formally annexed, and created a separ- 
 ate Possession, with a government of its 
 own. Dr. (afterwards Sir) William Mac- 
 gregor, was appointed Administrator, and 
 no man could have been found in the wide 
 range of the Imperial Service better fitted 
 than he was for the important office which 
 he was now called to fill. His high charac- 
 ter and distingtiished abilities had brought 
 him into prominent notice, and secured for 
 him responsible fipointments in the Crown 
 Colony of Fiji, dis well-known interest in 
 Mission Work, his manly sympathy with 
 native races, and warm advocacy of native 
 rights, his large political exT)erience, and 
 scientific attainments, were all of special 
 value in the position to which he was now 
 advanced. During his tenure of office in
 
 138 TAMATE. 
 
 New Guinea he rendered valued service in 
 promoting peace between hostile tribes, 
 in checkintr violence and crime, in incul- 
 cating respect for law and order, and in 
 enacting wise and equitable laws for the 
 protection and welfare of the people whom 
 he was appointed to govern. To him it was 
 given, first of all men, to plant his feet on 
 the summit of Mount Owen Stanley, an 
 achievement which Chalmers had been fired 
 with an ambition to perform. As an ex- 
 plorer and a naturalist he won great fame, 
 and did much to extend our knowledge of 
 the capabilities and resources of the new 
 Possession.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The Fly River. 
 
 *'NXIETIES and sorrows now crowd- 
 ed on Tamate, and little wonder if 
 for a while he moved about with a 
 sad countenaince. His wife, though striving- 
 to bear up bravely, was in feeble health. 
 Some of the teachers whom he had left with 
 her at Toaripi were prostrated by sick- 
 ness, while others were removed by death. 
 He had occasion to go to Cooktown in the 
 Mission schooner, "Harrier," but when 
 beating up against stormy weather and 
 high seas, she struck on a sunken reef — all 
 efforts to get her off being unavailing. Mr. 
 Chalmers and most of those who were on 
 board escaped in the whale-boat, and 
 scrambled up on the lee side of Three 
 Islands. The captain and four others clung 
 to the wreck until rescued by a passing 
 schooner. It was the fourth time Mr. Chal-
 
 140 TAMATE. 
 
 mers had sufi'ered shipwreck since he had 
 joined the Mission, but never before had he 
 faced such perils, or endured such hardships 
 as those which fell to his lot on that 
 occasion. 
 
 He now found himself in great straits 
 for want of a boat to carry on his work. 
 He therefore arranged with Messrs. Burns, 
 Philp & Co., that one of their boats should 
 visit the Mission stations to the East of 
 Port Moresby every two months. And Sir 
 Thomas McJlwraith, on behalf of the 
 Queensland Government, in a magnanimous 
 spirit, which elicited his warmest gratitude, 
 lent him, without charge, a schooner for 
 his immediate needs. It was a kindly act, 
 and a graceful recognition of the value of 
 Christian Missions. It was more than that, 
 it was also a tribute of respect rendered to 
 Mr. Chalmers personally. For he was well 
 known to the great political leaders of the 
 Northern State, and he had deeply im- 
 pressed them with the practical wisdom of 
 the views which he had enunciated in dis- 
 cussing the policy which should rule in the 
 Administration of the New Possession.
 
 TAMATE. 141 
 
 He returned to Toaripi with all speed, 
 his spirit dulled with the pressure of anx- 
 ious thought. But on his arrival he fowid 
 to his joy that his wife was well, and the 
 teachers much improved in health. "Our 
 Father in heaven had cared for all," he 
 wrote, " and our songs were those of 
 thanksgivings." Then we find him away 
 again visiting the Mission stations, speak- 
 ing words of encouragement and cheer to 
 the native teachers wlio, though full of 
 earnestness and devotion to their work, yet 
 lacked staying power, and their eyes always 
 brightened with joy when Tamate's brave, 
 cheery voice rantr in their ears. 
 
 The condition of his wife's health now 
 awakened such grave anxiety that they had 
 to face the trial of parting for, perhaps, a 
 prolonged period ; and she sailed for Eng- 
 land in March, 1892. Again thus, in God's 
 providence, cast adrift from home life, he 
 seemed to gather into his great heart all 
 the lost souls of that dark land. Now and 
 again we get a climpse of the mighty long- 
 ing that filled him to carry the Gospel of 
 God's grace to the remotest tribes of the 
 Possession,
 
 142 TAMATE. 
 
 "Ten years ae^o," he wrote, "when little 
 was known of the people West of Manu- 
 manii, in Redscar Bay, T hoped, if God 
 spared my life, to introduce the Gospel to 
 all the districts as far as Orokolo, and 
 thought that the work might occupy a fair 
 lifetime. We got to Orokolo in January, 
 1892, and now my desire has enlarged, and 
 I hope yet to carry the Gospel to the Fly 
 River, and to the Westward. The plan I 
 have always adopted is to visit freq;uently, 
 get thoroughly known by livinii with the 
 people, and, through interpreters, tell them 
 the story of Divine love, and so prepare the 
 way for teachers living with them. I 
 place no teachers where I have not lived 
 myself, and where I should be willing to live 
 frequently." 
 
 By instruction of the Directors of the 
 London Missionary Society he undertook 
 to work the Fly River and Western Division 
 of the Mission. Fie entered upon that new 
 field with courage and faith, and without 
 misgivings. But he could not shut his eyes 
 to its hazardous nature. "This Fly River 
 work," he said, "I look upon as my last 
 and perhaps greatest work for Christ, and
 
 T AM ATE. 143 
 
 being always with Him, 1 fear not. God 
 knows there will be many Gethsemanes, and 
 it may be Calvary s, but all for Christ, and 
 it is well." 
 
 No perils among the heathen affrighted 
 him. "No accounts of unknown districts/' 
 he said, "1 have ever received from natives 
 equalled in real savagery those relating to 
 the Namau districts, and of course these 
 gave a charm to the plan of trying to be 
 the first to visit it." When he went to 
 Namau, the chief presented him with a good 
 piece of land for a Mission house. "Give 
 us a teacher," he said, "and from here to 
 the river the whole point is yours. We 
 build the house and Me bridge the swamp 
 for him to walk on." "I promised, " Mr. 
 Chalmers said, "as I saw a good opening 
 here to the whole district, and a convenient 
 place of call for myself when coming from 
 the Fly River." "We had service, the sing- 
 ing pleasing them much, and the interpreter 
 told them the story of God's love to us 
 all. . .1 was tired, and ready as 1 thought 
 to sleep under any circumstances. Sleep ! 
 All chance of it had gone. The present and 
 future are with me. The Gospel is being
 
 144 TAMATE. 
 
 preached all through Naniau, and I saw 
 the end of killing and cannibalism, and 
 another people won to Christ." Thus 
 with prophetic eye, and with unfaltering 
 faith in the fulfilment of the promises, he 
 saw the old dark days, with their appalling" 
 horrors, for ever closing, and a new era of 
 ligiit and gladness dawning upon the 
 people, peace reigning among them, Chris- 
 tianity pouring its fulness of benedictions 
 down upon their path. 
 
 Recent visitors to New Guinea have been 
 passing strictures on certain trading trans- 
 actions on the part of Mission agents, 
 which came under their observation. Mr. 
 Chalmers sternly set his face against that. 
 If he found a teacher waxing cold, perfunct- 
 ory in the performance of duty, degrading 
 his sacred office to the common level of a 
 trader, he removed him from his post and 
 sent him back to his island home branded 
 as a failure.
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 Second Visit to Great Britain. 
 ^HE Centenary Celebrations of the 
 
 ^jsivs London Missionary Society began 
 in 1895, and the Directors, believing 
 that the presence of Chalmers would lend 
 additional lustre to the meetings, cabled 
 to him to make his arrangements to visit 
 Britain. He felt now no reluctance to face 
 such audiences as he knew that great 
 occasion would attract. He was conscious 
 of his power to move men's hearts when 
 God's Spirit fired his own, and his lofty 
 theme took entire possession of him, and 
 all his heart and soul cried out in impor- 
 tunate and pathetic pleadings for Christian 
 sympathy and succour for the dying race, 
 whose very misery and haplessness were a 
 powerful appeal for the peace and joy of the 
 knowledge of Jesus. His heart leapt with 
 gladness at the thought that once more the
 
 146 TAMATE. 
 
 opportunity would be given to him, to press 
 upon the Cliristian people of Britain the 
 claims of the helpless heathen tribes, whom 
 he had learned to love with a tenderness 
 and a self-abandonment of affection, which 
 find few parallels in the whole history of 
 Christian Missions. 
 
 The warmth of the welcome which he 
 received on his arrival in England exceeded 
 that of his previous visit ; for he had now 
 many personal friends there who had learned 
 to love him with a strong affection, and who 
 counted it one of their highest privileges to 
 help on the work with which he was so 
 closely identified. Bis health vsufi'ered from 
 the rigour of the Engflish climate, but he 
 made unceasing and heroic efforts to fulfil 
 the manifold engagements to which he was 
 committed ; and now, as on the former oc- 
 casion of his visit to the home-land, vast 
 audiences in all the large centres of 
 population were delighted and thrilled by 
 his glowing and graphic descriptions of life 
 and work in New (luinea, and strongly im- 
 pressed by his passionate demand for men 
 to lift the heathen out of their darkness 
 into the light of Christ.
 
 TAMATE. 147 
 
 Sir William Macgregor, formerly Gover- 
 nor of New Guinea, occupied the chair at a 
 great meeting which was held in the Free 
 Church Assembly Hall, Edinburgh, on 
 March 11th, 1895, and which was addressed 
 by Mr. Chalmers. Sir William, on that 
 occasion, bore the following noble testi- 
 mony to the good work done by the Society, 
 and to the important part borne by the 
 coloured teachers in that work : — "As a 
 teaching body, the London Missionary So- 
 ciety, in the teeth of great and many 
 difficulties, has effected much good in New 
 Guinea. Its stations are as yet practically 
 confined to the coast line, and even on this 
 they are sometimes separated by great 
 intervals, which leave numerous populous 
 tribes totally unprovided with teachers. 
 There are certainly many hundreds of tribes 
 living inland from the coast stations, who 
 have not heard of ^a Missionary, and who 
 can never be taught from the posts now 
 established. To reach these a great acces- 
 sion of strength is required, and a different 
 and more extended plan of campaign will 
 be necessary. Native teachers born and 
 reared in coast villages will never tak^
 
 148 TAMATE. 
 
 kindly to residence inland ; the boys and 
 youths of the interior will not, as a rule, 
 remain long enough at the coast to acquire 
 the training of efficient teachers. European 
 Missionaries must therefore leave the coast, 
 and take up permanent stations among the 
 tribes of the interior, and edu,cate the future 
 inland teachers on the spot. It may be 
 said at once that New Guinea must be 
 taught eventually by native teachers. 
 
 "Let me say a word for the coloured 
 teacher. He, poor simple soul, leaves, at 
 our call, his own little world and warm- 
 hearted friends in the South Seas, to devote 
 his efforts to his fellow-men in an unknown 
 country. 1 believe some eight of the 
 Society's teachers have been murdered by 
 our natives. How many of you ever heard 
 of those eight men ? Had they belonged to 
 our own race, we should all have known 
 much more about their career, their suffer- 
 ing, their martyrdom. Scores of them have 
 died splendidly and silently at their posts. 
 Let me remind you that often less courage 
 is required to perform a brave and daring 
 deed on the impulse of the moment, than is 
 needed in the man that remains, as the
 
 TAMATE. 149 
 
 native teacher does, at an obscure and 
 difficult post for a prolonged term, especi- 
 ally when he knows that he will get no 
 credit of any kind for his performance. The 
 work of the South Sea teacher has the 
 misfortune of not appealing to the im- 
 agination. Only those that see his work, 
 and understand him and his surroundings, 
 can appreciate him and sympathize with 
 him. Any Missionary will starve himself to 
 provide hospitality for his guest — I have 
 known it done often — and the poor coloured 
 teacher is certainly no less hospitable than 
 the white Missionary. Now what, except 
 the promises of the Gospel and the approval 
 of his own conscience, has the coloured 
 teacher to look forward to as his reward ? 
 In a month or two after he ceases to 
 work his very name fades like an echo. ..." 
 
 Honours were poured upon Mr. Chal- 
 mers, which he took at their true value. 
 His services as explorer of a new land were 
 recognized by the Geographical Society of 
 Germany. Then followed recognition by the 
 various Societies of the Australian Colon- 
 ies. The Royal Geographical Society of 
 Ensrland also enrolled him as a member.
 
 150 TAMATE. 
 
 But what he regarded as the most graceful 
 distinction of all was the bestowment upon 
 him of the freedom of the royal bur^h of 
 Inverarv. That gratified him — to stand 
 again among the people who knew his old, 
 simple, quaint home, and his humble 
 parentage among them , and receive from 
 their hands the highest honour in their 
 gift. 
 
 The interests of the Society with which 
 he was immediately connected stood, in his 
 estimation, far and away above all con- 
 siderations of personal advantage, and gold 
 given for his own uses he flung without) 
 hesitation into the Mission fund. He occu- 
 pied on one occasion the pulpit of the late 
 Dr. Parker, at City Temple. The famous 
 preacher was laid on his back by serious 
 illness, and was glad to avail himself of 
 Chalmers' help. When Mrs. Parker returned 
 home from the service, she spoke with gen- 
 erous praise of the Missionary hero, of his 
 striking personality, and of the great work 
 which he was doing for Christ. Dr. Parker 
 was so interested in what he heard that he 
 wrote a note to Chalmers, thanking him 
 cordially for his service, and enclosing- a
 
 TAMATE. 151 
 
 cheque for £50, which he specially desired 
 him to use for his own personal comfort. 
 The whole amount, however, was sent on to 
 the Mission Fund.
 
 CHAPTEE XXII. 
 
 Station Established at Saguane. 
 
 )R. Chalmers left his wife behind 
 him in England for reasons of 
 health, and returned alone to his 
 work in New Guinea towards the close of 
 1895. In pursuance of airrang^ements already 
 made he proceeded to Saguane, in the delta 
 of the Fly River, where he established his 
 central station, and whence he hoped evan- 
 gelizing agents would go forth, in the 
 course of a few years, to touch with Gospel 
 influences the wild tribes that lay back from 
 the sea-board. His mode of life now, early 
 in 1896, and his weird and wild surround- 
 ings, formed a sharp contrast to the glad 
 experiences of those fast fleeting months 
 which he had spent in Christian Britain, 
 when kindliest voices had acclaimed him, 
 and hearts had opened to receive him and
 
 TAMATE. 153 
 
 to pour unstinted love upon him — where his 
 whole nature had brightened under g-enial 
 social intercourse, and had risen in joyous 
 response to the stimulating power of the 
 intellectual and spiritual forces round 
 abou,t him — all of which had made his visit 
 to the home-land so memorable and full of 
 pleasant reminiscence to him. And no won- 
 der that he found it hard — something of a 
 strain upon his patience and faith, to 
 gather the lawless, flighty, irrepressible 
 little savages into the school which 
 he opened, and to teach them the 
 simplest elements — the very rudiments 
 of knowledg^e. But " the common round, 
 the daily task," — the irksome drudg- 
 eries to which he put his hand, 
 were exalted and glorified by the vision 
 which he got by faith of the looming 
 triumphs of the glorious Gospel of Christ 
 in that land of ff al and indescribable abom- 
 inations, and 01 dreary superstitions and 
 cruelty. 
 
 Mrs. Chalmers joined her husband in 
 August, 1897, and not only brought the 
 sunshine and comfort of her presence to his 
 home, but gave him very important help in
 
 154 TAMATE. 
 
 the school, carrying on the work very 
 efficiently, and winning the simple afltection 
 and trust of the children, during her hus- 
 band's absence at the various stations 
 which were under his superintendence and 
 official care. 
 
 "My dear Brother Ross," he wrote to us 
 under date, "Fly River, Saguane, 6th De- 
 cember, 1897, "Good, so very good of you 
 to write. ... I am much more in touch 
 with the old home-land than with the 
 Colonies. The only colonial paper I get is 
 the 'Otago Witness,' and Mr. Peter Barr 
 sends me that. If ever I retired, which 1 
 have no desire to do, I do not think we 
 should settle in Australia, perhaps in New 
 Zealand, more likely in London. I love the 
 great city. 
 
 "I have not seen your Life of our good 
 old Doctor, but will try for it when next in 
 Thursday Island. I should like just to pop 
 in and have a good long yarn with you. I 
 am glad your old Missionary enthusiasm 
 abides. 
 
 "On my return from England, nearly 
 two years ago, I settled here, right at the
 
 TAMATE. 155 
 
 mouth of the Fly Estuary. I was asked 
 by the Directors to undertake the Fly. 
 Althouo-h teachers from Murray Island have 
 been here for years, no real impression has 
 been made. The present indifference is very 
 great. We are working-, watching, and wait- 
 ing, and know well the blessing will come. 
 
 ''The children attend school very fairly, 
 and we hope much from them. The country 
 about here is very unsuitable for our South 
 Sea teachers, and our great hope is that 
 soon some of the people will so give them- 
 selves to Christ that they will become 
 teachers. 
 
 "Tamate vaine joined me three months 
 ago, and now it is home. She has kept hyr 
 health very well since joining me. 
 
 "In Torres Straits it has been, an active 
 year in Church building. In Saibai they got 
 together over £100, bought the material, 
 and built a very fine Church. These people, 
 twenty-five years ago, were a terror to their 
 neighbours, as determined skull-hunters. 
 
 ''In October we opened a very nice 
 Church on Mabuiagi, which cost the natives
 
 156 TAMATE. 
 
 £250, and all paid for by themselves. Now 
 the natives of Mabuiagi, twenty-five years 
 ago, were a savage, naked, nomadic ci'owd, 
 and living, much as the Australian abor- 
 igines do in their wild state. 
 
 "On Murray and Darnley they are Ivaild 
 ing fine, large concrete Churches, wliich 
 will be opened next year. 
 
 "1 wish you could come down and see 
 us. The trip to Thursday Island I should 
 think the finest in the world, and in July, 
 August, September, the weather is delight- 
 ful on the island, and these are also our 
 best months here. If afraid of fever, Torres 
 Straits can ]:»e done, and much Mission 
 work can be seen. I want much to see 
 Mission Work in China and Japan, and we 
 may arrange sometime for that trip. Tam- 
 ate vaine will enjoy it. Love to Mrs. Ross 
 and yourself. Ever yours faithfully, 
 
 TAMATE." 
 
 A few weeks after the date of that letter 
 he met with an accident — a bad fall, which 
 invalided him for a while. Enforced in- 
 action, when there was much to do, tended
 
 TAMATE. 157 
 
 to depress him, and as soon as he could 
 move about, accompanied by his wife, lie 
 set out to visit the teachers in the Straits, 
 But the season was an exceptionally tem- 
 pestuous one, no such violent winds and 
 stormy waters had he experienced for many 
 years, and his constant exposure in a frail, 
 wet craft, to appalling squalls and drench- 
 ino- seas, told seriously upon his health. 
 They put in for shelter at Thursday Island, 
 and, leaving his wife, who was ailing, there, 
 Tam^ate, after a few days' rest, completed 
 his visitation of the Mission Stations. He 
 returned after a brief absence, prostrated by 
 malarial fever, complicated by other 
 troubles induced by his fall. But as soon 
 as strength permitted, he was back again at 
 his post at Sagiuane, fighting his way 
 through difl&culties and trials, combating, 
 by sheer force of Christian heroism revolt- 
 ing heathen rites, whose roots were struck 
 deep in the social habits of the people ; 
 and at last, with clear discernment of the 
 breaking of the dawn, for which he had 
 longed and laboured and wrestled in prayer, 
 he w-as enabled to sine oJad songs of vic- 
 tory, while gathering immortal sheaves for
 
 158 TAMATE. 
 
 the garner of Christ. Manifestations of 
 the Divine presence were clearly visible ; 
 many were seeking baptism, and affording 
 cheering indications that the power of Trod 
 in the Glorious Gospel of His Son was 
 touching and transforming their hearts. 
 
 In April, 1900, Mr. Chalmers was great- 
 ly gratified by the arrival of a colleague, 
 who entered upon his work with ample 
 promise of a useful career. It was arranged 
 that the Eev. 0. F. Tomkins should super- 
 intend the Torres Straits Mission, leaving 
 Tamate free to explore the Fly River, and 
 establish stations to operate on the tribes 
 contiguous to that. His new colleague 
 gave abundant proof of his fitness for the 
 position which he filled. He rapidly won 
 his way into the veteran's heart, and found 
 opportunities for the display of qualities 
 which merited and received the most gener- 
 ous praise from his lips. 
 
 Six months later on, after a prolonged 
 illness, Mrs. Chalmers died. Her re- 
 moval was a sore trial to Tamate. 
 His heart for a time was numbed 
 with grief. His own health was failing ;
 
 TAMATE. 159 
 
 physical infirmities were multiplying upon 
 him. A sense of loneliness at times com- 
 pletely overpowered him. But when he 
 looked around him and saw the misery of 
 the heathen, a profound compassion filled 
 his heart, and he roused himself to more 
 strenuous effort to bring them into living 
 touch with Christ. Some idea of his 
 ceaseless activity may be formed from a 
 statement made by Dr. Lawes, that ''of the 
 130 Mission Stations which the L. jI.S. lias 
 in New Guinea, there was hardly one that 
 did not owe its initiation to Mr, Chalmers."
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Tamate wins the Martyr's Crown. 
 
 ^gjlJl^x^fLTHOUGH we have no direct evi- 
 dence of it, yet there is no doubt 
 that Tamate felt that his life on 
 earth was approaching its close. We have 
 abundant proof from the tone and tenor of 
 his latest writings, that the ripening pro- 
 cess was going on apace. In spite of 
 decaying physical power he applied himself 
 with new energy, with eager and tense 
 activity to his work, as if he would make 
 the most of the days that still remained to 
 him. For the heathen lay as a great bur- 
 den on his heart. He was filled witli a 
 passionate longing for the evangelization 
 of New Guinea, and with a holy daring he 
 claimed it from God. Now and again he 
 gives us an insi'^ht into the wonderful open- 
 ness of his souFs eye, and clearness of his 
 spiritual vision. He lived very close to the
 
 TAMATE. r6i 
 
 supreme realities of eternity, and in some 
 of the more important crises of his life, 
 when imminent perils threatened him, he 
 felt the touch of a Divine hand upon him, 
 he was thrilled by a Divine voice that 
 spoke in his ear, and put strength into his 
 heart, and gave direction to all his goings. 
 His worldly affairs were all in the most per- 
 fect order ; and he left on record for the 
 guidance of others, sagacious reflections on 
 the best methods of conducting and ex- 
 tending the Mission, and on the sort of men 
 that the work demanded — ''they must be 
 men," he said, "of the Cross, Christ-men, 
 with hearts aglow with love, and fired with 
 buii-ning desires to rescue the lost." 
 
 He sailed from Daru on board the 
 Mission boat "Niue," in company with Mr. 
 Tomkins, Hiro, a Rarotongan teacher, the 
 Chief of Ipisia, and a party of ten Mission 
 boys. They were anchored off the Eastern 
 end of Goaribari Island on the evenincr of 
 Sunday, April 7th, 1901. Soon after the 
 vessel anchored the natives came off, and 
 stayed on board till sunset, when Tamate 
 persuaded them to go ashore, with a prom- 
 ise that he would visit them in their village
 
 i'62 TAMATE. 
 
 the next day. Early the following morning; 
 the natives boarded the ship, and crowded 
 the decks, so that there was no room to 
 move. Their canoes were filled with weap- 
 ons of war, and they resisted all efforts 
 made by the Mission party to get them to 
 leave the ship and go ashore. Tamate 
 then decided to land, thinking that they 
 would follow him. In company with Mr. 
 Tomkins, and the Ipisia Chief, and the Mis- 
 sion boys, he went ashore in the whaleboat, 
 intending to return in half an hour for 
 breakfast. A large number of natives ac- 
 companied the Mission party, the rest 
 remained on board and looted the ship, 
 taking all the barter and stores on which 
 they could lay their hands. The ''Niu,e," 
 suspecting treachery, moved along the 
 coast, watching and waiting for the return 
 of the Mission party, but saw nothing of 
 them, and, on the morning of the 9th 
 April, left for Daru, to report the matter to 
 the civil authorities. 
 
 The Governor, with a large force, 
 visited the island, and repelled several at- 
 tacks which were made upon him by the 
 natives. He captured a prisoner at Dop-
 
 TAMATE. 163 
 
 ima, from whom he received full details of 
 the massacre. The Missionaries were 
 knocked senseless under blows of stone 
 clubs dealt to them from behind ; their 
 heads were then cut off, and their bodies cut 
 up and handed to the women to cook lor 
 the cannibal feast. The remainder of the 
 Mission party on shore met with a similar 
 fate. The Governor's force punished the 
 cruel deed by burning the "dubus" in the 
 villages, and all the war canoes which they 
 found. Some twenty-four natives were 
 killed in the attacks which they made upon 
 the invading force. 
 
 Thus passed from among us one whose 
 name and work will be imperishably as- 
 sociated with the planting and progress of 
 Christianity and civilization in the great 
 land that lies contiguous to the Northern 
 border of our own Commonwealth. Su- 
 preme peril to life he had often fearlessly 
 fronted before, and now, when he perceived 
 the savage mood of the people with whom 
 he had to deal, he met death dauntlessly, 
 no doubt joyfully accepting it as the open- 
 ing of a glorious gateway into a brighter 
 realm of activity for Christ — out of the
 
 i64 TAMATE. 
 
 shadows and the sorrows which had so 
 often darkened his pathway here. 
 
 And for us who are left behind to fight 
 on against sin and darkness — against 
 pitifulest selfishness, and pride of nlace and 
 pelf — there was aching of heart and grief 
 when the announcement of that dark 
 tragedy came to us, and we could only bow 
 our heads in lowly submission to the Mas- 
 ter's will, and thank Him that He gave us 
 in Tamate so noble a gift that we, stimu- 
 lated by his bright and inspiring example, 
 may seek to be animated by his spirit, and 
 do, with courage, and faith, and singleness 
 of eye to God's glory, the work which has 
 been laid to our hand to do. 
 
 Very deep throughout the wide Com- 
 monwealth of Australia, and throughout 
 the neighbouring Colony of New Zealand, 
 wherever Tamate's name was known, was 
 the sorrow that was felt, and very pro- 
 found was the sympathy evinced when the 
 electric wires flashed intelligence of the 
 tragic close of that brave, unselfish, simple, 
 consecrated life, that was stamped with all
 
 TAMATE. 165 
 
 the finest qualities that give dignity and 
 grandeur to the character of a man. 
 
 The last act of the dark tragedy was 
 performed on 16th March, 1903, when advan- 
 tage was taken of the presence of the Mis- 
 sionary steamer "John Williams," with a 
 large party of Missionaries and their 
 families at Daru, to carry out the burial 
 ceremonies of the skull of James Chalmers. 
 It was enclosed in a cedar cabinet mounted 
 with a silver shield, and inscribed— "Skull 
 of the Rev. James Chalmers. Recovered 
 from the Goaribari natives, at which place 
 he was massacred on April 8th, 1901.'' 
 
 "It is difficult to do justice," Vice- 
 Admiral Bridge said, "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." 
 
 Admiral Erskine, after speaking of the 
 great services rendered to the British Gov-
 
 i66 TAMATE. 
 
 eminent by Chalmers, says : — "I cannot 
 close this letter without expressing my per- 
 sonal admiration and respect for the noble 
 qualities which distinguished and adorned 
 my late lamented friend, and the profound 
 sorrow and distress with which I have 
 heard of his untimely and terrible death at 
 the hands of those natives, for whose ben- 
 efit he spent over twenty years of his life. 
 An earnest and true disciple of his Master, 
 he has yielded up a life of self-negation and 
 devotion to duty, to win immortality and 
 a crown of glory which fadeth not away. 
 And it would be entirely in keeping with 
 his Christian ch-aracter — a humble follower 
 of the Great Example — if his last thoughts 
 and fervent prayers were offered up in the 
 last bitter hour for the poor benighted sav- 
 ages, who unwittingly have done to death 
 their truest friend and benefactor." 
 
 "GREAT-HEART IS DEAD, THEY SAY— 
 
 Great-Heart the Teacher, 
 Great-Heart the Joyous, 
 Great-Heart the Fearless, 
 Great-Heart of Sweet White Fire, 
 Great-Heart the Martyr.
 
 TAMATE. 167 
 
 "GREAT-HEART IS DEAD, THEY SAY— 
 
 Fighting the fight. 
 Holding the Light 
 Into the night. 
 
 "GREAT-HEART IS DEAD, THEY SAY— 
 But the Light shall burn the brighter. 
 And the night shall be the lighter 
 For his going. 
 And a rich, rich harvest for his sowing. 
 
 "GREAT-HEART IS DEAD, THEY SAY. 
 
 WHAT IS DEATH TO SUCH A ONE AS GREAT- 
 HEART ? 
 One sigh perchance for work unfinished here, 
 Then a swift passing to a mightier sphere, 
 New joys, perfected powers, the vision clear. 
 And all the amplitude of heaven to work 
 The work he held so dear. 
 
 "GREAT-HEART IS DEAD, THEY SAY ? 
 
 Nor dead, nor sleeping ! He lives on. His 
 
 name 
 Shall kindle many a heart to equal flame, 
 The fire he lighted shall burn on and on. 
 Till all the darkness of the lands be gone.
 
 i68 TAMATE. 
 
 And all the kingdoms of the earth be won, 
 And One. 
 
 "A SOUL SO FIERY SWEET CAN NEVER DIE, 
 
 BUT LIVES, AND LOVES, AND WORKS, 
 
 THROUGH ALL ETERNITY." * 
 
 ♦John Oxenham in "The Quiver," 1901.
 
 INDEX 
 
 Anderson's Bay Church, 10. 
 Annexation, 137. 
 Aroma, 41, 51. 
 
 "Blessing," The, 88, 92, 106. 
 
 Boat, Decked, 81. 
 
 Bridge, Vice-Admiral, 165. 
 
 Britain, Chalmers re-visits, 132 ; Second visit, 145 
 
 Brown, Mr. R., 27, 89. 
 
 Chalmers, Mrs., 22 ; death of, 25. 
 Chalmers, Port, 96. 
 College, New Guinea, 44, 45. 
 Cooktown. 63. 
 
 Dunedin, Temperance Hall, 10 ; Museum, 23, 28. 
 
 "Ellengowan," 12. 
 
 Erskine, Commodore, 110, 128, 165. 
 
 Fly River, 139.
 
 INDEX— ( Continued ) . 
 
 Gill, Rev. W. Wyatt. 84, 93, 118. 
 Glendining, Mr. R., 31. 
 Crosman, Rev. A., 130. 
 Great-Heart, 166. 
 
 "Hanamoa," 96. 117, 124. 
 "Harrier," Wreck of, 139. 
 Hercus, Miss, 15. 
 Hercus, Mr. G. R., 91. 
 Hood Bay Massacre, 32. 
 
 Inverary, 13, 150. 
 
 Jackson, Dr. Sheldon, 61, 62. 
 
 Kone, 67. 
 
 Lawes, Rev. W. G., 21, 35, 49, 111, 115, 122, 159. 
 Loch, Sir Henry, 127, 131. 
 
 Mangaia, 28. 
 
 Marriage, Chalmers' Second, 135 ; Death of Mrs. 
 Chalmers, 158. 
 
 Martyrdom, 160. 
 Mekeo, Trip to, 54. 
 Moresby, Port, 35, 52, 94, 137. 
 Mueller, Baron Von, 128. 
 
 I
 
 INDEX— (Continued). 
 
 Murray Island, 21, 155, 156. 
 Macgregor, Sir W., 137, 147. 
 Mclhvraith, Sir T., 140. 
 McKerras, Mr. J., 10, 31. 
 
 New Guinea, 19 : "Work and Adventure in," 116 
 "Pioneering in," 117. 
 
 Owen Stanley, Mount, 19, 82, 102, 138. 
 
 Parker, Dr., Rev., 150. 
 Pi, 27, 64. 
 
 Piri, 27, 28, 40, 66, 84, 86. 
 Princeton Museum, 36, 62. 
 Protectorate, 108. 
 
 Rarotonga, 15. 
 
 '•Record. N.Z. Missionary," 49, 83, 87. 
 
 Ri vert on, 38. 
 
 Ruatoka, 115. 
 
 Saguane, 152. 
 
 Scratchley, Sii- Peter, 120, 122, 123. 
 Society, London Missionary, 114. 
 Somerville, Mr. W., 11. 
 Stevenson, Robert Louis, 136. 
 Suau Tribe, 22.
 
 INDEX— (Continued). 
 
 Sunderland, Rev. J. P., 85, 92. 
 Sydney Syndicate, 109. 
 
 Teachers, Native, 26, 148. 
 Tomkins, Rev. O. F., 158, 161. 
 Training Institution, 44. 
 Turner, Dr., 14. 
 
 Undenominational Christian Missions, 113. 
 
 Williams' River, 104. 
 
 H. Thacker, Printer, Ryrie Street, Geelokg.
 
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